KLiCbait Volume 1

KLiC is an artist-led collective in residency at the Y Theatre in Leicester. KLiC devises and produces original theatre, film, writing and performance work as well as offering Artist support.

A little while back, KLiC posted in a Facebook writing group I belong to, calling for submissions for an inaugural short story collection called KLiCbait Volume 1. The theme was interesting - the story had to be set in a pub somewhere in Leicestershire on the day of the first commercial space flight to the moon.

Now, I like themes and even more, I like challenges. I submitted my idea and a sample of writing (taken from You Should Have Let Me Sleep, which will be published this summer by the RASSSA) and didn't think any more of it.

'Cos, y'know, I've done competitions and the like, and my stuff just doesn't seem to get anywhere.

Well, I'm delighted to say that there must've been something good in the sample - because I'm one of ten authors who've been selected to write their stories for KLiCbait volume 1! And as it's been officially announced on their website, I reckon I can share the news now...

I can't tell you how exciting this is for me. Everything I've written so far that's been published (apart from Granny Rainbow) has gone into an anthology with people I know putting them together. Now, I'm not for one minute suggesting that being selected is a matter of who you know, rather than what you write. I was well aware, for example, that I wouldn't have made it into Stories for Homes if the writing had been under par. And I've also had the pleasure of being judged a runner-up in a competition which entitled me to publication...

But this is the first time that someone who doesn't know me - who has never seen my writing before - has taken a decision base on the strength of what they've read. It's an incredibly affirming thing to have happened.

It's also bloomin' scary. I have to write to a deadline, make sure this new story lives up to KLiC's expectations, get the facts I'm intending to use right...*bites nails to the quick*

So...I'm now busy plotting out a story set in The Organ Grinder, a Blue Monkey Brewery pub, which will feature moon rocks and space monkeys...and has to be finished by the 31st July, ready for online publication at the end of August.

I think a trip to the pub might be justified...all in the name of research, of course!

Happy birthday, Squidge's Scribbles!

The Scribbles are a year old today!

This is my 210th post, covering a variety of subjects - mainly writing, but lots to do with family life too. In case you've not been with me all year, here are some of my favourite times...

Being published.
I've been published several times over the year (look here for a full list) but the highlights were the publication of Stories for Homes, the charity anthology in aid of Shelter, and my very own Granny Rainbow. 

SfH saw me deliver my very first public reading of something I'd published at The Ivy House - a fabulous but nerve-wracking experience.

Family stuff.
I have a thing about rainbows, so it seemed natural to blog about why. Last August, the family was thrown into some chaos when my son was hospitalized with a ruptured appendix, especially as it happened just before my church's Flower Festival which I was helping to organise.

I also went skiing for the first time in my life and against all the odds - loved it!

Improving my writing.
I was lucky enough to be recommended Les Edgerton's book on Finding Your Voice when I was struggling with some feedback. This book has to be one of the most important reasons for my improvements this year. I attended the Festival of Writing in York (almost time for the next one!) and wrote about several of the session. My favourite was Julie Cohen's Creating Characters...mainly 'cos we got to watch Pixar clips!

I also posted some of my own thoughts on how to build a story with an analogy that likened writing to knitting socks. 

Free fiction.
In October I took part in the Ultimate Blog Challenge, posting every day for a month. Every other day during that time, I posted a flash fiction piece - including one inspired by a prompt from Chuck Wendig's terribleminds blog, called The Forgotten Library.

And I asked folk to challenge me; early on, I wrote a story that had to include a rocking horse, cowboy and a zimmer frame.

I wonder what will be on my list in another year's time? A second Granny Rainbow book? StarMark in print? More short stories with RASSSA? Only time will tell...

I hope you'll stick with the Scribbles, to find out what does happen!

It all started...

...when Arnie Thunk gave Millie Mylott a frog.

...when Pepe Pizzazzo bought a new circus tent.

...with Old Tom's socks.

...when Fred Dimby fell ill.

So begin the first of four new stories about Granny Rainbow, already written and illustrated, and waiting for a blue or yellow story to join them - written by YOU!

There are three days left until the deadline for the competition... Get scribbling for your chance to win!

Ladybird

Nope. Not the insect - the book company. Ladybird Books. 

The company was started in my home town and although Ladybird are still publishing books today, they're now owned by Penguin and everything's moved south, leaving a big hole in the town.

Next year, Loughborough's going to be celebrating the centenary of Ladybird Books and today, I went to a meeting to put forward ideas of how those celebrations might look. A Literary Festival has been suggested...

It's still very early days in the planning stages, but  there were some lovely ideas floating about. My publisher, Ian, was a typesetter with the company and there are many people who live in town who used to be connected to the words and pictures that made a Ladybird book so special - I'm hoping for some wonderful exhibitions of memories and artefacts, as well as reading events and lots about illustrating for children's literature.

The local press dropped in to cover the meeting and asked for a photo of everyone. We were all given a museum copy of a Ladybird book to hold (I was hoping for Cinderella, but got The Vikings instead) and we posed...

I'll keep you posted as details come in, as I'm sure there are loads of you who have fond memories of Ladybird.

My favourite...but I hated the blue dress!

Ups and downs

What a weird week so far.

Good : sold 7 more copies of Granny Rainbow at the school fair last Saturday and made over £30 for the PSA with my rainbow straw game.

Not so good : bloomin' arm's playing up again. Another trip to the walk-in centre, only to be told it's too long after the original injury for them to deal with me, and I need to see my GP to be referred back to the hospital for an X-ray IF they think I need it.

Good : Awards Evening for the kids. Both received multiple awards and performed with rock club. The highlight for me (sorry, kids!) was one of the Y10 boys who sang a solo. Amazing performance!

Not so good : T due on a survival camp at the weekend with Scouts. Not yet received kit list, permission form or health form... I mean, does he need a bivvy bag 'cos he sleeping under the stars? Or will he actually be in a tent? I know the scouts' motto is Be Prepared, but this is getting a bit ridic!

Good : I finished another Granny Rainbow story for the next book.

Not so good : I realised there's a whole section in StarMark that doesn't work, and I'm a bit stumped as to how to fix it.

Good : Received my first entries for the Granny Rainbow competition! Only a week to go...

Not so good : Have been invited to a book launch and I think I'm away. Pooh.

Good : I am one of 10 writers to have been selected to write a short story for a project in Leicester...but more of that in another post.

So. A bit uppy-downy, and it's only Wednesday. Gutted about StarMark, but I know that battling with it now means it'll be better later. If only I can crack this middle bit...

How's the week going for you? Hoping very much that on balance, the goods are outweighing the not-so-goods...

RASSSA. Whassat?

You probably know by now that I'm a proud Cloudie. That is, a member of The Word Cloud, an online writing community run by the Writer's Workshop.

Within that community are various groups; I belong to one called the Random and Speculative Short Story Appreciation group - RASSSA for short. (he! pun intended.)

Well, this particular group, under the editorial eyes of JA Ironside and Matthew Willis, are producing an anthology of short stories. I'm thrilled to be able to say that two of mine have been accepted for publication in A Seeming Glass. The stories are based around a theme of reflection and every story is inspired by a much older original - but our versions are a little...twisted; fairytales don't always have a happy ending.

As part of the pre-launch publicity (look out for a book blast coming soon!), each of the authors have been asked to write a piece of flash fiction for the Random Writers website - but it has to be connected to our stories in the anthology. They'll be posted from mid-July onwards and be available to read absolutely FREE! (I'll let you know when the first of the prequels are up...keep an eye out!)

But I tell you what, writing something that's connected to the main story, yet doesn't give anything away and still leaves the reader wanting to know more is flippin' difficult! Mine both ended up as prequels. The first one lent itself very well to a short story format - it had a beginning, middle and end of its own and featured one of the characters from the main story. Lovely jubbly. The second...well, it ended up as something that would've served better as an introduction. It didn't have that same sense of completeness about it.

Either way, I hope you'll drop by the site and, if your appetite is whetted by our flash fiction pieces, perhaps you'll consider buying the book...

The storybag goes to school - again...

Yesterday, I spent a lovely morning with Class 2 in one of the local village schools in Diseworth; my second ever author visit.

It's such a dinky little school! (You have to remember that my own children went to a large town primary (where I also worked) of over 500 children, so I'm used to a much bigger setup.) I had a quick tour before the children came into school - three classrooms, a central hall, fabulous playground and field area with trim trail, wildlife area and outdoor classroom...all for around forty children. Wonderful! I loved it. I especially wished I could've stayed for lunch - pizza or chicken curry. Nom nom...

Anyway... There were 15 children in Class 2, aged five and six. They were very excited to meet a real author! (I really must get used to that fact : I AM an author!) I was fortunate that the teacher, an old Guiding friend of mine, had already introduced the children to Granny Rainbow a couple of days before.

I started by telling them how Granny Rainbow came to be written, then we finished the Marmalade Machine story which they'd begun in storytime the previous day. I followed that with a chat about some of my favourite books. I'd taken in a selection - some I'd read when I was younger (like King of the Copper Mountains and Children of Willow Tree Farm), others I'd read with my own kids (Horrid Henry and Spy Dog) and I even included poetry with a bit of Doctor Seuss. I don't want these visits just to be about Granny Rainbow, y'see ; they're about reading AND writing AND getting kids enthused about both.

After an hour of fantastic listening, the kids had a bit of a runaround on the field and then we set to with the storybag. (My storybag is full of random objects, and the kids get to pick three things out of it; the stories they write after that have to include all three, but in whatever way they want to.)

The tales we were told! Children never cease to amaze me with their imaginations. The problem I've found is that for some children, their imagination and vocabulary outstrip their writing ability. But - providing you can be a bit creative with how to 'capture' their ideas in pictures or sound or even by writing it down for them as they talk - they can still produce some excellent stories.

The most amazing things happen, because no-one's saying 'that's a daft idea' or 'that wouldn't happen in real life'. So we had baked bean fired rockets and sunflower-sensitive dinosaurs on the moon. We had police cars with reflective shields that were better able to withstand a dragon's flame. We had a rainbow monkey who loved adventures...even when those adventures included a zombie or two!

With the teacher's permission, here's a story from each of the groups...

Rainbow Monkey, cuddly cat and telescope:

Once upon a time there was a rainbow coloured cheeky monkey called Boris who loved an adventure. Shockingly one scary stormy night Boris looked through his shiny yellow telescope and suddenly he could see slimy terrifying zombies were coming towards him. They got closer and closer. The zombie was terrifying. Unfortunately Boris was stuck in some sticky glue. The zombies got even closer. The zombie grabbed the monkey and bit him. Devastatingly he turned into a monkey zombie. His mum was shocked.

Luckily Kitty the cat heard some screams and ran to the rescue but sadly she was too late.

Dinosaur, tin of baked beans, sunflower:

Once upon a time there was a huge dinosaur, his name was Ben. He was a dinosaur who loved baked beans. One day Ben made a rocket out of a baked beans tin. He launched for take-off. Unfortunately there was a flower and it made him sneeze. Bang! Crash! Within minutes he was on the moon. Luckily Ben had an air sack and so he lived on the moon forever eating lots and lots of beans every day. Finally he got fat and bored on his own.

Dragon, police car and wooden cat:

Once upon a time there lived a fire breathing dragon. The dragon is big, hot and scary. There were noisy sirens everywhere around the dragon. It was a devastating, awful and tragic disaster! The sirens were melting like ice on an ice rink on fire. The police wheels were popping like popping candy that you eat. Bang! Boom! Luckily a cat came to their rescue. The cat is cute, small and cuddly. The cat scared the dragon and they all lived happily ever after.

It's a real privilege to share these kind of creative moments with both the teachers and their children - not least because the teachers are enabling the children and celebrating their work.

We've got a few photos, but as before - I forgot to get a group photo with the children! Which is a pain as we (me and the school) were hoping to send one to our local newspaper with a little report. *sighs* Next time... And I have a feeling that there will be some competition entries coming in from Class 2 (follow THIS LINK if you don't know which competition I'm talking about) in the near future - Hooray!

So - huge thanks to Diseworth School, particularly Class 2, for making me feel so welcome, and I look forward to visiting again soon!