So here's something...

I read quite widely and in recent years have been drawn to work that is dubbed 'experimental' - new ways of telling stories. Sometimes these works eshew narrative and story completely and to be honest that does not appeal to me (I was never a fan of Andre Breton and the surrealist writers). I am interested in writing in this new way but I am also interested in telling stories. Experimental should not (I think) be hard, just new and fresh and interesting.

My novella 'Blue Postcards' is an experiment in storytelling and so, I hope, is 'With or Without Angels' - hopefully writing in a way that is new or fresh and yet still writing that is populated with characters who want to impart their stories. I am also looking to write well.

A new writer I like is Amalie Smith - a Danish writer and artist. Only two of her books have been translated into English so far, 'Marble' and 'Thread Ripper', but they are clever and interesting and they are good reads (particularly enjoyed 'Marble'). 

And recently I read a fabulous work called 'Go On' by Tania Hershman and I can't understand why there is not more fuss being made about it. It is so good, so new and so interesting. It does things that no other book does (ok the talking to the dead was also done by George Saunders in 'Lincoln in the Bardo', but the rest of what Hershman does in this book is hers - the voice, the structure and the story). I wrote a review of it on Amazon and Goodreads and expected dozens of other reviews to follow but this has not happened... why not. Go out and get a copy and see for yourself... it is so so interesting.

Here's my review which is really a call out for the book:

'OMG!!! This book is Fucking Brilliant! It is! It is brilliant and wonderful and new. Here is a voice that is quiet and loud both at the same time. A voice that gets in your head and (like the Narrator) a voice you don't want to leave behind when it is finished. This is a wonderful experiment in form and it is quite simply (and complexly) fantastic. I fell in love with the Narrator and with the Author - because I am a Falling-In-Love-Person - but here is a new and very real person and this book helps you to understand that and to accept that. This book is a triumph - for Broken Sleep Books (the publisher) and for Tania Hershman. I want to press copies into the hands of all serious readers - for they will be delighted by it too. You HAVE to read this - it is a ten star read!'

Yes, so go read this book and Amelie Smith too.