I’d started on my novel only the week before I heard about the mentoring scheme. I’d been concentrating on short stories, and had had some success in getting them published, but the idea for the novel was swimming around inside my head and I had finally decided it was time to let it out. I’d written about 8,000 words and a rough outline when I sent off my sample chapter. When I was accepted onto the scheme, it felt like everything was falling into place.
I’d had feedback on my writing from writer friends, but I knew that the feedback I received from my mentor would be in a different league. Your friends are your friends. Whereas your mentor is concerned with making you a better writer. Sending out my first 10,000 words was terrifying. I’d finally reached a point where I felt I could handle criticism, but I was still worried that it’d be too much for me. But I was excited, as well.
The book is called “The Path From You Back To Me”. It’s about the nature of love, language, and myth. It deals with the themes of loss, longing, family, and the stories we tell about ourselves. It’s as much about the words that aren’t spoken as the ones that are.
My mentor is the author Ray Robinson.
