Brympton Festival.

During the past few days this stunning house in Somerset has been the venue for the first ever Brympton Festival.

The first day, Friday 20th, was Diversity day with food and dancing from all over the world, and I went along, both as a host, and as a speaker. I was on a panel of past Yeovil Prize winners talking about what our success in the Yeovil Prize has meant to us as writers.

Unfortunately, due to work and other commitments, I was unable to attend on any of the other days, but I’ve heard only good things! There was an amazing line up of speakers with stacks going on so that we were spoilt for choice.

And the setting – the house was amazing – walls of antlers and huge fireplaces, but with the front door open a particularly cold wind blasted down the corridors and I couldn’t help wondering what it must have been like to actually live there!

I believe the organisers are planning to run it again next year. But this year’s festival is still going strong – last day on Thursday – so if you’re in the area I recommend you check it out. There are some more pictures over on my Events page.

Metamorphosis

The first draft is the caterpillar, munching its way through the vegetation, laying down words like layers of fat. It grows bigger and bigger, lumpy and spiny and vaguely formed, until it is huge and bloated. The first draft is complete.

Then comes the chrysalis - the editing process. The internal tissues are broken down and reformed. New structures are added, others removed. Flabby prose is deleted and replaced with colour and richness. A little fine tuning and it is ready.

The pupa splits open and the butterfly emerges, fanning its new wings in the spring sunshine – a creature almost unrecognisable from that clunky caterpillar. One final check and it is ready to fly.



Click on ‘send’ and off it goes.

The Rise of the e-book

A couple of years ago when we looked for something on Amazon we would probably have a choice of hardback, paperback or audiobook. But now, with the rise of the e-reader we can buy our books as e-books too.

The more formats our books are available in then the more accessible they become and the broader the readership they can reach. There is more choice for readers as authors and publishers are making their backslists available as e-books – books which have otherwise gone out of print! And for authors in some genres – most notably romance – the advent of the e-book has opened up a wealth of new small publishers – and with them, new opportunities.

And look here. Two of the anthologies from Hadley Rille Books that I have had short stories published in are now available as e-books – Ruins Terra and Ruins Metropolis. For less than £1 you can’t go wrong!

A Fresh Perspective

Every day the sea is different. In fact it can change within hours – one moment a mirror like calm and then a storm can blow up seemingly from nowhere and the waters are heaped into spray streaked mountains.

Sometimes it’s not so easy to spot the changes - soil creep on a hillside. Have things changed since I last climbed up here? I’m not so sure.

It’s when you go back after a time away that you start to see the differences. You spot where the winter floods have changed the course of a stream, or a rotting tree trunk that is now covered with cramp balls.

Or in this case that the cliffs have crumbled back a little further.


In the same way I’m taking a break from my WIP. I’ve promised myself that I won’t even look at it for this entire month. That way when I read it once more I’ll be coming to it fresh, and if anything isn’t right I’ll (hopefully) spot it.

And anyway, it’s fun to do something different, to dabble with new ideas, meet new characters and explore new settings.

No writing time is ever wasted time.

Writers Block

"What do you want to look at that screen for, when you can look at me!"

So what get's in the way of your writing?

The Real SeaSerpents

A long time ago people thought these strange coiling creatures were SeaSerpents, turned into stone by saints or gods. They called these rocks Serpentstones.

Of course we now know that they are ammonites, ancient cephalopods that swam in those Jurassic seas much like the Nautilus does in our oceans today.

Or are they.... ?

Tagged!

Looks like I've been tagged - twice!!

First by Jess and then by Celesta

Instead of answering two sets of questions I've mixed them all together and picked a random subset of 11. So here they are along with their answers.

1. How old were you when you started writing?
I've been writing ever since I was old enough to hold a crayon.
2. What's your favourite movie/book?
Tricky question - how do I decide this one! Okay - let's go for the book I've read the most times and in that case it is The Crysalids by John Wyndham.
3. If you were the main character of a book, what genre would it be?
Some sort of Space Opera - definitely!
4. What genre do you write in?
I write SciFi thrillers for kids.
5. If you could have a superpower, what would it be and why?
I would be able to take away sadness.
6. What do you like to read?
I read pretty widely. But I particularly like discovering new authors.
7. What is something unusual that you've done?
I once had a snowball fight on an ice floe in the Greenland Sea
8. How do you get names for your characters?
Phone book, and baby name lists.
9. List the top three websites you use.

Litopia
New Scientist
Will it rain today - well I do live in Blighty :-)

10. Besides reading and writing, name two other hobbies you have.
Hillwalking and growing my own.
11. Where in the world would you like to go?
I'd love to go to Japan.

In turn I will tag the following Campaigners from Rach's Platform Building Campaign. And I'm asking each of you the same set of questions.

Sher A Hart: My Best Part
Six Impossible Things
alberta's sefuty chronicles
David Powers King
Gina Carey
Katharine Gerlach
Imagine Today