I love my readers. Well, not the mean ones who post snide
reviews on Amazon, obviously, but the ones who enjoy the books and
are kind enough to let me know. Funny thing this, I've read
voraciously for years, hero-worship more than one household name
writer, but I've never once got in touch with any of them to tell
them how much I've enjoyed a book, or to thank them for their
work.
Which makes me now a bit ashamed of myself, as though for the
same number of years I've been going to parties and to friends'
houses for dinner without ever bothering with a thank you note.
Because lots of people write to thank me and I can't tell you how
lovely it is to get these cheery little notes in my inbox.
I can't say they make it all worthwhile, because it would be
more than worthwhile anyway, but they certainly are the icing on
the cake.
My favourite reader of the moment, though, is without doubt
Carolyn from Texas who, whilst enjoying Awakening, felt
the ending didn't quite hit the note she was looking for. So, and
I'm sure only an American reader would think of doing this, she
tore out the last ten pages, re-wrote it and sent it back to
me.
And you know what - her version wasn't bad.
Spoiler alert - don't read on if you haven't yet (and might one
day) finished Awakening.
Carolyn felt the ending didn't quite hit the romantic note she'd
been hoping for. Not enough for this reader that heroine Clara has
battled venomous snakes, resurrected corpses and saved the man she
loves from a flesh dissolving end. She needed plucky Clara to be
rewarded with a snog.
So in the new version she is. And for all those of you who found
the ending of Awakening just that little lacking in
warmth, here is Carolyn's re-write of pg 390.
Somehow, we'd moved closer. I could smell the wool of Matt's
jacket, warm in the sunshine, his skin, his hair.
'What about your girlfriend, Matt?' I asked.
'Erstwhile girlfriend,' he replied, covering my lips with
his. It was a slow, deeply satisfying kiss. Too soon, he pulled
back and looked at me. With the barest touch, he laid his
fingertips alongside the scar on my face.
'Are you OK?,' he asked.
Actually, Carolyn isn't alone. A lot of readers expressed their
disappointment that the romances in both Awakening and
Blood Harvest weren't tied up a little more neatly.
With Blood Harvest, in particular, I had an alternative
ending in mind, much warmer and sexier, and had even written three
quarters of it in my head. But when it came to it, in both books,
the events leading up to the final pages were just too grim to tie
either story up with a twee happy ending.
The other problem with having your characters ride off into the
sunset, is that it's then so much harder to bring them back for
subsequent books. If characters achieve a happy ending, I like to
leave them there. On the other hand, if the events are resolved but
not the relationships, there is scope to revisit.
I've just taken Evi Oliver out of her box, dusted her off and am
trying her out for a leading role in book five. I wasn't too keen
on Evi, all the time I was writing Blood Harvest. I found
her a bit unwieldy, less interesting that my previous two lead
females. In all fairness to her, though, she's bringing book five
to life. Will she have her happy ending in Book Five? I suspect
not, anymore than Lacey (whom you have yet to meet) will.
Book four is still with She Who Is About To Become A Vision In
White and we've just heard that James Patterson has stolen my
preferred title for it: Tick Tock. Honestly, that man! So,
the race is on to find a new title for a book that is a modern take
on the Jack the Ripper case before the cover design has to be
agreed. Usually, that's sometime in … June! Ooops, my schedule is
slipping.
By the way, if anyone fancies rewriting the endings of any of my
books, feel free! I'll post the best ones here on the website.