Not Just Vapourware

Emailed the Second Draft of the novel out to readers for comments last night.

It's out there now. It's not just vapourware. I feel both pleased and drained.

To celebrate, I've been listening to Mick Harvey's Sketches from the Book of the Dead.

I posted previously about how we saw his excellent CD launch on Saturday night. The synchronicity between his album and my novel hasn't escaped me. Both are about memory. Both are about the dead.

The stand out track on the album for me so far is "The Ballard of Jay Givens", about the suicide of the best friend of Harvey's father.

Here-- a little present for you, on this wet Melbourne morning:

Mick Harvey - The Ballad of Jay Givens by Mute UK

I keep thinking of changes I want to make to the novel. Finishing the second draft means I can finally see what it is, as opposed to what I thought it might be. This is good. This means I can strip away everything that doesn't belong, and strengthen everything that does.

I'll start the third draft in July. I have the Emerging Writers Festival and Continuum to get through first.

Hm. I really should post about them.