P. M. Saul - Author

Yes! I had originally planned a trilogy but now feel that book 1 deserves a standalone ending. The upside is that I already have the plot notes for at least the next two books, so the mysteries will keep coming 👀 Plus I can concentrate on getting book 1 published without having to complete books 2&3

Plans change. Stories decide their own shape ✒️

High Five will no longer be a trilogy. It stands tall on its own, a complete tale 🕵️‍♂️

But the world I’ve built is too dark, too alive, to stop there 🌌

Expect follow-up novels, fresh mysteries, and returning ghosts 👁️ #amwriting #crimefiction #booksky

Just finished redrafting the first 6 chapters of my first novel ✍️📚 (like you do!) and…wow.

So much tighter, sharper, better?

Apologies to any agents who got the “early edition” 😬😂 You really should read it again. Go on. I dare you! 🥹📩

#amwriting #amquerying #booksky #writerslife

Went on holiday ✈️☀️ with no pen, no pad, no laptop 💻 - a forced break, I told myself.

Came back with napkins full of scribbles, scribbles on newspaper scraps and café receipts covered in half-legible ideas.

Turns out the writer always sneaks through ✍️🧳

#amwriting #writerslife #booksky

Off on holiday soon ☀️🧳 and facing the ultimate writer’s dilemma:

Laptop 💻 for proper writing?

Notepad 📝 for scribbles on sunbeds?

Or…nothing at all 🤯 to force an actual break?

Either way, my suitcase knows I’m lying to myself. 💻 ✍️ 📝 📚

#amwriting #booksky #writerslife

📬 I love literary agents. I hate literary agents.

I swing between literary genius and over-caffeinated wreck every time I refresh my inbox. I sit here like a loyal labrador saying “please pick me.”

They hold my future, I hold a high score in compulsive email checking.

🥲📚✍️ 😂

#amquerying #booksky

Re-read Book 1 this weekend. 📘

Still proud. Still obsessed.

A few lines might get a polish ✍️ because of course they will. 🔍

Question for published authors: does the urge to tinker ever truly fade? Or do you just learn to let go?

#booksky #amediting #amwriting #writingcommunity #HighFiveTrilogy

Don’t jinx it, Sam. 😂 If Book 2 misbehaves, I’ll blame you when I’m outlining Book 5 in a dark corner surrounded by empty coffee cups and conspiracy boards. 🕵️‍♂️📚✨

The day job’s a bit less demanding these days, so in theory I can fire off a few books a year now. That’s the dream, anyway! 📚✨

#amwriting #HighFiveTrilogy #booksky

I started what has become High Five (Book 1) back in 2016 ✍️ It was meant to be one book.

Naturally it has turned into a trilogy.📚 📚 📚

Book 1 is finally done ✅.

Now to wrestle Book 2 into shape before it decides to become a five-book saga 🔍🕵️‍♂️.

#HighFiveTrilogy
#amwriting #crimefiction #booksky

Haha! S12 is basically my writing panic room - classified words, secret plot twists, plausible deniability if anyone asks!

Tomorrow I’m working from home.

Spreadsheet open, manuscript open, mug of fake productivity nearby.

If my clingy mortgage-paying ex (aka the day job) wants me, it’ll have to find me hiding in cell S12.

📚😏 #HighFiveTrilogy #WFH #writerlife #amwriting #booksky

The sun’s actually here for once and I’m under strict orders (from myself) to “make the most of it.”

Laptop’s fully charged, manuscript’s glaring, but let’s be honest - I’ll just lie here, watch clouds ☁️, call it “creative incubation” 🧠, maybe nap 😴.

Productivity, sort of.☀️

#booksky #amwriting

Fair point! I’d probably melt at 34 degrees too - at least here the chaos keeps you on your toes.

Try and send me a few rays though - enough to fool myself the washing line isn’t just decorative. 😂🌦️

Lake District “summer” update: I went for a wander, I wore sunglasses, I got rained on sideways, I ate an ice cream anyway.

10/10 would recommend if you enjoy weather-related identity crises and explaining to tourists that, yes, this is the good weather. 🌧️🍦😆

#LakeDistrict #writerslife

Love this, Sarah!

A cunning plan - either capture ideas or guarantee a dramatic sprint home mid-thought.

Thanks for the nudge to wander! 🌳✍️😆

I think I will leave the notebook behind. The ink would only run anyway - it’s usually raining where I live! 🌧️

Love it!

Snacks, commas, AND a brain wander? Now you’re talking.

Might let Book 2 stew in the corner while I test if biscuits count as creative fuel. 🍪🧠

Thanks, it’s a solid plan!

Got an unexpected afternoon off work.

Do I dive into writing Book 2? Reread Book 1 (again!) to wrestle every stubborn comma?

Or give my brain a proper break for once?

Fellow writers - what would you do? 📚✍️😅

Suggestions (or distractions) very welcome!

#amwriting #writerslife #booksky

The waiting room is quiet. Too quiet. 🕰️

Redman’s tapping the table. 🕵️‍♂️

I’m going round in circles plotting Books 2 & 3 📚

Truth is, we’re both listening for news that may or may not come.

Pass the matches 🔥 And maybe a biscuit 🍪

#amwriting #HighFiveTrilogy #crimefiction #amquerying

Redman can handle crime scenes, severed fingers, conspiracies 🕵️‍♂️🩸

Not sure he could cope waiting for a literary agent’s reply, that’s a real torture.

He’d pour another whisky 🥃, light a match, mutter: Cruel and unusual punishment.

Me? Same. Pass the whisky.

#amwriting #amquerying #HighFiveTrilogy

Book 1: done ✅ Early chapters: out on submission 🤞🕵️‍♂️

Taking a breath, then it’s on to continuing the plotting for Book 2 📚

Redman’s not finished. Neither am I.

A few secrets left to dig up — and a few to bury deeper.

Onwards.

#amwriting #HighFiveTrilogy #crimefiction

Took a day’s holiday and…I think I’ve finished Book 1!

High Five finally has a beginning, middle and now an ending.

Early chapters are already out on submission 🤞🕵️‍♂️

Can’t wait for people to read the whole thing.

Hopefully that day isn’t too far off.

#amwriting #HighFiveTrilogy #crimefiction

Lunch break: 60 minutes

Plot wrangling: 42 minutes

Re-reading the same line: 15 minutes

Actual editing: 3 minutes (while brushing off crumbs)

Writing during lunch always sounds productive…until it isn’t

Might need longer lunches. Or fewer characters with secrets

#amwriting #HighFiveTrilogy

Rewrite of Act 3 of High Five is in full swing.

Secrets surfacing 🕵️‍♂️ Threads tightening 🧵 Redman’s running out of road 🛣️

The end’s in sight—but so is the edge.

Darkness 🌑 Deadlines ⏳ And one last severed truth 🩸

Time to finish what was buried.

#amwriting #HighFiveTrilogy #crimefiction

My first response is usually: “The river flows backwards and the dog barked thrice.”
Only one ever replied — something like “WHAT!?”
Every other time? Exactly as you described above. Spot on, Paul.

Wrote three words. Deleted four.

Blaming the heat, the humidity, and Redman’s refusal to cooperate.

High Five isn’t happening today - but stories wait. They simmer.
Once the air clears, the words will come.

They usually do.

#amwriting #HighFiveTrilogy #crimefiction

Love this.
We don’t just write the story — we wrestle it, revise it, and sometimes rewrite it in our own blood (or at least cold coffee!).
You’re right… every twist is part of the journey. 📚✍️
Here’s hoping mine ends with publication 🤞🏻

Deb, this might be the most inspiring thing I’ve read all week. Behind the dumpsters to behind the desk. That’s the writer’s grind right there.
I’ll raise a coffee to your 4AM grit and get back to my own plot twists. Thanks for the encouragement. I really needed it today! ☕📚

Weekend mode: activated.

Clocking off the day job, clocking onto the drama.

Redman’s brooding, Jenny’s missing, Mercer’s being cryptic and the glove’s back on the table.

Time to write like someone’s life depends on it.

(Spoiler: it probably does.)

📚🕵️‍♂️🔥

#amwriting #HighFiveTrilogy