Audio April

I haven’t been reading as much as I wanted to, so I decided at the start of April to change this and made sure I set aside more time to read. I do find when I’m writing a lot I read less, so I need to find a balance between the two. There’s nothing that can help your writing more than reading other great books.

Discovering audio books has been great for me, and added lots of extra hours to the week for books. So between audio, real copies and kindle I managed to read loads, here’s some mini reviews of some of my favourites (an eclectic mix!)…

The Walking Dead: Days Gone Bye Volume 1 by Robert Kirkman and Tom Moore

I’m a huge fan of the TV programme, and have dipped into the comic books over the years online, but this is the first time I’ve actually read an actual printed version. I brought them for my teenage son who is dyslexic and struggles with reading, in the hope that it might capture his imagination. Whilst the TV series followed the comic book quite well, it’s interesting to see the changes that have been made from page to screen, and which characters are different. I must say I prefer the on screen Carol to the book! Well worth a read if you’re a fan of the show.

Wigglesbottom Primary – The Shark in the Pool by Pamela Butchart and illustrated by Becka Moor

A fun little book following the overactive imaginations of the children of Wigglesbottom Primary, where it seems just about anything might happen, from a shark in the school pool to dinosaur bones in the playground. Fun storytelling with lovely illustrations, I enjoyed this, and so did my youngest two who are 5 and 9.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Get your tissues at the ready if you’re going to read this. A beautiful love story between two teenage cancer patients. It’s not quite as depressing as it sounds, though there is plenty of sad parts, and I did cry an awful lot. It’s a poignant look at relationships and flawed people with the fragility of life told from the viewpoint of a very strong and determined 17 year old Hazel.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

I must confess I came to this book after discovering that Tim Burton was making a film of it, and I am a huge Tim Burton fan, and generally love anything a bit different and quirky and this doesn’t disappoint. A bit of a slow start giving us the main character’s background but once it gets going it’s brilliantly dark and gently macabre, with enough mystery to keep you wondering what’s coming next and why these things are happening. It’s a strange book with haunting photographs throughout which add to its unusual quality. I found it a refreshing book and relieved that there’s more books in the series and can’t wait to read these too.

The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness

A very different viewpoint to the usual stance in YA of the unusual or ‘different’ teenager discovering they have a special power or some other deus ex machine. It’s a powerful story of what if you weren’t the chosen one? Mikey just wants to go to prom and on to college and have an uneventful life but strange things in the town keep happening. It’s a book full of hope and empathy, but focusing on the everyday struggles of a teenage boy.

Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison

I couldn’t help but re-read this as my daughter is enjoying the Georgia Nicholson series at the moment. It is such a joy to read, such a fun and playful book following the day to day disasters of Georgia and her quest to get a boyfriend whilst trying not to make a complete idiot out of herself. Georgia has the usual problems of a teenager, spots, are her parents getting divorced, will she get to a have a birthday party and most importantly the full frontal snogging! I love this book and I dare say I’ll be re-reading it again at some point.

The Secret by Rhonda Byrne

I don’t really read self-help books, but this was recommended by another writer so I gave it a whirl. I do find that it has helped me a lot, and I have changed the way I think after reading it. I shall endeavour not to dwell on bad things and focus on all the positives and follow my dreams!

Earwig and the Witch by Diana Wynne Jones

Diana Wynne Jones is one of my all-time favourite writers. I have devoured her books since childhood and luckily for me, I still haven’t read them all as there are so many. This is a fun little story of a witch called Earwig and is classic Wynne Jones, quirky, funny, bright and full of magic!

Mog the Forgetful Cat by Judith Kerr

I had to get Mog in here, as Mog is read on a weekly basis in our house. All of my children have loved Mog and I dare say even the older ones still do really as they still listen in when I read the books aloud to my younger children. I know I love Mog!

The Islands of Chaldea by Diana Wynne Jones and Ursula Jones

This was to be Diana’s last book, and at the time of her death it hadn’t been completed, so it was finished by her sister Ursula. The writing is seamless, at no point could I tell that the writer had switched. Again, it is Diana’s classic style at its best, adventure and magic and strong characters on life changing journeys, and the all-important witches! I do love a story with witches in.

Della says: OMG by Keris Stainton

I read this after joining Keris’ online YA course and I’m so glad I did. The characters are wonderful, I loved Della from the word go and wanted her to get the boy and find out who the diary thief was. It’s a lovely, teen book which covers many aspects that teenagers might be experiencing, I especially like the gentle way Keris handled the sex in the book, it wasn’t warts and all but did deal with the awkwardness. I’m looking forward to reading more books by Keris.

The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge

There’s been a lot of hype about this book, particularly as it has won the Costa Book Awards, and really helped gain more coverage for children’s books. I love the style, the writing is beautiful and has an almost poetic quality to its descriptions. I do think the start is quite slow and could probably lose some of it, but it’s well worth sticking at it as the story picks up to a murder mystery and the unusual and quite unique story surrounding the Lie or Mendacity tree. A strange, dark and typical Hardinge quirky book.

Fly by Night by Frances Hardinge

After enjoying the Lie Tree so much I thought it was finally time to get round to reading a book that has been in my to be read pile for years. My husband has already read it at least three times, which speaks volumes for yet another fantastically written book. It’s the first in a series too, so more adventures with Mosca Mye a feisty young girl with her goose who live in The Fractured Realm, which resembles for the most part, eighteenth century England. It’s fast paced, full of witty dialogue and Hardinge’s quirky but lyrical voice.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I’ve not actually seen the film of this book, but it was form seeing adverts of the film that brought me to the book. It seemed such a strange concept I wanted to see how it was actually possible and played out. Strange is definitely the word to describe it, odd, very odd, but interesting. It was a quick read as it was a short book, so I would have liked more character development or background on some of the situations or characters, but otherwise it’s a book I’m very glad to have now read, and might watch the film too!

The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod

As I write this it is just past 6.30am, and thanks to this book I have been getting up at 6am to write each day as part of ‘the miracle morning’. I am only in my first week of it but it’s working so far. It follow the same sort of approach as The Secret which I’d read earlier in the month. Positive thinking and approaching everything in your life expecting it to work out well seems to really help.

The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr

Another bedtime (or any time of day) favourite that my children select to read on a regular basis. It’s a fun story, and I like the fact that it’s dated now but can still be enjoyed. My children never question why on earth a tiger would come to tea, more who or what else might just turn up on the doorstep!

The Brilliant World of Tom Gates by Liz Pichon

This is the first book I’ve read (or listened to I should say) by Liz Pichon and I’m so glad there are many more! Really enjoyed it, and will share this one with my five year old, in fact, I think, 9 and 11 year olds would probably quite like it too. I thought Rupert Grint was a fantastic narrator for the audio version of this book. I enjoyed it so much I had to get a paperback too!

That’s all for April, and a lot more than I’d normally get through in a month. I am going to try and maintain a good balance between my writing and reading from now on, as I think reading such a varied range of books has really helped my own writing to stay fresh.

Paragraph Planet

I have a 75 word story over on Paragraph Planet today, woohoo! It's a great website that publishes a different 75 word story each day. I love flash fiction, it's a great way to really challenge yourself to keep your writing concise and deliver a plot in a very tight amount of words.

www.paragraphplanet.com

Speed dating for Writers

As is the case with most authors, the road to finding an agent can be long and paved with stumbling blocks that get you off track. Then when an agent does offer representation you'll most likely be so ecstatic that someone is interested in your book that you want to say Yes straightaway, but hold it right there!

This is the start of what will hopefully be a long and happy relationship. And just like any other relationship, it takes time, effort and getting to know one another before you can fully commit.

The trouble with this is that agents can be quite elusive creatures, and hard to spot in the wild. We really do need some sort of speed dating type system for authors and agents! Seriously, if someone wants to set this up I'll be more than happy to help :) But there are some ways of getting to meet agents. Some do talks and workshops, then there are festivals and conferences where you can book one to ones and book launches.

I find that Twitter is a very useful tool, especially when workshops and festivals can be quite costly. Twitter provides a great platform to engage with agents and see what they are interested in, and who they represent. You can get a feel from their tweets if you think you might get along. Hashtags such as #AskAgent can be very handy. Social media is invaluable these days for connecting with people, it might even help you discover an agent with a shared love of abseiling or chocolate cake! That might not influence a business deal, but it helps in getting a good 'fit'.

Nothing quite beats meeting an agent in person, but if you are offered representation do try and get to know the agent better first, maybe by phone or in person. Have lots of questions ready to ask them. It's such an important decision, you want to make the best choice possible.

Another thing to bear in mind is if an agent asks for an exclusive. This all might sound good, that agent must be keen if they're asking for an exclusive, surely? Not necessarily. Who actually benefits from an exclusive, you or the agent? The agent. They have your book, no other agent looking at it, and you waiting on their response, which could take months and months, possibly even a year. In some cases they might not even get back to you, though I'm told this is rare.

You're much better off approaching things like a business, which essentially it is. Being able to approach more agents is better for both you and your book. You want the best possible agent to champion you and your book don't you? As long as you're open with agents and let them know you're approaching others, agents generally don't mind, it is a business after all.

Again with relationships, sometimes they don't work out. Authors parting ways with an agent actually happens a lot more often than anyone talks about. So don't feel bad if you feel you aren't the right 'fit' for your agent, discuss it with them and if they agree then you know that gut feeling was right all along. You really do want to be with an agent who feels just as passionately about your work as you do.

So hold fire, it's thrilling when you get that offer of representation, but agents don't expect you to give an answer straight away. You don't want to keep them hanging on either, but most seem happy to have a couple of weeks for you to contact other agents and make your final decision.

Just remember an agent is for life not just for Christmas!

Six Word Story

I love how flash fiction manages to still convey a story with as tight a word count as possible. Especially when it's as short as a six word story. The Shory Story or @ShortStory2000 on Twitter, run several different writing competitions, including a monthly flash fiction competition with up to 500 words per entry but also the weekly six word story.

The idea came from the famous piece by Hemingway: 'For sale: baby shoes, never worn.' It's a free to enter competition so well worth a go. Flex your writing, and indeed, editing muscles!

I have ben having a go most weeks for the past couple of months and was very excited to win a couple of weeks ago. My winning entry was:

'Grandma watches us from the mantelpiece.'

Take a look at the website for more details on how to enter...
http://www.theshortstory.co.uk/competitions/six-word-weekly/

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to everyone! I don't do new year's resolutions, but this year I am determined to get back to updating this blog more often. Between September and Christmas 2015 was one of the busiest times ever for me with lots of exciting things happening.

One of the most exciting was a visit and talk from Skylark to my writing group, Castlecroft Writers. I'll do a separate blog post for this soon as it was such a fantastic and informative evening with the lovely ladies Amber Caravéo and Joanna Moult. You can find details of their agency on their website here: http://www.skylark-literary.com/

Other exciting things happening were winning 99fiction's September 99 Flash Fiction competition. You can read my winning entry here: http://99fiction.net/page/winner-14

One of my proudest achievements in 2015 was winning a co-authored competition with friend and writing partner in crime, Carolyn Ward. The competition organised by Movellas with Hodder and Stoughton, featured Jodi Picoult and her daughter Samantha Van Leer's co-authored book, 'Off the Page', and invited writers to team up and re-tell a fairy tale. We chose to take the Little Mermaid and give it a modern twist in 'La Petite Sirene', which won us first place, signed books from Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer and feedback from Hodder and Stoughton.
Our winning piece and runners up can be found via Movellas blog here: http://www.movellas.com/blog/show/201509222210355212/announcing-the-winners-of-off-the-page

After competition wins, shortlistings and exciting agent visits, 2015 was a good year for writing, fingers crossed for an even better year of writing in 2016!

NAWG Festival of Writing

I started writing this blog piece back in September just after I attended the NAWG (National Association of Writers’ Groups) Festival of Writing at Warwick. September ended up being ridiculously busy, as did October, so here we are in November, better late than never!

This year’s festival on the 4-6^th September in Warwick University was started/opened with an inspirational talk from Oscar winning writer and director Lord Julian Fellowes and his wife Lady Emma. Julian is probably most famous for his film Gosford Park and TV series Downton Abbey. We also had the chance to sit and chat with Lord Julian and his wife over tea and cakes, frightfully british and modern Downton but very casual and friendly. Lord Julian’s main advice was that you need persistence to get published, then we were left with this quote: 

"Writing can be a solitary affair and the opportunity that the association (NAWG) offers, of comparing experiences and views is invaluable. We loved being among fellow writers who are climbing the same mountain."

During the evening there was an after dinner talk (the dinner I should add is fantastic, as are all of the meals throughout the weekend) by children’s author and hypnotherapist Steve Bowkett. Steve told us all about the Adventures as a Visiting Author, showing us in a humorous way the perils and highpoints of going into schools to give talks and workshops.

Throughout the weekend there are many bookable workshops with a wide variety of different authors, this year they included Della Galton, Tim Wilson/Jude Morgan, Paul Dodgson, Marvin Close, Aimee Bell, Julie Bokowiec, Steve Bowkett, Veronica Heley, James Nash, Adam Strickson and Talli Rowland.

Saturday morning for me was spent with author Tim Wilson/Jude Morgan, who writes historical fiction. We looked at ways to generate ideas and keeping the momentum going in your novel. With tricks to keep on track and invaluable advice on how to get past the dreaded blank screen! Which I have already started to put into practise when working on my novel or short stories.

In between workshops the weekend provides you with the wonderful opportunity to not only eat nice food, but socialise and network with other writers at all different stages of the writing journey. Networking provides time to share ideas and experiences with like-minded individuals. Sometimes you can feel very isolated when it’s just you and the notebook or laptop. This is why it’s often a good idea to join writing groups or organisations such as NAWG.

There was a talk by writer of women’s fiction, Talli Rowland on How Do Writers Know What’s Best for Them? Exploring both self-publishing and traditional publishing, as Talli has had great success with both. This was really eye opening and interesting for me as I have no idea where it comes to self-publishing, so a very useful talk.

Saturday afternoon was spent with short story powerhouse, Della Galton. Della is a fantastic tutor and very encouraging, she also does writing workshops for Woman’s Weekly. She went into great depth on how to write and sell short stories. Everybody attending the workshop created a usable opening to a short story, I’ve since progressed and turned mine into a full first draft. Need to come back to that one!

One of the highlights of the festival is the Awards ceremony and Gala Dinner on the Saturday night. There is the option of attending just for this part, but I prefer to have the whole weekend for the full experience.

Writers get to don their posh attire and eat food prepared by top chefs, drink and be merry whilst being entertained by the hilarious escapades of writer Lynne Hackles. This was followed up by the results of the members’ only NAWG competition.

The evening always ends on a high with the after dinner sparkles, with performances by writers attending the festival. Poetry, plays and works of fiction were performed.

I was back with Tim Wilson/Jude Morgan on Sunday morning, this time looking at research. An extremely useful and informative session.

The last workshop of the weekend was with writer, composer, radio producer and teacher, Paul Dodgson. Focusing on Writing from Life – Truth and Fiction, and exploring the lines between fact and fiction within memoir writing, and just how good our memories actually are.

There are so many fantastic workshops there is just too many to choose from and it’s very hard each year to pick a handful of the bookable ones. Over all, the festival was another wonderful weekend of writing and being with other writers, which I shall be encouraging others to book up for next year. I’ve already booked up for NAWG Festival of Writing 2016, hope to see you there!

www.nawg.co.uk