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I thought you might like to know that I have completed the first draft of “Plank 2” (still awaiting a more attractive title – please help me decide by casting your vote here).  The final full-stop went in at 12h14 (that’s how the Swiss write their times, and they certainly know a bit about accuracy) – hurrah!

So what happens next?  Well, I am going to do a very quick read-through, to make sure I haven’t accidentally left big gaps or unanswered questions (I changed the name of one of the characters, and I need to check that I’ve changed it everywhere).  Then when I get home at the weekend I am going to mark all the locations that feature in the book on a big map of London (thanks to TfL for the ideal London cycling map) to check that they are all where I think they should be.  After leaving the draft to stew for a fortnight, I shall do a proper re-read, making changes as I go.  And at the end of August, I will send out the second draft to those who have kindly offered/agreed to act as readers – and I will be asking them to look not so much for typos as for sense.  Can they follow the plot?  Do they like it?  Is it exciting?  Is there enough Martha?  (Most of the readers of “Fatal Forgery” said that they would like a sequel to give a bigger role to Martha, Sam’s wife.)

When their comments come back, I will sob/cheer/take it on the chin, and then incorporate them into the third draft.  I already have a fair idea of what I want the cover to look like, and have been chatting to my lovely cover designer about it, so once we have a title we’ll be good to go on that.  Then I need to format the book (paperback and e-versions), write the blurb, upload it to a gazillion sites, promote it – heavens, it seems that writing the thing is the easy bit!