LiteraryAgent.co.uk

LiteraryAgent launches The Blog Exchange

LiteraryAgent — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 22:01:30 +0000

The Authors’ Mingle area at LiteraryAgent.co.uk is proving to be a hit with members. It also gives LiteraryAgent an insight into the needs and wants of aspiring authors.

A recent topic of conversation was their blog sites and how they want to support each other by ‘following’ each others blogs. To encourage and offer its own support to this, LiteraryAgent has set up The Blog Exchange. The process is simple. Authors register details of their blog with an invitation for other authors to follow them, with a return ‘follow’ in exchange.

If you’re an aspiring author, pop over to the The Blog Exchange and register your blog today.

Submission package critique from LiteraryAgent.co.uk

LiteraryAgent — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 10:33:47 +0000

FOR WORKS OF FICTION ONLY

Who would benefit from the Submission Package Critique?

(1) You’ve just finished your manuscript
The Submission Package Critique is for those authors who have finished their books and are about to start their search for a literary agent to represent them.

(2) You’ve already been rejected and don’t know why
Rejection is all part and parcel of the publishing journey. Unfortunately literary agents simply just don’t have the time to go into correspondence to tell you why your submission was rejected, which can be extremely frustrating for authors. Why have you been rejected? Our evaluation of your submision package could give you the answer.

What areas do you cover in the the Submission Package Critique?

For the Submission Package Critique we will evaluate your covering letter, synopsis and first three chapters. Evaluation of the critique covers areas such as format, mechanics, style, pacing, characterisation, dialogue, consistency, scenes and plot. The critique is likely to concentrate on areas of where your submission fails, rather than where it succeeds, as we believe this feedback is more beneficial to you as it will help you in the editing process.

How long will it take for my submission to be evaluated?

Delivery of your critique is within 3 days of receipt of your submission and payment.

What are your fees for the Submission Package Critique?

£75.00

Ready to submit?

All you have to do now is to complete the simple online form below and attach your documents.

Upon submission of the form below you will be automatically redirected to the payment page – thank you.

SUBMISSION PACKAGE CRITIQUE REQUEST FORM

[contact-form]

Rejection Deflection – The ultimate guide on how to get a Literary Agent

LiteraryAgent — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 21:23:54 +0000

Get your hands on our must-have guide to approaching literary agents, Rejection Deflection. If you really want to give yourself the best chance of securing representation of a literary agent then don’t embark on the submission process until you have read our guide, digested it, taken the advice and implemented it! Rejection Deflection has been [...]

Jennifer Turner Smith

LiteraryAgent — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 07:45:38 +0000

I’m at present preparing to submit my latest novel – Sanford Hall.

It’s about a young woman who has lost the importance of family and finds it in the oddest of places – in an old Hall. She discovers that her past helps a family from 300 years ago lay their ghosts to rest.
Contact: Jenny
Maia House
Wigton
Cumbria
CA7 5AF
Phone: 016973 52206
Mobile: 07737677994

Email Me

John Allen

LiteraryAgent — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 07:44:07 +0000

I’ve published my first novel The Outcrop via print-on-damand, and I’m pleased that it’s out there. it’s available on line at Amazon but now I’m being told this is not the way to go.

And having just finished my second novel, a crime story called Spiral I’m having to think long and hard about what I do next. It looks like lots of letters, stamps and printing of specimen chapters.
Contact: 07973 509147

Email Me

Visit my Website

Kelly Marsden

LiteraryAgent — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 07:41:54 +0000

the author: An unpublished writer that lets her imagination run away with her. Someone that always gets back in the saddle…

the current work: A finished piece following the story of the modern day witch-hunters as they come up against the biggest threat of their generation. Written to satiate every need of adventure and humour of reality, while brushing upon dark subjects.
Contact: Kelly
Doncaster
Mobile: 07896800679

Email Me

Kris Davies

LiteraryAgent — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 07:40:37 +0000

I am currently the manager of a multi media based internet broadcast project for young people. In my spare time I am an active comedy scriptwriter, musician and songwriter. I have a very creative job that has enabled me to inspire many young people but have a strong ambition to become a professional scriptwriter.I have a wide variety of experience with regards to writing, performing and realising projects to their true potential. I have used my life experience to create interesting and diverse platforms to form the basis of my scripts and to produce fully rounded characters. I invite and respond well to advice, feedback and criticism and can adapt my work to operate within a specific theme. I believe in myself, my ideas and my ability to find humour in unusual and sometimes off-the-wall settings, whilst ensuring the characters remain easy to identify with. I believe in creating new, interesting and amusing worlds for the audience.

I will work hard to see projects through to the best possible outcome. I love writing and my determination to forge a career as a professional scriptwriter means that I relish the opportunity to further showcase my work to professionals in the industry
Contact: Kris Davies
South Street
Bridgend
Bridgend County
CF313ED
Phone: 01656 669365
Mobile: 07970708447

Email Me

Lee Cambule

LiteraryAgent — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 07:39:04 +0000

Lee studied, amongst other things, English Literature and Media Studies at Swansea College before taking up a position in the civil service. During these formative years, writing became a personal experience and thoughts of publishing were pushed to the back of his mind as he pursued professional success in the public sector. But everything changed in 2006 when Lee joined a part-time Creative Writing Course at his old college.

Working with talented writing enthusiasts helped to rekindle the passion for writing and he reassessed his writing goals. With renewed enthusiasm, Lee continued dabbling in short stories and poetry but his main passion was writing novels. One of his many developments was short-listed for the 2006 Writers Forum Write-a-Novel Competition. Encouraged by this positive reaction to his work, Lee focused on a long standing goal; writing the adventure story which would grow and mature into ‘abducted’.

His second novel, ‘Demons Inside’, is a contemporary drama set in a rural Welsh village about a teenage boy struggling to cope with severe depression. Lee began writing the book almost six years ago and following on from the success of his debut novel, Lee published this emotional drama through LegendPress and YouWriteOn.com.

Born in Swansea in 1979, Lee began his creative writing career early with his first submission to a publisher at the age of 10, a childhood fantasy that (needless to say) was not up to rigorous quality standards set up an industry obsessed with quality. But it served as an indication that writing was in his veins and in his dreams even at a young age.

His first publishing success came at the age of 15 (not a long wait, really). As part of a cross-school initiative amongst the Swansea community, Lee’s original poem ‘Coat of Arms’ was selected from contributions by pupils of all ages across the city to be published in the regional newspaper in January 1996. Lee later went on to write again for that same paper, this time as a contributor to the sports section’s weekly round-up of local football competitions.

Though Lee’s first novel has a strong science-fiction theme, his other developments range from contemporary drama, crime, horror, children’s books, historical fiction and even television screenplays. Refusing to allow the boundaries of genre writing to paint him into a literary corner, Lee has strived to cover an eclectic range of writing styles in his work.

A qualified project management professional with the civil service, Lee is currently working on a number of varied projects from his South Wales home including the next instalment in the ‘abducted’ series.
Contact: Lee Cambule
320 Middle Road
Gendros
Swansea
SA5 8EW
Phone: 01792 579946
Mobile: 07799 482273

Email Me

Visit my Website

Lindsay Ross

LiteraryAgent — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 07:36:06 +0000

I’ve just written a sure-fire blockbuster novel called Hun Choy, Liechtenstein Re and Tania too. I’m just wondering now what should happen next..

OK, as you asked, it’s a story about two men on opposite sides of the world who through the course of the story gradually come together through a series of known and unknown links, initially through a family connection, then business. The conclusion of the book is their first cathartic meeting in catastrophic circumstances

I was partly inspired to write it by an unsatisfying experience with a Jeffrey Archer novel called Kane and Able many years ago. I’m sure many of you will recognise the scenario

The point of the book is to show some of the differences between Western and Eastern cultures, particularly work ethics and cultural values. How does a devoutly Buddhist Cambodian, bought up amid the horror of the Khmer Rouge period came to be an enthusiastic hard-working industrialist, and the faceless name behind countless household (and other) products? How does an arrogant and greedily expectant Englishman come to be in charge of a multi-million pound City of London financial institution? How could their paths cross and could they benefit from one another’s experiences? This book tells their story.

The next best-seller is going to be about the interaction between sport and business told from the perspective of a referee. Men in Black – Whistleblowing and Retribution. Or something similar.
Contact: Lindsay Ross

Email Me

Lydia Taiwo

LiteraryAgent — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 07:34:00 +0000

Chapter 4
Head Injury
Chapter 4
Head Injury
There were two other families living in 87 Flaxman Road with us, in separate
apartments. The landlord lived on the middle floor with his family, while another
Nigerian couple lived in the basement with their daughter. The daughter was more or
less the same age I was. I don’t know much about their personal circumstances, but I
was aware that my parents were on talking terms with them.
On most school days by the time I got home, my parents were out. I used to sit
at the foot of the stairs and wait for them till they returned home. Sometimes when the
couple see me sitting on the stairs awaiting my parents’ arrival, I believe that it was
out of compassion, they would beckon to me to come into their home to stay with
them until my parents arrived. Because I knew the family quite well I would
accompany them into their home and play with their daughter till my parents arrived.
They appeared happy to have me in their home during those times. Staying with this
family went on for some time, till one day I was told by my parents that I was not
allowed in their house again, even if I was asked to come in. This, I later learnt was
the result of an argument that had broken out between them in my absence. I
Immediately had a problem. What should I say if they asked me in, on one of those
lonely afternoons while waiting for my parents?
The next day, I did my best to adhere to my parents’ instruction. But the
family refused to see me sitting alone on the stairs awaiting my parents, so they asked
me in. I informed them that I was not allowed in their home. They still insisted,
stressing, that they were not strangers to my parents neither was I in their home. So
as not to appear rude, I went into the family’s apartment downstairs, hoping that,
somehow my parents would understand my predicament. The family prepared some
food as they normally did around this time of the evening and offered me something
to eat. I don’t quite remember what the meal was that evening, but I joined the family
to eat at the dinning table, sitting next to my friend, their daughter. We both spoke
about school, friends and what we thought about our teachers.
After the meal, we sat in the living room to watch TV. Within about fifteen
minutes after dinner, there was a hard knock on the door. My heart started to pound, I
was afraid, very afraid. I suddenly remembered that accepting the family’s hospitality
was a disobedience to my parents. My friend’s mum opened the door and there stood
my mum and dad. With my heart racing, I thought about what was I going to say?
What will become of me, will I survive this night? All these questions swiftly flooded
my mind. When I saw the look on my parents’ faces I knew that I was in a lot of
trouble! I blurted out a muffled hello to both of them.
They looked at me but ignored my greeting. Both tersely thanked the family
for having me. I briskly walked upstairs to our apartment with apprehension. The
moment I got through the door I was asked to stoop down. I recall that this kind of
corporal punishment requires one to bend down on one leg and with the other leg
lifted up, you then place one hand on your back and using one finger of the other hand
to touch the floor for balance. I had to stay balanced for at least thirty minutes – a
painful and difficult posture for even an adult. I was only a child. Whilst I was in this
position, I was being queried about my visit to the family downstairs, before I could
answer; I had received a kick to the back of my head from my dad’s black boots. Not
just once, I received about two to three kicks to the back of my head. I did not see
them coming. By the time I had received the second kick, blood was dripping from
my head down my neck to the floor and I had fallen to the ground. They must have
been hard toe boots. I was in deep pain. I could not answer the questions he
continued to ask. My head was throbbing painfully when, for the first time ever in my
life, I heard my mother shout to my father to stop it. He stopped and left me there on
the floor, still bleeding of course. She pulled me up from the ground and quickly got a
wad of tissue to wipe the blood. In an attempt to stop the bleeding, she held the tissue
to my head until blood was no longer dripping. My father, who was a trained nurse
before arrival in the UK, should have checked the wound he had inflicted on me. At
the very least, to confirm that bleeding had stopped. I don’t think my parents actually
understood the extent of the injury I sustained that evening. I was told to go to bed, so
I changed from my school uniform into my pyjamas. I then got my beddings from the
corner, laid them on the couch and got into my bed and closed my eyes.
I was in an agonising pain. My head was throbbing and aching so badly that I
had to hold my head to go to sleep. I don’t know how long it took me to fall asleep
that night. All I can remember was that I woke up in the middle of the night crying
and screaming, because I was in so much pain. My father, still lying in bed, asked
what the matter was. I replied him, crying out in pain, that my head was hurting.
When the light was switched on, I could see that my pillow was covered in blood.
Quickly, my father got out of bed and when he saw the blood he shouted – “eweje!”
meaning – Look at blood! I had been bleeding continuously from my head. My
parents had a frantic discussion between themselves. Some of the things they said, I
neither heard nor understood, while I was holding my very painful, aching and
throbbing head. However, I heard them agree and say that they had to call the
ambulance service immediately. Some of the blood had clotted and locks of my hair
were stuck together. The injury was still bleeding profusely down my neck. Dad
called the ambulance service and told them that I had a head injury; sustained from a
fall down the stairs. What are the odds of that happening? This was a single room
apartment, where the only flight of stairs was situated outside the room.
Waiting for the ambulance seemed to take a long time as the pain grew worse.
Meanwhile, I could hear my parents telling me the likely questions I would be asked
and the likely responses I should give. Simply, I was being coached to tell blatant lies.
In my pain, I knew I had no choice in the matter. Fearing for what could be in stock
for me if I didn’t toe the line. Firstly, I should tell them that I slipped and fell down
the stairs. Secondly there was no-one around to see what happened. They were
teaching me to lie to get them out of trouble. The ambulance service arrived, the
paramedics came upstairs. One asked my parents what had happened, while another
paramedic was attending to me, applying wads of cotton wool to the injury to stop the
bleeding. The paramedic then carried me into the ambulance where they made sure
that I was comfortable. The driver quickly sped off, blue lights flashing on the way to
King’s College Hospital in Camberwell.
Within minutes we had arrived at the hospital, where I was whisked off from
the ambulance straight to the Accident and Emergency Department in a stretcher. I
was immediately attended to because I was still bleeding profusely. Once in the
emergency department they immediately applied an ice pack to the back of my head
to stop the bleeding. I was in so much pain, I felt as if my head was going to blow up
as the throbbing pain continued.
When the doctor asked me how I sustained the injury, I responded as coached
by my parents that I fell down the stairs. I could see by the puzzled look on his face,
that he found that difficult to believe or inconsistent with the injury. He hummed and
asked how that happened, I answered and said that I slipped and fell down the stairs.
He must have suspected that my story was not a true account and promptly probed
further. “What did you slip on?” I couldn’t answer that question. I just stared at him
because I did not know what to say. That question was not covered in my coaching. I
was lying because I was afraid of what my parents would do to me if I told the doctor
the truth. The doctor requested that I went for an X-ray to make sure that I had not
broken my skull, or had any internal bleeding. I was rushed to the X-ray department
by the nurses my parents followed along. Mum and dad were very anxious to know
what the doctor had asked and what my responses were. They asked me as I was
being taken to the x-ray department. Their calm but concerned look, masking the
anxiety I could sense in their questions. I told my parents that the doctor asked what
had happened and that I told him that I fell down the stairs.
The X-ray investigation took about twenty to thirty minutes in a private
cubicle in the X-Ray Department. My head was aching and still bleeding profusely. I
was taken to one of the X-ray cubicles where I was gently laid down on an X-ray
table. My head being supported by a nurse with an ice pack on the injury. I was
screaming and yelling from the pain, it was as if my head was going to burst open. I
could hear someone asking me to stay still as the x-ray was being taken. The machine
made a slight whirring noise. I heard that the radiographer needed to take further Xrays
at different exposures whilst I was screaming and yelling with pain. Finally the
X-rays were all completed. I had to wait on the stretcher in the waiting room with my
parents who also waited for the results. It was an agonising wait. I hated my father for
what he had done to me. I cried for two reasons, firstly, the pain from the injury and
also the torture I had received at the hand of the man that was meant to be my dad.
Just before the results came through, a nurse came along and gave me some
painkillers to reduce the pain. She also took me away to another cubicle to receive
treatment to my head. She cleaned the wound, applied dressing and covered it in a
bandage. The bandage was wrapped around the top of my head, such that my hair was
entirely covered. I was then taken back to the doctor with my X-ray results. The
doctor looked through the report and was happy to see that I did not have a fracture or
haemorrhage to the brain. He did, however, inform my parents that I needed to be off
school for about two to three weeks while the injury healed. The doctor discharged
me and gave my parents a prescription for further painkillers. By this time it was
early in the morning. With the painkillers taken, I must have been so exhausted that I
didn’t remember how I got home, I fell asleep. I woke up to find myself on my
parent’s bed. I was treated as an invalid for that day only.
For the next two weeks I stayed at home unable to go to school. I was home
alone with my head aching really badly. My parents did not stay at home with me
during the two weeks, they went to work. I was so sad that neither of my parents
cared enough to stay home and watch over me – I was under eight years old. They
didn’t even seem to care. I was left by my parents, with food to eat for breakfast and
lunch. I woke up each day with pain; I had to use my two hands to literally lift my
head from the pillow to get up from off the bed. Every morning, during those two
weeks, I would get up brush my teeth and have some cornflakes to eat. Then I took
my painkillers and returned to bed, using my hands to support my head to lie down
again. In the evening when my parents arrived from work, I would have dinner with
them, take the last dose of my medication for the day and then make my bed on the
couch where I would sleep till morning.
Over the two week period, I felt better and the pain and throbbing headaches
subsided. My head did heal but for many years no hair grew back in the area. The
very spot remains bald to this day.
There was really no communication between myself and my parents. I thought I was
an inconvenience, maybe I was. Never kissed, hugged or embraced by either dad or
mum. I felt unloved, just existing, living in a strange inhospitable environment. I
really wanted someone to love me, to care for me, to talk to and with me, but there
was no-one. Still that was my dream, my hope and prayer in those days.
The head injury did heal but left me with physical, psychological and emotional scars.

*********************************************************************

My book – What A Life! was orignally self published in the UK

I was encouraged after the book launch to find a publisher, I got one in the USA, they read my transcript and decided to publish it.

Since then I have ben asked to speak at events, give presentations and also be involved in policy making.

My book is available in most bookshops and online sites including Amazon and NAPAC websites. The ISBN is 9781606939826.

I was asked to talk at the Annual Victoria Climbie Conference last June, where I spoke as a survivor of physical child abuse

I am presntly writing articles about child abuse awareness in various magazines.

I am available for interviews regarding my book – What A Life!

I have had over ten book reviews which are very encouraging.

I would like the book to be made into a film, I am looking for suggestions on this.

I am also working on my second book and would require an agent representative.
Contact: Lydia Taiwo

Email Me