Off on another jet-setting break on Sunday (well, only to Yorkshire and Northumbria, actually, which is probably just as well, given the current problems with flying!) - isn't life great when you're retired from The Day Job! Sometimes I almost feel guilty that we are starting to have such fun in our lives, popping off for short breaks (and long breaks!) whenever we fancy it - but then I think: Nah, to be honest I don't feel guilty at all! While I'd never want to imply that we had a tough time when we were younger, we did choose to have three children quite close in age when we were averagely young (for those days) - and so we never had much in the way of holidays, and certainly never went abroad until when the kids were a bit older we started going to caravan camps in France. We didn't used to have a car, or a lot of the mod cons we now enjoy - but that wasn't unusual back then. So now we haven't got to worry about the '9 to 5' and we've still got reasonable health and fitness, we're going to do our best to enjoy ourselves before we get old and decrepit! Yay!
We'll be staying for a couple of nights with an old schoolfriend of mine, and her husband, who we haven't seen for quite a few years so we're looking forward to getting together again. Jen and I were only at school together for one year - when we were about 13 - but it's an age when deep friendships are forged, and when her family moved back 'up North', my other friend Sue and I continued to get together with Jen during the summer holidays. I think it was a good experience for all of us - travelling between Essex and Chester by coach, staying with each other's families for a couple of weeks at a time. My best memory of those years was the evening we travelled from Chester to Liverpool for a night at the Cavern Club! No, the Beatles weren't performing there then, they'd recently become famous, but I was a huge fan and it made a great impression on me, just being there!
From Yorkshire we're going on for a few days of exploring the wilds of Northumbria - just cos it's there! and we've never been there - and then staying another night in Yorkshire on the way home to Essex, getting together with my 'penpal' Dawn and her husband. This is where the 'writing' part of this blog post comes in!
Dawn and I met back in 1993 (I think that was the right year anyway!) when we both won first prizes in the Writers' News short story awards. I think it was their first year of running their competitions. Anyway, up till then I'd only written children's stories - but I entered a story in the adult story competition and won first prize. Dawn, it turned out, had already been writing short stories for the women's magazines, but had entered the children's short story competition - and won first prize in that! We were invited to an awards ceremony in London and presented with shields and cheques, and it was while we were chatting over a glass of wine afterwards that we discovered our 'role reversal'. Dawn very kindly gave me the contact details for 'Woman's Weekly', and I began to submit stories to them straight away - being lucky enough to get an acceptance very quickly, which really got me started on my writing career.
We've kept in touch ever since - by letter to begin with, and then when we both got the internet, by e-mail. In those days I didn't know any other writers, and it was so good to be able to share hopes, dreams and frustrations with somebody else who understood. And it still is! Because we go back quite a few years now, we've shared the ups and downs of our writing careers with each other and Dawn has always been so supportive. When I got the contract for my first novel she was so excited for me - and when she acquired a really good agent I was over the moon for her. Whenever we've had disappointments we've been there with the sympathy and understanding. Nowadays I've got lots of other writing friends - through the RNA, blogs, Facebook and the lovely group of Essex writers I meet up with - but the 'pen friendship' with Dawn has always been a bit special.
This will be the first time we've met since that awards ceremony in 1993 - and as Dawn said to me in a recent e-mail: Do you think the husbands will get a word in edgeways?!? (Husbands? Oh, are they going to be there too?!)
Charlie the Cat is sadly being sent off to his Holiday Home (local cattery), but we know he'll be looked after and as he'll be 14 this year, was very ill last year but has this week been pronounced to be 'in the best of health' by our vet, we think he won't suffer any harm!
On the writing front I'm still waiting to hear about my feature on novelists who start off by writing short stories ... and still waiting for any luck with the new novel ... but have had one short story acceptance and one 'please change a few things and then we'll have another look', recently.
So it could be a lot worse, couldn't it.
I'll report back on the trip after next weekend and meanwhile hope you all have a good week.
Friday, 16 April 2010
Wednesday, 7 April 2010
Thanks to Julie
Julie at Julie's Quest http://jlpwritersquest.blogspot.com/ has awarded me this 'Beautiful Bloggers' award - how nice! Thank you Julie. It's probably the first time I've ever earned the word 'beautiful' - ha ha!
Now, I'm supposed to nominate ten other blogs to receive the award . It reminds me of when my children were little and they used to insist on me choosing which of them had painted the best picture/made the best Playdoh model/baked the best jam tarts ... etc etc ... and I always refused to choose. 'I like them all the same,' I used to say, and they'd get really upset and insist that I had to choose, so I had to compromise and say that one daughter had chosen the best colours, another had chosen the most unusual subject, and the other had applied the most paint (or managed to get the most actually on the paper!) ... they weren't impressed!
But mums can't be expected to choose between their children! And likewise, how can I choose between the blogs I enjoy reading? I'm not the most prolific blogger in the world: I sometimes don't look at my blog (or anyone else's) for days or weeks at a time (do I really deserve the award?!) - but when I do, I enjoy catching up with everyone's news, even if I don't always take the time to comment. I often pick up on comments from other bloggers, and have a read of something I find interesting on their blog, without becoming a Follower - but those I've chosen to follow must be those I'd nominate, mustn't they? So I'm nominating as many of those as possible. Here goes:
1. With ink from the pink pen
2. Bucolic Frolics
3. Kate Hardy
4. Sue Moorcroft writes
5. Strictly Writing
6. Romantic Novelists' Association Blog
7. Women's stories: read, write, enjoy!
8. Quiller's Place - The View From The Spire
9. Sarah Duncan's Blog
10. The Long And The Short of It
I purposely haven't checked my list against Julie's as I didn't want to be deterred from nominating the blogs I wanted to: but I'm aware that I've probably duplicated some of her selections and that just goes to show what good taste she has! Thanks again Julie!
Wednesday, 31 March 2010
Joanne Harris at the Essex Book Festival
My eldest daughter and I went to see Joanne Harris last night, making an appearance at a school in Great Dunmow as part of the Essex Book Festival. The large school hall was packed to capacity, and Joanne proved to be an amazing speaker. She mostly talked about her forthcoming new book 'Blue Eyed Boy' - which sounds like yet another brilliant novel from her! - and also read a couple of passages from the book.
It was interesting for me, having given quite a few 'author talks' myself now, to see how a true expert does it! I always make notes, but try to use them only as a guide, to keep myself on track and make sure I don't forget things I want to say. Joanne had some notes with her but barely glanced at them at all - even though she started off by saying that this was her first talk promoting this new book so she expected to ramble slightly! Not a bit of it ... she was extremely eloquent and there certainly weren't all the 'ums' and 'ers' I find myself so guilty of uttering!
She talked at length about how she got the idea for 'Blue Eyed Boy' and developed it into a story, and also about the characters and their relationships with each other. Somehow she managed to do all this without giving away very much of the plot - afterwards I found myself wondering how on earth she talked about it for over half an hour without doing so! She then took questions from the audience, and when she was asked about her own favourite books as a child, my daughter and I exchanged raised eyebrows! My own responses would have been something along the lines of 'Heidi' or 'Wind in the Willows', (and of course, Enid Blyton's Famous Five books!), but Joanne's were far more serious and intellectual and made me aware of how different her upbringing must have been from that of, perhaps, the average reader. Obviously a very clever child who grew up to be a very clever lady!
Well, we're all different, aren't we, and thank goodness for that. I love Joanne's novels and I loved listening to her speak; but when I give my own talks, one of the things that gives me great satisfaction is that people often remark that they find it interesting to hear about my life as a writer, and how I got published, simply because I'm from a fairly 'normal' background, without a degree or any writing qualifications. Perhaps it gives hope to other aspiring writers.
I was thinking about everyone being different, and enjoying different types of books, when I read a feature in yesterday's paper, too - about the lack of 'real men' as heroes in modern romance novels. The feature focused on the short-listed books for the Romantic Novel of the Year Award, and has inevitably led to a lot of discussion among my fellow members of the Romantic Novelists' Association. Apparently the writer wasn't keen on the sensitive, 'New Man' type of heroes, or stories focusing on problems in people's lives - although it's been pointed out that the feature has of course been edited and cut so that the writer's opinions aren't being represented quite the way she intended. Anyway, I reckon it's just another situation of 'horses for courses'. If you don't like certain types of books, with certain types of heroes, you won't buy them. If they're selling well, then lots of people obviously do like them!
If only I had been as gifted as Joanne Harris and could write the type of novels she writes ... ah, if only! But we're all different in our capabilities, as well as in our reading tastes, and we have to be realistic. I hope to continue to have books published and to have readers who enjoy them; that'd be good enough for me, and I'd be very grateful too!
It was interesting for me, having given quite a few 'author talks' myself now, to see how a true expert does it! I always make notes, but try to use them only as a guide, to keep myself on track and make sure I don't forget things I want to say. Joanne had some notes with her but barely glanced at them at all - even though she started off by saying that this was her first talk promoting this new book so she expected to ramble slightly! Not a bit of it ... she was extremely eloquent and there certainly weren't all the 'ums' and 'ers' I find myself so guilty of uttering!
She talked at length about how she got the idea for 'Blue Eyed Boy' and developed it into a story, and also about the characters and their relationships with each other. Somehow she managed to do all this without giving away very much of the plot - afterwards I found myself wondering how on earth she talked about it for over half an hour without doing so! She then took questions from the audience, and when she was asked about her own favourite books as a child, my daughter and I exchanged raised eyebrows! My own responses would have been something along the lines of 'Heidi' or 'Wind in the Willows', (and of course, Enid Blyton's Famous Five books!), but Joanne's were far more serious and intellectual and made me aware of how different her upbringing must have been from that of, perhaps, the average reader. Obviously a very clever child who grew up to be a very clever lady!
Well, we're all different, aren't we, and thank goodness for that. I love Joanne's novels and I loved listening to her speak; but when I give my own talks, one of the things that gives me great satisfaction is that people often remark that they find it interesting to hear about my life as a writer, and how I got published, simply because I'm from a fairly 'normal' background, without a degree or any writing qualifications. Perhaps it gives hope to other aspiring writers.
I was thinking about everyone being different, and enjoying different types of books, when I read a feature in yesterday's paper, too - about the lack of 'real men' as heroes in modern romance novels. The feature focused on the short-listed books for the Romantic Novel of the Year Award, and has inevitably led to a lot of discussion among my fellow members of the Romantic Novelists' Association. Apparently the writer wasn't keen on the sensitive, 'New Man' type of heroes, or stories focusing on problems in people's lives - although it's been pointed out that the feature has of course been edited and cut so that the writer's opinions aren't being represented quite the way she intended. Anyway, I reckon it's just another situation of 'horses for courses'. If you don't like certain types of books, with certain types of heroes, you won't buy them. If they're selling well, then lots of people obviously do like them!
If only I had been as gifted as Joanne Harris and could write the type of novels she writes ... ah, if only! But we're all different in our capabilities, as well as in our reading tastes, and we have to be realistic. I hope to continue to have books published and to have readers who enjoy them; that'd be good enough for me, and I'd be very grateful too!
Wednesday, 24 March 2010
Responses to my survey - thanks again!
When I started writing my feature about novelists who start by writing short stories, I hoped to ask perhaps a couple of dozen writers how they started. I know everyone's busy with their own work so I thought I'd keep it simple and just ask for a 'yes' or a 'no' ... never anticipating the generosity of SO many writers, who took the time and trouble to send me e-mails or messages on the blog, Facebook or the RNA forum - and SO much valuable information!
As someone has so wisely pointed out to me - I should have known that a load of writers * would not be able to stop at one word answers - don't we all just love the opportunity to write about our writing!
Well, it's certainly been fascinating reading all your comments; and it's lovely to welcome some new people to the blog too. My feature is now virtually finished; I even managed to do percentages (with the help of an on-line percentage calculator!). I'm not going to reveal all the statistics that will appear in the feature - if/when it's accepted - but I CAN at least tell you that those who wrote short stories before progressing to novels are in the majority. You'll have to wait to find out the rest ... hopefully until the magazine publishes the feature!
The short story I was expecting to be in the last issue of 'Yours' wasn't: it's in this week's. And I've just had another one rejected. Which just about sums up a writer's life, doesn't it!
* What should the collective term for a lot of writers be? A scribbling of writers? Any thoughts?
As someone has so wisely pointed out to me - I should have known that a load of writers * would not be able to stop at one word answers - don't we all just love the opportunity to write about our writing!
Well, it's certainly been fascinating reading all your comments; and it's lovely to welcome some new people to the blog too. My feature is now virtually finished; I even managed to do percentages (with the help of an on-line percentage calculator!). I'm not going to reveal all the statistics that will appear in the feature - if/when it's accepted - but I CAN at least tell you that those who wrote short stories before progressing to novels are in the majority. You'll have to wait to find out the rest ... hopefully until the magazine publishes the feature!
The short story I was expecting to be in the last issue of 'Yours' wasn't: it's in this week's. And I've just had another one rejected. Which just about sums up a writer's life, doesn't it!
* What should the collective term for a lot of writers be? A scribbling of writers? Any thoughts?
Wednesday, 17 March 2010
Our Essex Book Festival event
Here's my lovely group of Essex writing friends at our first Essex Writers' Panel event, this afternoon at Halstead Library as part of the Essex Book Festival.
From left to right, Maureen Lee, Fay Cunningham, myself, Fenella Miller and Jean Fullerton (who did a great job as our chairperson, keeping us all in order and making sure none of us did more than our fair share of yakking!).
The event went really well: Halstead is a lovely library in a beautiful small Essex town, and the people were all so friendly and welcoming. We all chatted a little about ourselves and our writing, and then answered questions from the audience.
In fact we could have gone on answering questions for the rest of the day, they were all so lively and interested!
As you know I give quite a few talks to various groups on my own, and I enjoy it, but being part of this panel is a whole different experience - great fun, especially as we all get along well together (it does help!) and we all write different types of books so each of us brings something different to the discussions. Actually although we advertise ourselves as a panel of five, I think they are getting real value, as I am there both as Sheila Norton and Olivia Ryan!
We all enjoy giving something back to the libraries, as they provide such an important service - and an important part of our income through the Public Lending Right payments. Now we've done our 'inaugural' event as a panel, we're looking forward to further events we've got booked, after the end of the Book Festival. If they're all equally successful, I think we'll be very happy!
From left to right, Maureen Lee, Fay Cunningham, myself, Fenella Miller and Jean Fullerton (who did a great job as our chairperson, keeping us all in order and making sure none of us did more than our fair share of yakking!).
The event went really well: Halstead is a lovely library in a beautiful small Essex town, and the people were all so friendly and welcoming. We all chatted a little about ourselves and our writing, and then answered questions from the audience.
In fact we could have gone on answering questions for the rest of the day, they were all so lively and interested!
As you know I give quite a few talks to various groups on my own, and I enjoy it, but being part of this panel is a whole different experience - great fun, especially as we all get along well together (it does help!) and we all write different types of books so each of us brings something different to the discussions. Actually although we advertise ourselves as a panel of five, I think they are getting real value, as I am there both as Sheila Norton and Olivia Ryan!
We all enjoy giving something back to the libraries, as they provide such an important service - and an important part of our income through the Public Lending Right payments. Now we've done our 'inaugural' event as a panel, we're looking forward to further events we've got booked, after the end of the Book Festival. If they're all equally successful, I think we'll be very happy!
Monday, 15 March 2010
Short fiction to long: can you help with a poll?
As I've probably said dozens of times on this blog already (sorry, is it a sign of old age - repeating yourself? Hope not!) - I started out as a short story writer before becoming a novelist. Winning two short story competitions was what really made me believe in myself as a writer, and spurred me on to getting published.
I often mention this when I give talks, too, as for me, it really helped : I don't think I could ever have written a 100,000 novel without first having mastered the art of the short story. But everyone is different, and I know there are plenty of published authors out there who went straight into writing novels without trying short fiction first.
Well, this is what I'm trying to find out - and I need your help!
For a new feature I'm writing for 'Writer's Forum', I want to find out how many novelists (the percentage of those who respond to me) started off as short story writers, and how many plunged straight into writing novels. The more responses I get from any authors out there, the better - so I'd be really grateful for just a quick 'yes' (if you started with short stories) or 'no' (if you didn't) via this blog, or straight to me via e-mail (olivia@oliviaryan.com) if you prefer. Thanks so much, in advance! Oh - and if you've got time, and don't mind copying this request to your own blogs, to reach even more writers, I'd really appreciate that too!
That's just the first and most important question. There are others ... for instance I'd be interested in hearing from short story writers who never switched to writing novels because they prefer short stories. And in following up some of those who did make the switch, to find out whether they found the transition difficult, and whether (like me) they're still writing short stories alongside the novels. So if you're willing to be quizzed further I might come back to you.
I'll be repeating this request on Facebook and forums to get as wide a coverage as possible. Hoping the results will be interesting! Thanks again for any help you can give.
I often mention this when I give talks, too, as for me, it really helped : I don't think I could ever have written a 100,000 novel without first having mastered the art of the short story. But everyone is different, and I know there are plenty of published authors out there who went straight into writing novels without trying short fiction first.
Well, this is what I'm trying to find out - and I need your help!
For a new feature I'm writing for 'Writer's Forum', I want to find out how many novelists (the percentage of those who respond to me) started off as short story writers, and how many plunged straight into writing novels. The more responses I get from any authors out there, the better - so I'd be really grateful for just a quick 'yes' (if you started with short stories) or 'no' (if you didn't) via this blog, or straight to me via e-mail (olivia@oliviaryan.com) if you prefer. Thanks so much, in advance! Oh - and if you've got time, and don't mind copying this request to your own blogs, to reach even more writers, I'd really appreciate that too!
That's just the first and most important question. There are others ... for instance I'd be interested in hearing from short story writers who never switched to writing novels because they prefer short stories. And in following up some of those who did make the switch, to find out whether they found the transition difficult, and whether (like me) they're still writing short stories alongside the novels. So if you're willing to be quizzed further I might come back to you.
I'll be repeating this request on Facebook and forums to get as wide a coverage as possible. Hoping the results will be interesting! Thanks again for any help you can give.
Friday, 5 March 2010
'Yours' magazine
Any short story writers amongst you who might have submitted to 'Yours' during 2009 and haven't had a response - please take note! I queried one of my stories that had been out with them since June last year, as the wait seemed a bit excessive for them. Marion Clark has got back to me saying it must have gone astray because they've now returned all submissions received before December 2009. I was glad she let me know, because I had another one outstanding since August, so presume that one's gone astray too!
Marion has invited me to resubmit, but has also warned me that their story length requirement has now changed from 1000-1500 words, to 1000-1200. Quite significant as I find it enough of a challenge to keep below 1500 words, so mine will both need to be cut before resubmitting!
Good luck anyone submitting there. I've got a story out with them next week as it happens!
Marion has invited me to resubmit, but has also warned me that their story length requirement has now changed from 1000-1500 words, to 1000-1200. Quite significant as I find it enough of a challenge to keep below 1500 words, so mine will both need to be cut before resubmitting!
Good luck anyone submitting there. I've got a story out with them next week as it happens!
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