Tag Archives: #Arachne5

#Arachne5 Thank you’s and Author catch up, Lovers’ Lies

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With the 5th Anniversary celebrations heading into view I was thinking about the thank you speech, and like the Oscars it is in danger of going on, and on. And on. So I thought I’d blog it instead, a section at a time. So I’ve been catching up with authors past and present in the course of the fifth anniversary planning to ask what they are up to now, (not that I don’t know in some cases)  because after all, without them there would BE no Arachne Press.

Several of them will be at the party, TOMORROW and even reading, come along and say hello, it’s free (but ticketed)

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Alison Willis
Bartle Sawbridge Since Lovers Lies was published I have read from it in a packed room at Keats’ House, a literary festival in Faversham, and lots else in between. I self-published my first novel, A Piece of String two years ago, (look at the excellent reviews on Amazon, and buy it!) and I’m making good progress on its sequel, based not in inner London but in a fictional village in Middle England.

Bobbie Darbyshire Since Lovers’ Lies came out, Bobbie Darbyshire’s third novel, OZ, was published in 2014 and has received much praise on Amazon.  She has completed a fourth, Thinner Than Water, and embarked on a fifth.

Catherine Sharpe
Cherry Potts Running Arachne gets in the way of much writing, but I’ve managed to squeeze a story into most of the anthologies, and publish a collection and a novel, and had several stories published elsewhere.

 

 

Clare Sandling
Darren Lee
Jason Jackson
Jessica Lott
Mi L Holliday Since being published in Lovers’ Lies a poem of mine, A Mother’s Concern, was published in Shooter Literary Magazine, Issue #3: Surreal. Also, myself and my colleagues here in Japan are gearing up for a big seminar on English education to be held at the end of September 2017. This is the culmination of three years of efforts to integrate new teaching methods and technology into elementary and junior high foreign language classrooms, and we’re all very nervous and excited about presenting the results! Hope everyone will wish us luck!
Michael McLaughlin
Michelle Shine
Nichol Wilmor
Nathan Good
Peter Higgins
Rebecca Gould
Richard Smyth
Rob Cox
Rosalind Stopps

copyright Huntley Hedworth

Tania Hershman I’ve published four new books since 2013 – I’m co-author, with Courttia Newland, of Writing Short Stories: A Writers and Artists Companion (Bloomsbury, 2014), my first poetry pamphlet, Nothing Here Is Wild, Everything Is Open (Southword, 2016), won 2nd prize in the Fool For Poetry chapbook contest and was published in February 2016, and in 2017 my third short story collection, Some of Us Glow More Than Others (Unthank Books) and my debut poetry collection, Terms and Conditions (Nine Arches Press), were published. I founded ShortStops, a hub for all things short story in the UK and Ireland in November 2013, and I am now on the last leg of a PhD in creative writing inspired by particle physics, and am a Royal Literary Fund writing fellow at Manchester University.  www.taniahershman.com

Tom Conoboy  It’s been a busy couple of years writing-wise for me. I completed my PhD after five years and I was free to get back to my own writing. What a release that is! The joy of writing! I’ve completed one novel, the story of a young American girl who arrives in Scotland in 1985 in search of the key to her identity and I’ve just finished the first draft of my second novel, based on a real life murder in Perth in 1935.

 

#Arachne5 The Poet’s Journal Scott-Patrick Mitchell

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As part of our Arachne 5th Anniversary celebrations, we’ve asked all of our authors to come up with a blog, that might have something to do with writing or anniversaries. Some of them responded! This one is from Scott-Patrick Mitchell whose poem we published in Shortest Day, Longest Night.

This July I celebrated a really important anniversary as a writer. It wasn’t anything to do with love or marriage or raising kids, although you could say it contained elements of these. No, this July I celebrated the 20 year anniversary of keeping a journal.

What started in 1997 as a recommendation from a university lecturer has turned into a love and obsession spanning two decades. My journals have become a crucial factor to my development as a poet, writer, creative and thinker. Journals are where words first fall, scattering across the pages in a scribble and scrawl, writing and drawl. Here, I unearth the bones of poems and concepts, draw mind maps and lists of things to achieve, collage cut ups when my brain won’t poem.

Since beginning the process, I have completed 75 journals, roughly 3.75 per year. When it comes to my journals, I know exactly which one contains which draft. They’re my own personal database, a seed bank of potential new ideas in the advent of my own personal blocks and apocalypses.

 

 

 

I thought that, for Arachne Press’ fifth birthday, I would share an insight into my own process of journal keeping. So, my basic rules for journals are:

I always use blank paged journals. I don’t know about you, but lined pages remind me of high school. There’s something a little restricting about a lined page: my brain keeps thinking it should be writing a list, filling up the lines or, worse, completing homework. Unlined pages liberate my imagination.

A pure blank page reminds me of a page in a book in the moments before the ink of words are printed into it. As such, my mind opens and I fill the page however I want. If lined pages work for you, that’s awesome. But if you struggle with them, maybe switch it up.

At the beginning of each new journal, write a list of things you’re interested in exploring in this edition of your practice. You don’t have to stick to this list, but it works as something to come back to if you ever get ‘stuck’.

Speaking of getting ‘stuck’ – or as we call it, writers block – one technique I use to overcome this is collage. Cut up images from a magazine, instinctively, and make an image. Then, write in response to this image. Use the adage ‘first thought / best thought’ for this exercise.

Make up your own rules. Your journal is a safe space for your writing. Be wild, be formal, experiment, try. Explore. Allow yourself to be messy. And tidy.

On completion, title each journal. Go through it, find a common theme and from this, create a title. The title makes it easier to remember which journal is which, which draft is where.

Hopefully, these insights might be of assistance to other writers, especially those in the early stages of their career. And remember, these insights might not work for everybody, but will certainly provide you with options.

Come to the Party! free, but ticketed.

#Arachne5 Thank you’s and Authors catch up Stations

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With the 5th Anniversary celebrations heading into view I was thinking about the thank you speech, and like the Oscars it is in danger of going on, and on. And on. So I thought I’d blog it instead, a section at a time. So I’ve been catching up with authors past and present in the course of the fifth anniversary planning to ask what they are up to now, (not that I don’t know in some cases)  because after all, without them there would BE no Arachne Press.

Several of them will be at the party, and even reading, come along and say hello, it’s free (but ticketed)

As they were…

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What they are doing now…

Adrian Gantlope
Andrew Blackman Since Stations was published, I’ve had my second novel A Virtual Love published, and am at work on a new one. I’ve also been travelling around Europe and North Africa for three years, freelancing to pay the travel expenses as I go.

Anna Fodorova My novel The Training Patient was published by Karnac in 2015 and is now in the process of being translated into Czech to be published by Prague publisher LABYRINT next year. I am writing another novel called In the Blood.

Bartle Sawbridge Since Stations was published I have read from it and Lovers Lies to two people and a dog in a public library in Harrow, a packed room at Keats’ House, a literary festival in Faversham, and lots else in between.I self-published my first novel, A Piece of String two years ago, (look at the excellent reviews on Amazon, and buy it!) and I’m making good progress on its sequel, based not in inner London but in a fictional village in Middle England.

Caroline Hardman I’m still writing, although not as much as I would like to… I went  freelance a few years ago, and that took over my life a little more than I thought it would! However, I do have a story (Straw Houses) appearing in the forthcoming Stories for Homes 2, a charity anthology raising money for Shelter. The e-book is due for publication next month and a paperback version in November.
The other project I’ve been working on over the summer is Raw Stories, a new fiction podcast which launches 4th September! A new episode every fortnight. I read a story (which may still be a work in progress – hence the ‘raw’ in the  title) and then chat a little bit about it afterwards.  It’s on iTunes or there’s an RSS feed.  I’m tweeting about it  @rawstoriespod.

Cherry Potts Running Arachne gets in the way of much writing, but I’ve managed to squeeze a story into most of the anthologies, and publish a collection and a novel, and had several stories published elsewhere.

 

 

David Bausor
Ellie Stewart Since being published in Stations I’ve had my writing published in various places including Popshot Magazine, Ink Sweat and Tears and Hippocampus Magazine. I spent 3 months travelling round New Zealand in a camper van with my partner at the end of 2016, and I’m currently working for a children’s charity in Kent.

 

Jacqueline Downs

 

 

 

 

Joan Taylor-Rowan

Katy Darby 

 

 

 

 

Louise Swingler
Max Hawker
Michael Trimmer
Paula Read
Peter Cooper
Peter Morgan
Rob Walton Since being lucky enough to have two stories in Stations, Rob Walton has been writing flash fictions and poetry, appearing in various anthologies and magazines.  Publishers included Butcher’s Dog, The Emma Press, Sidekick Books and The Interpreter’s House. A poem for children found its way onto the 2016 National Poetry Day website, and he won the 2015 National Flash Fiction Day micro-fiction competition.

 

Rosalind Stopps
Wendy Gill Since being published in Stations, one of my stories was chosen for the inaugural anthology Words and Women One, and I was delighted to have another story published last by Arachne Press in Shortest day, Longest Night. I have written and released a charity Christmas single and my musical That Man had it’s West End debut at The Hippodrome in 2016.

It’s #ReadABookDay let’s make it easy #Arachne5

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As part of our fifth anniversary celebrations (8th Sept! Party!) we have reduced the price of our first 5 books to £5.

get them here.

bookshops – we’ve set up with our distributors NBNi that you can get these books at trade discount to sell for £5 too!

#Arachne5 The Hazlenut Grove Paula Read

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As part of our Arachne 5th Anniversary celebrations, we’ve asked all of our authors to come up with a blog, that might have something to do with writing or anniversaries. Some of them responded! This one is from Paula Read whose work we published in Stations

 

The publication by Arachne Press of my two stories in Stations back in 2012 was a significant moment for me. I’ve made my living as a journalist and teacher, so writing has always been essential to those roles. I continued to squeeze imaginative writing into this life and, like most aspiring writers, had folders full of half-finished novels and abandoned stories.

Publication by Arachne, however, changed everything. It signalled that I could write a story that someone else would want to read. It signalled that I should be serious about writing for publication. It signalled potential.

But I realized I needed help – and deadlines. I signed up for a creative writing MA, with a non-fiction book in mind, and with time to devote to it. I am about to start my second year, with many thousands of words still to write – and I am having the time of my life.

A huge thank-you, therefore, to Arachne for the part it has played. Without Arachne’s founder Cherry Potts and her decision to publish my stories, I should not now be able to say the following: I expect to finish my book, the story of my cousin’s eventful move to a mountain top in Italy, by the end of 2018. Look out for The Hazelnut Grove by Paula Read.

Come to the 5th anniversary Party! free, but ticketed

#Arachne5 Thank you’s and Authors catch up London Lies

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With the 5th Anniversary celebrations heading into view I was thinking about the thank you speech, and like the Oscars it is in danger of going on, and on. And on. So I thought I’d blog it instead, a section at a time. So I’ve been catching up with authors past and present in the course of the fifth anniversary planning to ask what they are up to now, (not that I don’t know in some cases)  because after all, without them there would BE no Arachne Press.

Several of them are reading at the party, come along and say hello, it’s free (but ticketed)

as they were…

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As they are now…
Alan McCormick
Cherry Potts Running Arachne gets in the way of much writing, but I’ve managed to squeeze a story into most of the anthologies, and publish a collection and a novel, and had several stories published elsewhere.
 
 
 
 
recently performed a new play, Leaves at the Edinburgh Fringe
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Emily Cleaver
Emily Pedder I recently set up an editorial consultancy, The Book Edit offering editorial advice and developmental edits to writers of fiction and non-fiction. 
Harry Whitehead
James Smyth
Jason Jackson
Joan Taylor-Rowan
Katy Darby
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Laura Martz
Laura Williams
Liam Hogan My two stories published in London Lies in 2012 were my first to find their way into print, quite a lot has happened since! I’m now in over forty anthologies, ranging from Alice in Wonderland to Sci-Fi steampunk. Full list here  I even snuck a story into NewCon Press’s Best of British Science Fiction 2016, and, of course, this year Arachne published my collection of twisted fantasy, Happy Ending Not Guaranteed. Here’s to what the next five years may bring!
Martin Pengelly
Nichol Wilmor
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

#Arachne5 Joy Howard

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As part of our Arachne 5th Anniversary celebrations, we’ve asked all of our authors to come up with a blog, that might have something to do with writing or anniversaries. Some of them responded! This one is from Joy Howard whose collection Foraging we published this year.

Cover Karen Keogh

A real pleasure getting my third collection (but my first with Arachne) underway with Cherry. Carefully edited and beautifully produced. Some poetry publishers produce a nice book and that’s it, but as most poets love showing off, it’s good to have a publisher who also actually sets up reading opportunities. So Happy Anniversary, Arachne, and all power to your elbow for 2018 and beyond.

Pictures (by Nelly Naylor) of Joy getting her chance to ‘Show Off’

Joy Howard reading from Foraging

Kate and Joy signing books

Come to the Party where other people will be showing off!

#Arachne5 thank you Artists

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Over the years (five of them!) we’ve published books (16 of them!) and that’s meant we’ve needed covers.

Some of them I’ve done myself either due to lack of funds or because I had a good idea and a photo that would work, others we’ve had competitions to find artists, and yet more we’ve gone back to artists we’ve worked with because we LOVE their designs. (Some we would like to have gone back to but they aren’t doing book covers any more.)

Mostly they are shy folk and don’t much show their faces, but we still want to give them all a thank you.

Thank you to:

Annie Rickard Straus (Lovers’ Lies)

 

 

 

 

 

Zoe Lee (The Other Side of Sleep)

 

 

 

 

 

Melina Traub (Mosaic of Air)

 

 

 

 

 

Gail Brodholt (Stations)

 

 

 

 

 

Lucy Reynolds (The Dowry Blade)

 

 

 

 

 

Karen Keogh (London Lies, Foraging)

 

 

 

 

 

Ed Boxall (Devilskein & Dearlove, The Old Woman from Friuli)

 

 

 

 

 

Kevin Thelfall (Weird Lies, With Paper for Feet, Happy Ending NOT Guaranteed)

 

 

 

 

 

Gordy Wright (Brat, and forthcoming: Spellbinder, Wolftalker and possibly A Gift of Rivers – no image yet only asked him this week)

Come to the PARTY on the 8th September.

#Arachne5 One Reason to be Cheerful Pippa Gladhill

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As part of our Arachne 5th Anniversary celebrations, we’ve asked all of our authors to come up with a blog, that might have something to do with writing or anniversaries. Some of them responded! This one is from Pippa Gladhill whose work we published in Solstice Shorts: 16 Stories about Time, and Shortest Day, Longest Night

Yes, the whole world is breaking down, and here we all are heading merrily to hell on the hand cart, so, to counter this, let me offer you one small, beautiful reason to be cheerful.  A swift.  A small, birdy miracle. Not that I believe in miracles but can find no adequate word to describe their extraordinary existence.

They fly solo. What this means is that when the baby swift leaves the nest in the UK it flies – never having done this before – all the way to Southern Africa and then all the way back to the UK the following year, with no-one showing it the way.  Seriously how do they do this? I mean I can’t navigate my way out of a signed car park. Or out of a badly written sentence.

A swift weighs, apparently, around 40 grams. It spends its entire life on the wing. Think about that. It sounds like hard work. It mates on the wing, drinks rain water on the wing, catches airborne insects on the wing, uses airborne straw and random airborne leaves for nest-building. It even – I can’t get my head around this  – sleeps on the wing. How? How does it do this? The peregrine falcon flies faster whilst diving in  a stoop, but in horizontal flight the swift is the fastest flying bird reaching a recorded 69 mph. It is the essence of flight.

This year, the swifts were here, in the south-west, on Friday 5th May. They always turn up on this date. I look out for them, and in the evening, summer has arrived as they wheel and swoop in at the end of their 14, 000 mile return trip. Their screaming calls are the sound of summer itself. I count them. There are, of course, fewer now than twenty years ago, because yes, the world is breaking down and we are too careless as a species to mind about any of this. But this is striking the wrong note here. So, my Arachne writer friends, one small, beautiful reason to be cheerful and one small reason to keep on writing is, each year, the swifts arrive.

#Arachne5 thank-you’s: Musicians

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With the 5th Anniversary celebrations heading into view I was thinking about the thank you speech, and like the Oscars it is in danger of going on, and on. And on. So I thought I’d blog it instead, a section at a time.

What does a publisher need with musicians? Well, our regular events Solstice Shorts Festival (always), and The Story Sessions (usually), some of our launches and some of our writing workshops have included music – always acoustic, often folk, sometimes original, mostly but not exclusively songs, because we love the narrative power of a song.

Our most frequent collaborators are Ian Kennedy and Sarah Lloyd who have performed in just about every capacity we offer them.

 

Next most regular must be Annalie Wilson, who also reads for us and was our artist in residence for the last four Story Sessions..

Annalie Wilson

 

After that it’s our choir friends, in various guises, (there’s a lot of cross-over in choirs!) most frequently as Summer All Year Long, but also Vocal Chords and Raise the Roof

Will Evererett singing with Summer all Year Long

Summer All Year Long

© Ben Mueller-Brown benhasphotos.wordpress.com

Vocal Chords at WGL

more vocal chords (by Katy Darby)

Vocal Chords (by Katy Darby)

Vocal Chords Wassailing

For Solstice Shorts we really push the boat out, with (sometimes) music written for the occasion AND multiple musicians: Shadrack Tye, Pepper & Shepherd, Rosemary Lippard, Melanie Harrold, Juliet Desailly, Peter Thomas & Piotr Jordan (playing original music by Zac Gvirtzman), plus everyone already mentioned!

And finally… Lester Simpson, who runs singing workshops for us once or twice a year and teaches us amazing songs that find their way into our events, and the repetoire of choirs all over London; and has become a friend along the way.

Will there be music at the Anniversary celebrations on the 8th September? Of course there will! Book your free ticket now!