Keeping It Green

One day, I shall probably stop caring about things. I shan't mind that Indie writers can no longer sign books in Waterstones. I won't fret that future teenagers will have to sit gender discriminatory EBaccs, (had letter in Guardian; missed it? never mind). I'll even stand back and let the Town Council build all over our local urban green space. 

As some of you know, it is almost exactly five years since I started my campaign stop a green field near where I live from being covered in Tesco School of Architecture houses. Two years ago, I put in a Town Green application, as the field used to be part of an old Common. Both Town and District councils objected. Wonder why? Just heard recently that in December, there will be a Public Inquiry to settle the matter, hopefully once and for all.

Applying for Town Green Status has been a tremendous undertaking. I have learned a great deal about Housing Acts, Land Acts, Open Spaces Acts, and things people got up to on the field in the old days. I have also learned about what goes on behind the scenes in local government, thanks to the Freedom of Information requests, which are submitted regularly in a variety of names.

Because this is an area of social housing, the community cannot afford a lawyer to represent them at the Inquiry, so guess who will be acting as lay advocate? A rather steep learning curve for a pensioner with only a 'lower second' in English and Archaeology. 

However, we are extremely lucky in having the support of the Open Spaces Society, and the editor of the local paper, who publishes informative articles telling other residents what we're up to, plus my sarky letters about local councillors and their so-called ''green'' agenda.

 Researching the history of the land has unearthed some fascinating stuff. The best discovery so far is a deed of conveyance signed by Apsley Cherry Garrard, whose family lived locally. Apsley Cherry Garrard was on Scott's ill-fated Polar Exploration. Aged 24, he found Scott and his companions frozen to death in their hut. The discovery subsequently triggered a complete nervous breakdown. 

So, that's the current state of play on the local campaign, which now slogs on towards December. Why do I bother to pile into things all the time? I really don't know, sorry. Maybe because somebody has to. One day I shall probably stop caring. 

But not, I think, quite yet.

Next week: Another fine guest will be ensconced on the Pink Sofa, primed and ready to share their writing experience. Don't miss it.

Unwelcome At Waterstones

To my usually warm and welcoming Waterstones this week, diary in hand, to arrange a pre- Christmas signing session for my Spy Girl books. Should have noticed something was wrong from the way the temperature started dropping the moment I approached the desk. 

It dropped further as the Events Manager, talking embarassedly to a spot over my left shoulder, said that under new policy, they were not doing book signings as they used to. An ice sheet began to form as she explained that now I'd have to apply via email. A woolly mammoth wondered past as she said I might be allowed, as I am stocked by the chain, and a 'known' local writer. But it would be time limited and 'managed'.

It appears that the relationship has generally soured because writers have been seen approaching customers, and talking about their books, like literary chuggers. Can't have that! Worse, a few writers have purportedly been rude to people, and there have been complaints. Really? I find this hard to believe. Most writers I know are self-effacing, low profile individuals. I suspect the complainees were probably friends of rival writers, sent in to cause trouble: a clear example of sock-customers

In the olden days when it used to be Waterstone's (with apostrophe) local writers were encouraged to come in, sell and sign. I began my writing career with a very small, non-mainstream stocked publisher, signing in big chains, and the numerous small independent bookshops that existed back then. Indeed, in Waterstone's, there was a special shelf for local writers. I was on that shelf, and proud to be so. It is not there any more. 

When Daunt took over, he promised an end to publishers paying for premium positioning, central buying, and the ubiquitous bogof tables. He promised stores would be given more autonomy. It appears that a U-turn has happened. I've been told of writers with new books out,who've had some signing events cancelled. The quirkiness and integrity of a truly local bookshop has been kicked over a cliff. And this time, there are no small local bookshops to provide an alternative.

Look, I am too old and creaky to chain myself to Waterstones' railings and stage a one woman writer protest, and I do not ask others to do what I am not prepared to do myself.

So this is what I'm suggesting: If you are a writer, or a reader, or a customer of some sort, go into your local Waterstones. Politely point out the unfairness of the change in events policy which discriminates in favour of already stocked, and established writers.

Point out the demoralizing effect of closing the doors on some for whom writing is a passion they are no longer allowed to share publicly. If you mention, politely, your disquiet, I'm hoping it will give the staff some leverage; I got the distinct impression they were not happy over this top-down imposition either.

I believe that bookshops should be vibrant, exciting places, where all writers ought to be welcome to share their work. I believe that books do not come out of a cardboard box labelled stock, or in a package with an Amazon label stuck to the front; books come from the minds and emotions and hearts of their authors. 

If you also believe this, please go into Waterstones, and tell them.

*I have started a small 'Tell Waterstones' Twitter campaign. I am Tweeting ''Your events policy is unfair. Please re-consider'' + blog link to @Waterstones. Every time a store tweets a promo, I tweet them the link too, because the promo includes the Twitter link to the (well-known) and welcomed author. I'd love them to share some of your experiences. No writer is an Island! *

The PINK SOFA welcomes: Cara Cooper

Cara Cooper

The PINK SOFA has been brushed clean of cake crumbs, bits of novel, and the odd cat. Now it is ready to host its first guest: the lovely Cara Cooper. Cara is a member of the RNA and the Crime Writers Association; she writes heart-warming novels, the sort that make you smile and go 'Aaahh' on the last page.

 I really enjoyed The Sanctuary, and recommend it highly - not only for the story, but for the luscious descriptions of food. I guarantee you will end the book with a tear in your eye and a craving for crab sandwiches!

 I first met Cara online when I started blogging, and trying to inch my way slowly into the writing community. Cara welcomed me, befriended me, and supported me in those early days, which she is still doing. She loves dancing, and those of us who follow her blog are frequently entertained by stories of her dances, and her life in London.

 But recently, Cara's writing has taken a different turn. Here, she shares it with us. Over to you, Cara:

''Lately, I have turned to crime! Writing that is, not committing it. I wrote a cosy crime/romance novel some while ago which My Weekly published as a pocket novel called Take a Chance. It will hopefully be shortly published as an e-book by Astraea Press.
It was my take on a classic country house mystery with Lady Margrave as the enigmatic lady of the manor. Marie is the heroine, a newcomer plunged into an exciting but potentially dangerous world.

The gardener and a detective who comes to solve the thefts of precious antiques at the house are the men vying for her affection. I am at present working on another. This one is a little more gritty and as inspiration I have been watching the 'Murder She Wrote' series on TV. It was one of the most successful and long-running TV shows in history, with close to 23 million viewers in its prime, and was a staple Sunday night lineup for a decade.

Cara's latest novel

Some of the story lines were ingenious and the characterisation always good with the wise novel-writing television detective played by Angela Lansbury. That got me thinking about well loved TV detectives and what makes them interesting, compelling, memorable characters. I shall definitely think of these when I am writing my new cosy crime, with an amateur sleuth I hope I may develop to have her own series of books.

Sherlock Holmes: very intelligent, almost a genius, fearless, brave, pipe deerstalker.
Colombo: Observant, worldly wise, fools people into thinking he is harmless when he is in fact on the ball. Cigar, raincoat.
Miss Marple: Nosy (or if we are going to be nice,inquisitive), appeared to be nothing more than an innocent little old lady, observant, handbag, twinset and pearls.
Wallander: Family man, tenacious and sees things though to the end, wise, very good to his subordinates.
Jack Frost: Wry humour, slight deathwish so doesn't care about his own safety, probably because his wife is dead. Doesn't look after himself, modest (embarrassed by his medal for bravery), disillusioned with life, so presumes the worst of people, but compassionate, trilby hat, raincoat.
Morse: Highly intelligent, pushes the boundaries, suspicious of authority, Jaguar car, classical music, Oxford connection, unlucky in love.

What do you think? Do you have any favourite sleuths, amateur or otherwise who I have missed, and what makes them memorable?''

Cara is published by Xcite (Healing Love and Safe Harbour). her novel The Sanctuary is published by Astraea. Her novels are also available as e-books and all can be bought via Amazon. 
Cara's blog is at: http://caracoopers.blogspot.com

Dude, where's my narrative gone?

So ... why does everybody nowadays start their sentences with 'So'?  I haven't a clue. I'm afraid I have taken to jumping in with: 'a needle pulling thread' every time they do, though. I find it irritates them a lot, and as I head slowly and inexorably towards the tunnel at the end of the light, irritating people is becoming a bit of a lifestyle choice.

But back to the Victorian novel. You remember the Victorian novel? The one my agent said had waayy too many plots and characters to make it worth sending out. (Did Dickens' agent ever admonish him for having a plot'n'character surfeit? I think not.)

Anyway while you, gentle blog reader had forgotten all about the Victorian novel, it has been quietly festering away on a back burner, to mix metaphors. Two minor plots were summarily removed, even though it meant shedding some amusing sub-characters that I thought were rather well-written, but hey, what do I know, I'm just the author.

And there has been some serious editorial BDSM. Paragraphs have been whipped into shape. Ruthless control and domination has been exerted. Cutting and slashing has been the order of the day, all culminating in eleven thousand words lying gasping and panting on the Red Pen Floor of Pain, or wherever words go when you press the delete key. 

At one point, I did begin to wonder whether I was on the cusp of invent a brand new literary genre: The Postit novel -  for readers with absolutely no interest in reading. 

And then, just when I was congratulating myself on some fine, if drastic reduction, it happened: a whole new sub-plot suddenly emerged. Honestly guv, never saw it coming; would I lie to you? 

It was like that record of Sparky's Magic Piano, if anyone remembers it. (For those who don't: there was this boy called Sparky who had a magic piano that played itself, but everyone thought it was him. Eventually, the piano took over completely, and it all went horribly pear-shaped.)

So (used correctly) this is where we are at: I'm trying to cut things out, but at every turn new plots are springing up all over the place and fresh characters are creeping out of the undergrowth and for whatever reason, I seem utterly powerless to stop it happening. The more I edit, the more the text sprouts new bits, like some literary Hydra.

Please could someone out there call the Plot Police - my novel is committing crimes against narrative!


Next blog: Another fine guest will be joining me to talk about their life and writing. Stay reading.

My Lovely Blog Award

A Lovely Award for My Blog

Thank you to Juliet Greenwood author of 'Eden's Garden' for nominating me for this lovely blog award.

The Rules for this Award  are as follows: 

1.Thank the person nominating you for the award:

Once again, many thanks to Juliet for not only nominating this very 'young' blog, but also for being a warm, supportive, helpful and encouraging writer-friend on my journey. Check out Juliet's books, and her exquisitely beautiful author site at: http://Juliet Greenwood.wordpresss.com/ It is like walking into the cool green countryside.

2. List TEN things about yourself:

And

3. Nominate SIX blogs that you think deserve the Kreativ Blogger Award

So:

The Grand Canal

1. My favourite place in the world is Venice

Magnus, my Roman Snail

2. I belong to the Conchological Society of Great Britain: my area of expertise is Helix Pomatia (Roman Snails). I have 2 in my garden.

Don't do this at home!

3. In February, at the age of 61, I had my first tattoo: I have the words: Be not afeard  on the inside of my right arm. These words are spoken by Caliban in 'The Tempest'. I had the tattoo done 'live' on air on the BBC Radio 4 PM programme as part of their 'Leap for Leap Year' listener project.


4. All my father's family, except for one brother, perished in the Holocaust.

5. My pink 1988 customized Citroen car is called Annie-Rose. I am a member of 2CVGB. I show Annie-Rose at car meets.

6. In 1966, age 16, I helped organise an anti Vietnam War demonstration in my home town. As a result, I was on the American Embassy blacklist for many years.

A sunbathing flute

7. I play the flute, rather badly. I failed my Grade 8 flute exam by 1 mark!





8. I have an allotment in my back garden. I grow lots of Charlotte potatoes.

Yummy Charlottes

9. When I was 47, I went back to university and re-trained as a secondary school English teacher. I was the oldest student in my cohort.


10. In my spare time (!) I  make patchwork
 quilts.

A Sampler quilt

Finally:

My 6 nominees for their amazing, creative, inspirational blogs are:

Nikki Goodman: http://nikkigoodman.wordpress.com


Cara Cooper: http://caracoopers.blogspot.com

Chris Hill: http://songoftheseagod.wordpress.com

Sheryl Browne: http://sheryls-ramblings.blogspot.co.uk

Mandy K James: http://mandykjameswriter.blogspot.com

Kate Hardy: http://katehardy.blogspot.com

The Day I Became an Alien

Imagine the picture: I'm hanging at the bus stop with my crew: Jo, Mo, Flo* and Allan**. We are the Free Bus Pass Gang; twice a week we gather at 9.35am to wait for the 657 bus to take us into town. (It used to be the 620, but Uno, the bus company, recently changed it to the 657 and now it comes 8 minutes later. No, don't ask, because we don't know either.)


The crew are OK about the fact that I write letters to the local paper; they all know I am the Chair of a community action group, that is trying to stop the local town council from selling our urban green space to a developer. Thus I fire off a lot of what I like to think of as wry, witty, urbanely Swiftian epistles, which always get published in our local paper.


This is because the editor knows my stuff will generate rude responses from people with humorectomies and irony bypasses, who live in the posh bits of town, and see no reason why our urban green space shouldn't be covered in tarmac and Tesco School of Architecture housing because, hey, it isn't their urban green space. Over the years I've  developed quite a following, and am apparently referred to colloquially, and locally as 'that redhead who writes those letters'.

But the crew also know that there is a darker, more perplexing side to what I do, known as 'The Writing', words usually uttered in the same cautious tone of voice that one might use for other words, like 'shark' or 'cockroach'. Thus it is that Jo eventually plucks up courage and asks, 'How's The Writing going then, Carol?'

And that's when it happens. Without even thinking, I sigh deeply, roll my eyes and say: 'Last week, I lost all my toolbar widgets! And Google spammed my blog and I had to go into a chat room and talk to a Techie, and then I had to download Chrome to sort it out.'

There follows a long silence, that hangs around in the air in the way that bricks don't. The crew study the ground carefully. Then Flo murmurs, 'Didn't understand a word of that, sorry.' And Allan agrees. And Jo and Mo step away from me, as if I might infect them with whatever I've got. And then, thankfully, the bus arrives. We scramble on board, showing our passes to the cheerful Polish driver.

Nobody sits next to me, all the way into town.



* Names changed to protect identity.
** This is his real name.

Coffee with Carol, Tea with Jane

Juliet Archer

Juliet Archer and I go way back. We first met as dinner ladies at our children's primary school. Then hooked up again when I tutored her son for his A level English. Juliet writes witty modern novels based on Jane Austen plots. Her two books: The Importance of Being Emma and Persuade Me are published by Choc Lit and have received rave reviews and won several prestigious awards.

Persuade Me

Readers of this blog will know that Juliet always leaves a comment - even when I started out blogging, and she was the only one to do so. That is what she's like. If you have not sampled her books, I recommend that you read them. 
A prior knowledge of Jane Austen is not necessary, but does add to the enjoyment. Beloved Husband, who NEVER reads 'romance' (but loves Jane Austen) devoured The Importance of Being Emma. That's how good she is!

The Importance of being Emma

Juliet has chosen to tell you about what we get up to on the Saturdays we meet in town: 

''We meet in the usual coffee shop where, if Carol doesn't know the waitress already, she will do by the time we've ordered. She has a double espresso; I opt for a normal coffee with hot milk, wondering if there is such a thing as 'normal' in these Costabucks' times.

From then on, we share. Toasted teacake, warm and buttery, divided between two plates; family news - particularly our children, now officially adults and moving swiftly through various life stages, and writing: a broad discussion from guest blogs to letters in the local paper and work in progress.

Carol is a shining example of 'Never say never'. A successful children's author, she could have accepted her fate - the widespread culling of  publishing contracts has particularly affected her genre - and resigned herself to a glorious past. Instead, she is taking control of her publishing future and reinventing herself online.

Later, at home, I sit down to tea with Jane. Or rather I drink tea, while Jane (as in Austen) provides food for thought on several levels. First, because I am bringing her six published novels bang up to date, in a series called 'Darcy & Friends'; second, I always learn something from her writing, and finally, she is such good company - like an old friend.

I'm climbing on an already crowded bandwagon: Jane's fame has grown rapidly in the last few decades, assisted by wet shirts and tight breeches, and there's no end in sight to the proliferation of prequels, sequels, modernisations and what-ifs. But this is currently where I find my writing inspiration, and I hope I'm adding something original with fresh, 21st century insights into the hearts and minds of her irresistible heroes.

Coffee with Carol, tea with Jane. Time well spent.''

Juliet can be found at www.julietarcher.com. Tweet her @julietarcher or friend her on Facebook

Ebook Virgin At Large!

OK, so I was going to have a proper online Facebook Launch Party. You know the sort of thing: you get an invite, you accept, and then at a specified time, you rock up online and wonder where all the cake is and who drank the sparkly white wine.

Only, here on what I like to think off as Planet Stupid, it didn't quite happen like that. Instead, I got a text message from Talented Daughter early on the Saturday morning after we'd uploaded Jigsaw Pieces saying 'Your book's on Amazon. Just downloaded a copy.' Bit of a shock, as I thought it would take a couple of days.

This was followed by a second text message: 'I've put it on my Facebook page, and sent the link to yours. Going back to bed.' So that was it. Not so much a launch, more of an escape. After I'd got over the shock, I checked, in case she'd made some sort of mistake, easy thing to do at 8am on a Saturday morning, but no, there it was. 

And when I checked my Facebook page, there it was again. And someone else had downloaded a copy. Which meant that in the space of 6 minutes, I'd made enough money to buy ... ooh, half a small espresso. Which was very exciting.

And the excitement just kept on coming. I tagged Jigsaw Pieces - actually, I put in so many tags that I might just as well have copied out the whole plot into the tag box. I think the only thing I didn't tag it under was 'fairies', although I could have got that wrong.

Following on from that, several kind members of the writing community generously stepped up to the publicity plate, and are recklessly closing their eyes and letting me loose on their author sites, thus saving me from issuing one of those sad ads you see at the back of newspapers: 

Ebook Publicity Virgin 62, GSOH, and cake, needs help, advice, and guest blogs. All offers gratefully accepted.


To you (you know who you are) I say a massive 'thanks'. To everyone else, I say: please check the sad ad! Better still, download Jigsaw Pieces and read it for yourself, because as you can see, I am to self-promotion what fish are to cycling. Proof: I have reached the end of another blog without telling you anything constructive about the story, like who Billy Dunne really was, and how I became, temporarily, a World War 1 poet. Another time, I promise

Meanwhile my series of Great Guest Blogs continues with my very good friend, writer Juliet Archer. Do not miss her!

The Ebook has Landed

''This year Amazon has launched the technology to ensure that self-publishing a novel is now only marginally more complex than uploading a Facebook update.'' (Good Housekeeping, Sept 2012 pg.63)

Pain comes in many forms. There is physical pain, mental pain, emotional pain. To which let me now add another category: Amazonal pain. Yes, we (Designer Dave and I) did it. We finally uploaded Jigsaw Pieces. My very first ebook. Ta-daa, roll of drums, waving sparklers in the air, but boy was it tough.
Very, very tough.

So bad did things get, that at one point we found ourselves transferring my entire Google account, including my password, to DD's email address. We do not know why we did this. It had no relevance whatsoever to uploading the book to Amazon. Looking back, with the benefit of hindsight, I can only put it down to the red mist of madness that descended upon us over the two days it took to achieve upload.

Yes, of course it goes without saying that the writing community rallied round and tried to help. It gathered outside our cage and tossed virtual buns through the bars. We needed to download this platform; we ought to file everything here. Or there. Or somewhere completely different. We needed to indent by a certain specified amount of pixels.

Ah, the pixels. They were a thorough nuisance from the start. I ended up envisaging them as small malevolent wispy things in pointed hats and curly ankle boots. Not sure why they were there, or what exactly they were about, but apparently without a sufficient number of them, nothing could go forward. They appeared to be the digital equivalent of the Lib Dems.

The trouble was that, helpful as all these suggestions were, as was all the stuff we downloaded from various sites, they could not fix the primary problem, which was, in a word: us. Two picky perfectionists determined to bend a second-rate system to our exacting requirements.

So have we finally done it? We think so. You will be the ultimate arbiters of course. One caveat: if you use the cheap version of Kindle, the title and author is slightly offcentre. PLEASE don't tell us. Similarly if you find anything else amiss. Family members and pets have only just emerged from their hiding places, and I am relearning how to use words of more than one syllable.

Sadly, I now realise I have got to the end of this blog post and have not told you a single thing about the actual story. Nor any of the amazing stories behind the story. Another blog, I promise. Meanwhile, why not download Jigsaw Pieces and read it for yourself. It will make all our pain worthwhile.

Sue Moorcroft is my guest

Sue Moorcrof: A  pensive moment

Sue Moorcroft is somewhat of a polymath (no, not a mathematical parrot!) She is a writer of short stories, a novelist, a teacher of creative writing and article writer. She also writes a regular Formula 1 column and is judge for Writers' Forum. Sue is a Katie Fforde Bursary Award winner. 


She is also a really good self-publicist, which is no bad thing. Hearing that I was offering guest blogs to other writers, Sue seized the opportunity of a lifetime to favour us all with her witty observations on life. Her blog is entitled: Ten ways to cheer me up.
Take it away, Sue:


1. Ask for a multitude of copy documents. Insist you haven't received them and ask for them again. Then ring back and say you have them all - hooray! You don't even have to apologise. If you have them, I forgive you.


2. Arrive to fit my carpets, on time and with everything you need. Make a lovely job of it. Don't mark my walls.

One drink good; two drinks better

3. When I advise you of my holiday dates, hold back all the work you have for me so I have the illusion of being able to relax whilst I'm away.


4. Reply to my emails, especially anxious ones, promptly - even if you're trying to take six weeks off over the summer.


5. If you're a weather forecaster, tell me that the sun is coming. Be right.


6. If I save up for something special, ensure that it works when I get it home.


7. tell me that you have read all of my books and you didn't buy them second-hand.


8. Tell me you enjoyed my books and are buying them for all your friends for every birthday and Christmas,. (or that you've mentioned them to your movie producer friend and he wants to make them into films. That's good too.)


9. Bring a bottle of ice-cold pinot grigio and tell me funny stories in the sunshine when we drink it.


10. Love my favourite authors as much as I do.


Sue can be found at www.suemoorcrft.com. She blogs at http://suemoorcroft.wordpress.com/ Friend her on Facebook or follow her on Twitter.