After years of painstaking work (mostly done on the bus to and from work), I am relieved to say that my YA novel, known to all but the chosen few as Project E, is finally done.

Whether it’s actually ready for submission or I’ve just finally got fed up with it is another matter entirely but still… it’s done.

Now the hard work begins. It needs one more edit and then it’s time to get it into the hands of strangers who will cheapen, degrade and mistreat it: professional editors, beta readers, agents, and maybe, just maybe, a publisher.

That’s probably going to take even longer and cause even more stress than writing the actual novel did, so I’ll be working on more books at the same time.

I promised you all two more Detective Mo books and I intend to deliver. I have also vaguely been toying with another Rollo book but I don’t know for sure if that’s ever going to see the light of day.

My main focus is going to be on more novels. I’ve got another YA fantasy which I’ve already written a couple of drafts for (‘Project W’) but I’m really keen to try and knock out a few novels for primary school kids too (what can I say? My daughter has discovered Roald Dahl with a vengeance and my brain is frizzwobbling with ideas).

Anyway, wish me luck with Project E. I’ve put an awful lot of work into it but I’m really ready to move on from it now. More than that, I really want to be able to show it to you guys and finally call it by its proper title: The E✖️✖️✖️✖️✖️✖️.