Reawakening and intimidating

I get the feeling the world is stirring a little after the January hibernation.

This is purely an anecdotal thought of mine, based on the number of emails, comments and invitations which have been coming through.  There's been a sudden increase, as if people can sense the dreaded opening month of the year finally coming towards an end.

Now, one of the emails contains a most interesting, and a tad intimidating, request, which I had to read several times to make sure I'd understood correctly. 

It's from a magazine called Ariel, which is a BBC in house publication, but available publicly, in libraries and everywhere that wants to stock it. The BBC is producing a series on fiction writing, presented by Sebastian Faulks, and I've been asked to contribute to an article to tie in with the series. 

Unsurprisingly, the Beeb has more than a few writers amongst its number, and some of us have been approached to say a little about their personal writing processes, and particularly characterisation.  They also want the writers to choose a passage of their own work to illustrate their thoughts.

This is a wonderful invitation, but also more than a little unsettling. Faulks is a great author, and a favourite of mine - Birdsong is one of the finest books I've ever read - so the idea of appearing in anything associated with him has sent Hall into another of his spirals of literary fear and self doubt.

However! I'm doing my best not to be daunted and working on what to say, and what piece of writing to quote as an example. But I have to confess I'm doing so with nervy fingers on the keypad.  I'll let you know when the article comes out so you can have a look, should you so wish to.

If I'm feeling particularly brave that day, I may even have a look myself...

Finally for this post, for more details of coming events through 2011, keep an eye on the News and Events page - www.thetvdetective.com/news.html 

And finally finally - good luck with toughing out the rest of January.... take heart that it's almost over now!