Spring was dominated by the publication of Secrets in May. Leading up to a book’s launch, the author commits to all manner of publicity and marketing. This can range from writing articles commissioned by mags and papers in return for a plug (of the book, not of the bath…), to interviews across the media (tv, radio and press) to events up and down the country, plus signings in book shops and finally, undertaking daft things to secure any publicity going. In fact, all authors become a little shameless in giving their new books a leg-up! As you may remember from my blog, the leg-up for me came in the form of a ladder propped against a bus. It was fantastic to don a hi-viz jacket and physically fix one of the amazing posters to the side of a London double-decker!
The shenanigans that take place around publication can be as exhausting as they are fun - and the rewards are always well worth it. You must remember, we authors spend most our year in utter silence in the company of people who don’t actually exist - so I for one find it a real thrill to be out and about, meeting the people who really matter (you lot who buy my books, the staff who ensure the shelves are well stocked, the journalists who take shorthand while I gabble nineteen to the dozen, the producers who let me witter on and on, on radio and tv….)
March-June were packed with commitments ranging from writing my first short story for radio (entitled Fish & Chips, for BBC Radio 4 - I’ll see if I can post it up here, in due course), to appearing on the Matthew Wright show on TV. I also turned the airwaves blue-ish with Claudia Winkleman, but then I turned the airwaves silent on the Robert Elms show when I promptly lost my voice! I signed books up and down the country - me and my trusty felt pen (a Pilot Liquid Ink Sign Pen - in either pink, mauve or blue, since you ask…) and spoke at length to journalists from the nationals as well as regional papers. I also did a number events in the North East - which is of course where Secrets is set. How much fun it is to return ‘for work’ to a place so close to my heart. I even managed to organize at ‘working lunch’ with a journalist…at one of my favourite eateries in Saltburn, Virgo’s!
There were fantastic evening events in Whitby, York and Middlesbrough too - it was great to meet so many readers, old and new. I must make mention of one lady, Colette, who has been writing to me for years and years. It was such a thrill to finally meet her when she journeyed from Leeds to York for the talk there (tork in york? talk in yalk?). At the event in Whitby, a certain Sharon Stone was in the audience (yes indeed. No, not that one). Well, a few weeks later, she took a day off work and decided to drive north for an hour to read Secrets on the beach at Saltburn… and she was strolling along the vast sands at pretty much the same time as I was being frowned at for not having a copy of my book on me for a local photo call (doh!). Sharon to the rescue… Perhaps the event I enjoyed most was the final one on my schedule. Middlesbrough was organized by my great friend Jennifer Garton who has a cameo in Pillow Talk. The evening was a sell-out. Raucous, spirited a fantastic giggle…with a great curry afterwards in Stokesley and a fantastic night’s sleep at Crathorne Hall, my favourite hotel ever.
All in all, I enjoyed every exhausting minute - I know Secrets is my 10th novel, but the thrill of seeing my book in the shops, in the pages of a magazine or in the hands of a reader is as much a thrill now as it was way back in 1996 when Sally was first published. Secrets enjoyed two months in the UK Top Ten and is my fastest selling and biggest selling novel to date. A massive thank you to all who have supported me. It’s been emotional!
Look at what I did to the sand at Saltburn on Sunday…
I thought it rather inspired marketing….and it was clearly visible for all on the pier to see! Saltburn Pier has been awarded the Best Pier in Britain for 2009 (Pier of the Year sounds better…). As most of you know, Secrets, my 10th novel (out on 30th April) is set in this wonderful, quirky Victorian seaside town.
Here I am, chasing Felix and Georgia off my handy work!
We were up in the North East because I was invited to give a talk in Whitby. It was excellent and I am so grateful to the staff of the Library (especially Allison) and all the lovely people (hullo Sharon Stone!) who came from far and wide to listen to me blether.
I also took videos at the Transporter Bridge, as well as at Saltburn, to provide you with my own tours of the settings of Secrets. I did the same for the settings of Pillow Talk (Stokesley and Great Ayton) and when I’m feeling particularly brave and technical, I’ll do my best to upload them for you!
I have to beaver away this week on a short story for Radio 4’s “Love in the Afternoon” which will be broadcast in June. I HATE writing short stories - it’ll take me longer to write than it takes me to write a couple of chapters. I think it was Browning or Byron or Someone Else Worthy Beginning With B who said “it would have been shorter had I had more time”. Give me 140,000 words over 2,000 words any day. How on earth can I fit a beginning, a middle and an end into THAT? Grrrrr.
Whitby Library 17th April 7 pm
Haringey Library (Crouch End) 29th April 7 pm
York Library 13th May 7 pm
Haringey Library (Alexandra Park) 26th May 7 pm
more dates soon…will keep you posted!
I can’t believe we’re a quarter way through the year. Gawd, what an old person’s thing to say that was! Needless to say, time has flown with my life peppered with highs and lows. Secrets was published in early February as a special edition for the UK airports - some of you loyal readers even made the trip to an airport just to grab a copy. I thank you from my heart.
I’m a perfectionist control-freak when it comes to my novels - some authors are quite content for editing work to be done on their behalf. I throw a hissy fit if anyone dares tinker with even a comma! Although I have done 10 novels in 12 years - an output many people marvel at - I do not ‘churn them out’. Each novel is carefully considered with in-depth research undertaken and by the time I submit it to my publisher, it’s in third draft. To arrive at those 130,000 words of original fiction, many thousands more words are written in the process! Then, after editing and copy-editing (which is to double check if the character’s eyes are blue in one chapter, they’re not suddenly brown in another!) the 5th and final draft of the novel is typeset and two rounds of proof-reading commence. Typesetting is bewildering. Somehow, entire sentences disappear! Elsewhere, paragraphs suddenly appear in italics. Invariably, words are split at the end of a line and look bad for it. Finally the work is ready to be sent to the printers - and I await my final copies.
The thrill of seeing my novels in book form has not diminished over the years. It’s the highlight of so much hard work, hope and energy. Imagine, therefore, how distressing it is when mistakes are made utterly beyond your control…. (more…)
Well, let the countdown to publication commence - in 30 days time, my 10th novel, Secrets, will be on the shelves and even though I’m an old hand at this publishing milarky, I assure you I’m still all of a jitter! The anticipation of publication - and the thrill of seeing my book out there in the stores has not diminished one jot over the years. I’m so proud of Secrets - my editor told me she feels it has the ‘most satisfying and complete ending’ she’s read in a long while. I’ll be on tenterhooks to see if you agree! Certainly, while I was writing it, the last third of the book seemed magically to tell itself - somedays, I’d sit working in the library and it was as if the characters were dictating the tale directly to me. As you’ll know from my Advice section, I never plan my novels so it’s as exciting for me to see how they unfold as (I hope) it is for you when you read them.
In our gloomy times, I hope a little love and romance will go a long way for you, gentle reader. And I hope the bright jacket design will sing out. I’m SO into colour at the mo’ - colour was my starting point for the new-look covers (I’ll be letting you have a sneak preview of the re-designed ‘back-list’ very soon). One of my reference points was one of favourite ads, which I think is genius - the iPod Nano ad - that gorgeous ooze of colours with little mention needed for what the machines could actually do! Talking of colour, there are a couple of exciting promos for Secrets - including a sweet-as-you-like scarf if you buy the book at Sainsbury’s and ALL the copies have a discount voucher for gorgeous Ruby and Millie cosmetics as well as a chance to win a Ruby and Millie makeover and goody bags.
It’s been a busy time for me - last week I went off on a slight tangent, speaking at the Best of Britain show in London - my topic was ‘How Popular Culture Influences Tourism’ and I was able to witter on about how important to me location and a sense of place are. Which leads me on to sharing with you a new accolade about which I’m extremely excited and honoured - I’ve been made an official Ambassador for the North East. As you know, the North East really is my spiritual home - despite being born a posh southern totty! I can’t wait to see what the Regional Development Agency for the North East have in store for me. And I’m itching to journey North again from London in a fortnight. I’m doing an event in Whitby on 17th April, and another in York on 13th May. I’ll be posting up a more detailed schedule shortly.
Talking of authors who have a passion for specific locations, I’ll let you into a secret - I blagged my way into University…! At my interview, the professor asked what texts I was doing for my English A level. When I said ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’ he asked what I liked about Hardy. For a horrible moment my mind went completely blank. Then I remembered an essay I’d recently written - the title was ‘Landscape is not merely a backdrop in the novels of Thomas Hardy, but a leading character in them. Discuss.’ So, I cleared my throat and gazed pensively out of the window. “Well,” I told the Prof whilst pulling a selection of faces which suggested I was formulating a well-considered answer, “what I find SO fascinating is how, in Hardy’s novels, landscape is not merely a backdrop - but a leading character.” He agreed wholeheartedly. And I won my place.
My new heroine, in Secrets, is called Tess…so there you go, a nicely rounded-off blog…
Oops. Sorry to keep you waiting… The rest of the year galloped by and I’ve only just caught my breath. I assure you I wasn’t so much neglecting my website…as simply prioritizing my 10th novel, which I finally finished in late August. Now that my website-wizard (James Beechinor Collins Esq.) has taught me how to do my own updates, my intention is to do precisely that! I hope you’ve been enjoying the new-look website and my blog but I intend to keep the Journal section going too because it gives me the opportunity to blether on at length. JBC is very strict about keeping blogs pithy and short - but I’m having the final say on Journal length! So…here am I, in cold-snap January, thinking back on the last twelve months. Over the months, the Romantic Novel of the Year Award followed me like a dancing butterfly - with so many people continuing to congratulate me, even now! Each time someone says ‘well done’, I re-live the thrill all over again!
The Spring and Summer I devoted to Secrets. Do you like the title? I know it doesn’t have my usual quirkiness, but I think it’ll be a hard-working title. And it does what it says on the packet…because both hero (Joe the bridge-builder) and heroine (Tess the runaway) have more than a few secrets between them and the book charts their journey on whether to conceal…or reveal…! I hasten to add, it all ends happily ever after. Would you ever speak to me again if it didn’t?
(more…)
Well hullo everybody - and welcome to the all-singin’, all dancin’ new-look website! This is my first ever blog. I’m an utter cretin when it comes to anything remotely technological and 21st century…make that 20th century. If I could, I would write with quill on parchment. Which wouldn’t be much use to you because my handwriting is nigh on illegible. So, this site is brought to you by me being a Bossy Breeches to the over-worked, under-appreciated but awesomely talented James Beechinor Collins. We have lots of new ideas in the offing - including regular video updates. Do drop me a line and tell me what you think!
At the moment, I am at home with Georgia who is off school with the lurgy which she has oh-so-kindly passed on to me. I could give Rudolf a run for his money with my glow-in-the-dark nose. A kindly little old lady in the Post Office queue told me to drink a concoction of a raw egg, a spoonful of sugar and chopped onion. I don’t think she like me. Christmas looms and I’m as excited as ever as this time next week we’ll be in North Yorkshire. Many of you will remember that Pillow Talk is set up there - so I’ll be following in Petra’s footsteps and visiting her old haunts of Stokesley, Runswick Bay and of course an ice-cream at Suggitts in Great Ayton, whatever the weather. I’ll also be going to Saltburn for a mighty blow-through on that spectacular beach…my new book Secrets is sat entirely in Saltburn so I’ll be taking up-to-date pics to publish in the novel.
Right, I’m going to follow JBC’s Idiot-Proof-Guide-to-Blogging and try and post this. If it works, my next post will be four words long…
