Congrats to HachetteUK's Tim Hely Hutchinson

Kudos and Congrats to Tim Hely Hutchinson, CEO of HachetteUK Need more people like him in corporate world. http://www.thebookseller.com/news/tim-hely-hutchinson-listed-among-2016s-leading-100-lgbt-executives-416981

Just listened to Lincoln Caplan, visiting law lecturer at Yale law school, talk about the future of the Supreme Court under Clinton or Trump presidency on Marty Moss Coane's Radio Times show on NPR. The current Robert's court is overwhelmingly favorable to corporations and moneyed interests. Something most of us know and dislike. Since Citizen's United case was decided, money is regarded by SCOTUS as free speech. Interestingly, Caplan states there should be a Constitutional Amendment to restrict SCOTUS appointments to 18 years, not life. I agree fully with that. No SCOTUS Justice should have a life time appointment. It's just wrong as well as undemocratic, given SCOTUS is political.

Interview with Sarah-Jane Stratford

I'm returning to guesting occasional interviews with authors.
I'm delighted to introduce Sarah-Jane Stratford who's written the novel Radio Girls about a powerful woman, Hilda Matheson, who helped establish BBC Radio in London.

Thanks for coming on the blog to answer a few questions, Sarah-Jane.

Thank you for inviting me.

RADIO GIRLS is set in London in the late 1920s and early 30s and explores Britain’s venerable BBC. As an American writer, what interested you in exploring something so quintessentially British?

I’m pretty attached to Britain, having gotten a Masters degree from York and grown up watching a lot of British comedy and reading British literature. I’m a history buff, and like my fictional character, Maisie, I like to be where history has lived a long time. But what whetted my appetite for this story was Hilda Matheson, whose own interests and influence are universal.

Also, good stories are good stories, no matter where they come from. I’m always drawn to stories of fearless women breaking down boundaries and seeking to create something, to speak their true voice. Ultimately this is a women’s story and a human story and where it took place was secondary to the draw of the characters and the story.

What made you decide to use an actual female BBC producer to explore the work ethos, bigotry and foibles of the period?
This whole venture would not have happened had I not stumbled upon Hilda Matheson’s name when I was doing research on women in journalism. So there you go, another reason to conduct regular research. Hilda was one of those gifts a writer always hopes to come across but you don’t expect to actually find. Of course, I could have invented her – that is what fiction is meant to do, I realize – but I love writing historical fiction that is grounded in real history. It’s a nice way to bring my two obsessions together. Or possibly it’s my means of assuaging my guilt about never completing my PhD. In any case, there I was, reading about Hilda, mouth hanging open, being more and more astonished that such a woman existed and was mine for the taking. The comedian Sandi Toksvig had cited Hilda in an article on women who ought to be more known and I was determined that was going to happen.

Right up to their last scene together, Maisie and she addressed each other by their last names even though they’d worked for some time together. Was that intentional?
What I love about this observation is that in fact it feels that way, but it’s not the case – they still address each other as “Miss Matheson” and “Miss Musgrave,” which would be standard for the times and women of two different ages who weren’t related. But I’m delighted that the mutual respect and friendship comes through, even with the formality. In fact, there’s only one instance where Hilda uses Maisie’s first name and it’s a moment of high emotion, a rare moment when Hilda forgets herself because she’s overwhelmed. And what’s overwhelmed her is the information that the Equal Franchise Act is being passed, guaranteeing universal suffrage. This was one of my favorite sequences to write, because there was a lot of history to think about. So many women who had worked for this and never got to see it – never even got to see the suffrage granted to a select group of women in 1918. Hilda, a staunch progressive, must have savored this moment. It was exhilarating to write her emotion here and, hopefully, convey the weight of the history behind it.

I’ve read you’re keen to see an historical blue plaque erected at her former home to acknowledge her life and work. How’s that going?
We shall see! “Onwards and upwards,” as I have Hilda say. She only finally got her own Wikipedia page! And it doesn’t mention Radio Girls, not that I noticed (*cough*). I’m really hoping that as people get to know about her, they’ll only want to know more. Because really, how could it be otherwise? She was extraordinary – and revolutionary.

Beanie’s a thoroughly aristocratic English character who’s clever, witty and great fun. One can easily see she was a bit of a rebel at her school. But she realizes she must put duty to family before her work? How did you set about developing her so beautifully as a memorable secondary character?
Thank you! She certainly was a fun character to write. I love characters who have no filter and just speak their mind. And while I always want minor characters to be fully realized themselves, it was particularly paramount in this story that all the women be in full voice. I wanted to represent someone like Beanie, who would be in a way more radical than some of the other women in going out to work, because while her comforts were greater, she still had a great many conflicts to contend with and her class privilege in many ways curtailed her personal freedom.

You lived for a time in London? How did that help your research affect the novel’s voice?
I’m generally of the mind that you don’t have to visit a place to set a work there because again, so long as you are writing truthfully about humans, you’re being authentic. Obviously, it depends, but I never think it’s wholly necessary. That said, having spent time in London and especially walking down Hilda’s street and through the BBC’s original home definitely helped me step into Maisie’s shoes and, hopefully, make her wanderings that much more real. Beyond the physical space, though, it was the research into the programming and day-to-day life of the BBC and the people who comprised it that really brought the book to life. I was extremely fortunate in that Hilda was a prolific letter writer and wrote to Vita Sackville-West constantly during their 2-year relationship (who says long-distance relationships don’t have advantages?) and that the letters are housed in the Bienecke Library at Yale, so I was able to access them with ease and get a strong sense of Hilda’s voice and inner life. Mostly, though, it was thinking about the characters and their world that made it all real.

What inspired you to become a writer?
Hm. Insanity?

What’s next for you?
I’m in that myopic stage of feeling my way into my next book. Also, I’m available for work. At quite reasonable rates. Sometimes just for food.

You can find out more about Sarah-Jane here

Interview with Sarah-Jane Stratford

I'm returning to guesting occasional interviews with authors.
I'm delighted to introduce Sarah-Jane Stratford who's written the novel Radio Girls about a powerful woman, Hilda Matheson, who helped establish BBC Radio in London.

Thanks for coming on the blog to answer a few questions, Sarah-Jane.

Thank you for inviting me.

RADIO GIRLS is set in London in the late 1920s and early 30s and explores Britain’s venerable BBC. As an American writer, what interested you in exploring something so quintessentially British?

I’m pretty attached to Britain, having gotten a Masters degree from York and grown up watching a lot of British comedy and reading British literature. I’m a history buff, and like my fictional character, Maisie, I like to be where history has lived a long time. But what whetted my appetite for this story was Hilda Matheson, whose own interests and influence are universal.

Also, good stories are good stories, no matter where they come from. I’m always drawn to stories of fearless women breaking down boundaries and seeking to create something, to speak their true voice. Ultimately this is a women’s story and a human story and where it took place was secondary to the draw of the characters and the story.

What made you decide to use an actual female BBC producer to explore the work ethos, bigotry and foibles of the period?
This whole venture would not have happened had I not stumbled upon Hilda Matheson’s name when I was doing research on women in journalism. So there you go, another reason to conduct regular research. Hilda was one of those gifts a writer always hopes to come across but you don’t expect to actually find. Of course, I could have invented her – that is what fiction is meant to do, I realize – but I love writing historical fiction that is grounded in real history. It’s a nice way to bring my two obsessions together. Or possibly it’s my means of assuaging my guilt about never completing my PhD. In any case, there I was, reading about Hilda, mouth hanging open, being more and more astonished that such a woman existed and was mine for the taking. The comedian Sandi Toksvig had cited Hilda in an article on women who ought to be more known and I was determined that was going to happen.

Right up to their last scene together, Maisie and she addressed each other by their last names even though they’d worked for some time together. Was that intentional?
What I love about this observation is that in fact it feels that way, but it’s not the case – they still address each other as “Miss Matheson” and “Miss Musgrave,” which would be standard for the times and women of two different ages who weren’t related. But I’m delighted that the mutual respect and friendship comes through, even with the formality. In fact, there’s only one instance where Hilda uses Maisie’s first name and it’s a moment of high emotion, a rare moment when Hilda forgets herself because she’s overwhelmed. And what’s overwhelmed her is the information that the Equal Franchise Act is being passed, guaranteeing universal suffrage. This was one of my favorite sequences to write, because there was a lot of history to think about. So many women who had worked for this and never got to see it – never even got to see the suffrage granted to a select group of women in 1918. Hilda, a staunch progressive, must have savored this moment. It was exhilarating to write her emotion here and, hopefully, convey the weight of the history behind it.

I’ve read you’re keen to see an historical blue plaque erected at her former home to acknowledge her life and work. How’s that going?
We shall see! “Onwards and upwards,” as I have Hilda say. She only finally got her own Wikipedia page! And it doesn’t mention Radio Girls, not that I noticed (*cough*). I’m really hoping that as people get to know about her, they’ll only want to know more. Because really, how could it be otherwise? She was extraordinary – and revolutionary.

Beanie’s a thoroughly aristocratic English character who’s clever, witty and great fun. One can easily see she was a bit of a rebel at her school. But she realizes she must put duty to family before her work? How did you set about developing her so beautifully as a memorable secondary character?
Thank you! She certainly was a fun character to write. I love characters who have no filter and just speak their mind. And while I always want minor characters to be fully realized themselves, it was particularly paramount in this story that all the women be in full voice. I wanted to represent someone like Beanie, who would be in a way more radical than some of the other women in going out to work, because while her comforts were greater, she still had a great many conflicts to contend with and her class privilege in many ways curtailed her personal freedom.

You lived for a time in London? How did that help your research affect the novel’s voice?
I’m generally of the mind that you don’t have to visit a place to set a work there because again, so long as you are writing truthfully about humans, you’re being authentic. Obviously, it depends, but I never think it’s wholly necessary. That said, having spent time in London and especially walking down Hilda’s street and through the BBC’s original home definitely helped me step into Maisie’s shoes and, hopefully, make her wanderings that much more real. Beyond the physical space, though, it was the research into the programming and day-to-day life of the BBC and the people who comprised it that really brought the book to life. I was extremely fortunate in that Hilda was a prolific letter writer and wrote to Vita Sackville-West constantly during their 2-year relationship (who says long-distance relationships don’t have advantages?) and that the letters are housed in the Bienecke Library at Yale, so I was able to access them with ease and get a strong sense of Hilda’s voice and inner life. Mostly, though, it was thinking about the characters and their world that made it all real.

What inspired you to become a writer?
Hm. Insanity?

What’s next for you?
I’m in that myopic stage of feeling my way into my next book. Also, I’m available for work. At quite reasonable rates. Sometimes just for food.

You can find out more about Sarah-Jane here

Constructing a new website

Busy developing a website and finding it exhausting and difficult. However, surprisingly satisfying when I manage to do things and see it in 'Preview mode.'

Exciting Development

I will be reactivating this blog and am in the process of updating the information. Several years ago, I joined Facebook and Twitter and it was easier to post my goings on. However, new opportunities have arisen that compliment my writing career which I will announce next week. Stay tuned.

Updated via Twitter

I've added a Twitter widget and this blog will be updated only by live twitter feeds. Occasionally I'll add a post in the form of film or book reviews or something that moves me. But the era of blogging has passed and I much prefer Twitter and its 140 characters. Concentrates the mind.

Guest on Caroline Smailes Blog

Novelist Caroline Smailes invited me to do a guest spot on her blog so I wrote about the challenges of writing a screenplay out of a novel. Here's the link

YA and this adult reader

Just finished reading The Hunger Games. I loved it. And that's saying something because YA is not something I read. I couldn't even get past page 20 of the first Harry Potter but did watch the movies. I think The Hunger Games appealed because it's lean and focused in that it gets to the main conflict quickly and doesn't lose track throughout the narrative. It also helps that the characters are relateable and the plot's set in the real world, albeit that it's in the future and has some futuristic qualities. I think that's why it's appealing to a wide audience that includes adults.

Good story that's suspenseful. Good characters.

Looking forward to tucking into Book 2.

North London Book Group

Just did a great interview with the above book group. I love great interviews like this.

Here's the link

I'm a guest on Strictly Writing Blog

I was invited by Gillian McDade (we're both from Northern Ireland) of the excellent Strictly Writing Blog to be a guest so I wrote a piece for it.

It's about writing a second novel after all the hoop-la of getting published settles down.

Here's the post.

Author Patricia Wood's comment on my new novel

Twisted Agendas has been published recently in UK and Ireland and it's going really well. I had a great interview on BBC Radio Ulster's Arts Extra. Marie Louise Muir posed some tough questions about my work that kept me on my toes.

Very excited because of this gorgeous praise from Patricia Wood whose novel Lottery was shortlisted for UK's Orange Broadband prize.

Here's what she says.

In Twisted Agendas, Damian McNicholl has created a compelling and entertaining romp through other people's inter-tangled lives. All Danny wants to do is strike out on his own in London but from the very moment his path crosses with Piper's nothing is what it seems. From terrorists to lovers to meddling fathers, Damian deftly weaves comic misunderstandings with a larger more ominous theme of authority going slightly mad. Once I started reading I could not put Twisted Agendas down for a moment until I reached the satisfying conclusion. This is a novel that book clubs will certainly want to read and discuss."

Chopping Wood and return of Hornet

A tree feel near our house last week as a result of the violent storms we've been having of late. I was up in the office and heard it crash on the ground.
So, when a tree falls in the forest--yes, it can be heard, Virginia.

Spent yesterday and today cutting it and chopping it into pieces for firewood. It felt really good to do that kind of exercise as opposed to working my ass off on an elliptical at the Y.

On the subject of the Y, it's looking brilliant as a result of its multi-million dollar facelift. My old nemesis, the Hornet, continues to ride rough shod and hog the latest equipment. She's working out too hard now and is looking like one of Tom Wolfe's Social X-Rays. Still as rude as ever. As I just finished a 50 min session on fat burner mode (yes, 50 mins) on my (and her) favorite elliptical, she approached as I was wiping down the machine. She got on, opened her magazine without even a thank you and then said "The floor has a lot of your sweat on it, too." She peered down at it bug-eyed.

I looked at it, looked at her, looked at it again. "Keep your voice down," I said. "The others'll be jealous if they find out." And off I walked to the hoots of laughter of a lady nearby.

Sucking Up Yellow Jackets

Jeanne Denault is in my writers group, The Rebel Writers of Bucks County.

Her memoir Sucking Up Yellow Jackets has just released from O-Books and it's a funny, witty and sometimes poignant account of her raising a son with Aspergers Syndrome.

From climbing out of his cot within a few months of his birth to climbing a telephone wire hand over hand high above their terraced home in Philadelphia and then, as a teenager, dismantling a motor cycle simply because his mother demanded he had to get rid of it and he took that to mean literally, Jeanne depicts in precise, wry prose what it was like to bring up this super intelligent child at a time when Asperger's wasn't even understood by the medical community. She thought she was going mad or had spawned the devil's child.

Jeanne and her family moved around the states while Max was growing up--Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Illinois where Jeanne's attempts to fit in among the 'meat and potatoes' women of the area drew their scorn when she made a gourmet dish featuring a mild curry sauce for a block party and incited their wrath. The family relocated to Pennsylvania again after Max had a few run-ins with the local police and judges. His teachers, some of his counselors and even her husband blamed her for some of his excesses.

A fast, dazzling and very enjoyable read.

Goings on

I really haven't blogged for a while. Has blogging become an oxymoron?
I used to read blogs and now seldom do. Why? I don't have the time and so many blogs are rubbish.

Besides, I do 140 character updates on Twitter that uploads automatically to my Facebook and blog.

And any time I do have should be spent on writing related to my fiction.

Anyway, the good news is I just finished a short story which I sent off to Booktrust in the UK who run a short story competition in conjunction with the BBC. I'm sure there will be tons of entries and chances are very slim, but if you're not in you can't win. In any event, it got me writing fiction again which is important.

I've been working very hard on the screenplay of a Son Called Gabriel

And meanwhile my UK publisher is wanting to move on my second novel--which is great but will require more work.

Shouldn't complain. I'm not. Good to be busy.

And on top of that, I've just read that Primeminster David Cameron has apologized for the massacre on Bloody Sunday in 1972 in Derry. That is the proper thing to do. My Mum and Dad were at that march and my Mum returned with her knees all bloodied. She'd crawled along the streets as the bullets flew over her head. We kids were terrified when we saw her. You never think of your Mum and Dad being a passionate civil rights marcher

Rereading one's work

Started rereading the new novel Twisted Agendas again and have decided I need to make some changes.

Was terrified it would suck as some of one's work does depending on one's mood.
On that point, I do wish some published writers would take their time and not churn out books. Some are really badly written and edited. Instead of building an audience, they're losing readers.

Am happy to report my novel reads pretty good. At least it dos to me, though I think I'm going to rewrite from a different point of view. Also just finished reading a book on writing techniques and feel inspired. We'll see.

About publishing

I'm about to start edits on my new novel Twisted Agendas, which my publisher in UK seems interested to acquire.

Now with iPad, Kindle and Sony and B&N readers, I'm wondering if I should self-publish as so many people seem to be doing these days. Publishers seem to make all the money in deals with writers and only a few of their authors breakout and make real money.

Gone or going are the days when self-publishing has been regarded as the step-sister of legitimate publishing. And James Joyce and a host of others self-published.

Changes are definitely coming with the advent and gaining popularity of e-books.

I guess I'll mull some more---

The trouble with plot is plotting

Recently my writer's group had a discussion about plotting; how arduous it is, how vital, how long-winded, how boring....did I say vital?
Some people just start a novel and write.
Others plot and outline.
Others never start.

Anyway, read what one of our member's blog about it. Marie is the author of a brilliant YA novel, What I Meant..., which we had the privilege of reading and critiquing until she sold it.

Here's Marie's post:

Just a reminder...

Although I don't blog on here as much or as long as I used to (need to spend my energy on writing that pays the bills, right?), I do Twitter and my tweets appear on my sidebar. That's on the right.

I do rather like Tweets. Everything's got to be said in 140 characters.

Vegetables, vegetables, vegetables

We made a sort of New Year resolution to cook 85% vegetarian to see how it goes. HAd tried the Fire Engine 2 diet which had a few great recipes. However, it was too restrictive in that food couldn't be cooked even in Olive oil.

So we decided to experiment, look around and find some great veggie recipes. And we found some including fragrant Indian and Thai dishes and a brilliant recipe for White Bean burgers.

So it's still on tract. Last time we tried wholly vegetarian we gave up dairy and now almost never have it. Sometimes a bit of cheese, but that's it.

Hardest thing so far is the wine--we've given it up for a few weeks. Let's face it nobody's ever going to lose weight and drink wine. It's sugar and it ain't happening.
No matter how you try to tell yourself you can still do it--it ain't happening.

First week without I had a headache. Now I just miss it.