How to stifle dissent

It’s been a while. A long while. I’ve ignored my poor novel for the past nine months, while giving birth to another creative baby in the real world. It’s no fun up there, let me tell you, in a place where an author’s ability to control people and events is absolutely zero.

In the meantime, reports have been filtering through to me about trouble in my novel – unrest amongst some of the main characters, demonstrations against Richard ( – who I left in control of things), calls for me to resign as the author, even a suggestion that the title should be changed from The Lebanese Troubles to Middle-EastEnders, in a misguided attempt to reach out to a mass-market audience.

So I did a deal with them, offering a few concessions that should keep them happy and me in power. I’ve promised to clean up this blog, making sure that all the links still work. I came to an arrangement with Smashwords, offering the novel free during the Read An E-book Week – that’s March 6 – 12): with lots of new tourist-readers coming visiting, that should keep all my characters busy and feeling self-important again. And I’ve given them the right to form a union with characters from other books – what they want me to do is go out and make contacts with lots more novelists.

Privately, I feel betrayed. After all, who would they be without me? But I’m biting my tongue and keeping my powder dry for now. Compromise isn’t such a bad thing, if it preserves my status quo.