In two months, I will be 31 years old (I'm writing this at the end of April 2012). I'm not someone who gets bothered or stressed about age - it's a numerical value that measures my biological ageing, and that's it.
In terms of cynicism, however, I'm about 85. In terms of humour, I range between 12 and 50, depending on the day and the situation.
Despite all the above, it does occasionally catch me off-guard when I realise that I'm old enough to vote - I have to think "Where have the intervening years gone?" This is never more prevalent than when I'm around children. This isn't often, as I don't have any of my own (and don't really have any major paternal instincts!), but some of my friends have children, and I've mentioned two of them before. I've known them since they were born and they're part of the family in every way but biologically.
Eleven Year Old got into the secondary school of his choice recently, and in what I can only describe as a moment of madness, I decided to offer to take him on a day-trip to somewhere of his choice. The response was immediate; "Imperial War Museum."
Given my own love of history, I could hardly say no.
This brought up a new set of emotions, of course; as regular readers of my blog will know, I've been working hard over the past couple of years to overcome my dislike of travelling. "Feel the fear and do it anyway" has been my motto, and I've had so many more great experiences as a result - even if I have to spend some time controlling my anxieties.
It's hard to say whether or not it's easier travelling with people - there are pluses and minuses. Having other people around means we spread the responsibility of getting there, but if I feel anxious, I sometimes feel obliged to hide it. However, on the whole, travelling with people means that I feel more relaxed - but I like to travel by myself sometimes, to push myself that little bit further.
On a recent Saturday, however, I travelled up to London with Eleven Year Old - just the two of us, and so I was in loco parentis, and suddenly confronted with being completely responsible for someone who I am very fond of. Not being a father myself, I can't fully appreciate this level of responsibility, but I experienced it for a day - and I'm relieved to announce that we both came through it unscathed, with Eleven Year Old thinking that I actually knew what I was talking about.
The Kent to London high speed train is great - and long overdue. It's cut travel-time from my little corner of Kent to the centre of London dramatically, and we were at St Pancras in 75 minutes - and miraculously, I didn't have to do anything to entertain Eleven Year Old. It was almost as if he could entertain himself - amazing, I didn't realise children could do that.
The tubes were - of course - my major concern, especially as I wanted to make sure that we weren't separated in the rush; I remember going to the Science Museum with him, his mum and sister before and losing sight of them for a couple of minutes: my heart was in my mouth until we'd found them again, and I didn't want a repeat of that ... even more so as I was solely responsible for him.
Thankfully, it went without incident. Whilst I still have issues with travelling underground, it's amazing how, having to think of someone else's wellbeing really focuses your mind and pushes all the other gubbins to the back.
The Imperial War Museum was phenomenal, I must say; I'd never been before, and it was a truly fascinating place. Discussions about all the major conflicts in our past were done with a lot of sensitivity and awareness - even up to the current-day wars, which are politically contentious at the best of times, and I'm underselling that statement somewhat!
For me, what made me was the Trench Exhibition, where the WWI trenches were replicated with surprising realism; smells, sounds and light-levels were so precise, and it was quite a sobering experience - but interesting at the same time. We both liked it so much we went round twice.
After a stop in the gift shop and cafe (where I fed Eleven Year Old some e-numbers and made him promise not to tell his mum), we decided to head to Harrods' Toy Department so Eleven Year Old could spend his recently-acquired birthday money. When we arrived - well, I thought for a brief moment that his head was going to actually going to explode. The Toy Department was incredible, and even I was overwhelmed with it all.
I'm not a shopper - I loathe it with a vengeance. Even now, my mum tries to get me to go with her to the shops for some reason or another, and I resist with every fibre of my being - even internet shopping is too stressful for me. Eleven Year Old, however, temporarily cured me, at least for an hour - experiencing his sheer enthusiasm first hand was good to see.
Don't panic, readers, I returned to my usual cynicism very quickly afterwards.
So, all in all, a successful day; I was exhausted when we arrived home and Eleven Year Old's mum collected us from the station - clearly, age is catching up with me in that respect at least. Eleven Year Old has asked if we can go again ... when my feet and knees have recovered, we'll have to see. In a couple of weeks, it's his younger sister's turn to go out with me I'm thinking of buying knee supports and padded footwear!
Sunday, 29 April 2012
Sunday, 15 April 2012
Deaf Day 2012 ... & a Rather Good Lunch
For some reason, I've had a real problem deciding how to write the opening paragraph in this post. Still, I guess that problem has taken care of itself now. Moving swiftly on ...
On Saturday 14th April, I went along to City Lit (the adult learning centre in Camden, London) for the 16th annual Deaf Day. It's a day for a variety of agencies, groups and organisations to get together and talk to Deaf and hearing people about ... well, all sorts of Deaf issues.
I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I was there a good couple of hours (there were five floors, with innumerable groups on each), and it was an excellent event on a number of levels, the biggest one being that it was brilliant to be in a building where, for one day, the default language was sign language. Whenever I came across people I want to talk to, there was no obvious way of telling whether they were Deaf or not (short of asking them "Are you Deaf?" - even then, you'd have to sign to make sure!). So, signing was the order of the day - although I slipped up and spoke during the event as well (I'm not that fluent yet).
I met a lot of people from different agencies - Signature, Royal Association of the Deaf, British Deaf Association, exam boards, Deaf theatre groups, emergency services (I could go on, but won't - otherwise, it would just be a blatant attempt to increase the traffic to my blog, which would be simply UNHEARD of). It was fascinating to see work being done to increase Deaf awareness in industry, and it opened my eyes to the agencies that are committed to improving services to the Deaf community. Whilst I still think that there's a way to go, I'm heartened by the range of agencies available.
It was a really positive event - and I got to meet a couple of people I've been in touch with before over email for one reason or another (although missed out on a couple as well - sorry, guys!). It really set me thinking about the future and made me more dedicated to work with the Deaf community one way or another in the future. How that will happen, I don't know - it depends on where the need is, I suppose! That's a work in progress ...
Anyhow, after my friends and I had exhausted all the stands and floors, we left City Lit behind, our minds buzzing ... and found a very nice restaurant called Food for Thought (a veggie restaurant, which was like a dream come true for me!). I was tempted by a nearby cafe called Machiavelli, but decided against it as I'm sure someone would have found a joke somewhere!
A positive day; it's given me some more confidence in my own signing, especially as people seemed to understand me as I signed to them ... always a comfort! I've already got my place booked for next year - and I recommend to anyone with an interest.
On Saturday 14th April, I went along to City Lit (the adult learning centre in Camden, London) for the 16th annual Deaf Day. It's a day for a variety of agencies, groups and organisations to get together and talk to Deaf and hearing people about ... well, all sorts of Deaf issues.
I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I was there a good couple of hours (there were five floors, with innumerable groups on each), and it was an excellent event on a number of levels, the biggest one being that it was brilliant to be in a building where, for one day, the default language was sign language. Whenever I came across people I want to talk to, there was no obvious way of telling whether they were Deaf or not (short of asking them "Are you Deaf?" - even then, you'd have to sign to make sure!). So, signing was the order of the day - although I slipped up and spoke during the event as well (I'm not that fluent yet).
I met a lot of people from different agencies - Signature, Royal Association of the Deaf, British Deaf Association, exam boards, Deaf theatre groups, emergency services (I could go on, but won't - otherwise, it would just be a blatant attempt to increase the traffic to my blog, which would be simply UNHEARD of). It was fascinating to see work being done to increase Deaf awareness in industry, and it opened my eyes to the agencies that are committed to improving services to the Deaf community. Whilst I still think that there's a way to go, I'm heartened by the range of agencies available.
It was a really positive event - and I got to meet a couple of people I've been in touch with before over email for one reason or another (although missed out on a couple as well - sorry, guys!). It really set me thinking about the future and made me more dedicated to work with the Deaf community one way or another in the future. How that will happen, I don't know - it depends on where the need is, I suppose! That's a work in progress ...
Anyhow, after my friends and I had exhausted all the stands and floors, we left City Lit behind, our minds buzzing ... and found a very nice restaurant called Food for Thought (a veggie restaurant, which was like a dream come true for me!). I was tempted by a nearby cafe called Machiavelli, but decided against it as I'm sure someone would have found a joke somewhere!
A positive day; it's given me some more confidence in my own signing, especially as people seemed to understand me as I signed to them ... always a comfort! I've already got my place booked for next year - and I recommend to anyone with an interest.
Saturday, 7 April 2012
Inspired Quill's 1st Birthday!
This is an article (with a couple of very minor edits) that appeared on the Inspired Quill Publishers website in celebration of their first birthday.
Crumbs. IQ is a year old. Cor lummy.
Someone stop me now, please.
IQ had its 1st birthday yesterday – that’s incredible. It’s had an exciting journey so far – one which I know the awesome Sara (and her equally-awesome team) will be talking about on their rather spiffing new website, so I won’t regurgitate something that they will write about far better than I can.
I remember reading about IQ’s launch just at the point where I was about to give up on seeking publication for my manuscript (Fall From Grace). I’d not had any joy with the “Big Six”, nor had I got an agent, and I’d started to feel quite jaded by the entire process – and I’d only had a couple of short stories published before, so could understand why a lot of people gave up. I was a newbie, practically unpublished and fed up.
I almost didn’t send Fall From Grace to IQ. I almost threw my chance away. Thankfully, I was reminded of a saying that I would say to everyone else, but seemed to have forgotten to take on board for myself; “What do you have to lose?”
So I thought “sod it” and sent it off. In all honesty, I didn’t think I would get anywhere; I deliberately keep my hopes low (if not non-existent). As much as you plough on, determined to write the next book and forget about the rejections, they do sit in a tiny, dark corner in the back of your mind and occasionally come out to play at 3 o’clock on a dark and blustery Wednesday morning.
It was an email that banished those thoughts.
It was a Saturday morning, and I was in a local cafe with a friend, putting the world to rights, when my phone beeped. I’ve always cursed connecting my mobile phone to my email accounts – except for that one day. It was from Sara, saying that she wanted to publish Fall From Grace.
Well, after I’d had an emergency caffeine injection and hyper-ventilated into a bag for five minutes, I read it again … and again. In truth, it didn’t properly sink in until I was sat opposite Sara and Peter, who had travelled down to sunny Kent to celebrate Fall From Grace’s launch six months later, holding a copy of the book in my hands and still mildly stunned to have got to this point.
Let me rewind for a moment. I love writing – I’ve always loved writing. My dad was a journalist and both my parents loved reading, so there was always plenty of reading material around. At school, my favourite lesson was English (of course) and I toyed briefly with the thought of being a journalist. That dream ended when I realised that I hated deadlines and stress.
So, by a rather circuitous route, I worked in libraries, a college, a fostering agency, the police, and a few other places before ending up as a customer-facing public servant (By the way, Sara, there’s a book there, I guarantee it – we need to talk!). Throughout most of that time, I wrote – the odd snippet here, the first draft of a book there, etc, etc – because I couldn’t imagine not writing.
For a long time, I just wrote for fun … and then came to the slow realisation that there were people out there who made money out of this – and perhaps I could be one of them. To me, it’s a dream job – the one that I see myself doing for the rest of my career.
At the same time, I recognise that it can take a long time to become an overnight success.
Holding Fall From Grace in my hand for the first time represented the end of a period of hard work for a lot of people (I just wrote the thing – all the work involved in actually getting it published was a work of art in itself) and I was honoured to be the author of the first book published by IQ, in October 2011. More than that, however, was the feeling of just being published – having been accepted by a publishing house, actually getting to the end of that particular journey was awesome. Fellow writers will know exactly the feeling I’m talking about!
So here we are … a year after IQ was founded, and 7 months after its first book was published with more out there and more on the way (I know the titles of a couple of upcoming books, and I can’t wait to read them). It’s weird, you know – we had a big push to getting Fall From Grace “out there” that I hadn’t genuinely thought about what would happen afterwards. I’m actually going out and talking to people … surely there’s a law against then when you’re a writer? Still, the publicity side can be fun!
Happy Birthday, IQ – you’re a breath of fresh air in an industry that desperately needs it. You deserve a lot of successes – I think your future is very bright, and I’m looking forward to being involved with that future!
Crumbs. IQ is a year old. Cor lummy.
Someone stop me now, please.
IQ had its 1st birthday yesterday – that’s incredible. It’s had an exciting journey so far – one which I know the awesome Sara (and her equally-awesome team) will be talking about on their rather spiffing new website, so I won’t regurgitate something that they will write about far better than I can.
I remember reading about IQ’s launch just at the point where I was about to give up on seeking publication for my manuscript (Fall From Grace). I’d not had any joy with the “Big Six”, nor had I got an agent, and I’d started to feel quite jaded by the entire process – and I’d only had a couple of short stories published before, so could understand why a lot of people gave up. I was a newbie, practically unpublished and fed up.
I almost didn’t send Fall From Grace to IQ. I almost threw my chance away. Thankfully, I was reminded of a saying that I would say to everyone else, but seemed to have forgotten to take on board for myself; “What do you have to lose?”
So I thought “sod it” and sent it off. In all honesty, I didn’t think I would get anywhere; I deliberately keep my hopes low (if not non-existent). As much as you plough on, determined to write the next book and forget about the rejections, they do sit in a tiny, dark corner in the back of your mind and occasionally come out to play at 3 o’clock on a dark and blustery Wednesday morning.
It was an email that banished those thoughts.
It was a Saturday morning, and I was in a local cafe with a friend, putting the world to rights, when my phone beeped. I’ve always cursed connecting my mobile phone to my email accounts – except for that one day. It was from Sara, saying that she wanted to publish Fall From Grace.
Smithy with his copy of FFG
Well, after I’d had an emergency caffeine injection and hyper-ventilated into a bag for five minutes, I read it again … and again. In truth, it didn’t properly sink in until I was sat opposite Sara and Peter, who had travelled down to sunny Kent to celebrate Fall From Grace’s launch six months later, holding a copy of the book in my hands and still mildly stunned to have got to this point.
Let me rewind for a moment. I love writing – I’ve always loved writing. My dad was a journalist and both my parents loved reading, so there was always plenty of reading material around. At school, my favourite lesson was English (of course) and I toyed briefly with the thought of being a journalist. That dream ended when I realised that I hated deadlines and stress.
So, by a rather circuitous route, I worked in libraries, a college, a fostering agency, the police, and a few other places before ending up as a customer-facing public servant (By the way, Sara, there’s a book there, I guarantee it – we need to talk!). Throughout most of that time, I wrote – the odd snippet here, the first draft of a book there, etc, etc – because I couldn’t imagine not writing.
For a long time, I just wrote for fun … and then came to the slow realisation that there were people out there who made money out of this – and perhaps I could be one of them. To me, it’s a dream job – the one that I see myself doing for the rest of my career.
At the same time, I recognise that it can take a long time to become an overnight success.
Holding Fall From Grace in my hand for the first time represented the end of a period of hard work for a lot of people (I just wrote the thing – all the work involved in actually getting it published was a work of art in itself) and I was honoured to be the author of the first book published by IQ, in October 2011. More than that, however, was the feeling of just being published – having been accepted by a publishing house, actually getting to the end of that particular journey was awesome. Fellow writers will know exactly the feeling I’m talking about!
So here we are … a year after IQ was founded, and 7 months after its first book was published with more out there and more on the way (I know the titles of a couple of upcoming books, and I can’t wait to read them). It’s weird, you know – we had a big push to getting Fall From Grace “out there” that I hadn’t genuinely thought about what would happen afterwards. I’m actually going out and talking to people … surely there’s a law against then when you’re a writer? Still, the publicity side can be fun!
Happy Birthday, IQ – you’re a breath of fresh air in an industry that desperately needs it. You deserve a lot of successes – I think your future is very bright, and I’m looking forward to being involved with that future!
Sunday, 1 April 2012
Publicity
Fall From Grace has been on sale since October 2011 ... and sales are going nicely, thank you very much.
Hopefully, they'll start doing even better now, due to Inspired Quill (the awesome publishers of FFG) gaining some new staff in their Marketing Department and one of them (the lovely Sarah) working primarily on FFG. Seriously, when I was writing the book, I hadn't ever thought this far ahead ... and now we're talking about publicity. What the hell is going on with my life?
I've already done some interviews, mostly online, and I've loved that experience; I can get asked the odd question that really throws me and makes me think. Also, I can do them from the comfort of home over a broadband link ... just like this blog. This will always be the preferable option to vlogging for me, as I'm more relaxed with this style - being a writer and all!
In recent months, I've also done a couple of interviews for local papers, either face-to-face or over the phone. Here's one that was published in the local Isle of Thanet Gazette - http://www.thisiskent.co.uk/lifetime-love-words-leads-career-author/story-13819775-detail/story.html - and I include it because it's the first time I've ever actually featured in the paper and found it a surreal experience. Being recognised for it was even stranger, and being stopped in the middle of Tesco as a result of it was possibly one of the oddest experiences of my life so far.
A photographer came to my house the other week to take a picture of me and FFG for another paper, and one thing did make me chuckle. I'm not too facially expressive - there's always something going on in my brain, but it doesn't always outwardly show. I've felt quite proud of myself recently that I've begun to learn how to be a bit more expressive in certain situations. It doesn't always sit comfortably with me, but I do it to help other people try and understand what I'm thinking. Of course, it doesn't always work, but that's a blog for another time.
When the photographer was ready, he set up the shot he felt was best, looked into his camera, paused, and said as politely as possible, "Matthew, it might be a good idea to smile in the picture."
All credit to him for just saying it - I burst out laughing, because I'd been working so hard on facial expressions in preparation for my BSL exam that it surprised me I'd forgotten about it so soon after. Ah well, it's a work in progress! I'm looking forward to seeing that picture in the paper if for no other reason than to say; "Look, I am smiling!"
Anyhow, publicity is a necessary evil of successful book sales. I'm not someone who goes out of his way to seek publicity, but recognise its importance for my book, and so get stuck in wherever I need to. I've met some wonderful people at book groups (and have stayed in touch with some of them). I'm even giving a talk at a local school in a few weeks to a group of school children. What the hell am I thinking? Public speaking terrifies me. Who knows, but I'll give it a go nonetheless - you only live once, after all.
Has anyone had to do public speaking? What was the best & worst part of it? Do you speak in public regularly? Do you enjoy it or merely do it under sufferance? Let me know what you think ... I'm sure I'm not the only one who doesn't find it a natural experience!
Hopefully, they'll start doing even better now, due to Inspired Quill (the awesome publishers of FFG) gaining some new staff in their Marketing Department and one of them (the lovely Sarah) working primarily on FFG. Seriously, when I was writing the book, I hadn't ever thought this far ahead ... and now we're talking about publicity. What the hell is going on with my life?
I've already done some interviews, mostly online, and I've loved that experience; I can get asked the odd question that really throws me and makes me think. Also, I can do them from the comfort of home over a broadband link ... just like this blog. This will always be the preferable option to vlogging for me, as I'm more relaxed with this style - being a writer and all!
In recent months, I've also done a couple of interviews for local papers, either face-to-face or over the phone. Here's one that was published in the local Isle of Thanet Gazette - http://www.thisiskent.co.uk/lifetime-love-words-leads-career-author/story-13819775-detail/story.html - and I include it because it's the first time I've ever actually featured in the paper and found it a surreal experience. Being recognised for it was even stranger, and being stopped in the middle of Tesco as a result of it was possibly one of the oddest experiences of my life so far.
A photographer came to my house the other week to take a picture of me and FFG for another paper, and one thing did make me chuckle. I'm not too facially expressive - there's always something going on in my brain, but it doesn't always outwardly show. I've felt quite proud of myself recently that I've begun to learn how to be a bit more expressive in certain situations. It doesn't always sit comfortably with me, but I do it to help other people try and understand what I'm thinking. Of course, it doesn't always work, but that's a blog for another time.
When the photographer was ready, he set up the shot he felt was best, looked into his camera, paused, and said as politely as possible, "Matthew, it might be a good idea to smile in the picture."
All credit to him for just saying it - I burst out laughing, because I'd been working so hard on facial expressions in preparation for my BSL exam that it surprised me I'd forgotten about it so soon after. Ah well, it's a work in progress! I'm looking forward to seeing that picture in the paper if for no other reason than to say; "Look, I am smiling!"
Anyhow, publicity is a necessary evil of successful book sales. I'm not someone who goes out of his way to seek publicity, but recognise its importance for my book, and so get stuck in wherever I need to. I've met some wonderful people at book groups (and have stayed in touch with some of them). I'm even giving a talk at a local school in a few weeks to a group of school children. What the hell am I thinking? Public speaking terrifies me. Who knows, but I'll give it a go nonetheless - you only live once, after all.
Has anyone had to do public speaking? What was the best & worst part of it? Do you speak in public regularly? Do you enjoy it or merely do it under sufferance? Let me know what you think ... I'm sure I'm not the only one who doesn't find it a natural experience!
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