Creating the Housemaid Audio Book

I am delighted to tell you The Housemaid's Daughter will be published not only as a physical book and a digital e-book, but also as an Audio Book.
Audio book? I hear you cry. What fun!

But creating it is not a trivial business. There's the matter of pronunciation to be tackled. As those of you who have read the original book will know, there is a sprinkling of Xhosa, Afrikaans and colloqial South African phrases scattered throughout the novel. These have to expressed convincingly in order to build the authenticity of the characters speaking them, convey the meaning of the words correctly, and satisfy all those eagle-eared listeners out there who will be fluent in English, Xhosa and Afrikaans. A tall order.

So, for the past few days, I have been recording all the non-English phrases in order to help the lovely lady who will be doing the reading for us. She will be able to practise her pronunciation alongside mine. Another way to guide pronunciation of a foreign word is to find an English word that rhymes with it. So, for the bird called a hadeda, I offer 'blah di blah'. For those rock rabbits called dassies, how about (brazen) 'hussies'?

As in all languages, however, there are some sounds that are unique and not easily copied. For example a particular variation of the vowel 'o' in the words koppie and bossie seems to defy an English equivalent. It's a mix between the 'o' in hot and the 'au' in haughty. The vowels are not the only culprits. The Afrikaans pronunciation of the letter 'g' is a particular challenge for an English speaker. And when it is combined with an r requiring a good roll of the tongue - as in the river Groot Vis - then some serious PT is needed.

My all time favourite has to be Qongqothwane, the magical Click Song made famous by Miriam Makeba and played on the piano by Ada in the book. Not many of us can manage the palate-stretching Xhosa clicks required to pronounce it accurately, so we will be setting our sights a little lower and aiming for 'Caw-kot-wa-nee'.

Those readers with a delicate disposition, look away now. The langasem grasshopper can only be rendered as 'lung-arse-em'. Apologies!

The Housemaid's Daughter in Vancouver

I have just returned from Canada, where I spent some time in Vancouver with a charming group of ladies who will be involved in the promotion, marketing and selling of The Housemaid's Daughter in that part of the world.

I still find it quite a shock to meet people for the first time and hear then talking about the characters in my book as if they are old friends! As an author, you spend so much time alone with your characters that you feel you're the only one who really knows them. They belong to you! Then suddenly they're out and about in the world, connecting with readers independently, making them laugh or cry without asking your permission. It's rather like learning to let a child go. That baby you have nurtured, that toddler you have protected, is now taking his first steps away from you. Exciting, certainly. Also a little disconcerting, because invariably someone will express an opinion about a character's actions or personality which is totally different from what you intended. Ah, well. It's no bad thing. Imagine how boring life would be if we all responded in the same way...

To my delight, the booksellers I met are looking forward to promoting The Housemaid's Daughter. One lady had in fact spent time in South Africa, and had travelled through the Karoo. I looked on my globe when I returned to the UK. Vancouver and the Karoo are virtually on opposite sides of the world, some 9 time zones apart. Who would have guessed that I would meet someone who knew Cradock? It's not such a vast world after all.

Next time... more foreign translations. Stay tuned.

A chance meeting...

A year ago this month I attended the Winchester Writers' Conference. It wasn't my first visit and, as it turns out, it won't be my last, either.

Ten years ago I went along to the Conference for the first time, armed with an excerpt of my writing. At that time I had no prospects beyond an enthusiasm for words and a cache of stories in my head. It proved to be an inspirational visit, with agent interviews and a variety of educational sessions to hone your skills. I came away determined to forge ahead with my book, come what may.

In June 2011 I returned, this time with my self-published novel which I was to introduce at the Plenary session. I also took a book stand in the hope of selling some copies to fellow attendees. I did do so, but not as many as I'd hoped. After a long day on my feet, I was ready to pack up and go home when a lady stopped by my stand and asked about my book. She was an agent and had lived in South Africa. She asked for a copy and I gave her one, never imagining I would hear anything further from her. (I had, of course, sent the manuscript out to many agents in the past with no luck at all, so wasn't hopeful).

But I was wrong. A few days later she phoned me and said she'd loved the book and would I be interested in her representing me?
Would I indeed!
And that's where it started. I worked with her on refining the original manuscript (see last blog) and within a month or so my book landed up on the desk of an editor at a well-known publishing house. The Frankfurt Book Fair was coming up and the timing was perfect. The publishers bought the worldwide rights and subsequently sold translation rights to publishers in Holland, Italy, France, Germany, Spain and China. The book will also be published in the US.

So if I hadn't gone to the Winchester Writers' Conference, if I hadn't manned a stall all day, if I had instead left early to nurse my sore feet...
I would never have had the encounter with an agent who happened to love the book and chose to place it in front of a publisher who would turn out to love it, too.
How's that for luck?

At the end of this month I'll be going back to Winchester to say thank you, and to present the newly-titled The Housemaid's Daughter to the Plenary session, in advance of its publication in August.
Any of you budding authors out there, take heart. Miracles sometimes do happen!