I was talking to my agent the other day...

I've had some encouraging news recently after "Juvie" was read by a well respected agent. On the back of that I am now being represented by Edwin Hawkes of The McKernan Agency. This means several things. Firstly my ability to get work in front of publishers has just gone from almost impossible to likely. Secondly it means I have someone off which to bounce ideas and gain a better understanding of the business and the market place. At the same time it now means a work like "Juvie" has to be rewritten, almost from scratch, to incorporate a larger world view. This is necessary for it be a viable project but also very scary as I really have to think about everything within. For the first time I'm thinking about each and every word as I place them on the page, I thinking about the ideas behind the story and how they interact and move the plot forward. I'm judging the characters, rewriting some, introducing new ones and killing off those that just don't fit. Everything has to be stood on its head and kicked about in the back of my brain and prodded and poked until I'm happy with them. This means that if you talk to me at the moment I have a tendency to act a little vacant and off hand. I am listening but at the same time I feel like I'm elsewhere.

Don't get me wrong I understand that just because I now have an agent that doesn't mean a publishing deal for "Juvie", but it's a step in the right direction and I can't help but be just a little bit excited.

So now I'm tied to my desk and probably won't resurface until later in the year.

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Of course I still have time to have a quick look around the interweb and pick out some interesting digital vacations:

An interview with Charlie Huston is available of Vimeo. Part one here and part two here.

Huston's Joe Pitt novels have become one of my recent favourite quick reads (see below) and it looks as if he is a writer with many ideas yet to explore.

There is also a long look at Gaiman available from the New Yorker, though I think there is a few inaccuracies in the facts.

I've also been reading some of the free mags available on Issuu which I've mentioned before but is worth a visit, and I've been reading Coilhouse' website and want to order a copy but they've sold out of their most recent edition so will have to wait until next month.

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Every Last Drop, the penultimate novel in the Joe Pitt saga is as edgy, quick-witted and violent as the others. Pit has been cast out of Manhattan and finds himself in the hinterland of the Bronx, a lawless place that soon has him wanting to return. To do so will require debts being paid off and they aren't going to be cheap. As usual it's out of the frying pan and straight into the roaring inferno. Great sharp storytelling.

V for Vendetta is now famous. I first read it twenty years ago and I'm not sure I really understood it back then. Personally I think it's better than Watchmen. Perhaps this is due to its UK setting but I certainly find it more accessible than much of Moore's other work. It reminds me of John Wyndham's work, only more working class and with less chance of redemption. A classic work, though the art work feels old fashioned.

Read this week:

Every Last Drop by Charlie Huston

V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd

Hollywood Settee Spud

Just a short entry. The idea for the TV script (The Park) has taken off this week with an agent in Hollywood requesting a first look. I know nothing will come of this but it makes it feel all worthwhile knowing that someone is prepared to read my material. It makes me want to carry on and stop being a couch potato (I never refer to it as a couch preferring settee which Dictionary.com informs me comes from an alteration to the word 'settle' - I guess I'm a settee spud.).

Read this week:

Marvel 1602 written by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Andy Kubert.