Ragtag Giggagon

Lucinda E Clarke is the author of a series of novels set in Africa featuring her heroine Amie Fish (née Reynolds). The original book of the series serves (perhaps) as a primer for those unfamiliar with African culture and issues related to endemic corruption (in countries like Zimbabwe) or the simplicity and beauty of bush life among such ethnic groups as the pygmies and Maasai. She opened our email chat as I read the first novel, over the course of a number of weeks, with thoughts about starting the series with Amie: African Adventure and what she’s learned since. I wish I could re-write Amie 1 as I've learned so much about novel-writing since then. I spend far too much time setting the scene, although as a series it does put things in perspective. Perhaps this opening is a little chick-litty in a (good) way, in the sense of a dinner conversation where emotions are fraught, for instance. Lots of drama with the move overseas. But you've established the biographical elements ...