Sunday, January 08, 2012

News for fans of Plotting for Beginners

Whenever I finish making a patchwork quilt I always swear I will never make another one. I begin the task enthused with the colours and the thrill of design, and I end the process in a filthy temper, hand-stitching the binding with bleeding fingers.  But it’s like the old cliche about having a baby – you forget the pain and as time passes, you yearn to make another.

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And whenever I have a book published I tell my friends and family that I will never write another. This is for different reasons, though. I usually think that I don’t have another one in me…how could I possibly do it again? 

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But on Christmas Day there wasn’t much happening here (as regular readers will already know) and I read Plotting for Beginners to cheer myself up. And it did cheer me up. I was reading the last hundred pages with a smile on my face. This may seem like an unseemly admission for an author – to read her own comic novel and be amused by it – but I try to be honest here.

Sure, there were things I noticed in the text that didn’t work. There were weak spots, and there were things I would do differently now. But I guess that’s the case with all writers. And it was our first published novel. We’ve both developed as writers since then. And Jane’s emails in the voice of Kate Wensley stand the test of time. They still make me chuckle. Her pared down writing is so very classy.

Anyway…I emailed Jane and asked how she felt about writing a sequel. Was she ready now?

Last week we had a meeting and agreed. We’re going to do it. Yay! We spent a lot of time laughing – as we did when we worked on Plotting before. It is so much fun writing a comic novel with someone who shares your sense of humour and who loves to live with fictional characters, just as you do.

So I have months of collaborative enjoyment and laughter ahead – what a cheerful prospect at the start of a new year.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

So excited! Can't wait to see what you two come up with this time.
LRH

Anonymous said...

What fab, fab news. can't wait to hear what Sally and Gus and Wendy and Richard and Iain have been getting up to since we last heard from them! Charlotte M.

Sue Hepworth said...

Hi Charlotte - I'm amazed you can remember all the characters' names!

Anonymous said...

I've only just read it, Sue! Charlotte.