Twenty-nine days into my childrens novel, LUCY BAXTER & THE EVIL EMPORIUM, and the second draft is finished at just over 20,000 words. Accompanied by screams of delight and shouts and woo-hoo's.
One more draft to go. I'm going to let the manuscript stew and go back to it in a week or so with fresh eyes. In the meantime I plan to work on the synopsis. Accompanied by groans and oh-my-god's.
Here is a very, very short extract:
Seven paper dolls sat on a top shelf, five girls and two boys. Their closed eyes seemed sewn onto paper and their red mouths formed O’s as though they had been surprised mid-crayoning.
Floorboards creaked beneath Lucy's light step. A balcony bordered the front of the Emporium and it buckled now beneath her. She had taken off her shoes, so that Old Man Jacob, who owned the Emporium, would not hear her approach and her toes slipped as they attempted to hold their ballet position. A doll’s eye blinked open, crayoned turquoise. Lucy fell back in fright. The doll had heard, and now it had seen her.
copyright Phoenix Rendell 2007
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