In Conversation with Claire Fuller

By Gillian Hamer

Claire Fuller is a novelist and short fiction writer. She began writing fiction at the age of forty, after many years working as a co-director of a marketing agency. Her first novel, Our Endless Numbered Days, was published in the UK by Fig Tree / Penguin and sold in a further fifteen countries for translation. It won the 2015 Desmond Elliott Prize for debut fiction, and has been longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award. It was also nominated for the Edinburgh First Book Award 2015 and was a finalist in the ABA (American Booksellers Association) 2016 Indies Best Book Awards.

Her second novel, Swimming Lessons, will be published in the UK and Commonwealth also by Fig Tree / Penguin at the end of January 2017.

Welcome back to Words with Jam, Claire. We first spoke not long after the release of your debut novel, Our Endless Numbered Days. How was the experience of having such a successful first novel?
It was so unexpected that at times, when I found myself in front of a crowd of people at a literature festival or wherever, speaking about my book, it was very surreal. It was wonderful too, and exciting of course.

What have you learned about yourself as a writer as your career has developed?
That I can actually stand up in front of a crowd of people and not get so nervous that I can’t speak! I hadn’t done any public speaking before my first book was published so I really wasn’t sure I could do it, and I was certain that I wouldn’t enjoy it. But I’ve visited a lot of book clubs who read Our Endless Numbered Days as well as doing the larger events, and what’s surprised me is how wonderful it’s been to meet readers and just talk about books with people who love them. As for what I’ve learned about me as a writer… that I have to trust that the process works even when it feels like it won’t.

How did you approach the writing of ‘the difficult second novel?’
Well, I’d heard all about difficult second novels, and so although Swimming Lessons was the second novel I wrote, I finished the first draft of it before Our Endless Numbered Days was even published. Often the publishing cycle is a lot longer than people expect. It was about 19 months between when Penguin bought my first book and when it was published, so I thought that was plenty of time to write a draft of the next. That got me around the possible issue of knowing my first book was successful and feeling I couldn’t do that again, or knowing that it wasn’t and thinking why bother writing another.

Was it easier or harder for you to write Swimming Lessons (your latest) than it was to write OEND?
Definitely harder, and it took me longer. I went down a lot more dead ends than I had with the first, and found myself deleting thousands of words to get back to where I could move forward again. I started writing it from one character’s point of view in third person, and then changed it to two viewpoints: first person, and third. After the first draft was finished I changed the whole of the second half. But I got there in the end.

I was lucky enough to get an advance copy of Swimming Lessons direct from your publisher, and when I first opened the Jiffy bag a load of used train tickets fell out. It confused me at first but as I began to read, I understood. It’s a fascinating idea. So, I’m curious about the inspiration behind the book?
Yes, a big part of what happens in the novel is about things being left in books for other people to find – hence the used train tickets! The inspiration came from a while ago when my (now) husband and I were going out, but not living together. He lived in a town about 40 miles from me, and we had been doing some art projects together, one of which was to hide notes in each other’s houses. Then we decided Tim should move in with me, and he packed up his flat and in the process found all five notes that I’d written to him. Apparently eight years later there are still two notes that he wrote me, hidden in the house we share together. He won’t tell me where they are, but I suspect they are somewhere in the thousands of books we own.

You’ve created in Gil, Nan and Flora Coleman a whole new family of characters, each as deep and complex as those in your first novel. What is it that draws you to a certain type of characterisation?
That’s a tricky question. I think it might be the only way I know to write characters, and don’t we all want to read about people who are complex? I think what I like to include are the mannerisms that help define us. My daughter and I, for example, find it very difficult to sit in a chair with our feet on the ground, we always put our feet up, or sit on them. All these little things can say a lot about the kind of people we are.

In much the way that the forest setting was almost a character in its own right in OEND, in this latest novel it’s the beach landscape, and particularly open sea swimming, that brings another layer to the story. Are settings important to you, and which comes first, plot or place?
Settings are really important to me. I need to know everything about the inside and outside space that a character occupies, even the parts that are behind them and don’t get described. I like writing (and reading) about landscape and so I picked a coastal location very deliberately, and one that is based on a real place that I know. It’s place and character that comes first for me. I have a vague sense of a person, I put them in a specific place and see what happens. Plot comes much later.

As your journey as a writer continues to flourish, are there any other themes or topics you really want to explore, and why?
Before I started writing Swimming Lessons I did write a long list of things I’m interested in that I’d like to write about, but they weren’t really topics or themes, but rather things I liked, such as Morris Minors, sea-swimming, nudist beaches, raining fish. And as you might have noticed, a lot of these got in the book. I think I’ll probably do this again before I start the next one, but I’ve got no idea what they will be yet.

In the same way as Sophie Hannah has taken on writing new Agatha Christie novels, and Anthony Horowitz with Sherlock Holmes – whose novels would you like a hand in recreating if you had the opportunity?
I love this idea, which is great for fans of particular authors, but I’m not sure it works like that for me. I tend to like particular books, rather than all or most of the novels from a one author. But if someone else wanted to take it on, I’d love to see another book recreated in the style of Barbara Comyns. She’s not very well known, but is an English writer who wrote mostly in the 1950s and 60s.

Which author – alive or dead – would you like to sit down with over dinner and have an in-depth conversation about the craft of writing and books in general?
Am I allowed two? I’d like to introduce Barbara Comyns to Shirley Jackson, although it’s quite possible they’d heard of each other when they were alive, and maybe even read each other’s books. I think these women would be fascinating – Jackson wrote such a range of work, but I think her slightly odd, slightly spooky fiction has a lot of similarities with Comyns’ novels, and I’d to see if they agree.

Can you let us into your plans for book three?
I’ve got a finished draft, but it does still need a lot of work, and of course I have yet to see if my agent and editor like it. But it is about Frances, a middle-aged woman, who meets Cara and her boyfriend, Peter when they are all staying during the summer of 1969 in a dilapidated English country house. Bad things happen. I’m not sure I can say much more than that!

Could you list the top three tips, in your opinion, for helping a writer create a bestselling novel?
That’s a tricky one. I’m not that certain that creating a bestseller is actually up to the author. Yes, the book has to be well written and appealing to readers, but it has to reach them, and most of that is down to the publisher, and also luck. The three things however that the writer can influence are: make the novel original in some way, make it intriguing for readers, make it very well written.


Find out more about Claire and her writing here

You can read our Bookmuse review of Swimming Lessons here

Snapshots from... Vermont

In our regular series, we go exploring, finding out about the writing life around the world. We're going over the pond this time, with author Kathryn Guare making us all envious of the US state of Vermont.

By JJ Marsh

What’s so great about Vermont?

Vermont is known most for its natural beauty, especially in autumn when the hillsides turn spectacular shades of golden yellow, orange and red. It’s one of the least populated states in the US, with more miles of dirt road than any other state. My home, the city of Montpelier, is the smallest state capital in the country, and we are proud to say it is also the only one without a McDonald’s!

All of this gives the state a lovely feeling of being small-scale, low-key and slower paced. Life isn’t hectic. Preserving the special nature of Vermont’s environment is a shared value and a longstanding tradition.

The air is clean, the scenic highways are free of billboards, and residents participate in an annual spring cleaning called “Green Up Day” to spruce up their own properties and clear winter debris from roads and rivers. The state is famous for maple syrup and for a high concentration of local artisans creating everything from cheese, beer and cider, to hand-crafted furniture.

Tell us a bit about the cultural life of the place

The culture of Vermont is best expressed in its small towns that bustle with farmer’s markets, community suppers, book clubs and quirky festivals. In contrast to Pamplona’s Running of the Bulls, Vermont has the “Strolling of the Heifers”!

There is a vibrant theater scene with venues—some of them in gorgeous outdoor settings—featuring world-class performances for a fraction of what you’d pay in larger metropolitan areas. Because it is often seen as a refuge from the noise and stress of city life, it has always been a magnet for writers and poets, and Vermont communities treasure their independent bookstores and libraries.

What’s hot, what are people reading?

People tend to mirror what’s popular in general, so right now it’s books like Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and Girl On a Train, as well as Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan series. Some current popular authors have a more local association. Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache mystery series is one, as her settings in the Eastern Townships of Quebec are on the Vermont border.

The Vermont Humanities Council also features a program called “Vermont Reads”, choosing one book each year that residents are encouraged to add to their book clubs. This year, the Council marked the 100th anniversary of Shackleton’s expedition to the Antarctic by choosing two works: The Endurance: Shackleton’s Legendary Antarctic Expedition and Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World. For next year, they’ve already selected the award-winning Brown Girl Dreaming by Jaqueline Woodson.

Can you recommend any books set in Vermont?

Many of the novels of Howard Frank Mosher are set in a region of Vermont called the Northeast Kingdom and two of the most acclaimed are Where the River Flows North and A Stranger in the Kingdom. These books capture not only a sense of place but also the eccentricities—sometimes charming, sometimes dark--that can be found in the remote corners of a rural state. Most of his books have the recurring theme of old Yankee traditions clashing with the evolving values of modern society. Also, Archer Mayor’s series of police procedurals featuring Inspector Joe Gunther are set in and around the city of Brattleboro, Vermont.

Who are the best-known local authors?

Along with the above, I of course need to mention our most famous Poet Laureate, Robert Frost. He did not live in Vermont year-round, but for forty years he taught each summer and fall at Middlebury College’s Breadloaf School of English and had a farmstead near the school. Many other celebrated authors maintain homes in Vermont, such as novelist John Irving, playwright David Mamet, and Pulitzer-Prize winning poet Louise Gluck. 

Is the location an inspiration or a distraction for you?

Some of my own novels are partly set in Vermont, so I find the location altogether inspiring. When I get tired of sitting at my desk, I head for the countryside where I have several favorite spots for writing. I’m always evaluating every picturesque landscape I discover for its creative potential, and I often make a mental note that “I should come back here some day and do some writing.”

What are you writing?

I’ve recently completed three novels in a suspense series that centers around a dashing Irish musician. He finds his quiet life forever changed when a mysterious British agent shows up in his living room to recruit him for the first of many globetrotting adventures. The first in the series is Deceptive Cadence. My latest book, Where a Wave Meets the Shore, is a historical romance set in the 1950s on Ireland’s Great Blasket Island.

Sum up life in Vermont in three words

Take it easy.


Author of the award-winning Conor McBride Series, Kathryn Guare’s character-driven novels are all somewhere on the spectrum between romance and suspense, and some are even perfectly balanced between the two. She has a passion for exploring diverse cultures and cuisine, Classical music and all things Celtic, and has a habit of mixing these into her stories along with other topics and enthusiasms that capture her interest. Formerly, as an executive with a global health advocacy organization, she traveled extensively throughout the world. Currently, as a native Vermonter, she hates to leave home during foliage season. http://kathrynguare.com/

How To... Write a Killer Blurb

By JJ Marsh

Authors swear the blurb, or back cover copy, is ten times harder than writing the novel it describes. Which is understandable. You know all the nuance and detail of 100K words and cannot possibly reduce its essence to 250.
Or can you?

Having written cover description for all kinds of material – from cookbooks to crime, from erotica to executive summaries – I have a few tips.

Here’s a ten-step plan to creating an effective blurb for fiction.

Ready, Steady...

 

 

Start with bare branches. In Techniques of a Selling Writer, Dwight V. Swain offers the basic framework for a blurb. Write one sentence and one question, containing character, situation, objective, opponent, disaster. It works for every genre.

Eg: When humans begin to grow to twelve-feet tall (situation), John Storm (character) must find out why (objective). But can he defeat traitors in high places (opponent) who want to fake an extra terrestrial plot and will kill anyone in the way (disaster)?

Research I. Read the blurbs of similar books in your genre. (Yeah, I know, yours is unique, but bear with me.) If you had to describe it in the most reductive terms, would it be Anna Karenina meets Bridget Jones (as Adele Parks described her first novel to attract her agent)? Or Hotel Rwanda meets Million Dollar Baby? Choose your comparisons well. You may not use them in the blurb but they might still be useful for your elevator pitch.

Research II. Key words. Which words will help your target reader find your book? Which words do they search for? Look again at those blurbs. Make a mind map of all those vital clues. For Rise of the Golden Aura by Chanrithy Him, I had a hit list: vampire, Asia-America, romance/love, myth, supernatural, underworld, beauty pageant, queen, series. We got every single one into the final draft.

Mood, style and tone. Cover copy reflects the book within. If is wise-cracking, hard-boiled noir, so must be the blurb. I always ask clients for three chapters of their book so I can get a sense of the way they write. On reading, I make notes: ethereal and whimsical / sardonic and dry / cosy and humorous. When you begin to write the text, keep these words in front of you.

Patterns. Be aware that blurbs, just as much as covers, are part of your brand. Jane Davis is not writing a series, but readers keen to discover more of her work will appreciate the similar style across her entire canon. So I kept notes on length, format, style and phrasing to avoid repetition but enabling the maintenance of a 'Davis' tone.

... Go!

Add leaves and flowers. With all the ammunition above, take your Swain frame and start expanding. Use powerful nouns and verbs. Avoid the passive voice. Vary sentence lengths. Aim for the essence. Pack every sentence tightly and make every word earn its place. Remember the power of threes. Here's a sample extract from an upcoming novel by Luna Miller.

Gunvor may be in her sixties, her hands might be too shaky to continue performing operations and her body complains every time she works out. But her mind is as sharp as ever. She’s curious, intelligent and experienced – perfect qualities for a private detective.

As the agency’s rookie, she gets a surveillance job. A straightforward case, they said. A domestic. Suspicions of infidelity. Follow the husband.

Rewrite. Keep paragraphs short and remember how it looks online. You need some white space for ease of reading. Aim for five paragraphs and around 200 words. End each sentence and each paragraph on a high-impact word. Here's the opener to The Beauty Shop by Suzy Henderson.

England, 1942. After three years of WWII, Britain is showing the scars. Circumstance brings three people together, changing their destinies.

Sell. Tell the reader how this book will make them feel. Don’t be afraid to use an element of drama. This is your punchline. David Baddiel makes this point in Time for Bed. His character Gabriel is choosing a video. The review on the back of Beaches says, ‘And at the end you cry, goddamit, you cry real tears’. Gabriel wells up right there in Blockbusters.

Tagline. Read the blurb again and sum it up in one line. Think film posters.  
‘In space, no one can hear you scream.’ 
‘The true story of a real fake.’ 
‘She fell in love with him the day he decided to marry someone else.’
I find it helps to try them out in the voice of Morgan Freeman.
When you've got it, put it right at the top of the blurb, but check it doesn’t clash. My tagline for my own Book 2 was 'You Never Know Who's Watching'. Lovely! Until I noticed the word 'watching' in the first line. Not lovely.

Puff quote. Ideally, end your blurb with an endorsement from a well-known writer or enthusiastic reader. Choose carefully and don’t be afraid to edit out cliché. A current client has this: “What an amazing capture of unadulterated raw humanity, in all its shades of light and darkness. I read it over a few days. Couldn’t put it down. Really, really enjoyed it.” My advice was to trim. The stuff in bold is where the power lies.

Read the whole thing aloud. If you stumble, there’s a reason. Polish, rewrite and hone till it sings, then share with respected opinions.

This may sound like a lot of work, but your blurb and the cover are what sell your book.
So take your time and get it right.

In Conversation with B.A Paris

By Gillian Hamer

B.A Paris

B.A. Paris is from a Franco/Irish background. She was brought up in England and moved to France where she spent some years working as a trader in an international bank before re-training as a teacher and setting up a language school with her husband. They still live in France and have five daughters. Her debut novel, Behind Closed Doors, a psychological thriller, became one of the best selling releases of 2016. She is about to launch her follow-up novel, The Breakdown, and we are lucky enough to get a sneak preview of the 'blurb'!

The Breakdown : One night, during a storm, Cass sees a woman in a car. The next day the woman is found dead. Cass begins receiving silent calls, which lead her to believe that someone saw her in the woods that night. She is also experiencing problems with her memory. Is she losing her mind – or is it just the guilt she feels in relation to the woman in the car?
 

Hello and welcome! Can you tell us a little about you and your writing?

Thank you, I’m delighted to be answering your questions today. I always wanted to write – it was always there in the background - but I never had time until a few years ago, when my two elder daughters left home. I always thought I would write stories for children but I had an idea for a novel and decided to give it a go. I finished writing it in a couple of months and loved every minute of it. So I carried on writing and eventually wrote Behind Closed Doors.

You’ve taken the literary world by storm this year with the release of your debut novel ‘Behind Closed Doors.’ A huge bestseller, over 6000 reviews to date on Amazon, how has your life changed since the success?

Not that much. I live in France so I travel over to London quite a lot for meetings and events, which I really enjoy as I never went anywhere much before! The best thing is that in September, I was able to reduce the number of hours I work, which means I now have more time to write.

What was the inspiration behind the novel?

I’ve always been fascinated by what goes on behind closed doors and I once knew a couple who appeared to have a perfect marriage – but then I began to wonder if it wasn’t as perfect as it seemed. It gave me the idea for a story and Behind Closed Doors was born.

I’ve been unable to learn very much about you by researching online, is that a personal choice, are you a private person and hope to stay that way?

Yes. My friends here in France only found out a month ago that I’d written a book and it wasn’t me who told them! I didn’t really want anyone to know apart from my family and close friends but the secret is out now.

You’re based in France, is location and setting something you consider important in your writing?

For the moment, anything that I’ve written has been based in England. Most of the actual locations are imaginary, although they may be based on a house or a town that I know. It’s important that in a house I have the exact layout fixed in my mind, not just the rooms but right down to where the appliances stand in the kitchen.

What attracts you to your genre of psychological thrillers?

I enjoy trying to think of ways the characters can outwit each other; this was especially true in Behind Closed Doors with Jack and Grace. I also like the pace and tension involved in creating a psychological thriller.

Would you like to write in a different genre one day? If so, what and why?

I would like to write psychological dramas that don’t necessarily have the thriller element - I’m not sure I could keep coming up with suitable thriller plots.

What themes interest you as a writer?

The relationships between people, either couples or within families.

If you could give three top tips to newbie writers – what would they be?

Accept criticism as a positive thing. Be relentless in discarding something you know isn’t working. And finally, the most important - never give up.

Finally, your next book ‘The Breakdown’ is out early 2017- how difficult was it writing the ‘difficult second book’?

It was more difficult than I thought it would be – but apparently not as difficult as writing the third book will be!


Follow B.A Paris on Twitter @BAParisAuthor

Highlights from the Triskele Lit Fest

When the Triskele Books' one day Lit Fest came to a close in September, we knew that the conversations generated across the five panels were far too good not to share with a wider audience.

Thanks to sponsorship from Matador Books and sound engineering expertise from Live Box (who overcame some significant challenges in the form of noise intrusion from dance classes in the room above) we were able to record the panels and upload the videos to our YouTube channel.

Here are some of the highlights from the day, which we hope will tempt you to delve into the videos to watch the discussions in full.

Sci Fi and Fantasy

We kicked off the day with a lively discussion with Sci Fi and Fantasy authors Felicia Yap, CS Wilde, Jeff Norton, Eliza Green and Yen Ooi, chaired by Jack Wedgbury from Matador.

The panel showcased the vast range of modern Sci Fi and Fantasy. Felicia's upcoming Yesterday is a thriller about a murder being investigated in a world where most people only remember yesterday. CS Wilde's A Courtroom of Ashes is a fantasy about a lawyer in hell. Jeff Norton's MetaWars explores what happens when humans retreat from the real world into a digital one. Eliza Green's Becoming Human imagines humans competing for resources with another race on a distant planet, while Yen Ooi's Sun; Queens of Earth harnesses the powers of dreams to provide energy.

Between them, they reveal their inspiration and discuss how SFF liberates them to explore big themes from what it means to be human to the destruction of the Earth, but to view them through a personal perspective.

What do an oyster card, an iPod, a set of Bose headphones, a paintbrush and a passport reveal about their writing processes?

Romance

In the second panel of the day, Triskele's Liza Perrat talked to Romance writers Isabel Wolff, Charlie Maclean, Sareeta Domingo and Carol Cooper.

Isabel is an accidental novelist who began her fiction career when a newspaper column about the singles scene was turned into a novel. She has since written ten more novels.  Charlie Maclean's Unforgettable is a 'Sliding Doors' type story that explores the consequences of asking someone on a date ... or not. Sareeta Domingo's The Nearness of You, about a young woman falling in love with her best friend's boyfriend, also examines themes of bereavement and depression. Carol Cooper's multi-stranded narratives follow an array of couples at different stages in their lives.

They explore how far a Romance novel can play with the RWA's definition of "a narrative centred around two individuals falling in love and struggling to make their relationship work." They consider the role of sex in a romance novel - does it have a place in moving the plot forward and revealing character, or should the author keep the bedroom door closed? When men write Romance, does it get 'elevated' into a different category? What happens when you try writing in the dark?

And a pocket watch, a photograph, some music and a bottle of bathroom cleaner reveal surprising secrets about their writing process.

(With apologies for the poor quality of sound in the audience segments on this video)

Crime and Thrillers

Next, Ben Cameron of Cameron PR talked to Crime and Thriller authors Kate Hamer, Adam Croft and Chris Longmuir.

Kate Hamer's The Girl in the Red Coat is a dual narrative about a mother and her lost child. Adam Croft's Her Last Tomorrow is also centres round a missing child, but in this case the father receives a ransom note with an impossible demand. Chris Longmuir's Devil's Porridge is a historical crime novel based around the first policewomen in Scotland, guarding a munitions factory during WWI.

They contrast the challenges of the different types of stories they tell, reveal the horrible secret of what Devil's Porridge really was, explore the new concept of Grip Lit, and explain how a bottle of perfume, a literary award and the scan of one's unborn child continue to inspire their writing.

The empty seat at the end of the row belongs to Nigerian author Leye Adenle, who was prevented from getting to the Lit Fest on the day. Catriona Troth caught up with him a few weeks later and you can read her interview with him here. 

Historical Fiction

In the last genre based panel of the day, four very different authors discuss Historical fiction with fellow author Jane Davis.

Orna Ross's Her Secret Rose is a fictional account of the real life lovers WB Yeats and Maud Gonne. Radhika Swarup's Where the River Parts looks at the largest displacement of people in human history, following the Partition of India, through the eyes of a young Hindu woman. JD Smith's Overlord series takes us all the way back to 3rd Century Syria and the life of Zenobia, the warrior queen who nearly toppled the Roman Empire. Alison Morton's Roma Nova series is an alternative history in which the Roman Empire survived into the 20th Century.

The four authors reveal why the chose their particular stories to tell, the different challenges and responsibilities of writing history from the recent and distant pasts, how to create a voice appropriate for a different time period , and the discovery that surprised them most in the course of writing their books

And an index card, a bracelet, 'the only book I have ever defaced' and a photograph of a Roman gladius reveal secrets about their writing process.

Preserving the Unicorn - conversations with literary authors and their editors.

The last panel of the day was a discussion with literary authors and their editors, chaired by Triskele's Catriona Troth. Sunny Singh discusses her novel, Hotel Arcadia, and the fascinating role her Dutch translator played in honing the manuscript. Alex Pheby and his editor from Galley Beggar Press, Sam Jordison, discuss his novel, Playthings, the fictionalised story of Daniel Schreber, of one of Freud's most celebrated case studies. And Rohan Quine and his editor Dan Holloway take the lid off the process of editing Rohan's latest novel, Beasts of Electra Drive.

In this wide-ranging conversation, Sunny reveals inspirations ranging from Dante's Inferno to Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas. Alex  explains how his novel grew out of frustration with blinkered 20th C analysis of Scheber. Sam  describes how he absorbed the emotional impact of the book and imagined telling a reviewer, "I've got this book and it's going to destroy you," before deciding "of course we've got to publish it."  And Rohan describes his book  as a 'love bite to the world,'  while Dan calls it 'a beautiful spectacle compiled of horror.'

Part way through the conversation, Alex Pheby threw a provocation to the audience. "All forms of masculine activity are vile and pernicious and should be weeded out." Sadly, time ran out before the implications of this could be explored. After the event, though, Orna Ross came up with some great questions for Alex. We hope to get the chance to put those questions to him in the new year. If so, we will publish his responses in Words with Jam.

Christmas Gift Ideas for Writers

By Jane Dixon-Smith

You've bought gifts for your nan, the next door-but-one neighbour, and your ex-girlfriend's dog, but there's one missing: that crazy writer in your life. Here's my list of this year's hot Christmas gifts for your writery friends ...

1) The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide To Character Expression

I've bought this for myself. A book highlighting 75 emotions and listing the possible body language cues, thoughts, and visceral responses for each. Paperback £9.51

Available from Amazon

2. Writers' Tears Whisky

Admittedly you have to like whisky, and I'm sure it's not real writers' tears, but a great name. 

Available from Marks and Spencer £25

3. Paper Plates

Well, not really, but they look like paper. 

Available from The Literary Gift Company

4. Writing Retreat

Set in beautiful Wales, Ty Newydd hosts a variety of writing classes and retreats throughout the year. How about Storytelling from the Start? £220 - £295 per person.

www.tynewydd.wales

5. An Umbrella

I know, it sounds a bit odd, but there's a whole bunch of these available and they'll keep you dry in the winter weather. £14.99

Available from The Literary Gift Company

Writing Queer Fiction, by David C Dawson

Did you know that Bram Stoker’s Dracula has homoerotic aspects? Count Dracula, for example, warns off the female vampires and claims Jonathan Harker, saying, “This man belongs to me!” Stoker was influenced by Sheridan le Fanu, whose novella Carmilla invented lesbian vampires.

It was pretty tricky to write queer fiction in the 19th Century. In fact, right up to the 1950s, British authors could be prosecuted for writing openly about homosexuality. Queer references were written in a kind of code, using allusions and discreet subtext. Oscar Wilde was very daring when he wrote The Picture of Dorian Gray. Reviewers at the time said he merited prosecution for offending public morality.

Fortunately in the 20th century, public prudery steadily dissipated, and writers became bolder. From Thomas Mann’s delicious Death in Venice, and Proust’s complex A la recherche du temps perdu, through to Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City series and Bret Easton Ellis’ amazing American Psycho, queer characters increasingly took centre stage.

Which brings us to this century. And my ventures into writing queer fiction.

As a commuter on the Metropolitan line into London for many years, I wrote short stories to amuse myself. I’m a life long fan of detective novels, and finally I plucked up the courage to write one for myself.

It was a form of therapy. I was late coming out, very late. Writing helped me come to terms with myself. I wanted to write a book where the central characters, plus the majority of supporting characters, just happened to be gay. The book would be the opposite of most detective fiction. I didn’t want the gay characters to be oddities. When I was immersing myself in queer fiction, I found too many novels had queer characters that were full of angst. Victims. I wanted my characters to be positive.

So that’s how Dominic Delingpole and his partner Jonathan McFadden were born, in the Dominic Delingpole Mystery series. Neither of them is modelled on a single individual. They are a rich mixture of gay men I have encountered over the years.

The writing process was long; a little over three years. After the first draft, I was lucky enough to go on a five-day Queer Fiction course run annually by the admirable writers’ education organisation called Arvon. There were nine of us, plus two tutors, in a beautiful old house in the wilds of Yorkshire. We had no internet connection and no mobile phone signal. But we had great company and spectacular views.

The tutors, very politely, ripped my book apart. So when I got home, I stuffed it in a drawer and got on with everyday life. It was my boyfriend who nudged me, cajoled me and nagged me into taking it out of the drawer, and having another go.

So I did.

I went through three redrafts, and I was still unhappy with it. But this time, it was my son who asked the question: “What’s the point if you never send it to a publisher?”

When I looked around for a publisher, I wanted one who actively promoted gay literature. I was very lucky to find an American house called DSP Publications, part of DreamSpinner Press. That’s when I found out just how rich the queer genre is.

There are thousands of books published each year with strong, queer characters at the heart of them. There are romances, thrillers, horror, science fiction, westerns. There are so many sub-genres to this wonderful genre.

DreamSpinner Press was set up ten years ago, just as eBooks and internet distribution was gaining in popularity. Its founder, Elizabeth North, saw a gap in the market for gay romances. A few years later, she set up DSP Publications to serve other queer genres.

The internet has revolutionised queer fiction. Historically, very few bookshops would stock queer books. It took a demonstration at Barnes & Noble in the 1980s to force them to devote a shelf to queer culture. In the UK, you would have to travel to London and the amazing Gay’s the Word bookshop near King’s Cross to buy a book on a gay or lesbian theme.

Today, there are thousands of queer fiction titles online. Not just on Amazon, but the Apple bookstore, Barnes & Noble, Waterstones and so many more.

My novel, The Necessary Deaths, is a gay mystery thriller. This is a rich sub-genre. There is a thriving Facebook group devoted to it, and I am honoured to be a member of the International Thriller Writers’ Association, where I have met several other writers of gay thrillers.

Just before The Necessary Deaths was published, I was a guest speaker at a queer writing conference and book festival called UK Meet, held in Southampton. I was fortunate to meet other novelists from around the world, who were all very welcoming. I was also able to meet a number of enthusiastic readers of queer fiction. That was a great privilege. Suddenly, my writing was no longer my personal therapy. I met people who felt a great sense of belonging, as a result of queer fiction, when in the past they had felt isolated.

I’m now part of a worldwide community of queer fiction writers and readers, who are giving me wonderful support as I work to complete the next book in the series.

You can read Catriona Troth's review of The Necessary Deaths on Book Muse UK here.