Bridget McNulty is a passionate writer fascinated by why people act the way they do. So fascinated, in fact, that she’s written a book about it.
// June 6th, 2009 // No Comments » // Inspiration, Publishing, Writing
Kind of like a lust for life, but spicier!
Then check out this great website, Spice4Life, specifically aimed at women who want to succeed…
And while you’re there, check out the profile they did on me – http://www.spice4life.co.za/bridget-mcnulty.asp
Spicy!!
// May 6th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Publishing, Strange Nervous Laughter
So here it is! At last. The Lonely Cupcake, my stop motion video for Strange Nervous Laughter…
I’m still trying to figure out why it’s pixellated, so bear with me!
Take a look at it down below in ‘My Videos’… Send to all your friends… And enjoy!
// April 24th, 2009 // No Comments » // Life (and the living of it), Publishing, Writing
Every so often, I get just the faintest inkling of what it would be like to be a minor celebrity….
Like now, for example.
Check out the May issue of Shape magazine for an article I wrote on the space between mothers and daughters, ‘Fuelled by love’. I wrote about 4 pairs of amazing moms and daughters who have done cool things together (including my mom and I, even though our plans to skydive were foiled by clouds!)
Then in the May issue of O, the Oprah magazine, (the SA version) there’s an article on Blogging that lists me as one of the best Humour Blogs (who knew??) and my fabulous sister-in-law Dagmar as one of the best Crafty Blogs, and my very funny friend Megan as one of the best Lifestyle Blogs (scroll over their names to get to their blogs, for some reason the word doesn’t change colour when it’s hiding a link!)
And then, as a result of that article, in which I give a few tips for blogging, I’m going to be on SAfm on Wednesday! (For those out of South Africa, it’s one of the best national radio stations, tagline: “For the well-informed”, don’t you know!) On Nancy Richards show, between 1.30pm and 2pm. Listen in!
So all in all, I’m starting to wonder where my entourage of minions is… Any volunteers??
// April 15th, 2009 // 9 Comments » // Publishing, Strange Nervous Laughter, Writing, book launch
I just got the first hardcover copy of ‘Strange Nervous Laughter’, the US edition.
It is, hands down, the most beautiful book I’ve ever seen. Crisp, clean, quirky and all mine!
I love it.
Want to see?
Here’s the cover…. isn’t it lovely? I never knew hardcover looked so much better, but it does!
Open the book, and you get the…. inside cover! (with a delightful description that you probably can’t read!)
Then there’s the first page. *sigh!*
The last page, with my gratitude list…
The back cover, with the only author picture of myself I’ve ever loved (courtesy of my man!)
And the back of the book, with a whole lot of excessively wonderful things that other writers have said about Strange Nervous Laughter…
Oh, and there’s the spine! I even love the spine.
Be honest with me, have you ever seen a book this beautiful in your life?
I didn’t think so! 
// February 5th, 2009 // 3 Comments » // Life (and the living of it), Publishing, Strange Nervous Laughter, book launch
It’s official. My ticket is booked and paid for, and my e-ticket is sitting happily in my inbox.
I didn’t really believe it was going to happen until I saw that ticket, to be honest. I haven’t been back to the USA since I graduated in May 2005 – four whole years ago! And now I’m going back for my American book launch. How absolutely wonderful.
So I leave at the end of May and I’m away for three weeks – landing in New York and visiting all my favourite Americans, in NYC, Washington DC, Lancaster (where my old college is – check it out at www.fandm.edu) and Boston. I may even be taking a little trip to Prince Edward Island in Canada, where Anne of Green Gables was written! My best friend in America and I have always loved Anne of Green Gables, and been threatening to visit for years… I think the time has finally arrived. But more on that later!
For now, I am just. so. excited. Back to the land of the USA! Back to gargantuan bags of corn chips, and American flags at every corner, and all my dear dear friends.
I’m not sure how much publicity stuff I’ll have to do for Strange Nervous Laughter… it depends on how much interest my publicist stirs up. But just to be there while my book (my book!) is in bookstores is pretty freaking cool. I am so excited, have I mentioned that??
// August 14th, 2008 // No Comments » // Publishing, Writing
So my publishing drama is now resolved, and without having to threaten anyone with blogosphere exposure, thank goodness!
It turns out that the editor I was working with has now left, but before he left he put my reviews through for publication, without letting me know. Apparently when I said that the pieces were ‘just to give an indication of style’ he thought that meant, ‘go ahead and publish them’.
Hmm….
Still, I got a really lovely apology letter from the publisher, and apparently (although their website looks uber professional) they’re still starting up and don’t often pay contributors.
So what have I learnt? Do my homework! Don’t send out work to any website that looks good. And it’s possible to deal with things in a constructive way without getting upset…
Practical philosophy was amazing last night – I’ll update you on what we learnt soon!
// August 13th, 2008 // No Comments » // Decisions, Publishing, Writing
I’m not angry any more (thank goodness!)
I don’t do so well with anger – it kind of gets into my blood and makes me feel fizzy and agitated.
But I still feel wronged, and I realised that it’s an unusual feeling for me. I don’t think people take advantage of me much… I feel lucky to be able to say this!
It’s interesting, though, because as I was deciding what to do about this situation (an online literary journal publishing my work without my consent, for those of you out of the loop) my immediate response was – just let it go! When things make me feel bad, I naturally want them out of my life. It always seems to me to be an either/or argument. Either you’re furious and ranting and can’t concentrate OR you let it go and don’t do anything about it.
But I think there has to be a middle way. I used to rile against the notion of the middle way, because I thought it meant being mediocre and not getting much done. Now I’ve realised that the middle way represents balance, and I am all about balance.
So what’s the balanced thing to do here? Take action, without negative emotion. Remove the emotional charge and just make sure that the situation is resolved. Is this obvious to everyone else? Is it just me who doesn’t see how much sense this makes, and has spent the last couple of decades either/or-ing?
So I’m going to get in touch with the publisher of the magazine and ask them to resolve the situation, and if they don’t I’m going to publish a warning against them for other writers to read. I just hate the thought that there are editors and publishers out there who are just grabbing people’s writing without any thought or respect directed to the writers. It takes all the joy out of it, you know?
I’ll keep you posted….
Incidentally, the way I reached this middle way conclusion was by asking myself, “What would a wise woman do?” so I’m being a good philosophy student in the process!
// May 20th, 2008 // No Comments » // Publishing, Writing
…. was from Annie Lamott in her book, ‘Bird by Bird’.
The whole book is actually a treasure trove of great writing advice, but the piece that I have carried with me constantly (and will probably always carry with me constantly) is this:
Write Shitty First Drafts.
She speaks a lot about the voices in your head telling you you’re a useless writer, and while I don’t so much have voices, I do have a sense when what I’m writing is not so good. It’s kind of a latent sense of gloom. But the thing is that when you’re trying to write a novel (which is, by definition, a pretty hefty piece of work) you don’t want to stop every five minutes and correct things and thereby interrupt the flow. Different writers will obviously tell you different things, but for me it’s best to just vomit it all up on the page, and then make it beautiful later.
What is so great about this advice, though, is that it sanctifies things not being good. Nobody expects you to get it right first time. I have never written an amazing first draft. And I can tell you with 100% certainty that the rough draft I’m working on at the moment is quite rubbish. But that doesn’t matter! All that matters now is getting my characters from the beginning to the end. Once I’ve done that I’ll come back and try to make their journey a little more magical.
For now, I am most profoundly relieved that I came across Annie Lamott and thereby lifted the pressure of having to write good first drafts. No way! Bring on the rubbish!
(PS: The first draft of Strange Nervous Laughter, which is now a book that I love to bits and pieces, was horrific. Choose your own adventure – I kid you not!)
// January 22nd, 2008 // No Comments » // Publishing, Reviews, Strange Nervous Laughter
It’s been a day of nonstop good news for me (and Strange Nervous Laughter!) today.
Where to begin? I can’t even rank the good newsiness of these good newsicles, because they’re so lovely. Let’s start with bookish news, and then move into real life:
* Strange Nervous Laughter is being sent to five editors in the USA! No guarantees, but pretty exciting to think of them sipping their cawfee and reading about the hottest summer Durban has ever known.
* Big Bunch of Carrots for Strange Nervous Laughter on Book SA: (carrots mean good reviews, for those out of the know!)
http://ronaldirwin.book.co.za/2008/01/22/big-bunch-of-carrots
-for- bridget-mcnultys-strange-nervous-laughter/
* This blog has reached number 10 on Today’s Top South Africa Blogs! Check it out: http://southafrica.dailyvoices.com/community
And in personally delightful news, my insurance has decided to write off my poor wounded scooter, which means that I get to buy a new one! Yay!
I’m thinking silver (the last one was black), although I am quite tempted by the carnation (pink!) one… any words of advice, anyone? Check them out at www.vukascuta.co.za and let me know what you think!
Here’s hoping tomorrow is even more exciting!
// December 6th, 2007 // 2 Comments » // Publishing, Reviews, Strange Nervous Laughter
Okey dokey, the time has come to gush a little.
There, I said it in the first line so you can easily log off before reading the rest of the post. No, don’t! I was just kidding. All I want to do is give a little update on Strange Nervous Laughter (my novel) and its journey into the world…
You can read about it in these fine places:
- O, the Oprah magazine has chosen Strange Nervous Laughter as one of their 3 Summer Reads. I’ve also written a piece for them on inhibitions and sexual awakening (how exciting does that sound!)
- Woman & Home has chosen Strange Nervous Laughter as one of their Top Summer Reads (at #3, which might not mean anything, but I’ll pretend it does!)
- Real Simple magazine has chosen Strange Nervous Laughter as one of their 8 Best Beach Reads.
- Design*Sponge, an online design website, has chosen Strange Nervous Laughter as one of their 11 South African Designs. It’s a beautiful site, check it out: http://www.designspongeonline.com/2007/12/
south-african-designers-guide.html
- Janet van Eeden from The Witness has chosen Strange Nervous Laughter as one of her Top 3 Books of the Year. Here’s her article: http://www.witness.co.za/?showcontent&global[_id]=749 or here’s her excerpt on SNL:
‘I loved Bridget McNulty’s Strange Nervous Laughter. Set in a steamy, sticky Durban during one of the hottest summers ever, the world the characters inhabit is as real as the characters are quirky. McNulty uses magic realism to create metaphors of meaning which greatly enhance the read. Always surprising, constantly enchanting, this was one of my most enjoyable reads of the year.’
- Coming up! An interview with Carol Mashiga on Radio 2000, Elle magazine’s Hot List, a piece in Woman & Home on childhood holidays, and a review in the Sunday Times.
Exciting times indeed!
So if you haven’t already, now is the time to buy Strange Nervous Laughter for all your Christmas presents! There’s still a little time left to place orders for a wrapped, signed, brooched copy… mail me at hello@bridgetmcnulty.com
