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Comment from the book world in November 2024

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Falling in love with Georgette Heyer

18 November 2024

‘She was my favourite author, then and now. It might as well have been science fiction. That world was so alien to my world that I was lost in it, and I've never come out again...

At the time, she was rated as a comic genius, along with PG Wodehouse. It's still respectable to read Wodehouse, but Heyer is in the romance box. She's a superb comic writer. Her favourite is The Corinthian... which follows a young man who is about to be forced into marriage by his family, before he teams up with Penelope, a wealthy orphan who is escaping from her own marriage plans. It was written in 1940 when the bombs were falling - it's totally escapist, and probably my favourite book of all time...

I said: "please give me a job because I love Georgette Heyer. You may be deceived by my two degrees in English literature to think that I am interested in literary fiction, but really I love romance and I'm a Heyer obsessive." She ended up copy-editing Regency romances, which she loved - and she also found romance of her own, meeting her husband, fellow literary agent Luigi Bonomi.

I thought, I'd better start writing these stories down. I had previously written a Heyer continuation novel, and I started to rewrite it in lockdown. I posted it, a chapter at a time, on AO3. (Archive Of Our Own). It's incredible, because readers just find you. You're not advertising it - it's nothing but word of mouth or people seeking out what they're interested in. I had so many people messaging me and telling me how much they loved the stories that I thought I'd try writing an original novel...

I have a really ferocious focus. It's not necessarily always a good thing because I'm not very good when I'm interrupted! But once I'm in the zone I'm in the zone. Because I don't have huge amounts of time, I am really focused in how I use the time that I have. Writing is my absolute passion. I was speaking to Jane Dunn, another Boldwood author - she saw somebody talking about how hard it is to be an author, and we said to each other that we love it - writing is the best thing. Why would you do it if you don't really, really enjoy it?

I think there's a general perception that if you work in publishing and you want to be published, it will be really easy. My book was on submission for over a year before it was picked up, and it was such an unpleasant experience. I know that some aspiring authors think that editors and agents don't have any sympathy with that, but I have been through that experience.'

Bookbrunch

https://www.boldwoodbooks.com/contributor/emma-orchard/

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Writing about Scarpetta

4 November 2024

‘I usually go back a little bit and then move forward. The objective is that I want the reader to be transported. Writing is like a ride - you're getting into a spaceship and you're going somewhere where you're going to have an adventure. It takes you away from the moment that you're in and your real life...

It's a strange thing when I start a book. I'm writing about Scarpetta, but I don't feel like she's there. It's like she's saying to me, "When you're ready for me, I'll show up, but you're not ready for me yet." Then, all of a sudden, she populates the character on my screen, and the characters start becoming alive. I don't get tired of her, even though I've been living with her for several decades now...

We all have grief. We wish we didn't, but everyone has it. When I write about Scarpetta, I want to help you experience these things that are very real in our lives, but to do it in a way that's not only manageable, but maybe reassuring, if not a little bit entertaining because we certainly want that when we read a book! Scarpetta is a vehicle for us dealing with things that we fear, such as loss and suffering. I have experienced it up close and personal for a very long time, not just because of my research but even some things in my own childhood. That's how I deal with it...

When I started writing, serial murderers were a really big thing, and it was a perfect environment for what I ended up doing. What Scarpetta did, is make forensic science and medicine accessible. You could understand it, and so therefore Hollywood could understand it.'

Patricia Cornwell is one of the most successful crime writers in the world - she has sold over 9 million copies in the UK, and 120 million copies worldwide, including in 36 languages to over 120 countries. The latest Scarpetta title, Identity Unknown, the 28th in the series, was published on 8 October.

https://www.patriciacornwell.com/