10% Discount On Sue Moorcroft Course At Chez Castillon

Those lovely people at Chez Castillon are now offering a last minute booking discount of 10% on their upcoming course with Sue Moorcroft. Details are below.

Writing Fiction with Sue Moorcroft

Saturday 15th June – Friday 21st June 2013

Uncover the secrets of page-turning in a five-day hands-on workshop.

Chez Castillon, Castillon-la-Bataille, France

£875 per person, all inclusive. 

(Special rates are also available for retreats. Enquire for details.)

You can find out more about Chez Castillon, and the full programme for the year, here. http://chez-castillon.com/

New Crime Writing Blog

The lovely Adrian Magson has just started a new blog and you can see it here.(It's called Writers Reign ... think about it ...)

Adrian is the very talented writer of the Harry Tate and Lucas Rocco books. So if you're interested in spies, crime, murder and other exciting goings on then this is the place for you.

You can also find short stories, information about writing generally and much more.

So pop over and have a look!

Fabulous Courses at Chez Castillon This Summer

Look at that swimming pool! Can't you just see yourself lounging next to it with a G&T in your hand after an inspiring day of writing?

You can? Excellent!

I'm very pleased to be able to tell you about some courses, with amazing tutors, coming up at Chez Castillon this summer.

Having been out there last year, I can vouch for how wonderful the place is.

Writing Fiction with Sue Moorcroft

Saturday 15th June – Friday 21st June 2013

Uncover the secrets of page-turning in a five-day hands-on workshop.

Unlock Your Inner Writer with Rowan Coleman

Saturday 27th July – Friday 2nd August 2013

An inspirational course to give you the skills to release your creativity, originate ideas, learn to structure and craft your writing.

Chez Castillon is in Castillon-la-Bataille in a very beautiful area of France near to Bordeaux and Bergerac.

The cost is £875 per person, and as well as the top-class tuition, it includes all the food you can eat and all the wine you can drink. Seriously!

And as if all that wasn't enough, I'm planning to go along to Rowan's course myself. We are intending to have *a lot* of fun,

You can find out more about Chez Castillon, and the full programme for the year, here. http://chez-castillon.com/

Do you want to write ghost stories?

Ghost Stories and How to Write Them

by Kathleen McGurl


If you've ever thought about writing ghost stories for women's magazines, this book is a 'must have'. My friend Kath McGurl (also known as Womagwriter) has a really strong track record of having ghost stories published in magazines like Take A Break Fiction Feast, and here she shares some of her secrets.

The book is a great mix of stories and commentary which between them will give you all the tools you need to give it a go yourself.

Written in a chatty no-nonsense style, this book is highly recommended.



You can buy the book for Kindle here.

The Drowning Of Arthur Braxton

 

The Drowning of Arthur Braxton

By Caroline Smailes

I had a sneak preview of this book a few weeks ago (thank you, Caroline!) and I totally loved it. It’s taken me a while to get round to doing a review – mainly because I was worried about not doing it justice. Because this is a fabulous book, and just like Caroline’s previous novels it has a spirit and an essence that are both unique and beautiful.

Inextricably combined in this story are a wonderful sense of place, and some amazing characters. It really is like entering into another a world, a world that won’t let you go until it has finished telling you what it wants you to know.

To cover place first, the setting is inspired by the Victoria Baths in Manchester, but Caroline has moved them to North Wales! The swimming bath setting adds to the novel on a number of levels. Firstly it provides the water (real or unreal) that drives a lot of the narrative and is symbolic of transformation, redemption and healing, but the building also holds the characters in a kind of cocoon making incursions from the outside world seem more significant. (You can read a note from Caroline about the real Victoria Baths right at the end of the book.)

I also love the little snippets of ‘real life’ news and weather forecasts that intersperse the chapters, like this:

‘Flintshire, Wrexham, Denbighshire, the Wirral and Greater Manchester are also subject to heavy rain warnings. With this level of rainfall continuing throughout today and condi­tions expected to worsen, the Met Office said it would be likely to extend its warnings into next week. So, looks like we best get building our arks. And back to the studio . . .’

They ground the narrative to the real world, whilst at the same time, making it more other-worldly.

Arthur Braxton is a likeable character and easy to empathise with. Choosing an adolescent male voice with which to narrate was a bold move, but it really pays off and Arthur’s world of FaceBook mishaps and family misery feel very authentic. And as he is sucked more deeply into the world of the baths and its inhabitants, we experience all the associated sensations and emotions with him.

For me though, the voice of Laurel, the female character who begins to narrate the book is equally strong and in many ways it feels like it’s as much her story as it is Arthur’s. In fact, the balance between the two main points of view proves ultimately both effective and heartbreaking.

If you’ve read any of Caroline’s previous books you’ll know to expect beautiful use of language, a unique world view and a moving emotional journey. If you haven’t, come to it fresh and prepare to be blown away!

You can read my reviews of Caroline’s previous books here.

Black Boxes

Like Bees To Honey 

You can buy The Drowning Of Arthur Braxton here.

Agent Hunter

I’ve recently been given the opportunity to try out Agent Hunter a brilliant new site aimed at people looking for a literary agent.

If you’re currently on the lookout for an agent to represent you, this site could be exactly what you’re looking for. Agent Hunter is a comprehensive database of literary agents working in the UK and I’ve been having a little look around to see how useful it is.

I’m really impressed with it so far. It’s very user friendly and has a clear and attractive layout. You can just use the database to browse different agents, but where it scores most highly over book-based resources is in its searchability.

You can search agents by genre represented – essential if you want to avoid submitting your work to completely the wrong person! But you can also refine your search to look at how long an agent has been operating, how many people they represent and whether they are actively taking on new clients or not.

You can even use keywords to search for things such as an agent’s likes and dislikes, and who they represent. All of this is really useful information when trying to find and agent who is exactly the right fit for your work.

When you go into the individual entry for each agent, you’ll find a wealth of really specific information about them, about what they enjoy readig and what they might be looking for. Far more information than I’ve seen in any other agent listing.

I think Agent Hunter is a fabulous resource for anyone who has got to the stage of wanting to do serious research on agents and make an informed decision about who to go with.

You can find the Agent Hunter site here. 

Subscription to the site is £12 for a year, which is an absolute bargain! But you can try before you buy for 7 days if you want to find out if it’s really for you.

Agent Hunter comes from The Writers’ Workshop and you can find out more about them here. 

Many thanks to The Writers’ Workshop for the opportunity to try out and review this product.

Day Retreat For Writers

For anyone who hasn't already seen this on my website ...

Come and spend a day with fellow writers being inspired, exercising your writing skills and sharing your work in a supportive atmosphere.

The retreat will be held at Delapre Abbey in Northampton on Saturday 4 May from 10.30am to 4pm. The cost will be £35 including refreshments.

Sessions will include …
Ideas are everywhere – an interactive session focussed on sourcing ideas and making them work.
Free writing session. Take one of your new ideas and start turning it into a story.
Question and answer session. Group discussion of markets, subbing, other directions for your writing, or anything else.
A chance to read out work and get feedback. You can read out what you wrote earlier, or bring something along with you to read out if you prefer.
What next? Goal setting and any final questions.

If you have any queries, or to request a booking form, email me via my profile page, or leave a comment below.