Feeling like a writer

This has been one of those weeks when a lot of writerly things have happened without my having done much writing. Having sent off the edits for my latest historical novel, David, to Bloomsbury, I was preparing to roll up my sleeves to start writing The Great Big Book of Feelings for Frances Lincoln.

But then I was derailed by the arrival of the layouts for Grace at Christmas. So seasonal! But not available till next year. It was written in December last year and it felt suitably festive to check it all through in the same season: it makes it feel a genuinely Christmassy book.

Cornelius van Wright and his wife Ying-Hwa Hu have done a really lovely job on the interior illustrations. I'm sorry you'll have to wait a year to see those but  here is the cover. My Art Director at Frances Lincoln says it will be "a more Chrsitmassy green" which I'm glad to hear as the background looks a little cold in this image.

On Monday one of our dinner guests was Linda Aronson, who became a friend after I gave her hilarious Kelp a rave review in, I think, The Telegraph. It's always fun talking plot ideas with Linda, who is a Hollywood script doctor in her other life.

Then on Thursday I went to a book-signing at my local Waterstone's - twice actually, because they were having a late night opening. I have done this so often and in so many places that it no longer strikes me as odd. But it IS a bit strange - isn't it? - to do what children often call "scribbling in a book."

So there I was, "scribbling" in copies of my Stravaganza novels and Princess Grace and The Great Big Book of Families, knowing that I must start writing Stravaganza 6 next month, that the next Grace would be out in a year's time and that I must write the text for the next Great Big Book of ... before Christmas. So that's it - it's my job. Even after 90+ books, I still can't quite believe it.

So good it should be a movie!

This is the sort of thing fans often write to me about Stravaganza, specifically City of Masks, thinking I'll be pleased.


The trouble is that there's a sneaking feeling that a book hasn't really made it till it has been made into a film! Of course it's good news for writers to sell film rights, which increase book sales. And good news for fans, who get to see their favourite stories translated into a new medium.

But how many films of books do you know that are as good as the books they are based on - let alone better? Women in Love? I'd argue for that. And I think I Capture the Castle was pretty close. With LOTR, there's a lot of controversy. I loved Peter Jackson's films but regard them as a separate thing from the books.

The first Harry Potter film was good but The Golden Compass lacked charm, in spite of a good performance by Dakota Blue and some great CGI.

Would I want to see the Stravaganza books of movies? You bet I would. But it might be a disappointment and what matters is the books and always will be.

The importance of a timeline

I am going away tomorrow for two weeks in Italy, partly researching Lucca for Stravaganza: City of Swords, partly checking up on Carrara and Settignano for David. And on my list of "jobs to do before I go" was Answer Fanmail.

This I did but one email took much longer than all the others and I had been rather putting it off, because the sender had queried my timeline in Stravaganza from Flowers through to Ships (three books!)

So there was a lot of digging about to do in cupboards, files and filing cabinets and in the end, dag nammit, she was right!

I had made an error, albeit a small one, that can be corrected in the second printing of City of Ships. In my defence, neither editor, nor copy-editor (two of them) nor proofreader had noticed and they are usually pretty hot about these things. But the responsibility is mine.

And it's not as if I don't make a timeline. I have one for every book after the first one and for all the historicals. But it is easy to make a slip. And how anyone manages without one I can't begin to imagine. Anyway, well spotted, Elizabeth.

And I now feel up there with the creators of Doctor Who in having fans whose obsession is great enough to get things checked. Be back in July.

This week's questions

The Contact Page of my website carries this very clear message:

IMPORTANT
If your question refers to the publication dates of Stravaganza novels in specific countries, please direct it to the publisher, as I don't have this information.

You can find more information on this and on other topics on my FAQs page. Please read it carefully before you write to me. The answer to your question may already be there.

It's in red and in a box. And yet, the most recent batch of emails from readers includes an enquiry from Sweden about when books four and five will be published there, another from Italy about how to find the further books there and one from France about when City of Ships will be translated.

It's perhaps not unreasonable for fans to think I would know this stuff. But actually, I don't! hence the box in red above. There is also one from a reader who wants me to notify her when auditions take place for a film of Stravaganza. Even if there were to be such a film, I could not possibly write to all the young women who have expressed an interest in playing Arianna!

What it seems to show is that there is a big gulf between what a writer's life is actually like and how readers think it is. I do get informed about sales to foreign publishers but have no schedule of publication. I put news up on the website as and when I get it - and I hope you are enjoying its new design and easier navigation.

Readers also often ask "Why did you change the covers?" of  the Stravaganza sequence, but i didn't; the publishers did! Really, writers don't have as much power as you imagine!

And now I must go and answer all those fanmails.