How Should A Story Begin?

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As a reader, do you like your stories to begin with a bang, or do you prefer a slow build-up, perhaps a question to be answered, some mystery introduced? As a writer, do you hook readers or do you tempt them, tease them with small tit-bits of information, make them so involved with your characters that they feel compelled to continue to read?

It's generally considered, by those who are supposed to know such things, that the best way to persuade a reader to travel through the first paragraph and beyond is to engage their interest. And, logically, that makes sense, of course. But it's the how of this that interests me. It comes down, I imagine, to the type of book you're reading or writing. The action book needs to grab the reader at once, posing some threat or challenge that must be faced and resolved by the hero. The love story requires that the reader cares about the heroine and is quickly engaged by her potential lover. The literary story can begin more slowly, more deliberately, with fascinating language and images presented in words well chosen. The crime novel employs the body in the library, or the detective about to embark on a new mystery.

So, this is a matter of horses for courses. I write in many genres and always try to engage the reader with the main character(s) as early as possible. I want readers to care what happens to the people in my stories. If I can introduce an air of menace, intrigue, mystery or simple desire, to fit the story, then I feel I've gone a long way to keeping the reader interested. Some writers, especially when they begin the craft, try to tell the reader too much in one go and drown the reader in facts, forgetting that they can be shown these things as the story unfolds.

So, I ask you; what do you prefer to read as an introduction to a new story? What's your approach as a writer to the beginning of a new tale? Please comment and let others know whether your response is as reader or writer.

Thank you.

A Blog For and About Women

Just came across this site via LinkedIn and thought all my female (and some of the more enlightened male) readers might like to have a look at this. It deals with feminine issues in a caring way.

Kindle - The Process of Publishing Your eBook.

Image via WikipediaHave you tried to publish your work as an eBook on Amazon's Kindle? I published my print novel, Breaking Faith, as an eBook on Smashwords a short while ago and reproduced an article about Brian S. Pratt, a very successful Smashwords author, on this blog. But I was informed by a Kindle owner that using Smashwords for that platform is not so simple as it is direct through the Kindle Store, where it is a one click operation.

I decided to try to place the novel as a Kindle eBook so that potential readers have that option. The first step is to join Amazon's Digital Text Platform ,which gives all the details of how you go about this slightly convoluted process. I'd advise that you first download Kindle for PC , which will allow you to read Kindle books on your PC. Many of these are free, including the instruction book - Publish on Amazon Kindle Using the Digital Text Platform - which details the process in fairly straightforward language.

The instructions need to be followed closely, or the eBook will look poor on the Kindle and you will appear as an amateur (something I risk as I write this, since it takes 48 hours for Amazon to 'approve' your submission, and you can't sample the result until after this).

I had already simplified the text of my novel and compiled an anthology of short stories, A Sackful of Shorts, for my writing group, Hornsea Writers, to place them onto the Smashwords site and I advise you to do the same. The fewer bells and whistles you have on the document, the better will be the result on the eReader.
Ideally, you need to convert your Word doc into an HTML doc (in Word 2007, this means going to the 'Save as' area and selecting 'Web' from the drop down list). Basically, I copied and pasted my single Word doc into Windows Notepad to strip it of all formatting, and then pasted it from there into Word as a 97-2003    compatible document. I replaced the first line indents using the 'paragraph' tab, formatted the whole text as 12 point Times New Roman, and replaced the curly quotes with straight ones.
You'll also need a cover picture, which can be uploaded as either a TIFF or JPG file - they recommend a size of 600x800 pixels for this. You'll need a blurb of up to 4,000 characters as your sales pitch and you'll need to choose the genre you want it to appear in - they give you up to five options.

Pricing is more or less up to you, as the author, but I advise you to read the agreements thoroughly to work out which you feel will best serve you. Many authors make their first eBook free in an attempt to garner more readers in readiness for their subsequent books. And this has worked well for some.

Finally, if you run a website or a blog, I'd suggest you open an Amazon Associate account  which will allow you place various widgets on your site - see the sidebar right and the advert at the foot of the blog. This allows readers of the blog to search and buy from your site. It costs the customer no more than if they visited Amazon directly but it earns you a few pennies or cents and helps keep the blog/website viable.

So, hopefully, I've given you an introduction to this area of enterprise and enough information to help you make a start as a writer. If you're a reader, hopefully I've supplied you with an insight into the why and how of independent author eBook publishing, which might persuade you to look for such books in the future.

Anthology Progressing Even More Slowly

Sorry, head full of cotton wool - I've got a head cold. So, this is all taking rather longer than intended. But it will be done. I thank you for your patience.

The Sci-Fi Anthology Progresses, Slowly.

Image via CrunchBaseSo far untitled, the collection of my science fiction stories I'm currently putting together is well under way. There's a need for some minor editing and formatting before I can transform the text into the style needed by the machinery at Smashwords that converts text into the formats suitable for the many available eReader platforms.
I'm also gathering images to use for a cover design for the project. I don't suppose any of you know of any good sites that allow free commercial use of images, by any chance?

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all my Readers

Image via WikipediaI'd just like to take this opportunity to wish a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all my Readers. And, for those of you who don't subscribe to the Christian rites, Happy Yuletide - a pagan ceremony far more ancient than the current one it preceded.

Website Still Suffering Problems

Image by stuartaken via FlickrI still can't get onto my website to update it. Sorry about this. Looks as though the problem won't be sorted now until after Xmas.
In the meantime, please take full advantage of all the stuff on the blog here, add your comments, follow the blog for updates etc.
I'm in the process of compiling some anthologies, so watch this space for news of that. Currently working on a sci-fi collection.
Oh, and the picture to the right? That's me, aged 11, as photographed by my father for the family Christmas card that year. By all means, send me your observations.

Is The Best Fiction Plot Or Character Driven?

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Following on from yesterday's post, about character development, I'd like to explore how writers develop stories, and discover from readers whether they prefer plot or character driven tales.

All my fiction is character driven. I've tried writing from plot – I once wrote 80,000 words of a thriller in longhand and binned the whole thing because I didn't connect with any of the characters. If I couldn't connect, how could I expect my readers to empathise?

Although fiction is no more than a mirror to life, it deals with relationships more than any other aspect of living. Relationships are the lifeblood of social life and inherently dependent on the nature of the characters involved. It seems to me, therefore, that a book that pays little attention to character development is less a reflection on real life and more a narrative on imagined actions. There can be little depth in such fiction, surely? In order to create a work with any real meaning, isn't it essential for the writer to get into the skin of his characters?

There's a gender factor here, of course. And I understand I'll inevitably offend some people when I suggest that action novels are popular amongst the male readership because a lot of men are emotionally immature. Do you agree? The hugely successful genre of 'romance' is frequently vilified, mostly by men, for being too sentimental. Whilst I've read romance which falls into that category, I've read a great deal more that deals honestly and in depth with real emotion and depicts thoroughly imagined people travelling through events that test and question them. In fact, I'd say that the most satisfying reads I've enjoyed have been, in one sense or another, in the romance genre.

Plot driven fiction is generally action led; the Bond books, war stories, much science fiction, westerns, are all the sort of escapist fiction where little effort goes into the true natures of the characters. In these stories, stereotypes are often considered good enough to carry through the action. As long as movement is rapid and compelling enough, it takes the reader through the story without allowing time for the pause that might raise the questions; why is he doing this? What motivates this person? Does he have any finer feelings? But these questions are often of little interest to the readers of such books.

I realise, of course, that there are romances where action takes a front seat, in the same way as there are novels with intricate plots where character provides the momentum. But I've tried, here, to form the basis of a discussion by making a few suggestions.

Now it's your turn. Please comment and let me know your take on this topic. I'd be interested to know whether you're making your contribution as a reader or a writer, by the way.

Time to write

Image via WikipediaFor the past few months, I have been busy blogging, on a daily basis. This has slowly eroded my time available for writing. Also, changing the current post so often leaves little time for followers or casual visitors to respond. So, starting this week, I intend to make a scheduled post just once a week. I've chosen to make the changes on Thursdays at 16.00 GMT, simply because that best suits my work patterns.
From time to time, I'll insert an odd post, when something strikes me as interesting to my readers. And I might also start posting a work in progress piece, to keep readers informed of my current writing projects.
So, the current series of posts on aspects of writing and reading, which started with the question about character development, will now run as a weekly, rather than a daily event.
I look forward, as ever, to input from everybody who has an interest in reading and writing, and I welcome all comments. You can comment as a casual visitor or, more easily, as a follower of the blog. But you are all welcome here.

Website suffering problems

The host for my website has changed servers and I can no longer make changes to the site. This is a temporary situation and should soon be resolved. Please bear with me until I can bring the site back up to date.
Thanks.

Where Do Fictional Characters Come From?

Image by andyi via Flickr

Fiction writing is utterly dependent on the characters that carry the story, but where do they come from? Mine usually develop initially from gender, age, sexuality and physical type, according to the basic needs of the story outline I carry in my head. At this stage, I usually know only that I need x number of men and women to carry through the plot, such as it is.

The next stage, as the amorphous strands of the story start to cohere, is to find an image resembling the imagined character. I have a file of pictures, gathered during a lifetime of writing, holding a few thousand images of both genders. From this I can usually find a picture that fits my character well enough for the next part of the process.

For this, I use a preformed table in Word, which asks me various questions about the physical attributes of the character: eye, hair and skin colour, age, weight, height, etc. It also has open spaces for such aspects as political, religious, social and relational qualities. I write a short biography and ask some questions of the character and then name the file with the character's chosen moniker and place it in the folder that will eventually contain the story itself.

Because I generally write fiction driven by my characters, I tend to gather my participating people (and animals, where required) together first. Only when I have the cast assembled does the story start to properly develop.

My characters are never identifiable as individuals I know. But I do always use characteristics of associates, both close and distant. And all my characters, good, bad and neutral, contain something of myself, of course.

So, my question for you is this: How do you go about character development and selection? Please place a comment and we can open a discussion here to inform, educate and enlighten all.

Thank you.

Review of The Potter's House by Rosie Thomas

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In The Potter's House, Rosie Thomas has constructed a story that demonstrates the complexities of the human spirit. The relationships between the various and disparate characters are drawn so convincingly that the reader is quickly drawn into the novel, wanting to know more about these complicated people. Her skill in creating such believable characters is matched by her ability to tell a fascinating tale in which all human emotions are explored. And her use of language is both subtle and startling, bringing events to life so that the reader feels present and involved.

I don't generally summarise a novel when reviewing; my interest lies in the way a book is written and the mastery or otherwise of the language used by the author. In The Potter's House, the author proves her skill in all areas of writing and shows her readers how her characters feel, see and live. There is excitement, pathos, laughter, love, sadness and more in this fascinating story. I was unable to finish it at one sitting for purely practical reasons; but had I had the opportunity, I would have read it from cover to cover without pause, so engrossing was the interplay between the people of her imagination.

The air of mystery surrounding Cary/Kitty is intriguing, allowing her slightly fey nature to surface in a way that is entirely believable. The strength of Olivia is cleverly contrasted with her doubts and fears as the other woman intrudes into her world and turns it upside down. The Greek islands are my favourite holiday destination and here the lives of the ordinary islanders are brought to life both convincingly and in affectionate detail.

If you like your fiction to deal with real people facing real situations, affectionately but truthfully depicted, then this is a book you will enjoy. I have no hesitation in recommending it.

Wordle Image of the Blog

Thought it was time for another of these interesting illustrations for the blog. Try one for yourself by visiting the Wordle website. 

AUTHOR INTERVIEW WITH CHRISTA POLKINHORN

Christa Polkinhorn, originally from Switzerland, lives and works as writer and translator in Santa Monica, California. She divides her time between the United States and Switzerland and has strong ties to both countries. The tension and excitement this "double life" creates informs her work. Among her many interests, aside from writing, are traveling, studying foreign languages and cultures, drawing and painting, meeting people and forming friendships. Christa has published poems in various literary magazines, a collection of poems, Path of Fire, 2002, published by Finishing Line Press, and her debut novel, Love of a Stonemason.

Tell us about Love of a Stonemason in a few sentences.

 Love of a Stonemason is a story about the struggle of two artists with their past, their family, their creativity, and their love for each other. Told from the point of view of Karla, a young painter, it depicts the world through her artistic sensibility. It takes the reader on a journey full of sights, smells, tastes, and sounds from the south of Switzerland to Italy and the Peruvian Andes. 

Here is a short blurb: Karla Bocelli is no stranger to loss. When she was five years old, her mother died in a car crash in the south of Switzerland. Her Peruvian father lives at the other end of the world, and a year ago, her aunt and guardian passed away. Now, at age twenty-four, Karla almost gets hit by a speeding car. As if this wasn’t fateful enough, Andreas, the driver, turns out to be a sculptor and carver of tombstones. In spite of his profession, Andreas is anything but morbid. Quick-tempered and intense, he exudes a rough-and-tumble energy. After a tumultuous start of their relationship, Karla comes to see in Andreas the "rock in her life," the perfect antidote to her fears of abandonment and bouts of depression. Andreas, however, wrestles with his own ghosts: an alcoholic father who abused him as a child and his own fits of anger. Together, the two artists must confront the demons that haunt them.

  

How did you come to write this particular book?

The initial trigger was an intense personal experience. At the end of 2005, I lost my mother and found myself to be the sole survivor of our immediate family in Switzerland, my only sister and my father having died earlier. Death and its impact—the pain of loss and loneliness—plays an important in the life of the main character in the novel. My father was an artist in his younger years. I talked to a stonemason about the tombstone on my parents’ grave. Some of my relatives live in the south of Switzerland and my visits in Italy and Peru also found their way into the novel. The final product was a completely fictional story. While writing Love of a Stonemason, I was rarely conscious of any one particular person, incidence, or experience, which influenced me. Some of it came to me much later. I had many “aha”-moments half-way into the novel or even after it was finished. One of the most fascinating aspects of the creative process is the way consciousness and the unconscious work together to produce something unique and new.

If you have a favorite character in your novel, why that particular one?

Both main characters, Karla and Andreas, are flawed but I fell in love with them as I created them. When I was writing the book, they became more real to me than some of the “real” persons in my life. It was a little unsettling, to say the least.

How can people buy your book?

Love of a Stonemason is available as ebook for the Kindle reader at Amazon, both in the USA and in the UK, and in various other ebook formats at Smashwords. It is also available as paperback at Amazon.

Here are the links: My Author’s Page at Amazon.com, USA

Love of a Stonemason at Amazon, UK

Love of a Stonemason in various ebook formats at Smashwords

What qualities make a successful writer?

Passion, willingness to practice one’s craft, to revise, and to learn from one’s mistakes, patience, insistence, and, yes, some talent.

How do you set about writing a piece?

I don’t have a set approach. I have an idea and start writing. After a while, somewhat of a rough outline begins to develop, which I change as I go along. When the piece feels like it’s coming together, I sometimes write a blurb or a short synopsis. Once in a while, I write the last chapter early on but I often change it because the work leads me in a different direction.

Beginning writers make many mistakes; what do you think is the most harmful?

Talking about wanting to be a writer and not doing it. I have several friends who told me after I published my novel that they were thinking about writing, but then gave me a ton of excuses why they didn’t have enough time and so on. My answer: If you want to write, you have to do it. Stop making excuses. If you only write one page a day, double-spaced, then after a year, you have a 365 page manuscript!

To what extent are grammar and spelling important to a writer?

That’s a non-brainer, isn’t it? Of course, they are important. You can have the most interesting plot in the world but if your work is full of spelling mistakes, if the style doesn’t fit the content, you lose most sophisticated readers.

How much revision of your MS do you do before you send it off?

I revise it myself many times and then I hand it over to a professional editor. First of all, I do my creative writing in English, which is not my native language. My native language is German (Swiss German actually). Although, I have lived more than half of my life in the United States and am fluent in English, I still feel I need a native speaker to point out awkward expressions or flawed syntax. So, yes, I wouldn’t think of publishing anything without having it proofread and edited. And even with all the proofreading by a professional editor, some minor mistakes still remain. A work is really never done. I am in the process of translating my novel into German and as a translator, you are really close to the text and you find all those little blunders you didn’t notice before. It’s aggravating and I have uploaded new versions of my novel several times. That’s the one big advantage of ebooks; they are fairly easy to update. With paperbacks, it’s a little more cumbersome.

To what extent do you think genre is useful in the publishing world?

I dislike genre labels because they are limiting and often misleading. Is a novel about love and relationships a “romance?” Perhaps, but not necessarily. What do you call a book which deals with love between a man and a woman and at the same time with relationships between parents and children and the creative process of artists? An art romance? An art-family-saga? I think most great works of literature cross genres. The only genres that make any sense to me are “Fiction” and “Non Fiction.”

Do you have support, either from family and friends or a writing group?

My friends and family are very supportive. I have joined writing groups in the past and may do so again in the future. Ultimately though, writing is a solitary process. You have to be willing to spend quite a bit of time by yourself. I have known people who join workshops for years and never produce a finished piece of work. There is a great article by Michael Ventura, an American author, about writing: The Talent of the Room. I have it pinned to the wall in my writing corner at home.

If there’s a single aspect to writing that really frustrates you, what is it?

That’s probably the same for many authors: sitting in front of a piece of paper or a computer screen, chewing your fingers, and not knowing what to write. Writer’s block. It happens sometimes.

Is there any aspect of writing that you really enjoy?

There are moments of elation when something inside me clicks and a paragraph or chapter feels just right, when the characters on the page become alive. Those moments make up for all the drudgery of sitting at my desk or on my sofa, struggling with words and ideas. Writing for me is a process of discovery, of exploring things in the world around me and in myself. There is a quotation I recently read by May Sarton, the author of Mrs. Stevens hears the Mermaids Singing: “Love opens the doors into everything, as far as I can see, including and perhaps most of all, the door into one's own secret, and often terrible and frightening, real self.” You can replace “love” by “writing” and it would fit.

What are you writing now?

I just finished the rough draft of a second novel with the working title “An Uncommon Family.” You can read the first three preliminary chapters on my blog: http://christa-polkinhorn.blogspot.com/

Do you have a website or a blog that readers can visit?

Yes, my website, which also leads to my blog, is www.christa-polkinhorn.com

Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to be interviewed. I enjoy your blog and the interesting topics!

Christa

___________________________________
Christa Polkinhorn
Bookworm Press
Tel/Fax: 310-393-7199
E-Mail:  (primary), (secondary)

Author Interview with Poppet

Poppet lives in her own little world, and suffers from an intense crush on Cupid. So much so she's taken up archery to impress him. She's currently giving up her addiction to sarcasm by going cold turkey, loves jelly beans, and has a closet Lamborghini fetish. She also thinks planets rock, because they take up space.

Tell us about Darkroom in a few sentences.

Darkroom is a psychological thriller containing horror elements. It's set in Cape Town, where the female character Phoebe escapes to get away from her stalker. Vengeance is the alter ego for religious megalomaniac and psychopath Victor Ward. Raised to believe he's doing God's duty by torturing sin out of sinners (women sinners), Victor chooses to purify Phoebe. She's the first woman he's done this to who survives and moves into phase two of his diabolical plan. He can only marry a resurrected angel who is pure. Using reverse psychology and manipulation Victor insinuates himself into her life and pulls this off. Phoebe ends up falling in love with the very same person who destroyed her life and he continues to undermine her and abuse her as he struggles between his two aspects of Victor and Vengeance.

Exploits came out in November, and that book is about how easy it is for a young woman with no life experience to be sucked into a detrimental relationship. It's told with bags of humour because the story is quite serious. It's written to highlight what I call *victim mentality* - to help readers either identify with the character Stefanie and learn to notice the warning signs of an abusive relationship, or to show friends who all know someone like this, to see how their friend thinks to help them to get through to them and away from a bad relationship. (or buy the book and get her to read it). It's a coming of age story which results in defining what love matters most. It's never what a young woman thinks it is.

What was your journey as a writer?

Long. Many years ago I found an agent who charged me to review my work. I didn't realise it at the time but she was a rip off artist. She told me to gain writing credibility by first getting published in magazines (which I did). I did this for years, and kept going back to her for phase two. I wrote more than a million words worth of books, which after paying her to review each one and achieve the conditions (like getting published for credibility) - she eventually turned me down and said she only publishes diaries (WHAT?!)

Completely frustrated I turned to the online community, submitting to publishers and agents for years (to no avail). I joined Authonomy where the peer writers gave me invaluable writing critiques, divorcing my ego from the end product. This helped me to polish my style and find my writing voice. I received an editor's star for my novel Exploits in August 2009, which was signed with a publisher in March 2010. In August I also managed to get an agent for Exploits (based in Ireland). However she seldom communicated with me, seldom gave me any kind of feedback, and completely ignored me when I sought her advice on signing with the first publisher to accept Exploits. (So I gave up the idea of having an agent as my experience with them was utterly dismal).

Six months after signing Exploits, Darkroom was signed with Wild Wolf Publishing. After six months of editing Exploits I broke away from the contract with that publisher because I was unhappy. Fortunately for me Exploits was signed again just a few weeks later with UK publisher Night Publishing (who assured me that author happiness comes first with them) putting me at ease. Inside of two months of being accepted with Wild Wolf Publishing in the UK, Darkroom was out and available. This makes me a three times signed author in just this year. I also was part of an anthology released in October titled Under A Harvest Moon, where I submitted two stories (one horror -one romance) and designed the cover. I continue to submit work for free and have poetry out each month at SNM Horror Magazine. I do book reviews for a few publishing houses, and continue to write and submit my work out to agents and publishers. Becoming an author is a long journey, a costly journey, and until you've sold many copies and created a decent reputation as an author capable of consistently putting out high quality writing, you will also remain the poor artist. Being published is simply the beginning of another long journey to prove I am worthy of the public's support.

If you have a favourite character in your novel, why that particular one?

I'm going to skip novels here and mention my favourite character is Seithe. He's a demi-mortal who makes life really fun, mysterious, and a whole new experience.

What authors most inspire you?

Authors who have managed to achieve the level of success I hope to achieve. I greatly respect Rowling, because she tried a new genre and it paid off for her (despite it not being popular at the time she created an entirely new genre for children and it paid off for her and her publisher). I like authors who are willing to take a few risks (and publishers who let them).

How can people buy your books?

From my publisher directly: http://wildwolfpublishing.com/Poppet.aspx
Nooks from Barnes & Noble: Exploits here  and Fey's Adventures here.
From Amazon and from Smashwords.

Darkroom as Kindle.

What qualities make a successful writer?

Tenacity and a good story well told.

How was your experience with Wild Wolf Publishing?

Magnificent. They are efficient, dedicated, and workaholics. They communicate regularly, answer every email quickly, are willing to help their authors every way they can (with some delightful surprises thrown in). They review quickly, once they accept a book they offer the contract within a few days. After signing the contract I did a formatting edit, and the very same month my book came out. They work with you on every level and they accept personal boundaries without question. In short, I think they rock.

Beginning writers make many mistakes; what do you think is the most harmful?

The most harmful is the ego attachment to the work. This makes them deaf to criticism. All criticism ends up being useful. It takes time for any writer to realise this.

What is your writing process?

Obsession and dedication. Commit to write the book, do your research beforehand, then give yourself a deadline and stick to it. I'd like writing to be my career, which means being as dedicated to it as a full time job would entail. Eight hours a day (at least) splitting your time up between blogging, reviewing, social networking, PR, and writing. An author's role is synonymous with multitasking. In this day authors are as responsible for their success as their publishing house. If you don't have a huge marketing budget, you have to subsidize your writing with PR and communicating with reviewers and bloggers to help spread the word about your book. I miss the days when I could write all day. A few years ago I was paralyzed, and as I recovered I had the freedom to slowly type all day. I don't miss being paralyzed, but I do miss having the free time to fully immerse myself inside my latest project and just write.

How much revision of your MS do you do before you send it off?

A lot. I edit each one at least 10 times. And I still miss things. It's not perfect until every surplus thing is removed.

To what extent do you think genre is useful in the publishing world?

I think it helps people purchase books they most enjoy. So yes I think genre is important.

How do you know where to begin any given story?

I begin with the scene in my head and work around it. Adding a beginning and what follows the scene as the bigger picture unfolds.

What sort of displacement activities keep you from actually writing?

Life :). Chores, responsibilities, and blogging and PR take a lot of time away from my love of sitting down to write.

Do you have support, either from family and friends or a writing group?

I have a number of author friends. I rely on them heavily for honest feedback and to share my journey with me.

Is presentation of the MS as important as most agents and publishers suggest?

I'm not sure. I don't think I've had any typical publisher relationships. I can say the publishers I'm with do not demand a lot from me after submission.

How long does it normally take you to write a novel, book, play, poem or story?

Three months for a novel. A poem maybe twenty minutes.

Who or what inspires you?

Everything inspires me. I find inspiration everywhere and in everything. I nearly drowned in January last year and my first thought when I got back to the beach was *now I can write that*. It's awful but I people watch, and listen a lot to pick up nuances for new characters.

If there’s a single aspect to writing that really frustrates you, what is it?

I tend to use the same word again and again while I write, and then have to go back eliminating the repetition.

Is there any aspect of writing that you really enjoy?

The feedback that it kept the reader engaged the entire way through, where they didn't want to stop, and read it in one sitting. This gives me such pleasure.

Do you think writing is a natural gift or an acquired skill?

I think writing is a natural gift but editing it well is an acquired skill.

What single piece of advice would you give to writers still hoping to be published?

Don't give up. It takes a lot of rejections to get anywhere. Look at rejection as elimination of people you wouldn't work well with.

What are you writing now?

A romance horror.

Do you have a website or a blog that readers can visit?

Yes. Many:

My Amazon Page is here.

I'm on Facebook here.

And on Twitter here.

I blog here.

And my website is here.

Given unlimited resources, what would be your ideal writing environment?

A library of my own. That is my dream.

Where do you actually write?

In a corner of my gym where I've set up my office.

Thanks

Poppet

Word of the Day

Image by pashasha via Flickr

Absurd; not consistent with common sense, logic or reason, inviting ridicule, incongruous. 'Marilyn Monroe was worshipped as an ikon of beauty and sexuality but placed in the absurd position of having to appear pure by the bosses of her studio.

Interview with Andy Naylor, Author.

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Andy Naylor is a Welsh comedian/writer living in London. He has performed at two Edinburgh Festivals as part of a sketch group and as a stand up comedian, winning the Nicotinel new comedian of the year award in 2007. Devoting most of his twenties to comedy writing has seen him experience some amazing highs, some terrible lows and earn very little money!

A qualified journalist, Naylor is inspired by writers and comedians such as Irvine Welsh, Steve Coogan and Ricky Gervais.  He enjoys putting it about on the five a side pitch, trying his hand at cooking and spending time with his girlfriend who is considerably more attractive than he is!

What are you writing now?

At the moment I am dividing my time equally between writing comedy sketches for my sketch group and feature style articles for a website. I find that the best method of writing both is to sit down and just tap it all out as fast as possible. I leave punctuation and any ideas of revision until I feel I’ve written everything I want down. I think I write in a fairly conversational style and this is both a help and a hindrance! Despite being a qualified English language teacher my grammar goes out of the window when I’m putting the ideas down!

What keeps you from writing?

Unfortunately the main thing that keeps me from writing is real life! As many would be writers find, as enjoyable as sitting down and writing is for me it doesn’t pay the bills yet. The last few weeks I’ve been unemployed and thought it would be a very fruitful time for writing. In some respects it has been but the nagging money worries at the back of my mind are never too far way. I think I’m at my most disciplined when I know money is coming in and I only have a short window to get work done. The comedy sketches can be delayed by the fear that an idea is always funny until it hits the paper. As soon as that happens it is open to judgement, rebuttal and ultimately failure! I take any rejection of comedy ideas quite personally and definitely have to work on this.

Website or blog that visitors can visit?

At the moment I’m writing for a website called palebluenews.co.uk and am in the process of building a site for my sketch group at naylorandgant.com.

Single aspect of writing that frustrates you?

I have always aspired to write a book and hope that one day this will be the case. At the moment though I enjoy the instant feedback and response I get to sketches and articles. I think I lack the necessary discipline needed to sit down and work on longer projects. I also tend to write about myself a lot and find this merges into characters I try to write. I admire anyone all writers who can create books that seemingly have no relation to their experiences or life. I find that level of imagination and inspiration staggering. Hopefully as I get less self involved and more mature I will be able to do this myself!

Who or what inspires you?

Real life stories and situations have always inspired me. I love to read Irvine Welsh as I can always picture exactly what he is writing about. I feel that he has lived and breathed these situations and that he knows exactly what his characters will do. Comedy wise, again I like to watch people. I love scrawling through facebook and looking at status updates. To my cynical mind, a bad day and a depressing status update can instantly create an idea for a scene or a character.

Do you have any support from friends, family a writers group?

I’ve often thought about joining a writers group but time is such a constraint for me that I worry it would be something else that would keep me from actually writing! I also find that by putting my sketches, articles, videos into the public domain now anyway I can receive feedback from varying sources rather than people just interested in writing. It has always amazed me to get praise from the unlikeliest of people as well as constructive criticism.

Where would you like your writing to go?

As my confidence builds from writing longer features, an obvious aim for me would be to write a book. I have ideas that I’ve been booting around for a while and wonder what it will actually take for me to start putting them down on paper. I would like to receive feedback and opinion from the widest circles possible. Only by constantly being subjected to this will I start to develop the tick skin needed to survive this game! For me to be able to live a semi comfortable lifestyle, purely from writing would be a dream come true.   

Is There Such a Thing as an Honest Politician?

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Does politics only attract the wrong sort of people? Is it a place for control freaks to get their fill of domination of others, grafters to squeeze the public purse for whatever they can steal from it, attention seekers to bask in limelight? Of course, there are some good politicians out there; those who do a good job of the duties the office imposes. But the general picture we receive is of corruption, ambition and condescension. My own local MP doesn't see eye to eye with me on a number of topics, but when he refuses to take into account the views of over 80% of his constituents on a given issue, is he being 'honourable' by following his own conscience, or is he simply failing in his duty to those who elected him? He is, after all, supposed to be our representative in this democratic land, not an abuser of the office he has attained.  

What do you see when you look at your local representative in government? What do you see when you look at government in general?

Anthology: A Sackful of Shorts

A Sackful of Shorts is an anthology of 13 diverse short stories from Hornsea Writers, a group of published authors from the East Riding of Yorkshire in England. They're a mixed bunch (I'm one of them) with many different books, stories, plays and articles to their names. Here's a little more information about the collection, the individual stories, and the writers themselves:

Karen Wolfe;  Squirrels - This story won the 2008 BBC Radio 4 Square Dog short story competition, and the Aesthetica Magazine literary prize in 2009.

Karen, writing since early childhood, is never without a headful of Book. Her first love is dogs, and she has, rather appropriately, won the BBC 4 'Square Dog' competition twice in succession, contributing to the American Wolfsongs anthology, and also winning the Aesthetica Magazine literary prize in 2008 and the Village Writers short story competition 2010 with Sparrowban. Her novel, Seers, was published in December 2008, with its sequel, Seers' Moon following in November 2009. She's currently writing Dogwatch, the second in a series of crime-novels (with dogs!) Contact Karen. Interview with Karen.

Avril Field-Taylor; The Gloves Are Off - This story was a prizewinner in 2008 in the Wellington competition.

Avril has been writing most of her adult life, whilst working as a librarian. Giving up work and moving to the east coast, she's found success in writing competitions as well as two published novels. In 2009, she won the Emerging Talent prize for Abbey Hill Literary. Her first book, Dearly Ransomed Soul features her 20th century detective, Georgia Pattison, professional singer and sleuth and Murder at Oakwood Grange is a tribute to Sherlock Holmes. Avril is now writing a series of crime fantasy novels set in an alternate Tudor history at Hampton Court Palace and hopes to see them in print soon. Avril's blog. Interview with Avril.

Stuart Aken; The Best Possible Time - This story won first prize in Writers' Forum Magazine Short Story competition and was published in the July/August issue of the magazine in 2007.

The story was adapted from the original opening chapter of Stuart Aken's novel, Breaking Faith, before changes to the book as it now appears both in ebook form with Smashwords and as a print edition; see his website for details. He runs this blog, tweets regularly on Twitter, and can be found amongst friends on Facebook, where you're welcome to join him.

Many of his short stories have been coontest prize-winners and 3 such have been published in UK national writers' magazine, Writers' Forum. He's also had a play broadcast on UK national radio; BBC Radio 4.

Linda Acaster; Shared With The Light - Linda's published work includes over seventy short stories in genres as diverse as women's, horror, crime, fantasy, mainstream and SF, published in UK, USA and Europe. Her paperback novels include three historicals and contemporary time-slip thriller, Torc of Moonlight, the first of a trilogy set in British university cities. She's also written travel features and opinion pieces for the UK press, and an abundance of articles on the techniques of writing fiction.

Two of her historical novels are available as ebooks, Hostage of the Heart and Beneath The Shining Mountains. Torc of Moonlight : Special Edition includes research features and an interview with the author.

Linda's blog. Interview with Linda.

Annie Wilkinson; Sidestepping King David - Annie was born into a northern mining family, which provided material for a quartet of novels, A Sovereign for a Song, Winning a Wife, No Price too High, and For King and Country. The novels are set in north east England, starting at the beginning of the twentieth century and ending after the Armistice. All the novels are published by Simon and Schuster and are available from Amazon UK , Fantastic Fiction  and Love Reading. A Sovereign for a Song won the Romantic Novelist Association's New Writers' Award in 2004.

Deborah Sutcliffe; Annals Of The Space Clinic (Extracts) - Deborah doesn't 'write' as such, but enjoys wordsmithing when the necessity arises, such as writing indignant letters to the papers, Council, Queen etc. In the case of the 'Annals' she wanted to explore our language and its wonderful spelling. A retired midwife, she believes her past probably explains the direction it took.

Madeleine McDonald; Sisters - This story was first broadcast on BBC Radio Newcastle in 1998

Madeleine left school with a shorthand-typing certificate and the intention of working her way round the world. Life had other plans and she got no further than where Alsace borders Switzerland and Germany. Living in France and cycling over the border to work in Switzerland, she coped with overlapping Germanic dialects. Later she worked as a freelance conference translator for international organisations, which took her to diplomatic capitals all over Europe.

She didn't start writing until her thirties, when she married an Englishman and moved to East Yorkshire. She's a regular newspaper columnist and has had short stories and humorous pieces broadcast on BBC radio, as well as poems published in anthologies. Her romance novel, Enchantment In Morocco, is available from Red Rose Publishing and Fictionwise. Madeleine's blog. Interview with Madeleine.

Penny Grubb - A Fine Kettle Of Fish - This story was shortlisted in an animal-themed competition in 2001 and first appeared in a UK anthology sponsored by the RSPCA in the same year.

Penny is a novelist, writing crime fiction including a series set in the UK featuring PI Annie Raymond. A writer all her life, she penned her first story at age 4 and won her first writing competition at age 9. In 2004 under the name Ellen Grubb she won the Crime Writers' Association's Debut Dagger for her novel, The Doll Makers. In 2010, her novel Like False Money was nominated for the CWA John Creasey Dagger. Her third novel, the Jawbone Gang, is published in May 2011. As well as being a writer, scientist and academic, Penny devotes much of her time protecting writers' rights. Since 2007 she's been Chair of the Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society which collects money due to writers for secondary use of their work, paying out millions of pounds to many thousands of writers every year. Penny's writing has been published in various contexts – novels, non-fiction books, textbooks, academic papers, articles and radio broadcasts. The story in this anthology is one of her rare excursions into short fiction. Contact Penny. Interview with Penny.

Wayne Scott Ross; A Day In The Bowl - This story is part of Wayne's most recent novella and was a prize winner in the prestigious 'New Writers' awards; 'The Black Alice Tales' being a humorous description of life on a Scottish deer estate, based in part on personal experience.

Wayne is a multi genre writer, covering both fact and fiction. L. Ron Hubbards Writers of the Future judges commended him on his novella entry, The Seeds of Legend, and he's had success in the Sci-fi or Fantasy section of the Plane Tree competition. He's currently looking for a publisher for the sci-fi short story anthology, Nastassia in the Rain. Recent novel projects include a contemporary thriller set on a small Scottish island, being a mix of lesbian love, drugs, murder and the shipping forecast.

A graduate engineer, engineering lecturer and consultant, with many years of senior industrial management experience behind him, he had published 'Continuous Improvements, a Step by Step Guide' by Management Books 2000. It has been extremely well received and is standard reading in a number of major British companies. A recently completed film screenplay, Time and Time Again was favourably received by agents, and garnered good reviews. He's also written articles for diverse publications.

Currently he's developing a range of city travel guides for children, each a stand alone adventure story set in the likes of York, Lincoln, Oxford and so on.

Rick Sumner; The Funeral - This story is from an audio tape, Kilby Welfare – Stories from a pit village, read by Paul Copley and Tony Capstick.

Rick, born in Manchester in the early thirties, worked for 11 years in coal mines in Lancashire and Yorkshire. He also made several trips as a deck hand on deep sea trawlers before eventually spending 17 years heading a community advice and support team in Manchester's inner city. Rick moved to Hornsea when he retired. He's had quite a number of short stories published in literary journals but his favourite achievement was the production of the audio tape, Kilby Welfare, Stories from a Pit Village. Copies of the tape can be obtained through Rick at his email address but it's possible the stories may soon be available on a CD.

Pippa Ireland; Men! They're All The Same - This prizewinning story was first published in Bonmarché magazine, winter 2005

Pippa, published poet and award-winning equestrian, made a big splash in the writing world when she organised La Scala Studios' first short story competition in 2010 as a feasibility study for her University course. The competition attracted almost £2000 in sponsorship, a record entry, and culminated in a prestigious prize presentation, following which two of the winning stories were accepted for publication in a national magazine. For her efforts, Pippa won an award for academic excellence and was offered the opportunity to organise the competition on an annual basis for La Scala Studios. Pippa is currently writing a novel, and has previously had poetry and short fiction published.

Mary P Stanley; Construction Over Water - This story was awarded third place in The New Writer Prose and Poetry competition, 2009

Mary is currently completing an MA in Creative Writing at the University of Hull, where she was awarded the Philip Larkin Prize for mixed-genre work in 2008. Her first published literary work, Construction Over Water; An Elegy For Wanda, appeared in The New Writer Collection, July/August 2010. She's previously worked in theatres across Canada as a member of Canadian Actors Equity Association and combines an interest in writing with a love for live theatre.

Len E. Wilx; James Sorts Things Out - Len E. Wilx was born in Yorkshire in 1973. Married to a real life 'James', she currently works full time developing packaging for class A drugs. She has two small children and enjoys food (especially chocolate!), racquet ball and holidays.

So, you can see we're a very mixed bunch. Professionalism, however, links us, along with our love of language and story-telling. We offer one another open, honest and constructive criticism and provide support, advice and practical help where needed. Our weekly gatherings are lively affairs, good-humoured in spite of the frank nature of our discussions. I've gained a huge amount of knowledge and experience by being a member of this group and was delighted to act as editor of this collection of excellent stories. I hope you'll be tempted to read the offering and follow that up by visiting the links to the authors. 

AUTHOR INTERVIEW WITH CHARLENE WILSON

Charlene, please tell us a bit about yourself.

Though my life began in Tampa, Florida, I’ve lived all over the United States and even spent some time in England.  Sure do miss the fish and chips.

 I started writing in my youth when my vivid dreams stayed with me long after I had them.  The people and worlds were so amazing and detailed it was like I knew them inside and out.  You can meet them in my books.  They’re alive there now, learning, loving, and experiencing everything they deserve.

 I currently live in a small community in Arkansas, USA.  Yes, cows wander the field across the street.  I’ve worked in a variety of settings, from bookkeeper to detention deputy.  Wow, to all the different personalities I’ve met.

 I’m the mother of two children, a bird, a cat, and a rag-mop dog.  All-in-all, I love my life.  It affords me the opportunity to do what I love.  Spend time with my family and write, write, write.

Tell us about Cornerstone Deep in a few sentences.

Believe in love.  Believe in soul mates.  Believe the Wizards of Shilo Manor will correct their wrong.  Believe they will infuriate the Noblemen and the Gods of Cornerstone Deep.

How did you come to write this particular book?

The core of Cornerstone Deep came directly from a dream.  The scene in the alley is almost step for step what I saw.  That wasn’t all to the nightmare though.  Dreamer’s omiscience told me so much more.  I knew the man, though I’d never met him before that time.  (He ended up being Cole Shilo)  I knew his heart and though what he was doing was freightening, I was drawn to him with my soul.  The effects of the spell he cast made my actions innocent, naïve.  Though something deep within me cried to be saved, I followed the three men, enraped by being in their presence.  Guess where they led me.  That’s right…I’ll let you read the book.  Lol.  Of course Anna/Mianna became me.  And the story expanded from there.

If you have a favourite character in your novel, why that particular one?

I would have to choose Cole as my favorite character in Cornerstone Deep.  He’s so lost-love sick.  He’s the most romantic hearted character wondering around in my head.  On the outside, he’s moody, hard-hearted.  But get him near his soul mate and his soul takes over.

Where and when is your novel set?

I believe this would best be answered by a character native to Cornerstone Deep.  Mianna, if you would?

Hello, my new friends. Charlene has asked me to take a moment and talk about Cornerstone Deep. I’m very pleased that she has chosen me to introduce you to my world. Naming her debut novel after my dimension is a great honor. Thank you, Charlene.

Actually, Cornerstone Deep is the formal name for Terra. It’s the position we hold in the spectrum of planes. As you know, a cornerstone is a vital part of any building or structure. In this case, you could think of an arch. It begins and ends with a cornerstone supporting each base. The meridian cap joins with the midway sections to make the structure. And yes, we have dimensions called Meridian and Midway. Of course, they have their familiar names, just as we do. Our side of the spectrum’s arch is called Deep and the other side is called Summit. Hence, Cornerstone Deep.

May Arylin’s love abide in your heart until next we meet.

Mianna.

How can people buy your book?

First and foremost, you can get Cornerstone Deep from my publisher, Class Act Books.  But I have a list of outlets on my website.  It is available in trade paperback or ebook formats.  You may also order it from book stores using the ISBN: 9781935048725.

Beginning writers make many mistakes; what do you think is the most harmful?

Telling themselves that they’ll never make it and giving up!

How do you know where to begin any given story?

I like to begin with an emotional tug.  Whether it’s running from a grizzly bear or breaking up a long term relationship.  It endears the readers to the main character and gets them rooting for him through his trials.

What sort of displacement activities keep you from actually writing?

Do you mean the phone?  Family duties?  Work?  Yes to all the above. Lol.

Do you have support, either from family and friends or a writing group?

I believe my daughter is my biggest supporter.  She’s an avid reader and is absolutely proud that her mother is an author.  Others give words of encouragement, but she’d always pushing a little harder.  I’m also a member of an online writing group that has helped me iron out my ms.  Thanks guys!  I couldn’t have done this without you!

What inspires you most?

I’m very character driven.  I’m one of those authors whose characters talk to them non-stop.  Conversations, actions, reactions, and settings all play out in my mind and I have to follow them or end up going back to change what I wrote

Is there any aspect of writing that you really enjoy?

I love watching my characters grow.  They’re like my children.  As the story unfolds and they experience what obstacles are set in their path, I’m constantly amazed at how they handle them.

What single piece of advice would you give to writers still hoping to be published?

Never give up.  Never give up.  And never give up.

What are you writing now?

Cornerstone Deep was the first book in a series.  I’m now working on book two, Bridging the Realms, and revising book three, World Beneath the Rock.

Do you have a website or a blog that readers can visit?

Yes.  You can find me at http://charleneawilson.com, My blog is at http://charleneawilson.com/blog/, and the book trailer for Cornerstone Deep is on YouTube here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AoBur6iMlE&feature=channel.  I’m also on Facebook and Twitter.

Thank you so much for having me as a guest!

Charlene A. Wilson