THE DRAFT IS DONE, and other news.

Good morning to you all.

A busy few days here, with the four day weekend from Thanksgiving through to Sunday meaning a lot more time sitting around, eating with friends. Thankfully, it did also mean more time writing. So much so, in fact, that I was able to share in an impromptu Twitter celebration on Saturday after announcing I had finished the first draft of the next book.

Kindle avec New Book

No title, still. It's proving a tricky one, but I'm sure we'll get there in the end. For now I'm calling it The Story of Peter in lieu of anything more concrete.

With this draft finished, next comes the cooling off period. I'll keep busy for a couple of weeks, on other projects and Christmas prep., and then come back to it with fresher eyes. There's work to be done; plot to be tightened, dialogue to be tidied up, loopholes to be closed. Even typos and spelling errors, and inconsistencies in naming, can be ignored if you're too familiar with the text. So, for a while, I'll let it steep.

I'm really pleased with it, I have to say. Think it'll be a strange book, and the ending isn't necessarily happy, even if it is a bit more resolved that EREN. This book has been many months in the making and many years in the planning. Funnily, I remember the exact moment the seed of the idea came to me. I was in Osaka, Japan, in Universal Studios with my sister. Perhaps it was the music, or the crowds, or nothing from there at all, but I had an image, and one line of dialogue. That was - what? - three years ago? Well, here's the book. I'm speedy, me.

It's the most magical place in the ... no, wait ... 

In other news, today I send off the contract to Indigo Ink Press for THE STORYTELLER'S JIG. I am most excited. More news as it comes. Also been enjoying the latest SCBWI magazine, and, of course, decorating for Christmas. And so the world turns...

SPC.