Ahhh Bank Holiday Weekend. Rain, cold winds, and nothing on the TV. Just like I remember them as a kid. Luckily I have plenty to keep me busy as I'm working my way through 'Juvie 2'. Currently getting about 6-7,000 words done a week. Not a lot, but I tend to edit on the run so a lot goes down and is then dumped when I read it through again. I'm considering titles and will probably change it many times before I'm happy.
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What's a book to become in the 21st century post internet and network media revolution?... How does one introduce the connected and computational user experience of digital media into the paper book, to actualise it, widen its scope, and engage the reader in new ways?
Bertrand Duplat & Etienne Mineur
What's in your bag?
A perfect little animation about love called Crater Face:
Crater Face from Skyler Page on Vimeo.
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I've never read any Richard Kadrey before. Sandman Slim is the story of bad dude who pulls himself out of hell after being tricked into his own death by his so called magician friends. He's back for revenge, and having trained to kill the demons of the pit, he's angry and ready for action. It's a quick, thrill a minute read, with a dark alternative LA hipster feel to the writing and characterisation. That said his main character ain't too bright and it does feel like he's just putting off what needs to be done.
The Charlie Parker thriller is a highlight of my reading year and The Whisperers is just as good as anything that has come before. It's the assured voice of Connolly's writing, his ability to take what could be a well written thriller and turn it into something more. Parker investigates the apparent suicides of a recently return from Iraq soldier and soon finds similar deaths, and then someone tries to scare him off. Not a good idea with Parker. He calls in help from New York and sets about uncovering the truth. At the same time a deformed figures looms from the darkness. Clever, dark and continuous of the Parker myth.
Read this week:
Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey
The Whisperers by John Connolly
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Links for Today
Interesting idea. Computers and creatures sharing the same virus: http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2010-05/26/scientist-infects-himself-with-a-computer-virus
Mmmmm... dried zombie meat: http://pinktentacle.com/2010/05/zombie-meat/
Kim Alsbrooks White Trash series: http://juxtapoz.com/Meighan+OToole/22138-kim-alsbrooks
A partial map of the TARDIS. Which might come in handy in the future: http://community.livejournal.com/dwfiction/2794749.html?view=2658301#t2658301
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Testing mail to Blogger
Quick history of publishing: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/audioslideshow/2010/may/24/publishing-history-20th-century
Douglas Adams. Much missed. Please carry your towel responsibly: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/may/25/douglas-adams-towel-day
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Missing, No More
I’m suffering from a cold which might be partially the fault of strong Belgian beer and the lack of sleep I’ve had over the last few weekends. Anyway, as I spend my Sunday snotting and hawking up the odd lung, you’ll be glad to know that, “Juvie” is now with my agent and I’m waiting to hear back.
As is the way of many small publishers, Libros has gone into liquidation which means copies of ‘The Missing’ are now no longer available. If you have one you hold something quite rare. That said I think I know where I can get hold of six remaining copies. So if you don’t already have one, drop me a line and I’ll see what can be arranged.
I’ve spent most of this week sketching and writing my brother’s best man speech in time for the wedding next weekend. I might need to sacrifice some more virgins to ensure travel (I’m running low in Edinburgh).
Links galore:
Online magazines with Zinio and Yudu
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And Another Thing is the Eoin Colfer written part six of Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It’s not bad, but (and this wasn’t a surprise) it’s no patch on the original. It’s like the concept was passed through an Adams-o-matic machine. It’s essence of Douglas, and I’m not sure whether anyone should have bothered. Colfer is a pretty good author in his own right, but Adams was something else, a once in human history writer.
The Road is one of those books that I’ve been meaning to read for a long time but never got around to it, which is a shame as it’s brilliant. Beautifully written, sparse, with an undercurrent of approaching sorrow. Sci-fi in the sense it’s set in an unnamed future after something terrible has happened that wipes out most of the human population, the world turned grey in a possible nuclear winter, it tells the continuous journey of a a father and his young son. A mesmerising work of art.
Pandemonium is the new Hellblazer, set in the difficult and challenging world of Iraq, sucide bombers and insurgents. Delano is one of the best Constantine authors around, with tight scripts that bring the old weathered magician to life. The art work by Jock is almost worth buying it for in the first place.
Read this week:
And Another Thing by Eoin Colfer
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Hellblazer: Pandemonium by Jamir Delano & Jock
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