Category Archives: writing

Navigating Birmingham.

18 Saturday Mar 2017

Posted by in Birmingham, Birmingham Literature Festival, Birmingham Writers, creativity, Poetry, workshops, Writers, writing, Writing West Midlands

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Paddling and writing along Birmingham’s canals

Ever thought of combining canoeing and writing? Well, now’s your chance. On April 23rd, Jo Bell (poet,) Alyse Fowler (gardener/writer,) and I will be doing just that. We’ll be taking groups down the industrial canals of Birmingham and using this unique perspective to inspire creative writing. Check out the press release below for full details and booking info:

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£20/£16 (concessions), children £10

Need some inspiration to get writing? Want to explore hidden Birmingham?

Look no further than our series of creative walks, bike rides and canoe trips developed in partnership with the Canal & River Trust, National Trust, Birmingham Roundhouse, British Canoeing and Big Birmingham Bikes, and delivered by five fantastic writers.

Canoe-write

Take to the waterways of Birmingham by canoe for a unique perspective on the city, returning to dry land for a writing workshop at The Roundhouse led by Alys Fowler (10am-1pm) or Jo Bell (2pm-5pm). Workshops for young people at both sessions will be led by Garrie Fletcher. Canoes and instruction supplied free of charge from British Canoeing and B-ROW.

Please dress comfortably: we advise that you don’t wear jeans, you do wear trainers, bring waterproof coat and trousers, and a complete change of clothes. The canoes have a weight restriction of 17.5 stone.
Drinks are provided free of charge but please bring a snack to sustain you.

Suitable for adults and children aged 8 and over. Children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult.

Workshop 1 – 10am – 1pm (Alys Fowler) 

Workshop 2 – 2pm – 5pm (Jo Bell) 

Roundhouse Writers

Jo Bell is a former Canal Poet Laureate and currently appears on Nationwide’s ‘Voice of the People’ ads. Her poetry collection Kith is published by Nine Arches Press. She is co-writing a handbook for poets – How to be a Poet – and lives on a narrowboat.

Alys Fowler is an award-winning journalist, regular presenter of BBC Gardeners’ World and Guardian columnist. Her new book Hidden Nature charts her journey through the canals of Birmingham by canoe.

Garrie Fletcher writes short stories, novels and poems. His collection of short stories, Night Swimming, has just been published by Mantle Lane Press. He leads the Birmingham Young Writers’ Group for Writing West Midlands.

How to Book:
Please contact The BOX to book tickets on 0121 245 4455 or you can book online by clicking the button below.

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Book Launch

17 Friday Mar 2017

Posted by in books, Event, Leicester, Mantle Lane Press, Publication, Reading, Short Stories, Writers, writing

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Last Saturday, we launched Night Swimming, at the ‘book festival in a day,’ States of Independence. When I say we, I mean Matthew Pegg – a marvellous and industrious human being – introduced it, and I read a brief extract from one of the stories.
Matthew did a top rate job taking about Mantle Lane Press and the three collections that are out now, including, Night Swimming. My reading went really well; there was a great reaction from those there and a posting of purchases on Twitter soon after.

Night Swimming is:
“A collection of dark, urban tales: the pros and cons of stealing a pensioner, a mothers prison visit, incipient love and roller skating, the guilt of a brothers death, and a past love burnt out by rioting. Stories that deal with loss, longing and hope.

Garrie Fletcher writes about the gaps between lives, the pauses between stations and the static hiss of the city. The moments he captures are fleeting and easily missed, but resonate like a steel string plucked above a pickup, distorted and electric.

Mantle Lane Press small books can be slipped into a pocket and make an ideal stocking filler for literature lovers. ”
To get your hands on a copy of this beautiful book just click here. You can also order it from your local bookshop, or if you’re local, to me, get in touch, and I can get a signed copy to you.

 

night-swimming-cover

Get Your Trunks On!

08 Wednesday Mar 2017

Posted by in Birmingham Writers, Leicester, Mantle Lane Press, Publication, Q & A, Reading, Short Stories, Short Story, workshops, Writers, writing

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My first collection of short stories, Night Swimming, is almost here. It’s still not really sunk in. But on  Saturday, March the 11th, I will finally hold a copy in my hands – that should do the trick.

To be able to look at the cover of my book and flick through the pages, pages covered with words that I typed, deleted, retyped, crossed out, scribbled over and screamed at should fill me with joy, or at least a deep sense of satisfaction. Night Swimming cover-page-001

However, this isn’t ‘job done.’ Now starts the long process of promotion, of convincing people to buy my book. The first step, along the road of self-promotion, will be taken on Saturday at this year’s States of Independence in Leicester. I will be reading a short extract from, Night Swimming, as part of the Mantle Lane Press launch. I’ve read  my work at many events over the years, but this will be the first time that I’ve had a ‘product’ to promote. At the moment, I’m reading through the stories and trying to decide which one will tantalise the most and leave an audience wanting more.

If you’re in Leicester, or fancy a day out there, please come along to States of Independence. Here’s some info and details from their website:

States of Independence

Independent publishing | Independent writing | Independent thinking

A book festival in a day

 

This year’s States of Independence is our eighth. It’s a book festival in a day, a marketplace, a conference, a chance to relax and listen to some readings, an opportunity to argue about issues in the industry and to meet with independent presses from across the region.

States of Independence supports independent thinking, independent writing and independent presses. Join us for the day or an hour. Attend lots of events – you will be spoiled for choice – or just one, or simply come along and browse through the twenty or so bookstalls to see what the independent sector is publishing.

As always there are poetry and fiction readings and industry panels discussing current hot topics – this year focusing on independent literary magazines. Non-fiction wanders from British Palestine to John Clare’s escape from an asylum, via the political power of music, reminiscences about being gay in the 80s, and how to talk about poetry

States of Independence is a free event, underwritten by Five Leaves Bookshop in Nottingham and the Centre for Creative Writing at De Montfort University, with the support of over fifty writers and over thirty presses.

All sessions are free, no tickets required.
Just turn up and stay for an hour or two, or the whole day.

<!–Click here to download a printable programme.

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States of Independence is organised and funded by Five Leaves Bookshop in Nottingham and the Creative Writing Team at De Montfort University, Leicester.

Night Swimming Book Launch, 11th of March!

27 Friday Jan 2017

Posted by in Birmingham Writers, Event, get published, Leicester, Mantle Lane Press, Publication, Q & A, Reading, Short Stories, workshops, writing

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My collection of short stories, entitled: Night Swimming, will be launched on March the 11th, at States of Independence in Leicester. States of Independence is a gathering of independent publishers. There will be workshops, readings, panels, seminars, book launches, bookstalls, independent presses, regional writers and much, much more. I think it’ll be based at De Montfort University, but I’ll let you know the full details when I get them.

If you’re in Leicester, or fancy a day in that fine city, then please come along and say hi. Previous events have been free of charge and there’s plenty to see and do

night-swimming-clothed

5 Animated Films For Those Looking For More Than Just Pixar, Or Something Completely Different

17 Tuesday Jan 2017

Posted by in writing

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I need to work my way through this list:

 

1. WALTZ WITH BASHIR (2008). An Israeli filmmaker begins to interview veterans of the 1982 invasion of Lebanon, a conflict in which the filmmaker had also served, to recapture the memories of his o…

Source: 5 Animated Films For Those Looking For More Than Just Pixar, Or Something Completely Different

Prophet: Earth war

16 Monday Jan 2017

Posted by in Comics, writing

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Here’s just one of the many reasosn I’m looking forward to getting hold of a copy of the concluding collection of Prophet. The scene below is from one of the previous stories, but it gives you a glimpse of the kind of brain-twisting visuals you can expect.prophet29-spread

The artwork throughout this series is continually exceptional as is the storytelling. This is sci-fi in the British and European tradition. A tradition of dark, bonkers ideas that stretch the imagination. Prophet is a rarity in comic books in that it improves with successive readings, but don’t just take my word for it. Check out this post at Paste Magazine.ProphetEW_02-1.png

 

Farce Book

08 Sunday Jan 2017

Posted by in Facebook, writing

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kill_facebook

Graphic from the Writtalin blog.

I’m leaving Facebook. There, I’ve said it. I’ve been thinking about it for some time, and after initially deciding to have a break, I’ve decided to make the break permanent. It’s not that I don’t love you all out there in the virtual world, it’s just that you take up far too much of my time. Well, it was that initially. Initially, I thought that cutting FB out would give me back time to do stuff, and more importantly, time to daydream – there’s simply not enough daydreaming going on in the Fletcher head-space. And then I read an article by Salim Virani that laid out all the shite that FB gets up to without our consent.

Salim, is a tech-savvy entrepreneur, educator and writer; he’s set up projects that focus on peer to peer learning, but the thing that caught my eye, thanks to a tweet from, Kit De Wal, was his post on leaving Facebook called, Get your loved ones off Face Book. The article was originally posted in 2015, but has since been updated, as have FB’s terms and conditions…

It seems that FB is taking personal info, creating profiles of you and your friends and then selling this info to the whoever wants it. Info is passed onto banks, insurers, potential employers. FB even has an algorithm that posts stuff on your behalf. If you’ve ever seen adverts for companies/services that are endorsed by your friends, the chances are that they did no such thing. FB posts stuff that you recommend to your friends. Well, when I say you endorse I mean it pretends that you endorse it. It accesses your phone including your camera, microphone and GPS info which, if you read Salim’s article, has led to some rather embarrassing and disturbing situations for people.

I suppose, what with the Snooper’s Charter now becoming law in the UK, I should just shut up and put up with this, but I don’t see why profiles and judgements should be made about me, my family and friends, and then sold on to whoever wants them without my consent.

Please read Salim’s article here. It only takes 15mins, and there are lots of references from reputable sources to back it up.facebook-thumbs-down

I’ll leave my profile up for a week and then I’ll take it down. I’m intending to start deleting photographs now. Sadly, I think I’ll still need a FB presence for my work as a writer, but if anyone knows of a suitable alternative, please let me know.

This post will appear on FB, but I won’t be replying to any comments that are posted on FB. If you want to leave a comment, please do so on my blog – it doesn’t take long to set that up. This also means I won’t be on Messenger anymore, but you can still contact me through phone, email, post, WhatsApp and, heaven forbid, face to face.

I know people that have left FB and have ended up coming back and that may well be the case with me. I’d just like to give cat-free-video-clip-living a try and to not have my info used for profit.

Y: The Last Man

22 Thursday Dec 2016

Posted by in Comics, writing

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Y: The Last Man is a stunning graphic novel that poses the question: would the world be a better place if it was run by women?

untitled

Written by Brian K. Vaughan and beautifully drawn by Pia Guerra the story is told across 60 issues that concluded way back in 2008. I read it a while ago but I’ve been prompted to post this after coming across a fine article in The Guardian today written by Sian Cain. Check out the article on The Guardian site and more imnportantly read the book for yourself. Don’t just take my word for it, Stephen King said it was the best graphic novel he’s ever read.

The article is prompted by the search for books that inspire rather than soothe and states that hope can feel intangible – but defiance is practical. What do you think?

y-the-last-man-032

Night Swimming

27 Sunday Nov 2016

Posted by in Art, Birmingham Writers, Mantle Lane Press, Short Stories, writing

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Book Cover Uncovered

Those wonderful people at Mantle Lane Press have chosen and they have chosen well. The artwork for my forthcoming collection of short stories, Night Swimming, will be provided by Gabriella Marsh. Here’s a text free glimpse of what’s to come.

night-swimming-clothed

Book Cover Designers Needed.

06 Thursday Oct 2016

Posted by in Anthology, Art, Birmingham Literature Festival, Birmingham Writers, Mantle Lane Press, Publication, Reading, Short Stories, Short Story, Submissions, writing, Writing West Midlands

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Calling all artists/photographers/graphic designers.

There’s a great opportunity at Mantle Lane Press for book cover designers.

There are three books that need covers including my own short story collection, Night Swimming. Please check out the link below for details and share this on your own networks.

Book cover design job link.

You can also hear some of the writers of the latest Mantle Lane Press Anthology read from the collection at this year’s Birmingham Literature Festival.

what-haunts-the-heart

What Haunts The Heart is a new collection of short stories by brilliant writers from across the Midlands, presenting a host of haunted characters: a waxwork-maker, a doomed puppeteer, an isolated writer… What Haunts The Heart weaves together tales of lost love, regret, bad decisions, madness, secrets, obsession and redemption.

Come and hear a selection of these fantastic stories performed live by writers including William Gallagher, Liza Kershaw and Fiona Joseph.

Tickets are £3 and available here.