Authors Electric

Well, I shall disclose what I do — and you can imagine that others may do similar.  For example, today about 20 snails were removed from the garden wall, where they had been hibernating…  But, I digress…As an Indie* writer, like others I’ve not only scribbled and tapped my way to completing writing another book, I’ve dialogued with my designer and approved her gorgeous cover design. I’ve been involved with lots of editing, and checking, and then, there’s the publication stuff. I’ve carefully filled in the Ingram Spark requirements on their on-line form, which will include adding the ISBN(International Standard Book Number, which identifies it as itself and no other book), and a Book Description which will go out to everywhere the book might be sold (Amazon of course, and also catalogues and other outlets), to help with shelving and inform marketing. Also an author bio, and a suggested category (one or more) of target readers… and some other admin… Really, simply all the things...

'Off my branch, young squirrel!' Just look at that pigeon's face! Depending on the place, the era, what’s fashionable, your face conforming to the ‘look’, whether revolution or conformism is in the ascendent, being the most popular person in your group takes work. Learning the latest lingo, and using it correctly. Wearing what’s on trend. Being seen where it matters. As a writer, you learn (or defy) the memes:   taking a (pretty) notebook everywhere, all-day pjs and writing in bed…Popularity, ironically, can and often does come to those who conform to the memes of the age and stage… and includes nascent ‘leadership skills…’ So, once ‘lockdown’ was achieved, memes shot around, people inevitably were picking them up. One popular stance was resentment: you were bored, you felt like a prisoner, you were buying jigsaws to do, or flour to play baking with the children (flour, for a while, disappeared). Whatever it was, nobody should welcome lockdown, and those who did were in d...

In the latter part of this strange summer my son Bertie and I have been working on a history of Waldringfield. A k a ‘Wunnerf’l’ as the Suffolk pronunciation has it – which the locals are quick to point out is almost indistinguishable from the correct way to say ‘wonderful’. ‘Wunnerf’l Wunnerf’l’ runs to 314 large and glossy pages with somewhere in the region of 618 photographs and is a tremendous achievement by the Waldringfield History Group -- and also by Bertie who was responsible for design and typesetting. At the outset, however, I wondered where we would ever reach our collective goal of publication by Michaelmas (Sept 29th).  The two pages of foreword entitled 'Wonderful Waldringfield' went through a larger number of politely argued re-writes than any other section of the book. Everyone had their view on what precisely constitutes the particular wonderfulness of this Suffolk village. The answer, of course, is the Deben. 'The River Deben means many things to many p...

It’s a year since In the Blink of an Eye came out and nearly 18 months since I talked here about the changing shape of ‘long form’ fiction, in particular the appearance of novels which, like mine, looked increasingly like collections of linked short stories. In fact right now I’m reading Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge , published to acclaim in  2011 and described on the jacket as a ‘novel in stories’ so apparently I didn’t invent this genre after all! Poet and flash fiction writer Michael Loveday However since then something else has come along. Just as Linen Press and I were doing final edits to In the Blink of an Eye , I noticed a competition run by Ad Hoc fiction for a ‘novella in flash. I could immediately relate to the concept of an overarching narrative composed of stand-alone stories - albeit very short short stories – and even considered the possibility of a ruthless edit in order to enter!  Time did not allow for that, but soon after ...

Since my recent post which touched on the early photographs of Hill and Adamson , I’ve not only paid a flying visit to St Andrews (my old university town and always a good place to go) but also been invited to read a selection of my historical fiction at the St Andrews Photography Festival . This is a huge thrill for me and has given me the nice job of making sure that by the time of my event on Sept 9 th . I've assembled the right words in exactly the right order.  Reading Silver Harvest in April at  Stroud Short Stories I’m planning to read five or six pieces which have already been written in one form or other, but I don’t want to read for more than 10 minutes at a time  - i.e. 1500 words max - and although the pieces are linked in theme, I would like each one to stand alone.  Looking at my raw material, only Silver Harvest fits the bill exactly. The others are either too long or, on closer inspection, betray their origins as fragments of a novel. ‘...

On a recent visit to Bristol Old Vic I spotted posters for their upcoming production of The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk , a play inspired by the renowned painting by Chagal.  Then opening my book-club read of Tulip Fever by Deborah Moggach,  I discovered illustrations in the form of Dutch Old Master paintings which are clearly germane to the author’s conception of her plot and characters. So what's going on? Crossing from one genre to another is hardly unusual – books become films, plays and musicals all the time, or even vice versa. But how often does one artistic creation take another as its inspiration?  Many poems of course reflect on paintings (did I know this is called ekphrasis ? – I’d like to think I did, if not, thank you Google for reminding me) but although many  novels, like Donna Tart's wonderful The Goldfinch , involve famous works of art, there aren’t so very many that delve inside a painting for character and plot. The obvious one is of cours...

Photo shoots don't always develop into sales success. In fact, some well-known authors have stayed away from cameras, while talented authors rely on bland photos suggesting average work. For all that, some savvy pros have reinforced their 'brands' with photos commanding us to give their work a look. Here is a small gallery containing a few of my faves: Since entering the online arena two years ago I'd thought about getting a photo that packed some magic of its own. The shot I had been using, the only one I had, was taken--well, a while back. I no longer smoked, to start with. And the old moody look seemed old hat. So I hit the gym and lost some weight, hoping to channel the image of my fictional hero, Boss MacTavin. Then I set out to find a photographer. And here is where my tale begins to suggest a Saturday Night Live skit. In two years I dealt with four photographers, offering half the fee upfront if we could meet to discuss ...

I’m not a particularly gifted photographer. When I was a child, I’d think carefully about every shot – whether or not I wanted to pay money for it; back in those days you had to get every picture developed before you threw away most of them and kept the few decent ones; back in those days, flashes came on a little rotating cube that burned out and got thrown away after 4 pictures… yes, I am that old. My parents always said that I had to photograph a person. If all I wanted was countryside or something 'pretty', it was cheaper to buy a postcard and probably better quality too. So it was many years before I got into the mindset of photographing scenes. Now I have a corner of my hall with little snaps I’ve taken over the years. Disney’s castle from an unusual angle, the derelict pier at Weston-super-Mare, a stone circle in Ireland, the window to another world (another blog post of mine, that’s actually the view from Harlech Castle). Invariably they are all slightly ‘odd’ – qu...