Everything is Rosie (Thomas) now...

I first read Rosie Thomas' Other People's Marriages in 1993 and have been hooked on her books ever since. Rosie gets into the thoughts of her characters and stays there with them in a way that no-one else quite can.  So, after twenty years, what a thrill it was to meet this brilliant author at Plackitt and Booth booksellers in Lytham, Lancashire, the other day.

 

 

Rosie was there to talk about her new book, The Illusionists, which is already  immensely popular, but it's the story of how her writing has evolved over the years that  fascinated me most.  Rosie believes in writing what you know and  her career as a novelist began with every emotional drama  that she, her friends, family  and neighbours had experienced, crammed into her novels.

 

Later she travelled the world, seeking out glamorous, dangerous and sometimes obscure destinations

for inspiration. Her ambitious trip to Mount Everest base camp resulted in the beautifully  written novel 'White,'  published in 2000, an excerpt of which I've included here.

 

'You're scared, as well?'

'Yes, looking up there, how could anyone not be?' She had been afraid ever since she had seen the mountain riding in its sea of cloud.  The scale of it was so fearsome.

'Why are you doing this, Sam?'

'Because you won't have dinner with me without.'

 

Born Janey Morris, Rosie took her nom de plume from her late mother, Rose, who died when she was ten, and her sister's married name, Thomas.  A successful journalist. she began writing novels in 1982.

 

'I believe that my writing now is very different from those days,' she explained. 'The novels reflect the different phases of my life.' Now the subject matter is deeper, and darker like her

The Illusionists, which is set in Victorian London:

 

 

London 1885  A shadowy and threatening place for a beautiful young woman of limited means.  Eliza's choice lie between marriage and stifling domesticity, or a downwards spiral to the streets.  But Eliza is modern before her time and she won't compromise...

 

Rosie Thomas has written more than twenty novels including The Potter's House, Iris and Ruby,Every Woman Knows a Secret, All My Sins  Remembered and The Kashmir Shawl.The Illusionists is available in hardback from Harper Collins as well as in digital format. Find out more on:

            

http://rosiethomasauthor.com/

 
You can also download my debut novel here: Baggy Pants and Bootees





 

SAVE OUR SCOTTISH PAPERBACKS

April 1 2014

STOP PRESS

SCOTLAND TO BAN PAPERBACK BOOKS

Do you live in Scotland? Do you, like me, have  a huge collection of paperback books?  Then buy while you can because from September 2014 Scottish  residents will only be able to download new e-books : the printed versions will banned.

In the capital  today crowds gathered in front of Edinburgh Castle where the Minister for Reading, Mr Carnt Wright gave a long, drawn out speech.

'The only way to make Scottish Independence work,' he declared, 'is to limit our spending.   
 I therefore have no choice but to ban the printed word..'

Thousands have already signed a petition calling for the ban to be reversed.  Please download your copy and vote NOW (before lunchtime if possible.)
 

Here's to The Queen Mother's memory... (and her fridge!)

What has the late Queen Mother's housekeeping got to do with my novel  Baggy Pants and Bootees?  The answer, it seems, is a 60-year-old fridge!

According to a report in The Times recently, 'A fridge that belonged to the late Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, is marking it's diamond jubilee. The Frigidaire, which was made by General Motors, was bought in 1954 for the Castle of Mey, the Queen Mother's home in Caithness.'

And now, the memory of this  household appliance has been brought to life by 24-year-old Sophie Wainwright, the 1960's cub reporter featured in my debut novel.
   

Frigidaire Appliance Company

Type	Division of Electrolux
Industry	Major appliances, Small appliances
Founded	1918
Headquarters	Charlotte, NC
Products	Clothes washers and dryers, refrigerators, freezers, dishwashers, ranges, room air conditioners, dehumidifiers, microwaves ovens.
Website	www.frigidaire.com

Frigidaire is an American brand of consumer and commercial appliances. Frigidaire was founded as the Guardian Frigerator Company in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and developed the first self-contained refrigerator (invented by Nathaniel B. Wales and Alfred Mellowes) in 1916.

My protagonist Sophie is  extremely wary of men. After witnessing her mother's disastrous relationships during the grim post-war era, she refuses to feel anything other than contempt for good looking office Romeo Steve Sibson. Keen to understand her, and determined to thaw out their relationship, Steve gives Sophie the nickname 'Frigidaire.'

'I love this nickname' says one reviewer. 'It really brings the romantic relationship to life.' Find out more at

Baggy Pants and Bootees

 

The Midwife calls again..

THE WRITE WAY TO BLOG?

My Writing Process – Blog Tour

March 5  · by Marilyn Chapman        

The Valentine's Day publication of my debut novel Baggy Pants and Bootees marked the end - and the beginning - of a long-held dream. It also made me realise that the only thing I like better than writing is, well, talking about writing! So thanks go to fellow Safkhet Publishing author Suzie Tullet for asking me to join her in the My Writing Process – Blog Tour #mywritingprocess 

Suzie, who writes fun-packed romantic fiction,  is the author of Going Underground and  Little White Lies and Butterflies which was short listed for the Guardian's Not the Booker Prize in 2013.  You can read all about Suzie here

Meanwhile, I've been asked  some interesting questions as part of this blog tour, so here goes:
 

1 What am I working on?

As a former journalist my attitude to novel writing is rather unconventional; I work on instinct rather than planning before I begin the actual manuscript.

Mystery, heartbreak, drama - all of these things describe my work in progress -  another time-slip novel.  Why do I favour time-slip? With two  separate stories going on at the same time –  beautifully demonstrated   in Rosamund Pilcher’s acclaimed novel The Shell Seekers – the reader can see how  the protagonist has been influenced by past events.

I prefer not to give away the plot , partly because I’m superstitious, but also because it is  evolving - ie  the characters are still  deciding  what they want to do next!  

2 How does my work differ from others of its genre?

 I still write my dialogue a bit like a journalist – it’s hard to break the habit – but then I love dialogue as it makes the story so much more realistic.  I want to make the reader laugh, even when I am ultimately telling a sad story, because I think we all need a sense of humour to survive.  In short, I like to face real issues.

When my second daughter was born she had a port wine birthmark on her forehead.  Keen to make contact with others in the same situation, I wrote an article about how I dealt with this in Parents Magazine.  The magazine kindly sent on to me all the responses they received from readers and I was amazed how many people my story had touched. 

3 Why do I write what I do? 

Over the years my tastes have changed a great deal; A level English literature taught me to appreciate J.D Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye and the books of Stan Barstow, George Orwell

Later, my husband introduced me to the works of Ibsen, Dostoyevsky, Chekhov  etc and though I enjoyed these (particularly Ibsen’s the Master Builder) I could only stand back and admire the skill involved in such works.

 Later  I began to read  books such as Other People's Marriages by Rosie Thomas and Erin Pizey's The Watershed and  finally realised that these were the  kind of novels I wanted to write.

As a reader I want a good plot, poignancy and realism,  but I want to learn something too -– it’s not enough for me to just be entertained.  I hope this comes over in my writing.

How does my writing process work? 

My writing begins with flashes of inspiration which can arrive at any time – even in the middle of the night.  I always have a pen with me to jot down my thoughts.  Sometimes an idea will come from a chance conversation.  For instance, I was talking to …..oh no, I can’t tell you that…there’s always the chance the lady in question will read my next book!

For a time slip novel I write the two stories separately then integrate them at the end so there is a consistency and flow for the reader.  I much prefer to write the initial chapters by hand – this means I can do it whenever the mood takes me, but always transfer it to my laptop when it has begun to take shape.

I write because I want to and, now that I’ve had my debut novel published, I hope that more people will continue to read what I write.  But if they didn’t, I would still write. It's a simple as that. 

You can click on Baggy Pants and Bootees  to find out more.

And now I'd like to welcome my two guests  - Peter Kenny and Jack Barrow, who will be taking part in the tour next time. 

For Peter Kenny, variety is essential. He's written everything from TV ads, junk mail, journalism, poetry, plays, lyrics,  stories, libretti and more. His thought provoking blog peter kenny: the notebook can be found here: http://copywriter-freelance-peter-kenny.blogspot.co.uk 

Peter was born in Guernsey and I was lucky enough to meet him at the first ever Guernsey Literary Festival where he read some  haunting poems about his island home.

Meanwhile, Jack Barrow is known for his controversial views. Jack, who lives in Hertfordshire, England,  writes about popular philosophy in modern life. He says: 'I have a particular interest in the way people are rejecting mainstream religion and creating their own philosophies from the bottom up. These ideas cannot really be described as theological in the way that western religions are and they seem closer to eastern mysticism, such as Buddhism or Zen, while being dressed up with symbolism drawn from folkloric sources.

Jack's  first novel, The Hidden Masters and the Unspeakable Evil is now available worldwide after receiving excellent reviews in the UK. He is currently working  on a travelogue, 'which is distracting me from working on the second novel about an end of the world religious cult, Morris Men practised in the martial arts and the accidental destruction of a literary festival...' Find out more about Jack on:

http://jackbarrowuk.wordpress.com/about/

 

 .

 

WHAT WOULD WORDSWORTH THINK OF MARCH TODAY?

Wordsworth wrote one of my favourite poems about March - a month he really loved. As the new month approaches I thought it might be interesting to compare what was happening then and now.

It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.

Charles Dickens

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/march.html#5Lakh8uFoatf1cBC.99

It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.

Charles Dickens

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/march.html#5Lakh8uFoatf1cBC.99

It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.

Charles Dickens

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/march.html#5Lakh8uFoatf1cBC.99

 

"The cock is crowing,
The stream is flowing,
The small birds twitter,
The lake doth glitter,
The green field sleeps in the sun;
The oldest and youngest
Are at work with the strongest;
The cattle are grazing,
Their heads never raising;
There are forty feeding like one! 
Like an army defeated
The snow hath retreated,
And now doth fare ill
On the top of the bare hill;
The Plowboy is whooping-anon-anon:
There's joy in the mountains;
There's life in the fountains;
Small clouds are sailing,
The rain is over and gone!"
-   William Wordsworth, March

Events on Saturday March 1, 2014 - What's On In London

www.allinlondon.co.uk/whats-on.php?type=&day=1&month=3&year=2014

Events on Saturday March 1, 2014 - What's On in London from All In London

 

The pleasure of reading - three times over...

These three books from one of my favourite authors arrived in the post today. I admit I've read two of them already, but nothing beats the pleasure of turning over the pages of a real novel... And won't they look good on my book shelf?

Thanks, Rachel Hore.

BAGGY PANTS AND BOOTEES - VALENTINE'S DAY E-BOOK

                                                                                                         

Why not take a look at my

DEBUT NOVEL

Baggy Pants and Bootees

Marilyn Chapman

Out now

 

Will Sophie discover the real story about her estranged father? Find out in Baggy Pants and Bootees.

When Sophie lands her dream job as a reporter on a Yorkshire newspaper, nothing is going to get in the way of her success. But this is the nineteen sixties and she has reckoned without the attentions of office Romeo Steve and a frantic phone call from her mother after eight years’ silence.  

Before they can meet, Frances has a serious accident leaving Sophie to discover for herself the truth about the past. Was her father the all-American officer she dreamt of when she was a child, or someone far more sinister?  Her search leads to the mysterious David who uncovers a shocking scandal from before she was born.

Torn between her secret love for Steve and her desire to know who she really is, Sophie follows David to find her father.

Only when faced with the startling truth can she finally accept the tragedy that blew her life apart and begin a different kind of future.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Baggy-Pants-Bootees-Mariyln-Chapman-ebook/dp/B00IG90U1Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1392395876&sr=8-1&keywords=baggy+pants+and+bootees

 

IS THE COMMA DEAD? OR JUST 'COMMA-TOSE?'

Could we be we in danger of losing our comma forever?  And would you miss it if it disappeared?

 The humble comma could  be abolished 'without doing much damage,' according to an American professor of English talking in The Times newspaper today.

John McWhorter  from Columbia University argues that 'as internet users and even some authors become increasingly idiosyncratic .... in their use of this punctuation mark, it may have outstayed its welcome.' 

Commas, he says, could be taken  out of  modern American text citing the Oxford comma, inserted after the penultimate item in a list, as an example.   'There could even be a case made for not using commas at all'. 

I disagree. In England our language changes all the time, with new words being added and others falling into disuse, but  we can't  afford to let  punctuation go out of fashion.

Take this example from The Times article:  'Rachel Ray finds inspiration in cooking her family and her dog.'  In a world without commas, what sort of mother would Rachel be?

Today's generation has  dispensed of the letter 't' as in compu'er, wa'er and par'y. So, come on,  do we care enough to keep the comma? What do you think?