A trailer for WateryWays

I wonder how this will work. My first attempt at a trailer for promoting my book.

The Vereeniging will return

This last week I had 'the' chat to my lovely Jodie about what she wants to do as regards the Vereeniging. Just to remind those of you who have forgotten or who haven't been visiting me for long, Jo moved onto my barge, the Vereeniging,  a year ago this month. At the time, we agreed she would have a year to decide whether she wanted to make barge life a permanent thing, and added to that, whether she wanted to stay on the Vereeniging.

Well, one thing is clear. She wants to live on a barge. She loves it despite the inevitable inconvenience that such a life brings. The second thing is that she realises it cannot be the Vereeniging. My little barge is too small for my daughter's myriad interests. She is bursting out of it at the seams. I saw this coming almost from the first and I am not surprised. Her books, musical instruments and art work alone take up more than all the room there is. What there is left to live and cook in is less than her ambitions in this department will allow. I know she was worried about telling me, but it was clear to me in many ways. I am only glad she's had the experience and decided what she wants.

The other and good part is that I get my barge back. And in truth I'll be very happy to receive it again. I've missed it dearly, and I'm already dreaming about what I'm going to do with it in the coming years. One thing I've learnt is that the Vereeniging is too much part of me to relinquish, and come what may, my barge and I will be cruising off into a French sunset one of these days.

Koos will of course be my first mate...

The Smell of the Water

It felt like spring today. Did anyone else notice that? The air was soft and I could smell the water. It's like the call of the wild to me. I want to be casting off the ropes and getting out onto the waterways. Job? Commitments? Paying the taxman, medical insurance, community charges? What I would give to thumb my nose at them all and take off.

Jan giving me a lesson

I am reminded of a fantastic trip we did back in 2004. It was just a day like today although slightly later in the year at the beginning of May. But it was a very special day. We took the Vereeniging upstream towards Gouda, turned left into the Rotterdam Ringvaart and went where no old barge had been in a very very long time. The waterways are very, very narrow, the bridges are extremely low and the canals very shallow. Even for the Vereeniging, it was a challenge. We quite literally scraped the bottom of the waterway over an aqueduct, and then we had to remove everything off the hatchboards to get ourselves under one particularly low bridge. It was an action packed adventure and a half all conducted at the pace of a snail. It was just one day but it felt like a complete and timeless holiday.

Leaving the harbour

Idyllic scenery on the Ringvaart

That trip was even more special, though, because my guide and mentor for the day was a very dear friend who is no longer with us. His name was Jan and he coached me in the art of steering my barge. I remember it as the one of the rare days in all the time I knew him when he looked fit, healthy, handsome and happy. I am so glad the Veeeniging gave him that day. I treasure it still.

Jan and me

Jan checking what was up ahead on the Rinvaart

Before and After

Two weeks ago now, we went to France for the day. Cambrai to be specific. It was beautiful weather but very cold, so we didn't enjoy it quite as much as we normally do. There was another reason for that, though. What we didn't realise as we were taking in the beauties of this particularly remote area of northern France was that Koos (he with the real photographic talent for those who don't know him) was busy building himself up for a week in hospital. He might have told me (I complained to him later) but Koos being Koos simply muttered about being cold (very rare for him), turned down the chance of a luscious creamy dessert when we had lunch (almost unheard of and cause for concern in itself) and asked me to drive home (something he hardly ever never does when we are in France). Actually, now I come to think of it, he asked me to do most of the driving there too (I should definitely have been warned then).

On the way there, though, we'd stopped by this remote, but still used railway line - although the station is out of use (spot the Koos in the photo before while he got cold). It was so quiet, so tucked away, so far from not just the madding but any crowds at all that we both felt that kind of hush that creeps over everything and makes you want to whisper. In fact, the lane I was standing on where I took this photo was cobbled. Only the part around the railway tracks had been tarred. It made us feel as if we'd stepped back in time, or at least into a parallel world.

When we reached Cambrai after a few more detours, we found lunch in a great restaurant with the wonderfully cross cultural name of 'Le Jolly Sailor'. It is run by an Englishman with his 'vairy Franche friend' and they do a brisk trade in excellent food which combines well with the impromptu 'vaudeville' style songs that John (not sure if that's his real name), the Englishman performs, accompanying himself on the piano. The lunch weighed heavy on our tums and so called for a walk along the canal before we decided the cold was too cold and headed on home. Koos slept much of the way back (not all so surprising as he often does) but by the time we got home, he seemed better and we spent a normal evening together. By four o'clock the next morning, though, things had changed again and this time, we were calling an ambulance. Just as well it seems. To cut a long story short, Koos is home again now with some extra bits of tube keeping the blood circulating through his heart.  It's an op he's had before, so we knew the signs, but I'm very glad it's over. I can now look back on the 'before' and know now for sure that it's 'after' - and that it's alright.

Get the violins out

Owing to one thing and another, I have not had much in the way of me time of late. As I've mentioned earlier, this is a busy time of year anyway, so it's normal. But, the thing is, and it's become quite a thing for me, it has interrupted something that I have grown to love doing (although everyone else around me is probably much relieved): my violin practice.

Up until the last couple of weeks, I was managing. I could practise three of four times at the weekends and once or twice during the week, but now I haven't touched it for fourteen whole days and I've really missed it. So to console myself, I have  started planning how to upgrade my little student violin. I've been looking at new strings especially for fiddle playing, and I've also been lusting over carbon bows. Can you imagine the excitement? You think I'm joking, don't you...

Maybe I'll give myself a treat and order them. It will give me the push I need to get back into it again now the period of hectic activity is drawing to a close. Not to mention the fact that with the cost of the bow alone, I'd better make sure I make use of it.

I wonder what the neighbours will think about the resumption of the cat's chorus. They'll probably take to turning up their TV's again. It's either that or they'll be wondering whose animal is in season!

Are any of you trying to learn an instrument, or do you remember the feeling of worrying about what the neighbours might think of your early efforts to become your own Yehudi Menuhin?

And for my next post, I hope I'll have some good news about my new (getting old now) book....it's about time I finished it (two years down the line), so the fact that it's nearing the end is quite a triumph in itself. Another reason to treat myself...

Exciting news

What it really means, I don't know, but I've just learnt that The Skipper's Child (see below right in the sidebar) is one of the books that has reached the voting stage of The People's Prize. Just the idea that people can vote for my book, or that it has reached such a stage and page seems mind boggling to me. I'm really thrilled about it. Even if it doesn't go anywhere and gets zero votes, just being there seems amazing. Needless to say I am squandering all the goodwill I have from my friends on Facebook, Twitter and everywhere else (yes, even here), who will probably get sick of me plugging it for the next couple of weeks. I'll make it up to you all soon, I promise! Once I've got over this busy hump and re-charged my failing batteries, I'll be visiting blogs, tweeting and chatting again, but for now and as long as I can keep my eyes open, I'll bask in the pleasure of seeing my book on The People's Book Prize: 

The link is here: http://www.peoplesbookprize.com/book.php?id=848

In the Family

Life is a bit fraught at the moment. This is a very busy time of year in the world of freelance teaching. I've learnt through twelve years of experience that you have to cram in as much as possible between September and April, because the rest of the year tends to be a bit too quiet. Right now, we're at the peak of the period and I scarcely have time to breathe, let alone eat or have a cup of coffee between classes. I often come home after 7 straight teaching hours realising I haven't had anything to drink since I left the house in the morning. No good, not healthy, but no time for anything else. The result is I currently feel like all the expressions for being tired rolled up into one big mixed metaphor. To sum it up, I'm hanging on to my sanity by a thread, reaching the end of my tether, stretching to breaking point and threatening to be off with the fairies. Ha!

In between all this, though, I have managed to read a really great book. The one and (for me) only advantage of the cold weather is that I have stopped cycling. It's way too bitter to even contemplate. So I take the bus and read on the thirty minute ride to work. I don't have a Kindle, and a proper book is the only alternative.

Now a few weeks ago, I happened to buy In the Family by Christina James. Its a long time since I read a detective/crime book with any real pleasure. The last one was Deborah Crombie's latest, but apart from hers and Donna Leon's, I have largely been 'off' crime fiction. It has become too 'shock and gore' for my tastes. It was consequently with a smidgin of trepidation that I started reading Christina's book.

Perhaps I should mention here that Christina is a recent blog contact. I love her posts and when I have time, I'm a regular visitor to her page, so I thought I'd give her book a try too. And, I'm glad I did because I thoroughly enjoyed it. Christina has restored my taste for detective fiction by proving that a good police drama need not be about horrific, ghastly descriptions of the most brutal types of crime. In The Family is a book of puzzles, and I was continually trying to unravel the mystery surrounding the sad and very dysfunctional family around which the novel revolves. At each stage you think you know 'who dunnit', but in the end, nothing is quite as it seems; the only confirmation is what you, and everyone else, feel about the main character, but I won't tell you here who or what that is. I can rather recommend that you read it for yourselves.

It is a thoughtful and challenging novel in the tradition of PD James, Elizabeth George and Deborah Crombie, but for me it was closer to Ms Crombie than the other two because it had all the humanity without the darkness that seems to have become part of Elizabeth George's later books.

As I said, a great read and one of those unputdownable novels. I couldn't wait for my next bus ride home or the chance to go to bed and read till far too late.

Thank you Christina, and thank you for giving me a book to get excited about. I am now, of course, thoroughly looking forward to the next one.

Reporter, Writer, Communications Officer, Novelist: the diverse talents of Chris Hill

I felt it was time for another of my peeks into the lives of the growing group of excellent writers I am lucky to have made contact with on Twitter and from whom I have learnt so much. This time I've asked Chris Hill to join me in Watery Ways and tell me something about himself, his work and his books. Chris is a very experienced professional writer in many different spheres, so I was really pleased when he agreed to come and do a weberview with me.

Chris, you're a successful writer in both the literary world and the world of journalism and newspaper reporting. I've been reading your blog for a while now and I always enjoy what you have to say about writing and being an author.  I have your novel, Song of the Sea God, but have only dipped into the first few pages so far. It already looks compelling, but I promised myself I would finish another book I'm reading first, so it's waiting for me! Still, you seem to have been writing for some time and have won some important short story awards, so I have a heap of questions to ask.

* My first question is when did you start writing fiction as opposed to the factual pieces you had to write as a reporter, and why?

I remember writing creatively as a child - maybe even as early as junior school. I used to write scraps in the back of old school notebooks - not proper stories or poems, but attempts at fiction certainly. I can’t remember why I started but I always loved reading and I suppose it grew out of that. Writing as a journalist came along later.

* Maybe I should have put this first, but I'm curious about your career as a journalist. Who did you work for and as what kind of reporter? And did you enjoy journalism?

I worked on regional newspapers in England. I started out as a reporter after university on my home town paper in Barrow-in-Furness and I was a crime reporter for some time, which was exciting when you are young, chasing round with the police, going to murder scenes and so on. I did a bit of shifting on some big city papers like Liverpool Post and Echo and even a few on the Daily Express in London then later I moved to Gloucestershire where I still live and I was news editor of the evening paper in the city. It was just at the time when the Fred and Rose West, House of Horrors, case was going on. They were a lovely couple who assaulted and murdered a large number of women and girls, including some of their own children. Working on a story like that certainly makes you question your conception of man as nature’s final word. Later I was editor of a weekly newspaper in Gloucestershire.

* Oh my, I remember the West case! That must have been pretty grim, but now I'm wondering whether you need to put on a very different writing 'hat' for fiction from the one you would as a journalist.

Quite different yes, but there is some cross over I would say. I think the discipline you learn writing news and features helps when you are writing fiction for example. But there are differences too - for example, in fiction you are often hinting at and implying certain truths about the characters and the story - when in journalism the trick is often to say things as clearly and plainly as possible so there’s no room for doubt.

* Ha, yes, the whole four C's thing! A different approach to the craft altogether. Chris, I've read a bit of th e background to your novel, Song of the Sea God, but could you tell the readers here why you decided to write a novel after being a successful short story writer, and what inspired this novel set on an island off the coast of England?

I suppose I always saw myself as a novelist in waiting, even while I was writing stories. I’ve actually written three novels now - this one is the second I wrote and I’m hoping my most recent one might make an appearance at some point if I can find a publisher whose list it fits.

The reason the book is set on and island off the coast of Northern England is that I grew up on just such an island - Walney which is off the coast of Cumbria. I set the book in a kind of imagined version of Walney as I felt it was easier to write about somewhere I knew. I only borrowed the geography though - I’m always careful to say that the plot and the characters in the book are not related to the people I grew up with on Walney! Having this place I knew well as a solid bedrock to build on meant I could embark on my flights of fancy and create my not quite real world, whilst still anchoring it to something which truly existed.

*That's interesting. A blend of keeping to what you know for the background with having the freedom to be creative within a familiar sphere. But, Chris, according to your blog, you now work in communications. That's quite a broad term these days and I was wondering if you could tell us a bit about what you do?

I’m communications officer for UK children's charity called WellChild. I handle their PR, website, social media, publications such as magazines and so on. it’s a brilliant job as I feel I’m working for an organisation which does real good. They provide children’s nurses for example, whose job it is to get very seriously ill children out of hospital, where they can spend months and even years, and organise for them to be cared for in the family home with the right care and support. It transforms families and gives hope and quality of life to people who really need it.

* Wow! That's fantastic. You must go home every day with a great sense of fulfilment. Another thing I'm curious about is whether you find your experience as an editor helpful when it comes to writing a novel.

I do indeed. I think being able to self edit is one of the key skills you need as a writer. You need to be able to go back to the text afresh, almost as though somebody else has written it, and take a clear sighted view of what works and what does not. Having said that we all need another editor in the end I think - my publisher found a couple of real clangers in my book for me which I had missed despite, or perhaps because, I had rewritten it so thoroughly.

* Yes, that's happened to me too. Now about the book: from what I've read of it, it's quite edgy in its tone. The descriptions are sharp, vivid and quite raw. There is a bite to it and I sense it is going to be quite a moody book that speaks to us in some way. In fact, it feels like literature. Would you agree with that impression?

I guess that’s a fair summary in some respects. What’s surprised me about the reaction to the book so far is that it seems to be different things to different people. If you take a look at the reviews it’s had on the UK an US Amazon sites you’ll see what I mean. Some people say it’s dark and menacing, others that it’s funny, others that it’s lyrical. I’m delighted with all this because what I really wanted was for it to be rich and layered and hard to pin down. I’m hoping the fact that people hold a range of opinions on it means I might have gone some way towards achieving that.

* Well, I'll let you know what my final impression is when I've finished it...maybe all of the above! Chris, you are quite a presence on Twitter, and you come across as a very cheerful, easy going and friendly soul who does all the normal, family stuff that we all do. Is your literary side a reflection of another kind of Chris, or is Song of the Sea God's central character a complete creation?

Well thank you for saying so and I’m sure my wife would describe my personality in precisely the same glowing tones as you have! I am reasonably cheerful as it goes but I don’t think I’ve ever met a person who doesn’t have different aspects to their personality. We’re like Russian dolls us human beings I think, all different character traits in one.

The other thing I would say is that characters in literature are pure creations rather than mirrors of their creators, and often they are there to make the wider novel work or create an effect for the reader. Bes, the narrator of Song of the Sea God is its beating heart of the book and in some ways its moral compass I would say (though a often a faulty compass). The main character John Love is charismatic, driven and focussed on his strange and wonderful obsession.

* Yes, I can see that these characters would operate on a wider stage than a personal reflection would do. But Chris, this is the question every aspiring writer wants to know (of course): how is the book doing, and are you close to being able to give up your day job?

Absolutely nowhere near it I’m afraid. My book seems to be doing ok for a literary novel by an unknown first time author but let’s be honest, it’s never going to sell like Harry Potter. I’m just glad people are reading it, and, because of social media they are reading it around the world - in the USA, Canada, Australia and so on as well as in the UK. Only in very small numbers though! If you want to add to this select, but growing, group of readers you can find it on Amazon here.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Song-Sea-God-Chris-Hill/dp/1908011556/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1349468028&sr=1-1

* Well, I hope my blog can help contribute to that growing readership. I don't have a big following, but the ripple effect might work! Anyway, now I've grilled you and satisfied all my nosy curiosity, are you writing another book now, and if not do you have plans for any more books in the near future?

I have another one waiting to go. It’s lighter, funnier - and probably not suitable for my current publisher’s list - so that’s me looking for another publisher - and they are quite tricky customers to find. I’ve been having a rest from writing but I’ll be starting another novel as soon as I find an idea I like enough to motivate me to do it.

*Oh and just one more! Do you have any short story collections available? I'd love to read some of them as I'm quite a short story fan.

I have lots of short stories - enough for a decent collection I would say. I used to write them a lot and still do quite often. I’d love to get a collection published at some point.

* Oh do let me know when you have! Chris, thanks so very much for coming on to Watery Ways. It's been really great to have you here and I'm even more impressed about what you do than I was already - which was a lot!　

Hey, thanks for interviewing me Val - it’s been really fun!

You can read Chris's blog here too. It's always a really interesting read and he has plenty of good ideas and thoughts to share for readers and writers both.