Highs and lows

What’s next, writer boy?

Welcome to the free newsletter of David (D. V.) Bishop, author of the Cesare Aldo historical thrillers set in Renaissance Italy. This time: rollercoaster emotions.

No Daggers for A Divine Fury

Last week I went to London for the CWA Dagger Awards where my fourth Cesare Aldo novel A Divine Fury was shortlisted for the Historical Dagger and for the Gold Dagger. I had zero expectations of winning – and that proved accurate! But it was still a fun night with agent Jenny Brown, ex-editor Alex Saunders and the Pan Mac team.

I’d provided quotes for the novels which won both prizes. The Historical Dagger went to The Betrayal of Thomas True by A. J. West, a heart-breaking mystery set in Georgian London’s mollie houses (and just out in a luscious paperback edition), while the Gold was won by Anna Mazzola’s excellent The Book of Secrets, a truly riveting read.

The Gold Dagger judges did say very nice things about A Divine Fury: ‘An engrossing tale of murder and political manoeuvring … immersive in the best possible way, the author confidently transports his reader to sixteenth-century Florence, complete with all the sights and smells that entails. Tightly plotted and difficult to put down.’ Grazie!

I think A Divine Fury is still be in the running for another prize, but the longlist hasn’t been announced yet so I can say no more. Nonetheless, I am proud a novel written during very difficult circumstances (my entire uni teaching team resigning due to post-pandemic burnout) got shortlisted for two Daggers and the 2024 McIlvanney Prize.

While in London I visited Goldsboro Books and signed stacks of this year’s Cesare Aldo historical thriller, Carnival of Lies. Those have already sold out, but if you order a hardback from my local indie bookshop, the mighty Atkinson-Pryce Books, I will go in specially to dedicate and sign it for you: tomes@atkinson-pryce.co.uk

Highs and lows

The last couple of weeks have been a rollercoaster. My launch event for Carnival of Lies at Serenity Booksellers in Romiley was a great night, and I loved talking to booksellers at the 25 different shops where I’ve signed Aldo novels. But loads of traveling alone becomes quite dislocating, making you wonder if all the effort is worth it.

Visiting a bookshop only to find they don’t have your new novel in can be chastening. Yes, you know it’s impossible for every shop to stock every book. Yes, some are simply waiting for their copies to arrive. But that doesn’t prevent a few moments of crushing disappointment where you ponder the choices that got you to such a place.

Inevitably, I’ve been hit by the post-publication blues. No, Carnival of Lies wasn’t an instant bestseller – but I knew that already. No, it didn’t get a special edition for indie bookshops or sprayed edges or window displays in glamorous locations. No, it wasn’t reviewed in national newspapers, nor was I invited on BBC Radio to discuss the novel.

Fact is, nobody likes a pity party, and whining gets you nowhere. It’s better to focus on positives. I am incredibly proud of my new Cesare Aldo novel. I don’t know if Carnival of Lies is the best in the series (that’s for readers and others to decide), but it’s my favourite so far. Why? Because the story achieves all I set out to do.

I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating: as a writer, the only thing you control are your words. Everything else is in other people’s hands. Don’t tie your self-worth to reviews, sales or acclaim. Why not? Because there will never be enough of them to satisfy the black hole of craving. I mean, just look at how billionaires behave.

So, what’s next?

I used to love watching the TV drama series The West Wing, created by Aaron Sorkin. It had an optimistic view of US politics that, regrettably, now seems both quaint and naïve. But one thing from the show which stays with me is the response of President Bartlet whenever the latest crisis or tragedy or triumph had passed: “What’s next?”

Having sent Carnival of Lies out into the world, my current task is tidying next year’s Aldo novel. I’ve been reading the complete manuscript, making notes for corrections and the larger aspects in need of finessing. Soon I will submit it to my publisher, Pan Macmillan, and wait to see what the editorial team think of the novel.

Book six is a different beast from previous stories in the series. Aldo and Doctor Saul Orvieto go to an asylum high in the Tuscan hills, searching for answers to a question that challenges things Aldo believed to be true his whole life. A blizzard traps Aldo and Saul at the asylum five days before Christmas 1540 – and then people start dying…

It’s a brooding location, full of madness and the consequences of evil. My aim was to craft a more Gothic narrative for Aldo after the espionage adventures in Carnival of Lies. As I write this newsletter, only my agent has read an early draft. But having a completed manuscript is such a relief after many months of sustained, creative effort.

I’ll be at the Theakston’s Old Peculiar Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate next week from Friday July 18 to Sunday July 20. Then on Thursday August 14 I have an event at new Glasgow bookshop The Bookmonger, which sells books, wine and charcuterie – honestly, it sounds like heaven! Get your tickets here to see me at The Bookmonger.

Aldo book 6 anagram challenge

A reminder: you could be on the Acknowledgements page of next year’s Cesare Aldo historical thriller! This phrase – Dams of Hades Snow – is an anagram of the working title for Aldo book six. Your challenge: rearrange the letters in Dams of Hades Snow to find the actual title. Everyone who enters a correct guess goes in the draw.

There’s a second chance to have your name in the Aldo book six Acknowledgements. I invite you to devise the funniest anagram from the letters in Dams of Hades Snow. All of the efforts that get entered (by the means stated below) go into a separate draw for the chance to be mentioned in inside the pages of Aldo number six.

How do you enter? Either post your anagram on the social media platform Bluesky, making sure to include the hashtag #DamsOfHadesSnow in your post - or, email your entry to damsofhadessnow@gmail.com. Only entries received before 15 July 2025 will be considered, and only 1 entry per person per draw is allowed. Good luck!

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