I had my elbow replaced on Tuesday. Yes, I didn’t know you could do that either. I was planning a piece about the wonders of the NHS but it turns out that after surgery you do a lot of falling asleep, so it’s going to have to wait for next week.
Let’s meet up then.
There’s no escaping Christmas now. The Christmas advertisements are out, the shops are full of Xmas products and the Christmas lights are everywhere. Everywhere including Seven Dials, where I was out last night to dance tango and stopped on my way to take this photo.
Cynical old curmudgeon as I am, I still really like the lights here. It’s lovely that they’ve made the Seven Dials sundial the centre of the illuminations. When Seven Dials was originally laid out in the early 1690s the Seven Dials column was put at the centre with all the roads in the development radiating out from it. It was originally seen as a desirable place to live but, as the city moved westward, Seven Dials was left behind. It became a notorious slum and the column was viewed by the authorities as a meeting place for gangs of rogues, so it was demolished. The existing column is an exact reproduction of the original, unveiled in 1989. It is London’s only column sundial.
Seven Dials is the setting for my book, Back Home. It is the end of a trilogy of books following the adventures of the (fictional) John Williamson and his travels to Borneo and India before returning to London in the mid-19th century. The books are very different to the Burke series and look at questions of Empire during a tumultuous time (including an account of the siege of Cawnpore during the Indian Mutiny/War of Independence). Although the stories all feature a lot of excitement and incident, they also ask more serious questions about the relationship between colonisers and colonised and how this reflected power relationships back in London. They’re not as much fun to read as the Burke series but, I like to think, more rewarding. The paperbacks are cheaper too, because I really want people to read them. I’m so fond of them that the first in the series, The White Rajah, is the only one of my books that you can buy in hardback. All three stories are standalone, although you will probably get more out of them if you read them in order. Perhaps, given the Christmas theme, you might consider The Williamson Papers as Xmas gifts. I’d love it if you did.
I’ve finally got to the end of the first draft of Burke and the War of 1812. I usually take the unfashionable approach of editing as I go, so there’s not a huge gap between finishing my first draft and having something that I feel ready to show to people, but this one has been an exception. I think there’s still quite a lot of work to do. For the moment, though, I am revelling in the fact that I don’t have to write the damn thing for a few days, so I can turn my mind to selling the books I’ve written already. This balancing of writing and selling is one I always find tricky. I love getting readers – that’s pretty much the point of writing – but I’m retired and I don’t have to do this for the money so putting in the hours that I need to promote the books is always a low priority. This pause in my writing gives me a good opportunity to do a little bit of selling. And it’s November: the month when book sales traditionally take off as writers all try to persuade you that books make ideal Christmas presents. They do. They really do!
Tales of Empire is just £2.99 in paperback and if you are on Amazon Prime you don’t even need to pay postage. It’s four short stories by four different authors, including me. It’s an ideal stocking filler.
All of my books are available in paperback. E-books have a lot going for them, but I must admit I don’t feel that they work as Christmas gifts. The James Burke series are my bestsellers and cost £9.50 or less. The most popular is Burke in the Peninsula, possibly because it appeals to Sharpe fans, But if you are giving them to somebody who has never read a James Burke book before, I suggest you start with the first one, Burke in the Land of Silver. It’s based quite closely on the life of the real James Burke and the British invasion of Argentina in 1806. Burke spied for the British ahead of the invasion and his story is a thrilling tale of derring-do and gives a fascinating insight into a little known British military adventure.
The White Rajah was my first attempt at historical fiction and (whisper it) still probably my favourite. It was never a great commercial success, though, which is why you can buy it in paperback for just £7.99.
Besides historical fiction, I also write contemporary fantasy books. My comic fantasy, Dark Magic is a novella and the paperback is only £4.99. There’s an audio book too, which I was giving away free for Halloween. If you’re interested, let me know in the comments and I’ll see if I’ve got any left.
As we draw closer to Christmas, I’ll be talking more about my books. If you don’t want to buy any of them, consider buying something by another independent or small press author. Nobody I know has proper marketing budgets and persuading people to buy books in a market dominated by a few very successful writers (or successful celebrities who have people write for them) is an uphill struggle. If you want new books by new authors, supporting their sales efforts really does make a huge difference.
Thank you.
I’m still utterly failing to finish my 1812 Burke book as life seems to be filling up with all sorts of other things. Last Friday I visited Sutton House in Hackney, a National Trust property described as the oldest private house in London. Built in the 16th century by Ralph Sadleir who worked for Thomas Cromwell at Henry VIII’s court, it has undergone many changes over the years. In the 18th century it was divided into two semi-detached houses, one of which became a school. Later the two halves were reunited as it was occupied by a church trust. Abandoned in the 20th century, it was briefly squatted before the National Trust started restoration work. The basic Tudor structure remains unchanged with some elements like the kitchens being taken back to their origins.
From outside, it just looks like an old, vaguely dilapidated house in the centre of Hackney. It’s a wonderful example of how in London we live alongside history without necessarily even being aware of it.
This is one of the original Tudor windows.
The beautiful linenfold panelling is a rare surviving example from the period.
Saturday I was out with fellow skaters celebrating Halloween on the streets of London.
We were out skating again on Sunday, so I got a reasonable number of miles under my belt over the weekend.
Tuesday I was at the Wellington Lecture in Southampton. Not an awful lot about Wellington but a gentle canter through the way that the events of June 1815 still resonated with the British Army in two World Wars. The Navy sometimes remembers his influence too, albeit through gritted teeth.
Thursday was more Halloween celebration, this time at tango.
Perhaps next week will produce some actual writing. I live in hope.
I keep promising to cut back on the amount of time I spend on blogging and other social media and now, with over 56,000 words of my first rough draft of what I’m still calling Burke and the War of 1812, I just want to get that finished, so no proper blog post this week. I’m a bit disenchanted with the blog right now because there really does seem to be very little engagement with it so, honestly, what’s the point? Last week, out of the pure goodness of my heart, I offered a free copy of the audio book of Dark Magic to anybody who wanted it. (Halloween is coming up so it seemed appropriate.) And nobody has asked for a copy. I know I undersold it because it was supposed to be just a bit of fun, but nobody?
And, of course, because I really want to write, now there seem to be loads of other things going on. I’ve been enjoying the last of summer/beginning of autumn at Kew Gardens, volunteering in Marble Hill House and, obviously, getting in the odd bit of tango. Today I’m off to explore a Tudor house in Hackney, tomorrow is the London Halloween skate (pictured) and next week I’m going to Southampton for the Wellington lecture. Something’s got to give and this week it’s the blog. Sorry about that.