Another July, another Edge-Lit.
 
Last weekend saw my third visit to The Quad for its legendary Edge-Sledge series of literary events.
 
Happily, the experience did not succumb to the trilogy curse of weaker third instalments. Instead, this may have been my best Edge-Lit yet.
 
I know the drill by now: astonishing access to bestselling authors and award-winners, a packed programme of insightful workshops, tonnes of new friendships to be made along the way, and a well-stocked bar within easy reach.
 
Here are the 19 things I learnt at Edge-Lit 2019.
 
1. Zen Cho taught me that sketching out my typical day in 30-minute instalments is a great way to identify available slots to write. After that, there can be no excuses!
 
2. Authors like Nando’s too.
 
3. Alex Reeve taught me that crime novels should have three overlapping levels: the surface story, the hidden story, and the detective’s story.
 
4. I need to read The Watchers by Neil Spring.
 
5. I need to read The Picnic at Hanging Rock.
 
6. In Japan, they tell ghost stories in the summer to invite a welcome shiver during the warmer months.
 
7. Stephen Volk’s Dick Turpin television show is going to be awesome.
 
8. There is a book called 2k to 10k by Rachel Aaron which will help me write faster.
 
9. Adrian Tchaikovsky explained that terrain is an oft-forgotten element of any literary battle.
 
10. I definitely, definitely don’t need to arrive at 8am to bag workshop places.
 
11. Christopher Golden taught me everythingthere is to know about publishing contracts.
 
12. Stephen Volk taught me everythingthere is to know about pitching a TV series.
 
13. Donald Trump toilet paper is a thing.
 
14. Alex Reeve said, “Character and plot are the same thing.”
 
15. Christopher Golden said, “I don’t like to write about human monsters because real life is scary enough.”
 
16. Neil Spring said, “It would only have to happen once…” on the topic of ghosts. One confirmed sighting would mean that anything supernatural is possible.
 
17. The Flowerpot is slightly further than I remember.
 
18. The Skybus is a much cheaper ride home than an Uber.
 
19. The next Edge-Lit… is going to be an entire weekend!

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If you are attending Edge-Lit for the first time, you might be feeling a little daunted, especially if you are going by yourself...

But have no fear!

You are going to have a brilliant day, packed with useful writing advice and valuable insight into the craft. You'll also meet lots of lovely people who read books, write books and love books.

I attended my first Edge-Lit last year and I would love to share my wisdom with you. I hope these five tips will help you get the most out of your day.

1. Get there early (ish) - The workshops are fiendishly popular and assigned on a first-come-first-served basis. Attendees write their name on various sign-up sheets at the registration desk. Once a sheet is full, the workshop is full. Maybe don't get there as early as I did (an hour before the doors opened!) but expect a modest queue about 15 minutes beforehand.

2. Workshops are a great way to meet people - The workshops are a small, close-knit, hands-on affair, with roughly 15 people in each session. Most have quick, interactive exercises in which you work with a partner or group. For this reason, workshops are a fantastic way to make friends if you are attending the event by yourself.

3. Talk to everyone - Readers, writers and bloggers are friendly people, but statistically we are an introverted bunch, unless you are an attention-seeking only-child like me. Take comfort in knowing that most people are feeling a little shy and nervous too, but someone has to break the ice first. My advice is to go for it, talk to a stranger. If it all goes wrong at least you'll have good content for your next short story! And when I say talk to everyone, I do mean everyone. International best-sellers are people too. Buy them a cookie to thank them for sharing their imagination with the world.

4. Put your hand up - There are a lot of panels - hourly, in fact - packed with charming, insightful folk. Make the most of the smorgasbord of talent sat in front of you and ask a question when the time comes. Pick their brains. Mine their gold. Satisfy your curiosity. Just one caveat: keep the question short. There is nothing worse than an audience member rambling through their life story before getting to the question!

5. Bring food - Such was my enthusiasm for the hourly sessions that I denied myself time to eat for fear of missing valuable content. So, yes, snacks are advisable, and make time for lunch too. The ground floor cafe is delightful. Coffee! Cake! Beer! There is also a Greggs around the corner and a Nando’s opposite. And so many great pubs for post-Edge shenanigans. Rejoice.

See you on Saturday 13 July. Say hello and I may just buy you a coffee!

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After falling in love with Edge-Lit back in July, I knew I would be returning for the Christmas spin-off.

The puntastic Sledge-Lit didn't disappointment. I once again departed with new writer friends, a head full of wisdom, and a bloodstream full of caffeine, sugar and beer.

Here are the Top 18 things I learnt at Sledge-Lit 2018:

1. Sledge-Lit is like a slightly smaller Edge-Lit but with Christmas jumpers.

2. Angeline Trevena taught me that it is better to show a character's feelings through actions, rather than dialogue, or narration. She recommended The Emotional Thesaurus which lists physical signs of every emotion.

3. Angeline also advised that dialogue scenes should start late and finish early to avoid small talk.

4. Agent John Jarrold spoke on the reality of the submissions world. He receives 30-40 submissions a week but only signs 3-4 manuscripts a year.

5. Stuart Turton recommended targeting young, ambitious agents who are still building their list.

6. Sophie Draper advised us to participate in the 121 agent meetings at writing festivals, such as York and Winchester. Writers can gain five minutes of honest feedback from an agent, whilst also having the opportunity to win them over.

7. John Jarrold said, "Dickens wouldn't be published today."

8. M R Carey said, "You can't write something unless you love consuming it."

9. Sarah Pinborough said, "Magical realism is literary fiction wearing a beret."

10. Stuart Turton said, "Don't be a dick to agents."

11. An agent needs to be hooked by the opening page, especially the opening line. The writer's voice must excite them. A good voice cannot be defined. It is a subjective, gut feeling. However, one tip is to never start with explication. Start with character.

12. M R Carey spoke of his love for genre fiction over literary fiction. He said writing literary fiction would be like painting in grey after years of painting in colour.

13. Stuart Turton advised us to get feedback early, get it when its most useful, and listen to the feedback.

14. Ruth de Haas explained that writers shouldn't just focus on the disability when writing about a disabled character. Talk about the character in more detail - their hopes, their fears, their flaws - as you would with any other character.

15. Sensitivity readers can be employed to read your manuscript if you are worried that you have portrayed a disabled character, or any other traditionally misrepresented group, incorrectly.

16. Novellas are still being published by traditional publishing companies but they are an exception and still cost the same price as a novel.

17. There are plenty of famous novellas which you might not realise are novellas: The Old Man and the Sea, A Christmas Carol, Animal Farm, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and Of Mice and Men,

18. The Buried Giant has a brilliant ending which Adrian Selby thinks about all the time.

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There are just 10 days left of NaNoWriMo 2018.

Your enthusiasm might be waning. Your word count might be miles behind target. Depressing thought: you should be on 33,333 words at the stroke of midnight.

This seems like the perfect time for five quick, practical tips on how to hit that 50,000-word target before the end of November.

1. Stop editing - Get the words down, quick, quick, quick, and worry about fixing spelling, grammar, pretentious metaphors later. Throw in a time jump if you reach a tricky plot point. I often write something like INSERT ACTION SCENE because I write better and quicker when dialogue is driving the story.

2. Turn off the TV - It's only for a month. You can do it. If you have time to binge-watch Daredevil Season 3 in the month of November then you are shooting yourself (and your word count) in the foot. At the very least, ration yourself to one episode a day. Only turn the TV on for the purpose of watching that one episode. Passively watching whatever happens to be on Channel 4 is a big no-no.

3. No tweeting, no blogging - I break this rule all the time. I'm writing a 400-word blog right now when I should be writing my manuscript. What am I thinking? Don't be like me. Be better than me. Blogging and tweeting, much like Christmas songs on the radio, can wait until the 1st of December.

4. No reading - I know, I know, but you can't write a book and read a book at the same time. Close that best-selling paperback, let your Kindle's battery go flat, and use that precious time to write your own book, not devote yourself to somebody else's.

​5. Public transport - Ditch driving to work, or anywhere for that matter. Take your hands off the steering wheel and fill them with pen and paper instead. Driving is dead time. But riding on a train or bus or tube will allow you to write reams of words before arriving at your destination. This is the game-changer that helped me complete three separate WriMos in recent years. I owe that success almost exclusively to my train commute. All hail the rail!

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If you are attending Sledge-Lit on Saturday for the first time then you might be feeling a little daunted, especially if you are going by yourself...

But have no fear!

You are going to have a brilliant day, packed with useful writing advice and valuable insight into the craft. You'll also meet lots of lovely people who read books, write books and breathe books.

I attended my first Edge-Lit (the summer version) in July and I would love to share my wisdom with you. I hope these five tips will help you get the most out of your day.

1. Get there early (ish) - The workshops are fiendishly popular and assigned on a first-come-first-served basis. Attendees write their name on various sign-up sheets at the registration desk. Once a sheet is full, the workshop is full. Maybe don't get there as early as I did (an hour before the doors opened!) but expect a modest queue about 15 minutes before the doors open.

2. Workshops are a great way to meet people - The workshops are a small, close-knit, hands-on affair, with roughly 15 people in each session. Most have quick, interactive exercises in which you work with a partner or group. For this reason, workshops are a fantastic way to make friends if you are attending the event by yourself.

3. Talk to everyone - Readers, writers and bloggers are friendly people, but statistically we are an introverted bunch, unless you are an attention-seeking only-child like me! Take comfort in knowing that most people are feeling a little shy and nervous too, but someone has to break the ice first. My advice is go for it, talk to a stranger. If it all goes wrong at least you'll have good content for your next short story! And when I say talk to everyone, I do mean everyone. International best-sellers are people too. Buy them a cookie to thank them for sharing their imagination with the world.

4. Put your hand up - There are a lot of panels - hourly, in fact - packed with charming, insightful folk. Make the most of the smorgasbord of talent sat in front of you and ask a question when the time comes. Pick their brains. Mine their gold. Satisfy your curiosity. Just one caveat: keep the question short. There is nothing worse than an audience member rambling through their life story before getting to the question!

5. Bring food - It looks like Sledge-Lit has a scheduled lunch hour but this wasn't the case with Edge-Lit. Such was my enthusiasm for the hourly sessions that I denied myself time to eat for fear of missing valuable content! So, yes, snacks are advisable, and use the offered lunch hour too. The ground floor cafe is delightful. Coffee! Cake! Beer! There is also a Gregg's round the corner. Let's all remember, the Gregg's festive bake is back on the menu. Rejoice.

See you on Saturday. I'll buy the mince pies!

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Here are some photos of my talk at Book To The Future 2018. This was the fifth year of the University of Birmingham's free literary festival. The first year inspired me to write The Sheriff and I have spoken about self-publishing at every event since. Great photos from the event photographer, although I do look like I'm about to sneeze in a few of them!

The fourth and final quarter of 2018 was a mixed bag. It included some brilliant profile-raising moments for myself. I delivered two talks on self-publishing and attended the writing festival Sledge-Lit. However, my writing flow was heavily derailed by a very busy period at work. Overall, I feel like I'm ending the year in a strong place to spring forward in 2019. New year, new moleskine, new start.

Highlight
Sledge-Lit! This is the Winter version of literary festival Edge-Lit which I attended back in July. Much like its Summer cousin, I spent the day meeting fellow writers and readers, hearing from accomplished authors, and ending the day making friends over beers. 

Lowlight
Crashing out of NaNoWriMo, despite having a strong idea, due to an intense few months at the office. I should have followed my own advice on how to win NaNoWriMo.

I have read...

• Blood of Assassins by RJ Barker
• The Girl with all the Gifts by M R Carey

I have blogged...

• Book To The Future 2018 - My Photo Album
• My Top 5 Tips for Sledge-Lit 2018
• My Top 5 Tips for Winning NaNoWriMo 
• 18 Things I Learnt at Sledge-Lit 2018

I have written...

• A poem called The Wee Wise Weevil, which has a Julia Donaldson vibe.
• A short story called The Nuthatch, best described as a fantasy horror.
• 14,859 words towards a novella called The Maria Compass, a contemporary re-telling of A Christmas Carol. This was my NaNoWriMo project. I hope to finish this in January.

Biggest excuses for not writing...

• Very busy at work!

I have submitted...

• An entry for the Birmingham Writers' Group annual winter competition. The theme was Frozen Wastes and I wrote a short story called The Nuthatch. I didn't win but the story will feature in my third short story collection.

Out and about

• I spoke about self-publishing at Book To The Future, the University of Birmingham's literary festival.
• I spoke about self-publishing to the first-year Creative Writing students at the University of Birmingham.
• I attended Sledge-Lit 2018. It was awesome.

Dates to remember

• 1 October - National Coffee Day
• 4 October - National Poetry Day
• 6 October - National Bookshop Day
• 26 October - Four-year anniversary of Breadcrumbs.
• 29 October - Three-year anniversary of The Curse of Besti Bori.
• ​25 November - Four-year anniversary of Circ.

AOB

• I had a brilliant Christmas with lots of writing presents: a new Moleskine, the Emotion Thesaurus, and a set of storytelling dice!
• I was blown away by Black Mirror episode Bandersnatch. Now I want to write a Choose Your Own Adventure novel.
• Bring on 2019. I will try very hard to finish The Maria Compass, my next short story collection, and Nephos 3.

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The third quarter of this year was revolutionary. It kicked off with my first ever attendance at a national literary festival, the highly-popular Edge-Lit, and ended with plenty more words stored safely on my Dropbox. I also returned to the Birmingham Writers' Group after a six-month absence with fresh stories in hand.

Highlight
Edge-Lit! It was the happiest day of my life. Talking to writers about other writers and writing in general, all with a fantasy, sci-fi and horror focus... bliss! There were so many things I learnt at Edge-Lit which will help me become a better writer. I left energised, motivated and a tiny bit drunk.

Lowlight
It looks like I won't complete Nephos 3 before the end of the year. It's 80% finished but I ran out of steam, so I'm taking another break. Still, more time to spend on short stories.

I have read...

• The Tethered Mage by Melissa Caruso
• The End of the World Running Club by Adrian Walker
• The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay
• Ravencry by Ed McDonald
• King of Assassins by RJ Barker
• Darksoul by Anna Stephens

I have blogged...

• 18 Things I Learnt at Edge-Lit 2018
• My Edge-Lit Photo Album​
• The Virtual Reality Book Trailer

I have written...

• Another 20,372 words towards Nephos 3, meaning the total word count is now 197,266 words.
• A short story called Once in a Blue Moon about the University of Birmingham's iconic clock tower, Old Joe.
• A poem called The Pen and the Sword, inspired by my visit to Man Mo Temple.

Biggest excuses for not writing...

• Work trip to Hong Kong.
• Work trip to Switzerland.

I have submitted...

• Two entries to The Emma Press in response to their call for night-time stories.
• Two entries to The Emma Press in response to their call for children's insect poems.

Out and about

• I attended Edge-Lit 2018, as mentioned above.
• I also returned to the Birmingham Writers' Group after missing many months of meetings. I submitted an extract from Nephos 3 which was met with positive comments.

Dates to remember

• 9 September - the two-year anniversary of Festive Treats, a festive anthology in which I feature.
• 27 September - the two-year anniversary of my story being performed on the Tall Tales radio show.

AOB

• Book To The Future is back! This October marks the fifth year of the University of Birmingham's literary festival.
• Edge-Lit's winter spin-off, Sledge-Lit, is taking place in November. See you there!

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I attended my first Edge-Lit on Saturday, which is an event for readers and writers of fantasy, horror and science fiction.

I learnt so much to help develop myself as a writer and took away a few valuable lessons for future Edge-Lit events. 

Here are the Top 18 things I learnt at Edge-Lit 2018:

1. Writers and readers are incredibly lovely people. Even international bestsellers will gladly chat with you about Peppa Pig over a beer.

2. Adrian Walker taught me that publishers will sometimes approach self-published authors directly if those authors are doing well in the Amazon charts. He added that one of the best ways to top the charts is to write in a very niche category.

3. The workshop sign-up forms fill up quickly but not so quickly that I need to be there at 8am!

4. RJ Barker and Lee Harrison showed me how to invert Joseph Campbell’s archetypes by assigning the Hero role to the Shadow and re-casting the other archetypes accordingly. For instance, if Darth Vader is the Hero, then the Shadow is Luke Skywalker, the Mentor is Emperor Palpatine, and the Tricksters are Stormtroopers!

5. Anna Smith-Spark said these words of wisdom: “Fantasy is basically mythology fan fiction.”

6. Conn Iggulden said: “Writing stories is possibly the only thing more fun than reading them.”

7. Heide Goody said: “If anyone needs any spare spit then Iain Grant’s your man.”

8. Anna Stephens told me that Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough has a very shocking ending and deserves the hashtag #WTFthatending.

9. Anna Smith-Spark recommended buying two copies of the Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook, printed a couple of years apart. You can then cross-reference to work out which are the newest agencies. Often the new agencies are more willing to accept submissions because they are still building their client base.

10. There is a Greggs around the corner.

11. Andy Remic advised that I should submit to three agents at a time, working my way through the Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook. He also advised against writing a sequel because it is better to have another standalone novel to pitch instead, preferably in a different genre.

12. Heide Goody and Iain Grant taught me that all stories can be split into nine stages, as outlined by Blake Snyder in his screenwriting book Save The Cat. The absence of one of the stages can mean that your plot lacks pace or dramatic tension. They also put a box on my head.

13. A packed lunch is essential if attending a session every hour without a break.

14. Paul Tremblay recommended “patience and perseverance” for aspiring writers and not to be disheartened by fellow writers constantly posting their own successes on social media.

15. Nicholas Eames’ fantasy novel Kings of the Wyld won the David Gemmell Awards for best fantasy debut and best front cover, both well-deserved. My goal in life is to own an Owlbear Funko Pop.

16. The Edge-Lit raffle is an Experience.

17. The David Gemmell auction has some pretty nifty prizes. Bring money.

18. It will be a late night. In a good way.

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