Ali Bacon's Blog, page 9

Free tomorrow? See you in Hawkesbury!

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Festival founder Debbie Young (centre) with poets Dan Holloway (left) and Shirley Wright

I hope it’s not to late to remind everybody of the amazing opportunity provided by anyone within striking distance of the Hawkesbury Upton Literature Festival, everybody that is who is turned on by reading, writing or getting published in any genre or format.

Throw in a cafe with home-made cakes and snacks and really what’s not to like? And did I mention every discussion, workshop and reading event is fre...

Save the dates!

It’s great to see everyone emerging from the winter gloom and getting together again.

Here are a few dates which should be of interest to anyone who loves writing, reading or just listening.

March 19th: Story Sunday ‘Another Country’

As you know I’m a member of Writers Unchained and hopefully this poster says it all. Writers have until March 5th to submit, or just come along and listen.

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Feb 26th: submissions opening for Stroud Short Stories

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Beyond the Bestseller

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Who doesn’t want to be a best seller? Perhaps in the title of this forthcoming event there’s a recognition that we can’t all be best-sellers and it might be as satisfying to find the right publisher for your book and sell it to the right audience. Or perhaps, since it’s being staged by a very small indie publisher, it’s an invitation to wonder if our work will ever suit the limited (and limiting?) requirements of the Big Six, and suggest there are other places to take it?

And of course there...

‘Poor Chattie’ comes to Novel Nights

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*Chattie Hill, around 1844

D.O. Hill’s daughter Chattie is best known from the iconic portrait taken near the start of her father’s partnership with Robert Adamson, but we have very few further calotype images of her (calotyping was too expensive for regular ‘family shapshots’) except for this lovely study and one or two of her as an older girl.

All we know of her, from the playful letters, notes and sketches her father made for her, is thatshe remained central to his busy life and that her ea...

‘Poor Chattie’ comes to Novel Nights

[image error]

*Chattie Hill, around 1844

D.O. Hill’s daughter Chattie is best known from the iconic portrait taken near the start of her father’s partnership with Robert Adamson, but we have very few further calotype images of her (calotyping was too expensive for regular ‘family shapshots’) except for this lovely study and one or two of her as an older girl.

All we know of her, from the playful letters, notes and sketches her father made for her, is thatshe remained central to his busy life and that her e...

Writers just wanna have fun

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With friends old and new at December Talking Tales in Bristol*

If I was wondering how to sum up 2016 (on the writing front that is) this picture looks as good a one as any to do it: some twinkly lights, friends old and new, writers celebrating stringing a few words together.

At these local events (Story Sunday, Stroud Short Stories, Talking Tales, Novel Nights etc) our audience is made up mainly of other writers – all avidly curious to see who has been chosen to read and what they’ve come up...

Snow is falling – special offer on A Kettle of Fish

Our tree is up and my shopping is (nearly) done! So to celebrate, I thought I could help you out with yours –

Vintage comedy – with Stokes Croft Writers

A few months ago I made the longlist for Christopher Fielden’s To Hull and Back humorous short story competition whose anthology is being launched at next Saturday’s Talking Tales in Bristol.

Knowing thiswas sure to be a fun affair ( yes, I got my TT badge in October!) I saved the date to go along and listen – then I heard that more submissions were being invited.

Well nothing ventured! And now I’m on the programme for Saturday too, not with my shortlisted story (“the one about the ukulele”)...

An interview with Jane Davis (and free novel offer!)

I first ran into Jane when someone recommended her historical novel ‘I Stopped Time’ which I thoroughly enjoyed. I also loved ‘An Unchoreographed Life’, a contemporary novel about a dancer and single mother. But as well as being a great writer with seven published novels to her name, Jane isan example to all ‘indie’ authors in the absolute professionalism of everything she produces. If you haven’t set eyes on one of Jane’s novels, I can guarantee you won’t be able to tell it apart from anythi...

Swanning around – the official October round-up

The Little Big Top, Cheltenham Literature Festival

As if September wasn’t memorable enough (my first everone woman showin St Andrews) October kicked off with my biggest ever audience (140!) in the Little Big Top at Cheltenham Literature Festival – yes that’s it up there with the lovely swaggy roof and coloured lights – where I was one of the Stroud Short Stories Greatest hits line-up.

Getting ready to read

Friends in the Green Room!

SinceI now know Silver Harvestalmost by heart and had alread...