The Publishing Snail

Well the Edinburgh Festivals are almost over and the good people of the city can once more reclaim the streets, stretch out a little more in the local pubs, get a restaurant booking on a saturday night and catch up on all the TV they've missed.

I spent the last day of the Book Festival meeting with my agent. Whilst there is no concrete news with regards publishers, the report he gave was encouraging. Frustrating, but encouraging. 'Juvie' is still out with the different imprints and whilst several have now turned it down, they all gave good feedback and blamed it on similar titles already on their books, whilst asking to see more work. Half of the number still have the book, and so far haven't made a decision.

The publishing snail moves ever onwards.

Now the festival is over I can get back to the rewrites on 'Waters Deep,' the aim being to finish it by Christmas.

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The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall
Another meta-text book where the words have combined to create a monster that wants to destroy the hero. Clever and witty, being more accessible than most books in this area. He's also written some Doctor Who work.

The Playwright by Eddie Campbell and Darren White
A comic that outlines the life of a playwright past his prime and his yearning for someone to love him and gain some kind of connection with a woman. Simply drawn and coloured.



Batman - The Return of Bruce Wayne by Grant Morrison
Thought this was very disjointed and didn't really gel. The story felt as if whole scenes had been left out leaving the reader to fill in the gaps.

X'ed Out by Charles Burns
Another weird and wonderful idea from Burns that feels familiar yet completely alien at the same time. As usual he deals with young adults suffering from both psychological and physical ailments. Brilliantly crafted and executed, but over too soon. Book 2 coming soon I hope.




Romp by Adam Pollina
The straight forward story of an armless street fighting champion. The dialogue isn't up to much but the art work is bold and exciting.

Celluloid by Dave McKean
Art that takes the breath away - as usual. An explicit adult story of one woman's fantasy that delves into her mind and dreams. Freudian and intoxicating.

Mr. Palmer put in an appearance

I'm meant to be doing some drawing and finishing the third plate for 'Last Words of the Human Race,' but it's gone so overcast in the last twenty minutes that it is now too dark to draw with both the main light and my lamp on. Guess, I'll just blog instead.

It's the last few days of the Edinburgh Book Festival and I've had a good old go at it this year. Tuesday I got to see Shaun Tan, the artist and writer behind such illustrative works as the haunting 'The Arrival,' and the dream ladened 'Outer Suburbia.' He's a clever, witty talker and was able to make the most of the situation, as the interviewers seemed extremely nervous at talking in front of an audience.

Wednesday I watched a debate hosted by the masterful Joan Bakewell, on the future of the city. The poet Miles Glendinning was an engaging speaker, thoughtful and considered in his appreciation of the urban 'out lands,'. The other guest, (who I won't name) seemed to prattle on about nothing of any consequence, neither able to answer any questions nor say anything insightful. He might be a leading thinker, but I guess that doesn't make you a speaker.


Thursday night it was Amanda Palmer, hitting all the right notes with her new band. She played four new tracks - which were brilliant guitar led rock punk numbers - from the unreleased album, along with all her classics, ending on the high of 'Leeds United.' Mr. Palmer put in an appearance.


During the course of events I was able to meet up with @Lumpinthethroat, also know as the poet Mairi Campbell-Jack, to put a little more flesh on an idea called 'Scrawling Forth.' I'm not going to mention too much about it yet (as I don't want to jinx it), but I'm very, very excited.


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From the boards:

• How to write a great novel - top authors discuss their writing habits.
• What to bring to a publishing conference, with regards one sheets. I've never been to one of these. I thought about it, but not really sure how successful hounding publishers and agents at such venues are. I might, if I get desperate.
• The way we publish now - a good overview of the changes in publishing both pre and post Kindle. Hopeful for the future, which makes a change.
• Are books dead, and can authors survive - a debate from the Guardian at the EBF on the changes in publishing, with a response from 12 Books in 12 Months.

Homo-extremis

The Edinburgh Book festival has been excellent this year. Last night I saw Grant Morrison and today it was Neil Gaiman.

Morrison spoke knowledgeably about superheroes and time dilation, in that many of the attributes assigned to those who wear spandex is both a reinterpretation of god myths of old, as well as being stories written about our future selves and those humans who will become homo-extremis with the growth of technology.
Grant is a deep thinker, who probably spends just a little bit too much time examining meta-fictions and his own experiences of 'becoming the hero of his own story.' So much so, that he is in turn afflicted by the the same physical machinations as his characters.  I very much look forward to reading his new work 'Supergods,' a history of comic books and superheroes, interlaced with Morrison's own story.

Supergod?

Neil Gaiman is a firm favourite of mine. Today's talk was a reappraisal of 'American Gods,' a tenth anniversary celebration. Similar to Morrison, gods and humans intermingle in the modern world, the myths of human past intruding into modern America (or at least the US of 10 years ago).
It was made clear at the talk, hosted by the Guardian, that HBO is definitely pushing ahead with its endeavour to turn the book into a series. I can envisage 'American Gods making good television, unlike, (in my view), the unfilmable Sandman. If anyone can, then HBO is probably the best place for it to make the long journey to the small screen.

The first of many signings for Neil at the Edinburgh Book Festival

Afterwards I met with John McShane and had a pint. John is a comics guru (he owned the world renowned AKA Comics in Glasgow) and has many a yarn to spin on all the comic writers, artists and producers he's met over the years. I'm not sure if I can repeat many of his stories here, but they certainly help pass an afternoon!

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The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham
I love Wyndham. I love the fact they're sci-fi trapped in a bubble of 1950s respectability. I love aliens attacking whilst the British finish tea and listen to the wireless to hear the events unfold. They are of their time, but the actual ideas are scary. Get beyond the nice manners and polite talk and Wyndham taps into phycological horror. He knows how to turn the screw.
The cuckoos of Midwich are children. Born to mothers who had not conceived naturally, all at the same time during a period when everyone in the town was in a coma. There is something wrong with the children, something not quite human; and it's this unnatural creeping horror that seeps through the novel.
My only problem with it, is that it finishes all to soon, and not all the ideas are fully explored, but don't be put off. This is a classic for a reason.

There's a Festival on Here

There's a festival on here, as if you didn't know. This will be a short update, because it's August and time is precious in August.

I caught the rather amazing and all round singer-songwriter-comedian and diet hero, Mitch Benn yesterday. He was on good form and did something amazing with an iPhone and mentioned the Doctor only several times. I would urge anyone who hasn't seen him live to get tickets to his Edinburgh gig, but he's already finished his run and buggered off on holiday, so you've missed him. Catch him next time he comes.

In the evening I got to see a literary hero of mine in the form of Cory Doctorow. I've read most of his work, both fiction and journalism, and know that he is one clever tech-dude with a passion for all things open source and digitally free. This was the first time I've heard him speak and would like to recount what he touched upon, but he speaks so fast and hits so many points of interest that I could never get them down. I know he spoke about the maker movement, open source software, 3D printing, publishing and ebooks, sci-fi versus the future; and that was just the stuff I could understand. He encouraged those in the audience to record his talk. I hope someone did, because I want a transcript. I've looked online but can't find one yet. If it appears, I'll stick the link up here.

Cory in flow (and wearing great shoes).

To round off the night I got to see Professor Richard Wiseman explaining magic and how it works. The science of the paranormal could not find a better host. I know Richard from the Edinburgh Secret Society, events as good as those at the festival, but available all year round.

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On the links I would set time aside to read the Terrible Minds blog on '25 Ways to Make Exposition Your Bitch,' a straight telling of how to get rid of all those nuisence wordy bits that clog up novels.

NPR has a list of the top 100 sic-fi / fantasy books. I think I've managed about 30% of those listed. I guess that means more books to add to the reading pile.

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Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch

Book 2 in a series that must be good as I read both books back to back. This second work picks up straight after the previous finishes and places the hero, DC Peter Grant straight into a new mystery. This one features the afterlife and jazz, both of which Aaronovitch seems more than comfortable writing about.
The plots a page turner and the characters have been set up to grow, with relationship issues starting to become apparent, though the hero doesn't read that convincing as a black character. Like the previous book the star is London itself, carefully detailed and executed so that you can almost smell the overflowing bins of Soho.

Every Other -ly

I went to the Inky Fingers book fair at the week (twice, as it happens, as the first time I got the wrong day). It was small and intimate, with a selection of zines and small print offerings. In the end I didn't buy anything, mainly because my reading pile takes up the length of my study and I don't have time to read anything else at the moment, what the iPad being updated daily with my RSS feed, plus my magazine subscriptions. I'm always amazed so many people produce these small works, the effort that goes into them is immense and the reward small. I takes a certain type of artist to commit to them.

More reports on epublishing, this time from the Guardian, that argues about the inherent worth of digital versus paper.

An interview with Adam Christopher turns to Twitter and its use in pitching novels. His new book, 'Empire State,' sounds like my cup of tea, must add it to the growing pile.

There's also an interview with Julie Bertagna, a fellow YA sci-fi writer, living in Scotland. She sound as if she had the opposite reaction to her trilogy (no YA sci-fi as opposed to too much, now).

And, is this future of libraries? I'm not sure I like the idea of the local library being run by religious groups. To me that would mean a conflict of interests. Libraries should be neutral - politically, religiously and every other -ly.

A Plethora of Other Arty-Farty Types

The festivals of Edinburgh are gearing up and the city is starting to bloat with visitors and tourists, mingling with acrobats, actors, comedians, writers and a plethora of other arty-farty types. I have my tickets ready and will report back over the coming weeks on my highs and lows of the festival.

Publishing is in a state of meltdown. Tech is changing the industry faster the it is able to keep up. This is probably the worst time ever for a new writer (such as myself) to try and make it with a big publisher (I'm trying, really I am). The publishers are unwilling to enter into lengthy expensive contracts with unproven talent and yet a new model for ebooks has not yet arrived. Publishers are trying to keep up with the demand of readers wanting works quicker and in different formats, but so far they seem to be at loggerheads. So bad has it got that some writers are quitting, which is a real shame. This week M. D. Lachlan (Mark Barrowcliffe) wrote a polite opposite view over at The Speculative Scotsman. I have to say, I agree for the most part with him. I'm a quick writer and I thrive on deadlines. If the last year has taught me anything, it's that I have both the ability and stamina to write and to move my projects along. I just haven't got a publisher (yet) willing to take that chance on me.
The views above were then amplified by both the Guardian and the Independent. Their respective websites carried articles about an established authors inability to sell ebooks (but get free advertising) due to the sheer amount of work being produced and the death throws of the printed medium.

Over at the blog Dee Scribe, there is helpful advice for writers maintaining some kind of network. This is something I plan to concentrate on over the next year. I need to get the writer "Adam J. Shardlow" better known and during the festival is probably the best time to do this. I just need to be a little more assertive at meeting people.

As part of my task of meeting other writers in Edinburgh I plan to visit the Inky Fingers Minifest at some point over the weekend. They are completely free events, so if you get the chance, pop down.

I've been using Twitter for several years now and I didn't realise how many #hashtags for writing there now were. I really should learn some and make use of them. PublishingTalk has a handy list.

Some very lucky students at Napier University get to be taught by a real Doctor Who writer. Wish I could gate crash and meet Robert Shearman. I'll just have to be content with the second half of the new series.

Not writing related, but I wonder if my brother DC Benny has seen the Dark Spartan in action. I believe the real life (and maybe suicidal) superhero prowls his patch.

A Keyboard Designed for a Pixie

Hello, remember me?

I've been to work. A proper job, mind you. Not that arty-farty stuff I do from the comfort of my study. No - this is work, work. The sort where you wear a dark sombre suit, talk about project timetables, risks and issues, owners and SMEs. A job that involves sitting in an office with nice views and free coffee, where you get given a Blackberry (a horrible thing, which doesn't do anything intuitively and comes with a keyboard designed for a pixie), and a lap top and have to fill your days with important meetings and workshops. The good thing about this is that I'm paid money that I can actually use in shops and bars as opposed to the slips of IOUs I made at home that are refused by all major (and minor) establishments. The downside is, I have rather less time to get things done. But, I am working, if very slowly. Look here's a sneak preview of the first bit of "Last Words of the Human Race," if only to prove to you that I haven't been slacking.

"Last Words of the Human Race."

Last week was my first visit to the Edinburgh Literary Salon after a year. It was good to be back and fortuitous as that night they mentioned the continuation of the Edinburgh Literary Bloggers. As some of you might remember these were hosted by the Guardian on their local news site. It was an experiment which they decided after a year was not for them and so the site was left to rot. Luckily a plucky group of volunteers have stepped in to resurrect the blogs and include other Edinburgh based literary detail. It's early day yet, but watch this space.

The Edinburgh Festival starts this week, therefore I will soon be able to fill these page with plenty of relevant details. I have tickets to several events and I'll do a write up here.

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Read this week:

Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk
I like Palahniuk's playfulness. He always tries out different approaches to telling a story. Sometimes this is successful, other times it gets in the way of the plot. 'Haunted' partially works. It's horror of a type more concerned with the human body than things that go bump in the night, reminding me somewhat of films like 'Saw' and other 'torture porn.'
It's made up many short stories, each one the voice of a protagonist. Each of them want to be a writer and have responded to an advert to go on a writers retreat. It soon becomes apparent that things are not as they seem.
It's good, but I never felt a kinship with any of the characters and this holds it back from being real horror. In many ways it's a dark humorous parody of horror.

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

I like books about magic in the real world. I particularly like them when they are set in London. I'm thinking Hellblazer, Mike Carey's 'Felix Castor' novels and Kate Griffin's 'Matthew Swift' books. To these can now be added the character of Peter Grant - a young PC, dragged into a world of magicians and dark deeds on the streets of London.
The first book deals with a killer on the streets, a killer with familiar exaggerated features; river nymphs, the last wizard of London, vampires and talking spirits.
To differentiate it from other similar works, the character of PC Grant is young and black. This opens up multi ethnic London in ways the other works merely touch upon. It is however, his obvious love of the city that brings this book alive. Aaronovitch knows London and describes it as it is. So vivid is his mention of his surroundings it is almost possible to make a mental map backed up by an A to Z of the journey Peter grant takes. A good first book. I'm already reading book two int he series.