Terence Park's Blog - Posts Tagged "calico"
Books on Kindle
Gradually, my family are recovering from the chaos of moving. Never been a fan of house-moves but sometimes it's there in front of you and nothing you can do can change things. In a few more weeks there's a first house inspection. Ouch. Still not sorted.
Burnley is a deprived town in North West England. It sometimes features in my fiction - mostly in disguise (SF in Burnley!?!) but its problems are real: poor education, integration issues, high unemployment... and no bookshop. The last bookshop in Burnley closed many years ago. Bookshops are coal-mine canaries, in this case the they warn that the audience has gone elsewhere. It prompts questions like: Is there local pride? A: In Burnley Football Club (who at this moment are doing well), Burnley Blues Festival (in existence for some years). More work needs to be done. The issues are staring local housing agent for public stock, Calico, in the face. They're actively involved in initiatives to lift the town eg Burnley Literature Festival - 2016 is the first. The events have been covered by BBC Radio Lancashire and I've blogged my experience in day one, day two, day three, day four. Come along if you can and help this town break the cycle of deprivation.
Today I was over at Horwich in the Brewed Coffee café, with the Phoenix Writing Group, chewing the fat and talking through the writing process. We covered inspiration, what to write, how fast to write, what tools to use, progressing on from first draft and editing, and the continuing fallout from the switch to ebooks, different experiences in Print-on-Demand and the end of the world. End Of The World (in capitals) is always a good conversation stopper... and starter. What if... what if the world's satellite array was suddenly taken out? What if a fleet of alien space ships located us and decided to clear up all the rubbish orbiting the Earth because it was in our best interests – meaning it saved them the bother of having to hunt us all down – on that score I note that I now have a serious reader for A Guide to First Contact.
I read from several pieces which were well received:
The World Began (with a bark) - Poetry about dogs ¹
The Slow Holocaust - Dystopia - a future UK ²
Without Question - Gangsters + Cops in the US, retro ³
The Oath - an affectionate portrait of one of Bolton's favourite sons (not yet published)
It was a good session and my ten minute talk went on for two hours. However, I came away with a new task and it starts like this: What if... what if I put my books onto Kindle. Yes, most of my books aren't on Kindle. Ouch.
Anyway the visit went well and gave me something to think about. By pure coincidence I've recently begun the process of conversion, for example: The Wrong Lane and other detours, it's just that the task becomes more immediate when someone else mentions it.
Tonight I'm back at Burnley Literature Festival, in the Paddock (Hammerton Street) - wish me luck on my ten minute Open-mic.
¹ p14, Silt From Distant Lands
² see The Slow Holocaust
³ from Unfinished Tales
Burnley is a deprived town in North West England. It sometimes features in my fiction - mostly in disguise (SF in Burnley!?!) but its problems are real: poor education, integration issues, high unemployment... and no bookshop. The last bookshop in Burnley closed many years ago. Bookshops are coal-mine canaries, in this case the they warn that the audience has gone elsewhere. It prompts questions like: Is there local pride? A: In Burnley Football Club (who at this moment are doing well), Burnley Blues Festival (in existence for some years). More work needs to be done. The issues are staring local housing agent for public stock, Calico, in the face. They're actively involved in initiatives to lift the town eg Burnley Literature Festival - 2016 is the first. The events have been covered by BBC Radio Lancashire and I've blogged my experience in day one, day two, day three, day four. Come along if you can and help this town break the cycle of deprivation.
Today I was over at Horwich in the Brewed Coffee café, with the Phoenix Writing Group, chewing the fat and talking through the writing process. We covered inspiration, what to write, how fast to write, what tools to use, progressing on from first draft and editing, and the continuing fallout from the switch to ebooks, different experiences in Print-on-Demand and the end of the world. End Of The World (in capitals) is always a good conversation stopper... and starter. What if... what if the world's satellite array was suddenly taken out? What if a fleet of alien space ships located us and decided to clear up all the rubbish orbiting the Earth because it was in our best interests – meaning it saved them the bother of having to hunt us all down – on that score I note that I now have a serious reader for A Guide to First Contact.
I read from several pieces which were well received:
The World Began (with a bark) - Poetry about dogs ¹
The Slow Holocaust - Dystopia - a future UK ²
Without Question - Gangsters + Cops in the US, retro ³
The Oath - an affectionate portrait of one of Bolton's favourite sons (not yet published)
It was a good session and my ten minute talk went on for two hours. However, I came away with a new task and it starts like this: What if... what if I put my books onto Kindle. Yes, most of my books aren't on Kindle. Ouch.
Anyway the visit went well and gave me something to think about. By pure coincidence I've recently begun the process of conversion, for example: The Wrong Lane and other detours, it's just that the task becomes more immediate when someone else mentions it.
Tonight I'm back at Burnley Literature Festival, in the Paddock (Hammerton Street) - wish me luck on my ten minute Open-mic.
¹ p14, Silt From Distant Lands
² see The Slow Holocaust
³ from Unfinished Tales
