Monthly Archives: June 2013

RESEARCH

096I came into writing in the early 1950s, articles etc First book published in paperback 1959. What a journey since then! Always exciting and interesting. And what a technological advancement there has been. For much of my time there has been no internet; no easy connection with any part of the world as there is today. My nearest library was twenty miles away. One way out of the dilemma when seeking information was by letter and that took time if I sought a contact at the other side of the world. In order to compile the book I was working on  I had to be patient. (I must say in corresponding all over the world I only had one person who was not helpful). This lack of easy access to information led me to build up a library of my own. What a boom that became and still is even  today when so much technology is at our fingertips. I would always want books readily available. And that leads to bookshops especially those that deal in second-hand books. What wonderful explorations that leads to and what excitements while tracking down books.  And how good it is today to be able to bring information in those old books up to date. Writers to day have so much to be thankful for,  but has some of the excitement of the search disappeared?

 

BOOK COVERS

Last week I attended the monthly meeting of the Northern group of The Romantic Novelists Association. we had an informal meeting when we reported happenings in our writing worlds since our last meeting. This was followed by a discussion on Book Covers, their importance and impact when seeking to make a reader want to read a particular book, and is the writer consulted about the cover?

I talked about the cover for my first Jessica Blair novel THE RED SHAWL (1993) and my latest, IN THE SILENCE OF THE SNOW (2013) to show the development of  Jessica Blair  covers through 23 books and how they are instantly recognisable as the cover for a Jessica Blair novel so enticing fans to the new book or grabbing the attention of a possible new reader.  I also took along the cover for one of my early Westerns, THE STAGE RIDERS originally published in 1967, but this cover was for the Large Print version published in 2010. I like it because the artist Gordon Crabb has captured the atmosphere of the novel so well, in the positioning and expressions of the three characters from which we deduce are about to face a momentous situation. It makes us want to read this novel to find out what happens.

THE STAGE RIDERS
THE STAGE RIDERS
THE RED SHAWL
THE RED SHAWL
IN THE SILENCE OF THE SNOW
IN THE SILENCE OF THE SNOW