Weekly Blog - Monday 28th July
Harrogate And Other Stories…
This week’s special edition blog comes to you from the departure lounge of Barcelona airport. I’ve spent the last few days in the city with Lisa to celebrate her 40th birthday. It’s a fantastic place packed with the architectural wonders of that ‘modernista’ genius Antoni Gaudi, the tapas is varied and tasty, and the sangria slips down nicely on a hot sunny day. But enough of my European adventures, instead, let me turn my attention to the week before last, when I attended not one but two events to help publicise Justice For All ahead of its release in August.
First, a trip to London to attend a lunch thrown by my publisher, MIRA, at which two other authors were also present: the Scots born, Athens loving Paul Johnston, writer of ten critically acclaimed novels, and E.V. Seymour, a fellow MIRA debutant, whose excellent first book ‘The Last Exile’ has just hit the shelves. The three of us were gathered together to meet and greet some very influential media types, including book reviewers for The Guardian, The Mirror, The Times and the Express, as well as representatives from Crimesquad.Com (one of the best crime fiction websites around), and Waterstones. The lunch was held at Smiths of Smithfields – the food was great, the company better, and invaluable contacts were made that will hopefully aid the publicity push that’s now gathering pace behind myself, E.V. and Paul. Once everything had wound down, I was lucky enough to spend a further hour or so with Paul at the bar. With ten novels behind him, Paul is something of an old hand at being an author, so the chance to quiz him on the perks and pitfalls of the industry was one I grabbed with both hands, and I thank him for being so gracious with his time.
After the hor d’oeuvres that was the MIRA authors’ lunch, it was on to the main event – the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival. Harrogate (as it shall henceforth be known) is now billed as the biggest festival of its type in the world. Authors, agents, publishers, the media, and the most important people of all – fans of the crime genre – descend upon the Crown Hotel over a July weekend and do their best to drink it dry (well that’s mainly the authors – lets just say we’re a sociable bunch!).
I’d went to Harrtogate in 2007 as a punter so I knew what to expect, but this year I was invited to attend the festival as one of the ‘named attractions’. As a first time author whose book hasn’t even hit the high streets yet, this was a huge honour. Every crime author in the country (and several other countries come to that – this year there were authors from the U.S.A. and Norway to name but two) is eager to get an invite so the competition for places is fierce – so hats off to MIRA for managing to blag me a spot.
The vibe of Harrogate is best described as friendly and buzzing. It’s great to be able to talk to people with the same interests – or indeed the same job – as yourself. For the most part, the life of an author is a fairly solitary one, so to suddenly feel part of a big, supportive family gives you an incredibly warm feeling. Here’s just a few of the people I spoke to this year to give you a flavour of the attendees. Firstly, the two ladies (whose names unfortunately escape me) that I first met at Harrogate 2007, who on hearing that I was now a published author rushed straight to the festival bookstore (run by Waterstones and only stocking books by authors appearing at Harrogate, including mine – MIRA ensured that some advance copies were made available ahead of the official August launch) to buy JFA, then rushed back and asked me to sign it. Thanks ladies, see you next year! I’d also like to mention Daryl Nilbett, a fun-loving Aussie who’s an aspiring author. He’d come to Harrogate to meet people in the publishing industry, and the last beer I shared with him was at 4 a.m. on the Saturday night in the hotel bar. Top man - I wish him the best of luck.
And finally Chelsea Cain, the New York Times best-selling author whose first words to me were ‘Can I touch your hair?’ Being a gentleman I could hardly refuse, and once the quiff stroking preliminaries were out of the way I had a great chat with her about Harrogate and writing in general. We then went our separate ways, but after ten minutes or so Chelsea tracked me down again to introduce me to Kelley Ragland, her editor at the US publishing house St. Martin’s Minotaur, as she knew that I’d yet to get a book deal on the other side of the pond. This act of kindness on Chelsea’s part encapsulates what Harrogate, and crime authors in general, are all about – they’re incredibly supportive people. The manuscript for JFA is now with Kelley in New York, and I’m hoping that she’ll be sufficiently impressed to sign me up (the omens are good – the books 15th August release date in the UK coincides with Kelley’s birthday!), but whatever happens I’m grateful to both Chelsea and Kelley for taking the time to show an interest in my work.
As for my role at the festival, I was appearing at the author’s dinner on the Saturday night. This event enables crime fans to have dinner with an author while quizzing them about their latest novel (each attendee is sent an advance copy of the author’s book) and writing in general. It was a bit nerve wracking approaching a table of strangers who were hoping that I’d entertain them, but the first person I spoke to was a gentleman by the name of Mark, who greeted me with the following:
“I got your book on Tuesday, I’d read it by Thursday, and I loved it.”
What a great start! Mark’s kind words really helped me to settle down and from then on the dinner went great. We swapped seats a few times so I could speak to everyone present, and I’d like to thank them all for making my evening a really enjoyable one.
And finally, remember I mentioned the festival Waterstones bookstore? When I first arrived there were quite a few copies of JFA on the shelves (and I can’t tell you how good it was to finally see my book on sale), but by the Sunday only three of them remained. If this is a sign of how future sales are likely to go, then things are definitely looking up!
Cheers,
Steve
This week’s special edition blog comes to you from the departure lounge of Barcelona airport. I’ve spent the last few days in the city with Lisa to celebrate her 40th birthday. It’s a fantastic place packed with the architectural wonders of that ‘modernista’ genius Antoni Gaudi, the tapas is varied and tasty, and the sangria slips down nicely on a hot sunny day. But enough of my European adventures, instead, let me turn my attention to the week before last, when I attended not one but two events to help publicise Justice For All ahead of its release in August.
First, a trip to London to attend a lunch thrown by my publisher, MIRA, at which two other authors were also present: the Scots born, Athens loving Paul Johnston, writer of ten critically acclaimed novels, and E.V. Seymour, a fellow MIRA debutant, whose excellent first book ‘The Last Exile’ has just hit the shelves. The three of us were gathered together to meet and greet some very influential media types, including book reviewers for The Guardian, The Mirror, The Times and the Express, as well as representatives from Crimesquad.Com (one of the best crime fiction websites around), and Waterstones. The lunch was held at Smiths of Smithfields – the food was great, the company better, and invaluable contacts were made that will hopefully aid the publicity push that’s now gathering pace behind myself, E.V. and Paul. Once everything had wound down, I was lucky enough to spend a further hour or so with Paul at the bar. With ten novels behind him, Paul is something of an old hand at being an author, so the chance to quiz him on the perks and pitfalls of the industry was one I grabbed with both hands, and I thank him for being so gracious with his time.
After the hor d’oeuvres that was the MIRA authors’ lunch, it was on to the main event – the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival. Harrogate (as it shall henceforth be known) is now billed as the biggest festival of its type in the world. Authors, agents, publishers, the media, and the most important people of all – fans of the crime genre – descend upon the Crown Hotel over a July weekend and do their best to drink it dry (well that’s mainly the authors – lets just say we’re a sociable bunch!).
I’d went to Harrtogate in 2007 as a punter so I knew what to expect, but this year I was invited to attend the festival as one of the ‘named attractions’. As a first time author whose book hasn’t even hit the high streets yet, this was a huge honour. Every crime author in the country (and several other countries come to that – this year there were authors from the U.S.A. and Norway to name but two) is eager to get an invite so the competition for places is fierce – so hats off to MIRA for managing to blag me a spot.
The vibe of Harrogate is best described as friendly and buzzing. It’s great to be able to talk to people with the same interests – or indeed the same job – as yourself. For the most part, the life of an author is a fairly solitary one, so to suddenly feel part of a big, supportive family gives you an incredibly warm feeling. Here’s just a few of the people I spoke to this year to give you a flavour of the attendees. Firstly, the two ladies (whose names unfortunately escape me) that I first met at Harrogate 2007, who on hearing that I was now a published author rushed straight to the festival bookstore (run by Waterstones and only stocking books by authors appearing at Harrogate, including mine – MIRA ensured that some advance copies were made available ahead of the official August launch) to buy JFA, then rushed back and asked me to sign it. Thanks ladies, see you next year! I’d also like to mention Daryl Nilbett, a fun-loving Aussie who’s an aspiring author. He’d come to Harrogate to meet people in the publishing industry, and the last beer I shared with him was at 4 a.m. on the Saturday night in the hotel bar. Top man - I wish him the best of luck.
And finally Chelsea Cain, the New York Times best-selling author whose first words to me were ‘Can I touch your hair?’ Being a gentleman I could hardly refuse, and once the quiff stroking preliminaries were out of the way I had a great chat with her about Harrogate and writing in general. We then went our separate ways, but after ten minutes or so Chelsea tracked me down again to introduce me to Kelley Ragland, her editor at the US publishing house St. Martin’s Minotaur, as she knew that I’d yet to get a book deal on the other side of the pond. This act of kindness on Chelsea’s part encapsulates what Harrogate, and crime authors in general, are all about – they’re incredibly supportive people. The manuscript for JFA is now with Kelley in New York, and I’m hoping that she’ll be sufficiently impressed to sign me up (the omens are good – the books 15th August release date in the UK coincides with Kelley’s birthday!), but whatever happens I’m grateful to both Chelsea and Kelley for taking the time to show an interest in my work.
As for my role at the festival, I was appearing at the author’s dinner on the Saturday night. This event enables crime fans to have dinner with an author while quizzing them about their latest novel (each attendee is sent an advance copy of the author’s book) and writing in general. It was a bit nerve wracking approaching a table of strangers who were hoping that I’d entertain them, but the first person I spoke to was a gentleman by the name of Mark, who greeted me with the following:
“I got your book on Tuesday, I’d read it by Thursday, and I loved it.”
What a great start! Mark’s kind words really helped me to settle down and from then on the dinner went great. We swapped seats a few times so I could speak to everyone present, and I’d like to thank them all for making my evening a really enjoyable one.
And finally, remember I mentioned the festival Waterstones bookstore? When I first arrived there were quite a few copies of JFA on the shelves (and I can’t tell you how good it was to finally see my book on sale), but by the Sunday only three of them remained. If this is a sign of how future sales are likely to go, then things are definitely looking up!
Cheers,
Steve
Views: 14
Comment
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Comment by eve seymour on July 29, 2008 at 9:10pm
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For me to know and you to find out! xx
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Comment by Steven Hague on July 29, 2008 at 9:03pm
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Thanks for the kind words E.V. - you're a star! I'm two-thirds of the way through 'The Last Exile' and I'm really enjoying it - it's just the kind of gritty writing that gets me going! And the plot is hugely intriuging - just what has Tallis stumbled into?
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Goodness, I'd no idea about the potential American deal. Am keeping everything crossed although, having finished reading JFA a few days ago, I'm sure you don't need my luck. Loved Danilov, (have a particular thing for bad guys!) loved the writing, loved Zac and looking forward to the next novel in the series. E.V. xx
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