Careless

Careless is the title of a novel I have been working on for the past several years. This morning, as I lay in bed reading The Guardian Review I was confronted with the title of my novel only on someone else’s book. A certain Kirsty Capes has published her debut novel about a teenager growing up in care. The reviewer lauds her as “a rare new talent” who has “written something very special.” All I can see is that she pinched my title - she got there first.

I stare at the book jacket thumbnail and think of all the ways I have played with multiple meanings of “careless” in my novel. It feels like an indictment for being slow. I meandered, revised, revised again, doubted, put my work aside… thank you Kirsty Capes for making me realize how much I care. What will a new title bring to me and my work? Stay tuned.