Monthly Archives: June 2010

A Long List

30 Wednesday Jun 2010

Posted by in interview, Not So Perfect, reviews, website

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Well, hasn’t it been hot? I hope you’ve all been enjoying this must unseasonal appearance of the sun.

And while it’s been doing its thing, I’ve been in my office cooking/working – the results of which I hope to be able to share with you all soon.

Until then, you can have a look at my website (if you want to!) – I’ve been having a bit of a tinker with it and the most noticeable change is to the ‘Being Interviewed And Reviewed’ page, where I’ve listed every review of Not So Perfect and every interview I’ve done about it.

I must admit that I was pretty surprised there were so many reviews and interviews and I can’t thank everyone enough for all of their support with Not So Perfect, especially as most weren’t asked. It is hugely appreciated. Thank you. I am utterly thrilled people are liking it.

On Learning, Listening and Talking

28 Monday Jun 2010

Posted by in being interviewed, friends, Learning, Pachelbel, Pagagnini, Winning Words

≈ 5 Comments

Well that was quite a weekend. I got a couple of crappy emails and got stressed but all’s well now, I think. The coolest part(s) of the weekend though was being reminded just how much I enjoy learning stuff, and also realising that I have some very clever friends (who seem happy to put up with my incessant asking of questions). On Friday I ended up talking, at length, with a medical expert about, well, the body. It was fascinating. On Saturday I was with some musician friends, which was great because, as well as enjoying their top company,  I learned stuff from them (some seriously interesting stuff about the re-use of chord sequences: ‘I Will Survive’ and ‘Hotel California’ share the same one) and even got to have a play (oh yes, I jammed, baby. I’ve still got it!). Last night I was with a lawyer discussing human rights. It was fab.

And not only because I was learning. It was fab because people were talking about things they are passionate about, and that’s a really cool thing to see. And, of course, they’re all very nice people too.

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And talking of nice people – Michelle, from Winning Words has put up the telephone interview I did with her last Wednesday. Click here to listen to me babbling on. I hope I don’t bore you.

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And…

Wasn’t Doctor Who good? Steven Moffat: Thank you. You’re great.

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And here’s some music video loveliness. This, I thought, was terrific. And hilarious. The things you can do with Pachelbel’s Canon. And skipping. And tango.

And a bit of Baroque N Roll.

Hive Time

26 Saturday Jun 2010

Posted by in Benjamin Judge, Caroline Smailes, Like Bees To Honey, Not So Perfect

≈ 3 Comments

It’s rather nice to be blogging about someone else’s cool stuff, instead of my own booky bits and bobs for a change (I like celebrating nice people who are brilliant and are doing brilliant things). So, if I may, can I point you in direction of the brilliant, and lovely, Caroline Smailes’ Hive page please? It’s been created to help promote her latest novel, Like Bees To Honey (which I’m reading and LOVING) but it goes beyond that because it’s both interactive and an awful lot of fun.

And if you look to the right you’ll see the Hive widget – if you’d like on your blog, here’s the code.

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Now, back to me. The fab Benjamin Judge (I still don’t know who the fudge he is) has been running his literary world cup, which has been all kinds of fun. I love it. Anyway, I (well, my book – which is back in stock, ahem) just knocked Toni Morrison out of it on penalties.
Benjamin says:
‘So this is it. The last battle before the draw for Round Three.
I don’t own Nik’s first book, nor Morrison’s second, so, as so often before, we are at one all after two rounds. Winning a Nobel Prize is a good indicator of a good writer. It is no surprise that Morrison picks up the first page honours. Then the underdog strikes back with “We were in the middle row on a plane on a flight back from Europe when my wife threw up a lemur.” Perring takes it to penalties!
First Penalty: Morrison = And. Perring = Her. 0 : 1
Second Penalty: Morrison = Heads. Perring = Colourful. 0 : 2
Third Penalty: Morrison = Bother. Perring = It. 1 : 2
Fourth Penalty: Morrison = Be. Perring = Duvet. 1 : 3
Nik Perring wins on penalties’

Good News

24 Thursday Jun 2010

Posted by in being interviewed, Not So Perfect, Winning Words

≈ 2 Comments

Very happy to see that the second print run of Not So Perfect has happened. It means that it’s In Stock in places which means that, should you want to, you can buy it. Or tell others to. If you should want to of course. (I’d point non UK people here as it offers free worldwide delivery.)

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Last night was fun. I was over at Winning Words doing what I can best describe as a live interview conference call thingumy. I chatted to the lovely Michelle, for about forty minutes, about all sorts, and read a couple of stories from Not So Perfect (I read ‘Lump’ for the first time live and then ‘Shark Boy’). And if you didn’t listen live, the conversation has been recorded and will be available to listen to at some point soon. More details when I have them.

And I think that’s just about it for now.

I Won’t Cry Over Spilled Ink

22 Tuesday Jun 2010

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

First off - I talk to the lovely Clare Wallais, at her blog, about writing, rejections, cats, the UK short story market and who, out of Not So Perfect, I’d like to spend an evening with. It was a really fun interview to do – thanks, Clare!

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And thanks too to the equally lovely, Sophie Playle for sending me the debut issue of Inkspill Magazine. I’ve not had chance to read it (it only arrived this morning and I’ve been rather busy), but my first impressions are entirely positive: It looks good! And I’m looking forward to having a read.

My Thoughts On Things

21 Monday Jun 2010

Posted by in competition, Nicola Morgan, Not So Perfect, Wasted, Winning Words

≈ 4 Comments

Hello. I hope you all had a lovely weekend and that it wasn’t spoiled by the trauma of the apparent death of Amy Pond. Like mine was. I very much hope she pulls through. Or that Rory’s gun thingumy was a dud. (I was going to say firing blanks, but thought better of it.)

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As I mentioned the other day, I was honoured and delighted to have been asked by the fabulous Nicola Morgan to judge her Wasted Flash Fiction Competition. The results were announced yesterday – and I must say again that I thought the standard was very, very high and that each entry could have won. Picking winners in the two sections (one for school pupils and one for adults) was really, really difficult. Seriously. So a huge congrats to all who took part and well done to those who won or were commended.

Today I’m at Nicola’s other blog, talking about a load of different publishing and writing things. I talk about the things about being published that might surprise someone who isn’t which I, at least, found really interesting – I think I found things out about me in doing that, that I hadn’t realised before.

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And a brief reminder that I’ll be on the phone (to YOU if you fancy it) this Wednesday at 8pm. Seriously, it would be great to chat.

You Rang…

17 Thursday Jun 2010

Posted by in Flash Clash, Nicola Morgan, Not So Perfect, Wasted, Winning Words

≈ 2 Comments

In a world first (for me) I’m taking part in a conference call live interview over at Winning Words, at 8pm GMT on Wednesday June 23rd. I will be answering questions and reading from Not So Perfect. Full details of how you can take part here. It’d be lovely to hear from you.

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I was absolutely delighted, and rather surprised, to see one of the stories from Not So Perfect, ‘My Heart’s in a Box’ get 5 stars out of 5 over at RobAroundBooks yesterday. Yes, absolutely delighted indeed.

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And a big part of yesterday, and the evening before, was spent reading through the entries for Nicola Morgan’s WASTED flash fiction competition. The winners and those commended will be announced on the blog on June 20th and I must say (and I’m not just saying this) that the entries, and I mean all of them, were very, very good.

And, as a very relevant aside, you can see what Nicola had to say about Wasted (click here to buy) on this very blog by clicking here.

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ADDED: I’ve just received this from my friend, Catherine, which I’m more than happy to mention here:

‘I’ve been given another commission by Easy Living magazine and I need willing interviewees, but it is a very sensitive subject – that of relationships surviving a dramatic change in the physical looks of the woman partner.  I’ll be writing about my own experiences, but need those of others to form an upbeat, compassionate and sensitive article about how love transcends looks. …  if you know anyone who might be willing to be interviewed, that would be amazing.’




You can contact her here: catherine DOT hughes AT gmx.com

Reasons To Be Cheerful

16 Wednesday Jun 2010

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ 12 Comments

First up – big thanks to Decoding Static for a brilliant review of Not So Perfect here, and for interviewing me about it, and writing, and passive sponges here.

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It’s been a funny few days for me. I’m not going to say what exactly, but there have been a few things that have happened that have upset me and/or made me rather cross. And the thing is, well two things really – that when rubbish things happen they rarely happen on their own – there are usually other rubbish things queueing behind them. It never rains, as they say. AND, perhaps more importantly, when rubbish things happen we (well, I) tend to focus on them rather than the good stuff. And then interpret moderately not so perfect things (see what I did there!) as being wholly rubbish.

So. After a minor meltdown last night I took the morning off to relax a bit and to think things through. And while it’s true that there certainly have been some rubbish things that have happened of late, I realised that I’m probably being very ungrateful and brattish because I’ve treated them as more important than the good things. Like all the wonderful reviews Not So Perfect’s had, like all the people who’ve read it and said brilliant things about it, for the three wonderful friends who listened to me moan (and moan, and moan), for having a book out that I’m hugely proud of and published by the publisher I love, for the people who’ve texted and got in touch with me, for good friends who care. I could go on.

I suppose what I really want to say is thank you. For the good things. And sorry if I have a wobble every now and again.

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