Back to the future

Welcome to 2013. Now we have to head back to 2012 and pick up on the story, in fact we are now into April 2012, a very important month for me, but I didn't know it at the time. I had a meeting with  an agent organised through a local writers organisation, and I had also booked on to a second group sesson they had organised with people who worked in the publishing world.

I was so excited, I felt like a child in the first week of December who knew Christmas was only a couple of weeks away, but just couldn't wait for the big event. Everyday seemed to drag as if time had slowed down to half its normal pace.

Always hanging around; that's all you seem do. I was still completing two days of voluntary work, and I also was helping my friend Dangerous John on his new quest. He was now off work due to illness and our regular Friday afternoon meetings in the pub had stired a desire in him to write his own book. So now the roles were reversed as I would go through a different chapter of his every week (over a pint or two) and try to pick up on the week points then advise on how to improve them.

In the end the day came along for my first meeting with professionals, real editors, people who knew what was needed for an author to make it.

The day went well. There was a group of us sitting in a room and all we basicly did was to discuss, to ask, to talk and that was it, but I did something different from the rest. During the lunch break I approached one of the hosts and asked a simple question. If I sent him my manuscript how much would it cost me for him to read it and tell me what needs changing?

I thought it would costs hundreads but he simply said £50, so the deal was done. He gave me a contact address and asked me to send hin a hard copy only, and he would be in contact.

I thought all the other people in the group would have done the same! We were all in the same boat, all unpublished writers, all trying to get our foot on the first rung in publishing, all making the same mistakes, and needing all the advice we could get.

But no, as we all trudged out of the office I was the only one to have taken this chance!