Tuesday, 19 September 2023

Seen Through a Glass of Red by Liz Cox - one of our fast track books

 

Prepare to suspend your disbelief, have the tissues handy and allow your imagination to run wild. This mix of stories will delight you, make you laugh, make you cry and make you cry out – not really!

From a woman who finds a giraffe under the canal bridge and two cats squabbling over a pancake, to an arrogant French chef and a pair of abandoned sparkly trainers, this collection will make you laugh out loud and touch your heart. You will feel intrigued by a French ghost, visit medieval Denmark at Yul, and the war-torn Middle East. You will even find romance with a green-eyed angel. These are just some of the stories you can expect to find in this collection.

In Seen Through a Glass of Red, you will discover stories which are imaginative and tender-hearted just like their creator.

RRP £7.50 

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Sunday, 30 July 2023

Talking to Sherry Morris, winner of the LAA photographic competiton


 

Tell us about how you became interested in photography.

 

I’ve dabbled in photography throughout my life. In my final year of high school I took an elective photography class as I thought it would be easy—just aim and shoot. But the cameras were manual and the teacher was strict. His photography assignments were prescriptive and boring. We didn’t get on at all. He gave us more freedom to complete our final project and I did well on that. He praised a number of my photos. After that, I saw photography as a way to capture mundane moments I felt sure I’d forget later. The last few days of high school I took loads of photos of classmates. I still didn’t really know what I was doing, and back it those days there were only film cameras. I had to send off the roll to be developed and wait to see if I’d captured anything ‘good’. Those photos became very popular at school reunions when I took them along years later, but after I left school I didn’t really think about photography for decades.

 

Then in 2008, I won a trip to New Zealand and took along a friend who was a photographer. His photos were always amazing and he taught me a lot about framing and lighting. We spent a whole afternoon once waiting for the perfect shot of a trolley bus and a car going around a corner. But I didn’t mind. I think that’s when I started paying attention to the composition of my shots. (Thanks, Russell.)

 

Now that I live in the Scottish Highlands, I feel compelled to try and capture its beauty.

 

 

 What made you decide on this photo?

I think it was the fact it was a sunny day. It was also the closest photo I had that fit the brief regarding location and focus, and also left space for the title and blurb. I took a lot of photos of Blackpool that day—it was my first time there. My partner and I were on our way down to Porthcawl in Wales for their annual international Elvis festival, so it felt right to stop in Blackpool—a sort of UK Vegas. I’m glad we did! The beach front is fabulous for photographs. I toyed with submitting a ‘busier’ Blackpool photo but in the end decided less is more. It seems I made the right choice!  

 

 

Tell us all about how you made it.

I wanted to capture the expanse of sky, beach, sea and indicate I was in Blackpool. Normally, I wouldn’t shoot into the sun but keeping the sun just out of the frame seemed to work. It’s obligatory to photograph the Blackpool Tower when in Blackpool, right?

 

 

What has been the funniest thing that has happened to you as a photographer? 

I have loads of photo mishaps. It takes me ages to compose a shot—even on an auto setting. It’s probably why my photos tend to be of landscapes…hills, trees and flowers don’t move. If I try to take a photo quickly, it usually turns out something like this…

 

One day my partner and I were driving through a small Highland fishing village where Ian Rankin has a house. As we approached the house, to my utter excitement, Ian Rankin came out! I told my partner to slow down so I could get a good shot at close range as we drove by. For all my efforts and concentration, I am now the proud owner of a blurred photo of the house next to Ian Rankin’s…. (I still showed everyone.)

 

 

How did you hear about our competition?

A wonderful writing pal who is very supportive of my photography (and writing) saw the call on Twitter (or whatever it’s called now)  and sent me the tweet asking if I had any Lancashire photos. Luckily, I did. Thanks, Michelle!

 

 

Do you enter many competition? 

I tend to submit my photos to literary magazines rather than competitions. Often, literature magazines have photography calls and use the image to accompany the writing. And they pay! I write short stories and flash fiction and like to enter writing competitions so my photography a handy way to fund my writing habit.

 

 

Do you have any advice for other photographers?

I’m not a professional photographer so I don’t feel qualified to give any advice. During the pandemic, I took an online photography course where we looked at a variety of photographers and their work. Seeing different styles (like street photography) was interesting and gave me things to think about in my own photography. Since I live in the Scottish Highlands, it’s relatively easy to take great nature photos and most of my published photographs are of Highland landscapes. I suppose photography is like writing:  the key is to find your own look or tone, what’s specific to you. Then do your best to capture it truthfully.

 

 

Bio

Originally from Missouri, Sherry Morris (@Uksherka) writes prize-winning fiction from a farm in the Scottish Highlands where she pets cows, watches clouds and dabbles in photography. Her photos feature with Sunlight Press, Briefly Write, Molecule literary and Stanchion magazine. Her writing features in Longleaf Review, Fictive Dream, Reflex Fiction, Free Flash Fiction, NFFD, Flash500, Retreat West and other publications. She reads for the wonderfully wacky Taco Bell Quarterly and her first published story was about her Peace Corps experience in Ukraine. 

 

This photo will be used for the cover.

 


This is how it will look as a cover: 
 
 
We shall of course also add a title and a blurb. 

 

 

 

 


Wednesday, 5 July 2023

Cover images for the 2023 LAA Anthology

Lytham Shore
Lytham St Annes
Ribble Estuary

 

Blackpool 
 
    
 
   
 
   

Monday, 17 April 2023

Lost by Sam Findlater

 

 


Lost: A wordless book for all ages, is the graphic short story where you are the author. Both a literacy device and creative writing springboard, Lost offers all readers and non-readers the benefits of reading and a creative journey, where they are the story maker.  There is a universal story that all readers will find and follow, but the more you return to the book the more you will see each page is laden with cues and prompts for different nuances and stories to evolve.

Beautifully illustrated and packing an emotional punch, this book is a must-have for schools seeking to utilise the power of wordless books in the classroom. Free lesson plans and classroom uses for Lost for KS2, KS3 and GCSE are available from the authors website www.samanthafindlater.com

Beyond schools Lost can be enjoyed by all ages, the ‘puzzle solving’ of wordless books helps maintain cognitive health as well as offering a short satisfying read in our busy lives.

Sam Findlater’s Lost will delight story-lovers of all ages.

RRP £6.00

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Tuesday, 4 April 2023

Soaring by Nicole Fitton

 


   
 
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Monday, 20 February 2023

Face to Face with the Führer

 

 


Käthe wants to be a scientist. She sees herself as more than a housewife and a mother. And she is in her own eyes definitely not Jewish.

Life in Nazi Germany sees it another way however. She has to give up a promising career and her national identity. She has to leave the home she has built up for her husband and daughter. But she is not afraid of challenges. She enlists the help of a respected professor to help her fulfil her ambition, she learns how to use a gun and how to drive a car. But what will she do when she finds herself fact to face with the Führer or, indeed, with the challenges of modern life?

Face to Face with the Führer is the fourth novel in Gill James’ Schellberg cycle.

 

RRP £10.00

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Monday, 30 January 2023

A Cue for Murder by Janet Howson

 


 
 
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