Next stop:

Back from the Isle of Wight (bad weather, good sessions, both my own and others', and appreciative audiences) and next stop Cairo. I'm going to Egypt to visit my  Egyptologist daughter and her twin daughters. I might even re-read one of my own books, set in Egypt, on the journey. Death Beyond The Nile  features Tamara Hoyland, who was the heroine in six of my novels.  She's a creature born of fantasy, and of her author's discontent, in that she has all the attributes I'd have liked  myself, being brave, beautiful, athletic and above all completely  independent and free. She is an archaeologist and a kind of spy, travelling along the Nile  in an up-market kind of  group. The last book she appeared in was Faith, Hope and Homicide which appeared 21 years ago. In it, Tamara  falls in love. Spying adventures and happy marriage didn't seem compatible, so I wrote no more about Tamara. But her children must be off her hands by now.  I'm toying with the idea of a come-back.

LIT FESTS AND ISLANDS

I love islands: the Scillies, the Hebrides, the Canaries and many others. In my novel No Man's Island, an (imaginary) off-shore part of the United Kingdom declares itself independent, as the Shetlands might have done when the discovery  of North Sea gas gave them the prospect of unimagined wealth.
So I'm thrilled to be going to the Isle of Wight this weekend for its second Literary Festival.  Lots of exciting writers to listen to, meet or at least see, and friends to meet up with. I'm doing a session on crime writing with N.J, (Natasha) Cooper and Jason Goodwin (a chance to mention DEAD WOMAN WALKING) and another about the fifties (pushing  THE FIFTIES MYSTIQUE) with Victoria Glendinning. And I'll have the pleasure of listening to interesting speakers - among others,  Max Hastings, Robin Hanbury Tenison and  Penelope Keith and M.C.Beaton who are doing a joint session. If you're within easy reach, do come!

Some reactions to Dead Woman Walking:

A retired Family Court judge can’t believe that a foreign father taking his small son  home for a visit would be enabled by   his own country’s legal system   to keep the child despite the mother having been awarded custody in the UK. I direct her to the account of just that (“They Are My Children Too” by Catherine Laylle, now Lady Meyer).

That excellent novelist and critic N.J.Cooper  said that the story will stay with her.

The critic for The Western Morning News wonders whether Isabel Arnold might be Jessica Mann’s alter ego.    He may think so; I couldn’t possibly comment.

Nor could I possibly comment on Martin Edwards’ suspicion that “there may be a number of semi-autobiographical elements.”  But I can say how nice it is that he calls it “a novel of ideas, about feminism, family and literature” and adds that it’s a “very well- written as well as a poignant book.” Thank you for those kind words, Martin!

Barry Forshaw, the authority on Nordic Noir, wrote “as ever with this author, the intelligent and complex texture of the novel matches its sheer storytelling nous.” Very welcome praise from one who knows!

The indefatigable Lizzie Hayes of Mystery People said the characterisation is “masterly” and highly recommends the book.

I could quote more, but that’s enough boasting for one day!

Showtime

DEAD WOMAN WALKING is really out  at last!
It's a paperback original, very nicely produced by the Cornovia Press and Lulu (print on demand).
The system is ideal for small publishers and probably explains why there are now so many  of them springing up, because it means they are spared the problems that used to make publishing problematic. Firstly, the initial investment is minimised; and equally important, there is no need to guess how many copies to print, and then pay for accomodation to store the volumes. Self-publishers used to pile them under beds.
And paperback originals? They are what the reader prefers. Take it from someone who is sent on average fifty books a month - and that's a conservative figure. Crime novels for review arrive every day. The postman has taken to saying, "More homework for you" as he staggers to the front door with a pile of parcels. Obviously I can't keep them all. But it's very hard to dispose of most hardback fiction because, as second hand book dealers unanimously confirm, nobody wants to read it. The few volumes that might become collectable are sought after - though I have never been any good at guessing which they are. The rest languish unwanted  on the shelves of our local Oxfam bookshop, while the newly published paperbacks often sell the day after I bring them in.
So roll up, roll up and buy DEAD WOMAN WALKING and the second edition of THE FIFTIES MYSTIQUE, both now available  at Amazon, or any other online bookseller, or - better still - get your local bookshop to order (and perhaps even stock) it. If you do - many thanks!

Semi-satisfaction

Well and truly let down by Lulu,  still with no word, according to the Cornovia Press, on when they will make it  available, Dead Woman Walking is at least now listed to buy on Amazon, on paper, and very soon as an Ebook. And so is the second print edition of  The Fifties Mystique. So it's possible to get hold of a copy, even though the book hasn't arrived in real, physical bookshops yet. What an obstacle race! If it hadn't been such a lovely summer in Cornwall I'd be weaving straws into my hair by now. As it is, after an afternoon in the garden, in a comfortable chair with a good book, the sun shining and  a plateful of cherries (the best crop ever, cherry growers are saying) even a publisher's delays can't shake my comfortable calm.

DEAD WOMAN WALKING - Update on Pub-date

Having been well and truly punished for the hubris of announcing the publication date of Dead Woman Walking - which is still not available - at least I now understand what's happened.
The book is being published by a small firm, Cornovia Press, which specialises in books with a Cornish connection. Mine is that I have lived in Cornwall for most of my adult  life, and am married to   Cornishman, Charles Thomas. Cornovia  produced my husband's most recent  book beautifully. Gathering The Fragments  is a collection of miscellaneous articles and essays that originally appeared in obscure places or, like a couple  of  funeral addresses, were never printed at all. Incidentally, it's a perfectly delightful volume!

The Cornovia Press, like many other small publishers, is not using conventional print methods, which involve a big outlay of capital and require storage space for the books. Instead the books are produced by Lulu, i.e. print-on-demand. Lulu then offers small publishers a Distribution Deal, which gets supplies of a new book to shops and distributors. Cornovia's experience has been that these distribution deals  have always been active a few days either side of the six week mark, and planned accordingly.

Well, you can guess the rest........next episode to follow!

Dead Woman Walking

The publication date of Dead Woman Walking  was supposed to be August 8th. But there's many a slip between promise and performance, and this particular one has taken an almighty tumble. Five days on and there's still no sign that the book's ready to distribute. If anyone - apart from my publisher and me - is waiting for a finished copy all I can say is that it's really coming. Soon.
Which is all I can promise myself too.