Before I go...

Today’s my last day in front of the Mac for some time as I’m visiting Morocco - Marrakech to be more precise. I plan to spend the time playing with the new Nikon and attempting to get that perfect shot that encapsulates the heat of the street, the shadows and mystery of the souk, the light playing off the Atlas Mountains and the history that beats within the walls of that mysterious city. If that doesn’t work then I’ll just have to eat tagine and drink mint tea until I’m fully rested.

I’m taking a bit of reading material with me including Huston’s ‘Already Dead’, Carey’s ‘Thicker Than Water’ and ‘A Madness of Angels’ by Kate Griffin. That should keep me busy.

The Royal Mail stamps containing art by Dave McKean and words by Neil Gaiman have arrived. I’m not much of a philatelist, but these are lovely little things and worth £4.35 of any-ones money

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Century: 1910 is the next outing for The League of Extraordinary Gentleman by Mr. Moore and Mr. O’Neill and I’m glad to say a big improvement on ‘Black Dossier’, which I found just a little too self indulgent.

The book begins with Nemo’s daughter, setting her up as a replacement for the ageing mysterious submariner pirate. Running away from her destiny she ends up in the East End of London where the unaging Mina and Allan have been joined by Orlando, Raffles and Carnacki.

As usual part of the enjoyment is spent identifying all the allusions to history and characters real or imagined. The story seems more straight forward than the last outing and the art work is as usual excellent.

The Scar by China Mieville is probably one of the best works of fantasy I have ever read. The book follows a woman in exile from her city of birth, via a slave ship to a new urban sprawl, the pirate city of Armada. Made up from boats the entire vast city floats around the ocean collecting enforced citizens and growing in size and power. The rulers of the city, a mysterious couple called ‘the Lovers’ decide to increase the power of the fledgling state with or without the help of its people, by steering the city to a place that might not even exist.

The book deals with alienation, freedom, servitude, responsibility, civic power, and trust, just to mention a few things. Written in the steampunk subgenre the book stands heads and shoulders above many due to its breadth of ideas and its intelligence. It’s a demanding book that deserves your attention, a book that shows that fantasy need not be considered ‘a foolish thing’, but when written correctly can display more about the human psyche than even the best works of literary fiction.

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So with all short stories in before my deadline, ‘Pick 57’ gestating nicely, I bid you adieu and leave you with a couple of Dave McKean shorts in my absence.

Read this week:

Century: 1910 by Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill

The Scar by China Mieville

The Small Print

A short short entitled 'Pastoral Effect' is out in this months copy of New Horizons which I believe can be purchased from The British Fantasy Society. I've got two short stories ('Heart of Glass' and 'The Museum of Human Experience') plus a poem ('Singing the Low Down Geek Blues') in the book The Small Print which should be out in August and available from the British Heart Foundation. 

'Pick-up 57' (which I now think is completely the wrong name for the book), is coming on slowly. It's a complex work as I'm trying to strike a balance between what the narrator knows and what is really going on. I have about thirty pages done so far but that should increase rapidly once I get back from holidays at the end of June.

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Mind the Gap is the first in a series of novels called 'The Hidden Cities' written by Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon. The story follows Jazz who is on the run from the mysterious 'Uncles' who have just killed her mother. Racing across London she enters the underground and then disappears further into the abandon tunnels and secret place deep below the city. Taken in by a 'family' of petty thieves Jazz must learn her about her own past if she is to deal with her future.

Drawing influences from Neverwhere, the novel is magical, but it's a very mundane magic, rooted as it is in the history of London. The underside of London is seen as somewhere dark and foreboding, holding hidden secrets and a violent history. The story itself is a little weak and could have done with more interesting characters particularly the bad guys who come across as enigmas and not really that threatening. That said, it's a good book and one that further enhances the sub-sub-genre of Subterranean fiction.

My second recommendation this week is the book that started Subterranean fiction off. A Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne has a professor and his future son in law following the guidance of an old parchment written by a Viking that leads them deep into Mount Sneffels and a world hidden below ground. Unlike all the film versions, the book is more interested in the journey than the hidden world, and though it is a world of palaeontology, lumbering dinosaurs such as the Tyrannosaurus Rex do not make an appearance. 

By today's standards the book is slow, and being told by a character recounting the story as if to a diary, feels old fashioned. But this is where it starts. The world is opened up and the hollow Earth theories are turned into fiction.

Read this week:

Mind the Gap by Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon

Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne

Heart of Glass

A short story entitled 'Heart of Glass' and a poem entitled 'Singing the Low Down Geek Blues' are being sent to the review committee for the charity book tomorrow. The book is to be called  'the small print' and will be for sale at the Edinburgh Festival and via the internet. We are trying to get a writer and /or celebrity to write the intro, unsure who it will be so watch this space.

Working on a new story now set in a museum that might not exist.

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Some links. The underground world of Naples, I haven't been here but now want to. Stephen Smith has put together a list of Subterranean novels. I've got his 'Underground London' to read and I'm working through 'Journey to the Centre of the Earth' on my phone right now.

Over on Suvudu China Mieville talks about his latest novel 'The City and The City' which sounds thrilling and I hope to enquire soon.

****

Audition by Ryu Murakami is a novelette that works best as an understanding of middle aged Japanese male desires. It's a fast paced read that builds towards a dark and disturbing climax. This climax is obvious from the start, but that sort of helps to build the tension. As always with Murakami when it comes the horror is human centred and bloody.

Black Hole is a classic graphic novel (one that Neil Gaiman has been working on a film adaptation of for some time). Burn's presents teenagers as disenfranchised and lonely, and though set in the 70s it feels modern, perhaps because the raging hormones of young people are the same now as then. The back story is a STD that results in strange mutations in the kids, but in truth the story is about love, belonging and alienation, something that is heightened through the use of the wood block like black and white drawings.

A Giant Cabinet of Curiosities

According to the publishers ‘The Missing’ should be released July / August this year which would be perfect as it would tie in very nicely with the Edinburgh book festival and lots of book buying members of the public in town. The cover is going through a design process at the moment. I’ve sent in my own ideas, but as to in which direction they are going to go, I have no idea. As soon as I see some work I’ll get it posted up here.

I’m working on a short story. This is for the charity book which should be out at the same time. It’s typical, you wait for ages and then two published works come along at the same time.

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Had a trip to Glasgow and Kelvingrove museum yesterday. We went primarily for the Dr Who exhibition, but this was a bit of a let down. It’s less than half the size of the one we saw at the Olympia last year and though it advertised itself as having props from the last series and the Christmas special, these were a bit few and far between. I’m sure Scotland could have found somewhere bigger to put on the show and allowed everyone to see the full show.

I’ve put some pictures up here from both Dr Who and Kelvingrove which has interesting exhibits all mixed together. It’s like walking into a giant cabinet of curiosities.

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Finished ‘Cages,’ and all I can say is 'wow!' It’s dense and clever and witty and surreal and touches on many different aspect of being an artist and the creation of work. Principally the story concerns an artist who moves into an apartment block to work on a fresh canvas. Here he meets a selection of strange neighbours, including the woman who runs the block, a man with learning difficulties, a jazz musician and a writer escaping from his public. At the same time he draws a woman who he sees across the street. Everything is interconnected, with the woman becoming his lover, the musician discussing his art and the writer running scared from his own work which has angered the reading public and put him in the hands of a totalitarian government. At the same time the apartment block becomes a Tower of Babel and it might (or might not) have been destroyed.

All of this is helped by the simple scratchy art work of Mckean, interspersed with several large colour plates. It’s a work that deserves to be read many times over and I’m surprised it hasn’t made it’s way into the lists that denote the exemplars of the medium.

****

Read this week:

Cages by Dave McKean

Lots and lots of things.

What a week. Lots going on and I feel like I'm juggling with too many balls. I have so much I want to do at the moment but so little time in which to get it done. I'm working on a new short story that seems to be growing as I write. Provisionally this is called 'Pick-up 76', but there is plenty of time for it to change. I'm really happy where it is going and the tone of voice and I'm also thinking it might be worth me self-publishing it. I'm tired with the length of time it takes traditional publishers get to print (I finished 'The Missing' two and half years ago and I'm still waiting for release day).

I have also promised at least two short stories to a charity book for The British Heart Foundation. The book is called 'UpBeat' and should be available in August. I think I might be able to get plenty of copies so you will either be able to order from me (and I'll sign them if required) or else they can be ordered through the BHF website (and I think Amazon and Lulu).

I'm also looking at finally getting a website up and running for 'The Chronicles of the Gap', practising my photography as I want to incorporate some art work, and taking up yoga.

This morning I got to see an advance screening of "Coraline', thanks to a note made by Neil Gaiman on Twitter (see it does work). The film is brilliant. Scary, dark, funny, charming, gothic, optimistic and in 3D. What more could you ask for? If you get the chance to see it, go. Take a kid if you have one hanging around the house. If you don't, go anyway.

*****

A few things I've looked at this week which is worth having a gander at:

This rather brilliant new piece of tech. from the TED archives. I can't wait to get one these devices. It's the first thing I've seen that trumps the iphone.

And then there this. The film '9' is out later this year but this is the original short version made by Shane Acker. I'm looking forward to this hitting the big screens.

I've also put a few of my photos up from the regualr Saturday morning Farmer's market we have 

in Edinburgh. Underneath the castle, the streets full of small stalls selling some great local

produce. You can see the photos on my flicker stream here.

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Just finished Mike Carey's 'Dead Men's Boots', the third Felix Castor novel and the best one yet.

Felix is drawn into a murder investigation taking place in a seedy hotel in Kings Cross, that 

seems to have been committed by a woman long dead. At the same time his possessed friend

Rafi is subject to a legal battle and to make matters worse people are trying to kill him.

As always the book is a fast paced read, with plenty of witty one liners from our 'film noir' hero.

The books are building towards the reason why the dead are returning and demons can now walk

the Earth.

'The Picture of Dorian Gray', is one of my favourite works of horror. It's one of those books that

always gets overlooked by those who insist on using genre / literature to identify authors. Oscar

Wilde is of course a great writer of literature but he also wrote a horror novel which ever way

you want to look at it. It's been a couple of years since I last read it and I must admit that Oscar

can get a little tiresome with his pithy one liners (many just come over as catty and not very

clever) but the construct of the novel is so clever that I'm willing to forgive him.

*****

Read this week:

Dead Men's Boots by Mike Carey

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (read on my iphone).

Between Flights

I'm between flights.

I got back from my brothers home in Devon yesterday. Whilst we were down he proposed to his girlfriend, getting down on bended knee in a nice restaurant having hid her ring inside an Easter egg. There was then much quaffing of champagne and excited chatter about weddings, honeymoons and stag do's. I've been appointed 'best-man' and now have to think of a venue for several well built police officers to let off steam.

I haven't really had much time to get any writing done (none, if truth be known), but the brain is beavering away tweaking current stories and building on new ones.

I'm up again tomorrow to fly to Berlin. I have a very early start (I'm not good early in the morning, my brain refuses to work before 8.00 am), but as the weekend will involve copious amounts of alcohol and food it will probably be the best I feel all week.

Had my birthday yesterday, which was a quiet affair as MadameVin is not very well. Thanks to all of you in Twitterland and Facebook World  for the well wishes, it's very much appreciated.

Got some cool pressies, including many books and DVDs, but best of all, a 1st edition copy of Dave Mckean's 'Cages', which must have cost my other half a small fortune. 

Right, now I'm off to cook, pack and get an early night (probably).

Something New

Working on something new at the moment that is coming along slowly. It has a very different tone of voice for me. Very quiet and thoughtful, slow but in a very sinister way. I'm thinking of publishing the work myself as I want to include some art work and no mainstream publisher would touch that kind of work. It's far too different for them to consider. 

Some great art work by John Coulthart at his website {pantechnicon}

Interesting talk about pneumatic tubes under Paris by Ignite

One of my short stories is coming out shortly in New Horizons. I'll let you know when its published.

I've also been asked to work on a book for charity which should get underway in the next couple of months.

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.

My Empire Strikes Back

I'm about a quarter of the way through the new book. It's coming on and I think I know where its going, but it still throws up the odd surprise. It's not as simple and straight forward as the first book, but then second books never are. It's my Empire Strike Back rather than Star Wars.

Not much else to report. I'm still trying to find an agent for the first book. The Missing is still coming out this summer, I want a holiday (thinking Marrakech and the desert) and I was so nearly a juror on a High Court case.

You'll see twitter updates to the right. If you haven't already joined, do. It's a great way to keep in touch and I promise to be your friend.

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Around the World in 80 Days from my memory contained a balloon sequence. The book doesn't, so I must be remembering the film version. It's a witty fast read but somewhat strange when compared to most modern material as it uses a third person omniscient narrator, which ages it considerably.

The Compleat Moonshadow (that's how it's spelt) is something I've been wanting to read for a long time. It's a surreal adventure through the mind of a young man, struggling with growing up, love and death. It might all be a dream, in which case it's a haunting but beautifully watercoloured dream in which anything could happen. Fantasy via Brunelle, a modern Don Quixote.

Primal is a very short comic book rendering of a Clive barker story. I don't really think it works. It's too disjointed, trying to be too clever and the art work is too dark to appreciate what is going on.

Revelations on the other hand is much better. Another Barker story, this one is clever and in places funny. A murder playing out many years later, the ghosts witnesses to the real world. The art could have been better, as it's a little rushed in places, but the story more than makes up for it.

****

Read this week:

Revelations by Clive Barker

Primal by Clive Barker

The Compleat Moonshadow by John Marc DeMatteis

Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne

Quick Links

Just a few quick links of net stuff. 

First, Dave Mckean is interviewed at Seven Impossible Things. See why he is a favourite of mine as they have included several good examples of his work.

Next, pop over to Steampunk Myths and Legends to see the result of their competition.

Finally check out this short documentary about graffiti artist Peter Gibson.

That's it. As you were.

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

Robotic spider monsters, live!

Chapter 3 entitled 'The Gap is calling' has been written. Things are moving at pace now and I hope to get at least a chapter a week done, which means I should have a first version by summer.

I noticed the other day that a man in Vermont is attempting to turn himself into the Professor from 'DarkFather'. His spider machine is rather on the large side compared to the professor's and less steampunk, but ten out of ten for trying. I'm wondering when to put my order in.

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'Baltimore or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire', is an old fashioned gothic tale given a new lease of life. The story takes place during the first world war only this is our world given a little bit of a makeover. The future Lord Baltimore is attacked by a strange flying creature whilst out in no mans land. He wounds the creature that then wreaks revenge on his family. At the same time a strange plague sweeps across Europe decimating the population. Having returned to his island stately home to find his family dead, Baltimore becomes a vampire hunter. All told via stories from friends meeting in a bar, this is a haunting cleverly crafted novel. 

What's more it come illustrated by Mike Mignola of Hellboy fame and the book itself is nicely produced on thick rough cut paper. It's a shame there are not more books like this.

Also read another Doctorow book. 'Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves to Town', is a fantasy for adults. the premise does not work when stated here, Alan the son of a washing machine and a mountain is trying to write a book in his new house until his Russian Doll brothers turn up and are then dragged away by another brother who is a shrivelled baby body. At the same time he meets a girl who lives next door and has wings and he helps to cover the market with a wifi network. Also all the brothers use names that change (but stick to the first letter, A, B, C etc.) It's strange and magical and yet wonderful and brilliantly written with the characters drawing you in. Do not be put off by the idea as this is great writing.

MadameVin bought me a Shaun Tan book for Valentine's day so I know that at least one person reads these ramblings.

****

Read this week:

Baltimore or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire by Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden

Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves to Town by Cory Doctorow (read via Stanza on the iphone)

Rabbit Holes

I managed, at about 10.00pm last night, to get my Alice down her proverbial rabbit hole, except she’s not called Alice, she was called Sarah but is now Susan (or Sue to her mates - thanks to Joy and Lorraine who helped with the name change), and it’s not a rabbit hole but a large metal door in a brick wall that doesn’t go anywhere. 

The first bit of the novel has been a bit sticky but I now feel I’ve found the voice I’m looking for and now that Sarah is in the Gap all sorts of mayhem can take place, which is the fun bit of writing.

Found some interesting photos about disused places photographed by Urban Explorers. The empty fun parks are particularly surreal places. Devoid of the children who once ran around them they are haunted sites slowly decaying. Beautiful and yet lonely, I’m surprised about how many fun parks in the Far East have been left to ruin. 

I know that urban Exploring is technically illegal but their belief and tenacity in photographing these places has to be admired. I can’t find any Urban Explorers in Edinburgh, but then I don’t imagine they advertise. I’d would love to speak to some.

As usual Charlie Brooker has something funny to say about the modern age. I particularly like:

dwindlethink (dwin-dull-think) vb. The process by which a member of the public forms an opinion on a subject of national importance after viewing a plebbledashed (qv) news report, then finds themselves passing it on to the nation when stopped in the street for another plebbledashed (qv) report the following day.

If you don’t read his Monday column, you really should. Clever and angry.

And finally Shaun Tan has a good interview over at Drawn. I love his art work, a simple palette but so much is going on. I really must seek out some of his work.

I’ve been Twittering and Tweeting for a week now. It’s fun, however I started on a bum note with trying to turn it into a medium for a story, which to be honest has just not worked. Therefore I’ll just join in with the odd comment with those people who I’m following. If you want to follow me look for @MiddleManLost.

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/

****

‘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).

Where the streets are paved with gold....

I’ve been in London for the weekend doing a bit of research around Camden where I was introduced to the City’s alternative community. The place is full of different tribes; punks, rockers, goths and emo’s, and whilst it is now a tourist trap full of stalls all selling the same ‘independently’ made items, it still has something of the 1960s ethos that I hope to capture at the beginning of the new novel.

I got a good look around the market and the lock but unfortunately could not see into the Camden catacombs as these have been locked away, I assume for safety, but I reckon they would make a great tourist attraction.

We stayed at the lovely Hoxton, which is a great hotel in that now very trendy area of Shoreditch. I was surprised at how that area of London had changed, with Spitalfields Market looking all shiny and new. Last time I had a look around this area (for a novel that sits in my bottom drawer to this day), Spitalfields was a hole in the ground.

We had some great meals at the new Boundary and a little Italian restaurant across from the hotel, plus a great Sunday roast in The Waterpoet pub.

I had been reading (on an iphone app which worked really well) Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother, a great YA novel set in the not too distant future where a terrorist’s bomb causes the US to slip into a period of reactionary meltdown. Marcus gets caught in the fall out from the bomb and before he knows it he has been detained and shipped off by Homeland Security to an unknown destination. The book explores our rights and a Government’s need to stay within prescribed measures and not deny those laws enshrined in law even with the enormity of the situation. Marcus ends up running his own cyber guerrilla group against those who saw to abuse him of his rights. It’s a poignant, clever book which should be required reading in schools and universities. It lead me to visit the Taking Liberties exhibition on at the British Library which looks at the struggle for rights and freedoms across this country from the Magna Carta to today. There was also a great short play put on by Lois Tucker called Glitch.

Little Brother has also been released by Doctorow under the creative commons license which means as well as it being available in book form, Doctorow also reserves the right to release his books for free electronically. This is obviously working because based on the free iphone copy I bought a paper back version of it so that Madame Vin could read it.

We were also able to briefly catch with old friends and their ‘double trouble’ twins in a small coffee shop somewhere near a street flower market.

I’ll write up more at the weekend and include some photo’s of venues for ‘Hellfire.’

Read this week:

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

Art Department

Just a quick note to mention that 'The Missing' has now been passed on to the art department for, well art obviously, and also to be blocked - which I think means to have the lay out done. Another step forward but still no idea of a release date yet.

Rich Tea with The Doors

I’ve bought a new computer, a very posh and shiny Apple Mac, so I spent most of last week transferring all the stuff on my rather battered lap top over to the new one and cursing when I lost things. That said it’s all on their now and, what’s more, it’s behaving itself.

Chapter one of ‘Hellfire’ (provisional name for the new book) is finished. Sarah is coming out as feisty but innocent, Terry is older, wiser and a caring father, Sarah’s mother doesn’t have a name yet, whilst Uncle Benjamin is quite creepy.
I’m trying to get a feel of 1960s London to the piece, and having to check things as I go such as, if they’re eating biscuits, which ones were around in the swinging sixties (answer Rich Tea). If my characters go to a famous gig that happened at the Roundhouse what day of the week did it happen on (The Doors only UK gig took place on a Friday). Had school holidays finished (no), what would a teenage girl wear when not at school...all sorts of things that have to be checked and confirmed.

Next weekend I’m in London to get a feel for the places around Camden and conduct research on the basin and the catacombs. I’ll report back with details.

****

I’ve mentioned ‘The Writer’s Tale’ previously. It’s Russell T. Davies diary via email conversations with Benjamin Cook of the last series of Doctor Who. It’s a brilliant book, with Davies coming off as part megalomanic, dictator and artist. He has a wonderful, damn it, brilliant mind, but he suffers from the same anxiety as the rest of us, screwing himself up and obsessing when he knows he should be creating. It’s also very good at conveying the art of writing (not just for TV but in all its forms), from thinking of that initial idea to getting it down on paper, revising it and then letting it out to a wider audience. Any budding author should read this, any artist should read this - it is inspiring.

Enigma is Vertigo at its strangest. The comic deals with Michael Smith, whilst going through a bad patch mentally his childhood hero, the super hero ‘The Enigma’ comes to life bringing with him his arch enemies who start murdering people. Smith sets out to find the character, ditching his girlfriend and life and teaming up with the drugged addled creator and changing his sexual preferences along the way. Strange but oddly compelling.

I’ve been reading other book on my phone. I’ve never been big on digital works but the iphone has a really good app called Stanza that makes it really easy to download work and reading from it clear and doesn’t seem to produce any headaches in me.

A Dangerous Man by Huston is the last in a series about an unfortunate killer, down on his luck and looking for a way out that won’t result in his parent being killed and trying to stay out of trouble. Needless to say, he doesn’t. Clever, with quick fire dialogue. I’ll definitely go back and read the first two books.

The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe (who is celebrating 200 years since his birth - which is odd because I thought he was dead), is a short story about a man’s hatred, how it manifests through alcohol, resulting in him becoming paranoid and eventually committing murder. It has a certain Hitchcockian feel to it and reads well for a story of that period.

****

Read this week:
The Writer’s Tale by Russell T. Davies

Enigma by Milligan and Fegredo
A Dangerous Man by Charlie Huston
The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe

Dr Who, I presume?

Got a nice surprise this morning when my new copy of ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ turned up in the post. This tale is one of my all time favourites, its imagery having stayed with me from when I read it as a teenager, always staying in my top ten. I think it’s up there with the best of horror from Stoker and Stevenson with beautiful prose and not a shred of over writing anywhere. What’s even better is that this version is encased in brown leather and has been put together as a limited addition by Bill Amberg. There are several companies now doing these limited finely crafted books. I mentioned the Subterranean Press before who do great Gaiman book as well as many others authors and while I don’t believe in buying every thing from these more expensive producers, when they do a book that you believe is a classic then they are wonderful to put on your shelf once your paperback has split and died.

They are about to announce the new Dr Who on the BBC…if you don’t want to know look away now (but how you plan to stay in a state of ignorance until 2010 is going to take some feat of ingenuity and no doubt some serious life style choices)….It is Matt Smith, who I think certainly looks Dr Whoish. Good Luck to him.

I read another of the Louvre graphic novels last night having thoroughly enjoyed ‘The Museum Vaults’. This one ‘Glacial Period’ is less good in so far as it feels like a much bigger story that got cut down slightly too much. It is set in the future and involves a group of arctic explorers travelling across the vast glacier that has covered Europe. It involves genetically modified dogs that talk, a hint of interspecies romance, anthropomorphic museum pieces and a misinterpretation of the history of man. The art work is nice, using thin pen lines and a simple board of colour, but it falls someway short of the previous work.

Read this week:

Glacial Period by Nicolas de Crecy

Cinema and Whale

With plenty of time off over the holiday period I’m doing a lot of reading, working my way through ‘London Lore’ by Steve Roud, a guide to the myths of the city which is helping me to create the world of the Gap. I’m also reading ‘The Writer’s Tale’ by Russell T. Davis of Dr Who fame which is him examining the role of the writer, where the ideas come from and pressures of making such a demanding show.

I’ve been filling in between both of these larger works with some short graphic and children’s works. Down in Buckingham in a charity shop I found several first edition Clive Barker books. Son of Celluloid is a horror work, and like many of Barker’s stories it starts off as one thing and then merges into another, subverting the idea of horror but still keeping the frights to a maximum. He seems quite happy calling on all genres and then twisting them to his own accord; I’ve always seen him more as a fantasy author who includes moments of pure horror.
Set in a cinema where a man has died resulting in the very building and its memories becoming an entity, it’s a quick precise tale let down only by the art work which is just a little bit bland.

“This Morning I Met a Whale” is a children’s environmental tale told by Michael Morpurgo from the point of view of a young boy who speaks to a whale stranded in the Thames. Based on a true story it’s a careful rendering of the environmental concerns of the moment without the sugar coating expected for a young persons work. The illustrations are wonderful pastels by Christian Birmingham that shows London as a luminous early morning city in a realistic and natural way.

Read this week:

Son of Celluloid by Clive Barker, Steve Niles and Les Edwards
This Morning I Met a Whale by Michael Morpurgo and Christian Birmingham

New Year Already...

Happy New Year…

Madame Vin and myself spent Christmas at my sisters and brought in the new year at Jo ‘n’ Jo’s close to the beaches of Portobello. A fine time was had by all with much merriment and a little imbibing of drink. I didn’t make any New Year resolutions, not because I don’t think I need the improvement, just that I would never stick to them.

Jo 'n' Jo and Madame Vin enjoy the beach.

Now I’m back at my desk with a few days of relative bliss and calm before starting on the next novel in the Gap series. I’ve started to do much in the research and already have a good idea of what happens in the first few opening chapters. The next few lines are me thinking aloud.

I started off wanting to use The Rolling Stones as the band Sarah goes to see in London, mainly because I’ve always loved their music and they represented the 60s, the rebellious youth.

Very early pics of The Rolling Stones can be found here. They look so young and hardly rock and roll. Interesting that originally their management attempted to get them to wear uniformly similar jackets but this was quickly rejected for more of a rebel look, unlike the Beatles who stuck to their uniform look for some time.

However, I want to place the novel in about 1968 to tie in with ‘DarkFather’ and to ensure that Sarah is old enough to want to go and see such music. She’s at an age where she wants to rebel, she’s getting into boys and music. I don’t want her to be as innocent as Terry and Benjamin because times have changed, the Second World War saw to that. Anyway, whilst checking on the Stones gigs for that year it quickly became apparent that they didn’t play London, plus by 1968 they had become quite famous, so I started checking into gigs that did take place.

On the 6th September 1968 The Doors played their only UK gig at the Roundhouse in Camden. The Roundhouse is a wonderful old Victorian building originally built as a turning circle for the London and Birmingham railway and later used as a gin warehouse. Just the sort of venue that fits with the Gap novels, as it has history and living memory that can be put to good use, plus the gig was an instant classic (not that many children will realise, but I want the books grounded in history).

Coincidence seems to play a lot in the Gap novels. I start thinking up something and then find that something very similar happened or exists ready for me to make use of. By setting the gig in Camden and the entrance to the Gap in the Roundhouse, I then did some research on the area and low and behold I found the Camden Catacombs, a series of tunnels and archways under Camden that is perfect.

The gods of the Gap are smiling on me and its only January the first.

In case you hadn't noticed, it's nearly Christmas.

Just a quick note to wish everyone a Happy Christmas.

We’ll be travelling down to England tomorrow to visit family and friends and cook an enormous rack of beef at my sisters, eat and drink too much and get all excited about the Dr. Who Christmas special…that’s about as traditional as you can get without snow or Santa getting stuck in the chimney.

Something for you to look at while I’m away is the art work of James Jean which is all lovely and frightening at the same time, sort of 1950s children illustrations mixed with Manga and filtered through the mind of Clive Barker.

As a Yule tide gift I give you Christmas from AKQA.



Ho ho ho!

Trying to get through my ever expanding 'to read' pile.

‘In the Hand of Dante’ is complex and yet simple at the same time. Half of the book is written from the point of view of the author dealing with his own mortality, vanity and his criminal past as he becomes involved in a scam to steal the only copy of ‘The Divine Comedy’ by Dante and sell it to the highest bidder. Set in New York, Nick meets up with an old friend, the rather sinister and perverted Louie, a man with no remorse or pity, a man who lives by his own strict moral code.
At the same time the book charts the life of Dante as he puts together his masterwork, rallies against the gods, falls in love with the wrong woman and attempts to understand the meaning of life and how it all fits into his verse.
The book is absorbing, never easy and only annoying when Tosches slips into Latin but refuses to give a translation.

***

‘Global Frequency’ Volumes 1 and 2 are quick fire comics, the premise is a civilian run agency with 1001 operatives around the world all available on the global frequency run by the mysterious a Miranda Zero and kept in line by the human computer mind of Aleph. As always with Ellis it’s fast paced, but lacks content. Each episode in the volumes is one complete story with some much better than others. I’m surprised this hasn’t been turned into a TV show as the format and story board is already available.

***

‘The Originals’ is a take on the Mods and Rockers of the 1960s, their rivalry, their friendships, and their running battles. Gibbons sets the story in an alternative future but I don’t understand why. It’s so obviously of its time the science fiction element adds nothing. As it is the story is predictable and the presentation just a little flat to really have held my interest.

***

Will Eisner is the king of comics, having had a long and illustrious career starting back in the 1930’s, bringing us ‘The Spirit’ (about to be shown in the cinema) and then changing in the 1970s by bringing out thought provoking work which changed how comic books were viewed. ‘To the Heart of the Storm’ is one of those works. Beautifully told, it is a simple evocation of a world almost gone, a young man reflecting on his Jewish childhood in New York and the lead up to the Second World War. It’s charming, sophisticated, well written and illustrated, giving an insight into the poverty of the depression and the wanton racism that existed in the country from those immigrants who would have to return to the old country to take part in a vicious war.

***

Read the first two copies of Cages by Dave Mckean. This is a book I’ve wanted for a long time (Madame Vin if you’re reading this, please add it to my list). I saw a copy in New York once but didn’t buy as it was too bulky to get home (drat!). Now I’m having trouble finding a copy. It looks great and piqued my interest. I’m looking forward to reading the rest.

Plenty to read over Christmas so I’ll report back soon.

Read this week:

To the Heart of the Storm by Will Eisener
The Originals by Dave Gibbons
Global Frequency Volumes 1 and 2 by Warren Ellis and others
In the Hand of Dante by Nick Tosches

What was Spring Heeled Jack?

A foggy winter’s night, vapour hisses as it alights on the gas lamp. A carriage drawn by two shabby looking horses skitters on the cobbles making you jump. They trundle away into the darkness, their driver swearing in a coarse tongue.
You turn down a side street, your fine leather boots with their metal heels clicking as you lift your skirt slightly to avoid the muddy puddle at the side walks edge.
It is cold tonight and you want to get home, back to the fire that should have been lit in the parlour, back in time for buttered cakes…when laughter, far off and faint, makes you stop. It’s a cackle, sinister in its pitch, outlandish and cruel. You notice that you are now alone, not a good night for a single lady to be out, not a good night at all. You hurry onwards, picking up the pace when you hear the laughter again, louder this time, closer.
You look up convinced it’s coming from the old church spire, high up amongst the eaves, hidden against the dark stone. You think you see movement, one of the gargoyles turns to look at you…surely not, that’s not possible?
You put your head down and begin to run, but the laughter is loud now, a shriek of ridicule and it’s above and behind you. You drop your purse, fearful of the monster that is about to attack, its baying laughter filling your senses.
You don’t want to, but you turn anyway as the creature lands close. Its legs are bent, it’s clawed hands outstretched as if ready to embrace you, but it is its face that you fear the most. Rolling eyes of boiling red fire whilst from its mouth emanates blue gasses that swirl and eddy in the breeze. It’s a daemon, a monster from hell and it’s come for you.
You slip to the floor as the nightmare bounds forward, laughing, always laughing with evil intent. A seizure takes you and as you drift into a dead faint, above the hellish cackle you can now hear the peel of a policeman’s whistle…

And so it would have been if you had been a woman in the late 1830’s in London and you had met the creature known as Spring Heeled Jack. A monster that was seen in several parts of the city, described as both a vicious bear like creature or else a man in an elaborate costume.
Between 1837 and 1870 the name of Spring Heeled Jack crops up again and again, attacking women or else seen leaping across roof tops escaping the people below giving chase. Some of the eye witness accounts match, giving him metal claws and talons, glowing eyes, spitting blue fire from his mouth, wearing a helmet of some description and the ability to leap high in the air allowing him to escape. In all the attacks he never inflicted bodily harm nor did any of his victims die – so what was he?
Most of the attacks can perhaps be put down to hoax allegations, people jumping on the band wagon and helping to fuel the penny dreadful’s that loved nothing better than ‘something scary in Shorditch’ type headlines. Others however describe Jack in detail.
Polly Adams, a pub worker and the middle class Lucy Scales gave vivid accounts of what happened to them, and coming as they did from different parts of London society the idea that they were working together is unlikely. Another intriguing fact is that in 1838 a public session was opened by the then Lord Mayor of London to consider the anonymous complaint about a group of rich young men who…

“…have laid a wager with a mischievous and foolhardy companion, that he durst not take upon himself the task of visiting many of the villages near London in three different disguises — a ghost, a bear, and a devil; and moreover, that he will not enter a gentleman's gardens for the purpose of alarming the inmates of the house…”

This was reported in The Times on the 9th January. Could the two be related? One conslusion about Jack is that he was Henry de La Poer Beresford, 3rd Marquess of Waterford, a rich trickster known as ‘The Mad Marquis’. However, Henry has an alibi for both the above cases. Other theories have Jack as a daemon, a monster or else a space alien!

The stories of Spring Heeled Jack never died down and stories about his appearance have grown with time, appearing all over the UK and right up until 1986 in South Herodforshire.

So what is he? Devil, trickster, monster or my favourite – a Batman prototype?

The Real Hellfire Club

There are many groups that have taken on the moniker of 'The Hellfire Club', both from Ireland and England. One of the earliest was that led by Philip, Duke of Wharton back in 1719, but the one I want to focus on is the group led by Sir Francis Dashwood through the 1750s.

In common misconception this group, called by Dashwood the ‘Brotherhood of St. Francis of Wycombe’, has been viewed as Satanists or else worshippers of some Pagan God, being all anti-Christian and evil. This is probably not the case, and instead the Hellfire Club was in truth more likely to be a meeting of like minded individuals who considered themselves (at the time) free thinkers.

Dashwood himself was a 18th Century toff, who having completed his grand tour of Europe returned to England full of the grandeur of the past and a love of art, literature and architecture. He gathered around him a group of like minded individuals including the Politician (and immensely fat) George Bubb Dodington, the artist and satirist William Hogarth, and the journalist John Wilkes (known as the ugliest man in Britain). Other people of prominence included politicians, poets and artists and might have included Benjamin Franklin.

It was at his estate Medmenham Abbey in Buckinghamshire that most of the meetings took place, at first in the Gothic Abbey with its updated decor including statues of Harpocrates, the Egyptian god of silence and Angerona, the Roman goddess of silence and other over the top Pagan imagery. Later on Dashwood moved the group to a series of man made tunnels that he had got local workers to carve for him during a failed harvest. These caves are what probably resulted in the talk that the group were involved in all sorts of daemonic orgies and blood worship. It was probably more likely that Dashwood was a bit of trickster and liked to be known as a man of mystery, when in truth they probably sat around, got exceptionally drunk and told each other rude or salacious jokes.

The club ended in 1762 when the Earl of Bute appointed Dashwood his Chancellor of the Exchequer, despite Dashwood being widely held to be incapable of understanding "a bar bill of five figures". It seems he now achieved some respectability and though his role only lasted a year (after he did indeed mess up) the group pretty much ended their meetings.

John Wilkes best described the group: 'A set of worthy, jolly fellows, happy disciples of Venus and Bacchus, got occasionally together to celebrate woman in wine and to give more zest to the festive meeting, they plucked every luxurious idea from the ancients and enriched their own modern pleasures with the tradition of classic luxury'.

****

G. P. Taylor used to be a vicar, if you haven’t looked that fact up you would have soon concluded something similar from Shadowmancer, as religion and the Christian faith plays a large part in its construction. Unfortunately, it plays too large a part and ends up distracting from what could have been a good dark fantasy.
Set in a slightly altered North Yorkshire, Taylor has mixed folklore and myth with sorcery, magic and pirating to tell the story of Thomas and his friends, the religious Raphah and the fiery Kate as they go up against the corrupt and sinister Obadiah Demurral (he does use some wonderful naming for his characters).
When a mysterious religious relic is obtained by Obadiah all of hell is literally released through the mans’ greed and incompetence, leading the children in a dangerous game as they attempt to escape fate. This is good story telling, a little let down by lack of editing (it was his first novel and was originally self published) but his constant harping on about what’s right and wrong and poorly concealed Christian undertones tend to undermine the story. I have read one of his later novels (see Mariah Mundi) where the religious aspect has been toned down, and that was much the better book for it.

A little book picked up because Mckean was the artist, The Savage is a simple and beautifully told story about a boy coming to terms with the loss of his father. Part graphic novel part story book, Blue works through the trauma of loss by writing his own story about a savage boy who lives in the woods, but as he writes the Savage takes on a life of his own.
Supported by Mckean’s great ink work, shaded in twilight blue and forest green, this little book is for anyone who wants to see how simple yet effective good writing can be. I would recommend this to adults and children alike.

Read this week:

Shadowmancer by G. P. Taylor
The Savage by David Almond

Post 100!!!

Having reached post 100, we're having a bit of a party, Blogger is currently mixing some vicious looking cocktails while I'm busy putting the finishing touches to the pineapple and cheese on sticks. I imagine it'll go on late into the night, with the 'Best of Black Lace' being played at full volume until the neighbours complain.

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I'm in research mode at the moment. I have a trip planned to London for January so I need to start researching all the places I want to visit. I have a rough idea for the second book but now need to put several months of notes behind it. I'll be using this blog to record any ideas or interesting bits of information until I begin to write the book around February time.

****

I picked up Varjak Paw because the artist was Dave McKean. It's a simple story about a naive young cat who must overcome its embarrassment about being different if it to return to the house on the hill where it once lived in pampered luxury. To do this the Mesopotamian Blue must learn the Way of Jalal, a martial arts for cats, taught by its long dead ancestor and in the process learn there is more about life than free food.
It's a simple fable, beautifully told and of course illustrated in Mckean's simple black pen master strokes. It's the sort of book you read in an afternoon but the story stays with you for much longer.

****

Well, I've got to go now; Blogger has locked herself in the bathroom after trying it on with Google. It's going to be a long night...

Read this week:
Varjack Paw by SF Said.

Seeing Everyone

Feels like I’ve been everywhere and seen everyone this weekend. After a boozy night in the pub last Thursday I, accompanied by Madame Vin, the Aussie and a Canadian, travelled early to Nottingham where I met up with Sammy (all the way from New Zealand) and Tash and my ‘woman of the year’ (back from LA – and doing very well. Hopefully, if she’ll let me, I’ll post some exciting news from her here soon). Then it was over to the hospital to visit my last surviving grandparent (who thankfully, looked better than I hoped) and finally to the old home of Radcliffe-on-Trent to the retirement party of the Silver Fox.

The next day it was more family, including a new arrival, before stepping out with friends, friends, friends and admittedly drinking too much.

Sunday was home, rest and Sunday dinner.

At least I got a lot of reading done.

****
The Graveyard Book
I'm not afraid to say it - I love Mr. Gaiman. He has the most beautiful style of writing, summing up an emotion, a feeling or a character in a simply yet eloquent fashion. The Graveyard book is one of his novels for children that can be read by adults (think Coraline). Based loosely on the Jungle Book in its construction, the story deals with Nobody Owens and his life growing up in a graveyard high on a hill in an English town (it reads like Lincoln but this might just be the reader putting his own experiences on top of the narrative).
Starting off as a baby and escaping from a dark shadowy figure who has just murdered his family Bod is taken in by dead people, who view their deaths as just an interesting event on life's highway and see it as no reason why it should interrupt their living.
Each chapter is spaced several years apart with Bod growing and learning about life and being a human via the ghosts, spirits, ghouls and more mythical creatures that inhabit his living space. The first few chapters could be read as short stories while the last four allow Bod to work out where he came from and where he's going. Magical!

Death: The High Cost of Living
Another Gaiman. Set in his Sandman mythos, every century Death must become mortal for 24 hours so that she can find out about life. This story is slight and amusing with the Goth personification of Death spending her day in New York with a young man who begins by contemplating the taking of his own life and ends by understanding its worth and magic. The comic has been under review for several years as a possible movie and within Sandman is probably the only possible filmable story arc.

Little (Grrl) Lost
It is such a shame that Charles De Lint is not better known in the UK. His stories are magical and human and deep and mythical all at the same time. He has created a world (Newford) where anything can happen (and usually does) but it always makes sense and seems perfectly logically. Rarely do I see his books on the shelves of Waterstones or the larger book stores and have to rely on independent shops and US imports.
T.J. is a teenager suffering from the anxiety of having moved from the country to a strange city, leaving her friends and her horse behind. She is suffering from the mental growing pains all teenagers go through and feels hard done by. She meets Elizabeth, an older girl who is spunky and cool and forthright but has her own problems being only eight inches high.
Elizabeth is a Small and she lives behind the skirting board. This is 'The Borrowers' for the modern age, mixing in texting, broken families, email, punk and motorbikes and coming up with something that is uniquely De Lint.

****
I read three other books but they are all reviews so you’ll have to read Dark Horizon’s for my low down.

I was out Friday night but a clip from the new Doctor Who was shown on the Beeb as part of Children in Need. You can see it again here.

Read this week:

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Death: The High Cost of Living by Neil Gaiman
Little (Grrl) Lost by Charles De Lint

Hanging around the graveyard

I've been fortunate enough to meet a few of my heroes (Woody Allen, Dave Mckean) and thankfully never had to suffer the shock that they were not the sort of people I would care to share a long train journey sitting next to. Tuesday night I added another name to that list. Neil Gaiman is well known for really pulling out all the stops when it comes to his fans, his legendary long signing sessions, his diligent updates to his blog and the fact he dedicated one of his books to them makes him a much admired writer. You'll be glad to know he did not disappoint.


The Church Hill Theatre seats over 600 people and it was full to bursting (Ian Rankin was in the audience). After a read through of Ch. 5 -Dance Macabre, delivered in Gaiman's softly spoken butter-dripping drawl he started the signing. I had Big Gary along and somehow managed to land myself at the front of the queue. He signed a few things for me and then I got to ask him the big question. He said yes and that he would be "honoured" - so, a Gaiman character will appear (as a name on a list) in the DarkFather.

The Graveyard Book is one of Gaiman's works which can be read to children but work just as well for adults (like Coraline). I haven't read it yet but I've heard most of it as the Gaiman and his publishers have made every chapter available online. If you get the chance have a listen, you won't be disappointed.

****

I'm in London this weekend I just found out Terry Pratchett will be doing a signing at Forbidden Planet at roughly the same time I'm there. I should have got my copy of Good Omens signed by Neil and then by Terry - Damn!

****

Sad to hear that Dr Who has a planned regeneration coming up (at the end of 2009). Tennent has been excellent - gurning and grinning through the role but at the same time adding just the right hint of madness and darkness.

Agent X

I’ve spent the last few days putting together a letter and synopsis for ‘DarkFather’ which is to be sent out to potential agents. This has become an art form in its own right and one that I deliberately take time and effort over. It is also a job I find almost soul destroying. All the effort you put into a novel, the creation, the honing, the rewrites, is boiled down to a one page synopsis, a letter and a couple of chapters. From this you have to hope that your work is considered good enough by whoever picks up that days mail.
To make matters worse every agent has slightly different criteria for how they want the work presented, how they want to be approached and how long you have to wait for any kind of response. The worst is the fact that you can only approach one agent at a time and as most of them have an eight week turn around that means you can only approach six agents a year (not taking into account holidays etc).
I work within the system but I’m sure there must be a better way of doing things that doesn’t open the agents up to huge amount of rubbish material being sent to them while at the same time allowing potential authors to showcase their work to more than one agent at a time.

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The Kingsway tunnels are up for sale. Interesting article with pictures in The Independent.

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Seeing Neil Gaiman on Tuesday. I will report back with pictures.

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Apparently when I sign into Blogger this is post number 100, but when I count them on the side bar list I can only see 96 (this being number 97). I’ll wait for three more and then celebrate the 100 mark.

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I’ve been working on several book reviews this week for the BFS so I can’t tell you what I’ve been reading, however I did manage to get a couple of comics in as well.

Batman: The Cult is a good read showing the Caped Crusader starting his adventure on the back foot having been captured by a strange mystic called Deacon Joseph Blackfire; either a charlatan or else a long living Native American mystic. Weakened from lack of food, constant beatings and through the use of drugs the Batman is brainwashed into joining the Deacon’s gang of homeless people as they violently take over the streets of Gotham. It starts off as a clever mediation on power and corruption but unfortunately does not take this all the way to end.

Dark Victory is the better of the two Batman comics. Here Batman relies on his detective skills as he searches for a mysterious calendar killer over a year. It’s set in the early days of his career, not long after Harvey Dent has become the mentally and physically scarred Two Face. All the bad guys are present along with a mafia family and corrupt police force.
In the introduction by Tim Sale (the excellent artist of this book) he states he doesn’t like the character of Robin and never wanted to do a comic book with him in. I fully understand, I’ve always thought of him as a silly character that does nothing for the series. Thankfully, the story does not bring him in until the end but still he manages to be annoying in the small section he does appears in.

Read this week:

Batman: Dark Victory by Joseph Loeb and Tim Sale
Batman: The Cult by Starlin, Wrightson and Wray

Review and be damned.

I’ve finished the penultimate edit of ‘The Missing’ for Maureen today. It’s been sent to her and we’ll have a talk tomorrow to discuss. After that and any small minor changes it will be sent off to the publishers and the long wait for galleys and art begins.

I’m reading a novel at the moment that requires a review but it’s pretty bad and I’m having trouble finishing it. I normally read everything, refusing to give up on a book until the very end in the hope that something will grab my attention, but with this one I’m struggling. I feel I should finish it, particularly if I’m to write a review, but find myself resenting the time it is taking up, time that I could spend reading one of the huge pile sat next to my desk that require attention. I know I’ll slog on and finish it but I fear the more time I spend with it the more I’ll hate it and the worst the review will be.

A lovely piece this month by John Connolly on the amount of books he buys in proportion to the amount he reads. I know exactly what he means. I keep saying I’m not going to buy anything new until I finish the thirty odd books I have waiting but still find myself walking into book shops and adding to the collection, then there are the free ones I’m sent and the books for review.

Just been to the cinema and seen a lovely film call The Station Agent. A great little picture, with perfect written characters, understated and minimal, with just the right emphasise on humour and pathos. Check it out.

I've just noticed that the next post will be number 100.

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Pratchett’s new children’s book ‘Nation’, is a slow burn. He’s left the Disc World behind and created an alternative world dominated by the British Empire. It is seen through the eyes of two children, Daphne a girl shipwrecked on an island that has just suffered a tsunami and Mau, the remaining inhabitant of a once proud and ancient community.
The work takes a little while to get going but once it does Pratchett cleverly discusses ethnicity, religion, power, sex and death. It is powerful stuff, made light hearted in only the way that he can. It also has the best ending of a YA novel I’ve read in some time. It’s really moving and if you have a child I recommend reading it to them, if you don’t, read it yourself. Brilliant.

Read this week:

Nation by Terry Pratchett.

The convention

I’m back from my jaunt having spent time down in Nottingham at the BFS’s FantasyCon and a few days away recharging the batteries and working on the outline for a short comic.

This was the first FantasyCon I have ever been to and it was…interesting. It was not quite what I had in mind when I thought about going earlier in the year, certainly less instructive and slightly more amateurish than I was expecting, plus the venue needs a rethink (and if at all possible, pulling down). Dave McKean was guest of honour (and highlight) and along with Vincent Chong provided some interesting insights into art, comics and getting published. He also signed a copy of his book of sketches for me including a drawing of an elf/goblin/alien creature. Simon Guerrier, frequent blogger and Dr Who author was eloquent but I failed to introduce myself, whilst Simon R. Green seemed to be nuttier than a fruitcake.

I’ve spent the rest of the week in the small town of Kirkcudbright on the west coast of Scotland. The weather was wonderful, the company good and the wine plentiful. When I could I wrote in the silence of a cottage only interrupted by the rooks that would gather in the tall trees to caw at one another. I also did plenty of reading.

Pork Pie Hat is a small book I must have picked up in a second hand shop and had on my shelf for some time. It is very well written with Straub picking up the nuances of a Jazz musician at the end of his life reminiscing about what happened to him as a child that seriously effected who he was to become. It’s a haunting story very well rendered.

Carey’s second novel in the Felix Castor series adds to the ‘other’ London he has created. It still has echoes of Constantine but it feels as if Castor is becoming his own man. The city is real and grimy and the story line full of interesting plots twists. Old characters return keeping the series whole whilst the book finishes with enough change in Castor’s circumstances to make the next book eagerly anticipated.

I remember the Triffids TV show which was produced in 1981. I’m not sure if I saw a repeat or not as I would only have been six on its first airing and I’m sure I would not have been allowed to stay up that late, or else gone to bed with nightmares. Before I read the book all I could recall were several jumper wearing hippies living on a farm being surrounded by the Triffids. This I thought was foolish and not very scary as the plants could only shuffle on small legs and must have been as limited as the original Daleks as any grown individual could have easily out run them. Of course I had forgotten that many of the survivors had already been blinded by falling green meteorites and that society had broken down to such a degree that the world had been returned to pre-industrial society.
The book is timely and seems not to have dated too much considering it was published in 1951. It pick up on other well known sci-fi stories (notably H. G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds) but makes something particularly British in its depiction of the end of the world.

I’m working on a script at the moment as well as answering questions from my publishers. With the re-write of ‘The DarkFather’ starting as well I imagine I should be busy for the next couple of months.

Read this week:
The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
Vicious Circle by Mike Carey
Pork Pie Hat by Peter Straub

Odd, we’re still all here…

Having done no lasting damage to my body, I am glad to say that last weeks venture up into the hills passed without hic-cup. It was muddy, wet and cold and we didn’t do it a particularly amazing time (an asthmatic in a bath chair passed us at one point) but we completed all 60km. A big thank you to all the people who sponsored me to the tune of £430. A figure which will be doubled by the bank and shared out amongst the charities.

I’ve added a particularly flattering photo of me in stretch lycra below. If you are easily offended or have a weak stomach, look away now.


Now all that unpleasantness is over we can get back to normal. Still working my way through ‘DarkFather’, and have been told that ‘The Missing’ won’t be back in my hands for another week, which is fine by me as I have plenty on my plate at the moment.
I’m starting work on what will hopefully be my first foray into comics, working with the artist, friend and film ‘know it all’, Looming Gary. We don’t plan to try and sell the work as its more a tryout to see if we work well together, but we might get it put up here once completed. It is early days, but I have an idea that might get worked up into something…watch this space.

As we’re not all dead I can get you all to zoom over to BBC and listen to the Torchwood adventure set at CERN. It’s underground and I assume fills in a bit of missing detail between the end of series 2 and the anticipated new series. Capt. Jack is becoming a darker and more troubled character (at last) which helps this episode very well.

Talking (writing actually) about TV, looks like Dean makes it out of hell in the new series of Supernatural, the first clips of which have made it on to the net (ignore the advert):



Working my way through the second Felix Castor novel which I will discuss here soon, plus I’m now counting down the days until I go to Fantasycon. If you’re going, drop me a line and we’ll meet for a beer.

Going up the mountains

I’m working through ‘DarkFather’ in the two weeks respite I get from the editing of ‘The Missing’. I’m tidying up the story in places and increasing the presence of characters who I think need a little more room to breath. I also want to make the start a little bit punchier.

I’m off to Aviemore this weekend, cycling over mountains raising money for three charities. So far I’ve raised over £400 with all funding matched by the organisers. I imagine it will be hard going as it’s rained constantly throughout August and the weekend forecast does not look much better. I’ll put up some picture next week of me all exhausted and muddy.

Got my tickets through today for a writer event I’ve been waiting some time for. Mr Neil Gaiman is coming to Scotland, and what’s more he’s coming to the book shop just up the road from me. I’m looking forward to his new work as it’s YA and will be an interesting read in line with my own work.

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The Fourth Bear is Jasper Fford’s latest in the Nursery Crime Division works. As always with Fford (that is his real name by the way) the laughs come hard, fast and often with allusions to other works of literature, music or film. You could spend forever and a day trying to keep up with the wry nods but instead you should enjoy the books for their quirky humour. He is one of the best writers around today for laugh out loud prose.
I was fortunate enough to meet him this summer and you can tell there is a keen mind behind these works, one that enjoys puzzles and word play. I asked him if anyone had ever considered turning the works into comics as they are rich in nursery rhyme characters and he said that many had but nothing had ever happened. If there’s any budding comic book authors reading this, get on to it now.

Rex Mundi is a comic book that started life before Da Vinci Code which is interesting because they contain similar themes. Unlike the Dan Brown book Rex Mundi is set in a world where the American Civil War has ended in stalemate and the Catholic Church controls most of Europe, also sorcery is a real problem.
The story is a little sparse in places, but the artwork by EricJ is lush and precise, turning Paris into a dark mediaeval / 30s inspired city. There are also some good scenes under Paris, travelling along the vast sewers that mimic the street layout above so accurately that they share the same names (true), plus mention of catacombs being found containing the bodies of prior inhabitants (also true). Well worth a read and I’m sure I’ll get book 2.

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Read this week:
The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fford
Rex Mundi: The Guardian of the Temple by Arvid Nelson et al.