Blog | Alison Morton Author

In praise of local litfests

The four authors on Historical Fiction Night, Wrexham Photo courtesy of Phil Burrows

Hay, Oxford, Edinburgh, Port Eliot, Cheltenham, Wigtown – all big beasts of the literature festival circuit and there are many more. Places where famous and worshipped celebrities jostle along with people who write books, places where zillions of books are on sale, events burst out of their programmes, and the public is invited to adore.

There is no doubt these are places to listen to entrancing stories of the stories behind books, the writers’ journeys, insights (possibly outsights) about writing and publishing today and tomorrow. But the trouble with many large events is that they are too large, too regulated and the writers are separated from readers. Who is allowed in the exclusive Green Room, who goes to the ‘in’ parties, who is in the circle and who is not? As an attendee, you go to talks, events, buy (expensive) sandwiches and snacks, make a few new friends, but never really touch the heart of things.

Specific genre events like the Romantic Novels’ Association or Historical Novel Society conferences are different because enthusiastic writers talk to enthusiastic readers, although there are sometimes hints of separation. But I love both.

Wrexham Carnival of Words panel

But whether writer or reader, to be more involved at a visceral, grassroots level, take part in local and/or less well-known events. In the past week, I’ve been privileged to speak at events for two smaller yet highly successful festivals. Both festivals were packed with events, celebrations and books. And they were fun and very friendly.

Wrexham Carnival of Words (brilliant title!)
Organised by Dave McCall (writing as David Ebsworth) and Sue Miller, four of us – Elizabeth Buchan, Marina Fiorato, E M (Elaine) Powell and I attempted to prove that our eras – 1940s, Victorian, medieval and Roman respectively – were the best historical periods, whatever that meant.

Lindsey Davis, creator of the Roman detective Falco series and one of my writing heroines, was sitting in the audience as she was speaking after us. So no pressure for me! She’s rather lovely, actually, and a great supporter of Roman concrete.

And afterwards, we had chips!

Charroux authors Kate Mosse, Barry Walsh, me, Elizabeth Haynes, Isobel Ashdown

Charroux LitFest
I was delighted to be invited to be part of the first Charroux LitFest last August, speaking about the Roma Nova books and then being a panel member on crime and thrillers.

The festival was professionally organised by KateRose, Christine Collette and team and focused on the sessions, yet it was so friendly and genuine. Authors and writers munched sandwiches and drank wine side-by-side talking about writing, France, books and friendship.

Now, Charroux LitFest is running a series of lunches and workshops throughout the year and I was delighted to be invited as their May guest.

Charroux lunch

Delicious lunch and even more delicious group of writers. They submitted to the harsh exercises I inflicted on them with good grace, much enthusiasm and bright humour. They also produced some lovely work on character and setting. We all laughed a lot. Oh, and they bought a few books. 😉

Do read Susie Kelly’s account of being one of my victims: https://nodamnblog.wordpress.com/2016/05/20/not-yet-a-novelist/

Being honest, I wouldn’t say no if any of those giant festivals called me and invited me to speak. (Who am I kidding?)

In the meantime, I’m having fun with the friendly locals.

Alison Morton is the author of Roma Nova thrillers, INCEPTIO, PERFIDITAS, SUCCESSIO and AURELIA. The fifth in the series, INSURRECTIO, was published on 12 April 2016.

Find out more about Roma Nova, its origins, stories and heroines…

This is writing life now

The Punishment of Sisyphus Titian, Prado Museum, Madrid

Wake up. 6:07 am. I really must finish that workshop plan today. So many notes I don’t know where to start. What will they expect? Will I meet it? Must put geranium cuttings in before I go on event trip to UK at the weekend. Gods, my back aches. Tea. Lean over and click the kettle on. Determine to read another half-hour’s worth of ‘duty book’. Maybe it’s me, but I just can’t get into it. Despite the beautiful writing, I have no sympathy for any of the characters – self-indulgent flaneurs, stereotypes or ‘monstres sacrés’.

Reach over and check social media on my iPhone. 100% more interesting. Oh, look a lovely RT from A Famous Person, lots of Likes for a photo of my garden. Spend half an hour chatting on Facebook re books, literary fiction, herbs, history, cats and weather, but see only three books sold overnight on KDP. 🙁

Tea drunk, I head for the shower. Scales or not? Oh, okay, why change from what I do every morning? Gods, despite two hours sweating in the garden yesterday, still the wrong side of the ‘You are fat’ figure according to all the health websites. Pulls stomach in. No breakfast for me.

Coffee, downstairs to office. Pitiless ‘To do’ list – write own blog, write guest posts, pitch others, order vitamins, take tax return in, phone doctor re back, write event proposal (includes spreadsheets), check overnight misdemeanours and membership applications on Facebook groups I admin, read emails, read critique partner stuff, run errands for events I’m helping with, update website page about latest book and… Oh, yes, scribble a few words of my current Work in Progress.

Have mopped floor, emptied dishwasher, zapped naughty posts, chatted with reasonable people, answered emails about future events and projects, written this blog post. Can I please have an hour to write my WIP now?

Ah, no, I still have the workshop to sort out. And it’s only 10.30 am.

Alison Morton is the author (when she can carve out the time to write) of Roma Nova thrillers, INCEPTIO, PERFIDITAS, SUCCESSIO and AURELIA. The fifth in the series, INSURRECTIO, was published on 12 April 2016.

Find out more about Roma Nova, its origins, stories and heroines…

Social media vs. work/life balance

It is a truth universally acknowledged that an author in possession of a book must be in want of social media. Okay. that’s corny, but it’s true. But how hard should we pursue out courtship of social media and should we toss our head, be defiant and stick up for our principles, yet concede that old fashioned prejudice is out of place in a modern publishing relationship?

Leaving aside dodgy metaphors, how should we reassess this, given the ubiquity of social media. Be honest, who doesn’t stretch out their hand for their smartphone first thing in the morning? Apparently the majority do within 5 seconds of waking. I can’t quote the source as I was only half listening to Radio 4 as I was checking Facebook.

I’ll come clean. I LOVE social media: I’ve used Twitter since July 2009; I’m a keen Facebooker; I love blogging; I’ve even given talks to authors on using it. I could spend all day (and night) on it, making and talking to friends on five continents. That’s what human beings do, communicate, isn’t it?

Here’s the ‘but’.

Note the word ‘continent’. This is what we aren’t. It’s the fatal trap of doing it because we can. Twitter lures us, blogs seduce us, Facebook entraps us. And what Google+ and Pinterest do belongs in Fifty Shades.

Authors now have the privilege and the fun of interacting with each other and even better with their readers. Information (properly sifted and checked, obvs) is at their fingertips. Opportunities, events, connections are many and rich. You can read journals, newspapers, academic research at the click of a mouse. You can also do daft quizzes and rant at will.

I can’t keep away from SM in the same way I can’t stop eating chocolate. But I could manage it better. Turning it off completely is a nonsense, but to get any work done I’ve found setting limits is sensible. Of course, it’s not that simple.

My first task in the morning (after checking my phone) is to write a ‘to do’ list for the day. Yes, despite my electronic calendar, I use a pen or pencil on paper because the physical act makes the list stick in my brain. Then I set my day’s goals in priority order; today writing this blog post is first task. Next will be my column for The Deux-Sèvres Monthly, then another post for this pre-launch week. (My fifth book, INSURRECTIO, is published and launched at the London Book Fair next week on the 12th – eek!) Normally, I’d be working on my next book, but this is the modern world of publishing so it’s almost wall-to-wall social media this week.

After each piece of ‘proper’ work is completed, I reward myself with a quick peek at social media. But now, I keep a firm eye on the clock. I post a review, comment on other posts, announce something like a cover reveal, repost an interesting or provocative article and have a chat with one or two people. Then it’s back to work.

Social media is part of today’s world and for any author, mainstream or indie, an absolute given. This is where your colleagues are, the readers are, the world is. Ignoring it is like shutting the door on people. But everybody has to work, eat and talk walks. Balance is the trick and like everything else, you have to work at it.

Alison Morton is the author of Roma Nova thrillers, INCEPTIO, PERFIDITAS, SUCCESSIO and AURELIA. The fifth in the series, INSURRECTIO, will be published on 12 April 2016.

Find out more about Roma Nova, its origins, stories and heroines…

What the OU did for me and history

David Puttnam congratulating me at the degree ceremony

Study can broaden, widen and enrich your mind – that was a good enough reason for me when I signed up to do an MA in history with the Open University. I’d had to leave studying history at school because it clashed with Latin. (Who put that timetable together?)

We won’t go into the details of the paper chase needed to secure my place; let’s say it was thirty years since I graduated with my BA in French, German and Economics and the course had ceased, records had been destroyed and the university had changed names twice. But being a hoarder, I had kept a load of course admin and stayed in occasional touch with my personal tutor. Somehow, I persuaded the OU I was a suitable candidate.

After that first seminar in February 2004, my mind was reeling. I hadn’t been in academic study for three decades and the teaching methods had changed drastically. Whilst I’d remained passionate about history all my life, and had done well in the history modules in my first degree, I hadn’t operated at this formal level for decades.

I had committed to three years’ hard graft and every spare waking hour devoted to research, study and writing. What else would you do in your non-earning hours but plough your way through academic textbooks in German, track down clues in the Bundesarchiv, read oral histories taken in German, traipse up and down to the British Library, the German Historical Institute Library, Imperial War Museum plus weekly seminars, then regular meetings with your tutor? And writing, revising and editing all the time. My fingers were almost paralysed after a three hour written exam at the end of the first year. I could hardly lift my pint of cider afterwards in the pub.

But I don’t generally start anything I don’t mean to finish. And I was investing in myself and had faith that it would be worth it!

The big bonus was that because of my first degree, I could read source material in the original German, which was a good thing as there was very, very little in English.

Three years later in 2006 I emerged with an MA (with distinction!). My masters’ dissertation was seen to be groundbreaking – the first academic account on the subject written in English. My tutor urged me to take it to the next level. But I was tired. I was running a business, a family, was active in the local business community and plotting to move to France.

Inexperienced as I was, I didn’t know how to get it published. In the end and several years later, I tidied it up, set up a Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) account and self-published it as a book. The learning curve was steep; apart from formatting and finding a decent cover picture, there were 200 academic references to bookmark and hyperlink. But people buy it from time to time…

And the title?
Military of Civilians? The curious anomaly of the German Women’s Auxiliary Services during the Second World War. It’s an unknown piece of half a million women’s history I brought into the light. I’m rather proud of it.

But what was it about and how is it relevant to my new book INSURRECTIO? I explain all on my Roma Nova blog …

Alison Morton is the author of Roma Nova thrillers, INCEPTIO, PERFIDITAS, SUCCESSIO and AURELIA. The fifth in the series, INSURRECTIO, will be published on 12 April 2016.

Find out more about Roma Nova, its origins, stories and heroines…

Me and events - an author steps out

Signing books

When you write and publish books, you know there are various steps on the way, mostly involving hard slog, rewrites, critiques, revisions, back ache, more edits, proofs, eyes watering, etc. Once your book is out, you’ll launch it, do a few book-signings plus the stuff on social media. Then what?

Of course you need to write the next book, keep up with market news, reply to messages and emails from fans, but anything else?

With INSURRECTIO endorser Conn Iggulden

Well, yes. You need to go out and meet people and do some events: other authors at writing and book events, fans and potential readers at conferences, fairs and fetes, and trade contacts at other people’s launches, courses and networking evenings. And did I mention parties?

That’s all very lovely and I’m sure that like me you thoroughly enjoy all this gallivanting. But you’ve learnt a lot along your writing journey, so it’s time to give back to the next generation of writers. You’ve listened in admiration to others and absorbed tips and information. It’s your turn now. And actually, they want to know…

Hope it’s pearls of wisdom I’m dropping!

As well as telling a few secrets and some amusing stories and mentioning your newest book(!), you’re giving your experience to others, mistakes and all. Of course, you can write articles for your genre’s magazine and writing publications, contribute to blogs as a guest or on a blogging team, but live events are the best. You cannot stay in your batcave for ever, masterminding your writing empire from your keyboard. People do like seeing authors in the flesh and audiences can be fun! If you feel unprepared, here are a few tips about speaking.

I’m not just pontificating in my own batcave. Here’s a taster of what I have coming up:

London Book Fair
12-14 April – London Olympia
The book trade’s own fair, but where authors can meet and chat (and have lunch!). And on 12 April, 4.30-6.30pm, I’ll be launching INSURRECTIO, the fifth book in the Roma Nova series, at the SilverWood Books stand 1G45. Contact me for an invitation!

Wrexham Carnival of Words
Runs from 7-14 May – Wrexham, UK
I’m taking part in the “My Era’s Better Than Yours” panel session on the Friday 13 May as part of Historical Fiction Night. I’ll be standing up for the Romans!

Then we’ll be followed by a talk from the fabulous Lindsey Davies, author of the Falco Roman detective series.
Venue: Main Entrance block (LL11 2AW), Glyndŵr University
Time: 7-8pm
http://wrexhamcarnivalofwords.com/historical-fiction-night/

Charroux LitFest Bookish lunch
Wednesday 18 May – Poitou-Charentes, France
Lunch with ‘bons mots’ from me, plus I’m giving a writers’ workshop afterwards on writing characters into their setting.
https://www.facebook.com/charrouxlitfest

St Clémentin LitFête
24-26 June – Deux-Sèvres, France
Talks on The Ins and Outs of Self-Publishing and about the Roma Nova thriller series, with readings
http://www.stclementinlitfest.com

Romantic Novelists Association Conference
8-10 July – Lancaster University, UK
Giving a talk on historical research and how to use it
http://www.romanticnovelistsassociation.org/activities

Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival
21-14 July – The Old Swan, Harrogate
Just attending, but what a line-up! Peter James, Jeffery Deaver, Martina Cole, Neil Cross, Linwood Barclay, Tess Gerritsen, Val McDermid and Gerald Seymour
http://harrogateinternationalfestivals.com/crime/

Historical Novel Society Conference
2-4 September 2016 – Oxford, UK
I’m the indie co-ordinator and deputy publicity officer, plus I’ll be speaking on a panel – ‘Going Indie: Questions and Answers’.
https://hnsoxford2016.org

Get involved and try it. It hones your pitching skills when asking, you’ll probably get lunch, a fee and travel expenses and you’re very likely to find some new fans.

With Sue Cook at the SUCCESSIO launch

Speakers at at Charroux Litfest: Kate Mosse, Barry Walsh, moi, Elizabeth Haynes, Isobel Ashdown

In full flow at a library talk

And here’s the question: what was your best event out and about?

Alison Morton is the author of Roma Nova thrillers, INCEPTIO, PERFIDITAS, SUCCESSIO and AURELIA. The fifth in the series, INSURRECTIO, will be published on 12 April 2016.

Find out more about Roma Nova, its origins, stories and heroines…