Rohan Quine's Blog, page 9

50. “Unnerving things in Pippa’s bedroom”Your ears push five...

50. “Unnerving things in Pippa’s bedroom”

Your ears push five slim pale-brown fingers out, one by one, into the dim room: you feel each finger squeeze out its girth with a pop, wriggle off across the pillow, then halt at the pillow’s end and sniff the air, scratching and stroking at the cotton with its long crimson nail.

The Video-Book version of this mini-chapter 50 is at

http://www.rohanquine.com/ebooks/vbooks/vbook50.php

The Audio-Book version of this mini-chapter 50 is at

http://www.rohanquine.com/ebooks/abooks/abook50.php

Mini-synopsis of this mini-chapter 50:

Before sleep, Jaymi tunes in to Pippa in her depressing, cluttered bedroom. Since the bedroom door is shut, he cannot see her hallway or that narrow door from her vantage point, so he casts about within her mind in search of anything coherent or illuminating … but in vain, as her churning half-sleep is yielding up no more than semi-dreamscapes of extreme spookiness, tending towards lunacy.

For more info, see http://www.RohanQuine.com

To buy the novel, see http://www.rohanquine.com/buy

49. “Theft two, and nattering about bikinis”The image-stream’s...

49. “Theft two, and nattering about bikinis”

The image-stream’s tail-feathers streak away and dissipate around the camera lens, like a ragged end of celluloid spinning to a halt around a spool on a projector. The tiny red light beneath the lens dims to black.

The Video-Book version of this mini-chapter 49 is at

http://www.rohanquine.com/ebooks/vbooks/vbook49.php

The Audio-Book version of this mini-chapter 49 is at

http://www.rohanquine.com/ebooks/abooks/abook49.php

Mini-synopsis of this mini-chapter 49:

Awoken at home, Rik makes a second unofficial recording of Jaymi projecting imaginative spoils absorbed from his targets—Kim, then Kim and Shigem together, then Angel, then Pippa. Afterwards Rik, dog-tired, is comically exasperated by the delay of Alaia’s and Evelyn’s chattering while he just wants to lock up the studio and return to the sleep that was interrupted for this recording.

For more info, see http://www.RohanQuine.com

To buy the novel, see http://www.rohanquine.com/buy

48. “Does Lucan hate Shigem?”Evelyn peers at me in the overhead...

48. “Does Lucan hate Shigem?”

Evelyn peers at me in the overhead mirror, then bursts out laughing. “You’re seriously cuckoo, Jaymi—that’s way too logical!”

The Video-Book version of this mini-chapter 48 is at

http://www.rohanquine.com/ebooks/vbooks/vbook48.php

The Audio-Book version of this mini-chapter 48 is at

http://www.rohanquine.com/ebooks/abooks/abook48.php

Mini-synopsis of this mini-chapter 48:

Jaymi realises that while tuning in to Pippa he forgot to look out for her narrow door. The three of them discuss whether or not this second wax head will end Lucan’s suspicion that Shigem planted the first head, and they discuss Lucan’s hometown loyalty and mixed feelings about Shigem.

For more info, see http://www.RohanQuine.com

To buy the novel, see http://www.rohanquine.com/buy

47. “Pippa goes to greet a gentleman caller”You know you...

47. “Pippa goes to greet a gentleman caller”

You know you shouldn’t think this, but there genuinely is a chance, albeit a very small one, that this will be a man who knocks on your door, enters, recognises you, takes you in his arms and completes your life. You will thereby have got what you think you need, without even leaving home.

The Video-Book version of this mini-chapter 47 is at

http://www.rohanquine.com/ebooks/vbooks/vbook47.php

The Audio-Book version of this mini-chapter 47 is at

http://www.rohanquine.com/ebooks/abooks/abook47.php

Mini-synopsis of this mini-chapter 47:

As they drive past Pippa’s, Jaymi tunes in to her and takes in landscapes of great loneliness and depression, including a cruel self-delusion that a gentleman caller is coming up the stairs to see her.

For more info, see http://www.RohanQuine.com

To buy the novel, see http://www.rohanquine.com/buy

46. “Another furtive escape”“And then a model of Lucan’s driver...

46. “Another furtive escape”

“And then a model of Lucan’s driver appears with a dagger in each cheek. That was also a challenge to Lucan, not to Kev. Kev’s a real dim-bulb, you may have noticed. Angel and Damian can’t stand him—Lucan likes it like that.”

The Video-Book version of this mini-chapter 46 is at

http://www.rohanquine.com/ebooks/vbooks/vbook46.php

The Audio-Book version of this mini-chapter 46 is at

http://www.rohanquine.com/ebooks/abooks/abook46.php

Mini-synopsis of this mini-chapter 46:

Evelyn, Jaymi and Alaia slip away, discussing this second head and the real violence it may ignite. In the van Evelyn browbeats Jaymi into agreeing to the work-out involved in recording a second dose of new stolen imaginative material as soon as they get back to the Metropolitan.

For more info, see http://www.RohanQuine.com

To buy the novel, see http://www.rohanquine.com/buy

45. “A declaration of war against Kev”Though startled myself, I...

45. “A declaration of war against Kev”

Though startled myself, I continue to tune in to you behind your little wolf-lips where a smile plays, as Kev spits his gum onto the floor, lunges forward, pulls the daggers out and puts them down, leaving the head looking even worse than it did, and stands there at a loss to know what to do next.

The Video-Book version of this mini-chapter 45 is at

http://www.rohanquine.com/ebooks/vbooks/vbook45.php

The Audio-Book version of this mini-chapter 45 is at

http://www.rohanquine.com/ebooks/abooks/abook45.php

Mini-synopsis of this mini-chapter 45:

At Downstairs Jaymi remains again in the shadows. Evelyn says Lucan is rumoured to be blaming Shigem for the head, and they discuss how they could help protect Shigem from this. Jaymi tells them about the figure Kim saw through Pippa’s keyhole. Jaymi tunes in briefly to Angel, who is dancing lewdly on the night-time street outside. Suddenly a second life-size wax head is discovered, depicting Kev with a dagger in each eye. Kev maliciously suggests to Lucan that the culprit was Angel, to whom Jaymi continues to tune in while Angel heads home to Lucan’s house in a state of exhaustion.

For more info, see http://www.RohanQuine.com

To buy the novel, see http://www.rohanquine.com/buy

44. “The five times I hypnotised someone”“I am so calm,” I say....

44. “The five times I hypnotised someone”

“I am so calm,” I say. “I am so chilled, I’m almost on the floor. That’s how chilled I am. Look at me—don’t I look chilled? To quote Angel, don’t make me slap you…”

The Video-Book version of this mini-chapter 44 is at

http://www.rohanquine.com/ebooks/vbooks/vbook44.php

The Audio-Book version of this mini-chapter 44 is at

http://www.rohanquine.com/ebooks/abooks/abook44.php

Mini-synopsis of this mini-chapter 44:

With Alaia, Evelyn tells Jaymi that she hears Lucan is on the warpath against him because Jaymi’s use of a hypnotic gaze on him when they first met made him lose face in front of the rest of the gang. They all three decide to go to Downstairs now, to try to nip this in the bud. Mirth and exasperation flow when Alaia and Evelyn start lecturing Jaymi about the dangers of using his active hypnotic gaze in public.

For more info, see http://www.RohanQuine.com

To buy the novel, see http://www.rohanquine.com/buy

43. “Malaysian chilli peppers”“I can’t imagine why I’m thinking...

43. “Malaysian chilli peppers”

“I can’t imagine why I’m thinking of this, but there’s a punishment in the Malaysian penal code,” says Shigem, “which is to have a peeled chilli pepper inserted up your bottom. It’s true. It’s an old Malaysian custom. I can’t remember what it’s a punishment for, but I just know it would happen to me immediately if I ever went there.”

The Video-Book version of this mini-chapter 43 is at

http://www.rohanquine.com/ebooks/vbooks/vbook43.php

The Audio-Book version of this mini-chapter 43 is at

http://www.rohanquine.com/ebooks/abooks/abook43.php

Mini-synopsis of this mini-chapter 43:

Jaymi continues to tune in to the pair of them until they get home and go to bed, as they mix the earnest with the ridiculous in the course of their characteristic just-newly-dating style of excitable chatter.

For more info, see http://www.RohanQuine.com

To buy the novel, see http://www.rohanquine.com/buy

42. “The last music Kim heard before Shigem”For that night, by...

42. “The last music Kim heard before Shigem”

For that night, by chance, was the night before you finally met the dose of spice and joy whom you’d sought so very long throughout those tame Southport suburbs and beside those London railings…

The Video-Book version of this mini-chapter 42 is at

http://www.rohanquine.com/ebooks/vbooks/vbook42.php

The Audio-Book version of this mini-chapter 42 is at

http://www.rohanquine.com/ebooks/abooks/abook42.php

Mini-synopsis of this mini-chapter 42:

Jaymi tunes in deeper to Kim, delving into his inner life while he used regularly to listen to music alone at top volume late at night in London during the period leading up to his first meeting Shigem.

For more info, see http://www.RohanQuine.com

To buy the novel, see http://www.rohanquine.com/buy

41. “It’s only a shell”“When you grow up around brainless...

41. “It’s only a shell”

“When you grow up around brainless chatterboxes like my family, you have to fend off the trashiness—I could just feel waves of it coming at me throughout my childhood. My sister used to decorate her room to match her rabbit.”

The Video-Book version of this mini-chapter 41 is at

http://www.rohanquine.com/ebooks/vbooks/vbook41.php

The Audio-Book version of this mini-chapter 41 is at

http://www.rohanquine.com/ebooks/abooks/abook41.php

Mini-synopsis of this mini-chapter 41:

Tuned in to by Jaymi as they walk home, Kim’s and Shigem’s chitchat includes Kim mentioning that he told Jaymi this evening about having seen that mysterious figure at Pippa’s.

For more info, see http://www.RohanQuine.com

To buy the novel, see http://www.rohanquine.com/buy