Readers
Caricature of Mr Charles Frederick Gill (1851-1923), Barrister and Recorder of Chichester. Caption read “Gill Brass”. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I have been thinking about who might want to read my book Crucial Evidence. I have always assumed it would appeal to a large number of readers, mainly because whenever I was asked what I did for a living and I said I was a barrister, I was always asked about my profession and how the criminal justice system worked. Sometimes I got so fed up with being questioned about my life at the Bar, I would lie and say I was the station announcer at Waterloo, and reel of a list of stations from lines I travelled frequently. However as my writing progressed I thought that perhaps some men would be put off by the rather feminist stance the book takes. Two women, a barrister and a police-officer, are the main protagonists and their ability to work in male dominated professions is one of the themes in the novel. Because of that I adjusted my views to thinking that perhaps men would not be keen to read it.
Then when I was about half way through the writing process the series Silk was broadcast and achieved viewing figures of two million. My novel has similarities with the TV programme, so I thought it would appeal to anyone who watched that show. The story line is about the trial for murder of a rather inadequate young man, rather than the investigation of the murder, although there are elements of the investigatory process. That may raise questions as to whether the enthusiastic crime novel reader will like the more ambiguous approach taken by the lawyers. I do hope so, but what do others think.
The London Book Fair
I have spent the last two days in The Authors Room at the London Book Fair listening to presentations from the various companies who offer services to authors who wish to self-publish. These included Matador who provide a
Author room (Photo credit: Rrrrred)
complete suite of services, the various e-book platforms Kobo and Kindle. Also a number of authors who have done both traditional publishing and also self-publishing. They provided a lot to think about, with the various options available. They emphasised the importance of marketing, including the design of the cover. It has to be something that looks good the size of a postage book, as well as on the book, because that’s what appears on Amazon. Get it done by a professional if possible. Similarly if you can get a professional edit, certainly a copy edit/proof read (although I’m not sure what the difference is, except that one happen before the book is in galley form and the other after). I’ll come back to this when I’ve had more time to think about it, but it did confirm for me my decision to take the self publishing route. Thank you to Authoright for organising this event.
The Dysfunctional Hero
Laid low with flue over the past two weeks, has given me the opportunity to do more reading than normal and I have completed a trilogy of
Cover of Black and Blue
novels by Ian Rankin. They were Let it Bleed, Black and Blue, and The Hanging Garden and are collectively described as ‘The Lost Years.’ In Black and Blue Rebus goes on the wagon, and it made be wonder why it is that so many ‘heros’ are dysfunctional being either alcoholics, or drug users or mentally unstable. In real life, our experience is that with any of those problems, the individual’s ability to process information, to act rationally are impaired. We only have to think of the effect on driving abilities after drinking alcohol to understand that. Yet these fictional characters seem highly competent. Why do we, as readers’, accept behaviour in fiction that we would deplore in our friends and family? Has anyone any thoughts on this?
A Long Way North
It’s not yet spring, still it’s cold and grey.
I spent a lazy Sunday afternoon 
Before a warming fire on a granite hearth
In a long white house, far from
The place you called home.
I left you behind, a long way north,
But once I saw you here
Long after you were gone
In sloppy cardigan, slippers, book in hand.
You turned and smiled at me,
That smile, that well-remembered smile.
Do you like this place?
And me? Do you like what I’ve become?
The child you taught to read and play,
Who grew, and learnt and moved away
From that sheltering home a long way north.
National Institutions
Recently I went to see the new Alan Bennett at the National Theatre. ‘People’ is about two sisters who are in dispute about what should happen to the family home, a run down mansion in which one of them lives. The other sister wants to donate the property to the National Trust. I won’t spoil the story, but as one national institution pokes fun at another it takes some beating. I have been trying to think of how
Alan Bennett’s The History Boys, at Broadhurst Theatre, Manhattan (Photo credit: chrisjohnbeckett)
the National Trust might get back at Alan Bennett and I had the idea that they might take over his house and run it as an attraction for their members. Talking Heads in the attic, picnic from Wind in the Willows in the kitchen, The History Boys in the study, King George III in the bedroom and of course The Lady in the Van in the garden. Wouldn’t that be fun? Any other ideas for the location of characters from Alan Bennett’s plays or books?
Publish and be Damned
I recently heard from the major publisher who have been considering my novel Crucial Evidence that they are not going to publish it because they don’t think it will be a bestseller! Just a reasonable seller would be good enough for me. So it looks like its self publishing.
In furtherance of that route I had already send the book for a full edit and I have also received the editor’s comments on it. Her view is that in places the book lacks pace, and she suggests that I remove quite large sections which give my main character, a barrister called Cassie Hardman, a context. One aspect is her background, which I feel is quite important as she comes from a ‘working class’ family (hate these
An Oxbridge college seen from the outside (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
descriptions but in the UK they still apply), state schools, red-brick university, whilst the Bar tends to be ‘upper middle class,’ private school and Oxbridge. She feels an outsider in her chosen profession and that is reflected in some of her decisions and attitudes. The other is a sub-plot about her Chambers’ politics, which again shows her reactions away from the courtroom, but still with her colleagues. Without those changes she thinks it is unlikely I will find an agent.
The publishing business uses agents as gatekeepers to monitor the manuscripts they receive and ensure only the best get through to the publishers for their consideration. When it comes to genre fiction, the formats are so fixed that anyone writing something that doesn’t fit precisely within the stereotype is not considered.
Another way of putting it is that for commercial fiction the author must write what the publisher wants, or rather what an agent thinks the publisher wants, and not what the writer wants to write.
So to amend that well known saying Self-publish and be damned.
Cookery Writers
The recent death of one of my favourite cookery writers, Katie Stewart, has reminded me of the debt I owe her for my own skills in the preparation of meals.
Recipes (Photo credit: pirate johnny)
I first became acquainted with her recipes in The Times when I became a Law Student in the 1960s. The Times was compulsory reading for lawyers then as the Times Law Reports could be quoted in Court. I began to read Katie Stewart’s cookery column and when I moved into a flat and cook for myself, I used the recipes she wrote. I soon acquired a reputation as a good cook and an invitation to have dinner with me was highly prized, particularly with the men of my acquaintance. I would turn my desk into a table with a tablecloth, candles and nice white napkins. I would follow the recipes meticulously and always produce a good meal for my friends.
I still have the Times Cookery Book as well as her other books and they are the bedrock of my repertoire. I love the recipes for poached fruit, Lamb Cutlets Shrewsbury and lots more.
Recently I have become a fan of Sophie Grigson, who has inherited her mother’s flair for easy to prepare dishes, using fresh fruit and vegetables. Diane Henry too writes straightforward recipes for busy cooks. Her baked apples with marmalade and almonds are superb.
Anyone else like Katie Stewart or what other cookery writers do you swear by.
Literary Supper
For the last seven years, my reading group has organised a Literary Supper. We invite a speaker and ask them to speak for about half an hour, usually about their writing life and then we have supper. One of our number organises a quiz which we distribute round the tables and that gets people talking. So far we have had some wonderful speakers. We started with the crime writer, Francis Fyfield, who I got to know when I was a solicitor in private practice in London and she worked for what was then the Metropolitan Police solicitors.
television (Photo credit: jeevs)
After that we had Tim Heald, who writes both crime novel and biographies. By then I had begun the creative writing MA at Exeter University so I persuaded Sam North, who was long listed for the Booker Prize for his novel ‘The Unnumbered.’
Philip Hensher was also teaching on the course and he came to speak just after his novel ‘Northern Clemency’ had been shortlisted for the Booker Prize.
It was a bit hard to follow that, but we then had a very unusual speaker. Peter Goodchild was a TV producer with a particular interest in science and scientists and he talked about the Television series on Oppenheimer and how the script was written.
Last year I had been to CrimeFest in Bristol and met Rebecca Tope, another crime write and she came on route to delivering two pigs (she has as small holding as well as writing) to a local farmer. The next one is at the end of this month, and we have invited Helena Drysdale who writes fascinating travel books.
To begin with we did the supper ourselves mainly courtesy of Marks and Spencers, but last year and this we are having it at the Sheldon Centre and they do the supper for us using their home-grown vegetables. Most of the organising is down to me. I invite the speaker, do the publicity, print the tickets, collect the money and then pay the speaker and the caterers. Every year I swear I will not do it again, but it’s so popular that I can sell 50 tickets without much difficulty and everyone says how much they enjoy it and look forward to it. I guess I’m stuck with it. Anyone want to be the guest next year?
To self publish
That is the question? I have spent the last week researching the various companies who offer self-publishing. Some of them are the offspring of mainstream publishers, which is an interesting development. One has been trying a very hard sell, constant telephone calls to try and persuade me to take up a package with them. Others are more laid back, and simply give the details of the services they offer and then leave you to make your own mind up. 
Of course like any writer I would love to have some publisher say they wanted to buy my book, but if I self publish does that mean my book is not worth any space on someone’s bookshelf or Kindle. There is a lot of snobbery about self publishing, that only books published by the big publishing houses are properly edited and marketed and therefore are ‘proper’ books. When I look at the diet of books in the bookshops I do wonder if that is correct, there is a mixture of chefs and celebrities everywhere. Some very good books get little or no marketing when they are published. I can think of two books I have read recently that I had trouble finding in a large branch of Waterstones.
It seems to me that one of the advantages of publishing ones own book is the time factor. Even of you get an agent it may take time for them to sell the book to a publisher and then the publisher will take some months to actually put your book into the shops.
Then there is question of the amount you can expect to earn from selling the book. I don’t know what writers earn, but not everyone is going to be a best seller and earn millions. Only three years ago we were told that the average earning for a writer were £6000. So stick to the day job seemed to be the message.
The problem is the cost of self publishing to the same standard as the publishing houses, my research reveals it could be around £5000, which I is rather a lot. That would include editing, copy editing, cover design, printing usually a limited number of copies, preparing an e-book and marketing. Still most people can’t afford that amount.
The first stage of self publishing is getting the book professionally edited and I have taken that course today. The first step on what I hope will lead to me having a copy of the book, Crucial Evidence, in my hands in due course.
Winter Birds
Yesterday I stopped at the front door and looked out at the two beds of roses that line the footpath. The roses are low-growing varieties,
Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Fairy and Ballerina, although there are no flowers only rosehips at this time of year. For a moment I thought the bushes were moving, then I realised the branches were full of tiny birds that looked like the ‘Snitch’ from a Harry Potter novel. They were Long Tailed Tits, small balls of feathers, mainly white with a black streak across their heads and pale rose coloured breasts. I watched them for some minutes as they flew between the bushes, stopping to cling like acrobats as they pecked at the stems. It was difficult to count them they moved so fast, but I think there must have been about twenty. I have seen them in our garden before, eating seeds from the birdfeeder and flying in and out of our large oak tree, but never so many at once, although I believe they live in social groups. Whatever, they were a delight to see on a chilly winter morning.
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