Pale · Cast

Here's the cover for the US edition of Heretic - to be called Out of the Shadows. I think this cover is wonderful and entirely captures the mood of the novel.

I wrote a letter to my local paper two weeks ago. This isn't something I've ever done before, seeing as I spent seven years actually writing for the paper, the Wiltshire Gazette & Herald, but the coverage of one particular issue caught my attention and stirred my thoughts and emotions.
North Wiltshire District Council has been ordered by the unelected South West regional authority to increase its provision of gypsy sites. NWDC identified six sites at various locations and set out to consult the public on the merits of the various sites on the shortlist. All hell broke loose. I can't think of any single issue in my years of working for the Gazette - not climate change, war, world hunger, or even the closure of local leisure centres - that provoked such a response, including marches and the attendance of hundreds of people at meetings.
It is a very complex and tangled story of course. For starters, the word 'gypsy' has become a coverall encompassing Romany Gypsies, but also Irish travellers and so-called New Age Travellers. And I've seen the filth and rubbish left by one group of Irish travellers who set up unoffical camp by a local wood for several weeks, where there were not toilet / rubbish disposal facilities. There are centuries of history involving the settled community and the nomadic one; there are complex issues relating to planning and the well-publicised 'gypsy wars' when groups have set up permanent sites with mobile homes ignoring planning law, and many have felt aggrieved planning law hasn't been applied fairly and equally. Well I am not going to go into the rights and wrongs of all that, and I certainly didn't in my letter to the Gazette either. I can quite understand why residents wouldn't want a caravan site next to their homes. I wouldn't want one in the field next to my house - but that would be the case if the residents of those aforementioned caravans were Daily Mail-reading Middle Englanders on holiday or New Age Travellers. I like the empty field; I'm a Nimby too. What stirred me though were the sentiments and language expressed by the protesters - the unveiled hatred towards another group of people. My letter wasn't about the rights and wrongs of the gypsy site proposals or the actions of the district council - but a sense of horror at the level of hatred and prejudice, which would not be tolerated if it were directed at any other group of human beings. A friend suggested the feelings and attitudes of the protesters had their roots in fear - and that is probably true. But don't we have to examine our feelings and think for ourselves? I am not a very outspoken person (I wish I were more so, that I was braver) but I thought about the Holocaust and the fact that an estimated half a million gypsies were classified as sub-human and killed, along with the terrible slaughter of six million Jews, and thought that sometimes we have to stand up and speak. I have had a few people contact me subsequently and voice their support for what I said, though a letter in the paper the following week criticised what I had said (though I didn't quite understand what the writer was taking issue with).
This article in the Guardian, about the situation of the Roma in Italy, also makes frightening reading.

The kind people at Waterstones Chippenham created this lovely amethyst-coloured display for my home town celebration of the novel's publication. Friends and family came along to the shop and afterwards we retired to Revolutions for lunch, some twenty six of us ranging in age from two to eighty-eight. It was fun. I think I've been 'launching' The Amethyst Child for about a month now - so better call it a day. The book is well and truly out there.

I spent three days in and around London last week, celebrating the launch of the Amethyst Child, official publication date May 6.
I had a very rewarding time, visiting various schools, reading from the new book and meeting many enthusiastic students. On Wednesday I called in at Elliott School in the morning before meeting up with my daughter in Camden in the afternoon. On Thursday I spent the morning at the Broxbourne School, and the afternoon at Tolworth Girls School in Surbiton as part of the Kingston Literary Festival. Finally, on Friday, I had a wonderful session at Sedgehill School in Lewisham. The pupils made me feel very welcome, bought loads of books and presented me with a beautiful bunch of flowers (above). I also enjoyed the opportunity to talk to some of the school's aspiring writers and to read the work of a very talented young poet.

Like wishus I was contacted by Radio 4 Feedback today, regarding my email of concern about the Sunday programme's article on grave desecration in France - and the suggestion that 'the gothic culture' was to blame. The programme implied that the goth culture and Satanism were synonymous - and linked this in with Nazism just to stick another nail in the, ahem, coffin. The killers of Sophie Lancaster were recently sentenced for murder, having kicked her to death for being a goth - so I would have hoped Radio 4 (my favourite radio station) would have taken a more considered, informed and mature approach. Anyway, they recorded me bimbling on in a rather random way and this, along with wishus's contribution, should be broadcast on Feedback on Sunday at 8pm. Golly!
BTW while undertaking a quick web scan on goths before this discussion I found on a Goth FAQ list: Why do so many goths listen to Radio 4? The answer - its in-depth news coverage, science, drama and comedy... Maybe Radio 4 should remember who its listeners are... :o)

There is an excellent article on the Guardian website by Erica Jong voicing her regret at the faltering progress - and in some cases regression - in the journey towards equality between men and women around the world. I have been observing with horror the rising tide of misogyny in the tabloid press - the endless spiteful obsession with women's physical appearance, fatness or otherwise, and how they are age-ing. And then more recently, the absolute crucifixion of Fiona MacKeown, mother of poor Scarlett Keeling - and this in the so-called developed world where equality is a done deal? Jong observes that many women are themselves at the forefront of the backlash against the F-word - as a woman, as a mother of teenage daughters, I find it utterly depressing.

"Sarah Singleton is becoming a major novelist in the teenage fiction scene, with the Amethyst Child (Simon & Schuster £6.99) her best achievement yet. It describes how intelligent 15-year-old Amber meets Dowdie, her first ever close friend living close by in an experimental community. Delighted by the new sense of freedom she finds there, Amber becomes impatient with her well-meaning but earthbound parents... Sometimes demanding but in the bext possible way, this excellent novel is thoughtful and gripping."
Nicholas Tucker.

Me very, very happy. :o)

I've just returned from an enchanted four days in Switzerland, visiting my old school friend Rachel, who lives in Geneva. We travelled by train into the Swiss Italian Alps and spent two extraordinary days walking in the mountains and valleys. The forests were still leafless, though the sense of the imminent blossoming was tangible. Silent, eerie birchwoods, boulders covered in emerald moss, wild rivers, perfect villages of tiny flint cottages - winding paths taking us up and down stone stairways, past shrines and miniature churches. It was a magical time - full of curious encounters and fortuitous meetings. The landscape was astonishingly beautiful - so many wild, romantic chasms, unexpected pools of turquoise water, snow-helmed mountains, tiny spring flowers. This church, up a mountain, is dedicated to the Snow Madonna. It was marvellous beyond words.

Each year the language specialists at the International Youth Library in Munich, Germany, select newly published books from around the world that they consider to be especially noteworthy. This list of books is compiled into the annual White Ravens catalogue which is introduced each year at the Bologna Children's Book Fair.
"The White Raven label is given to books that deserve worldwide attention because of their universal themes and / or their exceptional and often innovative artistic and literary style and design..."
Following this little preamble may I modestly add that Simon & Schuster have received notification that my third YA novel Sacrifice has been selected for the White Raven label, and will be in the White Ravens 2008 catalogue.
:o)

The peerless Jonathan Meades presents Magnetic North - a consideration of northerness and northern European art.
An hour of unadulterated aesthetic, intellectual and emotional bliss - available free for just three more days... don't miss it.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/page/item/b0090bzs.shtml

The Amethyst Child, to be released by Simon & Schuster in May, has received its first review at BookBag. I am very excited about this new book, which is rather different to the others though psychologically still in the same territory I think. It is also rather more personal in many ways. I am, therefore, thrilled its first review is so positive and that reviewer Jill Murphy has so clearly GOT what I was trying to do. Big smile.
http://www.thebookbag.co.uk/reviews/index.php/The_Amethyst_Child_by_Sarah_Singleton

The curious incident of the homeless woman has finally come to an end. Readers may well remember that I invited Julie, who sleeps rough, to stay in our sun room for a night. It isn't ideal but has a mattress and more safety than the cold concrete tunnel in which she used to sleep. Well Julie ended up staying every night for four months. She kept herself to herself on the whole and always refused invitations to come into the house. I made her teas and food sometimes and gave her some clothes and a box of edible goodies over Christmas. She would turn up at about 9pm, sleep or lie in bed till about 11am, smoke a lot, occasionally swig some vodka. My children found the entire experience something of an embarassment though seemed to enjoy recounting the tale to their friends. Anyway it all came to an end this week when my neighbours complained they had seen her using my garden as a toilet. I can see why they would not be happy about this. I contacted the Salvation Army, which runs a project for the homeless, and spoke to an old newspaper contact there about what could be done to find Julie somewhere better to live. She was optimistic something could be worked out for her. So I told Julie she couldn't use the sunroom anymore and passed on the details about the homeless project, who she needed to see, and when. Julie thanked me for our hospitality and apologised the upsetting my neighbours. Then she was gone. I was hoping she would have followed up the homeless project lead but last night when out running I found her curled up once more in the cold, dangerous tunnel. Right back to square one - where we started. I am not very happy about this. I did something and nothing.

"A new queen of gothic romance, Sarah Singleton writes with an immense passion. Whilst being rich in imagery ‘Century’ directly speaks with a captivating allure. Sarah Singleton’s ‘Century’ is a powerful debut which would make Mary Shelley unflinchingly admire." John Lloyd: Waterstones.

A new queen of gothic romance.... oh how I like that! I like that very much indeed. Thanks John.

I am finding my current novel very hard going, I confess. It is creeping forward sentence by sentence. I have written about 45k so far and another 30-40k to go, depending on how it all pans out. So it was very cheering (and timely) to receive some review cuttings from Simon & Schuster with comments about Sacrifice. Young reviewers writing in the magazine Teen Titles said variously: "If a famous person had personally come to see me, I would have told them to go away until I had finished!" and "From the moment I picked up this book, Sarah Singleton's words carried me off on a thrilling journey..." and "I really can't think of a single negative thing about this book and I am definitely going to try the next in the series!"

Reviewer Natasha Narayan in The Book Magazine says: "At first bite this yarn... is a bit Da Vinci Code. Thankfully Sarah Singleton's imagination starts where Dan Brown's leaves off, plus she can tell a more satisfying story... set in the 1890's it has the panache of a gothic Victorian romance."
Oh I like that - just wish I had a fraction of Dan Brown's sales? And his film deal? Ah well. Nonetheless I am very thankful for these cheering reviews. I shall return to writing the new one with a little more enthusiam perhaps.