I was careless enough not to lose one agent, but two. I started writing as a fiftieth birthday gift to myself, having thought about my story for over a decade. I figured fifty was now or never. I was given inspiring and liberating advice by a great friend (an ex Bloomsbury editor); ‘write like dancing – big and as if no one will ever read it’.
The trouble was eighteen months in, when I had the first draft, I wanted someone to read it. It went to one agent and like in the fairy tales she said ‘yes’. That was in the summer of 2015 and I told the world because I had been promised the world – worldwide rights, movie deals – the lot.