Category Archives: Culture

Necessary Evil: How to Fix Finance by Saving Human Rights | Book of The Week

Posted on by

necessary evil finance

When I first received this book I worried it might be bias. There was no need. It is well researched and balanced. Full of fascinating facts and persuasive argument. A compelling and thoughtful read.

Finance is the evil we cannot live without. It governs almost every aspect of our lives and has the power to liberate as well as enslave. With the world’s total financial assets–valued at a staggering $300 trillion–being four times larger than the combined output of all the world’s economies, there is, apparently, plenty to go around. Yet, while proponents of finance-driven capitalism point to the trickle-down effect as its contribution to wealth redistribution, there are still nearly a billion people across the globe existing on less than $2 a day; 14 percent of Americans are living below the official poverty line; and disparities in wealth equality everywhere have reached unprecedented levels. Evidently a trickle is not enough.

How can this be when so much wealth abounds, and when finance is supposedly chastened and reformed after its latest global crisis? How, especially, can it be in an age when human rights are more loudly proclaimed than ever before? Can the financial sector be made to shoulder more of the burden of spreading wealth, reducing poverty, and protecting rights? And if so, what role can human rights play in making it happen?

In answering these questions, David Kinley draws on a vast array of material from bankers, economists, lawyers, and politicians, as well as human rights activists, philosophers, historians and anthropologists, alongside his own experiences working in the field. Necessary Evil shows how finance can shed its conceit, return to its role as the economy’s servant not its master, and regain the public trust and credibility it has so spectacularly lost over the past decade–all by helping human rights, not harming them.

Available here.

TAKE FOUR WRITERS: TEACHING, THANKING, VENTURING, BOPPING

Posted on by

CLAIRE DYER… TEACHING

This month I want to talk about what teaching teaches me. Like many other authors I don’t actually spend ALL my time sitting in splendid isolation in a writing garret. In fact, I spend precious little time actually writing, as life tends to get in the way!

And, one such distraction is teaching Creative Writing at Bracknell & Wokingham College. Whilst I relish the chance to encourage and inform my students, what is of perhaps greater benefit to me is the chance to practise what I preach. In my Beginners’ classes we cover the basics tools of writing and in my Improvers and Advanced classes, we take this up a notch. And what I find is that in teaching these topics I get a timely reminder to apply the techniques we cover to my own writing.

I also give my students examples of my early work to critique and this shows me how awful some of the stuff I used to produce actually was! A salutary reminder to keep the writing muscle flexed and working and mark my own writing much as a teacher would: 6 out 10 Claire, could do better. See me after class!

 

LUCY COLEMAN…. THANKING

It’s been a month in which to be very grateful and to say thanks, by running a series of competitions for my amazing readers.

With Lucy Coleman’s ‘The French Adventure’ wearing best seller flags in the Holiday Romance charts in Australia and Canada, hitting #53 in the main UK Kindle chart, and #1 in the iBooks Romance chart, I did celebrate.

One glass of wine, toasted by my other half, then straight back to work because it’s been a month of non-stop writing.

Next up? 4th September 2018 Lucy’s second novel will be released. Still no cover and the excitement builds… but I can share the title for the FIRST time: ‘Snowflakes Over Holly Cove’.

My Christmas stories are never solely about Christmas, but this one has a dusting of snow and a lot of heart. And it was written last summer, but it wasn’t quite as hot as this July!

 

ANGELA PETCH… VENTURING

Writers live within their heads most of the time, amongst imagined scenes and characters. In Italy, far from distractions, I have plenty of time to dream up plots and conflicts. But sometimes, like a tortoise, I need to pop my head out of my carapace and venture into the real world.

So, last week I boarded a plane from Bologna for Leeds and my first RNA Conference. All apprehensions were swept away as soon as I entered Leeds Trinity University and was warmly welcomed. It was a buzzing weekend, packed with interesting and sometimes hilarious talks (how to write sex scenes foremost), food and wine a-plenty and many new friendships. How good it was to talk writing without the fear of boring non-writers. I pitched to three different publishers and came away from Bookouture and Harper Collins with encouraging advice.

Back in Sussex, I joined self-published fellow CHINDI authors as we held our ghost tour around the fascinating seaside town of Littlehampton.

This tortoise is almost ready to retreat again. But first of all, I have granny duties. Our fifth grandchild is due any day now. I feel a children’s story coming on.

 

JACKIE BALDWIN… BOPPING

Hello again! The first half of this month I spent in Greece hiking, swimming and reading books, which was a welcome change. A few days after I returned it was time to go to Harrogate Crime Festival! I was also lucky enough to be invited to read at Noir at the Bar on the Thursday evening along with some amazing authors. The venue at The Blues Bar was packed with readers, writers and bloggers so the audience was amazing!

Highlights of the festival for me included hearing John Grisham interviewed by Lee Child and bopping away to ‘Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers,’ including Val McDermid and Mark Billingham, I also loved the New Blood panel. I shall be sneaking new books into the house the way other women sneak in shoes!

I had such a great time that I have already paid a deposit for next year!

 

 

 

 

The Bomb Girl Brides by Daisy Styles | Recommended Reads

Posted on by

The Bomb Girl Brides by Daisy Styles

The latest Daisy Styles novel
___________

It’s 1944 and Britain is a country at war. The young women of the Phoenix munitions factory are giving their all to the cause, but romance is beckoning . . .

The life of a Bomb Girl isn’t usually glamourous. But Maggie is getting married, so she is going to make sure her wedding day is – even if she does have to spend every other day slaving on the factory floor.

This blasted factory was not what Julia had in mind either. She had always dreamed of attending Oxford University rather than getting her hands dirty and the easy laughter of the other women intimidate her terribly.

But they are all here together in this munitions factory in a Lancashire mill town, sharing firsts, pitching in and getting on. Despite rationing, dangerous hard work and new situations these Bomb Girls are going to do their best at work, and in love.

Available here.

BUSINESS OF BOOKS: FIRST, LAST EVERYTHING – MENTOR AND NOVELIST CATHIE HARTIGAN

Posted on by

What was the first piece of publishing advice you received?

The first piece of publishing advice I received wasn’t offered directly, but came in the form of a question. It was over ten years ago now and I was in my first one-to-one with an agent. After she set the timer ticking for ten minutes, and put it on the table between us, she said. ‘Tell me, when do you write?’ This took me completely by surprise; but I understood that she was looking for my commitment to being a professional author.

It also reinforced in my mind, that publishing is an industry, and unless you are that very rare literary writer who sells in large numbers, the commercial market is very likely to want you to write one, or even two books a year.

My answer to the agent by the way was all the time. Not that she took me on. I was disappointed at the time, but thankful now. I had yet to finish my first novel, and I’ve learned a great deal since.

 

What was the most recent publishing advice you gave or received?

Don’t be in a hurry to self-publish. I’m often approached for advice on the back of my own self-publishing success with my debut novel Secret of the Song. It’s impossible to predict how a book will fare once it’s out in the world. I was very fortunate, but I was also well connected within the writing community, as a creative writing teacher, co-author of a successful textbook, and organiser of the Exeter Novel, Story and Flash prizes. I feel sad for people who put so much effort into writing a novel, and then see it become plankton in the ocean of books available. Having said that, self-publishing can be a brilliant option for books that have a limited, but ready-made market, such as family memoirs or books about very niche subjects.

 

What is the piece of advice you’d most like to pass on?

If you’re going to self-publish, it’s important to go through the same steps as a mainstream publisher would prior to publication. Think carefully before using free resources unless you’re convinced about the result. It’s usually worth paying professionals for edits, proofing and cover design.

 

Cathie Hartigan is a novelist and founder of www.creativewritingmatters.co.uk which offers a range of services for writers, including competitions, mentoring and manuscript appraisals. Cathie’s novel, Secret of the Song, was recently shortlisted for the inaugural Hall & Woodhouse Dorchester Literary Festival Writing Prize.

Stranger than fiction: Q&A with ‘bio-fiction’ creator, Giuseppe Cafiero

Posted on by

The acclaimed Italian author Giuseppe Cafiero has created a new literary genre that weaves traditional fiction with real-life biography. In this exclusive interview, he tells Frost Magazine what inspired his unique style of ‘bio-fiction’.

Frost Magazine (FM): Your novel, Gustave Flaubert: The Ambiguity of Imagination, describes in detail the life and writing of the famous 19th century author. What is the importance and lasting fascination of Flaubert?

Giuseppe Cafiero (GC): Flaubert’s attention to writing. He was very careful in choosing words. He was very scrupulous in the composition of the sentences. He was very much looking forward to the balance of dialogues.

FM: You are clearly a fan of Flaubert’s writing. Which of your novels or stories would you recommend as the best to read first, and why?

GC: An incomplete book: Bouvard and Pecuchet. This is the book that inspired me to write Gustave Flaubert: The Ambiguity Of Imagination.

FM: Your work is part of the surreal genres and metafictions. Why do you find these genres as satisfying as an author? What can the reader take from these genres that are not offered by other types of writing?

GC: Because it’s suggestive to talk about ambiguity. Because it is very suggestive to speak in a surreal way about the ambiguity of a writer. It’s necessary to engage the reader in different readings by looking at an author under another aspect that intrigues with the surreal

FM: You are the inventor of a literary genre that you have dubbed ‘bio-fiction’. What do you mean by this term and how does it differ from biography or fiction?

GC: My literary genre is neither fiction nor biography. I try to tell a story about the life of a writer in which a surreal element intervenes that modifies reality. This is only an interpretative ambiguity of events that changes what was considered an absolute truth

FM: In your novel, Flaubert presents himself as a rather flawed individual. Do you think that his sexual and mental obsessions were an essential factor in allowing him to write the great works of literature for which he is famous?

GC: Undoubtedly. It is precisely these obsessions that have made Flaubert a particular writer. Without these pathological obsessions Flaubert would have been perhaps an insignificant writer

FM: Which authors have had more influence on your writing and why?

GC: My writing was influenced very much by Jorge Luis Borges, because if Borges has viewed the world and influenced his writings through the use of duplicity, I have believed that ambiguity would be deciphering in the world in a different but also very suggestive way

FM: How do you decide which historical figures to give biofocus treatment? Are there any character traits you are looking for that make an ideal subject?

GC: There are some characters (writers, painters, musicians) that interest me a lot. Certainly these characters have had adventures or have had friends or loves that lend themselves very well to the game of ambiguity

FM: What other authors do you think to give to the “bio-fiction” treatment in the future and why?

GC: The Portuguese poet Mario de Sa Carneiro for the ambiguity of his suicide. Virginia Woolf for the ambiguity of her lesbian love. James Joyce for the ambiguity of the epiphanies. Edgar Allan Poe for the ambiguity of his death for alcoholism.

FM: Your novels address the main theme of “ambiguity”. Why does this concept fascinate you and how does this idea link to what we can hope to understand as “truth” from literature and history?

GC: The theme of ambiguity fascinates me because it’s possible to look at the life and works of an artist in a different way through a keyhole that deforms things just because this keyhole is ambiguity. It is an ambiguity that can show another truth.

Gustave Flaubert: The Ambiguity Of Imagination and Mário De Sá-Carneiro: The Ambiguity Of A Suicide, both by Giuseppe Cafiero, are out now.

 

And Then it Happened By Linda Green | Book of the Week

Posted on by

and then it happened

Frost’s book of the week is And Then it Happened By Linda Green. A stunning book about love, family and strength. The book gives you a reminder to live in the moment and make the best of life. A heart-warming novel that will stay with you. 

 

The only man you’ve ever loved is slipping away…

Mel and Adam were childhood sweethearts and remain blissfully happy twenty years on.

And then it happens…

When tragedy strikes, Mel is faced with losing the only man she has ever loved. But what if he hasn’t really been taken from her at all – he just can’t find a way to let her know…

From the bestselling author of While My Eyes Were Closed comes a heart-breaking story of love against all odds.

Available here.

Review: Me and My Girl, Chichester Festival Theatre

Posted on by

Me and My Girl
Chichester Festival Theatre (until 25 August)
Tickets: 01243 781312; cft.org.uk

Credit: Johan Persson

Chichester Festival Theatre director Daniel Evans (also at the helm of the show) earned groans of disappointment in response to his on-stage announcement that Matt Lucas was under Doctor’s orders to rest his voice and would not be appearing. But all was not lost, he quickly reassured us. With just two hours’ rehearsal the understudy had gamely agreed to step into the role.
Ryan Pidgen can surely now step into any role he pleases. In a totally self-assured, flawless performance, had we not known that Lucas was the intended leading man then we would have been none the wiser. On note, in step and word perfect, not for a nanosecond were we even remotely short-changed.
Playing the South London cheeky chappie Bill Snibson who suddenly needs to ‘posh up’ in order to take up his birth right as the unlikely heir of Hareford, Pidgen was not merely competent. Giving Bill warmth, exuberance and sweetness, he bounced around the stage like an adorable scamp of a puppy and, as the kids say, performed like a boss.
The plot may be lightweight, but elsewhere performances are also rock-solid. Clive Rowe as Sir John twinkles in tweed, later revealing a shy and long-nurtured love for Caroline Quentin’s splendidly redoubtable Duchess. A feisty old matriarch with a good heart, by golly she can’t half hoof, too!
Alex Young as Bill’s ‘girl’ Sally is in sweetly soaring voice and balances cockney chirpiness with a touching vulnerability.
When it comes to musical numbers it is fair to say that the majority (give or take The Lambeth Walk and The Sun Has Got His Hat On) are not especially memorable, but the dazzling choreography (nice work, Alistair David) and superb singing (and you, Gareth Valentine, Doug Besterman and Mark Cumberland) make the very best of the raw material.
Lez Brotherston’s stunning set manages to be both traditional and fairy tale – Downton meets Hogwarts, interspersed with the London skyline and beautifully lit by Tim Mitchell.
The night, however, belonged to the heroic Mr Pidgen. As an understudy who endured several ‘thrust-into-the-limelight’ moments (albeit without anything like such professionalism and sheer talent) I absolutely salute you, sir.
The perfect shot-in-the-arm antidote to all things Brexit and Trump, Me and My Girl teems with Pearly kings and queens and exudes triple espresso energy. An unashamedly frothy and feel-good extravaganza, cor blimey you’ll miss out if you don’t nab a Wilson Pickett!

REVIEWING THE PERFECT CRIME

Posted on by

Jane Cable reviews the latest novel by one of Frost’s four writers

As regular readers of this column will know, to my shame I don’t read many books. The problem being that when I’m in my own characters’ heads I don’t want to be in anyone else’s. And with a good book I like to totally immerse myself in the world that the author has gone to so much effort to create.

It speaks volumes for Jackie Baldwin’s Perfect Dead, set in a freezing Scottish winter, that I actually felt cold reading it during a Cornish heatwave. I saw the ice on DI Farrell’s windscreen, experienced the damp chill of the remote cottage where the murder victim, artist Monro Stevenson, is found. The setting was brought so vividly to life that I was actually walking through the streets of the little coastal village, the salt tang of the sea in my hair, and driving down twisting lanes to remote country houses.

I have to admit that crime fiction is not my usual genre these days, although I do rather love watching re-runs of Midsomer Murders (I won’t call it a guilty pleasure because I fundamentally refuse to accept that any pleasure should be guilty). Cosy crime. Count the murders, find out who did it, save the last potential victim in a dramatic crisis then all go home for a cup of cocoa. Perfect. But not Perfect Dead.

What I am never sure about is whether it’s a good or a bad thing to be able to guess the perpetrator. Writing mysteries myself, I know only too well how hard it is to seed the story with just the right number of red herrings and clues. And Baldwin has a superb red herring in Perfect Dead – one I didn’t see coming until right at the last moment and which adds an extra layer of emotion to what is already an intense and gripping story.

This is a book where the characters’ internal journeys are as much an incentive to read on as solving the crime. Not just DI Farrell, working with the pull of the Catholic church in and around him, but the issues in the lives of his various colleagues are beautifully drawn and you find yourself caring as much about how these work out as you do about having the murderer brought to justice.

Perfect Dead is the second book in the DI Frank Farrell series so the characters’ lives are bound to pan out over time. This, and the quality of Baldwin’s writing, would in itself be enough to bring readers back for book three and my one argument with the Perfect Dead is that a major strand is left hanging, and far from being intrigued it left me feeling frustrated and a little short changed.

There’s something else I’ve discovered about crime books during this process – it is almost impossible to write a review of any length without giving away spoilers. So I won’t. Read the book for yourself and find out what happens. I promise you it’s worth it.