Summer Newsletter |
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As all good literary newsletters should start - let me introduce my duckling. This is Charlie, so named in case he proves to be a boy or a girl who is the sole survivor from a nest which his mother fecklessly put in a very high windowbox. I had hoped to scoop up the nestlings the moment they hatched but they were too suicidally quick for me, and only Charlie survived.
 His mother is a calling duck in soft caramel brown plumage and he is growing adult feathers of toffee and chocolate. He comes out from the greenhouse to spend the day at the pond and then follows me home at night to be locked in safely with three other orphans. I have become quite duck obsessed with this little family and have been utterly distracted from the other work of writing, and preparing for publication of my new novel The Other Queen. It's been a busy and enjoyable year so far. The Other Boleyn Girl movie is coming out on DVD this month and already people are talking about the differences between the movie and the book. I always expect readers to prefer a book to a movie - and mostly they do. But a lot of people have seen the movie and that has brought them to read the book and discover there is so much more than the director and writer were able to have in the film. Books are complex and thought provoking and good movies are more about action and emotional response. I was proud and satisfied by my book but I do love the movie. I defy anyone to see the closing scene of Natalie Portman as Anne Boleyn at the Tower, without being moved. All the performances are excellent, and the whole look of the movie is beautiful. |
