A second edition, a surprising review and hacking away the thorns

Sorry, I've been working like a dog all day and there's no space in my brain for a snappy title. I'm ... um ... dog-tired. God, sorry. That's bad, even for me, but I can't be arsed to retype.

Have had my eyes glued to the computer and my fingers glued to the keyboard all day doing Thorn in the Flesh edits for Goldenford. I've done all the actual changes now, but am going through the styles so it's set in the desired format and - at the same time - redoing the traumas of the disastrous "search and replace" mistake I did on the speech quotes earlier in the day. Yes, that is 1048 changes to make, and no they're not easy to spot. Believe me. And, yes, if I search and replace them back to what they were, it means the other half go wrong too. Ah, choices, choices eh. Anyway, I'm up to Chapter 16 of 26, so only 10 of the buggers to go. And then, when that's all done, I'll be able to do the final read-through before sending it to Jackie who is the Queen of the PDF file.

All this has meant that Lord H is again in line for sainthood, as he's had to suffer the loss of his day off with Wife (though at least we did Dungeness yesterday, so have managed "us time" at least once this weekend, hurrah!). However, no complaints have been heard, and he's entertained himself by going out birdspotting in Ash and doing the shopping. Hell, he's knows what I'm like during final edits by now (answer: wide-eyed, pale and staring, with a peculiar disinterest in food) - but still gains SuperHusband points for forbearance. And he brought back flowers ...

... which were partly purchased to celebrate the astonishing arrival of my copy of the second edition of A Dangerous Man. Yes, I will say that again. I've got a bloody second edition!! This has never happened to me before, and bloody hell but it feels nice. The new version has review quotes on the back cover and even more inside, which is giving me a warm, loved glow I really don't get often. At least not in terms of the commercial publishing world. Somehow it makes the fact that I've only sold 110 copies all in, and will therefore never make it up to the dizzy heights of the Y List, much more palatable indeed. I keep picking the book up and hugging it. I might even sleep with it under my pillow tonight, but fear that even the noble Lord H might think that a madness too far.

On top of all that, the very kind Jill Weekes has posted a review of The Hit List (anyone remember that?) on her blog under today's date, but I include it here also:

"I finished reading Anne Brooke's The Hit List last night. If you want something a bit different - though not in the same vein as Pink Champagne and Apple Juice by the same author - then go for The Hit List. Jamie is doing sterling work looking after his cantankerous elderly father and running his own business from home. His half brother, Mark, the apple of his father's eye, is working in Japan. One of Jamie's friends from University returns to the village in Suffolk where he and his father live. But David appears to be gay, which he definitely never used to be - which worries Jamie - who soon adds him to his hit list of people he really needs to do away with to improve his quality of life. Then there is Robert - Mark's former boss - who turns up after six years away. The reason for his absence only becomes clear as the story progresses. Naturally his father who is always comparing him unfavourably with Mark is top of the hit list. I was on tenterhooks wondering how and when Jamie was going to succeed in carrying out his list. The sexuality of many of the main characters is constantly in doubt which adds to the drama. It is not a comfortable book though there are many moments of comedy."

Thanks, Jill! An extremely kind review, I think, for a book which even I find to be a difficult one. But, as I've said before, I couldn't have found my way in to Michael in A Dangerous Man without going through Jamie in The Hit List. In a strange way, Michael is really Jamie but without the jokes. At least that's how it felt like to me, as I went straight from THL to ADM without so much as a pause for breath. Pink Champagne and Apple Juice only came after the first draft of ADM was done.

Ooh, and talking of ADM, did I say a second edition is out?...

Today's nice things:

1. Getting to grips with Thorn - for better or for worse!
2. Jill's review of The Hit List
3. The second edition of A Dangerous Man (did I say that already??...)

Anne Brooke
Anne's website
Goldenford Publishers