Actually, I’ve no idea. I’ve been ‘playing’ around at writing now for a good five years, posting on the internet and slowly getting better (or at least getting more praise for my work). I was in a position, where I could have easily stuck in my comfort zone, not taking any real risks and posting on sites where I knew that I would get praised for my work but not testing myself against those in the real world of writing. But then the idea for something that may just make a novel struck me.

I was sat in my hotel room in Phnom Penh and an idea finally started to grow. By the time I had left Siem Reap the idea had fully formed and I had started penning down parts of it on paper. During the rest of my Asia tour, I was constantly picking up notebooks and scribbling down more potential scenes and when I returned to England, my main characters and the main plot idea had fully formed. Then it just sat around for three months. Sure many people can have an idea for a book, but very few can actually write one and get it published.

On the 4^th March 2010, I was talking about the book to a family member and was challenged about writing it. The next day, I had written around 4000 words, mainly building on the notes and scenes that I had written while on my Asia tour. My stubborn determination had been sparked and I took to writing the book as a job, spending hours, day after day at the computer. By 28^th June, I had a finished first draft.

Then came the question of what to do it.

Having the finished draft and being happy with it made me more determined to try and get it published, I really started to believe that there was something there. Besides after writing over 100,000 words and having even more back story, it would be a  waste to just leave it on the computer. So I went into the editing phase (with the help of a trusted friend – who I had used with the online fiction that I had used to post). I took it through five drafts, deleting sentences, scenes, and even a couple of characters as well as building on other parts now having a more concrete ending in my head.

And as for now, well, the book is in the hands of a few trusted first readers, with a list of questions and a three week deadline to read. And while I anxiously await their response, and let me tell you, this is even more nerve-wracking than getting feedback on the earlier work I have posted online, as this is all mine, I’m starting to look at agents.

Whether I will actually do it, I’m not sure yet, but I’m going to give it a damn good go and promise to keep you all informed on journey and the tears that are set to come (hopefully those will be tears of joy though.)

Talk to you soon.