I’ve just sent Entertaining the Sombrevilles to a beta reader. I feel both anxious and excited about it – it’s such a weird story, which is why I’ve been hesitant about it for a long time now. Then again, all my stories are weird, weirdness is sort of my thing. And no matter how other people may feel about my writing, the reason I do it is because I like it. You have to give yourself these little pep talks every once in a while, especially when you’re about to do something scary, such as sending your novel to a person you’ve never met.

I think I’ve made up my mind about the short stories as well. I really need to write more standalone shorts, my problem is that the stories are based on characters I already have, and the point is you need to read the novel before you read the short stories. Which is difficult when the novel isn’t done yet. But I may have found a way around it, we’ll see!