This is how the world will end: The Trees with Ali Shaw

In 2009, Atlantic Books published a remarkable debut novel, 'The Girl with Glass Feet', and we instantly fell in love with it in the shop. Realising the author Ali Shaw lived in Oxford, we got in touch - and our first event of 2010 found us listening as Ali describing how that book came to be written.

We weren't the only ones whose hearts and imaginations were captured: it was shortlisted for the Costa first novel award, and finally rewarded with the prestigious Desmond Elliott Prize for New Fiction in 2010. We were first in the queue to get Ali to Abingdon again when his second novel 'The Man Who Rained' was published - and we are delighted that he will be returning to Mostly Books again to discuss his third novel 'The Trees'.

'The Trees' is another remarkable feat of imagination, a story of the power and brutality of nature, and our relationship with it - and each other.

It follows Adrien Thomas, not much of a hero, faced with an overnight transformation of the world which is as brutal and terrifying as it is unexpected. Setting off to reach his wife who is across the sea in Ireland, he is joined by green-fingered Hannah and her teenage son Seb. 

Their journey will take them to a place of terrible beauty and violence, the dark heart of nature and the darkness inside themselves.

The book is already receiving some fantastic reviews:

"The Trees is a stunning and vivid examination of the relationship between humans and the environment in which they live. Violent, beautiful, devastating and utterly enchanting, it's a complete triumph for Shaw, who masterfully brings every detail of the book to life. A wonderfully imaginative story, but also a compelling social commentary, The Trees is a rarity and an absolute must-read." - Graeme Smith, The Herald Scotland

Ali will be in conversation with Mark Thornton, and the event takes place at Mostly Books on Wednesday, March 16 at 7.30pm. Tickets are £4, to include a glass of wine.

Email us to reserve a place for what we know will be a captivating evening with this talented and special author.

Ali Shaw – delving into a writer's subconscious with Abingdon Writers

The beauty of the blank page and the magical effect of tapping into your subconscious were two of the main themes at the talk Oxford-based writer, Ali Shaw, gave to Abingdon Writers and guests on March 29 at Abingdon Library.

In a generous and inspiring talk in which he shared his creative processes, Ali Shaw talked about how a single idea can grow into a novel – and how he believes that tapping into the dark, primeval part of his brain has enabled him come up with his fresh and beautiful stories.

‘One of the best things about writing is when you realise that your instincts that were causing you to write what you did were correct and that it is only when it is written that you realise what the books is about,’ he told the audience this week.

Ali Shaw’s first book ‘The Girl with Glass Feet’ was a popular and critical success, an original blend of beautiful, atmospheric writing, a fairy tale theme, and a love story. It was shortlisted for no less than three major awards for debut novels and won the Desmond Elliot prize.

It is a story, he says, about how you have to wring what you can out of life, but he didn’t realise this until it was finished, as he starts with an idea and builds from that, rather than trying to write to a theme.

He wrote his first novel while working full time and says he thinks trying to fit his writing in around this probably helped allow his subconscious take over. He often wrote when he was very tired – either late at night when he kept himself going with a glass of whisky, or he woke around 4am when he needed lots of coffee.

‘A time when you have forced yourself out of bed and are exhausted is actually a good time for writing. But I suppose you have to be honest about why you are doing it. Most people who write will do it whatever, because there are easier ways to make a living. But while people do feel compelled to do it, interesting books will continue to be written. I just tried to write the kind of book I would like to read. I just sort of plunged in and hoped.’

Ali Shaw has recently published his second novel ‘The Man who Rained’ about a boy who has been exiled from his small remote town, people by superstitious folk who believe he is the embodiment of a thunderstorm (Ali also said he had delivered his third novel to his agent that day, so we are now looking forward to that one!)

The idea for this story came from realising that many of us living in centrally-heated homes can find it difficult to understand how unstoppable and powerful the weather really is.

Writing the second was a different experience as not only was there already expectation from his first novel, he didn’t have to show his first to anyone until it was at a much further stage towards completion.

Yet he says he feels really lucky to have been published at all ‘You’ve just got to keep sending your stuff off because chance is against you.'

Local writing group, Abingdon Writers, had invited Ali to their group and had opened up the meeting to those who wanted to hear Ali's talk as part of Abingdon Arts Festival. Several members of the group spoke about how important they have found belonging to a writing group and encouraged other writers aspiring to be published themselves, to join.

Ali Shaw said one of the best things about writing groups was the fact that it encourages you to keep going.

Abingdon Writers was founded three years ago is actively seeking new members and meets two evenings a month in central Abingdon to share critique, support and marketing ideas.

Many thanks to Abingdon Writers, Ali Shaw and Abingdon Library for helping make such an interesting event as part of the town's arts festival.

I don't want to join a writing group

(Ahead of next week's event with Ali Shaw, we've invited Gabby Aquilina of local writing group Abingdon Writers, to give a bit of background to the group, and the event with Ali which takes place in Abingdon Library next week. Take it away Gabby...)


Hi Mostly Book Lovers!

I’m scooching on over to the Mostly Books blog from my normal corner of the blogosphere (thanks for having me Nicki and Mark!) to tell you all about writing groups. Because, you know, writing groups are the new stitch ‘n’ bitch for people hankering for a new creative outlet which comes with a support group…

I feel fairly qualified to talk about this because way back in the middle of 2009, I formed Abingdon Writers with two lovely people I met at a Mostly Books / Oxford Writing Group event (hurrah for Mostly Books and their wonderful events schedule!) – Liah Thorley and Anna Jones.

Although the OWG had no room for new members themselves, the panel encouraged the audience to create their own group and so Abingdon Writers was born! The three of us soon grew to five and then eight; ten quickly became fourteen and we decided to cap membership when we reached eighteen and start a waiting list! Who knew there was all this writing talent just loitering around Abingdon, scribbling (well, typing) away quietly in recesses under stairs or bundled up in five layers of clothing in garden sheds.

We were surprised and delighted at the amount of interest in our group and, although we have had several people come to trial meetings over the last three years never to return, most of us have remained. Fearless, super-confident writers? Not nearly, although perhaps I speak just for myself here - quivering, insecure shadows of non-writerly people, more likely. Oddbodies who enjoy their work being dissected and mauled over by their peers? Possibly, although ‘enjoy’ might be the wrong emotion to convey here.

Now, I mentioned support groups in my first paragraph and here I am talking about ‘peer reviews’ being brutal and sort of vicious. They’re not, it just sounds much more dramatic that way. Constructive criticism is the reason why Liah, Anna and myself wanted to set up the group. That and support – encouraging and motivating your fellow aspiring writer friends is SO important. Finding out what real people (anyone who isn’t family or your BFF) think of your masterpiece can be a revelation and a huge confidence boost but it’s the shared experiences of trying to get that first chapter perfect or writing that darned query letter that makes you glad you have writer friends to help you get them right.

Admittedly, there have been times when I have read at a meeting and felt completely disheartened by the feedback. At first. After a day to stew over certain comments or, eek, facial expressions, you realise that actually, the group were right. That paragraph does require tweaking, more description is needed to ground the location and those two sentences about your florist-owning, yoga devotee waif of a heroine ranting about middle-lane drivers are, perhaps, a little bit jarring.

What I am trying to say (this would never do for a synopsis) is that Abingdon Writers has given me the confidence and encouragement to actually GET MY NOVEL OUT THERE. Without the AW members, my manuscript would probably have been languishing under a pile of two year old magazines until I dragged it out to use as scrap paper for my daughter to scribble on or kill flies with.

So, with one manuscript out there being ‘properly’ mauled over by agents, I have another one on the go. And who knows? Maybe one day I’ll be on the bookshelves of Mostly Books – a local author done good.

Just like Ali Shaw – author of the Desmond Elliot 2010 winning, ‘The Girl With Glass Feet’ (also shortlisted for a whole bunch of awards including the Costa First Novel Award) and the recently published, ‘The Man Who Rained.’

Incidentally (!), Abingdon Writers is hosting an evening with Ali Shaw on Thursday 29th March at 7.30pm in Abingdon Library. Tickets (£4 with £3 redeemable against a purchase on the night) are still available from Mostly Books and can also be bought on the door at the event.

Now, I know Nicki has already reviewed ‘The Man Who Rained’ and pointed you in the direction of the wonderful Gaskella for another review but let me just add my two cents here:

Both Ali Shaw’s books are lyrically written, beautifully imagined fairy tales. The imagery and ideas that he comes up with are original and spellbinding. Sunbeams that turn into canaries? Aren’t you just smiling at that idea, picturing it in your head?

If you are, then you should come and meet Ali and the Abingdon Writers next Thursday! Chat with us, get a book or two signed and have a glass of wine. Perhaps you’ll even decide that a writing group is just what you need to help you get motivated and put your name down to join us. We’ll be gentle. Ish.

The Man Who Rained with Ali Shaw

Oxford-based author Ali Shaw will be joining Abingdon Writers for an evening discussing his second novel ‘The Man Who Rained’. His first, ‘The Girl with Glass Feet’, was one of 2010's most critically acclaimed debuts, being shortlisted for the Costa First Book Award and winning the Desmond Elliot Prize.

The evening is presented by Abingdon Writers, a fun, social group of local writers who will also be sharing their own experiences and writing successes.

The event takes place at 7.30pm on Thursday March 29 at Abingdon Library. Tickets are £4 and available from Mostly Books or from Abingdon Library.

Bookshop Intelligence

Tens of thousands of books published each month, and we have room for about, ooh, 60 new ones - so how do we pick? In the good old days (or bad old days, if you're looking at these things from a financial point of view), we tended to sit down once a month, look through the new Gardners catalogue and try to spot those titles that we thought would go down well in the shop. We ordered them in, they sat there for a bit, and then - in the days before many customers - many of them went back (particularly hardbacks) as part of our returns allowance.

As time went on, and we got to know our customers a bit better (and there were more of them), we became a bit more adept at spotting books that people would buy (luckily for us). But from day one we did something else: we began to talk to people about books, asking questions when taking orders (especially if the title looked intriguing, or where the author was unknown to us). At the same time, we started running our bookgroups, meeting with reps, getting hold of proof copies, having authors meet us in person - and we started to follow literary bloggers and review sites. In short, we were building our bookshop intelligence network. We're still building it, and although it's not perfect (no network is), and even though it is constantly changing, it does occasionally give us an early warning system when a special book materialises onto the scene. 

This happened in the Autumn last year, when a customer came in (thanks Vicky!) and ordered a copy of a book by a new local author. When it arrived, it looked gorgeous, and one of our staff members ordered another, then whisked it home, then whisked it back to the shop a few days later begging everyone to read it. Eventually we loved it so much we made it one of our Christmas books. We also got in touch with the author, and so the first event in 2010 was welcoming Ali Shaw to the shop to talk about "The Girl With Glass Feet". Since our original 'discovery', the book has been shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award, and has received rave reviews from lots of different quarters. It's also not doing badly in the US, and (as of last night) was the fourth most wished-for book on the IndieBound Wishlist. How lucky are we that Ali lives in Oxford and can get to us on a short bus ride?

 
Ali talked about his experiences to date with writing, his many jobs (including working at Queens Park Books and The Bodleian) and the 'tricky second album' situation he currently faces (although he did promise to get the first draft finished the following week). As always, Gaskella has written a wonderful review of the evening here.  
It's always exciting to discover a new author, and we've picked 'Girl With Glass Feet' as the first book for our newly revamped and relaunched Wednesday evening bookgroup next week. Our thanks to Ali for coming down to Abingdon, to him and everyone who packed in to make it such a great evening. Sticking on the 'intelligence' theme, we're looking forward to an event with Ben Macintyre on February 11th (discussing his latest book Operation Mincemeat) and then on Friday, February 19th we're very excited to have the legendary Sara Paretsky coming to Abingdon to talk about her latest book 'Hardball'. I've just finished reading both for the BBC Oxford Afternoon Book Club, and my thoughts on both these cracking books will feature on here shortly...

2010 Reloaded

Tomorrow has the feel of a 2010 'relaunch', as if it's the beginning of the year all over again, and the past two weeks haven't really counted (what with one thing and another). Thanks to some staff heroics, tromping through the snow and slush, working in five layers of clothing, having to mop the floor several times a day, etc., the shop has been open every day since the start of the year, and although it's fair to say that some of the those days have been a tad quiet, it has meant we've been able to rush around setting up events left, right and centre for the first few months of the year. If you fancy seeing some of the mouthwatering treats we've got lined up for early 2010, take a look at our events page - or read the latest edition of our newsletter which went out at the end of last week. Tomorrow we're all terrifically excited about welcoming Ali Shaw - ex-bookseller, ex-Bodleian librarian, but more importantly author of The Girl With Glass Feet - to Mostly Books, and getting to know someone we feel is a major new British writing talent. Last week The Bookseller described Ali's book as 'The sort of book that awakens people to the wonder of reading'. Couldn't agree more. A few tickets are still available at £3 each - if you fancy an evening out Monday night (January 18th at 7.30pm) let us know you are coming, and we'll have a glass of wine ready for you. It's down the back of the stock room, so consequently won't need chilling...