Finders Keepers

Reading books for review is such a useful exercise for a writer, although I know it courts controversy, even accusations of envy or amateur analysis. For what it's worth, then, my review of Belinda Bauer's Finders Keepers is up at Reviewing the Evidence. It's a positive review, but you can learn much from reviewing books that fall short of your expectations, as proved by a number of other reviews on the same site. I was particularly struck by Madeline Marsh's review of The Night Stalker by Chris Carter, which makes the excellent point that if you're writing mindless violence, you'd better have stacks of style and substance at your disposal. And Linda Wilson's review of Footsteps on the Shore by Pauline Rowson, which reminds us that plot gymnastics won't necessarily deliver the goods, but a strong sense of place can.

My next review will be a debut crime novel, Tideline by Penny Hancock. I'm already reading and enjoying it, so watch this space. And please share your favourite reviews, good and bad.

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70 years ago today

On January 19th 1942, Japanese troops sailed into Sandakan Harbour in Borneo, taking prisoner the men, women and children of 'unfriendly nations'. Among those interned was my mother, aged two and a half, and my grandparents. My mother and grandmother were to remain prisoners until September 11th 1945, when the camp was liberated by Australian troops. My grandfather had died earlier that same year, after being caught helping to bring news of the war into the camp in a bid to boost prisoner morale. I first heard the story of their interment from my grandmother when I was a small child. Adventure stories of survival, of little moments of hope, Christmases in the camp, my mother learning to write with a stick in the sand. It wasn't until years later that I came to know the bigger, more brutal picture of what went on.

One of the prisoners was Agnes Keith, a US writer, whose book Three Came Home gives her account of what happened during those three years. It was later made into a film starring Claudette Colbert, which you watch on YouTube, here. The little girl with plaits at the end of the film, who goes to the Commandant's house in his car? Is an actor playing my mother, Susie.

So many versions of what happened have survived, more than you might expect. Fastidiously factual accounts from the British officers, recording food rations and punishments. Terrifying accounts by British soldiers, many of whom were starved or beaten to death. Hopeful, grateful accounts by civilian internees who survived to return home.

I am still piecing together all the versions of what happened, and would hesitate to say which is true, or truer, than another. I think every version has its place - including the happy adventure stories told to me as a child - perhaps because the Story is bigger than the tellers but at the same time it is their story, their stories.

You can read a non-fiction piece I wrote for Foto8 about the discovery of the Japanese propaganda photo (above), here. I wrote a guest blog about researching family history, here. And I supported a Red Cross campaign last year, where I wrote specifically about what the Red Cross means to me (their parcels kept my mother alive, but also killed a man), here. The latter site seems to be temporarily unavailable, but hopefully it will be back up soon.

I'd love to hear from other bloggers, about your experiences with family history and the stories that are woven from it.


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A trio of awesome anthologies

I'm very happy to be blogging about not one but three new anthologies of short stories coming in the near future, and especially pleased to be appearing in each one.

The first is Voices, edited by Sarah Dobbs, "A collection of memoir, poetry, prose and life-writing from new and established authors. All work is set in Blackburn or written by those with a strong connection to the town." My flash, After a Long Illness, Quietly at Home, is one of my personal favourites and I'm delighted it was chosen to be part of Voices. You can listen to me reading the flash (and channelling my paternal grandmother's voice) here.

The Monster Book for Girls is being published by Exaggerated Press and carries two of my very short stories, Spirit Level and Don't Give Me That Face. The cover artwork is very cool and the whole concept was inspired by the pre-war annuals which contained wholesome stories for girls. This new anthology does not, but promises to be great fun.

In April 2012, Pangea will be published, being a collection of the best stories from the website, WriteWords. Two of my longer short stories are in this anthology, The Wedding Fair and LoveFM. I'm looking forward to the promotion and launch of Pangea, in Bristol, with readings at Foyle's and elsewhere.

It's great to be in the company of writers I love and admire, such as Andrea Ashworth, Caroline Choille, Joel Willans and Vanessa Gebbie. Here's to a trio of happy publication dates!

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The fragile art of writing

Of the many reasons I love The Paris Review, their series of interviews with writers comes first. Such as this one with William Trevor: "I think self-confidence is a very dangerous thing for writers. I tend to write in a fragile, edgy, doubtful sort of way, trying things out all the time, never confident that I've got something right," which sums up my afternoon's work perfectly. And this one, with P.D. James: "I write the books out of order, rather as if I were shooting a film, and then put the story together at the end". Or this one, with John Le Carré: "It's a principle of mine to come into the story as late as possible, and to tell it as fast as you can," which has made me think about my current project in a different, refreshing way.

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Goody bag of books

Back at the end of the summer, when the days were still long and the weather was (almost) balmy, the team in charge of the Harrogate Crime Festival ran a Reader Review competition: write a review of a crime book and upload it to You're Booked, with a prize for the best submission. I entered my review of Luther: the Calling by Neil Cross, a book that terrified me. And last Monday, a particularly dreary day of fog and cold, I received an email: "I am pleased to announce that your review has been selected as the winning entry in our Reader Reviews Competition. Thank you so much for taking the time to write and submit your review. We very much enjoyed reading your submission. Wonderfully written and incredibly perceptive, we thought your review gave the perfect balance of plot summary and personal analysis."

My prize? A goody bag 'jam-packed' with crime books. I call that a result. Thank you, Harrogate team!

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The Coward's Tale

Here's some good news to brighten your Monday morning: Vanessa Gebbie's first novel is published today by Bloomsbury. The Coward's Tale is already picking up terrific reviews, including one by A.N. Wilson who calls the book a 'gem'. I've been a fan of Vanessa's short stories since I was lucky enough to be invited to the launch of Words from a Glass Bubble, her first collection (Storm Gathering is her second). What's more, Vanessa is truly supportive of other writers and has done much to boost my confidence and keep me striving for better. Congratulations, Vanessa, on The Coward's Tale and so much more. May Ianto find a huge audience, everywhere.

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Friction Magazine

I'm very happy to be in the new issue of Friction, alongside Benjamin Judge, Fatin Abbas and others, with my very short story, Silver Print. Friction Magazine and Journal is described by its team as "the new online space for creative writing and non-fiction published by the Newcastle Centre for Literary Arts and edited by the students on the MA and PhD programmes in creative writing at Newcastle University". Friction publish a selection of stories, poetry, flash fiction and other creative work that won’t easily fit into categories. I'm very happy that they found a place in issue three for Silver Print. Oh and please remember I'm guest reading all next week at Smokelong Quarterly - see previous post for details.

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