Aly Monroe's Blog, page 12

Ludwig & Norbert

Despite my intentions on April 29 (see previous post 'Northern Brightness') I have since succumbed, and read Sally's in the Alley by Norbert Davis (The Rue Morgue Press). As I said then, apparently Wittgenstein was a fan of Norbert's language, his humour, and his lack of sentimentality.

What this description doesn't make clear is the extraordinary separation of the hard-boiled from the low-down in the book. According to Jack Adrian (pseudonym of Christopher Lauder), Norbert Davis' "fatal flaw"...

Tinned Pears

Two Saturdays ago, 1918 met 2009, when my father-in-law met his fifth great-grandchild again. The meeting was amiable and involved quite a lot of 'and the little one said roll over, roll over', and the very amusing sound/word 'oink'.

I mention this because of a recent conversation I had with a reader on the term 'historical novel'.

Throughout the history of the novel, any number of writers, Henry James, for example, have believed that it is not possible to write historical novels with any claim...

Northern Brightness

Among the delights of research are the incidental finds. Washington Shadow is set in 1945, at a time when John Maynard Keynes was in Washington trying to raise a loan to keep the British economy afloat after the end of Lend-Lease.

This is a quote from the philosopher Wittgenstein. 'The one way in which the ending of Lend-lease really limits me is by producing a shortage of detective mags in this country. I can only hope Lord Keynes will make this quite clear in Washington'.

Now I already knew t...

Peter Cotton - Cadiz, Washington … and London

On Tuesday April 13, I signed a contract for another two Peter Cotton books with John Murray. Given that the verbal agreement dates back to January, I ignored any superstitious stuff (Martes Trece is the Spanish equivalent of Friday 13) and pressed ahead.

The two books are scheduled to be published around April 2011 and April 2012. There are some changes, most notably in length. I remember a previous post answering queries on how long my books were and saying I had been asked for seventy...

When The Third Man Met the Third Person

I have been asked, a lot, why I picked the surname Cotton for the protagonist of my novels. It is not a signally heroic sort of name. No Spade, Laidlaw or Reacher. Nor is it the obvious name of an anti-hero.

Perhaps I should have made things clearer, because people have also said – ah, you mean he 'cottons on'? Actually no, I didn't have catching on in mind. Others have mentioned one of Peter Rabbit's siblings – Cottontail. Kindly, they don't mention Flopsy. But again, Beatrix Potter, so admir...

Scarlett and Mia

Recently, I received an email from a reader asking me about the origin of one of my characters in Washington Shadow. Writers are often asked questions like this - and they are not always easy to answer. Where do the characters come from? Out of your head, of course. But how?

In both The Maze of Cadiz and Washington Shadow, none of the speaking characters were based directly on real people. Some of my characters grew from a stray phrase, or a tone of voice heard long ago. Place these voices in ...

Washington Shadow - Paperback Cover

The paperback of Washington Shadow, is due out in August - in time for holiday reading!

This is the new cover to look out for.

The Maze of Cadiz Audiobook Review

Another review of The Maze of Cadiz, this time for the audiobook, appeared in Saturday's Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/feb/27/audiobooks-bomber-war-horseVery nice to get. My thanks to Jonathan Keeble for allowing audiobook listeners to enjoy it.

Siege Mentality - Open and Shut Genres

Recently I wrote two blog posts on Javier Marías, a writer for whom words are (almost) everything.

This one involves Arturo Pérez Reverte, another Spanish writer, for whom, to round this out in a shorthand way, plot is (almost) everything. Although his historical research, particularly in technical matters, is extraordinarily thorough, and he has a great love of the Spanish language in the Golden Age, Pérez Reverte's priority in his books is to move the story on, and the writing can skate on c...

E-books and Musings on the Future

Elliott Hall, author of the innovative and very well reviewed ("a knock-out debut") The First Stone (part of the Strange Trilogy), which is just out in paperback, has written an excellent account of the recent Amazon- Macmillan dispute, an appraisal of the whole E-book issue and possible implications for us all, in a series of three blog posts.

Interesting reading for all authors, editors and agents and anyone interested in the future of publishing and the book business in general.

Take a look:...