No more nail biting

The Monument, Wigton, by Nigel Monckton from Wikipedia

Six of us from North Cumbria Scriptwriters are involved in a group writing project. We had a meeting last night and put together a structure for a short play about the history of Wigton. It will be performed in the early summer to celebrate the 750^th anniversary of the Market Charter granted to the town by King Henry III. Many of the scenes have already been drafted, and now we can work on the links between them. My own scene will be a love story set against the background of the changing fortunes of Roundheads and Cavaliers in the 1640s.

Meanwhile, Connie up-loaded the cover and interior text of The Boy with Two Heads two days ago to Lightning Source. It is now being made into a proof for us to check.   

The back-cover text is this:

In 432 BC they think Themis is dead. Suzanne is drawn through thousands of years to keep him alive. Will his destiny be death or glory at Olympia? Will she regain control of her life in the present, or will her mind be occupied forever by the past?

‘A wonderful story which brings the ancient Olympics to vibrant life. You can almost smell Greece from its pages…’ Philippa Harrison, former Managing Director of Macmillan and Little Brown UK.

‘It seems that young people's issues have hardly changed in 2,400 years!’ Marion Clarke, fiction editor.                                                                                                                        

And inside, on the first page, we have put a quote from the actual story, followed by the longer versions of the two reviewers’ notes, like this:

                                             THE BOY WITH TWO HEADS

     The dark woman, who may have been his mother, dropped his hand. He felt the wind of her garments as she whirled away from his bed. Even with his eyes open he couldn’t see her now. But he could hear her.

     ‘Oh, Apollo! Devious Lord of Delphi! What have you done? … Other gods have taken so many from me – one son, one daughter, two husbands. And now you too have failed me! You have given me back half a son, his body but not his mind!’

     So he was her son – a boy. ‘No,’ he said. … All the other voices stopped. ‘No. I have a mind. But I don’t know … who I am … or where I am, and I don’t …’ He searched for the word, ‘… re … remember anything.’

                                        ____________________________________________

“A wonderful story which brings the ancient Olympics to vibrant life. You can almost smell Greece from its pages… and there is a lovely equivalence of teenage feelings and humour, then and now. I was so engrossed by the story and the dramatic climax that I did not realise how much I had learnt until it was all over.” 
Philippa Harrison, former Managing Director of Macmillan and Little Brown UK.

  

“This book transported me effortlessly back to ancient Greece, vividly evoking its exotic sights, sounds and even smells. And it seems that young people's issues have hardly changed in 2,400 years!” 

Marion Clarke, fiction editor.

Themis' and Suzanne's story begins on the spot in this photograph. In 432 BC, this was the end of a bridge over the River Ilissos. In the 1960s or 70s the river was covered over and this road was built. Now, in the 2010s, there is an entrance to the Zappeion Park nearby. Opposite is the huge paved area in front of the Panathenaic Stadium, so this is a busy pedestrian crossing.

The Panathenaic Stadium
Athens, 2010

Our publishing story continues this coming week, when we’ll be correcting the proof, making the flyers, writing the press release and beginning to get in touch with bookshops, schools and libraries.

To me this stage is exciting, but scary, too. I haven't been personally involved in promoting my fiction so far, and I’ve hardly met any of my readers face to face, mainly because they live in far-away countries where they are learning English as a Foreign Language. So I keep asking myself questions like Will people enjoy this book? Will they dislike it? If so, why? Will anyone read it anyway?

But I can't answered myself now, or maybe ever. So no more nail biting: on to the next project!