Carol Hedges's Blog, page 24

The PINK SOFA meets writer Lesley Cookman

Lesley is another of the delightful writers I've met since I joined Twitter. Lesley writes crime fiction - as do I, though in different eras. Hers is firmly set in the modern day. The PINK SOFA loves modern crime fiction, and spends a lot of its time hunting for bodies under the cushions so is overjoyed to be hosting a real live crime writer.  I asked Lesley to talk about how she became the prolific writer that she is today .....  and here is her story.

''I’ve been dying to get onto the Pink Sofa for ages. I’ve always liked the look of the cake. And is that red wine hiding behind the chair?

First of all, I’d like to hark back to a previous guest here – Beryl Kingston. I was so pleased that her post had such a terrific response because, you see, Beryl and I have quite a lot of connections. I can’t actually remember when we discovered these, but it was during a phone call years before social media (or any sort of media, actually!) that we suddenly stated saying “No! Really? So did I!”

To start with, we had both lived in Tooting, London, as children. And we had both been – wait for it  - Tooting Carnival Queens! Even odder, Beryl had been teaching at my Grammar School up until I started in the first form. It still strikes me as strange that had it not been for an accident of timing, I could have been taught by someone I now regard as an inspiration and a friend.

As for Carol – years ago, I lived in St Albans, where my eldest daughter was born, and one of my best friends lived in Harpenden, where I used to do my weekly shop in Sainsbury’s. That’s about it as far as we’re concerned.

My own journey to publication – or, rather, novels – is rather mundane. I wish I could present you with a picture of the struggling artist in the attic, but I can’t. Like many writers, I started writing as a child “making” my own books. When I got to about 11 or 12, I was filling Woolworth’s exercise books with pony stories. It never occurred to me that I could make a living writing – I wanted to  be an actor! I started well, debuting on the London stage at the age of 15 playing Laura in The Glass Menagerie, things rather fell off after that. I drifted through modelling, demonstrating, (Kent Hair Brushes, since you ask) disc jockeying in a posh nightclub wearing a silver catsuit and eventually becoming an air stewardess for British Airways in the glory days. At least, I’m told they were. I’ve managed to inveigle my way onto The One Show and The Alan Titchmarsh Show on the back of that.

I married a professional Musician and we duly starved. This was the St Albans era. Eventually, the Musician, who was art school trained, went into magazines. And one day he came home with a large cardboard box, told me to open it, assemble it and write on it and how easy it was. It was one of the first desk top computers, long before Apple or even Amstrad. The magazine was Which Computer, and the Musician was the Art Editor. I was launched on a career as feature writer.

Many years and a few more children later, having discovered a penchant for writing pantomimes (still produced all over Britain each year) and short stories for magazines, I decided to go all highbrow and do an MA in Creative Writing. They were still very new then, and I picked one as far away from home as possible, in Wales. On the same course was a woman called Hazel Cushion, and at the end of the course we decided to produce a charity anthology for Breast Cancer, called Sexy Shorts for Christmas. We did everything between us – I commissioned, edited and typeset, the Musician designed the cover Hazel did everything else and proved to be a very good business woman.

And that was the beginning of Accent Press. Which, of course, is now going strong as a small independent publisher with a number of bestselling titles both in print and ebook. I’m no longer anything to do with the organisation, I simply sit back and write Libby Sarjeant books – up to 15 now – and thank the Lord and little green fishes I met Hazel, as I can afford to eat for the foreseeable future.

Thank you for having me, Carol, and please may I have a top-up? You what? You said you didn’t like red wine... ''

Finding Lesley

Twitter@LesleyCookman

http://www.lesleycookman.co.uk/

Wonder Woman (Adventures of L-Plate Gran)

It is becoming clearer every week that passes that in taking over the care of Little G from You must be mad, I am morphing slowly but inexorably into Wonder Woman. To give you just one example: I spend a lot of time wondering where all the dropped kerbs are.

If you have ever tried pushing a top of the range purple Stokke buggy with wheels that do non-cooperation to industrial strength and can suddenly tip sideways without warning, you will know the trauma of trying to cross roads that do not have dropped kerbs. Sometimes Little G and I have to walk in completely the opposite direction to where we want to go, just to find a dropped kerb so we can cross the road.

Then, I wonder why most shops site their kids department on the first floor, which means locating a lift and engineering the reluctant buggy into it. That's when the lift arrives and isn't out of order. And allowing for there being no more than one other buggy also waiting, because I am to manoeuvering what bricks are to para-gliding.

Also, I wonder why there are so few mother and baby rooms available. Little G and I frequently have to dive into a disabled loo when a quick nappy change is required, only to emerge to face the indignant stare of some poor soul on crutches or in a wheelchair who has been waiting cross-legged for us to finish.

And all this wondering comes on top of the inordinate amount of time spent wondering where my phone, lip crayon, wallet and You must be mad's house keys are, because I have failed to notice that Little G has done her Raider of the Lost Bag act and hidden them somewhere. See what I mean? Not so much Amazon Warrior Princess as Amazed & Worried Pensioner.


To be continued ...     ....

9 Really Useful Writing Tips

1. If possible, write on something that is NOT connected to the internet. That way you aren't tempted to check Facebook/Twitter every 5 minutes.

2. If you are writing on an internet-free laptop, make sure it isn't in the same room as the internet connected one (see 1).

3. If you can't accomplish 1 and 2 for physical/financial reasons, try to allocate yourself specific times of the day to Tweet/update your Facebook. Do not weaken.

4. Unless specific, dickering about on Google is not research.

5. Checking your Amazon rating and sales figures every two days is liable to lead to suicidal feelings.

6. Reading the 'I wrote a whole novel today - go me!' claims of other writers on Facebook
ditto.

7. There is no such thing as 'Writer's Block', it is just a posh excuse for not writing.

8. The only way to write a book is to write a book.

9. If you are not constantly awash with doubt/fear/insecurity/self-loathing/envy/anxiety/panic, you probably aren't a writer.

Being Cool (Adventures of L-Plate Gran)

We are in the midst of a heatwave. Day after day of shiny sun and blue skies. Sadly, Little G and I belong to that worrying category: the elderly and the very young (in reverse order) and the government has issued guidelines for our health & safety.
We are supposed to stay out of the sun from 12 - 3 and keep cool. With this latter aspect in mind, I purchase a paddling pool for Little G. It is shaped like a pirate ship, with a skull and crossbones flag, a canopy (see previous post about the non-wearing of sunhats) and stick on inflatable fish. 
We go over to You must be mad's house after Little G is in bed and blow up the pool, placing it on the balcony as the ''garden'' is a work in progress. We fill it with water. Next morning as an afterthought, I fill the washing up bowl and place it next to the wonderful pool, for sub-baling operations.
As soon as she is up, I take Little G out, strip her off and show her the pool. She spends some time crawling round it murmuring oooh. She un-velcroes the various sea creatures. She takes all the pouring toys out and arranges them in lines. She does not get in.
I realise she hasn't got the idea, so I strip as far as modesty will permit and with some difficulty I fold myself into the pool to show her what she should be doing. Little G regards me thoughtfully. Then she climbs into the washing up bowl.
I am reminded yet again that life is both infinitely more complex, and yet very simple at the same time. But at least we are both cool.


To be continued ...    ...

A Rose by Any Other Name

Had an interesting 'debate' this week on Twitter with someone. As you do if your Twitter bio says you are 'old, loud & opinionated'. The ubiquitous Mumsnet were promoting Gransnet on the basis that grandparents & the over 50s needed to be encouraged to get online and once online, to follow and be part of the community. The arguee's point was that they were singling out people by their demographic not by need - I am not sure whether she had grandchildren herself and I was not convinced that she had a valid argument.
As you all know, not only am I a grandma and an older person (65 this month), I also fervently believe that you are never too old to be online (you can read my thoughts here). So, my question to the lady was: what's wrong with the name?

Mumsnet does exactly what it says on the tin. Should it dump the name because it might offend people who aren't mums? Is it lacking validity because it is singling out the maternal demographic? As far as older people go, there already exists sites for OAPs/Seniors/Elders you name it.

And if you type in a hashtag you will find every combination of pensioner site. Gransnet apart from being short and snappy, is a very useful way of suggesting subliminally that grandparents and older people can be part of the internet also.

Given the way all children are so tech-savvy almost from birth, and that many grandparents now help out with childcare as parents have to return to work and nurseries are so expensive, it is even more important for us to master Facebook, Twitter and whatever sites our grandchildren use.

I have no problem with categorizing the older demographic in this, or any other way. Look, if I had a physical or mental illness, was of any sexual or racial orientation whatsoever, believed in a religion, no religion, followed a sport or political ideology, I bet I'd find a Twitter group specifically for me. And there I'd find like minded people with whom I could share with and chat. We are all getting far too outraged about everything.
Gransnet - bring it on!

The Sun has got His Hat On (Adventures of L-Plate Gran)

The sun is shining and we (Little G and I) are hanging out in the park. We have a picnic, some water, some fruit and a selection of toys. Little G is stripped down to her vest and a pair of baggy elasticated trousers. But there is a problem.
The sun is very shiny and Little G won't wear her hat. Now, when I was a baby (in days so far off they probably have some archaeological tag to them), small babies were regularly stripped off and allowed to wander around naked. It was called 'having an air bath' and apparently my Nanny (don't ask) was a strong advocate for the benefits of sunshine on the infant bod.
Sadly, the sun then, like many things, was far weaker, so You must be mad has dinned it into me that Little G needs to wear her lovely flowered sunhat whenever we go out in it. The problem is that Little G just doesn't want to. She hates the strings that tie under her chin. She hates the hat that shades her face.
In the end, tired of picking up the sunhat and replacing only for it to be thrown off again, I tie knots in each corner of a hankie and plonk it on her head. She looks like a total urchin, but she tolerates it. Temporarily.
We finish the picnic, have a few crawling races and head for home. I park the buggy in the living room and unload the remnants of the picnic and Little G, who immediately begins kicking off and pointing at the buggy. I lift her up so that she can show me what's wrong ... a favourite toy has been left ungathered? Nope. She points at the sunhat.
I give it to her. She puts it on, then hurries to the full length mirror, hauls herself to her feet and begins chuckling and admiring herself. All afternoon she potters round happily, playing with her toys and wearing the sunhat. Indoors. 

To be continued ....    .....  

The PINK SOFA welcomes Tom Williams

Writer and blogger Tom Williams and I met via a long comment he left on one of my blogs. Tom writes historical fiction and claims to dislike Twitter. It has been my fixed purpose to disabuse him of this dislike ever since. Tom used to have a pet ferret, but it has now passed on to the great Trouser Leg in the sky.

When not writing his superb books (set during the Napoleonic Wars and featuring British Agent James Burke), Tom and his wife like to go Tango dancing ... something that has really caught the PINK SOFA'S fancy and it has been practicing its swivels and turns in preparation for his visit. I asked Tom some questions about himself.
How did you get into writing historical fiction?
I was in Sarawak, in Borneo, and I saw the museum exhibit about the Brooke Rajahs. I was so fascinated that when I came back to England I spent a lot of time researching the life of James Brooke. Eventually I decided that it could be the basis of a novel. (That was hardly an original thought – there have been loads of other books about him.)
How/where do you research your material? Research used to mean weeks spent in libraries. Thanks to the Internet, I can do a lot of my research from home these days. When I can, I like to visit the places that things happened. The most fun I had was researching Burke in the Land of Silver. I spent a long time poking around the back streets of Buenos Aires and then went riding with the gauchos on an estancia. Finally, because Burke crosses the Andes as the snows are starting, I tried to ride across in the snow. It turns out that's not really possible – but we got a long way. I'm hoping to go and do it in summer next year.
 How long does each book take to write ...how many drafts do you do?
Each one takes about a year. I don't do a redraft from beginning to end. Thanks to the wonders of word processing you can polish and edit and amend all the time. Some things end up in the finished novel pretty well unchanged from the first time I wrote them – others have been written and rewritten until my fingers bleed.
Why don't you self publish?
I enjoy writing. I used to work in magazine publishing and I gave it up to write. If I wanted to work in publishing, I'd have kept my job and made a lot more money. As it is, Accent Press relieve me of the responsibility of editing and formatting and basically getting the book out there, and they give me a lot of support in marketing. Writing can be quite lonely and having a supportive publisher makes a difference.  What's the best/worst thing about being a writer?
I've always wanted to write and now I can afford to indulge myself. It just gives me a lot of pleasure.
Absolutely definitely the worst thing is that increasingly, in order for people to find your books, you have to sell yourself. Like a lot of authors, I'm quite reclusive by nature and the whole business of "the author as brand" is not something I'm comfortable with. Still, I'm here answering your questions, so I suppose it's getting easier.
Name a book that changed your life
Jerusalem the Golden by Margaret Drabble
If you could go back in time, where would you go?
Realistically, anyone would die pretty quickly if set down outside their own time period. I can ride (after a fashion), shoot (ditto), I can handle a bow and I know which end of an epee is the pointy one. So I could probably survive an hour or two from the 17th century until the start of the 20th. I really struggle with the 21st century.
What's your most treasured possession?
Anything that connects me to the internet.
You are a great fan of Tango. How did you get into dancing? What do you enjoy about it?
When I was a child I wanted to do ballet, but this was in the north of England in the days before Billy Elliot and my parents dismissed the idea out of hand. God knows why I wanted to – I'd have been terrible at it. Still, there's nothing like being told you can't do something to motivate you. Eventually I took up ice dancing as a socially acceptable alternative and then a friend introduced me to tango and I’ve been dancing it ever since.
What is the one thing that would improve the quality of your life?
Don't tell anyone I said so, but my life is pretty neat as it is.
What keeps you awake at night?
Usually nothing does, but lately I've been worrying about ways to get more people reading my books about James Burke. Most people who do, really rather like them – it's just a case of doing things like this to get them better known.
How do you want to be remembered?
I’d like my family to remember me (which, let's face it, they’re going to) and it would be nice if the books carried on being read for a while, but otherwise I really don't care. People worry too much about what others will think of them when they're dead. I'll be dead – it’s not really going to matter to me.
What would you like to say to your younger self..if you could meet him now?
It doesn't matter – I wouldn't listen.
What advice would you give a writer starting out on their first novel?
If you have to do this stupid thing, do it properly. Write something that's as good as it can be, and then rewrite it. Get your friends to look at it, and then write it again. And bear in mind that you have more chance of winning the lottery than ever reaching the bestseller lists – pretty well regardless of how good you are.
Writing really is a mug's game. Yes, I do enjoy it, but, like most writers, I do it because I have to. It's a sort of mental illness. If this is true of you, welcome to the club. If not, do yourself a favour and take up something saner – like freefall parachuting, or marathon running, or poking sticks in your eyes.
Tom's books & contacts:
myBook.to/LandofSilver 
myBook.to/Bedouin 

myBook.to/BurkeWaterloo 

myBook.to/WhiteRajah 

myBook.to/Cawnpore   

Links are to KIndle, but all the books are available in paperback as well.

If this is all too much, why not link to my Amazon author page? 

Author.to/TomWilliams 

Blog: http://thewhiterajah.blogspot.co.uk/

Twitter: @TomCW99 

An App for Everything (Adventures of L-Plate Gran)

They always say you can learn so much from being in the company of small children. To which I would add that most of what you learn is that you know very little. The world that Little G has been born into is so different from mine that I sometimes feel I am living on Pluto.

Take technology - in particular the ubiquitous mobile phone. I have a very basic Nokia phone that does practically nothing and does even that reluctantly. You must be mad has an iPhone and a Blackberry. Both are terror incognita as far as I am concerned.

Little G, however, has no fear of technology. Since I started minding her she has managed to set the alarm on my rubbish phone (twice), silently call some of my friends, and take various pictures of the carpet. OK, admittedly all this was accidental (I think) but the fact that she is happy to play around with a phone that worries me witless speaks volumes.

From a very early age, she also mastered how to push a button on the iPhone that activated a little app sequence of cartoon animals. I would sit staring in amazement as, with one tiny finger, she changed the picture and chuckled.

Actually You must be mad's iPhone has all sorts of apps on it. Games apps, picture apps, number apps, word recognition apps, story apps, and an app that sings nursery rhymes. In theory you could just give Little G an iPhone and let her get on with it. Luckily, nobody has yet invented a cuddles app. So I am still in business.

To be continued ...      ....

Commercial or Self-Published?

With publication of Death & Dominion drawing closer (October 12th), I have been asked once again by several people why I decided to go with a commercial publisher as opposed to self-publishing, as I did previously with Jigsaw Pieces. It has been pointed out that I am on a % rate, and if I returned to self publishing, I'd make a lot more money. 
Two reasons why I originally made the decision, and am, for now, sticking with it: Firstly, it is all too easy nowadays to write a book, cobble together a cover and upload the finished product to Amazon (actually, it damn well isn't .. as you can read here:). Advances in technology have opened up enormous opportunities for self-publishing that were never there when I started writing books, and that is a good thing.
However, inevitably there is a lot of dross out there and it lets the side down. Poorly written and produced books with typos, badly designed covers, sold at rock bottom prices is not the way I want to go. Despite the many ''Hey, I produced a book for virtually nothing'' blogs, the writers of the best self-published books have usually used beta readers, then paid out for professional editing, proofreading and cover designing. Hats off to them. It is hard work and not easy and having done it once, and not being as young as I was then, I'm not keen to do it again.
Secondly, to be accepted by a commercial publisher is a sign that my work is of a certain standard. Very few writers are now being taken on by the ''big'' mainstream houses. You have to be young, connected to somebody who works in the industry, the possessor of a fabulously interesting/made up back story, or a celeb. It is also harder to find an agent - and agents take upwards of 10% of all royalties earned anyway.
Small independents like Crooked Cat (my publisher) are now the first port of call for those writers who find the big publishing doors slammed shut. The market is changing once more, as evidenced when Crooked Cat recently opened its doors for submissions and was totally taken aback by the inundation of manuscripts. They are in the business of making money, as are all independent publishers and they only take on a small percentage of the writers who apply. I am one of the lucky few.
Even though I am not self-published, I still have a lot of autonomy. I can do whatever I like, publicity-wise, and if you follow me on Twitter (@carolJhedges) you will know that I do. I had very little autonomy with Usborne and OUP and I gather that some big publishing houses like to keep a close eye on their writers so they don't run amok on social media, which could rebound back on them.
I also chose the covers of my books, which remind me of contemporary newspaper headings, or theatrical posters. They are designed by a local graphic artist, who is also a friend. I have been told they are reminiscent of very early Penguin covers. They are certainly quirky and different ... just like the stories .. and, dare I say it, like the author of the stories herself!
So what's your publishing experience? And as a reader ...do you ''prefer'' a book that has a 'proper publisher' behind it? Do share ....
 

Ladies who Lunch (Adventures of L-Plate Gran)

On the 2 days that You must be mad entrusts her into my rickety care, I am responsible for Little G's meals from breakfast to dinner. Sometimes I am left instructions as to what is available in the fridge. Sometimes I am left to my own devices.

On Wednesday however, we always go out for lunch. We head for the same place: Wagamama. For those who don't know, Wagamama is a kind of Japanese/Asian upmarket caff. The diners sit on benches at long communal tables. Cutlery is in bamboo holders and there are various beetley coloured sauces.

The good thing about Wagamama, which makes it our default diner of choice, is that it caters for children. We sit in a special area, which has buggy parking, clip on high chairs, crayons and drawing paper. Little G enjoys the odd suck of a crayon while waiting for her meal to arrive.

We are creatures of habit, so we order the same food every week. It saves time. I have a small chicken ramen. Little G has grilled noodles, chicken and grated carrot. It always arrives quickly, which is a Big Plus, as Little G gets miffed if everybody else is tucking into nice food while she has nothing to eat.

Occasionally if Wagamama is full, we have sat in the communal area. This is interesting for us, especially Little G who likes watching people struggling to eat strange green pod-like things with chopsticks, but you quickly become aware that the enjoyment is not reciprocal in that some of the more chi-chi clientele don't like the sight of a 15 month old shovelling chicken and noodles into her mouth with her fingers.

Luckily Little G is far too young to be aware of adult disapproval and as many of the disapprovers drop bits of their lunch all over the table as well, I can't help thinking that at the end of the day there isn't that much difference.

To be continued ...   ...