472. From Romance to Horror

 Feeling the tug stronger for writing than a productive career as a solicitor (lawyer) in “The City”, Michelle Paver started off her life as an author writing romance, the Mills & Boon-type of novel. Fortunately these were rejected, otherwise Michelle Paver may never have turned her hand at the dark side of existence, even up to the point of horror, from which she has never looked back.

As an Oxford graduate it was second nature for her to investigate, explore and delve into the subject matter of her books; research events and characters and even step inside their shoes as she herself commented when working on her “Wolf Brother” stories:

“Before you can write from a wolf’s point of view, you have to become one.”

So is in the case of “Wakenhyrst”- the story of a young girl, who, when her repressive father finds the painting of a medieval devil in a graveyard, all hell is let loose.

I don’t often write articles on authors but I picked up Michelle Paver because her latest novel has recently hit the Italian market under the title of “I Demoni di Wakenhyrst” (The Demons of Wakenhyrst), printed by the renowned publisher NERI POZZA. However, I have not chosen to write about this author solely because her book has been published in the country where I live, but also because Michelle Paver is a familiar name to 

Litopians like myself.

LITOPIA

But who are Litopians? One may well ask, or better still, what is Litopia? Litopia is a registered trade mark that appertains to a London based colony of tightly knit and for the most part, supportive and talented writers. Also, it is no exaggeration to say they are a world-wide conglomeration of English speaking tongues. Furthermore it is headed by its founder, Peter Cox, who is himself a literary agent, so it stands to reason that if Michelle Paver is a familiar author in Litopia it is because Peter Cox represents her and occasionally posts news on her activities.

Agent Peter Cox supervising photography session

One of these occasions was when Michelle was chosen for the front cover of “The Bookseller” and Peter posted a photo of Michelle while posing for the event. He also went along to the session, as he commented, “to keep a beady eye on the shoot!”

So, when I learned Michelle Paver is now published in Italy, I consider it a pleasure to have this opportunity in introducing her and “I Demoni di Wakenhyrst” to my friends and  the Italian readers.

Interested in reading more about Litopia?

It’s not just a writers’ group, we do such things as take you behind the scenes and unfold the process of what happens when a submission reaches the agent’s desk- all in a programme on U-Tube on Sunday afternoon at 5 00 p.m. U.K. time, called Pop Up Submissions.