The 'End' is (almost) nigh
It's the morning of Monday, February 3, and tomorrow is a big day.
Tomorrow, Amazon pre-orders open for my second novel, 'End of a Century', and we'll finally and formally unveil the book's glorious cover – another brilliant piece of work from Hannah Nystrom, who also designed the cover for 'How Soon Is Now?'
I've been keeping full details of the book under wraps until now, partly because it's fun to hold a few secrets back, but mostly to avoid information overload.
I suppose there's no harm in giving away a few more details now, though.

So what is 'End of a Century'? Well, it's a love story. And a mystery. And a quest story. With a tiny, tiny hint of the fantastical tucked away inside. But, being a love story, of course there's magic in there. Love is magic.
It's about a young man called Des, who, in 1995, buys a vintage blue suit from the 1960s, then meets a young woman called Poppy. She's already attached and, as his friends keep reminding him, completely out of his league – but Des has a plan...
It's funny. It's sweet. It's – hopefully – charming.
More than anything, 'End of a Century' is the book I wanted to write after 'How Soon Is Now?'. I've mentioned this before, but coming straight from a big, complex and often dark story, I was ready for some sunshine. So, if 'How Soon Is Now?' was a story of autumn, 'End of a Century' is a story of summer. It's a story of new relationships and the putting away of old patterns and notions, and it arrived almost fully-formed.
One morning, I sat down and wrote a story outline, chapter by chapter, and the plot stayed pretty much true to that outline – the biggest part of the process was refining the characters through draft after draft. For a story about relationships (and, though there's one big one at the heart of the book, there are lots of criss-crossing and interconnecting relationships throughout), the people had to feel real, their progressions through the story true and unforced.
The only big change was the arrival of Roy. I had a scene which involved Des doing a bit of low-level detective work and an unnamed neighbour offering up some useful information. But when it came to writing the scene, somehow, from who-knows-where, Roy arrived instead, and never left. You'll meet Roy soon enough. I think you'll like him.
I hope you'll enjoy spending time with all of these people. They're funny, they're flawed and, usually, they're trying their best.
Which, I suppose, makes this story about young adults in 1995 more timely than ever. Because one thing the world of 2025 really needs is more decent people trying to do the right thing.
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