Category: novel

Calling All Authors – Your Library Needs You!

~ JacciGoodingAuthor

A few weeks ago as part of the Warwickshire branch of the Society of Authors, I was lucky enough to attend a meeting with our local library service. It was eye-opening. We learned how the books you see on the library shelves are chosen, how a self-published author would get to share this hallowed space, and how important it is for authors however published to be engaged with their local library. For example, author Erin Green gave an hour-long talk to a well-supported audience at Warwick library earlier in the month and it was only when listening to her and chatting with her afterward I realised how lucky we are as authors to have these spaces available to us – for free – with an almost guaranteed audience. Our readers don’t always have to buy our books; authors get fees each time their book is borrowed from a library so what better place to promote your work? The lovely librarians we spoke with explained the PLR (Public Lending Right) system which is administered from The British Library, which states on their website ‘If you are a published author, illustrator, editor, translator or audiobook narrator you could receive remuneration as a result of public library book loans.’ So using your library as an author and as a user is such a win-win. Are you an author reading this? Do you work with your library to promote yourself and them? Didn’t know you could? Drop them and email swiftish then, and find out if you’re just what they’re looking for! For us here in Warwickshire the library service will also display a poster for an author event if it is local, is an activity relating to local societies and/or organisations, and promotes writing. And only one of those boxes needs to be ticked.

            According the WCC libraries website they have almost 605,000 items on their shelves – that includes audio books, play scripts and music scores – and lend approximately 1.7 million items a year. One.Point.Seven.Million. Just in case you missed it. That’s an astonishing amount of written and spoken words. Some of them could be yours (or mine!)

            We were also introduced to an organisation called The West Midlands Readers’ Network which ‘supports reading by creating opportunities for readers and reading groups to engage creatively with literature, and to deepen their reading experiences.’ They ‘run a range of events, activities and projects with libraries and independent bookshops including commissions, creative reading events, a ‘Reader in Residence’ programme, plus networking and skills-sharing across the West Midlands.’ Do you have something like that in your area? Not sure? Ask a librarian!

            Myself and other SoA members had a really creative and collaborative couple of hours with the super librarians at Kenilworth Library. Another SoA member joined us from Birmingham where she told us the sad and damn-well outrageous news that Birmingham City Council, being bankrupt, has been forced to close all its libraries. Can you imagine living in a city without a library? I can’t. I can’t contemplate the hole that will leave in the lives of so many and the damage it will do to our young readers who are going to be denied the opportunity to access free books. It is an established fact that those who are encouraged and assisted to read from an early age are often well ahead of their peers in later life. Can you even contemplate not being able to read?

            So, top tips for you if you’re an author

  • Contact your local library to see what events are being run
  • Go to some of them! Meet people, support the library, network
  • Apply/ask to lead an authors hour (if that is what they do – other formats are available!)
  • Search out organisations in your area that collaborate with authors
  • Be that author

Finding Time to Write that Novel

Featured ~ JacciGoodingAuthor ~ 3 Comments

At the end of last month I was at the Oxford Indie Book Fair as part of Banbury Writers’ Cafe, strutting our stuff and mixing and mingling. It was a fun day out and someone even bought my book which caused both merriment and delight.  It’s been ages since A Collection of Unsettling Short Stories saw the light of day and the sale did give me slight surge of energy to get on with the sequel. However, as founder and Festival Director of the South Warwickshire Literary Festival there don’t seem to be enough minutes in a day to actually get round to it. So I thought I’d do a little blog instead. Well, y’know… displacement activity and all that…

My first collection of short stories I self-published yonks ago amidst teenagers’ driving lessons, daily taxi trips to college, walking my neighbour’s dog, writing a novel, working part-time, attending writing courses and a myriad of other activities now all lost in time. Six years later you’d think I’d have got round to A Collection of Unsettling Short Stories pt 2 wouldn’t you. Hmm. I have to agree. But no. The work’s all there, waiting for the Big E. Yep that’s right. The Big Edit. So, obviously daunted by the fact that this was a job I really needed to do I got on and did other things instead. Live Lit Evenings. Self-Publisher’s Showcase at the Stratford Literary Festival. Reviewing. Runner-up in writing competitions. My goodness what an impressive list of excuses!

Having chastised myself over a glass of red wine and an early advent calendar – what? don’t tell me you haven’t been tempted – I decided to send myself away…from myself…and am going to a writing weekend festival at Gladstone’s Library in February. This has given me tremendous focus to spend the weekend working on my current novel with the intention of actually finishing it. As in, ending it. As in, making it complete and done with. And I’m really looking forward to it. I have my story arc, my gang of characters, I have happy and sad, I have inciting incidents and unexpected What Ifs. I have it all ready to go and this time, I’m gonna do it. I must have known when I bought the 2024 Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook that I was up to something.

So as Christmas approaches I shall go with the flow of the season, meanwhile feeling the excitement of my novel writing weekend growing, like a little bird getting bigger and bigger until it’s ready to fly.

And how about you, dear reader? Where are your writing endeavours taking you in the coming months? Leave a comment if you will, I’d love to know.

7 Tips for Clever Writing

~ JacciGoodingAuthor

A few blogs back I wrote about being inspired by art. Well, with that in mind, I painted this picture to give vent to my lack of artistic talent. Like it? Not bad is it. I like the way the lines all merge together in a conclusion of colour that burst from the screen.

Confession time.

It’s a photo. It’s a photo of the sky and some plants taken through a wibbly wobbly window but it looks ok doesn’t it! Think you’re looking at one thing, but really you’re looking at another. That’s the trick. Now turn that into clever writing.

What do I mean by clever writing? What even is that?! Do I even know?

I guess I mean presenting the reader at the beginning with what they think is one thing but by the time they get to the end realise it’s a different thing altogether – but in a good way. Isn’t that what they call a Twist? Or Plot? Or maybe even a Plot Twist?

So here’re a few tips for you, should be you interested. Just my thoughts and observations… nothing too taxing. Let me know if you agree…or not

  1. Do your research then write like you haven’t. Eh? Wha..? As in, make your story so natural that your readers are drawn in straight away, without any time to argue the toss or disagree with what you’ve written. Make sure you know what you’re writing about in terms of exposition, especially in historic fiction.
  2. Writing science fiction? Make your new world as relatable as this old one and your readers will be there from the get-go. With time and good pacing of chapters you can unfold your new world without anyone really noticing and then bam – they’re residents of your new world without even booking a removal van.
  3. Without doubt clever dialogue is the way forward. What is clever dialogue? Is it what you hear all around, every day? Or is it well structured, over-long and completely unlikely? Do we speak now as Mr Darcy spoke then? Be brief. Be bright. Be Clever. If in doubt, chuck it out.
  4. Nab yourself a clever idea which will grow into your story giving rise to a great plot. Clever idea huh? Well excuse me while I just pop down to the clever plot shop. Simple’s always best. Make it too complicated – too many brush strokes – and you’ll lose your reader. Say for example you’re writing a cli-fi, how about the seas suddenly freezing over rather than warming up? Oh Contraire I hear you gasp.  It’s a 180 to the current crisis, so why not?
  5. Characters always help in a story, don’t you think? Making them mad a genius or an astronaut lost in space s a bit too clever – you’d have to know a lot about geniuses or space to pull that one off effectively. Nah, go clever. Writing crime? Police procedure? Let’s have no more of the grizzled-nearly-sacked-maverick-cop with a penchant for late night whiskey, but something cleverer. A deaf detective? Could be interesting.
  6. Develop a good support cast. Could be a horse. Could be a kid. Could be an older gent or lady with a secret past. Make your support characters shine.
  7. Read. Read other authors; work out why you like what they write. Read authors you’ve never heard of in genres you’d never normally consider. Give it a go, and be clever about it. Obvs.

Vincent van Gogh and Experimental Writing

~ JacciGoodingAuthor ~ 1 Comment

As you may have seen on a Twitter post from me recently I was lucky enough to visit the Vincent van Gogh Immersive Experience in Shoreditch and see for myself what all the excitement was about. And exciting it was.

I can’t honestly say I’m a fangirl of ol’ Vincent’s, but I do love a bit of art. Any art. The exhibition covered his life and premature death, his friendship with artist Paul Gauguin and the love of his brother. Did you know van Gogh originally wanted to be a priest? Me neither. You could say lucky for us that he failed in that respect.

The use of colour in Gogh’s work has often been discussed by those who discuss such things, and reading from the information sheets at the exhibition it seems that the conclusion drawn is that van Gogh may have suffered from xanthopsia, a condition which causes the sufferer to see in yellow more than any other colour. It’s not until you see so many of his hundreds of paintings together that you realise how much he loved his yellow. Think you know his sunflowers? Think again! He painted over 500 images of sunflowers, some of which you’ve probably never seen or even knew existed. It’s those big blousy ones in the vase that get all the attention. Drama queens.

Much of his work seemed to my untrained eyes very experimental – but then I’m no artist so what do I know – but according to the exhibition he had been told by one who knew so little, not to bother painting. He ignored such ill-founded advice and forged ahead.

Many of his preliminary sketches were on display and they put me in mind of a writer producing that scrappy first draft – you know the one – all puff and fluff, ideas and inspiration rather than proper prose and sentence structure.

How many times have you started with the puff and fluff, the idea and inspiration, to get fifteen minutes in declare it rubbish? That is not the way ahead my friend. Keep your puff and fluff, it could reap fantastic rewards a few months from now, because amongst the puff is the kernel of an idea that you had, and that must have some merit. Just because your whole story/novel/poem/essay isn’t formed yet doesn’t make it valueless.

Don’t be put off by that little niggly voice in your head telling you that what you’re writing isn’t any good. It might not be perfect – yet – but take a page off of Vincent’s canvas and stick with it.

Review and Author Interview

~ JacciGoodingAuthor ~ 1 Comment

Mya Roberts, Song of the Sea

Mya is a Guernsey author and the sea has always been an essential part of her life. Last year she completed her first novel, Song of the Sea, and will be appearing at this year’s Guernsey Literary Festival. I met Mya many years ago on a writing course and it was there she read the first few captivating chapters of what was to become Song. The first question then Mya, and of course the most obvious, what is your book about?

My story starts on Guernsey in the Channel Islands in the 1700s. My main character, Elise, has a pioneering spirit and is about to leave the only home she’s known in order to join her fisherman husband, Thomas, in Nova Scotia. We follow Elise across the Atlantic Ocean and into the arms of her husband and her life as a fisherman’s wife. Her adventures exceed her expectations, the splendours and extremes of her environment are beyond her imaginings; her trials and fears challenge her courage to the full.

That sounds a very interesting story – where did the idea come from?

Some years ago, my husband Ian and I were exploring Nova Scotia, Canada, in a 32ft recreational vehicle we named ‘The Beast”. On The Beast’s aerial we proudly displayed a little Guernsey flag. The area is spectacular, the campgrounds were a delight and the people were warm and generous. We were having the time of our lives. In our travels we discovered Isle Madame and on Isle Madame we came upon a harbour named Arichat. We saw two cannon pointing out towards a small, unimposing island. A plaque read, “Jersey traders, who were French-speaking British citizens, settled on Jerseyman Island off Arichat in the late 18th century. The island was later attacked by American privateer John Paul Jones, forcing the inhabitants to move to Isle Madame.”  I’m a writer. Need I say more?

Indeed not! What great inspiration. And of course coming from an area where the sea is part of everyday life, did you find it easy to start writing Song?

We do possess some of the most beautiful coastline you can imagine, though on a much smaller and in general less rugged scale than in that part of Canada. I was born by the sea, and have lived with the sea most of my life. To my mind the sea does speak and the range of its voice is extraordinary. 

How quickly did your main character form?

Elise and Thomas grew slowly and surely as the story developed. Marcel was more of a wild card. Each of my three main characters surprised and challenged me as they evolved. It was rather like producing and at the same time acting in play. You start with a story outline, which develops and you enrich your characters, and they enrich your story and your story enriches them.

How much research did you do?

It was endless and I loved it. Like a treasure hunter I sifted and pried. I went to Jersey to investigate the archives, and I interviewed experts, and, best of all, returned to Nova Scotia (and the 32ft Beast) to follow Elise’s journey, make notes, take photos, and undertake more interviews. It was difficult to leave great quantities of that fascinating material on the ‘cutting room floor’. I had to accept that my reader may not be as enthralled with the drying and salting process of fish as I had become.

Well Mya, you might be surprised there! Many authors of historical fiction read works by other historical fiction writers – who knows what one author can learn from another.  Once you’d done all your research and gathered all your lovely facts, how did the editing go? Do you see it as a necessary evil or something you enjoy?

A bit of each. The torment of a scene or a chapter that doesn’t work is deeply frustrating. The sculpting of a book when it blossoms on the page is a joyful thing.

Did you let the book stew – say, leave it for a month and then come back to it to edit?

It stewed to the point of extinction many times.

Well I’m glad you persevered! Now, tell us about that gorgeous cover.

The cover started life rather Beige. A beige sea. I suspect my publishers were testing the ground by offering me a starting point. I was afraid they’d transform Elise into a double D, bodice ripping, lip-pouting glamour girl. Instead they offered that vivid startling sea, the glorious sunset and the galleon. It was love at first sight.

And so from cover to publishing – how are you publishing this book and why?

I have enough rejection slips to paper at least one wall. But I realise now that Song was rejected for good reasons. I dried my tears, stopped sulking, then started over. Only better.  Cranthorpe Millner accepted Song just weeks before Christmas 2021, and only weeks after I’d just completed major surgery followed by a gruelling course of Chemo. The offer was a good sign for the future, perhaps?  After all, I had to be around for book signings, didn’t I?

You most certainly do. Do you have a strategy for finding reviewers?

I gave my publishers a list of possibilities and they took it from there. A handful are in Canada, and they are very enthusiastic and supportive. I think I’m going to be big in Canada.

If you could have been the original author of any book, what would it be?

Something amazingly clever. Something that looks like it flowed from the  author’s brain to their keyboard in one smooth, electric stream: All The Light We Cannot See, Where the Crawdads Sing, JK writing as Robert Galbraith, or a Hillary Mantel, perhaps.

And finally…

What advice would you give to your younger self?

You’re worth more than you think, more talented than you feel and cleverer than you believe: now go for it.

Song of the Sea is the account of Elise’s journey – real and metaphorical – from her sheltered upbringing in Guernsey to Nova Scotia, Canada in 1755. Once reunited with her fisherman husband Thomas, she faces the unforgiving realities of life as a fisherman’s wife. Before she departs her home of Guernsey however, we see glimpses of the life she is leaving behind, of her gift as a herbalist that could end up seeing her hanged for witchcraft, a gift her grandmother made her promise to keep secret. As Elise’s new life unfolds in Nova Scotia there are distant rumblings of war, the threat of how her and her husband Thomas’s life could change forever. There is love, and loss, but also achievement and triumph as we travel with Elise to a time and place about which very little was known. She experiences motherhood, brutal war, and endures the horror of attack on her husband, and hopes in time to nurse him back to some sort of health. Throughout, Elise has to call upon strength she did not know she had. As her fortunes twist and turn Elise becomes a respected herbalist, a teacher and more. She becomes an independent woman in an age of great turmoil when women had very little choice over the lives they led.

We see her grow, and age, embracing one last challenge before her time is done, at one with the song of sea.

How To Create A Literary Festival Part 2

~ JacciGoodingAuthor

For those who read my previous blog regarding starting a lit fest with just a will and a thought and a maybe, here’s part two to let all you lovely readers know what’s been going on since July. Lists, mainly. Over the weekend I constructed the most recent To Do list, put it aside on Saturday morning to scrape up something red and sticky one of the SWLF cats had gifted me, only to find said list had made it’s way through space and time, reappearing down the back of the sofa on Monday evening. Not far short of fantastical I’d say. Maybe a goblin had squirrelled it off the table when I wasn’t looking and got up to mischief with it, ramming it between the cushions and the soggy Christmas peanuts just for lols.

What? You don’t have goblins in your house?

In between writing the list, losing it and then finding it again, lots of things happened at SWLF HQ.  Emails were sent and received. Freebie pens were designed and paid for. A dodgy looking map was created for the back of the festival programme. The merits of cooler weather were discussed with the postman. Twitter posts were written and discarded, then written again and scheduled to hit the twittersphere sometime this week. A surprised ewe was found wandering the village, questioned, cautioned and returned to the flock. Wednesday was spent gawping at the rain and wishing out loud ‘Go on, GO ON!’ as the lightning cracked the sky. And now here we are, Thursday, and back to the list.

            Here are just some of things I’d written down:

  1. Write Press release
  2. Contact radio stations
  3. Contact local newspapers
  4. Update Instagram
  5. Comfrey leaves
  6. Finish copy for festival programme
  7. Try for sponsorship again

Now…nothing very unexpected there apart from item 5. Comfrey leaves. Did I mean something else? Comfy sleeves perhaps? Between trying to write a press release and updating Instagram I am now confounded and sidetracked by my own very obvious comfrey leaves citation. Pick them? Boil them? Make them into a hat? You tell me. Perhaps it was a note that had slipped off my other list about compiling the guidelines for a writer’s group short story competition and somehow landed itself on the SWLF list.

What ever its meaning – which is now unknown to me – I hope I don’t get to the morning of September 24th and hear myself say ‘Oh!!!!!! Comfrey Leaves!’