A review from 'marko'

Marko has already done all three of the short stories I posted on YWO, so I was eager to read what he had to say about Amelia's Body.

'Well, you obviously don’t believe in doing things the easy way, AC.

This is a bold and brave experiment, cleverly written. You have a polished talent for narrative so that whatever you write reads well. The wealth of detail is dispensed with a casualness that I found particularly impressive.

Having said all that, I’m not entirely sure where this is going. Each individual cameo is so satisfying that I found myself wishing that the story had been written in a more conventional form, so that I didn’t have to fit all the scattered pieces together myself (never had the patience for jig-saw puzzles).

I suppose you could accuse me of idleness.'

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I know what he means. People keep telling me that I'd get on so much better if I just wrote the story as a conventional narrative. I will do - in three years' time, if I still haven't found a publisher to take it on!

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This December, I will be reading 'The Children of Green Knowe' to J (aged 7) and 'The night before Christmas' to T (aged 2). I've also bought them the most wonderful book as a present: 'The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon' by Mini Grey.

Love A