The good news just keeps coming.

Yesterday, the editor of Mslexia, a literary magazine I admire hugely, phoned me to compliment me about my book. Wow. Several people have read my book and liked it, which is a huge bonus in itself. Better still, one of the judges suggested her agency might like to represent me and asked me to submit to one of their agents. This £25 investment just keeps on paying back.

So, I'm just printing off my submission for the post. Another gift that came was contact with one of the other shortlisted authors, Nicola Vincent-Abnett. She recommended a publisher who would be willing to cast an eye over my first few chapters. And so I'm writing a (slightly different) submission for him, too. Something to work on!

One of the previous novels I wrote has been shifting about in its box under the bed. I think one of the characters may find its way into the present book. I love the way characters do that - Felix was born out of a short story I wrote five years ago, and now he's featuring in a whole series of books. 

I woke up with a migraine in the small hours, so I'm a bit dopey today on tablets, but for some reason, migraines boost my imagination (often with nightmares but sometimes usefully) and I've got half a dozen ideas for Sage this morning. As my husband says, the characters I'm writing kind of move in with us, they need to be accommodated. When I'm on a roll, they get a lot more attention than he does, and when they are absolutely shouting at me, I can write all night. I'm looking forward to what they do today...