My Sister and Other Liars is born!

A few weeks ago, on The Durrells, Larry Durrell had a book launch. Only one person attended, and only because he’d been promised cake.

I also had cake, and fizz, and was overwhelmed when around 80 people attended my book launch this month. I’ve learned, after years of the usual rejections and knock-backs, never to take a single reader for granted. And a book launch is special, some writers even compare it to having a baby. If My Sister & Other Liars is my baby then I was pregnant for 7 years! It’s true that I abandoned the manuscript, wrote two other books, but kept returning to it. “What is it about this book?” one writer friend asked me, “Why can’t you just let it go?”

No, I couldn’t let it go. Here’s why:

All of my other five novels are based on `big` cases, sensational ones that rocked the nation. My first novel, The James Version, is based on the murder of Maria Marten in the Red Barn. Humber Boy B is inspired by the Jamie Bulger case. Nowhere Girl takes the germ of the Shannon Matthews story and transplants it in Luxembourg. Alice, in The Sacrificial Man, is a British version of the German cannibal killer.

My Sister and Other Liars is also based on a real case, but an unknown one that took place in a town I can’t name because I don’t know it. Seven years ago, by chance, I saw an interview with a teenage girl, whose sister had been attacked and hit her head, rendering her brain damaged. She had no memory of the attack and the police had no leads. They were closing the case. The teenager said two things: firstly, “someone in this town knows what happened to my sister and they’re not saying.” True, that. Look at the (excellent) recent programme Little Boy Blue, about the tragic murder of Rhys Jones. A significant number knew who’d shot him, they just weren’t saying.

Second, she said, “He could be next to me in the queue for chips. He could be driving the bus I’m on.”

This poor girl was haunted by these two things, and I couldn’t stop thinking about her or her predicament.

She became my protagonist, Sam. And as Sam decides to find her sister’s attacker there are devastating consequences. Sometimes, it is best not to discover the secrets that surround us and Sam becomes obsessed, and sick, facing the chaos of lies and misinformation that surrounds her sister’s attack. This manifests itself as anorexia, a disease about control.

I didn’t know I was writing about anorexia until Sam was recognisably ill. My editor first named it, and my research opened up a world of water-loading, excessive exercising, pro-Ana sites, blue and brown kitchens and the stories of girls dangerously close to death. I learned that of all mental illnesses, anorexia has the highest fatality rate. And these details wound their way into Sam’s story, despite warnings from editors that it would make the book a `marmite` read.  

What I felt I couldn’t do was to tone down this part of the story: I owed it to the girls and their parents who’d shared their stories with me. And I owed it to my readers.

So, the book is born. And if you are reading this then maybe you are part of its journey, which is now beyond my control. Off Sam goes, into the big wide world. I’m sending her on her way with love.

Return of The Native

Last night I couldn’t sleep. I gazed wide-eyed at the ceiling, listening to the waves and the caw of the gulls. It didn’t irritate me; each push of sea against the shore made me breathe a tad deeper, it felt peaceful. Alert to the world outside my window, I was filled with a restless energy for dawn, so I could get up and explore my surroundings. I’ve been away for over two years, and I've missed it.

Confession time: I haven’t always loved Suffolk.

I was born in “Up North”, transplanted at the tender age of seven, because of my dad’s work with the NHS. When we arrived in Ipswich I sounded (with my Yorkshire accent) and looked (carrot hair) `different`, and the playground can be tough if you don’t fit in. I missed my family and friends. In Hull a latch-key dog named Ringo had adopted me, and I was heartbroken at having to say goodbye to him. It wasn’t a happy beginning.

Initially we lived in one of the doctor’s flats on Pearson Road, along with several cockroaches, then we found a house in the Chantry area. Slowly, I began to make friends, and my parents bought me a dog who wasn’t Ringo but Rufus. I started to settle.

I’d just taken my O levels when my parents decided to buy a hotel in Felixstowe. Having been made redundant a few times, Dad wanted to be his own boss and Mum (then a school nurse at Thomas Wolsey in Ipswich) is a fantastic cook, so she thought she’d be up for the challenge too. It’s no small thing, giving up two careers to run a hotel, and I admired their ambition, but the move meant I was once again in a town I didn’t know.

I decided to continue my studies in Ipswich, taking the train each day and biking to Westbourne, dossing round friend’s houses as often as I could to avoid returning to a place I couldn’t think of as `home`. I thought I’d leave someday soon and never return.

I was wrong. Seven years later I was studying for my Social Work qualification at UEA, in Norwich, and was offered a placement at the Felixstowe probation office, so I moved back for six months. I decided, as a way to meet people, to take a film course in Ipswich and on the first evening I met Andrew.

Also a migrant to Suffolk at a young age, and also someone who’d left for University but wound up coming back, our life stories were twins. Within six weeks I knew he was the man I wanted to marry, and everything I felt about the county changed changed.

It was during my maternity leave, whilst I was writing The Woman Before Me, that I began to feel part of the community. I joined the writing group that meets at the library, as well as various mother and toddler groups. I knew people, and I knew my way around. And when in 2005 I became a full-time novelist I felt supported by local bookshops and books clubs. This sense of belonging was priceless.  

Often, in the evenings, Andrew and I would push the pram through town and down a particular street to admire the houses. They reminded us of the homes we’d seen on our honeymoon in New England, and one in particular looked like it had a view of the sea. “If any of these ever come for sale, I’d buy it,” I told Andrew. But I knew it was just a fantasy.

Thirteen years later I was walking past an estate agent just as he was placing a new advert in the window. I recognised the house immediately and called Andrew.

“It’s for sale,” I said. “We’re viewing it tomorrow.”

Three days later that, after much financial wizardry, the mortgage adviser told me we could put in an offer on our dream house. Excited, I called Andrew, “We can do it!”

“We can’t,” he said. “The firm are moving me to Luxembourg. Or they’re making me redundant.”

Luxembourg. I couldn’t even place it on a map. I didn’t know what language they spoke. And I boarded the plane on that first visit full of doubts anxiety. I didn’t want to uproot my kids, like I’d been uprooted. I wanted them to grow up around their grandparents, to have the sense of `roots` that I had lost.

Against all expectations, Luxembourg bowled me over. The main square, the Place d`Arms, is lined with restaurants and outdoor seating, all around a bandstand area. The old city is built around a valley, looped by the original fortress walls. The shopping area is classy, with designer shops like Gucci and Dior next to wine boutiques and chocolate shops. It’s like a city from a storybook, and as we sat in the square that first evening I felt that maybe this could be a new chapter in my life, if only I was brave enough. But I had a condition: I still wanted to buy the house, even though it would mean renting it and someone else living in it whilst we were away. This was my safety net, a foothold in Suffolk.

Four months later we moved to Luxembourg, enrolling the kids in the nearby International School. With them making new friends, and Andrew busy at work, Luxembourg was less structured for me. After I’d done all the usual things that moving home requires I joined the gym, made friends and went for coffee. But very quickly I found these things weren’t enough. I started work as a volunteer at the local prison, one of only three Brits on the team, and made links with local social workers and police.

One morning I was dropping the kids off at school when I noticed several security guards hanging around. And a poster advising parents not to let their children travel to school unaccompanied. I discovered that there had been three attempted kidnappings in the past week, and people were nervous but very little information was available. It was a lightbulb moment: I knew I had found the subject for my fifth crime novel.

I began to research, reaching out to locals for their stories, and to professionals for their expertise. I even had an audience with the British Ambassador, Alice Walpole, of whom I asked just one question: “what would you do if a British girl was kidnapped?”

This research took me into the darker parts of Luxembourg, the areas where drug addicts and prostitutes live, and also the refugee hostels. I was privileged to hear their stories, and hoped I could do justice to them. I also had a stint in hospital, which changed the course of my novel so it looked at several aspects of Luxembourg life.

In November `Nowhere Girl` was launched at an event hosted by the British Ambassador in her Luxembourg residence. In her welcome address she told the audience of social workers and police, scout leaders and nurses, how I had come and asked her my question, and how she couldn’t answer. This was why she wanted to host the launch; unbeknownst to me everyone in the room had been asked to contribute to a new Child Protection policy, published that day. I felt humbled, and also delighted. It was a wonderful occasion, and also a perfect way to say goodbye. I was coming home.

So, the adventure is over. It wasn’t always rosy or easy, but I wouldn’t have changed anything.

I’ve been home since Easter, and it’s been busy, with a lot of focus on the upcoming Felixstowe Book Festival. Two weeks ago, along with fellow crime author Daniel Pembrey, I spoke at the Luxembourg Embassy in London, with Prince Louis of Luxembourg in attendance. The icing on the cake of my Luxembourg adventure.

As I sit here, looking out to the sea from my dream house, I know I’ve been lucky to have had the opportunity to live somewhere else. But I also know that it’s true what they say; there really is no place like home.  

Nowhere Girl out this month!

Humber Boy B - my next novel

A blur in the sky, a brick – no, a trainer, red – falls to the water… There seems to be a scuffle… a hand grabbing at the dangling child. Then, with the awfulness of inevitability, the hanging child drops, gravity takes him.

A child is killed after falling from the Humber Bridge. Despite fleeing the scene, two young brothers are found guilty and sent to prison. Upon their release they are granted one privilege only, their anonymity.

Probation officer Cate Austin is responsible for Humber Boy B’s reintegration into society. But the general public’s anger is steadily growing, and those around her are wondering if the secret of his identity is one he actually deserves to keep.

Cate’s loyalty is challenged when she begins to discover the truth of the crime. She must ask herself if a child is capable of premeditated murder. Or is there a greater evil at play? 

TO HULL AND BACK

Because you can’t go home, not really. Home isn’t fixed, an unaltered state, and upon returning the native is changed, by what took them away, by what happened since.

And so I return to Hull for the first time in many years. I have married, had children, followed a career, written books. And Hull is different to, the house I grew up in looks smaller than I remember, my Grandma’s house has been bashed within an inch of its life by some DIY fanatic, and the neighbours’ houses all have Alsatians. Or so the signs warn.

Do I belong here?

My children trail me, as we walk in the rain, across the Humber Bridge. I’m thinking about my novel now, about the boy who dies, but here is my son running with fingers touching the railing, a surmountable barrier to the drop. It makes me shiver, connects me to the mother in my novel, and this is why I came. To check that the Humber in my head, the one I’ve tried to portray in the book, is real. The rain stings my face and the water is muddy brown, all as I remember.

We drive down Hessle Road, past closed up Fireworks shops and tanning booths. Poundland and Wilco are the only places that look thriving, but the people are as friendly as my mother always says, more willing to chat than their Suffolk counterparts.

We visit Arctic Corsair, and the guide’s accent as well as his stories take me to the heart of Hull; this is a working city, built on hard graft. My own family came here to follow the Herring from Brixham, big and tough men who joined the police force and fire service, a legacy that hasn’t translated down physically but may be there in other ways. I like places with edges, I’m interested in crime, the ugliest cases. And my boy, the one in the book, is the worst kind of criminals. Humber Boy B has killed another child, despite being a child himself.

I may not be able to come home, but I want to find Ben’s home, my Humber Boy B. As I walk the streets of the city I feel my perspective shifting, and I don’t want him to be from the roughest parts, to be a boy who could be explained away by neglect or abuse. His step-father, a minor character up to this point, begins to breathe inside me. Could he be a fisherman? Working on the Icelandic boats, away for three weeks at a time? An absent parent, but for the best of reasons.

We go to The Deep, Hull’s world-class Aquarium, because Ben would go there, and also because water is a major theme throughout the book. I look at the jellyfish, with no hearts or minds, and wonder what Ben would make of them. I enjoy the comical penguins, one of whom stares at the wall for twenty minutes as if it is running a film, and wonder if Ben would have laughed.

And this, I think, is why I’m here. To meet the characters who have been growing in my imagination, to see if they can make their way in the Hull that exists today. I’m still listening to the voices in my head, still trying to get it right on the paper. It needs to be real, authentic. Ben needs to live.  

The answer will only be known when other people meet Ben, and tell me that he does. 

Humber Boy B is going to be published by Legend Press in April next year.

Blog Tour, tagged by PENNY HANCOCK

Thanks to Penny Hancock for including me in the BLOG TOUR. I met Penny at a literary event in Southwold, disturbingly entitled Slaughter in the Scout Hut, and she was no more than 30 seconds into her talk when I knew I'd buy her book and love it. And I did: TIDELINE is wonderful, a forty-something woman's obsession with a youth gone wrong, a crime chiller for the MILF classes. Check Penny out on her website: www.pennyhancock.com.

So, this Blog Tour is basically a literary pyramid scheme, except instead of having to send a chocoloate bar or a pair of knickers (anyone else remember that one?) you simply have to answer some questions on your blog. So I shall do so, in the hope that someone will still send me a bar of chocolate…(don’t worry about the knickers. That one always struck me as a bit odd.)

What are you working on now? My Sister & Other Liars.

Why do you write what you do? As always with my writing, it is inspired by a real event. Several years ago I was watching a TV programme about a young girl whose sister had been attacked, and left brain damaged. The girl was told that the police had no idea who had attacked her sister and they were closing the case.

My novel starts at exactly that point, fictionally working through what a girl in that position would feel and think and – most importantly – do.

How does your writing differ from others of the genre? I’m hoping it will appeal to young adults, as well as older readers, as Sam is just sixteen years old when she receives this devastating news. She decides that, if the police can’t bring her sister’s attacker to justice, then she will. The story takes place over the following 2 weeks, culminating on her 17^th birthday, which is also the anniversary of the attack.

How does your writing process work? It takes months. Years. Who’s counting? It’s not a race, and the reader doesn’t care how long it took, just so long as it’s a damn good read! I write a first draft in a fever, and then edit by going over and over what I've written, never afraid to cut, always hoping to improve. 

I’m attracted to stories that raise my anxiety, those newspaper headlines that linger long after the paper has been binned. Writing is my way of working through it. 

Okay, writers I like and admire, and would add to the BLOG TOUR are :

Gary Murning  garymurning.wordpress.com

Guy Mankowski  guymankowski.blogspot.co.uk

Sophie Duffy  sophieduffy.wordpress. com

Dugdall in the Duchy...

When I was a kid, I hated Sundays. The seventh day would yawn ahead of me, defined only by boredom and roast beef. No shops, no plans, nothing doing. Hitting my teens, the day only lifted at 5pm when the Top 40 boomed from radio and I could amuse myself for two hours trying to capture songs on tape without any of the DJ’s chatter, a test of my digital dexterity on the `pause` and `record` buttons.

But then the world changed. Shops started to open, no-one bothered with tapes anymore, and the weekend finally had function.

That was many moons ago, but I find myself again thrown back into that Sunday feeling. On my first Sunday in the Duchy I had no idea of the time-warp that had happened overnight, until I arrived at the door of Auchan to find it shut. To my open-mouthed horror, even IKEA was closed.

Deciding to take advantage of forced recreational time, we took a family trip to Little Switzerland and discovered a wonderful walk starting at the dramatic and steep Wolf Gorge then winding around sleepy villages and dramatic rock formations, following the meandering stream back to the car, By then our stomachs had started to grumble, but we couldn't find any place selling dejeuner, no pretty café or bistro. Subway was open, but that wasn't exactly the authentic experience we had in mind.

As we munched on our Hearty Italians, walking through the picturesque villages, it felt like everyone else was snoozing. Could it be true?

Embracing once again the Sunday feeling, last week we went to MUDAM. Now, what I love best about modern art is its accessibility. It doesn't stare at you from the wall, challenging you to study your art history’ no, modern art is what we make of it. I’ll never forget seeing Tracey Emin’s tent, embroidered with the names all the men she’d ever slept with. So simple, so fascinating.

And MUDAM didn't disappoint. Lee Bul’s work especially grabbed the attention of the kids, who sat rapt in front of the dozen or so retching dogs, a homage to the artist`s own pet and lovingly re-worked in the same pose using various materials. “I like the one with cotton wool.” “Nah, I like that one, covered in tape!”

I think Ms Bul would have been delighted to see how engaged, how thrilled, we all felt by her work but sadly the security guards weren’t so delighted. They flinched every time the kids moved.

In the mirror instalation we discovered earphones that made everything around sound dream-like, so we had great fun taking turns with the headset and shouting at each other like we were in a coma, “Wake up! Don’t follow the light!” Until we were told off.

I’d love to have had Lee Bull with me at that moment. She is a woman who dressed like a human squid for 2 weeks in TOKYO airport, so I don’t think she’ d have had any truck with officious guards. However, as a rather more timid creature, I whispered to the kids to hush and resolved that next Sunday maybe we'll visit a cathedral.

Afterwards we drove home, via a garage for milk and provision, and then had an afternoon snooze. When in Rome….

Just Landed!

I’ve just landed in Luxembourg, and it’s been a bumpy entry. Was it really less than one month ago that I was in Felixstowe, that seaside town on the very edge of England, packing boxes, saying goodbye to loved ones? If I could turn the clocks back just two weeks I’d tell myself this:

Bulbs. They aren’t the same here, and your removal men will take yours from your lamps and standard lamps, leaving you stuck. Buy a supply.

Plug adapters. You know when Blockbuster closed down they had a huge box for sale and you bought eight, thinking you’d done well? Think again. Hairdryer, mobiles, laptops, EVERY lamp (even though they don’t have bulbs!) Buy the whole box because you won’t be able to get any here for love nor money.

Be prepared to go offline for a while. A long while. Think of it as an Internet holiday.

Diet. Get that weight down because it sure as hell won’t go down once you’re scoffing fresh pain and fromage. And drinking encore le vin.

Speaking of which, be ready to be told your French is bad and please can you speak in English so you stop confusing people.

The good news? All of this is normal. So says my `Living in Luxembourg` guidebook, which also helpfully pounts out that organised people who are used to being in control will find the early months especially disconcerting. Oui? Cest moi!

The kids, though, are fine. Ducks to water. Speaking of water, and also speaking of those extra pounds, in the past two weeks I have become a gym whore. I thought I might have found the perfect place, basically because they offer a class that promissed a svelte figure tout suite, but sadly the instructor hadn’t heard of women’s lib and spent the whole class referring to double ds and derriers. Pa pour moi, sil vous plait.

My next attempt seemed to be going much better until I ventured into the sauna area, to be confronted by naked men en masse. Very Britishly, I fled in panic, not even doing the correct thing and checking my bracelet over the switch to exit, but ducking under the barrier. My French was simply not up to the lengthy explanations needed at the reception desk, so I paid the extra suppliment for the 30 minutes (according to my bracelet) that I’d spend in the sauna. As if I’d dare! I don’t even think it was a mixed session.

And today, at a brave third attempt, I tried biking in the water. Yes, aqua aerobics! Now, forgive me fellow Brits, but in the homeland aqua exercise is for those who are expecting, or look as if they may be. Not so, here in the Grand Duchy. These women were fit. They pounded those bikes into the ground, and if there had been wheels involved they would have won yellow shirts. But, more impressive to me, they wore the cutest outfits. Bows and silver clasps and sparkly bits. The water shone with cubic zircona.

So, if you spot a Brit in a one-piece, it just might be me. But in a few months, when I’m fully intergrated, I expect to be sparkling in the water, or the water sparkling on me as I brave that sauna with no sense of shame. Bon Chance!

Marshal Zeringue's My Book, The Movie Blog

MY BOOK, THE MOVIE

They would ask me what actors I saw in the roles. I would tell them, and they’d say “Oh that’s interesting.” And that would be the end of it. --Elmore Leonard, in 2000, on the extent of his input for Hollywood's adaptation of his novels

 

Friday, December 20, 2013

Ruth Dugdall's "The Sacrificial Man"

Ruth Dugdall is a British crime writer. She has a degree in English and Theatre Studies from Warwick University and an MA is Social Work at University of East Anglia, and has worked as a probation officer dealing with high-risk criminals for almost a decade. She is the author of The James Version and The Sacrificial Man.

Here she dreamcasts an adaptation of The Sacrificial Man:

To see one of my novels on the big screen is one of my favourite daydreams. For many writers, especially crime writers like myself, a movie deal is the Holy Grail.

But then the crunch question – who has the icy demeanour to play my uber-controlling, beautiful but brutalised Alice?

Alice is the central character in The Sacrificial Man, and she has agreed to kill a man, and eat him. She does not see herself as a criminal, but as a romantic heroine; she believes she is in a love story, that in helping her lover to die she was performing an act of devotion. Imagine Julie Christie, as she was in Doctor Zhivago, but with a knife.

Julie Christie being a bit too mature now, I think Nicole Kidman has a suitably frosty and fractured demeanour. I’d enjoy watching her reveal Alice’s motivations, but I’m not sure she could motivate the audience to empathise. An actress with a track record in making unpleasant people sympathetic is Charlize Theron. Even her Dior advert brings me out in goose bumps!

My other female lead is Cate Austin, the probation officer with the thankless task of writing a sentencing report on Alice. Cate has to delve into the dark side of life, and she sometimes struggles.

Cate is my everywoman, so I imagine a warmer, girl-next-door actress. My background is as a probation officer, so Cate has inherited some of my traits; she’s a petite redhead, rather serious-minded. I think Carey Mulligan would play her well (though she’d need some henna).

My dream director is Jordan Scott, Ridley Scott’s daughter (I bet she hates that everyone adds that, as if she has no identity in her own right). In fact (confession time) I e-mailed her after I watched Cracks because the themes seemed so close to what I hope to achieve with my writing, and I just thought: “she would get me.”

Learn more about the book and author at Ruth Dugdall's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

From the Legend Press Advent Calender

Legendary Advent Calendar - 19th December

Each day on the blog we will be posting a special festive offering, as we interrogate our authors about Christmas. Today's answers are from Ruth Dugdall, author of The Woman Before Me and The Sacrificial Man.
What do you love most about Christmas?
I love Christmas smells: mulled wine, fir trees, brandy butter. Also the cosiness; it’s the time of year to get the fire crackling in the hearth and sit cosily watching DVDs. Naturally, a bonus with this time of year is the food. I’m a sucker for mince pies (so long as they’re warm) and anything with marzipan.
What makes you a Christmas Scrooge?
But one thing that makes me a right Christmas Scrooge is `lists`. And people who ask for gift vouchers / money. The whole point of the perfect gift is to find something unique, something that is specific to that individual and shows how well you know and care about them. This is not an item that anyone could put on a list, as hopefully they haven’t even thought of it.
It should not be useful or functional, but pretty or unique. Last year I got my husband the marble arm from a statue. The previous year I got him a resin skull used to train surgeons. Now, I ask you, who would prefer socks?
Not all the family understands this philosophy. One year I got a steam cooker (from a person who will remain anonymous) because said item was reduced at Currys.
How do you fit your writing around Christmas, or do you make sure you have a break?
Christmas is a great time to write because there is so much inspiration, so many family tensions, so many opportunities for alcohol-fuelled scenes of indiscretion.
I jest. But only to a point; any season with such emotion attached to it is ripe for an author. This is not just about happiness and excess, but also any sad event is magnified. If a writer is sensitive to this, there are stories everywhere. In fact, something happened just this morning at my son’s Christmas concert, which will go straight into my next novel! (Must remember to change the names).
What is your favourite Christmas film or book?
My favourite Christmas film is `It’s A Wonderful Life`. My goodness, I could cry just thinking about it…
”Why must you torment the children so?”
The house with broken windows…
If you don’t know what I’m talking about then go order a copy. You won’t regret it.
What are you hoping for under your Christmas tree this year?
And this Christmas, what would I want in Santa’s sack? A publishing deal for My Sister And Other Liars. I’ve been working on it for a long, long time and I want it to make its way in the world. And I’ve been so good this year.

Goodbye to Felixstowe

I was in Body Pump class this morning, pulsing to the beat and staring at the cold sea in the distance, Harvest House peering over the cliff like an eccentric old Aunt, and suddenly I felt sad. So sad I thought I might cry, right there and then, with 10kg of weight on my shoulders.

 

It was a taste of grief, a moment when I realised that I’ll soon be leaving this town I love.

 

Felixstowe isn’t swanky, it’ll never be a town to host Waitrose, but it has a beauty beyond even the most fashionable seaside towns. A sandy beach, Edwardian houses, the Spa Gardens. It may be faded and unfashionable but this place is my familiar, my safety, my rock.

And the people of the town, not always warm to newcomers, are the lifeblood. As I left the gym I saw the guy who works at the local supermarket.

 

“How’s it going, babe?”

 

I couldn’t lie. “I’m a bit stressed. I’m leaving town in January. Scary.”

 

“Yeah,” he agreed, “Everything’s scary once you leave `Stowe. Come in and say bye before you go, yeah?”

 

My heart melted at this small offering as I thought, this will not happen to me in Luxembourg. For starters my French isn’t good enough.

 

But if Felixstowe is my husband, I want Luxembourg to be my lover. I want to fall, and hard, for its beauty. I want to be so bowled over that I forget the cosiness of the familiar, forget the cinema where you can order cheesy chips, forget the smell of salt in the air as I sit in my beach hut and watch the waves.  

 

 

 

Deep breath. Moving date is January 24^th. No going back now.    

 My favourite haunts.

Scary decision! I'm moving to Luxembourg

When I resigned from my career to try and make it as a writer Andrew was 100% beside me. Over the years there have been many, many times when I doubted my decision and he has been the one to re-assure me: "It will happen! Just keep going!" And all of those other things that writers need to hear often to keep our fragile egos in-tact.

I have been incredibly lucky, and his support meant I have had the time to write.
So, now it's payback time. Andrew has a new job. IN LUXEMBOURG!

Now, I hate change. I put this down to moving from Yorkshire to Suffolk when I was a  7 year old  kid, a move which devastated me. I've grown to love Suffolk but more than that I love my family and friends. I love going to the shops and seeing faces I know. I love the fact that the guy in the paper shop knows my name, that the woman in the cinema knows the kind of films I like. This is a community and I relish a sense of belonging, something mourned losing when I was 7. I honestly thought I would never leave this town.

If I was still a probation officer things would be different, but I work at home and I can write anywhere. So I've agreed to the move. How could I stifle Andrew's career when he has done so much to support mine?
I'm scared. But I'm going to embrace the possibilities and roll with the changes (I hope!).

And the start of it will be this blog. I'm not great at blogging but now I have a purpose. Hope a few people come along for the ride! 

Felixstowe Book Festival

I am so excited about the upcoming Felixstowe Book Festival, the first ever that the town has known.
The line-up is impressive and there are events to suit everyone, including children.

When I was approached by Meg Reid, the Festival Director, about doing a slot I suggested a panel of crime writers and decided to approach Michelle Spring and Sophie Hannah with the idea. I am delighted to say that both agreed, and our event is entitled:

DEADLIER THAN THE MALE
Why, for female writers and readers, murder can be so satisyfing!

Like it? It was my idea, and a bit tongue in cheek, but it is a good question: with most criminals being male and most victims female, why is the genre so attractive for women. Are we mastering our own anxiety? Are we trying to re-claim a typically sexist arena?

Come along and join in the discussion on June 16th (my birthday! What a way to celebrate...) at 2-3pm, The Orwell Hotel, Felixstowe.

More information about the Book Festival can be found at:
www.felixstowebookfestival.co.uk
info@felixstowebookfestival
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WHAT DOES YOUR BOOKSHELF LOOK LIKE?

A look at Ruth Dugdall's bookcase

Here is a glimpse of Ruth Dugdall's bookshelves, beautifully ordered and full to the brim. Ruth is the author of The Woman Before Me, The Sacrificial Man and The James Version.
Ruth comments on her bookshelves:
My bookshelf covers the whole wall and it's still too small. Spines are ordered by colour, which might make you think I'm a bit OCD (which is true, but the colour idea was my husbands who only values books for their aesthetic as he doesn't read. When I met him I was impressed by his vast book collection, and by the time I found out he hadn't read any of them it was too late. But that's another story...)
As an English Literature graduate I have a lot of classics. It was a joy to cull these after I got the damned degree; Piers Plowman was the first on the fire, along with Gawain the Green Knight, though I later wished I'd kept the Homer.
My book collection is eclectic, with a strong leaning towards Canadian and American fiction. If I like an author I'll buy all their books, and these will be together (whatever colour the spine) and included in that list are Chuck Palahniuk, Margaret Atwood, Rose Tremain, Philippa Gregory and Josephine Hart. If I really like an author the books are hardback.
I also have a section for books that have helped with research. I have books on suicide and cannibalism, on deadly poisons and sado-masochism. I also have enough erotica to know that 50 Shades of Grey is a pale imitation (some of these books my husband has actually read...).
Finally, I have a shelf for my own novels, and they are propped alongside other significant things, like my name badge when I won the Debut Dagger, and the marzipan cake topper my mum made after I appeared on Woman's Hour. This shelf is a bit of an alter to never giving up!

NEXT BIG THING…

 

Thanks to Rebecca Giltrow (rebeccahgiltrow.blogspot.co.uk), fellow Suffolk author, for tagging me in the NEXT BIG THING. This is basically a literary pyramid scheme, except instead of having to send a chocoloate bar or a pair of knickers (anyone else remember that one?) you simply have to answer some questions on your blog. So I shall do so, in the hope that someone will still send me a bar of chocolate…(don’t worry about the knickers. That one always struck me as a bit odd.)

What is the working title of your book? My Sister & Other Liars.

Where did the idea come from for the book? As always with my writing, it is inspired by a real event. Several years ago I was watching a TV programme about a young girl whose sister had been attacked, and left brain damaged. The girl was told that the police had no idea who had attacked her sister and they were closing the case.

My novel starts at exactly that point, fictionally working through what a girl in that position would feel and think and – most importantly – do.

What genre does your book fall under? It’s a crime thriller. I’m hoping it will appeal to young adults, as well as older readers, as Sam is just sixteen years old when she receives this devastating news. She decides that, if the police can’t bring her sister’s attacker to justice, then she will. The story takes place over the following 2 weeks, culminating on her 17^th birthday, which is also the anniversary of the attack.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? I really love the actress, Jennifer Lawrence, from Winter’s Bone & The Hunger Games. In fact, I’m going to see her tonight in Silver Linings Playbook. I think she’d sensitively show the dark aspect to Sam, but also her vulnerability. However, at 21 she’s too old, so I’d go for an unknown British actress who no one’s heard of in the hope that she would bring an authentic vibe with her debut performance. I like the idea of taking a chance on a newcomer, because that’s what Legend Press did with me.  

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? “In two weeks I’m going to be 17, I’m also going to be a killer.”

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? I’m represented by Clare Conville at Conville & Walsh so I’m very, very fortunate.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? Months. Years. Who’s counting? It’s not a race, and the reader doesn’t care how long it took, just so long as it’s a damn good read!

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? I’m interested in Gillian Flynn’s writing as she also explores family dramas through the crime lens. I also like Laura Kasischke and Anita Shreve.

Who or What inspired you to write this book? It’s the story in the brain that won’t be silenced. I’m attracted to stories that raise my anxiety, those newspaper headlines that linger long after the paper has been binned. Writing is my way of working through it. 

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? Sam has anorexia, and I’ve done so much research on the subject that I’m pretty sure I could tube someone if they needed me to. It’s a horrible, obsessive, pervasive sickness and I hope I’ve portrayed it authentically.  

Okay, my 5 tags are writers I like and admire:

Gary Murning  garymurning.wordpress.com

Guy Mankowski  guymankowski.blogspot.co.uk

Sophie Duffy  sophieduffy.wordpress. com

Josie Henley-Einion josiehenley.blogspot.co.uk

Andrew Blackman  andrewblackman.net

Waiting for Wymondham

I am really excited about appearing at the Wymondham Words festival next week, alongside Jim Kelly. I know I'm excited because last night I had a dream about it. It was raining, and my books got sodden, and I was late! A typical anxiety dream, which I interpret as my brain `getting ready`. Am I anxious? Well, of course. It's a public event and a little performance nerves is natural. But I also see this as a great opportunity to meet readers, and to hear when they have to say, as there will be a q&a session. Also, I feel honoured to be teamed with Jim, whom I first met about ten years ago. I bought a book and asked him to sign it! I've seen him since (at Bodies in the Bookshop, Cambridge) and that was around the time of the New Angle Prize for Literature 2012. I was long-listed, but Jim actually won it. Our chair is Ed Parnell, a fellow Escalator alumni, so I feel in safe hands. If anyone wants more details the website is www.wymondhamarts.com

Luke Bitmead Bursary. It was how I got published!

Legend Press are excited to announce the opening of entries for the 2012 Luke Bitmead Writer’s Bursary. The award was set up shortly after Luke’s death in 2006 by his family to support and encourage the work of fledgling novel writers. The bursary is now the UK’s biggest award for unpublished authors. The top prize is a publishing contract with Legend Press, as well as a cash bursary. Luke is the author of the brilliant White Summer (the first novel to be published by Legend Press), co-author of Heading South and his final novel The Body is a Temple will be published posthumously on 1st June 2012. Information about Luke can be found at www.lukebitmead.com. Legend Press are pleased to be continuing this brilliant bursary for a fifth year, and hope to follow in the success of our previous winners Andrew Blackman (On the Holloway Road, published February 2009), Ruth Dugdall (The Woman Before Me, August 2010), Sophie Duffy (The Generation Game, August 2011) and J.R. Crook (Sleeping Patterns, July 2012). Submissions from writers will be accepted from today 1st May until 3rd August 2012 Only adult fiction is eligible for this bursary. The author must be a UK resident. The judging panel will consist of Luke’s family, Legend Press and authors - with the full panel announced shortly. Novels must be already completed before entry. Unfinished manuscripts will not be accepted. Your entry should be sent by email and must include the following: - The first 3-4 chapters of your novel - A detailed synopsis (max 1 page) – this should include the word count of your novel - A personal statement outlining why you would particularly benefit from the bursary. Submissions should be sent to: bitmeadbursary@legendpress.co.uk Entrants must be aged 16 or over. There is no upper age restriction for entry but all submissions must be from first-time, non-published authors – particularly those who are talented but whose personal or financial circumstances are making it especially hard for them to focus on writing as a career. The 2011 bursary was inundated with entries and we look forward to reading your work and discovering more talented authors, to join our fantastic alumni! For all enquiries please email bitmeadbursary@legendpress.co.uk

Love Sick

When I was in Sainsbury’s yesterday I bumped into an old friend. It was been two decades since I’d last seen her, when we stalked nightclubs together blagging free drinks from unsuitable men. I remembered that her boyfriend at the time, a very handsome guy with Kurt Cobain looks & matching melancholy, had asked her out and – when she said yes – promptly vomited. Being young (ish) and prone to love stories with an element of pain, I was always stunned that this single act of devotion had not been enough to sustain their relationship. What more, I wanted to know, could a man do if losing control of his body functions was not proof enough of love? I’ve always wanted love in my life, the kind with a capital L. Rows & recriminations, tears & tantrums and kisses passionate enough to make your mouth bleed. It’s a minor miracle that I’ve managed to stay with one man for 16 years, but luckily he never shouts, rarely swears and is an Alka Seltza to my more turbulent appetites. But the security and stability in my own life has not stopped me wanting to explore the pain and power of doomed love in my novels. As a writer I was initially unaware of the demands that haunted me, writing my narrative with an ear for the story, the dialogue, the characters but not the darker truths. Only later, when discussing the books with groups, did it become clearer that the same themes are there, the same pre-occupations. This isn’t unusual. My daughter’s favourite author, Jacqueline Wilson, has written droves of books about mother who abandoned their offspring for a variety of reasons. My own favourite, Margaret Attwood, re-visits again and again the subject of woman’s identity. Josephine Hart wrote a series of `damaged` women, wreaking havoc on innocent males. Love is at the heart of all of my novels, but it is not necessarily the most obvious story. In The Sacrificial Man the simplest, purest love is that of Lee and Alice. For Rose (The Woman Before Me) it is the love she feels for her mother. Ann in The James Version has a fatal love for William… it is these passions, thwarted as they are for various reasons, which leads the protagonist to unwise decisions and ultimate moral destruction. In Sainsbury’s I exchanged a few words with my old friends and we parted in the coffee isle. But what I really wanted to ask her was if she’d ever found another lover who vomited for her? Perhaps she would have thought it a weird question, or may even have forgotten it ever happened. But for me it was a love story.

WANTED: Critical Teenagers

So, teenagers can be difficult and taciturn and generally negative? Good! That is what I want. Five of them, to be exact.
Why, you ask?

Well, my current project is a novel entitled em>My Sister and Other Liars. It tells the story of Sam, a sassy and sardonic teen who is approaching her eighteenth birthday.
When Sam was nearly ten her sister, Jena, was attacked and left for dead. Jena is now brain-damaged, and lives in a community hospital, unable to remember anything about the attack.

The police have no leads, they are closing the case. So Sam has decided to take matters into her own hands.
She intends to find the man who attacked her sister, and to kill him.

Because most of the novel is told in Sam's voice I want five teenagers to read the novel and tell me what I've got wrong. Is Sam's voice convincing? What about the bands she likes and clothes she wears? What could I improve?

There is a prize!

All five of my critics will get a credit in the book when it is published and an invite to the launch party. They will also get signed copies of my other novels or (if they prefer) a book voucher.
The teenager who gives me the most useful feedback will also have their name (or one of their choice) used in the novel.

How does that sound?

If you know of any teenagers who love reading and would enjoy helping me, then please contact me via my website, ruthdugdall.com, where you will find a `contact Ruth` button.

Many thanks!

Southend Libraries Book Festival 2012 marks the bicentenary celebration of the birth of Charles Dickens. His legacy still makes an impact in film, radio and theatre today. We are delighted therefore to bring Simon Callow to launch this year's festival with his talk 'Charles Dickens and the Great Theatre of the World.' This wonderful event brings to Southend one of our best loved actors and a tribute to the great Victorian writer. Please note: Please contact us to check ticket availability for Simon Callow, Gold Pass Tickets and Silver Pass Tickets. Simon Callow Friday 2nd March 7.30-9.30pm His career spans a wealth of film, theatre and writing but for most of us he remains one of our favourite actors, appearing in Four Weddings and a Funeral, A Room with a View and many others. His talk 'Charles Dickens and the Great Theatre of the World' launches this year's festival and will be hugely popular so book early to reserve your place. Individual tickets £10 or book as part of a gold or silver pass. Please contact us to check ticket availability Andrew Miller and Kevin Howarth (narrator) Thursday 8th March 7.30-9.30pm Shortlisted for the prestigious Man Booker Prize, Snowdrops documents a life of crime, corruption and moral decline in modern Russia. Andrew's debut novel was written while he was the Moscow Correspondent for the Economist but he emphasises it is not an autobiographical account. The novel comes to life in the expert hands of actor and narrator Kevin Howarth making this a truly memorable evening. Individual tickets £5 or book as part of a gold or silver pass Ruth Dugdall Wednesday 14th March, 7.30-9.30pm Award winning author Ruth Dugdall brings a fantastic novel in 'The Sacrificial Man.' A psychological thriller, the book weaves a tale that is both surprising and disturbing. Winning the Debut Dagger Award in 2005 set Ruth on the path to success as a writer but she remains keen to help others in the field and regularly runs workshops to help bring new talent to life. She is an inspiration and a wonderful speaker. Individual tickets £5 or book as part of a gold or silver pass Vicky Kelly/Abbie Norbury and Relaxation/Rejuvenation Workshop with www.blossomdays.co.uk Saturday 24th March 11-1pm We are delighted to bring this local author and life coach for this wonderful workshop designed to help you get what you really want out of life. The session begins with a look at wellbeing and how to prevent stress and illness. As most people juggle too much the workshop will teach you techniques to unwind and help you find your point of control. To finish the morning you will learn gentle and restorative yoga poses which help quiet the mind and relax the body. They are designed for everyone and you need no prior experience. This workshop is a must if you simply want to relax and enjoy life more, no matter what demands you have to deal with. Check out the website on www.blossomdays.co.uk. Tickets £5 or book as part of a gold pass Robert Goddard Friday 30th March 7.30-9.30pm His books regularly hit the Sunday Times Bestseller Lists, he is a master writer enthralling all with his plots and characters, his latest book Fault Line appears on the 29th March but perhaps most of all he is one of the most entertaining authors you can wish to hear - a great finale to our festival this year. Tickets £7 or book as part of a gold or silver pass Gold Pass Ticket - entrance to all events £26 Silver Pass Ticket - entrance to events but not the Workshop £22 All tickets include refreshments. To Book online please use the online form, phone 01702 215011 or visit the central library. All events take place at Southend Central Library, Victoria Avenue, Southend on Sea, SS2 6EX