The asylum smells fresh

Ah, there's nothing like the smell of fresh paint and new wallpaper. Especially when someone else has done all the grafting. The decorators have left the asylum as bright as a new pin.

And as I have had to stay out of their way, I've spent a lot of time sitting at my PC mulling over a new story. After a false start or three, I think I've finally started to nail down my characters. It's called (for the time being) 'La Grippe' and it's about two very different ex-soldiers left with similar problems after the Great War. 'La Grippe' already exists in the form of an 8000 word story I wrote this time last year. But that version, as much as I enjoyed writing it, has never left my 'Scraps' folder. It was written for an anthology that asked authors to audition by sending in a previous work. I submitted my story 'Clob', and then, with uncharacteristic confidence, I wrote 'La Grippe' -- complete with copyrighted characters and settings -- for the anthology.

I failed the audition. 'La Grippe' was a white elephant. A writer's folly.

So I've ripped out all the characters, leaving just the basic plot behind and the occasional line of dialogue, and begun the task of weaving my two ex-soldiers into the framework.

Ah, the asylum does smell fresh.