What’s next?

I’m getting lots of people asking me what I’m going to be writing next. I should say at this time the contract has not been agreed, but it looks likely that I will be writing a contemporary mystery/thriller trilogy based initially in the Florida Keys. The story will have a strong SF/Fantasy twist, but will not relate to any of my previous stories. I don’t want to give too much away, but the story is planned to explore the aura of mystery surrounding the Bermuda Triangle and the disappearances of aircraft and ships that appear to abound in that area. It will very much blend fact with fiction.

Whilst out in Florida on holiday, I went down to the Keys for 3 days to talk with some of the people who in reality would be most involved in my story if it were real. Everyone I spoke with was most helpful. The Sheriff’s Office, the Coastguard, the US Navy, the Key West Citizen Newspaper, the local historian, various Marine Research Agencies all gave me loads of fantastic information that will help me to (hopefully) give this story a very realistic edge. I have hours of taped interviews and stacks of books/leaflets etc to wade back through, but you’ll be pleased to hear that I’m going to start the story today. Boats like this one enforce the law in the waters of the Keys. They will play an interesting role in the story.

Given the tropical paradise setting and climate, it is unsurprising that some well known writers chose to settle here. The hotel I stayed in was opposite the home of Ernest Hemingway. Some of you may have heard of him!

Unsurprisingly, perhaps, fish and fishing are the main commercial interest in the Keys (as well as tourism, of course). One of the creatures most important to the Keys is this guy.

He’s a spiny lobster, (actually, this is a moult - the poor fellow had outgrown this shell and was trying to hide from the other lobsters in the tank.) The locals call them ‘bugs’. Personally I’d call them monsters!