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Wot I Did Wednesday
On Tuesday there was a post to rec.arts.mystery (henceforth referred to as RAM) from Fidelis Morgan, an author of some excellent historical mysteries. She was going to be speaking at an event on Wednesday evening at the Battersea Arts Centre as part of what I found out was the SW11 Literary Festival. "Oooh!" I thought, "That sounds fun!" You see, Fidelis is an actress and when she does a book reading, she acts out all the parts, really bringing the books to life. I HAVE to save up and buy a cassette player so I can get the tapes of her earlier books:- I campaigned hard for them and when they finally brought the tapes out, it was after I'd got the new car that didn't have a tape deck. Bah! Anyway, knowing that Fidelis has lost her British publisher and that this will be the last time she'll be actively promoting this series, I was determined to go and show some moral support. Appearing with Fidelis would be Sarah Dunant and Sarah Waters, two authors I've not read but heard good things about so it sounded like a good evening.
Anyway, Battersea Arts Centre is south of the Thames, and straddles Clapham and Battersea, judging by what I could see from the A-Z. Getting there looked horrible; I would have to get 3 trains. However, after consulting several timetables, it proved that there were oodles of connections and the whole journey should only take about an hour. So I decided to catch the 5.20pm train from Welwyn Garden City, which would give me plenty of time at King's Cross and Victoria to make connections to get to the Centre for 7pm.
The second problem was finding out if I needed to buy a ticket in advance. Fidelis's post had been fairly short and didn't mention tickets. I tried ringing the Battersea Arts Centre, but their box office wasn't open and besides, I noticed a distinct lack of information on their website about the event. So I googled and discovered the event was part of the Literary Festival. A bit more searching revealed that Ottakers in Clapham Junction were co-sponsors of the event so I rang them. A very helpful chap explained that they couldn't take ticket orders over the phone, though I could reserve a ticket and pick it up from the store. Or I could ring this number, which he gave. He then very helpfully confirmed the venue and where at the Centre the event was being held. Apparently I had to look for the Lower Hall. I filed this away, thanked him and rang the number. Another helpful lady cheerfully sold me a ticket and assured me it would be waiting at the door. I am always dubious about these things but didn't have much choice and could only hope it would actually be there.
Having been thoroughly organised in the morning, I promptly slacked off for the rest of the day, which included a late afternoon nap. I woke at five to five. I had five minutes to get out of the house, find a parking space for the car, scamper to the station and buy my travelcard.....This was NOT a generous allowance of time, as most of the free parking in Welwyn Garden is at least 10 minutes scamper away. However, I did my best, and got out of the house by five past. Driving into WGC, I considered my options and decided to try my luck and see if I could get a space in the town centre. As I was going to be picking the car up again that night, I wasn't worried about leaving it, and the parking restrictions ended at six, so I could safely park without getting a ticket. Usually spaces are rarer than hen's teeth, there being any number of good restaurants in the area but by a major miracle, there was a space in the parking area CLOSEST to the station! Somebody up there likes me :) I did a quite superb piece of parallel parking - I actually stopped to admire it and sprain my wrist patting myself on the back - before legging it to the station. I made the train with 3 minutes to spare :)
After that, it was all smooth sailing. I got off at Finsbury Park, figuring that KX at rush hour should be avoided. Finsbury Park is handily on the Victoria Line, so I caught the very next train after only a couple of minutes wait and just sat there until we reached Victoria. I was greatly amused by the antics of a young girl sitting nearby. Her mother was in the seat opposite and had noticed her reading a book that obviously the mother hadn't seen before. Interrogation revealed it had been a birthday present. This sparked off a discussion about why she hadn't read certain other books. Now, the train was very noisy, and not only was I having trouble hearing what was said but the mother and kid were too. From what I could gather, the kid had school/library books that had to be read and hadn't been and she wouldn't get new books from school until they were. The kid, however, cottoned on that Ma didn't want to bellow across the carriage so she very artfully kept pretending she couldn't hear. Now if I could hear the mother, kid could too, the little minx :) It was a most entertaining diversion, I was sorta sorry to see them leave.
Now the timetable had said that trains from Victoria to Clapham Junction ran about every three minutes. I was dubious about this because this wasn't an underground connection but an overground connection. However, a look at the map revealed that Victoria is the hub for train journeys to the South London and the Coast, and that nearly ALL the outbound trains, regardless of destination, go through CJ. So again, after a very short wait, I caught a train. Two stops later, I was at Clapham Junction.
Wandering out of the station, I realised that I couldn't remember if I turned left or right. I consulted a passer by and they confirmed my suspicions that I did, in fact, have to go left. By this time it was 6.20pm so I had oodles of time. A gentle stroll soon takes me past some of the landmarks mentioned on the Centre's website (which did at least have good directions on it) and soon I've arrived. I spy a sign marked "Lower Hall" pointing left so I turn down the side road and follow the building round. And round. And round. Finally, waaaay at the back, I find the entrance to the Hall. I know I'm in the right place because there's a table in the foyer, laden with glasses of wine and fruit juice, a sure sign of an literary event.
My ticket was waiting for me at the door as promised and I was suitably impressed. I purchased 2 of Fidelis's books, one for Rik & Carol and one for me, then scampered in and nabbed a good seat at the front. It was 6.45 now and the hall was worryingly empty but to my relief, by 7pm it was full and buzzing with the sound of voices. To my amusement, I noticed that at least 95% of the audience was female - honestly, you'd think men never read books by women :)
First up on the stage was Sarah Dunant, who spoke at length and very amusingly about the process she went through developing "The Birth of Venus". This is set in Florence in the 15th Century. Sarah explained that she had something of mid-life crisis which lead her to recklessly purchasing a small apartment in Florence. She discovered the rich history of the city and realised that it was the hub of the Renaissance, a moment in history, she noted, that we haven't seen the like of since. Exploring the city with her daughters, she was struck by how every name she'd found associated with the explosion of art and literature of the time was male and began to conceive of writing a novel from the viewpoint of a young woman, intelligent and talented, but unable to express that talent due to the social mores of the time. She then read an extract from the book and I have to say, if I hadn't already spent my book allowance, I'd have been adding another book to the two I already had.
Fidelis was up next and launched straight into a reading from "Fortune's Slave", the most recent and the last Countess novel. Having made us all giggle helplessly with an extract that dealt with the Countess trying to come to grips with the newfangled world of investing and banks, she spoke a little bit about how she came to write historical novels. Fidelis had written several non-fiction books concerning restoration plays and had discovered that there were many woman playwrights during the time that the novels are set. Getting bored of churning out these factual novels, she was inspired to try to write fiction and naturally turned to the period she knew best because of all her previous research. She then read a second extract concerning the Countess's visit to the a lace shop, which had everyone giggling again, as the Countess mishears a conversation in a shop and thinks the shopkeeper is inviting another character to fondle her nipples!
Sarah Waters was last up onto the stage. She spoke very briefly, just giving us some background to the book, before reading her extract. Alas, I've completely blanked on the book's title (ETA: I've been advised it could well be "Fingersmith"), but can tell you the reading was quite chilling. The lead character is Sue, a young girl being brought up by thieves and the like in an overcrowded slum in the 19th Century. Her mother was hanged so she's all alone. She's approached by a Gentleman, who has an idea to use her as a double for a rich woman. The rich woman will be packed off to an asylum, Sue will somehow take her place and the Gentleman will gain all the rich woman's money. The extract was about Sue's last night in the house she was born and raised.
After the readings, questions were taken. It took a while to get the questions flowing but they came along eventually. All three authors answered well and there was much hilarity. The applause at the end was very enthusiastic and just shy of a standing ovation.
Then it was time for the book signing and having wisely bought the books in advance, I was able to avoid getting stuck at the back of the queue. It was great to see Fidelis and I extracted details of the new book! It's going to be contemporary, set in Nice, France, and the heroine is an American. This is the reason, by the way, that Fidelis has been below RAM's radar for so long, she's been in France researching like mad. I think I heard her say to another signee that she had an American publisher but am not sure. I commiserated with her over the publication date for the paperback edition of "Fortune's Slave" - her evil publishers have announced they are releasing it on....December 27th. Such a good time, not. Bah!
Anyway, Fidelis signed both books for me and then I had to scamper off to catch the assorted trains I needed to get home. On the way to Clapham Junction though, I realised I urgently needed a toilet. I contemplated stopping at BK or pizza express to get some food - I was ravenous too - and then use the loos there but didn't want to go through the annoyance of having to leave my stuff at table while I dashed to the bathroom. Happily, I spotted a sign for public toilets in the shopping centre that you walk through to get to the station and so I scampered through a very dark car park and discovered that the toilets where those space age cubicle things that are scoured out after every use. I don't like 'em and the one I used didn't convince me any further that they're wonderful but I wasn't in a position to be choosy :)
After that, it was a painless hop back to King's Cross, where I discovered that I had fifteen minutes to kill before the next express train home. So I raided BK, found the train and read my new Fidelis' book while chomping happily. By 10.40, I was back in WGC, had reclaimed the car and driven home. All in all, a very successful evening.
I do recommend Fidelis's books if you like a good bawdy crime novel :) The novels are, in order, "Unnatural Fire", "The Rival Queens", "The Ambitious Stepmother" (which I'm reading and it's good), these are all in paperback. "Fortune's Slave" is the most recent and is in hardback, though as I've mentioned, the PB comes out on the really stupid date of Dec. 27th. Go and buy 2! They're gonna be out of print soon, dammit.
Anyway, Battersea Arts Centre is south of the Thames, and straddles Clapham and Battersea, judging by what I could see from the A-Z. Getting there looked horrible; I would have to get 3 trains. However, after consulting several timetables, it proved that there were oodles of connections and the whole journey should only take about an hour. So I decided to catch the 5.20pm train from Welwyn Garden City, which would give me plenty of time at King's Cross and Victoria to make connections to get to the Centre for 7pm.
The second problem was finding out if I needed to buy a ticket in advance. Fidelis's post had been fairly short and didn't mention tickets. I tried ringing the Battersea Arts Centre, but their box office wasn't open and besides, I noticed a distinct lack of information on their website about the event. So I googled and discovered the event was part of the Literary Festival. A bit more searching revealed that Ottakers in Clapham Junction were co-sponsors of the event so I rang them. A very helpful chap explained that they couldn't take ticket orders over the phone, though I could reserve a ticket and pick it up from the store. Or I could ring this number, which he gave. He then very helpfully confirmed the venue and where at the Centre the event was being held. Apparently I had to look for the Lower Hall. I filed this away, thanked him and rang the number. Another helpful lady cheerfully sold me a ticket and assured me it would be waiting at the door. I am always dubious about these things but didn't have much choice and could only hope it would actually be there.
Having been thoroughly organised in the morning, I promptly slacked off for the rest of the day, which included a late afternoon nap. I woke at five to five. I had five minutes to get out of the house, find a parking space for the car, scamper to the station and buy my travelcard.....This was NOT a generous allowance of time, as most of the free parking in Welwyn Garden is at least 10 minutes scamper away. However, I did my best, and got out of the house by five past. Driving into WGC, I considered my options and decided to try my luck and see if I could get a space in the town centre. As I was going to be picking the car up again that night, I wasn't worried about leaving it, and the parking restrictions ended at six, so I could safely park without getting a ticket. Usually spaces are rarer than hen's teeth, there being any number of good restaurants in the area but by a major miracle, there was a space in the parking area CLOSEST to the station! Somebody up there likes me :) I did a quite superb piece of parallel parking - I actually stopped to admire it and sprain my wrist patting myself on the back - before legging it to the station. I made the train with 3 minutes to spare :)
After that, it was all smooth sailing. I got off at Finsbury Park, figuring that KX at rush hour should be avoided. Finsbury Park is handily on the Victoria Line, so I caught the very next train after only a couple of minutes wait and just sat there until we reached Victoria. I was greatly amused by the antics of a young girl sitting nearby. Her mother was in the seat opposite and had noticed her reading a book that obviously the mother hadn't seen before. Interrogation revealed it had been a birthday present. This sparked off a discussion about why she hadn't read certain other books. Now, the train was very noisy, and not only was I having trouble hearing what was said but the mother and kid were too. From what I could gather, the kid had school/library books that had to be read and hadn't been and she wouldn't get new books from school until they were. The kid, however, cottoned on that Ma didn't want to bellow across the carriage so she very artfully kept pretending she couldn't hear. Now if I could hear the mother, kid could too, the little minx :) It was a most entertaining diversion, I was sorta sorry to see them leave.
Now the timetable had said that trains from Victoria to Clapham Junction ran about every three minutes. I was dubious about this because this wasn't an underground connection but an overground connection. However, a look at the map revealed that Victoria is the hub for train journeys to the South London and the Coast, and that nearly ALL the outbound trains, regardless of destination, go through CJ. So again, after a very short wait, I caught a train. Two stops later, I was at Clapham Junction.
Wandering out of the station, I realised that I couldn't remember if I turned left or right. I consulted a passer by and they confirmed my suspicions that I did, in fact, have to go left. By this time it was 6.20pm so I had oodles of time. A gentle stroll soon takes me past some of the landmarks mentioned on the Centre's website (which did at least have good directions on it) and soon I've arrived. I spy a sign marked "Lower Hall" pointing left so I turn down the side road and follow the building round. And round. And round. Finally, waaaay at the back, I find the entrance to the Hall. I know I'm in the right place because there's a table in the foyer, laden with glasses of wine and fruit juice, a sure sign of an literary event.
My ticket was waiting for me at the door as promised and I was suitably impressed. I purchased 2 of Fidelis's books, one for Rik & Carol and one for me, then scampered in and nabbed a good seat at the front. It was 6.45 now and the hall was worryingly empty but to my relief, by 7pm it was full and buzzing with the sound of voices. To my amusement, I noticed that at least 95% of the audience was female - honestly, you'd think men never read books by women :)
First up on the stage was Sarah Dunant, who spoke at length and very amusingly about the process she went through developing "The Birth of Venus". This is set in Florence in the 15th Century. Sarah explained that she had something of mid-life crisis which lead her to recklessly purchasing a small apartment in Florence. She discovered the rich history of the city and realised that it was the hub of the Renaissance, a moment in history, she noted, that we haven't seen the like of since. Exploring the city with her daughters, she was struck by how every name she'd found associated with the explosion of art and literature of the time was male and began to conceive of writing a novel from the viewpoint of a young woman, intelligent and talented, but unable to express that talent due to the social mores of the time. She then read an extract from the book and I have to say, if I hadn't already spent my book allowance, I'd have been adding another book to the two I already had.
Fidelis was up next and launched straight into a reading from "Fortune's Slave", the most recent and the last Countess novel. Having made us all giggle helplessly with an extract that dealt with the Countess trying to come to grips with the newfangled world of investing and banks, she spoke a little bit about how she came to write historical novels. Fidelis had written several non-fiction books concerning restoration plays and had discovered that there were many woman playwrights during the time that the novels are set. Getting bored of churning out these factual novels, she was inspired to try to write fiction and naturally turned to the period she knew best because of all her previous research. She then read a second extract concerning the Countess's visit to the a lace shop, which had everyone giggling again, as the Countess mishears a conversation in a shop and thinks the shopkeeper is inviting another character to fondle her nipples!
Sarah Waters was last up onto the stage. She spoke very briefly, just giving us some background to the book, before reading her extract. Alas, I've completely blanked on the book's title (ETA: I've been advised it could well be "Fingersmith"), but can tell you the reading was quite chilling. The lead character is Sue, a young girl being brought up by thieves and the like in an overcrowded slum in the 19th Century. Her mother was hanged so she's all alone. She's approached by a Gentleman, who has an idea to use her as a double for a rich woman. The rich woman will be packed off to an asylum, Sue will somehow take her place and the Gentleman will gain all the rich woman's money. The extract was about Sue's last night in the house she was born and raised.
After the readings, questions were taken. It took a while to get the questions flowing but they came along eventually. All three authors answered well and there was much hilarity. The applause at the end was very enthusiastic and just shy of a standing ovation.
Then it was time for the book signing and having wisely bought the books in advance, I was able to avoid getting stuck at the back of the queue. It was great to see Fidelis and I extracted details of the new book! It's going to be contemporary, set in Nice, France, and the heroine is an American. This is the reason, by the way, that Fidelis has been below RAM's radar for so long, she's been in France researching like mad. I think I heard her say to another signee that she had an American publisher but am not sure. I commiserated with her over the publication date for the paperback edition of "Fortune's Slave" - her evil publishers have announced they are releasing it on....December 27th. Such a good time, not. Bah!
Anyway, Fidelis signed both books for me and then I had to scamper off to catch the assorted trains I needed to get home. On the way to Clapham Junction though, I realised I urgently needed a toilet. I contemplated stopping at BK or pizza express to get some food - I was ravenous too - and then use the loos there but didn't want to go through the annoyance of having to leave my stuff at table while I dashed to the bathroom. Happily, I spotted a sign for public toilets in the shopping centre that you walk through to get to the station and so I scampered through a very dark car park and discovered that the toilets where those space age cubicle things that are scoured out after every use. I don't like 'em and the one I used didn't convince me any further that they're wonderful but I wasn't in a position to be choosy :)
After that, it was a painless hop back to King's Cross, where I discovered that I had fifteen minutes to kill before the next express train home. So I raided BK, found the train and read my new Fidelis' book while chomping happily. By 10.40, I was back in WGC, had reclaimed the car and driven home. All in all, a very successful evening.
I do recommend Fidelis's books if you like a good bawdy crime novel :) The novels are, in order, "Unnatural Fire", "The Rival Queens", "The Ambitious Stepmother" (which I'm reading and it's good), these are all in paperback. "Fortune's Slave" is the most recent and is in hardback, though as I've mentioned, the PB comes out on the really stupid date of Dec. 27th. Go and buy 2! They're gonna be out of print soon, dammit.