Hallowe’en.
October 31, 2008
Upon this night, as Robert Burns put it, “when fairies light On Cassilis Downans dance”, I often find myself thinking back to the Hallowe’ens of my childhood — back before the time we adopted the imported American tradition of trick or treat — and marvel at the simplicity of it, the sense of dark promise, the sheer delight in allowing my imagination to do its worst… and enjoy it!
They were invariably uneventful evenings, at least by today’s standards. Some I spent indoors with my parents — the weather (like this evening, incidentally) was not always conducive to knocking on neighbourhood doors — others I might spend doing the rounds with my friends in my electric wheelchair, chanting “The sky is blue / the grass is green / have you got a penny for Hallowe’en?” but all had a quality about them that I still recall today, over 30 years later.
There was a very real atmosphere. A magical expectation not unlike Christmas and in some ways, I might say, better than Christmas. I always liked the darker, mystical, spookier side of life as a kid. Ghosts, vampires, werewolves — they all fascinated me. I could no doubt analyse this until the cows came home (could it, perhaps, have been my early proximity to death as a concept and reality that prompted me to contemplate these rule-breaking spooks?), but that isn’t really what this piece is about.
Those times lacked sophistication. We were kids with carved turnips (a pumpkin? Who the hell needs pumpkins?), the wind constantly blowing out the candles inside them, as we pointed at shadows and whispered, determined to scare each other — not really caring in the least if we made any money from our doorknocking efforts. One of us may have had a shop-bought mask, but that was as far as we went in the name of “costume”. The familiar angles of the world around us fell away from true, and in those vague imaginings that become so solid for children we lost ourselves in the uncomplicated world of death, life and everything in between.
Briefly, we invented a world in which we could be the ever vigilant heroes. A stake, a cross — the supernatural tools of childhood that many of us would eventually leave behind — these were our imagined talismans against the unseen enemy we, however scary it might be, nevertheless loved.
To return home alive (which would always be the case — since, I learned much later, our parents followed at a discreet distance) was to beat the odds, was to be the hero.
Was to cheat death.
Times of laughter, times of delighted fear. There were not, on the whole, the expensive Hallowe’en parties we see today — but we survived, and I still remember those times, friends and places.
And the memories are strong enough to bring back at least some of that childhood excitement.
Children of the Resolution — Update.
October 21, 2008
Yesterday I heard from an agent to whom I’d sent samples of Children of the Resolution. The rest of the manuscript has been requested and I was informed that she had been “utterly absorbed” by what she had read so far.
Naturally, it’s too early to draw any conclusions from this and I’m trying not to get my hopes up. I’ve done this too many times — and I therefore won’t be happy until I’ve heard her final response/decision.
It is, however, satisfying to know that someone within the industry seems to have “got” at least part of what I’m trying to achieve with Children.
Utterly absorbed is good. I can live with that 
Creative Freedom.
September 17, 2008
I realised today, whilst out in the country, that I have complete creative freedom. I don’t have to be tied to any particular kind of novel — as long as it’s fairly “literary” (I’m not good at genre fiction, and publishers like Legend wouldn’t be interested, anyway.) I can play with ideas, with form, with character and really let myself go, if I wish. Just the kind of thing that plays to my strengths. I don’t necessarily have to write another Carl Grantham novel (potentially a waste of time if Children doesn’t sell) but I can nevertheless build on what Children has — from my point of view, as the author — achieved.
Such moments of uncertainty, such enforced period of waiting, are an opportunity to explore new avenues and, quite possibly, new ways of working. I don’t know what they are, yet, and I’m determined not to think about it too rigorously. I’ll just let it happen and have fun finding out.
“Don’t think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It’s self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can’t try to do things. You simply must do things.”
Ray Bradbury.
Back in the Saddle.
September 16, 2008
It occurred to me last night that maybe writing about my rejections here was not such a good idea. After all, every email I send to agents/editors has my website address on it. They can read everything that you can read, and seeing that others have already rejected a certain piece of work could be prejudicial.
Nonetheless, I’ve decided that I’m going to keep posting honest updates regarding the reactions of those I submit Children of the Resolution to. There are a number of reasons for this, but the principal one is that I feel I owe it to the friends and readers who have supported me through the novel’s development, from conception to completion. Those of you who visit this blog regularly, friends and relative strangers alike, are my potential book buyers. It would be a pretty lousy state of affairs if I didn’t keep you up to speed.
I think any editor/agent worth his/her salt will see the sense of this — especially when they take a look at my visitor stats in the sidebar.
Before signing off, I’d also just like to thank all of you for supporting me. Your friendship, advice and encouragement really does make this so much easier. The faith I have in my work and my ability is largely down to the reactions of people like you. Cheers!
Oh, nearly forgot! I’ve just heard back from Tom at Legend Press. He said Children of the Resolution sounds very interesting and he looks forward to reading it. He now has the full manuscript.
Children of the Resolution — Agent Reaction.
September 15, 2008
This probably isn’t the best idea. Blogging shortly after receiving a quite perfunctory rejection makes a rant rather too tempting. So I’ll keep it short; Children of the Resolution “undoubtedly has merit”, but it isn’t for them. Once again, the phrase “This business is so subjective” was tagged on the end — and whilst I understand and appreciate their position… yes, I’m disappointed and disillusioned…
Children is a very personal novel. It’s not a high concept genre novel, but I still feel that it has something very worthwhile to say and deserves a chance. I have a sneaking suspicion, however, that mainstream publishing just doesn’t want to listen. This rejection is only one opinion, of course, but from a leading agency — one that’s been sympathetic to my work in the past — it doesn’t bode well.
Next, I will therefore be trying Legend Press — a small, dynamic independent that I’ve dealt with in the past. They were extremely encouraging and expressed an interest in reading more work, work that fit their list a little better (which I think Children of the Resolution does.)
Here we go again…
Through the Stormy Shades — Update.
September 8, 2008
Last week ended up being written off as far as my work on the rough outline for Through the Stormy Shades is concerned. There was simply too much going on in the blogosphere for me to give it my full attention and, to be honest, it didn’t seem all that urgent. The outline is very much a formality — a nailing down of what I already know — and I was far from worried about this brief interruption.
Today, however, has been rather more quiet and I have succeeded in getting a little done. If Children of the Resolution is taken on and I go ahead with this project (as enthusiastic as I am about Through the Stormy Shades, it would be foolish to write the second book in a series of books when the first hasn’t sold), I know it’s going to be exactly the kind of project I most enjoy; challenging, amusing, dark, multi-layered and, hopefully, unique. Like Children of the Resolution, I think it could be an important book… Christ, that makes me sound so up myself! I really don’t mean it in that way (or maybe I do!) — the point I’m trying to make is that it has something highly individual to say. Where literature is concerned, that from me is the mark of a good book… an important book.
I can’t wait to get started. Always a good sign. But, as yet, it’s too early — so I’ll simply take my time with the outline and let it, you know, mature.
BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Madonna makes dedication to Pope
September 7, 2008
“I dedicate this song to the Pope, because I’m a child of God,” she told 60,000 fans in the Italian capital. “All of you are also children of God.”
BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Madonna makes dedication to Pope.
Oh shut up and sing (or should I say lip-sync?), for… erm… Christ’s sake.
Looking Back…
August 23, 2008
It seems I’m pulling in quite a few new readers at the moment. My daily page hit count has been around 184 over the past week or so, jumping up to 233 on one occasion. Not exactly in the same league as some out there, but a definite improvement and rather gratifying nonetheless.
So, I’d just like to take this opportunity to thank you all for helping my blog to grow. Your comments are always welcome (in fact, if you’re a new reader, please feel free to treat this as an opportunity to say hello — pimp your own blog, even, if you wish!)
Because so many new people are dropping by I thought it might be fun to look back at some of my earlier articles. I’ve picked five of my personal favourites. If you’re a regular reader and there’s an older article of mine that you like which I haven’t mentioned, please feel free to shout up!
Five of the Best.
- Drawing the Line. February 25, 2008. I like this piece because it gives an insight into how I write and, in particular, how I wrote Children of the Resolution. It was good for me to read it again. Especially at this “between-projects” time.
- Disability in Fiction. February 16, 2008. Another writing-related piece concerning expectation in writing.
- The Pleasure of Finding Things Out. November 26, 2007. The Richard Feynman Horizon interview — with a short introduction by me.
- You Can’t Say That. June 23, 2008. A rant on our ridiculous fear of causing offence. In part a tribute to the late George Carlin.
- Elvis, Marty Lacker… and Me. August 3, 2008. This is one of my all-time favourites because it provided me, quite unexpectedly, with the opportunity to exchange emails with one of Elvis Presley’s closest friends, Memphis Mafia member Marty Lacker. I may have a further update on this story in the not too distant future.
Well, I think that’s all for now. Take a look when you have time and enjoy. These five post probably epitomise pretty well just what I am about — or what my blog is about, at least!
Biting the Bullet.
August 21, 2008
Today I finally got round to admitting to myself that the outline for The Yesterday Tree isn’t firing me up as much as I would have hoped. I’ve tiptoed up to the edge of this a number of times over the past few weeks, but today — whilst it was developing quite nicely, with many elements that I like — I had to bite the bullet and accept that it just isn’t what I want to write. The truth is, it’s becoming rather too genre for my liking (there’s nothing wrong with genre fiction per se — I actually really enjoy good genre fiction — but I do find it extremely restricting as a writer.) There are certain themes and ideas I want to explore, and the plot was becoming far more dominant than I would have liked. I can’t see a way of fixing this without it becoming a different novel altogether and so it’s now officially on the backburner. I may return to it, but my past record suggests that I probably won’t.
It also didn’t help that I couldn’t quite see it as a follow-up to Children of the Resolution. I’m fairly sure that should Children be accepted I would face opposition to The Yesterday Tree. It’s just too different, and from a marketing perspective it could have quite possibly been a nonstarter.
It isn’t as depressing as it might sound, however. In fact, it’s a very common situation for me and actually quite liberating. I find ideas need to be thoroughly tested and in order to weed out the good ones a few must inevitably fail. I have something else up my sleeve — a couple of possible projects — but that’s where they’re staying for the moment!
Writing Advice for the Day: Always give a project a chance. Do not abandon a novel simply because you’re having a bad day. But do not be afraid of abandoning it if it continually leaves you feeling half-hearted and uninspired. You must feel passionate about the project. Without that it’s very likely to be a complete waste of time.
Burning Love.
August 15, 2008
The novel I’m currently trying to place, Children of the Resolution, has a scene of which I’m fairly fond. My protagonist, Carl, is still only about six years old and one of his classmates had just died (it’s a “special” school for kids with physical disabilities, set in the early 1970s.) One line in particular — because it was just the kind of thing I would have thought or said the time — I especially like.
Given that it’s Elvis Week, and that the man himself (or his music, at least) has been a part of my life for many, many years, now seems a good time to share the extract with you.
“If it made her feel bad to tell us about how Emiline had died and everything, she shouldn’t have to do it. Someone else should have done it for her. Mr. Dixon in assembly should have said, instead of making us sing Give Me Oil in My Lamp (although, I had to admit it was a good song — not exactly up there with Burning Love, but good nonetheless.) It wasn’t fair and I wanted to make it better for her but didn’t know how.”
