What’s the point in short stories?
Sometimes an author contacts me and my heart sinks. I promise this is rare. The heart-sink moment is prompted by the author telling me that they write in poetry or they write short stories, and that they have great plans to become traditionally published.
The trouble is, unless you’re writing in the nineteenth century, or are very very well-known for your poetry or short stories, a publisher is not going to publish you writing short stories or poetry. The financial calculations don’t add up.
So if you’re a poet or your genre is short stories – what now? There is one very useful element to writing short stories that may help you to get published. The short story competition.
continue reading »May 16, 2013 Leave a comment
My day at the LBF 2013
In another life I used to be a Rights Manager. Book Fairs consisted of 3-5 days (depending on where they were) of back-to-back meetings every 15 mins, explaining the concepts of colour therapy and alien abduction to bemused Ukrainian publishers.
Now I go with one of my clients, Louise Jordan at the Writers’ Advice Centre and we meet authors to discuss their ideas for children’s books. Not only are the meetings more spread out, they’re a lot more interesting (and Louise provides sandwiches and wine – which also makes the day run very smoothly!).
I did a post before I went for the Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook on whether authors should attend, so I approached the day with that question in mind. What would you get out of it as an author?
continue reading »April 17, 2013 Leave a comment
Sex South of the river
I was delighted to be asked to speak at the excellent Eroticon 2013, run by the very talented Ruby Kiddell of WriteSexRight.
But it was south of the river. I’m a committed north-londoner (in exile admittedly). I got off the bus at the wrong stop. I argued with google maps. I managed to somehow ‘not see’ a huge brightly coloured building that was clearly labelled with the name I was looking for. I got lost IN the building. Twice.
Can you tell I wasn’t on top form? It didn’t matter. I could just lie back and think of Erotica as the day swept me along regardless. I could write a full report on everything I saw and heard on the day, but it’s been expertly done by the other delegates, so I’ll concentrate on the writing and publishing elements.
continue reading »March 7, 2013 Leave a comment
Ways not to attend a talk about a crazed stalker
Do not turn up late so that you have to walk past everyone huffing and puffing from three flights of stairs (got lost in the middle of London Fashion Week which was setting up next door).
Do not wear sandals with socks (best crazy woman feet attire) just because you have some issues with painful little toes. It’s not a good look, particularly when one of the speakers (Susie Orbach) has a great line in fabulous footwear.
Do not wear every mismatched item of clothing you own (washing Armageddon at home).
continue reading »February 25, 2013 Leave a comment
Why I don’t feel bad about getting rid of books
I’m having a purge. This is part of my great decluttering project, which began just over two years ago (with professional help) when we moved back into a renovated house. It is a lovely house now, but for some reason we’d got rid of any rooms in which we could just dump stuff, and we’d forgotten to think properly about bookshelves.
For the last two years my books have been piled. Everywhere. Precious first editions nuzzled up next to disposable airport thrillers. ‘Sort out the books’ has been lurking on a variety of lists.
continue reading »January 7, 2013 Leave a comment
Quirky Christmas Books (or everything you won’t find in an Amazon sale)
I’m not going to lie. The reason Amazon has a smile on the box currently has a lot to do with my last week’s shopping habits (mostly not books though). I’m thinking of making my next invoice out just to them, cutting out the middle man – although then of course, neither of us would be paying tax..
But there is another way. My favourite bookshop of all time is Topping Booksellers in Ely. This photo was taken there last week from their top floor, while I was enjoying a cup of coffee and the view and pretending work deadlines were not relevant to me.
So what do you get from an actual bookshop rather than a cost-cutting giant? You don’t get Black Friday. You do get free black coffee. The smiles come from the staff, not the box, and above all you get a terrific selection of lesser-known titles and quirky ideas for Christmas presents. They are well known for the signed first editions – most of which are available at the same price as the unsigned versions.
The following books are presented in no particular order and I have not been given any money or books in kind to promote them (if you discount the coffee at Toppings – but all their customers can get that!).
continue reading »November 26, 2012 Leave a comment
Sifting NaNoWriMo for Gold
Are you signed up to NaNoWriMo this month? If you’re not, you’re about 12 days too late (get writing..). As you’ll see from the link, the idea is get 50,000 words written in 30 days. The benefit of this sort of crash writing is that you can’t edit as you go along.
I’m a huge fan of editing (not just because it keeps me in coffee and gin) but there is a time and a place for it – and that moment of white-hot inspiration when you’re in flow is not the time to be wondering about whether your sentence structure is perfect.
A couple of things I’d like to say to you NaNoWriMo-ers:
continue reading »November 12, 2012 Leave a comment
Places to write – a thank you
I’ve always preferred writing out of the house. This is probably because I’m a terrible housewife and hate mess only slightly less than I hate doing anything about it. Consequently I sit around, wallowing and fuming, being generally distracted. And I have to make my own coffee.
Today I’d like to thank three places I regularly go to to write that suit me perfectly – and may suit you too if you’re in the area. No money or goods have changed hands for these reviews, and they are my own unvarnished opinions. (I will gracefully accept coffees in recompense though…).
continue reading »October 1, 2012 Leave a comment
Have you read it yet?
JK Rowling has been prepared for the worst. In a rare interview with the Guardian she imagines readers of her first adult novel telling her ‘that’s shockingly bad- back to wizards for you’ – but she is fairly sanguine. Being a multi-millionaire with a well-loved character softens a lot of blows I should imagine.
I was as curious as anyone, and rather disappointed to read that the rumours that she’d written a crime novel weren’t true. Before we left on the school run, the door bell went and my fat copy (cheaper in print than as an e-book) was delivered, to tease me all day as I got on with all the other bits of the day that I couldn’t postpone.
I finally got to sit down with it at 9pm. By 11.30pm I’d finished, and being asked on Facebook chat whether I would recommend it. Would I?
continue reading »September 27, 2012 Leave a comment
Creative Writing Workshop
I hold an occasional writing workshop in Cambridgeshire (where I live) which is aimed at everyone, no previous experience or current body of work needed.
We work through various exercises which focus on different areas – such as description, characters, or plot development – and everyone reads out their efforts.
This month we were writing about feet, then trying our hands at haikus (which none of us had written before – at least in English – one of the attendees had written them in Japanese), then looking at using a colour to convey an emotion.
continue reading »September 6, 2012 Leave a comment