Dear Friends of TLC,
 

5 Rooms Left: Literary Adventure 2019 with Booker-shortlisted Romesh Gunesekera  

“The week at Casa Ana was unforgettable. The teaching sessions were thought-provoking and beautifully prepared. The setting was exquisite and the accommodation very comfortable. The company was delightful. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is serious about reading and writing literature or memoir.” - 2018 Literary Adventure participant 

“The world being what it is I write to redress the balance, at least in my own mind. I want to keep an inner life alive and, with luck, somebody else’s too. Imaginative writing, to me, is a way of discovering who we are, and what we have to contend with; discovering what is out there, and also what is not there. It enables me to think and explore and make something new with language, while trying to make sense of our lives.” - Romesh Gunesekera, 2019 TLC Literary Adventure tutor

There are just five rooms left at our popular writing retreat, TLC Literary Adventure, running at the beautiful Casa Ana (Spain) September 7th-13th 2019. Our 2019 tutor is the critically acclaimed, Man Booker-shortlisted novelist, Romesh Gunesekera.

Literary Adventures take place within the mesmerising Alpujarras mountain range in Andalucia, Spain, at a private house used exclusively for the week by TLC. You will have access to world-class teaching, get a chance to work, read, listen, learn and relax in a stunning setting which will open the mind and senses. The retreat is open to writers of fiction (novels or short stories), memoir and creative non-fiction, and will include morning workshops on elements of writing as well as a session on the publishing industry, plenty of free writing time, readings with your fellow writers, and optional trips to a nearby village with local hand-made artisanal products. All breakfasts, lunches, two chef-cooked three course evening meals using the finest seasonal and local ingredients, and your accommodation are included in the ticket price, with rooms starting at just £795 for the full week.

All details including pricing and booking here. To book, please email aki@literaryconsultancy.co.uk indicating your room preference. A £100 deposit reserves your room booking.

Save the Date: Writers' Day 2019

Our popular and annually sold-out summer event is back due to popular demand! 

TLC Writers’ Day returns on Saturday June 22nd 2019, 10am-4pm, at the Free Word Centre.

Writers will hear from industry experts offering up the best in thinking for writing across all environments. A must-attend for the aspiring writer. Writers’ Day will also see the return of the popular TLC Pen Factor Writing Competition. Now in its seventh year, selected finalists of the competition will live-pitch to an expert panel of agents and publishers at the event. Previous winners include Guinevere Glasfurd (The Words In My Hand, shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award). 

Previous Writers’ Day guests include: Juliet Mushens (literary agent, Caskie Mushens), Max Porter (publisher, Granta Books), Valerie Brandes (publisher, Jacaranda), Piers Blofeld (literary agent, Sheil Land), Gautam Malkani (Londonstani, Fourth Estate), Scott Pack (editor, Unbound), Julia Kingsford (literary agent, The Good Agency), Guy Gunaratne (Man Booker longlisted for In Our Mad and Furious City) and Jacob Ross (winner of the inaugural Jhalak Prize with The Bone Readers).

You can read a write-up of last year’s Writers’ Day here and browse our gallery of photos here

Full programme and booking details available soon, please keep an eye on our Events page 

On Pitching Your Writing, by Jools Abrams

"Believe in the heart of your story. Write your pitch down, read it out.  Read the book blurbs in novels of a similar genre to your own, look at film tag lines, Goodreads, Amazon, booksellers’ descriptions and reviews. Practice, and practice again, and if you’re not sure, practice some more. When you come to the pitch, be comfortable and remember to breathe."

Pitching your work can be nerve-wracking, but it's an important skill, as it mimics the pitching that literary agents make to publishers, publishers to sales and marketing, sales and marketing to publicity to bookshops, bookshops to readers... The discipline of distilling your story into a short easy-to-remember pitch can also come in handy when writing, as a touchstone to return to as you draft and re-draft. In our January blog, writer Jools Abrams shares what she learned at a TLC industry day, about pitching, including her practical take-home tips for all writers.

You can read the full blog here. Read more about Chapter and Verse and our industry day here

Do you have something on your mind, about books, literature and the value of literature, or publishing, that you'd like to blog about for us? We are actively seeking pitches to: aki@literaryconsultancy.co.uk

BOOKING NOW OPEN: The Secret Life of Novels Part II

Following the huge success of the inaugural Secret Life of Novels event in November as part of Free Word Centre's 'This is Private' events season, the series will return on March 6th 2019 6.30-8.30pm, with three very special guest writers: Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott, Michael Donkor, and Nell Stevens. The theme of the evening is books drawn from life, with our guests taking inspiration for their creative work from a range of topics, including the life of Truman Capote, the legacy of slavery, and the relationship between writers and the writing process through a blend of memoir and short story.

You can view a gallery of photos from our first Secret Life of event here, featuring Wyl Menmuir, Amer Anwar, and Fiona Melrose.

Booking is now open here with tickets costing just £16/£12 concessions. 

TLC Showcase: Jill MacLean

"I sent the manuscript to TLC because after working on it for four years I was too close to it to judge where the momentum sagged and whether certain aspects of the writing were working. My report from Michael Langan was specific, astute and generous, and now I’m back to revising, convinced that if I can follow his suggestions I’ll end up with a better novel." 

We are delighted to showcase the work of TLC Talent Jill MacLean this month, with an extract from her manuscript The Seeker of Mercy, an historical fiction set in the medieval period, following an illiterate archer, Edmund, as he makes a homecoming after a bloody journey with many deaths along the way. But home is not safe; a plague has afflicted his village, and secrets fester here.

“Priest and wise-woman have left him alone with a man whose brothers are afeard to come near him and whose heriot, should he die, will be a five-toed cockerel. At dusk Edmund hustles cock and hens into the coop, fills buckets in the river and, after lighting one of Nell’s tallow candles, eats the bread and cheese in his pouch. Flame and faggot natter in the hearth. Dark patches now stain the skin on Ezekiel’s chest; when Edmund tries to make him drink, his tongue is blackened and his breath vile. He groans and cries out, sometimes gabbling words that make no sense, and though the evening is cool, he is on fire with fever.” 

You can read the full extract, and more about Jill's writing, in the January Showcase.

Recommendations and Inspiration

Pssst! TLC is looking for an Editorial and Marketing Services Assistant. You can find, and share, the job ad here. Deadline 9am 11th February.