It’s been a really busy couple of weeks since the book was published, and it’s been lovely to hear how readers are enjoying Annie and Jon’s story. After a long time spent planning and writing, I’m getting used to it being out in the world and my thoughts are turning to the next one and the edits that will soon be arriving.
There is always a lot of editing involved once the first draft of a manuscript is finished and the chapter covering Annie and Jon’s date was shortened during this process. Below is the slightly longer version of the start of their evening and if you’ve read the story, you’ll know that not everything here made it into the final book:
‘The restaurant is on the other side of the river. If you’re happy to walk round I thought it might be nice to see some of the town.’
‘Love to.’ Annie was glad she was wearing pumps, not heels, as she collected her bag and got out of the Land Rover, Jon already there to open the door for her. He took her jacket from the backseat and Annie slipped it on. It was a beautiful evening but breezy, the sun sliding into the landscape behind them with the smooth calm of the sea stretching far ahead. Across the river she saw people strolling from the abbey now it had closed for the day. The call of seagulls and that typical briny smell made her smile in delight.
‘I can’t remember when I last came to a seaside town like this,’ she told Jon as they set off. ‘It must be nearly twenty years.’
He nodded with a grin. ‘Me neither. Actually I’m not sure I’ve ever been before.’
‘Seriously?’
‘Don’t think so. Whenever I was in England as a kid, I was at home with Dad most of the time and when he took me on holiday we usually went sailing around the Med. But the smell of fish and chips never changes, does it?’
‘No. But it’s best by the sea. If you’ve really never been before then we should go to the amusements and ride dodgems and eat candy floss.’
‘Sounds great.’ Jon checked his watch. ‘We have about forty minutes until we need to be at the restaurant.’
‘Better hurry up then.’ Annie increased the pace and they walked into the first arcade they saw, laughing as they quickly made their way around, stuffing change into machines. They had to dodge teenagers and families, raising their voices over the music as they raced miniature horses along a derby course. Annie’s first horse won and then Jon beat her twice more before she insisted on another go and won all three, turning to him with a delighted grin as they high fived. Neither of them were much good at Pac-Man and it was two one to Annie after they tried air hockey.
‘Let’s go.’ Jon was leaning over Annie’s shoulder as she tried one last time to retrieve an ugly yellow teddy from a heap of other stuffed toys and she nodded, turning to him with a wry grin as the teddy fell off the claw. Jon reached for her hand as they made their way to the door and she loved how his fingers felt folded between hers.
‘Okay, so that was fun,’ he said with a grin. ‘Definitely a first for me, including the sticky carpet.’
‘All part of the experience. Tick it off your bucket list.’
‘Done. Hadn’t even known arcades were on it until I came here with you, so thanks. Candy floss later.’
She still didn’t know what to expect for dinner and when they halted, she looked up and laughed, thrilled with his choice. They were outside a glass-fronted American diner with white lettering on a red background, close to the bridge on the other side of the river. Quirky pubs and seaside attractions stretched across each riverbank, clinging to the hillside rising behind them.
‘So I’ve never been here before, but it’s meant to be really good and I loved the idea of bringing you somewhere America meets Yorkshire. It’s kinda the two halves of me.’
There are other deleted scenes that might pop up here later on and I’m thinking about writing a Christmas epilogue for Friends.
I really enjoy the editing process and receiving notes from my editor as we work towards improving the final book as much as possible. Editors are invaluable and I found my first professional experience a real pleasure. I’m currently reducing the word count in Book 3 to align with Canelo’s Escape imprint and having fun re-visiting Daisy and Ben’s story before the main editing begins later.
Thank you for joining me here on Friends & Flowers; I appreciate your interest in the Welcome to Thorndale series and look forward to sharing more about this in the future. As a thank you, I offered a prize to one of the early Friends to join this page and I’m so pleased to confirm that the winner I’ve drawn is Emma Rowland. Emma, please do email me with your details and I’d be delighted to send your prize on.
You can catch up with me on Facebook and Twitter, and until next time, happy reading. I’ve downloaded Persuasion onto my Kindle, it might be time for Anne and Captain Wentworth once again. If you saw my Facebook launch, then you’ll know all about his best lines and why I like him so much 🙂
Suzanne x