. » The Last Ghost

Audio Book – Day One

Helen — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 03:49:51 +0000

Right…So day one went quite well. The studios are in a business park called the Warner Ranch, so I’m guessing it was built where Warner Bros. studios used to have their ranch. (All the studios had ranches – it was where they shot their Westerns, but one by one they have sold them off. Shame!)

Anyway, the Listening Library studios are in a modern building and all the individual studios are quite small. They have a room that is floor-to-ceiling tapes of books (I shall snag a pic tomorrow) and when you go to their lunch room there is always someone sitting and snacking who introduces themselves with the sort of wonderful mellifluous voice you associate with professional readers. (This does not describe my voice at all, BTW.)

The studios are quite small compared to the kind of studios where bands record. There is a comfy chair (yay!) in front of which there is a music stand for the manuscript and a very large microphone. My director is called Christine and she sits there and every so often tells me to slow down, or pause at particular points. She’s really wonderful and so encouraging and helpful.

So…after day one, we have completed five chapters. Tomorrow — onward and upward!

Book Recording Scheduled

Helen — Thu, 27 May 2010 22:40:55 +0000

Whoa! When these audio book people get going they don’t waste any time! I’m going into the studio on Tuesday to start reading the book. They work from 10am to around 3 or 4 in the afternoon and reckon it will probably take four days. Apparently it usually takes three, but as I haven’t done it before it will probably take longer. (Good guess!)

I’ll take my camera and post pix next week…or maybe the week after.

First Book Club Visit

Helen — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 19:07:17 +0000

I have met some readers! Last Wednesday I visited the children’s book club at the Studio City Library near where I live. I had spoken with Barbara, the fabulous librarian, a number of times and she had asked if I’d like her to ask some questions to get the ball rolling or if I wanted to just leave it to the kids. I was afraid of one of those difficult silences where everyone stares at everyone else and no one knows quite what to say, but I needn’t have worried. The girls were absolutely brimming with questions and comments about the book and we had a great conversation about the book, ghost stories, oracles and everything.

When she heard that the sequel was finished, Barbara had asked if I would read them a little bit of it, so I took a few pages along. I wasn’t sure how it would go: would they be able to understand my accent? would I speak too fast? (I have a tendency to rabbit on at a million miles an hour.) But again, it all went so well that we ran so far over the allotted time that the next group were waiting outside, hopping from foot to foot.

I really hope the girls had as nice a time as I did!

Bookshop Intros

Helen — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 16:27:34 +0000

The publication date for “Spellbinder” is September 29, so things are beginning to ramp up a little (eek!). I’ve no idea what to expect, really, but I want to do everything I can to help, so my publisher here in the US suggested that I visit local book shops and introduce myself. They even sent me some advance copies and a stack of “Spellbinder” bookmarks. (The Bookmarks are great, they are “lenticular” and the ghosts of Belladonna’s parents appear and disappear. Here’s a pic of the front.)

So, taking Lady Macbeth’s advice, I “screw my courage to the sticking point” and set off for Vroman’s in Pasadena. So far, so good. Except once I get there I have to sort of talk to someone. In normal circumstances I have no problem talking at all. Truth be told, shutting up is more of an issue. But just marching up to someone I don’t know and introducing myself is much more daunting, so I spent about 45 minutes just wandering around the children’s section trying to get up the nerve. I looked at the picture books, examined every shelf of middle grade fiction, read most of “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” and thought about just going home. Fortunately, Vroman’s is far enough from my house that the idea of driving all the way there just to chicken out was a complete non-starter.

I took a deep breath and went up to a guy called Steve, said hello and told him about the book. He was very friendly and told me that I really needed to speak to Kris but that she wasn’t in that day. He suggested that I call her and set a time to go in. So I went home.

That may not sound lilke much of a result, but it really did break the ice. Of course, now I would have to pick up the phone and essentially cold-call someone. It took me the best part of a week to do that. And, of course, when I spoke to Kris she was perfectly lovely and we set a time for me to pop by.

Can I make a song and dance out of the simplest things, or what?

Anyway, I decided to visit a couple of other stores at the same time and visited The Village Book Shop in Glendora and Once Upon a Time Books in Montrose. Deborah at The Village Book Shop was really nice and terribly encouraging. The book shop itself was large and airy with lots of comfortable chairs and couches – it looked like a lovely place to sit and read. Once Upon a Time was more in the tradition of the small maze o’ books, which is also great. They both promised to read the book, so I left them each an advance copy and some bookmarks and continued on my way. By the time I reached Vroman’s I was positively bubbling. Kris and Steve were both there and it turned out Kris had already placed an order for the book! She hadn’t read it, though, so I left a copy with them and headed home.

Last week I hit three more book shops and dropped off more books and bookmarks. I am so on a roll now! Next week I’m driving out to the ocean to visit shops in Santa Monica and Venice. Of course, I still feel really nervous each time and have to wander around for a bit first, but I have discovered that, unlike the record company A&R people I used to have to meet when I managed the band, book shop people are not at all like Simon Cowell, are really nice and genuinely love books.

Yay! More news soon…

UK Title

Helen — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 22:59:26 +0000

There’s finally a title for the UK edition! What? (I hear you asking.) Why does the UK version need a different title? well, because everywhere is different and the UK publisher didn’t think that Spellbinder would (ahem) fly there as a title. So after much to-ing and fro-ing and suggestions from me and ideas from them, the final title is…The Last Ghost.

Phew!