Gill James's Blog, page 4

Waterloo Festival 2020 Writing Competiton - the anthology

I'm pleased to welcome today Hannah Retallick, another of our great writers who   contributed to this lovely anthology.   What do you write? Why this in particular?  I write short stories (literary fiction) and blog posts. I used to think of short stories as a ‘means to an end’, an early step before moving on to novels, but then I became hooked. Short forms are fascinating – anything from 5000 words right down to 10!  
      What got you started on writing in the first place? 
Stories. Since being read to as a child, I’ve always loved them and wanted to make up my own. My mum has said that I learnt to write almost before I could read. 
 Do you have a particular routine?  Erm, yes. It changes quite regularly though – does that count? I most often write in twenty-minute bursts because it tricks me into getting going, without freaking myself out.  
Do you have a dedicated working space? Yes. Wherever my laptop finds itself. It’s usually my desk or bed, or sometimes a little coffee shop (pre-Covid), because it makes me feel writerly! 
When did you decide you could call yourself a writer? Do you do that in fact? About five years ago, when I’d embarked on a Creative Writing course with the Open University, I realised that if I wanted people to view me as a writer, I had to view myself as a writer. (‘Embrace Your Creative Name’: What are you most proud of in your writing? I’m probably proudest whenever my writing helps someone. Occasionally I get messages from people saying that I’ve managed to express something they’ve always felt and could never put into words. In terms of external achievements, my first competition shortlisting was an amazing moment. 
How do you get on with editing and research? We enjoy each other’s company. I don’t like to spend too much time with Research, but I’m in love with Editing, even if he’s not to everyone’s taste.  
 Do you have any goals for the future? Hmm, considering I’m a planner by nature, my writing goals are surprisingly hazy. I love the process and mostly take it as it comes. I’m currently putting together a short story collection and a flash fiction collection, which I’m excited about. I’d also love to have a novel published and get into the top three of a short story competition. We’ll see! 
And now about your story in this collection    My story, ‘Book Club for the Elderly’, is about a retired lady who finds comfort and companionship in a group of mavericks.   
What inspired you to write this? This year’s competition theme, Transforming Communities. The opening came to me instantly: ‘Some people believe that a community consists of like-minded individuals. That’s what I thought too, until ours changed my mind.’ The whole story flowed out in one go, which is quite rare for me. I had forty minutes until I had to leave the house and desperately wanted to finish and edit it before then! I managed it, although I arrived at my friend’s looking a little flustered!  
How did you hear about the competition? I knew Gill James and Debz Hobbs-Wyatt already, as well as many of the writers, but I probably saw the link to the competition on Paula R C Readman’s Facebook group, ‘For Writers only, who write without Fear of Rejection’. I also had a story, ‘The Word Has It’, included in last year’s anthology, Transforming Being.  
Have you had any other success in short-story writing? I’ve been shortlisted in the Writing Awards at the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival, the Cambridge Short Story Prize, the Henshaw Short Story Competition June, and the Bedford International Writing Competition. I’ve also been published in paperbacks, in e-books, and online.  
What for you makes a good short story? A good short story lingers in your mind long after you finish reading it. I love the huge impact that can be made on a reader in only a few words.  
Do you have any tips for new writers or writers seeking publication? Read, read, read. Write, write, write. Hone your craft. Follow the publication/competition guidelines. Don’t give up. It’s as simple and as difficult as that. 
Hannah Retallick is a twenty-six-year-old from Anglesey, North Wales. She was home educated and then studied with the Open University, graduating with a First-class honours degree, BA in Humanities with Creative Writing and Music, before passing her Creative Writing MA with a Distinction. https://ihaveanideablog.wordpress.com/ 
An excerpt from Hannah's story: Book Club for the ElderlySome people believe that a community consists of likeminded individuals. That’s what I thought too, until ours changed my mind: Book Club for the Elderly. That isn’t the group’s official title, but it might as well be. It’s run by a smug young person for the purpose of staving off the inevitable loneliness and misery of the older generation. Pah! To be fair, though, I am that person: an old, lonely, misery. I’ve had a run of bad luck this year and it’s not even June – who knows what other traumas await me? Firstly, my dear grump, Robert, died after a long battle with a brain tumour. Secondly, my beloved cocker spaniel, Martin, a disgustingly stinky animal, also popped his clogs. His untimely demise somehow managed to extract more tears from me than my husband’s. Thirdly, my friends disappeared when my time and emotional energy were taken up with Robert’s illness. Tragic, I know. So, there I was, an old, lonely, misery, with no husband and no dog and nothing to do apart from read. The book club is advertised for retired people and takes place in a charming corner of Waterstones, a shop in which I spend as much time as possible, because they all know me in there and don’t mind when I treat the place like a library. To clarify, I don’t take the books home with me – I simply find a comfortable corner, read as much as possible before closing time, make a note of the page number on the back of a receipt, and return to it the following day.   

A Book Club Guide for 140 x 140

                                                

I enjoy the challenge of writing with restrictions. The challenge here was to write 140 pieces of short prose each 140 words long. The prompt was the first picture I saw on Twitter each day.

Construction

If you have mobile devices with you and Twitter accounts have a look at that now.  What’s the first picture you see? Does that tell a story? 

Themes

Various themes emerge in my collection:

AnthropomorphismCriminality FinancesLonelinessRelationships Sexuality Saving the planet Technology, The writer’s lifeWeather

And many more.  Can you suggest another couple of themes that are used?  Is there a predominant one in the whole collection? Do you have a favourite theme? 

 

Progression

The collection was started on 13 May 2014 and completed 11 March 2017. Do the pieces change in tone during that that time? In which way?

 

Shape

I always try to give my story shape. Can you pick three stories and find the shape in them.

I start with a hook, then have three or so growing complexities until we reach a crisis point, a point of no return.  The gap between that forms the climax. So we get:

Hook

Growing complexities

I23

Crisis point

            Climax

Resolution.

 

What do you like?

Pick three stories that you like and say why you like them.

 

Find the story  

Can you find the story?

A romance ends and roses are a comfort. School doesn’t seem like a good option but there’s a nice surprise waiting for TobyThis item makes some males look like a particular animal Writing a CV requires a lot of energy Pink beads and pipes

 

Homecoming 11 July 2014 Breakfast Club 2 September 2014Owly Eyes 6 April  2105  Power Cut 3 December 2015 Colours 23 October 016

 

What was the picture?

Pick five of the stories and suggest what might have been the picture that prompted them.  Can you draw or paint? Have a go at making a picture to go with one of the stories?

 

Have a go

Go back to Twitter. Can you write a story prompted by the first picture you see? Try to put a shape into it. Write for ten minutes and polish for ten minutes.  Can you make it exactly 140 words long?

 

Scavenger hunt

Who will be the first to find stories with the following items in them?

A flat cap TreesSpectaclesTimeAn innStoryWater BreakfastA sofaCooking
  

Another inteview with a Waterloo Festival Writing Competition Winner - Allison Symes

 Allison tells us about her life as a writer and her stories in the Waterloo collections.  1. What do you write? Why this in particular? I write flash fiction (up to 1000 words) and short stories (1500 +). I’ve always loved reading short fiction so writing it was a natural progression for me. Discovering flash fiction was a happy accident. I’d been writing stories (1500 words or so) for Cafelit when I spotted their 100-word challenge. I thought I’ve got to see if it can be done so I sent material in, they liked and published it, and I’ve been writing flash tales ever since. It is addictive! I love inventing people for stories. With flash you’ve got to do this all the time. So from my point of view win-win!
2. What got you started on writing in the first place?I’ve loved reading since I was tiny and owe a huge debt to my late mother who taught me to read before I started school. She was told off for it too - not that I minded! So the love of stories has been there for a very long time. I always enjoyed writing stories in English lessons when it was called “composition”. I guess I should have realized writing was in my blood a lot sooner than I did! It took a major birthday and the birth of my son that made me realise if I was going to write, I should get on and do some! I only wish I’d started much sooner than I did.
3. Do you have a particular routine? Most of my writing is done in the evening. I start by blogging on my Facebook author and book pages, then go on to write or edit my Chandler’s Ford Today post for the week. After that I am working on flash fiction or short stories. I also have longer term projects on the go which I focus more on at weekends. I also blog once a month on the Association of Christian Writers’ More Than Writers blog spot. I’ve also co-judged a flash fiction competition they ran and that was good fun and interesting to do. So sometimes things like this come into my “normal” routine and fit in around my other work. Never a dull moment and that’s how I like it! I am now also an editor so find having a routine for that lovely work, as well as my own creative writing, is important. I’m sure I get more done having a routine in place though I appreciate it may not work for everyone. All I know for sure is it does work for me!
4. Do you have a dedicated working space?Yes. I have a desk with printer and laptop on it. Close by is my writing diary and my dictionary. At the back of my desk is a nice pile of books which includes my flash fiction collection, From Light to Dark and Back Again, and the various anthologies I’ve been in over the years. I am very much looking forward to adding my copy of the Waterloo Arts Festival paperback to that pile!
5. When did you decide you could call yourself a writer? Do you do that in fact?I think it was when I started receiving acceptances for my stories on a reasonably regular basis. You suddenly wake up to the fact your writing has moved on and it was then I was happy to call myself a writer. I should have done this sooner. I’ve been committed to writing regularly and giving everything I do my best shot for a long time before I was published. I think commitment to writing is the important factor here. If you’ve got that, and you write regularly, you are a writer. Hopefully then it is a matter of time before you make the breakthrough into being a published writer. And having an open mind and always being willing to learn are vital too.



6. How supportive are your friends and family? Do they understand what you're doing?I am lucky here. My immediate family are supportive though they don’t always understand (a) what I’m doing and (b) how slow the publishing industry can be. That last point does strike people as strange when they work in industries where decisions are acted upon quickly. My family know writing is phenomenally important to me and back me. They are always pleased to hear when a new story or book of mine is out there. I’m fortunate there too. I have heard sad stories of writers whose families don’t support them, resent the time the writer is working, and don’t realise how important the “small steps” are for an author. It’s not all about getting the million dollar deal, which is just as well really!
7. What are you most proud of in your writing?I will always be proud of my first story to be accepted and published in print - A Helping Hand in Bridge House Publishing’s Alternative Renditions anthology. That first publication acceptance is always special. Likewise, I’m proud of From Light to Dark and Back Again, my first published book (Chapeltown Books). I am most proud of my characters, even the unlikeable ones. I do outline and plan my characters and know where they are coming from, even when I disapprove of what they do. (I can think of a few of my people I would NOT want to meet for real!). So I think I can write for them realistically and that comes across to a reader.
8. How do you get on with editing and research?I love both, though the amount of research I need to do for fiction varies. A memorable piece of research recently was looking up what poisonous flowers you could reasonably expect to find in a garden. That was for a story I’ve entered for a competition! I adore editing as I always feel relief when I’ve got the first draft written. It means I have something to work with and improve (and it will be improved!). I like knowing the edit strengthens the story by taking out wasted words, spotting plot/character weaknesses and correcting those, and knowing that with all of this work, the chance of the story being published has to increase.
9. Do you have any goals for the future?I want to continue to improve what I do writing wise, for fiction and for blogging, and on the editorial side. I am working on a third flash fiction collection and hope that sees the light of day at some point. I’m also working on a non-fiction book, which is interesting to do, but is a longer term project. I would like to finish writing that this year/early into 2021 and start submitting it. I know with non-fiction you’re supposed to send in a proposal first but I want to write the book first to prove to myself I can do it! I’ve got the ideas, it is a question of getting them down. I also have an unpublished novel which I would like to sort out and see if I can get published at some point (though I was proud when that was long listed for a Debut Novel competition many moons ago).
10. Which writers have inspired you?Oh so many! Jane Austen for her irony, P.G. Wodehouse for his sublime humour, and Terry Pratchett for showing me that humorous fantasy WAS and is a wonderful thing indeed. (There are many aspects to human nature which come across better in humorous writing I think). And I love the classic fairytales. Those have inspired my writing. As for Dickens, his A Christmas Carol is for me a strong contender for best fairytale/ghost story of all (and I do see it as a combination of those). I am also inspired by writer friends I know whose books I love and it is thanks to them I am reading more contemporary fiction than I once did and that is great.
 I’m thrilled to be included in all three Waterloo Arts Festival Writing Competition ebooks so will chat a little about what inspired all three stories.
The first one was Progressing in To Be…To Become
 Tell me about your story in the collection. Progressing is about a trainee tooth fairy on secondment to Earth. She is being supervised by her immediate boss but things go wrong and both are under pressure to stop the wrong things from happening. My trainee fairy faces the prospect of being sent back to her formidable mother if she mucks things up. The boss faces getting the sack from the Fairy Queen.
 What inspired you to write this?I love humorous fantasy and the theme To Be… To Become struck me as ideal for this. To be gives you the idea of what someone is and to become is whether they get to be what they want to be or not. There is a lot of potential for humour and tragedy there.
 How did you hear about the competition? I am a Bridge House author and details about the competition were flagged up by them.
 Have you had any other success in short-story writing?Yes. I’ve had several stories in Bridge House Publishing and Cafelit anthologies, as well as online. I’ve been shortlisted a couple of times in Writing Magazine competitions. And I’ve been one of the winners of the Waterloo Festival Writing Competition three years in a row. I am very proud and pleased about that!
What for you makes a good short story?It is all about the characters for me. If they grip or intrigue me, I will want to find out what happens to them so will read their story. I like a good pace, dialogue that makes me feel as if I’m listening in on a private conversation, and a punchy ending which is suitable for the tale.
Do you have any tips for new writers or writers seeking publication? The big tip has to be to read widely and across genres. Read novels. Read novellas. Read short stories. Read flash fiction. Read poetry. (You pick up so many ideas for stories of your own from what you read so it pays to read widely and well. See it as casting your imagination net widely!). Always check out publishers and competitions carefully. There are charlatans out there. Never be afraid to ask for advice. Good publishers and competitions will spell out the conditions carefully.Never sign away all of your rights.Accept that writing takes practice to get right and rejections happen to everyone but the good news there is just because your story gets turned down, it doesn’t have to end there. Have another look at it and see if you can submit it somewhere else where the theme fits etc. I’ve had work turned down which was accepted by someone else later on.Write, write, write. Accept it takes time.



My second winning story for the Waterloo Arts Festival was The Professional.
Tell me about your story in the collection. The Professional is about a salesman from a lowly background who has worked his way up the ladder but he sells meat from around the universes to discerning buyers.  And he’s not fussy about who provides the meat! But the salesman has transformed himself and is proud of what he has achieved. He sees what he does as necessary but you might not agree with him!
What inspired you to write this?The idea of transforming being immediately brought to mind the thought of having someone from a lowly background do so well in their chosen profession that their so-called superiors would have to acknowledge this being has done well. Also I like the idea of a lowly character triumphing over odds and prejudices to get on in life. The twist here is where this salesman work and what he sells.  My most recent winning story for the Waterloo Arts Festival was Books and the Barbarians.
Tell me about your story in the collection. Books and Barbarians was such fun to write. I do have a soft spot for humorous tales but again here I have a main character who is looked down on for being “weedy” who makes good here.
 What inspired you to write this? The theme of Transforming Communities immediately brought to mind books and the way they can impact on individual and community lives so knew I had to write a story with this being the transforming point. And my weedy character who teaches the more macho people of his society how to read amused me. Let’s hear it for the weedy characters!
An excerpt from Books and the Barbarians

“What good will Sparos be coming with us, Derentia? He throws up on every dimension jump trip,” Resmos told his co-pilot.  Resmos glared at the forlorn seven stones weakling who stood at the time machine’s steps. “Sparos finds things useful to our tribe,” Derentia beckoned to Sparos to come up. “Discovering how to make fire was useful. We now all enjoy hot food.” Resmos swore. “Okay but you clear up if he’s sick this time. What the hell is wrong, Sparos? Don’t you know what hoops we’ve had to go through to get the permissions needed for you to come with us? You repay us by vomiting!” “I don’t know, Resmos, sir. I’ve not been right since I was a kid. You know that.” Resmos laughed mirthlessly. “Well, you’re honest.” “I couldn’t help being ill, Resmos, sir. Everyone had that sickness.” “Only you never went on to grow strong. Picking up sticks would be too much for you.” Sparos bowed. It was his rotten luck to be born into a species prizing physical strength. The virulent illness that swept through his tribe, killing many, left him with a physique that was not only undesirable (as the females all made clear), but made him the butt of every weakling joke imaginable. So, he had to justify his continued existence. By finding things the community found useful, he’d gained the nickname The Scavenger, but there was grudging respect behind it. Sparos swore Resmos wouldn’t know what might be useful if it hit him. What was it about being muscular that led to not being able to think? Mind, there was nobody else you’d want on your side in a fight with an alien species. 



Allison Symes - links https://twitter.com/AllisonSymes1 https://www.facebook.com/Allison.Symes.FairytaleLady/ https://allisonsymescollectedworks.com/ http://cafelitcreativecafe.blogspot.com/search/label/Allison%20Symes http://chandlersfordtoday.co.uk/author/allison-symes/ https://www.amazon.co.uk/Allison-Symes/e/B07T3HT18L?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1597607737&sr=8-1



Don't forget the paperback that includes all three e-books will be out on 5 December.  

Critique groups and beta readers

  What is a critique group?

A group of writers share their work. Groups vary in size and expectation.  They can be a bit of a tea-party where everyone rejoices in everybody else’s work. Or they can be very strict, where each person is only allowed so much time and may not speak until everyone has said what they think of the writing. There may be rules about what you are allowed to say.

I’ve been a member of a few critique groups and they’ve all operated slightly differently.

Writing workshops at university

I first met this when I was studying for my MA. We would bring along work each week based on what we had done the week before.  We would read it out in class and others including the tutor would comment.  The tutor would then take our work away and scrutinize it before the next session.

When I became a university lecturer we ran a series of workshops for final year undergrads. They had about twelve students in each of them and four would submit work each week.  They would send their work to all members of the group, including the tutor, a few days in advance of the class.  We would spend about half an hour on each student’s work.

At the beginning of the term we would set up house rules. They were nearly always very similar – something like this:

A student could ask for specific details to be included in feedback.We should say what worked, what worked less well, and then say up to three things the writer might do to improve the work. These would be the actions that would cause the most improvement.  We always started with the one that was on the top if my pile and then went round the group clockwise.There was no need to repeat anything that somebody else had said.

In fact, most critique groups I have been in operate in a similar way. However one of my student groups opted to divide into micro groups and they wanted to be really brutal with each other. It worked but possibly only because of the particular people in the group. .

Our MA workshops followed a similar trend though here we often had to break into smaller groups as every student wanted to submit every week. Students reacted to four people’s work each week.

WC2

Winchester Children’s’ Writers’ Circle 

This was my MA group, wishing to carry on sharing work. Gradually other cohorts joined us and also people we encountered at the Annual Winchester Writers’ Festival. This stopped in 2003 when I left the area.

We read work out at meetings and shared hard copies.  We didn’t send work out in advance as we didn’t all have reliable broad band in those days.

However, we were a very focussed group and knew what many of the issues were in writing for children.

 

SCBWI

Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators

I’ve belonged to a group in London and up here in the North West. Up to half a dozen of us but more regularly four used to meet in The Sherlock Holmes Hotel on Baker Street in London. Now in Manchester about twenty of us meet  at Waterstones or Manchester Metropolitan University and more recently via Zoom.

Naturally we divide into groups.  I’m in the YA group and that sometimes has to be divided into two.

Again we are pretty focussed.  We know what we are about and the work is already of quite a high standard.

Sometimes people ask for feedback on specific items.

We send work out in advance and return that work annotated to the writer.   We do correct grammar, punctuation, spelling and formatting mistakes but we tend not to talk about them.  Our conversations stay with the bigger issues.

The advantages of critique groups

You get some very specific feedback about your work.

You can often see issues in other people’s work that also apply to your own.

You can also learn good practice from other writers.

You can share a whole novel with others, one chapter at a time.

Some disadvantages

Your readers may lose their objectivity as they got to know you and your writing too well

Your group may develop a “house style”.

Beta readers What are they?

They read the whole of your work without knowing very much at all about it to start with. They may be:

·         Readers who like your genre

·         Other writers who write similar material.

·          Experts in some of the background issues e.g. medical practice, particular professions, geographical areas, periods of history

They provide a more objective read as they come to the text without knowing too much about it. They more closely resemble actual readers.

A few suggestions

You could join my Dream Team  of beta readers. Click on the link to read about it.

Why don’t we extend that and make it operate like a baby-sitting circle? You get points for what your beta read and can spend those on getting your work read.       

I’ve often though with my SCBWI critique group that once the critique group has finished going through a novel we should ask members of another SCBWI group to read that text cold.

 

                      

1940s Evening 17 September 2020

It's  all happening on 17 September at 8. p.m. 

The following writers will be talking  about their  work: 

Lin Treadgold

Stuart Larner

Dawn Knox

Gill James

Alison Faye 

You will also be treated to a short radio play. 

If you write about the 1940s there may be an opportunity to share some of your work. Do join us. The vent is free but ticketed. 

Book your place here.   

 

 

 Image by Werner Weisser from Pixabay

An Afternoon with Some of our Writers

 

Yes, here are some of us at St Andrews Waterloo. 

 

 Sadly we can' t meet like this at the moment but a bunch of us are getting together on 26 September at 3.00 p.m. and will be reading form our work, talking about our work. 

This includes Waterloo Festival Writing Competition Winners Dawn Knox   and Allison Symes.

There will be an open mic element to the afternoon, so why not join us if you have work to share.

or if you're  thinking of submitting to us why not com along and see what's involved. 

The event is free but you must register. 

26 September 3 p.m. 

 

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/an-afternoon-with-some-of-our-authors-tickets-118046896445  

   

 

  

An Evening with Some of our Writers

 

Yes, here are some of us at St Andrews Waterloo. 

 

 Sadly we can' t meet like this at the moment but a bunch of us are getting together on 26 September at 3.00 p.m. and will be reading form our work, talking about our work. 

This includes Waterloo Festival Writing Competition Winners Dawn Knox   and Allison Symes.

There will be an open mic element to the afternoon, so why not join us if you have work to share.

or f oyu're thinking of submitting to us why not com along and see what's involved. 

The event is free but you must register. 

 

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/an-afternoon-with-some-of-our-authors-tickets-118046896445  

   

 

  

Another interview with one of the Waterloo Festival Writing Competiton winners.

Today I have  on my blog Paula Readman.  Paula has actually been a winner in all three of the Waterloo festival Writing Competitions, so very well done to her.   1) Tell me about your story in the collection. Oh, which one shall I tell you about, as I’ve been lucky enough to have three of my stories selected? The first story Deucalion’s Flood tells the tale of a migrant who travelled to Britain in the belief he would find a better life.
The second Over the Wall tells the story of two young friends and an accident changed one of their lives forever. My last story Cobalt Blue tells the story about a young lad who has to take his father’s job in a mine to support his family. 
2) What inspired you to write them? With all three of my stories I wanted to push myself outside my comfort zone, and look at the world from someone else other than my white English elderly woman’s point of view. Deucalion’s Flood puts me in a boat with hundreds of other migrants who have been treated as less than human by others, only to arrive in Britain to find they aren’t treated any better here. In Over the Wall, I wanted to include disability in my story, and play about with how it might affect a young boy’s life. Would it make him less outgoing?  Cobalt Blue was the story I did the most research on. An awful soul destroying problem, which I felt, was under publicised. I wanted to give a voice to the children and women whose lives are being undervalued, while the rest of the world races towards a greener future. 3) How did you hear about the competition?
I heard about the Waterloo Art Festival through being a regular contributor to Bridge House Publishing and Chapel Town Books submissions.
4) Have you had any other success in short story writing? Yes, I have. Over the last year, I have been busy submitting to other small presses in Britain, Australia and America. In 2012, I won the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival/ Writing Magazine Short Story Competition. It was the biggest competition I won to date. 
5) What, for you, makes a good short story? A story from its first word to its last that hooks your attention because you know the writer has edited the piece within an inch of its life after carefully choosing each word to carry you forward.
6) Do you have any tips for new writers or writers seeking publication? Don’t always go with your first idea when entering a themed submission. You first idea will properly be similar to a few of other writers. Try to think outside the box. Write down some obscure ideas. Being a little brave in your lateral thinking may just give you the edge over other entries for competitions and submissions. Also remember nothing is wasted when your work is rejected.  Gave rejected stories another re-read and edited before sending it out elsewhere.

An excerpt from  Cobalt Blue  A shadow passed over me, as I sat stuffing plastic bags into my father’s boots to make them fit. Then someone called my name. I clumsily jumped up, the boots uncomfortable on my feet. 
“Good morning, Raoul!” A skinny boy danced just outside the doorway to my shanty home. Dust rose blemishing his shiny black trainers. 
“Good morning, Abebe.” The crisp whiteness of his shirt held a promise of escape for my friend. I bit back my jealousy and smiled. Over his shoulder, black clouds gathered on the horizon, threatening rain. By the time it arrived, Abebe would be at his desk.  
“I’m top of my class now,” he stated, pride reflected in his eyes. He lifted the rucksack’s straps from his shoulders, the weight of the books caused them to dig in. “I’ve learnt how to write my name, and my numbers too. That is good, do you not think?”
“Oh yes.” Envy buzzed around me. I too wanted to learn. 
“Come on, Abebe. You don’t want to be late!” The boy’s father waved to me. I acknowledged him with a nod. Abebe ran laughing after his father. His laughter was infectious. It made me wish all the children in the village could join him. As they disappeared around a mountain of grey and red soil, I recalled how six years ago our home had faced a lush green valley. Mother, along with the other women, used to sing as they carried their washing down to the river. Birdsongs filled the cobalt-blue sky along with their beautiful voices. Then the miners came.

Overnight, things changed. The once crystal waters became sluggish and murky and no longer providing fish to feed the villagers. The muddy trickle made mother and some of the women sick, too. Across the scarred and poisoned land, the only sounds we heard were the heavy earth-moving machinery as it tore open another mine.  
After Mother passed away, Father had to work at the mine. No longer able to hunt, or fish to feed us. The strenuous work and little food weakened him making him more vulnerable to the sickness that engulfed our village. At eleven, I took his place at the mine while my younger brothers kept an eye on him. 
“Raoul, be wise. Cover your mouth, hold your tongue, and listen carefully. Never fight, ” Father said every day before I set off to work. “Come straight home.”  
Author of Stone Angels, 
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0897MR4RWThe Funeral Birds
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B084GZGRV2Days Pass Like a Shadow https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0897SV5RH
Blog: https://paulareadman1.wordpress.comFacebook: https://facebook.com/paula.readman.1Twitter: Paula R C Readman@Darkfantasy13 

The Peace Child Trilogy

                                                     

 

Trilogy? I've actually just finished writing the fourth book and her is a fifth one planned. Will there be  sixth? Will it become like Frank Herbet's  Dune? That started off as a trilogy and ran to nine books in the end. 

Click on the picture above and you'll be able to find all three of the books.  Babel is central to the theme of all three books. Kaleem is haunted by a prophecy to do the with Babel Tower.  Yet  he lives in what our world might become by the 36th century. Some of it all goes back our time and yes, it is all to do with  speaking otehr languages .... in many different ways.

So, I'm organsing a giveaway:

one paperback of Babelten mobi-files    twenty PDFs. 

And yes of course I'd like you to review it. 

Use the contact form to express an interest. First come, first served. 

 

Introducing another of our 2020 Waterloo Festival Wrting Competition winners - Linda Flynn

There always seems to be a story in my head, which might explain why I am about to have my twentieth short story published. I love experimenting with different styles, the challenge of tightly written narratives and I can fit short stories into a comparatively short space of time. My dream, which I hope to realise soon, is to write and edit full time. This is becoming closer now, especially as I have been doing more work for Bridge House. I have just enjoyed editing Jim Bates’ wonderful collection, Resilience .                Writing is a wonderful way to reflect upon events and emotions. I was lucky enough to have a story chosen each year for the Waterloo Festival. They are all completely different. The first one, Shouting in a Sandstorm , was written as a way of processing my mother’s struggle with dementia and her eventual death. In complete contrast, the second story, Climbing Rainbows , was humorous, but with pathos and a bit of an edge. My third story, Fishing in Troubled Waters had more sinister undertones. It was set in the past, although the subject matter of physical abuse is still very current. The story presents the protagonist with a moral dilemma if she is to save her friend.                It’s hard to know why I write any of the stories. Many, such as, There’s Rosemary, That’s for Remembrance , which will be published in Mulling it Over , seem to write themselves. My favourite and happiest place to write is in Woolacombe, overlooking the sea through the seasons. I love to walk my dog in all weathers as this is good thinking and relaxing time. We are training for Search and Rescue, so I have spent a lot of time hiding behind trees too!                It has been a great privilege to work with so many talented people. Linda Laurie illustrated our recently released humorous children’s picture book, A Most Amazing Zoo. We work really well together and Linda knows exactly how to interpret my suggested ideas. It’s so exciting to see her wonderful and funny illustrations take shape. Rob Townsend has the most amazing reading voice and he recorded the book which has just been released on Audible . Rob really brought the characters and story to life. This has been reduced by Amazon to £3.25 at the moment and a sample is available to listen to on the page: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/A-Most-Amazing-Zoo/dp/B08FBNHGYT/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1597157765&sr=8-1I would like to thank Gill James who is phenomenal. I really don’t know how she (alongside her wonderful team with Debz and Martin) manages to achieve so much!It’s hard for me to follow through and market a finished book as I want to move on to my next project. I still have a number of ideas on the back burner; next year I hope to be able to work on my YA book. www.lindaflynn.com
An excerpt from Linda's story: 
Fishing in Troubled Waters

Only a bold plan will remove the outsider from the fishing community, but is it worth the risk?
Dawn rose in a bloodied mackerel-coloured sky over Clovelly Harbour. The cottages huddled together in clusters, flanked either side of a steep cobblestone hill and shouldering only a side view of the sea, as though afraid to stare into its mortiferous depths.      Inside a cottage tucked into the bottom of the hill, Edna tied fish hooks on to thin lines with cracked, red hands. Her coarse brown skirts were runched up around her legs. She glanced at Peter’s boots by the door, ready for him to be away with the tide. As the thud of his footfall on the stairs ceased, she looked towards him with dark beseeching eyes. “Will you be taking Rufus with you this time?”      He roughly shook his head, “You know we don’t take men on the boats when they’ve been drinking.”“Yes, I know Peter,” her face looked gaunt and shadowy in the silvery light, “but Rufus is often found drinking. Without his catch the family will surely starve.”Peter looked away, “He should know better than to waste it all on porter!”“But Mary has those bairns to feed and another on its way.”He rammed a foot into a boot, “She chose him. She should never have married that man!”Edna lowered her voice, “He’s new to these parts, not one of our own. Mary mistook a fish eye for a pearl.”Peter raked his hands through his dishevelled black hair. “We never take him when he’s like this. He’s a danger to the men and the boat.”