kate atkisnon

Oh, i can see it up, that's quite exciting.  Mark sent me some questions, so I'll try and respond to those

I'd be interested in finding out if Ms. Atkinson paid
any attention to the fray on the LBC site once your
selection was announced and where she believes she
falls into the publishing stratosphere - established,
emerging, mid-list, some other category, etc.?

I don't actually know the answer to this - obviously over here and in europe i'm established and successful but over there i think of myself as being reintroduced.  I'm not in the US bestseller list so as far as i'm concerned not that successful.  Was your brief to pick a completely unknown writer? I don't think of anyone in the States knowing who i am apart from a handful here and there, mostly on the coasts and more or less everyone in Santa Cruz for some unknown reason.   

How, if at all, does she feel Reagan Arthur helps her
writing process?
Well, 'she' doesn't feel anyone helps with the writing process (wouldn't it be wonderful if they did?)   My rule of thumb is never ever show work in progress to anyone, anything they say, good or bad, gets inside your head.  Having said that, i think Reagan is a great reader of raw material (as is my agent Kim Witherspoon) and also a great editor.  My primary editor is usually over here but on the book i've just finished Reagan had done the primary edit and it was very intelligent and sensitive.

Does she believe Case Histories was a genre novel or
not?

i think a novel is just a novel, people really do like to categorize though.  i never set out to write a 'crime novel' and it was never marketed over here as such.  Obviously as soon as you put crime plus a detective into a novel you're bound to be seen that way.  A book is a book is a book as Stein might have said.

Comments

[Brenda Coulter]

"i think a novel is just a novel, people really do like to categorize though. i never set out to write a 'crime novel' and it was never marketed over here as such."

Oh, how refreshing! Could we have Ms. Atkinson back every Monday? ;-)

[booksquare]

I have to agree with the novel is just a novel thing...welcome Kate, to the world of blogging. I really enjoyed Case Histories -- Michelle, particularly, has stuck with me for the past several months.

[Health News]

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