Approaching the pinnacle - a NaNoWriMo update

For me, this, the third week of the National Writing Month, has been the most difficult to date.

On Friday after I'd reached 25,000 words and got myself another badge (hurrah), I decided it was time to have a bit of a celebration. After a very late night with friends, Saturday's word count was the lowest to date, just below the 1,000 mark. No more celebrations and late nights I decided, and on Sunday I managed my usual 2,000 words.

On Monday I just couldn't get up at my customary NaNoWriMo time of 6am, and when I sat at my desk at 7am, words just were not presenting themselves to me.

Whenever this kind of freeze (or writer's block for want of another term) happens, I do what my MA in Creative Writing tutor told me, 'Research, research and research.' In those days, more than ten years ago, research meant getting out of the house and into a library or newsagents, or out onto the streets. Though I sort of miss those days, being able to go places without leaving your desk is so much quicker and easier.

After an hour or so on Google Streetview and reading hairy newspaper reports on Royal Navy courts martial, I managed to write 2,000 words as usual. But it wasn't easy and took me the whole of the morning. The poor terrier had to wait until 11 am for his walk, whereas almost every day during the first two weeks of NaNoWriMo, I've been done by 9 o'clock.

Again today, Tuesday, day 17 of NaNoWriMo, the words just didn't flow. After an hour I'd produced only 600 words, so I decided to turn things around. Instead of waiting until the words were done for the day, I had breakfast and took the pooch out for his walk, and decided to return to my writing later. When I sat down at my desk again, with a second coffee of the day, I managed to get up to just over 2,000 words.

Walking the dog, it occurred to me that I'm approaching what I know will be the centre of the novel. The action needs to reach a pinnacle - a sort of eruption where the main characters come together in a either disastrous or a happy plot twist. I know what this twist in A Navy Wife is in broad terms, but I really, really want to make it good, and this must be what's blocking me.

Of course when I think about it, none of this is new. I must have at least five novels in my virtual desk drawer that I've lost interest in around the 30,000 word mark. There is something scary about getting past that word count. It's as if this is where the novel becomes a reality, and you have to know what you are going to do with the plot and the characters. You also know if the novel is going to be good or not at this stage - or you think you do. It's that old friend, Internal Critic, who starts to play a part, and before you know it, you've convinced yourself that the work you've done thus far is rubbish.

But the strange thing is that unlike my previous novels, I know almost exactly what is going to happen in A Marriage Adrift. I even know what's going to happen in the next novel in The Englishman -series. Having read back a few chapters I also think (in my humblest of opinions) that A Marriage Adrift is going to be alright - possibly my best writing yet. So what is my problem? I wish I knew....

Writing can be so frustrating sometimes - or all the time!

Anyone else have similar experiences?

Advice for New Writers Part 3: How Long Does it Take to Write and Publish a Novel?

This is number three in a series of posts about writing and publishing fiction. You can find the previous posts here.

How long does it take to get your novel into print (or out in ebook form)?

Writing a novel takes time. How long a first draft takes to produce is highly personal, but at the end of the day, it's all about maths. In the summary below, I've used the minimum time each stage will take, so please use it as a (very) rough guide only:

If, say, you write 1,000 words each and every day (including weekends, Christmas Day and so on), it'll take you 70-100 days, or 2 -3 months to complete the first draft of you manuscript. If you write, say 5 out of 7 days per week, this will become 3-5 months and so on.

• Writing 1st draft: 3 months

Add to that the editing process. Your own edits can take two or three weeks.  If you use a professional editor, who has to fit your novel into their schedule, this will take a couple of weeks. Then there are the rewrites, if these are required, and the final proof read. Tip: If you are confident about when your final manuscript will be ready, do book an editor (and proof reader, interior layout and cover designer - see below) well in advance. This will save you valuable time in the publishing process.

•  Editing: 1 month 

If you send the novel out to be read by a number of readers, something which I highly recommend for the first novel at least, this will also take time. Beta readers are valuable source of reviews, which will gain your book highly important visibility online. But you cannot expect anyone to take less than a month to read your masterwork.

• Beta readers: 1 month

Finally there's the interior layout and cover design (if you're outsourcing this part), which, if you've managed to book these in advance, could do the job within a couple of weeks. There are pieces of software which can do the inside design for you, like Scrivener, and you can also design the cover yourself. (I am a great advocate for a professionally designed cover, but that's another discussion.) If you want to publish your book in paperback as well as in ebook form, getting a proof copy and stock sent to you will set you back another two weeks (minimum).

• Cover, layout and interior design and paperback copy: 1 month

If you want to go down the traditional route, you can add another 6 months easily, while you submit to agents, and if lucky enough to be picked up by one, sell the book to a publisher. Note, however, that here anything goes. After an agent has sold your book to a publisher, it has to slot into the publisher's schedule and marketing plan. They may not, for example, want to publish two books in the same genre one after another, so your novel's publication could be postponed by a number of months.

• Submit to agents and sell to publisher: 6 months

I've written and published a book every two to three years, which seems like a very long time, but in traditional publishing this is quite a normal speed at which fiction is published by one author. Some manage a book a year, others, like for example Mills and Boon authors, are required to write at least two per year. (Mills and Boon novels are usually a little shorter, in the region of 50,000 words)

• Total for the indie route = 6 months
• Total for the traditional publishing route = 12 months

As you can see, it's just about possible to publish two novels per year if you are very committed, disciplined and organised. But remember, this is only a very rough idea of the process. I'm also talking about independent publishing versus traditional, but the lines between the two are blurring, as the self-publishing market grows and grows. But more about this in later posts.

There are many ways to speed up the process of writing that all important first draft. I'll talk more about this, and about where to find the motivation and inspiration for your writing in part 4 which will be up on this blog in early December. In the meantime, I hope you've enjoyed this part of Advice for New Writers and tune in to the next one!

Happy writing and let me know how you are getting on. Please feel free to ask me about anything at all, and I'll try my best to answer your queries.

For updates on my writing and to be the first to hear about my book offers (there's going to be one in November), please sign up to my newsletter here.

Are you doing NaNoWriMo?

What is NaNoWriMo you ask? Well, it's the National Novel Writing Month, which takes place each year in November, when thousands of authors, or aspiring novelists, challenge themselves to write 50,000 words (I know, not quite a full-length novel, but nearly) in 30 days. That means exactly 1,667 words per day. Easy, peasy, lemon squeezy...?

I've tried to do NaNoWriMo for years, and have never got further than about 10,000 words, so this year, having given up my day job to write full-time (eek!), I'll try to complete this challenge.

The NaNoWriMo site is a font of knowledge how to achieve the required word count, as well as what you can do in advance of the 1st of November to prepare for the writing month. Go to the site for more, but here is a quick summary of what it's all about:

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to creative writing. 

On November 1, participants begin working towards the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel by 11:59 PM on November 30.

Valuing enthusiasm, determination, and a deadline, NaNoWriMo is for anyone who has ever thought about writing a novel.

The sequel to The Englishman, the Navy Wife, is now going through its final edits, and should be out in late November, so I'm going to attempt to write the bulk of the 3rd book in the series during the month of November. This novel is now fully plotted (or as fully as I ever plot in advance, which is about 75%), and even has a working title, 'A Marriage Adrift'.

So, wish me luck, and let me know if you are a fellow NaNoWriMo madwoman/man. I'd love to add you as my writing buddy on the NaNoWriMo site here!

Advice for New Writers Part 2: I've Completed the First Draft - What Now?

Last time in this series of posts about what to do if you have an idea for a book, I talked about reading in your genre and writing as much as possible. Today, I'm going to talk about what to do when you've finished the first draft.

What to Do When You've Completed the First Draft?

When you've completed a manuscript, the first thing you need to do is CELEBRATE!

Well done, you've written a novel!

But the next day, you need to get down to work again, and start editing. This is my least favourite task of the whole writing process, but we are all different, and this might be something that you particularly enjoy. It is, after all, easier to make something of something that already exists, rather than create the words and stories out of thin air. That work is now done.

Remember, the first draft is just that - a draft. You need to use all your powers of objectivity, and check that the plot, characters, dialogue, and back story work. You need to fact check, make sure all the place and character names etc. are used consistently throughout the novel. You need to make sure that the style of the novel is right for its genre, and of course, you need to check for spelling, grammar and point of view. The more of this work you do now, the less of it is left to your editor. (If you want to employ a professional editor, that is - see below)

There are a lots of editing help online, start by checking out the ALLi blog and site here.

How Many Drafts?

Unless you are a very skilled at self-editing while you write, the first draft will be one of several drafts. I think all of my books went over the ten draft limit - one of them, The Red King of Helsinki, I completely re-wrote on the advice of an agent. I basically wrote two novels on the same subject!  Coffee and Vodka was part of my MA in Creative Writing course work, and this novel too went through many versions - it even had a different title for a while. The Englishman, my third novel, was born out of a series of blog posts, written in first person. For the novel version I changed the POV from first to third, and added a little more back story. So, anything goes as long as you remember what Hemingway said...

Who Should Read Your Manuscript First?

Once you've edited your book, around three or more drafts later, it's time to show your book to some-one else. I tend to show my early drafts to my husband - he does the first corrections, and also tells me if the book is any good or not. This, as you may imagine isn't the happiest of solutions, but it works for us (and we are still married after three novels and many, many drafts). 

But, apart from a very critical and honest partner, I would strongly advise you not to show your work to family and friends for evaluation. They will not give you an unbiased opinion, simply because they love you. Even unwittingly, they'll think the novel better and funnier (if you wish it to be), or tragic (if that's what you're after) than it is.

Instead, try to show your work to some-one who doesn't know you and who will give you a brutally independent opinion. Because, when it comes to sending your baby out into the world, it will be bruised, or rather the criticism will bruise your ego, so why not begin with constructive criticism from just a few people? Criticism, which you can follow or not, according to what you yourself think. It's your book after all!

It's quite easy to find people you don't personally know, but whose opinion you value, online. (I'll be talking about the importance of networking in a later post). Because my first published novel, The Englishman, began as a series of posts on this blog, I was lucky to have several people who'd already read bits of the book and were willing to read a draft, and give their honest opinions on it.

So, just go ahead and ask. The worst reply you can have is a 'no'.

I asked about ten people to read The Englishman manuscript, and three of them actually read it. Some didn't reply, some said they would read it, but didn't come back to me. This is just something you have to accept. Reading and critiquing your work is a huge favour, so be nice about it, even if the response is negative or there's no response at all. As an author, you are always under scrutiny, especially online, so be polite, and don't take rejection personally. Developing a thick skin is one of the most valuable skills you can learn. I'm still working on that one....

Editor or No Editor?

After you've shown your work to as many people as you can,  (but remember it will take time for people to read your manuscript, so if you're in a hurry to get it published, think about who to ask well in advance), and you've made the necessary corrections and edits, it's time to have an experienced editor to have a look at it. 

Even if you consider going the traditional publishing route, i.e. finding an agent, who will find you a publisher with an editor, I'd recommend using a professional independent editor to look at your manuscript before you approach an agent. Professional editors can make a good manuscript into a brilliant one, so they're worth their weight in gold.

How to Find an Editor?

There is a list of editors on the Alliance of Independent Authors site - this will cost you money, but is well worth it. If you don't use one on that list, beware. The rise of the independent author/publisher has created a whole industry wanting to take advantage of an ambitious would-be author, so make sure that the editor you choose comes with proven credentials.

Can I Self-Edit?

Having said all of the above, there are ways in which you can make the final edits yourself. There are several websites and books written on the subject. If you don't have the funds to invest in a good editor, I think this is a viable route. Personally, I find it difficult to see some of my own spelling mistakes, or even plot issues in a manuscript which I've written and rewritten over and over, but this is just me. Many indie authors edit their own work very successfully, so it's more than possible to do it yourself.

I hope you've enjoyed my advice for new writers so far. If you missed Part 1, you can read it here. 

Don't miss a post - sign up for my Newsletter here!

Next month, I'm going to be talking about how long it usually takes to write and publish a novel. This post should be up on Friday 6th November. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please comment below, I'd love to hear your stories and how you are getting on with your writing!

Advice for New Writers Part 1: I have a great idea for a book - what should I do next?

I must be getting old, because I am often asked for advice about writing by young (and not so young) authors, who are just starting out, and wondering what they should do to get a book out and published.

Last week, I was speaking to yet another one. She had an idea for a book, which she was visibly excited about, and a great urge to write. She told me that she wrote each night after work - she even had a particular time of the night when she'd sit down and write. It was a pleasure to give her tips on how to proceed, and our discussion inspired me to share some of the things I told her about the industry, and about writing in general.

These are my own personal pieces of advice, learned through being part of this rapidly changing book world for the past ten or so years.

For those who wish to know if I have any credentials to pass on such advice, I can tell you that I've got a MA in Creative Writing; I've had various run-ins with literary agents in the traditional publishing area; I've been a book-seller and now I'm a proud self-published author and an active member of the Alliance of Independent Authors, as well as reviewer of Awesome Indies. I've published three novels, two of which are AIA accredited. I'm Chief Editor of the Finn-Guild magazine, Horisontti, and have articles published in various magazines.

This will be a series of blog posts about what I've learned so far. I am mainly talking here about fiction - I've yet to venture into the world of non-fiction (i.e. factual books)

Here is the first one of these blog posts, in which I'll try to answer the question:

'I have a really good book idea, what should I do next?'

Someone said that every person has a novel inside them, and this may be true, but what separates a writer from an aspiring writer is that the former has completed a manuscript in their (virtual) desk drawer.

A manuscript is what an unpublished novel is called, and for a full length novel this should be a minimum of 70,000 words. Opinions differ on the maximum, but I think if a novel is twice this, i.e. 150,0000, you should seriously consider cutting some words.

But, let's not jump ahead. How do you write 70,000 coherent words that make up a novel?

Practise makes perfect

I am a strong advocate for hard work. The more you read, and write, and read again, and write again, the more skilful you become. Of course you'll have to have talent for writing, a nose for a good story, and an aptitude for being able sit down and work at your manuscript, but the majority of the 'luck' any author has, comes in the form of hard work.

Read books in your own genre

Many people on my MA course were sceptical of genre as a concept. I think it was popular then (10 years ago) amongst English students to think that they didn't fit into any box, that their writing was unique.  I myself fell into this trap, only realising when I eventually decided to become an indy author, how important it is to present the world with a unified picture of yourself and your writing. (Author branding is a complicated subject which I'll come to at a later post).

If your writing is unique (which is very rare), then you'll have invented a new genre. That's how simple it is. But for the most of us, who write in a specific genre, in order to sell your novel, you need to know what kind of book it is, what kind of people will want to read it and so on. I cannot emphasise it enough: you need to know the genre your novel fits into.

Once you have decided what kind of book you want to write, find authors who write in that genre and look at how they've constructed the story; what's the style; how do the plots work. It's often the case that a new writer wants to write the kind of books that they enjoy, but many established romance writers, for example, enjoy detective stories and vice versa. Sometimes they've even tried to write in this other genre, but it just doesn't suit their style.

Write and write again... 

The more you write the better your writing will become. Writing is like any other art form, or craft. You wouldn't expect a baker to turn out perfect loaf on his first try, would you? Or a painter to be born with the perfect strokes? Both need to practise their craft, and/or be taught how to bake and paint. And then they need to practise this craft. For some reason writing is considered by some (especially in the traditional publishing industry) a craft that cannot be taught, or practised, but I strongly disagree. Why would this art form - or craft - be any different from any other?

So, the first task of any budding writer - before he or she even considers how to publish, is to sit down and write the best manuscript you possibly can.

If you really want to write, and enjoy telling tall or not so tall tales, just write. For me personally, it's as important as breathing  - and I wouldn't be the person I am if I didn't write. It's a compulsion, a drug that I just cannot be without.

Happy writing!

Next month I'll post about what to do when you've written the manuscript - how to find an editor and who to send your manuscript to.

Authors, be careful what you read...

Does what you read affect how you write?

I've just finished reading The Woman in the Picture by Katharine McMahon. This novel, following the life of a female lawyer, Evelyn Gifford, in the 1920s London, is written from the point of view of the heroine and very much in a formal style of the time.

I loved the book (gave it 5 stars on Goodreads, no less) and was so engrossed with Evelyn's trials and tribulations (excuse the pun), that when I went back to writing my current book, Oh England!, I found that I was using the language of the 1920's rather than the 1980's which is the time period of my novel.

It's not the first time that I've noticed this phenomena.  When in the middle of a new book I have to be very careful with the kinds of books, or genre I'm reading. Even the period of my reading matter can sometimes be detrimental to my writing. Same goes for reading books in another language; since I begun writing in earnest, I've had to give up on Finnish and Swedish books in their original language altogether. Sad, I know!

At times when - like now - I am in the crucial second part of the novel, I've had to suspend all reading of fiction all together.

Who would have thought that writing fiction sometimes forces you to stop reading it?

Do you find that you need to keep to your genre and time period when in the middle of a writing project, or as me, have to go cold turkey on reading all together?

Life after Life by Kate Atkinson is a brilliant and engaging read

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A brilliant and engaging novel which tells the story of Ursula Todd who dies at birth on a cold, snowy night to a middle-class family in England in 1910. But Ursula is no ordinary baby, because she goes on to be re-born over and over again. Kate Atkinson reconstructs the many lives of Ursula Todd, most of which are utterly tragic, with ease and style. The descriptions of London during the Blitz, as well as the misery and poverty of Germany at the end of the 2nd World War are particularly chilling, but I also found that other parts, such as the episode of domestic violence, are almost unbearably well described in the book. Someone commented on GoodReads that to fully appreciate the excellence of this novel, you need to re-read it, and I agree. A wonderful book!


View all my reviews

On the buses

Due to a recent mishap with my little toe, I've had to reduce walking to a minimum during my London commute, whereas normally I try to maximise the potential of exercise on my way to work; stomping through woods, running up and down escalators.

Last week, when I could hardly walk at all, I had to take minicabs, but then realised that I could virtually get from door to door on the bus. True, in order to travel from North London down to Camden, I needed to first make my way further North, and change buses, but at least this method meant I didn't have to get onto a crowded tube, and stand all the way down into town. Plus two buses is a fraction of the cost of a minicab, with almost exactly the same journey time.

Although I am a self-confessed London bus lover, I'd forgotten what a fantastic view you get while sitting up on the top deck. (this week I managed the steps up). You get a whole new vista of London, especially now when the trees are turning and the autumn colours are at their best.

Yesterday, for instance, after a VAT seminar (I know, my other career is soooo interesting), I took a bus from Covent Garden all the way to North London, and when the bus drove past Kings Cross, I saw for the first time the new facade. (The King's Cross development has finally been finished). The sun was setting, painting the beautiful cornices of the St Pancras Hotel and the new windows of the station building with a golden glow. I felt truly lucky to live in such a beautiful city.



Mayor of London Boris Johnson opening the new King's Cross Station Square last week.
Video: The Telegraph Online


But, for an author, the best bit of travelling on the bus is the overheard conversations you are privy to.

On the tube, people are much quieter; they don't have mobile reception of course, but there also seems to be something about a bus journey which encourages conversation. There are the usual, 'I'm just on my way home' kind of telephone calls, or acquaintances meeting up by accident and getting into a deep conversation about somebody else's marriage. I've heard people do telephone interviews on the bus, or tell little porkies about why they're late for work. 'Traffic is terrible,' they say when the bus hurtles down a hill.

But the best conversations are from teenagers, who seem to think anyone over the age of twenty doesn't hear (or more likely understand) what they are saying. Boys tent to talk mainly about sports, but the girls! The girls discuss TV programmes as if they were populated by real people, they discuss their friends, their objects of desire, their enemies. All at the top of their voices. If I ever have another young character in my novel, I'm going to spend weeks on buses during school kicking out time. There could not be a better way to get a true teenage voice into your book!

Next week, sadly, I'll be back on the tube. All this lounging about and earwigging on the top of the double decker buses will not keep me fit, or keep my back in shape. Though I might just sneak a few bus rides in when the weather is too wet or cold for a hike through the woods!

Will my Strindberg obsession produce a novel?

One of my tasks here in Helsinki has been to do some research for my new book. Or one of them…I've long had an idea to write a fictional story about the life of August Strindberg and particularly something involving Siri von Essen, August Strindberg's first and most influential wife.

Siri von Essen

Siri, who was a Swedish speaking Finnish daughter of a nobleman, was herself married when she, in the mid 1970's, met the famous Swedish playwright. Strindberg was a young writer and librarian at the time, and had yet to make his mark on the world. He wooed Siri with his clever words and promises of fulfilling her deeply held desire to enter the stage. They married in 1877 after Siri had divorced her first husband.

The tumultuous nature of this socially scandalous marriage between the two artists is well documented in Sweden, but the story is less well known elsewhere. As you may by now know, I've always been obsessed with Strindberg, and have lately also become fascinated by Siri. (Especially after I read this excellent novel/biography.) Her life seems to have been so full of love, and tragedy. She lost her first daughter to a mysterious lung disease and her second child (and first with Strindberg) was stillborn. There are rumours that Siri was somehow to blame for both deaths, and that this was due to her selfish desire to prioritise her own career. Historians disagree on whether she was good or bad for Strindberg; a spoilt, unfaithful empty-headed acress, or a wronged passionate woman trying to make the best of a bad marriage? You can imagine which side I take. Whatever your opinion, a life so controversial is also utterly fascinating.

Siri strikes a pose.

My interest in Siri is further piqued by the fact that she was born Finnish, but spent most of her life abroad. She moved to Sweden with her first husband, and then with Strindberg she visited almost every corner of Europe while the two stayed in string of hotels, often leaving in the dead of night to avoid paying their bills. Siri had three more children with Strindberg, but the marriage ended when the playwright became convinced that the two youngest children were fathered by another man.

After the divorce, in 1983, Siri moved back to Helsinki with her children and a friend who was rumoured to be her lover. The last ten years Siri spent in Helsinki, a place which she called home, were not all happy.  She struggled with money and lost her friend to alcoholism. Strindberg didn't exactly pay regular maintenance to his estranged family.

In 1912,  at the age of 61, just two weeks before Strindberg himself perished, Siri von Essen died in Helsinki, after she suffered a fatal fall.

Siri and her three children lived in several different places in Helsinki, and today I've been tracing her steps. Here are a few photos to show you some of the houses the first Mrs Strindberg might have spent her days in.

The Best New Books of 2011

Last year was a very busy reading year for me. Not only did I start working in a bookshop, but I also ran three book groups and arranged and took part in various author events and readings.

But out of all the fiction titles, children's books, non-fiction books or crime thrillers, a few books by authors which I hadn't read before stood out. These are titles by - to me - new writers that I particularly enjoyed, stories that I keep thinking back to, or books that I was surprised about.

Jubilate by Michael Arditti

The first book on my list is a novel which I (honestly) only read because I knew the author was coming to England's Lane Books. I had never even heard of Michael Arditti before, so I had no expectations of the novel. But boy, did it blow me away! Jubilate is a cleverly written passionate love story, and it's also a funny and touching story of faith. It's set in France and follows of a group of British Catholics on a pilgrimage to Lourdes. As it happens, this particular trip is also being filmed for a BBC documentary. Enter a handsome TV director. But there is no slapstick humour, or run-of-the-mill romance here, the novel is beautifully and skilfully written from two points of view - both running in opposite time-lines. The tragic story between a married Catholic, Gillian, who's husband has been left brain-damaged following an accident, and the wordly-wise, intensely sceptical TV film director, Vincent, is portrayed against a backdrop of a tourist trap with a difference; the promise of a miracle cure. Since reading Jubilate, I've found myself thinking back to the story several times. This remarkable novel is well worth a read, whether you're interested in religion or not.

Purge by Sofi Oksanen


I'd been trying to read Purge for some time. It was published in Finland in 2008, and a good friend lent it to me with the highest of recommendations. (It had also won the acclaimed Finlandia Prize). But the violent themes of the book were too painful for me to read in Finnish. Or the language was too complicated; I don't really know what it was, but month after month when my friend asked if I'd read Purge yet, I'd have to make excuses of being too busy. (Not like me at all). When the book was finally translated into English, I had no excuses left. I read the book in few days: the plot is so thick with intrigue, and so intense, I just couldn't put it down.

Here is a clip from a radio broadcast where I talk about Purge. Again I highly recommend this novel - it's truly unique and a terrific roller coaster of a read.



Comfort and Joy by India Knight

The next book on my list has to be Comfort and Joy by India Knight. I'm an avid reader of India's column in The Sunday Times, but I hadn't read her novels before. But as soon as the paperback of her latest title came out, I had to read it. I know you shouldn't judge a book by its cover but this one was so Christmassy, and I needed a 'happy read' after having ploughed through Zweig's Beware of Pity, which is truly wonderful but heavy going in places. Comfort and Joy didn't disappoint - it's a perfect modern antidote to any turn-of-the-century drama. It's a funny, heart-warming story of a woman who every year hosts Christmas for her two ex-husbands, an ex-mother-in-law, a highly critical mother, two step-sisters, her children and other revellers who could be loosely called 'family'. It's also a frank look at modern marriage (and divorce); and the complicated relationships therein. This is a up-lifting read which I again consumed in just a matter of days. I highly recommend India Knight to anyone who, at the long queue at Waitrose/Tescos'/Sainsburys/Morrisons (Hope I didn't forget a major food retailer?) on Christmas Eve, laden with a last minute food dash (which for some strange reason has turned into a full-trolley shop) has ever wondered if it's all worth it for just one long day...

Hollow Man by Oliver Harris

Oliver Harris is a new writer, and Hollow Man is his first title. The book made waves at England's Lane Books as soon as the reading copy was out. Hollow Man is also the first crime book on my list, but it well deserves its place here. The story is set in Hampstead, and the sleuth is a down-and-out policeman, Nick Belsey. There is murder, explosions, rich Russians, shady financial dealings, and love. If you've ever lived, or even visited London you will recognise places in the book - all, in my mind, adding to the charm of this intelligent crime novel.

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

I'm not quite sure how, for all these years, I'd missed Eugenides - he wrote the highly acclaimed Virgin Suicides as well as the Pulitzer Prize winning Middlesex. He's also a contemporary (and friend) of Jonathan Franzen, a writer who's novels I adore. I first read Middlesex and was so impressed, I decided to read The Marriage Plot straight after. I completely adore Eugenides writing, it's precise, descriptive and seemingly effortless. And his plot structure if flawless. (Actually, as a writer, I hate him).

The Marraige Plot is a much more intimate story than Middlesex, which traced the whole history of a Greek family during three generations. In contract, The Marriage Plot is set in 1982 and is in the main a coming-of-age novel. It follows three main characters lives for over a year or so. Madelaine Hanna is a beautiful English major; Leonard Bankhead, her charismatic boyfriend; and Mitchell Grammaticus, authorial surrogate, a Greek from Grosse Pointe, Michigan. The novel opens on graduation day and recounts the characters intertwining back stories in a way which immediately makes you want to learn more. The story then carries onto the their first year out of university. The Marriage Plot is an engaging story, a book which again I couldn't put down.


These were some of the books I read in 2011. Did you discover any new writers last year?


(No books were gifted to me for this post.)

Am I in love with writing or is writing in love with me?

Writing a novel is like a love affair.

When at first you get the idea for a novel you are attracted, not able to think about anything else, but still only partly seduced by the plot.

Then you start to be obsessed with the characters and worry whether you can carry the idea through to the end. You do some research and the more you find out about the subject the more fascinated you are with it. But are you the right person to tell this particular story? Whether you are or not, you can't help yourself, you jump in and start writing.

Aaah. The first few weeks of frantic activity is bliss. Your fingers can hardly keep pace with your head; the words are coming thick and fast. You laugh and cry at the characters you've created. You feel the plot is absolutely faultless, the wonderful scenes you see in front your eyes are perfect, they convey precisely the right emotions. You chuckle to yourself when you imagine your readers enjoying your words. This is the best work you've ever created. This will be the one!

At about 3rd way through there's a problem with the plot. You begin worry about one or two characters. They start to do things that aren't in the plot. They start to get annoying. Oh, but you've been here before. A little time out is needed. You know you just need to take a day or two off. You know it's just a lover's tiff. But you're upset all the same.

You get on the internet and start to do more research. This only makes matters worse. You remember how wonderful your original idea was.

People close to you ask what's up with you. 'You look tired. Has something happened?' No, you tell them, or you invent other problems in real life because all you want to do is shout at the characters in your new, lovely, wonderful manuscript. The longer you are away from the text, doubts start creeping into your head: perhaps the plot is flawed? Perhaps the characters aren't real after all? Perhaps the voice is wrong? Perhaps you should introduce a new narrator, change the point of view? Perhaps 1st person isn't right? Should you try something completely different: an omniscient point of view?

Weary and fearful you return to the manuscript. You've got this far, surely if you just try hard the plot will sort itself out, the voice will improve. And when you read it through, you find it's actually quite good. You allow yourself to be enchanted by it again. So what if there are a few problems? There's the long editing process to come after all. You remind yourself writing is a shitty job. It's the worst idea you've ever had in your life to try to be a writer. But you still love this story, and it makes you so happy to finish a scene, a chapter. You get obsessed with the word count. You start to count the days, months it'll take you to finish the novel. You set up a strict schedule and promise yourself that all else in your life: Eating, Daughter, Son, Husband, Dogs, Cats, House, Earning Actual Money, Sleeping, have to wait. You are a writer: writing is what will have to come first.

You forget to tell your family.

When you get to 50,000 words you hate the plot. You abhor your characters. They're all stupid, over-emotional creatures who refuse to act in the way you've decided. They keep injecting new scenes, use different words in the dialogue from the ones you've designated before you started that day's writing session. But, you remind yourself you're on the downhill now, it's nearly done. It's nearly over.

But the story drags on. At 75,000 words (your designated end point) the plot is still not concluded. The characters you've decided will die/fall in love/out of love/move out of the country/change their lifestyle/change their attitude just won't get on with it. In the dark hours of the night when you lie awake thinking about the characters you realise you don't want to finish the book. You never want to the leave the place you've created. You're truly in love: you want to spend your life with the manuscript.

You drink so much coffee your pee turns black.

But end it must, this love affair: with tears running down your face you write the last scene. Off your characters walk into the sunset. You know you should celebrate, but it feels more as if you should be in mourning. You sleep through the night first time in months.

You know you need all the physical strength you have and all your writing experience to start the editing process. You'll have to awaken the old love affair and start living with it again.