Upcoming Events

My spring book tour starts next Friday (15th March)! I will be doing a short reading of each of my books, interspersed with my poetry, both serious and humorous, at Roland Burt’s new pop-up shop based in Queensgate in Peterborough. See below for details, and I hope you can make it!

The following week I will be at the most recent addition to the list of bookshops that stock my work, Bourne Bookshop. I’ll be there on Thursday (21st March). I hope to see some of you there as well.

The book tour will introduce my latest two books, The Zarduth Imperative series, consisting at present of Discovery and Clanship. But I have at least four other stories about the Zarduthi to tell, and they pop up in Floodtide and other stories as well. Though it might be a while before they make an appearance…!

Poster for my Spring Book Tour.

March Fiction Fix Online

To conclude our current season of Fiction Fix Online, we have some fantastic authors for you. Returning authors include Steve Mulholland, Marise Morland, Debbie Daley and Mark Brandon, and our debut author is David Cartwright. It is going to be a brilliant session, and I hope you’ll be able to join me. More details of what they’re going to read a bit nearer the time.

Poster for March Fiction Fix Online

February Fiction Fix Online

Following last month’s excitement, I have an hour’s worth of treats for you on Sunday 11th February, at 5 pm till just after 6. In the time that I was working to bring you my latest fiction, in the form of Discovery and Clanship from The Zarduth Imperative series, other writers’ fiction has also moved on.

So we will meet on Zoom at the slightly later start time of 5 pm. Readers are Carol Carman (you can find my review of the book she’ll be reading from here, Andrew “Chuck” Sweet, Sandra Bond, Steve Mulholland, Terry Roberts, and yours truly, Helen Claire Gould. I do hope you can join us for our meeting, and that you’ll be able to stay and take part in the Authors’ chat with the readers at the end. Sandra has a new book out, as does Steve, and we hope to entertain you, and hopefully, persuade you to buy our books!

Andrew is based in the US, so for folks also based there, here are the start times for Fiction Fix in the various time zones over there:

Eastern time: 12 noon – 1.10 pm; Central time: 11 am – 12.10 pm; Mountain time: 10 am – 11.10 pm; and Pacific time: 9 am – 10.10 pm.

If you plan to join us in the meeting but aren’t yet on the Zoom invite distribution list, e-mail me on helen.gould7@ntlworld.com to be added. Now (end of January) is a good time for that as I won’t be sending out the invitations for a week or two.

Poster for Fiction Fix February 2024
Poster for Fiction Fix Online, February 2024.

This month’s featured books:

Twicetime by Carol Carman ISBN: 978-1999852320 E-book is currently available on special offer on Kindle, £1.99. ASIN: B09TL8DC89 Paperback available to order from all good bookshops and Amazon £9.99. Read the start and order with free UK postage from our website www.mccawmedia.co.uk

Libera, Goddess of Worlds, by Andrew Sweet. Libera is being re-edited, but it should be finished this summer. In the meantime, I recommend you start with Book 1, so please enjoy this series-starter to get into it! Book 1: Models and Citizens ISBN: 979-8561440618 ASIN: B08T43T64H https://www.andrewsweet.net E-books available on Amazon, paperbacks available to order through most bookstores.

The Devil’s Finger, by Sandra Bond. Published by The Canal Press, 2023. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Devils-Finger-Sandra-Bond/dp/B0BZ2R2T4K ISBN-13: 979-8387817564 ASIN: B0BZ2R2T4K Prices: £14.50pbk / £3.21 e-book Website: www.sandra-bond.com

The Tales of Robin Goodfellow, by SG Mulholland. Steve is currently looking into distribution, but you can buy it directly from his website at: sidfoot.wixsite.com/sgmulholland

Ward 27B, by Terry Roberts, isn’t published yet, but as soon as it is, you’ll know about it.

Helen Claire Gould, The Zarduth Imperative Clanship, ASIN: B0CQD6Y6PF, e-book £4.99, https://www.amazon.co.uk/Clanship-Zarduth-Imperative-Book-2-ebook/dp/B0CQD6Y6PF/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?crid=2JJX3J11C7WXL&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.kycAIZOpLUZiamRyJ31590i4JJ-SxmP62GzykwnXcNLjsNYmREdQv1lJxIZYg1BW.dYdScDfl3XRK04u_fsbxYYQd1h7E1h27GXD0_56Cyu4&dib_tag=se&keywords=The+Zarduth+Imperative+Discovery&qid=1708373684&sprefix=the+zarduth+imperative+discovery%2Caps%2C134&sr=8-1-fkmr0, sequel to The Zarduth Imperative Discovery, ASIN: B0CCPKT7HY, e-book, £5.49, https://www.amazon.co.uk/Discovery-Zarduth-Imperative-Book-1-ebook/dp/B0CCPKT7HY/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2JJX3J11C7WXL&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.JQU-hT2YOpptSmSyqGzUDjErPeK9Qu9vwjMiCxgriew.dfDnyBv66jGtYqDBgOIzIIe4bxMyqoi7nstrKnA3I8E&dib_tag=se&keywords=The+Zarduth+Imperative+Discovery&qid=1708373578&sprefix=the+zarduth+imperative+discovery%2Caps%2C134&sr=8-1. Also available on Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Baker & Taylor, Apple, etc. Paperbacks available mail order from website: https://www.Zarduth.com, TZI Discovery, £13.99 plus p & p, ISBN: 978-0-9930812-6-2, & TZI Clanship, £12.99 plus p & p, ISBN: 978-0-9930812-8-6.

The Return of Fiction Fix Online

Well, it’s been a year since we had a Fiction Fix Online, and in that time I’ve published two new books, both in print and in e-book format. I’ve started to “go wide”, and branch out a bit in other ways as well. But this year will be very different from last year, when I seemed to be working the whole time and felt as if I barely had time to catch my breath. Tomorrow (January 14th) Fiction Fix Online returns at the slightly later start time of 5 pm, and it’ll be time to welcome back some old friends from across the Pond, and some from here in the UK.

So here’s the poster for Fiction Fix. I am a bit tardy posting it as I’m currently also working on my tax return and a couple of other things. But tomorrow afternoon should be a great event and I hope you’ll be able to join me, Noel K Hannan, Pat Spencer, Dale E Lehman, Marise Morland and Chris Frey (writing as Raymond Parish). We all have new books either out now or about to be published, so it will be an exciting reunion!

Poster for Fiction Fix January 2024

So, what delights do we have in store for you? Noel has a new publication, Skunk Works Manual, Volume 2: Mutate and Survive, and his contribution is a short story from that, entitled The Selflings. Dale likewise has a new collection of short stories, Manifest Secrets, and his reading will be Keep Out Signs. Marise has a new book as well: Time & Elvira Jones, a time travel story, which is reflected by the cover. Pat’s book Golden Boxty in the Frypan is by all accounts doing well, so she’ll be reading from that. And Chris’s new book, entitled The Last Step, is a Hank Anderson thriller, the third in his series. And I’ll be reading from Clanship, the second in The Zarduth Imperative series.

And once we finish the live-stream and recording, there will be a chat with the authors (as usual) for about half an hour, so don’t miss that either. We’ve had some very interesting chats about various writing- and publishing-related subjects, and if you’re not a writer you can still ask questions and find out what it’s like to be an author.

So we look forwards to you joining us tomorrow at 5 pm, until about 6.10 pm. For American viewers, the times are: Eastern time: 12 noon; Central time: 11 am; Mountain time: 10 am; and Pacific time, 9 am. We hope to see you then.

Fiction Fix Online video, November ’22 meeting.

Hi Fiction Fixers! Last Sunday’s Fiction Fix Online was a fab meeting, and we all enjoyed ourselves.

This is the last Fiction Fix for a little while as I need to finish off my next two books, but it will be back at some point in 2023.

Much love and friendship to all my fabulous readers, (Chrome Oxide, Carol Carmen, Raymond Parish, Pat Spencer, Martin Blake, and yours truly, and all our wonderful “studio audience” members as well! 

And here’s the Zoom video of our readings for you to enjoy…

Fiction Fix Online for November ’22:

The next meeting of Fiction Fix Online is on Sunday afternoon, 20th November, at 4 pm to shortly after 5 pm (UK time). For those of you in the US, if you’re in the Eastern time zone, we start at 11.00 am, if you’re in Central it’s 10.00 am, in Mountain it’s 9.00 am, and if you’re in Pacific it’s an 8.00 am start.

As usual, we will be recording the show, which will be live-streamed from Zoom to The Finger on the Pulse group. We will post the Zoom recording to my YouTube channel, Helen Claire Gould, a day or two afterwards. I hope you’ll be able to join us for the show live on Facebook, but if not you’ll be able to watch it later on YouTube.

This time we have some writers from the US reading, along with our friends from the UK. It promises to be a fun and varied afternoon’s worth of reading entertainment. So here’s the poster, and a heads-up about the session. Since we are into that period between Hallow’een and Christmas, we have some offerings in that department.

We will open with Chrome Oxide, and a supernatural Christmas story! Carol Carman will read from her new comedy fantasy next, followed by the new thriller from Raymond Parish. That will be balanced out by a look at the not-so-distant past based on family history by Pat Spencer, a supernatural mystery from Martin Blake, and we’ll also catch up with the Zarduthi children in my military history saga!

I hope you’ll join us, as these are authors you might not get to hear about otherwise. We champion self- and independently-published authors in any genre, and we hope you enjoy what you see and hear. The details of the books and how to get hold of them will be posted afterwards, with the Zoom video on YouTube, in this group, on my website www.Zarduth.com, and on my LinkedIn account.

If you would like to be part of the “studio audience” in the Zoom meeting, let me know and I will forward the invitation to you. All I need is your e-mail address to know where to send it. #books#authors#LiveReadings#selfpublished#multigenre#fictionfixonline#independentlypublished

Poster for November Fiction Fix Online
Poster for November Fiction Fix Online

October Fiction Fix Online video:

The October Fiction Fix video is now available to watch, either here or on YouTube, or on my Facebook or LinkedIn profiles. Wherever you go for it, enjoy it! (We had lots of fun making it.)

Info re the authors reading on Sunday 9th October:

Marise Morland: The Resonance War: 5th in the Celestriad series. Science fiction.ASIN: BOB53G4TGD, ISBN-13: 9781786957818; Kindle price: £4.85, paperback, £8.48.

David Wake: The Murders of Conky Whallop. Comic cosy mystery.Paperback £11.99, ISBN: 978-1789966442 (Includes FREE scone recipe!)Kindle edition: £2.99 or free with Kindle Unlimited, ASIN: B09V5T8TPYhttps://amzn.to/36fyzOxWebsite: www.davidwake.com

Andrew Sweet: Southern Highlands: Obi of Mars. Science Fiction.Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/Southern-Highlands…/dp/B0B64NC78S, £12.35 on amazon.co.uk.E-book (KU): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B67C3Q8Q. £5.81 to buy or free through Kindle Unlimited.Website: https://www.andrewsweetbooks.com

Dale E. Lehman: A Day for Bones (Howard County Mystery #4). Thriller.Paperback: 978-1-958906-00-2, £4.34 on amazon.co.uk.E-book: 978-1-958906-01-9, ASIN: B0B67PGLYB, £12.95. (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B67PGLYB)Dale’s book is also available on https://www.barnesandnoble.com/…/a-day-for…/1141758577https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/a-day-for-boneshttps://books.apple.com/us/book/a-day-for-bones/id6443141771Website: www.DaleELehman.com

Chico Kidd’s new book Resurrection isn’t out yet, but she’ll be sure to post about it in The Finger on the Pulse (our Fiction Fix Facebook group) when it is!

Helen Claire Gould’s book The Zarduth Imperative: Clanship isn’t out until 2023, but the first book in the series, The Zarduth Imperative: Discovery should be out in November.

Check this channel and The Finger on the Pulse group on Facebook, or www.Zarduth.com for up-to-date news.

You can now read the first 8 chapters of TZI: Discovery on this website.

Fiction Fix Online for October:

Don’t forget to join us for a fab line-up on Sunday October 9th at 4 pm.

Unfortunately Debbie won’t now be able to join us but Chico Kidd will be reading an extract from her new book Resurrection, which she is soon to self-publish. It should be a cracking meeting!

Fiction Fix Online for September:

A fab afternoon on Sunday at Fiction Fix Online. Enjoy the video!

Here’s the Zoom video:

Details of featured books:

Noel K Hannan: Extract from Alpha, a short story in Phantasmagoria magazine #21.Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Phan…/dp/B0BCSBNM61/ref=sr_1_1…Price: £12.95, paperback.No website, Noel suggests you find him on Facebook.Martin: Extract from Lunar, novel (thriller). Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Luna…/dp/B08L6ZKSBQ/ref=sr_1_1…Price: £1.99 on Kindle (or free in Kindle Unlimited).Website: www.martintracey.co.ukMarise: Extract from The Stars are Ours 1. Emergence, novel (science fiction). ASIN B09YS7RKZ2/ISBN 978-1-78695-768-9Price: Fiction4all: £4.44 (e-book), £8 (paperback). Amazon: £4.59 (Kindle e-book), £11.68 (paperback).Website: www.marisemorland.comAA Abbott: Extract from Lies at Her Door, novel (psychological thriller). Link: https://mybook.to/LiesatHerDoorEbookPrice: E-book £3.99 (or free in Kindle Unlimited) or $4.99. (Also available in hardback, paperback, large print and dyslexia-friendly print.)Website: https://aaabbott.co.uk/Helen Claire Gould: Extract from The Zarduth Imperative: Clanship, novel (science fiction). Not yet ready for publication.Website: www.Zarduth.comBooks and stories featured:Noel K Hannan: Extract from Alpha, a short story in Phantasmagoria magazine #21.Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Phan…/dp/B0BCSBNM61/ref=sr_1_1…Price: £12.95, paperback.No website, Noel suggests you find him on Facebook.Martin: Extract from Lunar, novel (thriller). Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Luna…/dp/B08L6ZKSBQ/ref=sr_1_1…Price: £1.99 on Kindle (or free in Kindle Unlimited).Website: www.martintracey.co.ukMarise: Extract from The Stars are Ours 1. Emergence, novel (science fiction). ASIN B09YS7RKZ2/ISBN 978-1-78695-768-9Price: Fiction4all: £4.44 (e-book), £8 (paperback). Amazon: £4.59 (Kindle e-book), £11.68 (paperback).Website: www.marisemorland.comAA Abbott: Extract from Lies at Her Door, novel (psychological thriller). Link: https://mybook.to/LiesatHerDoorEbookPrice: E-book £3.99 (or free in Kindle Unlimited) or $4.99. (Also available in hardback, paperback, large print and dyslexia-friendly print.)Website: https://aaabbott.co.uk/Helen Claire Gould: Extract from The Zarduth Imperative: Clanship, novel (science fiction). Not yet ready for publication.Website: www.Zarduth.com

Poster for September Fiction Fix Online

Don’t miss this month’s return of Fiction Fix Online!

Sgt. Frosty’s Latest Publications

The latest round of publications from David Flin’s Sgt. Frosty Publications.

Next Workshop in the Boston Library Series

The next video in the Boston Library Series will be “Dialogue”. This will take place at Boston Library at 2 pm (till 4.30 pm) on Wednesday 23rd February. This is one of the workshops I had to postpone when I broke my hip in 2018. Here’s the poster:

To deliver details of location and time/date of the workshop.

Video from Fiction Fix Online, 6th March

The video for the latest Fiction Fix Online – the last for a few months – is now available on YouTube, or you can watch it below.

The next Fiction Fix Online will take place on Sunday 11th September. Colin and I are taking a break for the summer to finish working on our own fiction and hopefully publishing it. We look forwards to seeing you again in the autumn.

Here are the details of the work featured on 6th March:

Colin A Brett’s fantasy book Mylo is a work in progress, and isn’t yet published.

*

Sandra Bond, The Psychopath Club, The Canal Press (https://dobsonbooks.com/book-series/canal-press/), £12.99 paperback, £2.99 Kindle (ASIN: B091NRG2M9) Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Psychopath-Club-Sandra-Bond/dp/B091NRG2M9/ ,

*

Noel K Hannan, Things to do in Derby when you’re Dead, Amazon link https://www.amazon.co.uk/Things-Derby-Youre-Other-Stories/dp/B09M112RGR/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=noel+k+hannan&qid=1646581286&s=books&sr=1-2, ISBN 979-8757869315, Paperback £7.50

*

Justin Wagner’s SF novel Tidal is a work in progress and isn’t yet published.

*

Karen Eisenbrey, Death’s Midwife, ISBN-10 ‏: ‎ 1948120755, ASIN‏ : ‎ B08X1YFZZM, and by order from your favorite independent bookshop; Ebook is $4.74; paperback is $19.99.

*

Helen Claire Gould’s Military SF novel The Zarduth Imperative: Clanship is a work in progress, and isn’t yet published. Helen hopes to publish TZI: Discovery and TZI: Clanship later this year.

To find out more about my books Floodtide, The Stallion, and my She… collection of short fiction with female protagonists – and the universe I mostly write in – please visit the Out Now page. There are links to selections from the books which you can read from that page too.

Fiction Fix Online for March

Poster for March Fiction Fix Online
Poster for March Fiction Fix Online

The 6th March edition of Fiction Fix Online will feature two American guest readers and two British ones. Sandra Bond has a novel out called The Psychopath Club, Noel K Hannan has brought out Things to do in Derby when you’re Dead, and Karen Eisenbrey’s latest novel in her Daughter of Magic series is Death’s Midwife. Meanwhile, Justin Wagner’s novel Tidal is a work in progress, as are Colin’s Mylo and Helen’s TZI: Clanship. We hope you’ll join us to hear 10-minute extracts from all six of these books. It’ll be a blast!

Next workshop at Boston Library is Marketing Your Book

Regrettably this workshop has had to be posponed until May. Work is taking place on the two floors above the library and there have been safety issues. These have now been resolved, and the workshop is expected to run in May.

Back in September 2018 I started a run of face-to-face live workshops at Boston Library, covering everything you might want to know to write and self-publish a book. But it wasn’t long before I had to pause the series because I’d fallen over in the kitchen at home and ended up in hospital with a broken hip. It was replaced a couple of days later, but I would be out of commission as far as delivering workshops was concerned until my new hip replacement healed. In fact it was about six weeks later, but I missed two workshops, which I said I’d add back onto the end of the series, so that we didn’t have to change all the publicity for the course which had already gone out. The workshops resumed in the New Year, and continued until the pandemic closed pretty much everything in March 2020, with two more workshops to go until I could add the workshops from autumn 2018 back on.

But now that everything is opening up again, I’ve got together with Boston Library’s Head Librarian Alison and the workshops have resumed. The first of them, The Print Route II, took place last month. But the next one will be on Wednesday 23rd February, at the usual time of 2 pm, and will finish at around 4.30 pm. This one is Marketing Your Book, and is the last in the original series, and it’s stuffed to the gunwales with ideas about how to get your book out there and in front of people without spending a fortune on advertising.

Details for the next live workshop at Boston Library, Wednesday 23rd February
Poster for Marketing Your Book workshop

The price of the regular workshops went up on 1st January from £10 to £12.50, but the price of the workshops in this series remains at £10 as that’s the price learners would have paid when the workshops would originally have run. The workshops still contain appropriate examples, a PowerPoint presentation, handouts and writing or self-publishing assignments, so they represent even better value for money in this series! So come and join us and learn how to plan your book launch and various other snippets of useful information, and save yourselves some cash on the price of the workshops. If you plan to come, please let the library know using the information on the poster. Hope to see you there!

Don’t miss next Sunday’s Iron Horse Ranch House book signing!

I’ve been going to the open mic night on the 2nd Tuesday of each month for several months now, and it’s been a blast! Most particularly because, after a short telephone conversation with the manager at the restaurant before the first time I went, I was asked if I’d like to do a book signing there. The manager is a massive fan of fantasy and was delighted to find the person who does spoken word (fiction and poetry) there writes in one of her favourite genres.

Would I like to do a book signing? No question of it, of course I would! I also suggested bringing along a couple of author friends (I know lots now!) and maybe doing some readings during the afternoon.

Would she like that? Of course she would! So that’s what we’ll be doing. My author friends are JS Watts and Debbie Daley, both fab fantasy writers and lovely ladies as well, and both of them have read at Fiction Fix Live and Fiction Fix Online quite a few times. JS Watts’ latest book is the last in the Witchlight series, and Debbie Daley has a fab YA fantasy series. We’ll be in the restaurant, and getting up to read some extracts from our work through out the afternoon, which starts at 1 pm and finishes at 4 pm when the restaurant closes. So please do come along and join us, buy our books, and get them signed. What a fab way to spend a bit of time on a Sunday afternoon, browsing books and listening to readings from them! Here’s the poster, with all the details you need to know about the event:

Poster for Iron Horse Ranch House Book Signing

Hope you can join us at Iron Horse Ranch House for a spectacular afternoon!

February Fiction Fix Online Video now posted

And the video for last Sunday’s Fiction Fix Online is finally posted on my YouTube channel, Helen Claire Gould. It features in order of appearance, Colin A Brett, David Flin, JS Watts, Marise Morland, Rachel Abugov, and yours truly, Helen Claire Gould. Watch it on there or below!

Colin A Brett: The ongoing fantasy adventure is Mylo, but it isn’t yet published.

David Flin: Walkies with Watson is in The Murder Mystery Anthology, £6.99 on Kindle, from www.sergeantfrosty.com ASIN: B09FC9ZYWD

My Amazon page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/David-Flin/e/B00E9ZIYW8

J S Watts: Elderlight by J.S. Watts, ISBN 9781946050212, is the third book in the series which began with Witchlight and continued with Old Light. – Available as e-book and paperback via variety of stockists including Amazon, https://www.amazon.co.uk/Elderlight-J-S-Watts/dp/1946050210/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1639162271&sr=1-1

See also author website:  https://www.jswatts.co.uk. Price depends on which edition you buy and wherefrom, but circa £12 for the paperback in the UK. (Price in dollars in the US.)

Marise Morland: The Synectic Snare is the second book in the Celestriad series which began with The Songs of Symerid Three.  Kindle price: £4.40.ASIN: B09HSD3RH8. Paperback £11 from doubledragonbooks.com, or £14 from Amazon.co.uk. ISBN: 978-178695941.

Rachel Abugov: Hi everyone! Here’s my Amazon page.  https://www.amazon.ca/Rachel-Abugov/e/B08R7T5CCP%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share

Rachel Abugov:      I’m @RachelAbugov on social media. I hang out mostly on FB and Twitter. Maddie and Mo Get Married is published on 22nd February, on Kindle and in paperback.

Note from editor: You can even get it in this country!

Helen Claire Gould: The Zarduth Imperative: Clanship is the sequel to The Zarduth Imperative: Discovery, and is due to be published later in the year. In the meantime you might like to check out my other books, Floodtide, The Stallion and She… on my website, www.Zarduth.com – there are extracts available to read there.

Hope you enjoyed the show, and do check out the books that are already published or about to be!

*

January Fiction Fix Online video now up on YouTube channel

Just a note that the video of Sunday afternoon’s Fiction Fix Online is now up on my YouTube channel, Helen Claire Gould. But you can also watch it below.

And here’s the information about the featured authors and their books this time:

Colin’s book Mylo isn’t yet published.

Pat Spencer: Story of a Stolen Girl, 9781721897179: Always free on Kindle Unlimited, e-book $5.47, paperback $15.99, Amazon.com: Booksspencerp04@verizon.nethttp://patspencer.net Pat Spencer Facebook/Instagram: Dr Pat Spencer Tiktok.com patspencerauthor

Chuck (writing as Andrew Sweet): https://www.andrewsweetbooks.com

Libera Link: https://www.amazon.com/Libera-Goddess-Worlds-Reality-Gradient-ebook/dp/B08SQF5XNH. The series starts with Models and Citizens, though: https://www.amazon.com/Models-Citizens-Andrew-Sweet/dp/0578336804

Chris (writing as Raymond Parrish): The Mighty Shall Fall isn’t yet published, but here’s the link to the first in the Hank Anderson series, Overnight Delivery: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=raymond+parish&crid=HP863D08LSSN&sprefix=raymond+parish%2Caps%2C91&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

Josephine Strand:Misty Dreams: Available on Amazon in digital ($3.99), paperback ($13.99) and audio ($14.95):US. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B091SQBM69/UK

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B091SQBM69 Audible: http://tinyurl.com/Misty-Dreams-audiobook

Website: https://josephinestrand.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jstrandauthor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorjstrand/

Email: josephinestrand78@gmail.com

Helen’s military SF series The Zarduth Imperative isn’t yet published. However, she hopes to bring the first 2 books out later this year, a few months apart. The first book is Discovery and the second Clanship. (The reading was from Clanship.)

January Fiction Fix Online

Poster for Fiction Fix January 2022

The next Fiction Fix Online is on Sunday 9th January, 2022, at the usual time of 4 pm till 5.10 pm. (USA times below, which is important as we have 4 US writers joining us this time!) We have a brilliant mix of genres this time as well.

Join us for a wild ride through some fab SF, fantasy, romance and thriller country! We have the next instalment of Colin A Brett’s fantasy story Mylo to open, followed by Pat Spencer’s international thriller Story of a Stolen Girl. Then last-minute addition Andrew Sweet will bring us a fascinating glimpse of the world of his SF tale, Libera, Goddess of Worlds, and Raymond Parrish will whisk us away to rural America for his latest crime/thriller offering, The Mighty Shall Fall. After that Josephine Strand will dial it down a bit with her Contemporary Romance, Misty Dreams. And yours truly, Helen Claire Gould, will bring up the vanguard with my military SF novel, The Zarduth Imperative: Clanship to close the session.

If you’re part of the Zoom meeting, there’s a chat with the authors after the live-stream and recording finish. To join the Zoom meeting, message me on Facebook – Helen Gould (Helen Claire Gould) – or send me an e-mail at helen.gould7@ntlworld.com. You will receive an invitation to join the meeting and be part of the “studio audience”. The chat isn’t recorded or live-streamed, so if you don’t want to be seen or heard in the main session, you can put your video and mic on again for it. We’ve had some interesting chats at our meetings, and I’m sure January 2022 will be no exception.

Timings for US viewers:

11 am- 12. 10 pm Eastern

10 am – 11.10 am Central

9 am- 10.10 am Mountain

8 am – 9.10 am Pacific

We look forwards to seeing you on Sunday the 9th!

Details for the next live workshop at Boston Library, Wednesday 23rd February
Poster for Marketing Your Book workshop

November’s Poetry Sandwich (2nd November 2021) video is here: 

The name of the poetry night I couldn’t remember at the time was Write Club (yes, to rhyme with Fight Club!) and it was great fun: three teams of poets competing for free beer at the end of the night – in an artisan beer pub! The story is a scene from The Invisible Dance, which is neither finished nor published yet, but it will be the next book I bring out after The Zarduth Imperative: Discovery and TZI: Clanship. The poems were Revenge and Windwaves (not Wavewinds, as I said – that was a funny five minutes on my part – sorry!) 

*

And’s here’s the Zoom video from Fiction Fix Online, 7th November.

It is a bit late, I know, but I was preparing to go away for Novacon 50, held in the delightful town of Buxton, in the Peak District at the weekend (12th -14th November). So I didn’t have time to do much more than post the Zoom video on YouTube. Apologies for that to my lovely readers, Lucy Lunatique, Terry Roberts, Eddie Johnson and AA Abbott, and last but definitely not least, Colin A Brett. It was a great meeting, with some fantastic reading performances, and a brilliant atmosphere. We enjoyed it very much and hope you do too!

This month Colin A Brett and I (Helen Claire Gould) introduce AA Abbott, Terry Roberts, Eddie Johnson and Lucy Lunatique and their work.

So here are the credits: Colin A Brett’s fantasy novel Mylo is not yet published.

AA Abbott’s psychological thriller BRIGHT LIES is available online as an e-book, audiobook, paperback, large print paperback and dyslexia-friendly paperback. The e-book is in Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited programme, so read it free if you subscribe to that.

E-book ASIN B08NHYBKB4 – look inside at https://mybook.to/BrightLies

EbookAudiobook ASIN B09BP1X4QV – hear a clip at https://mybook.to/BrightLiesEbookPaperback ISBN 978-1-913395-02-5Large print ISBN 978-1-913395-03-2

Dyslexia-friendly ISBN 978-1-913395-05-6More information at https://aaabbott.co.uk/

Terry Roberts’s mainstream/humour novella Ward 27B is not yet published.

Eddie Johnson’s SF fantasy trilogy is Breaking the Tranquility of Solitude, which he read from this afternoon. Breaking the Tranquillity of Solitude – books 1, 2 & 3.

E-books: £2.50, or free with Kindle Unlimited membership. Paperbacks: £7.77

Book 1: ASIN: ‎ B082T1HG83; ISBN: 978-1916291003.

Book 2: ASIN: ‎ B08QZVV5P9; ISBN: 978-1916291034.

Book 3: ASIN: ‎ B09HHF796V; ISBN: 978-1916291065.

You can find it at: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08QSLZ9T6?binding=kindle_edition&ref=dbs_dp_rwt_sb_tukn

Ahead of the reading Eddie would like to clarify that “Bruce” is a digitised toy that his main character Brody regularly carries with him, much to the annoyance consternation of his friends…

Lucy Lunatique’s short story Father Sin is from her YA dark fantasy collection, which isn’t yet published.

Helen Claire Gould’s novel The Zarduth Imperative: Clanship is the second in a series of several novels and short stories, and is due to be published in 2022. TZI: Clanship will be published after the previous book, TZI: Discovery. To find out more about my books, and the universe I write in, please visit www.Zarduth.com. In the meantime, you may like Floodtide, The Stallion or my She… short fiction collection.

Floodtide: Amazon ASIN (e-book): B00NMDZRS2, £3.49; ISBN: 978-0-9930812-1-7 (paperback) £9.99, available from independent bookshops and the website (+ p & p).

The Stallion: Amazon ASIN (e-book): B07BHRWKR5, £0.99; ISBN: 978-0-9930812-2-4 (paperback) £2.99, available from independent bookshops, and the website (+ p & p).

She…: Amazon ASIN (e-book): B07H8NJFF9, £1.99; ISBN: 978-0-9930812-4-8 (paperback) £3.99, available from independent bookshops, and the website (+ p & p).

 *

Poetry Sandwich returns on October 5th at the usual time of 8 pm (for about 30 minutes).

This event will be live-streamed to Facebook on Helen’s timeline there and will feature two new poems, plus a segment of The Invisible Dance. Do join me for a sneak peek at the book which will follow TZI: Clanship onto the bookshelves of independent bookstores!

*

And here’s the video from Sunday afternoon, along with reader credits and where you can buy the featured books.

As you may have noticed we had a few technical problems this month, and I’d like to thank my son Jason Patrick Gould for his patience in sorting them out. No Zoom video as our problems mean we had to use the Facebook video of the live-stream.

Here are the details of this month’s readers, and where you can find out more about their work, or purchase the print or e-books: 

Colin A Brett: Mylo is still a work-in-progress, along with several other novels and short stories.

Allen Ashley: Echoes from an Expired Earth poetry collection by Allen Ashley (Demain Publishing). Personal copy: To get a paperback copy direct from me (Allen), personally dedicated, for just £6.50 inc. postage please email me for bank details. I will also take cheques. Email me on: allenashley-writer@hotmail.co.uk. To buy the book on Amazon: Paperback is currently listed at £5.39, plus p and p: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Echoes-Expired-Earth-Allen-Ashley/dp/B08Z2NTV34/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Echoes+from+an+Expired+Earth&qid=1617193739&s=books&sr=1-1 Kindle edition is currently listed at 99p: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Echoes-Expired-Earth-Beats-Ballads-ebook/dp/B086XH41WH/

Amanda Read: Lost & Waiting ISBN 978-1838534110, available from Amazon and Waterstones, Kindle: £3.99 | Paperback: £9.99. Webbsite: http://www.amandaread.net/coming-soon/

Nat Whiston: She Becomes Death is a work-in-progress at present. But why not catch up with me on my website and YouTube channel: https://www.facebook.com/Storiesandpoemsbychrystalv/ And on YouTube: https://youtube.com/user/natann1990

SG Mulholland: https://sidfoot.wixsite.com/sgmulholland

Helen Claire Gould: TZI: Clanship will be published after the previous book, TZI: Discovery. To find out more about my books, and the universe I write in, please visit my website, www.Zarduth.com. In the meantime, you may like Floodtide, The Stallion or my She… short fiction collection. Floodtide: Amazon ASIN (e-book): B00NMDZRS2, £3.49; ISBN: 978-0-9930812-1-7 (paperback) £9.99, available from independent bookshops and the website (+ p & p). The Stallion: Amazon ASIN (e-book): B07BHRWKR5, £0.99; ISBN: 978-0-9930812-2-4 (paperback) £2.99, available from independent bookshops, and the website (+ p & p). She…: Amazon ASIN (e-book): B07H8NJFF9, £1.99; ISBN: 978-0-9930812-4-8 (paperback) £3.99, available from independent bookshops, and the website (+ p & p).

We hope you enjoyed Fiction Fix Online this month, and look forwards to seeing you again!

Poster for August edition of Fiction Fix Online

Next Fiction Fix: 1st August, at the usual time of 4 pm, for just over an hour.   

With a guest appearance by Allen Ashley, the current President of the British Fantasy Society, plus horror writer Nat Whiston, SF/fantasy writer SG Mulholland, and fantasy writer Amanda Read, plus the usual team of Colin A Brett and myself, the August edition promises to be a fantastic slice of fiction pie. And for a change, Allen will be reading some poetry — we don’t just let anyone do that — the clue is in the name Fiction Fix! Allen’s latest book is Echoes from an Expired Earth. 

Other treats in store: Colin will read from his Mylo fantasy; SG Mulholland will read a section from The Luck of Puck; Amanda will bring us another extract from Lost and Waiting, an exciting fantasy story, Nat will read from her novella that’s just on the cusp of becoming a novel, She Becomes Death, and I’ll bring up the vanguard with another sneak peek at The Zarduth Imperative: Clanship. We all hope you can make it then, but if not, the YouTube video will be posted here as well.         

The next Zoom workshop will be Formatting and Publishing on Kindle I on Tuesday 20th July at 2.30 pm – 4 pm.

July 2021 Formatting and Publishing on Kindle I

This workshop looks at how to format your Kindle book ready for upload to the Kindle platform. Essential for self-publishers on Kindle, and a smart move for anyone aiming for traditional publication. Modern publishers also publish work on Kindle, so you can be a step ahead in your understanding of the publishing platform and process! With a PowerPoint presentation, examples, handouts, and practice publishing assignments. 

The price for this is a very modest £10/session (£11 if paying by PayPal). Join Helen Claire Gould for a friendly and informal look at how to prepare your work for upload to Kindle – the easy way! 

This is a Zoom workshop, and all you need to bring to it is a pen and paper (though handouts are provided), half a dozen published books in a variety of genres, a cup of tea or coffee, and yourself! There will be a 10-minute break half-way (or as near as possible) through.  

Local US timings: Eastern 09.00 am – 11.30 am; Central 08.00 am – 10.30 am; Mountain 07.00 am – 09.30 am.; Pacific 06.00 am – 08.30 am.

BUT I totally appreciate that the timings are difficult for American learners, so if you fancy doing this workshop, but can’t manage these times, contact Helen to arrange a private session at a mutually-convenient time! 

Video for July Fiction Fix Online – with details!

In case you missed the live-stream at the weekend, here’s the Zoom video from Fiction Fix Online. We featured work from Colin Brett, Nigel Battley, Richie BillingMarise Morland, Debbie Daleyand yours truly, Helen Claire Gould.

Colin read from his ongoing fantasy WIP, Mylo, while Nigel read a chapter and a half from his upcoming SF novel Muujiza. Marise also read some SF, from her most recent release, The Songs of Symerid Three. Richie also has a new book out, his fantasy Pariah’s Lament, from which he read a bar brawl scene. Then Debbie read from Book 2 in her Long Ears Legacy children’s fantasy series, The Dragon Flyers, which (due to challenging language) is suitable for children aged 9 upwards – including adults! I finished off the session with a reading from my forthcoming new series, The Zarduth Imperative – from the second book, Clanship.

It was a fun meeting and we hope you enjoy listening to our readings! Fiction Fix Online is back again on Sunday 1st August, at the usual (if slightly strange) time of 4 pm till 5.10 pm. Catch you later!

The next Fiction Fix Online will be on Sunday 4th July, at the regular time of 4 pm.

Do join Colin A Brett and yours truly in The Finger on the Pulse on Facebook at 4 pm – 5.10 pm for our next live-streamed Fiction Fix Online, and hear work from Richie Billing (who wasn’t able to make it last time), Marise Morland, Nigel Battley and regular reader Debbie Daley. This edition features work in the fantasy and SF genres! The Zoom video will follow a day or two afterwards, on my YouTube channel, Helen Claire Gould. Don’t forget to subscribe to it, and if you aren’t yet a member of The Finger on the Pulse, you can ask to join. (There are rules to review and a few questions to answer – but the process takes only a few minutes.) Fiction Fix champions self- and independently-published, unpublished and even unfinished work in any fiction genre.  


The next Fiction Fix Online will be on Sunday 6th June, at 4 pm.

Please join us at 4 pm in The Finger on the Pulse Facebook group for the live-stream, which features debut authors Sharon Ihama, Carol Kerry-Green, and Richie Billing; and our American guest reader will be MK Whiting. Science fiction, fantasy and paranormal writings will not be in short supply!  The Zoom video will be posted the following day on my YouTube channel, Helen Claire Gould.

And here it is, the video of Fiction Fix Online, June 6th. Enjoy!

Details for the readings: 

Colin A Brett – Mylo: not currently published
MK Whiting – Hitching a Ride – Thumbs up – To be published soon. https://www.amazon.com/New-Cold-War-Thriller-Adventure-ebook/dp/B08P597FRY, ASIN: B08P19WGBQhttps://linktr.ee/ Mkwhiting04Instagram @mkwhiting04Facebook @mkwhiting04
Sharon Ihama – The Emerald Stone (Part 1 of The Ancient Key series) Price: £7.99, ISBN: 9781800460874, Target readership: 15+ (adults will also enjoy). Purchase: eBook & Paperback: on online bookstores, including Amazon. Contact: currently: LinkedIn (Sharon Ihama): social media for writing to be developed.
Carol Kerry-Green – Of Blood and Shadows, ASIN – B093T1Z5QD Free on Kindle Unlimited, £2.99 to buy e-book, £8.99 to buy paperback from Amazon. Facebook Page:https://www.facebook.com/Carol-Kerry-Green-Books-101210615365731. Website (under construction)www.carolkerry-greenbooks.com
Helen Claire Gould – The Zarduth Imperative: Clanship: not currently published.

Our next Fiction Fix Online will be on Sunday 2nd May, 2021, at 4 pm – 5.00(ish) UTC.

Featured writers will be Andrew Sweet and Raymond Parish – from over the “pond” – and Andrew C Ferguson and and Kirsti Wishart from north of the border, plus Colin A Brett and myself. I hope you’ll be able to join us in The Finger on the Pulse at 4 pm, but just in case you aren’t a member of that yet, or can’t listen then, the video will be posted on my YouTube channel, Helen Claire Gould, the next day.

This will be the edition that should have aired in March. The walking (hopping!) frame I had was so large I couldn’t get into the study to access my desktop, which meant I wasn’t going to be able to do any publicity for it! So we took the decision to postpone this meeting till June. Readers include Andrew C Ferguson and Kirsti Wishart from Scotland, and Andrew Sweet and Raymond Parrish from America. We have a truly international cast for you, and to add to this, for the first time we will be inviting the friends and family of the readers to support the readers in the Zoom meeting. If it works we’ll be doing this in the future as well. 

Here’s the poster:

And here’s the video. Hope you enjoy it!

The next Fiction Fix Online will be on Sunday 7th February, 2021, at 4 pm – 5.00(ish) UTC.

Fiction Fix Online poster for February 2021

Fiction Fix Online poster for February 2021

Next Fiction Fix Online will be on Sunday 3rd January, 2021, at 4 pm – 5.00(ish) UTC.

This meeting will feature Colin Brett, Carol Kerry-Green, Mike Linnett, Cathi Rae, Chrome Oxide and yours truly, Helen Claire Gould (in order of reading.) Do try to join us if you can!

Here’s the link to the video on YouTube:

Hi Everyone, here are some details of the books our lovely authors have read from this afternoon:
Mike Linnett: The Planet of Free Cider and Cinnamon Buns
Website: mlinnett.pythonanywhere.com

 
• Paperback: £7.99, B08PJWKQT7.
• Kindle book currently £0.99 or free with Kindle Unlimited. ASIN: B08PMFF6ST
Carol Kerry-Green – Of Blood & Shadows is the first of a trilogy, called the Donati Chronicles – and will be out in April 2021. I have a website, but it’s just a holding page for now.
 
http://www.chromeoxide.com/writer/

 

 Under the pen name of Chrome Oxide I write humorous science fiction and fantasy. However, I’ve been accused of writing murder mysteries since I murder the English language and it’s a mystery how I get published. When people ask why I write humorous science fiction and fantasy, I explain that my reality check bounced.

28 Minutes into the Future:
• Kindle edition: £3.04 to buy or free with Kindle Unlimited, ASIN: B08464T8S6
• Paperback: £7.61, ASIN: B0841BFPGV
 
Helen Claire Gould: My next two books are The Zarduth Imperative: Discovery and TZI: Clanship, however I expect to publish them in 2021.

Next Fiction Fix Online: Sunday December 6th, 4.00 – 5.00 pm (UTC).

Poster for December Fiction Fix Online meetingi

December 20 FF poster

Featuring Colin Brett, Martin Tracey, Andrew Dutton, Louise Hallian, Cathi Rae and Helen Claire Gould (not necessarily in that order)!

Next Fiction Fix Online: Sunday November 8th, 4.00 – 5.00 pm (UTC).

FF Online poster Nov 20

Watch the Fiction Fix Online video from Sunday October 11th here:

This month’s featured authors are: Colin Brett, Mark Symmonds, JS Watts, Sue E Dale, and yours truly, Helen Claire Gould.

Links to books

At our live evenings we always have a books table, but as we’re only there in spirit online that’s a bit difficult. So here are some links to the relevant websites or books:

Hope you enjoy the video, guys! The next Fiction Fix Online is on Sunday November 6th, at 4pm till 5 pm. We have fantasy authors Colin Brett and Debbie Daley, SF guru Terry Martin and Cathi Rae, (better known for her poetry) bringing you fiction offerings. Further announcements to come – make it a date!

September Events to look out for:

  • Tuesday 8th September, 2020, 8.00 – 8.15 pm: public reading from The Stallion on Facebook. First of a series of monthly public live-streams. There may be a couple of new poems as well…

  • Tuesday 22nd September, 2020, 2.00 – 4.30 pm: “Dialogue” online workshop on Zoom. 

Hope to see you there! 

 New run of workshops on Zoom includes US workshop dates too!

The latest run of workshops are on Zoom and will include dates for American learners. They will be advertised on Facebook and LinkedIn, and ticketing will be through Eventbrite. Because of this, there will be a change in the way you access handouts and materials for the assignments for both Writing and Self-Publishing workshops. However, they will still be informal and provide clear explanations and examples, and there will still be small group work and assignments will be shared as part of the workshop.

I am looking to update my workshop details as well, but I don’t think there will be any face-to-face workshops for a while.

Here’s a brief look at the rationale behind the workshop, the things it covers and more:

As there are 3 different workshops offered each month, I have 3 slightly different posters! Here they are in full, each with the relevant Eventbrite reference:

Poster for Story-Telling for Writers I UKI

Poster for first UK workshop Story-Telling for Writers I

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/story-telling-for-writers-i-tickets-115478367907

Poster for Story-Telling for Writers I - second UK workshop

Poster for 2nd UK Story-Telling for Writers I workshop

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/story-telling-for-writers-i-tickets-115485292619

Poster for the US workshop Story-Telling for Writers I

Poster for Story-Telling for Writers I – US workshop

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/story-telling-for-writers-i-tickets-115495683699

Online Workshops

I have been looking into video conferencing tools for running my workshops online over the last few months (while also working on my next two novels. It hasn’t been easy, as I’m not one of those people who can just sit down and use a new program.
However, I started off by learning Cisco Webex, but although the video quality is excellent, it doesn’t offer the features I want to learn in the free version (so I can learn it upfront), and when I enquired about the cost of the program that has breakout rooms it was out of budget.
So I then turned my attention to Zoom, which has proved to be a more accessible program, a bit easier to learn, and has more useful features at the free level. However, under normal circumstances, meetings can only last for 40 minutes as soon as you have 3 people (including the host). But that’s what I decided to run with, as it was obvious I would need a paid version to run my workshops, and the breakout rooms mean I can continue to include writing assignments in them. Skype is of course free, but doesn’t have many features at all, and the video quality can be good or terrible on a given day. So Zoom it is.

Check out this sneak peek at my “Dialogue” workshop: 

The first workshop is due to run on Monday evening, the second on Sunday morning – actual dates are on the poster. Ticketing is through Eventbrite, and I’m trying out three of my workshops initially – the third date for the first one is the following Saturday afternoon, and is aimed at participants in the US. If there’s enough demand to justify continuing, I will do so. If not, I’ll shelve it until the economy is on a better footing, and concentrate on my writing at present. There are separate posters for the UK times and dates and the American ones. So here’s the poster for the UK meetings:
UK poster for "Dialogue" workshop

UK poster for “Dialogue” workshop

Book tickets for the UK workshop on Monday 20th July here:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dialogue-tickets-108574750000

Book tickets for the UK workshop on Sunday 26th July here:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dialogue-tickets-110522056446

And here’s the poster for the US times and dates:

US poster for “Dialogue” workshop

Book tickets for the UK workshop on Sunday 1st August here:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dialogue-tickets-112141283598
(Regrettably Eventbrite doesn’t offer the facility to pay for workshops timed for US participants in US$ – hence the price is as shown in the UK ones – sorry! I did want to offer that to US participants, but was told it wasn’t available.)

It’s been a while…

While there are no physical upcoming events, partly due to me having to self-isolate and partly because the libraries and other venues have had to close temporarily, and because I have been unable to update this site while it underwent maintenance, do watch this space for information about Skype workshops. I hope to offer them very soon, so please keep a look-out on here and Facebook and LinkedIn.

April 2nd, 2020.

*

And the next Peterborough workshop is on January 7th, starting at 11.00 am.

Poster for Person POV and Characterisation IPlease note the change in timings which should be better for everyone concerned. We begin at 11.00 am and finish at 1.30 – a half an hour later start and finish, but with no loss of quality in the training! There will still be the traditional PowerPoint presentation with handouts, writing assignments and the same friendly and encouraging learning environment you’ve come to expect from me. And while you can book and pay in advance through this website, if you prefer you can still pay on the day – just let me know you’re coming so I can bring enough copies of the handouts. The number’s on the poster above.

See you there at Samm’s!

Next Fiction Fix is on January 5th, 2020.

Poster for January 2020 Fiction Fix

The details will be updated in the next couple of days, but in the meantime, I still have one reading slot, so if you’d like it, please either message me on Facebook or e-mail me at helen.gould7@ntlworld.com, preferably by Wednesday when the schedules go out to readers. We are still at Samm’s as the renovations at the Draper’s Arms are ongoing, and we hope to see all of you lovely listeners next Sunday!

Next Spalding Open Mic Night (5) – including Stars in their Eyes session after the break!

This is going to be a rather special night. There will be the usual performances from various musicians, poets and fiction writers (including yours truly); Louise, whose brainchild the open mic night was, will be performing her children’s fiction poems with a host of helpers, and the second half will be a session of Stars in their Eyes. Fancy dress is optional and there will be a charity raffle. So come and join us for a Christmas celebration with a difference – it’ll definitely be a fun night! And if you’d like to perform in the first half or take part in the Stars in their Eyes part of the night, call the number at the bottom of the poster – but don’t hang around or the slots will have gone to other performers!

Spalding Christmas Open Mic Night Poster

Also a really good night, with 3 intrepid performers, including the fabulous Colin Barkworth, who probably did the longest ever impression of George Formby singing When I’m Cleaning Windows, and our very own Ross McGivern, stepping out of their respective comfort zones to perform for our collective delectation, plus the wonderfully mellow Jane Tarrant. We had quite a lot of donations for the raffle, which turned out to be a hilarious event in itself, and raised £23 for local Spalding charity Safe Places, so a good effort everyone!

Poetry reading

I will be the cherry on top of the cake on Thursday November 28th (coincidentally also my birthday) when I bring my own brand of poetry to the Peterborough Rape Crisis Care Group gig at Samm’s at the invitation of the organisers. It’s a bit of an experiment, but I think it will be a good one, and I’d actually been looking into doing something similar at music festivals myself when the accident mucked things up a bit! So please do come and join us for this event in aid of a very good cause, and there will be a charity raffle to raise money for the group. I will be appearing along with Diabla, Rebecca Warn, and (organising and topping the bill, so please do stay till the end) the Fyzz Wallis Band: Fyzz, Zoe and Chris. The gig starts at 7.30 pm and takes place at Samm’s, 29, Bridge St., Peterborough – next door to the Town Hall. Here’s the poster:

Rape Crisis gig poster

 

This was a very good night, with a fab blend of music and poetry on offer. I’d like to thank the Fyzz Wallis Band for inviting me to be part of it, and give them and the other artists, Diabla and Rebecca Warn, a mention, as it provided a harmonious mix. My poetry went down very well (a ripple of laughter or two ran round the room as I read Pound o’ Peas at the end) and I was very happy with the results of the night. The raffle and collection raised over £105 for a very good cause, the Peterborough Rape Crisis Centre; unfortunately also a very necessary cause.

Next Boston Workshop

The next workshop at Boston Library will be on Wednesday 27th November, from 2 pm to about 4.30 pm. It continues the self-publishing series and will focus on the administrative side of uploading your work to Kindle. The workshop is £10 to attend, and includes a PowerPoint presentation, handouts (no need to take notes if you don’t wish to) and self-publishing assignments. Refreshments, provided by the venue, are available (tea, coffee and biscuits) at 20p/cup. You can book for it and pay through this website here. Use the drop-down menu to select the workshop you want to book for – the dates are shown. You can also book directly with the library – details are shown on the poster below.

For more information please phone 01733-232127 or e-mail helen.gould7@ntlworld.com. Here’s the poster:

Poster for Formatting & Publishing on Kindle IIh

Next Fiction Fix

The next Fiction Fix is on Sunday 1st December at Samm’s, 29 Bridge St., Peterborough. It starts at 8 pm and finishes at around 10.30 pm, when the pub closes. It’s a free night out, folks, and features local writers in any genre reading their work live for your delectation! Readers this month are Colin Brett, Candy Nettles, Ron Graves, Leanne Rogers and new reader Debbie Daley – and there will be a special Christmas celebration game on the night. Yours truly is hosting and will kick off and close the proceedings, so come on down and join us for a fun evening!

December 19 Fiction Fix Poster

 

Next workshop at Samm’s, Peterborough.

And finally, the other writers’ workshop before Christmas is Story-Telling for Writers II, on Tuesday December 10th, at Samm’s, 29 Bridge St., Peterborough. We start at 10.30 am and finish at about 1 pm, and will be looking at more transitions between scenes and chapters, how to avoid repetition, ways to start a new scene, how to use characters’ plans to shape the story and more ways of controlling the flow of information to the reader. This is not to be missed – it’s essential information for budding and “improver” authors! The workshop is £10 to attend, and includes a PowerPoint presentation, handouts (no need to take notes if you don’t wish to) and writing assignments. Refreshments, provided by the venue, are available (tea, coffee and biscuits) at £2. You can book for it and pay through this website here. Use the drop-down menu to select the workshop you want to book for – the dates are shown.

For more information please phone 01733-232127 or e-mail helen.gould7@ntlworld.com. Here’s the poster:Poster for Story-Telling for Writers II

Spalding Open Mic Night 4 – Thursday 10th October.

Here’s something else I’m involved in. The White Horse Writers are a Spalding-based group started last year by one of my learners at the library workshops – and this is what she’s been up to this year! There have so far been 3 very successful open mic nights at Sergi’s Tapas Bar, two of them upstairs on the first floor, and the most recent one in the garden area at the back of the restaurant on the ground floor. To view a short video of part of the last night, go to the White Horse Writers’ page on Facebook. There you can join the group and book a slot if you’re a poet or fiction writer or a musician/band. To ensure a blend of these three genres the slots are booked in advance – details at the foot of the poster. If you want to perform and aren’t sure if you fit into the above categories, ring for advice – last time we included a mind reader and a sword swallower in the performers, and it was a fab, fun night!
Poster for Spalding Open Mic Night 4

While over at Wisbech in Fenland the previous week we have Wisbech Words at Wisbech Castle…

60318674_820383134994187_822885377084751872_o

Next Spalding Library Workshop

The next writers’ workshop to be held at Spalding Library will be Story-Telling for Writers II, on Saturday 14th April, starting at the usual time of 10.00 am. Here’s the poster for it.

 

Poster for Story-Telling for Writers II

Poster for Story-Telling for Writers II

Fiction Fix celebrates International Women’s Day

You’ve probably seen that, due to the weather and my illness, we’ve had to move Fiction Fix to Sunday the 18th March. We’re still celebrating International Women’s Day with readings about female protagonists. So please do come and join us at our usual venue, The Draper’s Arms, and join in and enjoy the evening. Here’s the updated poster with all the details on.

March poster

Up-Coming Event: The Stallion Book Launch

‘IT WAS ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF THE SOUK that I first glimpsed it: pure white, a stallion, flared nostrils exhaling steam. Elemental, a figure out of the foundry of hell itself.

‘It trotted past the great trunks of the Caliban trees, weaving a pattern between them that paralleled their movements. Its eyes glinted red and wild in the sunlight, meeting mine with a knowing gleam and innate insolence. My pulse flared and the blood trembled in my veins, yet I couldn’t look away. Despite my fear the horse’s beauty caught at my heart.

‘The grey disappeared around the edge of the forest where the Calibans grew more thickly, and for several moments I stood staring after it.

*

‘I remember that morning well…’

Book cover for The Stallion.

The Stallion, my new book.

My new book The Stallion probably isn’t even long enough to qualify as a novella – more of a long short story – but it’s being launched next Wednesday (21st March) at local bar, Puzzles? which is on Bridge St, Peterborough, nearly opposite Waterstones. The event starts at 8 pm – 10 pm, and includes readings and activities with the accent on fun, so if you’re reading this, do come along and join in, and in case you live too far away, we hope to live-stream the launch to Facebook. If we have the opportunity to film it, it will go up on YouTube and Vimeo.

This is the story I got up in the middle of the night to write, after an extraordinarily vivid dream. About an hour and a half later, Mike woke up and realised I wasn’t in our room, and eventually found me typing away like mad in the Study. I’d written about half of an initial draft, and immortalised the source dream in the process. It’s an ecological fantasy (I could have invented a genre there), an Arabian-Nights-styled SF/fantasy with the main character a young colonist of a frontier planet in the universe I write in. Not forgetting his beautiful white horse.

We hope to live-stream the event to Facebook, and perhaps post it on YouTube, so if you can’t make it there in person, you should be able to see what’s going on, either on Facebook or on YouTube. If you’re reading this, I hope to catch up with you there.

Update on January Fiction Fix:

What a great night at the Draper’s Arms last night! Many thanks to all the people who turned up and either read or listened. I managed to speak to most people and know that they enjoyed themselves, but for anyone I didn’t get to speak to in the break or afterwards, I look forward to catching up with you next time.

Readers were Jilly Paddock, Mark Fryday, Morgan Fitzsimon and myself. We usually start with work that is already self-published or independently published, but last night, as there were quite a few pieces which fell into the not-yet-published section, we reversed the order and started with the Fiction-in-the-Making section. Jilly read from her next novel, Warbird, Mark gave us a sneak peek into his forthcoming novel The Innocence Machines, after which I interviewed him about the differences between his current and next work, and I read from my next novel, The Zarduth Imperative – Discovery. After the break Jilly continued the section with her latest fantasy story, Ladder to the Moon. We continued the readings with the Self-Made Fiction section, with Morgan reading from The Last Enchanter and a reading from Floodtide by yours truly. But the evening didn’t really end there, because there was quite a bit of discussion going on for a while after that. I enjoyed the night very much and the others seemed to as well.

The next Fiction Fix will be at the Draper’s Arms, Cowgate, Peterborough, (post code) on Sunday 5th February. We look forwards to seeing you there!

Poster for Fiction Fix meeting, February 2017

Poster for Fiction Fix meeting, February 2017

 

It looks as if the first month of the New Year is going to be just as busy as most of 2016 was.

For a start, there’s another Fiction Fix on Sunday 8th January. If you’re a writer and want to read your work aloud, or if you just fancy coming along to listen, keep in touch via The Finger on the Pulse, my private Facebook group for this regular monthly event at The Draper’s Arms on Cowgate in Peterborough. PM me on Facebook to join it. the meetings are usually on the first Sunday in the month, but as this happens to be New Year’s Day that seemed a bit impractical as the pubis unlikely to be open.

Poster for the January 2017 Fiction Fix meeting

Peterborough Fiction Fix meeting poster for January 2017.

 The pub is a few minutes’ walk from the bus and train stations and the nearest car park is the Trinity St. Car Park, round the back of Peterborough Museum. Parking is £1.50 all night (literally – till 6 am!) Here’s the Google map link: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Peterborough+Cathedral/@52.5717814,-0.2461277,18z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0xcd53906a57999a5!8m2!3d52.5724834!4d-0.2392101

Secondly, the following weekend I’ll be running the next of the series of writers’ workshops at Spalding Library. This is Story-Telling for Writers II. Last time we looked at the structural devices that can be used in telling your story. This time we’ll be looking at the story-telling devices you can use to control the flow of information to the reader and ensure you don’t repeat yourself. Contact the library to book, there may still be a few places left. 

Story-Telling for Writers II poster

Poster for the next writers’ workshop at Spalding Library

This Weekend’s Public Engagements 

(Don’t worry, you can still buy the paperback (contains all the countdown stories plus the wider anthology to which I contributed) or download any of the 12 countdown stories individually, or buy the 12Days Kindle version, which doesn’t include the countdown stories. Check Amazon out for the latest prices. Here’s the link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_2_6?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=12days&sprefix=12Days%2Caps%2C137&crid=3U93DHFSIWMGO

I have a busy weekend ahead with the online launch party (on Facebook) this evening for the 12Days anthology, in which I have a story called Avenging Angel. this is a private launch party for the contributors, but should be both educational (never done an online launch party before!) and fun. This mainly horror anthology is in aid of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, and has been the brainchild of Matty-Bob Cash. I’m proud to be part of it, especially as it’s raising money to help others less fortunate than myself. Here’s the cover:

Cover for 12Days anthology

Cover for 12Days anthology

I also have an appearance tomorrow morning at Huntingdon Library with the Telling It group. This is part of Huntingdon Library’s Author Festival, and is the first time I’ve read with them, but I’m looking forwards to it. I will be reading a new childrens’ story I’ve written. I don’t normally do childrens’ fiction, but I thought I’d have a go as the library wanted something Christmassy/wintry and the Naxadans don’t celebrate Christmas! This is the poster for the latest Telling It public meeting.

Telling It poster 3rd December 2016

Telling It…In the deep Midwinter at Huntingdon Library tomorrow

And on Sunday there’s another meeting of the Peterborough Fiction Fix. The poster is below. There will probably be some open-mic slots available during the evening.

December poster for Fiction Fix

December poster for Fiction Fix

Next workshop at Spalding Library will be on Saturday 10th November:

Poster for the first part of Story-Telling for Writers.

Poster for the first part of Story-Telling for Writers.

(Part 2 of the Story-Telling for Writers will take place in January.)

Next workshop at The Deepings Library will be on Monday 28th November:

Poster for Getting Started workshop at Deepings Library.

Poster for Getting Started workshop at Deepings Library.

This workshop has up to 15 places available and will be FREE again as it’s my free taster workshop, Getting Started. You will still need to book a place, so contact the library for this, details of opening times if you’re phoning them above in the poster, and the e-mail address for use at any time is also shown. Please don’t expect an immediate reply if you’re e-mailing, as the library’s opening hours are a bit limited – but at least they are still there, and the library itself is thriving!

Next writers’ workshop at Spalding Library

"Dialogue" poster for Spalding Library

Poster for “Dialogue” at Spalding Library

The next workshop for writers at Spalding Library is on Saturday 5th November, at the usual time of 10 am, and it’s already almost full! There are 12 places and it’s £5 to attend, payable in advance at the library. I hope to see you there!

Next Peterborough Fiction Fix meeting

will be at 8pm at The Draper’s Arms, on Sunday November 6th. Further details to follow. We hope to see you there!

Poster for November meeting

Poster for the third meeting of the Peterborough Fiction Fix

Getting Started workshop at Spalding Library

This workshop ran on Saturday 8th October, and was probably the most successful workshop I’ve ever run. I’ve since heard from several people that it was a lot of fun, as well as teaching them ways of getting their work started off.

Poster for "Getting Started" workshop

Poster for “Getting Started” FREE workshop at Spalding Library, Saturday 8th October

This event is next Saturday but all the places are now filled. However, I am running it again at The Deepings Library soon – we know it’ll be in November, and that it will also be a free event, but we just haven’t yet worked out when it will be. Watch this space!

Never Mind “Four Weddings and a Funeral”, there are Two New Workshops and an Author Event! 

That’s not to mention another Peterborough Fiction Fix. The first workshop is at The Deepings Library, and celebrates the takeover of the library by GLL – and, of course, its continuance as a proper library. The Friends of Deepings Library fought legal battle after legal battle to stay open and serving the public in the Deepings, and as soon as I heard that Lincs. County Council wanted to close them, I contacted them and offered to run a free workshop – I thought it might help bring local people onboard for the fight. My reason for doing so was that I feel quite a connection to the library, not just because I’m now an author, but because between 2000 and 2005 I taught Geology and Creative Writing at The Deepings School, and I used to drop in to the library with leaflets and posters, and they always displayed them for me. I went to a couple of their events to raise local awareness and enthusiasm, and encountered at one of them a gentleman who used to be in my Geology class – which was great! However, FODL decided that they’d prefer it if I ran that workshop for them after the takeover…so that time is – well, if not now, then very soon!

So if you’re reading this and would like to come to the workshop on Thursday evening the 29th September, we’d love to see you there. It starts at 6.45 pm, and finishes at 9 pm. Just remember to book a place, as they’re limited, by calling 01775-346528 during opening hours (or leave a message and they’ll get back to you) or e-mailing deepingscommunitylibrary@gmail.com. Opening hours at The Deepings Library are:

Monday             13.30-16.00

Wednesday       10.00 – 15.00

Friday                13.00 – 17.30

Saturday           10.00 – 13.00.

And because I’m doing that for them, they’re putting on an author event for me, which is why there are 2 posters below! I will be reading from my current novel Floodtide and from my next novel, The Zarduth Imperative, and will have my usual display of rocks and minerals that the hero of Floodtide, Jordas, would see in the lava tubes of Naxada. Copies of Floodtide will be available to buy and have signed as well.

 

Poster for free workshop "Dialogue"

Poster for “Dialogue” workshop at The Deepings Library

This workshop was pretty successful, and drew together a lot of very different people who are involved in writing plays, novels and short stories. Here are some photos:

dialogue-pic-2 deepings-dialogue-pic-5 deepings-dialogue-pic-3 deepings-dialogue-pic-4

 

Author Event at Deepings Library for Helen Claire Gould

Poster for Author Event at Deepings Library for Helen Claire Gould on Saturday 1st October

But that’s not all that’s happening! It’s an exciting time, because there’s the next meeting of Peterborough Fiction Fix on Sunday 2nd October, with a mixed genre line-up, and I’m also running a new workshop, “Getting Started” at Spalding Library, a week later (Saturday 8th October). Spalding Library is open every day, so you can phone to book a place on the workshop between 9 am and 5 pm Monday – Wednesday and Friday, and between 9 am and 6 pm on Thursday, and 9 am and 1 pm on Saturday. (There are 12 places on the Getting Started workshop, which is particularly aimed at budding writers.)

Here are the posters:

Peterborough Fiction Fix next meeting

Poster for 2nd Peterborough Fiction Fix meeting

Poster for "Getting Started" workshop

Poster for “Getting Started” FREE workshop at Spalding Library, Saturday 8th October

So get your diary out, make an entry, book a place on the workshops, and we’ll see you there!

Live Readings of Fiction – Self-Made Fiction & Fiction in the Making

Starting next month there will be a series of meetings in pubs, bars or cafes, where fiction will be read aloud to an audience, by the writers. This is Fiction in the Making (i.e. it’s not finished yet, but the writers want to dip their toes in the water and see how it goes down) and Self-Made Fiction (it’s been self-published). So come along to the first meeting at The Draper’s Arms on Cowgate, Peterborough (just round the corner from the bus station) details below – and bring your ears! The pub has food available, the usual (beer and so on), and for anyone who doesn’t drink alcohol, coffee and tea and soft drinks are available through the evening.

Poster for Fiction Fix 1st meeting

Poster for Fiction Fix 1st meeting

*

Cancellation

Regrettably, I have had to cancel the two workshops below, due to unforeseen circumstances. I hope to be able to run them in the near future.

2 new Workshops

On Wednesday, 6th July, at 6.30 pm – 8.30 pm, I will be delivering a Self-Publishing workshop at City College, Brook St., Peterborough, OE1 1TU. The title is: Print vs. e-Publishing: Which Should you Choose? This is a preliminary look at the differences between getting your novel printed and having it formatted for e-publication.

 And on Thursday 14th July (the following week) I’ll be delivering a Creative Writing workshop at The Goldhay Centre, 105, Paynels, Orton Goldhay, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, PE2 5QP. This workshop is entitled “Dialogue”, and covers as many aspects as possible of writing dialogue. There will be lots of writing exercises, and some de-mystifying of myths related to writing dialogue! This workshop runs from 6.45 pm – 9 pm and it’s also priced at £15/person.

*

New Geology Talk at Ayscoughfee Hall Museum, Churchgate, Spalding, Lincolnshire, PE11 2RA.

To celebrate Tim Peake’s return to Earth from the International Space Station, the museum has organised Space Weekend for the 4th and 5th June. I will be giving a talk on Asteroids, Comets & Meteorites on both days, the Saturday and the Sunday, at 10.30 am and 1.30 pm, so you have 4 chances to see it. I have already put this up on my Facebook account, so you may be familiar with the poster below:

 

This event takes place on June 4th & 5th at Ayscoughfee Hall Museum in Spalding

Poster for Space Weekend

 

Geology Workshop at Ayscoughfee Hall Museum, Churchgate, Spalding, Lincolnshire, PE11 2RA.

I’m pleased to report that this event had an appreciative, if small, audience. One gentleman told me he’d never look at rocks in the same light, having spent 20 minutes or so looking at a selection of representative rock types through a hand lens. I have to agree – I do think that even the slightest of nodding acquaintances with geology can change the way you view rocks. You start off by thinking they’re all either grey, black or brown, and end up realising that in fact, due to the minerals that make them up, they are composed of many different colours and textures. It was as much of a revelation to me when I started researching rocks to get the background to Floodtide right.

And I’ve never looked back.

*

On Friday, 26th February, at 2 pm, I will be running a geology workshop at Ayscoughfee Hall Museum. This fine building, recently renovated, will provide a magnificent setting for the workshop, which is on Plate Tectonics and the Rock Cycle.

The workshop will start with a PowerPoint presentation on how the rock cycle interacts with plate tectonics, a summary of the evidence for both of these Earth systems, and an overview of the theories for the formation of our Moon, one of which may well have kick-started plate tectonics on Earth. This will be followed by a closer examination, using rock samples and hand lenses, of some major types of rock which form part of the rock cycle.

The workshop is free, but you’ll need a ticket, which can be obtained from the Museum from next Thursday on. There are 40 places available. Pop into the museum for a ticket or book by phone on 01775 764555.

We hope to see you there!

Poster for talk, 26th Feb.

Poster for the talk Plate Tectonics and the Rock Cycle, which I will be giving on 26th February at Ayscoughfee Hall Museum in Spalding



Comments are closed.