The rainbow generation - word of the week

(Diversity n: 1. The state of being diverse; variety. Etym: mid-14c., "quality of being diverse," mostly in a neutral sense, from O.Fr. diversité (12c.) "difference, diversity, unique feature, oddness:" also "wickedness, perversity," from L.diversitatem (nom. diversitas) "contrariety, contradiction, disagreement)

I really struggled to think of WoTW this week. I've been a bit up and down recently - holidays, work, shoulder debacle and also forgot to take my anti-depressants too (norty me) - so a lot of the words I was thinking about, I've already touched on eg: individuality, motivation, integrity. These are all words I come back to, as they help me focus when I feel a bit wobbly. So I think it's time to do something a little less self absorbed - hence today's word.

Firstly, let me clarify what I mean by diversity - generally I mean accepting and being as open as possible in all ways to people from all walks of life. The Equality Act in the UK has 9 strands of diversity including gender, sexuality, race, religion and disability. I want to make sure that my attitudes, my life and my outlook are as inclusive and open to diversity as possible. In some ways this blog is great for that - I have *no* idea about majority of the readers of this blog - if you actively follow me/the blog I can see some of those strands but for most of you I don't know. Which is great!

So I think you can tell, diversity is a subject close to my heart - I work to encourage diversity at work  and so I'm passionate about it. I feel that in some ways, I tick a lot of the boxes in diversity:

- female (gender)

- jewish (religion)

- deaf (disability)

But I am also:

- white

- middle class

- privately educated

So internally, I often feel a lot of conflict around diversity. I may be passionate about it, but how often can I show that (outside of work)? I grew up in a predominantly white, middle-class, affluent area. And yet I now live 5-6 miles away from there in an area of London that is predominately made up of ethnic minorities who do not all have the upbringing that I had. I have chosen to live somewhere different, because oddly, I feel that I fit in! If everyone is different, there is no need to conform - individuality is to be celebrated here - as anyone who has been to Brixton will testify.

Didn't You Get The Memo....A Newbies Guide to Book Publishing (part 1)

Hi everyone, hope you're having a good Easter Monday! After a long train journey home from Wales, I thought I'd do another Stuff-I've-learned-as-a-newbie post (see my blogging one here)....this time on what I know about the kerazzzzzzeeeee world of book publishing...

I decided to write this post because I used to work in bookselling and publishing. Not for a huge period of time granted, but just over five years in two internationally renowned publishers gave me a little insight into what happens in those ivory towers. So, I don’t make any great claims to know everything at all about publishing, this is just what I know and I thought I’d share it with you. As with any advice on the net, take it with a pinch of salt and a dash of common sense. Knowledge may be power but equally a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. So with that caveat, let us begin!

In my opinion informing yourself on the intricacies of the publishing world can be a big asset to a new/debut/wannabe author…. You might feel like finishing your ms/wip/greatest work of fiction is the hard bit over and done with, but in some ways your journey has just begun. Firstly, if you’re reading this and you’ve already gotten a book deal, many congratulations, that’s awesome – and indeed you may already know some of the below. On the other hand (like me) you might still be in your first draft but thinking ahead to submission and just feeling a little WTF about everything. In which case, this blog post might be helpful for you.

1) Money, money, money….
Okay, please don’t forget that, for better for worse, a publishing house is a ultimately, a business. If they buy a book, to a certain extent they are looking for a return on their investment. Admittedly they don’t always get it right, and they can afford to take a hit, but mostly they’re looking for books that will SELL. It might sound fairly obvious but remember this when you’re getting rejections, editorial criticism and so on, don’t take it personally. It’s the whole `business` thing coming into play. And ultimately the more you sell, the better for YOU – if you plan to make a living from this whole writing malarkey.

2) What flavour is your book?
It might sound like a total no-brainer but what is your book about? Have you got an elevator speech for it? If you can’t do this for your book, you need to be able to. I appreciate that not every book is classifiable or slots neatly into a genre – how else would we have gotten supernatural romance if not for Twilight + True Blood, or the boom in YA if not for genre busting novels like Harry Potter or The Hunger Games. However, most books can – and do – fit roughly into a genre. So perhaps think about:

• Where might your book sit in a bookstore? 
• What sort of authors/reviewers would you want to write blurb for the jacket? 
• What is your competition out there? (c’mon there’s gotta be someone!) 
• What would the blurb on the back of your book say? 

This might seem initially challenging *but*, as I’ll come onto later, it’ll really help you when it comes to marketing and pitching your book. (NB not for your query letter though). It might also help you crystallize the core story of your book.

This Much I Know Is True - An interview with Betty

I am very, very excited about tonight's guest on my sofa. We've had a real mix of lovely people so far, but I am delighted to introduce to you blogger and published author (and dare I say it, sexpert) Betty Herbert of The 52 Seductions blog!

The blog - and soon to be published book - details Betty's attempts to to re-seduce her husband after 10 years of marriage, which some people (me included) found alternately funny, endearing, eye-opening and, above all else, inspirational - particularly for her confrontation of many of the issues that can plague a long term relationship! As before, I am honoured to have her sitting on my virtual sofa and to be interviewing her!

Betty would like me to tell you that she is 33, and lives on the Kent coast (Southern UK for non Brits) with her husband Herbert and her cats, Bob and Elvis. She likes knitting, cooking, drinking cocktails and swimming in the sea (but not in the winter. She is not one of those hardy types). 

So, we are munching thin crispy pizza with anchovies and olives mmmm and she's slurping away at the red wine, I'm on the white! Betty asked me to pick the music so we're listening to a random combination of 80's cheese (Whitesnake, Bon Jovi, Laura Brannigan) and some bits of the Tron soundtrack with a dash of Arcade Fire! Get comfy and we'll get on with the show...

This Much I Know Is True - An interview with Alia

Well as I have been hinting for sometime both on here + Twitter, I have finally gone and interviewed someone for the blog. I'd been wanting to interview people after being inspired by the regular piece in the Observer Magazine called `This Much I Know`. I've got quite a list of people waiting to be interviewed - a steampunk author, a multimedia artist living in India, a single mum, a jewellery designer and.....a *mystery* man! Exciting right? Maybe it's just me.

Anyway the first interview is tonight with @AliaMcK who, I have to confess *is* one of my best buddies in real life. However, she is also multi-talented - being a writer, designer and (wedding) dress maker. She is a lover of trashy YA fiction and is Canadian but luckily for me, resides right here in London!

So, we are sitting on my navy l-shaped sofa in my sitting room and we have eaten muchos pizza! Ham + pineapple (her) and pepperoni (me). We are drinking coca-cola and presently we will have some ice cream. Rock and roll right! On with the interview - note, I sent Alia a list of possible questions earlier in the week so she could prepare a little!

Me: What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?

Alia: Hmmm (looks thoughtful)...Drive like everyone else is crazy. My granddad gave me and my sister this advice when we were learning to drive. I think it applies to most things - shopping, eating etc. It's a maxim I try to live my life by! (laughs)

Me: If you wrote a personals ad, what would it say? (Alia is married)

Alia: Hah! Does your grout need cleaning? Then I'm your girl! (Alia loves cleaning grout) No, seriously, probably `Do you like the smell of bleach,visiting the recycling depo + rifling through the racks in 2nd hand stores? All of the above seeks same". (I tell her she'd probably end up with girl with that ad!)

Me: I know this is tough question but...what is your all time favourite book?

Alia: Easy, Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan. It's a scifi/noir blend detective fiction novel and I've read it 11 times - and each time I discover something new. The story is so layered, it's like the best trifle!

Me: Okay, so you write a lot. What do you `know` about writing? And you can take that anyway you want it to.....

Alia: (thinks, pauses, lies back on sofa) I know that no two people write the same way. What works for me doesn't neccessarily work for you. You have to find your own way of doing things.

Me: I think that makes sense, and it's kind of reassuring, that it's okay to have your own style, so why do you write?

Alia: Um...I've always written I guess, since I was about 7 or 8 and my sister and I used to put on plays for my parents' friends when they came round for dinner. I write because something intrigues me, I get an idea for something and I want to know what happens. It's like pulling a thread on a sweater and watching how it unravels.

Me: Curiosity is a good trait for a writer! I think I'm just nosy so, in that case, what are you working on now?!

Alia: I'm not exactly sure how to define it but I've been working on a YA fantasy novel for the last couple of years. It's a real work in progress and requiring a lot of procrastinating research. Other than that I've had an essay on justice in detective fiction published online here!

Me: I remember, that was really exciting. Following on from that, what really inspires you?

Alia: Anything really, I know that sounds kind of strange but what I mean is looking at something out of context, not isolating it but separating it from its associations and creating new associations. I've had ideas for corsets from trees, dresses in the grocery store and the idea for my w-i-p came from finding out that there were other options when Canada was named. So wikipedia helped a lot!

Me: Let's move away from writing a little, tell me about your dress designing, how did that start?

Alia: Well, it's kind of a family tradition - all the women in my family can sew, they always have. My grandmother + great-grandmother taught me how when I was around six and it just spiralled from there. Being a theatre major helped too, I had to learn costume design and be able to make things. Now I design evening dresses and wedding dresses and get referrals for these from my friends (smiles at me) 

Me: Aww! Right, lets do some fun questions to finish up! What gets you really excited?

Alia: My vegetable garden! I know it sounds geeky but I love it, it's a really good fit for me, I love growing things and the vegetables I've grown taste so much better than the store bought kind. I don't even have a proper veggie garden, I just grow things in plastic tubs on my patio, I've grown peas, potatoes, lettuce and butter nut squash even. Yummy!

Me: What most irritates you?

Alia:(frowns, looks irritated!) People who are wilfully oblivious

Me: If you were Prime Minister for the day, what would you do?

Alia: Hah, I would create two new laws. One being that all trains have to have more carriages - being at a minimum 12 carriages long. I would also make a law that all engineering on public services (digging up roads) have to finish projects on time, on budget and within the hours of 8pm-4am. Otherwise they get fined (looks smug, I point out it might be noisy) Okay, noisy stuff 8pm-11pm, rest of stuff 11pm-4am.

Me: And finally, what do you know to be true?

Alia: I know that in six months, it's not going to matter. What I mean is, what ever matters now, chances are, it won't in six months. I wish I'd known this when I was a teenager, I would have spent a lot less time stressing!

Me: Thank you! Hope that was okay, let's go have some ice cream and wear face masks!

If you're interested in reading Alia's blog, find it http://howdidilivewithoutit.blogspot.com/ and follow her on twitter @AliaMck

So that's it. First interview over. It's a little rough around the edges but I hope you liked it. I'll be asking everyone slightly different questions depending on who they are + what they do, but the main question is, what do they *know*, what have they learned. And it's just to introduce you to different people who are just like you and me and see how they go about their lives!

Please do comment - good or bad - and also let me know if you'd like an interview! Watch out for a photo essay tomorrow and a top 10 list of things that irritate me on sunday.

Thank you and goodnight,

Stupidgirl has left the building

Confession Time

(Honesty noun - The quality of being Honest adj. - telling the truth or able to be trusted and not likely to steal, cheat or lie Etym. - From the Latin `honestestas` meaning honor, honest or virtue.)


The aim of Word of The Week (WoTW) is to make me bring the focus of this blog back to writing at least once a week - as that was one of the main reasons I started blogging. The idea is that I'll talk about a word but show how I think it relates to the craft of writing, if that makes any sense. (Although last week's WoTW was not focused on writing, the previous week it was.) This week's WoTW is Honesty.


Weirdly the inspiration for this WoTW struck when I was in a seminar this morning - don't ask me how i get involved in these things - on the topic of coaching. One of the thoughts I had about coaching was that it seemed to me all about someone encouraging you to be honest with yourself about yourself and what you want. Bingo - WoTW found - tick off the list for today!


It made me think about how as I, as a writer (and yes, I am finally counting myself as one, being honest here) should be more honest with myself about my writing and what I want from it. Sometimes it feels like  the advice I've read about writing and writers and literature isn't all that honest; it can seem a little prescriptive and conformative (sorry, not sure if that's even a word). 


For example i think the general external perception of writing is that one must always be working towards the greatest work of literature ever produced, that to want to be published is wrongetty wrong wrong, that you should be a slave to your art etc etc. Clearly, for most published authors this is not the case, but even within writing circles I feel like there is a little bit of snobbery over what constitutes an acceptable attitude towards one's own writing.


I would guess that the majority of writers out there (published or not) are working away in spare rooms, coffee shops, squeezing time to write around day jobs that pay the bills and partners and kids and well, real life. Some of us write on the bus, on the tube and the train. I am guessing I am not alone in having inspiration strike at massively inopportune moments - mainly during my working day - yet I do not have the liberty to drop everything and bash out a few 1000 words. Neither, should I add, that if writers block strikes, can I wander amongst the daffodils. I have to write when i have time, regardless of whether the words are there or not. Else it doesn't happen at all. It does sometimes make me question why I bother to write.


So I would like to be honest here and say the biggest secret I have been keeping about my writing is............I dream of being published, I do, really, perhaps that's not a huge surprise but I am ashamed of admitting that in public. So often I have seen it said that you should not write to be published etc - and I'm not writing to be published but equally, it is one of the goals I am working towards with my writing.


Linking into this, if I'm honest, the possibility (tiny though it may be) of being published is something that helps motivate and focus me, otherwise what am I doing all this for? Clearly being published is only one of the reasons I write - I love my book and I am in love with my characters (wld like to point out I don't think my book is amazing, but I love it anyway, like old slippers). My book is comforting, it is non judgemental, it demands nothing of me save what I chose to give it. And at this stage of my life, I am finding it very rewarding to write - the creativity it demands is really helping me be more productive and creative at work - weird huh. I guess it would surprise you all to think that I don't really consider myself a creative person.


So this post is dedicated to all the writers and authors out there, for when it's really getting tough and it's hard not to lose hope and what WTF are we really doing here.  Well take time to think about yourself and consider what do you really want from your writing? More importantly, are you getting it? If not, why not? After all, as every Jewish Princess know (moi included) if you don't ask you don't get. I hope that this post inspires maybe someone out there to think about what you want from your writing and take the first step to getting there. Isn't that a little bit exciting + empowering?


I really welcome your comments and thoughts on this - good or bad (can't promise I won't cry!). It interests me.


Thank you and good night.


Stupidgirl has left the building

Navel Gazing

So I had a nice blog post written for this evening - not the nostalgia one I had planned - as I'm too tired for that, but just a nice retrospective one about writing and why I write this blog. Anyway like a total stupidgirl I accidently deleted the entire thing - and then the autosave saved the blank version - thanks blogger!


There's no point crying over lost words, I'm too tired for that, so I'm just going to summarise, in bullet points, what I said. Just for entertainment, sorry if you feel this is a cop out but I really wanted to write something tonight as I am going away tomorrow + won't have a chance to blog again until the weekend.

• I started blogging in 2009 for no apparent reason 'cept I felt I needed to write. I wasn't really sure why and I'm still not. I don't think what I have to say is all that interesting and there are many people who are much more articulate but for some reason I'm still here
• The snippet of book I posted last week is from a thriller I started working on last year involving twin girls, multiple personality disorder + a serial killer obsessed with nursery rhymes. I got way too bogged down with over-thinking the book and gave up after 5k words. 
• I used work and rock climbing as a substitute for writing. This does not work. Especially when you read around 2 books per week like I do. That little voice in your head is saying "writewritewrite". It's kind of hard to ignore so...
• I woke up with an entire book plot in my head in August 2010. I kind of fooled around with some character sketches and bits + pieces but not more than around 2k words. I left it.
• Then a "friend" mentioned NaNoWriMo, I thought fuck it, I can write 50k words, doesn't mean it'll be any good. So I did. So we're here and I have 50k words of "book"
• I plan to use this blog to encourage me to write regularly and come february I hope to have enough confidence to finish my Nano book. I need to write around another 30k words.
• My future plans for this blog involve writing mini essays on subjects that interest me like Nostalgia and Chocolate and Generation Y etc. I will also keep on doing my weekend lists and random book reviews and generally waffling on as you guys seem to like it and I want to keep you happy.
• I also plan to do some interviews with people I find interesting, so twitter peeps this means you These will be a little like the Observer's `This Much I Know I True. If you would be happy to be interviewed DM me or tweet me or comment below.

So that's pretty much it for tonight, just one more thing. Here's a tiny snippet from my nano book for you - don't forget, it's totally unedited, all errors are MINE!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nano Snippet

Sometimes I feel as if my brain is atrophying, there is just a white void in my skull where the knowledge should be. I feel hungry for something, but I’m not sure what. It’s like having a word right on the tip of your tongue but it just being out of reach. I see things, I hear conversations, read the odd paper and it stirs me up but again, that sensation of something sliding out of my grip. I don’t have to think any harder than how to please Michael and dullness of this is starting to terrify me. I think maybe the medication isn’t working anymore. At the Convent they started us on the medication as soon as we arrived. Just a little, white, round pill, no markings nothing – it’s your medication, take it, the nuns would say. And being good girls we’d wash it down with our morning juice.

Facing your fears and all that crap

So, let's just get right down to the point of this blog. I originally started it, way back when in 2009, as a way of encouraging myself to just please, do a little bit of writing, in the hope that I might eventually write an actual book.It would be good to keep the people off my back who have, since I was about 15, been asking me when I was going to write a book. To which my answer was always "Okay just because I love reading, does not make me a) able to write a whole book or b) even good at writing." as this paragraph neatly demonstrates.


However I figured, what if I wrote a book with the proviso that NO ONE EVER SAW IT. Cunning plan huh, write a book, stick it a desk drawer, mission accomplished. Who cares about whether it's readable or whether, if I kept going, my next book might be readable. 


Note - being readable is not the same as being published.......(cf vanity publishing)


So here we are a couple of years later, with a few blog posts under my belt, some lovely people who actually read this blog AND a nearly finished Nanowrimo novel. Hmph, well what about that then. I still can hardly believe it myself but the evidence is on my hard drive - 50k words of a VERY UNEDITED and PROBABLY CRAP  and DEFINITELY NOT commercially viable novel.


In fact that sentence holds the key to what holds me back as a writer - the words `commercially viable`. I think they probably make any author's heart sink to be honest and, having spent 5 years working for a major bookstore and then two of the biggest book publishers in this country, they make my heart sink too. 


My book is based on an idea that I love - and has characters that I love and who do unpredictable, crazy-ass things that were not in my book plan - but whether it'll fit neatly into the supermarkets top 50 is a WHOLE OTHER QUESTION. And not really one with a positive answer, I think. But I still keep on writing it under the premise that NO ONE WILL EVER SEE IT. 


Um, small confession; I have shown some snippets to some friends. I think this was easily the most terrifying thing I've ever done - more so than rock climbing. I have learnt that I am QUEEN OF ADVERBS (sorry is the capitalization annoying you...) and maybe I should cut some/all/99% of them.


But showing it to people made me think about whether, as  writer, am I really challenging myself and being the best writer I can be, if I am not putting my work out there for criticism and feedback? How am I going to develop myself and my style without this and also, by facing my fear and eek, showing my writing to people, isn't this helping me grow a little as a person too - to have a teeny tiny bit of self belief?


So in the name of sharing below is a small excerpt from a project I started (and stalled) working on early last year. I never plan to do anything with this, hence putting it on here. It is COMPLETELY unedited - there may be heinous typos but I make no apologies, this is my writing, warts and all, in public for the first time.


PS The inspiration for this post came from 2 other supercool bloggers: Julie C Gardner and Graffiti Living 'Please Don't Read My....'


Except From StupidGirl's Untitled Project - Feb 2010

“Our time together is running out.” My voice in the silent room makes her jump, “try to work with me on this, it can only help.” Every session to date has been the same. The flickering lights, the chewing of the lip, the sullen stare. No amount of pleading, logical reasoning or brutal imagery has caused her to speak. Shocking events can cause involuntary muteness. But I do not feel this to be the case with her. She is deliberately holding back and, at times, I feel as if she is waiting for me to say the correct word or sentence and suddenly her long held silence will be unlocked.

I gather my papers and the clippings together. It is almost the end of the appointment and I can see that, yet again, we are going to get nowhere today. I could simply copy and paste my notes each session; such is the lack of change each time.  And then something happens that makes this one session different.

Looking back, it seems almost funny that something so simple could trigger such events. But isn’t that always the case – butterflies wings and thunderstorms as they say.  I bent down to grab my brown leather satchel and as I did so, some trick of the wind outside caused the crows flying past to caw and rasp loudly. My patient speaks “One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl and four for a boy,” she intones solemnly, her voice raspy and low from lack of use.  At this point, after hitting my head on the desk in shock at hearing her voice, I am sat bolt upright, scrabbling for the digital recorder.

“Five for silver, six for gold, seven for a secret never to be told.”