2009

Time for a fresh start over here, I felt, especially since I've been ignoring the poor place for the last however many months. (Don't count, it's too embarrassing.)

I have excuses, good ones, and also a caveat that posting is probably still going to be quite rare over the next while. See, I spent most of 2008 being pregnant (read: throwing up and sleeping) and am due to give birth next week, so I might have a few other things on my mind.

Which is not to say that I haven't been writing, or that I won't be writing.

As I'm sure you've noticed, the publishing world has been a little stingy with the new purchases over the last nine months or so. Which means that, having finally got Breaking the Spell into top notch condition, it went out to editors at just the right time to get lots of "I really like it, but..." responses. Apparently no one wants magical escapism in a recession - which I thought was odd, actually.

But, carry on regardless. I'm still deeming the whole thing a success, as it got me signed with a nice big London agency, and a wonderful agent who (at last count at least!) still wants to represent me. I met with Lizzy last year and we talked about what I should work on next, and since then I've been working on it. Slowly. In between the throwing up.

So: the New Book.

It's called Playing Make Believe and it's about returning home, becoming a better person, asking for forgiveness, family secrets, attics and parties and really great clothes. And there's a ghost.

Or, to put it more succinctly: Saskia Ryan returns home looking to atone for past mistakes, only to find herself making more...

I've actually written a full first draft of the book - all 90,000 words. It's first person - something Lizzy and I agreed I should try, but doesn't seem to come quite as naturally to me as third - and I found that I really needed to write the full thing out before I could step back and recognise all the things that were wrong with it.

Which is what I'm doing now. Over the last week or two, I've done a write in edit on the first 18 scenes / approx. 20,000 words, identifying the problems, and now I'm reworking those scenes and rewriting the synopsis, in the hope of getting it over to Lizzy before the baby comes. Despite theoretically having lots of time now I'm on maternity leave, I can't believe how tired I am, and how long it takes me to do anything. Also, I have to allow time for cleaning out cupboards with toothbrushes and other 'pregnancy crazies' as my brother calls it.

Still, I'm on schedule at least. And ready to reactivate the counters... keep an eye on the right hand side, people, and I'll let you know when I'm done. And, you know, about the baby...