Revisiting the Triskele Lit Fest 5/5: Preserving the Unicorn

The last session of September's Triskele Lit Fest was the intriguingly-titled "Preserving the Unicorn," a conversation with literary authors and their editors, chaired by Catriona Troth.

Participants Sunny Singh, Alex Pheby and his editor Sam Jordison, and Rohan Quine and his editor Dan Holloway talked about their influences and inspirations, and the process of editing a literary novel.

A discussion that roams from Dante's Inferno to Freudian psychoanalysis, Martin Scorsese to Gustav Klimpt, A Clockwork Orange to Dick van Dyke (in the space of one sentence!), and Derrida to Salman Rushdie.

Watch the full panel here:




Part way through, Alex Pheby throws out a challenge to the audience. "No one ever comes back to me on this," he says. "I dunno," says the chair, "I know some of this lot." On the day, we ran out of time to follow through on this, but audience member, Orna Ross (who had been on the Hist Fic panel earlier in the day) did come back with the series of questions for Alex. We are hoping to persuade him to respond to those questions in Words with Jam in the New Year.

You can watch all the videos from TLF16 on our YouTube Channel.

Rohan Quine is a writer of literary fiction with a touch of magical realism and a dusting of horror, celebrating the beauty, darkness and mirth of this predicament called life, where we seem to have been dropped without sufficient consultation ahead of time.

Publications: The Imagination Thief (novel); The Platinum Raven, The Host in the Attic, Apricot Eyes, and Hallucination in Hong Kong (four novellas); and the upcoming Beasts of Electra Drive, now barrelling down the pipeline.

Rohan's editor, Dan Holloway is a poet, novelist, journalist, editor and performer. Dan loves the writing and research process but comes into his own when given a microphone. He is the rabble rouser in chief of The New Libertines, who have been touring the UK’s festivals and fringes since 2011. In 2010, he won the international spoken prose show Literary Death Match and competed at the 2016 UK National Poetry Slam Final at the Royal Albert Hall.

He also runs the editing and copywriting business Rogue Interrobang, working with academics and non-fiction writers.

Sunny Singh is an author and journalist. She also teaches creative writing at London Metropolitan University.

One unusual aspect to the development of her novel, Hotel Arcadia, was the role of Sunny’s Dutch translator in the editing process.

Sunny was born in India, and has lived in Pakistan, Spain, South Africa, Latin America and the US.

Alex Pheby was born in Essex, but moved to Worcester in his early childhood. He currently lives with his wife and two children in London, where he teaches at the University of Greenwich. Playthings was described as "simply a superb novel" in the Literary Review, "compelling" in the Guardian, glowingly reviewed throughout the UK press, and shortlisted for the 2016 Wellcome Prize.

Alex's Editor, Sam Jordison is a journalist, publisher and writer. He is the co-director of award-winning Galley Beggar Press. He writes for The Guardian and TLS. He is the author of several works of non-fiction, his latest is called Literary London and is co-written with Eloise Millar.

The panel was chaired by Catriona Troth, who is a member of the Triskele Books author collective and the author of two novels, Ghost Town and Gift of the Raven. She writes regularly for Words with Jam magazine, where she has particularly enjoyed interviewing authors like Sunny Singh, Leye Adenle,  Michelle Innis and Myles E Johnson.

Revisiting the Triskele Lit Fest 4/5: Historical Fiction Panel

The fourth of our five panels at the Triskele Lit Fest focused on Historical Fiction.

Our panelists' novels cover a huge spectrum, both geographically and chronologically - from 3rd Century Syria to early 20th Century Ireland, from the Partition of India to the Roman Empire re-imagined in the 1960s.

Here you can watch novelist Jane Davis talk to Orna Ross, Radhika Swarup, JD Smith and Alison Morton.




Next week: Preserving the Unicorn - literary authors and their editors.
And you can listen to our earlier panels (Sci Fi, Crime and Romance) on our YouTube channel.

Orna Ross writes novels, poems and the Go Creative! books and is Director of the Alliance of Independent Authors.

After the Rising and Before the Fall are the first two of a trilogy of novels set in Ireland during the early 20th Century.
Her Secret Rose is the first of her trilogy about the poet WB Yeats.

Alison Morton writes Roman-themed alternative history thrillers with strong heroines. Three of the series, Successio, Aurelia and Insurrectio, have been selected as Historical Novel Society’s Indie Editor’s Choices. Aurelia was a finalist for the prestigious HNS Indie Award for 2016. The first four books have been awarded the BRAG Medallion.

A ‘Roman nut’ since age 11, Alison has misspent decades of holidays clambering over Roman sites throughout Europe. She holds a MA History, blogs about Romans and administers the HNS Facebook group.

Jane is the author of the HNS Indie Award 2016 finalist Tristan and Iseult and The Overlord series, comprising The Rise of Zenobia, The Fate of an Emperor and The Better of Two Men. The Rebel Queen is due out in early 2017

She is a member of the Triskele Books collective, editor of the writers' ezine Words with JAM, and the readers' review site Bookmuse.

She is also an award-winning book cover designer.
 

And she loves cake. Just in case you were wondering.

Radhika Swarup spent a nomadic childhood in India, Italy, Qatar, Pakistan, Romania and England, which gave her a keen sense for the dispossessed. She read Economics at Cambridge, following which she worked in investment banking before turning to writing. 

She has written opinion pieces for Indian broadsheets and the Huffington Post as well as short stories for publications including the Edinburgh Review.
Where the River Parts is her first novel. 

The Historical Fiction panel was chaired by author, Jane Davis. Jane is the author of six novels, including the historical novel, I Stopped Time. Her writing has been compared with Kate Atkinson and Maggie O'Farrell.

Revisiting the Triskele Lit Fest 3/5: Crime and Thrillers

The third panel at the Triskele Lit Fest on 17th December was Crime and Thrillers.

Here you can watch Ben Cameron in conversation with Kate Hamer, Adam Croft and Chris Longmuir. Ever heard of Grip Lit? Know what Devil's Porridge is? Find out here!

The conspicuous empty chair on the right belongs to Nigerian author, Leye Adenle, who at the last minute was prevented from joining us. Catriona Troth caught up with him a little later, and you can read her interview with him here.



Next week: Historical Fiction. And you can also watch our Sci Fi and Fantasy  and Romance panels.

Adam Croft is a British author, principally of crime fiction, best known for the Kempston Hardwick mysteries and Knight & Culverhouse thrillers as well as his 2015 worldwide bestselling psychological thriller, Her Last Tomorrow, which became one of the biggest selling books of the year with over 150,000 copies sold in the first five months.

His books have sold more than half a million copies around the world, and in 2016 he was featured by The Guardian as one of the biggest selling authors of the year, and regularly takes part in discussions and panels on publishing and the future of books.

Chris Longmuir is an award winning novelist. She is best known for her Dundee Crime Series, featuring DS Bill Murphy. Night Watcher, the first book in the series, won the SAW (Scottish Association of Writers) Pitlochry Award, and the sequel, Dead Wood, won the Dundee International Book Prize, as well as the Pitlochry Award. 

Kate Hamer grew up in Pembrokeshire. She did a Creative Writing MA at Aberystwyth University and the Curtis Brown Creative novel-writing course.
She won the Rhys Davies short story award in 2011 and her winning story was read out on Radio 4. She has recently been awarded a Literature Wales bursary. She lives in Cardiff with her husband and two children.
Her debut novel, The Girl in the Red Coat, was a Sunday Times top ten bestseller. Her second novel, The Doll Funeral is out in 2017. You can read our review of it on BookMuseUK.

The Crime and Thrillers panel was chaired by Ben Cameron. Ben is the Founder and Managing Director of Cameron Publicity and Marketing. He has over 20 years experience in book publishing, promotion and sales with both traditional publishers and self-published authors. Ben is also a well-regarded speaker and writer on publishing and contributes to The Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook, Writing Magazine, The Huffington Post, The Self-publishing Magazine and others.

Revisiting the Triskele Lit Fest 2/5: Romance Panel

On the second panel from the Triskele Lit Fest 2016, four very different authors discussed Romance writing with Triskele Books member Liza Perrat. What classifies a book as 'Romance'? Can men write Romance, and what happens when they do? And what are the secrets of their writing craft?

Watch the whole panel here!

With Carol Cooper, Sareeta Domingo, Charlie Maclean and Isabel Wolff.*
(With apologies for the poor quality of sound for the questions from the audience)


This time next week: Crime and Thrillers. And you can watch our Sci Fi and Fantasy panel here.

Carol Cooper is a doctor, journalist, and novelist. She writes for The Sun newspaper and teaches medical students at Imperial College.
After a string of trade-published non-fiction books and an award-winning medical text, she chose self-publishing for her fiction debut Night at the Jacaranda. Her latest novel, Hampstead Fever, came out in June. Her novels are all about Londoners looking for love, and they’re laced with inside medical knowledge.

 Sareeta Domingo was born in Camberwell, South East London but spent her formative years in Bahrain, when her family moved there for her father's job. She currently works as a senior editor at a creative book packager by day, and squeezes writing into her mornings, evenings and weekends. She writes reviews of contemporary romance titles on her blog, The Palate Cleanser.
The Nearness of You is her debut novel.



Unforgettable, Charlie Maclean’s sparkling debut novel, is a captivating contemporary romance set in present-day London with an irresistible Sliding Doors concept. National press coverage, rave reviews and an award-shortlisted cover looks set to make it one of the breakout books of 2016. This literary-romantic drama is Charlie Maclean’s first full-length novel. He studied English Literature and Law before working in public relations and business. Charlie is currently writing the screenplay for Unforgettable and working on his next novel, another romance, this time set in the seaside city of Brighton and Hove.

Isabel Wolff is a former BBC radio reporter whose ten bestselling novels include Rescuing Rose, Behaving Badly, A Vintage Affair',and Ghostwritten, all published by HarperCollins. Isabel lives in London with her family.

The Romance Panel was chaired by Liza Perrat, A Triskele Books member, Liza grew up in Australia, where she worked as a nurse and midwife. She has now been living in France for 20 years, and writes historical novels set in France and Australia, and reviews books for Bookmuse.






(*With apologies for the poor quality of sound for the questions from the audience.)

Revisiting the Triskele Lit Fest (1/5): Sci Fi and Fantasy

On 17th September, 2016, the Triskele Lit Fest kicked off with five authors talking about Sci Fi and Fantasy. Chairman Jack Wedgbury explored their love for the genre, their inspirations, the secrets of their writing practices and more with Felicia Yap, CS Wilde, Jeff Norton, Eliza Green and Yen Ooi.

If you weren't able to join us on the day, here is your chance to watch the full panel!

Come back this time next week to see discussion with Romance authors Sareeta Domingo, Carol Cooper, Isabel Wolff and Charlie Maclean!

The Authors

C.S. Wilde wrote her first Fantasy novel when she was eight. That book was absolutely terrible, but her mother told her it was awesome, so she kept writing.
Now a grown-up (though many will beg to differ), C. S. Wilde writes about fantastic worlds, love stories larger than life and epic battles. She also, quite obviously, sucks at writing an author bio. She finds it awkward that she must write this in the third person and hopes you won’t notice.

Eliza Green tried her hand at fashion designing, massage, painting, and even ghost hunting, before finding her love of writing. After earning her degree in marketing, she went on to work in everything but marketing, but swears she uses it in everyday life, or so she tells her bank manager.
Born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, Eliza lives there with her sci-fi loving, evil genius boyfriend. When not working on her next amazing science fiction adventure, you can find her reading, indulging in new food at an amazing restaurant or simply singing along to something with a half decent beat.

Felicia Yap grew up in Kuala Lumpur. She read biochemistry at Imperial College London, followed by a doctorate in history (and a half-blue in competitive ballroom dancing) at Cambridge University. She has written for The Economist and the Business Times. She has also been a radioactive-cell biologist, a war historian, a Cambridge lecturer, a technology journalist, a theatre critic, a flea-market trader and a catwalk model.
Felicia lives in London and is a recent graduate of the Faber Academy's novel-writing programme. Her debut novel The Day After Tomorrow, a high-concept thriller, will be published by Headline in 2017.

Jeff Norton is an award-winning author, writer-producer, and founder of AWESOME. His books include the high-tech ‘MetaWars,’ the comedic ‘Memoirs of a Neurotic Zombie,’ and the best-selling ‘Princess Ponies.’ He is an Executive Producer on the hit pre-school show ‘Trucktown’ and has shows in development with DHX, Amazon, and Nickelodeon.
Previously, Jeff worked at Chorion Ltd where he acquired and developed new projects and ran the Enid Blyton literary estate. Before moving to the UK, he produced the award-winning ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ movie featuring William H. Macy and FrankieMuniz.

Yen Ooi is a reader and author, and a publishing consultant. She holds postgraduate degrees in English Literature and International Business. Having enjoyed a vibrant career in music touring, education, and management, Yen started writing in 2008. She has had various publications since then: a novel, Sun: Queens of Earth; a collection of short stories, poems and illustrations, A Suspicious Collection; and short stories and poems published in other collections. She hopes to explore further the role of fiction in understanding humanity, inspecting what it is that drives us forward in our lives.

Chair of the Panel

The Sci Fi panel was chaired by Jack Wedgbury of Troubador. Jack Wedgbury is a Production Controller for Matador. Jack graduated from De Montfort University in 2015 with a first class degree in Creative Writing and English Literature. He was awarded the Creative Writing Portfolio Prize for his final year project. In his spare time he enjoys reading, writing and travelling.

Novel London - a rare opportunity for novelists

The literary scene is rich with opportunities for poets and short story writers to read or perform their work in front of a live audience. Less common is the chance to hear anyone other than major established authors read from their novels.

This was the hole that Safeena Chaudhry sought to fill when she set up Novel London, a unique opportunity for newly publishing and unpublished novelists to read their opening chapter to an intimate audience in bookshops and other venues in central London.

Readings are also videoed and uploaded on the Novel London website - a valuable tool for promotion in this social-multi-media age.

Novel London takes place on the first Friday of every month. I attended my first one at Waterstones Covent Garden last February, when the theme was Love – though not necessarily the conventional hearts and flowers love associated with Valentine’s Day.

Since then I have talked to Chaudhry about why she set up Novel London.

“I like to capture moments and create narratives through writing, photography and video. There’s something about documenting that can transport us. Sometimes, we forget what we have achieved, who we once were, and some moments in time, captured digitally, can provide us with evidence. Reading in public is an act of courage and having a record of it can remind us of a moment that I hope the novelists will treasure.

When I completed my debut novel, Companions of Clay, I was very lucky to have a book launch at Foyles on the Southbank. The staff – Emelie, Celise, Frazier and Shane – were so generous and helpful, it gifted me an extraordinary day of my life. I didn’t get a recording of the event and all I have are my memories.

I had applied to the Arts Council for funding and been unsuccessful twice (more since), but I decided to go ahead anyway: I knew novelists, I had a venue (I’d hired the Big Green Bookshop) and I had recording and editing skills. I also knew a fantastic coach, Norma Cohen from Vital Sparks, who helped me immensely when I read at Foyles and she has worked with some of the novelists before their performances.

Since then, Charlie and David from Covent Garden in Waterstones have really championed Novel London and I could not have done it without their help. What began as a book reading event in my local bookshop came right to the heart of London and their support has been amazing. Novel London also takes place in different venues, independent bookshops (such as Travelling Through and the Big Green Bookshop). I’ve also met some talented, generous and amazing people on the Indie Author scene from the London Book Fair, ALLI and Meetup, some of whom have given valuable feedback and encouragement

Novel London for me is a platform for novelists and the novels that we might not otherwise have a chance to be aware of. It’s showcased yet-to-be published, independently published and traditionally published novelists. It’s a place of discovery and diversity. I want more people to go into bookshops and buy books and I also want them to connect with novelists in person and online. I want the guests to be inspired by the writing. Some novelists have written one novel and others have written half a dozen. Either way, sometimes we need to see the results of what happens when people just.keep.going."



ALLi member and literary novelist, Jane Davis, took the plunge in May to read from her novel My Counterfeit Self. She talks here about one of the bonuses of taking part in a Novel London evening – the services of professional voice coach, Norma Cohen.

“Tackling the escalators in an underground station while carrying a laptop bag and a suitcase full of books in rush hour is not recommended under ordinary circumstance. But ordinary circumstances these were not. On one of the hottest evenings of the year to date, I left my day-job behind and wove my way through London’s city commuters, to take part in Novel London’s Contemporary Fiction evening.

When I arrived at Waterstones, Covent Garden, Norma was putting Young Adult author Fiona Linday through her paces. Fiona was clearly at ease. She explained to me later how, working with children, she knows exactly what is required to keep a tricky audience engaged. In my book, my main character Lucy, a bohemian poet activist, expresses her concerns about precisely that:

‘Lucy had only ever imagined that single misfit she wanted to reach out to. The sheaf of poems trembled in her hand as she realised she had only small things – her voice, her words – to stop the audience wandering off to the bar.’

Norma encouraged us to engage with every member of the audience – and since the audience would be sitting in a semicircle this meant moving about and making eye contact. She was very encouraging. When it came to my turn, she suggested places where I should pause to give the words time to sink in, and words where greater inflection was required. In fact, she wanted me to start the chapter with a shout!

As it progressed, the practice session became interactive. Norma had us read lines from our first chapters in turn, giving the opportunity to compare delivery techniques and making us match rather than compete with one another. Finally, before the audience arrived, she put us through some relaxation exercises – to which I added a glass of white wine, for good measure.

Whilst I didn’t remember every suggestion, I did notice a marked difference in my delivery, and focusing on the audience, I was barely aware of the camera I had been so worried about. I didn’t even notice there was a second!”


If you have completed your novel, please feel free to send in the opening chapter, biography, and blurb to novellondon@gmail.com

Announcing the Triskele Lit Fest 2016

A LITERARY FESTIVAL:

adventures in reading

Building on our experience of running two Indie Author Fairs, Triskele Books imagined our ideal Lit Fest. One word sums it up:

INCLUSIVITY!

Author panels to draw in readers eager to explore the world of books

Indie authors and trade-published authors on an equal footing on the same platform

BAME authors invited to talk about their books, not about diversity

Authors paid a decent fee for their appearance 

True to the founding principles of Triskele Books and Words with Jam, we knew it was up to us to make it happen.

So this year, alongside the trademark pop-up bookshop of our Indie Author Fairs, we will be staging a series of author panels, each focused on a genre popular with readers. The panels will bring together authors to discuss why they work in their chosen genre - what they love about it, what its challenges are, and their own favourite authors. 

Our Preserving the Unicorn panel will explore how editors and authors work together when the text, at first sight, defies conventional wisdom about how a narrative ‘should’ be put together. Ground-breaking novels, by their nature, break the rules. How does an editor work to hone such a text, without destroying the unique magic the author has created?

Supported by Matador Books and Ingram Spark, we bring you the first Triskele Lit Fest.

We look forward to welcoming you to Lift in Islington on Saturday 17th September.

Booking will open SOON for those who want a table in our pop-up bookshop.

Keep an eye on the Triskele Lit Fest blog.

In the meantime, you can view some of the exciting panellists we have lined up for you here.