Tag Archives: authors

Tips for squeezing the best out of the last few months of 2020

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By Sid Madge, author of the ‘Meee in a minute’ series of books 

2020 is proving to be the toughest year that most of us can remember. We’ve got through so far and can now look at how to adapt and get the most we can from the remaining few months of this year.   

According to a YouGov poll only 8% of Britons want to go back to life as it was before the pandemic.  

Let’s create something better for everyone instead of some watered down ‘new normal’. The first step for squeezing the best out of the rest of 2020 is to embrace uncertainty. There isn’t going to be some miracle vaccine by December, so what do we do now and for the rest of the year?  We grab the remainder of the year by the scruff of its neck and focus on changing for the better. 

Your Innate Growth Mindset

Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck became obsessed with understanding how people cope with failures and setbacks. Initially her research looked at kids and how they reacted to puzzles they couldn’t solve. The outcome of Dweck’s research is now world famous and she proposes that our success and happiness in life comes down to one thing – mindset. According to Dweck there are two – fixed and growth.  

Individuals with a fixed mindset, have a fixed idea of what they are capable of, believing that what they are born with is the finish line. They tend to be more defeatist. Those with a growth mindset believe that what we are born with is just the beginning. What we are capable of is determined by our own aspirations, effort and determination. 

Interestingly, Dweck believes we are all born with a growth mindset. We get trained out of it. We’re taught that failure is unacceptable – even though all great success comes through failure not by avoiding it. If ever we needed to re-assess that growth mindset it’s now. 

Take a minute to consider whether you have a fixed or growth mindset?  Has Covid-19 made it more fixed as you sink into a gloom? If you imagine you had a growth mindset instead – what would you do? Looking at your life and the rest of 2020 – what could you try? What have you always thought of doing but never got around to it? Lean into the uncertainty and adapt. Use it as a springboard to try things you’ve been putting off. Is there a different market you could approach? Stay curious, flexible, and open. 

Changing Your Today to Change Your Tomorrow

What have you done today? Is that getting you closer to your business and life goals or further away? If you want a different tomorrow so you find a successful way through the pandemic, you need to take steps to change what you do today. 

Stop for a moment and reflect on how you spend your time. When did you get up this morning?  How much TV do you watch?  How much time do you spend on social media? How much time do you spend learning something new? Do you spend time with family or friends?  Are those exchanges enjoyable or stressful? How much time do you spend on your health?  How much sleep do you get most nights? 

Take a minute to draw a circle and divide it up into slices that represent how you spend your time during a typical day. Now draw another circle and divide it up to represent how you would like to spend your day. If you spend a lot of time at work but don’t enjoy it, what could you do today to find a something that you might enjoy more? Or what could you change at in work/home life today to improve your day? Identify the things you like or can live with and the things that you don’t like and can’t live with. How can you change the aspects of your day that bring you down? 

Often, we don’t need to make big sweeping changes.  Subtle little shifts can accumulate to bring about change.  

Growth from Trauma

In 1967 psychiatrists Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe developed a list of 47 stressful events that could impact health and happiness. The assumption is logical – we get more stressed when bad stuff happens to us, start accumulating stressful experiences such as a job loss, illness or divorce and you are more susceptible to physical illness, disease and depression. Global pandemics and economic uncertainty don’t help either.

However, the fly in their theoretical ointment was the fact that not everyone who experienced really tough life events were negatively impacted by them. On the contrary, some of those people actively flourished. This field of study is called post traumatic growth or adversarial growth and studies have shown that great suffering or trauma can actually lead to huge positive change. For example, after the Madrid bombings of 2004 psychologists found that many of those affected experienced positive psychological growth. A diagnosis of cancer and subsequent recovery can also trigger positive growth. 

The people in many of these studies found new meaning and new purpose from surviving something terrible. Instead of seeing their situation as a failure or a problem they believed it could make them stronger. How can you use Covid-19 to find new meaning and positive growth?

Take a minute to think about exactly what you are worried about most in your life and identify one thing you can do about it right now. Set that in motion. What positives could you pull from the turmoil? Get creative – think of at least three positives that Covid-19 could give you. It might not be fun but if you can find the silver linings you can often move on quicker.

These suggestions are pulled from my Meee in a Minute books, each offering 60 one-minute micro-ideas and insights that can help us to shift our perception in life, family and at work.  We can all use tiny interventions to adapt and change and make the very best we can of the months ahead. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sid Madge is founder of Meee (My Education Employment Enterprise) which draws on the best creativity and thinking from the worlds of branding, psychology, neuroscience, education and sociology, to help people achieve extraordinary lives.

To date, Meee has transformed the lives of over 20,000 people, from leaders of PLC’s and SME’s to parents, teachers, students, carers, the unemployed and prison inmates.

Sid Madge is also author of the ‘Meee in Minute’ series of books which each offer 60 ways to change your life, work-, or family-life in 60 seconds. 

Web: www.meee.global

Web: www.meeebooks.com

Twitter twitter.com/Meee_HQ
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MeeeHQ/
Instagram www.instagram.com/meeehq
YouTube https://youtu.be/fISupZWZMQc
TEDx https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR3Cyjs62c8

 

My Writing Process Rachel Billington

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A bit about you. 

Place matters to me. In books and in life. I’m a hybrid: city and country, I need both. London, always London, apart from two years when I worked in New York and met my husband, Kevin, there.  In 1968 we bought a fourteenth century house in Dorset. We still have it. I’ve always written. I edited a magazine when I was eleven. I published my first novel in my twenties. I have to write every day. When I had four children in day school, I still wrote. I can’t imagine how people manage without writing. Now I have five grandchildren and my youngest wrote a book so I illustrated it. That was a surprise. From 1998-2001 I was President of PEN. I am Associate Editor of Inside Time, the National Newspaper for Prisoners. I write for every issue. I have always reviewed and written comment pieces for various newspapers.

What you have written, past and present.

I’ve published over thirty books. 23 novels, last 3 historical, Glory – The Story of Gallipoli and Maria and the Admiral. My favourites before that are A Woman’s Age, Bodily Harm and Lies and Loyalties. All very different subjects which publishers complain about. I have also written six novels for children, including Poppy’s Hero and Poppy’s Angel, about a girl whose Dad is in prison. Plus four religious books for children and a sequel to Jane Austen’s Emma.

What you are promoting now. 

Clouds of Love and War is about a Spitfire pilot in WW2 and a young isolated woman. It tells the story if their love affair against a background of war. Eddie wants to escape the world and reach the clouds. But he hadn’t counted on killing. Eva wants to paint and she wants Eddie. The war makes their coming together rare and remarkable. 

A bit about your process of writing.

Until my last book, I wrote longhand with a pen (black ink) and then paid a friend to put it on the computer. Once it was there I went through many drafts, editing down, particularly the opening chapters because I like to write forward without doing more than minor corrections until I’ve finished the whole book. This means I am over-writing early on and self-editing as I progress. 

Do you plan or just write?

It depends on the book. Longer books need more planning, chapter by chapter, bit shorter books can be freer. Often I know everything except how the story will end. But sometimes the ending is what inspires me to write the book. Characters come first of all and continue their wayward path through the book. When their personalities change, I change their names. Sometimes I’ll run through three or four. I write to surprise myself.

What about word count?

Again it depends on the book – or rather on the subject, although my books were much shorter when I started writing, one was only about 60,000 words while Glory was well over the 200 hundred mark. Circular books tend to be shorter, books with a strong narrative flow longer. The book I’m working on at the moment, They Were Sisters, is about 120,000 words.

 

What do you find hard about writing?

I find it all difficult but absolutely enthralling.  I do find it really hard when my characters are suffering. I wrote a novel called ‘The Missing Boy and found the thirteen year old’s unhappiness horribly upsetting. I long to write books with happy endings but seldom achieve it. 

 

What do you love about writing? 

I love being totally in charge of interesting people and events, but totally on my own. I love the look of a blank page – or blank screen. I love the way I challenge myself to make my brain imagine and invent.  I love the excitement when an idea comes into my head; my heart beats as fast as if I was running. I love using words like an artist uses paint. I love the balance of certain sentences, like a musical phrase.  

 

Advice for other writers.

Write! If you’re not sure what to write, write a diary. Write every single day. When you do set off on a bit of work, finish it. This very important. Anyone can begin a piece of writing but not many can get to the end. Keep at least something about it secret. Great ideas can dissipate if shown too much light of day. Only show it for criticism when you have gone as far as you can. Never despair. Often the best writing comes out of the worst. Good luck!

 

Mário de Sá-Carneiro – The Ambiguity of a Suicide, by Giuseppe Cafiero

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By Staff Writer

Part biography, part historical travelogue and part detective story, this fictionalised investigation into the suicide of the Portuguese writer Mário de Sá-Carneiro is admirable on many levels. 

Part of the acclaimed ‘Ambiguities…’ series by Italian author and playwright Giuseppe Cafiero, Ambiguity of a Suicide is an artful, intriguing meander through the mind of a gifted yet troubled soul.

Cafiero’s works are described by the author himself as works of ‘bio-fiction’, a type of metaliterature that plays with the blending of fact and fiction. This literary form is particularly effective in telling the story of de Sá-Carneiro, an acclaimed avant-garde writer of the early 20th century whose mind was muddied by his taste for strong alcohol and a desire to numb his sense of ‘saudade’ (a uniquely Portuguese word best translated as ‘melancholy’).

The word is key to the novel’s depiction of a man apparently tormented by feelings of inappropriate desires, of  something ‘missing’ and of a general mournful malaise that could not be shifted by boozy nights in Lisbon and Paris, or dreams of making a new life in the Portuguese territory of Brazil.

The Ambiguity of Suicide follows the journey of de Sá-Carneiro’s close friend, fellow poet Fernando Pessoa; Mondine, a private detective; and Doctor Abilio Fernandes Quaresma, a ‘solver of enigmas’, as they retrace the tragic author’s footsteps in light of his recent death.

Together, they drink in his watering holes, eat in his favourite restaurants and talk to the characters that he came across before he took his own life in a desperate bid to shed light on the circumstances that led to his demise.

Cafiero effortlessly evokes the period and settings that shaped de Sá-Carneiro during his time in Lisbon and Paris, and there is a fitting sense of beautiful melancholy throughout the book, such as the following description: “Sea and salt air. Duino was then in his heart. A manor house corroded by time. White, skeletal, dried by the sun. Progenitor of imperial deaths. The ocean is another thing. Gusts of an Atlantic wind. Gazing at conquered lands. Lisbon”.

Following a trail that leads them into seedily sensual territories, the three characters come to understand a little more of Sá-Carneiro and his troubled mind,

but ultimately (and as the ‘ambiguity’ title suggests) they find there is never any simple answer to the ‘why?’ of a suicide. 

The translation from the original Italian is extremely well done, but so too are the translations from the original Portuguese – the text is dotted with direct quotes from the writer and poet’s works, as well as from his friend Pessoa (best known for The Book of Disquiet).

It is perhaps fair to say that the works of Mário de Sá-Carneiro are little known outside of Portuguese-speaking countries. It’s also fair to say, however, that readers willing to engage with the unfamiliar will glean a lot of enjoyment from this novel and will probably find themselves eager to familiarise themselves with de Sá-Carneiro’s back catalogue after reading it.

Mário de Sá-Carneiro – The Ambiguity of a Suicide by Giuseppe Cafiero (Clink Street Publishing) is available from Amazon UK, priced £1.13 in paperback and £1.07 in Kindle edition. Visit www.giuseppecafiero.com.

 

The Bookshop Owner Jane Cable talks to Sandra Foy

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the-business-of-books-interviewswithjanecableThis week Jane Cable talks to Sandra Foy, a bookseller living in Manchester who is also a book blogger, blogging at readingwrites.wordpress.com. She love crime books and watching cricket.


What is your writing related job or business?

I am a bookseller who owns a shop in Urmston Manchester. This time last year my only connection with the publishing world was through my blog and the occasional advanced reading copy that I was offered in return for an honest review.

I was in the book club at Urmston Bookshop, but then, in March, quite by chance, I saw that the shop was for sale: it seemed like divine providence. I had always wanted to own a bookshop but never imagined that it would happen. At first together with my husband we made tentative enquiries about the business which then just snowballed and everything just seemed to slot into place incredibly well.

The previous owner really wanted someone who loved books to take over, so I had the advantage over the other potential buyers who had no interest in books and just wanted a shop. They were fabulously helpful to me during the sale and also afterwards, teaching me everything they knew.

I was also incredibly lucky that during the sale a lady walked into the shop looking for a job, she has worked in many libraries and is now a fantastic colleague and friend.

The Bookshop Owner Jane Cable talks to Sandra Foy
What is the most rewarding part of it?

There are so many rewarding parts of owning a bookshop.

Being a huge part of the community and bringing them together for author events and film nights and hearing them say how much they have enjoyed them and look forward to more is enormously rewarding.

Putting a book into someone’s hands who wouldn’t otherwise read such a book and have them come back and ask for more because they so enjoyed it is just fabulous.

And a massive reward is being able to take authors into local schools and seeing the children’s faces light up with delight and enthusiasm.

 

What do you consider to be your major successes?

I have only been in the shop for seven months, but I feel the successes are the book clubs. We now have three adult book clubs and one children’s club (Talking Tales) for 8-11 year olds, with membership growing all the time. Seeing adults come together to discuss books is great, but to be able to enthuse children and see them want to read is beyond wonderful.

 

Have you always loved books and what are you reading at the moment?

I have loved books from being a very young child. Enid Blyton was my first love, I even created my own Secret Seven with friends. She gave me a life-long love of the crime genre.

At the moment I am reading Some Luck by Jane Smiley for one of our book clubs and also Intrusions by Stav Sherez (really good!) as we are doing an event at the bookshop with Stav and Sarah Ward in February.

 

 

BEST ENDEAVOURS: what happens once that digital publishing deal is in the bag

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janecablepublishingagreementThe first in a series of blogs about what happens once that digital publishing deal is in the bag!

BEST FRIENDS

If you write, it’s a moment you dream of – the moment you learn that a publisher wants to buy your book. There’ll be champagne, fireworks, violins playing sweet music… Actually – when it happened to me – I didn’t believe it.

I read the email my agent, Felicity Trew, sent about three times and then she called me. I don’t remember much about the conversation to be honest. Then I went downstairs, told my husband, and drove into town to do some last minute pre-holiday chores.

It was only as I walked from the car park that the news began to hit home. Just fifteen short months earlier I would have been straight on the phone to my mother, always the biggest supporter of my work, but who could I share the excitement with now she’s gone? Who would understand? Another writer, that’s who; someone who’d been on the same journey – someone who was a good friend I could rely on to keep quiet. Even though she actually screamed when I told her: “Jane – oh my god – that’s amaaaaaaazing!”

janecablepublishingdealblog

Bookish bestie and blogger Becky Edwards (walkingnormally.blogspot.co.uk) is the person who’s kept me sane during the two months it took for the contract to be finalised and signed. You need someone to do that. I kept thinking it was all some terrible joke and that Endeavour would change their mind. Every delay… even when the final contract got lost in the post… was agony. But it’s over now: the contract is signed and I can go public.

Part of going public involves writing this blog. Endeavour is one of the new breed of UK digital publishers and must be the biggest in the game, bringing out 25 new titles each week. This deal isn’t going to be like working with one of the ‘traditional’ houses – there will be no waiting a year or more for a book to appear – things are going to happen fast and furiously from here on in.

Digital is a route that many authors seeking publication will be looking to take and so this blog will not only be of interest to the reading public but also to other writers. The intention is to share the reality of the hard graft, sweat, and maybe even tears along the way as I embark on the latest phase of my writing career. I want it to be useful; I want people to comment and ask questions. I also want to give Becky a break!

Jane Cable is the author of two independently published romantic suspense novels, The Cheesemaker’s House and The Faerie Tree, and a sporadic contributor to Frost. Find out more at www.janecable.com.

 

 

 

Words for the Wounded Host Their Annual LitFest Literary Festival

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Words for the Wounded Host Their Annual LitFest Literary Festivallogo

Great excitement – Words for the Wounded which raises funds for wounded troops and veterans by creating  opportunities for aspiring writers and readers is holding its annual LitFest again on April 16th.

The WforW LitFest Day will be held as always at the lovely Downley Community Centre, School Close, Downley, High Wycombe HP13 5TR
10.00am to 5.00pm.

As everyone knows by now, the three grannies, Margaret Graham,  Jan Speedie (both Frost Magazine writers) and Penny Deacon absorb all the costs of the charity and therefore 100% of everything they raise goes to where it should.

Words for the Wounded Host Their Annual LitFest Literary Festival

The speakers this year are:  Sunday Times No 1 bestselling author and a patron of WforW –  Elizabeth Buchan talking about her work.

Words for the Wounded Host Their Annual LitFest Literary Festivalelizabeth buchanan

Jemima Hunt, editor and literary agent, and director of The Writers’ Practice with advice on editing your work and attracting an agent.
Tracy Baines, successful women’s magazine  short story writer with tips about getting published.

Catherine_Balavage_023
Further excitement as Catherine Balavage, blogger and editor of Frost Magazine will be joining the day to talk about blogging, running a magazine, and her various successful books.

Paul Vates, the brilliant actor, and friend of Words for the Wounded, will be reading from the work of our speakers.

Sharon Bennett will be displaying her art.

Cost £35 (which includes lunch with wine, morning coffee and afternoon tea)

For Tickets, send a cheque or postal order to: (cheques payable to Words for the Wounded)
Words for the Wounded
12 Woodcote Green, Downley, High Wycombe, HP13 5UN
Please include a SAE

Trains from London are frequent, and there are taxis for the 10 minute journey.

www.wordsforthewounded.co.uk

The Words for the Wounded Litfest – Review by Pat Heath

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What a brilliant day at Downley Community Centre, 18th April 2015.

This inaugural one-day opportunity for new and established writers, and for readers, did what it said on the packet. We laughed with, learned from, and mingled amongst, experts in the world of writing at the Words for the Wounded (WforW) LitFest. It was organised by the ‘Writing Grannies’ who run the charity.

The Words for the Wounded Litfest - Review by Pat Heath

To open the day, Matt Pain, Trustee, reminded us that the average age of wounded soldiers is 25 years old, which proved thought provoking.

The Words for the Wounded Litfest - Review by Pat Heathwelcome

Margaret Graham (‘writing grannie’) and Katie Fforde (WforW patron) opened the day with conversazione. These two bestselling authors covered key aspects of fiction writing, including sub-plots, the need to inhabit your characters and how to deal with a ‘soggy middle’. Something that troubles many of us – writers or not.

A massive amount of invaluable information was delivered with quick fire wit, during this hilarious and valuable session. Meg Cannell presented chocolates to Katie.

The Words for the Wounded Litfest - Review by Pat Heathkatiemegmg

After book signing and coffee it was time for some murder and mayhem, with two ‘Midsomer Murders’ TV writers, Rachel Cuperman and Sally Griffiths. Rachel and Sally explained the practical aspects of TV play-writing, punctuated with their own amusing anecdotes.

The Words for the Wounded Litfest - Review by Pat Heathrachelsally

Lunch followed, with wine and coffee, organised by Jan Speedie (‘writing grannie’), Margaret’s family and Josh Edwards. It was partially sponsored by Tesco, Morrison’s and Starbucks. A feast, it must be said, and the team did a fantastic job. Seamless.

Many authors choose the Independent Author publishing route and successful ‘Indie’ writers, Amanda Hatter and Catriona Troth, chaired by Penny Deacon, (writing grannie) described how to produce a high-quality self-published book,. This time Penny Deacon (writing grannie) chaired the session as Amanda gave many useful marketing tips, including how to penetrate large chains such as Waterstones, and Catriona explained the advantages of working as part of a writers’ collective, such as Triskele Books.

The Words for the Wounded Litfest - Review by Pat Heathcallum The Words for the Wounded Litfest - Review by Pat Heathtriskele

Felicity Trew, from Caroline Sheldon Literary Agency was introduced by Penny Deacon and gave a power-point presentation in which she explained the role of literary agents: negotiating publishing deals, making sure the contract protects current and future income opportunities, and chasing payments/royalties.

The Words for the Wounded Litfest - Review by Pat Heathpdprojector

She also advised on how writers should approach agents, using amusing spoof emails to illustrate her points, and she reminded the audience to check agent’s submission instructions. Her agency’s website has a useful list of ‘pet hates’ including applicants omitting the requested information and obvious ‘carpet bombing’ applications.

Felicity was at the LitFest all day, and was enormously generous with her time.

Finally, Jan Speedie introduced Penny Deacon who talked about why she ‘turned her back on romance and took to murder’. She compared her experiences of writing Mills and Boon to that of crime fiction. This was a relaxed and amusing end to an inspirational, funny, information-packed day.

The Words for the Wounded Litfest - Review by Pat Heathjan=pd

Prizes, donated by artist Sharon Bennett, Tesco, (Bollinger champagne) The Wellington, and Katie Fforde were raffled for WforW. Speakers were given boxes of chocolates, partially funded by Thornton’s and delegates were given books donated by Random House. Penny Gerrard made biscuits from heaven and Susan Atkins’ chocolate cake was seriously good.

One clever touch was the notepads and biros on every seat, for invaluable notetaking. Everything was so carefully thought out. It makes a difference.

Next year’s LitFest line up of speakers will include Elizabeth Buchan, bestselling author (patron of WforW) Jemima Hunt, Literary Agent, Catherine Balavage, e-magazine owner (Frost Magazine), and Tracy Baines, successful genre short story writer.

A total of £1,500 was raised by the inaugural LitFest for the rehabilitation of the wounded.

http://www.wordsforthewounded.co.uk

 

 

 

Independent Bookshop Opens Doors to Independent Authors

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by Catriona Troth.

Foyles on London’s Charing Cross Road, is playing host to The Indie Author Fair (IAF) on Friday 17th April 2015.

IAF 2015 Flyer Front

When we wrapped up the Indie Author Fair 2014, most of us assumed that would be it for another year. That was before the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) approached us to run their Member Showcase at the London Book Fair Indie Author Fringe Festival, run by The ALLi /Indie ReCon.

indiereconalli-logo

IndieReCon is a free online writers’ conference, which has been running since 2013. This year, they are working with ALLi to run a live event at Foyles, London’s largest indie bookstore, with the support of London Book Fair’s Book and Screen Week.

To follow this, Triskele Books are organising a second Indie Author Fair – a pop-up bookshop at which more than fifty of ALLi’s members will be represented. The Fair is being sponsored by XPO North, who are bringing with them an exciting group of emerging writers from the Highlands and Islands.

publishing, book, books, writing, authors, festivals

“Bringing writers and readers closer together is a core part of ALLi’s mission,” said Orna Ross, Director of ALLi (Alliance of Independent Authors). “We are delighted that the Indie Author Fair will showcase the talent and enterprise of so many ALLi members and look forward to fostering new author-reader bonds at the fair.”

Indie Author Fair 2015 will take place from 16.30–19.30 and is FREE to the public with drinks reception, goodie bags and personalised signed copies available.

You can read about the full collection of books and authors on show at the Fair here.

Organiser Catriona Troth said, “The Indie Author Fair is an unmissable event for readers, writers, publishers and observers of the publishing scene, providing an opportunity to meet the best indie authors in the business, talk to experts and discover great new books.”