The Frome Writers Collective

Thanks to David Lassman for this guest post

www.davidlassman.com

writer, consultant, teacher

Press & PR Officer for Frome Writers Collective

http://fromewriterscollective.co.uk/

Launch event: http://www.fromestandard.co.uk/Writers-group-magic-formula/story-21097849-detail/story.html

 

 

Frome basks in collective success

 

If you happen to have been in Frome or the surrounding areas lately it is more than likely you crossed paths with rumblings about a new initiative that has already received several column inches worth of positive media coverage and has the local creative writing scene buzzing with anticipation.

The Frome Writers Collective is a recently formed, not-for-profit organisation which has as its remit the sharing of information and resources in order to help and support the local community of aspiring and established writers and associated professionals; the latter comprising of such groups as illustrators, editors, proof-readers and publishers.

And, as if to offer proof the wider creative communities there have instantly given their stamp of approval to the enterprise and taken it to their hearts, one of the most celebrated names in publishing has agreed to speak at the FWC’s official launch next month.

Perhaps best known locally as the man behind Chicken House, the Frome-based publisher of children’s books that has more best-sellers to its name than most publishing houses in the south-west put together, Barry Cunningham is also, to anyone with more than a passing interest in the publishing world, the man who discovered J.K. Rowling.

It is hardly surprising then, as I write this blog, the event at Frome Library where Barry will be appearing as one of a quartet of speakers is rapidly selling-out and becoming one of the ‘must attend’ soirees of the town’s summer creative diary.

Add to this a rapidly expanding FWC membership base that already includes the town’s mayor, a self-published author himself, long-listed novelists, short-listed poets, award-winning writers and even an internationally-acclaimed steampunk aficionado, and it becomes very hard to predicate a limit to the group’s ascendancy.

But just in case you want to witness this phenomenon for yourself, with the proviso there are still tickets left to be had of course, details of the launch are: Publishing in the 21^st Century / Frome Writers’Collective Official launch Frome Library, June 8, 2-4pm. Tickets cost £7.50 and are available from the Cheese and Grain box office, tel: 01373 455420 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 01373 455420 FREE end_of_the_skype_highlighting. For more information on the Frome Writers Collective in general, see www.fromewriterscollective.co.uk/.

Zero Alternative by Luca Pesaro - Review

Zero Alternative by Luca Pesaro

 

http://threeharespublishing.com/project/zero-alternative/#book

 

 

Scott Walker is a city trader nicknamed “Yours” (which to be honest is a bit confusing in the first half of the book) who is working with a friendly mathematician and programmer to create a set of algorithms called Deepshare. Deepshare is an Oracle of formidable power and is coveted by a rival bank for the fact it can unerringly read the market. Walker is thrust into a world of espionage, conspiracy and betrayal with a cast of billionaires, hitmen and hackers.

 

This is a punchy thriller that just fizzes with energy and bowls you along. It’s an interesting premise and one that should now be familiar to all of us, The murky world of international trading, secret cabals of billionaires etc & pondering the question - when are banks too big to fail?. But in Pesaro’s hands this feels fresh and exciting and very relevant. Some of the trading went over my head (or I wasn’t paying enough information perhaps) and when Pesaro takes his foot off the accelerator and we pause from breakneck action and go to character development it is hard to feel any sympathy with the main character, who is pretty superficial, or in fact most of the characters if truth be known. Although the characters were mostly well drawn there’s not exactly a lot of women characters (and they may all be beautiful and attracted to our MC too). There’s some really nice set pieces and I really liked the part set in a crumbling mansion which felt very “Uncharted.”

 

Overall – Enjoyable thriller

NYC Midnight short story challenge 2014

So it's all over - and how did I do? I got an honourable mention. I'm happy with that, maybe next year I can make my way onto the Top Ten?

I'll present my musings on the experience and then post my three stories below warts and all, as they were sent to the competition - typos, missing punctuation and all....

The age of misinformation

Lies, Damn Lies & Statistics

Take it cool review

Take it cool by Jonathan Pinnock

 

Jonathan Pinnock goes through that “where did I come from?” moment that many of us get. Wondering about the family history, the origin of his last name etc. At the same time he is intrigued as to why there is a black reggae singer with the same surname and the fact that there are a lot of Pinnocks from Jamaica. Being a fan, and becoming slightly obsessed with Dennis Pinnock, the reggae singer, Jonathan goes off in search of the history behind the name and attempts to meet  with Dennis and interview him about his career. However how do you go about tracking down an obscure reggae singer anyway? Obviously Facebook will come into it, and email, but how do you get people you don’t know to speak to you about this sort of stuff?

 

Pinnock writes with verve and humour and gently leads you through his somewhat odd quest, blending information about the records themselves (all singles), the musicians, the producers, the reggae scene and the history of the Pinnocks in Jamaica. The format of the book will be familiar to fans of Dave Gorman or Tony Hawkes perhaps but still feels fresh in Pinnock’s hands. There are plenty of footnotes, a discography and the descriptions of the singles were great. If anything, and this is a only very minor niggle, there was a bit too much information about the records in the main text which maybe could just have been put in the discography. For some people this may break the narrative perhaps. This is recommended for fans of UK reggae, music lovers, record collectors, family history aficionados and people interested in Jamaican history and the history of slavery.

 

Overall – Entertaining and informative, well worth checking out.