WRITESTRONG?
7th February 2013
It was a pleasure to read at the very impressive Library of Camden Working Men's College last night. As an avowed South Londoner I'd never heard of it before, though it's quite a local landmark. Happily the audience gave Five To One - a tale of love, tragedy and the pre-and re-percussions of a helicopter crash on the other side of the river - a generous reception. Thanks to everyone who came along.
It's the first time I've read from it on the Watford-side of town, and the first since last month's dreadful accident in Vauxhall when a helicopter hit a crane, killing the pilot and one person on the ground. My blood ran a little cold that day; not least because one of the inspirations for that novel was an incident a few years ago when a crane collapsed in Battersea with similar, horrifyingly random results. It was a bit like fact and fiction coming together, all in the space of two square miles.
On to cheerier things. Outside my window this morning the sun is shining and one of our two semi-resident foxes is asleep under the fir tree. In other words, it's a perfect day for writing. And while my agent, Valeria, hunts down a home for the follow-up to Five To One which is called Light From Other Windows (by the way, I don't think I have second sight but just in case, you might want to avoid the Canary Islands this summer), I'm at the planning stage with my next novel.
This is always the scariest part for me, because every decision you take is accompanied by a looming feeling that if you set off down the wrong route, you just might spend the next year and a half of your life down there... But I have alighted on an idea I quite like. It popped into my head following recent revelations about the despicable Lance Armstrong and the even more odious Jimmy Savile. That said, it has nothing to do with cycling, drugs or under-age sex (...at least, not yet).
I have a title and I have a few characters, and now I'm going to see where they go. Wish me luck and I'll tell you all about it - probably in late 2014!
Oh, PS.... Big shout out for www.nationallibrariesday.org.uk this Saturday 9th February. Our libraries are a unique resource and under pressure like never before. As I looked around the majestic, be-sculpured interior of the College Library last night, it did strike me that, whilst I don't believe they'll ever disappear, they are in danger of becoming academic museum-pieces instead of a living environment available to all.
If you haven't visited your library lately, pop in this Saturday and see how they've moved with the times. Let's show our support and keep them where they belong.
For more about me and my books - please visit www.chrischalmers.net
It was a pleasure to read at the very impressive Library of Camden Working Men's College last night. As an avowed South Londoner I'd never heard of it before, though it's quite a local landmark. Happily the audience gave Five To One - a tale of love, tragedy and the pre-and re-percussions of a helicopter crash on the other side of the river - a generous reception. Thanks to everyone who came along.
It's the first time I've read from it on the Watford-side of town, and the first since last month's dreadful accident in Vauxhall when a helicopter hit a crane, killing the pilot and one person on the ground. My blood ran a little cold that day; not least because one of the inspirations for that novel was an incident a few years ago when a crane collapsed in Battersea with similar, horrifyingly random results. It was a bit like fact and fiction coming together, all in the space of two square miles.
On to cheerier things. Outside my window this morning the sun is shining and one of our two semi-resident foxes is asleep under the fir tree. In other words, it's a perfect day for writing. And while my agent, Valeria, hunts down a home for the follow-up to Five To One which is called Light From Other Windows (by the way, I don't think I have second sight but just in case, you might want to avoid the Canary Islands this summer), I'm at the planning stage with my next novel.
This is always the scariest part for me, because every decision you take is accompanied by a looming feeling that if you set off down the wrong route, you just might spend the next year and a half of your life down there... But I have alighted on an idea I quite like. It popped into my head following recent revelations about the despicable Lance Armstrong and the even more odious Jimmy Savile. That said, it has nothing to do with cycling, drugs or under-age sex (...at least, not yet).
I have a title and I have a few characters, and now I'm going to see where they go. Wish me luck and I'll tell you all about it - probably in late 2014!
Oh, PS.... Big shout out for www.nationallibrariesday.org.uk this Saturday 9th February. Our libraries are a unique resource and under pressure like never before. As I looked around the majestic, be-sculpured interior of the College Library last night, it did strike me that, whilst I don't believe they'll ever disappear, they are in danger of becoming academic museum-pieces instead of a living environment available to all.
If you haven't visited your library lately, pop in this Saturday and see how they've moved with the times. Let's show our support and keep them where they belong.
For more about me and my books - please visit www.chrischalmers.net
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