I had some short stories, poems and photographs to share ... and so here I am
Gosh, Amazon really is clever. Another book arrived in the post today - The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion, which I am really looking forward to. This is another of my recent "one-click" purchases, a crafty way of getting book lovers like me to spend.
I just have to see the cover and then click to order, with all of my details already registered. I will have to be extremely careful with this; I could click and click and click until there was a whole container of books weighing down the ship.
Anyone read Didion's book? What did you think? I love the two lines on the cover: Life changes fast. Life changes in the instant. You sit down to dinner and life as you know it ends. I'm also waiting for Saturday by Ian McEwan and A Dry White Season by André Brink, an author I only discovered recently with Before I Forget.
I'm in this new phase, reading loads of books, while trying to write at the same time. For a few years I couldn't do this; I worried that what I was reading would influence what I was writing. I had spells of no reading, which only served to leave me listless and imcomplete. I'm still not sure what to think about this. Can my "voice" really be corrupted by someone else's to such a degree, especially if I find it brilliant. Let me know what you think.
She's adorable, but I'm going to blame her. I realise now why a chapter with mistakes got through (see previous post).
Normally all of the chapters I write are in separate Word documents, each carefully proofread over and over. Unfortunately, Macmillan New Writing wanted everything in the same document, in one continuous flow of words.
In my haste, and with my very "untechnical" brain and hands, I embarked on a copy and paste exercise that would drive any ordinary cat to moo. Of course, without realising it, I copied-and-pasted an old version of a chapter into the final draft.
Not only do we have to be writers, but we have to be technical wizards and excellent administrators. I have to blame somebody here, and so I blame my cat, Muffin, for distracting me at that very moment when I was dragging and dropping (she loves to come sniffing and cuddling when I am sitting in front of the computer).
Oh the life of a writer! Mind you, secretly, I suspect that the good vibes from a gorgeous cat can work wonders on a manuscript.
It is really one of those things you promise you will never do, especially having done it oodles of times before. No matter how many times you proofread your finished work (it must have been at least 10 times with my finished novel) mistakes slip through. I have just been browsing through the stuff I sent off to Macmillan New Writing, only to come across some glaring inconsistencies and errors in one of the end chapters. I am lashing myself with a greasy chain!
The lead man decides to "lay" down instead of lie down; someone pulls out a scrunched up letter from his pocket, even though it is in the hands of someone beside him (this is the danger of fast, savage editing); someone says something far too evident; there is a full stop missing from the end of a phrase. And this is just in one chapter that I was browsing.
Will this pour cold water on the person who may be reading - perhaps enjoying - my novel. Will they say to themselves: "This is not bad but shame about those little things in that later chapter . This isn't ready, like a cake that's not wrapped or in a tin."
I will flog myself some more, wait for the rejection (of course I'm staying optimistic and hoping that the brilliance of the rest of the material shines through) and will polish it 100 percent for the next potential publisher or agent.
That's what I said the last time though, and still there is always something that gets through. Does anyone know what I'm talking about here? Does anyone send out absolutely perfect manuscripts?
It's becoming increasingly difficult to find the time to write, to get to the end of chapter three of my new novel - and the clue as to the cause lies in this sentence.
My fingers are tapping here when they should be tapping in my Word document! Mind you, it is good to breathe elsewhere, to give my characters and me a bit of a break. So, I'm not really grumbling. I just have to be better organised about where my focus falls.
Writing this blog is not really the consumer, it's the Internet in general. Everytime I sit down to the keyboard there are now at least six or seven sites that I absolutely MUST log into, otherwise I feel as though I've started the day without a shower. There are my two email accounts, this blog, my private blog for family and friends (to see how many hits I'm getting), the news sites that I like to follow and the books pages of several papers (Guardian, New York Times). There is so much other surfing that could be enjoyed as well, but one has to be strict.
That's not to mention the reading I like to do as well; I always have a book on the go. And today I went off and bought another DVD of a TV series (Les 4400, which I suppose is called The 4400 in English?). I'm looking forward to devouring this, finding myself entirely excited by the blurb. I am already hooked on Nip and Tuck and Six Feet Under and have just finished watching the whole first season of Lost. The story lines and hooking in these programmes make them, in my opinion, compulsory viewing for writers who want to learn more about plotting!
So, that's where I'm at. I am going to log out now and get some of my own writing done. Hopefully, one day, someone will complain that they are hooked on my book and can't get around to writing their own!
I'm still waiting to hear back from Macmillan New Writing (UK) after submitting a novel, and I wonder if it's a good sign that it has now been five weeks with no news. Someone asked me the other day if this was a good road to go down, given the firm doesn't pay advances and everyone has a standard contract (limited contact between publisher and writer - and limited marketing - to keep costs down). The honest answer is : I don't know.
I've seen a fair amount of debate on this new initiative by Macmillan, which has been promoted as a chance for new writers' work to see the light of day. People have voiced doubts, saying for one thing that Macmillan is hedging its bets, reluctant to spend cash, and just hoping that one of the published will strike gold. Personally, I don't see what all the fuss is about. It is giving writers the chance to get a look in. The submission process is quick and efficient - it is by email and there are no complicated forms to fill in. Agents (who are becoming increasingly difficult to approach) are left out of the picture. Authors take 20 percent of the sale price of a book and it is listed in all of Macmillan's publicity and listings to book sellers.
I will keep this blog posted on what happens to my manuscript, which has been a few years in the polishing stage. I did spark the interest of an agent in London last year, and spent many months revising the book. He recommended changes and seemed to think it might just work. In the end though, after 10 months of exchanging emails, he decided not to take things any further. While he thought the writing was good (and even used the word magnificent at one point), the story didn't develop in the way he would've liked. Still, I've revised even further and think I'm in a stronger position now with all the improvements I made during those 10 months. The advice was valid - and free! If it is ever published (self-publishing would be my last option, but one that I would undertake) I would really have to give that agent credit for the patience and free time he gave me.
Does anyone else have any experience of Macmillan New Writing? Has anyone submitted to them? I would also love to hear from novel fans who would be willing to be one of my readers (early testers of the work) before it is all pasted up and ready to go into print. Notice that I said WHEN it is ready to go into print - there are no ifs or maybes here; one has to be positive and visualise the end result. In the meantime, I'm three chapters into a new novel!
When you live so close to the mountains, the French Alps, it is easy to understand why less writing is achieved in winter. I took these photos during a recent visit to the La Clusaz ski resort. I am trying to crack on with a second novel, and trying to get a first one published, but the snow calls out to me - there is nothing more liberating (a sensation I only discovered at the age of 32) than gliding down a dazzling white slope, pretending that I'm flying through the air, looking down into the valleys and villages below. Now I'm back in front of the computer and hoping that the inspiration of these sights will somehow add beauty to the words I create.
One really has to wonder about the trial in London over Dan Brown's book. Presumably the lawyers for the authors of The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail informed their clients that to win the case they would have to point to passages in Dan Brown's book that had been directly copied from their book. The law is clear on this: you can't make a case for copyright when someone has simply stolen your ideas.
I have read both books and I can't say that any passages - word for word - match. Where is the plagiarism? How did the plaintiffs get so far in thinking that they had a valid case to take to court? Let's remember one thing here: Random House publishes both books.
I notice that the publicity has created a windfall - sales of the Holy Blood and the Holy Grail have boomed, reportedly from 350 copies a week to 3,500. It seems that everyone benefits. Is this a real case? Or is it some clever marketing trick?
What a great way to resurrect a bestseller from the past and get some more mileage out of it. Or am I being too cynical here? I would love to see these questions answered by the head of Random house. What kind of meetings did they have before the trial began? Did all sides talk amongst themselves before deciding to go to trial? Whose side is Random House on? They have interests on both sides, surely.
This is the first photo taken with my new digital camera, a Canon Power Shot A620 - 7.1 megapixels, which does sound like something to be excited about. Basically, it'll be handy in case I need to have some publishable pics in the future.
The fish is on my fridge, which is white, so that's why there's a slight brightness problem near the mouth of this beautiful creature (made from seashells from New Zealand). In fact there are two of them, given to us as a present by a dear friend who has since passed away. We think of her often.
I love the way The Guardian newspaper in Britain reports the obscene advance that Penguin has paid to retired head of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan for an autobiography.
Who, you may ask, would want to read this? Do the publishers really believe this will sell outside of the US? Do they really expect to recover the 8.5 million dollar advance? Will Greenspace actually finish the book, given he's already 80? Here's the opening of The Guardian's article:
"OPENING CREDITS. CROSS-FADE TO: INTERIOR. NIGHT. A SWEATY JAZZ JOINT IN MANHATTAN, 1953. BEATNIKS AND SQUARES ALIKE CROWD ROUND AL GREENSPAN, A 27-YEAR-OLD SAX PLAYER.
BEATNIK (TO GREENSPAN): I dig the way you blow, man.
GREENSPAN: Thanks, man, but this scene's getting to be a drag. (REACHES INTO ZOOT SUIT, PULLS OUT DOG-EARED COPY OF AYN RAND'S THE FOUNTAINHEAD.) Check out what this crazy Russian chick says. Turns out capitalism's the coolest. I'm off to Washington, where in 50 years I shall become the longest-serving chairman of the Federal Reserve and America's most powerful and revered financial guru.
BEATNIK: Bummer!
Historically inaccurate? Yes - it was swing, not jazz. Clunky, as the opening of a movie script? Without doubt. But in how many other ways than a sexed-up biopic can Penguin hope to recoup the mountainous advance it has agreed to pay Alan Greenspan, the recently retired 80-year-old chair of the Fed (the US equivalent of the Bank of England) for his memoirs - in excess of $8.5m (or £5m)?"
I'd been wanting to read this book by John Kennedy Toole for years, but just never found the right time. That time is now though. I've just started, and can't help but feel moved by the story of the author, and how he committed suicide when he couldn't place the novel.
What a tragedy that we have been deprived of this young man's writing. Bravo to the determination of his mother, who succeeded in finding a publisher for the book after the death of her son!
Has there ever been a film or a documentary made about how this story saw the light of day? I think it would make an excellent piece. The writing is different and it takes a bit of effort to fall into the style, but you can't help but fall in love with the central characters. I like the description of the book as a "grand comic fugue".
Finally got to the end of Life of Pi, and I wasn't disappointed by the finale. I like something that keeps me wondering and an end that stays up in the air. Can we conclude that he imagined the animals, and that he was really with his mother and a savage French cook? This was very clever. I still think, however, that the beginning passages could've been threaded through the book.
I'm now currently reading a book by a friend, Rory Mulholland, on his adventures as an AFP reporter filing stories from Iraq. It is titled "Camp Britney". It is entertaining and a good insight into what happens to reporters when they're posted to cover the news from these places.
