Reminder: Adrian Slatcher is running this workshop with Fat Roland and Ruth Estevez today at city library http://manchesterlitlist.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/writers-city-library-self-publish-and.html Manchester Lit List: Writers @ City Library. Self Publish and be Damned - Routes into Publishing 20 manchesterlitlist.blogspot.com The Manchester Library and Information Service blog, featuring books, online resources and events of interest to Manchester's readers.

Titles

So odd. Talking to my sister on the phone yesterday and she said she'd met up with a teacher from our old school who used to take groups of us on climbing trips. He'd found old photos and had put them on a disc. Along with two trips my sister had been on, there was one I'd been on. This is the trip that I'm delving into to use in Monster Belt that I'm currently writing. It'll be so useful to see these photos. Odd. And thinking of a new title as well. The Monster Belt has too many connotations which give people an idea of the book that isn't quite right. What about The Twisted Belt? The Woven Belt? Something more on those lines is more fitting. Can't wait to see these photos!!!

What do you do when you think that finally, finally, you are strong and you've regained your equilibrium and humour and ability to cope and then, out of the blue, you're knocked sideways again and that blackness is there and you just want to slip into it?

Looked at Camper Vans today...

Writers' doubts

Dreamt last night that everyone in the Writers' group I attend said they didn't feel any emotion in my work. Why did I dream this? Is it comments that people, not writing group people, have said in the past? Someone said they thought Meeting Coty detached, someone else said, that's nonsense. Am I detached? Do I avoid emotion in real life and the dream is telling me this? Insecurities...all Creatives have that and we must work through it, having faith, working on, developing our craft so that all we want to come across does. Maybe I'm being too subtle in my writing. I don't want to sledge hammer people with what my characters are feeling. Maybe I am still writing a novel too much like a film script and showing emotions through people's actions rather than words. But I like this way. I want my readers to see the characters moving around, doing whatever they're doing and maybe having to guess at their emotions, with a heavy hint from the actions and the way they speak. It's what people don't say that intrigues me. And deeper themes are for those who see them, and for those that don't, there is the story. But is my dream telling me it's not working?

Junk Jam yesterday. Crowds..Antici-pation...beaters and barrels and wooden keyboard and tubes..anticipa-tion. The Beasts arrived flood-lit in sunshine, they picked up their barrels and tubes and microphones and beaters and began to sway. Bam! And again and the speed and noise picked up and then white clad brightly decorated dancers swayed and swirled and disappeared and reappeared with smiles and vigour and energy. And the Beasts played on and the singers sang, horns of tubing blared. Great, great performance. To all involved - brilliant. XXX Photograph by Genevieve

Adrian Slatcher is running a session on "self" and "small press" publishing for writers on 25th July at City Library - more information soon - but he'll be having Q&A with Fat Roland and Ruth Estevez http://www.manchester.gov.uk/events/event/2475/ - free and tell your friends! Events - Manchester City Council www.manchester.gov.uk Manchester City Councils events calendar for whats on where and when in the local area Events - Manchester City Council www.manchester.gov.uk Manchester City Councils events calendar for whats on where and when in the local area

EROSION - NOW OUT IN PAPERBACK AS WELL AS ON KINDLE.

During her first storm swept night in a run-down chalet park on the North Yorkshire coast, a terrified Lizzie Juniper witnesses a building's collapse into the sea. Unable to save its inhabitants, she watches in horror as an old couple and their teetering home crash into pounding waves hundreds of feet below. The next day, the few remaining residents are given seven days to vacate their chalets yet it seems strange they are in no hurry to leave... Lizzie soon finds out there are worse things than an eroding coastline and that everyone has a choice about their future and when you have nothing left to lose, that choice can be surprisingly liberating. November 5th approaches with a run of unusually warm days. A firework display is poised to ignite, a smuggler's tunnel is reopened and Lizzie discovers no-one is as they at first seem. Erosion is about more than a subsiding cliff face; it is about the disappearance of a way of life and the discovery that people living on the edge can make extraordinary choices.

Drum Camp 2012

Drum Camp tomorrow!!!! beats and stamps and swishes and swirls and stretches and sways and sashays and heel stamping and skirt flicking and hair tossing and arm stroking air and jumping and leaping and singing and sharing and sitting and lying and gazing and sharing and eating and listening and gazing and staring and wowing and wooing and loving and caring and arriving tomorrow!!!! XXXXXXXXX See you there!