P.J. Murphy's Writer Site

(I think I may have brought myself a year of bad luck by saying that, but since this is my first update of 2026, it seems appropriate.)

You may have noticed a bit of radio silence towards the end of 2025 and the beginning of this year. This was due to a number of things: various winter illnesses, work (the one that actually pays me, not this one) and trying to finish my new novel. The good news: the novel’s finished, I’m not ill (currently!), and my paid job actually allows me time for other things on occasion.

So, what can we expect for 2026?

Beach of Spies

My new novel still goes by this title until I find something better. I’ve just finished the first draft, so there’s still plenty of work needed before I let it out into the world, but I hope to have the first few chapters polished enough to enter into some competitions soon. And, hopefully, later on in the year, I’ll have the novel in a place where I can consider the next steps.

I’ll be posting a post soon about my redrafting process, following on from this one about the first draft.

So, what’s it all about?

It’s my attempt to subvert the spy novel. The concept was to start in classic James Bond style and end up more John Le Carré. I’m not sure I quite achieved it, as I was having too good a time writing, and there were too many jokes to fit in. But let’s see how it comes out in the wash.

It’s 1987, and a bunch of spies from across the world converge on a small hotel in the seaside town of Saint Malo, France. Their objective: a buoy on the beach, containing a cache of information about all the sleeper agents stationed in Europe. The only issue is that with everyone looking out after their own country’s interests, a stalemate rapidly ensues, whereby no one is able to approach the buoy without being tackled by the rest. So, they must find sneaky (and often slightly ludicrous) ways to gain the upper hand.

The spy spoof is a bit of a worn-out genre. I was careful to not go as far as Austin Powers or Spy Hard, but there’s plenty of humour in it. But what interested me is what happens as days turn to weeks, then to months, and the spies begin to question what they’re doing there, and even their own identities.

I think I’ll leave it there. I’ve said more than enough for now. No one can accuse me of being good at guarding secrets!

A Photo Odyssey

You may have followed my Six Steps to Salvation Geneva tour last year. While it wasn’t as popular as the Harry Potter tour, I did enjoy doing it, so I’ll soon be starting a Saint Malo tour as a teaser for Beach of Spies. The other advantage is that it’ll give us all a reminder of what it’s like when the sun comes out.

Follow me on Instagram to find out more.

Promotions and discounts

I singularly failed to do anything in the run-up to Christmas or for the January sales. This was partly intentional and partly due to my getting the hump. The intentional bit was that with Black Friday and everyone promoting their goods for Christmas, there’s very little room for small independent authors to get anyone’s attention.

The ‘getting the hump’ bit was that, although January’s supposed to be very good for book sales, I got fed up with getting a dozen emails every day telling me about sales (I assume I’m not alone in this!). I just couldn’t bring myself to join the rabble.

The next promotion will be around mid-February, to celebrate the two-year anniversary of my book, Yesterday’s Shadow. Although it was my third published book, it was the first of these I wrote, and it holds a special place in my heart (see the book’s Foreword for more details). I’ve never really made much of a promotional push on it, for various reasons, but it was selected as the category winner for Contemporary fiction in the 2024 Page Turner Awards, so there must be something in it!

That’s it for now. Plenty to be getting on with. Watch this space for more details!

Paul

(By the way, I hope you enjoy the cover photo for this post. This is Geneva, somewhere under that sea of cloud. This hasn’t got much to do with the subject, but I thought it was quite cool, so there it is!)