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At the risk of 'bugging the life out of people' (see Nicola Morgan's recent ABBA Post of the 24th below), I've got a new book coming out next week. February 2nd, in fact, and I'm going to mention it because having a book published is one of those things that doesn't happen all that often to me, although with so many books published it is obviously happening all the time to other people, who then bleet and tweet about it, to Nicola's annoyance. I suppose that's part of the problem. In her perceptive way has put her finger one of the profound contradictions of social networking, and publishing for that matter. To an individual author, a book being published is A Very Big Thing; to everyone else, it's another 'so what?'. Cursory glance only before we go on to our own tweet, Facebook page entry, blog or planning our Virtual Launch.
At the risk of bugging, I anticipate publication of This Is Not Forgiveness with the usual mix of feelings: pride and a sense of wonder that my name is on the cover, but also complex feelings of nostalgia and loss. When I turn the pages, it is like looking through a strange kind of diary. I remember where I was when I thought that, wrote that, added that detail. It happens over a summer and I wrote it over a summer, so the weather, the descriptions, are like snapshots of particular places at a particular time. And there is something perfect about a book that is about to be published, before it goes out into the world to be the object of scrutiny and criticism, before it has a chance to fail.
I have another reason for nostalgia. This Is Not Forgiveness is a topical thriller set in the present and this is seen as a bit of a departure for me. I'm now known mostly for writing historical fiction. If not those books, then the old Point Horror Unleashed titles - Blood Sinister and The Vanished. But my first book was a contemporary thriller for teenagers. Every Step You Take. It was published in 1993. So long ago, that when I went to get the rights back from the publisher, they claimed never to have heard of it. That, too, was a contemporary thriller, so in a way, I've come full circle, returning to my roots.
That book was published into a different world. I'm typing this blog on a laptop, it is going straight by WiFi onto the 'net. I'm uploading pictures to go with it. I typed Every Step on an electric typewriter. Laptop, WiFi, 'net, upload? Terms not coined yet. I sent it off as a paper manuscript by Special Delivery, posted at the local Post Office (now a cake shop) not by attachment as I would do now.
The Internet was in its infancy, so no e mails. Publishers sent you letters. All you had to do was open the envelope, read and file. Everyone sent you letters, so it was easy to keep track of things. No matter how hard I try to be organised, finding things in e mails is like sifting though spaghetti. As for publicity, it didn't take up any time at all because there wasn't any. My first school visit came randomly from a librarian wh
18 Comments on Then and Now - Celia Rees, last added: 1/30/2012
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As a writer whose work has been published ever since the days of the wonky typewriters, I identify with so much here, especially the comments about pride in your achievement as yet another book comes out and the way it becomes a strange sort of diary of your life.
It's hard isn't it? Dancing bears, that's what we are, chained to someone else's expectations of what an author should be instead of left free to get on with what we're good at and meant to be/do.
All the best, Celia. I hope the book goes well. [The deleted comment above, in case you're wondering, is all to do with one of those six-in-the-morning trying-to-type-on-an-iphone-with-your-brain-only-half-engaged typo mistakes. A howler, I'm prepared to admit, but I'm not telling what!]
Congratulations, Celia - I can't wait to read it. I keep going into Waterstones to see if they have accidentally put it out early. They haven't, damn them!
Congratulations Celia on the new book! Can't wait to read it. And what an absolutely wonderful post. It bought back many memories of typewriters and letters etc. Now I find a great joy in being able to edit great swathes of words by pressing a single delete button and not having to retype the whole page/chapter because of it as I always used to have to do on a typewriter.
PS I am with you on the spine breaking....DON'T DO IT PEOPLE. It hurts books and people like us
Well done - this is a real achievement. I hope you celebrate in style!
Celia, I had a typewriter just like that and I go back even further than you to the late 70s when EDITORS could simply say:Let's publish this book with no interference seemingly from the dreaded and aptly-named S&M.(Sales and Marketing).
TINF is a super book and deserves to do brilliantly and I hope it gets the recognition it needs to succeed. Your post had so much in it that chimed with me! Lovely!
THIS IS NOT FORGIVENESS and EVERY STEP both sound wonderful and I'd like to read both. Are you thinking of self-publishing EVERY STEP now you have the rights back?
This definitely seems to be the topic of the moment! And lovely bit of nostalgia here Celia. It's amazing to think how much the industry - and the way we play our role in it - has changed so much in a relatively short space of time.
It doesn't feel all that long ago that I was working as a journalist on local newspaper, bashing away at a typewriter, shoving two sheets of paper into it with a piece of carbon in between, and hoping I didn't make any mistakes or I'd have to start again.
I hope This Is Not Forgiveness gets all the success it deserves.
Congratulations, Celia! I love thrillers, so I'm looking forward to this. Happy Publication day for 2nd February!
There are times when one should get up and shout and this is certainly one of them!
Linda Newbery had good things to say about THEN AND NOW over on Awfully Big Reviews at the end of December - please go, find and read, people, as it will only take a click or two - and I for one am watching out for this title arriving in the shops.
Congratulations and Happy Publication Day, Celia!
I have just started it (lucky enough to have an advance copy), and am absolutely LOVING it, Celia. Yes, it 's a hard one, all this promotion business. Still working out how not to bug people myself!
For those to busy to search for the Awfully Big Review, here's a cut & paste link:
http://awfullybigreviews.blogspot.com/2011/12/this-is-not-forgiveness-by-celia-reea.html
Thanks to one and all for the good wishes and I hope I didn't bug the life out of you all by giving a quick blast on my own trumpet.
Yes, things have changed a lot, Liz. I'm sure none of us miss the horror of one mistake and having to start again, and cut and pasting, automatic re-pagination are real blessings of the modern age. I AM thinking of re-publishing Every Step You Take, Sue, so I'll be in touch with you about that. I want to do it partly because it was my first book, so I tlak about it to audiences and there are always a few who want to read it. Also, Kindle allows us to keep our body of work available, so people can read our earlier books, if they want to. They have a choice.
Hi Celia, looking forward to reading it on the tube this week as I've just downloaded onto my Kindle. Am sure it will be brilliant judging by the taster we had at the Arvon week.
This is a brilliant post, Celia. I can't believe your original publishers had no memory of your first book! I agree that it's a real dilemma, this trumpet-blowing thing. I remember being told by a publicist that if I were to approach a magazine editor myself (there was a sign of interest in my book as it was set in France and the publicist hadn't followed it up) that I would look 'desperate'. Well, duh! I approached the editor and got a commission to write an article, along with a puff for the book. Thank God the internet, even though at times a wearisome chewer-up of time, allows us to promote ourselves rather than be deluded by empty promises. You're a fantastic writer - keep blowing that trumpet!
Aw, I don't mind admitting that this blog post fills me with nostalgia. I worked at Scholastic UK in it's 'Point' hey day. I also remember book spreads being cut and pasted by hand, a designer cutting out pieces of text, putting them through a little machine full of hot wax and pasting them onto a layout. Oh my goodness, such a different world. I recall the very first computer that we had in the office with the Internet on it - one, shared by the entire company. Good luck with your new book - I can't wait to read it.
I think it might be more than single spine this time.
http://bookwitch.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/this-is-not-forgiveness/
Fab news and good luck and congratulations and everything! And it wasn't bugging, not even one little bit. It was perfectly appropriate and also interesting - and that's part of the point of what I think we've all been saying about promotion: it's about balance. You gave us something in that post and we're delighted to hear about your new book, too.