The French Letter
Viewing comments for Chapter 116 "The Final Chapter"A Novel
26 total reviews
Comment from Mistydawn
This chapter is a very well-written, interesting start to finish. A nice ending to your wonderful story. The romantic in me would've loved to see Hellen and Charles together but I guess it wasn't meant to be. Very nicely done. I wish you the best with your editing.
reply by the author on 24-Feb-2020
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This chapter is a very well-written, interesting start to finish. A nice ending to your wonderful story. The romantic in me would've loved to see Hellen and Charles together but I guess it wasn't meant to be. Very nicely done. I wish you the best with your editing.
Comment Written 21-Feb-2020
reply by the author on 24-Feb-2020
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Thanks, Dawn. I appreciate the sixth star.
It has been a good feeling getting the final chapter down on paper. Now to try to beat the whole blessed thing into shape. Much cutting and polishing and rearranging to keep me busy in the immediate future. I shall be easing back from FanStory for a while to give me more time to concentrate on that.
I've very much appreciated your support and encouragement through the first draft stage. All good wishes, Tony
Comment from Shirley McLain
Congratulations on the completion of your book. I did enjoy the read. It was smooth and easy to read with action to keep the pages turned (so to speak.) Great job my friend. Shirley
reply by the author on 26-Feb-2020
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Congratulations on the completion of your book. I did enjoy the read. It was smooth and easy to read with action to keep the pages turned (so to speak.) Great job my friend. Shirley
Comment Written 21-Feb-2020
reply by the author on 26-Feb-2020
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Thanks, Shirley. I appreciate your encouragement. Now comes the hard part! The structural edit! I have already started sharpening the scalpel!
Comment from Ricky1024
"The Final Chapter"
This was well written and rich in Theme and Imagery.
It read well and flowed well with no Grammar Issues.
...
Complete Synopsis:
The Adjective and Objective Contents were both Excellent and Exceptional while Descriptive Measures aligned Perfectly.
Thanks,
Doctor Ricky 1024
reply by the author on 26-Feb-2020
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"The Final Chapter"
This was well written and rich in Theme and Imagery.
It read well and flowed well with no Grammar Issues.
...
Complete Synopsis:
The Adjective and Objective Contents were both Excellent and Exceptional while Descriptive Measures aligned Perfectly.
Thanks,
Doctor Ricky 1024
Comment Written 21-Feb-2020
reply by the author on 26-Feb-2020
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Thank you, Ricky. As always, I appreciate your interest and support. Best wishes, Tony
Comment from Sandra Stoner-Mitchell
I can only give you a virtual six, Tony. What a magnificent book! The ending was perfect! Except I would have liked to have seen Charles with Helen again. Another book, perhaps???? I loved how you tied up all the loose ends, you didn't hurry and coat over the parts with Helen and Kayla. I really enjoyed your whole story, my friend. Well done and let's have an encore! :)) Sandra xxx
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reply by the author on 26-Feb-2020
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I can only give you a virtual six, Tony. What a magnificent book! The ending was perfect! Except I would have liked to have seen Charles with Helen again. Another book, perhaps???? I loved how you tied up all the loose ends, you didn't hurry and coat over the parts with Helen and Kayla. I really enjoyed your whole story, my friend. Well done and let's have an encore! :)) Sandra xxx
This rating does not count towards story rating or author rank.
The highest and the lowest rating are not included in calculations.
Comment Written 21-Feb-2020
reply by the author on 26-Feb-2020
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Thanks so much for your review, Sandra. Your encouragement and enthusiasm have been a great boost while I've been writing this saga.
I've been going back over the story for much of the past week and have had no difficulty in stripping away eight thousand words from the first third of it. There were many parts that I thought clever at the time of writing that, on reflection, I've found trite, adding little to the characterisation or to the story.
I don't imagine I'll have much difficulty in paring it down from 138 000 words to about 120 000 to get a leaner and cleaner version of the current plot. After that, I may have to sharpen the knife and do away with parts that I have a greater attachment to, as I understand mainstream publishers are unlikely to look at anything much beyond the 80 000 to 100 000-word range.
I'm anticipating that I may need the help of a disinterested and more dispassionate third party at that stage. Our local South Australian Writers' Centre, Writers SA, offer a reputable editing service, so I may turn there for assistance if I think I have a story with sufficient potential to be worth pursuing.
It's been an interesting experience writing a full-length novel, and I doubt I'd have persisted without the continued encouragement of FS members such as you and Pam.
Thank you very much for your support.
Best wishes
Tony
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The editing is the worst part, isn't it? But worth it in the end. I don't think you'll have a problem finding a publisher, but check out how to approach them before you send anything. Unsolicited manuscripts are never looked at. I wish you the very best of luck, my friend. xxx
Comment from Pantygynt
This has been a great read throughout its 115 chapters/posts. I wish you well with your edit and I do hope you will keep us informed. I am in a similar phase with my fairy story but only just over half the the number of posts there.
I would have loved to have given a parting six for this but as usual there are none around and will all come at once, like London buses, on Sunday.
Problems with the space bar here:
"Oh là là !" --There seems to be an extra space between the two la and one unaccountable one before the exclamation mark, This resulted in a line break after the second la that left the !" all alone and blue on the next line.
This rating does not count towards story rating or author rank.
The highest and the lowest rating are not included in calculations.
reply by the author on 24-Feb-2020
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This has been a great read throughout its 115 chapters/posts. I wish you well with your edit and I do hope you will keep us informed. I am in a similar phase with my fairy story but only just over half the the number of posts there.
I would have loved to have given a parting six for this but as usual there are none around and will all come at once, like London buses, on Sunday.
Problems with the space bar here:
"Oh là là !" --There seems to be an extra space between the two la and one unaccountable one before the exclamation mark, This resulted in a line break after the second la that left the !" all alone and blue on the next line.
This rating does not count towards story rating or author rank.
The highest and the lowest rating are not included in calculations.
Comment Written 21-Feb-2020
reply by the author on 24-Feb-2020
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Thanks for this review, Jim. I must have mucked up the spacing when I pasted the accents in.
It's a good feeling to have finally reached the end of the first stage. I've already made a start on the edit. It's going to be a long job, and I don't suppose I'll be on FS very much for the next few months. Nonetheless, I'll try to keep up with your story of the old mill.
I've appreciated your support and encouragement. All good wishes, Tony
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Good luck with it and thanks for trying to stay with Maid of the Mill
Comment from JudyE
Congratulations on having tidied up all the ends on a very engaging book. And what a place to finish! Leaving us all wanting to know more about the envelope! Good luck with the next stages of your novel.
"Not bloody likely! Tell him he can give it to Ash. After all, he's the one going to Paris."
Bisto chortled. I don't think Monty understood our reaction. - space needed between these paragraphs
If Bisto did decide to stay at home, I thought I might ask him to join me on the Kalash trip. It would be good to mend bridges. - I might have said '... I might ask Gaudin...' as I first read it as Charles asking Bisto to accompany him.
"I'll miss her, bless her, but you must tell her to stop sending me handsome men. It's not good for me at my age. Such a lovely gentleman, the one who came to collect the key. I was - how do you say? - distrait for the rest of the week. - speech marks needed after 'week'
On arrival at the embassy, James, the urbane Head of Administration, opened the door - does 'embassy' need a capital? Maybe not.
There were livid smears of lipstick on both my cheeks. James coughed discreetly. He studiously examined a portrait of the infamous Princess Borghese on the opposite wall as I attempted to wipe them off with my pocket-handkerchief. - I might have said 'I attempted to wipe the marks off with my pocket-handkerchief'
My cheeks were still lightly rouged when the Air Attaché, Group Captain David Bamforth came walking down the corridor towards me.- comma after 'Bamforth'
James will show you up You'll find an old friend already there." - period after 'up'
It's been a real pleasure to have helped in some small way with this. Much easier than writing my own novel!
Cheers
Judy
reply by the author on 21-Feb-2020
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Congratulations on having tidied up all the ends on a very engaging book. And what a place to finish! Leaving us all wanting to know more about the envelope! Good luck with the next stages of your novel.
"Not bloody likely! Tell him he can give it to Ash. After all, he's the one going to Paris."
Bisto chortled. I don't think Monty understood our reaction. - space needed between these paragraphs
If Bisto did decide to stay at home, I thought I might ask him to join me on the Kalash trip. It would be good to mend bridges. - I might have said '... I might ask Gaudin...' as I first read it as Charles asking Bisto to accompany him.
"I'll miss her, bless her, but you must tell her to stop sending me handsome men. It's not good for me at my age. Such a lovely gentleman, the one who came to collect the key. I was - how do you say? - distrait for the rest of the week. - speech marks needed after 'week'
On arrival at the embassy, James, the urbane Head of Administration, opened the door - does 'embassy' need a capital? Maybe not.
There were livid smears of lipstick on both my cheeks. James coughed discreetly. He studiously examined a portrait of the infamous Princess Borghese on the opposite wall as I attempted to wipe them off with my pocket-handkerchief. - I might have said 'I attempted to wipe the marks off with my pocket-handkerchief'
My cheeks were still lightly rouged when the Air Attaché, Group Captain David Bamforth came walking down the corridor towards me.- comma after 'Bamforth'
James will show you up You'll find an old friend already there." - period after 'up'
It's been a real pleasure to have helped in some small way with this. Much easier than writing my own novel!
Cheers
Judy
Comment Written 21-Feb-2020
reply by the author on 21-Feb-2020
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Thanks so much, Judy, for your support throughout the writing of this book. You've been an enormous help with the fine details. Very much appreciated. This chapter is no exception. I've been through and made the edits now.
Thanks, too, for the six stars. I didn't think anyone would have any left at this stage in the week!
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Maybe I don't give them away too lightly. :)