The Demon Crew phenomenon

When I entered the room for the Demon Crew presentation, I didn't know what to expect, so I felt almost like a nervous wreck. However by the end I was filled with happy and sad emotions. I felt proud of these students' achievements even though I don't really know them. It was a phenomenal experience.

There was huge variety in the presented work: poetry, novels and short stories in printed form as well as web-based a novel. Each piece came across really well, each person presented their work beautifully and in such an engaging way that I was hooked on every project.

There were two contrasting poetry presentations: Jenny Brooks' work derived from a friend's experience of lung transplant surgery and while Alicja Walendziak wrote about being Polish in England - and taking the piss out of both the Polish and the British. I definitely want to read both of their pamphlets. Shannan Mitchener's collection of poems based around mental health, which stood out because I knew where the author was coming from so I was able to resonate with the extracts she read out. 

 

Hayley Phythian

Hayley Phythian's collection of short stories was intriguing because they were based in the same world surrounded by the magic plane of existence. It was really awe inspiring. 

 HannahJones

The most unique presentation was Hannah Jones' website novel using audio. We got to hear a snippet from the prologue, and the production was just outstanding though we have to wait for the website to go live. 

But I have a thing for Sci-Fi, so the novel, No Peace on Mars, presented by Andre Cowen and Adil Lakhani appealed most of all. The extract they read out was humorous but with a deep sense of politics - and that inspired me. 

Adil Lakhani and Andre Cowen

Overall the experience was tremendous. Not only did I get to appreciate other people's work but as a creative writer I understood how very much hard work lay behind it.

Josh Harwood

"I lost my laptop ... and 30,000 words"

The sun was shining and I had a good feeling about the event for aspiring novelists. I wanted to know how authors went through the process of publication and Niki Valentine (who is also Nicola Monaghan) and Rod Duncan were there to share their experience with us.

 Each had a different way into publication. Nicola had the opportunity to submit her dissertation to her tutor's agent (although she did lie about her word count!), which meant that she was already represented by a literary agent as she finished her M.A. Rod on the other hand, wrote five novels without being published. It's a scary number but he said it wasn't a waste of time - and it certainly worked out in the end.

When Nicola was 40000 words into her second novel, she left her laptop in a taxi. She had backed up her manuscript once, but had written 30,000 words since then. 75% of her work was gone and she wasn't worried. For her it meant she could rewrite, learning from the work she had already done and aiming to improve. The thought of 30000 words just gone is horrifying for the author of this post.

 Most of the questions from the audience revolved around how to write and how to edit. Nicola and Rod talked about their methods, which were very different, Nicola had a fixed ending whilst Rod started with the skeleton of the story and fleshed it out. The one thing they did agree on though is that each writer has their own way of writing.

In my opinion, the most important thing that was said was to just keep writing, keep developing and to remember that even a rejection helps you learn what you need to improve. It was definitely a brilliant talk by two (or three) amazing authors.

The Custodian of Marvels
by Rod Duncan

The Killing Jar
by Nicola Monaghan

Andre Cowen