The Letters by Fiona Robyn

I was lucky enough to meet Fiona Robyn when she came to town to read some of her poetry on a Tongues and Grooves evening.

Fiona's poetry is exquisite; the words are almost palpable, ripe, warm and juicy like blackberries eaten as fast as they can be picked off the sun warmed brambles.

Much to my delight her fiction has the same cadence...one which, to my mind, is reminiscent of Gregorian Monks chanting their prayers.

The Letters flings the reader up onto an edge of adrenaline fuelled frisson before dropping you into fur lined ruts where you could happily luxuriate forever.

There is a decadent syncopation to The Letters.

The Letters, published by the wonderful world of Snowbooks, is a treat from start to finish. You can buy a copy here, here or here as well as any good book store and you can find out more about Fiona here.

"Writing Therapy" by Tim Atkinson

Sitting in the middle of my tbr pile was the novel, Writing Therapy, by Tim Atkinson. I knew nothing about it except that it was written by my blogging friend otherwise known as The Dotterel . But the cover has a picture of an old "Imperial Model T" typewriter on it, and I have a thing about old typewriters, so I found myself first picking up the book, looking at it, turning it over and then without realizing it, starting to read. And then I couldn't stop. This is a novel the likes of which I haven't seen in a very long time. It is a story with real characters, written in beautiful prose, full of important ideas, but also structurally interesting. It is self-referential in a way that you don't see these days. With each page I got more and more absorbed and delighted, and felt like I had to tell all of you about it.

Frances Nolan (or is she Sophie Western?) suffers from a literary delusion: she believes she is the central character in a novel she is writing. Within the walls of the adolescent psychiatric clinic where she has been admitted to help her recover from her depression and violence, she throws herself into a new style of treatment called Writing Therapy which she pursues even against doctor's orders. Can writing cure a teenage girl whose problem has been too much reading? As she experiments with different narratives the true nature of her problem becomes clear. She is caught within a struggle for control of her own life and destiny as expressed through the writing of her own life story. The novel itself, the one written by Atkinson, weaves in and out of the novel being written by Frances. As a writer, this is no mean feat, but Atkinson handles it so adroitly that the reader never stumbles. The voices of all the characters are so clear that you always know where you are and who you are with. As time goes by and Frances heads towards her own "cure," you become caught up in the struggles not only of the other patients, but also of the adults who are there supposedly to help cure them.

It's not often that I finish a book and sit there saying to myself, "where did this come from?" But I did with "Writing Therapy," and thanks to the wonders opf blogland, I was able to contact the author himself and ask him. Here is a man writing convincingly in the voice of a teenage girl locked within the prison of a soon-to-become obsolete psychiatric unit. How did he do it? And why?

"I was keen to do something to raise awareness of teenage mental-health, having worked (though not in such a hospital) with troubled teenagers for years," Atkinson explained. "I've visited such places in the course of my career as a teacher (with responsibility for pupil welfare) and attended many, many case conferences. So I had a pretty good idea of what the mental-health professionals would be like. As for the patients, more and more of the pupils who came my way each year were suffering in some way: school refusing, eating disorders, self-harm and worse. Not only was I shocked by the rise but I was also concerned by the continued stigma. What schools (and other kids) often don't see is the happy ending to such stories. I'm fortunate to have kept in touch with a few of the 'successes' and in some ways Writing Therapy is a testament to them. But there are also those for whom the system doesn't work, and some of my royalties are going to the charity, Young Minds . Finally, I suppose (like many people) I had always wanted to write a book. But at the same time I didn't want to write a book like all the others. (You must know that feeling?) And the more I looked into the craft of writing, the more the workings of the writer seemed to flow into the novel, which seemed appropriate."

To me, both as a writer and a reader, this was fascinating stuff. At one point Frances/Sophie explains the nugget of the issue to her nurse, Will, and she says it better than I could:

"I mean that no one knows what's really real now, do they? No one knows which bits are fact and which are fiction any more. No one knows what I'm reporting or inventing."

Writing Therapy is about a person creating a personalty, a child creating their adult self, a writer creating a work of fiction, a character creating a future. It is simply wonderful and you can buy it here .

posted by Sue Guiney

Tangled Roots by Sue Guiney

Sue weaves her story much in the same way as magicians perform their acts during a live stage show.

I read this book with growing anticipation, assuming I knew what was about to happen and eagerly wanting to reach that point.

Unexpectedly and with amazing cleverness the words frequently became twisted puffs of a magic spell; blending and wafting before me, clouding my vision only to have turned into something else once I was able to see clearly again.

I would recommend this book to those who take their reading seriously and to those who savour their books.

Tangled Roots is unique and very special.

I adored each sentence and wish Sue all the success she deserves with this magnificent debut novel.

The Other End of the Rainbow

I'd like to introduce you to David Gardiner and his wonderful new collection of short stories "The Other End of the Rainbow." David is an expat Irishman, a former teacher and "professional student" now living in London. He has previously published the sci fi novel, "Sirat", and his first short story collection, "The Rainbow Man", plus a number of stories in magazines and anthologies. He is Co-editor of Gold Dust magazine and volunteer editor for bluechrome and UKA Press. His interests range from science, philosophy, travel, wild life, communal living and alternative lifestyles, to contemporary folk music, photography, scuba diving, IT and cooking and many of these interests have found their way into his stories. David is the organiser of the annual UKAuthors.com holiday for writers and the last few UKAlive writers' events in London, and he is especially pleased to note that he has recently been presented with his very own London bus pass .
I loved reading David's new collection. They take you back and forth from a world of fairy tales to harsh, modern reality, yet he accomplishes this with a lightness of touch and a real musicality of language. Within his stories David inhabits the skins of dozens of characters, bringing their voices to life and their lives to voice. The first of these characters that you meet is the Rainbow Man himself, and that led me to my first question:
* I see that this is the second time you have used the conceit of The Rainbow Man. He is a fabulous character, but I was wondering if there is a technical reason why you've used his voice again as an entree into your stories.

The Rainbow Man is just a gimmick I invented to tie the first collection together, and since people seemed to like him I decided to keep him on for the second collection. I came up with him when I was on a one-week writers' retreat at a place called Anam Cara in Co. Cork, which I won as a prize in the Fish Short Story Competition. At that point I had a back catalogue of fifteen or twenty stories that I thought might be good enough for publication, but they were very diverse both in style and subject matter and I felt they were more of a heap than a collection. At Anam Cara we did a lot of talking about the craft of story-telling, and I remembered an old story-telling vagrant that I had known in Ireland when I was a boy. I had the idea of resurrecting him, embellishing him quite a lot, and allowing him to introduce each of my stories with some piece of apocryphal wisdom. It seemed to work. People liked him and the heap became a collection. The attraction for me is that he allows me to steer my readers surreptitiously in a particular direction and get them into what I consider the correct frame of mind for what's coming.

* Story-telling is an important cultural experience within in many cultures, but especially among the Irish. Do you think your Irishness has contributed to the particular form of story-telling that your narratives fall into?

I've noticed that although I've lived in England much longer than I've lived in Ireland, when I sit down to write it's more often than not my Irish background that comes to the fore and I find my stories taking place in Irish settings or spawning Irish main characters. The Irish influence seems to be very strong. I'm not aware of having been steeped in a story-telling tradition but I think it must have been there, as when Welsh people discover they can sing even though they have no conscious recollection of learning how to do it or growing up in a musical culture. Story-telling is something quite deep in the Irish psyche – it's the Irishman's natural mode of artistic expression. The country has produced writers in numbers and quality totally out of proportion to the size of its population.

*Before your story, “Light of the World,” the Rainbow Man says: “If ye were to wait to find out what story was true an’ what one wasn’t before ye believed it,sure ye wouldn’t have anything to believe at all, an’ then where would you be?” What a fabulous definition of fiction! But it makes me wonder about the role that “truth” has in your writing, and if you conceive of yourself as a writer of “magical realism”?

Truth in fiction is a difficult one. Obviously what we write isn't literally true or it wouldn't be fiction, but it has to contain truth of another kind if it's to be any good as fiction: it has to be 'true of', to contain insights into human nature and motivation. When the writer is doing his or her job properly you recognise the truth in the piece, it strikes a chord, you find yourself saying in effect: 'I always knew that but I wouldn't have been able to put it into words'. When I was a student I had an enormous regard for Solzhenitsyn and I particularly loved his Nobel Prize speech which was all about this aspect of literature. It was published under the title 'One Word of Truth'. I recommend everybody to read it. 'Magical Realism' strikes me as one of these terms invented to give critics something to argue about. It doesn't really matter if a particular story comes within that category or not; if it contains lots of realism and a little bit of magic that's more than enough for me.

*What comes first, the idea of the story or the idea of The Rainbow Man's question?

In every instance, the story comes first, but it's set up to look as though the story grows out of The Rainbow Man's reflections. Many of the stories in both collections were previously published elsewhere without The Rainbow Man's introduction, which rather gives the game away.

* “Intelligent Design” looks at the connection between myth and science. As I tried to explore in “Tangled Roots,” this is an idea that fascinates me. Do you see this as an important central focus of the collection?

I don't think the collection has a central focus, I wish that it had, but I've always been very drawn to scientific ideas and the philosophy of science and I suppose this shows through in places. My first (and only) novel was a science fiction story about artificial intelligence ('Sirat') and my early stories were practically all in that genre. I think there is a relationship between myth and science: human beings are story-telling animals, they need a story about everything, they can't leave holes in their understanding of the world and just say 'I don't know'. So every culture's understanding of the universe begins in myth, which, if they are lucky, is slowly replaced by science. I don't think the two are in any sense the same. The difference is that science is self-critical, always looking for counter-examples and better theories to replace ones found wanting. Myth on the other hand is fixed and immune to revision in the face of contrary evidence. That is exactly what is going on at the moment, particularly in the US bible belt, with respect to the conflict between evolutionary theory and 'intelligent design'. In this story I'm poking gentle fun at the whole thing, and also I hope getting people to think about something that may actually lie in the human future.

Well, I could go on forever discussing your work with you, David, but I should probably leave well enough alone now and just urge everyone to go out and buy it. Read it for yourselves and let David carry you into his world.

posted by Sue Guiney

Joe Stein

Crime fiction novels are my favorite read of all and I am delighted to announce that Joe Stein writes satisfyingly good books. His first novel featuring Garron, an ex-boxer turned bodyguard, Cold Fire, Calm Rage and the sequel, Another Man's World, are published by bluechrome. Joe also writes short stories in many different genres and will occasionally post one of them here.

Garron is an engaging, complex and likeable character despite or perhaps because of the way he behaves in his world. The world he lives in has many more sharp edges than you or I encounter is our daily lives and as expected this has roughed him up, hardened his psyche. The few mentors he has had, have served to sand down his rough edges, making him a more efficient criminal rather than into a reformed 'good guy'.

Garron is an extremely believable character, who questions his actions, loses sleep over his perceived failings as a human and all the while he is behaving the way he must to exist in his dangerous world, there is a gentle element to his makeup which is subtly woven in. The theme of no one being all good or all bad is almost imperceptible but there none the less and I liked the books all the more so for this glimmer of positivity.

Garron has very few friends both by choice and circumstance but those he does have, he values with a fierce, almost palpable, intensity. The lengths he goes to in order to end one friend's debt goes beyond what many people would endure even for family. Garron is a pensive, introspective character whose reflections on life and love are concise and and insightful.

I have Asperger's syndrome which is a form of Autism and because of this, empathy is not one of my stronger characteristics. I have been socially conditioned over the years to know the appropriate responses to other's plights and moral dilemmas. I can usually be relied upon to to voice them at the necessary times but rarely, if ever, do I truly 'feel' for the other person except for a few family members that I am very close to on a daily basis. However while reading Joe's books I could feel myself begin to 'get it', I innately was able to understand why Garron behaved the way he did and why he felt his choices were the only right ones in those circumstances. That, my friends, is some very clever writing indeed.

Garron muses about life in a series of amusing one liners in both novels, my favorite of which is:
'Women have this really upsetting habit of asking very direct questions often in very direct tones.' (In Another Man's World)

Both books made me reflect on what I have and how very lucky I am to be where I am. I was sometimes lost in the world Garron lived in and relieved when I put the book down and realised that I was in my own safe world. These books are hard hitting and brutally blunt at times, no fluff whatsoever can be found within the covers. They appear to have been written for the 'thinking reader', are a sobering read in a few places and all the more valuable for it. I could not say which of the two I like best as both are written in a slightly different 'tone' and each gives Garron depth in equal measures.

My only regret is that there is not (yet?) a 3rd book in this series. My recommendation is that you buy both the books at the same time to prevent the withdrawal symptoms that are inevitable if you have to endure a break between reading Cold Fire, Calm Rage and Another Man's World.

If you enjoy a good crime novel (and I assume you must if you've read this far), then go buy Cold Fire, Calm Rage and Another Man's World! I found one on Amazon for $50.24! I suggest you go here or here for a more affordable read.

An Ungodly Child

I've never read a novel quite like this one. Rachel Green describes it as 'urban fantasy'.

I thought that I knew what to expect as I had first stumbled upon Rachel's writing when I found her blog 'Laverstone Tales' which is full of delightful characters who regularly embark on a wide variety of adventures.

What I wasn't prepared for was the rich vein of humour that underscores each chapter, the ability to poke fun at the absurdity of human nature and all else beyond it. The characters in 'An Ungodly Child' go through exquisitely choreographed journeys of self awareness .

This book in many ways reminded me of Stephen Shieber's collection of short stories 'Being Normal'. Forget that one of the main characters of this book is a demon called Jasfoup and you'll see that this novel is actually all about being and accepting others for being normal, whatever they may chose to define that as.

This is a book full of beauty, life, laughter and the enduring strength and acceptance that comes with true love. It enriched me and I am grateful that I was able to experience it. I know that I will read it again and again. I am sure many other readers will too.

You can see Rachel Green's photography, art and poetry on this blog here

Rachel Green has told me that she has several finished novels and is looking for a publisher. How I wish I was an inde publisher...

Collection: Stepehen King Goes to the Movies

I am a huge fan of Stephen King.

I have an entire bookshelf dedicated to his books and I have been one of his Constant Readers for quite some time. I still remember the first Stephen King book I read: Skeleton Crew. I remember the monkey on the front cover of the book filled me with delicious fright. I opened the cover and have never been the same since.

After reading his other non-fiction offerings (Danse Macabre and On Writing: A Memoir on the Craft) I was super excited to hear about Stephen King Goes to the Movies. It promised to be a treat. The book description described it thusly:

Now available, the #1 bestselling author reflects on the filming of five of his most popular short stories. Those movies are The Shawshank Redemption, 1408, Children of the Corn, The Mangler, and Hearts in Atlantis.

Includes an introduction, his personal commentary, and behind-the-scenes insights by Stephen.


On reading those words, my first thought was: HOLY CRAP! My second thought was: AWESOME!

I thought it would be really amazing to get a behind the scenes look, as it were, at the stories behind the movies. We would get the stories themselves plus personal commentary and behind the scenes insights? Oh, it was every Constant Readers dream!

Except, it was a dream that was never realized.

I should have flipped through the book when I was in the bookstore, but I was in to big of a hurry to get home and delve into the mind of Stephen King. Imagine my surprise when I got home and opened the book to find the five stories and not much else.

Stephen King Goes to the Movies consists of the five stories behind the films 1408, The Mangler, Hearts in Atlantis, The Shawshank Redemption and Children of the Corn. As for new content, Stephen King has written a brief (and I mean brief: one to two pages) introduction for each story. He’s also provided us with his top ten list of the favourite adaptations of his work.

At first, I was rather pissed off. I mean, the advertising made it sound as if the book was non-fiction, a real behind the scenes look at the stories behind the movies and behind the scenes insights behind the making of the movies.

And all we get is a book of five short stories and some short (very short) introductions?

I was not pleased to say the least. But I decided, after spending my hard earned money on the book, to read the stories anyway. I figured it would fill the gap between Just After Sunset (which came out in November of 2008) and Stephen Kings new novel Under the Dome (which won’t come out until the fall of 2009). So I decided to give the book a chance.

And, you know what? I’m glad I did.

It had been some time since I had read the stories contained within Stephen King Goes to the Movies. I remembered reading 1408 and Hearts in Atlantis, but The Mangler, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption and Children of the Corn might as well have been new to me. I’ve read them, but it’s been years and I didn’t remember them clearly at all.

And you know what? They were good.

I mean really good. It felt wonderful to be surrounded by stories that held so many memories for me. Stephen King’s stories kept me company during many a dark hour during my turbulent upbringing; thus it’s little wonder that he inspires me so much.

The stories were so good, so scary, so moving. The most interesting thing about the stories contained in Stephen King Goes to the Movies, however, was that after a few pages into the story, I stopped picturing the movie. All I could see were the images that the story itself called to mind.

Though the new content in Stephen King Goes to the Movies is almost nil (really about ten pages worth of new material) that doesn’t matter. Before you put the book back on the bookshelf, give Stephen King Goes to the Movies a chance.

Read the stories and let Stephen King scare you once again.