Cherry Potts's Blog, page 11

LonCon 3 – Suggestions?

So I’m on a couple of panels for LonCon 3, and I need to do some homework so that I’m properly on the ball. Suggested (re)reading (and viewing I suppose) please, from all you SF fans out there.

First one:

WE CAN REBUILD YOU. SF medicine regularly comes up with “cures” for disabled bodies — from Geordi LaForge’s visor to the transfer of Jake Sully’s consciousness in Avatar — but the implications of such interventions are not always thought through as fully as we might hope. How does a rhetoric of medical breakthroughs and scientific progress shape these stories, and shape SF’s representation of lived physical difference? In what ways can SF narratives address dis/ability without either minimising or exaggerating such difference?

My immediate thought is Anne McCaffery’s The Ship Who Sang and from the film world Gattaca, but can anyone suggest any other SF where future-science plays a major part in coping with, or celebrating disability? I can think of piles of fantasy, but not so much SF. Obscure short stories maybe? Oh, something just surfaced in the old brain there – Vonda McKintyre – must find… Suggestions (of things you have actually read or seen yourself, please) in the comments please!

Panel number 2:

Liechester Square: Getting London Wrong

If there’s one thing you can guarantee about the reaction to any piece of SF set in London, it’s that British fans will delight in nit-picking the details: you can’t get there on the Piccadilly Line! So who are the worst offenders? Whose commodified Londons do we forgive for the sake of other virtues in their writing? Do we complain as much about cultural errors as geographic ones, and if not, why not? And given London’s status as a global city, is it even fair to claim ownership of its literary representation?

Suggested reading /viewing on this one? (Cliff – any particular episodes of Dr Who?)

I’m thinking Day of the Triffids, Quatermass, Rivers of London, Un Lun Dun, Veronica Britton, the dreadful (but London set) Avengers movie. There’s something by Diana Wynne Jones (I think) tugging at my memory too.

I don’t want to read or watch the entire enormous oeuvre of London Sci Fi, but any suggestions for particularly well-handled London, or particularly badly imagined London? Anything that makes you cry out as Lyra does, of Oxford, in The Subtle Knife:

That’s not my London!

Comments invited!

Singing in a veil

A new experience, singing whilst dressed as a nun. Apparently the costumes are borrowed from a production of Sister Act, and fit where they touch – A’s ‘cutty sark’ needs letting down about a foot so we don’t see her stripey socks until we are meant to. (I like the strategically placed light, it gives me a halo!)

The thing is, the veil makes it difficult to use your peripheral vision to sneak a look at Nick or the monitor for the beat. (It is also seriously HOT.)

The wimples have holes cut in to give our ears a bit of clearance,  and although I thought I could hear fine, I was complaining that hardly anyone was singing at one point – I now realise that the veil funnels your hearing so what’s in front of you is fine and you can hear yourself awfully well (not always a good thing!) but the rest is decidedly muffled. It was very trying getting notes from Harry and Jack against the orchestra running through something, I had no idea what was going on!

Sister Alix

It’s a bit scary how well a wimple suits almost everyone in the tenors and basses. Especially when they pull THAT face.

Sister Antonia

What a difference a floor makes

First stage rehearsal for The Adventures of Count Ory last night, and although there’s still some work to do on the seating, the stage is pretty much set up. Fantastic ‘stone slab’ flooring that will double as the town square and the castle. Bent-wood chairs have replaced the heavy cushioned metal ones that the audience get, which makes them easier to lug about (not that I do, but I sympathise with fellow cast members who are). The cafe tables are smaller, and have proper crockery, and it suddenly feels so much more real, but also profoundly confusing.

There are two points in a production where it becomes one step forward two back. It’s not just me, the principals are making meaningless noises at intervals. Fortunately I am not rattled by this. Eight operas in, I know these are just hiccups.

The first occurs when we go into production and have to start moving and singing at the same time. The second is now, when we get on the stage, because we are also working with the real amount of space, particularly around the entrances. This might seem insignificant, but we spent some time working out exactly how far we can come on stage as a body, without blocking audience view – this is a highly complex bit of choreography! How tall are the performers? Where is it safe to stand? No, we can’t see Nick’s beat if we have the door shut, so yes, we will miss the cue…

I’m still having to practice crossing myself correctly. (apparently I’d adopted Greek Orthodox and we’re going for Roman Catholic. Who knew there was a difference??  It’s something I’ve never done in my life before and being left-handed, using my right hand feels pretty odd anyway.

And then: How many chairs? Are you sure? Who’s moved my chair? Who’s supposed to have the other end of this bench? Where are the cigars? Shouldn’t there be more bottles? Ok, I know this is a cue coming up, but what am I meant to sing?!

Three Mermaids

I have a bit of a thing about mermaids. The house is strewn with pictures and even a bit of stained glass.

So recently I wrote about a mermaid in my story The Real McCoy which  has been read at three live literature events by three different actors in under a month.

To celebrate here is the first mermaid picture I bought, which is a print by Fran Slade. Look – there’s three of them!

and here are links to the readings.

Louisa Gummer at Literary Kitchen Festival

Lin Sagovsky at Liars’ League

and Carrie Cohen at Other Worlds (Brockley Max Festival)

Fascinating the different takes each of them give it!

Songs of the Sea

Well, for a writing blog there’s a heck of a lot about singing on here. This post is no exception.

Vocal Chords, my regular choir, are splashing out in Forest Hill on Saturday July 19th (The only day that week that I’m not rehearsing or performing in Count Ory at Blackheath.

3pm St Saviour’s Church, Brockley Rise, SE23.

£5. Proceeds to Seaman’s Mission and St Saviour’s.

I will also be selling books, though not at the same time as I’m singing (as far as I know!)

There’s a bit of everything, from passionate (Ready for the Storm, Crossing the Bar) to bonkers (Sailor with the Navy Blue Eyes, Under the Sea), by way of traditional (Sea Coal, Haul Away Joe) and lots more.

A fun afternoon out, pretty much guaranteed.

Hooray Henries dress as Nuns and break into wine cellar

If that sounds like the plot of an opera, it’s because it is.

Tue 15th, Wed 16th, Fri 18th Jul 19.00h

Sun 20th Jul 14:30h

The Adventures of Count Ory (think Tintin crossed with Don Juan) a cartoonish take on Rossini’s le Comte d’Ory is the latest production from the ever wonderful Blackheath Halls, and the creative team which is Harry Fehr, Nick Jenkins and Rose Ballantyne; and one of the reasons I’ve not been on this site in a while. (That, and trying to organise a festival for the winter solstice, launch a new Arachne Press Title, and plan the next one!)

Religious fever has gripped a small feudal town (Camberwick Green! With a Castle!) as the ‘Hermit’ a modern-day evangelical preacher comes to town. But all is not as it seems. Disguise and Deception  are the order of the day, and chaos quickly ensues.

Tickets are selling fast get your now

I’ll be one of the ones in a habit/white ties & tails/ combat gear /etc etc.

 

Vocal Chords sing Sea Coal at Nunhead Cemetery

Nunhead Cemetery Open Day is a fixture in our diaries. We sing in the ruined chapel after a rehearsal locally.This year there was a bit of a hitch as Mel hadn’t realised she was the wrong side of an enormous bike ride in the centre of London so she arrived just as we were due to go on. Actually I think it was good for us, we had to take responsibility for rehearsing, being sure of starting notes and listening really hard to each other.

So this video shows us looking slightly discombobulated, but sounding pretty damn good!

Awards and Mermaids

It’s been an exciting week. First I won an award for one of the anthologies I edited for Arachne Press – Weird Lies – The Saboteur2014 Best Anthology Award!

It’s one of very few independent awards, voted for by the book-reading public, and it was thrilling to win. They don’t tell you beforehand and being a bit superstitious I refused to believe there was a chance, so it was only when they were reading out comments from voters I was thinking, ooh, that sounds like our book, that really sounds like… oh crikey, it is! In fact we netted about 35% of the over 1000 votes – you can read more of all the lovely things people said here, though I will quote just one particularly juicy one:

one of the most original writers herself Cherry Potts provides opportunities for unusual and thought-provoking writing.

Good eh?

Then, Liars’ League London chose my story The Real McCoy, (featuring a naive but indignant mermaid) to read at next Tuesday’s Weird & Wonderful event, and will also be read at The Literary Kitchen Festival in Peckham on Tuesday 17th June.

AND THEN Liars’ League Hong Kong chose Portrait of the Artist’s Model as A Young Woman for their Truth & Lies event on 30th June.

So that makes me not just “award-winning”, but “internationally renowned”, right? (She says with unrepentant cheek).

If you can make any of those events it would be brilliant – I won’t be at the Hong Kong one, but I will be at the other two, so you could come and say hello.

Finally, a heads-up: The title of this blog is a nod to Mary Hamer, author of Rudyard & Trix, a novel about Rudyard Kipling and his sister. (Awards and Mermaids, Rewards and Fairies, yes?) I’ve read this novel, after inviting Mary to The Story Sessions, and it is brilliant – upsetting in many ways, but very perceptive, and manages without doing that annoying thing some people do of making it SO clear that they did lots and lots of research and you aren’t going to escape an iota of it. Mary has belatedly joined the blog hop and will be blogging about her writing process just as soon as she finishes unpacking from the trip which meant she didn’t see the email I sent her about this sooner.

Community Choirs Festival Stratford upon Avon

At last I’ve remembered to look for the video from our trip to Stratford, here it is.

more of the concert from other people here

Blog hopping the writing process with fellow writers

I don’t know where the idea originated, but here I am blog hopping, thanks to Michelle Shine, author of the extraordinary fictional biography of Dr Paul Gachet, Mesmerised, and of short story Skin Deep, which I published in Lovers’ Lies.

So here goes with the hopper’s questions:

What am I working on?

I’m always working on several things at once. I’ve just finished putting together my latest short story collection, fine tuning the order of the stories and such like, more admin than writing really. At the moment active progress is being made on a novella about wanting to be normal when you are born into a family of witches, which strays into some very strange territory – gingerbread, nuclear power, planning applications, genealogy, parrots… I’ve just finished a short story set in a fairground sideshow, which I wrote at the request of the actress who will read it, Carrie Cohen (well, she kept asking when I was going to write her something so I did) at Other Worlds for Brockley Max on 1st June. and I’ve promised myself a final, final edit on a fantasy epic as soon as I have a stretch of time to concentrate on it.

How does my work differ from others in its genre?

Oh, the G word. I err towards fantasy as my default – possibly because it means I don’t have to do much research, possibly because it amuses me to stretch outside the real and explore the might be. How does it differ from others? I take a very loose attitude to fantasy, (I’ve been reading it for forty years, and I get fed up with rigid sub-genres) so sometimes when I say fantasy I just mean rather unlikely, sometimes it’s a whole other world with different rules. Alix, my partner has a yardstick for fantasy – is there a sword that goes ‘ting‘ in it? If there is she won’t touch it. So no tinging swords for me. (But the space where it would go ting is very um, ting shaped.) I really dislike graphic violence that is there to make your stomach churn, so you won’t get any of that from me. Violence, yes, realistic and upsetting, possibly, but not stomach churning. Sometimes I’m funny, sometimes I’m deadly serious. I aim to make you care a LOT about my characters one way or another, so they aren’t ciphers or archetypes, they are real people doing strange things and coping, or not.

Why do I write what I do?

It’s fun. I couldn’t spend the amount of time I do at the computer if I didn’t enjoy it. I adore the what if of fiction, I’m passionate about inventing new rules for the universe and seeing what that does to my characters.

How does my writing process work?

I don’t have hard and fast rules, or techniques that I can be sure will always work. An idea will strike me (often on the bus, or in a cafe, overheard – especially mis-heard – conversations are fertile ground) or an exercise at my writers group will spark something off. Sometimes it just lies fallow in my ideas file until something else comes along and they create a crazy offspring, sometimes I’ll start writing straight away and not stop until I’m done, sometimes I write the key scene and put it away for months.

I’d hate not to have something cooking, as well as what I’m actively working on. I’m a great believer it write first check  facts later, and if the facts don’t fit, change the facts.

Once I’ve got to first draft, I’ll do any fact checking that’s necessary, then I put the piece away for a while – a few weeks for something short, a few months for a long piece. Then I read it onto a recording device and listen back, a great way to spot over used words, plot inconsistencies, awkward phrases and so on. The I take it to my writers group (or if it’s very long ask a couple of them to read it outside the group.) I get useful feedback, which I sometimes ignore! My final test is to read aloud to a live audience who don’t know me: preparing for that really makes me hone the story into the best it can possibly be.

Editing other people, as I do for Arachne Press, has been very good for me, I really analyse why something isn’t working these days, and beat it around the head until it does, rather than shrugging and shoving it to the back of the metaphorical bottom drawer.

Ok, that’s the last of the questions, time to hand over to Alex Smith for the next blog hop.

Alex lives in Cape Town with her partner, their book-eating baby boy and their two dogs. She has had four novels published in South Africa (Random House/Umuzi Imprint), was shortlisted for the 2010

Caine Prize and won the 2011 Nielsens Bookseller’s Choice Award.

She has a story in Weird Lies, and her YA novel, Devilskein & Dearlove is forthcoming from Arachne Press in the UK and Random House Umuzi in South Africa, on July 24th 2014.