Dane Cobain's Blog, page 23

Worried? Me?!

“You worry too much,”

she said

and then

she stressed

about

which top

to wear.

I grabbed

some clothes

from the laundry pile

and thought about death

and dying.

Then she asked

about dinner:

“What do you want

to eat?

Are you

hungry now?”

I said

I didn’t mind

and anyway

food makes me sick

so I try not to eat it.

She left for work first

and sent me a message

to say she thinks

she left the heater on.

I messaged back

saying, “The heater’s off

and anyway

we’re all going to burn

when the sun explodes.”

She thought

that money

was everything.

I thought

the banks

were a symptom

of a complex

socio-economic disease

that allowed the rich

to stay rich

and the poor

to stay poor

so no one had ideas

outside their station.

We agreed

to disagree

and then both complained

about the traffic.

Annie (Guitar Tab)

CAPO ON SEVENTH FRET

VERSE/CHORUS: G Em C D

BRIDGE: C Em G, C G

Verse One:

There’s a girl lying on the sofa, waiting for her daddy to come.

As a kid she was never alone, but now she’s fully grown, life is no fun.

Her father used to fight in the war, but since he came back home, things have gone downhill.

Her boyfriend comes after school, but he wants to do what she does every day.

Chorus:

Oh, Annie. Is there anything that I can do?

Oh, Annie. After everything that you’ve been through.

Verse Two:

Daddy makes her do her homework, after spending time with him.

She cries out to him, ‘don’t do this to me,’ so why then won’t he listen?

And Annie just feels so helpless, she always struggles to breathe.

After anything that I could say or do, the pain would never ease.

Chorus:

Oh, Annie. Is there anything that I can do?

Oh, Annie. After everything that you’ve been through.

Bridge:

And Annie once asked me how it looks from the outside.

‘How does it feel to be someone that’s had the love that I’m denied?’

And maybe someday she’ll leave this town, she’ll leave her whole world behind.

‘cause there isn’t a place here or anywhere, that can heal the scars that she has inside.

Interview Yourself #19: Netflix and Bookcases

Hi, folks! Today, I’m continuing with a new, unique series of posts. This time, I’m using questions that I came up with myself. Uh-oh.

It’s going to be a lot of fun, and a great way for me to reveal a little bit more about myself, my writing and my habits. Are you ready? Good – let’s get started.

 

 

Where does the music fit in?

I’m still not sure if it does. But I do plan to release a book of short stories and lyrics in the coming years.

 

Why do your characters keep dying?

I don’t know! I guess you’d better ask them.

 

Which is your favourite poem to perform?

I suppose it would be Anonymous’ White Mask of Freedom, just because it’s long. Although some of my newer ones, like Good God and From the Mouth of a Cat, are my favourites at the moment.

 

How do you memorise your poems?

I jog on the spot in my house, repeating them over and over again until I nail them down. It’s weird, but it works.

 

What’s currently on your mind?

I’ve been having problems with malware on my website. I think it’s all fixed, but it’s still pretty annoying.

 

Dane Cobain

 

What are you watching on Netflix?

I’m currently working through Forensic Files. Every now and then I learn something that I can use in one of my books.

 

What are you going to do when you run out of space for bookcases?

Move into a bigger house.

 

Where’s your favourite bookish place to go?

Probably The Book Farm in Astley, near the town I grew up in. So many books! And the prices are good, too.

 

Why don’t you read ebooks?

I like to keep my books up on display after I read them. And I read enough text on a screen during my day job and when editing my own work.

 

What number am I thinking of?

You’re me, so you’re thinking of the number 23.

 

Dane Cobain – Come On Up to the House

 

So there we have it – that’s the latest instalment of Interview Yourself over and done with! Thanks, as always, for reading, and be sure to keep your browser pointed to DaneCobain.com. You can also sign up to my mailing list, follow me on Facebook and Twitter or check out my books for further info. I’ll see you soon!

Interview Yourself #18: Projects and a career

Hi, folks! Today, I’m continuing with a new, unique series of posts. In the coming weeks, I’m going to be interviewing myself using pre-written questions from other blog sites, like these ones via BookFox.

It’s going to be a lot of fun, and a great way for me to reveal a little bit more about myself, my writing and my habits. Are you ready? Good – let’s get started.

 

 

What are your current projects?

I always have loads of them on the go at any one time. At the moment, I’m working on Subject Verb Object (an anthology of new writing), Driven and Netflix & Kill from the Leipfold series, and a new project called ‘Meat‘ that’s in the planning stage.

 

Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members.

Shout out to my friend Neil Denham. He’s a very busy man, but he always takes the time to read my books and to show his support wherever he can.

 

Do you see writing as a career?

For sure! Even though it’s been more of an evenings and weekends thing in terms of where the money comes from, I’m working on making it my full-time gig.

 

If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?

I don’t think so – I’m pretty happy with my last few releases. I just wish more people would buy ’em!

 

Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?

Not really – I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember. Even when I was in primary school, I used to write my own parody versions of the popular songs in the charts.

 

Dane Cobain

 

Can you share a little of your current work with us?

You can have a small snippet from Netflix & Kill that made me laugh when I wrote it:

“Genitals?”

“Genitals,” Cholmondeley confirmed. “Another set for the collection. Male genitals, the full cock and balls.”

 

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

Making money from it can be pretty difficult, and it’s also not easy to gather reviews. There are just so many books on the market that it’s hard to break through the noise.

 

Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?

It’s hard to pick just one, but I’ve always liked how Charles Bukowski manages to say so much with such simple language.

 

Do you have to travel much concerning your book(s)?

Not really. I can do quite a lot of it online, and I also don’t really have the cash to go travelling purely for research purposes. But if I go somewhere, I try to figure out a way that I can use it in my work.

 

Who designed the covers?

I work with a very talented cover designer called S. L. Stacker. She’s a badass author in her own right, but she also has leet skills when it comes to using Photoshop.

 

Dane Cobain – Come On Up to the House

 

So there we have it – that’s the latest instalment of Interview Yourself over and done with! Thanks, as always, for reading, and be sure to keep your browser pointed to DaneCobain.com. You can also sign up to my mailing list, follow me on Facebook and Twitter or check out my books for further info. I’ll see you soon!

Interview Yourself #16: Nightmares, styles and titles

Hi, folks! Today, I’m continuing with a new, unique series of posts. In the coming weeks, I’m going to be interviewing myself using pre-written questions from other blog sites, like these ones via BookFox.

It’s going to be a lot of fun, and a great way for me to reveal a little bit more about myself, my writing and my habits. Are you ready? Good – let’s get started.

 

 

What inspired you to write your first book?

No Rest for the Wicked, my first release, was based upon a nightmare that I had while I was at university. I woke up from it, wrote the basics down, then developed it over the following weeks.

 

Do you have a specific writing style?

I consider myself to be an ‘alternative‘ author. I think I do have a style, but it’s a style that constantly develops and hops between genres.

 

How did you come up with the title?

For No Rest for the Wicked? Originally it was just called ‘Angels‘, but I was advised to change it by a publisher and they were totally right. One of the characters says that there’s no rest for the wicked during a piece of dialogue and it seemed like a decent title to stick with.

 

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

I usually don’t have a message as such, but I do hope that my books make my readers think about things and see the world from a different point of view.

 

How much of the book is realistic?

My work is usually quite realistic – it’s mostly set in our world, because I find writing about that more interesting.

 

Dane Cobain

 

Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?

None of it’s necessarily based on people I know or events in my life, but there’s no denying that both of those have an influence on it. I sort of bring in a bit of everything and end up with a cohesive whole, like combining ingredients to create a full dish.

 

What books have most influenced your life most?

Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy was what turned me into a die-hard reader. I didn’t read the Harry Potter books until after that.

 

If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?

I’m not sure if I have a mentor – if it had to be anyone, it’d probably be either Jeff Hilson or Peter Jaeger. The two of them are poets, and they were also my lecturers at university.

 

What book are you reading now?

I’m currently around two thirds of the way through War Horse by Michael Morpurgo.

 

Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?

Plenty, but there are too many to name. The best bet would be to head over to SocialBookshelves.com – my book blog – and see what I’ve been reading and who I’ve been interviewing.

 

Dane Cobain – Come On Up to the House

 

So there we have it – that’s the latest instalment of Interview Yourself over and done with! Thanks, as always, for reading, and be sure to keep your browser pointed to DaneCobain.com. You can also sign up to my mailing list, follow me on Facebook and Twitter or check out my books for further info. I’ll see you soon!

Interview Yourself #17: Vanity searches and the artistic process

Hi, folks! Today, I’m continuing with a new, unique series of posts. In the coming weeks, I’m going to be interviewing myself using pre-written questions from other blog sites, like these ones via BookFox.

It’s going to be a lot of fun, and a great way for me to reveal a little bit more about myself, my writing and my habits. Are you ready? Good – let’s get started.

 

 

What was your hardest scene to write?

The final scene in No Rest for the Wicked, I guess. I had to rewrite the ending a bunch of times to make sure that I got it right, but I was pretty happy with the end result.

 

Do you Google yourself?

Sometimes, when I’m looking for something to send a link somewhere. I don’t need to do it for reputation management because I have Google Alerts set up in my name, so I get an email every time a new piece goes online.

 

What one thing would you give up to become a better writer?

Time. That’s just how it works.

 

What are your favorite literary journals?

I don’t read many of them on a regular basis – although I tend to dip in and out of a bunch of different ones – but I’d recommend Streetcake and Lunar magazines.

 

What is your favorite childhood book?

Northern Lights by Philip Pullman – it’s also my favourite book in general. It’s the book that got me seriously into reading in the first place.

 

Dane Cobain

 

What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?

I guess it’s the editing process – it’s not necessarily difficult, but it is very time consuming. And time is at a premium when you’re an author.

 

Does your family support your career as a writer?

As much as they can – they tend to buy and read my books when they come out.

 

If you had to do something differently as a child or teenager to become a better writer as an adult, what would you do?

I guess I’d just spend more time reading and writing and less time messing around and playing computer games.

 

How long on average does it take you to write a book?

That’s a very difficult one to answer. But at the moment, I’m cranking a first draft out every three months or so.

 

Do you believe in writer’s block?

I guess, although it’s never happened to me. Everyone’s experience of writing is different, and so I’m not going to say that it either exists or it doesn’t based solely on my own experience.

 

Dane Cobain – Come On Up to the House

 

So there we have it – that’s the latest instalment of Interview Yourself over and done with! Thanks, as always, for reading, and be sure to keep your browser pointed to DaneCobain.com. You can also sign up to my mailing list, follow me on Facebook and Twitter or check out my books for further info. I’ll see you soon!

Interview Yourself #15: Under-appreciation and Spirit Animals

Hi, folks! Today, I’m continuing with a new, unique series of posts. In the coming weeks, I’m going to be interviewing myself using pre-written questions from other blog sites, like these ones via BookFox.

It’s going to be a lot of fun, and a great way for me to reveal a little bit more about myself, my writing and my habits. Are you ready? Good – let’s get started.

 

 

What’s your favorite under-appreciated novel?

Tough one! I guess if I think about my indie author friends, the first one that springs to mind is Zeus Is Dead! by Michael G. Munz. Cracking novel.

 

How do you balance making demands on the reader with taking care of the reader?

I’m not sure if I do – and I can be pretty demanding. Hopefully that’s how they like it.

 

As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?

It’d probably be a dog – energetic, often chaotic, but loyal. My books are just waiting for you to stroke them.

 

What do you owe the real people upon whom you base your characters?

An apology. I’m not that bad – I tend to steal names, rather than character traits. And hopefully I disguise them well enough when I’m being mean about them…

 

How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?

Off the top of my head, I couldn’t tell you. A dozen? Something like that. Maybe more.

 

Dane Cobain

 

What does literary success look like to you?

If I could earn enough money to live solely on my writing, I’d be happy with that. All I want to do is write. I’m not too worried about being rich and famous, although I wouldn’t complain about either.

 

What’s the best way to market your books?

I personally think that a good mixture of everything works best. It’s partly a case of hedging your bets, and partly a case of building up a buzz. It takes lots of hard work and perseverance, but it’s the gift that keeps on giving – the longer you do it, the better the results.

 

What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?

It depends upon the book. Sometimes, I don’t need to do too much research, because I can look up bits and bobs as I go along. But I’m planning on reading a bunch of books, watching documentaries and interviewing some subject matter experts for an upcoming project of mine, called ‘Meat‘. Look out for that.

 

Do you view writing as a kind of spiritual practice?

Not at all. I’m not spiritual at all. It’s basically just intellectual masturbation. It makes you feel good and gives you a release.

 

What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite sex?

People are pretty sensitive about gender issues at the moment. I guess it’s a good thing, but I’m almost post-feminist. I don’t really worry about all that because I already view men and women as equal and think that that’s the way that the world is going anyway. In terms of writing female characters, I just try to make them as believable as the males. If I fail at that, it’s usually a problem with the character itself, and not because she’s a woman. I’ve written plenty of one-dimensional males in my time.

 

Dane Cobain – Come On Up to the House

 

So there we have it – that’s the latest instalment of Interview Yourself over and done with! Thanks, as always, for reading, and be sure to keep your browser pointed to DaneCobain.com. You can also sign up to my mailing list, follow me on Facebook and Twitter or check out my books for further info. I’ll see you soon!

Interview Yourself #14: Emotions, Standalones and Lit Mags

Hi, folks! Today, I’m continuing with a new, unique series of posts. In the coming weeks, I’m going to be interviewing myself using pre-written questions from other blog sites, like these ones via BookFox.

It’s going to be a lot of fun, and a great way for me to reveal a little bit more about myself, my writing and my habits. Are you ready? Good – let’s get started.

 

 

Do you think someone could be a writer if they don’t feel emotions strongly?

For sure – they could write non-fiction for a start. Emotions can get in the way when you’re working on that.

 

What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?

I’m friends with literally dozens of other authors, too many to name individually. But they all help out because we inspire each other and can pick each other’s brains when we need to. We buy each other’s books, too.

 

Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?

I suppose it’s a little bit of both. I hope that they all add to my reputation, and they all reflect who I am to a different extent. I’ve actually recently been working on tying each of the books together within the fictional worlds that they’re set in. Characters and locations overlapping and stuff.

 

If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

Stick at it, work harder and stop drinking and smoking because you’re older now and your body hates you.

 

How did publishing your first book change your process of writing?

I think it gave me a good education on how to release a professional quality book, and that hopefully it passed on to my other works. It hasn’t really changed my writing process – it’s just that they’ve changed how I release and market them.

 

Dane Cobain

 

What was the best money you ever spent as a writer?

Probably the money that I put into Amazon vouchers for the competition on my book blog, SocialBookshelves.com. It helped the site to take off, and the site itself then led to my first publishing contract.

 

What authors did you dislike at first but grew into?

The first name that comes to mind is Stephen King. The first book of his that I read was The Shining, and I didn’t think much of it. But now I’m a die-hard fan.

 

What did you do with your first advance?

Alas, I didn’t get an advance. But with my first royalty check, I treated myself to a drink. Yeah, that’s how much I earned from it.

 

What was an early experience where you learned that language had power?

Great question, but it’s a hard one to answer. It was probably when I first learned the effect that swearing had if I did it in front of my parents.

 

What are the most important magazines for writers to subscribe to?

I don’t really read magazines. But I would say that if you’re interested in literary magazines, I’d recommend dipping in and out and sampling different ones, rather than just sticking with one. That way, you get a wider free of view of the work that’s on offer.

 

Dane Cobain – Come On Up to the House

 

So there we have it – that’s the latest instalment of Interview Yourself over and done with! Thanks, as always, for reading, and be sure to keep your browser pointed to DaneCobain.com. You can also sign up to my mailing list, follow me on Facebook and Twitter or check out my books for further info. I’ll see you soon!

Interview Yourself #13: Ethics, Traps and Egos

Hi, folks! Today, I’m continuing with a new, unique series of posts. In the coming weeks, I’m going to be interviewing myself using pre-written questions from other blog sites, like these ones via BookFox.

It’s going to be a lot of fun, and a great way for me to reveal a little bit more about myself, my writing and my habits. Are you ready? Good – let’s get started.

 

 

What literary pilgrimages have you gone on?

I don’t know if any of them have been pilgrimages as such, but I have been to plenty of awesome bookish places. I’ve been to Canterbury, which technically makes me a Chaucer pilgrim, and plenty of birthplaces, museums, etc.

 

What is the first book that made you cry?

The only book that’s ever made me cry was The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman. I loved the whole trilogy, and the ending just broke my heart.

 

What is the most unethical practice in the publishing industry?

Good question. I’ve had problems before with authors leaving bogus 1-star reviews for my books after I left a constructive (but negative review) on theirs, and I’ve also seen people leaving fake 5-star reviews for their own books under fake names.

 

Does writing energise or exhaust you?

Both, I guess! I find it energising more often than exhausting, but it’s not unheard of for me to drift between the two.

 

What are common traps for aspiring writers?

I think there are a lot of shady publishers and marketers out there who will put your book out there if you pay them money but who aren’t actually trying to help you. You need to take things with a pinch of salt and always figure out for yourself whether something is really worth it. And if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

 

Dane Cobain

 

Does a big ego help or hurt writers?

I don’t think it really does much either way. The readers will decide if your work is any good.

 

What is your writing Kryptonite?

I can’t really think of one. I guess writing stuff by hand tends to do it, but only because it slows me down so much. I get much more done if I do it from behind a computer keyboard.

 

Have you ever gotten reader’s block?

Not really, but there have been times in my life when I’ve read more often than others. A few books have been tedious along the way, but I tend to just grind right through them.

 

Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?

Nope. I want to take the credit for my work. And ownership. For better or for worse.

 

Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?

I just write stuff that I’d want to read myself. With a bit of luck, my readers have similar tastes to me.

 

Dane Cobain – Come On Up to the House

 

So there we have it – that’s the latest instalment of Interview Yourself over and done with! Thanks, as always, for reading, and be sure to keep your browser pointed to DaneCobain.com. You can also sign up to my mailing list, follow me on Facebook and Twitter or check out my books for further info. I’ll see you soon!

Interview Yourself #12: Marketing and Community

Hi, folks! Today, I’m continuing with a new, unique series of posts. In the coming weeks, I’m going to be interviewing myself using pre-written questions from other blog sites, like these ones via The Wordsmith’s Forge.

It’s going to be a lot of fun, and a great way for me to reveal a little bit more about myself, my writing and my habits. Are you ready? Good – let’s get started.

 

 

What process did you go through to get your book published?

I’ve been through a few different publishing processes, but the most common one that I use at the moment is a self-publishing process using CreateSpace. But it really does depend – I also published a few books with Booktrope, and No Rest for the Wicked is currently published by Dragon Moon Press.

 

What makes your book stand out from the crowd?

I think that my general approach to writing marks me out. I don’t conform to norms, I just write what I like to read. It has its own unique set of challenges, but also its own rewards.

 

How do you find or make time to write?

I don’t feel comfortable unless I’m writing. I write to relax, in the same way other people watch Netflix.

 

Do you write more by logic or intuition, or some combination of the two? Summarise your writing process.

It’s a little bit of both. I plan it all out to begin with, and then I write mostly by intuition. And then I go through editing and turn on the logic.

 

What are some ways in which you promote your work? Do you find that these add to or detract from your writing time?

I tend to work on marketing and writing simultaneously, and so neither one really detracts from the other.

 

Dane Cobain

 

What is your role in the writing community?

I think I hold quite a few roles! Depending upon which hat that I’m wearing, I’m a writer, editor, proofreader, marketer and mentor. Take your pick!

 

What do you like to read in your free time?

I read a bit of everything – you can check out SocialBookshelves.com for more info on what I’ve been reading lately. At the time of writing, I’m just coming up to the end of The Stand by Stephen King.

 

What projects are you working on at the present?

I’m working on a bunch of different stuff at the moment. Driven, a detective novel, is going through editing, and I’m drafting Netflix & Kill, the sequel. Then there’s Subject Verb Object, an anthology of new writing, and a book called Meat which is all very hush hush at the moment as it’s only just in the planning stage.

 

What do your plans for future projects include?

I sort of answered that with the previous question, but on top of that, there will also be at least one new poetry book coming soon, as well as more instalments in the Leipfold detective series.

 

What question do you wish that someone would ask about your book, but nobody has? Write it out here, then answer it.

Hmm. “How much of Eyes Like Lighthouses When the Boats Come Home do you know off by heart?” And the answer is all of it, including the contents.

 

Dane Cobain – Come On Up to the House

 

So there we have it – that’s the latest instalment of Interview Yourself over and done with! Thanks, as always, for reading, and be sure to keep your browser pointed to DaneCobain.com. You can also sign up to my mailing list, follow me on Facebook and Twitter or check out my books for further info. I’ll see you soon!