Deadlines

My review of Carol Manley’s brilliant Church Booty is now up at The Short Review.

And a month after subbing to 10 agents, I have five responses: two form rejections and three requests to read the full MS once it’s finished. Obviously this may not lead anywhere, all three agents may say thank but no thanks. But it is the best boost I could have hoped for. I made it through three slush piles. Three people who don’t know me and owe me nothing more than a polite brush-off would like to read more.

So now the clock is ticking. I’ve promised a complete MS by August. No excuses. Eight and a half chapters of the rewrite. Half of a third draft. A final swift sweep through to pick up the rest. I am giddy with words. Double vision. I have second, third and fourth drafts crawling through my head every time I close my eyes.  It’s a high and a sickness. The game is afoot.

Big wide world

Today I spent far too much on stationery and far too long queuing at the post office in order to send the first three chapters (or 10 pages or 30 pages or 7,500 words) of the novel off to agents. Strange exhilaration of actually doing something, of getting myself out there after so long writing in the dark. That’s what I miss about writing short stories – not just the joy of working with something you can slice and dice without feeling you’ve just knocked through a supporting wall – but also the regular subbing. I was never amazingly prolific, but I usually had half a dozen things out there at a time, and I did love that feeling of my words being out there, maybe even being read right now; anything could happen in the next half hour.

So that’s where we are again. Anything could happen in the next half hour. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous – what’s worse; failure or success? Should I wait til I’m right at the end of the rewrite before subbing? Until I’ve revised the rewrite? Maybe with another rewrite for good luck? Thing is, I could spend a lifetime on this book. After five years it still fascinates me; my timelines stretch back to grandparents at the moment, but what happened before them, before that?… And maybe that wouldn’t be a bad way to spend a life, but I have other books waiting to get out; I think this novel is good enough, that it has legs. But what if it doesn’t? Feels like it’s time to find out.

Political animal – apparently

Last week I was at the Writers’ Inc awards evening at the Barbican Centre. It was a warm but poignant affair. Writing is such a solitary sentence that it is always good to find a sense of camaraderie for others in the same boat; how sad, then, that 15 years of giving a voice to new and emerging writers, Writers Inc has lost its Arts Council funding and is having to close. This was its wake. There were some great readings from several poets associated with the organisation, as well as the winners of the latest competition. My story “Talking to Strangers in Bars” had made the short list and Mario Petrucci was generous enough to give a mention of each of the short-listed stories and a few lines to say what he and the other judges found special about each of them. He described “Talking to Strangers” as being unashamedly political – a great compliment and possibly the last word I’d have used to describe that story.
At first I wasn’t sure what to make of this; I felt both flattered and indignant. Was it political simply because of the Cold War setting? The main character’s Polish background? What else made it political – it’s hardly the West Wing or even Westminster after all. I talked to Mario afterwards to thank him and mentioned that I had never thought of this story as political. Oh, but it is, he assured me, deeply so: in the original sense of the word – polis, of the people.
I left feeling giddily happy and also oddly vulnerable. For someone else to see these things in something I have written is strange indeed.

Anyway, a great evening. I have already tweaked “Talking to Strangers” and sent it out again. Not subbing much at the moment but maybe this one will pick up interest somewhere. It’s a particular favourite of mine, one of the first times I ever got brave enough to write directly about families and the lives into which we’re all born. It also shares a lot of the same preoccupations with The Novel: the Polish element, notions of scrutiny and observation, betrayal and the possibility of redemption.

The Novel rewrite is also going surprisingly well and finally seems to have picked up a bit of much-needed momentum – amazing how much writing you can fit into a 45 minute nap when you have to. Have also been working on a short summary. Seeing as I still can’t answer the simple question “so what’s your book about”, this has been, ahem, challenging and also strangely satisfying; at under 200 words it feels more like a poem than a pitch. Who knows, at this rate I might be ready to send the beast out one day. One day’s beginning to look a lot more realistic than it used to…

Other worlds

The new edition of The Short Review is out today, with a review by me of “God Lives in St Petersberg” – cracking read – along with an interview with the author Tom Bissell. Marvellous stuff.

Long overdue catch-up

Not that I’m the most regular of posters but this is bad even by my standards. The reason for the long silence is six weeks old today and currently comatose on my knee with one sock off and one sock on. Still adjusting to motherhood but as well as being besotted with my beautiful daughter I can report that it has plenty to offer the writer. There’s nothing like the fragile sleep of an infant to spur the lacksadaisacal scribbler to get down and sort that chapter NOW – because if you miss this window and she wakes up then that could be your chance gone until who knows when… It makes you hungry for it, which I think is good. And the act of writing becomes more precious also: I am someone’s mother and I love that – but this means I have not given up on being me.

Anyway, motherhood aside, I have reached and bid farewell to the halfway mark in the rewrite of The Beast, which seemed to take forever and which feels very good indeed.

I’ve had another review published on Tania Hershman’s The Short Review. And my short Talking to Strangers in Bars made the shortlist for Writers Inc’s annual competition: no prizes but I do get to go to the awards evening at the Barbican in October, which looks a lot of fun.

And a happy New Year

As Christmas madness draws to an end, I finally get round to writing an update. Hope everyone had a splendid festive season and is enjoying the pristine (and extremely cold) new year.

Issue 2 of the marvellous The Short Review is now up – actually, it’s been up for a while and Issue 3 is due any day now… Issue 2 features a review by yours truly of Andrzej Stasiuk’s Tales of Galicia: if you haven’t read it then hunt it down, it’s an astonishing book.

My short story “The Sudden Awakening of Viktor Szabo”, published in the September 07 issue of Delivered, was voted third best story in that issue (out of 16) – very flattering (and the cheque was very welcome too!). Huge thanks to eveyone who took the time to vote for Viktor.

That’s all for the moment – here’s to a cracking 2008!

New publication.

My story “When the Lights Go Out” is published in the November/December issue of The New Writer, and very nice the magazine looks. This wasn’t the best thing. The best thing was coming home from a lousy office day to find a copy of the mag with my story together with a cheque and thinking “hey, maybe plan A might work after all…”

Now it’s November…

… where is this year going? I like November. Today is All Souls’ Day, the day of the dead: I’ve always been fond of this, it seem unusually democratic. Like all good little scorpios I shall spend the month running around being mysterious and fondly imagining that all the pretty fireworks are for me.  

The beast comes on apace: I reckon I’m about a third of the way through the new improved redraft. Muy exciting (forgetting for a moment that I happily imagined I might get the whole thing finished by the end of this year – ha!).

More excitingly, my Fiction Workhouse friend Tania Hershman has launched The Short Review, a website dedicated to reviewing short story collections. It’s an incredible achievement – from a good idea she’s made it happen, and it looks great. It also includes a review by me. Check it out…

What we have been up to

More than this website would suggest, which is a good thing.

We have been writing lots, faling in love with NYC all over again, driving around America (and being pulled over by the cops  for going too fast – no ticket, lovely chap), writing lots, starting a new crit group at City Lit run by Judith Bryan (which is GREAT), lots of writing, going to the Small Wonder Short Story Festival at Charleston and meeting friends from The Fiction Workhouse face to face. There’s also been a fair bit of writing. Strange how it never seems to be enough.

Seemed like a good idea at the time…

Hi and welcome to the site.  It’s a bit sketchy right now: am hoping that it will evolve into something useful to show what I’ve been up to writingwise, and also be pretty. Very important that it be pretty.  You can see a few of my most recent stories in the ‘writing’ section. There should also be some sort of ‘news’ section coming soon, just as soon as a I figure the technology.

 Enjoy

 l