the writer is a lonely hunter

writing by Gail Aldwin and other authors

Aug 14

A bit of luck

by gailaldwin

Just when I thought I had to return to the office for three more days of work after taking leave next week, I discovered that I’m actually owed some days. As a result, my last day of employment with the County Council will be Friday and I’m madly trying to get everything done ready for a holiday in Edinburgh starting on Saturday.  We’re flying from Southampton and taking hand luggage only, so decanting liquids has been the order of the day. Fortunately, the flat that we’re staying at in Stockbridge provides shampoo and shower gel, so it’s only face creams that I need to worry about.

I’ve packed a couple of paperbacks including The Coward’s Tale by Vanessa Gebbie and The Polish Boxer (which was recommended by Sarah Bower) and you can read a review here. I’ve downloaded two audiobooks to my ipod: Catch 22 and The Unbearable Lightness of Being. So when I’m not attending sessions at the Book Festival or the Fringe I’ll have plenty to keep my busy.

Have a good week.

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Jul 10

How many pens does a writer need?

by gailaldwin

No wonder my handbag was feeling a little heavier than usual. When I turfed out the contents I found the following lurking at the bottom:

Pens

Bearing in mind that I can only use one pen at a time, there surely is no need to lug around FIFTEEN! And what a motley assortment of biros! I may have to purchase a rather more distinguished writing implement once my redundancy pay comes through. Any suggestions for a posh brand?

In the meantime, I have a task to complete for 21 July when I will be returning to the Bridport Arts Centre for the second part of a two-day writing course delivered by Paul Dodgson. The first session included the following:

  • a warm up exercise: write about an incident that happened within the last year. Take turns to give your name and the first line of your writing. Does the writing contain a hook that makes others want to know more?
  • discussion about what a short story should include
  • writing task: tear a sheet of paper into four rectangles. Write a first name, a family name, an incident and a lie on each piece. Redistribute the papers and use your collection to create a character and the first part of a story.
  • This story forms the basis for a longer piece of writing that will provide material for the next workshop
  • Short stories shared included: A painful case, James Joyce (Dubliners); Birds of America, Lorrie Moore; The Turning, Tim Winton; Fat, Raymond Carver

I very much look forward to the next workshop and thank Paul for a wonderful day of literary stimulation, lots of laughter, fun and sharing.

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Jun 11

A week in the Mani

by gailaldwin

I was fortunate to spend a week at the beginning of June with Sarah Bower and  Carol McGrath at a house that Carol has taken for a year in the Mani area of Greece. Stoupa is a delightful village with a harbor and sandy beaches at the south of the Peloponnese, quite the best spot for a writing retreat owing to the literary connections. A little way along the coast at Kardamyli is the home of Patrick Leigh Fermor, which was bequeathed to the Benaki Museum following his death. Patrick was made an honorary citizen of the village  following his participation in the Cretan Resistance during World War 2. He wrote about the area in his book titled Mani, Travels in the Southern Peloponnese and he is regarded as one of Britain’s greatest travel writers.

Bruce Chatwin is the other notable writer with links to the Mani. He finished writing The Songlines while staying at the Hotel Kalamitsi in 1985. The book records his experiences of traveling in Australia and his ideas about the necessity of walking to human development. For my undergraduate dissertation I wrote about the works of Bruce Chatwin and I’ve always felt that he had a hand in securing me a first-class honours. So, when the opportunity came to visit the place where his ashes are buried, I was delighted.

Most references to where Chatwin’s ashes are buried refer to a tiny, Byzantine church in the mountains above Kardamyli. Some name Exochori as the nearest village and others refer to Chori. Without definite directions, we set off early in our search, visiting several villages situated in the Taygetos mountains that provide the backdrop to the glorious coastal area. The road took us into Chori where there was a white-washed church beside the road. From there we looked across to the golden stones of a church perched amongst olive trees. We found the path that took us alongside residential houses and out onto a grassy strip of land. The view from the church showed the wide expanse of aqua sea and the land spilling down from the mountains. An ideal final resting place for Bruce Chatwin, someone who loved broad horizons.

The church in Chori

The church in Chori

A picture of Bruce marks the spot where his ashes are buried

A picture of Bruce marks the spot where his ashes are buried

After the excitement of this discovery and the time spent absorbing the atmosphere and the wonderful views, we headed for Kardamyli. At a restaurant beside the beach we enjoyed a mezze of salads for lunch.

My companions at the restaurant

My companions at the restaurant

Cheers to Carol and Sarah for your great company and a big thank you to Carol for being such a brilliant host.

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Jan 2

The Next Big Thing: Paula’s Secret

by gailaldwin

I’ve admired the short stories and flash fiction written by Angela Williams under the name of Susan Carey for sometime time now.  Like me, Angela’s work has featured on the 1000 words website and her story was chosen for inclusion in the National Flash Fiction Day e-anthology for 2012. Angela lives in Amsterdam, and is a member of Writers Abroad. When she shared information about the group’s annual anthology on her blog, it gave me a chance to think back to my expatriate days in Papua New Guinea and I submitted a story that was accepted for publication in ‘Foreign Encounters’.  I was delighted when she tagged me in ‘The Next Big Thing’ blog chain and I answer the questions below:

What is the working title of your next book?

My latest novel started life as ‘First Time Mums’ but then graduated to the new working title of ‘Paula’s Secret’.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

I started work on this manuscript during the summer of 2012.  I’d written a couple of pieces of flash fiction about those first few months after childbirth, when relationships shift to give priority to the baby and I thought there was mileage in the idea.

What genre does your book fall under?

It’s a romantic comedy and I’m new to this genre. I met Allie Spencer at a story slam in Shaftesbury and when I read a couple of her books and some others, I thought I’d like to give it a try.

Which actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

Paula is the main character, previously dotty about her dog but once Baby Boo arrives, she refocuses her attention. She’s juxtaposed with her best friend Kirsty, who is also a new mother and struggling to use the same methods that brought her success in the workplace to become a model parent.  It’s the different approaches to parenting that bring humour to the novel and I guess Ann Hathaway would be a good lead.

What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

Kirsty struggles to make the most of family life with her new-born and when Paula won’t reveal who is the father of her baby, Kirsty decides that bringing her best friend’s family together is her next priority.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I won a competition during 2012 to have sixty copies of my fiction collection ‘Four Buses‘ printed, so I know all about the rewards and pitfalls of self publishing. It may sound mad but getting the book into print isn’t my priority at the moment. I’m much more concerned with getting the writing to the best possible standard.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

The first draft took five months and it’s currently in a drawer waiting for me to gather my wits and tackle it again.  I’m planning to begin the rewriting at the end of January, then I’ll be going full pelt ready to submit a decent draft to the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s New Writers’ Scheme at the end of August.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

I haven’t read many books written about new mothers although when I was researching titles I came across one or two.  ‘The Hand that First Held Mine’ by Maggie O’Farrell is a good example of how the arrival of a baby casts light into the shadows of personal experience. But I can’t begin to compare ‘Paula’s Secret’ to such an accomplished novel and it’s not in the same genre, anyway.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

Getting positive comments on the short stories and flash fiction that I’ve written has encouraged me to try writing with strong themes, on a bigger scale.

What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?

Floosie the Husky-cross dog has a significant role in the story!

I’d like to tag a wonderful writer of historical fiction, Carol McGrath, who is hugely knowledgeable about the medieval period. She’s a great on-line friend, tweeting early in the mornings and her blog Scribbling in the Margins, provides posts from all over the world. I’ve been lucky enough to spend time with Carol during a writing retreat in Cornwall and another which she hosted in Portugal. Carol is an attentive listener and when I share my writing, her feedback is erudite. She’s a great companion, story-teller and adventurer. I can’t wait to read her first novel, which she wrote while undertaking post-graduate studies at the Royal Holloway University. ‘The Handfasted Wife’ will be published in 2013.

 

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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 10

Writing Britain (and more about notebooks)

by gailaldwin

The British Library’s current exhibition Writing Britain illustrates the changing landscape of the country over the last 1000 years with reference to items from the collection and loans from elsewhere. The exhibition includes artwork, original manuscripts and texts that explore a range of locations grouped according to the following sections:

  • Rural dreams
  • Dark Satanic Mills
  • Wild Places
  • Beyond the City
  • Cockney Visions
  • Waterlands

Interestingly, writing about Dorset features in several of the sections, including Maiden Castle by John Cowper Powys which tells the story of a supernatural presence at the iron-age hill fort near Dorchester. Jane Austen’s Persuasion is set in Bath and Lyme Regis, where Louisa Musgrave falls from the harbour wall (known as The Cobb) in an attempt to gain male attention. Harold Pinter’s script for The French Leiutenant’s Woman, based upon the novel by John Fowles is also set in Lyme Regis. A little further along the Dorset coast, Chesil Beach features as the location for Ian McEwan’s novel of the same name, where Edward and Florence spend their wedding night at a fictitional hotel on the beach.

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May 1

The free book giveaway – World Book Night

by gailaldwin

Since last Monday, I’ve been giving away copies of the brilliant book, ‘Room’ by Emma Donoghue, as part of World Book Night.  The story draws from the case of Josef Fritzl and tells the story of five-year-old Jack who is incarcerated in one room with his mother.  Ma has done her best to teach Jack through games and stories and he learns about ‘outside’ by watching the television.  When freedom arrives, following Jack’s escape, both mother and child have further hurdles to negotiate. Click here for an interesting link to an interactive website.

The aim of World Book Night is to encourage irregular readers back into the reading habit through the giveaway books.  The first person I gave a book to was my seventeen-year-old daughter.  She doesn’t see books as a source of interest or pleasure but it’s not as though she isn’t reading.  She’s frequently glued to Facebook and likes to flick through magazines.  It’s just that books aren’t her thing. I doubt that she’ll begin reading ‘Room’ before her A levels, but she might take it on holiday during the summer, if I encourage her.

Other people I offered the book to, found the subject matter objectionable and had no hesitation in declining the book.  Some became curious upon reading the cover, where there’s a quote from ‘Scotsman’ comparing the book to ‘The Lovely Bones’ and were thereby encouraged to accept a copy. From my recent experience of hand-selling books in Dorchester, I had thought that giving them away would be easier.  But with World Book Day over a week ago I still have one or two copies that require new homes.

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Jan 2

Moving forward: writing groups

by gailaldwin

I love a fresh start and now that the tree is down, the cards put away and the bottles are in the recycling, I’m ready to greet 2012 with my first post of the year.  Thank you for following me and I hope that I’ll be able to generate discussion about books and writing. In this post, I’m thinking about writing groups.

Receiving feedback on written work is always valuable.  Typos alone are difficult to spot and being confident that you’ve met the needs of your reader is never easy.  That’s when the advice of a critical friend is particularly helpful.  Presenting work for comment can be a daunting experience but one that may identify strengths and areas for development.  Writing groups are an excellent way to share work, particularly when there is strong leadership/facilitation and committed members who ensure that participants enjoy a supportive environment. If I were able to have an ideal group, it would include the following:   

  • 4-6 people, including some experienced writers
  • A focus either on poetry or prose
  • Monthly scheduled meetings
  • Opportunities for critical feedback, writing activities and tasks
  • A comfortable venue with access to refreshments

Indeed, my ideal is similar to the writing group I currently attend but it’s not always easy to find a group that works for you.  As an alternative, you might like to consider starting your own group, but if you go down this route, it is worth ensuring that the boundaries are clear:

  • Develop terms of reference that identify what the group hopes to achieve, how the group will operate, ground rules
  • Be clear about the roles and responsibilities for participants, facilitators/group leaders
  • Have an understanding of group dynamics

Alternatively, it’s worth considering an on-line forum. My New Year Resolution is to showcase an example of my writing each month on this blog. By linking the post to the #fridayflash community, I increase my visibility as a writer and receive feedback on my work.  It’s also a fun way to meet other writers, read their work and share experiences. If you’re interested in becoming part of an on-line writing community, have a think about joining this group.

http://madutopia.com/blog/fridayflash/what-is-fridayflash/

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Dec 13

What’s in a title?

by gailaldwin

I’m never happy with my writing unless I find a suitable title.  This is not always easy to do and I tend to go for one-word titles as a way of shortening the search.  I notice that several of Toni Morrison’s books have one-word titles including Beloved, Paradise and Jazz.  I frequently wonder if a one-word title gives too much information away, revealing the theme of the novel on the front cover. I had a feeling that Ugly by Constance Briscoe might have set a trend in the use of one-word titles for tragic life stories, although a quick look on the bookshelf in Waterstones seemed to suggest otherwise. Interestingly, Room by Emma Donoghue is fiction and relates to the abduction and rape of a young woman and the birth and imprisionment of mother and child.  The story is narrated by five-year-old Jack who has the habit of omitting definite articles and refers to nouns only as ‘room’, ‘rug’, ‘lamp’. It’s an interesting literary device to illustrate his otherness but unlikely when his mother provides a good model of standard English. 

Finally, I’d like to mention Broken by Daniel Clay.  This is an unusual debut novel that reveals community tensions when Rick Buckley is beaten up as the result of a  false charge of rape by a neighbour’s daughter. He becomes Broken of the title and teeters on the edge while his parents agonise.  Daniel is now working on his second novel and hosts a blog which offers advice for aspiring writers. He’s also willing to look at your covering letter, synopsis and opening pages as a way of encouraging writers to make successful approaches and get published.  I suggest that anyone who is struggling to make headway through the slushpile should have a look here.

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