Issue 17 – March 2022

Editor’s Letter

This has been a very busy and varied month. I began by working with Matt Ives, a local Horsham author who I met at Pop-Up Horsham when his wife asked me if she could have a quick chat about a book her husband was writing and which she felt had tremendous promise. Matt came in a week later and we talked about his plot and his aspirations for his novel. He’s keen to go down the traditional publishing route and it will be a pleasure to work with him to get his manuscript to a point where it’s ready for agent submission. In March, Matt asked me to read his first three chapters, so he could gauge whether he’d begun to create credible settings and characters for his gothic novel. His premise is backed up with a huge amount of research and imagination. I’m looking forward to receiving the completed novel in the next few months for editing and to begin to think about which agents he should initially submit to.

I also worked with Horsham Writer’s Circle author, Esther Pepper, on two short stories she intended to enter into national competitions. Esther has been writing a full length novel and had got to the point where she was struggling to see the wood for the trees. Her decision to write two short stories has allowed her to see through the fug and has given her the focus to concentrate on her novel with her motivation refreshed.

Finally, I’ve spent the last weeks of March working with SilverWood author, Alastair Carr on his midgrade (8 – 12 years) novel. This is the first book in a series of five novels which he hopes will persuade more girls to consider engineering roles. His magical fantasy novel is based around a talented mathematician with special needs, so the story is both empowering and inclusive.

Alastair is the sixth SilverWood Books author I’ve worked with since begining Author’s Pen in August 2020 and I treasure my relationship with them. I’ve had the opportunity it work with a variety of their children’s and short story authors and to hand them back to SilverWood for the remainder of the publishing process. The relationship sits well alongside and is separate from my own assisted self-publishing and traditional publishing support roles. 

Whatever you’re writing, I hope it’s going well.

Happy writing,

Lesley

Contents: Writing prompts, book reviews

Writing Prompts

Alise grabbed Marigold and stuffed the cat into her basket, narrowly avoiding a claw as she locked the wicker door. She grabbed her rucksack and slammed her front door, unsure when or whether she would see her home again …

The sound of the audience beyond his dressing room prompted Ben from his chair. How had he got here and would he be able to get through tonight’s performance?

Gina’s head fell backwards, she barely flinched as it struck the fence panel, the grip on the needle in her arm loosened and the needle fell to the tarmac path. A droplet of blood hovered on its tip …

Book Reviews  

Paddington’s Finest Hour, by Michael Bond

I’m sad not to be able to upload an image of this book’s cover and hope you will forgive its omission.

I adore Paddington, so I’m afraid my review will be incredibly biased! 

I’ve subsequently discovered that this was Michael Bond’s last Paddington book, which he wrote at the grand age of 91. The illustrations were done by my favourite Paddington illustrator, R. W. Alley, whose Paddington is delightfully whimsical and has the most lustrous black fluffy ears. Seven new Paddington stories are included in this volume, which includes all of Paddington’s friends and nemisis, Mr Curry, alongside the Brown’s and Mrs Bird.

The stories are hilarious and a brilliant example comes when Paddington is sent off in the rain to post an important letter for Mr Brown. He gets back to the car where the family are huddled, trying to keep warm and to distract a police officer who’s suspicious about why there’s a bear in the car and opens the umbrella in the car – soaking every member of the family.

Paddington gets his own back on Mr Curry after he has his plants stolen from his rockery in advance of the garden show competition. This shows that while Paddington is often naive, which is a huge part of his charm and gets him out of so many sticky situations of his own creation, that he’s got the measure of Mr Curry and is able to get his revenge in a wholly wide-eyed and innocent way – go Paddington!

Did I love this book? Hell yes. Could you tell? 

Silver Bay, by Jojo Moyes

This wasn’t my usual choice of story and was chosen by my developmental editing support group, but I recognise it’s important for readers, writers and editors to read beyond a chosen genre.

This is a well told and researched story of love, loss and the courage to selflessly do the right thing, no matter what the cost. The story is told from the perspective of all the interlinked characters in this small bay and the money men with dollars in their eyes and a lack of conscience in their hearts.

The pace is faultless, as is the character development and draws the reader into the story with bated breath and fingers crossed.

This story will appeal to readers of You Before Me and fans of Cecelia Ahern.

The World That We Knew, by Alice Hoffman

This was the most phenomenal book about the Holocaust and which centres on the Jewish situation in Paris. I thoroughly recommend this heartrending tale of family and sacrifice.

Hanni must send her twelve-year-old daughter to relatives in Paris, where she feels she will be safe from the Nazi invasion. She’s aware though that Lea has already attracted the wrong attention from a Nazi in their German occupied town and is frightened about her daughter making the journey alone.

She is introduced to Ettie, the daughter of a Rabbi, who has learnt the ancient ways to conjure spirits in human form and the pair create Ava who will protect Lea as if she were her own child. Hanni spends the last of her money obtaining excellent forged documents for Lea and Ava and reluctantly sends them on their way.

This book contains so much information about the Holocaust which I hadn’t been aware of and the story is told from a position of sensitivity for the refugee situation. The story is both magical and historical – but you’ll have to read it yourself to find out why. There is no dilution of the story because of the elements that require you to suspend belief and the magical elements rely upon ancient Jewish beliefs. You will be spellbound and won’t have any problems accepting that a Golem might be created and become more human over time.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it has added so much depth to my knowledge of this appalling period in our history. Alice Hoffman writes from an omniscient perspective and her narrator is virtually invisible in the story. It’s interesting to look back on the book and to reflect that the monster created by Ettie isn’t the real monster of the story and that this role is still held by the inhuman Nazi machine which appears unstoppable throughout.

The story is told in homage of the French resistance who put their own lives in unimaginable danger on a daily basis to protect complete strangers and to help them to safety. Ultimately, it is also a story of women helping women and of the support of the people of France who united to provide salvation.