The Word Cloud

Well, I have been shortlisted for the Luke Bitmeand Bursary 2011. But what I really want to do is to explain a little what the award is all about.

Luke Bitmead died after taking his own life in 2006, aged just 34, after a long battle with severe depression. The Luke Bitmead award was founded by Luke's family , in partnership with Legend Press, and gives unpublished authors both a publishing deal and bursary.

The award, designed to remember Luke, is a reminder to us all of the terrible stigma still attached to mental illness and suicide, and the terrible silence that most sufferes endure for fear of ridicule and misunderstanding.

I, like Luke, have suffered from bouts of severe depression, brought on by OCD, for many years. So, yes, this is a happy time, I have been shorlisted, and I may win. But if this novel does make it into print, I hope that its main character, Alistair, who suffers from OCD and Tourettes, is able to show and educate what it's like to live with a form if illness that is still so unacceptable to society.

If you would like to visit Luke's site, here is the address

http://www.lukebitmead.com/page6.htm

Many thanks for reading




 

Yep, In know that this had proably been done to death, and then some, but keep with me.

OK, so on the face of it, from what I can see, we have two camps, the literary folk and whst we like to call the commercisl folk. My quesation is this, with the rise of books like 'Room', Emma Donaghue, and 'The curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime', by Mark Haddon, are we seeing something new, maybe we shouldd call it, 'popular literary fiction'. It certainly sells, and sometimes in the millions.

Are we correct in making this distinction any more? Has the world become even more complicated?

Just my thoughts. :)

Good morning all,

This is for everyone on TWC who, like me, got up this morning,even before the
sparrows had started farting, and had to jump on a train into London.

Arrrgggg! 2 hours to get into work. 2 hours of my life spent in the car (25mins), then on the train (60 mins), then walking from Waterloo into Victoria (35 mins), because the tubes are hell. Well, I've had my rant, so I feel a little better now.

Please tell me that I'm not the only one who has to do this? I do ask myself why I do this, and the answer is always the same. There are those horrible nasty little things called bills, blucckkk!

Sorry, I really have finished ranitng now. Have a good day all, and happy writing.

PS. there is one upside though, I started to read 'Skellig', by David Almond. A really lovely tale.

Well, this is my first blog. Uh, oh, I hear everyone saying, so what's this going to drival on about?

To be honest, I just wanted to write something, anything so that my fingers don't sieze up! I have had the best week ever, as far as writing is concerned.

I have been at this novel now on and off for 3 years. But, thanks to the LSJ (London School of Journalism), and a very kind and helpful tutor, I have now finished the 3rd edit (they do take a while though).

And then being forced to work in London (which I hate, by the way. 12 hour days are not my thing, I seem to have lost my life somewhere along the way), I suddenly find myself on the 7:20 with almost an hour of spare time. Anyway (glad this isn't a book, this structure is terrible!). Anyway, train/London/lotDs of time/great for writing and thinking.

So, where did thinking get me? Well, I sent my work off here (to one of the editors). Nervous is a word that means you can't eat, and can't sleep. Well I have been put off my food and my sleeping is now all over the place (might be because I am coming out of the end of a very serious illness, but we can go into that later), but I think it's because this very kind and published and award winning novelist, said that they thought my writing was beautiful.

 To me, this says that there might very well be something hidden down in the depths of my soul that might eventually produce something not half bad!

If anyone does read this, my sincerest apologies. I know it's a bit waffely, but it's my first blog.