What's happened to the Duchess of York's historical novel that she apparently co-wrote with Dallas writer Laura Van Wormer? Last July I noted that Hartmoor had changed title to Wingfield and that publication had been delayed to September 4 this year. I even had to tell Amazon to update their records. They didn't.
Now I don't see the novel listed at all for publication. I may have imagined it, but on her blog last year Laura seemed just a little exhausted by it all: she didn't moan, just drew our attention to how much time the novel had taken to write, depriving her other books of her literary attention. Now in a January posting she doesn't mention the book title at all, and as for the Duchess project she has this to say: "The Duchess and I are reconsidering our original publishing plan and are weighing a number of factors and options for the short term and also for the long run. As soon as we come to a decision about which path we are to take, you shall know straight away!"
I have no idea what this means - even whether she's talking about the novel. Laura then goes onto plug upcoming books of her own, especially Riverside Park, due out in the summer. Laura's agent Loretta Barrett Books Inc still lists Hartmoor down for publication in the spring - this can't be right. There's much misinformation on websites: Borders, for example, has Hartmoor down for September 3, 2015! A slip of the key surely. The Macmillan site sheds no clue, and while Amazon.co.uk lists Hartmoor for September 4 I assume this is redundant, because Laura said last year the novel was now Wingfield.
Would someone look into this.
8 comments:
'Co-wrote' - always a giveaway, isn't it? Means that the big name said "I think it should be about a woman" and the ghost did all the rest.
Madame Arcati, Does anyone actually care?
Caring is not the point. It's a matter of information about a Very Important Person.
Dear Madame, you have as many bonnets as bees
I still remember when she did that TV programme where she went and told a working-class family how to eat proper. An obscene concept for TV, but it prompted an hilarious moment when half the family didn't even recognise her. "Do you not know who it is?" she asked, hiding behind the protective blanket of third-person speak. Classic TV. I fancied her for about a week when I was 16.
Fergie's two daughters look like cross-breed chipmuncks about to be run over
The Duchess must be doing something right because she's setting up her own company to deal with all her creative projects. And lest we forget, the movie she produced with Scorsese, Young Victoria, is out this year. We can only hope that it doesn't end up like her novel.
Fergie's manuscript resides in the same Literary Bermuda Triangle where her nemesis, Allison Pearson's long-awaited second novel disappeared, perhaps? (And Amazon can be SO lazy about these things. Pearson's book has been on pre-order for about four years; not even the Miramax law suit made the thing disappear. Refund, anyone?)
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