Monthly Archives: July 2016

To ‘squee’ or not to ‘squee’

31 Sunday Jul 2016

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Island Life, Word Birds & Process #15

My default setting with regard to public accolades, and praise of any kind frankly, is fairly low key. It doesn’t mean that when amazing things happen or people pay my writing compliments, I’m not affected. I am charmed, grateful and delighted. Inside, I’m all aflutter but apart from the smile, on the outside it doesn’t particularly show. When Ghostbird was chosen as ‘Waterstones Wales & Welsh Independent Bookshops Book of the Month’ last April, I was gobsmacked. In a dumbstruck, smiley but silent kind of way.

It isn’t false modesty – I simply don’t have the ‘blow your own trumpet’ gene. I genuinely don’t know what to say. I never expected to be published, never mind see my book picked as book of the month.

The other day I discovered one of my favourite book bloggers – Anne Williams – had nominated Ghostbird for the Guardian’s ‘Not the Booker’ prize. Like many people, I’ve heard of the NTB but it simply wasn’t on my personal radar. It wouldn’t have occurred to me in a million years to check for my book. And yet there it is. Out of the enormous number of books she must have read over the past year, Anne has chosen mine.

If anything is going to evoke a ‘squee’ in me, I guess it’s that. Not for being nominated per se – rather, it’s the fact that from day one and her wonderful review of my book for the blog tour, Anne committed herself to it. When she said she would do everything in her power to support me, she clearly meant it. Anne Williams is the tiara on the fairy on the icing on the top of my publishing cake!

anne W

I nominated Maggie O’Farrell’s fabulous This Must Be The Place. (Ms O’Farrell can rest easy – I’m the one on the outside with my nose pressed up against the windowpane being an awestruck admirer.) But my name’s in there somewhere too. I may not be making much noise; inside I am squeeing.

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Photograph © Janey Stevens

You have to write something, don’t you?

24 Sunday Jul 2016

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Island Life, Word Birds & Process # 14

One upon a time I wrote a story with the working title RiverBook. I began writing it before I got the deal for Ghostbird intending it to be my next book. Once it was done (by which time, Ghostbird had been accepted) I put it away and concentrated on the process of being published. But still, in between the edits, copy edits and general excitement, you have to write something, don’t you? Out of somewhere, I got the idea for SisterBook. It kept me occupied and would be my third book (assuming I even got a look in for a second.)

By the time Ghostbird was published, I realised Sisters was likely to be a better bet as a follow-up so River was virtually banished. Sisters is now finished and submitted and I’m back to square one. While I await my fate, what do I write? Got to write something etc… Out came River and with the benefit of distance I immediately realised it was wrong. It had something but it wasn’t right. Too complex – my default setting – for one thing.

One of the best aspects about writing Ghostbird was having a myth to hang my story on. A mise an abîme I could return to that kept me connected. (Sisters doesn’t have a myth – it’s a different kind of haunting.) River – to say the least – as it stood was a muddle of mythology. And therein lay my problem. Out of an over-indulgence in research I’d created a mini-monster. I wanted another legend but I wanted a simple one.

Lying in my bath about a fortnight ago, I worked it out. In the absence of a known myth, why not create my own?

Myths and legends evolve out of unconscious processes in the oral tradition. There is rarely any historical evidence for their veracity but the repeated telling of them renders them charismatic and ‘true’ and for our ancestors they became part of the collective psyche. And like religion or any spiritual path, myths have their roots in our human desire for a rationale: a cornerstone patterned with symbolism to hook our frailties and fears on. We create them out of imagination and random moments of connection to the natural world.

In other words, they’re all made up. There is no rule to gainsay this. We can all be the author of our own mythology.

Before I get too cosmic for my own good, here’s the point. I’ve made up a myth of my own and in doing so, now know exactly what RiverBook is about. Well, you have to write something, don’t you?

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Milestones

18 Monday Jul 2016

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Island Life, Word Birds & process #13

Yesterday I embraced two milestones. It was four months since Ghostbird was published and I submitted the third draft of my new story to my editor. The reasons I failed to mark the day here (as my Sunday blog post) are also two-fold: I was finalising said draft and then attending another splendid workshop under the auspices of Honno – my publisher.

Regarding the first – let the nail-biting commence.

The second part of the day  involved one of the most useful workshops I’ve been to in a while. Led by Katherine Stansfield (author of The Visitor & a poetry collection  called Playing House) it focused on editing. At this stage in my own process, timely to say the least. Having been through it once, as the workshop progressed I realised it was less about learning anything new (although I absolutely did!) and more about affirmation. Recognising that the way I’ve been doing things is pretty much okay, because there is no ‘right’ way.

There are however a number of useful guidelines which as a writer I have learned I would be a fool to ignore. Not least, if you have a good editor, listen to her.

Even before I properly understood what copy edits or line edits were, I knew what kind of a self-editor I was. (Those of you familiar with this blog know too: I ‘edit-as-I-go’ and #pfft frankly!) In the first instance, each writer has to take a great deal of responsibility for her own editing process. And if she is fortunate enough to have a generous editor on her side, it makes the experience one of discovery and learning. So it proved for me throughout the superb editing of Ghostbird. My fledgling story emerged – a small bird with her wings fluffed up, ready to fly.

Yesterday, Katherine’s major gift to us was her generosity. It takes a brave author to expose the more daunting aspects of her road to publication in order to illustrate a workshop. Although her third book has now been accepted by a well-known house, it hasn’t been an easy road. She shared the ups and downs (including scary emails from her agent!) and gave us the nuts and bolts of her process.

I recognised a lot of what Katherine shared. This is the other strand of the affirmation. Knowing the slog is worth it and throughout the editing process, from pitch to publication as it were, most writers have similar experiences.

Your Moment of Cliché: It’s hard work, but it’s worth it.

Huge thanks to Katherine and as ever to Honno – the Welsh Women’s Press.

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The scent of an ending…

10 Sunday Jul 2016

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Island Life, Word Birds & Process #12

My writer friends are largely sprinters. Or so it seems to me. Not all of them, although the majority seem to race along, finishing whole drafts and editing them at rate that leaves me gasping. I am in awe but content to wander in their slipstream, safe in the knowledge that the end of this second draft is nicely nigh, and my final wordcount will be what I always imagined it to be.

I’m still beset by uncertainty. My ‘sister’ story is now imprinted on my heart. I love it, but I’m very aware of the similarities to Ghostbird. I’ve written about this before so I’ll leave it at that. Fingers crossed it’s different enough.

In other news – summer has done a runner, although it does mean I’m less likely to be tempted away from my edit.

I may catch up with those speedy sisters after all…

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Today With Carol Lovekin

06 Wednesday Jul 2016

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My thoughts on the difference between magical realism & fantasy.
A short interview I gave to Judith Barrow on her excellent blog.

Judith Barrow

Introducing the authors who will be at the Tenby Book Fair, http://bit.ly/27XORTh, the first event of the Tenby Arts Festival http://bit.ly/24eOVtl .  I’m looking forward to having many more such chats over the next couple of months. 

So far I’ve interrogated interviewed Rebecca Bryn: http://bit.ly/1XYWbtF, Thorne Moore: http://bit.ly/1P6zDQh , Matt Johnson: http://bit.ly/1RUqJFg , Christoph Fischer: http://bit.ly/1svniAr , Sally Spedding: http://bit.ly/1VNRQci, Wendy Steele http://bit.ly/1PMoF8i  and Kathy MIles:  http://bit.ly/1twN3Bg   And thanks to Thorne Moore for interviewing me today: http://bit.ly/1VTvqGq  Over the next few weeks I’ll be introducing the rest of the authors and I’ll also be showcasing the publishers who will be in attendance. There may also be a short chat with John and Fiona of http://showboat.tv/ who, as usual, will be filming the event.

Today I’m with the lovely Carol Lovekin who recently had her debut novel published by Honno.

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Hi Carol, lovely to see you here.

Thank you, Judith…

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Blowing my own

03 Sunday Jul 2016

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Island Life, Word Birds & Process #11

In the absence of any other ideas for a blog post, I may as well. (The editing is the editing is the editing – a process and so forth and going okay, thank you kindly.)

Ask anyone who knows me – blowing my own trumpet isn’t what I do best. It has nothing to do with false modesty – I simply prefer a low profile. Fatal for a writer, or so many of my writer friends insist.

So, here we go.

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I know – it’s a tuba  – I like the swimming motif and in any case, if I’m going to do this, I may as well make a proper noise.

There are some truly lovely reviews around for Ghostbird. Not only on Amazon – I keep finding them in other places. (I don’t do Goodreads but people tell me so I know they’re there.) Each and everyone of them delights and amazes me. Not least because this whole review thing is, in addition to being gratifying, necessary. (Particularly on Amazon, who it seems has a power Judge Dredd can only aspire to…)

The latest one was written by a close friend – a beloved. He is no sycophant and had he not enjoyed my book, he would have politely moved on. He’s also smart and witty and young – so I often don’t have a clue – for instance – what his FB status means. (Probably for the best, frankly.) I do know his understanding of my world – the world of magical possibility and uncompromising feminism – never fails to please and impress me.

I shan’t post the entire review – you can read all of them here if you choose. (See? I can do self-promotion!) This is the bit I like best:

Carol Lovekin’s superb prose evokes a peculiar melancholy and at times I found myself re-reading a line several times in order to savour a particularly choice cut of language.

When I read a really good book I often do this, but the idea that someone would go back and reread a line I’ve written genuinely astounds me. And I am oddly content and charmed by ‘melancholy…’