I’m really chuffed to be sharing a few of my stories at the Bridlit Fringe alongside this talented group of local writers. If you’re in Bridport on the morning of Friday 16 November 2018, do drop into the Literary & Scientific Institute for a chance to hear a fantastic range of poetry and prose. Tickets are a bargain at only £5 and are available here.
I hope to see some of you in the audience!
I was delighted to introduce Helen Corner-Bryant’s session ‘On Editing’ at the Dorchester Literary Festival last Sunday. As Chair of the Dorset Writers’ Network, I worked with festival co-director, Janet Gleeson, to arrange this input. Helen is a wonderful speaker who has substantial experience in supporting writers, firstly as an editor’s assistant at Penguin, and then in setting up the Cornerstones Literary Consultancy. Helen seeks to help writers overcome the creative barriers they encounter and with her team, they offer support that might otherwise take a writer much time to work out for themselves.
Some top tips offered in the session include:
Did you know Cornerstones welcome submissions of the opening ten pages of your novel with the synopsis for a free evaluation?
Because Q&As are so valuable to writers, Helen has devised an ‘ask a literary consultant’ session where she outlines her role then opens the floor to questions. I am now working with the Dorset Writers’ Network to find a date and venue to offer this input. Follow the Dorset Writers’ Network on Facebook and Twitter for updates and/or subscribe to the newsletter on the website.
Helen’s book On Editing: How to edit your novel the professional way is an invaluable resource and is available from any good bookshop or can be purchased through Amazon.
I’m delighted to share the news that my contemporary novel The String Games has been accepted for publication by the lovely people at Victorina Press. It’s been a long journey to reach this point which has involved all sorts of creative and academic diversions. Little did I know that when I started writing the novel, I would end up being awarded a PhD in creative writing!
The String Games tells the story of the abduction and murder of a boy from the viewpoint of his older sister. Rather than a crime novel, The String Games focuses on the legacy of loss for the protagonist, as she moves from childhood to the teenage years and into adulthood. This three-part structure is rather like a triptych in that it allows the protagonist to look back on her younger self and struggle to recognise the child she once was. It is by engaging with her personal history that Imogen is able to address issues of unresolved grief and integrate the loss of her brother.
Here is the opening page to prick your curiosity:
2013
An idea strikes. Imogen turns around on the stairs wanting to hurry back, but strangers stand like prongs. She battles through to reach the office where she jostles for projects and promotions. Heaving the door open, she sprints to her desk. Heads turn but Imogen ignores her colleagues. Her fingers slip on the keyboard and she has to retype the password. Breath churns from deep in her lungs and her heart beats like a hammer. Why didn’t she think of this before? Turning the screen, she doesn’t want anyone to see what’s she’s doing.It’s a private matter. While she waits for the homepage to load, she glances through the rain-stained window and onto the Thames. Water rucked like a crinkled cloth brings to mind a recurring image from her childhood. A little boy with wet hair shivers, wearing only his trunks. She wants to reach for him, press her arms around his shoulders, draw Josh into a hug. A big sister should keep her brother safe.
Typing his name will bring up the usual lilac lettering that tells Imogen she’s used the same search term time and again. Her stomach clenches and is knotted like a ball of string. Gathering confidence she enters the name of the girl she used to be into the search bar: Nim Mashard. Clasping her hands, she waits to see whether this will locate new information about Josh’s case.
The String Games will be published in May 2019 and I look forward to working with Victorina Press to make this novel the best it can be.
Jessie Cahalin is a prolific book blogger who is also a published author. I was delighted to read her recently published novel You Can’t Go It Alone which has received many four and five star reviews. Jessie kindly dedicates much support to other writers through her blog. You can find my cover on Jessie’s very popular Handbag Gallery. Here you can click on any cover you fancy and the link takes you to further information about the book. Here’s a picture of what to expect:
She hosts a Blogger’s Cafe, too. This works on the same principle as the Handbag Gallery but this time showcases the blogs of a range of authors.
I’ve been fortunate to be interviewed on Jessie’s blog and she’s posted one of my stories. You can read both here. All Jessie’s posts are accompanied by wonderful images to compliment the text. The care Jessie takes in presentation makes it an absolute delight to appear on her blog.
To top all this, Jessie has just posted an outstanding review of Paisley Shirt. She’s taken prompts from my collection to write the review as a piece of flash fiction. This not only demonstrates her talents as a writer but is a wonderful tribute to my collection. I am absolutely thrilled and can’t thank Jessie enough.
It’s well worth taking time to browse Jessie’s blog. It is a celebration of reading and writing where you’re bound to find something of interest.
Would I do it again?
Absolutely!
I was very interested to read this memoir particularly as I travelled through Iran in 1981 as part of an overland journey from London to Kathmandu. Just one year later, political activist Nasrin Parvaz and many other women were imprisoned by the Islamic state for demanding freedom and equality in Iran.
Nasrin and I are roughly the same age. I was twenty when I set out on my travels, she was arrested by the regime’s secret police at the age of twenty-one. My journey was one of culture and learning, hers was of torture, deprivation and hardship. But before I share my thoughts about Nasrin’s memoir, let me describe the situation for me at the time.
It was on 20 January 1981 that fifty-two American hostages were released from the US Embassy in Tehran. They had been held for 444 days by a group of Iranian college students who supported the Iranian Revolution which overthrew the Shah. None of our group of travellers held American passports but it was impossible to obtain transit visas in London, so we were advised to apply for them once in Paris. Again, no visas were issued. Without the ability to proceed through Iran, our journey would be curtailed. It was then decided that all passengers from the two buses travelling in convoy would hand our passports over to Doug, the bus company’s courier. We all chipped in to cover the cost of his flight to Delhi where visas we issued to us all.
Nasrin, a member of a socialist party was betrayed by a comrade and arrested by the Iranian regime’s secret police in 1982. She spent eight years in jail where she endured physical and mental torture and periods of solitary confinement. She was denied medical treatment and kept under the threat of execution. Throughout, she refused to recant and confess to charges against her as an infidel.
In order to drive through Iran, a revolutionary guard travelled on board the lead bus and directed the driver to pass through Tehran. Here people were friendly and waved to us through the windows. In country areas whenever our bus parked it was ambushed by angry mobs. They thought we were Americans. They pounded and rocked the bus until we moved on. It was only possible to go outside safely in unpopulated areas. This included climbing the desert lighthouse near Bam in Southern Iran.
Although travelling through Iran was dangerous and scary, many of the places on our journey were remote and beautiful. These experiences contrast drastically with those of Nasrin, who was forced to wear a blindfold and chador in captivity. She suffered numerous interrogations and episodes of torture but never gave away information relating to her comrades. In one of the most chilling descriptions of intimidation, the women were forced to sit in constructions that represented their own graves and not allowed to move. From Nasrim’s memoir, it seems that friendships developed in prison enabled her to survive and glimpses of sky and other small gifts of nature brought joy.
Nasrin gives a frank account of her time in Iran’s prison system which has opened my eyes to the extremes that can be endured and overcome. It is a testament to her resilience and that of others who remained resolute and refused to recant their beliefs. Nasrin survived and I celebrate her ability to share these experiences from which we can all learn. I recommend this memoir to you.
I received an advance copy of One Woman’s Struggle in Iran, a prison memoir from Victorina Press to inform this post. The memoir is available to pre-order from Victorina Press and Waterstones.
the writer is a lonely hunter 