The Man Booker Prize.

The winner of the Man Booker Prize 2012 has been announced and is Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel – which makes her the first British person and the first woman to win the prize twice, having won it before with Wolf Hall in 2009,

Earlier this month I took part in The Booker Debate at the Octagon Theatre in Yeovil. This is an annual event run jointly by the Yeovil Community Arts Association (YCAA) and the local branch of Waterstone’s. A panel of six guests each review one of the shortlisted books and discussion is then thrown open to the audience.

I was, once again, invited to participate on the panel, and I have to say that this year’s debate was the best yet. There were a number of book groups in the audience who had read the shortlist and the varied views led to some lively discussions!

My book was Bring up the Bodies which I thought was superb. However, not all the panellists felt the same way about their allocated books, and the audience didn’t necessarily agree! More fuel for a lively debate!

And it was great to meet up with fellow authors Sarah Lean (A Dog called Homeless) and James Long (Ferney).

I’m so pleased that Bring up the Bodies won. In my opinion it was well deserved and if you haven’t read it I can strongly recommend you do!

Seamagic

As you can no doubt imagine, the past few days have been a whirlwind of excitement. I'm still trying to get my head round the idea that my book is actually going to be published! I've been allocated an editor and I'll be going up to Oxford to meet her sometime in November, which I'm very excited about.

But there has been another interesting development too.

I've been contacted by a group of authors and illustrators and invited to take part in the Seamagic Project. This will be a collaborative blog based on a shared love of the sea and the magic it evokes in writers and artists.

Seamagic is the brainchild of author KM Lockwood and you can find out more about it here.

http://kmlockwood.com/seamagic/

Readers of this blog will already be aware of my passion for all things marine. But in case you are wondering how this relates to Red Rock, the blurb has just gone up over at the Greenhouse Website, so why not take a look and judge for yourself.

http://greenhouseliterary.com/index.php/books/red_rock/

I'll keep you up to date with Seamagic and how it evolves. And of course with Red Rock and its journey to publication.

I Have a Book Deal!

At last I can tell you!

My debut novel Red Rock, a thriller for the 10+ age group, will be published by Curious Fox in 2013.

The champagne is chilling and tonight I will be celebrating in style!

I couldn't be happier!

Lessons in Patience

If you want to be a writer the first thing you must learn is patience, for you will need it in abundance. Writing is not something that gives instant gratification. Success takes time to arrive, but I can assure you, when it does it will be all the sweeter.

You need to have patience at every stage in the game – and here is why:

1. Learning the craft. This takes time. We are not born writers. It is a skill we assimilate over the years, first through reading and then through taking up a pen ourselves. Take time to learn the craft. Attend workshops, join a writers group or forum, but above all write! The more you write the better you will get. But all this takes time. Don’t rush it.

2. Finding an Agent. The reason this can take a long time is because many people start submitting way too soon. They haven’t got past stage 1 yet – they’re still learning the craft. But even when you are ready, it can still take time. Some agents take months to get through their submissions. They’re busy people. And if you have a full request it will take them a while to read it and come to a decision. It’s all right to prod if months have passed, but don’t be impatient.

3. Getting a book deal. So you’ve been signed by an agent. That means the book deal is just around the corner – doesn’t it? The answer my friends is no. First your agent may ask for revisions. Take your time to get this right, otherwise your MS will only come back to you with more red ink! And then, once you’ve honed your novel out it goes. Do they come back immediately? They might, but more likely not. Some people can be on submission for a year before their book sells.

4. Seeing your book on the shelves: Oh yes – now you’re in for another wait. If your book has sold to one of the big publishing houses with a full schedule ahead you can be looking at 18 months to two years before you see your book on the shelves. Smaller and newer publishers may have faster turnaround, but you’re still likely to be waiting a year or so.

So here’s to patience, and here’s to success.

Where do you set your stories?

Or to put this question another way – would you ever set a story somewhere you’ve never been?

I’ve met authors who do and they don’t seem to have a problem. They feel they can get enough of a feeling for a place through reading about it, or through film and television.

But for me that isn’t enough.

You see there’s more about a country than can be gleaned from the web – every place ‘feels’ different, smells different, and it’s these small things that bring a place to life, the telling details, the rats in the market place, the smell of spice on the old man’s fingers, squabbling gulls on the harbourside.

So you’ll find that most of my stories are set in places I’ve visited.

But not always.

Sometimes it’s simply not possible to visit the place you want to write about. And in these cases decent research is vital. I once read a story a friend of mine had set on the Moon. He made me believe he had flown through space and walked on that lunar surface, even though I know he hasn’t! But it was those telling details that convinced me.

So have you ever set a story somewhere you’ve never been?

The Booker Shortlist 2012

This year I have, for the second year running, been invited to join the panel at the YCAA annual Booker debate.

It’s an interesting shortlist this year with small publishers Salt and Myrmidon making the cut. It’s always good to see this sort of recognition for the smaller presses.

It’s also interesting reading the comments in the media. I have to admit I’m a bit concerned by remarks along the lines of ‘The judges have turned their backs on readability’ opting instead for ‘the shock of language’ and books that are ‘Conceptually challenging’.

Last year I was allocated ‘The Sense of an Ending’ by Julian Barnes, which went on to win. Yes, it was readable, beautifully written and I thoroughly enjoyed it. So why is readability such a dirty word? A book can be literary AND readable!

So now I’m wondering what I’m going to be allocated to read this year.

Here’s the shortlist – just in case you haven’t seen it:

The Garden of Evening Mists – Tan Twan Eng (Myrmidon Books)
Bringing Up The Bodies – Hilary Mantel (Fourth Estate)
The Lighthouse – Alison Moore (Salt)
Umbrella – Will Self (Bloomsbury)
Narcopolis – Jeet Thayil (Faber)
Swimming Home – Dehorah Levy (Faber)

An End... and a Beginning

Yesterday the Olympics came to a close. The children took part in a huge parade through the town, dressed up as sea creatures in a vast array of colour. And when we got home we watched the closing ceremony spectacular on television.

I’m sad to see it go. The Olympics have been wonderful. They made this summer special. But summer too is coming to an end.

The seasons turn.

Yet there’s no time to be sad. Good things are happening. New adventures beckon. And for me it’s time to pack away the beach gear and get back to the serious business of writing. The WIP is entering the final act – the race to the curtain – and I hope that I’ll get the first draft down by the end of the month.

And there’s more…. Only I’m going to make you wait….