Stand Upright and be cool*!

Moi with my vinyl copy (I'm old school!) of Stand Upright In A Cool Place when it arrived on Monday

Hubby and I had a belting night out last Saturday, we went to the ‘new’ Eric’s venue on Mathew St in Liverpool. I’m (of course) far too young to have frequented the original club and anyway I was stuck living in Chorley then (believe me I still have nightmares about that).
Eric’s has been open for a while but I just haven’t fancied any of the bands they’ve had on so far but when we heard Dodgy were on there we got our tickets pretty sharpish.
The boys played a wonderful set on Saturday, the great part being that people gave tracks from the new album ‘Stand Upright In A Cool Place’ as good – if not better – reception than the old stuff.
Happy days indeed, I really encourage everyone I’ve ever met in the world ever to check out ‘Stand Upright In A Cool Place’  because it’s a truly boss record. I’ve been listening to it a lot this week while I’ve been writing and I’ve had a creative week in that department.
A coincidence?
Erm, probably…
Anyway, you can check out the band’s most recent single (remember those?) on YouTube for nowt here

For more info on Dodgy here’s their website and you can order the album here

(* I’ve never been cool in my life but I live in hope)

Letting Go with Vic Watson

The delicious Vic Watson is a guest on my blog today, I hope you enjoy what she has to say.

Many traditionalists tend to think self-publishing is an easy route to go down but in my view it takes huge bravery to go it alone. Vic shares her path to e-publication with us.

Hi Cath,

Thanks for welcoming me on your blog today. Earlier this week, I released ‘Letting Go’, a collection of eight short stories written by me. I’m hoping within the next couple of months to release another collection. I’m working on those stories now.

‘Letting Go’ hasn’t been published in the conventional sense. It’s only available as an e-book at the moment, I don’t have an agent nor do I have a publisher. “How is this so?” I hear you ask. I self-published my collection. Some people think this isn’t a very good idea. The opinion that only losers or failures self publish is fairly common but the e-book and e-reader revolution means that self-publishing is actually seen as a great way to establish yourself as a writer. It’s acknowledged in the publishing world as a great way to build a fan base and increase recognition of you and your work. If you then approach an agent with impressive sales figures, you are proving yourself to be a valuable asset. If you can demonstrate an ability to make money, an agent will want a cut of that!

I like the idea of self-publishing my short stories because it gives me independence over my work. I don’t write in one particular genre at the moment and going through a traditional agent and publisher route often means you have to be “classified” in one genre or another. I haven’t quite found one genre I want to write in – maybe I never will – but at the moment, self-publishing allows me more freedom to experiment with genres, voices and topics. I see this as an opportunity to hone my craft, gather reviews, feedback and hopefully one or two people who enjoy my work.

What I also like about self-publishing is the control I have over the end product. I could have, in theory, designed my own cover. Luckily, I had the wonderful talents of Fiona Johnson to do that for me and she was kind enough to keep tweaking until I was completely satisfied with the cover. I know that going down a more traditional route means the cover, the marketing and the PR would be taken out of my control. I like that, for now, I get to know a little bit more about the publishing side of writing. Knowledge is always a good thing.

I’m not saying I would never approach an agent and hope to be published by a big publishing house but, for now, while I’m still finding my feet, I think this is ideal for me.

Thanks again for having me over to chat, Cath.

You can download ‘Letting Go’ via Amazon here

Read more of Vic’s work on her blog here

You can catch Vic at Goodreads and Twitter @vpeanuts

I’ve got a Story To Tell

Liverpool’s Pencil Trick Productions are launching a series of creative networking events called “Story To Tell” in the city throughout 2012.

Pencil Trick hopes that the meet ups will connect people who have ‘stories to tell’ with those who have the means to tell them, for example linking scriptwriters with directors and so on.

The next “Story To Tell” event will be held at Waterstones Liverpool ONE, 6 – 7.30pm on Thursday 22nd March 2012 and I’m chuffed to say I’m one of the speakers on the night.

Best selling crime author Sheila Quigley and myself will be concentrating on the role of the “Modern Writer”.
It’s FREE to get in and a grand way of meeting people

For details of future events, venues, guest speakers and how you can get involved head to:

www.Facebook.com/penciltrickproductions

City Talk 105.9 paper review + you are what you watch on Wire FM

It’s Tuesday tomorrow so I’ve got an early start with Mick Coyle on City Talk Breakfast at 7.20am on 105.9 in Liverpool then later at 9.20am. If you live outside the area you can hear us online as well.

Apparently what sort of telly show you prefer says a lot about your personality. For example if you’re a Mad Men fan then in theory you’re creative, intellectually curious and really quite clever.

If you enjoy Glee you’re more fun loving and if The Batchelor or Dancing On Ice float your boat then you love a happy ending.

We’ll see what Roy Basnett enjoys watching and find out what it says about him at 7.45am on Wire 107.2 FM or online here.

Get Published on Twitter!

The Insider Guide to How To Get Published is taking place in London today. For people who can’t make it – and that includes me – then all is not lost as panelist Carole Blake from the Blake Friedmann literary agency has tweeted hints and tips from herself and fellow participants using the #getpublished hash tag as they happen.

Just search #getpublished on Twitter and a long list of top advice awaits you.

I’ve been chosen to be a giver on World Book Night!

(L-R) Sleepyhead author Mark Billingham, myself, Pariah & The Helper author David Jackson (back) and John Connolly creator of the Charlie Parker books

It’s World Book Night (UK) on 23rd April and I’m made up to have just received an email informing me I’ve been chosen as a giver this year!

This means I’ll be picking up 48 copies of Mark Billingham’s Tom Thorne classic Sleepyhead to distribute to friends, neighbours and anyone else I bump into who looks like they would enjoy a good read!

The only writing rules you’ll ever need (apparently)

Read some samples of my writing on my website here

The four stages of writing…

Happy flipping Valentine’s Day

My hubby & I don’t ‘do’ Valentine’s Day, partly because it’s just an excuse for Hallmark to get more money out of us (bah humbug) but also because – call me a soppy old romantic if you wish – I reckon people should treat their other halves to niceness every day of the year.
This song is for people who find themselves in the land of singletonville at present – the magnificent Scott Walker who somehow always manages to sound impossibly romantic and disturbing at the very same time…

Boys don’t make passes at girls who wear glasses

I got my new glasses last week. Being a long time specs wearer, I always feel a frisson of excitement when I pick my new ones up (sad I know) as they’re very much a part of who I am – and there’s so many lovely styles these days.
I couldn’t help but think last week how much this viewpoint contrasts with my teenage years. I hated wearing glasses then, partly because they were those horrific NHS ones (not like the geek chic ones Morrissey wore).
My parents were careful with money when it came to dishing out any cash for face furniture so I had to have the free ones that looked crap.
As a result, I spent most of my teenage years with my glasses hidden away in my bag so really couldn’t see much of anything (I really am VERY short sighted) although to be fair to my folks I probably wouldn’t have worn a nice pair in public either.
Teenage paranoia does that to you.
Wearing glasses in your teens can be awful, made worse by the reaction of others – I went to an dreadful school, one of the teachers actually came out with the ‘Boys don’t make passes…’ line in the middle of a class at me once, even the bullies usually sniggering at the back thought the comment a bit on the strong side – and I longed to have contact lenses above anything else in the world.
How times change, though! I love my specs now, so much I rarely wear my contacts these days.
How’s that for irony?
Having said all that, the optician last week (when did they get so young, by the way?) came out with “we’ll have to talk about varifocals” on my next visit.
Gulp.
I’m starting to feel like a teenager again…