A sunny day.

Two new reviews today. One in The New York Sun, which finds the Axe "a smart, hypnotizing tale of crime and duplicity." Read the whole thing here.




The second in I Love a Mystery. This one concludes:

"I would hazard a guess that even the Russian literary master himself would find Morris' debut entertaining, or at least amusing. In fact, Dostoevsky might be inclined to give Morris a pat on the back for not only grasping the underlying personality traits of "his" detective but also giving Porfiry center stage in his own novel.

R.N. Morris is an exciting new talent with a very promising future. Regardless of whether or not you are familiar with Dostoevsky's work, it would be a crime not to read this highly entertaining novel."

The whole thing's here.

And it was a sunny day. I sat in Soho Square at lunchtime reading my current paperback, Kafka on The Shore by Murakami - which, I have to say, I am enjoying very much.

The Hungarian Axe.

I have it on good authority, from
David Llewellyn's Hungarian cleaner, that A BALTA means THE AXE.

Bookgasm review.

The Axe has been reviewed by Mark Rose in a US blog called bookgasm.

It's an interesting review because it seems to indicate how 'hype' can affect a reader's, or blogger's, receptiveness to a book. He says: "This book has received so much mainstream hype that I began to worry about its likability. Other reviewers seemed to care a little too much about the Dostoyevsky angle, and because it featured a shining star in the modern academic literary canon, it was sure to be praised."

Well, actually, I would take issue with the last point. I think the Dostoevsky connection may well be what is getting the book noticed. But not all reviewers have looked kindly on my presumption. Any how, I'm pleased that Mark Rose follows this up with: "Thankfully, Morris does not pretend to be Dostoyevsky. Instead, he takes a character study and a locale, and crafts a very passable murder mystery out of the whole thing. If he can use Porfiry Petrovich as his foil to get attention, then more power to him."

His final line is one I'm very happy with: "It’s an excellent first novel that bodes well for the future."

I've had my first Dutch review, or the first that's been brought to my attention. It appeared in NRC HANDELSBLAD, which, according to my Dutch editor "is just about the most renowned Dutch newspaper around."

I believe they liked it. "The Gentle Axe makes you long for more work by Morris, who is intelligent enough not to place too much intellectual weight in his novel, thus ensuring that it is smart without being pompous. Serve with cabbage soup and plenty of vodka."

The full bookgasm review is here.

The Mystery Bookstore in LA.

I was delighted to see that The Mystery Bookstore in Los Angeles has added my virtual axe reading to their myspace profile page.

See it here.

Thank you Mystery Bookstore!

You're all invited.

I'm back from The Rap Sheet. I thoroughly enjoyed myself over there, though I have to say it was a bit stressful, trying to post something new everyday and look after the kids on Easter holiday.

I've had some positive feedback, which makes it all worthwhile, and J. Kingston Pierce, the editor, was pleased enough with my contributions to make me one of his Usual Suspects - i.e. occasional contributors.

While I was over there, I put a virtual reading up on myspace. It's an extract from the first chapter of the Axe. Please check it out, if you have a moment.

Just go here and scroll down until you see the video screens. You can view the American version (which features The Gentle Axe) or the English version (A Gentle Axe). The reading is the same. If you're logged in to myspace, you can even leave a comment. Please do!

My thanks to Clive Parsley who directed and art directed the shoot.

My debt to Dostoevsky.

Part One.

And Part Two.

This week I will mostly be blogging at The Rap Sheet.

I'm honoured to have been invited over to The Rap Sheet, where I will be posting all week. Aside from my ramblings about Gentle Axe, I can promise you a number of great interviews with great writers. And a few other surprises, I hope.

My thanks (again!) to David Isaak for drawing my attention to this review in the Washington Post.

Some pull-out quotes:

R.N. Morris's lively, literate "The Gentle Axe"

"The Gentle Axe" is a deftly plotted, enjoyable literary thriller. It's not another "Crime and Punishment," but it's a novel that, once begun, you're likely to read all the way through.

I google trawled another review too. From a site called BookLoons. The reivewer there calls it a 'top-notch mystery'.

See you at The Rap Sheet!

Every author is a local author somewhere...

So the surreal conversation I referred to in the post below, between Mark Budman and the Barnes and Noble sales clerk, went like this:

Mark: "Will you put my book here one day?"
Clerk: "We don't put every book here."
Mark: "But I'm a local author."
Clerk: "Local authors are all print on demand. We don't carry them."
Mark: "No, my book will be out from a major publisher."
Clerk: "Even major publishers, like Random House, publish local authors only as POD."

That's so illogical it's genius. Thanks to Mark for reporting the exchange and allowing me to use it. And congratulations on not slapping the fool.

The kindness of Zoetropers.

Zoetrope.com is a place I go sometimes, a place where writers post work, review other writers' work, and get together, in a virtual way, to talk about writerly stuff, and occasionally some unwriterly stuff. I've made many very good friends there, some of whom I have now met in person. None of us has yet turned out to be an axe murderer. I am possibly the closest, having written a crime novel with Axe in the title.

Many Zoetropers are American or Canadian. And some of them have been out and about, visiting bookstores, looking for copies of the Axe and reporting back to me. I got news of a sighting in Kauai, the northern most island of the Hawaii chain - described by the spotter Mary Deal as 'the most remote place ON EARTH'.

Lisa McMann spotted it in Tempe Arizona, and even took a picture:



In case there are any members of staff of Borders Tempe reading, Lisa assures me that she had nothing whatsoever to do with standing that book up. No way. Nor did she place that rogue copy you might have found on the recommendations wall.

There have been other sightings too. Mark Budman, the editor of Vestal Review, spotted it in Vestal, NY. He had a rather surreal conversation with the sales assistant about his own book, MY LIFE AT FIRST TRY, which has just been snapped up by Counterpoint.

Jason Shaffner picked up a copy in Borders Boston.

Hannah Holborn has been turning out copies in Canada.

Louis Catron was making a nuisance of himself at his local libraries and bookstores on my behalf.

My thanks to all of these generous souls and all the other zoetropers who have expressed their good wishes, and especially those who have taken a chance, either with the Axe or Taking Comfort (Don Capone, Patti Auburn to name but two).

I'd also like to give a special thanks to the techie suprema Ellen Meister who made my covers rotate on myspace.

Interview in Eclectica.

Yes, I've been interviewed. The interviewer is the great Jim Younger, author of the acclaimed High John The Conqueror. I've had the honour and pleasure of sharing the odd tipple with Jim on occasion. However, the interview was conducted in the utmost sobriety. Actually, I can't speak for Jim. But I was nowhere near a drink at the time.

My thanks to Jim. He came up with some great questions and managed to make me look considerably cleverer than I actually am.

The interview appeared in an online literary zine called Eclectica, and it was commissioned by Elizabeth Glixman, who is the interviews editor there. I hope the good folk at Eclectica won't object if I quote from their 'about Eclectica' page, just for those who may not be familiar with the site:

Eclectica was founded in October 1996 with the goal of providing a sterling quality literary magazine on the World Wide Web. We were not able to find a forum that would be the net equivalent (in terms of content) of Harper's, New Yorker, Granta, The Atlantic, and other publications providing quality material for the appetites of a wide variety of demanding readers. Although some of these magazines even had their own web-sites, they were conceived as companions to the print items rather than sites that stood completely on their own.

Thus Eclectica was born. The vision we shared was that of a magazine not bound by formula or genre, that harnessed technology to further the reading experience rather than for the sake of flashy gimmickry, and that was dynamic and interesting enough content-wise to keep readers coming back for more.

Ten years later, quality is still the sole criterion in our editorial process. If it is outstanding writing, then we want to share it with our ever growing, global readership. We provide broad categories for convenience's sake, but we love to get material that just doesn't fit into them. And while there are many, many online publications now that succeed, to greater or lesser degrees, in doing what we set out to do in 1996, we pride ourselves on being one of the longest-running and most consistent literary ezines on the web.

Reviewed by and on amazon.com.

Thanks to LF for letting me know about his really generous review on amazon.com. And thanks especially, Len, for ""The Gentle Axe" manages to be an entertaining novel on its own while doing no disservice to the memory of one of the great novels of all time."

I also spotted that amazon had added their own review, by Valerie Ryan. She says: "In a wonderfully atmospheric novel, Morris has created a world-weary protagonist in Porfiry, a man still exhausted from his last case, joined by a collection of absolutely believable characters to flesh out the novel... [Porfiry] follows clues, hunches, people, and stories to get to the bottom of the mystery--and when he does, it comes as a complete surprise, but one that makes perfect sense. This carefully written and entertaining novel will satisfy lovers of mystery, historical crime, and just plain good novels."

The last time I looked at my amazon.com page I was twinned with Ruth Downie's novel MEDICUS. I met Ruth at the Heffers event I did in February. She was very nice (so nice she even bought a copy of A GENTLE AXE!) and her book seems to be doing very well.

I've also been told that the book was reviewed in the Sydney Morning Herald but as the review doesn't seem to be online, I have no idea what it said. Anybody spot it?

The Moscow Times reviews the St Petersburg novel.

I was thrilled by this one. It's a wonderful review by Saul Austerlitz. I say wonderful not just because it's positive, but because the writer just seems to get what I was trying to do. What's more, he's really engaged with the book. So I'm very happy.

It's been a crappy day in other respects. A lot of stress, mostly self-induced and in fact still on-going (I shouldn't really be here). But I had to share.


Oh, and another truly marvellous thing happened - possibly even better than getting a great review in The Moscow Times. Daughter Claire and her friends won the overall egg decoration prize in their school's eggy diorama competition. You may remember it was for Yoka from Egg Wars.

the san francisco chronicle reviews the axe (HELP MY CAPS HAVE GONE MAD!!!)

Sorry I don't know what happened with that header - I couldn't get the pc to do caps, then everything was in caps. It's been a long day.

Somewhere around the midpoint of it, a couple of emails pinged into my inbox from New York. One from my American editor and one from my American publicist. Both telling me about a review in the San Francisco Chronicle - my first US newspaper review. (I was reviewed by a US blogger here.) I sort of hoped the simultaneous transmission was a good sign. But you know, I don't assume anything and I am naturally pessimistic.

Anyhow, they seemed quite pleased. One of them described it as a 'rave' review. The other used the word 'fantastic'. Yeah, yeah - I know how people in publishing tend to exaggerate. I could tell they were just trying to build me up so I wouldn't take the bad bits to heart. Still, it gave me the confidence to take a peek.

The SFC reviewer is Stephen Lyons. And yes, he seemed to like the book: "The story is told ably in the classic whodunit twisty-arc style, reminiscent of the sleuthing of Nick Charles, Sherlock Holmes and Columbo, the mussed-up character based partly on Dostoevsky's trench-coat-clad Petrovich. Dirty Harry could easily be referenced, too..."

Have to say, I'm very pleased with those references, though if I'm honest the Dirty Harry one strikes me as a bit left-field! But hey, I'm not complaining.

He does a quick summary of the story, then observes: "In addition to the splendid dust-off and resurrection of Petrovich, the strengths of "The Gentle Axe" are its characters and scene construction." He then goes on to quote from a scene that he particularly liked, calling it "wonderfully written". The scene is sort of about gambling, which allows him to conclude: "Tip to readers: Bet on Petrovich."

I've read the review through a few times now. Haven't found the bad bits yet.

The terrible knotted feeling in my stomach relaxed slightly today.

A hand yell for MJ Rose!

Well, I'm not entirely sure what a hand yell is. But I got one from MJ Rose over at buzz, balls and hype, so I thought I'd return the favour.

Buzz, balls and hype is a highly influential as well as entertaining blog, which features a range of valuable information for writers, including tips on marketing, and even advice from a psychologist on topics such as overcoming writer's block. There's a great essay by Barry Eisler about the different kinds of resonance in titles.

MJ Rose herself is a thriller writer with a string of acclaimed novels to her name. She doesn't do reviews, but if she reads a book she likes, she's not afraid to give it a good hand yell. Whatever that is.

Thank you, MJ.

The Axe, snapped in California.

Some photos, courtesy of the impressively determined David Isaak.

David Isaak, Axe-spotter extraordinaire.

My thanks go to the indefatigable David Isaak. Indefatigable is only one word you could use to describe the man and it hardly does him justice. But I chose it today, as opposed to any other epithets (e.g., generous, engaging, perceptive and frequently laugh-out-loud funny) because of his efforts in tracking down a copy of the American Axe. You can read all about it on his blog. His post even features an intriguing photo of the soon-to-be-bestselling author of Smite The Waters (Macmillan New Writing, September 2007), in a Magritte-style pose with his copy of The Gentle Axe. If you haven't bookmarked TOMORROWVILLE yet, I advise you to do so immediately. You won't regret it.

Anyhow, thank you David. Your efforts really were above and beyond the call of duty. And the photos you sent are helping me get my head round the fact that this is really happening, after all.

By way of a gift for David, and for everyone who has stumbled onto the plog today, I thought I would share with you an eggy diorama made by my daughter and two of her friends for Easter. It's a depiction of a traditional Easter scene, featuring Yoka from Egg Wars. I hope you like it.

Are you sitting comfortably?

Then I'll begin. Well, actually, Simon Vance will begin. He's the narrator of the American audiobook of The Gentle Axe and you can download a sample of his reading here.

Back story.

Thanks to MJ Rose, of Buzz, Balls and Hype fame, for inviting me to contribute mine.

The Axe is out (in the USA)

From today, The Gentle Axe is available to buy in American bookshops. Allegedly.

The official publication date is given as Monday, but the books go out today, I believe. So if there are any Americans reading this (David?), I'd really appreciate knowing about any bookshop sightings.

Shotsmag reviews Axe.

"[A] pretty impressive achievement which succeeds on its own terms as a well written literary thriller with loads of chilly Russian atmosphere and even plays fair as a murder mystery."

Read the full review here.


I'm back to just posting review excerpts. Sorry.

Fancy a bit of 'lurid'?

According to Doug Southard, who has reviewed The Gentle Axe for the Library Journal, "[r]eaders with an appetite for the occasional lurid scene will enjoy". Let's face it. Which one of us doesn't have the appetite for a bit of lurid now and then.

Porfiry and me.

I've written an article on that subject for Shots Mag.


By the way, you can download an extract of A Gentle Axe here.

Why no blog posts?

Yes, yes, I know, I've been neglecting the plog. Just lazily pasting in quotes from reviews. (Only the good bits, mind. I'm not daft.)

I do have an excuse. There was this small matter of another book to finish. One that was due in to my publisher on the same day that A Gentle Axe was published. I managed to do it, more or less. Though excessive plogging throughout the time I was supposed to be writing it slowed me down considerably and meant a mad sprint for the finish. Oops.

Thankfully, I did manage to get it written in time, though the spamfilter at Faber snagged it, so my editor didn't get to see it until a couple of days after the agreed due date. That seemed to be fine. The sky didn't fall in. Nobody came to cut a pound of flesh from my side.

Mr Ed (not his real name) got back to me pretty quick. Here is a man who reads three manuscripts over a single weekend. Anyhow, "It seems to be in very good shape," was his verdict. Still he did have some comments. Then some more. Then a few more. Oh, and a few more. That's what's been keeping me busy over the last few weeks. Well, actually, what's really been keeping me busy is the very important job of staring sullenly and fearfully at this big wad of paper wondering just how bad it is. Oh, that and chewing my nails down to the quick.

I finally steeled myself to look at the damage last week. Friday, to be exact. There was nothing major, as he had promised. Just a lot of minor stuff. More than usual for me, which I think was partly due to the fact that I didn't have time to do as many read-throughs as I normally like to. I did reach the point where I needed an editor's input for the big stuff, to check whether the story was working. And, I have to say, he is an exceedingly good editor, so why not use him, I thought?

So what else has been keeping me from the plog? A daughter with a broken arm. This amazing book. The day job. Googling my title(s). And a strange debilitating tension that seems to lock my shoulders into rigidity whenever I contemplate opening up blogger. Can't explain it.

Book stuff to report

I've signed 500 hardbacks of A Gentle Axe at Goldsboro Books. It's the only place you can buy the hardback, which is indeed a beauteous object. It even has the pic and bio of me lacking from the trade paperback. And a lovely quote from Alan Furst on the back.

News came in of a sighting of a spectacular window display of Axes at the Waterstones on Piccadilly. By the time I got there, they'd moved me from the window to the 'curve' - an area inside devoted to books they are promoting. I may return with a camera to capture the evidence.

I also seem to be published in Canada. There was a review in the The Globe and Mail, which I'm assured is Canada's main national paper. It wasn't too bad. My Porfiry "retains both the intelligence and doggedness of the original" apparently. But I'll let you read the whole thing if you like.

The York Press reviews the Axe.

Lovely review from Stephen Lewis in the York Press.

"Morris has dug deep into the Russian soul in this book, and his dark, dank, dangerous St Petersburg, with its snowbound, windswept streets and stinking slums, is brilliantly recreated.

The hunt for the murderer is tense and atmospheric: the denouement brutally shocking and moving.

A worthy sequel to one of the greatest novels ever written: and a cracking thriller in its own right."

I think he liked it.

Read the whole thing here.

The Agony Column reviews the Axe.

The Axe isn't published in the States yet, but it seems one literary blogger couldn't wait to review it.

The review, in a blog for some reason called The Agony Column, is themed around the idea of books you're made to read (at school) and books you want to read. A couple of extracts:

Morris has all the grace notes right for a fine historical mystery... ...it's an auspicious debut, with enough details and period observations to keep you immersed in the alien worlds of history and enough plot to keep you reading. At 305 pages, this is a nicely sized book and perhaps the start of a very good series. At this point in your life, chances are you're out of English class, and there no novels that you have to read. 'The Gentle Axe', my friends, is no 'Crime and Punishment', to be sure (nor does it pretend to be), but neither is it 'Silas Marner'. It is in fact a novel you might very well want to read.

Read the whole thing here.

Read the full Independent review...

... by Virginia Rounding online here.

My favourite Axe review so far...

... has come in from from my Russian friend Andrey. I sent him a copy of the book as a way of saying thank you for his wonderful and generous hospitality when I visited his city last August.

Here's what he said:

I finished reading of the novel just a couple of days ago. The most striking impression for me, being St.Petersburg native, is a strong Russian, St.Petersburg feel of it. Although written in English and by an Englishman, it reads as a naturally Russian literary work, and it's quite an accomplishment. I haven't experienced that feeling before, although I read quite a few Western novels with Russian
connection.

It's a great work of the detective genre, it truly keeps you thrilled and guessing until the very end. My mom loves detective stories, and I told her she would enjoy it when it's available in Russian.

Signed, lined and dated.

Last week was half term and I was in sole charge of the kids for most of it. So not much time for blogging. I know I've been neglecting the plog recently. I can't really make amends in one post, but I will try to do better in the future. It's an exciting time for me, which seems to be going by in a blur. Whenever I get a chance I'll try to put something here, but I can't promise to be a regular or frequent blogger any more.

The week started with my seven year old son doing his bit for science. He was taking part in a language processing study which involved getting his brain scanned in Queen Square, otherwise known as Neurology Square. Just about the only building on Queen Square that is not devoted to the study or treatment of the human brain, is that given over to the offices of Faber and Faber. Very convenient for me as I was able to nip out for a quick meeting with my editor over the next Porfiry Petrovich novel, which he had just finished reading. The meeting went well. "It seems to be in very good shape," was his verdict. There's some work to do but nothing major.

Pancakes on Tuesday, of course. Then our plan for Wednesday was a visit to St Paul's to fit in with Luke's topic at school, which is The Great Fire of London. Ah, but the Wednesday after Pancake Day is of course Ash Wednesday. It turns out that St Paul's Cathedral is some sort of church! Who would have thought? They actually have services there on Ash Wednesday which means that it is closed to sightseers. We didn't get to climb the galleries. By way of consolation, we walked along to The Monument and climbed its 311 steps. The Dickensian porter at the bottom was worth the admission fee alone.

Thursday evening I had a trip to Cambridge to take part in Heffers Crime Through Time evening. I have to say it went by in a bit of a blur. People came. Some of them bought books. I signed, lined and dated them. (This is what the collectors want these days.) I was pleasantly surprised to see that Richard of Heffers had put out some copies of Taking Comfort too. I think I probably signed an equal number of each book. I was asked to sign some of the Taking Comfort copies as 'Roger Morris aka RN Morris'. Some of the people who came were undoubtedly dealers and I've already seen copies of the book advertised on the internet.

It was very pleasant chatting to the people who turned up to buy and nice to meet some of my fellow historical crime novelists, notably Lee Jackson, Frank Tallis and R.S. (Ruth) Downie.

This afternoon I'm off to do more signing. In fact, I have 500 limited edition hardbacks waiting for me at Goldsboro Books. Repetitive stress here I come. If you're a collector, the Goldsboro Books edition is the one to have.

Hot off the press

Got an early copy of the American edition (The Gentle Axe) through the post this morning. It's a hardback. And a thing of beauty. Publication date is March 22.



The back's worth a look too.

More reviews for the Axe.

I haven't actually seen these in full, but the press officer at Faber has forwarded me these quotes:

‘RN Morris has brilliantly appropriated (Petrovich) from Dostoevsky’s novel. … Morris’ recreation of the seamy side of 19th-century St Petersbury is vivid and convincing … As to who did it, Morris keeps the reader guessing until the end. …Morris even includes the statutory holy monk on his deathbed, and he has certain advantages over Dostoevsky: A Gentle Axe is much shorter than Crime and Punishment, and much easier to read.’  Virginia Rounding, Independent

‘Morris has created an atmospheric St Petersburg, and a stylish set of intellectual problems, but what makes A Gentle Axe such an effective debut is its fascination with good and evil.  It has earned its author the right to make use of the work of a greater writer.’  Roz Kaveney, TLS

Been quietly grinning to myself this morning.

More quotes here.

Crime through Time.

Next Thursday (22 Feb), I'm going to be taking part in an evening devoted to historical crime fiction at Heffers in Cambridge. There will be a number of other authors taking part, including so far CJ Sansom, Barbara Cleverly and Susanna Gregory.

It's going to be quite informal. No speeches. No readings. But hopefully some wine!

It starts at 6.30pm. Details here.

Snapshots of my disordered mind.

The Guardian Review section on Saturday has been running a series about writers' workspaces.

So I thought I'd give you a glimpse into my own.







As you can see below, the cat got out of the cage:

Local author moment.

Sorry. I couldn't resist it. I spotted it in the window of Prospero's Books on Saturday, then went back with my camera today, Sunday.

That's my book, that is. I still can't really believe it. I think I needed to take photographic evidence to convince myself.

So far, so good.

What people are saying about A Gentle Axe:

"Lush, and exceptionally compelling, but take your time - R.N. Morris's The Gentle Axe has a vast depth of Russian soul; mysterious, compassionate, and utterly irresistible." Alan Furst.

"A Gentle Axe is tense, atmospheric and bristles with the kind of intelligence you'd read, well, Dostoevsky for... a piece of literary fun." The Independent on Sunday.

"... fantastically confident... the historical detail always enhances the story and never overpowers it, which is a great skill if you can pull it off and Morris does.." Mike Ripley's Crime file.

"... a classic whodunnit where layer upon layer is opened for inspection in accordance with the timeline of Porfiry Petrovich's detection, much like investigating the substance of a Russian doll." It's a Crime... website.

"... the narrative is direct and effective, the place and people well drawn, with, presumably, a series to follow." The Literary Review.

"...he delivers a lively plot, well written, with some unusual characters." The Times.

Another review of the Axe.

My thanks to Jim Younger, author of the amazing High John The Conqueror, for alerting me to this one.

Oh, it's in Japanese, by the way.

P-day in the UK!

The axe is out!

Today is the official UK publication date of A Gentle Axe (Faber, pounds 12.99, ISBN-10: 0571232051, ISBN-13: 978-0571232055).

If you spot it anywhere, I'd love to hear about it.

De fluwelen bijl

Any Dutch speakers reading? Then you may be interested in the Dutch edition of A Gentle Axe. And you may be able to tell me what they're saying about it. I did spot a reference to De Dante-club van Matthew Pearl. I'd love to know what they're saying.

Staring me in the face.

On my way to the day job, walking from Tottenham Court Road station to Soho Square, I have to pass the Waterstones on Oxford St.

I used to find going into bookshops - well, the big chains at least - a very depressing experience. And even just looking into them was fraught with envy and other bitter feelings. But now I find I'm one of the bastards I used to hate. One of the bastards with a book not only published, but also displayed in a prominent position.

As I pass the big wide open entrance I can glance in and see the wall of racks, with the new titles, the bestsellers, the staff favourites, etc. There under the 'new fiction' heading, with a second placard announcing 'new talent', are two piles of A Gentle Axe, cover out. They're giving £3 off, I see.

I dunno. Somehow it doesn't seem real. Maybe it isn't. I'm feeling more and more like I'm wired up to the matrix.

Another early review.

This one appeared originally in the Birmingham Post and Mail, though I found it reproduced here. I wasn't googling, honest. Well, okay, I was.

It's by Mike Ripley. Very brief, just a couple of paras in a round-up (I'm the second book mentioned).

The matrix doing its work again?

World scoop.

The world's first review of A Gentle Axe is now up on Crimeficreader's 'It's a Crime' website.

You can also read an interview with R.N.Morris there too. That's me, by the way.

I'm also interviewed on Jennifer Prado's blog.

My thanks to both Crimeficreader and Jennifer.

Another great Macmillan party.

Last night was a sad-happy night. It was the party in honour of Mike Barnard's retirement, Mike being the founding godfather of Macmillan New Writing. Mike ascended even higher in my estimation, when after giving a very warm and witty speech, he joined the live band, strung a guitar over his shoulder and took the lead vocals.

Is there anything that man can't do?

I'm too hungover, I'm afraid, to blog coherently about it, so I will direct you to Matt Curran's blog. Matt's a fellow MNW-er, the author in fact of The Secret War (a copy of which he was good enough to sign for me last night). Matt's said everything I wanted to say, only much better than I ever could.

Other news

I spotted actual copies of A Gentle Axe in Prospero's Books today, even though the official publication is not until next week. It was very unexpected - and exciting.

"TRUE! --nervous --very, very dreadfully nervous..."

This time next week, A Gentle Axe will be a published book.

How would you like your axe, hard or soft?

The standard Faber edition of A Gentle Axe, released on Feb 1, will be a large format (or 'trade') paperback, with an RRP of £12.99. There will also be a limited edition hardback available exclusively through Goldsboro Books, for £16.99. 500 copies only. Signed, of course.

I'm really grateful to David Headley of Goldsboro for coming up with the idea and working with Faber to make it happen. Goldsboro Books is a bibliophile's paradise on Cecil Court near Leicester Square. If you live or work in London and you love books, you really should pop in for a browse. David and Dan are very friendly and welcoming. You can order any of their books online too.

I see they now have a blog going too. I'm honoured to get a mention.

By the way, you can also get a collector's edition (first printing) of Taking Comfort from Goldsboro.

All socked up.

Here was me thinking I was getting agitated about the imminent launch of my book, A Gentle Axe. Then there was the small matter that Gentle Axe's publication date (Feb 1) is also the delivery date for my next novel to Faber. I had imagined that that was making me a little uptight too. Plus, I've got a tax return to get in by Jan 31. Not to mention a tax bill to pay. So I had been telling myself that with all that hanging over me it was no wonder I was a tad jumpy.

But no. This morning I realised what it was all about, really. The real reason for my mounting feelings of despair, stress, inadequacy, fear and general inability to face the world was... I've been running out of socks! Somehow, all my socks decided to fail one after the other. A big toe through here. A ripped heel there. And so on, until this morning I discovered that I had no clean pairs of socks in my sock drawer, apart from a thin and holey pair of trainer socks, those evil things that don't even cover your ankles.

As you can imagine, this lunchtime I wasted no time in getting along to my nearest M&S where I purchased no less than 14 pairs of identical black cotton (ankle-hugging) socks. 14 may seem excessive, but you know, you have to allow for the fact that there's always a certain number of pairs in the wash. And I wanted them identical so that I don't have to worry about pairing up. Instead I can draw on a rolling, constantly-replenished 'sock bank'.

Don't worry, I ripped off the trainer socks, and swapped them for one of the new pairs as soon as I was back at Day Job HQ. I feel a lot better now. Calmer. Ready for anything. There really is a lot to be said for socks.

Fedexed from New York.

I received an unexpected delivery this morning. A package from America which contained two boxed sets of three books: The Gentle Axe by R.N. Morris, Fangland by John Marks and Giraffe by J.M. Ledgrand. It was a sample of a package Penguin Press are sending out to draw attention to their fiction publishing.

The accompanying letter has twelve signatures, from the President & Publisher Ann Godoff to the Editorial Assistant Lindsay Whalen.

Here's what the letter says:

Dear Reader,

We at Penguin Press have been delighted to play matchmaker since 2004 for remarkable works of fiction, from Zadie Smith's On Beauty, Mark Helprin's Freddy and Fredericka, and Carlos Ruiz Zafon's The Shadow of the Wind to Marina Lewycka's A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian and now Thomas Pynchon's Against the Day. We don't call attention to the strength of our fiction publishing, preferring to let our work on behalf of each book speak for itself. But the three novels you'll find in this box are so distinctive, so resistant to easy pigeonholing, that we decided to do something a little out of the ordinary.

These novels couldn't be more different each to each. One asks you to imagine an office environment so poisonous, so competitive, so...evil, that it can't recognize real evil, Old World evil, when it's staring it in the face. In another, the world's largest captive heard of giraffes suddenly arrives in a small Czech town, changing nothing and everything. In the third, we catch up with Police Inspector Porfiry Petrovich, made famous by Fyodor Dostoyevsky in Crime and Punishment, as he faces a murder more sinister than anything he's ever known. We loved these books so much we felt compelled to publish them. That's our only compact with you the reader, our only grounds for asking for your attention. You might not respond to all of these novels, but one of them just might rearrange the furniture in your head permanently. Which one? Well, that's what makes it interesting. Enjoy.

Perhaps encouraged by this I decided, at last, to join the Society of Authors. Sent off my application form today.

Karaoke kids.

It was my daughter Claire's ninth birthday today. We got her a PS2 karaoke set - Songstar Popworld or sommert. I'm sure there should be an (R) and a (TM) in there somewhere. Anyhow, it was a big hit and even made me want to have a go. Of course, the kids wouldn't let me. They've heard me sing without a mike.

The two songs I really wanted a go at were 'It's not unusual' and 'Should I stay or should I go?'

The amazing thing about the PS2 karaoke is that it tells you how you are doing - words like 'okay!', 'good!' and 'awful!' come up on the screen as you sing. Then it gives a score at the end. Maybe all karaokes do this? I have never sung karaoke in my life, I have to confess.

Anyhow, we are having the full karaoke party this weekend. 13 eight and nine year old girls pretending to be Beyonce Knowles and the Black Eyed Peas. Maybe I'll get to do my Tom Jones then.

Where have all the plugs gone?

James took me to task in a comment for not plugging anymore. So, well, I'll try to work one in. On the extremely tenuous connection of things that occurred on the 11th of Jan, I got news today of my first 'gig' as R.N.Morris, author of A Gentle Axe. I've been invited to take part in a historical crime event thingy (not sure exactly what it's going to be) at the Cambridge bookshop Heffers.

It's quite an informal gathering, apparently. I won't be required to do a reading or address an audience in any way - or so I'm told. Just turn up and hope that some punters do too. It's on February 22nd, so if you are a Cambridge person and you like historical crime fiction, it might be worth checking out.

I promise not to sing.

Travelling with Dr Who.

Last night I spent some time briefly in the company of a Time Lord. Dr Who was in my tube carriage, in the form of Sylvester McCoy. He played the seventh incarnation of the Doctor, I believe.

He's aged a bit, obviously. Haven't we all? But I was fairly sure it was him as soon as I saw him. But when he started speaking to his companion, I was convinced. The voice was unmistakable. It penetrated the whole carriage. A real actor's voice. It had to be him, especially as he was talking about his agent, and the theatre, and film roles, and directors, etc.. He held a black homburg-style hat in his hand, so that was also fairly clinching.

Presumably his Tardis was in for a service.

Win 4 Faber crime titles.

If you go here you can enter a competition to win the four Faber crime novels shown above.

You only have to answer one question and it is:

"Q. A Gentle Axe's Porfiry Petrovich appears in another author's classic work of fiction. What is it?"

Apparently the answer is to be found somewhere on this blog.

She's no bitch.

I'm talking about the blogger who calls herself the Fiction Bitch, though personally I would call her the Fiction Angel. Not only did she write a wonderful review of Taking Comfort, she has now nominated it as her fiction book of the year (2006) on Susan Hill's blog. That's the second list I've made it onto!

So thank you, Bitch.

Feel the embossing

I picked up some copies of my other book this lunchtime. I was amazed to see that they've given me an embossed title with shiny red foil lettering.

Does this mean I've made it? Maybe I should give up now. After all, it doesn't get much better than shiny embossed lettering. I can honestly say it's what I've been working for all these years.

A or The Gentle Axe?

Funny how these things come about. But 'A Gentle Axe' will be published as 'The Gentle Axe' in America. I'm told there are very good marketing reasons for the difference. The publisher in the States is The Penguin Press. The publication date is March 22, I think. There will also be an American audiobook, from Tantor.

The book's also coming out in Russia. Don't know when. And I don't know what the title will be. But I am very pleased about it. The Russian publisher is U-Factory, for whom I cannot find a link.

In fact, not wishing to leave anyone out, the complete list of countries is:

USA (Penguin Books)
Israel (Keter Publishing)
Holland (de Bezige Bij)
Germany (Droemer)
Italy (Rizzoli)
Finland (Otava)
Greece (Psychogios)
Brazil (Planeta)
Romania (Editura Polirom)
Poland (Literackie)
Hungary (Partvonal)
Czech Republic (BB/Art)
Russian (U-factory)
Estonia (Eesti Paevaleht).

New year, new diary.

Last year I had the Redstone Happiness diary. This year, I've gone for the Granta Diary 2007, 'Classic Crime'.

First significant date of the year: February 1. That's when my own crime novel, A Gentle Axe, is released in the UK. Crikey. It's only about a month away! I should be excited, but actually I'm petrified. I'm re-re-reading Crime and Punishment to try to calm my nerves. It seems to be working, which is a surprise given the feverish psychological atmosphere of the book.

A Gentle Axe by R.N. Morris.

I've been a bit busy recently. Very distracted. And now it turns out I've completely forgotten to mention the fact that I've got another book coming out. It's called A Gentle Axe, written under the name R.N.Morris.

I got an email from Lucy, the press officer at Faber, today and she said: "Start shamelessly plugging A Gentle Axe on your website." That reads to me like an order, so here am. I'm nothing if not obedient.

It's a historical crime novel, which has Porfiry Petrovich, the detective from Crime and Punishment, as its hero in a sleuthing yarn. Yeah, I know. A mad idea. Cheeky isn't the word.

It comes out in the UK on February 1st 2007. You can pre-order it on amazon now. (The US edition, which will be published by The Penguin Press, comes out March 22.)

I really hope that Dostoevsky, wherever he is, has a sense of humour.

Ever been to myspace?

Maybe it's time for a visit.

Just a bunch of writers talking about writing, that's all.

(If you have time, scroll down to check out the discussion thread - that's what myspace is all about.)

Never admit to beige.

As well as being sound advice in general, Never Admit to Beige also happens to be the title of a new novel by Jonathan Drapes, the latest release from Macmillan New Writing.

Luck is one of the book’s themes and I was lucky enough to be at Jonathan’s launch party last night. It was a fun occasion, with a great turn out. Jonathan read a very funny passage from the book and made a touching speech, in which he paid tribute to the camaraderie of MNW authors. It’s strange, but we really do see ourselves as part of a family and it was great to catch up with the following of my writerly siblings last night: Cate Sweeney, Lucy McCarraher, Samantha Grosser, Matt Curran, Brian Martin, Peter Bourne and, all too briefly (my fault), Michael Fuchs. I also had a good chat with the man who started it all, Michael Barnard. Will and Sophie from MNW were there too and it was great to see David Headley of Goldsboro books in attendance. (Sorry if I’ve forgotten anyone!)

I’d like to wish Jonathan the very best of luck with his book, but I have a feeling he may not need it. Never Admit to Beige has already been selected as the Radio Five Live book of the month. It’s also Goldsboro Books’ book of the month and can be found on the 3 for 2 tables at Waterstone’s. All I can say, having sat next to Jonathan at Pizza Express afterwards, is ‘It couldn’t have happened to a nicer chap’.

Oh, Cate – I hope you got your £24 back off Lucy. You have to watch her, you know. Can’t wait to see you both in Ready Steady Cook in January.

To plog or not to plog?

I talked last night to a number of people about blogging. Is it a good thing or a bad thing? Does it get in the way of 'proper writing'? Doesn't it take up too much time? Does it do any good (in terms of book sales)?

The answers I gave, in order:

Urm.

Ah!

Mmmm.

Yynn.

A general conclusion: so.

Anyone who followed that last link and was surprised by what they found, obviously hasn't read this blog before.

I find myself developing...

... an irrational fear of Russian-speaking gentlemen in restaurants and cafes. There were two at a table in the sandwich bar this lunch time and one of them looked distinctly peaky. I got out of there pretty sharpish, I can tell you. Now, anybody know the symptoms of radiation sickness?

For more about the anxieties of urban living, try this.

Tom Saunders on Rob Saunders (or should that be Job Saunders?)

Tom Saunders, Pushcart Prize-nominated author of the excellent short story collection Brother, What Strange Place is This? made an interesting - and I think very insightful - throw-away remark.

"Rob Saunders is obviously Job from the Old Testament. It's hinted at in the title Taking Comfort."

He actually meant it as a joke, but it stunned me because one of the projects rattling around in my brain is the idea of writing a modern retelling of the Book of Job. Tom (no relation to Rob) made me realise that I'd already done it! It's the first time I've thought of Taking Comfort in this light, but I have to say I have long been fascinated by the Book of Job, mulling over its meaning, and the roles of God and the Devil in it... ever since I read Jung's Answer to Job many years ago.

Thanks Tom. It seems I can now tick something else off my to-do list.

O.J. Simpson book pulled by Rupert Murdoch.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Ha!

Important notice from amazon.co.uk

This item will be delivered in time for Christmas in the UK.

Apologies.

Every now and then a blogger will apologise for not posting regularly enough. Now it's my turn. My excuse is I'm trying to finish the first draft of a novel by the end of November. Oh, and before you ask, I'm not taking part in nanowrimo (national novel writing month). I did start this one some time before the beginning of November.

Nanowrimo participants may be interested in this, by the way.

Of course, I still have time to google myself.

1,197 and counting.

The last time I looked, the trailer for Taking Comfort on aol uncut had received an amazing 1,197 views. That's far more than on any of the other video hosting sites I've put it. Two people have ranked it. But no one's left a comment. Anyone fancy being the first?

Sad news.

Sparky, one of the two goldfish Luke got for his birthday last Monday, has died. Goldie seems to be thriving.

Significant developments in America.

Apparently there have been some elections and Bush got a big dose of shock and awe, but it wasn't that I was thinking of. No - it was the fact that you can now pre-order the trade paperback of Taking Comfort on amazon.com.

It seems that some people already have.

Mentioned in dispatches (well, the FT).

There's an article on page 12 of today's FT by Danuta Kean, headed 'Vampires and cannibals find prey online'. It's about publishers, authors and filmmakers using myspace to reach new audiences.

I get the briefest of mentions:

"Last week, Macmillan author Roger Morris held a virtual reading of his novel Taking Comfort on myspace."

Not much, but then Toby Litt only got two more words than me and there were only five authors mentioned altogether, three of whom were Thomas Harris, J.K.Rowling and Mr Litt. So I didn't do bad.

Every little helps.

Today.

Is my son Luke's 7th birthday. We got him two goldfish (plus all the accoutrements). He called one Goldie and the other Sunshine, though he is thinking of changing Sunshine's name to Sparkle.

On the subject of gifts, crimeficreader has a few suggestions of her own for Christmas.

Only one more copy left...

... on amazon.ca.

Some kind Canadian put it out of its misery, please. There will be more - the trade paperback edition is being released in Canada next Spring. This could be a last chance to own moment.

(Slightly surprised to learn that my Canadian amazon ranking is higher than my UK amazon ranking, but these things change daily, if not hourly, or minute-ly, or second-ly. Not that I check that often. Honest.)

The man with the funny head.

That's what my kids call Noel Edmonds.

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot: buy this book.

Do it for the kids.

The genius of Pushkin.

From James E. Falen's translation of Eugene Onegin:

Her sky-blue eyes, devoid of guile,
Her flaxen curls, her lovely smile,
Her voice, her form, her graceful stance,
Oh, Olga's every trait... But glance
In any novel - you'll discover
Her portrait there; it's charming, true;
I liked it once no less than you,
But round it boredom seems to hover;
And so, dear reader, grant me pause
To plead her elder sister's cause.

Just thought I'd share that with you.

Carry on.

(By the way, that's Pushkin on the cover of the book, and yes, he was black, or of black descent - and proud of it.)

The Fiction Bitch reviews Taking Comfort.

Here.

Five minute interview.

Here.

Thanks Kathryn.

A reader writes.

I got the following message from someone who's read Taking Comfort. Like me, he's a member of the writers' website writewords, which I think is how he found out about me and the book. It also explains the first line of his message.

Anyhow, I really loved his response, particularly because I have been searching for a way - without damaging my chances of anyone ever buying the book - of warning people that the book may not exactly be to everyone's taste. I think "Beadle's" response is just about perfect in that respect.

Hi Roger

I suppose one of the problems of being a published author on a site like this is that you get nutters like me contacting you as if you're their best mate!

I just wanted to say that I have just finished reading Taking Comfort and wanted to congratulate you. I also wanted to tell you that I came nearer than any other book I've read to throwing it across the room in frustration.

I struggled with the way it was written at first, the repetition of words and phrases and sentiments. I was more than halfway through before it finally clicked and I felt the rhythm of the writing, the spiralling of the characters’ minds, their confusion and doubt.

Maybe one of the reasons I reacted against it so strongly initially is that it was a very accurate rendering of that turmoil one’s mind goes through dealing with everyday issues, whether it is seeing tragedies or just coping with the rush hour tube traffic.

It was a challenging book, or perhaps I’m just not challenged in that way very often. But I want to congratulate you because ultimately you created a world that was frightening yet comforting in its reality (which was also frightening), as well as being familiar but very alien (which again scares the pant off of me).

Ultimately I also liked the plot – I’m big into plot, and narrative, which is why I sometimes get frustrated with books that look like they’ve been “written” rather than just appearing fully-formed in my hands.

I’ll go now before I out stay my welcome. Good luck with this and your future work.

Cheers

Beadle

I would also like to say that in a further message Beadle went on to say this:

I can see that it would be quite easy to see back and say - ah, let's make this straightforward - but you didn't and that takes guts, and the people that supported you to get it published also show guts, so beyond your own achievement I think it shows a bit of light in the murk of the publishing industry. [My emphasis.]

Uh, if there are any people who still have it in for Macmillan New Writing, please take note.

We have a winner.

Crimeficreader.

Okay, she got it right, though her deductive reasoning wasn't exactly watertight. As I said in my comment, we did have mixed staircases and landings. And every now and then things got mingled up anyway.

So what a stupid pointless lie. Except for the fact that the person next door to me was Allison Pearson's (note the two 'l's now, cfr!) boyfriend at the time.

A very old copy of Metropolitan, as edited by Fiction Bitch, will be heading cfr's way, as soon as I can find it.

8 things about me.

I got memed by Debra Broughton absolutely ages ago. Sorry, Debra, that it’s taken me so long. Okay. Here are 8 things (apart from it takes me ages to get round to doing these things).

By the way, this meme reminds me of Three Things About Me by Aliya Whiteley, so in honour of Aliya, one of the things below is a lie. A prize to the first person who correctly identifies the lie (sorry Aliya, I’m nicking your idea).

1. I used to have elocution lessons when I was a kid. I come from oop north, you see, and my parents thought it would be a handicap in life having a northern accent. My dad wanted me to be a newsreader. The lessons were given by a gentleman called Mr Heap, who smoked cigarettes with a holder. Very sophisticated. I can almost remember one of the exercises, ‘My father’s car is a Jaguar and Pa drives rather fast. Past drafty barns and something farms pa goes whizzing past….’

2. Also from my childhood, I have my Silver Blades certificate for ice skating. I used to be able to do all sorts of stuff, including going backwards, even had my own skates. Then I didn’t do it for years and years and years and the first time I went on the ice as an adult I was petrified and rubbish.

3. Again from my childhood, I used to go potholing and quite enjoyed it, though I was always relieved to get out. I have never felt tempted to give it a go as an adult.

4. I have long nails on my right hand and short nails on my left. Good for finger pickin’ on the guitar. I have a guitar but I rarely play it these days. I keep my nails trimmed to the requisite lengths just in case.

5. When I was at University my room was next door to that woman off the Late Show, Alison Pearson. You know the one who wrote that book, I Don’t Know How She Does It. That’s the title of the book, by the way, not a comment on her achievements, which are considerable nonetheless.

6. I drink a lot of coffee. In fact, my coffee-drinking habit provides my family with a theme when it comes to present buying. I have received coffee scented notebooks, coffee tins, coffee mugs, coffee coasters, coffee T-shirts, coffee clips and, um, coffee.

7. I once met the actress who voices Wendy in Bob The Builder and got her to ‘talk Wendy’ to me.

8. In my twenties I was quite often mistaken for Timmy Mallett by little kids.

Okay. So which one is the lie? A prize of a vintage, collectable copy of the sorely missed literary magazine Metropolitan, which also happens to contain one of my short stories goes to the first commenter to spot the lie.

Oh, and I think I have to nominate some more people. Not sure how many but I imagine it might be 8. Apologies if you've already been done...

Steve Augarde, Matt Curran, Fiction Bitch (The Tart of Fiction), Samantha Grosser, Lucy McCarraher, Nik's blog, Cate Sweeney, Charlie Williams

Suroopa's spectacular sales.

The posting I did about my royalty statement has attracted the most comments, and drawn the most visits, of any posting I've put up so far.

It prompted an email from my fellow MNW-er, Suroopa Mukherjee, author of Across The Mystic Shore, in which she reveals her own highly impressive sales results. She also has something interesting to say about how her book has been received in her home country of India.

With Suroopa's permission, I'll quote from the relevant bits of her email:

I got my own royalty statement, though the cheque will only reach me after the tax bit is cleared. In my case across countries. I was truly surprised to discover that my book has sold as many as 2918 copies, with 1756 in UK (hard back) and the rest in India (paper back). I think MNW has done a great job in the way they have taken care of the books, both in terms of the constant support and encouragement and publicity. I have no idea what other publishing houses do as a norm, but certainly the kind of flak that MNW got was misplaced. I think the 6 of us "first authors" have no reason to complain.

My book sold despite the fact that I had virtually no support system in hand (no fond friends and relatives, not even a website) so clearly MNW has an efficient system in place. Many thanks to both Will and Sophie! The best words of encouragement came from Mike. He wrote that many of their best known authors would not have done better with their first novel. Words I will treasure! Would you believe it, in India my book was reviewed and interviews were published in all the major dailies and literary magazines. I counted - 18 and 3 more to come. I think the Macmillan name carries its own weight. I believe what authors, first time or otherwise, really need and look forward to is a system that sustains talent, rather than all this hoopla about commercial viability.

I had one added advantage in India. The controversy died down soon and my book was evaluated on its own terms. The only bit of criticism that got my goat was the frequent reference to poor editing. Many of the grammatical errors that were listed, is really the way I write English as someone who approaches it as a foreign language, third removed from our Indian reality. Naturally we make the language stand on its head! I am glad my editor saw the quirkiness and decided to retain it. So for any flaws in my writing I take the blame. My editor was fantastic.

You can find out more about Suroopa and her writing, including her plans for her next book, here.

My amazon twin.

For quite some time now my amazon page has twinned me with The Mathematics Of Love by Emma Darwin.

It's one of those weird X-file like mysteries that no one can explain. What makes it particularly astonishing is that Emma is one of the few novelists I have actually met in person. She was kind enough to come along to one of the MNW launches. (There were so many, you know.)

I also know Emma from the writers' site, writewords, where she is an extremely friendly, supportive and well-informed expert. You don't think that could be the connection, do you?

Well, of course, knowing Emma as I do, and having our books twinned, I was naturally very keen to read her novel (TMOL, as it is known to those in the know).

I finished it today and absolutely loved it.

Here are some thoughts:


Emma's grasp of the nuances of detail that make up the textures of her characters' lives struck me as nothing less than clairvoyant. She handles the historical material masterfully so that it never gets in the way of the story, but does the job of allowing the reader to experience the reality and immediacy of distant - and not so distant - events. She also moves between the twin time periods seamlessly (the book is set in 1819 and 1976), linking them by thematic connections and a parallel narrative pacing. Two stories are being told - of Stephen Fairhurst, a veteran of Waterloo, and of Anna Ware, a hot, bored, lonely teenager - but each serves to add meaning and resonance to the other by the simple action of perspective.

It is a highly intelligent book, written with great control, and yet it has an emotional power that is all the more breathtaking for that.

The Mathematics of Love is one of those books you sink into. From page one you know you are in safe hands. My only complaint is that I reached the end of its 400 plus pages all too soon.

My first royalty statement.

Yes. I thought there might be some interest in this. In the spirit of transparency which has characterised the Macmillan New Writing imprint from the outset, I thought I'd make the figures available.

The statement covers the first quarter of the book's release, from April 5 to June 30th.

Number of copies sold in that period: 1,804.

Income generated by the book: £10,429.76.

My earnings (20% of the above): £2,085.95.

It's been paid directly into my bank account, so I can't take a photo of the cheque.

I expect sales will drop off considerably now. But I'm not done yet.

The world's first myspace virtual reading?

Well, there is a question mark at the end of that heading. It's the first one I know about, and it's certainly new for me and my publishers, but I can't help thinking someone must have done it before.

This is how I broke my glasses, by the way. Took them off to read from the book then sat on them. I hope it was worth it (£84 to get them repaired. I'll have to sell quite a few copies to pay for that!)

Let me know what you think. To view just click on the screen below, or click here to go to the actual event. Excited? I am.


Get this video and more at MySpace.com

Who are you, Truman Shown?

Okay, I admit it. I was looking at my amazon page. There was a reason. And it was not to check my ranking, I promise. I just can't remember what it was exactly. Oh yes, I was interested to see what other books people who had dallied over Taking Comfort had bought. So I zoomed down to the bottom where it lists the 'people who bought this also bought these...'

Then I spotted a few of those listomania things at the bottom. Clicked on the first one, an alternative Booker list, only to discover this.

Wow. Scroll down and you'll see I made it on someone's alternative Booker list! Along with the mighty Jim Younger, I notice.

Well, whoever you are, Truman Shown (not your real name I suspect) thank you very much. It may not be the real list, but it means a hell of a lot to me.

Write any book in 28 days, or your money back.

That's right. In just 28 days, working one hour a day, you could write a complete book, from idea to manuscript.

It says so here. It must be true, because it's on the internet.

What's more, it's 100% GUARANTEED.

The method works for FICTION books and non-fiction books.

Click the link and you'll find out more about MASTER WRITER Nick Daws:

Living in his luxurious English home, Nick Daws has been a full-time writer for over 12 years. He enjoys a life of holidaying with his beautiful wife, playing his part as a regional celebrity, and occasionally putting finger to keyboard to write another book.

As the copy goes on to point out:

Those that write books stand out from the crowd. Those that write best-selling books become famous.

Can't help feeling Nick must have been in a bit of a hurry when he wrote those two sentences, but never mind. This man has written 30 best sellers in the last 3 years alone. That's ten bestsellers a year, or one best seller every 28 days with two months off for holidaying with his beautiful wife. SO THE SYSTEM REALLY DOES WORK!

One of the well-guarded secrets it promises to reveal is:

How to only ever write in FIVE MINUTE segments, so you never lose interest!

Mmm. I wonder if the secret there is to only ever write in five minute segments, so you never lose interest? Can't be sure though, so I'd better send the money off.

I can't wait to get the course, so I can hurry up and finish my current wip and get on with holidaying with my beautiful wife. I'm looking forward to standing out from the crowd too.