J. K. Rowling

Thanks for the tip Anonymous, I'm not trying to write a Harry Potter-alike so I don't have to worry about that. I don't think my story is derivative. I've read a great deal of crime fiction (only because I've read a great deal of everything - but never enough of course) and I haven't come across anything like it. Of course that could be a very bad thing - meaning they don't publish books like mine because no one WANTS books like mine. I've given this some serious thought. I even got a 'How to...' guide from the library but, in the end, there wasn't much of a dilemma - I decided I'll write this one exactly the way I want and if it gets nowhere I'll aim for something more saleable next time around. If I wrote with someone else's template in mind I'd lose any spontaneity I have. The parts of my book I am best able to re-read without cringing are those that came out in a flood - the ones I hardly remember writing at all.

I read an article in my local paper recently about a girl in her early twenties who had written and self-published (although of course she didn't say so outright) a medical crime novel. When the interviewer asked "And what kind of books do you like to read?" the author replied "Oh I don't have time for reading because I'm writing all the time. I did used to like Stephen King though." Surely, I think to myself, surely I have more chance in this career than her? If there's any justice in the world. I probably just answered my own question.

Speak soon,
A