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I enjoy writing two books at the same time.  I realise that this isn’t really being ambidextrous but it feels like it sometimes.  The two books are chalk and cheese.  One, the longer and more tortuous of the two, is a new novel called “Sleeping”.  This is my first go at a new genre; a political spy novel with a difference because we are not sure if the protagonist, Malcolm, is a spy or a Walter-Mitty character who wants to make his life more exciting than being behind the scenes in a museum. 

The other book is nearer completion and is much more fun to write: “The English Sailor (Le Marin Anglais)” is a musical take on a traditional Breton folk tale “Peronnik the Idiot”.   It is written for children aged between 10 and 12 years old.   I have just about finished the text and am now in the throes of redrafting the songs.  The music is written by brother Dave, living in Brittany, and follows a suite of musicals called Musical Grimm which we finished a couple of years ago.  We hope that the production will be presented in Morbihan in 2021, once Covid-19 releases us all.

Meanwhile, with my other hand, I continue to build the plot of “Sleeping”.  I am enjoying the difficult task of writing the book without myself coming down on one side or the other yet – is he Malcolm the spy, or Malcolm the dreamer?  It often requires drafting and re-drafting so that readers as well as the writer can wrestle with the conundrum.  Hopefully, it is going to reward the reader when they discover the truth.  I am two-thirds of the way through and expect to have it completed by December.  

Then of course will come the publishing.  But I long ago decided that, if I wanted to keep control of my output and avoid the blues of rejection letters, then I should publish my books myself.  With Kindle Direct all is possible, in both e-book and paperback formats. 

Selling the book is another story and one to leave for today. “Sleeping” will be my eighth novel; “The English Sailor” will be my fourth musical play.  Writing them at the same time has been fun – each offering relief from the other.  Double-handed writing has much to commend it!