Edits…A Cornish Stranger

Well, I had a lovely month off in November. I worked on a new project during NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), A Cornish Affair won the Festival of Romance's Reader Award for Best Romantic Read (still smiling) and I read lots….

A Cornish Affair with it's award

Now comes December…A Cornish Stranger time. I haven't looked at the story since I pressed send at the end of October which is a good thing. I needed distance. My edits arrived and any hope I had that I had done better crashed to the floor. As I read through the pages, yes pages, my heart sank lower. Had I learned nothing? And as I wanted to scream NO a quiet little voice at the back of my brain said…she's right you know. My editor is brilliant and she really 'gets' my writing even when I don't. I know that sounds weird but I become lost in the story and can't see 'the whole' and she can, which means she sees the holes…holes big enough to drive a truck through.

So I read the edits through and sort of cried…yup big wuss. I felt I had failed. Then I read them through again and tried to sleep…tossed and turned all night. Then woke and spent the day watching rugby and the Dubai 7s and let my mind do it's own thing and did that the next day too. On Sunday morning I had another sneaky read then continued to do other things.

Woke Monday and took out my highlighters...

And then began to go through the pages of notes and begin to jot down the things my mind had been working out while I enjoyed the rugby (and as you can see by the pics below I enjoyed the rugby!)….

The 7s fans are brilliant!

DS1 and Liz Fenwick

What i really enjoy about the rugby - shallow I know!

And one of things I saw clearly was that I my heroine wasn't developed as she should be because so many of the things my editor pointed out…shouldn't have been queried. I hadn't done my job.

So all through Monday I kept rereading the notes realising that there were only really three HUGE problems…so not sooooooo bad after all (still a lot of work ahead on me but somewhat manageable I hope)

So Tuesday morning I emailed my editor with some of my thoughts and we bounced ideas back and forth (I love this bit because somehow she makes my brain spark and I get ideas left right and centre. I also love how she never tells me how to do or fix anything…just just tells when things don't work.) After those emails I made more notes and only then did I print off the first chapter and begin to revise/edit

And so it goes….each  morning I read read all the notes, especially the first pages which highlight the big issue that I need to keep at the forefront of my brain as I work through the problems big and small. And it gives me a huge thrilled to but a tick next to the items I've dealt with….

And I have to say I am so grateful that I have an editor who puts this much thought and work into my books. 

So many people have asked me about the editorial process and does it change my books? Well, yes and  it's still my book but I hope and pray and much better book. 

PS…Tere a few days left to enter a Goodreads Giveaway for A Cornish Affair (even if you already have the book it might make a good Christmas present! Goodreads Giveaway

A Cornish Moon and Thinking Too Much

It was the the most amazing moon last night.....

But this morning as i sat down to my 'puter at six inspiration and exhilaration were gone - no words would come out...now is not right. My first drafts are dirty, dangerous and joyous....I looked at it and realized I'm trying to 'think' this one and it's stopped me dead. By trying not to write crap I ain't writing anything. Silly woman. Must write crap, must write crap, must write crap because only by writing crap will there be words on the page with which to carve out the story.

Friends

Any follower of this blog knows that it has been quite an extraordinary time lately. Not only was I in the Maldives for my birthday with my whole family but just days before I signed a deal for publishing  A CORNISH HOUSE....life is good.

But in truth what makes life worthwhile on every single day of the year - the highs and the lows are friends and family. My writer friends are a special bunch...they know the joy, the pain, the frustration of what it's like...to be a writer. I know I celebrate each triumph and heart ache with them so I shouldn't be surprised by Julie Cohen's post here and Susan Alison's beautiful birthday painting here and finally another post from the lovely Nina Harrington here. but I was delightfully caught off guard and made a bit weepy...

So now back to real life...boys are revising as i type this. We're all struggling with the overnight flight and I'm clearing the decks...in readiness for edits from my editor...oh, how good it feels to say that...

A Dream

Two unconnected things happened that mdke think about my high school year book. It's not something that I dig out very often - in fact I can't remember the last time.

But yesterday on Facebook my best friend from high school congratulated me on my news. I was touched in so many ways. One was that she remembered that writing had always been my thing.

Then on Twitter today @LizUK was asking what advice would writers give the 10+ regarding writing. I said @LizUK I would say to them to remember sometimes dreams take a long time to happen but if you keep working they do


Our conversation continued and I mentioned being stubborn...I can't remember when writing became the be all and end all for me, but by the time I graduated high school it was clearly top of my list.

There are many things I've learned over the years, but a big one is that it is never too late to follow your dreams and sometimes those dreams change. Oh and I have no idea what a lot of what I had written down there means (like a code really) but My Book was first on the list (now I wish I could remember what it was about, but I am eternally grateful that it is has been lost in time:-) )

Traveling

I suppose it's fitting that the first post of 2010 is from the airport - surprise! For a woman who hates flying with a passion I seem to be forever on a plane. I am heading back to the cold and the snow.

I have some great links to post but can't seem to do it here so it will wait for a few days until I am in Cornwall.

I have begun writing again which feels brilliant and I hope everyone else has begun the new year well.

Happy New Year

I can't believe the decade is almost over and another one about to begin... I won't think about that right now, but my writing year ahead. Last year was a good one - rewrote August Rock, rewrote A Cornish House, wrote a rough draft of Penderown and rough 12,500 words of Pilgrimage. I took a few courses and attended some workshops so all and all I think my writing moved up another notch.

So for 2010 I hope to complete Pilgrimage, rewrite Penderown and polish A Cornish House as well as at least plotting if not drafting the next book bubbling. I am thinking of attending a few more workshops...I think that is enough to be getting on with, don't you? What are your New Year's goals?
For the curious I have blogged about our Dubai Christmas Tree over on the RNA Blog here.

Wishing a wonderful 2010.

Where I Work and Links

Two great links today. One for sheer enjoyment - Ben Johncock's blog for The Bookseller had me laughing into my coffee this morning. I had never thought about the comparison of a writer's 'study' to 'the bedroom of our youth' but it's so true.........books, pictures of things that inspire (gorgeous men - for research and inspiration only I hasten to add, exotic locations, words of wisdom..... ). Of course I have a dream study in mind, but generally work on the dinning room table where everything gets swept into a drawer at the end of the day and here in Cornwall I sit in a large red arm chair with my back to the window overlooking the garden as I would never write a single word!

The other link is from agent Jenny Bent on her blog. It's a timely piece (pun intended-see blog) on making your luck by keeping aware of the market, but still writing the book of your heart. Now off to check out if August Rock might not fit the bill that she was talking about with a little tweaking!

Pleased to report that I am writing. It may well be crap but at least the word count is climbing and the plot seems to be moving forward. I haven't yet figured out to tie it all up into the ending I want yet but somehow I'll get there (or at least I have in the last too books!).

Work in Progress - It Has a Name PENDERROWN

Well, I have put the nose to the grind stone for the month of May. Why? Because come hell or high water I have to submit to the RNA New Writers' Scheme by the end of August and I haven't left myself much time. Not that I haven't been working but the rewrite of August Rock doesn't help. It has been through the scheme twice so I won't submit that again it would be a waste. A Cornish House went through last year. I need to put something new in and that would be Penderrown. Yes, the wip has a name. It is the name of the house that is quite important to the core of the story. I diligently worked out the name of the house before Christmas using mil's book on Cornish. I scribbled notes on a paper with all the variations and settled on the above (also several other I came up with matched names of existing houses in the vicinity). I would tell you exactly what it means but I can't find said paper. I should know enough to write these things in my various notebooks but I didn't. So when I find the paper or even mil's book I will enlighten you but trust me it does make sense!

I recklessly aim to complete the very dirty first draft by the end of the month. This is very foolish as I have two trips back to the UK in May! Next week I will sitting with little lappy in various coffee shops trying to connect and find inspiration as well as attending RNA's Summer Party.

The word count is 38k - almost half way. Victoria my villain is in dire straights and so is Demi so thus far no sagging middle. I do know that I am lacking on description and am rushing things as I am ruthlessly pushing forward - scene to scene with relentless momentum. I just want the story out. It will take some serious fine tuning to fix the pacing but I know that before I lift a pencil to edit. This ties into some of feedback I had from a lovely agent re ACH - which cracks on too. She said I needed to give the reader more time, build up more to the key scenes...Well I am not ready to look at ACH right now but even without doing it I now know what she was talking about. In the various first versions of AR I lavished attention on the landscape and Judith's reaction to it........it was a character in and of itself. Which I think was probably one of the strengths of the early versions. But I had been criticized that it moved to slowly, wasn't pacy or exciting enough. Hence I over corrected in ACH and I can see it happening in my quest to get the story down now. Let's hope when editing that I can see my mistakes and can fix them properly!

Here are two good links - first on Romantic novels from The Huffington Post which goes on to blast the stereotype view :

I may not have gotten my answer for why romance is selling so well in our troubled times, but the Princeton conference taught me that to rush to conclusions about romance fiction is to flatten out a rich, varied, and continually evolving genre. In the end, though, I did conclude one thing. People read and enjoy romance just as people deal with hard economic times: differently.

And here's one on what is needed to make a good author website from the Andrew Lownie Literary Agency newsletter by Alan White.

I will finish my Japan posts later this week with a good wind and meeting that daily word count on Penderrown.

Links

Sorry for the silence but between travel, a guest and getting ready for travel I don't know where time goes. Tomorrow I am off to Japan - Kyoto to be precise for DH's best friend's wedding. Mark was our best man and I am really looking forward to being there when he ties the knot in a temple in Uji on Saturday. The only thing I am not looking forward to is the weather. The forecast is terrible. Everyone please keep your fingers crossed that the heavy rain forecast is wrong.

I am behind in everything at the moment but there are two great things I must share the links on. How Do You Know When To Quit? It uses the example of Susan Boyle as part of the discussion and really hit home with me at the moment. Key thought for me from that:

"...but talent, alone, won’t always win out. Timing, opportunity, are the other key ingredients. And you don’t get opportunities if you don’t keep trying. "

And Nathan Bransford has done it again with a great post on concepts here. The key to this is:

"The originality is all about how it's done, not what it's about."

I hope I shall be able to post from Japan but I don't know. If not be prepared for a photo laden post on Monday that hopefully isn't filled with rain drops!

Unbalance - Hero/Villain

Some of you will remember how the first draft of A Cornish House was soooooo Serena's story and my poor heroine Maddie was a mere shadow of her step-daughter - well the same is happening with the current book. I love Victoria, my antagonist. She is sixty-five, sexy and not willing to put up with anyone. I am loving her story so much that poor Demi is a pale washed out whimp by comparison. Now it took me a year before I could figure out how to make ACH Maddie's story but I did it. I am hoping that it won't take me as long with poor Demi.

In the interim I will go back to just getting the first draft down. Do you see the faults as you are writing? Can you leave them unattended just to get the story out or do you have to fix before you can move on?

Refreshed

I have begun writing new words on the wip - a few thousand but I have also deleted as many! I had go back a bit in the sotry and read to find out where I was and what my characters had been up to which meant that going against my write straight through the first draft had to go by the board a bit as huge clunky phrase and the like just knocked me over! So hopefully tomorrow I can report that I will be over 30k :-)

We have had a visitor this week which is always fun and does move one off one's backside. In this case it sent us out into the desert yesterday. We went with very low and cautious expectations as the forecast was crap (and having seen what some heavy rains of late had done to some roads the caution is well heeded). The mood in the car, if it could be gauged in between the heavy metal riffs and the looming clouds, was glum.

However we were rewarded with a clearing sky and ventured on main roads towards Wadi Ray. With eyes ever heavenward we cautiously explored. The teens rock climbed and fought the flies for the their lunch.

It was a brilliant day out and I returned refreshed having moved away from the craziness that is the city to the quiet sides of Dubai that I love. Too often people think Dubai is all beach and glitz. It is a place that is multi dimensional and filled with real people living real lives - not just the expats but the local population who were out in droves yesterday enjoy the cool weather and water filled wadis.

Bliss

The air this morning is crisp. The gritty rain of yesterday has passed (for the moment) and the sun is unhindered by clouds.

Yesterday morning was bliss too despite breezes yellow in colour and refinishing the texture of my face. Friend and writer Janet Gover is in Dubai for her other life - IT guru I think, and she had the morning free. Well I cannot say what joy I experienced from three hours of talking of nothing but writing to someone who KNOWS/UNDERSTANDS. They know you are not really mad because you several lives at once. They know the thrill when boom a new twist appears out of nowhere yet you had actually foreshadowed it without realizing it. They know the despair of rejection and understand that quiet joy that it wasn't a form one. You have walked the same yet different road.

I can look forward to another marathon session on Wednesday - heaven. Now I must get to work. Yes, I clarified some of the 'crapness' of August Rock yesterday and now after a weekend away.........and itching to dive in.

Complete - Crap????

So the big rewrite of August Rock is done and well at the mo -I'm feeling that it's crap. There are gaping holes in the story as I added new twists and turns. Having done the rework I foolishly thought it would be a doddle to clean it up and polish - hah. I need to leave it a week or two then begin to clean and build and tighten. Hopefully with distance it will look better.

Now on the reading front......this was hijacked by dd's reading the Twilight series. DD is nine so I had been warned by another friend that I needed to jump ahead in the story (to discuss things)as DD plowed through Twilight with amazing speed - so I did. I enjoyed both books for what they are - good YA fiction. So on the reading front - Eclipse and Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer and I have just finished The Art of Love by Elizabeth Edmondson. I began this book at the end of the summer and only rediscovered it this week wedged in a suitcase. Great read. But I am seriously behind on my goal of a book a week - life and writing intervene too much sometimes!

Now for finishing the AR a real treat - Jan Jones's Fair Deception. Nothing quite like a good Regency for a well earned break!

Soundtracks or Music and Creativity

Back over a month ago I was having a chat with DS1's art teacher. He was suggesting that DS1 listen less to his ipod while working to allow the creativity to flow unhindered just for a bit. That led to an interesting discussion and one that was at the forefront of my thoughts.

I know several writers have clear sound tracks for their novels (click on the names for the link) - Julia Williams and Elizabeth Chadwick and I know Julie Cohen may not have a soundtrack as such but music plays a key part in writing for her.

Now I can't listen to music during the first draft unless it is classical music I am so familiar with that it soothes and in truth goes through me. It does not take an active part of my brain to interact with it. However I have discovered during this rewrite of August Rock that music has really hit me. I will hear a song and think -YES!! Whether it is the lyrics or the tone or the voice its self something has jumped out and said August Rock. So I know have a sound track for it which is growing. I find that listening to it helps me carve more definition in the story.

Now going back to the discussion with the art teacher and DS1, I mentioned this aspect - the carving-fine tuning and the teacher said that he could see that working and possibly being helpful at that stage. DS1 looked a bit sceptical but he was willing to give it a go - although I think it meant surgical removal of the ear buds!

Also playing into this is the comment that I made to DH after seeing the Watchmen the other night. I thought it was a brilliant soundtrack. The music truly enhanced the film for me. I can say the same of the soundtrack to Twilight which thanks to dd's fascination I have seen four or five times (The baseball scene with the Muse's Supermassive Black Hole is stunning). Are there any films that you feel the soundtrack has either killed the film or set it on fire?

For the curious the sound track for August Rock is:

Broken String - James Morrison and Nelly Furtado
Breakeven - The Script
Use Somebody - Kings of Leon
Gotta be Somebody - Nickelback
I'm With You - Avril Lavinge
Greatest Day - Take That

Do you have soundtracks for your work? Do you listen when you write?

EAILF Penny Vincenzi

First a few more links to the Festival:

Kate Mosse blogs again here

English PEN's blog picked up my post yesterday and opened discussion here and continues the debate about censorship with regard to the festival here

Sameer Rahim's blog post for the Telegraph are here

Penny Vincenzi

Liz Thomson opened the session with the comment that Penny said the best perk of the job was flying business class! Liz said Penny’s first book was Old Sins which came out in 1989 and that Penny was the doyenne of the modern blockbuster.

The conversation then came around to how Penny became a novelist which had never been her plan. She spent her early years in Devon then moved to London in her teens. Although the publicity states that her first job was working in Harrods she said it was actually leading donkeys on the beach, but in all seriousness her first proper job was as a junior secretary at Vogue. This led to a discussion of how different things were then – the journalist wore hats at their desk and never went out without gloves.

From Vogue she moved to the magazine Nova as a journalist. The most amazing story she worked on was ‘How to Undress in Front of Your Husband.’ She said that the photo shoot was the most fascinating part was the model who was actually a beautiful transvestite and she had to keep switching in her head from these beautiful feminine images and to this deep masculine voice.

She had never planned to write fiction and she found it obscenely easy to become a novelist and luck played a big part. In fact her first novel sent in by her agent landed in the slush pile by accident. The reader had written a comment that it was rubbish across the top. Fortunately the editor noticed that an agent had sent in it and pulled it out. The editor went onto publish the book.

She said she found her voice quickly and she loved it. Writing the first book was easy the second was the worse, the curse of the second book. She sees no point in a synopsis before she writes. Her characters write the books. She starts with a ‘what if’ and follows with ‘why and how’.

-then characters come on - like at a party
-she gradually gets to know them
-she keeps a list of characters but that is all and yes she has found that their eye colours change through out the book (she thanks good copy editors for picking these things up)
-the story is just in her head
-she writes from 9 to 6
-she loves writing, she loves watching it grow
-she writes 4000 words a day
-she begins the next day by revising these words
-her editor is her first reader
-she talks the story through with her husband, Paul

Absolute Scandal's came from at a cocktail party. She met a couple that had been very rich and now had nothing. The following day she asked her hostess about them who explained that they had lost all in Lloyds. She knew then that she had her next book. She had never done so much research as she had for Absolute Scandal. She wanted to describe the terror of it.

Her latest book begins with a catastrophe and how it brings people together. Each book is about one year in the writing. She researches on the hoof and that can change the story.
She has stated that to be a writer all you need is a kitchen table and paper. It is a seat of pants on the seat of chair thing. Tenacity is the key. If you have talent you will get to the end.

She never takes her luck for granted.

She said it was extraordinary – for so long it is you and the book and then it’s out there. If she sees someone reading it she watches and if the reader’s attention wanders she can’t bear it. She is neurotic about it.

When asked about endings she you can’t rush it. It’s a bit like having a baby. You are waiting but then it doesn’t arrive when expected and the suddenly it’s there. You can’t rush the end.

When asked about her favourite authors she said she loves her genre and in particular Jilly Cooper, Joanna Trollope, Maeve Binchy, and EJ Howard. She loves story tellers and loves the detective stories of PD James. She loves biographies.

When idea comes it is like a tingle down her spine. She talks it through with husband and then her editor.

She then finds she goes away and starts writing and inevitably it is a false start. Usually at chapter four she realizes it. It is a leaden feeling when it goes wrong. The best thing to do is to go back to the point where it still feels right and just press delete. You’re your darlings. Then she is more confident and the story grows but still not knowing exactly what is going to happen.

She told of a time when she was three quarters through a book and she got the feeling that something wasn’t right. A person had died at the beginning of the book. So she was out walking the dogs mulling this feeling over – then she realized that he hadn’t died - he had been murdered. Then she died thinking she would have to go back and rewrite but when she checked the script her subconscious had made that decision right from the start and there was nothing to change.

She must follow her characters and trust them – they are so real to her. She must trust herself and slog, slog, slog.

She couldn’t stress the importance of a good editor enough and the respect that you need to have for them.

She said it’s harder these days to find an agent. She had been lucky enough to have the most wonderful agent, Desmond Elliot, who passed away recently. She said to find a good one asked around. Study the Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook. A good agent is crucial. A good one will work miracles for you. They are very clever people and you have to trust them.

She was asked how much she used dictionaries and thesauruses and other tools. She said she uses the thesaurus mostly. Otherwise she just works through.

She reads the papers a lot. She suggested studying other writers work. One writer she knows spends the first hour of her work day reading really good writers before she begins to write.

She said you must always try and make your deadlines. Her background as a journalist made this part of her being. A deadline a powerful thing.

Tomorrow should be the Censorship Panel but as the World Cup Rugby 7's is on going tomorrow I make no promises!

EAILF Women Writing From the Arab World

Women Writing from the Arab World – Mansoura Ez Eldin, Haifa Bitar, sahar el-Mougy and Rajaa al-Sanea with Hani Nakshabandi
“What are the implications of being a writer for Arab women? Can one speak of women’s literature as opposed to men’s literature?”

Before I begin to share my notes I need to say two things. First this was the session I was most looking forward to. This stems from my education – I went to Mt. Holyoke, all women’s university which has made me more acutely aware of women’s issues and struggles from the past to the present day. This awareness brought me to one of the cross roads of my life – move to England or remain in Boston and attend Harvard Divinity School to do my masters in theological studies. I wanted to pursue women’s spiritually through history as I felt women experience religion through emotions (they feel it) not analyze it. So a woman of today reading a manuscript from the middle ages will still feel the emotions – it hasn’t dated, it still rings true and speaks to modern women despite the archaic language. My premise was that women’s experience of God has not altered because it is based on the emotions rather than how it works or is implemented. For me this was not to belittle women’s ability to be analytical, but to say that their focus has always been what is truly important and therefore has not dated. (note – I moved to England and have been a very mobile expat since)

The second thing to consider in my notes is that I was listening to a simultaneous translation of the discussion and no matter how excellent - I know that the subtleties were lost. I will simply quote one of Dh’s experiences at a conference in Kazakhstan where the translator translated drilling for oil are ripping from the entrails of the earth (more poetic no doubt but not necessarily the exact meaning).

Hani Nakshabandi opened the session by introducing the panellists. He said he hoped that they would not ‘genderize’ literature. It was human experience – man’s experience, woman’s experience. It was all based on perspective and the author doesn’t matter. He allowed each panellist ten minutes to state their case so to speak.

Rajaa al-Sanea, the author of the Girls of Riyadh, began by saying there were many differences in the Gulf States.

-culture was controlled by men and fed to children through their mothers
-it was difficult to be free of it and difficult to control because you can’t express it; too many limitations and then there is reputation
-this has led to a certain type of reader; readers looking for novels about women; novels that try to be free – transparent and this varies from country to country
-there is less exposure to men in some of these cultures; not seeing men in daily life; difficult to describe their relationships and therefore must rely on imagination
-women novelist do try but it is difficult without research
-Saudi women excel because they are writing out of their imagination
-they struggle with no liberty of movement
-politics affects the writing
-women are always expressed in novels as psychologically repressed which is probably true
-women try to overcome oppression through writing; it is a way to break through

Of her best seller, Girls of Riyadh, she said when asked that 50% was imagination. She began writing when she was 18 and was published at 22.

Hani, before introducing the next speaker, suggested that women writers were moody (!)

He then introduced Sahar EL Mougy who is an Egyptian author and lecturer at Cairo University. She began by saying that all through history women had been marginalized (here I think the translation may have let me down because I think she meant Arab history).

-women should write of the crisis of culture identity, modernity – adherence; what is the dividing line – keeping cultural identity and moving forward in women’s rights
-women are the carries of the cultural identity and they are paying the price for this role when they try and move society forward.
-women have only written for a century and a half (again I think she meant Arab women)

The next woman to speak was Haifa Bitar from Syria who had written collections of short stories and novels while working full time as an ophthalmologist. She spoke of her impetus to write, a divorce at 25 and her seven year struggle with the church. She fought against the only aspirations allowed for women were children and marriage. This shaped her as a novelist. She described it as being in a small room like a cage and they only way to turn the fear (the cage) into endless space was to write. She also said that writing for her was like having a photocopier for what was in her mind.

The next woman to speak was Egyptian Mansoura Ez Eldin, a novelist and writer of short stories. She asked is a novel a work of art or self expression. She said we should judge a novel as a work of art through ideas.

Now here is where my own questions were lost in the translation so to speak as so many ideas were jumping around with what was being said – so I apologize as there is no dividing line here between my own thoughts and what was filtering in through the headphones. These were my thoughts:

My premise has always been that women’s writing is timeless – think Jane Austin (it is more the emotional that still speak to an audience today rather than the social mores she portrayed)

I wanted to ask did they feel it was more important that they wrote social commentary at this stage (which I feel much of men’s writing covers – or should I say fiction targeted male readers covers) or the emotions that the society evokes in women?

I kept thinking that for me great novels speak of emotion and don’t date, but social commentary alone does (then I challenged myself on Dickens etc).

One of them commented that feminist writers should focus on women’s issues – literature is an expression of the human state.

I thought - women write of emotions which transcend time and place – or are you trying to achieve social change or write social commentary.

Ranjaa spoke at the end in English saying that she could not have published without her family’s support, but still had to go to Lebanon to publish. She mentioned that with access to the internet true censorship can never really be in place. Women needed the support of men their society or they would never be able to cross the bridge.

She was asked can a novel change reality? It would be very difficult to effect changes in the Arab world this way as there are not enough readers.

The questions from the audience were fascinating in that they were very different from the ones taking place in my mind. One local woman was offended by how Rajaa portrayed women as not honourable. Rajaa replied that literature must contain both.

As I mentioned at the beginning of the report, I know I lost much of this valuable discussion for which I was very sad. It did highlight to me again how uniquely each culture views the world and the absolute need for respect of these cultures and their perspectives.

So I ask the key question in my head – what is the novel for you as a reader? Should a novel be social commentary and if so does it limit it lifespan and does that matter? Do you prefer Dickens or Austin? (I do know that Austin railed against the condition of women, but is that what most of today’s readers feel – does a young western women reader approaching Austin now even see that side unless it is pointed out to her as he life is so far removed from it? And if a young Arab women reads Austin what does she see or relate to?) Who are the examples that come to your mind? Should we limit this discussion to the form of the novel or open it to all fiction? Here I am thinking of two male writers that I adore – Chaucer and Shakespeare. Chaucer for me was social commentary but done with such humour and insight into human nature that it transcends time. Shakespeare’s emotions are what linger with me although if I put my analytical hat back on (which is very dusty indeed as I have not analysed literature from this point of view since I left university nearly 25 years ago) I can remember the social commentary of his time - then I ask what would he want to think about now – the political question of his lifetime or the emotional struggles we all face today? If you are a writer what do you want your readers to leave your novel with?

I apologize to those of you who may have wandered by looking for a straight out report as the past three have been. For me this couldn’t have been as I have read very little Arab literature (a huge failing on my part), listening in translation, and my own feelings on women’s literature. I also ask for forgiveness for inadequate coverage of the session as you can see from the report my mind was flying off on so many questions.

For tomorrow Penny Vincenzi.

BTW here's the link for Kate Mosse's blog post on EAIFL.

EAILF Rachel Billington and Anne Fine

Before today's post I just want to say again that these are my notes and they are far from perfect. I have obviously focused on the writing aspect of the sessions. So many things that were discussed had resonance with me that I tried and failed to capture it all. Here are some links to some of the press coverage from here:

Becoming an Open Book
Dubai Should Host More Events says author
First Literature Festival
Festival Has to Exert Own Right

Rachel Billington and Anne Fine with Liz Thomson

Liz Thomson opened the session by highlighting the differences and the similarities between the two writers. Anne Fine, the second children’s laureate, began writing with children’s literature and has added adult fiction and Rachel Billington began with adult fiction and added children’s. Rachel is from a privileged background and Anne is not. Both write about families and relationships.

Rachel had written 18 adult novels and 4 children’s. She comes from a family of politicians and writers. She is one of eight children and this she feels is how she came to writing. She could be heard this way. She feels fiction is the most exciting occupation for both reader and writer. She said if you want to write then read to find your voice.

Her comments on being writer were:

- humiliation is part of it
- you have to learn to be immodest and pump up your ego
- you have a complicated balancing act; you want to be part of the world but when you are writing you are alone and become a god like figure creating worlds
- a writer is a bit psycho – making up things and being in different heads: being in the real world and the one in your head

When Rachel began writing she started with characters but as she progressed she enjoys the plots more. She has become bolder with them. She read many thrillers in order to achieve this. She usually has her theme first and she likes working with many characters. She is interested in the challenge of the form. In her latest release she has seven characters all written from the close third person pov. It is a ‘filmatic’ way of writing – the switching of pov but it should be invisible to the reader.

She was asked how she felt about writing degrees – and she prefers self taught writers. She can spot those who have been through programmes as they write well but many times are missing the ‘soul’. The writing may have a mechanical feel or feel if it has been written by committee.


Anne struggled to be seen as anything but a children’s author initially. On her return from living in California she was compelled to write adult fiction. The topics seized her but in the UK it is hard to move from kids to adult but the other way is easier as people think – isn’t it good the quality writers are going to write for children.

In her adult work she has focused around Passion, Marriage and Families. She never signs a contract until the book is finished which gives her freedom.

The discussion then moved to the difference in writing for children as opposed to adults. Children are much more discerning that adults. If you don’t grab them immediately then they dump you. It is brilliant training. Children want to laugh and to be scared. The process of writing is exactly the same but with children you start with the reader having no assumed knowledge and cut at a different angle but never underestimate the child.

Both women were asked if the shared their work with anyone. Anne does not. Her agent is her first reader and her agent has more input than her editor. Rachel’s first reader is her sister.

They were asked about adults reading children’s’ book – the crossover book. The said what do you want to be first? A children’s novel or and adult. Anne could think of only one true cross over novel – The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night. She said don’t confuse books with toys.

There was a comment that there seemed to have been a push in film and in books to reach the lowest common denominator. This was a dangerous concept. One quoted P. Roth who said for every one reader born you have 70 dying off. It can take some effort to get in to a novel and now readers don’t. Rachel added that they are not taught to read the whole book any more.

They were asked how much of themselves is in their novels. One quote M. Sparks – write a novel as if no one you know will read it.

Anne admitted there is loads of herself in her books. She always asks what if? How far would she go? Anne said she sails very close to the wind

Rachel said writers are like actors – they enter a different form.

Their final comments by Anne were on publishing in general. She said that marketing had taken over from editorial judgement. She quoted T. Thomson who said …publishing is too marketing led.

Tomorrow's post will be on the session discussion Arab Women Writers.

EAILF Kate Mosse

The next session I attended was Kate Mosse in conversation with Paul Blezard.

The discussion began with Kate saying you can’t be a writer unless you are a good reader and her reading began with her father reading to her at night. He read Jules Verne and R Haggard and many other old fashioned adventure stories. When she began to choose her own reading she moved to Agatha Christie and she remembers the first one being – Murder at the Vicarage.

Although Kate had always been scribbling away in her words she felt she didn’t become a writer until she was 43. She moved from music through theatre onto publishing and literary prizes.

Paul pointed out that Labyrinth was not her first novel but Kate says in a way it was as it was the book where she found her voice as a writer. She found her inspiration in the landscape and from that the characters grew. From this she found her sense of place and her sense of her voice. She found that her voice compelled her to write ‘old fashioned’ adventure stories with a clear moral landscape with a female heroine. That she was interested in the ways that men and women can be themselves and how they chose to be.

She said that it was key turning point that she realized “the person you are as a reader is not who you as a writer.”

She quoted Picasso when asked about inspiration and working practice –
When inspiration arrives I want it to find me working.
For her some days it was a case of sentence following sentence and paragraph following paragraph. This she described in the words of Margaret Atwood – labouring at the word mines.

She was asked how she worked in all her different roles – wife, mother, publisher and so on. She replied she ‘puts’ different hats on and the writing one was the grubbiest. She closes herself in and only lets her family near.

Her travelling as a writer has brought knew learning. It has taught her about herself as a writer because the question asked of her are different which reflect the place from which her work has been read.

She went onto say that anyone who has finished a book has achieved something. She then said she continually asks is this chapter good? Will my readers care about the character? She tries not to think about the finished product when writing first draft but focuses on character and page turning qualities.

She said it was important to ask yourself why are these readers giving you their time? If you don’t care then why would a reader carry on. Stories can only work if the characters carry it.

When beginning she has a sense of who the characters are and who they’ll turn out to be but if she rushes it – it will be too quick and they will turn to dust. She can’t just put her hand out and grab the character but must be pacient and let them come to her and they will reveal themselves. The character’s lives are their own.

She said that you don’t have to like your characters.

Once published the book exist out there for the writer and the readers. For the writer it stops there but for the reader it lives on. The readers have a more enduring relationship with the book and characters.

Paul asked her about the ‘time slip’ (Two separate time periods but both happen ‘live’) aspect of the Labyrinth and Sepulchre. She said she found both were real and didn’t work in flashback which felt to her if it showed less respect for one part of the story.

Her next book coming out is a novella –Hungry Ghost. This is not time slip but seen through the prism of 1928.

She went back to her inspiration – the landscape of South West France. She spoke of the frozen emotion that she sense. It’s bleakness. She could see stories in the images. For her place image, words and music work together.

She is working on another book based in SW France which will be a love story at its heart. She is a sprinter when she actually sits down to write. First she reads, researches, sketches then she writes straight through for it is an adventure story and if she doesn’t then it will lose pace. When she is writing she works eight hours a day seven days a week. The only interruptions are family – nothing else. During the first draft momentum is so important.

The work is never at the place you want it is to be. You need to be kind to yourself. For Labyrinth she worked through four drafts which took a total of seven years. Sepulchre needed three drafts and only four years. First she writes ¾ of the historic part of the story then she writes all the modern then finishes the historic. This is done partially to ensure that both heroines have different voices. The second drafting is when she puts the two stories together creating a work of 300,000 words. Then she can see the story properly and tighten it.

She was asked how she knew she was at the end of the story. Desperation strikes – it’s like being pregnant. You are so bored you look forward to the end and it gives the needed burst of energy. She said you mustn’t lose energy at this point. You have to respect the reader. The end must be as strong as the beginning.

No one is ever finished with a book – it just gets published.

Try to write every day. This way you have something work with. Think of like a musical instrument – practice, practice, practice.

She was asked how much research she did and she replied that she does much more than is ever needed. It is for her reassurance. She feels the reader will trust her more.

Does she see herself in her characters? Actually, no. Readers always assume that writers write themselves. There are tiny bits of her in all her characters but she feels she is in the landscape. If she writing herself all the time how would she write a man? She does get rid of bad bits into her villains.

Tomorrow Rachel Billington and Anne Fine with Liz Smith.

EAILF Opening and Peter James

Okay, here goes on the beginning of my notes for the EAILF. I have to say it was brilliant and I will confess to still being cross that one person came so close to messing it all up. ‘Nuff said on that. It was fabulous and I want to thank the organizers for the wonderful job that they did in pulling all together.

First location – it was held in Festival City which sits on the Creek in Dubai. You can stand on the beautiful walkways next to fabulous yachts and watch the ancient dhows being built across the creek. The contrast of new and old appeals to me and very much speaks of ‘my Dubai’.

I was torn at the start of the festival. I wanted to see the session on glittering prizes because I was curious if they felt these prizes did make a difference to writers and readers. Do you buy books because they have won a prize?

NOTE: Remember these are just my notes and as such rely on my memory ( which is dodgy these days - age!) and my notes. So apologize for mistakes and inaccuracies

However it clashed with Peter James’s Criminally Accurate. Now I don’t write crime and rarely read it (Lesley Cookman is the only exception however Dh and my dad love his work) so why did I choose crime over prizes? To be honest I hope to do both but the prizes began late and I have met Peter before as a friend of my bil. However I have never heard him speak about his writing process or research for that matter. Research is something I will come back at the end of the reports as it was a reoccurring topic.

Peter opened with - writing was an ego bruising business. He felt there were three important aspects to writing a novel:

character
plot
research

He felt that the research was as important as the other two.

Before he went further on this subject he went through a brief summary of his career leading up to crime writing. His writing career began in Toronto when he was dogsbody on the set of the children’s programme Polka Door. One day the writer was ill and thus began his career – writing for fluffy puppets. He then moved to low budget horror film which by his own admission were truly terrible. However the film that he is most proud of his involvement was The Merchant of Venice starring Dustin Hoffman and Jeremy Irons.

His fascination with crime began at the age of twelve with Sherlock Holmes. He wanted to be able to create a detective that was as sharp as Holmes. He was also very wary of writing UK crime. He felt the weight of Agatha Cristie and others on him – in the country, big houses…. He said he had the best first line he had never used to cover all these angles (pls forgive me as I may not have all the words!)

“F**k me, he’s been shot,” said the vicar’s wife as Nicholas hit the library floor of Ponseby Towers.

He then went onto explain about the distinct culture of the world of Police. He said what to detectives do? Solve puzzles. Where did Roy Grace come from? How did the character arrive? He told us that the missing persons helpline ¼ of million people disappear every year. If they don’t return in 30 days then they probably never will. Those they leave behind have no closure. Grace’s wife disappeared when he was 30 and by then time he was 39 she had not reappeared… That colours everything that Grace does.

Peter spends on average one day a week with the police. Research is building block for his research.

He advised writers to make sure your characters evolve. He plans the first 20% and the end then he surprises himself. When stuck he finds inspiration comes with a vodka martini and music blaring. (Personally I really like the sound of this idea - maybe tonight?)

That's it for today. Tomorrow I will cover the session with Kate Mosse.