First Draft Euphoria

I've just completed the first draft of my fifth novel and this has given me a lovely feeling of euphoria.

When I start out on a novel I am excited by my premise for the story and think it will unfurl before me. It does not happen like that!

I know how my story will start and how it will end, though I will write the ending many times before I feel the wording is right. But it is the getting from the beginning to the finale that is the slog. Keeping the narrative going through the middle of the novel is the major challenge.

As I develop my characters and work through the plot developments self-doubt begins to creep in. Is this ever going to be a novel? I go for long walks and make myself persevere and slowly, chapter by chapter, it comes to life.

The story of my fifth novel starts in Bow in East London in March 1995 on a bitterly cold day. My two main characters are thrown together and for very good reasons run away to La Rochelle in France.

A typical alleyway in La Rochelle

It is a psychological thriller and, like THE LIE OF YOU, is told in the first person point of view of the two main characters in alternating chapters. I feel comfortable writing in the first person. It allows me to get into the heads of my two characters and it gives me the freedom to reveal the motivation, secrets and hidden anguish of the characters.

La Rochelle was the perfect city in which to place my characters. They can start to build a new life in this beautiful place. I have used some of the key locations including the nineteenth century covered market and La Grosse Horloge, an important landmark.

La Rochelle's Covered Market

La Grosse Horloge, La Rochelle

The next stage is to wait for feedback from my editor and that is always an interesting moment.

My latest novel is BEHIND HER BACK, published by Head of Zeus.