Colin Galbraith's Blog, page 5

Penicuik Arts Festival

I spent last Saturday at the Penicuik Arts Festival. I’d been invited by my friends James and Mhairi, both locals who have in the past taken an interest in my writing.

i had two events: a ‘Meet the Author’ event at the Town Hall where I chatted to folk, sold and signed books. The other was a kids poetry workshop at the West Street Arts Centre.

The signing went very well. Silly Poems for Wee People was the by far the most popular book on sale, followed by Slick and Fringe Fantastic. I think the most pleasurable moment was the young lad of about 8 or 9, who after buying a copy with his Mum, could be seen engrossed in it at a table in the coffee shop.

I’d ordered a one-off print run of Slick just for the event, and the front cover and tag line (“Sometimes you’re better off dead”) proved to be quite the talking point among some of the locals.

It all went very well and the people at Penicuk were very friendly and welcoming.

The kids workshop didn’t quite go as planned. We weren’t sure how many would show up but in the end we got four kids, one of which had done the workshop before.

I had to cut it short in the end as some of the kids started to lose interest. It’s an age thing. I’ve realised over the last couple of workshops that kids still at the early stages of learning to write aren’t able to enjoy it as much as those that can. They get frustrated and lose interest fast. If I do any more of these workshops (and I was exhausted after Saturday), then I’m upping the age to maybe 9-12 or something like that.

Overall, it was a great success. I hope the Festival enjoyed having me there and I certainly enjoyed spending my day there. The home-made soup and toasties in the Arts Centre Cafe are highly recommended, by the way.

But the whole signing thing got me to thinking. I sold as many books in 2 hours as I do online in 1 or 2 weeks. That’s quite a statistic, so I’ve signed up for future Arts Markets at the Out of the Blue Drill Hall in Leith. I figure I can clear my stock in no time doing it that way!

GDRs: September’s Plan of Attack

Okay, so I’m nearly done with all my reviewing and planning, and it’s time to get down to work. So here’s September’s plan. Regular readers will notice it’s much, much smaller than of my previous years’ efforts, but at least you know why that is.

You’ll also notice that the focus is heaviest on one distinct area: fiction. The rest exists, but there’s less of an accent.

It’s time to get back to the page…

Fiction

* Define a working routine

* Get back up to speed on GATECRASH

* Polish up DAFFODILS for submission

Poetry

* Decide on publishing schedule for LIVING LEITH

* Look at drafted work and decide next project

* Start recording more Audioboos

Editing

* Finalise and publish RR September (issue 20)

* Keep up with RR submissions

Marketing / Networking

* Prepare for Meet the Author event at Penicuik Arts Festival (PAF)

* Prepare marketing material for PAF

* Prepare poetry workshop material for PAF

* Lit Salon

GDRs: Plan for 2012/13

What are my GOALS for 2012/13?

To Complete and Publish GATECRASH
To Write and Publish A New Novel
To Publish two new chapbooks
To Market My Name As A “Brand” Worth Investing In
To Read 42 Novels

As you can see it’s slimmed down a hell of a lot. I’m not going to publicise the dreams and resolutions part – too personal for public consumption – but the goals, as far as this blog goes, are what’s important.

The plan is basically this: to complete the unfinished novel and get it out, write a new one, and in between write and publish a couple of new chapbooks.

Shouldn’t be too hard – what, what?

GDR Annual Review 2011/12

My writing year runs from September to July, with August my month off to evaluate and plan. Usually I do this during and at the Edinburgh Book Festival, but it wasn’t to be this year. Here’s how I did…

What were my GOALS for 2011/12?

PRIORITY 1: To Get All Outstanding Long Fiction Out On Submission - achieved

PRIORITY 2: To Publish The 5 Chapbooks Currently In Production - not achieved

PRIORITY 3: To Market My Name As A “Brand” Worth Investing In – achieved

PRIORITY 4: To Write A New Novel – not achieved

PRIORITY 5: To Increase My Visibility In The Scottish Literary Scene - achieved

PRIORITY 6: To Read 42 Novels - not achieved

What were my DREAMS for 2011/12?

To Have A Novel Published - achieved

To Move House - not achieved

What were my RESOLUTIONS for 2011/12?

Never made either.

Last year’s highlights

Writing

Completed BACCARA BURNING; now ready for publication.
Completed LIVING LEITH; now ready for publication.
47 Edinburgh Book Festival articles written garnering a lot of publicity and networking opportunities.
Blogged from the West Port Book Festival.
Blogged from Portobello Book Festival.
Kept up the Man in the East gig reviews.

Publication

Published illustrated SILLY POEMS FOR WEE PEOPLE in December.
Published crime novel, SLICK, in January.
Published crime novella, GREENER IS THE GRASS, in May.
Published POEMS FROM A COFFEE SHOP WINDOW in May.
Haiku selection published in book and displayed in a gallery for the Trees for Life charity exhibition.
Haiku published by Every Day Poets.

Courses

Savvy Authors Course: Advanced Dialogue Workshop.
Publishing advice forum with Allan Guthrie (Jenny Brown Associates/Blasted Heath) Francis Bickmore (Canongate).

Other

Re-release POOLSIDE POETRY with new front cover.
Attended Alistair Darling book launch.
Attended first few Edinburgh Literary Salon events.
Apple iMac installed, setup and running fine.
Kept Ranfurly Review running and publishing on schedule.
Met with Allan Guthrie.
Rebranded myself: new crime/paranormal site. [www.colingalbraith.co.uk] and new poetry site under pseudonym, Chas Stramash [www.chasstramash.com].
Sales of print editions on all poetry books up 300% since the Chas Stramash relaunch.
Advice from Elspeth Murray on working kids poetry workshop development.
Attended Trees for Life Charity exhibition opening night at Out of the Blue Drill Hall.
Attended Marie Curie charity night.
Attended RSA Annual Exhibition in the National Gallery.
Won the grand prize at Trees for Life charity raffle: signed ltd. edition print by Trevor Jones.
Had a tree planted (along with the other artists) in a new Caledonian forest grove .
Became Patron and visited the SKY Project in Kilmarnock for poetry evening/workshop.
Took kids poetry workshop at the Out of School club in Loanhead
Requested to provide feedback over Story Shop bias to Edinburgh City of Literature.
Met, and got pissed, with Keith Armstrong, England’s top poet!
Met (several times) and got pissed, with top non-fiction author and academic, JF Derry.
Initial tester stock of SILLY POEMS FOR WEE PEOPLE sold out at the Edinburgh Bookshop with great feedback. More stock on order.
Was asked to sign up for a Meet the Author event at Penicuik Arts Festival in September.
Was asked to give a kids poetry workshop at Penicuik Arts Festival in September.
Got through 33 books, average 3/month.
Asked to do several online interviews, one of which included a sketched portrait.

What writing breakthrough this past year made me the happiest/proudest? 

Breaking through to decent sales and visibility through self-publishing advice received from a top literary agent/publisher in Edinburgh.

What unexpected writing joys did I discover during the year? 

That I am unable to keep up the high output all of the time – so I’ve learned when it’s best not to write.

Last year’s lowlights 

Never got time to complete GATECRASH
Although I completed 3 new full works of fiction, I never made the aim to write a brand new novel
Never got DAFFODILS out in time for competition
Only managed 3 out of 6 of annual goals, when if it hadn’t been for the day job adjustment, I would probably have completed 5 out of 6
1 dream and both resolutions ditched because of job situation
Left my job

Looking back, would I have done anything differently? 

No. Regret will get me nowhere.

What did you find you needed to release, because, as the year progressed, it no longer worked to struggle towards it as a goal?

Writing the new novel.

What expectations did I find I needed to let go of? 

Don’t think I did. I do now, though.

How has writing become more important in your life this past year?

Writing has become more important because as my life has changed, I’ve realised how much I need it to keep a balanced perspective.

Where am I now with my writing career overall? 

In a good position. I’ve worked hard and taken some tough advice but it’s paying off. Now I need to capitalise and build forward again. I need to re-rally the troops who think I’ve forgotten about them.

Rape Jokes Are Not Funny

Reblogged from :

I caused a bit of a twitterstorm this morning, moaning about mysogeny and rape jokes during two Edinburgh Fringe Festival gigs we attended last night. This is now me, trying to work it out, in the way that writers often do try to work out a problem, by writing about it.
It actually started last night, during the aforementioned gigs,

Read more… 2,809 more words

I've never been one to re-blog other people's posts but this one is worthy. Not only should JF Derry be commended for heckling (I've never had the guts) but to make his case so fully like this has changed my opinion on something I'd never really given much thought to (to my shame). What's even more worrying is Daniel Sloss' attempt at deflecting the issue with his opinion while refusing to even read the article.

Read on....

Missing the Book Festival

The Edinburgh International Book Festival is a week old, kicking off at Charlotte Square last Saturday and by all accounts, it’s going well in what is its 50th year.

I say “by all accounts” because so far this year, I’ve spent a grand total of 20 minutes inside the Square. Yup, it’s pretty grim. Not one event have I been to, and all I’ve managed is a couple of slow walks around the boards.

I took my daughter out for breakfast last Saturday, and after helping to advise me on suitably trendy shoe-ware for a 38 year old, we wandered up to Charlotte Square for a mosey.

The old butterflies came fluttering back as we turned onto George Street and approached Charlotte Square. It was the first time I had seen the tents this year other than in tweeted pictures of the construction.

We walked in and with the sunshine coming down in swathes, it was great to see the Square so busy and buzzing. I didn’t spot anyone I knew on that brief visit, but just to sample the atmosphere was good for me.

It felt very surreal to be standing there knowing I would be lucky to make any events, knowing I wouldn’t be blogging or podcasting, and knowing that everything that will happen over the next 17 days will arrive to me second hand instead of witnessed.

It wasn’t depressing, just a bit different and a feeling of bring oddly separate. If anything, it renewed my determination to get myself sorted out so that I can begin to move forward again. My non-participation this year has served as a powerful reminder to me of how I really need to use these few weeks in August to evaluate where I am, absorb the writing year just passed, and plan accordingly.

Last year, and in particular the extremely positive after-effects of the 2011 Book Fest, are still alive. The writing year that has now been, has been one of my best: public appearances, rocketing book sales, publication, great networking – a huge success for 2011/12 overall – so I can’t afford to be too hard on myself purely because these last couple of months have been so shit on the writing front. Needs must, after all.

Theres another side to all of this too, that I’ll tell you about. Because my weeks are so busy and tense, with 14 hour working days and brain clenching effort being made not to fuck it all up, my patience for crowds has vanished.

Getting to and from Glasgow for work is largely uncomplicated, but when rush hour hits and if I’m in it, I hate it. My blood pressure rises and the tension mounts. Transfer that into being unable to move easily around Edinburgh in my days off due to the extra 500k pairs of leg on the streets, and you can see where I’m going with this.

I’m already looking forward to the first weekend in September when the crowds will be gone, the air will cool, and life shall return to something resembling normality.

I was amazed to read that the mysterious “they” are claiming numbers are massively down on previous year Fringes, and that it’s all down to the Olympics.

Could have fooled me.

A Year in Writing (and Other Stuff)

August. Traditionally at this time of year I would normally be writing like a maniac to squeeze in as many of my remaining GDRs into the last week of my writing year. But not this time. This time, work has ground almost to a standstill and I face a serious amount of evaluation this August.

2012 has been a year of massive change for me on the non-writing front.

I left my permanent job of 14 years in February, and after a couple of months off and looking for a new job, I eventually took the plunge into I.T. contracting. It’s something I always said I might try, and with the timing right, I decided it was now or never.

I picked up an excellent first contract based in Glasgow, and am now a couple of months into the job. It’s an exciting role that has required me to step up to the plate and play my top game every day. So far, I’m managing it.

I’m loving everything about contracting. It has given me a lot more freedom and choices, a renewed vitality and enthusiasm, and a lot more pay.

I’m also loving being back working in Glasgow. I love the city with a passion: the people, the streets, the things you see and hear – it’s a beautiful place; flawed, but beautiful.

However, my days are long and intense because I have to deliver and I have to commute either end of it – two hours at either end.

My day starts at around 5:30am and doesn’t end until I step back inside my front door at around 7pm at night. It’s a long day.

And it’s this career change, that you are no doubt beginning to see, that has has impacted my writing schedule. While I’ve been trying to establish a new routine and adapting to it, I’ve also been creating an incorporated company and learning all that that entails. I’ve also been adapting to a new company, a new role and of course, a whole bunch of new people and surroundings.

This means that I’ve not managed to leverage any time into my day for writing, and to be totally honest, I have no energy to write when I get home.

And there lies the problem. I have thrown myself into contracting because I want to make it work. It’s opening up so many new doors and giving me a new lease of life, but without writing being part of that, a part of me remains unfulfilled.

To put it into perspective, I have not been up once to see the erection of the book festival tents, and I have not purchased a single ticket for an event because I don’t know when I’ll be able to get there. in fact, I’ve hardly had a chance to think about the 2012 book fest.

It’s that much of a change.

So I’m closing off my 2011/12 writing year one week early. I’m going to wrap up the last couple of months “work” later in this post, then this week I’m going to do my annual evaluation. It’s not been a bad year – it’s been a damn good one – but the last quarter has been non-existent. I already know it will be a case of so close but no cigar.

Over the book festival period (my traditional time off for evaluation) I shall attempt to put together a new plan based around the demands of my new non-writing life. I.T. Is how i provide for my family so it has to be the priority, but writing has to exist to preserve my sanity.

There has to be a balance somewhere, it’s just that this year I’m going to have to look a lot harder to find it.

Before I move to my final monthly GDR, I’ll tell you about some of the major writing things that have happened to me in the last couple of months:

BACCARA BURNING will be released in the autumn. Its the sequel to Stella and will be my 2nd paranormal novella. It will also be the 3rd book available through my 3 ebook deal.
GATECRASH remains my WIP. I had hoped to have it done by the book festival, but you now know why that’s not going to happen.
In September you are all invited to the Penicuik Arts Festival. On Saturday 15th, you will find me at the Town Hall between 12 and 2pm at a Meet The Author event. I’ll be signing copies of all my books and chatting away to anyone who turns up.
A special run of paperback versions of SLICK and GREENER IS THE GRASS will be available in September as a one-off.
I’m also taking another kids poetry workshop at the Penicuik Arts Festival. I’ll post the website with details once I’m told it’s available.
Finally, the Edinburgh Bookshop has sold out of the first run of all copies of my kids poetry book, SILLY POEMS FOR WEE PEOPLE. It’s proving to be massively popular title in Edinburgh and the feedback from the shop’s customers has been excellent. Another print run has been ordered, so it’ll be back in stock very soon.

So here it is, my final monthly quarterly GDR review:

Fiction

* Launch GREENER IS THE GRASS – done

* Complete revision of GATECRASH – not done

* Republish SLICK with “Other Books” section – not done

* Re-write DAFFODILS for Bloody Scotland competition – not done

Poetry

* Submit POEMS FROM A COFFEE SHOP WINDOW for PSH giveaway 1st May

* Launch POEMS FROM A COFFEE SHOP WINDOW (Kindle/Paperback)

* Contact Edinburgh Bookshop with SILLY POEMS update – done; visit scheduled on 1st June – sold out!

Editing


* Finalize RR June (issue 19-June ‘12) – done (but late)

* Keep up with RR submissions – done

Freelance

* Development work on GGP Boudoir website – abandoned

* Development work on website for Building Services client – never heard back
* Complete development work on Driving School website – done

Marketing / Networking

* GREENER: Press Kit submissions – done

* Update CS website for POEMS FROM A COFFEE SHOP WINDOW – done

* Lit Salon – not made last three

* interviewed for Nadine Unscripted

* Interviewed by Peter Adam Solomon

Reading / Learning

THE NEWBIES GUIDE TO PUBLISHING by JA Konrath – IP

THE COMPLAINTS by Ian Rankin – read

TO KILL A MOCKING BIRD by Harper Lee – read

FREAKS by Tess Gerritsen – read

HIT & RUN by Doug Johnstone – read

INSPECTOR ZHANG GETS HIS WISH by Stephen Leather – read

FLASHBACK by Kyla LoPresti – read

RED LIGHT by Malcolm Holt – read

RANDOM by Craig Robertson – read

DEAD LINE by Stella Rimington – read

TALES FROM THE MALL by Ewan Morrison – IP

THE MAN IN THE SEVENTH ROW by Brian Pendreigh – IP

Things That Turned Up

* Requested to provide feedback over the Story Shop question to Edin City of Lit

* Attended a play (Standing Stanes) by Siege Perilous at MalMaison in Leith.

Submissions Activity Summary

* BACCARA BURNING sent to new publisher but rejected

Successes

* Initial tester stock of SILLY POEMS sold out at Edinburgh Bookshop with great feedback. More books requested for full stocking deal.

* Agreed to Meet the Author event at Penicuik Arts Festival

* Giving a kids workshop at Penicuik Arts Festival

Your Majesty, This Is Your Life

It seems that it’s a requirement, particularly in these potent days of nationalist and republican debate, for Scottish writers to be card carrying nationalists and republicans. Week after week I listen to writers getting behind the SNP and taking potshots at the monarchy.

I’m sorry to break the pattern, but I don’t fall into line with either of those ways of thinking.

I watched The Big Question on BBC1 this morning, and what I saw was a great example not only of the breadth of coverage of opinion, but also that we live in a country where people can speak out for or against things, even the establishment, without fear of violent reprisal.

We are lucky to have that, and I firmly believe that the system in which we live – a democratically elected government with a monarchy above it – is the very thing that gives us that freedom. We should be celebrating this, not seeking to destroy it.

Among even the most republican of republicans in the audience this morning, not one single person came out and said they didn’t think the Queen had done a bad job. Not one person actually called for her to be sacked and for the monarchy to be disbanded. The general weight of the argument seemed to be calls for them to be elected and accountable.

We, as a nation, already have this right. We hold elections to choose our representatives that we wish to serve us for a fixed term in government, and to shape our laws and society. We put our trust in them to take the big decisions and divert money to where it is best put to use.

If they fuck it up, we sack them and vote in someone else. Meanwhile the monarchy sits above this ever-changing entity, acting as the tangible measure of stability through all our nations’ crisis.

The expenses scandal, Leveson, Iraq and Afghanistan, coalition governments, world wars; behind it all is our Monarch, our non-elected and non-accountable Head of State. This is the backbone that keeps this small group of nations fighting above its weight, and not ending up paralysed like Greece or Spain.

It is the very fact we have a monarchy that keeps us from falling into a mire of civil failure like so many others, and that sets us apart. Without it, we have no measure of stability and the politicians will become evermore unaccountable.

Alex Salmond recognises this fact. He has stated in his vision for an independent Scotland, that he wishes to keep the Queen as Scotland’s Head of State.

Won’t that cost too much, though? Blaming the Queen is the wrong way of seeing what’s happening. If the politicians can find billions to bail out our banks, they sure as hell could find a few extra hundred thousand pounds to help out our councils and charities, charities like The SKY Project, who try to better the lives if underprivileged kids.

It’s not the Queen’s fault charities like that are in the position they are, it’s the politicians. The Queen acts as the barrier that protects the constitution and nation from the worst of itself; the politicians are the ones that get it wrong; the same people WE voted in.

Only 65% of us turned out to vote in the 2010 election (that’s the third lowest turnout since World War II), that led to the arse-up of a coalition we have now. That’s the same coalition that everyone is now trampling the streets in protest against their policies and cutbacks. I don’t see any anti-monarchy marches today. All I see is a lot of people using the Jubilee as a reason to get together instead of staying home to watch crappy Sunday TV.

Alan Bissett on The Big Question this morning, said: “We don’t need the Queen to tell us to go out and get together.” Yet other than the Royal Wedding last year and the previous Jubilee in 2002, I can’t think of any other times in our recent history that has been the spark to bring out so many people into the streets for BBQs and a knees-up.

That’s just in England though! Well, no it’s not. The street around the corner of me in Leith is closed off for a street party. There’s around 30 others in Edinburgh alone, and I can’t remember that last time that happened.

So Alan, I think we do need occasions like this. Can you see us all doing the same thing for President Salmond’s Jubilee?

I would therefore argue, that while people see the Queen’s Jubilee as the perfect time to shout out against the monarchy, the net effect is the opposite, and it is precisely these occasions that brings Britain together.

But maybe that’s what pisses a lot of Scots off? We’re a curmudgeonly race and we prefer to have something to complain about. We complain about the Queen because she is there. We complain about our politicians because they make cutbacks, (yet perhaps if we had gone out and voted we wouldn’t be in this mess). And we complain about the English for stealing our money and being racist to us.

If Scotland becomes an independent republic, who the hell are we going to blame everything on? Oh, shit, that’ll be our own fault then. Scotland will be forced to be responsible and accountable for its failures.

Scotland will implode!

So I say to all those shouting about how much better off we would be without a monarchy, to ask yourselves this: is it the presence of a monarchy that you fundamentally disagree with, or is it the fact that you are so frustrated with those who actually have a negative effect on your life that you are lashing out against?

And while we’re at it, ask yourself this one: you weren’t born into royalty but if you were, I presume you would see it as a good thing; money, privilege, free holidays all the time, right?

Here’s a picture: you’re 10 years old and your mum says to you: son/daughter, you aren’t like ordinary kids so no, you can’t go out to play. You have to show respect to everyone, you can’t just go anywhere on your own, and you have to live the way protocol dictates. There are a lot of people out there who if they see you, will try to kill you just because you are my son/daughter. Others think you are the best thing to happen to the country. Oh, and one day you might become King/Queen and you will have to learn how to handle politicians, other royalty, and the ordinary punter on the street. Your whole life will be watched through the press and the media, from your birth to your death. You will have to represent this nation through all the worst and good times. Oh, and there is nothing you can do about it; this is your life.

Great eh? If it had been me I would have been asking: “why the hell did this have to happen to me?”

Maybe if you answer these questions honestly, you will look upon our Monarch as someone who has not flinched from her duty and his given her life to see through what was expected of her.

These are not fashionable views in Scotland, and even less so because I’m a writer. I just hope that one day all ties aren’t broken and that it will be expected of me to bow before President Salmond.

No chance.

God Save The Queen

The Non-Writing Life Versus The Writing Life

Last week it was almost freezing here in Scotland. Dark clouds smothered the nation; rain, drizzle and hail fell at one point or another; beer gardens were empty.

This week is a different story, and as if the Gods that be know what’s coming (or planned it), the sunshine and warmth has arrived with remarkable coincidence in my life.

Things have been moving behind the scenes for me for some time. Big changes are afoot. By tomorrow or Thursday, I’ll hopefully be in the position that I can make a major non-writing announcement.

I say non-writing, but everything in my writing life is influenced or is affected by my non-writing life. Therefore, the existence of a non-writing life is debatable, such is the fine line between the two.

Regardless, the point is this: I need to have a non-writing life in order to support my writing life. The two feed off each other; my non-writing life feeds off the creativity and freedom of my writing life, and conversely, my writing life depends on my non-writing life for financial support and to an extent, the ability to be able to experience new and exciting events and inspirations.

Why have a non-writing life at all? Other than the couple of mega-best-selling writers that I actually know, most writers need to have a day job. Not many writers can’t survive on the paltry sums of cash that creative novelists and writers are paid, and the bulk of us certainly are not lucky enough to have made it to the point that our name appearing on a gas bill will go to the top of the Times Bestsellers List.

Why write at all then? I hear you say. Easy answer: it’s not about the money.

So where am I in my writing life? Ploughing forward, that’s where. GATECRASH moves on with its revisions and my stageplay has gone back for a full re-write. Having re-read it properly, I’ve decided it’s actually a pile of keech.

There are flawed characters, no rhythm or flow, and it doesn’t build in tension the way I originally intended. Bear in mind I wrote it five years ago and I’ve improved since then, but it’s a great idea for a play so I want to end it properly. I want to see it work.

And of course, I would love to see it performed one day. Who knows?

Here’s to a great week for one and all.

A Bit Of A Maddy

Took a bit of a maddy yesterday. I had a 9:30 meeting in Ratho on the very western edge of Edinburgh and managed to get there 1 hour and 10 minutes late.

I TOTALLY buggered up the buses and managed to get lost at the Gyle and then stranded at Ingliston. Thankfully there was no rain but it was bloody cold.

As I said, it was mad.

On the upside, I featured in an interview published over at Nadine Unscripted. Nadine interviewed me towards the end of last week and it went live yesterday morning Have a read of it here: Colin Galbraith: Rising Tartan Noir Author

Not much else for you today. Work is moving on GATECRASH as it also is on the stageplay, so plenty to keep me busy.

Sales of my poetry chapbooks sold under my pen-name, Chas Stramash, seem to have taken a small increase, which I assume is off the back of the recent poetry ebook free-for-all over at the Poetry Superhighway on the 1st of May. I’m guessing people liked POEMS FROM A COFFEE SHOP WINDOW and are delving into my other work.

Always good to see!