The I’m-on-the-radio edition
Yep, you heard that right! Turns out some pieces really do work best in audio…
Wins!
Something fun and new this week – I’ve been invited to contribute a chapter to New2theScene’s novella project. It’s going to be romance, a genre I’ve never written in before, and there are twenty-one of us taking part, so I think this is going to be an exciting experiment in collaborative writing!
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And then swinging it right back to the title of this blog – I was on the radio! A short story that has been rejected numerous times by competitions and literary magazines was finally picked up, and by none other than BBC Upload. What a win.
My piece – ‘Playing the Pushover’ – is on at 1:51 (the last ~10 minutes of the show) if you fancy listening back on BBC Sounds.
And if you want to submit your own stuff, then head on over to BBC Upload.
Rejections
It wasn’t a surprise at all to not make it onto the longlist of the Blue Pencil Award’s First Novel Award. Namely because basically all of BPA’s Instagram posts over the last couple of months with friendly ‘top tips on what not to do based on our experience of judging this year’s award’ seem to have been directed at me. With gems like:
If your protagonist is bored,
your reader is bored.
Oh, right. Well that’s awks.
Learnings
Now that my current novel seems to be veering into suspense territory, I thought I should probably watch some of the excellent masterclasses at The Novelry on this particular genre. (NB no bored protagonists over here!). So, expect some or all of the following in book #3…
Speedy orientation at the beginning of each chapter! You know, just in case you’ve put the book down, but really you won’t because each chapter will also have…
Something new!
Something actually happening!
Clues to the overall story question!
Conflict!
Cliff hangers!
And be short so you say oh go on, just one more chapter…
Phew. Peppy.
Readings
Just finished: Kate Davies’ In at the Deep End. This book was extraordinarily readable, and even though I essentially knew what was going to happen (it’s a romance / coming of age story), I needed to know how. The last third was particularly pacy with the main character making some very poor decisions, and that helped to propel the plot along as she was in such denial about the relationship she was in even though, as the reader, you’re screaming at her to GET OUT. Summary: lots of sex, none of it sexy, but certainly makes you turn the page!
Currently reading: Lillian Fishman’s Acts of Service.
Musings
This week’s musings are brought to you courtesy of my brilliant newsletter subscribers. I asked them about their experience of short stories and essentially…
everyone said they normally read novels.
Nevertheless, most respondents also said they’d be keen to read more short stories, especially as a quick burst of escapism when time is tight.
One recommendation came in for Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies – I haven’t personally read it, but it’s prize-winning if that’s what floats your boat.
I adore Julia Armfield’s Salt Slow short story collection. She’s a beautifully lyrical writer – the kind of writer where you want to pause and absorb nearly every sentence because they’re so gorgeous, but also you don’t need to because the plots are so compelling. My favourite is the first story, about a girl who goes with a boy up to a bedroom during a party and… well, of course she turns into a praying mantis and eats him.
If you’re into something a little more grounded, then I’d go for Anthony Doerr’s The Shell Collector. He’s the guy who wrote All the Light We Cannot See which everyone seems to have adored. I read this collection years ago and, even though I can’t remember specific plots, I can immediately bring to mind the beach of the titular story. Come for the cinematic scenery; stay for more of it.
Till next time,
Vicky
