Wednesday, August 24, 2011

[Interview] Paula Leyden


Paula Leyden was born in Kenya and grew up in Zambia. She spent most of her adult life in South Africa. Currently, she lives in Ireland.

She made her debut as an author with the publication of The Butterfly Heart (Walker Books, 2011).

In this interview, Paula Leyden talks about her writing:

When did you start writing?

I started writing fiction late in life – when I moved to Ireland eight years ago. Before that my writing experience had been mainly in the field of human rights, more agitational and reporting kind of writing.

Once I had decided that I would like to try my hand at fiction I registered for a course called Write That Novel. It was run by Siobhán Parkinson, now our Children’s Laureate.

I found it extremely useful as it was a very practical course focussing on things like plotting, character development, dialogue, pace etc.

While on that course I did an exercise that then turned into my first novel (written before The Butterfly Heart and not yet published) for children. Once the course finished (it was a part-time course, two hours a week for three months) some of the students in the group felt they would like to continue meeting as a writer’s group – and we have been meeting since then for the past five years. We call ourselves The Crab Apple group.

How would you describe the writing you are doing?

I am writing various things.

My first book and the sequel to it are for children aged 10 upwards, these are the ones published by Walker Books. If I was to categorise them I suppose they would be part fiction, part fantasy and part adventure. The first one addresses a serious issue, that of child marriage, but I hope not in a pedagogic fashion. I would not like to read a book that hectored me so I see no reason to write one.

I have also written a couple of adult books (not yet published) one set on Death Row in South Africa under Apartheid, and the other also set in South Africa which, in some way, deals with a sense of belonging and apartness.

Who is your target audience?

I do not write for a target audience – I write and if the story ends up (as with the Butterfly Heart) appealing to children, then so be it. I have, however, had a lot of very good feedback from adults who have read it, so I like to think it has crossover appeal.

In the writing you are doing, which authors influenced you most?

There are authors whose writing I love – but I am not sure whether they have influenced me. Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Barbara Kingsolver, Elmore Leonard, Williams Carlos Williams, Aesop’s Fables and folk tales mainly from Southern Africa that I have read and re-read. The writing of these has been largely a re-telling of stories handed down through the ages, so no one writer could be identified here.

And have your own personal experiences influenced your writing in any way?

Every part of my life has influenced my writing.

I was born in Kenya and then grew up in Zambia, then lived my adult life in South Africa – bits and pieces of all of these places are in my writing.

My childhood, my observations of people, being a mother, my working life – every little bit of me goes into my writing. I am sure everyone who writes is like that – we live and we learn, in every sense of the word.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

My main concern is to make sure that I always am the best that I can be. To be true to myself and what I know. Never to slip into lazy habits or assume anything. To keep disciplined – because that is what you have to keep if you are to make progress. Without discipline you may as well fold up the computer, or throw away the pencil!

What are the biggest challenges that you face?

My challenge, now that we’re on the subject, is discipline. Each book that I write, my discipline improves (I think ...)

Do you write everyday?

I write most days and in the morning. If I am on a deadline I can write later but I find my brain is freshest in the early morning.

I have a room in our home in which I write, which is a privilege. I start each writing session where I ended, if I am in the first draft. However I have a horrible tendency when editing to go back to the start each time – then I end up with a tightly edited first section and a scrabbled second section! I am trying to cure myself of that.

How many books have you written so far?

I have written six books – but only The Butterfly Heart is published. The sequel will come out next year – no title yet.

The Butterfly Heart was published by Walker Books UK on March 3, this year, it was endorsed by Amnesty International.

I have also had a short story published in a Jack and Jill Foundation book, and a short story published in African Writing.

What would you say The Butterfly Heart is about?

My latest book is The Butterfly Heart – it is set in Zambia and is told through two voices, Ifwafa and elderly man who has a magical way with snakes, and Bul-Boo, a young girl. It follows Bul Boo and her twins sister Madillo’s efforts to save their friend Winifred from being married off to a much older man. To do this they seek help from their friend Ifwafwa.

How did you chose a publisher for the book?

I am represented by a wonderful agent, Sophie Hicks of Ed Victor Ltd. In London. And it was Sophie who secured a publishing deal with Walker Books for me for The Butterfly Heart and its sequel.

Walker Books have been absolutely fantastic to deal with and I am extremely happy to be published by them.

Which aspects of the work you put into the book did you find most difficult?

I didn’t really find it difficult once I got started. My usual difficulty is in plotting – not in writing. I work from character, and find that characters come easily to me. So I usually write with little idea of where the characters will take me, which has both advantages and disadvantages. But once I have a general idea then the writing comes easily.

I enjoy the feeling I get when I feel I am getting on top of the story, when it almost feels as though it will write itself.

What sets The Butterfly Heart apart from other things you've written?

Probably the magical realism element within it. And I love that that emerged in this story.

What will your next book be about?

The next one follows Bul-Boo and Madillo into another adventure – but this time the main narrator will be Fred, their next door neighbour.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

Being accepted onto Sophie Hick’s books and signing with Walker Books! It led to me being published.

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Saturday, August 20, 2011

[Interview_2] Christian A. Dumais

Christian A. Dumais is the author of Empty Rooms Lonely Countries (CreateSpace, 2009).

His work has been featured in magazines that include Shock Totem and GUD Magazine as well as in the anthology, Cover Stories (CreateSpace, 2010).

In this interview, Christian Dumais talks about his contribution to Cover Stories:

How would you describe Cover Stories?

In Cover Stories, 10 young writers from around the globe cut deep into the tracks of their favorite albums to produce something that's more than just a mix tape of divergent fictions; they are the scouts for a new literary invasion ...

It’s an anthology of short stories all inspired by some of your favorite songs: 100 stories. 10 Writers. 1 New Genre. We call the work euphiction, which is the marriage of musical inspiration with the written word: a story that's a three minute single.

The writers include Simon Neil, Derrek Carriveau, T. P. Whited, Erik Schmidt, Suzi M., A.C. Noia, Derek Handley, Matt Gamble, N. Pendleton and myself. Plus there’s an introduction by Freddie & Me’s Mike Dawson and an afterword by Sean P. Murray.

I’m in excellent company.

Have you written other books?

My previous book was Empty Rooms Lonely Countries, which you were kind enough to interview me about before. While I wish I could take credit for all of the amazing short stories in Cover Stories, only 10% of the book is mine.

My 10 stories in Cover Stories took me about six weeks from rough drafts to final rewrites. As far as editing and putting the book together, from the day I sent out emails to the other writers asking if they’d like to participate in the project to the day the book was finally published was exactly one year.

When was Cover Stories published?

The book was published on June 21, 2010, which was World Music Day. It’s available online and in bookstores.

Which were the most difficult aspects of the work you put into the book?

That’s an easy one. Getting through all of the legal stuff that comes with writing stories about music, especially if you’re using lyrics and song titles. It was a much longer process than we originally anticipated made worse by some mistakes made at the very beginning by me.

Every book you do creates a new set of challenges, and Cover Stories was no exception. That said, the delays and the hurdles jumped to get the book published actually made the book stronger in the end.

What did you enjoy most?

The best part about a project like this is getting the stories from the other writers and being able to sit down and enjoy them.

It was thrilling to see an idea I had slowly come to life with the help of some extraordinary writers. I really felt like the luckiest person in the world.

In what way is the material you wrote for Cover Stories similar to other things you've written?

I’m sure there might be similarities, but that’ll be for the reader to determine.

I made a sincere effort to distance myself from my usual bag of tricks and push myself to a different place with the writing. I’ll let you know when I hear what readers have to say.

What will your next book be about?

I’m staring at two vastly different projects at the moment and which one I choose depends on a lot of variables. With luck, I’ll be back here again next year and I’ll happily tell you all about it.

In the meantime, I ask everyone to give Cover Stories a shot. The official website is live and you’ll find lots of information about the anthology, as well as a free 10 story sampler of the book.

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Friday, August 19, 2011

[Interview] Chris Nicholson

Chris Nicholson is a lecturer in the Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies at the University of Essex and has worked in a range of children's services for over 10 years.

In addition to that, he is a trustee of the Charterhouse Group of Therapeutic Communities; a fellow of the International Institute of Child and Adolescent Mental Health and a regular speaker at bi-annual conferences on the poet and author Robert Graves.

Chris Nicholson is also co-author of Children and Adolescents in Trauma: Creative Therapeutic Approaches (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2010).

In this interview, he talks about his work:

How did you first become involved in children's services?

In the mid-90s I was finishing a joint honours degree in English literature and Philosophy at the University of Kent, in Canterbury. I had rather immersed myself in the reading and read way beyond what was required for these courses. In consequence I had an experience which the poet Robert Graves illustrates in "The Philosopher" where Threading logic between wall and wall he finds that he has Truth captured without increment of flies, or, in other words, the impingement of actual physical existence. I left university with a strong desire to avoid bookishness, and so determinate to find direct work with people.

In this way I arrived, naively, with my neck exposed to the axe, in a small residential children's home in Kent. Here staff worked a straight 50 hour a week in 12 hour shifts including waking nights, often back to back - I was told this system provided continuity to the young people. In fact it exhausted staff leaving them less able contain the disturbing feelings being projected into them by the young people.

There were five young people living in the home aged 11 to 18 often with only one or two staff members on shift. They presented with regular violence, self-harm, absconding and property damage, and seemed to exult in creating chaos. There wasn't anything in the training or culture of the home that could be considered a theoretical model by which these things could be understood, but there were a few books in the staff office. Over the long waking nights, on those occasions where the young people were settled and the long list of staff chores were complete, I fell upon these books in desperation despite my earlier edict to avoid them.

I discovered that there was a distinction to be made between control of children, which the home focused on implicitly, and something called containment which I didn't fully understand. I also learned that where children's homes were experiencing a large amount of 'acting out' this could be due to the way the home was managed as opposed to simply being down to the children. This was a shock as I have great respect for the managers who seemed to be good people. Still, I began to look for any correspondence between management structures, policies, or care arrangements and children's behaviour.

Why are creative therapeutic approaches good to use when working with children and adolescents in trauma?

There are many reasons why creative approaches are good to use with young people.

I'll emphasise two.

The first has to do with the relationship that exits between art and psychodynamic thinking. In creative activities, for example, film, painting or literature, the interpretative potential of the underlying symbols, metaphors, and analogies, finds a commonality with psychodynamic thinking. In art, as in psychodynamic work, it is not merely the outward appearance of things which holds our attention, but all that lies beneath. When young people engage in creative pursuits they have the opportunity to offer their own instinctive metaphors and symbols. They can develop their own narratives throwing up exactly that kind of material which psychodynamic practitioners utilise.

The second concerns the need to address a certain rigidity in thought and behaviour. In reasonably healthy families, infants experience attunement to their emotional and physical needs so that they can internalise good experience and so come to trust their relationship with caregivers. Their own experience become validated through the recognition and adaptation of caregivers to their needs which in turn provides the internal space in which the core self (a strong ego or sense of self-worth) can become established. Gradually the infant develops a sense of understanding and adaptation between its internal world and that of others, especially through flexible, creative play and communication.

However, traumatic experiences are, to some extent, deterministic. If a child has grown up in a family where one or both adults operate in ways we would define as neglecting or abusing there are usually rigid modes of communication in place and these have the opposite effect to the healthy kind described above. For example, traumatic events during the first two to three years of life have far-reaching effects on neurological development. Those who experience early trauma are prone to a certain rigidity of intellectual and emotional response. Howe (2005) emphasised this trait:
They fail to adapt to and cope with change, whether in their own feeling states or external relationships. In effect, the brain lacks complexity. It operates in a relatively rigid, compartmentalized way, lacking integration between many of its key social, cognitive and emotional operations. 
(p.262).

The importance of a creative approach then, is that it can divert negative thinking and feeling down a different and altogether more positive pathway. Through sensitively handled, creative interaction and by the use of creative approaches with traumatised young people, their characteristic rigidity begins to loosen. New possibilities emerge, the mutative nature of create endeavours. In time, they may be able to see painfully familiar situations in different and helpful ways that can lead to their forming a new response.

Could you describe one creative approach to us and how it could be implemented?

I will briefly describe a creative approach I used with a group of five 15 to 16-year-old care leavers at Donyland Lodge in Essex.

Children who live with their own families tend to stay at home today into their early 20s due to extended education and economic dependence. The time allowed for looked after children to finish growing up is, by contrast, incredibly compressed, as they generally leave for independence or semi-independence at around 16 years. While this is happening, they have to cope with a host of problems which put added pressure on them, e.g. painful and chaotic family dynamics, how to make reliable friendships, overcoming huge distrust, not infrequent changes of social worker, finishing school and exams, not to mention the giddying psychological and physical experience of middle adolescence. It must feel to them like being in the back seat of a car as someone else accelerates along a dangerous highway.

Due to this, the outcomes for young people include having higher levels of homelessness, lower educational attainments, higher rates of unemployment, greater dependency on welfare benefits, unstable career patterns, higher levels of offending, and problems with mental health and substance misuse. With poor interpersonal skills, low self-esteem and confidence the scene is set for social isolation and further disaffection.

How can we help already disaffected young people in such a way as to prepared them for what lies ahead? How can we help them to gain the kind of experiential learning which might give them some slight grasp of how important it will be to prepare now?

At Donyland we integrated Life Skills into the curriculum from age 15 years and included a wide range of teaching relevant to care leavers. We began the course with bridge building. The young people are provided newspaper, cellotape, glue, string, scissors, a ruler and other arts and crafts items. They are asked to build a bridge that spans, say 10 centimetres in height and 40 centimetres across, and that a toy car can travel over. We give them 40 minutes to do this exercise. But 25 minutes in, we tell them that there has been a change of plan and then now have only 5 minutes left to complete their bridge. This causes great anxiety. But then, just as the 5 minutes are nearly up, we inform them that things have again changed and they still have 5 minutes left.

You can imagine how much emotional holding and support the young people need during this activity and how robust the staff need to be to manage the consequent acting out in terms of resentment, sabotage of their own and other's bridges, doubt about completion or quality and so on. But all this comes to fruition later as we unpack the underlying significance of the bridges: This is your bridge from Donyland into independence. How easy is it to get on and off the bridge? How stable is it? Does it have any supports and who or what are those supports going to be on your actual journey? How did you deal with the stress evoked? Did you help or hinder each other? Did you ask for help from adults or feel that you had to go it alone? What influence did this have upon your bridge? The young people are asked to assess each other's bridges and say what might improve it and how this links to leaving care.

We also connect this exercise with research into leaving care, for example Mike Stein's What Works in Leaving Care? (Barnados, 1997) and talk to the young people about what has been learned from previous care leavers. Finally, to really help the staff team get in touch with the plight of young people at this stage in their lives, they (and they means, care, education, administrative, ancillary and management staff) were all asked to undertake the same exercise in training.

Would you be able to tell us about your work with Therapeutic Communities?

Whatever people say about Therapeutic Communities (TCs) they are remarkable places.

After my first experience of working in a children's home, coming to work at a therapeutic community for 21 mixed gender adolescents in the Essex countryside was a revelation. Here there was a model based upon a number of key theorists, only some of whom were involved in TCs ... Winnicott, Bion, Dockar-Drysdale, Bowlby and the American Efrain Bleiberg (who emphasizes reflection function).

There were also pot-belly pigs, goats and rabbits, gardening, hovering and mountains of washing up.

Alongside community meeting and art therapy, the routines of daily life were conscripted as a part of the therapeutic milieu ... everybody could play a part to support community life.

The TCs I've worked in were always striving to develop, to redefine themselves in the light of the ever new experiences young people brought to the community. They advocated not so much children's rights (which is policy driven), but their equality and humanity, and ability to take ownership of their lives and the life of the community to which they'd come.

Children appreciated the fact that what they had to say, however distorted by previous experience, mattered to the adults and would be thought about. They also witnessed staff having to learn, and be self-reflective and take responsibility for their own actions openly. The sense of children and adults struggling and striving together could be very powerful and enabled some very hard to reach children to make contact with others in a meaningful way and feel a part of something larger.

My work was mostly around admission, assessment and leaving care. For young people, these experiences can feel like being forced, being judged and being pushed out especially where they already feel dragged from pillar to post and constantly assessed. The art was in finding ways to ensure these actives could function as a part of the therapeutic endeavour, and might, if careful handled, become a corrective experiences of which the young person was very much an active part.

I am pleased to find that London Placements are using membership of the Community of Communities annual review cycle as a criteria for determining if a placement is considered therapeutic. In my experience, a therapeutic community, like any therapeutic service, can only remain therapeutic, through constant striving, reflection about how it operates, experiential training and a process of assessment and review from external sources.

What are you currently reading in your spare time?

Most of my reading, spare or otherwise, relates to the course I teach at Essex University, Therapeutic Communication and Therapeutic Organisations.

Staff working in residential child care, in psychiatric adolescent units or in schools need to have read Hinshelwood on organisations, Salzberger-Wittenberg on the emotional issues of teaching and learning. They need to know about early development from Klein, Stern, Bowlby and Wadell.

But if they are anything like me, they may also be sustained by poetry, like that of Robert Graves, who I'm always reading, or Rilke who heals the heart while breaking it over and over: Each torpid turn of the world has such disinherited children, to whom longer what's been, and not yet what's coming, belongs.

Cary's recent biography, The Man Who Wrote Lord of the Flies is fascinating. Golding wrote well about children and how they see the world in many of his books other than Lord of the Flies, and Cary, despite his superior tone, can't help but admire him.

The next novel I plan to read is Christina Stead's The Man Who Loved Children. I discovered this through the extraordinary introduction by Randall Jarrell which is a work of art in its own right.

My wife has just lent me several books on the Oedipus Complex, and I'm reading Pollyanna with my eldest daughter. So, happy families!

Finally, I'm half way through Richard Glover's 1804 epic poem Leonidas (as in the recent film, 300). This suits me nicely. A different kind of egg for Easter.

(c) Jessica Kingsley Publishers 2011

This article was first published in the Jessica Kingsley Publishers Social Work Newsletter in March 2010

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Thursday, August 11, 2011

[Interview_2] Masimba Musodza

In an earlier interview, Zimbabwean writer Masimba Musodza talked about the factors that led him to start writing.

His books include The Man who turned into a Rastafarian (Diggory Press, 2007), Uriah’s Vengeance (Lion Press Ltd, 2009) and the Shona science fiction novel, MunaHacha Maive Nei? (Kindle Edition, 2011).

His work has also been featured in African Roar (Storytime, 2010), an anthology of contemporary African fiction.

Masimba Musodza talks about his latest novel:

Do you write everyday?

Yep!

Normally I have these ideas swirling in my head. Then, by around midnight, they have taken shape and I just start working. Or, if I have a client for a script, I just try and meet the deadline!

Usually, I have the story or the chapter all written in my head when I sit down at my PC. I will often have about three windows minimised and I just work on the one that wants to be worked on.

I know it is the popular perception of Rastafarians, but I would like to state categorically that I do not smoke weed for inspiration! Caffeine is my drug of choice, so in between breaks I will be downing a cup of tea with soya milk. I work in bursts of about two hours.

How many books have you written so far?

My first book was The Man who turned into a Rastafarian, Diggory Press, 2007. It was an anthology of short stories about being a Rastafarian young man in Zimbabwe. Diggory Press folded up recently, but I republished the title after so many people sent in enquiries. Seems to have become something of a modern classic in the Rastafarian community.

In 2009, I had the first of the Dread Eye Detective Agency novels, Uriah’s Vengeance, Lion Press Ltd. Chenai “Ce-Ce” Chisango and her brother Farai are a pair of sibling private investigators in Chitungwiza. Two more titles in the series are scheduled for publication.

In between all that, I have appeared in African Roar, an anthology of African fiction edited by compatriots Ivor Hartmann and Emmanuel Sigauke. A second anthology is in the offing, and I contribute another of my horror stories in it.

How would you describe your latest book, MunaHacha Maive Nei??

MunaHacha Maive Nei? depicts a scenario where an American corporation contrives with corrupt Zimbabwean officials to conduct illegal bio-technology experiments as part of a grander plot to usurp food security from whole nations. Chemicals begin to seep in to the eco-system, and mutated creatures now roam the countryside.

Part of the significance of this book is that it is the first science-fiction novel in ChiShona, and overturns the popular perception that you can’t write 'complicated stuff' in the language.

How long did it take you to write the novel?

Hard to say, really. The original inspiration is from the time when we used to spend school holidays in my mother’s ancestral village in Mutungagore in the mid or late 80s. Much of the novel is set in a fictional area near Mutungagore and the small town of Nyazura.

Further inspiration came from my stay in Chitungwiza in the late 90s, when the open spaces would flood due to siltation of the streams and people would catch catfish. Some of the fish were quite big, and I would wonder what would happen if they grew so big as to become predators. Some of the boys I saw catch the fish would not be safe from them!

And then, I read over the last few years about how corporations were getting land concessions all over Africa. Some analysts fear that food security is set to be a major geopolitical tool of the near future, enjoying the status that oil has today. And this is what science fiction is essentially about ... while the sci-fi writer points to the future, he or she highlights the fears we have of the future. I am bringing this important fact about science fiction because many people who have read the book are only seeing CIO assassins and journalists who live in fear of soldiers and are asking me if my book is about the politics of Zimbabwe. It is not. It is about how the politics of Zimbabwe could be exploited by a greedy multi-national corporation to advance technological developments that many people around the world are apprehensive about. It is also about how we can apply science and technology to identify problems and solutions effectively. It is about enquiring and initiative.

MunaHacha Maive Nei? was published on June 6, 2011 by amazon Kindle here in the UK, the US and Germany. It is the first novel in ChiShona to be listed on amazon Kindle.

How did you chose a publisher for the book?

I chose amazon Kindle because the device is becoming quite popular here in England and I thought it would be nice if we had Zimbabwean content in this new media.

The print edition is coming out through Lion Press Ltd of Coventry, which specialises in Zimbabwean literature. I have a long-standing relationship with Lion Press Ltd. I don’t know if I am their best-selling author, but they can’t deny that I am the most prolific!

What advantages and/or disadvantages has this presented?

Amazon Kindle delivers not only to the Kindle device, but also to PCs and mobile phones. It is the best medium for the 3G generation. Most of the Zimbabweans who live in countries where access to new media is widespread may not go to libraries much, but they have the phones and the PCs.

One disadvantage is that it will not reach a wider readership back home. I just shrug resignedly at the situation ... it is not of my making. Lion Press is making efforts to break into Zimbabwe, but I am only the author. Let someone else worry about selling and distributing!

Obviously, I want a fat royalty cheque any time soon, but the publisher wants to see profits too, so let them do the hard work in that department, I’ve done mine these last few months!

Another drawback is that in the UK, VAT is charged on ebooks (but not on print books) which has pushed the price up somewhat. So far, no one has complained that the price is too high, which rubbishes the popular belief that Zimbabweans believe that content that is created for them should be really cheap if they are to even take an interest. There are many Zimbabweans out there who value their culture and will spend money on it, for which on behalf of all our artistes, I say Tinotenda/Siyabonga!

Which aspects of the work you put into the book did you find most difficult?

Organising chapters.

The book is over 70,000 words. Some parts wander and meander like the River Hacha upstream, and some slow to a gentle ebb. How do you organise that into chapters each with a beginning, middle and end?

Which aspects of the work did you enjoy most?

How it all ties together, because when I started to write, I had no idea how it was going to end!

What sets MunaHacha Maive Nei? apart from other things you've written?

It is my first published work in ChiShona. And even though one of the major character is a Rastafarian, it is not a book about Rastafarians at all.

I think it is similar to other things I have written in how I try to wrap poignant issues around a gripping story, which is what I try to accomplish with all my writing. You know, keep someone reading while at the same time get them thinking without actually lecturing them or griping about how bad things are.

What will your next book be about?

I have the Dread Eye Detective Agency novels lined up. There is an anthology, including some of the short stories I have published on the Dread Eye Detective Agency on Facebook but that is going to be an ebook.

Then there is the much awaited To Russia, With OneLove and a three-novel omnibus imaginatively called The First Dread Eye Detective Agency Omnibus. Fans of the page on Facebook may have already read and enjoyed the draft of one of these novels.

I am also working on two horror novels, one in English and one in ChiShona. The English one is called Cursed Shall be Thy Kine. It blends the folk beliefs of my native Zimbabwe and my new home, Yorkshire, using horror as a metaphor for issues of identity, belonging and immigration. The title is inspired by the phenomenon known as cattle mutilation. I am working on this one under the mentorship of Writers’ Block NE, the organisation for writers and performers here in Middlesbrough, where I live now. The idea of the mentorship programme is to offer writers from North-East England a chance to attract the attention of the big publishing houses and agents in London.

I am pleased that despite having lived in the area for about a year now, I am able to make a contribution to its culture.

The ChiShona novel is called Zizi reRima, and once again I delve into comparative mythology and the supernatural to highlight the issues of sexual abuse in Zimbabwe and how the justice system can sometimes fail victims. Once again, I break new ground here by writing a bone-chiller in ChiShona.

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Wednesday, August 10, 2011

[Interview] John Trevillian

Freelance writer and journalist, John Trevillian is the creator and designer of AEs Mail Adventure, an award-winning interactive writing game. He is also head of the AEs Society, an international group of shared-world authors and writers.

In 2009, he was a finalist in the YouWriteOn Book Awards.

His books include The A-Men (Matador, 2010), The A-Men Return (Matador, 2011) and Forever A-Men (which is due out from Matador in 2012).

A full and unabridged podcast of The A-Men is available from libsyn and iTunes.

In this interview, John Trevillian talks about his writing:

When did you start writing?

My mother was given a Smith-Corona typewriter and she let me play on it from the time I was four. By six I’d typed my first (four-page) novel based on the adventures of a crazy professor (more than a little stolen from the Professor Branestawm books by Norman Hunter). I’d even left spaces for illustrations that I coloured in afterwards. No wonder I ended up with a career in magazine publishing.

When I started writing, writing was all I wanted. It wasn’t until finishing my second novel did I really and seriously think that anyone would pay to read this stuff. There’s a term ‘hedge druid’, ie one who works alone. That’s been me up until about six years ago. I’ve written over two million words of fiction (including two interactive soap operas, five novels, many travel journals, poems and songs) but it was all for myself and a close knit group of friends and shared-world authors. For me writing is the journey, not the publishing.

How would you describe your writing?

Down-and-dirty neo-punk speculative fiction. Yet it’s far from being ‘big and dumb’. Dig deeper and you’ll find these are stories about the fundamentals of belief, happiness and the eternal quest to solve life’s mysteries.

Who is your target audience?

Adult science fiction and fantasy readers, video games players and lovers of future noir literature and films.

Which authors influenced you most?

Strangely, mostly non-science fiction ones. For fantasy, Stephen Donaldson. For contemporary, Jack Kerouac, William Peter Blatty and Bret Easton Ellis. For horror, Peter Straub. For science fiction, I’d have to say Richard Morgan and William Gibson.

Have your personal experiences influenced your writing in any way?

Only the relationships part, but my studies in world storytelling is key to The A-Men books-within-books ideas.

What are the biggest challenges that you face?

My biggest challenge is getting the ideas from my head and into the story without losing the original seed. For all their fast-paced action, the core ideas are quite complex and take a lot of subtle organization to get right.

For example, I re-wrote the first 70,000 words of the original novel three times before the motivations of the five main characters all felt natural at the point where all their paths cross. I have a good editor who points out all the missing exposition that I should have put in ...

Do you write everyday?

Since the first novel was published an increasing amount of time has been spent editing and marketing, but I’m hoping to get back to writing in the near future.

As I have a full-time career in magazine publishing with a long commute, I write usually on a Sunday and then edit via laptop on the train into work. It’s a hard juggling act, but it helps I have my own space to lock myself away in at home.

How many books have you written so far?

The A-Men series (comprising The A-Men, The A-Men Return and Forever A-Men) have been written with a publishing schedule of 2010, 2011 and 2012 respectively.

They are all published by Matador in the UK and available online in hardcover, Kindle and ePub from the usual places. Or directly from my website.

The latest book is The A-Men Return and was actually the first book written in the cycle. This is no trilogy padding second novel, but the core of the story arc. It took close to three years to complete as I had no deadline and lots of ideas to wade through.

The most difficult aspect when writing The A-Men is the sustaining of the different first-person voices of the five main characters. This kind of literature demands realistic narrative voices and is very different from most of the other writing I have undertaken so far.

To get the street slang voice of the main protagonist The Nowhereman, I read a lot of Kerouac and other 1940s noir novels, then drank lots of Jack Daniels and just let it flow. Once I had the voice, I finally managed to devise a way to tap into that “inner Jack” without the alcohol.

Which aspects of the work did you enjoy most?

The most enjoyable aspect of the trilogy was planning the faerie story underpinning the science fiction post-apocalyptic narrative. I had a notion once that wondered what would happen if in the ruins of civilization someone dug up a copy of The Lord of the Rings and thought it was real history. The A-Men is like that. It takes that idea and runs with it, all guns blazing.

What sets The A-Men apart from other things you've written?

All my novels are about belief, and how this one aspect makes or breaks our lives. That seems simple, but it’s taken me a long time to see and realise it.

The A-Men is very different from my previous writing. The first was an epic fantasy called The Mortal And His God, which will never see the light of day (but which I am rather fond of).

Another was a contemporary horror story called Cutter’s Wood. Both these works have areas on my website for the curious.

What will your next book be about?

The third of the trilogy is Forever A-Men which will be launched in March 2012. This completes the story cycle with a wild ride into the left-field that should be a surprising complement to the previous two novels. It’s also my favourite as the characters have suffered so much, and we have suffered with them, that the raising of the stakes for the end-game is really satisfying.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

Weirdly, it wasn’t publishing. I’d say it was actually finishing the first draft of my first novel. The sense of achievement to have a completed story was really something.

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Monday, August 8, 2011

[Interview] Brian L. Porter

Brian L. Porter lives in Yorkshire in the United Kingdom and is a member of the American Authors Association and the Military Writers Society of America.

His books include the novels, The Nemesis Cell (Stonehedge Publishing, 2007), A Study in Red: The Secret Journal of Jack the Ripper (Double Dragon Publishing, 2008) and Legacy of the Ripper (Double Dragon Publishing, 2009) as well as the short story collections, A Binary Convergence (co-authored with Graeme S Houston) (Stonehedge Publishing, 2007), The Voice of Anton Bouchard (Mythica Publishing, 2009) and Murder, Mayhem and Mexico (Eternal Press, 2009).

In this interview, Brian Porter talks about his writing:

When did you start writing?

I’ve been writing for many years, but began my career as a poet. After having over 200 poems published, I began writing short stories, and gradually progressed to full length novels, with A Study in Red: The Secret Journal of Jack the Ripper being my first novel to be published, and, so far the most successful.

That first book was inspired by the fact that I’ve spent over 35 years studying the Jack the Ripper murders, and it seemed logical to me to base my first novel around a subject that I already had a good working knowledge of, although a lot of additional research went into the factual side of the book.

Having written the book I sent submissions to many publishers and agents in the UK, but sadly, such is the state of the publishing industry in the UK, no one was remotely interested in a new author with no previous publication record.

A friend suggested I use the internet to try and find a publisher in the USA or Canada, and, to my delight the first publisher I submitted the work to, accepted it.

From that day, I’ve never looked back and now have a string of publications to my name, not just with Double Dragon Publishing, but with a number of other publishers too.

How would you describe your writing?

When I write under my Brian L. Porter name, my work veers strongly towards the dark side of human nature, with my novels mostly being dark psychological thrillers that delve deep into the psyche of my characters.

It would be true to say I try to give people a good old-fashioned shiver or two as they read my books, and also try to indulge myself in a little misdirection, so that my readers are led along one path, and begin to expect certain things to happen next, and then I throw in various plot twists to turn the story in a totally different direction.

Of course, writing children's and young adult works as Harry Porter, is a totally different scenario for me. My books on dog rescue are all based on the real dogs who share my home and my younger children's books are the results of stories or poems I originally wrote for my own children.

Who is your target audience?

Of course, my novels are aimed at an older, adult audience.

I’ve always loved reading thrillers and mysteries, having been a fan of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle since my teens, and latterly being a huge devotee of the works of Tess Gerritsen and Jeffery Deaver.

I’ve been fortunate that people appear to enjoy my novels to the extent that A Study in Red won the Preditors & Editors Best Thriller Novel Award for 2008 and is currently being developed as a movie by Thunderball Films (LA), in collaboration with Masterplan Films (UK). All of my other novels have also been signed by Thunderball Films in a franchise deal, for future movie or TV adaptation, so I suppose someone must like my books.

As for my childrens books, the motivation for those was firstly the enthusiasm of my own children who wanted me to write something they could read, and the wonderful experiences I’ve enjoyed with my dogs, which inspired me to write my Harry Porter’s Dog Tales series, the first of which, Tilly’s Tale, won the Preditors & Editors Best Childrens Book and also Best Artwork Awards, 2009.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

I suppose my one main concern when I begin a new book, is whether the work will prove appealing to the target audience.

I’ve become aware of the fact that writers sometimes forget that they should be writing what the readers want to read, rather than what the author wants them to read. To that end, I’ve recruited a great team of between five and seven people, of differing ages and backgrounds who act as a critique team for me, and who read every chapter as I complete it, and give me their feedback on it as readers. I hope that by using these wonderful people, my main concern is dealt with before the book even reaches my publishers.

On a personal level the biggest challenge I’ve had to face is that presented by my own mind, in the form of the depression that is always with me. Each day is often a struggle, and I do my utmost to make sure that no matter what, I always write something each day, even if it’s only a few paragraphs, or often, just a few words. At other times, the writing flows and I can write chapter after chapter in a day, so, my challenge is always to reach out and grasp whatever I can from each day, and then move on to the next.

From a writing angle, the biggest challenge in writing any novel, is the research I always undertake to ensure that the mingling of fact and fiction I always employ is woven together in a believable fashion. I use many sources of research, from police forces to organisations that follow the subject matter of any particular book, as well as using the internet and that most accessible of research sources, books!

Which authors influenced you most?

The three authors I’ve already mentioned have to be my greatest influences.

Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes tales were so perfect in their writing and in the wonderful characterizations and settings he used for the stories. He created such terrific mysteries and his plots were simply superb.

Tess Gerritsen is not only a great inspiration but also a wonderful lady who gave me great encouragement when I contacted her during the writing of A Study in Red. She even sent me a good luck message which appears with her permission on the cover of the paperback edition of the book.

Jeffery Deaver, is to me, the master of misdirection. I love all his books and read them time and again. He also encouraged me, via email, during the writing of A Study in Red. I owe them all a great deal.

I hope there is something of Conan Doyle in Behind Closed Doors too. I’ve set this story in a similar time period to that in which Holmes operated, though my principal detective, Albert Norris, is a member of the official police force, rather than a private investigator. There are red herrings aplenty in the storyline, and I hope I’ve managed to convey something of the period in my descriptions of life in the Victoria era.

I want readers to feel they are a part of the story and are able to 'see' the action taking place, whether it be on the 'new' underground railway system or in the grand houses of the rich, and the less than salubrious dwellings of the less wealthy characters within the book.

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

I’ve suffered from depression for a number of years and in many ways, I’ve used the darker side of my experiences of that illness to help create some of the more terrifying and visually 'scary' scenes that often appear in my books.

It’s been a case of using my own personal demons to create something that I hope will reach into the hearts and minds of my readers and allow them to experience the fears and tribulations that often beset my characters, both heroes and villains. Each of those characters does, I suppose contain an element of my own ‘dark side’ within them, and I hope that adds a depth to the realism of those fictional creations.

Certain aspects of Behind Closed Doors will mirror the darkest emotions that often exist within the human psyche, and though my characters are fictional, the situations they find themselves in are as real as I can possibly create, using personal experiences of that dark side of human nature.

When one is lost in a world of darkness and fear, such as is created by deep depression it can lead to many nightmarish visions, which I hope I’ve been able to turn to advantage by transferring some of them into the characters I create.

Do you write everyday?

As I previously mentioned, I do try to write every day, though I don’t stick to a disciplined regime. Having said that, there have been times when I’ve gone days, or sometimes, weeks, without being able to write a word. When that happens, I simply have to wait for inspiration to strike before I can carry on. I don’t decide how a session is going to begin or end, but just ‘go with the flow’ until my mind tells me that enough is enough for the day.

How many books have you written so far?
What is your latest book about?

My latest book will be Behind Cosed Doors, coming from Sonar4Publications. The book is currently a work in progress, though it’s going so well that it shouldn’t take many more weeks until it’s completed.

Altogether, research and writing will probably add up to about six months from start to finish. As to the publisher, this was a case of them choosing me rather than the other way round. I was delighted when Sonar4 approached me and asked if I’d be prepared to write a Victorian murder/mystery for them. They made me a generous contract offer which I was pleased to accept and I can honestly say that so far, contact between the publisher and myself has been an open two-way series of communications and I’ve met with no disadvantages at all so far.

You ask what it’s about? Well, here goes:
Autumn, 1888. The population of London is transfixed and horrified by the atrocious and horrific murder spree being conducted by Jack the Ripper. The newspapers are full of the details of the mutilations perpetrated by the killer and the apparent inability of the police to apprehend the unknown assailant. As Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Charles Warren throws the bulk of his investigative resources into the search for The Ripper, and the tabloid press scream of the crimes in banner headlines on a daily basis; on the new, ultra modern Underground Railway that has revolutionized travel around the great metropolis for the working man, another, less well publicized killer is at large.

Tucked away on the inner pages of the daily press, hardly enough to raise an eyebrow among discerning readers, one may have found a few, short articles which told of the strange and also, so far unsolved murders which are taking place on board the carriages of the new-fangled and much heralded transport system. Each murder takes place the day after one of the ripper killings, as the murderer appears to be taking advantage of the lack of police resources to tackle not one, but two, major investigations simultaneously.

Inspector Albert Norris is charged with bringing the railway killer to justice, but, as with case of Jack the Ripper, clues are few, the killer's motive unclear, and he is forced to carry out his investigations 'quietly and without causing a public panic' as the authorities seek to prevent a loss of confidence in the safety of the underground railway system. The press are being told even less, hence the minimal coverage, and Norris can count on little help from above as he attempts to solve the inexplicable series of murders.
Which were the most difficult aspects of the work you put into Behind Cosed Doors?

The research into the early days of the London Underground System proved a little harder than I’d anticipated, due to a surprising lack of information being available on the internet, but I managed to over come this by visiting a second hand book market where I was able to locate and obtain an obscure book that gave me all the background information I required in order to create the settings for the book.

I’ve really enjoyed creating the central characters for this book. I love the Victorian era and being able to create my own fictional characters and place them within a real timeline and work alongside actual events that were taking place at the time has proved immensely satisfying.

What sets the book apart from other things you've written?

Although this is a thriller like my other works, this one stands out a little because it holds more of a mystery element than my previous works. There are still elements of straight-forward thrills and bloody murder of course, but Behind Closed Doors, will I hope, prove to have a disturbing effect on readers for the simple reason that though this is a work of fiction, I’ve written it in such a way that I hope people will read it and actually believe that this series of murders actually took place.

Behind Closed Doors is similar to my other work because, well, for one thing, my old ‘friend’ Jack the Ripper gets more than a couple of mentions, as my story is contemporaneous with the Ripper murders. It’s a thriller, of course, and it has my usual twist in the tale ending, which of course, I can say no more about for now.

What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

Easily, the movie contract with Thunderball Films. They approached me out of the blue with an offer for the movie rights to A Study in Red and after negotiations were complete, they then came back to me with the franchise offer for the rest of my novels.

I was then further delighted when I was asked to work with the writer/director on the screenplay and they have been so pleased with my contribution to the screenplay that I’m also to be credited as co-screenplay writer in the movie credits.

The fact that the book won the ‘Best Thriller’ award and also the first movie trailer picked up an award have also been wonderful achievements for the book.

*This article is based on an email interview with Brian L. Porter which took place in June 2010.

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Tuesday, August 2, 2011

[Interview] Tahlia Newland

Australian writer, Tahlia Newland has worked as a high school teacher and as a dance, mime and mask performer.

She has also written novels, scripts for theatre and short stories for children and adults.

In this interview, Tahlia Newland talks about her writing:

When did you start writing?

In 1997, I began writing a series of children’s stories for my daughter (then 4 years old), but I didn’t think much of them, so I stopped. When the inspiration for my present YA series hit in 2007, I started again and couldn’t stop. Scenes from the story kept leaping into my mind demanding to be written, so I wrote.

Fairly early in the process of writing Lethal Inheritance, after some positive feedback on the story by an industry professional, I realized that the story was good enough and that if I could write it well enough, then I might be able to get it published.

As time passed, I became more and more determined to make it good enough. I had put so much work into it that I didn’t want that work to be wasted. I also discovered how much I loved writing and I knew that readers would enjoy the story and love my characters as much as I do.

I wrote passionately. I studied what made good writing, mostly via the web and library books. I revised and revised. I had a manuscript appraisal and worked on the weak parts, and I developed the ability to objectively criticise my own work. I also studied the publishing industry and researched how to make submissions, write a query letter, a synopsis and so on.

I sent submissions to every agent in Australia who was open for them, and by the time I was rejected by most of them, some of the others had opened their books, so I sent submissions to them too. It was in the second round of submissions that I got my agent.

Which authors influenced you most?

Garth Nix in his Old Kingdom trilogy and Stephanie Meyer.

I loved the drama in the Old Kingdom trilogy and the way Garth used of the third person to look into the minds of a variety of characters.

Stephanie showed me how far I could go with the love story and that the beauty of keeping language simple is that more young people can read it easily.

How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?

My personal experience of working with my mind has directly influenced this series, and my interest in eastern philosophy is reflected in the world view of the Warriors and the hidden realm in which the story in Lethal Inheritance takes place.

What are your main concerns as a writer?

Mind, perception, the nature of reality and dealing with emotions as well as writing well enough to do my ideas justice.

I work at improving my understanding of what makes good writing, and constantly evaluate and revise my work in the light of this.

Do you write everyday?

Yes, I write everyday unless I have finished a project and haven’t started a new one. Even then I am likely to write something for my blog or maybe play around with a short story.

When writing, I begin by re-reading what I wrote the day before and making changes where necessary, but I don’t spend too much time on it.

Then I write whatever scene is uppermost in my mind. It won’t always be what comes next in the timeline of the story.

I end either when the scene is satisfactorily completed, or when I have to eat, cook, sleep or tend to the family.

How many books have you written so far?

Lethal Inheritance is finished and my agent is in the process of sending submissions to publishers.

I have written the second drafts of the following three sequels: Stalking Shadows, Demon’s Grip and Eternal Destiny.

How would you describe your writing?

Modern day fantasy with strong urban elements.

What would you say Lethal Inheritance is about?

When demons kidnap her mother, Ariel is catapulted into a mysterious realm in a hidden layer of reality. Stuck on a rescue mission she doesn't want, she must negotiate an intriguing and unpredictable world where demons who feed on fear are hunting her, and they’re aiming to kill.

She needs help fast, but can she trust the quirky old guide who says he can teach her how to fine tune her mind into a powerful weapon? And what is this volatile energetic connection between her and Nick, her enigmatic traveling companion?

How long did it take you to write the book?

Three years, but I also did the second draft of the other three books in that time as well.

Who is your target audience?

Young Adults (roughly 14+) and Adults who like the freshness and romance of YA fantasy.

What motivated you to start writing for this audience?

My daughter was 14 when I started writing, and I love that age group; they’re funny and sophisticated but still fresh. It’s an exciting age when everything seems possible, and it’s an age when stories of empowerment are very important, especially for young women.

Which were the most difficult aspects of the work you put into Lethal Inheritance?

I loved it all, but it was difficult at first to know if the idea was good enough to be worth pursuing. I was also terrified of it not being good enough, which made early criticism difficult.

I dealt with this by working at becoming a better writer and I got a well-respected industry professional to do a manuscript appraisal. When the appraisal came back with rave reviews, I had the confidence to really get stuck into it.

Which aspects of the work did you enjoy most?

I enjoy it all, but I love the initial writing when you immerse yourself in the fantasy world and get to know the characters. It’s a very magical time.

I also love it when the characters surprise you and when something new comes up during the revision process.

What will your next book be about?

Stalking Shadows will tell us what happens next for our heroine Ariel and her companion, Nick as they make their way up Diamond Peak in search of Ariel’s mother and the Master Demon.

Their challenges will require them to work with overcoming arrogance and jealousy; the dividing lines between friendship, love and intimacy; sorting out allegiances and re-defining opinions.

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Wednesday, July 20, 2011

[Interview] Deborah M. Plummer

Deborah M. Plummer is the author of books that include: Helping Children to Improve their Communication Skills (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2011); Helping Children to Cope with Change, Stress and Anxiety (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2010) and Anger Management Games for Children (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2008).

Formerly a clinical lead therapist working within the NHS, Deborah Plummer now lectures at De Montfort University, Leicester and runs workshops and short courses on the uses of imagery and issues of self-esteem.

In this interview, Deborah Plummer talks about her work:

What are the common causes of stress and anxiety in the children you work with?

For the last 15 years or so of my work within the NHS I specialised in working with adults and children who stammer. Although public awareness about the complex nature of communication difficulties is certainly improving, children who stammer still often experience a considerable amount of anxiety related to their speech, sometimes to the extent that communication becomes something to fear and avoid.

Many of the children I saw for therapy were also susceptible to other sources of stress. Teasing and bullying are perhaps the most publicised of the stresses faced by children with speech and language difficulties but there are other factors such as low self-esteem, coping with difficult family circumstances, coping with change, problems with friendships, hypersensitivity to exam stress, or a drive for perfection which can cause great frustration and anxiety.

Working with these children highlighted two important points for me - that stress is an inevitable part of every child's life, although the degree to which each child will experience stress will, of course, vary; and that children are remarkable in their capacity to adapt to stress and find their true potential if they are offered appropriate and timely support.

Can you describe one of the coping techniques featured in your new book?

The main emphasis in this and my other books is on fostering mindful interactions. We need to be very aware of the impact that our own ways of communicating can have on how a child views himself and on how he views the world.

So one technique is to help children to formulate their own solutions by pointing out the little successes, capitalising on their strengths, using solution-oriented language, praising appropriately and so on.

The other main orientation of my work is imagework.

What is imagework and how does it help with building self-esteem?

We tend to live our lives guided by the internal 'images' that we create about who we are and how the world works. The term 'imagework' was created by Dr Dina Glouberman, who leads imagework training courses internationally. It literally refers to 'working with images', although it is often image 'play' rather than 'work'! I think this concept of play is especially useful when we are helping children to utilise their imagination in a constructive way.

In relation to healthy self-esteem, let's say a child has a fear of 'being on show' and getting things wrong. If I asked this child to draw a picture that would show me what it's like to have such fears he might draw a time when he has experienced the fear or he might draw an animal or an object or just use colours to represent the fear. This is a fairly common strategy.

In imagework I would then help the child to explore the nature of the image in more depth. For example, I might encourage him to make up a story about the image and its 'opposite', and to explore how someone (or something) might move from one towards the other.

When a child comes up with an image that represents how he feels about a situation, he is tapping into something that goes way beyond logical thought processes. And when he realises that he can 'play' with these images and be creative in forming new images, then he can begin to take more control.

Imagework often triggers insights and shifts in perspective which may not come through logical thinking alone.

Children are naturally imaginative - it seems a waste not to use this capacity to support their emotional wellbeing.

What do you find most satisfying about the work you do?

I am currently devoting the majority of my time to lecturing and writing.

I am enjoying the opportunity of sharing concepts and strategies learned and developed over many years of working with adults and children in a therapeutic context.

I find it immensely satisfying to be able to engage students in exploring the psychological aspects of health and illness in a wider context (I teach students on health studies and public and community health degree courses as well as speech and language therapy students).

Frequent or prolonged periods of stress and anxiety can have far-reaching effects on physical health and emotional wellbeing. Practitioners working with children, young people and families therefore need to be skilled in assessing needs, addressing stresses and promoting resilience.

Occasionally I hear from social workers, teachers or parents who have used one of my books and they tell me about a breakthrough that they have had with a child - that is incredibly satisfying for me too - I love to hear how people are adapting the work for different needs and different settings.

You are currently working on a PhD proposal involving your titles what do you hope to find during your research?

The central theme of my books is that there is an identifiable set of criteria which will allow adults to maximise the potential for effectively supporting the emotional well-being of children. My thesis will be an exploration of these elements and will include an evaluation of how people are using the books in a variety of fields.

I am designing a questionnaire which will be available on my website. I am hoping that as many people as possible will take time to respond to this. Responses will be used to examine whether or not there is a specific or 'favoured' aspect of the approaches adopted in the books which practitioners find helpful, or if there is a certain combination of factors that appeals.

What are you currently reading in your spare time?

I am rediscovering books by James Hillman (e.g. Re-Visioning Psychology) - he has influenced my work for some time and I am thoroughly enjoying devoting time to re-reading some old favourites - his work with images and his love of language and metaphor are so incredible. I find new inspiration each time I read his work.

I am also reading Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin - an amazing book about the humanitarian vision of one man and his belief in the power of education to promote peace. Children are our hope for a more community-minded, peaceful future - we should be nurturing their imagination and emotional well-being in every way that we possibly can.

(c) Jessica Kingsley Publishers 2011


This article was first published in the Jessica Kingsley Publishers Social Work Newsletter in February 2010

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