Sorry for the long gap between posts but I’ve been so busy writing that pesky fifth novel that you’re all clamouring for.

Anyway, I’ve discovered my new favourite thing. Purely by accident and just having a go. It’s writing in an accent. I first got the taste for it in my last novel, the hilarious and very well received Mutch Wants Moor. Of course the main accent in that one being the Glaswegian brogue of Mary Mutch which comes to the fore when she loses her temper with her calamitous husband.

I found the character of Mary such fun to write and the influence for her accent came from my many years working with Glaswegian people. I spent six years, no less, working in a crisp factory with expatriated natives of that fair city. I won’t give away the name of the crisp factory other than to say it wasn’t exactly a Golden time in my life and it’s a Wonder how I managed to stick it out for so long.

But, I do feel I have a good ear for accents. My travels across the UK have seen me spend time in Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool, London, Norfolk, my current home county of Yorkshire and of course my early stomping grounds of Derby, Nottingham, Leicester and Lincolnshire, which all have their own very distinct accents. Perhaps not as pronounced as Geordie, Brummie or Scouse but still highly evident to the trained ear.

My new novel is full of a particular accent. I can’t reveal which one at this stage as I’d hate to spoil the surprise but what I will say is that I am having the most fun a writer can have by working with that accent. The only problem being that writing in an accent does tend to slow the writing process down a little. You really have to pore over every word and then double check each sentence. Mind you, I’m currently working at approximately 5000 words a day on writing days which is about three a week at the moment. The fatigue and pain caused by fibromyalgia being the dictating force behind my current output.

I do feel I would like to explore accents further in my writing but I do have a reservation about it alongside my enthusiasm for it and that is: how easy is it to read? Does it slow the reader down in the flow of the book and thereby reduce their enjoyment of it. I remember reading a John Buchan novel many years ago in which one of the characters, a bluff, no-nonsense Yorkshireman, got into a fight with some people of a different nation and the line he used was ‘Ah’ve bin knockin’ furriners abart for ten minutes.’ It took me a further ten minutes myself to work out what a ‘furriner’ was until the light bulb went on and I realised he meant foreigners. And that is my concern towards my own readers.

However, a lot of people have told me that they enjoyed the character of Mary Mutch and would like to have seen more of her in the novel. I don’t know, maybe she’ll make a reappearance in one of the Ingleby novels further down the line. Who knows?

But for now, I’m having tremendous fun writing an accent of a particular character that I’m sure you’re going to love. In fact, you could call him a loveable rogue. I’m hoping that you’ll be able to meet him soon and of course re-acquaint yourself with a certain Joe Wilkie. And be honest now, Joe has an accent in your head, hasn’t he?