Hello fellow readers,
Is now a good time to tell you a little about my first novel? It’s due for publication April 2025. Exciting, very. Frightening, a little. It has been a journey. I hate this phrase, very overused, but I’m going to use it because it exactly sums up last year … a journey. I have learnt a lot and done my best, I like triers, and I would not have started this ‘journey’ if I didn’t think I could produce the type of book that makes people want to turn pages.
‘Not All That Glisters’
The title is ‘Not All That Glisters.’ Once I tell someone its name the next question is often ‘why the name?’ So let me tell you, it should help put a context to the novel.
The phrase ‘Not All That Glisters’ comes from a Shakespearean quote that has fallen into common usage. People often replace the Glisters with Glitters, but I stuck with the original, as used in the Merchant of Venice. Whatever was good for Shakespeare should be good enough for me! The actual phrase is ‘All that glisters is not gold,’ but for the sake of front cover brevity, I shortened it. It expresses the notion that things which seem precious, for example gold, may in fact be quite different when we dig under the covers. In fact, it is often the more modest or overlooked things in life which have true substance and value. That is a core theme in my novel and one that the two protagonists, Jack and Claire, come to appreciate.
For me, it is the simpler things in life which brings true joy to our hearts, don’t you agree? One of my passions is walking. Hearing the sound of a bird singing in the hedgerows on a frosty morning or fresh spring day. That is truly priceless. I recently spent four months unable to walk after an accident which resulted in a horrid foot operation, so I can personally attest to this. Thankfully, I can now enjoy these pleasures again. Phew. I would urge you to enjoy them as well if you are able, it is manna for the soul. However, if my husband is taking the trouble of reading this blog, please, don’t assume ‘gold is now off the agenda.’ Sparkly, shiny presents are always appreciated!
Now comes the science bit.
Newton, he was a clever lad, wasn’t he? His physics tells us that every action in nature has an equal and opposite reaction …. which exactly mirrors real life! Everything we do has an implication, a result, even if we choose to just sit on a sofa eating a packet of crisps. It all has a meaning and a result. So once that shiny, sparkly path is taken, things are going to occur. The cosmos has a lot to answer for, that is all I can say! My novel is about the things that happen as a consequence of gold loosing its glister. In other words, the really interesting stuff of life, the stuff ‘page turning’ dreams are made of.
As an aside, I love science and nature as well as literature and can thoroughly recommend the book ‘Lessons in Chemistry’ by Bonnie Garmus. If you haven’t read it, you are in for a treat! She injects humour, life, fantastic characterisation and animals into one glorious read.
Final comment on my book. There is a lot of humour in it too, not all doom and gloom, far from it. As I’ve said in an earlier post, you can’t be serious all the time and mixing light and dark together into a read seems as natural to me as night turning into day.
Until next time, stay well, happy, and enjoy your reading… and don’t forget that walk!
Credit: ‘Picture of a bird singing in a hedgerow’ – Rachel Stocker
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