Anna Vaught's Blog, page 6

On writing, querying, being published and taking care of yourself

Anna Vaught Writes

Some general thoughts. These may be used when you are first querying – that is, sending agents or indie presses your work – or perhaps they may comfort as you go further along and have found an agent or a publisher and…in comes the doubt. Or perhaps your agent has your book out on submission and back comes that creeping feeling of…what if/they don’t really like me/eeee this is tough/holy actual shit, am I good enough? Well then, you are going to tough this out. I absolutely promise you you are not the only one feeling this way and, if you thought you were super-amazing and considered yourself gifted PLUS the very thing that publishing needs, and that you know things no-one else does, then you’d be an arrogant twat and, ultimately, would you rather be that? I am sure you have seen the odd person like this on…

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Day writing retreats -NEW!

There will be further announcements as we go, but I am delighted to say that my first writing retreat will be held in West Wiltshire, just outside Bath, on Saturday the 3rd of July. Because I have pledged to offer an online counterpart to in-person events where I possibly can, there will also be an online writing retreat via Google Meet on Saturday the 17th July. For the in-person, be assured that there are excellent road and transport links to the destination and (for example) we are accessible from train changes at Bristol, Bath or Westbury, Weymouth or Cardiff Central; there is a daily direct St Pancras train

Details for in person (timings are the same for online…but read on).

10-5. You will need to bring your own packed lunch, but there will be tea and coffee and soft drinks and biscuits (please advise of allergies when you book) during the day. The venue is a lovely working chapel, with lots of space and a beautiful garden. I hope you like it!

My aim for all 2021 and early 2022 retreats is to offer a range of work on ideas, techniques and lots on using close reading to help you grow and improve. I am also very keen to encourage you so that you work on confidence, a sense of worthiness – people feel outside the writing community or think that publishing is for others, even once they enter this world. As well as the day retreat itself, where I look at group teaching, there will be exercises to make you think and, as a special feature, you get some one to one with me in advance, where you send me some work and I will write to you and give you feedback.

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Who is it for?

Those who are working towards first publication in prose, whether a novella, novel or short stories. I am quite aware that some of these people may have been writing for pleasure for some time. Also, there is probably going to be at least one genius in the room.

Those prose writers who are perhaps a bit further on – perhaps they already have a book published – but want a boost and reboot, perhaps because they have got stuck or not had a supportive community around them at any stage.

Those who are currently querying their work with agents (possibly small presses) and not having any luck.

The day starts with a meet and greet; you know what I mean. No embarrassing ice breakers because I would rather stick pins in my eyes! Would you?! But I will get you to wear a sticky label with your name on. You can use whatever name you like.

*Questions. Frank as you like. If I don’t know, I will say so and aim to find someone who does know.

*Writing a beginning and netting your reader. How might you do it.

Elevenses.

*We may continue with the beginning task a little more if necessary.

*Close reading exercises. Place, atmosphere, character, punctuation. Observing it in others’ work to make us think about our own writing. Translating this into our own work.

*Techniques to help you with editing your work. Outlines, development, why you should always read aloud.

Lunch. Outside in the garden if it’s a fine day.

*Questions. Frank as you like again. These can be on anything, so on writing, but also on the industry or anything you need help with.

*Confidence. Very short bit because this can make you feel vulnerable and I do not want anyone to feel this way, even in a safe and supportive environment, so rather than asking YOU, I will tell you about me and what my barriers are and how I manage mine. If anyone wants to ask a further question at this stage, that is fine.

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*More on close reading; characters hints and hooks.

*Story arc. What is it? How do you create and sustain one and is it true there’s an equation for it…?

*Troubleshooting. Proofing, common errors, homophone checking, speech punctuation, laying out speech, techniques with long and short paragraphs; my observations on the most common problems in the many manuscripts I have seen over the past year – such as too many characters too soon, a beginning that lacks pace or interest, sluggish narrative and many more. Feel free to disagree that these are problems.

Cup of tea and a gentle end to the day. My house is immediately behind the venue, so it may be that some of you would relish the chance for a little bit of one to one chat afterwards.

How does that sound? I will hand out some written materials for reading, but the rest, ingest and take notes, as you see fit.

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How do you book? via annavaughttuition@gmail.com payable in full in advance via BACS or paypal, and you will need to tell me at least one emergency contact details and forewarn me of any allergies, illness or sensitivities of which I must be aware; likewise, I would appreciate your sharing any trigger warnings with me so that I either avoid them or you know that we will touch on them, but I given you reassurance and context. When you book, I can tell you the exact location and how to access it, parking, route from train station and bus stops.

The online counterpart will be 10-5 and follow the same format except you just pop off and get a refreshments for yourself and eat lunch and there will be time for a little one to one afterwards, if you want that. This will take place on Google Meet (very very easy to use if you have yet to encounter it).

The in-person day is £150 and the online is £110 and both will be for a maximum of twelve people. This will be refunded in full if there are further restrictions owing to Covid. If I do not get a reasonable number of bookings, we will not go ahead – so also a full refund. Remember that in addition to a day of work, I am also looking at a section of your writing beforehand and commenting on it to provide maximum value and usefulness for you.I hope you like the sound of this. I will look at your written work during June.

Who am I again? I am the author of four books, with my fifth on submission as I write and other work on its way, I have written widely: novels, novellas, short stories and poetry and contributed to many journals both online in print. I am also a proofreader, editor, copywriter and experienced secondary English teacher, tutor and young people’s mentor. I have also long been involved in literacy projects, community arts initiatives and literary mentoring with adults. As I hope you can tell, I am passionate about it all!

You are so much more productive than you think

This is is specifically for those aiming to write their first book but finding it difficult because of a lack of time, energy, illness, caring responsibilities, grief or anxiety. Also, for those who have not started but would like to; yet they do not start because of a perceived lack of time, energy or space.

This short post is to comfort and encourage you.

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For a start, you work with what you have. That is, it’s lovely to have an office or a dedicated room, but if circumstances demand that you write at your kitchen table, or on your lap wherever you are, so be it. If you wait for those perfect circumstances, you will never start, so always go with what you have. I write at the kitchen table and am frequently interrupted. I go with it and use headphones for really busy times. Remember that genius exists in the finest library, but also at a scruffy kitchen table. Also, if you think you have to assemble ideal conditions – that is, ideal emotional or psychological conditions – before you write or continue writing, then I do believe that is deferring your creativity to fate. You may feel down, sad or that heavy weight of grief that comes after the first pains which you think will kill you. My darlings, I am so, so sorry. But you know, you can write in rage and sadness, too. Maybe not yet, but you will. Sometimes, little bits of story unfurl within the sad story of you and yours; cling to them, because they are still there and precious. Think I don’t know? I am writing this now, to you: after a second very broken night, this little story unfurled while I was on to the phone to care providers and emergency staff because I have a very unwell eldest. I find it heartbreaking sometimes and after years it seems a solution is not within our grasp, but within those feelings, I try to draw something else out. Today, it was for you. Take it.

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Writing every day. Well lovely if this is you, but it cannot be everyone. I cannot do it. If you are poorly or managing any combination of circumstances, or just because it doesn’t work for you, then you cannot do it. This does not mean you cannot produce a book. Again, go with what is available to you because, again, if you think it is only possible with (perceived) ideal circumstances, then you may never get started or find your progress is stymied because you are feeling anxiety about your lack. Look, instead, at what there is. Thought. Cogitation. Reading. Listening. Man, you’ve been busy.

Photo by Ivan Bertolazzi on Pexels.com

This point follows on from the last. You may not write every day – as in get words down on a page – but try to inhabit the world of your book. What might that mean? That you mull over its characters and plot, read, go for a walk and just let it sit and let your mind freewheel and see what springs up; that you keep reading; that you look over edits – your own or someone else’s – and maybe you could do bits of admin if the urge is that strong. Do your page numbers, check SPAG or write an acknowledgements page: these things can be lovely little boosts and make you feel your book is evolving into an actual THING. So think of the work and the writing as not only being the writing down, but also of the rumination while you are having a bath, or resting, say. If you do that, you may find your attitude to it shifts and you realise you’re further along than you thought.

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I hope these help. x

My Writing Year

I was wondering if I had enough to say here! That is, I’ve tweeted quite a bit of it, in personal terms there is only so much I can say without breaching confidences and in writing about the difficulties of the publishing year that are particular to my work, I would rather move on positively as there so many blessings! Some things were connected with timing; others with having little control over situations. But chin up, I thought! I will keep this short and do write and share your thoughts, if you like?

I was mildly ill with cold-like symptoms in early March, as were my husband and one of my three kids. At this point my eldest had been seriously unwell, so we were navigating difficult times before Covid and so marched on. I will come back to that! With advice – a lot of it from the brilliant people you meet on twitter – and a great community, we could cope. When the pandemic began, I had all three at home and then was responsible for home learning with the youngest and access to ongoing support we really needed with eldest ebbed away. I had a book out imminently, Saving Lucia. The launch was cancelled and there were no other events, barring my involvement in the fantastic Lockdown festival and a turn for SL on some online events. I was devastated, but decided it was best kept in context because of what folk were going through, though I still had to acknowledge that it mattered to me because I had waited two and half years for publication from acceptance. It helped so very much to connect with readers, read extracts from the book and think about my new book having a long life – beyond this time. I found someone to have mentoring chats with and that really helped. Also, to write short pieces related to my books for various journals and for my blog. Keeping it moving and lively as much as I was able. BECAUSE the other thing that happened was that I was not well and I have not been for about 9 months now. Hello Long Covid. You remember I mentioned the cold-like symptoms in early March? AArgh. Chest pain, vertigo, shortness of breath and hello fatigue like I had never experienced it.

Once Saving Lucia was out, I decided what I needed to do was focus on the book under construction. I had seen my lovely agent in February, shortly before she went on maternity, and had great edits and notes. I do believe you should always be working on something, because there are a lot of waiting, planning and, I think, variables in writing and publishing. Between April and August, I rewrote my novel and began plotting another one, The Cabinet of Curiosities. Just as I finished this run of The Zebra and Lord Jones, I won the publishing and writing section of Creative Bath, which was great because it was a broad acknowledgement of what I am trying to do with my volunteer and community work alongside my writing. Then, in September, Famished was out. Again, I found it wonderful to focus on engagement with readers, to offer readings of the book and to work diligently on social media. We had a lovely launch event and then – very 2020 – Instagram went down shortly after it started. Very important to laugh, my bravehearts!

When all is said and done, I am immensely proud to have been part of two little teams and to have met so many brilliant people. Also, I think, to have been building new and enduring friendships because of the books, because of a shared love of reading and, frankly, because I have had to ask for help in navigating what is still a new world to me alongside work, domestic stress, exhaustion and illness. I am immensely proud that we got two books out this year, that I rewrote another one and, frankly, that I coped as well as I did when a further novel and volume of short stories were turned down this year and I was told rights and translation were not shifting. This happens; it’s natural. But it’s hard! But we made a plan and hopefully it will come to fruition.

So, The Zebra and Lord Jones (novel) rewritten, I began a new novel, The Cabinet of Curiosities and made some – for me! – major pitches for features. I also tentatively began plans for a non-fiction book I am passionate about doing. Where are we as we stand? I have to be vague about a lot of this as you can imagine, so I will say that I am working on this pitch, making approaches to people, keeping in touch with my agent and that there is a lot of work on desk. Recently, I was longlisted for the new Barbellion prize – you can read about the prize here – https://www.thebarbellionprize.com/ for Saving Lucia and, in four books and lots of entries for prizes, it is my first longlisting and I am delighted.

During this year, I have also been fortunate both to work on several manuscripts with writers, to mentor and, also, to receive some mentoring myself from kind, brilliant and inspiring people whom I will not embarrass here. And for 2021, well…as I said, there is a lot on the desk and I know that we will be clarifying, planning and strategising. As I am still not better and because I still have complexities within my home life – and quite possibly I will have 2/3 not going back to school and college (the other is on a rather uneventful gap year before studying Psychology at university) – I need to pace. I have made some PhD applications – that is, a PhD by Publication to be worked on with three of my own books – but it will not be the end of the world if it does not happen; far from it. In a terrible year, there is, if I may say, already so much that I am thankful for.

Much love,

Anna x

On the Moon we had Gold Spoons

In the Christmas house that was always and never there, lived two sisters and a crowd. In this house there were banshee rats and a ticking fire; kittens roosting in the pantry and a glossy alabaster Jesus on the wall, next to the pinned tide times, seance timetable, flower rota, blind bell-ringing and hours of lamping for the village men. The two sisters were beautiful and shared secrets and built each other into strength in the absence of love.

In this house were presents in old paper and you always knew what they were. Soaps of almond and violet; dusty talcum powder smelling like the grave through its wrapping. There were sooty notebooks and crayons that smelled of arsenic and the mortifications of childhood. Outside, sweltering in the snow, or frost and rime, were barren hens astride camphor eggs in the big run and, beyond, the walled garden where the real world was said to begin, only you should only go there if you must and never alone or without prayers and your talismans.

‘Oh, Anna Cat, is it Christmas again. Is it? Will it be the same as before – as the other years in this impossible house?’

‘Yes, my sister, Grace Matilda.’

 ‘But Anna Cat, you promised you would make it different this year now you are grown.’

 ‘Ah, that I did, that I did.’ And Anna Cat smoothed her sister’s arm and said, ‘Shh now.’

But how would it happen, the making different? Was she not just an ordinary girl living in a Christmas house that was always and never there?  Stop your mouth: you mortals and countrymen know little of what is effected with faith, the lovely moon, pretty silver dust or the incantation you can build if you rise early and speak to the robin in his first call and then, only on the solstice, which was today. And Anna Cat had risen early and spoken.

Out in the storeroom were sugar plums and toffees and cold pastel sugared almonds in tubes. In the stockings in a few days there would be a satsuma, a prayer on gold paper, an admonishment for the wicked, a piece of coal, a special spoon for grapefruit (for one girl), a butter knife (for another) and a small ball which had no use or allure for either. And every year, a piece of silver cutlery with which to build your home, which was only a room in this house, though you would gain your own table, stove and linen. The girls hated the cutlery and its mocking silver and longed for difference; for gold and for something spontaneous and impossible in the now world beyond the walled garden.

‘Oh, Anna Cat. There will be more silver cutlery in the stockings, and I am frightened. I think this year, if they are working left to right, it must be a knife or perhaps a little butter knife.’

‘For me, my darling. For you it will be the grapefruit spoon, pretty and ridged, but you will hate it. You know how they think a grapefruit breakfast, or a grapefruit starter is the finest thing and talk incessantly about it.’

‘I know, my Anna-Cat. I think, when I see it, that I will long for a cheerful spoon with a wooden handle or some pretty cobalt with which I could eat a boiled egg and soldiers on Christmas morning. I long for that. Mother thinks eggs are wrong in their virgin state. That they are too rich and salty and breed base passions.’

‘Mother knows nothing. Only her sad appetites and the judgement they cause her to place upon the world and the curses that ensue from her dyspeptic temperament, my darling. There will come a time, as I promised you, my sister. It will be soon. Shhh.’

‘And I long for gold things. I want gold things on the tree, too. Not the pewter and silver and white but something…’

‘Something gold and pretty for Christmas, like stars and the sun and the present Melchior gave.’

‘Shall we play with the gold words, my darling? Shall we say…arum…gilt…gleaming…put the words in your mouth and roll them around.’

Yes! I will say other words too and be bad. I will say flaxen and fire and butterscotch.’

‘Shhh. They will hear. Come with me to look at the moon. It is the longest night. Come.’

Every year, at the solstice, on Christmas Eve and Epiphany, they walked until they could speak with the moon; they walked to the boundary at the edge of the walled garden. ‘Tonight, of all night, do not confuse her with lots of fine words; just call her Moon.’

‘Yes, my Anna Cat. Hello Moon. You are silver, but we love you though it is gold we long for. I hope you do not mind. I do not think so because you smile so at us.’

‘Hello Moon and Happy Christmas Moon. Do not mind my sister and her ways’ and the moon waned an infinite amount and smiled upon the sisters.

‘My sister, promise me again that we will not always live like this with the glossy Jesus, dusty notebooks and the silver cutlery!’ Grace began to cry as, from the house, pots were banged and doors to pantries opened; people came and went. ‘Promise me.’

‘As I said. It is the final time. I said, when I received my final piece of silver cutlery, then I could…I could break the spell and we should go beyond the boundary. I would build you a house on the moon, she would be kind and you could take the things you like from the Christmas tree, when you left for your new home on Christmas Day in the afternoon after the horrid and magnificent Christmas dinner.’

‘You will come?’

‘Of course, but my greatest pleasure is to see you happy, so you must choose how we build the house and what we furnish it with.’

‘What will we eat there? Next Christmas, Anna-Cat, what should we have for our dinner? Would there be grapefruit then turkey and roast potatoes and glorious burnished sage and onion and gravy?’

‘If you like, sweet child, but we shall make it different and our way, so it is not congealed of spite and bad magic, for as you have learned, your dinner is delicious, but it is malignant and it entraps you still.’

‘I know that.’

‘We can eat moon dew, which is a special sort of manna, and we can eat it whenever we like and with our hot and happy hands if we want.’

‘I should like to eat with gold things.’

‘Well then my darling, we shall eat with gold spoons, which I shall make for you myself from the gold which the moon whispers she hides beneath her silver dust, and I shall turn it in my strong and happy hands with help from the hot breath which the moon has when she loves you.’

That year, the year in which Anna Cat received her final piece of cutlery, the butter knife, and in which Grace Matilda received the hated grapefruit spoon, they ate a banquet of roast turkey and burnished sage and onion, then flaming pudding in a house of spite and cold decadence which was impossible and the only house they had ever known. There were prayers over the glossy Jesus, conversation of morbidity and sharp-tongued blessing and all the wretched paradoxes that lived in the house that was always and never there. Snow fell and the family dozed, faceless, graceless, and delighted with itself and the horrible way it had built a microcosm which trapped its young with delicacies. And yet and yet. They did not look, did not see, but on the wall the glossy Jesus smiled a little and the tide times changed as the Christmas world tilted on its axis.

Snow fell and the robin came to sing. Mutter. Mutter. Make the incantation, gather your things, your thoughts, your truest heart. So, when the moon rose, out went Anna Cat and her sister Grace Matilda and they stepped across the boundary at the edge of the walled garden where the real world began and were swept into the new life on the moon. On Boxing Day, they ate manna with gold spoons, already there as a homecoming gift from the moon herself.

‘Oh Anna-Cat, we are so happy, here on the moon, Merry Christmas, my sister.’

In the house that was always and never there, snow hardened and turned to slush and the grey days of the new year before the gorgeous day of Epiphany, which was celebrated with decadent shafts of sunlight on the moon and with destruction of the Christmas tree on earth. The sisters’ absence was noted but they were not missed. There would be more, in time and the cutlery-buying would start again, for more girls they might have. But oh, that tallow-faced family was wrong, living on alone until its next Christmas, and celebrating itself, parsimonious and silver. Remember the song of the robin, on the morning of the solstice if your house is abundant but mechanical-cold; learn the kind magic and ascend with Anna Cat and Grace Matilda.

There is room for us all on the moon next Christmas.

(The title is taken from Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle and Anna Cat is my husband’s name for me, Anna Catherine, here a riff on Merricat – Mary Katherine – in Jackson’s book. This story was a very quick write in a pocket of time I had today; be gentle with it.)

BOOK GROUP QUESTIONS ON FAMISHED

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FAMISHED

Book group questions to whet your appetite and ruin your dinner.

One for each story and a few for luck

Which was your favourite story and why?Did you find any of the stories too horrifying or too creepy?Why do you think the author chose a linking theme of food?What do the inhabitants of the house/s want from the carpenter in Cave Venus et Stellas?In Feasting/Fasting, what happens to the new wife and what happens to the husband? What was your opinion of Myfanwy in Seaside Rock and Other Homicides?A Tale of Tripe. How did you react to the descriptions of the foods in this story?Nanny Lovett and Pop Todd. Are they good bakers?Henry and His Surfeit of Lampreys. Why do the lampreys do what they do?Another more general question: do you think any of the stories is in poor taste or goes too far.In Hot Cross Buns, Sharp Teeth and a Tongue, who’s the bad guy?Shame: some readers have commented that this is different from the other stories in the collection. Do you agree and if so, why?Cucumber sandwiches. What is going on in both countries in this story?Shadow Babies’ Supper. Why are the dolls so scary?The Choracle. What was the moral of this story?Jar and the Girl. What was interesting for you about this story?Sherbet. Do you think it’s really possible to construct a creed, cult or religion on anything?Bread and Salt. The shortest story in the book. Was the ending a surprise?Trimalchio Jones. Why can’t the guests leave?Sweetie. Who or what is Sweetie?Do you have any thoughts about how language is used in the stories?Which story was the funniest?What could be the link (or links) between traumatic experience and food in this book?How are families presented in Famished?Any story you might like a sequel to? Or  a prequel! 

And so it begins: The Ornament of the House (WIP).

Two books out this year; one more being read in a revised version, one rejected and put to one side for now and another under consideration. I long to be able to tell you all about my novel The Zebra and Lord Jones, but all in good time. While I wait, I am pondering, reading and enjoying working on other things. I had initially thought I might only read for leisure during a waiting period and with the two books out, but then things catch my eye and I want to get going. I am doing that gently.

So…I had been wanting to write something set in the Medieval period for some time; more specifically, on female mystics. I am thinking about that at the moment, so I am reading Evelyn Underhill’s Mysticism and re-reading both Revelations of Divine Love from Julian of Norwich and also The Book of Margery Kempe. It is immersive and, as I said, gentle.

However, I have also started writing something else, which I have had on my mind for some time and for which I collated a number of photographs. Here is one: a deserted manse in a village in Carmarthenshire. I have a working title for this and it comes from Emerson (it may change) – The Ornament of the House. I had originally envisaged this as a collection of short stories – and it may still be that – or may evolve into a novella or shorter novel. Imagine that every room of a house – perhaps this house – tells a story and is inhabited by different people, whether alive or dead. Imagine, also, that the fabric of the house is alive and that those in the house are all from different time periods. I love lush historical detail; let me take you back to 1790, for example. The house itself, I suppose, like Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House or, if I may, ‘Feasting;Fasting’, in my own Famished, from September this year. is alive, respiring and intent on things. Also, those who enter the house are all connected with what is in it and with each other – though they do not know it yet.

Often, for me, a book begins with an image. Here is one.

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There is something I wanted to say. I have felt truly crushed by many elements of this year and I am pretty sure you have too. In terms of writing – which seems simultaneously trivial and the most important thing in the world – it has been incredibly disappointing to have two books out and not to be able to do events or share things with you, but hopefully that will come, perhaps alongside other future books, if necessary. One thing I have learned, though, is that I have to be true to the way in which I work and to who I am. The first: I always want to be writing a book. I have been roundly criticized for working too quickly or for diluting what I am doing, but this is how I do things. I waited so long, it is coming out in a torrent and I want to keep going. The second (who I am) is that I am very open about myself, the problems I have had and had, a difficult past, trauma and so on. Part of that is sharing my work with you as I go. I hope you like the sound of this new book.

Stay well and keep writing – in whatever form that is for you and by whatever method.

Anna x

On writing

I am doing a little event for a local community festival. It is about writing a book, getting started, what you might need. I thought I would summarise it for you here – in case it encourages you.

Here we go.

Morale. I CANNOT DO IT. IT IS FOR OTHER PEOPLE. Yep; that was me too. Who told you who gets to write and who doesn’t? If it was someone else, squish that right down; do the same if it is the voice in your head saying this because I bet you wouldn’t say that to anyone else. Why are you saying it to yourself? Go forth if writing brings you pleasure whether you have hard ambitions bound up with it or not.Getting started. What do you need? Hmmm. A flat surface. Pens. Some paper. Some form of computer and internet access. A bullish attitude. Joy. Start writing and do not wait for ideal conditions or for inspiration to strike. Tools and teachers. A dictionary and thesaurus are grand (obviously you have all that online). There’s your imagination. Trust it. Do you need to have a degree in creative writing, to have done an MA or MFA in Creative Writing? No. If you want to write a good book, you can do it without those things. However, I won’t sniff at them either because doing a course can be a game-changer: community, a new life, guidance. It isn’t just the learning, it is the time and support. Choose wisely. Your greatest teacher is reading: read widely, generously, experiment and go outside your comfort zone. Indie and big press, old and new stuff, genres you think you will not like, don’t sniff at commercial fiction if you think you’re heavy on the literary end; poetry, non-fiction, books in translation and short stories. My favourite book on writing is Francine Prose’s Reading Like a Writer. https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/9781908526076?gC=5a105e8b&gclid=Cj0KCQjwtZH7BRDzARIsAGjbK2anhXBKLcr4m52GBlnPvbByWG2JyJiwa5GUY9CYcJNE8Uu3_Ux_IMUaApb7EALw_wcB Brilliant. If you can afford it, there are a number of literary consultancies and freelance editors who can help and also any number of day and residential courses BUT there is also a great deal of free material placed online. You need spend no money at all.Say you want to publish, who is it with? Self-published? There are a number of routes so research them. A small press? Research carefully with Mslexia’s Indie Press Guide https://mslexia.co.uk/products/indie-press-guide/indie-press-guide-3/ as a starting point, but look on twitter, read other books by presses and really aim to understand what they publish. A bigger publisher? Although there are some exceptions, you will need a literary agent to approach a big publisher and there is no shame in aiming big. Your writing may be a hobby and that is wonderful because why not? Still, writing is also commerce if you are going to aim to sell it and never ever let anyone make you feel bad about that. I’m just getting down from my soapbox. The literary agent. Research carefully. Your greatest cheerleader, confidante, passionate reader and your business manager. That’s who your agent is. For details on all of this and tips on submission and pitches, The Writer’s and Artist’s Yearbook is great and also their website. Here: https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/ Think, also, about who the book is for in terms of audience and try to learn about that. Adults, young adults, early years children?Editing and proofing. Roll in help if you can. But take your time if it is just you, read your whole work ALOUD ALWAYS AND WITHOUT EXCEPTION because you will spot all kinds of things – errors, glitches, boring bits, problems with pacing. Know that when you have written a first draft, it is there that the hardest work begins. When you are published, I’d say that you might consider your book maybe two thirds done when it goes to the editor appointed to work with you. The editing task is a big one. Be stern and be ready for this.Submission of a book. To whoever. The odds are against you. You can increase them by doing your submission really, really carefully, but they are still stacked against you. There are helpful notes on this in Writers and Artists, as I mentioned, but also study really carefully the submissions pages of anyone you want to submit to; take advice and follow requirements to the letter. Also, NOW IGNORE THE ODDS.Network; chat; meet people. Twitter is probably key to this and – curate it carefully – full of information, ideas and advice. I do believe this is a big part of the work: being observant and understanding the industry. Instagram is also full of a lot of engaging content for writers, too. Be prepared for setbacks at all stages. Rejection is hardwired into the process. Try not to compare with others’ success or perceived success, debuts, overnight amazing and all that. Overnight amazing often means years of manuscripts torn up and a lot of crying that you didn’t see. If you end up with a publisher and/or an agent, even then your experience will not be the same as another person’s. This is why you MUST back yourself and believe in your work – because this will see you through. Remember this, now: nothing will happen unless you BACK YOURSELF.Make like a favourite bear. You are entirely within your rights to make like Paddington and give a stern look to anyone who says you’re too old, too young, bit poorly, bit tired, or don’t have enough time (for example). You be the judge of that and we can, I believe, always do more than we think we can. Find your tribe. How may I help? You know; with any of this? Because you need a tribe, online or in person! Other writers and readers to encourage and support as you would do for them.Lots of love, Anna x

Famished

So here we are, two and a bit days away from publication of my first short story collection, Famished. Here she is: https://www.influxpress.com/famished You can order from here or any good bookshop or online at you know where but I’d love it if you gave your local independent bookshop a boost or the press itself.

So, Famished is about food. Ordinary food and peculiar food – or rather, peculiar meals and combinations and a strange atmosphere at table. It is also about feasts, grand consumption, being consumed and embraces eating and being eaten in literal and figurative terms. It is gruesome, pretty, ornate (hopefully not too much so for your taste) and potentially a bit shocking. There is nothing here about disordered eating (although the notion of mortality, danger and food is explored in one story, but food is really only the conduit to a longer meditation on safety and lack of it). There is plenty about disordered psychology, unhealthy and unexplored family tension and spite and, more broadly, trauma. However, even there, I have written about what ingredients and food receptacles may give one, when freshly imagined and regarded, as if for the first time; that is how we get from a preserving jar in one story to a flight from the scabrous relatives and their ghosts who so cruelly gaslit. We fill the jar with something else. My experience of coping with long and complex trauma and then dealing with its aftermath is that everything is laden with memory; with a cruel nostalgia that spits at you, even in domestic objects which perhaps you have inherited or been gifted. The answer: spit back and fill that jar with something else.

What will you find in this book? Not in order…and how about playing story snap? Decide which is which when you read the book

How a cult is built on sherbet with a mint-toothed high priestess

How a jar, beautiful but thrumming with judgement and awful memory is filled with sweetness

Why you should not patronise your elders with soft and seasonal buns

However courteous and sexy the vampire, he’s still going to eat you

Why pride might eat you; or rather why apparently inanimate objects might (ra ha ha…)

If you were at a luscious feast that you could never leave, how would that be?

Why is tripe so scary and how about pickled eggs bobbing in a big jar in a damp old larder, huh?

Why would a cherry on a trifle wink at you – and not in a good way?

How you kill people bloodlessly with seaside rock

What shame is. What is your shame? What have restraint or lack of propriety got to do with sex? What has food provenance got to do with coercive control? (I cover a few topics in that one.)

Judgmental mothers and the revenge of melted chocolate and a pickled egg in a bag of salt and vinegar

King Henry was said to have died from a surfeit of lampreys. Well. Lampreys were not amused.

A horrible demented sweetie shop that is not really there

Remember that monsters, beautiful, gracious, are (hungrily, thirstily) all around you

Scared of dolls? If not, you might be. Scared of grace and exquisite manners? That too. Don’t be fooled

Why sandwiches can be fatal and how cucumber is fatal

How do you put souls and bad inanimates into pies?

The key influences in this book are my past and ongoing exploration of some of that, trauma (about which I will write in more detail) and my reading, particularly of Southern Gothic and also Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber and Shirley Jackson; ALL Shirley Jackson. There are Southern and Welsh elements here, recurring characters and some of those characters have occurred in my other work.

I am so looking forward to reading adventures with you.

Anna.

Things to cheer you and cheerlead

Here is what I have for you.If you are a writer of low income or from an underrepresented group in writing and publishing, then I have a four month FREE mentoring slot, starting in September. This is for someone working towards a novel or short story collection and with a body of work already under way. Please dm me on twitter or annavaughttuition@gmail.com by the end of July. x

Every Thursday on twitter, 6.30-7.30, I am going to be doing an #askbookworm -use the hashtag so everyone can see it – and this is all about writing. Look, I am still a newish writer but I am prolific and have learned a good deal. I get sent a number of messages anyway, so I am formalising it. YOU CAN ASK ME ANYTHING ABOUT WRITING, such as

finding an agentkeeping motivated or finding confidence in the first placewriting with a chronic health condition (in my case mental health stuff)feeling like an outsiderputting together a short story collection (or novel)what to do when you are stuckwriting with kids and finding space and time to write (my motto is always to work with what you have)anything else you like!

LOADS OF LOVE,

Anna x