Srebrenica Beyond Tears - A Story

Some time ago, I wrote this flash fiction piece for a competition. A picture prompt of a female face lined with suffering initiated the idea. The picture triggered in my mind - a misinterpretation of the image on my behalf as it turned out - events I could clearly remember reported in the world's press. I read the piece at Verulam Writers' Circle and received their excellent critique, as ever. It clearly required attention and other things took precedence, so on the back burner it went. I do recall thinking at the time that some of VWC's younger members may not have known much if anything about the events I was trying to capture.

In the past week the wheels of history have turned again and one of the 'swaggering beasts' is caged at last.

With thanks to my friends in VWC, in hope that I have done justice to their critical assistance, here is the latest version:

Srebrenica Beyond Tears

When clouds blush the shelling will stop, Anna knows this. Dusk in the valley spoils the gunners' aim. Yet wild beasts still swagger the commanding hills with murder in their hearts, some toting rifles with starlight scopes.

Again the market place contains fresh meat, stuff that once was fathers, husbands and sons. Nothing moves. No sane being would retrieve the dead 'til dark. A loud report says desperation willed one try.

Dry-eyed, alone in a shelter built of faded dreams, Anna surveys her sometime garden in debris that once was home.

Hers is the timeless face of war, a young face aged by fear and a world's indifference to a clash of ideology insignificant in the arc of time.

Of cherished evening primroses a single stem survives. Daylight fades. Her frail blooms open one by one, the colour of sunlight, the hue of hope.

Anna ventures out to wait once more for Fate's next tumble of the dice.
 

© Oscar Windsor-Smith 2011

Versatile Blogger or Blog Bogof?

Be warned: In the unlikely event that you were to hit me with a chain letter or a pyramid sales pitch I'd tell you where to stick it without fear or favour. I have no hesitation in 'breaking the chain'. Your reaction on receiving such a missive – being a rational and discerning person (You must be because you're reading this blog) – would no doubt be similar.

Why then am I chuffed at having been presented, by Trish Nicholson, a New Zealander writer friend, with a Versatile Blogger Award, when part of the obligation that goes with that award is to nominate several other bloggers?

I'm no mathematician, but I do remember the old story of the blacksmith and the horseshoe nails which illustrates the power of compounding. So presumably my blog can't be that good or statistically I should have received dozens of VBAs by now, and so should you and every other half-competent blogger if each recipient had in fact nominated several others.

Clearly the Versatile Blogger Award is a form of chain. That said, receiving mine did give me genuine pleasure; it came from a friend and was intended I'm sure as a compliment. Because of that I have no problem with passing on the award to a few others out of many whose blogs I genuinely value. I simply hope that my nominees will accept their Versatile Blogger Awards in that same spirit.

Meanwhile, bloggers everywhere, I suggest you prepare a suitably emotional acceptance speech because - statistically speaking - you should receive your VBA any day now.

The Versatile Blogger rules, with which I trust the below named recipients will also comply, appear to be * that I should state seven things about myself that might not be generally known. So here goes:

    •    My maternal grandparents were railway crossing keepers on an electric railway – their cottage had no electricity, running water or main drainage.
    •    I support the Royal National Lifeboat Institution whenever I can – my father, then a trawler fisherman, was lost at sea.
    •    I went to the same school as Christopher Craig and Derek Bentley (Google their names or the phrase: 'Let him have it'). That was no easy place or time for a soft Cheshire lad.
    •    I almost blew up my two sons and myself with a German grenade, when metal detecting on a French beach (I was clearly an unfit parent).
    •    Two versions of my first completed novel, Tamar, had readings at HarperCollins – their final rejection letter was dated September 11th 2001.
    •    I almost buried my two sons and myself whilst  dump digging, collecting antique bottles (Clearly I was an exceedingly unfit parent - but boy did we have fun).
    •    I once held Albert Einstein's brain in my hand (well, actually it was a soft plastic cast taken direct from the real tissue) – a very eerie experience.

Here then are some of the blogs that I find particularly informative and entertaining.

http://morenewsfromvg.blogspot.com/
http://helpineedapublisher.blogspot.com/
http://www.jonathanpinnock.com/
http://meandmybigmouth.typepad.com/scottpack/
http://titaniawrites.blogspot.com/
http://nikperring.blogspot.com/
http://www.claire-king.com/

Finally, I pass the metaphorical baton to my own 'awardees' above and reiterate my sincere thanks to Trisha Nicholson for including my blog in her list of winners.

* The origins of the VBA seem already to be lost in the mists of urban myth and misinformation. Who started it and when? If you believe you know the answer, please let me know.

Flash Fiction Meets Art: Fantasy and SF in "The Sixty"

Artist Andy Bigwood's forthcoming book The Sixty (to be launched with Ian Whates' anthology Further Conflicts at 5pm on 22nd April at EasterCON, Hilton Metropol Hotel, NEC, Birmingham UK) is a collection of stunning fantasy and science fiction art juxtaposed with flash fiction stories inspired by the images.

Andy won the coveted British Science Fiction Association Award for Best Artwork of 2007 and 2008. He is short listed for the same award for 2010 (winners to be announced at EasterCON).

Samples of Andy's work may be found at deviantart.com.
 
Story contributors to this collection include Geoff Nelder and my Verulam Writers' Circle friends Jonathan Pinnock and Dave Weaver. I feel honoured to have been invited to contribute and to find my own story Anomaly included with the work of such talented company.

Something Different for Mothering Sunday

Does your old mum have a strong constitution and a healthy sense of humour? If not, please don't read on.

Still here? Then I guess you want something completely different for Mothering Sunday, yes? It helps if Mum resides in or near St Albans, UK, but with today's technology that's not essential.  You could move her there, of course, if you're very quick. It is a lovely, historic, city - but I digress.

 Okay. The next instructions come in two flavours:

1) If she lives in/near St Albans: Wake Mum up at 10:00am tomorrow with the wireless (if she doesn't know what that is, she's not mature enough for the next bit) tuned in to Radio Verulam on 96.6 FM.
2) If she lives anywhere else in the world: Wake Mum up at 10:00am (BST) - no, honestly, she'll love you for this - with her laptop logged-on to Radio Verulam and hit the "Listen Live" button.

If you've followed the above instructions correctly you'll soon hear the honeyed tones of the lovely Elspeth Jackman introducing her Sunday morning music and interview show called Tracks of Your Life. This week there'll be a eclectic mix of sixteen unlikely music tracks interspersed with rambling, bumbling, cockups and very occasional attempts at humour by some weirdo called Oscar Windsor-Smith.

Do be prepared for some surprises. In one or two households - mainly around the UK - Mum will pull a funny face and perhaps employ an unaccustomed expletive or two. At this point no doubt you'll laugh at her antics, particularly when she says: "I don't know what you're laughing at, that idiot's your dad."

You have been warned.

Whatever you do, have a great day. And be kind to Mum.

World Book Night: An Epilogue

World Book Night has taken me longer to write up than any event I can recall. Most of my review pieces take shape fast, organically, from clear impressions. But for some inexplicable reason I’ve found it hard to get a handle on WBN. What was that all about?

After several weeks of fruitless pondering I was approaching cerebral meltdown. In a fit of what I hope was inspiration, I decided to explain WBN to an imaginary friend – one who’d been incommunicado in solitary for a year – in order to clear my head. The conversation went something like this:

OWS: Yes, they’re calling it World Book Night. It’s new this year.
IF: That’ll be the night of World Book Day, then?
OWS: No. It’s three days later.
IF: World Book Day encourages children to read. I guess World Book Night is aimed at the world’s non-reading adults?
OWS: No. UK only.
IF: But directed at non-readers?
OWS: Not exactly. They’re attempting to give away a million books.
IF: Attempting?
OWS: That’s what they say: The biggest book giveaway ever attempted.
IF: Sounds very charitable.
OWS: Yes. And on the night before WBN there’s a grand bash for the book givers with famous writers and other celebs in Trafalgar Square. Oh, and there’ll be limited edition T-shirts, too.
IF: Sounds a lot like Band Aid?
OWS: Yes. Only this event is free and…
IF: There are no bands?
OWS: Yeah.
IF: And there’s no aid?
OWS: …I suppose… But think of all those free books. They’ll be passed from reader to reader for years. There’s no knowing how many people they’ll reach.
IF: That could fulfil the ‘World’ bit, then?
OWS: Indeed. And the 25 chosen titles will be specially printed for WBN.
IF: Specially printed?
OWS: Uh, huh.
IF: Doesn’t that make them limited edition – you know – collectors’ items?
OWS: …I guess.
IF: Won’t there be temptation to hang on to the books, maybe to collect all 25 titles?
OWS: Now you’re just being cynical.
IF: How many givers did you say?
OWS: 20,000
IF: That’s an awful lot of people in Trafalgar Square to collect their reward.
OWS: No worries. It’s limited to 2,500 pairs of tickets: first come first served.
IF: Won’t that – sort of – limit the take-up to the South East?
OWS: Possibly. But don’t forget the Antony Gormley designed T-shirts.
IF: Of course – there’ll be 20,000 T-shirts.
OWS: No. 1,000: first come first served.
IF: So… first to arrive on WBN will get T-shirts?
OWS: Ah… No.
IF: First to arrive at Trafalgar Square will get T-shirts?
OWS: Not quite.
IF: Who does get T-shirts then?
OWS: First to arrive at Waterstones in Piccadilly, the day before Trafalgar Square.
IF: Ah… That’s pretty much the book givers who work in or around London, eh?
OWS: Mmmm…
IF: And they’re planning to do all this again next year?
OWS: So it seems.

I based that fantasy exchange on a view from before the event of course.  Had I told my imaginary friend that we’d been requested to enter manually in each book a 10-digit code – received only a day before Trafalgar Square – he might well have pleaded to be locked up again. Especially given that anyone receiving a manually coded WBN book will be unlikely to have the slightest idea what the code means or what to do with it (For the record: it’s intended to make the book traceable on a website called BookCrossing.com).

I should explain that, at the time of my becoming involved with WBN, I had no idea there were to be perks for the givers. I submitted my application in response to a TV advert in 2010 as one of the ‘givers’ to distribute a million books because it seemed like a good idea to encourage others to read. In short, I believed I was offering to take part in an essentially charitable undertaking.

In fairness I must add that from a viewpoint of my personal satisfaction World Book Night was a success. The Trafalgar Square event was a blast. Terrific atmosphere. Cool in every sense. And my own book-giving event cemented friendships within Verulam Writers Circle, with Radio Verulam presenter Danny Smith and with Sean, the helpful manager at Waterstones, St Albans. Yes, WBN and its precursor event proved to be fun and memorable. But what was WBN really all about?

Friends from Verulam Writers' Circle with Radio Verulam's Danny Smith at Waterstones, St Albans on WBN

Perhaps a writer with excessive imagination might liken World Book Night to the irrational convulsions of a doomed giant in denial. But I couldn't possibly comment. Anyway, worry not. If a leviathan is expiring it is the legacy world of paper publication: AKA the treebook trade. Publishing – you'll be relieved to hear – is alive and well. At least Ebooks and their authors are thriving, or so it seems.  < NB This link connects to a long piece. But it's one not to miss if you need to know the latest buzz about publishing. [CONTENT WARNING: Do, please, ignore the "monkey" link if you’re easily offended]

Penultimately, a prediction: Electronic delivery – on one platform or another – will dominate book publishing within two years, supplying our reading needs without ever completely replacing codex (paper) books. The codex book though will fast become a luxury item, a lifestyle statement saying: 'This is who I am'. When this metamorphosis is complete only the best-loved and most prestigious works will transfer to paper. Then more than ever you’ll judge a person’s credibility by checking out the spines of their Kafka and their Joyce.

So prepare for some shake-ups in the immediate future of publishing. It will still be book publishing but certainly not as we know it.  Maybe – in the fullness of time – this will prove to be what World Book Night was really all about?

Ebooks v Treebooks

Publishing directors are becoming taller and quotes are getting shorter. Have you noticed?

Time was, you could tell a literary agent or publishing director by their round shoulders and weary gait. No longer. In the recent past publishing professionals lugged sheaves of manuscripts to read in their precious free moments. Paper in bulk is not light. Hence their stoop. And then along came e-readers.

Whatever the effect of the shakeout in proprietary e-reading devices on the book-buying market, the adoption of e-readers is having a profound effect on publishing professionals, and not simply on their posture.

My evidence comes from observations at Verulam Writers' Circle's 5th annual Get Writing conference, on Saturday 19th February, at the University of Hertfordshire's Hatfield campus.

I've been a member of VWC for some six years and watched it grow from being a long-established but staid local institution into one of the UK's most progressive and successful writers' groups. Today, Get Writing attracts speakers from the top echelons of the publishing industry and the writing craft.

I shall write no further details of this excellent event and what outstanding value it represented, nor shall I list the literary luminaries who contributed and attended. This ground has been well covered by others in sparkling style, notably here by Gillian Green of Ebury Publishing, who stepped in at the 11th hour to cover for another contributor.

A notebook full of scribblings attests to the cornucopia of inspirational tips and information I received and attempted to record - mostly illegibly (would I even be a writer were it not for my computer? I think not) - at another wonderful Get Writing.

Above this solid bedrock of potentially career-changing information a few promontories shine in memory like gems: quote-bites - some intentional, some in passing - that I deem priceless:

Gillian Green: '…ebooks and treebooks…' - Gillian was I believe quoting someone else, but - in my view - this short phrase has the power and emotive impact single-handedly to change perceptions of the traditional codex-type book.

Simon Taylor: '…I have eight [Read fifty-two – yes, 52 – confirmed by Simon. Many apologies, Simon] manuscripts with me on my iPad…' Okay, that may not be the wittiest or most memorable quote ever - it may not even be an accurate record of Simon's words - but it does give insight to the way the world of publishing is changing.

Raymond Tallis: 'A writer is a professor of disappointment.' - 'I have learned as much from books I've written [i.e., from doing the research] as from books I've read.' - 'Twitter is suicide of the mind.'

So, VWC's Get Writing is over for 2011. Next year - to judge by progress to date - the event will be even better and a lot bigger. GW2011 was sold out. The cost is remarkably reasonable and could prove the best investment of your writing career.

Don't miss GW2012. Keep an eye on the VWC website toward the end of this year.

I hope to meet you there.

Oh, What a Night: World Book Night

 

Have you ever volunteered for something because it seemed like one hell of a good idea at the time and only later considered what your commitment entailed?

Don't get me wrong, as a writer and avid reader, I still think that World Book Night is a brilliant idea. But it is also a very quirky, eccentric, unlikely and very English sort of idea. Which, come to think of it, is probably why I liked it enough to volunteer at the outset with very little – if any – forethought.

I wonder, however, if I'm alone in finding the cold logistics - if carried out strictly in accordance with the spirit of the scheme – slightly more daunting than I had at first envisaged? No problem, it shall be done as intended, but it's not simply a question of handing out a book or two to mates in the pub. Oh no.

In case you've been out of the galaxy for a few months and haven't heard of the inaugural World Book Night (WBN), the big idea is that 1,000,000 – yes one million – free donated books will be distributed by a team of 20,000 volunteers, on, or close to March 5, 2011. We're not talking second hand rejects here. These are new, specially printed, editions of 25 best-selling books (for details of the titles click on the WBN logo or on the link in paragraph two above).

The core purpose of the project is to place each donated book into the hands of someone who might not otherwise read that book, or, indeed, any book. Ideally WBN would introduce a million people – perhaps more if the initial recipients read and pass their books to others – to the joys of reading.

So, in early March I shall be collecting 48 copies of my chosen title, the excellent Agent ZigZag, by Ben Macintyre, from a local bookshop. By then I hope to have knitted together a trusted local network of connections through which to fulfil my joyful obligation. Who knows, I may come knocking on your door.

As always, you're welcome to help yourselves to virtual tea and biccies while you're here, but please do turn the light out as you leave. No expenses for this contract.

Wish me luck.

Oscar