Defending the indefensible

Just a short post today, as I wasn’t intending to write anything at all but events have overtaken me.

Last week a less-than-flattering review of “Worm in the Blossom” appeared on the website of the Historical Novel Society.  (I am a big fan of the HNS, as they very kindly shortlisted “The Man in the Canary Waistcoat” for their Indie Award 2016 – Sam didn’t make it onto the shortlist, but he’s very philosophical about these things.)  The gist of the review – read it here yourself – was that although the story was good and well-written, the premise was wrong: people would not have been outraged about child prostitution in 1826.

I asked Helen Hollick, the editor of the HNS website (although not my reviewer), if I could reply to the review, and she said that that wasn’t their way, but very kindly, in the interests of fairness, she asked whether I would like to put my position on her own blog – and my post has appeared on there today.

So there you go – thank goodness I keep such careful records of all my research!

Longlist long-shot

Some time ago I told you the exciting news that “The Man in the Canary Waistcoat” had (a) been reviewed (favourably) by the Historical Novel Society, (b) picked as one of their Editor’s Choice titles for that quarter, and therefore (c) entered into the running for the 2016 HNS Indie Award [as it’s independently published].  That longlist of thirty-eight contenders has just been whittled down to a shortlist of nine, with the overall winner to be announced in September 2016, and sadly “Canary” has not made it.

I was initially – momentarily – cast down by this, but then I reminded myself: the HNS is international and highly regarded, it’s dealing with exactly “my people” (historical fiction), and they considered “Canary” one of the thirty-eight novels of 2015 that best exemplified (to quote their website) “excellence in indie-published historical novels”.  Excellence!  And as my cheerleading husband said, if I can make the longlist with my second novel, who knows where I’ll be with my seventh!  Onwards and upwards and, as Sam would doubtless point out, the job itself is reward enough.  How many people get to spend hours immersed in the company of such fascinating characters living in such interesting times?

The mark of distinction

As I sit here at the dining room table, labouring away at “Plank 3”, a lovely email pings in.  It is from the Historical Novel Society, and they say that they now have a logo that can be used by all recipients of their Editors’ Choice accolade.  Back in May, “The Man in the Canary Waistcoat” was admitted to the charmed circle, and so I can proudly display the green and gold logo – look, there it is on the left.

I can’t tell you what a fillip it is to receive this timely reminder that my books are enjoyed by those who read them.  It is the curse of the self-published author, the lack of publicity, and now that I am over my initial worry that no-one was reading my books because they were not worth reading, I am just desperate to get the word out to as many people as possible.  In other words, I am now reasonably confident that if someone takes a chance on one of my books, they will enjoy it.  So recognition like this, from the well-respected HNS, is invaluable.

Well, I can feel Sam looking at me and tapping his pocket watch meaningfully, so it’s back to the grindstone.  I have an enforced day “off” tomorrow; I’m in court myself as a magistrate, and only hope that my recent immersion in the criminal justice system of 1826 does not make me yearn to transport felons to the colonies.

Sam charms the editors

SUCH exciting news – I can’t believe I forgot to tell you.  While I was away on holiday the week before last, I had an email telling me that (a) “The Man in the Canary Waistcoat” had been reviewed by the Historical Novel Society, and (b) it had been selected as one of the quarter’s Editors’ Choice Books.  I have had dealings with the HNS since I first approached them with “Fatal Forgery”, and they reviewed that very favourably (which you can read here).  After that, the reviewer and I communicated by email, and she was terrifically encouraging about the idea of a series of Plank novels – like so many readers, she particularly wanted to know more about Martha!  So naturally, as soon as “The Man in the Canary Waistcoat” (with extra Martha) was finished, I sent her a copy.  And when her review came out, she also told me the good news that “The Man in the Canary Waistcoat” had been selected as one of the Editors’ Choice books.

The significance of this accolade is best explained by the HNS website: “For each quarterly issue of the Historical Novels Review, the editors will select a small number of titles they feel exemplify the best in historical fiction.  These novels, which come highly recommended from our reviewers, have been designated as Editors’ Choice titles.”

It also means that “The Man in the Canary Waistcoat” – along with all the other Editors’ Choice titles for the year – will automatically go into the selection for the HNS Indie Award for 2015.  Obviously there are plenty of other contenders, but every bit of additional publicity and highlighting does help.  I am thrilled.  Martha is tutting and saying it’s a lot of fuss about nothing, but I can see from the way she’s smiling as she prepares Sam’s supper that she’s secretly rather pleased.

They know whereof they speak

I got up early this morning, rather grumpy thanks to excess snoring by bed partners (husband and cat), and then opened my email to find just the loveliest review of “Fatal Forgery”!  I had submitted it to the Historical Novel Society back in April, and – to be perfectly honest – quite forgot about it.  I do keep a spreadsheet of my submissions, and check it from time to time, but what do you do anyway, if someone has said that they will review your book and then there’s a delay?  You can’t nag them, as they’re doing you a favour, and nagging might adversely influence the review, so you just have to wait and hope.  And the HNS has certainly come up trumps – you can read their very kind review here.  What a coup – the HNS is very well-regarded in the historical novel arena, is unusually welcoming to self-published authors, and has a clean, easy-to-navigate website, so fingers crossed that some of their readers will give “FF” a go on the strength of this review.

I am particularly pleased to see that the reviewer mentions the parallels between the Fauntleroy case and our modern banking scandals – this was very much in my mind as I wrote.  (And indeed, a different type of old/modern scandal has similarly influenced “Plank 2”.)  But when I was hawking “FF” around the agents and publishers, several of them opined that “no-one is interested in financial scandal these days”.  I was stunned – at the time, Fred the Shred and others were all over the media, and, given my line of work, people often ask me things like, “What’s the worst thing you’ve ever seen a bank employee do?”  (Karaoke is usually the answer.)  So it is very gratifying to know that others can see why Plank’s work, albeit set in the 1820s, is the genesis of investigation that is continued to this day – and that as long as we have money, we will have fraudsters and cheats and money launderers.