It's been a while

...But the book to date has been through the presentation mill, and will hopefully appear in the London Design Festival this year. Meanwhile, I want very much to finish it. And I've realised another vital plot point. Death is a bit of a theme in the book, and I wanted some way to presage it before we get into the mortal danger to Danny's Mum.

I remember reading something Ramsey Campbell said about plot difficulties, which was that often, when he hit an impasse, he would go back through what he'd already written and there, suddenly, would be a clue to what should happen next. It's that very peculiar quality of fiction writing, that your subconscious always seems several steps ahead, and only when you re-read what you've written do you see how many connections and layers you've created without even realising.

In this case, I suddenly realised that I had the perfect way to bring death into the story without overwhelming the plot early on. In the early stuff I've written, I describe a painting on the wall given to Danny's parents by a friend from art school who stayed with them when his marriage broke down. This friend, Tony, has gone on to be a well-known artist, and the gifted painting is 'worth a bob or two', as Danny's dad says.

Tony is going to die. It seems so obvious once you realise it. Tony will die, and it will upset Danny's parents, getting Danny thinking about deathy and what it means. In dreamland, there is now a reasion for him to encounter death - the empty chair - and his own fear of it.

Sorry, Tony.