2 May 2005
Another book?
How long does it take to write a novel? That depends …
How long is a novel? That depends, too … And now it's not just my one ...
I first had the idea for my third novel Labyrinth just before taking on the job of Executive Director at Chichester Festival Theatre. That was a fantastically challenging and rewarding position and, for three years, Labyrinth was on the back burner. But it was brewing …
Labyrinth has two interwoven parts – a medieval story that begins 800 years ago and a contemporary story that unearths the secrets of the distant past. As soon as I was free to do so, I wrote 10 chapters from the medieval section.
What a relief it was to put down on paper the 13th century woman I had so often dreamt of!
I wrote a synopsis of the rest of the novel and gave that and the 10 medieval chapters to my agent, Mark Lucas. Mark and I then went to see my publisher, Orion, to talk about an advance to give me the time and space to finish the book. At the same time, I sketched out for them the outline of the follow-up novel – and signed a two-book deal.
Around this time, I also struck my first foreign deal with the German publisher Droemer. That was for both books, too. Then there was the long haul of three full drafts and, at last, a completed typescript of 180,000 words.
Since then I've turned my attention to editing and fine tuning the book, giving interviews, heading up the Orange Prize for Fiction, speaking with my foreign publishers … Most recently, I spent a few days in New York with Mark's brother George Lucas – also a literary agent – where we shook hands on a two book deal with Putnam, part of the Penguin group.
On the day after I wrote my final edit, my husband Greg got up at 6 o'clock and went to his computer to start a work of his own. There's a fight for the sunniest and quietest room to work in now!
Each navigates their own Labyrinth.
