F C Malby. Literally Engaged With Her Writing.

Strange Alliances

F C Malby came to my attention through Twitter. I was impressed by her professional approach both on Twitter and as a blog writer. What really fascinated me though was the fact that she had self published a literary novel. I was not disappointed with Take Me To The Castle and wanted to know more about the background of the book and her experiences as a self published or independent author.

Talk me through how you came to write Take Me to the Castle.

It was 1993 and Czechoslovakia had split, following the Velvet Revolution and the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989. I was in my teens, still at school and thinking about teaching as a career, when I found out through friends in London that they were looking for native English speakers to work and teach in the Czech Republic. Up to that point people from…

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Let’s talk about La Rock.

I Have Agent Representation!

Rebecca Bradley

Yes, that’s what you read. I, Rebecca Bradley, have literary agent representation and I couldn’t be more thrilled!

Kate Nash of the Kate Nash Literary Agency offered representation after reading the manuscript for Shallow Waters and I jumped at the chance.

I’d approached Kate because I liked the description on her website, “of a small boutique agency taking on few clients”. I wanted a personal feel to any possible journey to publication. I didn’t want to feel overwhelmed. Kate and I chatted. Or rather I bumbled about with nerves, but luckily, this didn’t seem to put her off! Idea’s and plans were started and papers signed and as of yesterday, it’s all official.

I’ll say it again – I have a literary agent!

Oh, and she promised to give me deadlines because I said I liked to work to them…. I told you I was bumbling!

 

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How To Start.

My life story is a little different than most, my parents were 46 and 47 when I was born. My sister was 12 years older than me and my brother 24. Most of the things I decided to write about happened before I was 21, when my dad died. At school, on my English literature o-level, I read the book ‘Cider with Rosie. I loved the soft lyrical way he wrote the stories and how he wrote through the eyes of a child. It had an innocence that appealed to me. My first attempt didn’t turn out quite how I wanted it and appeared rather fragmented. So I decided to try reading a variety of different ways of writing memoirs. I especially liked the book, the diary of Anne Frank. This was written in the form of a journal and it appeared almost story like. In both this and Cider with Rosie, the shortness of the chapters and the way each one could be read either as a whole or as a short story, seemed the right way me to go also. So I left the story I had previously written at college as is and started another short story, to see if it felt more comfortable. I wrote for fifteen minutes, and then reread what I had written.  I found myself forming the start of a story. I decided to not worry about transitions or connecting the ideas, or paragraphing or subject-verb agreement, or even commas! This has set the template for my writing of this novel. I can now concentrate on one memory at a time, with its many nuances.

 These stories can then be read as individuals, but together they form a mosaic of my life. This also gave me the opportunity to write in first person, which I find myself drawn to in most of my writing, even the children’s novels I have previously written. 

To thine own self be true

What calls a person to write their life story? We as humans seem to need to talk about ourselves; that much seems clear. If we check back in history, people told stories and this is how early history was formed. The problem is most people don’t put these stories on paper.

I often wonder what leads some to search for that elusive memory. What persuades a person to compose the discoveries they gain from life into texts that others will read.

I think people want to remember. I know I want to understand what my life means. Writing a memoir helps us to satisfy those longings and helps us bring a bit of clarity to events and relationships we had in the past.

I know for most people, childhood is an intense time; we touched the world around us. Things were simpler then, and we lived for the effortless things like sweets and holidays. We touched and tasted new things and formed our personality and likes that would travel with us all through our lives.  When you grow up, you sometimes long to leap back into this innocence.

Writing a memoir is a way for me to recapture some of that mystery and happiness of just living. I also feel I can see where I fit in, who I am, and share with others my views and experiences.

“You must know that there is nothing higher and stronger and more wholesome and good for life in the future than some good memory, especially a memory of childhood, of home. People talk to you a great deal about your education, but some good, sacred memory, preserved from childhood, is perhaps the best education. If a man carries many such memories with him into life, he is safe to the end of his days, and if one has only one good memory left in one’s heart, even that may sometime be the means of saving us.” 

Dostoevsky, F., 15 Jan 2010. The Karamazov Brothers. s.l.:Wordsworth Editions.

Before I started attending university on this course,

Before I started attending university on this course, I did a taster course at South Nottingham College. It was a ten week course in creative writing with Hilary Marson. On the first night she gave us homework, it was a short story about any memory we had of our family. I rushed home and sat down at my computer to write. Thirty minutes later, nothing. I left the computer thinking if I can’t do this, how can I hope to write at all. I decided I was going at this the wrong way and decided to look up what I could on memoirs.

The voice is first person singular: I, not we, one, or you, and the memoir-ist are the main character. The writer’s thoughts and feelings, reactions and reflections, are revealed, with enough context and background information – to understand the events of the story.  

The context is woven into the story, so a reader can envision the action and can see what is happening.

 A reader should be able to imagine the setting, where and when the memoir is unfolding. The dialogue should sound like these people talking, both what they would say and how they would say it.  The place is slowed down so a reader can enter the story and live it, moment to moment, with the characters. The lead invites a reader into the world of the memory, and the conclusion is deliberate:  it represents a writer’s decision about how to leave his or her readers. The writer isn’t acting as a reporter:  the writing is subjective, the writer’s truth. The writer invents details that fit with the specific memory and the writer’s theme or purpose. The memoir sounds and feels like literature and not reportage, and finally the reader learns something about life by reading about a life.

15 points to Editing Success…

The MOUTHY Poets blog

Debris here. Over the past 8 years, I have worked with some amazing writers; Jacob Sam-La Rose, Roger Robinson, Caroline Bird, Jean Binta-Breeze, Peter Kahn … the list is endless! I feel so thankful for the advice these people have given me and I have folder upon folder of editing advice from them in my house!

Here are 15 consolidated points from all these amazing writers + me! 

Editing Advice & Questions Worth Asking…

 

The following advice is to create a dynamic and effective piece. The rules can be broken, but not just because ‘you want to’, you must have a reason and believe me I will want a good one.

 

1. What is this poem about & What do you want this poem to make your audience feel? Answer these questions, and then use the rest of these points to help you refine your poem to achieve this…

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The Next Big Thing

 

 

What is the working title of your next book?

The title of my new book is Born In The Change.

These are children that are born to older than average parents.

Where did the idea for your book come from?

I think this book has been in my subconscious for a long time. It has tried to push through

on many occasions in certain University courses. At first they were fragments, then they coalesced into stories.

What genre does your book fall under?

Memoir.

Which actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

This is a hard one. Who do you choose to play your family?

My dad was a strong character, so maybe Michael Douglas?

And for my sister, it has to be America Ferrera, it the glasses and crazy personality she portrayed in Ugly Betty. That’s Janet to a tee.

As for me, it’s impossible to say. So I think I will open this up to your the public.

Give it your best shot, I can take it.

What is a one sentence synopsis of your book?

I think the first sentence in my book says it all.

THAT DAY

“I guess I should start with a little about how a girl of fourteen came to be here, standing outside the door of her home, listening for just one noise that made it safe to enter. So you will have to bear with me, as the story makes more sense if I tell it this way.”

Will your book be self published or represented by an agent?

I admire both ways, it depends on how good you would be in the marketing etc.

I have looked at both sides, and weighed the pros and cons.

But for me I want to be represented by an agent for this book. This does not mean it right for every book, just this one.

How long did it take to write the first draft of the manuscript?

Well I am 47 now, so let’s say 47 years.

It takes a long time for memories to settle, especially the bad ones.

You have to live with them and digest them before you can talk about them and write them down. When everything came together, it took about a year to get a first draft.

The university has definitely motivated me and guided me in the right way. Not to mention the many valuable contacts I have made.

What other books would you compare this story to within the genre?

Two books that stand out straight away are,

Cider With Rosie, by Lauire Lee.

The Diary of Anne Frank, by Anne Frank.

I love the fact they are small fragments that form one long cohesive story.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I was sick of all the misery novels on bookshelves.

Sometimes the harshness in life can be good.

Ok, my parents were old and I lost them early.

Would I change this? NO. I had so much happiness in the little time I had with my family, they made me who I am.  I wanted to tell my story and let the people see.

What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?

Its from a child’s point of view. I want people to see how someone who is young sees things like death and illness.

Thank you to Octavia Grey for the pass on.

Hope you have enjoyed my brief glimpse into my mind. Let me now hand you over to an amazing children’s and adult writer Ian Douglas.

Over to you Ian.

Works Cited

The Beginning

From being a child I have always kept a diary, this has helped me a great deal since I starting writing.  Mark Twain said,

‘Write about what you know.’

Memories of childhood and dreams I have had have been great sources for good stories. And this is something I have always found myself being drawn to in most of my writing.

The project I have chosen to do is a set of snapshots, a memoir of my life growing up with elderly parents.

I aim to have the first three chapters, a synopsis and pitch. I will send this to agents and smaller publishing houses in an attempt at getting them published. Added to this I would like to finish, if possible the whole book.

‘Let me tell you a story. No, wait, one’s not enough. I’ll begin again… (Gaiman, 2006)

I have always found it easier to sit down and write fiction. To start any piece with a blank canvas, to create from nothing, gets the synapses shooting with characters and plots.

But to write a memoir exposes you, strips you down to your marrow and shows the world the building blocks that are YOU. I hear people say, ‘There is a story in everyone,’ and to a point that is true.

But is it a plot that is commercial is another question completely.

Gaiman, N., 2006. Fragile Things; Short Stories and Wonders. s.l.: Headline.

Synopsis

Synopsis Born in the change.

 This is a story of a young girl TRACEY, who was born in the sixties in Sheffield to parents in their late 40s, this was known as being “born in the change.”

Tracey’s family had no generation, but had a lot of history.

Through a collection of snapshots, Tracey relates how life was being the youngest and living with a disabled parent.  How her relationships formed with siblings that were 12 years and 24 years older than her.

Tracey has many problems to deal with, like her father collapsing with burst ulcers, and her being the only one there to save him. Growing up, and not having the normal lifestyle children had with young parents.

This story is also about the joys of a close family, the eccentricities of this unusual family. Tracey and her sister Janet were close and even more so as JANET had a hole in her heart. Still Tracey didn’t understand this until she hit her poor sister over the head with a plastic scooter and saw the pain her sister contended with every day.

 Holidays were times to be normal and enjoy each others company and Blackpool has fond memories for Tracey and her Father, especially the tinkling bells of the donkeys as they bustled down the street.

Still sometimes it was hard for Tracey especially when it came to things like plays and parents evenings, her Father was so ill he couldn’t attend these things, and this hurt. But on the night of her acting on stage at the Crucible Theatre, she finds her Dad has managed to get to the theatre to see her.  

The only person in Traceys family who is not close to her is her brother ARNOLD. The 24 year difference is too wide a space to find any common ground. As a child Tracey worshipped her older brother, but he just couldn’t seem to like her back. This comes to a head when he takes Traceys mother’s side when Tracey asks for help with dealing with her mothers altzhiemers. The fall out is bad and Arnold ends up not talking to either Tracey or her sister and breaks Traceys heart when not even turning up to his own sister’s funeral.

Children trust more easily, this innocence lasts until they grow up. On her Grandma’s back garden, Tracey ends up sharing her jam sandwiches with three cunning rats, who she thinks are kittens.

Pets are not always the cuddly things you think they are.  Janet’s pet rabbit was a monster in a fluffy coat. When poor Tracey tries to feed it, it bites her and she ends up in the hospital with her finger hanging off.

Having Romany blood in your veins is not always easy, especially when Mum is obsessed with superstitions. And Tracey and Janet drive her crazy by doing everything that can bring bad luck.

Tracey’s life has a lot of death, first her Father, then her mother. But nothing affects a person more than the death of a sibling. Loosing Janet makes Tracey think hard about how she will cope now she is truly alone. With her safety net removed, can Tracey really survive?

So what does the future hold for Tracey? Listen to what she has to say when reflecting on her life, and the impact her family has had on her.