The proofs of The Apothecary’s Daughter arrived on my desk a couple of weeks ago for me to check. It was wonderful to see the manuscript all laid out with the different typefaces for the chapter headings, the dedication and the acknowledgements, together with a peek at the first chapter of the sequel at the end, all exactly as it will appear in the finished hardback.
I had to read the document (all four hundred pages of it!) very carefully and mark any corrections in blue for an author’s mistake, red for a typesetter’s mistake and in pencil for a query. This is not a time to make changes to the plot as any changes in blue, beyond 10% of the text, are charged to the author.
I returned the marked up manuscript to Lucy Icke, my editor at Piatkus and was relieved that there were very few changes. Lucy will merge any mistakes she has noticed with my own comments and those of the proof reader.
It’s a strange feeling after all these months to know that The Apothecary’s Daughter is out of my hands. All I have to do now is to wait for it to appear as a hardback in August.