First prize in the Fish short memoir competition
Amazed and happy. My memoir ‘Last Days’ came first in the Fish Short Memoir Prize. Deep respect to the other prize winners and all the entrants who put a slice of their life out there. Thanks Clem Cairns and all at Fish Publishing for running these competitions and keeping it real.
The Rooker Prize 2024: Announcing the Winner
On International Crow and Raven Day 2024, Lewes FC can announce the winner of our writing competition The Rooker Prize! Lewes resident, James Ellis, who has written and crowdfunded two novels of his own, is now ‘absolutely thrilled’ to win the football club’s annual competition, sponsored by award-winning music podcast The Rockonteurs and publishers Hachette…
Putting musicality into writing
I came to guitar lessons late. So all those neural pathways hadn’t been opened when I was young and I had no latent muscle memory to draw on. But I have a very patient tutor who teaches me fingerstyle guitar. This means I learn pieces that play bass, harmony and melody all in the same…
No points for a heartfelt attaction
Fantastic to see my short story, ‘No points for a heartfelt attachment’ published in this anthology. Amazing. Who would have thought a tale about cryptic crosswords would find itself nestled among such august company. My mother would have been happy to know it was because of her love of these puzzles that I wrote it.
Plastic dust-covers
I love seeing my books in library. I like it even more that people are taking them out. But I really, really love those plastic dust-covers! Transports me to my childhood when I walked to the village library, kicking through leaves (was it always autumn?) with the prospect of taking out eight library books, laden…
Tender is the Flesh book review ****
I have just read ‘Tender is the Flesh’ back-to-back with Stanley Tucci’s ‘Taste’ (which I loved) and quite honestly you could swap premises and they would read the same – human waxes lyrical over eating animal; human waxes lyrical over eating human. So, yes, “Tender is the Flesh” is about cannibalism – legal, legitimised and…
Passing the time with a six-month-old
One of the joys of being a second bloom parent is that when the Baby King looks closely at my face, he instinctively reaches for the loose folds of my skin. At least he’s too young to comment. At his age there is only the bald unvarnished truth and for me, obviously, the truth is…
Still learning after all these years
We love our house. It’s quirky and unusual and a bit bonkers with unexpected nooks and crannies and secret doorways. But love it though we do, before our new little housemate was born I was concerned its very quirkiness might make it a not-very-child-friendly environment. I needn’t have worried. It turns out it is very…
A note to my newly born son
Dear little one – you might have noticed a change of surroundings and are asking yourself, what the hell happened the other night? Well, you’ve been born. Don’t panic. We’ve all been through it. The experience will fade and you’ll remember it only in dreams that leave you feeling strangely wistful in late middle-age. And…
A Christmas message to my soon to be born baby
Dear little one, it’s your father again. You may have noticed your accommodation has less legroom than before. That’s because you will be born soon! I know. It’s amazing. Did you read that pamphlet on Ontology and Existentialism by Heidegger? No? It’s okay, I’ve put a copy in your cot. If you are studying your…
A note to my yet to be born baby
Dear little one, it’s your father here. How are you doing in there? Do you have everything you need? If you want any extras, put them on my bill. Now you’re minus-three-months-old I thought I’d write because there’s something I need to tell you – I’m probably going to be the oldest parent in the…
Huy Truong’s outstanding envisioning of The Wrong Story characters
I am indebted to the brilliant artist Huy Truong for his outstanding envisioning of some of the characters from The Wrong Story. These are the characters who inhabit the head of cartoonist Tom Hannah, and appear in his eco-cartoon strip. But between the lines of the strip they live in a grimy reality of their…
#LockdownLit: The Therapist
She said, it had been traumatic. She said, not traumatic like explosions or being in a war. She hadn’t been buried alive or anything. It wasn’t that sort of traumatic. She said, if she didn’t talk about it she’d go mad. Not literally mad, of course. She meant she would… crack. Like glass. She said,…
#LockdownLit: One Hell of an Evening
Max thumped his steering wheel. “Come on.” In the distance, the traffic lights changed from red to amber to green but the line of cars barely moved. They were backed up as far as he could see, in front and behind, a procession of lights snaking through the dark. On his passenger seat was a…
‘A Very Unbound Book’ Another ‘kind of’ book review. Happy Family by James Ellis
via ‘A Very Unbound Book’ Another ‘kind of’ book review. Happy Family by James Ellis
#LockdownLit: Early Days
Andrea said to me, our life is too shallow. I said, define shallow. She said, when you wake up what do you think about? I said, what shirt to put on. She laughed. See? I said, okay, let’s talk deep. She said, fine, where do you stand on abortion? I said, not that deep. She…
#LockdownLit: The Beast
Before dishwashers became a standard feature in most people’s kitchens, every town had at least one crockery cleaning kiosk located near a car-park or taxi rank, or within easy reach of public transport. In those days it was common during the week and at weekends, and on Mondays in particular, to see people carrying their…
#LockdownLit: The Fire-Diver’s Assistant
The fire-diver was called Gregory, and I assisted him by chalking arrows on the walls of seaside towns; writing things like This Way To See The Great Fire-Diver – Three O’Clock, or, It’s The Greatest Show On Earth – Don’t Miss It. The arrows and notices always led to a pier or a jetty, or…
Happy Family: bloggers’ reviews
Happy Family has completed its blog tour and the results are in. Huge thanks to all of the book bloggers, and to Anne Cater who arranged the tour. Blog tour reviews: Paterson Loarn Books IMO Intensive Gassing About Books Hinton Hits the Books Ramblingmads Miss Known Little Miss Book Lover The Book Wormery cen_sational_reads (Instagram)…
Facebook school friends: let’s move on
I am in contact with only two of my schoolfriends. By contact, I mean we actually meet face to face – until COVID, that is. With everyone else, either the bonds weren’t strong enough or I was too lazy to keep things going. But having more past than future can make one twitchy, and I…
Happy Family book launch: James Ellis in conversation with Germaine Kiecke – Saturday April 25th
I am very excited. The London launch of Happy Family will be on Saturday, 25 April at the brilliant independent bookshop, Nomad Books. It will start at 18.45. The reason I’m so excited is because as part of the launch I am going to be interviewed by Germaine Kiecke – art academic, TV journalist and lead character in Happy…
Don’t rush a good thing
Watch out, many of the baby boomers’ final cohort will be turning 60 this year – those born in the satisfyingly neat year of 1960 (it is so easy to work out how old one is, when there’s a zero at the end). So expect a deluge of articles on the subject – how entering…
The shape of something
I have an idea, elusive and shadowy, but definitely there. The shape of something. The right something. It needs to be pushed and prodded (gently), given substance by being handled. Coaxed into the light so I can see it more clearly. A story. A novel. A something… I am not a plotter. At least, not…
Happy Family is being serialised
As part of its pre-launch marketing process, Unbound have arranged for Happy Family to be serialised on The Pigeonhole. This is a great way to get reviews and build a buzz before its publication early next year. You can check it out and get early sight of the text here: https://thepigeonhole.com/books/happy-family. If you do, please a leave a review.…
An Other’s Look has another title
After much discussion the working title of my second novel, An Other’s Look, has been changed to Happy Family. I love this title because it works at so many different levels. The book is scheduled for release in early 2020 and it has now been through two rounds of developmental editing, a full line (copy) edit,…
Exploring the real world… volunteers
January, 2019 It’s that time of year. Our Christmas tree is lopsided and the fairy’s fallen off. The decorations are pulling paint off the walls, our pots and pans are charred and ruined, black bags are filled with body parts, guests cower in the shadows looking lost and frightened, ravens peck at carcasses, wolves howl,…
Exploring the real world… Goldilocks pubs
February, 2019 According to a recent census there are almost 10,000 people living in the parish of Bradford on Avon (north and south wards). More than 80% are 18-years-old or older which means there are roughly 8,000 adults living in an area of slightly more than five-square-miles. It doesn’t say how many dogs are resident…
Exploring the real world… a Christmas Carol
December, 2018 Bah! That’s what I used to say to Christmas. Humbug! An annual mugging of my hard-earned moolah. Decorations? Boughs of holly? Spare me the jingly bells and chestnuts roasting on an open fire. I was a writer, jaded by Amazon algorithms. What use was festive cheer to me? But then last Christmas, our…
Exploring the real world… the canal
November, 2018 In 1794 the first sod of the Kennet and Avon Canal was cut in Bradford on Avon. What interests me about that moment is the phrase, ‘first sod’. Every description of that inaugural digging uses those words. Not ‘first clod of earth’, not ‘first dollop of mud’, but always ‘first sod’. It’s not…
James Ellis in words 