Diving with sharks and mantas…

The Nadia Laksheva series contains a lot of diving, and as they say, write what you know… I’ve just been diving with sharks and mantas in Socorro Islands, off the western coast of Mexican Baja. These are remote uninhabited islands in the Pacific Ocean, famed for sightings of many large ocean-going fish (called pelagics), including sharks and giant mantas, as well as humpback whales and dolphins. 

 

On the menu in May were mainly sharks and mantas. For me, mantas are the most graceful creatures on the planet, and we had a LOT of contact time with them while diving, especially at a location called the Boiler.…

Radio interview with Fran Lewis

I had an extended radio interview the other day with BlogTalkRadio host Fran Lewis in New York, on the second book in the series, 37 Hours. You can listen to it here. The interview focused on what happened and why, the various locations of the book, and – inevitably – the shark attack scene. There are a couple of spoilers, so if you haven’t read it yet, just mute it for 30 seconds when I say the word ‘spoiler’. Otherwise, it was great fun, and I got to talk a little about the next book, 88 North.…

Nadia heading North…

I’m sitting in a brasserie at the seaside on the French northern coast, fast approaching the 70000 word mark, and thought I’d give an update on Nadia’s progress. 

So far the book begins in Hong Kong (see earlier blogs for excerpts), where Nadia is trying to locate Salamander, and encounters Blue Fan, a deadly assassin from one of the five main triads. The first quarter stays in Hong Kong, and I have to admit that I love working on this section, because I adore Hong Kong, having gone there many times, mainly to practice tai chi, but also just to soak up the supercharged atmosphere of this workaholic city that never sleeps.…