A rapport with Kazuo Ishiguro?

Dare I claim such a thing? Kazuo Ishiguro won the Nobel Prize for Literature last year, as you may know. I have just re-read his early novels written in the nineteen-eighties, A Pale View of Hills and An Artist of the Floating World, two short but perfectly formed novels that have aged on my bookshelf to the point where they are now falling apart!

I was totally transfixed listening to his Nobel Laureate speech given in Stockholm, when he explained how memories do not just fade but also may be coloured, even distorted by time and later assumptions. He sees reality as being at best fragile and refers to Marcel Proust’s ‘Memories of Things Past’ – I found this exciting as I refer to this in my novel  No Gypsies Served when my half-Gypsy hero decides to write his life story and reflects upon a quotation from this very book. This comes close to the end of chapter 2.

The following day Dunstan switched on his computer with a heavy heart, recalling books he had read in his ‘literary phase’ in his thirties, and in particular Marcel Proust’s A la Recherche du Temps Perdu, or, as he read it, Remembrance of Things Past and he had recently come across a quotation from it: We find a little of everything in our memory, it is a sort of pharmacy, a sort of chemical laboratory, in which our groping hand may come to rest, now on a sedative drug, now on a dangerous poison. 

Indeed. Well, he had started something he knew he must follow through but his reasons for trying to unearth memories, revisit his childhood and those troubled days as a younger man, had changed substantially. Initially it was to please Kay. How feeble and pathetic that seemed now. He had to chuckle. It was a poor reason to commit to such a massive undertaking. 

Since dipping a toe in those turbulent waters, feeling their danger and strength suck him in, he could see it was no mean task to rekindle emotions and recall harrowing scenes of his life that he had conveniently tucked away for so long.

The sentiment in the Proust quotation describes well how Ishiguro's characters' recollections are sometimes unreliable. Delusion, memories that shift and slide form a recurring theme in his novels.

I personally love his disdain for genre, as being mostly a marketing tool, and indeed he sees the barriers now breaking down, as genres merge more and more.  I wrote a couple of blog posts in November 2009 on this vexed question  Still bugged by genres and how it can sometimes seem like the tail wagging the dog; so this was music to my ears when I tuned into an interview  and heard his thoughts. (Where he also confessed to having problems with setting – not that you’d notice!) Like many writers he likes freedom in writing, not the confines of a particular label and in his latest book The Buried Giant he uses myth and fantasy. 

You might be forgiven for thinking that he was brought up in Japan when you read his first two novels, but he and his parents came over to England when he was five years old, so as a young man he felt largely ignorant of his homeland. Of course the aftermath of the 1941 nuclear bomb in Nagasaki, where he was born, was not only well documented but must have been in the background of many a family conversation, especially where his grandparents were concerned. He came to realise that the old way of life he could vaguely remember, mostly through stories he had heard as a young child, may have been to some extent an ‘emotional construct’. This idea seems to flow through his characters’ struggle to grasp memories with clarity. Also the switches in chronology – now so commonplace in fiction were not the norm thirty years ago.

Remains of the Day, Man Booker Prize winner 1989, and Never Let me Go have both been made into films and he finds TV and cinema exciting. Literature in its printed form must offer something special in its storytelling to compete culturally with the screen. He believes that a novel can build up gradually to achieve a satisfactory resolution, rather than is found in many films, where the viewer’s attention is grabbed boldly only to find that the momentum may peter out. This is my understanding of what I have heard him say and, again, is something with which I dare to whole-heartedly agree.   

I Wrote It My Way- Suzy Turner

This week something very different indeed! 'I Wrote it My Way' always comes up with some surprises but today we look inside the box and what do we find? Vampires!!

 

Author Suzy Turner is a 'Yorkshire lass at heart' but moved to live in Portugal when she was ten. She tells us how she came to write fantasy fiction for young adults - and probably a few older ones as well. Just look on Amazon or Suzy's blog to see all her stunning book covers:

 

'In my teens and early twenties, there was nothing I loved to do more than curl up with a chick lit novel. It was my absolute favourite genre. The pathos and humour often blew me away but a few years later I was introduced to an altogether different kind of book: YA urban fantasy.

I loved the way the authors combined fantasy elements into a world which we know and love today. Harry Potter, for example, a boy who lived in an ordinary house with ordinary relatives (okay, perhaps the Dursleys aren't quite your every day aunt and uncle, but you know what I mean!) was also an imperative part of a very different world, one with magic, witches, wizards and talking giant spiders and the like. I completely fell in love with JK Rowling's books, which led me to start reading books by other authors in the same genre. In fact, I could say I devoured them!

Later came Twilight, bringing vampires and werewolves to life. I was immediately hooked. This came around the time of my very first holiday to Canada in 2009 (with husband and friends). We spent three weeks travelling from Banff (Alberta) to Vancouver (British Columbia). It was the most beautiful, awe inspiring place I'd ever had the pleasure of visiting. But it wasn't until we found ourselves in a small place called Powell River that my overactive imagination began to run wild with ideas of vampires and creatures roaming among the trees and mountains there. Thus, The Raven Saga was born.

I continue to love YA books and have now written a total of five in the genre: Raven, December Moon, The Lost Soul, The Ghost of Josiah Grimshaw and Daisy Madigan's Paradise (a novella). I have plans for countless more!

 

 

The only thing that's better than reading these kinds of books is writing them!'

Thanks so much, Suzy, for telling us about how you came to write your books in the first place and what inspired you. What an imagination you have!

Suzy's web site

Suzy's blog

www.facebook.com/suzyturnerbooks

www.twitter.com/suzy_turner

I Wrote it My Way - Ali Bacon

If you've been following the plot you will know, dear reader, that a variety (eclectic mix, it has to be said) of lovely authors pop over for a quick ramble here to tell us about how they 'wrote it their way'. The potted histories of how they found their genre and style have been fascinating - and so different!

Today I am delighted to welcome Ali Bacon, who joined the wonderful Love a Happy Ending group in the summer of this year. Her author biography there begins, rather tantalisingly, with the words, 'Ali Bacon was once banned from entering Switzerland, but since then has led a relatively blameless life working in libraries and IT.'  Are you left curious to know more?

 

She says,' My Way – or still finding it! One of the (many) fascinating things about taking up writing is finding out just what kind of writer you are. The trouble is it takes a while, and even when you have developed a theme, a genre or a style, things can still change!

In my first novel (some snippets on my blog here) a middle-aged woman loses her way when a past lover re-enters her life. Joanna Trollope? Well not quite (it didn’t get published for a start!) but I called it a literary love story and felt sure this was my territory.

 

Then A Kettle of Fish (just published!) came along and in many respects took me by surprise. I found myself writing about a young person (I am now of ahem mature years!) growing up in Scotland (which I left 30 years ago!) with all kinds of secrets emerging from the woodwork. The characters bore little resemblance to any I had written before. I also made a conscious (I hope not too conscious!) effort to give the book the distinctive flavour of the area where I grew up. I’m delighted it’s getting some really good reviews, but it’s neither  love story nor particularly literary. Oh dear, what next? Another coming-of-age book? Another Scottish novel?

Then while writing Kettle I got the germ of an idea for a new book set in Edinburgh – in 1843. Aagh! What happened to contemporary fiction?

So while most of my writing friends can put themselves squarely in one particular genre, I’m still thrashing around in search of what mine might be. But it does make for an interesting journey. So do take a look at A Kettle of Fish to get a feel for my style, and if you have any advice on where to go next, I’m all ears!'

 

Thanks so much, Ali. I found this really interesting and can empathise 100%, as I appreciate the necessity for labelling books, but it is not always easy to decide where your books belong. There are a couple of bits here on genre, way back when ? In November 2009! I seriously need to do a follow up on those ...

Here are some places where you can find out more about Ali and her writing.

 

A Kettle of Fish from Thornberry Publishing (Kindle edition) http://www.thornberrypublishing.com/page12.htm

A Kettle of Fish print edition http://www.feedaread.com/books/A-Kettle-of-Fish-9781781768624.aspx

Blog/website : http://alibacon.com
Twitter: @AliBacon
Amazon UK Author Page: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ali-Bacon/e/B009N4BK4O/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

Amazon US Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Ali-Bacon/e/B009N4BK4O/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

I Wrote it My Way - Melanie Robertson-King

Now it is time to give another warm handshake across the pond, this time to Melanie Robertson-King - my third guest author who is here to tell us how 'she wrote it her way' and found her chosen genre.  It is so fascinating to see how different my author friends are, don't you agree?

Her biography makes fascinating reading - you can find it on her blog. 'The daughter of a Scottish national, who came to Canada as a ‘Home Child’ through the auspices of The Orphan Homes of Scotland ... Melanie is a native of eastern Ontario.' (A long way from Appley Green!)

Melanie says, 'After reading your first two features with Darlene and Janice, I knew I would have some pretty big boots to fill. I had just finished reading the first four books in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. I love Scotland and all things Scottish so immediately fell in love with her books. One of my friends who had read some of my short stories (also a Diana Gabaldon fan) thought I could write something just as good and so I thought why not give it a go? And soon afterwards, the pre-cursor to A Shadow in the Past was born, all 16000+ words.

Back then, I thought chick-lit was likely the best fit but as time progressed, I came to discover a genre called YA Crossover. My heroine is nineteen, there's no graphic sex (a few references to, shall we say a lack of) and this genre is suitable for readers ranging in age from 13-25 and anyone else who is young at heart.

I love Chris Longmuir’s gritty, crime novels (I’ve known Chris since 2001), in addition to other Scottish crime authors (Ian Rankin and Stuart MacBride), Diana Gabaldon, Barbara Erskine, Harper Lee (loved To Kill a Mockingbird), Agatha Christie, Lois Duncan, and since getting an iPad with the Kindle app, I’ve discovered a host of other authors I never knew about that are now on my “favourite” list – Janice Horton, Juliette Sobanet, Bill Kirton, and now that I’m a member of loveahappyending.com I’m working my way through the books by our featured authors.'

A Shadow in the Past

When a contemporary teen is transported back through time to the Victorian era, she becomes A Shadow in the Past…

When nineteen year old Sarah Shand finds herself in Victorian Era Aberdeenshire, Scotland, she has no idea how she got there. Her last memory is of being at the stone circle on the family farm in the year 2010.

Despite having difficulty coming to terms with her situation, Sarah quickly learns she must keep her true identity a secret.

Still, she feels stifled by the Victorians’ confining social practices, including arranged marriages between wealthy and influential families, confronts them head on and suffers the consequences.

When Sarah realizes she has fallen in love with the handsome Laird of Weetshill, she faces an agonizing decision. Does she try to find her way back to 2010 or remain in the past with the man she loves?

Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk

@RobertsoKing on Twitter

I Wrote it My Way - Darlene Jones

Please give a warm welcome to my first guest author!

It is always fun to be a guest on another author’s blog and I am really grateful to all those people who have invited me in the past. Although I have had Miriam’s Ramblings running for some years now this is not something I have done before - had visitors!

I feel it is time to put this right! I am always fascinated to know what led writers to their chosen genre and what or who influenced their choice.

My first guest to talk about this is Darlene Jones.

I was a little unsure where she lives, although I know her books were influenced by her years living in Mali. I asked her to clarify: ‘A little Canadian humor for you,' she said. 'I'm a true Albertan - born in Saskatchewan and retired in British Columbia. I now live on Vancouver Island and spend the winters in Mexico.’ No wonder I was confused!!

But this is exciting, isn’t it? Here I am in ‘Appley Green’ land in Surrey, England and there Darlene is …!

Writer of three books, Empowered, Embattled and Embraced, Darlene explains:

Some time ago, I suffered terribly from insomnia. I started telling myself a story in an attempt to sleep. It didn’t work. Instead the story grew and came to a point where I had to write it down. I certainly didn’t intend to write a sci fi and despite the sci fi element with the other worldly beings, I don’t consider my books to be science fiction per se. I see them as contemporary fiction dealing with the world we live in now. I’m not sure why my story took this particular direction, but I love the magic I was able to bring to the plot line along with the romance. Every book needs a love story, right?

My own reading tastes are eclectic. I read anything that grabs my attention. I was once asked to list My Ten Favorite Books Limiting me to ten was cruel as I could give you one hundred or more books that rank right up there.

When I first published my books, I thought they were stories for women because of the love theme (and love triangle), but I’ve had great comments from the men who have read them. That’s probably because there are elements of action and adventure in the story too, and exotic locales. EMBRACED is the third and, in some respects, my favorite. I have one more in progress to end the series. I’ve been careful to write each so it can be read as a “stand alone” which I hope gives readers more flexibility, rather than feeling they have to read the books in a certain order.
 
You can find out more about Darlene-Jones and her books right here!

on Amazon

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/223180

Website: www.emandyves.com

Blog: http://emandyves.wordpress.com

Thanks so much Darlene for being my first visitor!
Watch out for my next author guest in a couple of weeks' time.

The Next Big Thing

Today something quite new has arrived!

Miriam’s Ramblings can take you to faraway places or cover edgy issues. It’s such an unpredictable mish-mash of snippets, who knows what will come up next? Sometimes I don’t even know myself!

I am a member of a couple of groups of lovely authors – ‘Love a Happy Ending’ and ‘Famous Five Plus’. Chris Longmuir, who lives in Scotland is an amazing writer of crime fiction and, like me, actually belongs to both groups. I met Chris at the fantastic ‘Summer Audience’ in June at my old school in Goucestershire.

Well, Chris has set me off on something called ‘The Next Big Thing’, where writers are posed questions, enticing them to throw out a few intriguing nuggets about their current work in progress. This gives readers and fans a privileged insight, not quite a sneak preview, as to what to expect next from an author.

On  Chris Longmuir's blog   she handed over the baton to me, so to speak, and four others. So here I am now ready to tease you with a few guarded hints of the Next Big Thing. Will it be Gypsies? Or something else? Will it be in Appley Green?

What is the working title of your next book?

The title for my next book is undecided  - no, not ‘Undecided’!  It needs to tie in with Shades of Appley Green, as it will be the second of a new series of modern village novels.

Where did the idea come from for the new series?
The idea came from readers of the first two books and from an agent at the Winchester Writers’ Conference a few years ago. Gypsies Stop tHere and No Gypsies Served are both set in the fictional village of Appley Green that ‘straddles the boundaries’ of Surrey and Hampshire. Aside from the theme of these two books, to do with the relations between Gypsies/Travellers and mainstream society, encouraging comments told me that readers enjoyed the style, the storytelling. There were spontaneous outbreaks of enthusiasm such as a local county councillor who emailed me, "They are amazingly readable, and I tore through each within about 48 hours of purchasing them. Couldn't put them down wanting to find out what happened."  Many others said things like, ‘A right riveting read!’ ‘… a compelling yarn …’ ‘a real page-turner’ and so on. Perhaps people found this a surprise, not what they expected from a ‘village novel’ (yet from those titles, anyone could tell that these stories were not going to ‘shy away from thorny issues’ to quote another reader).

Anyway, as a typical author always delighted by positive feedback, did I listen? Yes, I did!! This was my style and I should build on it.

Now, publishers were always very wary of my edgy themes. Ooh – a bit controversial! Agents were probably worried about them being non-pc and the agent at Winchester told me I would never get a publisher to look at a book with the word Gypsy in the title. If you search titles on Amazon with ‘Gypsy’ you will see there are thousands!! Many of them have been published since I self-published Gypsies Stop tHere – I am delighted that so many Gypsies have found a new confidence to pick up their pens or computers and write their own memoirs. (Since then Gypsies and Travellers have gained a high media profile – not all good, by any means. Both Channel 4’s Big Fat Gypsy Weddings and real-life news story of Dale Farm were detrimental and not typical, but I have written often and at length on my blog, and spoken on the radio about these issues …)

I digress. So this agent, she advised me to write a series of village novels – she liked the idea of the village notice-board that features in Gypsies Stop tHere. It would have wider appeal, she told me.

So there we are, Shades of Appley Green was the first in a brand new series. It links to the first two but has an entirely fresh theme – nothing to do with Gypsies! This third book is everything to do with community and family relationships we can all recognise in some way, but with a few surprises and twists.

So - all I can say is that the ‘next big thing’ will follow suit - more surprises and twists!

What genre do your books fall under?

Genre has always been tricky for me. I completely understand the commercial need for labels but I confess my books do not slot neatly into a given type. The first two have a ‘message’, more typical of ‘literary fiction’, but they are easy-to-read books. They explore social issues, but also have elements of humour and romance. Shades of Appley Green is a ‘modern village novel’ – perhaps ‘women’s contemporary fiction’ - that also offers thought-provoking issues.

The ‘next big thing’ will look at some of the characters already in all three novels, but in a way that no-one will expect. I can say no more at the moment.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
Kay Brackenbridge would be Helen Mirren - of course! Dunstan? I wish I could think of a (living) mature male actor that would do him justice … He would need to have dark Romany looks, although he is half-Gypsy, and be oozing pheromones.  Laurence Olivier? Perhaps Brendan Coyle on a good day with more oomph – more as he is in Lark Rise to Candleford, not as Bates in Downton Abbey. Solid, reliable, a man’s man, slightly brooding, sometimes restless, repressing anger, wry smile and dark, twinkling eyes … mm.

I would love to work Bill Nighy in – maybe as Ted Devonish, the wealthy landowner or even Jackson Jeffrys, the once-famous, 90 year-old architect. (Make-up artist would be needed to ‘age’ lovely Bill.)

This is difficult – think I would be useless as a casting director!

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

This is impossible to answer – I am so sorry, but I have not started writing it yet; so whilst I could make one up, it is bound to evolve or change completely.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I am not going to spend precious time submitting manuscripts to agents and publishers, that is for sure. Most probably I will produce it as an ebook to start with. If people like it, maybe it will then go to paperback. That’s how I did Shades of Appley Green; it was the other way around with the two Gypsy books, as they were pre-ebook era!

How long does it take you to write the first draft of a manuscript?
For my first two novels, the research took a few years – I practically immersed myself in the subject to soak it up! I was also working part-time. It took about a year to write the first draft. For Shades of Appley Green, there was less research; it was written more from stuff I already knew and real-life experience of working in the community. The writing was less than a year.

What other books would you compare your books to within your genre?

I flatter myself that they may lie somewhere between the very modern Amanda Craig’s Hearts and Minds, and the beloved, very traditional Miss Read’s village novels. Anyone who knows these books will know they are chalk and cheese, opposite ends of a spectrum. Perhaps someone else can help me out here. They are village novels, but not too rose-tinted. ‘Appley Green is a charming English village. Everyone says so. But people are still people.’  Shades of Appley Green has been variously described, from ‘lovely, heart-warming’ to ‘tantalising, the kind of gripping you only normally experience with crime novels’ … so ? I am probably too close to them to make comparisons but would really love to have readers’ thoughts!

Who or What inspired you to write this book?
Well, it was a process – one followed on from the other, for a reason. The ‘next big thing’ will succeed what has gone before. Or will it?

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
Perhaps the fact that I cannot do a big reveal until it is published! This will be some time from now as I am still in the research stage; as yet, no plot, shadowy themes, some characters but quite how they will interact to form a story is as yet a secret even I do not know! I do have the setting, however!  People seem to love Appley Green.

I am very, very excited by what lies ahead, if that means anything!

The next writer is to take up the baton is fairly new Love a Happy Ending member, Ali Bacon. Look out for her Next Big Thing early in October.

http://alibacon.com

My book launch 'speech'

I have had some kind of cold-flu-virus thing that has left me with a very flaky voice. People who know me well know that I am prone to coughing fits, which would make speaking tonight extremely risky! To cancel would have been difficult and disappointing so I decided to go ahead with this plan B in mind. Thank you and many apologies for not being able to speak to you myself. I have handed my notes to the very lovely John Hockley who is West Surrey Rural Communities Officer, has worked with Gypsies and Travellers for around 27 years – and has already read the book!

“Thank you so much for coming. If I had to define my kind of personal paradise, I think some key elements are here tonight – to be surrounded by books and so many people I recognise and a glass of wine! Welcome to everyone, those I know and a few I don’t. Family, friends, neighbours, people from the Travelling community, writers, members of the National Women’s Register (NWR), U3A, the allotment(!), Rushmoor Writers and the novel group, Society of Authors and Windsor Bookswap – and various other local people. Also some Twitter folk I’ve never met before but feel I know quite well! more about some of you later, maybe even mentioning names – this is a ‘hook’ to keep your attention … (dot dot dot !)

As a very young child I would put my hands over my eyes to hide, believing this rendered me invisible. Not that unusual perhaps – even one of our English Setters does the same thing with her paws! But then as a young schoolchild, the day the school photographer was due to arrive I would rush away to hide behind the coats in the cloakroom. Less normal perhaps!! I was very shy. My point is that many writers – and I heard one say the same thing quite recently – take to writing because they feel at an early age that they can be more creative and imaginative on paper than vocally. The irony of this is that once you produce a book, you find yourself constantly having to stand up in front a sea of faces to talk about it!! But tonight makes that an absolute pleasure – except I find myself unable to actually speak! I am so sorry about that.

A quick word about the book then!
Most of you know that my first book, Gypsies Stop tHere, as the title suggests, is something to do with Gypsies stopping, not being allowed to stop and so forth. I think most of you here have read it but if not, you can always read No Gypsies Served first. No problem – they standalone although they are connected. But you are allowed to buy a signed copy of Gypsies Stop tHere tonight as well!
No Gypsies Served, as its title suggests, goes back in time, events of the past throwing light on the present. It takes in also the relationship between Romany or English Gypsies and Irish Travellers, looking at this in historical context – recent history. It tries to answer some bothersome questions. For example: Why is there a mismatch in peoples’ minds between the old traditional romantic picture of a Gypsy in his wagon etc, and the modern image many people have? And how come that that second perception is so far removed from the Gypsies and Travellers I meet at events and in their own homes? Why would most Gypsies and Travellers choose not to live in a house, if they had that choice? Not going to say too much about it now – this is no time for a lecture! I hope the book helps, through entertaining storytelling, to answer questions such as these and more.

Now for the Oscar Bafta bit … the many thank-yous.

Special thanks to: Waterstone’s for making this wonderful gathering possible, for providing and organising when I know they are so short of time. Special thanks to Jan Russell.
Basil Burton, a Romany Gypsy, who at the age of 88 works tirelessly in support of his people and has driven up from deepest Dorset to be here this evening. I do appreciate this. He has helped me along the way checking over what I have written and, fortunately for me, has a very good memory of times gone by!
Other people who helped me in my research – so many not here this evening, eg Prof Thomas Acton, Dr John Coxhead and many other people – you can see who they are, and their comments, in the front of the book and in this leaflet.
John Hockley is here! West Surrey Rural Communities Officer who has worked with the Gypsy and Traveller community for over 25 years. Thank you John, also Ann Wilson and Charmaine Valler from Surrey Community Action, for their help.
My daughter Erica, who by day is a wallpaper designer and producer, but under cover of darkness found time to design both lovely, deceptively simple, covers. You can tell she actually read the books beforehand! I get many complimentary comments about the covers. They are, so they say, all about genre – to help readers gauge what they are going to get. So that it does what it ‘says on the can’. So this was not easy, for my books do not slip easily into a genre – say, romantic fiction, mystery-crime, historical, typical village-type story – yet they contain elements of all of these.
My husband for his support, not least of which is financial since – contrary to popular belief, very few published authors actually make a half-decent living from it. As most people know, writing novels is my retirement project and something that I’ve actually wanted to do from a very young age. Thanks to Steve also for his help with proof-reading and, though I think he still wonders what on earth I am doing up in my study for so many hours; for his regular if not constant reminders to turn off the Internet to save the planet. Probably not easy living with someone writing a novel who, by definition, tends to drift off into another world for long periods of time!
My local writer and reader friends, many of whom are here tonight – for their support by way of both encouragement and criticism, absolutely invaluable prior to publication. Rushmoor Writers and its offshoot the novel group, and my special writer friends. They know who they are!

Thought of changing my surname to ‘Awake Early’ - Awakerly – it has an alarmingly alert ring to it! but would have the added advantage of putting it at the top end of the alphabet on the shop and library bookshelves. With over 100,000 new titles being published every year in the UK alone, visibility on these shelves is a hard-won privilege!

So if you do enjoy No Gypsies Served then please don’t keep this to yourself. Keep the book to yourself, of course, but not your liking of it! Writers and publishers have to persuade other branches of Waterstone’s to stock their books. It does not happen automatically. So tonight with your help I hope we can give a healthy kick-start to make this happen. But if you could tell that cousin in Dundee, or old school-friend in Cornwall, (it doesn’t have to be that specific!! but you get the gist) friends, colleagues – really all booklovers and readers you can think of – well, you have no idea how helpful this would be. You cannot overestimate the value of good old word of mouth – we can spread awareness and hopefully get more books into more shops around the country. Take a couple of the leaflets with you. We all love to browse and pick a book. Well, bookshops do need our continuing support – what with the competition of Amazon and the rapid rise of e-books. Remember the words of that song ‘you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.’ (not that Waterstone’s in Camberley is going anywhere!!) Libraries too – it helps if you and your friends ask for books in libraries, then they will order them in.

By the way, each book purchased comes with a most desirable and virtually indestructible bookmark (may not be dishwasher proof).

I am so grateful for your support and very touched that so many of you are here. Looking at this crowd here perhaps it’s as well that not everyone could come …!! You don’t look like a shy lot, but please if you haven’t spoken to the person next to you just ask them what their connection is with this evening and you may hear something interesting! Thank you again for coming and to wish it luck may I raise a toast to No Gypsies Served and all who sail with her!!”

Still Bugged by Genres

Yes, I’m slightly bugged now by the Genre debate. Yes, we understand the need, but … but …

What about Life of Pi? Or Curious Incident of Dog in the Night-Time? The Kite Runner? And novels with social comment like Small Island by Andrea Levy or Brick Lane by Monica Ali? Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Quicksolver? Human Traces by Sebastian Faulks? Just a tiny sample of popular books that perhaps do not slot easily into an existing category, but had they not been taken up by a publisher, the reading public would be the poorer. They all have ‘something to say or show’. Are they just 'general fiction'?

Since my post on the vexed question of Genre, many more classifications – and is classification synonymous with genre? – have popped into my head. So is there room for another I wonder? I would love to hear from publishers or anyone else who is knowledgeable on these matters. A term that captures real issues/ethics/substance within the framework of a captivating story. Thus the reader is both entertained and enriched. Such novels may or may not be ‘literature’ – perhaps the most challenging term of all to define. They may or may not be exploring ethics or politics.

‘Faction’ does not quite do it for me. ‘Social comment fiction’? ‘Reality fiction’? ‘Themed’? Sue Cook on The Write Lines suggested ‘intelligent story-telling’.

Perhaps the elusive genre already exists. If so, please tell me.

A Question of Genre – is it vexed?

I am sure many writers, agents and publishers can quote chapter and verse at me on the thorny issue of genre; it is commercially vital to brand and pigeonhole books so that potential readers know what they are getting. Targeting and demographics are key.

So ‘modern/contemporary fiction’, as per BIC classification for ‘non-genre’ novels, does not perhaps cut the mustard. But what if your novel is neither romance, crime, sci-fi, historical, fantasy, erotic, thriller, nor literary? Not adventure, saga, chick-lit, grit-lit or whatever term is knocking around at the time? Nor is it the more esoteric metafiction or allegory? Perhaps it is a cross-breed, like historical romance. But if it cannot claim to fall under any such labels, does this mean it should never have been written? If so, is this not the tail wagging the dog?

A reader described Gypsies Stop tHere: “…a good read, this story provides an entertaining way of understanding a very important social issue ...” Well, is there a genre that covers this? I don’t know. Socio-rural reality page-turner? Prejudice-challenging fiction? Or perhaps simply ‘other’.

Focusing on the Gypsy theme, an academic writer recently said, “Miriam Wakerly's books Gypsies Stop tHere and No Gypsies Served (coming out March 2010) are a window to the bigotry that a race of people in the UK still experience. Textbooks illustrating statistics of what racism is like are all well and good but what Wakerly adds is an accessible and readable 'way in' to the situation for the general reader, and the storytelling approach reinforces we are talking about real people here, not statistics. I would recommend that people read these books as a reflection of the reality of contemporary Britain.”

This all sounds terribly grave but there are many other happenings within my pages, I promise you! Relationships and various interconnecting storylines in an English village seem to ‘captivate’ a wide-ranging readership, so they tell me.

I could define my novels as a ‘village-novel-with-edge’ or something like that. It’s not Miss Read or Rebecca Shaw. I cannot think of a word that single-handedly encapsulates it. Can you? If so, please let me know!

If anyone wants to quote from this blog then that’s fine but please credit me! Thanks.
© Miriam Wakerly