I am meeting my editor for lunch in the Ivy. Not my choice. The Maitre d' smiles at me professionally. “I’m meeting Chris,” I tell him.

He leads me to a small table in the centre of the room. Chris, as usual, is wearing a suit. “Would it kill you to throw on a shirt?” he asks, eyeing my un-tucked T-shirt and jeans.

I shrug. “I thought this place was full of arty creative types.”

“Yeah, well even arty creative types own clothes with buttons.”

“I’m just relieved we all survived the earthquake.”

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I'm not here. I'm busy. Working. Writing. Well, nearly. Researching. Found a book of first hand accounts of life in tsarist Russia, all by women, called Russia Through Women's Eyes. One of the writers, Ekaterina Slanskaia, was a doctor, though there was only a brief period in which women were allowed to study medicine in tsarist Russia (ten or so years before the medical schools were closed to them). They had to have the permission of either their father or husband, so many women entered into 'fictitious marriages' with a man who would be willing to grant permission.

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Bridge Cup


Well, for all my writing projects are looking dismal, at least I can report a trumph at bridge. This is ironic, given that I'd decided to give up playing - at least in clubs, where a recent encounter went thus:

Opponent 1 : Why on earth did you play that card? It was a stupid thing to do.

Me: Yes, I knew straight away that I shouldn't have done it.

Opponent 2: It really lets your partner down. She's such a good player, too.

Me: Don't worry, she's OK about it. I told her I was rusty because I hadn't played for a while, and at least this way she gets to play.

Opponent 2: That's no excuse! You've been playing for years.



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I've had this interview with Number 1 bestselling author, and all round lovely lady, Kate Long for a few days and have been wondering when best to post it. (I was trying to leave it so it appeared closer to the launch of her latest novel, The Daughter Game (Picador), which is March 7th. You can pre-order from amazon here.)

And what should the postman have for me yesterday? Why, my very own copy. I've read the first few pages and I have to say it's terrific so far. I took that as a hint that I'd best get on and post the interview.

So here's what Kate had to say about the new book (amongst other things, including otters and grandparents' rights)...

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I'm doing my best to cultivate the twin habits of Determination and Indifference, a tip I picked up from The Writer's Book of Hope (which isn't as banal or patronising as the title suggests). I've always had more than my fair share of Determination. Call it obstinacy, cussedness, what you will. For those who believe in that sort of thing, I'm a Taurean, so bullish by nature. Indifference is another kettle of cats. It means not minding when people reject your stories, not investing too much in the submission process, caring enough but not too much what other people think of your writing, so that when the inevitable rejections come along, they don't dent your resolve or, as happened to me countless times in the last three years, stop you dead in your tracks. There's the added bonus of being pleasantly surprised by success, when it shows its face.

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The day has finally arrived—my book trailer is finished and ready to be viewed! I have posted it on my website at www.chrysalispress.com in the Media Room under “Book Trailer.” It is also posted on Reader Views Kids website at http://readerviewskids.com/reviews_previews.html.I will also post it on youtube.com (you will have to search for it under “Laura and the Leprechauns”) and on my myspace page which is myspace.com/ambertkingston. The part I played in its creative process was lots of fun but it was so difficult to wait for the more difficult and exciting parts like animation and sound to be completed. Now I see that my patience paid off. I am very happy with it and I hope that you will be too. Happy viewing!


Sincerely,

Amber

Paul Torday is the award winning author of Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and now The Irresistible Inheritance of Wilberforce.

Pull up a seat and listen to me chat to him about writing and his new book ...

In what way did writing your new book differ from your experience of writing Salmon Fishing in the Yemen?

When I wrote ‘Salmon’ I never for a moment thought it would be published so I wrote it without any consciousness of the difficulties of sustaining a multi-voice plot using e mails and letters. When I wrote the ‘Irresistible’ book I was far more aware, and more apprehensive, of the pitfalls of trying to write a novel.

Where you nervous after the huge success of Salmon Fishing, that the 'difficult' second book would be received well?

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Well, it's finally here - the launch day for Thorn in the Flesh which you can buy, if you'd like to (and you'll need to click through to the full post for the links), from Goldenford (which is better for us!) or even from Amazon UK - though naturally they haven't changed the status from "Pre-order" yet. Sigh. Don't wait up then ...

Here is the blurb, to whet your feminist, criminal appetites:

Kate Harris, a lecturer in her late thirties, is attacked in her Surrey home and left for dead. Continuing threats hinder her recovery, and these life changing events force her to journey into her past to search for the child she gave away. Can she overcome the demons of her own personal history before time runs out?

“a novel about the elusive nature of memory, and about truth” (Marsha Rowe, Co-founder of Spare Rib)


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This morning, I was lucky enough to spend forty minutes picking the brains of a leading U.K. literary agent about what's right and wrong with the current manuscript of my crime novel. Absolutely invaluable, not least because she said many positive things about my writing while being brutally (her word) candid about the problems with plot and structure. She was keen to stress that this was a subjective, personal response to the ms, but honestly? Everything she said resonated with me. And a lot of it fell under the general heading of Gems for the Aspiring (Crime) Writer. So I'm going to share an edited version of her insights, in the hope it will be of value to others.

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My new novel arrived today.

It fell in a lump into my mental lap, rather as I imagine telepathy would happen if it did, just as I was scooting round a particularly tricky little pair of mini-roundabouts by Brockley Station. (My fellow south east Londoners know exactly where I mean.) I was on my way to Goldsmiths to lead a seminar, and my students were very tolerant of how long it took me to wrench my mind away from the new novel towards John Donne and Allen Ginsburg.

Of course it's not really a hand-me-down from the Muse, though I do see why it's so often describe in those terms.

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