Not that it matters, but I almost abandoned this novel.
Following a family bereavement, continuing with the book felt disrespectful in some way. However, after a time, I came back to it and saw that not only had the breathing space revealed exactly what was needed in order to fix certain logistical issues inherent in the original draft, but that I shouldn’t get too hung up on authorial worries such as fiction versus fictionalisation. Every novel out there plays with those boundaries.
Why am I telling you this? Good question. Not everyone who reads novels wants to write them but everyone who wants to write novels must read, so if you happen to be one of those poor souls, and you’re struggling, maybe you’ll indulge me this one unsolicited piece of advice I learned the hard way: put your novel aside. Put it aside for a long time. You’ll know exactly what it’s worth when you pick it up again.
No one writes a book in a vacuum. Thanks therefore to the usual suspects. To Matt. To Tony. To Sam. To everyone – staff and students – from the London City MA. To Tom, Lauren, Lucy and Allison at Legend. To my editor, Rob, who, once again, pushed me via late-night emails and line edits to shine this collection of words ever brighter. To my agent, Louise, who must have lost count of the number of versions of Blame she’s had to wade through.
And finally, as always, thanks to Patricia. If I tried to do it without you, I couldn’t.