Archive for September 2012
Rowling At the Moon
Several hundred thousand lemmings stampeded past me today squeaking, ‘J K Rowling’s new book! Gimme, Gimme.’ I feel absolutely no malice towards J K Rowling but I’d like to go on record as being sick to the tonsils of publishing hype and media sycophancy. She wrote some children’s books, they sold well, get over it. I…
Read MoreWord Play
Yes, I’m much recovered. Thank you for asking. It’s been a slow week with nothing like as much work achieved as should have been but I had some fun while waiting for the catarrh to clear and some clarity of mind to return. Funny word, catarrh. It’s from the Greek verb katarrein, which basically means to flow down profusely…
Read MoreWriters' Rights
Well, the hot toddies don’t seem to be helping. Here is the deal I cut with my cold on Friday afternoon: okay I’ll be patient with you, humour you over the weekend and subject you to absolutely no pressure, but I want you gone by 9am Monday. It’s now Sunday afternoon and has it gone?…
Read MoreGuerilla Book-Selling
I feel I must say a little something about the Sock Puppet affair. When this first started to rumble, after Stephen Leather’s admissions at the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival, I can’t say I was shocked or even mildly surprised. My childlike innocence about writers’ dirty tricks ended the day Orlando Figes fell off his pedestal. I was…
Read MoreJoined Up Writing
I realise it’s that time of year but I did wonder why a certain organisation has sent me enrollment information for their Creative Writing courses. Are they trying to tell me something? I’m not sure when Creative Writing became a taught subject. It’s a relatively recent development. For sure Mark Twain never took a class. …
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