World Book Night 2012 Part 2
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Authors, Books, Events, Promotion on April 23, 2012
I went to the local hospital today to distribute 24 World Book Night copies of Sophie Kinsella‘s book The Secret Dreamworld of a 
Shopaholic.
The aim of World Book Night is to encourage people who don’t usually read to pick up a book and get into the reading habit. As writers this is something that we should support – because if there are no readers what’s the point of writing?
I started in the A & E department of the hospital. I explained to the receptionist what I was doing and gave her a book. She was delighted and promised to pass it around her colleagues, adding that they often swapped books. So that was one book given away but unfortunately not to a non-reader. This was a trend that continued for the rest of my ‘giving’ session.
I only approached women (because Sophie Kinsella writes chick-lit) and I avoided people who were actually reading a book as they waited to see a doctor but it is very difficult to tell by a person’s appearance whether or not they are a reader. So inevitably I unknowingly spoke to keen readers and they almost bit my hand off at the offer of a free book. The non-readers I came across were simply not interested in giving the book a try – no matter how much I tried to sell it as a ‘light, easy read’. The exception to this was a lovely, chatty cleaner who was very grateful for the book and said she didn’t normally read but once bought a 48 hardback book set of Agatha Christie novels – they look lovely on her shelf but she’s never opened one of them!
One person turned down the book because she didn’t like Sophie Kinsella and another because she had already read the book. Three people knew about World Book Night and a paramedic told me she’d recently seen a book left on a park bench in a polythene bag, labelled ‘Read Me’.
I enjoyed being a ‘giver’ and intend to apply again next year but I’m not sure that World Book Night is achieving its aims. I’m sure that most of the books must end up with people who are already hooked on reading. It’s very difficult to persuade a complete stranger, who says they’re not interested in reading, to take a book. I got the feeling that some of them thought there was some ulterior motive or catch to it. Similarly, once you discover someone is a reader, it’s awkward to withdraw the offer of a book – plus if I’d restricted myself to non-readers I would have been at the hospital all day trying to find enough of them willing to give reading a try.
How did anyone else get on?
World Book Night 2012 Part 1
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Authors, Books, Events, Promotion on April 19, 2012
I’ve just collected my World Book Night 2012 books from the library. I have 24 copies of The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic
by Sophie Kinsella to distribute on Monday 23rd April. In my application to be a ‘giver’ I said that I would distribute them in the casualty department of my local hospital – so that’s where I’ll be on Monday.
The purpose of World Book Night is to give away books to those who don’t regularly read, and thus spread the love of reading. According to the World Book Night website, “the aim is to reach and inspire those who have never discovered the value of reading”.
So I’m hoping to find lots of bored ladies waiting in casualty who might be persuaded to give reading a try. I need females because Sophie Kinsella’s Shopaholic series is essentially a chick-lit novel that I can’t see many men enjoying – but maybe they’ll take a copy home for their wife or girlfriend.
But before I can get stuck into the giving I have to write in the front of each book – my name, where I collected the books from and the book’s unique identifying number (this is logged via the World Book Night website each time the book is passed on so that its journey can be traced). I’ve written in 8 books so far and its becoming a bit of a chore – but maybe I should look upon it as practice for that book-signing that I might do one day far in the future!
Next week I’ll let you know how I got on with the giving – and if there are any other ‘givers’ (or ‘receivers’) out there, do let me know how you get on.
Quotes About Writing
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Resources on April 16, 2012
In the last week I’ve come across a couple of quotes posted on Facebook about writing and I thought you might like them as much as I did.
Jackie Sayle posted the first one, by the German novelist and short story writer, Thomas Mann, in the Bring Back Fiction to Women’s Magazines! group. I related to it instantly – what do you think?
This one, posted by Marilyn Rodwell, made me feel inspired – hope it does the same for you!
The Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Authors, Books on April 12, 2012
I’ve just finished reading The Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman – and it is absolutely fantastic!
It is set on a tiny uninhabited Australian island, Janus, in the years after the first World War. Tom is the lighthouse keeper on Janus and lives there in solitude until his wife, Isabel, joins him. Isabel longs for a child but suffers 3 miscarriages. Then a baby is washed up on the island, in a boat with a dead man and a decision has to be made. Isabel wants to keep the baby and pass it off as the one she has just lost. Tom knows this isn’t the right thing to do but can’t bear to upset his grieving wife.
The rest of the novel deals with the fall-out from the decision that is made.
M. L. Stedman was born in Australia but now lives in London. Incredibly, this is her first novel. According to an interview in the Sydney Morning Herald the book was subject to a bidding war and went for ‘a high six-figure sum’. Stedman has given few interviews which may also explain why I can’t find a website for her.
The book is full of detail about lighthouse keeping at the time and must have required an incredible amount of research. But Stedman has such a light touch, so it doesn’t feel like the reader is being force-fed facts. Instead Stedman makes it easy for the reader to be there on Janus with Tom and Isabel, experiencing their roller-coaster emotions.
The novel will be published in the UK on 26th April 2012 (I was lucky enough to have a review copy from Waterstone’s) – don’t miss it!
National Flash Fiction Day May 16th 2012
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions, Events on April 9, 2012
The first National Flash Fiction Day will be taking place on May 16th 2012 and if you want to be part of it you need to get your 
thinking caps on now.
There is a list of specially organised competitions listed here. Some are specific to certain parts of the country (this narrows down the field of entrants, so if you are lucky enough to live in any of the chosen areas – get writing!). Many are FREE to enter and there’s a variety of closing dates (but they’re mostly in April so don’t delay).
If you fancy getting involved in person, take a look at this list of planned events organised geographically. Unfortunately there’s none near me in the West Midlands but Derby ‘s doing well with 2 workshops going on.
So if you like your writing short, sharp and to the point – what are you waiting for?
5minutefiction First Birthday Competition & Book Launch!
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions, Promotion, Short Story, Successes on April 5, 2012
5minutefiction has launched a short story competition to celebrate its first birthday.
Entries can be on any theme and any length between 100 and 1500 words. Closing date is June 1st 2012 and the entry fee is £2.
First prize is £100, second prize £50 and third prize £25. In addition, the winners will be published as part of an e-book short story anthology, along with up to 20 other additional entries. These stories will receive royalties from the sale of the book.
All entrants will also receive feedback.
Judging will be slightly out of the ordinary with 10 shortlisted stories being put to the public vote. Voters will be charged 10p to vote to help ensure only 1 vote per person.
Full competition details are here.
Also, I am pleased to announce that the e-anthology of selected stories from the last competition organised by 5minutefiction is now available. Time for Love contains 18 of the best entries from the Valentine short story competition – including mine (this could be the nearest I ever get to a book launch so I have to make the most of it)! Someone else you might have heard of, Simon Whaley, also has a story in there. 
Time for Love is available to purchase from Amazon here. At only £1.54 it’s cheaper than the Kindle version of Woman’s Weekly Fiction Special – and might just help you win this competition!
If you don’t have a Kindle, download free software here to allow you to read Kindle books on your laptop.
A Royal Day Out by a Proud Mum
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Non-writing on April 2, 2012
I was a guest of His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh at St. James’ Palace – at my elder daughter,
Eleanor’s D of E Gold Award presentation.
Eleanor travelled from Leeds, I caught the train from Birmingham and we met for lunch at Victoria before strolling over to our appointment at the palace (via Fortnum and Mason, where I ogled some beautiful but exorbitantly priced leather-bound notebooks).
Once inside the palace the young people were drilled in how to stand in horse-shoe formation in groups of 30 for meeting the Duke. Whilst waiting for him to arrive, Phil Brown gave an interesting and motivational talk on his experiences in the 4×4 relay team in the 1984 Olympic Games.
Then it was the moment we’d been waiting for – Prince Philip’s arrival. He spent some time chatting with each of the ‘horse-shoe’ groups plus any of the parents he spotted wearing a Gold Award badge from their youth. Then the certificates were presented (unfortunately not by the Prince) and it was a proud moment when Eleanor’s name was called.
Eleanor is continuing the expedition skills she learned during her D of E time by tackling the 3 Peaks Challenge (climbing Snowdon, Ben Nevis and Scafell Pike within 24 hours) in May in order to raise money for ShelterBox, which delivers emergency shelter to people made homeless worldwide by disaster. Her target is to raise £250 and she’s launched a fundraising page to supplement the cake sales and tin shaking she’s been doing at university. Please take a look at her page and sponsor her for this worthy cause if you possibly can. As they say, every little helps!
And that’s enough showing-off by a proud mum – next post we’ll be back to work and the subject of writing.
Escape to the Country by Patsy Collins
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Authors, Books, Writing on March 29, 2012
Patsy Collins’ debut novel, Escape to the Country, 
will be published on 30th March 2012 and I am honoured to have Patsy visiting my blog today. I asked her a question I’m desperate to know the answer to. This is what she had to say:
Out of My Depth!
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Authors, Resources, Writing on March 26, 2012
I’ve mentioned before my intention to enter the Good Housekeeping Novel Writing Competition and I’ve been beavering away at my entry since January. I wrote 20,000 words and then paused to take stock and prepare my entry which had to consist of the first 5,000 words plus a full synopsis. The synopsis was a challenge because until then I’d been writing without a detailed plan but after some thought I managed it.
Then I decided to send the 5,000 words and synopsis to novelist Patricia McAughey (who writes as Patricia Fawcett) for a critique. Patricia reads for the RNA New Writers’ Scheme and also runs a reasonably priced private critique service for all types of fiction except fantasy, sci-fi or children’s. She can be contacted through her website for a quote.
Patricia sent me a detailed report which very tactfully told me that my story didn’t work because I was still in ‘short story’ mode. She said, “Slow down. You are rushing things. I know it is tempting to try to get all the ideas down but you are writing a longer piece and there is no rush. Relax.”
She went on to explain that I was giving the reader no idea about the setting. One of the scenes was in a Derbyshire cafe but I didn’t describe the interior, the waitress, the view or even indicate whether the place was full or empty. Patricia suggested painting a broad picture of the scene and then honing in on small details such as a woman trying to get a pushchair through the gap in the chairs.
There was a similar problem with my characters. Patricia said, “… I don’t have any great affection as yet for either of the two central characters simply because I don’t know enough about them…”. I had omitted rather obvious details like what the heroine did for a living or what she looked like!
It wasn’t all doom and gloom. I did get words of praise for my dialogue (which I love writing) and my synopsis.
So if you’re trying to move from short stories to longer fiction, take a moment to check that you’ve added depth to your writing. Make sure you haven’t skimmed over the setting or the characters’ backgrounds. Have you described what it smells like in the kitchen? Have you mentioned what your hero is wearing as he meets the heroine for the first time?
Later this week Patsy Collins, a successful short story writer and debut novelist, will be guesting on this blog and attempting to explain how she made the leap from short stories to seeing her first novel published.
Happiness Poetry Competition
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions, Poetry on March 19, 2012
I’ve had an email from Alex Black of PrintExpress.co.uk. Following on from their previous successful poetry competition (which I mentioned on this blog some months ago) they are running another FREE poetry competition to win £100.
Alex describes the competition as follows:
Sally Jenkins 