Curiously enough, and I’ll admit that I’m one of the amazed, Pirates is back on the rails. I just started rewriting the points in Chapter Three that needed rewriting, and it started working. I’m rather worried. There are other points that will probably need changing, and I suppose that I shall re-read all that has been done up to now, but I think I can probably continue. I’ll keep you posted.

On the writing front, I have just finished reading The Wish List by Eoin Colfer, it was a great read, and while the end was predictable, it was very nicely done, and had some lovely twists on the way. It was also a fine book in that, at no point did it pull its punches. It deals with crime, old age, child abuse, moral problems, but at no point—except for the age of the protagonist, and her world view—did I feel that it was a children’s book. No, it was difficult and subtle. Just before this I had read volume 2 of the Artemis Fowl stories. This was disappointing. It was a good bottle read, but the fizz went out very quickly, and there was none of the nuance and feeling in Wish List.

Oh, and I haven’t been a good boy. I haven’t sent Juliet out to agents. I’m probably worried about this, and would like an impartial opinion. I’d like to change the beginning, but on the other hand, whatever changes I might make won’t change the Y structure. However I still wonder if this first scene [that I have in my head] would help or not. Should I send off the manuscript? Indecision…