After several years on and off and a lot of reworking I finally finished my novel yesterday, subject to editing and proofreading. I thought I had finished it on Sunday, but then going through and rereading it I noticed I hadn't, that there was a great big hole that needed filling, and one or two important parts missing, so I knuckled down and wrote and filled it in. Of course, I have no doubt that I will need to do more work on it before hawking it to publishers - I've sent it to various friends to proofread it.
Also I will have to come up with a title for it as I still haven't yet.
For those who just came in, and to refresh people's memories, it’s a crime novel set in New York during the Second World War. A wealthy but immoral socialite is murdered; the prologue details the murder scene, the first half of the narrative details the circumstances that brings us to this event and the second half deals with the consequences. The three main protagonists are the two detectives investigating the case, Frank Roebling and Alfred O’Malley, and the husband of the deceased, Stan Rosenbaum, mob lawyer; the main antagonist is – funnily enough – the victim, Rachel Warner-Rosenbaum. The supporting cast includes a fictionalised version of the Hell’s Kitchen Gang, an enigmatic hitman feeling conflicted about his chosen vocation, a sick, perverted multimillionaire banker and a water buffalo named Nigel. Okay, I’m kidding about the buffalo, but the rest are definitely in there.
I like to think that I've plumbed the depths of the human experience, or at least touched on deeper themes, such as choices we make, what it is to be a man and so forth, but I might sound a bit full of myself if I carry on like that. I guess I should let the reader be the judge.
Hopefully it’ll pass muster, get published and sell. E-books look like the way ahead because they’re cheaper to produce and will reach a much wider audience, but I hope to see (and sign) printed copies too, and support bookstores.
Perhaps the worm is starting to turn. It's exciting to contemplate…
