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Well, my story’s another step closer to being released into the wild. I’ve had comments from a third editor and have just sent back my responses. This time there were a lot fewer comments, but they were harder to deal with. So it still took me the whole week to get through them. I even had to go do some research (aka asking a few people who might know). This is because the editor raised a very good question.

One of my lead characters has a broken hip, and I have him being put through a lot of exercises to keep everything mobile and help him heal quicker. The editor questioned this. Shouldn’t broken bones be kept still? Wouldn’t the exercises be after they’d healed, to get things moving again? I’m old enough that I had a moment of “Oh laws! I’ve a horrible feeling she’s right”. The publisher has set up a discussion group for its authors to chat, share information and news, and to seek advice and help. Off I went to the group with my question.

Phew! What a relief. Things have changed a lot since I was young. Mostly, the hip will be stabilised surgically, and the poor person with the broken bone will be hoicked up onto their feet almost immediately. The health professionals definitely want you to keep the joint moving because joints become immobile very quickly. One person even sent me a link to this booklet by Baylor University Medical Centre in Dallas. The exercises it depicts are just what I thought my character would be doing. I don’t have to rewrite the whole darn story.

I’m so pleased. But I’m also glad the editor asked. If I’d been wrong, potential readers would have been howling in frustrated disbelief.

(Oh, and we’ve finalised the cover design. It’s feeling like a real book! Like real writers make!)

See you round
Kristen xx