Gill James's Blog, page 21

Story Time

Christmas seems a long time ago now. The days are beginning to get longer at quite a pace.  There are snow drops out in the garden and it's clear to see that there will soon also be crocuses, daffodils and tulips. It is snowing today but I don't think it's going to be enough to keep us indoors. We'll see. We might just get lucky. 
But those dark days before Christmas and all that anticipation of the re-enactment of one of the biggest stories all-time make us think of stories. I love that time of year, actually, when bad weather and the general shut down of society compels you to stay in and consume story, whether it be via a cheesy film on the TV, a light read or a beautifully written work of literary fiction.       
Of course, producing stories is an all-year round activity for some of us and in fact Christmas 2018 is already being prepared. The Bridge House appeal is open for not-quite-Christmas stories until 31 March. We're also collecting stories for the Waterloo Festival.
So, if bad weather's giving you a "snow" day, and you just can't get into work, why not spend it looking for a story?     Happy writing!   

An interview with Gail Aldwin

I'm please to welcome to my blog today Gail Aldwin.  Gail is a prize-winning writer of short fiction and poetry. She works as a visiting tutor to creative writing students at Arts University Bournemouth. Gail’s new collection of short fiction Paisley Shirt is published by Chapeltown Books. The Kindle Edition can be purchased from Amazon.The paperback will be launched soon. 



What do you write?
In short fiction and novels I tend to write about contemporary situations with a focus on the obstacles life presents such as homelessness, family breakdown and ill health. I write for a range of audiences and like to build humour into my monologues and short plays. In the last couple of years I have started to write poetry and enjoy the challenge of capturing moments in time by using just a few words. I believe that writing in lots of different styles cross-fertilises to improve the quality of my writing.

When did you decide you could call yourself a writer?       I have always taken my writing seriously and see it as work rather than a hobby or distraction to fill time, but it has taken years to acknowledge that I am a writer. We have many roles in life from relationships with family members to paid and voluntary employment or educational studies. Although my role as a writer has been a priority, admitting this to others in social and professional contexts was something I avoided. It has always been much easier to say I am a student of creative writing or a tutor in creative writing. It was only upon acquiring representation by a literary agent that I began to tell people of my occupation as a writer. The offer of literary representation came from a competition entry. Although I did not win the prize or feature on the shortlist, one of the judges liked my work approached me. This came as a tremendous surprise and delight. I was invited to the London office of my agent and taken out for lunch. This affirmation of my writing was sufficient to change the way I viewed myself and I began to value my writing more. In my employment as a tutor of creative writing, I now make a point of encouraging students to think of themselves as writers and talk about their work. This helps to develop a professional attitude to writing and provides the impetus to become more disciplined and confident in their outlook.

Do you have any goals for the future

When I started writing I was at a crossroads in my career. I realised I was investing far too much time and energy into my paid employment at the sacrifice of a creative outlet. There were two routes I was interested in following: either to become a published writer or to learn Spanish sufficiently well to hold conversations. I took the writing route and although I enjoy the progress I’ve made, I still hope that one day I’ll be not only fluent in Spanish but literate, too.

Which writers have inspired you?
My current WIP is a novel for the adult market written from the viewpoint of a six-year-old boy. This Much I Know gives a child’s eye view of the interaction between adults in a suburban community where a paedophile is housed. The trick in writing from a child’s viewpoint is to exploit the gap in understanding between the child and the actions of adults around them. I learnt a great deal in how to achieve this by reading What I Did by Christopher Wakling. Here six-year-old Billy is smacked by his father when he misbehaves at the park. This is observed by a passer-by who reports the incident and thus the action of the story unfolds. I love the way Wakling plays with language using onomatopoeia, malapropism and other devices to capture the voice of a young child (with very humorous results).
You can find Gail atTwitter:           @gailaldwinFacebook:      https://www.facebook.com/gailaldwinwriter/Blog:               The Writer is a Lonely HunterChair DWN:    http://www.dorsetwritersnetwork.co.uk 

My news January 2018

Well the snowdrops are out in my garden and the days are getting longer at quite a lick now. The sun had risen before I got to my desk today though the weather's doing that Manchester thing and so it still seems quite dark. I'm back at the University of Salford again, teaching on the children's literature module. It's great being paid for talking about something you know a lot about.    News about my writing I'm continuing to enjoy the Scrivenersoftware package. I'm still getting used to driving it but I've already completed one whole project in it - a short story – and I've transferred most of my projects into it. I can see how it helps with planning and keeping track of parts of the story. I love the synopsis feature and the fact that you can attach key words to any section you write. It's also so easy to reorder your work.There's still a lot I have to learn, but so far I'm loving it.  The House of Clementine is beginning to behave though it's possibly the most difficult thing I've ever written. I'm nearing the end of the play script of The House on Schellberg Street. I already have one group lined up to read it. I'm going to organise two or three other readings.  If you'd like to be involved and you live within commuting distance of greater Manchester, let me know.   I've finished my book on marketing. Many of you on this list will soon receive that as a gift. It is in design now. We're having some difficulty in deciding on a cover, though.Our recording of January Stones is now complete. We're just waiting for Amazon's approval. Fingers crossed.                 1940s Group I've had an influx of new people over the last few days. Some of them have already published and I'm looking forward to reading their books. I'm a real glutton for anything 1940s and this spills out into 1930s and even earlier but oddly doesn't go so far in the other direction. Do join us if you think this is for you. Importantly, I'm happy for you to promote your books here on the last day of the month.         Here's the reminder of what it's all about: This is a Facebook group for those of us who write about the 1940s. This group is for all people who write about the 1940s. Fiction and non-fiction, for young and old. Topics might then be: the Holocaust, World War II, Civilian Experience (all sides) and the battle front. We can exchange ideas about research and marketing. We may promote books and stories, - the last day of every month and on launch / release day. In particular, we might work together to make use of the many 1940s' weekends that take place.If you feel that is you, do join us: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2026868870924138/         Dreamteam The Dream Team continues to grow. Find members here.     This is a personal recommendation. Initially I intend to use my Dream Team a lot myself but gradually I would add in people that friends and friends of friends have recommended. What happens? You sign up to a mailing list and every time a request comes in we mail it out to you or the enquirer contacts you directly via my web site. The conversation then carries on between you and the person making the request. You may also have a page set up on my blog and you may update that once a year.  Interested? You may sign up for more than one category.  Beta readers sign up here.Reviewers sign up here. Editors sign up here.Illustrators sign up here.Designers sign up here.Proof-readers sing up here.    DO REMEMBER THAT AT ANY TIME YOU’RE APPROACHED AND YOU’RE BUSY IT’S PERFECTLY FINE TO SAY NO.        Bridge House The theme of our 2018 is "Crackers". We don't mean just the Christmas sort. We're looking for stories that amuse, certainly, though. It would be good to have a few that give us great big belly laughs, but also welcome those that just make you smile. Another interpretation of "crackers" might be madness. So think Black Mirror, Inside Number 9, Kafka's Trial, Yes Minister, Yes Prime Minister, Catch 22. Got one of those in you? Give it a go! Full submission details here.         We're also very privileged to be the publisher for the Waterloo festival. You can read details about it here.  You can see how much we are involved with the festival here but do take a look at the other pages. And a reminder about our latest publications: Debz's Canvey Island writers' group, Tales from the Upper Room, retails at £7.00. £1.50 from every sale goes to the Havens Hospices www.Havenshhospices.org.uk . You can find it here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tales-Upper-Room-Janice-Gilbert/dp/1907335196      Glit-er-ary is our 2017 anthology. Quote from the back blurb: "You will learn that all that glitters is most certainly not gold. The stories are funny, sad, poignant …. The glitter comes in shades of dark and light. Find it here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Glit-er-ary-Debz-Hobbs-Wyatt-ebook/dp/B077DV848P/ Then there is Citizens of Nowhere. I'll confess that Theresa May both infuriated and inspired me when she said that global citizens are citizens of nowhere. What a great title for a book. So, I approached several writers I know who I thought might feel the same. Not all of them had the time or the inspiration but several have contributed. A few stories that were submitted to Glit-er-ary seemed more suitable for this collection. Jenny Palmer also has a story in here. This will be the fourth time that we've published this one. She is on the CaféLit site, in the Best of CaféLit, in her own collection and in this book. Debz and I have also put our money where our mouths are. We each have a story in the anthology. Find it here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Citizens-Nowhere-Gill-James-ebook/dp/B077DD7XN3/   Whatever your politics are, you shouldn't find anything to offend here but maybe something to make you sad, to give you hope or to make you think.    We've produced a couple of book trailers. Do take a look and share them. https://youtu.be/HFozQ40FyUI https://youtu.be/5JJQ85cPqkk
We’re getting plenty of interest in our single-author collections. These are for authors we’ve published before and they may include stories we’ve already published, ones they’ve had published elsewhere and new ones. The description for this is now on the web site. We’ve already had some enquiries and we’re currently working on several anthologies.  You may recycle stories we’ve already included in another anthology, and you may reedit these if you wish. You may also add in new stories. We’re aiming at a total word count of between 30,000 and 70,000 words.  Dawn Knox's Extraordinary is now out. It is available here. If you’re interested in having a single author collection, contact me here.    Also in progress are collections by Paul Bradley, Phyllis Burton, Jesse Falzoi, Jenny Palmer, Dianne Stadhams and Paul Williams. Several other Bridge House authors have applied and they're in a bit of a queue but I'm sure we'll accept them. After all we know them.         CaféLit Stories are now all being posted at 4.00 p,m, Afternoon Teatime,  Kaffee and Kuchen time and it's also when the kids are home from school. Just the right time for a cuppa and a good story. We're getting quite a few submissions now but still not quite up to one a day. Sadly, of course, we have to reject some. In January we had stories from James McEwan Leggate, Debbie Boitoult, Roger Noons, Paula R C  Readman, Richard Hough and  Mari Phillips.    We're always open to submissions. Find out to submit here. Remember, this gives you some exposure, you can add in a short CV each time, and there's always the chance that your work might be accepted for the annual anthology.    The Best of CaféLit 6 has been produced and copies are on sale. As usual we welcome reviews. I can let you have a PDF or an e-mobi copy if you're willing to review. You can also buy copies here.   I'll shortly be working on The Best of CaféLit 7.  On offer for CaféLit authors is a page on our web site. See examples here.  The list is growing. Click on the names to find out more about the authors and to access their work. If you're a CaféLit author and would like a web page, use the ones there to get ideas. You need to send me between 250 and 350 words about yourself, an attractive image, a list of up to six publications, up to six awards and up to six links. I then also link the page to your stories on CaféLit. Send to gill at cafelit dot co dot uk.  If you already have page here, this is the time of year you may ask me to update it. You may have a new publication, award, web site or image that you'd like posting. Remember we keep up to six of each   
ChapeltownI'm now trying to build up the Chapeltown readers list. I'm giving away a free copy of my January Stones 2013 to anyone who joins. See details here: http://www.chapeltownpublishing.uk/Spread the word. As mentioned earlier, I'm also having an audio version of this book made. The profit share will equal 10% of the cover price of the audio file.      We've been busy recently. You can find details of our latest publications below. These are all in our series of Flash Fiction collections and are all our little square books.  Badlands by  Alyson Faye http://www.chapeltownpublishing.uk/2018/01/badlands-by-alyson-faye.htmlPotpourri  by Vanusha VR http://www.chapeltownpublishing.uk/2018/01/porpourri-by-anusha-vr.html Slimline Tales by Roger Noons. http://www.chapeltownpublishing.uk/2018/01/slimline-tales-by-roger-noons.htmlIf you're interested in reviewing any of the above, just email me and state whether you'd like the mobi-file or the PDF.
Coming soon, probably within the next few days are works Gail Aldwin and Mandy Huggins.  There are a couple waiting in the wings as well.  Chapeltown is now going to publish all of The Schellberg Cycle. A new version of The House on Schellberg Street is now available. Details are here. The second story in the series will be out in March this year.  
Creative CaféThree cafés have been added this month: The Glad Café, Glasgow: http://www.creativecafeproject.org/2018/01/the-glad-cafe-glasgow-g41.html, The Harland Café, Sheffield: http://www.creativecafeproject.org/2018/01/the-harland-cafe-sheffield.html  The Fallow Café, Manchester: http://www.creativecafeproject.org/2018/01/the-fallow-cafe-manchester-uk.html Keep sending suggestions and review them if you can.      I'm continuing my tour of creative cafés where I collect stories for an anthology. In some cases, writers may offer them and in others maybe customers may tell me their story and I'll write it for them. Do you know of a café that might be interested in this? Let me know if you do.         Remember you can now buy merchandise for the Creative Café project. The profit on anything you buy here goes to the Creative Café Project. Check this out here.    We’re always looking for new cafés.  If you visit one of the cafés in the projectand would like to write a review of between 250 and 350 words – nice, too, to have a couple of pictures – send it to me here.Do the same if you find a new café. I’m also now proactively encouraging cafes to stock The Best of CaféLit. Do you know anyone who might like to stock it? We can offer a 35% discount to retailers. Query gill at cafelit dot co dot uk.      The Red Telephone Our mentoring programme is now full. I’m working quite closely with three very different authors: Charlotte Comley, Dianne Stadhams, and Nina Wadcock. They are all presenting some fascinating material. University of Salford graduates Lauren Hopes and Christian Leah have also joined our happy band.        I was delighted to see Lauren at our recent Celebration Event in London. She read from her novel.
Book tours If you’re a Bridge House / Red Telephone / CaféLit / Chapeltown author and you want to get serious about book tours, consider our author’s kit. We provide twenty or so books (exact number is up for negotiation) you take to the bookshop and the bookshop can put these through the till. We then invoice the bookshop, with a 35% discount for any sold and top up your supply to twenty. At the end of the tour you can either pay for the remaining books at cost + 10% or keep them until you’ve sold them and then pay the normal price of 75% of RRP. The latter can in any case be set against royalties. You need to allow at least ten days between events. We must be able to invoice a retailer later for this to work. Contact me here if you’re interested in this.           
School Visits I’m 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.I did a presentation about my work on this at the 2017 NAWE Conference.  It became apparent as I talked and partly from the reaction of one of the delegates that the workshop has more impact than the book. Mind you, that had partly been the intention. 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.  Upcoming eventsMore specific details of the following will be posted later.I'm hoping to run a workshop on marketing for indie writers / publishers. This will be free of charge but you may make a donation if you wish. This will enable me to put on further events. A Pushing Boundaries, Flying Higher Master Class about writing the young adult novel.Manchester event in the summer.London event 1 December 2018 (Save the date!) Past eventsOur event on 2 December at the Princess of Wales went well though twenty delegates had to pull out, all for good reasons: illness, awkward trains, family problems, job inductions etc. and I too suffered from "awkward trains". At least though, I got all of my fare back and quite promptly. Nevertheless, we all had a great time. We also sold half of our stock of books within the first five minutes and quite a bit more later on. I didn't have to bring all that much back home. I actually managed to join in the "speed-dating" this time. The little bell that I bought worked really hard. She is a young woman in a crinoline dress. Esmeralda. It was good to put names to faces. I read a little too from January Stones. We also had readings from Margaret Bulleyment, Penny Dale, Shanta Everington, Lauren Hopes, Dawn Knox, Paula Readman, Allison Symes and Robin Wrigley.              Writing opportunities 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.    I have recently revamped the way this works and made it much more user friendly. Let me know what you think.  Current reading recommendation This month I'm recommending a manual for teachers of Creative Writing: Teaching Creative Writing by Helen Stockton.  It is a very well organised book and ideal for those of us teaching adult learners at evening classes, U3A groups or even groups in cafes which is totally in keeping with what my Creative Café Project recommends. If you work for a local authority paperwork abounds and Helen provides several useful templates for this. She gives us a step by step guide to working with a beginners' class and how to convert this into a continuation class.  There are nine chapters, an epilogue and a postscript. The chapters are divided into manageable sub-sections and you can use this as a step by step guide. I recommend reading it the whole way through then going back and reworking the sections that are most useful to you. I originally bought the book at the NAWE conference in York in 2015. At the 2017 conference I actually attended Helen's session. I found her to be a passionate teacher and  this book proves that she is a more than competent writer as well. This is an invaluable tool for the freelancer. Available here.        
   Calling all writersI'm running an occasional series of interviews on my blog. Take a look at my interview with Allison Symes, Dawn Knoxand Alyson Faye.  If you would like to be on my blog just answer the questions below and send them with appropriate images to gill dot james at btinternet dot com. Please feel free to pick and choose which of these to answer.  1.      What do you write? Why this in particular?  2.      What got you started on writing in the first place?3.      Do you have a particular routine?  4.      Do you have a dedicated working space? 5.      When did you decide you could call yourself a writer? Do you do that in fact? 6.      How supportive are your friends and family? Do they understand what you're doing? 7.      What are you most proud of in your writing? 8.      How do you get on with editing and research?9.      Do you have any goals for the future? 10.  Which writers have inspired you?Please write as much or as little as you like for each section and supply as many pictures as you like. Also let me know your latest publication and supply me with a link if it's not on Amazon.                           Giveaway This month I'm giving away The Best of CaféLit 6.  You will also find in this dropbox:·         An extract from Clara’s Story·         Some seminars for schools about The House on Schellberg Street·         Some fiction writing exercises·         The opening chapters from my manual for writing the young adult novel   Note, that normally my books and the books supplied by the imprints I manage, sell for anything form £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 we’re offering these free samples so that you can try before you buy.   
Happy reading and writing.

Fans, not friends and family

This is something I've also come across with my choir. We put on a grand concert for friends and family in a beautiful old Tudor hall in the town where we rehearse. There was some lovely music, gorgeous home-made cakes and glasses of wine. It was very well attended and the applause was warm.
We repeated it a few months later. It was quite well attended but the applause was a little less enthusiastic. When we offered a third one, hardly anyone came. Apparently they'd heard our repertoire. Choral music wasn't really their thing. There was a limit to how many times they could support us. On the other hand there's that couple who will travel 120 mile to hear us who don't mind at all that they have to listen to some firm favourites…
One writing friend of mine sold over 150 copies of one of our books in the first six weeks. When the second was launched, many of the same friends attended the launch but didn't buy the book. "We bought a copy of the last one," they said.  Yes they'd been proud that she'd been published but actually they weren't really bookish people. 
So, the trick is to find those people like the couple who adore choral music, who love your work, make sure they're on your mailing list and that it's easy for them to find and buy your books. When you think of it that way, too, isn't it also about writing something really special that speaks of your own particular brand?         

Writers' retreats

These days I tend to think I don't need them. I've had a daily writing habit now for many years and I mainly manage to stick to it. I've retired from the day job now and although I've somehow managed to fill my time, I've doubled my writing output and have an even stricter regime now that I still manage mainly to keep to. 
So, why would I need to go on a writers' retreat? 
I used to bookmark any I came across and dream of going to them. The contact with other writers they offered was very tempting. What about that one in France where you all meet on the patio in the evening for an aperitif before dining out in a local restaurant? Or that one where a resident writer gives you daily feedback on your work? Or the one way up in the Spanish mountains? Surely the views would inspire? 
When I first started writing seriously I was a Head of Modern Languages in a demanding secondary school and I was also studying for a Masters in Writing for Children. My writing mainly happened after 10.00 p.m. when I managed to get a second wind, at weekends, in the school holidays and when I was actually away on holiday. A retreat then would have been very handy.       I've actually enjoyed four retreats and they have all been quite surprising.  In the Austrian Alps   This was a home-made retreat. I took a week-long bargain holiday in a very well-appointed hotel and chose the half-board package. I didn't need to worry then about where I would eat.  Cafés were easy enough to find for lunch. 
I used this mainly to edit a young adult book.  The book had been placed second in a writing competition and the publisher who judged it thought it was worth working on more. It did become published and is in fact out now in second edition. 
I certainly got more work done that I would have at home. I also managed to do quite a lot of other things: swim and go for walks every day, meet up with some German friends, visit a German publisher and break a bone in my hand, thoroughly testing out the Austrian healthcare system with which I was most impressed.     
SCBWI  - near Taunton  This was off the beaten track, difficult to find, in the middle of nowhere, yet once we arrived, we were surprised by how many other buildings were nearby.  We had lovely weather and it did have and open air pool which we were able to enjoy. It also had a glorious, lush sloping lawn that we all longed to roll down but didn't quite dare to.
Yes, we did a lot of writing. It was good also to be connected with other writers. The bar opened before dinner and after dinner we shared work. We also had talks by a published picture book writer and an editor from a children's imprint. On the whole it was a very productive few days.
Retreats for You   I attended this with two colleagues, the mum of one of them and with my friend and business partner, Debz Hobbs-Wyatt.  There was only one other guest and she fitted in with us very well. The superb home cooking made this one a delight. Six o'clock is wine o' clock and the hostess delivers a glass of wine to your desk.  
There is plenty of time to chat over meals and around the log fire in the evening. Debz and I even went to the pub one evening – it is conveniently right opposite the retreat. 
Again we went for walks and runs as well as spending a lot of time writing. 
I was pleased to note as well that some other writers I knew had been there the week before.  Interestingly one project I worked on whilst there gained a gold award form my publisher. This means I get 15% royalties. 
Maybe being on retreat helps me to write better, if not more, so might be worth it even for hardened writers like me.            
Gladstone'sLibrary with SCBWI North West   I attended this retreat immediately after I retired from the University of Salford. So yes, I provided the cava. You can book into Gladstone's as an individual. This includes meals and snacks and there are tea and coffee making facilities in the rooms. There are no televisions in the rooms but digital radios. Some people like to have music on in the background when they're writing.  There are many delightful places to write – in your room, in the library, or, if the weather is fine, in the grounds.  Our writing sessions were punctuated by activities together, meals and walks, of which there are many nearby. In the evenings we gathered in the cosy lounge which has an honesty-box bar and a log fire. It did kick start me into my new regime. Despite the breaks I completed a lot of writing and found a sharper pace.  
An old dream I used to dream of owning a big house and offering writing retreats.  Now, I'm not so sure I have the energy. However, I have been invited to act as a tutor on a fully-catered retreat and I'm looking forward to that. On balance, I would say that even for established writers there is much merit in occasionally going on retreat.        

An Interview With Alyson Faye

We (Chapeltown Books) have just published Alyson's Badlands. In celebration of this event I've invited Alyson to my blog.





What do you write? Why this? I write in a range of genres and lengths. I began writing poetry and children’s books, because I tutored children I would read my stories to them. In the last few years I have turned to writing Flash Fiction, (stories under 1000 words), much of them are dark in tone. But I also write 3000 word stories, often supernatural; I love M R James, time slip novels and films like ‘The Innocents.’
What got you writing in the first place?
I was a bookish child; who visited the library a lot. When I was recovering from a serious illness in the mid 1990’s I started to write poetry to help myself heal. Telling stories is exciting, engrossing and wonderful escapism. It is life without the boring bits!
Do you have a particular routine?I am an owl- so much of my writing is done later in the day or into the early hours of the morning. I write/edit/blog/ most days if only for half an hour or so, but sometimes if I am gripped by a particular story I want to tell I will keep going for hours at a time. I like to work to deadlines, they prompt me to finalize a piece.
Do you have a dedicated working space? I write in the 3rd room in our bungalow, which is more of a nook really. I keyboard my fiction on a p.c.  my husband has rehabbed for me, facing a wall covered in pictures and postcards and drawings which are a self made collage representing my interests and overlap with my projects.
When did you decide you could call yourself a writer? Do you do that in fact? Interesting question. I thinkof myself as a writer since my fiction has been published increasingly over the last two years or so and I have given more time to it. I am growing into the title and since I started teaching creative writing classes last year I am identifying myself to the outside world more as a writer.
How supportive are your friends and family? Do they understand what you’re doing? My husband is very supportive. He is my tech. go to guy. He’s delighted I have rediscovered my writing mojo. My son is a typical teenager, but he listens to me maunder on and says ‘Well done mum.’ A couple of my friends are so supportive they signed up to my writing classes! Which is amazing of them. Most are a bit interested and will ask what I’m working on.


What are you most proud of in your writing? Tough one this- that I have stuck at it for the last few years, of the projects I have completed, that I have improved as an editor of my own work, that I still want to do more. I love my work being published too. I get such a buzz from that.

 How do you get on with editing and research?I have worked hard at improving my proofreading and editing skills, read books, gone online, used editing tools. It is an ongoing journey of learning. I enjoy researching any facts or historical info I need but I was a history teacher in a former life.
Do you have any goals for the future? Yes I do. I have a blog and I have listed there my goals for 2018! I have short term goals like keeping on writing and getting published. I have long term goals like putting a collection of my ghost stories together and perhaps finding a publisher for my YA time slip novel.
Which writers have inspired you? Many- from my youth, Penelope Lively and Susan Cooper, Robert Westall; reading at O level poet Wilfred Owen, Liza Cody, Sara Paretsky, Harper Lee, Carol Goodman, Sarah Rayne, latterly Alison Littlewood for her horror /supernatural novels. I think I probably read more women authors than men!!
Click on the picture below to find out more about Badlands.  
  

Citizens of Nowhere

This book will remain a favourite of mine for a long time, I think. Its sub-title is "stories of the global citizen".  Sound familiar? Yes, that's right, our dear Prime Minister claimed that people who declared themselves to be "global citizens" were in fact "citizens of nowhere".  Sorry, Madam May, I can't help but be a global citizen and perhaps ironically it was my Grammar School education and then my time at a Russell Group university that encouraged me to think that way. So what the heck is going on here? You educate me to be one way and then tell me that way is not valid? 
You see, I have too much of other cultures rubbed off on me to belong just to one. You'll find more about this in the introduction to the book. 
Madam May implies that the global citizen has no loyalty to a community. I argue that the global citizen is in fact loyal to a bigger community. That of the world or even the universe.  
I'm happy to have been one of two editors on this collection. I'm also pleased to have a story in the book. ' The Wedding Next Door' is inspired by some things I noticed  when I was a teenager. It isn't a true story but it is a true reflection of how life was in the 1960s in the West Midlands. 
We approached some writers we knew who we thought might feel the same way as we did. Some stories just made their way to us. Thus we have stories from Ea Anderson, Jenifer Burkinshaw, Sarah Dobbs, Vanessa Gebbie, Alan Gibbons, Vanessa Harbour, Debz Hobbs-Wyatt, Matevž Hönn, Gill James (that’s me), Karen Kendrick and Jenny Palmer.  
There's a great deal of interpretation of what the global citizen is and they all beat May's idea.
I'm happy to give you one at my own expense to throw at your MP. Just contact me if you'd like that. 
Not that we're being political. We're just doing what writers have always done: showing our readers what the world looks like to us. We see it as full of global citizens.       

New 31 December 2017

Wishing all of my followers the best for 2018

So now the old year is ending and the new one is just about to begin. I'm pleased to have had a few short stories published and one academic paper. I'm enjoying working on my first play script and The House of Clementine, my fourth novel in the Peace Child series is now beginning to flow. For my birthday I was given the Scrivenersoftware package. I'm still getting used to driving it but I've already completed one whole project in it - a short story – and I've transferred The House of Clementine and The House on Schellberg Street (play script) into it. I can see how it helps with planning and keeping track of parts of the story. I love the synopsis feature and the fact that you can attach key words to any section you write. It's also so easy to reorder your work.There's still a lot I have to learn, but so far I'm loving it.  I've also almost finished my book on marketing. Many of you on this list will soon receive that as a gift.            1940s Group I've personally found Virginia Woolf's diaries interesting. They're informative anyway for any writer. They show much of her process and a lot is very familiar even though she was from another time. The later entries are all set in the 1940s and she provides a vivid though intriguingly matter-of-fact view of living in England during World War II. She and her husband lost their house on Tavistock Square. Her last entry was 8 March 1941 and she committed suicide on 28 March 1941.  Read it here.   Recently also for this group I've been sourcing other books set in the 1940s. There are a lot of these and some of them are better than others. We're really looking for stories and even pieces of non-fiction that give us insight into the era. If they're well written and engaging as well, so much the better.  This is a Facebook group for those of us who write about the 1940s. This group is for all people who write about the 1940s. Fiction and non-fiction, for young and old. Topics might then be: the Holocaust, World War II, Civilian Experience (all sides) and the battle front. We can exchange ideas about research and marketing. We may promote books and stories, - the last day of every month and on launch / release day. In particular, we might work together to make use of the many 1940s' weekends that take place.If you feel that is you, do join us: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2026868870924138/         Dreamteam The Dream Team continues to grow. Find members here.     This is a personal recommendation. Initially I intend to use my Dream Team a lot myself but gradually I would add in people that friends and friends of friends have recommended. What happens? You sign up to a mailing list and every time a request comes in we mail it out to you or the enquirer contacts you directly via my web site. The conversation then carries on between you and the person making the request. You may also have a page set up on my blog and you may update that once a year.  Interested? You may sign up for more than one category.  Beta readers sign up here.Reviewers sign up here. Editors sign up here.Illustrators sign up here.Designers sign up here.Proof-readers sing up here.    DO REMEMBER THAT AT ANY TIME YOU’RE APPROACHED AND YOU’RE BUSY IT’S PERFECTLY FINE TO SAY NO.        Bridge House Big news. From tomorrow we're accepting submissions for our 2018 anthology. The theme this time is Crackers. We don't mean just the Christmas sort. We're looking for stories that amuse, certainly, though. It would be good to have a few that give us great big belly laughs, but also welcome those that just make you smile. Another interpretation of "crackers" might be madness. So think Black Mirror, Inside Number 9, Kafka's Trial, Yes Minister, Yes Prime Minister, Catch 22. Got one of those in you? Give it a go! Full submission details here.         We're getting quite a few books out now. Here are the details about our latest books and the links to buy them on Amazon.  Debz's Canvey Island writers' group, Tales from the Upper Room, retails at £7.00. £1.50 from every sale goes to the Havens Hospices www.Havenshhospices.org.uk . You can find it here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tales-Upper-Room-Janice-Gilbert/dp/1907335196      Glit-er-ary is our 2017 anthology. Quote from the back blurb: "You will learn that all that glitters is most certainly not gold. The stories are funny, sad, poignant …. The glitter comes in shades of dark and light. Find it here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Glit-er-ary-Debz-Hobbs-Wyatt-ebook/dp/B077DV848P/Then there is Citizens of Nowhere. I'll confess that Theresa May both infuriated and inspired me when she said that global citizens are citizens of nowhere. What a great title for a book. So, I approached several writers I know who I thought might feel the same. Not all of them had the time or the inspiration but several have contributed. A few stories that were submitted to Glit-er-ary seemed more suitable for this collection. Jenny Palmer also has a story in here. This will be the fourth time that we've published this one. She is on the CaféLit site, in the Best of CaféLit, in her own collection and in this book. Debz and I have also put our money where our mouths are. We each have a story in the anthology. Find it here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Citizens-Nowhere-Gill-James-ebook/dp/B077DD7XN3/  Whatever your politics are, you shouldn't find anything to offend here but maybe something to make you sad, to give you hope or to make you think.    We've produced a couple of book trailers. Do take a look and share them. https://youtu.be/HFozQ40FyUI https://youtu.be/5JJQ85cPqkk
We’re getting plenty of interest in our single-author collections. These are for authors we’ve published before and they may include stories we’ve already published, ones they’ve had published elsewhere and new ones. The description for this is now on the web site. We’ve already had some enquiries and we’re currently working on several anthologies.  You may recycle stories we’ve already included in another anthology, and you may reedit these if you wish. You may also add in new stories. We’re aiming at a total word count of between 30,000 and 70,000 words.  Dawn Knox's Extraordinary is now out. It is available here. If you’re interested in having a single author collection, contact me here.    Also in progress are collections by Paul Bradley, Phyllis Burton, Jesse Falzoi, Jenny Palmer, Dianne Stadhams and Paul Williams. Several other Bridge House authors have applied and they're in a bit of a queue but I'm sure we'll accept them. After all we know them.         CafeLit Stories are now all being posted at 4.00 p,m, Afternoon Teatime,  Kaffee and Kuchen time and it's also when the kids are home from school. Just the right time for a cuppa and a good story. We're getting quite a few submissions now but still not quite up to one a day. Sadly, of course, we have to reject some. In December we had stories from Gail Aldwin, Sharon Boothroyd, Alan Cadman, Nichola Cavalier, Derek Corbett, Ann Dixon, Dawn Knox, Roger Noons, Jenny Palmer, Allison Symes, Sandy Wilson and Robin Wrigley. There's one of mine in there, too. We managed to get one for every day of Advent.  Onwards! Let's keep up the momentum and get one out a day in 2018. Have a go and let all of your other writing friends know. We're always open to submissions. Find out to submit here. Remember, this gives you some exposure, you can add in a short CV each time, and there's always the chance that your work might be accepted for the annual anthology.    The Best of CaféLit 6 has been produced and copies are on sale. As usual we welcome reviews. I can let you have a PDF or an e-mobi copy if you're willing to review. You can also buy copies here.   I'll shortly be working on The Best of CaféLit 7.  On offer for CaféLit authors is a page on our web site. See examples here.  The list is growing. Click on the names to find out more about the authors and to access their work. If you're a CaféLit author and would like a web page, use the ones there to get ideas. You need to send me between 250 and 350 words about yourself, an attractive image, a list of up to six publications, up to six awards and up to six links. I then also link the page to your stories on CaféLit. Send to gill at cafelit dot co dot uk.  I'm pleased to have added Gail Aldwin this month.        
ChapeltownI'm now trying to build up the Chapeltown readers list. I'm giving away a free copy of my January Stones 2013 to anyone who joins. See details here: http://www.chapeltownpublishing.uk/I'm also having an audio version of this book made. This is going well so far. If this continues to go well, we'll roll it out to other authors. The profit share will equal 10% of the cover price of the audio file.      Christopher Bowles' Spectrum, a challenging but very satisfying read. Again reviews welcome. The Kindle version was quite a challenge. He has some fabulous reviews. See them here. More are welcome. I can send you a PDF or mobi file. Be warned: there is some adult material in this. There is also a lot of beautiful writing. If you would like to buy the book, see details here.  You may also be interested to read that Christopher secured himself a new job recently. In the part of the interview where they wanted to know about other aspects of his life, he mentioned Spectrum and his performances. He will now be using this in his work.        Chapeltown has now successfully published its first picture book. Colin Wyatt’s Who will be my friend? – is a delightful story about friendship and accepting others. Yes, Colin is Debz’s dad. He is a Disney licensed illustrator and his previous publication is The Jet Set. We feel very honoured to have published him. The book is out now and available at https://www.amazon.co.uk/Who-Will-Be-My-Friend/dp/1910542121/ Reviews welcome. We can provide the PDF.  We’re very pleased with this book and now aim to publish more picture books. We're working on an illustrated book by Philippa Rae and we've offered two more contracts for picture books.   If you're interested in reviewing any of the above, just email me. Coming soon: work by Anusha VR, Gail Aldwin, Alyson Faye, Mandy Huggins and Roger Noons.  There are a couple waiting in the wings as well.  Chapeltown is now going to publish all of The Schellberg Cycle. A new version of The House on Schellberg Street is now available. Details are here. 
Creative CaféI've added just one new café this month and one a little closer to home than the other recent additions.  This is another one I found via Twitter. Take a look: http://www.creativecafeproject.org/2017/12/the-aylmer-pantry-highgate-london-n2-uk.html  I'm continuing my tour of creative cafés where I collect stories for an anthology. In some cases, writers may offer them and in others maybe customers may tell me their story and I'll write it for them. Do you know of a café that might be interested in this? Let me know if you do.         Remember you can now buy merchandise for the Creative Café project. The profit on anything you buy here goes to the Creative Café Project. Check this out here.    We’re always looking for new cafés.  If you visit one of the cafés in the project and would like to write a review of between 250 and 350 words – nice, too, to have a couple of pictures – send it to me here.Do the same if you find a new café. I’m also now proactively encouraging cafes to stock The Best of CaféLit. Do you know anyone who might like to stock it? We can offer a 35% discount to retailers. Query gill at cafelit dot co dot uk.      The Red Telephone Our mentoring programme is now full. I’m working quite closely with three very different authors: Charlotte Comley, Dianne Stadhams, and Nina Wadcock. They are all presenting some fascinating material. University of Salford graduates Lauren Hopes and Christian Leah have also joined our happy band.        I was delighted to see Lauren at our recent Celebration Event in London. She read from her novel.
Book tours If you’re a Bridge House / Red Telephone / CaféLit / Chapeltown author and you want to get serious about book tours, consider our author’s kit. We provide twenty or so books (exact number is up for negotiation) you take to the bookshop and the bookshop can put these through the till. We then invoice the bookshop, with a 35% discount for any sold and top up your supply to twenty. At the end of the tour you can either pay for the remaining books at cost + 10% or keep them until you’ve sold them and then pay the normal price of 75% of RRP. The latter can in any case be set against royalties. You need to allow at least ten days between events. We must be able to invoice a retailer later for this to work. Contact me hereif you’re interested in this.           
School Visits I’m 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. I did a presentation about my work on this at the 2017 NAWE Conference.  It became apparent as I talked and partly from the reaction of one of the delegates that the workshop has more impact than the book. Mind you, that had partly been the intention. 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. It is now possible to purchase the kit to work on on your own. Find details here.Please remember, with these as well, I’m open to negotiation if you can’t afford the full price.  Upcoming eventsMore specific details of the following will be posted later.I'm hoping to run a workshop on marketing for indie writers / publishers. This will be free of charge but you may make a donation if you wish. This will enable me to put on further events. A Pushing Boundaries, Flying Higher Master Class about writing the young adult novel.Manchester event in the summer.London event 1 December 2018 (Save the date!) Past eventsOur event on 2 December at the Princess of Wales went well though twenty delegates had to pull out, all for good reasons: illness, awkward trains, family problems, job inductions etc. and I too suffered from "awkward trains". Nevertheless, we all had a great time. We also sold half of our stock of books within the first five minutes and quite a bit more later on. I didn't have to bring all that much back home. I actually managed to join in the "speed-dating" this time. The little bell that I bought worked really hard. She is a young woman in a crinoline dress. Esmeralda. It was good to put names to faces. I read a little too from January Stones. We also had readings from Margaret Bulleyment, Penny Dale, Shanta Everington, Lauren Hopes, Dawn Knox, Paula Readman, Allison Symes and Robin Wrigley.              Writing opportunities 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.    I have recently revamped the way this works and made it much more user friendly. Let me know what you think.  Current reading recommendation The Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman  Well of course it was going to be good. What else would we expect? Interestingly I did not initially take to Northern Lights, the first book in Philip Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy. It was recommended by my tutor on the Southampton University run Writers' Register. I could see it was well written but it didn't engage me. However, The Subtle Knife did, partly because there were some scenes in Winchester, where I was at the time studying for my MA in Writing for Children, and on the same course was one Marcus Parry who had a son called Will – the same age as Pullman's Will Parry. By the time The Amber Spyglass appeared I was well and truly hooked. I insisted that my husband should read the Dark Materials books. He has a PhD in particle physics. He grumbled when he started reading them. He couldn't get enough sleep. He couldn't put them down. I was given this first volume of The Book of Dust by my son for my birthday. I read it over the Christmas holidays. Pullman has done it again. The setting is strong. The characters are well drawn. There is plenty of pace and tension. There is also enough to keep many a particle physicist awake at night. I enjoyed reading this big hardback version of the book. Often I struggle holding these but this one worked. It opened easily and the font was clear and big enough. Recommended.  Find it here.              
   Calling all writersI'm running an occasional series of interviews on my blog. Take a look at my interview with Allison Symes and Dawn Knox.  If you would like to be on my blog just answer the questions below and send them with appropriate images to gill dot james at btinternet dot com. Please feel free to pick and choose which of these to answer.  1.      What do you write? Why this in particular?  2.      What got you started on writing in the first place?3.      Do you have a particular routine?  4.      Do you have a dedicated working space? 5.      When did you decide you could call yourself a writer? Do you do that in fact? 6.      How supportive are your friends and family? Do they understand what you're doing? 7.      What are you most proud of in your writing? 8.      How do you get on with editing and research?9.      Do you have any goals for the future? 10.  Which writers have inspired you?Please write as much or as little as you like for each section and supply as many pictures as you like. Also let me know your latest publication and supply me with a link if it's not on Amazon.                           Giveaway This month I'm giving away January Stones, my own collection of Flash Fiction. Sign up to have this Newsletter drop into your inbox.    You will also find in this dropbox:·         An extract from Clara’s Story·         Some seminars for schools about The House on Schellberg Street·         Some fiction writing exercises·         The opening chapters from my manual for writing the young adult novel   Note, that normally my books and the books supplied by the imprints I manage, sell for anything form £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 we’re offering these free samples so that you can try before you buy.   
Sign up here.  Happy reading and writing.

Getting Glit-er-ary out

As usual it was very rewarding getting out the annual Bridge House anthology.  Each year we choose what sounds like a Christmas theme and then subvert it. So this time, whilst we had several stories that mention the word "glitter" there are several where the glitter only comes  "in shades of dark and light" (quote from back cover blurb). 
As ever it's great to welcome new writers and ones we've published before. We have quite an impressive list: Gail Aldwin, Sally Angell, Mary Bevan, Christopher Bowles, Margaret Bulleyment, Elizabeth Cox, L G Flannigan, Yasmina Floyer, Linda Flynn, A J Humphrey, Catrin Kean, Stuart Larner, Cathy Leonard, Kate Lowe, Michael O'Connor, Paula R C Readman, Deborah Rickard, L F Roth, Theresa Sainsbury, Dianne Stadhams, Julie Swan, David Trebus, Clare Weze and S. Nadja Zajdman.
Again we looked for 24 stories and we're releasing an extract of one a day throughout Advent. See them here:https://bridgehousepublishing.blogspot.co.uk/     Several of us met at our annual celebration, held this time on 2 December at the Princess of Wales pub, Chalk Farm. A good time was had by all though disappointingly twenty people had to cancel at the last minute. I hasten to add this was mainly for very good reasons and couldn't be helped: family problems, illness, awkward trains and work. 



As popular as ever was the speed-dating session where delegates try to get around to speak to as many people as possible. I've invested in a little brass bell, shaped like a lady in a crinoline dress. She did us proud, and despite only having about thirty people rather than the expected fifty we sold all but a handful of the books I'd brought along. It was good listening to people read their work.            It's a really nice book, even though I shouldn't be the one to say that. It certainly wasn't a chore editing and proof-reading. It gave me a real chance to read some exceptionally good stories.
The next call for submission goes live 1 January 2018. Our theme this time is "crackers" – so funny stories or somewhat nutty ones. Pathos is welcome also. However, the cover will not contain a Christmas cracker.
Here are our general guidelines:
We open for submissions for a yearly anthology of short stories on January 1st each year until March 31st. Check http://bridgehousepublishing.co.uk/index.php/call-for-new-submissionsNew writers, established writers and writers we've included in other anthologies are all equally welcome.  
TimelineSubmissions accepted January 1st until 31 March Editors' decisions By 30 June or thereabouts!Editorial 1 July until 30 SeptemberBook design and early marketing 1 October until 14 November Book release around15 November Celebration event around 2 December Please send your submission as a Word attachment to editor@bridgehousepublishing.co.uk In the body of the email say a little about yourself. In the subject line, please put your name and the title of your story. Texts should be:Between 1,000 and 5,000 words
Previously unpublished
Double-spaced (Please do not put an extra double-space between paragraphs but do indent new paragraphs – use the Word paragraph settings to set this up)
In a regular font – e.g. Times New Roman or Arial, 12 point
In the header include the name by which you would like to be known and the title of the text. In the footer please include your legal name and full contact details, including your preferred email address and telephone number. Please use the header and footer function in Word to create headers and footers.Please add a third person bio at the end of your text – between 50 and 70 words and include a URL if you wish. Please adhere to these guidelines even if they sound pernickety – it really helps us if you submit this way. Although we wouldn’t necessarily reject your story if it was fantastic and you’d done something a little out of kilter, if you’re borderline or your story is very similar to another this could be a deciding factor.    Looking forward to reading some great new stories in 2018. 

News 4 December 2017

News about my writing   I've made a big decision about my writing: I am now going to self-publish. The House on Schellberg Street goes out of print on 8 December. I'm trying to get a new edition out for the 9 December and it's looking as if it will happen. In the meantime, Clara's Story is out with an editor and I'm aiming for that to come out in March. I have two further novels in the cycle ready and will release them at timely intervals. I'll soon be writing the fifth and sixth. The play is complete and will soon be ready for others to look at. These books have such a niche market. If I have full control of the books it's easier to work with that niche market.Self-publishing is now much more respected. It also seems a little odd not to have faith in my own publishing house. It seems right to publish my own work there. It's like saying "This is good enough for me as well."In a roundabout way I've done reasonably well financially with my writing. I earned well during my ten years at the University of Salford, especially after I was promoted to become a senior lecturer. There has also been some income from royalties, school visits, Public Lending Right and the Authors Licensing and Collecting Agency. I've now retired from the university though do a little teaching for them now and then. I'm left with the state pension, my teaching pension and my university pension. The royalties, school visits, and the PLR and ALCS payments continue. I'm not rich and famous but I'm not poor either.I also have to remember that every year at the University of Salford we've had Conrad Jones speak to our students on this very matter.Talks at the recent ALCS and Society of Authors AGMs also reinforced the idea.Meanwhile I'm also continuing my work on a fourth Peace Child book and now have a title: The House of Clementine. I've been struggling with this one but it's beginning to work.          1940s Group Recently for this group I've been sourcing other books set in the 1940s. There are a lot of these and some of them are better than others. We're really looking for stories and even pieces of non-fiction that give us insight into the era. If they're well written and engaging as well, so much the better.  This is a Facebook group for those of us who write about the 1940s. This group is for all people who write about the 1940s. Fiction and non-fiction, for young and old. Topics might then be: the Holocaust, World War II, Civilian Experience (all sides) and the battle front. We can exchange ideas about research and marketing. We may promote books and stories, - the last day of every month and on launch / release day. In particular, we might work together to make use of the many 1940s' weekends that take place.If you feel that is you, do join us: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2026868870924138/         Dreamteam The Dream Team continues to grow. The other Friday I was on an excellent course on using social media for marketing. Two seats away was Catherine Lansdale, former art teacher who is now illustrating children's books. See what else Catherine does here.   Other people include: Roger Noons, Alyson Rhodes, Bartosz Milewski, and Karda Zenko. Do take a look at what they can offer. There are a few others on the site, too. Find them here.     This is a personal recommendation. Initially I intend to use my Dream Team a lot myself but gradually I would add in people that friends and friends of friends have recommended. What happens? You sign up to a mailing list and every time a request comes in we mail it out to you or the enquirer contacts you directly via my web site. The conversation then carries on between you and the person making the request. You may also have a page set up on my blog and you may update that once a year.  Interested? You may sign up for more than one category.  Beta readers sign up here.Reviewers sign up here. Editors sign up here.Illustrators sign up here.Designers sign up here.Proof-readers sing up here.    DO REMEMBER THAT AT ANY TIME YOU’RE APPROACHED AND YOU’RE BUSY IT’S PERFECTLY FINE TO SAY NO.        Bridge House We have had pretty well three books come out at once. As ever, we welcome reviews. I can send you the mobi-file for your Kindle or a PDF if you prefer. It's great then if you can post a review on Amazon, Good Reads and on your own web site and / or blog. A book needs 50 reviews for Amazon to start promoting it. Of course we also welcome more book sales. Here are a few details about the books and the links to buy them on Amazon.  Debz's Canvey Island writers' group, Tales from the Upper Room, retails at £7.00. £1.50 from every sale goes to the Havens Hospices www.Havenshhospices.org.uk . You can find it here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tales-Upper-Room-Janice-Gilbert/dp/1907335196     Glit-er-ary is also good to go. Quote from the back blurb: "You will learn that all that glitters is most certainly not gold. The stories are funny, sad, poignant …. The glitter comes in shades of dark and light. Find it here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Glit-er-ary-Debz-Hobbs-Wyatt-ebook/dp/B077DV848P/Then there is Citizens of Nowhere. I'll confess that Theresa May both infuriated and inspired me when she said that global citizens are citizens of nowhere. What a great title for a book. So, I approached several writers I know who I thought might feel the same. Not all of them had the time or the inspiration but several have contributed. A few stories that were submitted to Glit-er-ary seemed more suitable for this collection. Jenny Palmer also has a story in here. This will be the fourth time that we've published this one. She is on the CaféLit site, in the Best of CaféLit, in her own collection and in this book. Debz and I have also put our money where our mouths are. We each have a story in the anthology. Find it here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Citizens-Nowhere-Gill-James-ebook/dp/B077DD7XN3/  Honestly, whatever your politics are, you shouldn't find anything to offend here but maybe something to make you sad, to give you hope or to make you think.    We've produced a couple of book trailers. Do take a look and share them. https://youtu.be/HFozQ40FyUI https://youtu.be/5JJQ85cPqkk
We’re getting plenty of interest in our single-author collections. These are for authors we’ve published before and they may include stories we’ve already published, ones they’ve had published elsewhere and new ones. The description for this is now on the web site. We’ve already had some enquiries and we’re currently working on several anthologies.  You may recycle stories we’ve already included in another anthology, and you may reedit these if you wish. You may also add in new stories. We’re aiming at a total word count of between 30,000 and 70,000 words.  Dawn Knox's Extraordinary is now out. It is available here. If you’re interested in having a single author collection, contact me here.    Also in progress are collections by Paul Bradley, Phyllis Burton, Jesse Falzoi, Jenny Palmer, Dianne Stadhams and Paul Williams. AND NOW A HEADS-UP ABOUT NEXT YEAR. Our theme is Crackers. Not necessarily the Christmas variety. We want stories that make you smile or laugh. They can include pathos – remember the story about the girls who had her hair cut to pay for her husband's watch to be repaired? Whilst he sold the watch in order to buy some pretty combs she'd wanted for her hair? Or something that gives you a great big belly-laugh. Ot mayb something tha is just plain nuts. We're not accepting submissions until 1 January but at least you can get ahead of the game by thinking about it now.        CafeLit An urgent request. I still need a few Advent / Christmas stories. Tell all of your writing friends.  If we get too many, we can programme ahead for Christmas 2018. I'm still also keen to get a story a day out.   Stories are now all being will be posted at 4.00 p,m, Afternoon Teatime,  Kaffee and Kuchen time and it's also when the kids are home from school. Just the right time for a cuppa and a good story. We're getting quite a few submissions now but still not quite up to one a day. Sadly, of course, we have to reject some. In November, we had stories from Glenn Bresciani, Angela Haffenden,  Sarah Howlett, Dawn Knox, Roger Noons, Allison Symes, Alun Williams, Lisa Williams and Robin Wrigley. There were sixteen stories in total, so I'm half way towards my goal.  We're always open to submissions. Find out to submit here. Remember, this gives you some exposure, you can add in a short CV each time, and there's always the chance that your work might be accepted for the annual anthology.    The Best of CaféLit 6 has been produced and copies are on sale. As usual we welcome reviews. I can let you have a PDF or an e-mobi copy if you're willing to review. You can also buy copies here.   On offer for CaféLit authors is a page on our web site. See examples here.  The list is growing. Click on the names to find out more about the authors and to access their work. If you're a CaféLit author and would like a web page, use the ones there to get ideas. You need to send me between 250 and 350 words about yourself, an attractive image, a list of up to six publications, up to six awards and up to six links. I then also link the page to your stories on CaféLit. Send to gill at cafelit dot co dot uk.         
ChapeltownI'm now trying to build up the Chapeltown readers list. I'm giving away a free copy of my January Stones 2013 to anyone who joins. See details here: http://www.chapeltownpublishing.uk/I'm also having an audio version of this book made. This is going well so far. If this continues to go well, we'll roll it out to other authors. The profit share will equal 10% of the cover price of the audio file.      Christopher Bowles' Spectrum, a challenging but very satisfying read. Again reviews welcome. The Kindle version was quite a challenge. He has some fabulous reviews. See them here. More are welcome. I can send you a PDF or mobi file. Be warned: there is some adult material in this. There is also a lot of beautiful writing. If you would like to buy the book, see details here.  You may also be interested to read that Christopher secured himself a new job recently. In the part of the interview where they wanted to know about other aspects of his life, he mentioned Spectrum and his performances. He will now be using this in his work.        Chapeltown has now successfully published its first picture book. Colin Wyatt’s Who will be my friend? – is a delightful story about friendship and accepting others. Yes, Colin is Debz’s dad. He is a Disney licensed illustrator and his previous publication is The Jet Set. We feel very honoured to have published him. The book is out now and available at https://www.amazon.co.uk/Who-Will-Be-My-Friend/dp/1910542121/ Reviews welcome. We can provide the PDF.  We’re very pleased with this book and now aim to publish more picture books. We're working on an illustrated book by Philippa Rae and we've offered two more contracts for picture books.   If you're interested in reviewing any of the above, just email me. Coming soon: work by Anusha VR, Gail Aldwin,  Mandy Huggins and Roger Noons.   
Creative CaféI've added two cafés from the US IN November. The Arts at the Armory Café  http://www.creativecafeproject.org/2017/11/arts-at-armory-somerville-ma-usa.htmloffers a really big range of creative café activities so we've been able to extend our repertoire. The Inspire Café, in Dubuque, http://www.creativecafeproject.org/2017/11/inspire-care-dubuque-ia-usa.htmlalso offers a couple of new activities: inspirational speakers and space for hire.     I've restarted my tour of creative cafés where I collect stories for an anthology. In some cases, writers may offer them and in others maybe customers may tell me their story and I'll write it for them. Do you know of a café that might be interested in this? Let me know if you do.         Remember you can now buy merchandise for the Creative Café project. The profit on anything you buy here goes to the Creative Café Project. Check this out here.    We’re always looking for new cafés.  If you visit one of the cafés in the projectand would like to write a review of between 250 and 350 words – nice, too, to have a couple of pictures – send it to me here.Do the same if you find a new café. I’m also now proactively encouraging cafes to stock The Best of CaféLit. Do you know anyone who might like to stock it? We can offer a 35% discount to retailers. Query gill at cafelit dot co dot uk.      The Red Telephone Our mentoring programme is now full. I’m working quite closely with three very different authors: Charlotte Comley, Dianne Stadhams, and Nina Wadcock. They are all presenting some fascinating material. University of Salford graduates Lauren Hopes and Christian Leah have also joined our happy band.        I was delighted to see Lauren at our recent Celebration Event in London. She read from her novel.
Book tours If you’re a Bridge House / Red Telephone / CaféLit / Chapeltown author and you want to get serious about book tours, consider our author’s kit. We provide twenty or so books (exact number is up for negotiation) you take to the bookshop and the bookshop can put these through the till. We then invoice the bookshop, with a 35% discount for any sold and top up your supply to twenty. At the end of the tour you can either pay for the remaining books at cost + 10% or keep them until you’ve sold them and then pay the normal price of 75% of RRP. The latter can in any case be set against royalties. You need to allow at least ten days between events. Contact me here if you’re interested in this.           
School Visits I’m 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. I did a presentation about my work on this at the 2017 NAWE Conference.  It became apparent as I talked and partly from the reaction of one of the delegates that the workshop has more impact than the book. Mind you, that had partly been the intention. 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. It is now possible to purchase the kit to work on on your own. Find details here.Please remember, with these as well, I’m open to negotiation if you can’t afford the full price.  Upcoming eventsMore specific details of the following will be posted later.I'm hoping to run a workshop on marketing for indie writers / publishers. This will be free of charge but you may make a donation if you wish. This will enable me to put on further events. A Pushing Boundaries, Flying Higher Master Class about writing the young adult novel.Manchester event in the summer.London event 1 December 2018 (Save the date!) Past events Some of our successful writers
Yours truly reading
Speed-dating Our event on 2 December at the Princess of Wales went well though twenty delegates had to pull out, all for good reasons: illness, awkward trains, family problems, job inductions etc. and I too suffered from "awkward trains". Nevertheless, we all had a great time. We also sold half of our stock of books within the first five minutes. I didn't have to bring all that much back home. I actually managed to join in the "speed-dating" this time. The little bell that I bought worked really hard. She is a young woman in a crinoline dress. Esmeralda. It was good to put names to faces. I read a little too from January Stones. We also had readings from Margaret Bulleyment, Penny Dale, Shanta Everington, Lauren Hopes, Dawn Knox, Paula Readman, Allison Symes and Robin Wrigley.              Writing opportunities 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.    I have recently revamped the way this works and made it much more user friendly. Let me know what you think.  Current reading recommendation Kid Gloves by Adam Mars-Jones I shouldn't have liked this book but I did. It's supposed to be a biography or memoire but it's more of an auto-biography. It's sub-titled AVoyage around My Father. It doesn't use the fiction-style narrative I prefer for such works. In fact it's one continuous narrative. I'm not even all that interested in the type of family that Adam Mars-Jones describes, though the details about the flat in Gray's Inn are fascinating. The book is awkward to hold.And yet I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Mars-Jones writes in a very engaging voice. I have the hardback version and it is truly a beautiful book. Find it here.      Calling all writersI'm running an occasional series of interviews on my blog. Take a look at my interview with Allison Symes and Dawn Knox.  If you would like to be on my blog just answer the questions below and send them with appropriate images to gill dot james at btinternet dot com. Please feel free to pick and choose which of these to answer.  1.      What do you write? Why this in particular?  2.      What got you started on writing in the first place?3.      Do you have a particular routine?  4.      Do you have a dedicated working space? 5.      When did you decide you could call yourself a writer? Do you do that in fact? 6.      How supportive are your friends and family? Do they understand what you're doing? 7.      What are you most proud of in your writing? 8.      How do you get on with editing and research?9.      Do you have any goals for the future? 10.  Which writers have inspired you?Please write as much or as little as you like for each section and supply as many pictures as you like. Also let me know your latest publication and supply me with a link if it's not on Amazon.                           Giveaway This month I'm giving away The Best of CafeLit 5.  Download here.  You will also find in this dropbox:·         An extract from Clara’s Story·         Some seminars for schools about The House on Schellberg Street·         Some fiction writing exercises·         The opening chapters from my manual for writing the young adult novel   Note, that normally my books and the books supplied by the imprints I manage, sell for anything form £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 we’re offering these free samples so that you can try before you buy.    Happy reading and writing.