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Editor is a word that scares me, when it is applied to myself.
And yet…
I am taking care of a new anthology, to be published by Horrified Press, as part of their Silent Fray line of physical horror books.
My project is called Ladies in Red, and it goes like this… Continue reading
I can’t waste time any longer – in five days I’ll start writing the first draft of my new novel, an adventure yarn that is called House of the Gods and comes with a nice nice nice contract attached, which I have already signed1.
The story is fully outlined, the basic research is done, I have a folder full of clippings, links, and Wikipedia pages.
And pictures.
I’ll start working on it next monday, and I’m planning 5000 words per day, for ten days.
It won’t be so smooth – I’ll pick up speed as the story proceeds.
But I’m seeing it happen in my brain, like a movie I’ve watched too many times.
Now I’ve only to put to paper (or file) the plot of the movie, like I’d tell to my brother, or to a friend.
Nice and smooth.
So, in these final few days before I dive in, it’s time to get in the mood.
And because House of the Gods will feature dinosaurs2, I’m going back again to Robert Bakker’s The Dinosaur Heresies.
If it was good enough for Michael Crichton, it’s good enough for me. Continue reading
This might be the first post in a series…
Something’s moving, and I’ve been asked to set up a reading group.
The original idea was to have me do a writing workshop, but then it was judged too complicated, and therefore they fell back on a reading group I could set up for the local administration. For free, because there is no money for culture is the local mantra.
And despite my current dire financial straits, I thought, why not?
After all, I love books, I like talking about books, I like meeting people… as long as they provide me with a place to do it, it’s not a chore, for me, it’s fun.
And who knows, might be the start of something for which money can be found.
So, I put down a quick note about what you need to set up a reding club.
It’s a very bare-bones, personal recipe, something I improvised – based on my experience – to keep my contact hooked and try to actually get the thing on the road instead of just keep discussing the possibility. Continue reading
Here’s something I designed as a lark, but might come handy one of these days…
I don’t remember exactly when I saw Peter Yates’ The Deep, the movie based on Peter Benchley’s novel of the same title, for the first time. I know where I saw it – in an open-air movie place in Diano Marina, while on vacation with my family. A movie about the sea, in a seaside movie theater.
It was 1978 or something.
I am absolutely sure that my devastating crush for Jacqueline Bisset has its deepest roots in this movie.
Now, I re-watched it yesterday afternoon, in a pause in my writing, while I enjoyed a big serving of chocolate ice cream with whipped cream.
And truth to be told, with the exception of the underwater footage and Jacqueline Bisset (yes, I’ve still got that crush), this is not a particularly good movie.
It was filmed two years after Jaws, but it does not have the stopping power and the persistence of Spielberg’s movie. Continue reading
Let’s say this post is sort of a dry run.
I’m starting a sort of new venture,a new job I invented for myself and my brother.
It went like this…
I was wandering through the Amazon reviews pages during the weekend, and I found out this review from hell… (I’m leaving the title and author of the book out)
If I could give a zero star I would. If authors are going to set novels in a country they are not a native of then the very least they can do is research it properly. Elizabeth George has managed to do so most successfully. This book is so full or errors about the UK police force it is laughable. For example, British police officers are NOT routinely armed – thank goodness. People who work for the forensic and scientific departments are not police officers but they obviously report to the appropriate police officers. We don’t use yellow crime scene tape in this country – it is blue and white. We don’t refer to police officers as Detective or Agent but would give them their rank, for example Detective Inspector or D.I. and so on. I could go on but it’s tedious!!! I think the author has been seduced by the TV programmes of CSI as that is what it seems to ape and presumably this is where she did her research! […] My advice? Don’t waste your time. This is a few hours I will never get back!!!
Ugly, what?
And yes, it’s something I’ve already talked about on this blog in the past – doing research, the joys thereof, and the horrors of not doing it. Continue reading
Karavansara 