I write deep and complex fiction, I research every layer (hands on, where I can) and include twists and turns wherever and whenever I am able, which means surprises for my readers – Now, the only way I can be sure these surprises work is if they catch my Official Reader out once I have handed over the final draft, and that means, folks, that I must not previously tell him anything that will give the plot or those surprises away.

Sometimes, however, I have a problem with the manuscript that I would like to talk out, so I have to employ a sort of code where I make all the right sounds and hedge around the issue without actually telling him what it is I am talking about.

A bit like I do here, really.

A case in point: Va’el (yes, again).

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