I'm still keeping tight-lipped about book three for now (publisher's orders!), but I'm pleased to report that it's progressing well. I've just spent the last month performing the first stage of major edits, and today it has gone back to my editor. In the past this has meant the next stage is line edits, but I suspect it might need a touch more work before that.

Edits usually go something like this for me:

- The edit letter arrives, and I panic that the book is broken and can't be saved. This time around the edit letter was 10 pages long (my longest yet) and pointed to some pretty major problems.

- A couple of days pass, the book never leaving my mind, and the edit letter begins to sink in. I'm able to think critically about it and begin to see the sense of the advice I've been given.

- Then I'll sit down with the manuscript, the chapter outline, the edit letter, and numerous pages of notes in front of me and begin to plot out in practical terms what needs doing. This takes a couple of days.

​- This will then be boiled down to a 'master document' that includes everything, large and small, that needs to be added, changed, worked on, etc.

- I'll then do a new version of the chapter outline with all changes required added in bold, so I can work out exactly where they fit in the story.

- Throughout this process I'll have consumed my weight in biscuits.

- Now I'm ready to actually start making changes! I'll go through the manuscript from chapter one to the end and make the changes as I go. My brain seems to benefit from working in a linear fashion, and by this time, although I will refer to my notes frequently, I have a good grasp of what needs doing and can work on instinct.

- That said, I'll also make notes as I go for stuff I'm going to come back to, things I need to check etc. The biggest problem is that changing one thing in the book requires changes elsewhere, often 'behind' where I'm working. This is where operating in a linear fashion falls down a bit. So once I've been through from A-B, I'll go back and work on all those odd bits and keep hammering them into shape. Having a checklist here helps a lot, and shows you're making progress, which is good for morale.

- Once I'm satisfied that everything on my list is done, I'll print the manuscript and read it aloud from start to finish, making hand-written notes that might be as simple as adding or removing a comma, or much bigger stuff like moving a paragraph elsewhere, adding new bits, working on character stuff... all sorts! Even at this stage there is always at least one thing on every page. 

- Then I make those changes on the actual document! At this point I have to trust that I've caught everything for now, so I flash through only to the parts that need work rather than reading the whole thing again.

- Lastly, I'll go through and make sure chapter numbers are correct, there are no big formatting woes, etc. And then it can go back to the editor!

Doing all this in a month is fast for me (keep in mind I'm working on it alongside my full-time day job). Once I got my head around what was needed I had a very clear idea of what needed doing on the page), which allowed me to work quickly. I was also lucky to have the long Easter weekend where I could work 10+ hours a day on it. I also took a couple of days off work to dedicate to the edits. 

Editing can be a strange process. One day you're certain the book is good, and you're making it better. The next day you're convinced the book sucks and nothing you can do will improve it. I also struggle with looking at the achievements of other authors. While I was editing this book, other authors won awards, announced big new deals, released big new books. It's hard not to be affected by thoughts that I'm working so hard on this book and it will never be as successful as those, few people will ever read it, I'm wasting my time. That's why I did my best just to get my head down, crack on, and make it the best I can.

I do believe very strongly in this book. I believe it's the best book I've written yet. It's timely, more human, less cynical, and features characters I truly love. It's also, like all my books, not something everybody is going to like. And I'm okay with that.

Hopefully I'll be able to tell you more about it soon!

I love little more in my reading life than a really good weird YA book (there's a reason I write weird books, after all). So I've decided to start a series of videos dedicated to weird and wonderful YA!

Here's the first one:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkfQORE24ew&feature=youtu.be

​It's about magical realism in YA, specifically books about young people suffering some kind of emotional distress who begin to see a mysterious creature that can help them through it. It's a specific, well-populated sub-genre!

As the video is about Weird YA, I figured the video itself should be pretty weird. You've been warned!

Every week I'm posting a chapter from my first completed (unpublished) novel BLACK MARKET BEARDS. You can find out more about it here.

If you missed it, here's chapter 4.

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The short drop drove Rowan’s ribs into the mole’s shoulder and spattered his face with something cold and wet. The grainy taste of earth met his tongue as he swept it around his lips.
           
His mole lurched sideways, and then struggled upwards and level again. Mud slurped like the last drops of a milkshake being sucked through a straw, obviously hindering the mole’s progress.
           
​Once again Rowan was engulfed in darkness. If he stayed in the Pockets much longer, he’d have to learn to see in the dark. The sound of other moles squelching through the mud came from ahead, and soon his own carrier was lumbering after them. 

Every week I'm going to be posting a chapter from my first completed (unpublished) novel BLACK MARKET BEARDS. You can find out more about it here.

If you missed it, here's chapter 3.

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They were hit by a wave of dirt, peppering them hard with stones and earth. Rowan threw an arm across his face to protect his eyes.

The baying of animal noises and the crashes of the incoming attack all collapsed into one another to become a single deafening roar. The only sound to rise above it was the scrabbling of claws at the walls.
           
​Another explosion blew through the cells, once again pelting Rowan with rubble. The clang and clatter of collapsing metal rang in his ears.

Every week I'm going to be posting a chapter from my first completed (unpublished) novel BLACK MARKET BEARDS. You can find out more about it here.

If you missed it, here's chapter 2.

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Rowan wasn’t sure if he’d slept. How long had it been since Doremi and his wolf padded away from the cell, Fasol and Latido grinning smugly as they followed? It could have been minutes, or it could have been hours.
           
Thoughts flashed through his mind like a lightning storm. This could all be a dream. Perhaps the thunder had penetrated his sleep and bullied it into a nightmare.
           
Yet as Rowan lay on his back and stared at his blue nylon slippers, he knew that it wasn’t a dream. Marvin was right: he really was in quite a pickle.
           
​Why had he been so scared of a little thunder? If he’d been stronger he could have seen the bandits off, screamed, scratched, bitten; anything to chase them from his dad’s bedroom. 

Every week I'm going to be posting a chapter from my first completed (unpublished) novel BLACK MARKET BEARDS. You can find out more about it here.

If you missed it, here's chapter 1.

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Chapter 2

When Rowan woke up he was hanging upside down. For a moment he thought he was at school, being held up by the ankles so that everything tipped out of his pockets.   Before it had happened to him, Rowan had thought that such cruelty only existed in cartoons.

Every week I'm going to be posting a chapter from my first completed (unpublished) novel BLACK MARKET BEARDS. You can find out more about it here.

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Chapter 1

It is a shame to begin a story with the main character holding dirty underpants. But that is how this story must begin, for that is what Rowan was doing. He stood in the entrance of his dad’s room, clutching a week’s worth of washing to his chest. The dirty clothes basket was inside, in the darkness, where the wolves were.

In the name of keeping this blog a little more active, I thought it might be fun to post the first novel I ever wrote (unpublished), chapter-by-chapter, as proof that all published writers start somewhere. Even if they eventually go nowhere, finishing a novel for the first time is a hugely important step as a writer, because it proves you can do it!

For years I was rarely perturbed by birthdays because I was content to be tangibly shuffled closer to death.

There are two extremes of handling a birthday after the invincible teenage years: tenacious celebration or existential breakdown. Most people fall somewhere toward either end.

A string of demoralising birthdays in my teens and early 20s - including an aborted stand-up comedy performance, more than one birthday spent in involuntary isolation, and a dehydrating night of hotel pornography - have seen me traditionally swing between the despairing end of the spectrum, every year serving to highlight my failure to prove the worth of my existence, and celebration - one less year to struggle through!

Arbitrary as it may be, reaching 30 years old is a significant milestone for anybody. For me, it feels like an achievement, because for a long time I never thought I would reach it.

Three years ago, shortly before my 27th birthday, I was contemplating suicide, convinced I was worthless enough to justify it. One morning I stood at the end of a train platform and, as the train approached, I dared myself to do it, my body clamouring to find that fatal momentum. I felt profoundly hopeless, and the thought of living another day, let alone another three years to reach my 30th birthday, was unbearable.

Thankfully my life has improved since then. What kept my feet on the platform that day was my debut book deal - I had always hoped to be published before I was 30. Despite multitudes of personal failure, I knew I would achieve that, at least.

In fact I've managed to publish two books before today, my debut Panther and this year's The Fallen Children. There are plans for more. I've also fallen in love, made brilliant new friends, become indentured to the tenuous self-worth of full-time employment, and have the privilege of living with the two best cats in the world.
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Still, it isn't these things that most encourage me to commemorate my 30th birthday. It's the realisation that life is difficult, and always will be - the tides of depression will always threaten to wash back over my head. Instead of dreading birthdays or welcoming them as the harbinger of death, I must treat them - particularly a milestone like 30 which, three years ago, seemed impossible - as proof that I'm up to the task of survival. That's a real reason to celebrate.

THE FALLEN CHILDREN has been out for about 6 weeks now, and I couldn't be happier with the response to it. Although I knew it wouldn't be universally liked, and reviews reflect that, the amount of positive feedback I've had has been overwhelming.

In a totally-not-self-indulgent move, I thought I'd round up a few reviews here (the positive ones, obviously).

The Guardian (print): "Owen examines teenage credibility, mob mentality and how love, or the lack of it, shapes any kind of life. This is a riveting refashioning of a science fiction classic." 

The Irish Times: "...this is not shy about its intentions to sympathise with and empower young people, but the science-fiction angle ensures that it is also a gripping, engrossing read."

SFX Magazine (print): "Engrossing, unusual, and unpatronising."

Shift Zine: "David has managed to bring a classic science fiction story up to speed, using his superb voice to pull out the hopelessness of many modern teens from poorer, working class backgrounds."

The Book Bag: "It's an interesting premise, has great pace, and a thoroughly absorbing sense of claustrophobia in the setting confined to a tower block."

Vicki in Neverland: "Another book I couldn't put down, I was hooked! I remember when I was only about 100 pages in saying "this book is so creepy but so good!""

​THE FALLEN CHILDREN is available right now!