Well today I’m officially
out of shielding and I’ve been to the hairdresser’s. “You can go to work on,”
say the government – on the day after they’ve partially locked-down Greater Manchester
again. Go to work on a Saturday? In some ways I’ll be doing a less work than I
normally do, because I’ve been to the hairdresser’s. Did I mention that?
The masks seemed
less spooky than I’d feared. Most people are wearing them and there are some
very attractive ones about. One young man on the bus wasn’t, but I was behind
him so possibly wasn’t exposed to too much of his breathing. It was all very well
organised on the bus, in the shopping centre and at the hairdresser’s. Odd thing. On the whole people were very good at keeping
the two metres apart and adhering to the one way system in the shopping centre.
Vertically, that is. Not so good
horizontally and certainly not “crossing safely”. A few youths, without masks, came towards me
on the wrong side. I think I gave them one of my school teacher looks, which I must
have managed despite the mask. They soon scurried over to the “right” side of
the mall.
I’ve continued to
enjoy some excellent on-line events organised by the Society of Authors, The Working Class Movement Library, the University of Salford, National Women’s Register, Home, Classic
FM, The Literary Hub and some private
book events. I even managed to join one
taking place in Florida. Yes, I’m getting to events I wouldn’t normally be able
to attend and these same events are being attended by more people than
usual. Where I can I make a donation. Is
this something we could hang on to when and if we return to normal? Is it a
silver lining to the lockdown? As well my U3A groups and writers’ groups are
meeting via Zoom and similar platforms.
We’re meeting more regularly and meetings are better attended. Might this be a more permanent solution for
that generation that is growing reluctant to leave home and to drive? Some will
need to learn the technology but I’m sure it can work.
And talking of
sliver linings, I have a new hairstyle.
I decided not to go back to my very short style but take advantage the
extra length I’ve acquired in my hair, which is quite sliver by the way, to
have it cut into a neat layered bob.
News about my writing and other creative projects
I was delighted to be involved, as a culture champion and
also as a creative writing teacher, with Bury
Art Museum. I ran the three hour workshop I mentioned last month, using
some of the resources at the museum and some that participants can find at
home. The participants have produced some excellent writing some of which will
be showcased on the BAM website.
I’ll also post some on my Writing Teacher Blog.
I’ve also provided my own creative response to a talk held
by the museum so that will also be published later on the site.
I’m still carrying
on much as before: The Round Robin, the
fifth book in the Schellberg Cycle, Not
Just Fluffy Bunnies, and I’m still
working on The Business of Writing. And of course I’m interspersing this with
short stories and flash fiction.
I’m also continuing
to write stories relating to what might happen after the virus leaves us – if
it does. This is Aftermath, an
invitation to write speculative and near future fiction about what may happen
after the virus. Reflective writing about what is actually happening now is
also welcome, along with stories set now or a little into the future.
The Young Person’s Library
The full catalogue
is gradually moving from http://www.gilljameswriter.eu/p/blog-page_81.html
to https://www.theyoungpersonslibrary.co.uk/
I’ve added new
this month:
Goggle Eyes by Anne Fine
YA and slightly dated but taking a look at the step-parent.
Hipp-o-Dee-Doo-Dah
Suitable for primary
school children and with a forward form Michael Morpurgo. I had the privilege
of editing this one.
An iconic timeless
classic and at the same time a modern picture book.
Suitable for fluent readers and younger teens. Another James
Bond type thriller,
An illustrated text for emergent readers inspired by
paintings, letters and diaries of the Swedish painter Berta Hansson.
Anne of the Island L M Montgomery
Another of the Anne Shirley books, this time suitable for young adults.
A slightly dated book
about a teen pregnancy but non-the-less useful and authentic.
Skeleton Key by Anthony Horowitz
The third of the Alex Rider books. Alex grows up with his readers. There is a mild love interest in this one.
.
Current reading recommendation
I’m making my way
through the full series of the Anne Shirley and the Alex Rider books and also
the 2019 short list for the Man Booker prize. I bought these three collections
at a very reasonable price ass par to The Book People’s closing down sale. Some
of my writing friends may be relieved at the demise of this company who sold
books very cheaply. I have mixed feelings.
Yes, I believe that writers should be paid properly. But you could also argue that The Book People
sold many more books than other retailers so writers got the same royalty in
the end as from other sellers. Also, they did encourage some people to read who
otherwise wouldn’t. They delivered books to people’s places of work and so made
buying books easy. And it was a company that loved books anyway. So, I remain ambivalent.
I’m really
enjoying the books for younger readers but thought I should offer something more
for adults.
My favourite to
date form the Man-Booker list is Bernadine Evaristo’s
Girl, Woman, Other.
Bernadine Evaristo
uses a type of prose poetry to introduce us to a variety of women whose stories
interweave and who come together at the after party of a play written by one of
the women. Evaristo presents us with a multitude of concerns that these women
face. They are all black or mixed race except one who nevertheless finds she
has mixed ethnicity when she takes a DNA test. The women are from diverse
backgrounds. We get to know them really well and Evaristo has given each one
her unique voice.
Giveaway
Note: these are
usually mobi-files to be downloaded to a Kindle. Occasionally there are PDFs.
The month I’m
offering my Build a Book Workshop which
is a manual for teachers and writers about how to publish a book with a group
of school children. I have worked with several schools on this and it is very
rewarding.
You can download it
and lots of other free materials here.
Please, please,
please review it if you read it.
Note, that
normally my books and the books supplied by the imprints I manage sell for
anything from £0.99 to £10.99, with most on Kindle being about £2.99 and the
average price for paperback being £7.00. We have to allow our writers to make a
living. But I’m offering these free samples so that you can try before you buy.
The Schellberg Project
The posts may be helpful for teachers who are familiar with
the Schellberg stories or who are teaching about the Holocaust and also for
other writers of historical fiction.
The month I’ve written a little more about Girl in a Smart Uniform and some of the
issues it deals with. You can read the post here.
You can also read an extract of it here.
I have all three paperbacks on offer at the moment. Find the details here.
In writing The Round Robin I’ve found that there were other problems part form the war and the Holocaust for people living in these times. One of them was TB and so I’ve included a character that falls victim to the disease. See Hardships other than war.
School visits
I’ve suspended these until further notice. I’m now starting
work on a series of on-line materials.
Some notes about my newsletters and blogs
They do overlap a little but here is a summary of what they
all do.
Bridge House Authors For all those published by Bridge House, CaféLit,
Chapeltown or The Red Telephone or interested in being published by us. General
news about the imprints. News for writers. Links to book performance. Sign up here.
Chapeltown Books News about our books. Sign up here.
The Creative Café Project News about the project and CaféLit –
for the consumer rather than for the producer.
Sign up here.
Gill’s News: News about my writing, The Schellberg Project, School
Visits and Events. Book recommendations and giveaways. Find it here.
Pushing Boundaries, Flying Higher News about conferences and
workshops to do with the young adult novel. (infrequent postings) Sign up here.
Red Telephone Books News about our books and our authors. Sign
up here.
A Publisher’s Perspective Here I blog as a publisher. Access
this here.
The Creative Café Project Listings and reviews of creative
cafés. See them here.
CaféLit Stories Find these here
Gill James Writer All about writing and about my books. View
this here.
Gill’s Recommended Reads Find information here about books that
have taken me out of my editor’s head and a reminder of the ones I’ve
highlighted in this newsletter.
Gill’s Sample Fiction Read some of my fiction here.
The House on Schellberg Street All about my Schellberg project.
Read it here.
Writing Teacher All about teaching creative writing. Some creative writing exercises. Access this here.
Books Books Books Weekly offers on our books and news of new
books. Find them here.
The Young Person’s Library I am gradually moving the children’s book catalogue
over to this site. Access it here.
Fair Submissions I am gradually moving the Opportunities
List to this site. Find it here.
New ones are added several times a day. Roughly once a month I go through it and take out all of the out of date ones. At that point I send it out to a list. If you would like to be on that list, sign up here.
Happy reading and
writing.
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