JUNE 2007

NEWSLETTER 25

WORK IN PROGRESS

A HIDDEN LIFE is now in bound proof and has gone into production, so the book is on course for its August publication. Here is an image of the cover, which will not have a capital W for ‘will.’ The paperback of MADE IN HEAVEN is out now, with its pretty pale green cover and if you buy it at Asda you get a free pink-and-white nail buffer. How can you resist?

I am still in not-working mode and still enjoying it. I’m starting to think about future projects but not in any serious way.

EVENTS

On March 20th, I went to Leicester to speak to teachers and librarians who are providing, through the Reading Agency (www.thereadingagency.org.uk) facilities for adults wanting to improve their literacy. I went as the author of one of this year’s Quick Reads, LILY: a ghost story and it was fascinating to see how these books were being used. I spoke about how much I enjoyed writing my contribution.

On March 27th I paid my first visit to Seven Stories in Newcastle. It’s an absolutely amazing place and I urge anyone who hasn’t been to pay it a visit. The food in the café is brilliant too, so no sarnies or packed lunch necessary if you’re going to make a day out of it. I wrote about it for the Guardian books blog here.

On the 23rd April, I went to the Queen’s School, Chester, which is always a treat. I had a lovely lunch with the Head, Catherine Buckley, and spoke to two groups. One was the normal sort of talk I give about my own work, but the second was a talk to a group of students taking A-level Business Studies. I was asked to describe what’s happening in publishing today, and I had a really good time getting up on several high horses and sounding off about stuff I didn’t really know all that much about, except as a writer having watched the trade for the last thirty years. It was enormous fun. Thanks to Gillian Mayes, Catherine Buckley and all the teachers and girls who were so hospitable.

Main event this spring was a week’s visit to Florence. We travelled by train all the way there and back ( fantastic!) and it was a most marvellous holiday. Here is a link to my husband’s account of it on his blog which will give you some idea of what we saw. It was, as they say, magic.

On May 9th, I was the guest of the Children’s Bookshop in Pinner, who hosted me for a visit to Haberdashers’ Aske’s School for Girls. It was a very good occasion and I enjoyed meeting such enthusiastic and friendly children and staff. The bookshop sold a gratifying number of copies of my books and a very pleasant time was had by all, I think. After the end of school, I went back to the Lever-Chain house, which is covered in wisteria and has an amazing garden. There I met Issy and Zahava, two of the Lever-Chain’s three daughters and Tom, their foster-son. We spent the late afternoon and evening nattering seriously, eating marvellous food cooked by Judy and I spent a very restful night, Issy having kindly loaned me her bedroom and Tom his best teddy bear. I felt most welcome there. Next day, Judy took me to the Tube and I made my way to North Dulwich for a return visit to JAGS, James Allen’s Girls’ School. This time I was in the Senior School. It has a very exciting library and Cynthia Pullin, the librarian and archivist of the school, looked after me brilliantly, as did Deborah, who came to meet me from the train and gave me a lift back when it was time to go home. They gave me one of the most beautiful bouquets I’ve ever seen and if you want to see their account of the day, you must go to their website, www.jags.org.uk, click on ‘library and archive’ on the left hand side of the page. Once on the library page, click on ‘special events’ and my name will be there.Click on that. There are some nice photos on the site.

On Monday May 21st I travelled to Grantham and met up with Linda Newbery and Ann Turnbull for the launch of the Federation of Children’s Books Groups National Share a Story Month. Usborne Books are sponsoring this, and Megan Larkin and Liz Scott from Usborne, together with Graham Marks, a journalist and writer of children’s books met us at the Angel and Royal Hotel. The Barrowby and Grantham Children’s Book Group was hosting the event next day at Belvoir Castle and Usborne linked this with the publication of the second set of Historical House books by Linda, Ann and me. To see how splendidly castley the castle was, just visit the website at www.belvoircastle.com

What you won’t get will be the fun and laughter and good spirits that characterized the whole occasion, from the reception in the Angel with the book group and their children on Monday night, to the enthusiasm and interest of two groups of about a hundred and fifty children each time from nearby schools. It was nice to see Jane from the Bookcase at Lowdham, who was supplying the books for us. And having Graham chairing our event was a brilliant idea. He fielded questions from the audience and also asked a few himself. As we waited for the taxi to take us back to the station afterwards, a peacock came right up to us and gave us a beautiful display of his tail…that was an extra treat.

On Wednesday May 23rd, I went back to Neston High School. I’d opened the new library there in 1991 and it was gratifying to see that it still thrives and is still under the excellent care of Mary Johnson. The school is very lucky to have her. My own daughters’ school here in Manchester only has a part-time school librarian, I hear, and this is the way a lot of schools are going in order to save money to buy computers. Hmmm is all I have to say about that!

Anyway, at Neston, the library is marvellous. Pupils do a great deal there and a special thanks on this occasion to Katie, Bookmark-maker Supreme. There was a collection of lovely laminated bookmarks on display which I admired greatly, so Katie very kindly spent the better part of her dinner hour making some for me to give out to children at other events. Thanks, Katie…such a good idea and very beautifully executed.

I spoke to Year 7s and Year 10s and after that, Mary and I went for a lovely meal at Franc’s in Chester and then on to the 28th ( I think) Cheshire Children’s Librarians’ Book Quiz held in the St Mary Centre, which used to be a church and is a very impressive venue. Four schools were taking part in the final and the questions revealed how ignorant I was of a lot of the things that have been written in the last few years. The children taking part seemed frighteningly clued- up and seemed also to enjoy the event, which is even more important. I handed over the cup, and the other prizes, spoke for a little while and then signed books afterwards. Many thanks to Mary and her fellow librarians for a really pleasant day. PS. If Mary sends me some photos after half term, I’ll put them up here.

On May 30th I went to Simply Books, my favourite independent bookshop, to celebrate the sequel to my picture book, THE BALLET CLASS, which is called LITTLE BALLET STAR (both Orchard). That was published on May 17th and again, is illustrated by Shelagh McNicholas. About ten little girls dressed as ballerinas in pink tutus and ballet shoes, came to hear the story and we had Jess from the bookshop telling us about her time as a young dancer, and showing us her costume from a show she was in. The tiny girls were most impressed and so was I. After I read the story, we practised some dance steps and then ate the star-shaped biscuits and a cooling drink Sue and Andrew had provided. This shop always puts on smashing events so many thanks to them.

click photo to see a larger version

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

On June 6th, I’m going to Ruabon to speak at a school for the Federation of Children’s Books Groups and this event is also sponsored by Usborne. I’ll have to fly the flag for the Historical House series on my own there!

On June 25th, I’m at Oundle School and on June 26th at Barlow High School, just round the corner from where I live.

On July 1st, I’m part of Prince Charles’s Summer School in Cambridge, speaking to teachers about writing historical novels.

On July 6th, I’m at Our Lady’s School in Oldham, courtesty of Susan Ford, the librarian, who’s been inviting me to go there every summer for the last dozen years or so.That’s always a very enjoyable day.

On July 12th, I’m going down to Birmingham to speak to a book group led by Ann Darnton, one of the best of the book bloggers, and am greatly looking forward to meeting her in person.

BOOKS

A bumper crop of books this month but several stand out as highlights.

THE ROAD by Cormac McCarthy (Picador) is as bleak as everyone says it is. I’ve never read any of his others but many of my nearest and dearest are huge fans. The plot is very minimal and yet you can’t wait to turn the page to see what’s next. Not for the squeamish but most wonderfully written and completely gripping.

Everyone who reads this newsletter knows how I love CJ Sansom. I took the third Matthew Shardlake novel SOVEREIGN (Picador) to Florence and it was amazingly good. To say I loved every minute isn’t quite true: it’s very hard-hitting and some of the detail of Tudor torture is hard to read about, but it’s a very good novel indeed: rich, fascinating and a superb thriller as well. I was a little afraid that this might be the last in the series, but I have it on good authority that there’s another Matthew Shardlake book coming in November. It’s called REDEMPTION and I will try and get an advance proof.

THINGS TO MAKE AND MEND by Ruth Thomas (Faber) is just wonderful for anyone like me who loves anything to do with sewing, patchwork, embroidery etc. It’s also about a whole lot else, most especially friendship between women, misunderstandings and the way our lives can suddenly get twisted out of shape by unforeseen events.

HALF OF A YELLOW SUN by Chimamanda Ngozi Azichie (Harper Perennial ) is wonderful and do not be put off by the fact that Richard and Judy had the good sense to pick it. I hope very much that it wins the Orange Broadband Prize this year. Do try it. It’s much more easy and welcoming than you’d expect for a book about the war in Biafra. Harrowing in parts but also very touching and funny too sometimes.

My friend Anne LeClaire has a new book out which was sent to me by Sharon of the US books blog, Ex Libris. Thanks, Sharon! It’s called THE LAVENDER HOUR (Ballantine books) and is not available in this country. Go to Amazon.com to see details for ordering. It’s beautifully written, as is everything by this author, and describes a love affair between a woman and a dying man. That’s putting it baldly but I don’t want to give away too much.

I have long been a fan of Sue Gee's and was lucky enough to be sent a proof copy of her new book, out in July. It's called READING IN BED (Review) and it's marvellous. Two middle-aged women, who've been friends for years and years, have reached a point in their lives where they might have expected a peaceful, harmonious time. But one of them is tragically widowed and something happens in her friend's life which affects both families. It's a welcoming book: you feel immediately at home and recognise the characters. The cover is super, and I can see it going down very well with book groups, because there's so much to discuss. Above all, though, it's an emotional and heart-warming story. Look out for it soon.

Lee Child’s books aren’t to everyone’s taste but I love them. I read two back to back and can recommend both: THE HARD WAY and WITHOUT FAIL.(Bantam) The former is the most recent and if you’re a Jack Reacher fan you’ll know what to expect. Amazing plotting, fabulous hero, breathless suspense…great stuff.

In brief:

SHAME by Karen Alvtegen (Canongate) another good Scandinavian.

DUST TO DUST by Tami Hoag (Orion) A very good police procedural.

JUST ONE LOOK by Harlan Coben (Orion) I’m a big Coben fan.

I’ve also read some very good children’s books recently:

CAT AMONG THE PIGEONS by Julia Golding (Egmont) Julia is one of the 25 writers Waterstone’s has singled out as the writers of the future. I’m sure they’re right in Julia’s case, but she’s already a prizewinner and a huge hit with readers of all ages. Her book DIAMOND OF DRURY LANE (Egmont) won a Smarties award and was on the shortlist for the Costa and this sequel is terrific. It has all the ingredients that made the first book so good and added heft and weight as it tackles the subject of slavery in the 18th century. You can come and hear me and Julia talking about the historical novel at the Edinburgh Festival this year. August 20th is the date and 6 pm the time.

THE NIGHT WALKER (Hodder) is Patricia Elliott’s latest. She’s a very talented and skilful writer who knows how the emotions work, especially in boys. This book is about the claims of the past, disappearances both real and imaginary, step-families and above all, coming to terms with death. Reality and fantasy intertwine and it has many echoes from myth and legend. Daniel is a sympathetic hero and the tension lasts right to the end.

Better late than never, I’ve come to the Roman Mysteries by Caroline Lawrence. I’ve read three: THE PIRATES OF POMPEII, THE TWELVE TASKS OF FLAVIA GEMINA and THE SIRENS OF SURRENTUM (all Orion). They’re terrific. Entertaining and scholarly at the same time, they seem to me a perfect way to get children interested in the Romans. I have missed the BBC programmes but will try to catch up with them soon. Lovely stuff…approachable, exciting, and suspenseful, and with lively and engaging characters.

You’ll notice that some of the books I said I was about to read in the last newsletter are still there on the shelf…watch this space! The next newsletter is due end of August.

Have a lovely summer….there’s a storm raging outside, as I write this….

Adèle Geras

Please email me at: adele @ adelegeras.com