This book has also been written for some time, like The Document, and the manuscript was also sitting in a box with half a dozen others gathering dust and not quite as complete, so this month it is going to get the makeover, a first draft for the editor.

And so it begins…

…

Like I said, Day 8 was going to come back and bite

…

And, did it ever.

It’s got a lot to do with this fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants thing. It’s fine writing a story making it up as you go, without an official plan. If the ideas keep flowing.

But when revising it’s easy to see the plot holes or potholes maybe, and I just fell in one.

So, going back to the start…

Were in Venice … did I tell you I love Venice … where the story starts.

It’s that age-old premise, a mission that’s blown before the agent left home base.

The mission is simple: a retired agent is pulled back into the field for one last job at the request of a very important asset in the field, to bring them out of the cold.

Our new agent, whose mentor is being recalled, is assigned to back his mentor up, without his knowledge, as a precaution. Why the secrecy is not explained.

That’s the premise, and only became clear when I reached Day 10.

Day 11 promises to be a lot more interesting now.

This book has also been written for some time, like The Document, and the manuscript was also sitting in a box with half a dozen others gathering dust and not quite as complete, so this month it is going to get the makeover, a first draft for the editor.

And so it begins…

…

Like I said, Day 8 was going to come back and bite

…

And, did it ever.

It’s got a lot to do with this fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants thing. It’s fine writing a story making it up as you go, without an official plan. If the ideas keep flowing.

But when revising it’s easy to see the plot holes or potholes maybe, and I just fell in one.

So, going back to the start…

Were in Venice … did I tell you I love Venice … where the story starts.

It’s that age-old premise, a mission that’s blown before the agent left home base.

The mission is simple: a retired agent is pulled back into the field for one last job at the request of a very important asset in the field, to bring them out of the cold.

Our new agent, whose mentor is being recalled, is assigned to back his mentor up, without his knowledge, as a precaution. Why the secrecy is not explained.

That’s the premise, and only became clear when I reached Day 10.

Day 11 promises to be a lot more interesting now.

This book has also been written for some time, like The Document, and the manuscript was also sitting in a box with half a dozen others gathering dust and not quite as complete, so this month it is going to get the makeover, a first draft for the editor.

And so it begins…

…

I’ve been thinking about the title.

…

Was not quite sure how this story was going to go because it is very difficult to think that you would betray your family, your friends, the people you work with, or on a grander scale, your country.

In the case of the latter, it is treason, and that’s a word that hasn’t been bandied around since the end of the second world war.

Until of course, the January 6 insurrection – if that was what it was. There seem to be two schools of thought on that matter.

But that has nothing to do with this story.

There are sayings that came out of Britain, like loose lips sink ships, that spies for the Nazis were everywhere, listening in keyholes. I saw a short film that was shown in the cinemas during the war showing examples of what those fifth columnists were like.

Yes, the enemy within, was also known as the fifth column.

Later there were people gathering documents and military and other secrets to sell to other countries like Russia.

Later still there are people who look like us, who are working for foreign countries, actively pursuing industrial information to copy products and processes.

You would not recognise them, and more than likely you wouldn’t know if they were trying to get you to tell them about certain things, recognising it as only an interest in what you do.

Fortunately, our story is not quite that dramatic, but it does give food for thought!

Enough rumination, it’s time to go back to work.

This book has also been written for some time, like The Document, and the manuscript was also sitting in a box with half a dozen others gathering dust and not quite as complete, so this month it is going to get the makeover, a first draft for the editor.

And so it begins…

…

I’ve been thinking about the title.

…

Was not quite sure how this story was going to go because it is very difficult to think that you would betray your family, your friends, the people you work with, or on a grander scale, your country.

In the case of the latter, it is treason, and that’s a word that hasn’t been bandied around since the end of the second world war.

Until of course, the January 6 insurrection – if that was what it was. There seem to be two schools of thought on that matter.

But that has nothing to do with this story.

There are sayings that came out of Britain, like loose lips sink ships, that spies for the Nazis were everywhere, listening in keyholes. I saw a short film that was shown in the cinemas during the war showing examples of what those fifth columnists were like.

Yes, the enemy within, was also known as the fifth column.

Later there were people gathering documents and military and other secrets to sell to other countries like Russia.

Later still there are people who look like us, who are working for foreign countries, actively pursuing industrial information to copy products and processes.

You would not recognise them, and more than likely you wouldn’t know if they were trying to get you to tell them about certain things, recognising it as only an interest in what you do.

Fortunately, our story is not quite that dramatic, but it does give food for thought!

Enough rumination, it’s time to go back to work.

This book has also been written for some time, like The Document, and the manuscript was also sitting in a box with half a dozen others gathering dust and not quite as complete, so this month it is going to get the makeover, a first draft for the editor.

And so it begins…

…

So, we won’t talk about day 8.

…

Day 8 never happened. I want to believe that I went to bed at the usual time, and slept for 24 hours.

Except I didn’t.

What happened? A new plot twist came out of the new writing, and you guessed it, I had to go back and write some new lines to accommodate it.

Who said writing is fun?

Then, of course, a new idea pops into my head while having the first cup of coffee for the day, and …

Well, you know the rest.

Roll on day 9!

This book has also been written for some time, like The Document, and the manuscript was also sitting in a box with half a dozen others gathering dust and not quite as complete, so this month it is going to get the makeover, a first draft for the editor.

And so it begins…

…

So, we won’t talk about day 8.

…

Day 8 never happened. I want to believe that I went to bed at the usual time, and slept for 24 hours.

Except I didn’t.

What happened? A new plot twist came out of the new writing, and you guessed it, I had to go back and write some new lines to accommodate it.

Who said writing is fun?

Then, of course, a new idea pops into my head while having the first cup of coffee for the day, and …

Well, you know the rest.

Roll on day 9!

This book has also been written for some time, like The Document, and the manuscript was also sitting in a box with half a dozen others gathering dust and not quite as complete, so this month it is going to get the makeover, a first draft for the editor.

And so it begins…

…

It’s the end of the first week

Is it plain sailing? No.

We’ve circled back to Chapter 9 and it is problematical. I read it, and I don’t like it.

So, I went to one of my beta readers, gave her a copy, and asked for an opinion. I knew that fishing with crocodiles was going to be more fun, but I couldn’t afford to go to Florida.

Two days later I got a three-page critique.

She could have sugar-coated it. You know, yes it suits the flow but there are a few tweaks required, not the last paragraph in capitals saying, IT NEEDS REWRITING.

I could have told her that.

Oh well, back to the drawing board.

Did I say I hate editing?