Tony Earnshaw's Blog, page 18

This week, a book launch

Another step along the road. The first book launch. A celebration. Almost an opening night. Certainly a thrill.

We had a lovely crowd of people, drawn from many parts of my life, past and present. Poets, authors, investment people, neighbours, friends, family. My good friend Bob Vance chaired the evening, and kept us in order. The introductory talk went well, the readings from the book even better, and there were lots of questions. A very encouraging and convivial gathering. And we sold a few books.

I’m repeating the exercise next month in the same place and also doing a similar event in London at the Phoenix Club (17th and 18th July respectively). All welcome – contact me for details.

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Let the wildflowers grow

After a week of much activity I was struck by the beauty of a few wild flowers growing on a verge. It made me think about all I’ve been doing this week. It’s a long list which includes a trip to Bristol for a meeting of Terrestrial, the arts company I’m involved with; a meeting of production company Damn Cheek; discussions with Brooklands Radio and Bradford’s Telegraph and Argus about my book; pension scheme negotiations with my trustee hat on; preparations for a concert this weekend; and much more.

All this is good, positive, activity but does it leave time to let the wild flowers grow? As a writer my most productive time this week was when I was sitting on the train to London for the Damn Cheek meeting. Several poems drafted out. Wild flowers that were allowed to grow because I was unable to get on with being busy.

So what am I going to do with this insight? Try, not for the first time, to build in ‘wild flower’ time into my day. In the process become a little more productive. And remember to chill a little – there’s a verse in the Bible, which I’m sure at least one of the characters in Blessed Assurance would quote at this point – ‘Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin, yet even King Solomon in all his glory is not arrayed like one of these’. Perhaps I’ll leave it there.

Blessed Assurance is available on https://amzn.to/2Hsktu8 

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Threats and opportunities

Denbies Hillside from just below Steers Field

I’ve attended two meetings in the last couple of days about threats, one about cyber crime, about which more another time, and one about the climate emergency. The landscape picture above was once a sea. Could it be again? Well, probably not but a lot of coastal land could be as we know. With governments slow to act and some drastic changes to lifestyle needed it would be easy to despair. For some reason we don’t. Most of us seem to be among the stoics, which is probably a good thing, provided it doesn’t lead to complacency.

Many would argue that complacency is exactly what stoicism has lead to. That and the cynicism which has been fed by the climate change deniers. All of which made me think about my responsibility as a writer. Why do I write? The easy answers are because I’m driven to do so, or because I have things I want say, issues I want to explore, I have a need to share or to communicate. All true, but do I have a responsibility to address existential threats like the Climate Emergency, or can I just entertain? You won’t find anything about it in Blessed Assurance, but then that reflects that it was a background issue for most people until relatively recently and the book ends a few years ago. Not many, but enough. There are lots of other issues addressed and I’m pretty sure my characters would have strong views on the subject and would disagree about how to tackle it. And I do feel that the arts, whether it be theatre, books, or any other form, should be about raising questions and provoking thought, and not about providing answers.

Which takes me back to why I’m not despairing. Feelings expressed at the meeting included concern, anxiety, anger that we’d let it go this far, but also a determination to act, to change and to encourage others, not least the politicians. And reading Josef Stiglitz on the New Green Deal being proposed for the USA raised some hope for better things. Once Trump is history of course…

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Magic moments

Some moments are special. Like the one where you turn a corner and are confronted by Rhododendrons in bloom, or are surrounded by butterflies while walking the dog. Both happened to me this week. Some Adonis Blues too. But the moment that really felt special was when I first held a copy of Blessed Assurance in my hands. Now it was real. All that work, the writing and rewriting, the editing and typesetting, the design and blurb writing had all paid off. And did I mention the rewrites?

Now I have a physical book, and an e book, available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iTunes and the rest. And in book shops soon. Launch planning is well under way, I’m on various forms of social media and numerous people have ordered on line ( the Amazon link is https://amzn.to/2Hsktu8 . Launch attendees and those I see from day to day can get one direct from me and that’s preferable). Now I just have to hope for some decent reviews and sales – and can get on with the next writing project as well.

Launch events will be in North Holmwood on the 19th June and 17th July and in London (the Phoenix Arts Club) on the 18th July. There will also be an event at Book Potato in Leatherhead in July and an evening in October as part of Arts Alive. Anyone who hasn’t had details of these events, and wants to come along, just let me know. In the meantime I’m just going to have a look at my book.

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Tapas and the Edwardians

All my own work…

I spent a very enjoyable day cooking tapas last week. A day away from the pressures of pension scheme funding, book publication and the rest and an opportunity to learn a new skill. I was on a one day course at the Abinger Cookery School and the dishes I produced included braised octopus and chorizo, Andalusian Chicken, Patatas Bravas and spicy meatballs. When I say ‘I produced’ there was a lot of guidance and help from their head chef, Jake Pinn. Needless to say, he didn’t have to help me eat the results – in fact I’d demolished half of it before remembering to take a photo.

The Tapas experience prompted a number of thoughts. First, the sheer variety of cuisines we now take for granted. When I was growing up we were much more insular and foreign food was viewed with suspicion. We’ve come a long way since then, even if some of us seem to want to retreat into insularity again.

The second thought was how varied creativity is. I spend a lot of time writing – plays, poems, the novel – and a lot of time playing music and singing but probably not enough time creating with my hands, or using other senses – taste, smell, sight. A few days later I was at a meeting in Farnham of arts practitioners from across the county and was impressed, as always, by the range of people’s activities and skills and by the projects involving co authorship with people who would not consider themselves creative.

This last was a bit of an antidote to a feeling which has dogged me lately, a sense that we are living in a bubble with is about to burst. A lot has been written about the Edwardian Summer which preceded the First World War and the way that the peace and certainties of the time were shattered by the wartime experience, the trenches, the gas, the devastating mortality rate. As we enjoy a peaceful existence now with access to a range of leisure activities, cuisines, art forms, entertainment and sport, I’m aware of the dire consequences of inactivity on climate change which may be about to shatter our certainties, our lifestyles and our peace.

I am aware of course that there are many who do not share these benefits, don’t have access to all of this, and that is a stain on the way we have moved in the last 40 years, but that was also true in Edwardian times. Creativity can help in both these areas – by communicating, expressing, educating and by involving a wide range of participants, not just the privileged few.

So I’m encouraged – by the artists I met, by the youngsters I saw this morning with their climate protest placards, and by the hope that we can turn all this around. In the meantime I’ll not stop eating the tapas – or celebrating the fact that Blessed Assurance is now out!

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Pebbles, poets and potatoes

I was musing on poets and publication as I walked the dog between Goring and Ferring at the weekend. This stretch of coast is not only home territory for two of the main characters in the book, Anne and Liza, but familiar territory to me and it struck me that a knowledge of place can be an inspiration and a secure base in both poetry and prose.

Poetry was especially on my mind with the announcement that Simon Armitage is to be the new Poet Laureate. An excellent choice in my view. A well rounded and grounded poet, a distinctive voice and one who will speak for diversity, will be public facing and accessible, and will use his stipend to contribute to the response to climate change. And he’s a Yorkshireman.

I’ve read much of his work. Not just the collections of poems but also his translations of the Arthurian stories and his books on walking and poetry. I found his approach to Gawain and the Green Knight particularly helpful when I was co writing the libretto for a choral piece on George and the Dragon and his narrative on walking the Pennine Way supported by poetry readings is inspiring ( https://amzn.to/2VpYTdP ).

I’ve also been working on leading a session about Charles Causeley for my local group of poets. Causeley was described as the best poet laureate we never had and well respected by his peers despite using traditional forms of poetry which were out of fashion. A lifelong Cornishman, his poems burst with intelligence, passion and a sense of place.

So what have potatoes got to do with all this? A new independent bookshop has opened in Leatherhead and I chatted to Tom, one of the owners, about Blessed Assurance earlier this week. They have a focus on independent publishers and local writers, a vision for a bookshop which is a hub for readers and I will be working with them as the book comes out. And the name of the shop is Book Potato.

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Typesetting, and a world of music

Another busy week as we inch closer to publication. The latest stage in the process has been the typesetting. Another task I’m glad not to have to do myself, although I did have to check it through and approve. Fortunately, not much needed changing and we’re now onto the next stage – full print jacket design and ebook files.

In the meantime I’ve been getting out the invitations to my local launches (London will follow) and discussing the content of the evening. I’m pleased to say that initial responses have been very positive and the exercise has thrown up opportunities to catch up with people I haven’t spoken with for a while.

Other activities this week have included updating the Facebook page and trying, so far without success, to get my Instagram account to link to Facebook. A minor tribulation but the frustrations always seem to be on line ones. On the other hand, the benefits of the web have been apparent as I have been sourcing poems from around the world to form part of the programmes of the latest concert from Brockham Choral Society. An interesting process, with potential poems from a mix that includes Betjeman, Belloc, Heaney and Basho, not to mention Dorothy Parker and Maya Angelou. Some rousing, some moving, some funny, I don’t know how many will make the final cut but they should complement the choir’s programme nicely and make for a good evening.

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Friendship

The New Ways Kenya Bike Ride 2006. Photo by Stuart Glass

I was going to write about something completely different today but I had news this morning that Stuart, an old friend, had died and it seemed inappropriate to write about anything else.

I have of course been musing on friendship anyway as it’s a major theme of my book but the friendships in the book are of the ‘childhood and rest of life’ variety and I only met Stuart in my 40s when we kept bumping into each other at the squash club (not on court; I couldn’t aspire to his standard) and in the local church. We discovered that we were in the same industry and met up from time to time. Stuart was a headhunter and I became a candidate for one of his assignments – a successful one, which propelled me out of the comfortable rut I was in and gave me some interesting new challenges and some great people to work with.

Stuart was a keen mountain biker and ran a number of charity bike events, with the result that we cycled both off road and on road in Kenya for New Ways, a charity we both supported which focusses on sub Saharan Africa, especially Turkana ( http://www.newways.org.uk ). When I agreed to do the first ride I’d not really ridden a bike for 30 years but, with his encouragement, his organisation of training rides, his advice and his friendship I managed a week of tough riding in the heat of the African sun. For Stuart was an encourager, the sort of cyclist who will shoot up the tough hills and then come back down to encourage the laggards. And encouraging, mentoring and networking remained his focus until illness took over.

We had some good times, drank a lot of coffee together, reminisced and planned. We continued to do so in the early stages of his Alzheimers, when he seems to show much bravery and a sense of humour in the face of what he knew must follow.

Sadly, he is now gone but I will always remember his encouragement, his humour and his friendship. And his courage. And not least, the importance of friendship.

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Edits and launches

With some relief, I finished checking through the edits on Blessed Assurance and moved on to other things for a few days. The editing process was a revelation. An immense amount of work, most of it by Andrea the editor rather than by me, though I still had to go through her thousands of edits and accept or reject. So what did I learn?

First, that the number of edits shown in the ‘track changes’ box is, in a sense, exaggerated. Changing from a full stop and new sentence to a colon or semicolon and a continued sentence is 5 edits as each step is shown separately. Second, that the easiest way of dealing with it was simply to go through and focus on the edits I wanted to reject, then accept the rest en bloc. And third, that a new pair of eyes, especially those of a professional editor, sees things that have been missed and it’s a worthwhile process.

So what edits did I reject? Mainly those where I disagreed on the new sentence question. Most of these were in sections of dialogue, where I had been careful to make the characters speak normally, and not in perfectly grammatical sentences – and the editor wanted to make it grammatical. Other rejections were stylistic, when I wanted a certain effect and she was losing that effect. The rejections were not a high proportion though and the formatting has benefitted hugely.

The editor also raised queries regarding names, consistency and continuity which were very helpful. One query was the accuracy of the timing of an argument about gay marriage and related to the time period in which the book was set. I had it right in that instance, but a reference to Justin Welby as Archbishop had to be changed to Rowan Williams a little later.

Edits agreed, the process of typesetting has now commenced. Next stage, and each one bringing the final product that bit closer.

In the meantime, I have been sorting out dates and times for launch events. Two in Dorking, in June and July, and one in London at the Phoenix Arts Club, possibly also in July. Watch this space.

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Networks of writers

As publication date looms I’ve found a whole world of author networks and channels to work through in getting the book noticed. Some of these are very commercial but many are enablers and supporters. I’ve recently joined the Alliance of Independent Authors which means I can tap into the experience and knowledge of many others who have trod the same route. And I’ve just added the Independent Author Network – and already seen much activity on Twitter as a result.

Of course, this only adds to the support I’ve had over the years from other writers I know personally. The scriptwriters and poets in the Mole Valley, my colleagues in Damn Cheek and others. I sought advice from Stephen Hayward, an old city colleague who has needed a forensic mindset to deal with financial crime and turned that to good use in writing crime novels – not least Mickey Take ( see  https://amzn.to/2WDgEXY  ) – and Cathy Evans, another old City hand whose first novel, The Wrong ‘Un casts a new light on the idea of a dysfunctional family ( https://amzn.to/2FPX7xS ).

So where have I got to? Cover design done. Launch dates booked, the first ones anyway. Contact lists sorted. Website updated. Editing nearly done. An Author page set up on Amazon – though without the crucial information on the book for now. Next step is to think about publicity, invitations to launches and much more. Time for an Easter break?

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