The final book in an interconnected universe is finally here…
image owned by Luke Fielding Art
First of all, let me apologise for the lack of blog posts since I started sharing Black Hare Valley Book 1 with you a few months back! A huge thank you to those who read along and left me feedback. I really appreciate it and serialising was an overwhelmingly positive thing to do. I will be serialising something else soon but more on that next week!
This week the good news is I finally have a new book on the horizon. The Dark Finds You is a gritty crime thriller drama about a fractured community and a missing boy. It also contains characters from many of my previous books in a shared universe. However, it can very much be read as a standalone and you do not have to read any of the previous books to enjoy this one.
If you are interested in exploring the connected universe however, I’ve listed the order to read them in. If you start with The Boy With The Thorn In His Side series and work your way through, you will find that The Dark Finds You makes a satisfying conclusion to previous storylines in that world. The main characters in The Dark Finds You are: Danny Bryans (nightclub owner), Leon Lawrenson (drug dealer) Bill Robinson (lead singer in a band who play at Danny’s nightclub) Elliot Pie (Bill’s father is having a baby with Elliot’s mother so they are now almost brothers) Laura Pie, (Elliot’s mother) Leah Barratt (Elliot’s friend) and Finn Douglas (Elliot’s other friend and the catalyst for the storyline when he goes missing.)
And here are the order the characters appear in books I have already published. In other words, read in this order!
Best friend Elliot is desperate to find him, but why is mutual friend Leah strangely reluctant to help?
Elliot’s pregnant mother fears her agoraphobia has returned, while his almost-brother, Bill, agrees to help look for Finn but risks exposing his secret drug habit in the process.
Meanwhile, ex-con Danny knows his nightclub is being infiltrated by drug dealers who work for a gang from his past. And drug dealer Leon can’t have the fresh start he wants until he has repaid his debt to the same criminal gang.
A collection of characters with dark pasts find themselves linked by a common mystery that they all have a clue to solving – what has happened to Finn Douglas?
At the time of writing you can’t pre-order the paperback because I am currently waiting for the proof copies arrive for me to check over! I will let you know as soon as the order links are live.
Interview with YA author K.M Allan on her new non-fiction release
Author K.M. Allan – image belongs to the author
Today on The Glorious Outsiders blog we have an exclusive interview with YA author K.M. Allan. In a break from YA fiction, the Blackbirch author has just released her first non-fiction book, Writing and Editing Checklists, with another non-fiction book soon to follow. I was curious about what prompted the move from fiction to non-fiction and what inspired her to share her tips and advice with new and aspiring writers. I have had the pleasure of reading this book and I’ll be recommending it to new writers I work with in my job, because it really is extremely useful! With handy checklists to refer back to, this book ensures you cover everything needed to write and edit your manuscript to perfection. You can find my review at the end of the post.
Your new book, a non-fiction titled Writing and Editing Checklists is out now. What made you decide to pen a non-fiction book after the Blackbirch YA series was complete?
Honestly, it was burnout.
I’d been working on the Blackbirch series for a long time, and its four books all came out within three years. When the final book was released, I needed a break.
No fictional ideas were coming to me, and I didn’t want to stop working on anything, so I turned to my writing blog.
At that point, I’d been writing about writing for seven years, and there were more than a few readers over that time who’d mentioned how helpful the posts were to their own process. I, and them, especially liked the checklist blog posts, so I decided to turn as many blogs as I could into checklists, and that’s how the book came about.
2. What would you say are the main challenges of writing a non-fiction book and how did the process differ from writing fiction?
Well, I didn’t have to come up with any plot twists for this book, so that was a big difference!
From a writing point of view, there were things that were similar, such as making sure the voice and tone of the book were consistent all the way through. I actually found that the biggest challenge was the formatting.
For Fiction books, you only have to worry about headers and footers, page numbers, and maybe some fancy drop capitals or chapter images. For non-fiction, because the format needed title pages, examples, bullet points, and graphics for the checklists, getting those elements right was a learning curve. It was frustrating at times, but once it all came together, it was worth it.
3. Your blog centres very much on sharing advice and tips – was this always the intention when you started blogging or did you fall into naturally?
It was definitely a bit of both. When I launched the blog, I didn’t have a book out or any creative work behind me, so the only thing I could blog about was my writing process, what I was learning as I was trying to write my first book, navigating impostor syndrome, and at the time, getting a book ready for querying with agents and publishers.
I found sharing tips and advice, my love of making checklists to write and edit, and writing routines the easiest topics to blog about, and readers really seemed to like that too.
4. Have you ever considered running workshops or clubs for aspiring writers?
No, I haven’t. I’m good with words on a screen, not so much with words in real life. I’d be too nervous for something like that, which is one of the reasons why I turned the posts into a book. I hope the book will reach more aspiring writers than the blog can, and help them that way.
5. What research, if any, did you have to do to complete this new book?
As the content had already been researched when I wrote the original posts, I just had to research which posts were the most helpful to readers to decide what to include. As some of them go back seven years, I also made sure the info was still as accurate as possible.
6. Who did you have in mind as the audience when you wrote this book?
Definitely new writers, writers who like to be organized, and writers like me who love a good checklist to tick off so we feel like we know what we’re doing and have accomplished something.
7.What is the one bit of advice you would give to a new writer? The most important lesson to learn, in your opinion?
Go with whatever process gets you sitting at your desk, and just write. The more you write, the better you get at it. It’s how you learn what works and doesn’t work for you, and how you develop your own style.
I’d also add to read as much and as widely as you can. If a book makes you feel something, try and work out how and why so you can do the same for your own stories.
8. Can you tell us what helped you the most when writing Blackbirch? For example, writing handbooks, instructions, other blogs podcasts, writing advice etc?
I was learning as I went when writing Blackbirch, and then turning those lessons into posts for my blog, so that was helpful. As for writing books, The Emotion Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi is one I’d highly recommend. If you’re a writer who hasn’t used it before, definitely check it and the other books in the series out. They are invaluable tools of the writing trade and so handy to have within reach when you’re working on an emotional scene.
9. Do you envision marketing this book will be different to marketing Blackbirch? Do you perceive any particular challenges, for example?
Marketing for me is the same as most writers nowadays, which is to post on social media and my blog and hope those following see it.
I do really enjoy the creative side of making marketing graphics and taking photos of my books, though, and that has been fun to do again.
As for challenges, I usually include book teasers with interesting dialogue, or the last sentence of a cliffhanger scene when marketing, and the checklist book doesn’t have those things. For that part of marketing, I’ll have to find something else from the book to highlight for new readers, but I’m looking forward to it.
10. What can we expect from you next? Please tell us about any upcoming projects!
Now that the checklist book is out, I’m excited about getting back into fiction writing. At the start of this year, I penned the opening paragraph of a YA murder-mystery that’s been floating around in my head for a few years now. I’ve missed coming up with characters and working on puzzling plots, so I’m eager to get back to that and start fleshing it all out.
image belongs to the author
If you’d like to find out more about K.M. Allan and her books please check out the links below.
And here is my review of her latest book, Writing and Editing Checklists:
“I was excited to read an ARC of this book and as a creative writing tutor and editor, I can honestly say I will be recommending this book to all of my students and any aspiring writers I make contact with. Personally, my brain likes checklists so this is a great format for me. It covers absolutely everything you can think of with regards to writing and editing and is a great little book to refer back to time and time again. You can jump around the chapters and pay attention to what suits you at the moment in your own writing journey. I think the editing checklists are so valuable too – they will enable writers to ensure their work is as clean as possible before spending money on an editor. This is a fantastic companion book for writers of all stages and genres. Highly recommended!”
Here’s an interview I did this week for our little indie collective Chasing Driftwood Books!
A gripping sequel to her 2016 novel, The Mess of Me, this book dives back into the world of Joe and Lou and these of identity and resilience… Let’s get started!
The Mess of Me was a huge success, what inspired you to return to this story after a decade?
A. A sequel was in the pipeline years ago. I had always wondered what happened next to Lou and Joe. The first book ends with a sort of happy ending, but with lots of questions about what would happen after the dramatic and violent events of that book. A few years back I started writing the sequel when I got the idea of a teenage pregnancy. I was fascinated with how they would both cope with that on top of recovering from the events of the first book. It then took me a whole to get around to writing it due to other projects, but it was the teenage pregnancy idea that really sparked off the rest of it. That, and always wanting to explore Leon’s character more. He is the villain of the first book and I always feel like villains have a story to tell. How did they become that way, for example? Are they capable of redemption? So I felt like he deserved a story.
How has your writing style or approach changed in the past ten years?
A. It’s probably the same! I still start with loose ideas in my head that eventually end up as notes in a notebook which I’ll then add to whenever I get more ideas. Eventually there will be enough plot to get started so that’s what I do. I rarely plan the whole book in advance, but I always know what’s going to happen for the next few chapters at least. I’m probably better at self-editing and being ruthless with the word count though. I think I am better at that now.
Did you always plan to write a sequel, or was there a moment when you knew this story wasn’t finished?
A. I didn’t plan a sequel at the time, no. It was years later that I got the idea for the teenage pregnancy and the rest grew from there. Plus, Lou is like a lot of my characters. She would chat to me from time to time. I’d tune into her and wonder how life was going. If that keeps happening, it starts to feel like a sequel is inevitable.
What challenges did you face in reconnecting with the characters and world after so much time?
A.I reread the first book before I started the sequel. I then revamped and republished it! That pretty much gave me what I needed to pick those characters up again. Plus, they had never really left me, so it was not hard to tune into them for the sequel. As for the world, these books are part of a bigger inter-connected universe of books and I was still writing books in that universe, so again, it was not challenging to reconnect with it. It was a pleasure! I know them all so well it felt like coming home.
Were there any major plot points or character arcs that surprised you while writing the sequel?
A. No, I always had it in mind that Leon would come out of prison and Lou and Joe would have to deal with that. Would Joe want to see him, for example? Would he want to forgive him? What would Leon be like now? Worse, or a reformed character? I was really curious about that and really excited to further explore Leon’s character and back story. Parts of the plot revealed themselves to be as I wrote it, but it all felt natural so I just went with the flow.
How do you think readers’ perceptions of the first book will shape their experience of the sequel?
A.I hope they like it! A few people have read it without reading the first one so I have every confidence it also works as a standalone, but I really hope readers of the first book enjoy it too! There were a few readers that often mentioned it was their favourite book of mine and they’d love a sequel, so in some ways I had them in mind while writing it. I expect they’ll know what’s coming in terms of the gritty storylines and references to eating disorders, self-harm and drugs. They’ll also know it’s another diary style format.
Have your own life experiences over the last decade influenced the themes or direction of this book?
A.Yes. To be honest, Lou is the character most based on me. I have suffered with eating disorders in the past and the truth is, they never really go away. They follow you about and haunt you and wait for opportunities to take control again. They’re like little voices in your head that want to convince you to trust them, that they can make everything all right again. I’m much older than I was when I had these issues, but as Lou finds out in The Mess of Us, often when things go wrong, those little voices come back. So you have to be wary and careful. You can’t let your guard down. Forms of self-harm can be addictive and can be coping strategies you come to rely on. I have also experienced a miscarriage, which is another hard-hitting storyline in the book. That part was very hard to write but I hope I did it justice.
What kind of balance did you try to strike between nostalgia for longtime fans and accessibility for new readers?
A.That was the aim, to give readers of the first book a sequel they would enjoy and let them find out what happened next, but also write a book new readers could enjoy on its own. That meant Lou and the other characters had to sometimes mention or explain what had happened previously, but you have to be careful not to make it boring or repetitive for the original readers, so it is hard!
If you could go back and change anything about the first book, would you?
A.I would probably make it shorter!
Do you see this sequel as the end of the story, or is there potential for more in the future?
A.It’s the end of the story for Lou and Joe, as far as I know anyway! But it is not the end of the story for Leon. He will be back in a new book towards the end of the year. We will finally have his point of view and his full story. The book will be called The Dark Finds You and I’d describe it as a crime thriller. It is also a crossover book which will be enjoyable to anyone who has read the books in the shared universe. If you’ve read The Holds End trilogy, The Boy With The Thorn In His Side series, Elliot Pie’s Guide To Human Nature or The Mess Of Me and The Mess Of Us, you will find characters from all those books returning!
Thank you, Chantelle!
The Mess of Us is one book in a connected universe made up of various series penned by Atkins. You can grab your copy of The Mess of Us by clicking here.
Or start the journey from the beginning today with the groundbreaking 2013 novel, The Mess of Me.
My debut novel The Mess Of Me finally has a follow-up…
Twelve years after my debut YA novel The Mess Of Me was released, it finally has a follow up book, and it’s out today! Thank you so much to anyone who has preordered the ebook while it’s been discounted. Here is the universal book link for anyone interested. This will take enable you to buy from multiple platforms and in paperback. https://books2read.com/u/4NNka6
Last week I gave you a bit of insight into what inspired the sequel and why it took so long to get around to. I also gave a few extracts from both books where we see Lou analysing Leon. Leon is the main protagonist in the first book but has a redemption arc in the sequel. This then led to me writing another book where he appears again as a character, and this time we get his POV for the first time.
I thought today I’d run through a list of my connected books that exist in the same universe. If you have read any of these, for example, you might like to know where you can see those characters again. Also, the list of books finds everyone’s stories tying up nicely in the final book, The Dark Finds You which I aim to release towards the end of 2025.
So, here we go. This is the suggested reading order of the books in the universe and details about how they connect!
The Boy With The Thorn In His Side 5-book series – these books introduce us to the character of Danny, who grows up in the 90s in a seaside town called Redchurch. His violent stepfather, a local hard man and criminal, owns a nightclub in the town and later purchases one, Chaos, in nearby Belfield Park, another location in the series.
The Mess Of Me – set years after the events of The Boy series, Lou and Joe also live in Redchurch and Danny and co went to the same school as them back in the 90s. They mention Danny once or twice as a sort of local legend whose name is found scratched on a park bench.
Elliot Pie’s Guide To Human Nature – set in Holds End, a fictional council estate which is located between Redchurch and Belfield Park, this is the story of 12 year-old Elliot Pie who attempts to befriend strangers in an attempt to convince his agoraphobic mother that the world is not all bad. He lives next door to a family called the Robinsons and mentions seeing the middle child, Bill, leaving his house with a guitar on his back.
The Holds End trilogy – also set in Holds End, this trilogy of books is made up of A Song For Bill Robinson, Emily’s Baby and The Search For Summer. There are several main characters but Bill Robinson who is sixteen in the first book, is the main protagonist. He’s a flawed and self-destructive singer who ends up trying to solve the murder of a local teenager. In the third book, The Search For Summer, Elliot Pie’s mother, Laura, appears briefly. Danny also appears briefly in the trilogy when Bill’s band play in his nightclub, Chaos and he becomes an early champion of their music.
At Night We Played In The Road – a spin-off from The Boy series, this is the story of brothers Alfie and Tom Lane, who appear in Part Five of The Boy With The Thorn In His Side, where they find themselves tangled up in drug-dealing and crime, with an adult Danny posed to help them. This is the story of how they got there and at the end of this book, Danny appears in the present day and is forced to save the brothers again by making a huge concession to one of his old enemies, Nick Groves, a man who served under his stepfather.
The Mess Of Us – set two years after the first, Lou and Joe are back and this time have an unplanned pregnancy to deal with on top of struggling to adjust to adulthood and come to terms with what Leon did two years earlier. Leon is now out of prison and wants to make amends. It is mentioned that he has returned to work as a drug-dealer for Nick Groves and co who own the nightclub in Redchurch that Danny’s stepfather once owned. Towards the end he tells his brother Joe that a band are holding drummer auditions at Chaos in Belfield Park. The band is Bill Robinson’s.
The Dark Finds You – coming next! This book picks up where The Mess Of Us ends… Leon is trying to make amends to Joe and trying to pay back the debt he owes Nick Groves and his violent crew. He works the Belfield Park area where he is ordered to hit Chaos, which is now Danny’s nightclub. Leon gives Joe a lift to the drummer auditions he mentioned in The Mess of Us and Joe joins Bill Robinson’s band. Meanwhile, things become awkward when Bill recognises Leon as one of his regular drug-dealers. Elliot’s mother Laura is having a baby with Bill’s dad, Andy, and the two dysfunctional but loving families have merged and all live in one house. Bill and Elliot are effectively step-brothers who have become very close, so Bill naturally wants to help when Elliot’s best friend Finn goes missing. Danny, who is friends with Bill due to the band playing at the club, finds himself drawn into the mystery, as does Leon, who is effectively working for both sides.
Phew! Well, hopefully that explains how they all tie in together and how the final book in the universe finishes everyone’s stories! I hope if you’ve read any of the above books you might now be tempted to try another!
The Glorious Outsiders 