The ‘Masterminds’ name was actually suggested years ago by Christopher, who produces Prepublished. It’s a term commonly used for groups that get together to learn and share knowledge on a specialist subject. In this case: writing YA fiction. The group meets once a week or once a fortnight (online during lockdown) to workshop a couple of pieces and to be each other’s encouragement, writing conscience and inspiration. As you’ll hear, this was more necessary than ever at the time we spoke.

Thanks as always to Christopher Pett for production and editing.

Links:

City Lit: https://www.citylit.ac.uk/

Arvon: https://www.arvon.org/writing-courses/courses-retreats/

British Library: https://www.bl.uk/

David Higham: https://www.davidhigham.co.uk/

Undiscovered Voices competition, run by SCBWI: https://www.undiscoveredvoices.com/

City Uni Novel Studio: https://www.city.ac.uk/study/courses/short-courses/courses/the-novel-studio/

Faber FAB Prize: https://www.fabprize.org/

Spread the Word: : https://www.spreadtheword.org.uk/projects/london-writers-awards/

In season one of Prepublished, I talked mostly to writers, agents and editors in the world of children’s fiction, as that’s where I spent the first ten years of my published life. Season two will spread its wings a bit and include conversations with writers across all age groups, including poets and playwrights, debut authors and bestsellers. As before, we’ll also take a look behind the scenes at the world of publishing.

But I start where I left off, with children’s writing. James Nicol is the author of a fantasy children’s series, published by Barry Cunningham of Chicken House. Barry is the man who discovered JK Rowling, Lucy Christopher, MG Leonard, Kiran Millwood Hargrave (sorry I misspoke your surname in the spoken intro, Kiran), Maz Evans and, in amongst them, me.

James is the first person I spoke to for this series, during the first lockdown, and once we’d mastered the technology, it was a balm to the soul. Like me, he had a long route to becoming a published writer. I love his story about turning down a dependable job in a sticking foam factory to work as a bookseller for many years.

James took various writing courses while he honed his craft, and I wanted to discuss the value of these with him. Is it worth it? Should one do it? What do you get out of it? All useful things to know, I think. As always, it was good to talk to a fellow writer about the ups and downs of the road to publication. I loved his comment that ‘you can’t fix a blank page’. If you want to be a writer, however hard it is, you first have to write.

https://jamesnicolbooks.com

https://goldeneggacademy.co.uk

https://www.chickenhousebooks.com

Over a 20-year career, Cliff has written many fantasy, sci-fi and supernatural stories for children and young adults. The Doomspell Trilogy, his debut series, sold to 26 countries. His 2006 ghost novel, Breathe, was voted as one of the top 100 adult and children's novels of all time by the Schools Network of British Librarians in 2013.

Thanks as always to Christopher Pett for production and editing.

Links to resources:

Cliff’s website: https://www.cliffmcnish.com

Cliff’s posts on 'Notes From the Slushpile': https://www.notesfromtheslushpile.com/2013/05/deepening-character-conversation-with.html

https://www.notesfromtheslushpile.com/2015/06/the-devil-is-in-detail-writing-villains.html

John Truby on writing: https://truby.com

'Save the Cat' by Blake Snyder
Website: https://www.savethecat.com
Book: https://store.savethecat.com/collections/save-the-cat-books/products/save-the-cat-the-last-book-on-screenwriting-youll-ever-need

‘Morning pages’, from 'The Artist’s Way' by Julia Cameron: https://juliacameronlive.com/basic-tools/morning-pages/

'On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft', by Stephen King: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Writing:_A_Memoir_of_the_Craft

'The Seven Basic Plots' by Christopher Brooker: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seven_Basic_Plots