A little promotional activity
06 July 2010
The local paper came round yesterday to take some photos of me for a piece they’re going to do. Round the back of my house there’s some land that everyone in the street has nicked because the Environment Agency built a flood defence a year or so ago and between it and the houses is about thirty yards of grassland. So the photographer and I went over there. My neighbour has a cool-looking bench under a young oak tree and it was decided that this would be the best place for me to sit. I felt a little like a Fitzgerald vixen draped across a chaise longue as I pretended to read my book for the camera. Unfortunately I had fallen asleep earlier in the day and when I awoke one of my eyes had turned red but I’m hoping that won’t show too badly. The photographer was wise enough to stand well back when shooting.
Last Friday I did an interview with the Cardiff correspondent of The Guardian, Hannah Waldram. We met up in Chapter Arts, a kind of communal arts hang out in Cardiff, where we talked about my book and writing stuff in general. I quite enjoyed doing that – it’s by far the longest interview I’ve been involved with and it should hopefully appear on the website soon.
Also, I might have a reading arranged for later in July. These things put the fear of God into me but as an author I know I have to do them. It’s not that I dislike readings, not at all, it’s just that I get horrendously nervous about a week beforehand. When I do them I always really enjoy them, especially after my bit is done and I can listen to the other writers reading.
I think that’s about it for my book stuff at the moment.
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I’m reading a great book called THE TROUT OPERA by Matthew Condon. It’s an epic tale of the Snowy River in Australia . It took the author ten years to write and is already a hit down under. It really brings the Australian landscape right into your brain and the writing in general is just beautiful.
The story is about Wilfred Lampe, a one hundred year old outbacker chosen to be the Australian “everyman” by the Sydney Olympics team. Interspersed with this story is a more modern vision of Australia seen through the eyes of a young woman trying to escape her past…
Added to all this is the fact that the book (currently out in hardback) is really beautifully packaged.
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