NOVEMBER 2003

NEWSLETTER 7

WORK IN PROGRESS

The leaves have finally fallen after a magnificent show of gold and red and I am winding down into hibernation mode. There are only two more outings for me (see under Forthcoming Events) and even before they’re over, I’m hunkering down and writing like mad, as I really want to finish Novel 2 before the end of the year. I have a good chance of doing this, I think, with more than 350 pages already written. That’s the good news. The bad news is: I still have no title. Am I downhearted? No. The combined wisdom of my agents and my publishers will no doubt come up with something. And who knows, I might have a brilliant idea myself any day now.

EVENTS

October was full of pleasant days out for me. On 7th I went to the Ilkley Festival to help promote New Writing 12 (Picador pbk) in which a poem of mine appears. The editors have chosen all sorts of goodies for this collection and I can recommend it heartily, because I had nothing to do with it, beyond sending in my contribution.

On the 14th, I spoke at the Huddersfield Examiner’s Literary Lunch with such luminaries as Anne Fine, Keith Halliwell and Barry Cryor. I’ve always been a very talented luncher, and having to speak about my own book on top of that appeals to the show-off in me. Anne, Keith and Barry were very witty and I think a good time was had by all. After the lunch, Anne and I went to Sonia Benster’s lovely children’s bookshop in Huddersfield and in the evening we spoke to a packed school hall about ourselves and our books, and signed lots of copies of our work afterwards. This part of the day was arranged by the Kirklees branch of the Federation of Children’s Book Groups.

On the 16th, with a couple of boxes of FACING THE LIGHT in the boot of the car, my friend Ruth Glentworth and I set out for the Clarion Hotel near Clitheroe. It was very kind of Ruth to drive me there because I couldn’t have managed the journey by train. We were both invited to the annual dinner of the Business and Professional Women’s Association, and you’d be hard put to find a pleasanter gathering of ladies. There were a few mayoresses there, wearing chains of such magnificence that they fairly dazzled the eye. Everyone was most kind and welcoming to me and Ruth, and what’s more, they bought lots of copies of the hardback edition of my book.

Then on the 18th (yes, it was a frantic week and not much got written!) I was at the Cheltenham Festival to speak with Vivian French and Dave Roberts about fairy tales. We had an audience of adults and children and the whole thing went well. It was super to have Dave there ready to draw wicked stepmothers, trolls, giants and other characters as we went along. One of the best things about Cheltenham is the Writers’ Room, where you can sit and watch all kinds of writers go by. You can also have lovely cakes and coffee and sandwiches and natter to your chums. Linda Newbery came in for a bite and a chat, and so did Ann Jungman, whose Barn Owl Books does such a good job reprinting works that have fallen out of print (including most recently my APRICOTS AT MIDNIGHT.) One feature of this visit was the marvellous new Voyager trains I travelled on both ways. They were comfortable and clean and also ran on time. I could tell so many horror stories about the railways that I thought this worth mentioning.

Friday 7th and Saturday 8th November were red-letter days. I went down to Oxford at the invitation of the Federation of Children’s Book Groups and if Manchester was looking splendid, Oxford’s autumnal show was breathtaking. It’s one of my favourite places in the whole world and I knew I was going to have a good time. Lunch was fantastic. My friend Sue Neale took me to Brooks University, where the catering students run a fabulous restaurant that provides excellent meals at very good prices. Then I spoke to the girls of Rye St.Anthony’s school and enjoyed that a great deal. I was staying the night with Linda Newbery and she came to the school to pick me up. We met Ann Jungman and Mary Hoffman for dinner. The restaurant we chose was called Restaurant de Liban and when I saw where it was, I had a really Proustian moment. It occupies the place I remember as the Kemp: a tea shop I frequented almost every day while I was an undergraduate in the Sixties. As I watched the belly-dancer and ate my delicious Lebanese food, I couldn’t help thinking of Rose, the elderly waitress who used to bring us our cinnamon toast. Where are the snows of yesteryear, eh? We ended the evening at the delightfully unchanged Randolph Hotel, having a nice cup of tea.

It was wonderful to see Linda’s new house, even though we weren’t there very long. First thing in the morning, we went back to Oxford for a day conference run by the Oxford Group of the FCBG to celebrate their tenth birthday. I spent the day talking (too briefly!) to lots of friends and listening to one wonderful speaker after another. The talks were fascinating but I enjoyed Helen Cooper’s (about being an illustrator) best of all. I was on a panel with Linda Newbery, Ann Jungman and the publisher David Fickling to speak about why books go out of print. The number of questions afterwards showed that we could have gone on chewing over this topic for hours. Altogether, it was a hugely enjoyable couple of days.

I pick my towns rather well. York was next and looking quite beautiful as always. I had lunch with Fiona Shaw and her husband, Hugh Haughton. We chatted, and ate a gingery and delicious soup and then Fiona drove me to Bootham School, where I was due to talk to the children. The whole day went well and I hope it won’t be long before I’m back in York again.

Writing about all these events make it seem as though I’m never home, but most of the time, I’m glued to my laptop and writing my novel, honest.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

There are only two more events this year. I’m doing a reading and booksigning for SLEEPING BEAUTY at Simply Books in Bramhall on November 29th, in the morning and in December, I’m going to France for three days to give some talks to teachers and students alongside my French translator, Rosemarie Vassallo. I’m looking forward to that enormously, though it’s going to test my French to the limit. Fortunately, Rosemarie will be there to dig me out of any grammatical or syntactical holes I fall into, and to provide me with lots of words I’m sure I’ve forgotten. It’s over thirty years since I taught the language and I’m very, very rusty indeed. Find out how I get on in the next newsletter.

BOOKS

As usual, the reading never stops. I’ve greatly enjoyed No Shame, No Fear by Ann Turnbull (Walker) which is a moving love-story set at the time when the first Quakers were being persecuted.

Paradise Fields (Arrow) by Katie Fforde is a delight. There’s a character in it who makes her own cosmetics. I emailed Katie to ask if this person was based on someone real, and indeed she is. Anyone who likes creams, unguents, etc should look up the website: www.kat-aromatherapy.co.uk. I bought a night cream and a lip balm and they’re fabulous. Apologies to high-minded readers for such girlie frivolity!

The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracey Chevalier (HarperCollins) This is about the sixteenth-century tapestries which you can see at the Musée de Cluny in Paris. It’s a marvellous book which all lovers of ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ will adore.

Not the End of the World by Kate Atkinson. These are short stories and mingle the ordinary world with that of the Greek gods. I loved them, but then I’m a sucker for those Greek gods.

The Constant Gardener by John le Carré (Hodder). I hadn’t read any le Carré since The Spy who came in from the Cold, but I’m going back now and getting hold of everything I can. This is an absolute corker of a book. It’s about love, Africa, pharmaceutical companies, skullduggery, and more besides and completely unputdownable.

That’s it for now. I wish all my readers a very happy holiday season and New Year. See you at the end of January. I hope by then to have finished the novel and even (maybe!) have a title for it.

Till next time, happy reading.

Adèle Geras

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