Une Vie BBCR4

Little Gate, Etretat, Normandy

Fifteen minute drama Une Vie is on BBC Radio 4 all week 10:45 am/7:45 pm.  Aimee-Ffion Edwards plays Jeanne in a week long adaptation of Guy de Maupassant's first novel.  The character of Jeanne is based on his mother who appears as a character in my novel The Lady in Grey, a fictional exploration of the life of her son.  Une Vie charts the rocky marriage of Maupassant's parents although he remained on good terms with his feckless father even after their acrimonious split.   The story is set in his home in Etretat pictured above.

Book news: Random House and Penguin to merge?

Random House and Penguin to merge?

Pearson confirmed today that it is in talks with giant publisher Bertelsmann regarding a possible merger between imprints Penguin and Random House.  Such a move will be the first major structural shift in the global publishing industry since 2006 when the French media firm Lagardere acquired Time Warner Book Group creating Hachette.  In a statement the UK listed group said 'Pearson confirms that it is discussing with Bertelsmann a possible combination of Penguin and Random House' although the two companies have yet to reach agreement.  This news is perhaps not surprising as it follows Penguin's recent announcement that they would seek to recover unearned advances from their top writers.  Better news for the imprint is that two of their books are currently in the top ten - Martin Jacques study of the growing economic power of China When China Rules the World:the End of the Western World (reviewed in The Guardian 21 June 2009) and The Better Angels of Our Nature by cognitive scientist Steven Pinker who argues that violence has declined in the modern world (reviewed in the Guardian 7 October).

 

The Stella Prize

 

Australia has launched a $50,000 prize for women's writing which will be called the Stella Prize.

 

Waterstones to sell Kindle devices

 

In the UK, bookshop chain Waterstones has decided to sell Amazon's Kindle e-reading devices in recognition of the influence of the new technology on the book market.  Kindles went on sale in their stores from yesterday.

Christmas gift suggestion

'It was the season of frost fairs and mistletoe..'

Not quite but there is a distinctly autumn chill in the air this morning prompting me to think about forthcoming Christmas shopping and ideas for gifts.  My own offer is my swashbuckling Christmas adventure Master Merryman which tells the story of events surrounding the Christmas Feast of 1497 held by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Cardinal John Morton, to celebrate the signing of the marriage contract between Prince Arthur of England, son of King VII, and the daughter of the King and Queen of Spain, Princess Catherine of Aragon.  

 

Cardinal Morton has a slight problem.  The Spaniards are insisting they will only sign the contract subject to The Condition involving a certain handsome prince who is at that moment languishing in the Cardinal's cellar as a prsioner. Cardinal Mortan recruits his secretary, playwright Henry Medwall and another English playwright Miles Bloomfield (who between them taught Shakespeare everything he knew) and the rest of the King's Players to find a way to fulfil the Condition without delivering his prisoner into their hands.  All is going smoothly until an unfortunate co-incidence and a one-eyed Portuguese knight, the finest swordsman in Europe, start getting in their way.

 

 

 Shopping details: Available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/BOO4NBZL5G

Price: Paperback £6.40 GBP or $7.95US Kindle editions £2.55 GBP £3.99US

The book can be read for free if you are a member of Amazon Prime.

The story is suitable for any reader from aged 10 upwards.

 

London Film Festival winners

It's that time of year again.  The trees are changing from green to gold, Guy Fawkes night is nearly upon us and the London film festival has drawn to a close.  And the winners were...

Best film: Rust and Bone

First feature competition - the Sutherland Award went to Benh Zeithin for his film Beasts of the Southern Wild - a brilliant distinctive vision of life on the edge of the world.

The Documentary Competition - the Grierson Award was won by Alex Gibney for his film Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God (Great title) - a damning indictment of the Catholic Church and attempts by the Vatican to cover up one of the most appalling scandals of our time.

Best British Newcomer was Director and Screenwriter Sally El Hosaini for My Brother the Devil.

BFI Fellowships went to Helena Bonham Carter and Tim Burton.

None of my predictions won anything.  Oh well.. there's always next year.

Good news for UK books

Book sales in the UK are reported to have soared by more than £2m last week as Thursday 13th September was one of the biggest dates of the year for new releases.  More than 200 hardback books were officially published on that day including Terry Pratchett's (big favourite of mine) Dodger and Martina Cole's The Life.

Also happening this weekend The London Art Book Fair is being held at Whitechapel Gallery and to celebrate The Hobbit's 75th anniversary HarperCollins is throwing a Second Breakfast in the gardens of Fulham Palace.  I have to declare a special interest in The Hobbit as I discovered that J.R.R. Tolkein based his idea of The Shire on the Cole Valley near his home in Sarehole.  It is now well into Birmingham but when I was young we used to play in The Dingles, as the park is now known, and catch minnows and sticklebacks in the clear water of the River Cole in dappled sunshine - absolutely magical and I can well see how it inspired Tolkein with his fairy version of an ideal rural England.

London Film Festival preview

The British Film Institute has published its preview of the upcoming London film festival and lists 30 recommendations at http://www.bfi.org.uk/news/london-film-festival-2012-30-recommendations.

Among the films recommended are Beyond the Hills which is the Sight and Sound Gala screenings taking place on Friday 21st and Sunday 23rd October.  Director Cristian Mungui's superstition and myth-haunted film focuses on two young nuns in a dilemma over the authority of the Romanian Orthodox Church and by implication with God. 

Among the British films to look forward to is Sightseers screening on Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st October.  This is a black comedy directed by Ben Wheatley and starring Alice Lowe and Steve Oram about nerdish couple Tina (Lowe) and Chris (Oram) from the Midlands, two characters created and developed by Lowe and Oram in their stand-up act over many years.  Chris wants to rescue Tina from her fake-bedridden mother and take her on a romantic caravan holiday.

Britfilm driver of economic growth

The UK film industry contributed more than £4.6bn to the British economy in 2011 according to research published by Oxford Economics.  A thriving industry supports 117,400 jobs, up from 100,000 in 2009 with 8,000 jobs being created in the last three years, a period with an unusually gloomy economic outlook.  The number of films being made in Britain has grown from 43 in the 1980s to 136 from the year 2000.  Box office receipts last year reached a record high of £410 million.

Oxford Economics conclude that film is an industry driving growth in the UKs economy.  Minister for Creative Industries Ed Vaizey is quoted as saying the report 'highlights the huge contribution that the film industry makes to long-term growth.'

Recent and ongoing investment at nearby Pinewood and even nearer Leavesden Studios is laying the foundation for future success.  Saturday Morning Pictures has since November 2005 been making a small contribution to development.  Two principal film projects Master Merryman and The Lady in Grey are now available in paperback via Amazon. Master Merryman is now ready to go forward to production. The Lady in Grey is still in script development.  Details are to be found on the company websiteat www.saturdaymorningpictures.eu