Monthly Archives: July 2007

Mark Thornton and selling to indies

Posted on July 25, 2007 by angela

Mark Thornton’s seminar at the Society of Authors today was inspirational. His fundamental message to writers who want to persuade independent bookshops to stock their books was to think like a bookseller (not like a writer trying to persuade a … Continue reading →

Posted in Mark Thornton, Mostly Books, selling to indies | Comments Off

Arvon Foundation and Mostly Books

Posted on July 24, 2007 by angela

One hundred years ago I went to Totleigh Barton on my first Arvon course. It was run by two writers, only one of whose names can I remember – David Benedictus (who was famous at the time for his first … Continue reading →

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Selling a first novel, and writing

Posted on July 23, 2007 by angela

I’ve been thinking about Mostly Books ever since I typed ‘sell my novel’ into Google (it came up with 15,500,000 sites so I don’t know now how I happened upon Mostly Books, but I am so glad I did). Because … Continue reading →

Posted in Beautiful Books, JB Priestley, Mostly Books, Society of Authors, Speaking of Love | Comments Off

Thomas Keneally and the fear that haunts all writers

Posted on July 22, 2007 by angela

Did you hear Thomas Keneally this morning on Desert Island Discs? He was magnificent. He didn’t mention MATs (multiple avoidance – of writing – techniques), but he talked about the most stultifying thing for a writer: FEAR. He said, I … Continue reading →

Posted in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Clive James, fear, MATs, Thomas Keneally | Comments Off

Speaking of sales figures

Posted on July 20, 2007 by angela

I have just discovered that my first novel Speaking of Love (published by the utterly wonderful Beautiful Books) has sold five copies in a week, in my local cafe, Il Molino, on Battersea Park Road. These sales figures will not, … Continue reading →

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Book Quiz, literary blogs, life …

Posted on July 20, 2007 by angela

I just did the Book Quiz (at Blue Pyramid) which I found on BooksPlease‘s blog (thank you) and I find I am this: You’re One Hundred Years of Solitude! by Gabriel Garcia Marquez Lonely and struggling, you’ve been around for … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Quiz, life, literary blogs | 2 Comments

Life in my writing room

Posted on July 18, 2007 by angela

The walls are covered with quotations, this is one of my favourites: ‘A writer is somebody for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.’ Thomas Mann. My head is always full of words but, this afternoon, … Continue reading →

Posted in first blog, MATs, writing | 2 Comments