My favourite places

The Sheffield Telegraph has a piece about me and my favourite places in Derbyshire. Click here if you would like to read it. And here are photographs of a few of those places.

The view from the footbridge in Bakewell... The Monsal Trail... The view from Longstone Edge with some gorgeous hunk in the foreground - oh, that's one of my sons! Caseys shop, Great Longstone... A corner of my garden...

My blog's new look

I can't decide whether I like my new layout, or whether it is too light, too summery, too pretty.

How can it be too pretty?

I don't want people to come here and think "Oh, blimey, this woman doesn't know dark as well as light, she skips over the surface of life in a haze of sweet peas. She has no depth."

The allure of the mundane

The blog is a strange medium. When I read other people's blogs, I am fascinated by their accounts of the mundane. Well, that's true if their writing is reasonably accomplished, and as long as the design of their blog is attractive.

I am sitting here in bed. I am ill enough not to want to do any work, but bored enough to want to do something other than read Three Men in a Boat. So I thought I'd write a post about sitting in bed on a humid July day, looking out of the window at the sky and the trees, smelling the sweet peas in a vase on my dressing table. I thought I'd write about the vile virus I have and how this morning when I woke up ill at 4 a.m. I not only felt like death, I also felt overwhelmed by depression. I felt so blue that I decided the illness was psychosomatic. So I started to write a post and then thought "Hang on, do people really want to read this?" and decided they didn't. So I stopped.

A date at Harewood House

Next Saturday - August 2nd - I shall be at the Yorkshire Day Festival at Harewood House near Leeds. I'll be speaking about Zuzu's Petals and signing copies. I'd love to meet readers of Plotting for Beginners and/or Zuzu's Petals. Why not come along?

Oh boy oh boy oh boy!

My son has moved me onto a new version of Blogger which means I can play around with colours and fonts and then switch them back the next day if I change my mind. It's very exciting, and one more thing to waste my time on when I don't want to get down to writing.

Publication in the USA

Zuzu's Petals will be published in America next spring. You may read otherwise on Amazon, but they've got it wrong.

Zuzu's Petals launch party

Before the guests arrived... Taking a peek at the fabulous grub... Here come the first of the guests... The glamorous bar-tender in the conservatory... Reading an excerpt... A stack of Zuzu's... After the reading... The view from Scarthin... Signing an odd one in a corner... Giving the results of the prize quiz... The view from upstairs at Scarthin... Toasting the host... A restorative walk the day after... Photographs above were taken by Isaac Hepworth. Thanks, Ise.

p.s. Mary Dalgleish won the prize, and when she got home, Gerry ate it...

The writer's life

In the huge and continuing cause of PR for Zuzu's Petals, I recently wrote a piece for a local paper on the topic My Favourite Places. One of the places was a local cafe, where I said I like to meet a writing friend and have a good moan about the writing life.

A friend who read the piece before I sent it off said "You can't possibly say you complain about the writing life! There are people out there who have really grotty jobs. How are they going to feel when they read it?"

So I guess I can't complain about it here, either. But I will just say that I always smile at a wonderful quote in an old M*A*S*H episode, when a man who has just fashioned a bust of Colonel Potter says "An artist's life has so few rewards."

I was discussing this with another writing friend, who nodded in complete understanding, and then went on to tell me that she had just printed off the rules of women's rugby from the internet as research for her current novel, and then got herself a smoked salmon sandwich and got in the bath with it, and the rules. That sounds like a nice way to do research, so maybe there are some compensations for tiny royalties and the impossibiity of getting reviews and...

p.s. the picture is of my back garden last week (click on it to enlarge.)

Feedback

A writer friend has just emailed me to tell me she's read Zuzu's Petals, and she's sent me a full- page critique. Fantastic!

The best thing is that she says I made her cry, which apparently is very unusual. I was interested that it wasn't the father's death that upset her, but a stage in the romantic storyline. She gives me the page number. It takes a writer to tell another writer at which page they started to snivel and at which page they got out their hankie. Writers need to know these things.

But which line was it, Jan?

Thomas the Tank Engine books should be banned

I had a great morning yesterday, looking after my grandsons. Everywhere you tread in their house there are trains. I like trains. I like train sets - I used to go trainspotting as a child, and I love to go now with the little ones. There: my train-loving credentials are sound.

Unfortunately, T and G's bookshelves are also infested with trains. I enjoy the Little Red Train series - they are imaginative and fun: the illustrations offer loads of scope for conversation, and the text for excitement and interesting sound effects. But whoever thought of bringing back from the fifties the execrable, the outdated, the deadly, the mind-blowingly boring Thomas the Tank Engine Series (that I am not even going to bless with italics)? Whoever it was must be delighted with the financial rewards, but ************! Those books do my head in! And so do the videos. If you want a good video, what's wrong with Bob the Builder? If you want a good book, there are so, so, so many wonderful books for under fives e.g. by Shirley Hughes, Julia Donaldson, Judith Kerr, Lauren Child, etc etc etc.

Thomas the Tank Engine books should be consigned to the recycling bin along with the d-r-e-a-d-f-u-l Mr Men series.

Meanwhile, back on the sofa, under a heap of cushions, even more fun than trains or reading, is pretending you are a baby chick breaking out of its shell. Oh, it's so much fun to be 3 years old.

p.s. Someone just told me that TTTE books are helpful in teaching autistic spectrum disorder children about non-verbal expression. In that case, keep the books, but make them prescription only.

Thanks, Jo

There's a feature about me and the inspiration for Zuzu's Petals in the Sheffield Star today. It's so nice to have a piece written about me that is accurate and honest, where the journalist obviously listened to what I said and reported well. Thank you, Jo Davison - you're a star.

Read the piece here.

Monsaldale

As Sally Howe is holidaying from her blog (with the excuse that she's too busy publicising her new novel Fast Work) and currently contributing nothing to the world-wide appreciation of the Peak District in general and Monsaldale in particular, here is a picture of Monsaldale which I took before the cow parsley began to fade. (Phew, that was a long sentence.)

Like Sally, I am busy working on publicity for my new book - Zuzu's Petals - out now in hardback, and on July 3rd in paperback. I am beginning to see the value of literary agents. If I had one I could sit back and leave all the PR palaver to her. I don't know why Sally isn't blogging - she has an agent to sort all this stuff out.

Just what I need - someone to mastermind my PR

Click on the pic to see what she's reading.

The things authors will do for a plug

The season of rushing around trying to get publicity for Zuzu's Petals is here. Authors have to try to get in the papers or on the radio to publicise their new book. If you can't get in with an article specifically about you and your book, then you try to sneak in some other way, while insisting you will still get a plug for the book.

Last month I was interviewed and photographed by a glossy women's magazine that was doing a feature on the craft revival. They were interested in my patchwork quilting, so the focus of the piece was quilting, which is fine. The photograph is pretty and my son says they have photoshopped it so my teeth look whiter and my eyes are bright. That's a first! They also remembered to mention Zuzu's Petals.

But... The piece takes a few random facts I told them, and woven them into a story the editor already had in her mind. They quote me as saying that I started quilting as a result of a fire and then they quote me as saying "The fire also inspired me to start writing my novel Zuzu's Petals..." (not true) "But my real passion is quiltmaking." (Also not true.) It sounds as though I dashed off the novel in a spare afternoon, just to fill in the time while I was waiting for my sewing machine to be serviced.

Oh well, the book is mentioned, and they are the first publication to ever photoshop me so I look better than I do in real life. Top marks for image.

p.s. email me if you want to know the name of the magazine.

An invitation to the launch

Look what I got! They've finally arrived...hardback and paperback copies of Zuzu! Naturally I get them early. Come on - it's the only perk authors get! You can buy the hardback on the 1st June, and the paperback on July 3rd. Would you like to come to the launch of the paperback edition on Thursday July 3rd, 6 p.m. - 7.30 p.m. at Scarthin Books, Cromford, Derbyshire? There'll be wine and nibbles and lots of chat with fascinating people (I don't mean me), and I'll be reading from the book and signing copies. If you'd like to come, please will you email me so we know how many people to expect.

Colours

While I am twiddling my thumbs, waiting for the fun to start (i.e. my paperback launch on July 3rd at Scarthin Books) I thought I'd post you some pictures from my recent holiday. I tried to concentrate on colour this time, as my supremely-talented son does.

All the photographs - apart from the gate- were taken on Lindisfarne.

Below: the castle is in the background...

Below: the priory ruins are in the background...

Below: same again...

My first endorsement for Zuzu's Petals

This is what the author Lucy Diamond has said about Zuzu's Petals:

"Full of warmth and wit, this is a romantic and often very moving novel, with a wonderful cast of characters."

In a few days I will have a new hardback copy in my trembling hands. I'm going to dig my sweet pea patch now, to calm myself down.

A clue

"What did you say your new book is called?" people say to me. "Zulu's Pedals?"

"No," I say. "Zuzu's Petals. Z-U-Z-U apostrophe S, space, P-E-T-A-L-S."

"Who is Zuzu? Is she the woman in the book?"

"No. It's an allusion to something in a film."

"What are you on about?"

The poster on the wall of my newly pretty, pristine study gives you a clue.

(The hardback comes out in May, but you can pre-order it now on Amazon.co.uk with a generous price reduction. Amazon.com will be onstream soon.)

Tagged!

AArrggh, I've been blog-tagged by Emma at Snowbooks - the boss! When I told Dave, he said "It sounds most uncomfortable."

OK, this is what you have to do when you've been tagged... - Link to the person that tagged you (in my case Emma). - Post the rules on your blog. - Write six random things about you in a blog post. - Tag six people in your post. - Let each person know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog. - Let the tagger know your entry is up.

The trouble is that I only read five blogs and the Snowblog is one of them. But I'll do my best. Six random things about me:

1/ When I was little I wanted to be a ballet dancer, but we didn't have enough money for me to go to ballet class. When I got to the age of 12 and realised that even if I found the money, it was too late to start a career in ballet, I decided to become an actress, and I wrote to Junior RADA for a prospectus. There was still no money, of course, and I ended up going to university on a grant (oh those heady days before the need for student loans!) and I became a psychologist.

2/ Just like Sally Howe (of Plotting for Beginners fame) I used to be addicted to watching Neighbours, but I can't watch it any more because it switched to Channel 5 in February and we can't get Channel 5. I am still suffering withdrawal symptoms.

3/ I once did a correspondence course with the Faculty of Astrological Studies.

4/ My first book (of which I was co-author) was published in 1981: The Experience of Work: A Compendium and Review of 249 Measures and Their Use (Organizational and Occupational Psychology). The book is deadly dull. Is it any wonder I turned to comedy and wrote Plotting for Beginners with Jane?

5/ I dream of having one of my books made into a film, with Nora Ephron writing the screenplay and directing it. I'd prefer it not to be the book mentioned in number 4.

6/ I am a practising Quaker. (I have to practice because I'm not very good at it.)

These are the blogs I tag

Anna Torborg

Sally Howe

Sally Calligan

Isaac Hepworth

Allotment Becoming

My new room

I can show you my working space because it's just been cleared and decorated. Three weeks ago, it looked like a paper recycling centre, with too many pictures and photograhs on the wall to see what colour the paint was. I know for sure it will look like that again in the future so I am posting this now before that happens.

A dear friend gave us the desk, and Dave, my husband, made me a larger top for it. He also made the stained glass piece on the windowsill. The photo on the desk is of him putting in the floor of our extension.

Jane (Linfoot) gave me the cherub on the windowsill: for some weird reason, we both love cherubs. Actually, it's not weird for me, as I'm a soppy date, but I always think it's strange for Jane to like cherubs, because she's a stylish architect with leanings to minimalism, and not in the least bit soppy.

My father gave me the silver spoon on the windowsill. His grandfather gave it to him and engraved it with both their initials. I had it engraved with my father's and mine - FJW to SJH.

There are lots of things behind me and to the side, that I might show you another time. And this week I shall be putting photographs of my family back on the wall.

Fact? Fiction?

My sister-in-law rang last night and asked if Dave, my husband, had been bidding on eBAY for a guitar.

"No," I said. "Why?"

"It's just that Sally's Gus was bidding for a Fender," she said.

"The trouble is," I said later to Dave, "people forget that most of Sally's Blog is fiction. They get muddled as to where the fact ends and the fiction starts."

"So do you," he said.

Pictures from Zuzu's Petals

Quaker Meeting House, Bainbridge

Zuzu's Petals is set in Sheffield and Wensleydale, and I am trying to collect photographs of places that are mentioned in the book so I can show you on my website - just as I did for Plotting for Beginners. Here's a start - pictures from Wensleydale - all of them are places mentioned in ZP. (Click on a pic to enlarge it.) Don't you like the Jacob sheep in front of the Meeting House?

A distant view of Bolton Castle

Bainbridge village green

The Fox and Hounds in West Burton Lady Hill Lambs on a footpath to Aysgarth Falls

Clutter

Why, oh why do I need so many jiffy bags under my desk? Gone are the days of posting off manuscripts to six literary agents at a time. I do still deal in manuscripts , of course, but Snowbooks (bless their little cotton socks) only deal in digital, so when I want to send them something I just line it up and click the mouse.

After years of printing out double-spaced, single-sided sheets, parcelling them up in a jiffy bag with another jiffy bag inside stamped with return postage, it is sooohhh restful. When I tidy my room this week, I shall throw away the jiffy bags (or put them in the attic until I need them for Christmas presents. I mean, come on, you can't actually throw a jiffy bag away, can you?)

OK, I admit it!

OK, I admit it, sometimes there is a confusion between Sally Howe and me. I realise this on the rare occasions when I have an idea for a blog post and I can't decide whether to post it on this site, or whether Sally should post it on hers. Today was just such an occasion. I gave it to her, and she posted it.

Sally and Gus Again

An odd thing happened this morning. I was writing. I was writing a scene in the sequel to Plotting for Beginners, in which Sally and Gus have a big row. I was batting out the dialogue, hell for leather like I usually do, not worrying about quotation marks, or any other punctuation for that matter, just typing the lines as they came into my head, but then I had to stop. I was too upset by the row between these two characters that I'm so fond of, too upset by the rift that was opening up between them. These are fictional characters on my laptop screen: am I nuts?