1940s Evening 17 September 2020

It's  all happening on 17 September at 8. p.m. 

The following writers will be talking  about their  work: 

Lin Treadgold

Stuart Larner

Dawn Knox

Gill James

Alison Faye 

You will also be treated to a short radio play. 

If you write about the 1940s there may be an opportunity to share some of your work. Do join us. The event is free but ticketed. 

Book your place here.   

 

 

 Image by Werner Weisser from Pixabay

An Afternoon with Some of our Writers

 

Yes, here are some of us at St Andrews Waterloo. 

 

 Sadly we can' t meet like this at the moment but a bunch of us are getting together on 26 September at 3.00 p.m. and will be reading form our work, talking about our work. 

This includes Waterloo Festival Writing Competition Winners Dawn Knox   and Allison Symes.

There will be an open mic element to the afternoon, so why not join us if you have work to share.

or if you're  thinking of submitting to us why not com along and see what's involved. 

The event is free but you must register. 

26 September 3 p.m. 

 

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/an-afternoon-with-some-of-our-authors-tickets-118046896445  

   

 

  

Another interview with one of the Waterloo Festival Writing Competiton winners.

Today I have  on my blog Paula Readman.  Paula has actually been a winner in all three of the Waterloo festival Writing Competitions, so very well done to her.

  

1) Tell me about your story in the collection.

Oh, which one shall I tell you about, as I’ve been lucky enough to have three of my stories selected? The first story Deucalion’s Flood tells the tale of a migrant who travelled to Britain in the belief he would find a better life.

The second Over the Wall tells the story of two young friends and an accident changed one of their lives forever. My last story Cobalt Blue tells the story about a young lad who has to take his father’s job in a mine to support his family. 

2) What inspired you to write them?

With all three of my stories I wanted to push myself outside my comfort zone, and look at the world from someone else other than my white English elderly woman’s point of view. Deucalion’s Flood puts me in a boat with hundreds of other migrants who have been treated as less than human by others, only to arrive in Britain to find they aren’t treated any better here. In Over the Wall, I wanted to include disability in my story, and play about with how it might affect a young boy’s life. Would it make him less outgoing?  Cobalt Blue was the story I did the most research on. An awful soul destroying problem, which I felt, was under publicised. I wanted to give a voice to the children and women whose lives are being undervalued, while the rest of the world races towards a greener future.

3) How did you hear about the competition?

I heard about the Waterloo Art Festival through being a regular contributor to Bridge House Publishing and Chapel Town Books submissions.

4) Have you had any other success in short story writing?

Yes, I have. Over the last year, I have been busy submitting to other small presses in Britain, Australia and America. In 2012, I won the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival/ Writing Magazine Short Story Competition. It was the biggest competition I won to date. 

5) What, for you, makes a good short story?

A story from its first word to its last that hooks your attention because you know the writer has edited the piece within an inch of its life after carefully choosing each word to carry you forward.

6) Do you have any tips for new writers or writers seeking publication?

Don’t always go with your first idea when entering a themed submission. You first idea will properly be similar to a few of other writers. Try to think outside the box. Write down some obscure ideas. Being a little brave in your lateral thinking may just give you the edge over other entries for competitions and submissions. Also remember nothing is wasted when your work is rejected.  Gave rejected stories another re-read and edited before sending it out elsewhere.

An excerpt from  Cobalt Blue 

A shadow passed over me, as I sat stuffing plastic bags into my father’s boots to make them fit. Then someone called my name. I clumsily jumped up, the boots uncomfortable on my feet. 

“Good morning, Raoul!” A skinny boy danced just outside the doorway to my shanty home. Dust rose blemishing his shiny black trainers. 

“Good morning, Abebe.” The crisp whiteness of his shirt held a promise of escape for my friend. I bit back my jealousy and smiled. Over his shoulder, black clouds gathered on the horizon, threatening rain. By the time it arrived, Abebe would be at his desk.  

“I’m top of my class now,” he stated, pride reflected in his eyes. He lifted the rucksack’s straps from his shoulders, the weight of the books caused them to dig in. “I’ve learnt how to write my name, and my numbers too. That is good, do you not think?”

“Oh yes.” Envy buzzed around me. I too wanted to learn. 

“Come on, Abebe. You don’t want to be late!” The boy’s father waved to me. I acknowledged him with a nod. Abebe ran laughing after his father. His laughter was infectious. It made me wish all the children in the village could join him. As they disappeared around a mountain of grey and red soil, I recalled how six years ago our home had faced a lush green valley. Mother, along with the other women, used to sing as they carried their washing down to the river. Birdsongs filled the cobalt-blue sky along with their beautiful voices. Then the miners came.

Overnight, things changed. The once crystal waters became sluggish and murky and no longer providing fish to feed the villagers. The muddy trickle made mother and some of the women sick, too. Across the scarred and poisoned land, the only sounds we heard were the heavy earth-moving machinery as it tore open another mine.  

After Mother passed away, Father had to work at the mine. No longer able to hunt, or fish to feed us. The strenuous work and little food weakened him making him more vulnerable to the sickness that engulfed our village. At eleven, I took his place at the mine while my younger brothers kept an eye on him. 

“Raoul, be wise. Cover your mouth, hold your tongue, and listen carefully. Never fight, ” Father said every day before I set off to work. “Come straight home.”

 

Author of Stone Angels, 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0897MR4RW

The Funeral Birds

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B084GZGRV2

Days Pass Like a Shadow https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0897SV5RH

Blog: https://paulareadman1.wordpress.com

Facebook: https://facebook.com/paula.readman.1

Twitter: Paula R C Readman@Darkfantasy13 

The Peace Child Trilogy

                                                     

 

Trilogy? I've actually just finished writing the fourth book and her is a fifth one planned. Will there be  sixth? Will it become like Frank Herbet's  Dune? That started off as a trilogy and ran to nine books in the end. 

Click on the picture above and you'll be able to find all three of the books.  Babel is central to the theme of all three books. Kaleem is haunted by a prophecy to do the with Babel Tower.  Yet  he lives in what our world might become by the 36th century. Some of it all goes back our time and yes, it is all to do with  speaking otehr languages .... in many different ways.

So, I'm organsing a giveaway:

• one paperback of Babel
• ten mobi-files    
• twenty PDFs. 

And yes of course I'd like you to review it. 

Use the contact form to express an interest. First come, first served. 

 

Introducing another of our 2020 Waterloo Festival Wrting Competition winners - Linda Flynn

There always seems to be a story in my head, which might explain why I am about to have my twentieth short story published. I love experimenting with different styles, the challenge of tightly written narratives and I can fit short stories into a comparatively short space of time. My dream, which I hope to realise soon, is to write and edit full time. This is becoming closer now, especially as I have been doing more work for Bridge House. I have just enjoyed editing Jim Bates’ wonderful collection, Resilience.

                Writing is a wonderful way to reflect upon events and emotions. I was lucky enough to have a story chosen each year for the Waterloo Festival. They are all completely different. The first one, Shouting in a Sandstorm, was written as a way of processing my mother’s struggle with dementia and her eventual death. In complete contrast, the second story, Climbing Rainbows, was humorous, but with pathos and a bit of an edge. My third story, Fishing in Troubled Waters had more sinister undertones. It was set in the past, although the subject matter of physical abuse is still very current. The story presents the protagonist with a moral dilemma if she is to save her friend.

                It’s hard to know why I write any of the stories. Many, such as, There’s Rosemary, That’s for Remembrance, which will be published in Mulling it Over, seem to write themselves. My favourite and happiest place to write is in Woolacombe, overlooking the sea through the seasons. I love to walk my dog in all weathers as this is good thinking and relaxing time. We are training for Search and Rescue, so I have spent a lot of time hiding behind trees too!

                It has been a great privilege to work with so many talented people. Linda Laurie illustrated our recently released humorous children’s picture book, A Most Amazing Zoo. We work really well together and Linda knows exactly how to interpret my suggested ideas. It’s so exciting to see her wonderful and funny illustrations take shape. Rob Townsend has the most amazing reading voice and he recorded the book which has just been released on Audible. Rob really brought the characters and story to life. This has been reduced by Amazon to £3.25 at the moment and a sample is available to listen to on the page: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/A-Most-Amazing-Zoo/dp/B08FBNHGYT/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1597157765&sr=8-1

I would like to thank Gill James who is phenomenal. I really don’t know how she (alongside her wonderful team with Debz and Martin) manages to achieve so much!

It’s hard for me to follow through and market a finished book as I want to move on to my next project. I still have a number of ideas on the back burner; next year I hope to be able to work on my YA book.

www.lindaflynn.com

An excerpt from Linda's story: 

Fishing in Troubled Waters

Only a bold plan will remove the outsider from the fishing community, but is it worth the risk?

Dawn rose in a bloodied mackerel-coloured sky over Clovelly Harbour. The cottages huddled together in clusters, flanked either side of a steep cobblestone hill and shouldering only a side view of the sea, as though afraid to stare into its mortiferous depths.

      Inside a cottage tucked into the bottom of the hill, Edna tied fish hooks on to thin lines with cracked, red hands. Her coarse brown skirts were runched up around her legs. She glanced at Peter’s boots by the door, ready for him to be away with the tide. As the thud of his footfall on the stairs ceased, she looked towards him with dark beseeching eyes. “Will you be taking Rufus with you this time?”

      He roughly shook his head, “You know we don’t take men on the boats when they’ve been drinking.”

“Yes, I know Peter,” her face looked gaunt and shadowy in the silvery light, “but Rufus is often found drinking. Without his catch the family will surely starve.”

Peter looked away, “He should know better than to waste it all on porter!”

“But Mary has those bairns to feed and another on its way.”

He rammed a foot into a boot, “She chose him. She should never have married that man!”

Edna lowered her voice, “He’s new to these parts, not one of our own. Mary mistook a fish eye for a pearl.”

Peter raked his hands through his dishevelled black hair. “We never take him when he’s like this. He’s a danger to the men and the boat.”