Aly Monroe's Blog, page 7

Two Days to Publication Day for Icelight

Just two days to go before the official publication day for Icelight - although it is already available on Amazon UK both as a hardback and on kindle.
If you live in the US, you will have to wait until December 15th before it is available on amazon.com - again both in hardback and kindle. but in the meantime, perhaps you might like to read how I met the "real" Peter Cotton - here.
I am working hard on 'Black Bear' -not long to go!

Less than two weeks to publication date for Icelight

Less than two weeks to go to publication date.

Over on Shots Ezine - click here - you can read about how childhood memories of Purley, Croydon and London contributed to the setting and story of 'Icelight'

Over on Goodreads, more people - readers and writers - have joined our chat. To see what everyone is talking about, click here

Looters storm streets to get a copy of To Kill a Tsar

Today is paperback publication day for To Kill a Tsar by Andrew Williams - Congratulations Andrew!
To see the effect it is having, click on this link
http://pic.twitter.com/NQY3Zvby
Andrew and I are chatting over on Good reads - see our initial chat in my previous post.We have now been joined by novelists Elliott Hall and Laurence O'Brien, as well as a number of readers from both the UK and the US. To see how the conversation is developing, click here

The Role of History in the Making of Stories

Over on Goodreads, Andrew Williams and I chat about The Role of History in the Making of Stories - and other things - and we will be available to chat and answer questions for the next few weeks. For those of you who are not on Goodreads, here is our chat. We'd love to hear your comments and answer any of your questions, so you can either do that by commenting here on this blog, or, if you are a member, join the group on Goodreads.

Andrew's book The Poison Tide will be published in 2012. To Kill A Tsar is published in paperback on September 29th 2011.

My latest book, Icelight, the third in the Peter Cotton series, is published on October 13th 2011. Black Bear will be published late in 2012.

Here is our chat:

Novelists Aly Monroe, author of The Maze of Cadiz, Washington Shadow and Icelight, and Andrew Williams, author of The Interrogator and To Kill a Tsar, chat about the role of history in the making of their stories. Both were shortlisted for the 2010 CWA Ellis Peters Historical Fiction Award

Aly: You told me your parents were history teachers. How much was history a part of your childhood, and how much does it give you your ideas?

Andrew: Lots and lots. I've always been fascinated by the past. Yes, my parents were history teachers and I think I could name the buildings of a medieval monastery by the time I was ten.

Aly: A bit of a history geek from an early age then?

Andrew: I did like football too. But all my stories draw on real people and events. Sometimes I change names, sometimes I don't. Of course, I'm telling a story so I tinker with the facts, but I hate making mistakes with the history. I mean, I'm happy to repaint people and events just as long as I know why I'm doing it. If I am economical with the actualité you'll find the reason in the historical note at the back of the book. I feel a responsibility to the history, and so do the writers I admire most. It's a shocking cliché, I know, but truth is often – I would say 'usually' – stranger and more compelling that pure fiction, at least as a big backdrop.

By the way, I'm not sure I think of myself as a historical novelist, just a thriller writer who sets his stories in the recent past.

Aly: My case is a little different. My parents weren't history teachers (though my father started out as a university teacher), but my grandparents on both sides were immigrants, and I think this may have influenced me in a number of ways – not only my interest in the recent past but also in half belonging to other places.

My books are set just within living memory. So the history part of what I write often begins with things I have heard directly from people who had experience of the time and events I'm writing about. This provides a springboard for research. This was the case with The Maze of Cadiz, when people in Spain talked to me of their experiences under the Franco regime. It was also the case for the initial idea of the Peter Cotton series - and the character of Peter Cotton himself.

Andrew: So what especially attracts you about the past rather than the present day for your stories?

Aly: I'm interested in how people are moulded by the particular time and place that they inhabit, and how they react to it. Readers have their own backgrounds and have lived, or more likely know people who have lived, through the time described. It's more Grandpa than Cleopatra's handmaiden because I like that living link. Asps are fine, but women using pencils to draw a false stocking seam on their wartime legs is also interesting, as is the knicker elastic problem post war.

What about you?

Andrew: I am interested in ordinary people's lives in extraordinary times; in wars, periods of political upheaval or revolution, above all in conflict.

I have only a passing academic interest in the swords and sandals history of the distant past. I understand my characters because the world they inhabit isn't so very different from mine. I can imagine my Great-Great Grandfather Jesse Williams following events in Russia in his newspaper. He might have read the reports of The Times' correspondent in Petersburg, George Dobson. Well, when I was researching To Kill, I read Dobson's dispatches too. All the sources necessary to flesh out the bones of the history are there. I have the context for the love, friendship, hope, despair, betrayal and grief that are common to all lives, and those are the things that interest me most. The recent past of my stories doesn't seem such a foreign country. Not so foreign I can't ask of myself and the reader: what would you do if y

Sound Effects and Locksmiths

Recent articles about whether we want to hear sound effects when reading Ebooks made me feel uneasy, and I've been trying to work out what was bothering me.

When we read fiction, each one of us creates a mental impression – which has both visual and auditory elements, albeit tenuous, hovering on the edge of our perception – of the characters and the story. This is what makes reading a highly personal experience, and what makes it exciting. Reading is a solitary, outwardly quiet activity, but inwardly it is an act of imagination, the reader's personal relationship and interaction with a written text and an author's voice. Wouldn't a soundtrack intrude on that process? Give us a someone else's reactions to what we are reading before we have time to construct our own?

I've always been interested in the way film music can influence our response to a film. Many years ago I saw a television programme with André Previn giving us something of a master class on this. He was married to Mia Farrow at the time and to demonstrate his point, he had filmed a simple scene which consisted of Mia Farrow sitting at a table. She was still, and the expression on her face was completely neutral. We were shown this first without music, then with different musical accompaniment. What was striking was that, depending on the music, she looked happy, irritated, anxious or scared. We knew it was the same piece of film – but the different sound tracks were playing tricks on our eyes and our impressions. We were being presented with a series of ready-made interpretations of the scene.

During the years that I was a teacher, I noticed that the way young people recounted films they had seen or books they had read underwent a definite change. What later pupils gave over was a series of images (often with sound effects included) – but without the verbal 'sutures of sense' which, at least from a traditional point of view, give form, structure and time to a narrative. This meant that I was often no wiser as to what the story was 'about' – perhaps in fact, missing the point?

I noticed that this reflected the pacing of the films they were watching – one sensation following another without slowing it all down by going into the whys and hows of the story (as the books I am presently writing attempt to answer the whys and the hows, I find this particularly interesting). It also reflected the sound tracks of the films. Film music itself, at least popular film music, has changed over the decades. It now has much less 'narrative shape' and is constructed more around recurring riffs - also used (although I am no expert) in video games. What I find particularly interesting is the effect this might be having on our brains and our relationship with narrative. Does it mean, for example, that the synapses enabling us to relate cause and effect are not being developed in the same way? Is a new grammar of thought emerging – much more about sensation and juxtaposition than about cause and effect and context? And does this have an effect on people's reactions to the world and their actions?

Of course, people are reading less than before. People receive information and entertainment in other ways. The reading experience is moving on from paper to other media. But just as the printed word revolutionised access to written material and also led to people having less retentive memories ( a necessary feature and bi-product of an oral tradition) , I suspect that the present changes we are witnessing will have a comparable effect on our brains, how we perceive things, and our interpretative faculties . Is this bad? Not necessarily – just different. But if we add a pre-prepared soundtrack to our reading, we are surely running the risk of cramping the development of our imagination. And that feels wrong.

It is about the value we place on reading. And the extent to which people are unaware they are being manipulated.

Recently I have been watching with some fascination my now two-year-old grandson's relationship with stories and narrative. A lot of the new words and phrases he incorporates into his speech come from his favourite stories. But before he came to visit this summer with his parents, he had introduced us, via Skype, to his enthusiasm for the Jungle Book, acquired through viewing the Disney film version, and would enact and recount the scenes with great enthusiasm. So I decided to hunt down a hardback version of the book with illustrations, which I found, second-hand on Amazon. The book was nicely produced, but, I had to admit, the line drawings were not too much like the Disney images, so I was curious to see the reaction. It took him a couple of minutes as he turned the pages, but then his face lit up and he happily pointed out Baloo, Bagheera, Mowgli and Shere Khan.

You could say he's lucky, of course. I live in a flat in Edinburgh. There is a flat below us and a flat above, and there is a common entrance. Yesterday evening, quite early, there was a loud bang. At that stage there was no narrative. A dog barked, some noise on the stairs.

Later that evening and this morning, some narrative was provided. A burglar of the 'opportunist' type broke into the main entrance. One lock gone. He tried our upstairs neighbours' flat. They were in, heard a scraping noise, but not more. A second lock spoiled. I don't know why the burglar ignored us but he did. He went downstairs. Our downstairs neighbour heard scratching and as he went to the door it flew open and the burglar fell forward flat on his opportunistic face. He then fled. That's three out of four locks broken, nothing stolen – and the police know who he is. I'm not sure why they call him an opportunist, but locksmiths on Sunday call-out must be doing well.

So last night I understood the sound effects. It's the narrative that's poor – and expensive.

Somehow I don't think our opportunistic burglar has read the Jungle Book.

Read a taster of Icelight

With the publication date of Icelight drawing closer (13 October), I'm gradually making changes to the website - www.alymonroe.com.

If you'd like to, you can read a Q&A about the book and an extract.You will also find a link to the first advance review.

Look out for more additions in the next days.

ASLA Party Edinburgh Book Fest.

This year I haven't been to anything at the Edinburgh Book Festival - I've been following it from afar, partly due to various visits and other occupations - but last night I went to the party hosted by the Association of Scottish Literary Agents. In spite of the rainy evening there was a pretty good turnout (though some habitual faces missing - where was my acquaintance and fellow writer from Inverness, Erica Munro who I chat to every year at this party?). I have to admit that, as I was going in, I was relieved to see someone bearing a tray with glasses of wine rather than the cider of the previous year. A good move.

I had interesting chats with familiar and new faces too many to mention (learning along the way that the South Africans are preparing themselves to set up a tabloid press ... ), but including, Bob McDevett of Hachette Scotland, and author, agent and E-book expert extraordinaire Allan Guthrie. Interesting times – instructive and illuminating conversations with both of them. I also had a lovely long chat with agent and ASLA Secretary Lindsey Fraser, finally met Nicola Morgan, and was delighted to see that the talented Shona, formerly intern for my agent Maggie McKernan, is beginning to make her way in the publishing world. And of course, as ever, young Leo Gordon, son of Maggie, about to start secondary school at the Edinburgh Academy, handing round the plates of smoked salmon with panache, soaking up the info in the conversations, and(the only one being paid!) negotiating the price of his services with his mother. One to watch for the future.

I Confess

I am rapidly becoming a fan of the Los Angeles Review of Books. It is, reportedly, the first major book review to be launched in the 21st century. The site's first post, The Death of the Book, by Ben Ehrenreich, heralded the start of what is in fact a celebration of the continuing life of books – and the serious consideration of books.

It was started by Tom Lutz, and American writer and literary critic, presently Professor of Creative Writing and Media and Cultural Studies at University of California Riverside, in response to the shrinking space allotted to book reviews in the newspapers, to challenge the New York-centric emphasis on the literary world in the US and to include the diversity of literature being produced beyond the boundaries of the NY publishing world.

What you can view now is the temporary site, but when the full website is launched later this year, it will include an array of multimedia content, embracing new technologies for delivering books and 'fostering the conversation about books and culture'.

While recognising the excellent contribution made by online blogs, the LARB's aim is to make good use of professional journalists and critics who have been casualties of the reduced newspaper space, and to produce a 'curated' site, including different reviews, opinions and viewpoints, of new, classic and forgotten works by famous and unknown contributors from all over the world. They 'hope to be of national and international interest, and to cover the national and international book scene'.

What is particularly refreshing for me is the eclectic nature of the content and the even-handed seriousness and respect that is given to widely different material and genres.

So far on the site you can find content ranging from philosophy to noir fiction, from biography to comics, from Heinrich Böll to Keith Richards, from Buster Keaton to Simone Weil, from Ross Macdonald to Nancy Mitford, from David Foster Wallace to Stephen King, and covering books published by publishers as varied as Virago, Little Brown, Busted Flush Press, Yale university and Black Lizard.

See for yourself. You will certainly find something you are interested in if you look – and if you are as curious and open-minded as the LARB, you may come across something you didn't even realise might attract you.

I read recently of something called the Heffington Post – a Daly Mail-backed and very belated response and alternative to the Huffington Post. No sign in Britain yet of anything as remotely energetic and inclusive as the LARB.

I Confess I am rapidly becoming a fan of the Los Angeles...

I Confess

I am rapidly becoming a fan of the Los Angeles Review of Books. It is, reportedly, the first major book review to be launched in the 21st century. The site's first post, "The Death of the Book," by Ben Ehrenreich, heralded the start of what is in fact a celebration of the continuing life of books, and the serious consideration of books.

It was started by Tom Lutz, an American writer and literary critic, presently Professor of Creative Writing and Media & Cultural Studies at University of California, Riverside, in response to the shrinking space allotted to book reviews in the newspapers, to challenge the New York-centric emphasis on the literary world in the US, and to include the diversity of literature being produced beyond the boundaries of the NY publishing world.

What you can view now is the temporary site, but when the full website is launched later this year, it will include an array of multimedia content, embracing new technologies for delivering books and 'fostering the conversation about books and culture'.

While recognising the excellent contribution made by online blogs, the LARB's aim is to make good use of professional journalists and critics, some of whom have been casualties of the reduced newspaper space, and to produce a 'curated site', including different reviews, opinions and viewpoints, of new, classic, and forgotten works by famous and unknown contributors from all over the world. They 'hope to be of national and international interest, and to cover the national and international book scene.'

What is particularly refreshing for me is the eclectic nature of the content, and the even-handed seriousness and respect which is given to widely different material and genres.

So far on the site, you can find content ranging from philosophy to noir fiction, from biography to comics, from Heinrich Böll to Keith Richards, from Buster Keaton to Simone Weil, from Ross Macdonald to Nancy Mitford, from David Foster Wallace to Stephen King, and covering books published by publishers as varied as Virago, Penguin, Little Brown, The Busted Flush Press, Yale University Press and Black Lizard.

See for yourself. You will certainly find something you are interested in if you look – and, if you are as curious and open-minded as the LARB, you may come across something you didn't even realise might attract you.

I read recently of something called the Heffington Post – a Daily Mail backed and very belated response and alternative to the Huffington Post. No sign in Britain yet of anything as remotely energetic and inclusive as LARB.

Eggs – Class and Genre

Thanks to Donna Moore at Big Beat from Badsville for pointing me towards Philip Hensher's piece in the Daily Telegraph on genre fiction, and for her subsequent reaction to it.

For what they are worth here are a couple of reflections from a grandmother who writes.

From time to time I meet up for coffee with another John Murray stablemate who lives in Edinburgh. Now there are very savvy writers who aim for a market. Rather more innocently we both began just writing a book and were later a mix of surprised, intrigued and just a little wary that both our novels had been classed as 'thrillers'.

Genre left Aristotle a long time ago, certainly by the time bookshops started. Now there are as many genres in novels as types of pop music. There is a kind of marketing taxonomy. After a little research, I note my books get 'thriller', sometimes preceded by 'war', sometimes by 'political', but also contemporary fiction, general and literary, modern fiction, historical, crime and mystery – and others depending on where you're looking.

I see that Philip Henshers' latest novel King of the Badgers, published 31 March 2011, is variously described as campus comedy, social portraiture, black comedy and satire, contemporary fiction, and general and literary fiction.

At one level the classification is supposedly a guide to help possible readers. At another marketing people are not there to undersell. A little accuracy might help however – grand or misleading claims don't encourage this reader.

The point is however that everything is now genre. Even 'literary'. See above.

Of course, this being Britain, the genre system meshes in with the class system. Class has always been of inordinate interest in the UK. It attracts notice and can induce frothing at the mouth.

I don't want to say that Mr Hensher was writing to annoy. He was writing to be talked about. In the same way, Martin Amis has a tendency to go public with a suggestion or two around publication time. If I remember, the last one was to put euthanasia booths at street corners.

Mr Hensher was also writing around the time of the 'broadening' of the Booker Long List. It's called talking up, getting people's interest, nominally at least, pointing towards books.

I am pretty sure some of the best-selling authors mentioned in such articles – Lee Child and Ian Rankin, for example, - know this very well and play their part. I am not suggesting for a moment that they are insincere. But they do get talked about.

Now I hesitate to call the genre debate a load of old eggs but the curate has been pretty busy and I am now calling time, for me anyway, on any more.

Or to put it another way, if this debate were a book, I'd have put it aside.