All in it together
Plus, a tale of two webinars
WRITING:
Firstly, a big thank-you this week to Nicola Adam over at Write Reject Repeat for inviting me to sound off about one of my favourite subjects1 this week. Nicola’s newsletter is a fascinating mix of writing and book related stuff, and her desire to promote others is admirable.
Promoting others was clearly on my mind this week, as I decided to add a new page to my website. Having been thoroughly blown away by JM Burgoyne’s Writer, published by independent Norwich imprint Story Machine, I realised I wanted to do more than just write one blog post about it. Blogs are great, but they are fleeting - read today, floating away the next. Which is fine if I’m talking about Yellowface or Bob Mortimer’s autobiography, I’m sure their sales are just cushty.
For a lot of us, though, any coverage our books get is invaluable. So is there more I could be doing for other writers like me? Well, I’m not saying I get a lot of traffic on my little corner of the internet, but I figured the least I could do was give some space to those independents and self-publishers who I’ve read and greatly enjoyed - a more permanent “Guys! Look at these!”, so any visitors to my website can see who I’m recommending and who I think deserves more attention. It’s not all about me, after all. Writing is a community, let’s build each other up.
I had a really positive experience this week after signing up for a webinar on Running A Writing Workshop. It was a free session provided by the Society of Authors, with writers Kirsty Logan, Marjori Lofti and Nadine Aisha Jassat, and I can honestly say I’ve never written so many notes during a webinar. Two pages of bullet point notes, solid tips and things to remember. It was just so danged useful.
Contrast that to another webinar I’d sat through recently on Amazon Ads for Authors (not an SoA event), which was beyond tedious. A stumbly presenter, repeating himself, apologising more than once for his slides “not working properly”, crappy graphics with no actual screenshots, and crucially a ‘how to’ that could have been lifted from the Amazon guide with no insight or commentary on what you should be doing to specifically to improve your ads. Pointless. Lesson learned: there are some great free resources out there, but they won’t all be gold.
Not a huge amount of movement on the old WiP chart this week, but I think I’ve found an angle for Untitled Project V which will build a frame around the really good work I’ve put into it so far and turn it into a more complete narrative, so that’s positive.
I have enjoyed:
As it was International Women’s Day2 yesterday, let’s have a female-themed IHE.
Lucia Keskin - Writer and star of Things You Should Have Done, Keskin has created a masterpiece of surreal comedy with a rich streak of pathos running through it. Chi is a 20 year old stay-at-home daughter who, when her parents die in a car crash, inherits their house, on the condition that she learns to do all the basic tasks she never managed to do before like learn to drive or pay her bills.
Lucia Keskin A somewhat bleak take on the youth of today, but delivered with a deadpan hilarity. Chi phoning her aunt to say she’s got home safe, when it was her aunt who dropped her off and is still currently sitting in the car right in front of her, is the kind of brilliantly executed visual gag you can expect from this fresh comedy show.
Rebecca Ferguson - She may not be getting the headlines for Dune: Part 2, but her portrayal of Lady Jessica in the sci-fi sequel is symbolic of all that’s right with Villeneuve’s movie. Morally complex, loyal to her own agenda, Jessica Atreides is every bit at the heart of Villeneuve’s Dune as Chalomet’s Paul Muad’Dib, and the director’s choice to focus on the Bene Gesserit is a fascinating one.
Rebecca Ferguson Ferguson’s magnificent in Dune: Part Two and the film is a belter.
Carol Morley - I watched her 2014 movie The Falling this week and it’s astonishing. Florence Pugh, Maisie Williams, Greta Scaachi, Monica Dolan, Maxine Peake, the incredible Morfydd Clark3- the film’s jam-packed with female talent4, and the story, while baffling and arguably overstuffed with… things, is so atmospheric and compelling it all somehow works.
I’ve no doubt this will be a marmite movie. I’d go so far as to say I’ve sympathy for anyone who doesn’t like it; it is sort of a mess. But my word it’s a glorious one.
JM Burgoyne - Another shout-out for Writer. I will not rest until everyone I know has read this book.
Greyskin (Deixis Press) and Playtime’s Over (Propolis) are both available direct from their respective publishers, as well as from all the usual places, online and off. You can also support my work by buying Ray Adams’ self-published books, or by simply buying me a coffee. You can also pay for this free newsletter, if paying for free stuff is your jam.
Me.
19th November since you asked, you sexist pig.
You haven’t seen Saint Maud?? What are you playing at??
Not like that.