Once Kelley saw that I was utterly serious, that I could not be consoled, she disappeared into the kitchen and after a long moment re-emerged with two frosty Dos Equis. I meant every word my life, as I understood it, was over. Kelley came home from work one night and found me sitting in a heap on the living room floor. It wasn’t until I’d given up-or thought I’d given up-that I found the solution. The more I tried to consciously wrestle the book into shape, the worse everything got. Each time I sat down to work I felt queasy. The narrative had become hopelessly muddled with flashbacks piggybacking on flashbacks, and dizzily escalating dream and nightmare sequences.

Then wrote the first thirty-five thousand and stared at it, and despaired. I wrote the first ten thousand words twice and threw them away. In that essay I also describe why at first I had such a hard time writing the novel and how I came up with the narrative structure that solved my problems. I wrote a whole essay about it, Writing Slow River. So where did Slow River comes from? The intersection of two different experiences, both of which changed my perceptions of myself and my place in the world.

And I want a sequel.’ And I smiled back and said, ‘Perhaps you misunderstood me: I’m not writing one.’ He was not happy but I didn’t particularly care. I didn’t ask if, I asked when: we have the option on your next novel. I said, ‘Oh, I’m not writing a sequel.’ He said, with a smile, ‘You misunderstand me.

I won the award for Ammonite, and Owen asked me when Del Rey could have the sequel. In fact, I’d just started it when I was at the Lambda literary Awards banquet, sitting next to the Ballantine/Del Rey VP of Sales, Owen (whose last name I’m sorry to report I have forgotten). So I didn’t get to the idea that became Slow River until 1993. After pondering for a day or two I started the far-future other-planet one, which became Ammonite. I said Why yes I am! (I lied-you can read the whole story here) and quickly wrote a couple of pages of two different novels I’d been thinking about, one set in the far future and one in the near future. I wrote the first couple of pages in 1991 when Malcolm Edwards, then editorial director of HarperCollins, asked me if I was working on a novel. SR was my second novel, but it could have been my first. Slow River is 25 years old! Actually, the anniversary was earlier this summer, but a 25-year old novel has learnt to be patient and so won’t mind that I’m a little late. Left to right: current US cover, current UK ebook, original US cover, current UK print edition, original UK edition Covers of English language editions of Slow River.

Slow river by nicola griffith