Michael Marshall's Blog, page 3

Spangle

For the people who knew him, I’m putting this up to mark and witness and mourn the fact that Spangle has moved on.

Paula and I got Spangle and his sister Tilly back in 1994, traveling to Scotland in the quest for a Burmilla, after meeting Jane Johnson’s superb cat Iggy. We were only intending to return with one — and Tilly declared herself ready and willing to come home with us, immediately, right now, look my bag’s already packed — but found ourselves unable to leave without taking the small, grey, very shy one too. 

As kittens they insisted on sleeping together on my lap while I worked. As they grew, this meant I had to learn to sit in a half-lotus for hours at a time. Tilly eventually determined that the radiator was an even better option, especially during long, cold London winters, but Spangle had a much stronger work ethic. For a decade, Monday through Friday, he spent most of each day either on my lap or on the second chair I put beside mine, from nine until five o’clock, at which point he’d get up, stretch, and jump down, as if to say — “Okay, we’re done here. What’s for dinner?” 

For a long time, visitors thought we only had one cat — Tilly, who’d get right up in their faces and make it clear she required being taken seriously. But Spangle gradually relaxed into himself, and when Nate came along, it was Spangle who first accepted that this oddly huge, bald kitten was evidently here to stay, and worth becoming friends with. It was because of Spangle that Nate’s first word was not “mum” or “dad”, but “cat”. 

Spangle would sleep under the covers in bed with me. When I went away, he could pile up his toys on my office chair to await my return. He would lie on Paula on the sofa with his paws tucked under, smiling up at her, looking like an advert for contentment and unconditional love. When he was young, he would leap up from the floor into my arms to be held. He had a strange, soft little miaow, as if trying to express abstract nouns, like “fate” or “autumnal equinox”. He was extremely partial to fish and chips and Peking duck, and firmly convinced that all ironing boards were the agents of Satan. He and Tilly were house cats throughout their lives, but Spangle never once even tried to escape: he was happy in his house, and he made it our home. 

The hardest thing about the decision to move to California five years ago was knowing that our cats were too old for the journey. Tilly was already frail and died a few months after we left, but Spangle steered affably into a new phase, living out his retirement with my father, improving his life every day as he had ours. I’m more grateful than I can say to my dad, and Tes and Eleanor, and my Aunt Sheila, for looking after him, and giving him those extra years of comfort and love. My dad said yesterday "I've known a lot of cats, but he's something else". That about covers it. 

I’m trying not to be miserable because Spangle had a very good, very long and very happy life, and reflected that back into the lives of the humans he knew. I’d like to believe that he and Tilly are snoozing together somewhere warm now, as in the picture below. I know that’s fanciful, but there are times when you’re allowed to be fanciful. This is one of them. And if feeling like this is the cost of having known him, then it's worth it a hundred times over. 

Goodbye, my friend —
You were the best cat. 

Spangle
March 1994 - November 2015

I Can Make Your Life Better

Actually, I probably can’t… unless you have unusually specific needs. But that’s okay, because a lot of other people can. In about ten minutes. 

Yesterday in a fit of boredom I read an article of about that length over on Medium, detailing how some guy had “rebooted his life”. I’ve seen the chap’s name around and gather that he’s pretty Famous On The Interwebs and possibly elsewhere. The piece was well-written and engaging and studiously self-effacing and hit all the right affirmative notes — but basically boiled down to "exercise more, and drink less beer”, and thus was clearly the babbling of a madman.

And it made me realize, again, that I don’t blog as often as I’m supposed to. I should blog more. I'm not sure why I should, actually, except that we're all encouraged toward this form of expression — to regularly produce earnest little think-pieces positioning ourselves as battle-hardened but clear-eyed citizens of the brave new worlds of self-empowerment and productivity, seasoning our intellectual savvy with the freewheeling imagination of a Chagall and the tart piquancy of a nonpareil caper. 

This is not one of those pieces. 

Words are not my friend right now, but pictures are still spilling out. So rather than a wise ten-minute-read along the lines of "I've by-God got the measure of the world and am passing on the pearls, oh and by the way, here are links to my book, product or service”, instead here are some recent autumnal images cropped to the ratio of an iPhone lock or home screen. So you could use them for that, if you wanted. 

They’ll probably work on Samsungs too — but first I urge you to look deep inside and ask yourself what entrapping script is making it so hard for you to resist the warm embrace of our Cupertino overlords. 

The pictures aren't super high res but then neither is life most days. No, I have no idea what I mean by that either. 

Enjoy. Or not. I’m off to try exercising less, while drinking more beer.  

I’ll let you know how it goes. 

@ememess

To use, click and hold on an image and say yes, you want to save it. That's on a phone. 

There's a crapload more on my Insta.

The biit.space — now with added music. Sort of.

So, I thought: why not see if music can spark too? 

While procrastinating moodily through some old folders on my hard disk, I found a few musical sketches I did a decade or so ago, and so to get this ball rolling — and set a reassuringly low bar — I’ve put them up on the biit.space in case they spark anyone to write something… 

Yes, I was listening to a lot of John Carpenter soundtracks at the time. And am barely competent. Don’t judge me. Biit is precisely about the not-judging. I know real composers won’t be eating their hearts out, but that’s a good thing. Because that would be gross. 

I don't think they'll actually break your ears but I won't promise more than that. This is basically a attempt to shame some real musicians of my acquaintance into putting a few scraps of real music up. You know who you are. Do it. Do it now. 

If you’ve forgotten what the biit.space is for — or, god help you, don’t even know — then read this. NOW. And pass it on...

"The Seventeenth Kind" movie — OUT NOW

Attention, people of Earth...

Quite a long time ago I wrote a story called THE SEVENTEENTH KIND. It is easily the silliest thing I've ever wrought. Despite this — and a long series of obstructive manoeuvres on my part, including disguising myself as a mango and hiding in the Safeway produce section for several months, and then insisting that all contract negotiations were conducted in mime — Loose Cannon Films insisted on making a half-hour movie of it. 

And today, I'm sorry to announce, it has been released. 

And do you know what? I'm glad. They took all the silliness and ran with it. Sprinted with it, some might say. Not only that, but it stars Tony Curran, Miriam Gargoyles, Silvester McCoy, Ralph Brown and Brian Blessed, for crying out loud — not to mention Lucy Pinder. And it's bundled with extras that include a tie-in eBook of the original short story.

It's available to buy or rent here. Right now. 

So you should do that. 

Ememess 2.0

No, it’s not me that’s been improved, I’m afraid. Still the same. Nothing’s changed. The on-boarding experience remains prone to diffidence, the API is inexplicable to almost everyone, and the overall product is glitchy in the extreme. 

This is by way of announcing, however, that ememess.com has been significantly groovified. Yes, that’s a word. Or it is now. In addition to looking slightly less like it was designed by an intern in 2008, it now offers the opportunity to purchase key volumes directly from the site — and in all major eBook formats. I know, I know. Truly this is all the best of all possible worlds after all. 

As a launch special, we are offering the two eCollections — MORE TOMORROW and EVERYTHING YOU NEED — as a bundle for the gasp-inducingly low price of $8.99. That’s all the weird fiction you can uncomfortably handle, for less than the price of… well, for less than something that’s exactly $9.

When I say “we”, I mean “me”. I set this up all by myself, as a chance to give my inner dork a run in the pasture. Aspects of it were gnarly. So if you get a bunch of weird emails implying you've just shipped 10,000 Kalashnikovs to Bakersfield, or the Feds swoop and accuse you of money-laundering for the Marin Symphony Orchestra, we never spoke, and I don't know you, okay? 

Otherwise, if something goes wrong with your order or your book’s wonky or your cat starts staring into space for no reason, feel free to let me know and I’ll fret about it. 

Though to be honest, I’m surprised and a little hurt you’re here still reading this.

GO TO THE SITE, FOR GOD’S SAKE. 

 

I Urge You To Consider One Of Our Cocktails

I’m just back from a conference in Rhode Island. You’re obviously not busy or you wouldn’t be messing around on the Internet, so here are rather too many disorganised observations….

Judging by the billboards on the way from the airport, everyone in Providence is involved in personal injury litigation all the time. I was surprised we didn’t crash on the way to the hotel. 

Cab rides would be a lot more fun if the drivers dressed, behaved and spoke like airline pilots. With that regal bearing, and those natty hats. And “Good evening gentleman, my name is Crazy Al and I’ll be your driver for this journey to about fifteen blocks away. We’ll be cruising at an altitude of zero feet, with an estimated journey time of rather longer than you expected because you’re clearly from out of town and so I’m going to take you some bizarre route. So now, sit back and relax as WHY DONTCHA LOOK WHERE THE FUCK YOU’RE GOING, ASSHOLE.”

I love airports. The sense of possibility, new places, far horizons. Even if I’m merely at the beginning of a long schlep back to the other coast that will leave me wan and dehydrated, they always stir my soul. 

Those perky bastards who sit in hotels having breakfast at 6:45. I can be up and dressed by then, but the prospect of a big plate of hot food… Oof. They always seem to be dressed in beige and pastels and look like they post on TripAdvisor about the cost of parking. And they always stare at me through the windows — as I lurch up and down outside the hotel mainlining caffeine and nicotine — as if I’m some low-level wild beast in a nature documentary. 

I cannot resist walking down alleyways. That sketchy-looking guy may be me, so don’t call the cops. But small change is always welcome. Or a Sierra Nevada. 

The concourse where your first flight lands will always have the best coffee and food. You will only discover this when you’ve dutifully trekked all the way to the one from which your connecting flight departs, which will resemble Stalin-era Siberia and sell nothing but sunglasses. 

Hoteliers… We don’t want a huge 1980s-style clock-radio on the night stand. I can’t work it. Especially when I’ve just come back from the bar. Instead, because amongst the non-Amish all such functions are now handled by an iPhone, we want somewhere to charge ours overnight — that doesn’t involve unplugging the bedside light from behind a surprisingly heavy piece of furniture. Also, make your coffee machines easier to understand when we’re drunk. And is this, actually, the right hotel?

And while I’m not on the subject, bear in mind that those with over-40s eyesight probably won’t take reading glasses into the shower, so how about making the labels on the toiletries large enough that we stand only a small chance of washing our hair in hand lotion? 

Also, what are those seventeen extra pillows on the bed for? WHAT ARE THEY FOR?

If someone comes up to you on the street and asks if you know Jesus, do not answer “Yes — personally.” They won’t get it and the resulting conversation will be tedious. 

I’d like to thank Starbucks for always being there for me. May you be in every airport, everywhere. BEFORE security. And after it. And during it. 

And to those who say “Starbucks isn’t coffee”… I’d like to reassure you that it is. Of course it’s not the best, and admittedly you need two or three or seven shots to even taste it, and naturally we all disapprove of multi-nationals for some reason we’d find hard to convincingly articulate, but it’s still coffee. Don’t get me wrong, I loves Peets and the more indie coffeehouses (and support them both intellectually and with regular cash) but just because my vast Americanolattechino hasn’t been under-roasted by some go-getting startup-owning Hipster and then had a mandala laboriously created in the foam by some slacker Hipster who thinks they’re an artist or activist or actor or some other annoying thing beginning with A, doesn’t meant it’s not coffee. And Starbucks has the massive advantage of being right here, while you, Zack’s Coffee Collective and Nonjudgemental Mime Space, are not. 

Dear Cab Driver, the Beastie Boys are a bit shouty for 6:30 am. 

There should be some sort of party when the number of iPhone cases for sale exceeds the number of human beings on the planet. It can’t be long now. 

Also, airplanes  of Earth, you do not “have wifi” if you’re charging $10 a second for it. You “sell wifi”. Bookstores don’t say they “have books”, do they. Safeway does not “have gherkins”. That guy standing on the corner in shadow does not “have drugs”. Well then. 

Anita Ward, if I decide that I wish to ring your bell, I shall go ahead and do so. Stop hassling me about it. 

People who say “I can’t eat airline food’”… What are you — seven years old? Yes there’s some ghastly stuff out there (like the stomach-flaying sausage roll Virgin Atlantic foists upon the unwary, which smells okay coming down the cabin but an hour later will make you feel like the devil is fisting your soul). But generally airplane food is edible. Not great, but we’re not expecting great — you’re on a fucking plane, where facilities are limited, and you’re neither Ferran Adria nor Jeffrey Steingarden — but probably on a par with whatever you’d microwave any given evening at home. Even if it’s not, then act like a grown-up and shovel it down and politely demand a lot more wine. Or buy an enormous pretzel in the airport and nibble that. 

All airports have a roof. Put a smoking area up there with a ten dollar cover charge, and use the money to buy militant non-smokers free vitamin pills and wheat grass shots. Or cake — which was what the very comfortably-built woman who glared at me for smoking in a designated area outside the terminal was stuffing in her face at 8:00am this morning, for crying out loud. I want to live in a world where we can all slowly kill ourselves without making moral judgments about each other’s choice of weapon. 

Last time I encountered a plane this small, I’d made it myself out of paper. I hope this one doesn’t also end up behind the bookcase. 

“The nearest exit may be behind you” could be seen as ominously metaphorical. 

“Can I start you off with some appetisers?”
No. Or maybe yes — but either way I’m on top of the decision. You don’t have to trigger a ‘What — there’s food you can have… before the food? Seriously???’ moment of revelation. 

My waitress on the last night was a mistress of the up-sell, taking me through the drinks list line by line before saying “I urge you to consider one of our cocktails.” I was tempted — almost no-one urges me to drink more heavily these days — but told her firmly that a local beer was what I wanted. Undeterred, she chirped “Wonderful!” and then tried to steer me toward the night’s entree special, hand-crafted from several endangered species and a snip at $741. It was a struggle not to seek out the cheapest thing on the menu or ask for an empty plate, just to mess with her head. Then she kept trying to bring me bread until I had to hide under the table. It was like there was a city-wide ordinance that Everyone Must Have Bread. In the end I told her that baked goods make me cry, and she backed off and went away to try and sell some other people a yacht. 

And, hotel restaurants — slow the fuck down when serving solo diners. We’re there because we’re too zonked on this occasion to wander out and find somewhere groovier and more authentic, and instead just want some downtime in a non-taxing environment. So don’t process us and plonk down the check in forty minutes flat — “I’ll take that whenever you’re ready, no rush” — because all we’ve got to do afterward is slink back to our room and sprawl on the bed burping and staring into space dolefully questioning our life choices and wondering if we shouldn’t be yoga instructors in Hawaii instead. 

Wolfgang Puck looks like he’s made of leather. I want a laptop case made of his face. 

That is all. 

What You Make It

Purely because a great picture by Eygló caused me to remember the story, I’ve made a little ebook of something I wrote years ago. Below are download links. Help yourself, and pass it on. 

Kindle format
iBooks format
General ePub for Nook and everything else

I have no idea why I’m giving it away like some crazy person. I don’t even have a book to pimp. I may simply have gone insane. Yes, I think that’s it. And in some ways it’s a relief. 

Though in fact, it’s not totally without cost. If you download, you have to try out a new system called PeopleWare™ that I’ve just this moment invented. Instead of paying, do something for yourself: something you know you’ll feel better after — but don’t always get around to doing, or don't feel you deserve. Buy the damned cookie and go eat it somewhere nice. Or do an extra half mile next time you run. Spend five minutes stroking the cat and staring into space — nuts to the deadline: it’ll wait. Tidy up the silverware drawer like you keep meaning to — yes it’s boringly domestic, but it's your domus and you’ll feel weirdly virtuous afterward and keep opening and shutting it with a beatific feeling of satisfaction. Go for a walk in the woods with someone, or — if you need this more — by yourself. Skip dessert. Or finally try out one of those gags that are always going around the net, like dressing up in old-fashioned clothes and going up to some randomer in Safeway breathlessly demanding to know what year it is — and when they answer, sprint out into the street shouting “It worked! It worked!”

Or it may be that the best thing for you is to do is something for another person instead. That's for you to know. Whichever. Just spend a couple of dollars’ worth of billable time on people-stuff, self-improvement or mindful self-indulgence, or something for someone else.

And if friend, family or co-worker should ask what the hell you think you’re doing, tell 'em Michael Marshall Smith made you do it. 

Cover illustration by Eygló — huge thanks for letting me use it. 

ANNOUNCING: The BiiT.space

Someone once asked the novelist Thomas Berger why writers write. His answer was: “Because it isn’t there.” 

The question writers get asked most often is, of course, "Where do you get your ideas?" And none have anything but polite or facetious non-answers, because the truth is we don't know. Something sparks you — when you're out walking, or standing in line in Starbucks, or hunting for capers in the supermarket — some thing in the world that starts a fire in the mind.

Over the last year or so I've been putting up pictures on Instagram, and a few have caused people to react with words. So now I've set up BiiT — a site featuring examples of these things that weren't previously there.

If you'd like to play... there's the Insta, and the pictures pop up on FB and Twitter. And I hide some of them under cats. Use the Submit page on the site to send a flame... be it a caption, a poem, a short (or long) story, a two-hour Köln Concert-style tonal meditation, or a three-day free-form improvisational dance. BiiT me at biit.space. 

I'm only mentioning my pictures because they're there. So hell yes submit sparks of your own... That's what I'm hoping for. The world's most neglected resource is people's desire to make things — and everyone needs a spark sometimes. Be that spark. Suggest a gallery of your photos or art, a piece or scrap of music you've composed... anything you've made. And don't be shy. An artist isn't someone who creates something perfect. An artist is someone who's prepared to keep producing imperfect things day after day, in the hope that someone, somewhere might like them.

Go on, go have a look. And Like, and comment positively, too. Finding the things that aren't there is a solitary and vulnerable business, prey to insecurity and doubt. It's nice to know when others have enjoyed what you've done. I have plans for a Sinister Phase 2 of the site, and an Even More Sinister Phase 3, but they'll have to wait until I've finished writing my damned book. 

Spread the word. And click on the big black button.

Results of #OF20, and FREE BEER*

Okay, people of earth — put down your chainsaws and listen up. It’s time to announce the results of the #OF20 competition. 

*There's no such thing as a free beer. You should know that by now. I could maybe do you a breakfast burrito. 

Firstly, thank you all for entering. It was outlandishly hard to choose a winner, and so far as I’m concerned you’re all winners. Apart from Russell Brand, who’s a tosser. As he didn’t actually enter I suppose that’s just gratuitous abuse. So be it. 

The “Picture with a copy of the new edition in it” competition had many fine entries, but in the end Liam Jax (@jaxAttack3B) pulled into the lead with his awesome illustration...  

Competition was also fierce for the “Picture with any previous edition in it" award, many of which — I'm happy to say — featured cats, but I’m afraid that once seen, Bob Lock (@Bob_Lock)’s tortoise-based creation proved impossible to unsee. In fact, I understand that many historians now divide the evolution of human culture into two epochs — that preceeding the existence of this picture, and everything that happens afterward. Time will tell whether that’s a good thing. Time is supposed to be telling a lot of things, and I’m getting bored of waiting. There should be an upgrade tier called “TimePro™” or “Time Enterprise Edition" where you could pay a low monthly fee and be able to interrogate Time right away, without having to wait for it to pass. Plus an app, obviously. With iCloud sync. And Slack integration. 

But, because it’s the kind of guy I am (an idiot), I’m boldly going to also present three runners’ up copies of the new edition, to @eyglo, @motleyhippie and @rossjparsons...

Eyglo

Maggie

Ross

If you could all either DM or IM me your addresses, along with any inscription you might like in the books, I shall get them to you as quickly as my notorious level of inefficiency allows. Worst case, and if you’re still waiting at that point, I’ll bundle in a copy of the 50th Anniversary Edition too. 

Okay — as you were. You must have something else you should be doing. Seriously. 

 

The Most Exciting News Of All Time

In a stunning turn of events that many are describing as “literally the most exciting thing that’s ever happened, like, ever’, Ememess Press have announced the immediate availability of a Kindle edition of MORE TOMORROW & OTHER STORIES. 

Despite the fact this 2003 collection won the International Horror Guild Award and contains the ground-breaking tales of unease that established Michael Marshall Smith as a household name (within his own household), the publishers have been astounded by the sheer magnitude and fervor of the response. 

“Never in a bazillion years did we expect anything like this,” publisher spokesperson Dee Muir said, speaking with phones hooked under both ears. "We’ve had to build a whole new Internet to cope with the demand, and are commissioning entire continents of virtual trees from which to fashion these eBooks. It’s insane.”

Excitement about the news transcends all demographic and age boundaries. “I don’t care what happens in any future sporting events of any kind,” unemployed Bakersfield father of nine Pete Jarrett was reported as saying this morning, “even if they involve my home team. After the MORE TOMORROW announcement, it’s all kind of small beer.” Legendary movie director Stephen Spielberg agreed: “The Oscars? Who gives a shit?’ he said. “This MORE TOMORROW news has blown my fucking mind.” 

Children across the nation have dismissed their upcoming birthdays as ‘blah’ in the light of the news, with San Mateo tween Amanda Huginkiss declaring ten minutes ago that she would probably open her presents “at some point, but only after I’ve heard a bit more about this MORE TOMORROW thing.” The incumbent recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, Ikyyr Rømsstyr, reportedly neglected to book a flight to Oslo for the ceremony, so wrapped up was he in the unfolding news of the long-awaited eBook — and after being informed of the announcement the Dalai Lama was seen cartwheeling down a hillside screaming with delight.

Only presidential hopeful Hilary Clinton set a restrained tone, initially responding to the news with a reserved "Booyah", but was later observed punching the air and performing pelvic thrusts with what onlookers described as "disturbing intensity". 

Today has been declared a holiday in many countries across the world, so that overjoyed readers can show their appreciation in parades and other spontaneous public demonstrations of joy. At time of writing, millions of people have actually lost consciousness as a result of the uncontrollable delirium caused by the news, and so — to avoid crashing the web and its associated financial infrastructures — now would probably be a good time to zip over and pick up a copy. 

It’s here. And here. And in other Amazons worldwide.

You'll tell your grandchildren about this day. You know you will.