Tuesday, 15 July 2025

An Interview with Rosemary Johnson


 
Rosemary' collection of short stories, Past and Present  has recently been released.  Here we talk about it and Rosemary's writing in general.  
 
What prompted you to write short stories? 

 

I wanted to write, even when I was at primary school, and, because I was reading children’s novels, voraciously, I fell into the idea that I also should write novels.  As time went on, I saw how some characters and their situations don’t need the 100,000 word treatment and focus can be sharper in fewer words.  I have since discovered flash and come to appreciate the impact of just a few well-crafted hundred words.

 


What other sort of material do you write?

 

Novels.  (Now there’s a surprise!)  My historical novel, Wodka or Tea With Milk, which features the Polish Solidarity trade union in the 1980s was published by The Conrad Press in 2023.  Before that, I had written many others, ‘practice novels’ you might call them, none of which have been accepted for publication – thank Goodness! 

 


Do you have any tips for the would-be short story writer?  

 

When submitting stories to ezines and print magazines or entering competitions, follow the guidelines exactly.  Keep to deadlines.  Keep to word counts.  Use the format requested eg .docx.  Gain yourself a reputation for being professional.  If you are fortunate to have your single author collection published by Gill and she asks you for edits, do them promptly.  (When Gill asked for the first lot of edits for Past and Present, I was on the Danube on a cruise, but I set myself the task of editing one story per day.)

 When writing a short story in any genre, get your facts straight.  You’d be amazed how lax some writers are.  Look at as many primary sources as you can.  For The Witch, I downloaded and pored over a word-by-word account of Nicolae Ceausescu’s last speech from the Communist Party headquarters in Bucharest in 1989.  Look at photographs of the places where the action in your story took place.  If possible, visit this place.  I visited what is now called Solidarnosc Square in Gdansk which featured in Anna the Dissident (and in my Wodka or Tea With Milk novel).  If you’re writing ‘historical’, think about how people spoke at the time you’re writing about; if you’re setting your story in the twentieth century read fiction written at the time in question.  But don’t over-egg it.  A few well-chosen expressions will establish the period, but the dialogue will still be comprehensible to the reader.

 


How do you feel that past and present  intertwine in this collection?

 

The big question for me is what is ‘historical’ fiction.  According to the Historical Novel Society, the action in historical fiction must take place at least 50 years ago, but, in my opinion, where setting is defined by events at a particular time, even a recent time, that piece is ‘historical’.  For instance, the action in Tomatoes and Their Part in Brexit, could only take place within a specific few days in June 2016 – just nine years ago.  At this moment in time, Eight O’Clock belongs to the present, because many people struggle to make appointments with their doctor over the telephone.  In a few years, maybe the NHS will improve and this will no longer be the issue, so the story may become ‘historical’.

 


How did you decide to  put these particular stories together? How do they form a collection? 

 

When putting together this collection, I selected what I considered to be my ‘best’ stories, but now I realise that the ones I chose cover the range of my short story writing.  I love history.  I am a history graduate.  Mancunians following Gill’s blog may like to know that I studied at Manchester University.  Communism and the fall of Communism are topics which particularly interests me, which is why I came to write Anna the Dissident and The Witch.  Local history also fascinates me; the idea for Not a Proper Evacuee came from seeing photos at an exhibition of London Routemaster buses driving down Halstead High Street in Essex, bringing in the evacuees at the start of World War 2. 

 I also like to observe human nature and its foibles, and the common irritations of modern  life, such as ringing an unhelpful helpline (An Important Call) and a village community pussyfooting around a noisy peacock (Bachelor Boy).  I love writing humour and these sort of situations lend themselves to it.

 


Are you working on another project at the moment?

 

I am currently looking at other short stories, which I wrote while Past and Present was under production, and considering submitting another collection.  I would like, also, to write more longer works.  I like to get stuck in with a group of characters and spend several months with them.  I have an idea for a novel about middle-aged women football supporters.  My Blue Period was a sort of dry run for this.

 


Do you have any event planned to do with Past and Present?  Or any other of your publications?

 

There will be an online launch of Past and Present with Gill, and also Allison Symes (who will be very familiar to Bridge House readers) on Friday, 1 August at 7.15pm.  Readers can book  this through Eventbrite.  We would love to see you!

 

I am attempting to arrange a book-signing at local libraries.  Unfortunately, our library service is underfunded and so librarians are not in a position to offer many promotional opportunities to local authors.  Online promotion events are therefore very important.  I have also placed both Past and Present and Wodka or Tea With Milk in the Essex Libraries Local Writers’ Showcase which is also online.

Thank you, Rosemary

Find a copy of Past and Present  here.     

 

 

 


Tuesday, 8 July 2025

The Pros and Cons of Publishing with Amazon KDP


 

You can publish both paperbacks and e-books with Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct publishing)

Some of the advantages

  • There is no set up fee.
  • There is no yearly distribution fee.
  • Amazon will not say it’s unavailable.
  • You books will be available everywhere there is an Amazon.
  • You can enter the Amazon Storyteller competition.
  • It’s quick and easy to correct a mistake.
  • The paperbacks and the e-book are more easily linked.
  • You can easily alter the price.
  • You can enter the Kindle edition for Kindle Unlimited and earn money for the number of pages a customer has read.
  • Amazon pays promptly.
  • You can do countdown deals.  You set the book for a lower price than normal, reverting to the normal price after no more than a week.
  • There are other types of promotion you can do easily with Amazon.

 

Some of the disadvantages

  • It’s harder to get the books into bookshops in Europe though there is now an enhanced scheme that allows this. However, this brings the price up to higher than using Ingram’s; which is the  other popular option for self-publishers,
  • There is slightly less choice in formats than with other printers
  • If Amazon doesn’t like something you’re doing and you haven’t done anything   wrong it can be hard to convince them.
  • It’s harder to get your book to where Amazon isn’t.
  • You can’t carry on obtaining author copies if you take it out of print.   

Buy three CafeLit books for £15.00

 I've been involved in the editing book design and writing of these three 'Best of CafeLit' books and  am offering package of the three paperbacks for £15.00. postage free. 



Each story in this little volume is the right length and quality for enjoying as you sip the assigned drink in your favourite Creative Café. You need never feel alone again in a café. So what's the mood today? Espresso? Earl Grey tea? Hot chocolate with marshmallows? You'll find most drinks in our drinks index.


Buy all three for £15.00 

 

Tuesday, 1 July 2025

 

The Books that Built Me 






 

Yesterday I attended the First Salford Literacy Symposium, run at Media City by the University of Salford. It served to remind me how books have always been so important to me.  I remember my second year at junior school when during the Easter holidays I learnt to swim and made the acquaintance of the Famous Five. The library was just round the corner from the swimming pool. I went for a swim every day and then went to the library to collect some books.  I got though all of the Famous Five books in a fortnight. I’d stopped seeing the little marks on the paper and got the story straight into my head. Since then, reading has become my default activity though I also admit to enjoying a good film or TV series; it’s all about story.

Several of the speakers at the symposium talked about the book that had shaped them and one or two provided a collage of those books. Here’s mine.

Would you like to have a go?

Send me your five, as a picture like the one above, and I’ll post them on my blog.      

           

Writing news

I’m continuing with my work on the seventh Schellberg book. The Great War is now at the forefront and I’m still thinking about taking a trip to Munich for a little research.     

I have two publications in June: 


 

                                 

 

On My Blog


 

I discuss my involvement with the special book Aftermath.  I often give authors an opportunity to talk about their published stories, so why not me this time? 

 

 


 I share my thoughts about working with editors.

 


 

  

I have an offer on two books for young adults that deal with the paranormal.

 

 


 

I interview Ben C.Davies about his recently published collection of short stories.    

 

The Young Person’s Library 

 

This month I’ve added a fantasy / adventure book for fluent readers

 


 

There is also a picture book that is all about getting the mostout of your garden. Reader age is difficult to define. But this is an absolutely charming book. 

 

   

Recommended read

This month I choose How To grow a Garden by Frances Tophill and Charlotte Ager  


 

This is beautiful large picture book. It’s certainly suitable for children but also makes a good read for their parents and grandparents.

A contents page near the beginning of the book identifies sections: Flowers and Herbs, Trees, Hedges and Edges, Grass, Fruit and Veg, Water, Exotic Plants and Further Resources.

Each double spread shows pictures of the topics discussed and provides bite-sized information.

At the end of each section there are suggestions about what you can do in each season.

The book opens with an introduction about how the text works. It invites the reader to join in an interesting journey.

Throughout the text there are many activities suggested to the reader.

There is a glossary and an index at the end of the book.

Frances Tophill and Charlotte Ager will certainly get you enthusing about your garden in their inspirational How to Grow a Garden.   

 

Giveaway  

This month I’m giving away a copy of 140 x140  



 

This anthology of women's fiction, this collection of very short stories, some might say a flash collection, is thought-provoking and each story is based upon a tweet. Except that each piece is 140 words long and not 140 characters.


They were collected over three years and edited for another nine months.

RRP £7.00 

 

Sign up to receive this news in your inbox each month and then download this free book.  You’ll find an e-book file and a PDF plus a lot of other free materials here.

Please leave a review on Amazon, if you’re allowed to, on Good Reads and anywhere else you can.

 

 

The Schellberg Project

The posts may be helpful for teachers who are familiar with the Schellberg stories or who are teaching about the Holocaust.  They may also be interesting for other readers of historical fiction.


 

Just one post this month where I reflect on banned books. I’ve centred this on the book by Kirsten Miller, Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books. The text is problematic in some ways but Miller makes several valid points.      

 

 

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.

 

The Bridgetown  Café Bookshop where you can buy my books and books published by Bridge House Publishing, CafeLit, Chapeltown Books and The Red Telephone.  Visit us 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 and some other editors 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.  I also invite other writers to provide prompts and work for critique.     

 

Books Books Books Weekly offers on our books and news of new books. Find them here. 

 

The Young Person’s Library The children’s book catalogue. Access it here.

 

Fair Submissions  Find it here.   

Opportunities for writers are added several times a day. Roughly once a month I send it out to a list. If you would like to be on that list, sign up here.  

Happy reading and writing.