Chapter One - Strachan's Attic

As more or less promised, the first chapter of Strachan's Attic is in the link just above this post.

It's such a different book to Hafan Deg, that it's a breath of fresh air for me, dealing with a younger protagonist, and the Canadian perspective - the story is partly set in Toronto. North Wales seems far away, and that's helpful, because I needed to let go of Hafan Deg, to let it set sail unhindered for distant agenting shores, so to speak.

I hope you enjoy the chapter from Strachan's Attic. I really would like to hear back from you about it. If you haven't read the brief description, the jacket-style blurb, please see the link above. It's a supernatural tale, but not of the Stephen King variety. It's really more of a love story. Sorry if you expected to be frightened half to death...

How are you feeling about the first person, present tense? A lot of agents don't care for it, will even stipulate not to query them, believing, I guess, that it's going to be just too autobiographical, which most first novels are, after all. However, I am nothing like my Strachan (pronounced 'Strawn', remember?) character. Unless she's my rebellious alter-ego, I have never lived her life, or experienced her kind of world.

No further rejections so far on the query exercise. I tried three times to send off that synopses plus ten pages (double-spaced 12 pt) that some agent required, and had no luck. In the end, I emailed just the briefest of pitches, easily enclosed on one page, and it still bounced back. The problem is with them, not me, I'm sure.

See you on Monday, perhaps with two more chapters. Don't you wish you could write this fast? But I told you, as the book is finished, this involves mainly construction, not completely new words, although some re-writing is bound to take place. I get carried away.