Rosemary Johnson tell us about her involvemnt with cafeLit

 

Thrilled to have my story, ‘Not Working’, in The Best of CaféLit 12.  For a writer beavering away in her garret (spare bedroom, actually), it’s vindication twice over: first, to see it on the CafeLit website;  second, for it to be adjudged one of the better ones, fit for the anthology. 

 

What inspired me to write ‘Not Working’?  Being set ‘Jubilee’ as a prompt in my online flash fiction group.  When you’re composing a story during a group session, from a prompt you haven’t seen until a few minutes ago, you have to think hard and quick.  Often you start the first sentence with no clear idea of what the next one will be, let alone the ending.  So, very rapidly, as I was writing, there came into my head this gung-ho older woman, attempting to drive a temperamental old Rolls-Royce in the late Queen Elizabeth’s Jubilee procession, while her ex-pop singer husband had disappeared into the loo.  Humour is my first resort when I’m writing against the clock.

 

How did I get to find out about CafeLit?  I’m not absolutely sure.  I have been submitting stories to CafeLit since 2011, during previous editor, Debz Hobbs-Wyatt’s, time, with a break in the mid-teens of this century when work (the horrid paid kind) became overwhelming.  Another writer must have recommended CafeLit.  It is a warm and friendly place and I enjoy choosing a drink for each of my pieces.

 

Do I enjoy reading short stories?  Yes, because they are short and therefore a manageable read when you have little time.  I admire stories which flow, not necessarily with a formal plot, but with a discernible thread, and where authors have found the space, within a limited word  count, to create and communicate distinctive characters.  I enjoy it when a character gets his come-uppance, and I like to be made to laugh.

 

You want to know about my writing?  Deep breath!  My novel, Wodka, or Tea with Milk, set during the Solidarnosc years in 1980s Poland, is about to be published, and I really do mean ‘about’.  In two to three weeks’ time.  Very exciting!  

 

 

 

Rosemary’s blog is WriteOn at https://rosemaryreaderandwriter.wordpress.com/

My WIP – a long slog

 

So, I’ve just finished the first draft of my work in progress Finding the Butterflies. This is the sixth book in my Peace Child series and has possibly been the hardest to write.

When I created the first book I spent a log time before I started writing creating my world. I thought about how in this futuristic world people would educate, what they would do there for recreation and how they would produce, prepare and consume food.  I thought about how they would look after the elderly, what sort of work they would do and how they would dress. What were their values? How did medicine work? What was the relationship between people from different planets?  All of this preparation seemed to pay off.

I tried for this sixth book to replicate that effort. I spent a lot of time thinking about my characters and what they needed to achieve.

I am a planner and I did plan this book. However, my plan was never very clear, and I have really gone a lot off-piste with this one. I’ve tried to be a bit of a panster but it hasn’t really worked.

Well at last I’ve beaten it into some sort of shape.

I’m aware already that I need to build up the sections on an artificial intelligence creature. I need to work more on one character. I need to add some more drama in the climax.

I’m into the second draft now and I’m also aware of some rather dull writing and a title that has not been consistent. Still, other edits will take care of that anyway.

A trick I leaned some time ago was to start each edit at a different point in the book. So I’ve made myself a plan working thought the stages of revision. Here it is:

1.      Is the overall structure sound?  - hook, inciting incident, increasing complexities, crisis, climax – Chapter 1

2.      Is the resolution satisfying? Chapter 4   

3.      Overall time scale Chapter 7

4.      Check format and length against target market / reader Chapter 10

5.      Characters. Are they consistent? Do they develop? Do you know everything about them that you should?  Chapter 13

6.      Is it convincing? Is there cause and effect? Chapter 16

7.      Is there conflict and tension? Are there peaks and troughs? Chapter 19

8.      Does the pace vary? Chapter 21

9.      Dialogue Chapter 24

1.      It should not be too natural

2.      It should only say important things

3.      It should differentiate characters' voices

4.      When angry, becomes childish

5.      Should take 2/3 of popular book

6.      Should convey mood, character and reaction

7.      Every speech should give information

10.  Detail and description should be slipped in small chunks. Chapter 27

11.  Point of View – is it consistent and if it “zooms” does it do so in a reasonable way?  Chapter 30

12.  Show, don’t tell. Chapter 33

13.  Kill off your darlings. Chapter 36

14.  Get rid of clichés Chapter 39

15.  Overall flow (read out loud) Chapter 42

16.  Copy edit Chapter 45

 You can see in this list where I intend to start each edit.   

And in my head I’m now planning book seven of the Schellberg cycle and also giving a little thought to book seven in this series. Neither of these two books have titles yet.         

Jim Bates talks to us about his involvement with CafeLit

 

What inspired you to write this story / these stories?

For this year’s anthology since the stories were published on CafeLit in 2022 I will have to go back to 2021 for the genesis of the three stories January, May, and August that I was fortunate to have included in this year’s 2023 Best Of edition. My idea at the end of 2021 was to write a serial dealing with Covid-19. I chose a young married couple and their two small children and had them move to a small town in northern Minnesota to “get away” from the crisis. Of course, that was impossible to do as the young couple soon found out. What they did find, however, was that they became closer as a family, they made some really good friends, and they learned a lot about themselves. Each story centered on a month of the year 2021 they were there. I sent CafeLit a story a month. Three were selected for the anthology. It was a fun series to write.

 

How did you get to find out about CafeLit?

I first started to seriously write in 2011. In 2015 I met Kathy Sharp and Gail Aldwin, two authors who encouraged my development as a writer. In early 2018 they each suggested I submit to one of the online publications they both highly respected which, of course, was CafeLit. I sent a story into Gill and waited literary shaking in my shoes to find out if my story was good enough to be accepted. It was! I was over the moon with joy. Since then, I have been a regular submitter to CafeLit. It’s definitely one of the best publications around.

 

Do you enjoy reading short stories? What’s special / important about them?

To be honest, I used to hate reading short stories. I loved the long novel format and that’s where I spent my reading hours. For many, many years. When I met Kathy Sharp at an online writing class, the final project was a 500-word story. I hammered it out and was not unsatisfied with the results. Kathy liked it. From that moment on (2015), I refocused my writing efforts from the rather long and rambling 8k to 12k stories I had been writing to the shorter form. I was hooked. The first story Gill published on CafeLit was less than 2k. I found that I loved the short format and still do to this day because it forces me to be succinct and to not fill up the page with a lot of fluff, something I am prone to do. (Still do LOL!) I read a lot of short stories now. I just finished a collection by Truman Capote “Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Other Stories” which was interesting, enjoyable, and inspiring. I also recommend “We Live In Water” a brilliantly written collection by Jess Walter as well as “Shots Fired” a collection of perfectly realized short stories by the gifted contemporary western author C. J. Box. As I concentrated on short stories, I came across a form I was unfamiliar with flash fiction. I also came across 100-word drabbles. Again, I was completely unfamiliar with them. So, I started writing even shorter stories!! Summing up, I love to write. I will always let the character (s) carry the story, but sometimes it’s good to challenge myself to go with a particular format, e.g.short story, flash fiction, or drabble just for fun. I find it keeps things interesting and fresh. Hopefully for both myself and the reader!

 

Tell us a little more about your writing

When I started seriously writing in 2011 my commitment was instigated by serving as a care-giver for my dear mother at the end of her life. I realized that not only was life finite, but I needed to address the one thing I’d been putting off for years; that is to be a writer. From that moment on I started writing and I haven’t stopped. I try to write every day. I have a cozy little space under the eaves of the second floor of our home which used to be one of the boys’ bedrooms. It faces east so I get the morning sun which is lovely in the winter. I wake up at 5 am, go upstairs to my workspace, do half an hour of exercises, grab a glass of ice water, and get to work. I find that by working early like I do that I’m pretty assured of getting my writing done without interruptions. I try to write 1-2 hours a day in the morning. Then it’s on with the day. If I can carve out another hour in the afternoon, that’s golden. Usually, I can’t. I garden so that takes up a lot of time during the spring, summer, and fall. Winter in Minnesota? I love it! Tons of time to write.

 

Thank you for the opportunity to do this, Gill. You have been an incredible advocate of my writing for going on six years now. I thank my lucky stars that Kathy and Gail pointed me in your direction!! Here’s to many more productive years to come!

 

About Jim

Jim lives in a small town west of Minneapolis, Minnesota. He loves to write! His stories and poems have appeared in nearly five hundred publications. Resilience a collection of twenty-seven short stories was published by Bridge House Publishing. Periodic Stories, Periodic Stories Volume Two, Periodic Stories Volume Three - A Novel and Periodic Stories Volume Four are collections of stories based on the periodic table and were published by Impspired. A dystopian adventure novella Something Better was published by Dark Myth Publications. His story 'The Maple Leaf” was selected Non-Poetic Publication of the year 2022 by the readers of Spillwords. www.theviewfromlonglake.wordpress.com

Click on the links below to view Jim's publications: 

Resilience, my first collection published by Bridge House Publishing:

 

Short Stuff, my collection of flash fiction and drabble published by Chapeltown Books:

 

The Battle of Marvel Wood a 35k YA novella my most recent publication. Published July 2023 by Impspired:

Today Dawn Knox talks about her involvement with CafeLit

 

What inspired you to write this story / these stories?

 

‘Back to Normal’ was obviously inspired by the Covid pandemic and the emergence from lockdown. It’s how I imagine I might have returned to work after the world started to return to something approaching normalcy. I say ‘imagine’ because I’ve never worked in an office – in fact, I am retired and no longer work for anyone!

‘Fabulous Fairytale Footwear’ was one of several drabbles (100-word stories) that I wrote loosely based on well-known fairy tales. Strictly speaking, my retellings are fractured fairy tales because they’ve been changed or told from an unexpected point of view. One day, when I have the time, I hope to put together a book of 100 fractured fairy tales in 100 words, although I still have a few more to write! You can find several of my fractured fairy tale drabbles on CafeLit.

 

 

How did you get to find out about CafeLit?

I first heard of CafeLit almost ten years ago and interestingly, that was where I was first introduced to the idea of 100-word stories (drabbles). I loved the challenge of telling a tale in so few words. To my surprise, my first submission was accepted and published on 8^th October 2014. It was called ‘The Betrayal’. Since then, I’ve written many more drabbles and also several series of short stories that Gill James has compiled into books, such as ‘Extraordinary’, and my three ‘Chronicles Chronicles’ books – ‘The Basilwade Chronicles’, ‘The Macaroon Chronicles’ and ‘The Crispin Chronicles’.

 

Do you enjoy reading short stories? What’s special / important about them?

Yes, I like short stories. I love being able to read the entire thing in one go, rather than having to break off and come back later to find out how the story finishes, such as happens with a novel-length story.

 

Do you know of any creative cafes? (follow the link below to find out what a creative café is)

Yes, I know Around the Clock in Whitstable, Kent http://www.creativecafeproject.org/search/label/Around%20the%20Clock It belongs to the son and daughter-in-law of my fellow writer, Colin Payn with whom I’ve co-written a cli-fi book called ‘The Future Brokers’. There are several of our own individual books in the café, including my Chronicles Chronicles books

 

Tell us a little more about your writing.

 I have three main interests in writing. I’ve written several historical romances as well as serious historical stories set during World War One. My particular interests lie in the early colonisation of Australia, as well as events during World War One and Two.

But sometimes, I like to indulge in a little silliness and write quirky stories that hopefully readers find humorous! The ‘Chronicles Chronicles’ are such stories. I’m currently writing a series of short stories that have been published on CafeLit about a whacky Post Box Topper Society in the fictional town of Creaping Bottom, (I’m sure you guessed that was a fictional town from its name!) So far, the members have encountered what appears to be an alien abduction, a serial killer, a serial complainer, revenge haircuts and marauding squirrels. You can find the latest story here https://www.cafelitmagazine.uk/2023/07/the-post-box-topper-animal-extravaganza.html with links to the previous stories at the bottom of the post. There’s a new Star Trek-themed story out shortly on CafeLit.

Dawn’s three books in the ‘Chronicles Chronicles’ series are ‘The Basilwade Chronicles’, ‘The Macaroon Chronicles’ and ‘The Crispin Chronicles’ published by Chapeltown Publishing. Another book, ‘Extraordinary’ is a collection of speculative fiction short stories – some light, some darker.

You can sign up for her newsletter with free stories to download here on her blog https://dawnknox.com

Find her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SunriseCalls

Amazon Author: http://mybook.to/DawnKnox