Short story inspiration

Happy 2017 everyone.

So, it’s another brand new year.  And, like many of you, I always feel it’s a time for new beginnings. So here I am, AGAIN, attempting to be a good blogger, but this time I feel more determined than ever. 

Oh yes, I do!

Sadly, I haven’t written much since then end of October. The well of inspiration dried up on me, as the ill-health of loved ones took over all my thoughts. 

But I’m determined to get those creative juices flowing again.

But how do you do that?  How do you become inspired?  What triggers a story? How, when our heads are empty of ideas, do we create a short story?

Answers on a postcard please.

In the past, I’ve found inspiration from stories based on real-life. Like a story I have coming up in The People’s Friend that was based on an incident that happened to my father when he was an evacuee in World War II.  I took that incident, and created a fictional world around it, but all the time imagined my dad as a cheeky little boy of nine, as the main character. 

Other times, I’ve heard someone, often a child, say something very funny, and used that to kick-start a story.

Pictures are great triggers. 

This smashing illustration by Ruth Blair was sent to me by The People’s Friend, and I was asked to write a story to fit it.  The story didn’t come instantly, but I kept looking at the picture, and eventually it started to fall into place. It appeared in a December 2016 issue of The Friend.

So, the thing is, I should be able to do it again. But I’ve been struggling.

But then, as I was sorting through some old postcards to scan for my local history blog, one postcard, dated June  29^th 1929, caught my attention.

It was of a local river, and I turned it over to see a message addressed to a Miss Parrot.

Dear Poll,

I am having a grand time here, hope you are the same...

This place is very pretty.  I went here the other day. The weather is nice, but very windy. I am writing postcards with no hat on. Simply lovely.

With love,

Bill Brightman.

My mind started whizzing.  Was Poll her real name, or a nickname because of her surname?  Was Bill a friend?  Did he love her?  Did she love him?  Why wasn’t she with him?  Had he got dark hair? Twinkly blue eyes?  Why had he sat by the river? Was he an artist? A successful one? Who else was he sending postcards to?  Did Polly Parrot wonder that too?  Did they end up together, and live happily ever after, or was Bill a bit of a cad?

So I now have my inspiration, and a story itching to be written. I just hope I can get it down.

And I think I just need to try to remember that when that well dries up, inspiration is everywhere.

PHOTOTIME, SHADOW SISTERS and SHORT STORIES

So it’s 2016, and I only posted once on my blog in 2015.  I’m not going to say I’m an awful blogger – because you already know that.

But all that is about to change!  Yes, I know, I’ve said that before too.

But this time, it’s different. I have a plan. Oh, yes! And I’ve convinced myself that if I brag here that about it, I will stick to it.  That's the theory anyway.

The said plan is to blog regularly about what I’ve learned about being a writer over the last six years: the ups and the downs of writing for women’s magazines, editing tips and things that have really helped me along the way to improve my writing.

I hope to interview writers too. So if you fancy chatting with me here, and having a cup of cyber-tea, do whiz over an email at amandabrittany@aol.com and I’ll send you some questions. 

I hope to share wee reviews on books I’ve loved too.

And I’ll be sharing my writing journey going forward - which is exactly why I set the blog up in 2009. 

And talking of my writing journey, I’m still writing short stories, and loving it! One of the highlights of 2015 was seeing my murder mystery serial published in The People’s Friend. The artwork was amazing!

Also, I’ve recently completed two novels, cor blimey!  The first with the very lovely Karen Clarke under the pen name Clare Ryan!   A psychological thriller called Shadow Sisters.  The second, Phototime - a new-adult novel – which is called this rather trendy genre name because the main character is 23.

We have everything crossed for both novels, obviously, and the rather mysterious Clare Ryan is already cracking on with her next thriller. More news on both novels to follow...  

Wishing you all a happy, healthy and successful 2016.

Amanda X

Love is all you need

I’m delighted to bring you news of a brilliant new anthology Love is all you need.  A compilation of 10 great stories with heart – the winning tales of love from The Sophie King Prize 2014, chosen by bestselling author Sophie King.   

"I picked those that surprised me and also left a lovely warm feeling. A bit like a love affair, really …" Sophie King 

Love is all you need is available to download on Amazon HERE

The very lovely Sherri Turner’s story ‘Funny Face’ was one of the winners. It is a light-hearted, humorous story that also looks at how we see ourselves compared with how others see us.

Sherri was brought up in Cornwall and now lives in Surrey with her husband. She has had numerous short stories published in women’s magazines in the UK and abroad (under the pseudonym Bernadette James) and has won or been shortlisted in competitions for both poetry and short stories, including the Bristol Prize, the Writer’s Bureau competition and the New Writer Prize.  Her stories have also appeared in a number of anthologies.  If you would like to know more about Sherri, you can read her interview with the equally lovely Helen M Hunt HERE.  Do pop over and say hello.

I can’t wait to read Sherri's story and those of Alyson Hilbourne, Yvonne Eve Walus, Johanna Grassick, Pauline Watson, Melanie Whipman, Linda Triegel, Laurel Osterkamp, Helen Yendall, Mary Lally.  Their stories in turn hold the promise of romance, reflect on finding love, or show the lengths we'll go to for the special person in our lives.  

In the Kitchen with a Knife by Susan Wright.

Well, hello there!  Long  time no blog post!  Yes, yet again I’ve been a dreadful blogger.  In fact, I think I might be a tortoise, as I tend to hibernated during the winter months – when my cyber-socializing grinds to practically a stop – and then I’m on go-slow for the rest of the year. 

But all that’s going to change – and what better way to start by announcing the launch of a lovely writer friend’s debut novel.

Susan Wright has sold over a hundred short stories, and today, In the Kitchen with a Knife  -  such a brilliant title – goes on sale.  Her book can be downloaded on Kindle HERE at Alfie Dog or HERE on Amazon.  Or the paperback is available to buy from the same outlets.

Susan is chatting today with the lovely, Suzanne Jones on her blog HERE.  So do whiz over and say Hi.

***

As for me, well I still haven’t YET plucked up the courage to do anything exciting with my novel – so we’ll quickly skip past that subject.  But I did sell my 65^th short story this week – which I’m delighted about.  It never ceases to thrill when I receive an email from a lovely editor who wants to buy one of my stories - and, yes, I do still dance around the room and squeal a lot - making my dogs bark!

Right, I think that's about all I've got to say for myself - not a lot after almost four months. But maybe when I get this novel of mine self-published...