Well, that’s it. I’ve done it. It’s finished. Somewhere around mid-morning yesterday, probably just before eleven o’clock. And in the end it wasn’t too difficult; not too painful, anyway. I thought I was going to have more problems than I did, actually. Fortunately, though, it all went quite smoothly in the end. In fact, I’m not sure what all the fuss was about.
Oh, I do beg your pardon. I was quite forgetting.
I’m referring to the book I’ve been working on for the last three or four years: A Good Place. Having thought I’d finished it around a year ago, I ended up binning the last third of the book and re-writing it. And although I’ve ended up with what I feel is a stronger narrative, and with more believable characters, there was one chapter towards the end that was just refusing to play ball.
Until yesterday.
So hopefully, I’ve now completed the final draft. I’ve sent it to my beta reader to go through, and as long as she thinks the story works I’ll put it to one side for six months and then begin what I hope will be the final edit. And if I’m still happy with it then, I’ll look to pass it to three more beta readers for their comments. If they think it worthwhile, I might then have a go at interesting a publisher in it.
Although I’ll probably just think Oh, to hell with it all and self-publish it, anyway.
And if she thinks it’s no good, I’ll hide it somewhere and sulk.
What’s it about? It is set in an Indian hill station in 1988. An English visitor arrives, bringing with him a mystery concerning his childhood, the key to which he suspects may lie with the remaining English inhabitants of the town. And like many expatriate communities around the world, these inhabitants have a complicated and, at times, difficult relationship with the other members of their community. As the visitor gets drawn further into the life of this community, he finds his own relationships with them becoming unexpectedly complicated and difficult, with tragic and unanticipated consequences for several of them.

Anyway, after all that palaver, I decided to go for a walk in the woods nearby. Up until that point, it had been a dry, if overcast, day. But as soon as I reached the woods, the rain began pelting down.
It was dark and gloomy beneath the trees, and the rain was soon drawing out the peculiarly woodland scents of autumn. There was a rich, thick, puddingy smell, as rich and thick as the deep and increasingly wet humus soil I was walking on. Soon my feet were squishing and squelching through the mud and dead leaves, the fungi and conker husks, the rotting wood and the mildewed berries.
The rain burst through the branches and leaves of the trees, hammering on my head and shoulders, running into my pockets, and down my legs. Although it was mid-afternoon, the light had the quality of a premature dusk, and the few other people I saw seemed to slip between the trees like unhappy ghosts.
It was a bloody good walk, I must say.
Many congratulations
LikeLiked by 3 people
Thanks, Sheree.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Excellent Mick
LikeLiked by 1 person
Congratulations Mick.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Thanks, Colin.
LikeLike
Wonderful news!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks, Laura!
LikeLike
Wow! congratulations, Mick.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks, Rupali. Waiting for the verdict, now!’
LikeLiked by 1 person
It will be as you expect Mick.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’d better ensure I have high expectations, then!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sounds like a good storyline. Congratulations on finishing the draft. Will you be starting another story while this one “incubates”?
LikeLiked by 3 people
Thanks, Judith. Another…? I have 2 other novels on the go at the moment, a non-fiction project, and a very long poem series.
Probably best I don’t…
LikeLike
Congratulations sir! Great news!
It would surely be amazing. Look forward to hearing more about it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Ishaan. Amazing would be good – I’ll settle for okay, at the moment!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re welcome. 😃
LikeLiked by 1 person
Having lived in an expatriate community — and in a compound, at that — I’m intrigued by the storyline. It’s fertile ground, no doubt, and I hope it flourishes for you!
LikeLiked by 2 people
I have drawn a little on my own experiences, although much less than I had originally intended to – partly because the story decided to go off in a direction I hadn’t intended!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Awesome news!!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I hope it will be!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Your novel sounds enticing, Mick. I admire your fortitude and commitment in completing it to this stage. Looking forward to hearing more. Hope there are long, dry walks in your near future….
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Donna. My innate stubbornness has seen me through!
And just off for another walk – it has begun to rain again…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well done. I know that feeling of relief!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, John. Relief tempered with nervous anticipation.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Let me know how it’s going JB
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ll do that, although I’ll certainly post updates on the blog.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sounds interesting story line.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I hope it will be, Arv.
LikeLiked by 1 person
all the best, Mick! Hope you are doing well.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Arv. All okay at the moment – I trust you are too!
LikeLiked by 1 person
yes..yes!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That sounds like a story set in Mussourie! And the title brought to mind the series “The Good Place”! 😀
Best of luck with your novel, Mick!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Himanshu. I never got to Mussourie, sadly. This one is set further east, at a fictitious town near Darjeeling.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I cannot wait to read it, Mick. I loved your last book. There’s an unearthly quality to your stories that I find very alluring. Glad you are happy with it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Pam. Plenty of editing to go if it’s approved by the readers!
LikeLiked by 1 person
🤓
LikeLike
Sounds like Agatha Christie! Congrats!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Jan. Nothing like an Agatha, I’m afraid!
LikeLike
Congratulations on finishing your book!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Ann. I hope it’s finished this time – I thought it was the last time…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Congratulations on finishing the book! I shall look for it in a year or so (assuming that by then I am allowed to go out of the house and into a store) on the shelves of Barnes & Noble!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’ll probably just be on the dreaded Amazon, Jill, but I like to think you might be right!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Someday, my friend! You have to keep believing it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
So, the year is 2020 and it’s going to go well?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Congrats on that first draft, Mick. Now the real work begins: editing. The story sounds intriguing.
I recognise that walk: it’s an experience we have been through in our own forest here from time to time. But I bet you had the place to yourself for that time.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Stuart. Bated breath and fingers crossed time, for a while.
There weren’t a lot of others about, no. And those that were looked as though they wished they weren’t
LikeLiked by 1 person
Congrats, Mike! Well done for making use of Covid-time & best of luck with the next phase.
J
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! I’m wondering what the next phase will be, actually.
LikeLike
Congratulations, Mick! A good hike after finishing must have felt good…even with the downpour. Now to start on your next one 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Randall. Already beavering away on it!
LikeLike
Belated Congrats! and a crisp salute for sticking with it to completion.
That’s very interesting, to set it aside (for half a year!?) before the final edit, doesn’t that niggle at you every day, to crack it open again and Finish It? Anyway, cheers!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Robert.
No, I know I need that space to be able to see it with fresh eyes. At the moment, it’s hard to see it in the round rather than a collection of passages an small chunks of dialogue that seem almost unconnected to each other. I just hope it won’t look like that when I return to it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Congratulations on typing The End! Such a great feeling, I’m sure. I love your description of your walk in the woods.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Kim. Even wetter and muddier today!
LikeLiked by 1 person