Which should tell you something about how good your minimum standard is...

I'm not flattering you, nor am I patronising you. Yes, I can see where your vocabulary may be less rich than you would like - but the fact is that you write an entertaining story, which is more than most people can manage in their first languages, let alone their second.

I know writers must be their own harshest critics, but it is worth stepping back occasionally and noting the things we are doing well.

Anyway... I liked it.

Catherine - who hasn't managed to write anything in any language in far too long