Update and Other People’s Books

Quick update on my Off The Shelf appearance (as mentioned here):

I’m on a panel with Marina Lewycka and Virginia Macgregor and we will start at 3pm (The Quaker Meeting House, Sheffield) on October 17th. (Full details here.)

 

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And other people’s books. Yes. It’s not just about me on here, you know. Well, not all the time.

I’ve been lucky in that, for the past nine years, I’ve run a writing group in my hometown of Bollington (give me a shout if you fancy joining – we’re all very friendly). And I’ve loved it – we’ve had all sorts of writers doing all sorts of writing and we’ve produced some really cool stuff. And now, some of the members have released books on kindle and I couldn’t be happier to recommend them.

First up, with a foreword from none other than Dame Vera Lynn and the proceeds going to The Poppy Appeal, the new to kindle after a successful paperback, is Jenny Martin’s Aftermath – a brilliant collection of poems and short stories marking WW1’s centenary.

Jenny’s brand new collection of poems, Night Light, has also just been released* – and I think (with justifiable bias) that it’s brilliant – do take a look (and at only a couple of quid you could take a punt too).

(* cover by the brilliant Debra.)

And last, but by no means least, here’s a book about a volunteer’s time in Ghana – By God’s Grace. Barbara was there for over a year and this book is packed with stories of her time there – from the hilarious ‘eyebrow incident’ to the exciting and interesting and then the sombre. What’s especially cool is that it doubles up as a guidebook – not only packed with useful tips on visiting Ghana or Africa, but on volunteering abroad too. Well worth a look. And what’s more, all the proceeds will go to the brilliant J.Initiative who are doing good things, and to VSO too.

So there we go. Three great books. Do have a look and support authors who’ve been doing things under their own steam and despite my guidance if you can. I know they’d appreciate it and so would the charities.

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And, while we’re talking of writing group members… I’ve been meaning to share this for a while – a blogging award (been a while since I had one of them!) from J.D. Richardson – another very talented writer. I don’t have the time just now to fulfil all of the criteria (I actually think this past few months have been my busiest ever in writing and even looking at my calendar’s making me long for a sleep) but it’s lovely to see a few good and familiar faces over on her list and I’d definitely suggest checking them out.

And, as to how this blog started… Way back in 2006 to document the time when my first book came out and me touring it (somehow a lot of those early posts seem to have been lost when I changed sites/providers/something) and to spread the good word of good fiction. I still try…

dand

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nikperring

Nik Perring is a short story writer, author, teacher of writing, and editor from the UK. His stories have been published widely all over the world. His books include the widely celebrated Not So Perfect (Roastbooks 2010), A Book of Beautiful Words; and Beautiful Trees; and he co-wrote Freaks!(TFP/HarperCollins, 2012).

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