SEPT/OCT 2003

NEWSLETTER 6

WORK IN PROGRESS

I am now about half way through my second adult novel, which still hasn’t got a title. Nothing brilliant has struck me yet, but I live in hope. I’m enjoying it, but it seems to be going more slowly than I’m used to. I am going to have to get used to writing in short bursts as September has been full of visitors and also full of events.

While I’m at my laptop, everyone at Orion is busy getting the paperback of FACING THE LIGHT ready for publication in March. The paperback cover, which you can see on the adult books page of this site, is very striking I think and there will be a big marketing campaign which will include (I can’t wait for this!!) bus side adverts.

THE EDINBURGH BOOK FESTIVAL

I travelled to Edinburgh on Friday August 15th and registered at my hotel. Then I went down to Charlotte Square and waited in the author’s tent (a Mongolian yurt, with oriental carpets on the floor, and lots of lovely sandwiches and drinks to keep you going) for the other writers with whom I was doing an event. They arrived in due course, and even though we hadn’t met one another before, we all got on well. Catherine Dunne and Fiona Shaw (not the actress!) and I had a full tent to speak to and we enjoyed our session greatly. We signed copies afterwards, and then had tea with friends like Theresa Breslin and Eileen Ramsay outside the yurt. The weather was wonderful. Not too hot and not cold. Later in the evening I had coffee with Celia Rees and her husband in their hotel and early next morning, I had to go home. One of these days, I’ll go to Edinburgh for a whole week and go to lots of events. It’s a super festival: very well organized and enjoyable.

LITERARY LUNCH

On September 18th, I spoke in the Totteridge Village Hall to the ladies of Gilo Wizo. Wizo is a Jewish charity, and their reading group had chosen FACING THE LIGHT as their book of the month for September. It was a very pleasant occasion and I’d invited three guests of my own to join in the fun.They were Broo Doherty, who is the editor at my agent’s; Jon Appleton, an old friend and now Children’s Fiction editor at A and C Black and Carole Turner-Record, whom I’d never met before but with whom I’d struck up a correspondence through Susan Hill’s magazine Books and Company, which alas, is no longer being published. It was good to meet so many enthusiastic readers and to chat with them and my guests. It was particularly good to meet Carole at last. We went back to her house after the event and had lovely apple pie and Bush tea from South Africa. She is the author of a wonderful book about adoption, called Adoption Journeys, available directly from the author. Her email address is: carole@turner-record.com

PARTY FOR SLEEPING BEAUTY

On the Children's Books page of this website, you’ll find illustrations by Christian Birmingham from the Scholastic book: SLEEPING BEAUTY, for which I have written the text. They are quite lovely and on September 25th, there was a party in the Artworks Gallery in London to launch the book and display the artwork in all its glory. I made a day of it, and had lunch with old friends, Jean Ure and Jacqueline Wilson. There was lots of gossip to catch up on and we had a really good time. Later in the afternoon, I met Laura Cecil, my agent and we went together to the gallery. Up close and full size, Christian’s pictures are even more spectacular than they are in the book. It was good to see so many friends, and Richard Scrivener and Scholastic Books put on a wonderful spread for everyone. We had a little Sleeping Beauty of our own at the party: Isabella Gott, baby daughter of the editor of the book, Caroline Gott, graced us with her presence and was as good as gold throughout and looked very pretty in her princess dress. For anyone who reads the book, Caroline was the model for Sleeping Beauty’s mother and her husband for the King, her father. I travelled home on the late train to Manchester carrying a celebratory bottle of champagne in a stylish cool-bag. Altogether a wonderful day.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

I will write about all these in a newsletter in mid-November:

ILKLEY FESTIVAL: I’m appearing with Jane Rogers, Blake Morrison and Gerard Woodward on October 7th at 7.30 p.m. at the Ilkley Playhouse to publicize New Writing 12 ( Picador) in which a poem of mine is published.

I am appearing at a literary lunch at the Macalpine Stadium on Oct 14th alongside Anne Fine, Barry Cryor and Keith Halliwell. In the evening, Anne and I are doing a joint event organized by Sonia Benster of The Children’s Bookshop, Lidgate, near Huddersfield.

I’m addressing the Business and Professional Women’s Association at their dinner on October 16th in Clitheroe.

CHELTENHAM LITERATURE FESTIVAL: On October 18th, at 4.30 p.m. I’m speaking with Vivian French and Dave Roberts and we’re discussing different versions of fairy tales.

CHESTER LITERATURE FESTIVAL: On October 31st in the Grosvenor Hall at 7.30 p.m. I’m talking about the differences between writing for adults and writing for children.

FEDERATION OF CHILDREN’S BOOK GROUPS: Oxford Group is ten years old and they’re having a day conference on November 8th at the splendid OUP building. I’m on a panel there with Ann Jungman, David Fickling and Linda Newbery and I know it’s going to be a terrific day.

BOOKS

There are so many books to write about this time. Readers of this newsletter will know that I’ve been talking about Michel Faber’s The Crimson Petal And The White (Canongate) for ages. The good news is: I’ve now read it. The better news is: it’s outstanding. Really fast-moving, detailed, involving, interesting and with a central character who just leaps out of the pages. Fantastic. I cannot imagine why it hasn’t won prizes. It certainly deserves medals. It’s now in paperback, and miraculously a lot less heavy to lug about. Fantastic.

Much smaller in size is Susan Hill’s new collection of short stories: The Boy Who Taught The Beekeeper To Read (Chatto and Windus) She’s a most versatile writer, and seems to be able to turn her hand to anything. Her prose, in everything she writes, is clear, plain, strong and threaded through with poetry. She writes movingly without resorting to the slightest sentimentality, and has a very beady eye about every kind of human relationships. The physical book is beautiful…elegant typeface, beautiful cover image and proportions that just beg you to pick it up. It would make a splendid Christmas present for anyone who loves short stories. [Susan Hill Web Site] While I’m on the subject of short stories, anyone who is interested can consult the new Save our Short Story site…the link is on my links page... which will send you 2 FREE short stories every month. How good a bargain is that? I’m biased, of course, as one of my stories is going out to readers in October. Speaking of short stories, the best I’ve read in ages appeared in the Guardian a couple of months ago. It was by Michel Faber (again!) and was called The Broccoli Eel…terrifying and unforgettable.

A couple of weeks ago, I read Monica Ali’s Brick Lane (Doubleday), which has been very heavily hyped. It’s a good book, but probably not as good as everyone says it is. Still, it’s a great achievement for a first novel, with excellent characters and lively dialogue. It also takes you into the world of an immigrant woman who rarely strays out of her house and neighbourhood and the fact that this never becomes boring is greatly to Ali’s credit.

On the way to the Sleeping Beauty party, I read Claire Morall’s Astonishing Splashes Of Colour (Tindal Street Press) This is one of the surprise books on the Booker shortlist and it was quite a page turner which kept me involved through two train journeys. The heroine, Kitty, is a wonderful character and all the way through I was asking myself: why did mainstream publishers turn this book down? No answer presents itself other than the usual one: they didn’t think this story of a woman and her troubled family relationships was commercial. I don’t think it’ll win the Booker, and I don’t think I’d have voted for it over Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night Time, (David Fickling Books/Jonathan Cape) but it is a very well-written and involving book.

For readers who don’t know the work of Patricia Gaffney, I can heartily recommend her books. She’s written three: The Saving Graces, Circle Of Three and most recently Flight Lessons which I’ve just finished. They’re all good, but this is outstanding. Anyone who enjoys Anne Tyler will love this story of a restaurant, a family, different sorts of love and all brilliantly written. Her books are published by Transworld.

Erica James’s new one, Paradise House (Orion) is a very enjoyable read. She’s another writer who creates believable characters with whom it’s easy to identify. It’s set in a bed-and-breakfast in Pembrokeshire.

In a previous newsletter, I mentioned Sisterland by Linda Newbery. This book is now out and has a beautiful jacket. Also out is Ryland's Footsteps by Sally Prue which has a glittery salamander on the cover. Do try both these, and also a couple of books I’ve reviewed or am going to review in the Guardian: Stratford Boys, by Jan Mark (Hodder) and Pirates! by Celia Rees (Bloomsbury)

Till next time, happy reading.

Adèle Geras