Deadline

Son's Burmese cats visiting.

Apologies for the long gap between this and my last post. I like to maintain the illusion of being an author in control, a writer whose life is calm and runs to a well-ordered schedule - with the word count flowing smoothly on to paper each day, talks and book signings effortlessly slotted in, deadlines hit with days or even weeks to spare.

Hah! Not quite. That's the trouble with illusions - they tend to shatter when you throw a brick at them. The brick, in this case, was a fast-approaching deadline, plus my son's wedding to the lovely Liz and a visit from a bunch of family and pets over in UK for the wedding. Total meltdown. Mixing metaphors, I know, but that's exactly how my brain felt. Mixed. Scrambled. Too much going on in there to even think about writing. Delays and distractions.

But at last here I am, emerged like a butterfly, fluttering my gaudy writing wings once more and hoping to dazzle my publishers so that they won't even notice what the date is.

The book I'm working on at the moment is the sequel to The Russian Concubine and is due out in the stores in June 2009. It has been enormous fun being back with Lydia again, exploring where she'll take me this time. Watching her grow up and struggle to discover what it is that she wants her life to become. The end is very much in sight and I know I shall miss her when she's gone. It's like losing a beloved friend. Though, I admit, she can be so darn wilful when she chooses! Always shooting off in directions I hadn't planned and leaving me to pick up the pieces.

As soon as I hand over the manuscript, I shall be delighted to leap into the launch of my new book Under a Blood Red Sky, published by Littlebrown/Sphere on November 6th 2008 in UK and Australia. (It was published by Berkley in June 2008 in the USA under the title The Red Scarf - yes, I know it's confusing. Talk to my publishers about it, not me!)

So an exciting time coming up. After all the recent self seclusion, I shall enjoy going round talking to readers about Under a Blood Red Sky, finding out their reactions and listening in on their discussions. I'll keep you posted about some signings and talks. But it's always great to read your responses here too.

Cover success

I was delighted to learn recently that The Russian Concubine's cover won the Historical best award for 2007 in Cover Cafe's bookcover competition (http://www.covercafe.com/). Many thanks to everyone who voted for it and also a big thank you to the art department at Berkley Publishing for designing it.

I think both US and UK covers for my new book The Red Scarf/Under a Blood Red Sky are great pieces of artwork that will jump off the shelves right into readers' hands. I have enlarged versions of them pinned on my study wall and am still baffled how two such different designs can both convey the atmosphere of the book so unerringly.

It is interesting to consider how important a cover is in attracting buyers. What draws the eye of one person might have quite the opposite effect on another, so publishers spend a huge amount of time, effort and talent on creating the perfect cover for each of their titles. Just take a look at a display table next time you're in a bookstore and notice which ones catch your eye. Take a moment to wonder why. Some covers just work, some don't. But it's a fine line to walk. So I count myself very fortunate indeed to have such talented teams creating covers for mine.

Thank you Berkley and Sphere - and foreign publishers for all the excellent cover designs for my books abroad, especially those in the Netherlands (thank you, Unieboek) which are truly beautiful.

First Week

It is great to know that The Red Scarf is receiving good reader-response in its first week on sale. To hear from one reader that it leapt out at her in Toronto airport and from another that she is starting a book club with it keeps my nerves from jangling.

The Red Scarf is a complicated and convoluted tale of love and loyalty set against the backdrop of 1933 Russia. It's a vivid and intense moment in history that is unfamiliar to most readers. I want people out there to get involved, to be discussing the book's ideas, to be gripped by the story, arguing over the rights and wrongs of the moral questions posed within it. And, above all, to fall in love with the characters. But isn't that what every author wants?

My intention in writing The Red Scarf was to lead my readers into a different, difficult and demanding world to see how ordinary people react under pressure. And I would like to think some of the images will linger in a reader's mind, prompting further thought, further questions. I hope so.

But the strange thing is that here I am, watching over this book's first steps, worrying and fretting over it, when at the same time I am deeply engrossed in writing the next one, a sequel to The Russian Concubine. All authors suffer this. A kind of mental tug-of-war. Pulled in two directions. One book on the bookstore shelves demanding attention with interviews and the whole PR circus, while another totally different story is clamouring for space and thought-time in one's head. Is this what it's like having twins?

But hey, who ever said novel-writing was a walk in the park? I'm fascinated by the process that builds a story in a person's head and love to know what effect it has on others. That's why it's so satisfying to receive feedback from readers. So keep it coming.

Publication Day USA

Today is the Big Day!

The publication of The Red Scarf in the USA. This is an exciting moment and I am holding my breath while I await initial feedback on responses from booksellers and bookbuyers. It's a story I fell in love with as I wrote it and I hope readers will too.

THE RED SCARF

Bliss! This week I received an advance copy of my latest book The Red Scarf from my American publisher, Berkley, and it looks gorgeous in its striking cover.

It's an emotional moment - like the birth of a child. But a nerve-wracking one also, because next month (24 June) it will be going on sale in the bookstores and it's like watching your beloved offspring walking into school for the first time. Will it go well? Will people be friendly? Or turn a cold shoulder?

All that writers can do at this stage is to believe in what they've written and trust that others will do the same. Initial reactions have been good and some top flight media in the US are lining up to review it, so I am optimistic.

I loved living with this book. I walked every step of the way with my characters - Sofia, Anna and Mikhail - through 1933 Russia. It's an intense love story that portrays not only the deep passion between a man and a woman, but also the powerful bonds of friendship between two women. It explores how love entwines with - and sometimes distorts - people's beliefs, and to what extent those beliefs can be imposed from the outside by an enforced political system. A story of strong emotions and rigid rules. It's when they clash that life explodes in ways no one anticipates.

That's what I love about writing. Becoming entranced in a world and a life that otherwise would never come within reach. And of course that's why we read books - for that pleasure of experiencing a whole new existence. So it is with excitement that I pat The Red Scarf on the head, kiss its rosy cheek and wave it goodbye. And good luck.

It will also be published by LittleBrown/Sphere under the title Under a Blood Red Sky in July in other English-speaking countries and in the UK in November. More news about that to come.

Cover Credits

A piece of exciting news!

A website called Cover Cafe runs a contest each year in which readers nominate and vote for their favourite book covers of the year. And guess what? The cover of The Russian Concubine was named as one of the best covers in the Historical category and so is now a finalist.

You must admit it's a gorgeous piece of artwork, designed by Richard Hasselberger. So thank you, Richard, and thanks also to my publishers Berkley US and LittleBrown UK. It's a terrific honour.

Anyway, the competition voting should be up and running by early May, so check out the website: http://www.covercafe.com/. And get voting!

In the meantime, I'll get working.

Keep Them Coming

Though the weather outside has turned stormy, at last a period of calm has descended in my house. Which is exactly what I need. So far, this year has been full of distractions and diversions, all productive and necessary, but not particularly helpful towards the book I am currently working on.

So now I've slipped back into a comfortable writing rut and hope to stay entrenched in it for the next few months. It's important for writers to become totally immersed in the world they are creating if the final construct is to ring true, so as I write historical fiction, I eat, drink, sleep and read nothing but the time and place I am writing about.

I continue to research while I write, frequently discovering new facts that trigger an idea for a scene or an unexpected plotline. That is part of what makes the whole process fun - like discovering about the Krokodil, the Russian Communist propaganda aircraft in the 1930s that was painted to look like a crocodile. I used it, of course. As if I could pass up on such a great image!

You just never know what you will stumble across or what is coming at you next. This element of surprise helps keep the writer - and hopefully, the reader - engaged in the story and adds to the sense of adventure that lies at the heart of books.

So while the rain beats down outside, the wind battering my magnolia and threatening to tear my roof off, I remain calmly oblivious because I'm far too busy struggling through the snows of northern Russia right now.

But I do want to mention, even as I sink deeper into my writing-cocoon, how much I value the responses of readers - in comments here on my blog or in email contact. So thanks, guys, keep them coming!