Authors Electric

Clicking impatiently through your e-r eader to plunge into Tuesday's Gone , the latest Nicci French novel, you are unlikely to pause any longer than a thumb-twitch over the page which says 'To Francis and Julia'. Why should you? You're in a hurry. You almost certainly read Blue Monday, the first in the Frieda Klein series, and gasped in horror at that novel's final twist. You, the reader, know something vital which neither the heroine no r the police have any suspicion. Even the widow does not know who's dead. But you do. And that means you also know who's been left alive. You need to know what happens next. I, on the other hand, have bought the book in both formats. The electronic version will travel with me in my handbag; the chunky hardback stays at home for both of us to sa vour those four words on that creamy bookwove page: 'To Francis and Julia'. It's a dedication. Such a surprising, gratifying, humbling, mystifying, heart-warming pu...

This blog post is dedicated to my two whippets, Archie and Angel, who have been my faithful and uncomplaining companions throughout its composition. Book dedications fascinate me. Sometimes they are mysterious and intriguing, and sometimes give you a tiny glimpse of the author. Grumbling to myself recently about the prospect of having to wait a couple more years before being able to get my hands on the third part of Patrick Rothfuss’ Kingkiller Chronicle, I re-read the dedication in the first while looking to see how big a gap there had been between parts one and two. It reads: “To my mother, who taught me to love books and opened the door to Narnia, Pern and Middle Earth. And to my father, who taught me that if I was going to do something, I should take my time and do it right.” And instantly I was able to forgive him for having to wait for part three: these are books I also love, and that advice was straight from my dad too. I shall now try an...

My e-book still isn't published yet - with a deadline looming for a paper book, I just haven't had any time to spare for it. But with the paper book now finally finished, I can get back to it at last: I started by reading through the stories checking for typos (amazing how many sneak in) and doing a little gentle tweaking, and then took another look at the 'other stuff' such as the contents page, author info and copyright details. Before long I'd had to go and look at some other books: while I always read dedications (which fascinate me, especially when cryptic messages to the dedicatee are included) I usually skip straight past the rest, as I imagine most other people do. Looking at some e-books for further comparison, there seemed to be huge differences in what was included under the copyright info: some quite lengthy and others a single sentence. How much and what to include? Does it really matter? I scratched my head a bit more and trawled around the internet. I...