Absolutely delighted to have just discovered that the magnificent Mr H. of brilliant blog The Book Zone has chosen the first paragraphs of The Black Tattoo as this week’s Attention Grabber: “my new weekly feature where I post what I think is a great opening paragraph to a book, the sort of opening that pulls young readers in and hooks them from the start.”

But I was particularly touched by the following: “Having just started my first ever attempt at NaNoWriMo I am all of a sudden feeling a small amount of hate for Sam, and many others – I wish I could write this well!”

The opening paragraphs of The Black Tattoo – and anything in any of my books – did not come out like that the first time I wrote them. What you read in my books is the result of a lot of redrafting and polishing. For my thoughts on that, and some glimpses of what the opening of Black Tat might have been, click through to the post on The Book Zone and check the comments.