Who Is This Guy?

[poliphilo]

Richard and Judy (The British Oprah) are running a competition for unpublished novelists. I've already sent them Devilkins (my latest).

But the rules say nothing about multiple submissions so I thought I'd also send them Saxon River (which I wrote a couple of years back.) But, oh dear- who is this guy who wrote this stuff? It's so arch, so clumsy, So naive!

Do I want to try and rewrite it, or do I just drop it back into the bottom drawer?

Two years ago this was the story I desperately wanted to tell and now I can't see why.

Comments

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

We have excellent virus protection on both computers, so I can send it to you safely. Hope you don't cringe too much when you read it, but that's okay--so did I.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

That's great. We have protection too. McAfee!

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

Did it come through? I sent it about 15 minutes ago.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Yup, and I've read it. I've sent a response by email- but I'll post it here as well- just to be sure.

I like it. Right at the end where the son comes back in I got a little prickling of the scalp. So he loves his mother really.

And he has inherited her gift.

I like Mme Raya's voice. The prissiness, the over-sweetness. She's a dear old duck but you understand why her son might find her a trial.

The one thing I wanted more of was the murderer. I guess I wanted to hear in more detail about him and Alice and why he killed her. Also the longer he raves the more we're kept in suspense.

But it's a super story.