Dan's Adventures in Fiction: February 2013

Thursday, 21 February 2013

For the Love of Books

I've been thinking about buying an eReader. I don't have one, and whenever I've bought an ebook it's been to read on my phone. So far that's limited what I've bought to short story collections, mostly. And even those are a bit of a pain to read on such a small screen. But then I started thinking that I didn't really want an eReader. Not yet, at least, and I had a look at a few in various shops and they didn't seem that great, to be honest. So I thought about writing a post about how rubbish eReaders are. But then I didn't like the negativity of that.

Instead, I decided to write about how great books are, and put into words why I think books will always have a place in my heart. A lot of these reasons, if not all, have no digital equivalent. Or at least, not one that I can think of.

Small Hardbacks
I love small hardbacks. I think they're pretty much the embodiment of book perfection. I'm talking about the ones that are about A5 size, and are hardback but don't have a dust jacket. They're substantial without being too bulky, portable but far more hard-wearing than a paperback. They feel right in the hand, they're beautiful to look at, and they exude quality.

Gorgeous, aren't they?

Folios / Special Editions
There is, I suppose, an argument that putting fancy packaging around a book is gilding the lily. Well, perhaps that's true to some extent. But although the words are obviously the most important part, there's something desperately sad about books being considered no more than simply their text. People can be sniffy about novels with pictures, too - but how could you not love a copy of Cold Comfort Farm illustrated by Quentin Blake? Or a book of Irish short stories, spiced up with a few bold, stylish block prints? Add to this the hard-to-quantify aesthetic differences brought by high quality paper and clothbound covers, and you have a reading experience that feels like a real indulgence. The way it should be, really.

Folio editions: making wonderful books even more wonderfuller

Signed Copies

No matter how beautiful books are, they are (in the main) mased objects. There's not much to distinguish one from the other. So, having the author scribble on the front page is the perfect way to turn a run-of-the-mill book into something unique and individual. The basic signed book, such as those the author signs on behalf of a bookshop, are great in that they have that "touched by the pen of..." quality, but even better is the signed and dedicated book. Having the actual author write your name in your copy of the book, personalises it in a way that can't be bettered.

Sarah Hall added the "Good Luck!" when she found out I wrote short stories...

First Editions
I'm not really a book collector, but I do keep an eye out for first editions.

Steven Hall's "Raw Shark Texts". Apparently the very first printings had the first three pages in green ink. But I'm happy with this one.

It's not so much about the value, it's about getting closer to the creation of the story. I love the idea of owning one of the first batch of books that made it out into the world; there's an optimism about it, as though the book still carries some of the hopes and dreams of the author, regardless of whether it went on to be a massive blockbuster or disappeared without a trace. Each reprint, every new edition, feels like another step further away from that moment when the book launched in its 'natural' state. No or hardly any cover quotes, no pages of review extracts inserted into the front, just, "Here's a book. Enjoy."

My treasured A Scanner Darkly first edition. Definitely not one to read while eating spaghetti bolognese

Presentation
Variety is the spice of life. Though cliched, it's entirely true. I'm uncomfortable with the idea of books (or music albums, or films) just being filler for a little black box. I like to see creativity - it inspires me, makes me want to be creative, too. Even within the relatively tight constraints of a standard book format - it's pretty much rectangular, it's made of a wad of pages with a cover wrapped around three sides - there still seems to be huge variety in how books are presented. A row of thumbnails on a virtual shelf, or a real bookshelf jostling with different sizes, shapes, thicknesses, materials and designs? No prizes for guessing which appeals more to me!

The fantastically innovative "An A-Z of Possible Worlds" by A.C. Tillyer - a collection of short stories, printed individually and presented in a little storage box.

So, that's why I like books. Have I missed any reasons? What do you like about those lumpy paper-stuffed objects cluttering up your home? Or have you made the leap to digital and will never go back to dead trees?

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Don't forget!
I'm judging the Erewash Writers' Group Flash Fiction Competition. Up to 500 words themed around "Start" - it could be the start of something, a couple trying to start over, a car that won't start, you name it. It's free to enter, you can win a copy of Somewhere to Start From, and the winning story will be published on the EWG website (global exposure for your work!). The closing date is 21 March 2013, so get going! I listed a few tips on how to make your story stand out, HERE. Good luck!

Friday, 8 February 2013

Us: A Retrospective

Three years ago, I got a phone call telling me I'd won the Chapter One Promotions International Short Story Prize. It made for a surreal afternoon. I was on my own, halfway through the process of renovating my house – at the point where it looks like you’ve done so much damage you can’t really imagine it ever looking like a proper house again. It was freezing cold because the heating hadn’t been hooked up. I'd taken a break from sanding the skirting boards or some other equally soul-destroying task to eat a sandwich, when my phone rang. After establishing it definitely wasn’t a hoax or a mistake, I hung up and sat on the windowsill for a while. I’d just won a big prize and here I was in a house with no carpets or curtains and bare plaster walls. I couldn’t get a grip on what had happened; it was too much for me to deal with. I tried phoning a few people, but it was a weekday and everyone was at work. I wandered around the house, looking in the empty rooms as though all my friends might be hiding somewhere, ready to jump out and shout, “Surprise!” – but they weren’t. I was on the verge of running out into the street, whooping with joy and hugging strangers. Eventually, though, little by little, it sank in.

It wasn’t all plain sailing, and it took a long time to get hold of the prize money. The main problem, though, was my story seemed to disappear into the ether. The printed anthology appeared, to no fanfare whatsoever, two-and-a-half years later. I was pleased it had made it out into the world, and glad to hear (via Twitter) that a couple of people had read and enjoyed it. But that was it, and I couldn't help but feel disappointed. It remains one of my best stories, a piece I’m proud of and that I think other people will enjoy. I gave the Chapter One anthology a chance to make whatever kind of impact it was going to, and then looked for somewhere that would publish my story and make it available to (potentially) a much broader audience. It worked – it got snapped up pretty quickly, by an online journal I’ve got a lot of respect for. I’m pleased to announce that Us: A Retrospective has just been published in the Valentine’s special of Jersey Devil Press. The other stories are well worth checking out, too - there's a good Godzilla-themed story amongst them, and that's never a bad thing.

In other news, I’ve signed up to Goodreads. I’m not entirely sure how it all works, or what it can do, but I've set up my author profile set up and added my books. If you’re on Goodreads too, please pop over and say hello, or whatever it is you do over there, and if you’ve read either edition of my anthology, I’d be very grateful for any ratings and/or reviews.

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Sunday, 3 February 2013

It's All About the B's, Baby

I noticed just about everything I was going to talk about today began with B. I don't know if that's significant.

Probably not.

Bates
The website for the H.E. Bates competition has now been updated with the winning stories, so you can read my story, "A Walk at Midnight", as well as the story in second place, "A Walk at Midnight" by Jeremy Smith, and the third-placed, "A Walk at Midnight"by Samantha Priestly. Also, check out "A Walk at Midnight", by Linnea Feldman Emison, the sixteen-year-old winner of the under-18's competition. As you can probably tell, this was a themed competition with a given title.

BBC
Recently I've been looking at upcoming short story competitions, trying to plot my way through the next few months. With the aim of working on my novel, I am planning to take a more strategic approach to producing short stories, writing fewer but ensuring they are more targeted. It doesn't hurt to aim high, so the first competition on my list is the BBC National Short Story Award. It closes on 11 March, allows a word count of up to 8000 words, and offers a quite astonishing first prize of £15,000. You need to have at least one story published (in print) to be eligible to enter, but it's free. It's a very long shot, but even getting on the shortlist would be a remarkable achievement.

Bath
New kid on the block, the Bath Short Story Award joins a growing band of writing competitions based in southern towns/cities that begin with B. For a newbie, it seems well-established, with a good website and a decent set of prizes up for grabs. The word count is up to 2200, and the winning stories will be chosen by Helen Corner and Ayisha Malik of Cornerstones Literary Consultancy. Closing date is 30 March.

Bristol
Now into its sixth year, and seemingly improving each time around, the Bristol Short Story Prize is a competition with a great heritage and excellent prizes. I have entered three times, and as yet I haven't even made the shortlist. The anthology in which the winning and short listed stories are published is beautifully produced and in itself is a reason for entering the competition with your best story. They've upped the maximum word count this year to 4000, and the closing date is 30 April.

Bridport
I doubt Bridport requires an introduction. It enjoys a near-mythical status as the short story equivalent of the World Cup. It's talked about in hushed, reverent tones, and the stories of agents beating a path to the doors of those who've won prizes there seem to have more than a grain of truth at their hearts. I deliberately didn't enter last year - I didn't have a story strong enough, and I'd left it too late. In the past I've sent stories that I didn't have a lot of faith in, just for the sake of not missing the opportunity. I was wasting my time. The popularity of Bridport means your story has to stand out among thousands, and it has to win over several levels of volunteer readers in order to get anywhere near the shortlist. To do this, you get up to 5000 words (there's also a 250-word flash category) to wow the judges, and you have until the end of May.

This works out at approximately one short story per month. I think that's realistic, although I guess there's only one way to find out...