Quiller's Place - Writing Etc

• A VERY Merry Christmas

  2009 Dec 24

  At last I feel confident about saying a VERY Merry Christmas to everyone.
  
  My last major health worry this year was that I had the beginnings of macular degeneration. I've just got back from the hospital where I was given the all-clear. They can't find anything wrong at all. Phew!
  
  So now I've had a clear ECG result, a clear eye result, and whilst my blood pressure did get a bit high, it's now under control with new medication. (The obvious answer to it all is that I'm just a big huge hypochondriac.)
  
  I can now relax and enjoy Christmas. And wish all my lovely blog visitors and online pals a very merry Christmas. I know others are still going through the mill this year, and there's no end in sight to their worries at the moment, so my prayers and thoughts are with you all, wherever you are.
  
  For me, touching every bit of wood I can find, bowing at the moon, kissing black cats, and avoiding ladders, it's onwards and upwards to 2010.
  
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• 1st January - Blog Takeover Day!

  2009 Dec 22

  HUGE thanks to everyone who's shown interest in another blog takeover day. I can now officially announce it's going to be on 1st January 2010, so get thinking about who you want to be for that day. I haven't a clue who I'm being yet, honestly, but will be thinking about it over a bottle of Baileys and the xmas turkey. I'll probably end up being a bottle of Baileys ... hic...
  
  When you've posted your blog, leave a message for me on any of the posts here and I'll add it to the Blog Takeover roll.
  
  Also thanks to everyone who expressed concern over my health and the troubles I had online. I didn't mean to depress everyone, as that happened some time ago and I am well over it. I was just using it to illustrate how misleading blogs and forums can be, and how I'd do things much differnently nowadays. It helps that I'm in a much stronger position now, regarding my writing success, than I was then. What do they say about the best revenge being to live well? :-)
  
  
  
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• Fancy another blog takeover day?

  2009 Dec 18

  What say we ease ourselves into the New Year with another blog takeover day? I'm thinking New Years Day. Apparently you can use blog scheduling (haven't tried that yet!) so you shouldn't have to actually get up on New Years Day and do it and if you can't manage it then, as before have a go when you can.
  
  As before you can be anyone you want on your blog, except yourself. I may bring back William Shagspere, who I know you all fancied, but then again I may be someone else entirely.
  
  So who's up for it? If a few people answer this post showing interest, I'll put up an official post announcing where and when.
  
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• Does Social Networking help or hinder writers?

  2009 Dec 18

  This is an interesting article about authors and social networking.
  
  The general consensus seems to be that it can't do any harm but doesn't necessarily lead to more sales. The bestselling writers of the era - Stephen King, John Grisholm and, of course, JK Rowling - don't connect to their fans in this way, and yet it doesn't hurt their sales.
  
  It got me thinking about how lesser known authors use their blogs. Most of us muddle along quite happily, talking about our lives, love and Westies, whilst keeping the really deep dark stuff private.
  
  Then there are some blogs, for me, that are like scabs. I know I shouldn't scratch them because they'll annoy me, but I do. Yet they do nothing positive for their authors, mainly because the writers involved use them to carry out public feuds, criticise their agents/publishers, or moan about how miserable writing makes them (my answer to that is 'there's the door, don't let it hit you in the ar*e on the way out'). No one pretends that writing and getting published is easy, and I'm not talking about the closed blogs or forums where those of us who set them up can be more honest. But to do all this publicly? It's bad form and doesn't reflect well on the writer at all. As my lovely friend, Womagwriter's blog has shown, editors do read blogs.
  
  Coincidentally I was asked by Gerald Hornsby, in an interview for his Essex writers' group (which ironically is in a private part of their site), whether I thought an online presence helps. My answer was that it helps as long as one knows how to use it wisely. Have I always been wise in the past? No, probably not. When I first started using the net I was so naive. I didn't know what a troll was, so reacted accordingly when one baited me. I know better now. As I said in the interview, I was even reluctant to mention my recent ill-health, and only did so because it's been clear to my smashing online mates that I haven't been my usual chirpy enthusiastic self lately.
  
  In another recent discussion with a different writer about blogging, I mentioned the fact that everything is searchable on the net, so writers really need to be aware of what they're putting on their blogs and webpages, even if they change their minds and delete it later. Oh yes. I can't remember the site where you go, but it is very possible to find deleted webpages if you know which address to put in. All of this means that when you least suspect it, and when you're at the top of your game, someone with the know-how can find it and use it against you.
  
  I think a lot of the problem is that it's blooming hard to keep a blog going and full of interesting content. I'm aware I'm not posting as much lately, but part of that is that I feel I've said everything I need to say, so don't want to go round in circles repeating myself. But I'm also aware that I've been gradually moving away from posting publicly. I sometimes post a few bits on Twitter or Facebook, but there's a part of me that's wanting to disappear and just concentrate on the writing, instead of swanning around being a 'writer'. One of the reasons I started the new writing calendar site is that I want to downsize my own website, and concentrate on projecting the calendar in its own right, with my name as a relatively small part of it. Obviously I won't take my name off it completely, because I've worked blooming hard to bring it to the point where it is.
  
  I think that in the early days, when I created a website (before I even had anything worth starting one for), I felt the need to prove I was a writer by having an official online presence. Now, I've proved (to myself if not to everyone else) I'm a writer, so that compulsion is not so strong. But I think it's also a result of what I've witnessed, particularly over the past year, about the power of the Internet to destroy people.
  
  The Internet is both a blessing and a curse. I met some of my dearest friends online and would not have had the success with writing I've had without the help and support I've had from other writers I met online. But I also had no idea what having enemies meant until I first clicked that connect button. If I didn't like people in 'real life', I could shut my front door and have nothing to do with them. That's not so easy online. If you fall out with someone, they can chase you around blogs and forums, setting up anonymous accounts to make it seem like even more people hate you. They can tell lies about you which can stay there for eternity, to be dug up at a later date. I once corrected a lie that someone told about me, and had it removed from by the owners of a website, only to have the liar go to a different, less well-moderated site, and repeat that lie (thankfully that site soon became obsolete because the owner didn't pay the electricity bill or something).
  
  Most of my online friends now know that if they set up a public forum and invite me, the chances are I won't join. It isn't because I don't like them or want their company, but because public forums are notoriously hard to moderate, even by the best moderators, and you'll soon find that the trolls and their associated sockpuppets take over.
  
  Okay, I hear you say, "you can switch off the net, Sally."
  
  True, but then you lose contact with all the people who make being online worthwhile. So it helps to learn how to use it to one's advantage, whilst keeping out of all the other rubbish.
  
  I'm sorry, lovely blogger mates and visitors. This is a very low-key post for me. I think what brought it about was not just the article above, but the report this morning about a mother who tweeted whilst her toddler son was drowning.
  
  Now if there's one thing that makes me want to delete every online account I've got and just go and put my head under the duvet, it's that report...
  
  But, in the words of Arnie - I'll be back :-)
  
  
  (On a different and happier subject, I've been checking the My Weekly Pocket Novels in Tescos every week, waiting for mine to appear. It isn't mine this week, but it is by the fabulous Teresa Ashby. So do go out and buy it (they sell them at Sainsburys and Smiths too) and cuddle up over xmas to read it.)
  
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  Writing Competitions Calendar
  
  

  

• Looking for a film title

  2009 Dec 10

  I'm trying to remember the title of a film, which I think is from the seventies or late sixties. It's about a group of WW2 flyers, crashed in the desert, and it soon becomes apparent that they're all ghosts (but I don't think they realise and are still waiting to be picked up). Things come to a head when the man who left them to die comes to that spot, with a film crew, because he's been feted a national hero. Obviously the dead men know the truth.
  
  I think it starred Patrick Wayne, but I've looked in his film list on IMDB and can't find anything that rings a bell.
  
  Does anyone know the film I'm talking about?
  
  Never mind, I found it. It's called Sole Survivor. Isn't it maddening when you can't remember something you've remembered? So to speak...
  
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• Scream - Horror anthology for teens

  2009 Dec 10

  
  
  This morning I received my contributor copy of Scream, a horror anthology aimed at teenagers. It features my story, A Thousand and One Nights, along with 12 stories by fellow scribes, including the lovely, Lynne Hackles.
  
  So if you have a teenager who loves horror stories, pop it in their Christmas stocking. Or anyone in your family, because the stories, I believe, transcend age barriers.
  
  (note: The Amazon page has the wrong title listed, but I'm assured that you will receive Scream if you order from this page. The ISBN number is 9781907335006 if you want to shop around and order it elsewhere). You can also order it direct from Bridge House Publishing, where they have a special offer on books at the moment.
  
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• Win Books daily - Advent Calendar comps

  2009 Dec 01

  Every year I love tracking down the advent calendar comps run by major publishing companies. I've never won anything yet, but I keep trying. I thought I'd share some of them with you. You can go back everyday to try and win more books. This year I can only find one, run by Headline publishing. Which is a shame as Random House and Transworld usually run one. I'll keep an eye on their sites. Meanwhile, here's the link for Headline.
  
  Headline Publishing
  
  Added: Many thanks to Jason from Loquax (my favourite comp site in the whole world) for pointing me towards the Random House advent calendar.
  
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• Roll Up for the new writing calendar!

  2009 Nov 29

  Earlier than expected (because I realise people need time to enter the January/February comps) here is the new, improved Writing (comps) Calendar!
  
  There's still a bit to do to it, like adding comps for later in 2010, but I reckon it's time to get the show on the road!
  
  
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• I'm a pocket novelist!

  2009 Nov 20

  (apologies to fellow Twitterers and Facebook friends who've already seen this).
  
  But I am a pocket novelist! Isn't that sweet? What it means is that My Weekly have accepted my mini-novel, The Secret of Helena's Bay for their pocket novel series. I don't know if it will keep that title, but I will let everyone know if it changes and when the novel appears in the shops.
  
  As with all the My Weekly pocket novels, it's a gentle romance, but I've upped the anti by including all the ingredients of the best Hitchcock thrillers, including our plucky heroine, handsome hero, the McGuffin and a hint of Nazi intrigue.
  
  Now I know My Weekly like my pocket novels, I'm off to see what else I can steal ... er ... borrow from Mr Hitchcock.
  
  Oh, and a special and HUGE thank you to Cally Taylor, who very generously shared the holiday memories that gave me the wonderful setting for the novel.
  
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• Interview with the Literary Project

  2009 Nov 20

  I've been interviewed by the lovely Gemma for her great blog The Literary Project.
  
  Once again I'm blushing to the roots of my hair over the nice things Gemma has said about me.
  
  I answered the questions in this interview about the time I did Jaye's, and it occurred to me what a responsibility it is to be interviewed. For a start, I don't want to come across like a know it all, and I don't want to say anything that could be construed as a 'rule', that people want to set in stone. There's also the thing of answering similar questions in a way that tells the same story but in a different way.
  
  Yeah, yeah, I know it's an awful life, with people wanting to interview me...
  
  Seriously, I'm always deeply honoured when people ask if they can interview me. I just hope I do justice to their interest.
  
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  Writing Competitions Calendar