I’m currently in the fortunate position of having a debut novel published, a children’s picture book under contract, a novel on submission and a new work-in-progress. My time is carved up between marketing and promoting The String Games, sending out submission packages for This Much Huxley Knows, finalising the illustrations for Pan de mo nium and cracking through the first draft of Little Swot. It’s just as well my only other commitment is ten hours a week e-volunteering with VSO. Some days it feels like my feet hardly touch the ground but I’m not complaining.
Does this girl look like a little swot?
With all of these plates spinning, the real excitement is my new work-in-progress Little Swot which is quite different from my other manuscripts. The idea came from evenings in Ugandawhen I was too tired to read, too hot to sleep and so listened to podcasts. I’m writing one thousand words each day which soon adds up and I’m now over half way through the story and pleased with my progress. I’ve written a synopsis so I know what’s going to happen and I’ve played around with ideas for pitching the novel to publishers when the time comes.Indeed, I’d love to receive some feedback from you. Do you think this novel idea has legs?
Redundancy at fifty-two brings an end to Stephanie Brett’s career as a West Country journalist in 2010. Quick to adapt to diminishing finances, she lets a room to Beth, a young Asian baker. Although mismatched housemates, Beth encourages Stephanie draw on her journalistic skills to develop a podcast. Stephanie researches the girl who walked out of school during a maths examination in 1978 and never came back. The shambolic police investigation into Carolyn Forster’s disappearance came to nothing but rumours circulate that a teacher was involved. Can Stephanie find out what happened to the missing sixteen-year-old?
I’d love to know what you think – please leave a comment!
the writer is a lonely hunter 
So busy! But keep going.
Thanks for the encouragement!