CHOICES, CHOICES by Penny Dolan - with additional information from Philip Caveney.

  

So, the first of September arrives. A time of positive planning for the months ahead but, oh, so many hard decisions!  Should one opt for last minute places at the autumn conferences, like the National Association of Writers in Education (NAWE) at York? 

Or keep a writerly nose strictly fixed on the screen and WIP - and just finish the damn story thing? 

After all, the Frankfurt Book Fair is looming and editors may be on the lookout, assuming you also fixed that matter of becoming an overnight celebrity. 

  Or should one rush for tickets to October’s book events, like the 40th Ilkley Literature Festival and more? 

If so, will you be hoping for deep literary understanding and inspiration? Or will you be watching for ways to improve one’s own possibly jaded performances? Such ice in the author’s heart! 

Or should one hold back on committing to October events in case the few schools still able and willing to fund author visits decide to contact you? Should you choose to eat or pay your bills, perhaps?

Then there’s that long-neglected website, needing the botox of attention. Or perhaps it is the moment to re-activate the half-forgotten blog? The one you began in the hope of rousing the nation – nay, the world! - into buying your books? Choices, choices, choices!

September is a month for wistfulness too. How swiftly the summer days - having arrived – seem to be over.

And with that, yet another chance for visiting the Edinburgh Festival in all its many forms. 

Was I, as Facebook suggested, the only person not attending?

 So there's a quick extra item today . Here, for those of you whose summer was mostly at a desk, not on some remote Scottish island or idling near Padstow - are one of our newest blogger’s responses to the Edinburgh Fringe 2013.

Philip Caveney on the Highs and Lows of the Fringe.

This was my third visit in a row to The Fringe and it’s always one of the year’s highlights. In 2011, I was there in my capacity as a writer, but this year, I went along as a punter along with my partner, Susan and my daughter, Grace. Thanks to the kindness of my friends, Sally and Gus, we were able to stay in a rather swish apartment on the Quarter Mile, a stone’s throw from some of the hottest events of the festival. If you’ve never visited the Festival, you really must make the effort to go. There’s a real buzz there, and those of you who enjoy celeb-spotting will have a field day. On this trip alone, we saw (and in some cases spoke to) Stewart Lee, Richard Herring, Rebecca Hall (actually staying in our apartment complex!) Nina Conte, Sandi Toksvig, Simon Amstell, Mark Little, Sean Hughes… and many more.

Our first visit this year was to see Stewart Lee at the Assembly Rooms, George Street, with his new show, Carpet Remnant World. We all love Lee’s work and we’d failed to get tickets for him the year before, so this was a must-see. (We were quite surprised to meet him actually handing out fliers as we went in!) I’m happy to report that he was as cerebral, analytical and vitriolic as ever, so we awarded him 5 stars.

(And no, this photo isn't Stewart Lee with Philip Caveney! One's a Plague Doctor. Ed.)

Next up was the National Theatre of Scotland’s musical, An Appointment With The Wicker Man (again at The Assembly, George Street). We’re all fans of the original film and though knowledge of it isn’t essential, it certainly helps! The show was, quite simply, hilarious, full of sly in-jokes and totally inappropriate dance routines. Another 5 star show!

As a Ray Bradbury fan of long standing, I was intrigued to pick up a flier for The Lonely One (Underbelly, Cowgate) an adaptation of a chapter from his novel Dandelion Wine. The company did a lovely job of interpreting the tale through spoken word and shadows and light, managing to perfectly capture the spirit of 1920’s Americana. On the downside, the cheek-by-jowl venue meant that we could hear another actor bellowing his lines in the adjoining theatre through some of The Lonely One’s quieter sections. 4 stars, nevertheless.

Another performer at the Assembly Rooms was Scottish poet Liz Lochead, who also turned out to be an engaging and charming performer. 4 stars.

As Heaton Moor residents, we had to see Punk Rock, by local author Simon Stephens at Space 1, and I’m glad we did, because this hard-hitting play set in a Stockport school was brilliantly performed by the young cast and fully deserved a wider audience. 4 stars.

The following morning saw us enjoying Shakespeare For Breakfast at Venue C34. Well, that’s to say, we enjoyed the Shakespeare, a lively reinterpretation of Romeo & Juliet incorporating a host of contemporary references. The breakfast was rather  underwhelming, comprising as it did, one solitary stale, cold croissant (the coffee machine was on the blink) 4 stars, though I did consider deduction one star for the croissant!

Of course, the run of 4 and 5 star shows couldn’t last, but Amy Lamé’s, Unhappy Birthday was so awful, it barely warranted a single star. Lured along by the fact that the show was about Morrissey (or more accurately his absence from Amy’s birthday party) we had high hopes that were soon flattened . . .

It wouldn’t be the Edinburgh fringe without Richard Herring (we’ve seen his show on our previous two visits) so off we went to the Udderbelly, Bristo Square to see his latest effort, Talking C**k. (Their asterisks, not mine!) While it might not have reached the heights of Christ On A Bike, it was nonetheless funny and thought-provoking and I was amazed to spot Richard in the local Starbucks, only a couple of hours before the show. I hammered on the window and bellowed my praise in his general direction, which was probably quite disconcerting for him. 4 stars.

What a busy few days! Thank you for this account and critique, Philip.

 Hmmm. Clearly, I will need the next eleven months to build up my personal stamina if I have any hopes of seeing all there will be to be seen at Edinburgh 2014. Especially the Children's Book Festival!

 

Oh. Bother. Isn't that another thing I need to make choices about? It never gets easier, does it?

So, do you have any Autumn author goals or promises?

www.pennydolan.com 

A Boy Called M.O.U.S.E. Bloomsbury.

Fizzle and Pop (Author Talks)

By Ruth Symes / Megan Rix

Some authors love giving talks about their books and have a natural talent for it. Others find the whole thing terrifying. I think I’m in the middle, usually when I accept the invitation I like the idea, on the morning of the day I wonder why on earth I ever said yes, love doing the actual talk once I’ve started it, and am happy once it’s done.

There's thousands of horror stories of poor author's travelling for hours, through torrential rain and snow storms, only to find no one's coming to their event, or worse the event organiser has forgotten they were even coming. This did actually happen to me (minus the weather). I was invited back for a second visit to a bookstore at a shopping centre after the first had gone really well – you'd think you’d be safe on a second visit!!! But when I got there I was told sorry we don’t have you down as visiting us and the staff member who arranged it is not here today… Grrr… The only good thing was that when I went to buy a coffee in Debenhams to console myself I was served by the mother of a little boy who’d been very quiet at the previous event. She told me how once they’d got home (he was three) he went tearing round the house with his new book and proceeded to sing the song we’d sang and remembered all the dance moves and wanted to make a Harriet Dancing butterfly which he’d been too shy to do during the actual event.

Sorry sidetrack thought – but what is it with parents of toddlers being so competitive about who can do the best colouring-in and make the best craft flower and then say their child did it????

I've given talks for all different ages from 6 months old to 86 years young. Usually I love doing talks and events around my picture books – but then who wouldn’t like stamping about and growling with a Little Rex puppet at Narberth Festival or butterfly dancing with Dancing Harriet at Wytchwood and Bath Festivals?

This year I took part in ‘Scarefest’ organized by Formby Books to promote my Bella Donna stories and came on stage as an incompetent witch, complete with a broomstick full of fairy lights, who needed the children's help. I was also hobbling about as I’d sprained my ankle the day before.

There must be something in this
cauldron

 My alter ego, Megan Rix, has had more invitations to talk about The Great Escape than I can accept (have to get some writing done after all!) and so Puffin are kindly organizing a promotional tour for my second book in the series ‘Victory Dogs’ from the 29-April - 3 May 2013 with a book signing at my favourite Bedford Watersones on the 4^th, hopefully. They’re my favourite because they always welcome my golden retriever, Traffy, along too and make a big fuss of her. If I can take my dog along to an event I’m happy – she’s a Pets As Therapy dog who’s just about to start doing the Read2Dogs school scheme; a total softy who loves being fussed.  

The biggest and best difference between talks given by myself as Megan Rix and myself as Ruth Symes, from my POV, is that as Megan Rix I have Hannah from Puffin to organize things. With Hannah on board Megan Rix’s talks now come with power-point presentations and lovely photos of some of the amazing search and rescue dogs in WW2 that saved hundreds of lives.

Best of all I like having Hannah there (if I can’t have Traffy) because it means I have someone to laugh with when/if something goes wrong.

Talks by Megan can be arranged via  Hannah.McMillan@uk.penguingroup.com 

Megan's website is www.meganrix.com. Her latest book is The Great Escape

Ruth’s website is www.ruthsymes.com. Ruth’s latest book is Cat Magic reviewed by Ed's Reading Room as 'another magical tale by this fantastic writer.'

My other dog Bella wearing her Halloween wings