Zooming around
I’m continuing to
enjoy some excellent on-line events. I even managed to attend a book launch in Florida
recently. It was eight o’clock here and lunch-time
there. I think this was deliberate as the
launch was of an anthology that included some UK writers. One of the speakers came from just a few miles
from where I’m based.
We missed the
Bolton Food festival, always a great event this summer bank holiday weekend.
However, the online version was pretty good. You don’t get the smell and tastes
as you wander around but there were a lot of interesting demonstrations and you
could buy online many of the items they usually sell at the stalls.
I now have three
events arranged myself. You are all cordially invited to all of them. The first
is the Lancashire Authors Association’s
talk led by Nick Oldham, a local writer and publisher. This is by invite and if
you would like to be invited, please contact me. It takes place on 12 September
at 2 p.m.
Then on 17
September at 8 p.m. I will be speaking with three colleagues about writing the
1940s. There will be readings, a Q & A, possibly the opportunity for an
open mic and digital giveaways for everyone who attends.
On 26 Sep I’ll be
reading from my short story collection and will be joined by two other readers.
Again there will be readings, a Q & A, an open mic, if there’s time and again
there will be digital giveaways for all attendees.
Do join us: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/an-afternoon-with-some-of-our-authors-tickets-118046896445
News about my writing and other creative projects
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:
The B on Your Thumb: 60 Poems to Boost Reading and Spelling by Colette Hillier (writer) Tor Freeman (illustrator)
This a book of poems that help with spelling and pronunciation. It is suitable for primary school.
I am Brown by Ashok Banker (writer) Sandhya Prabhat (illustrator)
This a picture book for the pre-school child and presents multiculturalism effectively.
Eagle Strike by Anthony Horowitz and Scorpia by Anthony Horowitz These books are becoming even more exciting – and they’re getting thicker and longer. Alex is growing up.
Current reading recommendation
I’m still 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.
This month’s choice
therefore has to be The Testaments by
Margaret Atwood .
These accounts by
three individual witnesses are beautifully written. Margaret Atwood has created
a unique voice for each of the narrators. We have the accounts of two young
women, both of whom are training to be Aunts in the Gilead system. We also have
the voice of the feared and revered Aunt Lydia.
All is not well in
or outside Gilead.
It would be difficult
to understand these accounts if you are not familiar with The Handmaid’s Tale. You really need to have read that first book
or have seen the TV productions. The story in this volume contradicts a little
what we have seen in the TV series.
It is the story of
what happens after Baby Nicole is smuggled out of Gilead. Certainly the events
described here happen when Nicole is a teenager. However, we still don’t have the
full story. Will there be one? Or must we use our imaginations?
I gave this a five
star review on both Amazon and Good Reads.
It was interesting reading other reviews including some one and two star
ones. Yes, even the literary greats get those!
For me this
remains one of those rare books that I’d gladly read again. Perhaps this is partly
because I feel I may have missed something. It is also in part because I find the
prose so enchanting and not as one reviewer said: “dull and lifeless with no linguistic subtleties that Atwood
is so very good at.” So, take heart if you’re a writer and get some one or two
star reviews. It’s all so subjective after all.
Giveaway
Note: these are
usually mobi-files to be downloaded to a Kindle. Occasionally there are PDFs.
This moth I’m
giving away Fibbin’ Archie, a young
adult text that is also a writing experiment using the Fibonacci series. I hope you like the pun.
Here’s the blurb:
Archie has quite a reputation as a practised fibber.
Normally his lies are harmless but as time goes by they begin to get him into
more and more trouble. They lose him his girlfriend, and bizarrely, his hearing
as his ears begin to react in a very strange way every time he is less than
truthful. Giving honest opinions isn’t
enough. Deep truth is called for. But finding that isn’t easy. Some truths are
very hard to face. Then numbers become interesting, too.
Fibbin’ Archie, is,
however, more than the story of a disenchanted young man. It is also a writing
experiment based on a fascinating number series (Fibonacci!) It is a piece of
experimental writing, a humorous story of love and sex, an examination of
social issues affecting young adults and a story of coming of age.
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.
This month I’ve highlighted a few useful accounts of the Nazi era in five books that might be of interest to younger readers. You can find this post here.
I’ve also written
more about the BDM girls. You can find
that discussion here.
This topic is a crucial aspect of the whole project. What was life like for
young German women during and in the years surrounding World War II? Their membership
of the BDM has to be very significant.
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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