Rupert Copping's Blog

Of course, not everybody believes that the soul exists. I'm not even sure myself. But now and then you come across a book that you not only you enjoy reading but affects you profoundly and actually, in a small way, changes the way you think about yourself and the world. That such books exist seems to me a miracle, and especially nowdays when writing has become mostly about entertainment.
I think the first book that had a profound effect on me was Catcher in the Rye. And the last Love and Garbage by Ivan Klima. But in between, over the years, there have been at least a couple of dozen others. Indeed, for me it is one of the great pleasures of life: that unexpected moment when you happen to come across a book that you find is not merely entertaining but grips your very soul - if your soul exists that is!

I've been tidying up my studio in preparation for a new series of paintings I'm about to embark on. While doing so I came across an old folder containing a bunch of rejection slips I'd received years ago for my novel Before the Dawn. I was surprised to see how long and complementary the rejection letters were. They came from people very high up in the industry,like Bill Scott Kerr and others. One publisher said my novel made her cry. Another that it was engrossing and beautifully written. Yet none of these publishers would publish the novel. The reason they invariably gave was that it wasn't sufficiently commercial because the market place was parochial and people couldn't identify with the exotic characters etc etc... When I look back and think of all the years I spent writing it and the many drafts it went through and all the anguish and heartache the novel gave me I do have to wonder if it was worth it. I fear not. But it's out there now, published by Skylight Press, and time will tell if it was worth it after all. All I know is that it's a great story, deceptively easy to read, about a subject that becomes more and more relevant every day that passes, and worth every penny to whoever buys it.

An author shouldn't have to blow his own trumpet. It's demeaning. A book should speak for itself. It should be all about the writing, not the author. However,it seems that in this modern age a book by an unknown author has no chance of being discovered if left to itself,without publicity,whether this publicity comes from the publisher or the author or both. So unknown, struggling writers find themselves having to do all sorts of things they'd, perhaps, rather not be doing in order to publicize themselves as authors in the hope that it will get them more sales. And the authors who are best a this game of self promotion will succeed over those others who are not so good even if their actual work - ie their book - is the less accomplished. So a book's commercial success is not necessarily an indication of it's merit. Lucky the author who manages to write a book that is worthy, that has merit and is also a commercial success!

For me what is important in literature are stories that transcend their setting and by this means can appeal to readers everywhere, regardless of their nationality or culture. I tried to do this with my novel Before the Dawn by giving the characters I created ways of thinking and behaving that people can identify with. It seems like a simple task but actually it's very difficult to make characters from a different culture than your own fully human and therefore believable. This is a problem with a lot of fantasy and science fiction and novels like Lord of the Rings; the characters don't live in the real world and therefore lack real human depth. Stories that not only entertain but also tell us something about our condition as human beings, those are the stories I like best and am most drawn to.

My novel seems to be selling more now. I'm hoping it will increase as word of mouth spreads. The main difficulty is that I'm not really very good with computers and don't know too well how to promote myself through this medium... Anyway I'm glad some people are reading my novel and, it seems, really liking it. I think it's a novel that should be read - for more reasons than one; not least that it is a cracking good story, full of drama, intrigue and adventure and if it helps people become aware of the terrible things that are happening to isolated indigenous communities and their environment, all the better.

Good interview of me today on Chris Hill's blog. Take a look: http://songofth
eseagod.wordpress.com/2014/02/01/rupe...

A few reviews of my novel,Before the Dawn, are now starting to appear on Amazon. Here's one of them:
5.0 out of 5 stars An important novel about the impact of "civilization" on indigenous cultures 26 Jan 2014
By Garry C. Powell - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
First, I should say that although I have never met Rupert Copping, we share the same publisher. However, I do not publish favourable reviews for anyone, even my friends, unless I genuinely admire them. So, to come to the point: I found this a fascinating and important novel, and a highly original one in subject matter, as it deals with a previously "undiscovered" indigenous culture in South America, the Arayana, who are under threat from the outside world, and their story is told entirely and very convincingly from the point of view of several key members of their tribe. I don't know whether the Arayana are a real or fictional people, but the details of their life, which are not romanticized at all, have the very ring of truth. I know that Mr. Copping lived in Ecuador in his youth, and I would venture the opinion that he knows what he's speaking about. In the novel we meet few "purinis" or westerners--Spanish speakers all, rather than gringos--and the ones we do not meet are not all brutal and bad (Copping does not present us with a black and white vision), but the Indians come across as real individuals with complex lives, not so different from our own in their essential longings and hopes, and the richness of the culture, in terms of their history and mythology, is very apparent. I don't wish to spoil the reader's pleasure by giving away too much of the plot, but let me say that while the sovereign, Rumicuri, goes on a journey to the world of the purinis to discover whether his people are under a direct threat, his people are visited by soldiers. The story is as exciting as it is complex and artfully structured. Highly recommended for lovers of literary fiction and anyone with any interest in post-colonial realities, particularly in Latin America.

I've just started this blog, folks. Please be patient. I'm still trying to work out how goodreads works. Anyhow, meanwhile I hope some of you will taken a look at my novel, Before the Dawn, which took me over 30 yrs to write. It's available from Amazon as well as direct from the publisher, Skylight Press. At the moment I've just finished reading a novel by Ivan Klima. I think he's a great writer and hugely undervalued!