My novel The Canal goes into production this week with Melville House. This is something I am extremely excited about. Working with my editor; seeing the book develop; reading through the galleys . . . all of that. I like the contact with a manuscript. I like working on manuscripts. Deleting words here and paragraphs there. Changing the feel of a particular scene, or a snippet of dialogue; tweaking individual sentences until they are just right. It is this process, for me, that makes it all worth while.
In honour of my novel going in to production I have compiled a list detailing 10.5 things I like about the Regent’s Canal in London.
1) The old Wharf at Wenlock Basin
2) The graffiti under the bridges
3) The coots, swans, Canada geese and moorhens
4) The reflection of the tower blocks at De Beauvoir Town in the water just before the Kingsland Road bridge
5) The local children fishing in the dirty, scum ridden locks
6) The wood-burning narrow boats and their smug, sometimes moody occupants
7) Islington tunnel
8) The grooves in the brickwork under the bridges, where the ropes from horse-pulled barges have worn away the brick dating back from the 19th century
9) The group of Russian men who sit on the bench below Gainsborough Studios drinking Vodka until they fall asleep
10) The sound the towpath makes in places when cycling along it at speed
10.5) The silence that can be found there
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