I should’ve done this last weekend, but life events can sometimes get in the way of best intentions, can’t they?

No matter, here’s the latest update on the current novel I’m wrestling into presentable form. I last updated you on 3^rd April, here. At that time, I’d already started inconspicuously inserting historic events into the timeline of the story and had reached Chapter 12 of the 42. Today, I’m continuing the same process at Chapter 31, so significant progress made, I think you’ll agree.

As the book covers a period of history through which I lived, there are inevitably real events that carry some emotional baggage for me. This makes it more demanding than pure fiction, where imagination alone takes control of what’s included, what’s left out. Here, I’m faced with multiple actual events, many of which personally included psychological, physical, intellectual, or simply matter-of-fact involvement. Whilst inserting these into the imaginary threads that weave the novel, I want to accurately record them and, at the same time, inconspicuously fit them into the imaginary lives I’m using to tell the story. It’s a challenging and time-consuming undertaking but one I’m enjoying.

From time to time, either through some anniversary of a past event being celebrated/reported in the media, or through the occasional intervention of serendipity, an event I’ve previously ignored inveigles itself into my consciousness and demands to be included in the story. That inevitably requires sometimes significant rewriting, of course!

No matter. The process continues. And, once this element is concluded, I’ll be able to start on the more technical aspects of removing those inadvertent repetitions that sometimes occur due to memory lapse, digging out typos that composing on the screen unavoidably creates, and ensuring consistency in the modes and means appropriate to each character.

I’ll keep you informed of progress. Please don’t hold your breath (I’d hate to be held responsible for any asphyxiation among my readers) but do please watch this space!