UNDER MY HAT edited by Jonathan Strahen - (Tips for writing short stories post) From Hot Key Books.

                                                       

Publishing date: 4 October 2012 - Hot Key Books - Something for Halloween perhaps?

25% Spider Silk, 25% Eye of Newt, 25% SnakeVenom,25% BlackMoss

Eighteen spellbinding tales from top fantasy authors, brewed together for the witching hour

A stellar cast of acclaimed fantasy writers weave spellbinding tales that bring the world of witches to life. Boasting over 70 awards between them, including a Newbery Medal, five Hugo Awards and a Carnegie Medal, the authors delve into the realms of magic to explore all things witchy...

From familiars that talk, to covens that offer dark secrets to explore, these are tales to tickle the hair on the back of your neck and send shivers down your spine.

Be truly spooked by these stunning stories by Diana Peterfreund, Frances Hardinge, Garth Nix, Holly Black, Charles de Lint, Tanith Lee, Neil Gaiman, Ellen Klages, Ellen Kushner, Delia Sherman, Patricia A. McKillip, Tim Pratt, M. Rickert, Isobelle Carmody, Jane Yolen, Jim Butcher, Peter S. Beagle and Margo Lanagan.

By Jonathan Strahen

Five Writing Tips, or How to Write a Great Short Story by Someone Who Never Has.

So you want to write a short story? A great one? When I was first asked to provide a list of tips on how to write a terrific short story I drew a blank. I’ve not written a short story since high school, so I’m no expert. I’ve not even thought about writing a short story. But then I realised that, like you, I read. I read a lot. And what I mostly read is short fiction. So, it’s possible I might have picked up an idea or two.

• Write

This might seem obvious, but no one has ever finished a short story without sitting down and actually writing.  I have a folder full of stops and starts on a handful of short stories and novels, but none of them are finished. So, do that. Write. Write every day and finish what you start. 

• Re-write

I know you think you’re finished when you write “The End” at the end of your newly minted short story. You probably are. But it’s possible, just possible, that there’s still a little bit of work left to do. Put it in a drawer for a week, and come back to it fresh. Suddenly you’ll see, if you’re at all like me when I write anything, all sorts of problems with it. You might also let a trusted reader see it. Get their feedback, try to listen to it with an open mind, and be willing to re-write.

• Read

The only way to learn how to write a great short story is to read great short stories. Read them a lot and think about them. Try to work out how they work and why. Pick a writer whose work you love and see how their stories work. If you love witch stories, try the work of Roald Dahl or Diana Wynne Jones, and see if you can unpick their stories. They knew what they were doing.  

• Keep it short

We are talking about writing short stories after all, so keep it short. You probably only want a single plot line (the story) and a single point of view character (the person whose eyes we’re seeing the story though). Longer stories, novellas and short novels, can sometimes have subplots and more than one point of view character, but basically you only need one.

• Make your story work

I don’t mean make it great. Of course you’re going to do that. What I mean is make your words count. Everything you write in a short story should do more than one thing. Setting builds character, voice advances plot, and so on. Look very carefully at each scene in your story. You won’t have many of them – this is short after all – so make sure each scene does more than one thing. Each scene should build setting, develop character and move the story forward.  Avoid scenes that only do one thing. You want to avoid your story being dull (which it was never going to be, but you know what I mean) and making sure your scenes are doing the heavy lifting helps.

If you’ve already written a great short story you probably know all of this stuff, and possibly far more. If you’re just starting out, though, it might help. And if you are starting out keep going. You’ll probably write some stinkers. You’ll possibly write some stories that are almost exactly like stories written by people whose work you love. That’s fine. That’s what you should be doing. You have to write through that so you can get to the stories that only you can tell, the ones that are definitely going to be great. And when you do, send them to me. I love great short stories.  – Jonathan Strahan

Thanks for Hot Key books for sending this over.

https://www.hotkeybooks.com/

Mr Ripley's Book Choice: Gobbolino, The Witch's Cat,70th Anniversary - Ursula Moray Williams illustrated by Catherine Rayner

             

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books (11 Oct 2012)

                        

The 70th anniversary edition of this classic and timeless tale

No one could mistake Gobbolino for a simple kitchen cat, with his sparky whiskers and magic tricks, but that’s just what the witch’s kitten wants to be. Instead of learning how to turn mice into toads for the witch’s brew, Gobbolino sets out on an adventure to find a family and a home of his own.

Reissued for its 70th anniversary with illustrations by the award-winning Catherine Rayner, this classic tale has been loved by generations of children.

Mr Ripley's Enchanted New Book Picks - October 2012

Michael Grant & Katherine Applegate - Eve and Adam - Published by Egmont Book 1,October 2012

This is a stunning new mystery-thriller from the bestselling writers of "Animorphs" and "GONE". It is an exceptional page-turner. Escapism just doesn't get more thrilling than this. 16-year-old Eve Spiker lives an easy life with her geneticist mother, Terra. That is, until she's involved in a freak accident and left with life-threatening injuries. Injuries that seem to be healing faster than physically possible. Recuperating at her mum's lab, Eve meets Solo, a hot teenage lab assistant who seems to know more about what's going on at Spiker Biotech than he should do. Joining forces to investigate, Solo and Eve uncover a secret so huge it could change the world completely. Because Terra's research is about more than just saving human lives. It's about creating them...

                                       

Cathryn Constable - The Wolf Princess - Published by Chicken House - 4,October 2012

Alone in the world, Sophie dreams of being someone special, but she could never have imagined this \. On a school trip to Russia, Sophie and her two friends find themselves on the wrong train. They are rescued by the beautiful Princess Anna Volkonskaya, who takes them to her winter palace and mesmerises them with stories of lost diamonds and a tragic past. But as night falls and wolves prowl, Sophie discovers more than dreams in the crumbling palace of secrets \.

Catherine Fisher - The Obsidian Mirror - Published by Hodder Children's Books - 4,October 2012

The experiments concerned a black mirror, which is a portal to both the past and the future. Venn is not alone in wanting to use its powers. Strangers begin gathering in and around Venn's estate: Sarah - a runaway, who appears out of nowhere and is clearly not what she says, Maskelyne - who claims the mirror was stolen from him in some past century. There are others, a product of the mirror's power to twist time. And a tribe of elemental beings surround this isolated estate, fey, cold, untrustworthy, and filled with hate for humans. But of them all, Jake is hell-bent on using the mirror to get to the truth. Whatever the cost, he must learn what really happened to his father.

Jake's father disappears while working on mysterious experiments with the obsessive, reclusive Oberon Venn. Jake is convinced Venn has murdered him. But the truth he finds at the snow-bound Wintercombe Abbey is far stranger ...

Martin Howard - Witches at War!: The Wild Winter - Published by Pavilion Books - 4,October 2012

Now, Sam and her mentor, the incompetent and rude but strangely likeable Esmelia Sniff, have been separated and evil is beginning to dominate the world. It's the longest, coldest winter since records began and the newspapers are reporting sightings of strange and evil creatures making their way towards the Bleak Fortress. Inside the fortress Sam is a prisoner to Diabolica's evil plans while her friend, the potion expert Helza Poppin, is trapped in the dungeon and scheduled for torture. Things ain't looking good.