2014: Round-up post

2014 really has just been the most amazingest year so far.

Those of you who've been reading my blog a while will know how hard I've worked - and how thankless it felt, at times. All those years of scratching away, of sending my work out to rejection and indifference... I feel now, like all of it was worth it.

Soon, I'll do a blog post of what a year of being a published writer has taught me. But, for now, a short list of highlights. There were so many, I had to leave a few off the list. But hopefully you won't mind that. Here they are...

Favourite things this year:

1. Seeing my book. Holding it in my hands for the first time.
2. Getting longlisted for the Not The Booker Prize; seeing it creep up to No. 2 in the Amazon rankings in "Literary / Thriller" as a result.
3. The review where a writer referred to Barney, the hapless social worker, as being "heroically avuncular."
4. My friend texting me to say she kept on trying to borrow my book from the library, and that in the end she'd had to reserve it because it was out on loan all the time.
5. Being shortlisted for the Gladstone Library Writers in Residency programme; the judges wrote me to say they enjoyed the book for its subject matter, particularly. (I didn't win one of the residencies, unfortunately. Next time!)

Other ace things that happened: 

1. Mentoring for the Womentoring project was a really fulfilling, and enjoyable thing I did this year. I was able to see my mentee's work come on in leaps and bounds, and be there with her as her ideas about plot and character really solidified. I'm on a break from it at the moment, but hope to be taking mentoring applications again from February 2015 onwards.
2. Fictions of Every Kind won a small grant from Leeds Inspired, which will enable us to bring short story writers from further away, to Leeds. The first event we're running using this money is on April 14th, themed Relativity, with award-winning authors Zoe Lambert and Avril Joy. Keep watching for further events, as the money will allow us to be much more ambitious in what we can do.

Rubbish things that happened:
My cat was sick for a week or so. But he soon got better again. It turned out he'd eaten something he shouldn't have. Here is a picture of him, for all you cat fans out there.

Plans for 2015:

1. Write more. I'm doing a lot at the moment, and have finished the 1st draft of my second novel. Without going into too much detail, the novel is about a sad angry man living in an abandoned hotel. I'll be heading more into a borderline/speculative direction second time around. The rewriting will probably take me the rest of the year. I'm obsessive like that.  

2. Write more short stories. 

3. Take more pictures of the cat.

4. Go on holiday, which I haven't done for about 3 years. I might have forgotten how. (Though I have just booked flights to an exciting sunny location, so there is definitely hope.) 

Currently reading

The Secret History Donna Tartt 

A slew of interviews...

I've done a few interviews lately - thanks to all who have asked.

Literature Works SW have chosen Brick Mother to be their book of the month in September, and I did a short interview with them apropos of that. Here it is:

"What struck me about the novel was how you captured the mundane everyday lives of the hospital staff alongside developing a dark central storyline. Why was it important for you to capture these small details?" (You can read the whole thing over at the Literature North West site)

Jessica Patient over at Writer's Little Helper invited me to open an imaginary bookshop.

"It's a wonder for anybody who doesn't know what they're looking for, and a nightmare for anybody who loves order and alphabetisation." (You can read the whole interview over on Writer's Little Helper.)

Richard Smyth & I were also interviewed by the Yorkshire Post: "[Bradley's] style is refreshingly direct and pared-down, while her empathy for the characters comes across strongly" (You can read the whole feature on the Yorkshire Post website.)
Currently reading

Wild Ink Richard Smyth

Readings!

Had an amazing time at last week's Dead Ink Book party in London. It was great to see so many friendly faces, and to meet so many interesting people. Since I don't really know anyone in London (5 people to be exact), it was an amazing surprise to see how many people turned out for a book party for two new, and pretty much completely unknown, writers. My Dead Ink compadre Richard Smyth did a brilliant job of organising it all. We even managed to sell two books to a drunk man on his way to the toilets. That'll have been a nice surprise for Sober Him come Saturday morning... 

Here are a couple of videos from the event, in which I read a couple of extracts from Brick Mother. I hope you enjoy them!

Donna (Chapter 2)

Barney (Chapter 5) 

Currently reading

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves Karen Joy Fowler

A status update!

Hello, sorry, hello, I have been busy.

Item one: writing short stories for a collection.

Item two: starting work on a new novel. More news as it emerges.

Then! Also!

Here are links to a couple of really great reviews of Brick Mother. Many thanks to Max Dunbar and Jenna Isherwood, respectively, for these.

"At first glance this is pure kitchen sink. The tone is made out of damp, wet clothes, missed appointments, unhappy relationships, lack of money. But this miasma of mediocrity gradually resolves itself, through Bradley’s intricate and unseeable skills, into something absolutely horrifying." Through the Dark Glass: SJ Bradley's Brick Mother, by Max Dunbar

"The pace is also helped along by Bradley’s prose style, which is perhaps deliberately un-showy but still leaves room for moments of austere beauty.... An impressive feature of this novel is the way Bradley’s simplicity of style contrasts with the complexity of the questions she is raising" Jenna Isherwood over at Quadrapheme magazine

Soon I will become a real person, who blogs properly. Soon, I promise, soon. Until then...

Currently reading

Gentlemen & Players Joanne Harris

Any Other Mouth Anneliese Mackintosh

London book party!

Myself and fellow Dead Ink author Richard Smyth are having a London book party for our novels!

The event is on Friday July 25th, at 7pm, at the New Moon Pub on Gracechurch Street. Entry is free, and the pub serves food and booze (very good food and booze, if the rumours I've heard are right).

There's more information about the Dead Ink Book launch on the facebook page...

Currently reading

The Diaries of Jane Somers Doris Lessing

Why haven't I blogged for a while?

“Brick Mother is a stunning debut. It manages at once to be both thought-provoking and terrifying, a thrilling page-turner that has a great deal to say about the atomisation of 21st Century society. It goes beyond newspaper headlines to give the reader a real insight into the ordinary and extraordinary daily lives of a seemingly-impenetrable institution.” Anthony Clavane, author of Promised Land

Oh dear. I've been really busy lately. What with the book being out, and writing, writing, writing.

The good news is, that my book is out! Review copies are available for book bloggers and review editors. Contact either me (@bradleybooks on twitter or SJ Bradley on facebook) or the publishers (@Deadinkbooks on twitter) if you want one.

You can buy it in paperback direct from Dead Ink Books here.

Or for Kindle here.

If you read the book and like it, please rate it on GoodReads, leave a review online somewhere, and tell your friends. Thankyou!

Currently reading

The Diaries of Jane Somers Doris Lessing 

Novel launch!

"Empathetic, serious, forgiving, ominous, tender, terrifying... Brick Mother follows the lives of ordinary people tasked with the extraordinary challenge of caring for the mentally ill. Human weakness is witnessed, measured and forgiven in the same breath. Bradley has performed the unlikely feat of inhabiting a cold government building with a nurturing human heart. A thoughtful, thought-provoking and mature debut." (Mishka Shubaly, best selling author of The Long Run) 

I'll be launching my debut novel, Brick Mother, at the Leeds Big Bookend festival this June, along with fellow Dead Ink author Richard Smyth, who will also be launching his debut novel at the same event. The launch event is on June 7th at 2pm in Leeds Central Library. The facebook events page is here. 

Currently reading

Collected Stories Lydia Davis
We Had It So Good Linda Grant