73. Progress

I’ve been lax in reporting on where my winding path as an author has led. So here’s a brief update on my story … whatever its ending turns out to be.

Apart from writing, of course (how easy it is to forget that central focus!) my preoccupation has been deciding which of my existing novels to pitch.  I covered this in a previous post, describing how I’d outsourced the problem by sending both books to a literary consultancy for critical reports. The reports are back.

The consultant made some detailed comments, not least about my tendency to over-punctuate and slips in point of view. But the main conclusion is:

“The first thing that is clear to me, from this MS and also your potential submission chapters of The Golden Illusion, is that you are well capable of writing a commercially successful novel. That said, I am not entirely sure that A Prize of Sovereigns is that novel … Of your two manuscripts, and with the caveat that I have only seen a few short chapters and a synopsis, The Golden Illusion is your more intriguing and original story.”

A disappointment, because I still believe A Prize of Sovereigns to be the better book. But I was thrilled that he liked The Golden Illusion. Even better, the Director of the literary consultancy, Cornerstones, has asked the see the revised chapters of Illusion. Cornerstones, a leading consultancy, act as scouts for agents. I sent it off to her today.

The decision to spend my money on the reports, rather than on attending the Winchester Writers’ Festival this year, may have paid off.

Updating other stories – I was not short-listed for the Costa Short Story Award. But the story I submitted has been accepted for the forthcoming issue of Structo. This literary magazine is one I’ve been trying to get into for about a year. Since they have an acceptance rate of only around 3%, this is an achievement of which I’m proud.  I did not win the crime writing competition I entered.

Onwards!