Honestly, to have the man who managed the great Robert Jordan and (one of my favourite authors of all time) Iain Banks, praise my work, has been a huge boost. John said he could see the “imagination and intelligence” in the opening chapters of A Better Crown but couldn’t represent me because he didn’t love the book which is fair enough; he doesn’t want to market a book he doesn’t wholeheartedly adore and I wouldn’t want that either.
There is this strange time cloud hanging over me with each submission: how long does it take to read my three chapters? If it takes longer for them to reject me is that better? Does it mean my idea is good but my writing is crap? There are so many varying dimensions to this game. I will just have to keep you informed as the replies, and rejections, rumble in.
A Better Crown now has several very diligent and very enthusiastic beta readers rifling through it. With their feedback, and another round of editing on my part; the third, and hopefully, final draft is well underway. Earthguard is in place, the plotline is rigid, the characters are set. A few edges need to be softened and a few corners rounded, but then it should all be done.
The first book I ever read, cover to cover, entirely on my own, was Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr Fox. I was eight or nine, very behind when it came to reading levels at school and worrying my parents to death with my incompetence. I remember, very clearly, being the only one in the class who couldn’t read a single line of The Hungry Caterpillar.
