Sleeping out for the Birchwood Centre

You know when someone has a bright sparky fundraising idea, and you agree to join in because it feels like so long away...

A while ago, a group of us decided to raise money for a fantastic local charity, The Birchwood Centre, where young people who find themselves homeless can go for accommodation, support, mediation, personal development and training. Brilliant stuff. We wanted to support what they do financially and also raise awareness of homelessness issues.

Homelessness is often a hidden problem. Young people sofa surf, moving from place to place; it becomes a difficult cycle to break. So we decided to sleep rough in our village for the night not only because it seemed to fit the cause we were raising for, but also because we hoped it might be a visible way of highlighting this problem.

Clearly, our experience will not be comparable in any way with a young person who actually finds themselves on the street. We have warm sleeping bags. We have access to safe toilet facilities and a community police officer dropping by to make sure we're okay and crucially we're only do it for one night. When it's over, we'll go home, take a shower and get on with our lives.

So I commit to remembering young people who deal with this every day. I hope what we'll be doing will raise useful funds, and also help to raise awareness of this problem. If you fancy sponsoring us, please do drop by our Just Giving page. (and please wish good weather for us tonight...!)

Edge Hill Short Story Prize... One day to go!

I've feasted my way through a lot of the longlist, and all of the shortlist... tomorrow is the big day. 

The Edge Hill Short Story Prize 2013 winner will be announced and presented at the awards ceremony tomorrow in London.

The impressive longlist was whittled down to a shortlist of six exceptional short story collections:

 - Kevin Barry  Dark Lies the Island (Jonathan Cape)
- Emma Donoghue  Astray (Pan Macmillan)
- Adam Marek  The Stone Thrower (Comma Press)
- John McGregor  This Isn't The Sort Of Thing That Happens To Someone Like You (Bloomsbury)
- Jane Rogers  Hitting Trees With Sticks (Comma Press)
- Lucy Woods  Diving Belles (Bloomsbury)

These are all accomplished collections, and I massively admire all the writers' work. For each collection there are at least two or three stories which have lodged and keep returning to me. I think that's one indicator of a strong collection. I wish them all the best of luck at the awards tomorrow. I'm looking forward to finding out who has won the main prize and who has been awarded the Readers' Choice award and hearing their specific reasons for their choices. 

I'm feeling irked.

A particular organisation, one I respect and support, is advertising a position for a creative writer to spend several hours a week facilitating creative writing workshops for a total of twelve weeks.

Which all sounds great until you realise there is no payment offered for this.

I wonder in what other sector or profession would this happen. Are writers supposed to feel so grateful and flattered by organisations asking them in that they won't need or expect any actual payment for their work, skill and time? Fair play (perhaps) if it was a one-off... but twelve weeks? Really?

I love facilitating workshops. And this particular series of sessions sounds right up my street. But on principle, I won't apply. Firstly, I need to use my working hours in ways that will earn me money (a girl has gotta eat). Secondly, if I applied, it would be like conceding that organisations making these requests are rightly entitled to do so. Applying would devalue creatives across the board; writers, poets, musicians, artists... it would be pricing us all down and out of our own market. I question whether they would ask a solicitor or an accountant to work for nothing. Yet somehow, it is seen as acceptable to ask creative industry practitioners to work on extended projects for no money. What I'm really irked about is that this is not an unusual request.

There are certain situations when I am delighted to offer my skills (either workshop leading or writing commissions) for no or a lower fee. This would be at my discretion, if the work was a one off, perhaps an organisation that has very limited money or access to grants and funding. Or a unique opportunity or work placement that is too important to pass up.

But sometimes, like in this instance, it just feels exploitative.

Rant over.

Still feeling a bit irked, though...

This is me reading an extract of my story 'All About You' on Youtube, from forthcoming anthology About You (Comma Press, 2013). 

The video was made by Comma Press and LiteratureNorthwest. I was so pleased to be invited to do a reading (although watching myself on video makes me cringe inwardly and belatedly, instinctively try to fix my hair.)

Lots more readings by a fantastic range of writers and poets, recorded by Comma Press and LiteratureNorthwest, can be found here. It is like a supersized chocolate selection box (think high end luxury brand). There are loads of literary delights to sample, names you may recognise and know you'll enjoy and others that might be a bit less familiar; a chance (at the risk of stretching a simile to breaking point) to try a new flavour. 

My own favourite readings so far? Probably Michelle Green reading 'Debrief' from forthcoming collection Jebel Marra (Comma Press, 2013) and Rodge Glass reading 'Orientation #3' from forthcoming title LoveSexTravelMusik (Freight Books, 2013).

Reducing the Death Count

I just submitted a story that I've been working on for weeks. I have no idea if it's any good or not and will only know if a) the person I've submitted it to says they like it or b) I squirrel it away on the laptop and revisit it nervously in the future. It's a bit of a thoughtful one... a puzzle that doesn't just unravel for the reader; it needs a bit of mental tweaking to get to the heart of it. I like stories that require a tweak to fully reveal themselves.

But I also like stories that fall beautifully open in your hands like an advert-ready Terry's Chocolate Orange. I've been working concurrently on one of those. They are a delightful treat to write, and read. It is for Woman's Weekly who are an utter joy to work with. This type of story is not easy to write - it has to feel true, has to have sincerity, depth and a heart that the reader will relate to, but must be accessible at their point of need. Reading the magazine is their indulgence, perhaps the small portion of time they have carved out of a busy week to relax. Or the five minutes grabbed between meetings / appointments / life demands... so it has to deliver big. I love this challenge.

BUT. Both these stories have a bit of a high death count. Dead mother, dead baby, dead hamster (again), dead girl... The bodies are stacking up. And most of the stories I've written in the last few months seem to have some death element in them. I blame my subconscious mind.

So, my challenge for next week is to write something that has no dead people in it. Only living souls allowed. Wish me luck.

Fresh Air

I don't like to be innapropriately personal. I shudder slightly at the vulnerability in the status updates some people feel inspired to write; like bait waggling to social media sharks.

But I do feel I want to share this, not angling for sympathetic comments, but to mark the end of a silence in my writing.

It's been a tough year. And it has been a particularly tough three months. My dad passed away at the beginning of January after a long illness. He wasn't that old. So it wasn't a particularly good innings. There are the repeated phrases. People say things like 'I'm sorry you lost my dad'. It sound trite, like he wandered off in Tescos or he slipped unnoticed down the back of the sofa or something. Death really does inspire some peculiar words and deeds...  You'll know the kind of thing I mean.

But it also shows you who really is there for you when it hits the fan. I am incredibly lucky to have amazing friends, who seem to know the right thing to ask and say, and where to leave pans of sustaining vegetable broth / fish pie... where I will find them at just the point of need. I also have an incredible husband. I wouldn't have managed without him.

This is going to sound whingy - sorry. But I haven't been able to write properly for about 6 months, and I haven't written anything for about two. This isn't because of emotional turmoil, or grief (I'm a bit cynical about writer's block - just get on with it.) I just logistically haven't had time. If you are in a position to be able to drop everything to help out, you do, don't you? And I'm really glad and lucky that I could. I know not everyone has that luxury.

But I didn't realise 'not writing' had affected me so badly until in the pub the other evening Mr S asked gently about it. I've come to appreciate 'not writing' makes me very unhappy. I feel like a part of me is clawing to get out, make itself heard.

And so here I am, immensely glad I've been able to spend time with my family and see dad off with dignity, pleased I will still be able to support and help as needed. But it feels like fresh air to be back sitting at my laptop with my notebook open beside me.

I'm full of ideas. It's going to be a great year.

Lancashire Writing Hub

I have just finished a three month stint as guest editor on The Lancashire Writing Hub. You can see what I've been up to here. Thank you to all the fantastic writers who have contributed during my time there, and They Eat Culture, Jane Brunning and John Rutter for your support. I'm delighted to pass the baton onto Carys Bray who will be guest editor through December.