Prue Leith and me
Prue Leith's Cookery Bible is one of the staples on my bookshelf, for whenever I forget how to best roast a pheasant. The lady has now joined me on a list as well, her new novel coming out from Transita this August (click here for the new catalogue).
Years ago the feminist publishing house Virago had a male author slip onto its list, a middle-aged white English vicar masquerading as a young Indian girl. I remain the only male on Transita's growing list. Happily my entry was all above-board. My agent wanted me to come up with some female nom de plume but that seemed ridiculous. How can you help promote a novel when you are hiding behind a different name, short of full drag and a falsetto? Also I'm proud of my Transita novel Slippery When Wet. Transita's list is targeted at women readers over the age of 45, and I have been delighted at how important Slippery has been to such readers who have been in touch with me. I believe it's a great novel for any readership though - another reason for sticking to my male name.
Muriel Spark's Robinson was the most recent novel I've read, all the plot twists obvious from a third of the way through but the sparkle of the writing sustaining the pleasure (Muriel Spark, that combo of tweeness and edge, makes her one of the most appropriately named writers I know). My weekend book is my first Rachel Cusk, her new novel Arlington Park, with some delightfully wrought sentences. As I turn to reading bright women novelists, I suspect another novel is stirring to be released from my feminine side.
Years ago the feminist publishing house Virago had a male author slip onto its list, a middle-aged white English vicar masquerading as a young Indian girl. I remain the only male on Transita's growing list. Happily my entry was all above-board. My agent wanted me to come up with some female nom de plume but that seemed ridiculous. How can you help promote a novel when you are hiding behind a different name, short of full drag and a falsetto? Also I'm proud of my Transita novel Slippery When Wet. Transita's list is targeted at women readers over the age of 45, and I have been delighted at how important Slippery has been to such readers who have been in touch with me. I believe it's a great novel for any readership though - another reason for sticking to my male name.
Muriel Spark's Robinson was the most recent novel I've read, all the plot twists obvious from a third of the way through but the sparkle of the writing sustaining the pleasure (Muriel Spark, that combo of tweeness and edge, makes her one of the most appropriately named writers I know). My weekend book is my first Rachel Cusk, her new novel Arlington Park, with some delightfully wrought sentences. As I turn to reading bright women novelists, I suspect another novel is stirring to be released from my feminine side.
posted by Martin at 9:15 AM
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