Gill James's Blog, page 11

News 9 July

 The Business of Writing This was the title of the workshop I delivered on the morning of the Waterloo Festival Writing Competition Celebration event. I was very pleased with it. It ran for three hours and we crammed an awful lot in. It could easily be a six hour workshop. This would give the participants more time to join in. So, very soon I’ll be offering this to readers of this newsletter and of my “imprints” newsletter.  Personal news Well, we moved house. We’ve got the kitchen straight and the living room and dining room are almost there. We’re having a new bathroom fitted. I’m currently working on the kitchen table but I’ll start tackling my study next. Work will be a bit slower for a while but will still move ahead slowly.             News about my writing My story Locker 13 is out with Persimmon Tree and you can view it here.I’m plodding along still with my on-going projects:  The House of Clementine and 280 x 70 – the sequel to 140 x 140. This works in a similar way.  Each time I write I look at the first picture I see on my Twitter feed and write a story about it in exactly 280 words.  Catalogue of books for children This month I’ve added Ottoline and the Purple Fox by Chris Riddell. It was published in 2016.  It is for the fluent reader and is suitable for the whole of Key Stage 2 i.e. upper primary. It is beautifully quirky.   Current reading recommendationI’m currently reading the Family from One End  Street books and finished the first one before the end of June, so that is my recommendation for this month. I think I enjoyed it because I remember having it read to me when I was in the second year at junior school. I remember thinking at the time that here at last was a book that had children in it like me. Here was a family a bit more like mine.  Not that my dad was a dustbin man, nor did mum take in washing. The Ruggles have seven children and I was an only child. However, there was always the same struggle to make ends meet and also the same strict moral code. Is it a little patronising? Three of the Ruggles children are sent to the country-side to recuperate after having had measles. They encounter a completely different way of life there. Is it a working class novel?  Eve Garnett was not working class and would today not be popular in writing about something she has no first-hand experience of.  Yet I can confirm that she presents a pretty accurate picture of what life was like for working families just after World War II.The measles epidemic was a major threat to life back in those days and the children were sent to the isolation hospital. That, the subsequent trip to the country-side and the convalescent medicines the children have to consume seriously breaks into Mr Ruggles’ pig fund. There was no National Health Service then. Second daughter Kate wins a scholarship to go to the high school. Will this be her ticket out of the working class life, just as my own attendance of a post-1944 grammar school brought me firmly into the middle class? Then I think of the school at Basingstoke which served a large council estate. I was head of modern languages there for six years. We tried so hard to get the youngsters their five GCSE grades A to C as their ticket off the estate.The Ruggles may here issue a caution. They are a perfectly respectable hard-working family. The adults provide necessary services for other people. I’m thoroughly enjoying the books though I’m not sure how much they’ll appeal to the modern child.  Puffin is still taking a chance on them.   Find the first one here.
Giveaway This month I’m giving away Citizens of Nowhere which I edited and published and in which I have a story. It is a collection of commissioned stories about the global citizen. One of our writers suggested that we might rather mean “citizens of now here”.  You can probably work out where this comes from.   Access it and lots of other freebies here.The paper back is on permanent free offer: five paperbacks for you to distribute to friends, perhaps even send one to your MP, or use them to sell at an appropriate fundraising event. I can let you have more at a discount as well. Contact me to discuss your needs.     Note, that normally my books and the books supplied by the imprints I manage sell for anything from £0.99 to £10.99, with most on Kindle being about £2.99 and the average price for paperback being £7.00. We have to allow our writers to make a living. But I’m offering these free samples so that you can try before you buy.   Naturally I welcome reviews. Many of the giveaways come as a mobi-file that you need to download to your Kindle. Just plug your Kindle into your computer and save the mobi-file to your Kindle. Or you can transfer it across later. If you don’t have a Kindle here are some instructions that may help:
Mobi files:
Amazon make a range of apps that emulate a Kindle device on other platforms:iPad, iPhone, iPodAndroid phone Android tabletPC (Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10)MacWindows phone(Note: notLinux platforms)Choose which device you would like to read the .mobi file on. (PCs, Macs, iPhones and iPads are good).Go to https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=GZSM7D8A85WKPYYD and select the device. Follow the instructions to install the app/software.If your chosen reading platform is not the one on which you received/saved the .mobi file, transfer the file across. For most combinations of source and target this will simply involve connecting the two together with the appropriate cable, or via a USB memory stick. For example, for a PC to an iPhone or iPad, connect using the uPhone/iPad power cable and transfer using iTunes.If you only have access to a Linux platform, you will need to use one of the many online ebook converters (Google is your friend here) to convert the .mobi file to an .epub file, then install Calibre to read it.
The Schellberg Project I’ve continued adding to the Discovery Pack, posting the same material on to the web site / blog. I’ve added another page about Käthe Edler, Renate’s mother. She was quite a feisty woman and I’ve included material here about female scientists and the first women at university. The posts may be helpful for teachers who are familiar with the Schellberg stories or who are teaching about the Holocaust. You can read the posts here.       School visits I’m still promoting my school visits associated with The House on Schellberg Street project. I’ve now developed a whole workshop for this. It starts off with a board game, includes some role play and creative writing and ends with a discussion. It is now possible to purchase the kit to work on on your own. Find details here.Costs for my workshops = travel expenses plus £400 for a full day and £200 for a half day. This includes all materials and some freebies. Two schools near to each other might consider splitting the day and halving the travel expenses and fees. This is open to negotiation in any case.        I also offer a free half day visit, though you pay my travel expenses, if you allow me to promote my books.       I’m continuously adding materials for schools to the site that are different from the ones I use for the workshops. I’ve recently added in resources and books to do with the topic. See them here:       Query for a school visit here.I’m also happy to tailor a visit for your agreed donation. This can be for either a Schellberg Cycle visit or a creative writing workshop. Any monies raised this way will go specifically to a project I have for a non-fiction book about a journey that will follow the footsteps of Clara Lehrs. I’m hoping to do the whole journey by train, including departing via my nearest Metrolink station. It’s important to feel the rails beneath my feet.       I offer as well standard author visits which include readings from my books, Q & A sessions and creative writing exercises. Please remember, with these as well, I’m open to negotiation if you can’t afford the full price.  Some notes about my newsletters and blogsThey do overlap a little but here is a summary of what they all do.
Bridge House Authors For all those published by Bridge House, CaféLit, Chapletown or The Red Telephone or interested in being published by us. General news about the imprints. News for writers. Links to book performance. Sign up here.
Chapeltown Books News about our books. Sign up here.
The Creative Café Project News about the project and CaféLit – for the consumer rather than for the producer.  Sign up here.   
Gill’s News: News about my writing, The Schellberg Project, School Visits and Events. Find it here.   
Opportunities List Remember I keep a full list of vetted opportunities on my writing blog. See them here. New ones are added several times a day. Roughly once a month I go through it and take out all of the out of date ones. At that point I send it out to a list. If you would like to be on that list, sign up here.  
Pushing Boundaries, Flying Higher News about conferences and workshops to do with the young adult novel. (infrequent postings) Sign up here.  
Red Telephone Books News about our books and our authors. Sign up here.
A Publisher’s Perspective Here I blog as a publisher. Access this here.   
The Creative Café Project Listings and reviews of creative cafés. See them here.   
CaféLit Stories Find these here
Gill James Writer All about writing and about my books. View this here.
Gill’s Recommended Reads Find information here about books that have taken me out of my editor’s head.    
Gill’s Sample Fiction Read some of my fiction here.
The House on Schellberg Street All about my Schellberg project. Read it here.
Writing Teacher All about teaching creative writing.  Some creative writing exercises. Access this here.       
Books Books Books Weekly offers on our books and news of new books. Find them here. 
Happy reading and writing.

Philippa Rae

Wilma's painting from Wilma's Magic hat
It is my privilege to have Philippa Rae on my blog today. We are thrilled to be publishing Philippa's Wilma's Magic Hat
 1. What do you write? Why this in particular? I am a writer mainly of short stories and poetry. This is partly because I am an impatient type and get a buzz out of completing something quickly!

My natural instincts are also to write humorous pieces but in the future I would love to write a fantasy novel. This is a challenge to set myself for the next couple of years. I do have two half written longer books in my files so I must schedule in finishing those.

For example I have a complete three act children’s play (written for a school performance for a whole class) which I wrote in 2014 sitting in my files at home waiting to work with someone and also three fifteen minute animation scripts, one which is now honed and ready to be sent out.

2. What got you started on writing in the first place?When I was in my last year at primary school I used to enjoy trying writing stories in my lunchtime. I remember trying to write a Lord of the Rings style piece! However my interest in dancing and the performing arts over took this and it wasn’t until I was working as part of the production team at Cbeebies Radio for the BBC that I started writing poems and stories in my scripts. Initially it was just one or two but then it developed from there.



Some people find their writer’s voice early on in the process but because I initially wrote for radio were the audience was preschool everything was dependent on using sound to stimulate the imagination. So I have suffered from a tendency to overwrite.  I had to relearn a different way for print production. For example many picture books are less than 200 words and rely on much of the story being conveyed by the illustrations. They are a very specific craft and I think people outside of publishing can underestimate the skill needed in writing them.

3. Do you have a particular routine? I write chunks in long hand and then type it up again on the computer.  I like to write the basic structure first and keep adding when I return to it again and again.  For a long time I was fixated on trying to find a totally original idea till I realized that it was the treatment that was the most important.  Once I took that pressure off myself, I found that I enjoyed writing much more and it flowed much easier.  If you aren’t enjoying what you are doing then there is much point!  
I do carry a notebook as I have learned that the inspiration usually strikes when you least expect it.  Story development reminds me of a pickled onion.  It takes a while for things to ferment and then its great fun to peel off all the different layers as the story falls into place.
The hardest thing I found with writing longer pieces is that it is a very solitary and disciplined process whereas I come from a background of busy events and media production so I am used to working in teams with lots of people giving their opinions. Obviously the publishing team has a big input into the finished product but during the early stages it mostly a solo job!
4. When did you decide you could call yourself a writer? Do you do that in fact?  I enjoy being involved in creative projects across a range of mediums.  I would probably describe myself as a Content Producer.  For example I create work for magazines and on line sites both fictional and factual, media production and also content for charities such as events.
I never set out to be a writer, it was being asked to create pieces for my job that reminded me of how much I had enjoyed doing it as a child.  Even when I was first published I wasn’t really thinking about writing as a full time career, it was a sideline.  I enjoy entering competitions and have been quite successful and it is other people who seem to put emphasis on my writing work though it is just one part of what I am interested in. It would be nice though one day in the future to say that I was a full time writer!
Writing has been on the backburner for me for a couple of years due to the bereavement of someone close to me and  then unfortunately six months later I was diagnosed with advanced cancer in three places so I just ticked along whilst I was undergoing treatment as I wasn’t able to put in all the necessary promotional work.  
I found the operation, chemotherapy and radiotherapy invasive and exhausting.  I take my hat off to all the inspirational individuals who manage to achieve great things however challenging their circumstances but I am a lousy patient and certainly was not very brave!So I am most definitely not a tortured artist toiling away – I write best and usually mostly when I’m happy!
Now I  am in remission I am grateful to be given a second chance and so I have been working on the number of half-finished projects I have accumulated and dipped in and out of over the last few years.  It has turned things around for me as I realize that time is precious and to stop procrastinating.  Stories don’t write themselves!
And I am not very good at writing when I am worried.  So I am most definitely not very good as a tortured artist toiling away – I write best and usually mostly when I’m happy.

5. What are you most proud of in your writing?  I attended an excellent picture book class run by authors Chrisytan and Diane Fox which helped me to pin down the style needed for picture books, after having had written so many short stories for radio and magazines, this format was ingrained in me and hard to shake off.  
In fact one of my books currently published, Cinderella’s Other Shoe (with wonderful cartoon drawings by Tevin Hansen) was originally written as a picture book from an exercise set in the class so I was delighted that we won the Purple Dragon Fly Awards for best humour book and also short listed at the Wishing Shelf Independent Book Awards for best fiction for 6 – 8 years. 
I am very pleased to have been published across the world in some brilliant magazines and collections alongside some fantastic writers and illustrators.6. How do you get on with editing and research?

I was once told that you learn most in the editing process and this is true!  I do have a bit of a blind spot as to regards typos and spelling in my work. It’s seems that however much I read something that I have written typos seem to escape through. 
So far the types of work I have written haven’t required much research apart from the school assemblies where everything must be factual correct.  
I know that my better pieces are usually ones that I have written and then let breathe for a couple of weeks before returning to them.  Then I have put some distance between myself and the work and am able to spot any mistakes!  It is quite normal for writers when they first start out to want to rush their ideas out and I have learned the hard way. 


7. Which writers have inspired you?  I enjoy reading work by many different authors but people that spring to mind are the wonderful rhyming books of prolific Jeannie Willis as well as the unique picture book styles of Oliver Jeffers and Emily Gravatt.  I also like the style of David Walliams' novels – it is something about his characters and the original scenarios that I find appealing.
However I don’t really like naming favourite authors as it means singling people out. I have been writing book reviews for Kidscene for nearly seven years and in that time have read some wonderful books across all age groups.
A couple of beautiful unique picture books that I reviewed that spring to mind are Triangle and also the Wisp.
I also love animated films.  Two films that I particularly enjoyed are Chicken Run and Gnomeo and Juliette!8. Do you have any goals for the future? I do have three books scheduled for publication in 2019 and 2020 with three more in development.
In my late teens and twenties I taught dance and really enjoyed working with children so I am in the process of developing some workshops to take on the road which will be fun! So lots to look forward to.

And I have some poetry collections which are now well on the way to being finished.

I have worked with Bridge House and Gill before when I contributed to two of their anthologies. The opportunity to get short stories published is quite small and so very competitive when submitting to magazines and anthologies so it’s great to be working with Gill again.

Gill has developed a particular expertise in the short story market and also producing anthologies for charity. The stories that she is publishing with me are rather like extended illustrated short stories and I am looking forwards to the first one – Wilma’s Magic Hat with superb spooky illustrations by Ashley James.



As they say one step at a time!  And lots to look forward to! 

Ottoline and the Purple Fox by Chris Riddell

Ottoline is an interesting character.  She lives alone though is cared for by servants.  She is accompanied everywhere by Mr Munroe, an almost humanoid pet who has very long light-coloured hair. “wherever they went , Ottoline and Mr Munroe looked out for each other “ (5).  


Chris Riddell offers not just an engaging story but some fascinating pictures. They are mainly line drawings thought the colour purple is added generously throughout.  There are also examples of lists, Ottoline’s own drawings and other pages from her notebook.   
Ottoline’s life is quite sophisticated: she organsizes a fancy dress dinner party, acts as matchmaker between the Purple Fox and the Crimson Vixen, and generally survives well despite or perhaps because of her parents’ absence.  
The book has a respectable spine and is some 175 pages long. The text is ragged right but uses an adult, serif font, with difficult ‘a’s and ‘g’s. It is double-spaced and is very clear; a sharp black on a very white background.  
Although the illustrations may help a struggling reader they also amuse and add to the story. They are part of the book’s quirkiness. Added to this are the instructions on how to make a Fancy Dress Fortune Teller. There is even a sample one included at the back of the book.       

Writing Prompts

Do you ever use them? Do you love them or hate them?  Has any decent writing ever come out of using one?
Some of my students grumble when asked to write according to a prompt.  They have plenty of good ideas already. Well, I still have quite a few ideas but I find writing from a prompt adds some discipline. To some extent one becomes more creative because choice is more limited. And sometimes it just opens you up to some new ideas. I’ve often managed to turn something I’ve worked on in workshop into a piece of viable writing.      
I am using them quite a bit with my U3A creative writing group.  We operate partly as a critique group and use one hour of our hour and a half on a creative writing exercise.  I collect these and have plenty to choose from but I also invite members of the group to contribute
Listed below are a few I’ve used.
Writing by dice roll This week we had to role a dice to choose two characters, the main trait of each character, the weather, the location and an object. We wrote for fifteen minutes and then shared our stories. I myself have a viable story from this session.
Names Put a surnames and Christian names in separate containers.  The writers draw out two of each to create two characters. They now write a scene between two characters.
Consequences This is a group activity. Each person decides on the following. After each decision they fold over the paper and pass it on:  1.      Character one and one physical, one intellectual, one emotional and one personality trait.2.      Character one’s main motivation.3.      Character two and one physical, one intellectual, one emotional and one personality trait.4.      Where the scene takes place 5.      When the scene takes placeAfter 5 the participants open their sheets and write a scene between the two characters  Treasure chestThe group leader obtains a treasure chest and fills it with objects. You can obtain such items easily from Amazon or e-bay. Each participant takes out two objects and writes a story around then,
DatesDid you no that every single day of the year is special in at least one way?   You can find suggestions at: http://www.holidayinsights.com/moreholidays. This incidentally might be inspiring for CaféLit.             
Paint chartsOh yes, what can you make of Dixie Bell Blue or Honky Tonk Red?  Twitter inspired I’ve actually published one collection of flash fiction 140 x 140. It contains 140 stories, each 140 words long and each one prompted by the first picture I saw on my Twitter feed that day. Now I’m working on 280 x 70 ….  
More sources of promptsMslexia provides quite a few and in fact that’s where I get many of my ideas from. You can also find some under the hash tag #writingprompts on Twitter.          

New 2 June 2019

 Exciting new enterprises  I ran my first editing workshop last week. I really enjoyed it. The time just flew by.  We used an Etc venue. They really look after you well and the prices are very reasonable compared with other conference venues I’ve used. The delegate price included continental breakfast on arrival, lunch, and refreshments throughout the day.  They supply fresh fruit and juices as well as tea, coffee and biscuits.  I envisage running another course like this soon and also one on marketing. I’ve also enjoyed preparing my The Business of Writing Course for next Saturday morning. It cost the vast sum of £5.00. It takes place at 10.30 in the St John Centre just opposite Waterloo. More details here: https://www.waterloofestival.com/writing-workshop-2019If it’s successful I shall certainly run it again.  In the afternoon we have a celebration event: https://www.waterloofestival.com/writing-competition-celebration2019This event is free and includes readings and open mic.               News about my writing I’m plodding along still with my on-going projects:  The House of Clementine and 280 x 70 – the sequel to 140 x 140. This works in a similar way.  Each time I write I look at the first picture I see on my Twitter feed and write a story about it in exactly 280 words. I’m also still writing a longer short story after each edit of Clementine. Next up: The Black Dog and the Meringue. Now, that title should keep you guessing   Catalogue of books for children You can find it here.  Do take a look if you’re into children’s books. This month I’ve included  The Bride’s Farewell by Meg Rosoff (YA), Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick (fluent reader / teen), and The Children of Willesden Lane by Mona Golabek and Lee Cohen (teen).     Current reading recommendationThis month I have chosen The Reading Cure by Laura Freeman. Warning: this book may make you hungry. Laura Freeman was anorexic. She always loved reading. After diagnosis and as a cure began she was confined to bed and could do nothing but read. She slowly began to relearn how to enjoy food as she read about it in books.Freeman doesn’t trivialise anorexia. She would probably describe herself as a recovering anorexic. She does point out just how much the food in books adds to our enjoyment of them.       Give it a go. You’ll find it here.       
Giveaway This month I’m giving away The Best of CaféLit 6 in which some of my stories appear.  Access it and lots of other freebies here.Note, that normally my books and the books supplied by the imprints I manage sell for anything from £0.99 to £10.99, with most on Kindle being about £2.99 and the average price for paperback being £7.00. We have to allow our writers to make a living. But I’m offering these free samples so that you can try before you buy.   Naturally I welcome reviews.  The Schellberg Project I’ve added a couple of post this month about Käthe Edler, Renate’s mother. She was quite a feisty woman and I’ve included material about here being a female scientist and one of the first women in her town to obtain a driving license. The posts may be helpful for teachers who are familiar with the Schellberg stories or who are teaching about the Holocaust. These two items are also being included in the Discovery Packs in the teacher’s / workshop kit.      You can read the posts here.      I’ve added in also The Children of Willesden Lane by Mona Golabek and Lee Cohen, another story of survival via the Kindertransport, to the stock of recommended books.  You can find it here.  School visits I’m still promoting my school visits associated with The House on Schellberg Street project. I’ve now developed a whole workshop for this. It starts off with a board game, includes some role play and creative writing and ends with a discussion. It is now possible to purchase the kit to work on on your own. Find details here.Costs for my workshops = travel expenses plus £400 for a full day and £200 for a half day. This includes all materials and some freebies. Two schools near to each other might consider splitting the day and halving the travel expenses and fees. This is open to negotiation in any case.        I also offer a free half day visit, though you pay my travel expenses, if you allow me to promote my books.       I’m continuously adding materials for schools to the site that are different from the ones I use for the workshops. I’ve recently added in resources and books to do with the topic. See them here:       Query for a school visit here.I’m also happy to tailor a visit for your agreed donation. This can be for either a Schellberg Cycle visit or a creative writing workshop. Any monies raised this way will go specifically to a project I have for a non-fiction book about a journey that will follow the footsteps of Clara Lehrs. I’m hoping to do the whole journey by train, including departing via my nearest Metrolink station. It’s important to feel the rails beneath my feet.       I offer as well standard author visits which include readings from my books, Q & A sessions and creative writing exercises. Please remember, with these as well, I’m open to negotiation if you can’t afford the full price.  Some notes about my newsletters and blogsThey do overlap a little but here is a summary of what they all do.
Bridge House Authors For all those published by Bridge House, CaféLit, Chapletown or The Red Telephone or interested in being published by us. General news about the imprints. News for writers. Links to book performance. Sign up here.
Chapeltown Books News about our books. Sign up here.
The Creative Café Project News about the project and CaféLit – for the consumer rather than for the producer.  Sign up here.   
Gill’s News: News about my writing, The Schellberg Project, School Visits and Events. Find it here.   
Opportunities List Remember I keep a full list of vetted opportunities on my writing blog. See them here. New ones are added several times a day. Roughly once a month I go through it and take out all of the out of date ones. At that point I send it out to a list. If you would like to be on that list, sign up here.  
Pushing Boundaries, Flying Higher News about conferences and workshops to do with the young adult novel. (infrequent postings) Sign up here.  

Red Telephone Books News about our books and our authors. Sign up here.
A Publisher’s Perspective Here I blog as a publisher. Access this here.   
The Creative Café Project Listings and reviews of creative cafés. See them here.   
CaféLit Stories Find these here
Gill James Writer All about writing and about my books. View this here.
Gill’s Recommended Reads Find information here about books that have taken me out of my editor’s head.    
Gill’s Sample Fiction Read some of my fiction here.
The House on Schellberg Street All about my Schellberg project. Read it here.
Writing Teacher All about teaching creative writing.  Some creative writing exercises. Access this here.       
Books Books Books Weekly offers on our books and news of new books. Find them here. 
Happy reading and writing.

The Bride’s Farewell by Meg Rosoff

Pell Ridley does not want to marry the “boy next door”, the boy she has known all of her life and who could offer her security. So, on the day that should have been her wedding day she sneaks out of the house and runs away.  She takes her grey horse Jack with her and her mute adopted brother, Bean, decides to join her.    
Life from the outset is hard. Her father is a preacher and a drunkard. He built their house but not very well; it is crooked. Her mother is weary from years of child-bearing and hard work. Pell also works hard and knows her way around horses.     
It all becomes harder as she looks for work and mainly fails to get it. She has much bad luck and becomes almost tragic: the negative comes as a result of her own actions, such as when Bean, Jack and her money go missing.  When she does finally find a dream of a job she has give it up because she must find missing Bean.    
There is resolution of sorts when what is left of her family is reconciled and Bean is homed well elsewhere. Her choice of future living arrangements may surprise us. 
There is no explicit sex, nor romance, but we are left with the impression that she and the poacher share a bed. That and the fact that the novel portrays a hard life make it suitable for young adults as well as teens. 
It is 185 pages long, with smallish blocked print and an adult font.      

Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick

It’s actually a little difficult to identify the target reader for this book.  There is no sex and there is no obvious love interest at first, yet the protagonist is a young adult – a journalist, commissioned in the near future, 2073, to write a feature about a mysterious island and its dragon orchids that have surprising properties. There is much more to the island than Eric at first perceives. As we read we are taken back through history where Eric, Merle and Tor meet over and over again.There is some romance and in one incarnation, Eric and Merle’s love is forbidden as Eric this time is actually Erica.     The story may even appeal to adults.Each story is between thirty and sixty words. The chapters within each section are short. At 263 pages it has a respectable spine. The text is blocked and uses an adult font, though it is double-spaced.      

Do You Have a Submissions Strategy?

If you don’t submit, you can’t be rejected. But you can’t get published either.
Rejection is nasty – no matter how much you’re used to it and no matter how much success you’ve had elsewhere, including in being published. 
One writer I know talks about “rewrites” rather than “rejections”. This has two advantages: every piece you send out is new and you can feel better about your “rejection”. It makes sense on another level as well. Surely we all improve as writers all the time. As it often takes at least three months for publishers to decide, I frequently get work back and am not so surprised that it has been rejected. I always know I can do better. I’ve also noticed recently that my newest work is getting accepted almost at once whereas older work is taking longer. Should I be excited?   
Another writer once said “You should be like those fishermen at the end of the pier. Have about six lines cast and one of them eventually will get a bite.” Another part of his strategy is to submit to three agents and three publishers then as rejections come in he sends the script out to three more agents or three more publishers. Obviously after a while one would run out of time. However he spends a certain amount of time day on this, keeping everything on a spread sheet, the newest items at the top. He makes a living as writer from a lot of small successes. 
I too keep a spread sheet. I colour the cells red to show that submissions are out with a publisher or agent or submitted for a competition and are not available to send anywhere else. Amber means they are available and green means they’ve been accepted.  Recently I’ve been submitting to up to three competitions then to three agents and then three publishers though I don’t bother with agents for short stories. I’m still doing that for stage scripts but for my fiction I’m now publishing through my own publishing imprints. 
There is also post-publication submission. I’m now proactively submitting my own work and the works of writers I publish for awards. 
Of course you must check that your submission fits the imprint or competition. Do take advantage of the Opportunities page here to look for what would suit your work.  And do develop your submissions strategy.           

The Children of Willesden Lane by Mona Golabek and Lee Cohen

2017, Teen, Key Stage 3, ages 10-13, lower secondary, Holocaust 
There are so many different ways in which people survived the Holocaust.   This one at first resembles my own book written for a similar audience: a young girl leave on the Kindertransport, she and her companions have to take care of a baby, someone is seasick , someone is determined to keep up with their music and the mentor is called Mrs Cohen.  It too is based on a true story.    Then it is different. The protagonist, Lisa Jura, opts to remain amongst other Jews though she is treated well by her English employers.   
Lisa does well with her music. She is reconciled with both of her sisters but her parents are never found.   
Many stories about the Holocaust span several years so it can be difficult to identify the target reader. This one is about right; it will be readable to teens in the lower half of secondary school and this is precisely when the Holocaust comes on to the curriculum. The text would be very readable by slightly younger children but perhaps the inclusion of a love interest and the Holocaust may prevent this.
Even though the text covers a long period of time it remains engaging with plenty of dialogue and action. We do get to know Lisa quite well. 
This is published by a long established publisher, W Franklin Watts, so its ragged right formatting and rather large indents at the beginning of each paragraph may surprise us. It is double-spaced but uses an adult font.        

News 2 May 2019

 Endings and Beginnings Well our house move is getting ever nearer. Considering that there is no chain and neither we nor the vendors have a mortgage involved it’s taking a considerable amount of time.  Apparently documents have been lost in the post, emails have been sent to non-existent people and we actually have done our own searches much more quickly than the solicitor has completed hers. As we paid for a full survey, we received detailed reports. Martin is interested in family history and this sometimes means delving into old maps.  We’ve found an old map of the area we’re moving to. And like in our former home we’ll have the foundations of a much older building in our garden.  Already we like the old wall that borders the 1960s built house. We’ll be in walking distance of the pub, the church, the river and many bus routes into Bury.Martin’s family history work is giving me tons of ideas for stories. Such fun! I also had my last formal session with my MA group yesterday. They are such a nice bunch of students. It’s been a particular interesting course to teach as much of the content in delivered by outsiders or by people who work elsewhere in the university. So, I’ve learnt a lot myself. I really act as a sort of supervising tutor to all of the students but they each also have individual supervisors for their projects. I’m supervising four projects.               Next week they have individual interviews with me. Then of course comes some marking and I’m also completing some marking on another module. I always feel marking enhances my editing skills. I get paid for it to boot.                 News about my writing I’m now steaming ahead with my writing again. The House of Clementine is beginning to shape up.  I’m punctuating the editing process by writing bits of flash fiction. I’m still working on 280 x 70 - sequel to 140 x 140. This works in a similar way.  Each time I write I look at the first picture I see on my Twitter feed and write a story about it in exactly 280 words. Then in between each edit of The House of Clementine I’m writing a longer short story.  I’m getting plenty of stories at the moment from my journeys by bus. I still have to jot the ideas down as soon as I get them or they drift away again.  I use my phone for this more often than not.  Catalogue of books for children I’ve added several titles to this over the last month. It continues to grow. You can find it here.  Do take a look if you’re into children’s books. This month I’ve included  How to Make Friends with the Dark by Kathleen Glasgow (YA), Hilary McKay’s Fairy Tales (fluent reader),  The Monster Café by Sean Leahy and Mihaly Orodan (pre-school) and Phoenix Burning by Bryony Pearce (YA).
 Current reading recommendationThis month I have chosen You Me Everything by Catherine Isaac. I borrowed this from my local library and it has a “Read Regional” sticker on it. So, presumably I’m supporting a local writer. I hope I’ve triggered some PLR. I found the characters very engaging and the story intriguing. It has an upbeat ending.  Protagonist single mum Jess has a secret. She lets us in on it part of the way through and then we hold our breath as other characters gradually find out what that is. This isn’t a great literary work but neither could you really classify it as popular fiction. You could call it a romance but the actual romance isn’t the main theme of the story. That is what is so great about much British literature. Its position isn’t clichéd. And this book, anyway, is well written. Give it a go. You’ll find it here.        
Giveaway This month I’m giving away my flash fiction collection January Stones. These were written one a day from 1 to 31 January 2013. Access it and lots of other freebies here.  Note, that normally my books and the books supplied by the imprints I manage sell for anything from £0.99 to £10.99, with most on Kindle being about £2.99 and the average price for paperback being £7.00. We have to allow our writers to make a living. But I’m offering these free samples so that you can try before you buy.   Naturally I welcome reviews.  The Schellberg Project I’ve added just one post to the project this month. It is one that may be of use to teachers and will also form part of the discovery pack in the workshop. I give a little more detail about the Karl Schubert School which moved out of the House on Schellberg Street only in the late 1960s – in fact just a few years before I completed half of my year abroad in Stuttgart. This was part of my BA Dual Hons in French and German. I found a room to rent in the home of  two elderly sisters. When they found out about the connection with Clara Lehrs they were beside themselves. “Oh yes. We know Haus Lehrs. It is very important to us.” I remain amazed that the school in the cellar survived not just World War II and the Nazi regime but also the exigencies of education in the 20th and 21st century in a country that is pragmatic about and demanding of its education. You can read the post here.     My third book in the Schellberg cycle, Girl in a Smart Uniform is starting its design process any moment now.             
School visits I’m still proactively promoting my school visits associated with The House on Schellberg Street project. I’ve now developed a whole workshop for this. It starts off with a board game, includes some role play and creative writing and ends with a discussion. It is now possible to purchase the kit to work on on your own. Find details here.Costs for my workshops = travel expenses plus £400 for a full day and £200 for a half day. This includes all materials and some freebies. Two schools near to each other might consider splitting the day and halving the travel expenses and fees. This is open to negotiation in any case.        I also offer a free half day visit, though you pay my travel expenses, if you allow me to promote my books.       I’m continuously adding materials for schools to the site that are different from the ones I use for the workshops. I’ve recently added in resources and books to do with the topic. See them here:       Query for a school visit here.I’m also happy to tailor a visit for your agreed donation. This can be for either a Schellberg Cycle visit or a creative writing workshop. Any monies raised this way will go specifically to a project I have for a non-fiction book about a journey that will follow the footsteps of Clara Lehrs.I’m hoping to do the whole journey by train, including departing via my nearest Metrolink station. It’s important to feel the rails beneath my feet.       I offer as well standard author visits which include readings from my books, Q & A sessions and creative writing exercises. Please remember, with these as well, I’m open to negotiation if you can’t afford the full price.  Some notes about my newsletters and blogsThey do overlap a little but here is a summary of what they all do.
Bridge House Authors For all those published by Bridge House, CafeLit, Chapletown or The Red Telephone or interested in being published by us. General news about the imprints. News for writers. Link to book performance. Sign up here.
Chapeltown Books News about our books. Sign up here.
The Creative Café Project  News about the project and CaféLit – for the consumer rather than for the producer.  Sign up here.   
Gill’s News: News about my writing, The Schellberg Project, School Visits and Events. Find it here.   
Opportunities List Remember I keep a full list of vetted opportunities on my writing blog. See them here. New ones are added several times a day. Roughly once a month I go through it and take out all of the out of date ones. At that point I send it out to a list. If you would like to be on that list, sign up here.  
Pushing Boundaries, Flying Higher News about conferences and workshops to do with the young adult novel. (infrequent postings) Sign up here.  

Red Telephone Books News about our books and our authors. Sign up here.
A Publisher’s Perspective Here I blog as a publisher. Access this here.   
The Creative Café Project Listings and reviews of creative cafés. See them here.   
CaféLit Stories Find these here
Gill James Writer All about writing and about my books. View this here.
Gill’s Recommended Reads Find information here about books that have taken me out of my editor’s head.    
Gill’s Sample Fiction Read some of my fiction here.
The House on Schellberg Street All about my Schellberg project. Read it here.
Writing Teacher All about teaching creative writing.  Some creative writing exercises. Access this here.       
Books Books Books Weekly offers on our books and news of new books. Find them here. 
Happy reading and writing.