Bookcase Showcase: Andrew Peters author of ravenwood

Today's Bookcase Showcase post is by Andrew Peters, author of Ravenwood ...
 
I live in a converted Methodist Chapel on the edge of a small rural village..
I love the contrast between the stone walls and walls of books. This first
picture is part of our library on the landing. It shows part of our
children¹s fiction collection, with some of my favourite books tucked away,
including The Invention of Huge Chabret {one of the greatest books I have
ever read}, Airborn by Kenneth Oppel and the Mortal Engines Quartet by
Philip Reeve, alongside a shelf of plays {my wife is an ex-drama teacher,
but we have also written six published plays} and a lovely old set of
Dickens. 

The second picture displays the concept of controlled chaos in my study. The
bottom shelf comprises files of old and ongoing projects, proof-copies of
books, and several unpublished novels including my first ever novel written
in my early twenties called the Rose That Leaked. It has taken two decades
for me to finally work out why the publishers said no ­ in which time I hope
I have finally served my fiction apprenticeship, learning about narrative
arc, dialogue, structure and character building. The second and third
shelves house part of my poetry collection, Milton and Yeats sitting
comfortably alongside Roger McGough and a copy of Watchmen which I studied
when I wrote my first graphic novel. The final shelf, contains all the
editions of mine and Polly¹s books {I have co-authored about a quarter of my
titles with her}. Proudly faced out are the Polish and German editions of
Ravenwood. On days when I feel insecure, I use this shelf as a security
blanket to remind me that I do have a body of work that goes back many years
­ including poetry, plays, picture books, story books, verse novels and
fiction. 

The final picture is the most personal. Our loft and sleeping space is
supported by wonderful old huge pine roof-trusses ­ perhaps this is part of
where the idea of sleeping in the trees in Ravenwood comes from. We have had
many wonderful carpenters work their talents to shoehorn shelves into
difficult spaces. These books represent my bedtime reading and my palace of
dreams. There is Waterlog, by Roger Deakin, one of the best and truest books
on wild swimming that echoes my obsession with natural water. I feel that
Roger was a kindred spirit to Ark, the hero of my novel, who loves nothing
more than to take a dip in the rainwater-filled, hollowed-out cruck of a
giant tree, where branch meets trunk,  a mile above ground. Here also are my
books about nature, and my other interest, the history of London that I can
read a few pages of before drifting off in my bed to visit those other
strange landscapes that on waking, one always wishes one could remember.

Andrew Peters
http://www.facebook.com/RavenwoodNovel

If you would like to feature in a future bookcase showcase please find all the details on the bookcase showcase page. I would love to feature you.