Neil Hanson's Blog, page 3
January 31, 2014
Inn on Top
Manuscript finally delivered, stress frown turned upside down, I’m back in the game!
For those who’ve read The Inn at the Top - and with apologies to those who haven’t - I wanted to take a moment to answer a couple of queries raised by some of the many Amazon reviewers there have been.
The first is why the book is called “The Inn At The Top” and is never given its real name in the book, when anyone who knows the Yorkshire Dales or, indeed has read any of the reviews or articles about it, will know at once that the inn is Tan Hill, the highest inn in Britain at 1732 feet above sea level, on top of the Pennines to the north of Swaledale.
The reason is that, at the time I was writing the book, my Baldrick-style cunning plan was not to identify the inn in the hope of generating a bit of “buzz” among readers speculating about its identity and wondering if their favourite Dales pub could be the one featured. This still seems to me to have been a reasonable plan and indeed, The Dalesman reported a bit of exactly that sort of buzz from readers, when the serialisation began in that magazine.
However, my publishers, Michael O’Mara Books, felt there was greater publicity mileage to be gained from identifying it as Tan Hill, and since they were paying the piper, it seemed only fair to let them call the tune. So that’s what we did and the sales figures suggest they may well been right, but by then the book had already been printed, so The Inn At The Top it stayed.
The second often-voiced query or complaint is why - present company excepted - none of the characters in the book are identified by their real names. Quite a few people have suggested that I did it to dodge potential libel writs but, while that’s always a potential concern among nervous writers, my principal reason was to protect the privacy of those I was writing about. Many are now dead, of course - the book is about the inn in the late 1970s - but many others are still living and even those who have died often have children still living in the area. It did not seem fair to me to subject them to potential intrusions into their lives by well-meaning but not necessarily welcome outsiders. If they recognise themselves and want to identify themselves, they can of course do so, but that will be by their choice, not mine.
For similar reasons, none of the locations are identified by name either. It doesn’t take a genius to work out the name of the small Cumbrian town with an annual horse fair, but once you start naming names, they lead on to others, and some of the places are so small, that to name the village would render pointless any attempt to disguise the identity of the individuals who live there.
Whether I’ll continue the same policy in the follow-up, provisionally titled - spoiler alert! - “Return To The Top” which I’m working on at the moment, remains to be seen but you know what they say: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
For those who’ve read The Inn at the Top - and with apologies to those who haven’t - I wanted to take a moment to answer a couple of queries raised by some of the many Amazon reviewers there have been.
The first is why the book is called “The Inn At The Top” and is never given its real name in the book, when anyone who knows the Yorkshire Dales or, indeed has read any of the reviews or articles about it, will know at once that the inn is Tan Hill, the highest inn in Britain at 1732 feet above sea level, on top of the Pennines to the north of Swaledale.
The reason is that, at the time I was writing the book, my Baldrick-style cunning plan was not to identify the inn in the hope of generating a bit of “buzz” among readers speculating about its identity and wondering if their favourite Dales pub could be the one featured. This still seems to me to have been a reasonable plan and indeed, The Dalesman reported a bit of exactly that sort of buzz from readers, when the serialisation began in that magazine.
However, my publishers, Michael O’Mara Books, felt there was greater publicity mileage to be gained from identifying it as Tan Hill, and since they were paying the piper, it seemed only fair to let them call the tune. So that’s what we did and the sales figures suggest they may well been right, but by then the book had already been printed, so The Inn At The Top it stayed.
The second often-voiced query or complaint is why - present company excepted - none of the characters in the book are identified by their real names. Quite a few people have suggested that I did it to dodge potential libel writs but, while that’s always a potential concern among nervous writers, my principal reason was to protect the privacy of those I was writing about. Many are now dead, of course - the book is about the inn in the late 1970s - but many others are still living and even those who have died often have children still living in the area. It did not seem fair to me to subject them to potential intrusions into their lives by well-meaning but not necessarily welcome outsiders. If they recognise themselves and want to identify themselves, they can of course do so, but that will be by their choice, not mine.
For similar reasons, none of the locations are identified by name either. It doesn’t take a genius to work out the name of the small Cumbrian town with an annual horse fair, but once you start naming names, they lead on to others, and some of the places are so small, that to name the village would render pointless any attempt to disguise the identity of the individuals who live there.
Whether I’ll continue the same policy in the follow-up, provisionally titled - spoiler alert! - “Return To The Top” which I’m working on at the moment, remains to be seen but you know what they say: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
January 2, 2014
Kindle
Deadline looming - help! But if any Kindle-equipped readers out there have so far failed to buy a copy of The Inn at the Top, for some unaccountable reason, this may be the moment to remedy that shocking defect, as in a fit of seasonal generosity, the publishers, Michael O'Mara Books, have dropped the price on amazon to a mere 99 pence (UK) during January. Enjoy! Normal blogging activity will resume once the deadline has passed and the manuscript is delivered (with luck simultaneously)
November 11, 2013
Stand Down
Two looming deadlines mean that I'll have to suspend blogging activity for the moment - I need to be writing books, not talking about writing books - but apologies to those whose lives will be immeasurably poorer as a result! If anyone's still there by then, I should be back in action post the New Year. Meanwhile, season's greetings!
October 23, 2013
Curse of Keri?
As a Brit who regards New Zealand as almost a second home, it was great to see Eleanor Catton win the Booker Prize for her sprawling, epic novel The Luminaries, though it did make me think back to the last Kiwi to win the prize: Keri Hulme. Her novel, The Bone People, was pure Marmite for readers - some (including me) absolutely loved it, but others hated it like poison and it was probably the most contentious Booker winner ever.
The book could easily have never seen the light of day at all, because every major publisher rejected it at first. One rejection: "Ms Hulme certainly can write, unfortunately we don’t understand what she is writing about", was hanging on Keri's toilet wall at one time, and may well still be there. In the end she formed a self-publishing cooperative with three other women writers. The Bone People took off on word of mouth alone, and sold so fast that the mainstream publishers suddenly woke up to what they were missing. One of them signed her and put her on the path to her Booker success. However, those who were looking forward to her next novel were in for a long wait. Her long-suffering editor used to comment "I hope to publish it before I die", and almost 30 years later, it still hasn't appeared. There have been some poems and short stories from her but that felt a bit like being offered canapés when what I, and her many other admirers wanted was a five course meal.
Keri denied that she was suffering from writer's block and there was certainly no failure of imagination, but unlike most writers, she doesn't have the craft at the top of her list of priorities. According to Keri when I interviewed her some time ago, writing came a distant fourth behind the three Fs: family, friends and fishing, (no mention of any other Fs…) The fact that the second novel has still not appeared suggest that her priorities remain unaltered, but the fact that she's now no longer the only Kiwi winner of the Booker, may encourage her to fire up the word processor again. I can guarantee at least one reader if she does.
The book could easily have never seen the light of day at all, because every major publisher rejected it at first. One rejection: "Ms Hulme certainly can write, unfortunately we don’t understand what she is writing about", was hanging on Keri's toilet wall at one time, and may well still be there. In the end she formed a self-publishing cooperative with three other women writers. The Bone People took off on word of mouth alone, and sold so fast that the mainstream publishers suddenly woke up to what they were missing. One of them signed her and put her on the path to her Booker success. However, those who were looking forward to her next novel were in for a long wait. Her long-suffering editor used to comment "I hope to publish it before I die", and almost 30 years later, it still hasn't appeared. There have been some poems and short stories from her but that felt a bit like being offered canapés when what I, and her many other admirers wanted was a five course meal.
Keri denied that she was suffering from writer's block and there was certainly no failure of imagination, but unlike most writers, she doesn't have the craft at the top of her list of priorities. According to Keri when I interviewed her some time ago, writing came a distant fourth behind the three Fs: family, friends and fishing, (no mention of any other Fs…) The fact that the second novel has still not appeared suggest that her priorities remain unaltered, but the fact that she's now no longer the only Kiwi winner of the Booker, may encourage her to fire up the word processor again. I can guarantee at least one reader if she does.
October 7, 2013
Look North
There's a feature on The Inn at the Top (revealing it's real name, if you haven't already identified it) on Look North on BBC TV (North-East England and Cumbria) tonight. Take a look on Twitter @phillipchapman7 (the guy who made the film). It may also appear on the Yorkshire version of the programme at some point this week. If you're not lucky enough to be living in the North of England, you should be able to catch it on i-player or Sky, etc. Here's the iplayer link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/...
October 6, 2013
Reasons To Be Cheerful (Part 3)
Talking to a couple of Waterstone's shop managers while "on tour" in the last couple of weeks has given me more cause for optimism about the future of that company - and indeed of bookshops in general - than I've felt for some time. Once the spearhead of the bookselling revolution in this country under Tim Waterstone, the chain has been the despair of most authors and publishers in recent years, centralising decision-making, selling the prime spaces on its shelves to the highest bidder and apparently more interested in selling gift-wrap and the latest Jordan bonkbuster than the books you can't buy in supermarkets and WH Smiths.
However - hallelujah! - Waterstone's has U-turned under its new CEO and is back on something like its old track. Managers of local branches now have a great deal of autonomy over what to stock and previously plummeting staff morale is rising again. The company is still losing money, but it has stemmed its catastrophic losses of recent years and is making optimistic noises about returning to profitability next year.
Although Waterstone's shocked some of its most loyal supporters when it got into bed with Amazon and began stocking the Kindle reader, its revival has coincided with a slowing of the meteoric rise of e-books, suggesting that there may after all still be a place for print on paper in the brave new world of publishing. And there will certainly always be a place for booksellers, whether a chain like Waterstone's or local independents, who stock a thoughtful, carefully-selected range of books and can speak knowledgeably and enthusiastically about then, and make recommendations to readers. After all, a passion for books is what should unite readers, authors and booksellers, but for many years Waterstone's seemed to have lost that passion. Let's hope it's back for good.
If you’re in range of Yorkshire, catch us at one of The Inn at the Top events this autumn:
Tuesday 8 October, 7.30pm, Morley Literature Festival, Gildersome Conservative Club, Street Lane, Gildersome, Morley, Leeds, LS27 7HX, SOLD OUT
Wednesday 9 October, 12 noon-2pm, Waterstone’s, 102 High Street, Northallerton, DL7 8PP (Details: 0843 2908515)
Wednesday 9 October, 7.30pm, Betty’s Cafe Tea Rooms, Ilkley. SOLD OUT
Thursday 10 October, 7.30pm, Betty’s Cafe Tea Rooms, Ilkley. (Tickets, including two course supper and tea or coffee, £29.95 from Betty’s Cafe Tea Rooms, Ilkley, 01943 608029)
Saturday 12 October, 11am-2pm, Waterstones, 98 Westborough, Scarborough, YO11 1UQ, (Details: 01723 500414)
Saturday 19 October, 10.30am, Ryedale Book Festival, The Milton Rooms Studio, Market Square, Malton, YO17 7LX (Tickets/details: www.ryedalebookfestival.com)
Thursday 28 November, (NOTE NEW DATE) 7pm, The Flying Duck, 16 Church Street, Ilkley LS29 9DS, (Tickets/details: 01943 609335)
However - hallelujah! - Waterstone's has U-turned under its new CEO and is back on something like its old track. Managers of local branches now have a great deal of autonomy over what to stock and previously plummeting staff morale is rising again. The company is still losing money, but it has stemmed its catastrophic losses of recent years and is making optimistic noises about returning to profitability next year.
Although Waterstone's shocked some of its most loyal supporters when it got into bed with Amazon and began stocking the Kindle reader, its revival has coincided with a slowing of the meteoric rise of e-books, suggesting that there may after all still be a place for print on paper in the brave new world of publishing. And there will certainly always be a place for booksellers, whether a chain like Waterstone's or local independents, who stock a thoughtful, carefully-selected range of books and can speak knowledgeably and enthusiastically about then, and make recommendations to readers. After all, a passion for books is what should unite readers, authors and booksellers, but for many years Waterstone's seemed to have lost that passion. Let's hope it's back for good.
If you’re in range of Yorkshire, catch us at one of The Inn at the Top events this autumn:
Tuesday 8 October, 7.30pm, Morley Literature Festival, Gildersome Conservative Club, Street Lane, Gildersome, Morley, Leeds, LS27 7HX, SOLD OUT
Wednesday 9 October, 12 noon-2pm, Waterstone’s, 102 High Street, Northallerton, DL7 8PP (Details: 0843 2908515)
Wednesday 9 October, 7.30pm, Betty’s Cafe Tea Rooms, Ilkley. SOLD OUT
Thursday 10 October, 7.30pm, Betty’s Cafe Tea Rooms, Ilkley. (Tickets, including two course supper and tea or coffee, £29.95 from Betty’s Cafe Tea Rooms, Ilkley, 01943 608029)
Saturday 12 October, 11am-2pm, Waterstones, 98 Westborough, Scarborough, YO11 1UQ, (Details: 01723 500414)
Saturday 19 October, 10.30am, Ryedale Book Festival, The Milton Rooms Studio, Market Square, Malton, YO17 7LX (Tickets/details: www.ryedalebookfestival.com)
Thursday 28 November, (NOTE NEW DATE) 7pm, The Flying Duck, 16 Church Street, Ilkley LS29 9DS, (Tickets/details: 01943 609335)
September 30, 2013
Back on Top
After not visiting The Inn at the Top for getting on for 28 years, I've now been back there twice in two weeks, this time to drop off some copies of my just-published, eponymous new book. What was most touching about the visit - and I've had similar experiences at every promotional event that I've done for the new book was meeting people who'd made a special journey to meet me, purely because of their own treasured memories about the inn. When I arrived there the other day, an old gentleman was waiting for me. He'd been alerted to my book (The Inn at the Top - did I mention that?!) by an article in the Daily Express and when he contacted the inn, the landlady told him that I'd be there on Friday afternoon. He then drove all the way up there from Preston - a round trip of some 150 miles - just to buy a couple of copies of the book one for himself and one for his best friend - and tell me his tales of the inn.
He'd first gone up there as a boy in 1947, riding his rattletrap bike up the steep, endless-seeming hills to the inn. He'd been back many times since then, but after he got too old to ride his bike there, he stopped going and, like me just recently, it was his first return visit in many years. We chatted for a while - not long enough - but I had to be back in Richmond (the North Yorkshire one) for an event that night, and then, after a last lingering look at the spectacular landscape that surrounds the inn, he set off to drive home before the light began to fade. It was humbling to meet him, as it has been to meet many people as I've travelled around these last few weeks, and it was another reminder that The Inn at the Top isn't just any old pub; to many people it's avery special place and they cherish their memories of it - as I do - for the rest of their lives.
The old gentleman had picked a perfect day to make his pilgrimage up there, for it was one of the handful of days in any year when the sun was shining and the wind wasn't blowing - not even the slightest breeze - and the views went on for ever, almost to the sea.
If I needed proof that my feelings about the inn are shared by many others, the attendances for the events would provide it. We've had near-capacity audiences for all but one of the events we've done so far (I know, another toot on the world's smallest trumpet...) and two of the ones next week are also sold out, but don't despair! If you're within range of Yorkshire, you can still catch us ("us" because my wife and sometime writing partner, Lynn Russell, is doing them with me) at some of the ones below including a couple that are even in pubs - and if you've got a good story of your own about the Inn at theTop, I might even buy you a drink!
The Inn at the Top Events
Thursday 3 October, 7.30pm, Herbert’s Bar, 30 Cross Church Street, Huddersfield, HD1 2PT, (Details: Waterstones 01484 430701 / Herberts 01484 434888)
Tuesday 8 October, 7.30pm, Morley Literature Festival, Gildersome Conservative Club, Street Lane, Gildersome, Morley, Leeds, LS27 7HX, SOLD OUT
Wednesday 9 October, 12 noon-2pm, Waterstone’s, 102 High Street, Northallerton, DL7 8PP (Details: 0843 2908515)
Wednesday 9 October, 7.30pm, Betty’s Cafe Tea Rooms, Ilkley. SOLD OUT
Thursday 10 October, 7.30pm, Betty’s Cafe Tea Rooms, Ilkley, including two course supper and tea or coffee”. (Tickets £29.95 from Betty’s Cafe Tea Rooms, Ilkley, 01943 608029)
Saturday 12 October, 11am-2pm, Waterstones, 98 Westborough, Scarborough, YO11 1UQ, (Details: 01723 500414)
Saturday 19 October, 10.30am, Ryedale Book Festival, The Milton Rooms Studio, Market Square, Malton, YO17 7LX (Tickets/details: www.ryedalebookfestival.com)
Thursday 14 November, 7pm, The Flying Duck, 16 Church Street, Ilkley LS29 9DS, (Tickets/details: 01943 609335)
He'd first gone up there as a boy in 1947, riding his rattletrap bike up the steep, endless-seeming hills to the inn. He'd been back many times since then, but after he got too old to ride his bike there, he stopped going and, like me just recently, it was his first return visit in many years. We chatted for a while - not long enough - but I had to be back in Richmond (the North Yorkshire one) for an event that night, and then, after a last lingering look at the spectacular landscape that surrounds the inn, he set off to drive home before the light began to fade. It was humbling to meet him, as it has been to meet many people as I've travelled around these last few weeks, and it was another reminder that The Inn at the Top isn't just any old pub; to many people it's avery special place and they cherish their memories of it - as I do - for the rest of their lives.
The old gentleman had picked a perfect day to make his pilgrimage up there, for it was one of the handful of days in any year when the sun was shining and the wind wasn't blowing - not even the slightest breeze - and the views went on for ever, almost to the sea.
If I needed proof that my feelings about the inn are shared by many others, the attendances for the events would provide it. We've had near-capacity audiences for all but one of the events we've done so far (I know, another toot on the world's smallest trumpet...) and two of the ones next week are also sold out, but don't despair! If you're within range of Yorkshire, you can still catch us ("us" because my wife and sometime writing partner, Lynn Russell, is doing them with me) at some of the ones below including a couple that are even in pubs - and if you've got a good story of your own about the Inn at theTop, I might even buy you a drink!
The Inn at the Top Events
Thursday 3 October, 7.30pm, Herbert’s Bar, 30 Cross Church Street, Huddersfield, HD1 2PT, (Details: Waterstones 01484 430701 / Herberts 01484 434888)
Tuesday 8 October, 7.30pm, Morley Literature Festival, Gildersome Conservative Club, Street Lane, Gildersome, Morley, Leeds, LS27 7HX, SOLD OUT
Wednesday 9 October, 12 noon-2pm, Waterstone’s, 102 High Street, Northallerton, DL7 8PP (Details: 0843 2908515)
Wednesday 9 October, 7.30pm, Betty’s Cafe Tea Rooms, Ilkley. SOLD OUT
Thursday 10 October, 7.30pm, Betty’s Cafe Tea Rooms, Ilkley, including two course supper and tea or coffee”. (Tickets £29.95 from Betty’s Cafe Tea Rooms, Ilkley, 01943 608029)
Saturday 12 October, 11am-2pm, Waterstones, 98 Westborough, Scarborough, YO11 1UQ, (Details: 01723 500414)
Saturday 19 October, 10.30am, Ryedale Book Festival, The Milton Rooms Studio, Market Square, Malton, YO17 7LX (Tickets/details: www.ryedalebookfestival.com)
Thursday 14 November, 7pm, The Flying Duck, 16 Church Street, Ilkley LS29 9DS, (Tickets/details: 01943 609335)
September 22, 2013
Tan Hill
The prodigal son's return to The Inn at the Top, aka Tan Hill, was great. Even though I spent three years of my life up there in the late Seventies and Eighties (the decades, not my age...) I had almost forgotten quite how remote the inn is, especially if you approach from the east, via Arkengarthdale. The road - only just about wide enough for two cars to pass, with not a single street light, white line or cat's eye to help motorists after dark - seems to go on twisting, turning and rising - never falling - for ever, with one false summit after another, so that by the time you finally get to the inn, you're certainly ready for a drink.
The surroundings are unchanged of course, a great ocean of wild moorland stretching away unbroken to the horizon under a vast cloudscape. And if the inn itself is much-changed, extended and improved from the "Wild West" days when we ran it, the bar is virtually unaltered with the seats either side of the inglenook fireplace still the most coveted and keenly contested by customers who've braved the often wild wind and weather to get there. The landlady, Tracy Daly, is a great character with a no nonsense approach and a mischievous sense of humour - just what the inn needs, in fact, because people who make it up there expect their visit to be an event, and I suspect they rarely leave disappointed.
If you fancy running it yourself and have a cool £1.3 million or so to spare, Tracy might be willing to sell it to you, she and her partner Mike also have a B&B business in Somerset they're keen to put more time into, but it takes a special kind of person to survive and thrive up there. You may make your mark on the inn, but it'll certainly also leave a mark on you.
If you're within range of Yorkshire over the next few weeks, you may catch me at one of the events to promote my book The Inn at the Top - commercial alert! - published this week by Michael O'Mara Books at £8.99. With my wife and sometime writing partner Lynn, we'll be talking about The Inn at the Top in York, Richmond, Knaresborough, Huddersfield, Morley, Northallerton, Ilkley, Scarborough, Malton, and Ilkley again, with a couple of events still tobe confirmed
The Inn at the Top Events:
Thursday 26 September, 6.45pm, Waterstone’s York, (Tickets/details: 01904 628740 www.waterstones.com )
Friday 27 September, 7.30pm, Richmond Walking and Book Festival at Richmond School Sixth Form Centre, Darlington Road, Richmond, N Yorks, DL10 7BQ (Tickets/details: www.booksandboots.org 01748 824243)
Saturday 28 September, 12noon-2pm, Castlegate Books, 13 Market Place, Knaresborough, HG5 8AL, book signing, (Details: info@castlegatebooks.com 01423 862222)
Thursday 3 October, 7.30pm, Herbert's Bar, 30 Cross Church Street, Huddersfield, HD1 2PT, (Details: Waterstones 01484 430701 / Herberts 01484 434888)
Tuesday 8 October, 7.30pm, Morley Literature Festival, Gildersome Conservative Club, Street Lane, Gildersome, Morley, Leeds, LS27 7HX, Includes "Pie and pea supper" (Tickets/details: Morley Library or Lesley Gettings on 0113 253 9763)
Wednesday 9 October, 12 noon-2pm, Waterstone's, 102 High Street, Northallerton, DL7 8PP (Details: 0843 2908515)
Wednesday 9 October, 7.30pm, Betty’s Cafe Tea Rooms, Ilkley, (Ilkley Literature Festival event). Includes “Delicious two course supper followed by tea and coffee”. (Tickets/details: Betty’s Cafe Tea Rooms, Ilkley, 01943 608029)
Saturday 12 October, 11am-2pm, Waterstones, 98 Westborough, Scarborough, YO11 1UQ, (Details: 01723 500414 enquiries@scarborough.waterstones.com)
Saturday 19 October, 10.30am, Ryedale Book Festival, The Milton Rooms Studio, Market Square, Malton, YO17 7LX (Tickets/details: www.ryedalebookfestival.com)
Thursday 14 November, 7pm, Grove Bookshop, 10 The Grove, Ilkley, LS29 9EG, (Tickets/details: 01943 609335)
The surroundings are unchanged of course, a great ocean of wild moorland stretching away unbroken to the horizon under a vast cloudscape. And if the inn itself is much-changed, extended and improved from the "Wild West" days when we ran it, the bar is virtually unaltered with the seats either side of the inglenook fireplace still the most coveted and keenly contested by customers who've braved the often wild wind and weather to get there. The landlady, Tracy Daly, is a great character with a no nonsense approach and a mischievous sense of humour - just what the inn needs, in fact, because people who make it up there expect their visit to be an event, and I suspect they rarely leave disappointed.
If you fancy running it yourself and have a cool £1.3 million or so to spare, Tracy might be willing to sell it to you, she and her partner Mike also have a B&B business in Somerset they're keen to put more time into, but it takes a special kind of person to survive and thrive up there. You may make your mark on the inn, but it'll certainly also leave a mark on you.
If you're within range of Yorkshire over the next few weeks, you may catch me at one of the events to promote my book The Inn at the Top - commercial alert! - published this week by Michael O'Mara Books at £8.99. With my wife and sometime writing partner Lynn, we'll be talking about The Inn at the Top in York, Richmond, Knaresborough, Huddersfield, Morley, Northallerton, Ilkley, Scarborough, Malton, and Ilkley again, with a couple of events still tobe confirmed
The Inn at the Top Events:
Thursday 26 September, 6.45pm, Waterstone’s York, (Tickets/details: 01904 628740 www.waterstones.com )
Friday 27 September, 7.30pm, Richmond Walking and Book Festival at Richmond School Sixth Form Centre, Darlington Road, Richmond, N Yorks, DL10 7BQ (Tickets/details: www.booksandboots.org 01748 824243)
Saturday 28 September, 12noon-2pm, Castlegate Books, 13 Market Place, Knaresborough, HG5 8AL, book signing, (Details: info@castlegatebooks.com 01423 862222)
Thursday 3 October, 7.30pm, Herbert's Bar, 30 Cross Church Street, Huddersfield, HD1 2PT, (Details: Waterstones 01484 430701 / Herberts 01484 434888)
Tuesday 8 October, 7.30pm, Morley Literature Festival, Gildersome Conservative Club, Street Lane, Gildersome, Morley, Leeds, LS27 7HX, Includes "Pie and pea supper" (Tickets/details: Morley Library or Lesley Gettings on 0113 253 9763)
Wednesday 9 October, 12 noon-2pm, Waterstone's, 102 High Street, Northallerton, DL7 8PP (Details: 0843 2908515)
Wednesday 9 October, 7.30pm, Betty’s Cafe Tea Rooms, Ilkley, (Ilkley Literature Festival event). Includes “Delicious two course supper followed by tea and coffee”. (Tickets/details: Betty’s Cafe Tea Rooms, Ilkley, 01943 608029)
Saturday 12 October, 11am-2pm, Waterstones, 98 Westborough, Scarborough, YO11 1UQ, (Details: 01723 500414 enquiries@scarborough.waterstones.com)
Saturday 19 October, 10.30am, Ryedale Book Festival, The Milton Rooms Studio, Market Square, Malton, YO17 7LX (Tickets/details: www.ryedalebookfestival.com)
Thursday 14 November, 7pm, Grove Bookshop, 10 The Grove, Ilkley, LS29 9EG, (Tickets/details: 01943 609335)
September 13, 2013
Big Lunch
Had a fine Literary Lunch this week, courtesy of the Yorkshire Post, and as well as tooting my own trumpet to promote The Inn at the Top (in a modest and unassuming way, naturally...) I really enjoyed listening to the two other speakers. Mary Sheepshanks was the daughter of an Eton housemaster and a member of the Windsor Castle Girl Guide group that included the Queen and Princess Margaret. She only took up writing at the age of 60 and since then has produced half a dozen novels, five volumes of poetry, and has now written her autobiography. She's definitely the poshest person I've ever shared a platform with, but she's also witty and self-deprecating, has a stock of good anecdotes and definitely has a way with words. Her book's called Wild Writing Granny, if you want to seek it out.
The other speaker, Hilary Heilbron, was equally impressive. She's a QC in her own right, but she's also the daughter of Rose Heilbron, not only the first woman ever to become a Queen's Counsel in Britain, but also the first woman ever to be made a judge, in the process blazing a trail for other women, including her daughter, to follow. Hilary has now repaid the compliment, if you like, by writing her mother's biography.
All that and a free lunch as well - what's not to like!
The other speaker, Hilary Heilbron, was equally impressive. She's a QC in her own right, but she's also the daughter of Rose Heilbron, not only the first woman ever to become a Queen's Counsel in Britain, but also the first woman ever to be made a judge, in the process blazing a trail for other women, including her daughter, to follow. Hilary has now repaid the compliment, if you like, by writing her mother's biography.
All that and a free lunch as well - what's not to like!
September 10, 2013
The Inn at the Top
I'm off up to Tan Hill in the morning, the inn featured in my new book under the soubriquet of "The Inn at the Top" - I changed the names of every person and place both to protect the innocent, and protect myself from law suits! It's been 28 years since we sold it and moved on, and in all that time, I've only ever been back there twice, partly because I felt that chapter of my life was closed and there was no point in going back, and partly perhaps because it was a bittersweet parting from the place for me and I didn't want to see someone else failing - or even worse succeeding! - in my place. I'm over that now though and am back up there for a photo-shoot for the Yorkshire Post to go with an article they're running in the magazine on 21 September, just before the book comes out.
It will be strange to be back up there, though the inn is so transformed from when we ran it that it's almost unrecognisable as the same place. When we took it over it was, as I say in the book, "a wet, windy rat-infested ruin". We began the process of improving it and, if it's still wet and windy, it's neither rat-infested nor ruinous, and has been further improved and much-extended over the years. It still wouldn't win any prizes from Interiors magazine, but it's an unique place and a life-saver - sometimes literally - for walkers plodding up the Pennine Way. I'm not sure if there is still the rich vein of local characters that we knew - I think they "broke the mould" with some of them - but the landlady is certainly doing her personal best to uphold that particular tradition, because she's a very feisty character!
It will be strange to be back up there, though the inn is so transformed from when we ran it that it's almost unrecognisable as the same place. When we took it over it was, as I say in the book, "a wet, windy rat-infested ruin". We began the process of improving it and, if it's still wet and windy, it's neither rat-infested nor ruinous, and has been further improved and much-extended over the years. It still wouldn't win any prizes from Interiors magazine, but it's an unique place and a life-saver - sometimes literally - for walkers plodding up the Pennine Way. I'm not sure if there is still the rich vein of local characters that we knew - I think they "broke the mould" with some of them - but the landlady is certainly doing her personal best to uphold that particular tradition, because she's a very feisty character!
