Long shadows and cloud cities; WIN $50 of beautiful books; an unexpected offer

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Hello! Welcome to my newsletter for November/December 2020. In this issue:

Long shadows and cloud cities
Work in progress
An unexpected offer
Win $50 of books from Vine Leaves Press
Teaching in 2021
On the blog
A little horse

Long shadows and cloud cities

Our 28th wedding anniversary was the first day of the renewed lockdown in England. In a normal year we'd be on holiday, staying in a wintry place, reading lots of books, collecting strange experiences. This year, we condensed it to one day and took our walking boots to the Blackdown Hills in Sussex.

I swear I've seen that landscape before.

(What's Not Quite Lost? More here.)

Sunshine on one side of the hill, deep-piled clouds on the other. And in those clouds, if you looked very closely...

The spire of Midhurst transmitting station appeared as a floating city.

House keys, left on a post. How long have they been here? Can a key ring actually rust?

Wish we'd met them.

When we look back on 2020, it will either be the year we did masks, or the year we did masks for the first time. Let's hope it's the former.

However, I'm fond of this mask. First, obviously, because it has the little horse. Also, it's vintage 1970s silk from Persia. My friend Cathy Brett made it. She's an author, illustrator and printmaker. Her Etsy shop is full of beautiful things, including masks for as long as we need them. Look for GingerDoodlePrints.

Work in progress

Editing and mentoring... This month I've edited two medical magazines and a magazine for authors. Inkubator Press are lining up another psych thriller author for me to coach in the new year. I've been mentoring a creative writing teacher who is developing a historical novel based on a personal family story. And I've just had a really interesting email about a ghostwriting project that's right up my street...
A special mention... for the writer who contacted me about editing because his first crush was a Ruth Morris, who had a sister called Roz Morris, and he decided to google them, as you do. Instead of finding his Roz he found me. If nothing else, he sure knows how to break the ice. And I hope he'll tell me what happened to his original Roz.

Noveling... I'm working on a new novel, working title Four. Other projects have pushed it aside this month, but I've gathered some useful ideas and thrown them into the well.
(Why have I illustrated this with a pic of an album by Peter Gabriel? Explanation here.)

Ever Rest ... In September, I sent Ever Rest to literary agents. (What is Ever Rest? Find out here.) Three months on, I've had:

three polite nos
two full requests ('love the scope, love the pitch, send AT ONCE)
one regretful rejection (it's 'original and intriguing')
and a partridge in a pear tree a lot of magnificent silence

This is entirely what I expected. Time to move on.
But then...

An unexpected offer

Meanwhile, on my blog, I interviewed Jessica Bell about her publishing imprint Vine Leaves Press.

I've known Jessica for about as long as I've roamed the internet. She's a creative phenomenon with multiple careers (musician, writer, publisher, book cover designer). We've collaborated on various ventures, including a publishing course and limited edition box sets of our novels. I edited her memoir.

A few other important things we have in common.

So I interviewed her about Vine Leaves Press, which she set up in 2012 to publish vignette collections. Eight years on, she has an impressive list of poetry, memoir and character-driven novels with a literary bent, and smart authors who are making waves with work that is provocative, unconventional and original. Read the interview here.
As we chatted, I thought, Vine Leaves Press are my kind of people.
It turned out Jessica was thinking the same.
An email: 'I want you on my team!'
I replied: Funnily enough, I have a new novel that needs some friends...

So I've joined them. We are Jessica Bell (publisher), Amie McCracken (publishing director), Erika Bach (multimedia), Melissa Slayton (one of the editors), Melanie Faith (acquisitions).

Look who's also on the Vine Leaves acquisitions board. My friend Peter Snell, bookseller (now retired). I think I introduced him and Jessica, aeons ago. 'What took you so long?' he said.

My books are now in the VLP catalogue and Ever Rest will be a co-production. Here are some of their authors. Are they not cool? (There are actually 40 more but I couldn't fit them on. Meet them on this page.)

Here I am trying to keep up.

Win $50 of books from Vine Leaves Press

I'm so excited about this, I'm going to treat you. Have a mooch around the Vine Leaves authors and books. For every title you add to your Goodreads list, you'll get an entry into a prize draw for a US$50 Vine Leaves Press gift card.

You'll find a Goodreads button at the bottom of each book description on the site.
To enter, email me a screenshot of the book added to your list (like this example). Add as many as you fancy. The more entries, the more chances you have to win the gift card. Obvs. (You'll see my books too.)
I'll make the draw on 20th December.
Browse the Vine Leaves catalogue here.

Teaching in 2021

28 July I'll be reprising my back story course at Jane Friedman's webinar series. Also, we're planning another bigger course. Details TBC.

September I'll be teaching a month-long course in self-publishing to members of the Romantic Novelists' Association. (If you're a member, do say hello!) Non-members are also welcome. Book here.

On the blog

On my blog this month I had a post for anyone who's mired in a difficult writing job - The panic document: when you fear your book has a major flaw, how to diagnose what's really wrong. I also had the interview with Jessica Bell - From literary journal to 10 books a year - interview with Jessica Bell of Vine Leaves Press. And I did another spot on Litopia's Pop-Up Submissions - 5 more book openings critiqued by a literary agent ... and me!

I'm continuing to post the So You Want To Be A Writer radio show, which I made in 2014-2016 with Peter Snell. Find them on my blog here.

I'm also loading episodes on YouTube if you prefer to listen that way. Find them here.

A little horse

In an embattled year, this little horse has been a total joy. In March, when lockdown started, I was still rebuilding my confidence after an accident, helped by my instructor. Suddenly I had to continue without her. I found YouTube videos about classical dressage. It was exactly what we needed and soon Val and I were teaching each other. It has been the most rewarding riding I've ever done.
Now, a consequence of all that training: the saddle no longer fits. The saddler visited.

Saddle-fitting can be confusing for a horse. There's lots of stopping and starting, trying one and then another. We needed to find a saddle Val could move well in, but to determine that, he'd have to concentrate and relax - a lot to ask of an inexperienced horse. Also:

The saddler was watching from the corner (a Person In A Wrong Place, Staring Hard).
I had to ride without a rug so the saddler could see his movement (brrr, chilly).
My balance was completely different, because the saddles were cut for dressage.
The grinning saddler lengthened my stirrups by three inches, like a sadistic fitness instructor deciding to make you stretch in places that don't stretch.
Also, a sliding bottom - all saddlers coat the seat and panels with a glossy polish that looks lovely and removes all possible grip.

Val was patient and obliging throughout. One saddle passed the test. I felt that day we passed plenty more, as we have all year.

Our friends Jo and Michael in Somerset just sent this pic of the view from their window. Usually we'd be visiting them at this time of year. It always marks the turn towards Christmas. (You met Michael in an earlier newsletter - he makes sound installations and nature art. Sun-burnings and the birth of the universe.) Next year, I hope.
Right now, I am wondering how Dave and I can responsibly gather friends for new year. I have suggested a midnight walk in a beautiful place, perhaps with sparklers. Dave has pointed out that the places I regard as beautiful will be very dark.
Discussions continue. We will find a way. If 2020 has a theme, that's it.
Happy holidays, and let's all make a wish on this picture for the things we hope we'll do again soon.
See you in 2021
R xxx

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