The Word Cloud

20 Comments

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  by Barb 2 years ago

  Thanks for sharing this Emma. It was lovely to listen to you.
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  by John Taylor 2 years ago

  Thank you, Emma. It was interesting to hear how she shaped the interview, and left you space to talk. I think one of the reasons Michael Parkinson had such a successful run as an interviewer was just this. He listened, and gave the interviewee confidence.
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  by Caducean Whisks 2 years ago

  Interesting Emma, interesting. Thanks for posting.
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  by Liss 2 years ago

  Very nice, you have a lovely radio voice Emma. This was interesting x
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  by Commodore 2 years ago

  Hey really good interview there! Very interesting and I can honestly say that I learnt a lot.
  
  I'm sorry but I have to ask - But are you REALLY related to THE Darwin?
  
  I apologise if this was intended as a joke in the interview but I'm very tired and may have overlooked an essence of sarcasm in the introductions, but can you give a bit of clarity on this issue? (Purely so I can tell friends that I've spoken to Darwin's great great granddaughter!)
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  by Commodore 2 years ago

  Would also like to add that the song which followed on from your interview was a cracking choice :)
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  by Liss 2 years ago

  I can answer that Commodore because I know it to be true :)
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  by Commodore 2 years ago

  Wow!
  
  Can't wait to tell everyone that i'm part of a secret society that includes an ancestor of Darwin - Dan Brown eat your heart out!
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  by Skylark 2 years ago

  Very interesting interview, Emma. I had a look at the Festival website too and was just wondering what they mean when they say that the story entries should not have been published or broadcast? Does that count posting a story on the Cloud for example or does it mean proper published in a book?
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  by Debi 2 years ago

  Skylark - posting on the Cloud would not count as being published. They're looking for stories that haven't appeared in magazines, anthologies etc.
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  by EmmaD 2 years ago

  So glad people enjoyed the interview, and found it useful (and how sweet of you to say that about my voice, Liss I have the usual reaction of hating it when I hear it, though not so much at broadcast quality...)
  
  John, yes, she's a real pro - especially when you think that we couldn't actually see each other's face to read all those tiny cues that help to make the conversation. And although she introduced it -inevitably, I've come to realise - with the Darwin thing, at least it didn't dominate the conversation...
  
  Commodore, yes, I am, but there are 152 others of my generation, including the poet Ruth Padel, and goodness knows how many of the generation below, so I'm more inclined to feel that I'm buried in a mass of people to be compared with, than I'm unique and interesting. I did get one chance to explain what it feels like here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3663891/The-Insider.html which might amuse.
  
  Skylark, yes, it doesn't count if it's on the Cloud, as it wouldn't if you circulated it round your writing group.
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  by Commodore 2 years ago

  Just finished the article Emma - a very interesting read.
  
  I'm now praising my common sense for not asking if you met the man; that would have been very embarassing and probably made my popularity on this site plummet ha ha.
  
  I wouldn't mind reading 'The Mathematics of Love' though. I see that it's advertised as £7.99 in the article, any chance of finding it cheaper? - The bank account is running on empty this month unfortunately :(
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  by Tony 2 years ago

  Good interview, Emma. Thanks for the link and good luck with the judging.
  
  Commodore: Emma might prefer you saved up the £7.99, but there's always the library. And if (perish the thought) they don't have a copy, you can ask them to order it for you. That way, you'd both win :-)
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  by EmmaD 2 years ago

  Thanks, Tony! I'm looking forward to it, though I know (because I've been there) how agonising it is for some of the judge-ees...
  
  LoL Commodore - it isn't really a daft question: one of my cousins did actually just know her great-great-grandmother. But the generations on the Darwin side of my family are spread very far apart, and The Ancestor has just had his 200th birthday. I'd be flattered if you wanted to read TMOL; lots of libraries have it, and I'm always keen to support them (they need people through the door and ordering books and using them, plus a copy of TMOL only has to be borrowed 10 times and I make as much in Public Lending Right as I do in royalty on a single copy.) And it's discounted by a fair bit on most of the online bookshops...
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  by Commodore 2 years ago

  Ah right thanks for the advice. I will have to have a look around and see how much I cam get it for (I can't remember the last time I paid RRP for a book, the majority of my collection have come from book sales and discount book stores ha ha)
  
  Although does it make a difference to your royalties if people buy your book at a retailers reduced price than if they had purchased elsewhere for full?
  
  I'd much rather support a fellow cloudie by paying the RRP if it meant you would get a raw deal by buying at a reduced price
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  by EmmaD 2 years ago

  Commodore, yes, if a book sells at a substantial discount, then my royalty is reduced by a fifth, which as I remember means that a copy of TMOL sold at full price nets me something like 62p and at 40% something like 54p, so the difference in a single sale isn't the difference between me starving, and me living on caviare and vintage claret! ;-) . PLR is 6.2p per loan, but I'm thrilled if people ask their library to get the book in, because a) libraries, like indie bookshops who sell at full price are the jewels of the book industry and should be used and cherished, and b) then it's available to others and can clock up more of those 6.2ps... I make nothing if it's sold second-hand through a dealer, although it's difficult to be fed up with Oxfam etc. - at least it's in aid of a good cause. Mind you, Waterstones these days is rapidly becoming a charity case in need of our support too.
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  by Commodore 2 years ago

  Ah right I've learnt a lot here. I think I'll toddle down to the nearest library and see if they have your book in stock. If not I'll demand they order it, if they do have it, then I shall leave and purchase the book at RRP (Will have to save my pennies ha ha)
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  by Pete 2 years ago

  Very good interview, that DJ/interviewer/ whatever is fantastic at her job. The short story comp sounds good, but alas, I cant enter, and my stories are nowhere near good enough. Oh, and by the way, whats your book " the mathematics of love" (is that what its called?) about? I dont want a synopsis, just an incredibly rough outline. Thanks a lot!
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  by EmmaD 2 years ago

  Commodore, I shall be flattered and pleased, whichever route you try!
  
  Pete, I've always been hopeless at describing my work, and the blurb on Amazon is too embarrassingly hyperbolic to link to, so the best description I can find of The Mathematics of Love is the second paragraph of this blog review here: http://litlove.wordpress.com/2008/09/18/the-mathematics-of-love/
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  by Pete 2 years ago

  Sounds like a cool book. I'll look out for it.