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Hello! Welcome to my newsletter for August/September 2020. In this issue:
First trip since my birthday in May. We were almost unbearably excited. Packed a picnic. Packed our masks. Drove to a  Surrey village and trekked into ancient woods. No sound but the snap of branches underfoot. Wide views of the North Downs. Sun flashing on a field waterlogged after rain, on a lone, distant car in a crease between the hills.
Other wonders. Illegible milestones. An old name for the internet.
This bungalow, guarded by Anubis bunnies.
Our ultimate destination was Titsey Place, a 16th century house in Oxted. Satnav, in the finest tradition of Not Quite Lost, took us to the motorway, then, on a stretch with no exit, announced we'd found the destination.
It wasn't wrong. The house was visible, a tower nestled in the hills, just a mile as the crow flies. But impossible to reach unless you had wings.
With the satnav in disgrace, we resorted to the old ways. The 30-year-old atlas that we keep in the car because it's a big book, we can't bear to throw it away, and so it goes with us everywhere.
Here's Titsey. What a pleasure to visit such places again. The grand, ordered spaces, their tranquil geometry, from the smallest trimmed hedge to the biggest landscaped fold.
I would have loved to explore the house but it was still closed. I peered in through the windows, into grand, silent rooms carefully dressed with period furniture. While in lockdown sleep, they had acquired other uses.
A ballroom had a ping-pong table. A sitting room had an open box of croquet mallets and a set of Pictionary. The desk in the library was piled with horticulture books and box files. The staff must have colonised it when it had to close. How glorious, to have that handsome house to themselves. And at the same time, so precarious to be running on empty.
Editing and mentoring... My first issue of The Independent Author, the Alliance of Independent Authors magazine, has gone to press. Work begins soon on the next. I've just done some shifts on the medical magazine, a timely reminder not to get complacent about Covid.
Also this month I coached an author of southern fiction and an author of an espionage thriller. I'll soon be helping an author who's written a family memoir and also an author at Inkubator, a publisher of psychological suspense thrillers.
Here's an alert for writers! Inkubator are eager to build their list, so if you're in that genre and are looking for a publisher, email me.
Teaching... On 8th August I taught my Jericho Writers mini-course in professional-level self-publishing. A big hello to everyone who's joined me from there! We had a bumbling start because I wasn't sure how long to wait for people to settle, so thank you to everyone who stayed and emailed to say it was helpful! The course is still available for another few weeks, as are all the other festival webinars, discussions and mini-courses. Catch up here.
An exclusive preview
Noveling... Ever Rest is finished. Six years in the making, though I did publish three other books along the way (my plot book, my workbook and Not Quite Lost).
What now? I could publish it myself (with pleasure; I relish the process). But I need to explore options for reaching the widest audience. That's where a publisher could help.
I've just sent a pitch to agents.
As I've shared it with them, I'll also share it with you.
It might not be as you imagined. Though maybe it is, if you've wondered why the ARC cover is a white record label. (Yes, that's what it is.)
Here, for the first time, is a preview of Ever Rest.
In 1977, Marc Bolan.
In 1980, John Lennon.
In 1994, Ashten Geddard.

Ashten Geddard, half of the rock duo Ashbirds, dies while climbing Mount Everest, his body lost beyond reach. Twenty years on, his music is as popular as ever and fans thrill to the idea that he might still be found. Meanwhile, three people are unwillingly bound to him: Elza, once his bereft fiancée, immortalised in his songs. Hugo, the musical genius who formed the band with Ashten when they were at school, now a recluse in Nepal. And Robert, a struggling session player who is both cursed and blessed by his brief time with Ashbirds, chased for press interviews every time a body is found that could be Ashten, still craving recognition for his own music.

‘We carry the past inside us. It is a man in a glacier coming back, slowly.’ 

And until he comes, they will not ever rest.
Which readers is Ever Rest for? Anyone who’s ever loved a rock band, so a clear comparison is Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Also Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano, for the loss of a person who is intrinsic to yourself.  
Is it like David Mitchell's Utopia Avenue, which is also about a band? I haven't read it, so I can't say.  Some reviewers have commented that another of my novels, My Memories of a Future Life, has a similar feel to David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas, so there might be crossover.
But here are some definites. Ever Rest's older ancestors are: Ann Patchett’s Bel Canto, for music as a primal and romantic force; Meg Wolitzer’s The Interestings, for its complex friendships and its people entangled for ever by a remarkable time; Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air for the deadly and irresistible wildernesses that surround our comfortable world.   
What happens now?
That's out of my hands, at least for a short while. Maybe a very short while, considering our weird, uncertain times, but I have to explore every possibility.
The agent websites try to indicate how long they'll keep you waiting. Some promise a reply in 12 weeks, some in four. Some say if you haven't heard in three months, assume it's no
I'll keep you posted.
On the blog
On my blog this month I had a post inspired by questions from the self-publishing mini-course - getting editors, spotting mistakes, publishing across many genres and author control. I also had another guest on my Undercover Soundtrack series, Ricky Monahan Brown. Many people cherish music from their formative years, but Ricky has an unforgettable take on this concept. And his memoir is available at a discount for Undercover Soundtrack readers, so do take a look. 
I did another spin on Litopia's Pop-Up submissions to critique the openings of five novels along with literary agent Peter Cox. It was a sweltering day and Peter's sound card exploded as we began, but he's a pro and we were soon on air again. Chatting afterwards, he mentioned how long he'd been running Litopia, his writing community, and the various pitfalls and lessons learned. It sounded like a great interview for my blog, so we're doing that soon.
I'm continuing to post the So You Want To Be A Writer radio show, which I made in 2014-2016 with independent bookseller Peter Snell. Find them on my blog here.
I'm also loading episodes on YouTube if you prefer to listen that way. Find them here.
A little horse
We're schooling. We're riding out on the bridle paths. We're discovering finer controls. He responds as much to my thoughts as anything I do with a hand or leg.
He used to amble off as soon as I was in the saddle. Once I noticed this, I resolved to make him wait until asked to move. That day, he stood like a rock, without any further restraint. I'd already told him, somehow, with my decision.
When we set off, he used to walk hesitantly, even if I gave a firm forwards aid, as though he had his handbrake on, in case of monsters. I thought again about the telepathic halt. What if I decided instead to be the embodiment of boldness in those first strides away? Yes, he liked that.
And encounters with scary objects. My previous mounts, Byron and Brandy, could be cajoled past. I'd join in the spook, laughing. That fallen log won't eat you, you silly thing. Not Val. But if you pretend you haven't noticed the fallen log, he decides he shouldn't notice it either.
So I love this picture. Those with a trained eye will spot many details that could be improved, and I can see plenty myself. Those are for another day. Here we are, doing our thing.
A crazy thing
Checking emails this morning, an agent, a rather prestigious agent, had replied about Ever Rest.
Dear Roz
This sounds utterly crazy. So PLEASE SEND IT AT ONCE!
Til next time
R xxx
Thanks for reading. If you enjoy this newsletter and want to support it, you can forward it to a friend, buy a book or send me an email. If you'd like to buy a book and support bricks-and-mortar bookstores (US only at present) use Bookshop.org. If you're seeing this for the first time and would like to subscribe, step this way.
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Copyright © 2020 Roz Morris, All rights reserved.


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