Category Archives: fiction

Zed and the Cormorants: listen-along audiobook challenge

Posted on by
Reply

Here it is! Our first ever listen-along audiobook challenge.

Starting on Sunday 24 October, we invited YA readers to listen to a section of the Zed and the Cormorants audiobook, every day for a week. Each day we release exclusive Zed-inspired creative activities – from word searches to author videos, book club questions to crafts.

Bookmark this blog post and follow @ArachnePress on social media for extra content too.

Day 1 – Sun 24 Oct: Listen to Chapters 1 – 4 (inclusive) of Zed and the Cormorants, then:

Day 2 – Mon 25 Oct: Listen to Chapters 5 – 11 (inclusive) of Zed and the Cormorants. While you are listening, pay particular attention to the descriptions of the cormorants.

“Zed watched it untuck its neck and raise itself up through an ‘S’ bend to form one almost straight line from yellow beak to glossy black tail. Then, with a little shudder, its wings unfolded and started to pulse: huge black wings with three layers of feathers, the bottom ones spreading out like a fan. And it was off too, raising itself vertically before flattening out and beating its way across the river. One long black wing angled down to the water, where with every stroke it seemed to brush its grainy reflection.”

“Its body was so sleek it looked like it had been painted in jet black oil, with a sheen of metallic purple or green, depending on the way the light fell when it twisted his head. Its eye was definitely green though, a shiny emerald bead.”

After listening:

Day 3 – Tues 26 Oct: Listen to Chapters 12 – 16 (inclusive) of Zed and the Cormorants, then: 

  • Try baking a recipe from the book! Bread, buns, cakes and scones abound in Zed and the Cormorants as Zed’s dad tries to establish his own bakery. Here are some simple recipes to recreate similar treats to those mentioned in the book:

– Cornish Saffron Buns

– Easy Tomato and Olive Twists

– Not-quite-Cornish Apple Cake

  • Pay attention to the conversations between Zed and Tamsin in these chapters of the book – particularly noticing how their dialogue is evolving from when they first met. Can you recall what you spoke about when you first met your best friend? Try and remember, or imagine, what the conversation might have been like and write a short dialogue scene.

Day 4 – Weds 27 Oct: Listen to Chapters 17 – 22 (inclusive) of Zed and the Cormorants, then: 

  • Read a blog post by author, Clare Owen about Writing Fear in Zed and the Cormorants
  • Log on to Twitter this afternoon and take a look at our book club questions. Discuss them with your friends or family, think about the questions yourself or join in with the conversation by tweeting us your thoughts!

Day 5 – Thurs 28 Oct: Listen to Chapters 23 – 28 (inclusive) of Zed and the Cormorants, then:

Day 6 – Fri 29 Oct: Listen to Chapters 29 – 34 (inclusive) of Zed and the Cormorants, then:

  • Find a jam jar and some craft supplies to make a decorative chalice like the one Amy and Zed take down to the boathouse, or colour and decorate the jar on our drawing challenge worksheet. Visit our Instagram page to see a chalice we made earlier!Decorative Chalice

Day 7 – Sat 30 Oct: Listen to the final Chapters of Zed and the Cormorants, then:

You can download or purchase the Zed and the Cormorants audiobook from audible.

See the full schedule of listen-along activities here.

An Author’s Best Friend: Lily Peters’ Top Dogs in Fiction

Posted on by
Reply

One thing that really struck us when we first read Accidental Flowers, Lily Peter’s novel-in-short-stories, was the descriptions of the numerous canine characters.

As this week is #LondonDogWeek AND #NationalDogWeek over in the U.S, we asked Lily to rank her favourite dogs from classic and contemporary literature. Disagree? Tweet us @ArachnePress with your favourite fictional hounds.

 

An Author’s Best Friend – Lily’s Greyhounds

 

I wrote, illustrated and bound my first book when I was eight years old. Its main character was not a plucky young girl who dreamt of becoming a bestselling author, but rather a very lazy and quite fat Dalmation named Slobdog. Although for an eight-year-old, my spelling and grammar were excellent, there are, perhaps, superior literary dogs that should be celebrated:

To begin, let us put our paws together for Toto from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. A wise terrier, with a sensible aversion to tornadoes. He is the best friend a lost girl could have and has excellent people instincts (which I find to be true of most dogs), revealing the Wizard for the sham that he is.

Next, we have the entire cast of dogs present in Dog Boy, by Eva Hornung. The novel tells the story of abandoned, four-year-old Ramochka and his hero dog, Mamochka, who adopts him as one of her own. He grows and learns with a pack of feral hounds – becoming one himself. It is a beautiful story that celebrates the canine moral code and it has a growl of an ending that will not disappoint.

Then, of course, there is the heart-wrenching folk tale (folk-tail?) of Hound Gelert. In Welsh folklore, the story goes that Llewelyn the Great wrongly accuses his own faithful pooch of killing his infant son. As he administers a fatal blow to Gelert, he hears his son crying and discovers him safely hidden, beside the corpse of a wolf – whom Gelert had obviously slain. Realising his mistake, Llewelyn is doomed to forever hear Gelert’s indignant, dying yelp.

Serves Llewelyn right.

It is my firm belief that we humans don’t always deserve our dogs. And yet, they keep finding us and loving us with huge generosity. Many of my favourite characters share their fictional spaces with beloved creatures and nowhere is this more true than in Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy. Pullman depicts a world in which every human shares their living days with an animal extension of themselves, their Daemon. When we adopted our greyhounds, Jasper and Joni, I knew I had found my very own pair: long-legged busy-bodies, with a ridiculous love of salty snacks and an inability to cope with change.

In my novel-in-short-stories, Accidental Flowers, dogs abound. Abandoned, beloved or left behind, they pad their way through the stories, sniffing out adventure and love. I can’t pick a favourite. Perhaps Juliet, a ghost of a Jack Russell who haunts the pages of her story with her vital loyalty and companionship? Or maybe Boatswain, a greying lurcher and huge fan of the beach, so long as the sea stays where it should? Can either of them compare to Argos, whose friendship and quiet, fuzzy-eyebrowed understanding helps one protagonist discover their true self as the world lurches to a stop?

How can I choose?

Best to let someone else decide for me, while I take the dogs for a walk.

Accidental Flowers by Lily Peters is available now. Buy a paperback copy from our webshop or why not get the audiobook?

You can find Lily Peters on twitter as @SenoritaPeters.

100 Days of 100neHundred: Our Favourite Reviews

Posted on by
Reply
This Friday 3 September it will be 100 days since publication of 100neHundred, Laura Besley‘s remarkable collection of 100 stories of exactly 100 words each. To celebrate we are sharing 100neHundred related content on our blog and social media all week.
 
 

It may be a little book of tiny tales but 100neHundred has had a big response from readers, reviewers and booksellers. We asked Laura Besley to share her 10 favourite reviews of 100neHundred with us:

 

  1. “The book gives the reader the feeling of voyeurism as if we are taking a glimpse behind the curtain of lives unraveling, of decisions being made behind closed doors, of peeking at the most intimate of moments. It’s melancholic, heartrending, hard hitting and joyous all in one!” Ross Storgy
     
  2. “So much of life is packed into these stories; precious moments and sad ones, humour and grief, gorgeous nuggets of hope and stinging barbs of hurt.” Read Ellie Hawkes’ beautiful blog review of 100neHundred
     
  3. “Besley takes you through so many emotions in very few words. She also whipped the ground out from beneath me a few times, changing my expectations with the final line, which I enjoyed.” Goodreads, Reader Review
     
  4. “Laura has created beautiful snapshots, each one alive with precision and emotion. Each story excels in its originality, each one a complete tale, each carefully crafted without a word to spare.” Read an excellent review of 100neHundred – as well as an exclusive story extract- on Book Bound
     
  5. “Such a wonderful collection of human observation told in flash fiction.” Amazon Reader Review
     
  6. “If, like me, you worry that short fiction can sometimes be a little pretentious or isolating, fear not – this is wholly accessible and a joy to read rather than a puzzle to try to piece together.”  @tillylovesbooks reviews 100neHundred on instagram
  7. “I always think it’s remarkable when such short fiction can be so impactful.” Goodreads, Reader Review
     
  8. “Besley writes with sensitivity and an acute awareness of what to include in the frame and what to omit… Every story in 100neHundred is worthy of a re-read; the entire collection deserves many more.” Daniel Clark offers high praise in Briefly Zine
     
  9. “This well-crafted collection tantalizes very quickly and delivers potent moments, creative economies, and clever tours of humanity.” Goodreads, Reader Review
     
  10. “Turning the pages of Laura Besley’s 100neHundred flash fiction stories is as delightful as being inside a huge box of chocolates… bite-size stories meet with you for any and every occasion; they will delight every literary palate.” Read the full review by Elizabeth Chell on Everybody’s Reviewing
 

 If you already have a copy of 100neHundred but haven’t yet left a review on Goodreads or one of the online retailers, then please do! Reader reviews make a huge difference to both the publisher and the author:

“I recently told a friend, who was about to publish her first collection, that reviews will make you cry. Not just the bad ones, although they make you cry too, but the good ones. Especially the good ones. It’s nothing short of magical when you read someone else’s words about your words: sometimes they are kind, considerate and thoughtful, sometimes they are insightful, and sometimes they convey exactly what you were trying to achieve and it is this, all of this, that overwhelms you emotionally, because the hard work, the early mornings and late nights, the writing and rewriting, the editing and re-editing, is worth it for someone else’s enjoyment of your writing.” – Laura Besley 

If you don’t have a copy of 100neHundred, you can buy one from our webshop here.

 

Love Audio Week: Accidental Flowers

Posted on by
Reply

“A fascinating and imaginative vision of the future, built on the foundations of our current climate crisis. You get to follow the overall story from multiple view points which allows multiple other issues to be delicately explored through a variety of characters.

A really pleasant surprise from a book I hadn’t heard of! I would recommend it to anyone wanting an interesting, entertaining and thought provoking read.” Audible Review

Our #LoveAudio post today is an extract from the audiobook of Accidental Flowers, a novel in short stories by Lily Peters.

This title was another multi-voiced audiobook. The clip above is narrated by Beth Frieden and we also got to work with several other fantastic voice actors and narrators, including Tigger Blaize. Tigger said:

“I loved playing Robin [in Accidental Flowers]! With each role like this, we get closer to having a trans cannon of stories and characters. It’s a brilliant book with a real mix of voices.”

#LoveAudio is the Publisher’s Association annual week-long digital celebration of audiobooks is designed to showcase the accessibility, innovation, and creativity of the format. Follow the hashtag on twitter.

Love Audio Week: 100neHundred

Posted on by
Reply

One of the most interesting things about publishing our titles as audio books is when we are working with anthologies and collections that need a multi-voice approach. This creates the challenge of finding authentic, representative voices for each story or poem within the collection – without having to recruit a cast of thousands! 

Today for #LoveAudio week we are sharing an audio excerpt from one of the most multifariously voiced books we have ever published: 100neHundred by Laura Besley is a collection of 100 stories, each of exactly 100 words. We’re delighted to share two stories from this brilliant book, one read by Cornelia Colman and one by Shubhita Chaturvedi:

“The book gives the reader the feeling of voyeurism as if we are taking a glimpse behind the curtain of lives unraveling, of decisions being made behind closed doors, of peeking at the most intimate of moments. It’s melancholic, heartrending, hard hitting and joyous all in one!” Ross Jeffrey

#LoveAudio is the Publisher’s Association annual week-long digital celebration of audiobooks is designed to showcase the accessibility, innovation, and creativity of the format. Follow the hashtag on twitter.

Love Audio Week: Incorcisms

Posted on by
Reply

For #LoveAudio week today we have an unsettling tale by short story writer David Hartley, read brilliantly by Margaret Ashley.

Margaret is an actress and multi-nominated voice actor – she is currently nominated for the Best Radio Drama Performance in the 2021 OneVoice Awards – and we are delighted to have had the opportunity to work with her on several of our recent audio books.

This is ‘Mothering’, from Incorcisms:

 

 

”David Hartley’s tiny fictions are elusive and teasing and true. They’re like the fading echoes of dreams you struggle to remember when you wake up in the morning – the bits that you know didn’t quite make sense, and made you feel strange and a little unnerved, but you knew were important, so important, if only you could hold on to them forever.” – Robert Shearman

#LoveAudio is the Publisher’s Association annual week-long digital celebration of audiobooks is designed to showcase the accessibility, innovation, and creativity of the format. Follow the hashtag on twitter.

Short Stories written just for you

Posted on by
1

As part of our Solstice Shorts fundraising for Longest Night, author David Mathews is offering to write two stories specifically for the lucky people who offer us the requisite funds, and would make a perfect present! Written to order of course, so there will probably not be time for it to be a christmas (or solstice!) present, but if you have someone with a birthday coming up…

David says:

I’d be happy to write a hand-made story (subject to be negotiated) for someone who would like to give it as a present or similar. Up to 1000 words for,  a pledge of £100.
I would be willing to do you two. (Ts & Cs: I’d need two weeks notice, minimum. Customers print for themselves.)

I was thinking of writing to a topic or theme that the recipient reader is interested in. It could have their name in it, of course – the night Fred Bloggs jammed with Bob Marley or discovered the world’s most valuable stamp. As long as it’s a bit of fun/moving/affirming for the recipient and lets them know, more or less, that someone loves them.
It would need a chat on the phone, maybe a bit of research, a first draft and then bingo!
If someone shows interest and says could David …? You can get them to check with me.

If you like the idea of this, you can contribute to our crowd fund campaign here

Brockley Max Feast Tales the videos

Video

Reply

Video from our feast of food stories at the Brockley Deli as part of Brockley Max festival.

You may notice something about these videos, you may not… see below*

Snippets from the longer works, and the complete poems. Mostly the readers are the wonderful Gloria Sanders and Peter Noble, but the equally marvellous Joan Taylor-Rowan read her own story.

Peter reading from Devilskein & Dearlove by Alex Smith

Joan reading from Feeding Time

Gloria & Peter reading from Monsieur Fromage (Lovers’ Lies) by Rosalind Stopps (the full video is available on Youtube

Peter & Gloria reading from Christmas, Presents by Jason Jackson

Peter reading April is the Cruellest Month by Rob Walton

Gloria reading Laureate by Jennifer A McGowan

*A new experience for me, matching sound files to video – the aircon (or something) at the Brockley Deli interfered with the sound on the video so I had to use the recordings from my audio machine. Something of a challenge getting them in sync!

Liberty Tales update

Posted on by
2

We have our final line up for next Thursday, 18th June, 7pm

at West Greenwich Library SE10 8NN.

We are celebrating the 800th anniversary of the signing of Magna Carta with songs, stories, and a poem; all of which are free.

Books will be on sale in the interval, and wine, tea and coffee are available for a donation. There may be snacks as well, depending on whether we have time to source them on the day along with everything else.

Stories

The King’s Computer by Liam Hogan read by the author
Promotional Samples by Carolyn Eden read by the author
Lag by Jim Cogan read by the author
Into the Blue by Nick Rawlinson read by Stuart Crossman
Poppies by Helen Morris read by Louisa Gummer
Stopped by a Busker by Owen Townend read by Stuart Crossman
Bothered by Sarah Evans read by Carrie Cohen

Songs from Summer All Year Long, an informal gaggle of friends who sing together and collaborate on projects when the mood takes them.

Cotton Augustus II.106

 

 

 

Liberty Tales coming up

Posted on by
Reply

7pm 18th June 2015

West Greenwich Library, Greenwich High Road, SE10 8NN

Cotton Augustus II.106When we first had the idea for Liberty Tales, (chance meeting at Canada Water Station, it’s a long story) we thought we would be celebrating 800 years of Magna Carta, with, perhaps some historical fiction, and some rousing songs

Well, no, not exactly.

That’s the fun of an open call, you get what you get; and what we got in response to the call out for stories about Liberty, was mostly about living outside the system, and self-expression and choice; and the songs have turned out to be about making things work by not judging others, and working together to get the bright fair future, although they fit surprisingly well with the stories – you’d almost think we planned it!

So we’ve called in some favours to vary the flavour, and now have a rather bleak piece of fantasy, and a story about very much being IN the system…

Our  line up of stories are from:

Liam Hogan The King’s Computer

Carolyn Eden (aka Carrie Cohen, when she reads for us) Promotional Samples of London Town

Jim Cogan Lag

Helen Morris Poppies (read by Carrie Cohen)

Nick Rawlinson Into the Blue (read by Stuart Crossman)

Sarah Evans Bothered (read by Carrie Cohen)

Owen Townend Stopped by a Busker (read by Stuart Crossman)

Thanks to our friends at Better Libraries for hosting us!