Welcome to the six hundred and eleventh of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today’s is with scriptwriter & crime author Tony Glover. 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, Tony. Please tell us something about yourself, where you’re based, and how you came to be a writer.
Tony: I live in Newcastle upon Tyne. I was born in Northumberland – the Debateable Lands, as they were known in the past – England’s last wilderness. I started writing as a child – I was always making up stories in the car on the way to school. When I was at secondary school I had some of them published in the school magazine.
Morgen: I love it when I hear that someone started writing early. I was in my late 30s and would have loved to have realised earlier how thrilling it is to make things up, but I remind myself that I have all those years’ experience to write about. What genre do you generally write and have you considered other genres?
Tony: My first love was writing for film – shorts and so on. Then I had a radio play on the BBC which won a bronze Sony award. After that I had a pilot for a drama broadcast on ITV. I’ve had a couple of stage plays produced. But it was only recently I started writing crime stories. My first book was about an Elizabethan spy in the service of Sir Francis Walsingham. I had that ready to go when another writer brought out a book on the same subject – I remember reading the review in the Observer. My blood ran cold! So I put that back on the shelf and started a crime novel.
Morgen: I used to read Stephen King in my teens (under the duvet with a torch, they were so gripping) and loved Roald Dahl’s Tales of the Unexpected so it was inevitable my writing would have a dark side. I’ve written chick lit, lad lit and mystery, but my heart is with crime too. I started a crime series for NaNoWriMo 2012. What have you had published to-date?
Tony: This is my first published novel. I’ve written a book about wartime Darlington and a collection of folk tales but I’ve always pursued film writing, which is an odd sort of career. You are working blind in that you never know if your story will ever see the light of day. I’ve recently sold a script for a feature film but once a script leaves the writer, anything can happen. I’ve loved working on the current book because I’m not waiting for a decision from a producer or commissioning editor.
Morgen: I have heard many scriptwriters say how hard it is to get taken up, more so than prose, I think, and many books who have their film rights bought often never come to fruition, which is a real shame because someone saw the potential. I guess it’s all about money. Have you self-published?
Tony: I prefer to be a writer, rather than be a publisher. Self-publishing is a very respectable option but I don’t have all the skills to promote a book. I was lucky enough to be approached by two publishers for ‘Cars Just Want to be Rust’. Both were very able but I knew the folk at Crafty Publishing would give it their best shot.
Morgen: Are your books available as eBooks? How involved were you in that process? Do you read eBooks or is it paper all the way?
Tony: Yes. ‘Cars Just Want to be Rust’ is available as an ebook on Amazon, Smashwords and the Crafty Publishing website. I learned as much as I could about the process – software, layout, publicity. I bought some software, which wasn’t right!
I read 50% on the Kindle and 50% paper. Sometimes you just need to hold a ‘proper’ book, don’t you? I love the smell of books – the aroma of ink is intoxicating!
Morgen: You do. I’m the same, pretty much. My house is a small library so I think I’ll always be reading ‘pBooks’, then there are so many free eBooks coming my way (I promote many via my 5am Flashes) that they all go on my Kindle. 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?
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Welcome to the six hundred and fourth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today’s is with multi-genre author Rebeccah Giltrow. 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, Rebeccah. Please tell us something about yourself, where you’re based, and how you came to be a writer.
Hello. I’m Rebeccah, a 30-year-old procrastinator based in the small village of Kessingland, just outside of Lowestoft (famous for being the most easterly town in England). I started writing as soon as I could hold a pen and wrote for many years until I fell out of love with all things literary when I was about 15 or 16 years old. My love for the subject was rekindled a few years later and after taking a creative writing module the 3rd year of my degree at University of Essex, I realised that I wanted to write. Strike that. I needed to write. I took a year out after graduating to make some money, and returned to university in 2006 to study MA Creative Writing. Since then, it’s the only thing I do that makes me happy. It’s not easy, but I enjoy it, and I’m learning so much by doing it.
Morgen: What a shame you fell out of love, but great that you came back to it. And yes, I know all about that ‘need’. I’ve described you in the introduction as being a ‘multi-genre author’, what genre do you generally write?
Rebeccah: I don’t have a specific genre. I like to poke my finger into many pies just to see if I can do it. My novel, Lexa Wright’s Dating Sights, is a chic lit romcom. That’s the first time I’ve written anything like that, and I really enjoyed it, so it’s something I may write again.
I tend to steer towards ‘real life’ writing, even if it is fiction. I love the idea of fantasy, where you can be as extreme as you want, making up unusual words and inventing mystical places, but I always find myself writing about things that could happen in reality. One day I’ll take the leap into something more exotic!
I think I’d consider all genres, and only decide against them once I’ve tried to write them and realise that I can’t do it, or I don’t enjoy it.
Morgen: My first-published novel is a chick lit and like you, it was great fun (just as well as I wrote the 117,540-word first draft for NaNoWriMo 2009. What have you had published to-date?
Rebeccah: In 2009 I was asked to write for a local magazine, The Kessingland and Broadland Times. I contributed children’s stories, articles, interviews and poetry to the bi-monthly publication. I have also self-published a collection of short stories; 12 Days of Krista May Rose, inspired by the traditional song, The Twelve Days of Christmas, and my full-length novel, Lexa Wrights Dating Sights. I published both books through Createspace for Amazon.
Morgen: I’m thinking of going that way for my novel, although I’m still getting constructive feedback on it so am waiting until that peters out. 
You’ve self-published, what lead to you going your own way?
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Welcome to Flash Fiction Friday and the sixty-eighth piece in this series. This week’s is a 466-word second person viewpoint story by Bethany Rycek aka Rika Natsume. This story will be podcasted in episode 24 (with two other stories) on Sunday 5th May.
Beyond the Horizon
Across the sky, you see a beauty transfixing. Nothing too amazing, yet backed by the purple skies and the distant lightning, it seems to you a wondrous spectacle. This area around you, complete with barren wasteland, seems almost not to match what your eyes confirm they see. What lies before you is a stretch of silver, a glint of gold. The empty breeze sways the flimsy gauze before your eyes. A musky aroma scents the atmosphere, drawing you in to the texture it present, a touch of silk. You feel a soft breath of wisps, lighter than anything you’ve ever known, brush your elbow in a sublime manner.
As you take a moment to inhale this sensation, the wind whips past you in a swirling frenzy. You look up suddenly to find that what you stare so openly at is now gazing back at you. Struck by this sudden shock, you turn away, not from embarrassment, you swear, but because it was unexpected. He laughs, amused by your plight. For a second, a melancholy sigh runs through you. Yet, never does it pass your lips, for you realize that he doesn’t mean the hurtful sound, that he only wishes to protect his reputation. He’s always doing this, covering for his kind heart with cold eyes and sadistic humor.
But you don’t care about that. All that matters is that he is standing right there, so why cower? You turn back, prepared to face him, but he is gone. Off in the distance, as you watch the tail whip around him, you catch on wind, “Come on! What are you standing there for?” You can hear the toothy grin in every syllable. You smirk, knowing he is right, once again. You both have things to do, people to find, priceless items to pore over and praise. Many a pressing issue is at hand. For a moment, time was standing still. For those few glorious second, the world could wait. But now, it is back to the life you lead, the life you know, the life that, all things considered, you love.
So, you run off to join him. Neither of you know where the other is going, but, inevitably, it will lead to the same place, for you each follow the other’s guideless paths. You follow the lightning that strikes without rain, piercing the sky miles ahead of you. You seek to find more objects of admiration, but know, wholeheartedly, that the most gorgeous, supreme of all of them, will be the one you gazed at only moments ago. You continue running to that unknown destination that has but one fixed point. It is always just past the tangible, barely out of reach; always it will be just outside the bounds of possibility, just beyond the horizon.
I asked Bethany what prompted this piece and she said…
I actually wrote this as part of a high school assignment. I’m uncertain if the guidelines were to use the second person or if it was just a description assignment, but I chose to use my fandom of the time (an anime called Yu Yu Hakusho) as inspiration. It was meant as a bit of a fluffy and partially romantic one-off. I didn’t realize until later that there were two possible narrators, depending on who you preferred from the show. Subsequently, there were two different time periods in the story arc, as well, so it’s a bit more thought provoking than I’d truly intended it to be. Regardless, of the two stories I’ve ever posted online, this one strikes me as more sophisticated and far stronger than the other.
We were talking about second-person viewpoint (my favourite) and I invited you to send me a story. I’m so glad you did. Thank you, Bethany.
***
Bethany Rycek was born in Pusan, South Korea and adopted into a wonderful home at a young age. She has since traversed the world, from Boston to Hong Kong, Singapore to the Philippines, New Jersey to Philadelphia. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Massachusetts with a B.A. in Japanese Language and Literature and currently tutors Japanese. Ms. Rycek is pursuing a career in voice acting and is currently represented by TAG Talent. She loves penguins and singing. Her voice demos can be found at http://www.voices.com/demos/NatsumeRika.
***
If you’d like to submit your 1,000-word max. stories for consideration for Flash Fiction Friday take a look here.
The blog interviews will return as normal tomorrow with multi-genre author Victoria King-Voreadi – the six hundred and third of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, bloggers, biographers, agents, publishers 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.
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Welcome to the five hundred and seventy-sixth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today’s is with novelist, philosopher and writer for children (and translator!) Will Buckingham. 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: Hello, and thanks for having me on your blog. I’m a writer interested in fiction, non-fiction and children’s literature. My second novel, The Descent of the Lyre (Roman Books) was published in August 2012. I also write for children (The Snorgh and the Sailor, Alison Green Books, 2012), and philosophy. These days, I’m based in Leicester, slap-bang in the middle of England, although I was brought up in Norfolk and in the years in between I’ve moved round a fair amount.
Morgen: You’re not far from me, about five junctions up the M1… and I was born just seven junctions further south. How did you come to be a writer?
Will: Writing is something that has crept up on me. I read quite a lot whilst I was a teenager, and then I became an art student, which gave me plenty of time and very little to do with it. I studied art for four years, and most of the time I spent reading books, drinking coffee, and lounging around in paint-smeared overalls trying to look artistic. I didn’t get much painting done, but I read a vast number of books. Then several things happened. I graduated in 1994, and in the same year I won second prize in the Independent newspaper travel writing competition, for a short piece about having my bike hijacked by a fervently proselytising Christian in Pakistan. Later that year I went off to Indonesia, and it was there that I decided I would start writing seriously. My experiences in Indonesia later turned into my first novel, Cargo Fever (Tindal Street Press, 2007).
Morgen: I read a lot as a teenager too and blame Stephen King for me wearing glasses (his latest book / torch / duvet). I didn’t start writing until 2005 when it suddenly dawned on me (via an evening class) who thrilling it was to write fiction. You write so many things, what genre do you generally write and have you considered other genres?
Will: At heart, I am a storyteller; but the kinds of things that I write tend to move between genres. So I sometimes stray into writing philosophy and also into writing for children. What I’m interested can be boiled down to two main things: philosophical stories, and story-like philosophies. I’m always doing one or the other.
Morgen: What have you had published to-date? Do you write under a pseudonym?
Will: I have published two novels, The Descent of the Lyre, which is about music and myth in Bulgaria, and Cargo Fever, which is about the outer islands of Indonesia. I have also written popular philosophy (Introducing Happiness, Icon Books 2012), decidedly unpopular philosophy (Finding Our Sea-Legs, Kingston University Press, Levinas, Storytelling and Anti-storytelling, Bloomsbury), and for children (The Snorgh and the Sailor, mentioned ealier). I have only once written under a pseudonym, Lupe Varos, when I wanted to fill a hole in a literary magazine I was writing and, being short of good material for that particular edition, I wrote a story, invented an author, and published it.
Morgen: I love that, and why not? If we can’t be creative, who can? Have you self-published? If so, what led to you going your own way?
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Just a little note to say a big “thank you” to everyone who’s taken part in, and visited, this blog over the past 20 months (well, almost 20 months… will be on the 1st December (seeing as we don’t have a 31st November)) because one of you was my 100,000th visitor last night.
A lot has happened…
So plenty to read, and you do, so thank you again for your support and here’s to another 100,000 of you finding me!
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Welcome to the five hundred and thirty-seventh of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today’s is with children’s author Jeyanthi Manokaran. 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, Jeyanthi. Please tell us something about yourself.
Jeyanthi: Hi Morgen. I’m a writer and illustrator for kids living in Bangalore, India.
Morgen: You write non-fiction and fiction how do you decide what to write about?
Jeyanthi: I enjoy both genres. Fiction lets my imagination take wings – which is something kids love too. When I travel a bit and delve into folk art forms, I like to photograph the people I meet, interview them and put it all together with research.
Morgen: Since I’ve been eBooking, I’ve looked at photography differently; the composition to suit a front cover and where the title and my name would go. What have you had published to-date? Do you write under a pseudonym?
Jeyanthi: Yes. Layouts for ebooks are different from print media, though they need the same creativity.
A pseudonym? Sometimes I like to shorten my long name to Jey Manokaran.
Some of my books are – ‘Saving Grandma’s Tree’ published by Scholastic, India. It is historical fiction, about the environmental Chipko Movement. Alerted by a little girl in their village, tribal women save their forest from being chopped down by a sports goods company.
‘Wake Up Lazybones’ is an Easy Reader written in a light-hearted tone and illustrated in the Warli Folk Art style for Scholastic, India.
Highlights Magazine, USA published a non fiction article ‘Magic Mitti’ about a day in the life of a potter’s son, with photographs by me.
I have just completed two picture books for the National Book Trust, India which have been sent to the Bologna Book Fair. I have used different forms of folk art from India to illustrate these books. The books have to be written so they can lend themselves to the folk art style.
Morgen: You certainly pick great topics. You’re self-published, what lead to you going your own way?
Jeyanthi: I have recently published two non fiction picture books at Amazon’s Kindle – ‘Playing with Clay at Pottery Town’, and ‘Wow! It’s Silk! How Silk is Made from Worm to Yarn’.
Morgen: You mentioned the Kindle, do you read eBooks or is it paper all the way?
Jeyanthi: I do read e books but I love the feel of paper as well. But my daughter is quite addicted to e books.
Morgen: Most people I’ve spoken too enjoy both and I see no reason why they can’t live happily side-by-side. Did you have any say in the titles / covers of your books? How important do you think they are?
Jeyanthi: Yes. I wrote the titles and designed the covers for all these books. It’s the most important ‘first look’ at your book that the reader gets to form an impression.
Morgen: They do have to entice the reader to investigate further. What are you working on at the moment / next?
Jeyanthi: Something fun in fiction. Kids love a good laugh and so do I. The writing needs some clean up and I’m deciding on how I’ll illustrate it. I love experimenting with styles of illustration.
Morgen: Humour is so important. Even in the grimest stories (and I write some pretty grim ones) touches of humour can make it ‘human’. Do you manage to write every day? Do you ever suffer from writer’s block?
Jeyanthi: No. I can’t write everyday. I like to alternate between writing and illustrating. Sometimes, I take a break after I complete a book. When the ideas come flowing in, I jot them down, then build on them later.
Morgen: I love that you say the ideas flow in, I’m very lucky in that respect too. Do you do a lot of editing or do you find that as time goes on your writing is more fully-formed?
Jeyanthi: The first writing is fresh, but always needs to be edited a couple of times. It helps to have a good critique – my daughter or my son do this for me.
Morgen: That’s really handy. Do you have to do much research for your writing?
Jeyanthi: If its non-fiction, yes. There’s no such thing as too much research. To add depth to fiction and to sound authentic, some research helps.
Morgen: That true, although some authors do put too much information in their writing (and some make it feel like they’re showing off!). Do you have pieces of work that you think will never see light of day?
Jeyanthi: Yes. A few. But I do dig them out now and then to use the seed idea and transform it into something else.
Morgen: That’s what I plan to do with mine (except I keep coming up with new ones) because the more we write the more we know where we’re going wrong (and right). Do you pitch for submissions and / or are you commissioned to write?
Jeyanthi: The National Book Trust of India commissioned me to write, but I do pitch for submissions abroad.
Morgen: I hadn’t realised until I started looking into the submission process (and adding them to the submissions page of my blog) how many opportunities there are out there for any genre of writing. Have you had any rejections? If so, how do you deal with them?
Jeyanthi: So far, except for four articles in Highlights Magazine, USA, there’s been no luck overseas. I’ve learnt to take rejections in my stride and move on. It’s a competitive market and I don’t hang around waiting for answers – some editors are slow even to reject.
Morgen: And some don’t reply at all. Do you enter any non-fiction competitions? Are there any you could recommend?
Jeyanthi: I did once try for the Scholastic Asian Book Award. Perhaps I could try again someday. It has to be an unpublished manuscript targeted at children aged 6 to 18 years, written by writers of Asian descent, living in Asia, set in Asia.
Morgen: If you have something you feel is suitable then you never know, you do have to be in it to win it. Do you have an agent? Do you think they’re vital to an author’s success?
Jeyanthi: So far, I haven’t used an agent myself, but I think an author should try to publish her own work and then get in touch with an agent to do the nuts and bolts of the contract. Good agents are as tough to reach as good publishers.
Morgen: They are, sometimes harder and why many of us go down the self-publishing route. How much of the marketing do you do for your published works or indeed for yourself as a ‘brand’?
Jeyanthi: I do school visits whenever asked. I’m now looking at good bloggers like you, Morgen.
Morgen: Thank you very much. What’s your favourite / least favourite aspect of your writing life?
Jeyanthi: The last edit. When I submit and later find there still is a mistake peeking at me from somewhere.
Morgen: Which is why you need as many extra pairs of eyes as you can. What advice would you give aspiring writers?
Jeyanthi: Don’t let rejections discourage you. Get a job that pays you and do this part time so you’re not dependent on the income.
Morgen: Oops. I quit my job in March and rely on having two lodgers (that’s been a bumpy ride this summer!) to pay the bills but I wouldn’t swap it back for my old life. Poor but happy isn’t just a saying. 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)?
Jeyanthi: Dick King-Smith, Roald Dahl, Georgette Heyer. A country dish for Dick King-Smith who was a farmer, something chocolatey for Roald Dahl who loved chocolates, and a crazy dish served with an aristocrat’s aplomb for Georgette Heyer who loved anything tongue-in-cheek.
Morgen: I’m with you on Roald Dahl. He’s my favourite short story author (and the inspiration for my twists in the tales) . Is there a word, phrase or quote you like?
Jeyanthi: “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” ~ Albert Einstein
“Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” ~ Milton Berle
Morgen: They’re great but I especially love Milton’s. Do you plot your stories or do you just get an idea and run with it?
Jeyanthi: I get and idea and let it grow. I sleep on it, toss it over many times, when it feels true to me, I write it out as a story. Then I plot, plan, edit and chop.
Morgen: Do you have a method for creating your characters, their names and what do you think makes them believable?
Jeyanthi: My main characters usually spring from Me, Myself and I with all their infirmities. Though I do research the setting, my characters come first and drive the stories.
Morgen: What point of view do you find most to your liking: first person or third person? Have you ever tried second person?
Jeyanthi: Third person. No. I haven’t ever thought of writing from the second person POV.
Morgen: Second person is fun but an acquired taste. Are you involved in anything else writing-related other than actual writing or marketing of your writing, and what do you do when you’re not writing?
Jeyanthi: Illustrating and photography. It’s a lot of fun and gives me a break from writing. I enjoy being with kids, teaching them some art and craft and some writing tricks!
Morgen: Are there any writing-related websites and / or books that you find useful?
Jeyanthi: www.write4kids.com, www.scbwi.org and www.highlightsfoundation.org. They have good discussion boards and articles on how to write for kids.
Morgen: I’ve heard of write4kids but not the others. Are you on any forums or networking sites? If so, how valuable do you find them?
Jeyanthi: The linked in groups – some of them have good information and that’s where I found the link to your blog, Morgen. The SCBWI (Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) and the Published Authors Groups are good.
Morgen: Ah yes, LinkedIn has been great, especially supplying me with a few months’ worth of authors to interview. What do you think the future holds for a writer?
Jeyanthi: e-publishing has opened new vistas and even more competition. The reader has a zillion choices. Word of mouth and readers’ ratings and critiques will be the way to become a best seller.
Morgen: I totally agree. My editor, for example, only buys eBooks with 20+ reviews of 4.5* and over, but then she gets given so many books anyway. Where can we find out about you and your writing?
Jeyanthi: My website – www.sunbeam4kids.com.
Morgen: Is there anything else you’d like to mention?
Jeyanthi: To write comfortably, all writers need to be in close touch with their target audience and with their inner selves.
Morgen: I love that. Is there anything you’d like to ask me?
Jeyanthi: You are inundated with posts for your blog. What is it that makes an interview stand out?
Morgen: Various reasons really. Sometimes it’s for book content (I’ve only had to put a warning up on one so far), Sheila Quigley’s for the time it took her to get her novel published (30 years!) and (from memory) only one interviewee has said her (mainstream) publisher does all the marketing but she’s still very active on Twitter and Facebook so it’s part of the ‘deal’ of being a writer these days. Thank you, Jeyanthi.
I then invited Jeyanthi to include an extract of her writing and this is an excerpt from ‘Wake Up Lazybones’, about Cuckrukoo Cock and Bopu Buffalo.
Cuckrukoo had done a good job. He hopped off the fence. Oh! Oh! He was on Bopu Bufffalo who was fast asleep!
“Cuckrukoo!” crowed the cock in Bopu’s ear. But Bopu did not stir.
“CUCKRUKOO!” he screamed angrily.
Bopu twitched his ears and slept on.
The women brought water from the river and threw it on Bopu. Bopu enjoyed water. He turned and slept on.
The men circled around and blew a horn loud in his ear. It was a lovely lullaby.
The children pulled his tail and horns. They jumped all over him. Bopu felt soothed by the massage. He smiled in his dreams.
“Cuckrukoo! Cuckrukoo! Cuckrukoo!” yelled the cock who had never been disobeyed before. Bopu slept on peacefully.
I then invited Jeyanthi to include a synopsis of her books and this is from ‘Wow! It’s Silk! How Silk is Made from Worm to Yarn’…
This non-fiction picture book is multicultural, has photographs and gives insight into sericulture as a cottage industry in South India. Meet the people who are busy growing silkworms at home. These silkworms spin cocoons that are processed to make silk cloth.
Jeyanthi Manokaran lives in Bangalore, India where she writes fiction and non fiction and illustrates for kids. She has been published by Highlights Magazine, USA and Scholastic, India. With a writer’s scholarship from Highlights Foundation, USA, and a UNESCO award for illustrating, she reaches kids around the world with fun ideas.
***
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 Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
Tags: agent, Albert Einstein, Amazon, author, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, biographers, biography, books, characters, children’s, creative writing, crime, critique, Dick King-Smith, Eleanor Roosevelt, erotic romance, erotica, Facebook, fantasy, feedback, fiction, flash fiction, Georgette Heyer, Goodreads, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, Highlights Magazine, historical, interview, Jey Manokaran, Kobo, LinkedIn, literature, Milton Berle, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mystery, mystery series, National Book Trust of India, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novels, paranormal, paranormal romances, pinterest, poetry, poetry collections, publisher, rejection letters, rejections, Roald Dahl, romance, Scholastic, Scholastic Asian Book Award, science fiction, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, story author, story authors, story writer, submissions, Twitter, vampire, western, Wordpress, writer, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing group, writing magazines, YA, youtube
Welcome to the five hundred and twenty-sixth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today’s is with debut literary novelist J.R. Crook. 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, JR. Please tell us something about yourself, where you’re based, and how you came to be a writer.
JR: My name is Jamie Crook. I grew up in South Devon, but I’ve lived in London for the past ten years. As a child I always liked writing stories and as a teenager I was quite a serious reader, mainly of twentieth-century literature. When I was nineteen I moved to London to pursue an undergraduate degree, which fuelled my interest in writing my own fiction. After graduating in 2005, I set about slowly writing my debut novel, Sleeping Patterns. I spent six years writing it on and off, all the while trying to develop a style that not only felt natural to me, but that I could also call my own. In December 2011, I was fortunate enough to win the Luke Bitmead Writers’ Bursary for the novel and was published by Legend Press in the summer of 2012.
Morgen: It’s funny you say it’s taken you six years (on and off) to develop your style. I’ve been writing (on and off) for seven and feel I know what I’m doing (while still learning, of course). What genre do you generally write and have you considered other genres?
JR: I write literary fiction with a tendency toward the experimental side of things. No, I’ve never considered writing anything else, such as genre fiction or verse. I wouldn’t know how to anyway.
Morgen: I’m right there with you on verse. I write poetry very occasionally (usually for writing group homework) but don’t read it and have never been taught it so I stick with fiction, my comfort blanket… er, zone. What have you had published to-date? Do you write under a pseudonym?
JR: My debut novel, Sleeping Patterns, is my only published work to date. However, I’m currently busy working on my second novel, so that will hopefully change soon. I write under an abbreviation of my real name.
Morgen: Do let me know when your second book comes out. You could come back for an author spotlight. Is your book available as an eBook? How involved were you in that process? Do you read eBooks or is it paper all the way?
JR: Yes, Sleeping Patterns is available as an eBook. As a traditionally published author, there was very little for me to be involved with – the digital text is the same as the one my editor and I had agreed on for the print version. As for my reading habits, I like the tangible qualities of printed books. I don’t read eBooks at present, but I don’t have any problem with them, providing the author’s original formatting isn’t corrupted or altered to adhere to the technology. In other words, so long as the author’s implicit meanings aren’t diluted in some way during the process of translating their words into hypertext. In general though, this is more of a problem for works with expired copyright, such as the classics, because anyone is free to digitise the text without paying the necessary attention to the original formatting intended by the author (and therefore potentially affecting its meaning). For dead authors with expired copyright, there is little anyone can do about this. But this is an ideological concern and the vast majority of people simply don’t care about something as seemingly inconsequential as formatting, so long as it’s convenient. It’s similar to how people will readily accept heavily-compressed music files, rather than make the effort to source lossless ones. Convenience trumps all, and aesthetics are always the first thing to go.
Morgen: I’d not thought of it like that but then I tend to listen to non-digital-radio-classical (i.e. pop, rock, dance) through iPod earphones so definitely lose a lot of ‘source’. As for books it’s great having the option of both (I have the Kindle app on my iPad) but nothing beats the feel and look of a printed book, especially one that has your name on it. What are you working on at the moment / next?
JR: My main project is my second novel, but I’ve recently also completed a short story that I’m pretty happy with. It was an experiment really, but it turned out to be quite influential on the new novel.
Morgen: Excellent. Do send me the link if you do anything with it. I welcome flash fiction for my Flash Fiction Fridays slot but can’t pay (because I don’t earn any money from this blog) so wouldn’t ask you to send me something that you could get paid for elsewhere. Do you plot your stories or do you just get an idea and run with it?
JR: Structure and form are massively import aspects of my writing. Whilst I do plan things carefully (and often quite meticulously – my notebook for Sleeping Patterns is probably four or five times the length of the actual novel), there always comes a time when you just have to run with it. Things start coming together once you actually start writing it. After that, everything begins to evolve on its own accord.
Morgen: Wow. That’s some notebook. What point of view do you find most to your liking: first person or third person? Have you ever tried second person?
JR: I write in a mixture of the first and third person, usually alternating back and forth between the two. In general, I don’t like reading books that are solely written in the first person. I have indeed written in the second person before (and recently too) and will probably do so again, providing it’s appropriate. One of my favourite books is Calvino’s If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller and this, as I’m sure you are aware, is largely written in the second person. Now, how about the fourth person?
Morgen: I am, although I’ve not read it yet (because I’ve never found a copy, I should). I am part-way through his ‘Marcovaldo’ which is very good. And I have Jay McInerney’s ‘Bright Lights, Big City’ which is second person (again part-way through).
Fourth person? I had to Google that (and found Wikipedia’s take on it, as ‘one’) and also spotted someone had come up with a fifth person! Have you had any rejections? If so, how do you deal with them?
JR: Yes, of course. They never bothered me too much because I never had any expectations of ever being published. I simply wrote for myself and considered anything else as a bonus. I think that’s the only way of dealing with it, because after all, the odds are stacked so high against you anyway. Never underestimate the element of luck involved in getting published either. Published writers aren’t always ‘better’ writers; sometimes they’re simply just ‘luckier’ writers.
Morgen: “I simply wrote for myself” is the best way although having reader feedback is priceless. How much of the marketing do you do for your published works or indeed for yourself as a ‘brand’?
JR: I’m with an independent publisher, so I do have to do my fair share of self-promotion, but I don’t like doing too much of it. I’m not particularly comfortable with the idea of writers needing to be ‘brands,’ although I appreciate it’s an inevitable consequence of the current publishing climate. The idealist in me believes that the text should be allowed to stand on its own, wherever possible. For example, I have little or no idea what many of my favourite writers even look like, because it isn’t particularly important or interesting to me. In many ways, a work of literature lives independent of its author, it exists in the mind of the reader, so I find it somewhat strange when people consider the ‘author’ – rather than ‘the author’s work’ – as the ‘brand’.
Morgen: I’d like to think that a reader will enjoy a piece of writing so much that they remember who the author is, especially if they want to read other works by that author… a good case for having more than one piece available. Is there a word, phrase or quote you like?
JR: The one where you close your eyes, open a copy of Fernando Pessoa’s The Book of Disquiet, and put your finger somewhere on any page.
Morgen: What do you think the future holds for a writer?
JR: Poverty. But it will always be worthwhile poverty.
Morgen: Absolutely. I’ve rented out two bedrooms of my (three bedroom) house so I don’t have to have a day job and it’s totally worth it to me, plus my dog and I enjoy the company. Where can we find out about you and your writing?
JR: Either on my website (www.jrcrook.com) or on my publisher’s (www.legendpress.co.uk). I can also very occasionally be found on Twitter (www.twitter.com/jrcrookkk) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/jrcrookwriter).
Morgen: I’ve heard good things about Legend. Is there anything else you’d like to mention?
JR: Thank you for having me.
Morgen: You’re so welcome. Thank you for joining me.
I then invited JR to provide a synopsis of his book…
Following the death of her narrator, Annelie Strandli, a character in the unfinished novel, Sleeping Patterns, revisits fragmented scenes in search of hidden meanings…
In a run-down student residence in South London, Annelie, a beautiful but confused designer, who is disorientated after leaving her native Finland, finds herself gravitating towards Berry Walker, an insomniac and aspiring writer.
Berry is often introspective and withdrawn, but in his writings Annelie sees the chance to glimpse him as he truly is. With the help of the narrator, she conspires to discover parts of a secret story that is concealed within his desk. As Annelie gradually puts the pieces together, she finds herself questioning not only her relationship to Berry, but ultimately the dividing line between fiction and memory.
Sleeping Patterns is a novel of intricate layers, hidden within each a tale of love, uncertain meanings, and the relationship between writer and reader.
*
J.R. Crook grew up in a small town in South Devon, before moving to London in 2002 to undertake a degree at The University of the Arts. In 2005, shortly after graduating, he moved into a series of bedsits in North London to begin writing what would eventually become his debut novel, Sleeping Patterns. The novel went on to win the Luke Bitmead Writers’ Bursary in December 2011 and was published the following summer. He is 29 and currently living in Ealing, London, where he is working on his second novel.
***
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 the main 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 this blog, 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 the main 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 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 Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
Tags: agent, Amazon, author, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, biographers, biography, books, characters, children’s, creative writing, crime, critique, debut, erotic romance, erotica, experimental, Facebook, fantasy, feedback, fiction, fifth person, flash fiction, fourth person, Goodreads, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, historical, interview, J.R. Crook, Jamie Crook, JR Crook, Kobo, Legend Press, LinkedIn, literary, literature, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mystery, mystery series, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novels, paranormal, paranormal romances, pinterest, poetry, poetry collections, points of view, publisher, rejection letters, rejections, romance, science fiction, second person, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, Smashwords, story author, story authors, story writer, submissions, Twitter, vampire, viewpoint, western, Wordpress, writer, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing group, writing magazines, YA, youtube
Welcome to the five hundred and first of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today’s is with Managing Director of publishing house Apostrophe Books Martyn Forrester. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further. Martyn mentions Robert Ford who I interviewed in August – you can read our interview (after Martyn’s please ) here.
Morgen: Hello, Martyn. I’d like to jump straight in and ask you whether there is a genre that sells better than others or that you can’t get enough of?
Martyn: Perversely, the genres that sell best aren’t the ones we’re interested in. What we can’t get enough of is literary fiction that conventional publishers can no longer afford to take the risk on – that was our original mission when we launched earlier in 2012. We’re talking experimental, cutting edge fiction like The King Of Spain, by Robert Ford (http://apostrophebooks.com/kingofspain). Robert’s a movie editor, and you can tell by the way he uses his literary cameras. The result is a collection of vivid images that stays in your head a long time after you’ve finished reading.
Morgen: I wrote a TV script for the now defunct Script Frenzy in April 2010 and whilst I didn’t enjoy the process (I’ve since converted it into the beginning of a novel) it has made me think more about the construction of visual media. I’m sure there will be writers reading this interview who are looking for a publisher, how can they submit to you?
Martyn: Submit fiction to us through Fiction Fast-Track, our new competition in which we publish an e-book voted for by the public every two months: http://apostrophebooks.com/fictionfasttrack (we have just published our first winner). Writers submit their complete novel or collection of short stories, and we upload a sample for the public to vote on. For non-fiction, we take submissions by email. We also hunt down writers ourselves, often by sampling self-published works.
Part of our aim is to give new life to books we’ve loved in the past. In theory these should be easy enough to track down, but it’s often taken a lot of detective work to trace authors.
Finding exciting new work is becoming easier by the day. We’ve even had some coy approaches from agents who like the idea of launching their authors’ new work in ebook format. We have an ebook coming out later this year whose author has been on the New York Times bestseller list many times – their Madison Avenue agent specifically wanted a boutique ebook publisher, and we’re thrilled he chose us – especially as we don’t pay advances!
The ebook market is maturer in the States, and agents and publishers have been able to see that the ebook and hardback markets don’t cannibalize each other – they cross-fertilize. I see a rosy future in which we all happily co-exist. After all, part of our mission is to find conventional hardback / paperback homes for our new authors – if we love their writing enough to publish it, we want to see them reach as wide a readership as they possibly can.
Morgen: I’d say only a handful of people I’ve spoken to / interviewed only read eBooks. I see them running alongside each other quite happily, in fact I know of readers who have both… of the same book! (if it’s good enough of course) Can you suggest some do’s and don’t’s when submitting to you.
Martyn: Please make sure your work has been edited, even if it’s by a friend. Spelling mistakes and poor grammar make our teeth itch. It’s like singing out of tune at a music audition.
Morgen: The X-Factor factor of publishing. Are there authors that you deal with on a regular basis and / or perhaps represent directly?
Martyn: We have been asked to represent authors, but being an agent is a full-time job. Informally, we’re happy to get great work we’re publishing in front of the right people in the right agencies or conventional publishing houses, but after that we’ll step back.
Morgen: Again most authors I’ve spoken to appreciate that the emphasis is on them to do the marketing, “a necessary evil” some have called it. You mentioned your competition, do you think they help with a writer’s success?
Martyn: I think competitions can be a fantastic springboard. Any contest open to public vote can be skewed by a contestant’s friends and supporters, but by and large you can tell how well a book is going to do. Robert Ford’s The King Of Spain attracted a lot of votes and positive comments, and sure enough it went straight in at Number 1 on the iTunes New & Noteworthy feature.
I think the book and author get a lot of publicity they wouldn’t have otherwise. The media like reporting competition winners – look at the coverage The Orange Prize winner got this year. The launch of Fiction Fast-Track was reported as far afield as the San Francisco Chronicle and the Times of India, and internationally on Yahoo.
Morgen: Don’t you just love technology (I’m so grateful I grew up with an older brother). You spoke of agents earlier, do you think an agent is vital to an author’s success? How would you suggest an author gets one?
Martyn: Between us, we’ve been in publishing for 30 years and we know how tall the slush piles are in most publishers’ offices. Mind you, they are in agencies too. In general, get yourself a good agent and you’re home and dry. Not because of the money – these days, you’re very unlikely to receive an advance that lets you give up the day job – more in terms of editorial advice and guidance. An experienced agent has a price beyond rubies.
Morgen: Most of the authors I’ve spoken to who have them would say the same. Now for, in theory, a simple question: what’s your opinion of eBooks, do you publish them and do you read them?
Martyn: We love them – we only publish ebooks! And Amazon have just announced that their customers are buying more Kindle books than print books, both hardback and paperbacks, so it looks like we’ve made a good decision to only publish ebooks. So far in 2012, Amazon say that for every 100 print books sold on the site, it has sold 114 Kindle books, excluding free Kindle books. What’s most encouraging, though, is the news that in the UK, Kindle readers buy four times the number of books they did before owning a Kindle. As long as people are involved in the magic of reading, does it matter whether it’s via an iPad, a hardback or a cereal packet?
Morgen: I had heard that. Mine are only eBooks (so far ). 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?
Martyn: I see a huge future for them. We are bringing out a stunning poetry collection in September, and if it’s successful, we’ll look to establish a list. We’ve already published our first collection of short stories, Pork by Cris Freddi (http://apostrophebooks.com/books/fantasy/pork) – a powerful and unusual collection of animal stories for adults. We’re on the hunt for good short stories. A lot of people write one or two good ones, but not enough to fill a collection.
Morgen: As a short story author, that’s great news. Is there a plot that’s written about too often?
Martyn: There is now – it’s the 50 Shades plot, or as we call it, Boy Beats Girl.
Morgen: Ah yes. It’s like vampires, it goes in and out of fashion although Dracula has always been popular. Writers should write what they want to, there will be a market for it somewhere. I loved your music audition analogy earlier, do you have to do a lot of editing to the stories you accept or is the writing usually more or less fully-formed?
Martyn: We expect submitted work to be already edited, but no work is perfect and there are always a few tweaks we can suggest.
Morgen: 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?
Martyn: Not a fan of the second person. Mind you, books written in the present tense don’t float our boat either but you still see plenty of them, so what do we know?
Morgen: <laughs> Although second is my favourite point of view, and I write a second person story every Friday for my 5pm fiction slot, I’m sensible enough not to write anything long in it. It’s wearing as a writer and reader. Have you had any surprising feedback about any of your published works?
Martyn: It’s cheesy to say this this, but the greatest feedback comes when writers we admire choose to come aboard.
Morgen: Flattering for sure. What advice would you give aspiring writers?
Martyn: It’s obvious, but: keep writing. Monica Dickens used to spend the first two hours of the day writing furiously, and then she’d throw it away and start her working day. It’s the same for aspiring writers. Just because you wrote it, doesn’t make it good. The very least you can do is cut the first three paragraphs of your first chapter. And then, as Elmore Leonard says, cut the stuff people don’t read.
Morgen: Absolutely, start with the action, although I don’t throw anything away regardless of how bad it is because I like to think it can be whipped into shape, or if not it shows me where I’m going wrong or how far I’ve come when it’s finished. Regardless of what you write, you can’t edit a blank page.
Martyn: The other thing is, don’t be afraid to expose your work to criticism. If you’re worried about showing your work to others, it’s probably for a good reason – it most likely needs another edit. Be brave and send your work out to publishers, and enter it in competitions – of course we’d suggest Fiction Fast-Track as the first port of call!
Morgen: Of course. What do you think the future holds for a writer?
Martyn: I think we’re in danger of heading for a world where you have to be able to afford to be a writer, like the gentlemen scientists of the 19th century. That’s why Apostrophe Books is trying to incubate and showcase great new voices. It’s not a money making mission; it’s a labour of love.
Morgen: I’ve not charged for anything on this blog and therefore not made a penny out of it but it’s part of me (some of my writing friends have called it an obsession and I’d agree with that, about writing certainly). I’d say that’s what it has to be for everyone in this industry.
Martyn: For the last couple of years now, the big mainstream publishers have been caught in a perfect storm of high overheads and dwindling sales. They are having to concentrate their resources on their surefire franchises, and it’s being left to independent publishers to champion new writing – look at the number of independent publishers on this year’s Booker long list. Hardback indie publishers tend to have been set up with good intent and decent war chests, and they can fill the void – as long as the good intent and war chests hold up!
The costs, and therefore risks, to us as ebook publishers are much lower – not least because all the elements like cover design, formatting and proofreading can be bought out.
Morgen: Absolutely. It cost me nothing but time to put mine online and it was a fun process. 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?
Martyn: Social media sites are really important these days, but it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that because you have a lot of followers, you have a lot of buyers. It’s not the same thing. We use Twitter (@apostrophebooks) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/apostrophebooksltd) to update our followers daily and to reach new readers – and new writers. We’re also on LinkedIn, and starting to build a presence on Pinterest (http://pinterest.com/apostrophebooks). Join us!
Morgen: I’m pretty new to Pinterest but have heard good things about it so I will have to check you out. Thank you, Martyn.
***
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 Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
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Welcome to the one hundred and sixth in this daily series that is ‘5pm Fiction’.
Late April 2011 I discovered http://StoryADay.org and the project that is to write 31 stories in 31 days. Anyone who knows me or follows this blog, knows how passionate I am about short stories so my clichéd eyes lit up at this new marvel. And just a few days later there I was, breathing life into new characters. This went on to become (with some editing of course) my 31-story collection eBook Story A Day May 2011.
I was nearing completion of the 2012 project when I decided that I didn’t want to stop at the end of May so 5PM Fiction was born. I put a load of prompts on the 5PM Fiction page and today’s was to write a second person viewpoint story fom the prompt of ‘serious’, so here is my 200-worder.
Daddy’s girl
You take it all too seriously. Emma tells you often enough but you can’t help but worry. Like a treadmill, she says, it won’t get you anywhere and she’s right but you do it all the same. Worry for two… or three in this case.
It’s usually mothers who worry about their offspring but Suzi’s your first-born and you’ve held her close ever since. Daddy’s girl.
You know she’s played up to you, hoped you’d take her side when her mother had said “no” and you’ve given in more often than not and had grief for it later.
As you pace the hospital corridor, Emma asks you to sit, pats the chair beside her but you need something to do.
“There’ll be news soon,” she soothes and you know she’s right, but time goes slower in situations like this.
You hear crying and you both look at the door watching for it to open. You want to go over to it, open it, see for yourself and the wait’s almost unbearable but you see the handle moving. You step closer and feel Emma beside you as Nick appears, grin on his face, child in his arms and announces a girl.
***
Photography courtesy of morguefile.com.
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, 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 fortnightly episodes, usually released on Sundays, 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.
Tags: ebooks, flash fiction, literature, prompt, short stories, story a day, Story A Day May, writing, writing exercises
Welcome to the four hundred and seventy-seventh of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today’s is with multi-genre author Micki Peluso. 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, Micki. Please tell us something about yourself, where you’re based, and how you came to be a writer.
Micki: I became a writer as a catharsis for grief, when my fourteen –year–old daughter was struck down by a drunk driver. A short story of the tragedy was accepted, which led to a writing career as a staff writer for one newspaper and freelance journalist for two others. I now live on Staten Island, New York and have recently published, . . . ‘And The Whippoorwill Sang’, a funny, sad, poignant family memoir of love, loss and survival.
Morgen: I’ve often heard of writing as being a great therapy (I’ve written a story that was). What genre do you generally write and have you considered other genres?
Micki: I write well in first person, and enjoy writing slice of life stories, especially humour. I taught myself to write short fiction and non-fiction in every genre except script writing.
Morgen: I wrote a 102-page script for the now defunct Script Frenzy and it really isn’t for me (too bitty) but gave me a respect for scriptwriters. What have you had published to-date? Do you write under a pseudonym?
Micki: I wrote under a pen name for one newspaper, but the rest of my work is in my own name. Most recently I’ve written Op-Ed pieces for my daily newspaper and short stories for on-line magazines and contest, such as Skyline, Cold Coffee and the Northesian.
Morgen: Have you had any rejections? If so, how do you deal with them?
Micki: I was inundated with rejection slips when I submitted to magazines, but newspapers changed all that, and in 20 years I’ve never received a rejection from any of them.
Morgen: Wow.
Micki: I was initially hurt and discouraged by rejection, but came to know that most times when one is rejected, it is because they don’t print that type of story. A hand-written rejection is actually a compliment as the editor took the time to write it.
Morgen: It is, absolutely. Just the right thing for the wrong person and to have any feedback is a huge deal as they rarely have time. I was on a course with an author who received feedback (I think from People’s Friend) but took it as an out-and-out rejection and the story stayed on her computer. I’ve seen her work in print since then so it didn’t put her off. Have you won or been shortlisted in any competitions?
Micki: Yes, I’ve won or placed several time in ACW Club, a writers site, Skyline magazine in print and on-line, the Northesian magazine, and Cold Coffee magazine. I’ve also won many times in the Writer’s Den, a critique site on-line.
Morgen: Congratulations. Do you have an agent? Do you think they’re vital to an author’s success?
Micki: I was fortunate enough to have a publisher whom I knew, ask for my book, so an agent wasn’t necessary. She also taught her authors the secrets to successful marketing so I never needed a publicist.
Morgen: Now there’s a guest blog topic I’d love you to write for me. Are your books available as eBooks? Were you involved in that process at all? Do you read eBooks or is it paper all the way?
Micki: My book is available on my publisher’s site, LSPdigital.com as a printed book, e-book and Kindle. I do read e-books, but prefer the printed books, especially in my job as a book reviewer.
Morgen: Ah yes, I have you on my reviews page. How much of the marketing do you do for your published works or indeed for yourself as a ‘brand’?
Micki: I do all my own marketing on-line, at book signings in book stores, but most successfully at community fund raisers and affairs.
Morgen: Live events do seem to be a great way to have dedicated audiences. 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?
Micki: Since my book is a family memoir, I’m quite fond of all my characters. Years ago, when the book was half done, I had a cast of actors for my book, but that would be outdated now. Glenn Close could play me.
Morgen: She’s a great choice. Did you have any say in the title / cover of your book? How important do you think they are?
Micki: I was lucky in that I picked my title and I told my publisher what I wanted as a book cover and her cover artist made me an exquisite cover—exactly what I wanted.
Morgen: Excellent. What are you working on at the moment / next?
Micki: At present, I am directing my energies to marketing my book, since it was / is a deathbed promise to Noelle. I write book reviews for New York Journal of Books and Readertoreader, plus freelance reviews to keep my writing sharp while I’m involved in marketing.
Morgen: Do you manage to write every day? Do you ever suffer from writer’s block?
Micki: I manage to write something each day, even if it’s a grocery list. When I suffer writer’s block, I move on to another story and come back to that one later.
Morgen: It’s the way I work too, clear the brain of it usually does the trick. Do you plot your stories or do you just get an idea and run with it?
Micki: I tend to panzer the short stories and write solely by ear. After writing my only book with little organization, I will outline better with the next one.
Morgen: But the characters will probably take over. Do you have a method for creating your characters, their names and what do you think makes them believable?
Micki: Since I’m not as good with fiction, I usually give my characters the names of my family and friends to feel close to them. My characters are believable because I draw my readers into my stories.
Morgen: Do you write any non-fiction, poetry or short stories?
Micki: Yes, I write all three and have published all three.
Morgen: Do you do a lot of editing or do you find that as time goes on your writing is more fully-formed?
Micki: It is more fully formed, since I edit for others, but no writer should ever edit their own work solely, but have professional editors go over the final drafts.
Morgen: Absolutely not. There was a chap on LinkedIn who said he didn’t need a second opinion and was (rightly so) shot down in flames. He was adamant so I wouldn’t be surprised if his eBooks were out there unedited. Do you have to do much research?
Micki: I only need a lot of research when doing commentary for newspapers, although I dis research in my book, as we lived in so many places and I needed the feel of the each place.
Morgen: What point of view do you find most to your liking: first person or third person? Have you ever tried second person?
Micki: I favour first person and write it better than the other tenses. I practice third person for fiction and have done second person, but it works best in short, short stories. It’s both difficult to do and difficult to read.
Morgen: I love writing second person but I agree, short definitely works best. Jay McInerney’s ‘Bright Lights, Big City’ is only 100+ pages long but I’ve never finished it. It’s very dark and gritty, which I normally love but yes, very wearing. Do you have pieces of work that you think will never see light of day?
Micki: I keep everything I write, because when it doesn’t fit one story, it may at some point fit another. Many will never see the light of day but I can’t bear to throw them away.
Morgen: My heart sinks whenever an author says they’ve destroyed something they didn’t like. I’ve gone back to old stuff and most of it surprises me (pleasantly). Has anything surprised you about your writing life?
Micki: Everything about writing surprises me—readers loving stories I thought were terrible and not liking ones I considered great. I’ve finally learned that to sell my work, I need to sell myself first.
Morgen: What advice would you give aspiring writers?
Micki: It’s been said often but remains true. Learn the rules before you deliberately break them. Keep writing and never take rejection seriously. Whether you sell what you write or not, you are still a writer.
Morgen: You are. If you could invite three people from any era to dinner, who would you choose?
Micki: I would be far too intimidated to invite any of my favourite writers, plus I’d have to hire a hall to hold all of them.
Morgen: I’d fly to the US for that. Is there a word, phrase or quote you like?
Micki: “There is nothing to writing. All you need to do is sit down at the typewriter and open a vein.”
Walter Wellsey Smith.
Morgen: I’ve heard a variation and it’s true. I write a story every Saturday from a one-word prompt and am constantly amazed at what comes out from just one word. What do you do when you’re not writing?
Micki: I am a law assistant for my daughter who is a real estate attorney. I spend time with family and friends, read a great deal, do crosswords and puzzles of all types and spoil my grand kids.
Morgen: That’s what grandparents are for. Are you on any forums or networking sites? If so, how valuable do you find them?
Micki: Again, way too many to fit here and I find the support invaluable.
Morgen: Writers are very appreciative aren’t they of how much of a struggle it is to get published and make a living. What do you think the future holds for a writer?
Micki: There have been writers since cavemen drew story pictures on cave walls. There will be writers as long as there are people. Writers chronicle the past, present and future.
Morgen: Absolutely. Where can we find out about you and your work?
Micki: LSPdigital.com, Amazon.com, AuthorsDen.com and http://mallie1025.blogspot.com.
Morgen: Thank you, Micki.
I then invited Micki to include an extract of her writing…
Happy times, a sunny day, a driving drunk—eight lives forever changed.
It was a day like any other, except that the intense heat wave had broken and signs of an early fall were in the air. The dining room table was filled with my kids and three of their friends—greedily gulping down a chicken dinner. When the last morsel was eaten, they all took off in different directions, except for the youngest, who was ten-years-old.
The one whose turn it was to do the dishes impishly offered me the sum of one dollar, to cover the chore. I laughed and caved in to that deceptive smile.
The last one ran out the front door, calling out, “Bye Mom,” as the door slammed shut. And then the nightmare began.
I then invited Micki to include a synopsis of his latest book…
From the bizarre teenage elopement with her high school sweetheart, in a double
wedding with her own mother, to comical family trips across country in an antiquated camper with six kids; Micki and Butch leave a path of chaos, antics and destruction in their wake.
Just when their lives are nearly perfect, tragedy strikes—and laughter dies. A terrible accident takes place in the placid valley nestled within the Susquehanna Mountains in the town of Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
In a state of shock, Micki muses through their delightful past to avoid confronting an uncertain future—as the family copes with fear and apprehension.
One of her six children is fighting for her life in Intensive Care. Both parents are pressured by doctors to disconnect Noelle, their fourteen-year-old daughter. Their beautiful girl, funny and bright, who breathes life into every moment, who does cartwheels in piles of Autumn leaves, who loves to sing and dance down country roads, and above all loves her family with all her soul. How can they let this child go?
The family embarks upon yet another journey, to the other side of sorrow and grasps the poignant gift of life as they begin . . . to weep . . . to laugh . . . to grieve . . . to dance. . . ‘And The Whippoorwill Sang’.
From the beaches of Long Island, New York to the glitter of Las Vegas, Nevada–from the majestic Pennsylvania Susquehanna Mountains to Staten Island, New York, Micki’s stories travelled with her. She writes fiction and non-fiction often based upon her family life. Her greatest achievement is her children and grandchildren. Just ask them.
Micki Peluso has twenty-five years’ experience as a freelance journalist for three major newspapers: The Staten Island Advance, The Staten Island Register, (staff writer) and The Princeton Women’s Magazine. She’s been published in Victimology: an International Journal, The Bronxville Women’s Magazine, Writer’s Digest School’s monthly magazine, Skyline Magazine in print and as e-zines, The Northeasterner Magazine, The Hudson Review Magazine, and others, poetry anthologies, and is a winner of many on-line contests. She reviews for Readertoreader, and The New York Journal of books. Her first book, . . . ‘And The Whippoorwill Sang’, is a funny family memoir of love, loss and survival. Micki’s website is http://mallie1025.blogspot.com.
***
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 Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
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Welcome to the ninetieth in this daily series that is ‘5pm Fiction’.
Late April 2011 I discovered http://StoryADay.org and the project that is to write 31 stories in 31 days. Anyone who knows me or follows this blog, knows how passionate I am about short stories so my clichéd eyes lit up at this new marvel. And just a few days later there I was, breathing life into new characters. This went on to become (with some editing of course) my 31-story collection eBook Story A Day May 2011.
I was nearing completion of the 2012 project when I decided that I didn’t want to stop at the end of May so 5PM Fiction was born. I put a load of prompts on the 5PM Fiction page and today’s was originally to write a monologue from the point of view of a film character but I had a puncture (the reason why this is being posted an hour late) so I wrote this instead, sitting in the garage waiting room. So here is my 435-worder.
Cardboard box in a field
I’m sitting here staring at a glass-topped table with a circle of flowers. Pressed ones. Real ones. Dead ones. You think they’d be more… diplomatic, sensitive.
Not sure why I’m here really. Mum didn’t want any fuss. “Stick me in a cardboard box and bury me in a field,” she’d told me once and I don’t think she was joking. But I couldn’t do it, could I. Not strong enough to move her myself, even as thin as she was, and I don’t know any farmers who’d be willing… And where would I get a box big enough? Tesco don’t do free ones at the ends of the tills anymore and sticky-taping them together would be… you know, disrespectful.
My left eye’s twitching. Tired. Overly tired. Not slept properly since…
There’s lots of organising to do so it’s keeping me busy. It’s like getting married – how I imagine, anyway – you wonder if you’ve remembered everything but then that’s what these people are for, aren’t they? Make sure everything flows.
They all look so serious. Of course I don’t expect them to be laughing and joking but it doesn’t make me feel any better.
I hope they’re not much longer. Didn’t expect they’d be this busy but then I suppose it’s that time of year, when it’s gets to the old people. To mum. Six months shy of her 70th too. Thought I’d be organising that not… this.
Catalogue? Really? OK.
Cup of tea would be lovely, thank you. Oh, weak please. If you don’t mind. Dunk and out. Little bit of milk, little bit of sugar, little bit of tea. Thank you.
Half a spoonful, yes please. No hurry, I can see you’re…
She was nice.
There’s a lot of choice.
Caskets. So they call them caskets. Coffin sounds so final. Caskets does have a nicer ring. Go for a light one I think, nothing too dreary. Oak. Beech maybe or… cardboard! Oh mum, they’ve got cardboard.
Type of service. Don’t suppose they do one without religion. She wasn’t a believer in all… short and sweet. It actually says “short and sweet”. That’ll fit her to a ‘t’. 5’7 at school but shrunk since then.
They’ve even got locations. Wow. They think of every… Two cemeteries. The out of town, definitely. That one looks… third option? No! Seriously? No way. A field. A specially-apportioned field overlooking the lake. Sold.
Oh, hello. Thank you, I’ll be careful. I usually let it cool. I’m not one of these…
It’s very comprehensive this catalogue.
I have, yes. The ‘Garden Casket’, short and sweet at Lakeside View. Thank you.
***
After a couple of days without a ‘body’ in a story, I knew I couldn’t last… sorry about that.
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, 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 fortnightly episodes, usually released on Sundays, 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.
Tags: ebooks, flash fiction, literature, prompt, short stories, story a day, Story A Day May, writing, writing exercises
Tonight’s guest blog post, on the topic of point of view is brought to you by journalist, short story author and mystery novelist Rosemary McCracken.
Before you keyboard your opening sentence, you will need to decide on what point of view your novel will take. I didn’t do this when I began Safe Harbor. I plunged into the story, writing it down from the POV of a third-person narrator. For some vague reason, I felt that the use of a first person narrator was way too prevalent in mystery novels, especially those by North American writers. The late Robert B. Parker used it in his Spenser series. Janet Evanovich, Sue Grafton and Sara Paretsky use it. I must say that I like the works of Parker, Evanovich, Grafton and Paretsky, but I was determined to be different.
I completed the first drafts of Safe Harbor in third person, and early in 2009 I entered the manuscript in Britain’s Crime Writers’ Association’s Debut Dagger competition, a contest open to English-language writers around the world who haven’t had a novel published. The CWA never got back to me, which meant, in a competition that attracts hundreds of entries, that I hadn’t made its shortlist.
I went back to Safe Harbor and applied more polish. Later that year, veteran Canadian crime writer Gail Bowen was writer-in-residence at the Toronto Reference Library and she read the first part of the manuscript. “This book needs to be written in the first person,” she said when we met for our discussion. “We need to know what Pat Tierney is thinking and feeling every step along the way.”
I felt like the carpet had been pulled out from under my feet. Safe Harbor is a murder mystery, but it’s also the story of Pat’s personal journey of coming to terms with her husband’s infidelity and getting on with her life. The story’s major events – Jude’s murder and the danger Tommy is in – affect Pat deeply because of her personal involvement in them. Jude was Michael’s mistress. Tommy is Michael’s son and a living reminder of his affair. I needed to get deeper into Pat’s head. And the best way to do that was to let her tell the story.
I rewrote the book in the first person. I knew Pat intimately, so I felt completely comfortable jumping into her shoes. And right from the start, I knew I’d made right choice. I felt an energy emanating from the story that hadn’t been there before. I showed several chapters to members of my writers’ group, and they agreed.
Safe Harbor had been written in the limited third person, a form of narration that lets the reader see events from the POV of a single character or of a few characters at the most. The focal characters in the original drafts were Pat and, to a lesser extent, Farah Alwan, her young housekeeper. Now with Pat as the book’s narrator, Farah’s role is much diminished. It’s limited to what Pat can tell us about her.
Early the next year, I entered the rewrite in the 2010 Debut Dagger competition. Same title (at that time it was Safe Harbour, with the Canadian and British spelling of Harbour; it was changed to the American spelling when the novel was released by Imajin Books), same story line as my previous submission, but this time told in the first person. That year Safe Harbor emerged as one of 11 novels – out of about 1,100 submissions from around the world – that were shortlisted for the award. I was astonished…and overjoyed. Being on that shortlist has been one of the highlights of my life.
I believe the intimacy created by the first-person narrator made all the difference in attracting the judges’ attention. I’ve learned that every standalone novel and every series demands a certain point of view, depending how far the writer needs to get inside certain characters’ heads. If you’re uncertain which to use at the outset, I suggest you write versions of your opening chapters from different points of view and settle on the one that is most comfortable for you as a writer and the most effective for your story.
Thank you, Rosemary, and congratulations!
Born and raised in Montreal, Rosemary McCracken has worked on newspapers across Canada as a reporter, arts writer and reviewer, and editor. She is now a Toronto-based freelance journalist, specializing in personal finance and the financial services industry.
Rosemary’s short fiction has been published by Room of One’s Own Press and Kaleidoscope Books. Her first mystery novel, Safe Harbor, was shortlisted for Britain’s Crime Writers’ Association’s Debut Dagger Award in 2010. It was released by Imajin Books this spring, and is available as an ebook and a paperback on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk. Visit Rosemary on her website and her blog.
Synopsis, Safe Harbor
Safe Harbor opens when a frightened woman barges into financial planner Pat Tierney’s office with a shocking request: “Look after my boy; he’s your late husband’s son.” The next day the woman is murdered and police say the seven-year-old may be the killer’s next target. In a desperate race to protect Tommy, Pat’s searches for the truth and uncovers a deadly scheme involving illegal immigrants, trafficking in human body parts and money laundering.
***
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 non-fiction author Marlene Caroselli – the four hundred and seventy-sixth 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, 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 fortnightly episodes, usually released on Sundays, 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.
Tags: author, crime, Crime Writers Association, CWA, Debut Dagger, Gail Bowen, guest blog, guest post, Janet Evanovich, journalist, mystery, novelist, Robert B. Parker, Rosemary McCracken, Sara Paretsky, short story, Sue Grafton, Toronto Reference Library, writing
Welcome to the four hundred and seventy-fifth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today’s is with romantic suspense author Deborah M Piccurelli. 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, Deborah. Please tell us something about yourself, where you’re based, and how you came to be a writer.
Deborah: Hello, Morgen. My name is Deborah M. Piccurelli. I write inspirational romantic suspense novels. I write from the state of New Jersey in the US. Although I started writing a couple books when I was a kid, no one around encouraged me to see them through. I strayed from that through my teenaged years, and early married years. After my two sons moved into the tween stage, I began to get interested in it again. I was always an avid reader, and reading great stories created a desire in me to also write them. Once I started, I was hooked!
Morgen: You mentioned that you write inspirational romantic suspense, have you considered other genres?
Deborah: I like to read many different genres, but romantic suspense is what I enjoy most. I did write a romance novella, once, but the publisher I wrote it for decided not to go through with the anthology for which it was targeted. That’s okay, though. Every bit of writing we do is worth the experience of learning more.
Morgen: Absolutely. It’s all practice and you still have it for someone else. What have you had published to-date? Do you write under a pseudonym?
Deborah: I have had one other book published back in 2004. In the Midst of Deceit is largely out of print, but there are a few copies left on Amazon.
No, I do not write under a pseudonym. For the moment, I think it’s easier to keep my real name for purposes of income tax, bank accounts, and any other legal and business paperwork.
Morgen: Including cheques from publishers and editors. Not having your novella published must have been disappointing, have you had many rejections? If so, how do you deal with them?
Deborah: Oh, my, yes, I’ve had a ton of rejections. It’s a little frustrating, but I don’t take them too personally. All writers get rejections, even well-established ones. I guess I’ve developed that thick skin they say all writers need to have.
Morgen: It certainly helps. Have you won or been shortlisted in any competitions?
Deborah: No. I’ve not won any contests, yet. I’m seeing some contests my book qualifies for. I’ve only entered one, so far.
Morgen: Let me know how you get on and I’ll put in a footnote. Do you have an agent? Do you think they’re vital to an author’s success?
Deborah: I don’t have an agent, yet. I queried numerous agents for Hush, Little Baby, but none were interested in a novel that had to do with abortion. I do think they’re important, but I think there are some authors out there who have had success without them, or before they signed with one.
Morgen: There are and I’ve interviewed many. Are your books available as eBooks? Were you involved in that process at all? Do you read eBooks or is it paper all the way?
Deborah: Hush, Little Baby is available in Kindle, but the publisher took care of that. I had nothing to do with it. Back when In the Midst of Deceit was published, eBooks were having trouble catching on, but there was one available only through the publisher. Kindles weren’t around then. The publisher told me to have the book released in electronic format first made it easier to correct any mistakes that may have been missed.
Morgen: They are. Apart from a short story in a charity anthology (and fiction / articles in magazines) all my writing has been on eBooks and a reader spotted a spelling mistake the other day where I had smelly instead of smell (funny how a rogue letter can make a word so different) – thank you, Jenny!
I do read eBooks, but only because I’m a reviewer, and lots of those I’m asked to review are in the electronic version only. I do like the printed version of books so much better.
Morgen: Ooh, I have a list of reviewers on my Reviews page – let me know if I can add you. How much of the marketing do you do for your published works or indeed for yourself as a ‘brand’?
Deborah: I do as much as I can, and am looking for new ways all the time. I strive to target an audience that might have a particular interest in the subject of my book. For example, with Hush, Little Baby, I’ve been aiming much of my effort at pro-lifers. In light of the hero and heroine being little people, I have been also targeting that community. Since the book is a romantic suspense, I also market to those who read the genre.
As for marketing my brand, this is the first book that has been published since I’ve decided what it is. I write about dark issues, and my website reflects that. I’ve also had a newspaper article against embryonic stem cell research published in my local paper.
Morgen: I’m not sure why but I’d not thought of targeting specific markets as you have. My only marketing (and I’m not that pushy) is general Twitter, Facebook etc at the moment but I do plan to go wider when my novels are available. It’s a good idea. 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?
Deborah: Since I only have the two books so far, I can’t say I have a favourite. They’re both my babies. As a favourite character in each of them, I have to say I lean toward the heroes. I think, for me, it’s more fun creating the male characters than the female ones. I don’t know if readers can pick up on that, though.
Morgen: Maybe if they’re reading this they could tell us.
Deborah: If Hush, Little Baby were made into a movie, I know exactly who would play the male lead: Peter Dinklage. I modelled Evan Blake after him from the beginning. But he’s a very busy actor. He’s in many movies, and is, and has been in lots of TV series. Right now, he is part of an ensemble cast in HBO’s medieval show, Game of Thrones. As for the female lead, I really can’t say. There aren’t a lot of little people who act, but there are especially few actresses. Maybe by the time the movie is made (wink), some new actresses will come on the scene.
Morgen: I didn’t know Peter by name so had to Google him but I had a picture of who I expected him to be, and he was. Good choice. I met Warwick Davis when I was volunteering at Oundle Literature Festival last year – he’s really funny. Did you have any say in the titles / covers of your books?
Deborah: Both of my publishers kept the titles I had given to my books, and I’m grateful for that. As for the covers, I had no say whatsoever in choosing the cover for In the Midst of Deceit. For Hush, Little Baby, I actually had to find my own photo for the cover. It was really tough to find something that fit such a story, but I did. The thing is, some people can’t identify the objects in the picture. As a result, I have decided to have an artist custom design a new cover for the book.
Morgen: That’s a shame but they are what people go by so clearly useful for you to have had that feedback. What are you working on at the moment / next?
Deborah: My current work in progress is another “issue” book. The heroine will also have a physical challenge to overcome, while dodging the villain(s). I can’t say any more than that without giving away important surprise elements.
Morgen: Maybe you’d like to return for an author spotlight when it’s available. Do you manage to write every day? Do you ever suffer from writer’s block?
Deborah: At the moment, I wish I could say that I was able to write every single day. Though I know I should do that (and hope someday to reach that goal), there are just too many things going on in my personal life that prevents me. It’s not a big problem since I am in the early development stages of my current work in progress but when I get into the real writing, where I need a momentum, I know the Lord will help me work it out so that I can get enough time in each day.
I have not yet experienced writer’s block. What does sometime happen is I have trouble getting into development. Once I have the beginning, some scenes in the middle, and the end, the writing will flow for me.
Morgen: Do you plot your stories or do you just get an idea and run with it?
Deborah: I am a seat-of-the-pants writer, but I do plot out some things. I might put together a very rough outline, and then begin writing. When I say “very rough,” I mean just a list of things I know need to happen. Each item is usually no more than one sentence.
Morgen: That’s what I tend to do because invariably the characters will take over. Do you have a method for creating your characters, their names and what do you think makes them believable?
Deborah: No, I don’t have a method for creating characters. When the idea for a story takes root in my mind, and the characters begin revealing themselves, I get a feel for who they are. I do sometimes fill out a character chart, just so I have a record of their physical appearance and personality. By the time I’m ready to choose names for them, I usually have one in mind that fits them very well.
Morgen: I find Google images or magazine photos useful, especially as I write more short stories than novels so have to make sure my characters look the same at the end of the novel as they do at the beginning. Do you do a lot of editing or do you find that as time goes on your writing is more fully-formed?
Deborah: Yes, I do a good amount of editing, but I also try to make sure it’s the way I want it from the beginning, so there’s not as much to do later on.
Morgen: Like anything, it’s practice. I find now that I know when I’m starting to waffle and reign it in. Writing a story a day helps because they are very tight (usually 200-400 words). Do you have to do much research?
Deborah: I do as much research as each story requires. If I’m writing about something I’m already familiar with, then there isn’t as much research. But every story will have some elements that I know little about. If I want authenticity, I’ll do what I need to do to find the details.
Morgen: It’s best to be confident about the finished result because there will always be an ‘expert’ out there ready to highlight an error. What point of view do you find most to your liking?
Deborah: Currently, I like third person, but I may try first person in a future book.
Morgen: Third is the most popular but I write a monologue every Wednesday and love it just being the protagonist and I. Do you have pieces of work that you think will never see light of day?
Deborah: Yeah, a couple. But then again, nothing is unsalvageable.
Morgen: That’s what I like to hear. My heart sinks when I hear of writers destroying something they’ve written because you do never know when it could be used (or certainly brushed up and used ). What’s your favourite / least favourite aspect of your writing life? Has anything surprised you?
Deborah: Although it is time-consuming, I’ve found that I enjoy the marketing aspect of writing. Surprises? None, so far.
Morgen: That’s a (pleasant) surprise to me… that you enjoy marketing. It’s usually the answer to ‘least favourite’. What advice would you give aspiring writers?
Deborah: Study, study, study the craft. There are a lot of ways to do that. Go to conferences and workshops, take online classes, read some how-to books by the experts, read writer’s magazines, join a critique group. The more things you do to hone the craft, the better the chance you’ll have to make your writing shine.
Morgen: Absolutely, and practice. I run a fortnightly writing workshop and put the tasks on my exercises page so others can have a go (and they occasionally tell me that they do!). 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)?
Deborah: I know one person I would definitely choose would be Jesus. I’d love to sit at His feet the way Mary of Bethany did, and listen to Him speak about the Kingdom of Heaven. I would make him my homemade lasagne—noodles are made from scratch! I can’t think of anyone else, at the moment, because no one else measures up.
Morgen: Are you on any forums or networking sites? If so, how valuable do you find them?
Deborah: Yes, I am on a number of networking sites: the usual ones, like Twitter and Facebook. Then there’s Goodreads, Plaxo, ShoutLife, LinkedIn, Book Marketing Network, Edgy Christian Fiction Lovers, a whole bunch of Yahoo online groups, and on, and on.
I don’t have any statistics on how well they work for writers as a whole, but I think they work to some degree.
Morgen: I’m sure they do, and some will work better than others for different people. It’s all networking with other writers and potential readers. The downside, as you said a moment ago, is the time aspect. They can eat hours whole. Where can we find out about you and your work?
Deborah: Here are some links where you can find me:
www.deborahmpiccurelli.com
www.facebook.com/Deborah-M-Piccurelli/221106974651135
www.linkedin.com/in/deborahpiccurelli
https://twitter.com/#!/debpiccurelli
www.shoutlife.com/deborahmpiccurelli
Morgen: Is there anything else you’d like to mention?
Deborah: Yes, I’d like readers to know that there is a charitable connection to this book. I will donate 10% of the proceeds to Life Dynamics, a pro-life organization that works to stop fetal harvesting. This inhumane, illegal practice is an important element in my book, Hush, Little Baby. The book is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Sword of the Spirit (the publisher), and Christianbook.com
Morgen: Thank you, Deborah.
I then invited Deborah to include a synopsis of her book…
Investigative journalist, Amber Blake, is a little person bent on payback for the death of her average-sized twin sister. Enlisted by her former partner and estranged husband, Evan, she poses as a counselor in an abortion clinic to expose the doctor responsible for fetal harvesting. As a Christian, she struggles with concealing her beliefs to maintain her cover, while the doctor’s romantic overtures tumble her stomach. Amber agrees to date him for the sake of the story . . . but nothing prepares her for what’s behind a mysterious door in his office.
Deborah M. Piccurelli is an advocate for sanctity of life, and tackles such issues in her novels, weaving them into compelling stories. She lives in New Jersey with her husband, their two sons, and their Yorkie-Coton puppy.
***
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:
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Tags: agent, Amazon, author, author spotlight, Barnes & Noble, biographers, biography, books, characters, children’s, creative writing, crime, critique, Deborah M. Piccurelli, Edgy Christian Fiction Lovers, erotica, Facebook, fantasy, feedback, fiction, flash fiction, Goodreads, guest blog, guest blog post, guest post, historical, inspirational, interview, Kobo, Life Dynamics, LinkedIn, literature, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, multi-genre, murder mystery, non-fiction, Northampton, novelist, novella, novels, Oundle Literature Festival, paranormal, paranormal romances, Peter Dinklage, pinterest, poetry, poetry collections, pro-life, publisher, rejection letters, rejections, romance, romantic, romantic suspense author, romantic suspense novels, science fiction, second person viewpoint, self-publishing, short stories, short story group, ShoutLife, Smashwords, story author, story authors, story writer, submissions, suspense, Sword of the Spirit, Twitter, vampire, Warwick Davis, western, Wordpress, writer, writing, writing competitions, writing events, writing group, writing magazines, YA, youtube
Welcome to the four hundred and seventy-fourth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today’s is with non-fiction author and blogger Kat Spitzer. 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, Kat. Please tell us something about yourself, where you’re based, and how you came to be a writer.
Kat: My name is Kat Spitzer, and I’m based in Maryland. I have always been a writer, from a journaling child, to a bad-poetry-writing teenager, to a technical legal writer and grant writer, to the creative writer I am today.
Morgen: I love it whenever an author says they’ve always been a writer. I ‘discovered’ writing in my late 30s and wished I’d started earlier but remind myself that I have 30+ (now 40+) years’ experience. What genre do you generally write and have you considered other genres?
Kat: I write non-fiction (although The Happy Hypochondriac reads like fiction… sadly it’s all true). I write books and also freelance articles and pieces for magazines. I also collaborated on a cookbook. I would like to try my hand (again) at a novel and look forward to that adventure down the road.
Morgen: Cookbooks are incredibly popular. As for your novel you could always write it for NaNoWriMo this November. What have you had published to-date? Do you write under a pseudonym?
Kat: You can find The Happy Hypochondriac on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other online and local retailers. It is a humorous tale of living a life of funny, and often ridiculous circumstances, while in constant fear over health. It’s positive and uplifting and hopefully readers will get a lot out of it. I also write the daily humor blog at my website of the same name, www.happyhypochondriac.com. I write under my own name.
Morgen: Have you had any rejections? If so, how do you deal with them?
Kat: Oh man. There were so many rejections. In fact, when the publisher who did publish the book first contacted me, their letter started with “I’m sorry…” and I almost deleted it from my email. That’s how used to rejection you become. But it was just “I’m sorry it took so long to get back to you.” I’ve used every rejection as an opportunity for growth and to make my writing better.
Morgen: Phew. Do you have an agent? Do you think they’re vital to an author’s success?
Kat: My book was published by a smaller publisher so I don’t currently have an agent. Down the road, with more books, I will definitely want an agent if I want to get with a larger publisher.
Morgen: That’s the thing, isn’t it? Most authors realise that they’ll likely need an agent to get into the ‘big six’ but then with so many great independent publishers many are happy to do what you’ve done. Are your books available as eBooks?
Kat: The eBook is on the way! Stay tuned!
Morgen: Great. How much of the marketing do you do for your published works or indeed for yourself as a ‘brand’?
Kat: I do a ton of marketing. So much of it is social media but I also work with the publisher to get reviews, interviews, and other public speaking and promotional opportunities. I have a brand as The Happy Hypochondriac, so I try to do as much as I can to get it out there. Publishers rely more and more on authors to do so much of this themselves.
Morgen: They do because they just don’t have the budgets and, like many companies, when an employee leaves the work is then spread around the remaining staff. Do you have a favourite of your projects? If any of them were made into films, who would you have as the leading actor/s?
Kat: I would have to go out on a limb and say The Happy Hypochondriac. Is that narcissistic since that’s me? I definitely wouldn’t know who to pick as the actress to play me. Someone with big hair, for legitimacy purposes. My husband would like it if she had a British accent. It would be cool to see “myself” with a tan.
Morgen: I have a British accent and a dog-walking tan but I can’t act (I had two lines in my school play and fluffed one of them). 
Did you have any say in the titles / covers of your books? How important do you think they are?
Kat: I was lucky to have some input on my cover and I am so grateful for that. No matter what anyone says, everyone judges a book by its cover to some degree.
Morgen: They do, especially online when it’s all a buyer has (apart from reviews). What are you working on at the moment / next?
Kat: I am working on Book 2 in a Happy Hypochondriac trilogy. I want to make readers laugh and feel better about their own situations or little idiosyncrasies.
Morgen: I think that’s the great thing about books (fiction and non-fiction), that they often make us realise that we’re only human and can make mistakes and that we’re often not as badly off as we thought. Do you manage to write every day?
Kat: I do try to write every day. The blog on my website helps me do that and keeps me sharp.
Morgen: Me too, especially my 5pm fiction slot. Do you plan your writing or do you just get an idea and run with it?
Kat: I have ideas on index cards and then I run with it. It’s very technical and precise. No, not really at all.
Morgen: <laughs> Do you have a method for creating your characters, their names and what do you think makes them believable?
Kat: All my characters are real. I change their names to other names I really like.
Morgen: Do you do a lot of editing or do you find that as time goes on your writing is more fully-formed?
Kat: I must have edited the first book about 15-20 times all the way through. It was pretty clean by the end. I still edit like that because I’m too self conscious about sending it out into the world half-bummed.
Morgen: 15-20 that’s some going. My biggest novel is 105K and will probably be under the 100 mark once I’m done with it (it’s currently having it’s final edits by one of my – very firm but fair – first readers) so will have had about seven read-throughs so hopefully it’ll zing. Do you have pieces of work that you think will never see light of day?
Kat: I wrote a novel once. I will admit it’s terrible. It will take a LOT of tweaking for that to see the light of day. But I am an optimistic, determined person and I will make it happen. One day. Probably not anytime soon.
Morgen: I like to think the same about everything I’ve written, that I’ve had enough practice (I’m pretty sure I’m over the 1,000,000 mark). What’s your favourite / least favourite aspect of your writing life? Has anything surprised you?
Kat: I love the flexibility of the work, in the sense that I can write late at night, or first thing in the morning, or sneak it in when my kids are in school or sleeping. I don’t have a least favourite aspect. I love it! What surprises me most is that I have enough to say.
Morgen: And all we need is a pen and paper, or with a laptop can share our muse with the world at the touch of a (few) button(s). What advice would you give aspiring writers?
Kat: Just keep writing. Even if it’s bad at first. Get those thoughts down. The more you write, the better you get. And be proud of yourself when you have some success. It will inspire you to do more.
Morgen: Absolutely – you can’t edit a blank page. 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)?
Kat: There’s no way I could narrow this down. I’ll take my husband and two kids any time, though. And if I don’t have to cook the food, even better.
Morgen: If you had to it wouldn’t be different from any normal meal so that wouldn’t be fair. Is there a word, phrase or quote you like?
Kat: Irish eyes are smiling (I’m Irish and I always want to be smiling).
Morgen: I have a great Irish friend (from Belfast) who married a US Army major and now lives in Washington and she’s always ‘bonny’. Are you involved in anything else writing-related other than actual writing or marketing of your writing?
Kat: I enjoy public speaking and find that motivational speaking is one of my favourite activities.
Morgen: Is it? I’ve done very little although I’m OK if I’m confident about my topic. I’m down to do three talks / workshops and compering some of the panels / author readings at the forthcoming Northampton’ s booQfest and I’m really looking forward to it because it’s literary (and I say I’ll go to the opening of a rejection envelope) but also it’s my home territory, like playing a home game of football or having the Olympics here. What do you do when you’re not writing?
Kat: I love to travel and my friend, who makes me run marathons, has convinced me that I like to run. I’m sceptical still on that one. I love reading as much as I love writing.
Morgen: While you’re running you could be thinking about your current project or planning your next one. When I’m walking my dog I’m usually reading a writing magazine, editing something or writing. We tend to fill our days pretty easily, don’t we. Are you on any forums or networking sites? If so, how valuable do you find them?
Kat: I spend astronomical amounts of time on social networking. LinkedIn, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, etc. I think they are valuable but I’m still a work in progress, I think.
Morgen: I’m on all those and feel the same – it’s all a learning curve. Where can we find out about you and your work?
Kat: Visit me on my website at www.happyhypochondriac.com. Read the blog, get the book, print out the book club questions for your reading, read my posts at www.whatsupkids.net.
Morgen: Book club questions, what a great idea. Is there anything else you’d like to mention?
Kat: I love my fans, and hope you all enjoy reading my work.
Morgen: I hope so too. Thank you, Kat.
I then invited Kat to include a synopsis of her latest book…
How does a person stay upbeat in life when she constantly fears death or other health catastrophes? This humorous, absurd, yet relatable story offers a glimpse into the antics of a hypochondriac; from the rapturous to the downright ugly. She endures dance recitals gone wrong, first love amid the glow of mini golf, living the college dream with waffle batter in her hair, the gut-wrenching loss of her parents, forging lasting love while clinging to a mountain, and starting her own family with a rash so bad she was declared a medical marvel; but shows it’s possible to function, succeed and even have fun despite the craziness.
Kat Spitzer writes the blog, “The Happy Hypochondriac” (www.happyhypochondriac.com). She also writes nonfiction for magazines. The Happy Hypochondriac is her first book. She graduated from Vanderbilt University and Vermont Law School. The word “hypochondriac” appears in all of her medical files. She lives in Maryland, surrounded by her very patient and understanding friends and family.
***
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 Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
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Late April 2011 I discovered http://StoryADay.org and the project that is to write 31 stories in 31 days. Anyone who knows me or follows this blog, knows how passionate I am about short stories so my clichéd eyes lit up at this new marvel. And just a few days later there I was, breathing life into new characters. This went on to become (with some editing of course) my 31-story collection eBook Story A Day May 2011.
I was nearing completion of the 2012 project when I decided that I didn’t want to stop at the end of May so 5PM Fiction was born. I put a load of prompts on the 5PM Fiction page and today’s was to write a second person viewpoint story starting ‘As you step up to ring the bell…’, so here is my 454-worder.
Dowdy is a let-down
As you step up to ring the bell, you spot your reflection in the side window. Your mascara’s run and you know you need to make a good first impression.
John thinks you’re swimming and he’s supposed to be at work but you followed him here then waited until he went inside… then waited a while longer until it was touch and go whether he’d resurface.
You’ve not seen the woman but expect her to be young. And pretty, like you were when you and John first met, before the four children distorted your figure from model to mother, career woman to housewife, for almost fifteen years.
And now the man you love… loved… is separated by a brown wooden door and panes of glass which betray your form.
Dipping into your handbag, you pull out the mirror and wipe away the smudged mascara with the side of your finger. Make-up went years ago but it’s returned today, for the showdown.
Noticing the door is slightly open, you push it a fraction and wait, listening for voices, footsteps, but none are forthcoming. You push the door a little more, then hear the noise; heavy breathing and his voice.
“That was fun,” he says, out of breath. “Let’s do it again.”
You thrust the front door backwards and it hits something. You don’t look at what but stomp through the hallway and into the lounge.
The picture that greets you isn’t quite what you expected; fully-clothed not naked, vertical not horizontal but John is out of breath and red-faced.
“What the hell?” the woman says as she looks at you.
She is younger but plain and that feels worse. You’d expect him to leave you for someone her age but dowdy, even in such a stunning dress, is a let-down.
“Susan!” John puffs, half-bent, palms on his knees, but looking up at you. He straightens and steps forward, but you back away.
“It’s not what you think,” the woman says. That’s what they always say, you’ve watched enough TV.
“She’s… she’s…” John tries.
You can’t say anything but just stand there shaking your head.
“She’s teaching me,” he blurts.
“I bet she is,” you hiss and can’t remember ever being this angry at him, this hurt.
“The tango,” the woman says coolly. “It was supposed to be a surprise.”
You look from her to him and back to her. “What?”
“He’s bought you a cruise for your wedding anniversary. Doesn’t want to be an embarrassment on the dance floor. He’s very good actually. You’re a lucky woman.”
And as you look back at his big blue eyes, he reminds you of the first dog you had as a child and you whimper, “Yes, very lucky.”
***
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, 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 fortnightly episodes, usually released on Sundays, 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.
Tags: ebooks, flash fiction, literature, prompt, short stories, story a day, Story A Day May, writing, writing exercises
Every now and then at 5a.m. (probably posted by my clone) I will be bringing you a newsflash, update on what I’m doing, invited guest piece, or whatever takes my fancy. Today is the ninth (and final) in a mini-series of submission information (previously children’s & YA / flash fiction / non-fiction / novels / poetry / sci-fi, fantasy, horror /scripts / short stories). To-date I’ve not listed any songwriting and only have two so have listed them here with the mixed formats…
Songwriting
Mixed
- Arabesques Editions is an Algerian-based magazine publisher but takes a variety of English language submissions.
- Baen Books is after non-fiction and fiction.
- Carina Press take a variety of books in a variety of genres.
- Cerise Press welcome photography, art, fiction and poetry.
- Character i welcomes short stories, poetry and art in first person point of view (hence the ‘i’ ).
- damselfly press seeks fiction, non-fiction and poetry.
- Female First online magazine is seeking shorts & poetry from female & male authors.
- Fiction Magazine & Journal is calling for contributions: will publish work from leading writers, nationally and internationally, both established authors and first time writers.
- fourthirtythree is an audio magazine where authors read their own stories & you can just listen.
- The Incongruous Quarterly ”publishes the unpublishable” and is currently seeking submissions of fiction and poetry for the Companion Animals issue (deadline 17 September).
- Literary Submission Helper does what it says on the tin: “we currently have 500 fiction and non-fiction submission opportunities, across all genres, 50 of which have been made available for free.”. You get a sample for free but have to pay to see all 500+ across the genre range.
- Mighty Creatives: job opportunities based in the Midlands area, UK.
- A brilliant resource is My Perfect Pitch.com which has a page of publishers currently accepting book submissions.
- New Pages list of literary magazines and their Classifieds/calls page lists a variety of opportunities in varying genres.
- Open Pen is London’s first ‘open literature’ magazine, completely comprised of reader-submitted creative writing.
- Open to Interpretation seeks themed poetry, fiction or non-fiction.
- Planet Magazine welcomes short stories, poems and proposals for articles and reviews.
- Rusty Nail is a new magazine taking submissions of prose (<3,000 words), poetry, book reviews and artwork.
- Scintilla Press welcomes fiction, non-fiction, poetry and book reviews.
- Sentinel Literary Quarterly seeks poetry, short stories, essays, plays, reviews and interviews.
- Shroud Magazine’s reading period is 1st May to 31st July.
- Slice Magazine welcome short fiction, non-fiction and poetry.
- Online poetry and short story magazine Sparkbright is for international writers and welcome submissions.
- Still Crazy has opportunities for writers aged 50+.
- The Subterranean Literary Journal welcomes prose (short stories, essays, reviews), poetry, art and illustrations… and “everything else, we love to be surprised and we’ll consider publishing almost anything”.
- Summersdale seek quotes, quips and witticisms.
- Vintage Script seeks historical articles and short stories.
- Weave Magazine seeks poetry, fiction, non-fiction.
- What The Dickens magazine is “always looking for submissions of not only fiction and poetry but also non-fiction and articles. I even accept artwork, photo’s, book reviews, film reviews and so on. I do set a theme for each issue though can be flexible around the non-fiction side of things. There are also competitions and give-aways which are all free to enter”.
- Womagwriter’s blog http://womagwriter.blogspot.com is one of the best places I know for women’s magazine guidelines.
- http://writersguidelines.blogspot.com does what it says on the tin; is packed with submission info.
- WritersReadersDirect welcomes fiction and non-fiction in a variety of formats.
- www.writingeastmidlands.co.uk/services/opportunities is a great list of opportunities.
- Xenith is open to “most forms and genres of writing: poetry (5 max per submission), fiction (max 8000 words), flash fiction (5-500 words), plays, creative nonfiction, graphic novels, comics and comic strips, unsent letters, experimental, sci-fi, literary mainstream, whatever”. Essays, articles and columns also welcome. Submit by email (no attachments) to patrick.nathan@gmail.com.
- Other mixed opportunities include The Beat, Bust, Cezanne’s Carrot, The Corner Club Press, Dead Drunk Dublin, The Literary Bohemian, The Long & The Short of It, New Orleans Review, New Welsh Review, Novel Magazine, The Ofi Press, Pentimento Magazine, Persimmon Tree, The Pygmy Giant, The Shine Journal, Splinter Generation, Step Away, The Waiting Room, Wet Ink, WritingRaw.
If you do have any more information that could go on this page or find any broken links, old information etc., please email me.
And I’ve added a new sub-page (opportunities on this blog) which details the opportunities on my blog, you just need the questionnaire for your genre.
***
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, 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 fortnightly episodes, usually released on Sundays, 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.
Tags: articles, fiction, first person viewpoint, flash fiction, non-fiction, novels, opportunities, poetry, scriptwriting, short stories, songwriting, submission information, submissions, writing
Welcome to the four hundred and sixty-eighth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today’s is with multi-genre author Maria McCutchen. 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, Maria. Please tell us something about yourself, where you’re based, and how you came to be a writer.
Maria: I live in Winston-Salem, NC. I became a writer because for many years, writing was my passion, so I found a way to incorporate it into my every day life. Writing was just something I felt compelled to do. Then after I went through my medical problem of being diagnosed with a brain cyst and ultimately had brain surgery, followed by many complications, I decided to write my story. I wanted to create an awareness to the many problems I live, with along with the awareness that doctors need to listen to their patients. I thought writing my story – my book, was a good way to reach others. This then lead to me writing articles and more. But for me, my book is my most cherished accomplishment.
Morgen: I think it is for most authors but surely none more so than writing something so personal. I’ve described you in the introduction as ‘multi-genre’, what genre do you generally write?
Maria: I love to write fiction, so writing my memoir was stepping out of my norm. I am also currently working on a book about children and divorce.
Morgen: What have you had published to-date?
Maria: So far just my memoir, “It’s All in Your Head”, is all that has been published.
Morgen: I love that title. Have you had any rejections? If so, how do you deal with them?
Maria: Yes, I have had plenty of rejections. At first it was hard to take. I took it personally. Now, I look at it as: Hey, I’m trying. And the rejections are my proof that I have been trying. They make me more determined, most times.
Morgen: Determination is good and I’m glad you don’t take it so personally now as inevitably it was the right thing for the wrong person. Do you have an agent? Do you think they’re vital to an author’s success?
Maria: I do not have an agent but have thought seriously about it. I still may look into getting an agent. I think they can be a real positive influence in the world of publishing.
Morgen: They’ve worked wonders for a great number of writers and most of us try to get one before going the self-published / eBook route. Are your books available as eBooks? Do you read eBooks or is it paper all the way?
Maria: Yes, my book is available as an eBook. Typically when I read, it is with a regular, paper book. But for those who find eBooks more convenient…. they are a good thing.
Morgen: I think only a couple of authors I’ve spoken to have said they only read eBooks; most (including myself) still love the feel of paper. How much of the marketing do you do?
Maria: I do a lot of the marketing. I am very involved with it and my publisher expects that their authors be very involved with the process.
Morgen: They generally do, even the large ones, because they just don’t have the budgets or staff any more (crime novelist Ann Cleeves and I were talking about this very subject at the weekend’s St Hilda’s crime & humour writers’ conference. 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?
Maria: I am currently looking into having my book made into a movie. I have thought about it before – which actors I’d like to see be in the movie and because I have heard many times over the years that I resemble Michelle Pfeiffer, I think I’d like her to play me.
Morgen: She’s a great actress. In the past I’ve been told I look like Daryl Hannah and Steffi Graf and I’d be happy with either of those. Did you have any say in the title / cover of your book?
Maria: Yes, I played a role in the cover and title of my book. I titled my book and was able to communicate what I envisioned as the cover. Their art department then drew up some samples according to my ideas, and I got to make the ultimate decision on the cover.
Morgen: That’s very fortunate. Many authors, especially with large publishing houses, have very little say and some aren’t happy with the end result but you do hope that they are the experts. What are you working on at the moment / next?
Maria: I am currently writing articles and working on a book about children and divorce – interviewing children of all ages about their experience with the divorce of their parents.
Morgen: That must be really emotional… and I’m sure will make a great book. Do you manage to write every day? Do you ever suffer from writer’s block?
Maria: Yes, I write every day… weekdays / weekends, every day. I do get writer’s block sometimes… it’s par for the course. I usually just walk away from the piece I’m working on and do something else for a minute to clear my head. Usually works.
Morgen: It does whenever I get stuck on anything, fortunately not often as I write a story a day. Going back to your fiction, do you plot your stories or do you just get an idea and run with it?
Maria: Most times I just run with it. I do “try” to plot my stories, but more times than not, as I’m writing… the story will unfold as I’m writing and I just go with it.
Morgen: That’s my favourite bit, especially when the characters take over. Do you have a method for creating your characters, their names and what do you think makes them believable?
Maria: I create characters as I see them in my mind. I will get a picture of them, and I can even picture another character call, or say their name, and it will many times – stick. I try to give them their names according to what I hear in my head, or see in my mind.
Morgen: And some names just don’t fit do they until you find the right one. Do you write any poetry? If so, why do you think it’s such a difficult market to break into? Are there any tips you could give to someone wishing to write poetry?
Maria: I do write some poetry but not as much as other types of writing. It is a very hard market to get into and that is one reason I haven’t put much time or effort into it. Sometimes I think of poetry as futile. Maybe it’s because I’m just not as good with it as fiction or other types of writing. I don’t know.
Morgen: A lady after my own heart, as the saying goes. I write very little, usually for writing group prompts, for the same reason; that I’m a prose writer through and through. Do you write short stories?
Maria: I do write short stories. Short stories are a challenge for me. I love to try to get a good plot going in a short amount of time.
Morgen: That’s the trick, isn’t it. I find my daily fiction turns out more snippets of someone’s life rather than a start, middle and end but then doing one a day leaves me little time to write much more than two or three hundred words. Do you do a lot of editing or do you find that as time goes on your writing is more fully-formed?
Maria: I do some editing, but yes, the longer I’ve written, I’ve found that there is typically less editing to do.
Morgen: That’s great! It’s all about the practice. Do you have to do much research?
Maria: For my articles, yes… lots of research. For my books, it varies. It depends on what I’m writing… do I need to know more about an area or place I’m trying to create? As far as writing in general – I don’t think there are many types of writing that “don’t” require some form of research.
Morgen: I agree and I often double-check facts on the internet. <bows down in reverence to Google and Wikipedia> What point of view do you find most to your liking: first person or third person? Have you ever tried second person?
Maria: No, I haven’t done much 2nd person writing. Typically I write in first or third person. One big reason is because those two just come more natural to me.
Morgen: Second is my favourite but I do think first and third are a more natural form of writing. There are very few of us around (Stella Deleuze is another second person fan). Do you have pieces of work that you think will never see light of day?
Maria: Sure. There are some children’s books that will probably never be read by anyone and it is a hard pill to swallow sometimes. But that is just par for the course with writing. I try to concentrate and focus then, on the pieces and manuscripts that I think have the most potential.
Morgen: That’s a shame. Some see writing for children’s easier than for adults but in the main it’s not is it. Like writing novels vs. short stories; they have to be honed with almost each word being chosen very carefully. What’s your favourite / least favourite aspect of your writing life? Has anything surprised you?
Maria: Well, because I do a lot of freelance work, that is tough. It can go through some real dry spells and that is hard to live on – dry spells. It can be depressing at times and frustrating and I have been working on working through that – find ways to keep the work flowing.
Morgen: I left my job in March so I know exactly what you mean, although I spend the majority of my day on blog-related emails and uploading content so actually submitting work would be useful. What advice would you give aspiring writers?
Maria: Do it because you love it. If you find and feel like writing is in your blood, give it a try. But don’t leave your day job until you have a good, strong and lucrative business going. Not being able to pay your bills is way more frustrating than just being at a loss for words.
Morgen: Oops. I went about the “good, strong and lucrative business” a different route; by renting out two of my bedrooms. Is there a word, phrase or quote you like?
Maria: I cling to the words: “And this too will pass,” a lot. It’s a fitting phrase for me, because during my medical drama, I said those words a lot, whether it was for the pain I was feeling, an uncomfortable test… whatever. Now, with writing it’s fitting… if I have a block for a few minutes or few days… I know it will eventually pass.
Morgen: It does. I keep saying to myself that things will work out eventually and they do, until life throws something else at me. Are you involved in anything else writing-related other than actual writing or marketing of your writing?
Maria: I belong to many online groups as well as a writer’s club. We read our work to the group and critique each other’s writing. It’s a good way to get good feedback.
Morgen: I belong to four writing groups and they’re great for different reasons. Two are purely critique and whilst there’s not much time to read much more than a chapter it’s often a real eye opener when someone comes up with something I’d never have thought of (or I have already but it doesn’t come across in my writing). What do you do when you’re not writing?
Maria: I have two boys that keep me busy in my non-writing hours. I try to get things done around the house, errands, whatever needs to be done.
Morgen: I’m lucky, I only have a dog so I tend to write my daily shorts while I’m out with him (or I read writing magazines). Are there any writing-related websites that you find useful?
Maria: I like: http://www.freedomwithwriting.com, Copyblogger.com and writer’s digest.com.
Morgen: I know Writer’s Digest but not the other two so thank you for those. Are you on any forums or networking sites? If so, how valuable do you find them?
Maria: Yes, I belong to forums and networking sites… Linkedin, Magazine Group Members, Advertising Copywriting Forum, The Freelance Writer’s Connection and more.
Morgen: And there seem to be new ones popping up all the time to eat into our time, but often providing invaluable advice and support. What do you think the future holds for a writer?
Maria: I think the future is good. Information is always needed in some form. I think as long as you keep an open mind and willing to put in the work, you will always be able to work… to write.
Morgen: Absolutely. I do think eBooks are the making of writers; much more freedom and flexibility than before. Where can we find out about you and your work?
Maria: You can read more about me and see my work at www.creativewriternow.com, www.arachnoidcystsupport.blogspot.com, and http://Linkedin.com, and http://www.facebook.com/braincyst.
Morgen: Is there anything else you’d like to mention?
Maria: If you have a dream of writing… go for it. You don’t have to give up your day job to write. You can start doing it on the side, but do go for it. You never know how well you can do something until you give it your best effort. Also, with as many books as there are available on writing and freelancing, you are sure to learn whatever it is you need to know to get started.
Morgen: Stephen King’s ‘On Writing’ is a great one to start with, and the most recommended in these interviews. And I would recommend writing every day; 300 words a day is a 100,000 word novel in a year, and even if that’s not possible (because life does take over) there’s the likes of NaNoWriMo (50,000 words in 30 days) to top up or kick-start your word count. Is there anything you’d like to ask me?
Maria: How long have you been at it? And what exactly are your areas of expertise?
Morgen: I started writing at a college evening class seven years ago and was hooked, although it wasn’t until the last couple of years that it took over my life (especially when I started the blog late March 2012). My expertise (great question) I think really is (are?) my short stories because I’ve written so many of them (must be over 300 over the years). I also love blogging (and with over 1,200 posts have had plenty of practice) and recently set up a cheap blog design service for anyone who’s daunted by the prospect. (Anyone thinking of going it alone, I’d definitely recommend WordPress over Blogspot, and I do also have a blogspot blog but it drives me nuts!).Thank you, Maria.
I invited Maria to include an extract of her writing…
From “It’s all in Your Head: “Like any stay-at-home mother of young children will tell you, life is very busy. There is never a good time for a mother to get sick, not even with a cold. So in 2004, with a three-year-old son and a six-year-old son, to be told that I had a rare brain disorder was nothing less than devastating. How will I fit that into my schedule?
It snuck up on me so slowly, clever and cunning, that I wasn’t even sure there was anything really wrong with me. Maybe it’s just stress, I thought. Maybe I’m over tired, or I’m imagining things. But when a trip to the grocery store, where I’d shopped a thousand times before, left me in a sheer panic because I couldn’t find the dairy section, I knew that it had to be more than stress.”
and a synopsis of her book…
Maria McCutchen did not have time to be sick. With a husband who had just lost a job, two young sons, and a cross-country move on the horizon, who had time to be sick? Maria didn’t have time for a common cold, let alone a major medical condition. But one day while shopping in the grocery store where she had shopped hundreds of times before, she couldn’t find the milk. It was then she knew what she was feeling was more than just stress or exhaustion. There was something very wrong.
After consulting a few doctors, Maria discovered she had a rare brain cyst known as a posterior fossa arachnoid cyst—a very large brain cyst. Hearing these cysts were normally asymptomatic was of little comfort, especially because she felt her mind and body slipping away more and more every day. Normal mental and physical functions were becoming harder to control. Even if the doctors didn’t believe the cyst was a problem, she knew it was. It would take months of living inside a shell of a person that she’d become, living in a mental fogginess and sometimes even physical pain, before she would finally get the medical attention she needed.
Maria McCutchen lives in North Carolina with her two boys. She has been writing for many years; and for the past three years, she has been freelancing, writing articles for web content. She is an activist for those with brain cysts, speaking out and trying to help others by starting a following for arachnoid cysts on EmpowHer.com, starting a blog on www.arachnoidcystsupport.blogspot.com, writing articles about the condition, and educating others about this rare brain disorder.
***
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 Non-Fiction Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group
Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group
We look forward to reading your comments.
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Welcome to the seventy-eighth in this daily series that is ‘5pm Fiction’.
Late April 2011 I discovered http://StoryADay.org and the project that is to write 31 stories in 31 days. Anyone who knows me or follows this blog, knows how passionate I am about short stories so my clichéd eyes lit up at this new marvel. And just a few days later there I was, breathing life into new characters. This went on to become (with some editing of course) my 31-story collection eBook Story A Day May 2011.
I was nearing completion of the 2012 project when I decided that I didn’t want to stop at the end of May so 5PM Fiction was born. I put a load of prompts on the 5PM Fiction page and today’s was to write a second person viewpoint story from the prompt of ‘three keys’, so here is my 276-worder.
Three keys
You slam shut the kitchen drawer despite knowing it’ll likely wake him. It’s the morning after another argument and you’ve not made up yet. Separate bedrooms again… second time this week and it’s getting worse. Deep down you know you love him and that he loves you but everything about him makes you mad, even the little things you’d not noticed before, like the way he jangles his jacket pocket as he walks towards the front door and you picture the three keys slamming against one another – the keys to the car, house and office – the three places he shares as his job dictates; selling chocolates to shop keepers, pubs and schools.
You lost the boxroom to his study-cum-store room and you’ve felt its pull over the past few months. He’d never been career-orientated until recently and you just want him back. He says he’s doing it for you, build a nest egg to start a family but you’re not convinced there’ll be a nest to put the egg in for much longer.
Opening the drawer you remember this time what it was you were after: the orange squeezer to make his juice just how he likes it; fresh and natural, just how you felt all those years ago.
You hear him come down the stairs and you fix on a smile, hoping that he’s remembered his.
As he enters the room your heart sinks as he’s fixing his tie. He nods, takes the juice and slips on his jacket, rattling the keys as he pats the pocket. You watch him place the empty glass on the hall table and slam the front door behind him.
***
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, 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 fortnightly episodes, usually released on Sundays, 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.
Tags: ebooks, flash fiction, literature, points of view, prompt, second person viewpoint, short stories, story a day, Story A Day May, writing, writing exercises
Welcome to the sixty-fourth in this daily series that is ‘5pm Fiction’.
Late April 2011 I discovered http://StoryADay.org and the project that is to write 31 stories in 31 days. Anyone who knows me or follows this blog, knows how passionate I am about short stories so my clichéd eyes lit up at this new marvel. And just a few days later there I was, breathing life into new characters. This went on to become (with some editing of course) my 31-story collection eBook Story A Day May 2011.
I was nearing completion of the 2012 project when I decided that I didn’t want to stop at the end of May so 5PM Fiction was born. I put a load of prompts on the 5PM Fiction page and today’s was to write a second person viewpoint story with keywords of mix, white, smile, fortune and bunch, so here is my 268-worder, and as usual, a darker rather than cheery tome… sorry about that.
Gripped
You grip the old picture from the mantelpiece. Despite staring at it every day you’ll never tire of it.
Petre grows more handsome every time you admire his newly-pressed suit, him standing, chin held high, next to you, whilst you clasp a bunch of white lilies, matching your dress.
His mother Ileana had been a fortune teller, travelled with the Romanian circus, and you’d been in the audience when Petre strode into the ring with his top hat, red coat and whip, followed by two tigers and an elephant.
You’d watched in awe as he controlled the animals with a skill you’d never seen before. To have such power over an animal had made your heart race.
It was with mixed feelings that your parents had welcomed him into their family, a much older man, but you’d always been strong-willed and they’d finally given their blessing… on one condition.
Your younger brother Tomas had taken the photograph that had been standing on the mantelpiece for 57 years, 15 of those after Petre’s death.
Petre had had Ileana’s smile, the smile she’d given you when she first met you, and nodded, knowing before you did how your life was planned, but not even she could have foreseen the change in him; from a man of such strength to weak, rasping; lungs caked with asbestos from the years in your father’s factory – the price Petre had paid to become your husband.
Climbing the stairs, you rasp for breath, your lungs caked from ironing his clothes. As you enter your bedroom, your grip tightens on the old picture from the mantelpiece.
***
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, 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.
Tags: ebooks, flash fiction, literature, prompt, short stories, story a day, Story A Day May, white lilies, writing, writing exercises
Tonight’s guest blog post, on the topic of wannabe writers, is brought to you by thriller novelist, short story and non-fiction author, spotlightee and fiction interviewee Alana Woods.
Is the term aspiring author a legitimate one?
It’s certainly a very widely used term. I’ve just done a Google search and there are dozens of blog sites and articles all targeting and writing about the aspiring author.
So what does one look like?
Keen and eager, if the promo photos of smiling boys and girls are anything to go by. I use boys and girls loosely as you don’t have to be a teenager to be aspiring.
It’s so obvious they’ve yet to hit the brick walls, spend years on the learning curve, and finally get to that point where they wonder if it’s all worth it and decide, hell yes, it is.
So if it’s such an established term why am I questioning it?
Because I’ve seen blogging about it recently in the indie author blogosphere. The proposition being put forward is that if you’re writing then you’re a writer, no aspiring about it.
It got me thinking and I have some sympathy for the view. After all, back when I was finding my way it never occurred to me to put a tag on myself that would shout I didn’t as yet really know what I was doing.
Even so, I did all of the things I suggest now to others because I knew I needed input to grow as a writer. I took night classes and eventually signed up for a university degree in professional writing and I joined writing groups and organisations. Anything that might help me improve.
And there it is in a nutshell: to help me improve.
Aspiring may not be the best term to use, but it alerts others that a person is still finding their way.
Are there more accurate or kinder labels we could use? Learner perhaps. Apprentice.
My reason for using aspiring is this: writers new to the craft are in the apprenticeship stage. They need to serve that apprenticeship before gaining the ranks of those who have done so. I also think the term is now so widely used it would resist change.
Heaven forbid, though, that aspiring authors should have to go so far as to put it in front of their names on book covers. Apart from any other reason I mentally add that tag to poorly written books anyway.
Over the years aspiring authors have asked if I would give my opinion of their efforts. I imagine they asked because of my credentials. I’m an award-winning author and professional editor with many years’ experience. In critiquing work I saw recurring weaknesses and wrote a tips sheet they could keep for reference. That tips sheet formed the basis for my newly-published 25 essential writing tips: guide to writing good fiction.
So, if you are an aspiring author, take heart. Don’t give up, but do work at improving. I don’t say perfecting, because none of us believe we’ll ever achieve that.
Thank you, Alana! Please do take a look at Alana’s essential tips book… I contributed an item re. second person viewpoint to it.
Alana’s family immigrated to Australia from the UK when she was four and bought land an hour south of Adelaide. For the next 15 years she explored her way through school, the beach, roaming as far as her bike would take her in a day, and books.
In 1966 she met John, married him the next year, and the year after had twins, Simone and Simon— Alana says she and John still get ribbed about that.
Three years later Nicole joined the team—for a moment they thought she was twins too, and joke now that it would have been Nicole and Nicholas. You can imagine the derision!
In 1980 they moved to Canberra to further their careers until 2004 when they moved to Queensland, spending five years there before moving back to Canberra because they missed their family. They also now spend time in the UK with Simone, her husband and two sons. You can also read Alana’s guest post on editing and spotlight.
***
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 memoirist Patrick Turley – the four hundred and fiftieth 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, 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 fortnightly episodes, usually released on Sundays, 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.
Tags: Alana Woods, second person viewpoint, writing tips
Welcome to the fifty-seventh in the series: 5pm Fiction.
Late April 2011 I discovered http://StoryADay.org and the project that is to write 31 stories in 31 days. Anyone who knows me or follows this blog, knows how passionate I am about short stories so my clichéd eyes lit up at this new marvel. And just a few days later there I was, breathing life into new characters. This went on to become (with some editing of course) my 31-story collection eBook Story A Day May 2011.
I was nearing completion of the 2012 project when I decided that I didn’t want to stop at the end of May so 5PM Fiction was born. I put a load of prompts on the 5PM Fiction page and today’s was to write a second person viewpoint story in future tense where the character is waiting for an important delivery, so here is my 318-worder.
Whatever Aunt Agatha has in store for you
It’ll come and you’ll either be happy about it or how you are now. It can’t get any worse, can it.
Before it arrives though you’ll have to find a space for it. Of course not knowing what you’re going to get doesn’t help but you’ll deal with it. You’re used to dealing with crises and this, you’ve convinced yourself, will not be as bad as losing Brian, or the day the dog… no, you’ll be positive, thank the van driver and wish him a nice day, shut the door, take the parcel into the dining room, unwrap it and deal with it.
Of course you may not want to keep it. You know what strange taste Aunt Agatha had, but to leave you anything had been a shock, but you know her sense of humour too and that it’s not going to be something ordinary… something that’ll just blend into a corner with the rest of the ornaments.
You’ve convinced yourself it’ll be huge. You have visions of the delivery driver having to take the door off its hinges… a life-size wooden elephant, you know Agatha lived overseas for a while but as long as it’s dead you’ll cope.
So you go to the window, pull open the curtains a little to watch the traffic, but not to appear nosy, and you’ll wait… wait for the brown van, the man in the brown uniform to carry, push or wheel whatever’s in store for you and you’ll accept it over the threshold with a smile and thank him for his trouble whether there’s been any or not.
You could do with a new fridge freezer, no more newspaper on the floor to mop up the leaks because the freezer door doesn’t shut. A piece of jewellery would be a treat.
And then you see him, not in a brown van but in a lorry and your heart sinks.
***
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, 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.
Tags: ebooks, flash fiction, literature, prompt, short stories, story a day, Story A Day May, writing, writing exercises
Complementing my daily blog interviews, today’s Author Spotlight, the one hundred and fourth, is of portal fantasy author Jinn Nelson.
Jinn Nelson started writing fiction at age seven, on a computer with a screen bigger than she was.
She sat down one night, without any clear goal in mind, and wrote a heartwarming story about two sisters finding the perfect gift. She wrote it in multiple points of view.
At sixteen, she wrote the first draft of Fear the Hunted while also studying medical transcription. After high school, she married and lived quite happily in northern California, a self-employed medical transcriptionist until she met a group of writers online and began writing fiction again.
She now lives and writes in Wisconsin with her husband and three cats. She is a voracious reader, particularly of Celtic mythology, Steampunk, and portal fantasy. She also enjoys knitting, rock climbing, loose-leaf tea, zombies, dancing, and the Internet. Her favorite country is Scotland.
And now from the author herself:
Hemingway talked about the well of writing, a deep place within fed by springs deeper still. Many ideas are down in my well, and they rise to the surface as they grow and are ready to be realized. The story begins to align, as if nudged into place by some Hand. Some days, that nudge feels less like divine inspiration and more like a devious, cockeyed muse sent to torture me. Eventually, though, the ideas do come together and a book is the result.
Fear the Hunted, my first published work, began as images growing larger and louder with time: a girl with a mysterious mark; a young boy with blond hair shooting a bow and arrow; a ragged group sprinting away from a burning city. When enough images collected that scenes began to show themselves, I began writing them.
When she found out I was writing, my grandmother gave me a stack of her old Writer’s Digest magazines; I studied Nancy Kress’s articles on fiction, then would test out my new knowledge on the next scene. The book became a collection of writing exercises that were all connected. I followed the story to its conclusion, did a revision, but my taste told me it wasn’t really done yet. I stored it in my closet, where it aged for a few years, while I grew up and gained more skill.
Eventually, I remembered that story. It began keeping me up at night, wanting to be truly finished. I went back to studying, learning from masters like James Scott Bell and Stephen King. The last stretch of revisions felt like a descent into madness. One of the scariest things about writing is that you don’t know what you’re doing. Not really. That may be why so many people begin stories but never finish them. There’s an element of running blind, of groping ahead for the next thing, not knowing what it will be or what to do with it when you find it. Gold is always there, if you look for it long enough. Most people, I think, stop after they get tired of looking, just before they’d have found it. Because it’s inconvenient to write. You have to create pain and live through it with your characters until it’s resolved. And if you’re stuck on one scene for six months that effort turns into a marathon. And it feels like one. You just have to keep going, hoping you’re not making a huge, 27-page mistake. Toward the end I barely slept, as the final scenes played constantly in my head. And then, finally, it all came together. I finished. That day was like Christmas.
I wandered around, staring at nothing in particular. I ate a whole pineapple pizza in celebration. Next day, reading James Scott Bell’s Plot and Structure, I could almost hear him congratulating me: “Great job, kid. You finished a book. Now get to work on the next one.”
You can find more about Jinn and her writing via… www.jinnnelson.com, www.jinnikins.wordpress.com and Twitter: @jinnm.
The blog interviews will return as normal tomorrow with non-fiction (Mayan) author Jeanine Kitchel – the four hundred and thirty-eighth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers 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, 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.
Tags: author, dancing, fantasy, Jinn Nelson, knitting, loose-leaf tea, portal fantasy, rock climbing, spotlight, viewpoints, zombies
Welcome to the forty-ninth in the series: 5pm Fiction.
Late April 2011 I discovered http://StoryADay.org and the project that is to write 31 stories in 31 days. Anyone who knows me or follows this blog, knows how passionate I am about short stories so my clichéd eyes lit up at this new marvel. And just a few days later there I was, breathing life into new characters. This went on to become (with some editing of course) my 31-story collection eBook Story A Day May 2011.
I was nearing completion of the 2012 project when I decided that I didn’t want to stop at the end of May so 5PM Fiction was born. I put a load of prompts on the 5PM Fiction page and today’s was to write a dialogue-only piece between two siblings, so here is my 347-worder.
Are you going to tell her or shall I?
“It’s at times like this that I was an only child.”
“Oh, thanks.”
“No, you know what I mean.”
“That I hadn’t been born.”
“No, that’s not…”
“How else do you mean it?”
“That I’d be the only one to have to make this decision.”
“We knew it was going to come to this eventually; one of us taking her in or choosing a home.”
“There isn’t really a choice, is there?”
“No, and I’ve found one. The Sycamores. It’s supposed to be very nice. We can take her there tomorrow.”
“You’ve checked already?”
“I knew you couldn’t take her, where would she sleep?”
“I could have the sofa.”
“But you’re at work all day.”
“As are you. The Sycamores it is, I guess.”
“I’ll give them a ring. Said I’d call today anyway to let them know one way or the other.”
“Without seeing it?”
“No, I mean to just go and have a look. If mum’s not happy we’ll have to think of something else.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know but I’m not giving up my job…”
“Maybe carers then… a live-in someone or other.”
“I couldn’t be around her all day, she’d drive me nuts.”
“That’s very insensitive…”
“You could quit your job.”
“What?”
“It’s only Tesco. You can get another one when… well, she is very ill.”
“She’s not that ill. The Sycamores… it’s OK, is it? Not full of old people staring at the TV.”
“I don’t know. It’s expensive enough.”
“That’s OK, there’s plenty of equity in her house.”
“You’re not selling the house!”
“We’d have to.”
“But I wanted to live… I mean, to live there with you.”
“You’ve planned this all along, haven’t you? Kick her out, move her in with me… for free… so the inheritance stays intact. Half of the house is mine, remember.”
“Yes, but…”
“That’s it!”
“…what?”
“I sell my flat and move in with her. She stays at home, we get in a carer, paid for by my flat, you contribute of course…”
“Erm…”
“Now, are you going to tell her or shall I?”
***
Photography courtesy of morguefile.com. 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, 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.
Tags: ebooks, flash fiction, literature, prompt, short stories, story a day, Story A Day May, writing, writing exercises
Welcome to the forty-third in the series: 5pm Fiction.
Late April 2011 I discovered http://StoryADay.org and the project that is to write 31 stories in 31 days. Anyone who knows me or follows this blog, knows how passionate I am about short stories so my clichéd eyes lit up at this new marvel. And just a few days later there I was, breathing life into new characters. This went on to become (with some editing of course) my 31-story collection eBook Story A Day May 2011.
I was nearing completion of the 2012 project when I decided that I didn’t want to stop at the end of May so 5PM Fiction was born. I put a load of prompts on the 5PM Fiction page and today’s was to write a second-person viewpoint story involving a speeding car, so here is my 176-worder.
Her eyes have never been bluer
You saw her smile, right before your foot pressed down on the accelerator. That soon changed her expression, didn’t it? Didn’t think you had it in you, did she?
You’d tried before, different method; wrapped her favourite scarf round your wrists like you’d seen in the movies, only it was too big, too awkward, and she’d grunted and turned over, burying her neck in the pillow, leaving no clear skin exposed.
You’d stood there for ages, staring at her, looming over her skeletal frame, wasting away from the disease eating her inside out.
You’d finally had enough when she’d started refusing to eat, neither of you having the strength to argue. You loved her with all your heart, so you’d taken her to Devon, as you had every summer, to that little out-the-way place with the crumbling cliffs.
Any doubt you had disappears as the car gathers pace. She takes your left hand and squeezes it, and you look at her face. It’s no longer pale, no longer sallow and her eyes have never been bluer.
***
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, 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.
Tags: ebooks, literature, point of view, prompt, second person, short stories, story a day, Story A Day May, viewpoint, writing, writing exercises
Welcome to the thirty-sixth in the series: 5pm Fiction.
Late April 2011 I discovered http://StoryADay.org and the project that is to write 31 stories in 31 days. Anyone who knows me or follows this blog, knows how passionate I am about short stories so my clichéd eyes lit up at this new marvel. And just a few days later there I was, breathing life into new characters. This went on to become (with some editing of course) my 31-story collection eBook Story A Day May 2011.
I was nearing completion of the 2012 project when I decided that I didn’t want to stop at the end of May so 5PM Fiction was born. I put a load of prompts on the 5PM Fiction page and today’s was to write a second-person viewpoint story featuring a new couple, so here is my 270-worder.
A woman by comparison
Hoping you’re convincing enough, you laugh at the comedian on the TV. You don’t find him funny but Laura does and you’re still trying to impress. She looks at you with her big Bambi eyes and you laugh again. She smiles, says nothing, then looks back at the TV. You don’t want to be watching anything, you’d rather be kissing her, stroking her neck, making her quiver like you did the other girls, except Laura’s more special… more resistant. You’d never have waited this long with Tracey or Kim but they’d barely lasted to third date anyway. You get bored easily and you’ve impressed yourself that you’re still here, waiting, not out trying, and usually succeeding, to find a replacement.
Laura is a woman by comparison. Your mother knows her mother and thought you’d be a good match… tame you, you think this means.
The programme finishes and Laura picks up the remote, switching off the television. She then turns to you, smiles and strokes the side of your face. The house is quiet and you debate whether to take things further here or lead her upstairs. Making love on the sofa is seedy which has never bothered you before but you have new bed sheets. You go to take her hand but she leans in, tilts her head as if to kiss your mouth but veers away and you feel her cheek brush yours. You close your eyes and wait for her to kiss your neck, which she does, but then your eyelids thrust open as you feel the sharp pressure on your skin, and your blood draining away.
***
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, 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.
Tags: 5pm fiction, ebooks, literature, second person, short stories, story a day, Story A Day May, writing
Welcome to the four hundred and twenty-second of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today’s is with travel and short story author Vic Heaney. 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, Vic. Please tell us something about yourself, where you’re based, and how you came to be a writer.
Vic: I am rapidly approaching 72 years of age. I live in the beautiful French Pyrenees with my wife Gay. I have 3 daughters who live in Saudi Arabia, Italy and the United States. I have a granddaughter of 27 years, 2 grandsons of 21 and 22, all three in England, and a grandson of 7 in Italy.
I have always enjoyed writing and have had to do a great deal in most of my jobs as they needed a lot of communication but probably not as much as I indulged in. I have also irregularly written, and been published, for most of my adult life. Mainly articles.
Morgen: What genre do you currently write?
Vic: I now write books which can loosely be categorised as travel. I also write short stories, usually to supplied specifications because they are for competitions.
Morgen: I haven’t entered any competitions for a while but I do prefer the themed ones. I’m involved in one for a writing group I chair (the H.E. Bates short story competition) and this year is the first time we’ve had a theme (‘A walk at midnight’). Crime novelist Stephen Booth is our judge this year so it’ll be interesting to see how many entries are ‘dark’. What have you had published to-date? Do you write under a pseudonym?
Vic: Sporadically, over my adult lifetime, I have had articles published, mainly about travel, motoring or exercise, especially running. I write under my own name now, although I did have one article published under the name Ted MacArthur because I thought it would please my mother (Ted was my father’s name and MacArthur was my mother’s family name). I dropped the idea when she asked my why on earth I had used that instead of my own name.
Morgen: That’s mothers for you. Have you had any rejections? If so, how do you deal with them?
Vic: I have had articles rejected because they used to be written much more on spec than is the case now. I had my book rejected a couple of times (with encouraging words) before I decided to self-publish.
Morgen: Having feedback is pretty rare these days, most editors / agents don’t have the time so they must have seen the merit in your work, it just was for them. Have you won or been shortlisted in any competitions?
Vic: I subscribe to Writers’ News and Writing Magazine mainly so I can enter the monthly short story competitions. I have been shortlisted 5 times so I understand how the perpetual bridesmaid feels.
Morgen: I’ve entered a few times and been shortlisted a couple – it’s still great seeing my name in the magazine but I know what you mean, having your photo, bio and the story would be great. I should try again. You’ve self-published, presumably you don’t have an agent, do you think they’re vital to an author’s success?
Vic: I do not have an agent. I have not tried to get one but have read so many times of writers trying to get an agent only to be told that agents are only interested in somebody who already has a book deal. As so many publishers are only interested in writers who have an agent, this seems to be a bit of a problem.
Morgen: Some small publishers prefer to find writers directly so they don’t have to pay commission and some writers prefer it so they get more direct contact but anyone looking for the ‘big six’, I’d say would need an agent. Some writers are self-publishing then being found so you just have to keep going. Are your books available as eBooks? Were you involved in that process at all? Do you read eBooks or is it paper all the way?
Vic: My only book to date – Vic’s Big Walk from SW France to NW England” was published as an e-book. “Vic’s Big Walk” is now available in paperback. It has not yet reached the Amazon shelves but will be there soon. In the meantime, it can be bought directly from the publishers (this link will take you straight to the book). I published the e-version through Bookbaby, who accept a Word (there are other options) document and publish the book on Amazon Kindle, iBookstore, Sony, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Copia, Baker & Taylor, Gardners, and eBookPie. As they cement agreements with other platforms, my book is sold on those as well. All for $99, which seems like a pretty good deal to me, compared with the effort of publishing myself on all or any of those platforms.
I read both paper books and books on Kindle. I have a particular eye problem so the facility on the Kindle to increase the print size is wonderful. I travel a great deal so it is excellent to be able to carry scores or hundreds of books in something which weighs less than one book. And as the print is very black on pure white, it is easier on the eye than reading a book.
Morgen: Most authors love both and I’m the same. I do love the Kindle for its clarity and as you say, have over 400 novels / stories on mine. How much of the marketing do you do for your published works or indeed for yourself as a ‘brand’?
Vic: Because my book is self-published I have had to do all the marketing myself. I have spent hundreds of hours on this.
Morgen: Which is often a ‘least favourite aspect’ of other interviewees – we’re writers, we should be writing, although we get to interact directly with our (potential) readers which is great. 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?
Vic: My only book so far – although I have three others in the pipeline – is about my 70-day walk to raise funds for pancreatic cancer research. So the only characters in there are myself, my wife, my children and friends, and many people I met along the way. Immodestly, I can think of only one person suitable to play myself in the film. Seriously, I had not thought about that and will have to give thought to which distinguished 70-year old actors are out there (the walk was from my home in the French Pyrenees to the house of my birth in Blackpool, Northern England – I arrived on my 70th birthday). The BBC TV news coverage of the finish to my walk can be seen on youtube.
Morgen: Sean Connery perhaps? Did you have any say in the titles / covers of your book(s)? How important do you think they are?
Vic: Because the BBC played “Walk of Life” by Dire Straits over the news item, I thought it would be a good idea to have that as the title to my book. Also because I have always been a big Dire Straits / Mark Knopfler fan – in fact I have attended a concert in every one of their tours to date except that Mark was touring in Europe and UK during my Big Walk so I had to miss for the first time. Also “Walk of Life” was relevant because, at almost 2,000 kms, it was certainly the walk of my life and it was also to raise funds to save lives. I even had Mark’s permission, through his manager, to use “Walk of Life” as the title of the book but decided to stick with “Vic’s Big Walk” – the title of my blog – because that had become well-known, and because if you Google “Vic’s Big Walk” you come up with lots of stuff about my walk, and now about my book. If you Google “Walk of Life” you come up with lots of pages about Dire Straits. Mark was still kind enough to publicise my book on his website.
As regards covers, I am lucky enough to have a friend who is a graphic designer and photographer. He designed the cover of my book, which is quite striking, I think.
Morgen: I’d say it does what it is supposed to – tell you the content, and non-fiction should be clearer than fiction. What are you working on at the moment / next?
Vic: I am continuing to enter the Writers’ News short story competitions and am determined that this is the year I will win one of them. I am also working on 3 more books, which I intend to publish during the next 12 months. This may seem a tall order, but they are all three books which are largely written. My wife and I lived in Cyprus for a number of years and I wrote a book about that but did not seek a publisher. I wrote my own autobiography for my children and will now update it for general consumption – I have led a varied and interesting life. The beauty of writing e-books is that if they do not sell, you have lost nothing but your own effort – a bit like digital photography where you can take hundreds of shots and then reject all or most of them without having incurred the cost of film and developing. I will also publish a book of short stories originally written for competitions, including the 5 (or hopefully more by then) shortlisted.
But before then I will publish “Vic’s Big Walk” in paperback, using Lulu. All proceeds from that book go directly to pancreatic cancer research. The book is to raise awareness as well as funds. It is featured on the website of Pancreatic Cancer UK and I know that some people look at the details and decide not to buy because they prefer a paper book or do not have an eReader.
Morgen: I’ve been to Cyprus three times and love it. If I could afford a holiday home I’d pick somewhere in the Larnaca hills… with a sea view of course. Do you manage to write every day? Do you ever suffer from writer’s block?
Vic: I don’t write every day. I know I should, but I don’t. My travelling lifestyle doesn’t help with that. I have bursts of activity. Once I sit down to the keyboard I do not suffer from writer’s block.
Morgen: It must be easier when you’re writing non-fiction certainly. With your short stories, do you plot them or do you just get an idea and run with it?
Vic: I usually sit down with a vague idea and am amazed by what comes out of my fingers onto the screen. Fortunately I can touch-type so the mechanics do not get in the way.
Morgen: It’s the not knowing what will come out of my brain that I love. Do you have a method for creating your characters?
Vic: No, I fly by the seat of my pants on this. The characters also come off my fingers.
Morgen:
Vic: I always felt that I could not write fiction and have been surprised by the success (shortlisting) of some of my stories, and by how, reading back through those I have written some time ago, they still look OK to me.
Morgen: I’m hoping I feel the same when I go back to my 100+ old (<7 years) ones. Do you do a lot of editing or do you find that as time goes on your writing is more fully-formed?
Vic: I find that I generally have to make only slight adjustments to what I have written. Apart from proof-reading that is – although this is not something you can ideally do yourself – you tend to see what you meant to write, not what is there. Fortunately my wife is an excellent proof reader.
Morgen: Absolutely. A writer should always have a second pair of eyes; family, friends, writing group if not a professional. Do you have to do much research?
Vic: For the non-fiction works I have always written about subjects known to me, so any research is about background – for instance interesting facts about some of the places I passed through on my Big Walk, and which are therefore mentioned in the book.
Morgen: With your short stories, what point of view do you find most to your liking: first person or third person? Have you ever tried second person?
Vic: I vary between first and third person. I have not tried second person.
Morgen: Most editors don’t like it (I know Sue Moorcroft, Writers Forum competition judge, does like it ) and most writers / readers don’t but you never know until you try. Do you have pieces of work that you think will never see light of day?
Vic: I am busy resurrecting those which have been hiding.
Morgen: What’s your favourite / least favourite aspect of your writing life? Has anything surprised you?
Vic: I love writing, always have. I love sitting down with blank paper and seeing it turn black. I am always amazed when I look at some of my older works, expecting to cringe, but see that they hold up. I just wish I were more disciplined about doing it every day. And of course I regret all those wasted years when I had my priorities wrong, bringing up a family and spending all that time at work.
Morgen: You had to work to bring up your family, I wouldn’t have said anyone should regret that. As for writing every day, I started 5PM Fiction at the beginning of June and I’ll be 35 stories in as of today so feel free to use any of the prompts I’ve been using if that helps. I also have loads on my blog’s Exercises and Sentence Starts page. What advice would you give aspiring writers?
Vic: Read the answer preceding this one and get cracking at every opportunity. The years fly by. Also, read a lot. Everything you can lay your hands on. In fact, I doubt if you could be a good writer if you are not an avid reader.
Morgen: I don’t read enough… I’m pretty organised and keep saying I’m going to go to bed at a certain time before I sleep but find I’m way past the ‘sleep’ time when I go to bed! 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)?
Vic: Alexander the Great. Vegetarian Moussaka. I don’t know if he was a vegetarian, but I am.
Willie Nelson. Pizza for him, but I would have a sniffer dog handy to check him for weed.
Lloyd George. Jacket potato with leeks. I would hide my father in case Lloyd George knew him.
Morgen: I’m not a vegetarian but I’d be happy with any / all of those. Is there a word, phrase or quote you like?
Vic: Marcel Proust: “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”
Morgen: I love that. Are you involved in anything else writing-related other than actual writing or marketing of your writing?
Vic: Not at the moment, although my wife and I at one time ghost-wrote several autobiographies for circulation within their own family and friends.
Morgen: What do you do when you’re not writing?
Vic: We travel a lot. 3 months in New Zealand every year, for instance. I walk a lot, having been a competitive runner for most of my life. I read several books a week. I have learned to play the guitar since I turned 60, and have even played in a band onstage.
Morgen: Wow. No wonder you don’t have time to write every day. Are you on any forums or networking sites? If so, how valuable do you find them?
Vic: I have joined a few forums in order to publicise my book. And have had some moderate success in that.
Morgen: You do have to be out there. I blog a lot (three or four pieces on this blog and two re-run interviews a day on http://morgensauthorinterviews.blogspot.co.uk) but my sales (short story collection and writing guide) are still a trickle because I don’t really push myself as well as my guests. I’m working on getting my novels online so hopefully I can start appearing on other blogs and change that. What do you think the future holds for a writer?
Vic: I think the coming of epublishing means that any writer can get his books or stories out where they can be read. Whether they will be read depends on their quality. Of course it also means that readers will have more choice and that it will be more difficult for them to find your excellent work.
Morgen: It will but I do think reviews will sway readers… a writer can only have so many friends. Where can we find out about you and your work?
Vic: http://www.vicsbigwalk.blogspot.com.
Morgen: Is there anything else you’d like to mention?
Vic: I would like to thank you for the opportunity to do this interview and hopefully to have my work more widely publicised, and for the help this also gives with my fundraising for pancreatic cancer research.
Morgen: You’re very welcome, I hope this helps. Thank you, Vic.
I then invited Vic to include an extract of his writing and this is from ‘Vic’s Big Walk from SW France to NW England’…
Mine host is very friendly. Another man comes in, obviously his copain. We have a bit of a talk about why I am walking. When I come to pay, it is a bit gloomy inside by the till, I have trouble sorting the money out – I don’t handle money very often anyway. I eventually let him select the money from my hand. I say I have a problem with my eyes. He says, “Cataracts?” I say, “Yes, but also pattern dystrophy”.
“My wife has that,” he says. I am not sure by now whether he is talking about the cataracts or the pattern dystrophy. The latter is a fairly rare condition and not to be wished on anybody as it eventually removes the central vision completely. He says, “Vous pouvez voire la femme?” I think, does he mean can I see my wife, but he gestures to something on the wall. When I get close enough I see it is a picture of two women in bikinis. He laughs and says, “See – your eyes are OK really.”
and a synopsis of his book…
In 2010a grandfather went for a walk. A mere 1900 kms. Backwards through his life, from his home in the French Pyrenees to his very beginnings in Northern England. His aims – to walk for 70 days – to arrive on his 70th birthday – to raise funds for pancreatic cancer research.
2 years of training. 17.5 Million steps walked. All this not only to raise funds but also to raise awareness of this dreadful illness. Vic Heaney’s first wife Gaile was a victim of pancreatic cancer.
There were many physical challenges, not least an eye condition which meant he could not read maps and had difficulty walking on uneven ground. Some weeks his total climbs would have seen him to the summit of Everest.
Many characters were met on the way. Even those who said, “Where are the Pyrenees?” were sent on their way with an appreciation of the awfulness of pancreatic cancer.
In 2011 the same grandfather wrote a book about his epic walk. Join Vic in his great adventure. And feel good about it – every purchase will help to raise more funds to help conquer pancreatic cancer.
Vic Heaney lives with his wife Gay in the Pyrenean foothills in France, not far from the Spanish border. He was born in northern England, attended grammar school, insisted on leaving at the age of 15 because a life at sea beckoned. His subsequent careers included that first job as a Merchant Navy Radio Officer, a 7-year stint working for GCHQ, 14 years with Britain’s major computer manufacturer, largely as a regional manager, and another 10 years running his own computer services company. He retired at age 50 and has spent much time since then travelling the world. He is a reader and writer, a guitar player and a music listener, an ex-runner, now a prolific walker. He has many other interests including US politics and will be in the States again this year to experience the excitement of the Presidential election.
***
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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Welcome to the thirty-fourth in the series: 5pm Fiction (a bit late, I’ve had a tough day!).
Late April 2011 I discovered http://StoryADay.org and the project that is to write 31 stories in 31 days. Anyone who knows me or follows this blog, knows how passionate I am about short stories so my clichéd eyes lit up at this new marvel. And just a few days later there I was, breathing life into new characters. This went on to become (with some editing of course) my 31-story collection eBook Story A Day May 2011.
I was nearing completion of the 2012 project when I decided that I didn’t want to stop at the end of May so 5PM Fiction was born. I put a load of prompts on the 5PM Fiction page and today’s was to write a first-person story about a sibling, so here is my 948-worder.
Oh Brother!
Ooh, I could swing for my brother sometimes. Dad says he’s a blessing, an ‘accident’, but I think he’s a curse. I’m supposed to look after him when Dad and Sarah, that’s my step-mum, want to go out, but sod that! I’m seventeen and should be having fun. Why should I stay in while my mates all go out? I’m left clearing up puke when brat eats too much ice cream or chocolate ‘Buttons’. It’s not my fault if he eats the whole packet in one go!
I try to study while brat pretends he’s a train or an aeroplane or something equally loud and infuriating. Sarah hears me shouting at him to “eff off” and swishes into the room, her blonde hair swaying and annoyingly shiny. She whisks him away, singing his favourite; ‘The Mockingbird Song’, giving me a glare that could freeze a volcano. I’m in her bad books, but so what? It does the trick…gets brat out of my way.
I switch off the PC and look up as Sarah returns, now smiling sweetly. She reminds me that she and Dad are going out tonight and that I’m “not asked to baby-sit very often”…not very often, my arse! “Yes, Mum”…she likes me to call her ‘Mum’ and thinks it means something to me. Of course it doesn’t. My real mum, Laura, died when I was seven. If Sarah thinks that playing a mother to me for four years makes her my mum then she can go to – “I haven’t forgotten!” I add as an afterthought and mimic her sickly smile. Her glare returns. She leaves the room, muttering something under her breath. I catch the words “always” and “mood”, and a ‘tut’ or two.
The front door slams signifying Dad’s arrival. “Hello Button” I hear. Brat’s obviously in sight. I skip downstairs in a ‘Little House on the Prairie’ fashion (Sarah watches it on UK Gold, the lazy bitch). He’s looking very smart in his charcoal grey city-style pinstripe suit. I’m greeted with a “Hello Poppet” as he plants a kiss on my right cheek. He asks me how my studies are going and beams as I say they’re all done. Sarah looks at me in a “as little as you can get away with” expression but I don’t care. She can’t tell me what to do.
Sarah reminds Dad that they’re running late and he rushes upstairs to get changed. Poor Dad, the stick she gives him. Nag, nag, nag. I wouldn’t be like her; not that I’m ever going to get married and I’ll certainly never have kids!
≈
With the car scrunching its way out of the drive and brat despatched to bed, I settle on the sofa with some smuggled-in cider, Galaxy Fruit & Nut and ‘Final Destination 4’ on DVD.
I get to a quiet bit of the film, about half way through, press the pause button on the remote and go to check on the kid, as I’d promised Dad. Brat’s sleeping soundly. “Makes a change”, I think to myself. Glancing in the bathroom mirror on the way back downstairs, I make a mental note to get pink streaks in my hair like Penny at school – Sarah would hate that. Dad’s a pushover. He lets me do whatever I want – says I’m a teenager and I’m going through a ‘phase’. Phases are a great excuse to get away with murder!
I leap down the stairs, missing the last couple of steps and settle back on the sofa, finishing off the cider. The film’s nearly finished when the doorbell rings. I swear, stuff the empty cider bottle under a cushion and press the pause button. With the chain on as instructed, I open the front door and see my dad’s brother, Mike, standing in front of me. “Hiya!” I beam but he looks awful. I see the tears streaming down his face and know something’s really wrong.
“What’s happened?” I ask dreading his words. I feel sick and shiver. He just says “I’m sorry Janie, so sorry, I’ve got some bad news”. He asks to come in. I say nothing but take the chain off and move back so he can get past.
He asks me to sit down but I can’t. I stand fixed as if super-glued to the spot. Mike tries to blink his tears away without much success. He puts his arms around me, easing me on to the sofa. He clears his throat and begins to explain that my dad was driving to the restaurant when a lorry pulled out of a side road and the car hit it head on. “I’m so sorry Janie,” Mike says again “they didn’t stand a chance.” After a pause, he asks me if he can get me a drink, I shake my head. I say I want to see my Dad but he drops his head. He clasps my hands and continues. “Aunt Izzy’s getting the spare room ready for you to stay with us. You wait here, I’ll switch everything off, fetch you some clothes and get your brother.”
In a haze, I trudge upstairs while Mike switches the TV off followed by lights in the lounge and kitchen. I head for the box room. Leaning over the small bed and stroking a slip of Tyler’s hair from his forehead, I whisper “sorry little one, but you’re stuck with me now. Don’t worry. I’ll look after you.” Tears start rolling down my face as I sing “Hush, little baby. Don’t say a word. Mama’s going to buy you a mocking bird.” and I suddenly realise that I’m not only crying for Dad but also for Sarah – my second mum.
***
Photography courtesy of morguefile.com. 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, 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.
Tags: 5pm fiction, first person, literature, mockingbird song, monologue, short stories, sibling, story a day, Story A Day May, writing
Welcome to the four hundred and nineteenth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today’s is with humorous romance author Barbara Schnell. 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, Barbara. Please tell us something about yourself, where you’re based, and how you came to be a writer.
Barbara: I’m married and living in Los Angeles. I’ve worked as an actress (still a member of SAG) and started writing to keep myself occupied as I waited by the phone. I found that I prefer writing to acting—and as a middle-aged woman that’s a fortunate discovery to make—so I’m focusing on that.
Morgen: I’ve never acted (unless you count two lines in a school play and a dress rehearsal stand-in in May this year) but do imagine there’s a lot of hanging around so an ideal scenario for writing. What genre do you generally write and have you considered other genres?
Barbara: I consider my novel to be literary mainstream but it’s also romantic and humorous. I’ve decided to push the romance because I read that 70% of book buyers are women and women like romance (I know I do). But it’s more of a serio-comedy, slice-of-life novel. The fact that it’s hard to pigeon-hole makes it difficult to market but let’s face it; in life as in literature, one size does not fit all. It’s my niche and I’m happy with it. I thought of trying science fiction but it’s not a good fit. My raucous sense of humor doesn’t lend itself to alien invasions.
Morgen: I don’t read sci-fi so I tend not to write it although one of my Story a Day May 2011 pieces was sci-fi and one reader said it was their favourite story, and another said the same about my one and only western so maybe I should broaden my scope. What have you had published to-date?
Barbara: I’ve had one short story, Grandma’s Straw Hat, published in an anthology. And I’ve just put my first novel, First Year, in eBook format (available on Kindle, Nook, iTunes). First Year is also available in soft-cover hard-copy.
Morgen: I love the title of your story, it sounds really sweet. Have you had any rejections? If so, how do you deal with them?
Barbara: Oh Lord, have I had rejections. With a first novel that’s pretty much to be expected. But I worked as an actress so rejection was a way of life. It’s not meant personally (usually a rubber stamp saying “Sorry. Not for me”) so I don’t take it that way. Just chalk it up to experience and move on.
Morgen: Exactly – right thing for the wrong person. Have you won or been shortlisted in any competitions?
Barbara: I’ve won 6 “Will Write for Food” flash fiction competitions sponsored by the Southern California Writers’ Association and had my stories published in the SCWA collection.
Morgen: Well done. Do you have an agent? Do you think they’re vital to an author’s success?
Barbara: I had an agent. She was supposed to be the biggest West Coast agent and people were surprised when she took me because she didn’t accept first-time novelists. She told me she’d never heard her top reader talk about a book like he talked about mine. He was “over the moon!” So she shipped my novel off to the big five publishers in New York. Then she told me Creative Artists wanted to represent the movie rights. There was much excitement. Well, it’s a first novel, nobody had ever heard of me, so all the New York people ‘passed’. Then the agent fired most of her staff (including my White Knights), told me she’d never really been behind my project, and dumped me. Now I’m gun-shy about agents. I self-published (because I had to), got myself some great reviews, and have been selling First Year myself with some success. The advantage of not having an agent is you don’t have to pay someone 15% of your earnings. Plus you keep the rights. The disadvantage is being unable to submit to a publisher (agents still serve as gatekeepers). And if you don’t have an established publisher it’s hard to get reviews from respectable sources. It can be done but it’s hard. The internet and birth of eBooks have turned publishing on its head which is interesting. I just attended a seminar where the lunch speaker was an agent. He said that agents were a dying breed but he wasn’t surprised; agents and publishers had been abusing writers for years. He felt that writers should be nurtured not insulted and ripped off. Another agent attending the meeting wasn’t too happy to hear that. He got all red in the face and raised his hand to argue but was ignored.
Morgen: I love that. As eBooking isn’t as scary as it seems, so many authors (including myself) are going that way. So your book’s available as an eBook… do you read eBooks or is it paper all the way?
Barbara: It is and I loved being involved in the process from start to finish—great if you’re a control freak. I do read eBooks. I find them convenient. But I love hard copy too–especially with a glass of wine in a comfy chair.
Morgen: I agree with you on the control thing. Apart from first readers / my editor, I have full say, and of course I do overrule them on some thing if their suggestions will change the work too much. How much of the marketing do you do for your published works or indeed for yourself as a ‘brand’?
Barbara: I do everything. Maybe not well but I’m learning.
Morgen: I think every writer, regardless of their support team, has to. Most hate it (OK, hate’s perhaps a strong word) but see it as a necessary evil. The worst thing is that it takes so much time away from the writing, and we’re writers after all. Do you have a favourite of your characters, who would you have playing him / her as the leading actor/s?
Barbara: I like my lead character, Stevie. I can see Jessica Alba playing her.
Morgen: Please tell us a little about the cover of your book.
Barbara: I have a friend, a political cartoonist in Phoenix, draw the cover based on my suggestions. He picked more vivid colours than I would have but I think his choice of colour is more impressive.
Morgen: What are you working on at the moment / next?
Barbara: I’m working on a two-part novel tentatively titled I was a June Bride. It’s the story of a young woman’s search for independence from her mother while she plans a wedding that she isn’t sure she wants to go through with, can’t afford, attended by feuding relatives…you know, reality. The sequel is a continuation.
Morgen: Happens all the time, I’m sure. Do you manage to write every day? Do you ever suffer from writer’s block?
Barbara: I’ve been on hiatus dealing with life issues but intend to get serious soon—like tomorrow. I’ve done the chapter breakdowns so it’s just a matter of fleshing things out. I find I have to write daily to be productive. It’s like exercise; you have to do it regularly to get any benefit.
Morgen: Absolutely, a pianist would, athletes do. I write a short story (mostly flash fiction) for my 5PM Fiction slot and it’s easy to find the time when I have to (usually scribbling on my morning dog walk). Do you plot your stories or do you just get an idea and run with it?
Barbara: I start out with a beginning and an end. Then I break it down into three acts (theatre training), then break it down more into chapters. I do character back-stories then start writing. Things usually take on a life of their own and I have to throw a lot out the window but at least I have a framework to start with.
Morgen: I found that with my first novel (a lad lit – still to be honed and eBooked) that regardless of what I plotted, it would go off at a tangent… usually for the better. You mentioned Stevie earlier, do you have a method for creating your characters, their names and what do you think makes them believable?
Barbara: I look in phone books of the areas the characters are from to get names. And my characters are all amalgams of people I know.
Morgen: It sounds like you’re very thorough, although you did say that you throw a lot away (which is a shame), do you do a lot of editing or do you find that as time goes on your writing is more fully-formed?
Barbara: I had 1,000 pages of First Year that I edited down to around 450. The manuscript looked bloody by the time I got done with it. Now I self-edit as I go along. Saves a lot of time.
Morgen: Ouch. Do you have to do much research?
Barbara: My books are contemporary romantic comedies so I use places I’ve lived for settings. I just have to get dates correct.
Morgen: What point of view do you find most to your liking: first person or third person?
Barbara: I like writing in first person—my first three books will be first person. The book after that will be third person. I’m told it’s easier. We’ll see.
Morgen: Without wishing to state the obvious, you’re not limited to one person’s point of view. In first person your protagonist can only recount what he or she thinks someone else is doing, not what they’re thinking. Some novels are first / third alternate chapters so that could be an option. Do you have pieces of work that you think will never see light of day?
Barbara: A science fiction story. Just can’t seem to get it to work. Maybe after this book I’ll look at it again.
Morgen: The more practice you do the more (in theory) you’ll see holes in that story. I have LOADS (100+) of stories I’ve not done anything with so I hope that when I go back to them I can do something with them all. What’s your favourite / least favourite aspect of your writing life? Has anything surprised you?
Barbara: The discipline is my least favourite part of writing. You have to put pants to chair and plug along. Sometimes my mind takes flight and it’s pure joy but until the first draft is done it’s pretty much slogging for me. I’m surprised sometimes at the finished product. I think, “Damn, that’s good. Did I really do that?” I guess that’s what we call the muse inspiring us.
Morgen: I love that. What advice would you give aspiring writers?
Barbara: There are a lot of negative people out there. Ignore them. They’ll sneer and tell you that you need an agent and that you have to have an established publisher. What they don’t say is that while agents and publishers make life easier, you have to have a proven sales record before they’ll take you on—very much of a Catch-22. Writers are like actors; you have to be in the union before you can be cast and you have to be cast to get in the union. Just keep plugging away. Have lots of product so when someone finds you, you’ll have lots to sell. Until then pursue writing as a hobby. You won’t drive yourself to drink that way.
Morgen: Some authors are being ‘found’ online so it’s definitely changing… hopefully for the better for us authors. 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)?
Barbara: Jane Austen, Mark Twain, and Patrick Rothfuss. We’d have three centuries to discuss. I hope they like lasagne.
Morgen: I’d say most people would. Is there a word, phrase or quote you like?
Barbara: That which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. But didn’t Nietzsche die in an insane asylum?
Morgen: Almost, according to Wikipedia. Are you involved in anything else writing-related other than actual writing or marketing of your writing?
Barbara: I belong to GLAWS (Greater Los Angeles Writers’ Society).
Morgen: What do you do when you’re not writing?
Barbara: I sing (mezzo), I play flute, I’m learning ballroom dance. I have a 1921 CA bungalow that needs a lot of work so that keeps me busy.
Morgen: I love D.I.Y. but have little time to do any (she says looking out on to her jungle of a garden). Are there any writing-related websites and / or books that you find useful?
Barbara: Check out the GLAWS website (www.glaws.org). Tony did a lot of work on it.
Morgen: Are you on any forums or networking sites? If so, how valuable do you find them?
Barbara: I’m on LinkedIn, twitter, Facebook–just starting to explore them so I don’t know how helpful they are.
Morgen: I love them all for different reasons. LinkedIn helped me tremendously earlier this year when I was running out of interviewees… and still helps (mostly via their Published Authors Network group), I’m now in eight months in hand. What do you think the future holds for a writer?
Barbara: I think we’ll always need writers. The nuts and bolts of book publishing will change but they’ll always need the people who dream up new worlds and write about the human condition. Entire industries depend on the imaginations of storytellers. The movie people made the Potter books memorable but they needed Ms. Rowling to give them a world to interpret artistically.
Morgen: Absolutely. Stories started in caves so I can’t see people losing interest any time soon. Where can we find out about you and your work?
Barbara: Go to my website at www.bagmlit.com. I’ve included two sample chapters as well as reviews and links to online merchants.
Morgen: Is there anything you’d like to ask me?
Barbara: What do you write?
Morgen: I say I write ‘dark and light’ (crime and humour) but it tends to be more of the former, although recently I was asked to write a love story and had fun with that, although I still managed to have a dead body in it. Thank you, Barbara.
I then invited Barbara to include an extract of her writing and following is a “Will Write For Food” winner. Writers were given a picture and asked to write a 250-word story about it. I can’t show the cartoon presented due to copyright issues but imagine a depressed skunk in a bed complete with floral-decorated linens (you can see it here).
Release
It all started with that damn deer, Flower thought mournfully as he surveyed the horticultural wreckage his life had become.
He’d been a lonely little fellow. Nobody would play with him because he tended to expel nasty gases when he got excited. He’d been hiding in a flowerbed, enviously watching the other kids play, when Bambi caught sight of him and mistakenly called him ‘Flower’. So, to make himself acceptable to herbivores he’d adopted the name and buried himself in all things floral to mask his natural scent. He finally had friends. Unfortunately, none of them were skunks.
The friends grew up, as friends do, and gravitated to others of their kind. Except for Flower. Other skunks thought his fixation with plants (for decorating, not eating) was odd. Some whispered that he was gay.
Now Bambi had a mate and Flower had pansy-motif bed linens.
He was an adult skunk, dammit! It was time to accept what he was, find a mate, and get on with life. He released long pent-up flatulence with a sigh of relief. What freedom it was to be able to quit worrying about personal odor! He looked at his bedroom critically. Tomorrow he’d lose the foliage and get striped sheets and a leather daybed. He rubbed his paws together in anticipation. Little skunky odors escaped from under the covers and he inhaled them in appreciation.
But first he’d change his name to Stinky.
***
Barbara Schnell has dedicated her life to full-time employment avoidance. She’s been an actress, renovated a 1921 California Bungalow, set a cash-winning record on $25,000 Pyramid, and came in last on Jeopardy. Barbara lives in Los Angeles with her patient husband and two cats.
***
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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Tags: author, Barbara Schnell, fiction, humor, humorous romance, humour, interview, literary, literature, novels, romance, short stories, writing
Welcome to the four hundred and eighteenth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today’s is with literary author and poet Stuart Ayris. 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, Stuart. Can you tell us something about your writing…
Stuart: I would say I write ‘Literary Fiction’ have published two novels, both under my real name – ‘Tollesbury Time Forever’ and ‘A Cleansing of Souls’.
Morgen: Great titles. Have you had any rejections? If so, how do you deal with them?
Stuart: I had plenty of rejections. I handled them rather pragmatically which is why I ended up opting to self-publish on Kindle. Had I not made that decision however I can imagine that my pragmatism may well have turned to despondency fairly quickly!
Morgen: Oh dear. That’s the great thing about being able to go it alone and it’s not that hard (once you know how, of course). Have you had any success in writing competitions?
Stuart: I have never entered any writing competitions but it’s definitely something I will keep in mind.
Morgen: I haven’t entered anything for a few months but like the themed ones as invariably it gets me writing something new. Do you have an agent? Do you think they’re vital to an author’s success?
Stuart: I don’t have an agent. If I was to opt for the ‘traditional’ publishing route I can see how it may be of benefit to have an agent. Equally, having taken the route I have, it’s wonderful being in control of all aspects of the process – the writing, the editing, the pricing, the promotion – I think I would struggle to delegate any of that to anyone else now!
Morgen: I have to say I love being able to make all the decisions (with guidance from my editor and first readers). How involved were you in the actual eBook process? Do you read eBooks or is it paper all the way?
Stuart: The only part of the process in which I was not directly involved was the front covers. My wife, Rebecca, painted the covers and Liam Sweeny designed the lettering for A Cleansing of Souls. I have only recently had a Kindle and I can already see the benefits. I have a huge collection of paperback / hardback books which will, in my house at least, never be replaced.
Morgen: Me too. My bookcases would look odd with just a Kindle sitting on them. How much of the marketing do you do for your published works or indeed for yourself as a ‘brand’?
Stuart: I do all the marketing. It has been a steep learning curve but I have found my confidence has increased just by having to promote my work. It has, and continues to be, a wonderful learning experience. I have also had the great pleasure of conversing and interacting with some lovely people.
Morgen: Isn’t that great. I’ve made so many friends, all over the world, even just in the last year. I’ve met some of them too which has been a real thrill. I’m just back from Jane Wenham-Jones’ launch party for her latest novel ‘Prime Time’ which was fantastic. I say I’d go to the opening of a rejection envelope and it’s not far off. 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?
Stuart: Simon Anthony, the main character in Tollesbury Time Forever, is my favourite character at present. I think Timothy Spall would do a wonderful job of portraying him!
Morgen: He’s great, and his son Rafe is a fantastic actor too. Regarding the title / covers of your books, how important do you think they are?
Stuart: I think covers for eBooks are perhaps not as vital as for traditionally published works but it definitely pays to have a professional-looking, intriguing cover regardless of the medium.
Morgen: I agree. Whilst I’ve not been put off buying a book because of the cover, a bad one doesn’t inspire me to find out more about the book… catchy titles do. What are you working on at the moment / next?
Stuart: I am 24,000 words into my third novel. It’s called The Bird That Nobody Sees and I aim to have it completed by the end of the summer.
Morgen: Another great title. Do you manage to write every day? Do you ever suffer from writer’s block?
Stuart: I do try to write every day, even if it’s just a couple of paragraphs. I wouldn’t say I suffer from writer’s block, no. There are times though when I spend a long time thinking about the story, whether I’m cooking dinner or lying awake in bed. I’m a great believer that all stories are written – it’s just a case of remembering them, letting them come fully formed into your consciousness. I have become very sensitive to knowing if I am ‘forcing’ my writing. If I find that happening, I just stop and go back to thinking again. It seems to work for me anyway!
Morgen: I usually do something else (another story or something completely different) then find it easier to come back to it. Do you plot your stories or do you just get an idea and run with it?
Stuart: I start with an idea and then get an image of the final scene. I then write the beginning (or what I think is the beginning!) and then write various scenes that form in my mind, scenes that will invariably be in a different order when the final edit is done. I see it as being a little like films are made – scenes being filmed out of sequence and then spliced together to form a coherent story.
Morgen: Do you have a method for creating your characters, their names and what do you think makes them believable?
Stuart: Most of my characters are based, physically, on people I know or have seen. The names seem to just fit the characters. I do like to use anagrams of people I know too – an anagram of my wife’s name (Rebecca) is the name of one of the characters in Tollesbury Time Forever.
Morgen: I’ve just booked in my 666th interviewee; a horror writer called Violet LeVoit whose first name is an anagram of her surname (or vice versa), how cool is that? Do you write any non-fiction, poetry or short stories?
Stuart: I have written some poems in the past and have written a short story called ‘A Day in the Death of Stafford Plank’ which I think may be published in time as part of a collection.
Morgen: I write more short stories than anything else and have literally written hundreds. I think that eBooks are the way to go with them. They’re great for reading electronically, especially on a small screen like a mobile phone, although I’m working on getting my novels online at the moment… really it’s still what most people read. Do you do a lot of editing or do you find that as time goes on your writing is more fully-formed?
Stuart: I find that the main editing is done in terms of pace – moving scenes around etc. The editing in terms of spelling / grammar is performed by a lovely person I have come to know via Goodreads called Kath Middleton.
Morgen: Do you have to do much research?
Stuart: I only do as much research as I have to. With my novels being part Literary Fiction and part Magical Realism, I can get away with making quite a lot up!
Morgen: The fun stuff. What point of view do you find most to your liking: first person or third person? Have you ever tried second person?
Stuart: Tollesbury Time Forever is written in the first person, A Cleansing of Souls the second person and The Bird That Nobody Sees is a combination of first and third person. There are also elements of second person narrative in each of the novels. I guess that means I haven’t quite settled on a favourite style yet!
Morgen: Bravo on writing ‘A Cleansing of Souls’ in second. There aren’t many novels in that viewpoint – Jay McInerney’s ‘Bright Lights Big City’ is probably the most well-known. Do you have pieces of work that you think will never see light of day?
Stuart: Not really. I’m quite determined!
Morgen: Glad to hear it. Most of my short stories are dormant on my computer or still in files to be typed up but I hope they’ll all see the light eventually. What’s your favourite / least favourite aspect of your writing life? Has anything surprised you?
Stuart: My favourite part is when I wake up the following morning, read what I’ve written and realise it has merit! The least favourite part, I have to say, is the promotion side. It doesn’t come naturally but I’m getting used to it. In terms of surprises, the positive response to both novels has been a wonderful surprise!
Morgen: I love having reader feedback, even the bad ones (for me on Goodreads) and most interviewees have said the same about marketing – it takes out so much time from when we’d rather be writing. What advice would you give aspiring writers?
Stuart: Don’t force things, don’t let anyone bring you down and be nice to everybody you meet!
Morgen: As Jimmy Durante said “Be nice to people on your way up because you meet them on your way down”. 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)?
Stuart: Thomas Paine, William Blake and Jack Kerouac. I think it would have to be something very rustic and simple.
Morgen: Is there a word, phrase or quote you like?
Stuart: “In this world you can be oh so smart or oh so pleasant. For years I was smart; I recommend pleasant.” (From the film Harvey with James Stewart as Elwood P Dowd)
Morgen: Brilliant film. Are you involved in anything else writing-related other than actual writing or marketing of your writing?
Stuart: No. Just my books.
Morgen: Plenty to keep you occupied, by the sound of it. What do you do when you’re not writing?
Stuart: I love playing my guitar, watching cricket, and of course reading. I do very much like alcohol and have learned over the years to drink just sufficient to enable me to write well when I’m writing and to not offend anyone when I’m not writing. Some may disagree though…
Morgen: Are there any writing-related websites and/or books that you find useful?
Stuart: I find Goodreads and the UK Kindle User Forum excellent in terms of engaging with readers about both my work and other books I’ve read. I have never really got into the writing sites with regard to writing per se although, if any, I would recommend www.writewords.org.uk.
Morgen: I haven’t been on the Kindle forums yet but have heard great things. I will for sure when I put my novels up. Are you on any networking sites? If so, how valuable do you find them?
Stuart: I am on Facebook and Twitter. I find them very helpful in learning about the writing world, meeting like-minded folk and getting the word out about my books.
Morgen: What do you think the future holds for a writer?
Stuart: For me, I just want to keep writing and publishing my books. I think the eBook world will settle down over the next year or so with Amazon perhaps exercising tighter quality control and less flexibility over pricing.
Morgen: I’d like them to let me put my eShorts up there for free. I can’t expect anyone to pay $0.99 (their minimum) for a 600-word story (although some have). Smashwords is better in that respect (and for submitting on my behalf to Sony, B&N etc). Where can we find out about you and your work?
Stuart: I have a blog at www.tollesburytimeforever.blogspot.com, can be found on Facebook under Stuart Ayris and on Twitter.
Morgen: Is there anything else you’d like to mention?
Stuart: Just to thank you for asking such interesting questions!
Morgen: You’re very welcome, thank you for answering them.
I then invited Stuart to include an extract of his writing and this is from The Bird That Nobody Sees:
Eryn Rose was never born and she will never die. She is an angel, an idea, a thought, a spasm, a lightening, a moment. She bursts and she sparkles and she retires and she wavers. There are various names for clouds and for water-flows. Rock formations can be referred to in many ways. But an angel is an angel only. The sands shift. Volcanoes rumble. Even the seas sigh. Eryn Rose is the mellow in the honey, the cool in the deep hot blue, the breaking of the wave and the shimmering soft of high, high comfort. She is the sparkle and the glint, the hint of a hint of a hint. She is rapture and she is fantastical. Where others wander, she soars and where you dream she inspires and cracks and breaks into a million different suns that will just shower and float into the ether of all your wondabulous thinkings. And can she fly? Of course she can. She is an angel. But even angels ache.
Stuart Ayris was born in the Summer of 1969 in Dagenham, just on the border of East London. School was largely unproductive educationally and he went on to work in various fields (not literally!) including putting up stalls at Romford Market, working in a record shop, putting up ceilings, gardening and road sweeping. After resigning from an insurance company to play in a band, he found himself unemployed for two years. Then finally he got back on his feet and has been a psychiatric nurse since 1997. He began writing A Cleansing of Souls in 1991 when he was 22 years old and he wrote Tollesbury Time Forever between 2008 and 2011 publishing both as eBooks in the early part of 2012. In terms of writing, his heroes are Jack Kerouac and John Steinbeck, Kris Kristofferson, Bob Dylan and Tom Waits. He has three wonderful sons and lives with his wife, Rebecca, in Tollesbury, Essex.
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The thirtieth prompt from online writing group Tuesday Tales (my twenty-fourth story for them) was ‘money’ and below is the result.
Tuesday Tales provides a new prompt each week, the members write a story inspired by it and post it on our blogs / websites. Then we email the link and first two or three sentences to Jean Joachim. She then posts them on the Tuesday Tales blog (on a Tuesday ), gives us the link then we go out and shout about it. So, without further ado, here is my 387-worder which brings back Thelma and Eddie from Eddie’s fault and is written in second-person point of view.
Root of all evil
Thelma was your root of all evil, not money, although being poor most of the time didn’t help.
She’d wanted a new car and blamed you for not being able to afford one.
You’d wanted a dog but she’d only allowed you a cat, which you adore, but which she now hates even more, given that it was Tommy that made her swerve and hit her mother – you’re the easier one to blame.
It doesn’t take much for her to remind you that you had a good job – as if you’d ever forget – Manager then Director then lost the lot. She blamed you for not knowing what your Finance equivalent was doing when you were just selling the things.
You soon learned that no-one wants a 50-something salesman, however good you used to be. Thelma never appreciated that either.
You’d hidden it, like many do, same routine, only off to the library instead of PFT Engineering. When they came to collect your car just as you were going off to ‘work’ you could hide it no longer. After the initial eruption of Mount Thelma, she lay dormant, simmering like a slow cooker. Then she checked the savings account only to find less noughts than she’d expected. Lava flowed that day.
So you kept out of her way, doing up the garden, digging a hole for a lovely big pond.
Your trips to the library hadn’t been wasted though, the hours you’d spent researching methods.
She’d threatened you once too often and you’d finally flipped, although part of you had meant it. It had been quick, silent and she’d slumped to the floor, your petite wife losing her power in an instant.
With the neighbours of the only house to overlook your garden away in the Algarve you knew you could take your time burying her body, in the whole dug deeper than any pond, the lining material set in place just to be sure.
And now you have the house to yourself. When your neighbours return you’ll have filled the pond, be admiring your new fish when they pop in to thank Thelma for watering their plants. You’ll turn on the waterworks, tell them she’s left you and say you looked after the plants, then offer to look after their dog the next time they go away.
The links to the earlier prompts, and resulting stories, and the forthcoming prompts can be found on this blog’s Tuesday Tales page. Do go and check out the Tuesday Tales blog – it’s a wonderful idea supported by talented writers.
So, not only can you read these stories but you could also write your own using the prompts given each week. There’s no word count limit. Single-word prompts are something I regularly give my Monday night workshop and it’s amazing how different our stories can be.
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, 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.
Tags: flash fiction, hints, jean joachim, literature, prompts, short stories, tips, Tuesday Tales, writing
Tony: I live in Newcastle upon Tyne. I was born in Northumberland – the Debateable Lands, as they were known in the past – England’s last wilderness. I started writing as a child – I was always making up stories in the car on the way to school. When I was at secondary school I had some of them published in the school magazine.
