Aliya Whiteley's Blog, page 22

2016: Books and Bye

You have to love Goodreads. When I started to try to think back over the books I read this year I realised my memory isn’t the amazing tool of total retention I like to think it is, but my Goodreads account gave me a long list of everything that I bought and borrowed in 2016. Phew.

How many wonderful books there were – not necessarily published within the year, but discovered by me for the first time even if written long ago. From searching the shelves in my local library to trusting recommendations from other readers and writers, there were plenty of times when I put down a book and thought: That was brilliant. And then I felt a bit happy and a bit jealous and a bit relieved that some humans write so well that they bring different experiences and thoughts into the minds of other humans, and make it possible for us all to understand each other a little better. When I think about hope for the future, I think about that.

I started the year with Lavie Tidhar’s A Man Lies Dreaming, and the way he used the crime genre really inspired me to get back on the wagon and use the private detective setup myself in a new thing I’ve been working on. The shabby glamour of the PI – that can be used to carry the reader into all sorts of strange territory. It’s that sense of familiarity that then becomes something else entirely. I loved it.

Dan Grace’s Winter followed soon after and delivered beautiful blast of an icy future. I’m hoping he’s going to write more in this world but if this novella is all we get of his dystopian, magical Scotland then I’ll still be happy. He has a lyrical, poised, intense style that really works.

I’m not a huge fan of alternative histories but a good friend recommended Keith Roberts’ Pavane to me when I was reading around in preparation for a series of articles about the best British Sci Fi through the decades. Pavane is intricate and involved and magnificent, with a touch of steampunk taking a left turn into deep emotional territory.

Then I discovered Josephine Saxton. A British writer of the 60s, 70s and 80s, she did really interesting things to plot within settings that are difficult to define. Sort of futuristic, sort of Sci Fi, I devoured The Hieros Gamos of Sam and An Smith and Group Feast, and I already want to reread them.

Doris Lessing’s The Memoirs of a Survivor also tapped into my nervy “collapse of society” vibe mid-year, as did DG Compton’s The Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe. They are very different books, but they are both brilliant at making you feel uneasy about the direction we’re all taking even though they were written decades ago. How do some books do that?

I’ve never read much Flaubert but A Simple Heart called to me from the library bookshelf and provided a much-needed antidote to those stresses. Reading it also provided an explanation over that whole Flaubert’s parrot thing, but that’s far from the only reason to read it. The prose is so clean and true and piercing. I cried.

Manu Larcenet’s Ordinary Victories and The Red Virgin and the Vision of Utopia by Mary and Bryan Talbot were my favourite graphic novels of the year. I’ve put them together in this paragraph but really they are completely different reads; the only thing they have in common is that they use the marriage of words and illustrations to bring a story to vivid life. But that’s a good thing to have in common, right?

Nina Allan’s The Race led to me hunting down and falling in love with Spin and The Harlequin as well. Her ability to stitch together multi-faceted stories through small, revealing actions in complex characters has stuck with me, and has been a big influence on my own writing this year.

It’s a Martin Scorsese film now, but I picked up Silence by Endo Shusaku without knowing it was about to become a cinematic experience, and I’m glad I read this quiet, methodical and deeply questioning novel before I saw the Scorsese trailer. The reviews say the film is all about faith, but that doesn’t capture the novel for me. It’s about faith in the way a Graham Greene novel is about faith – it’s about what attempting to have faith (in anything or anyone) does to a person. Which is a much more interesting area than whether a person believes in one thing or another, I think.

The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante was so brutal, so unflinching, so determined to plunge into despair, that of course I loved it, particularly as an antidote to the run-up to Christmas. I eagerly snapped up My Brilliant Friend afterwards and it didn’t do as much for me, being a more measured creation of family and friends when what I liked about her writing was the sense of having to find total self-reliance through experiencing anguish. Or perhaps I’m just a misery-guts at Christmas.

Finally, for me, the book of my year was Han Kang’s The Vegetarian. What a stunning read. The middle section in particular mesmerised me. I’m still trying to formulate what it does to me, but I mentioned jealousy earlier and I have to say I wish I had written it. But, failing that, I’m intensely glad that Han Kang wrote it and I got the honour of reading it, and all the books on this list.

Cheers, and happy new year to readers and writers everywhere.

 

 

 

 

My Year of Writing: 2016

Come the new year I’ll make a list of my favourite reads of 2016, but I can’t do it yet because I don’t like the thought of leaving out the books I’ll read over the Christmas period. Which will include Han Kang’s Human Acts. I know this because I’ve bought it as a Christmas present to myself and I can’t wait to receive it from me. I’m so thoughtful.

But I don’t think anything else that I’ve written will be published in 2016, so here’s my annual round up…

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My SF-historical coming-of-age novella The Arrival of Missives was published in May by Unsung Stories, who make me feel better about the world whenever I think of them, such is their commitment to only putting good things done well out there. Thanks to them for making it such a beautiful book.

Giganotosaurus published my novella Brushwork, which is set just outside Portsmouth and doesn’t even mention Devon, so that’s a diversification for me. It’s a near future dystopian story of have and have-nots in a biodome where one poor old lady grows melons for very rich people to enjoy.

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I had seven short stories published this year:

Bourbon Penn ran The Librarian in February, which was all about information and how we use it. That’s been a big theme of mine this year, but here it was front and centre rather than lurking in the subtext.

In March Belladonna Publishing put my story The House of Infinite Diversions into their anthology Strange Little Girls. I was in great company there, and my tale of torture and self-realisation juxtaposed with a quite formal style was really fun to do.

Blue Monday Review published Into Glass in April. This was inspired by the Blaschka glass models which you can see in the Natural History Museum. Quantifying, solidifying, objectifying love: a forerunner for some ideas I’ve been exploring on the page since.

The Multicoloured and Botanical Life Story appeared alongside a vivid illustration online at the new venture InShades Mag in May. I wrote this horticultural story years ago and never could find the right place for it; I think InShades brought it to life beautifully.

July, and BFS Horizons put Bird Charming for Beginners between their pages. I rarely create entire fantasy lands or use magic in my stories, but I went all out here and was glad to find such a good home for it.

Speaking of which, there’s no better home for a SF story than Interzone, and they published Three Love Letters from an Unrepeatable Garden in September. More plants! More letters! More love! More information! All my big themes of 2016 in one short story.

And finally, a reprint: Digital Fiction Publishing used Songs for Dead Children in their Killing It Softly anthology, which is a collection of scary stories by some amazing women horror writers. I brought Mahler and murder to some full on tales of terror.

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Patreon! I started one. For strange short stories. My goal is to write 12 bizarre short stories over the next year, and people can pay me to read them if they fancy it.

One of my big writing problems is that I don’t often create stories that fit neatly within genre parameters, and that can make them difficult to place. Patreon removes that constraint. It means I can write stories about an alien invasion of corrupted words, and women seafarers stranded on phallic islands, and not worry about the fact that I’m straying off into historical, or literary, or horror, when I started in SF or fantasy. So far I’ve loved this freedom; if you want to read the results you can sign up here.

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I wrote less articles, I think, generally. Den of Geek is still my go-to place for film news, and it still amazes me that they like my stuff and put it on their site. Thanks DoG. Here’s a few of my favourite articles I wrote for them this year:

10 Amazing Animated Short Films from Hungary

Sherlock Holmes: Celebrating Rathbone and Bruce

8 British Sci Fi Novels of the 1950s (I also did the 1960s and 1970s)

In Praise of Not Reading Classic Video Game Instructions

An Interview with Sally & Sylvain Chomet

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And finally – I wrote a lot of new stuff this year. The last couple of years have been about novellas, but in 2016 I wrote a short novel which hopefully I’ll find a home for, and I started something which I think is going to become a chunky novel. It’ll be good to tackle something longer again; I haven’t written a novel that’s over 100,000 words since Three Things About Me (which failed to impress Kirkus Reviews – “a strange, unsatisfying debut” has remained one of my favourite review quotes and has been oddly prescient about my writing career since),which was nearly a decade ago. Wow. It’ll be good to really get immersed in a great big adventure and see if I can still write longer. Here’s hoping it’s still strange, but maybe a bit more satisfying. For me and for any future readers.

See you in 2017, with my favourite reads of the year. In the meantime, happy Christmas! Have a good one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unsung and Seasonal

Next Tuesday I’ll be reading a new story (I know it’s new because I’ve just written it) at Unsung Live, which is a short story reading event in London that attracts some mighty writers. The super-talented Catriona Ward, Helen Marshall, and MR Carey will also be sharing strange Christmas-themed tales with those attending. I think it’s all sold out but you can add your name to the waiting list here in case spaces become available.

I’m really excited about it. I get great stories to hear, and beer. So good it rhymes.

Unsung Live #5, The Star of Kings (near King’s Cross), London. 7:00pm.

After that I’ll be posting up the seasonal story I read there as an exclusive for my Patreon followers here, along with a special email detailing how I wrote it (and the true and very odd story behind it) for those followers who subscribe for that.

After that? I’ll put up a couple of posts about my favourite books and films of the year before we leave 2016, and then I’ll get back to working on the new novel. There’s some exciting stuff coming up for me next year, too, so I’m looking forward to revealing all in the future. But until then – hopefully see you next Tuesday, or on my Patreon page.

Image courtesy of Freebie Photography

Voyage Beginnings

My next Patreon-only short story will be posted up on Wednesday 9th November, and it’s called ‘The Final Voyage of the Smiling Henry’. If you’re a fan of William Hope Hodgson or The Lost World type vibes, then this might be just your thing. You can sign up for as little as one dollar to get access to these strange stories that are going free and experimenting with all sorts of genres.

Here are the opening paragraphs:

The captain of the Fair Arthur, upon return to the port of New Bristol, reported forthwith to Worthington Hall, mindful of the money she had been promised for the news she could bring.  

There she described a sighting of vast spewing volcanoes, visible to the naked eye as erupting gouts of red upon the horizon, and took her payment in exchange for their position marked upon a chart of the Northern Ocean before departing for the nearest tavern.  

Later that evening Isabella switched her attention back and forth from the chart to her mother’s notes, within the peace of the family home’s library. The cracked spines of many leather tomes surrounded her, and each recorded some adventure from the line of Worthington. Here was the very desk where her mother had sat and speculated upon the cooling of lava to form crenulated rocks; it was as the latest Lady Worthington had claimed ten years ago. The map and co-ordinates she had guessed upon matched those drawn in the captain’s own shaky, sea-aged hand.

Just for extra flavour, here’s the trailer for The Land That Time Forgot. Yep, that’s definitely an influence on this story too…

 

 

 

 

 

Softly Seagoing Spectres

Killing it Softly is out there! It’s a fine looking book too, and a great read for the approach to Halloween. It’s still only 99p on the Kindle, but that won’t last much longer.

But forget Halloween. Let’s move along to November, and my next Patreon short story, which is probably going to be a boisterous and unpleasant seafaring adventure in tribute to William Hope Hodgson. You need to be a patron to read this one on the 5th November. I’m having a blast writing it right now.

But forget Bonfire Night. What about Christmas? I’ll be reading a brand new Christmas-themed ghost story at Unsung Live on the 6th December. I know it’ll be brand new because I haven’t written it yet. Other readers include Catriona Ward and Helen Marshall, who are both awesome, so even if my story turns out weird (let’s face it, it’s a possibility) they’ll be amazing, and you’ll have a good evening anyway.

Three months in three paragraphs. That’s not bad going even for me.

 

 

 

Compelled to Invade

My first short story for my Patreon followers will be going up on the site on Wednesday 5 October and it’s called Compel. Here’s the opening paragraph:

It’s a bizarre business, to feel grateful for an alien invasion. But it certainly gives meaning in a way few events can. And, beyond that, it is change, change itself, change embodied, and there is a strong possibility it will change me. How exciting. I feel alive for the first time in decades.

Yep, it’s an alien invasion story. I’m a big lover of the alien invasion story, a few of my favourites being Arthur C Clarke’s Childhood’s End, John Wyndham’s Midwich Cuckoos, and, on the other side of the coin, Ursula Le Guin’s The Word for World is Forest. My story isn’t like those stories though. It’s about why the business of being able to describe the alien invasion is more important than the invasion itself.

Patrons who give $5 or more will also get an email going into detail about the inspiration behind the story and the writing process. This time around it includes a bonus piece of flash fiction that inspired Compel. It’s been a long time in becoming a full short story. Find out why it took so long by signing up here.  

 

Patreon and Predictability

I really like stories that surprise me. I’ve talked about this in a few places. I like it when I don’t know what’s coming next, as a reader and as a writer, and I’ve been thinking of ways to put that element of the unpredictable across to readers for a long time now.

That’s why I’ve decided to give Patreon a go.

A Patreon account means that I can write a short story and deliver it to people who want a great read but don’t want predictability. I’m aiming to write a short story a month, for twelve months to start. I want to write all those ideas that have been growing in my mind but couldn’t be categorised.

This is an experiment for me and I’d be delighted to have you along for the ride. Also, if there’s anything about the Patreon account that you think isn’t working so well, or you have any suggestions, then I’d love to hear them.

You pay as little as $1 for a story that won’t be appearing anywhere else, and you get additional bonuses as the amount goes up, but trust me – $1 is great. It means you like what I write, and I get the freedom to write more of it. Here’s the link.

 

 

 

Horrible, Haunted and Floral

The title of this blog post sound like three dwarves from a twisted version of Snow White. I’d read it. Or write it, come to that. But until I get around to writing that why not pop over to Haunted Omnibus (link to a review of Missives) and read the interview I gave there about why I like fiddling about with genre?

Alternatively there are a few short stories popping up in places over the next few months. Interzone #266 contains my story Three Love Letters from an Unrepeatable Garden; I think it’ll be out in print shortly. Seeing my name on the cover of Interzone is always a bit mindblowing.

Also a new anthology from DFP called Killing It Softly will feature horror stories by women writers, and they will be reprinting my short story called Songs For Dead Children. Yes, it’s as upbeat as it sounds. There’s not much information out there yet about it but there is a full ToC on Facebook if you’re interested.

Here’s that Interzone cover. Go whoooooo! with me. Brilliant.

 

 

 

Nine Things (Including Nine Worlds)

Westcountry Weird (the event I did in Exeter with Catriona Ward and Nina Allan) was so much fun, probably because we talked about all the things I like to talk about, including ghosts, the seaside, war, truth, and why you shouldn’t start a book by writing about the weather.
It’s a great feeling when you unexpectedly find yourself on a list of good things. Here’s my short story ‘To The Farm’ (published by On Spec last year) on Ellen Datlow’s list of Honorable Mentions for the Best Horror of the Year.
Being a Nine Worlds Panellist on the subject of the apocalypse leads to depressing thoughts and the realisation that you don’t have the skills to fend off a zombie attack and you’ll be going out in the first wave.
Being a Nine Worlds Panellist on the subject of writing historical fantasy fiction involves learning about dressing wounds with cobwebs, and how difficult it can be to make the readers buy that as a historical fact. If there is such as thing as a historical fact. Which there might not be.
Being a Nine Worlds Panellist on the subject of women in STEM/science fiction involves meeting a bunch of incredibly inspirational people, who in turn have inspired me to think of a new idea for a novel. Thank you, incredible people.
Being a Nine Worlds Panellist on the subject of Utopia is just as depressing as being a panellist on the subject of the apocalypse. Can we have a utopia? Hm. No answers were forthcoming. Not comforting ones that had room for individuality or hope, anyway.
Being a Nine Worlds Panellist is exhausting scary fun. Coffee helped. And sugar.
I can sleep for fourteen hours at a time after a convention and still feel tired.
It was awesome though. As are my grapes, which grew at a frightening rate while I was away. Look:

Exeter, London, Lists

Hello to a really busy August, with lots of exciting things happening. You want a list? I’ll give you a list…

First up is the West Country Weird event I’m doing in Exeter on Thursday 11th August. Catriona Ward, Nina Allan and I will be discussing why the westcountry appears in our written works and other topics related to strangeness and spookiness. It should be a really good night if I manage to stop talking about how talented the other two novelists are.

And then there’s no time to waste as I head to Hammersmith and the Nine Worlds Geekfest from 12th to 14th August. I’m on four panels and am trying to store up all my thoughts about those very different areas: historical novels, apocalyptic novels, utopian novels… I’ll have to start taking notes.

Finally, on the 15th August the shortlist of the Guardian Not the Booker prize will be announced. The Arrival of Missives is on the longlist right now. This sounds really impressive (and is good for my ego), but it is an enormous list filled with excellent writing and everything falls to a public vote at this point. But hey, nothing ventured etc. If you want to vote for Missives you need to register on the site and then leave a comment voting for two books from the longlist. You also need to leave a review of at least 100 words for one of the books.

If you like Missives enough to go through that process, then thank you.

So lots of doing and not much writing this month. But that’s okay because Interzone accepted one of the new short stories I’ve been writing and that should be available in the near future. If I don’t see you in person at one of the events then see you on the pages of Interzone, no doubt with a brilliant illustration to accompany me. Interzone always looks so good.