I bet you’re all wondering how I’m getting on with “Heir Apparent”. Well I don’t mind telling you that’s its going to be a close-run thing. It’s Wednesday morning and that means I have today and tomorrow to finish my first draft – with two chapters to go. My husband reminded me that with “Portraits of Pretence”, I finished early and spent the last day of my retreat swanning around on the paddle-steamers on Lake Léman. This time, I’ll be packing with one hand and typing with the other.
On the plus side, I am pleased to report that the story works, which is a huge relief. Until I get pretty much to the end, it’s not a done deal: it could still fall apart. My great fear is that twenty chapters in I’ll realise that something I wrote in the second chapter makes a nonsense of it all. And indeed I had a difficult day on Monday when I decided that I just had to rearrange the order of various events in the book – so when I print out the draft I’ll have to read it really, really carefully [beta readers, that’s a heads-up for you too!] to make sure that I don’t talk in the past tense about something that now happens later in the story.
And thank you for your thoughts and comments on the back cover blurb. I’ve made a few adjustments as a result – great improvements, all of them – and now that’s off to the cover designer.
The next time you hear from me, Sam and I will be back in Blighty – and, just to put you out of your misery, it’s Suffolk.
Susan Grossey 