Right, where to start; oh yes.
To introduce what you will be subjected to in this little section of my world I should probably start by explaining I am a student. I am a student learning to sell myself as an author; yes, you read that right, sell myself. I am learning the craft of writing as well as the in's and out's of the business surrounding it all.
I am currently in my second year of this three year course and my main subjects for this year are The Fiction Cycle, Horror,Writing: The Industrial Context, Writing the Novel and Author and Audience. All very relevant and all noted because no doubt you'll find my notes from each class appearing at some point or the other.
My course leader is a writer called Sandra Cain, who has had 12 pieces published as well as 1 journal Article and 4 conference papers.Below is a selection of her published works; I will note she's having issues with her Agent on the Ping Pong one but I'm sure it will be out there soon enough
* Ping Pong and Pussy Popping, (2010), Gibson Square Publishing Ltd
* Media Writing: A Practical Introduction, (2010), Palgrave MacMillan
* Key Concepts in Public Relations, (2009) Palgrave MacMillan
* The Life Bible, (2005) Forward Press Ltd
* A Guide to Copywriting, (2005), SSU
* How To Get What You Want: Unlock the Magic of Your Mind and Achieve Your Goals, (2004), How To Books Ltd
* The Gastronome, in Out of the Dark, An Anthology, (2003) MA2, Bath Spa University
* Death is the Gate to Life, in Out of the Dark, An Anthology, (2003), MA2,. Bath Spa University
* Soul Wash, (2003), Dragon’s Roar Publishing
* The Total Volunteering Book, (2001), A & C Black Publishers Ltd
* When What You’ve Got Is Not What You Want: Use NLP to Create the Life you Want and Live it the Full. (2000), How To Books Ltd
* Dad’s In Prison (1999), A & c Black Ltd
Also teaching me is Sara Bailey, who teaches Writing the Novel and Horror. She has written a fantasy autobiography for Alison Moyet's World Tour and worked as script consultant for Madeleine Farely and has recently been commissioned to write a script for her too. She's won the Bristol Poetry Slam too.
I am taught the fiction cycle class by Dr Devon Campbell-Hall; she's an ex-pat Californian who has been living here for over 10 years and is bloody amazing. She's got the most amazing attitude to life in general and is a big support for students who are studying under her. She's also been published, though Devon is more of an academic writer than a fiction writer. He published works include
* Subversive Migrant Labour in Monica Ali's Brick Lane and Zadie Smith's White Teeth' in C Vijayasree, M Mukherjee, H Trivedi and T Vijay Kumar (eds), Nation in Imagination: Essays on Nationalism, Sub-Nationalisms and Narration (Hyderabad: Orient Longman, 2007): 229-237
* 'Writing Second Generation Migrant Identity in Meera Syal's Fiction' (forthcoming book chapter in the Rodopi Cross Cultures series)
* 'Dangerous Artisans: Anarchic Labour in Michael Ondaatje's Anil's Ghost and The English Patient and Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things', World Literature Written in English (Now The Journal of Postcolonial Writing) 40/1 (2002-2003): 42-55.
* 'Dangerous Artisans' was reprinted in Murari Prasad (ed), Arundhati Roy: Critical Perspectives (New Delhi: Pencraft International, 2006): 44-58.
* Review of Shanta Acharya's Looking Out, Looking In (2005), Smita Agarwal's Wish-granting Words (2002) and Bashabi Fraser's Tartan and Turban (2004) in Wasafiri 47 (Spring 2006): 87-89.
* Review of Feroza Jussawalla's Chiffon Saris (2003) and Raman Mundair's Lovers, Liars, Conjurers and Thieves (2003) in Wasafiri 43 (Autumn 2004): 77-78.
I am also taught by Dr Tom Masters, who is the newest lecturer for our course and also a veritable genius. He's bloody brilliant and though he speaks very quickly and quietly, he has amazing ideas and is a laugh to talk to. He understands he has insane students and is just as insane as us, making it all the more fun. He's more a poet and a short story writer, who's thesis is to be published by the University of Winchester. He has also been published, with works like:
Dragonfly: Selected Poems (ISBN: 0954366808).
Towards Writing the Universe: Early Drafts for 'Silence', Practice and Theory
Claiming the Wilderness: Asceticism and Politics in Athanasius' 'Vita Antonii' (critical paper).
Wilderness (dramatic monologue). (forthcoming).
Throughout my attempt to be a pain in your rear with all this I will attempt to explain how I write, why I write and even how these wonderful people have influenced me. They are brilliant people and deserve a lot of respect for what they do for both the writing world and for the students who study alongside me.
I hope you'll be alright on the journey with me.
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