the writer is a lonely hunter

writing by Gail Aldwin and other authors

Nov 13

National Association of Writers in Education: 25th anniversary conference

by gailaldwin

The Minster’s Western Front (Wikipedia)

I was in York at the weekend, attending a wonderful conference where I also delivered a workshop.  Participants attending ‘Flash Fiction:  keeping it short’ came from across the phases of education, all with an interest in developing writing for themselves and their students. I shared a range of prompts aimed to get those less experienced in writing flash started.  These included:

  • Looking at classified advertisements for inspiration
  • Getting ideas for writing from Dulux colour cards (this prompt originates from Calum Kerr, Director of National Flash Fiction Day)
  • Using pages from small, illustrated notebooks to focus the mind on purposeful word selection
  • Drawing upon a photo to think about the story behind the image, from the photographer’s point of view
  • Describing stereotypes from ‘Come Dine with Me’ to create characters you love to hate
  • Self publishing mini books by folding and cutting a sheet of A4 paper
  • Finding markets for your writing:  a selection of websites and magazines that accept flash fiction.

I’d like to thank everyone that came to the workshop for engaging so readily in the tasks, for being willing to share the outcomes from the prompts and for the feedback provided. Read the rest of this entry »

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Oct 23

A writing week in the Algarve

by gailaldwin

It’s hard to believe that only last week I was in the Algarve enjoying the hospitality of Carol McGrath who organised a writing retreat for friends.  I joined other writers including Alison Morton and Denise Barnes as well as Sue Stephenson (I wrote about some visits I made with Sue and Carol here) and Grace McGrath. It was wonderful to feel the sunshine, swim in the pool, eat delicious seafood and talk endlessly about books and writing.

As part of the week, I delivered some input on writing flash fiction.  I’m not sure if my captive audience were aware of being guinea pigs for a workshop that I’ll be delivering in November at the NAWE conference in York. Fortunately, the tasks and activities were well received and, I believe, may have converted some to the benefits of flash fiction as a relief from longer writing.

While a good part of our time was spent writing, we also  visited the beach and spent Saturday in Lagos. While I was there and had internet access, I found I’d been contacted through this blog’s contact page by Larry Michell, the driver of the overland bus that I travelled on from London to Kathmandu in 1981 (you can read more about the journey here).  The internet is a marvellous thing, I was thrilled hear from Larry and when I’m next in Australia (hopefully in 2015) they’ll be a reunion of overland survivors.

Lagos also provided a splendid restaurant for lunch and an interesting afternoon Read the rest of this entry »

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Oct 2

Four Buses: going to print

by gailaldwin

You may remember that back in July, I won a competition to have sixty copies of my flash fiction and short story collection titled Four Buses printed by CPI Anthony Rowe. While it was great to become a winning author, I didn’t realise how much work would be involved in claiming this prize.  I was asked to submit a print-ready pdf of the collection together with a monochrome cover.  I set to work, finding out about typesetting and organising the stories. The process was more involved than I had imagined and together with editing, this took a considerable amount of time.  I even turned my hand to producing a mock-up of the cover but had to seek professional help for the final version. You can see the cover below:

FourBuses Cover v2

I’m delighted with the reviews on the back page, it’s great to have positive feedback from writers that I admire:

‘A varied and interesting collection from a fresh new voice.’

 –  VANESSA GEBBIE, author of The Coward’sTale

 ‘This is clever writing! Ingenious, perceptive and heartfelt: snapshots of real lives, which make us look twice – and with new understanding – at the familiar.’

Read the rest of this entry »

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Oct 2

Alfie Dog: an online paying market for your stories

by gailaldwin

I recently had two stories accepted by Alfie Dog, an online publisher where you can download a whole range of stories in different genres.  My stories are identified as commercial fiction and are titled Social Surfing and Wait There They only cost 39p each to download so I’d encourage you to take a look.  Don’t worry if you haven’t got a kindle, you can always download the story as a pdf and print it off or read it on your computer.  I’ll get the benefit of 50% in royalties if you do.  While this is never going to make me rich, at least my stories are now of a standard to appear in paying markets. The other good thing about Alfie Dog is that they accept previously published work, so long as the copyright remains with the author.   I’m very much into recycling and see this as a good way of enabling my stories to reach a wider audience.

If you fancy submitting, the editor will provide feedback even if the story is not accepted and may suggest changes in order to resubmit. It’s certainly worth a go. Click here for submission details.

Do you know of any other online paying markets?

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Sep 18

Mere Literary Festival and flash fiction competition

by gailaldwin

I was pleased to learn about the Mere Literary Festival and I can now share with you details of their flash fiction competition. You’re asked to write up to 350 words which must include a given phrase which will be announced on the website on 27 September. There is a category for the under 16s which is free but all other entries are charged at £2 with £1 for additional entries.  Please send your story through the post which must be received by 5 October.  Prizes are £50, £25 and £10. For further details, click here for the MFL website.

My blog now has over 100 blog followers and I when I started out on 30 November 2011, I promised myself that I’d run a small competition to celebrate if I ever reached the 100 mark. I’m delighted and honoured to have so many people interested in reading my posts. Thank you.  My only concern is whether there are enough people interested in entering a competition.  I have a prize in mind, a copy of ‘Reading Like A Writer’ and you can read a review of the book by Louise Doughty here. If I get more than 10 comments expressing an interest in entering, I’ll get cracking with deciding on the format and drawing up the rules of entry.  Have a think about it and let me know.

This is the cover of the first edition but you can win  a new paperback copy.

(Image used under fair use rationale).

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Sep 14

#fridayflash: windmills

by gailaldwin

Tucked in the buggy, the baby finds his thumb and after a few minutes, his eyes close and his fist hangs in the air, as if he’s hitching a ride. A weak sun pierces the clouds then vanishes. The sea is slate-grey and flat but at the shoreline the waves churn offering percussion to the seagulls that squawk and wheel overhead. I walk along the path and my stomach hangs like a shopping bag, disfigured. With each step the stitches pull. Finding a bench, I catch my breath and the baby stirs. I grip the handlebar and jiggle the buggy’s frame, but he’s awake and already screaming. I count the waves as they turn and when I look back, his face is red and mottled like a skinned rabbit and his eyes bulge. I crawl to my feet and start walking again.

A blue-rinse pensioner watches me through the café window. She smiles and acknowledges me as a new mother. Turning the buggy around, I drift away. By the kiosk, the children’s windmills spin. I remember the ones I stuck into sandcastles when my Dad was the best builder on the beach. The plastic heads hum as they twirl, reminding me of being zipped into my sleeping bag and Dad’s bristly goodnight kisses. I hand over the coins and choose a yellow windmill with black stripes. The baby watches as the blades turn, flapping his arms while his ‘o’ shaped lips blow bubbles.

‘Like the windmill, do you? Nicholas.’

This is my first attempt at writing about postnatal depression. What do you think?

flash fiction writing

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Aug 28

What the Dickens? magazine – going for a print edition

by gailaldwin

What the Dickens? Magazine #2What the Dickens? Magazine: Issue 4 - The Olympia EditionWhat the Dickens? Magazine: Issue 5 - The Sunflower Edition

If you haven’t had a chance to read the brilliant bi-monthly What the Dickens? magazine that celebrates creativity in the visual arts and writing, now’s the time to take a look here. There are all sorts of articles of interest including author interviews, book and film reviews, competitions, creative writing and poetry and a fantastic range of visual stimulation.  On top of all that, I offer a column titled ‘Help! The dog at my manuscript!’ which answers writers’ questions.

The editor, Victoria Bantock is aiming to get the seventh edition of the magazine published in print as well as on-line.  This provides a unique opportunity for a double dose of submissions to be received by 15 September.  What the Dickens? magazine invites submissions with the theme of Pumpkin for the October issue and Journey for the December issue. Please get busy with your ideas, be creative and enter your work by the deadline.  Full details for submission can be found here.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Aug 24

#fridayflash as child number one leaves home

by gailaldwin

While I’m delighted that my daughter has been offered her first choice place at university and I’m keen for her to take all the chances that are on offer, I can’t help wondering what impact her departure will have on the rest of us.  I’ve been teasing my son for weeks that he’ll soon have his parents’ undivided attention – although I don’t believe he’s looking forward to this!

Earlier in the year I wrote a piece of flash fiction that imagined my daughter as the subject.  It was included in the Flash-Fiction South West anthology titled Kissing Frankenstein & Other Stories. You can purchase a copy of the book here and I’ve pasted the piece below.  I hope you enjoy this as my #fridayflash

Packing

  1. Clothes
    1. Tops: shirts and hoodies,
    2. Jeans: ripped, skinny, bootleg
    3. Skirts: mini, maxi, puff
    4. Bras: underwired and padded
    5. Knickers: pretty ones only
    6. Shoes: heels, flats, Converse
    7. Makeup (ditch dried-up nail varnish)
    8. Jewellery (silver-dip before packing)
    9. Hairdryer and straighteners
    10. Pencil case
      1. Highlighters
      2. Gel pens
      3. Retractable pencils
      4. Ammonite found at Charmouth (wrap in tissue – put in box with flowers on lid)
      5. Paperback (any)
      6. Pillowcase with Broderie Anglaise trim
      7. Foxy Lady mug
      8. Remember: thermal socks, hot water bottle, Little Ted, ring binder with campus information

I’ll let you know in  few weeks, whether this has any resemblance to reality.

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Aug 18

Heading for Edinburgh, a holiday hit

by gailaldwin

Ann Hathaway’s Cottage, Stratford

The destination for our family holiday was Edinburgh. We stopped in Stratford-upon-Avon so that we could use the hotel reservation and theatre tickets cancelled earlier in the year due to exam revision pressure. (I’m pleased to say that my daughter got two As and a B in her A levels and will be going to study history and American studies at Nottingham University). We saw Troilus and Cressida at the Swan which I enjoyed but my husband thought it pretentious and my son wanted to slit his throat rather than go back in after the interval. The interpretation was baffling with the Trojans represented as North American Indians and the Greeks as desert soldiers and there was a transvestite for the fool. In addition, there were TV screens around the stage showing footage of Inuit cultural traditions interspersed with Hollywood movies. Now that was a little confusing, particularly when the actors watched the screens and replicated the actions. Overall the family gave it the thumbs down, as did The Guardian, and  you can read review here.

Beatrix Potter’s Cottage

We stopped for a few days in Cumbria with our friends the Huggetts and managed to visit the lakes, Beatrix Potter’s home and spent a day at the seaside. The weather was wonderful and the company great. Our first night in Scotland was in Glasgow and we had breakfast in the Willow Tea Rooms which boasts an interior designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and serves a splendid Scottish breakfast. Following a visit to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum (there’s a fascinating and brave section on Glasgow life) we drove to Edinburgh where we stayed in a Stockbridge flat for the rest of our holiday.  Read the rest of this entry »

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Jul 27

#fridayflash: Alex

by gailaldwin

Lining up the bottles of baby formula, I thank God for the respite of when she’s asleep. An adult’s company is a bonus, even if he’s only come to fix the boiler. Alex raps his knuckles on the kitchen counter. The back of his hand is smattered with freckles and his skin has the honey shade of a light tan.

‘I’ll be back to do the service next year. Thanks for the cuppa.’ He counts the notes that I offer and folds them.

‘You mean I’ve got twelve months to wait until I see you again?’ Tilting my head I notice his red hair is streaked with grey, rather more silver than gold. He smiles, making the dimples appear. I bite my lip, resisting the urge to smile back and Alex lingers, the silence holding us. Moving closer, he angles his head to reach my lips. His bristles scrape as he works his tongue and I wrap my arms around his neck. When saliva seeps onto my chin, I nudge his elbow and step away. Studying the lines of laminate on the floor, I straighten my blouse.

‘I can drop by one day next week.’ Alex arranges the tools in his belt.

‘That isn’t a good idea, there’s the baby to think about.’

‘And your husband, or is he a boyfriend?’

‘She’s my partner, actually.’

‘You mean I just kissed a dyke?’

He tosses the spanner in his hand and aims it at the window. Stepping back as the glass shatters, his blood speckles the paintwork. My shoulders cinch and I’m frozen in place. Slamming the door as he leaves, air seeps through the broken glass. I force my limbs to work, tiptoeing to avoid the shards and I stare through the jagged hole. Alex is on the pavement. He swings his head from side to side, as if he’s checking for witnesses and a few moments later, the van drives away. I’m left wondering how to explain the damage but the baby’s still asleep, so I have time to plan.

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