Part Time Parkite publishes Andorran Mystery
Scott Iwasaki. The Park Record. 2nd March 2012
Patricia W Grey lives with her husband in Andorra, a small country located in the eastern Pyrenees Mountains, bordered by France and Spain. For years before moving to Europe, they ran a pearl farm in Australia. For the past 20 years, they have wintered in Park City, because they love to ski.
"My husband skis every day, and I ski every other day," Grey said during an interview with The Park Record. "When he is safely out of the way, I write." Grey, a member of the Andorran Writers' Circle, is a mystery writer and her first volume, "Death has a Thousand Doors," was released last month and is available through www.amazon.com
The book, published by Proverse Publishing, is about an Australian accountant, Jane Burns, who travels to Andorra to visit her half sister, Pearl. When Burns arrives, she discovers that Pearl is missing and recruits her father, Charles, for help. During their investigation, the two unwind a web of deceit, kidnapping, smuggling and a numbers' racket.
Grey said "Death has a Thousand Doors is a combination of a mystery and a travel memoir ...two of my favourite genres. When I was growing up in Australia, my brothers, who were quite a bit older than me, grew addicted to Agatha Christie and I read their books as well. That drew me to mysteries, but I also like travel memoirs such as Frances Mayes 'Under a Tuscan Sun' so with my own book I thought I could combine these elements, as Donna Leon does in her mysteries set in Venice, and create a mystery that also explored the history of Andorra."
As Grey began writing she had a strong sense of what she wanted to accomplish. "I knew where I wanted to start, and where I wanted to end, but I'm not an author who plans every chapter," she said "so getting from A to Zed was a journey for me as well."
Because she and her husband had just moved to Andorra, she was inspired by the new surroundings. "I was experiencing a new life in a new country and trying to navigate a new language," she said. "I was fascinated because Andorra is such an idiosyncratic country with a very unusual past, so I was quite keen to incorporate that into my book."
Inserting historical references not only added colour and moved the plot, but also helped Grey emulate her favourite authors, who always add elements of education to their prose. "When I finish reading a book, I like to feel I have learned more about a certain topic than I knew when I started," she said. "The research took a long time, plus I was learning Spanish too. I'm embarassed to say the book took over five years to write, since I had to teach myself to write as well."
Also it was a contstant struggle to get the pacing right. "It's something you have to work on quite a bit," she said. "You have to look back at what you've written and do a lot of revising... While most people have to 'peel the onion' to get to the core of their writing, I work the opposite way. I write sparsely then have to amplify by adding more description. Then I go back and take most of that out again! " She adds with a laugh, "It's a very interesting process. If you are one of those individuals who doesn't mind solitude, writing is the perfect activity." Still, Grey enjoyed the process. "I would get ideas in the strangest places. For example, exercising in the gym. My mind would float free and I'd see a ponytail bobbing up and down and incorporate that into my plot."
Unfortunately for her husband, Grey was in writer's mode for a lot of the early years in Andorra. "Yes, unfortunately for him, sometimes I was not giving him the attention he deserved," she said.
Book Signing. Dolly's Bookstore. Main Street. Park City. April 7. 6:00-7.:30 pm
Copyright The Park Record. 2012.
http://www.diariandorra.ad/index.php?option=com_k2&id=21085&view=item&Itemid=543
BON DIA. ANDORRA
Dimarts 04, Setembre de 2012 18:41
Quan es van jubilar, els escriptors i professors universitaris Gillian
i Verner Bicley van decidir impulsar un segell editorial: Proverse Hong Kong.
A més a més, des de fa quatre anys convoquen el premi literari internacional
Proverse per a obres escrites o traduïdes a l’anglès. Tot i que els Bicley
viuen a Hong Kong, cada any passen uns mesos a Ordino. I quan són a Ordino
aprofiten per anunciar els semifinalistes del premi i llegir alguns fragments
de les obres amb la col·laboració de la comunitat anglòfona resident a
Andorra.
Així ho van fer aquest dimarts a l’hotel Coma d’Ordino, on els Bicley
van anunciar els semifinalistes del premi Proverse 2012: Sophronia Liu, de Hong
Kong, per Shimmering sea; Laura Salomon, de Nova Zelanda, per Vera
Magpie; l’anglesa Lawrence Gray, per Odds and sods; Patricia
Laverne, de les Bahames, per Chasing light; l’anglesa Penelope Tremayne,
per From the Vineyard, i l’alemanya Birgit Linder, per Shadows in
deferment.
Els Bicley no volen revelar quantes obres s’han presentat al certamen.
Al novembre anunciaran els finalistes i l’obra guanyadora, l’any que
ve.
A l’acte no hi va faltar la finalista del premi Proverse 2010,
Patricia Grey, australiana resident a Andorra des del 1996. Grey va presentar
la novel·la Death has a thousand doors, en què desenvolupa una
enrevessada trama amb policies i polítics corruptes, una dona desapareguda,
contrabandistes i, fins i tot, secrets de la Segona Guerra Mundial. Grey va
confessar que quan es va instal·lar a Andorra el país la va sobtar molt per les
seves peculiaritats. “Ara escriuria una altra trama”, va admetre
ahir.
Grey va afirmar que des que l’obra es va publicar molta gent s’ha
interessat per Andorra. La novel·la, en anglès, es pot trobar a algunes
llibreries del país.
Següent
>
http://www.diariandorra.ad/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=27753&Itemid=435
Patricia W Grey lives with her husband in Andorra, a small country located in the eastern Pyrenees Mountains, bordered by France and Spain. For years before moving to Europe, they ran a pearl farm in Australia. For the past 20 years, they have wintered in Park City, because they love to ski.
"My husband skis every day, and I ski every other day," Grey said during an interview with The Park Record. "When he is safely out of the way, I write." Grey, a member of the Andorran Writers' Circle, is a mystery writer and her first volume, "Death has a Thousand Doors," was released last month and is available through www.amazon.com
The book, published by Proverse Publishing, is about an Australian accountant, Jane Burns, who travels to Andorra to visit her half sister, Pearl. When Burns arrives, she discovers that Pearl is missing and recruits her father, Charles, for help. During their investigation, the two unwind a web of deceit, kidnapping, smuggling and a numbers' racket.
Grey said "Death has a Thousand Doors is a combination of a mystery and a travel memoir ...two of my favourite genres. When I was growing up in Australia, my brothers, who were quite a bit older than me, grew addicted to Agatha Christie and I read their books as well. That drew me to mysteries, but I also like travel memoirs such as Frances Mayes 'Under a Tuscan Sun' so with my own book I thought I could combine these elements, as Donna Leon does in her mysteries set in Venice, and create a mystery that also explored the history of Andorra."
As Grey began writing she had a strong sense of what she wanted to accomplish. "I knew where I wanted to start, and where I wanted to end, but I'm not an author who plans every chapter," she said "so getting from A to Zed was a journey for me as well."
Because she and her husband had just moved to Andorra, she was inspired by the new surroundings. "I was experiencing a new life in a new country and trying to navigate a new language," she said. "I was fascinated because Andorra is such an idiosyncratic country with a very unusual past, so I was quite keen to incorporate that into my book."
Inserting historical references not only added colour and moved the plot, but also helped Grey emulate her favourite authors, who always add elements of education to their prose. "When I finish reading a book, I like to feel I have learned more about a certain topic than I knew when I started," she said. "The research took a long time, plus I was learning Spanish too. I'm embarassed to say the book took over five years to write, since I had to teach myself to write as well."
Also it was a contstant struggle to get the pacing right. "It's something you have to work on quite a bit," she said. "You have to look back at what you've written and do a lot of revising... While most people have to 'peel the onion' to get to the core of their writing, I work the opposite way. I write sparsely then have to amplify by adding more description. Then I go back and take most of that out again! " She adds with a laugh, "It's a very interesting process. If you are one of those individuals who doesn't mind solitude, writing is the perfect activity." Still, Grey enjoyed the process. "I would get ideas in the strangest places. For example, exercising in the gym. My mind would float free and I'd see a ponytail bobbing up and down and incorporate that into my plot."
Unfortunately for her husband, Grey was in writer's mode for a lot of the early years in Andorra. "Yes, unfortunately for him, sometimes I was not giving him the attention he deserved," she said.
Book Signing. Dolly's Bookstore. Main Street. Park City. April 7. 6:00-7.:30 pm
Copyright The Park Record. 2012.
http://www.diariandorra.ad/index.php?option=com_k2&id=21085&view=item&Itemid=543
BON DIA. ANDORRA
Dimarts 04, Setembre de 2012 18:41
Quan es van jubilar, els escriptors i professors universitaris Gillian
i Verner Bicley van decidir impulsar un segell editorial: Proverse Hong Kong.
A més a més, des de fa quatre anys convoquen el premi literari internacional
Proverse per a obres escrites o traduïdes a l’anglès. Tot i que els Bicley
viuen a Hong Kong, cada any passen uns mesos a Ordino. I quan són a Ordino
aprofiten per anunciar els semifinalistes del premi i llegir alguns fragments
de les obres amb la col·laboració de la comunitat anglòfona resident a
Andorra.
Així ho van fer aquest dimarts a l’hotel Coma d’Ordino, on els Bicley
van anunciar els semifinalistes del premi Proverse 2012: Sophronia Liu, de Hong
Kong, per Shimmering sea; Laura Salomon, de Nova Zelanda, per Vera
Magpie; l’anglesa Lawrence Gray, per Odds and sods; Patricia
Laverne, de les Bahames, per Chasing light; l’anglesa Penelope Tremayne,
per From the Vineyard, i l’alemanya Birgit Linder, per Shadows in
deferment.
Els Bicley no volen revelar quantes obres s’han presentat al certamen.
Al novembre anunciaran els finalistes i l’obra guanyadora, l’any que
ve.
A l’acte no hi va faltar la finalista del premi Proverse 2010,
Patricia Grey, australiana resident a Andorra des del 1996. Grey va presentar
la novel·la Death has a thousand doors, en què desenvolupa una
enrevessada trama amb policies i polítics corruptes, una dona desapareguda,
contrabandistes i, fins i tot, secrets de la Segona Guerra Mundial. Grey va
confessar que quan es va instal·lar a Andorra el país la va sobtar molt per les
seves peculiaritats. “Ara escriuria una altra trama”, va admetre
ahir.
Grey va afirmar que des que l’obra es va publicar molta gent s’ha
interessat per Andorra. La novel·la, en anglès, es pot trobar a algunes
llibreries del país.
Següent
>
http://www.diariandorra.ad/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=27753&Itemid=435
