After two years of writing, drafting and re-drafting, I sent my ‘university’ novel to a commissioning editor for feedback. The highlight of her response? Being told my manuscript has ‘great promise’ and is written in a style reminiscent of one of my favourite writers, John le Carré. Not intentional, never occurred to me but I’ll take the comparison, thank you.

Yes, she had criticisms and suggestions, all of them valid and I need one final draft before sending to a publisher. But there is a way forward, just as there is a path between the cliff face and the boulder in the photo above, taken on my recent hike in the Grampians.

Much encouraged, I shall push on, as I did through the mist of another day in the Grampians – until reaching the beauty of dawn on the final work in maybe 3-6 months. We’ll see.

Writing is like hiking. A journey where we discover much and find ourselves in places and experiences we never foresaw.