Well, hello campers!
At last, after months of writing and then weeks of catching up with the things I should have done while I was writing, I’m having a bit of a break. Shame about the weather!
My latest book, GAMBLE, is finally done and at the printers, indeed it is on sale in only two weeks in the United States (order yours now on Amazon for publication day delivery!) and then here in Britain on September 1st. I actually finished writing it in March but it takes ages for the edit (where they tell me what the want changed! – thankfully, not much) and then it’s the copy-edit when someone chcks my speling and,! punctuaton? And then I have to read the proof pages to make sure they’ve made the changes correctly and then it goes to the printers – except, of course, I have to do all the same rigmarole for the American edition in which the US publisher changes all the spelling – color not colour, program not programme, traveling not travelling, and so on – and then there are the words that are different, sidewalk for pavement (which means something else), groom for stable-lad and so on and so on – masses of them. So I finish the manuscript in March but I don’t finally sign off the last proofs until June. And now that’s done I have to start thinking of the next story.
I have agreed a deal with my publishers to write another two books, so Dick Francis fans can expect a new Dick Francis novel in 2012 and 2013 (and, I hope, many more after that).
Help! Can I think of two more stories?? Suggestions, please, on a postcard. No! No, I don’t really want any of your suggestions – I won’t read them as they muddle my mind!
So, what do I do now that GAMBLE has finally gone to press? Well, I got married for a start – that was a great idea. That was a week ago. I suppose I’m technically now on my honeymoon but my wife and I have her mother, her daughter, my son, my daughter-in-law and granddaughter (6 months) staying with us. One doesn’t often take one’s mother-in-law on honeymoon!
Next week I’m going on the annual family holiday to sunny (?) Devon in the southwest of England. It will probably rain as usual. As a family, we have been going to the same place for the same weekend every year since 1953. Sad isn’t it? But we all seem to like it in spite of the weather, and now we have the next generation with us to continue the tradition.
Then, in August, it will be serous thinking time for the next book and then, during September and October, I have a number of speaking engagements at literary festivals and at the English Speaking Union in London.
I will be at the Melbourne Cup in Australia on November 1st and then it’s back to the grind of 1000 words a day in order to meet my deadline of March 15th 2012 for the next book – can I get off the treadmill please??
Bye for now. I’ll write again soon. In the meantime please keep reading – I like to know you enjoy the books or else I might not bother!! OK, OK, I’m only kidding! Keep well - Felix.