Arabella Academy: Perfectly Imperfect

A Note For The Judges

A friend of mine, while reading this book, had asked me why I chose to name the book Perfectly Imperfect. I also noticed from a recent contest that my marks for the title had been considerably low. I, therefore, decided it would be apt to explain before readers and judges actually began reading the book.

Oxford Dictionary gives an accurate definition of these two words:
Perfect- Having all the required or desirable elements, qualities, or characteristics; as good as it is possible to be.
Imperfect- Not perfect; faulty or incomplete.

For the years it has been in operation, Arabella Academy had been perceived by many to be a perfect school, achieving the highest of standards in terms of academics, sports and arts. This saw it rise to become the top school in Middlewood, and a destination for parents who wanted the best for their children. But what happens when a murder brings it all to doubt?

Perfectly Imperfect focuses on all the flaws that weren't seen in Arabella Academy. Since it is the first book in the Arabella Academy series, I thought it would be relevant if I showed the beginning of the flaws from just the title. I therefore shifted the meaning from Google's romantic definition to give you my own definition:

Perfectly Imperfect- Referring to someone/something that you once thought was flawless but actually found out it had faults.

I had chosen this title to open a gateway for the other books in the Arabella Academy series to focus on this Perfect Imperfectness that I sought to show from the first book.

If I could I would have named each book in the series Perfectly Imperfect as it gives the same meaning to all the books, but that is not possible. It is my hope that as you start reading this book you may discover that imperfection.

I also think that it is apt to let you know that my story's central plot does not start developing until the latter chapters, and thus judging my book based on the first three chapters will probably not give you a glimpse of what the story is about. (I know it is a disadvantage to me but I like the way I've structured my story from the beginning, the aim of that is to dive into other interesting subplots that build up on the character's lives, although the first chapters really contribute to the main plot).

Also note that this book is written in British English and therefore some English words may differ from the vocabulary used in other English versions.

Start: 3rd April 2020
End: 23rd September 2020