Happy Holidays

I know not everyone is celebrating a  holiday over the next few days but we at Chez Guiney are celebrating two. This is one of those years when Chanukah and Christmas coincide and we celebrate both. I've always felt that on such years, rather than dilute the festivities, the overlap enhances them. Maybe that's why I'm in a more festive mood this year than most. But regardless, in a couple of days I fly off to the States with Number 1 Son where we meet Number 2 Son at the airport and then travel together by car then ferry to our island house. The Big D joins the following day.

Islands are, of course, wonderful in hot weather. But I especially love ours in winter. I love bundling up for our annual Christmas morning beach walk. I love trudging down our dirt road in the snow, and even if there isn't snow, I love the sound of the crackling dirt beneath our boots.

But of course, best of all, is having the four of us under one roof for an extended amount of time, eating too much, drinking too much. I love watching old movies together. I love the sudden serious conversations. I even love when we hide out from each other behind temporarily closed doors.

So, yes, I am a holiday mush ball in anticipation. And before I nauseate you all even more, I'll sign off for the time being with this year's holiday video - in honour of the re-emergence on the scene of The Muppets.

Lots of love and many thanks for listening to me ramble on over the past year. See you in -- gulp -- 2012.

Attention: A Workshop with Sarah Salway

Workshops with Sarah Salway are always a treat.  She is now offering a new one which sounds so fascinating, I knew I wanted to pass the information along. She is taking bookings for this now, so do think about it and act quick!


For three days in February (22-24th inc), Sarah will be running a workshop in Norfolk along with Alison Piasecka. This one is different from her usual workshops. Here, she and Alison will be looking at using writing as a tool for finding out more about yourself, rather than developing writing skills. 

The course is run through the consultancy and training company, Moving Through Transitions that Alison Piasecka set up last year with Jean Woollard. Between them they have over 50 years of working as organisational developers, but set up independently because they wanted to work deeper with people who were either looking for, or undergoing, some kind of personal change.

As you will see from their website, they are offering a number of different courses next year. The one Sarah will be working on, Postcards To Yourself, is really about writing at your own pace, discovering new insights, learning new tools for future journal writing, and, above all, relearning how good it can feel to play on the page and stretch your imagination. You can find out more on this website.  The three days will take place in the rather magical sounding Othona, in East Anglia, right next to the oldest church (645AD) in Britain.

This sounds like a fabulous way to spend a few days in February, doesn't it?

Holiday Book List!

I've never done this before, but I thought it would be fun. Like all "great" ideas, it's turned out to be more difficult than I ever expected, but nonetheless, here it is: my suggestions for great gift ideas for the readers in your lives. Some of these books I've blogged about before, in which case I've linked to that post so you can read more about the selection than I can put here. Not all of these have been published this year. Some are older, those books that have been hanging around on the bookshelf for a while feeling lonely. I also decided not to include links to publishers or on-line sites. We all know where we like to buy our books, but if I may, while I'm suggesting things, may I suggest that you buy from your favourite local independent bookshop? These places need our support, they are the places which are more likely to stock a wide range of work, and anyway, they're fun.  So, from all of us who write to all of us who read, happy shopping:

The Coward's Tale   First and foremost, at the top of the list. Just recently published, this magical novel is the debut of the much feted short story writer, Vanessa Gebbie.

Getting the Picture by Sarah Salway, which I wrote about here.

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett, which I wrote about here.

The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund De Waal, which I also wrote about here.

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John Le Carre. Ridiculous that I hadn't read any of his books before. My, what I've been missing.

The Wasteland, The App  by T S Eliot and Faber. To my mind, the best example of what all this technology can do for literature. I wrote about it here.

Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter by Mario Vargas Llosa, another wonderful writer who I never got around to reading until recently.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery which I wrote about here. This is a novel with characters you long remember, even after you've forgotten where they came from.

Home by Marilynne Robinson. Some say this isn't as good as her previous novels, especially Gilead. But if this is only her second best...

Seeing Stars by Simon Armitage. Don't worry about whether it's poetry or prose. Just enjoy it.

Where the Air is Rarified by Susan Richardson. Poetry about the environment, beautifully illustrated by Pat Gregory.

While I'm on the subject of poetry, several wonderful poets have brought out books recently (using that term loosely - I've lost track of time). But regardless, I'd love to point you to the work of Billy Collins, Carrie Etter, Katy Evans-Bush, Ruth O'Callaghan, Carolyn Oulton,  Sue Rose, John Siddique, Kelley Swain, Todd Swift.

I purposefully didn't include above any writers published by my own publisher, Ward Wood Publishing because they are all new publications and all my friends. But if I do say so myself, you can't go wrong with any of them.

Branded: PR and Me

It is true that you have to change with the times. It's also true that you have to change with yourself. Lots has changed in my life over the past several years, but the professional changes have been the most confusing. So I recently asked a pr firm to help me navigate my way through the choppy waters of today's  book selling industry. Notice I have said "book selling industry" and not "publishing industry." I am very lucky to have been picked up by the publisher, Ward Wood, who is happy to publish both my fiction and poetry. They also, despite their relative youth and small size, do more promotion than most. Nonetheless, selling the books you do get published is a very hard nut to crack and, let's face it, selling and reaching readers is what publishing is all about. I think sometimes writers forget that and think that signing the publishing deal is the goal. No, alas, it's not. It's just the beginning.

There is a terrible word out there now that we all have to embrace as long as we aim to sell our books or anything else: branding. Any honest writer will tell you that in order to develop their readership, they have to endure the process, one way or another, of becoming a brand. That is really what I had wanted help with. What does that mean? How do you do it? And, my God, how much social media can one planet accommodate?
    Creating a brand for yourself is creating a persona. It is who you want the world to see. There are writers who reject this and say they won't take part. But that in itself is a way of creating a brand. As long as we write for others, we become visible to the public and open to their perceptions of who we are. Actually, whether we write or not, we all do that. The thought of it can be rather distasteful, but I've used the necessity of it to look at who I am now as a writer, where I am now in my career, and what I want my readers to see of me. That has led to changing some things and keeping others the same.
    Will I change the denim jacket I wear in my head shots to a Chanel suit? No. Will I neglect to change my photos for years with the outcome being I haven't aged in a while? Well, yes -- but some of that is about money and laziness as well as a need to remain youthful, if not actually young. Will I change the tone and substance of my blog? I'm not aware of having done that too much over these past four years, but I may have and not been aware of it.
    But the tone and substance of my writing has changed, to be sure. My subject matter has broadened and absorbed me into it. And it's time for me to reflect that in my brand. And so, ladies and gentlemen, I unveil to you today my new website. The url is the same, but the look is different, the tone is different, the purpose is different. Take a look, please. What do you  think? (Ps: In case you think there are mistakes or something missing, there are some changes still to be made, but I got tired of waiting to tell you about it.)
    The PR company called Authoright helped me create this. And they also showed me how the purpose of the website had needed to change. In today's market an author's site should be fairly static and showcase their collection of work. The website is very important. It is your primary on-line presence, your business card, of sorts. But get this:  when it comes to interacting, updating and propagating new information, it's more effective to do so through the Facebook Page. Facebook has become the most efficient way to "meet" your readers and encourage them to stay connected with you as an author, and thereby, remember you when a new book gets launched. And so, I am dutifully directing people to my Facebook author page -- which is different from my personal page -- and trying hard to keep it updated as regularly as possible.

Whether all this actually leads to an increase in sales, I don't know. Actually, my appearance on Radio 4's Excess Baggage the other week only seemed to produce a sale of one book, so far. But I suppose this is all a sort of investment in the future. The more I write, the more people will remember my name and be interested in what I write. But of course, that means I have to keep finding the time to write, which is, indeed, another story. Don't get me started on that one....

Times are indeed changing, my friends. Whether we like it or not. Tweet Tweet. 

Christmas is Cancelled

Don't worry, this post has nothing to do with the economy or any of the other cataclysmic horrors we all seem to see looming ahead. No, this is about a new song and a mother taking the time to boast shamelessly about her son.

Number 2 son is at university, and in addition to doing all the things all uni students do (which, happily, does also seem to be quite a bit of studying), he play bass guitar in a fantastic Motown/Funk band called "The Nostalgics." (Yes, he's the serious, soulful one in the back). They've become the dance band on campus, and this past weekend they played before over a thousand people at a venue hired out by a group of their college's residential houses to hold their year-end party. Yes, that's right -- over a 1,000! The mind boggles.

But they have also written and recorded a brand new Christmas carol which I now invite you to listen to. Be forewarned -- get your dancing shoes out:

Buying and Selling

On Sunday, 4 December at 7.30 pm, I'll  be a featured poet at the Torriano Poetry Series, held at the Torriano Meeting House, 99 Torriano Avenue , London NW5. My fellow Ward Wood poet, Peter Phillips, will be joining me and reading from his wonderfully poignant and often humorous collection, No School Tie. I'm quite excited about this reading. The Torriano Series is one I have heard about for years and years. It's run by Hearing Eye, an independent poetry press that's been publishing since 1987. Many of my favourite British poets have read there, and I'm thrilled to now be added to their list. If Kentish Town is local to where you are likely to be hanging out on Sunday evening, do come by. There will be an open mic as well and lots of opportunity to do some Christmas shopping for those poetry lovers in your life.

And speaking of Christmas shopping, I'm in the process of compiling my own list of suggested books for this year, something I haven't done before. Surprising how difficult it is to pick and choose. But while I'm still noodling over this, let me point you in the direction of the great deal Ward Wood have just started. Poetry, novels, novellas of all sorts and stripes, all by some of the most talented and creative writers around (if I do say so myself). And to make it even better, Ward Wood is contributing a portion of each sale to charity. What could  be better?

SPECIAL FESTIVE BOOK OFFERS

FROM WARD WOOD PUBLISHING

For each purchase we donate £3 to charity

It’s the season for remembering friends and family with gifts, and if you’re giving the gift of books we have some tempting discounts.

 £3 will be donated to two London Cold Weather Shelters for the homeless with each purchase.

You can choose a single poetry collection or a novel by any of our authors, together with the prizewinning short poetry collection by Caroline Squire which won the first Lumen/Camden Poetry Competition in aid of the homeless – An Apple Tree Spouts Philosophy.

The brand new Bedford Square 5 anthology of fiction and poetry from the MA in creative writing led by Andrew Motion and Jo Shapcott is also part of this offer.

 Both books will cost just £8.99 (poetry) or £9.99 (fiction/anthology) in the UK (£10.49 for poetry or £11.99 for fiction to other countries) and we’ll pass £3 to the Cold Weather Shelters. The prices include postage.

The brand new Bedford Square 5 anthology of fiction and poetry from the MA in creative writing led by Andrew Motion and Jo Shapcott is also part of this offer.

If you’d rather have three books, then you can choose any two from our list and we’ll add in the prizewinning book from Caroline Squire and donate £3 to charity. This offer is £15.99 in the UK £17.99 to other countries.

We think it’s an offer that’s hard to beat, with prices as tempting as we can make them to help you with your gift shopping list.

The international Camden/Lumen Poetry Competition judged by Carol Ann Duffy with publication of a 20-page short collection as the prize is now open again. Your short collection could be part of our seasonal offers at this time next year, and all entry fees (£2.50 per poem or £10 for 6) will go to the Cold Weather Shelters charity at a time of year when they need support. Details of the offers and the competition are on our website www.wardwoodpublishing.co.uk