New Year, New Media
Posted on January 3, 2015 2 Comments
This isn’t going to be one of those ‘review of the year’ type posts but I will say that 2014 has been a bit of a mixed one. There have been a couple of bereavements along the way, and I’m still feeling sad about those. I’ve moved jobs, which is mostly positive, but there were a number of complications that made this more difficult than it needed to be. I’ve also heard the disappointing news that the University of Nottingham will no longer be supporting the course I ran and built there, which I think is a terrible shame. However, I’m now working on a wonderful joint honours BA programme at De Montfort University, and enjoying being part of a larger team of creative writers. My new colleagues are just lovely, so I can only look forward to the next year and feel optimistic about it.
I was lucky in 2014 to be involved in some fantastic projects and meet some great new collaborators. I wrote my first ever comic, as part of James Walker’s Dawn of the Unread project, working with a wonderful artist called Judit Ferencz and fantastic script editor Adrian Reynolds. It was a pleasure from start to finish and I’m so proud of what we achieved with PSYCHOS. Then the fabulous Ash Morris asked me if I’d write a script for a short film for him to direct. It became very quickly clear that we had a similar vision for the kinds of stories we wanted to tell and I went for it. He not only successfully kickstarted funding last autumn but has already shot the film and is editing it. I’m thrilled and can’t wait for the first screening of STARCROSS.
Back in 2002, a bunch of other writing students and I made a silly mistake. We were offered a module in New Media Writing, and we turned it down flat. We were put off slightly by the tutor’s online projects about knitting and weaving, and our own preconceptions about hypertext stories, and we just couldn’t see through all that to the potential of the subject. And I look back now and I can only imagine how exciting it would have been to have started blogging back then with the first wave. In hindsight, not doing this module seems almost as silly a mistake as the deal I turned down of a docklands flat in 1996, £80,000 with the deposit paid for me, telling myself it was ‘such a lot of debt’. But no point dwelling on these things. The linear nature of time might well be an illusion, but our only route through life is forward, and so onwards I go.
I’m not one for huge statements and promises, so I’m not about to write a list of New Year’s resolutions. What I will say is that the branching out I’ve done in 2014 has made me realise just how exciting it is to try new forms of writing and see your work get out there to new audiences, and in different ways. I definitely want more of this experience in 2015 and so my plan is to seek it out, try new things, try to think differently about what it means to be a writer. I mean, my god, it’s 2015. It’s the future. I’ve decided that I’m ready for it now. Well, more or less 🙂
Dreamside by Graham Joyce, a retrospective
Posted on December 31, 2014 Leave a Comment
As per my previous post, I’ve started at the beginning, and re-read Graham Joyce’s first novel Dreamside. It’s always been a favourite of mine. Not because it’s his best; I think any writer would be disappointed at the idea that their first book was their best. This book deals with lucid dreaming and I’ve always been a lucid dreamer, so it appeals to me because of that.
If anything, I enjoyed this book even more the second time. I was surprised by how much I had forgotten. Much of the main storyline was a surprise to me. Graham captured lucid dreaming very vividly, and very accurately. (Unlike the recent Doctor Who Christmas Special, but we won’t go there…) The weird dream-scape reality of lucidity, as well as the frightening ‘repeaters‘, were very clearly and eloquently evoked.
I’m not going to go into too many details, or ‘review’ the book in any traditional way. That’s not what this tribute is about. However, I will say that I found it a uniquely satisfying read. I was struck by the fact that a main character was called Ella, which I know is also the name of Graham’s daughter. A favourite name, perhaps, but Ella in the book is an intriguing, enchanting and wonderful character, so maybe that’s a factor too. I was also struck by Graham’s mastery of the omniscient voice, switching perspective effortlessly, against typical creative writing advice about multiple points of views. It re-enforced to me that there is only what works and what doesn’t. Graham made this work here, as he did in other novels, such as THE FACTS OF LIFE. (Probably my favourite of his books.)
More of this to come in 2015, so watch this space. Meanwhile, have a Happy New Year.
Some Kind of Fairy Tale: The Magic of Graham Joyce Lives on…
Posted on November 30, 2014 Leave a Comment
This is so lovely.
Ella Joyce and David Belbin discussing their forthcoming chapter. Picture taken in the attic at Bromley House Library
I’ve got some good news that I’ve been desperate to share. But it starts with some sad news first.
Graham Joyce was originally commissioned to be one of the writers for Dawn of the Unread. There were many reasons for his inclusion, not least the ridiculous amount of times he won the World Fantasy Award, but because of his keynote speech at the 2010 Writing Industries Conference when he talked about writers having to become more adaptable and writing across mediums if they wanted to make a living as a writer. Dawn of the Unread is a combination of videos, social media, and essays all held together through a graphic novel, made available across media platforms. This made him perfect for the project, in addition to being one of my all-time favourite…
View original post 709 more words
This is just a tribute
Posted on November 29, 2014 3 Comments
My friend and tutor Graham Joyce died a couple of months ago. There was a huge outpouring of grief and sadness from so many people in the Fantasy writing community, and those from the East Midlands who’d known and cared about Graham. Many tributes have been written and I don’t feel I can add anything to the wonderful words that have already been said. So, instead of writing, I’m going to read in memory of Graham.
I’m starting with Dreamside, his first novel, which is about a group of lucid dreamers who arrange to meet up in their sleep. I’ve always loved this book, at least partly because I’m a lucid dreamer myself. Graham revisited this book just a couple of years ago and wrote about it here. My memories are that it nailed the lucid dreaming experience remarkably. I’m looking forward to revisiting this one and will blog about that soon.
Graham Joyce (22 October 1954 – 9 September 2014)
Posted on September 10, 2014 Leave a Comment
A lovely tribute written by James Walker to my friend, tutor and mentor Graham Joyce, who died yesterday. I agree wholeheartedly with everything, and especially about The Silent Land. A cracking book, and also one full of meaning and resonance following Graham’s death. Everyone should read this book.
Graham Joyce passed away on the 9 September aged 59. Graham was one of the first writers we approached for Dawn of the Unread and was originally scheduled to write our Gotham Fool chapter. When he became ill we agreed to see how things went and pencil him in for our penultimate chapter if his situation improved.
During his career Graham produced twenty-one novels, numerous short stories and was awarded the British Fantasy Award an incredible seven times. He also won an O. Henry Award for An Ordinary Soldier of the Queen.
Graham was an incredibly charismatic individual and a master at holding court, as entertaining in real life as he was on the page, making him that very rare commodity – a very human writer with a personality! I fondly remember a panel talk he did for LeftLion as part of the British Art Show as well as his
View original post 366 more words
Literary holidays: Butterflies and The Killing Jar
Posted on August 15, 2014 Leave a Comment
Some thoughts from James Walker on Psychos, where Kerrie Ann Hill meets Alma Reville.
“I almost wish we were butterflies and liv’d but three summer days – three such days with you I could fill with more delight than fifty common years could ever contain.” John Keats
My life is dictated by books. Even on holiday there needs to be some kind of literary connection. I visited Ljubljana when it was the World Book Capital, did the James Joyce trail in Trieste, read Captain Corelli’s Mandolin on a beach in Kefalonia and recently dragged my son to Latvia to see their new library.
In August the Dawn of the Unread offices moved to Sicily for a couple of weeks as I tried to locate the fictional town of Vigata, home of Inspector Montalbano. But while there I discovered a more relevant location to our graphic novel, Favignana, which I visited on 8 August to coincide with the release of Nicola Monaghan and Judit…
View original post 476 more words
#Flashmob video and photos
Posted on July 16, 2014 Leave a Comment
More about the Reading Flashmob that happened in Nottingham last week.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4ob8wW14Q
On Saturday 12 July Robert Squirrell, John Mateur and I organised a flashmob reading in Nottingham to celebrate books. This wasn’t intended as a tub thumping rant against library closures, although this is of course part of the debate, rather it was a simple celebration of words, authors, publishers and booksellers. A thank you for the joy they’ve brought us over the years. I’d estimate we had around 400 people turn up, most of whom were congregated around the Cloughie statue.
Photograph: The Lazy Pineapple
There were varying reactions to our stand-up sit-down. My favourite comment was ‘what are all those dicks doing’. The most frightening was a beefy Forest fan who took exception to the Brian Clough statue getting a make-over courtesy of a knitted woolen jumper. I wanted to say to him that I’ve got 400 people outside Cloughie’s statue to mark the 10th anniversary of his death…
View original post 689 more words
Books and me, a love story
Posted on July 10, 2014 2 Comments
I grew up in a big family during some fairly hard economic times and we didn’t have much. I learned pretty quickly that very little came free in this (capitalist) life and that things were often worth what you paid for them. There was one place that broke those rules, one beautiful, enduring space where I could find many worlds, and people, and lives, and live them. The library. I loved it so much that one of my ambitions in life became to amass one of my own.
As I came of age into an increasingly capitalist world, I didn’t really ever get on to the ownership train. I could tell you heartbreaking stories of missed London property opportunities but that’s for a different blog post. When it came to ‘things’ all I’ve ever really invested in is books. They fill my rooms like a growing plant. My book collection grew and grew over years of reading. If I saw other people throwing out their books, these were also adopted by me, regardless of whether I was likely to read them myself. I bought books in shops, online, at car boot sales and in the local Oxfam. I amassed them, just the way I’d dreamed of doing.
My collection grew to the point where it became too large for any house we could afford to live in. When I got my job four years ago at the University of Nottingham, they gave me a very generous-sized office. And so my husband and I agreed that this is where my books should live. Okay, sure, there are still some books back at home. You know, a few that I haven’t read yet. A small number that are my very favourites. The odd one that I feel I might need, in the middle of the night, faced with a word-based emergency.
The problem is that I recently got a new job, at De Montfort University. This is not a short drive from home and, although I could house some of my books there, these would not be as easily accessible to me as mine currently are. I’m left with a bit of a problem. Last night, I investigated all of the places I could sell them, or give them away, the financial difference between these two things being so small as to be hardly worth thinking about.
I came to work this morning with resolve. I would begin the long process of sorting out my books. I would choose the ones I really wanted to keep. The ones I *needed*. I would finally, ultimately, rationalise my book ownership and keep just that reasonable number of those that were really, genuinely important to me, or yet to be read. And I would give the rest away.
If you’ve read as many stories as I have, and seen as many films, you’re probably (like me) one of those irritating people who nearly always knows what will happen next (except with Game of Thrones). You perhaps don’t even need to be that experienced with stories to guess in this particular case.
Reader, it was a disaster.
I began by taking down around a quarter of my ‘memoir’ shelf. Reluctantly, I put the doorstop tomes about Alan Sugar and Richard Branson to the side, onto the ‘to go’ pile. I’d inherited these books somewhere along the way. I will never read them, I know that. I knew I wanted to keep Rogue Trader, Bringing Down the House, Angela’s Ashes and The Glass Castle. Those between, I hesitated over and, finally, placed on the pile I was keeping.
Then I put all the books back on my shelf and went for coffee. Which is where I am as I write this post. I do not know what will happen to my books. I do not know if I’ll ever find the strength to sort through them, or give *any* away. But I do know one thing. I believe in books and I believe in the power of story to help us transcend our human condition and become something better. Or as a fairly well known writer once said:
“We are such stuff as dreams are made on.”
James Walker in Nottingham has been running a project this year called Dawn of the Unread, which attempts to ‘resurrect’ the dead writers of Nottingham and draw a bit of attention to the plight of our local libraries. It’s fun, it’s clever and it’s innovative. Read more about it here.
Better still, if you live in or near to Nottingham, join us midday on Saturday in the Market Square for a flash mob with a difference. I’ll be there. I might even give you some
BooookkkKS!
Some rules for internet peace of mind
Posted on May 6, 2014 1 Comment
Today, I finally ‘unliked’ a page on Facebook that had been driving me a bit nuts for weeks. The relief I felt in doing so made me consider why I stayed attached to this little area of the net for so long, when it upset me so much. Did I really believe I’d change anyone’s attitudes or opinions? In hindsight, that was never going to happen. So why? A friend of mine admitted the other day that one of his facebook friends annoys him to the point of fury too, and yet he can’t quite bring himself to click block. He suspects that a small part of his soul might actually enjoy raging against this individual’s posts.
I’ve decided that this isn’t how I want to live my (online) life. I’m going to go all Buddhist on your asses now and talk about choosing your own reaction to stuff, and being impeccable with your word, and all that. But I do think there’s a truth to these philosophies. So I’m going to try to start making healthier internet choices.
(the above half-inched from https://www.facebook.com/Dudeism)
I’ve written five golden rules to help me:
1. Do not expect to change the opinions of someone whose spelling and grammar is ridiculous. You have enough experience of this; you know it doesn’t work. If their English teacher couldn’t get them to change something as simple as their use of ‘they’re, their and there’ when they were eleven, what chance do you have of making any dent in their ingrained social, class, religious or race prejudices? You are wasting you’re(sic) time.
2. Do not try to talk in nuances to someone who isn’t likely to understand the word ‘nuance’. Meta, I know, but knowing what this word means is probably a good test of whether or not a person is likely to deal in nuanced points at all, or understand them.
3. Despite that, try not to look down on people who fall into categories 1 or 2 or both, or point out to them that these things are true about them and suggest that therefore their opinions are not valid. You are likely to be stooping to the same level of prejudice as you are fighting against by doing this. (See what I did with that nuance thing there?)
4. Don’t argue with people on the internet. Life is far too short for that shit.
5. If in doubt, see rule 4.
(from http://xkcd.com/386/)
Quit The ‘Must Have’ Writing Posts in 5 Easy Steps
Posted on April 21, 2014 1 Comment
Yes, this.
I follow a lot of book lovers on Twitter. That’s a given. I love books. A lot of those book lovers are writers. Like me, a selection of those are as yet, unpublished. And within those, another selection blog themselves and/or read writing related blogs to inform themselves of the current state of the industry and to just generally see what they can do to help themselves keep moving forward writing that novel.
Yesterday I was on Twitter briefly and I saw a slew of posts on Writing. I read one. A blog post saying I “Must Have” these 10 things to help me write my novel. Writing apps. Books. Books on writing and books that editors referred to.
And while I read writing related blogs – I do. I know there is nothing that I “Must Have” to help me get that novel past anyone.
So, Here’s what we’re…
View original post 131 more words
nicola monaghan 
Recent Comments