http://www.writers-online.co.uk APRIL 2017WRITER’S BOOKSHELF
http://www.writers-online.co.ukwww.writers-online.co.uk MARCH 2020^4141THE STEPNEY
DOORSTEP SOCIETY
by Kate Thompson‘This book was only
published last year and
I was fortunate enough
to have an advanced
copy. I will declare an
interest in that Kate is
a dear friend but that
isn’t why I’ve included
it in my five must-keep
books. I’ve included it
because Kate, who is
a journalist by trade,
has documented the
tough, hardworking
East End women
who reminded me
so much of my long-departed mother, aunts and
grandmother. There are also a number of period
photographs of the women whose stories are told in
the book as brides and mothers and as they are now.
The stories they tell as sometimes funny, sometimes
very poignant, particularly about those women
touched by the tragedy of the Bethnal Green Disaster
in March 1943. This had particular resonance for me
as my mother was sheltering in the station the night
173 people were crushed to death in a stampede. The
Stepney Doorstep Society brought a lump to my throat
as it took me back to the dockside working class
community I knew as a child.’‘A
s East London was so much at the forefront of Hitler’s
attempts to break Britain’s resistance in World War II I
have been thinking for some time about setting a series
during this period. In addition, as my family either
fought in the army or lived through the London Blitz, I already had
a great deal of background information. In 1939, when war broke
out, the Fullertons were a family of five adults all living in one
house with cousins in the surrounding streets, so it was easy for me
to create the Brogan family in my current Ration Book Series.
‘I started by reading Juliet Gardener’s excellent Wartime
Britain 1939-1945 to give me an overall feel for the period. I
then undertook more detailed research from September 1939 to
the Battle of Britain in the following year as this was the period
covered in A Ration Book Dream. I did the same with A Ration
Book Christmas which spans August 1940 to Jan 1941 and again
September to Christmas 1941 for A Ration Book Childhood, my
current release. Truthfully, I don’t know what details I need to
know until I get to the point in the story so it’s pointless trying
to research everything. The most difficult part of writing and
researching is deciding what to put in and what to leave out so the
research doesn’t clog the story.
‘As I no longer have a day job or need to do a school run, I try
to start my working day at 9.30 to catch up with emails and admin
before settling down to actual writing at about 11. My daily word
count is 1,200-1,500 and I usually get a few hundred down beforelunch then return at 2 until 5-ish. I break for a couple of hours
then if I’m against a deadline I might return to my computer until
9-ish although I have been known to still be there at midnight.
The first 20,000 words of a new book, where you’re introducing
the characters and setting the scene, are the hardest go get down. I
know it’s a cliché, but I have learnt that there is always something
new to learn so I never stop seeking ways of perfecting my writing.’LONDON: THE BIOGRAPHY
by Peter Ackroyd
‘Anyone who knows me knows I’m a Londoner born
and bred and love my native city. Not to have a book
covering its 2,000-year history would be ridiculous.
I’ve chosen Ackroyd’s because it is by far the most
comprehensive of the very many books about Great
Britain’s capital city. It’s is also remarkable in the
breadth of subjects it covers and there is a staggering
amount of detail on every aspect of London life. My
brain aches just looking at the list of references and
texts cited. If I only had one reference book to refer
to about the Capital, London: the Biography would
serve me just fine.’published last year and
I was fortunate enoughinterest in that Kate isisn’t why I’ve included
it in my five must-keep
books. I’ve included itso much of my long-departed mother, aunts and‘To be honest the title should really be Essential Skills
for Fiction Writers as the book takes you through
the craft of writing in easy stages. It’s a slim volume
which you can dip in and out of but is packed with
incisive tips and examples to help writers get to grips
with the intricacies of points of view, show don’t tell,
internal dialogue, Pace and so much more.
‘It’s an American book so the examples from
published novels may not be familiar to British
writers, but they are well chosen and illustrate the
points very well. It also gives you exercises to help
you to develop the various techniques. I would thoroughly recommend it to any
author to such an extent I have given away at least a dozen copies to authors who
have just started out and it is always included in my workshop’s reading list.’
‘To be honest the title should really be Essential Skills
for Fiction Writers as the book takes you through
the craft of writing in easy stages. It’s a slim volume
which you can dip in and out of but is packed with
incisive tips and examples to help writers get to grips
with the intricacies of points of view, show don’t tell,
internal dialogue, Pace and so much more.you to develop the various techniques. I would thoroughly recommend it to any
SELF-EDITING FOR FICTION WRITERS
by Renni Browne and Dave King‘Anyone who knows me knows I’m a Londoner born
and bred and love my native city. Not to have a bookbreadth of subjects it covers and there is a staggering
amount of detail on every aspect of London life. My