When we launched the Debut Novel Comp earlier this year, we didn't know what to expect - how many entries we'd receive; what the quality would be like; whether they would be spread across genres, or focused on a few; how much time it would take to judge...
Having announced a longlist last month, we're now just one step away from finding the winner. We have a shortlist of 12 manuscripts (yes, we know - that's one long shortlist), and from those titles we will find our winner.
We're anticipating announcing the winner on Wednesday, November 23. If we're feeling the excitement, we can only hope the writers left in the mix are feeling it to.
So, who's in the running? Here are the titles (in alphabetical order) and their authors:
Ammonia and the Gardener - Alan Drury
Black Dog Summer - Miranda Sherry
Black Prism - Fiona Sussman
Broken - Clare Hill
Chasing Azrael - Hazel Butler
Dear Sherlock - Athanasia Hughes
Five to One - Chris Chalmers
Lily Strand, Dream Detective - Lynda Nash
The Apothecary's Secret - Nigel Robinson
The Dead Weight - Rhys Timson
The Scooter of the Future - Paul Willcocks
Timehikers - Sue Sedgwick
So just two weeks to go. Watch this space, folks.