Pathologists.
Musicians.
Priests.
Media lawyers.
Artists.
Expeditioners.
Mountaineers.

Noveling... So Ever Rest is at the first critique stage. I am reading the entire book out loud to Dave. You might think this sounds like a free pass. It is not. There is nothing we take more seriously than doing our work properly and well. Reading out loud also sharpens my editorial sensibility. Awkward sections give double pain when you present them, face to face, to a critic whose bar is high (and you also hope to impress). Because of his feedback, I've already slimmed a couple of sections that were slowing the pace - and the book feels better for it. Unless you're like us, don't try this at home.
Editing and mentoring... Last month I began edits on a biography of a pioneering journalist. Those are going well. I'm also about to write developmental notes on a cosy mystery. At first, I wasn't sure I was suitable for it, but when I talked to the author, I thought: 'I know exactly what you need!' So we're working together. 
Bonus question. Now this ring has done its job, do I need a new pic for this section? I have plenty more rings. (I hope they'll still fit. Hmmm.)

Ann Napolitano. I'm currently reading her newest release, Dear Edward. Edward is 12 years old when he is involved in a plane crash, and is the only person to survive. He struggles to find a way to live, after having lost everything, including his brother, mother and father. The narrative of his present life is intercut with the hours of the flight, the people whose last hours he shared, who will stay with him for ever.

It's a bold concept, full of the strangeness of life, loss and death, an ingenious way to examine this eternally puzzling frontier and how we behave when faced with it. There are unexpected consequences that are so emotionally true - for instance, when Edward goes to a new school, his classmates are curious about him, and also suspicious that he is getting lenient treatment. Napolitano makes it believable, down to earth, yet also poetic - I'm enjoying it greatly. Dear Edward publishes in January, but you can order it and find out more about Ann here.

On the blog this month I've had a post for Ingram Spark (9 tips to nail dialogue) and the post I mentioned earlier about my great phew moment (The secret is out - 10 thoughts on nearly finishing a long-haul novel).

At some point I might feel like scrubbing up for the show ring. My instructor is hinting that we wouldn't be disappointed. 'He'd do well,' she said at our last lesson, which made me fantastically proud. I wasn't aiming to have a competition horse, merely a horse I liked to ride.
But there's another reason I'm happy not to compete. Author life already feels like a competition, 24/7. We never stop receiving judgements - from rankings, reviews, the performance of advertising campaigns. We wonder if we're doing enough - and much of it isn't even connected to how well we execute our art. You might have heard the term 'comparisonitis'.