As the books have become more successful much more time has had to be diverted from writing (including this blog) to promotional activities and I'm shocked to discover that it is the end of April already. And there's still a book to write in the next month or so. Arghh!
Just returned from taking part in Sant Jordi's day in Barcelona. If you ever get the chance to go it's a wonderful event. The centre of the city is given over to book stalls and rose sellers and there's all sorts of street entertainment. Well over a million people throng the streets on the day. Quite astonishing.
My main purpose in visiting Spain was to publicise Sangre Joven (Young Bloods), and I had a week's worth of press interviews to deal with. Tiring, but very exciting and successful. I made all the nationals as well as radio and TV and Daniel Fernandez, of my Spanish publishing house Edhasa, had the brilliant wheeze of hiring several Roman re-enactors to act as a praetorian guard for signing events. The net result of which was that everywhere we went people were taking photographs and the press used them in virtually ever paper the day after Sant Jordi. Edhasa was kind enough to invite my wife as well and she had a great time touring Madrid and Barcelona while I managed to squeeze in a few hours with her to see some of the sights. Including a chance to visit the Prado and see my favourite works by Goya and Velasquez. The room housing the later Goya works is frightening. His experience of the war against France, and his illness, truly darkened his view of life. In Barcelona I managed to get my Gaudi fix as well as having a great afternoon in the magical parc Guell.
So, a huge thanks to Edhasa for looking after us so well and making the visit such great fun. And a big thank you to all those Spanish readers who sought me out.
Wednesday 25 April 2007
Monday 5 March 2007
A new page...
In a bid to escape becoming involved in the ongoing 'Is there a God?' debate on the Scarrow Brothers Forum I've rushed out to the shed to start work on the next Eagles book. Which I finally have a title for: The Eagle of the Tenth. I rather like that, and hope that it duly honours one of my all time favourite authors. I've been deep into the research for a while now and feel confident that this is going to be a good one.
Unfortunately, the copy-edited script for The Generals is due any day and will delay the writing for a few days, and then next week I have a pretty intense few days starting with a workshop at the school where I am writer in residence (in Canterbury), then it's on to London to meet a film-maker followed by an evening dinner with some other authors. Wednesday has been cleared for my sons' music concert at school (absolutely unmissable as any parent will tell you). Thurday, it's back down to London for lunch with a friend from Jordan, followed by a meeting at the Syrian embassy and then an author's quiz in the evening. Then on Friday I'm off to a literary festival and hopefully a pint with my best friend, Murray. Busy, huh? Yikes.
...Meanwhile, I'm reworking a thriller I wrote a few years back - The Christmas Killings...
My email these days has become a bit of a torrent and I'm beginning to fear that there will be a time when I don't have enough time to answer it all. (I might just have to miss out on those penis enlargement offers, shame).
One thing that I love about this job is that there are so many people out there who share a love of history. And even now, it's still hard to believe I live on both sides of the process. Blimey, I'm an author. A real author. I still find that a little difficult to own up to as a job description. Which makes me all the more touched by those who treat me like some kind of a minor celebrity. I just hope I can keep writing material that entertains fellow history fans. It's great fun and I'm so grateful for all the chances it has brought to travel and meet people.
At the moment, my fingers are firmly crossed now that Alex and I have completed the screenplay for Blood Soldiers. It's a great story and if it ever reaches the big screen it will scare people witless.
Unfortunately, the copy-edited script for The Generals is due any day and will delay the writing for a few days, and then next week I have a pretty intense few days starting with a workshop at the school where I am writer in residence (in Canterbury), then it's on to London to meet a film-maker followed by an evening dinner with some other authors. Wednesday has been cleared for my sons' music concert at school (absolutely unmissable as any parent will tell you). Thurday, it's back down to London for lunch with a friend from Jordan, followed by a meeting at the Syrian embassy and then an author's quiz in the evening. Then on Friday I'm off to a literary festival and hopefully a pint with my best friend, Murray. Busy, huh? Yikes.
...Meanwhile, I'm reworking a thriller I wrote a few years back - The Christmas Killings...
My email these days has become a bit of a torrent and I'm beginning to fear that there will be a time when I don't have enough time to answer it all. (I might just have to miss out on those penis enlargement offers, shame).
One thing that I love about this job is that there are so many people out there who share a love of history. And even now, it's still hard to believe I live on both sides of the process. Blimey, I'm an author. A real author. I still find that a little difficult to own up to as a job description. Which makes me all the more touched by those who treat me like some kind of a minor celebrity. I just hope I can keep writing material that entertains fellow history fans. It's great fun and I'm so grateful for all the chances it has brought to travel and meet people.
At the moment, my fingers are firmly crossed now that Alex and I have completed the screenplay for Blood Soldiers. It's a great story and if it ever reaches the big screen it will scare people witless.
Friday 2 March 2007
Basket cases
This week I went to my youngest son's school assembly. We had a letter sent to us from the school saying that the assembly was about ancient Egypt, the history topic for this half-term. It's been a fun time at home with Nick explaining irrigation to me and demonstrating his model of a shedoof in the bath. So I was all set for a what I thought would be an enlightening assembly. After all, it's a fine school that scored excellents across the board in its recent inspection. Really, I admire the headteacher and his staff enormously. They've done wonders with both of my boys.
So it was something of a surprise when the assembly began with an interesting presentation of social hierarchy in Egypt, and then the other 80% of the assembly was devoted to the tale of Moses. My heart sank. Yet another fine educational opportunity hijacked by religion. Leaving aside the dubious veracity of the biblical story, the entire relgious heritage of the Egyptians was simply ignored, after weeks of hard work on this subject in the classroom. The assembly ended with a rousing rendition of 'Jesus is the water of life'. Excuse me, but the link to irrigation is pretty tenuous there.
I am getting quite sick of the religious elements bleating that religion is somehow being suppressed in society. No doubt, the same elements who inisist on burkas at school and who protest outside theatres showing Jerry Springer the Opera. How the hell would my local church feel if a bunch of atheists picketed outside and protested that this offended against their beliefs? Then again, perhaps that's exactly what the athesists should do. Just to ensure balance you understand...
So it was something of a surprise when the assembly began with an interesting presentation of social hierarchy in Egypt, and then the other 80% of the assembly was devoted to the tale of Moses. My heart sank. Yet another fine educational opportunity hijacked by religion. Leaving aside the dubious veracity of the biblical story, the entire relgious heritage of the Egyptians was simply ignored, after weeks of hard work on this subject in the classroom. The assembly ended with a rousing rendition of 'Jesus is the water of life'. Excuse me, but the link to irrigation is pretty tenuous there.
I am getting quite sick of the religious elements bleating that religion is somehow being suppressed in society. No doubt, the same elements who inisist on burkas at school and who protest outside theatres showing Jerry Springer the Opera. How the hell would my local church feel if a bunch of atheists picketed outside and protested that this offended against their beliefs? Then again, perhaps that's exactly what the athesists should do. Just to ensure balance you understand...
Friday 23 February 2007
I, Luddite
One entry in and I'm already having trouble! When I tried to log in to make a second I was roughly manhandled from the premises by the google bouncer. Having finally taken a tortuous route through the labyrinth of passord changing menus here I am.
Anyway...
Having had a few days to get over several months of hard work I find that I am a much happier and more relaxed bunny. Actually, writing has to be one of the two best jobs out there. Sure, there's a lot of time spent in front of books and the computer monitor, but I'm always dealing with stuff I am fanatically interested in. The pay is nice and once in a while I get to meet some very interesting people. I also get to see places I would never have had the chance to in my previous existence, and best of all I get to give people pleasure - and what could be nicer than that? So, yes, I'm chilled out now and eagerly looking forward to tucking into series 2 of Battlestar Galactica on DVD. Actually, that will have to wait until after I've finished series one of the original Outer Limits. One or two poor efforts there, but some stories are fantastic. Do check out The Architects of Fear if you can.
The other best job is teaching. I mean it. I had over a dozen years of great times in one school and two colleges. The students were fun to be with, and when they felt intellectually ambitious I was astonished and humbled by their achievements. I really mean humbled. One of my first ever students, David, turned out to be one of the finest teachers I've met (and far, far better than me) and others have gone on to become TV news presenters, radio jocks, journalists, barristers, and so on. But better still, all of those I have stayed in touch with have continued to be good people with good hearts and it's always a pleasure to hear from them. Then there were my teaching colleagues. Again, a fine bunch of people with diverse interests and thoroughly professional, even when they were often treated as menials by our political masters. To anyone thinking of becoming a teacher, I would just say DO IT! It will change your life and make a difference to other people's. As soon as I can afford the time, I am determined to get back into the classroom.
Anyway...
Having had a few days to get over several months of hard work I find that I am a much happier and more relaxed bunny. Actually, writing has to be one of the two best jobs out there. Sure, there's a lot of time spent in front of books and the computer monitor, but I'm always dealing with stuff I am fanatically interested in. The pay is nice and once in a while I get to meet some very interesting people. I also get to see places I would never have had the chance to in my previous existence, and best of all I get to give people pleasure - and what could be nicer than that? So, yes, I'm chilled out now and eagerly looking forward to tucking into series 2 of Battlestar Galactica on DVD. Actually, that will have to wait until after I've finished series one of the original Outer Limits. One or two poor efforts there, but some stories are fantastic. Do check out The Architects of Fear if you can.
The other best job is teaching. I mean it. I had over a dozen years of great times in one school and two colleges. The students were fun to be with, and when they felt intellectually ambitious I was astonished and humbled by their achievements. I really mean humbled. One of my first ever students, David, turned out to be one of the finest teachers I've met (and far, far better than me) and others have gone on to become TV news presenters, radio jocks, journalists, barristers, and so on. But better still, all of those I have stayed in touch with have continued to be good people with good hearts and it's always a pleasure to hear from them. Then there were my teaching colleagues. Again, a fine bunch of people with diverse interests and thoroughly professional, even when they were often treated as menials by our political masters. To anyone thinking of becoming a teacher, I would just say DO IT! It will change your life and make a difference to other people's. As soon as I can afford the time, I am determined to get back into the classroom.
Tuesday 20 February 2007
Here we go...
Number one entry.
Let's skip the usual faux mumblings and cut to the chase.
Just finished the first draft of The Generals, book 2 of the Revolution series featuring Napoleon and Wellington. It's taken over six months of writing, after several months of research, while writing another book in the Eagle series.
How do I feel?
Shattered and more determined than ever that I will NOT write another difficult book.
How long will I feel this way?
Just until the publisher sends me a sample copy of the final output in May. Then I will look on the whole thing as a wonderful creative experience that was fully worth all the months I poured into it. The book will be cherished like a newborn child. Mind you, I will never read the book in its finished form. I never do, partly because there is other work to do, but mostly because having shared my head with the characters for so long I want them out, removed, evicted. It's like having house guests for rather longer than one would like, even though they might be your best pals. I want my real family back. I want to play computer games with my boys, go out for dinner with my wife. Damn it, I even want to do some more flat-pack assembly work, just so I can use my hands instead of my head for a change.
What now?
Sigh... I still have to do the author's note for The Generals, then I have three months or so to get the next Eagle book written. So, it's off to the bookshelves to do the next wodge of research and time to put the screwdriver and woodeglue away for another day.
Let's skip the usual faux mumblings and cut to the chase.
Just finished the first draft of The Generals, book 2 of the Revolution series featuring Napoleon and Wellington. It's taken over six months of writing, after several months of research, while writing another book in the Eagle series.
How do I feel?
Shattered and more determined than ever that I will NOT write another difficult book.
How long will I feel this way?
Just until the publisher sends me a sample copy of the final output in May. Then I will look on the whole thing as a wonderful creative experience that was fully worth all the months I poured into it. The book will be cherished like a newborn child. Mind you, I will never read the book in its finished form. I never do, partly because there is other work to do, but mostly because having shared my head with the characters for so long I want them out, removed, evicted. It's like having house guests for rather longer than one would like, even though they might be your best pals. I want my real family back. I want to play computer games with my boys, go out for dinner with my wife. Damn it, I even want to do some more flat-pack assembly work, just so I can use my hands instead of my head for a change.
What now?
Sigh... I still have to do the author's note for The Generals, then I have three months or so to get the next Eagle book written. So, it's off to the bookshelves to do the next wodge of research and time to put the screwdriver and woodeglue away for another day.
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