Starting Again

There is nothing I love more than finishing a book, than starting the new one. I have characters to meet, and beneath my fingers the action will unfold. This week I came back to a book, Hell Hath No Fury, that was written in 2014. This was the first crime novel I had ever written, inspired by my then fledgling love of crime fiction. My taste in fiction was changing slowly from the family sagas of the fabulous Penny Vincenzi who is sadly no longer with us. I’d dabbled with crime fiction reading the work of Mo Hayden, another writer we have lost recently, and the work of Peter James and Val McDermid. Another author I had grown to love was P D James. 

I’ve no idea where the concept of Grace Tallis came from, or the idea for the book, but as I finished it my life changed. The book was shelved while I finished other books. Then, following my masters degree and having watched an incredible television series, Hidden, I was inspired to write After and then Vanished. While I wrote these two, at the back of my mind was the idea that I would include the first book as part of the series. As an idea it was very simple.  I could easily adjust the book during the rewriting stage to fit into the series.

The reality is slightly different. The original Grace Tallis is a very different person from the persona she has morphed into. Also, when I reread the first draft, ready for rewriting, my inexperience in the genre is obvious. The book was originally written in the style of P D James, with different characters carrying the action forwards. I have a bunch of suspects and go through their back stories, leaving the reader guessing right till the end who the villain is. Unfortunately, I hadn’t shown why these characters are suspects and even worse had two men suspects when the murder is clearly done by a woman.

There is a lot of work to be done, as there always is with a first draft. I’m always preaching the importance of working with an editor to my clients, something I relish doing myself. I’ve learned so much from the comments my very brave first editor made to the original manuscript.

It seems an extremely daunting job to do the re-writes, normally there are character glitches and time line errors to be sorted out, but this draft needs a lot of work, to turn it from amateurish ramblings to a gripping novel which will do the character of Grace Tallis justice. I’m looking forward to working with her and helping the team solve a particularly nasty crime.

Part of the re-writing involves spending time thinking about the plot and the characters and letting them show me what happens. I’m really looking forwards to getting to work, putting this enormous word jigsaw puzzle together and watching the plot unfold.

Another thing that is new to me while I write this book is a standing desk, which I hope will make life easier and my back less stiff. Can’t wait for the work to begin.