This weekend I finished another round of revising, and sent the manuscript to the editor. It’s such a relief to have come this far! The manuscript is definitely getting better and better, though I’m starting to become really anxious about it turning into an actual book in a few months. A book people could actually read and have opinions about. Why do authors do this to themselves? There are so many conflicting feelings right now, and always. I was nervous about publishing Entertaining the Sombrevilles as well, of course, but this is on another level. At the same time I’m so excited about the book being out there soon. I keep visualizing a few copies of it on my bookshelf, and it’s a lovely image.

For the next few weeks I’ll be busy with research for book #2, until I get feedback from the editor. I have lots and lots of BBC documentaries to watch as part of the research – life could be much worse. I very much recommend A Very British Romance with Lucy Worsley!