Marcus Bicknell's Blog
December 16, 2020
Sculpted Love: readers' reviews
I have been preparing the audio version of Sculpted Love for publication and went through the reviews to fill out part of the information given to prospective buyer. Not bad…
“A Tour de Force by this new author.”
“What an interesting read I found Sculpted Love: original, introducing me to lots of things I didn’t know about, multi-protagonist, insightful use of psychological damage and its pathway to healing, and shifting frontiers and identities. I loved Emile Friant’s drawings, the sensibility of the sex scenes, the contrasting characters of the two young women, and the quiet strength of Duchien.”
Tristram Miall, Sydney, Producer of Strictly Ballroom the movie
“I really enjoyed this book, building in the sculpture in the story with all the interesting history of the time, made it different in a good way. The story itself became a page turner for me and I loved it. Very clever writing, congratulations Marcus.”
Pauline Odulinski OBE MBA, Visiting Professor Buckinghamshire New University
“Desire meets discovery meets fin du siecle French finery. “
“I thoroughly enjoyed Sculpted Love. I didn’t think people born before 1948 got quite so lucky.”
Andrew Knight, founder and director, Andronicus Coffee
“Perfect Title for this unusual love story: highly recommended!”
“Marcus, I just finished the book yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was engaging and I thoroughly enjoyed the context of art, history, society, and industry in late nineteenth century Nancy. I was also very invested in the girls’ stories – thank you for the wonderful read!”
Madeline Crowe, entrepreneur, artist and dancer in San Francisco
“I can’t recommend Sculpted Love highly enough. A very ‘different’ read with much to learn from its depiction of hypnosis, art nouveau, the Franco Prussian war and female emancipation in the 1890s. And the sex is good! Buy it today! “
Ginny Felton, Director, British American Project.
“5 star Lockdown Lit! I loved the combination of fully-researched history and fiction: I’m full of admiration. Are people competing for the film rights, because it seems to me to have all the right ingredients: love interest, period costumes, even the opportunity for a bit of a battle scene? Congratulations again on such a creative lock-down achievement!”
Nick Ray, Fellow of Jesus College Cambridge, architect and writer
“C’est un beau livre. Rempli de connaissances et d’imagination, il enrichit et divertit à la fois. “
“Sculpted Love: A cracking read. I devoured it in three days. Shocking start. Shocking end. Both worked well. Here’s my stream-of-consciousness notes I scribbled as I went along; Punchy start grabs the reader; Cracking pace; I like the staccato style; The illustrations beautifully compliment the prose; Scrupulously researched; Tad disjointed at times with plot a bit stop start; Torrent of names overdone at times; Dreams vivid and riveting; You really get to care about the characters; Letters lively and naturalistic; Dialogue fluid and effective; Love the way it gets increasingly romantic; Delightful love scenes. No danger of a Bad Sex Award!! Son’s death genuinely shocking; Loose ends neatly tied up at end.”
Paul Majendie (Lecturer on Design, Creative and Digital Industries at the University of Westminster,
“A Tour de Force by this new author.”
“What an interesting read I found Sculpted Love: original, introducing me to lots of things I didn’t know about, multi-protagonist, insightful use of psychological damage and its pathway to healing, and shifting frontiers and identities. I loved Emile Friant’s drawings, the sensibility of the sex scenes, the contrasting characters of the two young women, and the quiet strength of Duchien.”
Tristram Miall, Sydney, Producer of Strictly Ballroom the movie
“I really enjoyed this book, building in the sculpture in the story with all the interesting history of the time, made it different in a good way. The story itself became a page turner for me and I loved it. Very clever writing, congratulations Marcus.”
Pauline Odulinski OBE MBA, Visiting Professor Buckinghamshire New University
“Desire meets discovery meets fin du siecle French finery. “
“I thoroughly enjoyed Sculpted Love. I didn’t think people born before 1948 got quite so lucky.”
Andrew Knight, founder and director, Andronicus Coffee
“Perfect Title for this unusual love story: highly recommended!”
“Marcus, I just finished the book yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was engaging and I thoroughly enjoyed the context of art, history, society, and industry in late nineteenth century Nancy. I was also very invested in the girls’ stories – thank you for the wonderful read!”
Madeline Crowe, entrepreneur, artist and dancer in San Francisco
“I can’t recommend Sculpted Love highly enough. A very ‘different’ read with much to learn from its depiction of hypnosis, art nouveau, the Franco Prussian war and female emancipation in the 1890s. And the sex is good! Buy it today! “
Ginny Felton, Director, British American Project.
“5 star Lockdown Lit! I loved the combination of fully-researched history and fiction: I’m full of admiration. Are people competing for the film rights, because it seems to me to have all the right ingredients: love interest, period costumes, even the opportunity for a bit of a battle scene? Congratulations again on such a creative lock-down achievement!”
Nick Ray, Fellow of Jesus College Cambridge, architect and writer
“C’est un beau livre. Rempli de connaissances et d’imagination, il enrichit et divertit à la fois. “
“Sculpted Love: A cracking read. I devoured it in three days. Shocking start. Shocking end. Both worked well. Here’s my stream-of-consciousness notes I scribbled as I went along; Punchy start grabs the reader; Cracking pace; I like the staccato style; The illustrations beautifully compliment the prose; Scrupulously researched; Tad disjointed at times with plot a bit stop start; Torrent of names overdone at times; Dreams vivid and riveting; You really get to care about the characters; Letters lively and naturalistic; Dialogue fluid and effective; Love the way it gets increasingly romantic; Delightful love scenes. No danger of a Bad Sex Award!! Son’s death genuinely shocking; Loose ends neatly tied up at end.”
Paul Majendie (Lecturer on Design, Creative and Digital Industries at the University of Westminster,
October 9, 2020
Why a novel? How did this happen?
I never had an ambition to write a novel. I never had time or inspiration in the fifty years I was in business (I finally retired in 2020) but did quite a lot of research and writing on 19th century culture and art (cf http://www.clarencebicknell.com). Just as Covid-19 locked us down, I had an idea… Nancy, art, love, coming of age, some crazy people, the aftermath of the German invasion of Metz in 1870. There it was, a completely formed idea! Then I wrote it down.
The book was written in eight straight weeks during the Corona Virus pandemic; I started 1st March 2020 and finished on 26th April a version complete enough for selected friends to read for errors and other comments. I would like to thank above all my lockdown partner and wife Susie Bicknell who was both encouraging and constructively critical at three stages of the book’s creation. She provided some ideas for the Count and Countess’s back story including the Countess’s miscarriage and the reasons for her attitude to her children. My cousin, writer, Alison Jean Lester gave enthusiastically of her time to introduce me to some of the disciplines of writing, as did Geoffrey Gudgion. I relished the opportunity to attempt to learn a new skill, but then came the 3 further months of re-writes, editing and improvements. As I write this for the website, it is mid August and the book is published and available in hard copy (print-on-demand, and great it looks too) and in electronic form for Kindle and your tablet.
You can buy it now on Amazon (search Bicknell Sculpted Love on Amazon where you live).
The book was written in eight straight weeks during the Corona Virus pandemic; I started 1st March 2020 and finished on 26th April a version complete enough for selected friends to read for errors and other comments. I would like to thank above all my lockdown partner and wife Susie Bicknell who was both encouraging and constructively critical at three stages of the book’s creation. She provided some ideas for the Count and Countess’s back story including the Countess’s miscarriage and the reasons for her attitude to her children. My cousin, writer, Alison Jean Lester gave enthusiastically of her time to introduce me to some of the disciplines of writing, as did Geoffrey Gudgion. I relished the opportunity to attempt to learn a new skill, but then came the 3 further months of re-writes, editing and improvements. As I write this for the website, it is mid August and the book is published and available in hard copy (print-on-demand, and great it looks too) and in electronic form for Kindle and your tablet.
You can buy it now on Amazon (search Bicknell Sculpted Love on Amazon where you live).
August 28, 2020
Review from Reuters journalist
Read on.. warts and all.
"Sculpted Love: A cracking read. I devoured it in three days. Shocking start. Shocking end. Both worked well. Here’s my stream-of-consciousness notes I scribbled as I went along; Punchy start grabs the reader; Cracking pace; I like the staccato style; The illustrations beautifully compliment the prose; Scrupulously researched; Tad disjointed at times with plot a bit stop start; Torrent of names overdone at times; Dreams vivid and riveting; You really get to care about the characters; Letters lively and naturalistic; Dialogue fluid and effective; Love the way it gets increasingly romantic; Delightful love scenes. No danger of a Bad Sex Award!! Son’s death genuinely shocking; Loose ends neatly tied up at end.”
Paul Majendie (Lecturer on Design, Creative and Digital Industries at the University of Westminster, London, and correspondent for Reuters since 1970 – five years in Paris, three in Hong Kong, three in Canada and seven in Dublin.)
"Sculpted Love: A cracking read. I devoured it in three days. Shocking start. Shocking end. Both worked well. Here’s my stream-of-consciousness notes I scribbled as I went along; Punchy start grabs the reader; Cracking pace; I like the staccato style; The illustrations beautifully compliment the prose; Scrupulously researched; Tad disjointed at times with plot a bit stop start; Torrent of names overdone at times; Dreams vivid and riveting; You really get to care about the characters; Letters lively and naturalistic; Dialogue fluid and effective; Love the way it gets increasingly romantic; Delightful love scenes. No danger of a Bad Sex Award!! Son’s death genuinely shocking; Loose ends neatly tied up at end.”
Paul Majendie (Lecturer on Design, Creative and Digital Industries at the University of Westminster, London, and correspondent for Reuters since 1970 – five years in Paris, three in Hong Kong, three in Canada and seven in Dublin.)
August 23, 2020
Why a novel? How did this happen
I never had an ambition to write a novel. I never had time or inspiration in the fifty years I was in business (I finally retired in 2020) but did quite a lot of research and writing on 19th century culture and art (cf http://www.clarencebicknell.com). Just as Covid-19 locked us down, I had an idea… Nancy, art, love, coming of age, some crazy people, the aftermath of the German invasion of Metz in 1870. There it was, a completely formed idea! Then I wrote it down.
The book was written in eight straight weeks during the Corona Virus pandemic; I started 1st March 2020 and finished on 26th April a version complete enough for selected friends to read for errors and other comments. I would like to thank above all my lockdown partner and wife Susie Bicknell who was both encouraging and constructively critical at three stages of the book’s creation. She provided some ideas for the Count and Countess’s back story including the Countess’s miscarriage and the reasons for her attitude to her children. My cousin, writer, Alison Jean Lester gave enthusiastically of her time to introduce me to some of the disciplines of writing, as did Geoffrey Gudgion. I relished the opportunity to attempt to learn a new skill, but then came the 3 further months of re-writes, editing and improvements. As I write this for the website, it is mid August and the book is published and available in hard copy (print-on-demand, and great it looks too) and in electronic form for Kindle and your tablet. An audio version is on the way.
You can buy it now by clicking here for Amazon UK, or search Bicknell Sculpted Love in Amazon where you live.
The book was written in eight straight weeks during the Corona Virus pandemic; I started 1st March 2020 and finished on 26th April a version complete enough for selected friends to read for errors and other comments. I would like to thank above all my lockdown partner and wife Susie Bicknell who was both encouraging and constructively critical at three stages of the book’s creation. She provided some ideas for the Count and Countess’s back story including the Countess’s miscarriage and the reasons for her attitude to her children. My cousin, writer, Alison Jean Lester gave enthusiastically of her time to introduce me to some of the disciplines of writing, as did Geoffrey Gudgion. I relished the opportunity to attempt to learn a new skill, but then came the 3 further months of re-writes, editing and improvements. As I write this for the website, it is mid August and the book is published and available in hard copy (print-on-demand, and great it looks too) and in electronic form for Kindle and your tablet. An audio version is on the way.
You can buy it now by clicking here for Amazon UK, or search Bicknell Sculpted Love in Amazon where you live.
