HOW IT WORKS (WHEN IT DOES)

So.....

Tuesday, and there is me, and what feels like the first proper day of Spring, and Romney Marsh and, specifically, Brenzett Church, and round the back of Brenzett Church, Frank. Who died a century ago or more, at 3 years old, and who time has left, much like the churches on the marsh, marooned on his own. And trooping along invisibly behind me are Billy, and Billy's best mate (who also, much like this book, still has no name, poor little scrap), and Froggy, and Billy's big sister Evie (there to keep an eye, because Billy has been acting up so much recently), and the mysterious newcomer, Andreas.

M. R. James, who created wonders from locales such as the churches of Romney Marsh, needed three ingredients for a story - a place, a time, and a thing. Lo and behold, I find myself with all three, and a whole new scene falls into place like balls falling though a pachinko machine. Solved, in one: why it is so important to get Andreas home (his own younger brothers, left all alone, like Frank, and why he is so good with Billy and his friends); and how he gives himself away to Evie - adjusting the wings of the paper plane the boys have created. A tweak from him, and it flies right over the roof of the church. As Evie watches, and to the boys' excitement, the first contrails of 1940 appear.

There we are. How good is it when it works like that? And o how depressing that the whole 'write about what you know' thing still has so much life left in it.

Or rather, find out about what you want to write about, first. The most surprising results can flow thereby.

Still no title, however....