Kerry Hudson Blog Tour

I'm delighted to welcome author, Kerry Hudson, to my blog today as she celebrates the launch of her debut novel, the fabulously titled, Tony Hogan Bought me an Ice Cream Float Before He Stole my Ma, which is the story of a Scottish childhood of filthy council flats and B&Bs, screeching women, feckless men, fags and booze and drugs, the dole queue and bread and marge sandwiches. It is also the story of an irresistible, irrepressible heroine, a dysfunctional family you can't help but adore, the absurdities of the eighties and the fierce bonds that tie people together no matter what.

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I read the novel over a couple of nights, and it's an absolute corker - funny, sad and a little bit sweary, with a truly memorable main character in Janie Ryan.  I'll post a full review next week.

                                                                                                       
In the meantime, Kerry's kindly answered some writerly questions, and there's a marvellous competition you might be interested in afterwards, so do carry on reading ...

Kerry, where did the idea for the novel come from?

I come from a long line of fishwives and fishermen and they were all big story-tellers so I grew up being told stories and automatically framing whatever was happening to me or the family in those 'story-telling' terms. When I was writing short stories in my mid-twenties I started writing few that reminded me of my Grandma's and Mum's stories and I thought it was maybe time to continue that tradition, I just did in on the page and not in the pub.

I love the Scottish dialect. How do you write it so it doesn’t overpower the reader?

I made a decision from the first draft that the dialect would only be used in dialogue and then sparingly with specific words where it would have the most impact without affecting the pace and rhythm of the text. I hope it means you get a real impression of the voices and the unique language of the Ryan's without having to untangle the full dialect.

Can you tell us about your journey to publication?

I've written about this fairly widely because I know it has always been one of the aspects I've been most curious about with other authors! I won a competition on a website called Red Bubble with a flash story which gave me  the confidence boost I needed to continue writing and try to place in literary magazines. A good few months down the line a literary agent heard about my competition win and said she'd read some of my stories and provide some feedback. I hurriedly pulled some stories together and in my covering letter I mentioned I thought they might make the basis for a novel. She wrote back to say that if I wrote the novel then she'd like to see it and so I took six months off work, went to Vietnam and wrote Tony Hogan.... On my return to the UK I sent it to the agent who signed me and then, about seven months later, I signed with Chatto and Windus. I'm aware (and dizzyingly grateful) that this is a very quick and smooth journey to publication – I really think so much of it is reaching the right person with the right book at exactly the right time.

Do you work with an outline or just start writing?

Usually I've been thinking about my next novel or story for a few months before I write a word (I'm mulling novel three at the moment) and then I write a double-sided A4 sheet with all major incidents of the novel. Beyond that I sit down to write the first draft and play a game see how I'm going to from one incident to the next. For me, this makes me feel I've a safe foundation to work from but still have freedom to explore possibilities. 

Do you have a ‘beginner’ novel stashed away in a drawer?

I don't no, Tony Hogan... was my first. I wrote short stories before that though so there's lots of those abominations stashed deep inside my hard-drive!

What’s a typical writing day for you?

I work full-time at the moment so there's not really a typical day – I just grab the hours when I can. At the moment that means getting up at 6.30 for an hour before work and then going to a cafe for a few hours after work. On the weekend I'll decamp myself to the Royal Festival Hall or British Library and write the for whole day with many, many tea and cake breaks. I always know what I need to do that day which is usually my daily 1000 words (more on the weekend days) and then additional things like writing admin, publicity things for Tony Hogan... some blogging etc.

What do you do when you’re not writing?

There isn't that much time between writing and work at the moment to be honest but I'm very protective of that little spare time as I'm well aware my mind and body might pack up if I don't give them some treats. Things I love and squeeze into this time are: food, reading, running, films, photography, Guinness and wandering the city with a coffee. I'm lucky to live in East London where if you have three hours spare you have all of the above in abundance on your doorstep. 

I know you’ve travelled a lot – how does it influence your writing?

Funnily enough, until writing my second novel Thirst (during which I received an Arts Council England grant to travel to Russia for research) I've never really incorporated my travels into my writing. It influences less directly I think in that when you're travelling you're so much more open and curious to everything around you. I also definitely do my best writing when I'm travelling because I'm away from all the noise of my life; travelling strips you right back as a person...there's just you and a bag and uncertainty and I think that's a really good starting point for writing.

What’s the best thing about being a writer?

The writing. It's a huge privilege to be able to write what we want to with total freedom.

Which authors do you admire?

Too many to mention but Janice Galloway, Jeanette Winterson, Roddy Doyle, Toni Morrison, Douglas Coupland, Anne Tyler, Truman Capote...do you have all day?

What’s your worst writing habit?

There were lots of 'lumps' of things in Tony Hogan...I mean a really ridiculous amount, I did a lot of lump removal during the edits. Oh, and imagining that somehow every day has 67 hours rather than 24 hours.

What’s the biggest myth about being a writer?

That it's a job reserved for a certain type of person. There are so many stories out there that should be told.

What are you working on now?

Mainly the epic Tony Hogan Blog Tour! But once that's over next up is a short film script in collaboration with the brilliant MoshBreakBoogie Productions who made the Tony Hogan trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DIoNwDIB_w ), then I'm adapting Tony Hogan into a play and I'm keen to start on novel number three. See what I mean about those 67 hour days?

What advice would you give aspiring authors?

The same thing I tell myself every day: work hard, be kind, be honest and keep at it.

It’s my theory that all writers love cake. What’s your favourite?

Your theory is absolutely correct – we need that sugar! My favourite is a coffee eclair (or two if no one's watching).

Thanks Kerry. I must try a coffee eclair. And a 67 hour week would be useful.

Now for that competition ...

This prize draw is open to anyone who hosts or comments on a Tony Hogan post. There is no purchase necessary. There is no limit to how many times a name can be entered i.e. if you comment on three blogs you have three entries but it's only possible to win one prize per person. The winning names will be drawn at random on Wednesday 1^st August and announced on Kerry's Tumblr blog and on Twitter.

1^st, 2^nd and 3rd prizes consist of:

1^st prize - A three chapter or synopsis critique plus afternoon tea at Beas of Bloomsbury, London (at a mutually beneficial date and time) with Juliet Pickering from the AP Watt Literary Agency to discuss your critique. Plus a personalised copy of Tony Hogan Bought Me an Ice-Cream Float Before he Stole My Ma.

2^nd prize - A  literary hamper containing a personalised copy of Tony Hogan Bought Me an Ice-Cream Float Before He Stole My Ma as well as three of my most recommended writing theory books and Hotel d Chocolate chocolates to enjoy while reading them.

3^rd prize - A personalised copy of Tony Hogan Bought Me an Ice-Cream Float Before He Stole My Ma.

Sounds well worth entering.

If you'd like more information, Kerry can be found at ...

Website: www.kerryhudson.co.uk

Blog: http://www.kerryhudson.tumblr.com/

Twitter: @Kerryswindow

Good news

Well, I didn't win the Novelicious competition (flicks away a tear) but thank you everyone who took the time to comment and vote for me, and congratulations to the winners (she says through gritted teeth.) 

No, I mean it - the standard was high and I wouldn't be at all surprised if some deals are struck in the not too distant future.

On the plus side  ... whispers ... I have a lovely new agent!   I submitted my second novel - part of my German deal - a few months back and tried to forget about it.  It attracted interest, I completed some edits, and on Tuesday was offered representation.  Tiny squeal.

The contract arrived today and I'm meeting her in London next Wednesday.

I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but feel like a very lucky lady indeed.

In other news - I've mastered the hula-hoop to the point where I can do it for half an hour ... without even noticing.  It's not even like proper exercise, but my waist has shrunk and I've got a six-pack.

Okay that last bit's a lie, but I wouldn't want one anyway.  I might be tempted to keep showing it off, and start parading around in a crop top without my cardi.  In the library.

Which wouldn't do at all.

Train-writing

Well, the Novelicious entries have been read - and thank you all who did, and for making such lovely comments - and voting is open until the 20th.  If you'd like to vote click here (mine's Dancing Queen) and if you don't, ignore me.

I met up with some of the lovely ladies from my writing group today and had a great time, not least because it involved Going On a Train, which is one of my favourite things.  Looking out of the window I saw so many things that triggered story ideas I ended up writing one on the way back.  I'd never have done that if I'd gone by car.  Not without something deeply unpleasant happening.

One of the oddest sights was a man on a tennis court playing tennis - by himself.  As you can imagine, this involved rather a lot of running back and forth.  Unless his opponent was invisible. 

I don't think I could make a sensible story out of that, but if you have any thoughts I'm more than happy to try.

Delicious Novelicious

If anyone fancies a read, I'm one of the finalists in the Novelicious Undiscovered 2012 competition.  I entered under the name of my alter-ego Chloe Kent, who's younger, prettier, funnier and nicer than me, and has much better hair.

I hate her.

Voting doesn't take place until June 5th, after all the entries have been posted and read, but if you'd like to leave a little comment I'd be ever so grateful, especially if it's a nice one.

Be gentle.  Chloe doesn't look good when she's been crying ...

Free Up Your Short Story Writing - by Helen Hunt

I'm delighted to welcome the lovely and talented Helen Hunt to my blog today, with some invaluable short story writing advice. If you get the opportunity, it's well worth enrolling on one of Helen's successful short story writing workshops.

Over to you, Helen...

Have you ever started writing a short story, but not got very far because you just couldn’t get the first paragraph right?

Or maybe you’ve got two thirds of the way through a story and then your writing has fizzled out because you have no idea where your story is going. Even more frustrating is the situation where you’ve got a great story ending in mind but no idea how to get there.

All short stories need a beginning, a middle and an end, but sometimes it helps if you can free up your mind by not necessarily writing them in that order. If you’ve got a great ending in mind, try writing that first. Sometimes writing the ending helps to clarify your thoughts and makes it easier to write the rest of the story. It gives you a marker that you know you need to work towards.

Equally, if you know exactly what you want to happen in a scene that falls midway then write that first. As you write your subconscious will start to fill in the gaps.

This can work well regardless of whether you’re writing longhand or straight to computer. If you’re typing straight on to your computer then you can easily move scenes around, expand areas that need expanding and link from one scene to the next. But even if you’re writing longhand you can still write scenes and snatches of dialogue as they come to you, and then mould them into the right order as you type the story up.

Let yourself be guided by your imagination. Even if something occurs to you that you can’t immediately fit into the story, scribble it down in your notebook anyway. If it ends up not being suitable for this story, it might trigger an idea for a future one!

Part of freeing up your writing is allowing yourself to make mistakes, which you will fix at the editing stage. If you end up writing scenes that you don’t need, or going a few hundred words over the word limit you are aiming for, don’t worry. You’ll be able to see what needs to go when you come back to look at your work with a critical eye.

If you find yourself stuck halfway through, sometimes it can be helpful to move away from your computer or your notepad and do some mind-mapping. Take a blank sheet of paper and jot down all the possible directions your story could go in and the steps your plot could take to get there. Don’t dismiss any idea for being too unlikely at this stage. Once you’ve got them all written down you can decide what’s workable and what isn’t.

Another good ploy can be to go and do something different like doing the washing up or talking a walk. Sometimes that can be just what your brain needs to nudge it in the right direction.

And do push on with your story, even if you feel like you’re struggling. Sometimes you have to get to the finishing line with a story and know how it ends before you can see what’s wrong with it’s earlier stages and go back and fix them.

So, if your short story writing feels a bit rusty, or it’s stuck in a rut, why not try looking at it in a slightly different way and seeing where it takes you?

We’ll be thinking about some of these issues and techniques at my Day Retreat For Writers on 28 April in Northampton. For full details of this and my other courses – including my totally flexible Hop On, Hop Off online course – please see my website: www.helenmhunt.co.uk

Thanks Helen, and good luck with the course!

Happily-hyphenated

I recently decided to have a few copies of my novel printed off, courtesy of Pen Press, for friends and family to read - whether they like it or not. No seriously, they want to. They DO.

I decided it might be prudent to have it professionally copy-edited first. There's nothing worse than reading a book filled with typos and grammar glitches - though I can't 100% guarantee a few won't have slipped through the net.

It seemed like a lot of money to invest, but I figured if I don't secure a traditional publishing deal, I may want to self-publish at some point so it's money well-spent, and writers services offered what I thought was a reasonable rate, and did a first class job.

They rather flatteringly said there wasn't much to do (hardly surprising when I've revised the damn novel about a million times) but I was shocked - nay, embarrassed - by my considerable overuse - and misuse - of the humble hyphen.

Dear-oh-dear. I had NO idea I used it so indiscriminately, and completely without thought. On every page they leapt out - car-park, pork-pies, hair-brush* to name but a few.

I had no idea. I do now. After a good old trawl on the Interweb, requainting myself with their useage, I've realised these cheerful chaps, with their constant interruptions, have got to go.

I'm so glad I had the edit now. My mum's a devil for punctuation and once she'd seen my faux pas I'd never have lived it down.

(I had to check there wasn't a hyphen in faux pas.)

* This isn't a fair representation of what my novel's about. I promise.

Flooding

Well I managed to get the hang of hula-hooping in the end. It involved buying a heavier one, which pervesely is easier to keep up (as it were.) Who says size doesn't matter?

So now I have a tiny 19" waist. Okay, I don't. Expending all that energy means I need a tasty treat afterwards, to keep my strength up. Obviously.

The writing's going well too I'm pleased to say. I've sold some stories, written some more, I've started sending Novel 2 out to agents in the hope of snaring a new one, and I'm ploughing on with Novel 3. The words are flooding out. I'm still not acheiving the kind of daily wordcount I KNOW I'm capable of, or would like to acheive (10,000 at least) but it's all going in the right direction.

It doesn't help when Real Life gets in the way. Our kitchen ceiling came down yesterday, thanks to a burst water pipe courtesy of the freezing weather we've been having. Luckily Lovely Daughter saw it dripping and we were able to move things out of the way and throw some towels down before the deluge. So it could have been worse.

And yes, I've thought of a story about it too!

Resolutions and Hoops

I shouldn't be here.  My mum is staying, and she can't understand the lure of the computer and the typing of lovely words.  I haven't done any writing at all since just before Christmas, which is unheard of.  What if I've forgotten how to do it?  

I have this horrible feeling that if I don't write every day my creative muscle will grow weak and flabby - I need to exercise it and get it toned up again (a bit like the rest of me).

My New Year's writing resolution is to increase my output in 2012 and to stop worrying about 'the market' so much as it freezes me up, but I've lots of catching up to do already.

Talking of exercise, we've been hula-hooping like mad.  Or trying to.  

It started as a laugh, but I'm getting frustrated now.  Lovely daughter makes it look simple, and can practically read a book at the same time. My mum's got the hang of it and she's nearly 70, but me?  

Let's just say Lovely Daughter's threatened to film me and put the results on You Tube, she finds my efforts so hilarious.   It's like I'm fighting the Invisible Man - badly - while rotating my hips like granny on the dance-floor, as the hoop lies listlessly round my feet.

Tips anyone?

And if you think there's a story in it do let me know.  I haven't got time to be creative - I need to put the kettle on.

Festive Greetings

Thanks for your support and for following my blog this year - even though I haven't posted that often over the last few months. Will do better next year!

I hope Christmas is filled with your favourite things, and wish you all a happy and healthy 2012.

Sprechen Sie Deutsch?

I was chuffed to little mint balls - as we used to say Up North - to see that my novel has finally appeared on my German publisher's website. It's real. It's got pages. My name is on the cover. Okay, so it's not out until next September, but it exists and that'll have to do for now.

I called it My Future Husband, but the German interpretation is quite different and roughly translates as 'Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained' (I think!)

There's no hint of the time-travel contained within its pages, but I'm not complaining. Oooh no. I'm just really happy to see it.

Tears and Laughter

Tears and Laughter and Happy Ever After is the project I mysteriously referred to a while ago - a short story collection now available on Kindle at a very reasonable price. Hurray!  Not that you HAVE to buy it, but you'd be mad not to. Oh and I'm in it, by the way.

The paperback version will be out in time for Christmas - which is rather handy and I hope, if you do fancy a peek, that you find something to your liking.

All the contributors are members of the short story writing group I joined three years ago, and without it I'm certain I wouldn't have gone on to sell so many stories (*cough, seventy-five, cough*) and I'm very proud to be in such good company.

And now for the blurby bit ...

"Tears and Laughter and Happy Ever After" is a vibrant and varied collection of tales from writers who between them have had hundreds of short stories published in women’s magazines in the UK and around the world. Contributors have also won or been placed in dozens of competitions, published novels and written non-fiction for many UK magazines.


As the title suggests, the twenty-six stories encompass the heights of happiness, the depths of sadness, and every emotion in between. Within the pages are a housewife with a surprising secret, a beekeeper with a problem and an undertaker with something unusual on his mind. You’ll encounter angels, ghosts, aliens and other intriguing characters. And, in the end, may just find the path to happy ever after.


“This anthology has something for everyone. It’s a delight.
I only wish I was in it!”
Della Galton


“Like diving into a big box of Quality Street”
Kate Long

All I want for Christmas

Beth Prince has always loved fairytales and now, aged twenty-four, she feels like she’s finally on the verge of her own happily ever after. She lives by the seaside, works in the Picturebox – a charming but rundown independent cinema – and has a boyfriend who’s so debonair and charming she can’t believe her luck! There’s just one problem – none of her boyfriends have ever told her they love her and it doesn’t look like Aiden’s going to say it any time soon. Desperate to hear ‘I love you’ for the first time Beth takes matters into her own hands – and instantly wishes she hadn’t. Just when it seems like her luck can’t get any worse, bad news arrives in the devilishly handsome shape of Matt Jones. Matt is the regional director of a multiplex cinema and he’s determined to get his hands on the Picturebox by Christmas. Can Beth keep her job, her man and her home or is her romantic-comedy life about to turn into a disaster movie?

The lovely Cally Taylor's new novel, Home for Christmas, is out today and although it's normally my policy to put off thinking about Christmas until the very last moment, I'm going to make an exception and read it as soon as possible.

All the main character, Beth, wants for Christmas is to hear the words "I love you", which got me thinking about the things I wanted for Christmas when I was growing up.

To be honest, it was mostly a puppy - but we weren't allowed one because my mum (quite rightly with hindsight) felt she'd be the one who ended up looking after it, and she already had four children to contend with. (They were hers, I hasten to add - not four random children she'd taken in especially to avoid having to buy a dog.)

Books always featured highly on my wish lists, and I definitely got plenty of those. We didn't have a TV growing up so reading was our entertainment. That and pestering our parents for a puppy.

But my best-ever present was a camera when I was fouteen. I'd put one on my list, not holding out much hope, and was over the moon to find one in my stocking. (Pretty uncomfortable, I can tell you. HO HO!)

It was an old-fangled one with a cube-flash on top. PLEASE tell me you remember them? Barely a step up from my gran's Box Brownie, but it led to a love of photography that's stayed with me.

I now have a fancy-pants, all-singing all-dancing digital SLR, but I still remember the thrill of that little plastic one - not to mention the look of glazed boredom on people's faces when I begged them to pose again, one last time ...

These days, all I want for Christmas is for everyone to be happy and a plentiful supply of food. Oh and an offer to publish my novel would be nice. Harrumph!

Sunshine and Tinsel

An incongruous sight while out shopping during the recent heatwave. Cloudless blue sky, people flashing flesh in summer clothes and ... tinsel. Oh and a hanging teddy bear. I was quite disorientated, I can tell you. I still don't know what the bear was doing up there.

I keep thinking there's a story in that picture somewhere, or at least a caption, but I haven't come up with anything suitable yet. (Call yourself a writer? - Ed)

I've been shimmying around the country on trains for the past two days. Up to York to spend a day with family - typically the sky went surly and a breeze sprang up the second I stepped on the platform - and today to spend time with writing friends, to discuss an exciting new project (top secret at the moment! Don't you hate it when people put that on their blogs? I know I do.)

I love travelling by train, I find it genuinely relaxing. I got more writing done than I would have at home, which made me think I should take a long journey every single day. Then I realised I'd be broke by the end of the week and quickly came to my senses.

Does anyone remember when train travel used to be cheap, or am I imagining that?