Riveting Penny!
Fascinating. I was a devoted Cure fan in the 80s, but I knew nothing about your novel.
I'm very much looking forward to reading more of your blog.
So, you were nearly a 'rock chick'. How fantastic is that! Great story and I look forward to the next part. And the Cure were (are, I suppose) a great band.
Great story - can't wait for the next bit. How sad you couldn't pursue it because of lack interest/funds of the Society of Authors. As a copyright lawyer for many years I often found that however robust the law may (or may not) be, financial limitations determined how far rights owners could go to protect their rights - very disheartening for them (an interesting exception to general copyright protection is that of cookery writers, where only the smallest tweaks to someone's recipe means that you can claim it as your own and owe them nothing, however much they may have sweated over producing it). Anyway, I can't wait to hear what happened when you met Robert Smith - don't leave it too long to post!
Thanks everyone. Greetings Quink: oh and, Andy...rock chick? ... more like rock boiling fowl.... (but we do make the best-tasting stock)
Oh oh oh I was waiting for this story and then I nearly missed the first instalment, thanks to a busy weekend. Looking forward to the second one now!
Fascinating indeed - can't wait for the next chapter. I would think the Cure would be the ones who wanted to meet *you* and would have gone out of their way to find you since your book obviously was a crucial influence on them (or him).
I recently finished reading your Charlotte book for the first time and loved it. It creates an atmosphere of that very English kind of boarding school and a childhood that is completely outside my experience yet becomes familiar in the way you tell it.
Granny P,
I read this story backwards. OH NOW I get why I absolutely loved Charlotte Sometimes so much it was the twinny vibes! My twin loves it too. I must must get a copy and reread it. I remember being so anxious about what was going to happen to Charlotte at the end. You had me utterly gripped. Wasn't there a tv adaptation too?
I know it must have been a pain in the proverbial, but I DO love the fact that the Cure based their song on your book. I've always wondered.
love a slightly overexcited to discover this fact, Janexxx
Jane Henry's twin here. She just sent me this link and I was fascinated by it. Charlotte Sometimes is one of the best children's books EVER. Perhaps the twin thing was what connected with me but also the time travel and the idea of going to sleep as one person and waking up as another.I can't wait for my kids to be old enough to read it.
And sorry about the copyright, but I love the Cure connection. One of my husband's favourite bands
Hi twins - no no mustn't say that, own names please - hi, Jane and Virginia. And Natalie. And Zinnia. (Glad you liked it, Natalie.)
TV adaption? It was on Jackanory, years ago, with photographs - among other children they used my then 10 year old... they let me have copies of them after, and somewhere they're all lurking still. Film/tv adaptations have been endlessly mooted - an option has been bought right now and someone else is waiting in the wings in case that doesn't bear fruit. But it's never, quite, got off the ground yet. Sod it. If it I daresay the other books I'm writing/have written would get published, reissued etc. Here's hoping...
Film/tv adaptations are such a nightmare, aren't they? Fingers crossed they do it. Wouldn't it be cool to have the Cure soundtracking it? Very postmodern.
Isn't that weird. I was SURE I had seen a tv adaptation. It must have been the Jackanory version. Just shows how powerful a story it is Granny P. Hats off to you. Charlotte Sometimes genuinely was one of the favourite reads of my childhood.
And thanks for your thoughtful comments on my blog.
jxxxx
PS Don't mind being referred to as the twins, we're fairly robust about it coming from a large family. And we're very individualistic!
Just wanted to say I loved the book - one of the best children's books I've ever read. I watched an episode of Torchwood recently and the plot reminded me so much of Charlotte's return to WW1. I mentioned this in the DigitalSpy forum in a Torchwood discussion so hope maybe some more people will read the book now.
I think your novel - Charlotte Sometimes - is a wonderful atmospheric work. Having bought the book after hearing the Cure's song I must be one of the people that have helped to keep it print.
You mght have earnt more money from the Cure 's song if it you had successfully sued them for breach of copyright (as the Cure themselves have done with the band Massive Attack), but culture would have been the worse for it. Your novel inspires quite a few Cure songs from the early 80s, and it is largely the atmosphere of the novel that is translated into the music. The music of The Cure enhanced my enjoyment of your book, and your book resonates in my mind whenever I hear those songs.
With the stiffening of copyright law in recent years I feel that no song writer would take quite so much open inspiration from a copyrighted written work of art, and we are poorer for it. It seems doubtful that neither classical music nor rock and roll music would have developed so vibrantly if modern copyright law had applied at their respective times. Both genres show numerous, often fundamental borrowings from previous works.
Modern Copyright law is mainly concerned with increasing the income of corporations like Disney or EMI,(and their lawyers of course). It does little for the creative process itself, and the transmission and resonance of art within culture.
Thanks Dimsie - Simon - it's reactions like this that keep me going - as a writer anyway. You're right about copyright business Simon. I did go into possibility of pursuing the Cure again - but it didn't seem viable finally and i think the effects the Cure have had on Charlotte's survival override my annoyance at the way Robert S pinched the book so thoroughly. Have to be more flattered(?) in the end.
thanks so much for this - really beautiful...
just my two cents: i admire how graciously you took it all!
Ah well, Jana, I'm nice I am...
I loved (Still do!) Charlotte sometimes as a child, but hadn't realised the connection with The Cure, until a list of school stories in the Times sent me here ( http://timesonline.typepad.com/s...est-
boardi.html )
What I'd really love is to hear the story from Clare's point of view! While Charlotte has the advantage of history books, poor Clare is thrust into the future, not knowing where her sister is, nor what's going on. I recall one scene where someone is playing her transistor radio in the dorm. Can you imagine how confusing that would be for Clare?
Thanks, Emma. Yes, I always thought that too... much more confusing and scary to go into the future...
I have been a huge fan of the Cure for 17 years and Charlotte Sometimes was always one of my favorites. I had always wanted to read it and finally bought myself a copy and read it to my 3 girls ages 8, 9 and 10. We all loved it!! It definitely falls under "classic" in my opinion. I hope to be able to locate your other books in the future as well
Kristy
Thanks Kristy. Glad the girls all liked it. Lucky them to have to a mum who reads to them aloud.
I read this blog entry with huge interest. It's a fascinating story about a book that has huge meaning to so many.
I was interviewed a while ago on the books programme that Samantha Norman presents and was asked about my favourite book and, of course, it had to be Charlotte Sometimes. I must have re-read it about 30 times over the years and all my children have had it read to them as a bedtime story. It's truly magical book and the one that inspired me to become a writer, so thank you hugely for such an inspiring and magical read.
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