Neil Spring's Blog, page 4
August 24, 2013
BRITAIN'S SPOOKIEST PLACES
(From the Daily Express, 23 Aug 2013)
1 BORLEY RECTORY, ESSEX
Footsteps in empty rooms, a human skull in the library, lights in unoccupied parts of the building, slamming shutters, locking and unlocking doors, vanishing keys, ringing bells, mysterious voices, writing on the walls, a headless coachman and a phantom nun: Borley Rectory has everything you want from a haunted house. Despite being burnt down and demolished in 1939 it still holds the reputation of being Britain's most haunted place. Today the focus of paranormal activity has shifted to the nearby medieval church where organ music played by no living hand has been heard to entertain the empty pews.
2 THE TOWER OF LONDON
Charles Dickens called it "the stronghold of ghosts". There have been reports of 54 separate hauntings at the Tower, from full-blown apparitions to some supernaturally unpleasant smells. The most famous ghosts include Henry VIII's unfortunate wife Anne Boleyn - beheaded here in 1536 - and Sir Walter Raleigh, imprisoned for years in the Bloody Tower. The most heart-rending are the ghosts of the two young princes murdered in 1483 by Richard III and said to still walk together hand in hand. The Wakefield Tower is thought to be haunted by the ghost of Henry VI and on the anniversary of his death his mournful figure is said to pace around until the clock strikes midnight. The White Tower is haunted by the White Lady who has been seen waving at groups of schoolchildren. Her perfume lingers and the scent of it has made numerous guards physically ill. The most bizarre non-human entity that has been reported was of a moving glass tube of swirling blue liquid seen in the Martin Tower. In 1817 it scared the life out of Edmund Swifte, keeper of the Crown Jewels, and his wife.
3 PENDLE HILL, LANCASHIRE
TV's Most Haunted brought this hill to national attention with its Halloween special filmed in and around the area. Team members felt as though they were being strangled, one claimed to be possessed and presenter Yvette Fielding screamed as a seance went horribly wrong. What brought them here was a 1612 witchcraft panic that had led to the hanging of 10 people on Gallows Hill near Williamson Park. Accused of murder by magic the alleged witches met at the now lost Malkin Tower in Pendle Forest but many other landmarks connected with the story are still standing and, like Lancaster Castle where they were incarcerated, are open to visitors. Every Halloween people still climb the hill looking for the Witches' Sabbath meeting.
4 BLICKLING HALL, NORFOLK
On May 19 every year a coach races up the long drive to this magnificent Jacobean hall. A headless coachman whips the headless horses and inside sits a queen, holding her head in her hands. Anne Boleyn was born here and on the anniversary of her death she is said to return to roam Blickling until daybreak. Anne's father Sir Thomas Boleyn and her brother George, who was beheaded like Anne, are also said to haunt their former home. Other ghosts include Sir John Fastolf - model for Shakespeare's Falstaff - and politician Sir Henry Hobart. The National Trust describes Blickling as "the most haunted country house in Britain".
5 THE ANCIENT RAM INN, WOTTONUNDER-EDGE, GLOUCESTERSHIRE
Built in the 12th century on the site of a pagan burial ground where human sacrifices were once performed (or so the story goes) this rambling inn is home to some formidable spirits. The Bishop's Room is thought to be the most haunted, claiming a murdered cavalier, a woman hanging from the ceiling, two monks, two nuns, a shepherd and his dog, and a frisky demon in the bed. Throughout strange sounds such as banging, dragging, clawing, panting and growling have been reported, as well as cold spots and strange dancing lights.
6 GLAMIS CASTLE, ANGUS
"The place," said James Wentworth Day, a former Daily Express journalist and Ghost Club member, "is undoubtedly haunted." He spent several harrowing nights in the late Queen Mother's childhood home. Thought by some to be the most haunted castle in Scotland, Glamis claims a monster imprisoned in a secret room, the ghost of Earl Beardie playing cards with the Devil and the Grey Lady in the chapel. Outside a female phantom with no tongue rushes through the grounds, Jack The Runner races up the driveway, a spectre paces the Mad Earl's Walk on stormy nights and a former Lady Glamis executed for witchcraft appears above the clock tower.
7 PLUCKLEY VILLAGE, KENT
This sleepy village, used as the backdrop for the TV series The Darling Buds Of May, is guaranteed to produce more than a restless night. With 12 spooks and 10 documented investigations it holds the Guinness World Record as the most haunted village in England. Ghosts include a screaming man, a highwayman skewered to a tree at Fright Corner, a schoolmaster who hanged himself, a gin-tippling watercress seller who accidentally incinerated herself, a White Lady, a rare Red Lady and a monk.
8 CHILLINGHAM CASTLE, NORTHUMBERLAND
"It's packed with troubled souls." Before he bought the castle in 1982 Sir Humphrey Wakefield brought in a psychic. Of the ghosts he said that there were "far, far too many to deal with". Sir Humphrey ignored his warning not to buy it and is now the owner, not only of an imposing medieval castle with dungeons and torture chamber but also of the famous Blue or Radiant Boy, a White Lady, the ghost of Lady Mary Berkeley, mysterious whispering voices and more. The castle runs ghost tours and recent visitors have reported spooky goings on.
9 SKIRRID MOUNTAIN INN, LLANVIHANGEL CRUCORNEY, SOUTH WALES
Billing itself as Wales's oldest inn, the Skirrid has been serving ale since 1100. It is also claimed that more than 180 people have been hanged here, some of them possibly by the infamous Judge Jeffreys, the Hanging Judge. A hangman's noose dangles in the stairwell where the grisly deeds took place. Not surprisingly it is also believed to be haunted. Former landlady Heather Grant often had first-hand experience of the supernatural, including seeing shadows walking the corridors and dodging glasses thrown by invisible hands, while patrons have reported feeling strangled.
10 JAMAICA INN, CORNWALL
Lying on Cornwall's lonely Bodmin Moor this 18th-century coaching house was once a den of smugglers and is still home to many lost spirits. The sound of horses' hooves still clatter in the empty courtyard, ghostly footsteps echo in the corridors, disembodied voices speaking Old Cornish are heard, a man in a green cloak walks through solid doors and the phantom of a murdered man has been seen sitting on the wall outside. Visitors looking for a sleepless night should ask for either Room Four or Five, both said to be haunted.
The Ghost Hunters is published by Quercus on October 24th, you can preorder a copy today at http://amzn.to/14DhzZF
The Ghost Hunters
1 BORLEY RECTORY, ESSEX
Footsteps in empty rooms, a human skull in the library, lights in unoccupied parts of the building, slamming shutters, locking and unlocking doors, vanishing keys, ringing bells, mysterious voices, writing on the walls, a headless coachman and a phantom nun: Borley Rectory has everything you want from a haunted house. Despite being burnt down and demolished in 1939 it still holds the reputation of being Britain's most haunted place. Today the focus of paranormal activity has shifted to the nearby medieval church where organ music played by no living hand has been heard to entertain the empty pews.
2 THE TOWER OF LONDON
Charles Dickens called it "the stronghold of ghosts". There have been reports of 54 separate hauntings at the Tower, from full-blown apparitions to some supernaturally unpleasant smells. The most famous ghosts include Henry VIII's unfortunate wife Anne Boleyn - beheaded here in 1536 - and Sir Walter Raleigh, imprisoned for years in the Bloody Tower. The most heart-rending are the ghosts of the two young princes murdered in 1483 by Richard III and said to still walk together hand in hand. The Wakefield Tower is thought to be haunted by the ghost of Henry VI and on the anniversary of his death his mournful figure is said to pace around until the clock strikes midnight. The White Tower is haunted by the White Lady who has been seen waving at groups of schoolchildren. Her perfume lingers and the scent of it has made numerous guards physically ill. The most bizarre non-human entity that has been reported was of a moving glass tube of swirling blue liquid seen in the Martin Tower. In 1817 it scared the life out of Edmund Swifte, keeper of the Crown Jewels, and his wife.
3 PENDLE HILL, LANCASHIRE
TV's Most Haunted brought this hill to national attention with its Halloween special filmed in and around the area. Team members felt as though they were being strangled, one claimed to be possessed and presenter Yvette Fielding screamed as a seance went horribly wrong. What brought them here was a 1612 witchcraft panic that had led to the hanging of 10 people on Gallows Hill near Williamson Park. Accused of murder by magic the alleged witches met at the now lost Malkin Tower in Pendle Forest but many other landmarks connected with the story are still standing and, like Lancaster Castle where they were incarcerated, are open to visitors. Every Halloween people still climb the hill looking for the Witches' Sabbath meeting.
4 BLICKLING HALL, NORFOLK
On May 19 every year a coach races up the long drive to this magnificent Jacobean hall. A headless coachman whips the headless horses and inside sits a queen, holding her head in her hands. Anne Boleyn was born here and on the anniversary of her death she is said to return to roam Blickling until daybreak. Anne's father Sir Thomas Boleyn and her brother George, who was beheaded like Anne, are also said to haunt their former home. Other ghosts include Sir John Fastolf - model for Shakespeare's Falstaff - and politician Sir Henry Hobart. The National Trust describes Blickling as "the most haunted country house in Britain".
5 THE ANCIENT RAM INN, WOTTONUNDER-EDGE, GLOUCESTERSHIRE
Built in the 12th century on the site of a pagan burial ground where human sacrifices were once performed (or so the story goes) this rambling inn is home to some formidable spirits. The Bishop's Room is thought to be the most haunted, claiming a murdered cavalier, a woman hanging from the ceiling, two monks, two nuns, a shepherd and his dog, and a frisky demon in the bed. Throughout strange sounds such as banging, dragging, clawing, panting and growling have been reported, as well as cold spots and strange dancing lights.
6 GLAMIS CASTLE, ANGUS
"The place," said James Wentworth Day, a former Daily Express journalist and Ghost Club member, "is undoubtedly haunted." He spent several harrowing nights in the late Queen Mother's childhood home. Thought by some to be the most haunted castle in Scotland, Glamis claims a monster imprisoned in a secret room, the ghost of Earl Beardie playing cards with the Devil and the Grey Lady in the chapel. Outside a female phantom with no tongue rushes through the grounds, Jack The Runner races up the driveway, a spectre paces the Mad Earl's Walk on stormy nights and a former Lady Glamis executed for witchcraft appears above the clock tower.
7 PLUCKLEY VILLAGE, KENT
This sleepy village, used as the backdrop for the TV series The Darling Buds Of May, is guaranteed to produce more than a restless night. With 12 spooks and 10 documented investigations it holds the Guinness World Record as the most haunted village in England. Ghosts include a screaming man, a highwayman skewered to a tree at Fright Corner, a schoolmaster who hanged himself, a gin-tippling watercress seller who accidentally incinerated herself, a White Lady, a rare Red Lady and a monk.
8 CHILLINGHAM CASTLE, NORTHUMBERLAND
"It's packed with troubled souls." Before he bought the castle in 1982 Sir Humphrey Wakefield brought in a psychic. Of the ghosts he said that there were "far, far too many to deal with". Sir Humphrey ignored his warning not to buy it and is now the owner, not only of an imposing medieval castle with dungeons and torture chamber but also of the famous Blue or Radiant Boy, a White Lady, the ghost of Lady Mary Berkeley, mysterious whispering voices and more. The castle runs ghost tours and recent visitors have reported spooky goings on.
9 SKIRRID MOUNTAIN INN, LLANVIHANGEL CRUCORNEY, SOUTH WALES
Billing itself as Wales's oldest inn, the Skirrid has been serving ale since 1100. It is also claimed that more than 180 people have been hanged here, some of them possibly by the infamous Judge Jeffreys, the Hanging Judge. A hangman's noose dangles in the stairwell where the grisly deeds took place. Not surprisingly it is also believed to be haunted. Former landlady Heather Grant often had first-hand experience of the supernatural, including seeing shadows walking the corridors and dodging glasses thrown by invisible hands, while patrons have reported feeling strangled.
10 JAMAICA INN, CORNWALL
Lying on Cornwall's lonely Bodmin Moor this 18th-century coaching house was once a den of smugglers and is still home to many lost spirits. The sound of horses' hooves still clatter in the empty courtyard, ghostly footsteps echo in the corridors, disembodied voices speaking Old Cornish are heard, a man in a green cloak walks through solid doors and the phantom of a murdered man has been seen sitting on the wall outside. Visitors looking for a sleepless night should ask for either Room Four or Five, both said to be haunted.
The Ghost Hunters is published by Quercus on October 24th, you can preorder a copy today at http://amzn.to/14DhzZF
The Ghost Hunters
August 23, 2013
How I got my agent
They say that finding an agent to represent your work is more difficult than finding a publisher, and that’s probably true. Once you have an agent and your novel is ready to go, then assuming you are represented by a good agent, and your work is solid, finding a publisher shouldn’t take you too long at all. In my case, once my agent had sent out the manuscript, we had our first offer from a publisher within 5 days - and that was one of the happiest days of my life.
Sounds simple, right? Well, not quite. Because the hardest part was finding a wonderful literary agent in the first place. And I don’t just mean someone who has the skill, contacts and credibility to land the novel with a good editor. I wanted someone with passion, who would help me along that difficult road of crafting the novel into what it is today. And agents like that are, well, extremely difficult to find.
Once I had written 100 pages of the book, I sat down at my desk in front of my computer and thought, ‘All right, these folks must get dull manuscripts landing on their desks all the time, and over-written query letters they never read.’ And, there and then, decided I wouldn’t send any letters with flowery text and three chapters attached. Instead, I made a quick list of every agent I could find who represented writers in my genre, dropped their emails into a quickly sketched table, and fired out a series of short emails which read something like this:
Dear Agent,
I am a new author seeking representation for my debut novel, The Ghost Hunters. Drawing on historical records of the day, this is the true story of Borley Rectory, the most haunted house in England,’ and the enigmatic Harry Price, who investigated the case.
Please let me know if you would like to read the first three chapters and a synopsis.
Kind Regards
Neil Spring
I stared at the text. Not good enough. The agent, just like the publisher, wants to know that your novel will sell. Publishing fiction, after all, is a business like any other; whoever signs you as an author, wants to know that you can deliver the sales as well as the words. And here was the crux of my dilemma, which I am sure is common to other writers out there.
I had no experience. No books under my belt. No author awards. Nothing except my passion, 100 pages, and a query email that was failing spectacularly to reach out, grab you by the shoulders, and shake you with the cry, “read me!”
So I tried again. But this time, before re drafting that email, I went out to my friends and colleagues searching for someone, anyone, who knew anyone else working in publishing. One of them did: her best friend worked at Bloomsbury. ‘Will she have lunch with me?’ I asked. She would. Two weeks later, over a delicious lasagne in John Lewis, this lovely woman told me she thought my material was great, and worthy of publication. It wasn’t a book deal, but it was a start, and it was exactly what I needed to hook an agent’s attention.
I went back to the computer. The next version of my query letter went something like this:
Dear Agent,
I am a new author seeking representation for my debut novel, The Ghost Hunters. Drawing on historical records of the day, this is the true story of Borley Rectory, the most haunted house in England,’ and the enigmatic Harry Price, who investigated the case.
I have already shared the book informally with (nice lady’s name) at Bloomsbury and she think it is worthy of publication. A number of journalists, including X, have also said that they would be fascinated to review the book, and, given the success of recent films and novels in this genre, I feel strongly that it will find a receptive reading audience.
Please let me know if you would like to read the first three chapters and a synopsis.
Kind Regards
Neil Spring
That short query letter produced a flurry of interest. I emailed about nine agents and within the week, four had sent me a short email back expressing interest.
One of them said they loved the premise of my novel. Another admitted that he wasn’t taking on any further work at the moment. However, he thought The Ghost Hunters sounded so intriguing he absolutely had to read it. For all this, I had to wait a long time to hear anything. Days passed. Weeks. Every morning, I’d check my email feeling a knot of anxiety tightening in my stomach as I wondered: what if they hate it? What if?
No one hated it (thankfully). I think actually I was rather lucky to have a handful of agents interested. But only one agent made the telephone call: Cathryn at William Morris Endeavour. I told her about the interest my query email had provoked.
“We agents are a competitive bunch,” she said. It was three weeks before the London Book Fair. “How soon can you come into my office?”
The next day I was sitting on Cathryn’s sofa, high above Tottenham Court Road in a gleaming modern office, surrounded with Cathryn’s books all of them recognisable. I couldn’t quite believe this was happening to me. Honestly, I had dreamed about this moment for as long as I could remember. Suddenly, that dream of beginning the road to publication was becoming real.
Cathryn showed me the list of publishers to whom she would submit when we were ready as I pictured my novel sitting up there on the wall with the other success stories.
‘You’re sure it will sell?’ I asked, still craving reassurance.
She stared me in the eye and nodded. ‘I have no doubt, Neil.’ Then, over coffee, she told me about all the scenes in my novel she “loved”. And in that moment, I knew…this was the one.
Cathryn had the passion.
And I, finally, had my agent.
The Ghost Hunters is published by Quercus on October 24th, you can preorder a copy today from http://amzn.to/14DhzZFThe Ghost Hunters
Sounds simple, right? Well, not quite. Because the hardest part was finding a wonderful literary agent in the first place. And I don’t just mean someone who has the skill, contacts and credibility to land the novel with a good editor. I wanted someone with passion, who would help me along that difficult road of crafting the novel into what it is today. And agents like that are, well, extremely difficult to find.
Once I had written 100 pages of the book, I sat down at my desk in front of my computer and thought, ‘All right, these folks must get dull manuscripts landing on their desks all the time, and over-written query letters they never read.’ And, there and then, decided I wouldn’t send any letters with flowery text and three chapters attached. Instead, I made a quick list of every agent I could find who represented writers in my genre, dropped their emails into a quickly sketched table, and fired out a series of short emails which read something like this:
Dear Agent,
I am a new author seeking representation for my debut novel, The Ghost Hunters. Drawing on historical records of the day, this is the true story of Borley Rectory, the most haunted house in England,’ and the enigmatic Harry Price, who investigated the case.
Please let me know if you would like to read the first three chapters and a synopsis.
Kind Regards
Neil Spring
I stared at the text. Not good enough. The agent, just like the publisher, wants to know that your novel will sell. Publishing fiction, after all, is a business like any other; whoever signs you as an author, wants to know that you can deliver the sales as well as the words. And here was the crux of my dilemma, which I am sure is common to other writers out there.
I had no experience. No books under my belt. No author awards. Nothing except my passion, 100 pages, and a query email that was failing spectacularly to reach out, grab you by the shoulders, and shake you with the cry, “read me!”
So I tried again. But this time, before re drafting that email, I went out to my friends and colleagues searching for someone, anyone, who knew anyone else working in publishing. One of them did: her best friend worked at Bloomsbury. ‘Will she have lunch with me?’ I asked. She would. Two weeks later, over a delicious lasagne in John Lewis, this lovely woman told me she thought my material was great, and worthy of publication. It wasn’t a book deal, but it was a start, and it was exactly what I needed to hook an agent’s attention.
I went back to the computer. The next version of my query letter went something like this:
Dear Agent,
I am a new author seeking representation for my debut novel, The Ghost Hunters. Drawing on historical records of the day, this is the true story of Borley Rectory, the most haunted house in England,’ and the enigmatic Harry Price, who investigated the case.
I have already shared the book informally with (nice lady’s name) at Bloomsbury and she think it is worthy of publication. A number of journalists, including X, have also said that they would be fascinated to review the book, and, given the success of recent films and novels in this genre, I feel strongly that it will find a receptive reading audience.
Please let me know if you would like to read the first three chapters and a synopsis.
Kind Regards
Neil Spring
That short query letter produced a flurry of interest. I emailed about nine agents and within the week, four had sent me a short email back expressing interest.
One of them said they loved the premise of my novel. Another admitted that he wasn’t taking on any further work at the moment. However, he thought The Ghost Hunters sounded so intriguing he absolutely had to read it. For all this, I had to wait a long time to hear anything. Days passed. Weeks. Every morning, I’d check my email feeling a knot of anxiety tightening in my stomach as I wondered: what if they hate it? What if?
No one hated it (thankfully). I think actually I was rather lucky to have a handful of agents interested. But only one agent made the telephone call: Cathryn at William Morris Endeavour. I told her about the interest my query email had provoked.
“We agents are a competitive bunch,” she said. It was three weeks before the London Book Fair. “How soon can you come into my office?”
The next day I was sitting on Cathryn’s sofa, high above Tottenham Court Road in a gleaming modern office, surrounded with Cathryn’s books all of them recognisable. I couldn’t quite believe this was happening to me. Honestly, I had dreamed about this moment for as long as I could remember. Suddenly, that dream of beginning the road to publication was becoming real.
Cathryn showed me the list of publishers to whom she would submit when we were ready as I pictured my novel sitting up there on the wall with the other success stories.
‘You’re sure it will sell?’ I asked, still craving reassurance.
She stared me in the eye and nodded. ‘I have no doubt, Neil.’ Then, over coffee, she told me about all the scenes in my novel she “loved”. And in that moment, I knew…this was the one.
Cathryn had the passion.
And I, finally, had my agent.
The Ghost Hunters is published by Quercus on October 24th, you can preorder a copy today from http://amzn.to/14DhzZFThe Ghost Hunters
How I got my agent
They say that finding an agent to represent your work is more difficult than finding a publisher, and that’s probably true. Once you have an agent and your novel is ready to go, then assuming you are represented by a good agent, and your work is solid, finding a publisher shouldn’t take you too long at all. In my case, once my agent had sent out the manuscript, we had our first offer from a publisher within 5 days - and that was one of the happiest days of my life.
Sounds simple, right? Well, not quite. Because the hardest part was finding a wonderful literary agent in the first place. And I don’t just mean someone who has the skill, contacts and credibility to land the novel with a good editor. I wanted someone with passion, who would help me along that difficult road of crafting the novel into what it is today. And agents like that are, well, extremely difficult to find.
Once I had written 100 pages of the book, I sat down at my desk in front of my computer and thought, ‘All right, these folks must get dull manuscripts landing on their desks all the time, and over-written query letters they never read.’ And, there and then, decided I wouldn’t send any letters with flowery text and three chapters attached. Instead, I made a quick list of every agent I could find who represented writers in my genre, dropped their emails into a quickly sketched table, and fired out a series of short emails which read something like this:
Dear Agent,
I am a new author seeking representation for my debut novel, The Ghost Hunters. Drawing on historical records of the day, this is the true story of Borley Rectory, the most haunted house in England,’ and the enigmatic Harry Price, who investigated the case.
Please let me know if you would like to read the first three chapters and a synopsis.
Kind Regards
Neil Spring
I stared at the text. Not good enough. The agent, just like the publisher, wants to know that your novel will sell. Publishing fiction, after all, is a business like any other; whoever signs you as an author, wants to know that you can deliver the sales as well as the words. And here was the crux of my dilemma, which I am sure is common to other writers out there.
I had no experience. No books under my belt. No author awards. Nothing except my passion, 100 pages, and a query email that was failing spectacularly to reach out, grab you by the shoulders, and shake you with the cry, “read me!”
So I tried again. But this time, before re drafting that email, I went out to my friends and colleagues searching for someone, anyone, who knew anyone else working in publishing. One of them did: her best friend worked at Bloomsbury. ‘Will she have lunch with me?’ I asked. She would. Two weeks later, over a delicious lasagne in John Lewis, this lovely woman told me she thought my material was great, and worthy of publication. It wasn’t a book deal, but it was a start, and it was exactly what I needed to hook an agent’s attention.
I went back to the computer. The next version of my query letter went something like this:
Dear Agent,
I am a new author seeking representation for my debut novel, The Ghost Hunters. Drawing on historical records of the day, this is the true story of Borley Rectory, the most haunted house in England,’ and the enigmatic Harry Price, who investigated the case.
I have already shared the book informally with (nice lady’s name) at Bloomsbury and she think it is worthy of publication. A number of journalists, including X, have also said that they would be fascinated to review the book, and, given the success of recent films and novels in this genre, I feel strongly that it will find a receptive reading audience.
Please let me know if you would like to read the first three chapters and a synopsis.
Kind Regards
Neil Spring
That short query letter produced a flurry of interest. I emailed about nine agents and within the week, four had sent me a short email back expressing interest.
One of them said they loved the premise of my novel. Another admitted that he wasn’t taking on any further work at the moment. However, he thought The Ghost Hunters sounded so intriguing he absolutely had to read it. For all this, I had to wait a long time to hear anything. Days passed. Weeks. Every morning, I’d check my email feeling a knot of anxiety tightening in my stomach as I wondered: what if they hate it? What if?
No one hated it (thankfully). I think actually I was rather lucky to have a handful of agents interested. But only one agent made the telephone call: Cathryn at William Morris Endeavour. I told her about the interest my query email had provoked.
“We agents are a competitive bunch,” she said. It was three weeks before the London Book Fair. “How soon can you come into my office?”
The next day I was sitting on Cathryn’s sofa, high above Tottenham Court Road in a gleaming modern office, surrounded with Cathryn’s books all of them recognisable. I couldn’t quite believe this was happening to me. Honestly, I had dreamed about this moment for as long as I could remember. Suddenly, that dream of beginning the road to publication was becoming real.
Cathryn showed me the list of publishers to whom she would submit when we were ready as I pictured my novel sitting up there on the wall with the other success stories.
‘You’re sure it will sell?’ I asked, still craving reassurance.
She stared me in the eye and nodded. ‘I have no doubt, Neil.’ Then, over coffee, she told me about all the scenes in my novel she “loved”. And in that moment, I knew…this was the one.
Cathryn had the passion.
And I, finally, had my agent.
The Ghost Hunters is published by Quercus on October 24th, you can preorder a copy today from http://amzn.to/14DhzZF
Sounds simple, right? Well, not quite. Because the hardest part was finding a wonderful literary agent in the first place. And I don’t just mean someone who has the skill, contacts and credibility to land the novel with a good editor. I wanted someone with passion, who would help me along that difficult road of crafting the novel into what it is today. And agents like that are, well, extremely difficult to find.
Once I had written 100 pages of the book, I sat down at my desk in front of my computer and thought, ‘All right, these folks must get dull manuscripts landing on their desks all the time, and over-written query letters they never read.’ And, there and then, decided I wouldn’t send any letters with flowery text and three chapters attached. Instead, I made a quick list of every agent I could find who represented writers in my genre, dropped their emails into a quickly sketched table, and fired out a series of short emails which read something like this:
Dear Agent,
I am a new author seeking representation for my debut novel, The Ghost Hunters. Drawing on historical records of the day, this is the true story of Borley Rectory, the most haunted house in England,’ and the enigmatic Harry Price, who investigated the case.
Please let me know if you would like to read the first three chapters and a synopsis.
Kind Regards
Neil Spring
I stared at the text. Not good enough. The agent, just like the publisher, wants to know that your novel will sell. Publishing fiction, after all, is a business like any other; whoever signs you as an author, wants to know that you can deliver the sales as well as the words. And here was the crux of my dilemma, which I am sure is common to other writers out there.
I had no experience. No books under my belt. No author awards. Nothing except my passion, 100 pages, and a query email that was failing spectacularly to reach out, grab you by the shoulders, and shake you with the cry, “read me!”
So I tried again. But this time, before re drafting that email, I went out to my friends and colleagues searching for someone, anyone, who knew anyone else working in publishing. One of them did: her best friend worked at Bloomsbury. ‘Will she have lunch with me?’ I asked. She would. Two weeks later, over a delicious lasagne in John Lewis, this lovely woman told me she thought my material was great, and worthy of publication. It wasn’t a book deal, but it was a start, and it was exactly what I needed to hook an agent’s attention.
I went back to the computer. The next version of my query letter went something like this:
Dear Agent,
I am a new author seeking representation for my debut novel, The Ghost Hunters. Drawing on historical records of the day, this is the true story of Borley Rectory, the most haunted house in England,’ and the enigmatic Harry Price, who investigated the case.
I have already shared the book informally with (nice lady’s name) at Bloomsbury and she think it is worthy of publication. A number of journalists, including X, have also said that they would be fascinated to review the book, and, given the success of recent films and novels in this genre, I feel strongly that it will find a receptive reading audience.
Please let me know if you would like to read the first three chapters and a synopsis.
Kind Regards
Neil Spring
That short query letter produced a flurry of interest. I emailed about nine agents and within the week, four had sent me a short email back expressing interest.
One of them said they loved the premise of my novel. Another admitted that he wasn’t taking on any further work at the moment. However, he thought The Ghost Hunters sounded so intriguing he absolutely had to read it. For all this, I had to wait a long time to hear anything. Days passed. Weeks. Every morning, I’d check my email feeling a knot of anxiety tightening in my stomach as I wondered: what if they hate it? What if?
No one hated it (thankfully). I think actually I was rather lucky to have a handful of agents interested. But only one agent made the telephone call: Cathryn at William Morris Endeavour. I told her about the interest my query email had provoked.
“We agents are a competitive bunch,” she said. It was three weeks before the London Book Fair. “How soon can you come into my office?”
The next day I was sitting on Cathryn’s sofa, high above Tottenham Court Road in a gleaming modern office, surrounded with Cathryn’s books all of them recognisable. I couldn’t quite believe this was happening to me. Honestly, I had dreamed about this moment for as long as I could remember. Suddenly, that dream of beginning the road to publication was becoming real.
Cathryn showed me the list of publishers to whom she would submit when we were ready as I pictured my novel sitting up there on the wall with the other success stories.
‘You’re sure it will sell?’ I asked, still craving reassurance.
She stared me in the eye and nodded. ‘I have no doubt, Neil.’ Then, over coffee, she told me about all the scenes in my novel she “loved”. And in that moment, I knew…this was the one.
Cathryn had the passion.
And I, finally, had my agent.
The Ghost Hunters is published by Quercus on October 24th, you can preorder a copy today from http://amzn.to/14DhzZF
August 12, 2013
Waterstones, Gower Street, London
Waterstones, Gower Street, London
6.30pm Weds 30 October
Waterstones, Gower Street, London
What might have happened at Borley Rectory, the Most Haunted House in England? I'm delighted that Waterstones Gower Street have invited me to give an illustrated talk on the historical inspiration for my debut novel, The Ghost Hunters. What was the truth about the enigmatic paranormal detective Harry Price, whose magical library was stored on the haunted 8th floor of Senate House? Was Price's death connected with his investigation of the famous Borley Rectory in Suffolk? And what is the truth about the ghost that stalked the corridors of the Rectory, wrote on the walls and turned witnesses out of their beds. Find out at this special event.
Waterstones Gower Street is the perfect location for this particular event. The facade clearly reflects the Gothic style of that period and incorporates a number of imps, gargoyles and further carvings. In 1956 the site was established as Dillons Bookstore to accompany the neighbouring University College of London which is, of course, where the Harry Price Magical Library now resides,
To attend this event please contact: GowerSt-Events@waterstones.comThe Ghost Hunters
6.30pm Weds 30 October
Waterstones, Gower Street, London
What might have happened at Borley Rectory, the Most Haunted House in England? I'm delighted that Waterstones Gower Street have invited me to give an illustrated talk on the historical inspiration for my debut novel, The Ghost Hunters. What was the truth about the enigmatic paranormal detective Harry Price, whose magical library was stored on the haunted 8th floor of Senate House? Was Price's death connected with his investigation of the famous Borley Rectory in Suffolk? And what is the truth about the ghost that stalked the corridors of the Rectory, wrote on the walls and turned witnesses out of their beds. Find out at this special event.
Waterstones Gower Street is the perfect location for this particular event. The facade clearly reflects the Gothic style of that period and incorporates a number of imps, gargoyles and further carvings. In 1956 the site was established as Dillons Bookstore to accompany the neighbouring University College of London which is, of course, where the Harry Price Magical Library now resides,
To attend this event please contact: GowerSt-Events@waterstones.comThe Ghost Hunters
August 7, 2013
80 Day Countdown to Book Launch
Hello and thanks for stopping by!
When I first started writing The Ghost Hunters, I had no idea if no one would ever want to read it, let alone if I would find an agent, or a reputable publisher. Now here I am, three months away from seeing it on the shelves, thanks to Quercus Books, and to celebrate the 80 day countdown to publication, I’ve launched this website.
If you’re looking for more information about Borley Rectory, you’re in the right place. If you’re looking for more information about the first historical novel on Britain’s “most haunted house”,’ you’re in the right place. And if you want to learn more about future projects, how I found an agent and got published, then - yep, you’ve guessed it.
I think the designers did a great job in capturing the mood of my book. I wanted a website that had a distinct identity and was true to the novel; because as I approach publication day day when I will lose all control of my pet project, the least I can do for my lovely creation is my best: swaddle it with love and give it a proper send off into the big wide world.
My publisher is warning me that the next three months are going to be extremely busy. There are all sorts of things I am supposed to be doing right now: contacting libraries and shops to arrange book talks, arranging exciting launch events; not to mention writing my second novel, which is currently burning a hole through my mind.
But I need to write this blog, to share tips with you fine people, on writing and inspiration and everything in between. Because writing is like that: a mad, intensive and, sometimes, very, very lonely art.
To stay up to date with news on my debut novel, forthcoming events (there are some exciting things planned for Oct and Nov), please join my mailing list.
There are going to be many surprises along the way that you’ll want to know about. I promise. Giveaways and competitions and some pretty marvellous events I’m not even aloud to mention - yet!
So buckle up. And enjoy the ride. Because this countdown roller-coaster is going to be fantastic. And terrifying!The Ghost Hunters
When I first started writing The Ghost Hunters, I had no idea if no one would ever want to read it, let alone if I would find an agent, or a reputable publisher. Now here I am, three months away from seeing it on the shelves, thanks to Quercus Books, and to celebrate the 80 day countdown to publication, I’ve launched this website.
If you’re looking for more information about Borley Rectory, you’re in the right place. If you’re looking for more information about the first historical novel on Britain’s “most haunted house”,’ you’re in the right place. And if you want to learn more about future projects, how I found an agent and got published, then - yep, you’ve guessed it.
I think the designers did a great job in capturing the mood of my book. I wanted a website that had a distinct identity and was true to the novel; because as I approach publication day day when I will lose all control of my pet project, the least I can do for my lovely creation is my best: swaddle it with love and give it a proper send off into the big wide world.
My publisher is warning me that the next three months are going to be extremely busy. There are all sorts of things I am supposed to be doing right now: contacting libraries and shops to arrange book talks, arranging exciting launch events; not to mention writing my second novel, which is currently burning a hole through my mind.
But I need to write this blog, to share tips with you fine people, on writing and inspiration and everything in between. Because writing is like that: a mad, intensive and, sometimes, very, very lonely art.
To stay up to date with news on my debut novel, forthcoming events (there are some exciting things planned for Oct and Nov), please join my mailing list.
There are going to be many surprises along the way that you’ll want to know about. I promise. Giveaways and competitions and some pretty marvellous events I’m not even aloud to mention - yet!
So buckle up. And enjoy the ride. Because this countdown roller-coaster is going to be fantastic. And terrifying!The Ghost Hunters
