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Fifty Shades of Whatever, etc... - 03 July 2012
I have been away from my blogging duties for a while. Since December, time flies…I have many excuses – bought a new house, was very unsettled and unnerved by the whole business; decorated new house; moved in; rented out former house…Oh it’s been all go and no mistake. Also my mother has been taken into hospital and I visit most days bearing plastic pots of Hartley’s jelly which Mum is always surprised by – what will they think of next? Yes, it’s been a strange and worrisome few months, but here I am, in my new study and the traffic roars by in the street outside and next door workmen are hammering and drilling and Patch sleeps at my feet unsure what to make of it all, as I am unsure: I now live in a Georgian terrace house built by a friend of Captain Cook in 1763 or there abouts, so I have been told. This morning the radio fell to the floor for no apparent reason…a ghost that didn’t like the opinions of that man on the Reith Lectures, perhaps. Uncertainty reigns. And the rain it raineth every day.
Mostly, though, the news is I have a new novel out, All the Beauty of the Sun, which is about Paul, from The Boy I Love and is a follow up to that novel. Husband Husband and I went to London for its launch at Gay’s the Word Bookshop and we had a very interesting time as we also went to see the Damien Hirst exhibition (love those dead flies – fascinating – so black) and one of the butterflies landed on my face – I jerked back quite violently, surprisingly, as though I’d been accosted by a more dangerous creature. A dear girl asked if I was ok, which was nice, if embarrassing. I think my butterfly over-reaction speaks volumes about my state of mind over the last few months. (Although it was a very big butterfly, and it did land on my face…and moving house is meant to be the most stressful thing after death and divorce, although I have never found it so in the past, but we did buy a very old house at auction with no idea where the mortgage was coming from…Anyways, narrowly avoided a nervous breakdown, so no harm done.)
See, I’m not writing about All the Beauty. And I should be, should be ringing up librarians and bookshops and what not and whoever…Except I am wondering how Fifty Shades of Grey got so big so fast (especially when The Story of O has been out forever). If I mention Shades of Grey am I a jealous author, as the presenter of Woman’s Hour said this morning? Yes, of course – who wouldn’t be jealous of a million sales? The question is, how to emulate those sales, is it possible, is it luck or good management? People buy books they’ve heard of, to find out what the fuss is about, it’s easier that way…Gosh, that sounds bitter, Marion! Ha!
So – All the Beauty of the Sun is out now. Buy it. It’s had a thoughtful review from Polari Magazine – link below, and is a very good read, although I would say that, wouldn’t I? Beautifully written and all that blah. Unlike Fifty Shades, which is pants, apparently, according to one Woman’s Hour listener…Pants! Great stuff, carry on, sergeant…Now, where was I? Ah yes…about to think about doing some marketing…see you in the best seller list…
review of All the Beauty of the Sun
