Santa’s Best Pressie

This time last year, I blogged that all I wanted for Christmas was a big enough ego to call myself a writer. I must’ve been a good girl as the big man in the red suit with the white beard delivered and I’ve come a long way in my writing journey.

At the start of 2012, I had never been published and felt too shy to use the title ‘writer’ to describe myself. I felt that I needed an external endorsement to validate the claim and I got it in the form of several of my flash fiction pieces and short stories being published online, in anthologies and short listed in competitions. It’s not easy putting your work out there and I still have to work at fighting the self-doubt about how I’ll be judged based upon my writing. But like everything else in life, the more you do it, the easier it becomes.

Probably the most exciting high for me was hearing my story read out by a professional actress at the National Galleries of Scotland, ‘Inspired? Get Writing!’ event (there’s still time to enter this year’s competition deadline is 18/1/13). To hear words I’d written getting a laugh from the audience is a buzz I won’t forget in a hurry.  And it reminds me of one milestone that I still have to achieve, and that’s to read out my work in public. Of course, that requires me to keep submitting work which at the moment is pretty non-existent. But I’m hoping that 2013 will get me back on track with an ongoing submission schedule.

Completing my masters definitely gave me a huge boost and incentive to prove that I didn’t waste time and money on a writing qualification. It also provided me with an opportunity to take the time to find out who I am as a writer and where I want to go with my writing. And of course that would still be to fulfil the dream of a traditional publishing deal.

But it hasn’t all been success after success in 2012. The biggest and most painful blow was learning that having an agent doesn’t guarantee a book deal. To come close but not close enough hurts like hell.  But in the words of Kelly Clarkson, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger!” and the feedback I got from publishing editors will hopefully help to make my writing stronger.

Another kick in the teeth was a complete knock-back from the Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award. I knew the odds against getting anywhere with it were high but I was still praying that I would be one of the lucky ones (congratulations to my fellow MLitt student, Angela Hughes who made the shortlist-yeh!).

Chuffed to have my writing in Octavius, Causeway, Valve, New Voices Press & Paragram.

And of course throughout the year, there was a series of lesser “ouch” moments when submissions to literary journals and competition entries got nowhere.

But all in all, I can’t complain. I’m still on my agent’s books and I’ve got a MLitt to add to my name as well 6 pieces in a clutch of 5 mighty fine anthologies with my work featured.  So thank you Santa, I got what I asked for and more!

P.S. Dear Santa, if you’re reading this, Kelly Clarkson’s Greatest Hits CD would be much appreciated in case I need a reminder that, “What doesn’t kill you makes a fighter…” And I promise not to sing it out loud! Well, maybe just in my car when I’m driving alone…

Scottish Book Trust’s New Writers Award

“Fame hungry, attention seeking, shock tactics, who, moi?”

I’ve blogged before about the Scottish trait of finding it hard to blow your own trumpet and it definitely applies to me. It’s never easy trying to sell yourself at a job interview, and I’ve squirmed whilst watching desperadoes through my fingers during the auditions for the X Factor (did anybody see the woman  lap dancing for Louis in the fishnet body stocking last Sunday? So wrong on every level!). But it was my turn this week to try avoid clichés like, “I was born to write” and somehow convince the Scottish Book Trust (SBT) that I should be given a New Writers Award.

Cove Park overlooks Loch Long on Scotland’s beautiful west coast.

Every year, the SBT makes several awards to “individuals living in Scotland who are committed to developing their work as a writer. The winners will receive a £2000 cash award, allowing them to focus on their work, as well as a tailored package which can include mentoring from writers and industry professionals, training in Press and Public Relations (PR), Performance and the opportunity to showcase work to publishers and agents.

This year it will also include a week-long retreat at Cove Park. The retreat provides time, space and freedom to create new work and to find new ways of working in idyllic surroundings.”

All I had to do then was put together an application that stood out from the hundreds of others that the SBT receive each year.  This wasn’t an easy task. How could I prove my passion for writing? I began by rewinding my writing journey and listed my achievements to date.  At the start of 2012, I hadn’t been published at all so I’ve achieved my goal and been quite successful if I say so myself!

The artwork for the stunning cover was designed by Forevermore Tattoo Parlour in Glasgow.

My latest published story is featured in the debut edition of Octavius and it was a real thrill to see my wee flash fiction in the magazine. Sadly, I missed the launch date as it was the night before my house move (I didn’t think swanning off to Edinburgh and leaving hubby to deal with the last-minute packing would’ve gone down well).

I’m also waiting to see one of my more risqué short stories printed in Valve journal due out any day now and I’ve  just heard that another one of my flash fiction pieces will be published later in the year in Paragram anthology and a short story in the New Voices Press anthology is to be published by the Federation of Writers (Scotland). So all in all, I’m doing quite well with getting my work out there; in fact my bank of stories is pretty much empty. Time to get writing more while I wait for news of the award!

Of course, AFTER I submitted my application, I stumbled upon a blog post giving applicants advice from one of the panel members.  The part where she said, “Don’t: Include links to your blog, ebook etc. I will not read these. Ever”, made me cringe as I’d inserted a link to this blog on the naïve assumption that it would demonstrate my “personal challenge to blog every week or so and I have sustained this commitment by writing 47 blog posts amounting to 25k words on a wide range of writing related topics.” Hey ho, she won’t read this anyway! But on a more positive note, she did add, “the odds are much, much better than the Lottery.”

I know of lots of great new writers who haven’t made the shortlist so I’m not overly confident but you can’t knock me for trying. Did you apply this year? Have you received any grants or awards to help you develop your writing?

Write Now! @ Aye Write!

I’m not a ‘morning’ person (some would argue that I’m not an afternoon or night person either) so I am relieved that my uni classes are timetabled later in the day. A slow start suits me best (my family know to stay well back until at least 9am) but I’d registered for the Write Now! Conference so I found myself on a train into Glasgow yesterday and Friday, long before it was safe for me to be near people.

It was well worth the effort of getting out of bed early. The conference was held in the Mitchell Library and was part of the Aye Write! Book Festival. The days were packed with guest speakers and by the end of the closing remarks, my bum was numb but my brain was buzzing. The blurb said. “The event is aimed at early career writers (folk like me) and scholars of all sorts and to allow attendees to share their research and creative output but also to foster a community of writers and researchers.

Did it do what it said on the tin? Yes! I certainly got my money’s worth out of the two days. An added bonus was getting the opportunity to meet up with the lovely Anne Glennie, a fellow writer I’ve met via Twitter.

The opening session was called ‘Publish and be Damned?’ and looked at the impact of digital publication and social media on the publishing industry. Scary stuff was aired about the global domination of cultural barbarians, Amazon and Google but it wasn’t all doom and gloom. Independent publishers like Cargo and new literary magazines like Octavius mean that the Scottish publishing scene has never been more exciting.

The first day was a Skills Day and I opted to go to the http://www.WRITER session run by Cat Dean. Despite technical hitches, Cat did a great job introducing our group to the wonders of WordPress.com and helped me get this new website up and running.

Over lunch (I passed on the diced dried veg in dirty dishwater aka Scotch Broth and nibbled at the dullest sandwiches I’ve seen at a buffet since 1978), there were readings from creative writing students from Strathclyde University and the talent showcased was intimidatingly good! Watch out for names like Iain Ferguson, Craig Lamont, Mary McDonough and Bryony Stocker.

But the highlight of Day One for me was undoubtedly the keynote address by Christopher Brookmyre. The award winning writer inspired and entertained the audience with his frank and funny account of his writing career. I was heartened by the fact that he wrote four novels before being published so there’s hope for me yet!

I finished the day by attending William McIlvanney’s event at Aye Write! with my best friend Veronica. Wow! He was an engaging mix of humour and humility about his phenomenal talent.We were almost moved to tears when he read out snippets of his latest work. The man is a living legend in Scottish literature!

Day Two was a series of panel discussions. My favourite ones were’ What Happens when Elephants Teach Zoology?’  and ‘Teaching Creative Writing’ about the pros and cons of a creative teaching programme. The key thing that all of the speakers agreed on was that you can’t teach creativity but you can nurture confidence in writers.  The conference round-up was a great finale and threw up questions such as, is Scotland a vibrant creative culture or a provincial backwater for writers?

I left the Mitchell library hungry but full of confidence that Scotland’s literary scene is vibrant and ready to face the future.