Colin Garrow's Blog, page 79
April 11, 2016
The Something of the Some Thing Thing…
March 31, 2016
Killer Clothing…
March 20, 2016
More Deadlines, Schmedlines…
Back in October, I wrote a little post about deadlines and how, in true Douglas Adams style,
‘…they go whooshing by…’
The book I was working on at the time was ‘Mortlake‘ (book 2 in my ‘Maps of Time’ series). Somewhat surprisingly, I managed to hit that deadline in a week-or-two-either-side sort of way, which is fine, but since then I’ve found my affinity with Mr Adams’ experience has doubled, tripled and maybe even quadrupled. In other words, by deadlines are out the window.
But I know the problem. The problem is twofold:
1. I’m working on two books at the same time
Actually that’s not quite true, because for a while I was actually working on three books at the same time (one of which has been published), but in any case the result is the same – less time, more work, goodbye deadlines.
2. I must be slowing down
This isn’t so easy to address. Essentially, I still write every day and I still work on one or both of those books most days. But while it feels like I’m writing the same amount, it seems as if it’s taking me longer to get to where I’m going.
Which means that those two books I was (naively) thinking I’d easily finish by Christmas, are still awaiting those final chapters.
Actually, there’s another reason:
3. Stress
Yes, I admit it, I’m stressed about these deadlines and I don’t like it and yes, okay, I know it’s contributing to my overall inability to get on with the tasks in hand and so here’s how I’m going to sort that one out:
To Name It is to Get Rid of It. Right? Well, let’s hope so. Okay, now we’ve dealt with that one…
And finally yes, yes, yes, I know some authors spend years writing a single book, but come on, who the hell wants to immerse themselves in the damn thing for that amount of time? Not me, mate! No, I want to spend a reasonable chunk of time on a book and then move on to the next one (or whatever), because the way it works for me is that I need to be excited about what I’m doing and the longer it takes to finish, the less excited I get. (Stevie King wrote Cujo in a week. Yes, I know he was off his face at the time but still…)
So I suppose what I’m saying is that unless there’s a really good reason for tightening the bolts on our self-imposed deadlines, maybe we should just do what needs to be done in the time it takes and be cool with that?
‘Oy Yew’ by Ana Salote
Oy Yew (The Waifs of Duldred Trilogy Book 1)
Nabbed by waif-catchers in the alley where he spends his days sniffing bread and dreaming of floury loafs, Oy Yew is dragged in front of the wiry-haired Mrs Rutheday who sets him to work at bench 54. Oy meets Linnet Pale, a colour-drained girl who becomes his first friend. But assembling unknown items intended for nameless people is not destined to be his lot for long and the new boy is soon recognized as a perfect specimen for Duldred Hall.
Peopled with strangely-named characters like Alas Ringworm, Raymun, Mrs Midden and the hateful Master Jeopardine, the waifs of Duldred are assigned duties around various parts of the big house (‘Drains’, ‘Ceilings’, ‘Stairs’ etc), and expected to perform their tedious obligations out of sight of the Master and his upservants. Oy learns about the strange hierarchy of the place, the peculiar regularity of ‘accidents’ and the habitual ‘measuring’ routine where children must reach the perfect height of 5 thighs 10 oggits in order to escape the everyday graft of the Hall. But if escape is so wonderful, why are the details kept under lock and key? And what strange secrets are hidden in Rook’s Parlour and the Bone Room? Gradually, with Oy’s help, the waifs begin to educate themselves and their discoveries lead to revelations that will change their lives forever.
Ana Salote’s first book in ‘The Waifs of Duldred’ trilogy is, she says, a crossover fantasy for ages 9 to 90, and I can well believe it. The world she creates is original and yet familiar, with its wonderfully Dickensesque settings and a host of intriguing characters. I’ll definitely be looking out for the next book in the series.
I received a paperback copy of this book from the author in return for an honest review.
Reviewed Books
Although I sometimes receive review copies free from authors, I also review books I’ve bought myself. For every book I review, irrespective of how or where I acquired it, I’ll always give my honest opinion. So if I don’t like a book, I’ll say so, or (more likely) I won’t finish it, in which case there won’t be a review anyway (unless I really hate the author – tee hee).
Affiliate Links
I make use of affiliate links such as those provided by Amazon Associates, Kobo and Barnes and Noble. When you click on those links, I earn a (very) small percentage. Of course, you could just go onto Amazon (or whatever) yourself and spend your hard-earned cash, in which case I won’t earn a penny, but if one of my reviews inspires you to buy a book, then that’s great. After all, authors are nothing without book-buyers.
March 19, 2016
‘Fatal Forgery’ by Susan Grossey
Long before the days of online banking, a big part of any banker’s working life was trust – but not all bank employees were able to resist the lure of hard cash. In 1824, respectable banker Henry Fauntleroy is arrested on charges of forgery, leaving Constable Samuel Plank to find out exactly what’s been going on, and why. However, Plank finds himself with an apparently impossible task, for even with the threat of the hangman’s noose waiting for him, Fauntleroy is set on pleading guilty. With single-minded determination, the constable begins to pick away at the evidence and soon discovers the apparent forger’s private life is not all it should be. Nevertheless, with all the evidence pointing in one direction, it’s only a matter of time before Fauntleroy faces the ultimate sentence.
Inspired by the real-life arrest and court case surrounding banker Henry Fauntleroy, anti-money laundering expert Susan Grossey’s first foray into fiction might well have been a little dry and lacking in the thrills department. But I’m happy to report that apart from leaving me a mite confused over some of the financial aspects of the case, I thoroughly enjoyed the first of Constable Plank’s adventures. The attention to detail and realistic depictions of the prisons at Newgate and Coldbath Fields, as well as the trial itself at the Old Bailey, place the reader right down there in the thick of it.
Susan Grossey’s writing is sharp and clever in her portrayal of the world she’s created, with a knowledge and feeling for her characters that brings them to life as clearly as if we were sitting down to tea with them. I’ll definitely be grabbing a copy of her next book in the series – ‘The Man in the Canary Waistcoat’ – in the very near future.
Reviewed Books
Although I sometimes receive review copies free from authors, I also review books I’ve bought myself. For every book I review, irrespective of how or where I acquired it, I’ll always give my honest opinion. So if I don’t like a book, I’ll say so, or (more likely) I won’t finish it, in which case there won’t be a review anyway (unless I really hate the author – tee hee).
Affiliate Links
I make use of affiliate links such as those provided by Amazon Associates, Kobo and Barnes and Noble. When you click on those links, I earn a (very) small percentage. Of course, you could just go onto Amazon (or whatever) yourself and spend your hard-earned cash, in which case I won’t earn a penny, but if one of my reviews inspires you to buy a book, then that’s great. After all, authors are nothing without book-buyers.
March 12, 2016
‘The Corrections’ by Jonathan Franzen
All Enid Lambert wants is to have one last Christmas with her family round her. She and her husband Alfred are getting on a bit and the reality of their lives together has reached a point where the words ‘fractured’ and ‘awkward’ may be the best they can hope for. At times, the relationship appears almost irretrievable: with Enid’s need to have the whole world think everything’s fine while she struggles (still) to change her husband into the man she thought she’d married, and Alfred’s inability (in and out of the bedroom) to give his wife the level of intimacy he knows she wants.
Unsurprisingly, the lives of their three grown-up children are no less troubled, with each one facing his or her own series of mini-catastrophes as the book charts their lives over the years. While the timescale jumps around quite a bit, the narrative was easy to follow and I found myself drawn further and further into this family’s general need to make right its mistakes.
Given the history of Mr Franzen’s writing career in relation to this book (such as his infamous ‘feud’ with Oprah Winfrey), and his various derogatory comments about women readers, I can understand why so many people hate it – the characters are deeply flawed, miserable, whiny, vengeful and most of the time deeply, deeply irritating. And to be fair, any other book with so many annoying people in it would have ended up on my Did Not Finish pile, no trouble at all.
However.
The modern obsession with what to do with our old folks is the central theme, and I have to say, I found the siblings’ approach to dealing with their parents by turns hilarious, painful and intensely moving. Jonathan Franzen writes about being human as if he knows exactly how I feel, and that’s not something that happens very often. He also uses big words, gets into technical jargon that occasionally lost me a little, and really, really likes long sentences – there were a few I thought might never end and I wouldn’t have been a bit surprised if the book had turned out to be one long sentence. Nevertheless, the writing is superb, masterful and wonderfully real. If I could write like this guy, I’d be very happy indeed.
Reviewed Books
Although I sometimes receive review copies free from authors, I also review books I’ve bought myself. For every book I review, irrespective of how or where I acquired it, I’ll always give my honest opinion. So if I don’t like a book, I’ll say so, or (more likely) I won’t finish it, in which case there won’t be a review anyway (unless I really hate the author – tee hee).
Affiliate Links
I make use of affiliate links such as those provided by Amazon Associates, Kobo and Barnes and Noble. When you click on those links, I earn a (very) small percentage. Of course, you could just go onto Amazon (or whatever) yourself and spend your hard-earned cash, in which case I won’t earn a penny, but if one of my reviews inspires you to buy a book, then that’s great. After all, authors are nothing without book-buyers.
March 11, 2016
When is a Blog Not a Blog?
The answer is of course – when it’s also a book. We’ve all heard stories of writers who’ve had their blogs turned into books in one of those rare incidences when some savvy publisher realised its potential and decided to grab the proverbial by the thingumajigs. And before you can say The New Harry Potter, it’s hitting the literary headlines as the Next Big Thing.
But no, I’m not talking about those. Neither am I rabbiting about the many We’ll-print-your-blog-as-a-book-for-only-$$$ schemes. No, what I’m referring to that magic moment when an author realises that bookifying his or her blog might be an easy way to add another title to their bibliography without spending a year writing a new book.
The lovely Jane Friedman doesn’t entirely agree. In her post Please Don’t Blog Your Book, she cites several reasons why you definitely shouldn’t do this, including the habit some writers have of just piling the whole thing into book form without so much as an edit, proof or a how’s-your-father. And, as with all Jane’s advice, it’s good, because naturally, not every blog is going to be a great read in book form. Some, clearly, will be dire, turgid, unnecessary and boring.
So, taking Jane’s advice on board (or rather, ignoring it with my usual yes-but-that-doesn’t-apply-to-me attitude), I nevertheless wanted to try something out. And that’s all it is – just a try-out. To see what happens.
‘The Watson Letters’ which 
has been on the go for several years. The first book The Watson Letters: Something Wicker This Way Comes So the blog I’m talking about is my Sherlock Holmes/Doctor Watson spoof series is a 23,000 word introduction to my other world, featuring real, imaginary and literary characters in a not quite Post-Victorian, steampunk parallel universe, where the intrepid is that I do the usual ‘buy my damn book’ ranting and find nothing happens for weeks on end. This duo continue their fight against crime, along with a generous spoonful of adult humour, fart jokes and dodgy trousers.
The book has only been out a few days and the way these things usually go for metime however, something changed. In little over 24 hours, I’d sold four books. Okay, okay, I know that’s pretty pathetic, but for me, it’s a sign. A sign from that great consulting detective in the sky that what I’ve done is alright.
So we’ll see.
March 8, 2016
Sharing a Box of Frogs
If I had a virtual box of blogs, it’d definitely be worth sharing, unlike a box of frogs which I imagine might fare better in the garden down by the pond.
In recent weeks, several fellow bloggers have generously shared one or other of my blogs/websites, prompting new comments and more followers (which is nice).
Having been ultra busy with my various scribblings, I’ve not had much time for promoting the work of others. So I thought I’d share a few of the blogs I follow and particularly like, as well as sharing a portion of the talent, knowledge and humour that’s out there in the blogosphere.
Here, in no particular order, is my current Top Ten:
David at https://barsetshirediaries.wordpress.com/
Beth at https://ididnthavemyglasseson.com/
Tara at http://tarasparlingwrites.com/
Em at http://keystrokeblog.com/
Steph at https://scrichmondblog.wordpress.com/
Samantha at https://timehonoredclassicalliteratureandmusings.wordpress.com/
Sacha at http://sachablack.co.uk/
Joanna at http://www.thecreativepenn.com/blog/
Maggie at http://www.maggiejamesfiction.com/blog
Bill at https://artistrywithwords.wordpress.com/
I notice there’s not many guys in this list, so come on chaps, don’t let the side down! Anyway, that’s all for now – enjoy.
March 1, 2016
‘The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes’ by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
The twelve short stories collected together as ‘The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes’ were first published in The Strand Magazine, beginning with ‘A Scandal in Bohemia’. Arthur Conan Doyle’s first two novels featuring the consulting detective (‘A Study in Scarlet’ and ‘The Sign of Four’) hadn’t made much of an impression on the general public, but in The Strand’s readership, the individual stories prompted a huge increase in circulation for the magazine and began an unstoppable appetite for Conan Doyle’s analytical detective.
One of my favourites is ‘The Speckled Band’ which introduces us to Helen Stoner, whose sister has died in mysterious circumstances. Her guardian, the marvellously-named Dr Grimesby Roylett, appears to have ulterior motives when he persuades Miss Stoner to move into the bedroom previously occupied by her sister. Naturally, she soon begins to fear for her own life…
Together with such classics as ‘The Red Headed League’ and ‘The Man with the Twisted Lip’, Doyle’s first collection is by far the best and while some of the later books include a few gems, the quality of the stories begins to fall off a little. This isn’t to say they aren’t worth reading, but as I’m sure most fans of the books will admit, one or two of them are doing little more than filling space.
‘The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes’ is the first and the best and if you’re only going to read one collection of the great detective’s tales, this is the one.
Reviewed Books
Although I sometimes receive review copies free from authors, I also review books I’ve bought myself. For every book I review, irrespective of how or where I acquired it, I’ll always give my honest opinion. So if I don’t like a book, I’ll say so, or (more likely) I won’t finish it, in which case there won’t be a review anyway (unless I really hate the author – tee hee).
Affiliate Links
I make use of affiliate links such as those provided by Amazon Associates, Kobo and Barnes and Noble. When you click on those links, I earn a (very) small percentage. Of course, you could just go onto Amazon (or whatever) yourself and spend your hard-earned cash, in which case I won’t earn a penny, but if one of my reviews inspires you to buy a book, then that’s great. After all, authors are nothing without book-buyers.
February 19, 2016
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Word…
Way back at the end of 2013 I posted a short piece celebrating finishing my second novel. It went something like this:
And the last line is finally on the page! The Architect’s Apprentice is finished and the bad guys are finally unmasked. Course, there are still questions, leaving plenty of scope for a follow up…
So, what now? On with the next one, I suppose. The trouble with writing on a regular basis is that I don’t really want to stop in case whatever talent I have disappears out the window. So, in a few days, when the dust has settled, and I have the title, then like a bus at the end of the lane, I’ll hop on til I reach my destination…
The new novel was ‘The Hounds of Hellerby Hall’ and I’m happy to say it was a fairly straightforward process that took me three months to reach what most folks would term the first draft. But how easy is it to jump into that next kettle of literary fish and simply keep going?
One of the things I used to worry about was how I was going to come up with another idea for a novel/story/article etc. In this case, as with much of my writing, I didn’t have a darn thing in my head except the title (which I’d lifted from a piece about a completely different set of characters). What concerned me most was this:
What if I take a break and then come back to writing to find there’s nothing there – no ideas, no inspiration, no nothing?
That question seemed important, but now I don’t worry about it. The answer (for me, at least) lies in a simple philosophy:
Don’t Stop Writing!
Well, okay, I know what you’re thinking – Hey, I’m a writer, I’ve just finished a mammoth project, I deserve a break. And that’s fine, but the way I see it is writers are like athletes – maybe not quite as fit, but in need of the same thing that keeps those guys and gals at the top of their game, running, jumping and swimming – exercise. And we get that exercise by doing what we do, pushing ourselves harder, honing our craft, developing our use of language. And if there’s a shortfall in the Inspiration Department? Keep writing anyway – sooner or later it’ll make sense.
So after I finished Hellerby Hall, I started the next one, and then the next one and so on. And those days when I don’t do very much work on one of my novels, I spend my time blogging, Tweeting, Scriggling and Hubbing and even if I’m not banging away for hours and hours writing stuff that’s mind-blowing, exciting or fascinating, I am writing. And that’s all I need to do.
And yes, of course sometimes I’d rather watch a movie, but come on – you don’t get to be a bestselling author if you don’t put the time in. Just sayin.
