Anyway, after a few days I began to feel quite cold, calm and businesslike and had a huge chunk of my book done, just the right mood for when Tim the Suit rang me in order to be nice in a gritted-teeth, I-have-to-do-this kind of way. He said that we seemed to have inadvertently got off on the wrong foot, but there was no reason why we couldn’t get on better, despite our shared history, since we were both professionals, and why didn’t we get together for lunch the following day if I was free, and talk over my future with Salubrious?

‘I’d love to – as long as I can bring my agent,’ I said sweetly.

‘That’s fine by me,’ he agreed, and I didn’t tell him it wasn’t Miracle any more.

Fortunately when I phoned Nathan he was free to come, and we planned to meet earlier so we could go together. I was dying to see Tim’s face when he realized, which at least gave me something to look forward to!

Twenty-Three

Occupied Territory

NOVELTINA LITERARY AND CRITICAL AGENCY

Mudlark Cottage, The Harbour, Shrimphaven

Dear Randi Tisward,

I enclose your manuscript and full critique of The Blood-Red Tyne.

Initially the work gave me some problems, since you have written it in a stream-of-consciousness way that I have not seen since I was forced to read James Joyce in school.

When you get past this, though, there is actually a jolly good murder mystery in there, and I loved your detective, Baz Hankin, the accidental sleuth. The setting too is all very interesting, atmospheric and well done, although it can’t always be foggy, even by the Tyne, can it?

What I think you have to do with this one, Randi, is abandon your delusion that you are writing a literary novel (which at best would only be a pale pastiche of Joyce) and concentrate on honing up the very cutting-edge modern murder mystery that is struggling to get out.

I have noted some indications of paragraphs and punctuation in the margins, but perhaps you would like to work on this aspect of it and then send it back to me (at no further charge) so that I can have another look at it in its new form.

Yours sincerely,

Tina Devino

Poor Tim! I felt almost sorry for him when he looked up with a slightly tigerish smile and spotted Nathan, and although he made a good recovery, it really put him off his stride.

It was very entertaining listening to him and Nathan fencing about my future books and contracts and stuff. Clearly Nathan was a lot brighter than he looked, despite not having realized he was playing a starring role in my novels, and I was perfectly willing to prostitute my art any day, just sell me to the highest bidder.