An Evening of New Writing

Canadian author Alayna Munce will be reading from her new book, When I was Young and in my Prime.
‘Moving, funny, full of hard truths’ - The Globe and Mail, Canada

With local authors;

Kay Sexton, co-author of Two Tall Tales and One Short Novel,
‘Inventive in language and exuberant in narrative’ - Russell Celyn Jones

Maria Jastrzebska, poet, and author of Syrena
‘Both confident and distinctive’ - Suite101.com

Sunday 16 September - 7pm, the Cella, Sanctuary, Brunswick Street East, Brighton & Hove

Endings and beginnings ...

Tomorrow will be a bittersweet day for me. I shall be handing over the reins (or even reigns) of Brighton (and Hove actually) National Novel Writing Month to my excellent successors, Fiona Wallace and Alex Allsworth. After three years I thought it was time to step aside and let somebody else have a go at running November's novel-fest, and I shall certainly enjoy only having to write 50,000 words in thirty days, without the pressure of organising events and being coach and cheerleader to the other wrimos too. They will be great Municipal Liaisons, of that I have no doubt. But I shall miss the excitement of watching 'my' novelists cross the line one by one ...

As far as beginnings are concerned, I intend, once the formal handover dinner is done, to write a brief outline of the science fiction novel I want to make a good start on in November. It's been bugging me for over a year now, and Ren is still complaining that because I wrote an erotic novel last November, I haven't tackled a piece of long sci-fi for nearly two years. So I am really quite looking forward to being Ren again for a while.

And my copy of the R D Lawrence Commemorative Anthology - Liaisons II, arrived today. There's some wonderful work in it (and a short story by me) and I'm thrilled to have my name featured as part of a tribute to this wonderful man. That makes 22 anthologies on my bookshelf, if you include the two Smokelongs which are actually annuals - so here's a question. Is 22 anthology publications in four years good, bad or average? I really don't know - does anybody else have an answer?

Ellen Meister resplendent!

Ellen’s hilarious novel, Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA (hereafter SCAPTA) which features George Clooney, has gone into paperback and she’s currently cybertouring – I caught up with her online and posed a few questions about the success of her first novel and what comes next:

Hardback to paperback is a big step, rarely properly understood by new authors – how did SCAPTA make the leap?

Frankly, it was in the original contract that the book would be published in both hardcover and paperback. How that actually happened is one of the mysteries of agent/publisher negotiations, and speaks volumes for the value of professional representation.

How did you find out you were going paperback and what did you do to celebrate?

It was one big celebration when I got the initial contract from HarperCollins. I'm not ashamed to say I threw myself a cocktail party and invited 60 or so friends and relatives. It was a dream come true and I was damn well going to celebrate!

You're currently cybertouring – what does that mean and how did you put your cybertour together?

The bulk of my cybertour was done through a group I belong to called the Girlfriends Cyber Circuit. It's a great concept that was organized by a writer named Karin Gillespie. Basically, it's a group of commercially published women authors who enter into an agreement to blog about each other's books according to a set schedule. I'm in awe of the group's talent and diversity and thrilled to be a part of it.

In addition to the coverage I got through the GCC, I anticipated the release of my paperback by putting out feelers in several cyberspace communities, asking if anyone was interested in reviewing the book to coincide with publication. I got a few bites, and was happy to send out review copies. Also, I'm lucky enough to have friends like you offer to publish interviews with me! (And believe me, all of it helps.) Also, as part of my online efforts, I sent out e-postcards and other promos to email addresses I've been gathering all year.

What are you currently working on, apart from publicity and signings of course!

I'm working very hard on the 128th draft of my next novel. It feels like that many drafts, anyway. The book is called The Smart One, and it's the story of a divorced former artist named Bev Bloomrosen, who's about to turn her failed career around and become a school teacher. But when she and her two sisters discover a dead body under the house next door, they come head on with the old childhood roles holding them back. It will be published by Morrow/Avon in 2008.

Are you going to visit Europe to promote your book?

I only wish!

Writing is one thing, but marketing yourself as an author is something else. I know you have the right background for this, but even so, it must be a real discipline. Just how hard does a writer have to work to get the kind of promotional success you've achieved?

Let's see. One a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being sitting in the couch with the remote control while George Clooney rubs your feet and asks if there's anything else you need, and 10 being digging graves in Siberia, barefoot, with a rusty shovel and two broken wrtsts, I'd say it's about an 8. Honestly, I work tirelessly at it because it's damned hard to sell books - novels especially. But I'll keep at it.

And you can catch up with Ellen on her tour, here ...

Joshilyn Jackson
Renee Rosen
Allison Winn Scotch
Deborah LeBlanc
China Dolls
Joni Rodgers
Jackie Kessler
Judy Merrill Larsen
Laura Floran
Eliza Graham
Karin Gillespie
Sheila Curran
Kelly Parra
Joanne Rendell
Cindy Cruciger
Becky Motew
Jana DeLeon
Sara Rosett
Toni McGee Causey
Maryanne Stahl
Vicki Taylor
Modern Matriarch (book review)
Modern Matriarch (interview)
Virtual Wordsmith (book review)
Virtual Wordsmith (interview)
Sandra Novack
Jessica Lipnack
Rebecca Flowers
TQR (book review)
Trashionista

And here's the zingy paperback cover!

An interview ...

Nothing from me today, rather, about me. Sorry for the self-promotion, but this interview was such fun to do that I refuse to feel modest about talking to the indefatigable Kelly Spitzer at http://www.kellyspitzer.com.

And I want to thank her for showcasing me in this way; it's a generous thing to do and she conducts all her interviews with such skill and insight that I feel you learn a lot about the writers who are her subjects. Go and read Debbie Ann Ice's profile, for example, and learn about one of my favourite writers.

How far do you go ...

For research purposes?

I ask because in discussion with a fellow editor recently, she was horrified to discover I'd chewed paan (betel nut wrapped in a betel leaf with other aromatics - somewhat confusingly, betel nut and betel leaf come from two completely different plants) when I was in India, and not only that, but when I was writing about an Indian colleague, I went to South London and found a vendor selling paan in the market so that I could remind myself exactly how it tastes.

Now betel does have problems: it is a potential carcinogen (but not if you only chew it a few times) it does stain your teeth red (and it does that almost from the first chew) and it is certainly an acquired taste (imagine chewing a sheet of paper made from dried lime rind and cracked pepper, with a faint undertone of tobacco) but so what?

There are things I wouldn't do, but sometimes the only way to get inside an experience is to try what it feels like to be, not to observe.

What reminded me of this was a recent visit from a friend of a friend who arrived from Kerala bearing my favourite Indian milk sweets, a T-shirt with a palm tree picture on it ... and a packet of paan. I grinned uneasily and took one, chewing weakly, before persuading my visitor that he would need all the paan during his stay, and his need was definitely greater than mine!

But for the few seconds where my mouth filled with scarlet juice I was back in India, with all the scents, sounds and heat of Kerala around me, and for that instant inoculation of another culture, it was more than worth it.

We need to talk about titles (again)

With apologies to Lionel Shriver. If you think I sounded jaded, I do. I've been reading slush for an anthology and while some of the work has been great, the absolute mind-numbing tedium of so many of the titles has broken my will to live.

Listen up writers - if you want to send work into a themed anthology, I can guarantee you three sure-fire ways to end up being rejected:

1. Don't title your work
2. Use words from the anthology theme for your title (so if the anthology will be called Tales of Small Shining Lights, title your work 'Small Shining Lights")
3. Borrow the title of a famous film or book.

If you don't title your work, how can the reader refer to it in discussion? I have read over 300 mss in the past month, and I can't remember every story, let alone precis it so that the boss recognises it, so when slush reader and boss are shuffling stacks of paper with phones pressed to our ears, trying to decide which sixteen of the 300 make the grade, you can bet that it won't be stories lacking titles that we choose to proceed with.

At least a quarter of the 300 have words from the anthology theme in their title - we probably are going to accept a couple of those stories, but the writers will have to change the titles because (doh!) it's not very exciting to have a book stories called Tales of Small Shining Lights with stories entitled: 'my small shining lights', 'the small shining lights of home', 'stay away from the small shining lights', 'can you see the small shining lights?' etc. Obvious really, but every writer seems to think their story is the only one we are going to read.

If the anthology is called Tales of Small Shining Lights, then calling your story 'The Shining' is a brilliant move, isn't it? Nope, because at least four other writers will have done the same thing, so we're going to get you mixed up in our heads, and also - that title means a certain something to everybody who has read the book or seen the film and - while there's no copyright issue - we don't want our readers to feel let down when YOUR story isn't the one they were expecting.

On the other hand, if you want to be accepted (and isn't that why you sent the work in the first place?) try these:

1. Pay homage to a famous film or book (for Tales of Small Shining Lights, this slush pile reader would have been delighted by 'The Maltese Lantern' because it would have shown wit and an understanding of the wider context of our anthology)
2. Use synonyms for the anthology's title to craft your own(tiny, little, miniature, glinting, glowing, illuminating, lanterns, beams, spots, arcs ... the list is endless)
3. Make a list - don't stop until you have eight titles. Ask your friends which they like best - their reactions will help you see why your first thought may leave you in the reject pile.

And no, the anthology isn't called Tales of Small Shining Lights and the submission call is closed, so please don't send me stuff ...

When it’s rubbish …

What do you do?

One of the most difficult things to decide is when a story is rubbish and when it just hasn’t arrived on the right desk yet. If you listen to the myths, you’ll hear that many an award-winning story was almost relegated to the back of the drawer, or actually did get retired for a while, before some last opportunity dragged the pages into the light again, only to become a gold medal winner, an Oscar-winning screenplay or whatever. So how do you know whether your much returned short fiction is rubbish, or ready to publish?

There is no clear answer to this, and in my editorial role I see some stories that were clearly written six or seven years ago, still doing the rounds and still – to be honest – not publishable.

Of course you can’t say that to a submitter, but if, after half a dozen outings, your piece has not be snapped up, it may be time to revise it. Try taking out a sixth of the words; more good is often done by tightening than wholesale editing if the story is close but not quite there. If it doesn’t place after another half-dozen submissions, it’s time to read your story into a tape recorder or use voice software to ‘hear’ your words read aloud. Listen right through, then make notes as you pause the tape to pick up all the tiny glitches, slips and piddling annoyances that you can hear better than you can see. And if it’s still doing the rounds after another six submissions, and you’re not getting any encouraging ink from editors, put the story away (in a drawer or file, not the bin) for six months and look at it with fresh eyes. Often you can see the problem straight away, when you’ve had a good long rest from finicking with it.

I am a bookmother!

Seriously.

The inimitable Bunny Goodjohn stayed for a couple of nights on her way back to the USA, and we had a wonderful time. Well, I had a wonderful time and I hope she did too.

Her novel, Sticklebacks and Snowglobes, will be published in October and she brought me the bound galleys. The dedication page features my name and that of her writing mentor, Jim Peterson. I couldn't be prouder.

I never expected to have a book dedicated to me. To write one, yes, but never to be the recipient of such an honour, and never in relation to a novel that I love as much as I love this one. I am a bookmother ...

Cold River Review redux and Clockwork Phoenix opening

Go and read their copyright page. Kudos to Mr Sandoe and his team for what they've done to put things right. I said I would sing their praises and I am - believe me, all editors make mistakes (I know I have) and it takes guts to learn from those bad experiences. I sincerely hope that in a few months time I'm going to be featuring a Cold River Review writer who tells us what a great experience it was to have their fiction published in this journal - it seems there's every likelihood that this will be the case!

In other news, Clockwork Phoenix looks well worth a submssion if you write genre. Tales of Beauty and Strangeness is a new annual anthology series edited by Mike Allen, to be published by Norilana Books starting in 2008. The anthology's literary focus is on the high end, and it is open to the full range of the speculative and fantastic genres.

Editor Mike Allen says: "Clockwork Phoenix is a home for stories that sidestep expectations in beautiful and unsettling ways, that surprise with their settings and startle with the ways they cross genre boundaries, that aren't afraid to experiment with storytelling techniques. But experimentation is not a requirement: the stories in the anthology must be more than gimmicks, and should appeal to genuine emotions, suspense, fear, sorrow, delight, wonder. I will value a story that makes me laugh in its quirky way more than a story that tries to dazzle me with a hollow exercise in wordplay.

The stories should contain elements of the fantastic, be it science fiction, fantasy, horror or some combination thereof. A straight psychological horror story is unlikely to make the cut unless it's truly scary and truly bizarre. The same applies to a straight adventure fantasy or unremarkable space opera -- bring something new and genuine to the equation, whether it's a touch of literary erudition, playful whimsy, extravagant style, or mind-blowing philosophical speculation and insight. Though stories can be set in this world, settings at least a hair or more askew are preferred. I hope to see prose that is poetic but not opaque. I hope to see stories that will lead the reader into unfamiliar territory, there to find shock and delight."

RIGHTS PURCHASED: First English Language Rights and non-exclusive electronic rights. The anthology will be published by Norilana Books in a trade paperback edition in the Spring of 2008, to be followed by an electronic edition to be produced later.

PAYMENT: $0.02 a word on acceptance as an advance against royalties, then a pro rata share of royalties after earnout, plus a contributor copy.

WORD LENGTH: Up to 10,000 words, with longer stories having to be exceptional.

READING PERIOD begins on August 1, 2007. Please do not submit your stories before then. (that's yesterday, people!)

DEADLINE: February 1, 2008.

HOW TO SUBMIT: Submissions are electronic only. Please submit your story via e-mail, as an RTF file attachment. Your e-mail subject line should say "Submission: Story Title". Include a brief cover letter in the body of your email. It should have your name, address, e-mail address, title of story, number of words, and brief biographical information in case we don't know you, with most recent publishing credits, if applicable. We are open to new writers and seasoned veterans alike.

EDITORIAL ADDRESS: clockworkphoenix@gmail.com

Ren is sending something ....