How many heads to make a book?

Yesterday I sent off the final proof of my latest Reader for Cambridge University Press (CUP) to the editor. 

Qaitbay Fort, Alexandria

It is a thriller about two teenage girls that begins in Alexandria in Egypt and ends in Athens in Greece. I started thinking about it this time last year. It is only 25,000 words, but in the past I have spent quite a lot longer than that working on stories of similar length. It will be called Better Late Than Never and should be out in the summer. The cover blurb will be something like:

"Alexandria, Egypt. Anika and Zaphira are sitting at a seafront café. Suddenly, there is a huge explosion which knocks them over and changes their lives for ever. Both teenage girls learn a lot about each other as they struggle to survive and to understand what has happened and why. And their combined strength is a surprise to the men they come up against."

In view of the Boston bombs, this is uncannily and tragically topical ...

Many heads (not just two!) have been involved in the creation of Better Late Than Never, and continue to be - two freelance editors, the publisher and her staff in-house at Cambridge, six people consulted about facts and settings, the staff of the recording studio and the actor who will read for the CD. And there will be all the marketing and legal staff at CUP from now on.

But I am now under doctor's orders to do less and relax more. How delightful!

And there are new reviews of The Boy with Two Heads on Amazon. Thank you to the two reviewers!