Forest Brothers is finished and out in the public domain. Finnish Boys (working title) is work in progress, but definitely a project that is at a standstill from my output. I have completed the first draft, it is now with my lovely alpha readers and I await their input. If all goes well, I hope to talk to the publisher as early as March. It’s ok, she knows this is a rough date, I’m not springing any surprises! However, it depends on how busy CG is and how I get on with the final edits following receiving feedback.
So what to do next? I have tried not writing and I am getting a bit frustrated now. Time for new starts.
I have been polishing up an earlier novel, set in the Aberystwyth area in the late 1890’s/early 1900’s. It won a prize in the Best Novel category at the Aber Valley Arts Festival in 2012, so i would love to find it a home (one with a printing press, of course!)
Once I have cracked that, I am already beginning to look towards my Estonian characters and have the beginnings of a new novel set as a sequel to ‘Forest Brothers’. This will feature Juhan more than he has ever managed so far. It will also be set in various corners of Northern Europe and for a timescale say 1945-7. Cold war beckons, let the intrigue begin! Thus, Estonians will feature much more than Estonia.
One problem I have made for myself. The 1st novel is called Forest Brothers, the next one currently Finnish Boys. If I am making a trilogy, have I just set myself up for every title to be two words beginning ‘F’ and ‘B’? Thank God I’m reading about the Faroe Islands! A friend has a useful spoonerism when she swears of ‘Fuggery Bucknuts’. Tempting, but… maybe not!!!
So Book 3 will start where Forest Brothers left off and continue forward. The characters from that book will take it forward and more will be introduced along the way as the plot developes. at the moment, I have a start and a finish and a few points in the middle, so it is definitely a project for 2015!
