As I sit here sipping from my City Series Starbucks coffee cup, (bought on the corner of 8th & 16th streets) and overlooking the rooftops of the Edwardian Cottages of South Yarra, Melbourne, I begin to wonder... What does the launch of '209 A Story' and the premiere of the new Sex & the City movie have in common?
More about that later...
Firstly, wow - I am a tad surprised at the level of interest in my blog. When a publicist friend of mine suggested the best way to commence the marketing of '209 A Story', in this 'new technological age', was to create a blog... I must have had a vacant look on my face because she asked me if I knew what a 'blog' was? Did I tell her I was a writer??????
In the past, I have read blogs of others, which, in general, were the ramblings of the politically unsettled or the paradoxically insane, and I even had a blog of my own. At one point I was getting over five thousand hits per day ... at that stage, if I remember correctly, I was one of about 50k people around the world who 'blogged'. But, like so many other 'bloggers' my entire life was spent putting together my little cyber stories - AND - I was doing it on daily basis...
So the reason I was surprised at the interest is not because I did not know what blogs were - I just did not realise that they are still as popular as ever. The emails since last Monday are testament to that level of interest and now I will answer some of the questions posed this week...
Q. Is this a biography?
A. No, it's not a biography of Arthur (btw - that's him at the top of the blog!). It is a novel with a plot of intrigue, a certain amount of suspense and the ending that is not a simple matter of Arthur's jorney on TITANIC.
Q. Is your book like TITANIC the movie?
A. Hmmmmm - interesting email... simple answer is NOTHING LIKE IT... There will be no, 'Jack come back... J..a..c..k' and a loving couple hanging from the stern of a ship. Arthur McCrae obtained a degree at the University of Sydney (engineering) in 1903 - he travelled, firstly, to Africa where he worked in a mine and then made his way up to take a position as Assistant Mine Manager in Siberia, Russia. He was the first Aussie Working Holiday Maker! ...GO TEAM!
Q. When will the book be available?
A. Currently, this is being negotiated. I try to stay out of that as much as I can because the creativity of a author Vs the demands of a publishing house does not a happy author make! Put it this way - launch date in Australia is 8th April 2009, UK 21 March 2009 and the United States 21 June 2009. But, I gather there will be a website by then and you will be able to buy it over the Internet.
Q. Most interesting Fact Uncovered?
A. There have been many...but I think one of the most interesting discoveries was that Arthur was a descendant of the Dukes of Gordon ... and that family originally owned Balmoral Castle in Scotland from the mid 15th century till 1798. Currently, it is the private residence of the Queen. I wrote seeking permission to have the UK launch there. This has now been confirmed and will take place on 21 March at 6pm.
Q. When do I write?
A. Ask any writer - it is more of an obsession rather than just something you enjoy... so it happens at any time of the day and sessions can last anywhere from 1 hour to 14 hours... yes - it is abnormal and yes it is exhausting - BUT - when you construct interesting sentences from having an amazing affair with words - it is incredibly satisfying...
Q. Other characters in the novel?
A. The story has 4 characters. Obviously, Arthur is the main character - but there is also Charlotte, Ned and a modern day character named, Dabria Livingstone. Two of these characters meet, one becomes famous by default and another loses his life on the most famous ship ever to have sailed the seas. However, they are all intrinsically linked, in a way that becomes obvious as you read further into the novel.
An editor from New York said to me the other day - that he believed, '209 A Story' will be as big as the 'DaVinci Code' ... I think this is a big call but it was rather flattering. He read the draft and I was pleased with the response from him because what I have tried to do, in the novel, is to make it a 'page turner' - which,let's face it, every publishing house requires of a submitted manuscript.
3 Quick ones...
A.Yes, I have facebook-under my name-happy to add you as a friend if you want...
A.Currently reading the 'Picture of Dorian Grey' by Oscar Wilde...
A. I would have to say Melbourne is my favourite city in the world...
OK, finally - so what does the launch of '209 A Story' and the premiere of the new Sex & the City movie have in common? Well...hmmmmm... nothing really but I did, however, buy my coffee mug from the same Starbucks where Carrie Bradshaw sat when she was writing her column during the series...
Next week I want to write about the ups and downs of getting a publicist!
Have a good week.
Cheers
Steven
