Just got back from a dutiful family visit and see that our site is back online! Had to drive home through the torrential rain. Yes, you guessed it, it’s a Bank Holiday… Whitsun or Pinksteren as they call it here. Still, it's great weather to write in!

• Chris N has provided our weekly blog. After a period of writer’s block she’s rediscovered inspiration in her beautiful surroundings in Spain. She’s written a wonderful piece about a stroll to the local castle which made me feel I was walking alongside her! Perhaps a tip for all of us when the Muse doesn’t strike, just get out and write about the area you live in!

• Sally has provided the Monday Muse prompts which include; an unexpected scratch card win, a recurring dream and a thief who’s been stealing from his/her boss for years. And two lovely picture prompts from her recent trip to Jordan! Plenty to whet your creative appetites there.

• The May Writing Challenge is still open for submissions and feedback.

• The Bragging Stool is a little quiet this week so I will go over there and post a mini-brag, not a publication but a very complimentary letter from the editor of Amsterdam Quarterly telling me how much he enjoyed my story and poem in Foreign Encounters!

• The Anthology 2013 is now receiving its first submissions. Keep an eye out for the emails from Submittable, so far I’ve enjoyed reading all the pieces.

• Next formal chat is Sunday 26 May at 11 am via Skype. Paola is in the chair. Unfortunately, Jo won’t be joining us at the meetings for a while because of a Sunday job she has over the coming months.

Wish you all a good week with lots of writing inspiration!

I had been trying to come up with an idea for the WA blog for days. Alas, to no avail. This morning panic started to set in which only made the thinking process more difficult. My creative writing state has been comatose for weeks and I had hoped the adrenalin would flow under the pressure of being this week’s author of the blog.

At four p.m. the other half decided a stroll to El Castillo would be a good idea. The Castle, easily reached by car, requires a more complicated walk. Said castle is actually a modern bar, built overlooking the dry Rio Almanzora. As I wasn’t coming up with any good ideas, I stemmed the frantic feeling that I was running out of time and wouldn’t get anything posted and set out.

We walked off road and onto the rough path that would take us across the dry river bed, through both wild growth and cultivated orchards. As we rambled, the wild flowers, or often weeds, spangled the ground with pinks and purples, reds and yellows. I gazed around me and it hit me that it is ridiculous to have a shortage of ideas when I have such glorious scenery everywhere I look.

Here I was, wandering through groves of oranges, pears, olives and almonds. A variety of birds were flying overhead, some swooping low enough for me to see their markings, before one again darting upward into the blue sky. They were performing an aerial ballet.

Ahead, El Castillo loomed, built high on huge yellow boulders.

Once seated on the terrace, I could see for miles, along and across the Almanzora Valley. The mountains were like cardboard cut-outs against the backdrop of gathering clouds. Old cortijos and new villas nestled in the valley, at peace with one another. I heard children’s voices, the clip-clop as a white stallion came into view, and the slow chug of a tractor as a local farmer wended his way home.

An elderly Spanish man passed the time of day with us, leaning on his gnarled walking stick. His two small dogs gently nuzzled our hands. It’s strange - the older Spanish people are generally small and their canine friends are the same - you seldom see a large dog.

And suddenly, I had my topic. I would recount my experience - the realisation that there is, literally, everything to write about. I feel as if I’ve been in limbo for so long and that simple trek was an awakening.

I’m sorry this blog is not about a specific area of writing or skill development in any way but I genuinely feel alive and ready to write again. No bad thing, eh?

 

• Nicola has provided our weekly Blog on the subject of book covers and whether they influence a potential reader.
• Alyson has provided the Monday Muse prompts which all involve stars in one way or another.
• The May Writing Challenge is still open for submissions and feedback.
• On the Bragging Stool we have Alyson with an expat piece published in The Oldie, along with Paola who also has a piece in the same issue. Well done, girls!
• The Anthology 2013 is now receiving its first submissions. Watch out for the emails from Submittable and hope the experience is an enjoyable one!
• We had an informal Chat on Sunday - sorry I couldn't make it, I did pop in but stormy internet connections got the better of me! Our next formal Chat is on Sunday 26th May via Skype
• If you are interested in reviewing books and blogging Nicola has posted in Bits and Bobs a request from Jo Parfitt

I hope you have a good writing week! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I read an interesting article this week by author, Maureen Johnson, about cover and gender, she reckons women authors get covers that make it clear that the books are by well…women authors.

“And the simple fact of the matter is, if you are a female author, you are much more likely to get the package that suggests the book is of a lower perceived quality. Because it’s “girly,” which is somehow inherently different and easier on the palate. A man and a woman can write books about the same subject matter, at the same level of quality and that woman is more likely to get the soft-cell cover with the warm glow..."

It made me consider what we perceive from a book cover and how much information it gives us about the book. And is the information always honest or does it sometimes lead us astray?

As a reader, I actually think it’s impossible not to judge a book by its cover to some extent. I do it all the time—I usually avoid anything in pastel colours as I presume it’s going to be chick-lit which I don’t like. Anything so tasteful that it screams ‘literary’ to me is also usually a turn-off. I love intricate fantasy covers especially if they have dragons, and I’m quite partial to half-naked men with tattoos (but obviously only on book covers). For me, a good cover should intrigue and draw me in, but also tell me what to expect, give some hint of what the book is about and make me want to find out more.

As a writer, I always get a little scared when a new cover arrives in my inbox. What if I hate it? What if I think it gives a totally wrong idea of what the book is about? At Entangled publishing, we do get some say in what goes on the cover. After signing the contract, we get sent an art cover form to fill in for each book, which includes descriptions of the hero and heroine, examples of covers you love in the same genre, any particular objects that have significance, anything you really don’t want on your cover, any suggestions/ideas… So for my latest cover The Descartes Legacy – this is what I suggested:

·Either a couple (but not in a clinch) against a background of London with something exploding

·Or something to do with a strand of DNA against a background of space and a beautiful blond

·Or maybe the couple against a background of DNA

I’ve also self-published a  couple of books and one of the things I enjoyed most about that process was having far more say in the final covers. The cover at the top is my next self-publishing project – can you guess the genre from the cover?

So do you judge books by their covers? Have you ever bought a book just because you loved the cover? If so what was it and did it live up to expectations?

I hope you have a good writing week! 

And finally a quote about editing...

I have rewritten–often several times–every word I have ever published. My pencils outlast their erasers. 

Vladimir Nabokov

Perhaps a gloomy subject for a lovely spring day but it appears that writers are far more likely to suffer from depression than the rest of the population. This was the conclusion reached by Mslexia magazine after analysing the results of a survey completed by women writers. Thirty per cent of the writers, who completed the survey, had suffered from clinical depression at some time, compared with between eight and 12 per cent of the general population. The experiences of writers such as; Sylvia Plath, Virginia Woolf and J.K. Rowling suggest that the depressive experience is closely connected to that of creativity.

While I’m absolutely not suggesting that I rank amongst these writers, you may have noticed my lowered level of activity on the WA site since January and this has been due to severe clinical depression with which I was diagnosed in March. Since then, with the right treatment (after knocking at many wrong doors) I have been making a good recovery and am slowly returning to my old self. It is my first major depressive illness and I dearly hope it is my last. Before this experience I thought depression was just feeling a bit sad, having no idea how it is to feel one’s life spiral out of control, lose the ability to function and wake up (if one manages to sleep at all) to the torment of each new day.

During this black period I managed to keep up my blog and before I hit my lowest ebb, wrote two pieces of short fiction. Quite a downturn in productivity compared with last year. Sitting down to write a story is a profoundly positive act in my opinion so it amazes me how J.K. Rowling worked through depression while writing the first Harry Potter book. For Rowling, writing was a means of escapism from poverty and suicidal feelings.

It has been suggested that the introversion and strong inner life of creative writers might be the qualities that make them more susceptible to mental health problems. That and many hours spent alone honing their craft. ‘Chic-lit’ pioneer, Marian Keyes, has written very openly about her depression which lasted a year and a half. Usually a prolific writer, she bargained with herself that she would do one hour of writing a day, even if it meant simply sitting in front of a blank screen. Unsurprisingly, the blank screen was far too confrontational and didn’t help lift her mood at all. Keyes’ salvation came in the form of a good therapist and baking cakes. Baking inspired her to write a charity book called, ‘Saved by Cake.’ Of course this solution might not work for everyone and is not without side-effects. Keyes put on a lot of weight during her cake-based cure!

I lost a stone during my illness so perhaps every cloud has a silver lining. That being said, I would gladly gain an extra stone again in exchange for not having gone through this nightmarish experience. The self-belief to write fiction has yet to return but I’m hoping that as I climb the hill to full recovery my inspiration to write will come back as well.

Do you write better in a low or positive mood? Is writing a mood-improver or do you need to feel upbeat before sitting down to write? Do you believe writers are more susceptible to depression or is it just a myth, perpetuating the stereotype of the lonely artist in an ivory tower?

Vanessa has penned our weekly Blog on the very important subject of dialogue when writing fiction. Check out the link she provided which highlights some simple advice, but as always there is never just one answer!

Jany should be providing our Monday Muses, so check back later - a lot of musin' going on amongst our members lately - which is great!

Dianne successfully chaired our formal chat yesterday and has provided some notes in the Meeting Room. Dianne has also created our May Writing Challenge with lots of opportunity for all.

We have Laura on the Bragging Stool who has two brags both stories accepted for anthologies so well done Laura! I think Alyson was also shortlisted in the final six for a blog story competition

Finally but not least, our Anthology 2013 is now almost ready for launch off! Thanks to all for contributing to The CFS and especially to Laura and Crilly for their patience. Can;t believe it's this time of year again!

• The call for submissions will open on Wednesday 1st May, The submissions page is now finalised and links will go live then.
• Three reading groups have been allocated plus those who may wish to assess poetry submission. Let Jo know if she's made any wrong assumptions!

 

Dialogue – among many other things – has been on my mind recently as I struggle to edit my NaNoWriMo effort.

We’re always told that dialogue moves the plot along and develops character better than narrative. That’s quite true. After all, fiction is about people and, unless you are very good at interior monologue (à la Alan Bennett or Kate Atkinson), dialogue is essential. But what dialogue?

If we think of the exchanges that characterise our daily lives, they really aren’t very interesting to other people:

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

“How was your day?”

“So-so. Did you take the chicken out of the freezer?”

“Yes, it should be defrosted by now.”

“Could you turn the oven on to 200? I’ll just go and change.”

See what I mean? If that were a novel, you’d have died of boredom by now - unless the unfrozen chicken turned into a vampire or a burglar/spy/terrorist leapt through the French windows and held them at gunpoint.

In my own novel I have been trying to find the right voice in the dialogue. Should you make historical fiction – as mine is – sound a bit archaic? Or is it better to make people speak in present-day diction? So, should you include contractions – “I don’t think you’d better do that” – or shouldn’t you – “I do not think you had better do that”? The former sounds better because that’s what we’re used to. Can you expect modern readers to accept more formal dialogue? Where do you draw the line?

Similarly, how should you present dialogue in fiction that’s set in a country where they speak a different language? I am reading a novel set in France – for various reasons I’d better not say which one – and often find myself questioning the authenticity of the dialogue. Although the novel is written in English, the author clearly wants the protagonists to sound French. In doing so, he just makes the language sound stilted. It’s almost as if the novel had been translated – rather badly – from French into English. The author would have done better to render it into everyday English as it’s spoken in the UK.  

And what about speech tags? I have learned that it’s best to keep them simple – “He/she said” or “He/she asked”. But you see authors using all sorts of bizarre constructions to describe speech: “she averred”; “he ejaculated” (!); “she postulated”. These examples all come from published novels. What was the editor doing? Or did he/she just want to give the reader a good laugh?

I am beginning to realise that the best dialogue requires the least effort on the part of the reader. A good way to test authenticity is to read dialogue out loud. Since I share an office with my husband, this is not always easy. However, if you can’t imagine yourself, or people you know, saying it like that, then there’s probably something wrong. This has been a great step forward in the editing process for my novel.

Listening to how people really do talk is also a good way of making your fictional dialogue more authentic. I am a great one for eavesdropping in shops and restaurants. But, again, you have to elide the ums, ers, you knows, because they just don’t make people want to read on. You have to gild reality with the fairy dust of fiction.  

I typed “writing dialogue” into Google and got 194,000 results. No, I didn’t wade through them all but I found some useful tips here:

www.writersdigest.com/uncategorized/writing-dialogue-the-5-best-ways-to-make-your-characters-conversations-seem-real

What tips do you have for making dialogue sound authentic and believable but interesting?

 

 

Well, here's the blog I posted on Monday which was lost in the 'botnet' attack! 

At the informal chat a couple of weeks ago, some of talked about some of the 'props' we use to support our writing (apart from coffee, chocolate and wine of course!) And because I can't think of anything intelligent to blog about, thought I'd share some my three favourites with you.

Scrivener

This is a nifty little writing programme that allows you to organise small and large projects in one place. It is particularly useful for novels, when you want to move scenes and chapter around - easily done with a click of the mouse! It also allows you to upload pictures, link to websites you've used for research, and compile parts of and the whole document to edit, re-write and eventually produced the final manuscript to send to an agent. It is available for Mac and Window users and if you participate in NaNoWriMo you get a discount.

Pro Writing Aid

This on-line editing tool also has free and premium options. It allows you to copy and paste chunks of writing and analyses it in a number of areas. I find the 'overused words' section particularly useful as it appears I use the words; have, could and would, and awful lot! But it also helps you to identify clichés, long sentences, grammar issues amongst other things. Some areas are only available to premium users including the option to edit the issues within Word, which could be useful.

QueryTracker

An once you have your polished piece ready to go, this website (again with a free and premium subscription) allows you to identify appropriate agents and publishers  under a number of search criteria, write a snappy query letter and track your submissions.

Emotion Thesaurus

I think Nicola and Alyson first mentioned this useful eBook, which first started out as a website. When you are struggling to describe an emotion or feeling in a fresh and different way, this provides a list of physical and non-verbal reactions and helps to add more depth and individualism to character development. It's an extremely useful resource.

But of course, at the end of the day, none of these tools will do the hard bit and write the book, short story, article or poem for you. That is within your gift, as a writer.

So, what props and tools do you use and why?

 

Some people will say “I write for myself” but unless they really sit in a cave and make sure their work never sees the light of day there will always be some sort of audience. I don’t know anyone who never airs their writing at all - on the other hand, perhaps I don’t know because they don’t tell me. To rephrase, I’ve never read anything that was truly written without some potential audience in mind. After all, that’s the purpose of writing.

Not all audiences are the same. To communicate effectively to our targets, we modify vocabulary, content, style, structure – everything. Even an instruction manual will be phrased differently according to its target audience. (Some of them of course are works of mystical art in themselves, but that’s unintentional on the part of the translator.)

Yet we’re told, don’t do this. You’ll never please everyone and there’s no point in trying. In short, write for yourself. Write something you’d like to read.

As a broad guideline, this makes sense. Once you’ve understood and deployed the basic rules of intelligible communication, targeted according to genre and rough demographic, there isn’t much point in attempting to tailor your work to any specific imaginary reader. You’ll go around in circles and worry the life out of the words until they lie there like stranded fish, usually dumbed down to the lowest common denominator.

It’s this last factor I struggle with most. In decades past, I spent years churning out work which interested and excited me to write because it was convoluted, referential and tightly woven. I assumed that because all my allusions were obvious to me, they would be transparent to anyone – anyone who was paying attention. Eventually it started to break that no matter how much they paid attention, no-one but the mustiest old academic would ever understand what I was “really saying”. At first you think, pah, that’s ok. Then you think, actually, maybe it’s not ok. Then the endless struggle begins.

My personal bête noire is being obscure – other people have their own. Ideally, we strive to produce something that transcends these issues. Something that has such a multiplicity of layers that numerous strata of readers will be able to gain something worthwhile, at whatever layer is accessible to them. We know it can be done because we’ve all read such works. Pieces that function not only for many audiences but that offer the same reader completely different experiences at various stages of life. It’s possible. Yeah, just like Rodin’s “The Kiss” is possible.

There is no answer. Practice doesn’t make perfect but perhaps it drags us in the right direction. We need the patience for constant small adjustments, each one a miniature assay on our faith in our own skill, our reader’s intelligence, willingness to participate. Sometimes we must find the force of will for sweeping strokes – whether to our own preconceived notions or in defiance of what might be expected.  One thing’s for certain: writin’ good sure ain’t easy.

Monday Muse

Val has given us some great spring-themed ideas: I shall have to put the aircon on and dream, as our flowers die and even the mosquitoes have given up in the heat!

 

Blog

Vesna has written a piece about audiences which has really got me thinking: yes, we write for a wide audience, but we also work hard to have our own voice...hmm...

 

Bragging Stool

The bragging stool has been quiet this week so let me just put in a quick brag (or rebrag): my Abbateggio story is in the May Oldie, though I have yet to see it!

Anthology 2013

·      Great news: Amanda Hodginkson has agreed to write our foreword

·      Laura has produced our CFS. I have made a few suggestions for amendments based on issues we faced last year: please have a look, if you haven’t yet,  and make comments as soon as possible as our deadline is looming…

·      We are still unsure of a title: we may use the title of one of the entries, or may still come up with something completely new!  I am not sure whether we have scrapped our previous suggestions completely…

April Writing Challenge

Crilly has written a touching story for a competition: do go over and give her your comments! Still some time time left: come on poets, let’s enter Stephen Beattie’s comp!

Works in Progress

Rilla has written a poem about a recent trip to the beach: have a look – this is not your typical bikinis and parasols, and has an unusual angle.

Chapter Group

This group has been really busy, with chapter postings from Mary, Nicola, Vanessa and Jo.  I am filled with admiration for anyone who can write an entire chapter, not to mention a whole book!

Next Formal Chat

28 April, with Dianne in the Chair.

Monday Muse: Doreen has created some creative writing prompts using numbers which has attracted quite a bit of interest!

Blog: Jany has penned a clever blog comparing modern children's books to  those written some time ago. And Colin Firth, watch out, Jany has a role for you!

Bragging Stool: Has been busy with Laura's article about Hong Kong being selected in the Expat Blog and Alyson's story shortlisted in the Writers News Diary competition, well done both!

Anthology 2013: The results of the recent votes are as follows; Charity - Book Aid, Preface Author - Amanda Hodgkinson and working Title - People and Places. The next stage is the Call for Submissions which Laura is drafting so watch out for it in the forum

April Writing Challenge: Is open with lots of opportunities to try your hand at, or submit something of your own choosing. Jill has an interesting article for Destination France that has received some useful feedback

Bits and Bobs: Paola has posted some useful critique guidelines for poetry especially useful as we have more members who are submitting poems for critiquing.

Chapter Group Vanessa's 2nd Chapter of House of Zaronza awaits some feedback if you have the time.

Next Informal Chat is this coming Sunday 14th April at 11am via Skype and this time the clocks have moved (depending on where you live)! So check CET time.

Shout out if I've missed anything...

But what do children find equally riveting now they've put down Harry Potter 7? For inspiration and to further my own chances of being able to cast Colin Firth in something I whipped up in the corner of a café, I leafed through some childrens` books of my mum's from the 1920s. Surely what excited children then would excite them now too, wouldn't it? Or would it...

Here`s one complete story from "The Big Book for Tinies" (late 1920s):

"One morning when Betty woke, the snow was falling, falling. She went to the window. The streets were all white. The milk girl was coming along, and she was all white.

"You must get dressed quickly, Betty," said her mother. "It is cold."

Betty remembered something. It was Jenny's birthday, and she was to go to the party. Jenny lived across the common.

"Oh dear!" said Betty and she wished the snow would stop.

All morning the snow fell. At dinnertime it stopped. Harry came in from school, and he said, "I am afraid Betty will not be able to go to the party, Mummy. The snow is very deep."

"Oh dear!" said Betty, and she sat in the window seat and looked at the snow, and wished it would go away.

After dinner Betty said, "Please, Mummy, if I cannot go to the party, what can I do?"

"I'll tell you what," said Harry. "Mummy, suppose I take Betty on my back to Jenny's house, on the way to school?"

When Betty was ready Harry took her on his back and carried her over the common to Jenny's house.

"Well, I never!" said Jenny's mother. "That is very clever of you, Harry."

Gosh. That was thrilling.

Nothing like some good old stereotypes: a helpless heroine, a strong hero and a doting mum. Oh, and an absent father.

Well, actually that`s quite a good basis for a modern story: Dad`s in prison, Jenny`s a partying chav, Harry (Colin) could encounter a monster whilst crossing the common and then have his evil way with the milk girl. Yes, I can feel a good YA novel coming on. But Betty is not Hermione. Any ideas?  

Being alone does not necessary mean being lonely but writing for long periods in isolation can be difficult. Many people nowadays are not comfortable with being alone. You have to get used to it. Nadine Gordimer said  a writer’s solitude was similar to a lighthouse keeper's.

Is it the same for academics? Not really since they have a system for researching then putting it all together.  They also have a tutor to guide them.

Being alone helps you to develop your own voice, away from numerous noisy distractions and demands. The outside world arouses and drains whereas solitude develops creativity and reflection.

Shutting yourself away shows how serious you are about your work. Your time must be protected. Carl Sandburg wrote that,”Without great solitude no serious work is possible.”

It requires discipline not to cave into distractions or displacement activity. Do we make an effort to have time alone then squander it?  You have to assess that you can deal with it.

I once spent 3 months in a writers retreat in Andalucia. There was no TV, minimal conversation and the nearest hamlet was a mile away, up a steep hill.  I didn’t see the other retreatants for days. After a month, I discovered a bus which left the village at 7am to go down to the coast. It was a huge relief to get back to the shops and bustle. Walking for half an hour in the pitch dark to the bus stop was no deterrant.

There must be a balance your own time to develop your inner creativity and the outside world which you have to work out for yourself.

 

Monday Muse

Doreen has provided us with some wonderful song titles for the Monday Muse. I am sure these will evoke some memories and flush out some interesting muses.

Bragging Stool

The Bragging stool is busy this week. Paola had an article on life in Dhaka accepted by Expatclic.

Alyson was shortlisted in the Choc Lit Hero Competition (the results are due next week so good luck from all of us!)

Rilla had two poems about Bangladesh included in the arts and literature section of her local newspaper.

Well done ladies!

***Anthology 2013 ***

You will probably have noticed Jo has added the Task Timetable to Dropbox  for which everyone was invited to join. It is also on site.

Please be sure to check with Dropbox that you are down for the correct tasks.

Also, please can you be certain to add your vote for your preferred charity no later than this coming Saturday 6^th April as we need to get the Call For Submissions document underway asap.

 

April Writing Challenges

Jo has just posted the challenges for the month of April...plenty of choice there including 3 x Poetry Competitions, 4 x Short Story comps and 1 x Non-fiction  travel comp. Something to suit everyone.

 

Next Meeting.

Our next informal meeting is Sunday 14^th April via Skype at 11am

If I have missed anything, please let me know and I will amend things.

 

Finally, a quote from Truman Capote...

To me, the greatest pleasure of writing is not what it’s about but the inner music the words make.

 

Crilly has provided some inspirational prompts in this week’s muse.  She has kicked off with characters for a story -  a Buddhist monk and a cowboy. Her phrase “And she cried”, could apply to so many situations.  For the WA teachers there is a prompt about the first day at school. Maybe you can still remember how terrifying or exciting it was. There are 4  picture prompts too. Something for everybody!

Which leads onto the blog about bestselling women’s fiction, namely ‘chick-lit’. Dianne has raised an issue about writing to suit the market or your interests.  Not all women want to write about 20 year-olds, chocolate cake and on/off relationships. Dianne has included an article from Myslexia about Empty Nest lit about how older female characters are increasingly popular.

Paola takes centre stage on the bragging stool today with her Hidden Gems piece for gowalkabout blog. In third place she has won an MP3 player. Well done, Paola! Congrats to Jill for being shortlisted with her article, Ice Mountain in Graves, France.  We all enjoyed reading Alyson’s account of a spectacular wedding cake temple in Thailand.

Preparations are underway for the 2013 WA Anthology.  Jo has posted a poll on which charity WA members would like for sales profits. There is a tie between Foreign Bodies and Distant Dreams as the title but the chosen theme is People and Places. There are several suggestions for foreword authors. Crilly is co-ordinating volunteers and tasks.

Finally there is plenty to choose from in the Monthly challenge for both short story writers and poets.

 

Since writers are advised to heed the results of their market research, does this mean that if I aspire to getting my work into bookshops that I need to write similar books to those already on their shelves? I hope not as I don’t really want to create ‘chick lit’ type characters. I would rather explore the world of women my own age who lead very different lives to the young set. I thought I might be out of step and the only writer who felt this way until I read an interview with Adele Park in Publishing Talk Magazine this month. She said in the article, “I’m not one of those authors who wants to write about 20 year olds, because I’m not 20, I’m 43.” I was encouraged by her comment as that’s exactly what I’ve been thinking (just add a decade to her ‘43’).

 

I was further encouraged to find (with the help of a fellow writer who drew it to my attention) a Mslexia article, Empty Nest Lit, posted online (Issue 49, May/June/July 2011) which talks about how older women are beginning to take centre stage in novels:

 

 

“Patrick Janson-Smith, publisher of the HarperCollins’ imprint Blue Door, is adamant that demographic change is driving the trend towards older female protagonists. ‘We have an ageing population,’ he says. ‘There is also a recognition among publishers that the people who buy print books – and Kindles – are older and want stories that reflect their experience.’
 

‘It is about time,’ says literary agent Clare Alexander, whose clients include Fanny Blake and Virginia Ironside. ‘In 2005 Emma Soames, then Editor of Saga, gave a talk at the Booksellers Association conference, and told publishers they were under-publishing for older women,’ she recalls. ‘There’s lots of research showing that Baby Boomers are heavy book buyers, but publishers have been slow to respond – mainly because most editors are not Baby Boomers.’ Simple economics has forced publishers to target older women: book spending has been in decline for the past three years, so they need to find new markets.”

 

I echo Clare Alexander’s comments: it is about time. I’m heartened to hear that there are readers who want to read about the kind of women I want to write about and that publishers are being urged to cater for them. I may write about younger characters sometimes but I won’t be afraid to write about older ones either. I’ll keep writing the kind of stories I want to tell, hopeful that there will be room for ‘babyboomer’ books and characters on bookshop shelves.

 

• Firstly a big welcome to Rilla who has commenced her months trial with Alyson as her buddy. Rilla has been very active already, has submitted a muse and her writing goals!
• Crilly has provided four writing prompts for the Monday Muse and four wonderful pictures - so poets and writers get scribbling!
• The March Writing Challenge is open, Paola has been busy with some poems and there is plenty of the month left to get something posted for feedback.
• Doreen has written the Blog on the apostrophe (aaargh the dreaded apostrophe!) and the entertainment this tiny little mark gives her. 
• Alyson keeps the Bragging Stool warm with a piece accepted by the Oldie forming a double page spread! Well done!

The biggest challenge for us this week is moving ahead with Anthology 2013. If we plan to go ahead with the call for submissions opening in May, we haven't got all that long - I know where is the time flying? So if you haven't please visit the following forums and make your mark...

• Theme vote for Anthology - People and Places is currently top with 8 out of 13 votes. 
• Title vote for Anthology - currently a tie with 4 votes each (out of 15?) between Distant Dreams and Foreign Bodies
• Task List - around half of the members have volunteered, if you haven't could you please do so - before the meeting on Sunday, thanks!

The date of our next formal meeting via Skype at 11am (CET) is this coming Sunday 24th March

 

I love apostrophes (but not apostrophe’s)

 

In my own writing challenge — a year in pursuit of the perfect pastime — I decided to join a few online groups and societies. The Cloud Appreciation Society, the Richard III Society, The Society for the Appreciation of Dandelions, the David Essex fan club… and the Apostrophe Protection Society (www.apostrophe.org.uk).

 

My first attempt to log on to the latter produced: “This webpage is not available”. I had another go and — success! I was visitor number 1,638,251, so the humble apostrophe must have more fans than I realised. I was told that:  "The little apostrophe deserves our protection. It is indeed a threatened species!" How true.

The Apostrophe Protection Society was started in 2001 by former journalist John Richards, who is now its Chairman. It has the specific aim of preserving the correct use of this currently much abused punctuation mark in all forms of text written in the English language. The site also pointed me towards:

Friends of the Apostrophe, an Australian Bulletin Board with postings about apostrophe use and abuse Down Under and Apostrophen-Katastrophen, a German site that includes examples of apostrophe abuse. You see, it’s a worldwide problem.

I’m not sure The Apostrophe Protection Society will enable me to do much, apart from spotting and reporting errant apostrophes. You don’t, however, see too many “Banana’s” or “Orange’s” in France. Still, as a member of the society, I can congratulate myself that I am doing my bit for the apostrophe and can take to task anyone I see abusing it. The weight of the society would be behind me.

For some reason, the most common reaction when I tell people I’ve joined is “You would”, or words to that effect.

There are some interesting dilemmas on the site. For example, “comberwoman” wrote in to say: “We have the most wonderful local chip shop with a strap line — frying at it's best. This logo is in the shop, on all the uniforms worn by the staff and on the wrapping. This is very annoying. Would you tell the owner as he has invested so much in this?”

One response from a member was: “I would tell them because I like being punctilious and it annoys the hell out of most people. I doubt that telling them would change anything, they probably wouldn't get it or care very much especially when so many people won't have noticed it. Punctuation, grammar and spelling are suffering a lot in the world of professional printing and logo design.”

I love it.

The Apostrophe Protection Society doesn't  confine itself to fighting for the rights of the apostrophe. On its site it also clarifies any confusion apostrophe lovers may have over "less" and "fewer" and when to use who and whom.

I now realize that there are people even more tetchy about apostrophe misuse than me, as this post from “thegreyhare” under the title of “Corporate Illiteracy” illustrates: “For at least the second week running, the UK Daily Telegraph has run an advertisement from Transport For London on behalf of London Underground. It is an invitation to tender for ATMs, or ATM's as it prefers to call them. In the course of seven sentences, it manages to misplace five apostrophes. The list of people who deserve a kicking for this is extensive, from the original copywriter through the bureaucratic jungle to the management of the Telegraph itself. One would have thought they at least had some pride in correct presentation, and would not be so careless as to allow the mistake to be repeated.”

Who would have thought the simple apostrophe could provide me with so much entertainment!

 

 

 

This week on Writers Abroad we've been busy lot:

Anthology 2013 - Crilly has put out a sign up sheet for volunteers for this year's anthology. Please sign up to something if you haven't already done so. Also a vote is taking place on a title and theme for this year.

Monday Muse - Vesna has added this week's Monday muse with some sayings, a sensory exercise and picture prompts to start you off. Paola is already ahead of the game and has posted a poem. It was good to see poems posted last week for the muse, too, since this is a form of writing some of us (me) often overlook.

Blog - Mary has provided this week's blog on neurological linguistic programming with the premise that if you concentrate on someone successful you will be successful too. Obviously I've been concentrating on the wrong people all my life ...

Bragging Stool - the bragging stool is hot this week, with Jill and Paola shortlisted in the Hidden Gems competition and hopefully fighting it out for a kindle or a camera. Nicola had an excellent review for her book in the Bittersweet Blood series. Jill has had a double page spread (!) in MMM with one of her photos - I may have mis-worded that. Apologies, Jill. Well done! Laura one a short short story competition of only one hundred words with a funny piece and finally I had a story accepted by People's Friend. 

Writing Challenges - The March challenge is still open with several suggestions such as Words with Jam First Page Competition and Southport International Poetry competition, but as ever if you would prefer some other piece of work critiqued post it up.

Members- nice to see Jayme posting work and joining in and Rilla will be starting her month's trial soon so please say 'hi' to her on the site. 

Meeting - our next formal meeting will be Sunday 24th March with Chris N in the chair. More details to follow.

Finally a quote taken from this month's Writers News from Hollywood agent H N Swansen (1899-1991). He represented F Scott Fitzgerald, that made me laugh. He said, "when I am asked what kind of writing is the most lucrative, I have to say ransom notes."

Happy writing everybody.