the writer is a lonely hunter

writing by Gail Aldwin and other authors

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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Dec 28

#Friday Flash: You never know

by gailaldwin

At the Winchester Writers’ Conference in July 2012, I won first place in the ‘Slim Volume, Short Edition’ competition. The prize gave me the opportunity to have sixty copies of Four Buses printed.  This is a collection of short stories and flash fiction and the piece below comes from this book.  For further information about Four Buses, please click here.

You never know

Taking a break from pruning roses, I sit on the wall and study the street. The windows of the terraced houses stare over the cars parked bumper to bumper in the residential bays. The bloke that lives two doors along is washing his car, and he nods at me while he sloshes a bucket of clean water over, indicating that the job is done. A bee sounds in my ear then heads for the jasmine bush. I take off my gloves and enjoy the spring sunshine that chases over my arms.

Joel turns the corner into the street, his hair is a mass of dark curls and he’s clutching a large, rectangular object. I dread to think what he’s bought at the car-boot sale this week. Other kids spend their pocket money on sweets, but Joel’s into collecting. He thinks he’ll unearth a treasure that no-one else has spotted. I blame my mother: they spend too much time watching antique shows on afternoon TV when Joel’s supposed to be doing homework. But I can’t complain, she offers the childcare for love not money.

He’s got the edge of the painting balanced on his trainer and with each step he moves a little closer to home. I cross the road to help him, and he lets me take one end. It’s heavy, the frame is chipped and the canvass spotted with mould. We rest it against the wall and I take a step back to admire his purchase.

‘Hmm, is it a ship?’ I ask.

‘It’s a sailing boat out on a wild sea. There are waves blasting against the hull. See the mast leaning? It’s likely to be a painting of the Cutty Sark or some other important vessel.’

‘How do you know that?’

‘Look at the frame.’ He points to the place where a label displays the artist’s name. ‘He’s got to be important with a name like War Wick.’ I laugh – Joel hasn’t learnt how to pronounce Warwick – and he stares at me accusingly.

‘That’s a giant-sized purchase you’ve made this week.’

‘I know.’ He widens his eyes giving a flash of blue and smiles. ‘I was lucky to get it.’

‘How much did it cost?’

‘Two pounds,’ he says. ‘A man tried to buy if off me once the deal was done. That must mean it’s a worth something. He offered me a fiver but I’d said he’d have to go higher than that.’

‘Are you sure he wasn’t being kind? Didn’t want you to be out of pocket with a dud?’

‘I don’t think so.’ His shoulders hunch and I wish I’d never shared my suspicion. ‘I thought we could put it in the lounge. It’s got a wire to hang it by and everything.’

I’m thrown by Joel’s suggestion. There’s no way I’m ruining the wallpaper to display that monstrosity.

‘Wouldn’t it be better in your room? I mean it is your special purchase after all.’

‘No.’ He stares at the painting. ‘I want to share it with you, Mum.’

‘You’re right, darling.’ I swallow my objections. ‘Perhaps we can find a place for it in the hall. Important paintings are usually hung above the stairs.’

‘D’you really think it’s important?’

‘It could be.’ I choke on my lies. ‘You never know.’

‘You’re right.’ He nods his head. ‘You never know.’

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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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Nov 8

A visit to Winstone Books of Sherborne

by gailaldwin

Winstone’s is situated at 8 Cheap Street, towards the top of the town in Sherborne.  The shop is double fronted and light streams into the space that contains a huge range of books. As well as shelves along the walls, there are central displays and stands for book-themed gift cards.  A quarter of the floor space is dedicated to children’s books and the owner, Wayne Winstone has worked hard to establish links with schools to promote reading as an important life experience for children of all ages.

The children’s area is inviting with a couch, a rocking horse and a standard lamp to entice families to stay and browse.  Children are invited to review books and as part of the Sherborne Literary Festival, a short story competition for children was held.

Wayne has been successful in attracting authors to deliver talks and book signings at the shop and recent events included a book launch by Sarah Challis. 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 17

Wimborne Literary Festival, 1-3 November 2012

by gailaldwin

Earlier in the year I paid a visit to Gullivers Bookshop in Wimborne and you can read about my experience here.  I’m delighted to again be writing about Gullivers but this time in relation to the Wimborne Literary Festival which the book shop is hosting for the second year.  The on-line programme has just been published and there’s a wide range of workshops for adults and children. Click here for the link to the site.

I’m pleased to see Dorset’s writing talent on the programme, including a workshop to be delivered by Sarah Steele who runs the Wimborne Writing Group. This will be a treat for anyone interested in poetry.  Sarah is an experienced tutor who runs the Wimborne Writing Group which meets once a month on a Wednesday in the Community Learning and Resource Centre. Members are experienced and talented writers who enjoy tasks and activities set by Sarah to develop writing skills.  The collaborative support offered by group members is something I definitely miss now that I am temporarily  unable to attend the sessions due to work commitments.  You can read more about Sarah here.

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 25

The writing shoehorn: trying to fit it all in

by gailaldwin

I’m now four weeks into a full-time contract that lasts until 31 March 2013. I haven’t worked full-time for over 20 years and I’m more tired and grouchy than normal as a result. I’m working for the local authority, managing a service for schools, and although there is a lot of pressure, I’m not actually stressed. Something of the writer enables me to schedule activities into a reasonable timetable and put off until later those tasks that are not a priority.

I’m also pleased that I’m managing to keep writing.  I get up early each morning and write at least 500 words.  It means the pace is slower than usual in writing the first draft of a new novel but at least I’m moving forward.  This time I’m tackling a story about  first time mums.  My manuscript titled ‘Manipulation’ is again abandoned in a drawer.  When the feedback came from the reader with the Romantic Novelists’ Association, I gave up all hope of turning this into something marketable.  According to the report, the writing is definitely not of the romantic genre and I should think about turning it into a psychological thriller! I take the point,  I was never convinced it was a traditional romantic novel, but I’ve got no intention of doing any more work on it.  Tra-lah, I’ll have better luck with the new project, I hope.

The idea of running a competition was met with some enthusiasm.  I didn’t get the full ten comments but enough to think it’s worth doing.  I’ll get onto it when I have a minute!

Along with other activities, my home life is also changing at a pace with my daughter now away at university and my son enjoying his parents’ undivided attention.  Relationships are funny, the way everything shifts now that there are only three of us at home.  My husband has decided to cook most evenings to save me the trouble and  I’m now stuck doing the ironing. I had paid my daughter to do it for the last three years but my son is not so keen to accept the job.  Instead, he’s doing the wood-chopping – a very good job indeed, with the nights drawing in and the winter approaching.

Have you noticed your routines changing lately?

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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?

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