Epilogue

So here we are.

365 days on from the moment I recklessly committed myself to write a crime novel in one year.

And what a year it’s been.

While I always hoped I would make it, now I’m here with 500 sheets of A4 paper next to me, I can’t quite believe I’ve written a novel. It’s not been easy; in fact, it’s been very, very hard.

So how have I managed it?

The invaluable advice of Kate Mosse’s 52 tips for writers has unerringly come to my rescue http://www.mosselabyrinth.co.uk/advice/intro.asp. My thanks to Greg and Kate Mosse for their permission to use their year’s worth of tips.

Scrivener http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.html. Simply the best writing software on the planet. It helps you write by not getting in the way. Full screen mode had been my home for much of the last 12 months.

Calow Classics http://www.calowclassics.net/ for providing the soundtrack to my year.

Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook http://www.writersandartists.co.uk/. Their blog competition kept me writing when I most needed it.

Everyone (except that really weird woman from Denmark) who has taken the trouble and time to email me. I have been quite amazed by the reception my blog has generated; something that is a testament to how many people are in a similar situation, chiselling away at the coal face of words.

...and of course my wife & friends (the circle - you know who you are).

...and finally.

As promised, the title of my book. Hopefully this time next year, Amazon, Waterstone’s, Blackwells and the rest will have a new title on their shelves.

Death’s Disciple.

But for now I’m having a week off.

As I lovingly caress a pint of beer in some remote village pub, I will think about the last twelve months. I will think about how hard it’s been, how much fun it’s been and how amazed I am that I have made it this far.

But most of all I will think about the sheer unmitigated joy, 52 weeks on, of typing those two final words.

The End.