CHAPTER 36

In this final episode: Unable to prevent it, Keynes must ensure the nature of Martha’s escape works in his favour. Later, Lady Katherine offers Keynes a proposition he is unable to refuse.

Story running time: 20 minutes

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CHAPTER 35

The penultimate audio chapter arrives at last!

Keynes finds himself at the mercy of his adversary, but it is not only he who is subject to her will as she reveals the darkest of secrets he has hidden for eight years.

Story running time: 20 minutes

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CHAPTER 34

Merrick and his men search for evidence, while Keynes makes after the escaping Martha.

Story running time: 21 minutes

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I am under no illusions about the nature of the climb ahead of me to get Persistent Spirit and the rest of the Table Rappers series published and out on bookshelves. (Why I have swung a u-turn back from online publishing to traditional publishing is for another post.) ---- All rights reserved. nd.com Read on...

The chances of me landing an agent without already having some kind of publishing deal, or at least an offer, is very slim. But not impossible. A superb post on advice in finding a literary agent can be found on Neil Gaiman’s site.

It has to be the right one

Last weekend I waded through a database of Literary Agents and was surprised how straightforward it was to filter out those clearly not suitable for my submission. It took about 3 hours of research to pin down three possible candidates, carefully assessing the requirements and tone of their websites, and, of course, their current author list.

The principle criteria for me is to find an agent that understands a long running series of connected novels and associated online and offline elements. One that will respect my career experience and how that can be applied to promotion ongoing is also important.

This begs the question: If I get an offer from a agent who I feel does not properly fit those criteria, will I turn down the offer?

I hope the answer will be: yes, I will walk away for a more appropriate deal. But unless I am actually in that position, I don’t think I can make that decision ahead of time. There is too much to weigh-up.

Waiting for rejection

Sending the three submissions in the post this afternoon was an interesting experience. There is no nervousness, no fears, no nail-chewing whilst listening for the rejection letter response to pop through the letterbox in six to eight weeks.

Thankfully, the notion of rejection is something I came to terms with very early on, when I began venturing into writing. Fear of professional rejection is irrational and as a guaranteed stepping stone on the usually long, winding path to be published, is something no-one can side-step.

I do not lack confidence in my work. I know there is an audience for it, and I’ll just keep hammering at doors until I find someone who understands where that audience is.

What’s next?

Agents, like publishers, quote around six to eight weeks for a response. I’ll not confuse the issue by submitting to more agents in that time, but may make some direct to publisher submissions if I feel it is necessary.

Work on the final chapters of Persistent Spirit continues, and work on the second book, A Shot in Time, is accelerating in the background with story structure and planning starting to kick-in when there’s the time.

This one will be an exciting project for me coming to a new novel after my experience with the first – there will be less mystery, and less trying to work out just how to make it happen. This is a good thing because the story is promising to be more complex being split into two distinctly different locations (I’m not giving anything else away on that, it’s a surprise!).

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For the first time, eyes other than mine are looking over the words I have been poring over for well over a year. I guess it should be a scary time, but it is not. Could this be due to the story already having been released in audio format – and the very positive response I have received from many listeners? ---- All rights reserved. nd.com Read on...

Making a better book

When I gave it a little more thought, I realised something very important about this proofing process: whatever comments I receive, they can only result in a better novel.

There is no room for egos and sensitivities at this stage. If the work fails to provide its first, amateur readers with a positive experience, it stands virtually no chance of passing the infinitely more discerning eyes of a professional publisher’s reader.

Real edits

The first reader to return edits was one I trusted would not tip-toe around my sensibilities, and tell me exactly what she thought. She did not fail me. Thankfully, she enjoyed the reading, wanting to continue with the rest to learn how the story unfolds. 

Minor typos, misspellings, and glitches aside, I found most of her more significant comments matched quite closely to those areas I have either struggled with or have had a gut feeling myself that something was not  quite right. Now someone else had spotted them, there was no denying the need for a little repair.

This is not tedious (yet)

I’m enjoying this editing process. Again, I think it comes down to an underlying realisation that the book is being improved, polished, and made more complete. 

I have spotted some issues myself while going through someone else’s comments. Focusing merely on how to fix issues they have highlighted, have detached me a little from the emotion of the words, and enabled me to spot – and fix – a couple of quite significant continuity errors, plus a chronological discrepancy.

I suspect, once the editing gets down to nothing more than individual word tweaking, I will get sick of the sight of the book. But I think I’ll retain my optimism, because at that stage, it is very close to being complete.

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CHAPTER 33

Martha ignores warnings and proceeds with the seance, while Keynes experiences that for which he has been searching for many years.

Story running time: 24 minutes

Available from TableRappers.com or right here:

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Book one is in the early stages of its third draft. Well, to be more accurate, it’s second novel draft as the physical second draft was written with the serialised audiobook in mind. Confused? No matter, so long as I can keep track! ---- All rights reserved. nd.com Read on...

In October last year I announced the title of Book 6. The announcement defined it as Book 5, but since that time I have restructured the sequence of books following the current unfinished Persistent Spirit.

Here is the list of books as it stands today:

1. Persistent Spirit
2. A Shot in Time
3. The Casebook Files: Volume 1
4. The House of Mrs. Benson
5. The Diabolical Seven
6. The Casebook Files: Volume 2
7. They Wear Black

There you have it, book 7, entitled “They Wear Black”. I’m giving nothing away of it’s content at this time as to have any relevance a number of events planned throughout several of the other books must first be permitted time to play-out.

As I have described in the past, titling a novel – or any project for that matter – solidifies it in my mind and enables me to attach and organize ideas around it. The title brands the concept, and offers me the bare-bones upon which to gradually nurture the flesh.

What is notable about this plan is the appearance of a “casebook” volume every third book. These casebooks will each contain a number of short stories, some set before the events of Persistent Spirit, some intertwined between all the above books, and a few set well after this period.

They provide an opportunity to explore additional scenarios, different times and societies, and help to complete some of the unanswered questions regarding Keynes’ past which are deliberately omitted from Persistent Spirit in particular.

Persistent Spirit re-write

Persitent Spirit is currently undergoing a re-write of the initial ten chapters – while simultaneously completing the final few chapters. These will form a submission to a publisher who is experienced with publishing series works in addition to individual novels.

I have no hopes, fears, or expectations regarding the submission, but there is always a lingering optimism that someone will enjnoy the work enough to want to work with me in bringing TableRappers into print.

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CHAPTER 32

Lady Katherine discovers the social ambience at the Martha Benson séance to be less than congenial while Keynes understands why his life has been unfulfilled in recent years.

Total running time: 24 minutes

Available from TableRappers.com or here:

Or you can listen right here

If you have a podcast or a website, please play the audio promo and promote Persistent Spirit. Send me your promo and I will play it in return. TableRappers audio promos.

Visit Keynes at Ghost Hunter Diaries.

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CHAPTER 31

Keynes starts out on the day of the Martha Benson seance with something of an unexpected outlook.

Total running time: 23 minutes

Available from TableRappers.com or here:

Or you can listen right here

If you have a podcast or a website, please play the audio promo and promote Persistent Spirit. Send me your promo and I will play it in return. TableRappers audio promos

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CHAPTER 30

Martha learns of her impending fate at the hands of others and plans her escape, while Keynes learns that Lady Katherine is not all that she would seem.

Story running time: 19 minutes

Available from TableRappers.com or here:

Or you can listen right here

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