So this second book has been… a difficult one. I guess that’s the way it’s supposed to be. After the semi-autobiographical Liar’s Guide to South America (not saying which bits) there was always going to be that awkward second.
In reality I finished Robots three years ago. I was happy with what I’d done, and sent it out into the world optimistically. Unfortunately it came back with notes, and since then I’ve been worrying at it – messing with the structure, trying to add weight to what is – indubitably – a light weight tale. Eventually I stopped editing all together, and the book languished on my hard drive, collecting dust and staring at me sulkily, coughing pointedly every time one of its predictions for the future came true.
So why finally put it out in the world now? Well, after a fallow period, punctuated with occasional short stories, magazine columns and screenplays, I’ve started something new. A third novel to add to my oeuvre, and hopefully it’ll be the career defining showstopper that leaves the rest in its wake.
Wait Until the Robots will forever be unfinished – it’s flawed and flustered and not what I hoped it might be. So quite like the future then.
As an old friends of mine put it, ‘if you wait until the robots, you’ll be waiting a very long time…’