A new look for an old favourite (and I don't mean yours truly!)

Hello!

Sad as I am to say goodbye to August, there's something wonderful about September. I suppose it's the promise of a fresh start. A new season, a new school year. Back to the routine.

It's been a long time since our boys - now aged 24 and 22 - were at school and the school run seems like a distant memory. But our eldest, Oliver, will be back in the classroom this month (well, lecture hall, to be precise) as he's about to start a Masters in Conservation Science at the University of Kent at Canterbury.

We're very excited for him. Conservation isn't just a passion for Oliver, it's his vocation. Which got me wondering how many people are lucky enough to find their vocation in life.

Did you?

I did. I knew I wanted to be a journalist from the age of fourteen and after a few stints of work experience on our local paper, the Folkestone Extra, I was offered a job as a junior reporter on the East Kent Mercury in Deal.

I spent the next two decades working on various Kent papers. Although it was both high-pressured and stressful at times, I couldn't imagine doing anything else. I'd found my ideal job.

I left journalism to become a police press officer. This was definitely not my ideal job, though if it had been I might never have started writing fiction as a side hustle, so I'm grateful for that. Because being a full-time author is my ultimate dream career.

What could be better than bringing you, my lovely readers, stories you can dive into whenever you feel the need to escape real life?!

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So, what does September look like? First, we have a week in the Lake District to look forward to. We're planning to climb Scafell Pike after failing on our first attempt about four years ago.

Little did we know at the time, as we struggled up the mountain on wobbly legs, we had covid, which we'd caught at a writers' conference the previous weekend, unbeknownst to us.

We made it to the top of Scafell, but admitted defeat when it came to the taller Scafell Pike, and so we'll be having a re-match with the mountain. And this time we plan to win!

I'll be taking my trusty laptop away with me, as it's going to be a bit of a research trip for my next book. I've been making good progress and am already 15,000 words in. I'd like to have the first draft finished by the end of October as I'm planning a November release.

Keep everything crossed for me that the words continue to flow!

So, what's the new book about? Well, first I need to tell you about my next cunning plan, which is to give The Invite, my fifth psych thriller, a brand-new look.

I love this book. It's the perfect revenge thriller. Four friends are invited to a reunion in an isolated country pile in the Cotswolds by their old school friend. What could possibly go wrong?! But I never liked the cover. It always felt a bit too like the cover of a crime novel to me. So I mocked up some ideas and asked the talented Mr Wills to work his magic.

He's still tweaking, so this isn't the finished version, but I wanted you to see it first, because I would love to know what you think. So here are the before and after covers:

Please email me at amanda@ajmcdine.com and let me know whether you like The Invite's new look!

And, as if luck would have it, this leads me neatly to my next bit of news (you know I like you to be the first to know!).

My next book is going to be a sequel to The Invite. I have Lisa P, a member of my ARC team, to thank. Lisa sent me a message after reading The Invite, saying 'Please tell me you are going to write the sequel'. And it got me thinking...

... because I'd been planning to write a Christmas thriller, and I always thought that book would be perfect for a sequel, so I thought, why not?

And so, The Christmas Invite (working title at the moment, though I will probably stick with it) will hopefully be out in November. And this one will be dedicated to Lisa.

I'm picking up Tara's story four years after the chilling events at The Millhouse. She and her friends have been invited to a cottage in the Lake District (hence the research trip!), but little do they know their old enemy, the nefarious Jackson Lennox, is hot on their heels...

I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

That's all from me for now. Don't forget to let me know what you think about the new-look book cover, and speak soon.

Amanda x

A J McDine