Linda Gillard

Thanks, folks, for recommending my books. Welcome, Maggie! When you are in London try to make time to go to the Persephone Bookshop. You can check out the stock online and then buy the books while you're over here. These are all beautiful reprints of books written mostly by women betweeen the 2 wars. See www.persephonebooks.co.uk (Be warned: buying these can be addictive. ) One of my favourite books about an older woman - a nun, actually - is Adrienne Dines' SOFT VOICES WHISPERING. A slowish start, but it really grips later. Wendy K Harris' THE SORROW OF SISTERS is another compelling family story. (To anyone who enjoyed my books - you might like these two.)

Hi Shaka1909 and thanks! Can I suggest some other contemporary Scots authors you might enjoy? If you like teen reads/crossover try Gillian Philip's superb and very topical BAD FAITH and CROSSING THE LINE. If you like intelligent romance/chick-lit try Erica Munro's DATING GAMES. Other favourites of mine are Andrew Greig's ELECTRIC BRAE and WHEN THEY LAY BARE. And if you like crime, William McIlvanney's LAIDLAW, Glasgow's answer to Rebus, leaves Rankin in the shade IMHO. (Just for the record: I'm English, but I've lived in Scotland since 2000 and 2 of my novels are set on Scottish islands.)

Thanks, Inver. Imagining being blind and lost in the snow was harder than the treehouse! I hope to have some good news for you soon about a 4th book. It's too early to say yet, but things are looking hopeful...

Thanks Bethany. You might be thinking I've exaggerated for comic effect but the only difference between this letter and a real rejection is that the real one would be much shorter and probably less polite. The issues, attitudes and phrases are all authentic, I can assure you.

Thanks, Frankie. REBECCA is fabulous. You are in for a treat. A while ago I read Daphne du Maurier's little known THE PARASITES which I thought was a strange but terrific read. (A book that I doubt would find a publisher today.) Daphne du M had to suffer REBECCA being dismissed as "romance" when really it's mixed genre: romance, crime, psychological drama, country house mystery - you name it. Sometimes to prevent myself grinding my teeth down to the roots I amuse myself by composing rejection letters to the famous. For example... "Dear Ms Bronte We enjoyed your manuscript JANE EYRE. You write well and most of your characters are believable, but we found your plot relentlessly downbeat and depressing. Does Helen Burns really have to die? Does Rochester have to blinded? (A disfigured hero is not very appealing and spoils the feel-good ending. We wondered whether superficial burns and a partial loss of sight would serve just as well.) We found Rochester himself problematic. He isn't likeable or physically attractive. He is wealthy which is a point in his favour, but you fail to clarify whether or not Adele is his illegitimate offspring. In short, he isn't really hero material. Jane herself is not appealing as a heroine. She is feisty but physically unattractive and, frankly, a bit prissy. There's little for a female reader to identify with here. Something more upbeat is required for a romantic heroine. The reader might forgive Jane rejecting Rochester's immoral proposal but to reject St John Rivers as well makes her seem ungrateful. You might want to think about demoting Rochester to a subplot and upgrading Rivers to the main hero (perhaps drop the unappealing religious aspect of his character? No one loves a do-gooder.) You could then dispense with your unconvincing plot device of Jane hearing Rochester call to her after the fire. (We don't think paranormal romance has a future.) Sorry to be discouraging, but in a fiercely competitive field, a romantic novel has to have stand-out qualities. Whilst you are clearly a talented writer we think JANE EYRE belongs to no clear genre and is too quirky to be commercially viable. Do feel free to send us future manuscripts which we will be happy to consider. Yours sincerely A N Other Editor." Well, it keeps me sane.

Thanks a million, guys. Honestly if it weren't for readers, I don't know how authors would keep going - which I know sounds like a statement of the blindingly obvious but I'm not referring to financial remuneration here. I'm talking about the way publishers consistently underestimate readers and follow the dictates of the marketing men. I was emailing a very senior publishing person in Australia recently and bringing him up to speed about my difficulties. I said to him, "I get the impression that editors want to know on page 1 exactly what sort of cover the book should have." He said, "You're absolutely right." Well, I thought that was the most depressing book-related thing I'd heard in a long time. So any rookie writers out there - don't forget to make it absolutely clear on p.1 what colour your cover would be. Sometimes I wish we could just go back to those orange Penguins. (And if I see one more headless-torso-historical-fiction cover I shall run amok in a bookshop. When they did it to WAR & PEACE I nearly wept.) Linda

4th book is complete, Inver, but homeless. My publisher didn't like it because it wasn't a romance. I wasn't prepared to shoehorn it into a chick lit genre so I withdrew the manuscript. It was a family drama with lots of mystery, some romance, something along the lines of THE 13TH TALE or REBECCA. So far I haven't been able to place the book but my agent is sending it round to lots of other publishers. Everyone has said nice things about it but they all have qualms about it not belonging to one clear genre. So no deal. I'm well on with book 5 now which is much more of a love story, but still a genre-buster, so perhaps equally doomed. Publishers really don't like mixed-genre books, but I'm sure readers do. Don't they?...

Just dropping in to say thanks to Inver, and everyone else for their commiserations. Sadly STAR GAZING didn't win Romantic Novel of the Year (which was won by Julia Gregson's EAST OF THE SUN) but SG did win the www.LoveReading.co.uk readers' poll of the shortlisted books. SG polled over 50% of the votes. It was a great honour to be shortlisted but I had mixed feelings about being labelled an author of "romantic" books. That's not how I see myself. Winning an award would be great, but it puts you in a genre pigeonhole and so far all 3 of my books have been very different.

Hi LoopyLoo100 I was fascinated by your mind map! (I'm the author of EMOTIONAL GEOLOGY and have dropped in to BCF now & again.) Looking at your map of EMO GEO I can see that this software could be brilliant for planning novels! It looks like a sane and efficient alternative to sheaves of tatty A4 littered with post-its. Thank you so much for alerting me to this free download. I shall tell my author friends about it. (Now if anyone wants a real challenge, they could attempt a Mind Map of A LIFETIME BURNING. ) Happy New Year to everyone at BCF.

Just dropping in to say Hi (and many thanks to Miss J for saying she enjoyed STAR GAZING twice!) You might be interested to know, GraGra, that I couldn't find any fiction told from a blind protagonist's "point of view" apart from Brian Keenan's TURLOUGH, so this isn't exactly an overcrowded field! All the more reason for you to write your own book. Good luck!

I might well be up your way Inver because I have friends in the Banchory area and recently did a workshop for Deeside Writers. They seemed keen for me to go back and do another. I'll pop in now and again I should think, Kate. Now I've mastered The Technology it would seem a shame to waste it. If anyone wants to contact me you can get to me via my website. Do let me know what you think of my books if you get around to reading them. In the meantime, 'bye for now, thanks for having me and happy reading!

Thank you, Icecream! What a compliment!

Thanks Jules. And thanks to Michelle for inviting me to participate. It's been really interesting and so useful to hear how readers choose and respond to books. I'll check out the site later today in case anyone has any last-minute Qs.

Inver, I'm in the Press & Journal today! And they've spelled my surname wrong not once, but twice! It's a nice feature apart from my name being wrong. (GILLAN instead of GILLARD.) Ho hum...

I'm featured today on my publisher's blog answering Qs about writing. See http://tinyurl.com/5rkuaw Not sure why they didn't post a photo of me. Maybe they think I'm too old and wrinkly?...

Yes, that was a shame, wasn't it? I've heard rumours that the next BC UnConvention might be in Edinburgh or Glasgow. So maybe there?...

I couldn't begin to estimate what I owe Lyzzybee and BookCrossing, something I always acknowledge when I speak publicly. There's a photo of some BookCrossers (incl Liz) on my website under the Credits section, and many BookCrossing reviews are quoted in my Reviews sections, alongside those from press and bookblogs. I was honoured to be asked to speak and teach at the 10th Anniversary BC Convention in London earlier this year which was terrific fun and a wonderful opportunity to meet readers and BC friends.

OK, consider my arm twisted. Do you want me to send it to you, Michelle, or to the address of someone waiting to read? (You could send me that offlist.)

Btw, Michelle, which book of mine isn't offered in a BCF book ring? Twist my arm and I'll donate a copy to the cause. I still have your address somewhere.

Yes, I wasn't sure about the overlap between the 2 sites - BCF and BC. I've come across Michelle on the BC site. To be fair to BC, I think it's probably only the queues for STAR GAZING that are loooong and that's because there aren't many copies registered yet. Thank you, Madcow, for reserving ALB. I hope you'll think it was worth the 60p investment!