William Sutton's Blog, page 23

Electric WordCloud

#amediting 

Every time I finish an edit, as I just did for #Lawless and the #HouseofElectricity, sending it off at 3am to Titan Books just before heading for CrimeFest, I marvel at the words. What I love is how the words I’ve checked illuminate whatever the hell it is I’m trying to write about.

I have at least three lists of words that emerge:

spellcheck within Word, words it doubts, queries, hyphenates etc
spellcheck with Collins, a trusty programme which usually gives date of first usage. (I’m often looking for alternates or synonyms, hence the ordinary words)
Google Ngrams, which checks usage in the Google corpus between given dates:

in this link, I’m checking if urgh or ugh is more common
is locomotor ataxy a thing?
they have boffin, but not boffinry
terrorism is common, terrorist rare
is it fusewire or fusewire?
do they have lowdowns? toddlers?
naff is commonplace parlare then, but is it general enough to sound Victorian?

And below a typical series of searches)

 

I don’t, I honestly don’t expect anyone to be as excited by this list as I am, but it’s fun

stramash
hostility
enmity
taboo
tabu
strait-laced
sensible
irradiate
kentledge
orderly
hellfire
hell
pique
costly
muzzy
prurient
like-minded
proclivity
veil
waft
chameleon
gawky
fruitcake
quacksalver
quack
facetious
as still as a
phantasmal
teknopathia
adventists
childbirths
conception
unlikeable
chip away
optical illusion
orang-utan
nouveau riche
rheumatoid
narcissistic
skyline
defenceworks
inside knowledge
lowdown
toddler
naff
kyphosis
life-preserver
symptomology
auto-immune
myalgia
encephalitis
neurologist
endometrium
abracadabra
elbow grease
englisher
monomaniacal
clever clogs
fossil fuel
make-believe
war-torn
headline
sexless
focal point
flapdoodle
newfangled
deaf-mute
refocus
post-graduates
dynamo
slowcoach
dull as ditchwater
trainee
ventriloquism
prestidigitation
banister
archaeological
electrode
balderdash
interconnection
post-partum
terrorist
ataraxia
effing
snuck
curriculum
radicalism
terrorism
fulminate
smithereens
buzzer
Parkesine
fuse wire

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Launches Ahoy

What larks, those book launches in Portsmouth and London last July. Thanks to all who came to share a laugh, a song and a sinful biscuit. Wasn’t it a larksome spree?

Let’s do it again this year for Lawless & the House of Electricity, in August.

 


There will be biscuits.



Thanks especially to those who helped with those launches,Caroline Sutton, Diana Bretherick, Jonno Sutton, Nina McIlwain, Roddy McDevitt, Noel Le Bon, Jamie West, Anthony J Duke of Head Case Curios, Joanna West of Blackwell’s in Portsmouth, Lou at Forbidden Planet, Lydia Gittins of Titan Books, and top agent Phil Patterson;Blackwell’s in Portsmouth, Lou at Forbidden Planet, Lydia Gittins or Titan Books, and top agent Phil Patterson of Marjacq Scripts.



And to those who travelled far, from the mists of the past, bringing so many with you, Tessa Ditner & so many Portsmouth Writers Hub friends, the Hall Grove crew, Gael Campbell & David Gordon, Polly Morland, Jamie Masters, Philip Jeays, Louise, Olivia & Keith, Shomit, Luli, Sonya, Nilima, Greg Klerkx, Sarah Salway and Sarah Butler.

Let’s do it again this July for Lawless & #HouseofElectricity. Pencil

 

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Reviews

If you enjoyed Lawless & the #FlowersofSin, do post your views or reviews on Goodreads​ or Amazon.co.uk​ or Blackwell’s, Book Depository,

Forbidden Planet, Hive, Waterstones or WHSmith.

Or mention it to your local library and bookshop.

Here’s a couple of reviews to jog your memory, from Mail on Sunday and Morning Star:

And here’s the most recent, from Crime Review UK.

“It’s fearless, it’s surprisingly simple, achingly raw and unendingly sinful. Sutton’s use of quotes from Charles Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du Mal (The Flowers of Evil) adds a touch of class as well as signposting the way through the tale.

If the multi-talented Sutton – writer, classics teacher, futurologist, playwright, actor, musician, cricketer for Brazil(!), driver for ‘Mad’ Frankie Fraser, ice cream parlour singer, tutor to the Sugababes, can maintain this standard of invention and mastery of linguistic tone, he will soon not have time for anything else except Lawless! I look forward to the next instalment later this year.”

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Dark Titles

If you’re needing inspiration, to help spring throw off the dark months behind, Portsmouth Writers’ Hub can offer engrossing and tingling tales in these diverting tomes.

Well done to all the writers, editors, publishers, and artists involved: Matt Wingett, Tessa Ditner, Karl Bell, Jon Everitt, Jacqui Pack, James Bicheno, Inky Fingers and dozens of talented storytellers, available at Blackwell’s in Portsmouth and online:

Dark City

Day of the Dead

Octomorphosis

Tales of Two Cities

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Ealing Feeling

What ever happened to those days?

Washed away in our malaise.

Just distant actors on a stage.

[Reverential, Jamie West]

Good times launching Jamie West‘s beautiful Hypnagogic album with fellow Jets Rosie Holmes & Sarah Ali-Prosser.

Thanks to Noel Le Bon, harpmaster Guy Burges, our friends for support, and Mandie at OPEN Ealing. More photos.

Hear more of troubadour David Hurley  on Soundcloud.

The plangent harmonies of the Jets will be on display at upcoming gigs such as the Harting Roundhouse Open Mic and beyond.

  

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Crime Review

Thanks to John Cleal and Crime Review UK for the following review of Lawless and the Flowers of Sin:

Lawless & the Flowers of Sin Review, Crime Review UK
Campbell Lawless has grown up since he quit his apprenticeship to his Edinburgh watchmaker father and travelled south to become a novice detective at Scotland Yard.

Three years of exposure to the vices and sins of cosmopolitan London have hardened his outlook. No longer the naive son of the Kirk we met in his adventure with the Devil of Euston Square, Lawless is still hard-working and dogged, mingling bafflement with sympathy, but has added an air of cynicism.

Nicknamed The Watchman for his former trade – his colleagues and superiors use his expertise for free – Lawless has been out of favour since his clash with the revolutionary Berwick Skelton and views his new assignment as an Inspector of Vice with some reluctance.

Charged with preparing evidence for a hypocritical and typically Victorian parliamentary inquiry into the city’s vice trade, he is plunged into a shadowy netherworld of frayed glamour and double standards, mesmerising and unspeakable by turns.

From the pornographic booksellers to the back alleys of Haymarket, he discovers the cast-offs and casualties of the society bordellos. He becomes fascinated by a musician, Felix Sonnabend, who has established a foundation for fallen women, but his inquiries draw the attention of powerful men, who will go to any lengths to defend their reputations.

A chess automaton, an impossible theft, a ruthless newspaper baron and a company of street urchins, actors and vagabonds all feature as Lawless presses on with what appears a thankless task.

William Sutton is a master of the oratorical Victorian style and this exceptionally well-constructed and atmospheric story is a worthwhile addition to the Victorian mystery fiction genre. His research is impeccable and his weaving of real characters into the tale enhance its credibility and authenticity. The wild writer Wilkie Collins, social commentators Henry Mayhew and Dr William Acton and the immortal Charles Dickens all have parts to play. Kate Hamilton was a notorious brothel madam and the beautiful, tempestuous and outspoken ‘Skittles’ the most famous courtesan of the age.

Crowds  gathered to watch Catherine Walters, a brilliant horsewoman, drive her carriage at breakneck speed through the parks. Her lovers included ‘Bertie’, Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, Napoléon III of France and Spencer Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington, later eighth Duke of Devonshire. Society women scrambled to follow her fashions. Artists queued to paint her portrait. Her discretion and loyalty were a by-word and she retired a wealthy society woman owning property in Mayfair and elsewhere, including two hotels, one in France.


That was the top end of the market. At the other end, young girls were literally bought from their parents in the provinces or abroad and ‘broken in’ to their trade in often brutal vice ‘schools’. The brightest, best and most beautiful went to upmarket establishments like Kate Hamilton’s. The rest worked the streets with all the attendant dangers. Life for most was short.

Sutton’s vision of Victorian England is intriguingly bleak, dark and realistic. He describes how the hypocritical rich exploit the poor while publicly deploring their way of life and how ‘fallen women’ may lose their children and end up dead and discarded on the streets. Life is harsh and unforgiving for those who struggle.

He uses his characters to point up his social criticism and excels at creating a dark atmosphere. His depictions of depravity and prostitution are nuanced – although hardly for those of a delicate disposition – but he approaches difficult themes in a realistic way. There’s something deliciously sinful and raw about some of his depictions that fascinates me.

This novel will also appeal to fans of the dark fantasy/Gothic horror school because of its strong sense and fearless depiction of Victorian life and times. It’s fearless, it’s surprisingly simple, achingly raw and unendingly sinful. Sutton’s use of quotes from Charles Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du Mal (The Flowers of Evil) adds a touch of class as well as signposting the way through the tale.

If the multi-talented Sutton – writer, classics teacher, futurologist, playwright, actor, musician, cricketer for Brazil(!), driver for ‘Mad’ Frankie Fraser, ice cream parlour singer, tutor to the Sugababes, can maintain this standard of invention and mastery of linguistic tone, he will soon not have time for anything else except Lawless! I look forward to the next instalment later this year.

Reviewed 04 March 2017 by John Cleal

John Cleal is a former soldier and journalist with an interest in medieval history. He divides his time between France and England.

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Hypnagogic Launch Hypnotic

Hypnagogic Launch

Songwriter Jamie West launched his new album on Sunday night in a glorious gig, and I have never been so proud to be in the band. Beautiful songwriting, performances robust and delicate, and an audience who revelled in the whole event.

 

Supported by the foot-stomping melodies of Lynette Morgan’s band and the heart-wrenching road songs of Radio KWG, Jamie and the Jets rounded off the evening with a 10-song set, showcasing the new album alongside a few numbers from previous albums and even a preview of the next.

The Townhouse in Petersfield was filled with bonhomie, close harmonies and even a panic attack to sit aptly with the song Therapist. Everyone joined in the singalong Pop Song:

No threat to culture: Mr Shakespeare’s safe for now.

You can sleep easy in your bed now, Mr Cowell,

Or are you far too busy milking your cash cow…

More photos here on Flickr:

Sounds to follow.

If you missed this sold-out event, come along to Open Ealing for the London launch on 11 March.

  

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Hypnagogic London Launch (live music)

OPEN Music is back with a great line up for Jamie West’s album’s launch.


Tickets on the door or through: info@openealing.com 07562 662955  www.openealing.com
FB Hypnagogic Launch event
Directions on Event page












The Line Up
 



It is the second Saturday in March, OPEN Music is back with a great line up for Jamie West’s album’s launch complete with Chef Vix’s amazing food offer.
















Jamie West is releasing his 4th album Hypnagogic and is excited to perform it with the “Jets”, a talented bunch of boys and girls singing harmonies and playing instruments to bring this album to life. They are all very excited to be coming to The Orchard Café for the London leg of their tour.


jamiewestguitar.com for videos, music, sleeve notes.








Noel Le Bon has been singing songs of love and fear, his and others’, for 25 years including seven years in Prague where he recorded his album. For the last 10 years he has been in Hanwell where some say he was born for song – his rich deep vocals balancing beautifully with his flawless folk guitar. He’s back at OPEN by popular demand and to celebrate his birthday, so take the opportunity to come and listen to him.

David Hurley is a singer/songwriter from Buckinghamshire who has been writing his own songs since he was sixteen. As a fan of most types of music, David draws on a variety of genres and styles when writing his own songs. In his spare time David keeps bees, mostly for the thrill of petty larceny at the end of the honey season!

David Hurley’s Soundcloud page

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Valentine’s Massacre & Premature Articulation 2017

As Portsmouth Bookfest 2017 draws towards its end, I recommend watching Lord Byro’s Daffodils, a wonderful revisionist mash-up of romantic poets smashing pills and seeking thrills.

Premature Articulation at Canvas Coffee made a wonderful warm-up for Valentine’s Day Massacre, with a warm audience enjoying the cheery brew of caffeine-fuelled stalking, leavened by a touch of sardonic romance and sex.

 

Here again, with photos and links, is our wonderful line-up for Valentine’s Day Massacre and Thanks again to all at The Wave Maiden, to audience for support.

More Valentine performance pics on Flickr.

William Sutton 

Sweet-talking charmer Matt Wingett

Lyrical stalker Anthony Noon

Maggie Sawkins ‘Come Back My Love and Other Poems’

Christine Lawrence’s entrancing storytelling

Katie Gill‘s punchy pithy Pompey exile poetry

Gobby goddess of love, Charlotte Comley

 

INTERVAL

Songs from Jamie West & Jets & Jamie’s album launch

Diana Bretherick gave us an octopus tale

Story weaver and novelist Victoria Leslie

Justin MacCormack’s lovely story can be found on his blog and his novels on Amazon

See more of Lord Byro‘s mad bad dangerous poetry on Youtube: a fittingly frightening finale to a valentine’s more venal than venial.

 

  

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Hypnagogic

I am stupid with excitement about the launch of Jamie West’s new album Hypnagogic.

I am proud to be playing in Jamie and the Jets at two launch events:

– The Town House, Petersfield (sold out) Sunday 26 Feb, &

– Open Ealing arts venue, Saturday 11 March, with Dave Hurley & Noel Le Bon.

More info. Ticket info: info@openealing.com, 07562 662955

The songs are richly layered. He starts at The Bitter End and ends with What Do You Think They Say? The music is beguiling and the performances by turns lush, sparse, celebratory, driving and evocative.

Best of all, you can read his songwriter’s notes on his website, offering a glimpse into the dens of dark delinquency from which the songs arise.

Discover more of Jamie’s wonderful songwriting here on his website, and view his Therapy session and other songs on Youtube:



“Jamie West is having a launch night in West London for his new Album. “Hypnagogic”

With the masterful aid of “The Jets” they will be bringing the songs from his new album alive.

jamiewestguitar.com for ticket info”

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