About this Site
My name's Jonathan Pinnock. I lead a dual life. In one half of this, I run a software development company called Jonathan Pinnock and Associates. If you've come here looking for that, here's where you need to go.However, if you've come here to find out about the other half of my life, as a writer of fiction and non-fiction, you've come to the right place.
If, on the other hand, you've arrived here by accident whilst searching for Japanese Tentacle Porn, I suggest you try using a different search engine.
If you'd like to contact me, my e-mail address is jon AT jpassoc DOT co DOT uk.
Books
Mrs Darcy versus the Aliens was published by Proxima Books in September 2011.
The Scott Prize-winning short story collection Dot(.), Dash(-) will be published by Salt in 2012.
Oct
2
Blog Tour Extra!
Filed Under Interviews, Mrs Darcy | 2 Comments
A very quick post on my return from an exhausting but entertaining FantasyCon to link to a couple of blog tour extras. First of all, this comprehensive and rather splendid feature by Sandra Norval appeared on the Fantasy Faction site on Friday.
And secondly, I made an appearance on the awesomely talented Sarah Salway’s blog on Saturday. Sarah is a wonderful writer and I have her to blame for me accidentally going all the way to Reading instead of Paddington on my way back from a Firestation Bookswap once because I was so totally absorbed in reading her fabulous book of short stories, “Leading the Dance” (which, incidentally, is now available again, so you have no excuse any more for not possessing a copy).
And that picture is of the shop window of Waterstone’s in Brighton. Many thanks to the lovely Sara Crowley for making it happen.
Oct
1
I’ve spent the last month as a virtual hobo, living out of a suitcase as I’ve travelled the interweb touting my wares (and in fact I’m still on the road as I write). However, it’s time to offer my premises to another lonely author pounding the mean streets of promo: Steve Stack.
Steve has just brought out his second non-fiction book, “21st Century Dodos”, and I have to say that from what I’ve read of it so far it is pretty ace – an excellent choice for your loved one’s Christmas stocking, and certainly a damn sight better than that sodding meerkat book that a well-meaning associate of mine gave me last year. What’s it about, I here you ask? Well, it’s a celebration of all those inanimate objects that were once commonplace but which have either already become extinct or are threatened with extinction – to quote from the blurb:
Cassette tapes, rotary dial phones, half-day closing, milk bottle deliveries, typewriters, countries that no longer exist, white dog poo…
Now before I go any further, I should point out that Steve is actually the alter ego of publishing industry maverick Scott Pack, who runs The Friday Project as well as doing all sorts of other stuff for TFP’s parent Harper Collins. He’s also one of the duo behind the Firestation Book Swap (yeah, sorry about that) and an entertaining tweeter.
So whilst this purports to be an interview with Steve, some of it inevitably strays into Scott territory…
Which of the dodos in your book are you saddest to have seen go?
Well, I was a bit pissed off when Nestles (I insist upon the old pronunciation of ‘nessles’ rather than ‘nesslay’) stopped making the Maverick bar. And I think the death of the cardboard tube for Smarties was a low point on British confectionery. But I’ll nominate handwritten letters as the one I am most sad about. They haven’t died out completely but they are certainly endangered.
Which objects are still around that you wish had become extinct?
Jars of Marmite. The squat little yeasty fuckers.
Are there any objects that are still around whose continued survival you find completely baffling?
Those low-slung jeans that young men seem to be wearing. I saw a pair last week with clear daylight between crotch and jean.
I’m interested as to why you chose to issue this book in hardback and e-book formats. Do you see paperbacks as becoming extinct sooner than hardbacks?
An excellent question, but if I am to answer it honestly then I need to be quite dull. We see it as a potential Christmas gift book and that little B-format jacketed hardback for a tenner is the perfect stocking filler.
As a publisher, do you see yourself threatened with a disintermediated extinction?
I think publishers have to prove that they bring something of value to the party if they expect to still be around in ten years’ time. But then so do agents. And booksellers. How depressing is that?
On a scale of 1 to 10, please rate the ugliness of the term “disintermediation”.
7.2
Does your decision to become a serial author indicate a desire to have a secondary career in reserve if/when such a disintermediation occurs?
It indicates a desire for some spare cash with which to purchase cake.
For some time you kept your identity as a writer secret. Do you have any other secret lives? Are you, for example, one of The Residents? If not, who would you like to secretly be?
Yes, I am the one with the green eye. I am also Humphrey, Buzby and the Secret Lemonade Drinker.
What’s the audience question most often asked at a Firestation Book Swap and what would your answer be?
What is your favourite cheese? And the answer is a cheese called Rachel.
Finally, if you had a pet dodo, what would you call it?
Lulu.
Some good answers from Steve/Scott there, even if he is completely wrong about Marmite. I actually think we should all club together and buy loads and loads of copies of the book so that he can afford to set up some kind of Jurassic Park-style cloning facility on Mauritius just so he can recreate Lulu the dodo. So here’s where you need to go in order to purchase the hardback, or (if you really insist) the ebook. And many thanks to Scott/Steve for dropping in. Do keep following his tour: yesterday he was at Stephanie Butland’s Bah! To Cancer blog, and tomorrow he’s visiting Rena Rossner.
Aug
22
Interview with Steve Moran of the Willesden Herald New Short Stories Competition
Filed Under Interviews | 30 Comments
I’ve got something a bit different for you today. Not only an interview but - drum roll – a giveaway. The interview is with Steve Moran, the powerhouse behind the excellent Willesden Herald New Short Stories Competition. The giveaway? Well, you’ll need to read to the end of the interview to find out. But trust me, it will be worth it. Anyway, without further ado, here’s Steve.
Can you tell me a bit about how the Willesden Herald New Short Stories Competition came into being?
It was towards the end of 2005. I had been involved in two or three online writers’ workshop sites, part of the now defunct MSN “communities” and the setting of writing challenges was a regular occurrence. I thought it would be fun to run a little short story competition on the Willesden Herald blog, which had been going since 2003. So I announced a competition, closing just before Christmas to allow judging in the holiday break, prize a Willesden Herald mug. It was a stroke of luck to get a well known local writer as the judge and the competition took off from there.
Zadie Smith, right? Looking at the impressive list of people who have appeared in the shortlist over the years, it would be fair to say that for a “little short story competition”, you’ve consistently punched above your weight. Why do you think this is?
I tried to make the competition as writer-friendly as I could in several important ways. Entry was free and there was no word limit or minimum, no set theme, no nationality restriction, and there would be no second or third place, only short-listed and winner. Some of the terms have changed since then. Another one back then was you didn’t have to have your short-listed story published, it could retain its unpublished status. There was no guarantee that a winner would be chosen and judging was anonymous. I tried and still try to make it fun and appeal specifically to short story enthusiasts, being myself a fanatic, which probably is evident and adds to the favourable ethos of the competition. That said, it was likely as much or more to do with having such an acclaimed author as the judge. To be selected as a winner by someone like Zadie Smith is worth a lot to an ambitious writer.
As a failed entrant on more than one occasion, that makes perfect sense to me. The other thing you didn’t mention is that you seem to take an interest in the post-WH careers of your alumni in a way that few other competitions (with the notable exception of the Bristol Short Story Prize) do. Can you say a little bit about the process of selecting your shortlist? Or is that shrouded in secrecy?
I read entries as they come in, which is usually only about ten or less per day until the last week when there are more and I can’t keep up. Ten per day is ideal for me, though I can get to twenty if I’m not tired from work but after that my brain refuses the next fence.
With many of the stories it’s clear before the end that they cannot be put in front of the final judge but I don’t stop reading just because of typos or minor flaws, I only stop before the end if the accumulation of problems rules the entry out. The game for entrants is to keep me reading, of course, I’m sure it’s the same with all other writing contests. When entries are poor it doesn’t take long to file them under “No”. I used to create folders for different sorts of flaws but now I only have No, Hell No, Maybe and Yes.
It’s quite hard to get straight into the Yes folder, which becomes the short list, but even so by the end of the submissions window there have typically been about fifteen needing reduction to ten. Last time with Maggie Gee we extended the short list to twelve. Some of the judges have wanted a long list of about fifteen in order to choose the short list themselves. For the others I chose the short list, a couple of times with help from other readers. I have to re-read the Maybe’s and Yeses to finalise the list. That tends to happen over the Christmas break.
So would I be right in inferring that it’s more a case of entries being eliminated on the basis of an accumulation of flaws than being accepted because of a high overall score on a grid?
Yes, it’s mainly a process of elimination. There’s no grid it’s just a case of do I want to read it to the end and is it a yes or a maybe? I am a slow reader so it’s a big time investment. I remember it took me two hours to read Wena Poon’s winning story the first time. I had already finished for the night and I thought I wouldn’t start another one but then I started reading The Architects and it wouldn’t let me go. I don’t abandon a story lightly, always try to give each one every possible chance. Thinking about it, I read nearly all the Noes all the way to the end or near the end, it’s mostly only the Hell Noes that are quickly decided. If a story is generally well written I will read all the way to the end.
I should at this point recommend very strongly Steve’s list of common faults in short stories, which gives a pretty good indication of what is likely to get your story eliminated. One final question, then. This year’s judge is none other than Roddy Doyle – how on earth did you manage to get him on board?
I just sent a very polite message, asking if there might be a chance. I was thinking of closing the competition at the time. I thought better go out on a high after the superb results event with Liars’ League et al, thought it would be hard to follow that. Thanks to Roddy Doyle for being a sport, thanks to everyone who works at the stories instead of looting Footlocker and thank you for having me as a guest.
Amen to that, and many thanks for dropping in.
Now for the giveaway. Steve has very kindly donated a copy of New Short Stories 5, the excellent anthology from the 2011 competition, featuring stories by Mary O’Shea, Y.J.Zhu, Alex Barr and other top writers. All you have to do to get your sticky hands on it is to leave a comment below and I will put your name into the draw, with the winner to be announced at the beginning of September. Which, incidentally, is when the competition opens for entries.
Mar
11
The New Writer Poetry Prize and Other Stuff
Filed Under Acceptances, Competitions, Interviews, Placings, Publications | 2 Comments
I like The New Writer. Specifically I like their poetry prizes. Their fiction prize is a closed book to me, but last year I managed to be a finalist in both their poetry collection and single poetry competitions. This year I went one better and I was highly commended in the single poem category for my piece about the “Green Line” in Nicosia, “Cyprus Delight”.
So, as one of the top ten poems in the competition, “Cyprus Delight” will now receive the ultimate accolade of print publication. Which is all rather exciting.
I still find poetry completely baffling. I dabble in it (I hate that phrase, but it’s true) because I enjoy it and I like to think that my experiments in the discipline with choosing the right word and getting the rhythm right etc. inform my fiction writing. But despite clocking up a few moderate successes like this one, I still feel a total fraud because I read very little poetry – partly because there’s very little that I feel completely comfortable with, but mostly because I’m lazy and ignorant. Actually, I could probably do with some pointers as to who I should read, and any suggestions would be most welcome.
In other news, my interview with Vanessa Gebbie went live on Salt Publishing’s blog yesterday. I hope I managed to do her justice, despite me not having much of a clue about interviewing. It was fun to do, though.
And I had a very swift acceptance yesterday from Escape Velocity for my piece “Symbiosis”, a tender story about the love of a young girl for her medicinal parasitic tapeworm. This will appear in their forthcoming anthology.
Finally … just take a look at the cover for Murky Depths 16. And then take a look at the wonderful artwork for my story, “Teamwork”, by Caroline Parkinson. And then go and place your order …
Mar
1
Interview in TheRightEyedDeer
Filed Under Interviews | Leave a Comment
After far too long an absence, TheRightEyedDeer has re-emerged, with a classy new website and a fab cover for Issue 5. The latest edition has loads of excellent stuff from the fine upstanding denizens of The Write Idea forum. There are also interviews by the excellent Doug Pugh with a couple of writers, both of whom by a happy coincidence happen to share the hottest new publisher on the block, Proxima.
I have to say that of the two, Charles Christian is a damn sight more succinct as an interviewee than me. Even I looked at some of my answers and muttered TL;DR to myself. Your best bet is probably to read every third word of mine and pretend that I’m an avant-garde poet instead. But whatever you do, take a look at the rest of the zine, OK?
And I still haven’t done that post about the Get Writing conference, have I? Patience, my dears, patience.
Nov
12
Radio Verulam Interview
Filed Under Broadcasts, Interviews | 8 Comments
Well, that was fun! I did my first-ever radio interview today, for the very wonderful West Herts Drivetime show on Radio Verulam. I owe this entirely to my chum Mark Clementson, who has been doggedly plugging the Verulam Writers’ Circle in his capacity as Publicity Officer once a month on the show, taking the opportunity to big up each of us in turn.
The interview was conducted by Danny Smith, who is a thoroughly nice bloke and whose professionalism would put many a national DJ to shame. Have a listen, anyway; it’s only 15 minutes long. Oh, and in case you were wondering, I had absolutely no idea what he was going to ask me. I think I coped OK, though.
Sep
7
Interview at Between the Lines
Filed Under Interviews, Performances | 2 Comments
I’m very honoured to be the guest interviewee at the lovely Alison Bacon’s blog, Between the Lines, today. Do drop in and say hello and feel free to ask questions. There may even be virtual cake on offer.
And if you’re in the Brighton area tonight, do come along to SPARKS 10, which promises to be an excellent event with a positively star-studded cast. I’m really looking forward to this, although I’m not quite so looking forward to getting home afterwards, given that the through trains stop in the evenings and there’s a tube strike on.
Aug
23
IS&T Interview and Stuff
Filed Under Interviews | 2 Comments
For some unaccountable reason, the splendid Charles Christian of the equally splendid Ink, Sweat and Tears chose last week to interview me for IS&T’s series asking “What Makes Writers Tick?” Here’s the result, which may or may not be illuminating.
So ends a rather momentous week. I suspect that life will be a little anti-climactic for a while, although I did hear something rather interesting on Friday; however, I don’t want to say anything about it yet until the final details have been sorted out. One thing that I can tell you about is that I’m going to be a guest on the lovely Alison Bacon’s blog early in September. I’ll give you a prod about that nearer the time.
In the meantime, if you haven’t heard “The Amazing Arnolfini and His Wife” yet, you’ve got until next Wednesday to hear it via Listen Again. Here’s the link. I was extremely chuffed that Tania Hershman (whose brilliant book “The White Road” recently went into its 15th impression – you have got it already haven’t you?) chose it as one of her stories of the week on Twitter today.
Jun
3
Interview at Folded Word
Filed Under Interviews | Leave a Comment
I had an e-mail from Casey Murphy of Folded Word last week saying that he’d like to write a blog post about the process of sending out my stories, and was I interested in answering a few questions? Being the shy and retiring sort of person that I am, I hesitated for approximately 2.4 nanoseconds before replying in the affirmative.
As it happens, this is a textbook example of the power of Twitter. I’m pretty certain that the only reason that I was on Casey’s radar at all was because I’d had a piece of TwitFic published by PicFic, who are the TwitFic (or – in their terminology – picofiction) arm of Folded Word (you are following this, aren’t you?). Not long after this piece was published, I was longlisted for the Bristol Short Story Prize, and – not surprisingly – I made a bit of a fuss about this on Twitter, and that seems to have led directly to this piece.
You don’t need me to explain the moral of this,do you? If you’re remotely serious about promoting yourself as a writer, get on Twitter now. Make sure you follow me, obviously – and I might even follow you back 
Feb
1
“Short Circuit” Review and Interview
Filed Under Interviews, Reviews | 5 Comments
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).