Disaster 2009

As I prepared to launch myself into the new year, I was determined to buck the trend towards doom and gloom. All around us the news is grim. So I was intending to talk cheerfully about the way book sales will boom as people seek out cheaper forms of entertainment and escape. How books will boost morale.

Hah! So much for my good intentions. Instead it turns out that I could do with some morale boosting myself. What a way to end 2008! On Christmas Day I took a nosedive off my new bicycle and shattered my right wrist. My RIGHT wrist. My writing wrist.

So I am now a right-handed writer unable to write. What good is that? Of course I know I can peck at a keyboard left-handed as I am doing now or use a dictaphone - or digital voice recorder as the techies now call them. I can even teach my computer to use a voice recognition programme. NO, NO, that's not how I write. For me the creative process works in a mysterious and unfathomable way as the words flow from my head, down my arm and into my right hand. They spill on to paper from the tip of my pen. I even think more clearly with a pen in my hand. Yes, I know there's all that stuff about use of your left hand stimulating a different part of the brain. I'll be extremely interested to see what comes out of it.

So as you can tell, 2009 has arrived with a new and totally unexpected challenge, a demand that I adapt. Okay, that is my New Year's resolution. Adapt. With a scary metal plate in my wrist and intense curiosity in my head as to how I'm going to set about it, I venture forth on my new book. But hey, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe this is actually Good News, not bad.

I'll let you know. Happy new year.

Happy Christmas

I just want to wish all my readers a happy festive season and to thank them for the support they have given me throughout 2008.

At this time of year things get hectic and it can be hard to keep focused. But I am dutifully combing through the copy-edited manuscript of the Sequel to The Russian Concubine - (to be called The Concubine's Secret in the UK and The Girl from Junchow in the US) - while I chop chestnuts with one hand and dangle chocolates on the tree with the other. Already plans are pouring in for 2009 - a new book cover being designed, a tour of the UK in February, a research schedule and, of course, a new book to write. As if I could forget that!

But times ahead are looking tough for 2009 in every part of the world, so I hope we can all find respite in the books that give us pleasure.

Happy reading and happy Christmas.

Romantic Novelists Association Party

Now that I have finished my latest book (the sequel to The Russian Concubine - in the bookstores summer/autumn 2009), it's time to get out and about. The other week I hopped on a train up to London and went to the RNA winter party. I had a great time, meeting up with other authors, editors and agents.

As a writer it's very easy to forget, when closeted in my study and immersed in my characters' lives, that the real world consists of more than just a keyboard on my desk and a cat curled up on my lap. There are other authors out there who wrestle with the same problems, utter the same moans and revel in the same ecstatic delight when it all goes right. In the glorious setting of the IMEC library, I was relieved to see in many eyes the slightly manic gleam of puppies let off the lead for the first time - the gleam I knew was bright in my own eyes. The RNA and its magazine does a great job of keeping authors in touch with what is going on in the publishing world.

Under a Blood Red Sky has made a great start. Already on The Times and WHSmith's bestseller lists which is exciting to see. I have spent time going round signing books and enjoying giving talks to readers about why I wrote the book and how I did my research. I'm doing another talk at the Palace Hotel in Paignton this week and in February 2009 my publisher is lining up a tour of events in Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Devon and Kent. Can't wait! A great way to start the new year.

Launch Party

Great launch party for Under a Blood Red Sky yesterday - many thanks to everybody who came to support me. Particular thanks to Catherine Duncan at Sphere who has done a fabulous job with the PR. I'm looking forward to getting out there now and meeting readers, hearing their responses and often their own personal stories of Russia in the 1930s. Today I was doing a radio interview at Palm Radio and as I left, the lovely young newsreader in the studio told me about her own grandparents who were White Russians too. The story seems to create a connection with people that I find deeply moving and that indicates what an extraordinarily diverse society we live in.

Publication Day

Today is Publication Day for Under a Blood Red Sky in the UK. It is set in Russia 1933 and is the story of a powerful friendship between two young women and how it shapes their lives.

I am very much looking forward to the launch party tonight at Torbay Bookshop in Paignton, Devon, and I will also be doing book-signings there on Saturday morning, 8th Nov at 10.30am and at Brixham Library on Nov 26th at 2pm. I want to thank Matthew and Sarah Clarke who own Torbay Bookshop for their enthusiastic and invaluable support - I am fortunate indeed in having such an active independent bookshop to rely on.

It is an exciting moment seeing Under a Blood Red Sky take its first steps into a life of its own. I love walking into shops and seeing its beautiful cover on the shelves calling to readers. But it's a strange experience in some ways because I am aware that people who read it will learn a lot about me. It's part of the process that all authors have to adapt to.

When I sit writing at my desk revealing the intimate thoughts and emotions of my characters, it inevitably reveals a certain amount about myself. Readers know me but I don't know them. That's one of the reasons why it's great to hear what they have to say - either here on my blog or by email and at signings. It makes a connection, rather than writing into a void.

But I am excited to know already that good reviews are coming in and that Reading Groups are selecting it as their pick for debate. I love to think of my characters, Sofia and Anna, being discussed in groups all over the world, prompting heated debate over their motivations and the moral choices they make. This is deeply satisfying to an author. So thanks to all my readers. Enjoy this one.

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.