Calming Down

I'm just finding my feet again after a hectic few months. Life is different when you sleep all night! The kids and husband have blitzed the garden, getting ready for the winter, and we've worked on my father-in-law's book about working in comics as an artist. The cats have started their autumn routine (sit in front of woodburner suggestively, find beds instead of playing in the garden). I'm letting the news sink in, and taking a few days off. Which feels weird, because unless we're actually travelling, I write every day. Strange. Back to work tomorrow, I think, ahead of more news from the world of publishing.

I'm really looking forward to having an editor. It would, I think, be a fantastic learning curve for me. I just don't know who, yet...but I don't mind people asking for changes to the book. I've accepted that my version, locked in my hard drive, is one entity. The product that I polish for a reader who isn't me might look quite different. After all, they don't have my interests or knowledge, they might like a happier ending or a more creepy one than I would have thought of. An editor can stand back and tell me what it looks like on first reading, close reading, re-reading. I'm too close, and to be honest, I don't know anything about writing for publication. Crash course coming up, I suspect!

Meanwhile, my characters are finding life in the Lake District has plenty of scary worries, all tied up with the Kelley legacy. I'm loving the research...