Stranger Than Fiction May 2013

Stranger Than Fiction May 2013

The next session of Stranger Than Fiction is on Thursday 23rd May, at 7pm in the Jolly Judge pub off the Royal Mile. We have a couple of pieces of members’ work in progress to discuss, which I’ll email out nearer the time. If you want to be added to the Stranger Than Fiction emailing list and receive very occasional reminders about future Stranger Than Fiction meetings, then drop us a line.We usually send out no more than two emails a month, and never share addresses.

 

Stranger Than Fiction April 2013

April’s Stranger Than Fiction meeting was a really stimulating evening’s conversation about publishing independently, led by recent independent publishers Sian Mackay and Andy Mitchell. Since many of us non-fiction authors are writing for a niche market, independent publishing offers a practical way of getting our ideas and hobby-horses into print. I know that lots of Stranger Than Fiction members left the meeting fired up to pursue those projects for which we thought we might never find a publisher, and we can look forward to discussing their work in progress at future Stranger Than Fiction sessions.

 

Supportive Peer Feedback on your Work

If you have a current project on which you’d like some supportive feedback from a group fellow non-fiction writers, get in touch. We don’t give private feedback, although members may make individual arrangements with friends within the group; and as a rule we like members to have attended at least one feedback session for someone else’s work before submitting their own – just so they have seen how it all operates. The group format works well, and can be a useful editorial tool at several stages in your project.

 

Edinburgh Literary Salon

There’s almost always someone from Stranger Than Fiction at the monthly Edinburgh Literary Salon. Track us down and say hello if you want to talk about non-fiction writing in Edinburgh. The Salon, organised by the lovely team at Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature, takes place on the last Tuesday of every month (except August), from 6pm in the Wash Bar on the Mound.  The next one is Tuesday 30th April, and the next after that Tuesday 28th May. It’s open to anyone with a serious interest in the published word – authors of fiction, poetry, screenplays and even non-fiction, editors, agents, illustrators, booksellers and publishers, all mingling in an informal networking session. It’s a chance to meet potential colleagues, share problems, pick up tips and generally remind yourself that as a writer you are not alone.

 

Hope to see you there, or at the next Stranger Than Fiction session. Best wishes for all your current and future non-ficiton writing.

 

 

Stranger Than Fiction April 2013

March 2013 meeting

We had a good Stranger Than Fiction session last week – purely social without any pieces to read, so we had time to talk about personal and general experiences of writing, and compare notes on recent and current projects and progress. Cosy pub, warm fire, good stimulating company – what’s not to like?

April 2013 meeting

The April 2013 meeting is on Thursday 25th April – as ever, 7pm in the Jolly Judge. It will be something slightly different – a discussion about the process of independent publishing, guided by two fellow STFers with recent experience of it and lots of tips to share. For many non-fiction writers with a specialist field of interest and a niche target market, independent publishing may be the most appropriate way forward. We’re lucky to have the benefit of Sian and Andy’s wisdom. (Andy has published several books on Scottish football history and Sian has just published her book on Robert Louis Stephenson which some of you will remember discussing the opening chapter of at Stranger Than Fiction last year.)

Feedback on your writing

The main focus of Stranger Than Fiction is mutual support for each other’s non-fiction writing. To that end we are always happy to discuss an extract of a member’s current project, with a view to giving constructive feedback. It’s a genuinely useful and encouraging process, as anyone who has submitted a piece will tell you. If you are working on something on which you would like to get the fresh perspective of Stranger Than Fiction members, do get in touch. Apart from anything else, committing to putting a piece up for discussion may be just the boost you need to help you write it! (As a rule we like submissions to come from those who have come to at least one Stranger Than Fiction feedback session before, just so that they have seen the process in action.)

Hope to see you next month, whether it’s your first time or your thirtieth. (No big deal, but the May 2013 meeting will mark Stranger Than Fiction’s third anniversary!)

Good luck in all your writing.

Stranger Than Fiction March 2013

Another month, another blizzard, another cosy evening in the Jolly Judge – yes, Stranger Than Fiction‘s March session is almost upon us. Next week, to be precise, Thursday 21st March at 7pm in the Jolly Judge Bar off the Lawnmarket (upper Royal Mile). Hope you can come along for hot toddies and heated debates or just the warm glow of knowing you are not alone as a non-ficiton writer in Edinburgh.

Last month we had two rich pieces of work to discuss, on subjects as diverse as John Buchan’s Borders landscapes and the history of alchemists’ ovens. Also, a sneak preview of The House On The Chine, a forthcoming book by Sian Mackay about Robert Louis Stephenson’s time in Bournemouth in which Stranger Than Fiction gets a kind mention for our support and encouragement.

This month – no one has put forward anything for discussion yet. If you are working on something that you’d like some supportive positive feedback from your peers on, let me know so we can circulate it in time for next week (or for a later meeting if you’re not quite ready yet!). Otherwise, it will be a purely social Stranger Than Fiction month, and there’s nothing wrong with that – a chance to catch up on what we’re all working on.

I can’t believe I had actually put away my winter hat and gloves … Hope to see you next week, whatever the weather.

January/February 2013

January 2013 Meeting

We had another lively Stranger Than Fiction meeting this month in the Jolly Judge, discussing John and Kate’s extract about John Buchan and the landscape he grew up in. They have a publication date for later this year, and I’m really looking forward to reading the whole book. Thanks to all members old and new who braved the cold and ice to join in.

February 2013 Meeting

Advance notice of February’s session, which will be on Thursday 21^st February, at 7pm in the Jolly Judge as usual. If anyone is working on something that they’d like feedback on at the February meeting, let me know – we try to get things circulated a week in advance to give everyone time to read.

 

Other Dates

It’s the Edinburgh Literary Salon next Tuesday 29^th January, from 6pm onwards in the Wash Bar on the Mound. I’ll probably get there for about 7pm, and hope to be joined by some Stranger Than Fiction people to counteract all that fiction nonsense floating around. If you haven’t been before, it’s a noisy but interesting crowd of people with all manner of connections to the world of publishing from writers to agents, from illustrators to editors etc. Next month the Glasgow equivalent, Weegie Wednesday, is on 20^th February (always the third Wednesday of the month).

The Shilling Group

I had an email from Erin Hickey of the Shilling Group, which is trying to arrange a series of literary talks over the coming months, either by individuals or groups. I think this may be in Thomson’s Bar on Morrison Street, and she was clear that she wasn’t only looking for fiction. I was hoping she could come and talk to us in more detail about it all, but apparently Burns Night got in the way! If anyone is interested or would like to know more, she would welcome direct contact, either with questions or with details of your work and your availability. I hadn’t thought of Stranger Than Fiction as a performance group, but maybe you have different ideas! If so, get in touch.

 

Hope to see you next week or next month.

Stranger Than Fiction in December 2012 and January 2013

November Meeting

Thanks to all who came to the November session of Stranger Than Fiction. I was sorry to miss it – my first no-show since we started all this back in the summer of 2010 – but I hear from Murray that the discussion of his proposal was really useful.

 

December Meeting

As flagged up earlier, the December session is traditionally a purely social bash. This year it’s on Thursday 20^th December at a member’s flat – drinks, nibbles, non-fictive humour. Since there’s no Edinburgh Literary Salon in December, this may be your last chance for a literary fix this side of 2013. If you’ve ever come along to a Stranger Than Fiction meeting, even just one, you and your partner are very welcome from 7pm. Do please RSVP so that we can get an idea of numbers (and tell you were to come!).

 

January Meeting

Normal Stranger Than Fiction service will be resumed with the January session, Thursday 24^th January 2013 at 7pm in the Jolly Judge pub off the Lawnmarket. All non-fiction writers at any stage in their non-fiction writing careers, who are serious about their non-fiction writing, are welcome. Especially if you haven’t been before, why not start the year right and join us for informal mutual support and encouragement.

 

Discussion of work

One of the ways we support each other is by positive discussion of work in progress. Once you’ve been to a Stranger Than Fiction session and know how it works, you are very welcome to submit a piece for us to talk about at a meeting. Let me know if you would like to, and when you’d like to put it up for discussion. We try to circulate things a week ahead of any meeting to give people time to read them.

 

Guest speakers

We very occasionally have someone along to talk about a specific aspect of publishing or writing. If anyone has any suggestions for such a speaker, speak up! There’s no money in it but we do buy drinks.

 

Th-th-that’s all, folks. Hope to see you on 20^th December (RSVP), or at the Judge 24^th January (show up). Have a very Happy Christmas, and a finger-blisteringly productive non-fictional New Year.

Stranger Than Fiction November 2012 meeting

It’s that time again – next week, the November meeting of Stranger Than Fiction, in the Jolly Judge as ever, at 7pm on Thursday 22^nd November. We have some new material submitted by one of our members for discussion – existing members should have recieved this by email.

Also, as I mentioned after the October meeting, it would be interesting to hear about a book that got you started on writing, or launched your curiosity in a particular field of interest, or just one that you return to for pleasurable reading every now and then. If you have one that you can recommend, do please bring it along and tell us about it – we might all pick up some Christmas present ideas!

Other November Literary Events are also available

Next week is also, on Wednesday 21^st November, the monthly Glasgow literary get-together that is Weegie Wednesday. The following week, Tuesday 27^th November is the Edinburgh Literary Salon.

Stranger Than Fiction Works Outing

December’s Stranger Than Fiction will be a social meeting (not that they aren’t all!) and therefore not open to new members – sorry. Our first meeting of 2013 will be on 24th January., open to all Edinburgh non-fiction writers. Do come and join us then!

Stranger Than Fiction October meeting

October STF

Next week it’s the October session of Stranger Than Fiction – Thursday 25^th October, 7pm in the Jolly Judge. Where did a month go? They have a gas-powered make-believe coal fire there – a sort of fictional coal fire – making it very cosy and warm; so I hope you’ll be able to get along for some heated debate about factual writing. (They also sell hot port and toddies, I believe.)

 There’s no submission on the agenda yet, so if anyone has any work that they’d like discussed, let me know so I can circulate it in good time (ie by Thursday). If not, it would be a good opportunity to catch up with what everyone’s working on or wishing they were working on at the moment. (Two very different things in my case!) Also, if anyone has any suggestions for future sessions – topics, talks, themes, workshops? – do let us know, or better still bring it up next Thursday!

Looking Ahead

Other dates for your diary – Weegie Wednesday is this week, and the Edinburgh Literary Salon is this month on Tuesday 30^th October. November’s Stranger Than Fiction is on Thursday 22^nd November.

 Hope to see you at the Judge.