Chocolate Addiction and the Pursuit of Literary Excellence

In the course of learning about Twitter, I have been stalking, (sorry – “following”), a number of authors and I have noticed an inordinate number of us flag up chocolate addiction in our personal profiles, (i.e. our identities as we see them). Where once authors were expected to be booze-soaked, chain smoking, serially promiscuous, unwashed and generally antisocial types, we are now more likely to list chocolate, caffeine and “the occasional glass of wine”, as our credentials for being considered bona fide garret-dwelling Bohemians. Speaking as someone who can never be too far from an espresso pot and a bumper bar of the dark and bitter stuff, I find this trend interesting. Have Messrs Starbucks and Costa done this to us, or is it the combined seductive powers of Joanne Harris and Juliette Binoche? I think some serious research is required. Good subject for a media studies dissertation or two, I say.

Should Everyone Write a Book?

“Everyone who wants to write a book should do it.” - The very idea brings knee-jerk reactions of horror from many. But if you suggested “everyone who wants to paint a picture should do it”, you would receive a much more forgiving response.

Is that because a painter is asking for only a few seconds of their audience’s time to appreciate their work – a few seconds that could also be combined with being in company or simply day dreaming - whereas a book might expect them to spend several hours of mental effort in its exclusive company?

But just because a book has been written doesn’t mean you have to read it unless you truly want to.

“But now every book can be self-published, so there is just too much stuff out there.”

Well yes, there is too much for anyone to ever hope to read more than a tiny percentage of the books that they might potentially enjoy. But returning to the artist/writer analogy; self publishing a book is really just like putting a frame around a painting, merely a practical way of making it easier for your audience to access your work should they wish to.

If only one person ever read your book and enjoyed it – or maybe if you simply enjoyed writing it – wouldn’t that be justification enough for doing it? Even if you fear that your writings seem mundane now, that doesn’t mean they will seem that way to anyone who might come across them in fifty or a hundred years time. Then your book may be providing a fascinating glimpse into the past, just as a painting produced today might make the perfect decoration for a house in the twenty second century.

Authors' Electric Dreams Blogspot

Today I have written a short introduction to my electronic activities with "The Fabulous Dreams of Maggie de Beer" on a website called "Do Authors Dream of Electric Books?" - http://authorselectric.blogspot.com/ .
Because publishing books electronically is not hard - and because it is fun to do - millions of writers are now plunging like lemmings into the icy waters. The big question remains, just as in traditional publishing - how do we make our voices heard above such a mighty competitive roar?
Just as high streets shops, newspaper review sections and Richard and Judy helped to focus people's attention onto traditional books, sites like this one are starting to give some structure to the babble of this gigantic, sprawling, exciting new marketplace.

My Editor Gently Weeps

I find myself in the interesting position this week of having two hardback books I have ghosted coming out from two different publishers on virtually the same day, and competing pretty much for the same shelf space.

Both are strong contenders for chart success, (although I know enough never to bank on anything). “For the Love of Julie” by Ann Ming is such a powerful and moving story that our editor informed me she wept all the way through the editing process, while the publication of “Disgraced” by Saira Ahmed is potentially so life-threatening to the author that she has had to be shrouded in layer upon layer of disguise.

Ann Ming is the redoubtable Yorkshire mother who set about changing the law of double jeopardy in order to see her daughter’s murderer brought to justice. The manner in which her daughter died and the way in which Ann herself found the body would have been enough to defeat most of us, rendering us unable to function like normal, thinking human beings, but Ann is made of some of the sternest stuff I have ever come across. It is an absolutely stunning story and it’s making me water up just to think about it.

Born and brought up in Britain, Saira Ahmed escaped from an arranged marriage back in Pakistan and then went secretly on the game in Britain in order to make enough money to settle debts run up by her parents and dissolute brothers. Any young Muslim girl from a strict family will understand just what risks Saira has taken and how extraordinary her courage is.

Ann’s story is published by Harpers Element and Saira’s by Headline Review, both highly experienced and skilful publishers of these sorts of human interest tales. So, now the race is on.