Christoffer Petersen

I did promise, a couple of posts ago. We’ve seen him before, just recently, and now he’s back. 😉

Finally! This book is the reason I had to do a significant amount of juggling, cancelling, and rescheduling of every other book to follow. And, fair warning, it’s a real mix of everything.

I started writing the stand-alone Missing Persons novels to get some distance from Petra, and switching to 3rd person POV helped. But then, given what I wanted this story to be about, I needed Petra’s intensity – you know how she can be, right? – so I chose to mix it up a little. Never done that before. I think it works. But then, I would think that, wouldn’t I? 😉

So, Before the Devil Wakes is an almost equal mix of “intense Petra” and “everyone else”. Gaba’s got a bit more screen time in this one, as does Hákon and his sister Jenný – borrowed from the Polarpol series. Tuukula is in it. But the real star is Luui, of course, and the way she affects everyone around her.

There are bloody moments, there are sweet and funny moments, and I must admit to shedding a tear or two. But then I tend to do that in these books. If I was to be really cheeky, I would suggest reading Piitalaat before this one. Not because you need to, but that book was my reference for this one.

Well, I usually just paste a shameless link and move on. So, clearly, this one means something to me. That doesn’t mean it’s my best book, nor that anyone else will like it. But I liked it. I shed a tear. And now it’s over to you. 😉

I hope you have fun with Before the Devil Wakes.

Here’s the shameless link, and another for Piitalaat.

Chris

Today’s blog is, according to my notes, the 1,000th blog since I began a daily blog on November 1, 2021. Here’s the link to that post, but you might want to skip it. Apparently I was on a rant. Something about social media, which is pretty standard for me – ranting about social media, that is. 🙂

I’ve had some hits and some misses with the daily blog, with a couple of scheduling issues along the way, and grand plans every Christmas period which have also achieved varied success. Then, starting the year in 2024, I tried to have themed days. Which didn’t work out for me. 🙂 I also had a horrible moment in January of this year when, trying to save money, I cancelled the plan I had with WordPress, only to suddenly need it, and end up getting a worse plan for the same money as they changed things for new subscribers.

Damn. Still smarting about that one.

Oh, well. Lesson learned.

A successful blog for me, however, is to keep it going. I don’t always write the blog on the day it is released, and often I try to schedule them in advance, especially if I have a big book project on the go. But posting every day gives me something to aim for, and, hopefully, something for readers to return to. My inspiration has been when reading another author’s daily blog, checking it every day, even though a lot of posts weren’t that interesting, but there was always the thought that maybe tomorrow’s post would be something for me.

Interestingly, I think this is how social media works, too. You keep scrolling, looking for the next post or meme or whatever, in the hope that it will be better than the last.

Yes, apparently, I just compared my blog to social media.

And I’ve come full circle.

Perfect! 🙂

I’d better finish off, and I will do so by thanking you for sticking with me all this time. I intend to keep blogging, every day, and maybe tomorrow there will be that blog post you didn’t know you were looking for, but were excited to read.

Or it will be a filler post such as Random Sledge Dog of the Month.

I happen to like those posts! 🙂

Thanks again.

Chris

I don’t know if it’s easier to reboot myself, or if I really should embrace AI and get rid of my brain. But, Sherlock Holmes in Greenland is now rebooted! 😉

I’m going to go and lie down now… for about a year!

Chris

P.S.

If the image link doesn’t work, here it is again: Sherlock Holmes and The Gallows Growler (reboot) by Chris Paton — Kickstarter

I’m trying out the “embed” function to share stories from my Substack page on my blog. The Ice Stop is a fun and free Petra story. Yes, you have to click the link and go to the Substack page, but you don’t have to subscribe or create an account or anything. 😉

Chris

I’m just going to “borrow” my own text from the book page to introduce this. 😉

Piniartoq: The Hunter is a new Maratse story released on Thursdays after midnight. If you are in a time zone behind Europe, then you get it on Wednesdays. I’m choosing to serialise this story on Substack for two reasons. Firstly, I like the platform and like what I can do with my writing over there. And, number two, I can put it behind a paywall. This means not everyone gets to read it, of course. But I may release it as an eBook or in paperback format in the future. Not sure yet. Have to finish it first! But until then, I’m writing into the winter dark, with no plan, one chapter a week, and no idea where I am going. The characters decide the course of events, and each twist and turn that leads us to them.

Piniartoq has been simmering for at least a year or more, and it’s time to get it out there. I’ll be posting links to the individual chapters on the book page. It’s also possible to see them here on the serial page.

Piniartoq is what I might call a “classic Maratse” story with plenty of ice, adventure, rules and laws to be bent and broken, victims to help and a murderer to catch.

It’s also ongoing and, as I mentioned above, I’m just going to let the characters lead on this one.

Piniartoq will be released as one chapter per week for the foreseeable future, “dropping” on Wednesday/Thursday depending on where you are in the world.

Reading it will require signing up for my Substack page. But there is plenty of other stuff to read there, and I’m filling the digital shelves all the time. 😉

Chris