Geoff Nelder's Blog, page 39

2010 in review

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here's a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 7,100 times in 2010. That's about 17 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 59 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 367 posts. There were 22 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 8mb. That's about 2 pictures per month.

The busiest day of the year was November 7th with 78 views. The most popular post that day was Have my cake and read it.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were facebook.com, geoffnelder.com, mail.yahoo.com, en.wordpress.com, and cafedoom.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for tryfan, ilam hall, escape velocity 4, william christopher, and tryfan mountain.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

Have my cake and read it November 2010
4 comments

2

North Gully, Tryfan September 2007

3

Escape Velocity #4 is here March 2009
1 comment

4

Science Fiction here I come September 2006
6 comments

5

William Christopher Nelder June 2009
10 comments

At the stroke of

Yeay, a fabulous 11 to all. My email pinged just before midnight to tell me I've sold short story Indefinite Article to an imprint of Sams Dot Publishing – Sounds of the Night. It'll be out in Feb print and e. Thanks to Cafe Doomers who helped enormously in one of the 2010 crit months. Also to the BSFA Orbiters group. A cross between science fiction and fantasy (the hard nosed pilot found himself talking to a mythical creature even though he didn't believe in them) was about a crashed test pilot finding himself alone on Earth. He had to make a life and death (for himself and Humanity) decision with a sea nympth. My first effort at a literary treatment. Also thanks to Bec Zugor for advice. Thanks guys and gals.

2010 – could do better

2010 – A writer's mixed fortunes

My initial reactions to this year is that as far as my writing is concerned nothing much has happened. I was paid for editing one person's novel, and have had a small number of short stories published but my biggies – the SF Left Luggage trilogy and Fantasy Xaghra's Revenge remain with Rebecca Pratt, my agent in the USA, being sent to publishers, who often take up to a year to respond. Nevertheless, I travelled to two conventions, spent a week at a UK Away writers' week in Carmarthenshire and enjoyed supporting other writers in various forums and groups. Principle among the latter are the fabulous writerly friends at Café Doom and in the BSFA Orbiters. I thought I'd list the writing related activity I've achieved this year. I am surprised how much one can do with so little monetary yet great personal feedback. Above all I am indebted to my diet and writing buddy, Bec Zugar.

Although Left Luggage is yet to be published, the opening scene won an honourable mention in Gary Ponzo's Strong Scenes competition, May 2010. More kudos came from the magazine, Fright Site, when it decided my horror story, In Absentia, deserved a best story award in Twice The Terror anthology, edited by Horrorzine's Jeani Rector.

Fiction publications:

Screaming Dreams' Christmas special – anthology to publish humour alt history tale, Patent NonScience in Dec 2009 crept into 2010

Horrorzine – Jan 2010 – short story, In Absentia – it's the Editor's Pick. Jan 2010 – print antho in 2010

The Write to Fight – anthology to support Kent Karate – Reflective Sparrow – flash story 2010

The Monster Alphabet Book – Ed by John Prescott. Short story Goliath 2010

The Sixty – Fine SFF Art book by Andy Bigwood has accepted my flash story matching one of his pictures – Winter Hunt.

A Monk Punk story, Don't Bite My Finger, has been accepted for an anthology.

Hot Air – my thriller novel was published by Wuacademia in August 2010.

Auditory Crescendo to be published in Escape Velocity: The Anthology in January 2011

UK Away Chapbook 2010 – Indefinite Article SF story.

Escaping Reality, my humorous thriller, was published in 2005 and is still available. In 2010 it became downloadable at Smashwords for $1.99 – bargain!

Exit, Pursued by a Bee my science fiction novel was published by DDP in 2008 and still available there and as a Kindle download. In 2010 it was serialized for free monthly reads at Kalkion.com

Non-fiction publications:

Article: Hiding the Truth on UFOs published in Kalkion February 2010

Article: Illusions, Coincidences, and the Moon, Kalkion Spring 2010

Article: The Lure of Bridges published in Kalkion June 2010

Article: When Not To Write Science Fiction – in Kalkion July 2010

Reviews published in 2010

By Professor D. Harlan-Wilson: Collection of amusing bizarre stories entitled: They Had Goat Heads, a novel: Codenamed Prague.

M, John Harrison: Climbers, and The City & The City

Liz Williams: Banner of Souls

Margaret Atwood: The Handmaid's Tale.

Ira Nayman: Alternate Reality books: Alternate Reality Ain't What It Used To Be and What Were Once Miracles Are Now Children's Toys

Martin Amis, Time's Arrow

Christopher Priest: Inverted Worlds

Mark Haddon: A Spot of Bother

William Gibson: Virtual Light

John Farris: The Ransome Women

Derek Muk: The Occult Files of Albert Taylor

Casting Shadows Joleen Kuyper, E.J. Tett and Jo Robertson: A collection of dark tales and poems

Jeani Rector: And Now The Nightmare Begins

Mitzi Szereto: In Sleeping Beauty's Bed

Short stories completed looking for publication: Dopplegangster, The Future and Up One, Indefinite Article (revised), several others in progress.

Works I have professionally edited that have been published in 2010 include

Into The Blast: written by Skipp Porteous and Robert Blevins (that was the first edition, the second edition, taking into account the involvement of filming by the History Channel Decoders series is to be published in January 2011)

The Last Olympian by John Goodwin

The Zargothian Tales by Aiden Lucid here for the Kindle version

In addition to those I have kept up my blog, updated my website and wrote numerous responses in forums, letters and emails. Phew!

My biggest literary let down of the year has been the mixed blessing of having my horror story, Goliath, published in the Monster Alphabet Book published by John Prescott as M is for Monster. Although he loved my story – Goliath's story from his point of view as a misunderstood youth – John had sent it to Serenity Banks for editing. Without consulting me she changed many British words for inappropriate Americanisms eg jerk instead of jolt and completely changed the ending by deleting a significant few sentences. I feel like disowning it. If anyone wants the original story please contact me.

All in all a busy even if pecuniary year. As it ends I continue to contribute to new works and today edited with Robert Blevins, the final touches to Escape Velocity: The Anthology due out in January 2011.

The Last Olympiad

John Goodwin is a writer friend of mine living in Cyprus. I met him in 2008 while on a UK Author's Away Week writing holiday in Bellapais, Northern Cyprus. John lives in Paphos but was good enough to taxi me over to the north of the island. He was similarly generous with other writers in the group. While there we critiqued each others work and John quickly established himself with his wit and passion for writing. Later he bought my editing services to content-edit an early draft of a clever thriller based on the upcoming Olympics in London in 2012. His premise is based on a terrorist caught up with a group plotting to sabotage the event to publicise their cause. The protagonist is out of his depth with the group and the story cunningly follows his attempts to avoid trouble yet right wrongs. John is the CEO of a construction company that was involved in scaffolding for the Olympic Stadium and was able to use his inside information to provide engaging insights for the story.  The Last Olympiad by John Goodwin is my recommended book of the month. Go for it folks!

page and Amazon link to The Last Olympiad

Gladys pens a review of Hot Air

Hot on the heels of Bec, comes Gladys Hobson, who writes from an interesting perspective of her listenging to Hot Air

http://gladyshobson.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/1400/

Bec pens a review of Hot Air

Writer, Bec Zugar, read the ebook version of Hot Air, and wrote this awesome review.

http://www.beczugor.com/1/post/2010/12/hot-air-by-geoff-nelder-a-review.html

obfuscation

Someone please throw a brick through my TV.  Last night, instead of getting on with writing Left Luggage 3, the third and final volume of my Left Luggage science fiction trilogy, I became hooked in the Japanese film, Zatoichi. Even the title drew me in. There was beauty mixed with violence and I had to find out if the blind man would defeat all the baddies. He did, but not until 3.45 am. Aaaarrggh. By which time any hope of being tired enough to sleep had passed me by. Tonight, BBC Four are doing mathematics – Fermat's Last Theorem and the beauty of equations. Damn them -  my favourite subjects. Usually I tune into Radio 3 and let operas and sonatas wash through me while I write. Trouble is that Radio 3 tend to broadcast lectures and talks late at night so I jab at the remote to find something banal. You might, like my wife, suggest turning the box off, but I remain with a problem. I have tinnitus so bad that I need background sounds, preferably music, to mask the twittering birds and sirens in my head.

Ummm, the Beautiful Equations programme has much bo**ocks. Typical of British programme makers to idolise Newton at the expense of Pythagorus and dozens of other non-UK mathematicians. I can safely switch to an opera DVD. Welcome, Richard Strauss, Ariadne auf Naxos. And so back to LL3.

Hot Air on You Tube

The lovely Kim McDougall has produced and placed the video trailer of my Hot Air on You Tube here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-5fEJ3mvBQ

Two pages below are pages with a review and more info

They Had Goat Heads

They Had Goat Heads by D. Harlan Wilson

A collection of short stories published in 2010 by Atlatl Press

Poetic prose in a hallucinogenic kind of way.

Paperback

ISBN 978-0-9826281-2-6

Reviewed by Geoff Nelder

Some anthologies are soothing tales, quaint, charming and help you pass the time waiting in an airport, or to assist your head to drift off to the land of nod at bedtime. This book is NOTHING LIKE THAT! Each story is a unique coruscating mind adventure. It's not possible to take it all in and be embroiled in each intrigue in one go. While bizarro stories seem to be meaningless and an injection of lateral-thinking hilarity, there's more to them than that. When you hammer a banana, and a bee buzzes a window cleaner outside the plane on a clockwork bowl of custard… well, your head is either messed up, or it begins to think in a different way, loosening the cobwebs in there.

Listen to the beginning of 'Beneath a Pink Sun':

"Conflict is an illusion without which apes and begonias would shrivel in the wind. The grill, however, is covered with steaks. Tenderloins. They sizzle in the back yard beneath a pink sun. Somebody turns on a bugzapper. Music of tiny deaths…"

Laugh at a line in Chimpanzee where 'I' is in a bad situation, calls 911 and finds the operator "sounds attractive". Unfortunately, 'I' is badly mistreated by the arriving police – beaten, pistol-whipped, kicked and thrown into a cell. All outrageous and illegal. He's allowed the proverbial single phone call, so calls 911. Brilliant.

In many ways the tales have a message, however deeply buried then working upwards into your subconscious. They're apparent nonsense maybe not so – in the ilk of the sufi homilies of Idries Shah, for example in his The Pleasantries of the Incredible Mulla Nasrudin. In particular the stories: Cape Crusade, Turns, and The Womb. I'm not saying they are the same style exactly – both Shah and D. Harlan Wilson are unique, but that if you enjoy one you are likely to relish the other.

Another writer's work triggered by the style of these stories are the alternate reality ones by Ira Nayman – eg in his Alternate Reality Ain't What It Used To Be.

The funniest gory story I've ever read is in this book – The Arrest. I tease you with a few lines from the beginning:

A man said, "You are under arrest."

Another man said, "No, you are under arrest."

"No," said the first man. "It's the other way around. You are the one who is under arrest."

"I'm not under arrest," said the second man. "You are."

"I'm going to arrest you now," said the first man, taking the second man by the elbow.

"No. Now I will arrest you"

… and so it goes on hilariously involving more men, more arrests, fights, fatalities. Several of the stories have this kind of self-referential effect, and I've always been drawn to literary recursion.

Lines I wish I'd written include 'The clouds fell into the horizon' – in the story, Monk Splitter. 'Time is the splash of a raindrop on a cornflake.'

For readers of graphic stories, there is one, The Sister, illustrated horrifically by Skye Thorstenson. It's a dark story summed up by the opening line: 'And the moment I finished sewing up my little sister…' It is hellically [sic] recursive.

Some of the stories leave me cold, but there are a total of 39 stories, most of which are semi-precious with a sprinkling of gems.

purchase from Amazon.co.uk

D. Harlan Wilson has won awards for his writing winning novelist, and is a literarycritic, and English professor. Visit him at www.dharlanwilson.com.

Review of Hot Air

Review begins here : (see article below this one for details)

Hot Air

A Book Review by M. Kenyon Charboneaux

All Erica Steadway wants is her hot-air balloon gift flight with champagne picnic, but from the opening lines to the closing intense and original ending, Erica gets nothing she either expects or wants. Chased by an organization that wants to kill her for something seen while drifting over the English countryside in the balloon, unaware and unsure of who to trust, smart, resilient, beautiful and determined, she fights through every single page of this masterpiece of a modern English thriller to stay alive and sane.

British author, Geoff Nelder, has accomplished the seemingly impossible. This book is really, really good. Suspense is high, the sex scenes are well written and integral to the story, not just thrown in for the titillation factor, and no one among the new authors today has got the delicate touch and the black, twisted humour of Geoff Nelder. He writes the King's English with grace and precision. And he knows how to construct a thriller, making no mistakes in either pacing or plot. In short he tells a hell of a story in clear and beautiful prose.

I am not normally a fan of thrillers. I much prefer Nelder's ingeniously crafted ghost stories that have the feel of MR James between their luscious lines, but even I could appreciate Hot Air for what it is …. one heck of a fine thriller and one hell of great rollercoaster ride! It's a book that's very hard to put down and one that deserves a sequel.

M. Kenyon Charboneaux a novelist, tutor and editor living in the USA