The India Inter-Continental Cultural Association, Chandigarh (India), a non profit organisation, is organising its 9th International Writers Festival-India, an International conference of poets, writers and scholars, on 09-10 November 2013 at Nellore (Andhra Pradesh)). More information at
http://www.indianwriters.org/
http://www.kaflaintercontinental.com/
http://www.writersclubinternational.com/
Monday, 29 July 2013
Life too short? Then keep reading
For me, there’s a simple test of a short story. Like a lot of people, I am busy, life is hectic and people make demands on my time. I have just read the opening paragraph of this story, do I really want to make time to read on? Is life too short?
Two stories came into the monthly Global Short Story Competition overnight that made me read on. One had an opening line that asked so many questions, hinted at so much intrigue, that I had to keep reading, the other painted such a picture of a place that I was immediately transported there. And if the reader is grabbed, you’re half way there to a successful story.
There’s three days left to enter the July competition at www.inscribemedia.co.uk
John Dean
Two stories came into the monthly Global Short Story Competition overnight that made me read on. One had an opening line that asked so many questions, hinted at so much intrigue, that I had to keep reading, the other painted such a picture of a place that I was immediately transported there. And if the reader is grabbed, you’re half way there to a successful story.
There’s three days left to enter the July competition at www.inscribemedia.co.uk
John Dean
Friday, 26 July 2013
Free poetry competition
We’ve gone all poetic for our new free competition. More at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Inscribemedia/183385438479538
Never too late
Five days to enter the July Global Short Story Competition. £100 first prize. More at www.inscribemedia.co.uk
Wednesday, 24 July 2013
Writers go into print with tales of intrigue and crime
Two authors from the North East of England have gone into print with ebooks, the sixth and seventh published through the Inscribe Media imprint.
The thriller Lost Souls is Roger Barnes’ second ebook, following White Gold, and crime novel Harry’s Torment is Michael Beck’s first. Both authors are from Darlington, County Durham.
Book details:
Lost Souls by Roger Barnes
When young women start to go missing in Africa, the kidnappers warn not to investigate but the police do and the women’s hideously mutilated bodies are returned. After that the investigations are stopped and a continuing flow of traumatised victims are returned alive, having being used in the most brutal and degrading ways.
This continues until another four are abducted and the British Government decides it must act and recommence the investigation, but this time using a very different approach. A Special Forces Major with an uncanny knack for finding people is teamed with an unorthodox politically incorrect police officer, and both are asked to volunteer to try and find them.
It becomes apparent that not only British women are being abducted, so a small International Strike Force is assembled to rescue them and ensure it is stopped, permanently.
Roger is a taxi driver in Darlington and a member of Darlington-based Inkerman Writers.
The book is available from http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lost-Souls-ebook/dp/B00E458SC4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374659781&sr=8-1&keywords=lost+souls+by+roger+barnes
Harry’s Torment by Michael Beck
Harry’s Torment is set in the fictional east coast port of Thirlston and is centred on the heroin trade.
Unlike some other crime novels this is not a ‘who done it’ as we very soon discover identity of the local drugs baron. We see how the officers try to piece together various bits of information in their pursuit of him and how he attempts to stay one step ahead of them. This takes place alongside a personal feud between two senior customs officials and this impacts upon one of the officers in particular as he is used as a pawn in their struggle. His close working relationships with a local detective inspector also causes problems and pressures for both parties as the story comes to a dramatic conclusion.
Michael spent 38 years with Customs and Excise and took early retirement in 2005. In that time he worked in most of the disciplines within the department and was responsible for all the anti-smuggling teams in the north east of England between 1990 and 2000. He is a member of Inkerman Writers and Bennet House Writers, both Darlington based writing groups, and has written a number of short stories.
The book is available on
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Harrys-Torment-ebook/dp/B00E40NF5Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374660082&sr=8-1&keywords=harry%27s+torment
* Inscribe Media also runs the monthly Global Short Story Competition and mentoring and writing workshops.. The new books takes the number of its titles to seven. More information can be found at www.inscribemedia.co.uk
Tuesday, 23 July 2013
Those crucial opening lines
I make no apology for returning to one of my big themes for this blog because the subject is so important in any kind of writing but particularly short story writing where you have so few words to play with.
Overnight, we received an entry to the Global Short Story Competition story (July’s remains a low entry, good time to go for that £100 first prize!) which drew the reader in beautifully. Atmosphere, intrigue, a fascinating character and all in the first 20 lines.
However you start your story, the beginning should have The Question, something that hooks your reader. You need to grab them from those first lines.
You can do it with out and out intrigue, of course - ‘the last thing he expected to see was his wife holding the gun’ - but another way is to draw us in with the sheer quality of the writing.
The story overnight did both and by the end of the first paragraph, the character had been so beautifully depicted that the reader needs to know more about him. It‘s job done for the writer in question.
Overnight, we received an entry to the Global Short Story Competition story (July’s remains a low entry, good time to go for that £100 first prize!) which drew the reader in beautifully. Atmosphere, intrigue, a fascinating character and all in the first 20 lines.
However you start your story, the beginning should have The Question, something that hooks your reader. You need to grab them from those first lines.
You can do it with out and out intrigue, of course - ‘the last thing he expected to see was his wife holding the gun’ - but another way is to draw us in with the sheer quality of the writing.
The story overnight did both and by the end of the first paragraph, the character had been so beautifully depicted that the reader needs to know more about him. It‘s job done for the writer in question.
Monday, 22 July 2013
The art of storytelling
Sometimes a story comes into the Global Short Story Competition that brings a smile to the face. That happened over the weekend. Beautifully observed characters, gentle humour, real situations that feel so familiar, simple uncomplicated storytelling, they all added up to a sheer delight. An object lesson in the art of the writer.
Plenty of time to enter this month’s comp at www.inscribemedia.co.uk £100 first prize.
Plenty of time to enter this month’s comp at www.inscribemedia.co.uk £100 first prize.
Friday, 19 July 2013
The art of good poetry
Since we have just launched our latest free poetry competition, it seems a good time to ask What makes a good poem?
I am not a poet (well, not a good one!) so I did some web surfing and found myself at www.shortpoems.org and an article by R Pettinger. Its suggestions included:
* A good poem must be well written with a concise and accurate use of language
* A good poem should be able to lift the reader out of the ordinary and give glimpses of a more illuminating reality
* Prose seeks to explain, poetry merely states. Good poetry is not an argument but convinces the reader through its own power
* A good poem should engage the heart of the reader - it should be more than mere intellectual cleverness
* Good poetry can offer hope from seemingly painful experience.
You can enter the debate at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Inscribemedia/183385438479538
which also has details of the new competition.
*You can enter the Global Short Story Competition here at www.inscribemedia.co.uk
John Dean
I am not a poet (well, not a good one!) so I did some web surfing and found myself at www.shortpoems.org and an article by R Pettinger. Its suggestions included:
* A good poem must be well written with a concise and accurate use of language
* A good poem should be able to lift the reader out of the ordinary and give glimpses of a more illuminating reality
* Prose seeks to explain, poetry merely states. Good poetry is not an argument but convinces the reader through its own power
* A good poem should engage the heart of the reader - it should be more than mere intellectual cleverness
* Good poetry can offer hope from seemingly painful experience.
You can enter the debate at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Inscribemedia/183385438479538
which also has details of the new competition.
*You can enter the Global Short Story Competition here at www.inscribemedia.co.uk
John Dean
Free poetry competition launched
Our free six word flash fiction competition has closed and we are going all poetic for our new free one. The challenge is a poem that stirs emotions in no more than ten lines.
£50 first prize, closing date October 18, 2013. All entries to be posted at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Inscribemedia/183385438479538
£50 first prize, closing date October 18, 2013. All entries to be posted at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Inscribemedia/183385438479538
Wednesday, 17 July 2013
Up close and personal
We get quite a few stories written in the first person, an account told or narrated through the eyes of a single character, typically the main character.
So, what are the advantages of writing in the first person?
1 First person makes the narrator close up and personal.
2 The reader can identify with the character and experience their deepest, innermost thoughts and feelings.
3 While third person and omniscient points of view distance the reader, first person allows the reader to enter the world of the narrator, privy to his personal thoughts and feelings.
4 Your writing may be easier, more natural
What are the disadvantages of writing in first person?
1 When writing in first person, the author is restricted to a single point of view (unless you have several first person narratives).
2 First person is the narrowest, most restrictive point of view because everything is seen and processed through the mind of the narrator.
3 Some authors find first person a natural choice, while others find it too limiting to stick with one character’s viewpoint through an entire book.
4 You cannot easily create tension by switching from one incident to another
So, what are the advantages of writing in the first person?
1 First person makes the narrator close up and personal.
2 The reader can identify with the character and experience their deepest, innermost thoughts and feelings.
3 While third person and omniscient points of view distance the reader, first person allows the reader to enter the world of the narrator, privy to his personal thoughts and feelings.
4 Your writing may be easier, more natural
What are the disadvantages of writing in first person?
1 When writing in first person, the author is restricted to a single point of view (unless you have several first person narratives).
2 First person is the narrowest, most restrictive point of view because everything is seen and processed through the mind of the narrator.
3 Some authors find first person a natural choice, while others find it too limiting to stick with one character’s viewpoint through an entire book.
4 You cannot easily create tension by switching from one incident to another
Why the summer is a good time to enter the competition
The summer months are always quiet ones for the monthly Global Short Story Competition, which means it’s a great time to have a go for the £100 first prize.
Writers from 50 countries have entered the competition since it was launched five and half years ago and it still runs every month with a £100 first prize and a £25 prize for highly commended writers.
The competition, which has had winners, commended and shortlisted stories from all over the world, is judged by Fiona Cooper, an author based in North-East England, where the competition’s organisers, Inscribe Media Limited, are based. Inscribe took over responsibility for the competition in February.
John Dean, competition administrator since its creation and a director of the company, said: “The idea has always been to encourage new writing and we have certainly done that. We’ve seen some terrific, original writing submitted down the years.“
The competition can be entered at www.inscribemedia.co.uk Details of the company’s ebooks can be found on the same site.
* Inscribe Media are also running a free six-word competition with a deadline of July 18. More at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Inscribemedia/183385438479538
Writers from 50 countries have entered the competition since it was launched five and half years ago and it still runs every month with a £100 first prize and a £25 prize for highly commended writers.
The competition, which has had winners, commended and shortlisted stories from all over the world, is judged by Fiona Cooper, an author based in North-East England, where the competition’s organisers, Inscribe Media Limited, are based. Inscribe took over responsibility for the competition in February.
John Dean, competition administrator since its creation and a director of the company, said: “The idea has always been to encourage new writing and we have certainly done that. We’ve seen some terrific, original writing submitted down the years.“
The competition can be entered at www.inscribemedia.co.uk Details of the company’s ebooks can be found on the same site.
* Inscribe Media are also running a free six-word competition with a deadline of July 18. More at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Inscribemedia/183385438479538
Friday, 12 July 2013
TIme running out in free comp
Time is running out to enter our free six word story competition (£50 first prize) at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Inscribemedia/183385438479538
Plenty of time to enter comp
Plenty of time to enter the July Global Short Story Competition. £100 first prize www.inscribemedia.co.uk
Mentoring
Check out our new online mentoring programmes and writing courses at
http://www.inscribemedia.co.uk/writing-courses---bespoke-mentoring.html
http://www.inscribemedia.co.uk/writing-courses---bespoke-mentoring.html
Friday, 5 July 2013
Free writers' toolkit
Check out our free writers’ toolbox, which can be downloaded off the home page here at http://www.inscribemedia.co.uk/
John Dean
John Dean
Honours go to New Zealand and United States in writing competition
Judge Fiona Cooper has selected her winners for the May Global Short Story Competition and writers from New Zealand and the United States have taken the honours.
The £100 first place prize goes to Kate Daellenbach, of Wellington, New Zealand. Fiona says of The Parcel: “This is a quirky story and has an assured cinematic feel which is sustained very well throughout. The unanswered questions lingered in my thoughts long after I'd finished reading and re-reading it. It intrigues me, the anonymity of the city and the vivid cameos that are created in the rush of city life, where a cafe is an oasis, a place where people are always passing through. this writer has captured a moment of magic. Excellent .”
The £25 highly commended prize goes to Alexandra Apuzzo, of Clintondale, NY, United States, of whose story I met a girl at 3 a.m. Fiona says: “I loved the atmosphere of this story; late night loneliness in a bar has brought us so many tales, in books, movies and songs and this story is one of the most memorable that I've come across. There is nothing predictable about it, even when I went through it again, and the final 'quiet desperate whisper' encapsulated the whole strange episode.“
The writers on the shortlist are:
Vincent Chu, Cologne, Germany
Kieran Duddy, London, England
Maurice Said. Siggiewi, Malta
Kathryn Clark, Stroud, Gloucestershire, England
Miroslaw Henning, Radlin, Poland
Rebecca Dixon-Wright, Portsmouth, England
Mandy Huggins, Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire, England
Rob Hawke
Ceri Lowe-Petraske, Bristol, England
Winning stories will be posted on www.inscribemedia.co.uk Well done to our successful writers.
Thursday, 4 July 2013
Reality
When you talk to writers, one of the subjects that evokes some of the most passionate debate is the blurring between reality and fiction.
There are those writers who argue that stories come out of real life experiences, that the writer has gone through tough times therefore they are able to best tell the story.
This may be true to a degree. When I was writing my first novels as a teenager, I tended to write about aliens and war zones and my father’s constant mantra was ‘write about what you know’. They were wise words - wise words now, wise words then - but the problem was that I did not know anything. I was a schoolboy, what could I know?
Now, aged fifty something, I know so much. Too much in many ways. I know what deep personal loss feels like, know what it is like to be diagnosed with illnesses, know what it is like to see loved ones suffer, know what it is like to be made redundant by employers. To me, it is inevitable that those experiences inform my writing.
Others, however, recoil from that approach, arguing that that the key is in the word ‘fiction‘, that stories should come entirely out of imagination. These writers - and let me say from the outset that there are no rights and wrongs here - say they do not wish to draw from personal experience but would rather let their imagination run riot.
Like I said, no one is right, no one is wrong on this one, but as I look back on the novels I have had published, all of them hold some kind of truth, a place visited, a person seen, a comment heard, a story experienced. Does that mean I am still writing fiction? Very much so but it also means that there’s a lot of me in there as well. And I’m fine with that.
There are those writers who argue that stories come out of real life experiences, that the writer has gone through tough times therefore they are able to best tell the story.
This may be true to a degree. When I was writing my first novels as a teenager, I tended to write about aliens and war zones and my father’s constant mantra was ‘write about what you know’. They were wise words - wise words now, wise words then - but the problem was that I did not know anything. I was a schoolboy, what could I know?
Now, aged fifty something, I know so much. Too much in many ways. I know what deep personal loss feels like, know what it is like to be diagnosed with illnesses, know what it is like to see loved ones suffer, know what it is like to be made redundant by employers. To me, it is inevitable that those experiences inform my writing.
Others, however, recoil from that approach, arguing that that the key is in the word ‘fiction‘, that stories should come entirely out of imagination. These writers - and let me say from the outset that there are no rights and wrongs here - say they do not wish to draw from personal experience but would rather let their imagination run riot.
Like I said, no one is right, no one is wrong on this one, but as I look back on the novels I have had published, all of them hold some kind of truth, a place visited, a person seen, a comment heard, a story experienced. Does that mean I am still writing fiction? Very much so but it also means that there’s a lot of me in there as well. And I’m fine with that.
Winners to be announced
We'll announce the winners of the May Global Short Story Competition on Friday July 5.
Free comp
Still time to enter our free six word story competition (£50 first prize) at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Inscribemedia/183385438479538
Wednesday, 3 July 2013
Mentoring and online courses programme launched
Check out our new online writing courses and mentoring packages at http://www.inscribemedia.co.uk/writing-courses---bespoke-mentoring.html
Monday, 1 July 2013
Winners to be announced
We will announce the winners of the May Global Short Story Competition on Friday (July 5) You can enter the July competition at www.inscribemedia.co.uk
July competition launches
The monthly Global Short Story Competition for July has opened with the total prize money in the competition’s history rapidly approaching £10,000.
Writers from 50 countries have entered the competition since it was launched five and half years ago and it still runs every month with a £100 first prize and a £25 prize for highly commended writers.
The competition, which has had winners, commended and shortlisted stories from all over the world, is judged by Fiona Cooper, an author based in North-East England, where the competition’s organisers, Inscribe Media Limited, are based. Inscribe took over responsibility for the competition in February.
John Dean, competition administrator since its creation and a director of the company, said: “The idea has always been to encourage new writing and we have certainly done that. We’ve seen some terrific, original writing submitted down the years.“
The competition can be entered at www.inscribemedia.co.uk Details of the company’s ebooks can be found on the same site.
* Inscribe Media are also running a free six-word competition with a deadline of July 18. More at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Inscribemedia/183385438479538
Writers from 50 countries have entered the competition since it was launched five and half years ago and it still runs every month with a £100 first prize and a £25 prize for highly commended writers.
The competition, which has had winners, commended and shortlisted stories from all over the world, is judged by Fiona Cooper, an author based in North-East England, where the competition’s organisers, Inscribe Media Limited, are based. Inscribe took over responsibility for the competition in February.
John Dean, competition administrator since its creation and a director of the company, said: “The idea has always been to encourage new writing and we have certainly done that. We’ve seen some terrific, original writing submitted down the years.“
The competition can be entered at www.inscribemedia.co.uk Details of the company’s ebooks can be found on the same site.
* Inscribe Media are also running a free six-word competition with a deadline of July 18. More at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Inscribemedia/183385438479538
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