Okay – so somebody got 5 stars!!!!!!

The new book, The Innocents, has finally made an appearance today on my desk as the final, final, final version and its nearly ready to to to the shops – for you, dear readers, to buy. It’ll be there in August but, behind the scenes, its been quietly charming, enchanting, exciting, mystifying and thrilling readers who have to rate it and review it. It has been awarded five stars! Now this is a 5/5, gang! Not a 5/10 or 5/20 – you know, it just doesn’t get any better than this.

So, I’m pretty chuffed with myself but its been a long haul. I think I’ve told you something about it as we went but, in case you missed it, the journey of this book has been a long one. Its been with me for a while and I’ve had to run at it a few times to make it sing – and now my faith in this work has paid off. All the days when I was sitting here weeping or cursing and grizzling or just plain bored with it have all been worth it.

Now I’m getting ready to do the study notes for schools – and guess what? I don’t get paid for this – so, students, I’m wondering to myself – how hard should I make these notes. Should I make you delve into the chapters to seek deep and mysterious answers – and boy, you could dig deep in this book – truly. Or should I make them dazzlingly smart and tricky so even when you think you’ve got the answer you just wonder if there might be another reading possible. Frankly, I think this last idea is the one to go with – a good book has so much more than one story in it – I think I’ll be getting you to find a keys to other meanings. And, anyway, it’ll prove that I’m good for nothing! (that is when I write the notes).

S0, the book is about ready. I’m about ready to go out with Oliver Briskett my new novel. He’s waiting on all four legs, in detective mode, in a very, very dark and clammy house with doors that close slowly and whispers that creep across your neck. Oliver, in case you didn’t know, already exists in a novel called ‘Grave Catastrophe’ – he’s pretty cool but this time he’s so cool he’s chilling – its a love story, a ghost story, a puzzle with maps and graphs and it’s going to be one of the very best yet….probably even a five starer! But hey, that’s what you’d expect from a five star writer.

Am I modest…nope. I don’t think so.