Proof Copy

As many of you know, I worked in bookselling, distribution and publishing for many years before I made the leap and became an author. I learned how incredibly tough it is being a first-time author, and how publishing companies can sometimes leave you to sink or swim.
But my experience has been the complete opposite. My publishing company, Allen & Unwin, has showered me with energy and enthusiasm and good wishes, and I am really pleased with how seriously they seem to be taking me and my book.
One of the most amazing and exciting things for me was to see some uncorrected proof copies of the book distributed to booksellers, reviewers and key players in the industry. In Australia the production of such proofs is costly, and therefore quiet rare - particularly for a first-time author. I was just blown away that Allen & Unwin saw my book as so important that they produced the proofs.
Actually holding a copy in my hands was an excitement beyond description. It is really just one minute step away from the finished product, and therefore almost the culmination of decades of dreaming and planning! I was only allowed one copy of the proof, as they are precious, and it really is better that they should find proper homes among people whose opinions count. I have already heard back from several who have read it and loved it, so the excitement builds.

The Edited Version

The full edited version of my manuscript arrived yesterday, and it was terribly exciting. The editors had lots of nice things to say about the book in a cover letter, but that was obviously meant to soften the blow before I turned to the actual manuscript, which was a storm of pencil marks, queries and suggested improvements.
I now have two weeks to read carefully through it, answer the queries, agree to or reject the changes, and write a couple of explanatory passages. It's quite daunting, simply because I don't really know what to do - the editor's shorthand is quite a mystery to me, and at this stage I worry that adding sentences to explain something that is unclear in the text will look clunky. But of course I'll do it. Right from the beginning of this process I decided I'd be the model author who would respond to all requests positively. I have been warned by other authors that this is always the most difficult part of the whole creative process.

The Third Version

OK, I got the manuscript back today for the third revision. This one is much more nuanced - my publisher has been through it and made quite detailed notes, and though she cheerily said on the phone that there were just one or two simple changes to make before the whole thing is finally submitted for editing, it actually looks like an enormous amount of work. Oh well, all for the best, I suppose. It means that I will have to sacrifice my Friday night activities, though - this is going to take me all weekend, and I know they want it back asap.
In the last draft I was told to delete two chapters which didn't work on their own, and try to incorporate those stories elsewhere in the text. Well, I figured that if the chapters didn't work on their own (one was on Catholicism in Vietnam, the other was stories of my grandparents visiting me there) then the particular anecdotes must have sucked, so I just deleted them and forgot about them. A note on this new version of the manuscript asks, "can we have the grandparent stories back please?" So I have to try to find a place for them elsewhere in the book. Very risky work. But Maggie (my publisher) obviously DID hate the Catholic stories, because they remain un-resurrected.
I had a kind of fantasy that my book would be perfect on the first submission, and that my publisher would call me and say, "Genius - we're going straight to press as-is." Obviously, that must be the kind of fantasy that every first-time author has.
Admittedly it is a dull process, but there are worse things I could be doing. And I am confident that my publisher has my commercial interests at heart, and wants to release the best possible book she can. So I will continue to tweak and twist and re-arrange until I have produced a work of genius.

Chua Huong Mai

I spent last week in a little village about 20 kilometres outside of Quy Nhon called Nhon Hai. It was the most idyllic setting, beautiful mountains leading down to a picturesque fishing village almost totally isolated from the rest of the world. You can see that the roads are in a terrible condition, so I had to spend much of the trip there walking - arriving filthy and exhausted.
But it was worth it. I stayed at Chua Huong mai, my friend's beautiful little temple. He is a big city, highly educated monk who chose a sea change and went about transforming a sleepy little village shrine into one of the most beautiful temples in Vietnam. My few days spent living there were picture-book perfection, spending my afternoons on the temple terrace under the statue of Maitreya, reciting the Buddhist rosary, reading uplifiting books and snoozing.
The unchanging tempo of temple life is always incredibly relaxing, even though it means a 3.30 am start. The day being divided up into such definite sections means the hours fly by quickly.
The rooms were the utmost in simplicity - hard wooden platforms covered with a rattan mat, but I always slept like a baby, my heart content from the long evening prayers and the enforced periods of prayer, meditation and contemplation. I came away a new man.
I also got lots of writing done in those long hours of enforced idleness.

My Book - At Last

For years I've thought of myself as a frustrated writer - now at last I have an opportunity to become the real thing.
I have decided to write my first book - a spiritual journey through Vietnam. Vietnam is a place I know well and love very much - it is my second home, and in many ways my spiritual home.
I will be leaving for Vietnam in a couple of weeks time, and will spend 2 and a half months there, travelling and writing about all the the things I do and see. I will also be keeping a record on this blog.
So who are my influences when it comes to travel writing? Paul Theroux, Gontran de Poncins and Osbert Sitwell are probably my main inspirations, so I will blog more about those extraordinary figures in the days to come.