Ramsey Campbell: Guest of Honour at 'Spooky Soup'

It isn’t for nothing that Ramsey Campbell has been dubbed ‘Britain’s most respected living horror writer’ by the Oxford Companion to English Literature. His career spans over forty years and he’s won every major award in his field several times over.

Ramsey’s ‘epiphany moment’ came when, already an avid reader, he came across the work of legendary weird fiction author H.P. Lovecraft in his early teens. He went on to sell his first story, ‘The Church on the High Street’, set within the world of Lovecraft’s famous ‘Cthulu Mythos’, in 1962, at the tender age of fifteen. The head of Arkham House, August Derleth, nurtured Ramsey’s talent, encouraging him to change the setting of his tales from the New England milieu of Lovecraft’s work to one he was more familiar with – namely Ramsey’s native Liverpool and Merseyside.

Ramsey’s first collection, The Inhabitant of the Lake and Less Welcome Tenants, was published by Arkham House in 1964. These tales were still very much couched in Lovecraft’s idiom, but as he gained more confidence in his own voice he began to move away from this, most notably with his 1973 collection Demons By Daylight. However, Ramsey can be said to have really ‘arrived’ with the publication of his first novel, The Doll Who Ate His Mother (1976), which was nominated for the World Fantasy Award and later praised by no less than Stephen King in his classic survey of the genre, Danse Macabre (1981).

After a near miss with The Doll... the awards started coming Ramsey’s way thick and fast; 1978 saw him win both the World Fantasy Award and the British Fantasy Award for two different short stories, and 1979 brought another British Fantasy Award for his novel The Nameless. To date, Ramsey has won four World Fantasy Awards, eleven British Fantasy Awards, the coveted Bram Stoker Award twice, a Stoker Lifetime Achievement Award from The Horror Writers Association and a ‘Grand Master’ Award from the World Horror Convention. Quite a list; and this isn’t even an exhaustive one!

The Nameless was filmed in 1999 as Los Sin Nombre – a Spanish language feature from director Jaume Balagueró, which has no small cult following of its own and a follow- up, El Segundo Nombre, based on his 2001 novel Pact of the Fathers, due to hit cinema screens this year. This must be rather edifying for Ramsey, whose career as a film critic is almost as long and successful as his career as an author, from his work in seminal late sixties horror fanzines such as Shadow and Twylight to his present work for BBC Merseyside and cult US movie ‘bible’ Video Watchdog.

Rarely one to resort to out-and-out gore and nastiness, the power of Ramsey’s work lies in his unparalleled ability to create a sense of unease and dread in the mind of the imaginative reader - with just a few words he can conjure up a world where things just aren’t quite right. Proud to describe himself as ‘a horror writer’, he remains the one of the genre’s most erudite and articulate champions and deserves the respect and admiration of anyone who so much as dabbles within the field.

Don't miss the chance to meet Ramsey and hear him read from his work at Word Soup 6 on Tuesday 20th October!

Interview: Andy Duggan

Next up in our series of interviews is Andy Duggan. Andy will be reading from and signing his debut novel Scars Beneath the Skin at Word Soup #5 on the 22nd September.

Tell me a bit about how you got started with writing. Did you try short stories or poetry first before settling on the novel form?

I was caught up in an IRA bomb explosion in Manchester in 1996 and I began writing as some sort of a reaction. Not that I can explain it precisely, all I know for certain is that I had no interest at all in writing before that event. I can't remember any poetry, but there were lots of short stories and fragments of stories. Anything that came into my head, really - it did feel like an opening of the floodgates.

I also wrote a script for a Channel 4 competition. Around 1998ish, I think. There was a movie pitch website I sent a lot of ideas to as well, complete stories reduced to a synopsis of 3 sentences. I went on writing purely for the sake of writing, with no real direction, until I began to try and join up this jigsaw of fragments into a bigger story. I suspect I'd got to a point where I needed to feel a proper sense of purpose, but I had no confidence at all in my ability to write a novel.

Two things I was sure of. Firstly, the bare bones: a man who finds love at the point of suicide. Secondly, the opening line: There is only so much loneliness a human being can bear.
Scars Beneath The Skin took you ten years to write - what changes did the novel go through during that time? How did you keep yourself motivated during the long haul?
Many, many changes! There were 3 completely different versions of the story. Version 1 petered out and was never completed. The basics of the main character, Karl Dresner, were there, the sense of an alienated outsider was there, but the main female character was so ill-defined she was more like a ghost. Version 2 was an espionage thriller, but it was a real dog's dinner; more like 3 novels squeezed into one. Both Karl Dresner and Lucia Cavallieri were better defined, but they were lost in a plot that went out of control. Version 3 was a simplification of Version 2 and the final title appeared at this stage. Ditching the thriller baggage allowed me to concentrate on Karl Dresner's battle to overcome the effects of trauma.

Motivation did flag at times. There were periods where I didn't want to write at all, but the story kept nagging at me. I always felt I had a great story idea, but there was a dire confidence problem; I didn't believe I'd ever be good enough to do the story justice.I joined a writing group in 2004 and that was a huge help in picking me up from another low motivation point. Joining the WriteWords online community was another big help, mainly for making the process of approaching agents and publishers seem more do-able. I used The Literary Consultancy critique service once the final version was largely complete. Their report gave me enough confidence to submit the work.

Tell me a bit about your usual writing routine. Are you an early bird or a night owl? Computer or note-book?

If Carlsberg made writing days, they'd be like this. Get up at 6AM, write for a couple of hours, have breakfast and go for a walk. Read the day's work, probably in the evening, then let the unconscious turn over the ideas while asleep. I did have a pattern like that when I really got into my stride with 'Scars Beneath The Skin' and I'd like to get back to a similar pattern.
Computer, definitely computer. I sometimes make handwritten notes and I'm now trying to use handwritten index cards as well. I have got A4 notebooks I've been using for writing groups, but if there's something I particularly like in there I will try to make sure I get it onto the computer. It's the thought of losing handwritten work that makes me prefer the computer: I make sure I keep regular backups.

I'd love to make it sound as though I'm ruthlessly efficient and disciplined in my approach, but I'm not very good at lying.

Are you working on anything now? Can you tell us anything about your current projects?

Graham Greene is the writer who makes me want to write, and I'm aiming at a thriller with some of the depth and complexity (and seediness) Greene put into his work. There's a tentative working title of 'Supply & Demand,' I'm pretty certain the location will be Amsterdam and I'm pretty certain about who the main characters are: a drug dealer and a victim of human trafficking.

There's a gritty, visceral Danish crime movie called 'Pusher' which has given me a lot of inspiration. Films like 'Mona Lisa' and 'The Long Good Friday' as well; and 'Get Carter,' but I want to aim at something more than a gangster story. I want to add a layer of political/military conspiracy. Possibly a plot to smuggle nuclear weapons technology, but I'll have to be careful the story doesn't collapse in on its own complexity like my last attempt at a thriller.
I'm aiming for a larger cast of characters in this one; that was a piece of advice from The Literary Consultancy.

Confidence again is the issue now. Is the story good enough, or will I realise 60,000 words in that I'm on a hiding to nothing? I'll be a lot happier once the story's firmed up enough for me to be able to get up at 6 every morning to work on it.

Aside from that, I do short pieces for review at a monthly writing group and I keep meaning to do some more work on one of those and submit it to Radio 4 for the Short Story slot.

How are you finding the promotional readings and signings you are doing are affecting your work? Is it helpful to meet your readers?

I haven't done enough events so far to greatly affect my work, but I've had some useful feedback via email and Amazon reviews to give me some food for thought. One thing I've learned. Make sure there are some passages suitable for reading out aloud. There's a lot of dialogue on 'Scars Beneath The Skin' and it's very difficult to use dialogue-heavy sections for readings. Daunting, really, the promotional thing, overall. To say I don't exactly relish being the centre of attention is an understatement that belongs in the Guinness Book Of Records (is there a world record for understatement?). Having said that, I'll be sitting in the Cheshire Oaks Borders on September 19th hoping that some people notice me. I'm hoping, over time, to find reading groups who want to try my book out. Then I could go and talk to them, if they want me to. That sort of set-up, sitting round a table with a smallish group hearing what they have to say, appeals to me far more than standing in front of an audience while desperately hoping they don't slip into a catatonic state.(You can listen to an audio click of Andy doing an interview with BBC Manchester here)

How far is this book autobiographical?

Only in the sense that I've got personal experience as an innocent bystander in two events from the story; a terrorist bombing and a riot. I didn't get so much as a scratch form the bomb explosion, though, and I'm not aware of suffering any psychological after-effects. I suspect, unconsciously, I made Karl a foreigner as a way of avoiding slipping into an autobiographical dead-end.

I have used some UK locations I know well, but some of those were moved to Germany. Karl's Munich office, for example, is based on where I used to work in Manchester. There's a scene on a tram based on snatches of an overheard Manchester Metro conversation. Some of the stroppy shop assistants are based on real people; one of my pet hates, that sort of 'service with a snarl' attitude. Parts of the Berlin riot are very close to reality and I couldn't resist allowing myself a Hitchock-style fleeting appearance (it's in an Irish bar scene).

As well as a writer, you're a blogger. What do you think are the benefits of a writer having a blog? What are the pitfalls?

An occasional blogger, really. There's no way I'd blog at all if it wasn't for having a novel to promote. Which leads on to the main pitfall in my eyes; I'm a very private person and it's too easy to give too much away on the Internet. Ideally, I'd prefer to remain completely anonymous while the book sells by the truckload, but that isn't the way it all works. Blogs are one big potential quagmire of self-indulgence as well.

So, I try to keep blog posts directly related to book promotion. I have posted one piece of flash fiction and I keep meaning to post some very brief book/film/TV reviews. Too often, blogging sinks down to the bottom of my 'things to do list.' Since it's free, though, it'd be daft to ignore it as a marketing tool. I've noticed some writers using Twitter to post quotable sections of their work. That'll be worth a try at some point.

Do you have any hints or tips for our readers who may be working on novels?

Top tip - join one or more creative writing classes or groups. Writing a novel is a very lonely activity and so it's important to get some social interaction with like-minded people. It also creates some peer pressure. I wish I'd joined a class/group much earlier.

A novel can take over your life. I had no idea when I began just how much time and energy writing would soak up. It's a difficult balancing act. You have to put your heart and soul into it, but don't let real life pass you by.

When you've spent 10 years slogging away with no sign of success, it's a great feeling to hear that a publisher wants to produce your work. It feels like winning an Olympic gold.

Don't imagine there's much money in it. There are statistics out there to show that only a tiny percentage of published writers can make a full-time living out of it.

Join an on-line writing community and you'll find a mountain of useful information. I've been a member of the WriteWords community for a number of years and that's how I first heard of Flambard Press.

Be prepared for lots of rejections. I've got a pile of 40 or 50 'Thanks but no thanks' letters. Every time you get a rejection letter, don't mope about. Do something positive and send your work out to another agent or publisher.

Don't let the lack of a literary background put you off. I failed my English Lit O-level, my career has been in engineering/computing and I feel at a definite disadvantage due to a lack of literary knowledge. I guess those feelings aren't going to disappear in a hurry. Who knows though - maybe that lack of a literary background helps me to write with a different voice.

The usual path is to find a literary agent first and then the agent seeks a publisher for the work. In my case, though, I've been taken on directly by a small independent publisher and I'm still agent-less (or should that be unagented?).

Make sure you have finished a novel and it's the best you can possibly do before you send the work off to literary agents and publishers. Even then, bear in mind that they are snowed under with work from aspiring novelists.

Consider a critique service. I used the The Literary Consultancy when I felt I'd done enough work on 'Scars Beneath The Skin' and the report gave me enough confidence to start sending it out. I bit the bullet, sent the whole manuscript and so had to pay a fair old whack. However, you could always send the first the first few chapters instead.

Be patient. I began submitting the work in mid-2006 and it was 2 years (and about 50 rejections) later before Flambard Press showed an interest.

Interview With Michael Molyneux

Next in our series of interviews, Richard Hirst talks to Michael Molyneux about his collection of poetry: Selected Poems. Michael lives in Preston and will be performing at Word Soup on the 22nd September - so if this whets your appetite, you know where to come. Michael blogs here.


First of all: congratulations - I imagine you must be very proud to have a book of your selected poems published. How did you get into writing? How long have you been writing poems?

I have been writing poems since my formative years, when, on a train, I wrote a very self-indulgent rhyming poem about feeling responsible for society's improvement and the contrasting pull of the personal freedom I was experiencing at the time. I think this was quite a naive way of looking at the world but, at the same time, I think it's a relevant principle at some level for every person, (and one that Andre Gide writes about in his book The Immoralist).

That was my first memory of poetry and, although the dilemma remains, was that of a different person. I now rarely write poems, being more concerned with experiencing 'poetry' in the everyday than reading or writing 'poetry' as an art form.

I think it is important to discover the poetic in its many forms. Often, trying to render or capture 'the poetic' in a 'poem' can actually do more harm than good. I find that many poets, and I certainly don't exclude myself here, write as an excuse for living or to try and pass off emotions, ones they can't fully understand or accept, for art.

Poetry is commonly both a cathartic process, or a kind of mental masturbation, and a kind of collector's search. But in the words of Thoreau 'how vain is it to sit down and write when you have not stood up to live'.

Between this more stoical approach today and the early musings, there have been innumerable postcards, beers mats and napkins filled with mystic ramblings, love letters and descriptions of trees in the night-wind (etc!).

The poems themselves seem to follow more of a European tradition than a British/English one. Would that be a fair assumption? Who are the writers who you admire and feel have influenced your work the most?

I think the British tradition is generally one that lacks passion, insight and mysticism. This is clearly a general statement and I could cite many exceptions. But, as a rule, I favour Japanese poetry (short, mystical and allusive - and therefore a better reflection of what life is really like), Spanish poetry for the deep passion and congruence, and also some American poetry.

The two greatest poets on the last century were, in my eyes, Wallace Stevens and Pablo Neruda. Pablo Neruda writes about love and the sea better than anyone I have ever known and Wallace Stevens fuses the imagination and reality in a subtle and profound way - 'the poem of the mind in the act of finding what will suffice'. I find it amazing and disheartening that so many people are yet to look outside the bounds of one or two familiar poetic traditions.

I believe you were born and raised in Preston. Do you feel the city itself has had any influence on your writing? Has your background as a philosophy student at UCLAN had any bearing on your poetry?

The only influence Preston has had on my poetry is thanks to the poetry society at the university - I don't know if this still exists. Preston has only featured in my poems as 'an urban area' and in a negative light.

As for philosophy, I think that poetry and philosophy are intrinsically linked, as they both are rooted in a primordial sense of wonder at the world and address many of the same questions, albeit in different ways. I again refer to Stevens. Merleau-Ponty is one philosopher who writes so eloquently as to warrant the title of poet and who writes about the link between language and being.

Selected Poems is published by the Clan-U Press which, as the name would suggest, is a UCLAN publisher, and is run by Ceth, a national Centre of Excellence in Teaching and Learning. Can you tell us anything about this and how it came to publish your work?

Ceth is the University of Central Lancashire's publishing house. The university runs a module in which students must publish a book from beginning to end (editing, marketing, printing, proof reading - the lot). My selected poems were published by a group of several students who were studying such a module.

Do you have kind of 'routine' for your writing? Have you got any advice for any would-be poets who may be reading?

I personally don't have a routine for writing but I think there are many commonalities in other writers' routines that might serve as advice for other would-be writers. Regular walks, reading constantly, getting drunk occasionally, sleeping well, travelling, exercising, falling in love, looking had at everyday objects until they shed their veneer. I suppose there are too many to list.

The important thing, though, is developing self awareness and then forming a routine (or otherwise) around what you discover about how you operate. The best advice, though, is rather than succumb to ordinary weakness, don't write at all!


Don't forget to put PrestonWN into your feed reader, or follow us by clicking the link in the sidebar. Our next post is a guest piece by Claire Sharples, who was part of the team who worked to publish Michael's collection.

Linky Linky

If you must go and read elsewhere, here's where to go...

The View From Here - an on-line and print based literature review magazine, interviews Stephen Clayton. Originally from Rochdale, Lancashire, Stephen now lives in Hebden Bridge and has just published his first novel: The Art of Being Dead.

One small click here will take to you the Poetry Archive, where not only can you read, but you can also listen to the poet George Szirtes read his own work, a poem about Preston North End. Szirtes came to the UK from Hungary when he was a child. Of this poem, he says: 'it's a poem about belonging, about belonging in a crowd, about belonging to a nation'.

If poetry is your thing, click here for The Poetry Kit - a detailed and growing listing of broadcast and podcast poetry and poetry themed audio files, including the arts programming schedule of our very own Preston FM.

Philippa Gregory to vist Preston

Philippa Gregory will be visiting Preston as part of a national book tour arranged to launch her new novel: The White Queen.

She'll be appearing at the County Hall Council Chambers Preston on the evening of 20th August to talk about her latest novel and answer questions from the audience.

Philippa’s ability to evoke a sense of period and her strong characterisation have meant her books have been adapted for the small and large screen. The White Queen marks the start of a trilogy set during the War of the Roses and so has special resonance for readers in Lancashire. The next event on Philippa's tour will be held in York... is this a modern day War of the Roses?

About The White Queen:

The first in a stunning new series, The Cousins War, is set amid the tumult and intrigue of The War of the Roses. Internationally bestselling author Philippa Gregory brings this family drama to colourful life through its women, beginning with the story of Elizabeth Woodville, the White Queen.

The White Queen tells the story of a common woman who ascends to royalty by virtue of her beauty, a woman who rises to the demands of her position and fights tenaciously for the success of her family, a woman whose two sons become the central figures in a mystery that has confounded historians for centuries: the Princes in the Tower whose fate remains unknown to this day.

From her uniquely qualified perspective, Philippa Gregory explores the most famous unsolved mystery, informed by impeccable research and framed by her inimitable storytelling skills

Tickets are priced at £5.00 each and are redeemable against the price of the book on the evening which Philippa will be happy to sign.The event starts at 7.30pm. For further details or to book tickets please contact SilverDell Bookshop, who is hosting the event in partnership with Lancashire Library and Information Service.

telephone: 01772 683 444
email: info@silverdellbooks.com

For more about Philippa Gregory, vist her website.

Helena Pielichaty to visit Preston

Helena Pielichaty is the author of over twenty-five books for children, including the award-winning Simone series and the best selling Clubbing Together. On wednesday 5th August, between 2 - 3pm Helena will be at the National Football Museum to talk about her exciting new series, Girls FC.

Based around the Parrs U11s, Girls FC explores the world of girls' football in a twelve-book series that is aimed at 8-11 year olds. The series is released on the 3rd August with the first four books. Here's what Helena had to say about the series on her website:

Based around an U11s girls’ football team, the Parrs, the
series is a mix of my usual reality-bites-but-with-laughs story-lines. It kicks off with 9 year old football mad Megan Fawcett. All she wants is to get five minutes on the pitch for her school team but Mr Glasshouse, headmaster and coach, believes only the Y5s and Y6s should play in the first team. He barely notices her, even when she wears fairy wings and a tiara to training. So, after a chance meeting with Hannah Preston from the senior women’s squad, Megan starts her own team. A team just for girls; some from school, some from after school club and one from Lornton FC’s ground caught nicking stuff from the changing rooms!

As well as participating in the launch and having the chance to meet and talk
to the author, you'll be able to have a tour of the museum, watch a female
football freestyler in action and take part in the 'Goal-Striker' penalty
shoot-out. Helena will be signing books and you can find out more about her and
her writing life here.

The National Football Museum is on Sir Tom Finney Way, Preston and this looks to be a great afternoon out for younger PrestonWNers or their children! Places
are limited - to secure a place please email eve.warlow@walker.co.uk

Word Soup 4 - The Line Up

After the success of Word Soup #3: The Poetry Edition hosted by Ann the Poet, we’re back to the usual format hosted by Jenn Ashworth, Preston Writing Network’s Co-ordinator.

By popular demand, we’re keeping the three minute open mike spots and have several available to book on the night. Theme this month is: booze

This Word Soup is one of the many events put on as part of Preston’s first Preston Tringe Festival. For more about Preston’s first tringe, go here:

We’re also being recorded for PrestonFM and Lancaster’s Community Radio Station: Diversity FM ‘Words on the Waves’ programme. Volunteers will be live-blogging and twittering the event on the night, and you can join in from home by following us at @prestonwn or searching for #wordsoup

Events space at the New Continental – parking available round the back, and still only £3 to get in on the door. From 8pm.

This is the last Word Soup before our summer break – although we’ll be returning in September with something very special…

Booked writers are:

NICHOLAS ROYLE

Nicholas Royle’s most recent books are two novellas, The Appetite (Gray Friar Press) and The Enigma of Departure (PS Publishing). His short story collection, Mortality (Serpent’s Tail), was shortlisted for the inaugural Edge Hill Prize. He writes regularly for Time Out and the Independent. Born in Manchester in 1963, he has been teaching creative writing at Manchester Metropolitan University since 2006.

http://tigergarden.wordpress.com

http://www.nicholasroyle.com

http://www.facebook.com/nicholasroyle

MOLLIE BAXTER

My earliest memory of real writing – the sort that comes from no incentive other than to write – is of feverishly coding text adventure games into a Sinclair Spectrum 48k. Looking back, I can see this provided valuable insight into the frustrations of

telling a good story. I am a prose writer, singer-songwriter, radio presenter and creative writing tutor. Some of my short stories can be found in ‘Before the Rain,’ published by Flax Books.

‘… An abiding characteristic of Mollie Baxter’s writing … is her ability to pull off the unexpected. Rather than the road less travelled, it's a road cleaved through the thicket.’ – Dogmatika, 2008

www.molliebaxter.com

RICHARD HIRST

Richard Hirst was born in Preston and has studied creative writing in Manchester and Liverpool. He maintains a blog called I Thought I told You To Wait In The Car where he passes off other people's jokes as his own, draws pictures of John Leslie, and is the author of previous Word Soup ‘performance’, 'Dear Millipede'.

www.richardvivmeisterhirst.blogspot.com

SIMON BAKER

Simon Baker teaches English in a sixth form college and lives in Lancaster. He is a regular compere and performer of poetry, stories and comedy at the Spotlight Club. As a result he has been recognised in the street twice. His performance passport also has stamps from The Green Room in Manchester and the Sedburgh Literature Festival. Simon was commissioned to blog the Lancaster LitFest in 2006. Shortly afterwards it was accidentally deleted.

Reviews:
http://thelunecyreview.wordpress.com/2009/03/24/the-spotlight-club-20309/
http://thelunecyreview.wordpress.com/2009/04/22/simon-baker-at-the-spotlight-club-17409/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&hl=en-GB&v=XibiORi0oHk

TIM WOODALL

Tim Woodall is a writer who refers to himself, pretentiously, in the third person. He has been writing for a long time without getting very far, and has never come close to perfecting his art form. Does he work hard? Well, sometimes. Does he complain about it? Almost all of the time. In 2008 he published his first short story, and followed this minor success with a string of self-obsessed stories revolving aroun

d exactly the same themes. In 2009 he co-wrote a short comedy film called 'HIV: The Musical.' Somewhat bizarrely – and despite his hand in the directorial process – a real-life human film materialised. As yet, you might struggle to find it (anywhere) but it does star the ever-beautiful Martin Freeman and Julian Barratt. Thankfully, these two men are brilliant (they never write or speak about themselves in the third person…) and for the briefest of moments they made me – sorry, Tim – appear professional. It didn’t last long. As you’ll no doubt witness on the 28^th July.

FICTION

RAIN ON FILM (Aesthetica Magazine) - http://www.aestheticamagazine.com/gfx/21Friction.pdf

THE PLAGIARIST http://sixsentences.blogspot.com/2009/01/plagiarist.html

THE SATURDAY BOY http://dogmatika.wordpress.com/2009/03/23/the-saturday-boy/

NON-FICTION

THE ROAD TO BLACKPOOL PIER

http://www.lovemusichateracism.com/magazine/2008/11/21/the-road-to-blackpool-pier-report-on-blackpool-protest-stopping-the-bnp-in-the-north-west/

THE ROAD TO BRUSSELS (A RATHER UNFORTUNATE SEQUEL)

http://www.lovemusichateracism.com/magazine/2008/11/21/the-road-to-blackpool-pier-report-on-blackpool-protest-stopping-the-bnp-in-the-north-west/

RICHARD HULSE

Richard Hulse’s short fiction has appeared in the American literary webzines, Smokelong, Monkeybicycle, and 3AM. In 2004, his short story, ‘Christmas’, won first prize in the British fantasy magazine, Dark Tales. In 2007, he graduated from the University of Manchester creative writing MA, and is currently finishing a novel set in fin-de-siecle Vienna.