Now that I’ve reached the end of the first draft of ‘Pitkirtly X’ I think it’s time to reveal the actual title, which I must confess I have had in mind since before I started writing it. I’ve thrown together a cover to go with it, and now all that remains is for me to knock the book into its final shape. [Just imagine the sound of heralds’ trumpets here before reading on – or maybe even a whole trumpet voluntary if you want. Stanley’s voluntary is my favourite – we once wrote a song to go with it for one of our shows… ‘Hail to the King / And long live Princess Starlight of Askedal’.]
You’ll notice this is the 10th novel in the series. I will be using that as the excuse for a celebration of some kind – definitely online, maybe even in real life too – when the book is finally ready for publication.
If anyone wants to quibble about the title, yes, it is a misquote, and the fact that it’s a misquote is mentioned in the book. Anything else? Well, I can also exclusively reveal that the last line has something to do with fairy cakes – the newfangled term cup-cakes hasn’t yet reached Pitkirtly, naturally.
Keep the clarinets and ice-cream in mind too – I will be returning to them soon.
Cecilia Peartree - woman of mystery 