Trouble with Chapter Seven

Chapter seven of Hellfire is becoming problematic. I'm having trouble moving the characters on. I know where I've got to get them and what happens in the book overall but they are stuck. One reason for this is that I've had an idea for a short story that has been going around and around in my head since I thought of it and I think I need to get these ideas down on paper whilst I'm in the mood. 

Hellfire will continue. I have found that as my work matures I tend to write in cycles, with each expanding and driving the story forward. I just need to take a breather from the work before I come back all fired up.

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A while back I read a David Almond book based on the fact that Dave Mckean had done the art work. I was impressed and vowed to read more. I have done, and he's amazing. Heaven Eyes is a children's book like I've never read before. Almond seems to like damaged children, those who have been affected by the adult world and so retreat to fantasy constructs to cope. 

In Heaven Eyes three children run away from a home for children in need of care that their parents are unable to give. They float down river on a man made raft and end up stuck on the 'Black Middens,' an area of industrial decay. Here they meet Gampa and Heaven Eyes, a family who have created their own mythology of misunderstanding. Heaven Eyes believes herself formed from some aquatic creature, whilst Gampa searches the river mud for treasure and lost history.

The story is simple and pared down, but it is the voices of the children that ring through here. Heaven Eyes, a girl with webbed hands, comes through loud and clear through the use of simplified language to describe the world she sees and tries so hard to explain. This is an amazing book.

Read this week:

Heaven Eyes by David Almond.

Twittering Watchmen

Sorry folks...I know it's been a long time...but I've been busy. I know that is no excuse. I'm slapping my bottom right now as punishment and promising to be better in the future.

What have I been doing? Well writing, writing, writing and reading, reading, reading. 

Hellfire continues. I'm getting into my stride now and our characters are all safely in the Gap and having all sorts of adventures. I've been doing reviews for the BFS, but missed this months deadline through my own inability to manage time, and so any new reviews will be in the next issue of Dark Horizons.

Reading Book 2 of Rex Mundi, which continues rather unsurprisingly on from Book 1. Our hero, Doctor Julien Sauniere is following up on the horrific murders that have taken place in Paris. Something rather nasty seems to be haunting the streets and everything is pointing to Lord Lorraine trying to depose of the king by any methods necessary. Tightly written and action packed the books pace is only slowed by the addition of the fake newspaper articles between chapters. Need to read Book 3 now.

Also read (well, not actually read, as there is no words in it) 'The Arrival' by Shaun Tan (thank you Madame Vin) which is a wonderful work examining one mans journey across the world to start a new life as an immigrant. It captures via the use of fantasy the alienation one must feel in a land that is completely different, the loneliness and the confusion. Tan's work is illustrated in an aged sepia tint which makes the book feel like an heirloom of some long forgotten family member. Produced by Hodder's children imprint this book is aimed at a very mature market.

Just seen Watchmen, which is good but works so much better in its original format. I think Alan Moore is right when he say's that it should have stayed as is. Not that it's not a good film, it is, it's just that ultimately the source material is so much richer and no amount of techno wizardry can capture that.

I've been Twittering a lot (I worry that I'm slightly addicted). Not sure what it is about this short form update service but I find myself continually drawn to finding out what strangers (famous and not) are up to. If you're interested in joining (and I would love to see you all in Twitterland) you can find me at MiddleManLost.

Other Twitter people I have been following include Danny Choo, who gives me my required update on all things Japanese and keeps the lovely website DannyChoo.com Cory Doctorow updates regularly with links to the ever brilliant BoingBoing and you can also follow Gaiman, Fry and the great Alan Davies and of course the great food and wine matches of MadameVin

Read this week:

Rex Mundi Book Two: The River Underground by Arvid Nelson, Eric J and Jeromy Cox

The Arrival by Shaun Tan

Vacillating between decades

I’ve spent the week vacillating, unsure about leaping into the next section of the ‘Hellfire.’ I’m not sure why but I’m finding it hard to get Sarah to move forward and find her voice. Terry and Benjamin were easy, they came to me fully formed and I could visualise them on their journey, making decisions and their reactions. I’m not sure if it’s Sarah herself (perhaps the wrong name) or else the setting. I’m not a child of the 60s anymore than I was a child of the 1940s, but I know the war period better because it plays more of a part in our society. It was the turning point for the modern world. We studied it at school, we’ve watched it on the television (I think the History Channel shows nothing but), we’ve read the books and dissected the memories. The 60s is different, it’s my parent’s decade, not that far removed from my own and so seems too normal, too much like today. I’ll get their eventually, I just need to find my way in.

I’ve joined Twitter and rather than use it to tell you what I’ve been doing (which would be very dull and mainly consist of ‘On the computer....still on the computer....having a sandwich (chicken)....back on the computer’, I’ve putting up a story piece by piece. I’m not sure it will work as it’s a strange format. You’re limited to 140 characters per entry and everything must happen in the immediate past.

You can read it by signing up for Twitter and looking for me at https://twitter.com/MiddleManLost (don’t try looking me up as for some reason Twitter does not return full results).

I’ve set up a map which show pictures from Hellfire London. You can find it here http://www.flickr.com/photos/34782120@N03/map/

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‘The Resurrectionist’ has some great middle bits, a slow start and an ending that seems to have come from another book entirely. It tells the story of Gabriel Swift, a young man trying to become anatomist in 19th century London. Dazzled by the corruption of the city he falls in love with a prostitute and drink, falls on hard times and becomes a body snatcher. It had traits of Burke and Hare, with a well written grotty London serving as a back drop. 

I saw ‘Joker’ some time ago but put off reading it as I thought it was just a cash in to ‘The Dark Knight’ but it’s not and it’s good. Similar in idea to ‘The Killing Joke’ it examines the Joker, trying to understand what makes him tick, in this it money just as much as his own madness, which helps ground him a little more in reality. It’s the art work that really works here, with lush dark colours and the character picked out in hyper-realistic way.

I’ve heard of the ‘Young Bond’ series by comedian and writer Charlie Higson but never read any. Silverfin is a graphic novel but it doesn’t really work very well. It is aimed at kids but even so it’s just a little bit to easy, the story line flat with no real pay off.

Also read my first Doctor Who book by Mark Gatiss (another comedian / writer). Called Nightshade it follows the seventh Doctor as played by Sylvester McCoy and Ace. Ending up in England in 1968 (the same year as Hellfire) it shows the Doctor going through a bad patch due to a past adventure. Here the character is really quick dark and brooding, denying his companion the chance to lead him. It’s good but certainly more for fans and adults than children.

Read this week:

The Resurrectionist by James Bradley

Joker by Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo

Silverfin by Charlie Higson

Nightshade by Mark Gatiss (read on an iphone).