Gill James's Blog, page 7

News 1 May 2020

  Days and Weeks Passing ByThe days are passing by and so are the weeks. I can’t believe I’m writing this newsletter again.  It seems like just a few days ago that I wrote the March one. This virus is still worrying but the only way to cope, I find, is just to live each day, nay, each moment as it comes. Occasionally, very occasionally I wake in the middle of the night and old monkey mind takes over. What if I get it and it carries me off? (Though I’m convinced I’m going to live to be 104!) What if I lose one of my close friends or relatives? What if we don’t return to normal and we do really start living in a dystopian near future novel? Psychologists tell us that monkey mind is necessary. It provides a kind of risk assessment. The point then is to look at what you can do in the worst case scenario.  Plan for the worst, hope for the best. Put monkey back in his place.  And the best plan is then just to breathe through each moment. I’m fortunate anyway that old monkey only appears very infrequently.  
I’m finding a lot to occupy me.  Tai Chi is replacing my trips to the swimming pool.  The movement and the breathing are similar and the commute is shorter. Most of my U3A meetings are carrying on remotely. But instead of taking a short bus ride into town I just go to my computer and into Zoom. There is some extraordinary good material now online. The Society of Authors is providing lots of excellent virtual meetings.  I love some of the videos on Classic FM and The Literary Hub.  There are others too. The other day I even went for a virtual walk along the coast in Spain. 
So many people are doing so much. We’re a little restricted in what we can do. So, we’re giving to the food bank every week and I’m donating to a few charities as and when I feel appropriate.  As Cultural Champion I’ve been asked to create some creative writing materials for people who are in total isolation and don’t have access to a computer or broadband.   These and other ideas for creative activities are being distributed throughout our local area.  I’ve produced a couple of ideas for writing stories and a couple of ideas for writing poems, all inspired by old photographs and what people can see out of their window. I’ve also added ideas about how these activities can produce items people may still be able to use after lockdown ends.  I’ve written these prompts in such a way that people who have never written before can use them but so that they’ll also be of interest to more experienced writers. I hope they’ll prove to be worthwhile for a few people. 
If you think they may of interest to you or to someone you know, email me and I’ll send them by return.  News about my writing I have had an extraordinary acceptance: a recipe for a charity cook book. My friends in Spain run a charity that supports the provision of palliative care for people with terminal illnesses. If you would like to read my recipe, along with others, and support the charity, here is the link: https://friendsofgirasol.weebly.com/buy-recipe-book.html. My recipe was inspired by a seafood dish I had one night when I was at the Hay Festival. It was so delicious I had to replicate it. This was the result.
I also had a piece of flash fiction short-listed in the Axe to Grind competition. It didn’t make it through to the winners’page but it was nice to be short-listed.          I’m still carrying on much as before: The Round Robin, the fifth book in the Schellberg Cycle, Not Just Fluffy Bunnies, and I’m still working on The Business of Writing.   I’m also continuing to write stories relating to the virus and the collection I’m putting together with other writers is growing.             The Young Person’s Library The full catalogue is gradually moving from http://www.gilljameswriter.eu/p/blog-page_81.htmlto https://www.theyoungpersonslibrary.co.uk/I’ve added new this month:  A Most Amazing Zoo  By Linda Flynn and Linda Laurie This is a richly illustrated text for emergent readers with a lot of information about animals. The Death CureBy James DashnerThis is the third book in the Maze Runner series. This is about a dystopian world for younger teens. Ted Rules the World By Frank Cottrell BoyceThis is a high-low, aimed at upper primary children. It unusually touches on politics.   
Current reading recommendationThis month I’m recommending a collection of short stories Scratched Enamel Heart by Amanda Huggins.  Find details  here.  
Amanda asked me to review it for her. I did this gladly and I was pleased to create five star reviews on both Good Reads and Amazon. I can’t post them yet as the book isn’t out until 27 May but here’s what I’m saying: “The short stories in this collection give a strong sense of time and place and allow the reader to follow the characters as they make a journey. Sometimes this is an actual physical journey, at other times it is a journey of the soul. Each story too brings with it an atmosphere that we cannot ignore. We are drawn to the characters and their settings.” 
And here are a couple of extracts from other reviews: “Her use of all the senses in her stories is wonderful. When she describes food being eaten, it is as if you were there watching the food being eaten! This is hard to pull off well. All of the stories will move you and make you wonder what you would do if you were this character faced with this situation. Huggins creates a miniature world with every story, and you are drawn in, almost hypnotically.” (Allison Symes) 
"This short fiction collection contains twenty-four emotionally-charged stories that take readers on a journey to households and communities in a range of countries. Through these stories, Amanda Huggins cleverly shows us the commonality of emotional experience. That feelings of isolation, love, grief, loss and regret occur in different backgrounds and cultures. And equally, that hope and the promise of a fresh start is possible. Amanda Huggins writes in a beautiful and empathetic way to immerse readers in the challenges and dilemmas she presents to her characters. As readers we care about these characters and learn from them. This is a truthful, authentic and essential read." (Gail Aldwin) 
Well worth pre-ordering, I’d say.          
Giveaway Note: these are usually mobi-files to be downloaded to a Kindle.  Occasionally there are PDFs. Continuing with dystopian themes this month I’m giving away Babel. This follows on from the novel offered last month and continues the story of the Peace Child. Protagonist Kaleem started nagging at me and I had to write a fourth story about him. I have a fifth one planned. So much for it being a trilogy!    
Certainly the economic situation at the moment is making me realise how the Zenoton may have created their society. And that is one of the bits of Covid 19 writing I’m currently working on.  You can download Babel and lots of other free materials here.
Please, please, please review it if you read it.     
Note, that normally my books and the books supplied by the imprints I manage sell for anything from £0.99 to £10.99, with most on Kindle being about £2.99 and the average price for paperback being £7.00. We have to allow our writers to make a living. But I’m offering these free samples so that you can try before you buy. Also at the moment I’m quite happy for you to share these links with other people and any of the items you’ve downloaded before - just until the end of the lock-down.    The Schellberg Project The posts may be helpful for teachers who are familiar with the Schellberg stories or who are teaching about the Holocaust and also for other writers of historical fiction.
I’ve written a post this month about going back to my primary materials. You can read this here: http://www.thehouseonschellbergstreet.com/2020/04/going-back-to-basics-and-picking-up.html    I was involved in an interesting discussion at a research seminar at the University of Salford (conducted remotely of course): why has the Nazi era not been romanticised? Most people would probably say that it’s obvious why not. But what about the way it’s portrayed in Hello, Hello? And what about what I’m doing in my Schellberg Cycle? It’s already been described as unusual because I show the German point of view. I discuss that a little in my post Romanticising the Nazi era?
I’ve also added another book review. Past Remembering by Catrin Collier. This is an easy fictional read that gives us much insight into civilian life in the UK.   School visits I’ve suspended these until further notice. I’m now starting work on a series of on-line materials.   Some notes about my newsletters and blogsThey do overlap a little but here is a summary of what they all do.
Bridge House Authors For all those published by Bridge House, CaféLit, Chapeltown or The Red Telephone or interested in being published by us. General news about the imprints. News for writers. Links to book performance. Sign up here.
Chapeltown Books News about our books. Sign up here.
The Creative Café Project News about the project and CaféLit – for the consumer rather than for the producer.  Sign up here.   
Gill’s News: News about my writing, The Schellberg Project, School Visits and Events. Book recommendations and giveaways. Find it here.   
Pushing Boundaries, Flying Higher News about conferences and workshops to do with the young adult novel. (infrequent postings) Sign up here.  
Red Telephone Books News about our books and our authors. Sign up here.
A Publisher’s Perspective Here I blog as a publisher. Access this here.   
The Creative Café Project Listings and reviews of creative cafés. See them here.   
CaféLit Stories Find these here
Gill James Writer All about writing and about my books. View this here.
Gill’s Recommended Reads Find information here about books that have taken me out of my editor’s head and a reminder of the ones I’ve highlighted in this newsletter.      
Gill’s Sample Fiction Read some of my fiction here.
The House on Schellberg Street All about my Schellberg project. Read it here.
Writing Teacher All about teaching creative writing.  Some creative writing exercises. Access this here.       
Books Books Books Weekly offers on our books and news of new books. Find them here. 
The Young Person’s Library I am gradually moving the children’s book catalogue over to this site.  Access it here.
Fair Submissions I am gradually moving the Opportunities List to this site.  Find it 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.   Happy reading and writing. 
Image by Tumisu from Pixabay  

Stage of revision 11: Point of view

Introduction Getting the point of view wrong or inconsistent is one of the biggest mistakes that new and inexperienced writers of prose fiction make. It’s also reasonably easy to get right if you understand it. Often if you can correct the mistakes you’ve made with point of view your text will improve dramatically. So, it is a good one to get right. What we mean by point of view  But what does it “point of view” actually mean? We’re not talking about opinions here. We’re really talking about who the story belongs to. You need to ask yourself “Whose story is this?” Answer that and you have found your point of view. Try to remember that as you write. If you keep changing the point of view it can irritate and alienate your reader. It can be particularly annoying in short stories. It is counterproductive in another way in all forms of fiction. It prevents your reader from becoming close to your character. In longer pieces, such as novels, you may have to change point of view because the story is not always with the main character. Then the author will often be just as close to another character. On the whole, the more successful prose fiction writers do not change point of view mid-chapter. This aids the reader to find continuity and indeed to buy into the story. So, your second question is “Have I consistently shown this point of view?” Edit just asking that question. It’s an important edit. Narrative techniques Closely linked with point of view is what we call “narrative technique” and it is often the narrative technique you use that helps you to establish your point of view. Below are a few examples of narrative techniques.  First personThe first person narrative is often referred to as unreliable. In some ways it is. You are only getting the narrator’s side of the story and arguably here the point of view does become an opinion. Also, the reader then has to stay with that character all of the time. But the reader is certainly seeing things as the narrator sees them. The first person narrative does actually give a very reliable picture of the character’s view of the world. Particularly striking examples of this are in Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, Lee Harper’s To Kill a Mockingbird and J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. Read or reread one of these books. Here is a short excerpt from The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time:                         Mother died two years ago. I came home from school one day and no one answered the door, so I went and found the secret key that we keep under a flowerpot behind the kitchen door. I let myself into the house and carried on making the Airfix Sherman Tank model I was building. An hour and a half later Father came home from work. He runs a business and he does heating maintenance and boiler repair with a man called Rhodri who is his employee, He knocked on the door of my room and opened it and asked whether I had seen mother. (28) Note that Christopher is giving us a lot of details we might, as good creative writers, consider irrelevant to the story. They are important, though, because they show us much about Christopher’s personality and about how he sees the world.  They give us his point of view and do almost start to give us his opinion here. So, by getting point of view right, Haddon also gets voice and character right. Or you may prefer to think that by getting the voice and the character right he gets the point of viewcorrect. There is, however, one really big limitation with a first person narrative: the narrator has already had the growth and the reader cannot enjoy that growth with the protagonist. A first person narrative is often used when writing for young adults. However, it is a false narrative as the author is pretending to be someone just a little bit older or a little bit wiser than the adolescent who is reading. They’re usually – though not always – considerably older than their readers. Third person close This also allows for a very close point of view. It is as if the writer is sitting on the character’s shoulder and can hear and see everything they can hear and see. They even know what the character is thinking. This works very well and does allow the reader to experience the growth with the character.   V.S. Pritchett uses this in the short story A Family Man in the Penguin Book of Modern short stories. Here we have the viewpoint of Berenice, William’s mistress, who is visited by William’s wife. But now – when she opened the door – no William, and the yawn, its hopes and its irony, died on her mouth. A very large woman, taller than herself, filled the doorway from top to bottom, an enormous blob of pink jersey and green skirt, the jersey low and loose at the neck, a face and a body inflated to the point of speechlessness. She even seemed to be asleep with her large blue eyes open. (46)  Notice how in this passage the impression we are given of the visitor is really Berenice’s. It is Berenice who sees the dominating pink jersey and that is it loose and low. She decides that the woman seems to be asleep and that she has large blue eyes. We are following Berenice’s story. The reader buys into what is going to happen to Berenice.           
Third person distant neutral This is also a common point of view. It is often found in older texts. A neutral narrator tells us the story, in effect showing it to us almost as a film. It is a little different from a film in that we occasionally see into the minds of the characters. However, we have none of the opinions nor personality of the writer in these texts. The narrator only tells us what we need to know in order to understand the story. This type of narrative may skip from person to person, but it does so in a balanced way and it keeps the same distance from all of the characters. A good example of this type of narrative is found in Joseph Conrad’s The Secret Agent.
The evening visitors – the men with collars turned up and soft hats rammed down    - nodded familiarly to Mrs Verloc, and with a muttered greeting, lifted up the flap at the end of the counter in order to pass into the back parlour, which gave access to a passage and to a steep flight of stairs. The door of the shop was the only means of entrance to the house in which Mr Verloc carried on his business of a seller of shady wares, exercised his vocation of a protector of society, and cultivated domestic virtues. (14) Thus we see a scene played out before us. It is Mr Verloc who sees his vocation as protector of society and cultivator of domestic virtues. He knows he is selling shady wares. The narrator simply tells us this without any judgement. Later in the novel we have the points of view of Mrs Verloc and other characters. Even in older texts, this switching of point of view only comes in separate sections or chapters. In longer works, the writer sometimes needs to do this in order to explain what is happening to characters other than the protagonist. In the short story the writer tends to stay with one point of view. It is currently rather unfashionable. The modern reader and publisher seem to prefer a first person, a close third person or the narrator – whether first or third person – as an extra character. Fictionalised narratorThis doesn’t have to be first person but often is. Imagine, for instance, the rather eccentric woman next door, the landlord of your favourite pub, or an interesting minor character in a book you like telling the story. An extreme first person example is in Adam Rapp’s 33 Snowfish. Then he points to my other pocket and goes, “What’s wrong with your hand?”I go, “I cut it.” But he’s like, “I mean the one in your pocket.”I go, “Nothin’.”“You steal somehtin’ from my yard?”“Ain’t shit to steal.” “You sure?”I’m like, “You deaf?” And then the nigger pulls my other hand out of my pocket and he looks at it.” We may well be shocked at the word “nigger” but this is part of the way this character talks. It is part of his voice and his point of view.
Some common mistakes Study the three examples below: 1.       I couldn’t take my eyes off him as he danced. Back and neck straight. Gaze fixed. Arms rigid by his sides. His feet never missed a beat and always came down in exactly the right place. My own feet started tapping to the music. Then Patrick looked at the others. He winked at me. He showed them who was boss. He was so proud of me. He was thirsty now. He wanted a drink. But I kept on pushing him.
Problem: The point of view has shifted from the narrator to Patrick. How can s/ he know what Patrick intended or whether he was thirsty?
Better might be:  I couldn’t take my eyes off him as he danced. Back and neck straight. Gaze fixed. Arms rigid by his sides. His feet never missed a beat and always came down in exactly the right place. My own feet started tapping to the music.  I worried as he looked at the others but then he winked at me. I wanted to make him proud of me. He was sweating and he must have been thirsty. I know I was. But I kept on pushing him.
2.       George pushed pressed the buzzer on the entrance to the sales office. If this is supposed to be housing for everybody, why are they trying to keep people out? he thought. Mandy Prior stopped painting her nails, patted her hair and called out in her best secretary voice: “Good morning. How can I help you?” “George Morgan, Artist in Residence, Peppwood Council,” replied George.Mandy pressed the buzzer. “Yes, Mr Sullivan is expecting you,” she said. George found himself in a type of exhibition area. His eyes were drawn to some huge photos of modern flats and town houses.  “Big Plans for Gorsall,” he read. “Welcome, welcome,” said the short, middle-aged man with greying hair and a very red nose.
Problem: The point of view skips between George, Mandy and an unknown person. The reader may get confused. 
Better might be: George pushed pressed the buzzer on the entrance to the sales office. If this is supposed to be housing for everybody, why are they trying to keep people out? he thought. “Good morning. How can I help you?” chimed a voice that suggested dyed hair and painted nails. “George Morgan, Artist in Residence, Peppwood Council,” replied George.“Yes, Mr Sullivan is expecting you,” said the same made-up voice. A buzzer sounded and the door swung open. George found himself in a type of exhibition area. His eyes were drawn to some huge photos of modern flats and town houses.  “Big Plans for Gorsall,” he read. “Welcome, welcome,” said a voice.  George turned to find that the speaker was a short, middle-aged man with greying hair and a very red nose.
3.       The boy had a lump in his throat.  It had been a grey old day and the first drops of rain were starting to fall. He turned on the windscreen wipers.    As the little blue car turned on to the motorway, it was raining heavily. Before it got into the heavier traffic there were flashes of lightning and claps of thunder. Tom turned on the radio to try and drain out the noise. He pushed his right foot down to the floor, bringing Binky up to her top speed. The music matched his mood. Rousing rock. He was going to fight this and he was going to win. The car was now in the middle lane. The rain was now pouring like a waterfall over the windscreens of all the cars. Everybody’s wipers were going full speed. It was that sort of weather where you can’t see at all. The cars and lorries were chucking up spray and were being buffeted from side winds. No one seemed to be able to drive in a straight line. .
Problem We move closer to the main character and back again. It’s like watching a film that has been made by someone who has little control over a camcorder. The zooming in and out can leave you feeling nauseous. Whilst this can be quite effective if executed elegantly – Philip Pullman uses this a lot, for example, particularly towards the end of The Amber Spyglass – it is not really appropriate or effective in so short an extract.
Better might be: The lump was in his throat again. The first drops of the rain they’d been promising all day fell on the windscreen. He turned on the wipers.    By the time he got to the motorway, it was raining heavily. As he filtered into the traffic there were flashes of lightning and claps of thunder. He turned on the radio to try and drain out the noise. He pushed his right foot down to the floor, bringing Binky up to her top speed. The music matched his mood. Rousing rock. He was going to fight this and he was going to win. He steered Binky into the middle lane. The rain was now pouring over the windscreen like a waterfall. The wipers were going full speed, but he still couldn’t see all that well. As he overtook the slower cars and lorries he also had to put up with the spray and the buffeting from the side wind as he drove out of their shelter.
Try this 1.      Rewrite a fairy story, a myth or legend, one of Shakespeare’s stories or something from the Bible from the point of view of a minor character or the “bad” character. 2.      “Patch test” a piece of your own writing. Write a couple of paragraphs using one of the narrative techniques described above. Then try it with two others. Which works best?  3.      Take two paragraphs from a piece of fiction you have enjoyed and decide which narrative technique the writer has used. Now choose another narrative technique and rewrite that passage using that. Was the author right? Why do you think they used their chosen narrative technique?   Working with this in the future 1.      Before you start a piece of work, make conscious decisions about whose story you are telling and which narrative technique you wish to use. Try to keep this in mind as you write. 2.       Once your work is finished you should read it though checking just point of view. This should be just one of several edits.   
Image by Pexels from Pixabay

Emma Lee

I would like to welcome to my blog today Emma Lee. Emma was featured on CafeLit on 15 September 2010 with “Father Ghost” and “Weblines” on 5 August 2019. She also had a short story “Snowena” in Bridgehouse Publishing’s Gentle Footprints.
Over to Emma: 
I write short stories and reviews alongside poetry. I used to write music reviews for fanzines when I was a teenager and when I started sending out poem and story submissions, I mentioned my music reviewing so I didn’t sound like a complete beginner. One magazine editor asked if I’d thought about reviewing books. I hadn’t, but if this was a way to get my name in print and reviewing books couldn’t be more difficult than reviewing music, I’d do it. My reviewing career runs in parallel to my writing career.
My mother taught me to read before I started school, so I was an early, avid reader. I don’t think it’s possible to be a writer if you don’t read. I used to build houses from toy bricks and create stories for people I imagined might live there. Once I could write, I started writing these stories down. Then stories became poems.
However, I didn’t have the confidence to show anyone what I was writing so I wrote in the gaps between other things: sneaking off to an empty classroom during breaktimes or pretending to do homework or arriving early and writing before friends showed up. Consequently, I don’t have a particular routine. If a poem or short story needs to be written, it gets written. I do a lot of drafting in my head before any words get near a page or screen. The discipline from reviewing means I don’t differentiate between reading from a page or screen and it makes no difference to me whether I write a first draft on a laptop, phone or notebook.
I do have a desk at home. But a lot of my writing gets done in the car because I’m early for something and have to wait or in a café before an event or waiting for friends. (My friends aren’t late, I’m in the habit of being early for everything and meeting in a café means I top up my caffeine levels and write). If I publish another book, I think my car and the Phoenix café bar in Leicester deserve credits.
Even though I started getting published as a teenager, I didn’t really think of myself as a writer until I’d got a few publishing credits under my belt and decided to look for local writers’ groups to join.


My fourth book of poetry, The Significance of a Dress has just been published by Arachne Press. This collection’s origins go back to 2015 when I was co-editor of Over Land, Over Sea: poems for those seeking refuge (Five Leaves, 2015), an anthology of poems published to raise funds for charities working with refugees. I began writing poems exploring why people flee their home countries, set out on dangerous, life-threatening journeys and settle in camps with little support as they wait the outcomes of their asylum applications. There are three poems with “dress” in the title. The title poem, which is based on an interview with a woman who ran a wedding dress hire shop in a refugee camp. “How a Dress Lost its Sparkle” inspired by Arabella Dorman’s art installation in Leicester Cathedral. “Bridal Dresses in Beirut” inspired by a novel protest against Article 522 where wedding dresses were hung up from wires in the city.
During 2015-2017 I did a lot of promotional events for Over Land, Over Sea: poems for those seeking refuge including a pop-up poem library at Leicester Railway station where poems or extracts from poems were handed out to commuters and Journeys in Translation where we encouraged people to translate poems from the anthology into other languages. In 2018, Arachne put a call-out for submissions to an anthology. I’d had a poem sequence, flash fiction and individual poems accepted by them previously so thought I stood a good chance. However, Arachne said on this occasion they didn’t want to include my poems in an anthology but wanted a single author collection, so The Significance of a Dress came about. It’s available direct from Arachne.
There were events planned. Fortunately, a launch event took place at the Stephen Lawrence Gallery in Greenwich, London early in March. However, I was given less than 24 hours’ notice that the venue was withdrawing from the Leicester launch so had to quickly find an alternative which meant some who had planned to attend the original launch couldn’t make the alternative. States of Independence where I was due to do a reading was also cancelled. There are plans in the pipeline to do more readings in Leicester and London, but dates and venues are to be confirmed. There some videos on Arachne Press’s website of me reading from of the poems from the book which have been shared with Tara Skurtu’s wonderful #InternationalPoetryCircle initiative and I read my flash fiction “The City’s Heartbeat” to share with Hannah Storm’s #FlashFamily initiative; both aim to share videos of writers reading their work to combat feelings of isolation.
The Arachne Press link is: https://arachnepress.com/books/poetry/the-significance-of-a-dress/ and includes a trailer featuring the title poem.

News 1 April 2020

 An extraordinary era  I hope you are all keeping well and safe. We are most certainly living in an extraordinary time and I and many of my fellow writers are challenged to come up with fiction that is more astounding than what is happening right now.  Even The Archers’ recent drama with explosion at Grey Gables seems tame compared with what real life is throwing at us.  At times I think I’m living in the middle of a Stephen King novel.     My routine isn’t too much different from normal, though. I write in the mornings, complete admin in the afternoons, and edit and promote in the evenings. Of course, I’m not going out except for essentials. A trip for a routine visit to my local health centre seemed like a treat – even though the café was of course shut.   However, there are some amazing things happening on-line. I had a glorious back stage tour of the Lowry (Salford Quays) last week.  I visited a couple of my own Creative Cafés. Check them out: the Theatre Café , and the Barter Books Café. Many theatres are streaming performances.    I can’t go to the gym so I’m using fitness videos and taking little walks around the garden. Our garden is small but I put some new plants in before the lock-down and they’re beginning to thrive. I really appreciate our little garden now. I’m meeting up with several people via Zoom. This is mainly successful though the software did let me down yesterday.  I think a lot of people are using Zoom, Teams, Google Hangouts and Skype. I wonder whether when this is all over we’ll have learnt to live differently. I note that although there is still traffic on the main road near us the air is considerably sweeter.  I’m also doing some undergrad marking for the University of Salford.  This has been a little delayed because of the virus.                      News about my writing I’m still carrying on much as before: The Round Robin, the fifth book in the Schellberg Cycle, Not Just Fluffy Bunnies, and I’m still working on The Business of Writing.   I’ve also written a couple of short stories relating to Covid 19. We writers should record, examine and mitigate this crisis. I’m working with a group of other writers on this.            The Young Person’s Library The full catalogue is gradually moving from http://www.gilljameswriter.eu/p/blog-page_81.htmlto https://www.theyoungpersonslibrary.co.uk/I’ve added new this month:  
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin https://www.theyoungpersonslibrary.co.uk/2020/03/a-wizard-of-earthsea-by-ursula-le-guin.html
This is a classic Bildungsroman for young adults. It has a fantasy setting. Unlike 21st century YA novels there is not really a love interest. However the main issues are deep enough to make it YA.
Flambards by K M Peyton https://www.theyoungpersonslibrary.co.uk/2020/03/flambards-by-k-m-peyton.htmlThis is another classic I read to help me with Not Just Fluffy Bunnies. This is again YA and this time there is a love interest.  In fact possibly the whole series is crossover adult / young adult.  I remember the TV series.  The music was glorious.  I’d love to watch that again.   
Don’t Stop Thinking About the Future by Siobhan Curham  https://www.theyoungpersonslibrary.co.uk/2020/03/dont-stop-thinking-about-future.htmlStevie and Hafiz both have problems: Hafiz is an asylum seeker who has had to leave his family behind. Stevie’s mum suffers from depression and cannot be a proper mother to Stevie.  Stevie and Hafiz become friends and support each other.  I’ve labelled this teen as the friendship remains quite platonic. A very good read indeed. It came close to being my recommend read this month.
Gloves Off  by Louise Reid https://www.theyoungpersonslibrary.co.uk/2020/03/gloves-off-by-louise-reid.html   This is an unusual YA novel, written in verse.  Louise is one of my SCBWI contacts and I’ve read quite a bit of her work in our critique group. There is a lot of emotional intensity in this text.   Current reading recommendationThis month I’m recommending a non-fiction book: Imagine by Jonah Lehrer. Find details here.  Its subtitle is “How creativity works.” It offers an interesting discussion about creativity. Two things in particular stood out for me: ·         We benefit from immigration. Where 1% of the population of a society is made up of immigrants, that society secures 15% more patents for new inventions than a society devoid of immigrants. Is this because the type of person who opts to migrate is more imaginative? Or that the stress of migration makes people more creative? ·         Weak but extensive networks lead to more creativity.  Weak networks are defined as groups of people who interact, and though they may be positive about each other, they’re not all that intimate.  It’s the broadness of the network that counts. This rather coincides with my notion that you don’t have to just be good at your art but you also have to network to become known and therefore paid for your work.  There are many other fascinating ideas in the book and it is extremely easy to read. It is detailed and it invites you to change the way you think but it’s not at all dry or dull.      
Giveaway Note: these are usually mobi-files to be downloaded to a Kindle.  Occasionally there are PDFs. This month I’m giving away The Prophecy, the first part of my Peace Child trilogy. This is also the novel I wrote as part of my PhD, though it has changed considerably since then. I’ve just completed a fourth part and it is queued for publication. Yes I know. A trilogy normally only has three parts. I suppose I should now call it a series for I already have book five planned as well. Book four has some references to the political dramas of how we live now. Book five has a kidnap planned though I now wonder whether I could have the affected characters unable to return because of the outbreak of a deadly virus. Maybe?  Certainly the economic situation at the moment is making me realise how the Zenoton may have created their society. And that is one of the bits of Covid 19 writing I’ll be doing shortly. You can download The Prophecy and lots of other free materials here.Please, please, please review it if you read it.     Note, that normally my books and the books supplied by the imprints I manage sell for anything from £0.99 to £10.99, with most on Kindle being about £2.99 and the average price for paperback being £7.00. We have to allow our writers to make a living. But I’m offering these free samples so that you can try before you buy. Also at the moment I’m quite happy for you to share these links with other people and any of the items you’ve downloaded before - just until the end of the lock-down.    The Schellberg Project The posts may be helpful for teachers who are familiar with the Schellberg stories or who are teaching about the Holocaust and also for other writers of historical fiction.This month I’ve reviewed two books:The Librarian of Auschwitz: http://www.thehouseonschellbergstreet.com/2020/03/the-librarian-of-auschwitz-by-antonio.html  This is a fictionalised account of an actual survivor who has approved the content. It’s a reasonable read and offers some interesting detail for scholars.Ambulance Girls http://www.thehouseonschellbergstreet.com/2020/03/ambulance-girls-by-deborah-burrows.html gives us some insight into to what it was like working as an ambulance driver during the London blitz.  The story is rather dramatic but this would keep the average reader engaged. The book has a useful bibliography at the end.
I’ve also added a post about the theatres closing in Germany and comparing that with what’s happening here. Read it here:  http://www.thehouseonschellbergstreet.com/2020/03/theatres-closing-shortages-and-desolate.html   

School visits I’ve suspended these until further notice. I’m now starting work on a series of on-line materials.   Some notes about my newsletters and blogsThey do overlap a little but here is a summary of what they all do.
Bridge House Authors For all those published by Bridge House, CaféLit, Chapeltown or The Red Telephone or interested in being published by us. General news about the imprints. News for writers. Links to book performance. Sign up here.
Chapeltown Books News about our books. Sign up here.
The Creative Café Project News about the project and CaféLit – for the consumer rather than for the producer.  Sign up here.   
Gill’s News: News about my writing, The Schellberg Project, School Visits and Events. Book recommendations and giveaways. Find it here.   
Pushing Boundaries, Flying Higher News about conferences and workshops to do with the young adult novel. (infrequent postings) Sign up here.  
Red Telephone Books News about our books and our authors. Sign up here.
A Publisher’s Perspective Here I blog as a publisher. Access this here.   
The Creative Café Project Listings and reviews of creative cafés. See them here.   
CaféLit Stories Find these here
Gill James Writer All about writing and about my books. View this here.
Gill’s Recommended Reads Find information here about books that have taken me out of my editor’s head and a reminder of the ones I’ve highlighted in this newsletter.      
Gill’s Sample Fiction Read some of my fiction here.
The House on Schellberg Street All about my Schellberg project. Read it here.
Writing Teacher All about teaching creative writing.  Some creative writing exercises. Access this here.       
Books Books Books Weekly offers on our books and news of new books. Find them here. 
The Young Person’s Library I am gradually moving the children’s book catalogue over to this site.  Access it here.
Fair Submissions I am gradually moving the Opportunities List to this site.  Find it 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.   Happy reading and writing. 
Image by Image by ianvanderlinde from Pixabay 

Stage of revision 10: Detail and description should be slipped in small chunks

Why earlier writers included more description When Dickens wrote his works he had to include far more description than we would normally expect today. His readers were less widely travelled than we are and had less access to visual information. Even the rest of Europe was exotic. The town was different from the country-side. London was different from Manchester. Indeed, Bolton was different from Manchester and even different from Bury. 
The modern reader These days we can take short cuts. Even people who have never been to New York will get an image when you just use the name. One detail about a row of terraced houses may be enough to give us the whole picture. The mention of dark lino on the floor of the pub indicates almost at once a certain type of establishment whereas chintzy curtains indicate another.
Writing with the sense When we write with the senses we always write well. When creating a scene we might refer to what we see, hear, smell, taste and feel. This allows reader to experience good writing but when we’re writing a story – flash, short or a full length novel – we need to be sure that we don’t indulge too much in exquisite prose. It may become too rich if it is sustained for too long.
One sense will often carry another.  If we hear the bacon sizzling in the pan we can probably smell it. If we can see the trees blowing in the wind we can hear it howling around the building and we can feel its cold chill on our cheeks.  If we can see the waves on the ocean we can taste the salt in the air. We tend to use the visual. Check that you have a balance of the senses with which you create your description.
Narrative balance Your overall narrative should in any case be balanced: there should be a mixture of action, dialogue, description, inner monologue, and exposition.  The latter may even be avoided and should only take up a small part of the text at best. Dialogue may be more dominant in popular fiction. Look for the narrative balance in works you expect to be comparable to what you are producing.  Do they have a similar balance to your own text?   
Image by Pexels from Pixabay 

Anne Forrest

I'm pleased to welcome to my blog today Anne Forrest, whom we have published on CafeLit.  Look out for her story on 28 March 2020 set in Bodnant Gardens North Wales.  Anne and I share Bangor University.  For the best part of four years I commuted between Southampton and Bangor as I studied for my PhD. When I reached  Penmaenmawr I knew I was almost at one of my homes. I really cherish my time in North Wales, a place I also loved as a young child when we used to holiday there.  So it's great to have this connection with Anne.  
I love putting words down; arranging, rearranging the syntax and making the text sing. Studying for a Masters in ‘Writing and Publishing Fiction’ at the University of Chester, I write according to our class projects and assignments which include flashes, short stories, and the novel. Re-writing a 120,000-word novel, I’m using the skills I’ve learned since writing it, to edit and amend; even having the courage to cut out a subplot which I realise didn’t belong (and putting it away for another piece of writing). I used to be comma-happy, now 75% of commas and many exclamation marks have gone. Set in two places, North Wales and Cornwall, and two timescales, the 1960s and present day, I can’t describe how much pleasure I’m getting from re-visiting this novel and the people I’ve created, making it a tighter read. Being lovingly obsessed with the place in which I grew up (a small quarrying village called Penmaenmawr, in North Wales), I decided to write about my upbringing there; it is identified as a common-folk biography and was published in 2000 by Old Bakehouse in Abertillery. The ‘sense of place’ of my childhood creeps into my writing today. It was written on a typewriter (before cut and paste) and took ten years in all. I thank Old Bakehouse for taking a chance on me; they gave ‘My Whole World, Penmaenmawr’, a second print. So far, this is my most proud achievement.
I’m fortunate enough to have a designated room in which to write but have commandeered the kitchen table with my printer alongside. This is in a kitchen extension. My books and everything else to do with my work is in the old kitchen. My writing-room upstairs is also full of reference books, boxes full of ideas, and files from my MArts course which include notes from my favourite modules, ‘Welsh Writing in English’, and the ‘Gothic’. Happy to stay at home and write I also love writing in a University atmosphere, especially in Bangor where the silent libraries are conducive to work; here I can work for seven hours without getting up to wash a few dishes, make a cup of tea, or look at the dust-covered things in my house.Having had one book published and some short stories, I still hesitate to call myself a writer; I usually manage to say, ‘I write’, and then expand.Writing is a lonely occupation, and while my family and friends ask how I’m doing at Uni, I only have one friend who is interested enough to ask to read anything I write. She is supportive and enthusiastic about my progress, which is much appreciated. Also, a fellow student and I exchange work and have built up a trust and confidence to critique each other’s assignments. When we talk about writing we bounce ideas off each other and she never fails to inspire and excite me with her thoughts, sending me straight to my laptop. I feel very blessed to have such a ‘writing buddy’.I put my eclectic taste in reading down to my childhood love of Enid Blyton (atmosphere by the bucket load) and Cormac McCarthy (where his beautifully written prose transcends the darkest of happenings). The writing of McCarthy inspires me hugely and I can re-read his words over again. Once I’ve finished editing my (still untitled) novel, I’m sending it out into the world of competitions, submissions, agents and publishers.

Stages of revision 9: dialogue

Consider the following: It should not be too naturalIf you listen to a conversation and transcribe it you’ll soon realise that people often go round in circles, they insert a lot of small talk and sometimes it’s even that two parallel monologues take place rather than an actual conversation.   It should only say important thingsSo, you actually need to condense it to what is actually about. It must have a purpose.   It should differentiate characters' voicesEach speech must be in the voice of the character that is speaking. Always consider: would your character say such things or use words like that? If you printed your section of dialogue and cut it up would you or anybody else be able to work out who says what?  When angry, becomes childishOh yes. This happens to the best of us. It should take 2/3 of popular bookThis isn’t of course a hard and fast rule. But it may be a useful tool for checking that you have enough dialogue in your book. It may also help you to identify where you are telling instead of showing. Dialogue is very much part of showing.   It should convey mood, character, reactionLook at every single piece of dialogue.  Is it doing all of the things?   Every speech should give informationAgain check to see if your dialogue is doing this.  Is it pushing the plot forward? It’s great also if your dialogue can multitask  Is it set out correctly?The easiest way to check this is to have a book by reputable author and publisher open at your side. See how they’ve done it.  Take care with how you tag dialogueCan you actually avoid tagging it at all? Often with an exchange of just two people you don’t need to tag. If you have the voice right for each character you may not need to tag. However, if the dialogue goes on for a page or more, there are more than two speakers, or if you are writing for young readers you may need to remind the reader who is saying what. Hopefully each speaker’s voice will be very clear.  You can add a little body language if you wish. If none of this is effective and you really have to use a tag word use “said”. The readers will hardly notice it. At a push you can use asked, shouted or whispered.         
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

News 2 March 2020

 Culture Champions I have been volunteering as a culture champion in Bury for the past few months. This is an initiative to involve older people in cultural activities. I am member of U3A (University of the Third Age) and we were invited to become involved with this.  Of course, the very fact that we are members of U3A means that we are people who engage culturally already.  It was a great surprise and delight when I turned up for the first meeting to find that the facilitator was a former colleague from the University of Salford: Harriet Morgan-Sharni.  Some of you will understand when I say that we just had to reminisce about a certain time-travelling bus that allowed us to work with Performance and Creative Writing students on enabling school children to create stories. I’ve had some fun on the way: an interesting visit to the East Lancs Railway, several meetings in the Bury museum and a half-day sketching work-shop, also at Bury museum. Many older people do not want to go out in the evenings and even day-time meetings can be tricky.  We need safe social indoor spaces.  We don’t have the climate in Greater Manchester to be able to sit under Guernica’s tree. The Culture Champion project then becomes about taking culture out to where people feel safe.Various groups obtained funding from the Culture Champions project and Culture Champion volunteers often helped out with them.   I was very privileged to help with three sessions at the Jinnah Centre in Bury .  These were facilitated by Jen, Ferne and Rachel from https://smallthings.org.uk/. It was fascinating watching the women’s confidence grow. In the first session they had said they didn’t want to sing. In the final session last Thursday we actually made a group recording of us all singing.  I’m not sure how I helped exactly but I did enjoy joining in all of the activities. There was such a sense of play. This is something I think we all need. The women explored community, home, family and place. Sadly the project is coming to an end soon.            News about my writing I’m still carrying on much as before. I’m now about two thirds of the way through the first draft of The Round Robin, the fifth book in the Schellberg Cycle. This may be only a working title.  I’m also continuing with Not Just Fluffy Bunnies – which is becoming a monster of a book.  I’m really enjoying, though, rereading several texts written for young people.  Using my own Fair Submissions web site (https://www.fairsubmissions.co.uk/  ) I’m also challenging myself about once a fortnight to writing specifically for a competition or a call to submission.   I’m also now submitting something pretty well every day. Yes, that leads to more rejections, - or as one of my cup-half-full writing friends calls them, rewrites, - but it also leads to more acceptances.  This also gives me insight for a section of the online course I’m designing: Submitting Strategy for The Business of Writing.             The Young Person’s Library The full catalogue is gradually moving from http://www.gilljameswriter.eu/p/blog-page_81.htmlto https://www.theyoungpersonslibrary.co.uk/I’ve added new this month:   The Weirdstone of Brisingamen This is a classic for fluent readers and concerns fantasy that impinges on everyday life. Read my full comments here:  https://www.theyoungpersonslibrary.co.uk/2020/02/the-wierdstone-of-brisingamen.html Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card Although the protagonist is only five at the beginning of the story and a young teen at the end this feels like a teen read as he has to take on the world. Read my full report here:  https://www.theyoungpersonslibrary.co.uk/2020/02/enders-game-by-orson-scott-card.html Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl This is a fantasy classic for the fluent reader. It is great fun but also has a darker side.  Read my full report here: https://www.theyoungpersonslibrary.co.uk/2020/02/charlie-and-chocolate-factory-by-roald.html
The Witch of Turlingham Academy by Ellie Boswell Not quite Harry Potter nor The Worst Witch but nevertheless this is about a witch at school. The fantasy element makes it suitable for upper primary but the flirting and love interest can also appeal to younger teens.  See the full report here: https://www.theyoungpersonslibrary.co.uk/2020/02/the-witch-of-turlingham-academy-by.html Princess BMX by Marie Basting Marie is a SCBWI friend of mine so it’s great to see that she has produced such a delightful book. It’s quite a thick volume but full of fun for the upper primary reader. https://www.theyoungpersonslibrary.co.uk/2020/02/princess-bmx-by-marie-basting.html I’ve also moved across several posts from my blog.   If you’re interested in children’s literature take a look at the site. There is a search facility on it.  You can also browse it by clicking on Labels and then Show More. Categories are age groups, schools, Key Stages, authors and themes.  Information is also given about the year of publication for each text and when it was first published.  
Current reading recommendationThis month I’m recommending Wakenhyrst by Michelle Paver. Find more details here.I borrowed this book as a brand new title form the library.  This is described as a Gothic novel and certainly there are Gothic tropes in it. Protagonist Maud tells the story of her father who feels threatened by demons. It is not too Gothic, in my opinion, though, and can be enjoyed by readers who are not keen on Gothic texts. We can assign her father’s fears of demons to his failing mental health. Indeed, he is institutionalised.  Throughout the novel he dislikes and distrusts the fens. Maud, however, loves the fens and manages to stop the one near their home from being drained. Our protagonist’s life is not happy. She suffers badly from eczema.  She is plain perhaps even  ugly. Her father is mentally cruel to her. He is a misogynist. She falls in love inappropriately.  She is not good at mixing with people. There is a love interest and there must have been some sex because there are some pregnancies but this is all very much in the background.  The story is somewhere else. This makes a refreshing change. Michelle Paver’s writing is engaging throughout. She creates a vivid atmosphere. The text borders on the literary.    
Giveaway Note: these are usually mobi-files to be downloaded to a Kindle.  Occasionally there are PDFs. This month I’m giving away Prompts 2020. This contains 366 writing prompts, one for each day of 2020. Several of my writing friends have contributed to the book. We’re happy for you to use this just for yourself or with your writing / critique group.  We’re already working on the 2021 book. You can download it and lots of other free materials here.Please, please, please review it if you read it.     Note, that normally my books and the books supplied by the imprints I manage sell for anything from £0.99 to £10.99, with most on Kindle being about £2.99 and the average price for paperback being £7.00. We have to allow our writers to make a living. But I’m offering these free samples so that you can try before you buy.    The Schellberg Project The posts may be helpful for teachers who are familiar with the Schellberg stories or who are teaching about the Holocaust and also for other writers of historical fiction.This month I’ve added the following:A post about how I’ve had to invent an invention. I’m including in my novel about the round robin letters the story of the two girls who have to take on their father’s factory after he dies suddenly. They need to invent a new product. You can read the post here.    A discussion of how one of the recurring themes in the letters is a sense of duty. Did this come about because of some form of indoctrination? Read the psot here. 
School visits I’m offering another sort of school visit absolutely free of charge: a run through or read through of The House on Schellberg Streetplay. This would last a couple of hours- though we could make it longer if we wanted some follow up work. It would be suitable for a full Key Stage 4 Drama, English or History class. One of my ambitions for the play is to put it on at a school.       I’m still promoting my more conventional school visits associated with The House on Schellberg Street project. I’ve now developed a whole workshop for this. It starts off with a board game, includes some role play and creative writing and ends with a discussion. It is now possible to purchase the kit to work on on your own. Find details here.Costs for my workshops = travel expenses plus £400 for a full day and £200 for a half day. This includes all materials and some freebies. Two schools near to each other might consider splitting the day and halving the travel expenses and fees. This is open to negotiation in any case.        I also offer a free half day visit, though you pay my travel expenses, if you allow me to promote my books.       I’m continuously adding materials for schools to the site that are different from the ones I use for the workshops. I’ve recently added in resources and books to do with the topic. See them here:       Query for a school visit here.I’m also happy to tailor a visit for your agreed donation. This can be for either a Schellberg Cycle visit or a creative writing workshop. Any monies raised this way will go specifically to a project I have for a non-fiction book about a journey that will follow the footsteps of Clara Lehrs. I’m hoping to do the whole journey by train, including departing via my nearest Metrolink station. It’s important to feel the rails beneath my feet.       I offer as well standard author visits which include readings from my books, Q & A sessions and creative writing exercises. Please remember, with these as well, I’m open to negotiation if you can’t afford the full price.  Some notes about my newsletters and blogsThey do overlap a little but here is a summary of what they all do.
Bridge House Authors For all those published by Bridge House, CaféLit, Chapeltown or The Red Telephone or interested in being published by us. General news about the imprints. News for writers. Links to book performance. Sign up here.
Chapeltown Books News about our books. Sign up here.
The Creative Café Project News about the project and CaféLit – for the consumer rather than for the producer.  Sign up here.   
Gill’s News: News about my writing, The Schellberg Project, School Visits and Events. Book recommendations and giveaways. Find it here.   
Pushing Boundaries, Flying Higher News about conferences and workshops to do with the young adult novel. (infrequent postings) Sign up here.  
Red Telephone Books News about our books and our authors. Sign up here.
A Publisher’s Perspective Here I blog as a publisher. Access this here.   
The Creative Café Project Listings and reviews of creative cafés. See them here.   
CaféLit Stories Find these here
Gill James Writer All about writing and about my books. View this here.
Gill’s Recommended Reads Find information here about books that have taken me out of my editor’s head and a reminder of the ones I’ve highlighted in this newsletter.      
Gill’s Sample Fiction Read some of my fiction here.
The House on Schellberg Street All about my Schellberg project. Read it here.
Writing Teacher All about teaching creative writing.  Some creative writing exercises. Access this here.       
Books Books Books Weekly offers on our books and news of new books. Find them here. 
The Young Person’s Library I am gradually moving the children’s book catalogue over to this site.  Access it here.
Fair Submissions I am gradually moving the Opportunities List to this site.  Find it 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.   Happy reading and writing.
Image by stokpicfrom Pixabay

Stage of revision 8: Does the pace vary?

We like pace. Then modern world moves fast. Have you noticed how short scenes are these days on television especially in newer soap operas? Our attention span is getting shorter. However, if the pace is fast all of the time, the readers can lose the thread of the action. We need a balance of fast pace and slower pace.Achieving fast paceThere are several ways of doing this: ·         Short sentences·         Powerful action words·         High stakes (this of course also helps with tension) ·         Short chapters ·         Cliff-hangers at the end of chapters (another that also helps with tension)Giving the reader a break from the paceThese actions help with that:·         Creating a film in the reader’s head·         Writing with the senses·         Keeping the pace to real time (when you read your text out loud it take the same time as the action in the text) ·         Showing not telling ·         Use of dialogue
Getting the balance rightThis isn’t science or even craft.  It’s an art.  Here you must use your fine-tuned instinct. How do you develop that instinct? You do this by reading a lot of other books for your target reader, getting to know our target reader well – perhaps through readings and other interactions with them – and also be sharing your work with critique groups and beta readers.
Note of course that the balance will be different for different readers. Make sure you are clear about who your reader is.          
Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay 

News 1 February 2020

 The Elephant in the Room Cannot be ignored ….. But I’m not going to talk politics here.  Those of you who know me well know exactly what I think of Brexit and I’m happy to talk to you about it outside of this newsletter.I do have a few apolitical comments:    This is what happened at our house last night. 23.03 We were watching a recorded episode of Silent Witness and suddenly noticed the time. Ah! So no fireworks then? 23.04 Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. So there were some after all. 23.05 Was that it?  In blueberry Bury? Lots of fodder for stories I think over the next eleven months.  Writers and readers get ready! On a more serious note I do hope the UK keeps the new copyright laws that the EU have come up with. Even better if we can persuade the US to take them on as well.  News about my writing I’m now about two thirds of the way through the first draft of The Round Robin, the fifth book in the Schellberg Cycle. This may be only a working title.  I’m also continuing with Not Just Fluffy Bunnies – which is becoming a monster of a book.  I’m really enjoying, though, rereading several texts written for young people.  Using my own Fair Submissions web site (https://www.fairsubmissions.co.uk/ ) I’m also challenging myself about once a fortnight to writing specifically for a competition or a call to submission.   I’m also now submitting something pretty well every day. Yes, that leads to more rejections, - or as one of my cup-half-full writing friends calls them, rewrites, -  but it also leads to more acceptances.  This also gives me insight for a section of the online course I’m designing: Submitting Strategy for The Business of Writing.             The Young Person’s Library The full catalogue is gradually moving from http://www.gilljameswriter.eu/p/blog-page_81.htmlto https://www.theyoungpersonslibrary.co.uk/I’ve added new this month:   Awaken by Meg Cabot This is a YA novel and features the supernatural, including some references to mythology. You can read my full comments: https://www.theyoungpersonslibrary.co.uk/2020/01/awaken-by-meg-cabot.html The Silver Sword by Ian SerraillierThis is a classic and tells of post-World War II people displacement.  It is aimed at the fluent reader. Full comments: https://www.theyoungpersonslibrary.co.uk/2020/01/the-silver-sword-by-ian-serraillier.html The Magical Kingdom of the Birds: The Silent Songbirds by Anne Booth A fantasy text for younger readers. https://www.theyoungpersonslibrary.co.uk/2020/01/the-magical-kingodm-of-birds-silent.html
The Cat in the Hat by Dr ZeussThis is a classic text for very young children. I read this for my Not Just Fluffy Bunnies. https://www.theyoungpersonslibrary.co.uk/2020/01/the-cat-in-hat-by-dr-zeuss.html
Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa PearceAnother book I read for my research. Written for fluent readers it deals with some complex time slip issues.  There are themes of friendship and ageing in the story. This is also a classic. https://www.theyoungpersonslibrary.co.uk/2020/01/toms-midnight-garden-by-philippa-pearce.html If you’re interested in children’s literature take a look at the site. There is a search facility on it.  You can also browse it by clicking on Labels and then Show More. Categories are age groups, schools, Key Stages, authors and themes.  Information is also given about the year of publication for each text and when it was first published.  
Current reading recommendationI do keep buying books. The one I’m recommending this month I bought at one of a series of talks organised by the Portico Library in Manchester,  Rewriting the North. Manchester Happened by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi. Find more details here.  Makumbi is Ugandan and has a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Lancaster.  It appealed for two reasons: Much of it relates to Manchester and I live in Greater Manchester.  I’m a fan of short stories anyway. These I find excellently crafted and nicely unpredictable. To boot, this is a gorgeous hardback. Sadly I have no more shelf room for it so I’ll be depositing it at the Book Nest in the Millgate centre in Bury in the next few days.   
Giveaway This month I’m giving away The Best of CafeLit 8 in which I have a story. Those authors who were included in The Best of CafeLit 7 voted for what should go into 8, so I’m very pleased to have been included. You can download it and lots of other free materials here.Please, please, please review it if you read it.     Note, that normally my books and the books supplied by the imprints I manage sell for anything from £0.99 to £10.99, with most on Kindle being about £2.99 and the average price for paperback being £7.00. We have to allow our writers to make a living. But I’m offering these free samples so that you can try before you buy.    The Schellberg Project The posts may be helpful for teachers who are familiar with the Schellberg stories or who are teaching about the Holocaust. This month I’ve included a few comments on writing the fifth book in the series. Find them here.I’ve written a post about the use of Social Media making it easier to speak up these days than it was in the 1930s and 1940s. Read it here.I also included a couple of posts about useful books: I mention The Silver Sword again. Read the review here.   Harry Bowling’s Conner Street’s War shows us what it was like for civilians living in around the London docks during World War II.  School visits I’m still promoting my school visits associated with The House on Schellberg Street project. I’ve now developed a whole workshop for this. It starts off with a board game, includes some role play and creative writing and ends with a discussion. It is now possible to purchase the kit to work on on your own. Find details here.Costs for my workshops = travel expenses plus £400 for a full day and £200 for a half day. This includes all materials and some freebies. Two schools near to each other might consider splitting the day and halving the travel expenses and fees. This is open to negotiation in any case.        I also offer a free half day visit, though you pay my travel expenses, if you allow me to promote my books.       I’m continuously adding materials for schools to the site that are different from the ones I use for the workshops. I’ve recently added in resources and books to do with the topic. See them here:       Query for a school visit here.I’m also happy to tailor a visit for your agreed donation. This can be for either a Schellberg Cycle visit or a creative writing workshop. Any monies raised this way will go specifically to a project I have for a non-fiction book about a journey that will follow the footsteps of Clara Lehrs. I’m hoping to do the whole journey by train, including departing via my nearest Metrolink station. It’s important to feel the rails beneath my feet.       I offer as well standard author visits which include readings from my books, Q & A sessions and creative writing exercises. Please remember, with these as well, I’m open to negotiation if you can’t afford the full price.  Some notes about my newsletters and blogsThey do overlap a little but here is a summary of what they all do.
Bridge House Authors For all those published by Bridge House, CaféLit, Chapeltown or The Red Telephone or interested in being published by us. General news about the imprints. News for writers. Links to book performance. Sign up here.
Chapeltown Books News about our books. Sign up here.
The Creative Café Project News about the project and CaféLit – for the consumer rather than for the producer.  Sign up here.   
Gill’s News: News about my writing, The Schellberg Project, School Visits and Events. Book recommendations and giveaways. Find it here.   
Pushing Boundaries, Flying Higher News about conferences and workshops to do with the young adult novel. (infrequent postings) Sign up here.  
Red Telephone Books News about our books and our authors. Sign up here.
A Publisher’s Perspective Here I blog as a publisher. Access this here.   
The Creative Café Project Listings and reviews of creative cafés. See them here.   
CaféLit Stories Find these here
Gill James Writer All about writing and about my books. View this here.
Gill’s Recommended Reads Find information here about books that have taken me out of my editor’s head and a reminder of the ones I’ve highlighted in this newsletter.      
Gill’s Sample Fiction Read some of my fiction here.
The House on Schellberg Street All about my Schellberg project. Read it here.
Writing Teacher All about teaching creative writing.  Some creative writing exercises. Access this here.       
Books Books Books Weekly offers on our books and news of new books. Find them here. 
The Young Person’s Library I am gradually moving the children’s book catalogue over to this site.  Access it here.
Fair Submissions I am gradually moving the Opportunities List to this site.  Find it 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.   Happy reading and writing.