I’ll tell you something surprising.

Three years ago I didn’t know a single novelist – now I reckon I know about thirty. And only a couple of those are people I’ve met at readings and other events, most of them are real-life, down-to-earth, working writers, whom I’ve come into contact with at workshops or through critique groups.

I’ll tell you something else. The greatest thing about rubbing up against (in a metaphorical sense!) writers whose work is nothing like your own, is you learn a huge amount about what makes writing sizzle on the page and what doesn’t. So when I met a sizzler, in Ellen Meister, I know she was going to be a success.

Ellen’s first novel is out, and it’s a hoot; a really zipalong read that balances humour with the kind of experiences that many of us, as mothers and wives, struggle with. I managed to persuade her to take her hand off George Clooney’s thigh (you need to read the book to know what I’m talking about) for long enough to describe the process of writing Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA …

How did you get into fiction writing?

The dream is almost as old as I am. But I carried it with me through college and a career in marketing and copywriting. It wasn't until I was an at-home mother with three children that I finally found the gumption to stop procrastinating and start writing. It was probably my version of a mid-life crisis. I just woke up one morning with my own mortality staring me in the face and thought, when the hell am I going to do this? I could drop dead without ever having pursued this dream. And so I began.

What’s the best thing about being a novelist?

When a stranger writes to tell me I've made them laugh or cry or touched them in some way, it brings me to my knees.

And what’s the worst thing?

The worst thing is obsessing about the sales figures.

What’s the one mistake you made, when starting out, that still haunts you?

I certainly made a lot of mistakes when I started out — and still do. But I'm not sure there's anything in particular that haunts me. I'm not one for regrets, because I think things have a way of working out the way they should, even if it takes a long time to become apparent.

Who do you most admire as a writer, and why?

I admire everyone who sits down in front of a blank screen or a blank page and eventually writes those two words, "The End." Writing a novel takes a special kind of mental and emotional endurance, and I'm hugely impressed with anyone who does it.

What advice would you give somebody who is thinking of trying to get a novel published?

Don’t even think about trying to sell it until you've polished, shined and rewritten it so many times that you know the thing is as perfect as you can get it. Then you have to take off your writer hat, stuff your pride in it, hide it behind your desk and start thinking like a business person. You now have a product and it's your job to sell it.

What part of the publishing process has been most surprising to you as a first time novelist?

Even though I had been told that the writer has a lot of responsibility for selling the book, I still wasn't prepared for how much would fall on my shoulders. Essentially, if you want to be a successful novelist, you have to take an incredibly aggressive approach to marketing and publicity.

On a more personal level, the single most surprising thing that happened in this journey was that Lisa Kudrow, who did the audiobook narration for SECRET CONFESSIONS OF THE APPLEWOOD PTA, plugged the book on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Is there something else you can see yourself doing if you weren’t a writer?

Before my children were born I was a copywriter and eventually ran my own small sales promotion agency. If I wasn't a stay-at-home mom/novelist, I could see going back to that world. I really did enjoy it.

If you were abandoned on a desert island, with just one book for company, what would it be?

Depends. Is George Clooney there to keep me company? Because that's how I've been imagining it …

Seriously, part of me would want to take along one of J.D. Salinger's slim volumes, which I can reread ad nauseam. But if I'm going to be stuck on the island for a long time without (cough cough) company, I'd probably be smarter to take along one of the fat books I enjoy re-reading, like Richard Russo's Empire Falls or John Irving's A Widow for One Year.

Ellen’s book is available through Amazon in the UK or direct from the publisher Click for William Morrow

Normal service will be resumed when:

I've written the 7,500 words of copy that a very nice client asked for on Monday and wants by Friday!

I've got over an absolutely stinking cold that some kind soul in Kendal must have given to me (and no, I didn't kiss anybody, so I didn't even have fun catching it)

I've been to the dentist ....

Thank the gods that Ellen Meister is going to share all kinds of fascinating information with us tomorrow, because I am really not fit company for you, even via a blog.

Kendal part 2

You remember a few days ago I was saying how performance made me so nervous that I would hardly sleep the night before? Well, this is the outcome of that nerve-wracking period. Tell Tales performed on Friday, to an audience of venue promoters, managers and live literature bookers. Quite a tough crowd you might imagine. In fact, on a very hot afternoon when they'd already been exposed to a day and a half of debate, workshop and performance, they were a generous and appreciative group. Tell Tales is an unusual concept in that the stories are chosen to appear in an anthology (mine is in Tell Tales volume 3) but it is also a performance group where writers read their stories to an accompanying soundtrack put together by Zak Akhimien (the Evil Genius) who works with each writer to create a soundscape that matches and enhances the prose.

Hmmm ... so what can I tell you? I'll be smug and give you the review copy, as written after the performance by the poet Tom Chivers, 'Kay Sexton's Allicholy Tale of the Dispunged Dark Lady is a quirky, exceedingly uncomfortable deconstruction of our society's obsession with health and beauty. Sexton has a real knack for capturing authentic colloquial dialogue as well as a flair for performance. In a brilliant twist on the modern passion for exfoliation and moisturising, the narrator - a hairdresser - receives a curse that submits her to dry, scabby skin and dead hair. Gothic stuff, well handled'

My fellow readers, Shamila Chauchan, Kavita Bhanot, Tom Lee and Heather Imani were all fantastic and Zak's music supported each story brilliantly. Our editor, compere and - of course, superb writer in himself - Nii Parkes, kept us, and the audience, at the peak of enjoyment throughout the performance and really made the event come to life. In the photo, from top left you can see Nii and Heather, with Shamila and Zak seated in front. Do they look wonderful? They should. It was one of the most fun events I've ever taken part in.

I'd like to thank the organisers of Live Lit for such a quality event, and especially Linda Graham, Festival Organiser, for her calm competence and welcoming manner. Kate Whiteside, Web Editor of the Westmoreland Gazette, kept me company on my first evening in Kendal and we ate and laughed the whole evening.

And in case you're wondering if I've forgotten about the printed word - not so. Let me tease you with the information that Ellen Meister, new novelist and brilliantly funny writer, is going to be revealing all on Thursday ... watch this space!

Lit Up (part one)

This is the Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal, where I spent Thursday and Friday exploring issues relating to performance poetry, literature and spoken word. This showcase was devoted to promoting live literature to arts professionals and on Thursday evening I was part of a panel that explored what live literature meant to the artists who perform and create it. Shout-outs to John Siddique and Neil Rollinson who were my fellow panelists (and very provocative they were too!) and Malika Booker who chaired.

It was quite frightening to sit in front of an audience that was mainly composed of the people who commission and hire live lit practitioners and debate what we do and why we do it (and how we could do it better) because, necessarily, the debate came down to what didn't work.

So what did we decide didn't work?

Marketing. John and I certainly agreed that our own marketing efforts more often contributed to bums on seats than the marketing of events organisers. We felt that often marketing people didn't know how to talk about live literature and so ... they didn't bother.

And what did?

Everybody, including the audience, seemed to feel that once audiences got to hear live literature, in whatever form, they enjoyed it and wanted more.

Although we debated, often hotly, for an hour, we didn't even begin to scratch the surface of the many issues we could have covered: multiculturalism and live literature; audience age and how it affects audience participation; innovation in literature and whether it helps or harms the printed word; evaluating the effects of live literature on audiences; live lit for schools, hospitals and other centres; improvisation versus rehearsed peformance; competitive live lit (slams etc) versus traditional live lit (poetry readings etc) - I could go on for hours!

It was fun, tiring and thought-provoking and I hope the 'arts professionals' gained a little insight from it. This practitioner certainly learned from the debate.

Tomorrow, I'll tell you about the actual reading with Tell Tales - the highs, the lows, the sudden panic (oh yes!) and the way we were received and reviewed.

The art of the illustrator

I've worked with quite a few illustrators now, and always been fascinated by the process that turns my words into a picture - possibly because I've spent the past two years working with an artist and a large part of that time has been looking at her paintings and waiting for a story to strike me. One illustrator though, whose work as been a constant pleasure to me, is Frigg's EnoaraF. You can see his work here in the latest edition of Frigg.

If I could chose one illustrator to work with, it would be he, so I grabbed the opportunity to find out a little more about him and his working methods ... or I thought I did!

How did you get into illustration?

I was asked to submit a short story to an online magazine and I suggested submitting an illustration for someone else's short story instead. That was FRiGG magazine and that’s how I got hooked up. I had principally been a photographer until my wife, Kerensa, took up photography and I turned the field over to her. She's richer than I am and owns a better camera. Then I moved on to inventing. I invented the invisible ball bearing which is used in stealth aircraft. I also invented lighter than air toast. Then I returned to illustrating.

What’s the best thing about illustrating poetry and fiction?

There are many images in fiction and poetry and you only need one. I enjoy illustrating poetry because hardly anyone understands what poetry is and I can get away with pretty much anything. I once illustrated a poem that utilized the word coriander. I depicted a disheveled man holding a sign that said, “Will Work For Coriander.” I once met the poet, John Ashberry.

I dislike illustrating for advertising because you are usually limited by the product. I submitted an illustration of the Hoover Dam to the Coca-Cola company. The dam, water spilling over the top, and fish falling with crazed wide-eyed looks. In the foreground a group of people were screaming and running away in terror. It was rejected. I submitted the very same illustration for the story, "The Day the Hoover Dam Spilled Over," and it was accepted. Go figure.

And what’s the worst thing?

Being crushed by a printing press is the worst thing that could happen to an illustrator of fiction and poetry. They weigh over 600 pounds. Also getting your arm severed in the paper cutter. There’s a safety guard, but most print shops remove it because it slows down the process. Once you get the paper lined up on the cutting deck you’re supposed to pull your arm back before stepping on the activation button located on the floor. Illustration is much safer today because of the internet.

How do you get the inspiration for your art - do the stories always give you an image to work with?

I have had many inspirations. As many as twelve. My father was an awesome amateur photographer. He was also adept at hand-tinting photos using Marshall’s oils. Beautiful work. He taught by example. I grew up in New York City (The Bronx) and there are many images of New York and its people that are permanently impressed in the permanent impression lobe of my brain. I was a big fan of Dada and the New York Yankees. The many museums influenced me. In the lobby of the Natural History Museum in New York there is an elephant. I would bring peanuts for him. Mostly the people of New York influenced me. You can pick a New Yorker out of any lineup and that's why there appears to be so much crime. I would observe these people and wonder what they would look like flattened on a piece of paper. I wished I were invisible so I could stand and observe people unobtrusively. Actually, in New York you can do that quite easily. If you stand in the middle of a crowd with a crazed look on your face like a fish falling over the lip of a dam, everyone will believe you are crazy leaving you free to stare right back. It would be slightly better to be invisible, however, my success with invisibility has not gone beyond disguising ball bearings.

As far as stories giving me inspiration, I am duty bound to include something in the illustration that connects to the story, even if it’s only a color. Otherwise, I’m free to do whatever I want. Almost every story contains a human and so I usually put a human in the illustration. If it’s a science fiction story I illustrate a human looking up.

The jacket design by Archie Ferguson for the novel, “The Crazed,” by Ha Jin consists of a small wicker chair. “Stretched out on the wicker chair, I closed my eyes and gave free rein to my thoughts about his secret life.” The chair is a rather unassuming object in this novel. The illustrator chose to use it. And there you have it.

How do writers respond to your interpretation of their work?

Stunned silence. I have to believe the bulk of what I do is acceptable to writers because I never hear from them. Maybe I’m just hard to reach. I heard from one author I illustrated, Daphne Buter. She is also an illustrator, and maybe that’s why. She is funny and that could be the reason. I haven’t heard from her in a long time and I‘m sure this could be attributed to her sense of comedic timing. Mostly I hear from editors.

What’s the one mistake you made, when starting out, that still haunts you?

I killed another illustrator by accident. Then I left the country to avoid paying his family restitution. And I stole their Winnebago.

Who do you most admire as a writer, and why?

I used to admire Nicholas Nickleby. When I went to college I found out Nicholas Nickleby wasn’t a writer. Throughout college I read the assigned literature, but cannot remember much. Years later I found a paperback book on the subway: 20 Rubber Balls by J. J. Fenton. It was the best book I have ever read and much better than the literature assigned to me at City College. I read it many times. Then I lost it. When I tried to purchase another copy I could not find it. I went to many booksellers in New York. I tried the Gotham Book Mart. They had never heard of it. I tried that book store on Anne St. “No,” they said. If you Google ‘20 Rubber Balls by J. J. Fenton’ you get: FLAVIO FENTON.

I wish I hadn’t lost that book. It might have been the only copy in existence. However, I can’t say J. J. Fenton is the writer I admire most. I liked his book a lot. The book was great, but his writing style was actually lousy.

The writer I enjoy now is Haruki Murakami. He writes plainly. I can’t read Japanese, but I have faith in translators and I can tell he is a plain writer in any language. He was born in 1949 and I was born in 1948. He was the son of a Buddhist priest and my father was an alter boy. His writing is considered surreal. Murakami grew up reading the works of Kurt Vonnegut and so did I. Therefore, I will most admire Vonnegut until Vonnegut forces me to admire someone else and then I will admire Murakami most.

Here is a “found poem” in honor of Murakami (a found poem meaning I found these lines scattered about in The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Murakami):

May Kasahara

All I could think to do was go see May Kasahara.
But I saw no sign of May Kasahara.
I was ready to give up . . . when May Kasahara finally came out.
May Kasahara stared hard at my face, then wrinkled her eyebrows slightly.

May Kasahara nodded in silence.

(The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami. A novel. $15.00 U.S. Buy it at Amazon.com.)

This is how books will be promoted by illustrators in the future. Kiosks in book establishments will run beautifully illustrated 15 second found poems based on the books they sell. These illustrated found poems will download to your phone or illuminated wall. They will appear at your feet in the subway or tube. A little lighted tile embedded in the floor will activate. The sound will erotically travel up your leg and the visual will enter your brain like a foot slipping into a warm bath. If you buy the book you can relive the sensation whenever you want. People will love books again. It will all be lighter than toast.

Once I saw Kurt Vonnegut walking down the street in the Turtle Bay section of Manhattan. He had on a corduroy suit the color of toast.

I like toast.

What advice would you give somebody who is thinking of becoming an illustrator?

Stop thinking so much.

And put together a portfolio.

And what advice would you give writers hoping to be published?

Don’t write like you’re hoping to be published. Write with a specific someone in mind as your audience. What person do you know well that would like to read a story by you? The person you choose will dictate the style and content of the story. I felt J. J. Fenton was telling his story only to me and that is what made it special. To help with writers block just frame the story as if it were a letter.

Dear Uncle Fred,

Then write the letter. Later remove: Dear Uncle Fred.

Is there something else you can see yourself doing if you weren’t an artist?

I could go back to inventing.

If you were abandoned on a desert island, with just one book for company, what would it be?

The Holy Bible From the Ancient Eastern Text: George M. Lamsa’s Translations From the Aramaic of the Peshitta. This is the Bible translation from the language Jesus spoke. When Aramaic was translated into Latin and Greek, errors crept into the text. My favorite is Matthew 19:24 which is translated in the King James Version: It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

The word for camel and rope is nearly identical in Aramaic. One dot left off the Aramaic word for rope changes the word to camel. Lamsa corrects it to: It is easier for a rope to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

The meaning is the same, of course, but now the expression is idiomatic and not at all strange.

If there’s the slightest chance a mainland were not too far away I would take in place of The Bible a book on how to build a boat.

Funny - or not?

Humour is a difficult thing. We've all sat through the cringingly embarrassing Best Man's speech; the long, complicated joke recounted by our boss, that isn't funny when we get to the punchline; the borderline offensive story told by our elderly uncle ... ouch!

And yet, humour done well is an absolute delight. Humorous fiction is one of the toughest acts to pull off. The writer needs a light touch, but a tough judgement. He or she must never indulge their own preferences at the expense of their audience and have to always judge the timing perfectly; hard enough for a stand-up comic but almost impossible when writing for publication.

I've just been reading slush for a humour contest. Let's just say that well over 99% of the writers didn't make the 'funny' grade in my opinion. But the slightly less than 1% who got it right, have made me laugh so much in the past two days that my smile muscles ache with the exercise.

One of them will win. But I think I'm the overall winner this time - what a job, to laugh for a living!

Writing, Editing and Submitting Fiction

I've come to some, by no means final, conclusions about why this debate stirs so much passion in me - and in some others!

To me, although these three areas of the writing life require separate and separated skills, they knit together to make up a holistic practice for the writer who seeks public attention. To write without editing is self-indulgent (if you want to be published), and to edit without submitting is self-defeating.

But it's deeper than that. I came to fiction late, and from a series of peculiar careers. I'd spent a lot of time coaching people; helping them to learn and understand and PUT INTO PRACTICE ideas and behaviours that would improve their lives. As a result, when I look at somebody I look first at their 'happiness' levels and only second at their 'talent'. Those are in inverted commas because actually I believe they are two facets of the same attribute, not two different attributes, but more on that another day.

I think people should be happy in what they do and that they do it better that way. Tortured genius should be an absolute last resort - happy genius is not just possible, it's achievable, if we pay attention to what we're doing.

Writers who get involved in editing, without continuing to write, tend to have a specific mindset - This has to be perfect, it's the best thing I've ever done (and possibly the best thing I'll ever do) and although it's the best, it could still be better, all I have to do is keep working on it.

Writers who write without editing tend to have a specific mindset too - Hey, it's the editor's job to sort this out, I'm a creative and I don't deal with grammar and stuff. Fortunately, they soon find out that's not true, and then they give up writing or learn to edit!

Writers who write and edit and submit tend to just be a little bit more confident. Their mindset could be summed up as - Hey, it's possibly not perfect but it's pretty good - as good as published stuff I've read; I'll polish it once more and send it out, see what the editor says. Meantime I have this great idea that I'm sure willl be an even better story and I'm going to make some notes about it now, so I don't forget it.

Now those are sweeping generalisations, and I know at least two obsessive self-editors who are perfectly happy and quite a few write-edit-submit writers who aren't. But looking back over my mentees and coaching students and classes over the past two years, I can see the change in their confidence and self-belief when they learn to fit the three parts of the published writer's life together. Feeling confident improves their writing because it allows them to take risks with their writing. It allows them to look at their work in a generously critical light, rather than a self-protective or self-hating one. It gives them the robustness to step away from rejection and accept it's not personal. Why? Because:

1 - they know they did a good editing job, without being obssessive about it
2 - they know that any editor might reject their work for reasons that have nothing to do with quality
3 - they know their next story may be even better than this one, so they move on to write the next one.

So that's my two pennorth! Now over to you for your views ...

Oh yes, watch this space on Thursday, when I'm running a very amusing and insightful interview with one of my favourite fiction illustrators.

Season of Mists and Mellow Fruitfulness

Has emerged in my garden as a sudden outbreak of Tigridia - and my new digital camera has done a pretty good job of capturing the unlikely beauty of this particular flower.

Working with a camera, as a fiction writer, is an odd process. People look at you strangely as you photograph the most unlikely things; I have seventy-four pictures of wheelchairs and stretchers, for example.

There is method in my madness, though. I'm working on a novel about those who were hospitalised during and after the Great War. Whenever I want to describe their situation, I find my photograph file, flick to the year I'm writing about, and there are pictures of wheelchairs, bedpans, old vehicles, clothing ... so when the character in question gets dressed, I know how many buttons he has to fasten with his injured hand, how many steps to climb to get into the ambulance and so on.

Many of the images I store, I never use. But the process of taking them is an assimilative one. I learn from them as I take them, and as I speed past them to some other picture. In terms of research, they aren't a factual component so much as a background - a panorama that seeps into my mind as I write, so that I'm visualing a landscape in space and time peopled with characters using implements, wearing clothes and looking at objects that I've got in my files.

And as a writer, I'm grateful to new technology - I'm image rich and it costs me very little - to have taken all these pictures in the days of film and processing would have made me a bankrupt writer pretty quickly!

One for the kids ...

(... as long as they're Canadian or American!)

2007 Burack Award

A writing contest for full-time college students. The award is made in memory of Sylvia K. Burack, longtime editor-in-chief and publisher of The Writer, who was known for her dedication to helping writers and editors. To enter you must be 18 or older and a full-time undergraduate student at a university or college in the U.S. or Canada at the time of entry. The winner will be asked to provide proof of enrollment.
Submit a 600- to 800-word personal essay in English on a topic you feel passionate about. Only one entry per student will be accepted.

PRIZE: $500 and a year's subscription to The Writer

ENTRY FEE: None

DEADLINE: March 1, 2007

Click here for further information

Still thinking ...

And fascinated and informed by people's responses. My own instincts on this are becoming clearer and I'll post again once I've thought a little longer. Thank you to all contributors for helping explore a fascinating topic

Meantime I am focused on Kendal, where I shall be performing on 22 September.

I've been to Kendal before, although not to the Lit Up Festival, and I know some of the folk I'll be working with up there, which is great. It's still very scary though. Performance IS frightening. And even though I'm what they call 'seasoned' now, I try to be professional and disciplined and to work through the story I'll be reading every day for a week or so, taping myself, listening to what sounds good and what doesn't, getting used to the pace of the work and putting in little bits of 'business', as actors say.

The thing is, people are paying to hear me. That's not something that often enters my mind when I'm writing. Although podcasts etc, mean writing for audio is increasingly part of my portfolio, it's not usually me that's performing the work and that makes a hell of a difference.

I've led meetings of 500 people, presented to 800 senior executives over a New York breakfast and spoken in the boardrooms of Shell and Nike - but reading fiction aloud is much scarier. When I led, presented or spoke as a professional, it wasn't MY words, it wasn't MY psyche that was out there - it was a collaborative effort that had been built with the help of people I respected and admired and so I had absolute confidence in what I did - Mike Peirce and John Sabapathy, if you're out there; you were the architects of some brilliant work, I've never forgotten how good it felt to take your ideas to an audience - but when it's fiction, the audience is looking at the inside of my head and the chambers of my heart - so I think my fear is fully justified.

Fortunately I've done enough live performance to know that I'm going to love it on the day, that I shall be fine when it comes to the moment I start to speak, and that an audience is one of the loveliest big beasts a person can ever hope to meet.

But just for now, I'm in shaking and throwing up mode ... and your good wishes would be appreciated!

I'm thinking ...

I've had several emails and comments about yesterday's posting - some people agreeing, others wondering how the hell you stop yourself becoming a compulsive 'polisher'. I know why I think it's a bad idea for writers to spend so little time writing and so much time editing, revising and polishing, but I'm not sure I've formulated that knowledge enough to put it into words.

Mostly it comes from a visceral sense that the writers I know who write a lot, are happier than those who don't. And that seems to be based in some feeling in them, that the best is still ahead, often in the story they're currently writing - whereas for the 'polishers' there seems to be a sense that the best is hidden in what they already have, but perhaps they can't quite get others to see it.

Partly though, it comes from my years spent trying to convey complex ideas (like climate change) to often unreceptive audiences. What I discovered - and it will be no surprise - is that people do better when they are inside the idea. If I tried to persuade people of the value of reducing fossil fuel use, they would switch off. But if I gave them facts about changing petrol prices and how that affected a travelling teacher who had to drive sixty miles a day to teach basic literacy to little children, and then asked them to write a letter for her, explaining to car manufacturers why they should produce a solar-powered car, boy did they get into it!

Writing is the experience of becoming the travelling teacher. Editing is the process of persuading people by use of facts.

Writing is immersive. We are 'being' writers. We are inside our craft, using our talent to power us through an everchanging landscape. It may be knackering but it's also new and stimulating.

Revising is extractive. We are 'doing' editing. We look at our work from all angles and take away a bit here and a bit there until it is stronger and better balanced. It is exhausting but in addition it's a constant re-treading of an old path and it can become depressing.

I'm going to think about this some more. I need to understand why my gut feeling about this is so strong and whether it can be expressed simply enough to others. Equally, I need to explore why something that seems so important and so obvious to me, doesn't seem to be much of a feature of most courses that teach fiction.

If you want to be a writer ...

Write.

I'm getting very pissed off with a certain kind of behaviour in some of the writers I come into contact with, and I blame two things: the garrett myth and the Creative Writing degree. The first says we have to suffer for decades over our art and the second teaches students to spend a whole term polishing one piece of work.

I've recently spent time with a talented writer whose output for the past eighteen months is two stories. Two. Neither of which is 'ready'.

What does she mean by ready?

She doesn't think she's worked them over enough, they could still be improved, she doesn't want an editor to see them yet, it could be death to her career.

I actually asked her - what career?

She seemed puzzled.

How many stories, I asked, had she seen published in the past two years.

Well, none.

How many stories had she had published at all?

One.

That's not a career, it's a hobby.

The hot and exhausting process of writing is NOT THE SAME THING as the cool, analytic process of revising what you've written. Neither of them are anything like the panicky, long-term process of submitting your work for publication. To have a writing career you have to invest in all three - you have to accept that at some point your work gets exposed to the editor's eye - you must come to terms with the fact that editors will give you commentary that requires you to tailor your perfect prose to their needs or withdraw your story.

Writing is not a solo exercise. Until you start sending it out, you're not a writer. And to send it out ... you have to write it.

Nothing is ever wasted ...

A few years ago, when we were very strapped for cash, I did some mystery shopping work in airports. It was horrible - there's nothing like spending a whole day in the artificial light, air and mood of a departure lounge to make you feel as if you're not quite real yourself.

Last week, when I was asked to produce two pieces of audio erotica at pretty short notice, I had a moment's panic. Then I remembered my airport experiences and set one piece in a departure lounge - half the work sorted!

The other piece had to be about an exhibitionist. Okey dokey - I didn't grow up in a pub, and work in several others, for nothing. The background for that narrative came out of the time I spent table dancing in Germany, and the years I lived and worked behind a bar.

If you'd asked me ten years ago, what possible value there was to hanging around an airport all day, pretending to be a frequent flyer, I'd have told you I was doing it only to keep a roof over my head. But that experience, depressing as it was, launched the first of the two stories I had to write, and showed me where the material for the second one could be found.

However boring or grim your daily grind, there's gold in there somewhere, if you're a writer - even if it takes a decade to sift it from the rubbish!

PS - if you're feeling dirty-minded, I have a story in the women's erotica magazine 'Scarlet' this month ....

Getting all formal for a moment ...


Green Thought in an Urban Shade – Words and Pictures on Urban Green Space


Irish artist Fion Gunn and English writer Kay Sexton are travelling to China to present a collaborative exhibition of paintings and texts which focuses on the public gardens of four cities, Beijing, Dublin, London and Paris. Guan Donghai, a Chinese glass sculptor is collaborating with them for the Beijing show. Tsinghua University in Beijing will host Green Thought in an Urban Shade which will run from 20 September until 4 October 2006. The preview will be formally opened by His Excellency Declan Kelleher, Irish Ambassador to China on Monday 18 September at 19.30. For further information please contact Therese Healy, First Secretary, Embassy of Ireland, 3 Ritan Dong Lu, Beijing or email Therese.Healy@dfa.ie.

Overall, Sexton and Gunn have spent two years on the project, including a month in China in October 2005 as guests of the Red Gate Gallery and have received critical and environmental acclaim:

‘A breath of fresh air in the capital, a brilliant exhibition.’ Frank Murphy, Editor, The Irish World

‘This is a highly significant exhibition.’ Mme Zhang Xiaokang, Minister-Counsellor, Embassy of China, London

‘A unique exhibition, a serious contribution to understanding the value of open space to the lives of urban dwellers.’ Aidan Hennigan, The Irish Independent

‘Fion Gunn really understands the Chinese way of seeing landscape and our love of gardens.’ Ambassador Zhang Xinsen

History of the project

Green Thought in an Urban Shade was launched at the National Botanic Gardens in Dublin in February 2006; the preview was opened by His Excellency Zhang Xinsen Chinese Ambassador to Ireland. The exhibition then moved to London, at the Waterloo Gallery in May 2006 where the Preview was formally opened by His Excellency Daithi O’Ceallaigh, Ambassador of Ireland to the UK.

Endorsements

‘By 2050, it is estimated that 80% of humankind will live in cities. For hundreds of millions of people, that will entail a daily diet of noise, dirt, pollution and congestion - a physical and spiritual wasteland of staggering proportions. In that world, urban green spaces will play a critical role, literal oases in the wasteland, precious intimate life support systems for all those stripped of any other contact within the natural world. This highly innovative project speaks directly to that need in four great cities, with an extraordinary potential both to inform and inspire.’ Jonathan Porrit - Chairman, UK Sustainable Development Commission and Director, Forum For the Future

‘I am delighted to see the way in which the "Green Thought in an Urban Shade" programme is developing. Urban green spaces are so important for the spiritual life and sanity of city dwellers and anything to encourage their use is a good thing. Kay Sexton's efforts with this initiative will help to broaden our understanding of the role of parks in improving the quality of life of city dwellers. I am particularly glad to see these spaces inspiring new works of art and really look forward to seeing the final collection. As a former botanic garden director I am so aware of the potential of green areas to improve the quality of life and anything to promote the importance of this aspect is a good thing.’
Professor Sir Ghillean Prance FRS, VMH - Former Director, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Scientific Director, The Eden Project

‘As part of the 2005 season, based on the theme of environments, Oh! Art was extremely pleased to present a sampler of Green Thought in an Urban Shade; paintings by Fion Gunn and text by Kay Sexton, as the finale to the season last December. Existing as Oh! Art does, in an extremely urbanized area, our aims within this theme included highlighting the importance of discovery and contemplation of the surprisingly many green spaces within our environment. Fion’s paintings perfectly addressed these themes by using texture, tone and colour, beautifully highlighting the contrast between cityscape and nature, in a variety of cities. In addition, Kay’s text added another dimension; urban tales invited visitors to venture further into the world and visuals presented. The exhibition was extremely well received by Oxford House visitors and the private view event well attended.’ Kirsten Burrows, General Manager, Oh! Art at Oxford House

Biographies

Fion Gunn a Streatham resident, is represented by The Barbara Stanley Gallery in London where she has also shown at the Affordable Art Fair and where she will have a solo show "Landscapes of the Tain" in March 2007. She exhibited at the Grand Marche d'Art Contemporain in Paris last year and will have a solo show at the Espace Etoile St Honore in December 2006. She has exhibited regularly at Artspace in Henley-on-Thames and at the Wine Gallery in Chelsea. Examples of her work can be viewed at Fion Gunn

As well as writing for the UK’s premier sustainability journal Green Futures – www.greenfutures.org.uk - Pushcart nominated Kay Sexton has had more than ninety short stories published. Sarah Hall (The Electric Michelangelo) chose her as runner-up in the ESSP short story contest in 2005, Kay was runner up in the Guardian fiction contest judged by Dave Eggers in 2004 and her work is widely anthologised. One story written as part of the project has been accepted for Tell Tales III, an anthology that has previously featured Maggie Gee, Kamila Shamsie and Niall Griffiths, and another was a finalist in the 2006 SLS/St Petersburg Annual Literary Contest judged by Margaret Atwood. Kay blogs about writing fiction (as if you didn't know that!) and has a regular column at www.moondance.org, performs her work live, and teaches creative writing course in Brighton, England. Her journalism and business writing details can be found at Charybdis


Both are available to discuss commissions and projects.

Notes

Green Thought in an Urban Shade has been awarded a grant by Culture Ireland and a joint residency by the Red Gate Residency Programme in Beijing.

How much can you like somebody you’ve never met?

No, it’s not an internet dating question (although it could be) it’s a question about the weird, intense, often painful world of writing and editing as it is done, often nowadays, via the Internet. One thing you start to notice about editors is they can be rather cold. The chill creeps up on them and after a year or so of saying no to writers; you can feel the arctic penumbra around them, even via email. I’ve caught that chilly atmosphere myself at times and had to work hard to shake it off.

Not so Alicia Gifford. She is one of the warmest, most enthusiastic and funniest editors I know. I worked alongside her (well, as much 'alongside' as you can be, when one is in LA and the other in the UK) for a year at Night Train and found that she never, ever developed the chill, and that made her profoundly likeable. She’s also a downright brilliant writer; read Toggling the Switch at Narrative
which won the Million Writers Award in 2004 or Debbie and Me at Mississippi Review Mississippi Review and see if you don’t agree. I asked Alicia to share some secrets with me ...


How did you get into editing?

Rusty Barnes, the co-founder and editor of Night Train, posted an ad of sorts for associate editors for the journal. I applied and he said yes. I was one of several associate editors reading slush. Over time, Night Train went through a number of shifts and changes, and I eventually became Fiction Editor.

What’s the best thing about being an editor?

Without a doubt it’s reading a story that you fall in love with. And accepting it for publication. And beholding the end product.

And what’s the worst thing?

Oh that would be rejection, especially things that come close, that you stress over trying to decide, and rejecting work from writers you know. It’s hard.

What’s the one mistake you made, when starting out, that still haunts you?

Waiting so long. I always liked to write but I had it in my head that you had to have a full-blown story mapped out before trying to write it. I never considered writing short stories; I wasn’t familiar with the genre since I’d always read novels in the past. I took a fiction class in 2000 and a light went on when I realized you could sit down and put down sentence after sentence, and give birth to a story. I was introduced to short literary fiction at this time and it usurped all my literary interests. I wish I’d done it 20 years earlier, but my life was very different then. My current situation and experience is far more conducive to writing. Still, I rue it daily that I didn't start much earlier, when I still had a brain.

Who do you most admire as a writer, and why?

Traditionally I answer Lorrie Moore. I read, “You’re Ugly, Too” in that first writing class (taught by Tod Goldberg) and something clicked. I wanted to write like Lorrie! I devoured her collections and her novels, and maybe she’s influenced/inspired me the most, her funny/sad, exquisite manipulation of words. But then there’s Jesus’ Son by Denis Johnson, and the collected stories of Richard Yates, Junot Diaz’s short story, “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” and Tobias Wolfe’s “Bullet to the Brain”. These are a few of my favorite things.

What advice would you give somebody who is thinking of becoming an editor?

Learning to recognize, heed and trust your emotional responses to a story. You have to consider craft, of course, but a beautifully written story won’t trump one that yanks at something true and emotional.

And what advice would you give writers hoping to be published?

Firstly I’d say to forget about publishing and fame and fortune when you’re in the creative aspect. Writing with the specter of whether it’s going to be published or not is stifling. From the business aspect, my advice is basic: Study the markets and develop a personal strategy when it comes time to submit, such as forming a tier system and keeping track of submissions etc. Chances of publication are higher the more you submit and also submitting to places that seem to have a similar aesthetic to your work. Pretty boring, isn't it? Are you still awake?

You do other things besides editing; your own writing for example - which is most important to you?

Well, it’s the writing. Editing has its rewards but my main interest is writing. And editing does drain off some writing energy, something to juggle and balance.

If you were abandoned on a desert island, with just one book for company, what would it be?

This is one of those damn trick questions, isn’t it?

I would choose the biggest, fattest short story anthology I could find. Maybe American Short Story Masterpieces edited by Tom Jenks and Raymond Carver or Esquire's Big Book of Fiction. If I could have a machine I’d take the New Yorker CD and read every issue, which would include every short story they've ever published.

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me ...

You can't get a nicer present than a positive review, and Storyglossia has said good things about 'Titties' which appeared this week in Carve.

In other news, I'm going to be running Alicia Gifford's interview on Thursday, so if you've ever wondered what it takes to win the Million Writers Award, or to get your story into Night Train, pay attention tomorow!

And yes, before you ask, I'm very old ...

A new role ...

The Her Circle Ezine staff is entirely volunteer. From locations around the United States and abroad, this small collective of talented individuals work to breathe life into this publication.

misty k. ericson | founding editor
Born and raised in the Metro Detroit area, Misty began writing fiction and poetry as a child and had her first publication while still in high school. She studied Philosophy and Women's Studies at Grand Valley State University, and she earned a Bachelor's degree in English Literature from San Jose State University. Her poetry appeared in the 2003 anthology, Kissing Softly, and she is currently at work on a collection of short stories.

zinta aistars | poetry editor
Zinta Aistars is the published author of three books. She is an editor for LuxEsto, the Kalamazoo College alumni magazine, and has published poetry, travel essays, stories, and articles in the United States, Latvia, England, Sweden, Germany, and Australia. Her work also appears on many e-zines, including Megaera Magazine, Outsider Ink, Boston Literary Magazine, Fiction Attic, Ghoti Fish, Saucy Vox, Ascent Aspirations Magazine, Menda City Review, Ash Canyon Review, Flashquake, The Redbridge Review, River Walk Journal, Poems Neiderngasse, and many others. She publishes a monthly newsletter of marketing tips and inspiration for writers called Zeenythe Communications and is also an editor for the literary e-zine, The Smoking Poet.

burcu | fiction & nonfiction editor
Burcu is a writer and a literary translator. She has studied and worked in Turkey, Russia, and the U.S., and her culturally sensitive, socio-politically aware voice is omnipresent in all of her work. She has two Turkish translations in print, including Mitch Albom's “Tuesday's with Morrie”. In addition to first bringing the books to the publisher's attention, she also wrote the forewords for both volumes. Her editing credits include “Stinks like a Virgin” (Les gibi Bakire), a volume of avant garde poetry, and her many articles on film festivals, identity, honor killings, as well as her poetry and short stories, have appeared in various magazines in the U.S., including Independent Film Magazine, Huriyah and Her Circle E-zine. Burcu is currently working on a memoir and continuing her education in Los Angeles, where she resides with her daughter Melissa—her foremost creation.

diane leon ferdico | art editor
Diane Leon Ferdico was born in New York City. She has a BA in art history from New York University, and an MA from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, NYU, The Draper Interdisciplinary Master's in Humanities and Social Thought. She is an adjunct associate professor of arts at NYU, Paul McGhee Undergraduate liberal arts degree program. She also writes personal essays and articles and is a member of The National Association of Women Artists and Life Member of the Art Students League. Diane maintains an apartment in Spain with her husband, artist John Ferdico. See her work at www.ManhattanArts.com.

virginia kilpatrick | poetry editor
Born and raised less than an hour from Manhattan, Virginia enjoyed extensive performing arts training and stage, radio and T.V. performing, until completing her undergraduate studies at N.Y.U. While a student in New York City, she was active in the human and women's rights movements, appeared in television and radio commercials and ghost wrote a novel and rewrites for film editors, while developing her creative work. Moving on to graduate school at University of Delaware, Virginia completed two masters programs, American Studies and Education, during which time she was named “Young Poet of the Year” by Academy of American Poets and awarded the President's Award for Achievement in Higher Education for designing, producing and presenting filmed as well as live programs promoting higher education throughout the State of Delaware. Her unusual combination of performance, writing, promotional and educational interests led to years of entrepreneurship as a freelance writer, owner, and manager of a specialty marketing firm that brokered investments, promoted new inventions, and created market share for start-up businesses in the New York and Philadelphia areas. After raising two, successful children, Virginia entered California Institute of the Arts, in 1997, passionate about perfecting her artistic skills and in 2000 completed both M.F.A. Writing and B.F.A. Film/Animation degree programs there. Since then, she spends part of her time working on each coast and has developed a versatile portfolio for publication and production.

kay sexton | fiction & nonfiction editor
Pushcart nominated Kay Sexton has had more than ninety short stories published. Sarah Hall (The Electric Michelangelo) chose her as runner-up in the ESSP short story contest in 2005, Kay was runner up in the Guardian fiction contest judged by Dave Eggers in 2004 and her work is widely anthologised. Her current focus is 'Green Thought in an Urban Shade' a collaboration with the painter Fion Gunn to explore and celebrate the parks and urban spaces of four cities in words and images. 'Green Thought' has been granted residencies and exhibitions in London, Dublin and Beijing. One story written as part of the project has been accepted for Tell Tales III, an anthology that has previously featured Maggie Gee, Kamila Shamsie and Niall Griffiths, and another was a finalist in the 2006 SLS/St Petersburg Annual Literary Contest judged by Margaret Atwood. Kay blogs about writing fiction at Writing Neuroses and has a regular column at www.moondance.org.

lauren westerfield | proofreader
Lauren Westerfield is a senior at Middlebury College. Majoring in English Literature, she recently returned from a year of study at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. She now divides her time between the San Francisco Bay Area and Vermont, where she has worked as a writing tutor, college radio disc jockey, and part-time law clerk in addition to her various roles with Her Circle Ezine.


Her Circle Ezine

Short Trumpet Voluntary (blown by myself, of course!)

My ultra-short story, Blending In, has just been published by Bleeding Quill, an intriguing small publication with a very clear manifesto.

Frank Ard, the editor there, has been very easy to work with - and I can't wait for my copy to arrive, as the biographies of other contributors suggest their work will be provocative and powerful.

Friday Fun ...

Thanks to my inestimably good friend Steve Kane for putting me onto this piece of inspired lunacy. Pastiche, done well, can be more than fun; it shows the bones of language through the flesh of subject matter - and here, the combination of language and subject is about as unlikely as you could get.

From Geoffrey Chaucer hath a blog - Serpentes on a Shippe!

Next week I'm going to be talking to Night Train Fiction Editor Alicia Gifford who describes the kind of story that makes the cut for her ...