The Little Girl in the Fig Tree

Saturdays Are Gold will be released on Saturday (of course) 25th June 2011.
Goodreads are running a giveaway promotion between now and 25th July. They have three signed book plated hard cover copies to give out. You can find the link to the giveaway and other information on the Saturdays Are Gold facebook page which is now linked to from the bottom of my authonomy profile section.

Hello my dear friend
My name is Leonita Adams and i got your contact details today here in this site as i was browsing and i pick interest in knowing you & being friendly with you.I would appreciate if we get acquainted as soon as possible,You can reach me through my private E-mail started below for a better communication (leonita4adams@hotmail.com)) I quite believe that we can start from here since it takes one to know someone.I want you to understand that nature has it's own way of bringing people together for a particular purpose,I look forward to hearing more from you soonest

Yours truly
Leonita
(leonita4adams@hotmail.com)

Pierre,
You are a genius for figuring out such a life situation, fantastic! Travel is the best thing in life; your experienses are rich and well told. I am very fortunate to also have travelled to Seychelles, in 1995, after a two month odyssey in Tanzania, Kenya and Zanzibar. Pure magic, such experiences. I tend to read more non-fiction than fiction, and you got me hooked. I gotta keep reading now...

Rex Taylor
Riding the Line

Saturdays Are Gold will be released on Saturday (of course) 25th June 2011.
Goodreads are running a giveaway promotion between now and 25th July. They have three signed book plated hard cover copies to give out. You can find the link to the giveaway and other information on the Saturdays Are Gold facebook page which is now linked to from the bottom of my authonomy profile section.

Hello Pierre and pleased to see the book is still here.
Sending this as a comment (sorry!) because I see you haven't been online for ages. Hopefully you'll get an email message about it and you'll come see. I do hope al is well with you both and your long absence is because you are having a ball doing other things.
Ariom
xxx

Pierre, I enjoyed your first chapter. I understand why your work reached the top. Professionally written.

Backing this out of respect.

Joffrey (The Silver Spoon Effect)

I nearly missed reading this, this is very, very good (suddenly realised I’ve a lot to learn) Immense writing

this is great, poor little maudie, its sad for her, i really enjoyed this, backed

alison

Wow what a start to a book – I salute you its tremendous I was totally immersed in it. My hear went out to Maudie and her distress and how hard for both of them she wanting to die he being aware of that but hiding the fact from Victor and just helping her. This is an astounding book.

Beautifully written you have such skill in painting a picture its incredible. I love the dialogue when she first starts talking to Tadpole and her fears if she stops preying. I could ooh and ah about this book because its honestly the best I have read here. I will move it to my W/L and hope to come back and read more its captivating.

Sue Mackender
Knowing Liam Riley

this is a good writing style. It is very emotional to start wih the poem. Most recommended. Backed.

Thank you for mentioning Girl in a Fig Tree in your comments about my book, I may never have found it otherwise. I absolutely loved it and reminded me of the book "The Power of One" also set in South Africa. I saw that you had criticism about not mentioning that Tadpole was a boy, yet in your synopsis, before you even start reading it says "Her brother, nine year old Tadpole..." I would love to see HC critique, but do not know where to find it. I suppose being brought up in Africa, I found your terms very familiar and easy to follow. If this book isn't published yet, it should be. I wish you luck.
Anna

Dear Pierre,
Your book was recommended by Ancient Reader. I have spent the past few days enjoying every single word and page of this delightful book. I simply cannot understand why it is not yet in print.
The most atmospheric and powerful tale of deep familial love between a brother and his sister, their family and a life that makes their world so special and at times frightening.
There are too many beautiful touches of literary joy in this book to identify each one, but I am particularly smitten by the daily signs posted in the fig tree, for me the position and purpose of the Fig Tree in Maudies life, anchors the entire story in the most wonderful manner. The safe place from which her world begins to evolve after a very shaky start in life including the loss of her mother.
We are treated to the most delightful set of relationships developing between the children, their friends and beloved pets as well as the adults who move in and out of their lives. All mingled with a large dose of strange “African “magic”.
I was completely enthralled. The writing style is deft and neat, and Maudies dialogue is exquisite .I found both her and Tadpole to be compelling and very real characters.
I have nothing but deep admiration for you as an author, and for The Girl in The Fig Tree, which is exquisite. Keep going with your promotion, this book must be put into print.
With Very Best Wishes
Dawn .

Wow. Excellent. So sad. I feel for Maudie. She sounds like she received some brain trauma. The first chapter is very descriptive, but not so descriptive that you cant handle it.

Wow, how enticing, sucks you right in. Your writing is excellent.

Dear Pierre,

Yours story is indeed extremely endearing and nice! I love the way the main character thinks back on his childhood and his baby sister! Perhaps, however, you will find these two comments useful:

1. I can understand why the H.C. editor thought the main character was Maudie's sister: you simply never hint -- or state outright -- that he's a boy. You don't have to go in-depth here: a simple comment that: "I loved her very much -- even if she was a girl" would suffice. There are hints as to the fact that Tadpole's a boy: for example that Maudie is wearing his clothes, which are boy's clothes. And you say later on that women didn't wear men's clothing. Still, perhaps one good hint in that direction at the very beginning would help.

2. I find the language that you use very nice. However, it seems a bit complicated when you set it against Maudie's language and the children's thoughts. These are very simplistic, and expressed with much too complex a vocabulary.

Regarding character build-up, dialogue, and plot: this is a really moving story, and I will certainly read on as soon as I can.

Love,
Cristina

Though I know I will look keen to follow others in criticising HC editor, I must make my point.
The critique is OK; subjective it will always remain. However, the statement 'As is often the case when we read high quality work, I wonder if we could really market this...' looks like an apology for not publishing an otherwise high quality book. No doubt, thousands of debut books with great literary promise do not get published and thousands of books that are found to be 'marketable' do not sell.
Excellent stuff, very well presented. And the tiny rascals!

Pierre
What a lovely story you have....And thank you for posting the HC review....We all learn from it......I felt quite sad reading chapter 1, which is exactly what you want......A lady in my writers group is writing a similar novel to this. I will suggest she reads your review....

The only tiny criticism I have, is that I like loads of 'showing' and not so much 'telling'
eg.... Maudie would shake her blonde head, her emerald eyes clouded......that kind of thing...Describing characters is boring, but reminding the reader what everyone looks like now and again, helps build a picture...
Fathers dark eyebrows creased in consternation,,, bla bla.....

But that is just my view....I enjoyed it very much....

Love it! You really know how to paint with words. In Oklahoma, my grandma used to always say "knowed" for "known". She'd say, "I knowed that from the moment I seed him." I don't know why I mention it, but it fits right in with the way I read the two of them talking, Maudie and Tad. You'll do great with this. Wish I had some criticisms for you, but I can't think of a one. Please read my work, Visions, if you will. Thanks --- Dave

This is fantastic. I can't think of anything else to say. The HC review is deeply disappointing on a number of levels, and I can only hope it doesn't put you off - if this were published I buy it in a shot.

i agree. i only read a few chapters of this brilliant book long ago and knew immediately about the brother's voice of tadpole. i am very disillusioned reading HC comments. if this is the quality of their reading, what use are their comments?

also, are they implying that there is virtually no market for 'high quality writing'?

where do you take it from here, pierre?

many thanks for your encouragement, meanwhile and love to you two sailors.
xx
m

The trouble with having more of a physical description of the two sisters is that then everryone would work out Tadpole is a boy (unlike the intern / temp who read this for HC).

More publishing industry horsesh*t - there is no point getting onto the editor's desk folks, not if they approach reading the work so haphazardly, with the mindset of instant rejection. Even if Pierre made every change they list (which would destroy his vision) they still wouldn't publish. We've all been there.

"I wonder if we could really market this to the kind of audience that we would ultimately need to reach to make it a success." Well, surely that's a competency issue on HC's part and nothing to do with the novel? We don't know how to market this, so go away.

Take comfort though Pierre, remember the quote that couldn't be more salutary in these circumstances: "Nobody knows anything."

Did HarperCollins reject Harry Potter too, on a similar basis? I know most publishers and agents did...
Al

It's clear as early on in the PITCH that Tadpole is a boy. Get it, HC editor? Her brother, Tadpole ...
BROTHER not SISTER.

How do these people get jobs? How do they stay in them once it becomes evident they are uselss?

Sorry, Pierre.

Which two girls?
Iget it, they read some other book and confused it with Pierre's.
Silly old editor.
If I did my job like they do theirs ......

Reading this HC review on one of the finest books I have read on this site makes me reconsider whether or not it's worth the trouble of getting to the editors' desk at all. If the editors can't even get the gender of your MC correct, how can they be expected to write a competent review of the work? Pierre, you deserve to have this review retracted with a formal apology from HC, and to have the book reviewed by a proper editor... as in, one who can actually READ.

I'm so sorry to see this happen to you. Please tell me you're shopping this out to other publishing companies; it needs to be in print.

Best of luck,
Sydney Isle

I hadn't read this before as I wasn't using the site when it went up for review. Seeing the HC review and the two comments below it, I felt I had to take a look. I've just read the first couple of chapters and this is a truly engaging , well-written story that I would definitely want to continue with if reading in hard copy. I can't believe the reviewer got Tadpole's gender wrong - there is no grounds for such an error at all in the writing. (And it's in the pitch!) It is sloppy, careless reading and does suggest a total disinterest in the scheme on authonomy and a contempt for authonomy readers' acclaim. The review is also pathetically short as a summary of someone's hard work. I haven't got to the 'dream element' yet but I can imagine it would be an easy jump, given Maudie's trauma and the context described. Let's hope some other publisher picks up this lovely book. I am fast losing interest in my own 'dash for the desk' - it's not necessarily worth the effort.

I echo everything that Bennetts and Crowe have said. Pathetic, HC. Another to add to your long list of risible excuses for reviews (remember 'Archer'?).

"As is often the case when we read high quality work, I wonder if we could really market this to the kind of audience..." - says it all, really.

Pierre,

I love what I've read so far (just to chapter 3). I think you've really caught it in the third chapter: you seem less urgent about your narrative, more leisurely, and the result is extremely vivid and effective. This chapter is near-perfect, to my mind: you catch the meandering, capricious impressions of a child brilliantly, but still you can feel the story progress and the characters form underneath. Masterly work.

I do think - having read this far - that there were points in the second chapter where maybe you weren't enough at ease; where you kept trying to drill the narrative ahead. ('Then'... 'Suddenly'...) I think the pace could be, again, more leisurely, more wondering. Of course I appreciate this is difficult, when you've got the basis of the novel to lay - but I think maybe you could take your time a little more with it - maybe integrate the 2 major 'events' more fluidly into the chapter as a whole?

Just a suggestion. I think your writing is superb - and I wish you the best with the editors!

Nathan

Too far fetched for my taste. I am not interested. Also, too simplestic.

Pierre,
I went to read your "Little Girl in the Fig Tree" and noticed you received a gold star. Congratulations.
Goodness, the first two chapters took me by surprise. Simply told but very effective. Reminds me a bit of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, who is imprisoned in a cabin by his drunken father and escapes down the River where he encounters Jim, the escaped slave, and its heavy use of Southern dialect.
Best wishes for success with publication.
Thank you for bookshelving my "Liminality: A Tale of Fox Possession." I would return the favor, but your gold star renders that unneccessary.
Mary

Congratulations Pierre! I am curious to see what's next for the Little Girl in the Fig Tree.

I have done some reading on it today, and wanted to leave you some first impressions:

Your writing style is clear and so refreshingly free of clutter... And in my opinion, this translates back to confidence and great skill. Tadpole has a great and very real voice, a voice of a child almost consistently, and one I feel just chimes with the affection he feels for his sister, Maudie.

Another thing that has grabbed me so far (chapter two) is the amount of detail with which you make the whole thing sparkle - like the days of the week written with crayon on a piece of paper, and the colours Tadpole still associates with them - very beautiful.

Will keep an eye on you.
Claudio

Well done, Pierre, best of luck for the next stage. *

Hi Pierre,
So glad you made it. Well done! You deserve it. Maybe you'll have time now to have another peep at Pinpoint.

All the best and hope you get a contract now,
Sheila (Pinpoint)

Hi,
Wow, there is so much emotion in the first two chapters. Sad, but not so horrible that I couldn't keep reading. IT wasn't heavy-handed, but honest. I did wonder how many people were in the car and who was who, in the first chapter. I like how the first chapter is short and punchy, but then in chapter 2 I actually flipped back to see who might be connected to what name... maybe you could use more names in chapter 1? Also, I found a lot of tension in chapter 1 because you don't say something bad happens... you mention things like Maudie not wearing the seatbelt, so the reader holds her breath... but in Chapter 2 I thought you lost some of the tension by saying 'then something terrible happened' and 'then something wonderful happened'. I would rather discover these things myself... or if you do want to foreshadow a bit, you could say 'then something happened I can never forget...' don't tell us immediately if it's good or bad. Just an idea.

so glad you made it to the desk

Well done Pierre, a well deserved addition to the Ed's desk. If anything on here deserves to be published, this does.

Graham

Pierre,
Good for you! And thanks for sharing these truly authentic dreamers with us.
Erin Yes

Yay! Congrats, Pierre :)

congrats to you!

amie
(the reservoir)

hahahahhahahahah !!!!!

Many congratulations.

Charles

Pierre,

I do so hope you make it. I'm a bit of a weed and would prefer you and Michael to end up as joint fifth. But I so love your book that I really want it to get to the editor's desk (can't say any of this on the forum because it has crashed).

Charles

#6 again ? can't believe it ! Oh, well, at least you are sailing around the world and havng a good live not like the rest wannabes !

A wonderful read. Something I read a while ago but didn't leave comments for. Beautifully descriptive writing and a book that deserves to be on the ED. Good luck :)

BJ

Pierre

You're already on my bookshelf, so I'm dropping a line, and hoping that a few extra comments can help lift your novel up a notch

tyler
In Search of Me / Alex

oh, forgot one thing: you might want to cut the meat out a little in the chapter 40 as it appeared a little chunky.

oh, forgot one thing: you might want to cut the meat out a little in the chapter 40 as it appear a little chunky.

Just finishing the book. Thank you for giving such delight read to your reader ! Wish you all the best !

Only read the first couple of chaps and couldn't concentrate as arguing with hubby at time, will come back again soon x

Almost finishing your book. One of the most charming book to read here ! Great job !

Pierre,

Chapter one sets the hooks. Chapter two sets the charm. What a delightful read! The mc and his sister are phenomenal, and the plot has that classical feel of exceptional literature. I love the dialect. It flows naturally.

On my shelf and best of luck,

ML

The Little girl in the Fig Tree is one of the most stories I have read on authonomy. You told it in a simple voice , but one that mading reading it very quick. The plot is memorable.

Good luck with the writing.