Not a chimp or even a chump - a Champ!

On Creativeness and Creativity

Jackson in Action!

“A chimp that haphazardly splats different coloured paint onto a canvas can surely be called a creature that shows a sense of creativeness. A creature that splats different coloured paint onto a canvas within a system of predetermined ideas, methods, process, emotions, senses and objectives can surely be called Jackson Pollack.”

Go to Tom’s article published on Squidoo

The first in a series of posts and articles following the strange roads in the writing of Tom’s third novel

Strange Roads: A regular feature following Tom Gamble’s latest novel – as he writes it

Half way into writing my third novel Strange Roads (that seems to have taken on a life in itself and constantly leads me down many a strange road in the process!) I suddenly realised it could be a great case study for all those wanting an insight into how to get your initial desire off the ground, shape it into an idea, mind-map it into a plot and then write it.

I’ll be focusing on the origins of an idea and how you can work it in your favour, tools and processes that really make a difference, snapshots of things I discover on the way as the story becomes part of my life and occasional detours onto stylistic issues involving words, characters, actions, love, sex (oh,yes) and destinies. I hope and aim to get one post/article out per week from now until September and using that great platform called Squidoo for longer pieces. If I don’t, then drop me a line and push me to do it!

The first article, “The Two Most Difficult Things”, can now be discovered @ Squidoo.

Lars Schultze-Kossack and why Germany is fab for books

Literary Agent Lars Schultze-Kossack selects The Kingdom of Emptiness

Encouraged by the launch of The Kingdom and enjoying the manuscript, leading German literary agent Lars Schultze-Kossack signs up The Kingdom of Emptiness for paperback negotiations in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. If you didn't know it, Germany is Europe's most thriving book market with publishers notching up the highest turnover on the continent. If you write in German, then why not submit to Lars. If you write in English - then do it too!
Literarische Agentur Kossack GbR:

Time to assume - and enter a writing competition!

Go for it! Writing competitions to enter from September 2014 to January 2015.  Writing a short story? Writing a full-length MS? Or wanting to, but just can't quite find the motivation?

  

Climbing to the top means starting off from base camp!

Competitions are are a great way to fire that inspiration and give the perhaps necessary boot up the backside to at last get things done! Several cool competitions are open to your work in September 2014 to January 2015 - a great way to get known and earn some money along the way. And the best thing - they're not reserved for the élite, but for little 'uns, dreamers, deservers, hopefuls and talented buds!

Bivouacs along the way...

1. The Mckittereck Prize, run by the UK Society of Authors. Prize: £4,000
2. The Historical Novel Society Award. Prize: $2,000
3. The International Rubery Book Award. Prize: £600 + publication in an anthology
4. The Rethink Press Award. Prize: Paperback and digital publication
5. The Harry Bowling Prize run by the UK Society of Authors. Prize: £1,000 + review by
    top industry critiques.
6. The Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. Prize: Grand prize of $50,000, 4 winner
    prizes of $15,000 and publishing contracts.

 Excited? Motivated? Then you know that all you have to do is.....

Results for the ESSEC Short Story Competition 2014

Congrats to all the authors participating in the 2014 competition. The award ceremony on 16th May gave the following results:

1st prize and winner: Joy Habib for her story "The Things God Does Not Forgive"

Joint runners up: Roman Palmieri for "90 Miles Away" and Anne-Caroline Gallimard for "Ready"

3rd place: Sarah Cotten with "Alfred".

Joy Habib wrote a beautifully crafted story of Yasmina, her family, and her lifelong relationship with her childhood friend Yara that interweaves the theme of identity on many levels. The author can only be encouraged to write a full-length novel version of this wonderfully poignant tale.

 

All 50 works can be read in the paperback collection published by ESSEC Business School.

The Kingdom of Emptiness gets first review

Published a month ago, The Kingdom has had its first reveiw from... Amazon.de!

"The writing is impeccable, astonishing and simply wonderful! It is a delight to read it and this story certainly lets you forget everyday life and restraints! You will be able to identify with one of the characters making the reading a great adventure! Go ahead and buy it! I would love to have it as a printed version!"

 

Many thanks to the reader - a true diamond - and glad you enjoyed the story so much!

Tom :-)

 

Tom Gamble / The Moodfield - You (the northern bay)

Identified as budding talent!

Young writers - the 2014 ESSEC short story competition

I've had the great (and serendipitous) honour to be a member of the review jury for the 2014 ESSEC Short Story Competition. The fifty or so submitted stories on the theme of Identity were of extremely high quality, some of them very promising material for full-length novels, and the task was indeed a hard one to hone the long and shortlists. Congrats to all.

The winners? Why not come along to the award ceremony at ESSEC Business School on Friday 16th May to find out? See you there!

  

And King Krule...

Music sometimes sparks off a golden idea for a book! This one from the young Londoner certainly sparked off a few memories for me. What it was/is all about to be a teenager - listen on and savour!
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRzlbh4or3c

Step back, suffer, and enjoy it while it lasts!

Tom offers some coaching tools and tips to make not only rejection slips, but also your key characters, work in your favour! And while you're at it, take your boots off and have a paddle somewhere different... @ Squidoo