In trying to rationalise the unfairness of publishing, with poorly-written potboilers achieving best-selling status, I had a startling realisation.

Commercially successful writing, which follows a tried and tested formula in which the outcome is known from page 1, and that uses language which won’t stretch the intellect of a ten-year-old, is the equivalent of eating fast food.

McDonald’s or Kentucky Fried Chicken isn’t healthy nutritionally, but reading a Lee Child thriller or E.L. James erotic story isn’t going to add to your brain power. These food and book types may well stimulate and offer temporary satisfaction, with the risk of guilty feelings for having indulged, but they aren’t good for you! 

I guess that means literary award-winning erudite novels, are the food equivalent of cordon bleu cuisine. This means at least five courses, and being unsure of what you’re consuming as you read.

Such profundity leaves me wondering what my first three Cornish detective novels are food-wise. If I stay with regional cuisine, they’re a Cornish Pasty followed by saffron cakes, all washed down with some cider from Cornish Orchards.

Such an approach may help my self-promotion as I begin another round of querying.

What sort of books have you cooked up lately?