My first novel is published and the second one to follow soon

I have seen a great response for my first novel, which was published last month. Sales are good and I hope them to increase so that the story can get out there. I am very proud of the work I have put together for this first book and it took up a fair chunk of my life. It is the eleventh book I have published, but the first fiction book. Before that I had written and published ten non-fiction books that are based on my areas of knowledge and experience such as buying and selling a home, obtaining a mortgage and writing. I have written these guides with others in mind and the idea behind them I to share my knowledge of writing in an easy-to-follow format.

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Writing fiction has taken over a large part of my spare time at the moment. With the success of the first book, I have started on the second and am around a third of the way through now. It is very different to the first novel, which was based on the internal monologue of one character a great deal. The second book is a detective fiction book that looks into the way that a killer leaves clues for the police. The killer is in control and the police are waiting for clues to lead them one way or another in the investigation. It means that they don't get to make massive strides with the investigation until the killer lets them.

Here is the opening scene -

He stood over her looking down at his prey. She looked for all the world like a normal person. But he knew differently. She was chosen to be here at this time, in this place. He knew what he had to do next. She would be the first. She would set an example to others. This was the start of his work.

She looked up at the man above her. He was stood in front of a bright light. He wasn't familiar to her in any way. She wondered who he was. She couldn't see his face. He spoke not much louder than a whisper so she couldn't make out his voice either. She wanted to know who he was. But that wasn't the biggest or the most pressing thing on her mind. She wanted to know what he has planned for her. She didn't have to wait long.

He moved with clinical speed. Just before she saw his hands move quickly towards her, she heard him say something. Again, she couldn't make it out. A few seconds later she was lying in a small pool of her own blood. He dropped something before walking away. He was glad that he lived alone so he could get cleaned up without interruption or detection. He smiled to himself as he strode towards home. The dark of the night shielded him from any prying eyes that might have been present on the short journey.

There is a twist with the identity of the killer which I won't reveal here, but it means that the detective team, lead by Augustine Boyle, take some wrong turns along the way. The way that the killer and the police interact means that there is a lot of dialogue and a lot of tension. I am really proud of it already, and I am only around a third of the way through writing it. Please keep tuned to see how it progresses. I will put small excerpts on this blog so you can see parts of the book before it is written.

My new book David's Goliath is available now

Those of you that have been with me from the start will know that this blog was set up as I went about starting my own business. In the very beginning that was going to be an estate agency, but the way that the UK housing market was going and the rise of the online-only estate agent put paid to that.

It was while setting up as an estate agent that I started writing commercially. I wrote blogs and books to provide an income that would be there in the first few weeks and months of an estate agency, while I was getting on my feet. As the idea for an estate agency dropped, it was soon replaced by the idea that I could write for myself and others. Contented Writing was born. I now write website copy, blogs and ghostwrite books for others among many other assignments. I also write for myself.

Until now all of my books have been Kindle only and were non-fiction on subjects that I knew a lot about - managing back pain, writing and inevitably the housing market. But my latest book is my first novel and also the first in print. It is called -

David's Goliath: If you found a book that told the story of your life, would you read on?

This is the story of a man who goes on holiday to get away from it all for a short time. He spends some time in Spain on his own and while there, he picks up a book that was seemingly left behind by someone and starts to read. Pretty soon he and the book are inseparable and it turns out that the story he is reading is in fact the story of his life.

David reads through and recalls the significant moments of his life but all the while he has the thought in his mind that he will reach the part of the book that tells him of the future. Will he read on?

This book is the culmination of over a year of work and I have thoroughly enjoyed trying to fit this in with all the work I do for others and family life. The book has a lot of me in it, as the main character is based on my life and experiences. Not all of these things have happened to me, but many of them I have seen first hand though friends, family and work colleagues.

I'd love to hear from people who have read the book. Please let me know what you think. The only way to write something bigger and better next time is to hear what people think of this one. I have begun the next novel, which is a crime thriller about a serial killer with a twist. I'll keep you updated on how this is going.