Troubling Times
Extinction Rebellion activists are clogging up a main street
in Manchester. All over the country people
are protesting against the suspension of Parliament. An extremely powerful hurricane is hitting
the US.
A few years back on holiday both my husband and I read a
book about the weather behaving strangely and indeed before the end of that holiday
we had nine foot waves on the Med. Yet that seems very tame compared with what’s
happening now.
What can we do?
I’m taking more care with my carbon footprint, querying very
journey I make. We have a smart meter now and although we’re sceptical- we’ve
always been careful haven’t we? – I do find myself studying it and reacting to
it. I’m working on the garden and introducing plants that the wildlife will like.
We’ve joined the local wildlife trust. But these are just tiny gestures.
We can all of course write and talk to people. I’ve noticed
my stories getting more political and my near future ones now assume climate
change gets worse. But more about that in the next section.
Yet I look out of my study window now and I still see the birds
and I hear them singing. The sun is still shining. The flowers are still blooming.
There’s hope?
News about my writing
Yes, indeed my
writing is getting political, especially 240
X 70. That is perhaps not so
surprising. I look each day for the first picture I see on Twitter and so often
it’s one of BoJo. So there you go.
My short story The Reckoning is about the after-life of
someone who sat on the fence.
The Last Ocean is about a world dying of thirst.
Peace Child 4 (The House of Clementine) as a YA (?) science fantasy is almost obliged
to reflect our world and I certainly have references to Brexit and Trump in
there.
Not Just Fluffy Bunnies, my non-fiction about the darker side of children’s
literature, seems more neutral. But then it’s about the darker side ….
Note to self: remember
the upbeat ending. End on hope.
Catalogue of books for children
This month I’ve
added:
The
Children of Green Knowe by Lucy Boston This is a delightful classic suitable
for fluent readers.
The
Stuff of Nightmares by Malorie Blackman Here we have a horror story suitable for teen
or young adults. Blackman recycles her own nightmares here. As engaging as
ever. And it has an upbeat ending. Phew!
Night Birds on Nantucket by Joan Aiken This is suitable for upper primary fluent readers. It starts off as an adventure at sea and then on land continues as a mystery / crime story.
Only the Ocean by Natasha Carthew I also reviewed this for Armadillo Magazine Target readers are young adults and teens. The writer uses a very unusual style but it works beautifully.
Current reading recommendation
I’m a little bit naughty
when I select my library books. I always look at the new ones first and this
one definitely caught my eye. Giles Milton’s D Day, the Soldiers’ Story is all about the Normandy landings on D
Day. You can find it here.
This is a pleasing example of narrative non-fiction. The title is bit of a misnomer;
we have stories of civilians as well. The stories are from both sides and include
ones of the French civilians. There has obviously been a lot of research into
this book. There are hundreds of anecdotes and vignettes. Milton uses an engaging
narrative style. He certainly uses the senses well and we’re transported there.
So, it’s not a particularly comfortable read.
But who says we need to be comfortable all the time? Even though I knew
the outcome I was gripped by this throughout.
Giveaway
This month I’m giving
away Clara’s Story. This is the
second story in the Schellberg Cycle. It might be described as a tragedy
or it might be described as a story of survival. In the end it is up to the
reader or even Clara herself to decide.
It is labelled as fiction and as biography on Amazon. Holocaust biography. Historical fiction. Clara Lehrs really existed, as did many of the characters in the Schellberg Cycle. We have a few, a very few verifiable facts about them. The rest we have had to find out by repeating some of their experiences and by using the careful writer's imagination.
Certainly the Schellberg Cycle examines the stories of several German Jews. Ironically Clara does not consider herself to be Jewish and sees no danger. She possibly needs Holocaust education even more than her readers do. Her dealings with Steiner Education help her to throw a little light on her situation and she becomes engaged in her own form of Holocaust resistance. So, we might even label this Holocaust fiction.
It is labelled as fiction and as biography on Amazon. Holocaust biography. Historical fiction. Clara Lehrs really existed, as did many of the characters in the Schellberg Cycle. We have a few, a very few verifiable facts about them. The rest we have had to find out by repeating some of their experiences and by using the careful writer's imagination.
Certainly the Schellberg Cycle examines the stories of several German Jews. Ironically Clara does not consider herself to be Jewish and sees no danger. She possibly needs Holocaust education even more than her readers do. Her dealings with Steiner Education help her to throw a little light on her situation and she becomes engaged in her own form of Holocaust resistance. So, we might even label this Holocaust fiction.
Get your free mobi-file and lots of other goodies here.
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.
Naturally I welcome reviews.
The Schellberg Project
The posts may be helpful for teachers who are familiar with
the Schellberg stories or who are teaching about the Holocaust.
This month I’ve added a post about Käthe Edler as a refugee.
She came over to England as a young mother in 1939. I’ve also written about the
third book in the series, Girl in a Smart
Uniform. This is to date the most fictional of the Schellberg stories.
You can read the posts here.
School visits
I’m still promoting my school visits associated with The House on Schellberg Street
project. I’ve now developed a whole workshop for this. It starts off with a
board game, includes some role play and creative writing and ends with a
discussion.
It is now possible to purchase the kit to work on on your
own. Find details here.
Costs for my workshops = travel expenses plus £400 for a
full day and £200 for a half day. This includes all materials and some
freebies. Two schools near to each other might consider splitting the day and
halving the travel expenses and fees. This is open to negotiation in any
case.
I also offer a free half day visit, though you pay my travel
expenses, if you allow me to promote my books.
I’m continuously adding materials for schools to the site
that are different from the ones I use for the workshops. I’ve recently added
in resources and books to do with the topic. See them here:
Query for a school visit here.
I’m also happy to tailor a visit for your agreed donation.
This can be for either a Schellberg Cycle
visit or a creative writing workshop. Any monies raised this way will go
specifically to a project I have for a non-fiction book about a journey that
will follow the footsteps of Clara
Lehrs. I’m hoping to do the whole journey by train, including departing via
my nearest Metrolink station. It’s important to feel the rails beneath my
feet.
I offer as well standard author visits which include
readings from my books, Q & A sessions and creative writing exercises.
Please remember, with these as well, I’m open to negotiation
if you can’t afford the full price.
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,
Chapletown 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. Find it here.
Opportunities List Remember I keep a full list of vetted opportunities on my writing blog. See them 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.
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.
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.
Happy reading and
writing.