Catalan interlude

There are many downsides to the author's life: the bad weeks (or months) when the words won't come, the books that are turned down, the bad reviews.

Occasionally there are the wonderful highpoints, the moments when you know exactly why you want to write: the words that come flying out of your fingers on to the laptop, the readers who get exactly what you meant, the surprise sale of rights that brings in unexpected money.

And sometimes you are invited to wonderful places to talk. This week I spent a couple of days near Girona in Catalonia talking to readers enjoying a Booklovers' holiday run by 7 Day Wonder.

I've lost the adaptor for my digital camera so can't post my photos until it turns up. But the website link above will show what a beautiful venue this is. Of course, it's the people who really make it fun, and Lee and Debbie, who were running the week, cooking and generally looking after us, couldn't have been kinder. The readers staying at La Torre de Dolt for the week were a lively, thoughtful group, all passionate about books, and it was a real treat to chat about authors we enjoyed.

I had to bring a touch of winter to the sunny atmosphere by talking about Restitution, set, of course, in the throes of a Prussian winter. But hopefully it just made everyone relish the sunny comforts around them even more.

Jubilee and when life mirrors art

I've been away from this blog for a long time, desperately trying to complete my third novel, Jubilee.

This morning something happened which literally made a shiver run down my spine. Jubilee, in part, is the story of some ten-year-old children who are evacuated from London to the countryside where I live. They come from an inner city life to the Berkshire Downs and learned a new life, which involved being close to sheep and pigs and chickens.

This morning, while I was doing the hoovering, a man knocked on the door. Turns out he'd been evacuated to this very cottage as a ten-year-old at the beginning of World War 2. He was in the village to commemorate the start of the war.

So all the time I was writing my novel I was sitting in a cottage which had witnessed events very similar to those I was dreaming up.

We showed him round the cottage and chatted about life then and now, and some of the families who'd lived in the village, and whose descendants are still here.

The Bookbag

The Bookbag has reviewed Restitution. The blog is a great place to go if you're looking for ideas of what to read next.

Flogging the Quill

Editor Ray Rhamey's blog, Flogging the Quill, is one of the longest-standing of its kind on the net and has won him many fans. If you're looking for an editor to stand over your shoulder while you polish your book (aren't we all?), take a look at Ray's new book, Flogging the Quill: Crafting a Book That Sells.

To find out more about Ray, visit his site (there's a link from this blog, on the bottom right).

Interview on Pan Macmillan site

Interview with Eliza about Restitution at the Pan Macmillan website.

Blogging Restitution

Book bloggers have been busy reviewing Restitution and you can read their blogs at Juxtabook and Carole's Books .

Restitution now a Pan Macmillan Paperback

I'm delighted that Restitution has come out in paperback and is already available at Amazon at the reduced price of £4.79.

Alternatively, there is an extra 10% Off all Books at Waterstones on orders worth £20 or more. Use code PP6666.

Restitution a Pan Macmillan Paperback

Extra 10% Off all Books at Waterstones on orders worth £20 or more. Use code PP6666