Paperback writer

Book Five handed in!

2011-05-16T04:30:00.001-07:00

Well my long silence can be explained by the fact that I've just handed in my fifth manuscript! It felt really good to type those two little words The End. I can't say too much about the new one yet except that it will be about architecture and centre on Palladio and his great villas and churches of the Veneto.

This book will have a strange genesis because it has already been optioned for a screenplay, so I immediately have to 'adapt' it into screenplay form. What's nice about this is that I usually miss my characters when I finish writing them, but this time I won't have to, because I'm sure there will be MANY drafts to come. I'm a total novice at screenwriting so am hoping for the best and will be picking Sacha's brains constantly. I'm meeting my film producer tomorrow so more news soon.

Book Launch!

2010-05-25T04:10:00.000-07:00

Had a very swanky book launch on Wednesday at the Italian Cultural Institute in Berkeley Square, a really lovely place. It was a very smart affair, champagne all round and a great gathering of family and friends. Once my speech was over (I kept it short!) I was able to enjoy Sara Girolamo singing some Italian folk songs, and Micheal Campari (great name!) crooning some appropriately Italian-themed standards like 'That's Amore'! Thanks to everyone who turned up, and to our gracious hosts at the Institute. Back to reality now with some more book signings around London, and then back up to my beloved north country next week for an event in Colne.

The Botticelli Secret is out in the UK today!

2010-05-06T11:52:00.001-07:00

MS handed in! And RNA lunch

2010-03-19T07:34:00.000-07:00

OK OK this is really more of a diary than a blog as I don't really keep it up too well! But my excuse is that I'm genuinely busy writing the books so the blogs get neglected! 2 HUGE weights off my shoulders in the last week. One, I handed in my copyedited manuscript for Botticelli Secret...whew...so now there's just the cover and blurb to finalize before it comes out on May 6th. There are also some very exciting PR plans to promote the book, more of which when they're confirmed. Second thing: I sent three chapters of my new novel to my agent and luckily she loves them, so I can crack on with it with impunity rather than putting it in the bin!

Had a great and rare publishing jolly on Tuesday at the RNA lunch in Kensington this week - sat with a great bunch of gals from my agent's stable and had a lovely time - the champers was flowing! Congratulations to all the nominees/winners especially great family friend Helene Wiggin (Leah Fleming) and thanks to my lovely neighbour Lisa Jewell for letting me cadge a lift in her cab.

Happy New...you know the rest

2010-01-04T09:02:00.000-08:00

Well, here we are in 2010, or 'twenty-ten' as everyone seems to be calling it. It's the day after my birthday (I got very spoiled) the TV is full of ads for diets and holidays, people have dumped their Christmas trees on the street (it's not even Epiphany yet!! I thought The Lord was supposed to strike you down if you de-decorate early) and the kids' rooms are littered with Christmas plastic. I just stood on Buzz Lightyear - it REALLY hurt.

Still, I refuse to be downcast. The UK proofs for The Botticelli Secret arrived in the post and now I'm starting to proofread. This is quite a fiddly process and quite painstaking, and will be impossible to concentrate upon fully til the kids go back to school, as you can't copy out minute proofreading heiroglyphics while simultaneously trying to referee an argument about who's got the most mini marshmallows on their hot chocolate. The fun bit is getting to read a book you haven't read since you wrote it. If you're lucky you'll enjoy it and thankfully that's the case here. I'm actually getting caught up in the story, so that's a great relief. The plot is very different to my past books as it's much more of a thriller/treasure hunt as the characters race to decode the meaning of a Botticelli painting. Its actually great to be in the company of my heroine again - Chi-chi, full time prostitute and part-time artist's model - I love her so much I have a feeling I'll be featuring her again some day.

One funny thing about a career as a writer is how your books begin to overlap each other. I've just been working on my fourth book, set in eighteenth-century Siena at the end of the Medici empire, and now I'm temporarily back in fifteenth-century Florence for Botticelli when the Medicis were at their most powerful. Plus, as The Glassblower of Murano has now just become available on iTunes (check it out if, like me, you find it hard to find actual reading time!) I've just been listening to the 'voice' of my very first heroine, set in modern day Venice. Confusing. Incidentally, Kate Magowan, who brings Glassblower's Leonora beautifully to life in the recording, is married to John Simm, who I've just seen all over the Christmas TV as the scenery-chewing Master in Dr Who. So not only time periods but universes too are collapsing and colliding!

Bad blogger

2009-11-12T10:09:00.000-08:00

Just realized I've not actually mentioned a lovely visit I had to Waterstone's Bishop's Stortford...It was on the same night that Nick Griffin was on Question time and I'm happy to report that I had an easier time than he did. A really good discussion with local book groups, very interesting questions and we echoed Question Time to a certain extent with a foray into the issue of immigration (with reference to the Jewish strand of banking and moneylending in Madonna of the Almonds) Thanks very much to Valda and her colleagues who sent me away with a bottle of wine and a copy of Ghostwalk, both of which which I'm currently devouring.

US Cover for Botticelli Secret

2009-11-12T09:59:00.000-08:00

Here's the US cover for my upcoming third novel The Botticelli Secret, published first in March in the US and in May in the UK. I'm very excited about this one because it's a bit different from my previous novels, much more adventure/ treasure hunt based, a lot bawdier (!) and with a heroine I love so much I actually miss her! I've also illustrated the book myself (inside I mean - can't take credit for the cover art!)

Blenheim Palace

2009-09-23T02:58:00.001-07:00

On Sunday I had the great pleasure of speaking at Blenheim palace, with Shelagh Foyle, the perfumer at Floris. We'd been invited to be a part of the 4th Independent Woodstock Literary Festival and it was truly amazing driving up through the grounds to the palace. We were taken to a beautiful green room and given refreshments (and goody bags!) until it was time for our event. We were taken to a beautiful room hung with immense paintings and spoke in turn about how the book and the perfume 'Madonna of the Almonds' came about. We got a very friendly reception,and Shelagh had every one spellbound with her perfume masterclass! Many thanks to those who came to see us, and the organizers of the event.

Earlier in the day I was at Warwick University signing copies of both books at a trade fair. It was great meet all the independent booksellers who have been supporting both books in what has been a very difficult economic year for small bookstores. I also was delighted to see Sara from Pocklington, and Christine and Jo from Colne, bookseller friends I have made at previous events. Thanks to Michael, Andy, Neil and all the Turnaround team who are responsible for physically getting the books out to shops around the country. Without you, I wouldn't have the best job in the world!

Back on tour!

2009-09-14T02:02:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone and apologies for being an incredibly lazy blogger. Just been dormant for a bit for children's summer break but now they're back at school and I'm back touring with my second book The Madonna of the Almonds. This week I was up in Lancs for an event organized by two fantastic book-loving ladies called Christine and Jo who run the The Bookshop in Colne. We had a lovely Italian meal in a canal side restaurant, and I met some great people and talked my head off! As always there were some very interesting questions following my talk and we discussed different aspects of the book. I also had the great pleasure of meeting Mary, who runs the mobile library which my Mum visits. I'm a big fan of mobile libraries, I think they are so important in rural communities like the little Dales village where my Mum lives, especially for the old and infirm. It's so important that everyone can get access to books, wherever they live, whatever their age.
This week I'm back at home working on my next book which is set in Siena. I'm just going through all the photos from my research trip-slash-family holiday (!) in the summer, and pining for Italy. The Dutch version of Madonna has just arrived in the post, and my UK publishers Beautiful Books are now discussing cover art with me for my next book The Botticelli Secret....all very exciting, can't wait to see it.

Notes from a whirlwind tour!

2009-05-28T00:33:00.000-07:00

I'm busily touring the country to launch The Madonna of the Almonds, and it's been really terrific so far...(though exhausting) I must say I've been so impressed by how many enthusiastic and intelligent readers there are out there and also how many dedicated, bookloving booksellers who run tiny bookshops covering huge areas of the countryside with wonderful bookgroups and personal recommendations and events. Also it's amazing and heartening how many organisers of literary festivals give their time for nothing. It's been a real pleasure to meet readers and sellers alike; each time I give a talk I've had so many interesting questions about the books and some very lively discussions so although I'm pretty exhausted It's been a great experience and I've met with kindness everywhere. So thanks (so far) to Sara at the Lincoln Book festival, Mark at Mostly Books in Abingdon for a wonderful Italian evening. Thanks to Sara at Simply Books, who arranged a beautiful Amaretto themed dinner in Pocklington church, right down to tiny golden bags of sugared almonds! Thank you Sandy at Kingston Book festival who gives so much of her time to organising the festival, and the wonderful staff at Borders there. And last but not least, to Nash and Cate at the wonderful Much Ado Books in Alfriston, who kindly invited me to their supper club, where I had a wonderful meal (complete with handmade almond bookmarks!) and a very interesting discussion, not just about Madonna but many many other books as well. As I said, I'm having a great time so far...more next week!

Glassblower US

2009-05-28T00:31:00.000-07:00

The Glassblower of Murano officially launched in the US on Wednesday - out now from St Martin's Press. Welcome to any readers from the States out there in cyberspace!

MADONNA OF THE ALMONDS NOW IN BOOKSHOPS!

2009-05-03T00:36:00.000-07:00

This week was very exciting because I got to sign a bunch of Madonna copies in my local Waterstones in Hampstead. Although the book doesn't officially launch for 2 weeks the distributer has decided to get them into stores early - maybe to catch those bank holiday shoppers? Anyway look out for it... I'm very pleased with the cover - it really pops out and suggests long hot Italian summers!

Floris and the Capital Club

2009-03-14T14:37:00.000-07:00

Thursday was a big day - in the morning I returned to Floris to sign off on the final scent for Madonna of the Almonds and I loved it at once - Shelagh had done a terrific job and created something which really encapsulated the book; something sweet and bitter, capturing all the scents of the text. I put it on straightaway and it smelled great, almonds and lemons very much to the fore to begin with, and behind that the incense and bergamot. Later in the day I got a breakdown from Floris of the ingredients which was fascinating.

I'm sure my new perfume gave me courage for the evening - my first ever talk about Madonna of the Almonds, at London's Capital club. Luckily I was not on my own but was speaking with three other authors from Beautiful Books - my speech was fairly low-brow and I began by reading from the very Amaretto box which gave me the idea for the book - credit where it is due! Public speaking will never be my forte and unfortunately it never gets any easier - but that's it til May I think.

Highgate Book Group and Mostly Books Abingdon

2009-02-27T02:27:00.000-08:00

Very busy day yesterday as I did two different events, Highgate book group in the morning, and Mostly Books, a fantastic bookshop in Abingdon near Oxford.

The ladies in Highgate were delightful, most of them had read the book so we could get quite in depth, and many had been to Venice so we had a good old chat about the city too. I came away with a lovely bunch of flowers, so thank you to Sandra and all the ladies for such a nice tribute.

In the evening it was off to Abingdon and a great bookshop called Mostly Books - a great olde worlde shop with some fantastic stock, lovely staff and some hidden 'Hogwart-y' back rooms crammed with children's books. A real jewel, so visit if you're in the area! The evening was quite relaxed and very enjoyable - I had the great pleasure to meet the other speaker, Bethan Roberts, acclaimed author of 'The Pools' and hear her read beautifully from 'A Good Plain Cook', her latest book. I spoke about the Glassblower briefly and did a short reading, then we both took questions, which were all very interesting and intelligent...to be expected from a literate bookshop audience! Thanks to Mark and all the staff at this great little shop, and to my siblings Veronica and Rick for coming along to support me and calm the nerves!

Floris

2009-02-19T14:31:00.000-08:00

This morning had a fabulous time at Floris in London's Jermyn street, where I'm having a bespoke perfume created to launch The Madonna of the Almonds. It's a terrific honour because Floris is such a distinguished firm, they've had a Royal Warrant for centuries, and, on a personal note, my Gran used to use Floris! We met the lovely perfumier, Shelagh who has a treasure trove of an office, with ranks of antique bottles and vast ledgers detailing orders from the likes of Lawrence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, and every Royal you can imagine, both foreign and domestic! Floris has a bit of a literary history as their no.89 scent was Ian Fleming's favourite scent, so he had James Bond wear it in the novels. Anyway, Shelagh had read the book really closely and had picked out just about every olfactory reference in there, and soon we were sniffing dipsticks of lemon, almond, vanilla, sandalwood and incense (churches and old libraries, said Shelagh) We were in the presence of a master as she blended the scents expertly, and we came away happy with the scent of The Madonna of the Almonds in our noses! The perfume will be a limited edition, available in association with the book in May. Thanks to everyone at Floris, and Teresa (my uber-agent) for going along to sniff with me and lend her perfume/marketing expertise!

Madonna of the Almonds Bookseller Cover

2009-02-17T00:47:00.000-08:00

OK so am officially getting childishly excited about the release of next book Madonna of the Almonds (on the 14th May) because it's there in glorious technicolour on the front of this week's Bookseller, the booktrade's premier magazine! As well as the gorgeous cover (which will be on my site soon) there was lots of info inside about what Beautiful books are doing marketing-wise...a bespoke perfume designed by Floris, support from Amaretto, (great because the liquor is the subject of the book) a competition run by Alitalia, and a swish launch at the Italian Embassy!! Am already getting nervous about my speech....! x

Happy New Year!

2009-01-07T08:45:00.001-08:00

Well, the children are back at school and I'm back at the laptop - yesterday I typed the terrifying words 'chapter one' but luckily I was able to carry on typing beyond that and did quite a good first day. This is book 4 by the way - book 2 The Madonna of the Almonds is due out in May and the build-up is all going well; I handed in the corrected proofs before Christmas...phew! Meanwhile the 3rd book The Botticelli Secret is now going out to publishers and has sold in Germany already...and meanwhile, I'm still doing publicity for book 1 The Glassblower of Murano, which is, luckily, proving to be the book that wouldn't die. (If you're in the York area I'll be on BBC Radio York on Thursday next week) Also top secret negotiations are going forth with an eminent Hollywood producer for the option to Glassblower so watch this space...

Spread the Word

2008-12-03T04:42:00.000-08:00

I'm delighted to have been nominated for this year's Spread the Word award in association with World Book Day 2009. It's voted for by readers so if you enjoyed The Glassblower of Murano (or even if you haven't yet read it) please please please VOTE on their site at this link:

http://www.spread-the-word.org.uk/pages/books-2009/book-detail.asp?BookID=38

Thank you so much!

Audiotastic

2008-08-18T04:41:00.000-07:00

Hi! OK so veeeeerrryyy exciting day - The Glassblower of Murano audiobook is now available in audio! Check out the URL below to hear a free sample, read beautifully by Cristian Solimeno.

http://beautifulsounds.co.uk/product+M5fbd715f241.html

Download it now!!

Audiobook

2008-06-25T01:54:00.000-07:00

Well yesterday was very exciting because I had the opportunity to go into the studio and hear the audio version of the Glassblower of Murano being recorded! We've been very lucky to get Kate Magowan for the voice of Leonora - an extremely talented actress and stunning to boot! (last seen in Hollywood blockbuster 'Stardust' alongside Robert Deniro and Michelle Pfeiffer, and now she's reading my humble book!) She's got a beautiful speaking voice, and in the extract I heard she really brought the novel to life. The Corradino story is read by terrific half-Italian actor Cristian Solimeno, who gives his extracts a real sense of danger and adventure in his deep tones.

Paul Kent, an experienced radio director who includes The Archers on his CV, is at the helm of the project, and is now enjoying the challenge of cutting the two storylines together, interspersed with original music commisioned for the purpose.

It's all very exciting, and on the evidence of what I heard it's going to be wonderful!

The recording will be available for sale or download from Beautiful Sounds later this summer.

2nd book deal

2008-06-22T00:14:00.000-07:00

I'm delighted to announce that just this week Beautiful Books bought my second novel, The Madonna of the Almonds, for release in the same 'summer read' slot as Glassblower but in 2009. They're already working on the cover which I'm very excited about.

Meanwhile the press is continuing in the UK with pieces in the Metro, the Sun Online and in my local newspapers in North London. Word is spreading!

Tour and launch

2008-06-09T04:25:00.000-07:00

Hello! Sorry for the month-long radio silence (shocking really) but I've been on my whistle-stop tour of the country from as far north as Newcastle to as far south as Jersey. I must say it's been a fantastic experience - lovely venues where I did a talk for about 20 minutes (terrifying) and then a chance to meet the audience which was actually the best bit...everyone was so lovely and lots of people had been to Venice or were wearing Murano glass. It was great to meet the people who had bought the book, as this is something that writers don't usually get to do (My signature has gone very sloppy from all the signings) So if you came along - thank you!

Last week was all very posh as it was the book's launch at the Lalique store in Bond Street where the cover had been recreated in the store window (thank you Frederick from Lalique!) I had some moral support in the shape of friends and family, and was bolstered up on a great deal of champagne and some very fancy canapes.

Now it's just a matter of watching those sales and this week has been vey encouraging - number 27 in WH Smith's chart, number 25 in Hughes and Hughes, 11 in Books Etc., number 9 in the Heatseeker's chart in The Bookseller magazine, and best of all, number 1 in the small publisher's retail chart!! Yay!! Feeling very lucky...fingers crossed for the coming weeks...

Please allow me to introduce myself...

2008-04-18T04:16:00.000-07:00

Hi, I'm Marina Fiorato, and I'm a month away from the publication of my first novel 'The Glassblower of Murano', a love story and thriller set in modern day and Renaissance Venice. Watch this space for news of my launch, UK book tour and shiny new website. Back soon!