From dark days to OMG: How I got my 2nd publishing deal
As announced in my April post, my novel THE GIRL IN HIS EYES will be published by Bloodhound Books in September 2018 [image error]The due date, 18 September, is coincidentally the day after my birthday so I’ll have no excuse not to celebrate! Yesterday I handed in my last structural edits and now the copywriter will get to work.
Though I considered offering TGHIE to Unbound, who published my debut novel Blind Side, I knew I didn’t have the energy to go through the crowdfunding stage again
for my second book, not yet anyway. (However I’m not closing the door on publishing with them in the future.)
Getting this offer from Bloodhound has been an exercise in patience, resilience, stubbornness and bloody-mindedness, as my O.H. will testify! I started THE GIRL IN HIS EYES many years ago when I was single and at a crossroads in my life (last century in fact, 1999). It is extra special to me as it was the first novel I managed to see through to the end, after various attempts in my 20s/early 30s.
Support from other writers
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I’ve always had faith in THE GIRL IN HIS EYES, in part due to the wonderful encouragement I’ve received from fellow writers over the years, who have also helped me knock it into shape. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who’s offered advice or support on this novel. I’ve had feedback from many writers from the early 2000s onwards, e.g. members of the novelists’ group which used to meet at a north London library near me and before that my local writer’s circle. Later I had some excellent support/advice from members of an online writing group, including some from the former Authonomy writing community.
In particular I had much help, both practical and emotional, from Hilary Bailey, the prolific and highly regarded novelist who sadly died last year. She was also a kind and generous person who was always willing to help others, and I know she would have been very happy for me. Above and below are a couple of notes I received from her.
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Agent woes
In a fit of enthusiasm, I sent out the second or third draft of the novel (then ‘Shadow Man’) to far too many literary agents before belatedly realising that it wasn’t anything like ready. The characters weren’t developed enough and the plot lacked something crucial. In 2006, after finishing the first draft of another novel, I redrafted the earlier novel and submitted it to more agents, this time with the current title THE GIRL IN HIS EYES. (No, I’m not jumping on ‘The Girl’ bandwagon, this title was suggested around ten years ago by a writer friend – before The Girl on the Train or Gone Girl.)
One agent in particular told me (after a long wait) that she loved the novel but unfortunately she didn’t like the other novel I showed her (an early version of BLIND SIDE, since published with Unbound). So I gritted my teeth, put the manuscript aside and started work on other things, including a third novel (not yet published).
Note: I was planning to include a picture of one of my rejection letters here but I can’t find any – maybe I tore them all up in a strop one day 
