A key component of MUTINY is a heist, but how and where will it take place? A bank is too obvious and a clue emerges during a team meeting:
The Commander changed the subject by rolling out a large map of the Mediterranean. It was crisscrossed with colored lines, reminding Claudine of her grandmother’s intricate crochet work.
“Now,” said Ted, “before we eat, let’s revise the location. Do any of you recognize this map?”
They leaned forward, intrigued by the mesh of colors laid out on the table.
Nikolai answered first. “I have seen these before when I was doing work for the Croatian navy. Submarine cables by any chance?”
Ted nodded and explained. “Yes and it’s a complex pattern. Most of the fiber optic cables from Asia to Europe cross under the Mediterranean. The Med is Grand Central Station in the network and pivotal to transferring internet data between major economies and military bases. Frances, you may know more about this?”
“Yes, of course, captain,” she replied. “Most global internet traffic travels via undersea cables and at great speed too. One of the fastest undersea cables today is the Marea cable, connecting the USA with Spain. It transmits 160 terabits per second. That’s 16 million times faster than your average home Internet connection.”
The rest is revealed in the depths of MUTINY – great reading over the Christmas period! You can order here. This less than subtle self-promotion is not because I need the income but because my readers have found that MUTINY touches on contemporary issues in a way that is both fascinating and frightening.
My orders for 8 x 3 WISE MEN arrived last night – alas, with poor packaging damage to the books. After some negotiating, Amazon kindly offered a full refund, which was a nice outcome, but little comfort as I prepare for my book launch (of MUTINY) in two weeks’ time. The copies of 3 WISE MEN were for those interested in a package of both books. In addition, these copies of 3 WISE MEN are the revised version following the full edit completed last month. That leads me to an interesting challenge – how to distinguish the new copy from the old? The solution was to include a lovely addition of an e-Type Jaguar car on the back cover (see pic with this post) plus a note on the inside cover.
I have just released a revised edition of 3 WISE MEN. No big changes, just a tidy top of some text and grammar to make a more polished read. And a name change for a lead character. 
What to do on a cold and rainy day? I could finish painting the spare bedroom, but the weather is damp and the paint won’t dry very well. I could take my wife out for a coffee, but she is ill and resting. I could keep editing my new book—or, rather, what I call fine-editing since the major editing is finished. No, I need a new inspiration. So, I decide to work on my first book; produce a new cover, revise the first chapter and update the About the Author page. My goal is to have this done in three days. Meanwhile, my darling publisher Amazon have changed their Kindle format from .mobi to .pub, so that requires more work :-). The next day, I have a head cold and don’t feel like doing much at all. But, the weather is warmer and the painting is almost finished. I’m praying for a better week ahead and a new-look to the bedroom as well as my first book. More news to follow if all goes well. {PS: good progress on both the bedroom renovation and book revisions. The text changes are done and have been uploaded to Amazon. Now I am working with my illustrator with final touches to the cover. All will be revealed soon}
I was having a meeting with a colleague over coffee earlier this week, when the conversation moved onto the subject of ‘reading’. I mentioned that I had just finished my first novel and that it was available on Kindle. My friend got out his phone and quickly looked it up.
Cumulonimbus clouds are those rising columns of unstable air that you often sea on a hot summer’s day. In 3 WISE MEN, Jak’s flight from Rome is directed away from these ‘serpent heads’ soon after takeoff. Let’s pick up the conversation between the control tower in Rome (at Fiumicino Airport) and Jak’s flight.