Author Archives: Tracy Baines

Coastlines:The Story of Our Shore by Patrick Barkham

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Coastlines_Patrick-Barkham

Coastlines: The story of our shore is a portrait of the British coastline from the Giant’s Causeway to Land’s End.

Told through a series of walks beside the sea, this is the story of the most beautiful 742 miles of coastline in England, Wales and Northern Ireland – its rocks, plants and animal, its views, walks and history – and of us, the people of this island nation, shaped by our shore.

Barkham  explores land that is protected by Enterprise Neptune, the National Trust’s maritime section which was launched in 1965 to protect our national coastlines. Scotland does not feature as it has its own National Trust but it would be great to know that a second volume will follow.

This is the perfect read if you are planning a break or a day out in the UK. However,  if you are sofa bound you will still enjoy the vivid description and various anecdotes that Barkham recounts on his journey.  I laughed at tales of the formidable Mrs Christie of Brownsea Island in Dorset  and smiled at Norrie Dougan walking down the street with Elvis in Strangford Lough. His beautiful, tightly observed descriptions made me want to seek out new areas of coastline and revisit those of my childhood.

Each page is packed with tales of curious places, and curious characters.  It’s not simply a book of walks but contains stories of the people and past that shaped our country, those times of war and peace that have left their marks upon this beautiful land. The chapters cover Art, Faith, Work and Childhood among many others; looking back to the past and forward to the future, and the steps that are being taken to preserve our shores.

I enjoyed discovering the history and heritage of each location as well as the author’s own experience of it and made many notes of places to check out  and explore. There is plenty of information on relevant websites, nearest railway stations and OS map coordinates if you should care to visit yourself.

A book to dip in and out of  whenever the fancy takes you.

 

 

Lucky Us by Amy Bloom

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Lucky-Us-Amy -Bloom

When Eva’s mother abandons her on Iris’s front porch, the girls don’t seem to have much in common – except, they soon discover, a father. Thrown together with no mothers to care for them and a father who could not be considered a parent, Iris and Eva become one another’s family. Iris wants to be a movie star; Eva is her sidekick. Together, they journey across 1940s America from scandal in Hollywood to the jazz clubs and golden mansions of Long Island, stumbling, cheating and loving their way through a landscape of war, betrayals and big dreams.

Set in 1940s America, this is a thrilling and resonant novel about loyalty, ambition and the pleasures and perils of family.  Iris has grit and the determination to escape her surroundings;  she wants a different life and Eva soon becomes a part of, and important to, those new horizons. Bloom artfully covers such detail in so few words that it read like a huge sweeping novel rather than the slim volume it was. Clever and deft writing, sharp and witty by turns, the characters and their circumstances are finely observed and I cared about each one of them, willing them to overcome the obstacles that littered their paths.

Iris and Eva are full of guts and the determination to not only  survive, but thrive. The book explores what is possible when we refuse to give up and are willing to be flexible and adapt to conquer life’s twists and turns. Something that resonates with the challenges we face at the moment.

A totally satisfying and superb read. I look forward to reading more of Amy Bloom’s writing now that I’ve found her.

www.grantabooks.com

 

 

Screenwriting Workshop with BAFTA Award winning writer John Foster

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You may have had the opportunity to catch a performance of Shot At Dawn in Dorset over the last few weeks which has been earning fantastic reviews – and rightly so. Writer and Artistic Director, John Foster, kindly gave a pre-performance screenwriting  workshop for Dorset Writers Network  at Bridport Arts Centre.

John gave an overview of how to approach a project from a screenwriters’ point of view. An immense challenge to cover such a broad and detailed subject in an hour and a half but I came away with lots of useful insights that, even if I don’t use them myself, can pass on to other writers who may be in need of a few basic starting points.

The main difference I found was that, although structure, character and dialogue are as important as when writing a novel,  it pays to ‘think pictures’ and approach your idea from the visual aspect of telling your story. John provided a useful handout that presented the structure of a screenplay entirely in ‘pictures’ and it was quite easy to see from it how to build a story in this way.

For example:

                ‘Plump, juicy grapes growing up the wall.

                At the window. An elderly woman looking out.’  

And so on – I found that incredibly insightful, having zero knowledge of screenwriting.

Producers are always looking for people who can write pictures as opposed to dialogue. They are looking for unique writing ‘voice’ – basically an original way to tell a story. The main points I have taken away are:

If it is painful, write it.

If your ears are burning it’s a sign that you are writing something good.

Write about something that fires you up.

Who do I want the audience to really care about?

Can the story be told in sound and images? Do you have any sound motifs that give added depth?

Think camera. It is most important to think visually (but be careful how you put it on the page).

Invest in character and atmosphere and, as in all writing mediums – show not tell.

When you’ve finished your script make sure you are sending it out  to the right people. Do your market research.

I asked about his own writing practice and John described it as an organic process that grows and develops the more he writes. Ideas, he says, come from writing.

So there you have it. It’s no good thinking about it, get the words on the page, paint those pictures. Just do it.

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John Foster teaches screenwriting at Bournemouth University and Regent’s University, London. He has published fiction in the Guardian and Spectator and written for radio and theatre. Screen credits include many episodes for television drama series: Z-Cars, Softly Softly, Crown Court, Emmerdale, Juliet Bravo, Rockliffe, The Bill. John has written single dramas and dramadocs, including a BAFTA award-winning BBC Omnibus on Raymond Chandler. The movie of his screenplay Letters from a Killer featured Patrick Swayze in the lead role. He is contributor to the award-winning crime collection, Mean Time.  John is currently writing for the theatre, having helped found Doppelganger Productions, a theatre production company, of which he is Artistic Director.

www.dopplegangerproductions.com

 

Helen Cox – Funeral Celebrant

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Historian and author Helen Cox chats to Frost about her life as a funeral celebrant.

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How long have you been a celebrant, Helen?

It’s a very new career path for me – I only started in November 2015.
What made you decided to follow that path? Pure serendipity, and two very sad losses. My godmother died last spring and I was asked to give a eulogy for her; then in October, a dear friend died and her husband asked me if I would do the whole funeral service. Both occasions went very ‘well’, if that’s the word, and so many people asked if I was a professional celebrant, or told me that I should be, that I began looking into it. I discovered that the National Federation of Funeral Directors (NFFD) is based locally and happened to be running a celebrant training course in December, so I signed up straight away. I felt I’d found an occupation which suited my skill set and temperament really well, and seemed like a natural development of my freelance writing and lecturing portfolio. I’m very glad I did decide to follow this path, because it’s a real privilege to perform this service for grieving families, and I’m finding it very rewarding.

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I note that you are registered with the appropriate professional associations. Did this involve any training or is it mainly for support and accreditation?

There’s no training required to join the British Humanist Association (membership is by subscription), but I did two NFFD training courses, (in celebrancy and SafeHands funeral planning). I wanted to be properly informed and prepared to carry out this very sensitive work, and to show clients that I’m an approved celebrant and registered funeral plan agent. The support and advice of my NFFD mentor is also extremely welcome to a newcomer in the field, and it’s reassuring to know that I have the backing of a professional organisation.

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I think many people are under the impression that a celebrant merely speaks at the service but it is so much more than that. Could you tell us a little about what your role involves?

Initially, arranging a meeting with the chief mourner, (usually the deceased’s spouse or nearest relative), and sometimes other family members or friends, to learn about the person who has died. I can then write a personalised eulogy to tell their life story, and help anyone else wishing to speak to prepare their memoir or reading. If necessary, I help with choosing suitable music, poems and prayers, then arrange all the elements into an order of service, precisely timed to fit into the designated time-slot (normally 40 minutes). I also design and print hard copies of the Orders of Service if required, and liaise with the funeral director and crematorium to confirm all the arrangements; altogether, these preparations take at least ten hours spread over a week or more. Then on the day of the funeral I arrive early to check the music, set out any Orders of Service, meet and greet mourners, receive the deceased and precede the coffin into the chapel. After all that, delivering the service itself is only a small part of the process!

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Any loss is such an emotional time for loved ones. You have to have great interpersonal skills to weigh up the situation and decide how best to support people. How do you think other aspects of your life have developed these skills?

Having experienced a number of close bereavements I can empathise when people lose a loved one, and understand the kind of support they might find helpful at this particularly difficult time. The training and experience I received as a volunteer counsellor at a Rape Crisis Centre and a member of my local co-counselling network (co-counselling is a form of humanistic peer-group counselling) was hugely helpful in teaching me how to listen attentively, recognise and respond to non-verbal cues, and feel comfortable in situations where people are distressed and expressing strong emotions. But overall, I think everything I’ve done during my long and varied 55 years has made me into a pretty calm, sensible person able to help grieving mourners – which is arguably more important than any formal training.

www.helencox-funeralcelebrant.co.uk

Do you know any small packages that contain some real treats | Litfest 2016

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Well, I do. On Saturday was a case in point. In Downley, High Wycombe on 16th April I was speaking at the Words for the Wounded Literary Festival and what a fabulous day it was – yet again. I attended the event last year and was amazed at the quality of the speakers on offer. This year, small continued to be most definitely perfect.

It’s all very well going to these huge week long events on offer throughout the year but your chances of getting up close and personal with authors and agents is severely limited.  At the Words for the Wounded LitFest you won’t have to compete with hordes of people waving their hands to attract the attention of the speaker when it is time for questions. There is time enough for everyone here and you obtain one to one advice that you wouldn’t receive at other festivals. And it’s such fun, and so informal.

Normally waiting your turn is a game of chance – your turn may not come. Not so with Words for the Wounded.

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This year’s programme kicked off with the wonderful No 1 Sunday Times bestseller Elizabeth Buchan in conversation with bestselling author, Margaret Graham, who is administrator and founder of WforW. Paul Vates, professional actor, read excerpts from the works of the speakers throughout the day, and chose the first few pages of I Can’t Begin to Tell You. These two old friends talked about this novel, which is Elizabeth’s latest. If you haven’t read  I Can’t Begin to Tell You do seek out a copy, it’s absolutely gripping. Elizabeth Buchan talked of her inspiration for the story, of meeting with Noreen Riols of the SOE, and why she came to set her book in Denmark. She chatted about the writing process: getting to grips with the spine of the story, drafting and redrafting – and moving on to the next idea. Elizabeth signed books during the break and had time for a word with everyone.

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Penny Deacon interviewed Jemima Hunt, Writer, Editor and Agent at The Writers’ Practice. Jemima explained what a good editor can do for your book. Jemima is particularly interested in memoir and brought along a few of her authors’ books. She gave an overview of their initial approach and how she worked with them to bring the story to a better shape. She works with fiction and non-fiction and guides her writers towards the best platform to develop their writing career. You can find out more at www.thewriterspractice.com

By this time we were ready for lunch, accompanied by lashings of wine (all part of the ticket price), as was copious amounts of tea, coffee, cake and biscuits throughout the day. I cannot overstate what fantastic value it was.

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I kicked off the afternoon session with a talk on how to write short stories for competitions and magazines. Paul read aloud one of my stories and it was great to hear the audience reaction – positive I’m pleased to say. I sell my stories, I see them published but I’ve never known what the audience thinks of them and it was a superb confidence booster. The audience were a delight and asked lots of great questions that thankfully, I was able to answer.

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The day was rounded off by the amazingly talented Catherine Balavage, proprietor of Frost Magazine. Catherine gave an insight to the trajectory of her career from actor, theatre critic and from there, establishing the magazine. She gave an overview of the pros and cons but also the relentless hard work that goes into creating a magazine in the digital age. It certainly gave me food for thought as I drove home that evening.

Margaret’s stalwart family were, as usual, beavering away in the background making sure that the event sailed along without a bump.

The grannies, led by Margaret Graham, provided us with yet another fascinating event and the lovely thing was, that while we were sat on our bottoms, drinking wine and having fun we were helping raise money for wounded troops. Now that’s my kind of fundraising.

www.wordsforthewounded.co.uk

www.elizabethbuchan.com

www.thewriterspractice.com

www.margaret-graham.com

www.tracybaines.co.uk 

www.frostmagazine.com

 

Writing Short Stories for Magazines

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Short Story Magazines

The Most Important Thing You Need to Know

 

There isn’t a secret recipe to success so it’s no use looking for the answer here.  If you want to write short stories and sell them there is one thing you need to do before you even begin to write your story. Market Research. You can’t write a story and send it off willy nilly. You may sell one or two that way, if you are extremely lucky, but for continuous success you need to know your reader.

I’d advise selecting one or two magazines that publish short stories. Those accepting them at the moment are, among others, Woman’s Weekly, Take A Break, Fiction Feast, The People’s Friend and Yours. You can find a full list of markets at www.womagwriter.blogspot.co.uk

Read through all of the stories in your chosen magazine and find something that resonates with you, those that might be similar to stories you would choose to write. Most importantly, read them with respect. Don’t sneer and pass judgement. It’s a hard market to crack and if you disrespect your reader your writing will come across as patronising. Guess what? No sale.

Get a pen and paper and make notes. What are the characters names, what ages? Where do they work?  Where are the stories set? What are they about – family, romance, comedy, thriller? Each market has its subtleties and you need to make yourself familiar with them if you are to have any hope of success.

What is the word count? Each magazine has set limits. It’s no good sending a 700 word story  to Woman’s Weekly when they only take 1,000 or 2,000 words. It will come straight back to you.

Now read the entire magazine, the articles, the readers’ letters, the adverts, the problem pages. You can learn so much about the readership by doing this and then you will be able to build a picture of your ideal reader. Do it as an exercise. Imagine a woman buying that magazine – what does she look like? What job does she have? Where does she live? Before you know it you will have a character; you may even have a story – get writing.

Editors are busy people. Make things easy for them. Present your work as per their guidelines, found on their website. If you are unsure how to set things out pop over to writer Sue Moorcroft’s website because she has the best example I’ve seen on how to present a professional manuscript. It will save you so much time and effort  www.suemoorcroft.wordpress.com/manuscript-presentation

 

I’ll be talking at Words for the Wounded Literary Festival on 16th April and will be happy to chat about writing short stories for the commercial market throughout the day.

 

Tracy Baines’ stories have appeared in Woman’s Weekly, Best, Take a Break, The People’s Friend, Candis, My Weekly, Yours in the UK – and magazines in Scandinavia, Australia and South Africa. She has completed a book on Eating Disorders and is now working on a novel.

Who Cooked Adam Smith’s Dinner? by Katrine Marçal

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Who Cooked Adam Smith's Dinner

A Story about Women and Economics

For two hundred years, economics has argued that the world turns because of self-interest and this logic has spread from the market to how we shop, work and date. But what if our unpaid labour – particularly the work of caring, cleaning and cooking traditionally performed by women- was valued by economics? What would our society look like then? From Adam Smith’s dinner table to the recent financial crisis Katrine Marçal tackles the myth of self-interest and shows us how out economics is failing us, and how much better things could be.

Adam Smith was able to write The Wealth of Nations because he went home to his mother who cooked, cleaned and nurtured him. Would society benefit if these qualities were not only valued but received remuneration on an appropriate scale?

This is an overview of economics written with wit and clarity and challenging the notion of Economic Man. The Equal Pay Act came into force in Britain over 45 years ago and despite this women still earn less than men. So called ‘women’s work’ is still underpaid, undervalued and overlooked. Feminism is about money, says Marçal and proceeds to tell the reader exactly why this is so. Well researched and written; who would have thought that economics could be so interesting? Thanks to Marçal’s erudite writing it is and I enjoyed this book far more than I expected. It made me think about feminism and finances it a totally different way.

The one quote I will definitely take away is that:

‘Men teach us that there are things worth dying for. Women teach us that there are things worth living for.’

Highly recommended.

Who Cooked Adam Smith’s Dinner is published by Portobello Books

 

The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luisella Translated by Christina MacSweeney

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‘Some men have luck, some men have charisma. I’ve got both. I’m the best auction caller in the world, my name is Gustavo Sanchez Sanchez and this is the story of my teeth.’

Gustavo ‘Highway’ Sanchez is a man with a mission: he is planning to replace every last one of his unsightly teeth. He has a few skills that might help him on his way: he can imitate Janis Joplin after two rums, he can interpret Chinese fortune cookies, he can stand an egg upright on a table, and he can float on his back.

Written with elegance, wit and exhilarating boldness, Valeria Luiselli takes us on an idiosyncratic and hugely enjoyable journey that offers as insightful meditation on value, worth and creation, and the points at which they overlap.

A thoroughly enjoyable read and so funny in parts that it made me laugh out loud. I can only liken it to a piece of modern art that someone has to explain to you at the end which I presume was the point of the exercise. As such it worked incredibly well.  This was an entertaining read and if you have been to Mexico and know a little of the country that helps, although it is not at all necessary. All in all it’s a quite bizarre and eccentric tale but when you read the explanation afterwards it all makes complete sense. Well , almost.

It is beautifully written with an engaging central character and you really want him to succeed in his attempt to replace his ugly teeth and improve his life.

I found the afterword incredibly interesting. The story being written as a serial to read to workers in the juice factory in the style of  Cuban ‘tobacco readers’ of the 19th century. The tobacco readers would read aloud to workers while they made cigars, to relieve the tedium of repetitive labour. Emile Zola and Victor Hugo were particular favourites.

This would be a great book club read as I am sure it would create plenty of discussion and divided opinion – just as good art should do.