Well, it’s been a busy time in my life. There have been many changes, mainly for the good, but you didn’t come here to read about my personal life – this isn’t Livejournal and it’s not 2005 anymore.

In terms of writing, I finished the first draft of my new novel. It started great and lost its way as I carried on with the story. I kind of wrote myself into a corner, so I let it sit for a while, put it to the back of my mind and came back to it with fresh eyes. And guess what? The second draft is full steam ahead. This is my favourite part of the process – taking something apart and putting it back together again to make it (hopefully) better.

The first draft was very dark. In fact, it might be the darkest thing I’ve ever written. Now, if you’ve read Pills, you’ll know that means it’s pretty messed up. But it’s also flowing well – the characters are alive; the settings are bold and I think it works. It is also quite scary, but there’s something that I thought it lacked. There were gaps.

It’s strange where inspiration comes from, because the thing that got me over the hump was helping my son with a school art project. I cannot really delve into specifics as I’d be in spoiler territory, but we were working on a sculpture together and then it hit me. All of a sudden, I had this creepy, nasty little hook that completed the story. And it came from a sweet school project. I guess that juxtaposition of sweet and evil is something that highlights the horror.

Anyway, now I have to rejig, incorporate new elements, resurrect dead characters I shouldn’t have killed off the first time around say goodbye to some that perhaps outlived their useful life in the first draft.

I love this process. I don’t care if anyone reads it, I don’t care if anyone likes it. Doing this shit is what keeps me sane.

What’s the strangest place you’ve ever found inspiration? Let me know in the comments.