Literary Festivals, Editing and a U-Turn.

 So this week has been rather good for my literary growth. First off, on Wednesday I attended the opening of the Bromley Literary Festival, hosted by my friends at Acorn Independent Press. This was a meet and greet session for authors, writers, publishers and young entrepreneurs interested in the literary arts.

This hit a double whammy for me, not only was I able to garner some interest for Vinland which clearly is one of my passions, but I was also able to get some firsthand stories of other youngsters working at starting their own businesses. Considering my recent efforts to get a Masters Degree in Business Management: Entrepreneurship, this was rather interesting for me. Throughout that course it had all been about the theory of starting your own business, but here I had the chance to talk to those who had actually gone out and done it.

As such I urge you to take a look at the companies of a couple of these young creative minds. They really are doing great things. You can find out about them here;

Acorn Independent Press Ltd.

Firefly Theatre Company Ltd.

Yesterday (Thursday 17^th), I met with the chief editor from Acorn, Leila Dewji, who had agreed to look over the manuscript of Vinland. I sent her three sections from the very beginning and we went over it in some detail, with a particular focus on the detail of the characters and how their personalities seemed to be evolving. This was of great use to me, for it was the first time I had released any of my work (apart from the one snippet on this blog) to someone not a close friend or family.

The result was a lot of great new ideas and an order to reign in the “epicness” of what I was trying to achieve. Currently Vinland is massive, truly massive. I was beginning to get scared that the plot was never going to end, but Leila helped me tie up some loose ends and give the story more of a focus on the adventure of going to America, rather than the geo-political events going on around them, and which frankly were just not as important (or interesting).

The story is now far more focused in what it is trying to achieve, the exploration of America for the first time, the risks of sailing uncharted seas, the superstitions and myths faced by the crew, the clash of personalities, and the maturing of a young Viking noble into a famous explorer. Of course my love of politics will show through in the events still going on back home in Greenland. Much of my original plot will remain, but be rather more concentrated on the activities of Erik in Greenland, and conflicts going on there for love, money, and most of all, power. All of this will lead to what will likely be a second book which covers the real colonial expedition to America, and where the “what if” stories really kick off.

I just want to say one final, extra thanks to Leila for the advice, the input really was valuable.