Je ne regrette rein - by Rowena House

A year ago, I wrote a blog for lovely Chelley Toy on the five best bits about being a debut author, and the five worst. It wrapped up two weeks of bouncing around social media, celebrating the arrival of The Goose Road.

I’d planned to update that blog here today: twelve months on, my debut year. You’ve seen something similar a zillion times before. But I hit a brick wall almost at once.

Nothing seemed to have changed to warrant an update. The best bits are still great: it’s magic to hear someone say that Angelique’s journey touched their heart; I love being part of our supportive writing community; I’m still thrilled Walker bought into my creation. Oh, and sales were good. Not Sunday Times’ bestseller good, but I didn’t write a dud. Phew.

Re the bad bits, the money still sucks, but even that has lost its edge. Average author earning below minimum wage? Anyone manning the barricades? No? Right you are. Chin up. Here’s ten reasons to be cheerful, instead:           

Stories floating in whatever extraordinary space imagination resides.

A research trip to Paris in the August heat. Familiar cafes, moonlight over the Places des Vosges. A host of characters spied out of the corner of one’s eye…

Lunch with your agent in Soho, chatting about possibilities.

A publicist getting in touch with good news.

Fancy notebooks.

A folder entitled new ideas.

A writer friend phoning out of the blue.

Darling dog noisily licking his chops, hoping more biscuit will fall off your writing desk. Something good to be read.

Time enough to start over again. Touch wood.

In other news, I’ve just written a job application. It took 48 hours and, frankly, isn’t as good as it ought to be for a professional wordsmith. The job isn’t likely to come off, but would be brilliant if it did.

And that’s it really. My debut year. Life moving on, family matters taking precedence, being an author popped on the shelf, just for now, you understand, next to my book, sitting there all proud and pretty.

If the sun were out on this cold, grey April day, I’d probably be making like Tigger even now. In the meantime, as Edith said, Non, je ne regrette rein.

Twitter: @HouseRowena

Website: rowenahouse.com

I've run out of words ... by Rowena House

Having spent the past month writing blogs for my launch tour, containing pretty much everything I’ve got to say about writing my WW1 debut novel, The Goose Road, then curating them as they came out as guest blogs here, there & everywhere, and bouncing around Twitter & Facebook promoting the giveaways & shouting about sales (an Amazon No1 Bestseller for five days!) then wrapping up an amazing week with a wonderful party in chic Shoreditch on Friday night with a hugely talented group of friends, I don’t have any more words to say. I'll recover my ability to write by May - hopefully. Meanwhile here are some pictures from the party. THANK YOU to every reader, review, friend & relation who's helped to make this an amazing time.

Mara Bergman, my wonderful Walker editor, and Vanora Bennet, an amazing novelist and journalist with whom I worked at Reuters - and hadn't seen for a couple of decades!

With my dad and son at the lovely Caravanserail bookshop, in Cheshire St, London E2.

Caravanserail did us proud! A great book launch venue if you're looking...

Best writing buddy Eden Enfield (between son & husband) recommended the venue. None of this would've happened without her! And Liz MacWhirter came all the way from Scotland! Mwa. Her stunning historical debut, Black Snow Falling, will be out in August.

We rounded the evening off with dinner & more wine. That's my lovely agent Jane Willis in the middle (so, so pleased she made it after London Book Fair week!) and Jan & Lesley Carr. Hugs to  everyone who came, and many, many thanks too to Candy Gourlay for most of these photos.

Now to get back to the work-in-progress...
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PS links to the launch blogs are on my website rowenahouse.com if you're interested.

 

Feminists & debutants: Yay! for the Class of '18 - Rowena House

By this time next month I’ll be a published novelist. What an amazing thing to be able to say! It’s a lifetime’s achievement and a temporary licence to swamp my Twitter feed with stuff about me and my book.

The Goose Road shares a book birthday with Elaine Wickson’s Planet Stan: My Life in Pie-charts. (Who knew pie-charts were comedy gold?) Since I met her at SCBWI-BI’s fantastic debut author boot camp, I’ve drooled over her exuberant website https://www.elainewickson.co.uk/ and laughed out loud at her humour. Planet Stan is going to be fantastic fun.

Ally Sherrick’s The Buried Crown also hits the bookshops on April 5 – a World War II adventure with Anglo-Saxon treasure. What’s not to love? Ally and I met through Histeria, a band of intrepid kids & YA historical novelists raising the profile of our genre to librarians, publishers and anyone who’ll listen. Ally also pointed me in the direction of an opportunity to teach a session on historical fiction at the Winchester Writers’ Festival in June – which I’m doing. Hurrah! It’s my all-time favourite writing conference (soz, Scooby). Ally, I owe you a big bottle of fizz as well as sincerest thanks.

 

April 5 is also publication day for Jess Butterworth’s When the Mountains Roared, another exquisite MG title in the mould of her debut, Running of the Roof of the World. Jess graduated from Bath Spa’s MA in writing for young people the same year as me. Our year – like every other – is an invaluable support network, sometimes called Team MAWYP, at other times the Bath Spa Mafia. Be warned. We’re out there. A lot of us – including two Bath Spa lecturers publishing novels on April 5 – Lucy Christopher, with Storm-wake, and To the Edge of the World by Julia Green, director and guiding light in the creative hothouse that is this MA.

 

This week I’m in London to raise a glass to the success of fellow Scooby boot-camper, Matt Killeen, and meet a lots of writing friends at the same party. Ye-ha! Orphan Monster Spy boasts a stonking premise: Jewish girl spy infiltrates elite Nazi high school for girls. Awe. Sum.

 

Salutations, too, to Walker stable-mate Kelly McCaughrain, author of Flying Tips for Flightless Birds, who deserves a massive readership for both her book, also launched this month, and her honest, wise, charming blog, http://weewideworld.blogspot.co.uk/ Thank you, Kelly. Your words buoyed me no end through a recent patch of the blues.

I could go on. There are so many dedicated, determined, professional authors celebrating debuts this year, like Lucy Van Smit, whose Nordic noir YA thriller, The Hurting, is a lead title for Chicken House at the Bologna Book Fair. Vanessa Harbour’s wonderful horses in Flight. Tracey Mathais, with her UK trade debut, Night of the Party, a dystopian YA political thriller which I think judges the zeitgeist just right. And Liz MacWhirter, whose Black Snow Falling promises themes of feminism, monsters and power seen through the prism of 16^th century magical realism. Talk about tantalizing!

And just behind those of us lucky enough to have got our book deals are excellent writers working with their agents on amazing manuscripts, like MA bestie Eden Enfield and multi-talented creator of #UKTeenChat, Emma Finlayson-Palmer. And tenacious writers who just got their agent. Here’s looking at you, Kathryn Kettle MacDonald. Well done!

The next rung of the ladder is so close, people.

So very best of luck to everyone honing their craft with critique groups, mentors or alone, and still finding time to take part in the super-supportive, informative, kick-up-the-butting, thriving, teeming, healing, online community of writers for young people. You rock. We rock. Being part of this tribe is amazing.

The Goose Road, a First World War coming-0f-age quest set in France, is available now for pre-order now on Amazon, via high street bookshops or through my website: rowenahouse.com