Scratched Enamel Heart

My new short story collection, Scratched Enamel Heart, will be published by Retreat West Books on 27th May, and can already be pre-ordered here.

The beautiful cover was designed by Triona Walsh, and it's great to see the Costa logo sticker on there too. I can't wait to get hold of a real live copy!

I've already had a lovely review from Gill James at Bridgehouse Publishing/Chapeltown Books - Gill published my first flash fiction collection, Brightly Coloured Horses, back in 2018.

"The short stories in this collection give a strong sense of time and place and allow the reader to follow the characters as they make a journey. Sometimes this is an actual physical journey, at other times it is a journey of the soul. Each story too brings with it an atmosphere that we cannot ignore. We are drawn to the characters and their settings.

These are fine stories and Amanda Huggins has really mastered the art of packing a lot of content into a short space without overwhelming the reader. These tales are beautifully crafted. Huggins uses language well. This is short-story telling at its best."

The Beekeeper's Apprentice by David Coldwell - A Review

The Bee-keeper’s Apprentice by David Coldwell is a glorious collection, dripping with rich, vivid language. The poems are closely observed, revelling in the use of all the senses.

Coldwell appears to live and breathe as one with the countryside he inhabits, and being familiar with this stark and wonderful landscape, I found myself swiftly transported back there by his words. Coldwell extols the vivid beauty of nature in all its forms, effortlessly conjuring up the spirit of the West Yorkshire moors, their darkness and light, their fierce beauty, just as he brings them to life in his equally marvellous paintings.

Yet his poems are family stories too, filled with the ache and yearning, the hope and joy of unconditional love.

‘We hadn’t seen you for weeks and to throw
our best dish onto the lino
seemed a strange way to say hello.’

A poignant and beautiful collection.

Cover Reveal

Today's the day to reveal the beautiful cover for my new short story collection, Scratched Enamel Heart. As it depicts a Russian Easter egg, this seemed the perfect weekend to share it for the first time. The cover designer is the talented Triona Walsh. I shared the idea and colour sheme I had in mind with Triona, and she captured it perfectly. 

It's a difficult time to launch a book, and it's a difficult time to write a book too! I'm still working - though after my Easter break I'll be working from home rather than the office - so I haven't any more time than normal for writing. Like many people, I'm struggling to concentrate at the moment, so I'm just writing a daily diary, which I share with friends by email once a week. 

I had a few readings set up, both to promote my poetry collection, The Collective Nouns for Birds, and one to launch SEH in June. Of course these have all been cancelled now, so I'm hoping to make up for it with new dates in the autumn.

This means I can spend the time I have promoting Scratched Enamel Heart. A few bloggers and reviewers are reading it at the moment, so hopefully I'll have some feedback to share soon.

I'm also planning an online launch party on Facebook - 4PM-8PM on 27th May. There'll be readings and chat and virtual champagne, and I'd love it if you'd pop in and say hello! If you'd like an invite and you're not on my Facebook friend list, then now's the time to send me a friend request!

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Scratched Enamel Heart contains the Costa prize-winning story, 'Red', and will be released by Retreat West Books on 27th May, for Kindle and in paperback. The Kindle edition is already available to pre-order here.

THE BLURB:

The resilience and frailty of the human heart lie at the core of this second short story collection from award-winning author, Amanda Huggins.

A lonely woman spends a perfect night with a stranger, yet is their connection enough to make her realise life is worth living? Maya, a refugee, wears a bracelet strung with charms that are a lifeline to her past; when the past catches up with her, she has a difficult decision to make. Rowe’s life on the Yorkshire coast is already mapped out for him, but when there is an accident at the steelworks he knows he has to flee from an intolerable future. In the Costa prize-winning ‘Red’, Mollie is desperate to leave Oakridge Farm and her abusive stepfather, to walk free with the stray dog she has named Hal.

These are stories filled with yearning and hope, the search for connection and the longing to escape. They transport the reader from India to Japan, from mid-west America to the north-east coast of England, from New York to London. Battered, bruised, jaded or jilted, the human heart somehow endures.

'A remarkable writer.' Cath Holland

'With just a few killer sentences she hooks you into a new world' Ali Thurm

'Huggins’ prose is both beautiful and heart breaking' Tracy Fells

'Huggins is a highly accomplished writer who uses language both beautiful and at the same time sparing, there are no indulgent passages of prose to detract from the main message. Every word is weighed before inclusion. A delight.' Sandra Danby

Reading at the Red Shed

A brilliant evening at Wakefield's Labour Club last night - the last of the legendary Red Shed Readings for this season. A huge thank you to John Irving Clarke and Jimmy Andrex for inviting me to read alongside the marvellous Roy McFarlane.

Me outside the legendary Red Shed

It was my inaugural visit to the Shed, and it coincided with the release of my debut poetry chapbook, The Collective Nouns for Birds, so it was a great chance for me to read a few poems from the collection for the first time. It was a packed house, and I got some really positive feedback from the friendly audience, and was especially chuffed that Roy McFarlane said he loved my short story, 'Part of Sami, Part of Malik'. 'Part of Sami' was a story I wrote for the A Thousand Word Photos project in aid of the charity Stroke Interact. A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to hear it read out in the Arcola Theate in Dalston by the wonderful actor, Andy Lucas, as part of an event to raise funds for the charity. I don't think my own reading was a patch on his - I was a little nervous (of course!) and rushed it too much at the start - but I still enjoyed reading it.

A rather blurred me - the strange angle makes the room look almost empty, but I assure you it was full!

I need to take some tips from Roy McFarlane - he's a fabulous performance poet, full of fire and passion, and it was great to hear him read. Roy was shortlisted for the Ted Hughes Award in 2018 and is a previous Birmingham Poet Laureate. He entertained us with poems from his two collections, The Healing Next Time and Beginning With Your Last Breath.

Roy McFarlane

The open mic session was a joy too - so many marvellous poets, each one a gem. And brilliant live music as well! All in all a brilliant night - and always a joy to spend time with like-minded people ;-) It may well have been my first visit, but we'll be certainly be going back to listen to more in the autumn.

A quick interview with me over on The Wombwell Rainbow today.

You can read it here

Interview on Tim Taylor's Blog

There's a short interview with me over on Tim Taylor's blog today - with a poem from my forthcoming collection (out 28th February). The poem, The New Knowing, was part of the Northern Poetry Library's Poem of the North.

You can read it HERE

And here's an excerpt from Amanda McLeod's review:

 

Amanda uses beautiful metaphors to bring the losses back to life; the sea and birds are two motifs that appear repeatedly throughout the collection. The imagery these create builds stunning visual pictures of each poem. Sensory detail is essential to these images and Huggins makes bold and effective use of these, from the thump of a sparrow against a car windscreen to the sunlight trapped beneath glass flavour of a tomato to the faint heartbeat of a beloved pet. These images are served well by lyrical language and gentle turns of phrase that add a truly musical quality to the poems. Occasional slant rhyme leads the poetry back towards traditional forms in some areas without seeming trite or cheesy, and there is a pleasing variety of form. Huggins uses line breaks to suspend phrases, allowing them to hold multiple meanings until the reader arrives at the next line and this pulls the poems along, encouraging the reader forwards without seeming frantic. This tone suits the subject matter perfectly.

The Collective Nouns for Birds is a delicate balance of pain and peace. Amanda Huggins reminds us all that loss is a part of the cyclic nature of life, and that we can look back without becoming mired in grief. Those moments weave into our hearts and become a part of the fabric of ourselves – we need not cling to them tightly to keep them with us. This is an accomplished debut.

You can read the full review HERE

Northern Writers Reading - June 10th, Marsden Library

 It's a few months away yet, but I'm already looking forward to this event at Marsden Library in June!

You can get all the details HERE

Review of The Collective Nouns for Birds

A lovely review from Ali Thurm for my debut poetry collection. Here's a taster:

In this beautiful, very accomplished first poetry collection, Amanda Huggins demonstrates a range of concerns, from growing up to love and loss all interlinked by the sea.  Whatever theme she is examining her language is precise and evocative with no word wasted.

Out Chasing Boys focuses on that innocent time of adolescence when ‘we revered those rake-limbed lads / … as though they were gods’, and in The New Knowing there’s the sense of expectancy and hope which is so acute at that age, when the narrator and her friend know that ‘life will be good and worth the wait.’ Again, in Dizzy With It, she evokes an intense feeling of life opening up to all kinds of possibilities – if they practise playing their instruments enough she and her friend are convinced they could become rock stars, while the reader is aware of the limitations life imposes.

The Collective Nouns for Birds is a very accessible and enjoyable poetry collection which will also withstand several re-readings. Amanda Huggins’ poems are technically proficient, sensitive and full of pathos. A strong first collection.

You can read the full review here

One Scheme of Happiness by Ali Thurm

One Scheme of Happiness is a dark and unsettling tale exploring themes of obsession, jealousy, deceit and desire. It is a beautifully written novel, well-paced, with a strong and atmospheric sense of place.

Helen has always been the shy one, the one who stayed behind in her hometown and cared for her sick mother. When her friends return to the quiet seaside town, Helen’s repressed emotions are unleashed. She becomes embroiled in Sam and Vicky’s unravelling marriage and complicated games, yet at the same time she is playing a game of her own. As her uneasy friendships with Sam and Vicky become mired in deceit, Helen starts to make bad decisions and destructive choices.

The novel explores what happens when someone will do almost anything to get the thing they think they want. What appears to be a straightforward love triangle turns out to be something much more complex and much less predictable - no one is who they first appear to be - and Helen’s life spins out of control as she begins to self-destruct.

One Scheme of Happiness draws you in from the start and doesn’t let you go. A confident and accomplished debut.

THE BLURB:

"It’s funny what you remember about childhood games.

Helen was always the wallflower at school, while Vicky and Sam were the golden couple. But as time passes, and the teenage sweethearts’ relationship begins to falter, Helen faces a choice – will she help her friends rekindle their marriage, or will she help herself to the man she has always loved?

You know what they say...it's always the quiet ones you have to watch."

You can buy a copy here 

Interview with fellow Maytree poet, Tim Taylor

 

I'd like to welcome poet and novelist, Tim Taylor to my blog today. Tim will be reading from his poetry collection, Sea Without a Shore and his novel, Revolution Day at Denby Dale library at 7.30pm on 31 January.


Welcome to Troutie McFish Tales, Tim!

Many thanks for hosting me, Amanda! 

How long have you been writing poetry?
 
Since I was a child. I still have a folder of poems I wrote at primary school! I drifted away from it a bit as I got older, though still wrote the odd poem from time to time.  I’ve been writing poetry more consistently for about the last ten years.

How did you get involved with Maytree Press?
 
There is a lively poetry community in Marsden, just down the road from where I live in Meltham, and there have been various events associated with the ‘Poetry Village’. I got involved with some of those, and since I was looking to publish a collection at the time when Maytree emerged from that scene, it seemed natural to see if they would be interested in publishing my poems.

Do you prefer writing poetry or fiction?
 
That’s a difficult one. I enjoy them both in different ways. For me, poetry is more sporadic, as I feel I need an idea to work with and when I get one there can be a frantic burst of activity; whereas writing a novel is a steadier long-term process of developing themes and characters and weaving them together. Both can be very satisfying.  

Who are your favourite poets and authors, and which of them influence your work?
 
Picking out a few names from the huge list of writers I like I would mention: 

Poets: Wilfred Owen, Sylvia Plath, Dylan Thomas;

Novelists:  William Golding, Haruki Murakami, Ursula Le Guin

I try not to write novels that draw directly on other authors, though I’m sure the subconscious influences are there.  The same is partly true in poetry, though I have sometimes written poems that were explicitly influenced by a particular poet (including those mentioned above).

And if you weren't Tim Taylor, who would you like to be?
 
I think I’d just like to be me, but better!

Finally, would you like to share a poem?
 
The Old Couple

When they were young
their love was a thing of flame.
Colliding like two asteroids
they were magnificent
but sparks would leap from jagged edges.
Incandescent, they would fly apart,
only to spiral inwards once again.

Look at them now,
sitting to watch the sun go down,
still warmed by the embers of that ancient fire.
She leans on him, and he on her;
time has smoothed their curves and hollows,
sanded them to fit each other
like pebbles rubbed together by the sea.


Many thanks to Tim for answering my questions, and for sharing that wonderful poem.

You can also find out about Tim and his writing on his Facebook Author Page here

And if you'd like to read more of Tim's poetry, here's some further information about Tim's collection:

Sea Without a Shore

In his debut poetry collection, Tim Taylor explores the transformative effect of the wild Yorkshire landscape he now calls home. He expertly immerses the reader in the landscapes and history of the South Pennines before challenging our senses with brave new perceptions from house plants to outer space. Set in two distinct parts, this is a debut pamphlet that takes the reader from the dark peaks of Bleaklow and Black Hill (Ungrimming) to the far reaches of our solar system (Pioneer) and back to the living room (The House Plant). Poetry at its very best, highly-innovative and effortless; a feast of words to transform your day.

You can buy a copy here

   

Book Review - Maggie of My Heart by Alison Faye

I read this novella in one sitting - a short and pacy slice of sleaze-noir! 

 

This gorgeous slice of noir would make a wonderful TV drama. A tautly-paced page-turner that demands to be read in one sitting. With pitch-perfect writing, and each character a gem, Maggie of My Heart draws you into its gritty world and doesn’t let you go until the last page. Maggie is a wonderful character, strong and yet vulnerable, a woman who has escaped a life of crime and sleaze only to have it rear its ugly head again in the form of her erstwhile lover, Johnny. I was rooting for her every step of the way with my heart in my mouth.  

You can get a copy here