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.
How I love research - it’s a true perk of my career. I spent delightful periods of time in the North East, in the jewellery quarter of Hatton Garden - and in a cage just off Regent Street. The cage was a security area within the offices of the Tanzanite Foundation (which oversees ethical mining of the gem) and I’d sit there handling carat after carat of this magical stone. Just a tiny nugget of a story hidden in a newspaper can fire my imagination - and reading about a 15 year old girl who woke along the arm of a crane in her nightie having sleep-walked there, became the springboard for full research into this fascinating, dreadful affliction.
The scenarios when Petra was doing her pottery classes were based on fact - that really was me. And yes, there was a sixth-former who’d gently serenade me with his guitar from a chaste distance….wonder where he is now! As with Chloe, some of these characters are not based on people at all. Arlo’s naughty schoolboys are in fact horses I know - my own included.
Read a brief synopsis of Pillow talk
Browse inside Pillow Talk
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…
[1991] - Freya gave up a PhD scholarship to write her first novel, Sally. For 4 years she turned deaf ears to parents and pals who pleaded with her to “get a proper job”. She went on the dole and did a succession of freelance and temping jobs to support “writing days” every now and then. During this time, she was rejected by many publishers and agents whose comments ranged from “you can’t start a book like that” (referring to Sally’s rather raunchy opening scene) to “I like your idea but can’t stand your style”. Undeterred, she started Chloë as soon as she finished Sally. In 1996 she approached one of the UK’s top literary agents, Jonathan Lloyd at Curtis Brown Ltd. Throwing caution to the wind, Freya sent him 3 chapters and a page of completely fabricated reviews, which she wrote on behalf of the Sunday Times, Jilly Cooper and Germaine Greer. Lloyd took her on and put her work up for auction.
[1996] - 5 publishers enter a bidding war for Freya’s books. A three-book deal for a six figure sum is the result. Sally is published to great acclaim and Freya is heralded a fresh voice in fiction.
[1997] - Chloë doubles Sally’s release figures and is a Sunday Times bestseller.
[1998] - Polly spends 14 weeks in the original Fiction Top 10. The film rights are sold and the paperback goes straight onto the Sunday Times Top 10 at no.5.
[1999] - Freya’s 4th novel Cat is published in November. Set around the Tour de France, Freya’s research took her deep down to the secrets behind the Lycra.
Freya’s books are translated into five languages. In Holland, she is called the Literary Spice Girl and her books are hailed “better than viagra”. Her fan base is wide, ranging from teenage girls to elderly gentlemen worldwide.
[2000] - in June, Cat is released in mass market paperback. Fen is being written. Pip is being researched. Freya is involved with the Daphne Du Maurier Festival and the Edinburgh International Literary Festival as well as many other book festivals from Bodmin to Bracknell.
[2001] - Freya’s 5th novel, Fen, is published in October. Her son, Felix, was born on Easter Sunday, 15th April 2001.
[2002] - Freya spends the summer writing Pip. Fen is published in paperback in late September and goes straight into the charts, peaking at no.4. Freya is now safely into her second pregnancy with the baby due in early February. Pip is completed late November and Freya and her family move house a couple of weeks later.
[2003] - Georgia Jeannette born on 4th February 2003 at 10.45 pm, weighing 7 lbs 14 0z. Pip is published in August. Freya starts her 7th novel, Love Rules, featuring the adventures of two best friends - new characters, plus the reappearance of Sally.
[2004] - Pip is published to great success in paperback. Freya completes Love Rules and follows her editor to HarperCollins. Freya is now hard at work on no8 – which reunites Cat, Fen and Pip McCabe.
[2005] - Love Rules is published around Valentine’s Day and then in paperback later in the year. The novel is a Top10 bestseller, breaking all Freya’s previous sales records. Home Truths, Freya’s 8th novel is written and the author’s thoughts turn to her 9th…
[2006] - Home Truths is published in March and stays in the Original Fiction Top10 for over 3 months. The book becomes a paperback bestseller in the autumn, making the national Top 10 and riding high over the Christmas period. Pillow Talk, Freya’s 9th novel is written and the author’s thoughts turn to her 10th…
[2007] - Pillow Talk is published in August to great acclaim, going straight into the Original Fiction Top Ten. The tenth novel is underway - and waiting for a title.
[2008] - on 4th February, Pillow Talk is published in paperback and wins the Romantic Novel of the Year Award. Georgia turns 5 years old on the same day. It’s a career highlight for Freya, with lots of TV and press to do but soon enough she’s back in the library, completing the 10th novel, Secrets.
[2009] - Secrets will be published as an exclusive airport edition in February, and in paperback in May. Freya thought she needed a rest…but now she’s planning her 11th novel - and a couple of top secret projects too… watch this space!
On Monday 4th February, Pillow Talk won the coveted Romantic Novel of the Year Award 2008. What a day! It was also Georgia’s 5th birthday so after a lengthy breakfast of present-opening followed by the ever-frantic school-run, I had to rush home, scrub up and head for a swanky hotel in Kensington. The shortlist was announced in January - and I shared it with 5 wonderful and esteemed authors. Read all about it in my updated Journal. (more…)
A story of first love and second chances from the bestselling author of Love Rules The sleepwalker. By day, Petra Flint is a talented jeweller working in a lively London studio. By night, she sleepwalks. She has 40 carats of the world’s rarest gemstone under her mattress but it’s the skeletons in her closet that make it difficult for her to rest. The insomniac. At one time a promising song-writer, Arlo Savidge now teaches music at a boys’ boarding school in North Yorkshire. He assumes he’s happy with his isolated lifestyle. But, like Petra, ghosts from his past disturb his sleep. Putting the past to bed. Petra and Arlo loved each other from afar during their schooldays. Now, seventeen years later, in a tiny sweetshop one rainy day, they stand before each other once more. Could this be their second chance?
Well, the last thing I won was probably a gymkhana when I was eight – so to be awarded the Romantic Novel of the Year 2008 for Pillow Talk was an awesome moment in my life. It was going to be a lovely day, whatever the outcome, as it was Georgia’s 5 th birthday and also publication day for the paperback edition of Pillow Talk. I was still in my slummy-mummy uniform of old jeans and jumper half an hour before the taxi arrived but as my lovely friend Jeanette always says: “you do scrub up well, love.”! It was such a thrill being short-listed in January – the first time it has happened for me. I shared the short-list with fellow authors Jojo Moyes, Adele Parks, Catrin Collier, Catherine King and Maureen Lee.
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Well, I hope you like the sneak preview of the Pillow Talk jacket on my Home Page…what doesn’t come across is the wonderful vivid blue – just wait until you see it. I wanted a colour as close as possible to tanzanite – the precious gem stone that is a key theme in the book. Before I was a published writer, to help make ends meet, I worked as a picture researcher for a number of publishing companies, using my background in art to help source images and designs for book jackets – and what a fusspot it made me! I’m a perfectionist (though I’m sure the art dept would call me a pain in the proverbial…). For example, we tried out almost twenty different shades of cream before I gave the nod for the background colour of Love Rules, Home Truths and Pillow Talk. We use an artist from New York to do the illustrations – but then the designer and I spend hours tweaking the length of eyelashes, the redness of lips, the creases in clothing… So you can imagine how many blues I squinted over in search of The One. Think I’ve found it, though…
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It’s blowing a gale outside – a tree was uprooted right outside our house this lunchtime so Georgia and I went to ogle the twelve lovely firemen from three fire engines which hared down our street in two seconds flat. The tree had fallen right across the road, smashing a couple of cars in its wake. No one hurt. There’s something so sad about a fallen tree – all those decades, perhaps centuries, of standing so lofty and proud, ending with such an undignified disposal via chainsaw and council wood-chipper. Freya says: Go hug a tree!
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