News and Views

JULY 2008 Deckchairs, buckets and spades and beach huts are back in business. The Island has been rocked and rolled by the annual Festival and enjoyed the spectacular Round the Island Yacht Race. The sun has shone on all the events so far. The Undercliff boasts more hours of sunshine than anywhere else in Britain. If you would like to view this unique stretch of coast from the sea take the Undercliff Discovery Tour (see links page).
BOOK NEWS Rocken Edge Launch date 29th July 6pm at Waterstones', Newport, Isle of Wight. The Isle of Wight has recently announced ambitious plans to become a world-renowned Eco-Island by 2020 www.eco-island.org.uk This set me thinking that it would be a great idea to have my third novel published and printed on the Island using recyled paper. Consequently I am thrilled to annouce that Rocken Edge is to be published by Coach House. www.coachhousepublications.co.uk and printed by Crossprint www.crossprint.co.uk My agent Dinah Wiener came from London to be present at the signing of contracts and to join in what feels like a team effort. So Rocken Edge is at the printers with the publication date set for the 29th July (my birthday!) with a launch at Waterstones', Newport, Isle of Wight 6pm (come for a glass of wine), and a book signing morning there on the 2nd August. Thank you to everyone who has sent messages of anticipation and support. The Sorrow of Sisters The first print run has sold out but it will soon be back in print with Coach House Publications with a newly designed cover to blend in with Rocken Edge. Both cover photos are taken on the Island at Binnel Bay. BLUE SLIPPER BAY This has recently been published in Germany in paperback after a year in hardback. It has also been released in audio version, CD and cassette by www.oakhillpublishing.com and is available as a download to Ipod etc through www.audible.co.uk Trampling Snowdrops My work in progress is shaping up. It is mainly set in St Lawrence but with excursions to the Herefordshire/Welsh border touched on in Blue Slipper Bay where old aquaintances reconnect.
APRIL 2008 'Spring always comes early to The Undercliff. Green woodpeckers yaffle through the woods; jackdaws, crows and rooks rise in clattering mobs from the tops of the elms and poplars. Gulls fight over the choicest nesting places on the cliffs and so many small birds flutter in the blackthorn that the bushes seem alive.' P.179 The Sorrow Of Sisters. 'Peter left Sophie on the morning that her mother died. It was April the first. Dazed and exhausted, she concluded she was being fooled.' P.20 Blue Slipper Bay. 'Nick noticed that spring had arrived in The Undercliff. Last year it must have passed him by - he didn't remember all this lush vegetation spiking out of the earth, fat sticky buds unfurling on the trees, carpets of camellia and magnolia petals littering the paths - pink and red and white. And there was so much yellow - daffodils, primroses, forsythia, cowslips, gorse. Cheerful, he thought.' P22. Blue Slipper Bay. BOOK NEWS The Sorrow Of Sisters is still selling well, topping the 80,000 mark worldwide. Blue Slipper Bay has recently been bought by Damm, Norway, and is now available on audio cassette and CD from Oakhill Publishing read by Lucy Scott. The German paperback version is due out soon. (info@oakhillpublishing.com) info@oakhillpublishing.com Rocken Edge is being translated into German by Random House, Blanvalet, and awaiting news from the UK. Trampling Snowdrops, set in St Lawrence, is my work in progress. December 2007 The Island has been pounded recently by gale force winds. But now it is bright and cold as winter should be. We've even had a glint of frost in the sheltered Undercliff.
BOOK NEWS The Sorrow of Sisters is now published in Norway, with a dramatic cover which I love.
Blue Slipper Bay is out in large print with another nice cover.
Rocken Edge has been bought by Germany and is being read by several UK publishers. I have had a story published in a German (DER CLUB) Christmas anthology. It is called Der gefallene Engel (The Fallen Angel). I was invited to participate by the editor, Iris Gradler. To my delight, my name appears with such prestigious authors as Jeanette Winterson, Paulo Coelho, Nora Roberts and Bernard Cornwell - to name a few. I can't resist a bit of namedropping here, I am so thrilled!
A VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND WONDERFUL 2008 TO ALL MY READERS. September 2007 Autumn is arriving in The Undercliff, holidaymakers leaving, trees surrendering their leaves to the salty west wind . . . time to curl up with a good book.
The Sorrow of Sisters is now available in a large print edition. It is published by W. F. Howes/Clipper www.wfhowes.co.uk. Blue Slipper Bay will also be available in large print and audio editions soon. If you are on the Isle of Wight there is a festival taking place over the next three weeks - Wight Words. Blue Slipper Bay has been chosen by Waterstones for an island-wide reading group. It will culminate in an event at Ryde Studio Theatre on Friday 5th October at 7.30pm. Waterstones said: 'Readers have been so enthusiastic about these brilliant books that we thought a chance to meet the author and discuss her writing would be a great idea.' Email manager@isleofwight.waterstones.co.uk for further details. Rocken Edge is finished and in the hands of my agent. Do drop in to the Transita blog where their authors share their news. www.transita.blogspot.com June 2007 Blue Slipper Bay – the second of The Undercliff Novels – is now out and about. Waterstone's gave me a tremendous book launch on June 19th. Despite a torrential thunderstorm, intrepid readers flocked in for two hours of signings, chat and wine. The County Press turned up and Waterstone's manager, Paul Armfield, gave a speech about the success of The Sorrow Of Sisters and how he expects Blue Slipper Bay to follow suit. He added that the books had captured the imagination of the island. Another very enjoyable booksigning session followed at Niton Books in my home village of Niton on Saturday 23rd June from 10 am. Lynn Hackles from Writing Magazine has featured me in her regular slot 'My Writing Day' - just in time for the launch (click here for a reprint of of the article). I have also heard this week that Blue Slipper Bay has been licensed for a Large Print edition by W.F.Howes. A premiere hardback edition has now been published by DER CLUB. It is called Nur mit deiner Liebe and it is a slightly different version to the UK edition. In the summer of 2008 it will come out as a paperback in Germany published by Blanvalet, Random House Recently, staying with my son who lives in New Zealand, I re-visited some of the places mentioned in Blue Slipper Bay. Nick – a main character – is married to a Kiwi girl, and recalls an exhilarating bungy jump, a gruelling tramp in the Abel Tasman National Park, and the joy and sorrow of the stunning Lake Tekapo. New Zealand is a beautiful country and it is easy to see why it was chosen as the location for the filming of The Lord of the Rings. I could envisage Frodo, Gandalf and Aragorn trailing across the spectacular landscape. The Sorrow Of Sisters – the first Undercliff Novel – is still selling well, (especially in Germany) and I am constantly delighted by the feedback and ‘fanmail’ which I receive. Reading groups particularly like it, and I have been invited along to share in their discussions and to talk about how I came to write it. Available in four languages and an audio version, it will soon be published in a large print edition. Rocken Edge, the third Undercliff Novel, is about halfway through its second draft. My schedule has been delayed by the birth of another gorgeous grandson. He is well worth the hard work I need to do to catch up. I am now back in my little room, below the deck, pounding the keys. Transita – my UK publisher – now has an authors’ blog. Do drop in. www.transita.blogspot.com