May 2009

Well it is still May - just. 25th today so am inside the month. On the 27th is the short story workshop and my bag is packed. Have read and commented on the stories sent in and have a few exercises ready for Wednesday. It will be a working day for everyone. I am hoping that the participants will all go home with at least a short story started and the impetus to want to go on and finish it. Some may return with a completed story. In first draft of course but this doesn't matter. If you have it down once you can revise and rework but if you simply leave with notes it often doesn't get written. Which is why I shall be pushing for everyone to have a go on the day.

May has been a busy month in many areas, and the first part of June looks like being the same. We have visits coming up from friends from South Africa and a friend from France plus several from friends who live in England, but the freezer is well stocked!

Tin Hats and Gas Masks and The Straw Halter are both out in audio and CD form (available from the library as well as from shops and Amazon and It's One of Ours is due in these formats around 10th July. The hardback of my latest effort Script for Murder is due to hit the shops on June 30th. Because the others sold out quite quickly and I couldn't get any more I shall make sure I buy some of this new one to take to talks and conferences.

One of the conferences I shall be going to in June is The Southern Writers at Earnley. I was involved with this one at the beginning of its life and always enjoy it. Hope to catch up with some of you who may be readiing this blog when I'm there. Come up and say hello please. Until next month, happy writing and reading from me. Joan.M.Moules.

2009. HAPPY NEW YEAR

Already we are more than halfway through the first month of this new year. The Straw Halter, a story about Betsy whose husband sold her way back in 1820 is selling well and has this month been published in large print. The CD and audio will be coming later in the year, as will the large print edition of It's One of Ours which has had some great reviews. How fortunate we writers are to be able to work at something so stimulating. The next book is called Script for Murder and is due to be published in June this year. Am awaiting the proofs now. And of course, working on the next book.

Am also working out some day courses for the Chichester/Selsey/Wittering area for a bit later in 2009, spring or summer possibly. These will be on short stories, novels, articles and if the market is out there, on writing your family history. As soon as anything is organized I will post dates, times and venues here.

On Tuesday August 25th there will be a Meet The Authors afternoon as part of Selsey Writers contribution to The Selsey Festival. Again details nearer the time, but I can tell you there is no charge to the public and it's an interesting and fun filled afternoon.

If you wish to know anything more about any of these events my email is capri@stampless.co.uk and writer@joanmoules.co.uk and you can write to me on either of these. Happy reading and writing to you all, Joan.

November Blog News

Lots of travelling around since I last wrote. Twice to London, once was for the Remembrance Day Parade at the cenotaph, where my husband was taking part. The last trip, just over a week ago was to Teignmouth for the Jazz Festival there.
Writing has been a bit spasmodic and I am really longing to get back to something regular. However, my latest book, SCRIPT FOR MURDER is due to be published in June 2009 and I am well into what I hope will be the next one. Meanwhile there are several writing events to look forward to. It's One of Ours, which came out on Dec 31st last year is due out in large print in January and The Straw Halter is now available in both original and in large print. Have just bought some stock so I can supply from here if bookshops have sold out.
I am hoping to run some day workshops next year, starting in February or March. They will be in the Chichester area and there will be various ones. Short stories, writing novels, articles... so if you are interested in attending any of these, please watch this space and I will post details as soon as they are worked out.
Happy writing, Joan.

Chester Writing Weekend

Halfway through September already. How fast the year seems to be disappearing. Have just returned from the SWJ writing weekend at Chester University (see picture) where I had a great time. Didn't win anything but my two friends in the picture with me both won first prize in their respective categories. Well done to Sylvia and Frances.

I did have some good fortune the day after I returned however - a letter from my publishers to say they are accepting my latest book. I floated about for the next few days, my feet hardly touching the ground. No matter how many books you have had published the euphoria never wears off, does it? The first one is so special and each one after that gives a wonderful boost, all of them in different ways. This one, called SCRIPT FOR MURDER is a who-dun-it and this is the first time I have worked in this genre. It was a huge challenge and I enjoyed it and am so thrilled it has been taken. I'd like to do more crime but will still be doing the others, saga, historical, contempory. I like a bit of variety and I think it stops you getting stale and bogged down in one style. What do others think? I would love to hear from you about this. A big thank you to all the committee and helpers at the SWJ weekend. A great deal of planning and work goes into these weekends and it is appreciated by yours truly. Happy writing to everyone. Joan.

Writers' Calendar

Hello again, June already, halfway through the year, so a timely reminder for all writers .Here is an article I wrote several years ago. It is as relevant now as it was then and could stand you in good stead in your writing life. If your ms lands on an editors desk at the right time, is well written and well presented, then you are more than halfway to a sale.
JUNE IN JANUARY
Like the old song, every writer should look to the months ahead.
Any month, any week, any day, is a time for writing, but certain themes recur every year and the professional writer is prepared for them. Pin a writers' calendar or year planner over your desk and include some of these reminders...
JANUARY - Summer holiday stories and articles should be sent off
FEBRUARY - Whitsun and May Day pieces in the post
MARCH - Your writing hand should be penning late summer and autumn articles and stories
APRIL -Preparing and cooking summer food is often done by staff writers as we know, but isn't there a special story, tip, or recipe that only you could write? Try it and see, which would of course make a good title for a short piece about your own unusual family favourite and how it came about.
MAY - The sun may be shining, the blossom delighting you every time you walk down the road, but your thoughts should be on the colours of autumn. While you gaze from the window at pink and white your fingers ought to be typing russet and gold.
JUNE -This is the time to write and send your Halloween pieces
JULY - Have you a childhood memory of November 5th. Prepare your Guy Fawkes stories. Humorous or harrowing - get them written now
AUGUST -It may be August outside but it should be Christmas in your heart. Often magazines are twice the size for Christmas issues and they need your offerings. Make August 1st your last posting date for Christmas.
SEPTEMBER - Would you like to begin your year with a published article/story/poem? Write about the New Year now and perhaps you will.
OCTOBER - In an editor's calendar Valentines Day is not so far away.
NOVEMBER - In the dark days before Christmas it is pleasant to think and write about the spring.
DECEMBER - There may be holly outside but in your mind's eye surely there are primroses and April Fool stories?
As a rough guide - 3 months for weeklies, 6 months for monthlies, and the cycle of a pregnancy and birth for quarterlies. When your baby bursts into print you'll be glad you prepared the layette early enough. copyright Joan. M. Moules
Happy writing to everyone who reads this.

It was a good day yesterday when Leon and I went to Petersfield for the book signing at Waterstones there. Sold a few books and talked to many people who were interested and asked if it was coming out in paperback eventually, as it would not cost as much. I told them truthfully that I didn't know (depends how many hardbacks are sold I think) but that I hoped so. In any case it was interesting to meet and talk to buyers and potential buyers and library borrowers.

Several people said that now they had seen it they would put it on a birthday or Christmas gift list. These signings are good not only for selling a book but also for networking with readers. aren't they? It was an interesting couple of hours.

We travelled from Chichester to Petersfield by bus, going through some of the loveliest countryside in Sussex and Hampshire. It was market day in Petersfield and very busy there. It is a delightful place, nowhere too difficult to find even for somebody like me with a bad sense of direction. Do you ever go into a department store and come out to find yourself in an unfamiliar street. You walk round the corner, realising you have come out of the wrong door, only to find yourself even more lost because you turned right instead of left...

It was a really enjoyable day, as was the one Hales gave for the launch of Tin Hats and Gas Masks, which was a couple of weeks ago at Waterstones in Chichester.

All this partying is lovely but next week I want to get back to my desk and get down to the hard graft again. Among the comments from a lot of non-writers one of the most frequent is, 'How nice it must be not to have to work and just write when you feel like it.' Well, for the record, writing IS work. It is done regularly and not just 'when you feel like it.' Unless you are in the best seller lists, many writers could earn more for less hours doing almost any other job, but for a lot of us, this is where we are happiest. Certainly that is true for me. There are days when it doesn't go right and you scrap almost, sometimes all, you have written, but that's the way it goes. I like to write a few articles and short stories inbetween writing books, but always the next one is there, nagging away at me, and working itself out in my head. So really, even when you are not physically writing, you are still working - that's my story anyway.

Next month I will try to post some writing articles on this blog. Here are a couple of pictures from the signings. Happy reading and writing, Joan.