The Corporals War: The Story of November Six Zero

2nd Excerpt from Chapter 15: Mike Echoes:

The Night Time Freak Show (Mobile Patrols):
As we drove along I would look out of the Bullet proof windows of the APV oblivious to the noise outside as the top cover was pelted with all and sundry, I stare at the stolen vehicles ditched either on the waste ground or at the side of a street set on fire burning and exploding projecting giant shadows on the walls of the houses. Through the flames I see crowds of people standing on the pavements some dancing around the burning vehicle cheering and laughing as if it was some kind of cultural signature that defined this part of Ireland a world gone mad with death and violence on every street corner.

It was almost a lawless activity at night despite the heavy presence of security forces and the only way we could deal with it was to just keep going and not even acknowledge it and try not to get bogged down in unnecessary minor agro situations that would detract us from our patrol plan. West Belfast at night was an evil place if you were a British soldier or a constable in the RUC It’s hard to believe how people can live like this, but as you will here me say many times it’s a way of life for them, built up over fifty years of troubles and sectarian hatred.

Night time always felt like we were playing out a part of some crazy fucked scene from the film Escape from New York, welcome to our night-time freak show I can’t wait for the daylight.

MP.

I had the most wonderful time yesterday during my visit back to my old school, South Hampstead High School. (On the left is the poster they put up about my upcoming talk).

I wrote to them when I saw they on the school's website that they had a Creative Writing club, something that hadn't been there in my time (a phrase I came to overuse considerably during my visit!). We arranged that I would come during lunch break and talk to a group of 14- and 15-year-old girls (it's an all-girls school) about... well, I decided I would ask them what they wanted to talk about!


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I watched The Culture Show last night (and, of course, it had nothing to do with its presenter). U2 were on and Bono (love him or hate him, it's not particularly important) said something which struck a chord. He said, 'Very good is the enemy of Great.' And I think he's right. Artists don't tend to build careers on the strength of being very good, and there's quite a leap between being consistantly very good and great - BUT being very good can feel like a pretty decent place to be. I know (and I'm sure you do too) how important hard work is in any creative industry, I just thought that little quote gave it a terrific perspective.

So that's what I think about that. Just thought I'd share.

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The new Yucketypoo book, I have been told, is due to be published 'very soon' similtaneously in the UK and the USA; furthermore, the first book is about to be re-branded so its appearance looks more in line with the second book and, eventually, with the third and final book. The third and final book needs updating and I am arranging a meeting with a representative of a company that deals with envirornment friendly fuels to help it on its way. Once the entire series is complete, maybe those large chain retailers that expressed an interest in stocking it as one unit will pick up the option and give it their best shot.


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I’ve never been much sold on the idea of job security. The thought of toiling for a particular employer until it’s time to cash in my working life for a gold carriage clock just doesn’t rock my socks. Which doesn’t mean that it’s wrong to do so; it’s just not right for me.


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We all know conflict is essential in fiction. There must be conflict right from the word go, otherwise no one will ever, EVER read our stories.

The conflict on the page, however, is the least of what it means to be a writer. We have other inner battles to contend with. Whether, for example, to leave the computer and do some exercise or whether to stay put and eat another Jaffa Cake. But the internal conflict I didn't anticipate was the one over trying to talk about my book ...


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I didn't sleep so well last night, and it wasn't because I was nervous about the reading today. It was more that I have so much to say about short stories, I was worried about not being able to say it all! ........

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Sue Wright is married with three children and a tortoiseshell cat and lives in Worthing in West Sussex. Her main hobby is reading and her ambition is to have a novel published one day. Sue says she prefers writing "weird" stories best.


My first sale was…
to Take A Break’s Fiction Feast in 1998!

My family think my writing is…
silly –until the money comes in.

The best/worst thing about writing short stories for magazines is…
best is seeing them published and illustrated– worst is all the rejections. Never gets any easier to cope with them.

Long hand first or computer?
Computer first.

On completing a story I feel…
very satisfied.


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Catalyst-for-trouble Ginney, in a sparkling performance from Sarah Mann, is well balanced by an exasperated David Whiting as Philip, who paces the stage shouting 'Where's the hoe?' or wriggles on tenterhooks at the dinner table where one false word could be his undoing. Here too, as with 'Woman in Mind' the garden is a metaphor for troubled marriage.



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How do I get thee to sleep? Let me count the ways... Over the years I have tried a variety of methods with the pair of them: rocking, breastfeeding, rocking while breastfeeding, womb music, lavender baby bubble bath, singing the same damn song every night, wearing a cuddly toy down my bra all day and then putting it in the cot at bedtime, pushchair, car, sling, eliminating certain foods, loading them up with soporific dinners, chasing them around the garden for two hours, blackmail, bribery, and tearful pleading...

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