@bellam
Active 3 days, 3 hours ago-
Bella replied to the topic A bit "poorly" in the forum Blogs 2 weeks, 4 days ago
Bloody Norah! (Sorry, Norah.) I have also just happened upon this. How ghastly and scary. Some aspects are all too familiar to me after a 2 week stint in hospital with evil pneumonia a couple of years ago. It’s surprising what a state we can innocently get into with no idea we are quite so ill until suddenly the ambulance has to be called. I’m…[Read more]
-
Bella posted a new activity comment 1 month, 3 weeks ago
Thank you. This is really useful information. It’s a lot of work – hope things move along smoothly for you.
-
Thanks, Bella. Gwynn GB warned it was a lot of work done properly, but to treat it as a business. It seems though, that you don’t escape any of the marketing work if taken on via trad publishing. Yes, let’s hope the work pays off – fingers crossed.
-
-
Bella posted an update 4 months, 1 week ago
I have just seen a message from the daughter of Mary Walker James on the YWP page on Facebook. Mary died in October. I have a feeling she was a member here although I cannot be sure of what name she went by. Mezz, possibly? )@mezz, sorry if I have got the wrong name.
-
Hi Bella, I’ve been away for a few days and only just saw your note. Still away and a bit tied up with things, but I’ll see if I can check our member details. Sadly, no guarantee of being certain because names and email addresses often don’t match directly.
-
-
Bella posted a new activity comment 5 months, 1 week ago
Good luck. Please let us know how you get on. I’d like to piggy-back on your request for tips. I am part of a group currently ready to publish a non-fiction book. We’re trying a few pitches via the traditional route just in case it lands but it’s quite likely we may end up self-publishing because we don’t want the book to languish, unpublished, for ages.
-
Hi Bella. So far I’m deep into reading the Writers and Artists Guide to Self Publishing, which is very ‘involved’ though gives lots of advice. I have also signed up to David Gaughran’s free self-publishing course (on his website). I also found this: https://justpublishingadvice.com/publishing-companies-to-avoid-and-nasty-new-author-scams/
I’ll let…[Read more]-
Janette (and Bella), one tip I didn’t mention earlier is that it makes very good sense to set your page size for composing to Blurb’s trade book size. Makes it, in my opinion, a lot easier to read on screen too. Blurb’s page size is 13.02cm x 20.95cm. Select mirror margins , set top margin 2 cm, bottom 2.25 cm, inside 1.75cm, outside, 1.75 cm…[Read more]
-
-
-
Bella posted a new activity comment 10 months, 2 weeks ago
Gosh. Small world. My father was working there at the time and my younger sister was born earlier in the year. I was 5. Luckily for us we were able to leave sharp-ish shortly before the coup. I’m sorry you got caught up in it but glad you got out.
-
Good to hear from you, Bella – small world indeed! Wishing you and your writing well. 🌈🌞🌈
-
-
Bella posted a new activity comment 1 year, 6 months ago
That’s very kind. Thank you. In particular because the team leader is based in Canada! So if he had any pointers specific to Canada that would not be an issue for us.
-
Hi Bella, I’ve sent you a message.
-
-
Bella posted an update 1 year, 6 months ago
Does anyone have any experience of pitching a non-fiction title to publishers or agents? I’m part of a small team (mostly North American) writing a book about Complex PTSD. We’re reaching the stage of having a decent manuscript and would like to try pitching it even if we do end up self-publishing. But none of us really has a clue…
-
I have an old school friend who I’m still in contact with. He was senior non-fiction editor for Penguin Random House in Canada, and although he’s just retired he knows the business inside out and still manages a couple of clients for them. I’ll see what he says.
-
That’s very kind. Thank you. In particular because the team leader is based in Canada! So if he had any pointers specific to Canada that would not be an issue for us.
-
Hi Bella, I’ve sent you a message.
-
-
-
-
-
Bella posted a new activity comment 1 year, 9 months ago
I don’t remember anyone called Carol in the 80s and my younger sister did not have any friends called Carol that I know of. However, I do not associate the name with any particular generation in the way that I would, say, Mabel or Enid or Hilda.
-
I knew a couple of Carols at work, but I think they were both probably born in the 60s. I also know a Carol (as I said up there) who’s in her early 40s now, so would be around the age of my character. I suspect that the person who was so definite on associating the name with an era was extra sensitive to it because she was a Carol herself. I’ve…[Read more]
-
I’m late to the conversation but I think it’s fine to have a character with an out-of-era name. The only problem I could see with a story is if all the names were old-fashioned or unusual in some way without the author giving any explanation.
Seeing Carol and Angela now, I’m struck how pretty these names are. When they were in commoner currency I…[Read more]-
As a matter of interest (or not…) my character isn’t usually referred to as Angela. It’s part of an authorial joke. I gave her that name so that she could have the nickname Jelly, with the excuse that that was how she said her name when she was learning to talk and it stuck. The girl is a head-turner, and ‘jellyroll’ (as in Jellyroll Morton,…[Read more]
-
-
I’d better not describe the original Teabreak to you as that might break something. Personally I can’t see anything wrong with Carol for the 80s, although I might add an “e” to the end (Carole). I’d go with what you’re comfortable writing with – you can always do a global change when finished if you really want. In other news I know at least one…[Read more]
-
-
-
Bella posted a new activity comment 3 years, 8 months ago
I had a very strong (and somewhat unexpected) emotional reaction to the death. She has always loomed large in my life as my father is an ardent royalist. I’d expected to feel a bit sad, as I did when Prince Philip died, but I burst into tears when I heard the news. We were in Scotland and very nearly passed the cortege from Balmoral to Edinburgh…[Read more]
-
Bella replied to the topic How to reach out to a speculative fiction editor? in the forum The Writers' Lifeboat 3 years, 8 months ago
Admittedly the last edit I had done was via someone I have known for a while. But still, you are commissioning a job so it is up to you to tell them/ask them what you think is necessary.
I’d write along the lines of
Hey, Editor. Sort out this pile of horror for me, there’s a good fellow.
OK, OK. More along the lines of
Dear Editor
I got your…[Read more]
-
Bella replied to the topic Chit Chat in the forum
All You Need 3 years, 9 months agoI’m just hoping the choice isn’t whether or not our town contains a Pump Room or a racecourse. Because that will be fun to unpick… 😀
-
Bella replied to the topic Choices in the forum
All You Need 3 years, 9 months agoCheltenham
No, there isn’t.
-
-
Bella replied to the topic CAS longlist in the forum Podium 3 years, 9 months ago
Wow!
Very well done.
-
Bella replied to the topic Wildlife in the Kitchen in the forum Blogs 3 years, 10 months ago
<p>I’ve never seen one that big in the UK but we spent a few summers holidaying in Finland when I was a child. Coming back from the lake one day my sister and I found a huge green and gold (or maybe brown and gold, I can’t remember exactly) dragonfly lying motionless on the path. We prodded it (gently) but it didn’t move so we concluded it was…[Read more]
-
Bella replied to the topic The Future of the Den (again) in the forum Blogs 3 years, 10 months ago
My participation is very sporadic, although I do actually pop in here most days and read what’s been written. I’m glad it can continue, at least for now. I would miss it if it went.
-
Bella posted a new activity comment 3 years, 11 months ago
My friend was a scout leader at the time but not involved with the finances. He reckons he knows someone who will know and is asking. Will pass on any further info I get.
-
Thanks Bella
-
-
Bella posted a new activity comment 3 years, 11 months ago
I know somebody who might know if you are still trying to find an answer. Would you like me to ask?
-
I wouldn’t want you to go to any trouble, but if it’s easy to ask then I’d be grateful. My MC is recounting a time when his foster-mother gave him subs to go to scout meetings, but he stole the money. This would be around 1991. I’d like to be able to say what he used it for.
-
I did ask MrsB, who used to be a Beaver Scout Leader, and she said there was no set amount handed down from above (that is, the Scouting Association) but that each group decided how much to charge, so you’ve got some latitude. Unfortunately, she couldn’t remember how much her own group used to charge thirty years ago.
-
Thanks Richard. Yes, thinking back to my brief spell as a scout, a couple of years in the mid-60s, I vaguely recall differing amounts depending on what activities were planned. I did suspect that it might vary from troup to troup, particularly as some are linked to schools and other organisations.
-
-
My friend was a scout leader at the time but not involved with the finances. He reckons he knows someone who will know and is asking. Will pass on any further info I get.
-
Thanks Bella
-
-
-
-
Bella posted a new activity comment 3 years, 12 months ago
I remember Catasshe! She was great to have around.
-
She was – she’s on Twitter as @CatherineAsshet
-
- Load More
