Feb

6

Mrs Darcy, Episode Fifteen

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And after the frivolities of Episode Fourteen, things are about to get a whole lot darker, not to say gruesome. Best not to read this one on a full stomach is all I’ll say.

I had a thoroughly bizarre experience yesterday on Twitter when I was exchanging tweets from the @RealMrsDarcy account with a lady who was adopting the persona of Mr Bennet for the day. Think about that for a moment. This is the kind of thing that will probably send me over the edge eventually. If I start babbling, let me know. Meanwhile, @RealMrsDarcy is keen to attract new followers – do join in!

Feb

3

Mrs Darcy, Episode Fourteen

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Ah. This is my homage to the work of the late, great Barry Took and Marty Feldman (yes, that Marty Feldman) who were the writers for “Round the Horne”, my favourite radio programme when I was a young lad. I used to love the verbal interplay of those Kenneth Williams / Hugh Paddick “Julian and Sandy” sketches particularly, without having the faintest clue as to what was going on. Ah, such innocence.

What is remarkable is the extent to which “Round the Horne” is still as funny now as it was then (check it out for yourself if you don’t believe me), unlike (say) “I’m Sorry I’ll Read That Again”, which to my mind has seriously dated. What is equally remarkable is some of the stuff that Took and Feldman managed to get away with in the post-Sunday lunch slot on the BBC in the mid-sixties; one of their characters was a pop singer in a band called The Pubes, for heaven’s sake – how did that sneak through?

I was inspired to write this episode after looking at a book of Napoleonic War costumes. Have you ever looked at one? It must have been the campest war in history. The toughest fighting men in Europe facing each other across the battlefield, each and every one determined to look absolutely lovely. You don’t see that these days, more’s the pity.

Anyway, excuses for self-indulgence over. Here’s the link. Oh, and I’ve tinkered around with the site to improve the navigation, because – as was pointed out to me by at least one recent new reader – it was very difficult to find your way around it.

(A brief footnote: after reading the first fifteen or so episodes, the only comment that Mrs P made to me was that a cuirassier wouldn’t actually wear a bicorn. But, frankly, I think he should have done.)

Feb

1

“Short Circuit” Review and Interview

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1844712931book.qxd I don’t usually do reviews of other people’s books here, or indeed interviews. This place was always intended to be a vehicle for my own ego, after all. However, when the opportunity came up to join Vanessa Gebbie’s promotional blog tour for “Short Circuit”, I was very keen to get involved. The next problem was what form this should take, as by now most of the sensible interview questions have already been asked on other blogs. So what we’ve gone for instead is a combination of review and interview-ette – a bit like those keynote CD reviews that you see in Mojo. If you read Mojo, that is. Anyway, here goes.

What I like about “Short Circuit” (subtitled “A Guide to the Art of the Short Story”) is that it’s a book for grown-ups. It assumes that we know the “rules” and that we’re ready to move on to the next stage. So, for example, there is (as far as I can remember) no mention of the – admittedly generally useful – “Show, not tell” rule. This is good news for those wishing to imitate, say, the work of A.C.Tillyer; I’m currently reading “An A to Z of Possible Worlds”, which technically speaking is almost 100% “tell”, but which works superbly because the style is entirely appropriate to the stories. (It’s also a lovely artifact in its own right, and a wonderful counter to the onslaught of the e-book. Buy one now, before they run out.)

When I first started writing short stories seriously, I took to examining the names of the people who got listed in various competitions, and I used to track down stuff that they’d written to see what I could learn from them. One of them, of course, was Vanessa Gebbie herself, who seemed to be everywhere. She still is, of course, and she must have been a shoo-in for the role of editor of this book. But many of the other writers that I came across are in there as well – people like Alex Keegan (whose notorious Bootcamp I dropped in on as a visitor for their “Children in Need” extravaganza back in 2007) and Tania Hershman. If I’d had this book back then, I probably would have saved myself quite a bit of time. So perhaps that’s why it’s called “Short Circuit”.

Each chapter in the main part of the book is written by a different author and analyses one aspect of short story writing, such as the importance of theme (Keegan) or setting (Chika Unigwe). So in that sense it does appear to be a text book in the traditional sense of the term. But scratch a little deeper, and it’s really more a series of profound insights into the writing processes of some of the best short-form writers around. And in the end, that can tell you more about writing good short stories than any by-the-numbers text book.

So will this book teach you how to write a short story? No. The only way to learn how to write short stories is to write them. Loads of them. And then get them savaged by someone you trust. And then re-write them. And get them savaged again. And so on. But “Short Circuit” will give you loads of invaluable advice as to how to write better and more ambitious stories: stories that stand out from the herd.

And finally, I’m extremely grateful to the book for introducing me to the work of David Gaffney, whose “Sawn-off Tales” is an absolute delight.

And now a few words with Vanessa …

First of all, Vanessa, many thanks for dropping in here on your blog tour. I guess the question that I’d like to ask most of all is why you think the world needs this book.

Jon, I’m deeelighted you found the book so good. And equally deeelighted you’ve discovered the amazing David Gaffney!

Short Circuit isn’t anything to do with short cuts, and I wonder how many writers pick up ‘how-to’ books thinking they can cut a few corners?

Short Circuit is about the necessary hard work you have to do if you want to write well, but focussed hard work, with a few insights to save you some elephant traps. Its nothing if not honest, including the fact that there are a hundred different ways to skin a cat, and your creativity and mine may not work the same way!  But craft – there’s another matter. Craft is something solid, grounding.

And that’s why the world needs this book, (she said arrogantly…) because so many of them TELL you how to do things, so says the writer who wrote it. Not many do what this does – its more like sitting down with 24 different  successful and lovely people, who just want to share, in their own words, and in their own way.

Do you think that it will have any impact on the quality of short fiction being produced over the next few years? And will that help in the process of educating the general public to read more of it?

I hope so! If more and more budding writers can discover a passion for the form, and seek to do it well, that can only be a good thing, however they come to it. But they have to be stories that reach the reader, don’t they? Loads of people are switched off by the words ‘literary fiction’, for example. And lots of ‘literary’ buffs turn their noses up at erotica, for example, or chick lit, or horror, sci-fi, the genres.  So – Short Circuit is not actually about ‘literary fiction’ so much as ‘good fiction’ irrespective of genre. I don’t see the point of doing anything unless you do it to the best of your ability, thanks to my late Mum, who always said ‘if a thing’s worth doing it’s worth doing well.’

You’re going to be running a workshop at the forthcoming Get Writing conference organised by the Verulam Writers’ Circle on February 20th. Can you say a little about what you’re going to be doing there?

I am so looking forward to coming to Get Writing 2010!  It will be a packed session – so anyone who’s coming had better practice writing fast. I hope to answer a few questions, such as, “What makes a winning story?” “What makes a story stand out in a slush pile?” “How can you write when you feel blocked?” “What strategies can you discover to release MORE creative buzz?” “What is the flash writing process?”  These and more, plus questions from the floor, of course – so get those ready!

Thanks very much to Vanessa for taking the time to answer those questions. Short Circuit is available direct from Salt Publishing here (as is Vanessa’s excellent book of short stories, “Words from a Glass Bubble“, along with many other superb collections by authors featured in “Short Circuit”). You can book tickets for Get Writing here (and if you come, do say hi to me – I’m the tall awkward-looking one with the beard).

Jan

30

Thaumatrope

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thaumatropeYesterday I was really pleased to hear that I’d had a piece of TwitFic accepted by Thaumatrope and here it is, published on their Twitter stream today. I was particularly pleased to hear about this one, because Thaumatrope were closed to submissions when I first joined Twitter, and they’ve only just re-opened. It’s also one of my favourite pieces of TwitFic that I’ve written to date. (And I got paid $1.20 for it – which is pro rate!)

So that’s six of the major TwitFic markets cracked now (@escarp,@outshine, @seedpod,  @tweetthemeat, @thaumatrope and @7×20). However, at the time of writing, @nanoism and @picfic have yet to yield …

Jan

30

Mrs Darcy, Episode Thirteen

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… in which Wickham has a change of plan forced on him, is now published. There are some exciting twists and revelations ahead as the story really starts to get into its stride. Perceptive readers may also discern something with a vague resemblance to a plot beginning to develop.

In other news, twitterers should also keep an eye on @thaumatrope today. Just saying, y’know?

Jan

27

Mrs Darcy, Episode Twelve

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Running around like a loon at the moment, so no time to blog about much at all except the fact that Episode Twelve, with the disturbing title “Naked and Ashamed” has now gone live. But there’s something even more interesting coming up next Monday, when this blog hosts its first review and its first interview, all in the same post. Can you contain yourselves?

In the meantime, here’s that Mrs Darcy episode. (Quite pleased that the stats last weekend showed a 50% increase in the audience. Now if we could achieve that every weekend, we’d really be on to something …)

Jan

23

Mrs Darcy, Episode Eleven

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Good Lord, are we up to Episode Eleven already? Not a lot to say about this one, apart from the fact that I am quite proud of the punchline, which emerged completely out of the blue when I was frantically trying to work out a way to end the episode. It’s nice when that happens.

Jan

22

The Best of Every Day Fiction Two

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EDF2009_small Yippee! The anthology from the second year of Every Day Fiction has now been published, including two of my stories, “Mirror, Mirror” and “Opening the Box”. I’m really looking forward to reading it, as there’s still something better about reading a story in a print anthology as opposed to looking at a one on a computer screen, even for a story of under 1000 words. And if you don’t happen to like the one you’re currently reading, there are 99 more in there. What I really like about EDF is their “anything goes as long as it’s good” attitude, which means zombie stories and literary ones in the same book. What’s not to like?

And the other thing that I really like about EDF is that their Managing Editor, Camille Gooderham Campbell, outed herself yesterday on the EDF forum as a fan of Mrs Darcy vs The Aliens. But then, who wouldn’t?

You can order copies of “The Best of Every Day Fiction Two” here.

Jan

20

Mrs Darcy, Episode Ten

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… is now published. This one ends on a bit of a bombshell. Sorry, ladies. Had to happen. But do keep reading – there are twists and turns a-plenty ahead.

Fans of Mrs Darcy may also be interested in Dave Weaver’s somewhat abbreviated version of Pride and Prejudice, here. Whilst you’re there, do take a look at his new blog and tell him I sent you.

Jan

19

Vestal Review

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Well, I’d completely forgotten about this one. Some time back, the highly prestigious Vestal Review put out a call for a new feature entitled Dirty Dozen. The requirement was for pieces of exactly twelve words in length with a slightly risqué theme. So I sent one, entitled “Opposites”, and I found out today that it has been accepted and published. I’m rather pleased about this because I’m guessing that – it being Vestal Review – they must have got quite a few submissions. Not only that, but it will also appear in the next print edition.

However, I do have this nagging feeling that this nano stuff is all very well, but I really should be getting some longer pieces out there …

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