Saturday 14 June 2008

Countdown to Caligula

Today is June 14; in exactly one month's time Caligula will hit the shops, and what a relief that will be. It seems like a lifetime since I started this blog and it's exactly a year to the day tomorrow that Stan called me to say that he'd accepted the offer from Transworld and that I was about to become a published author.

Things picked up speed this week and I did my first full length newspaper interview. I wasn't too nervous, because I know the interviewer, but it was still a strange and strangely exhausting experience. You have to dig very deep to come up with the motivations for something that you actually started writing about four years ago. I didn't realise there were so many versions of The Emperor's Elephant/Caligula until I tried to explain the chronology of its development and tied myself in knots. You also have to give a lot of yourself, and for someone who is naturally reticent that can be difficult. There is so much to tell that I found myself going off at tangents,which is something I'm going to have to correct for my radio interview in a couple of weeks time.

This blog is about the downs as well as the ups and I have to record that my first published review was a bit disappointing. It was in our local paper and the reviewer seemed more interested in showing how clever he was than actually getting into what the book is about. Then again, maybe I'm expecting too much. He liked it well enough, and said he was involved enough to want to know what happened next to Rufus, the main character. He signed off by saying 'This book won't change your life', which is true, it isn't the Bible. But you could argue that any book that really involves you and draws you in does change your life for the hours you spend reading it. And one thing I know for certain, it has certainly changed mine.

The date and time has been set for the book launch party. If anyone's going to be around Edinburgh on Tuesday July 15 let me know and I'll put you on the invitation list.

4 comments:

Lexi said...

Darn, why can't the launch be in London?

Don't be discouraged by the review; all publicity is good, and many books go unreviewed. (I didn't know novels had to be life-changing. Eek.)

Good luck with the radio interview. And I hope you will be celebrating the anniversary tomorrow. Never miss an opportunity to celebrate!

Doug said...

Thanks Lexi, I plan to do just that

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Good evening Mr Jackson. My name is Cristina and I'm going to be the translator of your book in Italian. I will start working on the 1st of July. I would be very happy and grateful if you could allow me to bother you during the translation in case I may need some kind of clarification (of course I wouldn't waste your time and would contact you only in case of need). This is my e-mail address: cristina.minozzi@gmail.com. Yours sincerly.