Saturday 31 July 2010
An Interview With Author, Karen Wolfe.
SA: Tell us about Dogwatch in a few sentences.
KW: I’m nearing the end of ‘Dogwatch’, my second novel featuring dog-whisperer Georgie Crane, which, like its predecessor ‘Dogsbody’ is, I hope funny as well as exciting. Neither are as yet published, but I soldier on!
SA: How did you come to write this particular book?
KW: I’d always fancied writing a crime novel, humorous and nothing too gory, but with hard edges. And of course with dogs, because I know them so well.
SA: If you have a favourite character in your novel, why that particular one?
KW: It’s got to be Georgie, because she’s a strong woman who’s totally committed to what she does. And of course, I’ll always love Granny Beamish, central character in the ‘Seers’ series, who’s a complete renegade and mad as a box of frogs, but her mind-power is awesome!SA: What qualities do you need to be a successful writer?
KW: Well, if I knew the secret, I’d be living the millionaire lifestyle! But I’d say, first and foremost, a love of books. And then an original ‘voice’, one that resonates with readers, along with a willingness to think outside the box.
SA: What is your working method?
KW: Slow burn. How I wish I were prolific! But whatever I’m currently writing is always in my head, like a secret friend, and it has to be word-perfect….which is why I average a pathetic 1,000 words a week. Factor in ‘thinking time’, though, and I do put in the hours, honest!
SA: What is the single biggest mistake made by beginners to writing?
KW: Imagining that if you ‘have it in you’, it’ll come easy. It doesn’t. You have to learn your craft.
SA: How can people buy your book(s)?
KW: They can visit my web-pages: http://www.hornseadogowners.co.uk/kwolfe/ which has links to Amazon.
SA: To what extent are grammar and spelling important to a writer?
KW: Depends what you’re writing, and in what style. But you have to have mastered them, otherwise how can you bend the rules?
SA: How much revision of your MS do you do before you send it off?KW: Hours and hours and ………zzzzzzzzz
SA: Where and when is your novel set and why did you make these specific choices?
KW: It’s rural and contemporary, in fact they all are, although the ‘Seers’ series inhabits a parallel world in which telepaths exist alongside ‘outsiders.’
SA: To what extent do you think genre is useful in the publishing world?
KW: Well, publishers love it! But labels aren’t always accurate. So much writing is cross-genre that you often have to pigeon-hole your offerings in order to get a look-in.
SA: What are your writing habits?
KW: Think I’ve already answered that one! Lazy and erratic, but I nevertheless keep going til I’ve finished. I cannot write (let alone function) before noon, so afternoons/evenings/nights are my creative times. I sometimes write in a notebook, but I always edit and polish on-screen, because it’s more visible than a mass of crossings-out!
SA: How do you know where to begin any given story?
KW: I always know my starting-point and my last line, and then I have enormous fun creating the bits in between!
SA: What sort of displacement activities keep you from actually writing?
KW: WHAT? Are you kidding? I’m the Queen of diversionary tactics. E-mails, phone-calls, tea-breaks….you name it. I’m up for anything, but I do get my finger out if I have a deadline. I obviously need more pressure!
SA: Do you have support, either from family and friends or a writing group?
KW: Family?? As I haven’t (yet!) gone global, they regard my writing as an amusing eccentricity. When I need intelligent input or support, I rely upon my friends at Hornsea Writers, because they know what writing’s all about.
SA: Is presentation of the MS as important as most agents and publishers suggest?
KW: Yes. Crucial. Always follow specific requirements unless you want to look like a complete amateur and have your rejected ms returned to you embellished with chocolate daubs and coffee-mug stains.
SA: How long does it normally take you to write a novel?
KW: A year, although I once managed it in a record 9 months!
SA: Do you think writing is a natural gift or an acquired skill?
KW: Bit of both. Apart from grammar, I don’t think anyone can actually teach you how to do it, but writing skills can be learnt, and honed.
SA: Is there any aspect of writing that you really enjoy?
KW: Plotting. And then riding the inevitable twists and turns. And characterisation, for which there’s much more scope in a novel. But short stories do call for precision, economy and pacing, all of them valuable writing tools.
SA: Do you have a website or a blog that readers can visit?
KW: No blog as yet, but http://www.hornseadogowners.co.uk/kwolfe/ features novel excerpts, and short-story ‘tasters.’
Word of the Day is divorced from the post that precedes it and produced in response to a request from a follower to provide just such a service.
Word of the Day; yack – non-stop drivel, trivial chatter. ‘Don’t get Cyril started; he’ll yack until doomsday about nothing at all.’
Friday 30 July 2010
The Joys and Perils of Peer Review Sites.
Do you belong to, or have you thought about joining, a peer review site? I’ve dabbled with Authonomy, YouWriteOn (publishers of my novel, Breaking Faith), The Word Cloud, Critters and a few others. There are a number of negative aspects to these sites and some positives, which are dependent on the attitude and efforts of the user. The following is in no way a judgement on any of these sites, simply an explanation for those who have no experience of them. I have deliberately included information only on sites that offer free membership and of which I have personal experience.
Some of these sites offer to bring your work to the attention of Agents and/or Publishers. I capitalize these simply to echo the importance the sites place on this contact. However, in order to reach this lofty perch, authors are sometimes required to climb very slippery poles and to spend hours cultivating the positive reviews of their peers. Others, however, have a more sophisticated approach to the idea and merely require that the author reviews as many of his peer’s works as he can. Both have the disadvantage that numbers are the mainstay of success. This basically means that a writer has to be prepared to devote a great deal of valuable time to activity that is only tangentially connected to their writing.
The actual process of criticising the work of fellow writers, however, has a benefit that many writers seem not to appreciate. By properly analysing the works of others, a writer can identify common errors, banalities, excesses and clichés. Lessons he can then apply to his own writing, improving it and making it more marketable. So, this can be not only an altruistic activity but one which benefits the critic.
Sites like Authonomy, where the outcome of the race toward the top of the league table is down to an open public voting system, have the disadvantage that they demand a huge amount of time and effort from individual authors in acquiring votes. Because they rely on the number of positive votes cast by other users of the site, the danger is that those who have most friends willing to support them and/or those who are willing to give reciprocal votes to other writers regardless of quality, the outcome is not dependent on quality of writing but on popularity. This does nothing to improve quality, wastes a great deal of time, and provides sometimes unworthy writers with a prize they don’t deserve. After personal experience of this negative system, I avoid such sites. Sound like sour grapes? It might. But my experience was a short one and I was saved the waste of too much time when I realised what was actually happening. It was a game I was not prepared to play.
The advantage of sites like YouWriteOn is that critics work both anonymously (as far as the author of the critiqued work is concerned) and that critics don’t choose which works they analyse. The selection is done by the site and on a one-to-one reciprocal basis. The critic gets one review of their own submission for every critique they do of someone else’s work. Of course, this means that the more critiques you do, the more reviews you receive. Again, success in the league tables involves a lot of non-writing time. But, at least the selection process has nothing to do with popularity of the author, or deals done between site members.
The rewards of success on such sites are very real for the winners. Whether or not you want to involve yourself in such competition, however, is down to personal judgement.
Word Cloud has no such rewards on offer and simply offers new writers the opportunity to have their work examined and reviewed by other writers. That some of the writers will be inexperienced must be accepted. But, it is worth remembering that inexperienced writers may also approach your writing in much the same way as potential readers would. This site also runs a social networking forum, which many will find helpful and supportive.
Critters is devoted to stories in the genres of horror, science fiction and fantasy only. It has a huge membership and is run on strict lines to avoid the worst excesses of the jealous and the crass. Because a number of members are youngsters, there is a policy of rating work so that overtly sexual and/or violent pieces don’t get into the hands of those not mature enough to deal with them. The site operator also offers other services to members, including a recent offer of free advertising for members books. There is no contest here, other than for who produces the most crits each week, but there are rules. In order to have your own work reviewed, you must do a minimum number of crits in a given period. In practice, if you do one a week you’ll be able to have your own work ‘critted’ about every five weeks or so. The quality of writing varies enormously as there are children offering pieces alongside professional writers. But it is the very variety that attracts me, plus the opportunity to help and guide youngsters early in their writing careers. It’s great to think you might prevent some young writer spending years making the same mistakes you’ve learned to avoid.
This post has necessarily only scraped the surface of what is a huge topic, but I hope it has helped give a flavour of this activity to those who have never tried it.
So, whether you participate or not, at least you’ll have some understanding of what’s involved. I can give only a personal and limited idea of the benefits and disadvantages, but I hope I’ve given some food for thought and helped some writers to avoid the pitfalls of what can be a very time-consuming but ultimately rewarding activity.
Word of the Day is divorced from the post that precedes it and produced in response to a request from a follower to provide just such a service.
Word of the Day; xenial – concerning friendly and/or positive relationships to foreign people or lands. ‘After years living abroad, Valerie developed an open and xenial attitude to foreign visitors to her home, welcoming contact with other lands.’
Thursday 29 July 2010
Interview with Linda Acaster July 2010
Tell us about your current book title
Beneath The Shining Mountains is an Historical Romance – Historical Romantic Suspense for American readers who make the distinction – set on the northern plains of America
How did you come to write this particular book?
Looooong story, starting with my mother cutting me a feathered war (honour) bonnet from newspaper when I was four years old and finishing with my becoming a Northern Plains re-enactor giving talks to school and community groups. And yes, I am talking about all this happening in the UK
Where and when is your novel set and why did you make these specific choices?
Native Americans are not one people; some are as dissimilar in language and customs as we are to the Nepalese. As a child I’d become interested in the Northern Plains peoples so I stuck with them, but the area is vast, the peoples so different, that I finally focused on the neighbouring Mandan and Hidatsa peoples who farmed and lived in earth lodges on the banks of the upper Missouri, and their trading associates the Apsaroke who were a true nomadic plains people living in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains – hence the title of the novel. This was before the boom of internet information, so when I had the funds I’d send to America
And the particular inspiration?
It was a story, an old woman recounting a Wife Stealing ceremony of her youth. This is going to be difficult to explain. Among the Apsaroke, men belonged to different warrior societies, and to keep them on their metal rivalries were instigated - which society had the champion wrestler, the best runner, the fastest racehorse, men who’d taken most war honours – and once a year was what had become known as the Wife Stealing ceremony.
In the early 1800s the Apsaroke were fairly open about extra-marital affairs, but if the wife of a member of one warrior society had, during the preceding year, been the lover of a man belonging to a rival society, the lover, along with his friends, was allowed to ride up to the woman’s lodge in their best regalia and singing songs and try to entice the lady to leave her husband. It was regarded as entertainment for the whole village, everyone knew what was going on, and any woman who was eligible but didn’t want to be a part of it made herself scarce for the duration. Believe me, there’s a lot more to it and it’s much easier to understand reading the novel!
So you had the novel set out for you?
I had the last scene, or almost the last scene, given to me by this old women recounting tales of her youth, and to my embarrassment I can’t remember her name. What I then had to do was build a story backwards to ensure this last scene made sense to readers with no knowledge of their history or culture. In the end it took me 86,000 words.
How long does it normally take you to write a novel?
All of my novels have a great deal of historical research attached to them, so I can’t produce more than one a year. And I’m just a slow writer.
What are you writing now?
The Bull At The Gate, set in York England Kingston Hull
Do you have a website or a blog that readers can visit?
www.lindaacaster.com currently concentrates on the timeslip thriller, and information on the historical romances can be found at http://lindaacaster.blogspot.com though there is some crossover.
How can people buy your book(s)?
Beneath The Shining Mountains, originally a paperback, is now available as an ebook from Amazon for the Kindle http://tinyurl.com/35sfkhq and Smashwords for I-Pad, Sony e-reader, Nook https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/18144 - $2.99
Hostage of the Heart – a Mediaeval Romance set on the Welsh borderlands, again originally a paperback and now available as an all-formats ebook: Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/3a2dyz5 / Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/14120 - $1.99
Torc of Moonlight is available as a paperback original from most online stores, including Amazon US http://tinyurl.com/38qyyhq and Amazon UK
Free e-reader applications for a PC, Apple-Mac, etc. are available to download from Amazon for the Kindle http://tinyurl.com/28zbaf8 , and from Adobe Digital Editions for the rest http://tinyurl.com/28drft2.
Thanks for inviting me!
Word of the Day is divorced from the blog that precedes it and produced in response to a request from a follower to provide just such a service.
Word of the Day; wit – mental facility with language, enabling fast, comical, clever responses and aphorisms, especially when used as a riposte. Oscar Wilde, was, of course, the acknowledged master. ‘Arthur Brown has all the wit of a broad bean, but his brother, Bernie, has the wit of Oscar Wilde combined with George Bernard Shaw.’
Tuesday 27 July 2010
Writers Services Website; a review.
Writers’ Services has over 2000 pages of advice, information and tips for writers. Most of the resource on this website is free, with some professional services offered at a charge. (As is my habit, I’ll concentrate on the free stuff; it’s up to the website to market anything they want you to pay for). There is a monthly online magazine, packed full of news and comment and columns from well established figures in the writing world. An up to the minute News section details all things writerly, as they happen. The Comment section holds information listed under a great variety of headings and has links to the archives so you can find items published in previous years. Under ‘What’s New?’ you’ll find diverse articles; e.g. 26 July 2010 headings are: John Jenkins’ July Column – dealing with dialogue; News Review, looking at Amazon; The English Language, publishing world; Comment, looking at translations; Latest changes in the book world, where Chris Holifield looks at Creative Commons; and more.
Writers’ Web holds information and articles on everything to do with the web as it applies to writers, including links to free software, quantity versus quality, inexpensive printing, security, etc.
But it is the Resources pages that really make this site stand out from the crowd. Here you’ll find reviews of books and software, listings of agents, self-publishing facts, educational matters, health and safety advice, and there’s a new feature, reviewing writing magazines.
You’ll see there is a great deal of information on this site. It’s well presented and easily navigated, which is as well, considering the number of pages. It’s a site I browse often and I think you’ll benefit from a good look at this one.
Word of the Day is divorced from the blog that precedes it and produced in response to a request from a follower to provide just such a service.
Word of the Day; utopia – From the title of a book by Sir Thomas More (1477-1535) – an imagined place where everything is ideal; an impossible state of social perfection. ‘Julie stumbled out of her daydream into a world of everlasting blue skies, gentle people with friendly dispositions, and a complete absence of commerce and thought she had found her utopia.’
Monday 26 July 2010
Review of Writing Calendar website.
Sally Quilford’s Writing Calendar is a must for those who like entering writing contests, and for those who are unsure whether they should. Those to whom this world is a closed book will find a great deal of useful information here. I like the site because Sally takes the trouble to filter out those contests where the prizes offered are not really prizes at all but inducements to buy something.
She itemizes competitions in a number of different ways but the calendar theme is expanded by her way of prioritising those contests that are soon to close. She lists the contests by month, with the current month at the top of the long list.
Monthly, quarterly, semi annual and annual competitions are also given their own spots.
Her Competition Tips is worth a read, especially by the uninitiated and by those who think the rules don’t apply to them (you know who you are).
Ask Sally is a compilation of appropriate questions and answers on the topic of contests and full of sound advice.
As a bonus, she includes some of the articles she has written for the excellent Writers’ Forum Magazine – more great advice.
And, generous soul that she is, she includes a page listing other websites that list other writing contests. All in all an excellent resource and one I turn to frequently.
Word of the Day is divorced from the blog that precedes it and produced in response to a request from a follower to provide just such a service.
Word of the Day; vainglorious – excessively vain, boastful, proud of own abilities etc. ‘Gregory, a small man with a smaller mind but a reputation for his vainglorious expositions, constantly boasted of his achievements until everyone stopped listening due to boredom.’
Sunday 25 July 2010
Interview with J.F. Jenkins
J.F.Jenkins is a writer from Minneapolis, engaged in writing fantasy for a number of years. Her work on site consists of a mixture of finished pieces and work in progress and is currently published only on her blog. She is a wife and mother and fits her writing around caring for husband and child.
SA: Tell us about Legend of the Oceina Dragon in a few sentences.
JFJ: Darien Oceina is the youngest son of the Great Dragon Lord, and well, a dragon. Falling in love is hard enough, but falling in love with a girl that he's forced into marriage who hates his guts? That's even harder. Trying to make that marriage work in the middle of a great war: near impossible.
SA: What qualities do you need to be a successful writer?
JFJ: Drive, definitely a lot of drive and passion for it. Without either one, it turns more into a chore, and when your heart isn't into it, that's the difference between a good story and a great story.
SA: What is your working method?
JFJ: I give myself goals that I want to achieve monthly, weekly, and daily. I make sure to set the time I need aside to achieve these goals. Most of the time I get really close, but fall short, but I'm getting better at hitting them dead on!
SA: What is the single biggest mistake made by beginners to writing?
JFJ: Expecting that their work is going to be flawless right away and then not being able to take a critique. It's hard to hear negative feedback sometimes - especially when so many people are keen on ripping things to shreds these days, but instead of quitting because of it those negative words should be used to fuel the fire even more. Writing takes time and patience and a lot of revision/polishing.
SA: How did you come to write this particular book?
JFJ: I had a very inspiring dream about the plot, and the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to share the story with everyone else!
SA: If you have a favourite character in your novel, why that particular one?
JFJ: I would have to say Darien, and that's simply because getting into his mind is always so interesting. He's got a lot going on, and he has a lot to learn about life. It's been interesting exploring his naivety and and watching as he grows up and discovers reality.
SA: How can people buy your book(s)?
JFJ: All of my books are currently free and online at: http://jenkinsjf.livejournal.com. It's a temporary home until I can get my own domain.
SA: To what extent are grammar and spelling important to a writer?
JFJ: If you're going to be a writer, you need to know how to do it. I don't think anyone is perfect at the mechanics of it, but it's good to at least try your best. When you know all of the rules, that's when you can break them intentionally if need be.
SA: How much revision of your MS do you do before you send it off?
JFJ: A pretty solid chunk of it. Since I'm not traditionally published, I need to make sure that it is looking its best!
SA: Where and when is your novel set and why did you make these specific choices?
JFJ: A fictional, alternate, version of this earth and it's set in around the same time as now. I wanted to create a unique world, but make it modern and familiar at the same time.
SA: To what extent do you think genre is useful in the publishing world?
JFJ: I think it's useful in that it helps readers find the kind of books that they want to read. Without genre's it'd be hard to find what you're looking for exactly on the shelves. The problem with genre is that people make a lot of unnecessary rules sometimes.
SA: What are your writing habits?
JFJ: I'm not sure I have any actual habits. I open up my computer, find the file that I'm working on, and have at it!
SA: How do you know where to begin any given story?
JFJ: I usually have to go with a gut feeling. Starting is the hardest part for me, but once I get going, things just flow.
SA: What sort of displacement activities keep you from actually writing?
JFJ: Taking care of my son who's a toddler, playing video games, watching television, working my part-time job, my husband needing me for one thing or another, and my various hobbies on the internet.
SA: Do you have support, either from family and friends or a writing group?
JFJ: Most of my support comes from my friends. I have a small circle of fellow authors online who read my work and cheer me on when I need it. I get support with the family as well. My husband is my #2 resource whenever I need to know something.
SA: How long does it normally take you to write a novel?
JFJ: I can usually get one out in about 6 months or a year depending on how busy I am and how much I actually devote to it.
SA: What are your inspirations?
JFJ: Reading other author's is always a big inspiration. Whether the book is good or bad, it always helps to see what other people are doing! I listen to a lot of music, driving/sleeping/showering is where I get most of my great ideas from, and I have a lot of dreams that usually have amazing plotlines in them.
SA: If there’s a single aspect to writing that really frustrates you, what is it?
JFJ: The importance of being traditionally published. I've had so many people tell me how they're a failure because they can't get a query accepted by an agent and so they don't see their book published on the bookstore shelves. To me, being a writer is about sharing a story because you feel it's important to share. If you do this through an agent, or through a website, or even through a handwritten story in a notebook, and you love writing with your very being, THAT is what makes you a writer. A successful writer too! If you have one true fan, then you have successfully shared your story that you were made to tell.
SA: Do you think writing is a natural gift or an acquired skill?
JFJ: I think it's a little bit of both. I think some people are more natural at storytelling than others. If you listen to different people when they're telling stories verbally, some have more of a knack to engage the listener than others and that transfers to writing as well. I think you can aquire the skill though through reading, taking classes, and talking to other people who write, as well as time and patience to practice it.
SA: What are you writing now?
JFJ: Currently I'm finishing up a spinoff story to my novel, working on another alternate universe type of story, and getting ready to work on a book that I may actually query traditionally instead of publish via the web!
SA: Is there any aspect of writing that you really enjoy?
JFJ: Going back and looking at what I wrote, and forgetting that I wrote it, and just really enjoying it.
SA: Do you have a website or a blog that readers can visit?
JFJ: http://jenkinsjf.livejournal.com/ it's free and there's plenty to read. I also have a twitter account if anyone wants to get to know me. http://twitter.com/jfjenkinstweets
SA: Given unlimited resources, what would be your ideal writing environment?
JFJ: A place that lets me write without having to be disturbed by other people, and that blocks the websites that distract me from actually working.
SA: Where do you actually write?
Most of the time it's in my living room, sitting in the laz-e-boy while the little guy runs around and plays with Dora the Explorer in the background. Otherwise it's in the same spot but replace the little guy with the husband, and Dora with the XBox. I'm in desperate need of an office that has air conditioning.
Word of the Day is divorced from the blog that precedes it and produced in response to a request from a follower to provide just such a service.
Word of the Day; tension – stress caused by anxiety, conflict induced by some need, suppressed excitement. ‘When Peter entered the boardroom wearing only a tie and pointing a large revolver, the tension around the table was palpable.’
Saturday 24 July 2010
A Review of website, Writing World
Writing-World.com is absolutely bursting with advice on all topics to do with writing. This free site provides articles under several headings, including; Beginner’s World, The Business of Writing, The Writing Life, Freelancers’ World, Commercial Corner, International Writing, General Fiction, Romance, and other genres. There is much more, but lists can be so boring; something this site most definitely is not. There are hundreds of articles under each topic heading. If you write, in any capacity and at any level from beginner to best-seller, you’ll find something of interest here. They produce a weekly newsletter, crammed full of up-to-date information. The site is free to use, but they also offer opportunities to have your book featured and to advertise services etc, for a small fee.
This is essentially an advice site. But it offers useful services and there is a personal touch, with articles on the author’s life, experiences and thoughts.
I urge you to give this writer-friendly site a look. I visit frequently and subscribe to their newsletter. All really good stuff.
Word of the Day is divorced from the blog that precedes it and produced in response to a request from a follower to provide just such a service.
Word of the Day; satire – a lampoon, usually humorous, used to expose folly or vice in those who should know better, usually employing ridicule, sarcasm and irony. ‘Jennifer’s satire on the sexual proclivities of the Rt. Hon. Geoffrey Muddinghampton MP, caused such hilarity amongst her audience that some had to be given first aid by the Speaker of the House; a fate none of them really deserved.’
Friday 23 July 2010
Interview with Penny Grubb, Author.
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| Picture by Weronika Dziok |
Penny Grubb writes crime fiction, children’s fiction and academic text books. She is also current Chair of the very important author’s service, the ALCS – The Author’s Licensing and Collecting Society . A university lecturer and active union member, as well as wife and mother, it’s difficult to know how she finds the time to do everything she does. This is especially the case when you see just how good her writing is. Her most recently published novel in the crime genre, The Doll Makers, won the CWA Debut Dagger. The first in this series, Like False Money, has been nominated for the John Creasey (new blood) Dagger. These awards recognise the quality of this writer’s fiction. I’ve read, and enjoyed both books and can recommend them to all readers.
SA: What qualities do you need to be a successful writer?
PG: Mainly persistence, but you also need a thick skin because
writers have a lot of criticism thrown at them, and need to learn to take it on the chin, especially the constructive criticism which can be invaluable.
SA: What is your working method?
PG: I plan and then I write. It’s as simple as that. Getting the words on the page is what writing is about and as obvious as it sounds, it can be one of the hardest things to do.
SA: What is the single biggest mistake made by beginners to writing?
PG: Thinking that you can judge your own work. It’s something you learn to do, but even after years of practice, when you read your own work, especially if it’s recently written, your mind reads what you intended to write and not what a reader will take from it.
SA: How did you come to write this particular book?
PG: The Doll Makers is part of a crime series about PI, Annie Raymond. Her fractured childhood is hinted at in the earlier books – her mother was murdered, she never takes friends to meet her father – and I always intended that Annie would return to face her childhood demons. This is the book in which she does so.
SA: If you have a favourite character in your novel, why that particular one?
PG: I have a soft spot for Annie’s Aunt Marian. Because she’s over 70 and never had what the world at large terms a ‘proper job’, no one takes her seriously, including Annie, and yet she has valuable experience and insights to offer. As a society, we don’t value age and experience anywhere near enough.
SA: How can people buy your book(s)?
PG: People from my local area, East Yorkshire, will find my books for sale in many of the local shops who are very supportive of local writers. The books are also available from all the usual outlets, WH Smith, Waterstones, Amazon and so on. They can also be bought direct from the publisher at http://www.halebooks.com/display.asp?K=9780709089810&pge=hale&sf5=lcode&st5=not+67351&st1=Penny+Grubb&sf1=contributor&sf2=title_index&sf3=identifier&sf4=keyword&m=1&dc=2 or via my website at www.pennygrubb.com
SA: To what extent are grammar and spelling important to a writer?
PG: In one way, very important, and in another, not much. Very important because accuracy of spelling and grammar comes from a love of words and language and a deep understanding of the pictures that can be woven from clever use of words. But a great story can shine through a lack of formal knowledge of the niceties of spelling and grammar. And a lot of rules that used to be taught as immutable are really no more than matters of personal preference – a split infinitive won’t wreck a good story, a preposition at the end of a sentence won’t end the world.
SA: How much revision of your MS do you do before you send it off?
PG: Huge amounts, but not so much as I used to. I now do more preparation and planning before I start to write. I used to rewrite books from scratch, sometimes several times, before I was happy with them. Nowadays, I put time into planning and get the manuscript more or less right first time.
SA: Where and when is your novel set and why did you make these specific choices?
PG: The novel is set in the present day in London and Argyll. London is where Annie goes to make her fortune at the end of the previous novel (The Jawbone Gang). Argyll is where she was brought up, the home turf she escaped from as soon as she could, but that she is now forced to revisit.
SA: To what extent do you think genre is useful in the publishing world?
PG: These days it’s hugely important. Publishers live and die by it, and so writers have to take note too. I know great books that couldn’t find publishers because they couldn't be pigeonholed into a commercial genre. The distinctions are very fluid, but the concept of genre is enormously important in marketing and sales.
SA: What are your writing habits?
PG: I fit my writing around full-time paid employment in two different jobs, and it isn’t possible to develop the sort of routine I would have if I wrote full time. I have favourite places and times to write, but I don’t allow myself to make excuses if I can’t get to write where or when I want. I want to write novels, so I have to fit the writing in around the other things I have to do.
SA: How do you know where to begin any given story?
PG: I usually don’t, although I often have an idea about a particular part of the action that will make a good compelling opening. I write the back story for the novel, sometimes from decades before the main characters are born. The back story then morphs into main story and somewhere along the way I see where each of the story lines needs to start.
SA: What sort of displacement activities keep you from actually writing?
PG: I use writing as a displacement activity to avoid housework.
SA: Do you have support, either from family and friends or a writing group?
PG: I am lucky to have very supportive family and friends. I also belong to Hornsea Writers, which has to be one of the UK’s most successful writing support groups.
SA: Is presentation of the MS as important as most agents and publishers suggest?
PG: Yes. Why enter the game with one hand tied behind your back? Agents and publishers have hundreds of manuscripts to go through. Imagine an agent, tired at the end of the day, wanting to reduce the slush pile, maybe reading several dreadful, sleep-inducing offerings before coming to yours. If yours is badly presented and doesn’t look professional, what are the chances of the great story that’s hiding in there making a dent on the already comatose reader. Isn’t it more likely the manuscript will be tossed onto the reject pile without really being looked at?
SA: How long does it normally take you to write a novel?
PG: I can do one long (80k to 100k) and one short (30k – 40k) novel in a year.
SA: What are your inspirations?
PG: Everything really. Things I read, things I hear, things I see. The tiniest incident can spark a train of thought that becomes a character, a storyline or a whole plot.
SA: If there’s a single aspect to writing that really frustrates you, what is it?
PG: Having to stop when on a roll. In the early morning, I often have to stop writing to go to work long before I’m ready to. I hate that.
SA: Do you think writing is a natural gift or an acquired skill?
PG: Both. There needs to be a natural story-telling ability, but there is a huge amount that can be learnt about the craft of writing.
SA: What are you writing now?
PG: I’m doing a children’s novel, but also thinking about the next in the Annie series, and my academic publisher has asked if I and my co-author would consider doing a third edition of a successful textbook that is now 7 years old. It would be a huge undertaking, but we’re thinking about it.
SA: Is there any aspect of writing that you really enjoy?
PG: I love planning out a new novel. I also enjoy the actual writing, especially those moments when the words really flow.
SA: Do you have a website or a blog that readers can visit?
PG: My website is www.pennygrubb.com It has links to my blog and Twitter account. My blog is at www.pennygrubb.blogspot.com
SA: Given unlimited resources, what would be your ideal writing environment?
PG: Given unlimited resources, I would do other things than change my writing environment. As with so many things today, there is always pressure to change, to get the new version, to expand. Mostly, it isn’t needed and doesn’t lead to any marked improvement. My writing environment is just fine as it is.SA: Where do you actually write?
PG: I have trained myself, perforce, not to be at all precious about where I write. Sure I love to sit in my study at home and probably do most of my writing there, but I also take my laptop out into the garden or lounge in front of the TV with it. My day jobs mean I travel a lot, so I also write on trains, in the car (not whilst driving) and sitting in hotel bedrooms at those desks that are never quite the right height.
Thursday 22 July 2010
Interview with Avril Field-Taylor
Avril Field-Taylor, writer, singer and librarian, has written more or less since she could form words. A lover of crime fiction, she is engaged in a series of novels about her singing sleuth, Georgia Pattison: the first is published as Dearly Ransomed Soul and is a very good read. The second is currently seeking a publisher and more are on the way. But, a fan of Conan Doyle’s famous detective, she has also published a Sherlock Holmes novel, Murder at Oakwood Grange. This is a great detective story and I thoroughly enjoyed it. At present, Avril is working on a Tudor detective story, set in an alternative historical background around the time of Henry VIII. A prize-winning short story writer, she lives and works on the coast of East Yorkshire, where she can take her beloved dog for a walk by the refreshing sea after a day spent bashing the keys or researching.
SA: What qualities do you need to be a successful writer?
AFT: Persistence. Determination. Belief that somebody, somewhere, sometime is going to want to publish what you’ve written. Never to be precious about your prose.
SA: What is your working method?
AFT: It’s a job. Begin at 8 or 8.30, break for lunch, knock off at 4. I do lots of research, know my last line and my first line. Write about five chapters and then write the end, go back and work towards it. The end usually gets trashed, but it gives a good sense of direction.
SA: How do you know where to begin any given story?
AFT: I don’t always. Sometimes, it will be a phrase that comes along with a mental picture of a scene. I might write it and it doesn’t gel. I keep going until there’s a sentence that is essentially in the middle of the action and the first line becomes clearer in my head.
SA: How long does it normally take you to write a novel?
AFT: Between 3 and 4 months, first draft.
SA: Do you have support either from family and friends or a writing group?
AFT: All three. My husband is a constant rock on whom I lean and, truth be told, without his encouragement, I couldn’t write. My close friends have complete belief in me and one, in particular, is my Ideal Reader – the one person I know and trust to tell me it’s rubbish if it is. The local writing group are all published authors, unfailingly supportive, but ruthlessly honest, something every writer needs.
SA: What are you writing now?
AFT: The sequel to “Duty of Evil”, my alternate history crime novel. It doesn’t have a title yet.
SA: Is there any aspect of writing that you really enjoy?
AFT: Yep! Plotting. The more convoluted and complicated the better and then ensuring that all the twisted strands can be put in their proper place, so that the story holds together in a coherent whole.SA: Given unlimited resources, what would be your ideal writing environment?
AFT: In front of windows with a stunning view.
SA: Do you have a website or blog?
AFT: www.avrilfieldtaylor.co.uk. There is a link to the blog from there.
SA; Where do you actually write?
AFT: In my office and hopefully, soon, my writers’ cabin, The Word Shed.
You can get the books online from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, WH Smith, Waterstones, Book Depository, etc and to order from bookshops. Both are £6.99. Murder at Oakwood Grange - ISBN9781906558871. Dearly Ransomed Soul – ISBN9781849231336
Tuesday 20 July 2010
An Open Invitation to Authors for Interview on This Blog.
This is an open invitation to all authors, published traditionally or through self-publishing, to have an interview on my blog. See the previous post for an example.
Please provide answers to all or any of the questions below, in any order you choose, or, by all means include questions of your own, if you feel so inclined. If you provide a book cover picture and/or portrait of yourself, I will try to use them on the blog. Also, please make sure you let me have links to your blog, website and those places where your book can be bought.
Email these as attachments to me using the ‘Contact me’ link underneath the Welcome.
Please use .doc, .docx, or .rtf for text and .jpeg or .jpg for pictures.
Suggested Author Interview Questions:
1. Tell us about (your current book title) in a few sentences.
2. What qualities do you need to be a successful writer?
3. What is your working method?
4. What is the single biggest mistake made by beginners to writing?
5. How did you come to write this particular book?
6. If you have a favourite character in your novel, why that particular one?
7. How can people buy your book(s)?
8. To what extent are grammar and spelling important to a writer?
9. How much revision of your MS do you do before you send it off?
10. Where and when is your novel set and why did you make these specific choices?
11. To what extent do you think genre is useful in the publishing world?
12. What are your writing habits?
13. How do you know where to begin any given story?
14. What sort of displacement activities keep you from actually writing?
15. Do you have support, either from family and friends or a writing group?
16. Is presentation of the MS as important as most agents and publishers suggest?
17. How long does it normally take you to write a novel?
18. What are your inspirations?
19. If there’s a single aspect to writing that really frustrates you, what is it?
20. Do you think writing is a natural gift or an acquired skill?
21. What are you writing now?
22. Is there any aspect of writing that you really enjoy?
23. Do you have a website or a blog that readers can visit?
24. Given unlimited resources, what would be your ideal writing environment?
25. Where do you actually write?
Word of the Day: realism – in literature, realism is a portrayal of life as it really is; as opposed to romanticism, which depicts life as we would have it.
Monday 19 July 2010
Interview with Yorkshire author Stuart Aken
A short while ago, one of my writing group offered me an interview on her website. I was so taken with this idea that I have decided to adopt it for my own blog. I shall issue an open invitation in the next post, giving details of how authors can participate. Those who contact me will be featured on a first come first served basis. Author interviews are a source of interest for both readers and writers, and it is that group of people I am trying to reach here. As a taster for the series, I am featuring the interview Avril did with me, reproduced below, with Avril's permission.
Interview with Yorkshire author Stuart Aken.
Stuart Aken is a talented man in all senses of the word. He has overcome reverses that would flatten most people. Happily married for many years, he has found success in various spheres of the working world. His abiding passion, though, is writing, although he would probably call it a compulsion. Successful crime writer Penny Grubb says of Aken's writing that it has a magic quality achieved by few. High praise indeed.You can find out much more about Stuart on his website:
http://http://www.stuartaken.co.uk
AFT: Breaking Faith is set in the Yorkshire Dales during the 1976 heat wave. What prompted your choice of location and period?
SA: In the words of Max Boyce, ‘I was there.’ Believe it or not, the initial inspiration for the book came to me on a visit to the Buttertubs, in the Dales, at that time. I looked into the depths and wondered how I would feel if I discovered a body down there. From that simple question, the rest of the book eventually flowed. The Yorkshire Dales is acknowledged for its exceptional landscapes and it’s a place I know well. The heat wave was a useful backdrop to a story which needed a credible climate in which the action could take place: few would enjoy being naked in the area’s usual weather conditions. 1976 was long before the era of the ubiquitous mobile phone, an item that would have altered the tone of the novel. It was a time when fashion and the ideas of youth were still fresh enough to encourage experimentation. Cameras used film and a good printing assistant was still necessary for any professional photographer.
AFT: Some might consider there is a strong erotic edge to the novel; is this a marketing ploy or does it serve another purpose?
SA: I’m fascinated by our modern attitude to nudity and the body in particular. As a culture, we are fast approaching the extreme level of hypocrisy that has long existed in the USA. It’s the largest producer and user of pornography but has a puritanical attitude bordering on insanity. Our world is dominated by double standards imposed by Judo-Christian ethics that pretend to celebrate creation whilst denigrating the means of creation in humans. The Islamic world has, of course, taken this duplicity to even greater extremes. The word, ‘love’ is misused to the extent it has no real meaning to many people. Yet, for those who have experienced it, love is so superior to mere sex that it almost defies definition. I wanted Faith to be subject to the prevalent attitudes regarding sex but to actually experience love. She is forced to witness the destructive forces that can accompany sex whilst appreciating the positive force of love; her choice of honesty over deception is what the book is about.
AFT: What made you choose an innocent as your eponymous lead character?
SA: We live in a world where innocence is damaged almost from birth. Goodness, truth and honesty are qualities we pretend to value whilst we indulge in behaviour that destroys these things. Faith was an innocent in the material sense but damaged by her father’s hypocritical insistence on adherence to an extreme version of Christianity. This is only hinted at in the novel, as I wanted his cult to represent all organised religion. The effect of organised religion, as opposed to spirituality, is to distort truth and turn it into a commodity that can be exploited and used as a power base for the unworthy to govern those too lazy to think for themselves. Children are effectively brainwashed from infancy into believing the set of myths and untruths that their parents and peers were brought up with. It is such an insidious force in society that most people are not even aware of its continuing influence on their lives. The very language we use is riddled with religious imagery and ideas, so that it is impossible to escape its influence. I wanted to employ an innocent so that she could rise above much of the hidden influence and expose it, but I had to make sure I didn’t overdo this and proselytise.
AFT: One can’t help but be aware that photography plays a huge part in the story, almost like another character, in fact. Or is it perhaps an allegory?
SA: I was a professional photographer for some time, and worked with models during my early career. Photography is an excellent recording medium that is also capable of functioning as an art form. It has an unfortunate side effect in its representation of reality in two dimensions, as this can affect the photographer, making him unaware of depth in other aspects of life. It is this superficiality that Faith makes clear to Leigh, of course. But there is also a sense in which the mistaken 'belief' of the photographer in the purity of his images, echoes the blind faith that religious people place in their particular doctrines, ignoring the fact that theirs is but one interpretation amongst many when it comes to defining both God and true morality. Organised religion, by its very nature, cannot help but be superficial, since it reduces enormous questions to a set of dogmas that barely address the real issues, let alone provide answers. Photography is, of course, also considered ‘glamorous’ and is therefore a fitting occupation for the necessary alpha male of the romance.
AFT: You have had a number of short stories published as well as a radio play on BBC Radio 4. What advice would you give to new writers?
SA: Write only if you are compelled to. Writing is something that almost every literate person can engage in but good writing, writing with something worthwhile to say, even writing that is simply entertaining, requires a degree of dedication bordering on the obsessive. There are many people who write for fun but then want to be published. Such writing is fine for personal fulfilment but it’s self-indulgent to impose it on the reading public and it clogs up the works for those who have real talent. If you must write, and I mean that literally, then do so but ensure that everything you write is the best it can possibly be.
AFT: What are you currently writing?
SA: I’m working on the first volume of a three part fantasy series. It’s an adventure and a quest set in an invented world and centres on, surprise, surprise, organised religion and its corrupting power. I’d like to entertain those with open minds whilst inciting the dogmatic into fits of apoplexy. And, yes, I intend to make it a good read.
For Avril's Blog go to - http://silversongbird-seasidescribblings.blogspot.com/
For Avril's website go to - http://www.avrilfieldtaylor.co.uk/index.html
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