I predicted, in my February round-up, that I would be a bit tired by the end of March. I was right. This is a long round-up. Let’s get into it.

What I’ve been working on

I’ve had my greedy little mitts on four projects this month. I finished off the two fiction proofreads I started in February – one a medieval romance and the other the contemporary tale of a fight to save much-loved communal land. Then I was straight on to an alternative history novel. The author delved into the horrifying consequences of a different ending to World War II – and it wasn’t the obvious different ending.

My last project will take me into April (April already!). It’s a work of fiction based on a real-life murder, and the author has deftly woven the story using points of view from two first-person narrators and an omniscient narrator – a tall order to pull off.

The fiction editors’ mini-conference

This was the first of my trips to London in March, and for this train journey I treated myself to a first-class ticket (what decadence). It got even better when I arrived at the venue to find several platters of pastries on offer.

The first session was Efficient Editing – Your Way with the brilliant Kia Thomas. Kia knows how to deliver a good session, and I picked up some handy tips for making the most of Word. The second session was on Manuscript Critiques. Aki Schilz and Anna South gave interesting insights into how they approach manuscript assessment. They both stressed the importance of being frank, but respectful, when working with authors. It’s all too easy to create or encourage unrealistic expectations. This was a point that struck a chord – it’s important to me that I am honest, but sensitive and empathetic, when I work with authors.

After lunch (a lovely buffet, the highlight of which was the smoked salmon on focaccia) was the third session: Some Points of View on Point of View with Tom Bromley. It was my favourite session of the day. Tom has a vast amount of experience and knowledge to share – I could have listened to him for a few more hours, to be honest. The final session was on How Editors Can Help Indie Authors. Orna Ross and Roz Morris shared their thoughts on the editor–author relationship within self-publishing, and talked about some of the current issues and innovations within the self-publishing arena.

Sarah Calfee and Carrie O’Grady did a fantastic job of organising the conference. I had a great – if long! – day, and I was very glad to have the wonderful company of my SfEP buddy Louise Pearce, of Refine Fiction, during and when travelling to/from the event. Thank you, Louise.

The London Book Fair

I was back to London (standard-class ticket this time – I’m not made of money) for the annual book fair. It’s a super day out for those in the publishing industry, although it did seem to lack a little of the sparkle it had last year. I dropped in, of course, to the SfEP stand to say an awkward hello, and managed to catch the end of a discussion on KDP at Author HQ. The Children’s Hub hosted a panel session called Diversity: Where’s the Issue? which I was pleased I was in time to listen to. The panel were spot-on with their assessment: diversity should be included naturally and incidentally. On a personal level, it felt particularly relevant because I had recently had the difficult task of pointing out to a client (a publishing house) some issues with the manuscript they had sent me. I was fortunate, later in the day, to be able to listen to a reading by and discussion with Seno Gumira Ajidarma.

What I read for fun

A copy of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s Good Omens accompanied me on both of my trips to London. If there’s one thing a train journey is good for, it’s having time to get stuck into a book. I’ve no idea why it has taken me so long to get round to reading Good Omens. It’s everything you would expect, really. Bring on the TV adaptation.

Perhaps the most important thing I learned at the London Book Fair is that Titan have commissioned three novels set during the timeline of the Firefly TV series. I was just a tad excited (and baffled as to why I hadn’t heard of it sooner). I immediately ordered the first one: Big Damn Hero. It’s entertaining enough and I’ll read the second book, eventually.

Alongside Good Omens and Big Damn Hero, I made my way through The Art of the Novel. It’s a collection of essays (edited by Nicholas Royle) on the writing of novels, and I like it very much. It provides little snippets of insight into the minds of the contributors (all novelists). The authors and subjects are diverse, and the advice is sound.