Christopher Fowler's Blog, page 489

Where Am I?

The WordPress Gigs Calendar seems to be full of bugs and takes ages to program with information, so I'll update you here.

This Saturday afternoon I'm at Reading Town Hall doing a crime panel with Peter Guttridge, M.C. Beaton, Malcolm Pryce and Mike Ripley. The subject; crime and comedy.

On Tuesday 28th September I'll be at [...:]

What's The Score?

Some interesting comments on the post about working with music (see 'Words & Music'). I used to play classical music while I worked, but the sound range of much classical is too wide to allow concentration, sweeping from very small moments to distractingly gigantic ones. In an odd way, the limited palette of modern pop, [...:]

Re:View – 'Buried'

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NO SPOILERS
The Spanish film industry seems to go from strength to strength, producing great stars and directors – now first-time director Rodrigo Cortes gets a Hollywood movie that has been instantly propelled into the Hitchcock pantheon.

How did he do it? By making the ultimate 'precinct' movie (a film set within a [...:]

Mass & Murder

We're about to welcome the Pope, passing through central London in his bullet-proof Popemobile this week. The appearance of the 83 year-old former Hitler Youth member has encouraged the Guardian's Ben Goldacre to devote his 'Bad Science' column to the subject.

He reminds us that in May 2005 Mr Ratzinger made his first pronouncement on Aids, [...:]

Bits Of London That Still Look Dickensian

Sometimes you'll turn a corner on a rainy night and find a street that appears to have fallen out of the pages of Oliver Twist. Here's a funeral parlour I snapped on my phone, somewhere between St John's St and Roseberry Avenue. I should have noted the name of the street – will amend when [...:]

Dying Is Easy, Comedy Is Hard

There's been a lot of talk recently about awards going to books with comedy elements. The Booker, always famously po-faced about its selections, is lightening up – so is comedy finally to be accepted as a valid artistic tool?

I'm a proud past winner of the Last Laugh award for the year's best comedy crime novel, [...:]

When We Were Very Young

The lovely Barry Forshaw, editor of the Encyclopedia of British Crime Writing, sends me this blast from the past. I don't remember being there, but apparently it was Clive Barker's 40th birthday. I'm rubbish at names but recognise Clive, Kim Newman, Steve Jones and Peter James. Authors end up with hundreds of similarly awkward-looking shots [...:]

Words & Music

I've been talking to writers about how we create prose, and a common subject has emerged.

But let's not talk about money today.

It seems most of us write to music. Joanne Harris tells me she was in a band, and has a strong musical ear for prose. China Mieville and Iain Banks both mentioned the [...:]

Celebrity 4: Backstage Preparations

Rehearsals are now beginning on the play. Our director, Amber, has chosen our ideal cast, and there was never a moment of doubt about who it should be; we both knew that all four were right the moment we heard them read. Although I've directed actors most of my life and Amber was virtually born [...:]

Re:View – 'Shoes'

10 dancers, 250 pairs of shoes, 5 choreographers, 32 musical numbers – all on the subject of shoes? 'If you don't like shoes it's going to be a very long evening,' warns one performer, but rather surprisingly the result is wonderful. Composer Richard Thomas wrote 'Jerry Springer – The Opera' and along with Stewart Lee [...:]