The Swipe Volume 2 Chapter 39
By the time you read this, my work year will be done, and the first of our Christmas Pilgramages will be be underway. Between Essex and Warwickshire, with a pit stop back in the Ding, it’s hardly going to be the most restful of breaks. But a break it shall be, which is the most important thing. A chance to focus on the core life elements—family, friends, food and oh go on then let’s try that Christmas Negroni recipe.
Next week, we are delighted to offer up the 2024 Yearly Annual Report, which as stakeholders in this enterprise I trust you’ll find of interest. I hope you will agree that Excuses And Half Truths continues to offer value, service and an agreeable user experience. As ever, our Complaints Warthog is available to receive any negative comments and deliver a robust and tusk-heavy response.
This week: how to make a living as a creative, how the internet is no longer fit for purpose and the strange tale of the little king.
Wherever you are, whenever you are, however you are, welcome to The Swipe.
Rob is reading…
Iris Murdoch’s A Message To The Planet, a National Trust book-nook snag. It’s an odd one—clunky, drawn-out, slow-moving with the sort of ‘as you know, inspector…’ style dialogue I’d wince at if presented at Reading Writers, let alone from a literary giant like Dame Iris. I had to double-check when it was written, as it felt as if it was written in the fifties, until a reference to AIDS brought me up short. It came out in 1989. And yet I can’t stop reading. Maybe that’s Dame Iris’ skill—you carry on, hoping it’ll get good.
In lighter reading, I’ve explored Al Ewing and Lee Garbett’s Loki: Agent Of Asgard, available as a complete edition for cheap on the Amazon. Along with Kieron Gillen’s tour of duty on Journey Into Mystery, Loki’s current incarnation—or at least the Hiddleston-portrayed version we find so popular—is born from this early-noughts run of books. Ewing is especially good at playing with the trickster-god as an avatar of story above all else, leaning hard into that notion at the end of the series. It’s well worth a look, especially if you’re intrigued by the fluidity of Loki’s aspects.
Rob is watching…
An awful lot of archive Christmas Top Of The Pops—thank you, BBC4. Yep, the time of the season is all about nostalgia, and watching the shows I clearly remember from my 80s heyday gives me a warm glow.
Rob is listening…
to Easy AM 66. Smooth, baby, smooth.
From the archives of Programme 4, who I also jive with.
Rob is eating…
None of this stuff. It’s not real, and for the most part that is a very, very good thing.
Rob’s Low-Key Obsession Of The Week…
Can You Take A Photo Of Us? This will not, I guarantee you, go where you expect. Hold tight, stay with it.
Still struggling for present ideas to fire at your nemesis? If you feel the need to go beyond the flaming-turd parcel or the subscription to an offal-of-the-month service, fear not! We got you covered.
I have very fond memories of After Dark, a chat show which, by sticking to a few simple guidelines, teased out some truly jaw-dropping TV moments. When you get someone to let their guard down, then you can tease out the really juicy stuff. Hey, they’ll usually offer it up without asking…
There is a subtextual LOL throughout this piece by Sophie White, who is one of the very rare folks to make a modest living from the written word. Spoiler which isn’t really a spoiler—you’re going to need a supportive partner or an independent source of income. The cliche of the penniless writer is no less true for being a stereotype.
How I make a living as a full-time writer
In a related subject, comics writer Rob Williams talks about the highs and lows of what happens when a comic gets optioned for movies or streaming. Spoiler which isn’t really a spoiler—don’t buy the yacht until the cheque comes in.
How To Get Your Comic Optioned for Film or TV
Ed Zitron is an angry voice I’ve featured here before, but his final piece for 2024 is his masterpiece. A righteously furious sermon on how the promise of the internet has been despoiled and left in tatters. It’s worth spending time with the whole article, as he answers a lot of the obvious rebuttals with piecing, icy clarity. Does the push-back start now? Well, I’ve been a lot more picky about my permission settings recently.
You Deserve Better Than They’ve Given You
Jason Chatfield’s newsletter Process Junkie is full of useful advice on how to navigate the creative life, and this new bit spoke clearly to me. I find I have to write in silence to be able to hear myself dictate the words. Maybe we should pay more attention to the lessons Ed Z is offering and shut down the chatter, even just for a little while.
There are, tellingly, no links to the music in this celebration of Elvis Presley’s worst soundtrack tunes. I prefer it that way. It’s a lot funnier letting your imagination play out the songs without the inevitable disappointment which comes with having to listen to the darned things.
This new service, which hashes together the modern and old-school version of the newsletter, interests me an awful lot. I have been considering trying out something in print for a while. Who knows, maybe 2025 could be the year. What do you think, Readership? Would you like a missive from me plopping through your letterbox alongside the pizza menus and catalogues?
On a related subject, I’m also fascinated by small-run, small press science fiction. I have always been an advocate of fiction which can fit in a pocket. After all, this year’s Booker Prize winner is only 150-odd pages long. Orbital is the perfect example of a venture which is starting to set in my brain-meats.
Related thoughts on the same subject from Warren Ellis, who has form with shorter fiction forms.
I spent a lot of time in Sam Smiths pubs when I worked in Soho—there was a little knot of them around Broadwick St, Brewer St and the immediate locality. They boasted the cheapest pints in the area, and were a charming, unpretentious location for boozy lunches or languorous endings to the working day. Over time, they became stranger, more uncomfortable to spend time in. The ban on mobile devices put a stop to my solitary afternoons writing or reading, and changes to the interior decor made the pubs gloomy and unwelcoming. This brilliant long read on the chain and its highly eccentric owner is well worth a look, with the hope that the 150 closed pubs can be brought back to profitable life.
Reading’s own DAPmaster, Damien A. Passmore, has put together an excellent advent calendar of unusual festive tunes. I share it with you now alongside best wishes and a lifted glass to a jolly holly Christmas.
See you in seven, my Santa babies.
