First Draft Cafe

A Bigger Picture

2012-03-06T01:11:00.000Z

'Garroby Hill' Picture taken of a Royal Academy card I purchased at 'David Hockney RA A Bigger Picture' Exhibition

On Friday I visited the David Hockney Exhibition at the Royal Academy in London with a couple of girlfriends. We had the best day out.

What made it special? Maybe the first class train travel from Leicestershire. We drank tea, nibbled on posh biscuits and chatted incessantly on all manner of subjects.

Or possibly our trip around the Tate Modern earlier in the day. Or maybe the lovely lunch we took here at the Wallace Restaurant. An elegant glazed atrium, with a contemporary feel, hidden inside The Wallace Collection it's definitely one of their best kept secrets. The excellent bottle of wine we drank over a lazy lunchtime certainly helped maintain our happy attitude.

But, I don't think anything prepared me for how awe-struck I felt when I walked into the exhibition. I'd already decided to go with an open mind, having heard lots of hype, and good things in the press, and on TV. I decided to ignore them and make up my own mind.

Fully aware that all the advance tickets had sold out, I was surprised to see long queues outside. I overheard a woman asking if there was any chance she would be able to see the exhibition. The reply was yes, as long as she didn't mind a wait in the queue. They have opened it up to evening visits to deal with the overwhelming numbers wanting to see Hockney's work.

Busy tills stunned me, as did the buying frenzy in the gallery shop, and the crowds of people clutching postcards, prints, books and all manner of other Hockney merchandise. All this was before I entered the galleries.

The pictures are stunning, and all I could think when I walked into the exhibition was wow! Wow indeed! The passion and energy of the man greets you full force. The sheer size of the paintings takes some getting used to, and the numbers are overwhelming.

Hockney has truly challenged himself to see the ever changing seasons and record them for us, he has observed the beauty in the ordinary scenes of countryside around Bridlington in Yorkshire.

The colours are unbeliveable, I haven't seen anything done like it before. Pastels and saturated colours streaked across canvas, dabs and splodges making more sense to me as I stood and stared.

The prints of the Ipad sketches are amazing, I'm convinced it will inspire many owners to try this digital way of drawing, and painting. The exhibition really works your eyes, and for some it may be too much, but if you're like me, you'll delight in it.

I too left clutching cards and notebooks, along with happy memories, and I couldn't help but wonder if somewhere amongst the crowds, perhaps a young artist had been inspired today, and possibly in fifty years time their work would be hanging on the walls for all to see.

What made our day special? I know it was a combination of all of the above, as well as the warmth of three special friends spending quality time together.

Goal List Week Commencing 26th February 2012

2012-02-28T12:02:00.001Z

Yikes! Where has the last month gone? This week will see us into March, and I'm feeling this year is going way too fast.

Last week then.

Blogging from A to Z - I listed ideas for almost all of the twenty-six posts I'm going to write.

Draft 2 - Reworked a chapter, got some good feedback at the critique group on Saturday too. Further changes need to be made.

100 Word Flash Fiction - Allowed myself the luxury of fifteen minutes over breakfast on Saturday to write something different, more comic than killing. I've been pigeon-holed as a cold bloodied killer, and we can't have that, can we. It went down well with the group.

Make plans - I'll be Chairing at Phoenix Writers for March, so I mapped out a few ideas to try out on the group.

Eat cake - What do you think? You know me now. It was a very good week for cake! I really should write a book on cake, or tea rooms at the very least. Now, that's an idea. Perhaps a murder? No, no...!

Offer assistance - Yes, one down, one to go. Over tea and cake, ideas were hashed out, and we achieved the aim of the meeting. One satisfied writer, one new blog in the making. One writing buddy still in need of my help. Not forgotten.

Walk - Oh yes, it had to be done. Two lovely walks, I want to do many more. I got acquainted with my new camera too. See above. (Nothing to do with goals, to-do-lists, or writing whatsoever, but he's cute, so who cares!)

What's next?.

Blogs - Write a post for someone else's blog. Move forward with A to Z planning, and if you don't know what I'm talking about, look here, and read my take on it here. It's going to be good folks!

Draft 2 - Continue hacking away at it!

200 word flash fiction - Saturday challenge piece

London - Here I come! Special treat, going to see the David Hockney Exhibition with friends. I can't wait, its going to be so good.

That is about as much as I can handle, hopefully achievable and attainable. Big words! Let me know what you are up to this week? Together we can reach our goals, put ticks on the list, and enjoy cake!

Happy Saturday

2012-02-25T22:09:00.000Z

I know this one is a little sad, but its such a beautiful song. Enjoy.

Goal List Week Commencing 19th February 2012

2012-02-21T23:55:00.001Z

The last week has flown, I lost it somewhere along the way. So, what did I do?

Writing Magazine - Didn't have time to read any of the magazine, it was full on with other stuff all week. Very little reading of any description done this last week.

Competition - Nope! Major fail folks.

100 Word Flash Fiction - Yes! Written on the hoof, in Waterstones, on route to the critique group. I'm very last minute.

Draft 2 - Darlings have been murdered. The synopsis needs work!

Not my best week for following the list, however, I've blogged, and signed up for the A to Z Blog Challenge starting in April. More information on that here. I also met up with my critique group at the weekend.

Work has been busy. Draft 2 is proving tiring, I'm taking small steps. Sometimes, only fifteen minutes a day, sometimes an hour or more. I work better if I do something else at the same time. Which is why the 100 word flash fiction is a good exercise, and of course, I enjoy blogging too!

Onwards then.

Blogging from A to Z - Write out a draft list of blog topics and ideas for April

Draft 2 - Continue

100 Word Flash Fiction - Write one in advance of Saturday if possible.

Make plans - I'm taking over the position of Chair at Phoenix Writers' for the month of March, and I'd like to come up with some ideas for the sessions.

Eat cake! - Indulge myself

Offer assistance - Help two writing buddies who want to start blogs.

Walk - Get out, breathe in the air, and use it as 'thinking' time for the re-write on draft 2.

Enough. Hope you've made plans and have goals, and you're achieving some of them?

Sunday Stroll

2012-02-19T22:10:00.000Z

Wasn’ttoday fabulous? I don’t know about you but I’m ready for some Spring sunshine.I decided it was most definitely a day to get out and about, and the houseworkcould wait a little while longer.

Calke parkland isn’t a million miles away, part of Calke Abbey, and somewhere I really enjoy going. This National Trust property is well worth a visit. The house is closed at the moment, but the parkland is there for all to enjoy.

My walk started at a gentle pace, and to be fair it was more of a stroll if I’mhonest, after all Sunday, is the last day before I’m back at the grindstone foranother five days. Chance of me getting out for a decent walk in the week is slimat present, so I wanted to make the most of being out in the wide open spaces.

Thelarge parkland has lots of trees scattered about, some of the oaks are hundredsof years old, and on past walks I’ve seen fungi growing in abundance on their ancientbark. Today, I wanted to breathe in the fresh air – nothing more. I preparedwell, wore a warm jacket, scarf, hat and my walking shoes. I work on theprinciple I can always take something off – better than being too cold. It waspleasant in the afternoon sunshine, although the air was cool on my face.

Deerroam freely in certain areas of the park, and could be quite clearly seen today,although they kept their distance. The herd numbers over one hundred red andfallow deer, and in the past I’ve managed to take some great shots with mycamera.

Alot of the park is a National Nature Reserve, and there was no shortage ofwildlife around today. I went into the bird hide, and for the first time, waslucky enough to see the Great Spotted Woodpecker, I was amazed, I expected itto be much bigger, but they are only the size of a blackbird! I really need tohone up on my bird knowledge. It was quite a striking bird, black and white,with a red patch on the back of its head.

Apparently, all three species of theBritish Woodpeckers can be found on the park. There were lots of other birdsfeeding off the ground, as well as from the special nut feeders. I saw several greattits, blue tits, robins, blackbirds, a nuthatch, as well as two cheeky rats,and a squirrel on the ground below the feeders who were tucking into anythingdropped by the birds in their foraging frenzy.

AsI left the bird hide, I spotted some photographers had set up outside, theirscopes and cameras pointed on something I’d clearly missed. They were afriendly bunch, and only too happy to let me look through their lens at a littleowl some metres away, sitting on a fallen tree. I didn’t realise you could findthese owls out during the day, however it seems they are more than happy toperch in hedges and copses, as well as on fallen tree trunks.

Ienjoyed my walk in Calke, and I’ll be going back again, there’s so much to seeand enjoy throughout the changing seasons.

Nexttime, I must go further, and discover more.

P.S. The picture is one I took back in September 2010, I forgot my camera today!

Happy Saturday

2012-02-18T22:41:00.000Z

I love this song. When things have gone wrong in my life, I've listened to this tune, and things have never quite looked as bad. Happy Saturday.

Blogging from A to Z Challenge April 2012

2012-02-16T01:12:00.001Z

Okay, I'm crazy. But then I reckon you already knew that. I've signed up for the Blogging from A to Z Challenge April 2012.

The idea is simple, I have to blog everyday in April, I get Sunday off for good behaviour, except on the first Sunday, April 1st, when the challenge begins.

Each post must match the letter of the alphabet for that day. I can blog about any topic I choose. Write flash fiction, or a poem, share a picture, or write an article. I'm limited only by my imagination.

Its called a Blog Hop, and on the first day I'm advised to visit the blog immediately after my own on the list of fellow bloggers. And I should try to visit five blogs a day thereafter to leave comments and make new friends.

Why am I doing this? I want to grow as a blogger, and I love networking with liked minded folk.

The A to Z list is open, here why not join me? Its going to be fun!

Goal List - Week Commencing 12th February 2012

2012-02-14T21:20:00.000Z

Wow! What a busy seven days I've had. Sunday 5th, I met up with fellow writers over a glass of champagne. Yes, you read right there. We know how to party. Seriously, a good writing buddy had a gathering of friends at her house, on probably the worst weather day of the year so far round these parts. We'd had lots of snowfall the night before, the roads were not easy to negotiate, but us hardened folk, lured by the memory of the fizzy chilled champagne on the tongue, made the effort! There was much writerly (think I just made that word up) talk.

Goes without saying I ploughed into my writing later on that evening, Sunday evening is always very productive, because I have a set time in which I sit down and write. I also believe networking with like-minded others goes a very long way to motivate me. What do you think?

Draft 2 - Synopsis done, and I rewrote a chapter. Yay to that! Having the synopsis done will now help steer me through the re-write of the book.

Writing Magazine - I read what I could, enjoyed many of the articles so far.

Celebrate my birthday - Yes, I started on Wednesday, with an evening meal with friends, and went out to lunch with another friend on Friday for lunch. We did some girlfriend stuff in the city. It was good to catch up. My birthday fell on Saturday, which happened to be the Get Writing 2012 conference. So the rest of the celebrations happened on Sunday, and were lovely. I have been spoilt.

Get Writing 2012 - A two-hundred and fifty mile round trip in -13 temperatures, with freezing fog one way, and -5 coming home. However, well worth it. I went to two very good workshops, mingled with lots of other writers, and pitched my novel in three minutes to an Editor. A very scary experience. I also met two of my twitter buddies for the first time, which was lovely.

And so to this week.

Writing Magazine - Continue reading

Competition - Enter one!

100 Word Flash Fiction - For Phoenix Writers' meeting on Saturday

Draft 2 - I need to 'Kill my Darlings' in earnest this week

What are you going to do? Do share.

Happy Saturday, on a Monday.

2012-02-13T00:54:00.001Z

The 'Happy Saturday' music post hasn't moved to Monday. Honest, it hasn't, its just I've been doing loads of other stuff this weekend.

Anyway, I wanted to share this with you.

I love the sound of Kasabian, a Leicestershire band formed in 1997, they have had much deserved success. This song is taken from their fourth album, Velociraptor! Its fabulous...

I'm a Kreativ Blogger

2012-02-12T20:45:00.000Z

I've been given the above award by my friend Patsy Collins - how very lovely of her, and now, I must tell you half a dozen random facts about myself. I don't mind, after all we are all friends together here.

Lets get started.

Writing is my first love, but photography is second. I love getting out and about with my camera. There is so much to see if we only look deep enough.
I don't like riding a bike. No idea why, but I really can't be doing with them.
I'm rather fond of porridge.
Secretly, I would like to go back in time, and visit English life in Victorian England for a day. History is amazing.
I get bored very easily, my attention span is about fifteen minutes, making meetings rather tedious. This is probably why I can't remember anything!
Sleep evades me. I can only dream what its like, to get a good nights rest.

And now I must pass the award forward. So Stuart Ayris, Maggie May, Mal Dewhirst, and Angela C. Hansen please take the award, and share your randomness with us. Apologies if you've received it before, or if you do not wish to take it forward, do not feel obliged to share again, or at all. Unless you want to of course. If you do take part, then please, do let me know when you have posted so I can catch up with you.

Goal List - Week Commencing 5th February 2012

2012-02-07T02:12:00.001Z

Last week flew by, ending January, and beginning February. This is what I managed to get done.

Reading and reviewing novel draft - Painful! I need a different plan.
Arrange dates to meet up with writers - Managed to get my diary organised for next few months.
Send a piece of work out - Fail!
Read Writing Magazine - I made a start, lots of interesting stuff.

Last week wasn't too productive, although I blogged, checked out some markets, and competitions, met up with some lovely new, and known writing friends from the RNA (Romantic Novelists Association) Leicester Chapter group on Friday. And, I researched Scrivener, read up on stuff, and ate cake again!

I felt very tired last week, the day job is mentally exhausting, and that didn't help the writing.

Up and onwards then!

Goals for this week. And I'm keeping it simple.

Draft 2 - Attack!
Get Writing 2012 - Visit, make new friends, and enjoy!
Celebrate my birthday
Read Writing magazine

Anyone with good ideas on how to attack a second novel draft, please do comment, or for that matter, anyone who wants to say anything Goal related is also more than welcome to give me their tips and tricks.

I'm waiting...

Happy Sunday

2012-02-05T00:49:00.000Z

Happy Saturday, becomes Happy Sunday.
Due to adverse weather conditions dropping my broadband connection out, I couldn't post yesterday. We had hours of snowfall, and when I could have been relaxing with a book, or settled down writing. Actually, I was fretting about getting this video uploaded.

I chose this song because I remembered how blown away I'd been when I first heard Robbie Williams singing Swing. It was like nothing else he had done before. The concert was live at the Royal Albert Hall in 2001, and this particular song I loved! As soon as I heard it, I felt quite moved. Having once seen footage of Sammy Davis Jr, performing this song many years ago.

I went straight out and brought the CD/DVD 'Swing When You're Winning' special edition copy, as soon as it became available. Now, and again I watch it, and feel all nostalgic, and I think how wonderful it must have been to have seen Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr and Dean Martin at the dawn of the 1960's performing together. They were known as the 'The Rat Pack' in their handmade suits. Sinatra sang, Davis danced and Martin boozed. They were very much loved for their easy on stage banter and Tom foolery, as well as their unique voices.

2001 doesn't seem nearly as long ago as it actually was when Robbie performed 'Mr Bojangles'. Ah...how quickly time flies. I hope you enjoy it.

Have a Happy Sunday!

Goal List - Week Commencing 29th January 2012

2012-01-31T13:29:00.003Z

Update on last week first.

Prepare a 100 word piece of flash fiction for my writers' group meeting - Done, written on the bus on the way to the meeting on Saturday morning. Went down well! And I really should find somewhere to submit it! (read previous post)

Read Write a Great Synopsis by Nicola Morgan - What a fabulous book, read in a single sitting, the advice is so easy to understand, I now feel I can, at last attempt my synopsis without it striking the fear of God into me.

Write something every other day - Yes! Some days it was no more than fifteen minutes, over a mug of tea, amazed at what I got done.

Prepare a piece of writing to take into the Saturday group for critique - I did, however, there were a lot of lovely new members, so I decided not to put it forward to be read out. I was eager to hear their work.

Find a new recipe - Yes, Yummy new chicken dish Very quick and easy to make, just the ticket for the busy writer.

More tea and cake - I'm becoming a regular at the farm tea room I mentioned last week. Enticed by an individual hazelnut tart with pouring cream. Small pleasures.

The week ahead then...

Continue reading, and revising my second draft
Arrange future dates to meet up with other writers to help each other
Send a piece of work out!
Read Writing Magazine

Lots to keep me busy as January rolls over into February.

Finding Markets For Your Writing

2012-01-30T00:16:00.000Z

I haven't sent anything out for a long time. Certainly not since I've been writing my novel. However, I understand the importance of getting your stuff out there, so when an email arrived from my critique group, asking for suggestions on where to send their short stories, poems and articles, I wanted to help my fellow writers, and contribute.

I subscribe to Writing Magazine which has Writers' News, incorporated, its the best magazine around I know of for paying markets, and opportunities to get into print. Crammed with all sorts of information of value to writers, if you haven't seen or read it, I urge you to beg, borrow or steal a copy. Well, perhaps don't steal one. Seriously, there are many submission requests, competitions as well as other outlets for our talents.

Here are just a few.

The First Line - A quarterly magazine providing a first line to kick-start writers imagination for short story submissions. Stories should be 300 - 3,000 words long, all genres will be considered. There will be payment for accepted work. More information can be found here.

Strange Chemistry - Angry Robot will launch a YA sister imprint in September, called Strange Chemistry. There is opportunity for YA speculative fiction writers who have an unagented novel, it can be submitted if it meets the criteria here.

Kent & Sussex Poetry Society - An open poetry competition with a first prize of £800, second £300 and a third of £150. as well as four runner -up prizes of £75 Details here.

The Bristol Short Story Prize - This competition is open to International entries, and 20 short listed stories will be published in an Anthology. There is also a first prize of £1000, plus a Waterstone's gift card worth £150. There are additional prizes and all the details can be found here.

Park Publications UK - Are looking for articles themed around the countryside, up to 1,500 words could win £50, £25 or £15 in their quarterly competitions from Countryside Tales Magazine. The next deadline is 1st February 2012 so you'll have to be quick! Details are here.

Lightship Publishing - Lightship Literary Prizes, include short stories, poems and a flash fiction prize. Read all about it here.

I've highlighted some ideas above, there are many more, Writing Magazine is one resource, there are others which I will report on over the months. I hope you'll find something to whet your appetite.

Oh, and in case you're wondering why I've chosen the picture of a post box above - its to remind me, you can submit your writing via email these days. So I can't use the excuse of not making it to the post box any more, and neither can you. Start getting it out there!

Happy Saturday

2012-01-28T00:07:00.000Z

I promised you music, and Tennessee is one of the finest pieces you'll hear from Hans Zimmer in my opinion.
The theme was produced for the movie Pearl Harbour, one of my all time favourites. If you haven't seen it - its a great movie, it has everything. Action, drama, and lots of romance, but be warned, it WILL make you cry too.
Every time I listen it evokes memories, and emotions from the story. Its a truly wonderful piece to listen to, when you want to empty your mind, and relax. I'll be posting more here for you to enjoy soon.

Goal List - Week Commencing 22nd January 2012

2012-01-24T22:50:00.002Z

A quick update then.
Last week.

I've finished 'Before I Go to Sleep' by SJ Watson, and I really enjoyed it - I didn't guess the ending. I kept thinking I would, but didn't manage it. Its definitely worth a read.

Draft 2 - Slow! Still in the reading it through stage, and hating it! Did I write that drivel? Although I have been told its normal to feel this way about ones WIP at this stage. It doesn't make me feel any better. This meant I never got to polish five pages or write a synopsis.

Novel Booster Writing Workshop - Really enjoyed the day away, met lots of lovely new writers and picked up lots of tips from the tutor.

Second Yoga Class - Hopeless! Can't find one that fits in with my hectic schedule. Think I'll have to try Pilate's instead.

Tea and Cake - Lovely chocolate cake and proper leaf tea in a pot at a farm tearoom in Leicestershire. Very lovely, and felt like a proper treat. I watched the world go by slowly, and took advantage of doing nothing for an hour.

Now this week. I am very tired. My back is aching as well, so I need the goals to be attainable. Here we go.

Prepare a 100 word piece of flash fiction for my writers' group meeting on Saturday morning
Read Write a Great Synopsis by Nicola Morgan I've downloaded it onto my Kindle, and I'm really looking forward to picking up lots of good advice on the ghastly, but necessary task of writing a synopsis.
Try to write something every other day. I have made a date with myself at different times over the next seven days so I can pull this in. I will report back soon.
Prepare a piece of writing to take into the Saturday group for critique
Find a new recipe, did I mention I like to cook?
More tea and cake.

An early night is required now I think.

Word Sprints

2012-01-22T21:13:00.001Z

In case you don't know what a word sprint is, its when two or more people get together usually via twitter, and agree to do a set amount of writing time together. In my experience it can be anything from thirty minutes to an hour.

I first discovered word sprints last year when I took part in NaNoWriMo. Don't underestimate the power of these things. Using twitter to put a shout out for a sprint partner, or many partners, as the case was during November, means you can virtually work at any time of the day or night, its worldwide! Distance is no obstacle, and there are no worries about sharing your work. Its not an expected requirement.

It's a fantastic tool to deal with writers block, or just to get you off the block, and putting words on the screen or page. There is no doubt that regular writing gets you where you want to go, so we all need to persist, and free up our brain so we can get the words down. Once I'm in the flow, I feel energised and it becomes a habit.

Afterwards, its custom, but not compulsory, to let the other sprinters know your word count, again via twitter. One things for sure, you'll have done more writing than if you hadn't of took part in the race.

Another way, is to find a buddy,someone to hook up to write together with, either in person, in which case you'll have to be strict, and not get sidetracked by 'other news' etc which I know from experience is very easily done. Or you could do it via email, on a certain day of the week, that suits both of you, and at a certain hour. Sending your work over to each other afterwards makes it a definite arrangement. You can agree to offer each other feedback or not, depending on what your relationship is, not everyone wants critique.

So whether sprinting is your thing, or not, I guess I'm trying to say, eliminate all your excuses, make a list of what they are, decide what you can drop, or what you can move around to free up a slot in your busy week. Make a date with yourself, and stick to it! This is serious. Clear the decks, sit down and begin. Write. Do not pause, do not look back or stop! Keep writing. You'll be amazed at the result!

Happy Saturday

2012-01-21T21:25:00.000Z

From now on, every week, on a Saturday, I'll be posting a song or a piece of music that appeals to me.
Why? Because music is uplifting, it makes us feel good. It can evoke a memory or a feeling, and scientists say it causes the brain to release a chemical called dopamine, which is a feel good chemical.

This song, One Tribe, by the Black Eyed Peas makes me feel really happy, I have it stored on my Ipod under 'Good Music for Walking' I play it loud when I'm striding out in the fresh air.

Happy Saturday

Goal List - Week Commencing January 15th 2012

2012-01-17T00:32:00.001Z

Last week's update first.

Got stuck into reading 'Before I go to Sleep' by S J Watson, what a great book it is. I'm a slow reader, Kindle tells me I am 69% through the story. Really enjoying it so far, and haven't managed to work it out yet!

Draft 2 - I seem to be going at a snails pace, because I've been away, I've managed very little this last week. I can only claim a read through of the first eleven pages.

Stills Pictures - Done! Passed onto my buddy. Very pleased with the results. They took time but well worth it.

Walking - Yes! Lots done, including a Nordic Walking lesson, which I really enjoyed.

Now for this weeks goals. Keeping them simple seems to work for me so here goes.

Continue reading 'Before I go to Sleep' by S J Watson
Polish first five pages of my novel & write the synopsis for it
Attend a one day creative writing workshop
Attempt to find a second yoga class
Take time out for tea & cake

The Making of "Double Booked"

2012-01-16T00:38:00.000Z

Mal Dewhirst

Just over a week ago,I was lucky enough to be invited to capture the Stills photography for the shortfilm, "Double Booked" written and produced by my friend Keith Large.The Filmmaker on this project is Mal Dewhirst, and he kindly agreed toanswer a few questions for me about the project.

Tellus a little bit about your background Mal, and how you came to be involved withdirecting and making the short film “Double Booked”?

I am primarily a poetand writer, and have been published in various magazines and anthologies; Ihave had several plays produced, mainly through community projects. I alsowrote two tourist guides for North Warwickshire Borough Council which resultedin the project to build The Polesworth Poets Trail which I have been working onsince 2008 and am about to complete in 2012. It was through this project that Iwas asked to write a film script to tell the history of Polesworth Abbey, whichwas to be used as an interpretive film for tourists.

They could not pay mefor producing the script, but offered me some free training with the filmmaker, Peter Ralley, on the basics of film making. I jumped at the chance andafter the first day I was hooked and decided to add film making to my portfolioof activities. The films I have made to date have been short poetry films usinglandscapes, music and the poetry as the narrative. My first completed film wasYell! in 2009 – it is available on YouTube here.Since then I have made a couple of documentaries, Pollysworda which documentedthe making of the poetry trail and Wallpapered which documented a mix of artand theatre in empty shops, a project funded by Derby City Council.

My involvement in “DoubleBooked” happened purely by chance, I first met Keith Large a couple of yearsago and we met again at a meeting of writing groups at the Grace Dieu Writersin November 2011 when we had a chat about writing projects, I gave him mybusiness card and he became interested in discussing a film project which a fewdays later resulted in the commission for “Double Booked”.

Takeus through the planning that went into the project before the actual evening offilming?

The process startedwith the script, which Keith had already written, with discussions on how itcould be realised. I added the shots and scenes to the script, adding in a fewestablishing shots before the dialogue begins. The script is a dialogue drivenpiece, delivered in one scene and therefore we had to be careful not to overdothe establishing scenes.

The next step was tofind a location, which Keith did, he looked at various possible places, mainlyexisting hotels that would have the set up so that we did not have to create aset. However, we ended up back in the room where we had met in November at theConstitutional Club in Coalville, who were not only happy to host us, but werevery accommodating in what would be some disruption for them.

We used their DJconsole with a slight, temporary, modification as the reception desk which wasthe main set dressing.

I took some photoswhich I used to create the story board and started a planning document with theplan, a resources list (props, set dressings, sound effects etc) and technicalequipment list (Camera, sound equipment, lighting etc).

The Story board wasspilt in scenes and shots they were mapped back to the script and also to thecamera positions on the floor plans which I had also produced.

I normally work witha small crew, and so I had to engage them for the shoot and to brief them onwhat we would be doing and how we would go about it.

Keith and I metseveral times; I was keen that Keith agreed to everything that was proposed.

We went through who couldprovide what, between us we gathered the props and set dressings, borrowingwhere ever we could.

The Crew - Mal Dewhirst, Jimi Dewhirst and Jack Heathcote

I also needed toupgrade some of my equipment and bought a new camera for the shoot, lightingwas also something that needed to be purchased, all this was happening in therun up to Christmas.

Testing and practicewith the new equipment was essential which was all completed over the Christmasperiod. During this time, I also made various set dressings and props, signsand the key fob that Helen used as a prop.

Check lists became anobsession – checking and rechecking.

So it was a very busytime but very worthwhile as all this planning paid off on the night.

What was it like working with Keith Large,the Producer, who is also the writer?

Keith is fantastic towork with, we got on straight away, we are both doers with a massive amount ofenthusiasm for what we are doing. He has a vast amount of experiencein producing films and therefore knows what is required. I was honest up frontwith him, that I had never filmed a drama or directed actors before, myprevious films all being landscape based. So he took a risk with me, which Imuch appreciated. He also let me drive the process forward and was very open tosome of the ideas that I bought to the project.

If he didn’t agreewith something he said so and we looked for a different approach, whenpotential problems were aired we worked on them together to overcome them. Itwas good to have a producer/director team approach, I really appreciated thesupport.

Keith had written avery strong script, there were very few dialogue changes made from theoriginal, only things to make sense of the establishing shots and any potentialnoise in the location. This was great for me as it meant I couldfocus on the visualisation. I would really like to work with him again; he hasso many fantastic ideas for projects.

Helen Bolitho, Keith Large and Mal Dewhirst

Who did you have on your team on the night?

For my film crew, Ilike keep it in the family, I had my son Jimi Dewhirst who produces all themusic and sound for my films and my nephew, Jack Heathcote, who is a student,as the production assistant. Harriet Warner was also invited to help out on theproduction.

And the actors, was it easy directing them?

This, as I said wasmy first experience of directing with actors, so was a big learning curve forme. Helen Bolitho and Kim Joyce were both wonderful and very patient with me,they were very accommodating, and did what was asked from them. Both of themare very professional. I could not have asked for anyone better to work with onmy directing debut.

Kim Joyce and Helen Bolitho

Werethere any mishaps, or funnyincidents on set?

When I work, I tendto become very focussed on the job in hand and can often miss the funnyincident, so others may well have other stories, probably about me.

My main memory onthis score was the shelf on the reception desk moving – it was taped to thedisco unit from the underneath and this wore loose as Helen lent on it duringthe filming. The whole unit began to creak which was picked up in the soundtrack. Nothing major that could not be fixed, but it meant we had to shoot itagain.

Whathappens now the filming is done?

The Post Productionactivities, which in the main is the edit, taking the footage and creating thefinished film using the editing software. This involves sorting thefootage into the correct order adding in music and sound effects that were notcaptured on the day.

The film will bebroken down into sub-films each of which will be edited and rendered beforebeing put together in the master for the final render.

Kim Joyce and Helen Bolitho

I will initiallyproduce a draft cut which I can show to Keith and we can discuss changes whichwill be made to the appropriate sub-film before being put back into the master.

Is there anything you wished you could goback and do again, or anything you would do differently next time?

Lighting – Ilike to understand the equipment that I am using so that I can instinctivelyplace it in position at the right angle to get the result I want. With a smallcrew people have to double up on jobs, this can sometimes be a Jack of alltrades and master of none.

Lighting was down tome, no excuses. Film lighting is an art and science in itself. I previouslyhave only used natural light most of my film being shot out in the landscape.It was clear to me on the shoot that although I had researched this element ofthe shooting process, my knowledge was not what it should be.

When do you think we might have a sneakpreview?

I should have thefirst draft cut ready by the end of January – with the plan to get the finalfilm completed by the end of February. As to when you can have a sneak previewthat will be up to Keith, when he is happy for people to see, then I am sure wecan arrange for it to be shown.

And your next project?

As a film maker – Ihave three poetry films to produce to be shown at the Polesworth InternationalPoetry Film Festival in September.

As a writer – I havea commission to write and edit an interpretation of place with poetry forPooley Country Park from Warwickshire County Council.

I will be recording aseries on lost poets for Radio Wildfire in February, taken from my blog overthe last year.

I am also about tostart the role of poet in residence on a historical research project and laterin the year I will be poet in residence at Dig the Abbey – during theArchaeological excavations at Polesworth Abbey.

Thank you Mal, you have certainly given us aninsight into film making. It sounds as if you are going to be very busy during2012. Exciting times ahead! Good luck with your projects, and I look forward toseeing a clip of Keith’s film, “Double Booked” soon.

If you would like to keep up with Mal, here are the places you'll find him.

Macolm Dewhirst

Poet - Writer - Film Maker

Website

Blog - Pollysworda

Twitter - @MalDewhirst

And Keith’s website, Carrot Napper Productions is here, where you will find information about all his past, present and future projects. Keith is also on Twitter @KeithLarge3

Goal List - Week Commencing January 8th 2012

2012-01-10T00:11:00.000Z

Before I set any Goals for this week, I'll do a quick report on last week.

I started Draft 2 of my novel, to be honest its been horrendous. Its been like walking through treacle. I printed the whole thing out, but before I read a page, I decided I would write out a synopsis to see what I remembered. I hadn't seen my WIP since the end of November, having taken advice from other writers, to let it rest.

I don't think I did too badly on the recall, but I am really going to have to get some help doing a synopsis! I've spoken to a writing buddy who has done a few in his time, so I have a fair idea of what is expected now.

I managed the blog post, the 100 word challenge to take to my writers group on Saturday, and later that evening went out to take the Stills for a friends short film too. I hope to tell you more about that later on this week.

I dipped in and out of Writing Magazine, enjoying several of their articles, but I do have more to read. All this was interspersed wit lots of walking. So all in all it was a good week.

Onto this week then. As my previous post informs, you'll see I'm away from home chilling out at the moment.
I'm keeping the Goal list brief.

Start reading a novel (Before I go to Sleep by S J Watson)
Continue with Draft 2
Work on Stills pictures
Lots of Walking

Catch you later.

Time Out

2012-01-09T23:43:00.000Z

I'm a day late posting, but I do have good reason. Technically, I'm away from my desk, that is, the one at home, where I usually do my writing from. I have however managed to connect my laptop, be it a weak Internet connection so I'd best get on with it.

I'm spending time out with old friends at the fabulous Ragdale Hall, Health Hydro and Thermal Spa for a few days, so this post will be brief.

I've had a lovely few days doing nothing much at all! Relaxing has been the order of today, the facilities are wonderful, and I've been sleeping! Its been brilliant, and its also given me plenty of time to get this weeks Goal list sorted out in my head too, so I'll post that separately, with an update on what I've achieved last week.

Goal List

2012-01-01T23:46:00.000Z

Each week I'll be posting my goals for the week ahead, running Sunday, through to Saturday.

Write a blog post
Begin work on draft 2 of my novel
Draft a synopsis
Read Writing Magazine
Do the 100 word challenge set by my writing group
Go to my critique group
Do Stills photography for a friend
Go for a walk every other day (thinking time)

What Keeps Me Going?

2012-01-01T19:44:00.000Z

January 1st 2012 has arrived, and all day I've been thinking about how to write down my goals for the coming year. I know what I need to do.

The year ahead will be about getting draft 2 of my novel completed, taking stock afterwards, and seeing if its good enough to progress any further. I'm a realist. I'll do what I need to do to get there.

That led me on to thinking what do I need to get me there? Ultimately, the only way I'll do it is by motivating myself, I'm the only one who can make it happen. Regardless of it being a new year, a fresh start, a clean sheet or whatever you want to call it. Only I can make anything happen. I'm also the person holding me back.

The things I need along the way to help me get here are quite simple really. Of course I'll need some sort of structure. I'm going with the weekly 'to do' list because I think it'll work best for me. Bite size chunks are more my way of doing anything. Its after all the way I approached NaNoWriMo, and that seemed to work out, so I'll begin with that path. If necessary I will change things around.

I'll need to alter my lifestyle in that I shall have to get up earlier a few days a week. Let me explain, I write best at night. Very late at night, into the early hours of the morning. I've tried writing when I get up. I can't hack it. But I can do boring chores. I reckon if I can get these out of the way early, go off and do my day job knowing they aren't waiting for me upon my return, then I'll feel better mentally, and hopefully have less to do before I settle down to write.

I'll need caffeine. Why? Because I drink coffee with friends. People who make me happy, people who motivate me, and people who inspire me. So caffeine is good for the soul.

Yoga is something I do. Regular readers will know I am plagued with back problems. Yoga keeps me aligned. I would like to do more yoga. Watch this space.

Lastly, I need thinking time. Lots of thinking time. I get mine when I'm out and about. Walking, taking pictures, observing life. I intend to continue with my walking at least every other day.

This is my plan. How will you get to your goals this year?

Last Word

2011-12-31T21:04:00.001Z

As 2011 draws to an end, I've decided to keep this post brief. A few days ago, if I'd of written when I originally intended to, then yes, I would have penned much more, but time is getting on and we'll soon be ringing in a new year, so let me tell you what I've learnt.

I have lots of lovely friends out there, people who are ready to offer advice when needed, folk who have the same interests, and hopes and dreams. This last year, I have felt part of a much bigger community.
And I feel I must give a lot of the credit to twitter, the social networking service.
I have made many friends, who have laughed with me, cried with me, and generally made life very interesting and sometimes quite comic. I have done word sprints with people all over the world, during the month of NaNoWriMo, exchanged views and even met up with twitter pals for tea and cake! Something I want to repeat, again and again next year.

From a casual conversation only a few days ago, I have, in partnership with Rosalind Adams set up a twitter list for UK writers using the hash tag #UKwriters. You can read about it on her blog here. We can share news on what's happening, inform each other about writing competitions, events and conferences, as well as any book signings or anything else that a writer might be interested in reading. The response has been truly overwhelming.

Its early days. The idea is to get the hash tag working for us all, so we can spread news quickly to each other. We should never underestimate the power of twitter. It will be interesting to see how it develops.

I leave 2011 feeling happy, looking forward to 2012.

Twinkle and Sparkle

2011-12-18T20:55:00.001Z

Yes, I'm going to mention the 'C' word. Christmas. Thought I'd ask you a question. I understand we all have things to do, and people to visit etc, but what will you be writing over the holiday break? Or perhaps you won't be?
Maybe you're drawing a line under 2011? And feel you have done enough this year. I dare say you've all done your own review on the past twelve months.

I've spoken to a few of my writing buddies over the last few weeks, and most have made definite plans. Some will be working on novels they started this year, others are editing. One will be writing lots of individual scenes for either radio or screen.

Personally, I'm going to look at the novel I wrote for this years NaNoWriMo, as I'll be beginning draft 2 in January 2012. So I need to know where I'm going with it.

I'll also be filling in my diary with dates for writing events and workshops I've earmarked next year. Its always good for me to get out and about and meet other like minded people.

What are your plans? Is your writing going to twinkle and sparkle over the holidays?

A Better Plan

2011-12-11T20:15:00.001Z

I've been incredibly tired for a while now. Overwhelming so to be honest. Whether Nanowrimo upset my system, more than last year or whether its something else, I don't know. One thing I do know though is I can't let it beat me! Like a runner, (I imagine, because I don't run) who gets terrible cramp in the marathon, he'll run through it, and that's exactly what I need to do now.

December is always a busy month. At work, its coming up to our year end, so there is lots more to do, and its harder to find people, even in this age of communication. They tend to take days off possibly to use up the years quota of holiday. And then we do a stock take the week before Christmas. Total madness, and completely out of my hands, but it involves working into the late evening for at least three or four nights. I have that joy tomorrow.

Family matters seem more intense. Children have parties, adults have parties, and places to go, things to do, people to see in readiness for two days of family celebrations.

I constantly have this battle with sleeplessness, progressively getting worse as the years pass, and this year if I look back its deteriorated further. How do I cope? I keep writing through it. That's how I cope. I almost have to give myself permission to just write! Knowing it may not be my best stuff, but its better than no writing at all. Which, if I don't write at all, I feel grumpy and awful about myself.

Usually, after a few good nights sleep and some deep relaxation, I can shake the feeling off for a while, I get a temporary reprieve, and get some more words down on my WIP or whatever else I may be working on, then off I go again. Until it builds up again, and we have a repeat of the same.

This is why I need a better plan, I need to have a definite schedule which is manageable. Something I am looking at right now. Options are, should I choose a word count then plan it into my week, each week?
Perhaps, I should vow to have two early nights every week? Or should I opt for writing out a 'To Do' list each Sunday for the week ahead, and try and complete it. Knowing if I don't, its not so bad as I will have at least done some of the stuff on the list.

Ideas please. What do you do? Do you make lists? When do you find the time to write? Does anyone else suffer from tiredness, if so how do you cope?

NaNoWriMo All Done

2011-12-01T00:07:00.001Z

I am delighted to announce, I've completed NaNoWriMo, Yay! I madeit across the finish line a day early. It'sbeen a marathon of words, there have been many highs and lows along the way.Congratulations to all the other wrimos out there who are most likely lyingdown, taking a well deserved break now.

Some of you will know its my secondattempt at the challenge, I won last year, although it was a very differentexperience to this year. Things have been very intense, and finally I think, Ican say I've switched off my internal editor, as well as learning to writethrough particularly difficult times.

I'vehad a few days when I've been bone tired, and rather than fall asleep over thekeyboard, I've caved in, packed the laptop away, and gone to bed. Catching upwasn't nearly as bad as I expected either, as I overwrote quite a bit in theearly days. Hindsight, is a wonderful thing, so I knew what to expect thisyear..

Itracked my progress, and kept statistics on words per day, per hour, and evenhad a column for mood. Which is really important. To keep my energy levelshigh, I tried to keep a healthy selection of snacks to hand, such as apples,satsumas and popcorn! Drinks were either tea, or cider.

Interestingly,I did all my words at home this time, where as last time I moved about quite alot. It wasn't easy, but in the main, I enjoyed writing this novel very much,and now the skeleton is written down. There is a lot to do on it without adoubt, but I have something I can work on, and develop.

Itwon't be done this month. December will be spent catching up with real lifestuff - I have neglected!

My Poor Neglected Blog

2011-11-20T23:31:00.001Z

Friends, I've not deserted you. I'm heavily investing my time in NaNoWriMo as discussed in the previous post. Its been tough. However, I've created a character who is leading me through the story and making things happen. I'm purely recording them on her behalf, and while she tries to make some sense of what is going on around her I'm taking notes for later.

Most of the time, I'm bone tired. I did the challenge last year, so I knew what to expect. I'll admit, I don't find it easy, I know some of you do, and I envy you! Anyway, I'm still cooking for the family, running the house, although its a bit wobbly, here and there. I'm shopping, and going to work each day.

Throw in several appointments at the dentist, hospital and my daughters school for parents evening, and it doesn't leave a whole lot of time for writing. Surprisingly though, I've managed to still get to yoga, go out for a few social events during the evenings, and at the weekend I've had 'me' time at the pool, and still found time to write the 1667 words a day required. Well, maybe I didn't manage the word count on two of those days, but I have caught them up again now.

What I'm trying to say is, I've had all the stuff going on in real life, yet fingers crossed I'm here on day 20, with 35,000 words written. Which means I have 15,000 to go. I'm over the other side of the hill. The hill that seemed like a mountain back on day one.

I even had time to take this picture on the lovely long walk I went on yesterday.

NaNoWriMo

2011-11-02T01:50:00.000Z

This blog has been a bit quiet of late, truth is I've been busy doing other stuff. Real life has been difficult, with family birthdays, tough days at work, and the dreaded sciatica a few of you will know I suffer from on and off.

So what news do I have? I'll keep it simple. After a meet up with two writing buddies at the weekend, I've decided to do NaNoWriMo again this year. I don't have a plan, I wish I did, I was a panster last year, and it looks like it'll be no different this time. There was no time to get a plan together.

Yesterday was the first day, of the madness, the flurry of activity that is scary, exciting, and maddening all at the same time. I got off to a good start and managed to write more than my daily target of 1667 words. At the end of the month I'll have a 50,000 word manuscript, all being well.

All I need to do is sit down at the keyboard. Yea right...

P.S. That's me and Nicola above, and she's doing her first NaNoWriMo this year.

Writer in the Window

2011-10-06T08:31:00.000+01:00

Saturday saw the beginning of the second Everybody’sReading Festival in Leicester, a celebration of books, reading and liveperformances that aim to get the people of Leicester reading. Over nine days there is much going on, and‘Writer in the Window’ is one of many events taking place all over the city.

So what’s it all about? On Saturday I caught up with talentedLeicestershire Playwright, Keith Large, the first of several writers to sit in Waterstoneswindow, penning prose for two hours over lunch time each day. I asked him whaton earth he was doing wearing a kilt, sporran and t-shirt emblazoned with ‘Laughsfrom Leicestershire’ here is his response.

‘I was invited tolaunch the festival ‘Writer in the Window’ in Waterstones Highcross shoppingcentre, and thought I’d better dress up!’

‘Why a kilt though?’

‘I bought the kiltin Edinburgh earlier this year, when my play, ‘Everything But an Astronaut’ ran for eight shows and performedto a full house, it brought me great success. I wanted to write a new play, andthought I’d sit here in style.’

‘Were you givenany prompts on what to write?’

‘Only a single word- I wanted my session to be live and spontaneous, hence why I started with afresh new writing pad, a stack of pens, and a decent supply of chocolate tokeep me motivated.’

‘I imagine you attracted a lot of attention?’

‘Yes it wasfantastic, a lot of people wanted to talk about books, but also about writing.’

‘Do you think you got a new play out of it?’

‘Very much so, Isoon got into the zone, and the words flowed.’

‘And will it lead onto anything?

‘Possibly a returnto the Edinburgh Festival, we'll have to see.'

‘I must ask, what was the word?’

‘The word was‘Road’ inspired by a famous actor I worked with a couple of years ago. He informedthe cast and myself in a rehearsal, ‘what happens on the road, stays on theroad’ I thought, I can’t guarantee that, but it had to be the title for today’stwo hours ‘Writer in the Window’ slot.’

‘Finally Keith, have you got any words of wisdom forwriters out there?’

‘I was given the following advice by BeadRoberts, my favourite writing tutor. I’ve never forgotten. ‘To make it inwriting you need the three ‘T’s’ Timing, Talent, and Tenacity.’

‘Thank you Keith.’

Everybody’s Reading Festival continues for the rest ofthis week in Leicester. Details of the events can be found here.

For more information about Keith and his many successesgo here.

Maybe you’ve written in unusual situations, or perhaps‘Writer in the Window’ has inspired you to try something different, please letus know by leaving a comment or a question.

Finding Markets For Your Speculative Fiction

2011-09-29T01:00:00.002+01:00

I'd like to welcome, Colin F. Barnes who very kindly agreed to do a guest post for me on the subject of markets for the speculative fiction writer. First a little about my guest.

Colin F. Barnes isa dark fiction writer from the UK specializing in Science Fiction, Horror andThrillers. He likes to take the gritty edginess from his surroundings andpersonal experiences and translate them into his stories. He is currentlyworking on an anthology of horror stories in his 'City of Hell Chronicles'setting after recently debuting with a crime anthology titled 'Killing my Boss'that he co-authored with best selling author Mark Yoshimoto Nemcoff.

Website www.colinfbarnes.com

City Of Hell Chronicles

Killing my Boss

Twitter: @Colin_Barnes

Dark fiction and speculative fiction ingeneral tends to go in cycles. Certain genres, or subgenres become popular,rise to the top and stay there for a period of time while others languish notdoing so well. Trying to time this and write for the market is difficult unlessyou are either especially good at spotting trends ahead of time, or get someinside information from agents/publishers who are looking for specific types ofstories.

Speculative fiction, and especially that ofthe darker edge is going through somewhat of a transformation. During the 80shorror was the biggest genre, selling millions of copies by authors such asStephen King, Clive Barker, James Herbert et al. But during the 90s and the2000s horror and the darker genres slipped down. Urban Fantasy, and ParanormalRomance has seemingly taken its place in the charts and the consciousness ofreaders. This is mainly due to the successes of the Twilight, True Blood, andVampire Diaries types of books/shows.

So, as a writer of dark fiction, how doesone go about marketing their work? And what markets are left open?

The bad news is that all out horror andsome of the darker sub genres still aren’t selling all that well in themainstream publications. Most of the magazines that serve horror no longerexist, or if they do, they are relegated to a small audience as e-zines. Eventraditional publishing houses aren’t putting a lot of stock in horror. Sci-Fiand Fantasy are seemingly grabbing the lion’s share of publishing capitalwithin dark genre.

However, bad news aside, there is still alot of hope and a lot of opportunity for the dark fiction writers.

There are two main ways of publishing yourwork. The first being the small independent presses. There are a numbers ofthese (list of a few below) that actively seek out the darker work. Being asmaller press has both its advantages and disadvantages for the author.

Advantages:

- Easier to approach.

- They are usually quicker toreact to changes within the industry

- They have closer relationshipswith their authors

- They often make limited runs ofexclusive editions

Disadvantages:

- Don’t pay as well as the bighouses

- Often can’t cope as well withslush piles

- Lack resources to really pushan author

However, disadvantages aside, it can be agreat experience working with a small press, and for first time publishedauthors it makes sense to approach these first. You’ll learn about publishingand you’ll get that all important publishing credit on your CV. Some of these smallpresses have a big name and carry a lot of weight, so definitely don’t discountthese out of hand.

The second way of getting your work outthere is to self-publish. Now, I’m not necessarily saying paying thousands ofpounds to have printed copies made and you sell them door-to-door. No, in thisday and age, ePublishing has become a great leveler. With a little time andeffort you can have you book on Amazon, iBooks, Barnes and Noble andSmashwords. As with anything, there areadvantages and disadvantages to this too.

Advantages:

- Freedom to write what you want

- Freedom to solicit your owneditor, designer, formatter

- You keep all the profit

- You keep the rights to yourwork

- Sense of achievement

Disadvantages:

- You have to do everything andare responsible for everything.

- Your sales might not be whatyou expect

- The promotion takes up a lot oftime, and requires diligence

- Some authors rush in tooquickly with material not ready

The best way to mitigate the disadvantagesis to seek out a good freelance editor to work on your book/story. Also, if youbelong to a writing group (and you really should), have them critique or betayour work to iron out any main issues. You only want to publish your best work.Don’t be cheap and stick up anything, it will reflect on you and damage yoursales/reputation.

In terms of promoting your work, that’s ahuge subject and you can find lots of useful information by researchingmarketing, but a few easy(ish) ways to promote your work are:

- Use twitter to connect withother writers and readers. Get to know them, but don’t push your work too much,the sales and interest will come naturally.

- Post sample chapters on yourwebsite. You absolutely have to have a website, there is no getting aroundthat.

- Blog regularly. Talk oftenabout your book’s characters, any interesting information you’ve found duringresearch and personal anecdotes.

- Setup a Facebook page and postssnippets of the artwork, and sample chapters. Again, add people, talk to them, andget to know them.

- Join the various Kindle forums.They are full of great people looking to help you and promote your work (inreturn for your help – collaboration is what the internet social networks areall about.)

- Send ‘advances reader copies’ARCs to book bloggers. You have to research these to make sure the bloggerreads the kind of book you have written and like any submission, include acovering email introducing yourself and your book. Be professional and bepolite.

If you love your work, and are prepared toput some effort in, there’s no reason why you can’t see your dark fiction inprint or ebooks. Good luck.

Resources:

- http://www.chizine.com/volume_48.htm

- http://duotrope.com/

- http://www.pspublishing.co.uk/- http://horrorgenre.com/Magazines_Publishing_Houses_and_e-zines

- http://anarchy-books.com/

- http://angryrobotbooks.com/

- http://cityofhellchronicles.com/

Thank you Colin, if anyone has any questions, or any market news they would like to add, please leave a comment.

Second Campaigner Challenge

2011-09-26T01:15:00.000+01:00

Rachel has set our second campaignerchallenge.
TheChallenge is:
Write ablog post in 200 words or less, excluding the title. It can be in any format,whether flash fiction, non-fiction, humorous blog musings, poem etc. The blogpost should:
include the word "imago" in the title
include the following 4 random words: "miasma," "lacuna," "oscitate" "synchronicity,"
If you want to give yourself an added challenge (optional andincluded in the word count), make a reference to a mirror in yourpost. For those who want an even greater challenge (optional), make yourpost 200 words EXACTLY!

I havemanaged to do all of the above, amazingly! Please do have a read.

Project Imago
    Thecocoon had been buried deep in the earth for centuries. Undisturbed, not a soulhad known of its location, I do not count the undead blood suckers who clawed the soil away to bring it to the surface. They havealways known this time would come.

    Miasma hung in the putrid green tinged air,making breathing impossible. I wore an oxygen mask, and heavy gauge rubbergauntlets, I could barely turn the pages of the ancient book they had forced meto work from, the lacuna,which they hoped I could work out, was the reason for my presence. Synchronicity was vital. I knew they would kill meafterwards.

    Thepod cracked and tore, the blood-suckers writhed and worshiped on the ground. Isaw nothing, so when the creature stepped out of the trench, I knew to oscitate now would be fatal - I couldn’t helpit.

     ‘Passme a mirror,’ she barked. I did as she asked, knew she was checking for areflection. Heard her sigh, ‘it hasn’t worked’, she screeched, lashing outfiercely with her tail, I ducked as two of the undead flew over my head, crashing ontothe ground behind me.

    Themetamorphosis was incomplete.
*
GLOSSARY:
imago— n

Insect in its sexually mature adult stage after metamorphosis

miasma— n

a dangerous, foreboding, or deathlike influence or
atmosphere

lacuna — n

a gap or missing part

oscitate— v

to gape; to yawn

synchronicity** — n

an apparently meaningful coincindence in time of two or more or similar or identical events that are causally unrelated

I welcome your comments, and if you like my entry, thenplease go here and vote for #97, thank you, for taking the time to read.

A Walk in Calke Park

2011-09-19T22:18:00.000+01:00

I love walking, and on Sunday decided to make the effort to get out and enjoy some fresh air. There are many benefits to walking. Health wise its good for weight loss, lowering cholesterol levels, reducing the risk of stroke, and in particular for me, easing the backache that plagues me from time to time. Its the easiest form of aerobic exercise and just about anyone can do it. I walk the streets close to home. Which is a town, it has its good and bad areas like everywhere else. There is no doubt these walks are beneficial, however there is nothing quite like getting out into the countryside.

Being out in big open spaces, surrounded by nature is the best tonic for body and mind. So on Sunday I took such a walk over at Calke Abbey in Derbyshire. You can read more about the property here. On this occasion I didn't go into the house, preferring to walk in the 240 hectare Calke Park, of which 80 acres is a National Nature Park.

I took my camera to record the things I saw, its been a while since I've had both the time, and the energy to walk, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

There are many red and fallow deer in the park, and on Sunday I was lucky enough to get up close to them and take some pictures.

A lot of the trees are over 400 years old and two are around 1000 years old, and are amongst the oldest in the country, they were once part of the ancient wild wood of the area. Many insects live on
them, especially those associated with decaying wood as is found all over the park.

There are also several types of fungi to be found amongst the oak, lime and beech trees, I spotted a few varieties on my walk as you can see here. The weather remained good all morning, and I missed the showers that happened later in the afternoon.

After four and a half miles of steady walking I was ready for a drink, I really should have remembered my water container, as after a couple of hours I found myself in need of something to quench my thirst. Fortunately, there is a good restaurant at Calke Abbey, serving a variety of delicious hot and cold meals made with ingredients that are sourced locally. I settled for a pot of tea, and a home baked scone with jam and butter which I fell upon like someone who hadn't seen food for a month!

Walking has enabled me to get out and about and discover a variety of surroundings in different seasons. It clears the mind, and allows you head space, which comes in handy when you're a writer, living in both the real world, and the fictional one you visit regularly.

I have learnt things about nature I thought I would never be interested in, like the fungi that grows in abundance in Calke Park or the trees and plants I have seen in their natural habitat.

I felt tired afterwards, I've recently had a virus that refused to relent, and haven't felt able to go out and about much, so the walk was all the more welcome.

A Fifteen Minute Writing Exercise

2011-09-18T21:23:00.000+01:00

Following on from the last post, this is the result of the 'on the spot' exercise I did yesterday at my writing group. As promised, I've only used spell checker, and therefore typed it up as I wrote it down in my notebook.

I can see where it can be improved, expanded, and played around with, but the point I want to make, is that its amazing what you'll come up with when faced with a challenge. I now have something I can work upon to improve should I wish to do it.

A reminder of the four randomly generated words used to create this piece.

Character - Fortune Teller
Setting - Supermarket
Object - Torch
Emotion - Hope

ON THE CARDS

Therehad to be hope. Nancy wheeled the trolley up and down the aisles, stopping togaze at the shelves laden with packets and tins, declaring 2 for 1, buy one getone free, or some such offer.

Sheignored everything; there was nothing in her trolley other than the torch. He’dasked her for it, said he wanted to read. The only pleasure he had leftnowadays. She had hoped he wouldn’t linger, had read it would all be overquickly, but somehow it hadn’t worked out like that at all. Angus languished,growing weaker yes, but not at the rate she’d been told. Matter of days theinformation had said.

Aisle five - tinned fish, salmon, tuna,sardines, pilchards – he liked pilchards, used to eat them on toast with gratedcheese melted over the top. She remembered those days.

Nancyplaced a tin of tuna into her trolley. She liked it mixed with chopped onionsand mayo on wholemeal bread; she’d get a loaf now.

Time had passed quickly between them, Angushad become distanced over the years, she’d been lonely for a long time, and nowat the end, she realised she would miss him. The fortune teller had been right,you never knew what cards life was going to deal you, but when she’d turnedover that last card, all the others paled into insignificance. All the years ofpain and loneliness didn’t matter anymore.

She found the bread on aisle seven, shewanted thick cut. Angus would have insisted on thin sliced, but he couldn’t eatit now. She placed the loaf into her trolley.

Alldone, she pushed it towards the till, she’d let him have the torch. Afterall, it would come in handy later – when she buried him in the garden.

Phoenix Writers' Group

2011-09-18T00:44:00.000+01:00

Yesterday was a fun morning of writing, and critiquing, spent with my buddies at the Phoenix Writers Group. Its hard to believe we meet up for two hours, the time whizzes by, as we read and critique each others manuscripts.

The format was slightly different this session, we still read out our 100 word challenge, which was set last week, and we celebrated successes and commiserated over rejections. We shared news of forthcoming competitions and additionally we tried out a fun writing exercise.

The rules were simple enough, our leader had prepared four envelopes. Each marked with Character, Setting, Object and Emotion. We randomly selected a card from each one, then we had fifteen minutes to create a story including all four of them. I picked,

Fortune Teller
Supermarket
Torch
Hope

I wasn't too alarmed, although there was much giggling about some of the combinations. Afterwards, we read them aloud to the group, warts and all - yet there were very few warts.The pieces of flash fiction that had been created were amazing. Quite unbelievable, given the short amount of time we had to perfect a micro tale.

Later, I'll type mine out, as I wrote it straight into my notebook, and I'll add it here for you to judge for yourselves. I won't cheat, I'll not change anything, other than running the spell checker over it.

Happy Writing

Liebster Blog Award

2011-09-14T23:58:00.000+01:00

Wow! How lucky can a girl get? I've been awarded the Liebster Blog Award from both Cherie Colyer and Lesann Berry Thank you ladies. Readers do go check out their blogs.

“The basic idea of the Liebster Blog Award is to showcase bloggers with less than 200 followers.” When you get the award, you keep the love going by giving it to 5 other bloggers who have less than 200 followers.

This was difficult because there are so many great blogs out there, many of which I've recently found because I’m a part of Rachael Harrie’s Platform-Building Campaign. Others I've been following and enjoying for a while.
To share the love and pay it forward, my list of awesome blogs are:

Writing: A Conversation Without Interruptions - This is the blog of Ileandra Young, her writing career is only just beginning and she wants you to be part of it. She has gleefully been penning smut, vamp - fiction, fantasy and comedy since 1997.

A. E. Martin - A writer of both Adult and YA Fantasy, she penned her first novel at fourteen, also an artist in many mediums.

My Road to Freedom - Janina is a woman who loves words, a Chicago freelance writer, who sometimes designs jewellery too.

Fabulosity Nouveau - Wendy is from Johannesburg, South Africa, and in her words, "I am a Blogaholic, Bibiophile, Avid Reader, Reveiwer and Lover of all things Quaint and Eclectic."

The Nut Press - Kathryn Eastman resides here. Reviewing books, tasting chocolate, drinking tea and telling us tales about squirrels when she's not scribbling short stories, articles, and poems that is...

All very interesting people, be sure to visit them soon.

Awardees, this is what you need to do after you've chosen who you're going to give the award to:

Show your thanks by linking back to the blogger that gave you the award
Notify the folks you pick to receive the award by twitter, email, etc
Post the award graphic on your blog
Check out the winners, their blogs and websites, and most of all enjoy!

Do you know enough about your characters?

2011-09-12T18:06:00.000+01:00

To make our stories believable, we need good character development, and apart from knowing what motivates them, we should know more about them than we ever tell our readers, we need to be aware of every little thing they do.

A physical description helps us to see how they move through the world, and allows the reader to believe in them. Even their name provides a lot of information, indicating age, background and social class.

Who else is in your characters life? Who do they interact with? How do they interact? Personality is often determined by background. What sort of parents they had can play a big part in how they shape up in life.

I'm always asking myself what my character wants from the situation, or the scene they're in, its important to know how your characters will behave. Creating a well rounded character takes time. Not only what they look like, and where they live, but how they will react to the situations they find themselves in.

How do you create your characters? Do you start with a picture? Or an object, and think who might have owned it, worn it, played with it? Perhaps you make a character study? Or do you develop them as you go along, without doing any planning in advance? How do you create an intriguing and credible character?

First Campaigner Challenge

2011-09-07T20:02:00.000+01:00

As you already know if you're following my blog, I'm taking part in Rachael Harries Writers' Platform - Building Campaign. Here is the first challenge Rachael has set for us.

Write a short story/flash fiction story in 200 words or less, excluding the title. It can be any format, including a poem. Begin the story with the words, "The door swung open" These four words will be included in the word count.

If you want to give yourself an added challenge (optional), use the same beginning words and end words: "the door swung shut" (also included in the word count)

For those who want an even greater challenge, make your story 200 words EXACTLY!

Here is my response.

Breakdown

The door swung open.

‘Ican’t believe you didn’t fill up last night?’ he said, drumming his fingers onthe dashboard.

‘I can’t believe you didn’t check your fuel gauge this morning. And for yourinformation I did fill up last night - only it was my car, the one I usuallydrive.’

‘Oh so it’s my fault is it,’ he shouted.

‘What’s done is done; let’s just wait for the AA.’ Karen folded her arms; shecouldn’t be bothered to argue with him.

‘I never wanted to make this journey in the first place. We saw your Mother atChristmas. You’re always on the phone gossiping to each other, I shouldmake you pay the bill, then maybe you’d have less to say.’

‘Let’s have it disconnected then…get rid of the internet connection too.Perhaps I’ll see more of you. But I’m not sure I want to do thatanymore.’

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ he snarled.

‘Here’s the break down truck,’ she said fumbling with her door handle.

‘KAREN!’ Where are you going?’

‘Home, to Mums...you pig!

The AA man looked on, somewhat bemused as he watched the brunette step out ofthe car. The door swung shut.

Ten Random Things About Me

2011-09-06T10:57:00.000+01:00

I've been tagged by the lovely Erica andChristy, and have to reveal ten random things about myself. Here we go then folks.

1. I’ve seen ‘The Lake House’ so many timesI’ve lost count. There’s just something about that film that stays with me.

2. My first car was a navy blue, 1966, Mk 1 FordCortina, it cost me £60. Yes, really!

3.While waitingto begin training in the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps, I meta boy, and that was the end of that.

4. I love books more than cake. (I think!)

5. I’m a fully qualifiedmassage therapist, although this is not what I do nowadays for a job.

6. I didn’t learn to swimuntil I was an adult.

7. I try to make peoplesmile every day.

8. Did I mention I lovecake?

9. When I was fifteen, I got a Saturday job at the local Wimpy bar, earning 75p an hour!

10. I don’t have a dog, but if I did it would be anIrish Red Setter, or a Labrador.

Now it’s your turn, you've been tagged!

You're it Patsy @ http://patsy-collins.blogspot.com/

You’re it Rosalind @ http://rosalindadam.blogspot.com/

You're it Beth @ http://bethkempuk.blogspot.com

You're it Isis @ http://isisrushdan.blogspot.com/

You're it Jamara @ http://darkfantasy13writer.blogspot.com/

If you've already been tagged ladies, apologies, I can hardly expect you to do it again.

Rambling in the Roaches

2011-09-03T20:20:00.001+01:00

The Roaches is the name given to a dramatic, rocky outcrop that rises aboveTittesworth Reservoir in the north of the Staffordshire Peak District. I arrivedyesterday with full intentions of getting some great walking under my belt. UnfortunatelyI’ll have to hold that thought for another weekend, having come down with anasty cold virus. Sadly, it’s taken a firm hold, and I’ve had to look forlighter pursuits to occupy my time.

Instead,I spent the morning in the market town of Leek, which surprised me with its unusualarchitecture, unique speciality shops, antiques centres, and a busy market.

Icalled into the local Costa, and sat a while, sipping my cappuccino, peoplewatching. Hard as I try, I can’t help it.Sometimes, I’ll see or hear something,be it the way someone has their hair, how they hold a cup, their accent, or an unusual tattoo maybe. Whatever, its stuff which I could pass onto a character. Out came the notebook, and who knows, there couldbe something there for later. Its recorded now.

Afterwards,I popped along to the Chemist, stocked up on various drugs to ease my coldsymptoms, and headed for the Roaches in the car. It wasn’t the same, but I didget out and have a very short walk. The views were fabulous, even if theweather was a little grey today.

Afterwards,it was into The Roaches Tea Rooms for a very nice cream tea. So although the day hasn’t gone as Iexpected, I’ve spent the time relaxing and taking it easy. I’m calling it headspace. It’s important to step back from the writing and do something else nowand again. Don’t you agree?

Blog Campaign

2011-08-30T20:19:00.000+01:00

I'm so excited, I've joined my first blog campaign! Although a little daunting if I'm honest. Not having ever done anything like this before, I'm a wee bit unsure of what I'm letting myself in for over the next few weeks.

The idea is the brainchild of Rachael Harrie who has come up with a fabulous way of linking the writing community together, the aim being to raise our presence, and build our online platform. As well as making lots of new writing buddies along the way.

As I understand it, there will be activities, as well as chat groups to join, some specific to the genre each of us write. Its going to be fun, and its not too late to join if you're quick.

There is a special Twitter tag #writecampaign and we're encouraged to use it, to get the word out there, on what's happening in our writing communities.

I've got to go now, lots to do, people to meet, blogs to visit. Why not come with me? Its going to be amazing.

The Dreaded (Or Is It?) To – Do List

2011-07-18T00:47:00.003+01:00

Life is busy these days, so I now compile my ‘To – Do’ list on a weekly basis. I’m no expert but I thought I’d share a few things I’ve learned since I got into the habit.

· Spend half an hour each week compiling the list. It will save you hours in the long term, and don’t overlook anything. Include all those mundane tasks which need doing as well as your writing related stuff. I’m talking about sorting the re-cycling, ringing the opticians, feeding the fish, or whatever. You’ll get a feeling of achievement every time you cross a task off your list.

· Eat that frog. You know what this means? If you can tackle the worst task first, it’s out of the way. The tasks that will nag away at the back of your mind causing you to feel guilty because you’ve not done them. Best to get them out of the way as soon as you can.

· The big one. I plan in the really big writing task as I need to be in the right frame of mind, I need to complete these tasks undisturbed. This isn’t procrastination; it’s calculated planning so that I get the best environment in which to write.

· Multitasking. This really depends on the individual; I often do two or three things at once. Perhaps listening to an audio book whilst ironing or cooking, or I’ll mind map a chapter whilst waiting to pick my teenagers up.

· Do plan in time for you. This is essential. Personally, I need to take time out to do some of the other stuff I enjoy in life, like reading, visiting the Jacuzzi at my local spa or going out for a walk in the fresh air.

I don’t dread my to – do list, I get a real sense of achievement at the end of the week when I look back over my list, and see how much I’ve managed to cross off. I dread reviewing the previous week, and realising I haven’t got very much writing done! This way you get to see exactly what you've done!

Inevitably, there will be tasks left over, and its best to try and bump these up your list to a higher priority the following week, otherwise they’ll bug the hell out of you. I’m off to do that right now.

Can Anyone Hear Me?

2011-07-11T00:47:00.000+01:00

I’ve been down here for a while now, at the bottom of this deep, dark well. Fumbling around, shouting and screaming without anyone hearing my cries. Okay, you’re wondering if I’ve gone mad, or perhaps I’m writing an opening very badly.

Wrong on both counts, I’m talking about being a ‘Panster’. A what - you say? A panster, someone, who writes by the seat of their pants, without any planning or forethought of where they are going, I imagine some of you know exactly what I’m referring to here.

It’s served me well in the past. After all, there is nothing more exciting than going on a journey of discovery with your characters, is there? Except, I seem to have fallen down a well. I’ve lost my way, the plot is becoming clumsy, and some characters are doing their own thing, which I might not have minded in a different story. However, in this novel, where it’s hard enough to hold lots of information in my head as it is, I really don’t want secondary characters taking over the show. I might let them have their own novel later.

The solution, because there has to be one, doesn’t there? I mean I need to get out of this well, and get back to civilization. Which in my case, is regularly writing and getting the first draft completed. So the solution which has been burning at the back of my brain while I’ve been shuffling around in the dark, is to make an outline.

There, I’ve said it now, that dirty word us pansters hate to hear. Outline. You know what I’m talking about don’t you? Some of you are brilliant at it, you make a plan. A who, what, where, when and why, plan. And then off you go and write it all out. So, how am I going to get out of the well?

Well, I just did. I cried, and I shouted, before I realized there was someone already at the top, who threw me down a rope, it was another writer. In fact, several were there. They pulled me up, tugging on the rope; they hauled me over the side. Offering advice on how to get out of this mess.

I’m amazed at how generous you’ve all been. I opened my mouth, on Twitter, and hollered. You heard and I learnt I wasn’t alone. Lots of you admitted you’ve come up against the same issues and feelings of frustration.

I visited your blogs for advice, and you took the time to reply to me. Tweets passed back and forth, and I spoke with a buddy and he listened.

Thank you all.

And if anyone else out there can tell me how they outline – all ideas are most welcome. So come on, how do you do it then?

Alt.Fiction 25th June 2011

2011-07-01T02:09:00.005+01:00

Last Saturday I attended Alt.Fiction at the Quad in Derby, a fabulous genre fiction festival where writers and readers mingle and socialise. Where there is a great feeling of old friends coming together, and new friends about to be made. Its simply for everyone, and anyone interested in reading or writing science fiction, fantasy or horror.

This year, was my third, and Alt.Fiction's fifth festival, a two day event for the first time, having previously run just on the Saturday. Unfortunately, I could only make the one day but, I made the most of my time.

After arriving, and catching up with friends from The Speculators, the group for speculative fiction writers in and around Leicester, I set off to my first panel of the day. The Digital Revolution, with Lee Harris, Damien G Walter, Helen Marshall and Cheryl Morgan. I gleaned much, Cheryl made some good points on the formatting issues surrounding ebooks which I hadn't realised before. I was also heartened to hear Damien say he thought the novella was making a comeback. I learnt a lot. A good start.

The next panel particularly appealed, people who know me well, also know I love horror, and anything dark, so The Infamous Horror Panel was right up my street. Sarah Pinborough, Mark Morris, Conrad Williams and Adam Neville entertained. Each spoke a little on how they handle the craft, and the differences between horror and dark fiction were briefly explored.

With so many different choices on the schedule, it was difficult to choose not to attend some of the podcasts, in favour of a couple of very good workshops. Kim Lakin-Smith ran a thought provoking session on creating a good strong character. She set us to work after a short talk, and I was amazed at the writing produced in what seemed like only a few minutes.

Later, I stuck my toe in the water with Colin Harvey's workshop, Settings for Science Fiction. I worked hard, and am happy to say produced a short piece of writing which I'd like to develop further.

I paid a visit to the book sales room, and walked out with several purchases, including latest editions of the Interzone and Black Static magazines, and another couple of new reads to keep me entertained. I feel its really important to support the magazines.

Another panel followed, and for me the most informative and entertaining of the day, the Scriptwriting Panel with Mark Chadbourn, Robert Shearman, Paul Finch, Jonathan L Howard and Stephen Volk. Highly amusing, I felt the guys were very funny, whilst able to tell it, how it is, regarding the difficulties of breaking into this very lucrative and interesting market.

I only managed to get along to one podcast, Tie-In Fiction and Shared Worlds, with Pat Kelleher, Dan Abnett, Guy Adams and Guy Haley. More comedians, and I do mean that in the nicest possible way. Chaired by Adele Wearing who started the informative blogzine Un-Bound site, and if you don't know it, I urge you to take a look. The podcast entertained and informed, and those I missed will be available later to hear again.

The whole event was well organised by Alex Davis and his team of volunteers. They all deserve a huge pat on the back. There is so much more I could say about Alt.Fiction, but this blog post is long enough, and anyway, you guys you should go and find out for yourselves next year. Its fun!

I survived!

2011-06-04T21:01:00.000+01:00

Today my writers group held its very own all day workshop, and boy what a fun filled day it was for all concerned. Instead of employing a tutor to run the day, we decided to have a go ourselves. It was a good decision.

Three of us took up the gauntlet and ran a session each for the benefit of the group. The morning began with our usual 'word of the week' 100 word challenge, set the previous week. This weeks word was 'stupid' and the writers did it justice, each having created a unique and different piece of flash fiction.

Afterwards, we went straight into Dan's hour, entitled 'A Shaggy Dog Story' which he explained involved creating a long-winded story, with extensive detail and narration, involving irrelevant incidents. Which results in a pointless, or off the wall punchline. Boy, was it challenging! I will put my hand up and say, I struggled.

Dan explained how to create the set up from a quotation, a saying, or a first line of a song, and showed us how to structure it into a story, and although a fail for me, my writing buddies embraced the exercise with vigour, and had us laughing with the hilarious stories and puns they created with ease.

Next up was Keith, who gave us an informative and full on hour, of creating a character. Supplying us with pictures, we selected our character, then he asked us a series of questions, and we had to answer without really giving it too much thought. Afterwards, we wrote a few paragraphs which including some of our answers in a show, not tell way. Again, fun and intense. The read out gave us an incite into our characters lives.

We broke for a lively lunch, and then it was my turn. They say you should write about what you know - I say research what you want to know, and then write about it!

I did something different. I took my writing buddies on a tour of the area where we hold our regular meetings. With the help of an excellent downloadable audio tour, we set out with maps to be educated. Surprising facts emerged about the area and its past history. The people who had lived in the surrounding area. The buildings, and the industries all had their own stories.

Afterwards, we sat and wrote a variety of pieces. Articles, fiction and poetry emerged easily. Imaginations had been primed and set into motion. And then all too quickly it was over, and it was time to disband and go our separate ways.

We all agreed, it was a wonderful day. I urge you, if you run a writers group, take the plunge, organise your own day. You won't regret it. We will do it again, and sooner rather than later. It was fun. Watch this space.

Fresh Start

2011-04-24T21:07:00.004+01:00

Its been a while since I last updated these pages, but I'm here now.

I've not been doing nothing, truth is, I've been busy doing other stuff, like writing! And, at the end of the day, that is my main aim. I do enjoy the blog, its good to keep a diary of sorts. Looking back at the stuff I've written here is amusing and reminds me, when I beat myself up, because I haven't done anything writing related, that actually, I've been doing quite a bit.

So a quick update, I'm very much enjoying writing again. On Saturdays whenever I can, I meet up with a group of like-minded writing buddies I've known for some time. We met whilst attending courses ran by the
Writing School Leicester a few years ago, and got on well enough, that when the school broke for their summer break, we decided to run a critique group ourselves. It worked, and we haven't looked back.

Each week, we have a word emailed out to us prior to the meeting, and the idea is we all write 100 words. It can be anything you like, a poem, article, beginning of a story, or a piece of flash fiction. We start the meeting by reading them out, and comment on each, its usually very entertaining and rarely do we come up with similar themes.

Afterwards, we quickly go round the room to hear about any success within the group, followed by any other writing news. Then we get down to the critiquing of each persons writing.

The feedback is always useful, we aim to help each other so that our writing is the very best we can make it before we either send it off to a competition, publication or crack on with another chapter. Each of us have different goals, and ambitions.

Unfortunately, I have a busy diary, so won't be seeing my buddies for about a month or so, But I know when I return, I will receive the same warm welcome as always.

In the Zone

2011-02-06T23:47:00.000Z

I certainly don’t intend to use this blog to write about British politics, but honestly, is it just me? Or are you getting fed up with the constant bombardment day after day? What Cameron and Clegg are doing, or not doing - depending on your thinking. Its not that I don’t care, I do, I really do care what is happening around me. I used to care a whole lot more.

However, it does now seem that every time I open a paper, switch on the radio, or the TV, (although the latter is a rare occurrence nowadays) that these people are dominating everything we do.

Mostly, I write speculative fiction, horror, urban fantasy, science fiction with a little bit of crime thrown in, and sometimes a little erotica or romance. Not all in the same story, although that might make for an interesting plot!

I feel blessed being a writer I can escape by turning to the pen, or the keyboard. Take myself off somewhere as far from, or as near to, reality as I wish. I’m talking about getting into the “zone” that place deep inside every writers mind.

It’s a buzz, and some of you will know what I’m talking about here. We might start out the first few minutes, or so writing utter rubbish, but then without even realising it we’re there, at that place where something takes over. The words start flowing, written on the page or tapped out on keyboard; it doesn’t matter whether they are on screen or page.

Characters have formed in our mind, grown heads and legs, we’ve given them names, and habits, details are being recorded, actions played out. Things are happening. And while all this is going on – nothing else matters, or exists.

We forget about cleaning, cooking, gardening, and even Cameron and Clegg, and their latest pantomime scene can’t get at us, while we’re in the zone.

Let me know if you agree?

Goals

2011-01-30T12:11:00.002Z

Well, what can I say other than I did make some for January. And, shockingly some of them I have achieved.

Getting the novel into chapter order
Rewriting chapter one
Doing some flash fiction
Checking out competitions

And of course there have been some fails...

Entering a competition
Writing an article

But then I still have today, and tomorrow. No pressure then.

What about you guys? Did you set yourself some goals for the month?

Taken by Audrey Pilato

Goodbye 2010

2010-12-31T21:09:00.005Z

Where have the last twelve months gone? Time passes incredibly quickly, and to coin a phrase, makes you realise 'Life is not a Rehearsal' as they say...

I won't long list what I've been up to in the last year, its been a Roller Coaster ride though, with the first six months spent adding to my first attempt at an Urban Fantasy novel. I've been on the project on and off for the last two years. Some of you out there in the Blogger sphere will no doubt be thinking I've been procrastinating far too long with it - well initially I thought the same. I now know this particular story requires more time, than I was prepared to give it. I realised when I took part in NaNoWriMo in November. I'll come back onto that shortly.

Far from sitting back, I've been busy on the writing front, steadily making progress whilst holding down a busy job, juggling a family and dealing with a bad back! My health has slowed me down a lot this year.

I've had a short story published in The Speculator, a speculative fiction magazine, and the same story has been adapted and made into a short film which will be released in March next year. I've been informed it will be going onto some short film festivals as well, so that is quite different and all new to me. I have also written a first draft of a brand new novel, which is resting, waiting to be worked on very soon.

This novel was born out of NaNoWriMo - my first attempt at writing a novel in 30 days. I know, I know, I promised to come back and write about my experience. My excuse, snow! I've seen enough of the white stuff to last me five years but we won't go there.

I can report, NaNoWriMo is hard work. You need an iron will to condition yourself into writing 1667 words a day! Your life is not your own for 30 days, and no matter what happens, you have to keep going. Beyond that the real worth, in my humble opinion is what you learn about yourself along the way.

What did I learn?

I can write every day
Sometimes I write well
Sometimes I write utter rubbish
I can reach my goal
All writing is re-writing (I knew this one really)
I am capable of anything I put my mind to do
The only person holding me back is me
Some stories can't be rushed (first novel) move on to something else

So...writing buddies everywhere, NaNoWriMo is a learning curve. I urge you to give it a try sometime.

Signing off now, goodbye 2010...it was a hoot!

I'm a NaNoWriMo Winner!

2010-11-30T12:16:00.002Z

Yes folks, I've done it! And after I've had a little time to pull my self back together (and deal with the rapidly falling snow!) I'll post my thoughts about the experience here.

Feeling utterly exhausted.

Day 15 NaNoWriMo

2010-11-15T23:42:00.003Z

I've amazed myself, my word count stands at 28294, I'm feeling upbeat tonight. This is the official halfway day. And I'm ahead Yay! I won't fib,its not been easy, its been hard work. There have been times when I've been so short of hours, and not really been able to believe I've managed to get my word count registered with only two minutes to go before midnight!

I've written whilst I've been cooking, putting down words in between preparing vegetables and cooking pasta. I've written mainly at home, but other locations have included cafes, hotel lounges, and libraries. I've doodled ideas during meetings, and brainstormed characters in the supermarket.

I had worked out a very brief outline, two days prior to the start line, I soon ran that off its feet at day four, and found myself flying by the seat of my pants.

At last I believe I've learnt how to switch off my internal editor! Its taken me years, but now I can say "this is a first draft, I'll go back and put it right later, but right now, I have to go on". It really disciplines you.

The concept of NaNoWriMo forces you to write. There is no giving up! Along the way, I've turned down all sorts of invitations, felt guilty about not seeing family regularly, had a crisis, worked full time, dealt with various teenagers issues, as well as workmen at home, and had pain in my back, and been to the swimming pool at least twice for my sanity!

I do worry each day about what I'll write, its scary! Will the words come to me? And guys, there have been two days I didn't make the word count. I felt bad the first time, but pushed forward and caught up, the second time, last Thursday, had a very negative effect on me. I had to spend time kicking myself into shape, whilst recovering my writing Mojo. Thankfully, that happened over the weekend. I even managed to push the hoover around upstairs. But downstairs will have to wait. Maybe next week, the house can stand it. I have fifteen days left to write a novel!

NaNoWriMo

2010-11-01T00:01:00.004Z

NaNoWriMo what's it all about?

Each year in November thousands of writers worldwide sign up to National Novel Writing Month, otherwise known as NaNoWriMo. My understanding of it is that you sign up to commit to writing 50,000 words of fiction during the month. That works out roughly at 1667 words a day.

Now, I’m sure for some of you reading this, like me you have just taken a sharp intake of breath, thinking to yourself, how the hell can I keep that up! On top of everything else we have to fit in and around our everyday lives. Well, it’s an excellent way to force yourself to write. So let’s brainstorm it together.

It helps if you have a plot rolling around inside your head already, I do, sort of, at least I have a beginning, possibly a few scenes in the middle and a rough sketch of an ending. So maybe this is my chance to sit down and write it? But I already have a novel in progress, and some would say, “Hey...you really should be getting on with that before you start something new.” The thing is though; NaNoWriMo doesn’t really allow that, it’s against the rules. You see, you are allowed to brainstorm prior to the start, jot down an outline even sketch out a rough synopsis but they really consider it cheating if you pick up an existing manuscript. Fair enough.

So, is it worth it? I’m bad when it comes to getting on with things, and usually write, right up to the deadline on anything. I procrastinate, and then go mad to get the thing sorted out last minute. So how would I cope with NaNoWriMo?

Added to that is the little rule about not editing a word. Nope, you are not allowed to go back and edit a single word of the manuscript in progress. You are actively encouraged to plough ahead regardless if you feel you are writing complete and utter drivel. The thinking behind this is that once the month is up you can go back and re-write - as we all know that good writing, is re-writing ,and getting it down on paper in the first instance, is the main thing as far as NaNoWriMo is concerned.

I have to admit, I’ve given it some serious thinking. Even to the point of how I might attempt it, possibly breaking the word count into chunks each day, to say around 500 at a sitting.

That would mean at least four sittings a day, and it would take me, if I was on a roll, about 40 minutes at each sitting. I’m writing this at exactly that speed. I could do one session before I left the house for the day job, one at lunchtime, and two in the evening. Somehow I think I’m being a little ambitious there, but it’s one idea.

I need to dangle myself a reward too, something I really want, maybe a whole day at the spa as a reward in December. I’m confident, that would motivate me.

It’s no good rattling on about turning the TV off, as I don’t watch anything these days. And ignoring chores like cooking and cleaning is not really an option. I’ll just have to make them brief, or pass on anything I can get away with altogether.

Dealing with emails, and other forms of communication will be tricky and difficult at times, as will going to work, and doing family stuff which will be necessary. But I won’t be alone. From what I understand NaNoWrimo has a good support system in place, and I have some very good writing buddies who I know will spur me on and motivate me to try my best to get on with it. I know real life will hinder the process, but then a little voice inside my head keeps saying “Go on, try...better to try and fail, than not to try at all.”

It seems to me NaNoWriMo is about quantity of writing and not quality, but that’s okay, because I think it’s a lesson I need to learn. I need to turn off my internal editor. Stop agonising about each scene. I need to be forced to get the words out.

And then when it’s done, I know I am more than capable of going back and re writing scene after scene if necessary. I’m laughing - of course it will be necessary. But then I think, this could be a really exciting project. Imagine what I could put down in thirty days?

If I adopt a completely open approach to my writing. I may well start with one idea and then run off in a different direction altogether as often happens to many a writer.

I believe I’ll learn a lot about writing in the thirty days of NaNoWriMo, about the nuts and bolts of writing, and the whole process of putting a novel together against the clock. The question is - do I have the courage to write badly, to let ideas flow, and can I shut my inner critic up for a month? I’ll never know unless I try, will I? And remember this - no one can edit a blank page, can they?

Back on Track

2010-09-15T20:34:00.004+01:00

Last night, I met up with a couple of writing buddies I've known for some time. We swapped news, and ideas, and read our manuscripts out aloud to each other, which was lively and entertaining, as well as useful.

I enjoyed hearing them talk enthusiastically about their own projects and found it uplifting to hear their intentions for the next three months.

Its made me realize, I haven't actually set myself any objectives or goals. So I'm going to go away for a while now, and think about what I'd like to do...

Fresh Start

2010-09-12T20:55:00.004+01:00

I've titled this blog post "Fresh Start" because I'm feeling terribly guilty that I have completely neglected writing anything on the blog for such a long time.

You might wonder what happened, well, writing wise I've kept going with the novel although after the Writing Industries Conference I noticed I had slowed down a lot, and I began to feel disillusioned about my writing life in general.

I don’t think the conference had any bearing on how I felt, looking back now, I think it was a coincidence that I’d opened my eyes, and looked around, seeing things in a different light.

My regular writing activities were changing. Things I did were leaving me feeling jaded, and I struggled to admit it to myself, that I wasn’t enjoying doing them anymore. New stuff was surfacing which held no interest for me as a writer. Yet for some unknown reason I felt obliged to run with the herd. I couldn’t work out if I was simply tired of everything, or bored out of my skull with it all? Did I need a break? Or had I lost my writing Mojo?

Unable to find any answers, I decided to look at everything I was doing. Sometimes, you have to admit it, if something isn’t working for you. So I stopped writing for a few weeks. Quit my writing group, and decided to take the summer easy.

Looking back now, I think perhaps it was a combination of tiredness, back pain and all of these other things coming together at the same time, that made me put everything under the microscope . The decision to quit my group was difficult, people I valued had left already, and I struggled to get any constructive critique on my work. I wasn’t getting anything out of the meetings. There had been a lot of changes. Or maybe I had changed. There was no one else writing a novel, no one writing short stories, that I knew of, and I felt I didn’t gel with anyone enough to discuss anything. I wasn't attending regularly and there wasn’t a serious writer in the group. In fact it had turned into a social club, of which I didn’t want to be part of anymore.

On top of this, the Saturday critique workshop I valued had become a place where I was giving everyone else feedback, but not receiving any in return, and although I would always help any fellow writer who valued my opinion enough to ask for it, I realised I needed more than I was getting out of attending the workshops. Consequently, I didn’t re-enrol. I think it is true to say I have had a flat summer in the writing world.

However, recently I’ve added words to my novel, penned a few flash fiction stories and met up with some buddies here and there. Things are beginning to change, and I believe I'm about to start afresh with my writing life.

Writing Industries Conference 2010

2010-03-07T23:16:00.011Z

Yesterday I went to my first Writing Industries Conference, and if I had any expectations beforehand, I can report here and now that they were very definitely exceeded. What a fabulous event for writers. Much of the credit must go to Loughborough University and Writing East Midlands. In particular, Damien Walters who worked hard to make the day a success. I know how much goes on behind the scenes to make these events happen. So to you and your team Damien, many thanks for such a great day out.

I arrived at 9.30am with my writing buddies, and already we could feel the buzz of enthusiasm in the main foyer as we joined the queues of eager wordsmiths. All waiting to receive goodie bags and our agenda for the day ahead.

Graham Joyce gave us a brilliant keynote speech to begin, all about the new technologies which will affect us as writers. He spoke fondly of the book as a Tardis, bigger on the inside than on the outside, with the ability to take you anywhere. With true affection for the printed page Graham went onto tell us that we would all have to “face up or fossilise” because the digital age is here.

As we listened eagerly it became clear that an industrious writer willing to diversify could do well, and that there are opportunities out there all around us. I wanted to know more.

I learnt about the array of possibilities open to writers everywhere. Apart from writing a novel on the page, we should be open to other outlets for our creativity. Digital streaming and downloading onto e readers like the Kindle is going to be big. Something we should perhaps try ourselves. What about teaching others the writing craft? Performing our stories, going into schools to talk to pupils, or giving after dinner speeches, all these things are other income streams for the writer. Non- fiction, screen development, online drama, and computer games all need writers. Graham concluded by telling us that “diversifying is not just about making money, it is so they don’t break your writers heart.” I couldn’t agree more.

I managed to get along to hear some of the panels, although I understand I might be able to listen to those I missed via podcasts sometime soon. Those I attended before lunch included How to Sell Your Script and See It Produced, and Writing in the Digital Era:Telling Stories that Fight Back.

Eating was a hurried affair, many freindships were renewed and new ones formed as writers came together to grab snacks, swap ideas, update each other on projects or just to generally chat about their love of the craft.

After lunch I went along to Breaking into Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror and Traditional Romance vs Paranormal Romance. As you can see there was much on offer. A lot to take in between caffiene breaks. I didn't make it to any of the workshops, there simply wasn't enough time.

An enjoyable day.

Incredibly Valuable

2010-02-09T23:58:00.005Z

A few hours ago I had the pleasure of meeting up with some writer friends. We started the evening with a simple warm up exercise, where we all received the same short list of words. The idea was to produce a piece of prose which included all the words on the list. The exercise lasted fifteen minutes, after which we each read our efforts out.

Its amazing how many different ideas can come from the same set of words. Each was like a mini story and could be turned into a longer piece of prose given more time.

Next we swapped news of what we had all been doing for the last month. I discovered we write far more than we each realise.

This was followed by a read around of our current manuscripts. I like this bit the best, as everyone takes part, offering helpful critique. These people have developed good listening skills. They pick up on mistakes I've overlooked in my work. Be it poor grammar, typing errors, overly descriptive, or over written writing, or perhaps I've changed point of view where I shouldn't have done.

Its incredibly valuable to have honest and encouraging people in a group. They don't pat you on the back and say well done, nor do they batter your words and sap your will to write another word. Its simply what worked and what didn't work in the piece. They guide you and point out concerns, helping you to look at your writing in different ways. They critique the writing, not the writer, and its all taken in the spirit it is intended. I do the same for them, and each of us will go away and think about what has been said...we'll change some things, others will be left unchanged.

The last fifteen minutes were spent discussing market news. Publications and competitions that might fit with what one of us is working on at present. We'll talk about events happening in the area or further afield, but mostly we spend time encouraging and supporting each other with our writing.

It was a good evening.

Help raise funds for LOROS

2010-01-19T22:32:00.007Z

Not blogged for a while, my diary has been busy.

Something I'd like to broadcast is the above event. Please click on the poster, and if you're around in the Leicester area, then please come and support a very good cause.

You'll hear a selection of excellent stories and monologues on the night, as well as performances of spooky scripts, with humorous twists. It should be a lot of fun.

You can find out more about the good work LOROS does here www.loros.co.uk

Tisbech Terror

2010-01-03T12:15:00.002Z

I have some wonderful news to share with you all. One of my best writing buddies, Keith Large, has won a National writing competition.

First prize in the Freelance Market News Short Story Competition is a fantastic achievement, well done Keith! His story "The Tisbech Terror" won their first line competition, beginning with "It was the first time..."

Keith read the story out at a Manuscript Clinic at the Writing School in Leicester in early 2009, some of you reading this will remember it well as it made us laugh. Although I'm not sure the tutor knew what to make of Keith's humorous tale of a Yeti on the rampage.

He was however, given some very encouraging critique, from both tutor and fellow writers.
And as always, Keith took it on board, and made alterations to shorten the story and lose the dialogue. Which was a shock. Those of you who know Keith will also know he uses dialogue to best effect. It was obviously very good advice on this story.

You can read Keith's story in the January edition of Freelance Market News, available on subscription. A good resource for anyone wanting to keep up to date on the latest information about the publishing world, it offers news, views and the latest advice about new publications.

There are usually several pages about publications looking for new writers as well as news of competitions and festivals etc. Articles on writing, book reviews and a competition of course!

It is a great feeling when one of your friends has success with their writing, it gives us a buzz, and I know Keith won't mind me saying this but it reinforces what he often tells us.

"Get it out there"

Congratulations Keith, what a fantastic start to the new year.

Taking notes

2010-01-02T00:34:00.004Z

My first post of 2010, and yes, I know I've missed posting on the first day of the year. I used most of yesterday relaxing and thinking about what I wanted to write, before I started tapping on the keyboard. A mere 500 words might not seem a lot to some of you, but I'm happy with my output for the first day of 2010.

Later, after I've had some sleep, I intend to get started again. Although, due to a heavy list of "real life" commitments I'll have to write freehand into a note book. Mainly because note books are portable and I'm on the move a lot in the next twenty four hours. It's the best I can do to fit writing around my life, and will be interesting to see if I'm able to produce much between tasks.

Talking of note books, I also keep a small one with me to jot down anything interesting I overhear, or anything I might see that sparks an idea. Sometimes I jot a single word down, if it takes my fancy. I have a section at the back of the book where I list possible titles for chapters in my novel, or for a new short story.

Carrying a small note book is a good habit, because you never know when an idea will pop into your head, and sometimes just as quickly disappear again if you don't jot it down immediately. My memory isn't as good as it used to be, perhaps its age or maybe everyday stress. Whatever. Carrying a note book works for me.

An Evening for Writers

2009-12-24T21:06:00.003Z

Its a while since I blogged, real life has got in the way but hey I'm here now. I have some exciting news to report...

Writers in Leicestershire are in for a treat, as I've just found out Jane Wenham-Jones is coming to Loughborough College to give an after dinner talk. From what I have heard this will not only be informative but highly entertaining.

A writer, journalist and presenter Jane regularly turns up on radio and TV. She is the author of three best-selling novels and a non-fiction book - Wannabe a Writer?

You can find out more about her here http://www.janewenham-jones.com/

Details I have so far are as follows...

Places for Jane Wenham-Jones after dinner speaker evening at Loughborough College on Wednesday 24th March 2010 already going fast. Bearing in mind tickets don’t officially come on sale until January. A few reasons for such interest, Jane is such an entertaining after dinner speaker who appeals to non-writers as well as writers.

She rarely ventures into The East Midlands, the food at Loughborough College’s restaurant is first class, and the Compere for the evening is well known Leicestershire writer Keith Morley. And if there's an early general election on Thursday 25th March it’ll be a great night to be out enjoying yourself away from the yawn yawn election build up.

For more information please contact Keith Large by email keith.large@loucoll.ac.uk or contact the Radmoor Centre on 0845 1662959.

Scriptwriting Workshop with Stephen Loveless

2009-11-29T23:27:00.003Z

Yesterday, I was entertained and educated by Stephen Loveless, at Grace Dieu Writers Circle. He had come along from Northamptonshire to do a Scriptwriting Workshop, focusing on TV and films.
Upon arrival, we were greeted and settled into our seats with tea and biscuits, where we had time to network and get to know each other a little better. After a brief introduction from Stephen it was straight down to business, as he quickly split us up into groups and told us that by the end of the day we would have a script.

It was then time to get down to the job in hand, helped and mentored by Stephen until lunch time, when we took a welcome break to enjoy a light buffet lunch and network some more before our task master set us back to work again. What at first had seemed daunting, was now taking shape as the groups worked out their storylines and character profiles. Everything was explained, and backed up by excellent hand outs.

After our afternoon tea, we entered into a lively discussion, as each team pitched their script to the other. Almost out of time, all that was left to do was thank Stephen for a wonderfully entertaining day, and bid my new found writer friends goodbye as they took to the roads to return home. Some having travelled from Shropshire and Derbyshire.

I cannot speak for the others, but initially I felt overwhelmed being told I was going to write a Comedy Thriller with seven strangers in only a few hours. However, by the end of the afternoon I came away feeling I had achieved a lot, and learnt much about the business of scriptwriting.

Spike the Cat

2009-11-13T21:20:00.001Z

Some of you, like me, will enjoy entering writing competitions, so I'd like to mention a new publisher who is running one with a difference. Richard Hallows, the man behind http://www.spikethecat.co.uk/ is inviting entries for themed competitions, including 'Someone has to die' a competition for detective and murder mystery stories.

'Adventures in Time and Space' a competition for science fiction stories, and 'Secrets and Spies' a competition for stories of espionage and betrayal. The prize money is decent, and you can pay extra for a critique on your work if you so desire.

An anthology of the best stories will be produced at a later date, and will be available to purchase. In return writers are getting published and building their writing CV's at the same time.

I spotted spikethecat whilst browsing, however if you visit their blog and read back a few entries you'll see that they are mentioned in the December issue of Writers News (page 11) Richard’s posts are informative and interesting, as he is a writer who is happy to share with others.

I'm for one going to give him a chance. Why don't you take a look?

First Post

2009-11-12T00:54:00.001Z

Hello, and welcome to the First Draft Cafe.

The purpose of this blog is to share conversation and news about anything to do with writing. I'm hoping you'll drop in from time to time, and between us, we can make it a place to share information and views, as well as making some new writing buddies along the way.

I love being a writer because its something you can do anywhere, anytime. You can be anybody, go wherever your imagination takes you, and do anything you want to do! Pure escapism controlled only by how far you allow your mind to stretch and how willing you are to let your creativity take over. I consider myself very lucky.
Feel free to post me a comment.

Maria