After a bumpy relocation to Brighton, a tragic death, and a failed romance (and that’s not even the fiction yet), I finally have found a brilliant place to live, and thus time to sit down and recuperate. Most importantly, time to continue with the novel I started writing last summer, which some of you have been so kindly following. I’d been struggling with some pretty terminal writer’s block, I can tell you, but a weekend of research in London proved the absolute antidote to this.

My recent experiences have highlighted several things to me about our art that I’m not sure I would’ve fully appreciated otherwise. I learnt how valuable time actually is – the time to sit quietly and draw our imaginations out on to the page. I also learnt the importance of research itself. I for one have found it impossible to write about a place I had little knowledge of. Coming back from London with a head full of solid ideas, I realised how one trip to a city you plan to describe in a narrative, in a more than cursory way, is pretty damn essential if one wants it to be authentic. But the most incredible lesson of all was in learning just how much I need to write. Having no time, and a life filled with action and chaos - new jobs, unfortunate incidents, social events – squashed my imagination into the back of my skull like a winepress, until headaches abounded and frustration mounted to astronomical proportions.

Writing this next chapter of TA, and blazing on into the rest of the book has been such a blessed release for me, that I honestly cannot describe it. I want to thank whatever spirits or entities there are out there in the universe for giving me this wondrous ability that we all share here on WW. I also want to thank you all for your excellent comments, observances, encouragement, and hope you continue to enjoy my work as much as I do yours.

JB

Nice to see you back, Wax, and glad to hear things have settled down a bit. Have you moved from the house you first moved into? I could understand it after what happened.
Take care. Will be reading TA soon.
Sharon

Hi Sharon

Yeah, I moved on from there as things just got tougher and tougher. I'm a 2minute walk from the sea now and its a lot nicer place.

JB

Take care, JB, and sorry to hear about all your troubles. Glad though to hear things are sorting themselves out gradually now. New year, new you...

LoL

A
xxx

It's lovely to see you're settling at last. Will read TA7 over the weekend if I can but I'm a bit behind at the moment.

Dee
x

Thanks Dee. I'll try and catch up with some of TWH this week - can't believe you're already on the final chapter. That was quick!

JB

This has now been slightly edited with some reader comments in mind. And a big thank you to Bill for his geographical correction!

JB

Still available for comment.

JB

One last time around the block. Thanks for all the really helpful comments so far!

JB