A walk in the dark woods.

Night Shift - A Dark Christmas Romance

2011-12-18T14:13:00.001Z

Working as a security guard gives him valuable dreaming time, a skill he practises during the long hours that make up his dull day. He is a natural fantasist, having honed his skill to such a level that he can enter a fugue like state for several hours at a time, and yet function and complete his rounds on time.

It is during a lucid stupor, triggered by trying to remember what Sally subtly hinted at only the night before, when he first sees her. She stands inside the large store window, straight and true, her face turned away from him as if winking at some unseen admirer. She is exquisite, not a term he thought he would ever use, or even knew. With skin a shade darker than alabaster and hair almost golden. He realises he is being poetic and forces himself to look away, embarrassed. Fearful others might see his awkward reaction to such a face, he turns his back on her, joining the crowds that throng the perfume counter, getting lost in the crush.

He thinks about her later, whilst cooking dinner.

Twice when watching television.

And again, cleaning his teeth.

In bed her face floats before his closed eyes like a shimmering mirage; and she is there when he wakes up in the morning.

He doesn’t mention her to Sally. He knows she will disapprove, so he keeps it a secret. He doesn’t feel bad, a little guilty, maybe.

A week passes. Christmas draws closer. Decorations go up, prodigious amounts of food is bought and the weather seriously deteriorates.

He sees her again inside the shop. He is on the third floor, ambling through women’s hosiery. She stands with her back to a pillar, looking out onto the shop floor, eyes wide and blue, mouth perfectly pouting. He watches her for a good ten minutes, examining the curve of her bust, the line of her thighs and long legs visible through the pale skirt that modestly covers them. Only when interrupted by a lost customer does he pull himself away, but he thinks about her for the rest of the afternoon, and the following day. Even when he isn’t at work she plagues his mind.

Eventually he makes a decision.

He wants her, desires her, covets her.

She will be his.

It will happen on his night shift. The last one, Christmas Eve. Just as the customers are leaving and the staff are thinking of going home, their day done. During that perilous period between open and closed, he will make his move. The act is illegal, but he has done it before. In his mind, he has already pardoned himself.

Fortunate favours the brave and his plan is made that much easier by the fact she is standing close by a staff entrance, seemingly absorbed in a selection of pillow cases and duvet covers. He moves in quick, takes her by the hand, her fingers tiny and cold in his own, and drags her through the double door before anyone notices her missing.

In the early hours of the morning, the world asleep, Sally in bed dreaming and snoring, he smuggles her into their flat, bound tightly in a roll of thick plastic to disguise her shape. In the living room he goes to work, pulling open her dress and making a deep incision between her shoulder blades, pulling apart her legs and searching up her thighs for his goal. Right there, in the dark of the cold crisp Christmas morning, in almost silence, he mounts her.

The next day he sheepishly reenters the room, the knowledge of what he has done the night before weighing heavy on his mind. He hopes he has cleared up after him, hidden any evidence, the deed erased from trace, but Sally already knows what has happened. He is surprised when she forgives him, giving him a hug and a kiss on the cheek, but then his daughter understands that he loves her, and the fairy on top of the tree; with her too blonde hair, snow white skin and waxen stare, stolen to please only her, proves that.

Merry Christmas.

Knuckle Down

2011-10-13T13:21:00.001+01:00

I've missed a deadline.

I hate missing deadlines.

I'm off to Venice early tomorrow morning, but I go with a feeling of incompleteness, a feeling which will nag at me as I look at Tintoretto's and sip prosecco. It can't be helped. I tried my best, but still...

I wanted to finish the rewrites on 'Waters Deep,' and I've come up three chapters short. This is partially due to including several new scenes, which meant others had to be rewritten or moved to different parts of the story. The other reason is that I'm trying to do too much writer related stuff at the same time, juggling multiple projects and my time, and having to work at a day job. It can't be helped, but it is very frustrating.

I could take it with me and finish it on holiday, but that's not fair on my wife, (who likes to see me every once in while, if only to remind herself she's married), and I like to travel light. I'll take the ipad and do a bit of research and short story work, but I don't want to lug a laptop as well (along with camera's, phones and all the leads and chargers necessary to keep things working).

I'll just have to me more organised when I get back, knuckle down and do some work.

- From the desk of AJS. Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

October Catchup

2011-10-02T16:54:00.000+01:00

A quick catch-up on links and reviews:

A few new articles on why the printed book is doomed. The first from The Telegraph the second from The Guardian, where Lloyd Shepherd takes a more balanced view. If we are going the way of the e-book, then Julian Saunders asks, 'how much should we charge?' And The Passive Voice asks if writers can make a living wage.

Jeff Goins asks if writing at night is best, whilst Janna Qualman has three writing lives. There are 25 ways to plot your story through Chuck Wendig and Judy Black Cloud exposes writing's dirty little secret.

Tales of Terror From the Black Ship
By Chris Priestley
Great little gothic novel made up of several short stories featuring ghostly goings on on the high seas and in the sort of mist shroud port towns that feature in tales of pirates. Aimed at children with equally young narrators this is a charming book reminiscent of M. R. James tales, with a final sting in its tail (tale). Some nice little illustrations as well.

Almost Transparent Blue
By Ryu Murakami
The first short novella from the cult Japanese author. It was written in the 60s but feels a lot fresher, whilst the writing style is reminiscent of hipster Hubert Selby Jr. It doesn't really have a split, but short direct dialogue and bruising prose sure makes up for it.

Desolation Jones
By Warren Ellis & J. H. Williams III
Another work from the fetid mind of Ellis, featuring the sort of broken character that he loves to write. Jones is an ex-spook forced to live out his days in a LA, a town given over to the ageing spooks who have made it their home. Not his best, but certainly good enough to make it on to my comic book shelf.

The Burning Soul
By John Connolly
My favourite thriller writer is back with the latest instalment for Charlie Parker. This started a little contrived, as if Connolly was having to push the novel along, but about 80 pages in that all changed and the novel became as good as all the others. I have a feeling though, that the next novel needs to bring back some of the more supernatural focused bad guys.

Beer Whenever I Want It

2011-09-26T19:44:00.001+01:00

I have my head down, pressed into the virtual pages of Waters Deep, working and reworking characters and situations. It's coming on and as usual I've set myself a strict deadline to get the manuscript finished. So - no rest for the wicked. However, the way I work has got me thinking about the sort of skills I have learnt in my day job that are proving useful in my creative life.

I have a career. It keeps a roof over my head, food in my stomach and clothes on my back. It pays for holidays, trips to restaurants, the cinema, theatre and most importantly lets me buy beer whenever I want it. It is the means by which I can afford to exist, but it doesn't define me.

That said, through this daylight persona I have learnt and become quite adapt at certain skills. Skills that are often put into practice when starting large writing projects (project is the key term here). Writing is about skill, passion and putting in the hours, but I've also found that it helps if you are good at developing a business like attitude to production. Splitting a novel up into realisable goals, ensuring timelines are met, research techniques and the promotion of the writer as a 'brand,' are all techniques that enhance a literary life.

Could I turn these into a sellable product? I'm not sure. There are freelance consultants advertising on the net for all sort of artistic endeavours, but is there really a market for such a thing? Hmmmmm...something to ponder.

The Publishing Snail

2011-08-31T19:52:00.001+01:00

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.

****

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

2011-08-27T18:02:00.003+01:00

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.

****
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

2011-08-21T19:04:00.000+01:00

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!

****

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

2011-08-15T20:29:00.000+01:00

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.

****
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.

****

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

2011-08-08T19:12:00.002+01:00

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

2011-08-04T20:28:00.000+01:00

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

2011-08-01T19:56:00.000+01:00

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.

****
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.

Last Words of the Human Race

2011-07-17T21:44:00.001+01:00

I've been back in Edinburgh for two weeks and I love it. I'm home. I'm in our flat. I have my desk, my books, my music. I have the cinemas, theatres, bars and restaurants of the city; museums and parks full of green trees accompanied with the gentle waft of barbecue smoke. I have cafes, streets to walk, mountains on the horizon. I have tickets to the book festival, the Fringe and a concert. I have friends to meet, greet and eat with, both new and old. I also have a new job and I start on Tuesday.

This week I've been mainly sorting out the flat and getting rid of boxes. Most of our stuff was in storage. The eighteen boxes, when returned, took up most of the floor space. I've also been working on some art, just practising really, doing small single pane comic work entitled 'Last Words of the Human Race.' I'll put some up here when I'm happy with them.

Right, I have a Sunday to enjoy. Back soon.

- From the desk of AJS. Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Edinburgh,United Kingdom

Goodbye to India

2011-06-27T08:34:00.000+01:00

We're leaving India. Wednesday morning (at some ridiculous time - why are all the international flight I take out of Chennai at the sort of time when I should be sound asleep and dreaming?) and should be back in the UK for lunch.

India has been fun. Interesting - in a feeling like a complete alien, kind of way - full of history and culture and wholly itself. It is a demanding place to come and live as both an outsider, but also for the vast majority of people who live here. Poverty is rife, contrasted against great wealth. It moves at its own pace, like one of the giant oxen that lumber down the streets. It is loud and in places dirty. It is green and cool in the mountains, but dusty and humid in the cities. A world unto itself, where much of what happens in the world goes unreported and not commented upon. It is conservative and in many ways bigoted in its approach to women, homosexuals and race. It has too many competing religions. It's industry is huge and expanding all the time, cities are buildings sites where the country of tomorrow is slowly reaching for the sky. It is a country of bafflement and shrugged shoulders and smiles and colour and huge potential.

I'll leave you with some images.

A Man on the Moon by Paper Aeroplane

2011-06-24T07:29:00.000+01:00

It’s my last Friday in India. I’ve had an interesting eleven months, filled with enough images, experiences and smells (I’ll never forget those smells) to fill several books. However, this period between jobs was always going to be about the writing and I’m proud that in that time I’ve been able to prove to myself that I have the heart and fortitude to spend all my time writing. If nothing else, it has allowed me to get a lot of the gunk that fills up my brain down on paper and write two novels and edit another. They are:

Juvie.

A YA science fiction novel.

A town stranded in the Green, isolated, ruled by the Laws of the Governors; a community reeling from pain and tragedy, where nothing is taken for granted. Not a great place to grow up, not a great place to be a “juvie.”

Ben Hewitt is missing a brother. He has stopped taking his Inhibitors. He has found the gun. Now he is scared. With only a few days until the Anniversary, the musors are after him and sinister strangers have been seen in town. On the run, unable to trust anyone, Ben must learn the black secret hidden in the heart of Greenville’s residents if he is to survive.

Time is running out.

Stigma

The follow-up to Juvie

Life in the Enclave is hard and brutal, a life lived in squalor, the decrepit block houses cramped and unsanitary, the people slowly starving; each day is nothing less than a fight for survival. Sarah thought she understood. She is Drose, tattooed with the Stigma Servitude, her short life already mapped out and beyond her control. She is destined to finish her days either on the labour battalions or at the hands of the ‘zombie’ Stigmata Guards.

When her Grappa receives a package from the Plush black marketeer Drohodo, Sarah discovers that her life is not as simple as she first thought. Now, with only a few days left before she is made Legitimate, she must discover the truth about her peoples confinement.

What is so important inside the crumpled brown paper package that so many are willing to die for it? Who is the boy from outside the walls, who talks about Governors and life in the Green? Why are her people so despised? And what of the whispers of another city, outside the Enclave, a place where freedom exists.

Waters Deep

A YA Horror novel

Something wakes in the North Sea. Creatures from myth, best forgotten. The storm rages, and the surge bares down on the English East Coast, and in the waters the creatures follow.

Joe doesn’t like Barton, it’s small town and he’s a London boy. Lincolnshire offers him very little, and he blames his family for the disastrous move. When the storm hits, he just wants to flee like everyone else, but chance transpires against him.

The town is swamped by the incoming surge, but something worse than the icy cold sea water inhabits the hidden depths of Barton. As Joe searches for his lost father, other people are spotted in town, but if they’re not part of a rescue - who are they?

A new ongoing series of YA cryptid-horror novels

Now - the first two books are with my agent, but have not been taken up by a publisher, though he assures me there is plenty of interest. I don’t know if they will sell. Today’s market is harsh for new writers and getting anything out in print (I mean as a real paper book) was almost impossible before the upsurge of electronic publishing, now it’s akin to getting a man on the moon by paper aeroplane. If it doesn’t happen with these books, then I’ll shift attention to the new horror series and try them instead (Waters Deep is finished as a first draft, but will require another six months worth of work to be complete). If that doesn’t work then I might look at just going it alone. At least the books will then see the light of day, if only read by those who prowl the self published e-book lists.

An Indulgence Project

2011-06-20T07:48:00.000+01:00

I am down to single day digits for my time left in India. A week on Wednesday I’ll be back in Edinburgh, catching up on all I’ve missed and doing some exercise to compensate for a complete lack of anything in almost a year.

‘Waters Deep,’ is complete in the first draft. I’m putting it aside so I can forget as much about it as possible, so that when I return the story and characters will feel that little bit fresher. I will also use the time to do more research and some work on one part of the novel that acts as the tie in for the series.

In the mean time, I’m starting work on my first proper comic book idea, ICONz. This is something that has been hanging around in the back of my mind for some time (a couple of years, at least). It’s an indulgence project as I know it will have very little commercial appeal, instead its something I need to do, if only to prove to myself that I should never try the format again.

ICONz looks at the power of fame and the media’s interpretation of events once a person becomes a star, but seen through the concept of the super hero. A familiar trope, but one I hope to approach in a very unique fashion. At the moment I plan to write six episodes in rough, which I’ll then refine as I concentrate on the art work. If the art work is rubbish (a good chance) I might look at working with someone else. At the end of it (if I finish it, which will be years from now) I’ll probably give it away for free before collecting it and selling via one of the online POD publishers.

****

Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde

How Fforde manages to keep every concept and idea he has up in the air as he introduces a myriad of characters and world building is beyond me. He must have a mind like a sparking plug kept inside a well partitioned filing index. Shades of Grey is a departure from his world of nursery rhymes and living novel characters and instead sets up a world where colour hierarchy rules. Here you can, in the main, see only one primary colour, all the others are grey. Depending on which colour you see most prominently (purple the highest, grey the lowest) indicates your status in life.

Eddie Russet has been sent to the Outer Fringes to learn some humility. Arriving with his father in the quintessentially quaint town of East Carmine, with its odd ball residents, the boy find himself falling in love with a Grey, whilst realising that the once ‘black and white’ world is not all it professes to be. Dystopian science fiction has never been so amusing.

The Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

I have a suspicion that ‘The Angel’s Game’ was actually conceived before Zafón’s hugely enjoyable and successful ‘The Shadow of the Wind.’ Whilst it has a similar feel to the first book, it has naiveté about it, as if written by a much younger, less confident author.

It follows the life of David Martin, a young man who wants to be a successful author living in Barcelona. After a childhood of neglect he finds a sponsor and friend in a rich journalist, and soon starts writing pulp fiction under a pseudonym. As his fame increases he is brought to the attention of the mysterious Andreas Corelli, a man who makes him an offer he can’t refuse, but puts his life and soul in mortal danger.

Dark, brooding, with depiction's of Barcelona as an organic maze, this is a throw back to the gothic works of the 19th century. However, unlike his first book it seems both over and under worked in places. Good, but not a classic.

Read this week:

Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde

The Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Get Cracking

2011-06-08T12:29:00.000+01:00

I'm close, oh so close, to finishing the first draft of 'Waters Deep.' I reckon that by tomorrow I'll have written the ending, but I then need to go back and add in an extra scene that is required earlier in the book. I think I'll have it finished Friday, if not Monday next week. This is good as I only have three weeks left in India. Better get cracking.

In the meantime, some light book reviews whilst you wait.

***

The Dervish House by Ian McDonald
Like his previous book 'River of Gods' (and his debut) this is sci-fi is set in a country that doesn't always figure high in the standard settings. It deals with a week in Instanbul, a city that sits between technologically advanced Europe and the old mysticism of Asia. A city that is rocked by a terrorist explosion on a tram. It deals with politics, business, corruption, nano-tech and a world accelerating into an uncertain future. Similar to his last work we have multiple view points and stories that at first seem disparate and separate but soon weave together into a central stand. The characterisation is good, but it's the love of the city that is most evident, as it's here the use of language is most eloquent and visually resonant.
A good follow up to RoG, but I wonder how many other emerging city/states can be used.

Fish + Chocolate by Kate Brown
Three short comics from Kate Brown of Warren Ellis' 'Freakangels' fame. These are explorations of womanhood, or young motherhood to be precise. The stories are simple tales, nicely executed with sparse dialogue. The real charm is the art work. Simple lines with emerging shadows and well spaced panes. It has the same colour theme as 'Freakangels', but this just adds to the slight undercurrent of weird happenings. Her drawings of the female characters are brilliant, no over compensating male fantasies, but beautiful natural modern woman.

Signal by Paul Duffield
Again of 'Freakangels' fame. This comic has no words and consists of just nine colour plates. Large format, lush and perfectly executed. The work is partially dedicated to Carl Sagan, so I'm sure there are reference and nuances I'm not getting, but anything this amazing I'm pleased to look at again and again.

Read this week:
The Dervish House by Ian McDonald
Fish + Chocolate by Kate Brown
Signal by Paul Duffield

Swallowed a Stoat.

2011-05-31T13:13:00.000+01:00

I've hit my writing target for the day, so before I go and do my reading, here is an update on last weeks trip.

Edinburgh - Turned out I had no time at all in Edinburgh to do anything that I planned. I was meant to be going down to the Cameo (my favourite cinema in town) and the Filmhouse (a very close second) to catch up all the films I've been missing here in India. This never happened. Instead I spent most of my time shuttling between interviews for job prospects. This seems to have turned out good in the end as I've accepted a new job with a company I admire - good news for me, and a relief for Madame Vin.
I did get along to the Edinburgh Secret Society's seance for the spirit of the magician Lafeyette, of which I've already written.

Nottingham - I came down with a cold and spent most of my time trying not to get too close to friends and family, and snorting into my handkerchief with watering eyes and a throat that felt like I swallowed a stoat.
I did get to see the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie, which wasn't bad. Not as good as the first, but substantially better than the last one.

London - At last I felt a little better and just in time as my Dad was in town and together we went to see the Doctor. I spent a bit of time with him and he even let me have a go at flying the TARDiS. True to form, I left the breaks on.

Me trying to look cool in the TARDiS. Taken by the Doctor.

I saw a small exhibition of the work of Paul Duffield of Freakangels and Kate Brown (of the same) at Orbital Comics.

We went to Greenwich and stepped along the Prime Meridian.

Dad then departed, so I went to see the 'Under The Damp Earth' exhibition which features the work of Stuart Kolakovic, at NoBROW.

And finally ended up seeing Much Ado About Nothing at the Wyndham Theatre featuring the 10th Doctor and Donna - both of whom, were excellent.

Not bad for three weeks. Now, back to 'Waters Deep.'

Something that goes whoosh.

2011-05-30T09:35:00.001+01:00

I am back in Chennai for four and a half weeks. That's it. We've done ten months and the time has gone past like, well, something that goes whoosh and makes your hair all messy.
The three weeks in the UK were brilliant and I'll write more in the next few days but let's just say meals were had, friends met, a seance was attended, pirates watched, the Doctor examined, museums walked, timelines crossed, thunder gods viewed, art appreciated and on the last night Shakespeare met the Doctor and Donna. Not bad.
I also had a cold for two weeks that kind of knocked me for six, so if I seemed a little spaced, I apologise now. This also had the knock on effect that I got very little writing done. I plan to rectify that in the next few weeks.

- From the desk of AJS. Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Time was swallowed

2011-05-20T13:30:00.001+01:00

I'm in the UK. More specificly, I'm now in Radcliffe-on-Trent, the village in which I grew up, which should herald whimiscal tales of youth. But, as I'm suffering from a cold and have only been out a couple of times they will have to wait until I feel up to telling the yarn of my birth amongst the squidlings (a story for another day).
We've already been to Edinburgh, where I had hoped to write during the day and see friends in the evening. As it was, my search for work for when I return at the end of June, escalated, grew tentacles and morphed before me, so that I ended up having numerous interviews for which I was not properly prepared. So my time was swallowed. Though I did get to go to my first Secret Society Event, where I was invested and then helped to raise a spirit. You can see whether or not we were succesful here.

A mysterious man at a mysterious event.

Now in Nottinghamshire, home of all things Robin Hood and Lincoln Green, I've come down with a cold. Obviously UK bugs are more virulent than Indian ones. I'm just starting to feel human again. So, once again, time was swallowed.
Next week I'm in London, and have many plans and visits set up with my father. No doubt, time will be swallowed.

***

An article I wrote for Edinburgh Libraries about John Connolly is now up and available on their rather good blog Word Up. I enjoyed putting the essay together and will endeavour to do some more, but where would one start? There are so many books, well known and obscure, that I like, that I could fill a book with them. I could fill a big book. A very big book.

Well Nasty

2011-05-06T11:53:00.000+01:00

I'm piling through the typescript for 'Waters Deep,' at fast as I can, spending on average a good six hours at my desk, every day, cranking out at least 2,500 words at a time. I thought I wrote 'Stigma' fast, but this is even quicker. I was hoping to reach 50k by the weekend, but I've already surpassed that and now hope to hit 60k. I want to get it down as quickly as possible whilst the ideas are buzzing around my brain. Interesting (flawed) characters are making an appearance and the big nasty is, well nasty.

There's not much else to report on as I've been so busy. Next week things will be different as I head to Edinburgh tomorrow and my diary will soon get full. I'll post highlights as I travel around GB.

***

Underground England by Stephen Smith
A companion work to Underground London, once more the subterranean explorer and writer Smith digs down below the top soil of our country. Not much to say here other than the writing is light and breezy, if sometimes a little off topic as he recounts visits to hidden military bunkers, smugglers tunnels, below palaces and off particular delight to me, the caves under Nottingham. My only small itch I have to scratch is that a few of the things he writes about aren't what I would call underground, namely Corpse Roads and sunken villages (one is definitely above ground, the other under water).

Misadventure by Millard Kaufman
The second and final novel (he died, unfortunately) by the ninety year old author published by McSweeney's. I preferred this to 'Bowl of Cherries,' as it's a crime novel with interesting and somewhat hideous characters. It reminds me of the movie 'Sunset Boulevard.'
Jack Hopkins meets and falls in lust with the mad Darlene Hunt, the unhappy, desperate wife of a rich real estate magnate. Having satisfied his loins, Darlene asks him to kill her husband in return for ten million dollars. Jack considers it, until it turns out that her husband is the same man merging his company with the same one Jack works for, and it seems a similar reverse offer soon comes his way.
This feels like a film noir written by Dashiell Hammett with just a soupcon of David Lynch thrown in for good measure.

Decency Tassels

2011-04-29T13:03:00.000+01:00

I’m writing this whilst some wedding of well-to-do horsey types plays out on the television. This gives me an excuse to ignore it whilst keeping an eye out for the very rich ‘commoner’ and her choice of outfit. I’m guessing ‘white dress’, but perhaps she’ll shrug off tradition and go with a leather and tartan number with a disturbingly low plunging neck line and matching ‘decency tassels’.

I’m reaching the middle point of ‘Waters Deep.’ I know this because I’ve now fully introduced the ‘bad.’ I’m not saying what it is, as I don’t want to give away any spoilers. Let’s just say the ‘bad’ is very bad and somewhat scary. I’m a big believer in not showing all you have upfront (if you’ll excuse the blatant imagery of that statement), and using a drip effect. This helps to heighten and exaggerate the tension, drawing it out for a big reveal. I’ve always preferred the Hitchcock approach to horror, rather than the current trend for blood and gore porn.

I’ve just checked - she turned up in the white dress - boring traditionalist!

***

My agent is taking ‘Juvie’ to BookExpo America in New York later in May, so hopefully (fingers and everything else crossed) something might happen with it.

***

Now back from Australia and New Zealand and I have a little over a week before I return to the UK for three weeks. I’ll be doing a stint in Edinburgh, Nottingham and down in London. I’ll try and get as much writing as is possible during this time, but I have Secret Societies to attend and the Doctor to meet, so time is short.

The photo above is one I took from the Great Ocean Road. The scenery in quite dramatic.

***

Book review time...

City of Saints and Madmen By Jeff Vandermeer

Similar to ‘House of Leaves’ which I reviewed several weeks ago, CofS&M is meta-fiction, in so much it’s a collection of works about the city of Ambergris, a place that may or may not exist. Explored through fiction, ancient histories, letters, art work and a glossary, Ambergris is a mysterious city with a long and notorious history. Founded by pirates as a new world escape, the original occupants are demonised and retreat underground. These creatures called Grey Caps are half animal, half fungus, and so exist in the twilight underground of the city, waiting to take it back.

The author has written several work sent in the same space. In each Ambergris goes through many transformation, much like a real city does through history. It is an organic, shifting place full of adventure. In one section, it seems that a someone from the real world has hallucinations about the magical city, only to be told that Ambergris is real and instead they are hallucinating the made up America.

Vandermeer is a great writer, able to capture immense detail, and yet keep the world he has created alive with wit and charm. I look forward to reading the other works.

McSweeney’s Quaterly Concern Issue 13

This is the comic book issue. A bit of a disappointment if I’m honest. The book is beautifully produced like all McSweeney’s, with a fold out cover that becomes a large newspaper size comic plus several comic inserts, but the content is mildly diverting at best.

There are comics from Charles Burns, but these are excerpts from other books (Black Hole) and some nice work by Adrian Tomine, but most of the other comics are quite weak with poor writing. Nice to look at.

Trembling in the Breeze

2011-04-13T11:03:00.001+01:00

I'm now in Adelaide, but I wrote the below entry a few days ago whilst staring at field after field of vines.

I'm sitting in a rocking chair by a large picture window, the view is of vines that stretch far off into the distance, trembling in the breeze. It would be perfect, if not for the rain. I don't mind wet weather, in truth I quite like it. I just imagined something a little warmer, sitting outside drinking wine on a warm autumn night. Never mind. I have plenty of work to do.
I've put together two small essays for Edinburgh Libraries on books I like. The brief is wide in that I can write about any works that I enjoy so long as the library stocks them. So far I've written one on my love of comic books and how the library fostered this, and another on the Charlie Parker novels by John Connolly. I plan to do others as there are many books I wish to discuss.
I've also started work on an essay for another writing blog. One about travel and alienation. It needs work at the moment.
Now I plan to do some reading and relaxing. It's what I'm meant to be doing.

Fortunately, today I got my wish and drank much wine in the sun surrounded by vin yards. It was beautiful.

Finishing up in Penola I had the bonus luck of finding two first addition hardback Douglas Adams' novels, which kind of made this holiday perfect.

Two more days left. Tomorrow I'm going to look around Adelaide and then Friday we fly back to Sydney. It's also my birthday, just in case you're interested.

- From the desk of AJS. Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Australia

Small Grey's

2011-04-03T03:15:00.001+01:00

We did Sydney, staying in the rocks at a brewery. A good choice after the dry state of Tamil Nadu. The weather was good and we even went to the beach, exposing my bleach white skin to the brown and tan of Manley Beach. This was followed by the best thunder storm with rolling clouds reminiscent of the UFO exhausts in Independence Day.

We're now in Wellington, where Madame Vin and I lived five years ago. Has it been that long? Feels like only yesterday. It was here that I picked up many good writing habits and tricks from Chris Else writer of the excellent Brainjoy (looks like it's out of print, which is a shame) and other things, on a night school course at Wellington University.

We've been along Oriental Bay and checked what's changed in the city (very little, a few new buildings, that's about it). Wellington is small and easy to navigate.

Last night we went out to celebrate Madame Vin's fast approaching birthday with old friends at an old haunt. Much food and drink was imbibed.

One thing that is strange is the almost complete lack of news or details on Christchurch. It's mentioned, but only in passing and yet that city and it's disaster is just across the straights. Friends are making arrangements with their own emergency kits and disaster plans and others have made a few remarks about people cashing in on the disaster, but I haven't seen one collection tin on the streets.

I've just heard that Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are in town promoting the new film 'Paul'. I'm looking out for them but haven't spotted any small Grey's just yet.

Tomorrow we fly to Melbourne.

- From the desk of AJS. Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Taranaki St,Wellington Central,New Zealand

Old Brain Juices

2011-03-25T09:40:00.000Z

Right, I'm about a quarter of the way through the first draft of 'Water's Deep,' which is about 23,000 words for those who like stats. This book, so far is writing itself, and at the current rate I should have it finished by mid-April. However, I want a holiday with my good lady wife and I'm flying to Hong Kong tonight and then on to Australia and New Zealand this evening, so there I will leave it. Whilst away I'll get the old brain juices ruminating on plot issues and characters and keep my writing hand in by penning the odd article for Edinburgh Libraries and make some ground on my comic book idea.

I'll see you anon, or on the road if you're going my way. I'll send in the odd photo and blog post when I get time. Look after each other.

***
Rant by Chuck Palahniuk

Apart from never really being sure how to pronounce his surname (is it Pala-nee-uk or Pala-newark?) I’m a big fan of the few works of his that I have read. This is literary fiction, but a type that never forgets its genre roots. His work is experimental, but grounded in a style that is both readable and enjoyable. You never quite know what is going to happen, but you can be pretty sure your first impression will probably be wrong.
Rant is about many things. He is first and foremost a young man with ‘issues.’ Buster ‘Rant’ Casey is attracted to the intoxicating effects of spider and animal bites, and seems to carry within him a virulent strain of rabies which turns him into one the most successful serial killers in American history. Unless that is a lie made up by others to discredit him. Rant is also a shout and a scream from the part of an urban society forced underground, or into darkness anyway. Nighttimers are the waifs and strays, forced to work the graveyard shifts, and it’s is to this section of society that Rant graduates. They entertain themselves with Party Crashing, driving around the city, decked out in wedding gear, identifiers on the car roof as they crash into each other, in a mini destructive demolition derby.
The book is written as a series of oral histories, eye witness accounts from people who knew the boy, or have heard of him through hearsay and rumour. Some tell the truth, others just make it all up. Or do they? The truth is hidden deep in this work and it is stranger than you think. Some of if might be the truth, or then again, perhaps not.

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

If you think ‘Rant’ is confusing, try reading this massive 700 page plus tomb which is a work of fiction, written as a treatise on a missing film that might be a prank and not even exist.
‘House of Leaves’ is an academic work by a dead man called Zampanò with additional notes added by Johnny Truant. Johnny might once have briefly met Zampanò, he is certainly living in his old apartment. It’s there that he finds the manuscript and starts to read it. The work is about a film called ‘The Navidson Record,’ a documentary made by a famous photographer that purports to record the lives of his family in a house in the country. A house where walls move and a passageway to a labyrinth is discovered. This labyrinth seems to exist in a space outside of the norm and changes size and shape regularly. It might also contain a fabled beast. Several people die in its exploration including Navidson’s own brother. Some say the documentary exists and is an accurate representation of what happened. Others claim the whole thing is a scam. At the same time Johnny reads the work and adds his own comments about his waste of space life, a life that becomes dangerously unstable as the book influences his decisions and actions.
The book is experimental. Sometimes it’s written in straight forward academic prose, other times the whole text fragments to represent the maze. Footnotes and endnotes send you off in different directions throughout the book, pages of appendices instruct you about characters past lives, there are photos to decipher, poetry and collages. This is metafiction, a book of contradictions and multiple interpretations. It’s a horror story, a love story, an academic satire and a reaction to the possibilities of the printed word.
This book came out in 2000, before ebooks made it big and readers were readily available. It would be interesting to see now how this book will translate into a virtual text. The possibility of the book/internet melding into one.

Best of all, MONSTERS

2011-03-20T11:46:00.000Z

A good start to "Water's Deep." I've been writing all week and the characters and situations are coming together. At this early stage the book sort of evolves organically. I let it take me where it wants, introducing plot points and characters as the book demands. This sounds a little chaotic, but I find it best to let the story do the work. If there is a novel in the idea, the characters will find it as I build a world around them. Only when I get about half way through the book will I then go back and redraft and be a bit more rigid in the story I'm trying to create.

This is the fun bit. I get to create an English town, a family out of their depth, a flood, environmental scientists and best of all, MONSTERS. I looooove creating them.

***

I was asked yesterday to do some small articles for Word UP, a mail newsletter featuring contributions from Edinburgh's reading and writing community and produced by Edinburgh City Libraries. In the UK all libraries now need assistance and help as the current government has decided in their (misguided) wisdom decided to cut budgets and slash services.

As a child growing up in a Midlands village, the weekly trip to the local library was something I looked forward to. It was in that small building that I first was introduced to comic books (mainly Asterix and Batman), music (because you could take out albums and tapes), not to mention all the new authors I was able to read.

Libraries are precious and should be protected like endangered animals. Once gone, they are almost impossible to replace.

Not sure what I'll write about yet, but I'll put something down whilst away Down Under and let you know when they are online.

***

I've got another week of writing and then I pack up and leave for Australia and New Zealand. Can't wait. In preparation for that I decided it was time to get the hair cut. Being in India I let things get a little out of hand. So I went from this:

To this:

Much better. Don't want to look out of place in those swanky Sydney and Melbourne bars.

***

I'll try and update from the road and perhaps get some photos up. If not you can follow me on Twitter @middlemanlost

See you when I get back.

Super-Active, Timey-Wimey, Hyper

2011-03-16T09:54:00.000Z

Finished Doctor Who (new) Series 2 last night. Really enjoyed seeing Tennant's new super-active, timey-wimey, hyper Doctor after the more serious dark Doctor of series 1. Below are my tweets from the series.

Dr. Who s2 ep1: New Earth: the Dr reborn as a saviour for all humanity and the longevity of those people.
Dr Who s2 ep2 Tooth & Claw: The birth of Torchwood. Britain protects itself from the strange universe.
Dr Who s2 ep3 School Reunion: Sarah Jane Smith & K-9. The universe seems so small after travelling with the Dr.
Dr Who s2 ep4 The Girl in the Fireplace: The Doctor and the monsters go hand in hand
DrWho s2 ep5 Rise of the Cyberman: Parallel worlds but the same old problems. The UK, one step away from going wrong.
Dr Who s2 ep6 The Age of Steel: Emotions are what make us what are we are. Take them away and ...
Dr Who s2 ep7 The Idiot's Lantern: Light relief after the loss of Micky with a clever and witty @Markgatiss special.
Dr Who s2 ep8 The Impossible Planet: a truly adult Who; the mythos complicated with the concept of religion.
Dr Who s2 ep9 The Satan Pit: conclusion the universe is more complicated than even the Dr can understand.
Dr Who s2 ep10 Love & Monsters: the silly episode about those left behind, those that get a whiff of the Doctor.
Dr Who s2 ep11 Fear Her: The power of children and imagination. The fear of being alone. The coming storm.
Dr Who s2 ep12 Army of Ghosts: The beginning of the end for Rose. Classic storytelling with Cybermen and Daleks.
Dr Who s2 Ep13 Doomsday: Goodbye to Rose. An epi that takes all those loose strands and ties them in a neat bow.

Waters Deep

2011-03-13T12:00:00.000Z

I start writing a new novel tomorrow. A fresh start, a clean page, a new voice. This is part of my plan to write two novels in a year and maximise my time in India. It's exhilarating and just a little scary. Plus it's a reminder to myself that I've already used up seven months of the year and that time is short to finish another book (a problem compounded by trips to Australia, New Zealand and the UK - not that I plan to give them up).

The new book already has a working title. 'Waters Deep'. Whether I use this as the final title, it's far to early to tell, but I like to have a project name when I'm discussing work, so Waters Deep it is. The book is YA as I want to make my agents life easy for the time being, but its not sci-fi. This work is probably best described as YA Eco-Horror. I'm a big fan of the works of John Wyndham (The Day of the Triffids, The Midwich Cuckoos etc) and the suspense of Hitchcock and horror films that take a more mature approach to the genre (rather than simple blood and guts), and it is this vain that I plan to write the book.

Now I need my blog readers help. I've had a quick look online (a very quick look) and I can't really see anything in the YA Eco-Horror vein. So I'm asking you readers and lovers of books to suggest works to me that might be similar. I'm not interested in any of the supernatural romance type horror books (no, Twilight type lit - I'm sure its good, but it's not what I'm writing), but books that appeal to teens that pray on their darkest of fears and horrors. If you know of anything please let me know, either in this blogs comments, or via Twitter (@middlemanlost). Your help will be much appreciated.

Not Nice, Evening Dress Wearing Vampires

2011-03-06T11:10:00.000Z

Because I've been travelling and then ill I was able to get a little bit of reading done. Three book reviews to follow:

The Prince of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

I really enjoyed ‘The Shadow of the Wind’. It is one of my favourite books of the last few years. So I was interested to read this work which is older but written for the YA market. It’s a very simple black and white story about old debts coming back to haunt those that made them, wrapped up in the vivid gothic Spanish countryside. I would say that it’s more of a children’s book than one for teens who might find it a little too simplistic.
Young Max is moved by eccentric father and family away from war torn Madrid to a wooden house on the coast. He is befriended by Roland who in turn is attracted to Max’s older sister. Exploring the house and its environment Max learns the sad story of the previous home owner whilst noticing strange goings on that will soon threaten him, his family and friends.
Whilst not a scary book, there are several moments of dread in the classical sense and a creeping unease that purveys throughout the work. A simple, elegant piece of storytelling.

The Osiris Ritual by George Mann

The second in the ‘Newbury & Hobbes Investigation’ series and better than the first. The original book felt a little clunky in places, with Sir Maurice Newbury coming across as a bit of a stupid toff. This book improves the character dramatically, giving him more depth and turning him into a dashing, heroic character, even if some of his comments sound a little forced at times.
A steampunk London where death can be cheated, Newbury finds himself on the tail of a rogue agent, whilst his very modern companion, Miss Veronica Hobbes investigates the disappearance of several young ladies. The two stories are of course linked by the unveiling of an Egyptian mummy and a curse.
Good, high spirited fun which builds on old characters and sets both up for a third work.

The Fall by Guillermo Del Toro & Chuck Hogan

Like the first in the series, this has TV/Movie adaptation written all over it. I imagine the only reason Del Toro doesn’t turn it into a film is he’s too busy with Hobbits and Frankenstein to make it.
Picking up immediately after the first book finishes the heroes, Eph, Setrakian, Fet and Nora are stuck in New York as hell descends and hordes of vampire rule the night. Not nice, evening dress wearing vampires, either. Their attempt on the life of the master has failed and now they must get out of the city as quickly as they can.
An action packed horror with lots of visceral elements, fast paced and punchy. It’s a fast food kind of novel, but that’s not always a bad thing. Sometimes I like fast food.

Multiple Smallest Rooms

2011-03-06T10:53:00.000Z

I suppose it had to happen eventually. Everyone told me that spending large amounts of time in India will result in stomach 'issues.' That no matter how I protect myself, eventually I will fall foul of what has been called for good reason; Delhi Belly, Ghandi's Revenge and The Rangoon Runs. I tend to have a very good constitution, but the moment my father left on Wednesday morning I knew something wasn't right. I've just spent three days on the couch and in close proximity to the bathroom. Madame Vin, soooo glad we have multiple smallest rooms, has been sympathetic to my general inability to want to do anything or go anywhere.

Anyway, with out dwelling on my darkest hour (sorry), I'm now feeling much better and a lot lighter. I've just had two great weeks of visiting India seeing places as diverse as the backwaters of Kerala (all these photos are my own work):

The tea plantations of Ooty:

and of course this place:

I'll add this photo in as well, as sunsets don't get much better than this:

I'm never going to see all of India, it's such a vast and diverse place, but I at least feel I've seen enough of India to get a good understanding of it. I really need to knuckle down and get some work done now, or else this year will have been wasted.

The plan was to finish work on 'Stigma' this week but that all got pushed back when I had to spend inordinate amounts of time in the bathroom. Instead I'll start tomorrow with the hope of getting it finished by the end of the week and picking up 'Waters Deep' next week. This leaves me two weeks to get it going before I jet off to Australia for some well earned R&R.

Sounds Like a Dr. Who Character

2011-02-16T11:34:00.000Z

Just a quickie. My father arrives in Chennai tomorrow and we're doing a few tours around the old subcontinent. Plan to spend a little bit of time on the backwaters of Kerala, visit the mountains to the south of us at Ooti (sounds like a Dr. Who character) and finally visit the Taj Mahal and see what all the fuss is about.

I'm doing re-writes on 'Stigma,' based on comments from my Beta readers and realised I need a better pay off at the end of novel. This will take up until the end of March, then I'll pick up 'Waters Deep' and write a first draft.

In the meantime, here's a little piece I wrote called 'The Pros & Cons of Being a Writer,' which has been published on the blog The Feckless Goblin which is looked after by the nice Mr. Kinsella who keeps the rather cool Weaponizer website.

A Little More Explicit

2011-02-11T09:11:00.000Z

Two of my beta reader have got back to me now, so I'm going to start making a few changes to 'Stigma'. These will be mainly areas of the story where I need to perhaps be a little more explicit with an idea or concept. I want to get this complete by the end of next week so I can get a first version out to my agent. Once it is out I plan to pick up a new project that I have mentally titled 'Waters Deep.' This is what I'll work on for the next six months, so expect lots of watery, flood-ey, sea-ey based links here.

In the mean time I've been working on short story that seems to have died and which I'll file away until I'm in a better place to write it, a humour piece entitled 'The Pros and Cons of being a writer,' which I hope to place with a website soon and a short film based on holiday videos made last year in NYC and my love of Woody Allen. You can see the video below:

A couple of good links I've found recently for writing. The first is the Electronic Literature Volume 2 (I assume there is a vol. 1, somewhere) which has a selection of new form writings where the electronic and written word intersect. I find this interesting because, as we move towards ebooks overtaking actual real world items, the barriers between the written word, film, music and visuals are going to fall down. I haven't seen any ebooks yet that makes use of such experimental forms, but I bet someone is working on them as I type.

The second link is to Ambiance. This is an audio service that allows you to listen to the music of every day life. When deep in writing I find I can only listen to music without lyrics and therefore listen to a lot of jazz, blues and experimental sounds. Ambiance might be useful for when I want to visual a scene and want some kind of audio trigger. I'll try water for 'Waters Deep,' and let you know how it works.

****

McSweeney's 29 by Various - I must admit I'm a sucker for cool jacket design and beautifully tooled, well finished books. This is the main reason I like McSweeney's Quarterly Concern (which still has no subscription service in the UK that doesn't include paying more in airfare than the actual books). Most of the works in McSweeney's 29 left me a bit a cold. I think they're a bit too American for my taste and some of the references are lost on me (I have a vague idea who Hilary Duff is, but have never seen Lizzie McGuire, which I think is a US kids show). However, Roddy Doyle's piece 'The Painting,' is well structured and seems effortless even when it obviously isn't, and Brian Baise's opening work is a good meditation on misplaced anger. The rest however didn't really do anything for me.

The Small Stuff

2011-02-09T09:22:00.000Z

Working on bits and bobs at the moment. 'Stigma' has gone out to beta readers and whilst I've had one return already, I'm not expecting the others back until next week. I've got several things on the go that I'm trying to get into a state so that I can pick one of them up after I finish any re-writes on 'Stigma'. I want to get input from my agent on these, as at the moment I'm thinking it's only worth working on projects if they are commercially viable. I know that this sounds a little like selling out, but to be a writer full time you need an income and at the moment I don't have one. If the 'Juvie' series gets published I'll still need several more works published before I get anywhere close to that.

The small stuff is a short story idea that doesn't seem to want to go anywhere and I might just forget about, an amusing essay on 'The Pros and Cons of Being a Writer,' that I might send out to a writing blog, two novel concepts and I've also got this weird comic book idea I want to do, but I need to hook up with an artist.

My father is coming out to India a week tomorrow and we plan to do a little more travelling. I want to see the Taj Mahal and Delhi (because I don't think you've seen a country until you've been to the capital) and visit some of the countryside south of Chennai. After that it's Australia and New Zealand.

Dead Celebrities

2011-02-04T07:56:00.000Z

With 'Stigma' out with beta readers I'm in new idea mode. Going through all those concepts and images that filter through my mind whilst I'm writing that I squirrel away with the intention of coming back to at some point and adding a little meat to the bones. Currently I'm thinking of a new YA sci-fi light series involving multi-dimensions, a series of YA environmental horror books, a comic book series for adults about dead celebrities and a weird fantasy Edinburgh novel. Hopefully one of them will build into something I wish to dedicate my time to.

*****

The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi

If you’re interested in sci-fi books and pay any attention to reviews and book prizes you’ll already know that ‘The Windup Girl’ has been singled out for praise by most of the big reviewing magazines and won last year’s Nebula. This is quite as is should be, as the work is simply brilliant. No bones about it. This mainly comes down to Bacigalupi’s skill as a world builder. I’ve only been to Thailand once, but this book transported me straight back to those humid streets. It’s a richly observed futuristic version in which the city pulses with the energy that Bangkok exhibits today.
A multiple character story that follows the demise of the city in an apocalyptic world where food, or more precisely calories, have become the de-facto trading commodity. A world where ecological parasites and diseases, grown in company labs, have wiped out whole countries and flipped the world in favour of the East. Bangkok survived, but only by hoarding carefully selected seed stocks and shutting the country off from the outside world - a bit like Japan in the 17th Century.
The story is political and social in aspect, charting the business and economic collapse of an authoritarian state. The gambling behind the scenes as powerful individuals attempt to move the country in one way or another, always at the expense of the vast majority, play against those who are thrust into the shifting landscape through no fault of their own.
The language draws you into the world, giving characters identifiable traits, but making them live on the page. They have realistic goals, never simply reacting to the action but instead manipulating the events to get the best result for themselves.

Covered in Bloody Goo

2011-02-03T13:00:00.000Z

As of yesterday I finished the first reading version of ‘Stigma.’ This is different to a first draft which is just a rough cut. This version has gone through several iterations and is the first version that I allow to see the daylight. It comes into the world innocent, covered in bloody goo and incapable of making a good cup of coffee; but it’s a start.

The novel (a term I can now really use) goes out to beta readers. These are the dear people who get to see the first version and let me know if all the effort has indeed been worthwhile. I’ve sent them a list of question, or elements to take into account when reading the book. They tend to be things like:

Story - does it engage you as a reader? Did you guess where it was going before reading. Is there anything that does not make sense to you?
World Building - does the setting seem real? Can you imagine it, smell it, understand how it works? Does anything not seem convincing.
Characters - do they seem real, are they sufficiently involved in the underlying concept of the story? Do they evolve over time and grow. Have they any flaws - too simple, their actions don't make sense, are they contrived?
Language - does it scan and read correctly? Did you find yourself stumbling over any of the sentences or paragraphs? Did you have to re-read sections of the book for it to make sense? Does the language fit the reading material?
Spelling / Grammar - Doesn't matter how many times I re-write errors always slip in.

The beta readers are a great help to me as they are the first audience, the opening night jeerers if you will. They give me the confidence to send the book on to my agent and ultimately publishers.

All being well, they should get back to me within the next couple of weeks. In the mean time, I’ve been putting a lot of links to other writers essays and advice on Twitter. I’ve put some of these below because I know that not all of you indulge in the blue bird, plus it makes it easier for me to find them in the future. Enjoy.

"Submerging the 'I'" by Chuck Palahniuk http://bit.ly/gZm5Me
Is my novel really any good? And other writing pre-occupations http://bit.ly/fdnPRQ by Ziggy Kinsella
New blog post http://12books12months.com/2011/01/30/writing-routines/ by Ali George
20 authors and their unique writing rituals: http://bit.ly/e4Zlid
Write Like A Pro http://is.gd/JYw2eQ
MIND MELD: The Future Of Publishing http://t.co/7lnwp8Q Some very interesting predications for writers!

If You Need Me, I'm At My Desk

2011-01-24T11:38:00.000Z

After the major trauma of leaving the MacBook in the safe of a hotel in Heathrow, which I only discovered after going through security, which was too late to return to said hotel and still get my flight. After the fight disasters that BA caused, not once but twice. After the rail issues caused by snow and bad weather, and after the problems with car hire companies being closed, when they said they were open - at last I'm back up and writing again.

And it feels good.

The idea is to finish 'Stigma' in its first incarnation by the end of next week. I'll then send it to my beta reader (MadameVin) whilst I work on new project ideas. Based on the beta readers comments, I might do some more work on it before sending it out to my agent. At the same time I plan to send him details of two projects that I think will have an audience. One of these projects will be written in draft form between February and July.

I also have trips planned for Australia and New Zealand and a trip back to the UK. Plus my father is coming out in February, so more travelling around India. Then at the end of July, I'm going home to Edinburgh.

That's the plan, anyway. If you need me, I'm at my desk.

You're Wrong. It's My Dad

2011-01-23T11:26:00.000Z

It's back. What you say? The MacBook, I reply. Yes, due to my inability to think before 10am in the morning I left the MacBook in the Heathrow hotel safe before flying to India with no plans to return to the UK until May at the earliest.

Therefore, thanks goes out to my Dad, who is now officially the best Dad in the world (I know you probably thinks it's yours, well you're wrong. It's my Dad), and Steve and Anne for helping in the relocation process and getting it back to me in two weeks.

Tomorrow I'll blog properly about plans for the the next six months. For now, book reviews.

****
The Push Man and Other Stories by Yoshihiro Tatsumi

I first read Yoshihiro Tatsumi last year when I completed ‘A Drifting Life,’ the story of Tatsumi during his formative years as he struggled to become a successful comic book artist in Japan. He created in 1957, gekiga; a stark, realistic, cinema verite take on manga, that moved away from fantasy and portrayed the lives of the Japanese working class, more often the sort of damaged characters that exist on the edges of crime.

‘The Push Man and Other Stories,’ is the first in a series of publications from Drawn & Quarterly that plans to reprint the early works of Tatsumi, many of which are not easily accessible in the English language. This first collection, dated 1969, examines the lives of the working multitude in Tokyo, their relationships, loves and hates and sexual mores. He examines a tight, suffocating world that seems both alien in its foreigness to western audiences, but at the same time completely recognisable to any modern urbanite.

The art is thick line black on white. The faces of his characters are simple but convey emotion freely. He lavishes curving lines on both the naked female form and adds detail depth to cityscapes which stand out, full of incidence and cinematic in presentation, with just a little film noir darkness. It is not surprising that comic book producers such as Adrian Tomine find him so thrilling.

His writing style is sparse, though of course this work is in translation and it’s hard to give careful analysis based on the fact. That said, the comics are short, eight pages mostly, giving the stories a straight to the point with often a very matter of fact conclusion, often when dealing with shocking material. I’m looking forward to reading the others as D&Q plan to release one book a year.

Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake

I’ve been planning to read the Gormenghast trilogy for some time as I know it will have an impact on a project that’s been burning at the back of my mind for several years. The trilogy is one small step towards bringing that work into fruition. I already know the story having seen a television adaptation several years ago, which built up the lofty gothic heights of Gormanghast castle and introduced the Machevellian Steerpike and the new born Titus.

The story itself is small and short for a 500 page novel. In times the book hardly seems to move forward at all, but then that is the life of Gormenghast. It is rigid and constrained, the same monotonous and ancient rituals taking place each day, the stuffy, cold corridors, vast halls, towers and rooftops acting as a prison to the royal family and their servants inside.

It is then the language that sets this book apart. From the very outset Peake builds a world that though small is contained and completely believable. It is crumbling, twisted, archaic, fanciful, freezing, damp and muddy. The language builds on this so that the world becomes more of a character than those that inhabit its decaying walls.

The book is not an easy read, and by today’s standards it’s hardly a book of constant adventure and mystery, instead it reads like a leather bound book found on the shelf of some mysterious book shop, something from a time past.

Bowl of Cherries by Millard Kaufman

Every so often I read a book that having finished I assume was meant for an audience other than me. ‘Bowl of Cherries’, is one such work. I read it and all the time a little voice in the back of my head kept saying, ‘you’re not getting this.’

The book is American Jewish in both tone and concept. The sort of book that gets rave reviews in the New York Times but makes little head way with someone from the middle of England. It felt almost alien to me.

It’s a comedy of sorts, that unravels the history of why its young protagonist is being held in a dirty, hovel of a prison, all mud walls and dysentery, in a small (fictional?) kingdom in Southern Iraq. It follows the boy’s adventures as he is kicked out of university, falls in with some odd ball quacks, falls in love, works on a ranch and gets involved in the porn business in New York.

The language is hard going (I had to stop several times to look words up), as if Kaufman is showing off a lifetime of language skills, plus it reads as if set in the 1950s rather than the modern day. Surely no kid talks like this? Perhaps both of these facts are because Kaufman was well into his 90s when he wrote the book (he has since died).

It has some amusing moments, a few laughs, but more often than not it left me scratching my head.

Postcards and Chocolate Boxes

2011-01-04T13:23:00.000Z

Happy new year to you all.

I hope 2011 finds you well and you're not too worried about the demise of the Earth and all its inhabitants next year (if you're not familiar with 2012 Mayan prophecies, sorry I've just given away the ending to the Earth's story).

I am currently in the UK and enjoying it immensely. After a debacle in getting here involving snow, cancelled planes and frozen trains we attempted to follow our planned route as much as possible to see family and friends, taking Christmas in the Midlands, Hogmany in Edinburgh and a weeks holiday in Dorset. I'm currently in Durweston, a small hamlet in Dorset living in the sort of thatched cottage that would make anyone not from this country talk about postcards and chocolate boxes. I'm catching up on work by making a few changes to 'Stigma', getting it into a position for one final push when I return to India at the weekend. I'm also thinking about the next project - a lot.

I have a little over six months left in India, which is time enough to write one more novel. I'm thinking of sticking with YA and a new series. More news when I've fired up the grey cells and got them to go over several ideas.

So - If you're still on your Christmas holiday enjoy it - you haven't got long left. If you're already back at work - no fear. We get to do it all again in 360 days.

****

River of Gods is a sci-fi novel set in the not too distant future that instead of dealing with the West turns its attention to Asia. As I’m currently living in India and I’m starting to see the differences in culture and thinking, it acted as the perfect accompaniment.

India is a land divided by religion, ethnic diversity, quality of living and inbuilt historic legacies. It has seen rulers come and go, empires crumble, it’s ruled and been ruled over; but always India remains. RofG takes this diverse land and includes modern technology, arm races and avatars, climate change, modern business practice and politics into a story that at heart is about finding your place.

Seen from the point of view of several diverse characters their stories intermingle to reflect the complex relationship evident in India. No one character is the lead, each has their part to play to bring the ideas and context to the fore. The writing contains the heavy scent of heat and spice, exotic but never so alien as to be misunderstood. Starting slow it builds into a technological thriller. It also has several intriguing gadgetry that work in context and never distract from the story.

If I had one complaint about the novel it’s the incomplete job that appears to have been done in the final edit. There are several areas that could have been improved. However, this does not detract from an interesting take on a culture unfamiliar to many.

The Man from the Ministry - A Christmas Story

2010-12-19T10:26:00.000Z

Every year I send out a Christmas short story. A small gift in lieu of Christmas cards, which are annoying, gather dust, fall behind radiators, fill up your window ledges with clutter and take up paper and ink that could be better used elsewhere.

This years is called 'The Man from the Ministry.'

As I'm stuck in India at the moment and unsure when I'll make it back to the UK (BA has cancelled our flight). I'm sending it out a little early.

I hope you enjoy it.

****

The Man from the Ministry by Adam J. Shardlow

He slides onto a stool and stares glumly at the decorations behind the bar. I know the type. See them all the time, but the festive period is worse. They come out the woodwork beginning of December and drift away once the new year begins. This one sits and wipes the fine dusting of snow from the shoulders of his grey overcoat. A sober briefcase lies in an expanding puddle at his feet. With damp hair and a snotty sniff he calls me over.

I smile my best welcoming, putting on a cheerful face for the customer. I know it won’t help, but you have to try.

"Snowing out?"

Never ask a cold wet punter a flippant weather question. They don’t appreciate it. He sniffs again, louder, as if in answer.

"Well, what will it be?"

He points to a bitter pump and I start to pull his pint. The dark liquid splutters into the glass eagerly watched by the customer. This guy is miserable and radiates an irritated depression. I hope he doesn’t stick around too long as his mood is really going to put a dampener on the pubs Christmas spirit. Finished, I place the drink before him as he ferrets in a tiny brown leather purse looking for change.

“Cheer up,” I say, friendly pub banter falling from my lips. To liven him up I could give him the pint gratis, I reason, but then worry he’ll stay longer than he originally intended. "It might never happen."

He lets out a low fitful groan, as if someone punched him in the gut.

“Oh, but it will,” he laments. “It happens every year - and I hate it!” He grimaces as if to amplify how he feels about the time of year.

“Everyone’s a fan of Father Christmas,” I say with a wink. “Good cheer to all men, and all that.”

His eyes narrow and darken as if I have just made an unsavoury comment about his dead mother. Ignoring me he takes a long pull on the pint. At this rate he’ll finish it within fifteen minutes and be out of here.

“No, not a fan,’ he seems to be holding it together. “I was, and then I met him.”

I laugh out loud thinking he has cracked a joke at long last, that his mood is receding.

“You’ve met Santa. Good one.”

“In my bedroom when I was eight. Woke me up and ruined my dreams.”

He doesn’t sound as if he’s joking any more. On the bar in front of him he smears his fingers through a beer spillage, extending the puddle outwards until it forms an intricate snow flake. Realising the shape he obliterates it with a flick of the wrist.

“Big jolly fella, wears red, gives gifts to kids. That guy ruined your dreams?”

“Not that guy. My Christmas was ruined by the real Santa. The truth behind the stories you’re told as a child. My dreams were ruined by the man from the ministry.”

****

At the sound of the floor board squeaking he rolled over in bed, dragging the blankets with him. Opening his eyes he watched the small patch of shadow and the pair of well polished black shoes, lit by the cats-eye of hall light coming from underneath the door.

“You’re awake, aren’t you?”

The boy sat up and rubbed at his eyes. It was cold in the bedroom and the touch of the cool air on his skin woke him like a cold flannel rubbed hard into his face.

“Yes.”

“Damn and blast! I knew it,” whispered the shadows.

The boy stared hard and the darkness split and moulded itself into the form of a small man with a large moustache hanging below a ridiculous nose.

“I thought I was doing well. My card.”

A hand rotated out of the murk holding out a sliver of white card which the boy took and examined. In large capital letters, black and imposing, it read ‘DAYE’. Below in smaller letters and by way of explanation, ‘Department of Annual Youth Enrichment.’ Never having been given a card by way of introduction before, the boy didn’t really know what to do next. He didn’t have any of his own but thought he could whip some up using crayons and paper if given enough time.

“Who are you?” The boy asked, remembering some strict instructions his mother had given him about strangers.

“I’m your allotted Santa. Santa 7451, to be precise.”

The man stepped forward as the boy turned on his small bedside lamp. The one with the cartoon shade. He held out a hand to the boy, who not wishing to be impolite, took hold and shook weakly. He wore a dark suit, a crisp white shirt and a perfectly straight and narrow tie.

“You don’t look like Santa,” said the boy who was serious about Christmas and had met someone claiming to be Santa in a supermarket grotto only last week who looked more like the real thing, even though he had been wearing a fake beard. This person looked like one of the business men he had seen on the train going into town.

“I can assure you that I am.”

“Where’s your beard?”

“Don’t have one. They get in the way and aren’t regulation dress.”

“You’re not very fat.”

“Thank you. I work out. You try entering a house in the dead of night, climbing down a chimney or entering through an unlocked window whilst carrying several extra stones in weight. Not easy, not easy at all.”

“But Santa wears a red suit.”

“Ridiculous idea. Too easy to be spotted. Black works best at night.”

That kind of made sense to the boy who was a practical young man. He decided to try a different approach.

“The real Father Christmas has a sleigh pulled by reindeer. Where’s Rudolph?”

“Ha,” the man let out a little laugh. “Retired - seventy-eight years ago. Had him stuffed and hung in the ministry dining room. We use enhanced extraterrestrial tech taken from a downed saucer from Salisbury Plain, now. Works a treat but the G-forces play havoc with my back.”

“We?”

“Yes. You don’t think a single man delivers all the presents across the world in one night, do you?”

“Well,” the boy says, realising his obvious mistake.

‘No, no. Everything is automated nowadays. Far more practical. We look after the UK. The ministry being under the same Government branch as the security services. It’s them that give us the intel. You know, who’s been good, who’s been bad. The ‘Want List’ is updated and delivered by the Post Office. Even the elves have been outsourced. We use a company in China now. They’re very good, very economical.”

“So, there never was a real Santa?’ The boy felt upset at this. Upset and just a little bit hurt and bitter.

“Perhaps, once, many moons ago. Before my time, certainly.”

The boy nodded. It all sort of made sense really when he thought about it. Even if deep down a little bit of him wanted to cry.

“Anyway. Enough chatting. I have to get on. Now, where would you like this putting?”

The small man held up a large present tied with a vivid red ribbon. The boy indicated the foot of his bed and the man deposited it squarely on the floor. He pulled a small machine from an inside pocket, which beeped as he scanned the gift on an invisible barcode, recording the delivery as ‘executed.’

Standing up he smiled at a job well done. ‘Nice present, that. Regulation size and value, but good quality.

‘Thank you,’ replied the boy, never forgetting his manners. ‘Do you want this back?’ He asked and held out the card.

‘No, no. You keep it. Might come in handy. Happy Christmas, by the way.’

The boy smiled weakly and turned out his lamp.

“Yes, I suppose.”

In the darkness of his room he listened to the faint tread of the small man down the hallway, the knock of a window being closed and the quiet thrust of large engines. He turned over and pulled the covers higher.

****

He has finished his drink. The pint pot is empty. Foam slides down the inside like snow descending a warm window. He stares at it, chasing the route to the bottom. Finished, the man stands up abruptly, taking up his coat and briefcase. He smiles for the first time, slight and anxious.

“I told you,” he says it quietly, before adding “Christmas - bah humbug, I say.”

I’m not really sure what else to add. I look around the inside of the pub, the late night drinkers nestled in alcoves under mistletoe and holly, paper decorations and tinsel. They all seem to be enjoying themselves. Counting down the last night until the big day.

“Won’t you stay for another,” I ask. I think perhaps I’ll join him and take down a bottle of good single malt.

“I can’t,” he says fixing a bowler hat in place. “I have to get back. This time of the year the ministry is always busy.”

With that he turns and leaves, the door snatching closed with a burst of cold air and the smell of snow.

With nothing better to do, I call last orders.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR

What Cool Air Feels Like

2010-12-07T14:22:00.000Z

With 'Juvie' finished and back with my agent I need to turn my attention to work on the second book in the series, 'Stigma.' Before I do that however, we managed to fit in a small break to a part of India called Kerala. We stayed on a lovely Cardamon plantation up in the mountains where I was reminded what cool air feels like. We also spent a night on a boat travelling the back waters and ate large prawns from the sea.

Pictures are here.

When travelling like this I pack light. A pen and a small moleskin notebook and an iPad are my only writing tools. As I try and write every day I need somewhere to jot down ideas. I prefer to work on shorter pieces whilst holidaying as I don't want to start ripping apart a novel when I should be relaxing. Every year I write a small Christmas story to give to friends and family. I was able to start it whilst watching the kingfishers diving into the dark water. I'll edit it later this week and get it out before I return to the UK. Check your inbox.

****

A quick 'how is everyone?' to friends back in the UK, particularly Scotland, where they have been having some very unseasonable early snows. I hope everyone is well and warm.

Book Reviews 30/11/10

2010-11-30T10:14:00.000Z

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

2010-11-30T08:48:00.000Z

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.

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.
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

2010-11-16T09:39:00.000Z

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

2010-11-15T14:23:00.000Z

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.

****

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

2010-11-09T15:01:00.000Z

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

****

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.

A beginning, a middle and an end - In that order

2010-10-29T11:07:00.002+01:00

The first version of 'Stigma' is now complete. The book has a beginning, a middle and an end - in that order, because I find that's best. It has a host of characters, a setting, narrative ark and themes. Beginning Monday, next week, I'll start the first rewrite. This is where the fun bits starts as the themes that became more obvious close to the end of the book can be extrapolated and explored across the whole story. Traits in the characters likewise can grow and the sci-fi elements that get created can be refined and made more integral to the novel. All in all, I'm pleased with it. It feels part of the 'Juvie' universe, but at the same time a book in its own right. It also leaves a fascinating story element to cover in the third book.

Today I'm going to reduce the amount of open info points I have from around the net. The problem with having 'always on' internet access, an iPad with RSS readers and a computer that downloads pod casts automatically, means I end up with all sorts of things that I never actually get to watch, read or listen to. So today I'm going to kick back and look at:

The Guardian Books Podcast - useful for finding out what is happening in the world of literature.
Intelligence Squared - podcasts and video of interesting debates and arguments
BBC World Book Club - interviews with writers
Vincent - An app from the VG Museum all about Vincent Van Gogh that I never got around to watching.
Open University - A talk on Cyborgs and cybernetics and talks on the creative writing process.
Plus the numerous RSS feeds and website I have a daily look at (Boing Boing, Guardian, Gaiman, Ellis, TED, Wired etc etc etc).

Should keep me busy.

I also have the inkling for a short story, that I might get around to starting.

As it's raining, I'm not going anywhere.

Still Working Away in the Heat of India

2010-10-25T13:57:00.000+01:00

I’m still here in Chennai, India, and I’m still beavering away on book two in the ‘Juvie’ series. I’m probably about a week or two away from the first full typescript. This isn’t the first draft as it contains lots of mistakes, ideas, concepts and notes that need to be fully explored. Only when I start a rewrite of the typescript will I get anywhere close to a full first draft, which all going well should be just before Christmas.

Already ‘Stigma’, as book two is called, has changed focus once, replaced the main character and introduced new concepts into the second half of the book that need to be incorporated back into the first half.

Apart from the writing I’ve been catching up on all that reading I’ve been promising myself. This includes:

The Fry Chronicles: Lovey, national treasure, voice of the establishment. Stephen Fry is all of the above and so much more. I read his technical reviews, his regular tweets, his books and watch his shows. I remember him from the early days of stand-up (which this autobiography covers) to his more recent sell out nights at the Royal Albert Hall (where I finally got to see him, live). He writes better than anyone I know when it comes to ‘passing on a story,’ and whilst sometimes he can be just a bit too ‘lovey’ in this book, it's still worth reading.

Kraken: Mieville is one of my favourites and I was looking forward to this book which has been reviewed as a tour de force and ‘fun’ work after the serious and hidden depths of ‘The City & The City.’ It is indeed lighter, but I found it slowed down by Mieville’s own use of language. I often found myself rereading action passages to understand what was happening, plus I had to reach for the dictionary twice. This worked well in his other books, but here it slows the pace slightly. Very much like a wordy ‘Neverwhere.’

To Say Nothing of the Dog: A time travel comedy that takes it cues from Jerome K. Jerome. Winner of both the Hugo and Locus, this is a slow building, light novel that pitch perfectly picks up on the language and mores of the 1890s. If anything it made me want to read some of JKJ’s work.

Now back to writing.

Read this week:

The Fry Chronicles by Stephen Fry

Kraken by China Mieville

To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis

Travels Over, Work Required

2010-09-30T07:52:00.000+01:00

I'm back in India after a week in London. I had a great time, walking around Hyde Park in glorious end of summer sun:

Seeing the Dave McKean exhibition at the Pumphouse Gallery, entitled Hypercomics. The full set of photos can be seen here:

I met my new niece, Orla, who didn't talk much, unlike this man, who did.

And then we went to a wedding in sunny Eastbourne:

And now I'm back at work.

I'm going off line for a few days as I've got to review the line edited version of 'Juvie' and put together a full synopsis for 'Stigma' as my agent is at the Frankfurt book fair next week. That means lots of work and concentration which is going to be interesting since I'm ever so slightly jet lagged and plan to move into a new apartment this weekend.

This blog should also be appearing somewhere 'new' soon. I'll let you know details as soon as I hear more.

Right, now - work.

On Not Really Liking Curry

2010-09-20T11:41:00.000+01:00

I know this is going to seem as blasphemy, of a sorts, to some good friends, and also not particularly grateful to the country I'm currently living in (India not Scotland), but the thing is, I've recently discovered I don't really like curry.
I don't hate it, hate is far too strong a word. In truth I don't really hate much apart from .... (lets not go there). But the thing is I don't really like it. It's okay, the taste is agreeable (it's not a heat thing. I quite like hot food), but I don't enjoy it as much as so many other food types out there. Even a Friday night curry, after work and many pints, I've always found all right - just okay - not bad - mildly diverting.
For me curry is nice on the first bite, middling on the second and then it just kind of goes down hill until I can't be bothered eating any more. I think it has something to do with the fact that when you've eaten the first few mouthfuls of curry, whatever you have with it after that, rice, naan, the many different breads they have out here, pickled veg, they all kinda taste the same.
I would much rather have slices of Parma Ham with ripe melon, or roast meat with gravy and red-current jelly, fresh langoustines baked with lemon, garlic and salt, paella or a simple bowl of pasta in a fresh tomato ragu. I like sweet and savoury mixed together, fresh simply prepared food.

Curry just leaves a bad taste in my mouth - sorry. Perhaps being over here I'll learn to love it, become some sort of disciple, able to wax lyrical on the joys of a good, true Indian curry, how to create that authentic taste and what to serve it with, but at the moment it just kind of - meh!

****

I'm off to London for a week very early in the morning. There I plan to fit in numerous activities including seeing the Hypercomics Exhibition at the Pumphouse which contains some Dave McKean work, visit my newly born niece 'Orla' at my sisters, get to see the wonderful Mr. Stephen Fry at the Royal Albert Hall (who I have now attempted to see twice and failed both times) and nip down to Eastbourne for the wedding of friends Jo'n'Joe.

****

In the meantime and whilst I'm away here are some links:

India's $35 slate has been outed as a Hivision Speedpad.
India is also about to issue biometric ID's to the entire population - I still don't really agree with this.
And I've just finished the complete 100 Bullets by Brian Azzerello, which is brilliant and if you haven't, then you should read.

Links 11/09/10

2010-09-11T09:48:00.000+01:00

Great time capture video of Tokyo by Samuel Cockedey called inter // states with a good tunes by Paul Frankland

inter // states from Samuel Cockedey on Vimeo.

I said I would keep an eye on this whilst out in India, but it seems that India's $35 Android tablet is reportedly on track for a January launch.
“Although climate change could still have devastating effects for much of the world, some regions stand to benefit immensely. Canada, Scandinavia, and even Greenland could all become economic powerhouses, making "The New North" a very attractive destination.”
M. Night Shyamalan's career (as a film by M. Night Shyamalan). I quite like some of his concepts, jut don’t think they’re always executed as well as they could be. I review of ‘The Missing,’ said it had Shyamalan undertones - which I take as a compliment.
Third film this week. “Singer-songwriter Kirby Krackle has just released this wistful little video, illustrated by Damon O'Keefe, about how the zombie apocalypse is kind of a bummer.”

Links 06/09/10

2010-09-06T15:17:00.001+01:00

"The Tokyo Up, Down project comprises a series of black & white photographs taken inside and outside of elevators in Tokyo. The project explores vertical transportation in the intimacy of the elevator cabin, a moment of silence suspended in space and time, which nonetheless yields a rich array of subtle interactions between strangers on the shortest ever journey."

The final Doctor (no. 13 and the last according to the original Doctor Who series) as visualised by Ben Templesmith.

"The architecture of the contemporary city is no longer simply about the physical space of buildings and landscape, more and more it is about the synthetic spaces created by the digital information that we collect, consume and organise; an immersive interface may become as much part of the world we inhabit as the buildings around us.
Augmented Reality (AR) is an emerging technology defined by its ability to overlay physical space with information. It is part of a paradigm shift that succeeds Virtual Reality; instead of disembodied occupation of virtual worlds, the physical and virtual are seen together as a contiguous, layered and dynamic whole. It may lead to a world where media is indistinguishable from 'reality'. The spatial organisation of data has important implications for architecture, as we re-evaluate the city as an immersive human-computer interface." The work of artist / film maker / designer Keiichi Matsuda.

And I now have a daily paper available by paper.li. Look out for the Adam J. Shardlow Daily on the twitter feed.

Immigration Office

2010-09-02T15:01:00.001+01:00

Had a bit of an off day today. Last night the well documented Indian food revenge hit me and so I didn't have the greatest night sleep. Then I had to up early to accompany Madame Vin to the immigration office. Finally all our papers were in order. I have to say I've done absolutely nothing to assist in the putting together of all these documents apart from sitting in a photo booth, doing some photocopying and asking the hotel reception to write us a letter to say we're staying with them. Madame Vin has done all the running around, phoning, re-phoning, re-re-phoning, emailing, shouting, screaming, pulling out of hair, re-emailing etc etc to get all of them together. A process that should have taken a week, like everything in India, has actually taken four weeks. She's brilliant is Madame Vin.

So we handed over our documents to one man, he asked to go to another room up the hall, we went there and someone took our forms and showed them to an important woman who sat at a table on her own. He returned and asked us to do 'something'. We asked him again (his English was poor, my Tamil non-existent), he pointed outside. We went outside, still none the wiser. We returned and asked again and finally worked out he wanted us to photocopy the documents, which fortunately we had already done.

Our copies in place we were then given two plastic disks with numbers on and told to go back to the room we were in originally. We sat in front of four booths with a number system for the queue. It was on number 50 we were numbers 68 and 69. We shuffled and shifted in the hot room, on the most uncomfortable chairs ever designed, to the front of the queue. Numbers 64, 65, 66 and 67 didn't exist so two hours later we make it to the front. The official took the papers, applied a stamp, wrote something incomprehensible on a scrap of paper (took the cheques, naturally) all without smiling.

All of this was done in a sort of Gilliam-esque busy bureaucratic environment with stewards running hither and thither, signs pointing in the wrong direction, stamps slapping bits of papers and general disagreement. Fans spin and move hot air around the room, everyone is tense, the officers are bored and no one seems to know what is going on. I'm sure there was order, but I couldn't see it for all the confusion.

After all that we have to go back on the 13th September to collect the final documents.

Can't wait.

Book and Comic Reviews

2010-09-01T13:07:00.000+01:00

Perdido Street Station is the book I've been missing from China Mieville's work, probably one of my favourite writers of the last decade. He is a genre defier in that he doesn't stick to the one shelf and diversifies with each novel. That said he has created a unique fantasy world called Bas Lag that contains the very urban New Crobuzon and several of his works are set there. This is the novel that introduced that world.
It's vast and expansive and dangerous and not a nice place to live, but live there people do, millions of them, cheek by jowl. And they're not all human. You have living cacti, humanoid bird people, scarab beetles that walk tall and frog like creatures. Then there are the remades, humans who have been mutated and physically altered through the use of Mieville's magic system of thaumaturgy.
This first novel deals with themes as diverse as love across races, drug use, the life of an artist, the tyranny of government and lives unfulfilled. The stories are as diverse as the very creatures. There is politics and science to understand, dimension of space to remember, the playful use of writing to master and characters that even though prominent might not make it to the end of the book.
Mieville is playful and creative in his big ideas and not scared to come up with his own interpretation of a world without relying on past genre creations. If you've never read any of his work, this would be one of the best places to start.

****

The Swamp Thing has been around since 1971, but it was Alan Moore's reinterpretation of the character back in the 80s that is probably best remembered. Moore took a character that was essentially a 'creature of the black lagoon' horror staple and turned him into something else. He based his idea on the concept of the 'Green Man' as known in European folklore, an elemental that lives within nature because it is part of nature, the two bound up into one.
It was partly through Swamp Thing that the comics for adult readership was created and would lead to the building of the DC Vertigo brand. These comics left simple horror and violence behind and combined it with character led stories, creating a mythology and real world universe for these creatures to exist in. He also introduced the character of John Constantine in Swamp Thing.
The stories themselves are still completely accessible and have not really dated, the art however has and the colour is quite lackluster in places.

Read this week:

Perdido Street Station by China Mieville
Saga of the Swamp Thing by Alan Moore - Issues 20 to 64

Tata

2010-08-30T11:57:00.000+01:00

In India there is a mega company. A behemoth of industry and business. This is the Tata Group. Our hotel the Taj Mount Road (very nice, by the way) is owned by the Tata Group. In the morning I drink Tata coffee from Tata porcelain and have fresh orange in a Tata glass. There are Tata cars on the road (small and affordable), Tata shows on television (through their join up with Sky), even Tata products in space. They do everything from advanced composites (A) through to Wood Products (W) and everything in between (I'm sure if I looked online I would find something beginning with Z).

The Tata group was started by Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata back in 1868. He worked for his father in a banking firm but set himself up as an entrepreneur allowing Indians to take up higher studies and work in the business. He was a visionary who looked after his work force, introducing the 8 hour day before it was commonplace in the world. The company diversified into all aspects of Indian life and set up education establishments for the betterment of the people.

Today Tata has expanded all over the world, they own the Jaguar and Land Rover brands, Tetley Tea and other well known UK companies. Not bad for a company that is still family owned.

Strange Things

2010-08-25T12:53:00.000+01:00

Strange things I've started to notice since being in India.

Cleaning - Whilst there are plenty of people employed in the cleaning industries in India, nothing actually gets any cleaner. Rubbish lorries arrive and take away the litter, but it's still all over the ground. Sweeping takes place in shopping centers and malls, but no one every gets a bucket and mops the floor. Lots and lots of cleaning, lots and lots of mess.

Going beyond the pale - adverts on television for creams that make you paler, or several shades paler (according to the advert). This is not limited to women but to men as well, with this whitening powder added to ointment for ladies and moisturiser for men. A constant desire to change the skin tone. Completely opposite to the UK idea of beauty and getting a tan, to look more colourful not less.

Where is this India, you speak of - still on adverts, the image that is presented on television is a very western style India. The adverts are all set in towns that look nothing like what is outside the window (I'm convinced many of the adverts are shot abroad - possibly the US). This doesn't gel with the generally conservative society, but that is what they beam into everyones homes every night.

Starting Over

2010-08-19T13:32:00.000+01:00

Page 100 of 'Cell' didn't happen as I've decided to re imagine the work. I am now back on page 5. Yesterday I realised that the current incarnation just wasn't working. It didn't feel like it was part of the 'Juvie' landscape that I so carefully built up in the first novel, so I've gone back to the beginning and started over. I want to get it right, so I expect this might happen several times.

****

"Researchers at the University of Leeds have employed a robotic yellow submarine to fund and begin documenting a massive river under the sea, known as a submarine channel -- the first ever directly observed." From Engadget.

Probably one of the best sci-fi songs I've ever heard. "This sweetly horny tribute to the work of Ray Bradbury, starring Rachel Bloom as the girl who wants to fuck "the greatest scifi writer in history," is sure to put a smile on your face."

First week in Chennai

2010-08-16T14:33:00.000+01:00

I've been in India for a week now and can do nothing but reiterate what you've probably heard a thousand times about this place. It's a strange mix between the traditional and the modern, examples include the new malls that are springing up all over Chennai with their air conditioning, modern shops, cinemas, fast food restaurants, supermarkets that sell western brands all located next to streets that are falling apart, people sleeping rough, constant traffic with horns blaring and cattle walking through the chaos. Gas and electric failures are common, but the internet seems to be offered everywhere, along with Sky satellite TV. Poverty is obvious, but so is great wealth.

All the Indians we've met have been polite, intelligent, interested in the world outside their own country, but at the same time reserved in their actions, but the way they interact between themselves seems markedly different.

It's early days and there is much for me to learn about this country. On Sunday we got to go travel to Mamallapuram with some of Madame Vin's colleagues. This is a land full of temples, stretching out on the flat plains to the south of Chennai. I've included a link to photos below:
http://gallery.me.com/adamjshardlow/100008

Today we've been looking at apartments for the remainder of our stay (can't live in hotels forever, no matter how much I enjoy it). We've seen some which are basic by UK standards but a couple that are very nice. Hopefully, we can get something sorted out soon.

Back to work tomorrow with the aim of hitting page 100 of 'Cell' by Friday.

View from a Chennai Hotel

2010-08-11T13:47:00.000+01:00

Just a quick update. A couple of photos from the roof of the hotel. Chennai in all its glory.

Madame Vin had a successful first day at work and I got plenty done on "Cell", the second book in the 'Juvie' trilogy.

Going out for curry tonight.

Welcome to Chennai

2010-08-10T14:45:00.000+01:00

I'm installed in my hotel, overlooking Mount Road in central Chennai. It's hot, busy, cacophonous and bizarre. Wealth and real poverty side by side, a modern thriving metropolis but one rooted in ancient cultures, its a mishmash of ideas, thoughts and voices. It's going to be an interesting year.

So far I haven't gone far. A quick trip to a shopping centre through the noisome streets and to the gym (where I made a friend of the trainer and he tried to kill through exercise - which I need to do everyday).

Tomorrow Madame Vin is going on her first visit to the office and I'll start my writing regime.

In the mean time, some links:

A biomechanical world in this stunning video
Supernatural is getting the Anime treatment.
"Migrating Floating Gardens" by Rael San Fratello Architects.
A 'Super Sad True Love Story' from Gary Shteyngart "we live in such a fast-paced society that the moment you want to write about something, that instant is gone. The only way to capture the present is to write about the future."
The age of the book is coming to an end.
And now that I'm India for a year, Kate Griffin has made me a little home sick for Edinburgh.

I'll try to put up some photos tomorrow.

India Tomorrow

2010-08-07T20:57:00.000+01:00

So I'm off to India tomorrow morning. That happened a lot quicker than I expected. 'Juvie' is in and my agent likes it. That doesn't mean a publishing deal is guaranteed but it's a step in the right direction. Over the next year I want to concentrate on books 2 and 3 in the same series and start the new version of 'The Park'.

I'll keep this blog updated with my travels, work and news, and perhaps the odd photo of India.

It's gonna be one hell of an adventure.

See you on the other side.

Quick Break

2010-07-27T17:56:00.000+01:00

Enjoying my new writing life and trying to get all sorted out for the big trip to India. My father's coming for a few days over the weekend but I hope to get the current draft of 'Juvie', plus a synopsis for the three book series to my agent before I go.

The past written on top of the present through photography.

Apparently, I'm a 'selfish elitist' for owning an iPad. I've been called worse.

A quite scary robot talks German and demands fruit.

The cheap and useful Indian computer for under $35 has its critics. This would be great if they can get it off the ground. Lets hope it's not dead in the water just because hardware companies impose high price structures. I think we should have something similar world wide. Get everyone online, turn it into a real democratic cyber world, with a everyone participating. That's what the internet is all about, freedom. I'll follow this story with interest whilst in India.

Good website Design Mind with interesting things to say.

And I leave you with the Doctor Who Themes. All of them, showing both the continuity and the increase in tempo over the years.

A New Routine

2010-07-24T15:53:00.000+01:00

I have to get into a routine.

Writers hours are important when you don’t have the structure of a place of work to go to. I’ve always done my writing in an evening. Two hours minimum straight from work (from about 5.15pm) with more like four hours Saturday and Sunday. This is enough to produce a novel length piece of work every year plus the odd short story.

With going to India, that structure is gone. I’m now free during the day. Every day. For a year, minimum.

So, I have to get into a routine.

Currently my thinking is write in the morning. I’m better at this time, the work seems fresher. I want to get about ten pages done a day. I can probably get that done by about 1.00pm. After lunch I plan to focus on redrafting, reading, small projects (photography, film, art) and getting some exercise (very important when your place of work is about 30 feet from your bed).

That’s the routine.

I’ll let you know if I stick to it.

Comic Book Reviews

2010-07-24T15:09:00.000+01:00

Mister X - The Archives

Mister X helped to change comic books from the all encompassing days of tights wearing super heroes, white-hatted cowboys and WWII GI’s into something more grown up, more thought provoking, more weird. It’s a tale of a city built to be a utopia but instead sends its inhabitants mad. Part German expressionism, part noir detective tale it follows the mysterious Mr. X, an architect of the madness inducing city, as he tries to right the effect his built environment is having on the populace.

Drawn by a series of artists using pulp film references the stories start out going for the big story. Unfortunately (no fault to the writer Dean Motter) Mr. X did not have a very successful run and was cancelled several times. In this book Motter has attempted to finish the story but it feels slightly rushed.

God Save the Queen

A one shot about fairies and drugs. Set in modern London, the story follows Linda, a rebellious teenager, enticed by a mysterious group of hip layabouts she meets at a rave. They introduce to the drug Red Horse which in turn opens up her world to the entities living on the fringes. Based on characters started in Sandman this is a thrilling ride that makes good use of its modern setting and actually portrays modern teens in a realistic light. Written by Mike Carey of ‘Felix Castor’ fame and drawn by the brilliant John Bolton, this adds colour and complexity to the Vertigo world.

Salem Brownstone

This is a beautifully produced and written gothic tale about a young man who’s left a strange house by his estranged father. On entering for the first time he’s attacked by strange creatures and saved by a mysterious attractive contortionist. Taken in by a local circus troupe he soon realises all is not as it seems.

Drawn like a fin-de-siecle Beardsley and with echoes of Edward Gorey this is a dark, out of this world gothic masterpiece.

30 Days of Night Collectors Set

The three chronicles of the 30 Days of Night Franchise. This has a brilliantly simple premise, the town of Barrow, where the sun sets every year for thirty days thus becoming the perfect hunting ground for vampires.

Unlike the current popular undead (who seem to do nothing but moan about their condition) these vampires are mean and nasty and love nothing better than ripping their prey to bits. It reminds me of The Thing (all that snow). A quick entertaining read.

Read this week:

Mister X - The Archives by Dean Motter & co.

God Save the Queen by Mike Carey & John Bolton

Salem Brownstone by John Harris Dunning & Nikhil Singh

30 Days of Night Collectors Set by Steve Niles & Ben Templesmith

Writing advice

2010-07-16T11:31:00.002+01:00

Good writing advice from Janet Fitch, author of WHITE OLEANDER & PAINT IT BLACK from an article in the Los Angeles Times (thanks to Jonathan Carroll for the heads up).

1. Write the sentence, not just the story
Long ago I got a rejection from the editor of the Santa Monica Review, Jim Krusoe. It said: "Good enough story, but what's unique about your sentences?" That was the best advice I ever got. Learn to look at your sentences, play with them, make sure there's music, lots of edges and corners to the sounds. Read your work aloud. Read poetry aloud and try to heighten in every way your sensitivity to the sound and rhythm and shape of sentences. The music of words. I like Dylan Thomas best for this–the Ballad of the Long-Legged Bait. I also like Sexton, Eliot, and Brodsky for the poets and Durrell and Les Plesko for prose. A terrific exercise is to take a paragraph of someone's writing who has a really strong style, and using their structure, substitute your own words for theirs, and see how they achieved their effects.

2. Pick a better verb
Most people use twenty verbs to describe everything from a run in their stocking to the explosion of an atomic bomb. You know the ones: Was, did, had, made, went, looked… One-size-fits-all looks like crap on anyone. Sew yourself a custom made suit. Pick a better verb. Challenge all those verbs to really lift some weight for you.

3. Kill the cliché.
When you're writing, anything you've ever heard or read before is a cliché. They can be combinations of words: Cold sweat. Fire-engine red, or phrases: on the same page, level playing field, or metaphors: big as a house. So quiet you could hear a pin drop. Sometimes things themselves are cliches: fuzzy dice, pink flamingo lawn ornaments, long blonde hair. Just keep asking yourself, "Honestly, have I ever seen this before?" Even if Shakespeare wrote it, or Virginia Woolf, it's a cliché. You're a writer and you have to invent it from scratch, all by yourself. That's why writing is a lot of work, and demands unflinching honesty.

4. Variety is the key.
Most people write the same sentence over and over again. The same number of words–say, 8-10, or 10-12. The same sentence structure. Try to become stretchy–if you generally write 8 words, throw a 20 word sentence in there, and a few three-word shorties. If you're generally a 20 word writer, make sure you throw in some threes, fivers and sevens, just to keep the reader from going crosseyed.

5. Explore sentences using dependent clauses.
A dependent clause (a sentence fragment set off by commas, dontcha know) helps you explore your story by moving you deeper into the sentence. It allows you to stop and think harder about what you've already written. Often the story you're looking for is inside the sentence. The dependent clause helps you uncover it.

6. Use the landscape.
Always tell us where we are. And don't just tell us where something is, make it pay off. Use description of landscape to help you establish the emotional tone of the scene. Keep notes of how other authors establish mood and foreshadow events by describing the world around the character. Look at the openings of Fitzgerald stories, and Graham Greene, they're great at this.

7. Smarten up your protagonist.
Your protagonist is your reader's portal into the story. The more observant he or she can be, the more vivid will be the world you're creating. They don't have to be super-educated, they just have to be mentally active. Keep them looking, thinking, wondering, remembering.

8. Learn to write dialogue.
This involves more than I can discuss here, but do it. Read the writers of great prose dialogue–people like Robert Stone and Joan Didion. Compression, saying as little as possible, making everything carry much more than is actually said. Conflict. Dialogue as part of an ongoing world, not just voices in a dark room. Never say the obvious. Skip the meet and greet.

9. Write in scenes.
What is a scene? a) A scene starts and ends in one place at one time (the Aristotelian unities of time and place–this stuff goes waaaayyyy back). b) A scene starts in one place emotionally and ends in another place emotionally. Starts angry, ends embarrassed. Starts lovestruck, ends disgusted. c) Something happens in a scene, whereby the character cannot go back to the way things were before. Make sure to finish a scene before you go on to the next. Make something happen.

10. Torture your protagonist.
The writer is both a sadist and a masochist. We create people we love, and then we torture them. The more we love them, and the more cleverly we torture them along the lines of their greatest vulnerability and fear, the better the story. Sometimes we try to protect them from getting booboos that are too big. Don't. This is your protagonist, not your kid.

From the desk of Adam J. Shardlow

Ipad

2010-07-11T10:20:00.000+01:00

I'm writing this on an Ipad. This has probably reduced a select few of you into howls of derision. It's just a great big phone, I hear you cry. Another one taken in by the Apple hype, you call. Poseur, you sneer.

I'm not sure why Apple's devices cause such devotion in some and such spewed bile in others. I'm not apologising for my own love of their products. I'm a new(ish) convert to Mr. Jobs and in the last few years I've replaced all my hardware with Apple and it's been a blessing. Not one blue screen of death or dodgy joining of devices have I had since moving over to the fruity ones. Everything works as a joined up network and I no longer come close to throwing my laptop across the study (ask my wife about this).

I love Apple products - there, I've said it.

If you don't - fine. I'm not going to judge you.

RED and TED

2010-07-04T17:46:00.000+01:00

New York was great. Thanks to all our friends, new and old, for making it such a great week.

New York from Tash's window in Brooklyn

So the idea of India is percolating around my head as I consider the options open to me and all of the time I'll have for writing. I want to maximise the opportunity and get as much work done as possible with minimum distractions (apart from a whole continent to explore of course). I want to work on both book two and three of the 'Juvie' series and make in roads on the idea that I have mentally entitled 'The Park' (something I've been working on and off for several years). I also have an idea for a short story around the idea of augmented reality as well as the comic book idea 'Icons'. As I plan to do some photography whilst there and plenty of reading I imagine that lot should keep me busy.

****

Language Deciphered by Computer
"The lost language of Ugaritic was last spoken 3,500 years ago. It survives on just a few tablets, and linguists could only translate it with years of hard work and plenty of luck. A computer deciphered it in hours."

RED
The first trailer for the Warren Ellis based comic book RED - looks good.

Augmented Reality
"Property developers won’t be wasting money on fancy architects if they can throw a skin around their building and flog the exterior to Coke. Particularly not if half the passers-by aren’t seeing their building -- lost in a reality constructed by a Belgian design studio and distributed via Specsavers."
A world we would all see differently depending on our subscriptions and opt-outs.

TED
"It's a bit like YouTube, but instead of featuring cats falling into lavatories, it has short, cutting-edge talks by the world's leading neuroscientists, behavioural economists, video artists, philosophers, particle physicists, rocket scientists, endurance athletes, Aids researchers… you name it, it's been at TED."
If you've never looked at the free lectures on TED you should drop what you're doing and go there immediately.

****

Garth Ennis is favourite comic book author and his Preacher series is one that garnered plenty of press in the last few years. Proud Americans looks at the Reverend's relationship with his friends as he goes after the captured Cassidy. The second part of the book looks at how Cassidy became a vampire and is the better of the two halves.

The Affinity Bridge is the first in a series of books in the Newbury & Hobbes series from small press Snowbooks. It's a steampunk adventure in an alternative London where Queen Victoria's Empire has been elongated beyond her death and enhanced through technology. It has magic, risen dead and robots. I would say that the two lead characters aren't fleshed out as much as I'd like, but I imagine this is remedied in the later novels.

Haunting Museums is a non-fiction work about artefacts around the world that have strange or inexplicable stories attached to them. A sort of believe or not Warehouse 13. The essay are hit and miss and a US slant. Mildly interesting.

Read this week:

Preacher: Proud Americans by Garth Ennis & Steve Dillon
The Affinity Bridge by George Mann
Haunting Museums by John Schuster

Hot in the city ... 2

2010-06-24T21:58:00.001+01:00

So this is the other half of the blog the NYC blog my Blogger email account missed. Please sort out Blogger email.

Sunday night was Tash's birthday in the Meatpacking district, frequented by drag artists and old friends. We've been over to Brooklyn this afternoon to see her and get an update on the movie. It's coming along but as usual these things take longer than expected.

Last night we saw a bit of jazz in Central Park and tonight we're at a wine tasting. Tomorrow I'm going to see the Mets play. Don't know anything about baseball so it should be interesting.

****
There's a crack in the universe similar to the one in the current Dr Who series, which is either a huge cosmic coincidence or the BBC marketing department has too much money:http://tinyurl.com/389ljpv

Hot in the city...

2010-06-24T21:45:00.001+01:00

So I'm in New York and it is hot. Damn hot. So hot bits of me are
sticking to other bits and I have to prise them apart in the evening
with a fridge cooled spatula.

Modern Media Initiative

2010-06-17T12:35:00.001+01:00

Let's all move to Iceland (country not the shop).
A unanimous vote in Iceland's parliament has seen the country pass its
so-called "Icelandic Modern Media Initiative", giving it the mandate
to create what are intended to be the world's most stringent laws
preserving free speech and a free press.
http://tinyurl.com/367gfy4

Cool Wall
Architect Bill Peterson renovated this 14th Street townhouse so that
the living room wall rolled up like a garage, leaving it open to the
street, with an "air curtain" to keep the heat in
http://tinyurl.com/33hdotr

Links for Today

2010-06-16T18:45:00.000+01:00

"The real problems are twofold. First, even though the content is digital, the reader loses most of digital content's benefits. I can go to the Wired website, link to articles there on my blog, share them via email or Twitter and use the power of the web to share and opine. The iPad edition offers none of that flexibility -- and it doesn't offer any of the flexibility of paper either. I can annotate my paper version of Wired, clip out articles, or even pass the entire magazine on to you and you can in turn pass it on to others. I can't do any of those things with the iPad edition."
Martin Gartenberg on the problems of digital magazines. We're just not quite there yet.

"sprawling and sticky spideweb-like installation"
From Hi-Fructose

"An animated short by Joe Bichard and Jack Cunningham, MARS! tells the story of, well, the planet Mars."

MARS! from Joe Bichard and Jack Cunningham on Vimeo.

Time and Again. Life, don't get me started on life. From Jacques Khouri. Comic book art animated.

time & again from jacques khouri on Vimeo.

Lost Myths

2010-06-16T12:26:00.001+01:00

Lost Myths: new stories in an old format:
"Tinkerhorn Muziek (Lost Myths Records LM-0013) was a 10-inch 78rpm
released only in Europe in 1927. There was only ever the one pressing,
and it's unlikely that there were more than a few hundred copies
made. Only seven copies are known to still exist. The original tapes,
along with any documentation that might have helped us understand this
music better, were lost in a fire in 1940, when the Nazis invaded
Amsterdam."
From http://lostmyths.net/

EMA

2010-06-13T14:03:00.000+01:00

Waiting for a plane at East Midlands Airport. Saw an iPad for sale, thought about it but decided to wait until New York in a week.

Wedding was good and it was nice to see so many old faces (and some of them were looking very old indeed).

Have a bit of time before my flight so I'll get on with a bit of 'Cell' as this week is very busy.

Cloud Printing

2010-06-10T19:57:00.000+01:00

I'm off to another wedding tomorrow (what is it about 2010 that made everyone get hitched? Do they know something I don't about the end of the world? That 2012, right?) so here are a few quick links to keep you brain active.

Jan Chipchase on Cloud Printing
"whilst its not socially acceptable today, in time someone will subsidise the cost of individual prints by inserting subtle advertising by manipulating your photos."

The Leith Festival is on this weekend and my agents are sponsoring the Literature Festival. If you get the chance, pop down.

Now, get off the interweb and back to work.

Robots and Weird Laws

2010-06-09T11:02:00.001+01:00

Robotics developers at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich's
Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control have built autonomous robots
that drive, dock with their peers on the ground, then fly into the air
in coordinated swarms.... http://tinyurl.com/2w42fcy

DivineCaroline.com has a list of 50 weird US laws, including the
following:
Alabama: It's illegal to wear a fake mustache that causes laughter in
church.
Alaska: Whispering in someone's ear while he's moose hunting is
prohibited.
Arkansas: It's illegal to mispronounce the name of the state of
Arkansas.
California: You may not eat an orange in your bathtub.
Florida: If you tie an elephant to a parking meter, you must pay the
same parking fee as you would for a vehicle.

'Cell'

2010-06-06T17:03:00.002+01:00

'Juvie' 2 is currently titled 'Cell', which when you read the book will make much more sense as it has a double meaning. I'm currently about 11k words in and going strong. The book has a more dirty urban feel to it and it opens up a concept about the 'Governors' that is only hinted about in the first book.

You’ll also notice lots of new short blog post here as I’m having a go at posting them in via mail so ensure all my links and ideas are in one place. Some of them might be of interest to you.

****

Wasting Time

Great little comic from Luke Ferenc which sums up mine and many others feelings about the internet

Nollywood

Nollywood is said to be the third largest film industry in the world, releasing onto the home video market approximately 1 000 movies each year. Such abundance is possible since films are realized in conditions that would make most of the western independent directors cringe. Movies are produced and marketed in the space of a week: low cost equipment, very basic scripts, actors cast the day of the shooting, “real life” locations. Despite the improvised production process, they continue to fascinate audiences. In Africa, Nollywood movies are a rare instance of self-representation in the mass media. From Pieter Hugo

Ideas are Immortal by Alan Moore

Ideas are immortal, or at least as long lived as the culture that comes up with them, whereas the objects, the monuments and even empires those ideas inspire are transient by comparison.

Though I don't agree with all Alan say's, this is an article worth digging out.

****

Finally got around to reading Warren Ellis’s and got introduced to the character Spider Jerusalem (interesting as I have a character called Spider in ‘Juvie’), one of my favourite new characters in comics. He’s a gonzo journalist of a the future, a drop out city survivalist who has to return to write those books he promised his editors. It’s anarchic laugh-out-loud with plenty to say about society and where it’s going.

Read this week

Transmetropolitan: Back on the Street by Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson

Transmetropolitan: Lust for Life by Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson

Minority Report Style System

2010-06-02T19:26:00.000+01:00

Human computer interface.

Today's Links

2010-06-02T11:19:00.001+01:00

Chinese mods. Turning corporate built hardware into free thought
hacked builds. http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2010-06/1/chinese-pirates-are-tech's-new-innovators

Want something like this in Edinburgh.
TAM, or The Amazing Meeting is now an annual fundraising conference
that raises money for the James Randi Educational Foundation, which
promotes;
critical thinking by reaching out to the public and media with
reliable information about pseudoscientific, paranormal and
supernatural ideas so widespread in our society today.

http://tinyurl.com/39cjefg

Ink on Paper

2010-06-01T18:36:00.003+01:00

This is a really interesting insight into the future of print/books etcetera from the blog of the graphic designer Frank Chimero:

• Question: What is the future of print design? How will the tangible, ink-on-paper pieces that designers love coexist with design on digital platforms in the years to come?

Things are changing. We want to know where it’s going. But, hell if I know, or any one else has more than a hunch. Craig Mod calls it the PRE/POST era and I think he’s right. As I’ve said before, we break stuff before we know what replaces it, and we invent things before we know what they are for. Maybe we’re now living in the future tense.
Next thing to clear up: Books are not music, so I’d stop looking to apply the patterns from that experience to ink on paper at a high level. (Though, it could work at a smaller level.) Music lacks a physical form, gained a physical form for a short while, and some people made loads of cash selling that artifact. Some people made bookoos of bucks selling stacks of vinyl and cassette tapes and CDs. But now music is moving back to the vaporous state from whence it came. Neat. Wait. Magazines are like that. Just sub out reams of paper. Damn it.
But not so much books. Literature requires an artifact, whether it’s ink on paper or e-ink on e-paper. We have to see the words with our eyes, which means they need to exist in meat-space. Maybe I’m overly romanticizing this. Books could be considered to be vaporous (storytelling has its roots in the oral tradition), but the idea of “story” is bigger than the idea of “ink on paper,” so you’d spread yourself too thin to think about where story is going to live in the future. (I’d say television is just as good a receptacle now for some stories. In fact, in some instances it’s better.) And, I’d say, really good literature requires an artifact. But that’s just me. I think quality creative work deserves a physical form that achieves some sort of permanence. It’s the reward for producing something good. I know reading Infinite Jest wouldn’t be the same if you didn’t have to pay the penance of carrying around that monolithic paper slab on the bus, and risk being judged terribly bookish by your neighbors sharing the ride. (Still haven’t read it. Going to give it a go again this summer. We can do this Frank, we can do this. This time!)
So let’s talk about ink on paper. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but here is what I want to see: I want to see things earn the privilege to be objects. If we have the option of things being “real” and “not real,” I want the real stuff to be really good. I want the times when ink hits paper to always be beautiful, useful, and desirable. It seems like such a shame to cut down a tree to print this Land’s End catalog, with the thin model coyly smiling at me on the back in her awkward swimsuit. I bet it bunches up in the wrong spots. It seems silly to give permanence to a thing that was meant to be ephemeral to begin with. This goes for junk mail, beach-books, handouts for students, whatever. If your shelf-life is shorter than forever and ever amen, I think we need to think about whether or not it needs to be printed. (Although, it is so damn nice to print something to proof-read it. But that’s a different story.)
If I’m thinking as a normal consumer, I don’t really care terribly much about what the future of ink on paper is going to be. I care about what the future of content is going to be. I want fuller, more thoughtful, more substantial, more enriching, more nourishing content. I want good stuff. I want stuff that doesn’t feel like a chew toy. I’d suppose that the only people who care about the future of ink on paper are the people who make their money (or not) selling the paper that has the ink on it. (Or if your magazine is named PRINT.) Those of us who consume the content, I’d suppose, don’t give much of a rat’s ass. We want convenience and access, and then after that quality.

It’s easy to think of a future where the predominance of ink on paper is minimized. And, as a designer who practices the kung fu of deciding how that ink gets slathered on that paper, it’s scary. But, here is my tip to you: stop thinking of yourself as a print designer. You’re not designing for print. You’re designing for content.

Also on CarrollBlog

Holiday Weekend

2010-05-29T16:17:00.000+01:00

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.
***
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.

****
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

2010-05-29T11:20:00.001+01:00

Look what just arrived...

Beer and saki

2010-05-27T21:43:00.000+01:00

Links for Today

2010-05-26T18:18:00.001+01:00

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

From the desk of...

2010-05-25T20:06:00.001+01:00

Testing mail to Blogger

2010-05-25T20:01:00.001+01:00

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

Missing, No More

2010-05-16T15:50:00.002+01:00

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:

Free novels on the internet

Behance Gallery's

Online magazines with Zinio and Yudu

****

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