Not the Booker Goes Silent

On October 5, 2017 By Sara GethinIn Author, Not the Booker Prize, Not Thomas, NottheBooker10 Comments

It’s been a strange week on the Guardian’s Not the Booker prize shortlist.

Guardian Mug

All six shortlisted novels have been reviewed by Sam Jordison, who runs the prize, and one novel, in a shock announcement, has been removed from the competition by its author. There’ve been no more books to review and no comments from readers, as the threads under each of the novels are closed. And so it’s been a very quiet week on the Not the Booker page.

So what happens next?

As there’s no up-to-date information yet this year, I’ve looked back at what happened last year, and I’m assuming there’ll be another online public vote, where readers can choose their favourite book from the shortlist of five. The voting will probably open this weekend, or soon after, and run for the whole week.

I’m guessing that, like last year, people will be asked to vote for only one novel on the shortlist and to write a 50 word review – half the number of words required in the previous round.

If Sam follows last year’s system, the book that wins the public vote will get two points. No points will be awarded for second place.

Then it’s the turn of the judges.

Sam will choose three judges from people who’ve reviewed this year’s books in the comment threads on the Not the Booker page. Last year, the judges were announced when the public voting opened. This year, surprisingly, the judges don’t need to have read all of the shortlisted books, only three. Each judge has one vote, and in the case of a tie, Sam has the casting vote.

The winner will be announced live online.

Last year, the judges discussed the shortlisted novels with Sam via Skype on the morning after the public vote closed. Maybe that will be the case this year too. I expect Sam will let us know soon. But until then, all the above is speculation.

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So this week has been a pause for breath.

Next week will be busy, with public voting open again, that dreadful Guardian site to help would-be voters navigate and a live event at the Big Green Bookshop in London. Four of the shortlisted authors are expected to be there, including this one, and Sam will be chairing the discussion. Oh the joy – Tomos and I will need all the positive vibes you can send us!

I’ll update my blog when I have more definite information but until then, thanks for reading,

Sara x

Sara’s debut novel ‘Not Thomas’ – a story of child neglect, love and hope, shown through the eyes of five-year-old Tomos – is published by Honno Press in paperback and as an e-book, and is available to buy direct from the publisher, from Amazon and from all good bookshops.

#WelshWordWednesday

On September 27, 2017 By Sara GethinIn #welsh, Not Thomas3 Comments

Today’s Welsh word, for readers of ‘Not Thomas’ who aren’t familiar with the language, is duw – which sounds like what you might find on your lawn in the morning. It means ‘god’.

On page 86, when Tomos is the only one left without a bacon butty, the fair-minded Saint says: “Duw, you’re a heartless cow, mind Ree.”

And it’s often said twice after hearing a surprising piece of news, for example:

“Mammy turned up for the Christmas concert.”

“Duw, duw.”

Not the Booker SHOCK Announcement

On September 22, 2017 By Sara GethinIn Author, New Book, New Novel, Not the Booker Prize, Not Thomas, NottheBooker, Reading, Writing11 Comments

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Wow! What a week for the Guardian’s Not the Booker prize.

Everything was going along swimmingly – albeit with some pretty choppy waves for a couple of us on the shortlist – and then crash! Out of the blue, Ann O’Loughlin, author of The Ludlow Ladies’ Society, gave Sam Jordison quite a shock.

Ann has withdrawn her novel from the shortlist.

In a statement published by the Guardian, she said:

“I feel a great sense of relief to be moving away from a competition that caused so much stress in my life and that of my family.”

Read her full statement here

Ann already has a very large, faithful following of readers, and as she points out in her statement to the Guardian, her novels have been translated into eight languages and are published in the US. As she says, she didn’t ask to be nominated, and she was worried from the start about what she refers to as the “unjustifiable criticism” that appeared in the comments section from people who hadn’t even read the book.

And she’s quite right.

There are a few people on the Guardian page who clearly don’t read the nominated books but still enjoy leaving a barbed comment or two. All that is par for the course, as far as I’m concerned, but then I’d followed this prize for a few years and knew exactly what to expect. Had I been going into this without a clue what it could be like, then I might feel, like Ann, that it wasn’t worth the stress.

And yes, it is stressful at times – and I imagine it will be even more so, now that mine is the only novel left on the shortlist that Sam has been particularly scathing of.

But for me it’s worth that bit of stress.

Unlike Ann, who’s been writing novels for a number of years and has a few under her belt, Not Thomas is my first novel for adults. I don’t have a ready-made fan base – although I’m incredibly grateful to my wonderful readers who have championed Not Thomas and brought it to the attention of others, and who nominated it for the Not the Booker prize and voted it onto the shortlist.

I always said that being part of this prize was like building a platform for Tomos – giving him a headstart in a world jam-packed with new books.

Not Thomas is a debut novel, published by a tiny publisher, and Not the Booker has brought it to a wider audience than would otherwise have been possible so soon after its publication.

I’m really sorry Ann has decided to leave the competition, but I know her novel will do very well, with or without the publicity of Not the Booker.

The other week I went into Easons, the huge bookstore on O’Connell Street in Dublin. Ann’s novel The Ludlow Ladies’ Society was very prominently positioned on a table near the main door. It had a similar position in many of the other Dublin bookstores I visited too. I have no doubt it’s going to fly off the shelves in Ireland and beyond.

So, au revoir and all the very best to Ann.

While the five of us left on the shortlist will be squirming for a while yet – and me in particular – I know The Ludlow Ladies’ Society will be doing just fine.

Thanks for reading – please let me know your thoughts!

Sara x

P.S. Don’t forget the Narberth Book Fair in Pembrokeshire tomorrow, 23rd September. At 11am I’ll be chatting to Jan Baynham about writing ‘Not Thomas’ and my experience of being on the Not the Booker prize shortlist. It’s free so come along!

Publication Day for Carol Lovekin’s Snow Sisters

On September 21, 2017 By Sara GethinIn Author, Book Launch, New Book, New Novel, Reading, WritingLeave a comment

Today is publication day for Carol Lovekin’s second novel, Snow Sisters.

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I loved Carol’s first novel, Ghostbird, and so I’m really looking forward to reading her new offering. It’s received a fabulous review on Being Anne today – read it here. And follow Carol Lovekin’s own blog, Making it Up as I Go Along, to read about her unique take on writing.

Alongside a whole host of other local authors, Carol will be at Narberth Book Fair on Saturday, 23rd September, and she’ll have copies of Snow Sisters for sale, as well as her first novel, Ghostbird.

It’s going to be a great day – hope to see you there!

Sara x

#WelshWordWednesday & Narberth Book Fair

On September 20, 2017 By Sara GethinIn Author, New Book, New Novel, Not Thomas2 Comments

For ‘Not Thomas’ readers who aren’t familiar with the Welsh language, today’s Welsh words for Wednesday come from page 81 and they’re spoken by Saint, or Dewi, as Ree prefers to calls him.

First is cariad which means ‘love’ and is a general term of endearment. Dewi says to Ree: “Nip to Spar, cariad.” Ree doesn’t like Dewi, so she’s not exactly won over by his use of cariad, but the £20 note he’s waving does get her attention.

Later on Dewi, or Saint, says to Tomos, who’s hiding behind the big black chair: “Dere ‘ma, bach.”

Dere means ‘come’; ‘ma is short for yma, which means ‘here’; And bach means ‘small’ but in this phrase it’s a term of endearment and could be translated as ‘little one’.

So “Dere ‘ma, bach” translates as “Come here, little one.“

Sounds a bit sinister maybe, but Tomos eventually realises that Saint means well – he’s the friendly face of Welsh drug dealing.

Thanks for reading!

Sara x

P.S. Don’t forget Narberth Book Fair this weekend, Saturday 23rd September at the Queen’s Hall, Narberth in beautiful Pembrokeshire. Lots of local authors, plus free entry, free talks, free children’s entertainment and free workshops (but please book for workshops in advance). All details of the day are on the Narberth Book Fair website.

Hope to see you there!

#MusicTherapyThursday

On September 14, 2017 By Sara GethinIn Author, Music, New Book, New Novel, Not Thomas, WritingLeave a comment

#MusicTherapyThursday

#MusicIWriteTo #KateAndAnnaMcGarrigle #HeartLikeAWheel

Sara’s debut novel ‘Not Thomas’ – a story of child neglect, love and hope, shown through the eyes of a five-year-old – is published by Honno Press in paperback and as an e-book, and is available to buy direct from the publisher, from Amazon and from all good bookshops.

#WelshWordWednesday – Calennig

On September 13, 2017September 13, 2017 By Sara GethinIn Author, New Book, New Novel, Not the Booker Prize, Not Thomas, NottheBooker3 Comments

#WelshWordWednesday

For readers of ‘Not Thomas’ that aren’t familiar with Welsh, the word for today is calennig as found on page 75.

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The lady next door gives Tomos a coin through the gap in the hedge, making him wait while he desperately wants to go and see what’s inside his Santa Sack.

The lady calls the coin ‘calennig‘ and it turns out to be an old fifty pence piece. But no, calennig doesn’t mean a thoroughly useless object, it means a ‘New Year gift’ – its literal meaning is ‘the first day of the month’ – and calennig is supposed to be lucky.

It’s an old Welsh custom which has stood the test of time, and these days some people in Wales still give lucky calennig to children on New Year’s Day – but I’m not sure if Tomos’s calennig brings him too much luck.

Sara’s debut novel Not Thomas – a story of child neglect, love and hope, shown through the eyes of a five-year-old – is published by Honno Press in paperback and as an e-book, and is available to buy direct from the publisher, from Amazon and from all good bookshops.

Not the Booker at the Halfway Point

On September 11, 2017 By Sara GethinIn Author, LitFic, New Novel, Not the Booker Prize, Not Thomas, NottheBooker, Writing8 Comments

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Well, here we are – mid way through the Guardian’s Not the Booker prize process.

Half of the novels on the shortlist have been reviewed by the Guardian’s Sam Jordison so far. ‘Dark Chapter’ by Winnie M Li, ‘The Ludlow Ladies’ Society’ by Ann O’Loughlin and my own, ‘Not Thomas’ have all felt the sting of Sam’s not overly-friendly reviewing skills. They’ve had their turn for comments from members of the reading public too.

As I type, Sam is uploading his review of the fourth novel, ‘The Threat Level Remains Severe’ by Rowena Macdonald, and then that too will be ready for all the comments – positive, negative or indifferent – that readers want to throw at it.

It’s been a fun and odd five weeks for my novel ‘Not Thomas’ since the Guardian’s shortlist was announced.

Although being reviewed first wasn’t the easiest of positions, it has meant that ‘Not Thomas’ has ended up being mentioned in relation to the other books too. And the more it’s mentioned, the more its title gets ‘out there’.

In his review, Sam denounced Tomos as too young to think the way I’ve portrayed him. That’s fair enough – after all, I expect everyone has their own view of what a typical five-year-old is like, and even if we don’t know any right now, we’ve all been one in the past.

Fortunately for me, a few teachers and some other people who work with children came to Tomos’s defence in the comment thread of the ‘Not Thomas’ review, pointing out that at age five children fit into a broad spectrum of abilities.

And even Sam defended ‘Not Thomas’ the other day – in a very mild way, of course. When someone who hadn’t even read it suggested it was a ‘clunker’, Sam said it wasn’t a clunker and that “Not Tomas (sic) had some good points”. That’s about as much praise as I expect from him. (But note the misspelt title – what little he gives with one hand he takes away with the other!)

There are five more weeks to go before this year’s winner of the Not the Booker prize will be announced.

The live announcement will be made on Monday 16th October. But before that, there’ll be a week of public voting to endure, and along with some of the other finalists, I’ll be attending an event in London where there’ll be debates, readings and Q&A sessions. All good fun – nerve-wracking, nail-biting, good fun.

I’ll be over-dosing on the flower remedy again!

Thanks for reading.

Love,

Sara x

P.S. Have you read any of the books on the shortlist? Let me know what you think of the competition so far.

Sara’s debut novel Not Thomas is published by Honno Press in paperback and as an e-book, and is available to buy direct from the publisher and from Amazon.

#WelshWordWednesday

On September 6, 2017 By Sara GethinIn New Book, New Novel, Not Thomas, WritingLeave a comment

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Especially for those readers of Not Thomas who aren’t familiar with Welsh…

Today’s Welsh word (or rather, phrase) is a bit of a weird one because half of it is in English – well, sort of.

On page 74, the lady next door is a little shocked when Tomos pops his head through the hole in the hedge and shouts ‘Hello’ at her. In her surprise, she yells: ‘Yessee mawr!’

‘Mawr’ is the Welsh word for ‘big’ – although here its meaning is more ‘great’.

‘Yessee’ isn’t a Welsh word, at least it’s not written in Welsh in Not Thomas, but many people from Wales, Welsh-speaker or not, will recognise its sound as ‘Iesu’ which is the Welsh name for Jesus.

The lady next door doesn’t like to ‘take the Lord’s name in vain’, and so, like the gran of a friend of mine, insists she’s simply adding some ‘ees’ onto the end of yes. That’s better for the soul, apparently.

And much easier to read if you’ve never come across the name ‘Iesu’ before.

Thanks for reading – diolch yn fawr!

Sara x

P.S. This is the first Not Thomas #WelshWordWednesday that I’ve put on my blog, but there are others on my Sara Gethin Writer Facebook page. I’ll do a round up of them all here too soon.

Sara’s debut novel Not Thomas is published by Honno Press in paperback and as an e-book, and is available to buy direct from the publisher and from Amazon.

Ann’s Take on Not the Booker

On August 28, 2017 By Sara GethinIn Author, New Book, New Novel, Not the Booker Prize, NottheBooker, WritingLeave a comment

Guardian Mug

I was so delighted to read Ann O’Loughlin’s post ‘Women Write Great Books’ on the wonderful Irish book blog ‘Swirl & Thread‘ today, that I thought I’d share it on my own blog too.

Ann, like me, has a novel shortlisted for the Guardian’s Not the Booker prize 2017. Her novel is set just outside Dublin and is called ‘The Ludlow Ladies’ Society’. I’m reading it at the moment, appropriately enough while on holiday in Ireland, and it’s a good job I am on holiday as I’m finding it hard to put down. I thoroughly recommend it.

So here’s the start of Mairead’s introduction to Ann’s post, with a link to the rest. I hope you enjoy it as much a I did:

“As most of you are now aware The Guardian plays host to the wonderful Not The Booker Prize, since it’s inception in 2009 by journalist Sam Jordison. This is a literary award decided by the reader and it gives opportunity to many authors to access the type of coverage and notoriety…”

Read more on Swirl & Thread

Sara’s debut novel Not Thomas is published by Honno Press in paperback and as an e-book, and is available to buy direct from the publisher or from Amazon.