WRITERS ABROAD MAGAZINE : THE THIRD SPACE
I kept a blog . But a blog-based book can easily seem episodic . So I structured each chapter around a specific theme . I removed dates to “ unbloggify ” it , and added context and reflections . I mailed every passage mentioning someone to the person concerned to get their consent for publication . That was a lot of work !
Tell us about your writing routine . Preferably I write in the morning . Then I take the dogs out , and after that I do my translation work .
How did you come up with the cover for your book ? It ' s wonderful by the way . My daughter Tessa Rose Jackson ( TRJ Illustration ) designed it . The luminous life jacket represents a refugee as well as a volunteer , the little Corinthian curls in the waves evoke Greece , and the outline of the waves vaguely evokes the Lesbos coastline . Amazing !
You chose the self-publishing route . Was it difficult ? Do you have any tips for aspiring writers wanting to be published ? I self-published because the issue is so urgent ; it ’ s quicker . Also , I wanted to learn how to do it . The paperback edition was easier to format . I was incredibly lucky in my team : my daughter as designer , a wonderful editor ( essential , even though I ’ m an editor myself ), three critical beta readers , and a neighbour who did the HTML for the e-book . Normally the designer and editor would be paid , but because this is a book for charity , none of us is getting paid . All that help was vital . I ’ d advise anyone who wants to publish an e-book to either use zero formatting or to convert the entire text into HTML . And to read David Gaughran ’ s book , Let ’ s Get Digital ! My neighbour kindly converted the text to HTML .
Most writers don ' t enjoy the self-promotion aspect of their job . How about you ? In this case , the book is serving a more important cause . Promoting my memoir or a novel would feel more uncomfortable .
All the profits of your book go to Starfish , the voluntary organisation you worked for . Where can we download / buy the book ? My book is on sale from Amazon .
What is your next project ? There are several ! First I will probably return to the memoir I haven ’ t published yet ( one publisher told me I had to get more narrative drive into it ) and try to ... get more narrative drive into it !
If you could invite any famous people to a dinner party , who would you invite ? I would invite the Greek ex-finance minister Yanis Varoufakis , the American writer Joyce Carol Oates , the Indian writer Neel Mukherjee , and the Nigerian writer Sefi Atta .
15 | May 2016