An Apology, An Explanation, A Warning and A Thank You!

Esteemed Readers

I'd like to begin by apologising to those of you who stuck with Harry McFry through the ups and downs of his investigation during 2007.

Anyone who ploughed their way through the 150,000 words that were posted last year might have had every expectation that the story would, by now, have reached its conclusion. So what went wrong? Well, from a technical point of view writing a novel 'on the fly', and developing the plot along the way, wasn't easy. Particularly since the first few chapters were only written as a spoof, and benefited (if that's the right word!) from some characters and plot-lines that were penned by my brother, and which set me up for a mighty challenge as the story unfolded. (Thanks, Bro!).

You may also know that the story was written to aid my recovery from a quite serious depression which engulfed me towards the end of 2006, from which recovery has been slow, and sometimes painful. Harry held my hand through this, and through a divorce and redundancy too (although he wasn't alone in that - I have many friends and family to thank, too).

Now, though, I have decided to re-write the whole story - hopefully to improve its plot and characterisation - with a view to getting it published in print. I've started that process, and the ending will be much different from the one I was originally working towards.

All of this is leading up to a HUGE THANK YOU to all those readers who encouraged me in my writing last year. I won't name them here, but every comment I received spurred me on to write more. Without you, I wouldn't have got past half a dozen chapters before the story fizzled out. Should it ever be published, there'll be a long list of credits!

Finally, this post is also meant as a warning to anyone who stumbles on this blog and is tempted to start reading Harry McFry. If you do, you might enjoy yourself along the way, but you'll end up in a small kitchen in a bungalow in Telford, wondering how the hell you got there, and how you'll ever get out!

I've decided to keep the blog live, though, and am happy to accept any comments and criticisms on the story, as I am sure they will help in my re-write.

Thanks again for all your help along the way.

Thomas Hamburger Jnr