Carys Bray's Blog, page 8

Talking about Issy Bradley

Here I am talking about A Song for Issy Bradley in the Penguin media suite. I was a little awe-struck by the experience, as recorded here (I'm slightly disappointed that they didn't add dinosaurs or a car chase to liven things up a bit). 

Information about Word Factory

 
The Word Factory #24
The intimate short story salon

Enjoy a warm welcome at our June salon in the company of three inspirational authors: Val McDermid, entertaining with story and song, with readings from poet, novelist and storyteller Vanessa Gebbie (she’s also taking this month’s Saturday Masterclass) and rising star Carys Bray. All will join Cathy Galvin in conversation about their writing

Robert Shearman: Horror and Humanity

My essay on the short fiction of Robert Shearman is now up at the Thresholds website. Below is a small excerpt. You can read the rest of the essay at the link above.



The first time I met Robert Shearman he was collecting a prize for his second collection, Love Songs for the Shy and Cynical. He was affable and friendly and he talked quickly, as if ideas were sliding straight from his brain to

Good Morning Sunday

A Song for Issy Bradley was reviewed on Clare Balding's Good Morning Sunday show on BBC Radio 2 this morning by the Rev Ruth Scott.

I wasn't planning to listen (because I'm not a masochist) but Neil brought the tablet upstairs and tuned in to Radio 2 online, so I had no choice (although I did hide under the covers). Fortunately, it went well - *huge sigh of relief*





This weekend I've

The Reading Agency

The Reading Agency is giving away 10 reading group sets (10 copies per set) of A Song for Issy Bradley. Each set will contain posters, review cards, a reading guide, author Q&A and a letter from the author - me! If you'd like to apply for a set of books, you can do so at The Reading Agency website. 

Signing first editions

I've been in London this week. I did lots of fun things including media training, a celebratory dinner with my agent and editor (better late than never!) and breakfast at the Wolseley with the lovely Cathy Rentzenbrink. I signed my way through a big old stack of first editions before travelling back to Southport. I arrived home just in time to receive a big box of author copies from the

Lovely stuff

I bought these lovely prints on Etsy last week. They're printed on old dictionary pages which works brilliantly as many of the images are taken from famous books and/or stories. 

You can browse the store here.

It's here!

A copy of my book arrived today. It was really exciting to finally see it.


Here it is all wrapped up.





Here's a postcard from my lovely editor.





Unwrapped.






Inside front cover.





Inside back cover.




How fortunate am I? Not only is A Song for Issy Bradley a beautiful, carefully designed book, underneath the cover it's red - my favourite colour (and it matches my red sofa -

Gone Reading...

This month I will be marking essays, attending hospital appointments with my children (who have managed to develop an interesting array of conditions that require surgical intervention), writing 'feature' pieces in which I try to appear interesting (an introvert's nightmare), worrying about novel number 2, and trying to avoid reviews of A Song for Issy Bradley.

When I get a spare moment I will

Thresholds Feature Writing Competition

My essay about Robert Shearman's stories has been shortlisted for the Thresholds International Feature Writing Competition. Robert is an incredibly inventive writer and he's also a lovely person who was really generous to me when I first started writing. 





As ever, the shortlist sounds really interesting and I'm looking forward to reading all of the essays and learning more about some