Another Earth

I watched this over the weekend and I really enjoyed it. Another Earth appears within travelling distance of the one we’re on, and on it are other versions of us, who, up until the point where we discovered each other, have lived exactly the same lives.

But that’s not what the story’s about, and I love it for that, love if for having that massive thing in the background but focussing on the story of two people. Distracted by the appearance of the other Earth, young Rhoda crashes into the car of a professor, killing his wife and son. After she’s served four years for said accident she goes to apologise but ends up cleaning for him.

It’s not a perfect film, but it is good. And it’s ambitious and it’s different, and I loved it.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlPfAYpnpuw]

Today, The Internet is Like My Own Tardis

It’s true. By the power of the internet I am in three places at once today.

I’m talking to the magnificent Cally Taylor (whose name I can’t use without it reminding me that her first book made me cry in public) about what turns me on and off when I’m judging/reading submissions.

I’m at the equally magnificent Talli Roland’s blog, talking about how I celebrated the publication of Freaks!, and wondering how you’d celebrate the launch of your books.

And, last but by no means least, I’m, with Caroline, over at Sarah Salway’s, answering her 5 questions. 

So, join in the fun, folks! And, how would you (or how have you) celebrate your book coming out?

Collaborations

So, further to yesterday’s post, Freaks! actually is two weeks old. Happy birthday to you. Today I’m over at Winning Words talking about collaborating.

And, while I’m talking about Freaks! – could I ask a favour (I know, another one!) – If you’ve read and enjoyed it, a review on your blogs or on Goodreads or on amazon (or anywhere really) would be really top stuff. I thank you!

How I Write

So, Freaks! is almost two weeks old. Those two weeks have just flown by and I’ve been wandering around (well, metaphorically – mostly I’ve been sat at my computer) in a daze. There’s a lot to think about and a lot to do when your book is published.

I was thrilled to hear, last week, that HarperCollins India had placed a big order for it, so watch out India, the Freaks! are coming! Hooray!

 *
Today, I’m over at the brilliant Writer’s Little Helper blog, explaining exactly how I write. I hope you find something useful in it. (Thanks Jessica!)
*
And a huge thanks, once again, to everyone who’s bought Freaks!, and to everyone who’s help to spread the word. A book like Freaks! really thrives on word of mouth so you’re helping an awful lot. I can’t wait to see what more people think of it.

Weird Things!

I thought it’d be nice to have change today. So instead of me banging on about my book, I’ve invited the very lovely Jen Campbell here to talk about hers which, incidentally, should make the Sunday Times Best Seller list this weekend – hooray! There’s a competition too – scroll down for that.

It’s called Weird Things Customers Say in Book Shops (it has its own Facebook page here) and, from the dipping into it I’ve done, it’s very cool and very funny indeed.

So, Jen…

Hello and welcome to the blog. It’s a pleasure to have you here.

Lovely to be here! Thanks for letting me crash!

So, ‘Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops’ is your new book. Tell us about it. Who’s it for and what’s it about?

‘Weird Things…’ is what it says on the tin. It’s a collection of strange/bizarre/rude things said in bookshops. It’s for those who like bookshops & books, or have worked with the public, or just want a giggle!

Could you tell us a little about writing it? How did you start? How long did it take?

I first started writing them down when I was working at The Edinburgh Bookshop four years ago. It was triggered by this:

Customer: Hi, I was wondering, did Anne Frank ever write a sequel? I really loved her diary.

Bookseller: Her diary isn’t fiction… it’s fact… She actually died at the end.

Customer: Oh, really? That’s such a shame!

Bookseller: Yes, it was –

Customer: I mean, she was such a good writer! What a waste!

After that, every so often I’d write them down [you don’t forget those kind of things easily!]. Now I work at Ripping Yarns bookshop, which is an antiquarian bookshop in north London. Last May [after someone asked if I was sure we were a bookshop and not some other kind of retail place…] I started posting some of the ‘Weird Things…’ on my blog.

The links to the blog posts were thrown around Twitter by other bookshops publishers etc, and attracted the attention of Hugh at Constable and Robinson after Neil Gaiman had blogged about the ‘Weird Things…’ posts. Constable approached me asking if I’d like to make them into a full length collection, I said yes, and here we are!

What’s the best thing that’s been said in a bookshop while you’ve been there?

My answer to this changes all the time, ha!

“Do you have a list of books on star signs? I have a terrible feeling that something bad is going to happen, and I want to know if it’s been predicted!”

And what’s the weirdest thing you’ve said in a bookshop?

I’ve been asked this quite a bit recently and I really don’t know. I’m sure I’ve said something, but I can’t remember! I guess that’s the thing; if you say something weird, you don’t always realise that you’ve said something strange.

What one thing would you like to say in a bookshop but haven’t, as yet, been able to?

 

Well, like one of the people in ‘Weird Things…’, I’d love to get my hands on a copy of ‘The Book of Dust’ by Philip Pullman, so I’d like to ask a bookseller if they had that in stock. However, I’ll wait until he’s finished writing the book before asking if they have it in stock as, unlike the person in ‘Weird Things…’, I don’t think that antiquarian bookshops stock books from the future [it would be cool if we did!]

Do you think the Weird Things… could be a series? Do you think there’s room for bakers and butchers and the fine people of Ikea (for example) to have their own versions?

I think strange things get said all across the retail spectrum! People are wonderfully strange.

And, back to the writing of the book. Could you tell us a little about your process?

I suppose this book is completely different to everything I’ve written before. It was never supposed to be a book, so the fact that it’s become one is a [very lovely] surprise. I was working to a deadline for it, which is again different to my previous writing and I think the deadline did help. Normally, I try and make myself sit at the kitchen table for a couple of hours every day to write something, anything. I bribe myself with tea and biscuits. I’ve been a little naughty recently and with all the publicity stuff for ‘Weird Things…’, plus my day job, writing has had to take a back seat. I’m hoping to get back to the drawing board asap.

Any tips for any budding non-fiction writers? Any advice you’d give them?

I don’t know about tips for non-fiction writers. I know that ‘Weird Things…’ is non-fiction but, as I said above, it was never going to be a book, and I don’t generally write non-fiction: normally I’m a poetry and short stories girl. So, advice for writers in general: read. Read read read. Then read some more. Write regularly, even if it’s just a paragraph – try and do that every day. When you draft something, put it away and then come back to it. Change it. Edit it. Leave it again. When you’re at the stage where you hate it and never want to see it again, that’s probably when you’re done 😉

What’s next for you?

Poetry! My first pamphlet-sized collection, ‘The Hungry Ghost Festival’ is going to be published in the summer by The Rialto. I’m also working on a full-length poetry collection, and have just started writing a novel. The idea of a novel terrifies me, but I’m trying to take it one small step at a time. It’s literary fiction, dystopian, in its early stages at the moment. I’m still getting to grips with it, but I’m excited about it. Lots of hard work ahead!

***

Thanks for coming on, Jen – and best of luck with your hungry ghosts!

AND… I have one copy of Weird Things to give away. Leave a comment in below and I’ll pop you into the hat. The draw will be made on Monday.

Winner!

First of all – a HUGE thank you to all who’ve helped, and to all who’ve said they’ll help, with the launching of Freaks!. It’s been wonderful seeing Freaks! out there in the big wide, and scary, world.

Second. We have a winner from the Twitter name your ideal super power competition. And the winner is…

Karen Wilde, whose ideal super power is: Omnipresence&shapeshifting into a giant lion wearing the stripy hat, appearing whenever animal cruelty occurs RAWWRRR . I can’t wait to see the illustration for that!

*

And we have a couple of reviews in. (You read quickly, people! Thank you!)

This, from Jamieson Wolf made me happy (he says ‘I knew from the moment that I looked at the cover of FREAKS! that I was in for a treat of monumental proportions. Eschewing the traditional short story, the ones contained in this collection are flash fiction pieces, stories told in comic book form, stories told in mere paragrahps that pack whole pages worth of emotion into very few words.’).

This, from Debbie Kinsey made me happy too. Debbie said ‘In some ways Freaks reminds me of The Tiny Wife, but much more dark and creepy.  The comic book style illustrations really complement this collection of strange and imperfect superheros.  Definitely worth a look.’

This went up at perhaps my favourite book review site – Bookchase – and that made me happy in other ways. Seeing this might have helped with that: ‘The final (or at least the latest) step in my evolution was directly influenced by the work of Nik Perring, author of Not So Perfect, a short story collection that I reviewed in late May 2010 (wow, it doesn’t seem like two years since that one). Nik was the first writer of “flash fiction” that I ever read. For those of you who haven’t been exposed to flash fiction, let’s just define it as “short, short stories.” That collection taught me to appreciate the effort and talent it took to create unforgettable characters, vivid images and impressions, and moods in just a few hundred words. And, yes, there was even a plot.’

And last, for now, is what Kathryn had to say over at Dawdlings:[Freaks!]is a captivating and compelling journey of escapism and affirmation. Essentially shouting right in our ears (and eyes), we’re all feeling like we don’t quite belong, and this is okay. Playing on a willed naivety while dealing with adult themes, FREAKS hits the perfect balance.’

*

So, yes. Thank you!

Freaks is Released!

Freaks! is finally here! Released as a paperback and eBook TODAY!

It’s a collection of 50 short stories. It’s a collaboration between me and Caroline Smailes. It’s illustrated by Darren Craske. It’s about people with super powers, real and imagined. And I am absolutely proud of it.

 

As Caroline says here, it actually started out as a bit of fun. Caroline hadn’t written in a while and, for one reason or another, I’d not either. So we wrote each other a story. And it WAS fun. So much so that we did it again, and it grew and grew and, somehow, turned into this collection.

I loved writing it. I loved exploring different themes and different ways of writing about different things and I loved working with Caroline (even those times when we didn’t quite agree on things). And I loved seeing how Darren interpreted the stories, how his awesome illustrations added that extra bit to them.

And today it’s published. I hope you enjoy it. I honestly don’t think there’s anything quite like it out there. There’s a woman who can freeze time, and a boy who can talk to insects. There’s a girl who can fly but can’t quite get her landings right. There’s a Minotaur. A chameleon girl. A plastic boy. There are letters. And ghosts. Even a mermaid.

So yes, I hope you enjoy it.

***

And I must say a HUGE thank you to everyone who’s been kind enough to host one of the stories on their blogs. Keep an eye out – they’re popping up everywhere.

And a huge thank you to Caroline and to Darren too.

***

AND, there’s a competition over on Twitter.

Tweet to tell us (@nikperring, @Caroline_S, @darrencraske, @meandmybigmouth – or any combination of the above!) using the hashtag #freaks

what your ideal super power would be. 

The winner receives an illustration (that would be PERFECT as an avatar) of themselves as a super hero (with their power, of course). It’ll be unique, bespoke even, and it’ll be drawn by our very own illustrating genius, Darren. How cool is that?

***

Thanks all. Now, fingers crossed people actually like it!

Competition Time! What Would YOUR Super Power Be?

Tomorrow Freaks!, the collection of stories I wrote with the brilliant Caroline Smailes, illustrated by the magnificent Darren Craske, is published. HOORAY!

And, to celebrate, we have a competition for you. It will be on Twitter and it will be fun.

So, what it is this competition you ask. And I’m glad you did.

You need to tweet to tell us (@nikperring, @Caroline_S, @darrencraske) using the hashtag #freaks

what your ideal super power would be. 

The winner receives an illustration (that would be PERFECT as an avatar) of themselves as a super hero (with their power, of course). It’ll be unique, bespoke even, and it’ll be drawn by our very own illustrating genius, Darren. How cool is that?

The comp starts tomorrow. I cannot WAIT to see what you choose.

Two Days To Go/How You Can Help

Well there are only two days to go until Freaks! is officially published. And that’s both scary and exciting. But it’s a celebration too and I just wanted to remind you that you can join in with the celebrations in a couple of different ways.

You could, if you like, pop one of the stories from Freaks! on your blog for a day, at any point over the next couple of weeks. Email James ([email protected]) if you fancy it and he’ll give you all you need, including a free eBook as a thank you.

On Thursday we’ll be running a competition on Twitter. Simply use the hashtag #freaks and tell us what your ideal super power would be. The winner gets a very cool and very unique prize. Watch this space for more details on that.

And there are other ways you can help us celebrate. I’d love to hear from anyone who’s received Freaks, either on here or on Twitter or Facebook (the first pre-ordered copies are being delivered now…!). Tell me what you think. Or send me a picture of it, if you like. Yes, that could be cool.

And if you like it (which I really, really, hope you will!) spread the word in any way you like. Reviews on blogs would be fab (and I’m more than happy to be interviewed, if you’d like to have me), and on amazon too, – if you’d be kind enough to spare a couple of minutes to do them, then that’d be ace.

So, yes. It’d be brilliant and massively appreciated if you could help us celebrate.

Mostly though, I hope you enjoy it. And thanks to all who’ve ordered and to all who’ve already said they’ll help.

Thank you!

Freaks Online Celebration – Important Info

A huge thanks to all of you lovely people who’ve agrees to help with the online launch of Freaks! (and if anyone else would like to come to the party, you are MOST welcome – see my previous post for details).

So, here’s what I need you to do…

You’ll need to send James, who’s looking after the PR for Freaks, a brief email telling him that you’ve signed up for the celebrations. James will then send you a pack containing all that you need. And you can email him at [email protected]

That’s it. Simple, eh? Any problems or questions do give me a shout.

And thank you ALL for your help with this. I really, really appreciate it.

Only three days to go. Eek…