Author Letter January 2012

Happy New Year to you all. So what’s 2012 going to bring, eh? If you believe some of the doom mongers, it means a disorderly collapse of the Euro; double-digit falls in GDP growth across the continent as we slide back into recession; a belligerent, nuclear-armed Iran in the Gulf driving up oil prices to record levels; potential nuclear war; and the return of Simon Cowell for yet another coma-inducing series of the X Factor. Me, I’m slightly more optimistic. I may be wrong but, in my opinion, things are never quite as bad as they seem, so here are a few of my predictions, set down on paper where they can be held up for ridicule come January 2013: the Eurozone stays together in one piece, including Greece, and the continent steadily pulls out of recession; Iran still isn’t nuclear-armed at the end of the year, and domestic dissent from within20the country, coupled with the impact of sanctions, puts the government’s nuclear plans on ice; and the X Factor gets canned.

Call me an idealistic fool, but that’s what I’m hoping for. And to be honest, why join the doom mongers and spend your life wringing your hands with worry about things that, for the most part, you can do absolutely nothing about? Life’s short. Let’s enjoy it, and leave the worrying to the politicians.

On a lighter, and I hope more positive note, my latest book SIEGE is out in hardback and Kindle on January 18^th, and a rollicking good read it is too, if I say so myself. Set in a fictional Park Lane Hotel, which comes under attack from a group of highly-organized terrorists, it’s a fast-paced read with multiple viewpoints, and plenty of twists and turns- the whole book taking place over less eight hours. It’s being stocked in all good bookshops, with major promotions in Tesco and Asda, and I’d be very interested to hear what you guys think20of it, particularly in comparison to my others. The general feedback is it’s the best of the lot, and I certainly think it’s the paciest.

I’ve now decided on the plot of the next book and, after the usual prevaricating, I’m going to start writing it next week. Right now, I’m not going to give too much away, other than it features a return of Tina Boyd and Mike Bolt, and it’s going to be something of a whodunit, albeit one with a very large bodycount. I’ve decided to keep a blog of my progress so there’ll be regular updates on this site and on facebook. I think I promised my editor that there’ll be one a week, and even if I can’t quite match that, you can definitely expect something on a far regular basis than you’re used to on here!

Finally, I’ve been dragged into the Twenty-First century in a combined assault by my editor and my agent, and joined twitter. You can follow my occasionally bizarre and meandering daily thoughts at @simonkernick, although I’m not sure how exciting they’re going to be. Still you don’t until you’ve tried.

Anyway, take care and I’ll be back sooner than last time. I’m off for a walk now in the cold sunshine of a perfect winter’s day.

Simon