SALT PUBLISHING's TOP 20 BEST SELLERS THIS CHRISTMAS - SO FAR .. .. ..

Nice Chrismas pressies all round. Both Short Circuit and Words from a Glass Bubble are in the Salt Publishing Top 20. Yippee iy ay or summat. And it's a real party of good friends too - There's Tania and Elizabeth (with two entries!) and Nuala. Fab.

Here is the list, from front page of Salt Publishing's website, and links to the books, for those last minute extra Chrissie pressies you know you want to give - or get!! (My choices are the Shop Girl Diaries, and Contourlines (see below!). Both of which I will get tomorrow - as Emily is coming to the Ride the Word event, and Jen is hopefully bringing down Contourlines for me.

1. Emily Benet, Shop Girl Diaries
2. Neil Wenborn & M.E.J. Hughes (eds), Contourlines
3. Vanessa Gebbie (ed), Short Circuit
4. Chris Agee, Next to Nothing
5. Siân Hughes, The Missing
6. Elizabeth Baines, Too Many Magpies
7. Tony Williams, The Corner of Arundel Lane and Charles Street
8. Jasmine Donahaye, Self-Portrait as Ruth
9. Paul Magrs, Twelve Stories
10. Karen Annesen, How to Fall
11. Anthoy Joseph, Bird Head Son
12. Tania Hershman, The White Road and Other Stories
13. Nuala Ní Chonchúir, Nude
14. Olivia Cole, Restricted View
15. Eleanor Rees, Eliza and the Bear
16. Luke Kennard, The Migraine Hotel
17. Elizabeth Baines, Balancing on the Edge of the World
18. Vanessa Gebbie, Words from a Glass Bubble
19. Shaindel Beers, A Brief History of Time
20. Tom Chivers, How to Build a City

EVA DUFFY GETS AN AIRING

Courtesy of Sally Zigmond and her blog, the marvellously-named Elephant in the Writing Room The entire text of Words from a Glass Bubble (the story, not the whole book!) is posted, pending her taking-apart of the story next week. This is part of a series of articles on the craft of the short story - a great thing to be doing.
Words from a Glass Bubble is the story of Irish postwoman Eva Duffy, a plastic statuette of the Virgin Mary (affectionately called the VM) and a reclusive farmer, Finn Piper.
HERE it is in three posts... too long for one.
Sally says summat about readers not saying if they hate the story. Nah - feel free. It's won a couple of decent awards and it's up there to illustrate craft. But you don't have to like it as well!

THE WEEKLY POST - 4 September 2009

The Weekly Post is bit late off the press thanks to great couple of weeks in the Cornish surf.


CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS
Rose Metal Press calls female writers…
This message from them:

The press has recently re-opened to manuscript queries after having been closed to them for a while. We’re excited about reading innovative work by all kinds of authors, but we—like many, if not most, magazines and presses—have found that the vast majority of the queries we’re receiving are from men. We’re talking close to 85 percent here. We like to keep our list balanced and we know that there have to be plenty of women out there who are writing works in innovative hybrid forms, too, but for whatever reason, they’re not contacting us at the moment.
This is where we hope you come in. Could you please spread the word to the inventive, hybrid-genre loving female writers you know (including, of course, yourselves), and share with them that we are reading queries now and would especially like to hear about projects by women?

Rose Metal Press HERE


WILLESDEN HERALD SHORT STORY COMPETITION 2009
This year’s final judge is Richard Peabody. This from the Willesden Herald website:

"Richard Peabody is an author and poet based in Washington, D.C. A native of the region, he is perhaps best known as one of the founding editors for Gargoyle Magazine and editor for the anthology series Mondo. He also runs a small press called Paycock Press; aside from acting as the official publisher of Gargoyle Magazine, Paycock Press has released a number of anthologies and works by individual authors."

All about the competition, guidelines, entry details, on Willesden Herald HERE.


LEGAL ISSUES
Followers of this blog will be aware that I sought legal advice about protecting unpublished work from misappropriation by a writer with whom I had worked closely for over a year after he approached me for mentorship and subsequently became a trusted colleague, but was then found to have closely used the work of other writers for his own gain. Including elements from my own unpublished work and ideas shared privately. (See the unravelling of the saga on How Publishing Really Works here and here, linked to this blog here.)

I am pleased to say that Douglas Bruton has now given me, through my solicitor, written assurances that he will not misappropriate my unpublished work by using my creations and seeking to pass them off as his own. He has agreed in writing not to use my named characters, their storylines and backstories, other plots, images and devices created by me, either from our collaborative work, or from the novel section I sent him for comment as a trusted reader.
He is apparently unable to return my work as requested.
A propos: It seems we were not the first writers to have unfortunate experiences at his hands, and certainly not the first working colleagues he has apparently used poorly. A representative from a writing group called Pentlands Writers, which he was asked to leave for copying, has been in touch.


THE FICTION WORKHOUSE
The Fiction Workhouse has closed, and has been emptied of all the craft libraries, discussion threads, stories, flashes, poetry, and allied debates, and will remain in a state of suspended animation until I decide what to do with it. I am somewhat unwilling to work on my writing online these days. The team are all in fine fettle and are working in a new home called The Fiction Forge.
I had a very happy, creative two years and more working there with some excellent and decent writers, and would like to thank them for their professional companionship.


CONGRATULATIONS TO PETINA GAPPAH- GUARDIAN LONGLISTING
I said it here. Elegy for Easterly is very good. Also shortlisted for the Frank O’Connor.
Guardian First Book Award Longlist HERE



THE SMALL WONDER FESTIVAL- SEPT 24 - 27
I am looking forward to playing landlady to four writerly friends for the festival.

TALES OF THE DECONGESTED at FOYLES, 25th SEPT
Also looking forward to reading at Decongested again, and meeting up with writer Selma Dabbagh, who is staying for Small Wonder.


ASHAM AWARD 26th SEPT
I am looking forward to attending the prizegiving brunch for this year’s Asham Award, in the morning of Saturday 26th September, and meeting the other readers for next years award.

SEVENOAKS LITERARY CELEBRATION 2009
I am then looking forward to driving like the wind up to Sevenoaks after the above, seeing fellow Salt writer Carys Davies on the afternoon of Saturday 26th September, when we are reading from our collections and talking about the short story at the Sevenoaks Celebration Book Groups Tea event.



WRITING NEWS, RETREAT NEWS
The rewrite reached 11,250 words. The novel is now pushing 80K. And I am off to Anam Cara on Monday for fourteen working days. I hope to do the following:
Polish and finish all the individual pieces already written.
Write one more section from scratch.
Write three sections from extensive bits already there in wordcount.
And come back with a workable complete first draft for surgery.


REVIEWS
Words from a Glass Bubble has had some lovely reviews on Amazon, and I have not acknowledged them here.

Thank you to Sophie Playle for this:

Just like a certain famous ogre, this book is like an onion: it has layers. These short stories have more depth to them than first meets the eye, and they leave quite an impact. They will make you cry, too, sometimes - both tears of laughter and tears of sadness.
Don't be fooled by the innocent skipping girl on the front cover. Even though many of these stories are poetic and subtle, some of them are gritty and dark.

Thank you to Mr Lee Williams for this:

Beautiful, lyrical writing, by turns thoughtful, passionate and funny. I loved it.
My favourite stories would have to be 'Dodie's Gift' and 'Harry's Catch' - they are masterpieces of understanding and compassion, without ever seeming mawkish or overly sentimental. All of the stories are great, though. I just can't recommend this highly enough.

Thank you to Nik Perring for this:

Loved this collection of short stories, some funny, some tragic, some downright dangerous and all written expertly.

Thank you to Melissa Houghton for this:

idiosyncratic and developed with sensitivity, bravery and a robust sense of wit. It is no coincidence that Gebbie's craft is at the forefront of a new-wave of literary storytellers. Her work is fine-tuned and Words.. comes as a remarkable debut for a versatile and extraordinarily talented writer.

Thank you to David King for this:

I have admired Vanessa Gebbie's short stories since she first started to write fiction seriously, and it was no surprise to me when prestigious prizes and awards began to come her way. Many of the stories that won those accolades are included in this collection, and I urge anyone who enjoys good literary fiction to buy this book.

Thank you to Fiona Mackenzie for this:

Intriguing, gripping and poetic stories whose characters live in your mind long after you've finished the book.

And thank you to Linda Witts for this:

I'm not usually a short story reader but I was lucky enough to meet Vanessa on a recent holiday and so decided to 'take the plunge' and I am so glad I did. As soon as I started to read 'Bones' I could visualise the Jewish cemetery in Prague and have found out that it was indeed that cemetery that was Vanessa's inspiration. I don't know if I have a real favourite among the collection but I thought 'I can squash the King, Tommo' utterly brilliant. I'm looking forward to Vanessa's next collection.

I also stumbled over this, on a bad day a month or so back, on a blog belonging to one Mike Harrison. It was heaven-sent.

S sends me Vanessa Gebbie’s Words from a Glass Bubble. I am captured instantly by the first three paragraphs of the title story, which begins:
The Virgin Mary spoke to Eva Duffy from a glass bubble in a niche halfway up the stairs. Eva, the post woman, heard the words in her stomach more than her ears, and she called her the VM. The VM didn’t seem to mind.
You think this is a voice, but it isn’t: it’s storytelling. You can’t easily find the point where “style”, “plot”, “characterisation” & “worldbuilding” separate, because they don’t. The result is, literally, to captivate. Myslexia called Gebbie’s “a blithe and energetic narrative drive”. I’d have called it that, too, if I’d been clever enough to think of it.

I don’t know who S is, but thank you to S for sending Words from a Glass Bubble to Mike Harrison, who turns out very happily to be someone whose opinion matters.

Thank you for your lovely words, Mr Mike Harrison.

Generous review from Asham for Glass Bubble

I am indebted to the organisers of The Asham Award for their most generous review of Words from a Glass Bubble.

This stunning range of work is not afraid to explore the darker side of human emotion, yet allows us to see the light which often wavers at the end of the bleakest and longest tunnel.

These beautifully written stories are in the best literary tradition, lyrical yet understated.

For the rest of this review and to read what they say about Short Circuit, the forthcoming short story text book from Salt Publishing, see the News section of the Asham Award Website, HERE You can also read up on the finalists of this year's award, and read other news especially about Julia Widdow's novel.

Short Circuit contains a brilliant chapter entitled 'Writing into the Void' from Marian Garvey, last year's winner of the Asham Award for new Women Writers.

I am delighted to say that I have agreed to read for the next Asham Award. What a lovely thing to be asked to do.

OOOH! I'm in Paperback!

Just heard I'm live in pperback!!

WORDS FROM A GLASS BUBBLE - paperback, UK and USA on the Salt Website HERE.

Inn't this exciting!!

Added: And a big thank you to Pierre L, who tells me he has just ordered the new version from Salt Publishing for his collection!

“Books like this go on for ever” – Salt Publishing

You may think that the above quote refers to novels that take an aeon to get to the point, if they ever do. But no. It was said to meself, just now, about my little book Words from a Glass Bubble…by Chris Hamilton-Emery of Salt Publishing. I rang to ask very tentatively about plans for the paperback issue. As the world knows, Salt Publishing have had a hugely dramatic time over the last few weeks, and the last thing I expected was that they would be carrying on with some ‘business as usual’.
I was delighted and not a little moved to be told that my book has sold very well for Salt in hardback. ‘Your book has done excellently’, Chris said!
The first run of the paperback version is finished and done by the printers… and will be available in the next day or so. They’ve had a chance to incorporate some lovely review quotes into the paperback cover.
And then he said that lovely phrase: ‘Books like this go on for ever’.!!!
I can’t tell you how lovely that is to hear. It means a lot to know that the book has done well for Salt as well as anything else.

-------------------

Salt’s Just One Book campaign has hotted up while I have been away: one of my bestest fave actors and general good eggs of this world has backed the campaign as follows:
Griff Rhys Jones says:
“Support the good work here. Don’t let Salt fall. If the recession is going to take things down, let it be motor manufacturers, let it be bad banks, let it be chains of fast food restaurants. We can lose a few of them, but we don't have enough small independent and daring publishers like Salt. I think I can be a little more forthright than Chris and say ‘Just six books’. Buy dozens why don’t you? It’s a great list. And apparently you will help the economy in many subtle ways too complicated for studious folk like us.”

Chris Hamilton Emery has also put out the following message:

We’ve been busy campaigning over the last two weeks to save Salt. The business has faced some serious financial difficulties as the recession hit us hard. I’m pleased to say we’ve stabilised the business, but we still need to build our cash reserves to secure our future. We’d like to thank all our customers for supporting us; but more than that, we thought we’d offer everyone a summer treat:—

A THIRD OFF ALL SALT TITLES THROUGHOUT JUNE

We’re now giving you a huge 33% off ALL books till the end of June. Use the coupon code G3SRT453 when in the checkout to benefit. Don't forget if you spend £30 or $30 you get free shipping too.
Please continue to spread the word, and spread news of this offer. Please don't let up. It's been extraordinary, but we're not out of danger yet. Every penny goes into developing Salt's books and services. We want to start a new children's list, and offer more resources to teachers and schools. We want to extend our publishing in new areas including our translations programme, we want to offer you more free magazines online. We want to help develop more support for debuts with the enhancement of our Crashaw and Scott prizes. We're planning audio books, ebooks and new videos for you. We only want to move forward, to develop and expand what we do and deliver great books in new ways to you and yours.

We need your support throughout June. We'll try and organise more readings and promotions with our authors. Virtual book tours. More launches. We'll work with bookstores to bring you short story and poety evenings. Stick with us throughout June and we can do something astonishing. That's the power of Just One Book — we want you to be a part of it. Follow us on Twitter look for #SaltBooks and #JustOneBook. Join our Facebook Group.

And have a giggle at the vid, too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdcTqXaOD2s

Oh, and one last special offer — Catherine Eisner’s magnificent crime novel, Sister Morphine for £7.50 plus P&P, simply enter coupon code EISNER in the UK checkout http://bit.ly/8rHDa

Watch out for more special offers throughout June.



Heeeeeee! What with the new lower price of Words from a Glass Bubble, and now a third off...

SEX, POETRY, REVIEWS, and ROCK n ROLL

Now. Time I caught up on what else has been happening in my writing life.

SEX.

I am delighted to be a contributor to an anthology of sex-themed stories, the second anthology in a series published by Better Non Sequitur in California.


See You Next Tuesday: The Second Coming LINK HERE


As their own blurb says, See You Next Tuesday: The Second Coming is the second compilation of 50 sex-riddled (first-published) short fictions that try to transcend perhaps the most universal subject in existence.
Writing from across the globe, each 1,000-word text promises to evoke and provoke the existential and thoughtful corners of your most erotic of organs (namely the one in your head).
(This is a writer who finds erotica screamingly funny. I can’t take it seriously at all, let alone write it. And I loved the idea of transcending the mechanics, moving on past the lubricants and plumbing-manuals. Can’t wait to see what the other stories are like. I will report back when I get my copy…)

POETRY
I have two prose poems, Bone Magnet and Boys Will be Boys, online at Shadowtrain, alongside work by my poetry tutor David Grubb, among others.

SHADOWTRAIN LINK HERE

I’ve also has a poem accepted by the fabulous Ink Sweat and Tears, an online mag that cuts right through the ponderous and time-wasting submissions processes of so many. The editor often gives a response within hours.

INK SWEAT AND TEARS LINK HERE

I was delighted to see that the current issue of Mslexia was carrying a beautifully produced postcard to all subscribers from the editor of Ink, Sweat...… so if you write poetry and want to get a fast response, try them.

This from the editor, Charles Christian, on the site:

Ink Sweat & Tears is a new webzine that explores the borderline between poetry and prose in the digital age. In other words that point in creative writing where prose poetry (or free verse) meets poetic prose.

Good examples include the works of Anne Michaels, Jim Crace, Michael Ondaatje and Ian Marchant (see his 2006 book The Longest Crawl). However IS&T's brief also includes modern haibun (and haiku sequences) - and by this we mean the American influenced approach to semi-autobiographical haibun pioneered by Gary Snyder and even non-traditional fiction, such as Jack Kerouac's Trip Trap.


and now a special bit:

REVIEWS

The wonderful Short Review, edited by Tania Hershman, carries a review of Words from a Glass Bubble in the current issue :

Niki Aguirre says:

The author's prose is lyrical, poetic and appeals to the senses. Colours, sounds and descriptions are told in shades of light and dark. Sometimes bold, sometimes ethereal, the characters -- an Innuit family, a Serbian irrigation specialist, an Irish postal carrier, a young man who cleans shoes for a living, a kind-hearted priest who is not a priest -- all share a commonality of loss, dejection and hopelessness. What is comforting however is that in these tales the grave predicaments go hand in hand with introspection, love and the search for answers. …

COMPLETE REVIEW HERE

In the same issue, Niki Aguirre’s own collection, 29 Ways to Drown, also longlisted recently for the Frank O Connor Award, is reviewed by Sarah Salway:

29 Ways To Drown Review HERE

Niki Aguirre has a great voice for a short story writer.


ROCK n ROLL…
Onwards n upwards. I am looking after my father this week, he’s had surgery on an eye, and needs caring for. He’s 93, and as sharp as mustard. But no writing is getting done!

Looking forward to reading in Brighton on Thursday evening, at Short Fuse…

MSLEXIA REVIEW CHOICE!!!

Wow and thrice wow!

Words from a Glass Bubble has been selected for the pick of the short story reviews, on MSLEXIA'S WEBSITE

the feature is headed:

In each issue of the magazine reviewers assess books across selected genres. These are the ones they liked best.

Extraordinary, and lovely.

Thank you Frances Clarke and thank you Mslexia.

Full review:

SHORT STORIES
reviewed by Francis Clarke
Words From a Glass Bubble by Vanessa Gebbie (Salt, £12.99)

There is a wide range and variety in the 19 stories in Gebbie’s Glass Bubble. In the poetic ‘The Kettle on the Boat,’ we see events from the viewpoint of an Inuit child and a fragile world is brought to life; a poignant finality is deftly captured in the image of a kettle sinking in the sea. ‘I can Squash The King, Tommo,’ with its Dylan Thomas echoes, has a blithe and energetic narrative drive, and the emotional weight of it is carefully kept in balance with the thread of each character’s revelations so that the climax is genuinely moving. Characters teem throughout the collection, and Vanessa Gebbie boldly takes on different voices, from a teenage boy in care to a boy with a junkie mate. The stories themselves are riveting, but phrases like ‘Billy…always looked wise but hurting like Jesus being nailed to the cross…’ occasionally keep characters at arms length rather than bringing them to life. All of these stories bar one have won or been placed in major competitions and the humour in some of them is especially enjoyable. In the title story, for example, a plastic Virgin Mary is taken out for a drive, ‘...her face like a small boy’s pet mouse in a blue hood,’ and Serbian Vera is a character in the otherwise sad ‘Irrigation’ who is simultaneously tragic and hilarious to great effect.

MSLEXIA REVIEW

Glass Bubble is reviewed in Mslexia this issue.

See Glass Bubble blog (link on right) for detail

BOOK LAUNCH...THE SEQUEL

And now, the slide show (if I've mastered the technology!)




A selection of images taken by photographer Cora Malinak at the launch party for Words From A Glass Bubble, March 11th. Friends, family, place, people, books, pictures, and a lot of smiles.

Put your speakers on: the music is the Allegro from Handel's Cuckoo and Nightingale Organ Concerto

Handel makes an appearance in the slide show...in terracotta.
.

CLICK HERE FOR CORA MALINAK PHOTOGRAPHY

.

REVIEWED BY ADELE GERAS

Words from a Glass Bubble has been reviewed by Adele Geras today on her husband (Norman Geras)'s blog, Normblog.

(I love Normblog. There is always something to provoke, to challenge, to make me think...)

Adele Geras reviews two Salt Collections: Balancing on the Edge of the World, by Elizabeth Baines, and Glass Bubble.

She writes a very good introduction in which she champions the short story.Here is her article in its entirety:

Two short story collections (by Adèle Geras)

Salt is an independent publisher based in Cambridge and it specializes in short stories. I've read two collections by Salt authors recently: Elizabeth Baines's Balancing on the Edge of the World when it came out a couple of months ago, and - the other day - Vanessa Gebbie's Words from a Glass Bubble, to be launched next week.

Some people simply don't like reading short stories and I find this so inexplicable that every so often I'll try my powers of persuasion to win the form a few more readers. Publishers (though not Salt, obviously) think that collections are not a paying proposition and efforts to bind them up individually as tiny little booklets and sell them at railway stations and the like don't seem to have flourished. They crop up less and less frequently in magazines. The broadsheets will carry a story by a superstar writer at Christmas, and occasionally at Halloween, because ghost stories, at least, are perennial favourites. Val McDermid tried her hardest a couple of years ago to get short stories noticed with a superb website and perhaps the internet is part of the future of this genre. But collections like these two show that the form is still alive and well in its printed version.

Those who don't like short stories are disappointed, perhaps, because they expect them to be small novels and they're not. It's like wishing a truly delicious canapé, or an exquisite strawberry tart, were a three-course meal. That isn't going to happen. With a few exceptions, short stories are short - over in a few pages for the most part - and therefore you'd think ideal for journeys, waiting rooms, the time before you fall asleep and any small time slot when getting stuck into a novel means you won't get further than the next few pages and have to leave it hanging till a later time.

Stories, when they work (and in the hands of these two writers they do work), offer us a chance to look into someone else's life. They can throw a stone into our mind that keeps rippling out to the edges of our thoughts all day long. That, I think, is what the blurbese 'haunting' means: you are literally pursued by the story you've just read, as if by a particularly vivid dream. They can terrify you (M.R. James, Franz Kafka), make you laugh (Damon Runyon), and even bring to life, however briefly, a whole distinct world (Katherine Mansfield, Anton Chekhov). They can be extended jokes, or delicious bits of scandal, or an overheard conversation. There are stories to suit every taste.

Elizabeth Baines's speciality is unpacking relationships. She catches perfectly the embarrassment, rivalry, squabbling, envy and love that exist between parents and children and between siblings. 'The Way to Behave' has a wronged wife going to speak to her husband's mistress. Baines is wincingly funny about the creative process and 'The Shooting Script' ought to be required reading for anyone who fancies themselves writing for television. She's both lyrical and clear-sighted when she looks at the world through a child's eyes. Try the stories 'Power' and 'Daniel Smith disappears off the face of the earth'. She moves between the city and the countryside and her internal monologues sound genuine, which isn't a surprise as Baines is a prize-winning playwright. Many of these tales would make good short dramas and perhaps that's one way of approaching them. The difference between drama and stories, though, is this: you have to provide the setting, costume and props in words and Baines does this with enormous aplomb.

The cover image on Vanessa Gebbie's book (which shows the back view of a beautiful red-haired girl going along a road and which reminds me of the Clark's shoe advertisements from the 50s) is an ironic comment on the contents of the book. The stories here are often heart-breaking. The death of children is a recurring theme and tales like 'I can squash the king, Tommo' (with its deliberate echoes of 'Under Milk Wood') are hard to read with dry eyes. Gebbie is never sentimental and the grief felt by her protagonists is brilliantly described. The ordinariness of pain: the way you settle into it, the way you face what's dished out to you, the way you cope, are examined in language that's plain and even brutal when it needs to be, and tender and poetic when that's appropriate. Some of the stories are set in Wales; the seaside is the background for some others. There's a story about an Inuit child which is desperately sad, but still uplifting. Harry in 'Harry's Catch' - which dwells in some detail on the technicalities of fishing - faces the truth about his marriage for the first time. A lowly employee at a hotel works out who wears the shoes he polishes, and in my favourite story, 'Dodie's Gift', you get an entire thriller plot played out in ten pages. It's terrific stuff: wide-ranging, interesting and, like the Baines, very well-written.

I do urge anyone who loves short stories to read these two collections and help me spread the word. (Adèle Geras)

REVIEW for GLASS BUBBLE...

The following is copied from the Glass Bubble blog (link to the right) where the book herself is nattering about life as a book.


.

I must be careful how I get out of bed. Last night my writer was very over-excited, because she had something called a review. Whatever that is, she was pleased.

There's this place called Tim Love's Literary References. He does something with computers, or er (I don't know) at Cambridge University.

Cambridge University is a few old buildings and a few old professors. I am still in Infants myself, and am just starting Red Book 3. We have new buildings and I like that. Less spiders.

However. This person has this great website that's chocca with information and links and this and that all to do with his love of literature.

That's why he is called Love. I don't know why he's called Tim.

But HE says I'm OK.

So that's good.

He even says I've got enough good stories in me that I could be used to teach how short stories ought to be written... Wow.

That means I am nearly better than Red Book 3.

TIM LOVE'S REVIEW HERE

INTERVIEWED BY KELLY SPITZER

I am a lucky writer. I have been interviewed by Kelly Spitzer, for her Writer's Profile project.

Hundreds of questions. She is a superb interviewer, and asks all the right things.

So, any readers wanting to know about

Words From a Glass Bubble,

Salt Publishing,

My time in Alex Keegan's Bootcamp for writers,

How I walked up Snowdon in high heels,

How I found out I had three sisters I knew nothing about,

How I love flash writing

My teaching at schools and with adults of all shapes and sizes

The novel in progress

A new competition success

The magic retreat I go to in Ireland

my ezine, Tom's Voice,

and loads more...





KELLY SPITZER'S BLOG IS HERE

NEW COVER FOR GLASS BUBBLE!!

I SAID the wonderful Chris at Salt would come up with something good.

And this is me, Treyarnon Bay, aged three
(Must be distantly related to King Canute...)

ME, INVITED WRITER!!

Well. What a great occasion. I used to be in a terrific reading group in Brighton, and stopped three years ago, when I was focusing hard on sussing out short stories, and didn't want to be sidetracked by novels.

Tonight, I was the guest at their Christmas meeting, and they discussed two prizewinning stories, Words from a Glass Bubble, and Dodie's Gift., both of which will be included in the forthcoming collection from Salt Publishing.

A fabulous occasion, and the first time I have been on the writer side of the equation, at a reading group, answering intelligent questions from intelligent readers, who had all pored over my work.

Actually, it was intensely moving, and if it wasn't for the fortification of a glass or two of red wine, I'd have come over all wobbly.

Glass Bubble was discussed for almost an hour. The main character, Eva Duffy, made a deep impression on the readers - all women, all mothers of sons. We discussed the Don Camillo books which were such an inspiration for the relationship between Eva and the little statuette of the Virgin Mary (dubbed The VM, by Eva. They drew the requisite parallels between Eva and her son, and the VM and hers... and saw them as just two women coming to terms with loss.

It was fabulous! Exactly as I hoped...

Dodie's Gift made a different impression. The character of Dodie they loved, found her warm, vulnerable, real. Chimed with the theme, that of the evils we do to each other being meaningless, ultimately... but the human spirit being strong enough to turn tragedy into something positive.

Interestingly, they really loved the ending, and found it resonated long after the story finished... and even more interesting, for the writer, several wanted to know more... they felt it could be a novel length piece. What was the backstory, they asked. How did Dodie come to be there. Certainly something to think about.

I have made promo flyers, incorporating the endorsement quotes for Words from a Glass Bubble. Reading groups are a great place to visit... and it strikes me that for each group there are members who know friends in others... circles within circles.

So here we go...

Weddings, funerals, Bar mitzvahs. Vanessa's your girl...book early while stocks last...

Words from a Glass Bubble update

Wow.

Today I received the typeset proofs of my very own book. And I quickly discovered why books are bound. My printer printed out one hundred and seventy something pages and spilled them on the study floor in no particular order... very helpful!

It is an extraordinary thing, to hold something like this...a wodge of words, and they are all your own.

It did two things to my head... it made it more likely that I may at some point in the future, have a novel in my hands that is also mine. After all, if I can write this many pages... pah! But in truth, will the novel give me as much pleasure as I have had over the last few years? I doubt it. It's been quite a roller-coaster, and one can't live without ups n downs, can one!

But it also made me think... how very very lucky I am to have this collection coming out from Salt. How so many excellent writers specialising in the short forms of fiction never get to see this happen.

Maybe Salt and its faith in the power of the short form will engineer in part a turnround in the fortunes of those who 'only write shorts'.

I was having lunch with a friend today, and she asked how the writing was going. The conversation went like this:

"So how's it going then?"

"Good, at the moment. I have my first book coming out in March."

"The novel? Oh good!"

"Er.. no. That is a long way off! This is the short story collection."

"Oh right. So when do you think the novel will be ready?"

.

It IS extraordinary. This friend had just been bewailing that her time for reading was very tight, and that she did sometimes buy short story collections, in order to read a complete piece before bed.

But it must be sexier to know a novelist, rather then a short story writer!
.
.
.

However. I now have the job of going through the proofs with a fine toothcomb to see if there are typos and so forth. If there are it will be my own silly fault, for sending imperfect files through in the first place!

Words from a Glass Bubble: Update ii

THE LAUNCH A conversation.




What, thinking about the launch already?

Doing more than thinking, peeps.

When’s this book coming out…March?

Yes.

Come on. We’ve got Christmas, New Year, Bonfire Night, Valentine’s Day before then

Yes. And?

What?

St David’s Day.

Huh?

St David’s Day. Leeks, daffodils and Glass Bubbles.

Oh bloody hell. You’re one of them. Welsh.

Oh yes. Listen: Mae hen wlad fy nhadau yn anwyl I mi, Gwlad beirdd a chantorion enwogion o fri

Stop! My ears aren’t working. What’s that noise?

Welsh national Anthem, actually, idiot. Oh unlearned idiot.

You are no Bryn Terfel, Vanessa.

Sorry. Ahem. Back to the launch…

A launch with leeks and daffodils then? On St David’s Day?

I didn’t say that.

You said ‘And St David’s Day.' Like it meant something. So…

It does. The book might be published then. The launch might be a week or so later…

So no need for leeks. Thank Heavens for that.

No leeks.

So having a few drinks at home then?

Nope.

Huh? So what ARE you doing?

Not finalised yet. Keep reading this blog…I’m planning to do all sorts.

Do? What do you mean, do all sorts? Launches are… launches.

Yes, course they are. However…

Oh God. Is this V thinking sideways again? When will you learn to think frontwards?

Never, I hope. Now. The launch…

(yawns)

Oh right… we’ll take you off the invitation list then…
.
.
.