The completion of another read-through, a two-liner and hail

61. Monday 13 April 2026

It’s taken me five days (not full days) to finish this edit, which ended up being a proofreading stage. For once, I feel pleased with myself for reaching the end of a round of editing. There are also two people currently reading my manuscript (gulp). As well as finishing this read-through in chronological order, I have also written a possible version of my one-liner (though it’s a two-liner). It’s not quite right but I think it has promise.

                This is my intro/blurb/opener as it currently stands:

A fraudster, an accused murderer, a nepo baby, a repressed romantasy writer, a wannabe Poirot, a woman who makes bad date choices and a dead lothario. What better material for a class of amateur crime writers?

Now that I’ve finished this stage, I’m planning to read it in chapter order rather than chronological. As with previous books of mine and previous edits, I will continue rereading it until I’m both fed up with it and have stopped making changes. It amazes me how many times I end up reading my manuscripts before getting bored with them – got to be a good sign, right?! I am still hopeful that I can cull another few thousand words.

It doesn't look at all dramatic in the photo but outside it's hailing, though the worst hailstorm today was almost horizontal

In other news, not much excitement today other than quite a few hailstorms – the weather’s crazy at the moment. It’s all calm now. I’m spending the night in my cabin, which is always cosy and sometimes enables me to sleep really deeply. I’ve also started another sourdough, though the house was cold today as we didn’t use any heating and my starters have been used to far warmer conditions.