People's Friend serial 'The Lemon Grove'

Phew, at long, long last, my serial 'The Lemon Grove' is appearing in The People's Friend. This has been a long and protracted birth but it is wonderful finally to see all those ideas come together on the printed page. What is huge fun is seeing how the artist has interpreted my characters. This link to the People's Friend blog gives an idea of how artists approach a story. They've entitled the blog post 'Talking Pictures', highly appropriate as they can so often bring a story alive. When I write, I sometimes base looks on people I know, and as the illustrations continue (Week 3 of the 8 part serial is out this week) my hero is looking more and more like the Italian friend I thought of while I was writing my hero Antonio. I didn't get to speak to the illustrator, it was the editor who made the decisions about the artwork. I'm really pleased with the work done and hope the artist enjoyed painting the characters as much as I enjoyed writing them. I am now working on ideas to pitch a further serial taking one of the minor characters, Mel

and giving her a story of her own. There'll be some adventure, lots of romance and some crime.... it takes a lot of plot to fill 8 episodes with cliffhangers at the end of each. So far I have a beginning and an end, it's just the middle I have to work on! I hope anyone else who's tried for a serial has had positive results.