After the first million - and how I rewrote history
Read the post here.
I'm Kate Harrison, author of British 'chick lit' novels: The Self-Preservation Society, The Starter Marriage, Brown Owl's Guide to Life and Old School Ties. This blog is about words, books and the true adventures of a jobbing writer...
Labels: great links
It astonishes me that I’ve now been a published author for more than six years. How can time pass so darned fast? I’ve been looking back because this week my first novel, Old School Ties, is being republished (in a new, hopefully improved form).
On September 3 2003 Old School Ties Version 1.0 was launched upon the world to general indifference. Well, maybe not indifference, but I can’t pretend I turned out to be one of the hot new debuts of the year (despite my excitement at being picked for the WH Smith Fresh Talent selection, and my positive review in the Congleton Chronicle). I was anything but indifferent myself, of course, and my friends and family and publishers and agent and work colleagues (and the random strangers I told on the bus) were excited for me.
Like most debutantes, I was hoping to be the belle of the bookshop ball. I dreamed that writing might become a ‘career’ but the signs weren’t tremendously hopeful. I didn’t get a life-changing advance, I didn’t have Richard Curtis chasing me through the streets of Notting Hill to buy the film rights (he wouldn’t have had to chase me very far, I only lived in Shepherd’s Bush), and I had the kind of mortgage that made the idea of giving up the day job laughable. Seeing my name in print was a slightly bittersweet experience – utterly thrilling, but a little disappointing all the same when I didn’t hit the bestseller list. I guess the trouble with all writers is that we have vivid imaginations when it comes to picturing our likely overnight success...
But despite the lack of posters on the Underground, something fundamental changed for me that year. I know it’s the most awful cliché, but becoming an author was a dream come true. And how many dreams come true in a lifetime? I had been published – now I was going to do everything I could to STAY published.
Although I didn’t realise it at the time, in many ways I was lucky not to have had the headline grabbing book deal, because the less a publisher pays for a book, the lower their expectations! When debut authors are paid squillions up-front and then don’t sell many books, their failure is high profile. When a debut author who hasn’t been paid much and has had no celebrity kiss-n-tell tie-in or media profile, goes on to sell respectably, then they stay ‘promising.’
My quest to ‘go pro’ involved plenty of sleepless nights. The deadlines kept me awake, but so did the decisions about which book idea to write next, whether to change publisher, whether I would ever be able to regard writing as more than a fun hobby.
But I feel incredibly lucky, and grateful, to everyone who has taken a chance on my books – people in the publishing world, booksellers and, most important of all, readers.
I’m hoping to be around to celebrate my tenth ‘author birthday’ and my twentieth and thirtieth and the rest...but the truth is, being published is not something any author can take for granted. What I do believe is that anyone who writes, whether it’s that first short story, or the thirtieth bestseller, has to focus on ‘quality control’. That means writing the best book you can, whatever the genre or style, and then editing it until you’re sick of the sight of it. And then editing it several more times.
That's what I've done with Old School Ties - The Director's Cut. I went back to the book and made literally thousands of tiny changes. I'll be posting about that soon - but suffice it to say, it was possibly the toughest writing task I've ever undertaken. I just felt that having learned a bit more about editing and story-telling over the last few years, I owed it to the book, and potential readers, to apply those lessons. It's still the same story, and it's still a light comedy with a dark edge - but I hope it's now a better read.
Being a debutante was fun. But though I look back on my launch party with fond memories, I’m happy to be where I am now – with seven published novels, and another one in progress. In the frenzied world of 3 for 2s and e-book piracy and mid-list meltdown, story-telling still matters and it’s the only thing we writers have real control over. I’m doing nanowrimo (say hello to me, I’m Caffeinefuelledwriter) but, boy, that is just the beginning. Long after November is over, I will be rewriting and slashing and then tweaking and tearing my hair out and tweaking again.
Join me. You have nothing to lose but your adverbs.
Labels: debut novel, going pro, old school ties



Labels: the new romantics, The Secret Shopper Unwrapped, The Secret Shopper's Revenge
Labels: events, new book, the new romantics, The Secret Shopper Unwrapped, writing courses
Labels: crazy project, procrastination, read like a writer
Labels: crazy project, priorities, time management
OK. You may have noticed I've been gone for a while. But now I am back online, wirelessed up and ready to go.
Where to begin? Well, we’re living in Barcelona! I don’t know how long for, exactly, so it’s not exactly emigration (can you emigrate if it’s only two hours’ flight away?) but it is very exciting indeed.
Things went like this: boyfriend’s job ceased to exist due to recession. He’s never been to uni, or had a gap year, fancied trying something different, and I am very lucky that I can work from anywhere. We had been to Barcelona several times, loved it, know people out here, liked the idea of sunshine and tapas and a break from gloomy headlines…
And here we are. In the last six weeks, we’ve had our challenges, including facing imminent homelessness due to extreme trickiness of finding a good place for us and the teenaged cat (yes, we couldn’t bear to leave her in the UK). Said cat has also suffered catastrophic allergy to Frontline, needing treatment by possibly the best-looking vet/vet nurse duo in the world. Honestly, if I was a Mills & Boon writer, I would have had my next story there now. After enduring an Iberia flight sitting in a basket on my lap (actually the flight was fine, though being pounced on at Heathrow security in case she was a bomb cat was alarming), and living in a pet-friendly hotel, we hoped she would settle. Alas, no. Frontline made all her neck hair fall out and she is now locked into a self-harming cycle of ‘skin heals/skin itches/cat must scratch with back legs’ that would probably justify a series of misery memoirs if she was human. But she’s still here and seems to be enjoying herself otherwise.
We have both embarked on Spanish courses (me and boyf, not me and cat) and though it’s humiliating being trumped by fifteen-year-olds with better recall, we’re getting there slowly. I love languages, but it’s much harder now than it was when I was at school. Also tricky as the main language of Barcelona isn’t Castilian, but Catalan, a kind of wild combo of French, Spanish and other fab words with lots of Xs in them.
Oh, and the admin is a challenge, but a good challenge – the other day I had to return a parcel to amazon (don’t get me started, but I will never buy an Acer computer again, as it failed within 20 hours of receipt) and the Post Office conversation was worthy of Basil Fawlty. Then again, the sense of achievement at getting my Foreigner’s Number was very significant indeed.
We have also (so far) survived the ordeal by Possessed Washing Machine (think Stephen King). Said washer seems desperate to escape, so last weekend it walked across the terrace, and in its bid for freedom, flooded everywhere, fell flat on its face and almost electrocuted boyf. It never walks when we’re watching, of course, so we now take a glass of vino tinto in there for the whole cycle, just in case…surprisingly relaxing. The Zen of Laundry.
We now have a lovely temporary apartment in el Born, the most gorgeous part of the city (in my opinion), right opposite a market built in 1876, which is absolutely inspirational.
In other news:
Anyway, that’s me for now. I will be posting much more often, because we have broadband again, hoorah! Coming soon: the challenge of rewriting my first novel for re-publication (Old School Ties, the Director’s Cut), plus other tales from the city of tapas and tasty vets.
Hasta pronto!
Kate x
Labels: Barcelona