A Riot Of My Own

My very short story, Say My Name has just gone live over at the brilliant Word Riot - click here to read it.

And if you'd like to hear me reading it you can click here.

Short Circuit

Just a little heads up really. Vanessa Gebbie will be here on Monday talking to me about Short Circuit - A Guide to the Art of the Short Story, of which she is the editor.

I've been flicking through it. It's really rather good. I particularly like what Alison Macleod had to say (I've not read anything by her yet, this will change) and the essay in there by my good friendTania Hershman.

***

And in other news, I've just emailed my recommendation to the good folk over at One Book - bet you can't guess which one I chose.

The Best Literary Mag in The World

I thought it'd be nice, after the stresses of yesterday, to have a positive post.

So, a question: Tell us what your ideal literary magazine would be like. Electronic? Print? What sort of stuff would it publish? How often would it come out? Would its editors give you an answer when you submitted or say, if you don't hear from us in six months it's probably a no? Would it have photos? Poems? Novel extracts?

Over to you...

First Edition's Response

Thanks to Jeff Webb, Editor-in-Chief at First Edition magazine, for the following response. I'd like to say thanks to him for getting back to me. He's also said that he's open to suggestions and constructive critisism, so if you have any then you can leave them in the comments box. I still think it's a bad idea (asking writers for money to publish their work is wrong) but I'm happy it's not cynical or a scam.

Anyway. Jeff said:

"Dear Nik,

 

I read with some disappointment your comments, but as always we welcome feedback and questions and queries as they come along.

 

I have read your post, and whilst I found it a tad harsh, I do agree with some of the points you have raised. I'd like to take a moment to explain a few things, if I may...

 

Ever since we launched we have been determined to showcase the works of new short story writers, novelist and poets. Many (and I do mean many) have been people who hadn't previously had the confidence to put forward their work, especially considering similar magazines/websites/competitions charge an entry fee. We were determined that we would not charge. As a results we have had literally tens of thousands of submissions from 92 different countries, age ranges from eight to 92, and yet only have the space to print so many each month. Magazines, I'm sure you will appreciate, are not cheap to produce. Advertising revenues are laughably bad, and we do what we can to keep getting the magazine out to the many thousands of readers around the world.

 

We are still very proud of what we do here, but as soon as we saw that some of the bigger companies were taking as much as 80-90% of revenues, we thought this was a great opportunity to follow on with our magazine work and offer something that authors would truly deserve - more of the money based on how good their work actually is. We don't believe it is fair that the author doesn't get most of any money the work earns. To be fair, we actually thought this was a good proposition, and the majority of people we have contacted have been very positive about it. It's never easy getting that first piece published, getting the foot in the door (believe me, I know).

 

Unfortunately there ARE costs involved in e-book publishing, not least of all the bank charges for processing payments, VAT (as you are doubtlessly aware, there is no VAT on printed books, but there is on e-books), the promotion in the printed magazine, promotion on the website, the contracts themselves, the hosting space, staff time, external promotion... well I could go on, but £25 is hardly asking the earth. In answer to your post,  an author would recoup this money based on 67 downloads of your short story - which considering our magazine and website readership, equates to approximately one in 800. There is, as we prove each month, a huge market for short stories. These are particularly suited to the mobile phone/laptop/e-book reading market.

 

Anyway, once again we do take your comments on board, and I do hope you will take this response likewise.

 

Regards,

Jeff Webb 
Editor-in-Chief 
------------------------"

Crap Opportunity

Fact: a proper publisher (book, magazine et al) will NOT charge you to publish your work. It's the other way round.

Yes, there are a good number of very good mags and e-zines who don't pay, but you are getting readership, credits to put on your CV etc.

It's a nice (and rare) thing to be asked to contribute to a magazine. So when I received an email from First Edition magazine earlier asking me to do just that I was chuffed (I thought it may have had something to do with the story I sent them in July - it wasn't and I've since withdrawn it).

And then I read on.

And was not chuffed. I was angry and pretty bloody insulted.

They weren't asking me to contribute. They were giving me the 'opportunity' to have my short story published online as part of their downloadable e-book content.

Customers would pay a nominal fee (based on word count), which sounded okay. 

And then:

And all I'd have to do is send them the work. They'd edit it, convert it into their electronic format and pay for distribution (what distribution???) etc

AND IT WOULD ONLY COST ME £25.

Cost. Me.

Nope!!!

As I said, proper publishers do not charge writers to publish their work.

So what's going on here? I thought First Edition was a great idea. A print mag for new writers. Sold on the High Street as far as I remember.

I've just checked their guidelines.

They don't pay contributors (aside from a non-specific cash prize to the best in a category).

The do sell advertising space.

And now they're charging to people to publish something which, as far as I can understand, doesn't have to pass any sort of editorial scrutiny.

Where's the money going, First Edition? And why the sudden change?

I'm going to email a copy of this to First Edition and offer them the opportunity to explain themselves. I hope they've made a very silly mistake because if they've not, it's a pretty cynical exercise in exploiting the new writers they originally claimed to be supporting.

Emily Gale Interview

When I first started taking fiction writing seriously I joined an online group and Emily Gale was not only one of the first people I met there, but also one of the most helpful. Emily was already a better writer than I was (and still is) so I've got a lot to thank her for. 

I am really pleased to have her here on the blog to talk about her book. It's a genuine pleasure. This interview is being posted with a smile.

So, Girl Aloud, who’s it for and what’s it about?

Well I wrote the book for my inner teenager, so my hope is that teenage girls will enjoy it, as well as anyone post-teen who enjoys funny teen chick-lit with a serious edge – I know there are lots of us out there.

           

On the surface the book is about a fifteen-year-old girl whose dad is one of those nightmarish pushy parents. His latest plan is for Kass to enter The X-Factor. This is the last thing in the world she’d choose for herself – she’s tone-deaf and has no designs on fame. Kass is no pushover but her dad has her in an emotional half-Nelson because he’s clearly (clearly to everyone but him) suffering from a mood disorder similar to bi-polar. The book covers a short period of time in the run-up to the X-Factor audition as Dad’s moods profoundly impact the family. It’s also about female friendship, sibling rivalry and romance gone wrong. And Simon Cowell. He’s in there, too.

 

Kass, the main character in the book, has a manic-depressive father, how did you find writing about mental illness?

 

It’s something I find myself writing about again and again, to different degrees. Mental illness has touched my family in various ways, but never in an open, “let’s deal with this” way and this is part of what I wanted to explore in Kass’s story. I struggled with mild depression after the births of both of my children but fell into that common trap of denial – I never sought treatment because I didn’t want anyone to think I couldn’t cope, or that I didn’t love my children. I did recover by myself but only once I admitted I had a problem and made a few small but significant changes. That said, I have not experienced what Kass and her family are going through, so I did lots of reading about what children experience when they live with a parent who suffers from a mental illness. I’m not an expert, just a writer, so I was very relieved when someone who has lived with a bi-polar sufferer said that what I’d written made sense.

 

Did making the book funny help?

I’ve tried to handle it in a way that takes the issue seriously but also makes a good story, with funny elements – the main one being that Kass uses humour to cope with difficult situations, as many of us do. It’s not going to make you roll about on the floor in hysterics but nor will it depress the hell out of you – sometimes it’s dark, sometimes it’s light. I loved writing the funny bits – you’ve got to be able to make yourself laugh, right? One of my abiding memories is laughing at my partner laughing at me for laughing at my own jokes while I was editing the sixth draft. But then I am easily pleased.

 

Have you always wanted to write for young adults?

No, the desire crept up on me. I’ve always wanted to write and I spent a few years working in children’s publishing, but I didn’t even think about teen fiction until I read a book by the Australian author Jaclyn Moriarty, called Feeling Sorry For Celia and, some years later, spent some time chatting to YA authors Luisa Plaja and Keris Stainton. So it’s their fault really. Moriarty’s book transported me straight back to being a teenager and I was seriously sad when the book finished. I sat there for a while thinking about it, and wondered if I could ever achieve that as a writer. But it wasn’t for another four years that I gave it a go. And now I love using a teenage protagonist. I don’t think I was a very impressive teenager so in some mildly disturbing way I’m making up for that by creating characters and stories that are a whole lot more entertaining.

 

If you could hear one person say they loved Girl Aloud, who would it be?

To my utter delight, I’ve already heard it – Jaclyn Moriarty read my book a few months ago and it was just about the best moment in my career when she wrote to say she’d enjoyed it. There are lots more people – writers, friends – that I hope enjoy it but I wouldn’t want to put any pressure on them by naming them! The ultimate prize is a teen fan, however. If I get some of those, the Happy Writer dance moves will go wild.

 

The X-Factor is featured in Girl Aloud. So... if you were to audition, what would you sing? (Audio or Video evidence is welcome.)

I have to admit, I do sing into broom handles quite regularly. One of my favourite broom-handle songs at the moment is Dream Catch Me by Newton Fawkner. I’d enjoy that, though I’d have to apologise to Newton in advance for butchering it. Undoubtedly I’d get the thumbs down from all the X-Factor judges and be sent home with my broom. Except Simon. I’m sure Simon would like me. I did give him a cameo in my book after all.

 

Now, we first ‘met’ on an online writers’ forum (a few years ago, ahem) – what part did being a member of an online writing community play in your being published? (You certainly helped with my writing – thank you!)

That’s very kind of you to say so, Nik. Being in the children’s group, where you were host, was absolutely fundamental to my career, I believe. Until then I was all mouth and no word count. Being on that forum showed me how hard you have to work, and how determined you have to be – how gut-wrenching the knock-backs are and how sweet the success. I’d been an editor for years but it was on that forum that I became a writer. It was the first place I wanted to go when I got an agent and similarly the only place I found comfort when the chips were down. I love the solitariness of writing a novel but for my sanity I need to let off steam with other writers from time to time. Now I tend to find that chat in a smaller group. I knew when my time on the forum was up, regretfully, but I’ll always be grateful for the experience, and especially for the friends I’ve made.

 

What tips would you give someone who wanted to be published?

Gosh, isn’t the world already full of tips? I don’t think I have any new ones. The bit of advice that I always try to remember came from someone who is not a writer, but an exceptionally hard worker, who said something along the lines of “Oh just get on with it!” So my tip would be: get the balance right and do more writing than talking about writing, perhaps.

 

What’s the best bit about being an author?

I’m never happier than when I’m in full flow on a first draft, and I’m so deep into the scene I can’t even remember my own name. Being published is a far more complicated feeling, and I’ll probably articulate it better a little further down the line.

 

And the worst?

The waiting. It paralyses me, and that means I don’t get my first-draft highs, and then it’s not pretty for anyone who lives with me.

 

Tell us a secret.

Ooh, I don’t know if I should…okay I will – I was a thumb-sucker until my twenties.

 

All good stories should...

…contain a Simon Cowell doppelganger.

 

All good writers...

…experiment.

 

What’s next for you?

I’m writing another teen novel, working title Allie’s Reality, about a confident teenage actress who loses herself when she starts dating a soon-to-be reality TV star. I’m a bit obsessed with writing behind-the-scenes novels about reality TV, aren’t I? I’ve also got a couple of picture books coming out next year, under the series heading “Just Josie”, about a six-year-old who wants things to be perfect and never gives up trying even when the odds are stacked against her. But right now, I’m just trying to enjoy the experience of having my novel Out There. I’m waving at it across the oceans - Coo-eee! Girl, Aloud! It’s me, your creator! – and hoping it behaves itself.

 

Anything you’d like to add?

Only a big thank you to you, Nik. Oh, and buy my book everyone! If you like, I mean.

 Emily Gale is a Londoner currently serving time in Australia for crimes against innocent footwear. She worked as an editor of children's books for several years, and like most editors didn't discover JK Rowling. Now she writes picture books, novels for teenagers, and shopping lists.

She also has a rather fabulous blog here - Nik.

Michael Czyzniejewski Interview

Elephants in Our Bedroom is, quite simply, one of the best books I've read. It is a very strong contender for my book of the year (watch out Kimball, Smailes and Tillyer!). You can read what I had to say about it here.

So, you can imagine how thrilled I am to have its author, Michael Czyzniejewski, here on the blog for an interview. And what an interview it turned out to be...

Welcome to the blog, Michael. It is one heck of a pleasure and an honour to have someone whose writing I admire so much here.

Thanks, Nik. I’m glad and honored myself—especially to talk to someone who spells “honored” with a “u.”

 

First of all, could you tell us a little about your short story collection,  Elephants in Our Bedroom?

It’s a book I’d worked on for a long time. Those stories mean a lot to me, as they’re me finding my voice, finding myself as an artist. To see someone grab onto that, acknowledge it, and most of all, read it, verifies what I’ve been doing.

 

But in more simple terms, it’s a book of 24 short stories, most of them about how people can’t seem to figure out how to relate to each other anymore, with a lot of absurd concepts and images thrown in.

 

The stories in Elephants in Our Bedroom put me in mind, in themes and quality, of the work of Aimee Bender and Etgar Keret – who are probably my two favourite writers – and that’s got a lot to do with the unlikely and fantastic situations your characters find themselves in. Where do these situations come from? Is there a process or do they just happen?

I purposely try to come up with something that I think is clever, funny, challenging, impossible, uncomfortable, and bizarre all at the same time. I spend a lot of time thinking about things. Once I have something, though, I can run with it. It’s like moving the furniture around in your living room. Only certain things work, and once you find it, you just sit back and appreciate the news angles that you can look at things.

 

Do you tend to write stories to find out how a situation is resolved, or what happens to a character, or do you know how the whole thing ends before you start?

There’s only certain things that can happen at the end of a story, once you get going, where readers will still believe you, still empathize. At a certain point, I like to lay out what those things are and pick the most interesting one; sometimes it’s what makes the most sense, too. But the character has to reach a new point—“change,” as they say in Story 101. I like them to still be in flux, though, only in a different way.

 

How would you describe a typical Michael Czyzniejewski story?

I wish there were a word. Maybe my name will be synonymous with the type of story I write, that someone will one day be like, “That’s too Czyzniejewski” for my tastes, that I become so commonplace, I become a dull adjective. Maybe something on the SAT verbal exam. Heck, the GRE. So to get that rolling, I’ll say my stories are rather Czyzniejewski, but can also at times be Baldwin with a dash of ennui.

 

Do you have a reader in mind when you’re writing, and if you do, what does he or she look like?

My reader is me. I write what intrigues me and entertains me, what I think is cool. It’s good for me that others happen to agree with this view. At least I assume so, as people have printed me. So I think I’m going to keep going with that for now. All writers should do the same.

 

Which book or writers would you suggest those who enjoyed Elephants in Our Bedroom read?

You name some pretty good ones in Aimee Bender, who has been a great influence on my work; the fact she read my book and wrote a blurb had me flying since. I also love Etgar Keret, The Nimrod Flip-flop. Brilliant. I love Donald Barthelme and George Saunders, too. Can’t go wrong with Flannery O’Connor, the bestest story writer ever, or Raymond Carver, though it’s harder to see either of their immense influences on what I do. Some new great writers are Kevin Wilson, Alissa Nutting, Seth Fried, Matt Bell, people I’ve had the chance to publish, to work with. I think all of these people are going to do great things.

 

You’re a Creative Writing Instructor, how does that influence your writing?

I have to remind myself of the things I tell my students. How silly would I look if I didn’t? But really, I have to make sure that all the basic things I try to teach go into my stories. Stories that start with good foundations turn into good stories, so yeah, I have to go back, take out the adverbs, the be verbs, add images, restructure sentences, and make sure I don’t end stories with “... and it was all just a dream!” It’s best not to forget any of that.

 

You’re also the Editor-in-Chief at the Mid-American Review, could you tell us a little about that?

I’m blessed with the opportunity, which fell into my lap. I applied to MFA programs where the students could work on the journal, which is why I was happy to go to Bowling Green. After I graduated, I stayed on to teach part-time, then full-time, as a freshman English instructor, and after a year of that, the former Ed-in-Chief, George Looney, stepped down, moved on to Penn State-Erie (and Lake Effect). That opened up some opportunities for me, and since I was willing to do it, I was given the chance.

 

It’s fantastic to work on a journal, to have the honor of reading a lot of writers’ work before anyone else. And when I find something I love, to contact that person, to share in their enthusiasm, and to get other people to read that story, well, that’s what it’s all about. We have stories coming out in our next issue that really blow me away. This guy Gabe Durham is a genius. Ryan Call, too. And a lot of others. I’m so glad they considered MAR worthy of sending their work to.

 

In your opinion, as some who teaches, who reads (and accepts and rejects) submissions,  and who writes and publishes, what would you say is wrong with most fiction today?

Too many of the stories I read as submissions—the ones that don’t get in—don’t try to challenge me as a reader, don’t try to take me out of my world and into theirs. Writers do this by writing about non-spectacular, ordinary things, things that aren’t worthy of their skills or time. If you’re going to bother to write a story, why not make it fantastic, why not offer up something incredible? That’s a lot of adjectives to shoot for—I should include “amazing,” “phenomenal,” “terrific,” and “great,” too—but hey, that’s why I read. I don’t want to read 20 pages about some guy who loses his car keys or someone who can’t decide whether or not to go clubbing that night. This is stuff you tell a friend on the elevator on the way up to work, something you tell your mom on the phone at night, not something you put into a piece of art and try to wow someone with. So the fiction that’s not working is probably just too everyday. I will never discredit anyone for trying to overwhelm me, even if the effort, on the whole, is crappy.

 

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve been given?

Jean Thompson, a teacher of mine at Illinois and a friend, told me when I graduated: Find your favorite story, by your favorite author, in your favorite book, in your favorite anthology, whatever . .. and write a better story.

If you do that, or at least try to every time, you’ll succeed, sooner or later.

Every great story should...

Make the reader wish he/she wrote it, thought of it instead.

 

Every good writer will...

Work harder than it seems humanly possible to work. A hundred other writers are doing the same, right now, so you’d better than get lazy.                                                                                                           

 

You’re working on a novel at the moment, how have you found that compared with short story writing? Are novels and short stories vastly different in shape?

The novel is hard. I like to finish things, to see the finish line. If I was a runner—and I’m not—I would want to be a sprinter, like the 100-yard dash. I would want to put all my energy—the same energy as a marathon runner—into that small of space, just so I could see where I was going.

 

What I’m hoping to do is take the anecdotal part of stories and turn those into parts of the novel, to realize that a novel is made up of smaller stories, turn it into a series of stories that tells an overall story. If I can figure that out, think of it that way, I might like it better.

 

Talk to us about baseball, and about your experiences at Wrigley Field.

Baseball gives me as much joy as anything in life. Take away the steroids, the contracts, the off-field problems, and it’s such a purely beautiful thing, it almost makes me cry it’s 5 months till next season.

 

Throw the fact in that I’m a Cubs fan, and the pain and joy is just that much greater. Lots of pain, but any glimmer of success is joy on an unparalleled level.

 

Getting to work there at Wrigley (I’m a beer vendor, by the way)—it’s been 21 seasons now—still seems surreal to me. When I think about it, it’s like the greatest thing I can imagine, that I can go to 81 games a year—plus playoffs!—and watch the Cubs, walk down the aisle to the front row, lean against the wall, 15 feet from the batter’s box, see the batter’s expression as he swings. And get paid doing it. How lucky I am. But other times, I take it for granted, as I’ve done it longer than half my life. It’s part of who I am, and no matter how things go for me—in terms of writerly success, salary, etc.—I can’t imagine leaving that job, not working at Wrigley, being able to see the Cubs every day. It’s the only thing—save family—that interests me as much as reading and writing. So I’m glad that I’m working on a novel about that—that makes it a lot easier, too.

What’s next for you?

I have a story collection, a second one, mostly done. As stated, I can see the finish line there, so it’s easier to work on. Plus, I’ve been given the thumbs up on such things before, so it’s easier to do something when someone else has verified you. I’d also like to get into the novel—really get into it, to the point where it consumes me, so when I’m done, 75,000 words later, I can say, “Wow, that almost killed me, but I did it.” I think it’s what has to happen if it’s going to be any good. I can’t imagine saying, “Aww, no big deal!” without it blowing.

 

I’d also like to travel, change the routine, the back-and-forth between Ohio and Chicago in the summers, something to shake things up. I should get a shack in the Montana wilderness for a few months, eat caterpillars and crab apples and get down to 114 pounds. Something like that maybe. Or I could get an X-Box or a dog or something.

 

Anything you’d like to add?

I think this covers it. Not good at math, anyway. Thanks!

Michael Czyzniejewski grew up in Chicago and now lives in Ohio, where he teaches at Bowling Green State University and serves as Editor-in-Chief of Mid-American Review. Stories have recently appeared or are forthcoming in The Los Angeles Review, Moon City Review, SmokeLong Quarterly, Knee-Jerk  and the anthologies Best of the Web 2009 and You Must Be This Tall to Ride. His debut collection of fiction, Elephants in Our Bedroom, was released by Dzanc Books earlier this year.

Five Years

I can't stop listening to this. I love it.

Good Ideas Vs Good Stories

I notice it's been a little while since I last posted here. Sorry. I've been a bit under the weather and I've been busy, mostly with writing. Some of what I've written I'm pleased with, other stories, erm, not so much. It's reminded me, and I think this is a really, really important lesson for anyone beginning to write, that a good idea does not guarantee a good story. But not being able to turn a good idea into a good story does not make you a bad writer. 

There are often other ways to tell it (two of the best things, in my opinion, that I've written, have been tackled from half a dozen different angles) and, probably more often, it just doesn't work. And that's fine. Knowing when to give up and move on's a really healthy thing to learn - that's probably as important as learning that writing  something good takes a lot of time and hard work.

And let's not forget, of course, that there are other good ideas that do make good stories.

So, um, that's what I think about that.

Spooky

I had planned to do what I did last year and write and record a story for Halloween. But I've been a bit ill (feeling much better now, thanks to all who sent good wishes, you're very lovely) and very, very busy so I've not got round to it.

So I'll refer you to what I did last year. It's a very, very short story which, I hope, is a little scary as well. And you get to hear what I sound like. I'm sorry.

***

Now, if you want to read something truly horrifying, have yourselves a look at today's post at How Publishing Really Works. I'd forgotten about that. Thanks for reminding me. Seriously, you couldn't make it up.

Cally Taylor Made Me Cry

I finished Heaven Can Wait by Cally Taylor last night. It isn't the usual thing I'd read in that it's a romantic comedy, but blimey, I'm glad I did.

Lucy Brown dies the day before her wedding to her soulmate. In limbo she's given the opportunity to either head on up to heaven and be reunited with the parents she lost while still very young, or head back down to earth as a wannabe ghost to complete a task which, if completed, would allow her to become an actual ghost and be reunited with her beloved fella.

I'm glad Lucy Brown chose option 2. The task she's set is to find love for a geek.

I've just nipped over to The Book Depository for the above picture of the cover. They say, about Heaven Can Wait, that it's a 'fabulously warm, funny and romantic novel, that will have you laughing and crying in equal measure'. and I couldn't agree more.

It is VERY funny. I lost count of the times I laughed out loud. And by golly is it sad. I made the mistake of finishing it in the pub (yes, where people could see) and had to stop on more than one occasion because I was starting to well up.

Cally Taylor is a hugely gifted story teller, I think that's her ace. And the characters she's created are people I could have stayed with for much longer than I did, and I was genuinely sorry when I had to put the book down and leave them.

I'm hardly an expert on romantic comedies, the only ones I'm familiar with are the films, Bridget Jones, Love Actually etc but in my humble opinion, Heaven Can Wait is every bit as good as those, if not better.

Highly recommended by me.

And if it sounds like your kind of thing you might want to head over to Cally's blog. She's in the middle of a virtual tour at the moment, all the details are there.

***

And I'll be interviewing Cally at some point soon - is there anything you'd like me to ask her?

A.C. Tillyer Interview - An A-Z of Possible Worlds Blog Tour

An A-Z of Possible Worlds. Wow. I read this a little while ago and it's been something that's reminded me of how lucky I am to be a reader. It is packaged beautifully. The stories within it are simply excellent. It's...just...great. You can read the review I did of it here.

But I'm not just a reader. No. I'm a blogger as well. And, as a blogger I can do really cool and exciting stuff, like welcome writers I love here, to talk about their work. And, yes. That's just what I've done with A.C. Tillyer, author of said A-Z of Possible Worlds, who's stopped by here on her blog tour. So over to it. And look, isn't it just gorgeous...

So, Anne, An A-Z of Possible Worlds – what is it?

It's a box of 26 individually bound short stories, one for each letter of the alphabet.  Imagine you're on a journey around your mind and each story is a possible destination on that journey.  What would yours be like?

[Nik: mine? I dread to think. Colourful, terrifying, bleak, with occasional sunny spells.]

 

And who do you think it’s for?

Me, of course!  And anyone who likes reading.  I think it's particularly good for people who are traveling because you can just take one or two with you at a time and they fit in your pocket. 

What does your ideal reader look like?

Again: me, of course!  Actually, make that me as my teenage self, lying on my bed and reading the first books that really burrowed under my skin and have been with me ever since.  That would be the ideal.

And what would they say about it?

Hmm, I hope it would set them to thinking: if the inside of my head was an entire world that I could travel through, what sort of people would I find living there?  And would I really want to meet them?

Tell us how these stories came about?

It all started when I was commuting to work by train and had plenty of time to study the other passengers and what was going on outside the window.  The golfers in the distance looked like robots and that set me to thinking, what if they are?  Is that possible?  And what if those motorists actually like being trapped in their cars every day?  In fact, what if they're driving addicts who come here at the weekends as well?  And what if that person opposite me isn't a commuter at all but is actually selecting a victim for his next kill?  From there, it was a small step to start imagining entire societies devoted to a single passion or emotion: an addiction to war for its own sake, the pursuit of beauty, reverence for authority, the desire to prolong life at any cost, perfectionism, tyranny, paranoia, hedonism, the death wish...  All impulses that, to a greater or lesser extent, I think we all have.  Just be thankful they don't exist in their pure form!

And, more generally, where do you think stories come from?

Well, that's another impulse that I think we all have: the desire to try and make narrative sense out of the world as we experience it.  I'm sure that when early humans huddled round the fire after a busy day hunting elk or whatever, one of them would say: did you hear about that bloke who....?  It's a way of applying order, some sort of cause and effect, to our lives, and of testing out the possible outcomes of a particular situation, the eternal 'what if'?  I think that's why I find fiction far more stimulating than factual writing.  If I find out that a story I like is actually true, I feel a bit let down.  When a narrative is tied down by what really happened, it actually seems less authentic.  I like to know there's the guiding presence of an author with me when I'm reading because then I have the chance of being taken into a world of ideas and possibilities.  By that, I don't mean a world of unicorns and mermaids and magic boots.  I like fiction that's logical, that describes things that could happen given a certain set of circumstances.  It has to reflect the real world in some way without being tied down by it.

Why do you write?

Ha! - to be Lord of the Universe, free to murder and create, to commit unspeakable crimes and heroic acts of martyrdom - and to punish and reward them as I see fit, of course!  Seriously, though, I like to take a particular situation or idea and think through what might happen, to see things from several different viewpoints at the same time, and to apply some sort of order to all the chaos out there.  After all, it needs it, doesn't it?! 

And why do you think we read?

Aw that's difficult!  Probably for as many reasons as there are readers.  Anything from pure escapism to searching for the Answer to Everything.  And all the gradations between... I guess I read as a sort of springboard for thought - and for pleasure, too, of course.  It's extremely comforting when you discover that something that's always irritated or amused you has also irritated or amused somebody that you've never met.  I know that this is probably absurd, but sometimes I think I know my favourite writers better than I know my best friends.  I'm sure I'm not the only person who feels like that.

What should every great story do?

Stay with you.  For whatever reason, it stays with with you.  The ones I like all capture a certain atmosphere and when you've finished them, they feel complete.  Unlike novels, great short stories don't leave you wanting more.  You know when they're done.  If I had to name a few that seem to me to be almost perfect, I would say: Jody Rolled the Bones (Richard Yates), The Trouble with Mrs Blynn, the Trouble with the World (Patricia Highsmith), The Gospel According to Mark (Borges) and The Gentleman from San Francisco (Ivan Bunin).  In each one of these, except perhaps the Bunin, the ending comes as a surprise and then you realize that it was built into the story right from the beginning and it couldn't be any other way.  That's incredibly satisfying. 

And every writer?

Whatever they set out to do is the quick answer.  To have enough control of your material that you can take the reader to precisely the place you want them to go, even if that place is one of confusion and uncertainty.  But that's easier said than done.  People read for so many different reasons, you can't please em all!

You wrote the stories in an A-Z of Possible Worlds on trains. Is that a process you’d recommend and a method you’d employ again? Or do you fancy a desk? Or a table in a cafe?

Well, I had most of the ideas on the train and jotted them down as bullet points.  For the actual writing, I needed my desk, my pen and peace and quiet.  It's true, though, there's something about trains that's conducive to ideas, although the time of day was important as well.  I would cycle to the station, which got the blood pumping as I usually cut it pretty fine, then leapt onto a train full of very quiet, well-behaved commuters and I had this bubble of silence right at the start of the day that was extremely productive.  On the journey home, it was much noisier and I was too knackered to do anything creative.  A cafe sounds dreadful.  I'd feel guilty that I wasn't buying enough coffee.

Many of the stories in the collection could be interpreted as commentaries on the not so great bits about life and society (often depicting a hopelessness which put me in mind of Kafka), what would you say to that?

You're probably right in that you will most likely grab a pen when something pisses you off than at any other time.  But then, I found that by taking a group rather than an individual as my main character, events which would be catastrophic to one person actually seemed less so when they affect a crowd.  There's something quite funny about watching a pack of people self-destruct.  I wasn't expecting that, but it sure made it easier to mow them down!  And, to be fair, it's not relentlessly gloomy, is it? [Nik: absolutely not!]  I'm quite fond of the islanders of The Straits.  For all their boorishness, they show great courage when the chips are down.

How do you feel about the collection’s wonderful packaging?

O, it's fantastic, isn't it?  It's much, much better than I imagined.  I love the colour, which is British Rail maroon and used to be on the old Pullman coaches.  And it just feels so nice!

Which books or authors would you suggest people who liked your work read?

Ha! I wouldn't like to say that I'm anywhere near as good as the writers I'd recommend, so maybe I can just list some that I really, really like?  And they would be: Bruno Schulz, Varlam Shalamov, J G Ballard, John Fante, Victor Serge, Isaac Babel, John Steinbeck, Joseph Conrad, Dostoyevsky and probably quite a few more...

Tell us about you.

Well, for my day job I'm a freelance documentary editor, cutting anything from cookery to crime.  It's great cos I get some good chunks of time off to write when I'm 'between' jobs. 

What’s next for you?

Some work, hopefully!  And chance to finish a proper, grown-up, full-length book, which is currently in pieces and pinned up all over the flat. 

Anything you’d like to add?

This is the age of the train!

***

And as though an interview isn't enough (I know, I really do spoil you), those lovely people at Roast Books have put up two of the stories from the book especially so you, lovely readers of my blog, can have a sneak peek.

They are:

C Is For Casino

and 

(one of my favourites) L is for Labyrinth.

***

Be sure to catch the next leg of the tour over here at Just William's Luck, on October 28th.

Like Spinach, Flash Fiction is Good For You - David Gaffney Interview

I'm thrilled to welcome flash fiction writer and novelist David Gaffney to my blog today, to talk about, well, a whole manner of stuff, including why flash fiction is like cooked spinach and getting to the point of the chase. And sandwiches made by your dad.

Welcome to the blog, David. You have a new collection of flash fiction out, Aromabingo – can you tell us a little about it?

Aromabingo came out in hard back last year and now the paperback is just out. It’s a follow up to sawn off tales, which was my collection of ultra-short fiction - stories all exactly 150 words long ( count them, its true as long as you allow me a hyphen  in the word pop-tart) Aromabingo  is one third flash fiction, one third slightly longer pieces and one third even longer than that. I’ve divided the sections like old vinyl records - 45s, 12 inch singles, and LPs.

 

I read and enjoyed your debut collection, Sawn-off Tales, how does the new book compare?

The themes are my usual stuff: weird people in humdrum worlds, humdrum people in weird worlds, weird people in weird worlds, and a few humdrum people in humdrum worlds (but not so many like that). A couple of the longer stories maybe feel a little more serious, possibly just because they are longer. I only publish longer ones when I have completely failed to find a way to cut them right down as I do prefer ultra short; but longer stories have the advantage of allowing the reader to relax a bit more and settle into the fictional world. In flash fiction you never get time to kick your shoes off and pour a glass of wine.

 

What, in your opinion, is flash fiction?

It’s stories of less than 500 words I’d say.  Maybe flash is a male thing like minimalism -there are no cushions or scented candles in flash fiction, it’s all barebones and getting right down to the nitty gritty. When people go shopping in flash fiction story they buy only essentials, things they are going to need for the next few hours. I see flash as concentrated injections of pure distilled reality. I read an article recently comparing sandwiches from different shops; a Marks and Spencer’s sandwich was like one made by a posh chef, whereas a sandwich from Boots was like one your mother would make. Well if flash fiction was a sandwich it would be the sort of sandwich made by your dad, complete with thumb prints -  and definitely no salad. In fact, to continue the food theme, making flash fiction stories is like cooking spinach;  you fill a pan with enough leaves to feed an elephant then after a few minutes all you have left is a coating of thin green sludge on the bottom. But don’t worry - its incredibly tasty. Flash fiction, like spinach is very, very good for you.

 

And what makes good flash fiction?

Flash fiction don’t just cut to the chase, it cuts to the point of the chase, hitting you with a powerful one off injection of ideas and emotions which flood the mind and leave you reeling. But the problem is with this intensity is you often need a break from reading. A few flash fictions in a row might amaze and delight – one after another and you feel like you’ve been run over by lorry full of fridges. I think that really good flash has a kind of formal and emotional exactness. You can find yourself lost in these frozen little shards of time, and you hold your breath, suspended between an endless known  moment and an endless unknown future. That’s why I love them. A good piece of flash may seem innocent on the surface but glows from the inside with secret menace. I think that flash fiction sometimes has more in common with text art than literature; people like David Shrigley, or graphic novel/comic books artists like David Frith with his Salad Fingers series. And why not celebrate short things? Short songs have always been the greatest - Blitzkrieg Bob rather than Pink Floyd, that’s what I say.

 

What’s your writing process?

I type, but I hold a pen at the same time. Holding a pen helps you think. I recommend it. Long hand is good too. I wrote a lot of my recent set of stories - 24 stories about the M62 motorway between Liverpool and Hull - longhand in cafes then typed them up later. I tend to write longer and then edit down, I have never written a short piece and stretched it out, I’m not sure I could do that.

I have an ideas folder where I put all my rough sketches for stories and there’s a lot of stuff in there, so I never really have to start with a blank page. In fact I would recommend never starting with a blank page, even if you have a pick a bit of paper up off the street that someone else has written on, like a shopping list,  its better than starting blank. I once found a torn piece of card which turned out to be the packaging off something called Party-Feet - sticky plastic pads you wear in high heeled shoes to make them comfortable to dance in. On the back someone had drawn a map showing how to get to the railway station from their house. This was a short story nearly written out for me!  All I had to so was fill in the gaps. Or not. Gaps are good in short stories aren’t they?  The devil is in the detail, but God is in the gaps.

 

It’s been a couple of years since Sawn-off Tales was published, have you noticed any shift in the public perception of flash fiction in that time?

I think that there has been more interest in flash over the last few years. I get asked to do a lot of workshops on flash fiction and there are loads of web mags and print mags publishing it. However I don’t think flash fiction is ever going to be up there with longer short stories - the 3 - 5 thousand worders. Those stories are the competition winners,  those stories are the big hitters. I think us flash fiction people are doing something a little different.

 

I’m assuming you’ll have been asked what most short fiction writers are asked: Are you working on a novel? What’s your standard response to that?

I’ve already published a novel called Never Never. It's out on Tindal Street Press - and it’s about people with debts biting back. It’s set in West Cumbria and is a comic thriller (or a thrilling comic, whichever you think sounds best). However, I prefer writing short fiction  because of the sense of elation you get every few days when you finish a story - with a novel, it feels like your acting out the sex life of some withered-up cactus that flowers every  two years for five minutes, and even then waits till your down at the betting shop.

 

Tell us about you. Who is David Gaffney?

I’m a man without a hat, but with glasses and a coat.

 

What’s next for you?

I have a new collection of short fiction out in June on Salt called the Half life of songs, and a  novel half-written which is about some bailiffs who write a stage musical about Mott the Hoople and take it to the Edinburgh festival. The last part will be based on my experience of taking my show, Destroy PowerPoint, to the Edinburgh festival this year. I also have a project at the Poole Literature Festival coming up called The Poole Confessions which consists of people in Poole telling me their secret confessions which I then turn into short stories and read to the public in a mobile confessional box which will tour Poole in 2010. The public will decide on a penance for each of the confessional stories and the penances along with the final stories will be published at the end of the festival.

 

Anything you’d like to add?

Check my website for more stuff is all I would say www.davidgaffney.co.uk

David Gaffney is from Manchester. He is the author of Sawn Off Tales (Salt 2006), Aromabingo (Salt 2007), Never Never (Tindal Street 2008),  Buildings Crying Out a story using lost cat posters (Lancaster litfest 2009), 23 Stops To Hull stories about junctions on the M62 (Humbermouth festival 2009)  Rivers Take Them  a set of short operas with composer Ailis Ni Riain (BBC Radio Three 2008.) andDestroy PowerPoint, stories in PowerPoint format (Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2009) and In 2010 The Poole Confessions, short stories based on the confessions of people form Poole and delivered in a mobile confessional box at Poole Literature Festival,  and The Half Life of Songs a  new collection of shorts on SALT press.

***

And if anyone would like to buy themselves a copy of Sawn-off Tales WITH a 30% DISCOUNT, they should go here and enter this code: GM36ne27

I Love This Book

If you're on Twitter, as well as looking me up (@nikperring) you may also want to have a nosy at #ilovethisbook which has had a bit of a revamp today, courtesy of Scott Pack (@meandmybigmouth) - it came about a couple of weeks ago when I was wondering which books I loved enough to recommend to pretty much anyone. There are quite a few, it turns out. And now there are a fair few others posting the books that they love enough to recommend to other people. So, I'd strongly suggest getting yourselves over there and getting involved. It's all good. I've ordered three or four already - some of which I'd never heard of.

***

And talking of books I love, Monday coming sees an interview here with A.C. Tillyer, author of An A-Z of Possible Worlds. 

And let me tell you, it is something special. It's a collection of short stories, each about a possible world (ones where golfers are robots, or your fellow commuters might well be hunting you, or a whole country that's a great big labyrinth...) each bound separately and presented beautifully in a claret box.

It looks fantastic. It feels fantastic. And the stories are every bit as good as the package promises.

And it would make the perfect Christmas gift for any book lover, and is published by the Roast Books, the same people who published L. Schick's Lizard, which I also loved.

I've stood P Is For Peep Show up because it's my favourite in there. Actually, it's one of the best short stories I've read.

You know what to do.

Two Things That Made Me Very Happy Happy Today

The first was an email I received. It was a review of my book by Archie Clark. It put a big old grin on my big old face.

Archie said:

"I Met a Roman last Night, what did you do? By Nik Perring.

 

Review by Archie Clark. Aged 8.

 

The book ‘I met a Roman last night what did you do? ‘ is a very good book. It starts with a boy called Jack who does not want to go to bed,  he wanted to find out more about the Romans he’s learning about them at school. Eventually he went to bed and to sleep and in his dream he met a Roman and the next night he met a Celt and the

next day when Jack was at school the teacher, Miss Bean told them they were gong on a surprise school trip. That night he dreamt he met a Viking the next morning Jack went on a school trip. That night Jack wanted to stay up to find more info on the computer but he knew he needed his rest for sports day, so he went to sleep and he met a young girl in the war then he woke up and went to sports day.

 

Make sure you buy this book for your child. I would rate it age 7+ and the story 9+."

Thank you so much, Archie, for such a well written and brilliant review. I hope you find lots of other really good books to read.

***

And the second thing that made me very happy today was the postman delivering me this, Heaven Can Wait, by Cally Taylor.

Look out for an interview with Cally here shortly. I can only hope it's half as good as the one she did with Caroline Smailes.

Tomlit on my Blog

How cool! I can embed the debut issue of Tomlit Quarterly right here on my blog. What a good idea. So here it is. I'm in there with Jessica, so I shall give her a little wave.

Gone Live

My story, Number 14, is now live over at Tomlit Quarterly. 

I hope you enjoy it. It's one for those who like Post-it notes.

Things And Stuff

I've had a nice weekend, which makes a pleasant change if I'm honest, in that I've seen people. Yes, very nice indeed.

I've also had chance to write, which, as last week was a definite Other Writing Work Week, has also been most welcome.

I'm still getting emails about my Pacifier story over at the brilliant Metazen, which is cool. Thank you for enjoying it, folks.

Talking of cool things, I enjoyed reading this post by Teresa Stenson and her story at Tomlit.  Thanks Teresa, and congrats.

And while I'm talking about Tomlit, I should also mention that I've a story appearing in the first issue of Tomlit Quarterly, which should be live tomorrow. I shall link when I can.

Congratulations, Cally

Ooh look. Cally Taylor's novel, Heaven Can Wait is published today. I am very much looking forward to getting my copy.

Happy P Day, Cally.

The Danger of the Single Story and a Clean Office

Do you mind if I'm a little smug? No? Good. 

But you want to know why I'm smug? Of course I'll tell you.

I cleaned my office today. It no longer has more dust than a Philip Pullman novel. I can see the floor. I can see my desk. I even threw the stuff I haven't needed for, like, months out.

I am organised.

Look!

***

I saw this on the brilliant Vanessa Gebbie's blog earlier and just had to share it. It's brilliant.

***

And a little heads up - crime writer and author of the brilliant Taking Comfort R N Morris has a new website/combined blog thingumy which is worth checking out. 

***

Also worth checking out is Michelle's interview with Tania Hershman, on giving up the day job. She's interviewed me about it too, I'll link to it when it's up (but I warn you, unlike Tania I sound rather grumpy).

Elephants in Our Bedroom

We have another addition to my Incredibles list, folks (ie books that I think are incredibly good).

It's Elephants in Our Bedroom, by Michael Czyzniejewski.

 

It's a collection (Michael's first) of 24 short stories, some very short, some longer, all brilliant. It reminds me of Aimee Bender's work (and you all know how much I love her), in fact she blurbed it, and the work of Etgar Keret as well (again, you know how much I love him too) in that there are unlikely happenings (a man who, quite literally, keeps an elephant in his bedroom; the death of the colour purple; a man whose lover is hiding old men in her bedroom) but, in all of these stories, with their unlikely situations (which, as it happens, are entirely believable), there are characters who are just as real, just as fragile, just as obnoxious and just as human as us.

 

I know I'm no good at reviews, so to close I'll type up the notes I made about this a few days ago:

 

'Elephants in Our Bedroom' is fiction as it should be: fun, affecting, intelligent, moving and something that changes, if only slightly, the reader and how one sees the world. It'll probably change the way I write about it as well. If there's one thing you might miss, being caught up in these utterly engrossing stories, it's just how well written, how well crafted each one is. Incredibly good'

 

Which really, I think, says it all.

Oh, and you can buy it here.

I LOVE this post

Not mine - this one, by Alan Rinzler, on why book publishers love short stories.

So, readers, tell me: why do you love short stories? Don't be shy now...

7 Things, and Other Things

Hooray and hurrah, I've won an award. A Kreativ Blogger award. From the lovely and talented Diane Becker. Thank you.

And here's what I have to do.

* 1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
* 2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
* 3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
* 4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
* 5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.
* 6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
* 7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they have been nominated.

7 interesting things might be pushing it, but here goes...

1. I adore the autumn. Everything about it. The light, the air, the temperature, its colours. Kicking leaves. Smelling fires.

2. I once touched Posh Spice's boob with my face. It was an accident of course, a collision and she took it in good humour, though she probably thought I'd been invited to the party where said collision occurred. I escaped without injury.

3. I have never seen ET.

4. I never thought this blog would last this long.

5.  I want a lightsaber now just as much as I did as when I was 7.

6. I used to sell cars.

7. I'm probably a lot more shy than you'd think.

Okay then. Let's see. Who should I nominate? 

Let's have the recently interviewed and very lovely Megan Taylor.

The lovely, Welshcake, Nuala, Teresa Stenson, Kim Mcgowan, Crawl Space and Annie Clarkson. All their blogs are ace.

***

And here's a funny, or odd little thing I'll share with you. A little glimpse into the mind of me. 

Yesterday was the first day since April that I didn't do any work. I've known I've needed a break for ages but haven't had the opportunity to take one because I've been rather busy.

So yesterday I did nothing. I dozed. And sat. Watched a bit of Doctor Who. And started to think about things (something I'd not done in an age as I'd been working so hard - and not thinking comes pretty easily to me). And, as a result, saw things in a slightly different way, put them into perspective. I felt sad and angry with some people for how they've treated me, disappointed that some have been pretty damn heartless and cruel.

But really, they're happy. And me taking notice of them only does one thing: pisses me off. So why do I do it? Honestly, because I like things to be right. I like to think that people who I've known, and been friends with, are the sort of people who do the right thing. When they don't it's a shock and a disappointment. 

So, I've decided to not care as much about them and start caring more about me. I wonder if that'll mean I work less or more.

Just thought I'd share.

***

And another thing...

I've been absolutely delighted that so many people have gotten in touch to tell me they like Pacifier, which appeared in the fab Metazen earlier in the week. I don't think I've ever had that much feedback, certainly not from people I don't know.

What makes this extra special is that Pacifier and other recently published stories are the stories I'm most excited about. They're what I think a Nik Perring story looks like. So the fact that they're being enjoyed by people is just thrilling.

So a huge thanks to everyone who's emailed me, or commented over at Metazen, or left a note on Facebook or Twittered me. It means a lot.

Megan Taylor Interview

Two posts in one day? I know. I spoil you. As though a link to my short story over at the wonderful Metazen wasn't enough, here's an interview with the equally wonderful Megan Taylor, author of How We Were Lost.

 

So Megan, ‘How We Were Lost’ – who’s it for and what’s it about?

‘How We Were Lost’ is a dark coming of age story.  It begins with 14-year-old Janie’s obsession with two young girls who have disappeared from her small coastal town.  But Janie’s compulsion to find the missing girls masks a deeper need to unravel the secrets of her own dysfunctional family, and to face the truth about herself . . .

The novel wasn’t written with any particular reader in mind, it just wanted to be written!  But because it has a teenage protagonist it gained a couple of Young Adult reviews along with the others.

To be honest, I don’t mind who reads it – I’m just very happy it’s being read.

 

It’s been out for a little while now, what’s the reaction to it been?

I’ve been very, very lucky.  I had some really warm reviews (including mentions in Mslexia and Time Out) and then over a year later, it received a fresh boost when it was selected as one of the first titles to be promoted with ‘Exclusively Independent’ (Legend Press’s Arts Council funded initiative, which seeks to bring together independent publishers and bookshops to champion new writing).  I’ve also had some wonderful feedback from readers.  I’m very grateful.

 

Does writing it feel like something you did a long, long time ago?

Yes!  ‘How We Were Lost’ was written before my Creative Writing MA, when I wasn’t brave enough to even admit I was a writer and when my youngest was still very young.  Much of that novel was written sitting at the edge of sandpits and during nap-time. 

 

Has your approach to writing changed since How We Were Lost’s publication?

Not really.  I do think about potential readers a little more, but I’m still basically a pretty selfish writer.  I still write because I love it.  So I write to please myself.

(oops, that sounds pretty bad, doesn’t it?  Never mind . . .)

In terms of the writing itself, hopefully it’s tighter now.  I’ll never stop striving to improve – but though there are patches of ‘How We Were Lost’ I’d probably write differently now, I still have a lot of affection for Janie and her story.

 

What have you learned since its publication?

I’ve learnt how naive I was about the whole business of publishing – but also how amazingly generous and supportive people can be. 

 

What’s your writing routine?

I’m still juggling writing around children, so most mornings I get up early in order to outfox them.  I’m lucky that my job’s part time, so I also get another hour or so each day after they’re dropped at school.  I’m a bit useless by the evening, but I snatch other moments - lately I often seem to be editing on the bus.

 

Why do you blog?

It all began with an experimental interactive blogstory, which was indeed mental.  But also brilliant.  At the moment I’m blogging more generally about the writing process and with various news and events (although there might well be another blogstory at some point).  I blog to connect with others – with other writers and with readers.  I blog to promote my writing, but also to see how this whole mad business works for everyone else.

 

What advice would you give to people who are trying to get published?

Take on others feedback and criticism, but don’t compromise the true writing voice inside you.  Mostly, don’t give up.  You really don’t know what might be about to happen . . .

 

And what advice would you give to people who are going to be published?

Enjoy every minute of it (though they probably don’t need telling that)

 

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve received?

Lick a leaf

 

Tell us a secret.

I might – but you have to go first.  And it has to be juicy.*

 

What’s next for you?

Hopefully - another published novel.  Or two.  Or three.  Or more . . .  My second novel ‘Before the Light’ is out there floating amidst the publishing ether right now.  And my (very recently completed) third, ‘The Lives of Ghosts’, has also had some interest, so fingers crossed – in fact, EVERYTHING crossed.  And touching a whole forest full of wood.  Etc.

Definitely – more writing.  I’ve just started novel 4.  I’m really excited about it.

 

Anything you’d like to add?

If anyone would like to find out more about my writing (and perhaps even read some!) please drop by my website www.megantaylor.info

But most of all, thank you tons Nik!

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

***

After placing second in the Yeovil Prize, Megan Taylor’s debut novel, a shadowy coming-of-age story,‘How We Were Lost’, was published by Flame Books in 2007.  It went on to be one of the first titles to be selected for promotion in the Arts Council funded ‘Exclusively Independent’ scheme, an initiative bringing independent bookshops and publishers together to champion new writing.

 

Megan has recently completed a Creative Writing MA with Manchester Metropolitan University, where she wrote her second novel, another dark family drama,‘Before the Light’.  She was awarded a Distinction, alongside MMU’s annual Janet Beer Award for ‘outstanding contribution to the life of the Writing School.’

 

Megan lives in Nottingham with her husband and two children, where she is working on her third novel ‘The Lives of Ghosts’.

Her website is here.

***

* You want me to tell you a secret? A juicy one? Okay. I have a considerable crush on Dr Alice Roberts. Your turn, Taylor.

Not a Story For Dummies

I've a very short story over at the fabulous Metazen today. It's called Pacifier. It contains one or two naughty words. I hope you like it.

Which Books Do You Love?

I'm a writer, so books are important to me. I know, that's pretty darned obvious. But where I find out about ones I might like to read is something I've been thinking about of late.

There's The Short Review, which is always excellent (the new issue's out now).

There's word of mouth and recommendations from friends. I bought Elephants in Our Bedroom on the Twitter recommendation of Dave Clapper (ed of the utterly brilliant Smokelong Quarterly) and recommended, by response, Etgar Keret's work. (I'll review Elephants in our Bedroom later - it is an incredibly good book.)

Scott Pack's recommendations are usually spot on. It's thanks to him that I've read and loved Thirteen by Sebastian Beaumont, Lizard by L Shick (interview with her here) and a few others.

There was the terrific Black Boxes widget which made me aware of Caroline Smailes.

There's the Goodreads website, which I check if I'm not sure which book by a certain author I should try first.

They're the ones that come to mind straight away. I'm sure there are others.

So, last night, I was thinking about this and wondering how I could get people to share the boosk they love and would recommend to others.

As an experiment, I Twittered it, with the hash-tag #ilovethisbook

There is quite a list there now. So if you're on Twitter and you'd like to share your favourite books, or see if you can find something you'd like to read, you know what to do.

And if you want to follow me, my Twitter username thingy is @nikperring.

***

I must say that I was rather surprised when I checked the blog's stats earlier. I've had about 500 visitors more than usual, all of whom have found their way here by googling 'Landseer Newfoundland'. It's a dog. A big breed of a dog. I helped a lost one out once and mentioned it on here. Anyway, I had a bit of a google myself and the reason for the sudden increased interest was clear. That is a Very Big Dog.

So, to all of you coming here expecting to find out about Landseers and finding a writer waffling, I'm sorry.

This is a REALLY Good Idea

I like Jo Mortimer a lot. For a number of reasons. I like her fiction, for one.

I like that she's the editor and organizer of Sparks, the supercool flash fiction reading night in Brighton (you may have heard me grumbling recently that I couldn't get down there to read there).

The email I received from her this morning gave me another reason to like her. 

She's suggesting putting the stories, and the images that go with them, that appear at Sparks into a print publication. A quarterly journal perhaps. Or an anthology.

She's open to ideas, so I'd strongly suggest popping over to the Sparks Facebook page, having a nosy, and perhaps letting her know what you think. 

Jo Mortimer

If You're Near Chester Next Tuesday...

You should definitely go and see the lovely and talented Caroline Smailes at the Chester Literary Festival (details here).

You'll not regret it. And there will be cake.

(You can see Caroline being interviewed by me here.)

That is all. As you were.

***

And a huge thank you to those who've been in touch letting me know that my story went down well at Sparks last night. That's incredibly lovely of you and incredibly lovely to hear.

That Was Nice

I dropped in on the Poynton Writers' Guild's latest book launch yesterday, which was great fun. Pearl Baby (great name) is a collection of stories and poems its members have written. I've not had chance to read it yet but I enjoyed the readings I heard so I reckon there'll be plenty in there to keep me amused.

It was also really good to meet Meg again (who was a great host and looked after me wonderfully), and Anne Sherman, who's both lovely and has done lots of good things for literature round here over the past few years.

I'm still particularly grumpy about missing out on a brilliant night tonight though.

I should be on a train now, heading down to Brighton to read at Sparks, but I've an appointment I can't miss tomorrow and so have had to pull out (I wouldn't have been back in time). If you're in the area get yourselves down there, it'll be ace. (I've seen the photo that'll be used for my story and it looks superb.)

Nicola Morgan - A Decidedly Un-Crabbit Interviewee

I'm delighted to welcome award winning author (we're talking almost 100 books to her name), excellent blogger and fountain of publishing knowledge, Nicola Morgan to my blog today. It's a genuine pleasure to have her here, though I must say that I din't find her crabbit in the least (I'm sorry if that's harmed your reputation, Nicola).

 

So, Deathwatch, Nicola, who’s it for and what’s it about? 

I could say it’s for anyone who’d like to read it, but that would be a vapid answer (though true). It’s written with a particular teenage readership in mind  -  teenagers who want a fast, chilling read and something to think about along the way. It’s a thriller, about a girl being stalked by an insect-obsessive.

 

It’s not the only book you’ve published, is it? Could you tell us about the others? How does Deathwatch compare to them? 

Er, no, it’s not the only one  -  there are about 89 others. Before my first novel, I was writing “home learning” books, the sort of fun+educational activity books that get children reading and writing. Full-length books  -  mostly teenage novels, each different: historical (including my gory signature book, Fleshmarket), magical realism (Mondays are Red, my first novel, characterised by extreme weirdness), futuristic (Sleepwalking, set 150 years in the future in a society where language is dying), and my favourite, The Passionflower Massacre, about a religious cult. Oh, and I mustn’t forget my only “nice” one, Chicken Friend, aimed at a younger age group. I have also written full-length non-fiction for teenagers, including Blame My Brain, about the amazing teenage brain, and Know Your Brain, showing the differences between brains and how we can best look after them. How does Deathwatch compare? I’d say it’s pitched to be more accessible than, for example, Sleepwalking, which tends to appeal to the deepest and keenest readers; less gory than but just as scary as Fleshmarket; not as shocking as the PFM; not weird like Mondays are Red. In other words, not the same as anything. And definitely not like the Thomas the Tank Engine books I once wrote…

 

What ingredients are essential in any great piece of fiction? 

(Leaving aside the fact that I absolutely don’t think I write “great” fiction  -  I’m just trying to work towards the best I can do.) Readers. I feel very strongly that it is essential to remember that we are writing for readers more than ourselves. This does not mean prostituting our art, selling out, aiming to be “commercial”: it means listening to our readers’ body language. Imagine you’re doing live story-telling  -  the audience is essential to your performance. When you’re writing, you have to tune in to the reader. This means focusing on the meaning and imagery you are producing, trying to mediate the effect, crossing the void between writer and reader. That doesn’t quite answer your question as you’d intended, so I’d add that perhaps there are two specific essential ingredients: first, an idea/plot that will engage a reader sufficiently to allow you to build a whole world in his head and, secondly, the voice to carry that idea from beginning to end.

What makes a great writer? 

(Ditto the qualification above) The ability to strive tirelessly towards the above and never to stop trying to improve. And developing an ability to deal with the ideas as they come into your head  -  having ideas is easy, honing them into a beautiful piece of sculpture is where the skill is. Writing is, I think, rather like sculpture.    

 

All writers should... 

Write for readers (if we want to be published.)

 

Could you tell us a little about your writing routine? 

No! I don’t have one. I sometimes wish I did. I am trying to discipline myself to put creative writing at the TOP of my “to do” list, instead of doing other tasks first and then finding I have no time to write. So, maybe not a routine, but a rule. Nowadays, I find I’m asked to do loads of things (speaking, writing articles, interviews like this…) which is wonderful, but it does make it easy to put all those things first and forget what I started all this for.

 

What’s the most difficult part of your job? 

I think it gets harder, not easier, to judge my own work. So, there are times during the writing of a novel when I lose all objectivity and have no idea whether what I’m doing is any good. That usually continues till the book hits the shelves and I start getting feedback from people I trust. (I don’t listen to any other feedback  -  I know who I trust, certain readers, certain reviewers, certain websites, certain attitudes and expertises). But during the writing, I’m on my own, surrounded by doubts. Tough.

 

What do you think is the most common mistake beginner writers make? 

Not reading the current successfully published books in their genre. Or they read them but don’t analyse them properly. Or they read them and make the wrong comparisons with their own work. Understanding why a publisher said yes to a book is essential to understanding whether a publisher will say yes to yours.

 

Tell us a secret. 

I’ve already told people that I once wrote a covering letter to a publisher in rhyme. What I didn’t say is that it was also in a silly gothic font on pink paper. I know lots of secrets about other people but I am very very discreet. Actually, do you want to know a secret? I’m paranoid. But if you tell anyone, I’ll have to kill you.

 

What are your reading habits? 

I read too quickly because I’m very impatient. This means that I forget a lot of what I read. I always forget names and endings but remember the mood, voice and what I felt while reading it. There have been a few books which I have re-read immediately on finishing them because they were so brilliant and I felt that I hadn’t done them justice with my quick reading: Under the Skin by Michel Faber, When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson, and something else which I’ve forgotten.

 

The internet + literature = 

possibilities, risks and opportunities. Democracy or anarchy. We have the power to make a difference and we must not sit back and let quality be diluted by ignorance. Keep producing the best words in the best order and stop underselling ourselves.

 

What’s next for you? 

My next novel, Wasted, comes out in June 2010. It’s different from everything I’ve done and it’s the novel I’ve been waiting to write since I first had the idea 15 years ago. Now I have the opportunity. It’s a risk because it’s closer to literary fiction than my other teenage novels, and is less accessible, but it's absolutely me and I have written it with a specific type of deep teenage reader in mind  -  they are why I love writing for that age group. I hope they will like it. Meanwhile, I’ve started a novel with a shocking opening which rivals Fleshmarket  -  now I need the courage to finish it.

 

Anything you’d like to add? 

My favourite quote, from Thomas Mann: “A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.”

 ***

Nicola Morgan is an award-winning novelist and acclaimed non-fiction writer. During 21 years of trying to win her first contract, she was an English teacher and dyslexia specialist. She has now published around 90 books for young people and hundreds of articles for the less young. As well as writing books, Nicola blogs about how to become published at Help! I Need a Publisher! and her blog is recommended by agents and publishers as required reading. Nicola spends a great deal of time travelling in the UK and more widely, speaking about publishing, books, brains and teenagers, sometimes simultaneously. She is ridiculously proud of being the first Google result for the phrase “Crabbit Old Bat”.

Round Up

Blimey last week was a long one. And it had it all I think - fab acceptances, brilliant editors (see below) disappointing rejections, one of my favourite stories going live at a place I really love, and so on.

And discovering that I've a medical appointment next week which makes it impossible for me to read at Sparks in Brighton. I had been looking forward to that very much, and to meeting up with some lovely people while I was down there. But, as I'm trying to be sensible, my health  has to come first. I sincerely hope that I'll have another opportunity to read there. (Incidentally, it was another medical appointment last week which stopped doing something else I'd been really looking forward to doing. I guess it'll all make sense in the grand scheme of things.)

***

On a more positive note, I spent a good chunk of yesterday fiddling with my website. It has had a face lift. I reckon it looks okay. (It does, doesn't it?)

***

I really enjoyed reading Miriam Drori's thoughts on writing and place, a follow up to what I'd written on that same subject on Tania Hershman's blog a little while ago.

***

And I notice that there are a few familiar names there on the Manchester Blog Awards shortlist. Congrats to all involved.

And I think that's about all for now. Enjoy your Sundays, everyone.

***

[ADDED...]

I'm planning to give the money raised by the sale of the 20 Photos & 20 Stories book (scroll to the bottom of the page) to the Alzheimer's Society at some point over the next couple of weeks, so if any one would like to buy a copy (£15 inc p&p) then now would be a great time to do it.

Getting The Credit You Deserve

Usually when I've written about editors here it's because I've been cross - and that's usually because I've felt that they've taken far too long to get back to me (if at all) re the story I've sent them. I've said that I don't think it's fair, for instance, to expect us writers to adhere to their guidelines (set it out this way, send it like this etc - perfectly reasonable) to then find that they don't pay much attention to them themselves (you should hear back from us with xyz days, or send us an SAE and we'll make sure you know if you're not short listed). Or worse, there are those places who say it could take (insert stupid amount of time) to hear from us, if you don't your story's not been accepted. I still think I'm right, and I still think that those examples are unfair and are far too common.

But in three years of blogging, my praise for editors has been, shall we say, minimal. And that, equally, isn't fair.

I say this honestly, that every editor who has accepted my work has been brilliant to work with (no surprises there, you might say). There have been a few instances, one this week, where I've sent something that I've felt was publication-ready but was only, say 95% there, and the editor has been prepared to work with me. To suggest changes. To read over my revisions. To engage with me, the story - to work at it with me. And I'll tell you what, there's nothing better. 

I'd also like to say something about those who haven't wanted my work, but have been helpful in their rejections. Rejections, for writers and editors, are a huge part of the job, and when they're done right they help everyone involved.

So, to all you good editors out there, who are dedicated, who work hard because you have pride in your publications (most often without pay), who love stories: Thank You. And please keep up the splendid work.

And to those who aren't so good- come on, folks - help us to help you.

A Story About Old Ladies and Birds

I have a very short (and rather strange) story over at the brilliant Metazen today. It's called Two Old Women Birdwatching in My Garden. I hope you like it. It's one I'm rather fond of.

Obsessions

Megan Taylor thinks my blog is fabulous. Thank you Megan, yours is rather fine as well.

Now, as part of accepting this lovely award I have to do meme shenanigans. Namely: List five obsessions. Megan offered 5 obsessions in her writing which I may do as well. We'll have to see how I feel further into this post (it's feeling like a long day already!).

Nik's Obsessions (or what he's obsessive about - are they the same thing?):

Fountain pens. (Like you didn't know that.)

Stats for this blog. (Yes, I'm watching you.)

Getting writing right. (A hopeless one.)

Not being too sensitive. (As above.)

Birds. And leopards. I really like leopards.

And writing obsessions? Why not. 

Loss.

Death.

Love.

Seeing things differently/ loneliness

People not being able to get things right.

Or perhaps they're more themes. 

***

Now to tag five peeps, whose blogs I think are fab, to interpret this meme as they see fit, should they want to.

I tag:

Caroline Smailes

Tania Hershman

How Publishing Really Works

Cally Taylor

and Sue Guiney

***

And talking of leopards, I think Legadema here is about my favourite. Watch her try to mother a baboon cub. Quite, um, wow.

That Editor's Ear

Sorry not to have posted here in a little while. I don't know what came over me. I have told myself off.

I wasn't sure what I was going to post here aside from apologies and saying that I've been writing a lot (which I have) until, oh, about two minutes ago.

It's about editing. Now, we all know, as writers, published, unpublished, almost published, that editing's essential. It's what changes a story from a good idea into something that others can understand. It makes something good, better, or something very dodgy into something wonderful and cohesive. Editing's where the work is.

This is my editing process:

1. I write the story, with a pen, in a notebook.

2. I type it up, making changes as I go.

3. I print it off and read it through, making changes as I go. This stage is repeated until I'm happy that it's Almost There.

4. I read it aloud (and record what I read). - Often things stand out as being obviously wrong AS I'm reading* and can be changed there and then (and this can be anything from unintentional rhymes to structural problems or things simply not making any sense). 

5. I listen to it back. Make changes. Go back to stage 4. 

And so on.

And I just wanted to share with you what I picked up on at stage 4 earlier. Something that reminded me why reading things aloud helps me so much.

*This is what I'd written. And no, I'm not related to Yoda in any way.

"... and when the spots, the colour of clay, on his legs appeared."

So there you go. Any editing secrets you'd like to share?