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Awarded December 2013 for MAKE DO AND MEND by Adam Fitzroy

Tuesday 26 February 2013

Here we go again!

I started the new book at the beginning of the month, but hadn't got very far with it when I had to take time off again due to a combination of family illness and real (i.e. paid) work.  However I have managed to pick up the threads this morning and now have a much clearer idea of where I'm going with it; the characters, Alistair and Rex, are really beginning to make their presence felt.  So are the other people who form their background - family members, the teachers at their school, Rex's landlord, and some of their neighbours.   As usual there will be a tight focus on a small community, this time based in the sooty environs of the East End of London as it slowly recovers from the depradations of both the Luftwaffe and various misguided post-War planning decisions.

Whilst doing some preparatory research earlier on today I found myself investigating - among other things - Bengali surnames, the history of heart surgery, and the Morris Oxford J2 minibus.  This is one of the more delightful aspects of writing, as far as I'm concerned, and I particularly enjoy the fact that most of what one needs to know can usually be discovered without even having to get up from the keyboard and reach for a book - although that doesn't mean that I'm not habitually surrounded by books, maps and even music for all occasions.

I have no idea how long this is likely to take, anyway, or how long a book it will be, but I'd prefer it not to be another epic-length saga like MAKE DO AND MEND or STAGE WHISPERS; if I can keep it down to under 60,000 words I'll be happy enough, but watch this space!

2 comments:

  1. I love your epic length novels -- you develop the characters so carefully whereas too many books in this genre seem hastily done and far too short to satisfy.

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    1. There are time, I must admit, when I would like to be able to write short books - or write more quickly. The new book, BOUNDARIES, is still only about a quarter written, if that, but it has recently started to take on a life of its own and the characters and now beginning to dictate to me at last. There's no chance of it being published before 2014, though.

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