Wednesday 3 September 2008

Books etc



I had a lovely meeting with my mentor Mavis today (no she's not one of the Wurzels, that's for later).

We met in the cafe in the British Library for a change as I was in London anyway. There were at least three people reading those new-fangled ibook things, which I thought at first was a bit odd as we sat surrounded by books written on vellum, parchment and various forms of paper. But then I realised it made perfect sense, it's just another medium after all.

I used to work in the BL when it was in the British Museum and I remember feeling both comforted and overwhelmed by the tall toweredness and plump stackedness of the book shelves. I tried to imagine today how many ibook thingies you would need to store the contents of the library and then thought how boring they would look all stacked in a metallic row and how they wouldn't have that special smell or be nice to stroke, and I found myself hoping that printed books stay around long enough for my own novel to be available as one.

Because yes, I am believing in my novel now. Maybe it was the fact that Mavis mentioned the word 'publishable' three times in relation to it today and started talking about agents and whatnot. She's not an agent or a publisher but her faith in what I'm doing is a huge boost. I've got miles to go yet (still haven't finished writing the bloomin’ thing) - but I intend to send her the final instalment before our meeting in October, then there'll be the mega rewrite to take into account the fact that I've completely rethought the plot half way through, but there's definitely a speck of light ahead, and if it's the on-switch of an ibook then that's OK with me.

I felt a bit guilty when I turned up to our meeting this morning as I was nursing a tired and addled head. It was our end of series ‘party’ last night - which amounted to an excess of Becks and Rose wine and a gathering around an ipod, which amongst other things had the The Wurzels Greatest Hits on it (see above) . You can't say we don't know how to have a good time (well you can but I won't believe you).

At some point in my life I may decide that dancing and drinking (and there may have been some singing) until 4am is a bad idea but I don’t think it’s going to be anytime soon.

9 comments:

CL Taylor said...

Jumbly, that's great news about your mentor's comment. How exciting that you're so close to finishing your book. I don't doubt you'll get yourself an agent. Keep going!

Pat Posner said...

How great for you to get a triple vote of confidence from your mentor. Good luck with the final instalment, youll so enjoy writing it after Mavis's lovely words.

Jill Steeples said...

That sounds very positive and exciting, you're nearly there! Keep up the good work!

I can't do the drinking till 4.00 am anymore, but maybe the dancing!

HelenMWalters said...

Drinking and dancing - definitely a good plan!

Tamsyn Murray said...

Popped over after a little absence and I'm super impressed by your novel progress - well done! And how lovely to get such good feedback :-)

Karen said...

I went to see the Wurzels once, when they played the Futurist in Scarborough. Don't tell anyone.

Great news about the book though...it really is encouraging to know you're heading in the right direction :o)

Jen said...

Drinking and jigging to The Wurzels sounds very marvelous indeed.

It's lovely to hear you so bursting with positivity over the nove - you go girl!

Leigh Forbes said...

Oh, the BL in the BM! Those were the days.

I'd love a Sony Reader (just in case anyone with too much money is reading), but I agree, it'll be a sad day when the last paper book falls to dust.

Good luck with the final push. Very, very exciting times by the sound of it. I'm routing for you!

Jumbly Girl said...

Thanks everyone - your encouragement means a lot - I feel like I'm racing towards the finishing line at the moment. No idea by the way how the novel ends - I've got the principal characters meeting up at a climactic moment and then, well, we'll just see what happens.

Karen and Spiral - glad I'm not alone in my Wurzeldom, tho to be honest I think I had enough of them to last a lifetime on Tuesday night

Leigh - Yes if someone offered me one I wouldn't say no - but before long I would drop it in a rockpool (like I did with one paperback on holiday) or leave it behind in a castle and never see it again (like I did with another), so my joy would be shortlived and paper would reign once more.