Revisiting Alice

I’m currently rereading Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. This is partly because I’ve obtained the 2011 Macmillan editions. These are large hardback texts with the original drawings by Sir John Tenniel. Eight of these were coloured by Victorian artist Harry Theaker, and published in 1911, with the remaining pictures coloured by Diz Wallis in 1995. These editions include a foreword by Philip Pullman. The books are beautifully tactile and very heavy. I have the impression that I am reading more slowly because the pages are so long. This actually makes me pay more attention to the text.

I am also rereading them because I’m currently writing a chapter in a book about these two books and Neil Gaiman’s Coraline. Alice tends to polarise people: some love her stories others hate them. Most adults are spooked by Coraline. Younger readers love her. My book is about the darker side of children’s literature. I find Alice and Coralline very sinister. A baby  that turns into a pig. Uncanny twins. Button eyes. And much more.    

This time, though, I really enjoyed Alice in Wonderland. This is partly because of the rewarding experience caused by the beauty of the edition. I also recognise how well it is written. Alice certainly here has a book full of conversation. The point of view is solid. Alice is a well-established character and there are also some charming caricature layers. We have a real sense of Wonderland. The story moves quickly. Okay, so that’s my critical head consuming the text now and not the child who read it originally. Even so. I’m glad I’ve revisited. I’m just about to start Through the Looking Glass.         

Interviewing myself about Spooking

This went out of print last month. I’ve reedited it and I’m now going to self-publish it, both as a Kindle edition and a hard copy.

Here I interview myself about the novel.

1)      What is Spooking about?

It might be described as a paranormal romance. In fact, it has been described as such. However, there isn’t a vampire to be seen. The supernatural elements are quite gentle. Arguably it also a story about grief and mourning. It does have a reasonably upbeat ending, however.      

2)      Did you start with the story or with the characters?

In some senses one always starts with the characters. Story always comes from the tension between the players. Having said that, I normally have a two-line version of the whole story in my head. I then flesh that out into a full story arc and eventually produce a chapter break down. As I write, however, I find I need additional or different chapters and the characters start to take on a life of their own. Spooking was no different.   

    
3) What led you to write it?

The idea came, as they do, out of the blue. I always have two or three ideas for other novels whilst I’m working on the current one. I dread the day I run out of ideas. So far so good.  

4)      What real-life events or people inspired events or characters in this book?

The novel is set in two real places – the south coast in Hampshire and Bangor in north Wales. We used to live in Hampshire and I studied for my PhD in Bangor. The little blue car that crashes into the river is based on the car that my son and daughter used to drive.  It was a blue Ford Fiesta. It was a super little car. It too was called Binky. I now own another Ford Fiesta – a bright red modern one. Both of them have been very nice to drive and very reliable.

The actual story is completely fictitious.

     
5) What authors or stories inspire you as a writer? (i.e., who are the authors or stories that, if I like their stories, I will probably also like your stories?)

There are so many. Here are a few:

Michael Morpurgo

Philip Pulllman

Maeve Binchy

Neil Gaiman

Aiden Chambers

Charles Dickens

Monika Feth

Kate Atkinson

Gustave Flaubert

Emile Zola

Heinrich Böll

If you asked me again tomorrow I’d probably come up with a slightly different list.    

 

Find your copy of the book here  

 

Newslettter 2 March 2016

I’m very pleased to report that I’m now back into the swing of things and have pretty well re-established my writing routine. The university is still keeping me busy: I currently have eleven hours of teaching and I am doing two school visits this week – World Book Day looms. Next week I drop down to ten, the week after six and for the rest of the semester five. But the marking comes in again next week- 33 scripts followed by another 72 the week after. Ah well.   
The year is just whizzing by.         

Bridge House

We’re still open to submission until the end of March. Remember our theme is “Baubles”. Short, snappy, sparkly stories that brighten up the darker nights like baubles enhance the Christmas tree. We’re not talking about things that give you a good belly laugh nor anything that is overly sentimental. Feel good is fine, yes, but just a light touch. You’ll know it when you think of it. Check out full submission details here.

CafeLit

Remember, we’re always open to submissions. Find out how here. I’m now making the selection for The Best of CafeLit 5. I’ve been encouraging my students to submit. I hope to read some of their work there soon.

Chapeltown

We’re currently looking for collections of Flash Fiction. See our submissions page here.
We’re also looking at creating another imprint. We’re not sure what to call it yet.  Maybe “Revive” though that may be a little too obvious. It’s all about republishing books that have gone out of print. This is sparked really by what I’ve said about Spooking and a few other titles below.         

Creative Café

We’re always looking for new cafés.  If you visit one of the cafés in the project and would like to write a review of between 250 and 350 – nice, too to have a couple of pictures – send it to me here. Do the same if you find a new café.
I’m now going to send out a welcome letter to each new café that’s added. This will also offer them the opportunity to join the mailing list. 

School Visits

I’m proactively promoting my school visits associated with The House on Schellberg Street project. I’m still offering visits on this for a donation towards the project. I’ve devised a whole interactive workshop. It would be a real asset for any school teaching the Holocaust at Key Stage 3. Even if a school can’t afford a donation, I’d be happy to run the project.
Here’s some further news about the Schellberg project. I’ve added in a page referring to “deleted scenes”. You know, just like you get on some DVDs.
There is also now a page of links to some articles about the process of writing the novels.    
Query for a school visit here.

The Red Telephone

There will be a new call for submissions next autumn. We’re leaving it quite a while now so that we can give our current authors all of our attention.  
I’d like to remind you of our new enterprise - something between a mentoring system and an online course. Though publication is not guaranteed, we will at least look at your full book if you’ve attended one of the courses. We’re offering it for free to a few people at first. We’ll refine as we go along based on feedback from our clients. We’ll then continue to offer it at a discount for a while before going to full price when we’re completely happy with it. We’re not sure what the full price will be. Again, we’ll be guided by our current clients. Find out more here.      

Books and short stories

I have now finished the final edit on Girl in a Smart Uniform. I’m adding the glossary.
Spooking is now out of print. I’m still deciding what to do with it and three other books soon to go the same way. The Lombardy Grotto, Kiters and The Scum Bag. Shall I self-publish? How big an edit will I give to each one? Or shall I just take the view that these were just part of my journey as a writer. Now it’s time to move on.
Do I want to go the self-publishing route anyway? It works for some people and is very much more respected now than it used to be. There’s a lot to decide so in some ways it’s rather useful being busy at the moment. I’m confident that I’ll eventually make a good decision.       

Looking Forward

Yes, I know I’m being rather secretive. You’ll know a lot more in the summer.  

Giveaway

This month I’m giving away a copy of  In The Shadow of The Red Queen, a Bridge House publication. The first person to message me via Twitter that they’d like the book  -  @gilljames – gets it. 

Two types of first person

Personal and point of view

I’ve been working with my students a lot on voice recently. I’ve linked this with point of view for my first years. Whose story is it? That is the fundamental question that keeps them on track. Then, which narrative voice is best for telling this story?  

We discuss the merits of the first person, third person – close, distant, omniscient or intrusive and even of the second person.

Then there is the question of tense – present of past.  Or what about future? Many first novels are told in the present tense and it’s getting a bit clichéd.

Problems with the first person

It’s unreliable they tell us. Well, yes, you can only get one point of view at a time but this is also true of the close third person. And at least it reliably shows your character.

For me a greater problem is that the reader cannot enjoy the growth with the protagonist. The latter has already had the growth.  The third person close is much more effective allowing us to enjoy the adventure with the hero.

A special voice for young adult literature

The first person is popular in young adult fiction, however. This is partly because the reader wants a close emotional relationship with the story-teller.  Rarely is the author a young adult but s/he must seem like one as the tale is told.  It becomes like a best mate who has a bit more of an adventure than the reader telling her all about it. That narrator has not rationalised the experience, though, and the writing of this book is partly an attempt to do so. So, when we have a series, such as Twilight, it is probably that the protagonist has the first adventure and tells the story of that before embarking on the second.

I’d like to call this voice the immediate first person.

The distant first person

This is what I’m using in my current work in progress. That probably means that my novel isn’t young adult or even new adult though may be enjoyed by both. It‘s being told from the point of view of an older adult looking back. Think of the voice-over on Fetch the Midwife or even on Hetty Feather.  What’s being described happened a long time ago and the narrator has rationalised it.  However, we can still leave the rationalisation to the reader. Show, don’t tell even here.       

News 6 February 2016

2016 has got off to a hectic start. I’ve been away from my writing desk for quite a bit as I’ve had a fair chunk of marking coming in. It’s still critiquing and giving feedback on mainly fiction writing, so it’s a little like editing and is certainly a “writerly” activity. But I’ve been away from my own writing and for once found it difficult to get back into it.

Last semester I had that extraordinarily demanding piece of admin to do for the university. That took up the time I would normally use for writing. When I did have the time, I didn’t have the brain space. I also had the flu two weeks ago. That didn’t help either.

However, today I may be turning the corner ….  I’m on a “read aloud” edit, I’ve written a blog post and I’m writing this ….                       

Bridge House

We’ve decided on the theme for next year. Baubles. Short, snappy, sparkly stories that brighten up the darker nights like baubles enhance the Christmas tree. We’re not talking about things that give you a good belly laugh nor anything that is overly sentimental. Feel good is fine, yes, but just a light touch. You’ll know it when you think of it. Check out full submission details here.  
We’re changing the way Bridge House is administered slightly. We’re getting rid of the LLP and Debz and I are working on a simple partnership basis. Because of this, any projects I work alone on will probably go to Chapeltown and joint projects will remain as Bridge House. New titles for The Red Telephone will go to Chapeltown.    

CafeLit

Remember, we’re always open to submissions. Find out how here. I’m now making the selection for The Best of CafeLit 5. Today I’ve been encouraging students to submit. I hope to read some of their work there soon.

Chapeltown

We’re currently looking for collections of Flash Fiction. See our submissions page here.
We’re also looking at creating another imprint. We’re not sure what to call it yet.  Maybe “Revive” though that may be a little too obvious. It’s all about republishing books that have gone out of print. This is sparked really by what I’ve said about Spooking below.          

Creative Café

We’re always looking for new cafés.  If you visit one of the cafés in the project and would like to write a review of between 250 and 350 – nice, too to have a couple of pictures – send it to me here. Do the same if you find a new café.
I’m now going to send out a welcome letter to each new café that’s added. This will also offer them the opportunity to join the mailing list. 

School Visits

I’m proactively promoting my school visits associated with The House on Schellberg Street project. I’m still offering visits on this for a donation towards the project. I’ve devised a whole interactive workshop. It would be a real asset for any school teaching the Holocaust at Key Stage 3. Even if a school can’t afford a donation, I’d be happy to run the project.
Here’s some further news about the Schellberg project. I’ve added in  a page referring to “deleted scenes”. You know, just like you get on some DVDs.
Query for a school visit here.

The Red Telephone

There will be a new call for submissions next autumn. We’re leaving it quite a while now so that we can give our current authors all of our attention.  
I’d like to remind you of our new enterprise - something between a mentoring system and an online course. Though publication is not guaranteed, we will at least look at your full book if you’ve attended one of the courses. We’re offering it for free to a few people at first. We’ll refine as we go along based on feedback from our clients. We’ll then continue to offer it at a discount for a while before going to full price when we’re completely happy with it. We’re not sure what full price will be. Again, we’ll be guided by our current clients. Find out more here.      

Books and short stories

I’m now on the penultimate edit of Girl in a Smart Uniform. This is the one where I read it aloud. Oh, I do miss our cat. She used to listen quite patiently. But what about this for serendipity? I’ve had to have some severe dental work done recently - in effect I’ve had a   new tooth built.
“Read out loud as much as you can to get used to it,” the dentist said. Well, well.
I’ve now signed off the proofs for my German science fiction stories. I am rather pleased with them and I did write the bulk of them whilst on a writer’s retreat. Hmm.    
Sadly, Spooking goes out of print in February. Yet in a perverse way I’m rather excited. It means I can deposit all of it in the repository at the university. It also means I can give it another edit and republish it. I was really pleased with what Crooked Cat did with it but now it’s time to move on.     

Looking Forward

I’ll gradually drip feed my future plans, but alas, for the moment they’re under wraps. Watch this space!

Giveaway

This month I’m giving away a copy of Going Places, a Bridge House publication. The first person to message me via Twitter that they’d like the book  -  @gilljames – gets it. 

Getting the habit, losing the habit and getting it back again

Once I started taking myself seriously as a writer and gave up the day job to become freelance I gave myself a regime of writing 1,000 words a day and writing for an hour. That worked. It was a matter of turning up at the page, not worrying about whether the muse popped along or not, and just getting on with it.

My first publications were educational materials. The royalties on them were quite generous and in fact I’m still earning from them now even though they were published in 2001. However, although I was sent copies of the books and they’re on my book shelf, I’m never going to see one of these in a bookshop. They’re sold directly to schools.

Then came my first contract for a “proper” book – one that would and has appeared in book shops. In order to complete that – another non-fiction one so it was sold on a proposal rather than a speculative complete script - I had to up my game to 2,000 words a day and two hours. I’m now a little kinder – I’m still on two hours a day but I only expect 1,500 words.

I now have a day job again but one that is very much connected to writing – I’m a senior lecturer in creative writing – and no one would say a word if I wrote my novel on the employer’s’ computer on the employer’s time. In fact, I’m writing this during office hours.  

Turning up for those words and hours was never a problem. I mainly tried to do this in the morning, even if it meant that some university work had to wait until the evening. Two hours of dedication to my writing.  Bliss! If I didn’t always quite fit in my two hours I would catch up at the weekend or even on holiday

All went well for the six years I free-lanced and for the last seven I’ve spent working at the university. Then all of a suddenly this year there was a massive amount of admin to do.  The only time I could fit it in was in the time when I would normally write. When I did get a few minutes to write there seemed to be no brain space.

The view from my window

I was also invited this year to go on a writers’ retreat.  I normally believe I don’t need this. I usually don’t have a problem with getting down to work. I’m now glad I did. Although I’m still behind, at least I got some solid chunks of work done whilst I was in Devon. Interestingly, the quality of the work was better than normal so I’m now considering trying to programme one of these retreats in each year. Perhaps it’s the concentrated time that helps.  No doubt also being with other writers has its influence. And perhaps even being in a place where s much writing has taken place before.  I’m somehow picking up on the energy.

I’m pleased to say that since just before Christmas life has returned to normal. I’m back into the rhythm of writing first of all each day. My work is progressing and I’m optimistic about the future again.