So, there’s a chance you might have noticed I’m not teaching anymore! 😉 Of Dogs and Men is live today.
This is #24 in the Constable David Maratse series of novellas.
Constable David Maratse
Go behind the scenes!
This is one of those “love ’em or loathe ’em” posts. I happen to love writing short stories, and I really appreciate the support of readers willing to take a chance on a short story – a 20-30 minute read – especially in these inflated times.
Not sure inflated works in that sentence, but prices sure are inflated at the moment.
Behind the Scenes is capped at 0.99. I will bundle the stories at a later date, which means a better deal for interested readers who are willing to wait.
But what’s so special about Behind the Scenes? Of course, I am the wrong person to ask, but I had a lot of fun writing this one. I know, I know, I say that all the time, and it’s true. But Behind the Scenes is set in an alternative timeline, where we meet Maratse and Kamiila Sorsuttartoq from the Guerrilla Greenland series. Petra pops up in the novellas from the series, and she’s… well she’s married, with two kids!
What?
Yeah, I know. Like I said… so much fun to write. And in an alternative time… anything goes!
But wait, Petra’s not in this one.
And it’s pretty much just another survival/hunt – i.e. being hunted – story set in winter in Greenland. Now, that might sound familiar. It’s what I do. But a lot of readers seem to like these kind of stories. If that’s you, then feel free to dive on in!
And that brings me to the point of this post (finally, sigh) Behind the Scenes comes out today, on Amazon (link), and in the Kindle Unlimited streaming programme.
You can read Behind the Scenes as a standalone short story, jump into the series of novellas beginning with Arctic State, or read the first of the Guerrilla Greenland shorts: Radio Free Will.
Chris
Upcoming releases – February 2022
I’m still putting things together for January, and hope to put out a couple of short stories on the fly. However, two books are scheduled for release in February, including:
The American Artisan (novella)
When ghosts from an old case haunt an American artist as he walks the streets of Nuuk, Constable David Maratse is recalled to Greenland’s capital to investigate.
The American Artisan is the twenty-third in a series of novellas to feature Constable David Maratse in Greenland.
This is a fun one as one of the main characters is named after a backer of a recent Kickstarter campaign. The tone, however, isn’t fun, as that character is in peril, of course.
The Crocodile Beat* (novel)
In Australia’s vast and desolate Northern Territory, Constable Petra ‘Piitalaat’ Jensen’s most southerly missing persons case might just be her last.
Forced to take some well-earned leave, Petra searches for solace in the Australian Outback, only to find herself caught up in the search for a missing police sergeant.
The Crocodile Beat is the thirteenth in the Greenland Missing Persons series of novellas and novels normally set in the harsh, unpredictable Arctic, rich in tradition, myth and culture.
Both books will be posted to Amazon on the day of release, but may take up to a day to be visible.
However, The Crocodile Beat will be available in more stores as I try something new. It won’t be available in Kindle Unlimited, but it will be available for streaming in Kobo Plus. I’m trying new things in 2022 in the hope to gain more exposure.
We’ll see what happens.
Chris
*Edit (February 5, 2022): The Crocodile Beat will be a stand-alone novel. Sigh. 🙂
The Carpathian Connection
And the first release of 2022 is The Carpathian Connection! Now, it is a short story, and unfortunately I can’t claim the words for my million word challenge as I wrote it in 2021. But it’s LIVE!
The Carpathian Connection is a short story, written as a reward for a Kickstarter campaign (I did change the name of one of the characters for this release). It’s around 8,000 words, or just over 25 paperback pages. The story features Constable David Maratse and reunites him with Constable Nujakina Uppik. She turned up for the first time in The Skin Drum, and I’m curious that she returned for this story. It’s one of those odd moments when needing a character for the story, they just arrive, as if waiting in the wings, holding up their hands, and saying, “I’ll take this one.”
I know. It’s weird. But that’s what happens.
The story starts with the discovery of a body, of course, and then Maratse does his thing. There is a chase, plenty of Greenland “stuff” – you know, boats, bergs, and bodies.
I think it’s a fun read. 🙂
I’ll be back with another post tomorrow. (Note to self: got to figure out how to get a girl out of a burning barn… working on it!)
Chris
Some method, plenty of madness!
I was recently interviewed for Mystery & Suspense Magazine about writing crime novellas, and to share some thoughts on why novellas can be a really good length for crime stories, and why so few crime writers write them.
If that sounds like a contradiction in terms, then you’re absolutely right. It is contradictory. But, as I mention in the interview – alongside a host of fantastic authors, I might add – novellas work for me in many different ways.
I wrote my very first Maratse novella: Katabatic between the Fenna novels and Seven Graves, One Winter. The experience was liberating, and I was consumed by the story, inspired by the length, and motivated to write more.
I wrote a lot more.
And with each novella I wrote, I allowed myself to explore topics, writing styles, and new characters within a ‘safe’ and supportive story format. Safe in this context hopefully doesn’t mean boring, as I had so much fun writing Maratse’s novellas, and that fun spilled over into the Greenland Missing Persons series too.
I don’t go in for padding. A story is the length it needs to be, and if that length is a novella, and it works, then it makes no sense to pad it out to hit publishers’ (and readers’) expectations of longer works. Some stories demand more pages, and that works too. But a story is meant to entertain, and I’m sure we’ve all read stories that could have been 100 pages shorter. Likewise, many readers who have enjoyed my novellas often wish they were a bit longer.
I understand that too.
And so I still write novels.
But I’m itching to write more novellas.
However, I think it’s best to return to this topic later, and give you a chance to read the article first.
The interviewer, William Burton McCormick, is an established author in his own right, and has recently published one of his award winning short stories.
I’ll be back with more thoughts about novellas and short stories later.
Chris
When you strike gold
Denmark has, in my opinion, one of the best library systems in the world. I’m not sure “systems” is the right word, but everything is connected. All the libraries are connected. I can order something from the database, and it might be plucked from the Royal Danish Air Force library and sent to my local library to be picked up. I’ve ordered articles from old newspapers and a librarian scans it and sends me the PDF. I can watch 100 films or documentaries every month, and borrow the DVDs of those films not available for streaming. CDs, board games, computer games – anything you want, and more, when you’re not careful. Like the time I thought it would be interesting to read Sir Richard Burton’s notes from 1001 Arabian Nights. Well, they arrived, all 13 volumes, but they were so old I had to read them at the library.
I must admit, I bit off more than I could chew there. But nevertheless, it is a rare occasion indeed when the Danish library cannot deliver.
Sometimes it feels like magic, as a certain character of mine might say.
However, another character of mine is rather less loquacious. And whereas I know where he got his name from, I did not know the name Maratse also belonged to the man believed to be the very last shaman in Greenland.
I only discovered this recently, but now, thanks to the library, I have Kirsten Bang’s book in my hand.
There’s not much to say at the moment, other than how cool I think it is that with all the shamanism (fictional and heavily dramatised) in my books, I love the fact that there’s a link, if only in name, to my main character.
So I’m going to put aside A Very Stable Genius which I’m currently reading, and crack open a very old book about a very old man, and see if I can’t lose myself in East Greenland for a while.
More on that later.
Chris