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##########Nothing Else Remains:
The compulsive read (Porter and Styles Book 2)####
Book 3 Coming soon...
For the book 3, All That Is Buried, cover reveal and snippets, it’s preordering on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/That-Buried-Porter-Styles-Book-ebook/dp/B07VBK54K2/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=robert+scragg&qid=1568639334&s=digital-text&sr=1-4
1.. During writing your 2nd book, how did you handle your time seeing baby number 2 was on its way.
Just between you, I and the people reading your site, I felt like I cheated in a roundabout way. Nothing Else Remains was actually written before What Falls Between The Cracks, albeit under a different title at the time, but long before baby number two was on the way. It got some interest but ultimately didn’t get me an agent at the time. Wind forward around a year to when I signed with A&B, they asked what ideas I had for book 2, and I already had it done. I naively thought I;d get away with tweaking a few things, changing dates to make it a sequel rather than prequel, etc. When I actually started re-reading though, I was cringing by the end of the first chapter, and knew there was no way I could submit as it stood. It was just daft things like using ten words when five would do, and just over-doing it in places. I decided to re-do the whole thing from scratch using the original manuscript as my outline - not as painful as it sounds! Definitely the right call though - the original version should never see the light of day! Once I’ve got a deadline in general though, I’m fairly disciplined, and stuck to my minimum 1,000 words per day, mainly early mornings and late evenings around the day job.
2. I see plenty of readers reading and enjoying book 1 & 2. But if you get a review not so flavoursome, how do you react.
I started off reading every single review, but struggle for time nowadays. There weren’t that many, how shall we put it, “uncomplimentary” ones to be honest. The way I look at it, is that not every book will hit the mark for every reader, and people are entitled to their opinions. I have seen some that get rather personal though, instead of any kind of constructive criticism, and there’s no need for that if you ask me. I did get one email from a reader regarding book 2, as opposed to a review, that was quite scathing about a particular aspect (can’t reveal which as it’d be a spoiler). I wrote back and explained why I’d chosen things to play out as they had though, what research I’d done, and with genuine reasons why I’d written what I had that had nothing to do with the theme they’d taken offence to, and they were fine with it after that.
3. Allison & Busby seem a great publishing house and keep me updated. Is the first publishers you’ve worked with.
Yep, at the risk of sounding like a line from a Chesney Hawkes song, they are the one and only I’ve worked with. I’m still quite new to the whole writing gig, and they were the ones to take a chance on me with my debut. I have a few ideas outside of crime as well though, so depends if they’re interested in those as well, as and when I get round to writing them versus looking elsewhere.
4. Having 2 little ones take up lots of time, how do you fit in your writing between family time
In a bizarre way, it’s gotten easier now we’ve got the two little ones to keep us busy. Book 3 (All That Is Buried - out in January) was the quickest first draft I’ve ever written. From start to finish it took 57 days, and a lot of that was down to a sense of “quick, they’re asleep - must get a few hundred words done!” I found myself writing in more short bursts, but getting a higher daily work count. It was also the first genuine deadline I’ve had in the sense of starting from absolute scratch, and I tend to work better when my back’s against the wall. Whether that was a one off remains to be seen! The non-writing part of being an author has been challenging this year though. What Falls Between the Cracks was part of a Libraries programme earlier this year, that saw me drive around 3,500 miles for 15 events not long after my daughter was born. That’s on top of a full-time day job too, so needless to say my wife deserves a medal for holding the fort at home while I zipped around talking in libraries about people I made up in my head :-)
'Intricately plotted and expertly paced, Nothing Else Remains is British crime writing at its finest' M. W. Craven, author of The Puppet Show
When Max Brennan’s estranged father and then his own girlfriend go missing in quick succession, he turns to his old friend Detective Jake Porter for help. As Max is then attacked in his own home, Porter and his partner Nick Styles waste no time in investigating. But when their main suspect turns up dead, alongside a list of other targets, it seems the case is much bigger than it first appeared. With events spiraling, can Porter and Styles catch the killer before another victim is claimed?
After discovering this author Robert Scragg through the publishers sending me his debut thriller I was amazed that the debut was so good, it was high standard and sure was like a best selling author.So receiving his 2nd book in the series I was overjoyed.
Max Brennan hasn’t had life easy. And he’s still not finding life straightforward.
People in his life are going missing.
He goes to DI Jake Porter for assistance, but then Max is in his home one time and gets attacked.
Jake is on it with Nick Sykes his partner but things take a turn for the worse when a body turns up, the very person they suspected was now dead. What now?
Then Max thinks they’ve caught the person, but he’s told “no, they may come after you again”
This is very much an Whodunnit and Cat & Mouse chase. But you get so caught up in this you find yourself getting breathless keeping up with it.
Fast paced
Top notch in the writing field
Excellent 3D characters
One I couldn’t stop reading until I finished.
I’m so happy the publisher Allison & Busby sent me his debut.
I’ve discovered a great author!
BOOK 1 AMAZON.UK
BOOK 2 AMAZON.UK
Robert Scragg had a random mix of jobs before taking the dive into crime writing; he's been a bookseller, pizza deliverer, Karate instructor and Football coach. He lives in Tyne & Wear, is a founding member of the North East Noir crime writers group and is currently writing the second Porter and Styles novel.
