A Week of Being Published

Two young readers

Last Thursday, The Saturday Girls, my novel about mod girls in the Sixties, was published by Bonnier Zaffre. The day was very exciting in a quiet sort of way. Quite unexpectedly, my niece first thing went to her local Sainsbury’s with her two sons (3 and 1) and sent me a photo of them in the trolley, holding copies of the book. It was such a lovely surprise and quite moving – that she should do that, and also that the boys should sit quietly and hold the book nicely. I have to say, other photos show them considering eating the books, but hey.

I then cruised round North London and visited any Sainsbury’s I could see (2) – and there it was on the shelves. I lounged around for a bit, but I began to worry about security and so left, quietly proud.
      Sainsbury's 3        Sainsbury's 2 (2)
My publisher sent me the most wonderful flowers,
Bonnier Zaffre flowers (2)
Our local Waterstones said they’d like to do an event (more later). There was coffee and wine consumed in local cafes and bars, and more flowers. To round off the day I went out for a meal at our local neighbourhood Italian restaurant Passione e Tradizione . It’s quite new and quite simple but it does (amongst other things) fabulously delicate and lovely bruschetta.
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And then I got home to find that a book blogger ( @glued_to_pages) had posted a lovely review on Instagram.
A great day.
Since then I have spent the week answering requests from more book bloggers to write for their blogs, pieces with titles such as ‘When I was a Saturday Girl’, ‘Writing as a Second Career’ and ‘My Writing Day’. One blogger sent a questionnaire with a really thought provoking (for me) series of questions, one of which was – list three books that changed your life.I chose 6 of course, starting with Voyage in the Dark by Jean Rhys and Echoing Grove by Rosamond Lehmann. I wonder what you’d choose… When I know when these pieces will be published, I’ll put the info on here.
Voyage in the dark
Yesterday I went to Chelmsford. I spoke to the manager of Foyles about an event  – more of that later. Even though it was pouring with rain it was lovely to see the book in the window.
Foyles Chelmsford 2
Then I went to visit Auntie Rita who has a small flat in the centre of town –  you have to pass the Shire Hall, the magistrates’ court, the Crown Court and the police station to get to it, which always brings back memories. Over coffee and half an iced bun each, she suggested that she and my cousins J and J who still live in Chelmsford should all go to the local Sainsbury’s in Boreham and form a queue trying to get at the book, as seen on TV on the first day of the Sales. I said perhaps there could be a small amount of struggling to make it look really desirable. But then we decided that J & J would never do that although I think Auntie Rita (90) was up for it.
Dates for your diary – next week I shall be on BBC London Radio (Tuesday 4 September 10.30) talking to Robert Elms, and then BBC Radio Essex (Friday 2pm) talking to Tony Fisher about the book.
IMG_8237Now it’s off to Paris. Expect more pictures of coffee cups.
Cafe de Flore
postcards

Suffragette Angel Cake

the suffrage cook book front cover

When was the last time you talked about Angel Cake?

The Saturday Girls first edition

Here’s my answer to that question – quite a lot, quite recently. About a week ago I received the first print copy of The Saturday Girls ) (out next Thursday!! pre-order it now). How lovely it looks!  And there, tucked into the back of the book is a recipe for Angel Cake – because there is a delicious, moist, soft Angel birthday cake actually in the book. And this is a real life Angel Cake – not a cake mix! When I knew there would be a cake in the back of the book I decided to do a little research to see what it actually tastes like. I’m not sure it’s meant to have icing, but it tasted very good. I did a bit of a wide ranging search in fact and I have to say that Tesco’s own brand came out rather well.

   Angel cake        Angel cake Sainsbury's (2)

Then on Wednesday at a social event, with much, much white wine and a sprinkling of canapes, I found myself in conversation with a French scientist who loves to bake. ‘What is your favourite cake?’ I asked, quite innocently. And she said, ‘Angel cake,’ just like that and proceeded to give me yet another recipe. We then had a discussion about what to do with egg yolks and how much mayonnaise can one household actually eat. But that need not trouble us here.

cooking up votes

Because on Thursday, the very next day, a story was published in the Guardian about the reissue of the Suffrage Cook Book (read a review here). A book to warm the hearts and stomachs of those fighting the good fight to obtain votes for women. And the recipe they printed to go along with the story was … Suffrage Angel Cake!

suffrage angel cake recipe

I think what we can draw from this is that it’s all pointing one way. It all started with The Saturday Girls. And that’s where it’s heading. Published by Bonnier Zaffre, it comes out on 23 August 2018 – next Thursday. Pre-order it now!

Saturday Girls

And once it is in your hands – the book really is beautifully produced – you can try out the recipe. And when you have produced a delicious cake, then  you can sit down with a generous slice, a cup of tea and a good book (The Saturday Girls obviously) and relive the heady days of the Sixties, when Saturday night was the night for dancing and the Corn Exchange was the place to be, and have a really, really good time.

 

Summer Season

The Saturday Girls first edition

And what a summer it has been! Trips to the theatre, Moliere – in France and in London. Shakespeare in Peckham Rye and my book The Saturday Girls has arrived in solid form, looking beautiful and clear, ready for its launch on 23 August.

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First there was Toulouse, a city I have never visited and often confuse with Toulon. Never to be confused again! Toulouse has a radical past and a vibrant present: a university, a river – the Garonne – and a strong aeronautical presence, having welcomed, in 1926, Antoine de Saint Exupery, pilot and author of Le Petit Prince.

Le Petit PrinceWe arrived on the eve of the Fete de la Musique. It is a huge annual event. There was to be a concert in the Place du Capitole, the main square in the town, close to our hotel. We went out for dinner that evening, and coming back we had to pass through the Place

. Toulouse journal Fete de la Musique

And so we had to join the queues of young people waiting to go and have a good time which meant being searched. Bags were opened, we were rubbed down. But everyone was good humoured and we didn’t have long to wait.

The next day was hot and interesting. We wandered by the river Garonne,

Toulouse River Garonne

went to the market, drank coffee, ate lunch.

Toulouse 2018 market (10)      Toulouse 2018 market (18)      Toulouse 2018 market (20)

Toulouse 2018 (122)The next day we travelled up to Saint Antonin Noble Val a small medieval town on the Aveyron river – a perfect holiday retreat. A lovely house with a large garden, a boulangerie a minutes walk away, and restaurants, cafes and bars all close by – all in the setting of pretty medieval buildings, and a lot of art. We even found ourselves attending a couple of private views.

Saint Antonin (6)

Saint Antonin (27)And in the middle of the week the Saint Antonin writers’ group hosted an evening of Moliere. In a local restaurant, le Capharnaüm, two actors performed short scenes from Fourberies de Scapin, a play which had its premiere on 24 May 1671, at the Palais Royal in Paris. It was hot and the actors wore masks and wigs, but great fun was had by all.

Moliere 3 (2)      Moliere (2)

Back in London there was more Moliere, at the Haymarket Theatre, Tartuffe, Moliere’s 1664 play. It was in both French and English with subtitles, but its main draw was to see the actor Audrey Fleurot, who appears as the tricky red haired lawyer in Spiral, the French police series Engrenages. It was interesting.

Tartuffe Haymarket July 2018           Tartuffe Haymarket July 2018

So much theatre! There was also the rather marvellous Measure for Measure by Changeling Theatre, in Peckham Rye, and as well as their Blithe Spirit in Saint Bartholomew’s Church. And earlier there was Macbeth in Crouch End by The Factory Theatre company.

But the loveliest last part was to receive a copy of The Saturday Girls in the post. It’s the first time I have seen the spine with its lovely Z for Zaffre and the back cover with its very kind quote from Mary Gibson a writer of many successful novels. I can’t wait for 23 August when the book will finally come out.

The Saturday Girls first edition                The Saturday Girls back cover

a bowl of cherries

 

 

Here they come, The Saturday Girls

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Here is the News.

As you know, last year a new publisher, Bonnier Zaffre, bought Beyond the Beehive – my book about life in Chelmsford in the 60s – and after some additions and some editing, it was decided to rename the book ‘The Essex Girls’ and publish this April – next week in fact.

BUT…

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… things have changed. The title of the book has changed (I think Essex Girls gave the wrong idea) and now it will be called The Saturday Girls and have a different cover and will come out on 23 August.

I’m sorry for all this chopping and changing. I, for one, was getting very excited about the publication date – but I think the new title serves my Essex Girls better.

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2017 – what happened?

Obama's presidency (2)I

On 10 January 2017 President Obama made his final speech as president. The New Yorker Magazine showed its cover of November 2008 – Reflection by Bob Staake – originally published to celebrate Obama’s victory.

I ended my 2016 round-up letter by saying ‘holding our breath, let’s hope 2017 is a better, kinder, safer year for everyone.’  Well… we all knew times were about to change.  And we were not going to let it pass unremarked. In January there was the Women’s March.

Women's March 21 January 2017 (21)    Women's March 21 January 2017 (19)                 Women's march January 2017

In February the big event was a Labour Party dinner in an Indian restaurant on Green Lanes, at the bottom of our road, hosted by David Lammy our MP.  The guest of honour was supposed to be Dianne Abbott but she was ill. A surprise guest came in her stead – it was Jeremy Corbyn! Ours was his constituency when he started in politics as a local councillor.

Labour Party meal 2017 (7)

He was very charming and did the raffle. I took a moment or two with him to make some policy suggestions (more Youth Clubs! more apprenticeships!) and a good evening was had by all.

We were on the streets again in March, thousands marching to defend the NHS.

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NHS March 2017 (7)    NHS March 2017 (8)

The other big news in March was that I signed a contract with Bonnier Zaffre, a relatively new (2014) publisher which has recently added Linda La Plante and Wilbur Smith, and me obviously, to its list.

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Specifically, they have bought my Sixties novel, Beyond the Beehive, which will return in August 2018 as The Saturday Girls.

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The wonderful thing about writing books about your home town, people come out to meet you!  At an Authors’ Day in Chelmsford Library, part of the Essex Book Festival, in March I met old friends from our Estate and from my primary school.  And in April All or Nothing, the Small Faces musical came to Chelmsford. A gang of gals from my secondary school, Chelmsford County High School for Girls, dressed in mod gear – some more successfully than others, attended. We clicked our fingers, sang and only being seated in the balcony stopped us from running to the stage to dance.

All or Nothing 1.4 (5)

The other claim to fame of Gill, Amanda and Chris is that they wrote, directed and appeared in Cinderella, the school pantomime, in 1965 [See The Essex Girls, The Pantomime].

In May a wonderful package arrived in the house.

In Came Horace (2) 

In Came Horace was my favourite book as a child – my Auntie Sheila gave it to me, because at the time we had a cat called Horace.  The Horace in the story was brave and saw off any dogs that thought they could protect Horace’s little old lady owner. I lost the book years ago then recently found it online. What a treat.

On the town - posterI love the Regents Park Open Air Theatre, even if we sometimes have to see a show two or three times to find out the ending, because of the rain. In May this year we went to see On the Town, starring Danny Mac, a Strictly finalist!

On the Town May 2017 (1)

It was a great (dry) evening with a picnic beforehand – great burgers –  and a good show. New York, New York, it’s a helluva town.

And there was another treat in May – a day course on the  International Brigade and the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) at the Bishopsgate Institute. It’s a fascinating, inspiring story, the struggle against Franco and his fascists. The history was well told, and then we were able to touch and leaf through the books and papers that the Institute has in its archives. That was quite thrilling.

Bishopsgate Spanish Civil War (12)          Bishopsgate Spanish Civil War (3)Bishopsgate Spanish Civil War (8)By way of light relief we went to the Barbican to see the jazz pianist, Brad Mehldau, a belated birthday present for Maureen Who Likes Frasier (WLF). I say light relief – modern jazz is a bit hard for me. I try to find a tune to follow, and then it runs away from me. The evening was enjoyed by Caroline and Maureen.

Brad Mehldau (3)June of course was the Election. Ours is a safe Labour seat (David Lammy MP) so Caroline and I went out canvassing in Brent and secured a victory for the Labour candidate!

General Electin 2017 2

July brought more open-air culture. This time for free! There was a screening of Turandot on the sloping lawns around Alexandra Palace. We took wine, food and blankets and had a fun evening of death, betrayal and high voices.TurandotThen I shot down to Chelmsford where for the first time in my life I cut a ribbon and declared something open. It was Chelmsford’s Listening Bench – an Essex Record Office scheme, funded by the Lottery Heritage Fund, putting benches in Essex towns and villages with recordings of local people talking about their past.

The Listening Bench (2)

 The big event in October was Rafi being born to my niece Billie, brother to Rudi.

Rafi and Rudi

And there was the fascinating, uplifting and heartbreaking exhibition Soul of a Nation at Tate Modern, which I’ve written about here.

Soul of a NationNovember of course marked 100 years since the Russian Revolution. There have been a couple of exhibitions, at the Royal Academy.

RA russian art (6) and Tate Modern, Red Star over Russia Tate December 2017 (94) 
both with a rather disappointing commentary, where it seems to be forgotten exactly why there was a revolution in Russia and elsewhere.  But also 30 years of my relationship with Caroline!

December – There was a knock at the door and a new(ish) neighbour from down the road was inviting us to a Christmas party.  She was just going up and down the road knocking on doors inviting people to come. And we went and had mulled wine and mince pies and met people we have never seen and never spoken to!  Such a good idea.

Throughout the year I’ve continued to be involved in Housing for Women – the charity that provides accommodation and support for women who have suffered domestic abuse, who have been trafficked, and who have just been released from prison, as well as older women.  We still go to Paris – lovely city. We were there around the time of the election which was won by Macron.

French Election 2017 (5)

And I’ve carried on with my monthly BBC Essex radio spots, when I review the newspapers – from the Guardian and the Daily Telegraph to the East Anglian Daily Times and the Basildon Echo, at 6.15 in the morning. I try to find some uplifting stories amidst the gloom – but I also talk about the gloom and try to give a different perspective whilst avoiding slander.

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It has been an extraordinary year. Let us hope for a peaceful and sane 2018. This is a cover from the French newspaper Liberation in 2016, but it may be the best we can get.

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