Author Talk

Last night I attended an author event in a local library. The writer, Emma Burstall, who lives nearby came to talk about her new book Tremarnock, set in a Cornish seaside village. This is the first of a new series. I have to say I have never read any of Emma's books (I did look in my library for one but couldn't find any).

A crowd of six came together (so sad these things are not well supported) to hear Emma speak about her route to becoming a published author, her method of working and what she is currently doing (second draft of the next book!). She then read a short passage from Tremarnock and answered our questions. Of the six of us, two were men, one had written but said he wasn't writing at the moment, and one lady was contemplating writing a book. Emma happily answered my question about whether to pay for someone to do a professional read through of a manuscript. She advised trying agents first and see what feedback came (if any), then try a few more. If I had no luck she said it might be worth it. She was lucky and was picked up quite quickly.

Emma also answered a question on whether she used real people as characters and whether they recognised themselves. She said one woman was convinced a character was based on her....but it wasn't! We writers are not that stupid! I guess friends might think writers do that. We might take one thing from someone, but it gets mixed with other traits which come from others or are made up. And to be honest even the writer is in there somewhere!

Other questions included the choosing of words, dialogue, length of book, ideas and research.

I found the evening boosted me up and took away those negative feelings I've been having (too much time writing alone). These events are my lifeline and I was able to give some encouragement to the lady who was thinking about writing and wish her well. We all need these things, a few words of encouragement, either to get us going in the first place or to keep writing when the nagging doubts start to fester. A nice inspiring evening. Thanks Emma.

Author event

I spent a nice afternoon yesterday at the Croft Tea Room in St Mary Cray, Kent and over sandwiches, cake and a cuppa listened to John Love speak about writing his first book and getting published.  The friend I went with found out about the event.  She knows the owner of the tea shop and was telling me all about it and the events the lady puts on. When I heard about the author event I said 'that sounds interesting.'  So she booked it and there we were!

I warmed to John Love quickly as I read the hand out sheets - we both like Morecambe and Wise, books and he is a Tottenham Hotspur fan.  John's book is a sci-fi novel entitled Faith.  He said that although the idea came to him complete it took him years to write it.  He had over those years written down paragraphs on bits of paper but once he retired from the music business he sat down to finally write and completed it in fifteen months.  He recommended a website called AgentQuery to search for an agent.  His agent is actually from the USA but whether luck or just that he is such a good writer his book was published in 2012, he has another book soon to be published and he is working on a third.  He did say that having had one book published he now felt as if he had been uncorked and the writing was flowing.  He has ideas for other books. What I found interesting is that he said all his ideas for books came complete so he knew the beginning, middle and ending and rarely strayed from that.

I found him an interesting and likable guy. He was keen for people to ask questions and one was about motivation.  He said that he 'did something' everyday, even if it was a little editing or to check something as some days he didn't feel like writing.  John's wife said he would shut himself in a room upstairs and would be writing at 2am.  That time of day wouldn't suit me but everyone has to find the time that is right for them to write.

Regarding promotion he said that mainly his Agent did it but he has a website.  He admitted that while he has a Facebook page he never uses it because he doesn't really understand how it all works.  Nor does he yet have a Twitter account.

John's book has been translated into Russian and I think he said Bulgaria were interested.  He has also had Warner Bros sniffing around!

I have to say that the plot of the book Faith sounds very complicated and while I love watching sci-fi movies I don't as a rule read sci-fi novels even though most of my stories (never submitted!) lean towards sci-fi! John's second book, when he explained it, sounds more my thing (I can reveal that it is called Evensong) and I will be watching out for it.  Still, at the end of the afternoon I decided to purchase a copy of the book and give it a go.  John and I had a nice chat and he signed a copy of the book for me.  I do wish him luck and we writers (successful or still struggling) need to stick together.  I told John that I had just finished reading a book so I would probably start his straightaway, which is what I have done.  It is too soon for me to say much yet as I've only read a few pages but do have a look at John's website.

Seeing how the real writers do it!

Writing Britain: Wastelands to Wonderlands at the British Library has been an exhibition I've been meaning to go to all summer.  Finally I went yesterday. The exhibitions explores literature and place over a period of 1,000 years of English literature drawn from a unique collection of works from Chaucer to Rowling.  Not only are there hand written manuscripts but also readings accessed via headphones as well as film where modern authors talk about how 'place' draws them into a story.

It was wonderful to see the scribblings of authors and poets - all those neatly written words and some not so neatly written pages with crossings out, additions and side comments.  Included here are the writings of William Blake, Charles Dickens, William Wordsworth, Robert Louis Stevenson, Daphne du Maurier as well as JRR Tolkein artwork for The Hobbit and some lines to the Beatles song In My Life by John Lennon.  Then of course there is the hand written manuscript by JK Rowling of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.  The exhibitions was split into 'zones' - Rural Dreams, Dark Satanic Mills, Wild Places, Cockney Visions and Waterlands.  A whole range of books were on show from the mythical to horror and everything in between.

This took me back to the days when I wrote stories in exercise books.  I guess I was in my teens and I had so much time then!  I still have the exercise books, a few completed stories and some which never got past the first chapter.  Those were also the days when I didn't know much about how to construct a story.....um...possibly still don't!.  I just wrote what I liked.  Funnily enough most were sci-fi.  I guess I watched a lot of Doctor Who and Star Trek!  I grew up with original series.  But my stories didn't have monsters in them.  Anyway, the exhibition re-kindled a flame......okay a spark.....but maybe more nostalgia!

If you can get to London this is an exhibition well worth viewing.  It finishes on 25th September so time is short.  The British Library shop is great to walk around...so many books but I kept my purchases to a minimum and came home with Selected Poems by Sylvia Plath and a few postcards.

An author I like....find out about her latest book

I thought you might like to read this article from The Telegraph newspaper.  It's an interview with Helen Dunmore who writes books and poetry for adults and children. Here she also talks about her new book. I find Helen's books very descriptive and I get pulled in quickly to her stories. I've just bought three second hand books of hers to add to my stash (I'm running out of room at home and have start putting them all sorts of places. I only hope I can remember where they are when I need them!).

The bad and good of writing

I love this mini heatwave we are having in the south of England but it doesn't do anything for my creative juices. At poetry class on Thursday it was just too hot and my concentration was nil.  We did have a good look at a poem by Gillian Clarke called Taid's Grave, which is a beautiful poem.  Mainly we were looking at the line breaks and language and it was interesting to see how others saw it/read it.  The more we looked at it the more we found and connections made.  A really useful exercise.  We also compared our homework and again it was interesting to see that most of us put the prose into similar lines.  The writing exercise on the day was dreadful for me.  The hum of the fan and the noise outside (the singing classes going over their scales) only seemed to make my headache worse and I felt hotter.  Most of us struggled, to be fair.  We were in fact supposed to be writing about the noises around us, though some ended up writing about the heat!  Only one person found any stillness (I wish I knew her technique!).  Our tutor recommended a book to us called Writing Poetry by W.N. Herbert which she says would be helpful to us in understanding how poetry writing works  It has interviews with poets about different aspects of writing.

Yesterday I attended the AGM and Writer's Day of the Association of Christian Writers.  We had the shortest AGM I have ever been at (if only other committees could be that brief!) and then the main attraction.  Adrian Plass is a well known Christian writer and speaker and happens to be our President.  This being ACW's 40th anniversary it was lovely to have him with us.  He spoke in three sessions across the day, firstly about how he ended up writing, his early life, his breakdown and his first books The Sacred Diary of Adrian Plass which took off overnight (he thought they would be a failure).  He told us that the first writing he ever did was found by his brother and written when he was aged 5.  It said 'At Christmas we remember Jesus by having a turkey'.  Adrian read from the Sacred Diary as well as from his other books.  He stated that he wants to share the 'yes' of God in his writing and that the cross is a mission field.  He was utterly amusing with 'off the wall' comments, but also very moving.  He gave us a little exercise - we each had a small piece of paper and he wanted us to write My God is......and write what he meant to us that day, not want we thought we should say, the right thing, but how we felt.  Adrian then read each one out (it was all anonymous) interspersing with Our God is many things....so it was like a prayer.  It was very powerful.

Adrian spoke of his work at Scargill House, a retreat centre where he will be until next year but he has no concrete plans afterwards just ideas about books he would like to write.  He said that writing was a passion and I think most of us who write understand that to some degree as I can't imagine my life without writing, even if it's rubbish!  Adrian then helped cut out anniversary cake and I accosted him to sign his book of poems I had bought from the bookstall (Silences and Nonsenses). What a lovely day!

Poetry in action

Have had an email from the editor of Areopagus magazine to say that he will be publishing my poem The Tree in the summer edition.  My poem is inspired by a William Barnes poem called Trees Be Company which I came across recently and loved.  Barnes who lived in the 1800's was a poet-parson who wrote mainly in Dorset dialect.

It's been a busy week.  On Thursday I went with a friend along to a Rhythm & Muse night at a pub in the next town.  The club meets once a month and this night there was a singing due The Flying Blueberries,  a guest poet, June English, as well as open mic spots.  I was interested to see how these things work, what the standard is, how the audience react etc.  The club has a good atmosphere, an intimate feel and all ages were represented.  All performances were well received and the subjects quite diverse.  It was a great evening, very inspiring and there was much laughter (many poems were humorous).  It's good to see what's out there, what people are writing and nice to see that poetry is alive and kicking!

At lunch time today I and another friend were at the Purcell Rooms on the South Bank (London) to see the author Alexander McCall Smith in interview with the book critic from The Guardian newspaper.  I have read virtually everything this man has written!  Hearing him speak was great, and he read a passage from the most recent 'Scotland Street' series The Importance of Being Seven.  He spoke about how he began writing books and the characters (he has to juggle so many). He said he loves listening to conversations on buses and in cafes (a good thing for all us writers to do!). He also said that often people make suggestions for stories for his characters and that if he thinks it's good he might use it.  One person asked if something nasty could happen to Bruce from 'Scotland Street' (he is a very vain character). There was a question and answer slot at the end and when one boy pointed out a mistake about the first 'case' the lady detective had made (McCall has written a pre-quel where the case is different). McCall invited him on to the stage and gave him a prize of £20 for the best question he'd come across!  There was much humour in the interview which I would have expected as his books often make me laugh out loud.  He seems very genuine and it was a shame when our time was up.