September roundup

Rue is two now, and more settled.
He will allow me to write until about 11am before he says it's my turn now!

 So, here we are at the end of September. Where has the summer gone? The only thing about the months towards the end of the year is that I get writing more. With the rain we have been having, there is no excuse not to go back to those projects that have been left while I've been doing other things.

Several things have happened to make me re-think my writing life. The death of my cousin and the fact that I will be seventy next year have really brought a new focus to my work. If I don't get on with things soon, it might be too late. This has coincided with an 'up' mood and the desire to pull things together.

I currently have four projects on the go. That sounds a lot, but they are all at different stages and most have been lingering while I put off doing anything with them, due to my own lack of confidence. That negative voice always outweighs the positive one. Why is that? One can get lots of wonderful feedback, but that one piece of negativity still eats away inside ones head.

So what am I doing? Well, most of you will know that my Christmas novella is out on submission. Still no takers, but I will review this again next year and find a new direction to take it. I have sent the first 3,000 of my YA novella to Mslexia's competition, and just in case I get asked for the full manuscript, I am currently editing the rest of the manuscript. If it doesn't get asked for, it will not be wasted. My collection of flash fiction (some published and some new stories) is away being proofread, and in November I will be working with an editor on another novella. The last project was a spur of the moment decision and I am excited and terrified at the same time.

Talking about editors, I read this very interesting article on Substack, which really made me think. Do have a read. And speaking of Substack, I took a Zoom workshop recently to learn all about it and whether it would be worth my while using it. I found the workshop really interesting and took copious notes, but there was a download later, so I was able to keep the Powerpoint presentation. There was also a good article in Mslexia about Substack which I have kept. I interact with a couple of writers on there already, so have an account. Perhaps this would work for me, but I need time to learn all about it and how to approach it. Watch this space. Do comment if you use Substack or are considering it.

And while on the subject of the business side of writing, I have signed up for a couple more Zoom workshops in October. These Zoom classes are run by Jane Friedman, or through her website. I learned about formatting Word for Amazon KDP through her website. The classes are very professional and some you have to pay for. All I would say is they are worth it. I don't part with my money easily!

On the submission front, I have had a few rejections, and there is not much out there on submission now, but I did manage to submit two flash/short stories this month.

That's it for now. See you next month. Do leave a comment or question on anything I've spoken about here. It's lovely to hear from people.

Books - what I read, what attracts me to a book and a whole lot else.

Part of the reading material in my writing room.

Physical books or e-reader? No contest. It has to be a real book. Just the smell, the feel of it in my hands, the art of browsing bookshelves, the cover. Everything about a real book is sensual. I carry a book with me when I'm on a train and always when travelling. There is a book in my rucksack sometimes when walking and always when I'm on holiday. I sometimes have to pick the right size if space is limited, but without a book, I am totally lost.

 What do I read? If you look at the side panel of this blog, you will see what I am currently reading and what I have read lately. I have a small TBR pile and try not to let it get out of hand. During Covid I finally read through most of my then large TBR pile, and I promised myself I'd never let it get that bad again. I tended to leave non-fiction to one side (even though I'd had to buy that book at the time) because I always crave novels, but these days I am reading more non-fiction.

Genres? Probably best to list what I don't read than what I do. So the no list is fantasy, romance and gory horror. If I had to pick a favourite genre, then maybe crime/psychological thrillers would just about edge it. I like things with bite! But I also like comedy, gothic, lit fiction, dystopian and the odd sci-fi and stories that include interests of mine. I also read poetry and YA.

I read on average one book a week. Of course, that depends on the length and time I have available. I won't attempt books with tiny fonts! I often alternate between fiction and non-fiction, but again it depends on what I have on my TBE pile.

Where do I source my books? Amazon. I hate to admit that, but it is easy and quick. I also buy books from bookshops, especially when there is a 3for2 offer or my kind friends/family give me book tokens (my dream present). There is nothing more pleasurable than spending time browsing in a bookshop. I also buy from charity shops (as well as donate books), do books swaps with friends and use the library. There is no space to keep the books I have read, so I donate them, unless it is something I will use for research (usually that's  non-fiction).

Classics. Yes, I do read the odd classic book. I've read a few of Dickens', the Bronte's, Jane Austen, Thomas Hardy, Mary Shelley. I even read Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome because it was based on my beloved River Thames. It was the most ridiculous story. Sorry, if you like this one, but I struggled to finish it. I gave up on To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf, which pained me because I am a big fan of The Bloomsbury Group. Maybe I will come back to it one day when I've matured in my reading habits!

So, yes, I do abandon books. Though not often. I hate doing it, but there are so many great books to read, I will not waste my time on one I hate. Books put aside include Wolf Hall and A Gentleman in Moscow. The latter was so slow and I wondered when it would get started and if anything would happen. I know this book has high praise. I guess it's good we don't all like the same things.

What attracts me to a book? Sometimes it's the cover (I'll come back to this), but most definitely the blurb. I never read all the endorsements from other authors/newspapers on the inside cover, nor do I read the starting chapters of the next book at the end. If I want to read that author again, I will buy/borrow it, anyway. I do enjoy interviews with the author and sometimes skim book club questions. I love maps or lists of characters and the very rare Spotify link offered by the author for music to go with the book, something I would love to do for some of my books.

Covers. I find a lot of covers generic and boring. They could all come from the same publishing house. There was also a trend where every other title sounded the same. Some originality would be good.

Best-seller lists. I have to say I don't often buy bestsellers. The publishers say they produce books people want to read. Huh? I do wish readers would branch out and try something different. There are many Indie books that I have loved. Of course occasionally I might come across one that doesn't quite work for me or there are formatting issues, but I've never given up on a self-published book. I usually find Indie/self-published titles through Twitter or Indie Book Fairs. Because I send some of my own work that way, I get to know the books they publish.

Hype. There is a lot of this around. I'm not going to pick any titles here, but often they can be disappointing. I never go out to buy a book that has won an award. Usually I pick them up accidentally because they interest me.

Recommendations. I do look into books recommended to me or appear in the book section of newspapers if they appeal. I try always to read a new author from time to time. We all get stuck in our safe reading zone and find it hard to venture out of it. I'm as much to blame as the next person. But recently I discovered Kate Rhodes and Jim Crace, two very different authors. Kate writes crime/thrillers and Jim writes about different subjects and I find his stories compelling. I'm also a fan of Graham Norton's books. I'd also suggest giving Bob Mortimer a try.

Books from my past. In my teens I read a lot of Jean Plaidy and ventured in Maeve Binchy. I read every book of hers and loved how she wrote about the ordinary and sometimes characters from one book would appear in another. I'm now on a quest to finish the Inspector Montalbano Sicilian detective series by Andrea Camillier. I have three books left to read.

Non-fiction. I love books about walking (Thames Path and Raynor Winn's books), our ancestors (especially the stone age) and nature. I find trees fascinating, though I'm a hopeless tree spotter. I enjoy the odd biography or autobiography, books about art and writing and poetry. My latest acquisition is Walking the Bones of Britain by Christopher Somerville. I also devour books on forensics, how the mind works (why people do what they do) and some real crime.

Magazines. I don't often buy magazines, though growing up I bought lots. I subscribe to Mslexia and often buy Writing magazine. I rarely buy a woman's magazine these days as I prefer reading novels or short story collections. Sometimes I might buy a copy of The Simple Things or a walking magazine, but there is nothing out there that really ticks my boxes these days. I used to buy a very good art magazine, more about the artists than a how-to, but sadly it folded.

Gosh, it's September!

My motto!

 Hello all, firstly, apologies for posting about a walk I recently did on this site. It belongs on my other blog, but I couldn't work out how to move it, so I left it. Anyway, it shows I have another life apart from writing, and hopefully you enjoyed it.

Secondly, it's September! I only realised this a few hours ago and I've yet to change the calendars. Where has the summer gone? Mine seems to have drifted away from me with dental problems and other things encroaching on life and not being able to concentrate. However, some good news. I have had two poems published by Witcraft, and Australian e-zine. They like all things humorous and luckily, I write stuff like that. In fact, I find it hard to place my more humorous work. I often think writing that is fun is seen as somehow less than serious work. Of course, what one thinks is funny isn't to someone else. My friend who proofreads for me had that experience with one of my stories. She thought it funny, but her friend didn't. Well, you can't please everyone.

Another of my humorous pieces made it to a longlist recently, which gives me hope, but I was pleased that Witcraft took my poems (scroll down to 29th August to read them) and do leave a comment if you like what you read.

Thirdly, I have sent a bundle of published and unpublished flash stories to my proofreader. It took me a while to realise the way I wanted to go and dithered over what I want to publish next. It is one step closer to a book! My proofreader has also just finished reading through a novella of mine and I have made all the amendments, but it needs another read through as ProWritingAid doesn't like mixed tenses when I write about the past in backstory and then return to the present day, so I need to check I have got it right.

Meanwhile (and fourthly), I have been trying to write the new story I began back in March. All was going well, but the last part I wrote was a slog. It may end up either edited or cut. 

Finally (and fifthly), I am thinking about entering the Mslexia YA writing competition. I have something that just needs a little editing, I just baulk at the cost of entry. I entered last year (or the year before) with a different story and got nowhere, but I guess if I don't try, I don't even have a chance.

By the way, I read today that writers of short fiction (and to some extent poetry) only have a success rate of 1% of the work they send out. Isn't that disheartening and sad? I feel quite lucky that my average has been higher than that in the past, but some years are leaner than others. Makes me wonder why I do this, but what else am I going to do? I can't imagine my life without writing in it.

Well, I hope your September goes well. Happy writing and reading.

Capital Ring Walk 4 - Crystal Palace to Streatham

Westow Park

 This is a short walk, just over four miles, and the fourth section of the fifteen Capital Ring walks. I made my way to Crystal Palace station via Clapham Junction, and then turning left from the station, headed along pavements, through part of an estate until I reached Belvedere Road. Most of this walk is on pavements, across parks and a wood. This early part of the walk is very much uphill, but worth it for the views across the north downs and Kent, and also across to central London.

View from Belvedere Road

The first park I came to was Westow Park, and then it's not that far to Upper Norwood Recreation Ground. Sadly, both the cafe and toilets were shut and looked as if they were a due for a make-over. From there I was soon onto Beulah Hill, a busy main road. It's a bit of a walk along there. Turning left into Biggin Hill I walked downhill. Again there were great views from here over the allotments. 

Upper Norwood Recreation Park

Heading towards Biggin Wood, I came across two roads named after Charles Dickens. This is apparently where Dickens stayed while he was writing David Copperfield and where one scene is set. However, Havisham Place get its name from Great Expectations.

The book I was using as a guide warned me to look out for a pathway easy to miss. I missed it! Luckily, I hadn't gone too far. The path runs past tennis courts and into Biggin Wood. This is a nice tree lined path with dappled sunlight and one of the remnants of the Great North Wood. See photo of map.

Biggin Wood

The piece marked in black is where I was

View towards London

Exiting the woods, it's a shortish walk to the next park. This one is Norwood Grove which has a house and gardens at the top of the hill where there are more great views across the area. It is said on a good day you can see Reigate one way and Windsor Castle in the other.

Norwood Grove

Norwood Grove

Views from the hill at Norwood Grove

From here I knew I was almost at the end of my walk, for the last part took me to Streatham Common and The Rookery, beautiful gardens I had visited before. Here there is a cafe and loos. I took a little time to explore the gardens before having lunch. Then I headed towards the station across Streatham Common. There was a fair on the common. While I didn't want to pay to go in, I did manage to get a couple of photos over and through the fencing!

The Lodge, Streatham Common

The Rookery

Community Garden

Last time I was here I didn't know about the memorial garden, so I crossed the road to take a look before heading off to Streatham Common station.

Depending where your are travelling from, this walk can be done in a half a day, though The Rookery is worth spending time in. The flowers are always so pretty and the bees make the most of them.

White Garden, The Rookery

On Streatham Common

The Fair on Streatham Common

Tough times

 The last couple of months have been difficult and writing has really taken a back seat. Apart from the odd submission I have been unable to motivate myself to write. After the joy of my youngest son's wedding blessing in June, I lost my cousin a week later. As she had no other family, I had to step up and arrange her funeral and am now dealing with all the legal stuff. My cousin lived a good few hours away by train from me and I've had to make several trips in the last few weeks. After the funeral I felt quite flat, but I am trying to take things up again. I forced myself to open a writing file a few days ago to do some editing. As I worked on that manuscript, things became a little easier.

Thankfully, previous submissions have borne some fruit. A short story of mine was longlisted by Cranked Anvil, and I have two poems due to be published later this month. More on that when I have a link. I also won The Poetry Kit Easter poetry competition with my poem River Man. My prize is a mentoring course worth £110. I asked if I could defer it for about a month as my head really isn't in the right place to tackle a course. They have been really good and I can take it up when I ready.

Yesterday I sent a novella-in-flash to my proofreader/beta reader friend, and am now trying to put together some stories for self publishing. I think I know which ones I will publish together now, but I could still change my mind. At least it's a start.

So, sorry for being silent for so long. Until next time, happy reading and writing.

The stress of the submission process

Birthday flowers from my eldest son in my writing room and yes, those are tomato plants behind!

 The last few weeks have seen me finally complete the first proper draft of The Island. It now sits marinating on my laptop! It will need a lot of editing, but at least I have a better ending and have added a significant amount of content.

Before I finished the draft, I met with a friend who I'd not seen in ages (she's actually my proofreader) and she asked about all those short stories I wrote and thought a collection would be a good idea. We had a good chat about some of those stories, and in fact, I do have a list of potential stories for a collection. It's just that I've never got round to doing anything about them. I am now reading through some again, editing and getting them proofread. I'm working on the idea of a theme, but the list isn't complete as I sort them and work out which work best together.

The other thorn in my side is Tinsel Street, which I sent out on submission last year and again earlier this year. I have received no replies, so decided to revamp my submission package and have another bash. Now anyone who submits novels knows what a pain it is writing a synopsis and cover letter. I could have written half a novel in the time it's taken to do this (okay, that's a slight exaggeration). There are guidelines online, and right ways to put them together, though some conflict.  It's stressful and never seems completely right. So I sought feedback from friends.

Last Sunday I also I met up with some people from the London Writers' Support Group and gave them my cover letter to look over. They were really helpful, and I came home and put in their suggestions and took things out. I also tweaked the synopsis again! While at the meeting, I also managed to run a 6,000 word story through ProWriting Aid and edit while we each worked on our own project for an hour. I'd been putting it off, as it's so long, so I was pleased with myself. I have to admit this is a good group to be part of. We are all very different and tackling different things, and they are all much younger than me, but we are all writers and support one another.

Researching agents and Indie Publishers, who have windows open/accepting submissions/are the right fit and accept submissions from writers and not just agents, takes hours. But over two days I sent out several submissions, adapting the letter each time. I am not expecting to hear from anyone for a while, though having said that I did hear from one who told me they couldn't offer traditional publishing but might consider a contributing package, meaning I would have to fork out money of up to 75% of the cost. That makes me suspicious. They are asking me to respond, but if I don't want to take their offer, they will delete my manuscript. They say they are part of a larger well-known publishing company, but that company have their own website. I will need to look more into this, but I want to try submitting to others before I consider going with a hybrid publisher, plus do my own research into different ones. It is too soon when I have had no response from anyone else I sent to last week. Responses can take months. But I have started the ball rolling. One needs to be in the right frame of mind to send out submissions on mass, and I have to admit I felt good, even though I know my chances are slim. 

I have sent out a few subs to poetry magazines as well. Now I have a slight lull as I have a busy week coming up away from writing, though I'm sure I can sneak in some time on the laptop!

Until next time, happy reading and writing.

My reading journey

Photo by Tom Hermans on Unsplash

The first book I ever remember holding was a board book of farmyard animals. I was about three, had measles and was sitting in our front room in the semi-darkness.

I didn't grow up in a house full of books. My mum read magazines and sometimes books and my dad read James Herriot books after he retired for something to do when he wasn't down the shed!

Growing up I read the magazines my mum and grandmother read - Womans' Weekly and sometimes My Weekly or Woman or Woman's Own. But mainly it was Womans' Weekly. I read all the stories in those, including The Robin Family.

I don't remember being read to much as a child. Whether because I just dont't remember, or it didn't happen, I have no idea, but I do remember when I was about 8 or 9 my mum used to buy us a magazine called Treasure. In it was serialised The Borrowers. My mum read it to my brother and I and I was totally hooked and couldn't wait for the next instalment. I loved that story so much that I now have a copy of the book.

At school I wasn't a reader. It wasn't something that interested me. The first book I remember actually liking was The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C S Lewis. I loved the fact that there was another world beyond the wardrobe. I also remember liking a book by Gerald Durrell, but as a class we read To Kill A Mockingbird. I hated it. These days I'm a firm believer that you have to be ready for certain books. This is one of them. I didn't understand it back then as a young teen. When I came back to it as an adult I loved it, and I think that's because I had more experience of life and it suddenly resonated with me.

We didn't study poetry at school. I came across it once in primary school, and rather liked it, but I didn't come across poetry again until I was an adult.

As a teen/early twenties I bought the sort of magazines my mum would have frowned upon - Loving and True Romances. I devoured them cover to cover and had my very first poem published in one, though they misprinted it by leaving out two lines! Later I switched to Cosmopolitan.

I left school aged fifteen and it wasn't until I left that I joined the library. Because I'd never been much of a reader I had no idea what books I might like, so I went for things that interested me. I loved nature and anything to do with early man and read books by people like Richard Leakey and the findings of our ancestors in Africa. When it came to fiction, I borrowed what I thought I might like. It took me years to find my way and to the person I am now who reads on average at least one book a week. My taste has branched out into most genres.

From my mum's small book collection I tried Agatha Christie, but soon realised she wasn't for me. However, one book by Daphne de Maurier called The Loving Spirit really hooked me. It's a family saga, and I loved it so much that I still have that book today. Of course I read things my mum said I shouldn't, including Lady Chatterley's Lover. It wasn't nearly as racy as I expected, but by then I had read far racier things anyway!

I had a phase of reading loads of Mills & Boon, even joining their bookclub for a while, but I grew out of them.

Reading has broadened my horizons. Of the books I read as a young adult, Hatter's Castle by A J Cronin still stays with me.

I still use the library. I also buy new books and charity shop books, as well as swap books with friends. There is no room to keep books I've read, so I have to be harsh and part with all, except some non-fiction books I can't bear to part with, or I might use as reference to my writing.

Reading has grown along with my writing. I feel I write much better as an older writer who has more life experience, like I have grown into reading certain books.

If this post sounds familiar it is because I've probably written about this before. Having had this blog since 2009, certain subjects will inevitably crop up again.

My last point is this. My dad was not much of a reader. Even he admitted that. If he couldn't understand a word he skipped over it. But once, when my brother and I were young and had gone to bed but still awake, my dad was decorating the landing. While he painted, he made up a story about a little bird. I don't really remember the story, but the fact that he had the imagination to make up a story that I was glued to. When my own boys were young, I did the same. They particularly liked stories with a main character having the same name as them. I have a recollection of one story about a bear who flew an airplane, and when we kept guinea pigs, I wrote a story about them! I also wrote a story about a child with a talking TV remote control which I entered into a competition.

I still have my fascination for early man, and adored Jean M Auel's Earth Children Series, especially the very first book
. It was probably the longest book I had at that time, but I couldn't put it down. Some things have followed me through life and my interests end up coming out in what I write. I don't think I've written anything about early man yet, but music crops up a lot, as does religion. Maybe I'll chat about that sometime....obsessions with certain subjects!

Photo by Tom Hermans on Unsplash