Interviewing Your Protagonist – (and other synopsis wrangling adventures!)

The synopsis = every writer’s nemesis! Fitting your story on one, single spaced, twelve point, Times New London font, page of text. WITHOUT fudging the margins. Whilst communicating all the plot points, story arc, character development and if well executed retaining some of the book’s voice. It is awful, time consuming and often very frustrating to create.

Drawing by my daughter CIRCA 2013!

 

A few months ago I came to the point of the dreaded synopsis writing. Usually I do a reverse snowflake – I write it all out and then cut it down. I start by halving each paragraph and then each sentence until it fits on to the page. But this time it wasn’t working so I tried a new technique.

 

Upon advice from one of my agents Callen, I interviewed my protagonist. I initially found it a hard concept to wrap my brain around, So I started by creating an image of me and my character together in a chat show style setting and  then went about conducting the interview. I was sceptical as my main character isn’t a lover of talking about herself or doing public speaking. I know this as she’s interviewed in the manuscript, and she tends to lock up and say very little.

However I was in for a surprise, for I hadn’t taken everything into account. Usually my main character is interviewed with her friends as a group, including her bestie who is very confident and verbose. However on a 1-2-1 situation, she really opened up when recounting her version of the adventures that take place in the book. FOUR AND A HALF A4 PAGES worth of opening up! I was left with a way too long synopsis, but I also learnt a lot more about the character in the process which was great.

 

But this then left me with 3 synopsises - A blurb type single paragraph synopsis. A one-page synopsis of an older draft and this epic four-page interview synopsis. I knew that between the three I could sow a ‘Frankenstein style’ synopsis together by adopting the Roald Dahl literal Cut and Paste editing method – and resorting to scissors and glue. Then I used my tried and tested of halving each paragraph until it was right. 

Taking the plunge and tackling the synopsis from an interview stance has taught me that when you are stuck and blocked, then a change an approach can work wonders.

Remembrance Day For Lost Species by Human Activity

Today 30h November is, ‘Remembrance Day For Lost Species by Human Activity’. It a day dedicated to the species of animals that humans have had a hand in their extinction, to raise awareness about our impact on other species especially those which are endangered.

 

From the pin up of all extinction caused by humans – the dodo, where our activities, not only, wiped them out in its natural habit in Mauritius, but we now know that we shot what we knew at the time to be last living specimen, which was executed in captivity in Oxford (read more here) . To its cousin the Passenger Pigeon that once had flocks so large that it would block out the sun when they migrated across North America, which were hunted to extinction in just a few decades.

From The Great Auk, that tragically we knew we’d hunted to near extinction, and in bid to gain more knowledge about how to conserve the species, we killed the last living specimens in the name of research. To the Thylacine or Tasmanian Tiger that we hunted to extinction and carelessly let the last one was freeze to death when a zookeeper failed to let it in one winter night.

Of course as its me so I can’t not mention the mighty mammoth where is looks increasing likely that our activities played a role in their demise. Sadly the list of tragic cases like these go on.

So I thought I’d do a little post on recommended documentaries and of course books that tie in with this important theme.

Extinct – Channel Four Documentary series is free to stream and its accompanying book by Simon Furman

This series looks at six different extinct species and dedicates an episode to investigating what cased their demises. There are some where humans did not cause their extinction but others where we with varying levels, had a hand in their ultimate fate. It is definitely worth having a watch/read.

Lost Animals a Photographic record by Errol Fuller

This is a very poignant book, which does exactly what it says on the tin. It shows the last photographs – sometimes grainy or out of focus as many were taken when photography was a new science/art form, of a species before they became extinct. In many case the species were already functionally extinct with no way to reverse the process and knowing that the person behind the camera were aware that they were making a historical record of an animal that soon not to frequent the planet is very sobering.

Weird and Wonderful Extinct Animals by Cristina Banfi and illustrated by Rossella Frionfretti

This is a beautifully illustrated non-fiction picture book, which is a great introduction to the subject for children. It starts with an easy and un-scary but informative introduction to extinction, what it is, what causes it, including a paragraph about how humans can contribute of cause extinction of other species.

It than has double pages dedicated to extinct fauna, with illustrations and facts, on some there is an explanation to why they went extinct and if we as a species had a part to play in their demise. About three questers of the way through there’s a page about extinction here and now, which includes a section about what we are a species and as individually can do to stop of slow the process of extinction.

Endangered by Tim Finch

This is hefty but beautiful coffee table photographic book. That feature exquisite photographs of endangered species. This can be used as a call to arms, seeing all the animals that need our help with conservation efforts to stop them sliding out of existence. But most poignantly is the page desiccated to the already extinct passenger Pigeon, with a beautiful but sobering photograph of a taxidermy specimen of the last known of its kind that died in captivity. What a bold editorial choice to juxtapose it with the full colour high definition images of existing but endangered animals. It really hones the point, that these creatures could be next if our species don’t modify our behaviours.

I do hope some of you read or watch these recommendations. It’s a tough subject but we can learn so much from the past, and there are lesson we should definitely teach to the next generation, in order to stop these type of tragedies occurring again.

Bear in mind we human although the most destructive animals on Earth, we also are unique in as much a we care about other species. We are curios and we care for the other fauna and flora we share the world with, so lest put these attributes to good use!

A Summer of Mammoths – Part 1 – The Grand Italy Mammuthus Tour

 

My summer has been bursting with mammoths, which has been both marvellous and memorable. As you will know if you know me, or follow me on socials, I am a tad mad on anything mammoth. This is a by-product of research for a book which has stuck. The last few months have been full of mammoth!

It began with our first family holiday since 2018. To celebrate my youngest’s completion of his school career and taking advantage of being able to travel outside peek time, we went to Italy. We immersed in exquisite cuisine and iconic art, but also mammoths!

On day one is Rome I found an addition to the herd, which I named Roma, much to my kid’s dismay! I also spent time, while waiting for the family to rouse in the mornings, reading about the battle to conserve mammoth bones they found on a 1950s archaeological dig within the city.

But Florence was the jewel in our Italian mammoth adventure, with a visit to the Museo Di Storia Naturale Gelolgia E Paleontologia. This museum had a huge collection of beautifully curated mammoth specimens, including no less than four almost complete Southern Mammoth skeletons found in the appropriately named ‘Tusc’an’ region of Italy. Despite the museum being located a few step along the same road as the Galleria Academia that houses the famous David, it was empty. We had the whole place to ourselves to explore and enjoy the exhibits.

Venice too had a few mammoth gems, in curious Scopri Museo di Storia Naturale di Venezia. Which is like a blend of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History and The Pitt Rivers. with a modern curated Natural History section and a cabinet of curiosities style anthropology section.

All in all I was delighted to have indulged my obsession an shared it with my family  although I’m not sure they quite so pleased!

Freshly back from Italy and it was a race to get everything ready to help with the #TuskForce team of volunteers at the Hill’s Product quarry in the Cotswolds for a Palaeontology dig at the site made famous by the BBC documentary David Attenborough Mammoth Graveyard.  More on that in my next post!

 

A Summer of Mammoths – Part Two – Digging it!

A Summer of Mammoths – Part Two – Digging it!

#Tuskforce team of volunteers  

So freshly back from our grand Italian mammoth tour, and whilst battling with post-holiday laundry it was all out preparing for another adventure of mammoth proportions - the #TuskForce palaeontology dig, at the site found by Sally and Nev Hollingworth that featured on the BBC documentary – David Attenborough and the Mammoth Graveyard.

Two Sally's Sally Hollingworth and me. 

The dig was at the Hills Services quarry site in the Cotswolds who supported the endeavour in a myriad of ways. It spanned three weeks. It was completely funded by donations and completed by volunteers - over 180, from world expert palaeontologists, geologists, students, post-grads, fossil collectors, museum staff, entomologists and one slightly mammoth mad kids’ writer and illustrator. 

With Nev Hollingworth

It was an enormous endeavour, a labour of love of the aforementioned Sally and Nev Hollingworth, who organised the whole thing with tremendous care. They created a festival feel (many of the volunteers camped onsite), by providing evening entertainment - everything from educational talks to bingo nights, and ensuring and there were all essential provisions like - fresh water, toilets, assess to shower facilities, food, and most important a phone charging point! The Hollingsworth’s passion and bubbling enthusiasm was infectious and fostered a family feel across the #tuskforce team.

#Tuskforce team members including Andy and Vanessa who fed everyone!

 

I felt incredibly humbled to attend and initially felt a mammoth does of imposter syndrome (not being in any way knowledgeable in palaeontology) but was made to feel incredibly welcome and a valued part of the team. This was made clear by the fact that my mammoth illustrations were everywhere - the bins, the first aid station, the phone charging point, food tent and even the toilets! But also on people, I was delighted that one of my mammoths was chosen to adorn one of the official dig t-shirts, where part of the money from each sale went to boost the dig fund.

 

I spent 3 days at the dig on each of the first two weeks and 6 days on the final week. Being fair weathered and having dodgy hips, I stayed at air B&B’s rather than camping, but close enough to be the for the daily morning briefing. On the whole the weather was kind, a few wet days, a few sweltering. The dig was hum of shared adventure and passions and the exchange of knowledge. It yielded a wealth of new discoveries, both in the Jurassic and Pleistocene zones. Including a new addition to the proboscidean species of the site, a tooth from one of the largest mammals ever to walk the earth, a Stright Tusked Elephant, which was identified by visiting expert Professor Adrian Lister from the London Natural History Museum.

 

I really had an amazing time. I was let down a little by the limitations of my body, (dodgy hips, EDS, POTS) but when I couldn’t participate in the more physically demanding tasks like digging, I tried to make myself useful. This was assisting in the less glamorous but essential jobs, like assisting the awesome Andy Lee with the water run to get fresh water every day. Trips to the supermarket, helping prep meals, even sorting out the portaloos. 

sneaky coffee with the lovely Andy Lee 

But I also drew specimens, on site (with a very crude art kit consisting of crayons and felt tips), photographing and videoing the dig, and conservation tasks and talking to other volunteers, learning about the diverse journeys to being involved at the dig.

Drawing a mammoth tooth on site.

 

It was a real privilege to have had such an amazing experience, and I extend a massive mammoth thank you to all of the #TuskForce team for making me so welcome, to Hills for supporting the scientific endeavours on their land, and to Sally and Nev Hollingworth for their dedication and generosity in arranging the dig. I am so happy to have been a small part of it!

With a mammoth rib.

 

September - Be Kind to Writers and Editors Month. A guide to spreading kindness…

September - Be Kind to Writers and Editors Month. A guide to spreading kindness…

I just learned that September is the official ‘Be Kind to Writers and Editors Month’! Now I firmly think writers and other creatives within the business should be treated well all year around, but what a lovely thing, to think here is a official month dedicated to our welfare!

Every month I try to support other pre-published writers by sending them postal affirmations, (read more here), but here are some tips on other ways to be kind to writers and editors, many of which don’t cost a penny!

Ways to be Kind to Published Writers

• Buy their book!

• Load out their book from the library (they receive a small sub od money for each time the book lent.)

• Leave a review online. (you can review a book on Amazon, even if you didn’t purchase it there).

• Do a shout out on social media.

• Recommend it to a friend.

Ways to be Kind to Pre-Published Writers

• Ask about their WIP Work in Progress.

• Give them time to write.

• Ask if they need anything to assist with writing: highlighters, post-its, caffeine, chocolate, hug.

Ways to be Kind to Editors (and Agents)

• Thank your editors and tell them how grateful you are for their help whipping your manuscript into shape.

Ways to be Kind to Writers – Published and Pre-Published, Editors, Agents (anyone in the industry)

Send them…

• Cake.

• Chocolate.

• Caffeine.

• Wine!

• A kind word.

Beads of Submission - Signing with an Agent!

 

A few weeks ago I posted a blog about my endeavour to receive one hundred rejection in 2024, and in order to a have a constant visual display of my progress I was putting beads in a jar. A blue bead for every submission, and a pink bead for every full manuscript request, long-listing or short-listing etc. By the point of posting, I’d already added my first pink bead.

There is great news the pink bead has changed into a special bead made of actual mammoth bone. Why? I am delighted to say I’ve signed on Lauren Gardner and her assistant Callen Martin of Bell Lomax Moreton, with my mammoth book!

 

However, looking at my jar, it looks wrong, as it only has a bead for every submission I’ve made with this manuscript in 2024, which is misleading as I’ve been subbing this book in previous years. So I went back to my spread sheet to tally up the real submission statics and therefore added them to the jar.

 

Ashley Grimes Mammoth Whisperer in all its forms, has been subbed 42 times and received 6 full manuscript requests and I offer.

 

In addition, it was subbed to 15 competitions, and not so much as a long-listing or honorary mention.

But this is still only part of the story, as I started writing when my youngest was coming up to his first birthday – he is now driving and sitting his a-levels! So, to get to this point I’ve written 8 (completed) novels, I novella, I chapter book and countless picture books, all of which have been subbed and therefore I have a massed a huge pile of rejections. I haven’t tallied all these up, as counting isn’t my strong suit (dyscalculia), but I am delighted to have reached this milestone.

I am very much looking forward to working with Lauren and Callen.

Writing - So Much More than the Pursuit of Publication

Sometimes as a pre-published author I get tunnel vision, believing success is only one thing – getting published. But it is so much more. It just takes a wide angled lens to appreciate just how much more.

When you are on submission and the rejections are rolling in or worse, there is a void of rejections as is the modern way, and everyone seems to be getting contracts but you, it can seem as if success is binary, in print or failed. This is the time to take a step back and admire the view. Due to this exact reason and also not helped by a spell of bad health, this is what I have recently done.

I have done this before and posted about all the ways that writing has enhanced my life and my family's in multiple ways - read more here. But this time I wanted to do it specifically for my current project/submission ‘Ashley Grimes Mammoth Whisperer.’ To see how writing the book has embellished by life, and it is a really lovely view with lots of accomplishments to feel good about.

Firstly, I have rekindled my original love of illustration, as a direct result, as I started sketching the characters and settings. I am now working on developing a portfolio.

Space mammoth - illustration by me - crayons, ink, ipad. 

 

I had an article of non-fiction about Mammoths and climate change published in the amazing children’s periodical The Changeling Magazine, along with one of my illustrations. Read more here.

I’ve also been invited to do library and museum events to talk children and adults alike abut mammoths and their theoretical use to help combat climate change.

 

I’m now sometime referred to as Mammoth Lady or Mammoth Aunty (not actually by my a nephews or nieces!) which I love. Also, often people think of me when they stumble across a mammoth and send me photos/messages, which I adore. Who doesn’t like seeing a mammoth in the wild? Or send me mammoth things they've made - I love a surprise mammoth post!

A selection of handmade mammoth surprise post!

I have had the privilege of messaging, meeting, and making friends with some lovely equally - possibly even more - mammoth obsessed people than me. Like Beth Shaprio, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology who wrote the book, ‘How to Clone a Mammoth,’ who very kindly checked the science in my manuscript. 

Also, thanks to my longest friend Vicky Stowell – thank you, Sally and Nev Hollingworth, who are the amazing paleontologist's who found the Mammoth of Graveyard near Swindon.

Me (middle) With Sally and Nev Hollingworth - (photo by Nev (thanks Nev))

Lastly it was Sally and Nev who invited me to do something that I always wanted to do, go on a planetology dig. When I was a teenager, I desperately wanted to be a paleozoologist or anthropologist, but I was not permitted to take science and I was told by school I would never me allowed to do any scientific endeavour but to stick to art due to my dyslexia and dyscalculia. Of course at that tender age you believe it. So going to the dig was amazing. Full of lovely generous people. Although I personally didn’t find any bits of dead mammoth, I did help plaster a mammoth tusk ready for transport. Which was a real honour! 

Me helping with the plastering - thanks to Sally H for photo.

So, when the rejections are rolling in, and my lack of perceived achievement gets me down, I have to think - if I gave up writing what else would I miss? The answer is - a lot. A lot of awesome stuff!

Me at the dig! Thanks Sally H for the photo!

Submission Impossible? 100 Rejections in a Year!

I’ve made the decision that this year 2024, I’m really going to knuckle down and submit like I have never submitted before. In the past I’ve always approached my submission process with a tad less dedication than the writing itself. After spending hours (far too many to calculate) researching, plotting, world building, writing, revising and editing, (and repeating several times over), the submission always start with an enthusiastic flourish and then after a first dozen and half of rejections, I lose confidence, and everything just peters out.

This year though, I believe my manuscript is in really good shape, and the feedback from peers and professional has been encouraging, so my aim is to be more tenacious in 2024. With that in mind I have set myself the target of receiving 100 rejections before we next sing Auld Lang Syne.

 

To achieve this, I’ve built in dedicated time in my weekly schedule and have implemented some measures to visually show progress. In addition to my spreadsheet, I’ve got a glass vase and some crystal beads. With every submission I will add a blue (stripped agate) bead to the vase, and with every full manuscript request, long-listing, short-listing or honorary mention, I will add a pink (tigers eye) bead to the vase. This will mean that I will see the vase gradually filling up throughout the year.

I am hoping that having this visual tactile log of my progress will also serve as a stimulus to keep me motivated and continue the endeavour of reaching my target.

If by a miracle I get signed along the way I will think of a something extra special to add to the vase.

 

**Edit** since initially writing this I’ve added my first pink bead! Fingers crossed!