Guest post: They Like Me, They Really Like Me by Catherine Astolfo

Tonight’s guest blog post, on the topic of awards and prizes is brought to you by Catherine Astolfo.

Just recently (April 19 in fact), I was thrilled to hear my name read out as a finalist for the Short Story category of a major award in my country. Crime Writers of Canada (CWC) presents awards for excellence in mystery writing, named after Canada’s first hangman, Arthur Ellis. The Arthur Ellis Awards have acknowledged distinction in Canadian crime writing for 29 years. They draw readers’ and critics’ attention to excellent work in the field. A good friend of mine says the main honor for her would be that a jury of peers has judged your writing and found it commendable.  I wasn’t able to articulate what it meant for me. I think I was still in shock.

Grateful, humbled, excited and happy are the emotions I felt, and still feel, as the award ceremony (May 31) approaches. I began to think about awards in general, probably as a distraction from obsessing over decision day.

A few years ago, a team commissioned by CWC applied for a grant to research awards in terms of their impact. Loosely, the question was: does being nominated for / winning an award make a positive difference to the shortlisted / winner’s writing career? Unfortunately, the grant application was unsuccessful. Therefore we have very little hard data here in Canada, at least for our genre of crime writing.

In honor of distraction, therefore, I conducted some very unscientific searches on the Internet. It has kept me busy, but of course no one would write a thesis based on the results.

Around the world, it appears there are mixed reviews on the after-effects. In the United States, The National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize have been proven to cause very significant jumps in sales. There are many examples on the web of authors and publishers who have acquired financial success and fame (or more of those) by winning these awards.

Lots of news media and publishers report that the prestige of the award and the cash prize (if there is one) are outweighed by the drive upwards in sales. The Man Booker Prize (from the UK) seems to pretty much guarantee that its winner will gain worldwide readership along with the resultant dramatic increase in book sales.

The Independent Book Publisher Awards (IPBA), in their paper, Using Book Awards to Boost Your Book Sales, states that awards boost credibility, buzz, and garner more reviews and interviews. “The fact is, award stickers help to convince buyers to purchase,” said Jim Cox, Midwest Book Review, in a quote for the treatise. He cites librarians as an example of a large group influenced by awards. There’s an approval factor involved. The Saskatoon Book Awards in Canada mentions increased publicity, readership, and sales as benefits.

In New Zealand, George Walker, a publisher for Reed and Penguin, is more neutral about the impact of winning awards. I read an article in which he said, “Sometimes it does [increase sales], sometimes it doesn’t; you have to ask ‘has the book the potential to be a large seller?’” By bestseller he means, does it have mass appeal? How long has it been around before the award? I interpreted his stance this way: there are lots of other factors that might influence the impact on the sales numbers.

I was aware before my little search that there are huge differences in the prestige and cash prize amounts all over the world.  But then I began to wonder. Does the cash prize amount affect the status of the award? Is that a chicken and egg question? Or is it irrelevant?

I did a very quick survey of the prizes involved. The National Book Award gives $10,000 US to the winner. So does the Pulitzer (except in the journalism category). The Man Booker Award gets the winner sixty thousand pounds (over $96,000 for us Canucks). The grandparent of all, the Nobel Prize, grants over a million and a half Canadian bucks, The Dublin (Ireland) Literary Awards $139,000, our Writers’ Trust Award (for non-fiction) $60,000 and our Scotiabank Giller prize is worth $50,000. In the latter case, one study I found actually did research and proved that the “Giller effect” does, in fact, increase sales in a very lucrative way for the Canadian authors who’d won it.

In the mystery genre, the Edgar, Hammet and Nero Wolfe Awards provide no cash, but they have a significant amount of caché nonetheless.  The Crime Writers Association of Britain gives away fifty thousand pounds. The Arthur Ellis Awards do give some cash prizes, but the amounts are fairly small.

Unfortunately, I haven’t seen any studies that investigate whether or not there is a correlation between the amount of the cash prize and its impact on book sales. Have you? Or maybe it’s only my warped mind, thinking there might be a relationship. Does money equal status and vice versa or not? Does status therefore equate to book sales (and circle back to money again)? Or, as George Walker says, there are too many other factors to consider.

So there must be other reasons to give awards.  Canada’s Parliamentary Committee on the Book Publishing Industry a few years ago stated that: “…the arts may for many represent a profound fusion of needs for belonging, affection and self-expression.” If that’s true, then winning an award meets those needs at a very high level, I would think. Even being nominated for one would do it. The IPBA gives “it feels good” as one of the main reasons for being thrilled at winning or being a finalist for an award.

I’d love to know if there are any others out there looking for distraction. Have you discovered any research on the impact of awards on a writing career? Any correlation with the amount of the prize? Have you won an award? How did it reflect on your own book sales? Or did you care: the feelings of honor and “they like me, they really like me” being enough?

My wins have been really small (double figures) but thrilling and something for the CV. As you say it’s proof that someone who means something likes my work. Thank you, Catherine!

Catherine Astolfo retired from education to pursue her true passion: writing.  She self-published a novel series, The Emily Taylor Mysteries, that revolved around an unusual heroine—the principal of an elementary school.  In her late forties, Emily Taylor becomes a reluctant sleuth through a variety of external events. Some of her decisions, however, are based on a fear of discovery, for she has a mysterious past that involves her husband.  Readers do not find out the details of this past life until Book 4.

In 2011, Catherine acquired a four-book contract from Imajin Books for the e-versions and paperbacks of the series. Her short stories have won the Bony Pete and she is an Arthur Ellis Award nominee in that category.

Catherine was the 2010-11 President of Crime Writers of Canada and is a member of Sisters in Crime Toronto. Check her out at www.catherineastolfo.com.

The Bridgeman is the first book in the Emily Taylor Mysteries.

Discovering the murdered body of her caretaker horrifies Principal Emily Taylor and resurrects memories of times and places she would rather forget.  The school is closed for the summer.  But have the authorities played into the hands of a murderer?

Victim is the second novel.

The inexplicable disappearance of two well-known women, the resurrection of an ancient legend, and the violence linked to a disputed land claim, all combine to terrify and unnerve the villagers of sleepy Burchill.  School Principal Emily Taylor, while battling her own secret demons, must unravel both myth and truth before there is more bloodshed.

Legacy, the third in the series, dark memories from the past and long buried secrets surround seemingly unconnected families. As each individual searches for answers, they learn that it is only through community and love that they can overcome the ramifications of evil.

Seventh Fire reveals Emily and her husband’s dark past.

You can buy the books through links at www.imajinbooks.com or through Amazon.

If you would like to write a writing-related guest post for my blog then feel free to email me with an outline of what you would like to write about. If it’s writing-related then it’s highly likely I’d email back and say “yes please”.

The blog interviews return as normal tomorrow morning with speculative fiction author Danika Dinsmore – the three hundred and seventy-first of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, bloggers, autobiographers and more. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further. And I enjoy hearing from readers of my blog; do either leave a comment on the relevant interview (the interviewees love to hear from you too!) and / or email me.

You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything… and follow me on Twitter where each new posting is automatically announced. You can also read / download my eBooks and free eShorts at Smashwords, Sony Reader Store, Barnes & Noble, iTunes Bookstore, Kobo and Amazon, with more to follow. I have a new forum and you can follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook, like me on Facebook, connect with me on LinkedIn, find me on Tumblr, complete my website’s Contact me page or plain and simple, email me.  I also now have a new blog creation service especially for, but not limited to, writers.

Unfortunately, as I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t review books but I have a feature called ‘Short Story Saturdays’ where I review stories of up to 2,500 words. Alternatively if you have a short story or self-contained novel extract / short chapter (ideally up to 1000 words) that you’d like critiqued and don’t mind me reading it / talking about and critiquing it (I send you the transcription afterwards so you can use the comments or ignore them)  on my ‘Bailey’s Writing Tips’ podcast, then do email me. They are weekly episodes, usually released Monday mornings UK time, interweaving the recordings between the red pen sessions with the hints & tips episodes. I am now also looking for flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays and poetry for Post-weekend Poetry.

 

Interview no.353 with writer and publisher Will Sutton

Welcome to the three hundred and fifty-third of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today’s is with writer and publisher Will Sutton. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further.

Morgen: Hello, Will. Please tell us something about yourself.

Will: My name is William Sutton (Will for short) and I’m currently based in Cambridge, England, although later this year, I’ll be moving to Wilhelmshaven in Germany.

Morgen: I love Germany. How did you come to be a writer?

Will: I wrote my first book in grade school, when I was 11 years old. My friend and I wanted to write a few comic books and sell them to our friends at school. His contribution was to tell everyone and help sell the book, but I actually wrote and drew the comic, which later became Ollie the Octopus.

Morgen: What fun. You run Safkhet Publishing, can you please briefly explain the structure of your publishing house… perhaps who’s involved along the process of an acceptance to the book / story being published.

Will: Our company structure is very straightforward. Kim, who is both my business partner and my wife, and I are wholly responsible for the day-to-day activities of Safkhet. We’ve divided up management responsibility for the imprints: her imprints are Safkhet Cookery and Safkhet Soul, and my imprint is Safkhet Fantasy. We both manage books in the Safkhet Select imprint, as these are books that (a) don’t fit into the other imprints and (b) we believe in them anyway.

Morgen: “we believe in them”, I love that. How does a writer submit to you?

Will: Generally, we only accept submissions that follow our submission guidelines on our webpage. Submissions sent here are rerouted to the appropriate imprint managing editor, depending on the genre of the manuscript. If the manuscript passes our rigorous testing and analysis, it is discussed in editorial meetings that we have while we walk Mozart, the office manager and family dog, in the park. Assuming the book is a go, then we write up a contract, get it signed, and begin the arduous process of copyediting and proofing, cover design, text layout, and (most importantly) marketing the book to be.

Morgen: My dog thinks he’s the manager too so I let him and we have editing meetings like your editorial. Do you write yourself? If so does this help with deciding which projects to take on?

Will: Yes, I do write myself. I think it only helps with deciding in that I understand what it is like to submit your “baby” – your manuscript that you’ve slaved for years over – to the publisher. Otherwise, we accept books that either fit our imprint or we personally like.

Morgen: The $64,000 question: out of all the submissions you receive, what makes a book / story stand out for all the right reasons?

Will: For me and for Safkhet Fantasy, I really only want to publish the books that really move me or stand out among the crowd. The work has to be grammatically and content-wise great already, the characters well-developed, and the storyline and plot gripping or downright hilarious. I’ve read quite a few fantasy books in my life and it’s got to be really, really good. Otherwise, I can’t put my soul and effort behind it 1000%.

Morgen: Absolutely. Like a writer, if you don’t care it’ll show. You mentioned your various imprints, what genres do you accept? What would you suggest an author do with a cross-genre piece of writing?

Will: We accept cookery, romcom, fantasy and some non-fiction. As non-fiction does not have its own imprint, it’s got to be really moving or interesting to get accepted. Cross-genre works might be accepted – that’s what Safkhet Select is for. I suggest authors submit if they’re willing to do what we ask them to do – help 1000% in promoting and selling their books, for example.

Morgen: Every author (bar one and she’s still active on Twitter / Facebook) I’ve spoken to has realised they need to actively market themselves. It’s a tough job but they know it’s a necessity these days. Is there a genre that sells better than others or that you can’t get enough of?

Will: I’ve just been recently convinced that romcom is a big seller. I used to think fantasy was a winner, but the hype over Recipes for Disaster is starting to convince me. Me personally though, I really like fantasy and science fiction. However, the sci-fi I want to see more of is the William Gibson / Philip Dick / Aldous Huxley types of sci-fi: near-future, post-apocalyptic or alternate reality. Also, I think I could get interested in steampunk, but only if it has a magical quality to it.

Morgen: I’m glad to hear about romcom – I submitted a chick lit I wrote to three agents at Winchester Writers Conference last July and was told by more than one (to my face) that “chick lit is dead”. I’m sure the chick lit authors out there would have been pleased to hear that (not). You mentioned earlier how to submit, can you suggest some do’s and don’t’s when submitting to you.

Will: Do follow the guidelines, be honest, be personal but respectful and be ready to take direct constructive criticism. Don’t not follow the guidelines (:)), flip out if we reject your work, submit horror or erotic works, send mass-mailings, or be impersonal. We want authors who are real people and who want to work for their book. If we can’t see that the author has taken the time to send to us directly, then that author will have a hard time fitting into our Safkhet family.

Morgen: And that’s the impression I get. I’ve interviewed three of your authors so far (Sheryl Browne, Bruce Moore and Will Macmillan Jones), and went to Sheryl’s book talk recently (which was great; we ended up having a conversation about second person viewpoint ), and it does feel like a ‘family’ which an author would want from their publisher, an advantage perhaps over a larger publishing house. This is a question that I ask authors but I think is just as relevant to you as a publisher: what was the first book / story you published?

Will: Our first book was Ollie the Octopus. It can be downloaded for free on our website, and it is an interactive PDF, with the original artwork.

Morgen: I did, and it’s really sweet (so I ‘liked’ and tweeted it ). To your knowledge, have any of your published books / stories won or been shortlisted in any competitions?

Will: No, but we are looking for as many ways for our authors to get into these competitions.

Morgen: What do you feel about an author writing under a pseudonym? Do you think they make a difference to their profile? And would you recommend an author writing under different names for different genres?

Will: There’s absolutely nothing wrong with an author writing under a pseudonym. It is only important that the author is able to keep up with the social media contacts under that pseudonym. Having one identity in the world might be easy, but handle two – or even three, as I’ve seen with some authors – and the work involved in keeping those identities up-to-date becomes phenomenal. I don’t see any reason why an author would write under different names for different genres, especially because one name is hard enough to keep popular. I understand that an author might want a different name if the name was connected with a certain genre, such as Stephen King with horror. But then developing the following that the author has under the other name becomes a huge effort, once again because the other name has no following. In the end, it is not really relevant whether your fans read your horror fiction, crime fiction, fantasy or non-fiction political books, so long as they read them – and buy them.

Morgen: Ruth Rendell (Barbara Vine), Joanna Trollope (Caroline Harvey) and Nora Roberts (JD Robb) write under those pen names but their followers know that but I guess they don’t want their usual readers to pick up their book expecting one thing and getting another but yes, being known as one name is hard enough. Now for, in theory, a simple question: what’s your opinion of eBooks, do you publish them and do you read them?

Will: I think eBooks are another great way to get a book out to the public. There are readers who want to read on computers, and would rather download and read on their technological devices than read a book in the paper version. Not providing material to these readers is cutting out a significant portion of the reading market.

Most of our books are available as eBooks on the Kindle. You can easily find them by going to the book’s page at http://www.safkhetpublishing.com and clicking on the links on the left side of the page.

Morgen: Most of the people I’ve spoken to (myself included… although that would imply that I talk to myself )  say they read both formats. I love knowing when I go out that I have 400+ books available should I have some time to kill, but I have so many paper books at home that I don’t think I’ll get through them all in my lifetime. Poetry and short stories are, in my opinion anyway, the two most hard done by genres… what do you see as the future for them? Do you think the eBook revolution will help given that eBooks seem to be getting shorter?

Will: Poetry definitely has a niche and can still hold its own, but for the mass market, poetry may be just a bit too esoteric. Those publishers of poetry are strong in their market. They don’t try to hit the mass market, because they know that the mass market isn’t interested in poetry – they want easy and fast reads. So long as there are lovers of poetry, there will be a demand. Short stories are difficult to deal with, as they need to be in collections or anthologies – and the quality of the stories vary greatly, not just from story to story but from author to author. Take Ray Bradbury, for example. Ray Bradbury was a great writer, prolific in the science fiction and fantasy genres. He’s one of my favorite authors. His book “The Martian Chronicles” is a collection of short stories focused on Earth’s colonization of Mars, and the destruction of the Martian society in the process. As a whole, I think it’s brilliant work. But within, there are stories that are just too weird, too esoteric for the mass market. These days, only those who read it contemporarily even remember it – only those who either read it as a kid or are still involved in the genre even know about it. If you ask those readers, they’ll most likely say that Bradbury’s work is great stuff – but when pressed, they might just admit that not all of it was that great. Another popular contemporary short story writer is John Updike. Updike wrote some great stories, too, but some of them are just either too esoteric to understand, or just not very good. The stories are carried on as works of art, but not because the work was good, rather because they were written by John Updike.

EBooks are just another method of distributing content. The biggest issue I have with eBooks is that they are relatively easy to produce. I should mention that good eBooks are still just as difficult to produce as physical books are. However with the Kindle Direct Publishing and the number of WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) software programs that convert Word documents into ePub files, the eBook market is literally flooded with unedited tripe that dilutes the great works out there with its mediocrity.

Ultimately, it is definitely more cost-efficient for poetry and short stories to make an impact in the eBook format than in the physical copy format. Other than that benefit, it is a customer demand issue.

Morgen: That’s probably why I love writing / reading short stories more than anything else; because I’m weird and esoteric… or at least my writing is. Is there a plot that’s written about too often?

Will: In fantasy, it is the “Horrible evil threatens to destroy all that is good – a handful of rag-tag adventurers sally forth and save the day by killing the big bad evil guy and thus avert total disaster”. The part that really makes no sense is that by killing the one bad guy, the entire army of evil is wiped out.

Morgen: Like the hero never getting even a scratch in a movie shootout. Do you have to do a lot of editing to the stories you accept or is the writing usually more or less fully-formed?

Will: We leave as much as possible to the authors, with comments and style guides. Safkhet has a style guide and we ask our authors to use it. As new common issues arise, we ask our authors to do those corrections. Otherwise, we do rigorous copy-editing and proofreading before layout (sometimes simultaneously). Of course, we try to find as many errors as possible before going to print, but we sometimes miss one or two. If our readers find errors, we’d love it if they tell us so we can fix those errors in the next edition.

Morgen: I hope the same for my eBooks because although they’ve been through at least two people (myself, my editor… sometimes other first readers) it’s always possible. For your purposes, does it matter what point of view a story is written in? Have you ever printed any in second person? What’s your opinion of second person?

Will: I personally like third person. I find it difficult to relate to a character that narrates in first person. I’ve never printed in second person, and I haven’t given second person much thought, as I’ve never even seen a submission in second person. The last time I saw a relatively successful second-person fiction was when I was a kid. I read the Choose Your Own Adventure series whenever I could. It is very much like a solo role-playing session. However, after a while, I feel like the plot is railroading me and I really don’t have any choice as to my future in the story. Interesting for a while, but it really loses steam in the end.

Morgen: I loved them too, which could contribute to why it’s my favourite viewpoint now… for short pieces anyway. It’s fairly unheard of so I’ve even given it its own page here. Given that more emphasis these days is put on the author to market their published works or indeed themselves as a ‘brand’, how involved are you generally with your authors post-publication?

Will: I talk to all my authors at least once a week. Some I talk to on the phone for an hour or so at a time. Safkhet functions like a family. Our authors are just as involved in the business as we are – only to different degrees and with different responsibilities. We stay involved with them because all of us sell their books, not just us or them. It is very important to our business that we all integrate together and work together to sell the books.

Morgen: That’s refreshing to hear as some authors have said that although they’re with a publisher they’re pretty much left alone, which is a shame. You’re currently in the UK but moving to Germany, do / will you find this a help or hindrance with letting people know about, or distributing, your publications?

Will: Thanks to the internet, we could be anywhere and still produce books for whichever market we want to be in. The only difficulty is in hosting a live event in a country where we are not.

Morgen: That’s true – maybe we’ll all go over to video conferencing or YouTube. Speaking of technology, what do you think of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and more business-related such as LinkedIn? Do you think they’re invaluable or too time-consuming?

Will: Using social media is the core of our marketing. They are completely invaluable.

Morgen: You mentioned earlier that you also write, what genre do you generally write and have you considered others?

Will: Currently, I write children’s books and academic articles. As of yet, I have not considered writing in any other genres, primarily because I am too busy running Safkhet.

Morgen: What have you had published to-date? Do you write under a pseudonym?

Will: To date, I have published an eBook called Ollie the Octopus, which has been translated into German and also has a secondary storyline with the same illustrations, called Ollie Saves Sally. This book I published as William Banks, to honor my grandfather, William Banks, who was a printer and watercolour artist.

Morgen: Ahh… Have you had any rejections? If so, how do you deal with them?

Will: I have not gotten any rejections yet. I imagine, though, that should I have gotten rejections, I would either continue on with representing my book to other publishers, and ask the rejecting publisher for feedback, so that I can possibly improve my next submission.

Morgen: They say it’s more difficult to get an agent these days than a publisher, do you think agents are vital to an author’s success?

Will: I think that agents might be useful for getting your copy to one of the Big Six, but otherwise, an agent is not vital to an author’s success. Many times, an agent represents the author incorrectly, or has other interests in mind.

Morgen: Or done very little, as I’ve heard in a few cases. We’ve talked about eBooks, do you read eBooks or is it paper all the way?

Will: I like to read both eBooks and physical copy, although I don’t actually have an eBook reader; I read the eBooks on my laptop.

Morgen: It’s so easy, isn’t it. Do you have a favourite of your books or characters? If any of your books were made into films, who would you have as the leading actor/s?

Will: My favourite character in my book is definitely Ollie himself, followed by the Offisher. I’m not sure who the voice over for Ollie would be – maybe Michael J Fox.

Morgen: That would be fun. How important do you think titles / covers are?

Will: I think an author should have input into the title of the book, but not total control. This is because the author may have knowledge of his genre, but the publisher has knowledge of the market – and can tell whether a seemingly “cool” title is a winner or a flop.

Morgen: Absolutely. What are you working on at the moment / next?

Will: Right now, the next Ollie book is just in planning stages, as I’m primarily focusing on my day job as a lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University and on my role as an editor / publisher at Safkhet Publishing.

Morgen: Do you plot your stories or do you just get an idea and run with it?

Will: I usually just get ideas and run with them. If I have to stop for the day, I’ll write down my ideas at least, so I can pick them up again for next time.

Morgen: Do you write any non-fiction, poetry or short stories?

Will: I do write academic articles when I can find the time. And I blog. Other than that, I don’t write anything else.

Morgen: I’m not sure how relevant this is for ‘Ollie’ but do you have to do much research?

Will: Not really, although I want to make sure that I don’t make underwater characters do things that their real counterparts could never do (apart from the anthropomorphic actions like speaking English, of course).

Morgen: What point of view do you find most to your liking?

Will: I like to write in third person. I’m not a big fan on books that are written in first person, but I do see the value in it for some genres.

Morgen: Do you have pieces of work that you think will never see light of day?

Will: Yes, but most are in my head.

Morgen: What’s your favourite / least favourite aspect of your writing life? Has anything surprised you?

Will: My favourite aspect of my writing life is when I can realise an idea and write the whole shebang in one sitting. My least favourite aspect is not finding time to write and watching the ideas and tasks pile up in my inbox.

Morgen: Time. Yes. My biggest bugbear. If you could invite three people from any era to dinner, who would you choose and what would you cook (or hide the takeaway containers)?

Will: Assuming language is not a barrier, I would invite Albert Einstein, Ben Franklin and Socrates to dinner – and we would have a homemade roulade with braised green cabbage and vanilla ice cream for dessert.

Morgen: Yum. Is there a word, phrase or quote you like?

Will: I like the phrase that Uncle Scrooge from the Donald Duck cartoons says in German:”Wer den Kreuzer nicht ehrt, ist des Talers nicht wert.” (translated to English – Those who don’t honor the Kreutzer are not worth the Thaler.”)

Morgen: I’ve been to Germany loads of times and love the little cartoons they put in between programmes, even if I don’t understand every word (German’s my second best language after English) I get the gist. What do you do when you’re not writing?

Will: When I am completely off, I like to go on long walks with my wife and my dog in the park or through the city. Kim knits and I crochet. I also like to play Dungeons & Dragons on weekends with her and our friends.

Morgen: Where can we find out about you and your work?

Will: http://www.safkhetpublishing.com; http://safkhetpublishing.wordpress.com; on Facebook and on Twitter.

Morgen: Thank you, Will, for being so thorough today. It’s been really interesting.

I then invited Will to include a short biography and he said…

People on the net are all into cloud tags these days, so here is my biography written in “cloud tags”:

Doctor of law; lawyer; Cambridge lecturer; role-player; writer; publisher; legal advice dispenser; friend to animals; dreamer; jogger; dog-lover; hiker; skier; child; non-smoker; non-drinker; lover; husband; organic-meat-eater; chocolate lover; traveler; Texan; IT person; web designer.

***

If you are reading this and you write, in whatever genre, and are thinking “ooh, I’d like to do this” then you can… just email me and I’ll send you the information. They do now (January 2013) carry a fee (£10 / €12.50 / $15) for the new interviews on this blog but everything else (see Opportunities on this blog) is free.

If you go for the interview, it’s very simple; I send you a questionnaire (I have them for novelists, short story authors, children’s authors, non-fiction authors, and poets). You complete the questions, and I let you know when it’s going to go live. Before it does so, I add in comments as if we’re chatting, and then they get posted. When that’s done, I email you with the link so you can share it with your corner of the literary world. And if you have a writing-related blog / podcast and would like to interview me… let me know.

Alternatively, if you’d like a free Q&A-only interview, I now have http://morgensauthorinterviews.wordpress.com on which I’ve rerun the original interviews posted here then posted new interviews which I then reblog here. These interviews are Q&A only, so I don’t add in my comments but they do get exposure on both sites.

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As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. I welcome critique for the four new writing groups listed below and / or flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays. For other opportunities see (see Opportunities on this blog).

The full details of the new online writing groups, and their associated Facebook groups, are:

• Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group (http://novelwritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/508696639153189)
• Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group (http://poetrywritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/388850977875934)
• Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group (http://scriptwritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/319941328108017)
• Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group (http://shortstorywritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/544072635605445)

We look forward to reading your comments.

 

Daily interview no.319 with writer, editor and publisher Kim Maya Sutton

Welcome to the three hundred and nineteenth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today’s is with writer, editor and publisher (of Sheryl Browne, Bruce Moore, Will MacMillan, Will Sutton and others ) Kim Maya Sutton. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further.

Morgen: Hello, Kim. Thank you for your time today.

Kim: No, no, thank you for having me. I sometimes still feel a bit strange about people actually asking me if they can interview me (I wonder “me? Why me? Am I famous? Do I have something interesting to say?”) And then I quiver in my boots about whether anybody actually reads what I wrote.

Morgen: I have c. 200 visits a day and I’m sure most are authors so I’m sure they’ll be interested to hear from the other side of the table. Please tell us something about yourself, where you’re based, and how you became involved in the creative writing industry.

Kim: At the moment, I still live in Cambridge and am preparing to move to the North Sea coast of Germany at the end of May. Safkhet will stay in London, because the beauty of the internet is that we can really work from just about anywhere.

My being a writer, an editor, book producer and then eventually publisher started really early actually. I wrote poems and memorized other people’s works when I was two years old. In high school I participated in the student paper as an editor and every so often wrote a piece myself. And when I was 22 or so, I decided to write my dad’s biography. Don’t ask me why, but it took me years to gather all the information and I only got around to actually writing it up the year before last, while I was waiting for my Master program to start.

Morgen: My father took eight years doing our family tree which is wonderful. I keep saying to my mum that she should write her autobiography as she’s done things like work for (British racing driver) Stirling Moss’ sister’s riding stables but I don’t know if she ever will (she’s 80). Have you had any rejections? If so, how do you deal with them?

Kim: Personally, I have never been rejected by other publishers, but that’s because I never submitted anything for publication. Actually, I have. An academic paper to an academic magazine. At first, they said they loved it and suddenly they said they didn’t want it. I asked why. They told me. I fixed the issues, resubmitted and they turned me down again. Again, I asked why and fixed. This went back and forth a bit and the editor must have been quite annoyed. In the end, she said she’d take my article because she loved how persistent I was, AND because she ended up liking it. I guess this might be the reason why I try to handle rejections I have to send out in a very similar way. I usually do not just flat out reject, but rather give a reason and suggest that they might resubmit when the issue is fixed or when there is a submission call, fit on the list or whatever is wrong with the submission in my eyes. Or, I just start a list because I am so impressed with an author’s persistence (thank you, Sheryl for Safkhet Soul; that one is all your fault!).

Morgen: Ah yes, Sheryl is why I’m speaking to you today. Are the Safkhet books available as eBooks? Do you read eBooks or is it paper all the way?

Kim: The books we produce at Safkhet are available as eBooks, except in very few cases such as For Those About to Cook (there were just too many pictures in there and a focus on the design; however, the second one – For Those About to Cook Pure Metal – will be available as an eBook.

Morgen: Bruce Moore (I’m interviewing him next Saturday ). I love AC/DC so recognised the ‘For Those About to Rock’ analogy. Do you have a favourite of your books or characters? If any of your books were made into films, who would you have as the leading actor/s?

Kim: Teehee… In my dad’s biography, I would love to be played by Emma Thompson; and my Dad could well be Joseph Gordon-Levitt at a younger age and then maybe Sting later? Several people have pointed out that Sting looks just like him (or does he look like Sting?).

Morgen: Sting looking like him, definitely. I had to Google / Wikipedia Joseph_Gordon-Levitt as I couldn’t remember who he was – I first saw him in 3rd Rock from the Sun… so funny. John Lithgow’s one of my favourite actors. I’ve just added Bruce’s cover, how important do you think titles and covers are?

Kim: The most important marketing tool, probably, considering that a reader only picks up the book based on either that or because they knew about it beforehand.

Morgen: In amongst all your publishing duties, do you manage to write every day? Do you ever suffer from writer’s block?

Kim: Yes, I write every day. Emails, website entries, press releases, book bits, blurbs,… Writer’s block? I don’t have time for that. Seriously. If I ever feel that coming, I just grab my keyboard and start writing something. After five minutes, I usually have a good idea and can go back to the beginning and edit whatever may not have worked.

Morgen: Having a variety certainly helps. Do you plot your stories or do you just get an idea and run with it?

Kim: If I wrote fiction, I would plot. In fact, I have had an idea for crime fiction and got exactly as far as plotting said book.

Morgen: Oh great. I met three agents at Winchester Writers’ Conference last July and they all told me they wanted more crime. What’s your favourite / least favourite aspect of your writing life? Has anything surprised you?

Kim: Sometimes I wish I was an author only, and not an editor, publisher, dog lover, dungeon master, knitter, cook, photographer, prop organizer, event manager, marketing specialist, … sometimes I even wish I was something rather straight forward, like a florist. That feeling usually only lasts about 2 seconds and then I am glad again that I get to do so many different things. I mean, wouldn’t I get bored otherwise?

Morgen: Will (Sutton – interview 28th April) told me about the Dungeons & Dragons and the knitting (or crocheting in his case!). What advice would you give aspiring writers?

Kim: Write! And stop calling yourself aspiring. You either are a writer or you’re not. You may not be published but you are still a writer, so please don’t submit anything (particularly not to me) with “I am an aspiring writer” in your submission. Wouldn’t let you cut my hair if you were an aspiring stylist either. I’d like to point you to Kristen’s blog as she said what I think quite nicely.

Morgen: That’s very true. I’m not sure I’ve ever thought of it like that. If you could invite three people from any era to dinner, who would you choose and what would you cook (or hide the takeaway containers)?

Kim: Don’t know really; my best friend suggested that I should invite Cleopatra and Pope Joan because they are women who fight for themselves and “take no shit” (that’s what he said, not me). Makes me sound like a crosspatch, really. Another friend said he’d invite Picasso and van Gogh for me because they are so my style. Having thought about it then, I would like to invite Pope Joan, Picasso, and my grandfather (to ask him all those questions I forgot while he was still alive).

I’d serve goats yoghurt with blueberries. Hassle-free dinner, delicious and, I mean, who doesn’t like blueberries?

Morgen: <puts her hand up> I’m not really a berry person. More for everyone else. I adore cherries though. Is there a word, phrase or quote you like?

Kim: “I don’t like to repeat myself”. Sadly, I have to repeat that all the time and am growing quite fond of the sentence itself. Also works well modified “didn’t I already say that”, “why do I feel like I’ve said that already”, “cripes, why do you make me say this over and over again”.

Morgen: <laughs> What do you do when you’re not writing? Any hobbies or party tricks?

Kim: I sleep, eat, walk or work out. Or I paint, sew, think, cook, play Dungeons and Dragons, spend time with my friends, teach, prepare lectures,…

Morgen: A never-ending list, hey. I know that feeling (blog, shower, emails, blog, dog walk, blog, eat, blog…). Speaking of blogging, are you on any forums or networking sites? If so, how valuable do you find them?

Kim: I see networking sites as a picture of reality. In the old days, you went to conferences to meet new people and exchange ideas. That’s what you do on Twitter or LinkedIn. But would you really have climbed onto a table and yelled “look at this beautiful girl of mine”? Probably not. You’d have shown that to your friends only. So that’s where Facebook comes in – you have a group of friends and people you met (or didn’t, at least not in real life) and share your thoughts, photos, … with them. As a company, it’s much the same, really. People follow you (meaning they express an interest in you, come to your old-fashioned convention, etc.) and you show them stuff you think they are interested in. Personally, I like Facebook best because to me, it is more of a reflection of reality; Twitter is more of a stand-on-the-table-and-shout kind of platform to me. I do stand on the Twitter table (and ask my authors to do it too, though), but I feel awkward doing it and understand those who want to avoid it. Wouldn’t want to force them, but I would seriously nudge them to become active on Facebook. For marketing, Twitter is only really important when an author’s audience is very active there. However, Twitter is a very powerful tool to spread the word about something, to stay on top of the news and to connect to some wonderful people because you can virtually hear what they have to say. I’d like to point out that I found the Kony 2012 campaign to help the Invisible Children that way, for example.

Morgen: I agree. Facebook is more intimate (but then I have 700+ friends on there as opposed to 2,400+ Twitter followers) and some people do tout tout tout on Twitter (then wonder why they get defollowed). I like LinkedIn too – twice I’ve put shout-outs for interviewees (which I don’t think as touting as I’m providing a free service – that’s my excuse anyway) and it’s done me proud (I’m currently four months ahead!). Where can we find out about you and your work?

Kim: www.safkhetpublishing.com and our blog safkhetpublishing.wordpress.com.

Morgen: Thanks for that. We’ve concentrated on the writing side of your life and I’m sure anyone reading this would like to know more about you with your publisher’s hat on. Can you please briefly explain the structure of your publishing house… perhaps who’s involved along the process of an acceptance to the book / story being published.

Kim: Briefly, yes, sure. It’s very brief. There are two of us, really. Will is responsible for the fantasy list and I am responsible for Safkhet Soul. All other books we divide based on personal liking and time. Mozart is our office mascot, she lies around and makes sure we don’t suffocate in books. She also keeps us focused and arranges regular workout sessions (ahem – editorial meetings) in the park.

Morgen: Ah, that would be the dog in the photograph then.

Kim: Otherwise, we work with freelancers. When we have a submission, it travels a very subjective route. Usually, I pre-screen the submission, provided it was sent to the proper address (info@safkhetpublishing.com). If the submission is not according to our guidelines, I turn it down. Sounds harsh, but we have our reasons. If it is, I forward it to Will if it’s not my cup of tea. Once a submission is with the editor, we have different approaches. Me personally, I read it immediately (nothing worse than a pile of submissions yelling out for me) and if I like it, I request a sample chapter. If I like that too, I request more. If I still like it, I tell Will about it and try to convince him. At this point, we already think about possible outlets, reviewers, market,… and if we can think of people who might like to help working on the book and promote it, we talk to them. If we can convince them of the project, Will goes to the drawing board for a contract and we contact the author with said contract.

Morgen: The $64,000 question: out of all the submissions you receive, what makes a book / story stand out for all the right reasons?

Kim: The first hurdle for a submission at Safkhet is: the author needs to have followed the submission guidelines (if they did, I can somewhat safely assume that working with them will be easy, as they follow instructions and trust me to begin with). Second hurdle: no typos, general etiquette, polite yet firm tone. Third hurdle (and possibly the most difficult for us): do I like this book, does it have potential and is there a market for it. Doesn’t help if I like it and nobody else does, we are, after all, all in this to make some money, right?

Morgen: That must be a really hard decision to make, especially if you have more appealing books than budget (if that ever happens). And then, without naming names, what makes a book proposal / story stand out for all the wrong reasons?

Kim: Let’s have an example speak here:

I would like to work for you as a writer of prose and poesy and sign a contract for 20 years.
I write a one book on year and cost a 50.000 $.
I write prose and poesy since little and I educated myself privately for American literature.
Prose and poesy is just for a connoisseur and a lover of reading.

You can find more of these onhttp://safkhetpublishing.wordpress.com/category/publishing/submissions.

Morgen: Oh yes, I see what you mean. Google translate perhaps at work for the last two. What genres do you accept? What would you suggest an author do with a cross-genre piece of writing?

Kim: Fantasy, Cookery, Romantic Comedy, and very few select titles for a niche audience. Cross-genres pieces are very interesting – do submit them but highlight where they fit into an existing list.

Morgen: And Sheryl’s definitely falls into the cookery / romantic comedy section. I have her book (yet to read it though <slaps wrist>) and loved her book talk / signing, especially when we got on the subject of second person viewpoint. How can an author submit to you?

Kim: Our submission guidelines are outlined on http://safkhetpublishing.com/publishing.htm.

Morgen: Presumably no mention of $50,000 one-book poesy contracts. Can you suggest some do’s and don’t’s when submitting to you.

Kim: Don’t not stick to the guidelines. Don’t be rude. Do be personal, funny, quirky, different. And please be short and succinct!

Morgen: Common sense. Are there authors that you deal with on a regular basis and / or perhaps represent directly?

Kim: We deal with all of our authors regularly – one email a day keeps the misunderstandings away

Morgen: I think everyone likes attention to detail and knowing that someone’s thinking about them. What do you feel about an author writing under a pseudonym? Do you think they make a difference to their profile? And would you recommend an author writing under different names for different genres?

Kim: Whatever they want to do really. I personally don’t understand writing under pseudonyms. Going back to what I said about social networking – I would never have attended one type of conference under a different name than another just because they are not related. I might also lose my overview. Online nicks are about the maximum I can handle and I only have two nicknames I use, so once you’ve found me, you can find me on other sites as well.

Morgen: I agree that it’s easier to stick with the one name as getting people to know that one exists is hard enough. We touched on eBooks earlier, what’s your opinion of eBooks as a way forward?

Kim: Love them, find them helpful, they are additional though and not replacing books.

Morgen: Do you have to do a lot of editing to the stories you accept or is the writing usually more or less fully-formed?

Kim: I can’t answer this generally. Sometimes there is a lot and other times not so much. We do strive for a more global English though so in that regard, when we sign an author, we have to edit quite a bit to ensure this global house style.

Morgen: That makes sense. For your purposes, does it matter what point of view a story is written in? Have you ever printed any in second person? What’s your opinion of second person?

Kim: I like either first or third. I read a submission in second person once. Couldn’t stand it.

Morgen: <crosses that off her list> I love writing it but it’s definitely acquired taste. I went to a new writing group the other day and read out a piece in second person (my story from Telling Tales charity anthology actually) with mixed reactions… well, only one person said they didn’t like it (and was converting to first person as I went along), others murmured appreciation (out of politeness perhaps) but there were some who were bemused by a point of view they’d never heard of before. Given that more emphasis these days is put on the author to market their published works or indeed themselves as a ‘brand’, how involved are you generally with your authors post-publication?

Kim: We try to stay in contact as much as possible, come up with ideas, cross-promote, help setting up events if necessary, talk to libraries, stores… we also help the authors if they have any questions or when they want to know what to write next.

Morgen: This is where being self-published misses out. We’d have to find our own sources. A rather global question, but are there common mistakes an author can make?

Kim: The easiest to avoid and yet most common mistake I have met so far is to disregard the publisher’s house style.

Morgen: Yes. I’m sure a lot of authors do little or no research on that. Now with your editor’s hat on, how much notice do you get (would you like / need) for editing a project?

Kim: Ah, well, since I am in house and also have so many other roles and so much other work to do, I sometimes only notify myself that something needs to be edited a few minutes before I should start. Seriously though, we also edit for other publishers and then sometimes get very tight deadlines and very short notices. Trouble with those is that the fewest customers recognize the trouble this can mean and usually don’t pay extra which I think is a shame.

Morgen: It is but I suppose you just want to do your best to please them. I’ve heard numerous authors say they can self-publish without an editor – what would you say to that?

Kim: Don’t do it. There are so many editors out there who would be happy to get this work assigned even on a commission / royalty basis. There is no reason to throw your work on the market without a second pair of eyes having scrutinized it first.

Morgen: Absolutely. I have a great editor and she not only finds (fortunately few) errors but comes up with some great suggestions. How do you edit – on screen or on paper?

Kim: Always on screen – we believe in a paperless office.

Morgen: Oh dear. <she looks around her currently paper-cluttered office> What are you working on at the moment / next?

Kim: I am currently working on Somebody to Love by Sheryl Browne, For Those About to Cook – Pure Metal by Bruce Moore and Metal Missionaries by Bruce Moore.

Morgen: Do you work every day?

Kim: We take one day off from the office, but this is a floating day. I personally love to work Sundays, because my inbox stays quiet and I can really get some manuscript on the way.

Morgen: Me too, although I’m in Jane Wenham-Jones’ chat room 10.30-12 every Sunday morning (the clocks went forward so we lost an hour today) then record my podcast (every other week, today’s is four short stories) and Radio Litopia 7pm-9pm. Somewhere in there is usually a trek round the old racecourse with the dog, so a bit of r&r. Is there anything else you’d like to mention?

Kim: Thank you very much for your effort. I really enjoyed the cup of tea – ginger is my favourite, so thank you for that!

Morgen: My grandfather’s favourite too. I’m a berry girl when it comes to fruit tea although lemon & ginger has nice tang. You’re very welcome. Is there anything you’d like to ask me?

Kim: Where do you buy the extra time to do all these things? I need to set up an account with them and get some myself!

Morgen: Oh, that’s easy: a huge bottle of passion and short nights – go to bed and they automatically refill the next morning. Thank you, Kim.

***

If you are reading this and you write, in whatever genre, and are thinking “ooh, I’d like to do this” then you can… just email me and I’ll send you the information. They do now (January 2013) carry a fee (£10 / €12.50 / $15) for the new interviews on this blog but everything else (see Opportunities on this blog) is free.

If you go for the interview, it’s very simple; I send you a questionnaire (I have them for novelists, short story authors, children’s authors, non-fiction authors, and poets). You complete the questions, and I let you know when it’s going to go live. Before it does so, I add in comments as if we’re chatting, and then they get posted. When that’s done, I email you with the link so you can share it with your corner of the literary world. And if you have a writing-related blog / podcast and would like to interview me… let me know.

Alternatively, if you’d like a free Q&A-only interview, I now have http://morgensauthorinterviews.wordpress.com on which I’ve rerun the original interviews posted here then posted new interviews which I then reblog here. These interviews are Q&A only, so I don’t add in my comments but they do get exposure on both sites.

** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!

See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0

or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **

You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.

For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.

As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. I welcome critique for the four new writing groups listed below and / or flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays. For other opportunities see (see Opportunities on this blog).

The full details of the new online writing groups, and their associated Facebook groups, are:

• Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group (http://novelwritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/508696639153189)
• Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group (http://poetrywritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/388850977875934)
• Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group (http://scriptwritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/319941328108017)
• Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group (http://shortstorywritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/544072635605445)

We look forward to reading your comments.

 

Bailey’s Writing Tips podcast ‘red pen session’ no.007

This week’s podcast was released today, Sunday 6th November, the seventh of my episodes dedicated to reading a short story or self-contained novel extract (with synopsis) and then talking about it afterwards.

I run a fortnightly critique group as well as critiquing other authors’ writing, which I really enjoy. Please remember that it’s only one person’s (my) opinion and you, and the author concerned, are welcome to disagree with my interpretation – I will never be mean for the sake of it, but hope that I’m firm but fair. I also type the critique as I’m reading the story for the first time so by listening to the episode you will have had the advantage of hearing the story in full before hearing my feedback.

Regardless of what genre you write I hope that this helps you think about the way your stories are constructed and that you have enjoyed hearing another author’s work, the copyright of which remains with them.

Today’s story, from Aaron, was called ‘On the edge’. I read out the story, critiqued it and concluded with: “Twist stories are very hard to pull off (Roald Dahl was an expert and is one of my all-time favourite writers) and Aaron had me fooled. Apart from the end (which so cleverly slots everything else in place) my favourite aspect of this story is that there’s no info. dump at the beginning as so many stories are liable to have. I was continuously picturing one image and it being dispelled by what happens next, and it’s not until the end of the story that it all becomes clear, which is how a reader would want a story of any length to work.

This piece is 1,099 words and some competitions have a limit of 1,000 which Aaron would need to stick to if submitting this anywhere. 99 words doesn’t sound like a lot but when a story is so tight already it may be hard finding them. I mentioned chopping seven words from an early repetition and the description in the first half of a story would be the area I’d look at if anything needed to be trimmed. It’s a great story and should definitely see light of day in a publication of some kind.”

If you have any feedback on today’s episode or any other podcasts or aspects of my blog, I’d be delighted to hear from you – my email address is morgen@morgenbailey.com.

And if you’re feeling brave enough to email me a short story or novel extract (with a brief synopsis please) of no more than 1,000-words for these red pen sessions, feel free. I suggest you listen to at least one of the red pen episodes to get an idea of what happens.

Bailey’s Writing Tips podcast is available via iTunes, Google’s Feedburner, Podbean (when it catches up), Podcasters (which takes even longer) or Podcast Alley (which doesn’t list the episodes but will let you subscribe). Episodes include hints & tips (currently episode no.42) and author audio interviews – see this blog’s podcast page for more information. You can also read / download my eBooks at Smashwords.

 

Author interview no.164 with writer Taylor Collins

Welcome to the one hundred and sixty-fourth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, bloggers, short story authors, autobiographers and more. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further. Today’s is with poet, essayist, memoirist and note-taker Taylor Collins and whilst I say I can talk for England I think I’ve met my match with Taylor… you might like to get a large cup of something and find a comfortable chair.

Morgen: Hello, Taylor. Please tell us something about yourself and how you came to be a writer.

Taylor: I’ve always been attracted to the creative side of life and focused on my art and writing for about the past 25 years or so.  Having worked in a rather boring bureaucratic job for many years which required a lot of traveling, I became used to journaling in my car.  But I must admit, I wouldn’t recommend that for everyone.  I’m the proverbial side-tracked English major who came back to writing in the eighties after being exposed to Peter Elbow’s method of stream of consciousness writing in Writing with Power.  That was eye-opening.  This led to Dorothea Brande’s Becoming a Writer and Brenda Uleand’s So You Want to Write.  My other earliest initial discovery was almost simultaneously Sheila Bender and Natalie Goldberg.  Sheila had written Writing in a New Convertible with the Top Down as well as her, The Writer’s Journal.  Natalie’s book Writing Down the Bones is legendary and other huge influences that brought me back to writing were Rebecca McClanahan’s Word Painting, Alexandra Johnson’s Leaving a Trace, and quite naturally, Julia Cameron’s The Artist Way.  One of my most recent current favorites is Olivia Drescher who works primarily in fraglit and the book she edited, In Pieces, is beyond inspirational.  She’s an avid Tweeter in Twitter.  To my way of thinking, if e e Cummings were alive he should be king of Twitter and Olivia would be queen.  In the process I read most of their suggested bibliographies and hundreds, if not thousands of other books, along the way.  I guess you can say I came to be a writer because I just had to and became a better writer because I am curious about what connects us all together.   I feel as if I’m on a never-ending quest of some sort to know things and figure out my connection to the universe.  My ultimate goal is a return to poetry but that’s a reach for any writer so at the moment I’m still in the note-taking stage.  I test the waters periodically.

Morgen: Wow, what an introduction. I love your passion. What genre do you generally write and have you considered other genres?

Taylor: That’s an interesting question, Morgen, because I’m basically a note-taker and fragmented writing is my primary means of writing.  From my journaling, I hone essays, poems, bits of story and ideas to include in my memoir.  I consider myself an essayist primarily and my writing has been described as lyrical.  Complex sentences are to die for – I’m much more William Least-Moon than say Hemingway.

Morgen: What have you had published to-date? If applicable, can you remember where you saw your first books on the shelves?

Taylor: The first book I was published in was a collection of day diaries edited by Joni Cole, entitled Water Cooler Diaries. (De Capo Press, 2008)  It was the third book in that series in which women from around the country participated by agreeing to keep a day diary on a selected day.  Of 535 entries, I was one of 35 writers selected for publication in the book.  A New York firm was handling the publicity and they scheduled a conference call with a reporter and did a wonderful news article.  I was in DC when the book was actually released and walked over to Borders on L Street as B&N in Georgetown was too far in rush hour.  I remember typing the name into the computer to locate it was and they had two copies on the shelf.  Even though my name wasn’t on the cover, I was beaming and read my entire chapter while waiting in line to check-out.  It was all I could do to not jump up and down – but it was DC—so I contained myself.  All I could think is – I’m in a book.  I’m in a book.  I’ve had poetry in a chapbook from a local museum entitled Art and Poetry.  I have an essay in the book, Happy Birthday, Mr. Lincoln (Pen Woman Press, 2009).  I was selected April, 2011 to read a poetry tweet on NPR’s Tell Me More hosted by Michele Martin as part of National Poetry Month and actually heard myself reading it on the radio the day it was broadcast while I was driving in my car.  That was really thrilling.

Morgen: Although it’s not the same, it was weird listening to my first podcast, hearing my voice on iTunes. I listen to a variety of podcasts and NPR is one of my favourites (and Writing Excuses, Books & Authors and Litopia). How much of the marketing do you do for your published works or indeed for yourself as a ‘brand’?

Taylor: I am trying to brand myself at the moment.  It would be most helpful if I had an idea what it is that I want to be when I grow up.

Morgen: I felt like that ever since leaving school and it was only a couple of years ago that I knew I wanted to be a writer but like you, I’m still finding my niche.

Taylor: I’ve marketed my own art for years and have quite a following.  With poetry, I’ve given away most of what I’ve written as altered art pieces and have sold some of them.  I’m actually working on self-publishing some poetry through Lulu, a print-on-demand company.

Morgen: I’ve heard good things about Lulu. Have you won or been shortlisted in any competitions and do you think they help with a writer’s success?

Taylor: The NPR selection and Water Cooler Diaries were both competitions as explained above.  About ten years ago I was one of 12 writers selected for a writer’s retreat by our then state poet laureate, Fleda Brown.  I was thrilled when I learned later that about 25 people had applied, and it wasn’t just a fluke that I was accepted as maybe only 12 had applied in the first place.  I am just now applying to several contests and am forcing myself to finish things so that I can submit them.

Morgen: Me too, I was really good, entering regularly each month last year but am only just getting going this year.

Taylor: I simply love to write.  Editing is fun to a point but when it gets really tedious – like you’ve written the same sentence over 20 times and it still isn’t saying what you intended—I have a tendency to pack it in.  Working on the diary piece with Joni was gruelling.  I remember I worked on one paragraph for like three hours on a second or third rewrite and then she struck the whole thing.  Pain.  It was sheer pain to have that paragraph and all that work deleted.  She thought the re-write process would take a couple of hours – it took a whole weekend and we were under a seriously tight deadline at that moment.  In general, I think anything you can put on a resume or CV is critical to success.  It proves you showed up if nothing else.  It proves you can keep your buns in the chair.

Morgen: One of my (retired) Monday nighters, Denny, will take a week on a story. I’m less patient – three or four run-throughs is it for me but it only goes out if I’m happy. If I’m not happy by edit two or three I put it to one side and go to something else, then when I come back I usually blitz it and it’s ready. Do you have an agent? Do you think they’re vital to an author’s success?

Taylor: I need a manuscript or some semblance of a coherent work with an arc before I’ll ever think of trying to get an agent. I really feel like when I’m ready to get out there and speak about my book (the one, unfortunately, that’s still mostly in my head) an agent would be helpful.  With all the changes in publishing, especially self-publishing opportunities, there is a potential for success but an agent would know the ropes of the industry better.  There’s only so much time a person can spend learning to do everything.  I think if you want to have more time to write, an agent would be invaluable.

Morgen: It would, I’m sure every author out there would love more time for writing (myself included). Are your books available as eBooks? If so what was your experience of that process?

Taylor: They will be if I go with Smashwords as I think that is a total ebook concept.

Morgen: I’m trying them first; I’m sculpting my first two books and three free short stories at the moment, then re-sculpting for Amazon. Do you read eBooks?

Taylor: I haven’t really gotten into reading ebooks as it’s just not a visceral enough process for me.  I love the feel of books, the way the spine snaps when you first open it, the texture of the covers, the way the typeset words meld into some papers and float on others.  There’s a smell of books – old and new that to me is also appealing.  Of course you’re speaking with a person who’s personal library is about 4000 volumes not to mention an extensive collection of handwritten diaries and hundreds of letters.  Add to that that I have hundreds of my own handwritten journals in every shape size and description, it would be a stretch if I ever gave books up.  I’m certain I was a tree in another life.

Morgen: And I thought I had a lot with about half that. You’ve mentioned your lovely long list of achievements, can you remember your first acceptance and is being accepted still a thrill?

Taylor: Having the poetry accepted for the writer’s retreat by the poet laureate was the most thrilled I think I’ve ever been.  To be validated by a prolific strong poet gave me so much encouragement.  I hadn’t written anything to “hand-in” in decades so it was great to know a goal might still be obtainable.  I think in all writing – we’re in a sense coming back to poetry, to the inner desire to take intangible words and give them concrete bodies to move about in.  Everything is so transitory that it’s difficult to understand what’s the point of all this except through poetry.  I think poetry touches souls in a way that only metaphor can.  In my winning poem, I took a look at the question of whether I would look like my mother when I was dead as during my life people had always commented about how much I looked like my mother.  In death, the funeral director didn’t get her mouth “right,” which, in the poem, I speak to how no one can get it right – the mouth is just never right.  I’ve re-worked it several times and Fleda did a really great poem using the same concept.  I’ve since taken inspiration from her views and reworked mine.  That’s the wonderful thing about creativity – every spin is different – we learn so much from each other.

Morgen: And that’s the great thing about writing groups like the ones I’m in, not only do they give you constructive feedback but it’s like hearing a mixed anthology on audiobook only you have the author there expressing it how it’s originally meant. Have you had any rejections? If so, how do you deal with them?

Taylor: My first rejection was actually from Paper Maiche Press.  Sandra Martz was the editor of the wonderful anthologies that included Jenny Joseph’s great poem “Warning.” Sandra, in my personal, humble opinion, did more for women writers in those series of books than any other person at the time.  I would have loved to have been accepted by that press.  In Joseph’s case, she won the title of being the most popular post-war poet or something after appearing in Sandra’s book.  The poem was originally published in 1961 and had little acclaim here in the states.  It’s universal appeal probably had much to do with Sandra’s genius to title the book based upon the line “ When I’m an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple.”  That had much more appeal than “Warning” as I doubt women would have flocked to a book entitled that.  And the rest, they say, is history.  When I met Sandra a few years later, I could not have been more thrilled.  We became friends and I admire her more than any other woman I know.  She will always be my “s’hero.”    If you’re going to be rejected, it’s better to be rejected by the best.  There’s a certain positive feel to that.  Recently I’ve been rejected by Narrative, Passages, and Memoir (and).

Morgen: What are you working on at the moment / next?

Taylor: I’m so pathetic.  I’m working on contest entries primarily for the next three months.

Morgen: Oh yes that sounds terrible. I thought you were going to say that you really WANT to be working on… but you’re doing everything else but writing, like me, although I have NaNoWriMo coming up so I’ll have no choice, which I need. Give me a deadline and I’ll write War & Peace… well, I won’t because I don’t write classics but you know… ).

Taylor: I’m trying to hone some of my life stories that I’ve journaled about incessantly for so many years into cohesive works that can become entries in contests.  I’m actually working with a coach on some pieces and hope to have a manuscript by the end of this year.  My goal was to have it ready last year but I missed that mark as I took too much time on other projects.  I entered NANO last November on a whim as I’ve never written fiction before.  It was fun and that story is really a good one if I can just get it finalized.  It would probably work best as a novella.  I’m shooting more for “Waller-ese” rather than something “Sparks-esque.”  I’m still working on my poetry chapbook and a friend has offered to read it for me whenever I get the final ready.  It’s actually based on the poem I wrote in Twitter during national poetry month which I’ve written about in my blog.  The complete original poem is posted there as well but at this point, it’s quite different.

Morgen: Maybe that could be your first eBook, which I think lend themselves perfectly to novellas (and how two of my NaNo books will be going). Do you manage to write every day? What’s the most you’ve written in a day?

Taylor: I do write almost every day.  I set an alarm for 9:00 AM and am supposed to write from 10 – 2.  Of course, my career these days seems to be lunch!  On Wednesdays I try to paint plein air with some friends and with the cooler weather, I hope to paint each morning from 8 – 11 which means I will have to try and write from 11 – 3.  I’m a night person so I don’t know why I even bother to do anything creative during the day but I am determined to treat my writing as a job for which I must keep regular hours.  The most I’ve written in one day was the day diary – I think it was 7,500 words or so.  I’m a fast writer – a fast rambling writer who uses too much passive voice and not enough concrete.

Morgen: But you’re getting it written. I always think it doesn’t really doesn’t matter what a first draft is like as it’s writing not blank page – editable regardless. What is your opinion of writer’s block? Do you ever suffer from it? If so, how do you ‘cure’ it?

Taylor: I have never had writer’s block.  I have editor’s block.  There is no known cure for that as I’m sure it will be my demise and will be listed in my obituary as a footnote that she died while banging her head against a wall.

Morgen: Editing’s in my ‘least favourites’ so I’m right there with you (although I’d put cushions between our heads and the wall!). Do you plot your stories or do you just get an idea and run with it?

Taylor: I wrote a fiction story for NANO last year.  I think my final word count was around 22,000 words or so.  It’s a great concept and considering I didn’t start NANO until November 3 and had four days out for Thanksgiving holiday, it was pretty good for three weeks worth of writing.  I signed up for an August sort of NANO project but did not follow through. The NANO piece is a good start and I really think it will be a strong little story if I can figure out plot, scene, character development, and overall arc.  I think it’s best to just run with the general idea.

Morgen: I thought about doing the Camp NaNo this summer but knew I wouldn’t have time to do it justice – one 50,000+ project a year is enough for me (this’ll be my fourth). I’m just starting to plan a rough outline for this year’s but I usually just start writing and see what happens. Do you have a method for creating your characters, their names and what do you think makes them believable?

Taylor: I had been concentrating on non-fiction for so long that I was surprised how much I enjoyed giving voice to actual characters.

Morgen: And that’s in my ‘most favourites’.

Taylor: And all the detail that you need to fill in is quite unusual if you are to give any sense of place.  I’d been trying to do the writing prompts that you post on Twitter, Morgen – changing voice and viewpoint, etc.

Morgen: Oh great!

Taylor: I’ve really fallen off as I was bogged down in the Art House Fiction Project and was ill for a few weeks this past winter.  Never again will I miss a flu shot!

Morgen: Oh dear.

Taylor: The art / fiction project is actually an original book in a cahier moleskin and is part of the permanent collection of the Brooklyn Library.  I consider this sort of my storyboard for a manuscript I’ve been working on regarding names.  I included the original work of two friends and some of friend, Fleda Brown who was mentioned earlier.   I submitted a short story and named the antagonist after a friend I’m seeing.  Not sure what that means, but I’m sure it means something.

Morgen: Antagonist? Oh dear, hopefully a nice friend though. Who is your first reader – who do you first show your work to?

Taylor: With poetry, I’ll read to anyone who will listen.  I’m in an on-line poetry group but they aren’t into critiquing but do tell you if they like something.  I take silent to mean disapproval for some reason.

Morgen: Not very helpful. In my critique group I have two poets and two writers who write prose and poetry so, unless anything leaps out to comment on, I tend to leave it to them to thrash it out, although they’re such seasoned writers that there’s little thrashing to be done.

Taylor: A friend who’s a wonderful poet is going to read my poetry chapbook and her opinion is very valuable to me.  I’ve given some handwritten poems to a friend that I’m seeing and jokingly tell him that he’s my “Fannie Brawne.”  He’s a biker-sort of guy so I’m not sure he fully appreciates my compliment, especially since I’m no Keats. I recently discovered cinquains and they are the perfect vehicle for describing our relationship.  I’m sure he must think me quite daft some days. I guess it comes with the cougar territory that I find myself in.

Morgen: As I said to Katie Fforde (who’s judging our H.E. Bates Short Story Competition ) recently it’s in a writer’s job description. Do you do a lot of editing or do you find that as time goes on your writing is more fully-formed?

Taylor: My best fragment writing is fully formed when I think and write it.  Sometimes it only takes a change to a word or two to really have something improve.  Other times I think I’ve ruined some wonderful pieces by overworking when I try to get it ready to submit.

Morgen: I mentioned Denny earlier and she says the same, that sometimes she just can’t leave a piece alone. I wonder sometimes if I’m not picky enough but if I’ve left it for a while and can only change a word or two when I return then I think it’s cooked.

Taylor: I find, too, that you should get as much editing done as soon as possible as you’re only in that place for a little while.  To come back later and try to rework something – especially in poetry—you’re not the same you and you’re no longer there in a sense.

Morgen: I think you’re probably right. Sometimes I’ve had a wonderful idea, written it down then when I’ve gone back to it it’s lost it’s magic.

Taylor: I find it best to edit intensely for as long as possible before you move on to the next place.  In trying to do this chapbook, it’s nerve-wracking as I’ve reworked it many times and it’s been months now.  I’ve had to do some research as a lot of references existed that I didn’t realize as some of it was based on dream states and there are so many connectors that need to be plugged in.

Morgen: What is your creative process like? What happens before sitting down to write?

Taylor: My creative process is chaotic.  I follow no rules.  I do ring a little bell that has a wonderful resonance to it and that helps calm my mind a little.

Morgen: Ah, how lovely. I wonder what my dog would think to that. My equivalent is blitzing emails, doesn’t have quite the same… er, ring to it does it?

Taylor: So, you’ve rung your bell, what happens next? I start writing about life in general and after about fifteen minutes, I think you do get in flow with the universe and some of what comes out is surprising.  I’ve been combing my journals for things to enter and two projects within them take a lot of my attention some days.  Most of my journals are not in order except for two sets which I refer to as the Books of Michael and A Modern Day Love Story.  It may be that these will just be published as journals one day – which will certainly be more fun for readers than reading Samuel Pepys!   There are days when I feel that my only writing that will ever be bid upon and published will be my journals.  The Books of Michael are quite complicated and since it’s ongoing it just gets more confusing as I try to write about him.  And A Modern Day Love Story is the same way – a sage is difficult to write when you’re involved in living it.  I’m always happy on those days where my thoughts don’t lead down those two paths.  It was helpful to start keeping the separate journals about these two aspects of my thoughts as I’m trying to focus on ideas that will actually materialize into finished pieces.

Morgen: I suspect I know the answer to this given what you’ve said so far but do you write on paper or do you prefer a computer?

Taylor: I usually freewrite by hand and do all my primary writing by hand in bound journals.  I transcribe whole journal entries and notes sometimes as my handwriting is atrocious.

Morgen: I’ve had quite a number of interviewees say that. Mine’s not too bad but so slow… not suited for a fast prose brain.

Taylor: I can only edit well on the computer.  I find it very difficult to edit from a printed page.  Marginalia drives me crazy and notes get so jumbled that I find myself too confused.  It’s much easier to edit on the fly at the computer.  Usually I’ll pick a selected passage and start writing from that point – when something starts to gel I get to the computer.

Morgen: I’m usually the opposite and print out the first draft then edit on paper. It is easier by screen but I miss more. What point of view do you find most to your liking: first person or third person?

Taylor: I’ve been trying to pull a memoir together for ages so enjoy first person.  I’ve used several of your exercises and find the process interesting when you tell the same story from the different viewpoints.  As I get more into story-telling, I feel most comfortable with a third person point of view.  As stated before, in the NANO story I was trying for more of a Waller feel.

Morgen: Do you use prologues / epilogues? What do you think of the use of them?

Taylor: I think they’re invaluable because they offer a little further insight.  Not everyone is a scholar and for the average, non-academic reader, anything that can shed a little extra light can be a real help.  I’m sure I’ll use them if I ever get the manuscript written.

Morgen: Well NaNo starts in a week and a bit. Do you have pieces of work that you think will never see light of day?

Taylor: I actually think my journals will be my legacy even though they probably won’t see the light of day during my lifetime.

Morgen: That would be a shame.

Taylor: I think they can serve as a great source into the creative process as the struggle, the notes, the thoughts, the ideas are scattered around in them.  The two important sets I referred to earlier, the Books of Michael and A Modern Day Love Story, actually merge at times and I think they will be a very interesting read for all the voyeur-types who love reading diaries and journals.  I’ve tried to live as interesting a life as I could in my particular circumstances and have recorded a good deal of it in random fashion.  From all the published and unpublished diaries that I’ve read over the years, I would stack mine up against anyone’s.  Of course, what Pepys ate will always hold some appeal.  I think in the diary / journal world, there will always be some interest into the inner workings of someone’s life.  Living an interesting life naturally leads to more interesting facts about that life.  I include so much literary referencing that I will offer insight into how an artist seeks the connections that weave all creative people together in one way or another.  Few vacuums exist in the creative world and it’s amazing how many links can be discovered if you allow your mind to follow unknown, unsearched, or re-discovered paths.

Morgen: I’ve mentioned some of mine already, but what’s your favourite / least favourite aspect of your writing life?

Taylor: The least favourite – It’s the fact that you can’t stop writing.  It’s not like you reach a certain age and stop thinking.  Well, I suppose some people are capable of doing that, but as a writer you are constantly examining things and taking words to build the perfect house that won’t fall down upon scrutiny, looking for the perfect lamp to shed light into the darkest recess.  It’s doubly worse when you’re a visual artist as well as your eye is constantly seeking the light in the visual world, how it falls across a lover’s face in early morning light or turns sand purple in the early morning mist or snow blue in shadowed drifts.  But that’s the same reason you love it all as well.  You are never bored.  You are never alone.  You are always with yourself – not looking but truly seeing.  And then you get to play God.  You get to create something that didn’t exist before – for better or worse—it’s your turn to try your hand at the impossible.

Morgen: And I love that, not knowing what’s going to come out. If anything, what has been your biggest surprise about writing?

Taylor: The biggest surprise is what comes out sometimes.  When you really get in the flow, the synapses make connections that are absolutely uncanny.  There are a lot of weird connections in that cranial noggin we all tote around—that spillage is what we all just die for or for the lack thereof in many cases.

Morgen: What advice would you give aspiring writers?

Taylor: Write.  Write daily. Write often.  The only way you can be a writer is by writing.  Next I would read. Read daily. Read often.  The only way you can be a good writer is by reading.  Then, live.  Live daily.  Live often.  The only way you can be a good writer is to live in complete awareness that you are alive.  I think Wayne Dyer may have said it best – We are a soul with a body, not a body with a soul.  You owe it to your soul, to keep your body in as good of a condition as possible so that you can spend as much time as possible enjoying this short life span you’re given.  Share with us what you learn.  Share with us what you know.  Share with us your vision of the next new thing or the oldest old thing.  Only you can do that for us.  Only you can show us your unique vision of the world.

Morgen: You’ve just mentioned reading, what do you like to read?

Taylor: I have read non-fiction mostly for the past 20 years or so.  I’m very eclectic and read everything from bios to collected works with a particular bent towards poetry.  I used to love fiction the most but at a certain point, I became more attuned to poetry.  I still love Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried the most from many standpoints.  It’s what I would call real-life fiction and once heard him state that writers should stick to fiction because then you won’t end up quibbling over some minor point – or words to that effect.  By doing this, it allows the writing to move where it needs to.  I also love the little true-life-love story that he plops down in the middle of it and how the book is not structured (physically I mean) like most other works of fiction.  And how O’Brien even speaks directly to the reader that he’s made up his first soulmate’s name and explains how he came to be a writer and we see little Timmy is now that man.   I hated everything about the senseless Vietnam non-War but that’s got to be one of the best little books that’s ever been written about it or war for that matter.

Morgen: I’ve heard of it but not read it but as a short story reader, “little book” appeals. You’ve mentioned a lot of books already but are there any writing-related websites and/or other books that you find useful and would recommend?

Taylor: I love http://WritingItReal.com Sheila’s articles on craft and being a writer are so helpful.  I’ve had the opportunity to study with her both in person and on-line.  And I have an article in her magazine on a braided poem I participated in.  I can’t start the day without Garrison Keillor on Writer’s Almanac.

Morgen: That’s another I listen to and because it’s listed on my iTunes page as ‘APM…’ it’s the first one that my iPod starts with whenever I select ‘podcasts’.

Taylor: The email that arrives each morning is packed with much historical information and ideas galore on what to write and think about.

Morgen: It is, and each week day instalment is only five minutes so can be fitted in anywhere.

Taylor: I listed the books earlier that I found most helpful in the developing craft.  I love Atwood’s Negotiating with the Dead  which makes so many connections with myths and King’s On Writing which are available on-line.

Morgen: ‘On Writing’ has been mentioned a few times and I think every time I say that I have it and must read it – one of the many ‘I will’s for post-day job next year.

Taylor: Writers today have almost too much available as the sources are unlimited.

Morgen: And it’s where a lot of our time goes…

Taylor: I think Oxford’s Thesaurus for Writers is a necessary tool as well as good dictionaries.  I also subscribe to the NY Times and feel all writers should subscribe to one of the larger newspapers as there’s a goldmine of ideas in the news every day.

Morgen: I have a dozen or so display books full of newspaper cuttings, I’ll certainly never run out of ideas. In which country are you based and do you find this a help or hindrance with letting people know about your work?

Taylor: I’m in the USA.  With the internet, it’s almost impossible for your work not to be found sooner or later.  The key is to develop good, consistent content and eventually you’ll find your audience.  You are a good example of that Morgen.  You are generous with your time and talents and everyone can benefit by following you.

Morgen: Ah, thank you. I’m loving every minute (which I’ll have more of come Christmas… yay!). Can you tell I’m looking forward to ‘retiring’. Are you on any forums or networking sites? If so, how invaluable do you find them?

Taylor: I think it’s imperative that everyone have a blog or website.  My blog is a work in process and my website is mainly for art at this point but I haven’t updated it in a while.   I love all the social media sites like Facebook, Twitter but haven’t used LinkedIn to any effect yet.  I can be found on those sites at ntaylorcollins. It seems that there’s just too much of everything and everybody is trying to be the next new-new thing.   I’m a member of SheWrites but haven’t posted anything there yet.  I’m still trying to build a following in all of these.   It takes time and a lot of work to build a following.

Morgen: It does, sometimes too much but it is marketing and it has to be done but I’m so guilty of not prioritising my time well enough… and I know I’m not the only one… but it’s sometimes just too fun!

Taylor: Again, content is key and the sites are completely different so you’ll need different approaches to use each one effectively.

Morgen: I have a website too but it just points to this blog but then this blog makes up for it. I started this at the end of March and dabbled a bit. I was then invited to a couple of interviews which I love so started reciprocating and here we are 164 interviews, 200+ other posts and 18,000+ visits later. It would be such a different blog without you and the other interviewees and contributors… and I wouldn’t be having so much fun. So you have a blog and a website, which should anyone reading this interview start with?

Taylor: My blog is the best place.  I’m eventually going to drive everything to my blog and link to the other sites off of that.  Since I write and paint, the blog seems the best place to be able to direct people to the commercial aspects of my work.   I also think a blog is where you can express yourself the most freely and let people know about you as a person (or brand if that’s your approach).  I’m a people person and enjoy interaction and hope that eventually more people will comment directly on the blog rather than in emails.

Morgen: I couldn’t see a link to your blog on your website or vice versa, unless I wasn’t looking hard enough. What do you think the future holds for a writer?

Taylor: There will always be a need for writers—especially ones who can write well since written communication is more vital now than ever.  I think the problem is to garner a living wage.  There’s so much free on-line writing – much of which is deplorable beyond words.  I’m so sick of seeing passive voice and simple sentences that I just want to puke some days.  I have a terrible habit of journaling in passive voice and really have to think when I’m writing creatively to use concrete words and concise descriptions.  I think there will always be a demand for high quality journalism, well-crafted fiction in many genres, and poetry.  Poetry will always have an audience as I truly feel that is what writing always aspires to be.  Technical and copywriting will always have their place as well.  Technology still relies on readable content—I dread the day we’ll all become just talking heads.

Morgen: These are hot topics for discussion on LinkedIn and the general consensus is that readers will get fussier and those writing dross will have to up their game or get out. I think as far as sales go, good reviews will be the decider – a bad writer can only have so many friends and family. Is there anything else you’d like to mention?

Taylor: Thanks so much for asking me to share these comments, Morgen.  You are so generous and kind to work so diligently on helping writers help each other.  Your suggestions and information are so insightful.  I only wish I had more time to keep up with you postings.

Morgen: Thank you Taylor. And thank you for being my first ‘I enjoyed your podcast’ all those months ago – I’m still so grateful. I don’t think anyone can be expected to keep up with my postings (I barely do ), just dip in and out of ones that appeal or go to the relevant menus and pick the relevant ones.

I then invited Taylor to provide an extract of her writing:

Journal Entry:  August 19

Finishing material for tomorrow’s presentation.  Most helpful if last weekend was spent on this instead of with Sean.  Ended an email to Sean today with lament:

Forty-seven people will listen to me telling them how to examine and record the stories of their lives.  I will begin — “What the hell do I know? I’ve been journaling for 25 years and don’t have a frigging clue.” Or words to that effect…

Or maybe not.  Maybe I’ll just say – “You begin by looking into the eyes of someone you know and try to decide how deep you can delve into that soul through the small portal of what appears to be an endless sea.”

I’ll tell them—“You try to describe the blueness of those eyes in sunlight; how they change from sapphire to cobalt and back again always dependent upon how much available light is shed upon them. You record how they twinkle when warmed by the sun. And you end your days of writing by realizing that you can never explore all those depths. You realize you will never know what all of this means. But you are positive, absolutely sure, that it all means something.”

August 19th, that’s so funny (my birthday – she didn’t know!).

***

If you are reading this and you write, in whatever genre, and are thinking “ooh, I’d like to do this” then you can… just email me and I’ll send you the information. They do now (January 2013) carry a fee (£10 / €12.50 / $15) for the new interviews on this blog but everything else (see Opportunities on this blog) is free.

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As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. I welcome critique for the four new writing groups listed below and / or flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays. For other opportunities see (see Opportunities on this blog).

The full details of the new online writing groups, and their associated Facebook groups, are:

• Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group (http://novelwritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/508696639153189)
• Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group (http://poetrywritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/388850977875934)
• Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group (http://scriptwritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/319941328108017)
• Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group (http://shortstorywritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/544072635605445)

We look forward to reading your comments.

 

Bailey’s Writing Tips podcast ‘red pen session’ no.5

This week’s podcast was released today, Monday 10th October, the fifth of my episodes dedicated to reading a short story or self-contained novel extract (with synopsis) and then talking about it afterwards.

I run a fortnightly critique group as well as critiquing other authors writing which I really enjoy so I thought I’d create podcast episodes doing this. Please remember that it’s only one person’s (my) opinion and you, and the author concerned, are welcome to disagree with my interpretation – I will never be mean for the sake of it, but hope that I’m firm but fair. I also type the critique as I’m reading the story for the first time so by listening to the episode you will have had the advantage of hearing the story in full before hearing my feedback.

Regardless of what genre you write I hope that this helps you think about the way your stories are constructed and that you have enjoyed hearing another author’s work, the copyright of which remains with them.

Today’s story was from Aneesa of Glasgow, Scotland who brought us ‘Finally you found me’ in episode two. Aneesa has been writing for some time and has always had an ambition to write her own book but was side-tracked with studies and work. Only recently has she come back to writing and is enjoying it very much. She has written a few short stories and sometimes likes to indulge in poetry. She is also fluent in three different languages: English, Urdu and German. This story, at 1,047 words, is entitled ‘You are my reasons’.

I read the story, critiqued it and concluded with: “Overall the story is extremely well written, with some minor tweaking it could easily be submittable. Unlike her previous story this ends really sadly but we know that she has the friendship of the man’s sister, although they only meet once a year. Then there’s the house, she’s said it’s her dream so there is a chance of redemption for her but as with good stories like this it’s up to the reader to chose an ending and whether mine would be the same as yours it doesn’t matter as with the joy of fiction, where the writer leaves, the reader continues.”

Aneesa’s blog is http://itsmythoughts11.wordpress.com (which has a really neat visitor location application!). She can also be ‘liked’ on Facebook and followed on Twitter.

If you have any feedback on today’s episode or any other podcasts or aspects of my website or blog, I’m always delighted to hear from you – my email address is morgen@morgenbailey.com.

And if you’re feeling brave enough to email me an (ideally up to) 1,000 word short story or novel extract (with a brief synopsis please) for these red pen sessions then feel free. I suggest you listen to at least one of the red pen episodes to get an idea of what happens.

Bailey’s Writing Tips podcast is available via iTunes, Google’s Feedburner, Podbean (when it catches up), Podcasters (which takes even longer) or Podcast Alley (which doesn’t list the episodes but will let you subscribe). Episodes include hints & tips (currently episode no.40) and author audio interviews – see this blog’s podcast page for more information.

 

Author interview no.144 with fiction writer and columnist Sally Quilford

I’m delighted to bring you the one hundred and forty-fourth of my blog interviews, today with fiction writer, Writers Forum columnist and writing competition guru Sally Quilford. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate the authors further.

Morgen: Hello, Sally. Please tell us something about yourself and how you came to be a writer.

Sally: I was born in South Wales, but moved to Derbyshire in my teens. I left school with no qualifications, then after having my family and when I reached the big 30, I decided to return to studying. I started with a literature GCSE and you could have knocked me down with a feather when I got an A! It was after reading literature properly for the first time in my life that made me want to write. I’d always had some vague notion of being a ‘writer’, but without actually writing anything. I started writing in 1994-5 and have barely stopped since.

Morgen: I only gained one ‘O’ level from school (English Language – I excelled at primary school because my teachers cared about me rather than my grades so I did well and passed the 12-plus which took me to a ‘great’ school which I subsequently hated so didn’t try – and Princess Diana didn’t pass hers so we’re in good company). Anyway, getting back to writing, what genre do you generally write and have you considered other genres?

Sally: The genre I’m now known for is light romance novels, as published by My Weekly Pocket Novels, but I’ve also written crime, sci-fi and horror in the past and still do sometimes. One of the things I like about writing the novellas is that I can incorporate elements of crime into the romance. I don’t know if I’d want to be locked into a genre, though obviously I’m doing what works for now. I like the idea that people are reading my novellas, so most of my ideas and genres fit around the particular requirements of that readership.

Morgen: I’ve seen many of your short stories (which are geekily filed with 3,000+ others in a dozen or so ring binders – A-Z by author surname and catalogued on an Excel spreadsheet – for research purposes, I did say I’m a geek didn’t I?) what have you had published to-date? If applicable, can you remember where you saw your first books on the shelves?

Sally: I’ve had quite a few stories published in magazines, both in Britain and abroad. I think the last count was in the mid-30s. I’m also a columnist for Writers Forum magazine, and have been since 2009. I’ve had articles published in The New Writer. And of course, the pocket novels. Last July my sixth pocket novel, Sunlit Secrets was published by My Weekly Pocket Novels. I saw the first pocket novel, The Secret of Helena’s Bay, on sale in Tescos, amongst the magazines. It was a huge thrill! I took a picture with my mobile and sent it to Facebook and Twitter. Five of my pocket novels, so far, have also gone on to be accepted by Ulverscroft / Linford Romance Library for Large Print publication. The most recent of those to be published is A Collector of Hearts, a spooky Halloween story (picture below) featuring one of my favourite secondary characters, Mrs. Oakengate. She’s appeared in two of my novellas so far.

Morgen: I love that name (I’m a name and title fan). How much of the marketing do you do for your published works or indeed for yourself as a ‘brand’?

Sally: Most of my marketing is done online, on my blog, Twitter and Facebook. Some writers don’t realise that networking and ‘selling’ yourself is essential in these media driven days, but I accept it as part of the package. Of course, as I haven’t had a mainstream novel published, I don’t get a chance to do book signings etc, but I’m fully prepared for that should it ever happen.

Morgen: Maybe you could have loitered in Tesco until someone picked up your pocket novel.

Sally: It’s also important to engage with people on a personal level. If I’m following someone on Twitter or Facebook who only ever posts what they’ve got coming out, or where they’re appearing, and especially if it’s clearly posted by a PR person, I very quickly un-follow them.

Morgen: Me too. I always reckon on 90% minimum info / chat vs 10% tout maximum. Have you won or been shortlisted in any competitions and do you think they help with a writer’s success?

Sally: As you know, Morgen, writing comps are my speciality.

Morgen: I do.

Sally: I write a column about them in Writers Forum magazine and I have the competition calendar, so yes, I think they’re a good thing for writers.  I have been shortlisted and won comps. I don’t know that they’ve helped with my success, as they’ve been relatively small comps. But those wins / shortlistings are wonderful in terms of boosting one’s confidence. Having said that, I know of other writers who’ve won comps and gone on to greater things, so I’m not ruling them out as an aid to success. They certainly look good on the resume!

Morgen: They do, that’s what I always think. Recognition by someone else, especially of note, must only be a good thing. Do you write under a pseudonym? If so why and do you think it makes a difference?

Sally: I do indeed. Sally Quilford is not my real name. For me it was a way of not being myself when I write. Though it has to be said that over the years the lines between Sally and Tracy (my real name) have blurred somewhat so I’m not sure that barrier is there anymore. As I’m much more confident about my writing now, it doesn’t matter. Half the people I know now call me Sally. At my daughter’s wedding recently, they brought flowers for the two mums, and my new son-in-law pointed to one bouquet and said ‘they’re Sally’s’, closely followed by my daughter nudging him and saying ‘she’s Tracy today’.  Oh and I also have another name I use for writing erotica, but you’ll have to use the thumbscrews to get that out of me.

Morgen: I’ll keep them handy should we ever meet in person, which I’m sure we will one day. Do you have an agent? Do you think they’re vital to an author’s success?

Sally: I don’t have an agent no. Are they vital to an author’s success? It depends what you want to do and who you want to be published by. I attended a workshop by Kate Walker several months ago. She’s one of Mills and Boons’ top authors and she told us she’d never had an agent, and had done very well, mainly because M&B manage all overseas sales. As Kate said, if she had an agent, she’d have to pay them a percentage of her earnings. On the other hand, if one wants to be published by a different type of publishing house, then an agent helps, as few publishers will accept unsolicited manuscripts anyway. An agent acts as a sort of filter, so that when they approach a publisher, the publisher knows they’re getting something that’s already been passed as good.

Morgen: That’s kind of what I think and yes, I know of Kate Walker; I see her books come in (and go out quickly) the British Red Cross shop I help out at. Given what you’ve said so far, I don’t know how relevant this question is but I’m hoping you’ll say “yes”: are your books available as eBooks? If so what was your experience of that process? And do you read eBooks?

Sally: Yes, I made some of my pocket novels available as ebooks earlier this year. The Secret of Helena’s Bay is available on kindle, and so are some of my earlier shorts that were originally published on Amazon Shorts. I quite enjoyed the process of putting them on ebooks, though it did throw up how important another pair of eyes are sometimes. Even with the best will in the world it’s easy to miss silly typos. Sadly because some writers don’t even seem to proofread their own work, independently published ebooks have been given a bad name, so it’s very hard to sell them when you’re not a big name.

Morgen: I have heard that which is why I have an editor (who’s very good – hello Rachel) but I still think that reviews will have their day – a non ‘big name’ can only so have so many friends or family.

Sally: I have only just started reading ebooks regularly, after hubby bought me an e-reader as an early birthday present. I adore it, but I’m still getting used to it. I must admit I do like the feel of a paper book in my hand. Also, ebooks, by established authors, are a bit expensive at the moment. I’m sure they’ll come cheaper soon when everyone is buying them. I take advantage of a lot of free ebooks. Mills and Boon often have them, and The Gutenberg Project is fantastic if you want classics for your e-readers.

Morgen: There are various debates (I’ve seen them on Twitter and LinkedIn) about the pricing of eBooks and I do think some known eBooks are expensive and hope they’ll come down in price but I suspect publishers will fight against it as some readers will buy their favourite authors regardless of cost… they just need to make them worth it (i.e. not a standard text file). What was your first acceptance and is being accepted still a thrill?

Sally: I’m going to completely leave out several poems I had published by what turned out to be a vanity publisher in my early writing days, and concentrate on the first story I ever sold. That was called Clarence and it was accepted by Yours magazine. I was virtually doing handstands and cartwheels when I got the letter accepting it. I have a lot of affection for that little story, even though when I read it now I can see it’s very raw. Thankfully Yours saw something in it though. Oh and it took me two more years before I had anything else officially published. So it’s sadly not the case that the moment you have one story accepted, you’ll have editors beating down your door asking for stories!

Morgen: That happened to me; first story accepted many thereafter rejected… and I love the name ‘Clarence’. So you’ve had some rejections… how do you deal with them?

Sally: I’ve had hundreds, though I’m glad to say that now I’m targeting my work better, my rejection-hit (success) ratio is falling, and I have less rejections now. They are a part of being a writer, and whilst they sting, they show you’re trying. That’s not to say they don’t get me down sometimes. I’ve had two major rejections this year. One from Mills and Boon and another from an agent. They hurt like hell, because they were my first proper step into the ‘big time’, but the pain was tempered by the fact that both M&B and the agent gave me some great feedback, which meant that I was very close.

Morgen: Ooh, well then you need to keep going. What are you working on at the moment / next?

Sally: I was working on a werewolf novella for My Weekly Pocket Novels, but that didn’t go so well. I loved it, the editor didn’t.

Morgen: Oh dear.

Sally: Luckily I had a back up novella half-finished, so I’m busily trying to get that completed. Next I think I want to try another romantic western, as I’ve done well with those. But I’m also tempted to try something a bit longer, as in a full length novel. I tend to go with my gut when writing, and will work on whatever I can’t get out of my head at the time.

Morgen: Maybe you could start both and go from one to the other when they need ‘cooling off’? Do you manage to write every day? What’s the most you’ve written in a day?

Sally: No I don’t write every day, and I don’t subscribe to the notion that a writer must write every day to be considered a writer. Writing takes place as much in the brain as on the computer / notebook etc. Having said that, anyone who follows me on Facebook and Twitter will know that I can write as much in one sitting as others can in a week. When I get in the zone, there’s no getting out of it. The most I’ve written in one day was, I think, about 7000 words, because I was at the end of a novella and wanted to finish it off. But I couldn’t write for several days after because my hands (I have arthritis) seized up.

Morgen: Oh dear, my mum gets that quite badly, it’s not fun. I hinted at writer’s block when I said “cooling off” a moment ago, what is your opinion of writer’s block? Do you ever suffer from it? If so, how do you ‘cure’ it?

Sally: I’ve had writers block before. I once had it for six months. That’s not to say I didn’t write anything, but by my own standards, I wrote very little. Now I have a rule in that if I’m blocked I allow myself a few days of not being a writer. I do other things, like watch movies or listen to music, I read or go out.

Morgen: That’s a good plan and what a lot of my interviewees have said.

Sally: Then when I’ve permitted myself a break, I sit down and write my way through it. It doesn’t matter if what comes out is rubbish, as long as I’ve written something.

Morgen: Absolutely, you can’t edit a blank page. Freewriting’s good too – as you say it doesn’t matter what it is just write something and you’re brain will take over.

Sally: I think the biggest cause of writers’ block is the fear of being rubbish, and feeling that what you’ve written is awful. I think it’s a good idea to allow yourself to be rubbish sometimes. Often when you go back and look at what you’ve written, you realise that it actually wasn’t that bad and can be salvaged.

Morgen: I know! I’ve surprised myself sometimes (but other times I’ve gone back to it and hung my head ).

Sally: Even if it is rubbish, it at least clears all that litter from your mind so you can start writing something good again. Another good way to beat writers block is rather than starting on a new project, do some editing on some old work. You’ll be surprised when you put your mind to old ideas how new ones come to the fore.

Morgen: That works for me too. Do you plot your stories or do you just get an idea and run with it?

Sally: I’ve tried plotting novels and they’ve got nowhere. The novellas I’ve sold have come to me in an idea and I’ve simply sat down and started writing them. I do sometimes write a brief summary of what I want the story to be and where I want it to end, but it’s no more than 500 words, and is often changed considerably by the time I get to the end of the story. But as I said earlier, a lot of writing can go on in the head. I will get an idea, and sometimes see the whole story from start to finish… more or less. I always have a beginning, a middle and an end in mind even if I haven’t written a summary. I can write a 3000 word chapter fairly quickly because it’s pretty much written in my head before I sit down. It helps that I can touch type!

Morgen: Me too which comes in really handy for the likes of NaNoWriMo, especially with the second one which ended up being 117,540 words. You mentioned Mrs Oakengate earlier, you have a method for creating your characters, their names and what do you think makes them believable?

Sally: I don’t have a method, but I do find that until I have my character’s names, I don’t have a story. Then they reveal themselves to me as I write the story. For example, in Sunlit Secrets, I started knowing that my hero would have a secret, but until I got to the point where he revealed it, I had no idea what that secret was. It was as if he was withholding it from me and from the heroine! What makes them believable, I hope, is that they’re fully rounded human beings, with faults and failings, though essentially moral and good (in line with the market I write for).

Morgen: “to the point where he revealed it” I love that idea of a character being in charge, which they so often are, I think that’s one of my favourite aspects of writing, and of course they need failings, perfect is dull. Who is your first reader – who do you first show your work to?

Sally: I have been lucky enough to be in two writers groups where I know I can get feedback if I want it, and often do, for short stories. But when it comes to the novellas, I trust my own judgement. That’s hard to learn, by the way, and it doesn’t mean I think my own judgement is absolutely fantastic. When I get it right, it comes from having researched hard and making sure I aim correctly. I do get it wrong sometimes, as I did with the werewolf novella, but when I do I often get feedback from the editor in line with that market’s requirements so I know not to do that particular thing again.

I’m not knocking beta readers, but from what I’ve seen of friends who have them those readers will often judge according to their own tastes and, sometimes how they would have written it. It can even become a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth, or too many different opinions completely confusing the writer. As a result they end up writing to please everyone and are left with a mess. That was a mistake I made in my feedback junkie days; trying to fit in everyone’s opinions. It takes a lot to learn to accept the advice that works for the story and reject that which doesn’t (whilst always being grateful to everyone who takes the time to read it, of course).

If you’re writing for a market, as I do, the very best person to get feedback from is the editor for that market, as well as researching that market thoroughly, of course.

Morgen: I belong to three groups and I agree, I pick and choose the feedback (because an author can only really know their stories inside and out) and there are stories that just go straight to Rachel. It sounds from what you say that your writing has strengthened over the years, do you still do a lot of editing or do you find that as time goes on your writing is more fully-formed?

Sally: Yes and no. It depends. Sometimes I’ll completely change a first chapter to bring it in line with what’s come later because I’ve changed my mind about something (even who the murderer was in one case!). But I have been known to write, edit and submit a novella in a fortnight (and it was accepted!).

Morgen: Wow wee…

Sally: I think that eventually you do get a feel for what works.

Morgen: So do I… brain going into overdrive.

Sally: Interestingly, the two of the novellas I’ve submitted that were turned down by My Weekly Pocket Novels were two that I didn’t ‘feel’ as I was writing them. So I wasn’t surprised by the rejections. It’s important not to become complacent. It’s easy to think that because you’ve written one thing that needed little editing that your next piece of work will be the same. I have become better at writing for the market, which means editing is cut down a little, but I’m always prepared to work hard at editing if I need to.

Morgen: And that’s so important; to write for the market you want to sell to. You wouldn’t sell bananas to a rug factory (not sure why those two came into my head)… unless their employees liked bananas, I suppose. What is your creative process like? What happens before sitting down to write?

Sally: I think a lot. I see the story as scenes in my head, much like watching a film. Sometimes, as I said, I write a brief summary, which hopefully points up any plot holes, but usually it’s a lot of thinking, until the characters are screaming at me in the middle of the night to sit down and tell their story. That’s usually how I know I’ve got a good story. Because it won’t go away. It doesn’t always work. I’ve had what I thought were strong ideas, written the first chapter and thought ‘Oh, alright, that’s not what I thought it would be’.

Morgen: But maybe they could lead to two stories? Who knows what goes in our brains (rugs and bananas in mine, clearly). Do you write on paper or do you prefer a computer?

Sally: I have several notebooks but because of the arthritis I can’t handwrite for a long time. Plus, I find my thoughts move faster than my pen, so even if I start half a page in the notebook, I’m itching to get to the computer so I can more easily delete the clunky bits.

Morgen: I always think that even if it’s slower writing by hand when you type it up it’s like a first edit, for me anyway and you do say to delete the clunky bits (I love that phrase). Some writers like quiet, others the noise of a coffee shop etc. Do you listen to music or have noise around you when you write or do you need silence?

Sally: None at all. I love music, but I also love lyrics. If I have music on, I’m listening to the lyrics. Even if I have instrumentals on, I stop what I’m doing to listen. Music is my reward for a good day’s writing. Then I put my ipod on and play my favourite songs.

Morgen: I’m pretty much the same although I find the dog more of an interruption (no offence, hound) so it’s classical music for me. What point of view do you find most to your liking: first person or third person? Have you ever tried second person?

Sally: I write mostly in third person for the novellas. First person seems okay for short stories, but is hard for a long novella (and I don’t know if My Weekly have ever published one that was in the first person). The thing about 1^st person is that the character can’t know anything they don’t witness or are not told, which needs a lot of discipline. Sarah Waters’ ‘The Little Stranger’ is a fantastic example of how it can work. I have written in the second person. One story came second in the Milton Keynes Speakeasy comp a few years ago and the other was published in translation in Swedish magazine, Allas, but sadly has failed to excite British magazines.

Morgen: Ah, I think Helen M Hunt has been published in that. A small world? I love second person (I think everyone I’ve ever come into contact with on here knows that). Do you use prologues / epilogues? What do you think of the use of them?

Sally: I have used them in works that weren’t published, but I don’t tend to now. I know that prologues are considered ‘bad’ things now, in one of these new rules that have come in since the internet, but I think that a story / novel needs what it needs. Oh I did use an epilogue in one of my self-published ebooks, True Love Ways, now I come to think of it. Epilogues are a good way of catching up with everyone some time after the event.

Morgen: I agree – I think it’s better to use an epilogue if the reader is going to be left with questions (how frustrating is that?). Do you have pieces of work that you think will never see light of day?

Sally: Yes, and they’re usually the stuff that I think is the best I’ve ever written. My hard drive is full of them!

Morgen: Oh that’s a shame… maybe under a third pseudonym? Isabella Fontaine du Bois or something. What’s your favourite / least favourite aspect of your writing life?

Sally: Admin. I hate it. I wish I had a secretary. But I also hate the times I can’t write, even if it is only for a few days. I’m at my happiest when I’ve got a story in my head, and at my most miserable when I can’t come up with an idea that sticks.

Morgen: Ooh, I’m a secretary. Do you have an application form? If anything, what has been your biggest surprise about writing?

Sally: I think it is how happy it’s made me. I’ll spare everyone the miserable childhood, but I’ve found writing to be the most cathartic thing I’ve ever done. I don’t even mean writing about my childhood, which I avoid as much as possible on account of it being too painful. Just being able to disappear into a world of my own making, and, in a sense, to play God. Before I became a writer, I wasn’t good at anything. I can’t sew, can’t paint. I was a good mum and wife (I hope), but there was nothing in my life that was just for me. Writing has put a lot right that was wrong in my life and given me a purpose, as well as being something of my own that no one can take away from me.

Morgen: I didn’t have a miserable childhood (just not a particularly memorable one, but then I don’t have a great memory full stop) but I feel exactly the same about writing. <pop away from desk to get some tissues> What advice would you give aspiring writers?

Sally: Put bum in seat. Write. Read anything and everything you can. If you’re not a reader, you shouldn’t be a writer (why should anyone read your work if you don’t read anyone else’s?). Enjoy your writing. Enjoy what you write.  Take no notice of writing ‘rules’. The more you write, the more you’ll get to know what works and what doesn’t. But what works for others may not work for you, so don’t listen to anyone who tells you what you ‘should’ be doing (not even me!). But do listen to editors. If an editor takes the time to give you feedback, even if they’ve rejected you, be very grateful. I’ve often heard new writers talk of rejections saying ‘What do they (the editors) know?’ Well they know what’s right for their readers and if you want to be published by them, you have to adapt to them, not the other way around.

Morgen: Very true, and I love your advice to ignore the rules, I’m so not a red tape person. You mentioned reading there, what do you like to read?

Sally: Anything and everything. I like thrillers, as they’re the sort of novels I was brought up on; Jack Higgins, Frederick Forsyth, Alistair McLean. Current favourites are Lee Childs and Stephen King. I also love Sarah Waters’ books. I also like ‘old’ writers like Agatha Christie and Nevil Shute. But I’ll read anything as long as it’s good and don’t care if it’s genre, literary or whatever.

Morgen: Regular readers of these blog interviews will know that I adored Stephen King as a teenager and that I reckon he’s why I wear glasses (and for those who don’t, two words: torch, duvet). What do you do when you’re not writing?

Sally: Erm … nothing. It is my life (Oh God, did I just say that?!).

Morgen: That makes two of us.

Sally: As I said earlier, there is absolutely nothing else I am good at. I do listen to music, read, watch films, cuddle my grandchildren, spend hours playing Cityville on Facebook…

Morgen: I’m occasionally invited to play games on FB but sadly I have no spare time, certainly at the moment. Are there any writing-related websites and / or books that you find useful and would recommend?

Sally: Stephen King’s On Writing is an excellent book for writers. It’s mostly a memoir, but has the best writing advice I’ve ever read, which in a nutshell is as I’ve said above: ‘put bum in seat, write’ (though Stephen says it much better). For anyone wanting to write for women’s magazines, womagwriter’s site is a must.

Morgen: Two popular recommendations (the latter by Helen only just this week). In which country are you based and do you find this a help or hindrance with letting people know about your work?

Sally: I’m in Britain, which is pretty central, I think. Or maybe I just think that because I’m here! I think the only drawback, given where I’ve been published, is that my work doesn’t have a chance to reach a wider audience. This is one of the reasons I’ve put some on Kindle, to try and address that problem.

Morgen: Oh great, let me know how that goes (I’m almost there). Are you on any forums or networking sites? If so, how invaluable do you find them?

Sally: I’m on Twitter (@quillers) and on Facebook as Sally Quilford. I love them because they put me in touch with other writers. As you know it’s a lonely job, so it’s nice to be able to chat to others. I gave up writing forums a while ago. I got fed up of the petty jealousies and arguments, which sadly, get worse once someone has become a successful writer. The forums tend to be full of writers who believe all the conspiracies around publishing. There is no conspiracy. If you write well and can fit the market, you’ll be published.

Morgen: I’m only really on LinkedIn (and Twitter / Facebook) and it does sometimes go off-track but there are sturdy members who slap virtual wrists where appropriate. Where can we find out about you and your work?

Sally: I have a blog and a site devoted to writing comps.

Morgen: Yay, writing competitions – do go look everyone (I’ve listed you and womagwriter (and many others) on my Links and Useful info pages. ) What do you think the future holds for a writer?

Sally: It’s already harder to become a writer than it was when I first started. So many people want to do it, so editors are inundated with submissions. It’s also becoming harder to be paid a decent rate for writing for the same reason. Too many writers (I include my younger self in this) are happy to give work away for free, so why should anyone pay? I think we do need to keep up with new technologies. I love paper books, but I accept that ebooks are the way forward for the new generation of readers, and we have to be prepared for that.

Morgen: Is there a question you’d like to ask me?

Sally: Yes, how did you manage to come up with all these dastardly questions? I didn’t mind the light in my face, but I thought the electrodes were going a bit too far…

Morgen: Just wait until I dig out the thumbscrews. This list is much longer (probably double) than those asked when I started doing these back in June. The original set (about 15-20) was based on the questions I asked in my podcast interviews. I always say to my interviewees that they don’t have to answer all the questions but they always seem masochistic enough to do so… for which I’m always grateful. Thank you Sally.

Sally Quilford is a fiction writer and columnist with Writers Forum magazine. She has also had articles published in The New Writer. Her stories have appeared in women’s magazine in Britain and abroad, and to-date she has had six My Weekly Pocket Novels published. Woo hoo

***

If you are reading this and you write, in whatever genre, and are thinking “ooh, I’d like to do this” then you can… just email me and I’ll send you the information. They do now (January 2013) carry a fee (£10 / €12.50 / $15) for the new interviews on this blog but everything else (see Opportunities on this blog) is free.

If you go for the interview, it’s very simple; I send you a questionnaire (I have them for novelists, short story authors, children’s authors, non-fiction authors, and poets). You complete the questions, and I let you know when it’s going to go live. Before it does so, I add in comments as if we’re chatting, and then they get posted. When that’s done, I email you with the link so you can share it with your corner of the literary world. And if you have a writing-related blog / podcast and would like to interview me… let me know.

Alternatively, if you’d like a free Q&A-only interview, I now have http://morgensauthorinterviews.wordpress.com on which I’ve rerun the original interviews posted here then posted new interviews which I then reblog here. These interviews are Q&A only, so I don’t add in my comments but they do get exposure on both sites.

** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!

See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0

or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **

You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.

For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.

As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. I welcome critique for the four new writing groups listed below and / or flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays. For other opportunities see (see Opportunities on this blog).

The full details of the new online writing groups, and their associated Facebook groups, are:

• Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group (http://novelwritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/508696639153189)
• Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group (http://poetrywritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/388850977875934)
• Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group (http://scriptwritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/319941328108017)
• Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group (http://shortstorywritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/544072635605445)

We look forward to reading your comments.

 

Blog interview no.143 with Spectral Press editor / publisher Simon Marshall-Jones

I’m thrilled today to bring you the one hundred and forty-third of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, directors, bloggers, autobiographers and more because today’s is with a publisher – on my blog’s 6-month anniversary! A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further. Today’s guest is Simon Marshall-Jones, editor of Spectral Press.

Morgen: Hello Simon.

Simon: Hello Morgen, nice to be here!

Morgen: Ah thanks, great to have you here especially as you’re my first publisher, so I’m hoping you’ll start a flood of enquiries. You were a writer before becoming a publisher, please tell us something about your ‘journey’.

Simon: In some respects, the journey to becoming a publisher and editor has been more complicated than most. I always loved writing as a child, especially after one of my cousins wrote an academic treatise for his PhD thesis (on Welsh regional dialects), which was subsequently published as a ‘proper’ book.

Morgen: Wow. I’ve heard so many times that Welsh is becoming a less-used language so it’s great that he’d want to do that… that you’ve always loved writing so you’re doing what you want.

Simon: Plus, I’ve always been something of a voracious reader – I first read Lord of the Rings at six, and by the time I was eight, I’d progressed onto adult science-fiction, fantasy and horror (whether I fully understood what was going on in them is a different matter entirely, however!). I suppose I should have thought about pursuing a career either in writing or journalism, but I ended up, firstly, studying art (I still paint even now) and then, much later, computer multimedia, neither choice being all that successful, if I’m being honest.

Morgen: Oh dear.

Simon: However, all that was moot when I suffered a stroke fourteen years ago.

Morgen: My goodness…

Simon: So, for the best part of the last decade and a half, I’ve mostly been concentrating on recuperating and getting healthy again. It’s only within the last six years that I’ve been putting all my energies into creating a ‘career’ of some description: just before I took up editing I ran a record label for two years and when that failed to take off, I threw myself into the writing. I can write fairly well, but oddly I found that I was better at looking at and advising on other people’s work, so the editing quietly and surreptitiously replaced any ambitions of becoming an author. And, I have to qualify that by saying that I’m enormously happy that I appear to have discovered a forte from which I derive immense satisfaction.

Morgen: Yay! You publish quarterly quality chapbooks (trying saying that when you’ve had a few Southern Comfort & Cokes), can you please briefly explain the process from selecting which story you are going to use, to the chapbook being published.

Simon: Generally speaking, I ask a writer to send a story (or stories) in, preferably either an unpublished or specially written one, and to a specific brief i.e., something in the ghostly / supernatural / dark fiction vein. I put an emphasis on atmospherics, suggestion and implication, rather than gore and in-your-face horror, although if it’s a justifiable element within the story, then I’m certainly not averse to it. After selection and deciding when to publish, I’ll then work very closely with the author on any edits that need to be made and then both of us will work with the cover designer to create something special to adorn it with. What I’m looking for is a complete package, in other words, a totally holistic approach: I’ll often look at commissioning a specific artist whose work will match the story perfectly, for instance just like I asked Daniele Serra to create a painting for the cover of Cate Gardner’s Nowhere Hall. It’s this approach I think that gives Spectral its uniqueness and certainly makes the publications stand out.  Once everything has been decided upon, I send it to the very capable Neil Williams who puts it all together into a PDF file and then it’s off to the printers.

Morgen: Attention to detail definitely. This is probably an obvious question but has being a writer first helped with deciding which projects to take on?

Simon: It has, but mostly I would say that it’s all the reading I’ve done – I’ve read thousands of books (across multiple genres as well as non-fiction), plus I also used to review books for a couple of websites, so I am already familiar how stories work and also with the output of many of the writers I invite to contribute to Spectral Press. Over the years I suppose I’ve developed a sense of what makes a ‘good’ story and of those that just don’t cut it. It’s more of an instinct than a skill, I think, although there are elements of the latter involved too. Additionally, there’s just the simple gut reaction to the story itself: emotional and personal involvement, engendered through effective characterisation, creation of atmosphere, suggestion and tension. Also, a writer being able to ‘say’ something without necessarily actually writing it down in the story – those subtleties that work their way into the imagination and fire it up.

Morgen: Ah yes, the classic ‘show not tell’ in a minute form. You don’t accept unsolicited submissions, how do you find the stories that you publish? Would you consider unsolicited in future?

Simon: I know quite a few of the writers I’ve asked to contribute on a personal level after having read their work and attended cons here and there. Plus, being involved in publishing you often get to hear ‘buzzes’ about certain writers, both new and established. The advent of the social networking site has been an absolute godsend in that respect, making it a great deal easier than of yore to hear about and contact authors. I also occasionally get people asking me whether they can send a sample tale in to me, with a prospect of a possible chapbook somewhere down the line.

As for unsolicited manuscripts, well, it just so happens that next year I’ll be making an attempt at reviving the old tradition of the Christmas Ghost Story, so popular during the Victorian era, and I’ll be making the anthology open to anyone who cares to submit something. I’ll be looking to publish 20-30 tales that truly encapsulate the idea of the ghost story set around the Yuletide season.

Morgen: Ooh, noted. The $64,000 question: out of all the stories you see, what makes one stand out for all the right reasons?

Simon:  That’s a difficult one to answer, as I find it’s more of an ‘instinct’ than an actual science. For me, it would have to be something along the lines of effortlessly creating atmosphere and steadily-mounting dread, through believable characterisations, plots that don’t rely too heavily on exposition, a story that doesn’t necessarily tell you everything but lets you fill in some of the blanks, or ones that sometimes leave you guessing as to whether everything was ever satisfactorily resolved – of course, not all the stories I choose contain every one of these elements, but certainly the vast majority of them, I would say. Above all, however, they have to be well-written and engaging.

Morgen: That would work for me. And then, without naming names, what makes a story stand out for all the wrong reasons?

Simon: Putting my editing hat on for a moment, I’ve come across a few examples of what I would call ‘bad’ writing – jumbled tenses, mangled grammar, spelling mistakes and tedious repetition of a single word to describe something or the same action. Add to that any story that fails to ignite my imagination, is pedestrian, is derivative and completely lacking in originality (an author can rehash an idea, but rewrite it from a new angle, thereby making it original), or leave you with a distinct ‘so what?’ feeling at the end of it. And yes, I’ve had one or two of those cross my virtual desk in the last year or so….

Morgen: One or two a year, I think you’ve been lucky… or you’re just being kind. You publish ghostly and supernatural stories only, which does seem an incredibly popular genre, what made you go with those themes – is it a style that you love reading?

Simon: One of my favourite authors is HP Lovecraft – he was a master at creating worlds of unseen terror and dread, at delineating the uncaring cosmic element that lurks behind the everyday. I’ve also read a few of the stories of MR James, tales that remind us that, even in our most familiar environments and most comfortable of surroundings, there’s the possibility that an invisible world exists alongside that of our own that could be inimical to humanity.

Morgen: ‘inimical’, I like that (and I learned a new word)

Simon: Both these writers relied on the power of description to build up a picture of absolute terror, and broadcast the ever-building sense of dread through subtle implication. These are the kinds of stories I was reading when I was younger, and I am only just beginning to rediscover them. I some respects then, as far as ‘horror’ is concerned, this is where I started and I suppose this is where I feel most comfortable. It’s also something that I want to use as a reminder that a good ghostly tale needn’t be full of blood and violence in order to frighten and scare.

Morgen: Although he doesn’t class himself as a horror writer (everyone else does), I used to read a lot of Stephen King in my teens (under the duvet with a torch, which I reckon is why I wear glasses – or contact lenses which I had at the time of my photo) and he’s great at implience. Is there a plot that’s, pardon the pun, been written about to death?

Simon: Ahhh…. now, here’s a thing! I suppose you could truly say that all plots have been done to death in some sense: what makes particular ones stand out is how they’ve been written, or the angle from which it’s been explored. On a personal level I would have to say that, rather than a plot per se being diluted and ravaged, it’s a particular subgenre. The current vogue for vampire literature and paranormal romance is now getting to the point that it’s inevitably going to implode. That, however, is the nature of the business – you’ll get a Stephenie Meyer-type coming along, who creates a hugely successful series of novels and then, within months, publishers are all clamouring for books of the same type. Most, I would wager, are just average works, neither good nor bad, while others are deservedly successful and yet others shouldn’t even have been published. But I do think that, right now, the whole vampire thing has been overcooked to the point of being unpalatable. I absolutely love the original conception that Bram Stoker made popular – however, some of the recent ‘re-imaginings’ of the creature have left me with a distinctly bad taste in the mouth.

Morgen: I do too and when I see people (on the likes of LinkedIn) asking for help with an aspect of their vampire novel my heart sinks. Apparently angels are the next big thing but then they’ve always been around. Are you involved in any competitions, do you think they help with a writer’s success?

Simon: I’m not involved in any competitions myself, but I am thinking of running very occasional contests under the Spectral banner, wherein a lucky writer will win a chapbook of their own as the prize.

Morgen: Ooh great, yes, brilliant idea. Let me know if you do and I’d gladly tout it for you.

Simon: I do think that they’re a good way of making people aware of writers – plus there’s the competitive element, forcing the author to write the very best story that he or she can. If I do run such a contest, I’ll say right now that I have very high expectations and standards – a mite pretentious to some maybe, but Spectral Press has already started to gain a very good reputation for itself, and I have to maintain that. That’s not to say, of course, that I’m not interested in new writers – just that I’d like them to reach a certain level before I’ll consider them for publication.

Morgen: Absolutely, a good reputation is hard to get and vital to maintain. Another semi-priceless question: do you think an agent is vital to an author’s success? How would you suggest an author gets one?

Simon: I don’t think an agent is necessary per se for an author, but I think it would help enormously if he / she wants to garner a more mainstream profile. I certainly don’t go through an agent when I look for stories – the turnover and market position of my company, at present, definitely wouldn’t allow that!

As for finding one, I would suggest looking for possibilities on the internet, honing in on those agents who deal in your particular genre (as not all agents do) and sending them query emails. Also, if you can, try and net some feedback about specific agents (or agents in general) from other authors – on social networking sites and writer’s forums, for instance. After all, you need someone who will get behind your novel / story / whatever, and will take an interest in what you do. Above all, do your research! Don’t send either a query email or a horror manuscript to an agent who deals specifically in romantic fiction, for instance – it won’t even get a look-in. Don’t continually harass a prospective agent, either, after you’ve sent them something – wait a while, and if you’ve not heard back from within a month or two, maybe send them a short reminder but no more. If they don’t answer any of them, it’s could be because they’re very busy or just not interested – but, even if an agent isn’t taken with your novel, just try someone else.

Morgen: Yes, keep going (says she who tried 7-8 and is now going the eBook route… with an editor behind me). Now for, in theory, a simple question: what’s your opinion of eBooks, and do you read them? Are your chapbooks available in eBook format?

Simon:  I have to admit I’m not a big fan of eBooks – unless I’m reviewing them for a website or a writer has sent me a submission. I’ve grown up with ‘real’ books all my life and, while I’m more than willing to embrace new technology in other areas, books are ‘sacred’ to me, and I will always buy the real thing.

Having said that, I recognise that the technology exists and that others have embraced it, so some of the publications planned in Spectral’s future will be published in an e-format. The chapbooks, however, will only ever be published in physical form (but, again having said that, there will be a collected edition published at some point which will be available as an eBook and possibly a paperback – they won’t be signed and numbered, however, as the chapbooks are), although I’m looking into the possibility of making them into audiobooks, thus preserving the exclusivity of the chapbooks themselves but still making them available to all.

Morgen: Ooh I love audiobooks – I tend to listen to more of those than read paper / screen as I can multi-task freeing up valuable time… plus they make a routine dog / work walk more fun. Short stories and poetry are, in my opinion anyway, the two most hard done by genres… what do you see as the future for them? Do you think the eBook revolution will help, given that eBooks seem to be getting shorter?

Simon: In recent years certainly, there seems to be a perception in the mainstream publishing industry that short story collections and anthologies ‘don’t sell’ – yet, from where I’m standing, all I see is a vibrant scene where this particular literary format reigns supreme and is very much appreciated.

Morgen: Oh yay <does a happy dance> being a short story author, that’s music to my ears.

Simon: I do think that mainstream publishers are missing out but, conversely, I am also glad that there is a smaller publishing industry that’s more than willing to cater for short-story enthusiasts. And eBooks, given their current, growing popularity, are an excellent arena for promoting them.

Morgen: They are (and I’m certainly hoping so with mine ). Do you have to do a lot of editing to the stories you accept or is the writing more or less fully-formed?

Simon: Luckily, all the writers who have contributed so far have required little editing, just some here and there. It depends entirely on their writing method – some like to splurge it all out while others will write, edit and line edit until they’re satisfied. Most editing I do is minor, mostly for style and the odd inconsistency they may have missed, which doesn’t happen very often. That doesn’t mean that I don’t scrutinise the manuscript very closely, however: I go over it with the proverbial fine-toothed comb, not just once but a few times, just to make sure that everything’s there and it’s all complete.

Morgen: Understandably as you’re printing rather than eBooking. Have you had any surprising feedback about any of your chapbooks?

Simon: I’ve mostly been surprised at the success of Spectral, to be honest – it’s taken me completely aback. I only launched the imprint in January this year and already it’s gained a good reputation in that short span of time. All the feedback has been very positive, noting in particular the high quality of not just the stories but of the presentation as a whole and the editing.

Morgen: I think that deserves another “yah” or shall I go mad and say woo hoo? Yeah, go on then “woo hoo!”

Simon: The other thing that’s quite heartwarming, is when a reader writes to me and says that they enjoyed a particular chapbook so much that they’ve bought the author’s other works – and this has happened with all three so far published. There’s nothing better than receiving an email like that…

Morgen: Oh great. I met one of my Monday nighters (who has since become my gardener!) at Oundle Lit Fest’s Reader’s Day March 2010 and we were both given a goodie bag, her contained a Jo Nesbø book which she gave her teenage son who went out and bought (and I think still does) everything he’d written. What advice would you give aspiring writers?

Simon: Simple: to keep on writing, every day if possible, and to keep submitting to magazines and anthologies. Short stories are great training grounds for aspiring writers, as you need to compress a whole story, or an element of a longer one, into a short space. If you get a rejection, send the story back out to somewhere else. Develop a thick skin too – not everyone will like your work. PLUS, and this is VERY important, take the advice of those who have more experience of these things than you do – they’re there to help you. I’ve heard horror stories of new writers saying to an editor that not a single word should be removed from their work – the fact is, all authors get edited, even people like Stephen King and Clive Barker.

Morgen: They do. Stephen King released the unedited version of The Stand (a doorstop of a book) and apparently it had more holes than a colander, but it was an early work so I guess we can let him off.

Simon: Editing is part and parcel of the process from the story being written to the book getting published. Furthermore, if you prove to be a ‘difficult’ author, unless you’re absolutely brilliant, editors will let it be known to other editors that you’re an awkward customer – very easily done these days with electronic communication.

Morgen: Indeed… I know (well, friend of a friend) a blogger, and continuously submitting writer, who blogs (successfully and popularly) anonymously to not get on the wrong side of editors although from what I’ve seen of the blog it’s all good stuff. Given that more emphasis these days is put on the author to market their published works or indeed themselves as a ‘brand’, how involved are you generally with your authors post-publication?

Simon: I very much keep in contact with the author afterwards, as there’s always the possibility of new projects emerging in the future. Plus, I also encourage the writers themselves to get involved: Cate Gardner held a competition recently, with a personally signed copy of the #1 of the limited run of her chapbook and a subscription to Spectral for the runner-up. I’m hoping that more of this kind of thing will happen in the future.

Morgen: Ooh, again let me know and I’ll tweet etc. Apart from your website, how do you market your Press and your chapbooks? Are your authors involved in marketing for you / themselves?

Simon: I send PDF review copies to all and sundry, getting them out to as many relevant book-blogs and websites as I can. For the last two chapbooks, I was in something of an odd situation: both had sold out before publication, so reviewers were doing write-ups on books that actually weren’t available anymore.

Morgen: Although that sounds awkward it’s the best way round to be, I guess…

Simon: It’s still entirely necessary to do that: the ‘brand’ of the imprint is still very important, and making people aware of it is THE top priority. Even if a book is sold out, if it still receives great reviews that’s priceless in terms of promotion as people will start to sit up and take notice. I am almost sold out of Spectral Volume IV, Paul Finch’s King Death, already, with fewer than 20 available even though it isn’t due to be published until December.

Morgen: Wow, sounds like you need to up your print runs.

Simon: I’ve also started having book trailers made for each chapbook, courtesy of my good friend and future Spectral author Mark West – those are uploaded to both my website and Youtube.

Morgen: I’ve seen a few discussions on LinkedIn about book trailers, apparently they’re worth doing. Although novellas are probably the longest pieces I’ll eBook (I’m working on three) I wouldn’t rule them out.

Simon: I also attend a convention or two every year, and get to as many book-related events as I’m able to. At this year’s FantasyCon (being held even as you read this), for instance, I was originally planning to launch Cate’s book, but I can’t do that now as I haven’t got any of them left! Instead, postcards of the front cover of Volume IV are being included in the attendees’ goodie bag.

Of course, the authors themselves will very often talk about the book on their own website and that never fails to bring more people in.

Morgen: Yes, FantasyCon started yesterday – how timely. And being held in one of my favourite places (Brighton, Sussex) – the picture on the homepage is a must-see. In which country are you based Simon, and do you find this a help or hindrance with letting people know about, or distributing, your chapbooks?

Simon: I live in the UK, and these days geographical location is no longer any sort of bar to making people aware of what you’re doing. Most of my authors are UK-based and already have a fanbase, plus I distribute entirely from here, so I don’t have to worry about those kind of logistics. When I start publishing hardbacks, it’ll be a different story altogether, no doubt.

Morgen: Hardbacks… another venture. What do you think of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and more business-related such as LinkedIn? Do you think they’re invaluable or waste too much time?

Simon: Facebook and Twitter are the two social media sites I use most – through those two places have come the majority of my customers and all of my authors. So in that sense, yes, they’re invaluable. I’m on LinkedIn as well but, in all honesty, I have yet to find it of any use.

Morgen: I think you just have to find a thread (or start your own) that is relevant to what you want to talk about and / or learn. There’s so much going on that it’s a bit of a maze but I’ve gleaned some wonderful eBook-making tips and many of the people on there have become interviewees (so yes, I guess I’m biased). They don’t tolerate overt touting which is good as it keeps it grounded (although we invariably go off at tangents – one of my weaknesses, although I just tend to follow theirs most of the time). I belong to over half a dozen purely writing-related groups so that may be a start. Apart from the stories in your chapbooks, what do you like to read? Any authors (including those you’ve published) that you’d like to recommend?

Simon: My favourite current authors are China Miéville and Clive Barker, both of whom I would heartily recommend, in particular Perdido Street Station by Miéville and either Weaveworld or Imajica by Barker. I also like Umberto Eco, whose The Name of the Rose and Foucault’s Pendulum enthralled me. I would also recommend Spectral author Gary McMahon’s Pretty Little Dead Things and its sequel Dead Bad Things, especially if you like unrelenting grimness. At the other end of the spectrum, I would heartily recommend the wonderfully inventive story collection Strange Men in Pinstripe Suits and Other Curious Things, by another Spectral author, Cate Gardner. Finally, The House of Canted Steps by Gary Fry, author of Spectral’s Abolisher of Roses, is a brilliant take on the theme of a haunted house.

Morgen: What do you do when you’re not working? Any hobbies or party tricks?

Simon: My main hobby is making model WW2 tanks, especially the unusual ones that emerged from Germany at the end of the war in an effort to stop the Allies. Some of these possess a strange, almost elephantine, beauty of their own – Hitler kept promising the ‘secret’ weapon that would end the war with an Axis victory, but instead all his manufacturers ever produced were a series of eccentric and bizarre under-performing vehicles in too few numbers to have any impact.

Among the other things I enjoy is wine – I actually have a diploma in Intermediate Studies in Wine and Spirits from the WSET (Wine and Spirits Education Trust), in which I gained a Distinction. I also paint from time to time – I’ve recently been commissioned to do a couple of book covers and a portrait, amongst a few others. Travel is always a biggie, although, with a business to run and promote it’s often very difficult to get away – so I’m looking forward to FantasyCon and also to visiting the Shetland Isles in January for the Up Helly Aa Festival.

Morgen: One of the country to the other…

Simon: Collecting tattoos is another ‘hobby’ of mine, if it can be called it that. I already have the majority of my upper body covered (including my head), and I am planning on getting the rest done when time and money allow. I also like to annoy the wife occasionally…

Morgen: Do you still write?

Simon: Occasionally, yes – I sometimes get the urge to write fiction, but not very often these days – I still have a lot of ideas bouncing around my head, and maybe one day I’ll get around to putting them down on paper. I write a couple of regular columns, though, for Read Horror webzine and Morpheus Tales Review Supplement, and a weekly wine column for The Clumsy Eater.

Morgen: ‘The Clumsy Eater’ I love that (I’m a title fan). Where can we find out about Spectral Press?

Simon: The best place to start would be to visit the website, which can be found at http://spectralpress.wordpress.com – everything you need to know is there, from subscription details, forthcoming publications, news and links to authors and reviews. People can also contact me at spectralpress@gmail.com if there’s anything further they’d like to know about.

Morgen: Wonderful, thanks Simon. Is there anything else you’d like to mention?

Simon: Next year, Spectral is expanding – at some point I’ll be launching Spectral Visions, a series of novellas which will be longer than the chapbooks but not quite fully-formed novels, and still with the same high production values as the chapbooks. These are likely to be issued in limited signed and numbered hardback, 100 only.

Morgen: Wow.

Simon: In 2013, I’ll be publishing the first of the Spectral Signature Editions, very handsome hardback single-author, signed, numbered and illustrated story collections, issued in two versions: the ‘Deluxe’ in an edition of 100 and the ‘Special’ version in an ultra-limited edition of 10. For the first one, from World Fantasy-Award-nominee Simon Kurt Unsworth, each of the ‘Special’ Editions will feature a handwritten flash-fiction piece inscribed by the author, and possibly accompanied by hand-drawn illustrations as well – all ten of those have been spoken for already.

Morgen: Ah yes, you mentioned the hardbacks earlier, they sound lovely (if that’s the right word?).

Simon: Beyond that, nothing’s been planned – but, whatever it is, Spectral has an exciting future ahead!

Morgen: Thank you so much Simon.
I then invited Simon to include an extract and he chose the following from Abolisher of Roses by Gary Fry:

Peter glanced forwards and began heading for the further, darker reaches of the wood.

It was now getting on for the late-afternoon and the sky way above all the intermeshing, spider-leg branches overhead looked like a great blue-green shell, as fragile as a human heart. From up ahead, Peter suddenly heard something moving . . . though maybe that was just a trick of the strange acoustics in the area, because at that moment he thought he saw something stir to his left – something bulky and headstrong, determined to overtake him. He was put in mind of his last glimpse of Patricia, before he’d turned and left her. However, in his floundering mind, his wife had now become an animal, hunting the earth with predatory stealth . . .

Peter shook his head with confusion and then moved on. Just because he was alone and relying on a map, there was no reason to feel like the solitary schoolboy he’d once been, the apple of his strict parents’ eyes, and grimly eager to get on in life as a consequence of his stunted height and the presence of so many uncommonly aggressive peers in his neighbourhood. If all those early experiences had led him to become a little domineering as an adult, what was the real harm in that? He’d done well for many others in his wake: provided jobs for innumerable, otherwise unemployable louts and lasses; supported his two boys through all the anxieties of childhood; offered his wife enough slack and tacit encouragement to enjoy her life, despite his own dishonourable lapses of fidelity . . . 

At that moment, just as he considered what crazy old Geraldine might be doing this weekend down in Sheffield, Peter spotted the first of the final three artworks.

Simon Marshall-Jones is the editor / publisher at Spectral Press, and also a writer, columnist, artist, book & occasional music reviewer and blogger: born in Wales in the early sixties, to parents who absolutely loved and cherished books – needless to say, HIS love of books was instilled by such a positive influence. Simon attended art college, where he nurtured dreams of being the next HR Giger. After a space of seven years, mostly spent travelling, he then went back to university in Plymouth, to study computer multimedia, the only reward for which was managing to have a stroke. Since then, he has had a much better time of it: Simon now has one wife, one stepson, seven cats, a dog, two rabbits and two guinea-pigs, lives somewhere in the East Midlands and doesn’t have enough tattoos.

Update from Simon July 2012: ”Ten months doesn’t seem like an awfully long time, but in publishing it is. Since doing this interview all that time ago, much has happened: Spectral Press has grown into something of a well-respected imprint, garnering even more praise for its publications and kudos from bloggers, reviewers and readers alike. It even expanded slightly with the introduction of a new line of novellas in Spring this year, starting with Gary Fry’s The Respectable Face of Tyranny. At the end of 2011 it made several bloggers’ end of year ‘Best of 2011′ lists, too, won the chapbook of the year in the inaugural This Is Horror awards with Gary McMahon’s What They Hear in the Dark and Paul Finch’s story King Death was selected to appear in Paula Guran’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror: 2012 anthology. It continues to receive brilliant notices and respect from both the community and industry alike, such that I am happy to report that it has received two nominations in the British Fantasy Awards for 2012, in the Short Fiction category for Paul Finch’s King Death and in the PS Publishing Independent Press Award for Spectral Press itself. It’s been a great eighteen months for Spectral Press, but I can assure you that the best is yet to come.”

Congratulations.

***

If you are reading this and you write, in whatever genre, and are thinking “ooh, I’d like to do this” then you can… just email me and I’ll send you the information. They do now (January 2013) carry a fee (£10 / €12.50 / $15) for the new interviews on this blog but everything else (see Opportunities on this blog) is free.

If you go for the interview, it’s very simple; I send you a questionnaire (I have them for novelists, short story authors, children’s authors, non-fiction authors, and poets). You complete the questions, and I let you know when it’s going to go live. Before it does so, I add in comments as if we’re chatting, and then they get posted. When that’s done, I email you with the link so you can share it with your corner of the literary world. And if you have a writing-related blog / podcast and would like to interview me… let me know.

Alternatively, if you’d like a free Q&A-only interview, I now have http://morgensauthorinterviews.wordpress.com on which I’ve rerun the original interviews posted here then posted new interviews which I then reblog here. These interviews are Q&A only, so I don’t add in my comments but they do get exposure on both sites.

** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!

See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0

or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **

You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.

For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.

As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. I welcome critique for the four new writing groups listed below and / or flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays. For other opportunities see (see Opportunities on this blog).

The full details of the new online writing groups, and their associated Facebook groups, are:

• Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group (http://novelwritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/508696639153189)
• Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group (http://poetrywritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/388850977875934)
• Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group (http://scriptwritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/319941328108017)
• Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group (http://shortstorywritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/544072635605445)

We look forward to reading your comments.

 

Transcription of BWT podcast episode 31 (Mar 2011) – hints & tips

The thirty-first episode of the Bailey’s Writing Tips podcast was released on 28^th March 2011 and the content has never been released other than website links (on my website) so I hope you find this information useful. In the first thirty episodes (see http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/bwt-podcast for details), I covered ‘show not tell’, the five senses, repetition, points of view, tenses, dialogue, characters, crime, poetry, short stories, novels, writing for children, scriptwriting, comedy, romance and chick lit, erotica, ‘writing rules’, historical & the classics, name & characters, Christmas, opportunities, songwriting, reading, auto/biographies, computer tips (parts 1&2), competitions & submissions, romance, hints & tips (parts 1&2), short stories and scriptwriting. This episode had more hints & tips.

Hints & tips

• Crime writer Mark Billingham (who I met at the Oundle Lit Fest) says: “My advice is to write the kind of book that you’d like to read. Don’t hold on to what you’ve written for too long; get it out there. Don’t fiddle with it too much. James Lee Burke said a book is finished when ‘nothing rattles’. As soon as it’s rattle-free, leave it alone.” Another quote I loved was “Hendricks is a character I’m very fond of and if I came up with a vehicle for him, I would happily climb on board.”
• Margaret Atwood has ten tips for writers’ block: 1. Go for a walk, do the laundry or some ironing, hammer some nails, go swimming, play a sport – anything that requires some focus and involves repetitious physical activities. At the very least: take a bath or shower; 2. Read the book you’ve been putting off; 3. Write in some other form – even a letter or journal entry. Or a grocery list. Keep those words flowering out through your fingers; 4. Formulate your problem, then go to sleep. The answer may be there in the morning; 5. Eat some chocolate, not too much; must be dark (60% cocoa or more), shade-grown, organic; 6. If fiction, change the tense (past/present or vice versa); 7. Change the person (first, second, third); 8. Change the sex; 9. Think of your book-in-progress as a maze. You’ve hit a wall. Go back to where you made the wrong turn. Start anew from there; 10. Don’t get angry with yourself. Give yourself an encouraging present. If none of this works, put the book in a drawer. You may come back to it later. Start something else.
• www.ideas4writers.co.uk produces a yearly Date-a-base Book and the 2011 edition “lists over 1,900 historic anniversaries that will occur during 2011, giving you plenty of time to write about them” they say.
• Gail Sher (author of ‘One continuous mistake’) said that there are ‘four noble truths of writing’: 1. Writers write, 2. Writing is a process, 3. You don’t know what you are writing until the end of the process, and 4. If writing is your practice, the only way to fail is not to write. In other words, just put pen to paper and see what happens. Final drafts are usually very different from first drafts so don’t worry if it doesn’t sound perfect or anywhere near perfect – it rarely does first time round.
• http://novelopenings.blogspot.com has lists of novel beginnings and some are fantastic. Whilst you won’t be able to steal them, they may show you what works (or perhaps doesn’t work). An article on Suite 101 may also help. www.infoplease.com/ipea/A0934311.html is a top 100 is the 100 Best First Lines of Novels as chosen by the editors of American Book Review. My favourite is no. 49 (Iain M Banks).
• A writer’s block tip I’ve heard is that if you’re struggling, leave the last sentence you’re at half-done and that’ll inspire you to carry on when you return to it. I found this out during our first workshop when we picked sentence starts as mine was a complete one; I really struggled continuing it but got there.
• Another tip I’ve heard is to listen to dialogue in a film, fictional TV programme or play. Does it sound realistic? You wouldn’t leave in all the ‘ums’ and ‘erms’ or real dialogue but what works and what doesn’t? It’s often quite common for people to interrupt each other (which would be written with ‘…’ at the end of that last word) and this speeds the dialogue up even further. Without going overboard, give great consideration on how the age of the person would speak; a teenage is very different to a pensioner…in theory anyway, although having your pensioner say “hey dude” could be fun.
• Another recommendation is to pick a random line of a book, magazine or newspaper and see if any words inspire a title or theme. Or for a more ongoing basis, whenever you buy a newspaper (ideal as they have bigger headings), cut up each word of each heading, put it in any kind of container (I have a white ceramic topless head) and whenever you want inspiration, just dip into the container and pull out a word. At Northampton Literature Group monthly writing night, we have a 4 minute write-a-thon using the same word and it’s amazing how different our stories are. We’ve also started to do a round robin one-sentence-per-person following on from the previous person’s until you get your own piece of paper back, with hopefully a completed mini-story, and it’s great fun (good thinking Alan).
• Don’t overuse clichés. You can use them (George Lucas said “don’t avoid them – they’re clichés because they work”) but if you can find your own way of saying something and it sounds better, then go for it.
• To write a good story, you should know the answers to why, when, where, who, what and how. There are a few websites that can help you with this. www.asimplewebsite.co.uk/content-5w1h.htm explains that it is a ‘concept originated from Rudyard Kipling – The Elephant’s Child’ and is shows as follows:

Place	Where is it done? Why is it done there? Where else might it be done? Where should it be done?	Person	Who does it? Why does that person do it? Who else might do it? Who should do it?
Sequence	When is it done? Why is it done then? When might it be done? When should it be done?	Means	How is it done? Why is it done that way? How else might it be done? How should it be done?

Ideas

Here I provide a couple of story ideas or ways to get new ideas then list seven sentence starts; each one, if you’d like to use them, for a daily writing project.

• Take a short story you’ve written and change the male character to a female one (or vice versa) and see how the story develops; and/or
• Now change the tense; i.e. from present to past or vice versa (assuming you’ve not written it in future tense which has been done but is quite wearing!).

The podcast concluded with Quotes, News & Feedback, On This Day in History and a haiku called ‘Summer’. I picked a haiku because it’s very short, typically being three lines; 5 syllables, 7 syllables then another 5 syllables and so therefore quick to do. Eve Harvey (Radio Litopia’s former femme extraordinaire and now involved with https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Scribatious-Podcast/231638816884890) and I were chatting on Facebook about quantity vs quality and this is definitely quantity over quality, as it took me about a minute to write it but she liked it so I’ve not changed it and if you’ve never heard a, or heard of, haiku before, then it’s an example. There’s a great explanation of haiku at www.dmoz.org/Arts/Literature/Poetry/Forms/Haiku_and_Related_Forms:

• The clocks go forward / summertime begins today / car boots, dog walks, sun.

That’s it. Thanks for visiting – a list of the other transcripts and summaries can be found at http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/bwt-podcast.

 

Transcription of BWT podcast episode 30 (Mar 2011) – scriptwriting

The thirtieth episode of the Bailey’s Writing Tips podcast was released on 14^th March 2011 and the content has never been released other than website links (on my website http://www.morgenbailey.com) so I hope you find this information useful. In the first twenty-nine episodes (see http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/bwt-podcast for details), I covered ‘show not tell’, the five senses, repetition, points of view, tenses, dialogue, characters, crime, poetry, short stories, novels, writing for children, scriptwriting, comedy, romance and chick lit, erotica, ‘writing rules’, historical & the classics, name & characters, Christmas, opportunities, songwriting, reading, auto/biographies, computer tips (parts 1&2), competitions & submissions, romance, hints & tips (parts 1&2) and short stories. This episode had a focus on scriptwriting.

Introduction

• www.scriptfrenzy.org is the sister organisation of NaNoWriMo and rather than the 50,000 words in a month, Script Frenzy’s aim is to write 100 pages of script every April – I had a go in April 2010 and while I found it an interesting exercise, it’s not made me want to be a scriptwriter, although it has made me appreciate the work that goes into each film I watch, and sometimes I imagine it written as a script but then that’s the analyst in me! I liked the story I came out with so a little later I converted it into the beginning of a novel. The rule is the same in both projects; you can plot as much as you like before the beginning of the month (November for NaNoWriMo and April for Script Frenzy) but you can’t start writing the actual story until the 1^st then it’s pens down (or fingers off keyboard) as the month ends and while you’re doing it you can keep score online, chat to others doing the same thing and a lot of people meet up. I won’t be doing Script Frenzy this year but I may well use the time structure to do some serious word count to one of the four novels I have as yet unfinished. Douglas Adams was quoted as saying “I love deadlines; I love the whooshing sound they make as they fly by” but I find them invaluable as it’s so easy to let my writing slide.
• www.bbc.co.uk/newtalent/writing/advice_gittins.shtml is an interview with Eastenders writer Rob Gittins. I won’t read it all out but I’ve just pick my favourite couple of questions and answers out of the eight asked and answered: ‘What makes a good story?’ (Particularly in the field I operate in, which is mainly TV drama and an awful lot of drama series, I think what makes a good story is really simple; ‘what happened next’. That’s all anybody wants to know, it doesn’t matter what the story is. I think when writers lose sight of the fact that ‘what happened next’ is what an audience is interested in, that’s when it becomes a bit pretentious. The thing about writing is that it is actually incredibly simple and it’s very difficult to realise that.), ‘What is the best writing tip you have been given?’ (I think Simon Moore the film writer has got this thing about perspective; taking an idea and putting it down in the middle of the room and walking around it. So in fact if you think the idea is about a 40yr old man and a 20yr old woman try reversing it. Try it with different age groups, different sexes. Simon Moore has actually taken that perspective idea, to its logical conclusion because I think the last time I spoke to him he was writing the oldest story in the world – the nativity, but from the view point of the animals and actually the minute you say that you think that’s obvious. That’s a great example of taking a very, very old story but actually telling it from a brand new perspective. I think when you get an idea and you twist it and twist the characters, you can get something fresh with it.)

Hints & tips

• The Writers & Artists Yearbook 2009 has a comprehensive section on ‘Television, film and radio’ containing the same advice pages from Andrew Davies from the 2007 edition so I won’t repeat them here (as they’re in handout 3) but the book does have advice including ‘Notes from a successful soap scriptwriter’ and ‘Writing drama for radio’ (both three pages long) and ‘Stories for radio’ (four pages). Other sections are ‘adaptations from books’, ‘writing for television’, suggested reading, and 11 pages entitled ‘Inside the BBC’ (information and contact details). Thereafter is ‘BBC broadcasting rights and terms’ and then independent national, regional, digital/satellite/cable television contact details followed by addresses of television/film producers and independent national radio. Finally there is a section on the theatre with writing tips followed by a list of theatre producers.
• Western novelist Ron Watkins said “enter as many competitions as you can. A quick check on the internet will reveal that there are competitions for playwrights, generally for one-act plays which are ideal for beginners. Do not be discouraged if you find that your entry is not among the first three. Remember that the winning entries are the personal preference of the adjudicator. Over the years we have suffered at their hands. Many adjudicators favour a play with a message. If your play doesn’t fall into that category and is really forty minutes of entertainment you can console yourself with Alan Bennett’s observation. He said that he goes to the theatre to be entertained. If he wished to see something about murder he could watch the TV.”
• American company BlueCat Screenplay ‘screenwriting advice’ page lists advice from American writer and director Gordy Hoffman, these are too lengthy to detail here but have the interesting headings of ‘Kubrick’s Boxes’, ‘You’re an idiot: making value from reaction to your screenwriting’, ‘The Rogue Knight of Cinema: Why Screenplay Contests Matter’, ‘You are the Box Office Smash: The Personal Screenplay’, ‘Naming Your Baby: How to Find a Great Title to your Screenplay’, ‘The Heart and Soul of Screenwriting: Writing good dialogue and description’, ‘Discovering the Great Movie Idea for Your Next Screenplay’, ‘Screenwriting Tips from a Screenplay Contest Judge’, ‘How to Start a Screenplay: Treatment or Free Fall?’, ‘Writing the Classic Movie Ending (How to Finish your Screenplay!)’ and ‘Rewriting your Screenplay: The Road to your Audience’. Born in 1965, there is a small amount of information about Gordy on Wikipedia. Gordy is the older brother of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman who played Truman Capote in the 2005 movie ‘Capote’ amongst many other roles – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Seymour_Hoffman.

Script-related websites

• Dramatica describes itself as the ‘place for novelists, screenwriters and fiction writers of all kinds’. Topics include community (events, news, classes/workshops, writers group, chat rooms etc) and theory (which includes advice such as the excellent ‘12 essential questions’ – www.dramatica.com/theory/essential_questions/twelve.html – under the heading ‘Do you know these things about your story?’ (which are also relevant to other genres of fiction):
• Explore Writing’s www.explorewriting.co.uk/ScriptWritingCategory.html page has seven sections on ‘plot v. character’, ‘dialogue and description’, ‘formulating the treatment’ (www.scriptologist.com/Forum/Ask/treatment_and_synopsis.html), ‘realism or alternate strategies’, ‘the concept’, ‘scene-by-scene’ and ‘writing a narrative script’. You can sign up to their newsletter via any page of their website. You simply put in your e-mail address and click on ‘go’.
• The writersroom section of the BBC’s website is the place to visit for hints, tips and example scripts – the BBC is always looking for new scripts whether it be for TV or radio so do take a look.

1. Main character resolve – does your main character change his way of dealing with the problem at the heart of the story (such as Ebenezer Scrooge’s switch to generosity in A Christmas Carol) or remain Steadfast in his convictions (such as the innocent Dr. Richard Kimble in The Fugitive)?
2. Main character growth – does your main character grow by adopting a new useful trait (Start) or by outgrowing an old inappropriate one (Stop)?
3. Main character approach – is your main character a ‘Be’-er who mentally adapts to his environment (such as Rick Blaine in Casablanca) or a ‘Do’-er who physically changes his environment (such as John McClane in Die Hard)?
4. Main character problem solving style – does your main character use a Logical problem solving style (such as Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs) or an Intuitive problem solving style (such as Tom Wingo in The Prince of Tides…the film starring Barbara Streisand and Nick Nolte)?
5. Story driver – is the overall story driven by actions first (such as the time travellers arriving in The Terminator) or decisions first (Daniel Hillard’s decision to impersonate a woman in Mrs. Doubtfire)?
6. Story limit – is your overall story brought to its climax by running out of time (such as the 18 days to save the earth in Armageddon) or by running out of options (such as Thelma and Louise driving over the cliff in Thelma and Louise)?
7. Story outcome – do your character’s efforts to achieve the story goal result in success (such as killing the shark in Jaws) or failure (such as not being able to open the dinosaur theme park in Jurassic Park)?
8. Main character judgement – does the main character resolve his personal problems and feel good (such as Luke finally trusting his skills in Star Wars) or not resolve them and feel bad (Clarice Starling still being haunted by her childhood memories in Silence of the Lambs)?
9. Overall story throughline – if you pull back and look at the story from a bird’s eye view, which general area best describes the nature of the problems ALL the characters are dealing with? Does the story’s conflicts stem from a situation, an activity, a fixed attitude, or manipulations?
10. Overall story concern – which area of concern are ALL the characters in your story interested in or worried about regarding the overall story goal?
11. Overall story issue – what is the thematic issue that affects all of your characters in your story?
12. Overall story problem – what is the source of the central problem that affects your characters?

Ideas

Here I provide a couple of story ideas or ways to get new ideas then list seven sentence starts, each one, if you’d like to use them, for a daily writing project.

• The next time you’re in an ordinary public place such as a supermarket or in a bus queue, think about how you would set a TV or radio programme from such a place. If the characters don’t know each other, are they solitary? Is there something that could make this scene out of the ordinary.
• Try writing a monologue; Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads were really popular. Whilst it doesn’t have to be all that long, it is a different type of writing (and one of my favourites) so do consider giving it a go.

The podcast concluded with Quotes, News & Feedback, On This Day in History and a 60-worder called ‘Metal Mate’: OK, so she drove him mad but she’d seen him through the tough times. But now they were parting. He looked at her one last time, touched her gently, picked up his belongings and said ‘goodbye’, a tear welling in his eyes. He stopped, looked back and winced as the crusher turned his beloved Austin Allegro into a foot-square cube.

That’s it. Thanks for visiting – a list of the other transcripts and summaries can be found at http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/bwt-podcast.

 

Transcription of BWT podcast episode 29 (March 2011) – short stories

The twenty-ninth episode of the Bailey’s Writing Tips podcast was released on 7^th March 2011 and the content has never been released other than website links (on my website http://www.morgenbailey.com) so I hope you find this information useful. In the first twenty-eight episodes (see http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/bwt-podcast for details), I covered ‘show not tell’, the five senses, repetition, points of view, tenses, dialogue, characters, crime, poetry, short stories, novels, writing for children, scriptwriting, comedy, romance and chick lit, erotica, ‘writing rules’, historical & the classics, name & characters, Christmas, opportunities, songwriting, reading, auto/biographies, computer tips (parts 1&2), competitions & submissions, romance and hints & tips (parts 1&2). This episode had a focus on short stories.

Short stories

• Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_story page says that “The short story refers to a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, usually in narrative format. This format or medium tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas (in the 20th and 21st century sense) and novels or books…” Click on the blue link for the full text.
• The Encyclopaedia Britannica (www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/541698/short-story) summarises the short story as “usually presenting a single significant episode or scene involving a limited number of characters. The form encourages economy of setting and concise narration; character is disclosed in action and dramatic encounter but seldom fully developed. A short story may concentrate on the creation of mood rather than the telling of a story. Despite numerous precedents, it emerged only in the 19th century as a distinct literary genre in the works of writers such as E.T.A. Hoffmann, Heinrich Kleist, Edgar Allan Poe, Prosper Mérimée, Guy de Maupassant, and Anton Chekhov.” There are further headings of analysis of the genre, history, the 20^th century, additional reading, external web sites and citations. The topics are split by adverts but these are writing related so may be of interest.
• www.mantex.co.uk/ou/resource/story-00.htm is an interesting page entitled ‘The short story – a guide to the greatest works’. It mentions examples of Edgar Allen Poe, Nathanial Hawthorne, Guy de Maupassant, James Joyce, Franz Kafka, Virginia Woolf, Katherine Mansfield, Jorge Luis Borges, Ernest Hemingway, John Cheever and Nadine Gordimer (with links to Amazon where you can buy them). There are also brief descriptions and links to purchase two books on writing short stories – ‘Writing Short Stories’ by Ailsa Cox and ‘The Short Story: the reality of artifice’ by Charles E May. The Mantex website is worth a look even if you don’t write short stories.
• www.twns.co.uk is the website of The Weekly News. Disguised as a folded tabloid, the newspaper is a fascinating read and includes 2-3 short stories! I’d found out about it some months back from a workshop that novelist and short story writer Sue Moorcroft ran. You can email The Weekly News directly from their website or get their guidelines (and many others) from http://womagwriter.blogspot.com.
• Sue also mentioned Short Talk UK, an online publisher of recorded short stories. They’re looking for stories, c. 600-7,000 word count, for all age ranges that can be read aloud. Send by email with name and contact address, and a short bio with your submission. Payment is dependent on length. Their website is www.shortalk.co.uk.

Fast / flash fiction

‘Fast’ and ‘flash’ fiction are the terms used for stories of 500 words or less.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_fiction explains that ‘Flash fiction’ is fiction of extreme brevity. The standard, generally-accepted length of a flash fiction piece is 1000 words or less. By contrast, a short-short measures 1001 words to 2500 words, and a traditional short story measures 2501 to 7500 words. A novelette runs from 7501 words to 17,500, a novella 17,501 words to 40,000 words, and a novel 40,001 words and up. It then goes on to explain terms, history, vignette, notes and references (usually other related websites). Vignette says “Flash fiction differs from a vignette in that the flash-fiction work contains the classic story elements: protagonist, conflict, obstacles or complications, and resolution. However, unlike the case with a traditional short story, the limited word length often forces some of these elements to remain unwritten, that is, hinted at or implied in the written storyline.” The notes section lists three references including a November 2006 Wired Magazine article entitled ‘Very Short Stories’. See www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.11/sixwords.html includes a section on six word stories.
• www.openwriting.com/archives/fast_fiction has many examples of very short stories (max 100 words) and will give you an idea of how it can be done.
• Crime writer Adrian Magson, who I’ll be interviewing in a separate monthly podcast this summer, suggests writing a short story before attempting a novel, especially if struggling, because “then you won’t have expended too much effort to see if you can do it. After that it’s a question of scale.”

Short story submissions

• American weekly magazine Woman’s World is apparently looking for short (c. 800 words) romance (contemporary and realistic) and mystery (good plot and twist) stories. Send submissions to Woman’s World, Bauer Publishing Co., 270 Sylvan Avenue, Englewood Cliffs NJ 06732 USA marking the envelope ‘Fiction’. See www.womans-world.co.uk and also www.ehow.co.uk/how_4759366_write-womans-world-magazine.html for tips on writing for them.
• ‘Story Quarterly’ is a quality literary online magazine which, Writers’ News says, pays well and has an excellent reputation. Subscription is free with and has an online submission tracking system (like a parcel!). Submit only in April, August and December. The editorial team looks for literary and non- fiction including short stories, short shorts, novel excerpts, memoirs, essays and humour (max 8,000 words). International writers welcome. Submit work as a .doc, .pdf or .rtf file through their website (http://narrativemagazine.com/submit-your-work).
• Vestal Review (www.vestalreview.net) is an eclectic magazine, open to all genres except children’s stories and hard science fiction. It includes four live flash stories per quarterly Web issue. Vestal Review has been published continuously since March 2000 and accepts submissions (max 2 stories per e-mail although you can send as many e-mails as you like) in January/February, April/May, July /August and October/November. E-mail to submissions@vestalreview.net putting ‘query’ or ‘submission’ with the title of your story in the subject line, then above the story put the word count, a brief covering letter and a two to three line third-person biography. Response time is within three months. Payment is 3 to 10 cents per word…and your work may appear in anthologies. They say “We are deluged with submissions and are very selective. A good flash is so condensed that it borderlines poetry”!
• www.writing.com/main/forums/item_id/1253724 lists the rules for a weekly contest where you can submit 55 word stories. The deadline is midnight every Saturday.
• www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/reports/misc/sixwordlife_20080205.shtml is an interesting BBC Radio 4 article on Ernest Hemingway winning $10 saying that he couldn’t write a six-word short story. The end result was rather sad, “For Sale: Baby shoes, never worn”. Others have tried it and the BBC page has a link to some including www.smithmag.net, an American online magazine which has used the Hemingway anecdote to inspire its readers to write their life story in just six words, culminating in a book of the best contributions, entitled “Not Quite What I Was Planning”. You can read BBC’s interview with the magazine’s editor, Larry Smith, to see what made him think of the idea. Below the ‘Listen to the interview’ link there are over sixty-five 6-word listener contributions including ‘Left mad Russian for mad Scotsman’ and ‘Laughed out loud, cried in silence’. Ahhh.
• I also like these taken from www.sixwordstories.net: ‘Get rid of body? Knife. Fork.’, ‘Clock alarm struck 6:00, also wall’. Great use of double-meaning. You can read others at random or by category, you can like them to your Facebook page and there’s also a Twitter link.
• A similar ideas is Fifty Word Stories: http://fiftywordstories.com/submissions.
• www.twosentencestories.com – their home page says “big stories told in two little sentences”. Again this site contains loads of short stories through which you can search by topic and on which you can also vote for your favourite.
• Although www.birdandmoon.com/55words no longer takes submissions it’s packed with 55-word stories that you can read and hopefully enjoy. Another is www.wunderland.com/WTS/Andy/Nanofiction.html which shows a variety of 55 word stories created by Andrew Looney (what a wonderful name!). The page also contains a link to Steve Moss’ book ‘The World Shortest Stories’ which I have and it’s great!

The great thing about very short short stories is that you can turn them into longer ones! Whether a story is 6, 55, 60, 100 or 150 words, they still have to have a start, middle and end so as long as you don’t steal another author’s actual wording, their ideas could inspire your stories (ideas aren’t copyright). www.ivillage.co.uk/write-a-short-story-in-60-words/80205 also lists some 60-word stories.

The podcast concluded with sentence starts, Quotes, On This Day in History and a 60-worder called ‘Just the lift she needed’: Jessica’s back complained from lugging the wicker basket around all day. She thought it would get easier as the day wore on, as the sandwiches were sold, but her feet just got sore. As the lift doors opened, Jess looked up and saw Chuck’s green eyes. Her aches were quickly forgotten as he smiled and asked politely “which floor ma’am?”

That’s it. Thanks for visiting – a list of the other transcripts and summaries can be found at http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/bwt-podcast.

 

Transcription of BWT podcast episode 28 (Feb 2011) – hints & tips pt2

The twenty-eighth episode of the Bailey’s Writing Tips podcast was released on 28^th February 2011 and the content has never been released other than website links (on my website http://www.morgenbailey.com) so I hope you find this information useful. In the first twenty-seven episodes (see http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/bwt-podcast for details), I covered ‘show not tell’, the five senses, repetition, points of view, tenses, dialogue, characters, crime, poetry, short stories, novels, writing for children, scriptwriting, comedy, romance and chick lit, erotica, ‘writing rules’, historical & the classics, name & characters, Christmas, opportunities, songwriting, reading, auto/biographies, computer tips (parts 1&2), competitions & submissions, romance and hints & tips (part 1). This episode was hints & tips pt2. This episode also contained some competitions and although the dates have passed, I have left the details in as it will show you what was available and many competitions are yearly so they may well be run again in 2012. Please note: I can’t vouch for these competitions so do check the information thoroughly before parting with your hard-earned writing and money but having a competition win or shortlist is always a good thing to have on your writing CV so I would recommend having a go.

Hints & tips

• Colours work really well in any kind of piece, especially if they relate to a mood; e.g. a bleak grey sky, a yellow top worn by someone with a happy disposition (others include green (often thought of as envy), white (pure/simple), red (anger/passion)). They all help the reader to picture a scene.
• Equally when you’re setting a scene, think that buildings have a ‘feeling’ e.g. drab council offices or majestic stately home. How do they make your character and the reader feel? In some stories, the setting becomes almost like a character in its own right so you might like to consider that when writing yours.
• Passion: I’m not talking romance (necessarily) but there should be emotions in every story. This could be desire, fear, love, grief, anger, jealousy etc.
• Outdoor or unusual locations: rather than have the action happening in a room, how about somewhere like a forest, farm, church, boat, beach, hospital, construction site or even on a rocket? There could also be locations with restrictions e.g. library or art gallery where the characters have to whisper or to the other extreme where they have to be loud; a nightclub or funfair.
• As well as things happening or items mentioned, think of what’s not there, using words such as no, not, never, nothing, none, no-one, nowhere, neither, nor etc. Negatives are great and it gives you another perspective to the story. Lee Child’s book ‘Nothing to lose’ is a great example: “and there was nothing in his pockets except paper money, an expired passport, an ATM card, a folding foot brush…there was nothing waiting for him anywhere else, no storage unit in a distant city, nothing stashed with friends, he owned the things in his pockets, the clothes on his back and the shoes on his feet…”. It gives a great idea of the simple life that this character leads who literally has…nothing to lose.
• Do you ever dream? Or more importantly, do you ever dream and remember the details? If you do, write them down before you forget and see if it might make a story or poem. Dreams can often provide you with incredible stories because there seems to be such a freedom of the mind when we dream. It’s been said, ‘dreams are a window into our very soul’. If this is true, then writing from our dreams could be a great way to write from our hearts, and in that, find out what we’re passionate about. I always keep a notebook and pen or mobile (on which I can dictate) beside my bed. If I dream something that I think I can use in a story, I always jot it down for future reference. Fantasies provide us with another great way to glean new story ideas. We all fantasise at some point in our lives. It can happen in school, in a meeting, on an elevator, etc. This is another great way to open up and stretch your imagination for new stories. Take time to sit and allow your mind to take you wherever it wants to go. It’s amazing what ideas for story lines and scenes, come to light during this time.
• Think of things that are unusual pairs e.g. a petite blonde called Buffy turning out to be a vampire slayer. You could certainly lead your reader to think one thing then have the total opposite happen.
• You might find when you’re writing that something keeps trying to bog you down, such as that old feeling that your writing isn’t good enough and that your technique is not up to par. Don’t worry about your technique for now. Just get it down on paper, put it away for a while and move on to something else. When you come back to it you should spot where you’re going wrong (and right!).
• Practice makes perfect – I always compare writing to playing a piano. If you’ve never played, you’re not going to come out with a concerto. Your first attempts may be more like chopsticks or even just the scales but the more you do it (even just a flash fiction length a day), the better you will become.
• Journaling is a great tool for writers. It’s a place where we can write down all our secrets, thoughts, ideas, scenes that suddenly come to mind, sounds or smell or sights that we don’t want to forget and anything else that pops in our heads. Journals, in a way, can become a friend to us, or a confidant that we share with. For some, it is our chance to open up ourselves and become extremely vulnerable. This is a tool that writers can use to stretch and improve their writing skills.
• Observation is a key tool to discovering how the world works. As an observer, try a few different ways to discover new ideas for your writing: Imagine the scene as if you were experiencing it or seeing it for the first time; Imagine the scene as you are now; Imagine the scene as if you were seeing it for the last time because it won’t happen again in your lifetime; By doing this you will give yourself a broader writing point-of-view. You will open up the doors to great storytelling and your characters will become much more realistic and reliable to your readers. You will also find that your readers will connect better with them. People are constantly fascinating me. The way they act, speak, watch, look, dress, walk, etc. I could sit in one spot and watch people pass by for hours. There are so many places to ‘people watch’ such as: the airport, shopping centres, buses or any other transport system, when you’re stuck in traffic, in a dentist or doctor’s, etc. Don’t just watch, but discover how the people react to what’s happening to them and around them. Ask yourself questions about why they do what they do? Why do they look happy or sad? Are they on holiday? Where are they from? Why are they here? There are so many questions, and it’s these questions that can lead you to new story ideas. Let them flow and write down your answers. People-watching can stretch the borders of our imagination. Wherever you go, always bring paper and a pen with you. You never know what will happen. You might just see something that will spark your imagination and set you on a new journey of storytelling.
• Sounds are important to describe in any story. They give more shape and substance to your scenes. Your readers become more entranced when they are given more information. Reading should be like living for your reader. It should be a world that contains all the senses. Touch, taste, smell, sound, sight – these are all key to making your story come alive for your reader. Listen to the sounds around you, wherever you are. Take a moment to close your eyes (but not if you’re driving) and listen to what is happening instead of just watching. Write down the sounds you hear around you and give a detailed account of each of them. Good listening skills can and will increase your ability to write great stories. By listening, you become more aware and prepared to provide details of the sounds you need to make your story credible.
• The most important thing is to ENJOY YOURSELF. Let the writing flow. Don’t worry about editing as you go along. Certainly you can edit along the way if that makes you happy. But you might enjoy the creative writing process more fully if you let your imagination lead the way – and let the creativity fall into place.
• Talking of editing – if you take something out of a sentence/paragraph does it still work? Does it still have the same impact? If yes to both questions, then you can make the chop. Remember to be brutal as an editor is likely to put red lines through a lot of your work so if you can beat him/her to it you’ll get less red back on your manuscript. I’m as big a culprit as anyone and that’s what our Monday nights are for. J
• Look at adverbs: if you say that something was ‘completely severed’ do you need the ‘completely’? Likewise ‘totally destroyed’ and smiled happily (unless of course you want your character to smile sadly)?
• If you’re having trouble with a story, how well do you know it? Jot down the answers to the following questions (thanks to NAWG’s Dec 2008 Link magazine and www.writers-toolkit.co.uk) and see if this helps: What is your character’s name? (if you can’t answer that, you’re in trouble); what century is it?; what country is it?; what sort of building (if applicable) is it?; what are they sleeping on?; are there sheets and blankets?; what texture are they?; what can they see from the window?; what is the first thing they hear when they wake up?; what are they wearing?; what colours can they see?; what can they smell?; what time of year is it?; what time of day is it?; what was the last thing they ate?; what is their greatest problem? Not all the questions will be relevant but it may help, and the final question should be key to any story.
• A tip from many a podcast – trim down the ‘ings’ as they, apparently, weaken verbs. An example would be was instead of ‘Walking into the kitchen, he picked up a knife…’ it would be better to be more direct; ‘He walked into the kitchen and picked up a knife.” I have mixed feelings on this as I think it varies the sentences but one narrator (Jordan Castillo Price in her ‘Packing Heat’ podcast said that’s a bad thing).
• I’d be really interested to know what you when you’re writing and you need to fill something in later. Do you just leave a gap? Perhaps underlined? Or a row of crosses? A regular help for me if I’ve to add further content is to put ‘MORE HERE’ and when I go back into the document I can just select the Find option (Ctrl F) or search options and type in ‘more here’ and the computer takes me to the first/next instance/s. It’s great.
• Writing prompts are a fantastic way of getting inspiration. You can either pick a single word (as we do in my Monday workshop group – perhaps from something you see in the room or from a newspaper) and see where it leads you, or pick some from the internet (doing a Google search on ‘writing prompt’ brings up loads of helpful links).
• Beginnings and endings – does your beginning start with a hook? If, as is often the case, the action gets going after a paragraph or two (or more?), then either lose the first section completely or filter it in elsewhere. Equally, if you re-read your ending, do you feel that it works better without the last paragraph or two. Try finishing it earlier and see what happens.
• On an interview I heard with Elmore Leonard (who I hadn’t realised had written ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ and ‘3.10 to Yuma’, both great films) he said don’t start a story with the weather, which reminds me of a book called ‘It was a dark and stormy night’ – a beginning from Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s 1830 novel ‘Paul Clifford’ which is often quoted as an example bad beginning. I have a book of the same name which is “the ‘best’ of the ‘best’ dreadful beginnings from the American Bulwer-Lytton contest”.
• Endings can be tricky. They have a variety of functions; some tie everything up neatly whilst others can leave the reader to work it out for themselves. Twist-in-the-tales are very popular – Take a Break especially love them. Endings work if they provoke a laugh, tear, ooh or ahh. Tips on endings include: strong final images provoke emotional endings; the later the punch, the stronger the reader’s emotion especially with twists; you could work backwards by writing five endings (or five lines from some of your existing stories) then writing stories to lead up to them.
• If you find a website that has some great information on the topic that you are looking for, remember that they may well have a ‘links’ page which will usually feature other websites of a similar vein. You may lose a few hours going through them all but it would be worth it if you find a gem.
• Crime writer Barbara Cleverly suggests:
• Listen to your work as you write. Read it aloud. If it sounds awkward, it is. Rewrite. i.e. make every effort to make your work a joy to read.
• If you have some cash to spend on your writing, buy: Sir Ernest Gowers’ Plain Words, The Economist Style Guide, and Suspense Novels by Lesley Grant Adamson.
• ‘Write about what you know?’. Rubbish! Seriously, how many readers are going to be interested? Write instead about what you find fascinating. Immerse yourself in your chosen background.
• ‘Everyone has a novel in him/her.’ Again, rubbish! And if you have, one’s not enough these days. Publishers offer three book deals. They won’t take a chance on a writer who has only one book in prospect.
• It is nearly impossible to get your work read nowadays. Choose a small reputable agent and present it neatly and professionally. If it’s crime you’re working on, the CWA Debut Dagger Award (www.thecwa.co.uk/daggers/debut/index.html) is well worth a shot. Your script will be read and if it’s any good will be noticed.
  • Writer/teacher Vivien Hampshire (http://vivienhampshire.blogspot.com) had a lovely article in Dec 2004 National Association of Writers’ Group magazine ‘Link’ which included: “What makes a good story? Forget about genres and plots and sub-plots. Read to them (new writing students) something with an opening line that hooks them in, a really strong central character they can believe in and care about, and an ending they will laugh or cry over… a story they will remember days later, a story that makes them feel good, and one that will inspire them to try having a go at writing their own. Writing is not about knowing the right words to say. It is not about some secret code that only other writers understand. It should not be the preserve of the literary snobs, all trying to impress with their in-depth knowledge. Writing comes from the heart. It’s a feeling, knowing what we like the sound of, what stories we have enjoyed, what works for us, even though we may not be able to explain why.”
  • I mentioned show don’t tell earlier and short story writer / tutor Joanna Barnden (http://www.joannabarnden.co.uk) has the following advice: “By using dialogue to introduce characters instead of just telling readers about them; by starting in the middle of a key bit of action instead of with passive description or a summary of events; by grasping the main scene of the story with both hands and really bringing it to life with sensory and emotional details; by showing emotions happening e.g.: ‘he flung the book down’, rather than telling us about them: ‘he was cross’. But please don’t forget the services of the sometimes neglected ‘tell’! If your story is about a woman’s relationship with her husband we might need to know that they have children, but we do not need flashbacks of her giving birth/reading bedtime stories/going to the park etc (unless they are pertinent to the key issue, such as if a child is disabled and it’s putting a terrible strain on the marriage).” Joanna also offers a very inexpensive critique and re-read service – see her website.

Competitions

• Thanks to Auriol from Northampton, England for two travel writing competitions from Skyscanner. One has an 18^th March deadline (to win an iPad!), the other is a rolling monthly Twitter-based comp.
• http://bridgehousepublishing.co.uk/newsubmissions.aspx is seeking sci-fi stories (up to 8000 words by 31^st March 2011) – for publication a year later.
• The Buxton Festival Poetry Competition is now open and submissions are welcome until 1^st April 2011 – see www.derby.ac.uk/buxtonpoetrycompetition for more information.
• I was sent an email by www.christinemichael.org for their Thyks Poetry Competition. See www.christinemichael.org/thynkspoetrycompetition for details – deadline 30th April 2011.
• Ware Poets Open Poetry Competition 2011: Closing date 30^th April. Sole Judge: Carole Satyamurti. For poems up to 50 lines. First Prize £500. Sonnet Prize: £100.  For further details send SAE to The Secretary, Ware Poets Open Poetry Competition 2011, Clothall End House, California, Baldock, Herts, SG7 6NU or see www.poetrypf.co.uk/images/compware2011.pdf.
• Check out all the current UK poetry competitions at www.poetrylibrary.org.uk/competitions.
• Joanna is starting a new course on writing magazine fiction serials (most of the leading women’s magazines do them); the first one-day workshop will be held in the Midlands on Thursday April 7th – see www.joannabarnden.co.uk for info.

The podcast concluded with sentence starts, Quotes, News & Feedback, On This Day in History and a 60-worder called ‘Holiday let-down’: “Break a leg!” a colleague shouted as Dr Jack Warley left for his Austrian ski-ing holiday. He chuckled as he drove home. Just an hour later he was undressed and showered. He adjusted his dressing gown belt as he started down the stairs…not noticing his son’s toy 4×4 on the step below. He heard his fibula snap as he tumbled.

That’s it. Thanks for visiting – a list of the other transcripts and summaries can be found at http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/bwt-podcast.

 

Transcription of BWT podcast episode 27 (Feb 2011) – hints & tips (pt1)

The twenty-seventh episode of the Bailey’s Writing Tips podcast was released on 21^st February 2011 and the content has never been released other than website links (on my website http://www.morgenbailey.com) so I hope you find this information useful. In the first twenty-six episodes (see http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/bwt-podcast for details), I covered ‘show not tell’, the five senses, repetition, points of view, tenses, dialogue, characters, crime, poetry, short stories, novels, writing for children, scriptwriting, comedy, romance and chick lit, erotica, ‘writing rules’, historical & the classics, name & characters, Christmas, opportunities, songwriting, reading, auto/biographies, computer tips (parts 1&2), competitions & submissions and romance. This episode had a focus on hints & tips. It included some outdated competitions but I’ve left them in as they’re likely to run yearly.

Hints & tips

National Association of Writers’ Groups’ Link magazine back in June 2006 had a table entitled ‘Imagination used’ which defines how we use our brains – it was split into:

Under 5 years           95-98% used 6-12 years               50%-70%

13-18 years              30%-50% Adults                    less than 20%

So if you think you need some help or perhaps just a little inspiration…do listen on.

• Fellow Northamptonshire author (of the ‘Housewife’ series) Alison Penton-Harper has the following tips: write every day, even if it’s not much. Always carry a notebook. Make sure that you’re comfortable when you write so that you can become lost in ‘the zone’ without straining your neck/back/eyes. Edit ruthlessly. If it’s not essential to the story, take it out. When you can’t see the wood for the trees, walk away and leave it alone. Be prepared to accept constructive criticism, but be careful whom you ask for it. Read Stephen King’s book ‘On writing’. There may be a good writers’ group you can join where you can share the experience of the writing process and discuss your work.” Sounds good to me.
• However trivial it may seem, write down everything. It’s also worth checking whether your phone (or even camera) has dictaphone facilities as you never know when the muse might strike. An idea that is at the top of your memory, the one that is the ‘bestseller’, and you are sure you will not forget it, will be lost almost as fast as you thought of it, if you do not write it down. Later, as you review your ideas, something that seemed so-so, may still be only so-so, but may be just the idea that you needed to jump-start a new project, or give fuel to one you are already working on. I keep two Word documents; one for ideas that may work (i.e. have enough ‘legs’) for novels/anthologies, the other for short stories (although some transferred to the novels file if the ‘legs’ become longer).
• If you find it difficult to spare time to writing, try small chunks; ten minutes before you do anything else in the morning, while a meal is cooking or before you go to bed (be warned the latter may lead to some loss of sleep as the ideas whizz around in your brain although some authors if stuck go to sleep on an idea and have a solution in the morning). Writing is like housework or homework, if you do it in small chunks you don’t miss the time. It’s when you don’t do any for ages and have to do it in one go that you perhaps start to resent (hopefully not) the ‘loss’ of time. When I did NaNoWriMo for the first time it was surprising, knowing I had to write nearly 1700 words a day, how often I could find time to write a few words because I had to do it. If you can ask yourself at the end of each day “how many words did I write today?” and can answer with a number above zero then you should feel good. Even if you do 50 a day that’s a magazine-length short story a fortnight.
• Something that works really well for me is to keep a small magazine holder in my bathroom containing a pot of pens/pencils and an A5 spiral-bound notebook. From a list of sentence beginnings I’d created (e.g. As she jumped off the…), I wrote one beginning at the top of each page and then I made sure that every time I spent any time in the bathroom I did some writing, even if it’s just another sentence. It’s amazing how much I wrote over short amounts of time. I’ll then type the story up when the pages are full or the story is complete (or if I get hooked on any of them and want to crack on with them quickly).
• Back in episode 3 I mentioned the Pocket Encyclopaedia of Short Story Writing which contained a list of 350 alternatives to said (although it’s often said that ‘said’ is still the best word to use). Well, I’ve found a list of 154 courtesy of the sci-fi website Science Fiction & Fantasy Chronicles Network.
• If your story is a little dull, look at your plain verbs. Do you have a character walking? If so, could they be strolling, ambling, jogging, dashing, sprinting or staggering? Or if s/he is sitting, could s/he be sprawling, lounging, curled up, stretched out? Or if they say something could they mumble, stutter, spew, shout or protest? Finally, if s/he is looking, could they be scanning, squinting, glaring or studying? This also helps to avoid adverbs e.g. she ran quickly = she sprinted.
• Set aside a small empty box or plastic wallet and put all your ideas (e.g. newspaper clippings or using the notes you’ve made from your above notebooks) in it…but make sure you continue/type them up.
• Listen to how people speak, and incorporate accents into your writing, e.g. greetings such as ‘my flower’, ‘me duck’, ‘love’ etc. (without too going overboard and confusing your reader). Local websites with video links may well be of use. www.youtube.com is also a great source: put the town/city you’re after and accent in the search box and see what comes up.
• Even if you haven’t written a novel, have a go at writing a one-page biography, one-page synopsis (of your poem, story, whatever), humorous cover letter or, if you do have a novel on the go, the first two chapters. Then when you have a novel ready, you’ll either have the practice of everything else to go with it, or you’ll have everything ready (with, no doubt, some tweaking).
• Get a first reader. There’s nothing like a second opinion, especially from another writer and the more the merrier. If you have email, you can swap your work quickly and easily, and do be honest with each other; someone saying it’s great (as friends and family often do) is lovely but not very helpful. Things to look out for are ‘show don’t tell’ (i.e. where something happens or is said but then you go on to explain what happened), repetitive words (unless intended), boring sections (I said to be honest) or parts that seem unclear (it’s good for the reader to have some questions but they should be answered by the end of the piece). Equally, be positive and point out parts that work. If the author knows where they’re going right then they can do more of the same and avoid repeating any bad habits or bits that don’t work.
• Even if you’re not writing poetry, think of how your words sound e.g. alliteration http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliteration. Writing sounds better read aloud and even better with rhythm.
• Quietly unassuming is not necessarily boring. Take Sean Connery’s James Bond for instance. He was suave and charming…but there was more to him. You don’t want to make a character dull or boring as the reader will be bored (and you’ll probably be bored writing him/her) but you can make them surprising; lead them in one direction (or appear to be one thing) and then reveal a hidden layer – like someone coming on to the X-Factor stage and it being assumed from their appearance that they are going to be awful but then they open their mouth… that’s how Susan Boyle became such a success.
• With any story it’s vital to keep a pace, and therefore the reader’s interest, going. Keep the scenes short and to the point but, in fiction mainly, leave holes so that threads tie up nicely at the end. A mix of short and long sentences is always good, as are questions that rest in the reader’s mind as they read. As well as bringing the story to life, dialogue is very important as it splits up the prose (and should always advance the plot) but stories work well with a good mixture. If you remember that dialogue usually shows and narrative generally tells, and the golden rule is “show, don’t tell”, then it’s best to have a mixture of both for the story to work well. Dialogue is also a very economical use of character development as you get a feel for the character by what they say as well as their tone.
• I’ve mentioned song lyrics before and it’s worth listening to your favourite (or not so favourite) songs as most tell a story. While the lyrics themselves are copyright, the story they tell isn’t. Or a quicker way is to look up the lyrics online (e.g. www.lyricsdirectory.com or www.findmelyrics.co.uk) and if there are any stories that appeal, re-write them as fiction (obviously also changing any names).
• If your story isn’t quite working, try changing the viewpoint (i.e. from 1^st person (I) to 3^rd person (he/she) or vice versa – or have a go at 2^nd (you – mentioned above)) or by tense (present to past or vice versa). Present tense is very immediate and often works really well.
• Endings: Do you, or have you ever thought about starting with the end of your story? Lucy from my writing group mentioned a while back that that’s how she usually starts her poems. Most people have an idea of where their story will end but it’s a great idea to try an ending as a starting point then work backwards and see if it helps your writing. Whilst endings should round off all the loose ends, if you plan to write a sequel (or even a series) then leaving it at a cliff-hanger, as you would at most chapter endings.
• Speaking of endings, here’s a tip courtesy of a podcast I heard a while back. Think about the order within your sentence. Apparently the last half of a sentence has more impact to a reader than the first half and therefore the action should happen at or towards the end. The example given ‘They swam across the river on a very hot day’… was suggested to work better as ‘On a very hot day they swam across the river’.
• Think of double-meanings. For instance one of my beginnings is Advert: ‘Part-time lover wanted. Must be flexible…’ which could be taken in at least two ways. Others include ‘As a small business, Heald’s Nursery was struggling…’ (is the nursery a kindergarten or garden centre?) and Holly was prickly at the best of times… (plant or woman?). The Two Ronnies were famous for their double-entendres (do you remember 4 candles?). ‘Your nuts, my Lord’ is another example; see the 2-minute video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2e0afvMYqI&. A link to Fork handles (and many others) is on the same page. Be warned, you could be watching for hours. In the recent ‘Up in the Air’ movie with George Clooney, there was a scene where an air stewardess gives him a drink then is perceived as asking “cancer?” but when he’s clearly confused, she repeats it slow as ‘can sir?’ then holding a can out. I’m not sure why the scene was in there as it didn’t further the plot but it was useful for this podcast.

Competitions

• http://fracturedwest.com has a rolling deadline. Fractured West is a “new literary magazine for flash fiction, prose poetry, microfiction, sudden fiction, vignettes, and short short stories. We don’t care about definitions: if it’s short, we want it.” Max 500 words. Sounds interesting.
• Another ‘roller’ is www.memoirsink.com/statuscontest although word max is 144 characters!
• www.sumlitsem.org/slscontest.html is SLS United Literary Contest but be quick – the deadline is 28^th February.
• The Write Place Open Short Story Competition also has a closing date of 28th February 2011. Story 1500 words max. Theme: Winter.  Fee £4.50 per entry. Prizes £100, £75, £50. Entries to Francesca Burgess, TWP Winter Competition, 34 Capelands, New Ash Green, Longfield, Kent, DA3 8LG. Make cheques payable to The Write Place‚. See www.thewriteplace.org.uk for info.
• Magma Poetry is a quarterly magazine which is looking for submissions for their 47^th edition. The deadline is also 28^th February – for more details see http://magmapoetry.com/contributions.
• www.upstreet-mag.org/guideline_layers.html and www.snakenationpress.org/contests.html both have 1^st March deadlines.
• http://unboundpress.com/competitions/2011-unbound-press-competitions/2011-unbound-press-short-story-award has a deadline of 1^st March 2011. 1500 words maximum. £5 fee.
• The Neil Gunn writing competition has a theme of ‘A wrong turning’ and welcome poetry (up to 40 lines) and prose (up to 2500 words). Entry fee £5. Deadline 11 March 2011. See www.highland.gov.uk/leisureandtourism/libraries/neilgunn.

The podcast concluded with sentence starts, Quotes, News & Feedback, On This Day in History and a 60-worder called ‘DIY doh!’: “Women are useless at DIY” Josh scoffed as he watched his girlfriend getting some steps out to change a light bulb. “Give them here!” He grabbed the bulb and ladder to do the job himself. Wearing slippers, he carefully stepped up, did the deed – then cut his finger on the old bulb as he threw it in the recycling!

That’s it. Thanks for visiting – a list of the other transcripts and summaries can be found at http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/bwt-podcast.

 

Transcription of BWT podcast episode 25 (Feb 2011) – comp & subs

The twenty-fifth episode of the Bailey’s Writing Tips podcast was released on 7^th February 2011 and the content has never been released other than website links (on my website http://www.morgenbailey.com) so I hope you find this information useful. In the first twenty-four episodes (see http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/bwt-podcast for earlier blog posts), I covered ‘show not tell’, the five senses, repetition, points of view, tenses, dialogue, characters, crime, poetry, short stories, novels, writing for children, scriptwriting, comedy, romance and chick lit, erotica, ‘writing rules’, historical & the classics, name & characters, Christmas, opportunities, songwriting, reading, auto/biographies and computer tips (parts 1&2).

This episode had a focus on competitions and submissions. Although some of the dates have passed, I have left the details in as it will show you what was available and many competitions are yearly so they may well be run again in 2012. Please note: I can’t vouch for these competitions so do check the information thoroughly before parting with your hard-earned writing and money but having a competition win or shortlist is always a good thing to have on your writing CV so I would recommend having a go.

Competitions

• www.poetryandstories.com is a site where you can register for free then post poetry or short stories on the website for other members to comment. They announce winners on the 1^st and 16^th of each month.
• Backed by travel writer Bill Bryson OBE, www.globalshortstories.net will select a monthly winning story and a highly commended work to receive a cash prize and will be posted on their website. At the end of twelve months, each winner will be considered for an annual cash prize.
• Txt Lit is a new literary genre of creative writing using a mobile phone texting system. A single mobile phone text message contains just 160 characters, including spaces and punctuation. Each entry costs £1 plus the normal cost of a text message as charged by your network provider. You can enter each competition as many times as you like. First prize: at least £50. Competitions every month. More details including the theme of the month on website atwww.txtlit.co.uk.
• Writers’ Forum monthly Short Story Competition is judged by one of my former tutors (and my first podcast interviewee) Sue Moorcroft – any genre, but stories must be original and previously unpublished. Aim for a word count between 800 and 3,000. Stories may embrace crime, mystery, romance, sport, humour, fantasy, erotica or science-fiction. Monthly prizes of £300 for the best story published and then £150 and £100 for runners up. Text should be typewritten or word-processed, printed in double spacing. Fee is £6 for non-subscribers, £3 for subscribers with an extra £5 if you wish critique. See www.writers-forum.com. Sue will also be a speaker at the forthcoming Verulam Writers’ Get Writing Conference in Hitchin, Hertfordshire on Sat 19^th Feb.
• Writers’ Forum Magazine also runs a monthly Poetry Competition. Prizes: £100 plus publication; three runners-up receive a dictionary plus publication. Entry fee: £5 per poem, £7 for two. No theme, up to 40 lines. Every entry with SAE receives a free tick-box critique. Like the short-story comp there’s no deadline as the competition is continuous. Email: poetry@writers-forum.com and website www.writers-forum.com. The magazine is available by subscription or from branches of WH Smith and other good newsagents.
• Writers’ Billboard has bi-monthly writing competitions in various formats, including poetry. Website: http://writersbillboard.net.
• The Seventh Quark runs three separate competitions, a Quarterly Story Prize (2000-4000 words), a bi-Monthly Shorter Story Prize (under 2000 words) and a regular simultaneously written Frantic Flash Competition. Please see details of dates and entry fees on the website http://seventhquark.blogspot.com or email seventhquark@tribe13.co.uk.
• Quarterly competitions include The British Fantasy Society’s next ‘Pages Quarterly Open Short Story’ competition (deadlines 31^st March, 30^th June, 30^th September and 31^st December) – see www.britishfantasysociety.org.uk/index.php/short-story-competition and American quarterly internet magazine ‘The First Line’ (deadlines 1^st February, 1^st May, 1^st August and 1^st November) – see www.thefirstline.com for full details.
• 14^th February – Words by the Water/Mirehouse Poetry Prize: www.wayswithwords.co.uk/news/words-by-the-water–mirehouse-poetry-competition-46.
• 14^th February – www.writersandartists.co.uk/short-story-competition-2011
• 16^th February – Norwich Writers’ Circle Open Poetry Comp: www.norwichwriters.org.uk.
• 25^th February – www.franceslincoln.co.uk/en/Page/98/Diverse_Voices.html: The Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award. Min 15,000/max 35,000 words, you must be an unpublished children’s novelist.
• 28^th February – Grace Dieu Writers’ Circle Open Poetry/Short Story Comp: www.gracedieuwriterscircle.co.uk.
• 28^th February – Kelpies Prize 2010 (again children’s novels): www.florisbooks.co.uk/kelpiesprize.
• 3^rd March – Windsor Fringe: www.windsorfringe.co.uk.
• www.sigriddaughter.com/GlassWomanPrize.htm accepts submissions of 50 to 5000 words written by female authors until 21^st March.
• Meridian Writing Quarterly Short Story Comp: www.meridian-writing.co.uk (next: deadline is 31^st March).
• www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travel-writing-competition has a weekly competition.
• www.fishpublishing.com/writing-contest-competition.php and www.writersreign.co.uk/comp.html have a variety of competitions run throughout the year so do take a look – you never know what you might be missing.
• Park Publications also runs numerous competitions (www.parkpublications.co.uk/writingcompetion.htm) as well as producing short story magazine ‘Scribble’, ‘Countryside Tales’ (for which they invite fiction, articles and poetry) and the new ‘Debut’ magazine.
• For those of you who have written a novel, details of YouWriteOn‘s ‘book of the year’ competition can be found at www.youwriteon.com/info/competitions.
• www.wordsmag.com/compcal11.htm lists their forthcoming competitions. Entry by e-mail (entries@wordsmag.com) or to WORDS, PO Box 13574, London W9 3FX.
• www.poetrylibrary.org.uk/competitions lists UK poetry competitions.
• www.eastfortyseventh.co.uk/comps.htm and www.kudoswritingcompetitions.com list loads of different competitions.
• www.sfx.co.uk/category/competitions has a variety of competitions for the science fiction genre.

Submissions

• www.20x20magazine.com/about details their guidelines. There is currently no payment for submissions but you would get a free copy of the relevant magazine (with your name in print!).
• www.shadowtrain.com is “a bi-monthly gathering of poems, translations, articles and other writings, from the lyrical to the innovative, whatever stings and stuns the editor”. Submissions are by email only – see www.shadowtrain.com/id6.html for more details.
• Don’t forget to keep an eye on Jacqui Bennett’s markets listings for www.jbwb.co.uk. She covers markets for short stories, novels, articles, non-fiction, poetry, agents, small press and overseas news.

Hints & tips

• Whenever submitting to a competition or magazine etc., wherever possible read the publication and / or website that you’re submitting to. Apparently a large portion of submissions are inappropriate or have very bad grammar so if you do your best to get what they may be likely to want, you’re half way there. Also, do keep a list of everything you send and whatever you do don’t send a story/poem to more than one place at once… if you’re accepted by two or more places, you’ll have to upset someone and apparently editors have good memories!
• www.writers-editors.com/Writers/Contests/Contest_Tip_Sheet/contest_tip_sheet.htm has some interesting tips for submitting to writing contests.
• www.writersdigest.com/GeneralMenu has general tips and info on competitions.
• www.scribblepad.co.uk/EnteringACreativeWritingContest.html is a site packed with information and tips on entering creative writing contests.
• www.sfx.co.uk/page/sfx?entry=short_story_writing_tips_from has writing tips for sci-fi and fantasy competitions.
• www.poetryclass.net/kids.htm is the same but for poetry especially for children.

Websites

• Thanks to Fiona from the Midlands, England for http://wow-womenonwriting.com which is an “ezine for promoting the communication between women writers, authors, editors, agents, publishers and readers.
• http://thewritersghillie.wordpress.com is the website for Nairn Writers’ Group and has a variety of information including links to courses / workshops, events, guest interviews, non-fiction, short stories, competitions and writing groups / workshops.
• www.fanstory.com/index1contest.jsp lists ongoing competitions of which there are 50 each month! You can submit poetry and/or short stories free of charge for cash prizes! It’s an American site which sounds like fantasy but also have categories of sci-fi, humour, mystery, war, horror, non-fiction, children and ‘others’. They make their money by advertisers and membership. Work listed is reviewed and you can review other people’s work.
• www.theprizefinder.com contains loads of competitions you can enter under a variety of topics.
• www.loquax.co.uk is a similar site but doing a search on ‘book’ only produces three competitions and one with a ‘writing’ search. Let me know if you find more.
• http://kudoswriting.wordpress.com/welcome-to-kudos is the website for Carole Baldock’s Kudos which is published bi-monthly and advises where writers can submit their work for competitions, anthologies, books and other format. The magazines are currently £3 each (£18 per year).
• www.prizemagic.co.uk/html/writing_comps.htm and www.creative-competitor.co.uk/competitions.htm list a variety of competitions.
• http://writelink.co.uk/res_dbmain.php?cat=competitions, www.jbwb.co.uk/writingcomps.htm and www.writing-4-profit.co.uk also list a variety of competitions.
• www.winningwriters.com/contests/free/log/frl_annc.php lists free contests to enter.
• www.sallyquilford.co.uk/page6.htm lists a variety of, mostly British, magazine guidelines. As she says “the guidelines for women’s magazines change on a regular basis, so always go back and check for the latest.”

Ideas

Here I provide a couple of story ideas or ways to get new ideas then list seven sentence starts listed on my http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/sentence-starts page; each one, if you’d like to use them, for a daily writing project.

• The lottery has been written about so many times, millions of people play it each week and many of them watch the live shows but try thinking of a new angle. I saw a TV series a few months ago where a man fakes winning and his life spirals out of control, others have been made about people winning the lottery then losing or spending the lot.
• Write a story about two people competing for the affection of a third.

The podcast concluded with Quotes, News & Feedback, On This Day in History and a 60-worder called ‘Bigger fish to fry’: Barrie loved the smell of fish. He’d wanted to be a trawler man but was violently seasick. Living in the Outer Hebrides he’d often watch the boats go out and wished he could be on them. He was skimming his local paper for a job and spotted the perfect position. ‘Assistant wanted at ‘The Fryer’ fish shop. No experience required.’

That’s it. Thank you for visiting – a list of the other transcripts and summaries can be found at http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/bwt-podcast.

 

Latest writing competitions and other useful information

Every fortnight I produce a handout for my writing group, below are details from the latest.

NB. I can’t personally vouch for these competitions – take a look at the websites or apply for more details from the relevant site before parting with money and submitting your hard work!

News

• With Sue Moorcroft’s help we have novelist / editor Katie Fforde as the Head Judge for our Northampton Writers’ Group H.E. Bates Short Story Competition – it ends 1^st December so plenty of time: see http://www.hebatescompetition.org.uk for full details. I’ll be one of the first-round judges so I may end up reading your story!

Autobiography & biography – competition

• The Society Of Women Writers & Journalists: International Online ‘Life Writing’ Competition:
’Life Writing’ is a fluid term used to describe the recording of experiences and memories, whether one’s own or another’s. It covers biography, memoir, diaries, letters and personal essays etc., and, more recently, digital forms such as blogs and email. It can also be linked with genealogical study when recording one’s life, it is common to become curious about the lives of others that have affected one over time and, if they have not recorded their own life, to start doing it for them.
3,000 words maximum, open to any writer world-wide of 20 years old and over. There are two categories: one for 20/40 year olds and one for the over 40s. 
Three prizes in each category. 1st £3,000. 2nd £1,000. 3rd £500.
Entry fee is £7 payable with submissions. Submissions by email only.
The judges are Sophie King for 20/40 year olds category and Katie Fforde for over 40s.
Closing date 30^th September. Full details at:
http://www.swwj.co.uk/lifewritingcomp.html

Chick-lit, romance and erotica – event and website

• On 13 September Mills & Boon launched New Voices, their second global search for fresh writing talent. http://www.romanceisnotdead.com/
• ForbiddenFiction is a publisher devoted to writing that breaks the boundaries of original erotic fiction. http://forbiddenfiction.com.

Children’s & young adult (ya) – competition opportunities

• Ascent Aspirations seeking contributions for a volume of previously unpublished children’s stories of around 1500 words for ages 9-12. http://www.ascentaspirations.ca/childrensstorycontest.htm. The deadline for this is 31st October.
• The 2012 Kelpies Prize for a children’s novel set in Scotland has a deadline of 29 February 2012. http://www.florisbooks.co.uk/kelpiesprize/

Crime, thrillers etc – event

• Sally Spedding (who many of us know) will be holding three crime writing workshops 17/24 September (10am-4pm) in the historic and atmospheric Glynhir Mansion (Carmarthenshire), so come and be inspired. Beginners welcome. £30 per session to include lunch and refreshments. Easy access from the M4 and by rail. For further information please contact Katy Jenkins on 01269 850438. Email: enquiries@theglynhirestate.com. Websites: http://www.theglynhirestate.com or http://www.sallyspedding.com/diary.html.

Fantasy, graphic novels, horror & sci-fi – competition and event

• Myriad Editions competition for a first graphic novel in progress by a writer over 18 of any nationality but resident in the UK – see http://www.myriadeditions.com/FGNC.
• FantasyCon 2011 takes place 30^th September to 2^nd October in Brighton – see http://www.britishfantasysociety.org for details.

Novels – competition

• http://beakbooks.co.uk Competition for First-time Novelists: ends 30^th September.

Poetry – news, competitions, events, other stuff

• National Poetry Day 2011 is on Thursday October 6^th. Theme is GAMES. From snail racing to mind games, from athletics to dominoes, it’s a wide and wonderful subject. How will you use it? http://www.nationalpoetryday.co.uk/
• http://www.poetrykit.org/comp2011.htm – deadline 30th September.
• http://www.winningwriters.com/contests/tompoetry/tp_guidelines.php: 30^th September.
• Free to enter, 31st Fernando Rielo World Prize for Mystical Poetry, prize: €7,000 (worldwide) http://bit.ly/o5wpNi. The deadline is 15th October.
• The Poetry Society’s National Poetry Competition ends 31^st October, First prize £5000. See www.poetrysociety.org.uk for more information.
• Check out current UK poetry competitions at http://www.poetrylibrary.org.uk/competitions.
• Well Versed is the weekly poetry column of daily UK newspaper the Morning Star, published every Thursday, in print and online. Poetry editor Jody Porter. Under the stewardship of the late and esteemed John Rety, Well Versed developed into a widely-read forum for new and established writers. Send submissions, with biographical information, to: wveditor@gmail.com. Poems need not be overtly political, but space is limited so they must be short to medium in length. http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/
• http://www.derbyquad.co.uk has a variety of Derby-based events including a poetry night every second Thursday.
• Buxton’s Word Wizards slam poetry competition runs in the coffee lounge at the Grove Hotel, Buxton, Derbyshire at 7:30pm on the last Tuesday of every month. Entry is £2.50. More info can be obtained by e-mailing Rob at: poetryslamUK@aol.com.
• http://www.chapmanscarecrow.co.uk/03Events/2011%20Lippfest details the Leeds Independent Poetry Festival which takes place on 24^th September.
• Essex Poetry Festival 30 Sep to 8 Oct: http://www.essex-poetry-festival.co.uk.
• http://soundcloud.com/the-footing is an anthology of specially commission poems that you can listen to online.

Scriptwriting – news from the BBC Writers’ Room, competition & submission

• Scriptwriters can browse through all of the scripts in our script archive. http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/insight/script_archive.shtml.
• “Want to write for the BBC? Find out what to send us on our script submissions page. http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/writing/submissions_writersroom.shtml”
• Sixty Second Stories, deadline: 03 October 2011. Opportunity to produce a sixty second story for a feature film that will premiere at the 2012 Berlinale. http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/opportunity/sixty_second_stories_2011.shtml
• The Delve Theatre is looking for a talented writer with something to say.  “We are looking for a new and original piece of work to produce and tour in 2013 and we are inviting scriptwriters to initially submit a sample of work so that they may be considered. Delve is a vibrant contemporary theatre company based in Leicestershire. We put on shows that make people laugh, but also encourage theatre goers to think about today’s society and beg them to ask the question – do we like the choices we’ve made? To submit your sample of work or for more information email Mark Simons on mark@delvetheatre.co.uk.”

Short stories – event, news, competition & submission opportunities

• www.charleston.org.uk/smallwonder details the UK’s only literary festival dedicated to short stories (and I’ve never been )
• The results of the Write Space ‘Della Galton’ Short Story Competition can be viewed at http://www.writespace.co.uk/html/winners.html.
• William Trevor/Elizabeth Bowen International Short Story Competition 2011 Shortlist announced. http://www.mitchelstownlit.com.
• Results of 2011 Unbound Press Short Fiction Award: 1st Place John Mole, 2nd Place R. A. Martens, 3rd Place Graeme Scott. Shortlist and Honorable Mentions at: http://unboundpress.com/competitions/2011-unbound-press-competitions/2011-unbound-press-short-fiction-award.
• The Short Story website is designed to showcase the best short stories from around the world. The idea is simple. Submit your story and you will automatically enter The Short Story competition. Prizes: £300 / £150 / £50. The winners will be published on the website. Deadline for submissions 15 September. http://www.theshortstory.net.
• A free entry monthly short story competition: winners are published in one of our collections of short stories – see http://www.openingeditions.co.uk/#/fiction-authors/455091281.
• http://www.theshortstory.net –
deadline for submissions 15^th September.
• http://www.ruberybookaward.com – 30^th September.
• Zurich Writers Workshop anthology email lesley@2relationshipsuccess.com – by 30^th Sept.
• http://www.theyellowroom-magazine.co.uk/Competitions.html – closing date 30^th September.
• 1^st October is the deadline for http://spillinginkreview.com/competitions/2011-spilling-ink-fiction-prize. Prizes are £500, £250 and £125. Entry fee £5. Max 3,000 words.
• Free to enter, The Observer / Jonathan Cape / Comica Graphic Short Story Prize, top prize: £1,000 (UK/ Ireland) http://bit.ly/psKoO1. The deadline is the 14^th October.
• Reminder: Bound Off now take submissions via the http://www.submishmash.com website. Bound Off’s website is http://boundoff.com.
• http://shortfunnystory.com/writers-wanted wants humorous short stories or true-life events and pay $15 for every story published online with $25 extra for any story which is chosen for inclusion in one of our anthologies.
• A website for commissioning short stories. Want a present for the person who has everything? Try us. http://www.pennydreadfuls21.com

Songwriting – competition

• http://www.beakbooks.co.uk Songwriting Competition closing date 30^th September.

Other competitions

• http://www.saveaswriters.co.uk – closes 15^th September for poetry and prose.
• Fleeting: Online magazine looking for short stories and poetry – daring, witty, erudite, lucid and infectious -
Closing date 30^th September
 http://fleetingmagazine.com.
• http://www.nawe.co.uk/DB/jobs-and-opportunities/prole-submissions.html details an opportunity for prose and poetry – deadline also 30^th September.

Other events, workshops, retreats etc.

• http://www.lyriclounge.co.uk/programmes/northampton-17-sept-2011 details The Lyric Lounge events taking place at Northampton’s Fishmarket and Derngate Theatre this Saturday 17^th September. I can’t go – I’m on a short story writing course for the day run by local author Helen M Hunt (http://fictionisstrangerthanfact.blogspot.com).
• http://newwritingsouth.com/members-area/blog/workshops/tilton-house-women-writers-retreat writing retreat takes place between 16^th and 18^th September and features short story and scriptwriting tutors.
• H.E. Bates’ granddaughter actress Victoria Wickes talks about her grandfather at the Rushden Indoor Bowls Club, Northampton Road, Rushden, Northants 28^th Sept at 2pm (entry free).
• Writing and Reading Workshops at Nottingham Contemporary. Curative Writing (a series of workshops that propose site-specific, creative writing exercises, introduced through Jean Genet’s texts): Wednesdays, 5:30-7:30pm 28 September. The Galleries & The Study (capacity 15). Reading Genet – a reading group: Wednesday 5:30-7:30pm 21 Sept. The Study (capacity 15) – see www.nottinghamcontemporary.org for more information.
• Weekend writing course at the Ceridwen Centre, Drefelin, Drefach Felindre in Carmarthenshire: 30 Sep-2 Oct. Tutors Marcus Moore and Sara-Jane Arbury The cost for each challenging, stimulating, enjoyable weekend has been held at a remarkably good value £185 all inclusive (accommodation, meals, refreshments and tuition). Contact Marcus on john.marcus.moore@gmail.com / 01285 640470. Non-residential places available for local students on request. www.ceridwencentre.co.uk.
• Literature Wales announce a series of new Literary Bus Tours and Walks for 2011 http://www.literaturewales.org/xnew-2011-literary-tourism-programme/
• The University of East Anglia (UEA) and Guardian Masterclasses have joined forces to offer a series of courses that will be accredited by the UK’s leading university for creative writing. The starting point for this ground-breaking initiative has involved the creation of three distinct course levels – introductory, intermediate and advanced – all of which will be taught by respected, award-winning writers including Bernardine Evaristo, Adam Foulds, Sarah Hall, Gillian Slovo. http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardian-masterclasses/uea-guardian-masterclasses

Other submissions and opportunities

• WEYA SUBMISSION NOW OPEN!
World Event Young Artists is the very first event of its kind to take place. It is an exciting occasion bringing together and celebrating the talent and artistic excellence of young people from across the globe.

In September 2012 World Event for Young Artists [WEYA] will bring a staggering 1,000 young artists (18 – 30 years) from 120 nations to Nottingham. Over a period of 10 days, these artists will bring the city to life with creative activity across all art forms including visual arts, music and gastronomy. These artists will have the chance to showcase their practice, exchange ideas and build future collaborations. The deadline for receiving applications is the 1st October 2011 at 23.59. 
Click here for more info..

Other websites

• Me and My Short Stories: Scott Pack reviews short story collections at: http://meandmybigmouth.typepad.com/shorts.
• http://www.toasted-cheese.com is a Literary Journal and Writing Community.

Other stuff

• http://authorksbrooks.blogspot.com/2011/09/on-writing-author-interview-writer.html is an interesting interview between two LinkedIn authors (who I’ve interviewed so I’m biased) and Rosanne appears again here.
• http://lynleystace.wordpress.com/2010/10/27/the-head-hopping-chestnut is a really good article critiquing a passage from Richard Yates’ Revolutionary Road.
• Another is http://constantrevisions.blogspot.com/2011/01/neil-gaiman-master-class-in-writing.html by British author (now living in the US) Neil Gaiman.

The New Writer magazine recommends:

• Write To Be Published by Nicola Morgan (Snowbooks). Essential reading for the aspiring writer who wants to be published – review to follow in The New Writer.
• The English Wordsmith is for anyone who loves finding useful words, for amusement, for learning, for excelling at word games, for enriching everyday language. It is published by The Great Wordsmith LLP and is available in paperback from good bookshops, RRP £12.99.
• “Short stories at their very finest try Catherine Smith’s The Biting Point from Speechbubble Books.  Pin-sharp writing. Also available from Amazon.

The handout culminated with This Day in History (the same as episode 39 as they were released on the same day (12^th September) and five sentence starts.

 

Transcription of Bailey’s Writing Tips podcast episode 19 (Dec 2010) – opportunities

The nineteenth episode of the Bailey’s Writing Tips podcast was released on 27^th December 2010 and the content has never been released other than website links (on my website) so I hope you find this information useful. In the first eighteen episodes (see http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/bwt-podcast for earlier blog posts), I covered ‘show not tell’, the five senses, repetition, points of view, tenses, dialogue, characters, crime, poetry, short stories, novels, writing for children, scriptwriting, comedy, romance and chick lit, erotica, ‘writing rules’, historical & the classics, name & characters and Christmas. This episode had a focus on opportunities for submissions and forthcoming competitions.

Writing newspaper and magazine articles

Should you have a hobby or sport that you are knowledgeable or practiced in, how about submitting an article to your favourite newspaper or magazine? Whether it be cooking, animal training or Octopush (the little-known international sport of underwater hockey that my brother is heavily involved in!), many publications pay freelance contributors, so why not be one of them? Guide book author Gordon Wells says “Anyone can do it. You don’t need to be a literary genius – that could be a disadvantage. You don’t even need to have done well at English in school. Editors are more interested in good ideas than beautiful phrases.”

Website ‘Suite 101’ has a network of over 1,900 freelance writers and is looking for more (www.suite101.com/freelance_writers). Study the site to see what they publish, you never know, you may get work out of it. Local newspapers often have weekend supplements with film, book or restaurant reviews so if you have seen, read or eaten something good, you could contact them to if they are interested in publishing it.

If you go on a holiday and want to tell the world about it, travel-writing is another outlet for non-fiction writing. Bill Bryson, Tony Hawks and Paul Theroux have made a successful living out of it. You could also submit to travel magazines such as Caravan Magazine, Condé Nast Traveller, Traveller and Wanderlust. The Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook 2011 has 4 pages of ‘notes from a successful travel author’ (in this case William Dalrymple). www.write101.com, created by Australian Jennifer Stewart, has been “solving your writing problems since 1998” and is definitely worth having a look round as it has hundreds of pages about writing including www.write101.com/trav.htm which has various travel links including Suite 101’s ‘Become a Freelance Travel Writing’ (www.suite101.com/freelance_writers/?aw_c_tr&gclid=CNb_6aK-95UCFQpPQgoduHP84A).

Writing for the internet

There are many outlets for publishing your work on the internet. The trick, though, is to make money at it. Books on this subject include two by Jane Dorner, published by A&C Black. ‘Creative web writing’ (with a foreword by fantasy writer Terry Pratchett) is split into three parts:

• Part 1 – ‘the web genie’: Chapter 1 ‘reading on screens’ includes a history of e-literature (electronic format books, the first ever being ‘Bag of Bones’ by Stephen King released at the same time as the paperback version in April 1999); and Chapter 2 ‘new markets’ contains sections on new e-publishers, submission guidelines, what’s in the contract, self-publishing, print on demand, out of print, protection.
• Part 2 – ‘exploring Aladdin’s cave’: Chapter 3 ‘new lamps for old: captions to an exhibition’ includes sections on narrative, fantasy, avant pop and poetry; and Chapter 4 ‘digital dimensions’ includes topics of digital drama, digital writing for children, devices (plot advice) and principles (problems/opportunities).
• Part 3 – ‘web-writing practicalities’: Chapter 5 ‘writing style’ gives advice on techniques to increase readability, planning, humour, punctuation, editing, style and online chat etiquette; and Chapter 6 ‘listings’ includes basic equipment needed, software for self-publishing/experimental writing, writing courses in the UK, experimental writers and word-artists, online communities and literary venues, and new media writing prizes.

Jane’s ‘The internet: a writer’s guide’ is packed with information, split into two parts:

• Part 1 – The ‘Introduction’ explains how the book works and asks “why go online?” and discusses the worries of going or being online. ‘Getting connected’ has technical information including an explanation of what the internet is, the equipment you need and, interestingly, going online without owning a computer! ‘E-mail’ is split into 18 sections on the subject of e-mailing! ‘The World Wide Web’ is very in-depth. The 22 pages in this part includes ‘hyperlinking’ (to take you to a specific website), ‘how to surf the web’, ‘downloading’, ‘publishing’ and ‘advertising’. ‘Virtual communities’ mentions writers’ circles, newsletters, internet chat and writer’s block. ‘Electronic imprints’ covers internet publishing, print on demand, e-books, e-zines, e-newspapers and electronic publishing. ‘New writing opportunities’ includes interactive fiction, poetry, broadcasting/TV, non-fiction and writers-in-residence. ‘Internet publishing practicalities’ provides information on self-promotion, writing web pages, writing style for screen reading, publishing your work on the web, security and maintenance. The final section of part 1 is ‘issues in an online environment’ with topics such as copyright, plagiarism, censorship, eye strain and ‘the future’!
• Part 2 is much shorter and explains ‘internet addresses’ and lists a variety of ‘online resources’.

On the subject of writing for the internet, www.internetwritingjournal.com/authorblogs says “It is no secret that authors write some of the very best blogs. Our editors have compiled a list of author blogs that they believe are truly outstanding. Although the styles and subject matter of the author blogs vary widely, they all share two important qualities: they are all frequently updated and interesting to read.” A few of the names I recognised under the heading of ‘Author blogs’ included Poppy Z Brite, Meg Cabot, Neil Gaiman, Holly Lisle and Jennifer Weiner. Below this list are ‘Group blogs’ (seven links), ‘Author blog directories’ (two links – ‘authorblogs.com’ which is a directory of authors blogging while they write; and ‘Romancing the blog’ – a directory of blogs by romance authors), ‘Author blog search’ (seven links to search-style websites including the very popular Google, MSN and Yahoo as well as the lesser known www.blogpulse.com, www.bloglines.com, www.delicious.com and www.technorati.com) and General Blogging Resources (four links to websites with general blogging information). Below that (at the very bottom of the page) are four links to commercial websites (www.triond.com where you can “earn revenues for your stories – write, publish and earn” and www.writingclasses.com which has “Selected “Best of Web” by Forbes Writing classes online and in NYC”.

Puzzles and crosswords

Puzzles and crosswords are big business. If you enjoy completing them then give a thought to making your own! The Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook lists two contacts for submissions:

• The Puzzle House, Ivy Cottage, Battlesea Green, Stradbroke, Suffolk IP21 5NE (tel. 01379 384656 / e-mail puzzlehouse@btinternet.com). More details from www.puzzlehouse.com.
• www.homeworking.com/library/write2.htm, an article by British author Gail Miller, says “Anyone can earn good money from home writing short pieces for publication in various magazines or periodicals, but here we are going to look at selling quizzes, questionnaires, word games and puzzles. There are many publications which publish word-searches, games and puzzles, but did you know that many weekly and monthly news-stand magazines, not to mention regional and national newspapers and comics, publish crosswords and quizzes regularly? Over recent years ‘tabloid’ type, large circulation, magazines have blossomed, bursting with every type of puzzle.”
• www.homeworking.com/library/case/case-21.htm is an interview with author Joan Sweeney who, at “nearly 70” has spent the last ten years working from home writing children’s books for ages 3-8. I won’t go into detail here as there’s little advice on writing.
• www.tellmehowto.net/answer/how_can_i_create_my_own_1675 tells you how to create crosswords! “First decide upon your grid. You want plenty of crossovers but not so many that it will be hard to fill the grid with words. Then take your wordlist and try to fit them into the grid so that they form a valid puzzle. If you are working without a wordlist it will be easier to get a valid grid; from a set wordlist you will have to reform the grid to fit the words and their lengths etc. The difficult bit is writing the clues. In theory you could use a synonym dictionary and do a look up to create a simple quick crossword; for anything more complicated this stage definitely involves human intelligence to come up with some good clues.”

Recommendations – Publications

• I mentioned Gordon Wells earlier and his book ‘The craft of writing articles’ is published by Allison & Busby. It tells you clearly and simply how to generate article ideas that will sell; how to identify the right magazine for your article; how to find out about your subject; how to plan, structure and write your article; how to illustrate it – with easy-to-take photographs; and how to submit your article to the selected editor.
• A similar book is ‘Writing short stories and articles’ by Adele Ramet published by ‘How to books’. In less than 250 pages, it covers ‘mixing fact and fiction’, ‘constructing an article’, ‘getting articles into print’, ‘researching and filling systems, ‘rewriting to suit different markets’, ‘writing short stories’, ‘caring for your characters’, ‘creating a twist in the tale’, ‘signposting’, ‘twisting with little old ladies’, ‘fitting a specific plot’, ‘working as a freelance’, ‘marketing your manuscript’, and ‘keeping records’.
• Another prolific guide book writer is Michael Legat one is ‘Non-fiction books’. It has four simple sections: ‘the purpose of this book’; 44 pages on ‘what to write about’; ‘how to write the book’; and ‘how to sell the book’.
• I often hear Stephen King’s ‘On writing’ part-biography / part-writing advice being mentioned and www.dailywritingtips.com/stephen-king%e2%80%99s-on-writing explains it in more detail and concludes “On Writing is an encouraging but very honest look at what it means to be a fiction writer, and if you’re an aspiring author – especially if you secretly worry about not being clever enough or educated enough to write fiction – then I highly recommend it.”
• To keep your brain active, Writer’s Digest books has published ‘Write brain workbook’ by Bonnie Neubauer. “When you have problems getting a writing session started and find yourself staring at a blank page, what you need is an exercise to get you going and to free up your writing. Bonnie offers you 366 such exercises that each provides the ideal warm-up.”
• ‘Fiction writer’s workshop’ by Josip Novakovich, published by Writer’s Digest Books, is “designed to be a fiction workshop you can attend on your own. Each chapter represents a workshop lecture, and is followed by a dozen or more exercises you are encouraged to work…you will acquire the skills to self-evaluate your work…the book covers everything from idea-finding to style and writing voice. Along the way, it deals with characters, setting, plots, beginning and endings, dialogue and so forth.”
• And if you fancy a break… ‘Five dials’ is a free monthly magazine from Hamish Hamilton (London’s oldest publishing houses, founded by Jamie Hamilton in 1931. They say “Home to authors such as J.D. Salinger, Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, W.G. Sebald and Truman Capote, our aim remains to publish the very best literary writers from around the world, from Alain de Botton to Zadie Smith”) for lovers of literature and has a mixture of poetry, short stories and articles. For a free monthly subscription visit website www.hamishhamilton.co.uk. They will then e-mail you when the (free) copies are ready for you to download on to your computer (back copies are also available from the same website page). It’s in .pdf format so you can print it off and read it if you prefer.

Recommendations – Websites

• The Writers & Artists Yearbook recommends www.hackwriters.com which is a “UK-based free internet magazine devoted to good writing on any subject. No fees; forum of exchange” and www.reactivewriting.co.uk which “explores writing on the web”.
• www.authonomy.com, affiliated to publishers HarperCollins, is “much more than a community of book lovers”. They are “on a mission to flush out the brightest, freshest new talent around.” Aimed at writers, readers and publishers you are invited to “build a (free) profile, upload your chapters, stack up your bookshelf and go meet the neighbours”! Their FAQ (frequently asked questions) section explains all.
• I mentioned Australian writer Angela Booth in last week’s podcast and her http://copywriter.typepad.com/copywriter/beginning-writer-top-5-po.html page contains tips including ‘writer for hire, freelancing for profit’, ‘avoid writing income disasters’, ‘the truth about selling your writing services online’ and ‘top ten writing tips to help you write more’.
• www.writing-world.com/freelance/index.shtml is a page packed with links to tips on writing for freelance writers. Although it is a science fiction site, there may well be advice which is relevant to the genre that you are writing or the field you wish to work in.
• www.whatsonwhen.com which the Writers & Artists Yearbook describes as “useful for newspaper and magazine writers” is “the local guide for the global traveller”. You can explore their guides by country and city/resort as well as search through and watch videos of worldwide events including Germany’s Oktoberfest and Love Parade, Paris’ Bastille Day, Finland’s Wife Carrying World Championships and Spain’s Baby-Jumping Colacho Festival!
• www.abcwritersnetwork.co.uk is a UK-based site which “offers a free database of current writing competitions containing details and contact information” and updates their database on a regular basis.
• www.helenwhittaker.net/Home.html is the home of ‘The Write Idea forum: an international community of poets and prose writers’.
• www.booksfromscotland.com which is what it implies; an online resource and bookshop of all books Scottish.
• The American site www.poetryflash.org is a “review and literary calendar for the West and beyond”. The front screen of the website looks rather cluttered but only because it has so much on it and it’s worth a visit for anyone interested in poetry.
• http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/book_extracts/article4773601.ece has a list of ‘10 books not to read before you die’. “The producer of television shows that you may quite like shares with us his definitive list of books that just aren’t worth the bother”. Cheery stuff!
• US poet Kim Addonizio is quoted as saying “for a writer a feeling of spaciousness is crucial, ideas come from reading, experiences, TV, looking at art, dreams, eavesdropping and living in as many directions as possible”. Her website is http://kimaddonizio.com.
• If you need to do some research then The Internet Public Library (www.ipl.org) could be of some help. You can search resources by subject, newspapers and magazines, special collections, as well as ‘for kids’ and ‘for teens’ sections.
• Online dictionaries include http://dictionary.cambridge.org, www.collinslanguage.com (which includes a Scrabble checker!) and www.askoxford.com or if grammar is your weakness, www.dailywritingtips.com/category/grammar has a load of links that may help.
• For inspiration the www.britannica.com/blogs/2007/03/fun-facts-about-the-oclc-top-1000 has some interesting ‘fun facts’. It states that the research division of the Online Computer Library Centre (OCLC) compiled a list of the top 1,000 titles owned by member libraries – the intellectual works judged to be the most worthy based on the “purchase vote” of libraries around the globe. Works by Shakespeare featured 37 times, Charles Dickens was the second most popular with 16 works, closely followed by 13 John Grisham novels.
• www.guardian.co.uk/books/2002/feb/02/news has a similar article entitled ‘The top 100 library authors’ and http://en.wordpress.com/tag/books is a blog packed with information and discussions about books.
• Writing can be quite a solitary profession so you might like to take a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_writers%27_conferences which lists a variety of writers conferences, mainly in the US (three in Canada and just one in the UK – York).
• www.theshortstory.org.uk/writers has a wonderful hints and tips page with headings of ‘writing stories’, ‘competitions and prizes’, ‘web links and books’ and ‘writers’ residencies in Flanders and Brussels’.
• www.dailywritingtips.com/category/fiction-writing has over 30 sections with tips on writing from a variety of topics from horror writing, novels and short stories, street slang for scriptwriting, becoming your characters and kick-start your writing with NaNoWriMo (the November 50,000 writing project I’ve done and mentioned a few times before). Left-hand menu options include book reviews, business writing, expressions, fiction writing, freelance writing, grammar, misused words, punctuation, spelling, vocabulary, word of the day and writing basics.

Poetry opportunities

• www.thepoetrywebsite.co.uk takes poetry submissions – you can even email them audio recordings of your writing. Other current UK poetry competitions at www.poetrylibrary.org.uk/competitions.

Ideas

Here I provide a couple of story ideas or ways to get new ideas (or in this instance quite a few more) then list seven sentence starts which are listed on my ‘sentence starts’ blog page; each one, if you’d like to use them, for a daily writing project.

• I’ve mentioned colours briefly before and they do help imagery in any kind of writing. Think of ways that you can write different colours – (i.e. have a red car, how about a ‘falu red car’) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Shades_of_red 33 red shades and links to 40 explanations. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Shades_of_blue has even more for blue (and no doubt many other colours/website links).
• Describe a snowflake in a minimum of 100 words. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow may help but use your own words.
• Obituaries may not be something that immediately strikes you as of use to writing but it details someone’s life in a short amount of words. Whilst you wouldn’t want to take the exact details it may help inspire you with your own characters. Many newspapers have online obituary sections and here are just a few
• www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries
• www.guardian.co.uk/culture/culture+tone/obituaries
• www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries
• www.nytimes.com/pages/obituaries
• http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Obituary is a site run by a Lyndsay Marshall of Newcastle University. One of the many links on this is to www.kingkong.demon.co.uk/ngcoba/ngcoba.htm which “is to catalogue all deceased authors, and all authors of books published before 1964, including their full name(s), date of death, date of birth, pseudonyms, sex & nationality (for non-EU citizens who died after 1920), and their books published before 1964”.
• www.obituaries.com lists US and Canadian obituaries by newspapers. Listed by state, you can click on any of the names of the publications and you’re taken to their website’s obituary section.
• www.nhor.org is the website for ‘The National Hall of Records’ which “is your trusted destination for online obituaries and death notices. We provide a central location where family and friends can share memories, access helpful resources, and remember loved ones.” Cheery stuff.
• American site www.deathindexes.com/obituaries.html has ‘tips for finding obituaries’.
  • www.darwinawards.com, of the Darwin Awards books, currently lists a chronicle of 849 enterprising demises – “Honouring those who improve the species…by accidentally removing themselves from it!”
  • While we’re on quirky, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bizarre_(magazine) explains that the bi-monthly title by John Brown Publishing in February 1997 was an immediate success and changed to monthly issuance a year after its launch with circulation peaking at over 120,000 in 2000. Bizarre is a self-described “alternative” and “non-mainstream” magazine and is the sister publication of British monthly magazine Fortean Times which http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortean_Times describes as “The World of Strange Phenomena”.
  • Other bizarre websites include www.oddee.com/item_96479.aspx which lists the 15 most insanely titled books including ‘People who don’t know they’re dead’, ‘Italian without words’ and ‘Cheese problems solved’, and www.worldwidewords.org a site run by Michael Quinion who “writes on international English from a British viewpoint”. It has a very interesting ‘weird words’ page (www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/index.htm) which lists about 500 unusual words.
  • One interesting life was http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehran_Karimi_Nasseri who may (or may not) have been the inspiration behind Tom Hanks’ & Catherine Zeta Jones’ 2004 film ‘The Terminal’. Mr Nasseri lived in Charles de Gaulle airport from 8 August 1988 to July 2006 when he was admitted to hospital for an ‘unnamed ailment’. Wikipedia goes on to say that he’s been living in a Parisian shelter since 2008.

Elmore Leonard is quoted as saying in the ‘Snoopy’s Guide to the Writing Life’ 2002, “The most important advice I would suggest to beginning writers: Try to leave out the parts that readers skip.” Two other quotes I liked are…

• “You make take up a dictionary to settle an argument, but you put it down, much, much later, with a sigh of pleasure, chuffed at the sheer exuberance of the world’s most exuberantly nimble language.’ Jeremy Paxman (in a foreword to the 11th edition of the Chambers Dictionary).
• “One need not be a chamber to be haunted, One need not be a house, The brain has corridors surpassing, Material place.” Emily Dickinson

The podcast concluded with On This Day in History and a poem by Morris Bishop about prepositions which you can read on many websites including http://365pwords.wordpress.com/2009/04/15/prepositions-a-poem

That’s it. Thanks for visiting – a list of the other transcripts and summaries can be found at http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/bwt-podcast.

 

Author interview no.115 with, autobiographer, novelist, short story and ‘how to’ writer Linda Lewis (aka Catherine Howard)

Welcome to the one hundred and fifteenth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, directors, bloggers, autobiographers and more. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate the author further. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found at http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/blog-interviews.

Morgen: Hello Linda, lovely to get to chat to you having seen your name so often in the writing and women’s magazines. Please tell us something about yourself and how you came to be a writer.

Linda: I wasn’t one of those people who always wanted to be a writer. I had a rubbish childhood and was never encouraged in anything I did. I’ve written an autobiography which deals with this in far greater depth than I’d want to do here (see www.lulu.com reference 10957595).

Morgen: Oh that’s really sad… but something good came out of it. My childhood wasn’t very memorable so would be a short story rather than a whole book…

Linda: At age 11 I wrote a short play which was a spoof on Batman. I remember my English teacher laughing so much he almost cried.

Morgen: Wow, I do remember my English teachers being very supportive… maybe that’s just the way they are.

Linda: That gave me a huge thrill, but it didn’t lead to anything. It wasn’t until I was married to my third husband that the idea of having a go at writing even occurred to me. I started a correspondence course in which they made me write articles. The very first one I wrote (about a tropical fish) was accepted and for the next few years, I wrote hundreds of fishy articles for several magazines. I didn’t complete the course as it covered so many different aspects of writing, many of which I simply wasn’t interested in.

Morgen: I was the same with a 2-year local certificate course; I did the first year which included script, short stories and children’s and poetry which was enough for me… at nearly £700 a year it was an easy decision. But I passed and have the points banked in case I do anything else.

Linda: I switched my focus to fiction after my husband died. Losing him changed my life. I lost interest in fishkeeping, ran down my tanks, and in the end, gave the last of my fish away. Fiction offered an escape route. Until recently, I avoided writing about my own life, making things up was much easier and far less painful.

Morgen: Oh I’m sorry to hear that, again something good came out… I know for the women’s magazines genres vary but is there a genre that you generally write?

Linda: I write in whatever genre I think an editor might want to buy, so that includes romance, fantasy, twist endings and crime. Regarding books, my finished novel is a contemporary romance with an edge, the one I will be working on next is a fantasy novel for young teens.

Morgen: ‘an edge’ I like the sound of that. I know the answer to this is going to be ‘a lot’ but what have you had published to-date?

Linda: I’ve been concentrating on writing short stories and have lost count of how many I’ve sold. It must be two hundred, maybe more.  My stories have appeared in Chat, That’s Life, Woman, Woman’s Weekly, My Weekly, Yours, The Weekly News, Your Cat, Best, Take a Break (TAB) and Fiction Feast. They’ve always been published in Australia and Scandinavia.

I’ve also had dozens, possibly more than a hundred, articles published, mainly about tropical fish. Again, these appeared in several magazines based in the UK, USA and South Africa.

I don’t write much non fiction these days, apart from my column in Writers Forum. It’s called SHORT STORY SUCCESS. I use it to pass on hints and tips to other fiction writers and tell them about the ups and downs of my writing life.

Morgen: I know, it’s great. I’m a short story writer (in the main) so, without sounding like an über fan (if I don’t already) it’s one of my favourites.

Linda: My only finished novel almost found a publisher but not quite. I have at least four half-written ones languishing in various drawers.

Morgen: ‘Almost’ is great, a lot closer than, sadly, a lot of writers (including myself). Have you won or been shortlisted in any competitions and do you think they help with a writer’s success?

Linda: I have won a few competitions but none of the ‘big’ ones.

I think competition wins help enormously, especially the high profile ones like the Bridport. I have been shortlisted in Writing Magazine / Writers News competitions, five or six times and have started entering them again as I’d like to win at least once!

Morgen: I’m the same (shortlisted in Writing Mag) so a win there would be great (I’ve won a couple of smaller ones) but it’s still a thrill for me to see my name in there.

Linda: Another thing that can be very useful is submitting stories to anthologies and collections. I have a story in a collection called Diamonds and Pearls (Published by Accent Press) and (together with all the other contributors) donated my royalties to a breast cancer charity. I’m also in Radgepacket 5 (Byker Books) and several other collections.

The fact is it only takes one publisher, or the right agent, to notice you. For me, that’s what competitions and collections are all about. The prize money helps too.

Morgen: They do. And absolutely, it’s about sending it out (note to self: submit more!). Do you write under a pseudonym? If so why and do you think it makes a difference?

Linda: I use Catherine Howard when I write for Take a Break or Fiction Feast. I have no idea what name I would use for a novel.

Morgen: Do you have an agent? Do you think they’re vital to an author’s success?

Linda: I had an agent for the novel that nearly made it, but she was the wrong one for me. I have just started to look for a new one. Agents make things so much easier for writers and are worth their commission.

Morgen: I do tend to agree for writers who seriously want their books on the shelves. Are your books available as eBooks? If so what was your experience of that process? And do you read eBooks?

Linda: I have a few books available as eBooks via Lulu.com – various collections of my short stories (crime – ref 10900373, love stories – ref 10271074, twist endings – ref 10217932), an autobiography telling the truth about my childhood and my relationship with my parents (A Mother’s Love: How I learned to live without it, ref 10957595), plus a series of writing guides of which two have been published so far. The first is a light hearted glossary of terms, ref 10238155. The second looks at why short stories are rejected and what writers can do to increase their chances of an acceptance (ref 10966417). Each of these is also available as a ‘normal’ book.

Morgen: Ooh I love crime, and I love short stories… back in a minute. Only kidding (noted for later though). What was your first acceptance and is being accepted still a thrill?

Linda: My first acceptance was for an article about the glass catfish – Kryptopterus bicirrhis which appeared in Aquarist and Pondkeeper, a magazine that is sadly no more.

My first piece of fiction was only 400 words long. It was called A DEADLY CONVERSATION and appeared in a local newspaper. I was paid £30. I was so thrilled, I photocopied the cheque!

Morgen: Me too and I never cashed mine (although it was a 60-worder for Woman’s Weekly so only £10). I think they tell their banks to give them pretty cheque books so no-one cashes them. Although if it had been much more I would have done.

Linda: Sadly, having short stories published no longer gives me a thrill as I aim to sell at least three every month, but I would be over the moon if I sold a book.

Morgen: What a shame, I’ll swap. But then really I’m at the beginning of my publishing career so maybe I’d feel differently after 200+ stories. I hope not but then I’ve gone from writing (and submitting some) short stories to novels, found I didn’t enjoy them half as much and am back to short stories with a vengeance. Presumably with so many submissions there have been quite a few rejections? If so, how do you deal with them?

Linda: I sometimes have ten stories rejected in one day as TAB / Fiction Feast seem to stockpile them. The best thing to do, I’ve found, is send the story off to somebody else a.s.a.p.

Morgen: Absolutely… keep the circulation going (note to self).

Linda: As mentioned earlier, I’ve written a guide about coping with rejection which is available via www.lulu.com. It covers the various reasons stories are rejected, and also points out that it is not always the fault of the story.

Morgen: It’s easy to forget that. What are you working on at the moment / next?

Linda: Right now, I’m churning out short stories as I need to build my numbers up after not writing very many earlier this year. After that I plan to totally rework my novel adding a darker strand, then have a go at writing some more radio plays. I wrote two last year which received good feedback from Radio 4, so I feel it’s time to have another go.

Morgen: Oh brilliant, the BBC always appears so supportive so fingers crossed. Do you manage to write every day? What’s the most you’ve written in a day?

Linda: I write almost every day. The most I’ve written is around 6000 words.

Morgen: Wow, that’s good going; three+ magazine short stories. What is your opinion of writer’s block? Do you ever suffer from it? If so, how do you ‘cure’ it?

Linda: I don’t believe in it. I DO believe that there are times when we don’t write as well as we could, but we can always write. You just put your pen on the page and move your arm.

Morgen: A question some authors dread (I guess because it’s sometimes impossible to answer?), where do you get your inspiration from?

Linda: Inspiration comes at me from all directions – TV, other people, songs, newspapers, magazines, adverts… I have so many ideas for books and stories, I have trouble choosing which one to do next. For me it’s all about training yourself to notice ideas. Once you do that, you never run out.

Morgen: I’m definitely there, I do wonder if I’ll write everything I have ideas for… definitely better that way round. Do you plot your stories or do you just get an idea and run with it?

Linda: If I’m writing for a womag, I tend to have an idea of the plot before I start. That said, I often end up with a different ending as many editors enjoy a twist, and those usually come to me when a story is almost fully formed.

Morgen: With short stories, apart from the word count, what do you see as the differences between them and novels and why do you think they’re so difficult to get published?

Linda: The difference is hard to define. You could say that stories concentrate on smaller episodes or events, but some novels are also very narrow in focus. I’d have to say it’s mainly to do with the word count and that in book you have more room to add sub plots and minor characters which would only serve to confuse the reader in a short story.

Morgen: Are you involved in anything else writing-related other than actual writing or marketing of your writing?

Linda: I give talks to anyone who will listen.

Morgen:

Linda: I also run workshops and classes, and act as judge for competitions when asked. I also offer a feedback service to writers of short stories.

Morgen: Do you do a lot of editing or do you find that as time goes on your writing is more fully-formed?

Linda: I believe in editing, mainly as I often have to make a story fit a specific word count. I have never written a story that didn’t need some editing.

Morgen: That’s encouraging and I’ve heard a lot of… I was going to say “seasoned” but that implies “old” … experienced writers saying that. Plus also, certainly for longer pieces, editors pick up on things that hadn’t occurred to the author which can make a huge difference (talking from experience here). Do you write on paper or do you prefer a computer?

Linda: That depends on what I’m writing. Articles go straight on to the computer. Stories are written first in long hand. Novels are a bit of both.

Morgen: Some writers like quiet, others the noise of a coffee shop etc. Do you listen to music or have noise around you when you write or do you need silence?

Linda: I like to have some background noise. A favourite CD is Fleetwood mac’s Greatest Hits, but I also like Alfred Brendel playing Schubert.

Morgen: Classical for me too, although FM’s hits is in my collection too. What point of view do you find most to your liking: first person or third person? Have you ever tried second person?

Linda: I like writing in the first person as that’s more immediate but write more in the third person because that’s what TAB / Fiction Feat prefer. I have written in the second person but nothing that’s been published.

Morgen: I know that feeling – it’s certainly not a popular point of view but then hard to read in anything other than small doses so for specialist outlets I think. Do you have pieces of work that you think will never see light of day?

Linda: Yes!

Morgen: What’s your favourite / least favourite aspect of your writing life?

Linda: I love deadlines so my favourite part of my writing life is writing my column (Short Story Success) for Writers Forum. It’s non fiction, which I find much easier, plus I get quite a lot of feedback from readers which is great.

Morgen: I’m much better with deadlines. I’ve been a secretary / PA since I left school so I can prioritise well. Tell me something can wait two months and I can always find enough things to fill the 7-8 weeks before I need to start panicking.

Linda: My least favourite part is the isolation which is why I encourage people to join writers’ groups. I belong to Leeds Writers Circle and although I don’t get to as many meetings as I would like, it’s great to know they’re there. I also go to various courses, creative writing groups, festivals and holidays whenever I can.

Morgen: I love being alone (although I have my dog for company) but run / belong to three groups so a great balance. Plus also they’re great critiquers so my sounding board before going off to my editor, Rachel. What advice would you give aspiring writers?

Linda: Don’t always take notice of other people’s advice! They may be wrong.

Believe in yourself. Work hard, and keep writing, whatever happens.

I would also recommend writers’ holidays especially the wonderful Swanwick Writers Summer School held in August in Derbyshire.

These are not cheap, but they’re worth it. I always come home with new contacts, new friends, and a notebook FULL of ideas.

The other major piece of advice I have is simple, write in your own voice. Don’t write what you THINK you should write. Follow your heart.

Morgen: I went to Winchester Writers Conference for the first time this July and am hooked. I’d been on many other one-day courses but I did the whole weekend (including a two-part workshop) and it was like being on holiday surrounded by friends (I did know a few people there so really it was ). Swanwick does sound good, and nearer to me… maybe I could do both next year. What do you like to read?

Linda: I like to read a bit of everything, but prefer fiction. I adore Terry Pratchett and would advise anyone who hasn’t tried him to take the plunge. Right now I’m reading the Millennium trilogy and loving every minute.  Brilliant. Other favourites are John Wyndham and Ray Bradbury. I also like unusual books e.g. The Time Traveller’s Wife and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night time.

Morgen: Ah Mark Haddon, a Northampton man. What do you do when you’re not writing? Any hobbies or party tricks?

Linda: I like to grow things, especially things you can eat. I like to play tennis on the Wii, bake wheat free cakes as I have an allergy, listen to music, browse charity shops, play board games, watch TV, go to the theatre – all kinds of things. I used to sing with several choirs but sadly, I don’t do that so much now.

Occasionally I look after other people’s pets (mainly dogs) when they’re away which I really enjoy. I get all the benefits of having a dog around the house with few of the disadvantages.

Morgen: What a good idea. Are there any writing-related websites and / or books that you find useful and would recommend?

Linda: www.nawg.co.uk  The National Association of Writers Groups do a great job, and produce an excellent magazine for members. You don’t even have to belong to a group to become a member.

Morgen: I’m biased here because they’ve published me (April / August 2011 and will be in October’s) but yes, it’s a great magazine – LINK – and I’ve seen you in there Linda.

Linda: www.prizemagic.co.uk  The man who writes this has a great sense of humour. Not only that, he lists dozens of writing (and other) competitions.

Morgen: Another great site; I’ve recommended it a few times.

Linda: www.womagwriter.blogspot.com This site is a great source of up to date market info and useful advice. It’s a must in my book.

Morgen: Definitely, another recommendation (and on my Link blog page). I’d also recommend www.jbwb.co.uk for competitions, markets etc. Where are you based Linda?

Linda: I’m in Leeds, in England.

Morgen: Ah, the lovely Yorkshire – fond memories of a school trip. Are you on any forums or networking sites? If so, how invaluable do you find them?

Linda: I’m on Facebook and I also tweet. Just search for Linda Lewis.

Morgen: Where can we find out about you and your work?

Linda: WEBSITE – www.akacatherinehoward.weebly.com

BLOG http://akacatherinehoward.blogspot.com

Morgen: Thanks Linda (you’re now on my Links page). Is there anything else you’d like to mention?

Linda: Yes. It’s hard to make it as a writer these days, but it’s not impossible. If you are good enough, work hard and never stop trying, then you will succeed.

Morgen: Absolutely… just keep doing what you’re doing (as HarperCollins’ Scott Pack said to me earlier this year)… so I am, and I’m loving it. Thank you very much, Linda.

***

If you are reading this and you write, in whatever genre, and are thinking “ooh, I’d like to do this” then you can… just email me and I’ll send you the information. They do now (January 2013) carry a fee (£10 / €12.50 / $15) for the new interviews on this blog but everything else (see Opportunities on this blog) is free.

If you go for the interview, it’s very simple; I send you a questionnaire (I have them for novelists, short story authors, children’s authors, non-fiction authors, and poets). You complete the questions, and I let you know when it’s going to go live. Before it does so, I add in comments as if we’re chatting, and then they get posted. When that’s done, I email you with the link so you can share it with your corner of the literary world. And if you have a writing-related blog / podcast and would like to interview me… let me know.

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The full details of the new online writing groups, and their associated Facebook groups, are:

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We look forward to reading your comments.

 

Author interview no.109 with multi-genre writer Kevin Broughton

Welcome to the one hundred and ninth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, directors, bloggers, autobiographers and more. Today’s is with multi-genre writer Kevin Broughton. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate the author further. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here.

Morgen: Hello, Kevin. Please tell us something about yourself and how you came to be a writer.

Kevin: I’m not a professional writer and although I’ve written short bits and pieces in the past I only started writing in earnest about 6 years ago. I’ve never been much of a reader so it would be very hard for me to be a novelist, since you need to know what you’re trying to achieve before you can achieve it.  One day on a mailing list there was an e-mail from the great writer Joe Michael Straczynski in which he explained the difference between writing for a book and writing for the screen. It was like an epiphany; I Iove films and television, so it was something I knew. I started scriptwriting and have been going ever since.

Morgen: You’re a braver man than me (not that I’m a man but, you know) – I adore films (I have a season ticket for the local flicks and see 1-2 a week either on my tod or with a local cinema group on http://meetup.com) but I did Script Frenzy in April 2010 and found the format too bity for my liking but I know some scriptwriters who wouldn’t (or perhaps couldn’t?) do prose. What genre do you generally write and have you considered other genres?

Kevin: I don’t really have a genre. I suppose I tend to gravitate towards historic or speculative fiction. What’s important to me is to go where the story takes me. I like writing comedy but I haven’t fewer ideas for doing that so I most often end up writing straight pieces. I’d write whatever the story was, except perhaps crime stories, just because I don’t think I have an analytical enough brain for crime stories. In fact I have written a script where my main characters had to solve a crime and they couldn’t. I thought it was interesting to put them in that situation. They didn’t like it much.

Morgen: Crime and comedy are the two genres I love reading so am concentrating on these now. I watched the four-part ‘Mad Dogs’ whilst doing some filing (of magazine short stories – that’s as nerdy as my research gets) yesterday and although it was a crime-led (with some character focus) it was hilarious in places, and I sat there thinking “this is what I want to write”. Maybe I could write the prose and you could turn it into a film. What have you had published to-date?

Kevin: I’ve had one play published, called “I Stand Alone”. It’s set in Britannia, which is a future Britain where war has ravaged the nation and left it derelict. Wealthy Celts have returned and started rebuilding, pushing out the existing population who have identified themselves as Saxons. One Celt stands alone against a small incident and gets drawn deeper and deeper into the conflict. It’s a thinly-veiled allegory of the Palestinian / Israeli situation. The publisher is interested in seeing more, so that’s a good sign.

Morgen: Ooh great, let me know. How much of the marketing do you do for your published works or indeed for yourself as a ‘brand’?

Kevin: I’m always on the lookout for a way to get my work out there so that it has the best chance of being noticed. On one occasion I had a play that could only be performed in sign language and I approached a lot of deaf theatre groups to see whether they were interested in performing it. I found out there is a difference in the syntax of sign language and the play doesn’t work very well. As a result of the contact with one group I ended up writing the outline to a pantomime for them because they were running out of time, and they’d produced a poster but had no storyline. From that, I was asked to write dialogue for another project. That’s my approach really, take whatever opportunity I can and hope it snowballs.

Morgen: Absolutely, just keep plugging away. As long as it’s enjoyable it won’t be a chore. Have you won or been shortlisted in any competitions and do you think they help with a writer’s success?

Kevin: I reached the semi final stage of the first play competition I entered; it was for a ten-minute play contest in the United States. That gave me the confidence to keep going. I think competitions help in that they give you deadlines and directions for a story idea. There is a danger though that if you don’t win you could feel somewhat despondent, but part of being a writer is dealing with rejection so you have to get used to not being chosen.

Morgen: Yes, once you receive the first couple it does get easier (for me anyway). Do you write under a pseudonym? If so why and do you think it makes a difference?

Kevin: I don’t, but I can understand people who do. Sometimes they want to differentiate between genres, or sometimes as in the case of Cordwainer Bird (Harlan Ellison) they want to disown the work altogether. Others will probably be able to speak more knowledgably about this than me, but I believe it was a practice of women in the past to use names that hid the fact that they were women, because of the institutional sexism in certain areas.

Morgen: They do – JK Rowling has got to be the most obvious example here. Do you have an agent? Do you think they’re vital to an author’s success?

Kevin: No and Yes. I don’t have an agent, I think they are vital to the success of an author, but it has to be the right agent. The right one will know how to open doors and they will be hard negotiators on your behalf. In short they will be out there doing their thing while I write, which is my thing. They take a large cut but most writers I’ve heard talk about this, say that agents will get you more return after the cut is taken than you’d get yourself anyway.

Morgen: I agree. I was listening to a recent episode (no. 6.8) of Writing Excuses called ‘What an agent does’ and it was fascinating as to how much they have to do. The bit about the agent handling an auction where as she said that it would be unlikely that this would happen to an author directly was where it sounded like they really earn their money.

Kevin: The wrong kind of agent can be harmful to your career, so you do have to pick wisely. So far the agent I would really like has turned me down twice. I would mention her name here, but there is a fine line between persistence and stalking.

Morgen: Phew, then I don’t have the dilemma of whether to edit it out. I met one at the 2010 Verulam Get Writing who’d been recommended to me but she wasn’t interested in even speaking so I didn’t warm to her one bit and I think even if she approached me now I’d listen but probably still not warm to her. You have to have a good rapport with your agent (I do with my editor so I know how it should feel) and first impressions do count – it was before the event started so there wasn’t anyone else clambering for her attention. Hey ho. What was your first acceptance and is being accepted still a thrill?

Kevin: Yes, I think it’s a thrill every time you break new ground. It might sound silly but my first acceptance was when a group of people performed my first pantomime.

Morgen: That doesn’t sound silly at all. I’d say that’s better than having a short story published (my first acceptance) because I wasn’t to know whether anyone else would read it (it was Woman’s Weekly so highly unlikely but I’d have no proof of course).

Kevin: It was cheap, very amateur but they threw themselves into it and I had my first taste of working with a Director. It was a great success and I’m very proud of it. The main thing it taught me is that I am very good at visualising how the play will look and sound when it’s performed. That knowledge builds confidence. When I was first asked to write the dialogue for a project, that was a thrill because it was the first time someone had recommended me based on work I’d done for them. Getting published was a great thrill because it shows there is an acceptance of the work as being marketable, and seeing it on the web gives me a good feeling. In a field where your ego takes plenty of knocks I think it pays to look for the victories no matter how small, then press on and write some more.

Morgen: I love having my work on the net (on other people’s sites; mine is cheating) and especially getting feedback on it. For me, it’s a prelude to having my books on Smashwords, Amazon etc. (again no guarantees but if I sell one copy I’d be thrilled… to some I don’t know!). Have you had any rejections? If so, how do you deal with them?

Kevin: I’ve had plenty of rejections, but I comfort myself with the knowledge that many now famous writers were also rejected. Roger Zelazny was a great writer and I’m told he was rejected 500 times.

Morgen: I think Dean Koontz had about that many.

Kevin: At one time nobody was interested in Lord of the Rings. I’m not for one minute comparing myself to those writers but it demonstrates just what a tough world writing is. I deal with the rejection in different ways. Sometimes I think it’s not what they’re looking for and sometimes I react rather badly. It depends a lot on how much the work means to me, who has rejected it and whether their reasons seem valid. All the scripts are my intellectual children and I’m protective of them, but some are just fun and others are what I feel are important stories to be told.

Morgen: And, especially in short story land, depends on what they’ve bought already. What are you working on at the moment / next Kevin?

Kevin: At the moment I’m working on a story with a working title “Spirit of the Meadow.” Which has grown from an entry I made to a weekly writing competition on Facebook run by Sue Welfare.

Morgen: They’re great aren’t they? That’s how we ‘met’.

Kevin: The entries are short paragraphs as an opening to a novel on a set subject. I’d recommend taking a look at it and giving it a go.

Morgen: Yes do. They can often be hilarious, spooky, tear-jerking… but most of all fun to write and yes, I’ve had a couple that I want to keep going. Do you manage to write every day? What’s the most you’ve written in a day?

Kevin: Most days I write, but I couldn’t say every day. Sometimes the day job gets in the way, and sometimes there are social engagements. I couldn’t say what the most I’ve written is because I don’t pay much attention to it, though I will work fairly solidly if I’m committed to the story, or if there is a deadline.

Morgen: Tsch to the day job and social life. I’m lucky I only have a half-week day job but my social life has been a tad lacking recently. I mentioned Meet Up earlier and see all the events being put up and go to some but have to turn some down due to lack of time. That said, I don’t mind. For me, at the moment, getting my eBooks ready has to take priority, it’s my baby, and I’ve got NaNoWriMo coming up in November so I may see my friends again at Christmas. Actually I have my writing group and I belong to two others so I get to see people, it’s just that it’s all writing-related… but nothing wrong with that, right? What is your opinion of writer’s block? Do you ever suffer from it? If so, how do you ‘cure’ it?

Kevin: I haven’t experienced it. There are times when I think a story isn’t going too well and I leave it to work on another one, and there are times when I don’t get on and write as much as other times. I guess it becomes more of a problem for staff writers who have to come up with ideas and write them up each week. I take my hat off to them. Harlan Ellison says that you should quit while you’re hot and never finish the scene, so that when you come back to write you’re not starting from a dead stop. He says if you do that you’ll never have writer’s block.

Morgen: I’m a bit the same, variety means little halting but then I tend to write short stories so they tend to be written before I get a chance to falter. Do you plot your stories or do you just get an idea and run with it?

Kevin: I have an ideas file with the very basic ideas in. I then write an outline, which I call an ‘outkline’ due to a typo in the first outline I wrote, and it having become a silly tradition with me.

Morgen: I used to work for a chocolate company and wrote to a customer once enclosing a ‘git box’. Fortunately I spotted it but I always smile when I see ‘gift box’ written down. Yes… outlines.

Kevin: That gives me the story in a nutshell, but I don’t mind straying from the outline. This is going to sound very cheesy and pretentious but sometimes the characters surprise me and they don’t do what I was expecting them to do, so I often have to make changes along the way.

Morgen: My goodness not cheesy or pretentious – I’d say this happens to every writer. Even the aforementioned JK Rowling is quoted as saying that she was planning to kill off a character (I don’t know who) but he / she wouldn’t let her so she killed off someone else instead (I won’t say who in case anyone reading this hasn’t read the book or the film – actually that almost passed me by in the film, it wasn’t made a big deal of which surprised me in a way). Do you have a method for creating your characters, their names and what do you think makes them believable?

Kevin: This is hard to explain, they just sort of form with the story. They have their own story that intersects with the one I’m telling. I recently wrote a six part television series and for that I wrote the background for all the characters. I think it helps make the characters believable if the things they say come from somewhere rather than just appear when it’s convenient for the story. For me a great source of character ideas is the post office queue.  I’m stuck there so I might as well observe the way different people react to each other as they shuffle forward.

Morgen: I don’t go into the Post Office if I can help it (my three local branches are a nightmare) but maybe I should. Who is your first reader – who do you first show your work to?

Kevin: My wife, Penny, but usually only for important stories. Others I send out when I’m happy with them or I send them to be professionally appraised.

Morgen: I think it’s worth having an editor, especially as you say for the important stories, as someone else is bound to pick out things that had never occurred to the author because they’re too close to it, or know the intention behind something. Even if you don’t hire a professional, someone who reads books will be able to read a story as a reader would, which is what you want. Do you do a lot of editing or do you find that as time goes on your writing is more fully-formed?

Kevin: I do a few edits, but I don’t like edit the life out of the script. Sometimes I find it useful to go back to a script after I’ve left it for a while. I get a fresher look and I see what is really there, as opposed to what I wanted to be there when I was writing it. In one case I wrote long speech for a character to say just before he was executed. When I looked at it again later I decided to cut the whole speech because I thought if I had to listen to that I’d kill him myself.

Morgen: What is your creative process like? What happens before sitting down to write?

Kevin: Ideas come from everywhere and I jot them down on paper. For example there is an advert that begins with a naked man running, he uses his credit card to buy things. At the end he arrives at his wedding. That gave me a story idea for a film which is now sat in my ideas folder for me to use at a later date. Once I have the idea I think about them until I’m able to set down an outline. It’s during that stage that the characters and locations start to appear more vividly in my imagination. The outline is usually pretty well formed by the time I set it down.

Morgen: Do you write on paper or do you prefer a computer?

Kevin: When I’m jotting down ideas I use paper, but once I get down to proper writing I use the computer.

Morgen: Yeah I’m pretty much the same. What sort of music do you listen to when you write?

Kevin: Usually I don’t. But if I do, at the moment, it would probably be Classical, The Association, Salif

Keita, or the theme music from Sharpe or Due South.

Morgen: Oh I loved Due South. Nothing to do with the 6’-something Paul Gross and an equally adorable husky. What point of view do you find most to your liking: first person or third person? Have you ever tried second person?

Kevin: Scripts are written in first and third person; the dialogue is first person and the action is third person. I’ve not had cause to use second person, but I would do if I came up with a great story for a video game.

Morgen: Ooh that’s an idea. I love second person (as readers to some of my previous interviews will know so I won’t go on about it again here). Do you use prologues / epilogues? What do you think of the use of them?

Kevin: For episodic TV scripts there tends to be a teaser and a tag so I have used them. I think the writer should use whatever they think is best to tell the story the way they want to tell it. Nearly every rule I’ve read I can think of a successful example of where that rule has been broken.

Morgen: That’s what I love about rules – I’m not a red tape person. Do you have pieces of work that you think will never see light of day?

Kevin: I have some that are not ready to see the light of day yet but I wouldn’t want to give up on them. They might take a different form or be joined with something else. Usually I’ve stopped work on them because the story seems to have run its course without producing a full script.

Morgen: But they could be something else. I have hope that my dozens of unsubmitted stories could be tweaked (some need it more than others) and have life. What’s your favourite / least favourite aspect of your writing life?

Kevin: I don’t write full time so I pretty much enjoy all of the process of writing. Sometimes it’s more enjoyable than others, such as the days when the action is playing out in front of me and I can’t get the story down fast enough. I find it hard to be constantly pushing my work out to people, and I don’t like the rejection. I’m quite shy by nature but I force myself to bring my scripts to people’s attention because it seems to me that you have to have no shame if you want to get noticed.

Morgen: I’m rubbish at sending things out but only because I don’t get round to it, which is bit silly really because I’m not going to get published if I don’t submit. Rejections are the downside but I think new writers will soon develop a thicker skin and just keep going. I have just under 30 rejections so I’m somewhere in between.

Kevin: Proof reading is not something I dislike, but I do find it difficult. My mind tends to wander and not pay great attention to detail. It helps with the creative side but not the craft of writing; still you can’t have everything. I try very hard though because bad spelling and grammar will put people off before they’ve even given your story a chance.

Morgen: Perhaps that’s where Penny comes in? If anything, what has been your biggest surprise about writing?

Kevin: How much I enjoy it, particularly play writing. I like the puzzle of telling the story in real time and without having the effects and changing locations that other forms of script allow.

Morgen: What advice would you give aspiring writers?

Kevin: Don’t write my way. All writers have their own way of doing it so find a way that suits you, and that you enjoy. Even the best writers get rejected and you’re going to have to enjoy it so that you keep going. All I can do is pass on some of the things I’ve picked up from writers far more qualified to comment than me, and there do seem to be some common threads. Don’t try to please everyone. If you write something that really touches you, and your honest about it, the chances are that it will affect someone.

Morgen: We mentioned Sue’s weekly competitions (I say competition but we don’t do it for the money because there isn’t any but having your name in lights (on an email) – Kevin’s a regular on those, I’ve been on a couple – is a thrill and as you say it can easily kick off a bigger project but also you get the emotions just reading those couple of hundred words; amazing. Any more advice?

Kevin: Appreciate the great moments in the things you like and try to create great moments in your own work. Write, finish a project and then start on another one. Keep going and don’t let anyone make you give up. Above all keep aspiring.

Morgen: Absolutely, I’ve even heard top writers say they’re still learning. Doctors still read up on new developments etc. What do you like to read?

Kevin: I’m not an avid reader but when I do it’s either non fiction or science fiction. I recently came across Ben Jeapes who wrote some very good stories with fresh ideas in so I’d like to give him a plug. Joe Straczynski’s book “The Complete Book of Scriptwriting” was a great help to me when I started writing and I still refer back to it. It not only tells you the craft of writing it tells you how to go about selling it.

Morgen: Christopher Vogler’s ‘The Writer’s Journey’ is another good one. Even though I don’t write the genre, I have a few script books; Robert McKee’s ‘Story’ is another – my bookshelves are heaving (100+) writing guides that I (sometimes) dip into. What do you do when you’re not writing? Any hobbies or party tricks?

Kevin: I enjoy movies and some television. I used to do longbow archery and mediaeval re-enactment, but nowadays I just enjoy being at home with Penny and the cats. My party piece used to be sliding down stairs on my shins, but I’m a bit older and wiser now, I just try to bring a bit of humour to the parties I go to these days.

Morgen: And I’d say hitting the bottom bannister post would hurt a little more these days. Humour, yes, I can tell by your novel intros. Are there any writing-related websites and/or books that you find useful and would recommend?

Kevin: Apart from the scriptwriting book I mentioned earlier, there are loads of clips on YouTube where writers give their views on writing. These give interesting insights into the world of a writer. This one on the shapes of stories is a good example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP3c1h8v2ZQ.

Morgen: Ah yes Kurt Vonnegut’s videos – they’re great aren’t they? In which country are you based and do you find this a help or hindrance with letting people know about your work?

Kevin: I live in England. I think that’s probably a help because there seem to be quite a few opportunities that come up, particularly through the BBC’s Writers Room. Having said that I don’t have any experience of working in any other country so I have nothing against which to compare.

Morgen: The BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom) is so encouraging. Although I don’t do scripts I’ve been tempted to write a play for Radio 4 although they read out short stories too so definitely an opportunity there. Are you on any forums or networking sites? If so, how invaluable do you find them?

Kevin: I’m in a local playwriting group, and I interact with writers and actors on Facebook and Google plus. I find them very useful for contacts and for hearing about opportunities.

Morgen: I’ve not tried Google plus yet but I’m also on Twitter and LinkedIn so it leaves little time. I’ll get there at some stage, I’m sure.

Morgen: Do you have a phrase or quote you like?

Kevin: Quentin Crisp said: Artists in any medium are just hoodlums who cannot live within their income of admiration.

Morgen: I wonder how many of us wear hoodies. Where can we find out about you and your work?

Kevin: I have one script on http://lazybeescripts.co.uk so you can see a piece of my work. I have a Facebook page for Bounder, a stuffed toy I bought as a pantomime prop. He spreads the news about me and my writing.

Morgen: Wasn’t he one of the dogs in Neighbours? What do you think the future holds for a writer?

Kevin: Difficult to say. The ability for self-publishing is better than ever because of the online world but it is also easier to copy and distribute work without paying for it. The need to get better at writing and find a way to stand out from the competition is the same as it has ever been.

Morgen: I’ve heard (from podcasts mainly) that famous authors have their worked ripped off all the time and whilst most find it infuriating (with some taking legal action), others surprisingly don’t mind as it means that there are people out there who want to read what they’re writing, which I guess is what it’s all about. I guess I wouldn’t mind if I could afford to. Is there anything else you’d like to mention?

Kevin: I had a sticky issue over copyright when I did a collaboration. It was resolved amicably in the end when we both decided to pursue individual projects. If you are going to collaborate I’d recommend agreeing the copyright issues first.

Morgen: Absolutely, everything in writing, even if it’s via email. Is there a question you’d like to ask me?

Kevin: What drove you to pluck me from the masses to appear on your blog?

Morgen: Because I loved your sense of humour (and quality of writing) on Sue’s Facebook Competition we mentioned earlier. That and the fact that you’re a writer. I’m not actually that fussy. No, I shouldn’t say that… Kevin, I’m incredibly fussy and you’re very lucky to be here.

I then invited Kevin to include a portion of his writing and he took this from one of his contributions to Sue Welfare’s weekly writing contest, the entry that he says he is currently working up into a full story:

“We filed past, our faces pressed against glass darkened to protect our eyes from the bright artificial light within. Ours had become a twilight existence. There was no time to stop, so the glimpse of our national treasure was all too brief. It is said that people once wanted it to disappear, but I don’t believe it. Why would there be a perennial queue to see the last of its kind? What would life be, without once looking on the beauty of a Dandelion?”

He then added “If the TV Series I’ve written gets made, this will be the opening weekly dialogue”:

“The King I served is dead and I have been exiled for carrying out my duty. So I stand now before a stone hewn from, and rooted in, this land. As an arch is only as strong as its weakest stone, so is a nation as strong as it’s poorest citizen. Once the weakest stone fails so does the arch.  Wherever I see anyone suffer injustice, I will fight with my sword in my hand and compassion in my heart. I am a Knight of the Stone King and this is my vow.”

Thanks Kevin. See you on Facebook.

Update June 2012: Since I did this interview I’ve been spending a lot of virtual time with story writers. I’ve learnt a lot from them and been enthused to give it a try. I’ve still got a lot to learn but it’s now fun to write stories as well as scripts; so thankyou to Morgen and everyone else I met on Sue’s competition page.

We all got together and produced a book called Telling Tales which is published on Lulu.com if you want to take a look. Producing that book was a learning curve and it didn’t all go smoothly, but still i am proud to have been a part of it.

I’ve almost completed my first novella; I didn’t want to go straight for a novel without the aid of a safety net . It was originally a film script I wrote for Jason Salkey and Patricia tallman; if you ever get a chance to meet them I would take it they’re lovely people. Sorry, I digress – the story is sort of a horror story. This is how it starts:

In the mist, a lone Danish warrior strode with his long slightly greying hair flowing free. He looked upon the standing stones that had stood in this land long before his people had trod the ground of this fertile island. Now his people had suffered and he alone was able to hold his mind in the face of the enemy and it was that face he had come to see.

His back was to the grove of trees that marked his destination. He had moved through it until he came out on the far side, looking once again on the open land around. Just in front of him he could see the smaller wooden cousin of the lithic structure he had been gazing on moments before. Where the stone had stood against weather and time, the wooden pillars had not. All that remained to mark the sacred place was a few sturmps that barely stood proud of the land.

Erik moved cautiously towards it. His stride was not the longest of his people, for he was not the largest, but he was fit and strong. As he walked forward he could see the shadowy figure within, and he knew that none of his people had kept their mind once approaching the Evil One; indeed many had lost their lives. He also knew that the Evil One had been an ever growing plague on his people. Erik Redmayne drew his sword and without hesitation or fear he walked forward.

The Evil One grinned, happy to see a new plaything, but he could sense this one was different; he could not reach into this mind; this mind was closed to him. It did not matter, once inside the barrier, this feeble being would have nowhere to hide.

The Evil One spoke to this insignificant fool in the vulgar tongue of the mortals. “So what have you come here for? Is it to mock me in my prison?”

Erik moved closer, “I have come to seal your fate.”

The Evil One laughed, he was amused at the arrogance, of this puny creature. “It will take more than one mortal with a feeble weapon. Surely even one such as you could not have failed to grasp the futility of fighting me alone?”

Erik did not like being mocked, but he decided to parley for the moment and look for a weakness. “I have seen the death you’ve wrought on my people, even trapped as you are, but I have not been idle. This sword was forged by our finest smith who called on Odin himself to help hone the blade.”

“Odin, really?” Said the Evil One incredulously. “You still cling to the your old Gods, even though they are abandoned by your people?”

“My people have not abandoned them; though others have.”

The Evil One smirked. “Your people; you talk of the petty tribe you led to this place. You brought them here only to get away from the new god your people have turned to?”

Erik just glared, and he knew the Evil One was right. He had led his people away to escape persecution. They had come to farm, and had been drawn to the area by the ancient religious monuments which they held in great respect.

The Evil One continued. “What about the doubt in the hearts of your followers. I’ve seen it in their minds; your gods are in decline. Even if you were to defeat me, they would still not survive in the hearts of men.”

“Only one of us shall see what comes to pass. I care not for the hearts of others; my gods live in my heart and the power of Odin is in my sword.”

“And do you believe the power of such a sword will protect you?”

Erik stood firm, “I do.”

“Then come closer and let us see how it performs. I will look forward to devouring your flesh and leaving your soul to see what a world I make. You will be trapped here, while I travel in my new realm of darkness.”

“I do not come to trade words with a servant of Loki, I am a Viking and my sword is in my hand.”

Moving forward Erik passed through a barrier; his eyes could not see it but his soul felt it close behind him.

***

***

If you are reading this and you write, in whatever genre, and are thinking “ooh, I’d like to do this” then you can… just email me and I’ll send you the information. They do now (January 2013) carry a fee (£10 / €12.50 / $15) for the new interviews on this blog but everything else (see Opportunities on this blog) is free.

If you go for the interview, it’s very simple; I send you a questionnaire (I have them for novelists, short story authors, children’s authors, non-fiction authors, and poets). You complete the questions, and I let you know when it’s going to go live. Before it does so, I add in comments as if we’re chatting, and then they get posted. When that’s done, I email you with the link so you can share it with your corner of the literary world. And if you have a writing-related blog / podcast and would like to interview me… let me know.

Alternatively, if you’d like a free Q&A-only interview, I now have http://morgensauthorinterviews.wordpress.com on which I’ve rerun the original interviews posted here then posted new interviews which I then reblog here. These interviews are Q&A only, so I don’t add in my comments but they do get exposure on both sites.

** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!

See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0

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As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. I welcome critique for the four new writing groups listed below and / or flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays. For other opportunities see (see Opportunities on this blog).

The full details of the new online writing groups, and their associated Facebook groups, are:

• Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group (http://novelwritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/508696639153189)
• Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group (http://poetrywritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/388850977875934)
• Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group (http://scriptwritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/319941328108017)
• Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group (http://shortstorywritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/544072635605445)

We look forward to reading your comments.

 

Author interview no.102 with writer Adrian Magson

Welcome to the one hundred and second of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, directors, bloggers, autobiographers and more. Today’s is with crime novelist, short story & ‘how to’ author Adrian Magson. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate the author further. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. Adrian and I met (in person ) back in July 2011 when I interviewed him for my audio podcast.

Morgen: Hello again, Adrian. Welcome back. Please tell us something about yourself and how you came to be a writer.

Adrian: I’m married, live in the UK, am a full-time writer fulfilling a long-held dream to be sitting here writing for a living and making stuff up.

Morgen: And I like the stuff you make up (I’ve read your first novel ‘No peace for the wicked’). What genre do you generally write and have you considered other genres?

Adrian: I usually write crime novels and thrillers, with a sprinkling of short stories. I have considered other genres, although not sci-fi or fantasy. Over the years I’ve written and sold romantic and relationship fiction for women’s magazines (lots), comedy for BBC radio (Roy Hudd), short stories for the BBC, one play (10-minutes long, performed at the Oxford Literary Festival), magazine features, slogans on t-shirts, doormats and greetings cards, and poetry. Most of this was to see what I was good at or felt most comfortable doing. I look on it all as part of the apprenticeship.

Morgen: Wow, what a list. I agree with the sci-fi / fantasy by the way – it’s about the only genre I’d not write (not because I dislike it but I don’t read it so couldn’t do it justice). Apart from your ‘apprenticeship’, what have you had published to-date? Can you remember where you saw your first books on the shelves?

Adrian: I’ve had 11 novels published, of which 5 were crime novels set in London, 2 set in France in the 60s, 2 contemporary spy thrillers, a YS ghost novel and a writer’s help book called ‘Write On!’ There have been hundreds of short stories and articles, the aforesaid radio fiction… and I saw my first book on the shelf of my local Ottaker’s shop in 2004.

Morgen: I’ve Googled it and it’s still there 7 years later (phew). How much of the marketing do you do Adrian, for your published works or indeed for yourself as a ‘brand’?

Adrian: Quite a lot. I visit bookshops, give library and other talks (radio, for example), appear on panels at festivals (when invited)…

Morgen: No gate crashing then.

Adrian: …and keep as much contact as I can with library stock managers and directors. It’s all part of the job, but you need to juggle it carefully with the writing and researching.

Morgen: You do. I’m a bit out of balance on the ‘writing’ part at the moment. Have you won or been shortlisted in any competitions and do you think they help with a writer’s success?

Adrian: I was shortlisted in the CWA Debut Dagger in 2001, and recently shortlisted in the East Midlands Book Award (with ‘Death on the Marais’) and in the Salt Lake County Library System Reader’s Choice Award (with ‘Red Station’). I think they do help because they spread the word about books among readers, and the personal boost you get when shortlisted is immeasurable.

Morgen: So far a bridesmaid… three big “yay”s though. Do you write under a pseudonym? If so why and do you think it makes a difference?

Adrian: No. I used to write some women’s fiction under a female pseudonym, but only when writing in the first person (as a woman). It was at the suggestion of a magazine, and during what my wife calls ‘the frock years’. I think it helped then because the stories were all about women and a man’s name at the top would have been a touch off-putting. Now, though, I use my own name because it takes effort to get known for that and I don’t want to water it down.

Morgen: Absolutely. I know that from this blog, a full-time job, and then some. Do you have an agent? Do you think they’re vital to an author’s success?

Adrian: Yes. My agent is the buffed and very energetic David Headley. A good agent is worth his or her weight in gold. I haven’t asked David what he weighs, but when I do…

Agents are useful, in that they know whom to approach, which editors are looking and which aren’t. They can also act as a filter, and their expertise can provide a valuable first opinion on a submission. However, it has to be said that there are many smaller publishers now who do not insist on receiving submissions via an agent, so it’s a question of choice. I’d say try to get an agent first.

Morgen: I think most people do but it’s getting tougher… like everything you either have to persevere (pot kettle black – going the eBook route). Speaking of which, are your books available as eBooks? If so what was your experience of that process? And do you read eBooks?

Adrian: Yes, they are. I wasn’t involved in a material sense, as my publishers arranged this. It can be tricky and time-consuming (I have put a collection of writing notes on Kindle, to see if I could, and I hope to follow with a collection of short stories later this year).

Morgen: Ooh, great I love shorts (note to self: ask Adrian to email me the link “later this year”… when hopefully my collection of short stories, and other bits, comes out ).

Adrian: And yes, I do read e-books. They’re here to stay, so we might as well get used to it. I love the idea of having several books available at the press of a button.

Morgen: I agree and I’m glad they’re here to stay because it gives an author options they didn’t have a few years ago. I’m excited anyway. What was your first acceptance and is being accepted still a thrill?

Adrian: My very first acceptance was a short story in the London Evening News many years ago. It was a crime story (surprise, surprise). And yes, it’s still a thrill getting published, whether a short story, feature or a book. It’s something that never goes away. The moment it does, I think I’ll give up.

Morgen: Let’s hope it never does. Have you had any rejections? If so, how do you deal with them?

Adrian: Too many to count, I’m afraid! Hundreds. I deal with them as a fact of life. In the main, each rejection is one person’s opinion, so I usually send them out to someone else (after editing and a bit of a re-write). You have to develop (1) a hard skin against it and (2) a realistic acceptance that you are not going to sell everything you write.

Morgen: To that person, maybe to someone else. What are you working on at the moment / next?

Adrian: The third Inspector Lucas Rocco (French detective) book. After that, the fourth Harry Tate spy thriller. I’m lucky enough to be writing two-and-a-bit books a year, so it keeps me busy!

Morgen: Because you have nothing else to do. Do you manage to write every day? What’s the most you’ve written in a day?

Adrian: Most days, yes. The output varies anywhere between 200 words up to 2,000 on a good day. But I don’t look for numbers – I find it a distraction. And it’s nice when you finally do a word count and find you’ve written so many thousands of words.

Morgen: That’s what I love about http://nanowrimo.org and that’ll be here before we know it (note to self: don’t wish your time away). What is your opinion of writer’s block? Do you ever suffer from it? If so, how do you ‘cure’ it?

Adrian: I don’t suffer from it (looks for some wood), but I do occasionally find a scene or a project a bit sticky to write. What I do is write something else instead. The act of writing usually unglues the brain. If that doesn’t work, I eat cake. Then I go back and try again.

Morgen: Cake… mmm. A question some authors dread (I guess because it’s sometimes impossible to answer?), where do you get your inspiration from?

Adrian: If only I knew! Most of it is gained subconsciously. I get snippets of ideas from all over – news, books, magazines… and simply day-dreaming. Usually the ideas far outstrip the ability and time to write them all.

Morgen: Me too, which is a great position to be in. Well, I do wonder whether I will get to write everything I want to (she says aged just 44) but I’d rather it were that way round. I’d be so frustrated if I stared at a blank screen and my brain was equally white. Do you plot your stories or do you just get an idea and run with it?

Adrian: No, pick up and run is my approach. I’ve tried planning, but I always go off at a tangent. I figure if it’s a surprise for me, then it will be for the reader, too.

Morgen: And it clearly works. I’m the same, have a vague idea and just write. As you say, it rarely goes the way I planned. Do you have a method for creating your characters, their names and what do you think makes them believable?

Adrian: None that I can explain. I get an idea for characters fairly quickly, and if I try to change them, it never works. Their names have to feel ‘right’ for the period and person, but other than that, after shuffling around a few alternatives, I stick with what I’ve got.

Morgen: You also write non-fiction, how do you decide what to write about?

Adrian: I used to write a lot, but the only non-fiction I write now is the ‘Beginners’ articles in Writing Magazine.

Morgen: Which I’ve been enjoying a lot of recently. I subscribe to most (all?) of the UK ones (Writing, Writers’ News, Mslexia, Writers’ Forum, New Writer) and they’ve been piling up (mostly still in their cellophane) so I’ve been reading them at every opportunity (walking the dog, to / from work, in a Norfolk hotel bar just this week…).

Adrian: My approach used to be, where is there a gap in the market and can I fill it without too much effort or expense? It also had to interest me; I only once wrote about something I didn’t find interesting, and it sounded very flat, although it could have been me.

Morgen: See earlier reference to “surprises me”. If you write poetry, do you write to form or free verse? What would you say is the difference between a piece of prose and a prose poem? Why do you think poetry is so popular and yet so poorly paid?

Adrian: I’m no poet. I did sell three poems to a women’s magazine once, and along with a small cheque, they wrote, ‘Please don’t feel pressured to send us any more.’ I took that as a really friendly hint!

Morgen: Oh dear… yes, I think I’d be the same. I leave it to the experts (including Pat in my writing group). Who is your first reader – who do you first show your work to?

Adrian: My wife, Ann. She has a great eye for detail and a memory like a computer. And she likes my writing. You have to have someone whose opinion you value to take the first look. Otherwise, send it to a professional – ie: submitting to an editor.

Morgen: I have both my reading group and Rachel. Do you do a lot of editing or do you find that as time goes on your writing is more fully-formed?

Adrian: Probably the latter, although I always edit, anyway. But I do find passages which I’m not happy with, and will beat the daylights out of them until they sound right.

Morgen: That sounds like fun.

Adrian: I try to do the major edit at the end, rather than as I go. It’s always easier to get a sense of perspective when the job is complete, and heavy editing as I go usually makes it hard work.

Morgen: How much research do you have to do for your writing? Have you ever received feedback from your readers?

Adrian: I research as much as I need to – but mostly checking detail. I do like to be accurate, although I’m sure I’ve made bloopers in the past. I do get feedback from readers – mostly complimentary, although there is an occasional one who might take issue with something I’ve written, and is usually a matter of opinion, not fact.

Morgen: I met Simon Scarrow back in March and he said that a reader took great delight in pointing out a flaw to which Simon took (probably even greater) delight in proving the reader wrong. That said Alexander McCall Smith said he had a flaw successfully unearthed so it happens to the best of them, literally. What is your creative process like? What happens before sitting down to write?

Adrian: I think a lot, gather a few facts, scribble notes – sometimes just words which eventually leave me totally beeswaxed – and then I start writing. But I don’t always start at the beginning; I often write scenes as they occur to me, and not in any particular order. (Nobody ever told me the creative process had to be orderly).

Morgen: And it doesn’t… we can be as slapdash as we like as long as it’s a neat and tidy bundle at the end. Do you write on paper or do you prefer a computer?

Adrian: On the PC. I write some notes and even draft scenes late at night, but my real writing is via the keyboard. I type slower than I can think, so it means I can do a sort of edit as an ongoing process.

Morgen: Some writers like quiet, others the noise of a coffee shop etc. Do you listen to music or have noise around you when you write or do you need silence?

Adrian: Absolute quiet. I’ve tried music, but it’s a distraction. If a rock guitarist ever moves in next door, he’s likely to end up under the patio.

Morgen: Now there’s a plot. What point of view do you find most to your liking: first person or third person? Have you ever tried second person?

Adrian: Third. It allows more different points of view. I’ve written in the first, but it only seems to work for me in certain situations, and usually short fiction. No, I’ve never tried second person. What is it?

Morgen: Ooh, I love second person (regularly readers will be rolling their eyes here as I’m forever saying this, and they’ll also know that I mention my sentence starts page http://wp.me/P18Ztn-ub). Second person is my favourite – for anyone reading this who’s not tried second person http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrative_mode#Second-person_view is a great article. Yes, Adrian, do try second (“As you start digging up the patio…” ) because it does tend to be quite dark so I think it would suit you, even just for fun. Ooh, just discovered http://lisaabellera.wordpress.com/2011/03/22/its-all-about-you which makes interesting reading. Do you use prologues / epilogues? What do you think of the use of them?

Adrian: I use prologues when I can get away with them (publishers and agents aren’t always keen). Sometimes the only way to start a book is with a prologue. It might then get relegated to a Chapter One. I wouldn’t use epilogues.

Morgen: I’ve not done so yet and my one and only prologue was Chapter one so may end up reverting… or relegating, as you put it. Do you have pieces of work that you think will never see light of day?

Adrian: Yes, lots. Just because I wrote them doesn’t make them saleable. But I do cannibalise some unpublished stuff if I find I can use bits of it elsewhere.

Morgen: I think something has to be really dire (I do have some of those) for it to be totally unusable but then I have so much other stuff that I’ve not double-checked the old stuff yet – it may prove me wrong. What’s your favourite / least favourite aspect of your writing life?

Adrian: My favourite aspect is creating a new storyline and introducing new, minor characters (as long as it’s going well). My least favourite is doing the *&#~ing line edit.

Morgen: If anything, what has been your biggest surprise about writing?

Adrian: How incredibly nice and welcoming the writing community is. They’re genuinely nice people, and other than a couple of prima donnas, they are simply lovely. I’m also constantly delighted with how generous readers can be – even to someone they’ve never heard of.

Morgen: And of course you’re not going to name names. Yes, that’s surprised me. As we mentioned in our podcast, it’s really not like any other industry (and isn’t it great?). What advice would you give aspiring writers?

Adrian: First, decide what you want to write (fiction, non-fiction, plays, whatever). Then get writing. You can’t call yourself a writer until you’ve finished something. And read lots in the genre you want to write in, to see what’s selling.

Morgen: Ah, I’ve not to got to the “decide what you want to write” bit yet… although I think I’m veering towards crime and humour; what I like to read. What do you like to read Adrian?

Adrian: Thrillers, mostly. Robert Crais, Lee Child, Harlan Coben, John Sandford, Martin Cruz Smith, Steve Hamilton… stuff like that. Watch out for Thomas Egler, a new Norwegian crime writer. Very good if you like Scandinavian crime.

Morgen: In the footsteps of Swede Stieg Larsson. What do you do when you’re not writing? Any hobbies or party tricks?

Adrian: I read a lot, do bits of woodwork (nothing fancy), watch films… and no, no party tricks. None that I’d care to share, anyway.

Morgen: Are there any writing-related websites and/or books that you find useful and would recommend?

Adrian: The must-use reference books are Writers& Artists’ Yearbook (www.writersandartists.co.uk) and Writer’s Market UK (www.writersmarket.co.uk) In these you’ll find lots of books and websites offering help and information for writers.

Then: Writers’ News/Writing Magazine (www.writers-online.co.uk) Society of Authors (www.societyofauthors.org) are useful, too. Each genre has their own websites, either official or unofficial, so crime, romantics, historical, fantasy, children’s – just Google and ye shall find.

Morgen: Thanks for that (I get the Writers’ Handbook as well but prefer the W&AYB) and of course there’s a new book out called ‘Write On’ by a chap called Adrian Magson. You’re UK-based, do you find this a help or hindrance with letting people know about your work?

Adrian: With the Internet now, it really makes little difference where you’re based.

Morgen: I agree and it’s great. Are you on any forums or networking sites? If so, how invaluable do you find them?

Adrian: I’m on Facebook and Twitter, but I tend not to join forums. I try to limit my social networking only because it takes up valuable time, not because I’m anti-social. They’re very useful for not feeling isolated, and for getting information from other helpful writers.

Morgen: It does that but I’m trying (and constantly failing) to limit my time spent there. Ho hum. Where can we find out about you and your work?

Adrian: First call would be my website http://www.adrianmagson.com, then Amazon (see my author pages on either co.uk or .com).

Morgen: I was going to be really helpful and list them here but assumed it would be something simple like http://amazon.com and http://amazon.co.uk with /adrianmagson at the end but sadly not, they’re silly long links. Still, I’ve been half-helpful.

Adrian: And here, of course, which probably now tells people more than those sites will!

Morgen: You’re dotted around – the latest being in the ‘Other authors’ bit of my links page (http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/links).

Adrian: There’s also Shots Magazine, where I’ve been interviewed about my books (http://www.shotsmag.co.uk) and Mystery Women, the same (http://www.mysterywomen.co.uk).

Morgen: Ah yes, Mystery Women, I’m getting a few pointers in their direction. What do you think the future holds for a writer?

Adrian: Well, people will always want to read, so hopefully there will always be an audience, but whether that includes a viable paying audience remains to be seen. The delivery and publishing platforms are changing faster now than they have in years, just like the music industry, but making a living at it could get a little tighter. The thing is to just pitch in there and keep going.

Morgen: Absolute… if you keep writing you have more for people to choose from. Is there anything else you’d like to mention?

Adrian: Yes. Readers, promote reading among your friends and family.

Morgen: And everyone you don’t know. Thank you again Adrian – hopefully catch up with you again soon.

Adrian Magson is the author of 11 crime/thriller novels and hundreds of short stories and magazine articles, published here and overseas. His latest novels are ‘Deception’ (Severn House – Nov 2011), in his Harry Tate spy series, and ‘Death on the Rive Nord’ (Allison & Busby), in his Inspector Lucas Rocco French police series, A regular reviewer for Shots Magazine, he writes the ‘Beginners’ and ‘New Author’ pages for Writing Magazine, and is the author of a book for writers: ‘Write On! – The Writer’s Help Book’ (Accent Press – Aug 2011).

Morgen: Yes, please buy ‘Write On!’ because Adrian’s listed me as a ‘Useful website’.

***

If you are reading this and you write, in whatever genre, and are thinking “ooh, I’d like to do this” then you can… just email me and I’ll send you the information. They do now (January 2013) carry a fee (£10 / €12.50 / $15) for the new interviews on this blog but everything else (see Opportunities on this blog) is free.

If you go for the interview, it’s very simple; I send you a questionnaire (I have them for novelists, short story authors, children’s authors, non-fiction authors, and poets). You complete the questions, and I let you know when it’s going to go live. Before it does so, I add in comments as if we’re chatting, and then they get posted. When that’s done, I email you with the link so you can share it with your corner of the literary world. And if you have a writing-related blog / podcast and would like to interview me… let me know.

Alternatively, if you’d like a free Q&A-only interview, I now have http://morgensauthorinterviews.wordpress.com on which I’ve rerun the original interviews posted here then posted new interviews which I then reblog here. These interviews are Q&A only, so I don’t add in my comments but they do get exposure on both sites.

** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!

See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0

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You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.

For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.

As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. I welcome critique for the four new writing groups listed below and / or flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays. For other opportunities see (see Opportunities on this blog).

The full details of the new online writing groups, and their associated Facebook groups, are:

• Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group (http://novelwritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/508696639153189)
• Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group (http://poetrywritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/388850977875934)
• Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group (http://scriptwritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/319941328108017)
• Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group (http://shortstorywritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/544072635605445)

We look forward to reading your comments.

 

Author interview no.100 with (me, myself and I) multi-genre writer Morgen Bailey

Welcome to the one hundredth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, bloggers, autobiographers and more. Back in interview no. 43, Winn Smith asked who was going to interview me (Teresa Morrow and Who Hub already have and Winn will be later this month) but I thought seeing as the centennial interview falls on my birthday (no presents please ) I’d interview myself. As you do. I normally say that if you like what you read, please do go and investigate the author further but if you feel you know enough already from my blog or website then don’t feel obliged… unless you’d really like to. A list of my fellow interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here.

Morgen: Hello, Morgen. Firstly happy birthday.

Morgen: Thank you. I’m having a lovely day so far. Just back from 24 hours at Norfolk and had a wonderful time watching the dog eating waves. Before we begin, I’d just like to say what a pleasure it is being here.

Morgen: Ah, that’s nice, you can come again. OK, so… you know how these interviews start…

Morgen: I do. I need to tell you something about myself and how I came to be a writer.

Morgen: That’s it.

Morgen: I’ll warn you now that I do tend to waffle.

Morgen: That’s OK. I’ve got a long blog home page.

Morgen: So just tell me if I’m…

Morgen: You are… your first answer please?

Morgen: Oh yes (what a hard taskmistress, is she like this with everyone?). I’m a… 44-year old (today, hoorah!) single white female (that was a brilliant film, one whose follow-up was decidedly dodgy as they often are).

Morgen: (coughs)

Morgen: Sorry yes… I did warn you. I live in Northampton, England in a 1930s house with my Jack Russell / Cairn (and a bit of everything else) dog.

Morgen: He’s very cute.

Morgen: Thank you. He has big brown eyes and he’s not afraid to use them.

Morgen: And you came to be a writer how?

Morgen: Sorry. I’ll try to behave from now on.

Morgen: Please do.

Morgen: This talking to myself is feeling weirdly easy.

Morgen: You were saying?

Morgen: Sorry. Yes. Short and sweet: moved counties c. 15 years ago. Didn’t know anyone. I worked as a temp in the day, went to evening college, brushed up on the languages, then computer skills then September 2005 I looked for something else in the University prospectus and there was creative writing – a Monday night critique workshop with Sally Spedding…

Morgen: Who I interviewed recently on my podcast.

Morgen: You did. Special episode 32. That was fun.

Morgen: And what genre do you generally write and have you considered other genres?

Morgen: Now there’s a question.

Morgen: Uh oh.

Morgen: A bit of everything.

Morgen: That wasn’t so painful. Dare I ask if you’d like to elaborate… just a little?

Morgen: Sure. Four and a bit novels (lad lit, general, chick lit, sort of lad lit and part of a dark one) and lots of short stories, monologues being my favourite.

Morgen: So humour and crime?

Morgen: The last one is sort of crime. I’ll have to come back to you on that one.

Morgen: OK.

Morgen: And I have written poetry but…

Morgen: but?

Morgen: The poets reading this are going to shout at me…

Morgen: I’m sure they won’t.

Morgen: I don’t ‘get’ poetry.

Morgen: Ah.

Morgen: I’ve written some. There’s an autobiographical poem on my blog’s My writing page. The first piece I read out at Sally’s workshop was a humorous piece of a family’s evening told through the eyes of a six-month-old boy. I’m still fond of it and should do something with it.

Morgen: Ahhh…

Morgen: But it got shot down in flames.

Morgen: Oh dear.

Morgen: I nearly didn’t go back to the group.

Morgen: Oh no.

Morgen: But I thought “I’ll show them, I’ll write something better”.

Morgen: And you did?

Morgen: I did. Can’t remember what now but it must have gone down well as I kept going back and it’s what led me here.

Morgen: What have you had published to-date?

Morgen: Apart from a writing workbook which is ready to roll, I’m working on a load of short stories and rejigging the novels (into novellas and possibly an anthology for the chick lit, picking out the best half a dozen or so characters) as eBooks…

Morgen: there were more characters than that then?

Morgen: Yes. Izzy met one a day (for a month) with another dozen at mid-month speed dating event.

Morgen: Ouch, that’s a lot for one novel.

Morgen: It is but I’m fond of them all (some are very peculiar) and will use them all at some stage, but just split them out into other things… but to answer your question…

Morgen: If you wouldn’t mind…

Morgen: I’ve had some competition successes and been published in Woman’s Weekly and NAWG Link magazine but I’m rubbish at submitting which is a fairly major part of getting things published, isn’t it?

Morgen: It does help.

Morgen: But recently fellow interviewees Nathan Weaver (LINK) published a self-contained (soon to be the beginning of a) dark story I wrote for http://storyaday.org back in May 2011 called ‘The Threadbare Girl’ (which I’m going to include in one or two of the eBook anthologies – one for the Story A Day and probably the full thing in another) and Tia Bach published an article I wrote for her on my NaNoWriMo experience. Neal James has another short story (a dark second person) appearing on his blog in January 2012 which will be exciting (for me anyway).  I’ve got a short story going into October’s Link and I’ve been asked to write another couple of articles so it’s all going swimmingly.

Morgen: You mentioned NaNoWriMo, the 50,000+ words every November. How many times have you done that?

Morgen: Three: 2008, 2009 and 2010. And I plan to keep doing it even though I’m concentrating on short stories.

Morgen: Did you ‘win’ each time?

Morgen: I did. I scraped through in 2008 (53,000) and 2010 (51,000) but flew past the finish in 2009 (117,540).

Morgen: Wow, that’s some typing.

Morgen: Thank you. I’m fortunate. I’ve been a secretary since I left school so I can type quickly. Like anything it’s just practice. Give me a blank template of a keyboard though and it would take me ages to write in each letter.

Morgen: That’s funny.

Morgen: I know. I only learned recently that the letters were jumbled up because the typists were too quick for the original machines so it’s was the best way of slowing them down… not sure how long for or who decided on the order of the letters but hey ho.

Morgen: How much of the marketing do you do for your published works or indeed for yourself as a ‘brand’?

Morgen: All of it but I’m enjoying it. I’m on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn and of course this blog helps get my name known. I was chuffed when I’d been quiet on LinkedIn for a while, but still had the thread emails coming in, then commented on something and someone, I think it was KS Brooks (hi Kat), said that people had been wondering what had happened to me, which was lovely and it really is like a family, like Litopia is. Linton (who’s done an interview for me which will go up early October) did a disappearing act too and the same thing happened with him. Even if it doesn’t get any books sold (when they finally come out… note to self: get editing!), it’s so rewarding to be a part of that… Facebook’s the same; there’s Sue Welfare’s (hi Sue) weekly beginnings competition (which I contribute towards when I can – and has actually started off some pieces that I definitely want to continue; the latest being to continue ‘Just as dawn’ and I love sentence beginnings)…

Morgen: You’re waffling.

Morgen: Sorry. I think I’m done on that one.

Morgen: Great. You mentioned competition success earlier, do you think they help with a writer’s success?

Morgen: I had a spate of sending stuff out to competitions (Writing magazines and Writers’ News mostly) and have won a couple of local ones, was shortlisted a couple of time in the Writing Magazine and a couple of times at Verulam Get Writing competition (Geoffrey Guiver won this year’s… hello Geoffrey!) so they’re on the CV.

Morgen: Do you write under a pseudonym? If so why and do you think it makes a difference?

Morgen: I do, and I love it. It’s like someone being called a middle name because they prefer it to their first name. I had this conversation with my mum a while back and she said I could have picked one of my middle names; I have two. Elizabeth is the one I’d have gone with if I’d found out, or thought about it, earlier… or a variation probably Libby but it was too late by then but now I prefer Morgen (despite it often being spelt with an ‘a’ instead of an ‘e’). I don’t think anyone knows about the Libby thing, not even my brother (hi Martin) and not sure how my friends would react now… guess I’ll find out when they read this. But no, never been keen on my first name. Which, is Alison by the way. Ali as in Ali McBeal has been a suggestion but I’ve never warmed to it (despite liking the TV series) and ‘Al’ always seemed too butch so it’s been plain ‘Alison’ until Morgen came along, and it’s what I am online so it’s easier.

Although I’m biased I can understand why the likes of Ruth Rendell (Barbara Vine) and Joanna Trollope (Caroline Harvey) as it distinguishes their different genres. I picked a name that could be male or female, really because I write a variety of genres and went with Morgen as that was the name of a dog I used to have, plus it means ‘morning’ in German (I am a morning person) and my family has been friends with a German family since I was an early teen. The middle daughter (hello Heike – thank you for the lovely necklaces et al) and I are planning on going to Edinburgh book festival next year (for the first time) and I asked on Facebook if anyone else is going and I think we’re going to end up hiring JK Rowling’s castle. My cute dog mentioned earlier by the way is the Bailey of the ensemble.

Morgen: Do you have an agent? Do you think they’re vital to an author’s success?

Morgen: I’ve tried the agent route, admittedly only to about a dozen; seven or eight via email (all but one replied with a ‘no’) and I’ve had four agent pitches; a 3-minute with HarperCollins’ Scott Pack (not an agent, he was great, very supportive) at Verulam Feb 2011 and three (very interesting) at July 2011 Winchester. I don’t think I’d do it again until I had something really meaty to offer them; on reflection the writing I was presenting to them wasn’t really me, or my best work if I’m honest but definitely an experience, and one I would recommend any writer doing if they’re at all interested in getting an agent, which I think deep down, most would be as it’s the best way to reach the big boys (publishers)… and girls of course.

Morgen: Are your books available as eBooks? If so what was your experience of that process? And do you read eBooks?

Morgen: Can you ask me again in 6 months? This is a one-off? Oh, OK. Yes, they will be; eBooks only most likely. At the moment they’re either with, or back from, my editor Rachel or myself so the process has been fine, if not a little slow (me getting them to her although it’s ticking along nicely at the moment – I’ve had something back from her, the workbook, which needs only minor tweaking and she has the Story A Day anthology so I’m hoping to get something else to her before that comes back; I’d rather it were that way round).

I have an eReader but use it rarely as I never go anywhere. I have a Mac Air so that tends to go where I go but I tend not to get past emails, the internet etc. One day I’ll make the most of the eReader because I can see how brilliant they are, it’s just that I don’t travel much (at all) – I didn’t take it to Norfolk as I knew I wouldn’t get time; I took Matt Hilton’s ‘Cut and run’ but that remained unread (this weekend for sure Matt!) – I did go through four writing magazines picking nuggets for my writing group’s handouts, which ultimately end up on here.

I can read a book or magazine (usually a writing-related one as I just mentioned, I subscribe to the UK ones – Writing Magazine, Writers’ News, Mslexia, New Writer, Writer’s Forum… and Take a Break’s Fiction Feast, and I buy Woman’s Weekly fiction specials… which I keep meaning to subscribe to – so it keeps me busy, in fact I’m about 7 months behind with those so they’ve taken over the book reading; sorry Matt & Trisha Ashley (they’re my two ‘on the go’s at the moment)). Yes, I can read or edit as I walk (writing’s not so easy but I can do it) so I do that when I’m walking the dog or to / from work. Other than that it’s just out at the cinema or meeting friends (I joined http://meetup.com a little while ago; it’s great!).

So, no, to cut a short story long (as Martin and I used to say my dad did) after all that I have an eReader but don’t really use it. Audiobooks are also a big love of mine and can be listened to in conjunction with pretty much anything else so that’s a time-saving bonus.

Morgen: What was your first acceptance and is being accepted still a thrill?

Morgen: The Woman’s Weekly story and yes, absolutely, it’s great. Paid or unpaid it’s still exciting to see my writing (fiction or articles) out there and especially so when I get feedback. Elaine Saunders left me a message on my Facebook page earlier this week to say she was jogging at the gym to my podcast – I don’t think I’ve ever helped anyone lose weight before, other than letting my Mexican neighbour use my cross-trainer which she does more than me.

Morgen: Have you had any rejections? If so, how do you deal with them?

Morgen: I have. I’ve had 27 or 29, I can’t remember. I catalogue them (have I said already that I’m a nerd?) but I’m pretty sure it’s not quite up-to-date.

Morgen: What are you working on at the moment / next?

Morgen: Mostly the blog interviews, it takes a fair amount of work but I’ve got this week off so have been able to catch up a little. While Rachel has the anthology I want to crack on with the next book as I need to keep my momentum going.

Morgen: Do you manage to write every day? What’s the most you’ve written in a day?

Morgen: If you count a line or two then yes. Mostly it’s during the two writing groups so I guess the beginnings of a dozen pieces a month. I’m happy with most of them so I guess it’s quality over quantity. I’m very good with deadlines though so get writing for NaNo and StoryADay but then they were both before the blog interviews but I need to not let them standing in the way so find a way of doing both – I will, I just do. The most in a day was during NaNoWriMo, just under 10,000 words.

Morgen: What is your opinion of writer’s block? Do you ever suffer from it? If so, how do you ‘cure’ it?

Morgen: Sort of. I get stuck sometimes but then I either come back to it later, sleep on it, or if it’s near my writing group night I’ll run it past them.

Morgen: A question some authors dread (I guess because it’s sometimes impossible to answer?), where do you get your inspiration from?

Morgen: Everywhere and anywhere; patterns on the pavement after a patch of rain, newspaper clippings (I have literally hundreds of those – one of my Verulam shortlists, a monologue called ‘Feeding the Father’, was inspired by one of those), snatched conversations (I’m a devil for pretending to turn my iPod volume up / down when I’m actually pausing it as an argument walks by), an odd (or not so odd) word anywhere – I can look around my room and start with something, I’m lucky in that respect.

Morgen: Do you plot your stories or do you just get an idea and run with it?

Morgen: A bit of both. Like most of my interviewees have said, I’ve had a nugget and gone with it, seeing what comes out.

Morgen: Do you have a method for creating your characters, their names?

Morgen: It depends what I’m writing. If it’s from a picture (which we use in our Monday night writing group) then I’ll just look at it and see what I think the person’s name is, otherwise I’ll either pick a name from the air or it’ll just come to me as I write the piece, sometimes I change them if it doesn’t suit. I do have baby name books which really I should perhaps refer to more often as I want to call all my characters Elliot (the men anyway, unless it’s a surname). Not sure where that desire comes from other than being the surname of a school friend Natasha and we did get in contact again on Friends Reunited a while back.

Morgen: What do you think makes them believable?

Morgen: They have to be realistic and a reader as to empathise with them. Unless you’re making someone plastic for a reason (perhaps as an antagonist) readers get bored with perfection. And some flaws can be fun – there are plenty of those in my chick-lit novel.

Morgen: If you write non-fiction, how do you decide what to write about?

Morgen: The only non-fiction writing I do is writing-related so I’m either given an idea (Steve Bowkett of the NAWG Link magazine has either asked me to do something or leaves it to me… I say that as if I’m in there all the time – only two issues so far (April 2011 and August 2011) with the short story (twist on a fairy tale which they’d asked for in the August edition) coming out in October.

Morgen: If you write poetry, do you write to form or free verse? What would you say is the difference between a piece of prose and a prose poem? Why do you think poetry is so popular and yet so poorly paid?

Morgen: Ha ha ha ha… sorry. I have written poetry but it’s not my strength. At all. Really it isn’t. Oh no. It’s not me.

Morgen: OK.

Morgen: Although there was…

Morgen: You mentioned short stories earlier, apart from the word count, what do you see as the differences between them and novels and why do you think they’re so difficult to get published?

Morgen: You do have to be much, much tighter in a short story; every word literally does have to count, and it’s easy to forget that but you literally have to look that closely when editing it. If you can lose a word, do it (for instance do you need ‘completely’ before ‘dead’?). In novels everything still has to be relevant – narrative drive; move the story forward or tell us something about that character. If we don’t need to know what Sam had toast for breakfast (yes, guilty of that in novel one) then take it out.

Morgen: Are you involved in anything else writing-related other than actual writing or marketing of your writing?

Morgen: I run two writing groups; every Monday, one critique, the other writing workshop and I love them both. I’m lucky and have a great bunch of people, some of whom (three) come to both sessions. I belong to two others locally and release a podcast every Monday morning (although I think it’ll be later in the day this week as my brother’s visiting from Switzerland… hoorah!). Then there’s Litopia every Friday and Sunday nights. And I go to lit fests, talks etc. Live and breathe, and it’s always a pleasure never a chore, as Hugh Laurie said to Joely Richardson in Maybe Baby (if you’ve never seen it, do, it’s hilarious… especially Rowen Atkinson and Dawn French.

Morgen: Who is your first reader – who do you first show your work to?

Morgen: Generally my writing group. The critique sessions though are only fortnightly (the workshop’s the other Mondays) so there’s only so much I can read out in the time. I have the wonderful aforementioned editor Rachel (hi Rachel) who I knew already but she’s just setting up her manuscript services company (the website for which I shall be no doubt be touting fairly heavily when it’s live although I’m not her only client so there’s a headstart there already). She really is the key to me being happy about the content my eBooks before I launch them, although we both know I have the final say (the great thing about self-pub) but she’s the vital second opinion which everyone needs regardless of how good their writing is.

Morgen: Before it goes to Rachel, do you do a lot of editing or do you find that as time goes on your writing is more fully-formed?

Morgen: I use to, but yes. The more I write the more know where I’m waffling as I go along…

Morgen: now there’s a surprise

Morgen: …so I curb it.

Morgen: How much research do you have to do for your writing? Have you ever received feedback from your readers?

Morgen: Research is my least favourite aspect of writing although the internet does make it much easier. I don’t really have much out there at the moment. I had some great comments from The Threadbare Girl and can’t wait to get my eBooks out there as I just love knowing that people read what I create – assuming that someone will. And of course hoping that they’ll like it. The other great thing about eBooks is that if someone spots a mistake it can easily be tweaked and resubmitted, no waiting for a second edition / reprint.

Morgen: What is your creative process like? What happens before sitting down to write?

Morgen: I usually grab a cup of tea. I’m a dreadful snacker so have to either get something like a sandwich before start writing or I’ll be scrabbling around for sweets or crisps because I’m too busy to get something proper (if a sandwich counts as proper). I’m usually eating something pretty bad when I’m on Litopia as I’m usually rushing around just before it (especially if it’s a Sunday night and I’m getting the headset configured and Skype set up – Litopia’s on tonight by the way – it’s great… Dorothy Koomson was one of the guests last Friday; My Best Friend’s Girl is one of my favourite books and I’ve just bought ‘The Woman He Loved Before’) and as food always gets mentioned I’m found out pretty quickly (I’m too honest I guess) and the other chatroomers tell me off.

Morgen: Do you write on paper or do you prefer a computer?

Morgen: A computer if I have it handy but otherwise it’s paper which is fine because I then edit as I type it up (when I get round to typing it up, she says conscious of the stack of notes in a tray to her right). I prefer to edit on paper and yes, I use a red pen.

Morgen: Some writers like quiet, others the noise of a coffee shop etc. Do you listen to music or have noise around you when you write or do you need silence?

Morgen: I like classical music. I’m typing this while I listen to my iPod’s Top Rated (not sure why as I have iTunes on the computer but it’s still running from when I took the dog, who’s currently on my lap, exhausted from his beach escapades) and I can type something like this with words going on, probably easier as I know the songs but prefer classical because of the lack of words if I’m trying to create fictional ones. Silence for me is too… silent, but I struggle to concentrate in a coffee shop, fine for checking emails though.

Morgen: What point of view do you find most to your liking: first person or third person? Have you ever tried second person?

Morgen: This is the question I was looking forward to as I LOVE LOVE LOVE second person. Normally I use a mixture, I suppose mostly third person, but my heart always beats a little faster when I write second. For anyone not reading this I’d say please do give it a go (let me know if you need help) or take a look at my sentence starts page on this blog (http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/sentence-starts).

Morgen: The page that you love touting. Do you use prologues / epilogues? What do you think of the use of them?

Morgen: I wasn’t keen until I used one at the beginning of novel two. It was originally Chapter 1. It’s not gone to Rachel yet so the jury is still out.

Morgen: Do you have pieces of work that you think will never see light of day?

Morgen: LOADS. Well, that’s not true. I have loads of stories to go through which may make the grade, now I’m older (no sniggers please) and wiser (ditto). Novel 5 was very self-indulgent and about a real life person so if that did go ahead I’d have to change nearly all of it. I really like the story actually so I may.

Morgen: What’s your favourite / least favourite aspect of your writing life?

Morgen: Easy. Never knowing what’s going to come out. You know it’s come from your sub-conscious but it surprises you all the time. Least favourite is not having enough time. My life is 90% writing-related (with 10% thinking about writing) so I can’t complain but an extra couple of hours here and there would be good.

Morgen: If anything, what has been your biggest surprise about writing?

Morgen: How much it can take over. I hadn’t a clue what to do when I left school and still hadn’t until I started writing… and writing… and writing… and now I can think of little else (sorry dog, house etc). And how the characters can take over – I love that.

Morgen: What advice would you give aspiring writers?

Morgen: As the great marketing men at Nike say ‘Just do it’. It’s all about practice. The more you write (play the piano) the better you’ll get (play a concerto). And go to courses (I still do – hi Helen!), talks and literature events (the latter is how I met Rachel). Meet other writers. Join a writing group – they’ll point out what works and doesn’t, often something that never occurs to me. And read. Read a lot. I don’t read enough, although I’m getting better. And listen to writing-related podcasts. If you want to write, live and breathe it. Not to the extent of your family not remembering what you look like (hey JVS!) but I only have my dog who I feed and walk twice / three times a day so he’ll never forget.

Morgen: What do you like to read?

Morgen: Short stories mainly – I like the fact that I can read them in one go – and two extremes; the darker the better or humour… pretty much what I like to write. I love Roald Dahl and Kate Atkinson… and of course all the works by every interviewee I’ve ever or writer I’ve ever had associations with and will have in the future.

Morgen: What do you do when you’re not writing? Any hobbies or party tricks?

Morgen: Is there anything other than writing? Oh, actually writing. Everything else. I’m forever thinking, jotting things down but at the moment the only times I write are during my fortnightly Monday night workshops (and I’m thrilled with some of the things I’ve come up with then) and monthly Northampton Literature Group workshops (which I’ve been leading recently ) but I’ve been editing stuff for Rachel so that sort of counts, doesn’t it?

Morgen: Mmm…

Morgen: I do have a couple of party tricks.

Morgen: Oh yes?

Morgen: I can bark like a seal (do they bark?) and can flip about a dozen coins from the back of my right elbow (is that called something? I know the back of the knee doesn’t have a name), although I’m rusty at both of them.

Morgen: Are there any writing-related websites and/or books that you find useful and would recommend?

Morgen: Websites: http://duotrope.com and http://jbwb.co.uk for market information and then specifically http://womagwriter.blogspot.com (I’m hoping to have Kathy for an interview in the not too distant future, I think she’d be really interesting) for short story info. Sorry if I’ve missed anyone out that I shouldn’t have done. Books: this is where I should say Stephen King’s ‘On Writing’ and I have it but not read it yet (it got as far as my bedside table when it was first mentioned in these interviews). I have shelves full of ‘how to’ books that I’ve not read, shamefully. I would recommend Sue Moorcroft’s ‘Love Writing’ and Adrian Magson’s new ‘Write On!’ but I am slightly biased because I know them both and Adrian listed my website in the back of his (but they are great books). And if you write short stories then Della Galton’s ‘How to write short stories’ because she’s a major short story goddess (that’s a major goddess not a goddess of major short stories).

Morgen: Yes, I think we got that. In which country are you based and do you find this a help or hindrance with letting people know about your work?

Morgen: The UK. England. Northamptonshire. The rose of the shires… or is that Yorkshire. We have roses on our county signposts. As you can tell I’m not from round there ’ere parts. Been here 15 years, Bucks before that. As you can see I’ve not travelled much (this is the… flat above my dad’s shop… then there was… then… then the house I rented when I moved up here, then my first house… and here… oh no, there was Richard’s… so seventh house in 44 years; that’s not all that much is it?

Morgen: Compared to many, probably not. Are you on any forums or networking sites? If so, how invaluable do you find them?

Morgen: I’d love to say here that I’m on Litopia’s all the time but I’ve not been on it (slapped wrists) other than the Friday and Sunday nights (which are great and everyone should swing by, although Sundays are currently on a hiatus).

Morgen: Where can we find out about you and your work?

Morgen: Here (my ‘About me’ and ‘My writing’ pages), Nathan’s website (mentioned in the footer of this interview)… erm… my website (http://morgenbailey.com) but that’s similar to this (although not as pretty / professional looking). There are links to everything I’m involved in on that and in the ‘Where to find me’ menu of this blog.

Morgen: A fair amount.

Morgen: Thanks… yes, I’d like to do more but, you know…

Morgen: I do. What do you think the future holds for a writer?

Morgen: I am SO excited by where we’re at right now and I’m so glad that I didn’t try to get loads of work out when I first started. (a) because it was probably dire, although looking back there are some redeemable nuggets and (b) because I can now do what I like, under Rachel’s guidance: my own cover design, price (99p mostly) and content. It’s great… well, I’m hoping it will be when we get there.

Morgen: Is there anything else you’d like to mention?

Morgen: Um… I think I’ve talked for long enough, don’t you? Is anyone still awake?

Morgen: Hopefully one or two… and maybe one of those will be kind enough to leave a comment.

Morgen: That would be great. I love getting the ‘please approve’ emails from WordPress.

Morgen: Well… OK then to finish. Is there a question you’d like to ask me?

Morgen: Why your nose goes so red in the sun?

Morgen: Good question. I’m not sure why I have a Roman nose but yes, my caricature (which was done by Adrian Teal by the way) is fairly spot on although I think I could be mistaken for an alcoholic and my brother especially knows I never remember that I’ve got booze in the house but he helps me out whenever he visits (which is too rarely, although I’m seeing him this weekend, yay!). I walk the dog two or three times a day, walk to / from work, round car boot sales so I guess it just gets lots of exposure (although I do slap lotion on it but clearly not enough). It doesn’t really bother me, adds to the personality I guess, like the glasses.

Morgen: Which aren’t in your caricature.

Morgen: They’re not – they weren’t in the picture that Adrian had, I’m not sure why. Finally we have some questions from the ‘audience’.

Morgen: Really?

Morgen: We do.

Morgen: Yay, great.

Morgen: JD Mader from the San Francisco Bay Area would like to know whether you have a sentence, character, paragraph, etc that you love that you have never been able to fit into a piece?

Morgen: Oh hey JD (did you wife forgive you for spending your anniversary social networking? ). Sentences don’t spring to mind other than the ones I created for my ‘sentence starts’ (which I touted earlier). Neither does a paragraph but I have lots of short stories that I’ve not done anything with. One of my favourite words is ‘cuddle’ and I don’t get to use that often enough. There is a character I’ve used as the antagonist in novel no. 5 and the whole story revolves around him but I’d have to change it as he’s real and I’ve mentioned real events but I wrote it therapeutically so will probably never see light of day but we shall see…

Morgen: Then we have Sarah Tanburn…

Morgen: Oh hey Sarah! She’s RoaringGirl on Litopia, you know.

Morgen: I do. She’d like to know where you get the confidence to get out there and persuade some big name authors to come on your blog and get interviewed? She thinks you have a lovely way of writing the interviews so they are very personalised and tell us about you without intruding on the main event, so to speak.  How did you evolve that approach?

Morgen: Ah that’s nice. As for the authors I’ve been very lucky; I either know them already (from my former studies, the podcast or they’re friends of friends) or they’ve approached me because of Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook or said friends (Adrian Magson in particular has done a lot of recommending for which I’m very grateful) or they’ve read other interviews on the blog and would like to take part (and I’ve been so grateful as it keeps the one a day going). As for the format, well I just slot my reaction in as I read through as if we were sitting together. Having interviewed numerous authors for my audio podcast (either in person or via Skype) I just imagine it’s that. My dad used to say that if a job is worth doing it’s worth doing well (I only later found out that he wasn’t the first person to say so, I was pretty young at the time) and I’ve inherited that (and my poor memory) from him and it’s a format that’s proving popular so absolutely worth spending the time on.

Morgen: Marta from…

Morgen: Oh, one of our readers of Sunny’s interview? I’m hoping she’ll do an interview with me too.

Morgen: Indeed. She has five questions for you…

Morgen: Wow!

Morgen: 1. who was your first and/or favorite english/writing teacher and why?

Morgen: Gosh. I remember Mrs Haines from primary school – she was lovely, although I think she was the one who told me off in my first term (so I would have been 5?) for talking too much.

Morgen: What a surprise.

Morgen: I think my favourite overall there was Mr (Mike) O’Toole because he was passionate and I got to see more of him than anyone as he used to come in my dad’s photographic shop. I discovered an Our Lady’s group on Facebook recently so I’ve been chatting on there although there’s no-one from my year there, or teachers… yet. I liked my secondary English teacher because I liked the subject but I can’t remember her name (sorry about that).

Morgen: 2. if you were a literary character, who would you most likely be?

Morgen: I  love Jeff Lindsay’s Debra Morgan (Dexter’s sister) but only from the TV version not the book (I’ve not read the latter, I have a couple of them) because apparently she’s quite different (presumably not as feisty). And of course I like their surname.

Morgen: 3. what is your favorite genre?

Morgen: oh no, I have to choose one? I’d say dark comedy. That’s cheating isn’t it? OK then dark. I know it’s not a genre but it’s what my writing invariably is.

Morgen: 4. if you were an animal, which animal would you be?  if you were a tree, which tree would you be?

Morgen: Having watched Planet of the Apes today I’d say ‘Caesar’ the chimp because he’s smart and ends up being in charge and if you watch it, for the second part of the questions, I’d pick the tall tree he ends up (although he has a better head for heights). I quite like the oak because it’s old and wise. That’s a great Alan Parsons Project song by the way… Old and wise. A sad one, I’ll warn you.

Morgen: Thanks. 5. what one thing changed your writing and when/how did you have that “ah ha” moment?

Morgen: Wow, these are good questions. This is going to sound really dull but it’s really only practice that’s changed it. I have learned a lot by going to workshops but it’s then implementing what I’ve learned as I go along. I’ve not explained that well. I do plan to do a ‘key ingredients’ to writing blog post which will explain what I’ve learned. “ah ha” moment is just as tricky. I do remember it; a few months ago but it was realising how much I enjoyed writing and that I wanted to do it for the rest of my life, and take it more seriously, I can’t remember what prompted it. Sorry.

Morgen: And then we have Litopia’s Thomas Tyler.

Morgen: Oh hey TT!

Morgen: He’d like to know what keeps you writing?

Morgen: Easiest question of the evening: passion.

Morgen: And then…

Morgen: There’s more?

Morgen: Another from ‘TT’ yes.

Morgen: Oh great.

Morgen: He asks: What desire do you wish you didn’t possess?

Morgen: My desire for tall men? Apart from some foods (Banoffee pie) that’s what springs to mind. I’m 5’10 (well, 5’9¾) and tall men are rarer than million-pound novel deals. OK, maybe not that rare but my heart sinks (to use a cliché) every time I see a tall guy with a little women… it’s a waste. And invariably when I do meet them they say how lovely it is when they meet someone they don’t get neck ache talking to. My life would be complete (pretty much anyway) if I met a 6’4 guy who lived locally (and didn’t mind that I’m so buy) who loved writing, even a speck to the extent I do. But I am so busy that I don’t mind being single… whenever I see a couple arguing it reminds me there are advantages to singledom. There’s no writing-related desire that I wish I didn’t possess because everything’s worth it to me. Even words I don’t use (although I couldn’t think of any for Dan could I, I guess I mean ones that are edited out, aren’t a waste because it’s all practice and they may be turned into something else one day, the joy of copy / cut and paste.

Morgen: Well, thanks Morgen. It’s been… interesting.

Morgen: Thank you. I’ve had fun… a little weird, but fun nonetheless.

Morgen: Have we stopped recording now?

Morgen: It’s not being recorded.

Morgen: Really?

Morgen: No. You know how this works; it’s all typed.

Morgen: Oh.

Morgen: OK?

Morgen: Sure. So I’m free to go?

Morgen: You are.

Morgen: OK, great, because I’ve got a busy evening.

Morgen: You have?

Morgen: Litopia starts in an hour then I’m going out to play pool.

Morgen: Oh.

Morgen: Oh?

Morgen: I’m rubbish at pool… my bowling’s a bit iffy too.

Morgen: Mine too.

Morgen: Well, have a good time.

Morgen: Thanks. Oh there was just one thing… hello?… hello?… are you there? I think she’s hung up…

***

If you are reading this and you write, in whatever genre, and are thinking “ooh, I’d like to do this” then you can… just email me and I’ll send you the information. They do now (January 2013) carry a fee (£10 / €12.50 / $15) for the new interviews on this blog but everything else (see Opportunities on this blog) is free.

If you go for the interview, it’s very simple; I send you a questionnaire (I have them for novelists, short story authors, children’s authors, non-fiction authors, and poets). You complete the questions, and I let you know when it’s going to go live. Before it does so, I add in comments as if we’re chatting, and then they get posted. When that’s done, I email you with the link so you can share it with your corner of the literary world. And if you have a writing-related blog / podcast and would like to interview me… let me know.

Alternatively, if you’d like a free Q&A-only interview, I now have http://morgensauthorinterviews.wordpress.com on which I’ve rerun the original interviews posted here then posted new interviews which I then reblog here. These interviews are Q&A only, so I don’t add in my comments but they do get exposure on both sites.

** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!

See http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008E88JN0

or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008E88JN0 for outside the UK **

You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel, which is being serialised on Novel Nights In!) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.

For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.

As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. I welcome critique for the four new writing groups listed below and / or flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays. For other opportunities see (see Opportunities on this blog).

The full details of the new online writing groups, and their associated Facebook groups, are:

• Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group (http://novelwritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/508696639153189)
• Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group (http://poetrywritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/388850977875934)
• Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group (http://scriptwritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/319941328108017)
• Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group (http://shortstorywritinggroup.wordpress.com / http://www.facebook.com/groups/544072635605445)

We look forward to reading your comments.

 

Writing competitions & other opportunities

Every other Monday I provide my writing group with a handout containing events, information, competitions and submission opportunities, amongst other things, here are some of the latest nuggets (NB. I can’t vouch for any of these competitions – take a look at the websites or apply for more info. before parting with money and submitting your hard work!):

CRIME, THRILLERS etc: Event, website

• Crime novelist (and former tutor / podcast interviewee of mine) Sally Spedding will be holding three crime writing workshops 10, 17 and 24 September (10am-4pm) in the historic and atmospheric Glynhir Mansion (Carmarthenshire, UK), so come and be inspired. Beginners welcome. £30 per session to include lunch and refreshments. Easy access from the M4 and by rail. For further information please contact Katy Jenkins on 01269 850438. Email: enquiries@theglynhirestate.com. Websites: http://www.theglynhirestate.com or http://www.sallyspedding.com/diary.html.
• Sally recommended the organisation Mystery Women to me – http://www.mysterywomen.co.uk/Contents.html and if you have any interest in this genre do take a look as the menu options are book reviews, writer interviews, conferences, our writer members, mystery women diary, competition, extras, join us and links… and the website is weirdly attractive.

FANTASY, GRAPHIC NOVELS, HORROR & SCI-FI: Events

• FantasyCon 2011 takes place 30^th September to 2^nd October in Brighton – see http://www.britishfantasysociety.org for details.
• New Creative Writing Courses for Science Fiction Specialists: A group of seasoned writers and editors – Peter Brookesmith, Jane Wenham-Jones (who I met recently), Jean Bonnin – have banded together to form Another Dimension, dedicated to running creative writing courses that specialize in science fiction. Intensive three-day residential courses are scheduled for September, November and December at the five-star Slebech Park hotel in Pembrokeshire, UK with six-day courses to be held at the elegantly bohemian La Perdrix arts centre in the Dordogne.
 For full details and booking forms: http://www.writingsciencefiction.co.uk.

NON-FICTION: Competitions & Submissions

• Foreign Flavours’ call for Submissions for the Writers Abroad 2011 Anthology ‘Foreign Flavours’, fiction (1700 words max) and non-fiction (1000 words max) on Food, Drink & Cooking. Entry is free, and whilst there is no payment, proceeds from the publication of the charity will be donated to The Book Bus Charity. Acclaimed author Alexander McCall Smith will be writing foreword. Guidelines at: http://www.writersabroad.com/foreign-flavours-submissions.htm. The deadline is 9^th September.
• The Society of Women Writers & Journalists International Online ‘Life Writing’ Competition. Prizes totalling £9,000. Judges: Sophie King and Katie Fforde. 3,000 words maximum. Closing date 30^th September. ‘Life Writing’ is a fluid term used to describe the recording of experiences and memories, whether one’s own or another’s. It covers biography, memoir, diaries, letters and personal essays etc., and, more recently, digital forms such as blogs and email. See http://www.swwj.co.uk/lifewritingcomp.html for details.
• Beak Books Competition for First-time Novelists. 
Send in first three chapters with £8 entry fee. Cash prizes and publication in 2012 for winner. Looking for original, quirky, thrilling, thought-provoking stories but nothing genre-specific such as horror, crime, sci-fi or children’s literature. Closing date 30^th September. See http://beakbooks.co.uk.

NOVELS: Competitions

• Final call for The 2011 Luke Bitmead Writer’s Bursary now open for entries. First 3/4 chapters of a novel by 31^st August. See http://www.legendpress.co.uk.
• http://unboundpress.com/competitions/2011-unbound-press-competitions/2011-unbound-press-best-novel-award has a 1^st September deadline. First 10,000 words of novel. £20 fee.
• http://beakbooks.co.uk Competition for First-time Novelists: ends 30^th September.
• Creative Print’s Unpublished Fiction Authors Print Ready Competition ends on the last day of the month in which that genre appears: AUG 2011 Women’s Fiction then SEPT 2011 Crime, OCT 2011 Humour & Comical, NOV Novellas, DEC YA / Teen, JAN 2012 Sci-fi, FEB Historical & Mythological MARCH Westerns and APRIL Horror & Supernatural: http://www.creativeprintpublishing.com/publishing/competitions.php.  In my opinion this sounds like a calendar-led slushpile but I may be wrong and if Harper Collins can do it with http://autonomy.com then why not?

POETRY: Competitions, Submissions, Events

• Nottingham Open Poetry Competition:
1st prize £300, closing date 6^th September. http://nottinghampoetrysociety.wordpress.com/competitions.
• Poetry Kit Poetry Competition 2011 – for poems on any subject using any form or style. There is no length restriction but it should be stressed that a short poem is just as likely to be selected as a longer one. 1st prize £100. There is no set fee for entry but asking for a donation towards the work of Poetry Kit in providing information and resources for poets around the world. Poetry Kit is totally independent does not carry paid advertising and is not funded by any outside organisation or arts grant. Deadline 30^th September. Further information and rules at www.poetrykit.org/comp2011.htm .
• Tom Howard/John H. Reid Poetry Contest has a postmark deadline of September 30^th. Now in its ninth year, this contest seeks poems in any style, theme or genre. You may submit work that has been published or won prizes elsewhere, as long as you own the online publication rights. Prizes of $3,000, $1,000, $400 and $250 will be awarded, plus six Most Highly Commended Awards of $150 each. The entry fee is $7 for every 25 lines you submit. Submit online or by mail. Early submission encouraged. This contest is sponsored by Tom Howard Books and assisted by Winning Writers. Judges: John H. Reid and Dee C. Konrad. See http://www.winningwriters.com/contests/tompoetry/tp_guidelines.php.
• Check out current UK poetry competitions at http://www.poetrylibrary.org.uk/competitions.
• Buxton’s Word Wizards slam poetry competition runs in the coffee lounge at the Grove Hotel, Buxton, Derbyshire at 7:30pm on the last Tuesday of every month. Entry is £2.50. More info can be obtained by e-mailing Rob at: poetryslamUK@aol.com.
• http://www.chapmanscarecrow.co.uk/03Events/2011%20Lippfest details the Leeds Independent Poetry Festival which takes place on 24^th September.
• Well Versed is the weekly poetry column of daily UK newspaper the Morning Star, published every Thursday, in print and online. Poetry editor Jody Porter. Under the stewardship of the late and esteemed John Rety, Well Versed developed into a widely-read forum for new and established writers. Send submissions, with biographical information, to wveditor@gmail.com. Poems need not be overtly political, but space is limited so they must be short to medium in length. Website:http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk.
• Poetry Day School “takes place at the Clephan Building, Leicester De Monfort University, from 10.00am to 4.00pm. This friendly and inspiring workshop is led by Nine Arches Co-editors and experienced poets and workshop tutors, Matt Nunn and Jane Commane. Designed to give you increased confidence in your writing, the Poetry Day School allows you precious poetry writing time in a focused and supportive atmosphere. Saturday 22nd October: The World Beyond the Window: Exploring the Natural, Man-made and Metaphysical Open the window on your poetry with this whistle-stop tour through spaces and places, both imaginary and real! Explore the wild world and how to write about natural landscapes. Take an imaginary city trip and write an urban hymn for an unsung place. Finally, leave reality behind and explore the strange and uncanny world of unexplained and inexplicable things. Plenty of inspiration in this workshop to help you craft your poems and gain the confidence to experiment further afield. Price £35.00 per person (£20.00 to DMU Students). Includes sandwich lunch and refreshments. Free parking on site. Advance booking essential, please email: mail@ninearcheespress.com to book a place or see the website http://www.ninearchespress.com for details”.
• London’s South Bank Centre Poetry Library’s events: http://www.poetrylibrary.org.uk/events.
• Poetry London’s events: http://www.poetrylondon.co.uk/frontend_dev.php/listing/events.
• http://www.poetrykit.org/events.htm lists a variety of regular poetry events over the UK.
• Poet In The City Events: http://www.poetinthecity.co.uk/poetry-events.
• Scottish Poetry Library’s Events: http://www.spl.org.uk/events/other.html#events.
• http://www.hphoward.demon.co.uk/campoetry/index.htm lists poetry events in the Cambridge (England) area.
• National Poetry Day’s poetry events: http://www.nationalpoetryday.co.uk/national-events.
• UK poetry events courtesy of Cannon Poets: http://www.cannonpoets.co.uk/11957.html.

SCRIPTWRITING: Competitions

• http://www.thecourtyard.org.uk announced their The King’s Cross Award for New Writing 2011 for UK and ROI writers, full length play, £4,000 prize, closing date 1^st September.
• Trinity College London International Playwriting Competition 2011 –
write a one-act play in English (20-40 minutes in duration) for young people: either for performers of 11 years and under or for an audience of 12-16 year olds. Prizewinners in each category will receive £1,000 + publication of their play + an inaugural performance at a central London Theatre + travel and accommodation to the performance and prize giving. 
Entry fee £10 or £20 for feedback. Closing date 1^st September. 
http://www.trinitycollege.co.uk/resource/?id=4200.

SHORT STORIES: Competitions and submissions

• A free entry monthly short story competition: winners are published in one of our collections of short stories – see http://www.openingeditions.co.uk/#/fiction-authors/455091281.
• Once every quarter, CheerReader has a short story competition. The maximum story length is 2500 words, and you can write about any subject genre you like, but it has to be amusing, witty, funny, or whatever other word you may care to choose. See http://cheerreader.co.uk/Competitions.aspx for full details. The next deadline is 31^st August.
• The Short Story website is designed to showcase the best short stories from around the world. The idea is simple. Submit your story and you will automatically enter The Short Story competition. First prize: £300, second prize: £150, third prize: £50. The winners will be published on the website (http://www.theshortstory.net). Deadline for submissions 15^th September.
• Short story competition: First Prize £500 (approx. 812 US$; 573€) Second Prize £150 (approx. 244 US$; 172€) Third Prize £50 (approx. 81 US$; 57€) Winners and shortlisted stories will be published in an anthology. Our short Story judge is Paul McDonald. Closing date: 30^th September and costs £7.50 (12.50 US$; 9€) to enter. Details www.ruberybookaward.com.
• Tip from Zurich Writers Workshop: Lesley Lawson, a Geneva-based writer and member of the Geneva Writers Group is seeking submissions for an anthology about ‘falling in love over forty’. Lesley would be very pleased to hear from writers who would like to a) complete a survey and b) at a later stage write their story for future publication.  The deadline for submissions for the anthology is 30^th September. Lesley is offering publicity and a copy of the book for stories that are published. Interested writers can reach Lesley at lesley@2relationshipsuccess.com.
• The Yellow Room Autumn Short Story Competition
for Short Stories of less than 2,500 Words.
Closing date 30^th September.
1st Prize £80, 2nd Prize £45, 3rd Prize £20
The winning story will be published in The Yellow Room Magazine.
Entry Fee: £4 (or £10 for 3 stories)
- see http://www.theyellowroom-magazine.co.uk/www.theyellowroom-magazine.co.uk/Competitions.html.
• Reminder: Bound Off now take submissions via the http://www.submishmash.com website and not until after the summer (1^st September). Bound Off’s website is http://boundoff.com.
• http://shortfunnystory.com/writers-wanted wants humorous short stories or true-life events and pay $15 for every story published online with $25 extra for any story which is chosen for inclusion in one of their anthologies.

SONGWRITING: Competition

• Beak Books Songwriting Competition (http://www.beakbooks.co.uk/beakbookscompetitions.html) is looking for a soundtrack to accompany our first publication which is the story of a Jimmy Savile impersonator who discovers his father was the lead singer in a 1970′s rock band. Songs must have the necessary screeching vocals and guitar solos. Free to enter. Winner/winners will have songs featured on website with link to their own site. Closing date 30^th September.

OTHER COMPETITIONS

• Save As Writers’ Group ‘Siege of Canterbury’ Millennial Competition
Entries are invited for a Creative Writing competition for short works of poetry or prose broadly inspired by the Siege of Canterbury which happened in September 1011. The competition is open to all writers. International submissions are welcome. The Siege of Canterbury was a major event during the Viking raids on England that occurred in the reign of Ethelred the Unready. 
Closing date 15^th September (entries postmarked this date will be accepted).
Maximum length: Poems 50 lines. Short stories 2,000 words.
All entries will be judged anonymously. Each piece will be seen by the judges – there is no sifting beforehand. The poetry entries will be judged by Christopher Hobday and the prose entries by Luigi Marchini. 
Prizes: Three in each category: 1st Prize £30, 2nd Prize £20, 3rd Prize £15. Entry fees £2 per poem, £3 per prose piece.
Entries should be sent to: Save As Writers Group, 71 Rentain Road, Canterbury, Kent CT4 7JJ – your name should not appear on your hard copies but please include a covering letter with your name, contact details, and titles of the entries along with a cheque for the entry fee payable to ‘Save As Writers’. 
http://www.saveaswriters.co.uk.
• Fleeting: Online magazine looking for short stories and poetry – daring, witty, erudite, lucid and infectious -
Closing date 30^th September 
http://fleetingmagazine.com.
• http://www.nawe.co.uk/DB/jobs-and-opportunities/prole-submissions.html details an opportunity for prose and poetry – deadline also 30^th September.

OTHER EVENTS, WORKSHOPS, RETREATS ETC.

• I’ve had an email from Harriet Hopkinson (who has kindly agreed to do a blog interview with me) which goes as follows: “I am a published novelist; experienced creative writing tutor and hold a First Class Honours degree, majoring in English Literature. I have just launched Creative Writing Online, an innovative online creative writing course, which I thought might be of interest to members of your writing group. Creative Writing Online is unique: the course is entirely flexible. You can work when and where you want. There are no deadlines: you can work through the course materials at your own pace, contributing to forums and tutorials as and when you wish. You can dip in and out of the course to suit you and your lifestyle. Consisting of twelve units, the course covers key creative writing techniques: characterisation; language and imagery; point of view; sense of place; as well as, planning, drafting and editing short stories. A range of activities is offered to provide a varied and stimulating learning experience: reading; discussion and analysis; writing exercises; peer feedback forums; and tutorials. Each unit represents roughly two to four hours’ work. There are three Tutor Marked Assignments (TMAs). These give you the opportunity to practice the skills you have learned by writing extended pieces of work and to gain detailed critiques of your writing. The cost of the course is £95. This represents under £8 a unit – outstanding value! Furthermore, to celebrate the launch of the course, the first 30 students to enrol will be entitled to a 10% discount and to encourage you to spread the good news, if you recommend a friend, you will receive a £10 book token once your friend enrols. I also offer a reading service and am available to run bespoke workshops and courses. For more information please go to http://www.harriethopkinson.co.uk; email (harriethopkinson@sky.com) or call me on 01872 501496″.
• Writing and Reading Workshops at Nottingham Contemporary. Curative Writing (a series of workshops that propose site-specific, creative writing exercises, introduced through Jean Genet’s texts): Wednesdays, 5:30-7:30pm 31 August & 28 September. The Galleries & The Study (capacity 15). Reading Genet – a reading group: Wednesdays 5:30-7:30pm 17 August & 21 September. The Study (capacity 15) – see http://www.nottinghamcontemporary.org for more information.
• The NAWG Festival of Writing takes place at
Nottingham from 2nd to 4th September. Come and join the National Association of Writers’ groups (NAWG) on what’s shaping up to be a memorable weekend. James Nash, Tim Wilson, Julie Bokowiec, and Steve Bowkett will be leading a variety of professional writing workshops. Places are limited, so book early to avoid disappointment. For more information visit http://www.nawg.co.uk or email casualwriter@hotmail.com.
• http://newwritingsouth.com/members-area/blog/workshops/tilton-house-women-writers-retreat writing retreat takes place between 16th and 18th September and features short story and scriptwriting tutors.
• www.writingschoolleicester.co.uk runs a variety of writing courses.
• For full details of the major literary festivals in the UK visit www.britishcouncil.org/arts-literature-literary-festivals.htm.

OTHER OPPORTUNITIES

• Free contest, IHDP International Writing Contest (scientific writing) on “Green Economy”, top prize: $500 http://bit.ly/q8jL2B. Deadline 31^st August.
• Applications are invited for the £20,000 Eccles British Library Writer in Residence Award. Deadline 31^st August. See http://pressandpolicy.bl.uk/Press-Releases/The-Eccles-British-Library-Writer-in-Residence-Award-4d5.aspx.
• Philistine Press - A Revolutionary New Form of Publishing – non-profit digital publisher – see http://philistinepress.com.
• www.writingeastmidlands.co.uk/services/opportunities is a great list of opportunities
• Able Muse a Review of Poetry Prose and Art submission guidelines – 
http://www.ablemuse.com/submit.
• Courtesy of the recent New Writer newsletter: Email received from Janette Murphy:
 “I am a freelance writer who although many times published as an article writer simply cannot get a foot in the door of conventional book deals. Nothing daunted, I have from time to time wondered at the lumbering monster we put up with in terms of how books are published in this day and age, and have finally come up with a staggeringly simple idea that I’m sure will work if we can get enough people behind us. I represent a group of writers in a similar situation, I should add, and we all believe passionately in Readus, which involved no paper, no commission and 100% earnings for the writer. Once registered, work is permanently displayed and no other costs are payable – ever!  Please take a few moments to visit the website (http://www.readus.co.uk), particularly the ‘info. for authors’ section.”
• Courtesy of the recent New Writer newsletter: “My latest bit of fun is Howopia (http://howopia.co.uk/referral/686f7865), a new sort of website, that encourages the sharing of information ‘for the masses, by the masses’. Their goal is to create the largest number of How-To’s on the internet – and they pay a share of the advertising revenue generated through the guides we write. The earnings are potentially limitless, and the more pages we write, the more money we can earn.  Go onto the site and see how the published articles have been presented.  My articles, as you will see, are taken from my personal interests of creative writing, greyhounds, gardening and self-help.  Study the guidelines and write a couple of your own using the accepted format.  You can either send these to a magazine (and wait weeks for a response), or register with Howopia, submit your how-to, and get an answer in a couple of days.”  Suzanne Ruthven

OTHER WEBSITES

• One of my tutors at the July 2011 Winchester Writers Conference was Crysse (“Chrissie”) Morrison and her http://www.cryssemorrison.co.uk/links.htm page is packed with useful links – her blog is http://crysse.blogspot.com.
• http://maryawrites.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/secrets-of-happy-life does what it implies.

OTHER STUFF

If you’d like some light relief after a hard day’s writing take a look at http://oxforddictionaries.com/page/puzzles_world/puzzles-and-games. Speaking of light relief, take a look at these (real) newspaper article headings:

• ‘One-armed man applauds the kindness of strangers’
• ‘Statistics show that teen pregnancy drops off significantly after age 25’
• ‘Federal agents raid gun shop, find weapons’
• ‘Kids make nutritious snacks’
• ‘Tiger Woods plays with his own balls, Nike says’

That’s it for now… I will put more on in a fortnight (if not before) and there’s also plenty of information on my ‘Useful info‘ page.

 

Forthcoming / ongoing writing competitions and submission opportunities

Below are details of a few more forthcoming / ongoing competitions and submission opportunities…

Coast to Coast runs poetry (50 lines max) and short story (2000 words max) monthly competition with deadline of 25th– the top four stories and eight poems are published in an anthology (presumably yearly). Post to Flat 1, 9 Wellington Street, Liverpool L22 8QL (Contact Maurice James 07780 642086).

Dark Tales Short Story runs quarterly competitions (31^st January, 30^th April, 31^st July and 31^st October). See www.darktales.co.uk or e-mail queries to competition@darktales.co.uk.

www.fanstory.com/index1contest.jsp lists ongoing competitions of which there are 50 each month! You can submit poetry and/or short stories free of charge for cash prizes! It’s an American site which sounds like fantasy but also have categories of sci-fi, humour, mystery, war, horror, non-fiction, children and ‘others’. They make their money by advertisers and membership (from $2.80 per month). Work listed is reviewed and you can review other people’s work…sounds like fun.

The Writing magazine runs a monthly competition –  see their website www.writers-online.co.uk for full details.

www.wordsmag.com/compcal11.htm lists Words Magazine short story competitions for 2011 and their guidelines.

Bi-monthly magazine ‘Kudos’ is a great source for competition and submission information. More details from www.kudoswritingcompetitions.com.

Write Link also lists forthcoming competitions – click on the following link for more details http://writelink.co.uk/res_dbmain.php?cat=competitions.

www.jbwb.co.uk/writingcomps.htm has a list of a variety of forthcoming competitions.

Should you be a gardener ‘Home Farmer’ magazine is looking for submissions, especially those of a traditional nature. Contact: Home Farmer, The Good Life Press Ltd, PO Box 536, Preston PR2 9ZY (or e-mail editor@homefarmer.co.uk). Their website is www.homefarmer.co.uk.

‘Still Crazy’ has opportunities for writers aged 50+ – see www.crazylitmag.com for more details.

For more useful stuff – take a look at this blogs ‘Useful info.‘ page.

 

Useful writing info. (competitions & submissions etc.): Short stories

Every fortnight I provide my writing group with handouts of useful stuff like competitions to enter, websites to visit etc. and I thought I’d share them with you. Here are the short story-related ones (see this blog’s ‘Useful Info.‘ page for more)…

Competitions

• A free entry monthly short story competition: winners are published in one of our collections of short stories – details see http://www.openingeditions.co.uk/#/fiction-authors/4550912811.
• http://www.brightoncow.co.uk has two new competitions: “The first is free to enter and is titled ‘Summer Loving’. This is for fiction 500 to 1000 words, with three £10 prizes and the deadline is 31st July. The other is an open themed fiction competition. 3000 word limit and the prizes are £100, £50 and £25 as well as the shortlisted stories to be published on our site. This one costs £4 to enter (deadline is 31st August).”
• http://unboundpress.com/competitions/2011-unbound-press-competitions/2011-unbound-press-flash-fiction-award has a deadline of 1^st August. 500 words maximum. £5 fee.
• The Manchester Fiction Prize 2011 will award a cash prize of £10,000 to the writer of the best short story of up to 3,000 words, open internationally to both new and established writers aged 16 or over. The story can be on any subject, and written in any style, but must be fiction and new work, not previously published, or submitted for consideration elsewhere during this competition. See http://www.manchesterwritingcompetition.co.uk/fiction/he for details. The deadline for entries is 5pm (UK time) on Friday 12^th August 2011.
• For Books’ Sake and Pulp Press:
competition to find the best pulp fiction written by women.
Deadline 15^th August. http://forbookssake.net/for-books-sake-pulp-press-want-you
• New Eastbourne Writers 2nd National Short Story Competition.
Theme: Lucky Break. Maximum Length: 1500 words
Prizes: £100, £50 and £25; website publication of winning entries
Fee: £5 per entry/£7 for two.
Closing date 27^th August. Judge: Vanessa Gebbie (who I met recently at Winchester) http://www.neweastbournewriters.co.uk
• http://www.aestheticamagazine.com/submission_guide.htm provides details of the Aesthetica Magazine’s artwork/photography, fiction and poetry comp; deadline 31^st August.
• The Write Place Open Short Story Competition
also has a closing date of 31^st August. Submit: Short story, open themed, 1,500 words max.  Fee £4.50 per entry, (optional one page critique £4.50) Prizes: 1st £100, 2nd £75, 3rd, £50.  Entries to Francesca Burgess, 34 Capelands, New Ash Green, Longfield, Kent, DA3 8LG. Make cheques payable to ‘The Write Place’. 
More information at http://www.thewriteplace.org.uk or email f.capaldi.burgess@btinternet.com.
• Once every quarter, CheerReader has a short story competition. The maximum story length is 2500 words, and you can write about any subject genre you like, but it has to be amusing, witty, funny, or whatever other word you may care to choose. See http://cheerreader.co.uk/Competitions.aspx for full details. The next deadline is 31^st August.
• The Wellington Town Council Short Story Competition 2011 is open to all. Max 4,500 words. Closing date 31^st August. Entry fee £3, prizes £150, £100, £75. http://www.wellington-shropshire.gov.uk – go to the home page and scroll down for rules and entry form.
• http://www.brightoncow.co.uk – see above (31^st August).
• The Short Story website is designed to showcase the best short stories from around the world. The idea is simple. Submit your story and you will automatically enter The Short Story competition. First prize: £300, second prize: £150, third prize: £50. The winners will be published on the website (http://www.theshortstory.net). Deadline for submissions 15^th September.
• Short story competition: First Prize £500 (approx. 812 US$; 573€) Second Prize £150 (approx. 244 US$; 172€) Third Prize £50 (approx. 81 US$; 57€) Winners and shortlisted stories will be published in an anthology. Our short Story judge is Paul McDonald. Closing date: 30^th September and costs £7.50 (12.50 US$; 9€) to enter. Details www.ruberybookaward.com.
• 1^st October is the deadline for http://spillinginkreview.com/competitions/2011-spilling-ink-fiction-prize. Prizes are £500, £250 and £125. Entry fee £5. Max 3,000 words.
• 28^th October is the deadline for www.avogel.co.uk/story/enter.html although you can submit any time. Entry is free and prizes vary from £100 to £500. Thanks Denny for the info.

Submissions

• Bound Off is a great free podcast that pays $20 per short story accepted which you can either record yourself or they would have an actor/actress to do it (I think it would be great to hear someone else read my story). I’ve submitted (and been rejected) a couple of times but they only take 2-3 stories a month so think it’s just a case of keeping going. They used to take submissions by email but now have to be sent via the http://www.submishmash.com website and not until after the summer (1^st September). Bound Off’s website is http://boundoff.com.
• I had an email from Patrick Hollander of the Hollander Literary Agency to say they are looking for short stories of any genre to pass on to publishers. Submission by email only please to phollander6@gmail.com. 1. Use Word.doc format only. 2. Maximum 25 pages. 3. Name & Address, email address, Title, Genre should appear on the front page. 4. The story should finish with the words – End of story. 5. Please allow 12 weeks for us to read submissions. 6. No communication will be entered in to unless we feel there is potential in the story but we will offer advice where we feel it is needed. 7. Communication will be to the email shown on Page 1 of the submission. Thank you for your attention to this matter.” It sounds genuine but you may wish to tread carefully nonetheless.
• Iota welcomes submissions of short fiction in any genre, including life writing and memoir. “Please send short stories of between 2000 and 6000 words. All stories must be the original work of the author. We accept translations as long as they are identified as such. All work must be typed and double spaced. Please also send proposals (150 words) for features or essays. We also accept new fiction, biography and life writing for review, and copies should be sent to the Fiction Reviews Editor at the address below. Please email submissions and proposals to fiction@iotamagazine.co.uk.” Closing date for submissions to the third fiction & non-fiction issue is 31^st July (and I assume every four months thereafter). See www.iotamagazine.co.uk/Submissions.html.
• Paraxis is a new online publisher of short stories. We relish fiction with elements of the strange, uncanny or fantastic. We will be featuring new stories, reprints, artwork and essays. http://www.paraxis.org.
• Shortbread is an online community of short story readers and writers, free to join. See http://www.shortbreadstories.co.uk.
• Short Story Submission Guidelines for The Fiction Desk can be found at www.thefictiondesk.com/submissions/short-story-submission-guidelines.php.

Websites

• Me and My Short Stories – Harper Collins Digital Director Scott Pack (who I pitched to in February 2011 and was lovely) reviews short story collections at: http://meandmybigmouth.typepad.com/shorts.
• The Short Review – each monthly issue of the short review brings you original reviews of new, not-quite-so-new and classic collections and anthologies, written by reviewers many of whom are also short story writers themselves and who love short fiction. http://theshortreview.com/index.html.
• On 25th March 2011, short story writer Sally Quilford created Anti-Conning Writers Day, in which she highlighted the pitfalls and scams that part new (and not so new) writers from their hard-earned cash. You can read Sally’s views on dodgy agents, publishers, competitions and writing services by visiting http://www.sallyquilfordblog.co.uk (which is well worth a visit anyway) and clicking on the Anti-Conning Writers Day link at the top of the page.
• The New Writer’s Prose & Poetry Prizes 2009 judge Vanessa Gebbie (who I met recently at Winchester) appears in the latest list of 12 of the best British short story writers – see www.booktrust.org.uk/show/feature/Home/British-short-stories-booklist.
• http://www.flashfictiononline.com is a 500-1000 word site that is free to subscribe / read, free to submit to (http://www.flashfictiononline.com/submit.html, although they’re currently closed while wading through their slushpile). Payment is via donations with 60% going to the author and 40% going to the site so there’s no way of knowing how much (if anything) you’d earn but another opportunity perhaps.

For more information like this (not just this genre) – see this blog’s ‘Useful Info.‘ page.

 

Useful writing info. (competitions & submissions etc.): Poetry

Every fortnight I provide my writing group with handouts of useful stuff like competitions to enter, websites to visit etc. and I thought I’d share them with you. Here are the poetry-related ones (see this blog’s ‘Useful Info.‘ page for more)…

News

• The Poetry Book Society is one of the casualties of the Arts Council cuts, losing the £111,000 it received this year. The Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy is clearly angry: “This news goes beyond shocking and touches the realms of the disgusting. The PBS was established by T S Eliot in 1953 and is one of poetry’s most sacred churches with an influence and reach far beyond its membership. This fatal cut is a national shame and a scandal and I urge everyone who cares about poetry to join the PBS as a matter of urgency.” You can sign a petition to Save the PBS here: www.petitiononline.co.uk/petition/save-the-poetry-book-society/2631.

Competitions

• Free to enter, Alfred C. Carey Prize in Spoken Word Poetry, top prize: $300 http://bit.ly/peEdPI. The deadline is 15^th August.
• Lorca Translation Competition – Writers are invited to submit an original translation of a Lorca poem of their own choice. The winner will receive £500 and the runner-up £200; a pamphlet will be published of short-listed entries. Entries must be of unpublished verse translations of poems by Lorca into English. The maximum length is 80 lines. You may enter as many poems as you wish, accompanied by the appropriate entry fee. The entry fee is £5.00 for the first poem; £3.00 each for second or additional entries. Writers under 21 years old can enter free of charge. Closing date 19^th August 2011 (a very good date – my birthday ), the 75th anniversary of Lorca’s death (oh, maybe not). Details from http://lorcainengland.org/index.html.
• Delhi London Poetry Foundation: 
free to enter international competition in English and themed.
Closing date 21^st August.
Top prize £1000 + publication.
 http://www.siddhivinayaksavesmumbai.com.
• The Aesthetica Creative Works Competition has three sections: Art & Photography, Poetry and Fiction. Winners and finalists are published in the Aesthetica Creative Works Annual. Winners of each category receive £500 prize money plus other prizes. Entry to the Creative Works Competition is £10. The entry fee allows the submission of 2 images, 2 poems or 2 short stories. The deadline for submissions is 31^st August. The guidelines for submission can be found online at http://www.aestheticamagazine.com/submission_guide.htm.
• Check out all the current UK poetry competitions at http://www.poetrylibrary.org.uk/competitions.

Events

• Buxton’s Word Wizards slam poetry competition runs in the coffee lounge at the Grove Hotel, Buxton, Derbyshire at 7:30pm on the last Tuesday of every month. Entry is £2.50. More info can be obtained by e-mailing Rob at: poetryslamUK@aol.com.
• London’s South Bank Centre’s Poetry Library’s events: http://www.poetrylibrary.org.uk/events.
• Poetry London’s events: http://www.poetrylondon.co.uk/frontend_dev.php/listing/events.
• http://www.poetrykit.org/events.htm lists a variety of regular poetry events over the UK.
• Poet In The City Events: http://www.poetinthecity.co.uk/poetry-events.
• Scottish Poetry Library’s Events: http://www.spl.org.uk/events/other.html#events.
• http://www.hphoward.demon.co.uk/campoetry/index.htm lists poetry events in the Cambridge (England) area.
• National Poetry Day’s poetry events page: http://www.nationalpoetryday.co.uk/national-events.
• UK poetry events courtesy of Cannon Poets: http://www.cannonpoets.co.uk/11957.html.

Submissions

• Firebird Poetry (http://www.firebirdpoetry.com/index.php) is where poets can upload their poetry for free – plus annual Awards for adult & children’s poetry 1st prize £1,000,
judges Louis de Bernières, Paul Blezard, Joanne Harris, Fiona Mountain, Michael Warburton.
• Best Poems an annual print Anthology – free to submit – guidelines at:
http://www.best-poems.net/publish_your_poems.html

Websites

• MyOwnVerse is a network to share and discover poetry:
http://myownverse.com
• Active indie publisher Indigo Dreams Publishing have recently released several poetry collections including Fixing Things by Roger Elkin, A Slither of Air by Alison Lock and Whale Language: Songs of Iona by Angela Locke. They have also published Roselle Angwin’s novel Imago after the previous publisher went into receivership. Imago’s outline: It starts out innocently enough: a late summer party on a Devon riverbank, a full moon. But two things happen as a result of that night: Annie’s husband is killed, and the ‘accident’ jolts her into a 700-year-old ‘memory’ that will take her to the Pyrenees and the inferno at the heart of the Cathar inquisition, into a turbulent love affair, and towards another encounter with death. Details of all of these and more at www.indigodreamsbookshop.com. They also have an exciting future list which includes collections from Char March and Ann Pilling.

For more information like this (not just this genre) – see this blog’s ‘Useful Info.‘ page.

 

Useful writing info. (competitions & submissions etc.): Novels

Every fortnight I provide my writing group with handouts of useful stuff like competitions to enter, websites to visit etc. and I thought I’d share them with you. Here are the novel-related ones (see this blog’s ‘Useful Info.‘ page for more)…

Competitions

• Earlyworks Press Memoir & Journalism Competition:
a story from your or your family’s experience or a journalistic piece on a current event or issue in the news. Max 2000 words.
Closing date 30^th August.
Fee: £5 per entry. 
Prize: 1st £100, 2nd £50 runners up £10
Email entry and PayPal payment via the website or entry fees as cheques (made out to Kay Green) with paper copy to Earlyworks Press, Creative Media Centre, 45 Robertson Street, Hastings Sussex TN34 1HL.
Don’t forget to include contact details, inc. email if possible. Their website is http://earlyworkspress.co.uk.
• Nemesis Publishing 
Free to enter debut novel competition
Closing date 14^th August – see http://nemesispublishing.com.
• http://unboundpress.com/competitions/2011-unbound-press-competitions/2011-unbound-press-best-novel-award has a 1st September. First 10,000 words of novel. £20 fee.

Submissions

• Independent publisher Indigo Dreams are always on the lookout for quality work and are particularly seeking novels and non-fiction with a USP (unique selling point). Full details of how to submit at http://www.indigodreams.co.uk.
• Rickshaw Publishing is “on the hunt for quality submissions to entertain and enthral our in-house team. So all you unpublished wordsmiths out there: fire up you Interweb machines, read our submissions policy and get sending. We’re looking for authors that show bags of potential – without necessarily having a finished book – but please think how to give your projects the best chance of getting picked up.” http://www.rickshawpublishing.co.uk/?q=node/57.
• Creative Print’s Unpublished Fiction Authors Print Ready Competition ends on the last day of the month in which that genre appears: AUGUST 2011 Women’s Fiction, SEPTEMBER 2011 Crime, OCTOBER 2011 Humorous and Comical, NOVEMBER 2011 Novellas (any genre), DECEMBER 2011 Young Adult & Teen Fiction, JANUARY 2012 Science Fiction, FEBRUARY 2012 Historical and Mythological, MARCH 2012 Westerns, APRIL 2012 Horror and the Supernatural. This is a genuine, no fee competition that stretches over 12 months. Each month a different genre; each month a winner. Winners are offered a contract, paid royalties, and receive full promotion and marketing strategies. This is not a competition with prizes. There is no entry fee. Only Print Ready novels of genuine merit will be chosen. Your book could be a winner. Full details of rules, genres and how to submit, on our website http://www.creativeprintpublishing.com/publishing/competitions.php. In my opinion this sounds like a calendar-led slushpile but I may be wrong.

For more information like this (not just this genre) – see this blog’s ‘Useful Info.‘ page.

 

Latest Bailey’s Writing Tips podcast episode: no.34 (inc sci-fi/fantasy/horror)

Episode 34 (length 17m 06s) is now available (via iTunes, Google’s Feedburner, Podbean (when it catches up), Podcasters (which takes even longer!) or Podcast Alley (which doesn’t list the episodes but will let you subscribe)).

I started the podcast by detailing some more sci-fi / fantasy / horror websites and info. (listed on this blog at http://wp.me/p18Ztn-jx, where you can also see some related publications/websites at http://wp.me/p18Ztn-ji and competitions and submission opportunities http://wp.me/p18Ztn-jq.

I then provided a couple of writing suggestions before list seven sentence starts picked from my http://twitter.com/sentencestarts page; each one, if you’d like to use them, for a daily writing project: rewrite a historical story (or other genre) that you’ve written or that you know well (or perhaps a film you’ve seen) as a sci-fi, horror or fantasy story; and/or try really limiting yourself and write a self-contained 60- or 100- word sci-fi, horror or fantasy story and then turn it into another genre and/or beefing (not padding) it up into a longer piece. I then gave some genre-related quotes, ‘On this day in history’, ‘news and feedback’ (my blog interviews – see http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/blog-interviews).

The last item of each weekly podcast is a piece of fiction – either flash or poetry and this episode’s was a piece of flash fiction I wrote as a 10-minute exercise some months back using the one-word prompt of ‘hedge’. It’s more of a children’s story but fits with this episode’s genre. I look forward to bringing you the next episode, which will be my interview with British crime novelist Adrian Magson (http://adrianmagson.com) – which will be released as special episode 28.

 

A few sci-fi / fantasy / horror competitions and submission opportunities

Do familiarise yourselves with the sites before submitting so you get a feel for what they’re looking for. Also don’t part with any money if you’re not comfortable of their legitimacy; I try my best to bring you genuine opportunities but unless I enter them myself (which I’m rubbish at doing) then can’t promise and details do change so do check them just before you submit.

• http://www.albedo1.com/index.html is the website for the Aeon Award. The deadline is November each year but there are three rounds of submissions (31^st March, 30^th June and 30^th September) with winners from each round being shortlisted towards the main award. Entries can be any length up to 8,000 words and sent to Aeon Award, 8 Bachelor’s Walk, Dublin 1,Republic of Ireland or e-mailed to fraslaw@yahoo.co.uk. Each entry costs €7 (c. £5). Full terms and conditions on their website. The Writers’ News (back in Nov 08) added that the Albedo One Magazine is always open to submissions of “thoughtful, character driven fiction” and pays €3 (c. £2) per 1,000 words for stories of c. 2-6,000 words. Submissions, pasted into the body of the e-mail (no attachments) are preferred or you can get further details from Albedo One, 2 Post Road, Lusk, Co Dublin, Republic of Ireland. Website: www.albedo1.com/html/guidelines.html.
• www.escapepod.org is “the premier science fiction podcast magazine. Every week we bring you short stories from some of today’s best science fiction stories, in convenient audio format for your computer or MP3 player. We pay our authors, but we will always be 100% free.” (they rely on donations and sponsorship). Their submission guidelines are on http://escapepod.org/guidelines although currently closed til 1st October for flash fiction so gives you time to prepare.
• www.farragoswainscot.com is Farrago’s Wainscot is a quarterly journal of the literary weird in fiction, poetry, and experimental wordforms. Unfortunately they no longer take submissions but this may change in the future so do keep looking from time to time (plus it’s an interesting site).
• Started in www.leadingedgemagazine.com is “The Leading Edge is a semi-professional speculative fiction magazine produced at Brigham Young University, (Utah, USA). Our current issue is Issue #55 and can be purchased via mail by following the directions on the Ordering page” You can also submit – <10,000 words preferred and payment is 1 cent per word ($10 min) + 2 mag copies. They also accept sci-fi/fantasy poetry Payment is $10 for the first 4 pages, $1.50 for each subsequent page of published poetry. Two contributor copies are also provided. They also buy illustrations.
• According to Writers’ News, Virgin Books are revitalising the UK horror market. Submissions are welcome in the form of a covering letter, outline and three samples chapters. Send to Adam Nevill, Editor, Fiction (Virgin Horror), Virgin Books, Thames Wharf Studios, Rainville Road, London W6 9HA. Details on www.virginbooks.co.uk/contact.php. Virgin’s UK website is split into non-fiction, fiction, sport, biography, business, lifestyle and humour, and is worth looking at just for the little figure who changes characteristics on each main page (on the fiction page it’s currently wearing a red Friday the 13^th Jason mask and lunging like a zombie…it’s hilarious!). Wikipedia has an interesting biography on Virgin books (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Books) which is 90% owned by Random Books and 10% by Richard Branson’s Virgin Enterprises group.
• The Writers’ News also details Clarksworld Magazine, a monthly online sci-fi/fantasy/horror mag. Each issue (currently no. 57) contains work from established authors and at least two pieces of original fiction, and annually printed in an anthology entitled ‘Realms’. Word count is 1,000-4,000 max. Payment is $0.10 per word – see website (http://clarkesworldmagazine.com) for other terms. Response time c. 50 days. E-mail enquiries/submissions to clarkesfiction@gmail.com either within the body of the e-mail or as an .rtf file attachment. Include cover letter with contact details, publishing history and relevant personal info.

Good luck and do let me know how you get on.

 

Various artistic opportunities

Below is a list of a few opportunities (in closing date order where applicable) for a variety of artists sent to me via email from http://www.creativenorthants.co.uk:

Dance4 is offering an internship from 18 July to 23 Sep to gain experience of working in the dance sector – http://www.dance4.co.uk. Deadline 30th June.

Training in Dance and Movement based work in dementia care, Northampton, UK on 3rd July (mailto:tinaheeley101@hotmail.com or call 07739315084) £20

Marketing for Makers Courses 2011 on 4 July at Ferrers Gallery, Staunton Harold, LE67 1RU see http://www.ferrersgallery.co.uk/coursesformakers.html

Performing Arts Network free event (talk by CEO of Curve/Edinburgh Festival show tips) 6 July, 5-7pm. Curve Theatre, Leicester LE1 1SB. http://pannetworkspring.eventbrite.com

Core Gallery Open Submission, international contemporary Arts Festival, South East London. http://www.coregallery.co.uk. Deadline: 10 July, 5pm

The BBC Performing Arts Fund now accepting applications for community dance project (deadline 12 July). See http://www.bbc.co.uk/performingartsfund/grants.

Writing your online profile, Wednesday 13 July, 6pm – 8pm. LCB Depot, Leicester LE1 1RE. Book at http://onlineprofile.eventbrite.com

Call for submissions: Frequency 2011 – Lincoln Festival of Digital Culture http://www.thresholdstudios.tv/frequency-2011 by 5pm Friday 15 July

The Upshot: East Midlands Creative Celebration Showcase (Diverse Visual & Performing Arts) Friday 15 July tel 0116 2533450 or email mailto:Mia@mainstreampartnership.co.uk.

An Introduction to the Games Industry: 21 & 22 July. Phoenix Square, Leicester, UK. http://www.phoenix.org.uk. Cost £60

Artist Call Out: Leicester Print Workshop (http://www.leicesterprintworkshop.com/news/14). Deadline for expressions: 5pm, 29 July

New 6-week Write Exposure Creative Writing Courses in Coalville, Leics, UK starting at the end of July (mailto:ches@writeexposure.co.uk) £50

Call for exhibition submissions to LCB Depot (a platform for emerging & professional artists) info@lcbdepot.co.uk – deadline 1st August.

Call for entries: Sculpture Competition (Oxford, Bath and London): http://www.artattheedge.org/competition. Deadline Monday 1 August, 2pm. Entry fee £10.

Promoting Your Music Online event Wednesday 10 August, 2pm-5pm. Studio 1, Embrace Arts, Lancaster Rd, Leicester LE1 7HA http://promotemusiconline.eventbrite.com

http://www.salonartprize.com offers £1000 prize money per category: Painting, Sculpture and Installation (including sound) and 2-D Media (ends 13.08)

2011 Aesthetica Creative Works Comp open (deadline end August) – Artwork & Photography, Poetry, Fiction (http://www.aestheticamagazine.com)

Marketing for Makers Courses 2011 on 12 Sept at Ferrers Gallery, Staunton Harold, LE67 1RU see http://www.ferrersgallery.co.uk/coursesformakers.html.

Child Protection Policy Writing : Review and Update Workshop
Thursday 15 September, 1pm-4.30pm. Lakeside Arts Centre, Nottingham. mailto:artsplan@artswork.org.uk

Call for Entries: World Event Young Artists – deadline 1st October (http://www.ukyoungartists.co.uk/content/weya-submission-now-open).

Bilston Craft Gallery is seeking innovative work in metal by national and regional makers… £4000 commission fee. http://www.wolverhamptonart.org.uk/bilston/whats_on/004642.html

Leicestershire http://www.quirkycloset.com wants to make local artists and designers brands BIG (100 free “shop” spaces on the website).

CreativeCoffee Club is where creative people meet fortnightly on a Wednesday at Screen Lounge at Phoenix Square Digital Media Centre, 4 Midland Street, Leicester, LE1 1TJ. http://www.creativecoffeeleicester.com

Job opportunities based in the Midlands area, UK (http://www.themightycreatives.com/whats-new/jobs).

http://thrillskillsnchills.blogspot.com/p/submissions.html is a website “for writers of thrillers, crime, horror and mystery stories to share their short stories or flash fiction”.

 

New podcast feature: red pen critique (interested?)

Given how popular the blog interviews are becoming (see http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/blog-interviews), I shall be cutting down on the in-person or Skype author audio podcast interviews (currently two per month) so am considering a new feature for my weekly ‘Bailey’s Writing Tips’ podcast episodes: red pen critiquing.

In a similar vein to http://www.youwriteon.com and http://authonomy.com, would any authors reading this be interested in submitting to me their work-in-progress complete short stories (preferred) or extracts (max c. 1000 words in either case) for me to ‘red pen’ then talk about in my podcasts? It’s a feature that Australian podcaster ‘Paula B’ (Paula Berinstein) offers in her c. 45-minute Writing Show ‘Slushpile workshops’ and I enjoy listening to them so am now thinking of doing the same thing. My episodes would be about half an hour long and probably every other Monday, in between the regular Monday mixed hints & tips episodes (standard episode 33 at the bottom of the Google’s Feedburner page is a typical example) and/or event review.

I’ve been critiquing my writing group for the past three years and love editing other people’s work as I don’t know the thought or meaning behind the writing and see it with fresh eyes (if I’ve not had a late night) – plus short stories are my first love. In every case the copyright of the writing remains with the author (and I will attribute each piece to them) but the podcasts are listened to worldwide so please bear this in mind (plus the podcast has a ‘clean’ rather than ‘explicit’ rating).

If you are very protective of your work, sensitive to negative but constructive feedback then this may not be for you but it doesn’t mean that you wouldn’t learn something from listening to the episodes (links to the various ways of listening / subscribing are in the left-hand ‘Where to find me’ menu). If I have some willing volunteers then I can start recording in the very near future. If you are interested then feel free to email me and we’ll get the ‘red pen’ episodes rolling.

 

Writing-related websites

There are LOADS of good writing-related websites but here are a few that I’ve come across (or been recommended to me)…

• www.bookviewcafe.com is a “cooperative run by a group of professional authors who post their own work online and blog (journal) about their writing. Content includes short stories, flash fiction, poetry, episodes of serialised novels and occasional podcasts”.
• www.writershub.co.uk is a website for writers and readers of literature. Writers’ Hub aims to provide a platform for such voices, publishing selected new fiction and poetry from established and debut writers as well as previously unpublished talent. In addition, Writers’ Hub is a both a forum for the discussion of developments in literature, writing and publishing and a writers’ resource – featuring news, reviews, interviews, articles, blogs and podcasts on all aspects of the craft, by writers at all levels of the industry. Writers’ Hub is also a community. Members are able to submit work for publication on the site, comment on and discuss published pieces, make contact with other writers and readers and upload short biographies about their own writing lives. The April issue features new fiction, poetry and reviews and much more. Writers’ Hub is based at Birkbeck, University of London, and edited and managed by staff, students and alumni from the Creative Writing Programme.
• www.ipoems.org.uk is 57′s website – “designed as a dynamic electronic catalogue – with special audio, audio-visual & interactive features – hosting the new iPoems system – & the world’s first Poetry Video-Jukebox – along with the original Poetry Jukebox – which remains FREE – please enjoy!”
• Short story author / tutor Joanna Barnden (www.joannabarnden.co.uk ) says: “Some of you may have seen Sally Jenkins writing in the magazines and reporting in Writing Magazine and she is now doing a great blog that I’d really recommend. Find it at: www.sallyjenkins.wordpress.com.”
• http://www.jbwb.co.uk is one I refer to often and contains great market information (competitions, submission opps etc).
• The new edition of The Glasgow Review is now online at www.glasgowreview.co.uk: an interview with John Burnside, articles on The Revolutionary Left in the UK and working class poetry as well as reviews of Louise Welsh and Rob Mackenzie part of the Literature Scotland group www.literaturescotland.com.
• www.isnoop.net/toys/magwords.php, Mslexia says “is an excellent creative tool of procrastination for anyone who loves to play with words. Enjoy free range over words provided on the interactive fridge, making up phrases and poems of your own as well as using your influence over the handiwork of others”.
• www.lulu.com is recommended by Writers’ News magazine as a free self-publishing service which gets paid when you do. I’ve heard mixed reviews (e.g. on LinkdedIn forums) about Lulu but it is a way for the non-agented (or agented for that matter) author to get their work out there inexpensively.
• www.pubmatch.org, Mslexia says is “a unique matchmaking website that aims to form literary matches made in heaven. Authors, illustrators, agents and publishers can all join for free, advertise their needs and connect with one another, making this an ideal platform from which fledgling writers can launch their publishing careers”.
• Sarah’s Writing Journal: Lots of writers blog, and for different reasons. For most, the motivation is shameless self-promotion – nothing wrong with that, of course, writing’s hard, it’s lonely out there, most of us are broke, bitter, paranoid, twisted, feel ignored, etc … but Sarah Salway’s posts are unique. They’re only about her in a self-effacing, poking fun at herself way – they’re never grandiose, narcissistic, or miserable. She’s the most generous writer, she shares prompts, she promotes the work of other writers, she shares wonderful insights into the creative process. She is, in short, a hero. Her posts aren’t about ego – they’re about being kind, and recognising the writer’s life is often frustrating, but that it’s worth doing, for its own sake. Join the devoted following at www.sarahsalway.blogspot.com.
• www.shetribes.com is a “cross-generation website covering a wide range of issues important for independent women in the 21^st century. Writer’s workshops and message boards allow the sharing of readers’ ideas and work.”
• Spilling Ink Review is a new, quarterly e-journal. “Although SIR is a recent addition to the e-ranks we aren’t going to let that deter our search for quality prose. We’re a troupe of professional writers and readers that shares a passion for the written word as well as compassion for new and established writers looking for an innovative platform. The aim is to create an environment where the unexpected can thrive, where the serious and the humorous can sit comfortably side-by-side, and where we can celebrate both the process and the product of creative writing.” See http://spillinginkreview.com.
• http://tregolwyn.tripod.com gives small publishers/new authors an opportunity to have the books reviewed.
• Founded in the 1980s www.truereviewonline.com offers succinct reviews of sci-fi, fantasy, horror, mystery, biography, self-help, young adult, children’s and other books.
• www.verbotomy.com, Mslexia says “is a must for language-lovers, this witty site encourages web surfers to create their own words to fit the amusing definitions provided each day”.
• Bi-monthly ezine www.visionforwriters.com contains publishing info, articles and book/website reviews.
• www.wordhippo.com is a fantastic site. You can look at ‘what’s another word for’ (e.g. thesaurus / synonyms), ‘what’s the opposite of’ (antonym), ‘translate the word’ (from any language to any language), ‘find words starting with/ending with/containing’ (perfect for crosswords) and find sentences with the word. If you’re suffering from writers block, this site may help you just by putting in a random word.
• www.wordlenet, Mslexia (Apr-June 2010) says is a “fantastic idea. Simply enter your collection of words, whether a story or random selection, and create a word cloud. The site allows for words to be weighted differently, affecting their size and shape on the page. Visit the gallery for inspiration, and create your own piece of textual art.”
• The editors of www.worldstart.com/writers-guidelines seek tips for the ‘computer tips and techniques’ newsletter, a daily email to 125,000 readers aimed at the “average computer user”. Payment is a healthy US$45 for 1 page (c. 400 words), US$55 for 2 pages and US$65 for 3 pages (for all rights).
• www.lovehoney.co.uk/erotic-story-competition/erotic-writing-help.cfm has a few tips on writing erotica and points you in the direction of other sites that can help.
• www.londonin2014.org is the website of a committee’s bid to bring the World Science Fiction Festival to London’s new International Convention Centre in 2014.
• www.short-stories.co.uk does what it says on the tin.
• www.archteypewriting.com helps writers develop the psychology of their characters with plenty of information on disorders, research, assessments, shrinks and technical words. There are sections on ‘ask the psychologist’, articles on genre writing, characterisation, using psychology in fiction and a muse which provides idea generators and visual prompts.
• The Literary Platform (www.theliteraryplatform.com) is dedicated to showcasing projects experimenting with literature and technology, bringing together comment from industry figures encouraging debate.
• And for something a bit different… www.ukvoices.co.uk often advertises in the national press and say they “need male and female voices of all accents to record scripts for TV, radio and phone services.” See their website, call 0800 019 6493 or text ‘voice’ to 81814. Obviously I can’t vouch for them, but it may be a way of making some money.