Blog posts of '2016' 'May'

Advice needed: Am I a published author?

It's been a particularly exciting week for my inner geek this week, with the arrival this week of an 'author's copy' of Parliament: Legislation and Accountability (edited by Alexander Horne and Andrew Le Sueur, Hart, 2016).  All those hours, days, weeks, spent slaving over drafts, with my dear friend and colleague, Helen Kinghorn, of a chapter examining the ways in which Parliament considers draft legislative, and the impact it has on the shape of legislation which hits the statute book and ultimately affects people's lives, now seems so worth it.  (Those who read my blog closely will probably know that Parliament is my day job and a long-term obsession.) Of course, a niche publication of this sort is only likely to interest a small cadre -  those who are nerdishly interested in the inner workings of legislatures and the practices of law-making. It's not going to reach any best-seller list or be talked about in reading groups but I am nevertheless ridiculously excited.  The book is officially launched later this week but is already available on Amazon (hardback and kindle) and, of course, from all good bookshops! I have a lovely hardback in my hands, complete with an elegantly stylist dust jacket which gives my words more credibility and authority than I felt while drafting. [gallery ids="eyJ1cmwiOiJodHRwczpcL1wvYm9va2FkZGljdGlvbi5jby51a1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAxNVwvMDVcL2Rpc3RhbmNlLmpwZyIsInRpdGxlIjoiRGlzdGFuY2UiLCJjYXB0aW9uIjoiIiwiYWx0IjoiSGVsZW4gR2lsdHJvdyBUaGUgRGlzdGFuY2UgSGFyZGJhY2sgY292ZXIiLCJkZXNjcmlwdGlvbiI6IlRoZSBoYXJkYmFjayBkdXN0IGphY2tldCBjb3ZlciBmb3IgSGVsZW4gR2lsdHJvdydzIFRoZSBEaXN0YW5jZSJ9,eyJ1cmwiOiJodHRwczpcL1wvYm9va2FkZGljdGlvbi5jby51a1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAxNVwvMDVcL3RoZS1kaXN0YW5jZS1ieS1oZWxlbi1naWx0cm93LmpwZyIsInRpdGxlIjoidGhlLWRpc3RhbmNlLWJ5LWhlbGVuLWdpbHRyb3ciLCJjYXB0aW9uIjoiIiwiYWx0IjoiVGhlIERpc3RhbmNlIEhlbGVuIEdpbHRyb3cgUGFwZXJiYWNrIGNvdmVyIiwiZGVzY3JpcHRpb24iOiJVSyBwYXBlcmJhY2sgY292ZXIgb2YgSGVsZW4gR0lsdHJvdydzIFRoZSBEaXN0YW5jZSwgYSB0aHJpbGxlciBmZWF0dXJpbmcgQ2hhcmxvdHRlIEFsdG9uIn0=" type="rectangular"] The chapter I co-authored sits alongside contributions and essays from leading practitioners and eminent academics (which is a bit intimidating and leaves me asking what I'm doing there).  But what I'm wondering is whether I now can consider myself a published author?  My only purpose in seeking an answer to this is to decide if I can fairly ask LibraryThing to add an author tag to my profile page? Hundreds of authors who LibraryThing have them, like this one which belongs to Patrick Rothfuss - not that I'm comparing myself to Mr Rothfuss!  It would make me stupidly happy to have an author tag but I don't want to claim it unfairly. I'd really well any thoughts, comments etc?  What does being a published author actually mean?

Bees, Honey History and Secrets

Receiving books through the post - whether gifts from friends, review copies or purchases, is always a high point, bringing intrigue and anticipation into the working week (and well as a child-like pleasure in 'unwrapping presents').  But this week's book post was better than most - a bright and shiny review copy of Josephine Moon's The Beekeeper's Secret. It arrived with wonderful serendipity on the very day that The Republic of Slovenia had proposed to the United Nations as World Bee Day. Why Slovenia?  I hear you ask.  And 'Why 20 May?'. In Slovenia, 20 May is remembered as the birthday of one Anton Janša (1734-1773). Considered the pioneer of modern beekeeping, Janša was the first teacher of apiculture at the Hapsburg court in Vienna.  He wrote two books on bee-keeping - Discussion on Bee-keeping (1771) and A Full Guide to Bee-keeping (1775).  After his death, the Empress Maria Theresa issued a decree obliging all teachers of apiculture to read and use his books. Can it be co-incidence that the central character in Moon's The Beekeeper's Secret is also called Maria?   My review copy (from Allen & Unwin - thank you) came with a lovely tin of beeswax lip balm and a wee pot of English Wildflower honey - so I will read the book while eating honeyed toast through beeswaxed lips (and with a good slug of tea).  I rarely read family sagas or romantic fiction but somehow I'm really looking forward to this one. Josephine Moon's The Beekeeper's Secret will be published in paperback on 7 July 2016 by Allen & Unwin. Watch out for a review here on BookAddiction before that.

Short texts - Jean de la Fontaine's The World is Full of Foolish Men

[caption id="attachment_1891" align="alignleft" width="207"] Enter a caption[/caption] I'm currently listening to 'A Days Read', a series of lectures from Professor Arnold Weinstein, Professor Emily Allen and Professor Grant L Voth on short stories and other texts, and how they can be exhilarating  and expand the ways you see the world around you. These lectures are so insightful and inspiring that I'm resolved to read more short texts. So early this week I picked up a copy of Jean de la Fontaine's The World is Full of Foolish Men (available for a very reasonable couple of quid in Penguin's Little Black Classics series) from Foyles at Waterloo Station.  This really is taking 'short' to the extreme - many of the fables and poems are less than a page (and the pages are quite small at that!). Jean de La Fontaine (1621-1695) was a French fablist and poet whose works are ranked among masterpieces of world literature. His first volume appeared when the author was 47 and included some 240 poems and timeless stories of countryfolk, heroes from Greek mythology, and familiar beasts from the fables of Aesop.  This slim volume contains 26 of those and I chose it as a 'taster'. The World is Full of Foolish Men promises sparkling fables of lions and foxes and cicadas coming together to expose the foibles of 17th century French society and includes some charmingly hilarious cartoon engravings as illustrations. [caption id="attachment_1896" align="alignnone" width="920"] One of the illustrations, this one by Charles Doyle, in The World of Full of Foolish Men. Those in the penguin edition are in black and white and lack some of the magical detail[/caption]

Revisiting the wild Shropshire countryside of childhood memory

With a few minutes to kill in Epsom before catching a train I browsed the books in charity shop close to the station and stumbled across a copy of Mary Webb's Precious Bane.  Webb, whom John Buchan described as capturing 'the soul of nature in words' and I share a home county - Shropshire, and most of her works are set there. She was also one of my father's favourite writers.  And yet I've never read a word she wrote.  Time to put that right!  I'm thinking this may be the adult equivalent of reading Malcolm Saville's Lone Pine series, also focussed on south Shropshire, which I gobbled through several times as a child.  Even better, it's in the Virago Modern Classics series which I try, spasmodically, to collect.

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[gallery ids="eyJ1cmwiOiJodHRwczpcL1wvYm9va2FkZGljdGlvbi5jby51a1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAxNVwvMDVcL2hvbGxvd2F5cmVhZGluZ3MwMGhvbGxfMDAwMS5qcGciLCJ0aXRsZSI6ImhvbGxvd2F5cmVhZGluZ3MwMGhvbGxfMDAwMSIsImNhcHRpb24iOiIiLCJhbHQiOiIiLCJkZXNjcmlwdGlvbiI6IkhvbGxvd2F5IENvbXBhbnkgQnJvY2h1cmUgZnJvbSB0aGUgMTg5MHMgZmVhdHVyaW5nIHRoZSBIb2xsb3dheSBSZWFkaW5nIFN0YW5kIGFuZCBEaWN0aW9uYXJ5IEhvbGRlciJ9,eyJ1cmwiOiJodHRwczpcL1wvYm9va2FkZGljdGlvbi5jby51a1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAxNVwvMDVcL2hvbGxvd2F5cmVhZGluZ3MwMGhvbGxfMDAwNi5qcGciLCJ0aXRsZSI6ImhvbGxvd2F5cmVhZGluZ3MwMGhvbGxfMDAwNiIsImNhcHRpb24iOiIiLCJhbHQiOiJIb2xsb3dheSBSZWFkaW5nIFN0YW5kIGFuZCBEaWN0aW9uYXJ5IEhvbGRlciAxODkwcyIsImRlc2NyaXB0aW9uIjoiSG9sbG93YXkgUmVhZGluZyBTdGFuZCBhbmQgRGljdGlvbmFyeSBIb2xkZXIgMTg5MHMifQ==" type="rectangular"] Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews and started way back in 2012 to help booklovers and readers celebrate the arrival of new and exciting books in their homes and on their bookshelves. But I owe my inspiration for using this meme to the lovely Hayley at Rather Too Fond of Books.  The BookAddict's weekly posts under this heading may be a little different in that (a) they are not likely to be weekly, and (b) they are certain not to be exhaustive.  I also run a small second hand bookshop selling beautiful, unusual, vintage and quirky books which means some weeks literally hundreds of books arrive all at once!

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It starts with a stabbing. But fifteen years earlier, Lily is a newly-minted solicitor who, as she secures a place with a prestigious legal firm in London, resolves to make a fresh start and put her woes and secrets behind her. She’s helped in this mission when she meets up-and-coming artist, Ed at one of those parties no one really enjoys.  Ed proposes on their second date and Lily finds herself swept away for a romantic Italian honeymoon. Jane Corry’s My Husband’s Wife has haunted me ever since a review copy slipped into my bag at the inaugural meeting of the First Monday Crime Club and then, a few evenings later, a flyer whispered out from the elegant surrounding of the University Women’s Club. At first glance, this is not the sort of book I would usually read. I like my crime hard-boiled and plot-driven with plenty of opportunity for the reader to outwit the author. My Husband’s Wife, with its pastel-coloured wraps boldly proclaiming ‘first comes love’ looks like another chick-lit romance dressed up as family saga. And the crime is given away on page two! Yet this is just one of many intriguing semi-deceptions – make no mistake, there’s intrigue and layering and mind games aplenty. [caption id="attachment_1829" align="alignright" width="300"] Jane Corry.  My Husband's Wife is her début novel.[/caption] The honeymoon is not a success and back in their South London flat, the couple’s flaws and insecurities begin to pressure their relationship. And then Lily meets Joe – a convicted murder who both attracts and repels her, and reminds her of her own chaotic past – and Ed meets Carla, a young girl who lives in the same block of flats and who will become his muse. My Husband’s Wife is very much Lily’s story – eventually revealing not only her future but also her past – but it’s Carla who drives the plot and is, ultimately, the most interesting of characters. She’s Italian, and different. She struggles to fit in with suburban London and resents playing second-place to her mother’s Sugar Daddy. Initially she elicits sympathy but it soon becomes clear that she isn’t the innocent she plays and she relies on her manipulative and duplicitous tendencies to get want she wants. She is, if such thing is possible, an innocently evil child who grows into a manipulative and largely amoral adult – and yet Corry constantly challenges the reader to empathy, questioning whether Carla is really responsible for her actions, even when she commits the most heinous betrayals. Similarly, Joe, now released from prison largely thanks to Lily’s belief in his innocence, has loyalty and gratitude which manifests in shockingly unexpected ways. Corry adeptly layers intrigue upon secret – enough to keep any crime fiction fan gripped – but there’s more to My Husband’s Wife than that. It has a more human, softer element than many modern novels of the genre, blurring concepts of good and bad and, by peeling away a past that echoes into the present, it invites repeated character reassessment. There are no heroes here -nothing is so black and white.  And who’s to say that murder is the most hurtful of human acts or that time and justice bring healing? My Husband’s Wife is a thoroughly enjoyable and thought-provoking read. A slow-burn psychological drama with a crescendo ending. Want to know what others have thought of the book before you decide whether to read it or not?  My Husband's Wife is on a blog tour between 5th May and 5th June 2016, so there are lots of other reviews and views to choose from.  There's a great Q&A with Jane Corry on the Orenda Books blog and I really liked the reviews from bookbloggers Anne Cater (on Random Things Through My Letterbox) and Ana (on This Chick Reads). My Husband’s Wife will be published as an e-book on 26 May 2016 as an e-book and, in paperback, on 25 August 2016 by Penguin Books.