New Year's Eve

So. Which way is 2010 going to lead? I want to stay open minded. To say, "Yes." To listen to people carefully and not rush in with a response. I want to be gentle and kind and adventurous and excited. I am going to finish "Leaving Coty" and it will be breathtaking. See and enjoy being with friends more. Much more. Not dream, but do. Clear out my wardrobe. Pare it down to the things I love and wear. Clear out all the tat, not just in the wardrobe. Cook more different things, chopping and throwing them in the pot or the huge, massively huge dish and roasting it all in the oven. Loving life, I suppose. That's where it should all lead.

And thank you for 2009. Thank you for the unexpectedly gloriously good things it has brought when it seemed not so bright.

And so, moving forward, a rewarding, fulfilling, heart blossoming New Year to everyone. X

Yorkshire

It is the weekend before Christmas in the photograph of a church near Blubberhouses in Yorkshire. Very cold, very beautiful. Fewston Reservoir is below, part frozen and the sign says we are banned from swimming. Will have to check if that is winter only. Snow filled air makes your cheeks feel clean and fresh and your eyes as though they've been thought a blow cleaner.
I never forget, living in Manchester, how breathtaking Yorkshire is, but more and more it makes me feel peaceful. Not only the scenery, whether it's the prettiness of the woods in spring and summer or the bleakness of the wintery moors and rivers, but the people. I feel I belong and that is a very warming feeling. I belong in the place as well as with the way people talk to each other. Now, that's me feeling that, others may look at me and say (inwardly) or even outwardly for that matter, 'Why does she think she belongs/has anything in common with me?' That's not what I mean. We all come from different stand points, I mean, having lived away, it is a relief to relax in the environment as well as in the soul. Whatever the connections or non-connections, I like it. And that's 'like' in an acceptance that it is natural and flowing and there's nothing I can do about it sort of way. I'm writing here, not editing, not really thinking, trying to capture a feeling that is in its early stages but gathering strength. It used to make me sad leaving Yorkshire to cross the Pennines, for these two reasons, people and place, now I feel less sad leaving, but always very glad to return.
Now I like living in Manchester for very different reasons. But they don't belong here.

Snow and concerts and newspapers

I went to two Christmas Concerts last night and it was perfect that the world was white. I love, love those heavy flakes, too weighted for them to fall gracefully, so they fall out of control, the only direction they know is that somehow they will hit the ground. No ballerines, these flakes. More the elephants from Fantasia. And all the prettier and lovelier and more lovable for it.
And the singing and playing and talent of the young people in both these concerts, first at Chorlton High School and then at Xaverian Sixth Form College in Rusholme was jaw dropping. Very different concerts with widely varying music, but both stunningly good. Thank you Miranda for "Have yourself a very Merry Christmas" sung slow and meaningfully and looking resplendant in gold and thanks to Genevieve for looking as though from another world when you sing.
What a wonderful night in the true sense.

And now, the sun bright, the sky blue and the ground still white.

I'm reading samples of other would be authors' works and thinking how much talent there is here too. There seems to be gifted people everywhere. Can we have too many? Is there space for all? And I mean to have their talents rewarded by making a living at what they do. Let's not pretend it's enough just to be good at something. We want to live by what we are good at. That's a Christmas wish.
X

College Talks

Thank you to the staff of the English Department, in particular, Sue Harding and the students of Sir John Deane Sixth Form College in Cheshire. I enjoyed meeting them yesterday and talking about script and novel writing and how everything that we do, see, hear, experience can be used in our writing.
I love these occasions as it fires you up sharing ideas and it also reminds you why writing is so important and fun and inspiring. It reinforces why I do it.
For the first time in ages, I felt myself again. All keen and buzzing. Thank you for that.

Lots of roundabouts in that area. I got a bit lost, so went over more than I should, but it felt a strange land. And as soon as you came off the main road, I think it was the A533, it was Cheshire countryside and old farmhouses and low houses, but back on this newer road with its roundabouts I felt I was in Generic Land again. Is that the right term?

Anyway. The college was beautiful with its leaded windows, old wood doors, parquet floored classrooms and hall with its high beamed ceiling and stage and old boarding school feel. Sue Harding's English room had an open fireplace and she said that pupils used to light the fire and tea would be made and muffins or crumpets toasted and books and poetry and literature discussed. Doesn't that sound the way to learn to love literature? Not reading sections of a book so that you can answer a specific question on it. It was a room to love reading. The fire wasn't lit yesterday, but wouldn't it be a good thing if one day it was and pupils, faces glowing from the heat took it in turns to talk about their favourite word or phrase or character and why they loved writing?
Wouldn't pupils go out into the world more interesting people because they have a passion for something rather than having ticked a box to say they had learnt how to answer a question in the accepted way?
I enjoyed being shown these parts of the college. The pupils are very lucky to be learning in such an environment with such interesting and interested teachers. It was a pleasure to meet you.
And it's nearly the holidays.

Coty's First Perfume Shop.

I'm standing in the Place Vendome, opposite the Tuileries Gardens in Paris. A good area. It's Easter time and amazingly warm. Every time I've been to Paris, the weather has been good. Except once. The last day of a long weekend when we went to the Christening of one of our friend's daughter when it rained. They now have five children and we've been to two christenings, one here in Paris, the other in Addingham, near Ilkley in Yorkshire. I think others were in Canada, Italy and Australia. It's definitely not an event to have in the same place twice.
That's going off the point though.
I'm in Paris at this time for a holiday and I wanted to see where Francois Coty opened his first shop. It's an impressive square. There are the big jewellery names here. Napoleon's Column. Napoleon Bonaparte was a distant relation of Coty's, so maybe that is why he chose this location. On the small island of Corsica where both Bonaparte and Coty were born, there weren't many main families, so quite often people were related.

So, here I am standing in the centre of the square in front of Napoleon. He's on the top of the stone pillar. A composer lived here.

Coty also chose to open his shop next door to the glassmaker's, Rene Lalique who he later persuaded to make his perfume bottles. They worked together for twelve years before falling out over production demands.

There's no fuss to the square. Just the buildings and the column. No little park in the centre. It's business. It feels like business.

It's not my favourite area of Paris. I prefer the back streets, the winding routes of Montmartre, looking out over the rooftops from the heights of the Sacre Coeur. By the river, the traffic really seems to kick in and the expensive shops and places selling little Eiffel towers and Arc de Triomphes don't interest me. I'm still a tourist, as you can see. I've sat in Jean Paul Sartre's old haunts and taken a photo of the little Shakespeare Book Company. And found Jim Morrison's grave and Oscar Wilde's and Edith Piaf's. Covered with flowers, tended by a full time gardener. And collected conkers, bright and shiny. Isn't it sad how quickly they go matt and wrinkly? But lovely when they are fresh. I've kicked bright leaves here too. I once wanted to live here, but have only managed visits. Is it too late? Do I still want to live here? I'm not sure. We change. I want the sea now. Thing is, the sea is coming, isn't it? Have to say, I feel at home in Yorkshire. It makes me happy and sad. The people in Yorkshire though make me very happy. Take the man in the car park in Hyde Park in Leeds.

I'm at Sir John Deane's Sixth Form college in Cheshire tomorrow talking to students about writing, from Emmerdale to Bob the Builder to Meeting Coty. Funny seeing them all in one sentence. Very odd.

Looking at things differently

I'm trying to view the world differently. It's so easy to react to someone in the same way that we have been reacting for years, even when we don't really know what they are going to say. I was talking about how we resort to with someone the other night about, for example, 'our position in the family' or are childhood place in the friendship group. A parent can say something in a certain way and we immediately, with a knee jerk reaction respond in the age old way we always have, could be defensive, could be to roll our eyes at the ceiling. What an image. A sibling can ask a question or make a comment and we immediate lose the plot. These are examples. We are different things to different people and they are to us. Can we change this? This is what I'm trying to do after a week or two of low level conflict. And it's me who is in control. Must look in the mirror every morning and tell myself that. I can change the way I react. I can really 'hear' what they are saying and not assume. We're all human, we all have reasons why we behave or say things in a certain way. Listen. Sometimes I think we have all stopped listening. There's too much noise around. Too much clutter to look at. Must talk about G.K. Chesterton. This will remind me. What he said about advertising bill boards. Cluttering up our landscape with the trivial. I'll look up what he said. I keep thinking I want to write about him. Like Coty, most people don't know about him, the man who, Like Mother Shipton said so many truths about the future before they actually happened. And please don't tell me you don't know who Mother Shipton is.

Inspiration - Perfume and Tessa

I've been preparing a talk for a sixth form college for next week and thinking about writing and Meeting Coty and things I've done and people I've met, I felt inspired again. It's easy to forget when you're feeling a bit down what drives us on. Today, preparing the talk and reminding myself why Francois Coty is so interesting, what I love about exploring ideas has given me a kick out of my bit of wallowing. Yes, sorry, I have wallowed a bit. In defence of that though, I have tried to think why I've felt down. In fact, I suppose I'm very lucky to have the time and circumstances to wallow in my down-ness. Yet another thing to remember. Maybe I shouldn't remember, just appreciate.
So, Coty, the man who gave us mass marketing and themed products and packaging. Who was a salesman extraordinaire, who made perfume affordable instead of only for the rich. Who brought it into department stores and not merely chic, exclusive boutiques. He has a lot to answer for and we don't know that he did all this. And he made very, very good perfume into the bargain. And wore a blingy ring and dyed his hair blond.
What a man!
And Tessa, the main character of Meeting Coty. She is complicated.
See? I'm all inspired all over again. The piccie at the top is from a performance of Juba do Leao. Inspiring band!There. Linked it so neatly to the theme of this blog...

Peace

I dropped my daughter off at a dance school in Denton for her class last night, drove round to the nearby Sainsbury's, bought multi-vitamins and a Snow White costume for the same daughter to take into college (from funds raised) for a Children's Christmas Present Appeal. The Snow White costume, not the vitamins.

And then I sat in the car and watched the other cars coming and going in the dark. I sat there for an hour. It was surprisingly soothing watching the red lights and white lights coming and going. Oddly peaceful. No-one seemed to be rushing. No cars peeping, engines revving, shouting and running. Coming and going, following the designated routes through and in and out and away to the motorway or home. And the cars parked were neat inside their white lines as splatters of rain hit their windscreens.
Breathing in and out hoping that my heart would stop beating so fast.

Jerez

I need to go to Jerez de la Frontera to visit some Bodegas and to see the fields of vines, feel the sun on my skin and screw up my eyes at the glare off the dry soil. Taste the sherry. Hear the language. See if the town really is divided between the right and left. Walk the streets. Look up at the buildings. Go to a Sunday service in a catholic church in Spain. Hold the rosary beads. I can hold my father's.

And time. I want, no need, to take the time.

Misunderstandings

I've had two misunderstandings this week through emails and both with people I don't know. One contacted me and I took immediate offence and the other is about work to narrow it down and I took offence at something they said too. I was wrong about the latter, but a further short email from the first confirmed that I was right to be offended!! Though they didn't intend it. Proabably didn't the second time, but I took offence again....is this making sense. I suspect this is a case of "I know what I'm talking about so why aren't you privvy to my every thought and understanding what I'm talking about?" Even that is probably confusing, but I'm going to continue in this stream of consciousness. One thing I did decide though was that I'm going to fall out with many people this week, so I'm not going to talk to anyone. Difficult, but I'm doing damage control.

However, lovely, lovely man in the Woodhouse Car Park in Leeds. He lifted my spirits. Just jolly and kind and sociable without being pushy and a good soul. Thank you Mr. Man in charge of the Car Park. Very warm person.

I love being in Yorkshire. I feel at home there. Well, I should do that is where I am from, but it hits me every time I go back.

I'm rambling. I'm going and will leave you in a dazed state as to what I'm talking about. No offence intended.

Chorlton Christmas Craft Fair

Apologies, but I won't be at the Christmas Craft Fair at St. Clement's on Edge Lane, Chorlton as I'm still not feeling brilliant after a nasty cold, cough bug I've had and don't feel it would be a good idea to be there.

Wishing everyone well who goes and that a fantastic festive time is had be all. I'm going to get better if it kills me...

Happy Christmas.

Bookshops, Craft Fairs and such

With the closure of Borders, the debate goes on about the survival of books in their physical format and the outlets that sell them. And then about the range of books published and how it is shrinking. Less and less diversity.

I'm selling my book, "Meeting Coty" at a Christmas Craft Fair tomorrow at St. Clement's Church, Edge Lane, Chorlton-Cum-Hardy. Are Craft Fairs and festivals the bookshops of the future to compliment on-line selling and reading? For some, it may be, if there book isn't in the range of what publishers think the public want. As they say, it's business.

I want to say, "Support your local bookshop. Buy at independent booksellers."

It's business too, for them. What makes a shop stand out and survive is it's owner and it's owner's love for what they sell.

So, Thank you to Sue Keates of Whitby Bookshop, 88, Church Street, Whitby, Yorkshire for not only stocking my novel, when I'm not a well-known author, a best-selling author, not even local to Whitby or have a book about the area, but for putting "Meeting Coty" for all to see on a stand of new writers.
This is so important to new authors as readers may not have heard of our books and a way of reaching the public is for it to be seen by people browsing through the shelves. This is why having the cover seen is so important. I often buy a book because the cover has caught my attention. I know small bookshops have limited space and it's wonderful to have a book stocked, but it has to be presented to be sold.
So, anyone who lives near the North Yorkshire coast, head to Whitby Bookshop.

My Favourite Jacket

I watched the film, "Before Sunset" again last night. Love the film. On this viewing, Nathan Hawke's jacket caught my eye and it brought back memories of a jacket I had when I was eighteen. I loved it. It was a mid to dark brown, slightly flecked fine wool jacket. It fitted perfectly. At the time, lots of jackets had shoulder pads, but this jacket's shoulders were neat. It fitted straight down, no tapering at the waist, but fitted across the hips as it did at the top. And reached an inch or two below my bum. Two pockets and a small lapel. I loved it and felt the bee's knees in it. Funny phrase. Another time!
And I often wore a little fedora type tweedy hat with it. Loved my hat too. I think the jacket was from Miss. Selfidges.

And then when I went to college I had a dark blue reefer jacket. Very masculine. I felt with my long hair it worked well. This has made me laugh, but i'm leaving it in.

Anyway, fond memories of that jacket. I no longer have it but I remember the way it made me feel. I felt I knew who I was. And I was happy with that. I'll have a think what's in my wardrobe that makes me feel like that now. And it's not the brown cardigan, though it hangs beautifully...

Rain and birthdays and the unexpected

It's my birthday today and I have a searing throat that insists on adding that little extra pain by forcing coughing spasms. Marvellous. But, birthday wishes coming through, so at least other people can do the singing.

I meant to write about Chris Hall's talk about the spanish civil war that I went to on Monday evening. The room was full and extra chairs had to be put out. Shows that there is interest in the subject, or that Chris has a lot of friends. From the comments and questions at the end, I'm guessing the former. Have to say he answered all the well researched and knowledgable comments with dexterity. You have to know your subject when so many other people are passionate about it too.
And that was what was good. People's passion. Passion about the war on Monday and, which came across through Chris, who was an engaging speaker, the passion of the volunteers. These were men who couldn't fight, didn't know about warfare, but were chosen for their belief in the cause. You could ask if the people doing the recruiting really wanted to win if they were choosing soldiers who weren't fighters, but this didn't seem to be the point, my friends. Passion and belief and a united way of thinking. Mmmm. Wars, some wars are still being fought like that, but that's a different discussion. Or one at a tangent.

Chris made me want to know more about the war. Definitely. I was interested anyway, but it has fuelled my willingness to find out more.
It was like being at a 'Support the War Fundraiser' in some ways, only the war is over. Or so I thought. Several people commented how little many spaniards want to talk about this time. And it needs to be talked about. Why? Answers please.
My family are from Jerez. Makes me want to ask questions there. Apparently Jerez is still very divided.

And the audience. I sat next to a very interesting couple. They have moved to Didsbury from a stint in Dusseldorf. He was english, she spanish, from Madrid. They talked of having a season ticket to an opera house in Germany and their tickets being for Friday evenings, they had to go to whatever was on that night. So, they saw operas they wouldn't have chosen to and that this opened their minds and tastes and they saw it as positive.
Like this night. What I love is going to see, hear, experience something that you wouldn't normally pick. I did want to see this, so the argument doesn't quite hold, but you get my drift - I'm ignorant about the spanish civil war, so it was new to me. And I almost didn't go as this nasty cold thing was just laying its nest, but I thought I shouldn't miss the opportunity, so I went. And so glad I did! For the reasons I've said and for one other. Well, two. The red wine was nice.
Someone who I knew at university was there. They'd seen the Book Festival advertised in the Manchester Evening News, recognised my name, got in touch with a philipine prostitute called Ruth Estevez, decided that wasn't me, so thought they'd see if this one was, couldn't come to my talk, but as I'd said on my blog I was coming to this one... and I don't have to pretend, it was a surprise that was warm and enjoyable and a pleasure. I won't give names, but we somehow clicked at college, don't know what it was and I remember we talked a lot. And then he left and that was it. And then he was here. Isn't life strange? United by the spanish civil war in Chorlton? Now doesn't that make you proud?

Book Festival

Thank you to all those who turned up at Chorlton Library on Monday afternoon. And thanks to David Green and the librarians who gave such hospitality with fairy cakes and drinks. The sun beamed into the room and the atmosphere was welcoming.
I enjoyed talking about writing and Francois Coty and a little about my family tree and how it linked into the novel.
I hope you enjoyed it and felt you got something out of it.
I'm going to a talk next Monday by Chris Hall about volunteers in the Spanish Civil War. I'm really looking forward to learning more about that. We are very lucky in south Manchester with all the festivals and events that occur.
I'm over 80,000 words now on Leaving Coty, even with harsh editing. Love that! Tessa has met a new man, Gaston Bistoche, who seems like her soul mate. Trying to keep it restrained, but it's difficult. Ah well, can always come back and edit.

Editing and rewriting

Just cut 5,000 words from the second two chapters of Leaving Coty. Eeeeek! And this book is supposed to be a great deal longer than Meeting Coty! It always takes longer to leave someone than to get together. And it will here.
I'm trying to make honest reactions without being self indulgent. I like Tessa, but I wonder if I make her reactions too heart felt she will come across as weak. I think being emotional is actually a strong trait because it means you don't hide, but in her world, the business world of Coty,she is learning, a tad too late, that maybe you shouldn't let everyone know what you're thinking.
It's obvious, I know, but you should be able to trust friends. Not at Coty it would seem.
Have enjoyed today. After editing Erosion, I'm relieved and pleased I'm getting back into LC so easily. It isn't good swapping between such different books. LC is now my priority and must be finished if it's to make publication for spring.

Chorlton Book Festival

Another great event in South Manchester is fast approaching. Chorlton Book Festival!!
As part of it, I'm talking about blending fact and fiction, relationships and a career and reading from my novel, "Meeting Coty." If you want to know more about Francois Coty, one of the great perfume makers of his generation, join the debate about how people manage all the different elements in their lives, or just sit back and listen, please join us at Chorlton Library Monday, 9th of November at 2pm. This is a free event.
Now, to crack on with some work.....

Film Review and bits of dance

I came home from the South Manchester Writers' Group yesterday evening and watched "Lady Chatterley" on television. (French version, 2006) It was beautifully shot, taking us through the seasons as though we were there. You could smell the woods, feel the breeze and then the early summer sunshine. It took its time and cut from scenes when the scene had done its job. No perfectly finishing something off. The actors weren't Hollywood perfect, but charismatic in an understated french way. The dialogue was minimal and when there were full conversations, there were no frills. It was sensual without trying. Practical in the first love scenes, so that it developed each time the two main characters met. Thank you Channel 4. Beautiful film making.
I'm glad I didn't go to the pub so I caught this film.

Tonight, I'm going to watch and maybe join in some Eastern European dance at the Didsbury Arts Festival.
There's a dance show on at the Lowry though too - contemporary dance which looks good too....

I'm working on Leaving Coty today. It won't be finished for Christmas...well, not in publishable form.

Didsbury Arts Festival

Juba do Leao, Pegada, Islington Mill, 2009
On Sunday 20th of September Juba do Leao performed as part of Platform4 Festival in Picadilly Gardens, Manchester.
A warm, sunny day of amazing events. Please look up the website to see more. Outdoor events such as these are what the city centre is all about.

And from Sunday, 27th of September - Didsbury Arts Festival

Thank you to the people who turned up to La Tasca in Disbury last night. I really enjoyed the evening as it felt as if we could all become friends and have lots of things to move on to and discuss. You may not feel the same, but I felt I would love to discuss other books and films and snippets we've read or seen.
So, thanks too to the organisers of the Arts Festival. It shows up more and more how important these events are for bringing people together and opening up spaces for such discussions and sharing of interests. And locally because it is not only about what is under discussion, but about perhaps going into a venue that you may not have been in before, stepping out into a subject matter or art form you wouldn't naturally seek out, but because it is on your doorstep, you 'give it a go.'
These events open up new experiences for everyone involved.

So many thanks and I hope you enjoy the book and maybe write a few words about it...

Ruth

The summer - autumn

I feel as though I've been out of action forever! Over the summer we have had visitors from abroad, big family events, a few days here, there and back again - to the Lakes, the North Yorkshire moors, West Yorkshire moors and back home and out again.
And a lot has happened emotionally as well. We've all been tested in the household. I've learnt I have to say 'No' when I don't want to say 'Yes.' Sounds simple probably for many of you, but I've hardened up this summer. I'm not going to put up with rubbish anymore.
So that's a good thing that's come out of August.

And so I've not been around to work much so feeling a strong need to write at length again rather than in snatches. Leaving Coty is coming on well. It seems natural to be back with Tessa and Co.

Erosion is improving with this latest edit. Clarifying and focusing. Must keep on top of that.

One thing else that has cropped up, as I'm not writing by numbers and ticking those set boxes that many people have come to rely on and that makes very safe and to me, boring literature, not even literature, books, I'm beginning to feel sad that the reader is being given more and more then same kind of thing. Where is the choice? I don't want to read the same format over and over or even the same subject matter. I want variety. I'm feeling frustrated. There is variety of sorts, just feels that the band wagon is rolling the same as it always has, whatever starts it rolling. I'd like to ride bare back once in a while.

Meeting Coty Book Review

Many thanks again to the next reviewer - I am spacing them out in the order I've receive them, so they are coming! And thank you all for the lovely, positive things you say.

Meeting Coty Book Review
by
Hannah Dixon

Meeting Coty is a beautiful book. I love the front cover. The writing on the back summing up the book is like poetry. The novel lives up to both of these. It is so beautifully written evoking the time it is set and all the sights and scents of perfume which feature strongly in the story. The story follows Tessa from being a young girl to when she is an adult as she dreams of working for Francois Coty who is a famous perfumer. She seems connected to him and there are scenes which couldn't possibly happen when she imagines she is with him, but this fantastical side runs through the book and it works.
There is definitely a spanish element to the book in this and in the way the author describes love, jealousy and loss. It is very powerful, imaginative and visual. The writer gives the reader space to see all the scenes she describes which I liked because she made it easy to visualise all the characters and what was going on as if you were watching the film. And I loved the love scene in the graveyard!
This book is like a work of art.

Juba do Leao - Not Part of Festival

After a fantastic review of the Juba do Leao performance last Saturday, 11th of July, in Manchester's International Festival's Fringe, Not Part of Festival, the band are attending the City Life Magazine Awards Ceremony on Monday, 20th of July 2009.

Every drum playing finger and dancing toe crossed!

Book Review - Meeting Coty

"Meeting Coty Review"
by Heather Cross

Meeting Coty is about a girl called Tessa Garcia who wants to work for the perfume maker Francois Coty. It is set from about 1910 to 1920 something. Tessa lives with her spanish family in London and the book is about all the people in the family and how they all want different things and don't want what they have and how they fall out and how some get on and some don't. I really liked all this as it seemed very real. The unusual thing was that all the pictures and things they were doing. The way the writer puts things seems to belong to the time it was set which I thought was very clever. It made me think that I was in a different world which I liked. It also seemed as if the people would be exactly the same now and they would have the same fall outs and problems. Tessa is very keen to go to work, but everything seems to stop her. Her dad doesn't want her to work, even her sister doesn't. And she doesn't need to work either, which her dad tells her. He says jobs should go to people who need it. I hadn't thought about that before, so that was interesting. And then Tessa meets Sandes and she falls in love and that takes up all her time. But then the other characters in the book make her think of what life is going to be like in the future and the rest of the book is about what she is going to do. I couldn't guess, so I kept reading. I couldn't put the book down. And lots of people die, but I won't tell you who but it's really sad and it surprised me.
I'm looking forward to the next book so I can see what happens next. I want to know more about all the characters as I feel I really like them. It's only a short book and you can't put it down so it doesn't take long. I never read books more than once but I'm going to read this again until the other one comes out.

Meeting Coty - perfume and review

Hooray! Thank you again to everyone who has read the Meeting Coty book they requested and for sending in their reviews. Again, I've cut the parts giving away plot. Here are two more:

"Meeting Coty Review"
by Jules Walsh

"This book is about people and family dynamics. It is also about responsibility and love and choosing your future. What really fascinated me was the different characters and how they related to each other. I really liked the eldest sister, Maraquita and I'd like to know more about her. She is very strong, physically and emotionally, but she's also very fragile. I think she just wants to be loved and she tries really hard to get her mother to notice her, but her mother never does except to tell her off! I think she hates her.
Tessa is the main character in the book. She is the perfect heroine. She is pretty and everyone loves her. This could make her annoying, but she always gets into trouble. And we can related to how she is feeling. I remember finishing with a boyfriend and I really didn't like him, but I didn't want him to get over me and go out with anyone else. Tessa is the same and I laughed because I could related to that.
I didn't like Mrs Garcia. I thought she was mean to her children but the writer made me understand her too. She was really mean to Maraquite because she made her carry some flowers when she knew she had hayfever. I thought the writer was really inventive with things like this. I was quite shocked at times.
I would recommend this book to anyone really. It's romantic without being slushy and it's unusual in the way it shows us things. The writer told me that the next book is longer and goes into more detail about Francois Coty and the perfume industry and I also want to know if Tessa has made the right choice.

Book Reviews

Meeting Coty Book Review!

Many thanks as the reviews are coming in from the ten people who received copies of the book from the website.

"Meeting Coty" Review
by Sally Craven


The theme of Meeting coty seems to be about the choice between love and family and a career. As a career woman myself, I am not convinced that there has to be a choice. I think nowadays a woman can have both. I supposed in the 1920's when this novel was set, it was more difficult. It probably was until the 1960's. The mother figure who hates her children is what would make me have to know for sure that I wanted children before having them though. I always wanted children and I still do, but I wouldn't automatically do it, I'd have to be absolutely certain and I always thought I was definite before. This book has made me think more seriously about it. Maybe the mother shouldn't have had children, but then there'd be no story. I'd like to know what kind of a working mother Tessa would make. I asked my mum about having to choose between love and a career and she said it depends on whether you have children or not. Even today.
What I like about the book is that it makes you think about things like this. I'd assumed there was nothing to debate, but talking to people, the reality still seems to be a problem for all sorts of reasons. I like the way different characters take different views on this theme. A bit like 'Sex and the City' you can pick which character you think you are most like.
The images that are used in the book as well are really unusual. I love the way she describes love and jealousy and that we make a choice and then aren't sure. It's very true. It kept me guessing too. You think there's not a lot going on and really there is loads going on. It made me think differently about perfume as well. I won't buy any of that celebrity stuff any more. Perfume is too important for that.
I am looking forward to the next book, Leaving Coty as that is about how things shape up for Tessa and there is more about Coty and perfume which I'm interested in knowing more about. I like the fact that I can learn things about perfume and Coty through a story and not have to read a factual book about him.
I'd definitely recommend the book.

Book Review - Meeting Coty

The third review of Meeting Coty. Again, apologies for the plot details I have taken out of the review.

"Meeting Coty Review"
by Helen Brookes

"I felt this would make a great film. You can see it in front of you as you're reading it. I could imagine Tessa and her family in the house getting ready in the mornings and how chaotic and noisy the house was. And I liked the fact that people didn't think normally or went about things normally. It took me by surprise loads of times. It was very original in that and in the way it was written as well. Very clever. I did wonder what was going on sometimes as things happened very quickly without a big explanation and I thought I'd missed something, but then I liked that as it wasn't talking down to me and it made me feel that I was actually quite bright! Some books ram things down your throat and treat you as if you're thick. This book didn't do that. Some films do that too and I really hate that.
The story isn't as soppy as I thought it was going to be. It's not just a love story, in fact it's an odd love story. It's more about growing up, really, which I found has helped me see that things we think are good can be but they aren't always good for us, if you know what I mean.I would definitely recommend it."

Book Review

Book Review:
Agin, apologies for cutting sections that gave away the plot!

MEETING COTY
Review by Sue Goodwin:

"I just kept thinking thank God they're not my family, they're all so weird. One of them thinks she's the Virgin Mary, one of them shags someone in a church in one of those boxes and all the men are mean or useless or scarey. I'm not sure about Coty. He's scarey but there's some sort of mystery about him and I'd like to know more about that.
The main character drove me nuts at times! I wanted to scream at her, no don't do that, or turn around and go back, but I did like her and I could relate to her mood swings.
I just wanted to know more about everyone really, so I'm glad there's another book coming out. I could easily read this one again as I probably missed some things."

Book Reviews

Disastrous day yesterday as lost three hours work, then spent the rest of the day trying unsuccessfully to retrieve it. Ahhhhh!!! Now have to rewrite. ughhh...

But, I have a couple of reviews of Meeting Coty through so many thanks to the readers and writers of these. My apologies for cutting bits out of the reviews that gave away the plot!!

MEETING COTY

Review by Jules Hartley:

"I thought this book was really good. I don't think I've read anything like it before. It was very individual and unique. I think I'd have liked certain things, like the deaths in the story described more. Maybe a bit too subtle.
I really liked the ups and downs of the relationship between Sandes and Tessa. That really worked.
I liked the bits of Tessa's jealousy and the twists in their relationship. Not all sweet and fine which was good.
I want a sequel to find out what happens next.
Want to read the second book now!"

Review Books

Thank you to everyone who emailed me requesting a copy of "Meeting Coty" to review. I'm really sorry if you weren't one of the first ten, but I'm highly appreciative that you were willing to read and review it. I'll do the same with "Leaving Coty" when it's published, so I shall put out a post about that when the time comes.

"Meeting Coty" is available from your local library if you request it, so you can always do that.

I'll post the reviews as they come in.

Many thanks again,

Ruth

Reviews

REVIEW

I have ten copies of "Meeting Coty" to give away in exchange for a review from you! And will enclose a sneak preview of the sequel, "Leaving Coty" for your comments as well!
Please email me with your name and address and I will post a copy off to the first ten who reply.

After that, anyone can take the book out of the library and post a review and I will send previews of the next book in return for your time.

With thanks,

Ruth

Juba do Leao - Oldham Gig

JUBA DO LEAO GIG!!!
Hurrah!! We have a gig!! I dance with a Band run by the great Holly Prest who play North Eastern Brazilian rhythms with Holly's own take on the beats. There are drums, other Brazilian percussion instruments, guitars, violins, beautiful, haunting, sexy voices, and inventive, magical, wow-y dancers. And the band are performing on Saturday in Oldham town centre. If you're anywhere, be there!
It doesn't matter if the sun shines or not, this will make you warm and smile.. I can't wait.

Book reading and talk

Thank you to all who came to the 'Meeting Coty' talk/reading and the poetry readings last night Upstairs at The Lloyd's as part of the Chorlton Arts Festival. It was a great room, welcoming people and an enjoyable evening. The wine afterwards helped too.
If anyone feels the urge, has the time, would like to email me their comments on the evening, or in fact anything(?), that would be helpful and I'll comment back too...

Hopefully see some of you at other events this week. There is Elaine Bousfield's Launch of her fantasy fiction book, "The Jewel Keepers", 8pm, upstairs at The Lloyd's on Wilbraham Road. And afterwards, music downstairs.
Thursday, I'm going to Lip Service's latest production - a look at the world of celebrity. Knowing their take on things, it should be hilarious.

And this Saturday, if you're in Oldham town centre, Juba do Leao are performing. Fantastic!!! Can't wait. I love dancing with the band. Such a buzz.

Music, arts and festivals and competitions

Chorlton Arts Festival 2009 has begun!
I hope tomorrow is sunny and warm so that the Festival Launch events can be enjoyed to the full. Food eaten outside, people sitting around on the grass to watch the dancing and music. Standing around chatting and drinking, browsing around the stalls in the Arts and Crafts fair. Seeing people you haven't for a while and then strolling home, content with your little packages containing goodies and gifts and pretty things to take out and turn over in your hands and be pleased that you bought them.
So. Please be sunny and warm.

It did rain in the night and it felt good to be warm in bed. But that is today. Tomorrow will be different.

Hopefully see some of you there. I'm writing today. Second chapter of Leaving Coty having sorted the first chapter out yesterday. I've lost count of the number of edits. And pack up the props and stuff for my stall tomorrow at the launch. I won't have time in the morning.
Tonight, I'm going to watch a competition, The Rosamund Prize at the Royal College of Music in Manchester. It's a prize for composers. My daughter Genevieve is performing the piece by one of the students. It is a magical piece, the music haunting and suits Genevieve's voice perfectly. She dances too!
Good luck to all the participants.

Rollerball - the original film

Last night I watched the original version of the film, Rollerball, starring James Caan. The use of classical music in violent films was quite prevelant at the time, I seem to remember. The Clockwork Orange, though Beethoven is detailed in the book, Apocolypse Now, 2001.
Very effective. I'd forgotten how good the film is. It introduces the game of Rollerball so well. The parties felt very "Roman orgy -ish" without much going on. Chilling in the summarising of books by the computer. A more clever film than I recall. And Jonathan E. Ahhh.

And today. Today, Chorlton Arts Festival begins and I'm editing and editing the first chapter of Leaving Coty. The more I seem to write, the more I edit other parts. This chapter could turn into a life time's work.
Bought some liquourice allsorts as well yesterday to have on my stall for the festival launch. They are the sweets du jour for Meeting Coty. Not keen, myself. I love the soft australian liquourice. I could eat a whole packet at once. Now that is syrupy like a long Jerez de la Frontera afternoon. Think I might have to pop to Holland and Barrett. Instead, I'm drinking tea. Yorkshire tea, so it is good and strong.
Work. Back to that chapter. I will crack it today. If I'm not back another day, take it I've been engulfed. Unto the breach...

Reading

I'm recommending "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. It's a short story.
Feeling panicky today. All sorts of reasons ranging between family issues to what's it all about?!

The Espresso Book Machine

I listened to You and Yours on Radio 4 today after a tip off that The Espresso Book Machine was being discussed. I mentioned briefly that I'd seen it in action at The London Book Fair. What came across on the Radio 4 programme, when they tested the machine about acquiring the same book on the internet, that they were looking at speed and cost. Actually I think that the purpose of having these book printing machines in book shops is that you can purchase a book that day in the place you are standing. It is a pristine paperback. You might not be bothered about it being pristine, either. The point is, you can buy a book that isn't on the shelf in front of you, that may be out of print, that you cannot find (though probably can on the internet) but you, making your choice, can ask for a book and it is printed up as you wait. Five, ten minutes, twenty at most, does that really matter? It is the fact that you can have the book.
And you can order as many copies as you want!
www.ondemandbooks.com Have a look. The test store is at Blackwells in Charing Cross, London. Come on guys - try it out in the regions - that's my only quibble. Oh and price. It seemed expensive at £17 something for a paperback, but it may have been because of the specific book. If that is the cost of any paperback to be published via this method, then it might not be as successful as they hope. Worth looking into.
And now it is the weekend. And I need ink for my printer. That's a pain, but has to be done. The digital age is great in many ways, but it still needs to be fed.
The debate on machines like the Espresso Book Machine will be interesting.

London Book Fair 2

It was a hot, blue-skyed day in London. The white georgian buildings were impressive and the pubs overhanging with flowers from baskets and window boxes were pretty and inviting. But we walked past!! We were headed for Earl's Court and the London Book Fair. It was very welcoming, easy and friendly at the door. Then the exhibition hall was almost overfacing, wondering where to start.
The website had said that there were some agents with stands, but I couldn't see any. It turned out they were all in rooms upstairs, only approachable by well-booked ahead meetings.
And the main instruction from publishers was, get an agent!
I have had three agents in the past. I won't go into details here, but they range from criminal to 'in the wrong job!'
It was useful to be told this, as I've learned that although some publishers don't stipulate that they only look at work through an agent, in practice, this is often the case and unsolicited work probably isn't read. So, although knowing this, it was useful to be told directly, face to face. So. Although published, get an agent.
Next, I had some very useful talks with people I hadn't thought of talking to. For example, a very thoughtful chap at Gardners Book Distributers. He talked about their monthly brochure and was approachable and helpful. Very impressed.
And the Booksellers' Association.
And a Canadian publisher who said contemporary literature (and not literary) was all they'd consider from this neck of the woods.
And what else?
The publishers' association were also useful, asked sceptical questions, but as there were three of them at the time, the whole spectrum was covered and they gave interesting advice.
And this amazing machine that is being piloted in a north London bookstore that will print a copy of a book when a customer can't find it on the shelf and asks for it. There and then!
So, if anyone is thinking of going next year and is published by a small, independent publisher, maybe seek these people out. Marketing also came out as a must. Book appointments with agents by February and relish feeling connected to the industry as opposed to writing in solitude.
I am making notes: 1) Find an agent. 2) Sort and get on with marketing. 3) Write what people want.
All seem obvious I know, but not as easy as one thinks. In some ways it seems as though an individual's selling power is more important than the product. But, I'm sure that's not true.
So. Tonight? Going to a music concert of stars of the future. Correction. They are stars now. Amazing young people. I am going to sit back in awe, enjoy every performance whether it is vocal, on the flute, double bass, euphonium, maraccas. This is at Xaverian College in Manchester. The Head of Music there is a passionate leader and it shows in the students' abilities. Inspiring.

Off to market/write letters/ write - ah yes. First pages of the screenplay for Meeting Coty.

Must explain about north-eastern Brazilian rhythms too as I'm a dancer with the Manchester based, maracatu rhythm playing band, Juba do Leao. There isn't another band like them.

London Book Fair

I'm not doing a great deal of writing at the moment. I'm editing the first chapter of Leaving Coty, jotting down threads to progress through and also the other things that I didn't initially feel were the job of a writer, but have finally admitted that they are. So. I'm going to the London Book Fair next Wednesday and am looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to it being busy with movement and people and action. Maybe a reaction to having a contrast with the 'business' of my dusky pink room at the back of the house where the computer lives. I don't think so. I've always liked the bustle of things going on. So. I'm sorting out who I'd like to see, samples of this and that.. what to wear..

And then there is Chorlton Arts Festival coming up in May and I'm giving a talk and a reading, so I'm re-reading Meeting Coty to pick out sample chapters and editing the first chapter of Leaving Coty so it's up to standard to read out and jotting down what I will talk about and ordering flyers and postcards and books for the Festival Launch..and what to wear...

Oh and last night I went to the opening of Martin Nash's latest Art Show. Some beautiful pieces. I love the way he blends the paint giving a 3-D effect. They could be life long friends. And he's very good at naming his pieces too. Made me smile. It reminded me how inspirational art can be. It is on at the Lowry Hotel, Manchester, for a few days I think.

And now? Now I'm going to plan this flyer.

Leaving Coty

Leaving Coty:
Writing the blurb for the back cover is taking some time. I'm trying to keep it in the same style as the back cover of Meeting Coty.


"Her younger sister loved by instinct, not design.
Her elder sister travelled through Spain reorganising monasteries.

Her mother sang of freedom amongst the vines of Jerez de la Frontera...
While the man she had resisted contemplated marriage in London.

Her employer created the most successful perfume empire of his generation.
He required nerves of steel from his workforce, but above all, demanded loyalty.

And Tessa?
Tessa catalogued his perfumes, submerged herself in his life story,
Wrote letters tinged with regret...
And
Dreamed of leaving Coty.

Coty

I've just had pointed out to me a new book on Amazon and available elsewhere about Francois Coty, the perfume maker. It's titled, "Francois Coty: Frangrance, Power, Money" by Roulhac Toledano and Elizabeth Coty. It's in hardback.

Whilst researching Francois Coty for my novel, "Meeting Coty" I found out what a fascinating life this man had. He was the most successful and richest perfume maker of his generation. He introduced what we take for granted now as perfume in interesting bottles, of packaging, themed displays, mass marketing, mass production, making perfume affordable for everyone. He wasn't just a brilliant perfume maker but also a salesman and business man. His innovations seem forgotten now. If they are recognised now through a renewed interest in the man, this is good news. Alan Sugar should take note! Beat Coty if you can.

As 'Meeting Coty' only touches on Francois Coty's life, so 'Leaving Coty' deals in depth with it. Tessa gets beneath his skin. And when that happens, when you grow to care for someone, it is never as easy as you would think to leave them. Even though I wanted to finish a relationship with a past boyfriend, it took me over a year to actually do so. Ties can be stronger than we imagine and letting them go isn't a case of you being in control, it's when the ties allow themselves to break.

Sisters

There are three sisters in Meeting Coty. The eldest, Maraquita, thinks she is the only one that cares for everyone else in the household. She is a great organiser. She is a 'doer.' She holds the structure of everyone's day together, so that meals appear, beds are changed, clothes mended, windows cleaned, all daily tasks occur and everyone knows about it.
Only when the others don't help in small tasks when asked does the anger that is smouldering in her, erupt. And it does so for what seems like unexpected reasons. So when Maraquita and Tessa physically fight in the dining room,it is about more than Tessa wanting to leave the house for the afternoon rather than sort out the linen.
Tessa is the middle sister. She rises early once a week to snap heads off her mother's flower displays, carries them upstairs, where she drowns them in a sink filled with water in early attempts to make perfume. She dreams of escaping her large family to work for another family, that of Francois Coty, the famous perfume maker. She follows his rise as, unknown to her, her family's fortunes are falling. She wants a career, whilst her sisters want love. Maraquita yearns for their mother's love, Carmen, for life and finally a man.
Carmen, the youngest, elopes from their convent school in Belgium, with the gardener's son. For her, all that matters is her love for him. Life is simple. If she wants something, she doesn't ask anyone's permission, she merely pursues her desire.
Three women with three viewpoints. At this stage, they are not aware of there being any other way but their own to tackle life. In Leaving Coty, the sequel to Meeting Coty, they begin to look outside themselves and at each other. Sisters. It's complicated. Are love and hate more closely related within the family unit than elsewhere?

Communication

Tessa thinks she is close to her father, but he tells her nothing. He's not being perverse, it is just the way he is. He feels a special bond with her because she is the only one in the household who allows him to be who he is. She listens to him. She comes to find him so that she can spend time with him. She doesn't ignore him. He gives her jobs to do for him and pays her in liquorice allsorts. They share the syrupy taste that oozes with heat and exotic aromas.
Outside of her father's study, all is noise and commotion. Inside, there is peace and a sense of accomplishment.
And Tessa believes that there is a special bond between them because he is the only one in the household who allows her to be who she is.
Until she grows up and the game they have been playing verges on reality. But in London, at the time of the First World War, the daughter of a catholic girl had to do as she was told.
But she loves her father. He loves her. Is it better not to feel love because if you don't, you are free to do what you want. If you love someone, doing what you want can cause pain and that is not something you want to inflict. On the other hand, if you love someone, do all your needs disappear?
Every member of the household explores this dilemma. Being part of a family thrusts this upon you. How to resolve - the needs of the one outweighing the needs of the many, or vice versa?

Writing through the senses

"Meeting Coty" is rich with the senses. It evokes the perfumes of flowers and bottled scents, of food, of the rain or sun, of London and Jerez de la Frontera through the language chosen. The young Tessa fills a basin of water with the flower heads she has snapped from her mother's floral displays. The bathroom is sunlit. The flowers tumble in the light and are submerged in the rippling liquid. The rest of the household are still in bed, the air is thick with sleep, the anticipation of the day hovering through the rooms.

And then the eldest daughter awakes and she greets her younger sister in spanish. And the cacophony of the house begins. After the silence, the floors and walls resound with voices and sounds and movement and noise. The day has begun.

This is the world of the Garcia family. Two adults and nine children and each one pulling and twisting against the other in their individual ways. But one of the girls dreams of escaping. For a spanish catholic girl being brought up in London before the first world war, this was impossible. But in Tessa's mind, she already knew the young boy who ran barefoot through the pine groves, brushed his hands through the rosemary bushes and stood on the beach looking away from the island to the mainland where he dreamed of conquering the world. Their ambitions seemed impossible, yet he became Francois Coty, the greatest perfume maker in the world and if he became this, what was Tessa capable of doing?

Writing from real life

I've written a novel, Meeting Coty, which is published by Kings Hart Books (an independent publisher which I'd like to discuss later) and is based on real people. Years ago, my father looked into the spanish side of our family tree and uncovered names, certain facts, events and even character traits for a couple of the characters. I based Meeting Coty on his findings.
What I am pleased about is that he didn't find out too much. If he had, I think it would have been difficult not to feel that I'd taken liberties and not been true to these ancestors who had gone through these events. I would feel as though I was robbing them of their lives and the importance of what they did if I had changed anything. And then it wouldn't have been fiction. And as we're frequently told, real life isn't always interesting.
So. I'm glad I only had the bare bones because then I could make up what I wanted within a true frame work that gave the story a strong base.
Of course, Francois Coty has been written about and researching him was fascinating. He doesn't appear in great detail in the book. This is something else to debate - research and how much to use. Meeting Coty is about the main character, Tessa and her desire to meet the great man of perfume! I have had comments from some people who have read the book that they would like to know more about Coty. So, the follow on book, Leaving Coty, explores his life in more detail while keeping the same characters from the first book.
I'd be interested to know how other people deal with the fact and fiction balance. If we know about a subject, it is annoying to see it changed. The damage that can be done to history. I'm thinking of the Enigma films, the American version and the British one and the bending of facts. I am against this. The Titanic film annoyingly had facts out of kilter, but by basing the story on two fictional characters in that real setting, gave them leeway. But Rose (Kate) spitting? And the middle finger thing? Grrrrr-aghhh!! You can lose an audience by one small discrepency. So, it's the balance. Any thoughts? And yes, I blur films and fiction when I talk because I love both. Now there's another debate...

First day

Hello. I know that soon this will be as automatic when I start the day as making my first cup of tea and checking emails. But, right now, I'm wondering if this is going to work. I've already had a message saying my blog name doesn't exist - "aromaticwords" but then it suddenly appeared again. Now that was hard enough choosing the blog title. I think it may change a few times before I get it right.
So. This is the start. I will let these initial concerns go and settle down in the next few days.
I'm interested in discussing books, if I've read them, what you find interesting on a particular day, or what I happen to, what concerns, what moves, what inspires and what words come out as you stare at the screen. And not the ones when the computer doesn't do what you want.

And I'm interested in discussing vintage perfumes. Francois Coty when he was at his most productive because I'm writing a book where he features heavily, following my first novel, 'Meeting Coty' which is about a young woman desperate to work for him. Published by Kings Hart Books www.kingshart.co.uk

Also Brazil. I dance with a group who play north east Brazilian rhythms - maracatu based with all sorts of idiosyncratic twists and influences. Juba do Leao. Look at their website www.jubadoleao.com/jdl The drums are fantastic and the dancers.... nothing like them.