I must admit that I was pretty surprised there were so many reviews and interviews and I can't thank everyone enough for all of their support with Not So Perfect, especially as most weren't asked. It is hugely appreciated. Thank you. I am utterly thrilled people are liking it.
Well that was quite a weekend. I got a couple of crappy emails and got stressed but all's well now, I think. The coolest part(s) of the weekend though was being reminded just how much I enjoy learning stuff, and also realising that I have some very clever friends (who seem happy to put up with my incessant asking of questions). On Friday I ended up talking, at length, with a medical expert about, well, the body. It was fascinating. On Saturday I was with some musician friends, which was great because, as well as enjoying their top company, I learned stuff from them (some seriously interesting stuff about the re-use of chord sequences: 'I Will Survive' and 'Hotel California' share the same one) and even got to have a play (oh yes, I jammed, baby. I've still got it!). Last night I was with a lawyer discussing human rights. It was fab.
And not only because I was learning. It was fab because people were talking about things they are passionate about, and that's a really cool thing to see. And, of course, they're all very nice people too.
Wasn't Doctor Who good? Steven Moffat: Thank you. You're great.
***
And here's some music video loveliness. This, I thought, was terrific. And hilarious. The things you can do with Pachelbel's Canon. And skipping. And tango.
It's rather nice to be blogging about someone else's cool stuff, instead of my own booky bits and bobs for a change (I like celebrating nice people who are brilliant and are doing brilliant things). So, if I may, can I point you in direction of the brilliant, and lovely, Caroline Smailes' Hive page please? It's been created to help promote her latest novel, Like Bees To Honey (which I'm reading and LOVING) but it goes beyond that because it's both interactive and an awful lot of fun.
'So this is it. The last battle before the draw for Round Three.
I don’t own Nik’s first book, nor Morrison’s second, so, as so often before, we are at one all after two rounds. Winning a Nobel Prize is a good indicator of a good writer. It is no surprise that Morrison picks up the first page honours. Then the underdog strikes back with “We were in the middle row on a plane on a flight back from Europe when my wife threw up a lemur.” Perring takes it to penalties!
Very happy to see that the second print run of Not So Perfect has happened. It means that it's In Stock in places which means that, should you want to, you can buy it. Or tell others to. If you should want to of course. (I'd point non UK people here as it offers free worldwide delivery.)
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Last night was fun. I was over at Winning Words doing what I can best describe as a live interview conference call thingumy. I chatted to the lovely Michelle, for about forty minutes, about all sorts, and read a couple of stories from Not So Perfect (I read 'Lump' for the first time live and then 'Shark Boy'). And if you didn't listen live, the conversation has been recorded and will be available to listen to at some point soon. More details when I have them.
And thanks too to the equally lovely, Sophie Playle for sending me the debut issue of Inkspill Magazine. I've not had chance to read it (it only arrived this morning and I've been rather busy), but my first impressions are entirely positive: It looks good! And I'm looking forward to having a read.
Hello. I hope you all had a lovely weekend and that it wasn't spoiled by the trauma of the apparent death of Amy Pond. Like mine was. I very much hope she pulls through. Or that Rory's gun thingumy was a dud. (I was going to say firing blanks, but thought better of it.)
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As I mentioned the other day, I was honoured and delighted to have been asked by the fabulous Nicola Morgan to judge her Wasted Flash Fiction Competition. The results were announced yesterday - and I must say again that I thought the standard was very, very high and that each entry could have won. Picking winners in the two sections (one for school pupils and one for adults) was really, really difficult. Seriously. So a huge congrats to all who took part and well done to those who won or were commended.
In a world first (for me) I'm taking part in a conference call live interview over at Winning Words, at 8pm GMT on Wednesday June 23rd. I will be answering questions and reading from Not So Perfect. Full details of how you can take part here. It'd be lovely to hear from you.
And a big part of yesterday, and the evening before, was spent reading through the entries for Nicola Morgan's WASTED flash fiction competition. The winners and those commended will be announced on the blog on June 20th and I must say (and I'm not just saying this) that the entries, and I mean all of them, were very, very good.
ADDED: I've just received this from my friend, Catherine, which I'm more than happy to mention here:
'I've been given another commission by Easy Living magazine and I need willing interviewees, but it is a very sensitive subject - that of relationships surviving a dramatic change in the physical looks of the woman partner. I'll be writing about my own experiences, but need those of others to form an upbeat, compassionate and sensitive article about how love transcends looks. ... if you know anyone who might be willing to be interviewed, that would be amazing.'
You can contact her here: catherine DOT hughes AT gmx.com
It's been a funny few days for me. I'm not going to say what exactly, but there have been a few things that have happened that have upset me and/or made me rather cross. And the thing is, well two things really - that when rubbish things happen they rarely happen on their own - there are usually other rubbish things queueing behind them. It never rains, as they say. AND, perhaps more importantly, when rubbish things happen we (well, I) tend to focus on them rather than the good stuff. And then interpret moderately not so perfect things (see what I did there!) as being wholly rubbish.
So. After a minor meltdown last night I took the morning off to relax a bit and to think things through. And while it's true that there certainly have been some rubbish things that have happened of late, I realised that I'm probably being very ungrateful and brattish because I've treated them as more important than the good things. Like all the wonderful reviews Not So Perfect's had, like all the people who've read it and said brilliant things about it, for the three wonderful friends who listened to me moan (and moan, and moan), for having a book out that I'm hugely proud of and published by the publisher I love, for the people who've texted and got in touch with me, for good friends who care. I could go on.
I suppose what I really want to say is thank you. For the good things. And sorry if I have a wobble every now and again.
Hello! It's been a few days. Sorry about that. I've not had all that much to ramble on about and I figured you'd all probably appreciate the break too.
Another short listed writer, Clare Wallais reviews Not So Perfect here.She says 'I needed to take a breath between each one, which is proof of their caliber; the best short stories leave me staring at nothing, paused somewhere between awe and envy. Well, Nik Perring, I am in awe and I am envious. This is little fiction at its mighty best.' - which is just wonderful, though it did make me blush rather a lot.
It was an informal panel type of affair,in front of an audience of 60 or so, where we interviewed each other about all things books - from ideas, writing, editing, getting published, et al. And we took questions from the audience too.
I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed it. The audience were warm, lively and intelligent, the library staff were helpful and lovely, the venue was perfect and, I think, a good time was had by all. It was also brilliant to be able to meet the lovely Clare Dudman (who's blogged about it here) as well as other blog/twitter friends (you know who you are!).
Thanks to all for coming along. I can't wait for the next one.
And thanks to Anna for this:
* Every Wednesday I met up with a very good friend and some of his family, his brother-in-law and his uncle-in-law. We used to go to a quiz. Chat. Have fun. It was good and I remember those times really fondly. On September 1st 2001, after a day at Chester races, friend's said uncle-in-law and brother-in-law went into a pub to watch a football game. England beat Germany 5-1. As friend's uncle-in-law went outside to organise the taxi he was set on by a man. Knocked to the floor. His head was kicked as though it was a football. He died in hospital a few days later. He was 40 and recently married. So, despite me being fond of Chester I'd never been back. It was a bit tough going back there yesterday, to be honest, but I'm glad I did. And I'm glad I took a moment to remember a friend who may be gone but who's certainly not forgotten.
I'm thrilled to welcome Marsha Moore to the blog today. She's written two guide books, one to London and one to Paris, both with a delightful twist - they tell you what the best of the cities are at any point in the day or night. A wonderful and really bloody useful idea, I think you'll agree. (And if you read all the way to the bottom you'll notice she has a novel coming out too. Just saying...)
So, here she is with a guest post. Enjoy! I know I did.
Marsha says...
'Places with Character
Writing over 400 guide-book listings – as I’ve done for both 24 Hours London and 24 Hours Paris – could seem more a chore than something enjoyable. But if you look at each city – each listing – as having its own story, it’s never dull.
Break it down even further, and everything I’ve included in the book – restaurants, artworks, toilets even – has its own tale to tell. Although I usually only have space for about three to five sentences, I try to make each listing into a vignette to tell the reader not just why they should see it, but what it is that places that item in the context of the city around it.
Over the course of my research, I’ve come across some intriguing (if somewhat obscure!) facts about London and Paris. Like the Woolwich Ferry, for example – a free ferry that’s been operating since the 1300s. Or the fact that that the Brookwood Cemetery – which used to be served by the London Necroplis Railway – once had two separate train stations for the dead depending on their religious persuasion: Conformist and Non-Conformist. From a Cocteau mural in a central London church to a lost river at the bottom of an antiques shop, London’s places are full of stories.
Like characters in a novel, each place in a city has something to say, a role to play. If you look at it that way, how could writing about anything be boring?'
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Marsha wrote her first 'book' at age 9.Disasters in Floridawas a non-fiction account of her family's trip to Florida, fraught with airplane delays and broken car locks. Remarkably, despite the action-packed narrative, the book remains unpublished. Undeterred, Marsha trained to be a journalist and worked for several years in journalism and PR. Her desire to travel propelled her from her native Canada to Poland and then on to England, where she has lived and worked for the past six years. Her first book,24 Hours Londonwas released in November 2009.24 Hours Paris, the second in series, has just been published. Marsha’s first novel,The Hating Game(under pen name Talli Roland) is set to be released next year.
Welcome to the blog, Clare. It’s a pleasure to have you on. So, your latest book is, ‘A Place of Meadows and Tall Trees’. Who’s it for? What’s it about?
Thanks Nik - a pleasure to be here! My book is general fiction for adults - although it doesn't contain any 'adult' material, sadly, so I guess it's for anyone interested in an unusual story inspired by something that really happened.
Why did you write it? Where did the idea come from?
It is my brother's fault. He went climbing in South America and found out about these Welsh-speaking people living in Patagonia and said I should write about it. I did a little research and this colony seemed very interesting - a collection of Welsh-speaking towns in a desert in a Spanish-speaking country. Being Welsh myself I wanted to know what they were doing out there, and what drove them out to live in such a remote and inhospitable place.
The premise is fascinating. I love the image of a Welsh community in South America. What sort of research did you have to do?
I had to do a lot of research. I spent a few days in Aberystwyth at the National Library of Wales looking at their Patagonia collection. Then, with the help of a couple of grants from the Arts Council and the Authors' Foundation, went to Patagonia and visited the communities there, interviewing the descendents of the settlers. This entailed catching a bus across the Patagonian steppe - a fascinating but disturbing place. I also trained to become a shaman, and went for an intensive course in Welsh in the University of Lampeter. This was in addition to the usual long sojourns in the British Library and British Museum, and reading books and papers.
What does the word ‘colony’ mean to you? I, being rather anti-imperialism, have always considered it, in most ways, a dirty word. Would you agree, or do you think in this case it’s different or at least more complicated?
As a trained scientist I think of the word colony primarily in a biological way - like a daughter colony of bees, for instance. I just think of it as something that has separated itself from the rest in order to have room to grow. It think of it as a common feature of animals and plants - almost an indicator of life. So no, for me it isn't a dirty word, but I do agree that it can be in certain conditions.
They were escaping the insidious effects of the English who looked set to destroy their culture. However, by becoming colonists they indirectly and completely unintentionally displaced another culture themselves - the indigenous Patagonian Tehuelches. The whole book is partly a comment on that irony.
I really love the title. Could you tell us a little about how that came about?
Thank you! Another important theme of the book is honesty, and how the best way to lead is through love. The Welsh colonists felt, at first, that they had been cheated. They came to Patagonia because they were promised a new Wales - with tall trees and meadows - but when they got there they found desert. They must have felt desperately disappointed. They had come 7,000 miles in atrocious conditions only to find themselves stranded, hundred of miles away from any form of 'civilisation' (at least any of the sort they were familiar with). When they saw the ship that had brought them there sail away they knew they had no way back. Patagonia is a bleak place, and this is a sad story, but it ends happily.
How would you say this book compares to your other works?
They are all historical. They are all a similar length. But my others had a scientific theme whereas this one does not. The others were to a large extent biographical; but this one is the biography of a community. All of them have a first person narrator to a greater or lesser extent. In my first book, Wegener's Jigsaw, Wegener was the main first person narrator (a ridiculed German scientist); but in my second and third the first person narrator is more peripheral, an observer of the main story. In the second book, 98 Reasons for Being, this observer was a young woman diagnosed (wrongly) with nymphomania; while in A Place of Meadows, the outsider is a Tehuelche shaman.
What do you think a story needs to have for it to be great? And would your answer differ if I was asking the writer Clare, or Clare the reviewer?
As a reviewer I think a great story has to be compelling and make me realise something new - either an idea, a profound truth or a way of looking. I don't really look for a good plot, with clever twists (though I like those too), or excitement, just something that has a good style, characterisation and a story.
I think I would give the same answer as a writer because I try to write the sorts of novels that I would like to read.
What’s your writing process?
I tend to write manically, sometimes all through the night. When I am mid-novel everything else in my life is neglected. It is the purest pleasure to me and I don't like thinking about it too much in case I can't remember how I do it. I never get 'writers block' but I do get periods when I don't much like what I've written, which are intensely disappointing.
Tell us a secret.
One of my great uncles was the heavy weight boxing champion of Wales.
What’s the most important writing lesson you’ve learned?
Write for yourself, not the market or to please anyone else.
What’s next for you?
A fantasy globe-trotting novel about silkworms.
Anything you’d like to add?
Yes, just how much I love the cover of A Place of Meadows and Tall Trees! Simon Hicks, who is in charge of design at Seren, found the painting by Elisabet d'Epenoux on a website with no contact details, and I used the power of twitter to trace the artist. I think the book is beautifully produced and I'd like to thank my editor, Penny Thomas and the whole Seren team for publishing my work. I'm delighted with the result.
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Clare Dudman is a British award-winning novelist and has work published by Penguin, Sceptre, Viking, Serpent's Tail, Torr and Ambo Anthos. A PLACE OF MEADOWS AND TALL TREES, her novel about the Welsh colonisation of Patagonia (SEE 3-MINUTE FILM OF THE BOOKHERE), will be published by Seren in June 2010. More detail on thiswebsite.
The ever-brilliant Book Munch (who I have been reading for a good old while) have reviewed Not So Perfect today, and I'm thrilled with what they've said. It's always a brilliant thing when someone whose opinion you respect says good things about your work. So thank you, Book Munch, for saying nice things like 'the reader is rarely left in anything other than entertained awe. ', which, quite obviously I'm sure, makes me very, very happy.
And another big thank you to Just William's Luck (who I must confess is a relatively recent discovery). He's reviewed it here. I must say it made me chuckle when I read ...' This story [Shark Boy] provides a key to what you might call a dominant theme in Perring's stories. He's a big softie at heart and many of his tales, for all their obvious creative daring, conceal a conventional beating heart at their centre.' because, mostly, it's true. Thanks William. Just, you know, keep it quiet. I've a reputation to maintain!
If you go you'll get to hear Caroline Smailes, me and Jon Mayhew talking about ALL THINGS writing and answering questions from the audience. There will be readings and there might even be music too.
It starts at 7pm at Chester library and finishes at 9. Tickets (there are still some available) can be bought from the library's info desk (they from £3) (tel: 01244 977380.)
Before I tell you what happened at Thursday's launch of Not So Perfect, I'd like to point you in the direction of Dan Powell's blog, where he's reviewed Not So Perfect. Thanks for taking the time to review it, Dan, and for saying such nice things like 'Each story is garlanded with striking imagery and precise and often beautiful prose, creating something to be treasured in amongst the heartache, whether it’s the impermanent simplicity of a snow angel or the pure emotion that would drive someone to plaster a house in post-it notes.'.
***
So. The launch.
I'd taken a couple of things for luck, a gift somebody had given me and a pack of Pall Mall cigarettes (bonus points for anyone who can tell me why).
Andrew took us up to the first floor where he'd put on wine and nibbles for the guests who, at seven o'clock, began to arrive.
I must say I really enjoyed that bit, the chatting, the atmosphere, the sipping of wine or juice and the nibbling of cake - a good few people have said to me since that they thought there were so many nice people there, and I'd agree. It was fab. And great too to meet people I hadn't met before too.
Then it was downstairs. People took their seats. I took mine. Faye introduced me and then I burbled a bit about the book.
Then I read.
I read three stories to begin with: Kiss, The Mechanical Woman and In My Head I'm Venus which, thank goodness, all went down well. And then I took some (very thoughtful) questions, which I answered as best I could. Then I read two more stories: My Wife Threw Up a Lemur and Seconds Are Ticking By.
Out of all of them I'd only read Seconds Are Ticking By and Kiss live before. So, yes, that was good.
Then I signed some books (thanks to those who bought them!), and after that it was all over and I went for drinks with friends.
As I said yesterday, I had a really brilliant evening and I'm so grateful to people for coming. Thank you for making it a bit special. I hope you enjoy your books.
***
And if anyone's got any pictures of the launch they'd like to share, do give me a shout - I'd love to see them!
Well. I'm a bit tired (launching your book is a tiring thing). But I'm also very happy. I had a brilliant time last night launching Not So Perfect and I'm so grateful to everyone who made the effort to get themselves to the brilliant Simply Books and to stay and sit and listen to me read, and to ask me questions and believe my answers AND buy my book.
It was the tops!
A couple of thank yous, if you please.
A huge thanks to Simply Books for having us and for being so hospitable (and providing vino and cake).
And thanks to Faye, my publisher, for coming up, for organising it, for being lovely and brilliant and for bringing champagne. It went down a treat.
Thanks to Gary (who probably won't even read this but I want to say it anyway) - it meant an awful, awful lot that you came up. Thanks, mate. I know it was a long way.
I'm over at my mate's today. Over at Caroline Smailes' fabulous blog, where I talk to her about my book in a different way. She's asked me questions based on something taken from each of the stories in Not So Perfect. It was a lot of fun. So if you want to see what I had to say about kissing, scarecrows, cooking, pets and Mr Men, then you really should click here. (She's also put up a (bad!) sketch I did of my (everyone's, surely!) favourite scarecrow. AND there's the chance to win a copy of Not So Perfect.
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And last night Tania Hershman told me something about my amazon ranking, which has got me checking it slightly more than I should. At the moment I'm #9 in the short story best-sellers list. A HUGE thank you to all who've bought. No need to stop now, of course...!
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And you should all go here too. It's my good friend's brand new blog. Carol-Ann will be taking the pictures at tonight's launch. She's @carolannc on twitter. Go see!
It was a challenge. Again, big thanks to Scott for having me.
A huge thanks to everyone who's pre-ordered or read the book already, and a really huge thanks to all who've taken the time to blog about it, review it or post something on amazon about it. It really does make a difference. So, if you read it and you like it, could you spread the word? Only if you feel you can, of course. (I know I sound a horrible asking that, but it really does help!)
And if you'd like to get yourself a copy, you can do from all good book shops. You can buy direct from my publisher, the wonderful Roast Books, from Amazon, from the Big Green Book Shop, or from The Book Depository (free international shipping)- as well as all the others.
Yes. He knows his onions. And seems to have similar tastes to me. So I was very much hoping he'd like my book.
And he did. Thank god.
As well as saying that Not So Perfect is 'a bit special', he said 'I was reminded of Rhodes and Hempel while reading these stories, which are easily their equal, as well as occasional glimpses of Murakami, but I mostly kept thinking back to Sarah Salway. Salway is probably the best short story writer in the UK at the moment and she had better watch out because Perring is (albeit very politely, I am sure) on her tail.'
which is just thrilling. I'm a huge Amy Hempel fan and I love Sarah Salway's work. And to be mentioned in the same sentence as Murakami (who I really, really need to read, don't I?) and Dan Rhodes is a real honour. And wholly unexpected.
I'm also over at fellow short story writer and good friend, Tania Hershman's blog today, playing word association (which was loads of fun) and answering a question, possibly quite grumpily. I am very happy to hear her cat's on the mend. Fingers crossed that continues.
Nik Perring is a writer, occasional teacher of writing, and sometimes editor, from the UK. His short stories have been widely published.
NOT SO PERFECT, his collection of short, short stories is published by Roast Books and out now.
Freaks!, a collection co-written with Caroline Smailes and illustrated by Darren Craske, will be published in spring 2012 by The Friday Project (HarperCollins).
"Playful, subversive, poetic and smart, Nik Perring’s stories are gems. Every one of them."- 3 :AM Magazine
What They've Said
Nik Perring’s moving and imaginative flash fictions capture whole lives in just a glimpse, a character, a snatch of dialogue, and a few perfectly chosen details. These short, short stories are so full of life.-Michael Kimball, author of Dear Everybody
An unforgettable assortment of wonky connections that glitter with truthfulness, that spill out ache, that make me nod my head and whisper,yes. -Caroline Smailes, author of Like Bees to Honey
'I was reminded of Rhodes and Hempel while reading these stories, which are easily their equal, as well as occasional glimpses of Murakami, but I mostly kept thinking back to Sarah Salway. Salway is probably the best short story writer in the UK at the moment and she had better watch out because Perring is (albeit very politely, I am sure) on her tail.' - Scott Pack, publisher with The Friday Project (HarperCollins).
Perring is a writer whose talent expands beyond his word count in this intriguing debut. -Michael Czyzniejewski, author of Elephants in Our Bedroom.
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