So glad to be working from home

I've never been more glad to work from home than I have this week in this hot weather. The thought of the commute into London on hot, stuffy trains while wearing a suit; I really don't miss that.

I'm not one of those people who complain that it's not hot enough in England because this is what you end up with when the temperature rises; a hot, stuffy, damp heat. I'm much happier when it's about 12 to 15 degrees and you can wear a jacket. That's always the other thing. When it's this hot and I don't need a jacket then I have to find somewhere else for my wallet, phone & asthma pump and end up with large bulges in the trouser area...and not in a sexy way!

I'm sitting in my office now with the window and door open and a fan on. It's still hot but at least I can wear shorts and t-shirt and know that the fridge and cold beer aren't too far away.

I've just been reading through what I've written so far of my first draft of CRIME & NOURISHMENT. Most of the advice out there says to just keep writing the first draft until you've finished before checking it and I did that for my first two novels, but now I find I like to do a bit of editing as I go along. I've just added a new opening to the book so it seemed silly not to read through and amend parts that I've now written about in the prologue.

I must admit I'm very pleased with the result. I've found that the humour has taken over from the crime side of the story and I'm quite happy that it has. The story is still a murder mystery but now the main character gets into a lot of funny scrapes as she investigates it. I reached one point and for a split second thought to myself, 'I wonder how that bits going to pan out' before remembering that really; how it pans out is up to me.

I like not knowing where some bits are going. Usually I prefer to be in control but if a character wants to go down a different path then I let them go that way and see what happens. I'm introducing a new character in the next chapter (14) and having read through the draft, I've realised I've been building her up all the way through so now she needs a big entrance.

I guess I need something more than just writing "Ta-Dah!" when she appears.