As you'll see from tomorrow on the new home page of my website, Paths of Glory comes out in paperback on September 15th in its new B format, which is a first for me.
I've been away for the past six weeks writing a collection of 14 short stories to be called And Thereby Hangs a Tale which will be published in the Spring of next year. During the break, Mary and I spent four days in St Mawes in Cornwall, at the magnificent Hotel Tresanton, where we had dinner with the owners, Olga Polizzi and William Shawcross. William's latest book, a biography of the Queen Mother, will be published on September 16th, and although he wouldn't go into any detail, it's clear that after the Queen gave him access to all the private files and letters, it will be the ultimate work on the Queen Mother's amazing life. Coincidentally, we are both speaking at the Daily Mail Literary Lunch at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London on September 29th.
While we were in Cornwall, we did the obvious sightseeing trips: to the Tate at St Ives, The Lost Gardens of Heligan and the Eden Project, but the winner for us both was a mere 300 yards from the hotel - St Mawes Castle, built by Henry VIII to warn of any attempted invasion by the wicked Spanish or French. It's well worth a visit, but do take the audio tour. We returned to London a day early so that I could attend the third day of the Test at the Oval. I saw England establish a winning position in the final Test, and was also due to be a guest in the President's box on the final Monday when I expected to watch England wrap up a victory - but they got there the day before, so I was robbed.
Last Thursday, Mary and I travelled up to Stratford-upon-Avon on our biannual trip when we attempt to see four plays in three days. This is no longer possible as two of the theatres, the main house and the Swan, are undergoing renovation, and the only theatre available is the Courtyard, which has had an extensive up-grading itself. On our first night, we saw As You Like It. Katy Stephens was quite outstanding as Rosalind, and the whole evening was great fun. On the second night we went to Julius Caesar to see Darrell D'Silva as Mark Antony (the best Mark Antony I've ever seen) and Greg Hicks as Caesar. I've always considered this play a disaster in the sense that when the poet Cinna is murdered, the play goes steadily downhiill as every director quite rightly takes the break at that point, and then goes into the battle at Pompeii with Mark Antony against Brutus. As you know who's going to win, and three of the baddies will fall on their own sword, it's a bit of a struggle to make it at all believable, but neverthless the first act was so good that it's well worth seeing. The final play, The Winter's Tale, was, for me, the best of the three. It was interesting to see almost the entire cast, just 24 hours after performing Julius Caesar, acting this very demanding play. Hicks and D'Silva gave the two best performances of the weekend, and I confess to have never heard of either of them, despite the fact that I visit the theatre sometimes two or three times a week. It once again goes to prove the sheer depth of talent we have in this country, because frankly both of them are stars. I wonder how many of my readers, like myself, have never heard of them. We returnded to London on Sunday after a visit to Compton Verney and Warwick Castle, and I'll tell you more about that tomorrow.
I've been away for the past six weeks writing a collection of 14 short stories to be called And Thereby Hangs a Tale which will be published in the Spring of next year. During the break, Mary and I spent four days in St Mawes in Cornwall, at the magnificent Hotel Tresanton, where we had dinner with the owners, Olga Polizzi and William Shawcross. William's latest book, a biography of the Queen Mother, will be published on September 16th, and although he wouldn't go into any detail, it's clear that after the Queen gave him access to all the private files and letters, it will be the ultimate work on the Queen Mother's amazing life. Coincidentally, we are both speaking at the Daily Mail Literary Lunch at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London on September 29th.
While we were in Cornwall, we did the obvious sightseeing trips: to the Tate at St Ives, The Lost Gardens of Heligan and the Eden Project, but the winner for us both was a mere 300 yards from the hotel - St Mawes Castle, built by Henry VIII to warn of any attempted invasion by the wicked Spanish or French. It's well worth a visit, but do take the audio tour. We returned to London a day early so that I could attend the third day of the Test at the Oval. I saw England establish a winning position in the final Test, and was also due to be a guest in the President's box on the final Monday when I expected to watch England wrap up a victory - but they got there the day before, so I was robbed.
Last Thursday, Mary and I travelled up to Stratford-upon-Avon on our biannual trip when we attempt to see four plays in three days. This is no longer possible as two of the theatres, the main house and the Swan, are undergoing renovation, and the only theatre available is the Courtyard, which has had an extensive up-grading itself. On our first night, we saw As You Like It. Katy Stephens was quite outstanding as Rosalind, and the whole evening was great fun. On the second night we went to Julius Caesar to see Darrell D'Silva as Mark Antony (the best Mark Antony I've ever seen) and Greg Hicks as Caesar. I've always considered this play a disaster in the sense that when the poet Cinna is murdered, the play goes steadily downhiill as every director quite rightly takes the break at that point, and then goes into the battle at Pompeii with Mark Antony against Brutus. As you know who's going to win, and three of the baddies will fall on their own sword, it's a bit of a struggle to make it at all believable, but neverthless the first act was so good that it's well worth seeing. The final play, The Winter's Tale, was, for me, the best of the three. It was interesting to see almost the entire cast, just 24 hours after performing Julius Caesar, acting this very demanding play. Hicks and D'Silva gave the two best performances of the weekend, and I confess to have never heard of either of them, despite the fact that I visit the theatre sometimes two or three times a week. It once again goes to prove the sheer depth of talent we have in this country, because frankly both of them are stars. I wonder how many of my readers, like myself, have never heard of them. We returnded to London on Sunday after a visit to Compton Verney and Warwick Castle, and I'll tell you more about that tomorrow.
2 Comments:
I haven't checked in for a while...busy raising my boys, working, cooking, etc. but you made my day (well it's 11:15pm in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada right now so I guess you made my night?) when I read that a new collection of short stories is coming out! I can't wait - and will definitely be first in line to buy it in hardcover. My "Jeffrey Archer shelf" is almost completely full - better start clearing off another shelf for you! Really and truly loved Paths of Glory but my favourite will always be my "first Jeffrey", "As the Crow Flies" which I re-read pretty much annually and was given to me by my dear friend Sandra. She was the one who came with me when we met you at a signing in Toronto on June 20, 1998 at the Indigo Bookstore at Yonge & Eglinton. I will never forget the date because I re-organized my spa day that day just to meet you - and got married the next day!! Wishing you all the best and can't wait for the new collection! Sarah
I'm a big fan of the short story form, and always look forward to your story collections. Roll on next Spring.
Btw, I'm disappointed to note you still haven't been persuaded to attend the Ilkley Literary Festival! ;-)
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