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Behind-the-scenes with Simon Mayo

From final draft to finished copies, to 'the end is nigh!' moment, in this diary Simon Mayo shares what it is really like to be a published author.

Simon Mayo

October 21

Hardback copy sent for the back cover. Unbelievably, I found it quite moving! When the radio stuff is stressful, the publishing stuff is a joy (for now).

October 30

To Transworld central! Not been since Itch 1. And the receptionist remembered! Am I even sure I'm going to write another? No, not really and my studio will mock me forever.

November 2

Sir Kenneth Branagh has started it! Was fulsome in his praise on the way out from interview. PA says he's 'telling everyone about it'.

November 7

Transworld host a soirée tonight for adult debuts. That's me (and Ruth Jones, Karen Cleveland). So excited to finally get to talk Mad Blood Stirring.

November 18

Lee Child was very encouraging. Says he's invited me to Harrogate. I say I've been told that historical fiction is hard to sell, he says you're always told something's impossible. Can't do wizards, can't do this and that. New books can always punch through. Kind words but I don't believe them of course.

November 25

The Copy Edit is IN (well half of it). THE END IS NIGH.

December 15

So its 7.30am and the email buzzes on the phone. It's a message from Sir Kenneth Branagh. So this is it! Maybe I have something at last. Holding my breath. Sir Ken begins:

Dear Simon,
At last after a couple of months on the road I got to finish your excellent book, for which I thank you. Please use anything from the following paragraph if it's of any help.
"Mad Blood Stirring is an astonishing account of an explosive piece of neglected history.
Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is woven through a tense prison drama that sets itself against the epic backdrop of mighty Dartmoor. The passions unleashed in Simon Mayo's riveting account places black against white, Americans against Britons and the stirring soul of a forbidden love caught in between.
It's a rapid page turner with dark humour, intellectual heft, and a gallery of deeply human characters that shake our spirits. This is a cracking novel."
And, congratulations! All the best, Ken

I read it again. And over. It seems too good to be true and here it is in black and white. The greatest populariser of Shakespeare in my generation - and he likes it! I try to read it out loud to my wife and, inexplicably, start to sob. Good grief man, get a grip. Anyway, later when H's back goes again, it still manages to shine a light and make us both smile. So, thank you Sir Ken Branagh. I tell him my smile is as wide as Poirot's moustache.

December 16

Proof pages arrive and it all looks very fine although no sign of a map of Dartmoor. I hope this hasn't been axed as it would be very useful.

December 19

Despite the BBC's best attempts to lose it in their parcel delivery system, the magical first copy arrives. It's such a glamorous moment! And it's a thing of beauty - Transworld have excelled I think. Maybe I'll read it on the tube, ostentatiously removing it from its envelope and thumbing its 400 pages.

Simon Mayo - Dartmoor

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