Books and being busy

Firstly a big thank you to blog friend Becky Povich. Becky kindly mailed me a copy of Not Your Mother's Book... On Dogs, after I won a giveaway contest on her blog. I have really enjoyed dipping into this book of dog stories. It was especially exciting to read Becky's own story and see the photo of her dog Rocky.

Other books I've enjoyed lately include The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey. It's a retelling of an old Russian folk tale, which the author has set in Alaska. I loved the descriptions of the setting, and found the first half of the book quite magical. Sadly the magic seemed to wear off a little in the second half. I would be interested to hear the opinions of anyone else who has read this book.

I've also just finished Excellent Women by Barbara Pym. For only a pound, I bought a nice hardback edition of this from the charity shop. The plot is fairly thin, but the characters are as excellent as the title. I can see this becoming one of the comfort books that I return to every so often, along with the Miss Read novels and the earlier books of Maeve Binchy.

Life is busy, and I have neglected blogland again recently. I am doing a short writing course, on top of my regular writers' group. More on that next time. It's clearly beneficial, because I am feeling very upbeat and motivated about the writing, which isn't always the case.

I don't know whether it was down to the fact that we did 'stream of consciousness' in the writers' group this morning, but I came home and wrote the entire first draft of a new story. I am normally more of a plodder, and it's just wonderful to have that sudden burst of writing energy. At those times a story almost seems to write itself, with my pen struggling to keep up. Tomorrow I am at the day job, but I can't wait to be off again on Wednesday, when I can type up that story and begin editing.

I also have another story on Alfie Dog, by the way. It's called Spooky Strolls, and it was previously published in Writing Magazine, 2007, when it won the summer ghost story competition.

That's it from me for today. Hope all my blog readers are well and enjoying the signs of spring.

Now appearing at Alfie Dog Fiction

Have you seen Alfie Dog Fiction? There are hundreds of stories to download, in all  kinds of genres. Contributing authors receive royalties based on the number of downloads. The process of submitting work is very straightforward, and is all explained on the website.

I am happy to say I have recently had two stories accepted by Alfie Dog. The first is now available, called 'The Mischief Game', and the second is scheduled for publication on February 20th.

With small press markets shrinking, and fiction slots in established magazines becoming ever more competitive, it's great to find new opportunities for publication. Great work, Alfie Dog!

Writing news, and a hot tip for cosy toes.

After a quiet summer, some writing news. A couple of weeks ago I went to the University of Wales Trinity St David in Carmarthen, to read at the prizegiving of the Ifanca Helene James short story competition. I had a lovely couple of days, featuring a scenic train journey, a male voice choir, and lots of walking uphill (never down).

I also found I had been shortlisted for the Doris Gooderson short story competition, run by Wrekin Writers.

I have entered more writing competitions than usual this year. In part this was because I wrote several pieces as homework for the writers' group which were too dark or strange for the magazines I submit to. Next year I plan to enter less competitions. It's lovely to win anything, or be shortlisted, but I have felt for some time that I should be focusing on a bigger project. I have a couple of novel ideas, but neither of those seems to be happening right now. So I have decided to see if I can put together the short story collection on a theme, which I've been contemplating since last year. It seems more manageable within my bitty work schedule.

With two recent short story sales to My Weekly, I shall not be giving up magazine writing though. I find it an excellent antidote to my workaday world.

On a different note, I saw Willy Russell's fabulous show Blood Brothers this week. You can not imagine how wonderful it was to see 'Tell Me It's Not True' performed so brilliantly, after my hours spent trying to learn even the most basic version on the piano! All the cast were great, but I must give a special mention to Niki Evans. Apparently she was an X Factor contestant a few years ago. She was absolutely outstanding as Mrs Johnstone, the woman who gives away one of her twins so she can afford to feed the rest of her family.

Finally, with dark nights and chilly temperatures, how would you like to win some lovely socks? Librarian, who blogs at From My Mental Library, has a mother with a talent for knitting. She sells some of her products via an Etsy shop. To win a free hand-knitted item from the range on sale, all you have to do is visit Librarian's blog and leave a comment on the 'Cold Season Giveaway' post. I love socks so much, I can barely close my sock drawer. Count me in!

International Tree Foundation

I wish I could remember for sure which blogger posted the link to a recent short story competition run by the International Tree Foundation. I would like to say a big thank you to that kind person, as I have won second prize.

In the picture on the left you can see some of the lovely contents of my prize goody bag. (There was also a nice green tie, but my husband has already taken to wearing it and he's gone out!) For the competition results and three top stories, just go to this page on the International Tree Foundation website.

It may have been Patsy who originally mentioned the competition. If not, I think Patsy deserves thanking anyway, for all the competition details she shares with us. Well done Patsy - keep it up!

Yesterday I met two writing friends in London. We spent most of the day in the Victoria and Albert Museum, admiring beautiful gems in the Jewellery Gallery, seeing the famous Great Bed of Ware, and of course buying the obligatory postcard and fridge magnet in the shop.

Here's a heron who was posing perfectly in Kensington Gardens on my way from the station.

Rosalie's signing and my latest.

Firstly, if you are in the Coventry area this Saturday (May 21st) Rosalie Warren would love you to pop into her signing session for 'Coping with Chloe'. Rosalie was a guest on this blog in March. Between 10.30a.m. and 12.30p.m. on Saturday she will be in Waterstones, Smithford Way, Lower Precinct, Coventry.

Secondly, '100 Stories for Queensland' is now available to order in print form through Amazon. Please click the image on the right sidebar for further details.

Thirdly, I have a story 'Her Pride and Joy' in the new issue of The Weekly News. That's the one with a cover date of May 21st. I only heard on Tuesday that they wanted to use the story, and today I bought it from the newsagent's. That's a quick turnaround! It's the first story I've had in there, but I've been familiar with this particular publication since childhood. My grandparents used to buy The Weekly News and pass their copy on to us. I wish I could tell them I finally made it into the short story pages. I think they'd be glad.

Jo interviews Angela Pickering

Today I am delighted that short story writer Angela Pickering has agreed to answer a few questions about herself and her writing.

Angela lives in Essex, and her stories regularly appear in such magazines as Take a Break's Fiction Feast, My Weekly, Woman's Weekly, Yours, The Weekly News, That's Life (Australia), People's Friend, and in the small press. Her competition successes include winning the Annual Ghost Story Competition run by Writers' News in 2006, and also two of their monthly competitions.

So, Angela, welcome to Zigzag Road and can you tell us how long you've been writing?

I have written on and off since I was a child. I used to take episodes of a rambling tale set in Russia to school on a weekly basis and make my friends read them. I also wrote a few ghost stories and then there was that little hand written, hand illustrated magazine called 'Quest' that survived for two issues.

Then life got in the way and I didn't take up the pen again until 2000 when someone I met at work mentioned a writing group she'd joined. "I always wanted to be a writer," I said and she took me at my word. Everything spiralled from there. I shall always be grateful to the writer, Carol Purves, who dragged me along to my first meeting.

Are you someone who plans out stories before beginning to write, or do you like to plunge straight in and see what develops?

Both, actually. Mostly I simply start writing from a title, a character or just a vague idea and see where it leads me. Sometimes the beginning and the end are already set in my head when I start. It's rare that I have a whole story before I begin, but it does happen.

A lot of your stories feature ghosts and hauntings. How do you come up with so many spooky ideas?

I've always been a fan of the strange and spooky tale. My family thought me a strange child, especially when I announced that I'd seen fairies in my bedroom. So it's a question of writing what one loves. My best ideas seem to arrive in that strange time between waking and sleeping. I try to write them down in the notepad beside my bed, but sometimes I think they're so brilliant that I'm sure I'll remember them, and then I don't.

How do you fit writing into your schedule alongside the demands of work and family life?

This is the difficult one. I'm lucky in that I only work part-time, but trying to keep on top of the house and garden in between work shifts means I live my life in a state of perpetual confusion. I call it 'spinning like a top'. I expect everyone calls it something different. Writing is what I do to make myself happy so when I've got a good idea, I drop everything else apart from the washing and ironing. A family of five needs a lot of clean clothes. When I'm not writing though, I'm generally thinking about writing. Many's the tale that has been born over the ironing board.

Imagine you can have lunch with any writer, living or dead. Who would it be and what would you ask them?

I can't choose here between my first hero M.R. James and the amazing Stephen King. In either case the question that springs to mind is "Will you marry me?" To be honest though, I expect I'd be so awestruck that the power of speech would be denied me. I might just curtsy instead and then tremble in their presence. I wouldn't be eating the lunch either.

And finally, have you any advice for newer writers?

Yes, it's this. Love to write. If it's not your passion don't do it. Writing is like breathing to some of us; once you start you can't stop. This passion is what will keep you going when the rejections come through the letter box like confetti. This passion is what will one day see your work in print and if you have it don't waste it. Write. (And join a writing group, read a lot and maybe do courses as well.)

Thank you Angela for these words of inspiration! It's been a real pleasure to discover more about you.

50 Stories for Pakistan

After the success of '100 Stories for Haiti', Greg McQueen is putting together another fundraising anthology. This time it is in response to the floods that devastated the lives of so many people in Pakistan this summer.

My story, 'A Little Bit of Heaven', is one of those accepted for inclusion in the latest book. I feel incredibly lucky to be picked again, and will of course keep you updated with progress on '50 Stories for Pakistan'.

On the shelf

I'm on the shelf this week. To be exact, in the July 20th Woman's Weekly with a short story called 'Conversations with Jenna'.

Today I've been writing at the museum. I enjoyed it. No-one took any notice of me, or if they did then they probably assumed I was an art student or something. I came home with several pages of scrawled notes, both about the exhibits and the visitors. People watching is endlessly fascinating isn't it.

Another thing I found fascinating was the museum's 'Adopt an Object' scheme to raise funds. Depending how much you want to spend you can adopt a pearl button, an ancient Egyptian funerary mask, a wedding dress from 1891, a portrait of Oliver Cromwell, and several other paintings which would not look out of place on my living room wall. That's my Christmas shopping sorted then!

Some light reading

If you would like to read my Frome Festival story from 2007, I have uploaded it to the blog. Please click on 'The Power of Purple', under 'pages' on the right hand side.