So, 2013, you came and now you are leaving us. Someone once said that Time is what we all want the most but use the worst. Did I use you well this year? I like to think so.

Having seen the new year in riotously with good friends in our adopted county of Suffolk, England, in January we mourned the loss of a dear friend who – at 95 – had filled our last 25 years with love and laughter, wine and song. God bless you, darling Nicky. We shall never forget you.

I rolled up my sleeves and went back to work with someone who turned out to be not at all as they seemed. I am not one to dwell on negatives and am a great believer in karma, but rarely have I encountered anyone quite so toxic *shudder* Fortunately, I made a new friend in the process and bonded even more deeply with an old one. Thank you, Claire and Carly.

What the universe kindly offered me as an antidote was the purity of Haatchi and Little B, the delightful duo of seven-year-old Owen Howkins and his beloved three-legged dog. After the success of my Uggie, The Artist book – which was published in Italy this year and will be published in Russia in 2014 (in addition to the UK, US, and France along with an app we developed separately), it was wonderful to go back to writing about people and animals who epitomize nothing but goodness.

Haatchi & Little B was voted ‘book of the fair’ at the London Book Fair in March and will be published by Bantam Press in February in the UK. It will also be published in Germany, Brazil, America and elsewhere. If you haven’t seen this adorable pair already at Crufts or on the Paul O’Grady Show and elsewhere do watch out for them on TV and at book signings.

Continuing on the canine theme, in April my novella Mr. Scraps was published online as an ebook. Inspired by the true story of a dog named Rip who was the first search-and-rescue dog during the Second World War, Mr. Scraps is a heartwarming story of courage, love and devotion that appeals to parents and children alike. I wrote it for my niece and nephew and hope it will be published as a paperback specifically aimed at Year 7 students later this year.

I also published my first novel The Sense of Paper as an ebook outside the US. First published by Random House New York in 2006, it is still in print in America but I wanted to make it more widely available. I designed the jacket myself and had fun revisiting something that I first starting writing ten years ago.

In between travelling back and forth to the US and spending the summer in Italy again, I also finished up the remarkable memoir of Sheila E, the world’s most famous female drummer whose story of redemption through music will be published by Atria in the US in the autumn. To the Beat of My Own Drum is moving and courageous and I am delighted to call Sheila my friend.

Talking of friends, I spent much of the year in California and elsewhere engrossed in the research and writing of my third book with Goldie Hawn. The Wellspring of Joy continues our bestselling 10 Mindful Minutes series and is to be published worldwide in October. In this latest book Goldie helps us to rediscover the joy we are all born with but often lose sight of along the way, especially in our frenzied lives.

2013 wasn’t all about work and in our thirtieth wedding anniversary year, Himself and I managed to spend some glorious time in Suffolk, Devon, Spain, and our beloved Italy where we also slipped away to Venice. We had visitors from Scotland, Holland, and America, and I reconnected with the indomitable ‘Lady Blue Eyes’ Barbara Sinatra, as well as our old friend David Richardson. We also made some great new friends - especially Will Howkins, Colleen Drummond, David Keough, Ayesha Adonais, and Jen Bergstrom – with whom we have unfinished business!

With the London Book Fair in April and three new books coming out next year I shall be busy helping to promote them as well as updating and publishing as an ebook one of my recently out of print titles, Shell Shock: The Psychological Trauma of War.

To keep me out of mischief, I have a fascinating and intensely moving new war story to research, another novel burning away in my brain, and an unusual Hollywood memoir to write. I shall be adapting a screenplay I wrote into a stage play, helping a friend publish her YA memoir, and will be eagerly awaiting the first draft of a screenplay based on a bestselling book I wrote a decade ago. Plus, whatever else the tide brings in….

Roll on 2014. May it be a happy, healthy, and productive year for you all xx

My first born child

THE SEED of an idea was planted long, long ago. A painter friend told me that he’d remortgaged his Suffolk house in order to buy up the last known supply of the same make of watercolour paper used by JMW Turner.

I was astonished that he set such store by the paper he clearly revered. An amateur dabbler myself, I’d assumed it was purely the talent of the person behind the brush and not the materials that mattered. I was wrong.

A cursory investigation into the illustrious Whatman paper company in Kent and its connection to some of the greatest artists the world has ever known sparked something in my sub-conscious that eventually led me to writing my first novel.

The Sense of Paper started out as a love story - a tale of obsession with paper and with art – set in the wild coastal landscape that I had moved to. I had no clear idea of an ending, or even a middle, when I began it and – although I’d written many other books – this experience was different and exhilarating.

There were times when I didn’t feel to be in control of my fingers as they flew across the keys as if my magic. I watched the words they typed scroll out on the computer screen and marvelled that a hidden part of my brain was purging itself of its secrets and dreams.

I never intended the book to be remotely autobiographical but I didn’t seem to be able to prevent that. My experiences as a journalist on a national newspaper and – for a while – a foreign and war correspondent – spilled out of me in a torrent and before I knew it I had both a middle and an ending that was dramatic, obsessive, and tragic.

The novel-writing process took me two years. During that time I wrote two other (non-fiction) books, which were published with all the attendant publicity. The Sense of Paper felt to be my secret – my own little world into which I could immerse myself day or night and find release.

Although I was an established non-fiction author with hopes of being a novelist too one day, the idea of offering up my finished creation to public scrutiny scared me. I showed it to my husband and a few close friends first. All urged me to get it published. My agent loved it and immediately sent it out into the big wide world.

As a journalist for more than 20 years, I knew all about rejection. Like all reporters, my copy was often thrown back at me to rewrite and I was well accustomed to the feeling. The rejection letters from publishers were a new experience for me, though, and they stung.

My debut novel, they said variously, was ‘remarkable', 'astonishing', 'brave', 'lusciously textured' and poetic.’ They loved the contrasts between Turner’s life, the Suffolk scenery, and descriptions of some of the more brutal war zones of the modern age. After due consideration, though, more than thirty of them passed on publishing it because they couldn’t be certain which pigeonhole to place it in. (I was somewhat comforted to read recently that a book that is currently on the Man Booker longlist was rejected 47 times before it found the right home).

“But is The Sense of Paper a thriller, a mystery, or a romance?” one publisher asked my agent. “How do we market this?” asked another. “Where exactly would we place it on the shelves?” The view was that it didn’t fall into any neat category – something which others might have seen as its unique selling point.

Fortunately for me, an editor at Random House, New York, felt differently about my work. She loved Paper so much, having read it in one sitting, that she rushed into her office at 6am the following morning to catch her boss and demand that they publish it.

They did, in the autumn of 2006, to widespread critical acclaim. The reviews were amazingly gratifying after such a tortuous path and I still receive emails from fans begging me to write another, similar book.

Goldie Hawn, my friend and co-author on another project, hosted a glittering launch party for me at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel overlooking Central Park. The night was all the more poignant for the fact that it was my first major outing since recovering from viral encephalitis which had almost killed me and confined me to bed for a year.

The Sense of Paper is still in print in the US seven years on but is now published as an ebook in the UK for the first time. It is still something of which I am proud. People say that parents will always favour a first child over later children, no matter how hard they try not to, because of all that they went through to produce it. I feel the same way.

Since Paper was published, I have gone on to write many more books – all of them published and all very different. They are mostly the biographies of remarkable women whose lives read like works of fiction. I have also written a novella, Mr Scraps, about a dog caught up in the London Blitz, two screenplays, and have two unfinished novels on file which I hope to have the time to finish one day.

None of them, though, can ever mean as much to me as The Sense of Paper.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Sense-Paper-Obsessions-ebook/dp/B00E83ONZI/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1375782460&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Sense+of+Paper

IT started with my eleven-year-old nephew Lawrie. He was learning about the London Blitz at school and - like many children his age - was fascinated by the experiences that so many ordinary men, women and children had under such intense and near-constant bombardment.


       'But what happened to the animals?' he asked me and, before I could even formulate my reply, the germ of an idea was born. More than a year later and my latest fictional offering, Mr. Scraps, is now available as an ebook around the world.


        With an eye-catching cover created for me by the talented French artist Valerie Neguelouart, Mr. Scraps is a heartwarming story of courage, love and devotion that will hopefully appeal to parents and children alike.


        Inspired by the true story of a dog named Rip, it recounts the experiences of Bobby, a seven-year-old rescue dog of dubious heritage, who lives with his Master and uses his sense of smell to navigate the world.


        His Boy is missing in action, his Lady has 'slipped down the rabbit-hole' and there’s little excitement in his life. No sooner had his Master told him they were at war, though, than the terror-birds start dropping the egg-bombs that forever change his world.


        Through Bobby’s perceptive canine eyes, ears and nose, the reader experiences first-hand the life of a four-legged victim of war. Alone and terrified, he encounters only death and fire-stink until he is befriended by a scab-kneed boy called Lawrie who names him 'Mr. Scraps', and a fireman named Harry who realises how useful he could be.


        In a daily game of seek-and-reward Mr. Scraps becomes the first ever search-and-rescue dog. Between them, he and Harry find more than three hundred dead or dying, and are almost killed in the process.


       When I had finished writing his story, I sent a personally inscribed printed copy to my nephew and niece who devoured it in virtually one sitting. Lawrie told me, 'Mr Scraps is amazing! I loved the book and I loved the dog. It taught me a lot about war and although there were some sad bits I was happy by the end. I've told all my friends in school about it and they can't wait to read it either.' They passed their copy around and very soon other children, parents and teachers were asking me when it would be available for everyone to read. I was extremely flattered.


       Jo, a Year 6 teacher told me it was 'spot on for the curriculum and added. 'This would almost certainly be welcomed nationwide in schools for both history and English. It is an excellent way of teaching pupils about what it was like in the war using the clever device of a dog as narrator. This ticks all the boxes and the kids I gave it to to read all loved it.’


       Lucy, a mother of two said she could 'hardly put it down' and added, 'As a dog lover it has all the best details of animal behaviour. It also reflects those terrible bombing raids during the war and the story as a whole is the more poignant for being based on the true story. I was gripped. It’s definitely got legs!'


        Liz, another mother said that when her husband came in from work and found her reading the story to her children, he asked her to go on with another chapter, he was so gripped.


        Clare, a social worker, described it as 'both educational and entertaining. It caught the children's imagination from the first page. I can see it being the kind of book parents would like too. It could also work as a great example to kids to think about those less fortunate than themselves which is so important in my work.' 


        Alan, a publisher and father of two told me, ‘I much enjoyed the simple sincerity of the story that would appeal to adults as well as children. It is a very touching story and a work of empathy and imagination that has in it the potential for a wonderful film adaptation like War Horse.’ 


        But it was what the children had to say that really moved me. Most of them seemed to read it in one sitting and some started all over again once they had finished. Tiffany, 8, said, 'I really enjoyed the book and the story is good and exciting because you want to know what happens next. And it is a different story and it is just amazing that the dog could rescue people like that. I shall tell a lot of friends about it and that it is a good book to by (sic)'.


        Ben, 12, said, ‘I don’t normally like these kinds of books but I really liked this one. I felt so sorry for all the dogs and cats abandoned by their owners. It made me think a lot about what happened then and when I spotted a dog in the street I thought looked a bit like Mr Scraps I told my mum.’ 


        George, 14, said, 'We'd already done the war at school but I had no idea that dogs were involved in the Blitz and I hadn't thought what their lives would be like. I didn't cry but I did get a lump in my throat.'


        And so, after some thirty or so books published, many of them international bestsellers including my last one - the 'memoir' of  Uggie the dog from the movie The Artist - I was encouraged to embark on an exciting new venture and break into ebook publishing via Amazon, Kobo, and virtually every ebook and epub format that's on offer globally.


        Mr. Scraps does indeed now have legs, and I am hoping that all four of them will carry him swiftly into Kindles and homes, phones, schools, iPads, Nooks, and human hearts in just the same way that he has crept into and curled up forever in mine.

 
      There are too many forums to list where Mr. Scraps is for sale now at the incredibly competitive price of £2.99 in the UK (equivalent elsewhere), but here is the link for Amazon/Kindle UK - http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00C5EWK4S 

        Please visit the website or store of your choice, find my scrappy little rescue dog and take him home? 

        You won't regret it.

Mr Scraps

IT started with my eleven-year-old nephew Lawrie. He was learning about the London Blitz at school and - like many children his age - was fascinated by the experiences that so many ordinary men, women and children had under such intense and near-constant bombardment.


        'But what happened to the animals?' he asked me and, before I could even formulate my reply, the germ of an idea was born. More than a year later and my latest fictional offering, Mr. Scraps, is now available as an ebook around the world.


        With an eye-catching cover created for me by the talented French artist Valerie Neguelouart, Mr. Scraps is a heartwarming story of courage, love and devotion that will hopefully appeal to parents and children alike.

     Inspired by the true story of a dog named Rip, it recounts the experiences of Bobby, a seven-year-old rescue dog of dubious heritage, who lives with his Master and uses his sense of smell to navigate the world.


     His Boy is missing in action, his Lady has 'slipped down the rabbit-hole' and there’s little excitement in his life. No sooner had his Master told him they were at war, though, than the terror-birds start dropping the egg-bombs that forever change his world.


      Through Bobby’s perceptive canine eyes, ears and nose, the reader experiences first-hand the life of a four-legged victim of war. Alone and terrified, he encounters only death and fire-stink until he is befriended by a scab-kneed boy called Lawrie who names him 'Mr. Scraps', and a fireman named Harry who realises how useful he could be.


        In a daily game of seek-and-reward Mr. Scraps becomes the first ever search-and-rescue dog. Between them, he and Harry find more than three hundred dead or dying, and are almost killed in the process.


        When I had finished writing his story, I sent a personally inscribed printed copy to my nephew and niece who devoured it in virtually one sitting. Lawrie told me, 'Mr Scraps is amazing! I loved the book and I loved the dog. It taught me a lot about war and although there were some sad bits I was happy by the end. I've told all my friends in school about it and they can't wait to read it either.' They passed their copy around and very soon other children, parents and teachers were asking me when it would be available for everyone to read. I was extremely flattered.


       Jo, a Year 6 teacher told me it was 'spot on for the curriculum and added. 'This would almost certainly be welcomed nationwide in schools for both history and English. It is an excellent way of teaching pupils about what it was like in the war using the clever device of a dog as narrator. This ticks all the boxes and the kids I gave it to to read all loved it.’


       Lucy, a mother of two said she could 'hardly put it down' and added, 'As a dog lover it has all the best details of animal behaviour. It also reflects those terrible bombing raids during the war and the story as a whole is the more poignant for being based on the true story. I was gripped. It’s definitely got legs!'


      Liz, another mother said that when her husband came in from work and found her reading the story to her children, he asked her to go on with another chapter, he was so gripped.


      Clare, a social worker, described it as 'both educational and entertaining. It caught the children's imagination from the first page. I can see it being the kind of book parents would like too. It could also work as a great example to kids to think about those less fortunate than themselves which is so important in my work.'


      Alan, a publisher and father of two told me, ‘I much enjoyed the simple sincerity of the story that would appeal to adults as well as children. It is a very touching story and a work of empathy and imagination that has in it the potential for a wonderful film adaptation like War Horse.’


      But it was what the children had to say that really moved me. Most of them seemed to read it in one sitting and some started all over again once they had finished. Tiffany, 8, said, 'I really enjoyed the book and the story is good and exciting because you want to know what happens next. And it is a different story and it is just amazing that the dog could rescue people like that. I shall tell a lot of friends about it and that it is a good book to by (sic)'.


     Ben, 12, said, ‘I don’t normally like these kinds of books but I really liked this one. I felt so sorry for all the dogs and cats abandoned by their owners. It made me think a lot about what happened then and when I spotted a dog in the street I thought looked a bit like Mr Scraps I told my mum.’


       George, 14, said, 'We'd already done the war at school but I had no idea that dogs were involved in the Blitz and I hadn't thought what their lives would be like. I didn't cry but I did get a lump in my throat.'


       And so, after some thirty or so books published, many of them international bestsellers, including my last one - the 'memoir' of  Uggie the dog from the movie The Artist - I was encouraged to embark on an exciting new venture and break into ebook publishing via Amazon, Kobo, and virtually every ebook and epub format that's on offer globally.


       Mr. Scraps does indeed have legs, and I am hoping that all four of them will carry him swiftly into Kindles and homes, phones, schools, iPads, Nooks, and human hearts in just the same way that he has crept into and curled up forever in mine.


       There are simply too many forums to list where Mr. Scraps is for sale now at the incredibly competitive price of £2.99 in the UK (equivalent elsewhere), but here is the link for Amazon/Kindle UK - http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00C5EWK4S


Please visit the website or store of your choice, find my scrappy little rescue dog and take him home?

You won't regret it.