I'm sure I meant to post days ago but kind of got distracted by the day job - still, it gives me a nice opportunity for something I really like. Excessively long posts. Let's get it on: First of all, inspired by a purchaser of Black Dye who let me know he would be reading it just as soon as he had finished reading Orwell's 1984, I thought I might investigate Down and Out in Paris and London - and it turns out that it's worth more than a cursory glance. In fact, it's pretty excellent - which makes something of a mockery of the statement I made here but I've never been afraid of being wrong. Yesterday I also picked up a copy of a book called Business Model You because a) it's really well designed, was curious and the guys in the bookstore were scowling at me and b) I can never resist a book that suggest it might be able to suggest a better way of doing something that how I currently do something. Pending.
I also saw a title that looked pretty interesting, although I can't remember what the hell it was called now - it shouldn't be too hard to find if you're interested. It's about the editor of the Guardian who decided in what little spare time he had, he would master a notoriously difficult piano piece within a year and play it in public. I guess the book is made a little more interesting by the inclusion of the Guardian breaking the phone hacking scandal at the time and a man's already precious time suddenly becoming even more so. The dude has kids too. I think I'm going to have to take a drive this evening a pick that mother up. It's got me thinking that something insanely difficult like that would be good fun while under pressure.
There won't be a book in it, for that would be ripping the man off but borrowing the idea is appealing - not a piano piece though. I'm kind of thinking that even though my guitar skills are limited to writing my own songs and (occasionally) rhythm parts, they certainly don't extend to something that I consider to be difficult - and long. I need to think about this, but if anybody has any suggestions, I'm all ears.
Anyway, nearly finished That's Not A Feeling and Born Weird now as well - it's the weekend and that means book shopping (though by the time I post this, I might have that under control).
Time for a break - here's a great movie poster done with panache and style:
That would be courtesy of Laurent Durieux who has a whole ton of great art right here, but this must by far be his best piece - simply stunning:
•••
On my various trips around the web, I quite often 'call in' on people who I really like - authors and bands mostly - and it still surprises me how widely they spread themselves. Am I really wrong in thinking that your website is where you live online? Is having pages strewn across the digital universe the equivalent of having a house in London, Paris, New York and Syndney? I guess it would be reasonably acceptable to me if the content were the same across the board, but man, if you don't check in on all these people's different houses, you're likely to miss something. Got a new novel out? Tell the world on twitter and tumblr - but forget to update your official site and you've missed your core. Or is that the point after all? That your core will always go to your house and the other places are clip-joints for passers by who might happen to like what you say on that particular day?
Maybe I'm over-thinking it but the more limited my time becomes for - willingly - soaking up what others have to offer, the more places I seem to have to check out in order to keep up. And yeah, I'm using a bit of kit to filter them in. I think I shall strip it down and start again because technology must have the answer.
•••
SUNDAY.
I came back to post today and find that I had filed Friday's post as a draft. I had intended that but I just forgot it was there. No matter.
I spent most of the afternoon finishing up a final draft of my interview with Andrew Kaufman - which is now done. It currently sits on the desk of Mr Shaw, my (temporary) editor as I asked him to check it over. A note on this: you may be wondering if, as an editor, it's weird having an editor - and the answer is yes, it most definitely is. But I wanted a second opinion as, due to the subject, I feared I had gotten carried away. Stopping just short of 4,000 words, I could have gone for twice that but steering a proper ship through stormy seas, I have become at least a tiny bit respectful of word counts.
If all goes according to plan on the editing front, that will go live tomorrow. I'll let you know - as will many other people no doubt.
Following this, I planned up the horror book I'm working on again. I didn't like how it bunched itself up in the middle so I stripped it back to its bare essentials and then started to strap it back together - and for now, it's fine again. Flatplanning magazines and books is a lost art these days. Some of the magazines I look at seriously need to go back to school - and a lot of them are from publishing companies that should know better. Calm. Calm. All I have to do is make the one that I'm in charge of work properly. Anyway, I'll probably change it again before we're done but so far, so good and it looks excellent (even if I do say so myself).
•••
I bought a few books this weekend. Certainly more than I intended to. I bought a copy of Gossip in the Forest by Sara Maitland and two others that I'm actually not going to tell you about. I've had this idea kicking around my head for a while now and they're to do with that. If it works out, I'll take the blinkers off it soon and cross-link it here. I also remembered that for Christmas, Rhiannon bought me a copy of a book called Advent by James Treadwell, so I lay in the bath with it to see what it was like and was there until the water was cold, so it's safe to assume it's actually pretty good.
I have more work today and it's just clipped Monday morning here. I'm not sure this post makes as much sense as it should but I'm going to hit the button anyway...