PREVIOUS BLOG POSTS
August 28th 2008.
I've never written a blog before and I'm not sure what people want to know, but here goes...
One question I am often asked is 'what are you writing at the moment?' The answer just now, I'm afraid, is 'not much'. For one thing, it has taken me weeks to construct this website and most of my 'writing time' has been devoted to that. Apart from that, well, it's summer, isn't it? Or what passes for summer these days. And that means the garden needs a lot of attention. We have quite a big garden and we get a lot of pleasure out of it. (For future reference, when I say 'we' I am not using the 'royal we', I am referring to myself and my husband David. I can't keep saying 'my husband and I' because that makes me sound even more like the queen!) Some people seem to think it strange that we devote so much time and energy to gardening. They even hint that I ought to be spending my time on something more 'creative'. But to me, designing and nurturing a garden is a creative activity, on a par say with designing a stage set. It is also very therapeutic. I love to wake up in the morning and look out of the window at a flowerbed blazing with scarlet crocosmia and golden day lilies, or to stroll up the garden path with the scent of roses and pinks in my nostrils. David is in charge of the vegetable garden and it's great to pick fresh beans and courgettes, or collect tomatoes and cucumber from the greenhouse. (We did have lettuces, too, until the slugs ate them!) Friends laugh and say we are like Tom and Barbara from 'The Good Life' and I reply, 'well, it is a good life' so don't mock! All that produce does mean that valuable writing time gets used up picking and storing, but I get a virtuous glow when I go to my freezer for homemade icecream or ratatouille or my storecupboard for homemade jam and chutney. Perhaps it's the effect of hearing that passage from the Bible, which our headmistress used to read to us at the end of every term - the one which begins 'the price of a good woman is above rubies'.
Summer holidays also mean grandparent duty. We look after Amy and Adam two days a week, as their parents both work. They are great kids and never any trouble, but I can't leave them to vegetate in front of the tele all day while I shut myself away to write.
So, those are my excuses for not producing another novel at the moment. But I am thinking and reading and ideas are beginning to gel. Hopefully, when winter comes again, I shall be ready to start.
Sept. 3rd
I am still trying to upload this website and having great difficulty. But on the assumption that it will go live in a day or two, here is an addition to the blog.
Two very nice things happened this summer. If you have read the 'about myself' entry you will recall that I mentioned two of my ex-proteges who have done well in the theatre. Well, this year I have been able to catch up with them both. Adam Levy is playing one of the leads in the musical Zorro at the Garrick Theatre in London's West End. We went to see it and it is a really good evening out. The music is by the Gipsy Kings abd is all flamenco based, which gives the show an extra dimension, and the production is visually stunning. It's all quite light hearted, a real swashbuckler, but great fun and it was wonderful to see Adam in a starring role as Ramon, the villain of the piece.
The other production which we managed to take in in the same week was The Merry Wives of Windsor at the Globe Theatre, which was directed to great critical acclaim by the man who was once a memebr of my Youth Theatre in Epsom - Christopher Luscombe. That was a great show, too. It was a miserable wet evening but in spite of that even the groundlings, standing in the rain, roared with laughter. Christopher has gone on to direct Alan Bennet's Enjoy for the Bath Festival. It's very satisfying to see both of them doing so well.
I'm off on holiday in a day or two, so there won't be any further additions to the blog until October. Keep logging on! I'll be in touch then.
Oct. 4th
Well, I'm home again, after an interesting but rather exhausting three weeks. We drove to Slovenia and Croatia, a round trip of over 3000 miles. I like the idea of making a journey, so that you are aware of all the different countries and terrains between home and your final destination, instead of just getting of a plane after three of four hours of seeing nothing but empty air, but really to make it meaningful you need to take weeks rather than days. I'm not sure if we shall do it again. Slovenia and Croatia are both lovely in their very different ways but unfortunately the weather was poor - overcast and cool except for two brilliantly sunny days. And now we are home to what feels like the beginning of winter! I hate the dark days, but at least I have no excuse now for not getting on with the new novel.
This is rather a sore point, actually. I thought I had a book all ready to follow the last volume in the Follies series, but Hodder have turned it down on the grounds that it is too 'different'. It's still a Love and War story, but set this time against the troubled recent history of Cyprus. Apparently Hodder only want me to write about World War ll. I am filled with dismay at the idea that my work could be so narrowly circumscribed. Publishers seem to have a very restricted idea of what readers will accept. I'm told that there are writers who are only allowed to set their stories in Liverpool between the wars. Are readers really so narrow minded? I should like to canvas opinions about this whole question of 'genre'. Should there be, for example, such a thing as 'women's fiction'? My books are categorised as such, but I have met many men who tell me they have enjoyed them and have congratulated me on bringing the war episodes to life so vividly. And why is it that a writer like Sebastain Faulks is allowed to move backwards and forwards historically between WWl, WW2 and later times when some of us are not? My agent says it is because he is 'literary'. So my next questions is 'what is literary fiction and how does it differ from the sort of books I write?' Would you, dear reader. for example, buy a Hilary Green novel set in, let's say, World War l - or would you leave it on the shelf because it is 'different'?
If anyone out there is reading this and would like to join the discussion, please do so by clicking the 'contact me' link. I'll copy any relevant e-mails into the blog.
Oct 17th
Is anyone out there reading this? If so, please get in touch because at the moment I feel as if I am talking to myself.
I've been busy this week proof reading The Final Act, the last novel in the Follies series. Usually I find this a bit of a chore but this time I have rather enjoyed it. It must be more than a year since I handed the finished ms over to the publishers, so re-reading it has been almost like meeting old friends -meeting and saying goodbye, since this is the last book. I lived with Rose and Richard and Merry and Felix for years when I was working on the novels, and I grew very fond of them, so it is sad to think that I shall not be re-visiting them. Now I must create a new group of characters and try to fall in love with them, because that is the only way I can write convincingly about them. I've made a start and the two main female characters are taking shape nicely, but I still have to work on the men.
Ah well, back to my desk and the proof copy.
Oct 23rd
I have received a very supportive e-mail from Claire Davies, which I copy below. Many thanks for your support, Claire. It's great to know I have such loyal fans!
Dear Hilary
I have read your blog, I think it is a shame that your publisher has rejected the story set in Cyprus. It is a shameful if publishers start dictating the genre you must write about. They are trying to restrict your creative streak. Anyone who has ever visited Cyprus, would I am sure have been interested in your book.
I love Cyprus, my sister has lived in Paphos with her family for the last 3 years. I am interested in the war in Cyprus, I have visited the Turkish side of the island, where there are statues commemorating the war. Several friends I have made in Cyprus fought in the war, one was due to leave the army after his National Service the day the Turks invaded.
I would buy your books, whether they were set in World War I, World War II, Cyprus, or whether they were historical, thriller or romantic genres.
I work for Waterstones, customers are often surprised when they can't find their favourite author in a section, such as general fiction, the book may come under a seperate category such as crime etc. If customers are fans of an author, they nearly always come and ask the publication dates of that author's next book, whether it is hardback or paperback. Often the publication dates change, but still customers monitor when the new books are available.
If customers ask for help choosing books, I would talk to them about the type of books they currently read, and make recommendations based on their interests. I would always recommend your books to anyone who loves both war and romance sagas.
I would certainly recommend any book written by you, as your characters are so strong and believable. Your stories are so gripping, they leave you on tenterhooks, wanting the next book in the series to see what happens to the heroes/heroines.
I hope that other readers join in your debate.
Best wishes
Claire Davies
Blackpool
Oct 26th
I spent yesterday in Sheffield at a Reader's Day run by Sheffield Libraries. Five authors, with a hundred plus in the audience made for a lively and interesting exchange of ideas. I spoke to two groups who had been reading my work - though bizarrely they had been given Theatre of War instead of the first book in the series, Now Is The Hour. However, they seemed to have been able to pick up the story without too much difficulty and the feed back was very positive.
Two points arose from our discussions. Both were related to the question of genre and the perception in the publishing industry that individual readers are wedded to certain types of fiction - family sagas set in Liverpool between the wars, to quote an example I have come across recently - and will not expand their range to encompass something new. The readers I spoke to were insulted that their tastes should be seen as so limited and outraged that authors should have their creativity restricted by such narrow parameters. The second point raised was regarding the covers of my books. One reader suggested that the cover pictures give the impression of a very light, romantic read whereas the content of the books is much more serious. It's true that the covers are very pretty, but would they be better with a little more emphasis on the War element and little less on the Love?
If anyone has an opinion on either of these points and would like to air it via this site, please go to the 'contact me' button.
Nov 14th
It's been a mixed couple of weeks. I gave a talk to a local Mother's Union last Thursday and was received with great enthusiasm and sold a lot of books. Also I have had some very supportive e-mails. (Thanks especially to Gill Marsden) I'm working on the new book, which will begin in 1912 and encompass WW1 and WWll. It's a mammoth undertaking but a bit dispiriting as it means a year's hard work without any guarantee of publication. I understand that publishers have to be realistic about profit and loss but it does seem hard when I know so many people love my books, and I love writing them. My best hope is that sales of the current books will rise, so if there are any fans out there who want to read more of my novels all I can suggest is that you get all your friends to go out and buy, buy, buy! They would make marvellous Christmas presents!
I'm off to Southport next week to talk to the Romantic Novelists Association. More of that anon. (By the way, please note I am available to talk to writers' groups, WIs, Book groups or anyone else who might be interested.)
Nov 27th
I had a good day with the Romantic Novelists yesterday. The NW seems to be a good breeding ground for them, as Liverpool sagas have been so popular in recent years. I was invited by Katie Flynn, who has dozens of books to her credit, and the hostess was June Francis, another very successful writer of Liverpool based sagas. However, received opinion seems to be that the genre is in decline, so the question is 'What is the next big thing?' If only we knew!! Not that my books are Liverpool based, except for the first one,We'll Meet Again. I'm a southerner by birth and I don't feel I have a strong enough connection to any one area to set my stories exclusively there. Besides which, I prefer a broader canvas. Speaking of which, does anyone know anything about the history of the Orient Express? I'm sending one of my characters on it in 1912, so I'm looking for authentic details of furnishings and decor, meals etc.
I have just discovered that the contact me address on the website is wrong. Many apologies to anyone who has been trying to get in touch with me. I've corrected it now, so I look forweard to hearing from you.
Dec 21st
A Very Happy Christmas to all my readers and Good Reading in the New Year. I am re-reading Olivia Manning's Balkan Trilogy at the moment. Of course, it's the wrong country (Romania) and the wrong war (WWll) to have much relevance to the story I am working on but I thought I should remind myself just to make sure that I am not indulging in any subconscious plagiarism. To my relief I find it is totally different. For one thing, Manning's characters are much less adventurous than mine. I have to say, I do find Harriet Pringle a bit wet! One is sorry for her, of course, but I keep wishing she would stand up for herself.
There isn't much time for writing with Christmas almost upon us. Our younger son is here for a week, which is lovely as we don't see him all that often, and the elder one will be here plus wife and two children for Christmas dinner, so not much will get added to the novel until the New Year, but even when I am not physically writing I find myself musing on my characters' next steps or their innermost feelings, so the time is never wasted. The next blog will be in 2009!
Dec 29th
Not 2009, quite. But I want to reply to an e-mail I received today. I am always delighted to get letters or e-mails from people who have enjoyed my books and I try to respond to them but sometimes my server refuses to recognise the address of the sender. I don't know why. So I am trying to reply to Sian (biker43) who e-mailed to ask if there was any chance of seeing any of my books on TV. In response, Sian, I can only say 'I wish!' Unfortunately, it is not in my power to decide such things. Several people have told me that they think the books would make wonderful films or TV serials but I can only suggest that, if you would really like to see that happen, you look up the names of producers who have been responsible for similar dramatisations and suggest to him/her that he/she reads one of my books, whichever you feel would be the most suitable. (The producer of yesterday's adaptation of The Thirty-Nine Steps sounds like the ideal candidate, for example) It's a long shot, but it might just bring the books to the notice of someone influential. Meantime, just keep buying the books! Future publications will depend, in these difficult times, on good sales of the current crop.
Happy New Year!
Feb 24th
I have neglected my blog lately because I have been busy writing and researching the new novel. It is beginning to take shape but I find I have to write several chapters in order to get to know my characters and then throw most of it away. I have just jettisoned 50 pages from the first four chapters. However, I have now dealt with the first episode of the story, which concerns the Balkan Wars which were a kind of prelude to World War l, and I am about to start on WWl proper. More research needed here! I hope you will like my main character, a girl called Leonora who is much too feisty and independent to fit easily into early 20th century society. I have been researching a remarkable woman called Mabel Stobart, who took an all-woman medical team to nurse wounded soldiers in Bulgaria in 1912 - an unheard of thing at the time. They were an off-shoot of the FANY, so I am back on familiar territory with them. The new book will have a lot to say about FANY exploits in WWl, which I hope will please fans of We'll Meet Again and Never Say Goodbye.
Thanks to Clare Guy and Mary Denton, who have both e-mailed me to say how much they are enjoying the books. It is such a thrill to hear from readers!
The last book in the FOLLIES series, The Final Act, will be out in hardback on March 19th but I am afraid if you want the paperback you will have to wait until June 11th. I don't think you will be disappointed.
May 8th
Sorry about the long silence. I've been away and since getting back I have been dividning my time between the garden and the new novel. Anyway, the date is approaching for the publication of the paperback of 'The Final Act'. I have had some lovely feed back from library readers who have been able to get hold of the hardback, so I hope that will translate into sales of the paperback.
Just in case any of my readers live in the Merseyside area, there will be a launch party at Linghams Bookshop in Heswall on June 17th (Doors open at 6 p.m. for wine and canapes; cost £6.00). I shall be signing copies of the book at Waterstones, Liverpool (the Bold Street branch) at lunch time on June 12th and at the Birkenhead branch on June 19th, also at lunch time. I shall be at Borders in Cheshire Oaks at 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 20th. I am also giving talks at Runcorn Library at 2.30 on June 11th and at Halton Library that evening. I should be thrilled to meet any of you if you can make any of those dates.
June 29th
Well, The Final Act is in the bookshops now and I've been busy promoting it in local bookshops and libraries. Sadly, it seems that people are having difficulty getting hold of the previous books in the series, which makes it hard to persuade them to read the last one. However, there is a possibility that earlier books may be reprinted, so it you are desperate to get hold, for example, of Theatre of War, do write or e-mail Hodder and Stoughton and add your voice to the chorus!
I'm still hard at work on the new novel and most of my reading is devoted to World War 1 as well. I've just finished Robert Graves's Goodbye to All That - a very revealing account both of the man and the era. Now I'm reading Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front. Two accounts, from opposite sides of the conflict, but its amazing how much they have in common.
I have to admit that the garden is tempting me away from my desk very frequently at the moment. It is looking glorious right now, with a mass of roses, peonies, sweet peas, lilies and hardy geraniums. You'll gather from this that I'm not a modernist. I love the traditional English garden, with a lawn and herbaceous borders full of colour. No decking and ornamental grasses for me!
If anyone is interested, I shall be talking about my books at a Holywell library in Flintshire during the afternoon of July 9th and at Chester library on the evening of July 15th.
October 2nd
SOS! FOR REASONS BEST KNOWN TO THE MARKETING DEPARTMENT HODDER AND STOUGHTON HAVE ALLOWED THEATRE OF WAR TO GO OUT OF PRINT AND I AM BESET BY DESPERATE READERS TRYING TO OBTAIN A COPY. WHAT SORT OF SENSE IT MAKES TO PUBLISH BOOK 4 AND ALLOW BOOK 3 TO GO OUT OF PRINT IS BEYOND ME! PLEASE, IF YOU ENJOY MY BOOKS AND WANT TO DO ME A FAVOUR, E-MAIL OR WRITE TO HODDER AND TELL THEM HOW ANNOYING IT IS NOT TO BE ABLE TO OBTAIN THE FULL SET AND BEG THEM TO REPRINT THEATRE OF WAR. I SHALL BE VERY GRATEFUL AND SO WILL A NUMBER OF OTHER READERS WHO ARE SEARCHING FOR COPIES.
Dec 11th
I'm afraid I have been rather lax about writing my blog lately. Apologies to anyone who had been waiting for an update. First of all I was away in China - and what a fascinating trip that was! - and since getting back there has been such a lot to catch up on and, with Chrsitmas to prepare for, I have hardly had time to get to my computer. The odd moments I have had have been devoted to finishing the first draft of my new novel. I'm calling it 'Daughters of War' and at 200,000 words it is a real blockbuster. I feel very optimistic about it; in fact I think it is probably the best thing I have written. Let's hope the editors at Hodder feel the same! With the parlous state of the book trade at the moment it is going to be harder than ever to get into print.
Meanwhile, thanks to all those who have e-mailed saying how much they enjoy the Follies books. Congratulations to Jennifer Starkey who actually managed to get hold of Theatre of War! I'm sorry that I can't hold out much hope to those of you who are still trying to find a copy but keep badgering Hodder and we might get somewhere. I was pleased to read in Jennifer's e-mail that she had read and enjoyed the first five chapters, which the publishers made me cut out but which are on the website. Has anyone else read them? I should be interested in your reactions.
Have a Very Happy Christmas everyone. And here's to lots of good reading in 2010!
March 12th 2010
I'm writing to you all to tell you that Hodder have
turned down my latest novel. It's a bitter blow, as you can imagine, because
it represents two years work and I think you would all have enjoyed it. What
makes it really hard to accept is the fact that I offered them another book
some time ago and they turned it down because it was too 'different'; so I came
up with a new idea for a book set in WW1 which they seemed to like but now it
is finished they say it is too similar! What is one to do?
The simple fact is that, although those of you who have discovered my books
love them to bits, as is obvious from your lovely e-mails, not enough people
have bought them, so the marketing men at Hodder can't see why this one should
be different.
Of course, I am trying to place it elsewhere, but short of my fans persuading
legions of friends to beseige the bookshops with orders - or possibly a massive
campaign on Facebook or UTube - you may never get to read it.
Sorry to be so downbeat, but I'm sure you can understand how I am feeling.
May 29th
I have one piece of good news, at least. Hodder are planning to reprint Theatre of War, which so many of you have been searching for in vain. It should be ready sometime in July, so I'll give more details when I know something definite. Perhaps all the e-mails and phone calls you made asking for it has had an effect after all. So thank you all.
January 26th 2011
Sorry for this long break. I have a new computer and it has taken me a long time to find out how to transfer the website. I'm still not sure if this will work.
Anyway, GOOD NEWS! My new novel, DAUGHTERS OF WAR, will be published by Severn House on April 28th. It is the first of a trilogy, The Leonora Trilogy, and starts in 1912. It is inspired by research I have done on the early years of the FANY, and in particular by the exploits of a remarkable woman called Mabel Stobart, who led a group of women doctors and nurses to care for Bulgarian soldiers in the first Balkan War. My heroine, Leonora, is a feisty young woman who rebels against the constraints of Edwardian society and runs away to join them. Needless to say, there is a romantic element, but also I have tried to give a realistic idea of the horrors of warfare and the terrible conditions endured by these brave, pioneering women. Subsequent volumes will follow Leo and her friends through the years of the First World War.
Severn House publish mainly for libraries but copies will also be available from bookshops on special order or from Amazon et al.
November 29th 2011
I can't believe I wrote that last entry back in January and I have only just got round to getting this up to date. I haven't been sitting around idle, I promise! PASSIONS OF WAR, the second volume of the Leonora Trilogy came out in October and the final one, HARVEST OF WAR, is all ready for publication early next year. Last summer I went to Serbia and Macedonia, where much of the action in these books takes place, to get a feel for the authentic atmosphere and scenery of places like Belgrade and Bitola. It was a fascinating trip and I can thoroughly recommend that area as a holiday destination, particularly for those of you - most, I presume - who are interested in history. We tend to forget that for centuries this area was at the crossroads of major events.
I have also been working on a new book, suggested to me by a friend who is an ardent enthusiast for the Inland Waterways and has a boat on the French canal network. It seems the canals were often used by people trying to escape from occupied France during World War ll. The idea was too good to pass up and I have had a very interesting time researching the history and lore of those canals and the people who lived and worked on them. It took me on another very enjoyable holiday, travelling along the Canal du Nivernais and into the hills of the Morvan. More of this story later, I hope. Meanwhile, I hope you are enjoying the first two Leonora books. If anyone is having difficulty getting hold of them, please contact me.