Matt Phillips's Blog, page 2

Epilogue

The sun crept up above the horizon, a sun I didn’t think I would ever see again. Its light reached us and I basked in its glory.

Sarah sat next to me. She hadn’t said a word since we had touched down. It had been a messy landing, but I’d had worse, I knew that for certain. It had taken all my remaining energy to get out of the cockpit and slump onto the ground in the field. I hadn’t noticed when Sarah had joined me. She looked haggard and tired. I couldn’t know what she had gone through, these...

Chapter 13

Something was squeaking, over and over, a repetition that clawed its way into the blackness that surrounded me. It gnawed at me, seeming to scrape at my ears and burrow into my brain. My body rocked slightly from side to side, then jolted as it bumped into something.

“Careful you fool,” said Dante.

The surface under my shoulders was hard and cold. I was flat on my back but moving. With my eyes closed I could still make out the subtle changes in light level as I passed under lights set in the ce...

Chapter 12

I strode down the corridor. My head was clear, there was no pain, and I felt better than I had in a long time. But it was temporary, almost an illusion.

“What you are proposing is madness!” Laurent had followed me from the room and was hurrying down the corridor.

“Probably,” I smiled.

“Wait, you must wait. You see, when you fell unconscious I didn’t know what to do. I said that there was only really one place to turn for help. It was the Mnemosyne lab that I meant. I didn’t know then what you ha...

Annah Mac

Not really the sort of music that I tend to go for, but really enjoying the debut album from Southland Kiwi Annah Mac (http://www.myspace.com/annahmac). Catchy stuff with emotion. The chorus on ‘Focus’ is particularly evocative. A good pick-me-up song if everything is seeming blurred and tangled. Put it on, feel the clarity. Tingley stuff.

Oooohohoh… Focus!

Check it out, you’ll like it.

New Music (and it’s Kiwi)

Not really the sort of music that I tend to go for, but realy enjoying the debut album from Southland Kiwi Annah Mac (http://www.myspace.com/annahmac). Catchy stuff with emotion. The chorus on ‘Focus’ is particularly evocative. A good pick-me-up song if everything is seeming blurred and tangled. Put it on, feel the clarity. Tingly stuff.

Oooohohoh… Focus!

Check it out, you’ll like it.

Interview and Laurie’s Reviews

Sharks and Pigeons has been featured on Laurie’s review website! Checkout the interview and excerpt here.

Don’t go there…

Sometimes the internet seems a bit like a free-for-all. The anonymity – or at least the separation implied by not being face-to-face – so often gives people license to write things they never would dream of uttering out loud. A different set of rules seems to prevail, or at least I thought.

Recently I saw a facebook post from an old school friend announcing the birth of their daughter. Great news to be able to share, and of course there were already lots of comments from acquaintances offering...

Plotmash – changes ahead

Hello patient people. I’m going to be making some changes to this blog, but first – the end of the plotmash process.

Over the next 2 weeks I’ll be posting the final chapters from the plotmash experiment. It’s not been everything I hoped it would be, but it’s been a fun ride and I’ve learned a lot. It’s a format I think I will use again, but I think I need to have a better plan for the engagement angle. Let me know if you have any ideas.

Now, the changes. The thing is, I’ve become rather comfort...

Emancipator

I was commenting on a friend's blog recently about music to write to.  My all time top music to write to is the starkly beautiful music from emancipator:

http://www.emancipatormusic.com/

This guy's tracks are my go to sound when I need mellow inspiration.  They always do the job.  This music is a constant on my iPod, and after listening to it so many times it can still make my spine tingle.  In fact, it did just now, so it automatically became the subject my next post.

Check it out, you won't...

Degas to Dali, in Auckland

I've just been to check out the paintings at 'Dega to Dali' at the Auckland Art Gallery (http://www.aucklandartgallery.com/).

It's a very enjoyable exhibition, with a remarkable number of works from the collection of the Scottish Galleries (made me feel a pang of sympathy for the Scots – do they have any paintings let at the moment?!).  My favourite was Van Gogh's Olive Trees, although maybe I'm conditioned in some way to like Van Gogh (?).

Almost more remarkable than the paintings was the...