C.J. Flood's Blog, page 4
September 9, 2013
Worldbuilding in Infinite Sky
Worldbuilding is usually talked about in terms of science or speculative fiction, but I think it’s just as important a component in a contemporary realistic story.
My first novel, Infinite Sky, is a realistic contemporary story about thirteen-year-old Iris Dancy, who lives with her dad and her older brother in a ramshackle old farmhouse, Silverweed Farm. Her mum has left the family to go on a soul-searching expedition around North Africa, and the family, and Silverweed, have since fallen into a slightly chaotic state. Cue a family of Irish Travellers setting up camp in the Dancy’s disused paddock, and an adventure beginning that will change Iris’s and her family’s lives forever.
Whatever the genre, world building is key, and if your story is going to live on in people’s heads, you have to get the details of your imaginary world right. For Infinite Sky, we decided to make it timeless, and so all references to popular culture, party politics, world events and technology were removed.
There are a few different settings in the novel: the various rooms of Silverweed Farm itself, which is rickety and patched together and not entirely clean; the corn den, where Iris meets and falls in love with Trick, the young Traveller boy; the paddock, where Trick and his family live in caravans; and Iris’s best friend Matty’s tiny but pristine house. The whole story unfolds in a small village on the outskirts of the Peak District in Derbyshire (near where I grew up), an area famous for its rugged beauty and hills.
I used my dad’s house, and the land around it as the template for the sets in Infinite Sky, and so worldbuilding for me was easy in some ways. Still, I used this template of my childhood home to create a version of these places that doesn’t exist. I allowed my childhood perception of my dad’s house to mix with with imagined details to achieve an effect, to create a place all its own.
My dad'd house
Most of the settings in the book were written from memory. I trawled through childhood adventures in the fields surrounding the house, and run ins with the local tough guys, and my relationships with my parents and brother and friends, and I got a first draft of the novel. Then, due to changed circumstances, I moved back to my dad’s house for a period. This was purely coincidental, but it was invaluable for the book. For weeks, I wandered the fields, and played with the dog, and remembered how it felt to run wild in this beloved place. I added in details and feelings and senses to the manuscript. I considered scenes from Iris’s perspective in the places that inspired them, and improved the sentences in the book.
Finishing the book in the place that inspired it was a very special thing, and I don’t expect to have the experience again. In the finished draft, I have shrunk my home town to a village, moved it closer to the countryside, and demolished the extra houses that have sprung up in recent years. I have rearranged the landscape, changed crops (corn never grew in the fields by us, alas), and inserted boats, swans and azure damselfies. And with all of these small decisions about what to include or omit or exaggerate, I built Iris’s and Trick’s world.
Do you agree that worldbuilding is as important an element in realistic fiction as science fiction? Or do you think I’m talking nonsense? What other contemporary novels have excellent worldbuilding in them? I would love to hear from you.
C. J. Flood is a novelist who lives in Bristol, where she is finishing up her second novel, The Drowning Machine, which is out next year. Her debut novel, Infinite Sky, is out now in paperback and hardback. Buy it! Or just say hello at her blog, add the book on Goodreads or talk to her on Twitter.
My first novel, Infinite Sky, is a realistic contemporary story about thirteen-year-old Iris Dancy, who lives with her dad and her older brother in a ramshackle old farmhouse, Silverweed Farm. Her mum has left the family to go on a soul-searching expedition around North Africa, and the family, and Silverweed, have since fallen into a slightly chaotic state. Cue a family of Irish Travellers setting up camp in the Dancy’s disused paddock, and an adventure beginning that will change Iris’s and her family’s lives forever.
Whatever the genre, world building is key, and if your story is going to live on in people’s heads, you have to get the details of your imaginary world right. For Infinite Sky, we decided to make it timeless, and so all references to popular culture, party politics, world events and technology were removed.
There are a few different settings in the novel: the various rooms of Silverweed Farm itself, which is rickety and patched together and not entirely clean; the corn den, where Iris meets and falls in love with Trick, the young Traveller boy; the paddock, where Trick and his family live in caravans; and Iris’s best friend Matty’s tiny but pristine house. The whole story unfolds in a small village on the outskirts of the Peak District in Derbyshire (near where I grew up), an area famous for its rugged beauty and hills.
I used my dad’s house, and the land around it as the template for the sets in Infinite Sky, and so worldbuilding for me was easy in some ways. Still, I used this template of my childhood home to create a version of these places that doesn’t exist. I allowed my childhood perception of my dad’s house to mix with with imagined details to achieve an effect, to create a place all its own.
My dad'd houseMost of the settings in the book were written from memory. I trawled through childhood adventures in the fields surrounding the house, and run ins with the local tough guys, and my relationships with my parents and brother and friends, and I got a first draft of the novel. Then, due to changed circumstances, I moved back to my dad’s house for a period. This was purely coincidental, but it was invaluable for the book. For weeks, I wandered the fields, and played with the dog, and remembered how it felt to run wild in this beloved place. I added in details and feelings and senses to the manuscript. I considered scenes from Iris’s perspective in the places that inspired them, and improved the sentences in the book.
Finishing the book in the place that inspired it was a very special thing, and I don’t expect to have the experience again. In the finished draft, I have shrunk my home town to a village, moved it closer to the countryside, and demolished the extra houses that have sprung up in recent years. I have rearranged the landscape, changed crops (corn never grew in the fields by us, alas), and inserted boats, swans and azure damselfies. And with all of these small decisions about what to include or omit or exaggerate, I built Iris’s and Trick’s world.
Do you agree that worldbuilding is as important an element in realistic fiction as science fiction? Or do you think I’m talking nonsense? What other contemporary novels have excellent worldbuilding in them? I would love to hear from you.
C. J. Flood is a novelist who lives in Bristol, where she is finishing up her second novel, The Drowning Machine, which is out next year. Her debut novel, Infinite Sky, is out now in paperback and hardback. Buy it! Or just say hello at her blog, add the book on Goodreads or talk to her on Twitter.
September 6, 2013
Running my first creative writing course for adults...
On October 5th I'm going to be running my first creative writing course for adults in Derby. The idea is that using freewriting exercises, I'll help adults uncover their inner teen, so that they can begin/develop their writing for young adults, or creating of convincing teen characters. I've learnt so many things over the years, and am really keen to share some of them.
Putting together the workshop has made me think about what it is that makes me want to write fiction about young adults myself. Because while I didn't always intend to write fiction for young adults, I quickly knew I wanted to write with a teen protagonist - a thirteen year old female protagonist, to be precise.
I always say this is because it's such an interesting point in a life. Thirteen was the cusp of adulthood for me. It's when you have one foot in childhood and one foot in adulthood, and the foot that's in adulthood is being pulled quite hard, and without your permission, and the foot in childhood has suddenly started to look a bit embarrassing, like maybe you should just cut it off. Inner conflict, so essential in fiction, is rife.
But really considering it, I'm not sure it's the real reason I like to write about teens. The real reason, I think, is because of the diminished responsibility of that period. The boring administrative realities and responsibilities of adulthood are unknown. For me as a teen, most boredom came from having too little to do, or not being allowed to do what I wanted, rather than from having to repeatedly do things that I didn't want to (though this happened too). I wasn't expected to run my life like a small business. I didn't even have my own passport. I had never bought toilet roll!
Plus, there was a fun side-product of not being allowed to do the things you wanted to do: rebellion. Such a simple way to have fun. Just find ways to do the things you're not allowed to. Rebelling as an adult is something different altogether. It might feature adultery or crime or weird leather clothing, and the consequences will generally be sadder and further reaching than your mum looking at you with a sad face, and telling you she's disappointed.
Anyway, if you're interested in learning more about writing for/about teens, then please sign up for my course, here:
Course details:
This workshop is all about discovering and channeling our inner teen in order to create authentic stories that will appeal to a Young Adult audience. Let writing exercises that access imagination and memory unlock the wealth of creativity within you, and discussion about narrative, character and voice give you insight about how to progress your stories. Prepare to be surprised by what you uncover and create during this dynamic workshop.
C J Flood's first novel for Young Adults, 'Infinite Sky', came out this year. It sold at auction in the UK, Germany and the United States, and has received glowing reviews from the Guardian, Telegraph and Times. C J studied for an MA in Creative Writing at UEA, where she won the Curtis Brown Award for her writing. She was selected as a mentee on the Jerwood/Arvon Mentoring Scheme, and received funding from the Arts Council to finish 'Infinite Sky'. She is currently working on her second novel.
Putting together the workshop has made me think about what it is that makes me want to write fiction about young adults myself. Because while I didn't always intend to write fiction for young adults, I quickly knew I wanted to write with a teen protagonist - a thirteen year old female protagonist, to be precise.
I always say this is because it's such an interesting point in a life. Thirteen was the cusp of adulthood for me. It's when you have one foot in childhood and one foot in adulthood, and the foot that's in adulthood is being pulled quite hard, and without your permission, and the foot in childhood has suddenly started to look a bit embarrassing, like maybe you should just cut it off. Inner conflict, so essential in fiction, is rife.
But really considering it, I'm not sure it's the real reason I like to write about teens. The real reason, I think, is because of the diminished responsibility of that period. The boring administrative realities and responsibilities of adulthood are unknown. For me as a teen, most boredom came from having too little to do, or not being allowed to do what I wanted, rather than from having to repeatedly do things that I didn't want to (though this happened too). I wasn't expected to run my life like a small business. I didn't even have my own passport. I had never bought toilet roll!
Plus, there was a fun side-product of not being allowed to do the things you wanted to do: rebellion. Such a simple way to have fun. Just find ways to do the things you're not allowed to. Rebelling as an adult is something different altogether. It might feature adultery or crime or weird leather clothing, and the consequences will generally be sadder and further reaching than your mum looking at you with a sad face, and telling you she's disappointed.
Anyway, if you're interested in learning more about writing for/about teens, then please sign up for my course, here:
Course details:
This workshop is all about discovering and channeling our inner teen in order to create authentic stories that will appeal to a Young Adult audience. Let writing exercises that access imagination and memory unlock the wealth of creativity within you, and discussion about narrative, character and voice give you insight about how to progress your stories. Prepare to be surprised by what you uncover and create during this dynamic workshop.
C J Flood's first novel for Young Adults, 'Infinite Sky', came out this year. It sold at auction in the UK, Germany and the United States, and has received glowing reviews from the Guardian, Telegraph and Times. C J studied for an MA in Creative Writing at UEA, where she won the Curtis Brown Award for her writing. She was selected as a mentee on the Jerwood/Arvon Mentoring Scheme, and received funding from the Arts Council to finish 'Infinite Sky'. She is currently working on her second novel.
September 3, 2013
Overlooked pieces of Bristol Graffiti
Bristol has some world class graffiti. Sometimes it can overshadow the more regional stuff. I hope this blog post goes some way to addressing this.
Don't Know What It's ALL About But It's Wond[e]rful! (Underpass near M32)
LOVE THOSE SPIDERS BABE (Weston, not Bristol.)
RICHMOND TURD (Richmond Rd.)What do you think? Which is your favourite?
Let me know if you have seen anything that deserves a wider audience, and I will go photograph it, and put it here for posterity.
Don't Know What It's ALL About But It's Wond[e]rful! (Underpass near M32)
LOVE THOSE SPIDERS BABE (Weston, not Bristol.)
RICHMOND TURD (Richmond Rd.)What do you think? Which is your favourite?Let me know if you have seen anything that deserves a wider audience, and I will go photograph it, and put it here for posterity.
July 30, 2013
Infinite Sky has an American release date...
Infinite Sky has an American release date! May 2014. Hurray!
Photographs have been taken for the cover, which I will share details of soon, and yesterday I finished checking the copy edits of the book.
It was the first time I have read Infinite Sky since proofreading it last year, due to being scared of hating it or finding 0.2,000,000 mistakes, so I was delighted to discover that it's really not bad! I even found myself drawing sad faces at the end of several chapters, and not many novels make me do that. It's funnier than I'd remembered too. Especially the Matty chapters. She is fast becoming my favourite character, and I would really like to write more in her voice as she is so camp and amusing.
The funny thing about re-reading your own novel after so long is, that although you get pulled into it in a way that wasn't possible when you were re-reading it every day, there is still a detached part of you that remembers things about the choices you made as you wrote. It remembers why you wrote certain sentences, and sees your inspirations as you read.
When Iris dreams of being safe and in the cool green shade by the brook, I think of Roddy Doyle. And when she talks about the blue and white sky I think of D H Lawrence. When her dad confronts her, after discovering she has been secretly spending time with Trick, the Traveller boy, I think of Antonia White. I owe bits to all of them.
When she runs through the cornfields, I remember what it felt like returning home after my MA to my beloved Brook Farm, where I hadn't lived for ten years, and running through the farmer's fields with the dog, and how the grass and nettles catch your legs, and flies catch the sunlight, and how you really don't need anything except a little sun and somewhere to sit. Or at least what it feels like to believe that fervently for a few minutes.
Mannerisms that I've stolen from friends and relatives over the years to make the characters seem real jump out at me, and the names of places and people that I've reappropriated remind me of how much of myself I put into the novel - years of observations! - debut novels are such personal things.
I also found some mistakes. Iris gets the names of certain birds and trees and fish wrong. If you can spot any of them, I will send you a prize.
Also, I am going to be giving away a signed copy of the lovely paperback, so check back for details about that soon!
Photographs have been taken for the cover, which I will share details of soon, and yesterday I finished checking the copy edits of the book.
It was the first time I have read Infinite Sky since proofreading it last year, due to being scared of hating it or finding 0.2,000,000 mistakes, so I was delighted to discover that it's really not bad! I even found myself drawing sad faces at the end of several chapters, and not many novels make me do that. It's funnier than I'd remembered too. Especially the Matty chapters. She is fast becoming my favourite character, and I would really like to write more in her voice as she is so camp and amusing.
The funny thing about re-reading your own novel after so long is, that although you get pulled into it in a way that wasn't possible when you were re-reading it every day, there is still a detached part of you that remembers things about the choices you made as you wrote. It remembers why you wrote certain sentences, and sees your inspirations as you read.
When Iris dreams of being safe and in the cool green shade by the brook, I think of Roddy Doyle. And when she talks about the blue and white sky I think of D H Lawrence. When her dad confronts her, after discovering she has been secretly spending time with Trick, the Traveller boy, I think of Antonia White. I owe bits to all of them.
When she runs through the cornfields, I remember what it felt like returning home after my MA to my beloved Brook Farm, where I hadn't lived for ten years, and running through the farmer's fields with the dog, and how the grass and nettles catch your legs, and flies catch the sunlight, and how you really don't need anything except a little sun and somewhere to sit. Or at least what it feels like to believe that fervently for a few minutes.
Mannerisms that I've stolen from friends and relatives over the years to make the characters seem real jump out at me, and the names of places and people that I've reappropriated remind me of how much of myself I put into the novel - years of observations! - debut novels are such personal things.
I also found some mistakes. Iris gets the names of certain birds and trees and fish wrong. If you can spot any of them, I will send you a prize.
Also, I am going to be giving away a signed copy of the lovely paperback, so check back for details about that soon!
June 18, 2013
Upcoming events...
INFINITE SKY comes out in the UK in paperback in 16 days. Hurray, right? Right. Those of you who thought ten smackeroos was a bit steep for my delightful masterpiece will now be able to buy it for seven pounds. £6.99 to be exact.
It also comes out in Australia on the first of July.
Here's the cover, in case you have forgotten.
In case you've forgotten the title, it's Infinite Sky.
Also, here are some events that I will be taking part in. You should totally come and see me.
26th June - Ashbourne Library - Me, Emma Pass and Helen Mort talk with River Wooton about writing, and read from our books.7:15 start.
8 July - Cafe Writers, Norwich - I'm reading along with Anne-Marie Fife and Cahal Dallat. 7:30
9th July - FLY Festival, UEA, Norwich - creative writing workshop 13:00-14:00
9th July - FLY Festival, UEA, Norwich - reading, talk and signing 14:30-15:45
I also have some exciting news to announce soon, so, you know, check my blog every day.
It also comes out in Australia on the first of July.
Here's the cover, in case you have forgotten.
In case you've forgotten the title, it's Infinite Sky.Also, here are some events that I will be taking part in. You should totally come and see me.
26th June - Ashbourne Library - Me, Emma Pass and Helen Mort talk with River Wooton about writing, and read from our books.7:15 start.
8 July - Cafe Writers, Norwich - I'm reading along with Anne-Marie Fife and Cahal Dallat. 7:30
9th July - FLY Festival, UEA, Norwich - creative writing workshop 13:00-14:00
9th July - FLY Festival, UEA, Norwich - reading, talk and signing 14:30-15:45
I also have some exciting news to announce soon, so, you know, check my blog every day.
June 11, 2013
Winner of WONDER and INFINITE SKY competition...
A little longer than intended passed before this results post. I hope you have all been managing to sleep okay in the mean time.
SO. The prize of one signed copy of INFINITE SKY and one unsigned/fake-signed [your choice] copy of WONDER goes to...
Simon P. Clarke!
Thanks so much for entering the competition, and taking the time to answer the question, of which blue was better, the blue of the cover of WONDER or the blue of the cover of INFINITE SKY. As I said before, there is no wrong answer, but the right answer was, of course, INFINITE SKY.
[Incidentally, Simon got the answer wrong.]
SO. The prize of one signed copy of INFINITE SKY and one unsigned/fake-signed [your choice] copy of WONDER goes to...
Simon P. Clarke!
Thanks so much for entering the competition, and taking the time to answer the question, of which blue was better, the blue of the cover of WONDER or the blue of the cover of INFINITE SKY. As I said before, there is no wrong answer, but the right answer was, of course, INFINITE SKY.
[Incidentally, Simon got the answer wrong.]
May 3, 2013
INFINITE SKY paperback cover reveal!
Here it is, the paperback version of INFINITE SKY. What do you think? I would love to hear from you.
Do you like it more or less than the original hardback cover?
Do you like it more or less than the original hardback cover?
March 25, 2013
Wonder by R. J. Palacio and Infinite Sky Giveaway!
So, as I wrote when I was featured over at The Overflowing Library's Bookcase Showcase, I have toooo many books. And I can't stop buying them. It's one of my-least-necessary-to-keep-private problems.
Probably self-explanatory
In the spirit of sharing my love of good books, I've decided to give one of my favourite new books away - WONDER by R. J. Palacio - along with a copy of INFINITE SKY.
The books look vaguely similar, and I think they could probably be quite good friends, if they would only make the effort.
R. J. Palacio's WONDER
Both have themes of prejudice and judgement and loyalty, and both are written by authors with the middle initial 'J'.
Coincidence? Yes.
To enter the competition, and be in with a chance of winning one of these lovely blue books, answer this following question in the comments box below, and leave a way for me to get hold of you. The contest will run for a month.
Which shade of blue do you prefer?
a. The blue of WONDER by R. J. Palacio
b. The blue of INFINITE SKY by C. J. Flood
N.B. There's no wrong answer.
Probably self-explanatoryIn the spirit of sharing my love of good books, I've decided to give one of my favourite new books away - WONDER by R. J. Palacio - along with a copy of INFINITE SKY.
The books look vaguely similar, and I think they could probably be quite good friends, if they would only make the effort.
R. J. Palacio's WONDERBoth have themes of prejudice and judgement and loyalty, and both are written by authors with the middle initial 'J'.
Coincidence? Yes.
To enter the competition, and be in with a chance of winning one of these lovely blue books, answer this following question in the comments box below, and leave a way for me to get hold of you. The contest will run for a month.
Which shade of blue do you prefer?
a. The blue of WONDER by R. J. Palacio
b. The blue of INFINITE SKY by C. J. Flood
N.B. There's no wrong answer.
March 6, 2013
Infinite Sky is out in the world...
Apologies if you already know this, because it's all I've talked about for forever, but, yep, my first book is out, and available in all good book shops and all good online places too.
The day it launched, I was bed-ridden with a chest (and lung!) infection, but I had the loveliest time. My publisher and agent sent me enormous bunches of flowers, which I was too ill and short of vases to display properly.
Ill face, body and hair + party dress, champagne and flowers = really sexy actually.
My friends bought me champagne, which they passed through the door to me as though I had bubonic plague, and my best friend risked it all by coming round to make me the most nutritious dinner of my life. Later, we launched a heart-shaped paper lantern covered in our dearest wishes into the sky. It plummeted after soaring a few hundred metres.
Since then, I have been lucky enough to get reviews in all The Big Guys (Telegraph, Guardian, Times), and to cut a long story short, they basically said the book is pretty s w e e t.
I also did a signing at Derby Waterstones, where we sold out of books in the first hour, and I wore really high shoes, and tried not to walk like a heron.
My nan and my best friend queuing up to meet me.
So, thanks so much to all of you who have bought my book, and sent nice messages saying that you enjoyed it, I never ever get tired of receiving them. Please don't forget to recommend it to others too, if you liked it, (and even if you didn't.)
The day it launched, I was bed-ridden with a chest (and lung!) infection, but I had the loveliest time. My publisher and agent sent me enormous bunches of flowers, which I was too ill and short of vases to display properly.
Ill face, body and hair + party dress, champagne and flowers = really sexy actually.My friends bought me champagne, which they passed through the door to me as though I had bubonic plague, and my best friend risked it all by coming round to make me the most nutritious dinner of my life. Later, we launched a heart-shaped paper lantern covered in our dearest wishes into the sky. It plummeted after soaring a few hundred metres.
Since then, I have been lucky enough to get reviews in all The Big Guys (Telegraph, Guardian, Times), and to cut a long story short, they basically said the book is pretty s w e e t.
I also did a signing at Derby Waterstones, where we sold out of books in the first hour, and I wore really high shoes, and tried not to walk like a heron.
My nan and my best friend queuing up to meet me.So, thanks so much to all of you who have bought my book, and sent nice messages saying that you enjoyed it, I never ever get tired of receiving them. Please don't forget to recommend it to others too, if you liked it, (and even if you didn't.)
February 4, 2013
Infinite Sky countdown
Okay, I admit it, I'm A BIT EXCITED about my first ever book, Infinite Sky, coming out.
Petra, better-known as Safari Poet has made a countdown widget for lots of marvellous-looking books, including mine, and many of my Lucky 13 colleagues. Have a look at it on the right hand side of the blog. It's the coolest thing I've ever seen. In my whole life.
A couple of other nice things book-related have happened lately.
One is that children and adult author/Independent columnist Terence Blacker has given a lovely blurb for Infinite Sky:
"Infinite Sky is terrific - moving, original and heartfelt. I loved it. A compelling, heart-wrenching coming-of-age story."
Terence taught me creative non-fiction at an Arvon retreat at the ridiculously gorgeous Totleigh Barton in Devon a few years ago. He saw Infinite Sky in its earliest stages, and was very encouraging and supportive, though he did have to tell me off for my presentation skills (I handed in my work on a creased bit of ripped-out notebook paper for some reason.)
The other good thing is that I'm going to do my first ever radio interview. It's with Andy Potter at BBC Radio Derby, and will be on in the next couple of weeks, and I'm going to try really hard not to say anything stupid. My dad sorted it out for me, which if you know my dad, you'll know is quite extraordinary. I have started calling him PR guy. I suggest that you do too.
Petra, better-known as Safari Poet has made a countdown widget for lots of marvellous-looking books, including mine, and many of my Lucky 13 colleagues. Have a look at it on the right hand side of the blog. It's the coolest thing I've ever seen. In my whole life.
A couple of other nice things book-related have happened lately.
One is that children and adult author/Independent columnist Terence Blacker has given a lovely blurb for Infinite Sky:
"Infinite Sky is terrific - moving, original and heartfelt. I loved it. A compelling, heart-wrenching coming-of-age story."
Terence taught me creative non-fiction at an Arvon retreat at the ridiculously gorgeous Totleigh Barton in Devon a few years ago. He saw Infinite Sky in its earliest stages, and was very encouraging and supportive, though he did have to tell me off for my presentation skills (I handed in my work on a creased bit of ripped-out notebook paper for some reason.)
The other good thing is that I'm going to do my first ever radio interview. It's with Andy Potter at BBC Radio Derby, and will be on in the next couple of weeks, and I'm going to try really hard not to say anything stupid. My dad sorted it out for me, which if you know my dad, you'll know is quite extraordinary. I have started calling him PR guy. I suggest that you do too.
