Authors Electric

Last month I told you about choosing a cover for my memoir. This month I want to tell you about my book launch, or more specifically how to set out a display table for an event. In my past I have created displays for a charity shop window so I like to think I have a good grasp on how to make something look appealing especially when pulling together an eclectic mix of ephemera. This skill certainly came in handy when I had to make a display with NO BOOKS! I didn't even have enough Os to write OOPS! Yes, I held a bookless book launch. Maybe not the first ever but this is how to pull it off with aplomb. I must just say it was my own fault for not ordering the books on time but my memoir is about grief and loss following the unexpected death of my husband. It is about making the best of things when something goes wrong, searching for the lost glitter that sparkles. “It’s quite ironic really.” Said my youngest son, with a wisdom beyond his years. I started my display with so...

 As we near the end of the school holidays I’m wondering if summer scrapbooks are still a “thing”? I used to enjoy collecting tickets, stickers, tourist leaflets and other paraphernalia with my children to document the fun we had over the six weeks creating a permanent keepsake. A collage of summer scrap! Once or twice, there were competitions at school for the “best” scrapbook after the holidays, but as with most of these things it is impossible for all parents to compete especially with the families who jet off on lavish foreign holidays and generally have more disposable income for more exciting activities.  It’s not a level playing field when the only excitement you have to write about is … the local playing field! https://www.flickr.com/photos/w9ned/3883245679/ And yet making a scrapbook, as the name suggests, can be a very inexpensive activity. It is just a patchwork of ephemera. When I was a very small child, I had several scrapbooks which I filled with random pictu...

The Summer Reading Challenge, set up by the Reading Agency, has been running annually in UK libraries for over twenty years since 1999. Its purpose is to encourage primary school children to read 6 books throughout the summer holiday. For their efforts each child is rewarded with such delights as stickers and bookmarks. Finally, if the challenge is completed, they receive the ultimate prize of a medal and a certificate. This summer there is a sporty theme with the title Ready, Set, Read! Co-incidentally I found some medals in the draw recently for the Reading Planet. Reading Maze and Reading Rollercoaster. These are some of the earliest medals given out in 2002-2004 when my children were just beginning their own independent reading journeys. Visiting the library with my small children was such a delight, even when our home was already full of other books to read. The library had a copy of Chicken Licken which we didn’t have, it was probably the most frequently borrowed book for a tim...

Last month I wrote about the Resolute Books collaboration and our fabulous book launch on a very sunny Saturday in May. I have finally finished the first two books published under the Resolute banner and what cracking reads they both are.  Local Killer is the fourth in the “Local…” series by Paul Trembling, each one is a stand alone novel with recurring characters but no central protagonist. The main character in Local Killer is CSI Alison Kepple and it is apparent early on that she has some anxiety issues. When she is admitted to hospital, after being a close witness to a fatal bomb blast, she finds it difficult being touched and the thought of staying overnight in a strange place gives her nightmares. She constantly reassures herself by checking she is OK. Each chapter starts with one of Alison’s checklists or some fact pertaining to her job as a Crime Scene Investigator, grounding us into her world. This doesn’t make her an unreliable narrator, far from it, she is very...

 Whisper it quietly but I don’t really belong here! I think everyone else on the Authors Electric blog team are proper published writers – me? – well I dabble a bit here and there but I’m NOT a proper Writer with a capital double U. I have everything I need to be a writer I’ve heard Joanne Harris, best-selling author of Chocolat and so many other wonderful novels, say “if you write, you are a writer.” But there’s always more than a smidge of doubt that creeps in telling me this is not really my world, my place is on the outside looking in, reading rather than writing. I may never write a best seller – some days I wonder if I’ll ever publish a full book! That does require actually writing it first and the longer I stick at it I realise just what a huge mountain I have to climb. Can I really do this or am I an imposter? My husband told me I didn’t know the “right sort of people” to be a writer. A friend told me when I started a writing class, “the first novel you write wi...

 I have a confession – I have books on my bookshelf that don’t belong to me! I am sure I am not alone because I know I have lent books to friends that I have never got back. Many have been passed on and I don’t give two hoots if I get them back or not but there are just a few I almost wish I’d never lent out in the first place. I can name them, and in some cases, even remember who I lent them to! I’m not the greatest hoarder of books, I don’t keep every novel I’ve read, I don’t have the space and enjoy sharing the love. But then a book on the shelf catches my eye and I remember it isn’t really mine! Does that happen to other people? Does everyone have an inventory in their head? There’s the tiniest bit of guilt, especially for the books I’ve borrowed and never had the chance or let’s face it the inclination to read. These are the books that are for the most part “worthy” in some way, helpful, given to me by friends who insist I really NEED to read this. Sometimes I star...

Way back in April when reading the Authors Electric blog I came across a post written by Joy Kluver about an introduction to crime writing workshop she attended held at the inaugural Farnham Literary Festival. https://authorselectric.blogspot.com/2022/04/farnham-literary-festival-joy-kluver.html They were given the starting line ‘So, what have we got here, Barton?’ as a writing prompt and Joy was impressed by the different directions the stories took. At a loose end I made a note of the prompt and set about scribbling a piece of flash fiction. I’ve edited it, re-edited it and sent it into a few places for publication but so far it’s not found a home so I decided to share it with you. Thanks Joy for the initial inspiration, hope you like the twist at the end. “So, what have we got here, Barton?” Did he really say decapitated heads? Plural? “And headless corpses.” He consulted his notebook, “with assorted limbs scattered throughout.” My breakfast rose ominously in my throat. A...

 An atlas was once considered an essential reference book for anyone’s bookcase. Remember that beautiful scene in the Ang Lee’s adaptation of Sense and Sensibility where young Margaret Dashwood sits under the table, perusing an oversized atlas, planning her adventures? Later it is given to as a gift to her by the very handsome Edward Ferrers played Hugh Grant. While searching for an apt literary quote, I discovered that scene was never actually written by Miss Austen, but added to the film to flesh out Edward’s character. Nevertheless, I think my premise still stands, that once upon a time a world atlas was an important tome in almost every household. Along with a family Bible, dictionary and perhaps the complete works of Shakespeare. Nowadays they become obsolete almost as quickly as they are printed. Few of us rely on road atlases in our cars any more as they have been superseded by satnavs and Goggle maps, much less fiddly to use en route , potentially causing less argum...

 Is it too early to stick my neck out and predict the word of 2022? I’m not sure what odds I’d get but the word WORDLE would have to be a strong contender. As I type this, I can say with utter certainty that I have a 25 day winning streak, I can’t believe I’ve been playing it for over three   whole weeks. It's crazy , perhaps I am addicted, but a quick scroll through my twitter timeline shows I am not alone . I’m sure I don’t need to spell out what it is but in case you have somehow missed it, WORDLE is a word game where you quite simply have to guess a new five letter word each day. You get six attempts and after each guess your letters change colour, (or even color as WORDLE uses US spelling!) green if you have put the right letter is in the right place , yellow means a letter is in the word but in the wrong place and grey if the letter is not in the word at all. As many people have remarked it’s very like the old board game of Mastermind – if you...

Last month I wrote about my impending trip to the United States for my nephew’s wedding and I am happy to report it all went ahead and a magical time was had by all. After writing my last blog I had high hopes that my travels would greatly enhance my creativity. However, I must confess, at the outset so much was exactly as I expected. Was this because I’ve been to the States before, watched copious amounts of US TV dramas that little surprised me or that an already highly worked imagination had already conjured up these locations while reading? Many places we visited reminded me of novels I’ve read in the past few years. As we wandered through the Washington art gallery, I couldn’t help but be transported to the pages of The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. Airy, expansive rooms with high ceilings housing the most exquisite paintings. They drew you in from afar revealing the most breath-taking details as you moved closer. How do artists convey the sheen of a piece of silk, the glint o...

Due to all sorts of circumstances, I’ve not been on a plane for ten years, but finally this year I have a reason to fly. My nephew is getting married in the USA this month and I always thought very few things would stop me from being there. That was before Covid and travel restrictions, fit to fly tests and passenger locator forms. For most of this year I’ve been unsure if this trip would really happen. I’ve got used to planning with that niggling thought in the back of my brain that everything might just go pear-shaped. I hold everything loosely in my hand, waiting to see what direction the wind blows, if there’s a sudden gust I’ll shrug with a nonchalant “ c’est la vie!”.   They say travel broadens the mind and it only takes a few clicks online to come up with a plethora of articles on the subject. I recently read Maggie O’Farrell’s excellent memoir “I am, I am, I am”. I am in awe of her adventurous travels but don’t envy the near-death experiences which she has strung t...

   How does one start these things? How have I found myself here? Is the mic on? Can you hear me? Testing – one, two! comparing a fashion show Oh, to be one of those class acts that “needs no introduction”, a household name that trips off the tongue. You know exactly what to expect, you don’t have to reserve judgement until half way through the set. Will I be like marmite – love me or hate me? Personally, I can’t stand the stuff – gosh is that the first bit of REAL information I’ve shared about me? My writing credentials? Hmmmm, let me think … nowhere near as accomplished as so many Electric Authors. I’ve had a bit of flash fiction “published” on line, I’ve written the church nativity and I’ve been blogging for over ten years. I hope that counts for something. Why should I go through to the next round you ask? Like a terrifying X Factor judge. Well, I have a “sob story”, something that will make the readers warm to me, maybe gain me some extra votes… Everyo...