Mad Iguana

Thanks all.

I have since discovered that he was on police bail, having already been arrested a couple of days earlier for public order offences and assaulting a police officer. So he may be incarcerated for now. The gym will know, I expect.

Philippa – I entirely agree that he was less likely to assault a female than a male, especially since I…[Read more]

It’s so heartening that people in the industry are taking this seriously now. And good though it is that there are paid-for courses available, for someone with the knowledge and experience to offer a checking and advice service free of charge is really brilliant.

Wondering if you might be up for ploughing through a 150k m/s loaded with PTSD etc?…

‘Failure’, like ‘rejection’ is such an emotive word. Whether or not you feel you’ve failed may depend on what you set out to do. Did you set out to win? Well, I suppose in terms of entering comps, we do set out to win/be placed. But I would not say it’s a failure if that doesn’t happen. Is it failure if you’re not ‘satisfied’ with your…[Read more]

Oh yeah! That looks great. I know writer and Clinical Psychologist Stephanie Hutton has also now started running some similar courses herself. Great stuff!

@Elle Yes, I’ve heard this, and that judges aren’t able to say who wrote any particular extract. Women writers just seem to be far more active than men. Certainly, at FOW18 on the day I was there, women clearly outnumbered men.

I wrote my own novel for a worldwide audience, for both genders, and for any age. My characters are of mixed ethnicity,…[Read more]

It’s fortunate the police arrived in time to arrest him. Someone like that driving a van is a serious accident waiting to happen.

@AlanRain — the Bath Novel Award, like pretty much all writing competition is judged blind, so there are no names or identifiers on the extracts so readers and then judges do not know the gender, age or race of the writers. I suspect that a lot more women than men enter which means a greater chance to make it through.

I have a bipolar r…[Read more]

As Ricky Nelson sang “You can’t please everybody so you gotta please yourself”

I am so sorry to hear that, Bella. That must have been extremely disturbing and frightening.

As others have said, I think it is down to the gym to now review their safety policies and how they handled the situation. It sounds like they had done their best in previously banning him, and the fact that he burst in meant no one knew how to handle…[Read more]

Thanks for the clarity @debi and @johnalty

I really like this thread. It feels quite cathartic to have a place to vent about “failures” and to reflect on how we define and learn from them.

It’s amazing how easy the thought “I’m a terrible writer” can come unbidden into our minds. I had this exact thought today, just because there is an element of my book I haven’t figured out yet. What…[Read more]

Stella, I believe the Grindstone ends very soon, so suggest you hurry.
I don’t know about the Bath children’s award, but agree they have a steep entry fee. It’s also £25 for the novel award.
The novel award is highly regarded, and all the winners have ended up with a deal. (For a male writer, though, it’s worth knowing the award is…[Read more]

At least the ghostwriting of books like O’Sullivan’s thriller will be keeping an author somewhere in gainful employment – and probably earning much more than if they had published it under their own name. If I’d got that gig I’d call it success

@Stellaolivetti Bath, Bridport, Yeovil, Blue Pencil.
There are two more with end dates coming soon: Grindstone and Caledonian.

Yes, it’s disheartening when you see newly published books by celebs (assume that’s what you mean). My local bookshop recently had on open display a ‘crime thriller’ by Ronnie O’Sullivan (the snooker player). No further…[Read more]