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YOUR MSLEXIA

letters, posts, emails, tweets

PIG-E BACKING The success of an e-book can have a very positive effect on paperback sales. My novel, That Summer in Ischia (Tindal Street), has been near the top of the Kindle charts for weeks. This exposure has seen the paperback rise in ranking to the same level as recent Richard & Judy promotions. This would seem to be a good way for a small publisher to compete with the major spenders. Penny Feeny, Liverpool

COVER CAVEAT The last time I saw a manic, smirking redhead was Rebekah Brooks in the Hackgate scandal, so the recent Mslexia cover was disturbing to say the least. To stop the nightmares, I was forced to cut her picture out and use the blank space for other famous people in the news. Gazza has been the most successful so far. Yasmin Keyani, Norwich

So... Mslexia discussed porn and e-books. Subtle cover then. summerdaze7, via Twitter

I love Mslexia but why is there a totally naked woman on the front, looking utterly awkward and uncomfortable, holding a Kindle? Bidisha, via Twitter

I value Mslexia precisely because it gets me away from the stereotypes of the young/slim/nude/curvaceous woman with long flowing hair. I had to bend the cover out of sight before I could bring myself to read on. Nina Lübbren, Cambridge

DARK SIDE OF THE MOON I was surprised and a little disturbed to see Walk Two Moons recommended in ‘Writing for children aged 9-12’. It would be an excellent novel were it not for the poorly-researched, stereotypical and damaging portrayals of American Indians. A review detailing problems with the novel can be found here (http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com). For a realistic portrayal, try Cynthia Leitich Smith’s Rain is not my Indian Name or Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian. Alice Nuttall, Buckingham

SHAKEN AND STIRRED I’m relieved my copy didn’t fall open on the train, to the page with the seven purple dildos on it!! *snigger* lilleopard, via Twitter

Very moving monologue published in Mslexia. I was angry and upset all at the same time. Well done Lindsay. Greenacre Writers, via Twitter

Just read Sarah Roby’s poem in the latest issue. It blew me away. Sophie Playle, via Twitter

What makes a good biog? I think the biogs in mslexia are wonderfully human, a glimpse of writers’ processes, fascinating in often odd ways. Angela Readman, via Twitter

▶Womencartooniststhroughtheages 1942ROBERTA MACDONALD specialised in humour about modern working women in the 1940s

Letter: PO Box 656, Newcastle upon Tyne NE99 1PZ Email: postbag@ mslexia.co.uk Message: facebook.com/ mslexia Tweet: twitter.com/ mslexia Comment: mslexia. co.uk/blog or follow the links from www.mslexia. co.uk

Rant And lo, Lady Gaga didst summon reporters unto her domain and upon the 11th hour, which hadst been scheduled for nine, ninethirty at the latest, didst promote her new opus EverybodyLookAtMyCrazedGenius (VolI), and she didst eat sweetmeats (when not wearing them) – and it was bad. She didst straddle the globe like a Goth Streisand Colossus and bringer of bad taste and Euro pop. And I just don’t get it. Amen. LORNA IRVINE, Glasgow

Rave Graffiti lurks in neglected spaces, derelict buildings, temporary structures. Materialising in the public square, it is swiftly eradicated. Graffiti is living art. It constantly adapts, finds another position from which to point, another dark corner to reveal. Its images, a spattering of spontaneous births and rebirths, celebrate incompleteness, metamorphosis, freedom.  MARY TAYLOR, Belfast

◀ Submit your Rants or Raves to submissions@ mslexia.co.uk

4 Dec/Jan/Feb 2011/12

NEW YORKER, 9 MAY 1942, CARTOONBANK.COM

SMART BITCHES I almost choked on my bicky when I read [your mention of ] an article by Susan Quilliam [about the damaging effects of romantic fiction, p 6]. This article was discredited months ago and now turns up like a cockroach in one of my favourite reads. I direct you to smart bitches, trashy books (www. smartbitchestrashybooks.com/index. php/weblog/comments/shooting-fishin-a-barrel-with-addictive-romancenovels/) where Sarah Wendell sets the record straight. Romance fiction is writing by women, for women and it’s glorious. Kareena Giblett (aka Lucy Ellis – I write for Mills & Boon) Victoria, Aus

D-DAY LANDINGS My Mslexia 2012 Diary has arrived. Am like my 6-yr-old with some new lego!* mrytale25, via Twitter

My fab Mslexia Writer’s Diary just arrived! Now I have to admit 2012 is looming. 4 books due out, 1 novel to finish *scribbles new deadlines* laridonwriter, via Twitter

SEXUAL HARASSMENT I was dismayed to find the question ‘Are you sexually active?’ at the end of the erotica survey. This meant that participants were forced to answer or close the survey (and waste all the time they’ve spent on it thus far). It’s important to play fair with participants. There shouldn’t be any unpleasant surprises or negative consequences (in a survey that’s supposed to be fun and informal. Alexia Casale, Gerrards Cross, Bucks MSLEXIA YOUR MSLEXIA

coping with criticism survey To give and to get

Over 2,000 women writers took part in our survey on giving and receiving feedback. The results are on p 21

I found the questions made me evaluate the feedback I have had, and its effects on my work. Twice I have abandoned whole novels when the feedback was too overwhelming. Other times I have been invigorated by it, as though developing strong lean muscular work and trimming the fat. I think women in particular should be careful about sending work out when they are under strain, because if your writing is your creative/emotional release, keeping it going may be better for you than honing a leaner piece of work. Julie Noble, Whitby, Yorkshire

A useful survey, it reminded me how invaluable the feedback was for my recently-completed novel, but also how important the delivery is – both when giving and receiving it. Shirley Patton, Tasmania

An unexpected benefit was that it made me think about my writing and where I want to go with it. Karen Harvey, Gwynedd

I was a closet writer for many years – if nobody knows you’re doing it, nobody knows you’re failing. Then, in a moment of pre-40-induced madness, I signed up for an Arvon fiction course. Despite the warm welcome, beautiful surroundings and friendly faces, I felt sick before every workshop. I had never felt more exposed. I wanted to weep after handing over work to the tutors, despairing of the drivel I’d written. I confided in someone I’d met at dinner the previous evening. When I came out from that dreaded tutorial he was there, with a glass of wine. A

perfect moment: unspeakable relief and a supportive ear, washed down with alcohol. My writing wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t complete rubbish. And it had been read by someone who took it seriously and could offer professional advice. Advice I still follow to this day. Now I have a trusted writer friend with whom I exchange work. I don’t run about telling everyone I write, but I don’t shy away from admitting it any more. Rebecca Stanley, Cambridge

I was surprised at how negative many of the suggested responses were in the survey, and concerned this may bias the results. Though I recognise many of these from writing groups I have attended, overall I have found receiving feedback to be interesting, inspiring and motivating. Tina Meyer, Laxfield, Suffolk

I teach creative writing for the WEA, Sheffield University and the Open College of the Arts, and the first thing I tell students is that if they want to take writing seriously, they must learn to share their work, trust each other, take positive and negative criticism seriously, and then make up their own minds about it. Occasionally, I come across a student who finds it difficult to share work, but this happens very rarely. Of course the really secret writers would not make themselves known to me… Liz Cashdan, Sheffield

I wanted to crawl under the table the first time I read out my work, and must have been quite prickly about comments offered. But it has been interesting to note how much I learn from hearing what fellow writing group members write, and to other people’s comments on their work. Mary Strick, W Kilbride, Ayrshire

FIRST TIME LUCKY The novel I entered was my first attempt and I wrote it in a hurry. But without the competition I don’t think I would have attempted to write so much. It has inspired me to try again and I have entered NaNoWriMo to write another novel next month. Louise Taylor, Champagnolles, France

The competition made me write a novel. I have been limiting myself to short stories (which does not mean less important), but I now see that a novel is not an impossibility any more. Although I have not been shortlisted, I am grateful I had the opportunity (and audacity) to enter. Carmen Estevez Phelan, Madrid

One tweet = 140 characters including spaces. You don’t have to be on Twitter to send your week to submissions@ mslexia.co.uk

A WEEK OF TWEETS Monday Stretched out reading an issue of Underthe Radaronly to discover that it’s made exactly where I currently find myself moored, Rugby Tuesday Discussed with friend inspiration of magic and use of symbols in my poetry. Realised I have developed my ability to edit and resolve a poem. Wednesday Met a young writer to inspire. Shared the use of blogging and deadlines to overcome halffinished work. Introduced to Mslexia. Thursday Researching water-shortages in reservoirs and the impact on the canals. This may affect my trip to London afloat. I can now spell reservoir. Friday Playing guitar on the stern, moorhens squawk and acorns crack and hit the roof. I look to vapour trails of aeroplanes for lyrical words Saturday The late hours are sliding away. I have just sent emails to friends and fellow writers requesting critiques of my first poetry collection. Sunday My first feedback: ‘These are wonderful. Remember you’re the best judge. Don’t play by the rules, go with what you think works.’

AMANDA YOUNG is a writer and artist living on a narrowboat. She was Arts Editor for LeftLion magazine for five years and PA to a visually impaired lecturer. Her first collection of poetry is ready to be published. See her blog at http://thekiteexperiment.blogspot.com

GUEST BLOGS

SUSIE WILD

Be our guest We commission a new blogger each month. For details, visit www.mslexia. co.uk/submit

■ SUSIE WILD is Associate Editor at the Raconteurand Parthian Books. Her debut story collection TheArtofContraception won Fiction Book of the Year in the Welsh Icons Awards 2010. Her Kindle Single novella, Arrivals, came out in May and her poems have appeared on websites, in magazines, even on cakes! Susie starts blogging this month about creating the one-woman show she’s taking to the Edinburgh Festival this summer. Find her at www.susiewild. blogspot.com ■ RHIAN BOWLEY’S life made a lot more sense when she realised she was supposed to write fantasy and embraced her inner geek. She will be blogging from January on issues like ‘Can my heroine fly?’, ‘Will this magic work under water?’ and ‘Who needs the Booker when you have the Hugos?’. She blogs at www.rhianbowley. com and tweets as @RhianBowley

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