Debs on Writing and Not Writing

DEBORAH CROMBIE: What I have actually been writing this week is this:

It does have a title (Yay!), and a little bit of a plot--but I can't tell you any of that!

What I can tell you is that I think it will be set in London's Bloomsbury, in the dark days of late autumn, and--well, stuff happens. And then more stuff happens. And hopefully it will be gripping and intriguing and I'm dying to get started on it.

My agent is looking at the proposal today, and then we'll talk, so cross your fingers that she likes the idea!! 

What I've been working on the last few weeks is this:

First my editor's edits (that's the pile with the stickies) on A BITTER FEAST, then the copy edit. Fortunately, it was the same copy editor I've had for many books and she does a great job.

Here's page 1 of my style sheet (the reference your copy editor makes for names and word usage):

If you were to read through the manuscript, you'd see that I have once again utterly failed at compound words...

Then, today, my page proofs arrive!! These are the typeset pages, and it's the first time you get to see what the finished book pages will look like--and how they will read with all the changes that you made in the copy edit. It's very exciting!

And also very scary, because the only changes you can make at this point are to correct type-setting errors.  So if you're not happy with what you wrote, yikes, it's too bad.

And now, because it's spring, and we are all about flowers, here's a little snippet from A BITTER FEAST. Gemma has arrived at Melody Talbot's parents' house for the weekend, and this is her first view of of the fabulous gardens.

From the garden came the Jack Russell’s high-pitched yips, and Charlotte’s even more shrill squeal of excitement. Gemma realized she’d left the child in Addie’s care too long. She stacked the breakfast plates in the sink and headed for the French doors that led to the terrace.

She stepped out into the crisp morning and stopped, her breath catching at the sight that greeted her. Last night, she’d only glimpsed the garden through the windows in the fading dusk, and then her gaze had been caught by the distant hills.

Now, she marveled at the riot of color and symmetry spread before her. The flagged terrace merged into a smooth expanse of emerald lawn anchored by a rose-draped pergola. Two long tables had been set up in the grass on either side.

At the lawn’s edge she could see drifts of flowers bisected by a shallow flight of steps, and beyond that, more green lawns and steps, leading her eyes down to the curve of the little river.

On either side of the top lawn, double herbaceous borders blazed in a profusion of late summer reds and golds. She’d no idea so many different flowers even existed.

And here's a photo from a very real house near my fictional Beck House. This is the Lords of the Manor hotel, in Upper Slaughter, Glouscestershire.

The borders are lovely but not as beautiful as the ones I made up!

The page proofs also mean that ARCs will be coming very shortly, so look out for a giveaway soon!

  
Kincaid/James #18, coming October 8th, 2019 from William Morrow.

Readers, how good are your copy-editing skills? And can anyone else get compound words right?

Debs' UK Highlights

DEBORAH CROMBIE: As many of you know, I just spent almost a month in the UK, from mid-October to to mid-November. I was working, but it was good, productive (Yay!) work, and every day was full of big and small delights. I wanted to share a few of those.

1) Pret a Manger. I promise not every item on this list will be about food! But to start, I so looked forward to eating at Pret a Manger. This is a salad/sandwich/soup chain, takeaway, with some very basic eat-in tables. They are ubiquitous in the UK. There is a shop literally next door to the Earl's Court Tube Station, so that was my kitchen-away-from-kitchen. I had lunch many days (eat-in) and dinner a few (takeaway.) Their food is made fresh every day, healthy, and reasonably priced, and they are friendly and cheerful. Here's one of my favorites, a salad with falafel, beetroot (beets), edamame, avocado, and broccoli rabe, or "tender-stem broccoli" as they say in the UK. Yum. I wish I could have this every day at home.

 

2) Watching the hor4s. That's Fuller's (the brewery chain sponsor) Heads of the River 4s. Still Greek? It's the annual rowing race on the Thames between Chiswick (Chis-ick) and Putney, for quad sculls, coxless fours, and coxed fours. It's rowed the opposite direction from the Boat Race (Oxford vs. Cambridge) in the spring, but on the same course. My friend Kerry, who works at Leander Club, gave me the heads up on this and I made my way to Putney on that Saturday morning to watch the racing. It was a glorious day, cool but not uncomfortably cold, and bright. The river was gorgeous. I watched from Putney Reach, in front of the boat clubs, and from Putney Bridge, cheering every Leander boat. (They won most of their races, due to me, I'm sure...) Of all the things I've learned researching my books, rowing is one that I continue to love.

3) Portobello Market. Always. I have such a strong connection with the market, both personal and fictional. I never miss a Saturday when I'm in London. The first Saturday was bitterly cold, the second Saturday was 70 degrees and absolutely perfect, and the third Saturday the sky opened up and poured buckets. Such is the market. I particularly love walking back up Portobello Road as the market is closing and the vendors are breaking down the stalls.

It's such a magical time of day. And here's a shot of The Sun in Splendour, the pub at the very top of Portobello Road, on that perfect Saturday. I managed to get a bus going past in the photo!

4) The Cotswolds! Where to start? This trip I managed to actually tour The Cotswold Distillery (last time I only stopped in for a visit.) I don't know why I'm so fascinated by distilling, but this was geek heaven, an hour and a half very detailed, very informative tour. Don't you love these huge and gorgeous copper stills? (Those are for the gin. The whisky stills are not nearly as pretty.)

5) Driving. Much to my surprise, because I've always found driving in the UK fraught with tension. But I've found a car hire company that will bring the car to me, so that I don't have to manage in a big town, and the last few trips I've absolutely loved it. Here's my little Peugeot peeking from the car park at the second of my hotels.

6) The views in the Cotswolds. That is the bad thing about driving rather than being driven, trying to take in the stunning scenery while paying attention to the road and to the navigation. To take a photo, you have to find a layby (a place in the road where a vehicle can pull over.) Here's one shot from a morning of absolutely breathtaking views. I think this is in Warwickshire, near Long Compton.

 

But no photo can begin to convey the beauty of this countryside.

7) The autumn colors. I was visiting the Cotswolds later this year than I have before, and I loved the combination of bare trees with brilliant foliage. This is the River Eye, near Upper Slaughter, one of my favorite shots of the trip.

8) Back in London, a new favorite pub, The Scarsdale Arms in Earl's Court, just behind the Kensington Police Station. Here I am with my friend Kerry, and some unknown but very fancy lady.

9) Saving one of the very best for last. (I promised I would keep food to a minimum.) Dinner at the Slaughters Manor House in Lower Slaughter, Gloucestershire. Because of a scheduling issue, my original dinner reservation was canceled and the dining room was not open to guests. But Chef Nic Chappell had a table set up just for me in the Manor House Snug and he and his staff cooked me a fabulous dinner. Here's my table--don't you love the Sex Pistols poster in this very grand house?

How elegant is that?? I felt like the Queen. And the food was just exquisite. It was truly an evening to treasure and I can't thank Chef Nic and the staff at the Manor House enough.

10) Okay, one more thing. Just walking. I walked every day in London, often for hours after I finished work, and as much as I could in between driving stints in the Cotswolds. 

I don't think there is anything I love more than just wandering in London, discovering new places as well as soaking up familiar neighborhoods. This was the last photo I took, on my last afternoon in London, walking at dusk (4:30!) from Kensington High Street down Earl's Court Road, with the crescent moon just visible over Earl's Court Station.

I was so sad to be leaving. So until next time!

What We're Writing--Debs Does the Cotswolds

DEBORAH CROMBIE: With GARDEN OF LAMENTATIONS (Kincaid/James #17) in the pipeline (February 7th!!), I'm in that weird fluid place where a new book is just starting to form. I have a bit of a plot (a very small bit...), some ideas about structure, and an idea for a setting.

My last three books have been set in and around London, so I think maybe it's time for my characters to have an adventure somewhere new. On my very first trip to England oh so many years ago with my parents, we rented a little Mini and toured around the Cotswolds, which is a rural area in south central England that covers parts of six counties. (I can't tell you how confusing it is to figure out which county you are in...) 

We were there in September, and the beautiful rolling country and golden stone villages made such an impression on me that I've never forgotten it. While I have been through and across the counties by car and train many times since, I had never actually come back and stayed. So, I thought, hmm, maybe Gemma and Duncan and company could investigate a case in the Cotswolds. In which case, I would of course have to visit, too.

On that trip years ago I shared the driving with my dad. I can't believe how brave I was--now driving in the UK terrifies me. But needs must, so I hired this cute little blue Peugot and set out to explore. 

The colors in the hills and the trees was glorious!!!! But I couldn't take photos of the prettiest scenes because I was driving, and the view was never as good from the pullover spots.

On my last day, I made it to the one village I remembered the most from that visit years ago, Lower Slaughter. (There is also an Upper Slaughter, and I made it there, too! The explanations for the name are too many and varied to go in to.)

Photos don't do the place justice--it is really and truly picture-book--but here are a few.

That was a grand day. What my ramblings will mean for Duncan and Gemma I don't yet know, but it will be fun to find out.

Here's a Cotswold sunset for you.

 
REDS and readers, have you revisited places that have stood out in your memories?