I realise, on reading CUCKOO through so that I can remember what I wrote when I go to my meeting at United Agents, that I somehow didn’t include chapter 10 in the version I sent to Simon Trewin. I wonder if, seeing that he didn’t notice, it is entirely necessary, but I forward it anyway, with apologies.

I also realise that the draft I sent is clearly flawed. But I’m OK about it, because I know that there’s a lot to do before it is even considered for publication. I have notes and corrections and structural ideas on almost every single page. it would be worse, I think, if I were completely happy with it at this stage.

The good thing is that I have completely rewritten the ending, and it is far more exciting than what I originally came up with. It’s so good to have someone else feeding back on the work.