Lucy Atkins's Blog, page 7

On Saturday I interviewed novelist Sarah Perry at the Charleston Literary Festival in Sussex, about The Essex Serpent. I grew up nearby in the nearby town of Lewes and it meant so much to me to be back on home turf. Here are some pictures of the weekend, which happens at the beautiful Charleston Farmhouse, home of Vanessa Bell (Virginia Woolf’s sister) and a Bloomsbury Group hub. The church is in the nearby village of Berwick and was decorated by Vanessa Bell, Duncan Grant and Quentin Bell – it’s quite extraordinary.  Sarah’s event was packed but most of all I wish I’d taken a picture for you of the green room, which is the original farmhouse kitchen, with a decorated colander lampshade, and a scrubbed pine table groaning with scones and clotted cream, Victoria sponges, ginger biscuits, pots of tea…Hard to leave.

The Night Visitor with its smart new jacket heads out into the world for reviews and endorsements….just over a fortnight till publication.

I’ll be interviewing some terrific authors at the Oxford Literary Festival next month (and seeing a few as an audience member too – Elif Shafak, Paul Auster among others).  We’ll be in the beautiful Corpus Christi College, which is having its 500th birthday and has opened its doors to the festival to celebrate.

I’ll be talking to Jo Cannon, author of the Sunday Times bestselling novel The Trouble with Goats and Sheep, a beautiful book, just out in paperback.

Then there’s Clover Stroud, whose memoir of her mother’s catastrophic riding accident, The Wild Other, is extraordinary and captivating.

I’ll be interviewing Victoria Hislop about her new book, Cartes Postales From Greece (she’s bringing a slide show!)

and finally I’ll be talking to the famous Louise Doughty about her fascinating new novel, Black Water. Louise’s previous book, Apple Tree Yard, was recently made into a gripping BBC Drama (I’m sure we’ll talk about that too).

Tickets are on sale HERE now, for these and other Festival events.

Here’s my first column for Psychologies magazine. I’ll be writing one a month for a year.

Tips and discussions of techniques, overcoming blocks, facing fears and all that…. Have a read of column 1 here. 

double click on this blank page….

It was such a pleasure to spend an hour grilling crime author Peter May at Waterstones Oxford​ last night about his new book Cast Iron, the final in his acclaimed Enzo series. The most fascinating revelation, for me, is that, after many months of deep research, Peter spends an intense week writing a detailed storyline and then writes the entire novel in only about *seven weeks*. He makes himself write 3,000 words a day, without fail, and will stop practically mid-sentence when he gets to his daily target.

He also talked about the wrench of saying goodbye to his beloved character Enzo, after six books. Incredibly, he started writing the Enzo books after his novel The Blackhouse was turned down by every single UK publisher. It was eventually picked up in France, became a huge bestseller, then had British publishers bidding like crazy to buy it. The madness of subjectivity. He chose Quercus Books​ (a publisher we share) because they were small, supportive with an immensely clever and talented staff. The Blackhouse (which became the first in his famous Lewis Trilogy) went on to sell millions worldwide.

This is the part of my job that I really love – the chance to learn from a pro (who also happens to be a lovely person).

I’m interviewing the great Peter May at Waterstones Oxford next Monday night about his new crime novel, Cast Iron. He’s a brilliant talker, with so much to say about writing, the writer’s life, crime fiction, Scotland…. Cast Iron is one of his ‘Enzo Files’ novels. Here’s a bit about the book:

THE NEW THRILLER FROM THE MILLION-SELLING AUTHOR OF COFFIN ROAD AND THE BLACKHOUSE

In 1989, a killer dumped the body of twenty-year-old Lucie Martin into a picturesque lake in the West of France. Fourteen years later, during a summer heatwave, a drought exposed her remains – bleached bones amid the scorched mud and slime.

No one was ever convicted of her murder. But now, forensic expert Enzo Macleod is reviewing this stone cold case – the toughest of those he has been challenged to solve.

Yet when Enzo finds a flaw in the original evidence surrounding Lucie’s murder, he opens a Pandora’s box that not only raises old ghosts but endangers his entire family.

I’ll be talking about writing, with novelist Elizabeth Heathcote and my editor at Quercus, Stef Bierwerth at an event for Psychologies magazine. It’s for all writers-to-be, in London on 7th December. Come!

More info here: How to Write a Novel workshop tickets

I visited my friend, leading ladybird expert Prof. Helen Roy, today in her Oxfordshire offices. Helen provided much inspiration for my new novel and tons of information and research help into ladybirds and beetles (The Night Visitor is coming out next year, ages away still but I’ve finished it now). Apparently there are Harlequin ladybird swarms going on – it’s ladybird madness across Britain at the moment. The Harlequin is an invasive alien species – they may look cute but they’re the baddies, mainly if you’re a nice British ladybird.

Tabloids of course have reported this as ‘swarms of alien bugs carrying sexually transmitted diseases are invading our homes’.

BBC Report into Harlequin swarms

and…

Brilliant Daily Mirror headline