Tag: Short Stories

Hope for Willow Burn

As most of my friends online know, my grandpa has been very ill for about a month. He’s currently being cared for by Willow Burn hospice in Co Durham and they have been absolutely wonderful.

My mum always says that dying is inevitable, but important; one of the most important things you will ever do. Willow Burn, and hospices like it across the country, provide care and compassion and dignity at the time when you need it most, but they get almost no state funding; as their website says, they survive on the goodwill of the community and fundraising. Doesn’t this seem wrong? That hospices, which look after you at the most critical time of your life, need to rely on fundraising to survive?

Of course, it’s not just Willow Burn. My husband in a previous life was a professional fundraiser for a wonderful hospice in Stockton, and his friend is still doing the same job at a hospice in Sunderland. So why am I shouting for Willow Burn in particular, other than my own personal link?

Because they desperately need it, basically. They deliver the most amazing care in an old, under-resourced building, and have only four beds when they could easily fill twice as many. If you follow me on twitter or Facebook, you might have seen me ask for fundraising ideas a couple of days ago. I want to show my appreciation of their dedication as well as donate to them some much-needed funds. So many people had some amazing ideas, and my favourite was an anthology of short stories, with all the proceeds going to Willow Burn.

And so to the point. I would be hugely, amazingly grateful for short stories. I have some very talented friends, both published and unpublished, and I think if you would help me we could make a fabulous anthology that would raise a little bit of money for a fabulous place. I want to focus on hope, and have stories that are hopeful, humourous, uplifting… you get the idea. If you can help, or if you don’t fancy writing a story but can help by spreading the word, please, please do. I’ll do all the formatting and Andrew will do me a cover so all you have to do is send me a story you’re happy with. If I get inundated (yes please!) I might need some help to narrow it down but that’s an appeal for another day.

Keep an eye here as I’ll be doing a couple more blog posts on the hospice itself. And thank you – in advance – for your help and support!

Updated to add: If anyone has a story to submit, send it to this email. Thanks again!

Pier Pressure

A short story for today’s post.

Ever noticed how those kids’ rides that are supposed to look like smiley dolphins or whatever look dead creepy when there’s no kids around? Or even when there are, come to think of it. Big painted eyes stare mockingly at you and the wide fixed grin stretches from one side to the other – it’s like it knows something about you that you don’t, and it’s trouble.

There was one of these at the pier, outside a seedy amusement arcade. I say arcade, but we’re talking a few machines, a change kiosk and a vending machine. The carpet was big red and yellow flowers and ferns, like something from an old lady’s living room. Smelled of wee too. I didn’t stay in there more than a minute. At least out on the pier the smell of wee was mixed in with the smell of salty sand and seawater. Continue reading “Pier Pressure”

A is for Author…

It’s April 1st! If you read my post the other day, All About April, you’ll know that I’m taking part in the April A – Z Challenge. And if you didn’t, well, you do now.

And to kick off the month, welcome to my ebook launch!

I know it’s a tenuous link, but hey, it’s my blog. I get to make and break the rules. 😉

Some Life Somewhere is now available to buy from Amazon Kindle and Smashwords (other formats, inc US Kindle) and it’s also listed on Goodreads but looking rather lonely without reviews (just sayin’…)

The book is a series of short stories told as dialogues, exploring some of the Big Questions of life, death, and the tricky bits in-between.

To celebrate I’m giving away a copy of the book in your preferred format. If you want to enter (and why wouldn’t you? ahem…) leave a comment on this post or on my facebook page (with a ‘Like’!) answering the following question and on Sunday night (3rd April) I’ll draw one answer out of the hat:

What would your ideal alternative life be?

Have you answered? Excellent, here’s a virtual glass of champagne, and cheers!

Some Life, Somewhere

I love the idea of chapbooks. Those small, cheap pamphlet-type books that are produced purely because the writer just wanted to get their work out there. Because they felt they had something important to say, or they wanted to express themselves through poetry or prose, or to record some part of their family’s history or values. Those writers very bravely put their work out for people to read without thinking (much!) of the bigger picture, of getting an agent or a publisher or what happens if people don’t like it.

There’s a whole lot of discussion at the minute around e-publishing and self-publishing and should you hold out for a deal or do you do it for the money or the recognition, or do you just want to say something. I think, personally, and I doubt I’m very original here, that this is the age of the ebook, and it’s the perfect medium for a chapbook. People have short time spans available in the pressures of the modern world – even people who don’t ‘work’ like me but care full time for children or other loved ones. At the same time the explosion of the kindle, smartphone and ever-cheaper ereaders means that there’s huge potential for buying cheap publications and carrying them round easily for those moments when you do have some precious leisure time to read. I know, for example, that there’s a massive market for iPhone reading apps, whether it’s the classics, the kindle app or iBooks; I’ve had my own little bit of success with Ether Books who produce specifically for the iPhone (branching into other smartphone operating systems later in the year – hint hint) and who published my short story a couple of weeks ago. Without knowing the specific numbers involved, I know it’s been popular because my story has been in the Bestseller list since it was published (ok, bragging over now).

That small success has given me a much-needed boost. Family upheaval lately has meant that my writing has very much taken a back seat and I’ve lost direction. The email from Ether gave me a proper kick up the behind and I’ve taken up my pen again. Well, pencil, actually, since I’ve rediscovered a love for working through ideas with pencil and notebook. That, combined with that admiration for chapbook writers I mentioned above, has led me to a little project of my own.

I proudly present my own e-chapbook, Some Life Somewhere. It’s a collection of seven short stories told through dialogue, and touching on the big questions – life, death and the tricky bits inbetween. I’ll be publishing it on kindle and through smashwords later this week, and I’ll put a link to the Amazon listing on here and my website and facebook page. My very talented husband has done my cover and I love it. I’m really excited about the whole thing  -even if only my mum reads it, it’s me taking a big brave step and it’s what I need to do to pick my feet up and run along my own path as a writer.

A Not So Perfect Interview with Nik Perring

Recently I won a draw on Bah! To Cancer’s blog for a signed copy of a book of short stories by Nik Perring, Not So Perfect. By the way, if you haven’t visited Bah! to Cancer before, pop over now and have a look, it’s a great site. No, not now, I’ll never get you back. Go at the end of the post, when you’ve commented about how wonderful I am. Sorry, Nik Perring is.

I’d heard great stuff about this little book, and I was over the moon to win a signed copy for myself. I started reading it quite late at night, intending to read a couple of stories then and digest it slowly, but I was completely hooked and devoured the whole lot in one sitting. I would have gone back and read it again but my husband turned the light off. Grr.

There are 22 short short stories, and they really are short. The book is a small square and each story is only a couple of pages, but my goodness! Nik Perring says more in those couple of pages than a lot of people get to in three sides of A4. There is a range of stories too, some are more whimsical but some left me feeling like I’d been punched in the stomach. I think I actually caught myself holding my breath after Shark Boy. This was my favourite story, but the others were all wonderful, and like the best short stories, you can go back and re-read each one to find more and more layers and meanings. The stories are kind of like one of those rich sweets you get from a posh chocolate shop, y’know? They’re only tiny, you gobble a couple down, and just enjoy the experience, then you learn to chew them properly and discover all the flavours. Sorry about all the food references, it’s past my elevenses time.

So if that hasn’t whetted your appetite yet (sorry!), I was lucky enough to persuade Nik to give me a quick sort-of-interview. This is my first crack at this, so be kind to me…

How did you get published? Was it a long tortuous process involving pulling out of hair and staring into empty gin bottles in front of a dying fire?

This is going to sound very arrogant, so I apologise in advance, but my path to publication was really straight forward. I found a publisher I loved and wanted to work with (Roast Books), and I submitted to them. They liked what they read, asked for more, I sent those in, which they also liked, and so they said yes.  I would say though that I think the reason it was all so straight forward was because I’d spent an awful lot of time doing the hard work.

As for gin, well, I’m saying nothing!

If you had to pick one story from Not So Perfect – I mean, if your life depended on it – which would it be?

That’s always a really, really difficult question to answer, probably impossible, because I genuinely love, and am proud of, them all. I really enjoyed writing Number 14 because that was about the first one I’d attempted after deciding that writing short stories was what I wanted to do, and I loved writing Seconds Are Ticking By because it came so quickly and fully formed. I’ll always be fond of Shark Boy and In My Head I’m Venus because they’re really good fun to read out, like Kiss and The Mechanical Woman, and – and…

What was your process in making an anthology? Did you write a million stories and then choose 22?

The twenty-two that made it into Not So Perfect were my best and the ones that fitted together the best. There were a few that got left out because it was clear that they were different and didn’t quite fit but, to be honest, it all came together very naturally (and I’m a stickler for only putting work out there that I really love which I think helped the process).

What’s the best thing about being a published author? Or the worst?

The best thing is that people are reading my work and, apparently, enjoying it. That’s really, really special. It’s a nice feeling too to know that I’m not all that bad at it!

Worst? I don’t know. There are lots of bits about it that aren’t perfect. Being a writer’s a lonely occupation. I’ve seen people’s attitudes towards me change since this book’s come out, often in a not so perfect way. There’s a pretty constant sense of worry and anxiety and pressure.

But mostly, and I genuinely mean this (despite sounding like an utter grump) I love the job.

If you were giving advice to a newbie, what would be the one essential ingredient to a perfect (or not so perfect) short story?

Truth, I think. And by that I mean being true to yourself and being true to the story. So, not trying to write like someone else and not trying to write something you think a certain sort of person would like. I think any writer will write best when they’re writing something they’re enjoying (it’s a lot less pressure then too!). So yes, truth and feel free to write whatever you want to write.

The other advice would be: Just Do It! Be brave!

(You can see a list of my short story writing tips here: http://thestorycorrective.com/short-story-tips/)

Thanks so much for having me on here! It’s been a pleasure!

Thanks Nik!

Nik Perring is a writer, and occasional teacher of writing, from the north west. His short stories have been published widely in places including SmokeLong Quarterly, 3 :AM and Word Riot. They’ve also been read at events and on radio, printed on fliers and used as part of a high school distance learning course in the US.

Nik’s debut collection of short stories, NOT SO PERFECT is published by Roast Books and is out now. Nik blogs here (http://nikperring.blogspot.com) and his website’s here (www.nperring.com). He also offers short story help here (http://thestorycorrective.com/).