30 July 2013
Welcome to all of you who have signed up to receive news or who have looked at our new website.
Despite the unseasonal hot weather for July The Allrighters have made some good progress on their writing activities this month.
This new website is up and running. Search on Allrighters and on some search engines and you may find the name near the top of the list! Thank you Peter for the right meta words.
On the short story writing front:-
On the short story writing front:-
Our Costa Coffee short story has been completed for submission this week. A story with a "twist in the tail" is being worked up for another competition next month.
A couple of contributions to writing newsletters have also been prepared.
Ywnwab! is with our self publisher for production by early September 2103
Another follow up book of short stories to Ywnwab! is being assembled. If you would like to become a guest writer and make a 1,500 word contribution to the next book please send details of how you started writing - c 300 words and a self contained story or extract from a longer book of - c 1,200 words for consideration. The Allrighters will make the final, non negotiable decision, on what to include as they are paying the costs of production and publication. We like others contributions to add variety and reality to our fantasy.
Titles are being considered for the follow up book - having surprised everyone by a positive response to the challenge - You will never write a book! - the inevitable question will no doubt be something along the lines of - "What are you gonn'r write now ?" - Waygwn? - "Perhaps you can think of something less naff," - as our self publisher said about Ywnwab! The title will most likely change, as do our titles for the long books. They ebb and flow and change on the tide of writing.
On the long book writing front:-
All the other activity has meant less progress than we wanted, but we are up to schedule passing 875,000 draft words this morning with a better skeleton structure for Sevhend? This is our likely first long book to be published next year. A story by Henrietta Emily Jones about the dreams and recollections of her mum Florence Cross, five men, eight children and Freddie a ghostrighter.
On the long book writing front:-
All the other activity has meant less progress than we wanted, but we are up to schedule passing 875,000 draft words this morning with a better skeleton structure for Sevhend? This is our likely first long book to be published next year. A story by Henrietta Emily Jones about the dreams and recollections of her mum Florence Cross, five men, eight children and Freddie a ghostrighter.
On the other writer's draft reading front:-
Our current reading includes a draft page turner written by a member of our local writer's group. We are half way through the whole book waiting ......... biting our nails (if we did) for the author to complete another 10k of self editing next week. Just what will happen next and how on earth will the book end?
In the spirit of Stephen King's advice about reading a lot the Allrighters are also quite happy to read any of your draft fiction writing ( short stories, longer books normally up to 100,000 words - in 10,000 word chunks per week) and make comments from a potential reader's perspective. We were told it's better to get comments from as many general readers as you can before you have gone into print.
Our current reading includes a draft page turner written by a member of our local writer's group. We are half way through the whole book waiting ......... biting our nails (if we did) for the author to complete another 10k of self editing next week. Just what will happen next and how on earth will the book end?
In the spirit of Stephen King's advice about reading a lot the Allrighters are also quite happy to read any of your draft fiction writing ( short stories, longer books normally up to 100,000 words - in 10,000 word chunks per week) and make comments from a potential reader's perspective. We were told it's better to get comments from as many general readers as you can before you have gone into print.
We cannot do a 100% edit as we do not have a first class English degree from Cambridge or an MA in Creative Writing, but then neither do most of readers of fiction books. As Bill C might have said on the subject "It's the story that counts," leaving off the demeaning word.
Quotation of the month: - "Too much bad writing has been written about good writing" Nicholas Heiney 2006 - "The Silence at the Song's End." - 2007. (permission given)
On the reading front:-
- The Search - by Geoff Dyer. A great idea in a conventional start, leading on to some surreal, over long fantasy writing of a kind echoed in some of the Allrighters' long books. The long sex scene on page ** (minus two) a delight - leaving everything to the imagination. We must read more of his books. See Alexander's comments on Amazon for this book and the rest of his 70+ book reviews.
- Robert Goddard - Long Time Coming - LTC. He keeps his plots fizzing along.
- Jon McGregor - This Isn't The Sort Of Thing That Happens To Someone Like You. TITSOTTHTSLY in our titling method. The short stories are more readable than his INSORT.
- Jawbeakers - Flash Fiction - Various authors. Read on Kindle, interesting comparison with Ywnwab! Ian Rankin short story a gem.
- Jen Campbell - Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops - WTCIB. Great as laughter medicine.
- Felix Dennis - Love of a kind - A book of new poems written under threat of death. Florence would have loved to have used the Eric Gill illustrations in her books.
- http://awriterofhistory.com - Found via Mick Rooney's web site and a book marketing plan contribution written by Mary Tod the site's author. In the site archive there are some interesting interviews with authors writing historical fiction. Browsing the site has raised thoughts in our minds about whether good fiction can be written with WW1 and WW2 as a background without a really good story as War Horse, Birdsong and Never Forget. For the awful detail a factual book written by someone who was actually there, whether embellished or not, will we think hold more credibility and interest. Most of those who were there at the front, including my father, said nothing. Richard Holmes, John Keegan ( see interview below) , Anthony Beevor and Andrew Roberts war and history writers, never, as far as we can see ( please someone correct us if we are wrong) took part in active service killing people. We know Winston Churchill did both!
- http://www.booknotes.org/Watch/56542-1/John+Keegan.aspx
- Not long to go before the next Jack Reacher book is published.
- Will the current unseasonal weather continue?
- Decorating - none.
- Repairs - none - but the 'to do' list has grown.
- Clearing out - going in the wrong direction.
- Weight and blood pressure - maybe going down .....
- Interest rates, on our publishing money pot, are going down - is ski the answer or publish more quickly?
- Walking - not enough.
Good writing, reading and arithmetic to you all and please keep comments and e mails coming.
The Allrighters
