I’m in the top 10%
- At July 16, 2019
- By Niel
- In Awards, Writing
0
Earlier this year I entered my first feature screenplay, The Waiting Room, into the Page International Screenwriting Awards.
Now celebrating its 16th anniversary year, the PAGE Awards is, according to their website (and who am I to argue?), widely regarded as one of the industry’s top sources for new screenwriting talent. Each year some of Hollywood’s most influential producers, agents, managers, and development executives judge the contest and read the winning scripts, and as a result, dozens of past winners have secured representation, landed script assignments, signed option agreements on their work, and many now have movies and television shows in production, on the air, and in theatres.
Today I heard that I had made it to the Quarter Finals! That’s the top 10% of entries. Now, that’s still a big old field, more than 700 scripts, but I’m still delighted to have made it this far. Being in the top 10% of anything is a good thing, right? I’ll hear if I’ve made it through to the semi finals next month. Let’s see what happens from here.
Read Regional, Branford Boase, and other adventures!
Sometimes good news comes from trees. Or is it in threes? Or on buses? Who knows! Anyway, I was thrilled to hear that Sorrowline had made it onto the Brandford Boase Award long-list, a prize for début writers and their editors which recognises excellence in writing and in publishing. The Award is made annually to the most promising book for seven year-olds and upwards by a first time novelist. I’m really pleased to be nominated along with my editor, Charlie Sheppard from Andersen Press. You can see the full long-list here. The short-list will be revealed in May.
And if that wasn’t enough good news Sorrowline has also been short-listed for the Spellbinding 2014 award. Now in its twelfth year the award gives students from reading groups in Cumbrian secondary schools the opportunity to nominate their favourite book published in the previous year. Students in years 7-9 in participating schools review, debate and discuss the 10 titles and then at the Award Day in June vote for the Spellbinding 2014 winner.
This week also sees Read Regional blasting its way into libraries across the north of England! Read Regional is a promotional campaign organised by New Writing North that connects writers living in the North East and Yorkshire with their local readers. Read Regional is the Batman to the north’s library authorities Robin – together they’re a dynamic duo who bring together authors and readers through a series of local events, readings and workshops. I’m just one of many authors doing events across the region – you can see the entire list of here.
All this and it’s a mere 30 days until the publication of Timesmith! I’m putting together a little trailer video for it right now which I hope to have finished some time in the next week or so. Today’s fun was filming a skull in my back garden. You see, being a writer isn’t just about sitting in front of a computer!
Judging a book by its cover
- At December 03, 2013
- By Niel
- In Awards, Events/News
- 1
We all do it! We’re not supposed to but we DO judge books by their covers. If we didn’t then why would publishers spend money commissioning artists and designers to create works of art to represent the book’s contents? It’s the closest books come to having film-style trailers. They’re there to intrigue you, to make you pick up the book and (hopefully) buy it.
I’m a big fan of classic movie posters of the 70s and 80s, especially the work of Drew Struzan. I love the way his work encapsulates the essence of a movie, its main characters and themes, into one bold image. Stephen Lavis‘ beautiful cover paintings manage the same trick, making you want to read the book immediately. I wanted to capture something similar with the covers for my books and luckily designer James Fraser did exactly that!
You might have heard me mention about Timesmith being in competition in Mr Ripley’s Book Cover Wars this week. Well, I’m delighted to say that it won! Given the excellent competition it was up against it makes it a particularly thrilling victory! The voting went right up to the 12 midnight deadline (far too late for this sleep-loving monkey) and there were only 2 votes in it! It could so easily have gone to the excellent Terminal by Roderick Gordon & Brian Williams. Praise must go to all the finalists and their books:
Alexander Gordon Smith – The Fury – Published by Farrar Straus Giroux – 23, July 2013 – Cover by Christian Fuenfhausen. Roderick Gordon & Brian Williams – Terminal – Published by Chicken House – 2, May 2013 – Cover by David Wyatt. Thomas Taylor – Dan and the Caverns of Bone – Published by A&C Black Children’s – 6th June 2013 – Cover by Thomas Taylor. Ian Johnstone – The Bell Between the Worlds ( The Mirror Chronicles) – Published by HarperCollins – 6 June 2013 – Designed by Blacksheep UK.
Thanks to Mr Ripley and all the other competing covers. The end result for all of us is that we’ve been exposed to covers – and writers – that we might not have seen before, so even a beauty contest like this can be a good thing for the words hidden under the covers.
The Letter
- At July 17, 2011
- By Niel
- In Awards, Writing
- 0
When I was at junior school we were asked to write about ‘The letter that changed my life’. I wrote about receiving a letter from NASA telling me my application to be an Astronaut had been successful. I recall the teacher enjoying it, and I might have had to read it out in front of the class. Memory is a funny thing, and I might be sugar coating it, but I prefer to remember it happening exactly like that.
Years later, when I was in my 20s I actually got a letter from NASA: an application form for Astronaut training. I never filled it out, but I have that letter to this day. It didn’t change my life, but who knows what could have happened if I’d returned it. (The truth is I’m too tall, I don’t speak Russian and I have no academic qualifications that would see me through the first round, but anyway….)
A few weeks ago, on Friday evening, I returned home, tired and stressed, to spy a letter waiting for me on the kitchen windowsill. Diane knew who the letter was from; a franking mark on the envelope said ‘New Writing North’. I opened it with a strange numbness, not knowing what to expect. The first line said, “I am delighted…”
I didn’t get much further. I cheered, hugged Diane, and I understood how much this really meant to me. It was as if, finally, I wasn’t just deluding myself about being able to write. Someone else agreed.
Once I’d calmed down Diane read the letter out to me: I had won a Northern Promise Award in the 2011 Northern Writers Awards.
Could this be any better?
Well…
Northern Writers Awards – application posted
- At April 15, 2011
- By Niel
- In Awards, Writing
- 0
I’ve sent in an application to the Northern Writers’ Awards 2011. I’ve put Sorrowline in for the Northern Promise Awards.
NORTHERN PROMISE AWARDS
These awards aim to provide support for new writers whose work shows particular promise. Writers awarded support under this category may also be offered mentoring to develop their work, detailed manuscript appraisal and feedback alongside a financial award.
