Black Pug Books, Wimborne

Victoria Sturgess, in the bookshop

Black Pug Books has been open in Wimborne every Thursday, Friday and Saturday since October 2012. As a newcomer to the town, Victoria Sturgess has made her mark on the popular thoroughfare by opening a bookshop full of ‘loved and used books’ at 24 West Borough. Sitting in Victoria’s front room, it is a pleasure to be surrounded by a hand chosen collection of out-of-print books. The shelves groan at the sheer weight of choice and I was delighted to purchase ‘An Outpost in Papua’ by Arthur Kent Chignell an account of missionary work in the early 1900s.  Anything written about Papua New Guinea interests me, owing to my experience of living in Wabag, Enga Province during the 1980s.

Victoria has always wanted to run a book shop and began purchasing books that would form the stock three years ago.  Paperbacks are a sideline (along with LPs, cigarette cards and magazines) and these are displayed in a wheelbarrow that is set outside the front door whenever the shop is open.  Victoria encourages customers to knock on the door to gain access outside normal opening hours or you can telephone ahead for special visiting arrangements.

A visit to Winstone Books of Sherborne

Winstone’s is situated at 8 Cheap Street, towards the top of the town in Sherborne.  The shop is double fronted and light streams into the space that contains a huge range of books. As well as shelves along the walls, there are central displays and stands for book-themed gift cards.  A quarter of the floor space is dedicated to children’s books and the owner, Wayne Winstone has worked hard to establish links with schools to promote reading as an important life experience for children of all ages.

The children’s area is inviting with a couch, a rocking horse and a standard lamp to entice families to stay and browse.  Children are invited to review books and as part of the Sherborne Literary Festival, a short story competition for children was held.

Wayne has been successful in attracting authors to deliver talks and book signings at the shop and recent events included a book launch by Sarah Challis.

The Book Shop, Bridport

Close to Bridport’s Bucky Doo Square, where open air performances frequently take place, you can find The Book Shop, an independent bookseller.

The shop has been in Bridport for 30 years and has been run by Ross Hendry for the last thirteen.  Unlike other book shops, Ross is committed to maintaining a shop dedicated to book sales rather than diversifying into other products.  As a result, the  walls are lined with shelves and central displays offer further titles. Amongst the stock is a large collection of books written about Dorset and books written by Dorset residents, a huge boon to local writers. The Book Shop also has a tradition of inviting authors into the shop to sign copies of their books.

What the Dickens? magazine – going for a print edition

If you haven’t had a chance to read the brilliant bi-monthly What the Dickens? magazine that celebrates creativity in the visual arts and writing, now’s the time to take a look here. There are all sorts of articles of interest including author interviews, book and film reviews, competitions, creative writing and poetry and a fantastic range of visual stimulation.  On top of all that, I offer a column titled ‘Help! The dog at my manuscript!’ which answers writers’ questions.

The editor, Victoria Bantock is aiming to get the seventh edition of the magazine published in print as well as on-line.  This provides a unique opportunity for a double dose of submissions to be received by 15 September.  What the Dickens? magazine invites submissions with the theme of Pumpkin for the October issue and Journey for the December issue. Please get busy with your ideas, be creative and enter your work by the deadline.  Full details for submission can be found here.

Buying books at the seaside, a trip to Avon Beach Shop

Situated next to a sandy strip of Dorset beach, the Avon Beach Shop provides all the necessities for holiday makers and day trippers. There’s a ramp that makes disabled access possible and easy entry for families with buggies.  The shop is divided into areas where a range merchandise is displayed.  There’s a section for leisure wear and swimming costumes, a central counter with the till that acts as a newsagent with papers, sweets, ice creams and drinks for sale. Opposite, there’s a selection of gifts and to the right of the entrance you’ll find body-boards, buckets and spades and the like.  Tucked away in a corner is the book department that provides a range of fiction, crime novels and local interest books.  There are few book displays that have such a marvellous backdrop through the window of the shop.

A visit to Imagine Books, Weymouth

Just 50 yards from the sea front at Weymouth, and a pleasant walk along St Alban Street, (affectionately known to locals as Flag Street) you’ll find Imagine Books at number 23.

Displayed outside the shop with its distinctive black and gold signage are children’s books, postcards, sun hats, beach bags and wind chimes. This provides an idea of the merchandise to be found within.

Clever Titles

I love clever titles but because  copyright law means titles cannot be protected (except in the case of sequels, like Harry Potter) it can be confusing!   Take Lost in Translation which is the title of a Hollywood film and a delightful book by Eva Hoffman. 

Eva’s family survive the Holocaust by hiding in the Ukraine. When she’s 13, the family leave Cracow and emigrate to Canada where Eva learns about the importance of language and identity.  The autobiography is subtitled: A life in a new language, and one of my favourite references is where Eva describes words in English, the new language she learns, as being like pearls on her tongue. 

Of course there are similarities between the  film and the book, for example, the sense of isolation when living in a a new country. However, the film is set in Tokyo and follows the development of a relationship between the two main characters (played by Bill Murphy and Scarlett Johansson) making the film part comedy, part romance. 

Another clever title I like is Foreign Bodies with novels variously written by Amanda Craig, Cynthia Ozick and Candy Neubert (with another list of authors using the title Foreign Body).  My favourite title is I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings which is the  first volume of Maya Angelou‘s autobiography.  A clever title that is unlikely to be copied.

If you’re interested in entering a competition to work the name of a fruit into a spoof film title, please see Circalit to enter by Twitter.  Good luck!

What’s in a title?

I’m never happy with my writing unless I find a suitable title.  This is not always easy to do and I tend to go for one-word titles as a way of shortening the search.  I notice that several of Toni Morrison’s books have one-word titles including Beloved, Paradise and Jazz.  I frequently wonder if a one-word title gives too much information away, revealing the theme of the novel on the front cover. I had a feeling that Ugly by Constance Briscoe might have set a trend in the use of one-word titles for tragic life stories, although a quick look on the bookshelf in Waterstones seemed to suggest otherwise. Interestingly, Room by Emma Donoghue is fiction and relates to the abduction and rape of a young woman and the birth and imprisionment of mother and child.  The story is narrated by five-year-old Jack who has the habit of omitting definite articles and refers to nouns only as ‘room’, ‘rug’, ‘lamp’. It’s an interesting literary device to illustrate his otherness but unlikely when his mother provides a good model of standard English. 

Finally, I’d like to mention Broken by Daniel Clay.  This is an unusual debut novel that reveals community tensions when Rick Buckley is beaten up as the result of a  false charge of rape by a neighbour’s daughter. He becomes Broken of the title and teeters on the edge while his parents agonise.  Daniel is now working on his second novel and hosts a blog which offers advice for aspiring writers. He’s also willing to look at your covering letter, synopsis and opening pages as a way of encouraging writers to make successful approaches and get published.  I suggest that anyone who is struggling to make headway through the slushpile should have a look here.