Dane Cobain's Blog, page 5

The Joy of Bedtime Books

When I was a kid, I used to love reading books before bed. It was part of my routine, and indeed it was often the only time that I’d actually dedicate to reading. When I was super little and staying over with my grandparents, they used to borrow books from the library and then record their own audio books, which I’d listen to while I was falling asleep.

It’s a habit that I’d fallen out of touch with, at least until the middle of last year. I’m a chronic insomniac, and people are always suggesting that I should read books before I go to bed as a way to wind down. The problem with that is that reading books tends to wake me up rather than putting me to sleep, but that’s another problem entirely.

I also have no shortage of books that I want to have read but that I don’t necessarily want to read. On top of that, there are often classics or even reference books that I want to work my way through but that I don’t want to read as my main book. That’s where bedtime books come in.

I keep a stack of bedtime books beside my bed at any given time so that I’m always ready with my next one. Recently, I’ve also started holding myself accountable for reading 25 pages per night. If I miss one night, I have to read 50 the next.

It might not be helping me to sleep, but it is at least helping me to get through more books, and I’ll take that. It’s also pushing me to pick up some of the books that I’ve been putting off for a while, which is also a big win for me. So if you haven’t tried having a specific stack of bedtime books, maybe you should give it a try!

As always, thanks a lot for stopping by and be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram for further updates. You can also click here to check out my books on Amazon and Goodreads. I’ll see you soon!

Former.ly: The Audio Book

Hi, folks! Today, I just wanted to give you a quick update on a project that I’ve been working on behind the scenes.

You’ve probably seen me talking about audio books in the past. I’d been thinking about making one for a while, and I finally decided to bite the bullet and to do the research I needed to understand the audio requirements and to produce the best audio book I could.

It seems to be going pretty well so far. I’m about halfway through recording Former.ly, although I’ll then need to listen back through it in the audio equivalent of a proof read. I’ve also sent the link to my good friend Jason White from Jason’s Weird Reads on YouTube, who’s also an author himself. He kindly offered to give it a listen, and it’s his feedback so far that made me decide to share this update with you!

So far, there’s no specific date that I have in mind for its release because it’ll be done when it’s done. Still, I’ll share a few more updates before we get there, so keep your eyes peeled for those.

In the meantime, thanks as always for reading and be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram for further updates. I’ll see you soon!

On Hatching Plans and Finding Time

Does anyone else ever feel as though the older they get, the more shit they have to do? I use Wunderlist (#notspon) to keep track of all of the stuff that I have to do, but there’s so much stuff that I have to do every day or every two to three days that it feels as though I never actually finish anything.

For me, that covers everything from the housework and the stuff I have to do for the cat to the little things like updating my journal, reviewing any books that I’ve read and doing whatever else. I have to keep on top of my actual work as well, which doesn’t always follow set hours and which therefore can easily cut into my “personal” time.

Then with all of that stuff out of the way, there’s also the fact that I have (a bit of) a social life, driving lessons twice a week and various other commitments, it does sometimes feel as though there just isn’t enough time to even stay on top of things. Forget about being proactive.

That’s kind of why a few of my projects kind of stalled recently, although I’m starting to get it all back on track. I’ve also been making some plans for the future which may or may not pan out, but I think I have some pretty good ideas and I’m looking forward to developing them some more and potentially putting them into action. And that’s all I’m going to tease you with for now.

In the meantime, I was wondering how you guys balance your time and whether you have any tips for me. Be sure to let me know in the comments or to drop me a line on Facebook and Twitter to share your thoughts. I’ll speak to you soon!

How do you tell when you’ve “read” a cookbook?

Okay, okay, perhaps I’m overthinking this. It’s just that over the last six months, since going vegan, I’ve found myself picking up cookbooks for the first time in my life, and I realised that there’s no easy way to tell when I’ve finished “reading” them.

This is a problem, because I review every book that I read and I didn’t want to leave them on my “TBR” (to be read) pile forever. I toyed with the idea of just not mentioning them at all, but that didn’t feel right either. After all, I only keep books that I’ve either read or that I plan to read.

Luckily, I came up with what I think is a workable solution. I’m quite obsessive about cooking, just like I am with reading, and so I’ve already been keeping a master list of recipes in which I keep simplified versions of the recipes that I like so that it’s easy to turn to them. The only change that was needed was to go through each recipe book and to list out all of the recipes that I wanted to try.

Now, I consider a cookbook “read” once I’ve gone through it and tried all of the recipes that I want to try. I don’t have to try all of them, because not all of them appeal to my tastes, but it does provide a workable solution that doesn’t involve just reading each cookbook from cover to cover.

So that’s why, if you’ve been following along on my blog and on my BookTube channel, I’ve started to review some cookbooks. And now you know how I’ve been deciding whether they’re read or not.

Thanks as always for reading and I’ll see you next time for another little ramble about reading and writing. In the meantime, be sure to follow me on Facebook and Twitter for further information. I’ll see you soon.

To Audio Book or Not to Audio Book

Hi, folks! Dane here, and today I’ve got a question for you. You see, I’ve been thinking about creating some audio book versions of some of my books, but I’m not sure whether anyone would actually be interested.

The cool thing about it is that I have all of the software and hardware that I’d need to create them myself and to publish them through ACX, and that would make them available on Audible, Apple Books and various other providers. I also have a YouTube friend (Emma Rosen, the author of Milk) who’s recorded an audio book of her own, so I have someone whose expertise I could tap into.

But then there’s another thing to think about: which book to begin with. My non-fiction book, Social Paranoia, and my poetry collection, Eyes Like Lighthouses When the Boats Come Home, would both make sense because they’d be easier to narrate. I think my novels would be more popular, but then I’d have to voice the characters, which might be a challenge.

So I thought I’d throw this out to the ether and see what you guys think. Would you listen to my books if they were available in audio format? And if so, which books would you want me to get to first? Let me know what you think with a comment, or drop me a message on Facebook or Twitter to let me know what you think. I’ll see you soon!

A New Project!

Hi, folks! Today, I thought I’d ring in the new year by giving you a quick update on a new project of mine called Monsters of Rock. It’s still early days at the moment, but the current plan is to write 1k words per day on it while simultaneously finishing off my memoirs.

I’ve even roped my friend Nick in to hold me accountable. I’m going to edit up and send over 3,000 words per week and get his feedback on the first draft, in part because it’ll help to keep me on track and to force me to be productive. And as it’s so heavily music-based, Nick should have some great ideas for that, too.

The best way to describe Monsters of Rock is as Lord of the Rings meets Spinal Tap. It follows a band of actual monsters as they make their way in the music biz, eventually signing a record deal with the Dark Lord. Expect dwarves, vampires, zombies, dark elves, magicians and more.

That’s about all I can say about it at the moment, but it’s off to a good start and I’m excited to see where the project leads me. In the meantime, if you want to stick around for further updates then be sure to follow me on Facebook and Twitter. I’ll see you soon!

Hosting the Arts Centre Open Mic Night

I used to spend a lot of time at my local arts centre. It’s just round the corner from me, they put on some great events and they were even kind enough to let me have my book launch there. But then some stuff happened that I’d rather not talk about and I ended up spending some time away from it.

Now, though, I’m back, and on Friday night I even hosted the open mic night. It was a strange night for me because it was almost like coming home, and it also helped that I knew the majority of the acts. I went on second to make sure that there wasn’t any favouritism (my friend Dave traditionally goes on first), which meant I could spend the night enjoying the music.

The hosting went well and so it looks like I’ll be hosting it again in the future, and I’m happy with that. I used to host a monthly spoken word night and I’ve hosted other events here and there, and I usually find it pretty stressful. At the arts centre, though, it just made the night even more fun than it would have been.

Besides, I’m trying to challenge myself more at the moment. In fact, at the same time as writing this article, I’m attempting to make vegan sushi, even though I’ve never even had sushi before. Sure, sometimes hosting a night can be stressful, but it’s a welcome kind of stress. I don’t want to get too comfortable. I want to keep on pushing myself to do more, but at the same time to be a little bit more human. And hosting an open mic night seems like a good way to do that.

When Your Routine Becomes Counterproductive

I’ve always been a bit of a creature of habit, establishing my little routines and then sticking by them to help make sure that I stay productive. In fact, I usually work using something I call “The Schedule”, which basically helps me to allocate my time and to make sure that I don’t get too caught up doing any single thing.

Having a routine that you stick by can be a great way to make sure that you’re getting stuff done and that you’re hitting your word counts, but it can also be counterproductive if you obsess about it too much. In my case, I know for a fact there have been times when I’ve missed out on life because I’ve been too busy focusing on my never-ending to-do list.

Recently, I’ve been trying to be a bit more spontaneous and also to catch up with my friends more often. It’s been a lot of fun and I’m pleased to report that I’m enjoying life, for now at least, but it also means that my productivity takes a knock. When that happens, suddenly I find myself missing deadlines and struggling to keep up with stuff.

And so I’ve realised that the perfect way to go about it is through a mixture of the two. It helps to have something to keep you focused and working, but it also helps to know when to break the schedule and to live a little. It’s something I’m trying to do more of. I’ll let you know how it goes.

We’re Jammin’

Okay, you got me: the title of this article was inspired by Bob Marley, in part because I watched a Netflix documentary called Who Shot the Sheriff? and remembered just how much I love both Marley and his work. Exodus in particular is a cracking album, and it inspired me to buy a new set of speakers with bass control so that I could listen to it in all its glory.

But that’s not what this article is about. I wanted to talk about jamming, by which I mean the process of making music and learning songs with people. When I first started making music, I was too shy to play with other people and so I tended to avoid it. I certainly wouldn’t have wanted to play with someone that I didn’t know.

Now, though, I’m more confident as both a musician and as a person, and I’ve started to love a good jam session. It doesn’t really matter who with, and I’m happy to play with people I’ve never met before, as was the case when I went to the Big Jam session in Spain while on holiday with my dad. To be fair, I was just playing guitar and singing along with a four-piece band who played together all the time and so they were already pretty tight, but it was an interesting experience.

Here in Wycombe, I know a bunch of musicians, although I don’t get to jam with them as much as I’d like. But there are also people like my friends Dave and Lorraine, who I know pretty well and who I’ve played with before. We go to open mic nights together all the time and so every now and then we’ll just randomly decide to play I Shall Be Released or some other cover that we all know well enough just to start playing together once we know the right key.

I had a jam session recently with a friend who has a lot of crossover with my music taste, and in particular we’re both fans of The Brian Jonestown Massacre. That was a decent jam because we had similar influences and so even though I didn’t necessarily know the songs we were playing, it was pretty easy to pick them up, to the point at which they’d lead the song and I just picked it up as we went.

One of the interesting things about jamming with people is that it really doesn’t matter what your ability levels are like. You can be a seasoned musician or a total amateur, but as long as you know how to play a few chords, you’re good to go. The joy comes from a mixture of your own performance and the way that you hear the song as a whole coming together.

The good news is that there’s a jam night at the arts centre just round the corner from me, and the idea is that you can just get up and start playing with other people. I’ve played there before and it was crazy fun, so I’m sure I’ll be going back again sometime soon. In the meantime, I guess I’ll make it my mission to jam with as many different people as possible, both for the experience and just for the sheer joy of it.

Make music with people. It’s way more fun than making it by yourself. Now if only I could figure out how to write a book with someone…

Destroying to Create

Sometimes you need to royally fuck some shit up if you want to make something bigger and better. You need to destroy to create, or to put it into the words of one of my poems, “Sometimes you’ve got to knock down a house if you want to build a home.”

It’s something that’s been on my mind a lot lately, at least in part because I’m newly single and so I’ve been doing all of the boring stuff you need to do to give yourself a decent foundation. I’ve been rearranging my “office”, filling bin bags with shit and sorting a few bits of paperwork to make sure that the cat’s still covered by pet insurance.

When I was out in Spain with my dad, we had to destroy to create. There was a crawl space beneath his house out there, but it was filled with rubble and the entrance was tiny. We had to knock a bigger hole in the wall, break apart rubble and pack it into construction sacks. It was a lot of hard work, but we made more of a dent than we were expecting and by the end of the holiday, the crawl space had turned into a storage area complete with a door, shelving units and concrete floors, although you still had to crouch to get in there.

Editing a book is like destroying to create, too. In fact, a good editor (like mine, thanks Pam!) will basically do their very best to tear apart your story and to point out all of the flaws. It can be disheartening at first, especially if you’re working on your debut, but it’s also a rewarding process that makes the end result so much better.

As a society, I think we see destruction as a negative thing. That’s certainly true when it comes to something like religious fundamentalists destroying priceless historical artifacts, but not so much when it comes to say knocking down a dilapidated old building that’s no longer fit for purpose so you can put something new in its place. It’s all a matter of perspective.

I’ll leave you with the words of American novelist and screenwriter Jerry Stahl, who wrote a memoir of addiction called Permanent Midnight. He said, “Destroy your life; then put it back together.You’ll get great material, meet some fascinating characters and – side benefit – the skills you develop will give you greater compassion, insight and range with the people you create on the page – or run into off of it.”

So in other words, go ahead and fuck some shit up.