September, 2002

Well, where did those four months go? This summer just seems to have sped by in a blur. I spent the whole of May and June cocooned in my dining room, toiling over my PC and getting very depressed. Then things looked up in the middle of June when I found to my huge surprise that I'd actually managed to finish my fourth manuscript - and only two weeks over schedule! I dumped the wretched thing on my agent and ran away to Malta where I was matron of honour at a friend's wedding and spent the weekend trying not to picture my agent reading my manuscript back in London. It doesn't matter how many times I go through this process, I'm always convinced I've written the worst book ever and can't even contemplate the idea that it might be okay until my agent or editor tells me so. So I was, of course, dizzy with relief when I got back from Malta and my agent told me she loved it! She also said it was way too long and needed a big, fat edit. But since I was flying off to the States later that week for my Big US Publicity Tour that was going to have to wait until I got back.

Taking things out is so much more fun that putting things in and I spent two weeks after I got back rampaging through my manuscript with a big pen - it was all very liberating and satisfying. Sixty pages of discarded blather later and it was ready to go to my editor. Who loved it, too! Hurrah! It's not called the London Brothers any more (various people thought it sounded too much like a gangster novel) and it's new name is a Friend of the Family. It's published in May next year (I know, I know - that's ages away - but what can I do?) and it'll be my first trade paperback (you know, those huge overgrown paperbacks that take up too much room in your handbag and make your hands hurt when you read them). But it's better than a hardback because it's only ten pounds and you can bend the covers back.

It's about three brothers called Tony, Sean and Ned who all live in South London. Tony's a divorcee with an irritating new girlfriend, an expanding waistline and a monster crush on an unattainable woman. Sean's a first time novelist who's got writer's block with his second novel and a girlfriend who's about to land something even more stressful on him. And Ned's just got back from a three year stay in Australia, having left behind Monica, the world's maddest girlfriend. The book's really about what happens to all of the brothers when their parents take in a lodger, a mysterious tattooed stranger called Gervase who seems to know far too much about the secret lives of all of them. If you like you can order a copy in advance from Amazon using the link above. And hopefully take my sales ranking above the 137,000 mark!

So what else has been happening? Well, Tart Noir the anthology I told you all about last year was published a couple of weeks ago. The launch party was held on a sweltering night in a dark cramped room at the Garage in Highbury which was excellent (if a bit sweaty) and the editors Stella Duffy and Lauren Henderson have been working their butts off promoting the book and doing a fantastic job. My story's called Labia Lobelia and is about a slighted young woman who takes her revenge in a somewhat, er, meaty manner. You'll have to buy the book if you want to know more, but the clue is in the title!

I've also just bought a new flat. Blimey, London's mad. You wouldn't believe how much I've paid for how little. In fact the girl at the Natwest Call Centre in Liverpool who took my call when I wanted to transfer the balance to the vendor was in a state of shock throughout the phone call. I told her it was for a large detached mansion next to Buckingham Palace in the end, just to keep her happy! So my life at the moment is all about kitchens and flooring and taps and tape measures and not about writing at all. But I'm off on holiday next week and am going to crack on with book number five when I get back. I'm quite looking forward to it, fool that I am. This writing malarkey has so many parallels with childbirth. It doesn't take long for the memories of all the pain and the misery to fade away and to want to have another 'baby'….

Hoping you're all well and happy.

Much love,

Lisa XX

Previous updates:
April 2002
November 2001
September 2001
July 2001
April 2001
September 2000