Devon

The Bright Orange Swimming Hat – Audio

I have been meaning to get my act together a bit more towards producing audiobooks of some of the Blue Poppy ouvre. As you may or may not already know, The Cream of Devon – an anthology of short stories from the county that rhymes with heaven, is Blue Poppy Publishing’s first official foray into traditional publishing, so it seemed like a good place to start. It comes with the added bonus that it is easier to produce a finished recording of a short story than an entire novel.

This is the first story which has been recorded so far and I offer it to you free in the sincere hope that you will tell me what you think of it and, if you like it, tell others.

The voice work was done by Sarah Kingdon-Ward who, apart from being a talented actor, happens to be my sister so she did it as a favour. I therefore owe her a debt of sorts which I can perhaps repay in the short term by showcasing her talents as a voiceover artist to anyone else who wants an audiobook done. SFX added by me in post production.

The Bright Orange Swimming Hat – By Irene Sugden, from the book The Cream of Devon.

Short Story Competition – Short List

It has been an interesting exercise running this competition. I have learned a lot and will probably do something similar again with a few changes to reflect lessons learned.

We didn’t get an overwhelming number of entries and I posted a, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, long list a little while ago consisting of everyone who entered.

We then had a delay with the judging due to unforseen circumstances, but we do now have all the marks in.

However, I am going to keep everyone in suspenders just a little longer while I have another read through myself, and seek opinions from one last casting judge, because it is pretty tight at the top.

The winner of the £250 first prize will, however, be one of the following people, listed in alphabetical order by surname.

Jane Bheemah
Lalla Merlin
Alex Morrison
Jade Ruby
Colin Smith

Blue Poppy; what’s it all about?

Introducing Blue Poppy Publishing.

So, last year, 2016, I finally finished my first full novel. I set up a crowdfunding campaign to pay for a professional edit, cover design, and printing. When the money hit my account I went a bit crazy and spent it all and then some trying to produce a really good product. I hope the seventy-plus backers were very pleased with it. I know I was.

Part of publishing that book ended up with me creating an imprint; Blue Poppy Publishing. I say imprint because it could certainly not lay any claim to being a company. It still isn’t; but more of that in future posts.

Why “Blue Poppy”?

I asked my online friends for name suggestions, but it was my son Morton, who suggested the name. It relates to my grandfather, Frank Kingdon-Ward, who was an explorer and botanist. “The Last of the Great Plant Hunters” was the first person to bring back viable seed of Meconopsis betonicifolia, the Himalayan Blue Poppy.

My first website was all about him, and my very first paid writing assignment was a 1,200 word article about him for “The Great Explorers” by Robin Hanbury-Tenison. (Thames & Hudson ISBN 978-0500251690)

Hence the name.

So what is Blue Poppy Publishing then?

Can we call it BPP for brevity?

It is a very small publisher with absolutely no money, but a big heart and a growing wealth of understanding about the world of self publishing.

We (yes, I can call it “we” now because with the addition of Ben Blake it is no longer just me) are not pretending we know everything, but we are continually learning, and looking for ways to put that experience to good use for ourselves, and others.

We still don’t have any money, but 2017 is the year we will start to change that, in very small ways at first, but building on it.