Clean sweep?

I had to stop writing about Sally and Gus in Sally's Blog because the characters were taking up too much space in my head. Since I batted them out of the way a little I've begun, at last, to have ideas for a new book. Last Friday I began some rudimentary plotting and the book has been simmering away all weekend. I've just opened up my planning file to do some more work and what do I see? The names of Sally and Gus. Yes, there are the names of the two new principal characters at various points on the page, but when I have added notes throughout, it's the names Sally and Gus that appear. Bah! Should I definitively kill the reprobates off somehow - maybe on Sally's Blog? Or should I give in and make the next book about them, a sequel to Plotting for Beginners perhaps?

I miss Sally and Gus

It's such a shame that Sally is no longer here. There is so much in my daily life I'd like to hear her comments on.

For example...I had a mastectomy some time ago, and this week my breast prosthesis started leaking (yikh!) so I had to zip into the hospital and order a new one. This time they're giving me a super dooper self adhesive one. Brilliant! No more embarrassment as I lean over in the supermarket and the falsie slips out of my bra. No more annoyance when I'm weeding and the falsie goes plop in the flowerbed. No more pink squishiness sidling out of my bra when I am mother-of-the-groom in a low cut affair.

But Sally isn't here to add her two penn'orth (sp?) and neither is Gus to offer a description of the new prosthesis...that the bumps on the back of it and the colour and consistency make it look like an invertebrate that someone's dredged up from the seabed. If you're not fainthearted, see here.

Mother-of-the-groom

My son recently got married to wonderful wacky Wendy, whom we all love to bits, and I have been emailing wedding pics to my friends. They all say how glamorous I looked in my wedding gear, so I thought I'd make the most of this rare record of me as glamorous mother-of-the-groom, and post it here.

Nit-picking

Anna, my editor at Snowbooks, has gone through my manuscript for Zuzu's Petals and marked where she thinks there should be a comma, or shouldn't be a comma, where I have used too many ands, where she wants me to use a capital letter - etc, etc, etc - and then sent me the marked manuscript for me to agree or disagree with each of her changes.

When she did this for Plotting for Beginners, she seemed to want a lot of changes, and I argued with many. Poor Anna. There are half as many changes this time, and I've argued with only a handful. What's happened in the last two years? Am I less precious and more pragmatic? Am I a better writer or less opinionated? Or have I changed to be more like Anna? You're supposed to grow to be like your pet. Do writers become more like their editors?

A (non-writing) friend said to me "How can you bear to have someone picking over your writing like that, criticising it, wanting to make changes? Don't you feel incredibly annoyed?"

The answer is no. I love the process of going through the book with Anna. It feels so good to have someone caring about my book as much as I do - every sentence, every word, every full stop. She loves the book and she wants it to be the best it can be. And so do I.

Zuzu's Petals will be published next May. Hooray!

On quite another tack, our cat Chione came to live with us 2 years ago today. Isn't she beautiful?

First Aid in English

I was chatting to my husband recently about the sad state of primary education - too much testing, too much pressure, no time for creativity or learning by doing, a concentration on literacy basics but no time to read the children a story at the end of the day and give them a passion for stories and reading...and too many other problems to mention here. Eventually we moved on to talking about when we were at primary school in the fifties.

We lived in different places and went to different schools but we both had to work from a book called First Aid in English. I can't speak for the current edition, but in the one I worked from, students were taught standard similes. We weren't taught what a simile was, and then encouraged to make up our own. No, we had to finish the simile they printed on the page, as in As white as... As black as... As cold as ... and so on... If you didn't get the answer right (respectively snow, soot, ice) then you didn't get a mark. How sad is that? How unimaginative, dull and constraining is that?

Blurbs

I'm still glowing from a recent weekend away up North. The first stop was at the waterfront in Newcastle to see the Millennium Bridge. It's brilliant. Unfortunately there weren't any ships coming up the Tyne that day so we didn't see it swing up to let them through.

For the last ten days, including the weekend away, I've been trying to write the blurb for the back cover of my new book Zuzu's Petals. (For much of the motorway journey I was reading out versions to my family and they nearly left me behind at a service station, just to get some peace.)

It's so hard to write a winning blurb. The book is light, with a serious heart to it and I am trying to get over this fact in the tone of the writing. I have to give a taste of the story and the characters, to lure readers into buying the book, but I can't give the plot away. The language has to be concise and vivid and descriptive which makes the exercise like writing a poem. And I'm not a poet.

My favourite hat

Strange coincidence

It's a strange thing, but Sally Howe and I have both just returned from a trip to California. While I was there, I went to talk to a book group in Redwood City about Plotting for Beginners. The meeting was wonderful: they were all so friendly, and so funny. They have their meetings on Sunday mornings over a shared brunch, and the food they bring has to be mentioned in the book they're discussing, or to be inspired by the book. There were lots of scones and jam (seen as typically English) but the best offering that day - in my book (hah!) - was from Pam. She tried to get spaghetti hoops (Gus's favourite food) and went to the British shop, where she found Heinz spaghetti. Yeah!

Do you ever judge a book by its...

title?

When you are in a bookshop looking for a book to buy, what makes you pick up a book and read the blurb on the back? Is it the cover? Is it the title? Does it matter what the title is? Are you ever repulsed by a title? Do some titles have an immediate attraction?

If the book cover were the same for each of the following, which title woud be the most appealing?

1/ Zuzu's Petals

2/ The distance between us

3/ His hat still hangs in the porch

I know that people who read my blog are extremely reticent, but I would love to hear your views on book titles - including the three above.

Every woman should have a shed

Every woman should have a shed – in which to put her man. Men are at their best when viewed from a distance. If I lean out of my study window now I can see mine: he's in there pottering, fixing something. The doors of his shed are flung wide to take in the last of the afternoon sun, and he's listening to the news on Radio 4. He’ll be chuntering or expostulating or ranting about what he’s just heard. And I don’t have to listen. I can get on with my writing. Bliss.

Blogging award!

Someone - Diane Shipley, a freelance journalist and reviewer and co-editor of the popular website Trashionista - has given me a blogging award. Gosh, I'm honoured. Really honoured. Not only has she posted a comment on my blog (see below) - she's given me an award as well. Perhaps she's the only reader of my blog...

I am supposed to continue the schmoozing by giving my own blog awards. The problem is..I don't read many blogs. I like my elder son's, as he has some excellent photographs on it, but I can't give him an award as he doesn't update it often enough.

The only blog I read every day and find interesting is the Snowblog ( my publisher's blog.) The Snowblog covers lots of topics - publishing, politics, what's happening in the Snowbooks office, what the Snowbooks team are doing, thinking, feeling. Sometimes it's even inspiring. I commend it to you, and I give it my only blogging award.

Authors are sad people

Wendy, a dear friend who lives in San Francisco, sent me this photograph. She knows that I'm still a new enough published novelist to be excited by a picture of my first book sitting on a shelf in Barnes and Noble on the other side of the world.

Is this sad?

Vote now (she said, safe in the knowledge that no reader of this blog ever, ever posts a comment.)

O.K. then...

Well I did say that readers of this blog are reticent, but really! Nothing in the comments box.

Either you are

1/ the most incurious people in the world

2/ I have covered everything on my blog you might possibly want to know (and even more )

3/ you are all away on holiday

4/ you are trapped under something heavy, able to reach the mouse to click and open websites, but unable to reach the keyboard to type a question

Whichever is true - I'm off to lounge in the sun.

Any questions?

I just saw a section on another writer's website called Frequently Asked Questions, in which she listed questions that readers often ask her, along with her answers. Readers of this blog are rather reticent, I know, but if you'd like to ask me a question, why don't you post it in the comments section, and I'll do my best to answer.

How Jane and I wrote Plotting for Beginners

This is for new readers of this blog (as the post has already appeared in the December archives)...

Sue’s View

When I suggested to Jane that we should write a book together, we weren’t even friends. We attended the same writing group and never saw each other outside the meetings, but we emailed often, sending each other work to critique.

In our first emails we discussed creative writing and how to get published, but soon our correspondence became a daily one with humorous descriptions of domestic and family trivia. Many of Jane’s emails made me laugh out loud, and I thought they were wasted just sitting in my Inbox. I wanted to have them in a book I'd started to plan. That’s how the partnership began.

I did 80% of the actual writing in terms of arranging words on the page. Sally Howe is the first person narrator and I wrote in Sally’s voice: it was vital to keep her voice clear and distinctive. Jane wrote Gus's letters, and Kate Wensley's emails in different voices.

But obviously, the work and creativity involved in writing a novel is so much more than what the reader sees. Some people assume that because I wrote Sally’s voice, the book is really mine with Jane helping out. NOT TRUE. It was a fifty fifty creative project. We plotted the book together and developed the characters together and agreed on themes, texture and style. I see us as a comedy writing duo, with two people throwing out jokes and material and ideas but only one able to sit at the keyboard at any one time.

Writing a novel with someone else is a bit like a marriage. It needs commitment from both sides – and if one flags, the other needs to support her and carry on. Also like being in a relationship, you can have double the fun. But the price is a willingness to compromise.

Galton and Simpson once argued for three days about one line in a Hancock episode. Jane and I both love the other’s writing, and we rarely argued about how to express something. But there was one expression I wanted to use - “the great Wen” (meaning London) – which Jane, as editor-in-chief, kept cutting. Next time I sent her a draft I would put it back in, and she would cut it again. This went on for months. She won in the end. She is a fine editor, ruthless and strict with impeccable taste. (But if she dies before me and we have a second edition, I shall re-instate the great Wen.)

We did sometimes argue about the actual material. I might want to include something and she would say it was “yawnsville” (her ultimate put-down.)

I loved developing our characters with Jane. We find the same things funny. When she suggested a trait for a character I often laughed in delight and recognition. We brainstormed by email. When we were in the middle of the book I couldn’t wait to see her latest suggestions and I would rush to read her email before getting dressed in the morning.

I love living in a fictional world. Living there with someone else who shares your sense of humour is even better.

Writing a novel is very hard work – even when you love to write - and it can be lonely. When I wrote Plotting for Beginners with Jane it didn’t seem like work, and I only found it lonely when the huge demands of her normal life enveloped her. But co-writing spoils you. Jane injected such a lot of fun and sparky creativity into our book that when I first embarked alone on my next novel, Zuzu's Petals, I felt as if I was rowing the Atlantic solo.

An email from Jane’s kitchen

hi sue

re twosome piece

don’t forget to mention that

you have placed loads of pieces in the nationals whereas I have poems in a box file (which I am usually too busy to send off)

you have one husband to look after and hours to write whereas I have three teenagers, a hairy dog, four cats, a horse and a rabbit (not yet fed today incidentally) plus a couple of businesses, so when writing have to make do with hit and run snatches

you are entirely driven and I am a complete lazy arse

I work in the chaos of the kitchen on the family computer (“bloody hell, mother – sue hepworth’s sent you seven emails today”) whereas you enjoy the luxury of a study area, albeit one which doubles as a corridor and is in danger of being re-designated as an en-suite

you nearly dumped me after you sent me the first page and I emailed you back to say it was rubbish and I learned to precede any criticism with at least five points of effusive praise (you didn't know that did you?)

we both think the other's writing is fab

I can never remember who the characters are (my excuse - they change their names so often) so when you say is it all right for keith to like jelly? - I invariably email to ask - who the hell is keith?

you obsess about plot points and midpoints and I like to visualise the plot as a structural framework we hang things from

I love to pare things down – record so far cutting 15,000 words in one morning

you are the definitive keeper of the main text - which means that you can slip things back in which I cut out

we are symbiotic

we couldn't write this sort of book if the process wasn't fun - I want to capture the enjoyment we have and roll it onto the page for the reader (omigod - what does that sound like?)

you are well more pushy than I am and incredibly tenacious in a way which always astonishes me and which I totally admire you for

you would like to be a best-selling author and have a national newspaper column (which I know you would hate after two weeks) whereas I aspire to work on a shopping page

best first thoughts

love jane

The irrepressible Sally Howe

She's back from her op and she begged to be allowed to do a few postings on her blog, so what could I say? Click here for the first.

Hello America!

Plotting for Beginners was published in the US at the beginning of July. The US edition contains a glossary at the back for American readers. This is to explain the English phrases in the book which some of my American friends didn't understand. As I know that some of you live in the States and yet bought an English edition, I thought I'd post the American glossary here. If any British readers have any comments on my definitions, I'd love to hear them.

Glossary for American readers

p.12 Jon Snow a liberal, widely respected television news anchor

p. 17 "poxy" local paper sub-standard/ poor quality (poxy is not a polite term)

p. 19 Badedas bubbles on the aubretia bubble bath on a rockery plant

p. 19 VSO Voluntary Service Overseas - like the Peace Corps but work done overseas in developing countries

hot flushes hot flashes

p. 25 tartan trews trousers made of Scottish plaid fabric – (shows poor dress sense to wear them - in Sally’s eyes. )

p. 26 off-piste the term is a European ski-ing term – which means off the normal designated area

p. 29 John Lewis a department store found in big cities – good quality products and customer service and after care…possibly like Macy’s

spaghetti hoops are like "loops" or circles, canned spaghetti in sauce

p. 34 "Barbour" jacket a hard wearing waxed cotton waterproof jacket with lots of pockets - originally for country wear - such as for farming or shooting. Barbour is the original brand and is now the generic name for such waxed cotton coats.

p. 40 Mary Wesley a bestselling popular novelist who was first published at the age of 70

p. 71 mammoth "trug" A trug is a shallow basket for holding flowers when you're actually picking them in the garden.

p. 81 hot slog hard work

noughties refers to the first ten years of the century

p. 99 titivating making very small adjustments to improve appearance

p. 145 plumped for vouchers chose a gift certificate

p. 153 crack on continue on

p. 154 Toffos A brand of toffees/sweets

swot work hard at learning something - cram. Wendy was swotting up on her astrology for her astrology exam.

p. 155 stottie cake This is a regional type of bread - made in the north east of England. It's flat and round.

p. 156 Quilts far too much "tog" Tog is a rating of insulation

P. 165 mugging up Learning about

p. 170 jammy dodger type of cookie - round and sweet, with jam (jelly) in a hole in the middle

Corr A member of The Corrs - a band of glamorous girls who sing folk rock music

P. 175 whinge whine

p. 220 piffy on a rock bun very, very obscure north of England expression (which I adore, so I've used it in my next book Zuzu's Petals, as well.) It means "superfluous" or "out of place" - piffy is icing sugar and it's unnecessary on a rock bun.

P. 233 clobber stuff

p. 236 naff In this instance it means "in poor taste"

p. 245 Mariella Frostrup journalist and broadcaster who hosts a Radio 4 programme called Open Book

p. 251 Carol Vorderman a highly intelligent and glamorous presenter of a television programme with anagrams and maths puzzles

p. 271 Swarfega This is a well known (in England) brand of gas-based green gel which mechanics and other manual workers use to clean oil off their hands. American equivalent is Fast Orange.

p. 297 Charlotte Green a well-spoken Radio 4 newsreader with a sexy voice

p. 307 tannoy loudspeaker

p. 309 John Prescott a much lampooned politician from Hull who was Deputy Prime Minister at the time of writing.

p. 318 cossie abbreviation derived from bathing costume - i.e. swimsuit

p. 320 rammel clutter

p. 332 blagged a column Blagged means persuaded (often by bullshitting or just good salesmanship). In this case, persuaded the editor to let her write a column in the newspaper.

doddle Something that's very easy

p. 344 Tony Benn widely respected and venerable left wing Labour politician

Clare Short left wing Labour rebel, who resigned over her opposition to the Iraq war.

Goodbye Sally

Sally Howe, heroine of Plotting for Beginners, has posted her last blog today. She's going into hospital for a partial knee replacement, and then - she says - she has to concentrate on finding an idea for her next novel, because she has finally been offered a two book contract, and so far she only has Fast Work to offer the publisher.

It's sad to say goodbye to Sally, but I understand her problem. I, too, need to make room in my head for some new characters, and Sally keeps batting them away. She may be back in the future. I hope so. In the meantime, why not read her last post by clicking here.

For newcomers

If you're new to this website, you may be interested to read how Jane and I co-wrote Plotting for Beginners. If so, you'll find a piece about that in the December archives. If you'd like to see some photographs of places in Plotting for Beginners, then click on the link to Sally's World, on the right under the heading GALLERY. Sally Howe has been keeping a blog since December. You'll find it by clicking here, although she is on holiday this week.

Yes!

Yes, yes, my editor likes Zuzu's Petals. She likes it a lot.

So all being well, it will be published next year, and then you can tell me if you like it, too.

Done!

That's it. I have finished Zuzu's Petals and sent it to my editor at Snowbooks. Will she like it?

Watch this space.

(AArrgghh....)

Art gets muddled up with Life

"So what is it like, living with a writer?" an old friend asked my husband yesterday.

"Very difficult," he said. "I looked in the cupboard last week for something to eat and found nothing but spaghetti hoops."

"But you like spaghetti hoops," I said. "That's why I bought them."

"What?" he said.

"Oh no…sorry," I said. "It's Gus who likes spaghetti hoops."

Life imitates Art

Occasionally I find myself living in Sally's world - i.e. the world of Plotting for Beginners.

This happened yesterday, when I got a phone call at 10 a.m. from BBC Radio Sheffield, asking me if I would go on a phone-in at noon, and the thought that zipped through my head was 'Sally would have been so thrilled!' Then I remembered that she'd already been on a phone-in - and not just as a five minute guest like me, but as the host in the studio. Her phone-in was about creative writing. Mine was about the menopause: Rony Robinson was the host. He is Mr Relaxed, and Mr Nice and when he asks you questions, you feel you're chatting with a friend.

Sally has been ill recently. She's getting better, but is still taking things gently. But you know what's she's like - indomitable - being ill doesn't stop her blogging. Check out her blog on www.plottingforbeginners.com

Gardening leave

After months of thinking of nothing but my new novel, I'm having a break. Three writer friends are reading it, and while I wait for their feedback I'm gardening. Just like Sally Howe, I have a passion for sweet peas, and my windowsills are crammed with yoghurt cartons full of compost and sweet pea seeds (just coming up) and I've been trying to dig 4 tons of manure into the garden. (Yes, it may well be the wrong time of year for it, but this is the time I have.)

The other treat is that I can read fiction again. If I read novels when I'm writing it messes up my work. I worry about someone else's style infecting mine, but also, I can only inhabit one fictional world at a time successfully, and if I'm writing, then mine is the one I want to inhabit. I've finally started reading the latest Anne Tyler novel Digging to America, which a friend gave me for Christmas.

Sally Howe is also waiting for feedback ( from her agent) on her latest draft of Fast Work. Check out her blog to see how she's filling her time...

Tinkering

Oh, I have to stop tinkering with ZuZu's Petals! I have been editing the new book and rewriting bits and I now have three writer friends lined up to read draft 4 (haven't I been busy?) I am hoping they will think it's good just as it is, but if not, I'm hoping they'll have some suggestions as to what I can do with the chapter that I don't think is good enough - the one that's causing me to get my pyjamas in a twist as I lie awake and try to figure it out.

Sally Howe has just posted the latest draft of her book to the agent she's got interested, so let's hope she'll be making us laugh a bit more on her blog...