Book Reviews 30/11/10

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet - Some authors have a way with the English language that looks almost effortless. David Mitchell is one of those. His novel 'Cloud Atlas' was a huge success and I imagine this will be considered just as good.
Set in Japan at the end of the 18th Century, the reader is transported to a country with people and customs closed off from the outside world. Protected and yet stunted by ideas disharmonious to the country, Japan is a place of secrets and lies. The only connection it has with the rest of the world is through the small port of Dejima, a holding and trading post of the Dutch. Into this world comes, Jacob De Zoet, a young clerk in search of a livelihood so that he might marry his love on the other side of the world. Japan has a profound effect upon him, so much so, that his life is forever changed.
The story shifts and alters as it spans eighteen years, focusing on both Dutch and Japanese characters. It never goes in quite the direction you expect as outside forces mold the action from off the page, the same way history changes Japan from the outside. It is both an adventure story and a love story; a historical work and one of fantasy.
It is in the clear writing that Mitchell's book really works. It's never an effort to read and yet you can smell the lives of the people of Dejima. You feel close and yet removed from the action, you understand and are confused by characters actions as if it were the reader in an alien country.

The Midnight Mayor is the second book by Kate Griffin (also known as Catherine Webb) in a series telling the life of sorcerer Matthew Swift in modern day London. Swift died once and was been brought back to life merged with the sentient beings 'the blue electric angels'; creatures of magic and technology. Now someone is trying to kill him again.
The style is reminiscent of Mike Carey's Felix Castor books, though the magic she has created is wholly her own. It's clever and modern. - the magic of the city; and it's the city that shines through. Griffin has a great understanding of modern London (read her blog Urban Magic) and this is displayed in her writing.
A few scenes I found a little over written, particularly when describing magical creatures thinking, but on the whole this is a good second book in a series which I hope continues.

Their Weight In Gold

I'm just about finished on the final (final, final) rewrites for "Juvie". Once completed the typescript will be sent to my agent who in turn will send it out to those national and international publishers who have shown an interest. Having just had another would-be writer staying with us for a weekend I'd like to say one or two things about getting an agent.

There is a concept in publishing that writers 'need an agent to get published, and agents only take on writers who have been published'. A 'chicken and egg scenario' if ever there were one.

However, this isn't necessarily true.

A writer can submit direct to publishers without ever using an agent, and likewise an agent will take on unpublished authors. Both routes have pros and cons.

1. Going direct means that your novel will go straight to a publisher and save you a percentage of any money you make from a sale, but chances are without an agent the novel will start on the slush pile awaiting the eagle eye of a junior to pull it from obscurity.
2. The second route ensures your novel gets seen by the right publisher at the right time; a publisher with an interest in your themes and novel. However, if a sale happens (and only when a sale happens - never before. If anyone takes money off you before, they are cheating you), you pay a percentage.

A good agent is worth more than their weight in gold. 'Juvie' has been sent backwards and forwards between Edwin and myself about five times. This is to ensure the novel is perfect before being submitted. I thank him for this, because I know that the book is far better now than when I originally sent it in. A good agent will take their time with a first time writer, telling them where they are going wrong and what works. What is good form, what is bad. They understand that they make money if your book is a success, so they want it to be a success. A good agent is patient and sees your career as an investment.

How to get a good agent? Well, that is the million dollar question. Like everything in writing and publishing it requires skill, luck and patience. Lots and lots of patience. I know from personal experience that writers want to finish a work and then see it in print a year later. This doesn't happen. You have to persevere as much with your writing as you do with finding the correct agent for yourself. You need an agent who understands the landscape, has good contacts, spends their own money promoting you to publishers and only sends your work out when its in a the best state it can be in. A good agent should make the publishing process that little bit easier for you.

There are reference books out there that list all literary agents, but don't choose one at random. You need an agent who can work with you and you with them. Find a local agent, someone you can meet face-to-face. Go and see agents at local book events or literary salons. Talk to them, find out what they are looking for and then approach them with your novel.

With a bit of luck, you'll find the right agent for you.

Re-watching Doctor Who

I forgot to mention that I spent the last couple of weeks re-watching Doctor Who. One reason for this is that Indian television is rubbish, but more importantly I want to see how the different writers work together over the last five series to create something whole. There are many facets to the show that you just don't pick on with a weekly break.

I've been adding them to Twitter, but have pulled all of series one together here.

• Doctor Who re-watch in order. First up Series 1 episode 1: Rose.#DrWho 
• Rose: Intro to the Dr, Aliens and modern UK. Good use of Dr as manic, mad yet bad, opening up the universe. #DrWho 
• #DrWho S1 Ep2: The End of the World: Dr as the lonely hero. Humans as the great race. Time as the ultimate ending. 
• #DrWho S1 Ep3: The Unquiet Dead: First death of an innocent, history not just the future, intro of time rewrites. 
• #DrWho S1 Ep4 Aliens of London: Modern Britain with all its problem, the people of Earth introduced to the Dr's world. 
• #DrWho S1 Ep5 World War Three: We're all heroes now, a new golden age for Britain? The problem with companions.
• #DrWho S1 Ep6 Dalek: mortal enemies, the loneliness of the long running Dr, listen to your companion. 
• #DrWho S1 Ep7 The Long Game: The power of a controlled & manipulated media, the power of info - Murdoch of the future.
• #DrWho S1 Ep8 Father's Day: Rose learns the dangers of time travel, the worth of all, the Dr as ultimate father fig.
• #DrWho S1 Ep9 & 10 The Empty Child & The Doctor Dances: The darkness of childhood but for once, everybody lives.
• #DrWho S1 Ep11 Boom Town: Sometimes you have to let one go, creating a God, the TARDIS lives. 
• #DrWho S1 Ep 12 & 13 Bad Wolf & The Parting of the Ways: Gods & monsters, time power, the heart of the TARDIS
• #DrWho Special 1 The Christmas Invasion: New Doctor, new aliens, new humans and a reference to Douglas Adams. 

I'll do the same for series 2 when I start re-watching it.

More Than a Pencil

I'm close to finishing the next draft of 'Stigma', but I've changed tools to complete it. 

One of the reasons I've always been attracted to writing as an art form is the fact that you need nothing more than a pencil and piece of paper to create.  Of course in this day and age, with computers, slates, smart phones and all the other electrical peripherals available, I would be a fool to rely just on paper. That said, I've always used simple word processing packages such as Pages (Apple) or Word (Microsoft) to write. Now however, (and perhaps this has something to do with being abroad for a year and paranoid I'm going to loose some work) I find myself relying on software 'solutions'.

This month then (or until the free trial expires) I'm testing Scivener to see if it meets my needs. I chose Scrivener due to a recommendation from William Gibson on Twitter (@GreatDismal) and the fact that the next project will be quite research intensive and have multiple characters that I need to keep track of. I'll let you know if I keep it on or revert back to Pages next month.

For keeping all my research notes together I use Evernote. This is a simple interface that I have on both macs, my Iphone and Ipad, so I can always review any note I make and add things on the run. I use a similar folder structure as my writing folder on the mac so I can match research to ideas. I also use Instapaper (again across all devices) as a way of trying not to get too distracted whilst writing. Anything I want to read later I save via a simple browser button and then try and remember to sync before I go out. If it's something I want to share with a wider audience I post it to twitter, again via a simple browser button interface.

Finally, I always have a small moleskin notebook (plain pages) and a good pen on me, because tech always lets you down eventually.

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This blog is now also being hosted by The Guardian on the Literary Edinburgh pages. There are some interesting and established writers on board. Guardian Edinburgh Beatblogger, Michael MacLeod describes it as:

"The Literary Edinburgh blogosphere page aims to showcase some of the city's blogging writers. I've been in touch with authors, poets and scriptwriters across the city to find out what they blog about."

I look forward to being a part of the bloggers on board and finding out what fellow writers are up to.

Turn Your Speakers Up

Getting plenty done, but there re just not enough hours in the day. I started work this morning and it's already eight in the evening. How did that happen?

Anyway just to keep you informed here is a little video of the rain, which has been keeping me at my desk. The monsoon is great for writers. Must be one of the reasons I chose to live in Edinburgh:

This second video was taken on Diwali. If you enjoy sleeping, which I do, India is not really the country for you. Not only do you have the heat and poorly built housing with little in the way of insulation, Indian's also like noise. Lots of it and as loud as possible. To prove a point the video below was taken from our balcony. Turn your speakers up as loud as they'll go and stand real close to get the real effect.

And here are some new photos for you: https://www.me.com/gallery/#100052

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Some very quick book reviews. I’m getting through the mountain of reading I brought with me and I can heartily recommend any of the following:

Zeitoun by Dave Eggers - Hurricane Katrina, the floods and the awful mess that was New Orleans seen through the eyes of a local of Syrian descent. Displays both the misguided preconceptions of many balanced against the good of the few. True story.

Horns by Joe Hill - Hill’s second novel and another genre busting sort of horror, sort of love story from a writer who is becoming one of my firm favourites. What happens when your life is going to shit and you wake up one morning with horns on your head and a great big hangover.

Stories edited by Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio. A good selection of well established authors show us how short stories should be written. Some better than others but look out for ‘Catch and Release’ by Lawrence Block.