Hi everyone.
Somehow, summer’s done with. Yes, my favourite season of the year would just drop by, fly past, and disappear without as much as a kiss goodbye, right? Now time for the over-romanticised autumn leaves, followed by the hell that is a snowy winter.
I’m not bitter. Promise.
Seasonal drama aside, Winter 2014 (from now to the end of the year for the sakes of this blog post) is set to be a very exciting time of the year if you’re a fan of my fiction, and a very busy time of the year if you’re… well. If you’re me.
There’s new stuff on the way for Dead Days and Brian McDone fans, as well as two entirely new projects altogether, one of which I have an exclusive cover reveal for below.
Here we go…
September – Bubblegum Smoothie (Blake Dent Mysteries Book 1)
First up in the hectic schedule is Bubblegum Smoothie, the first book in the Blake Dent mystery/thriller series that I’ve been working on this year.
How does Blake Dent differ from, say, the McDone series? Well, it’s got a sense of humour, for one. And although it does have that trademark darkness (it wouldn’t be a Ryan Casey work if it didn’t), there’s plenty of laughs and banter between the main characters along the way to add a bit of a smile to the mix.
Blake Dent is a bounty hunter who catches criminals for a living. He lives by the mantra that he’s retired until he needs money to get by, which he spends on lavishly indulgent boy’s toys. His only goal in life is owning a curved TV, to add to his enormous technology collection.
But when someone starts brutally murdering people, Blake is forced to catch the killer by the inept and under-funded local police. Lured by the promise of a life-changing sum of money and blackmailed with the threat of jail for an act committed way in his past, Blake must stop the killer before their horrifying puzzle is completed.
Take one portion of darkness, add a large handful of humour, and sprinkle a helping of mystery on top, and you end up with Bubblegum Smoothie, the first book in the Blake Dent Mystery series launching this September.
Sound intrigued? You should be! It was an absolute blast of a book to write, and there’s some fun references to my other series characters in there too.
Oh yeah. I promised a cover reveal, didn’t I? Well, seeing as you asked nicely…
Nice, eh? Great job from Yoly at Cormar Covers, as always. Yoly also designed the McDone series, as well as Sinkers and The Hunger. Always delivers a fantastic and original design. Cheers, Yoly!
Bubblegum Smoothie will launch in the next couple of weeks, but we’ll tentatively say “the end of September” for now.
So make sure Green Day wake you up in time for that one.
Oh, and something else. I might have a little surprise on launch day, too. So stay tuned…
October – Sunlight (Working Title)
Not a lot I can say about Sunlight right now, other than it’s one that will excite Dead Days fans very much.
The truth is, a writer often takes some time to really understand which stories they enjoy writing most. For me? I love writing post-apocalyptic stories. And I love character driven drama. I like to hope that Dead Days delivers on both counts, and I’d like to think Sunlight will too.
Okay, a little more of a teaser. Just a little.
Sunlight is about an unusual pairing in an unusual situation. It’s about three people pulling together, against all odds, in the most dangerous of post-apocalyptic scenarios.
It’s something that will intrigue fans of Dead Days, as well as appealing to new crowds.
At least that’s the hope!
More on that soon. Got to edit the damn thing first…
November – Brian McDone Book 4
Yep, McDone is back! For his third mystery of the year too. Hell, he’s getting way too old for all of this.
But hey. Criminals don’t give a damn about McDone’s age. He’s got work to do.
The fourth McDone book is probably the strangest of the lot, and I mean that in a good way (I hope). Strange in terms of the crime–it’s unique, it’s challenging, it’s something that gives our grumpy detective many a sleepless night. I’m really excited about this book. Really excited about the twisting, turning nature of the core mystery. Really excited about some of the links to the past.
Oh, yeah. There are little nods to the past. So maybe now’s a good time to get started on books one to three if you haven’t already…
I’m currently writing this one, so I don’t want to talk about it too much. I find it takes away from the creative process a little. Rest assured: it’s classic McDone.
December – Dead Days: Season 4
Ahh yes, the big one.
No point dancing around the truth: Dead Days is by far my most popular series. In fact, many of you readers would be perfectly happy if I just wrote Dead Days all the time, from what I’ve gathered. And I thank you all for that. I am humbled and proud of the response this baby of a series is getting. Thank you.
Season 4 is all planned out, and I’m so excited for it. Season 3 was, in my opinion, the best yet so it’ll take some topping. But I’ve got some really cool plans that will hopefully thrill you Dead Days-ers as much as they thrill me as a writer. After all, if a writer can’t be positive about their project, what’s the point?!
Dead Days Season 4 starts with a bang. The chess pieces are all there, and you’ll likely be surprised at just how quickly it gets going. There are so many little character arcs I can’t wait to explore. So many plot twists set to unravel, secrets to be explained…
Dead Days Season 4 will also be slightly more hopeful than Season 3. I won’t say it’ll be “positive,” because that’d be lying. But Dead Days Season 3 was really dark. That was in the pits of darkness. The characters have been there, pulled through (or not), and they now must live with those scars. Which isn’t positive at all, I know. But there’s hope there this season. Real hope.
It’ll also be infinitely more badass. That I can promise.
So stay tuned for all of these projects, whether you’re a Dead Days fan, a McDone fan, or a new reader looking for something dark, witty and unpredictable.
If you’d like to be notified when any of these books are available, as well as receiving the occasional special offer on my books, head over to the following page: https://ryancaseybooks.com/fanclub
Time for me to get back to work.
As miserable as those bloody autumn leaves outside my window make me feel. 😉