Cally Taylor's Blog, page 6

Inside the mind of a flash fiction judge (aka what turns Nik Perring on!)

Some books are so good you wish you'd thought of the idea first. One such book is the superb short story collection 'Freaks' by Nik Perring and Caroline Smailes. So wonderful is this anthology that the Spudling wrestled my copy off me when it arrived (I'm so not kidding - that's him in the photo below, intently examining the cover!).


The blurb for 'Freaks' says:
"The weirdest stories you will ever read.

A bizarre collection of short stories, each featuring a character with an unusual superpower.

Meet The Photocopier, a woman who can reproduce herself at will and who attempts to teach her daughter to do the same.Or the zombie hairdresser who is able to reanimate every time she dies.And the man who can break his way into his lover’s dream.
Over fifty freaks and misfits feature in this unforgettable book, and each is illustrated by comic book artist Darren Craske."

Not only am I a fan of short stories and flash fiction (I can't recommend Nik's flash anthology 'Not So Perfect' enough), I love films about people with superpowers (X Men, Spiderman, Batman etc) and I couldn't wait to get my hands on a copy. What I expected was a bunch of short stories about people with superpowers, something light and breezy - a loo book if I'm honest! - but what I received was an anthology of brain tickling, heart string plucking, eyebrow raising literary short stories bursting at the seams with weird and wonderful characters. There aren't any capes, costumes or lazer beams shooting from eyes in this wonderful anthology. Instead it's crammed full of strange foibles, odd thoughts, twisted relationships and unusual ambitions. Every time I dipped into it I didn't know what to expect but I was never disappointed. Each story is a delicious literary morsel.

If you don't normally buy short story anthologies because you think they're long, boring and turgid then this is  the book you've been waiting for. You won't find anything quite like it in bookshops or on the Internet and, like I said at the beginning of this post, I so wish I'd come up with the idea. Congrats Nik and Caroline, it's a little belter!

Buy 'Freaks' now!


Now...onto the subject mentioned in the blog post - an insight into the mind of a flash fiction judge. Here's the very brilliant Nik Perring...

Mostly, I’m a writer. But, as a writer, I’ve been asked to judge competitions and to guest as an editor at a few literary venues, so I suppose I’m a judge too. And that’s what I’m here to talk to you about, because Cally has asked me to tell you what turns me on and off about stories when I’m reading submissions.
I’ll start with the most obvious. What really gets me going  is a great story. And how do you define that? Well, to be honest, you can’t. A great story is simply a great story. It’s a brilliant idea converted into a brilliant and affecting story. They’re a bit like magic. And they’re almost always told in the way the story wants them to be told. Now, that might sound like a strange thing to say, but in my experience, there are a lot of entries that read like the writer’s trying to write a competition winning story, or trying to write like someone else, or, on occasion, writing in a way that they think will impress me. Those, while admirable, are usually mistakes. The story should come first. If it’s great, then a judge or an editor will see it. So try to write the best possible story you can without thinking too much about where it’s going to go, because you can find that out once you’ve finished it.
Of course there are loads of things you should be doing and should not be doing. Here are my top five tips.
DO…Make sure your story is finished. Do it justice and PLEASE don’t send something half-done in just to make a deadline. You’re competing with good, and often, professional writers, so a half-finished story a) won’t stand a chance of winning b) will waste a reader’s time and c) will waste your time – don’t forget, while you’re waiting for that short list to be announced you could be finishing it, making it awesome, and sending it somewhere else.
DO…Make sure you get the writing bits right. That means spelling, punctuation, grammar, making sure there aren’t any typos. Think of it this way, if it wins it’ll be published. The people who’ll publish it will want to publish something they think represents the best of what they do – and that will not be something that’s got errors in it. Plus, you’re a writer! Getting the writing bits right is your job!
DO…Try to be interesting. If you’re looking at entering a competition that’s themed, try this:
Write down the first ten things on that theme that come to mind. So if, for instance, the theme’s ‘spring’ you’ll probably write things like: a spring, spring (the season), to spring (the verb), spring cleaning, having a spring in your step…  And so on.
Those will be the ideas the majority of the other entrants will have chosen. So, once you’ve finished your list, throw it away. Then start a new list and pick one from that. It’ll be more original and that means that it should be more interesting.
DO…Read and observe the guidelines. I know this should be quite an obvious one but not going over word limits and formatting your story as you’ve been asked are really important. Those guidelines are there for a reason and if you don’t take them seriously then why would a judge or editor take your story seriously? (Hint: they probably won’t!)
DON’T Think that not winning, or being placed, or being rejected is a sign that your story’s rubbish or that you’re not good enough. Yes, it’s true, sometimes stories aren’t anywhere near good enough, but of all I’ve rejected a huge number have been brilliant and simply haven’t quite turned me on as much as the winner. It’s a matter of judgement – simply someone’s opinion. So please, don’t be disheartened. If your story hasn’t got anywhere, have another look at it, see if  you can make it any better, and send it somewhere else – there are plenty of other wonderful places where it could find a home.
So, there you have it. My top tips for submitting. And remember: the most important thing is making sure the story comes first. A brilliant story will almost always find a good home – so making it brilliant is the most important step. If you do that, everything else should fall into place.
Good luck, everyone!
*
Nik Perring is the co-author of Freaks!,and the author of Not So Perfect. His website is http://nikperring.comand he’s on Twitter as @nikperring. 

What does an agent do?

It's been forever since I last updated my blog. Huge apologies but baby wrangling takes up 90% of my day and in the other 10% I have to choose between sleep and writing novel 3 (I am chronically sleep deprived but novel 3 is over 12,000 words long and counting...) so there isn't much time for blogging or tweeting. I briefly flirted with 'Draw Something' but have had to ditch that too, it's far too addictive!

Anyway, just a quick blog to let you know that I am no longer with the Darley Anderson agency. My agent, Madeleine Buston, left in March to set up her own agent - the Madeleine Milburn TV, film & literary agency - and I decided to go with her. I will forever be indebted to Darley for plucking the manuscript for HEAVEN CAN WAIT from the slush pile and giving it a chance but Maddy is the agent I've worked hand in hand with since 2008 and we've built up a fantastic relationship. She's also got me some incredible deals so it was a bit of a no brainer really!

The good news is that Maddy is actively searching for new authors to represent so why not visit her website and see if you think she'll be a good match for your novel? Her blog is an invaluable read too, especially the posts she's writing at the moment about what an agent does. More info here:

http://madeleinemilburn.com/blog/

Got to go. Time to put the baby down for his nap and get on with novel 3. Now, where did I stash the Diet Coke...


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Two more fabulous competitions (one flash fiction/one chicklit)

The first is a flash fiction competition to win a place on a short story workshop run by Vanessa Gebbie (if there's anyone who knows short fiction it's Vanessa. Not only has she had an anthology published, she's edited a non fiction book on the subject AND won more competitions than you could shake a stick at) at Anam Cara writing retreat in Ireland. It's a fabulous place, I've been twice (and blogged about it here) and got LOADS done (it's magical like that) and Sue the owner makes the yummiest food. Then there's the scenery - utterly breathtaking.

Anyway, if I've wetted your appetite you HAVE to enter the competition run by writing.ie

Here's the blurb:

Write us a 250-word short fiction piece (and email it in by midnight 22 March) and you could win a place in the Anam Cara "Short Fiction: So Much More Than It Seems..." workshop retreat led by Vanessa Gebbie, award-winning short story writer, scheduled for the week of 9-15 June 2012.

More details here:

http://writing.ie/for-readers/competitions-and-giveaways.html

The second competition is being run by excellent women's fiction review website Novelicious and it's a search to find the next great chicklit author with some money can't buy prizes.

They want the first 3,000 words of your chicklit novel. The closing date is 3rd April

Full details here:

http://www.novelicious.com/noveliciousundiscovered2012.html

Good luck!





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A Spooky Interview with Kathryn Brown

I'm delighted to welcome Kathryn Brown to my blog today. Kathryn is a prolific blogger over at Crystal Jigsaw where she blogs about her life with her husband and austic daughter Amy on a working farm in Northumberland.

In her other blog, Marvellous Mable, Kathryn shares spooky real life paranormal stories (including one of mine). And if that wasn't enough she's also written a novel. The fabulous 'Discovery at Rosehill' - a paranormal romance.

When Kathryn asked for people to host her blog tour I stuck my hand in the air because I just KNEW she'd be a fascinating interviewee. Here she is:

1. Your debut novel, 'Discovery at Rosehill' is a paranormal romance; could you tell us more about it and what inspired you to write it?

The book is about medium Camilla Armstrong, who is introduced by her deceased grandmother to the country estate known as Rosehill. Camilla is a complex character having lived a somewhat lonely existence, yet she is strong and determined to rejuvenate the house to its former glory. Realising the house is filled with the spirits of previous occupants, she begins to unravel the mystery that surrounds the Georgian residence. With the help of passed descendents, she is able to discover more about her own life, and learns of the sinister circumstances that surround her past.

There is also a love story incorporated into the plot, where Camilla begins a relationship with the village priest, Marcus Calloway. Controversial and difficult to maintain, their romance faces many obstacles, not least because Marcus has his own secrets and beliefs. Camilla however, helps him to open up and rid himself of the burden he has carried for many years.

Inspiration came from two corners; the first was my father who passed away in July 2001. After moving to my own dream home shortly after his death, I realised he had only left us in human form yet was still very much with us from the spirit plane. Being sensitive to the spirit world myself, I have had many experiences since moving into my own Georgian farm house in Northumberland, and many of these have been fictionalised and included in the book. Camilla was based partly on me, though I don't share her romantic interests with a village priest!

2. Have you read many paranormal romances before? Have you got a favourite?

I'm ashamed to say that I haven't, apart from the wonderful Heaven Can Wait written by the one and only, Cally Taylor! My book shelves are mostly filled with paranormal reference books though I do love to read a variety of fiction, including mystery, chick-lit and rom-com.

3. What made you decide to publish 'Discovery at Rosehill' as an eBook rather than go down the traditional agent/publisher route?

When I finished the final edits of Discovery at Rosehill, I spent a few weeks submitting to agents. That was a full time job in itself due to the amount of varied work involved; for example, most agents have different requirements, some ask for the first three chapters, some just want the first chapter, others ask for a query letter and synopsis, and so on. To get these submissions just right, I put aside a day for each one in order to ensure I hadn't missed anything or skipped a guideline. After waiting a few months, I received six rejections but still haven't heard from any others to whom I submitted. As it had taken me three years to research, write and edit the book, I decided it was time to publish it regardless and so went ahead and self-published. It is available in paperback as well as an eBook, but the reason I am re-launching it now is because I feel I didn't promote it enough last year and didn't work hard enough getting it "out there". EBooks have become immensely popular over the last 12 months and it is becoming quite common for a self-published author to offer their book in this format at a very low cost. After hearing of many authors who have enjoyed successful sales through publishing this way, I felt it was time I did the same.

4. Your blog Crystal Jigsaw is hugely popular. What do you think is the secret of successful blogging?

I've been blogging since May 2007 and I thoroughly enjoy it. The minute you stop enjoying it is the time you need to sit back and ask yourself why you blog. Crystal Jigsaw is popular because I work hard to maintain my readership. I read and comment on many blogs, and follow a massive amount. I also promote blog posts via my blog and support new bloggers as much as I can. Building up a following and interacting with other bloggers all helps to increase your blog readership; this is something I have worked particularly hard at over the last four and a half years.

I also feel strongly that a well-written blog post goes a long way to a successful blog. I'm a stickler for typos and grammatical errors, perhaps that comes with being an author, but it does make a difference when reading a blog post.

5. Do you think blogging helps increase book sales or do you agree with recent mutterings that people are getting bored of writing, and reading, blogs?

I'm a bit mixed on this question; blogging has certainly helped my book sales – I have a link and a picture of the book cover, together with an information page about the book, placed on my blog so that anyone who lands on it can see my book. However, since Twitter became huge phenomena, I do believe blogging has started to slide. Twitter is a great place to promote your blogs, but I have definitely noticed a decline in my comments as people tend to just tweet their response. I would much rather a comment be left on the post, but I guess we have to accept progress.

6. You've got another blog where you feature people's paranormal experiences (including mine!) What prompted your interest in the paranormal?

Yes I have, and a particularly interesting experience it was, too! Should anyone be interested in reading it, here it is: Cally Taylor

I have always been interested in the paranormal. I encountered my first experience when I was ten years old; a perfectly rounded shape that I can only describe as a full moon moved from one side of my bedroom to the other. It happened in the middle of the night and even though it was 32 years ago, I can still remember that event like it was yesterday. I remember running into my parents' bedroom and my mum realising I was scared. I don't remember anything else happening after that until I was 22 and had just got married to my first husband. My grandmother had passed two years previously and I decided to visit a medium. She gave me some very personal information and described both my grandmother and grandfather to me, exactly as they posed in a black and white photograph I had in a frame on my fireplace. From that day on, I realised I needed to pursue my fascination with the paranormal. I had several readings after that, all giving me the same details about my grandparents, together with very personal information that no one else knew about. But it wasn't until my dad passed over in 2001 that I started to feel the presence of spirits around me.

7. What's your most interesting/scary (you choose) paranormal experience?

I've had so many I could be here all week! However, the majority of experiences I've had since moving to the farm have been welcoming and friendly, and absolutely nothing to be scared of. One in particular was when I felt something heavy resting on my bed and thought it was the cat. Upon sitting up, I noticed she was actually lying next to me, whereas the sudden movement was at my feet. Without further ado, I got up, put on my dressing gown and went downstairs to the drawing room. I knew I was following someone as I heard footsteps other than my own on the stairs. It wasn't until I sat on the sofa and cried whilst talking to my dad, that I realised he had visited me. I wrote about this experience in more detail in the book, obviously from Camilla's point of view.

However, one scary experience that I will never forget happened a few years ago whilst I was working on Discovery at Rosehill. I was sat at my desk when I suddenly heard someone downstairs in the hallway. It was a very distinct sound of someone shuffling about as though wondering whether to walk upstairs. For some reason, I was particularly scared. After grabbing a crystal vase from a shelf thinking I needed to protect myself, I slowly went onto the landing outside my room and quietly approached the top of the stairs. My daughter was at school and my husband was working on the farm. But what I didn't think about at the time was the fact none of my excellent guard dogs had barked, so looking back, it couldn't have been an intruder. After what felt like hours, but was probably only five minutes, I relaxed and went back into the room, replacing the vase on the shelf before sitting down to continue my work. I still don't know who was in the house, but I suspect they won't be returning!

8. What's next for Kathryn Brown?

I'd love to win the lottery... but I guess I'll settle for another book being published. I'm currently working on my second novel called Hideaway. It's a murder mystery about a woman who thinks she has the perfect marriage until she discovers her husband has been having an affair. The story focuses around a murder investigation, a fugitive and a rebound romance. The first draft was completed last November and I'm now in the process of doing the first edit. I'm not sure at this stage whether I'll self-publish, but I will be submitting to agents once it's been edited to within an inch of its life. I'd love to be traditionally published one day.

Watch the trailer for 'Discovery at Rosehill'...

Discovery at Rosehill – available at Amazon

Blog: Crystal Jigsaw

Paranormal Blog: Marvellous Mable

Email: crystal.jigsaw7@btinternet.com

Twitter: @CrystalJigsaw

Facebook: CrystalJigsaw

Competition: What will life be like in 2025?

What a fabulous short story competition...

Imagine what the world will be like in 2025, write a short story about it (under 3000 words) and enter it into the Guardian Futurescapes competition to win a Sony tablet and ereader. Closing date 15 March 2012.

More details here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/futurescapes/competition/unleash-your-imagination-short-story-competition


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Workshops, flashes & self-publishing

Life is hectic right now - 90% baby wrangling, 5% sleeping when he sleeps (hello sofa we meet again) and 5% writing - so just a brief blog update.

First of all I'm delighted to announce that my flash 'Dear Universe...' has been chosen to go into the anthology (which may or may not be called 'Juke Box Stories) that Caroline Smailes is putting together for the charity One on Four (see previous post for details). Caroline had over 350 stories sent in and only 100 made the cut so I'm very chuffed.

Talking of Caroline get yourself over to her Blog to read Mel Sherratt's inspirational tale about being rejected by multiple publishers and making it to the Kindle top 10 when she decided to go it alone and self-publish.

And while we're on the subject of talented women my good friend Helen Hunt is running some more short story workshops. Helen knows her stuff and comes highly recommended. See below for details...

Insight Into The Women's Magazine Fiction Market – 3 March 2012

This workshop will look at writing for the increasingly tough and sadly shrinking women's magazine market. So if you've been writing for a while and want to find out more about this market, this workshop could be for you.
Lunch and light refreshments are included. The cost of the course is £35 which also includes a critique.

Moving On Short Story Workshop – 31 March 2012

This course will be practically based and will help participants work towards the first draft of a story for their chosen women's magazine market. They will receive a critique of their story once they have had a chance to finish it after the course.
Lunch and light refreshments are included. The cost of the course is £40 which also includes a critique.

New for 2012
Day Retreat For Writers – 28 April 2012

Come and spend a day with fellow writers being inspired, exercising your writing skills and sharing your work in a supportive atmosphere at Delapre Abbey. I'm a short story writer, but all writers are welcome to come to this one and benefit from meeting other writers in a supportive atmosphere.
The cost of the retreat is £22. Lunch is not included but you'll be able to purchase refreshments from the Abbey Tea Room.
All these courses are held in Northampton and full details are on my website http://www.helenmhunt.co.uk/

Online services
For anyone who can't make it to a workshop, I now offer the totally flexible Hop On Hop Off online course (details here http://www.helenmhunt.co.uk/?page_id=37 ) and a critique service (details here http://www.helenmhunt.co.uk/?page_id=15 ).

So what have I been up to? Well I mentioned at the top of this post that I can only dedicate 5% of my time to writing at the moment so I am thinking very hard about what novel 3 should be about before I start writing it. My deal with Orion was a two book deal and now those 2 books have been published there needs to be a conversation about what happens next. Maddy, my agent, and I need book 3 to be my best book yet before that conversation happens so I've been drawing up synopsises and sample chapters for her and we've been discussing their strengths and weaknesses via email. Sounds scary? It is really. I'm back in the same boat as everyone else chasing a publishing contract although I've now got a track history (unfortunately not one on the bestseller list or I'd be a lot less nervous! ;))

So yes, apologies if the blog is quiet for some time. I've got a lot on my plate at the moment (and some of it looks like carrot puree ;))


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Want to get published and raise money for charity?

The very talented Caroline Smailes is giving writers, published and unpublished, the chance to submit a 100 word piece of flash fiction (based on a YouTube video of their choice) to be featured in an ebook for the charity One in Four.

For more details go here:
http://www.carolinesmailes.co.uk/a-challenge-and-the-chance-to-see-your-story-in-print

I've already entered. What are you waiting for?!


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The trouble with Kindles...

...is that it's so bloody easy to download books that I'm swiftly building an electronic 'to be read' pile that is starting to rival its paperback counterpart (though it takes up a hell of a lot less space!).

Last year I read (by which I mean FINISHED) a woefully low number of books (and several were graphic novels) and considering I need to write a new chicklit book this year AND look after the Spudling I can only see that figure becoming even smaller. That saddens me because I've always loved reading, there are so many amazing books and writers out there and it's important for authors to continue to read widely BUT I've come up with a solution! Audiobooks! I take the Spudling for a walk in the pram for an hour or two each day and now I'm the happy owner of a 160GB iPod (thanks Mr Metal!) I've got an mp3 player with lots of free space and a couple of hours a day in which to listen to it.

Perfect! Apart from one thing - while I was out walking yesterday, listening to 'Before I Sleep' by SJ Watson, I started thinking about my next chicklit novel (I wrote the synopsis before Christmas and am trying to write the first 3 chapters so Maddy, my agent, can approach Orion about getting me another book deal) and it turns out that it's impossible to think about one novel whilst listening to another! In the end I had to turn the iPod off so I didn't miss any of the story. But then my head was all full of dialogue for novel 3 & with no way of writing it down I had to dictate it into my mobile (which wasn't hugely successful as it turned out. When I played it back later it was hard to make out what I was saying above the noise of traffic) and then type it into google docs via my iPad when I got home. Could I possibly use any more technology?!

Anyway, that's my plan for 2012. Write a new novel, 'read' more books and bring up my baby, all without my head exploding (and on very little sleep). How about you?

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Merry Christmas!

Sorry I haven't blogged recently - it's been all go recently with baby wrangling, book promoting and Christmas present buying (for 15 people and a dog this year!) and I still have to write a synopsis & 3 chapters of a new chicklit book by the New Year! That said I'm officially on holiday now - from writing not child wrangling! - and I'm going to enjoy it. Bring on the mulled wine and mince pies!

Happy Christmas to you all!

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The curious case of the lesser spotted novel

Actually 'Home for Christmas' has been spotted loads! In ASDA, Sainsbury and WHSmiths everywhere from Brighton to Rochdale, Exmouth to Manchester, Cambridge to Northumberland, Poole to Bristol - pretty much everywhere it seems! I went in search of it with Spudling the other day and was delighted to find it at #18 in the local (Bristol) Sainsbury's branch and out of the 10 copies that should have been on the shelf only 3 were left. Result! (Am assuming the other 7 weren't shoplifted!).

I even heard it was sold out in the Brighton Marina branch of ASDA and that a campaign was set up to email the branch to demand more copies! Well, it IS set in Brighton...

I absolutely LOVE it when people send me photos of their spottings, particularly when there are other people in them! Here's a selection. If you spot it anywhere do snap a pic, I'd love to see it (email to calistrowriter@googlemail.com).