Posted by sallyhinchcliffe on November 25, 2008
It’s been a bit quiet here since the excitement of Book at Bedtime, mainly because I’m concentrating on writing the next book, and there’s nothing more dull than hearing a writer angsting on about progress on their difficult second novel, so I’ll spare you that. But one thing I am doing is a spot of mentoring for the Koestler Trust.
Ordinarily, I wouldn’t say much about this because of confidentiality issues, but fortunately for me my mentee (and I’m assured that that is a real word) is Shaun Attwood of Jon’s Jail Journal, a blog he kept while in prison in Arizona, and he’s blogged the experience from his angle here. As I mentioned to Shaun, I sound like a bit of the dragon lady – I’m sure I wasn’t quite so blunt in my assessments face to face. But it’s always fascinating to catch a glimpse of oneself in someone else’s mirror, and if anyone is interested in joining the Koestler scheme – or mentoring in any capacity – it might be worth keeping an eye on our progress through the year. I’ll post up here with links as we go, but I urge you all to check out Shaun’s blog anyway, for his lively tales of life in America’s jails and beyond
Posted in Miscellaneous | Tagged: Jon's Jail Journal, Koestler Trust, Mentoring, Shaun Attwood | 1 Comment »
Posted by sallyhinchcliffe on October 31, 2008
MIR 5
I got an email today informing me that this year’s edition of the Mechanics’ Institutue Review – AKA MIR 5 – is available on Amazon. Five! It seems hardly yesterday that I and the rest of the first editorial board were sitting in a room at Birkbeck, agonising over the choice of a title for our new baby.
Anyway, if it’s anything like the last four, I can highly recommend it. This one comes with stories by Ali Smith, Toby Litt and Sarah Salway, as well as a host of other writing by Birkbeck students who you will undoubtedly be hearing more from soon.
And the other blast from the past? Well, my father was googling around the internet the other day and couldn’t help buying me this:
The original and best?
Posted in Miscellaneous | Tagged: Birkbeck, Effie A. Rowlands, Mechanics' Institute Review, MIR, Out of A Clear Sky | Leave a Comment »
Posted by sallyhinchcliffe on September 27, 2008
If you haven’t yet caught the first episode of Out of a Clear Sky on Book at Bedtime, you’ve got just two days to catch up on Listen Again. I can certainly recommend it – Jeremy Osborne at Sweet Talk productions has done a great job of abridging it, and it’s being beautifully read by Nicola Walker.
Of course, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t also go out and buy the real thing…
Posted in Out of A Clear Sky | Tagged: Book at Bedtime, Radio 4 | 2 Comments »
Posted by sallyhinchcliffe on September 22, 2008
Don’t forget – Book at Bedtime for this week and next week will be Out of a Clear Sky. For those of you abroad, or whose bedtime is a little earlier, it will be on listen again but only for a week after broadcast. So hurry, while stocks last…
Posted in Out of A Clear Sky | Tagged: Book at Bedtime, Radio 4 | 4 Comments »
Posted by sallyhinchcliffe on September 16, 2008
Book at Bedtime will be Out of a Clear Sky, read by Nicola Walker, from Monday September 22nd. I didn’t really think it wouldn’t be, but it’s nice to see it in the Organ of Record…
Posted in Out of A Clear Sky | Tagged: Book at Bedtime, Radio 4, Radio Times | 5 Comments »
Posted by sallyhinchcliffe on September 4, 2008
Here’s a sneak preview of the new paperback cover:
New paperback cover design
And if you peer closely, you’ll see why I’m so excited. Yes, Out of a Clear Sky is going to be Radio ‘s Book at Bedtime from September 22nd. And continuing on the radio theme, there’s a nice quote from the Radio 5 Book of the Month programme I did back in May
I’ll put up links to buy it – all of you who haven’t shelled out for the hardback yet, that is – when Amazon have got the page sorted out. At the moment they’re claiming the paperback is by some imposter called Sarah Hinchcliffe…
Posted in Out of A Clear Sky, Publications | Tagged: Book at Bedtime, paperback, Radio 4 | Leave a Comment »
Posted by sallyhinchcliffe on August 29, 2008
I’ve been on the look out for photos of my book ‘in the wild’ so to speak – but this has to be one of my favourites:
OffMyTrolley's shot of Out of a Clear Sky
It comes from OffMyTrolley’s Blog – she’s a library assistant in Derbyshire who’s posting a book review a week on her blog – well worth checking out during this national Year of Reading.
And here’s what she’s got to say about Out of a Clear Sky:
You don’t need to be Bill Oddie to enjoy this, but it could turn you into a twitcher!
Don’t say you haven’t been warned…
Posted in Out of A Clear Sky, Reviews | Tagged: Cover shots, OffMyTrolley, sparrows | Leave a Comment »
Posted by sallyhinchcliffe on August 19, 2008
Well, my virtual tour has been somewhat delayed recently, due to real life intervening both for me and some of my tour-ees. But fortunately Nik Perring has stepped into the breach – he found the book via Roger Morris’s interview in Vulpes Libris and wrote a very kind review of it here – and has now posted an interview with me here. Please check it out, and the rest of his blog too – he’s a writer and a poet himself and has some good stuff to say … not to mention his excellent taste in books.
Posted in Out of A Clear Sky, virtual book tour | Tagged: Nik Perring | Leave a Comment »
Posted by sallyhinchcliffe on August 4, 2008
I didn’t see this yesterday, but thanks to Sophie from Macmillan, I got the clipping today – a nice review from the Mail on Sunday under ‘First Novels’ alongside Mohammed Hanif‘s A Case of Exploding Mangoes – I’m in good company there.
As charming as it is engrossing
I can’t find a link online, so you’ll just have to trust me that I was described as having ‘a keen sense of the macabre’ and (best of all) ‘a formidable knowledge of birds’.
Posted in Out of A Clear Sky, Reviews | Tagged: Mail on Sunday, Mohammed Hanif | Leave a Comment »
Posted by sallyhinchcliffe on August 3, 2008
I’m not sure when this came out – I only google myself every so often, honest – but I just stumbled upon this thoughtful, if not ecstatic, review by Ruth Price on Bookbag.
She succeeds in making the world of avid twitchers sexy
Now there’s an achievement…
Posted in Out of A Clear Sky, Reviews | Tagged: Bookbag, Ruth Price | Leave a Comment »
Buy Out of a Clear Sky in hardback on Amazon
Buy Out of a Clear Sky in paperback on Amazon
Sally Hinchcliffe 