June 26, 2017

Writing for teens

'Trapped: My Life with Cerebral Palsy', cerebral palsy, Fran Macilvey, Fran's School of Hard Knocks, Memoir 0 Comments

Writing for teens

I’ve never seriously considered writing for teens, though my daughter has asked me often, if I would consider it.  So it comes as a bit of a revelation to me – not for the first time, I realise – that young adults, teens from all over the world enjoy reading my memoir, Trapped.  In exploring my life as it was, I never set out to consciously write a book for young adults, though my prose style tries to avoid over-sophistication.  (Even as I write that, I worry: my daughter asked me recently if I swallowed a dictionary…do I still use three long words, where one short one would do?)

Last year, I was delighted to hear of a class of seventh graders, twelve year olds in the USA, who were set Trapped as a reading text by their class teacher.  And recently, Sam Keane sent me a review, which I have included as a recent blog post.

I have always assumed that Trapped, being about a depressed, angry and sexually frustrated woman who only wants to be happy – to be allowed to be herself – would place it firmly in the ‘adult’ category.  So how do I feel, knowing that youngsters read about my sexual frustration?

It may be that teachers, using the text as a study tool for young adults, delicately sensor the text; or more probably, since I was at school, there has been a revolution in attitudes around sexual experience.  My daughter, I know, benefits from a full and candid exploration of attitude to sex at school, which contrasts markedly with the tiptoeing and cringeworthy explorations that we endured in late primary education in the late 1970s, and which left us with more questions than answers.

Perhaps my attitudes are well out of date, and what I consider cringeworthy and embarrassing is merely part of life, these days.  It could just be that young adults are less phased, that they listen, decide and make up their own minds more readily about what they experience.  If that is so, then I am pleased, and I applaud the sophistication of young people.  They, so much more than my generation, tell the truth and expect to hear it, so are unlikely to be phased by a few truthful, passing references to the sexual experiences of one woman who, if she’d had her way, would have loved to find more ways of enjoying love.

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June 22, 2017

My dear I wanted to tell you – Louisa Young

Books I Have Reviewed 0 Comments

My dear, I wanted to tell you – by Louisa Young

I have been reading a lot about the first world war, lately. Having eagerly devoured Paxman’s two books, ‘Empire’ and ‘Great Britain’s Great War’ (which are like a primer course for anyone wanted an accessible entry into that vast subject) I felt willing to take on My Dear, I wanted to tell you, Louisa Young’s novel exploring the social and emotional turmoil of war from several perspectives.

I was a bit phased by the style of the writing at the start, and had to flip pages back and forth to work out who was talking to whom, and why, indeed this style of presentation was deployed. Then, I glanced at the reviews, and a comment ‘…urgent, theatrical, staccato style that is probably best appreciated as an audio book…’ caught my attention and made me look again, re-engaging with the story differently. Then, almost listening, I could clearly hear the different characters and identify more closely with them.

A woman writing a novel about the trenches – so obviously a claustrophobic, largely male preserve – has a difficult job to convey a lean account in prose that works; and Louisa Young is very largely successful. Her use of atmospheric, slightly disjointed prose very cleverly conveys creeping desperation and the madness of war. Her characters are eminently believable, with equal weight given to both men and women.

The main love interest was well drawn, though I found myself pulled more decisively towards the dilemmas of her loyal sidekick Rose; and I still wonder why, with the dearth of ‘suitable’ men, and as a shrewd and capable woman, Rose would feel herself stuck in her position as spinster. It felt almost as if Young created Rose so she could speak through her, rather than through the heroine of the story – though in a story on this scale, which manages to be both intricate and all embracing, all the characters were heros in their own way.

All in all, a worthwhile and engrossing read, which is worth sticking with to the end.

 

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June 20, 2017

Where would I be without my friends

Fran Macilvey, Happiness Matters, Path To Publication, Thistle Foundation 4 Comments

Where would I be without my friends?

When I sit to think about how my life has changed in the last ten years, I am almost overcome with gratitude.  My friends…are everywhere.  I go to Meeting, I go to church, I go out for a walk, and always, someone will stop and say hello, and nice to see you.  It is a pleasure to stroll, admiring the flowers, watching the little kids and their parents; and doing such things as this, the joys of friendship are like a gift.

I used to be so embarrassed by the way I walk, that I would sit for hours, for days, in a chair, or about a room, I would wonder what other people were doing, but not be doing much of that myself.  I missed chances, I missed the opportunity to feel part of something.

But now, when I am sitting, it’s usually because I’m doing something fun, or on the web, replying to emails, sending encouragement, feeling part of a bigger story worldwide.  I have friends everywhere, and can even phone them using the Facebook phone.  (Thanks for that tip, Gaston, I’m glad I was wearing headphones when you rang.)  To think I can phone my friends on FB, and I can speak to someone in Australia or America in seconds.  Amazing.

Last night we had our book launch at the Thistle Foundation and it was a great success.  I wasn’t counting, but we probably had about fifty people who came, some we know through our church links, and some from Thistle and from our neighbourhoods.  Thank you so much (!!) to everyone who came and made it such a lovely, happy event.  I am more grateful and pleased than I can express.  And thanks again to Thistle Foundation for their generous hospitality and organisation.  It’s so lovely to be the beneficiary of such kindnesses from all over Edinburgh and beyond.

 

Many thanks for reading.

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June 19, 2017

A heartfelt thank you

Happiness Matters, Path To Publication, Thistle Foundation 4 Comments

A heartfelt thank you.

When my first book was published, the silence was … not exactly deafening, but… I got a hug from a friend, which I remember because it was unexpected and welcome, but nothing else happened.  No streamers, no party, no ‘welcome to the world post-publication’.  I hadn’t expected anything else, really; and when another friend offered to host a book launch in my usual venue – the Quaker Meeting House in Edinburgh  – I had to decline her kind offer, because I was unable to source any copies of my books at that time, and ordering from my publisher would have taken perhaps six weeks and cost a fortune in postage.

It’s amazing how much there is to learn about the practicalities of publishing, and by dint of noticing the gaps in expectations, in the last three years I’ve learned a great deal about the challenges and the politics of this process.  I am still learning – do we ever stop? – and I am very grateful to have acquired what little knowledge I have; and relieved to have avoided most – but not all – of the pitfalls waiting to catch the unwary.  (Though pitfalls bring their own lessons…)

So when Rachael Cloughton  Editor of Scottish Art News Magazine and events co-ordinator at Thistle suggested that we have a book launch for my latest book, Happiness Matters – which goes on extended distribution today – I was moved almost to tears.  Her enthusiasm is amazing.  She encourages me always to also do my best; and her belief in me feeds my own self-belief.

We are having a launch at Thistle this evening, starting at six, and anyone who would like to, is most welcome to come along.  I look forward to the evening, and to sharing with you all, our diverse experiences of what it means to be happy, and how we can achieve that in today’s challenging world.

Thanks Rachael, and thanks to Diana and everyone at Thistle who make Thistle such a welcoming, wonderful place to be.  If you haven’t already discovered the work that Thistle do, now would be a good time.

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June 16, 2017

Lowering the voting age

Fran Macilvey, Fran's School of Hard Knocks 2 Comments

All those in favour of lowering the voting age say ‘Aye!’

Given the ways our votes affect young people, increasingly I favour of lowering the voting age.

For some reason that is unclear to me, young people venturing forth seem to be discouraged from being too independent until they hit their mid-twenties.

Perhaps, until youth reaches the middle twenties, it is considered too radical, having little or no stake in the status quo. Increasingly, punitive legislation and the withdrawal of state support from young people living alone makes it clear that youngsters are expected to stay firmly ensconced in the bosom of their loving families until they have completed a satisfying respectable and useful tertiary education, preferably in something sensible like business studies, commerce, modern affairs or construction. Or, if they must plump for something esoteric, a degree in Mandarin is a good way to go.

Given that a youngster has far more stake in the future than I do, I can see no reason why the voting age should not be lowered to sixteen. We are allowed to marry at sixteen, but not go to X rated movies or own a pet, or vote. How odd. My daughter’s analysis of the political situation is astute – she predicted, for example that Donald Trump would win the US election – and, with age appropriate language, her grasp of facts is much quicker than mine has ever been. It seems unjust that young adults can be responsible for their acts under the law, for example, but can have no say in shaping it until they are eighteen.

The argument that they are not sufficiently aware of consequences seems to me to be patronising and rather beside the point. Lots of people voting on important decisions – the EU referendum, for example – freely admit to having had little idea what they were voting for or against. Knowledge does not seem to be a requirement for anyone over eighteen.

Given the challenges they – and we all – will have to face, it seems right that young adults should have a vote at sixteen. Perhaps their more honest and direct appreciation of all the issues at stake would produce a more inclusive environment for constructive political debate, vital for healing divisions in society.

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June 12, 2017

You are cordially invited – Book Launch for Happiness Matters

'Trapped: My Life with Cerebral Palsy', Fran Macilvey, Happiness Matters, Path To Publication, Thistle Foundation 0 Comments

You are cordially invited to the official launch of my new book Happiness Matters. 

 

To coincide with the extended release date, next Monday 19th June, you are cordially invited to a book launch for Happiness Matters. We are having an evening get-together at Thistle Foundation’s Edinburgh offices from 6 – 8pm. There will be drinks and snacks, conversation and books! You are all most welcome to come along.

Writing a book about happiness is not everyone’s flute of bubbly, nor even their cup of tea. What, after all, can another book contribute to the extensive self-help literature that already exists around this and a plethora of related subjects, all inviting us to get a better, more meaningful, a happier life?

I have had the experience of being depressed for the best part of twenty years – which is a big chunk of time I wish I could have lived through more joyfully. But more importantly, I no longer get chronically depressed. Sad, sometimes, anxious occasionally, but not depressed as I used to, for days and weeks at a time.

Despite having faced more challenges than I wanted to – and we all have challenges to deal with  – I have found a way out of depression that does not involve long and complex analysis.  Happiness Matters has taken ten years to reach publication; in this time I have had lots of time to test out different theories, to see what works and what don’t. I don’t have any magic formula; but perhaps I can reassure anyone who is unhappy, that there are things we can do to help ourselves feel more powerful, in control and pleased with life.

So if you would like to know more – or if you are sceptical and would like to challenge me on what I write about – you are welcome to join us for an evening’s contemplation of the lighter side of life.

Thanks for reading and commenting.

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June 8, 2017

Review of Trapped by Sam Keane

'Trapped: My Life with Cerebral Palsy', cerebral palsy, Fran Macilvey 2 Comments

This morning I received a review of Trapped by Sam Keane.

I’ll let Sam speak for himself.

‘My name is Sam I’m a young adult battling Cerebral Palsy.

For my final project for English class we had an assignment to write about a non-fiction book.  I wanted to do my assignment based on something real, something I could directly relate to in a strong way.

I chose to write about life with Cerebral Palsy and some of the choices and consequences involved. The choices and consequences weren’t just about life Cerebral Palsy but that was the main focus.

I began to read Trapped: My Life with Cerebral Palsy by Fran Macilvey and as I’m reading it about 5, maybe 10 pages in, I felt a sense that this is what I wanted. I knew right away that Fran’s book was… the one. I’d already found a number of things that she’d described where I’m saying in my mind “been through that,” “felt that way” or “that’s me too.” Some of the similarities to what Fran described in the book and my own life were on the opening page, when she talks about falling and the “familiar, rough embrace scraping skin off my knuckles or palms, which are now embedded with gravel adding spots of blood to the muddy mess on my cuffs.” This was and is something I constantly went and go through since I could walk, a feat which I didn’t accomplish until the age of 5.

On page 85 Fran writes, “The world of physically active tends to be uncompromising.” Yup I agree completely. Time and time again when I’m being physically active whether in phys ed class at school, or with friends, I always feel like being active feels like a grind, trying to keep up with them. It’s not easy, even though the people I’m with, classmates and/or friends are unfailingly compromising to the fact that I have a disability. Always my friends, classmates, make the games and sports we play accessible and fun for me as much as they can. Even with that being said I still need to put in twice, three, even four times the amount of energy they do, no matter how hard they try to make it better for me. That’s just the way it goes and I’m 100% ok with that because I love sports and the challenge it brings to play.

Page 87 “Am I going to ‘get better?’ No I’m not. My condition is inoperable, permanent, and I am not ‘broken’ in such a way that a tube of glue or a pile of nails will fix anything.” That is something I sometimes feel when asked if I will ever “get better.” It was an absolutely amazing book with lots of relatable feelings, events and experiences that not just me but others with Cerebral Palsy can directly relate to.

I want to personally thank Fran Macilvey for writing this book and for sharing what her life was like with Cerebral Palsy and not just that, but her life in general. Fran, thank you, your book has given me something I can relate directly to in a strong way. Very inspirational read as well.’

Thank you so much, Sam, for sharing your thoughts here. I’m glad when what I write can show we are all working together to make life better, step by step.

 

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June 7, 2017

Easy peasy lemon squeezy

Fran Macilvey, Happiness Matters, Path To Publication 2 Comments

Easy peasy lemon squeezy

Indie publishing is great fun. We get to see our baby take shape, totter its first steps, and, in the midst of updates, changes and design decisions, we can really see the potential of a new product, our new product.

So why, when the process – which is like taking a hundred small steps on spider-web silk – is such fun (easy peasy lemon squeezy…) , and so interesting, do I also find it knackering? I think I may have found an answer.

It’s because there are so many processes to go through for the first time.

To open an account on Amazon KDP takes a few minutes; and that process repeated on CreateSpace, IngramSpark and Draft2Digital also takes a few minutes each time. Even so, the dashboards and their requirements are subtly different; and becoming used to the nuances of each, takes mental effort and patience.

Each step is ‘obvious’ when we know how. Which translated, means, when we have done it before. But setting up accounts, uploading books, images and information for the first time in a host of different contexts is sometimes fraught and occasionally terrifying, if only because every single screen terrain is new and different.

I am well used being exact and precise when it comes to uploading information. Though it doesn’t come naturally to me, I do check and double check my dots and commas, and the host of data that is collected and stored to enable book production and promotion.

Though practice makes blasé, for novice runners a first time for everything turns a timetable for publication into a marathon. Seeking answers to obvious questions, (‘How do I upload an image?’) I don’t often get replies, and so have to google for answers and yes, when I see the button on the ‘front page’ marked ‘upload image file’ that then gets filed away in the ‘Can do’ folder.

So I’m glad I have learned to appreciate what I have learned, and to give myself credit for persevering. It has been worth it, and will continue to be, if only because of what I learn.

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June 5, 2017

‘Philomena’ by Martin Sixsmith

Books I Have Reviewed, Fran Macilvey 2 Comments

Book Review – ‘Philomena’ by Martin Sixsmith

 

This is a relatively fat book, written by a very reputable journalist with an engaging and informative style, so I was really looking forward to it. Despite hints in the subject matter – tales of the Magdalene Sister slaves having now come into public awareness – that all would not be well, I looked forward to reading about Philomena and learning about her life.

Interestingly, this account is about so much more than one woman, and exposes the deep and painful hypocrisy embedded in the antediluvian system of Irish ‘care’: young girls who had the misfortune to become pregnant out of wedlock – in a culture where young men expected to have a fling or two before ‘settling down’ aged thirty-five or so – bore the full brunt of society’s disapproval, being forced into a painfully closeted, almost captive existence in which their ignorance of sex was mocked, their sorrow and naivety scorned, and in which young women and girls were forced to work in kitchens, gardens and laundries for three years and never once allowed to leave the confines of the catholic ‘home’ in which they found themselves.

Sixsmith does an excellent job exposing the web of conspiracy and intrigue that allowed this venal system to perpetuate for decades, enlisting our sympathy for our subject matter, and our immense gratitude that things have finally changed. It is so easy to take our freedoms for granted. I really empathised with Philomena and found myself aghast as the blinding hypocrisy of a system which lied, cheated and stole, for no better motive, it seems, than profit.

Once the link between Philomena and her long-lost son is made, the bulk of the book is about him. From the reader’s point of view, it is fortunate that her son had an interesting life, and that his inner landscape revealed so much of the pitfalls of adoption. For all that, I would have loved to learn more about the life and struggles of the woman who lent her name to the title of this book, and whose contribution is slim, compared to that of her beloved, darling boy, torn from her at the age of three and sent to live in America.

All in all, a very worthwhile, provocative read, if only because it reminds me to be grateful for all my blessings.

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June 1, 2017

Amazon CS or IngramSpark

Fran Macilvey, Happiness Matters, Path To Publication 4 Comments

To add to the ongoing debate about whether to source our books from Amazon CS or IngramSpark…

I have ordered two proof copies of my new book, Happiness Matters, one from Amazon’s CreateSpace and the other from IngramSpark, the ‘publishers self publisher’ which is widely used for extended distribution.

How do the paper copies compare?

Amazon CreateSpace

Quick delivery if you opt for the priority or express delivery but expensive for a proof copy, and no reason that I can see to downgrade ‘standard’ delivery times to something like seven weeks: the proof copy itself may be inexpensive, but who wants to wait seven weeks to see it? Priority delivery can be within the week, so I think that Amazon could revisit their delivery strategy and charges for proof copies.

The price of delivery for paperbacks from the US to the UK is a major factor, considering that if you live in the UK and use CreateSpace to source all your paperbacks, this will be an on-going expense.

The other bugbear, apart from the hassle of ordering from abroad, is the currency conversion fees, which pop up on bank statements having snuck under the radar. It feels like a complete pain not only to have to stump up extra fees for priority delivery from overseas but then be met with these little costs. Not expensive, but annoying.

Quality is good.

IngramSpark

If you live in the UK, the paperbacks are printed here, so delivery charges are lower and delivery times are quicker and there are no hidden charges.

If you intend to sell books yourself, or have them available to sell in the UK, set up an account for extended distribution with Ingram Spark. Their website is smooth and easy to use, though being designed for use by mainstream publishers, takes a bit of getting used to. Most of the answers can be found with a bit of research without recourse to the Support line.

Book quality is marginally better than Amazon, especially the look of the cover.

I would welcome your comments about your experiences. Thanks for reading.

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