I caught myself right in the middle of it this week.
Me, in one of my other lives an energy counsellor, telling people how to relax and use their energies effectively,
stressing out over the publication of Bloodlines-Traces.

‘Tom!’, (over Skype) ‘we promised our readers the sequel would be out May 16 2016. We can’t postpone again.’ (rolling eyes)

The almost 5 year path since publishing Bloodlines – Touch Not the Cat, November 11 2011, seems to be riddled with delays.
This time, at the very very end, the last few meters of the marathon, it’s getting the proof copy done that  has been delayed, for reasons known only by the uncontrollable forces outside of us. 
We expected it to arrive end of last week, but so far Tom has been stalking his mailbox for nothing.

Along the way of writing Bloodlines -Traces we’ve felt embarrassed a number of times  when we had to postpone publication, having been far too optimistic on when we would finish the novel.
Most of the delays were caused by reasons too personal to display on Facebook.
Yet the advertising world of today, or maybe I could even state – today’s world -, expects precision planning.

30 years ago, when I was doing my very first marketing course, it was Mr Kotler who taught me that when you bring a product on the market you need to make sure all watches are synchronized.
Don’t start advertising when the product isn’t available yet, and o dear, did this conviction latch on to my conscience.

It was Joe Marich, long time publicist of Michael Crichton, who taught me this rule doesn’t entirely apply with books. With books you start advertising half a year ahead of publication.
A little voice in my head however is telling me those books are most probably already written and printed when advertising starts.

With Tom and me it was a totally different process. Toddlers we were in the way we played around.
As ‘accidental authors’ when writing Bloodlines -Touch Not the Cat, the learning curve was already unusual. We didn’t have an audience yet; we didn’t even know we were going to be published authors; it simply was a lot of fun and inspiration.
With ‘Traces’ we did have people waiting for the sequel, even more so , it is thanks to readers asking for more, that we decided to go for it.
The way we went about producing ‘Traces’ however, was as inexperienced as the way we jostled writing our debut.

Having said all that; what I do feel good about, is the blunt honesty of our process.
Personally I resent the commercials in which life is pictured as one golden glow.
‘As long as you use ‘this or that deodorant’ or drive ‘such and so car’, life will be perfect.’
Or the  articles in flight magazines, showing off overpriced suitcases, silver clean holiday beaches and sunset minarets of exotic destinations. They never show you the plastic bags homeless people use to carry their belongings in, or the whales’ carcasses  stranded  because of  plastic polluted oceans; or the poverty of the people who live in the backstreets behind the sunset minarets.

At least, I tell myself , we have always been honest about being new kids on the block and never pictured ourselves any better than what we were capable off. We openly showed, we were first timers at writing Bloodlines – Touch Not the Cat and first timers at writing it’s sequel Bloodlines – Traces.

It was a huge learning curve, actually more of a roller coaster ride with double looopings (yes 3 o’s), Double Axles, Triple Toeloops and Flip Jumps (all terms derived from ice skating) that left us in different states of well or not so well being, at times even  affecting our co-authors relationship.

To be honest; in retrospect it is nothing short of of a miracle we actually ever came to a point of publication and that our friendship came out stronger at the other end of the tunnel.

Now the question may rise…will there be a third one.
The answer: not telling

Bloodlines – Traces however… will be there … in May… bare with us… just a few more days

picture: courtesy of www.freepik.com

Here’s my sequence of events:

For the upcoming book launch of Bloodlines-Touch Not the Cat at the American Book Center, I needed something appropriate to wear. Men have an easy life; (also) where dressing up for events is concerned. All they need to do is wear the right suit with the right tie, the right socks and the right shoes and they’re done.

“Scottish men,” I said to Tom, “have even less to worry about.” They simply wear their kilt and that’s it.”

“Just wear what feels comfortable,” Tom said, trying to shush me.

I pictured myself at the launch: Dutch girl… Scottish American novel… Scottish co-author in kilt… what was I going to wear? Clogs and a white lace cap? It wasn’t that easy to decide.

I didn’t want to wear any particular tartan, as my clan is Dutch and the Dutch don’t do tartans.

As I’m in a long lasting relationship with my computer I decided to ask my MacIntosh for advice.  I typed in:

‘Scottish Holland clothes woman.’

To my utter delight my Mac’s search engine took me by the hand and brought me to a shop called, “The World of Scotland,” near the famous Rotterdam harbor of Holland. The shop sells all sorts of products directly imported from Scotland, including… woman’s clothes.

One of the tartans displayed on the website had an highly unusual match of colors. Sunny pink, with cobalt blue (Rangers-blue Tom would say,) and a green and a yellow line.

It looked highly un-Scottish to me, yet was absolutely lovely.

I stepped into my car and covered the 60+ kilometers dividing The Hague from Gravendeel where “The World of Scotland” is located.

On arrival, the owner of the shop, Fiona, a resident in Holland for almost 30 years now, yet from Scottish origin, explained to me that the particular tartan design I had seen on line, was a design of her own. It has no specific connection to any clan and was in fact designed in Holland.

There you go! I had found the answer to my problem.

I had found myself a Dutch Tartan.

The story doesn’t end there though.

I had of course brought with me a copy of Bloodlines-Touch Not the Cat. While leafing through it, Fiona asked me if the novel was based on true fact.

“The storyline,” I told her, “is entirely fictional. We do use actual locations and events as a basis. For instance, the Tay Bridge disaster was a major railway accident in 1879 where a train plunged from a bridge into the Forth of Tay during a December storm. Many bodies were never recovered and simply disappeared.

Fiona looked at me and said, “Victoria’s gloves were on that train.”

Intrigued I stared back at her.

“My great grandfather,” Fiona continued, “was a glover; someone who makes gloves. He lived in an area north of theTay Bridge. Queen Victoria had ordered a pair of gloves and they were on that unfortunate train. The gloves were recovered. My family kept them for over three generations until they donated them to a museum. I remember as a child thinking how small Victoria’s hands must have been as they were really tiny gloves.”

It’s at moments like this I get a major case of goose bumps and realize how, as an author, you can never really know what your book triggers in the mind of the reader.

We may have written the book, but we will never know exactly what resonates, what rings the special bell.

Will it be the Genealogy? The Mystery? Or the Tay Bridge disaster with the train that carried Victoria’s gloves?

What a Gift to be told such a story as an author.

Ingrid Schippers.

Please see our event page for all details.

An April 2012 launch is being considered in and around Grantown-on-Spey, in the Scottish Highlands, when the sun is out and when the crisp highland Spring is in the air. Further details will be posted at the turn of the year.