IN CONVERSATION WITH FANNY BLAKE OUR BOOKS EDITOR ON HER NEW NOVEL, WORKING WITH DIRK BOGARDE AND MORE
OUR BRILLIANT BOOKS EDITOR FANNY BLAKE IS ALSO A BESTSELLING AUTHOR, AND THIS MONTH WE TALK TO HER ABOUT WORKING WITH DIRK BOGARDE, MAKING A MIDLIFE CAREER SWITCH, AND HER MUST-READ NEW NOVEL, Our Summer Together
FANNY LIVES IN LONDON WITH HER HUSBAND ROBIN, A HISTORICAL CRIME NOVELIST AND ART CRITIC. THEY HAVE THREE SONS
– MATT, NICK AND SPIKE – AND A
NEW GRANDDAUGHTER, JASMINE.
GROWING UP I WASN’T A GREAT READER, THOUGH WE HAD BOOKSHELVES CRAMMED WITH PENGUIN CRIME NOVELS IN THEIR GREEN COVERS. MY MOTHER, NOW 94, WAS A GP AND MY FATHER WAS AN ORTHOPAEDIC SURGEON. WE LIVED IN NOTTINGHAMSHIRE AND I WAS THE OLDEST OF TWO DAUGHTERS.
I PICKED UP THE HABIT OF READING AT EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY, WHERE I STUDIED FRENCH AND SPANISH. ONCE A MONTH BAUERMEISTER, AN EDINBURGH BOOKSHOP, WOULD RECEIVE ALL THE NEW PENGUIN BOOKS. I’D BUY THEM, READ THEM, SMELL THEM… I LOVED THE PHYSICAL OBJECTS AS WELL AS THE CONTENTS. IT WAS THEN I BEGAN TO DREAM ABOUT WORKING IN PUBLISHING AS AN EDITOR EVEN THOUGH I HADN’T A CLUE WHAT THAT REALLY MEANT.
I WAS URGED REPEATEDLY TO LEARN TO TYPE. A JOB AGENCY SAID, “PUBLISHING’S SO HARD TO GET INTO, YOU REALLY NEED TO BE ABLE TO TYPE.” MY MOTHER KEPT INSISTING TOO. I ALWAYS REFUSED, WORRIED THAT IF I BECAME A TYPIST I’D BE TOO LAZY TO MOVE MYSELF ON FROM THERE.
I SOMEHOW TALKED MYSELF INTO A JOB AS AN EDITORIAL ASSISTANT WITH CORGI BOOKS. FIVE MINUTES AFTER I’D RECEIVED THE OFFER THEY RANG BACK TO SAY, “I FORGOT TO ASK, CAN YOU TYPE?” I HESITATED, THEN SAID, “YES OF COURSE.” ON MY FIRST DAY, I
WAS SHOWN TO A DESK WITH A HUGE TYPEWRITER AND ASKED TO TYPE LONG LISTS OF BOOKS. IT TOOK ME DAYS. I STUCK AT IT AND AFTER A YEAR I MOVED PUBLISHERS TO BECOME AN ASSISTANT EDITOR AND BEGAN TO PROGRESS UP THE CAREER LADDER.
MY DREAM JOB WAS TO BE AN EDITOR AT PENGUIN, ALTHOUGH I WAS WARNED THAT I’D NEVER GET THERE. HOWEVER I DIDN’T GIVE UP AND IN 1979 I WAS OFFERED THE JOB AS CHIEF EDITOR OF FICTION AT PENGUIN. WE CELEBRATED HARD THAT NIGHT!
WILLIAM BOYD, MARGARET FORSTER, ELIZABETH JANE HOWARD, MARTIN AMIS, BARRY HUMPHRIES AND HIS ALTER EGO DAME EDNA WERE AMONG THE BRILLIANT AUTHORS I WORKED WITH. SOME WERE ALREADY PUBLISHED AS HARDBACKS SO WE BOUGHT THE PAPERBACK RIGHTS ONLY, WHILE OTHERS I ACQUIRED AND EDITED. EDITING IS A COLLABORATIVE BUSINESS BUT THERE ARE OCCASIONAL PROBLEMS, SUCH AS DEADLINES.
IT WAS AROUND THIS TIME I GOT TO KNOW THE LATE, GREAT LITERARY AGENT ED VICTOR, WHO REPRESENTED DOUGLAS ADAMS. I WAS WORKING AT HEINEMANN THEN AND I SAW WE HAD THE FIRST DIRK GENTLY NOVEL BY DOUGLAS SCHEDULED FOR PUBLICATION. I WANTED TO READ THE MANUSCRIPT BUT DISCOVERED THERE WASN’T ONE. HE HAD ONLY WRITTEN ABOUT
FOUR PAGES.
DOUGLAS FAMOUSLY SAID THAT HE LOVED THE SOUND OF A DEADLINE WHIZZING PAST! DULY WARNED, I WOULD OCCASIONALLY TURN UP AT DOUGLAS’S FLAT DEMANDING THE NEXT FEW PAGES. WHEN THAT STRATEGY DIDN’T WORK I HAD TO HIRE SOMEBODY TO GO THERE EVERY DAY TO ENCOURAGE HIM TO KEEP GOING UNTIL WE HAD THE WHOLE NOVEL.
DIRK BOGARDE WAS A VERY DIFFERENT WRITER. HE PRESENTED HIS MANUSCRIPTS IN BOUND RED FOLDERS IN GOOD TIME. I WORKED ON ABOUT NINE BOOKS WITH HIM AND ONCE FLEW TO THE SOUTH OF FRANCE TO WORK ON A MANUSCRIPT AT HIS HOUSE IN THE HILLS NEAR GRASSE. HE AND TONY FORWOOD
[HIS COMPANION AND MANAGER] PICKED ME UP AT THE AIRPORT AND EVERYTHING WAS PERFECT, DOWN TO THE SCENTED SOAP IN THE BATHROOM. WE’D WORK ON THE BOOK IN DIRK’S OFFICE, THEN WE’D HAVE LUNCH ON THE TERRACE, BEFORE DOING MORE.
I LEFT PENGUIN IN THE MID-90S AND SOON AFTER BECAME BOOKS EDITOR OF W&H, A ROLE I ABSOLUTELY LOVE. W&H READERS ARE TERRIFIC AND I’VE INTERVIEWED SO MANY GREAT AUTHORS – PAULA HAWKINS, JOANNA TROLLOPE, SOPHIE KINSELLA, IAN RANKIN, PENNY VINCENZI, JAMES PATTERSON, JOJO MOYES, TO NAME BUT A FEW.
I WROTE MY FIRST NOVEL
BEFORE REACHING A
SIGNIFICANT BIRTHDAY.
WHEN YOU REACH A CERTAIN AGE, IT’S IMPORTANT TO KICK AGAINST EXPECTATIONS AND GIVE THINGS A GO. IT’S BETTER TO TRY AND FAIL THAN NOT TO HAVE TRIED AT ALL. IN THE END, I GOT A CALL FROM MY AGENT ON SAID BIRTHDAY TO SAY A PUBLISHER WANTED TO BUY THE NOVEL. BEST BIRTHDAY EVER.
MY NEW NOVEL, Our Summer Together, IS ABOUT A WOMAN OF A CERTAIN AGE
WHO IS COASTING THROUGH LIFE WITH NO EXPECTATIONS. HOWEVER, A CHANCE MEETING SHOWS HER
THAT IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE.
I’D READ NOVELS THAT FEATURED WOMEN OVER 60 WHO WERE CAPABLE OF LITTLE MORE THAN LIMPING TO THE DOCTOR’S SURGERY. THAT MADE ME ANGRY. WOMEN DON’T
HAVE TO BE LIKE THAT. THERE’S STILL ROOM FOR EXCITEMENT AND ADVENTURE. SO I WANTED TO GIVE A SHOUT-OUT FOR THE OLDER WOMAN. AND THAT, I HOPE, IS WHAT I’VE DONE.
ONE OF THE MAIN CHARACTERS, DAMIR,
IS A 45-YEAR-OLD BOSNIAN MAN. ONCE I STARTED WRITING, I FOUND THAT THE 1992-1995 BOSNIAN WAR WAS A MORE COMPLEX SUBJECT THAN I REALISED. I WAS CONSIDERING CHANGING HIS NATIONALITY WHEN MY SON TOLD ME HE WAS HAVING HIS FLAT PAINTED BY A TERRIFIC BOSNIAN GUY WHO WAS ABOUT 45. I COULDN’T BELIEVE MY LUCK. I GOT IN TOUCH WITH THE MAN WHO TOLD ME ABOUT HIS EXPERIENCES DURING THE WAR. HE WOULD TAKE NOTHING IN RETURN BUT SAID THAT IT WAS IMPORTANT THAT THE WORLD SHOULD
KNOW THE TRUTH ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED.
I HAVE TWO KINDS OF WORKING DAY. WHICHEVER IT IS, I ALWAYS START WITH A Guardian SUDOKU PUZZLE. THE IDEAL
IS TO SETTLE DOWN AT 9AM AND WRITE 1,0002,000 WORDS BY LUNCHTIME. HOWEVER, I’M OFTEN DISTRACTED BY EMAILS AND THE INTERNET, AND THEN LOSE MY IMPETUS.
ONE OF MY CLOSE FRIENDS, A BESTSELLING NOVELIST HERSELF, HAS BECOME MY BOOK BUDDY. WE SEND EACH OTHER WHAT WE’VE WRITTEN FOR ADVICE. MY HUSBAND ROBIN, AN AUTHOR TOO, WRITES IN HIS OFFICE AT THE TOP OF THE HOUSE WHILE I’M IN THE BASEMENT. SOMETIMES IT’S EASIER TO EMAIL EACH OTHER THAN SHOUT UP THE STAIRS! WE DO TALK ABOUT WHATEVER WE’RE WRITING BUT WE DON’T READ EACH OTHER’S NOVELS UNTIL THEY’RE FINISHED.
THIS YEAR I BECAME A GRANDMOTHER WHEN MY ELDEST SON MATT AND HIS
WIFE LISA HAD A GIRL, JASMINE ROSE. MY SECOND SON NICK GOT MARRIED IN JULY TO SAMANTHA, AND MY YOUNGEST, SPIKE HAS A LOVELY PARTNER, FRAN. AFTER YEARS BEING THE ONLY FEMALE IN A MALE HOUSEHOLD I LOVE HAVING MORE WOMEN IN OUR FAMILY.
WOMEN’S LIVES ARE FASCINATING TO ME. WE OPERATE ON SO MANY LEVELS, BEING ABLE TO ADAPT AND CHANGE, AS WELL AS PROVIDING EACH OTHER WITH ONE OF THE BEST GIFTS POSSIBLE – THE GIFT OF FRIENDSHIP. W&H