Today's theme for the Books Are My Bag bookshop promotion, is the 'first book I bought in a bookshop'. Two things strike me about this one. The first is that bookshops were the ONLY place you could buy a book when I started out on my long career as a reader. It's only relatively recently that other options arrived. The second is that I can't possibly remember the first one: it was centuries ago! However, (for those of you of the grammar police that object to this sentence's opening, click on this link), I can recall the first purchase I can remember. It was Lady Chatterly's Lover by D.H. Lawrence. I bought the Penguin Classics edition when I was about 18. Very formative to a teenager, I can tell you! I no longer have the book: when I divorced from my first wife, she insisted on taking half our books, though almost all of them were, in fact, mine. For practical reasons, I couldn't take them all anyway. That first book was lost in the process of separation and moving out.
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Monday, 6 October 2014
#BookADayUK; A Reader Event For October. Day 6
Today's theme for the Books Are My Bag bookshop promotion, is the 'first book I bought in a bookshop'. Two things strike me about this one. The first is that bookshops were the ONLY place you could buy a book when I started out on my long career as a reader. It's only relatively recently that other options arrived. The second is that I can't possibly remember the first one: it was centuries ago! However, (for those of you of the grammar police that object to this sentence's opening, click on this link), I can recall the first purchase I can remember. It was Lady Chatterly's Lover by D.H. Lawrence. I bought the Penguin Classics edition when I was about 18. Very formative to a teenager, I can tell you! I no longer have the book: when I divorced from my first wife, she insisted on taking half our books, though almost all of them were, in fact, mine. For practical reasons, I couldn't take them all anyway. That first book was lost in the process of separation and moving out.
Friday, 3 October 2014
#BookADayUK; A Reader Event For October. Day 3
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| Cover of The Satanic Verses |
Friday, 28 March 2014
The 12 Days of Launch Countdown: Day 2
What? Only 2 days until the
launch of A Seared Sky: Joinings.
Excited? Too right, I am!
In the spirit of that
well-loved seasonal song, I offer you the 12 days of countdown.
In reverse order.
And, on the second day of
countdown, I give to you
Two terrifying fire
mountains:
Mount O’bo – alive with
ash, rumbling with threat
Ylcrat – fiery island
threatening to engulf
Will they burn? Will they
escape the red-hot flows? Discover all when you read A Seared Sky: Joinings, launched in paperback and ebook formats on
30 March, by Fantastic Books Publishing.
Come, join the party and
enjoy all the fun of the book launch, wherever in the world you dwell. Virtual
and online so everyone can be there. Just a click away; right here. Be amongst
the first to get the paperback or ebook; or both!
Monday, 3 March 2014
Ghost in the Gold, by Lilleyn Kaye, Reviewed
Looking for fantasy, I came across this book via a recommendation,
and I’m glad I did. Lilleyn Kaye is a new author to me and I’ll certainly look
out for more of her work. In this tale of witchcraft and love, she sends the
reader on a journey with plenty of twists and turns.
Those familiar with my reviews will know that I’m very keen
on good characters. In Ari, Sira and Dion, this writer gives us well-rounded
characters with their flaws and idiosyncrasies; people we can relate to and
empathise with. But, in Claudia and Edward, she gives us a pair of the most
wicked individuals you could ever wish to find on the page; I can only hope
never to meet such evil in real life!
The theme of the book allows for plenty of sex, but this is
neither intrusive nor excessive, as it’s an essential component of the story.
In particular, the sexual awakening of young woman with no experience is handled
well, illustrating the theme of the corruption of innocence without straying
into prurience.
The story is well written and paced, taking the reader
through events that slowly build into a nightmare experience. The final third
of the book is fast-paced and tense, culminating in a denouement that is both
inevitable and satisfying. Have your tissues handy.
A fantasy romance with edge, this is a book that will hold
your attention and reward your time with a story well told. Fully recommended.
Saturday, 1 March 2014
Two Months In: Where Are We?
February has been a full and interesting month. I’m fortunate to live in
a part of the UK that rarely has heavy rainfall, so no flooding here: the
eastern half is much dryer than the west. But we’ve had our share of high winds
and a few very wet days. I had to spend an afternoon repairing wind damage to
the cladding at the eaves; just grateful it’s a bungalow!
My wife was invited to take part in a TV quiz programme, and that took us
away for 4 days down south, which made for an interesting interlude. I’d never
been to Borehamwood, home of Elstree Studios, before. And, as Sunday was a day
off, we took a trip up the road to St Albans; an interesting old town. As
always, when I visit new places, I contributed reviews of the various places
visited on TripAdvisor, since I use such reviews to make my own selections and
think this is a useful service for other visitors. (You'll find my reviews under my real name, Stuart Allison, should you be curious).
Our daughter had a couple of day-long interviews relating to her future
studies, so another 2 days out. Only one, in York, resulting in further
reviews, since the other didn’t necessitate a stay.
So, what have I managed during this truncated period? 4 books read and
reviewed; I’m halfway through a fifth. 7 blog posts written and edited and 5
posted (the other 2 were guest posts on other people’s blogs, one of which
hasn’t yet appeared). 2 short stories written and 3 edited. One of these hasturned into a sci-fi novelette, so I’ve done the 8 character sketches for that
and made a few notes. A bit of further research and I should start writing it
shortly. Had a couple of research sessions to bring the Writing Contests page
up to date, and actually entered 4 of the contests myself. And I also
contributed a new short piece to Readwave. But, most of the time has been spent
editing volume 3 of the fantasy trilogy. For the technical aspects, I’ve been
using the very comprehensive online editing suite, ProWritingAid, which I fully
recommend. Managed 11 chapters, since the process is a deep edit, requiring
some beta reading. Book 1, A Seared Sky:
Joinings, is due to be published by Fantastic Books Publishing very soon.
But that’s a topic for another post. Watch this space!
Quite a busy spell all in all, and relatively satisfying from a writer’s
point of view. How’s it been for you?
The chart, explained:
Writing - initial creation of stories, blog posts, reviews and longer
works.
Editing - polishing of all written work to make it suitable for readers.
Research - discovery of info for story content, market research, contests
and blog posts.
Reading - books and writing magazines.
Admin - story submission, blog posting, marketing, organisation, tax, and
general admin tasks.
Saturday, 15 December 2012
The Results, the Answer, the Winner!
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Briefly, for those who entered last
week’s competition to win a paperback copy of Breaking Faith, here’s the
result you’ve all been waiting to hear.
The question I posed for the contest was: ‘In Breaking Faith, what’s the
opening line of Chapter 11?’
The answer, of course, was: ‘I was not afraid of contact with others; I
simply had not experienced it.’
No one who entered had the wrong answer, so it was all down to the draw.
The name drawn out of the hat was Rasuna from Sumatra, and the book is
winging its way across the seas even as you read this, inscribed with the
special message requested by Rasuna.
Congratulations, Rasuna; enjoy the read. And my thanks to all who entered the contest;
commiserations to the unlucky majority.
Wednesday, 5 December 2012
Featured on Goodreads.
Those who are regular visitors will know of my enthusiasm for a large-membership reading community on the web: Goodreads is an excellent site for writers to interact with readers, for readers to chat about their favourite books, read reviews, gain recommendations, and, in fact, join in almost any activity you can imagine that deals with the world of books. It is, in short, a book-lovers' paradise. If you're not already a member, I urge you to join this community.
But, just for good measure, it turns out one of my books is featured there at present. Ten Tales for Tomorrow is an anthology of dark speculative fiction, which has earned praise from those who've read and reviewed it. You'll find more details, and buying links, on the Published Work page of the blog.
Sunday, 1 July 2012
The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron, Reviewed
Subtitled
A Course in Discovering and Recovering
Your Creative Self and A Spiritual
Path to Higher Creativity, this is not merely a book, but an instruction
manual about how to become the artist you truly are.
Okay,
so I may already have alienated the pragmatists and those for whom the idea of
artistic creativity is anathema. But stay with me. You, too, will benefit.
The
book is the culmination of a number of years of work Julia has undertaken first
to release her own creativity and then that of friends, and, ultimately, paying
students. She is, of course, a well-known film director, amongst other talents.
She lives in a world populated by people who use their creative talent to earn
their living and to produce many of those things we take for granted in our
daily lives. Creativity is not the sole preserve of the isolated artist living
in a dream, after all. It is an element in the everyday experience of most of
us, if we’re willing to discover it. So, there’s something here for everyone.
And I do mean everyone, regardless of the type of life and the nature of the
work undertaken.
The
book guides the reader through a series of exercises and explorations of self
over a period that is suggested to be 12 weeks. I took a little longer, as I
had 2 weeks of holiday already planned and those weeks interrupted the flow.
The exercises, or tasks as she calls them, are essential to the course.
Before
you make a decision to experience this book - it is more an experience than a
reading exercise - I should warn you that you’ll need to approach it with commitment.
A partial, casual approach will not work. You must be willing to immerse
yourself in all that it entails, if you’re to gain from it the lasting and
increasing benefits it promises.
As
you proceed, you’ll find all sorts of excuses not to do certain things, all
manner of reasons why you, in particular, shouldn’t bother with some aspects.
You’re too experienced, you’re too creative already, you’re simply too busy,
you’re above such considerations, you don’t have that sort of problem, etc,
etc. But allowing yourself to fail, permitting yourself to face those fears you
have buried, will, if my experience is any guide, free you from self-destructive
influences you’re unaware you have acquired.
I
learned a good deal about myself during the course of the weeks. Not all of it
was good. But most of what I learned was positive in its influence on my
development. There were painful recollections, shameful admissions, abortive
attempts at justification and some unexpected unpleasant revelations. But these
are all part of the healing process that permits the inner artist to develop
and flourish in the materialistic age we live in. To compensate for the
unpleasant, there were many unexpected plusses along the way. I discovered
really good things about myself, came to understand why I have held certain
beliefs, why I have been unable to take full advantage of my gifts and talents,
why I have rejected certain helping hands, why I have wasted so much time and
effort; even, perhaps, why I became ill for so many years.
Sound
a little over the top?
That’s
what I thought when I started. But I grow daily more certain about what I’ve
learned during these few, important, weeks of my life. I’ve discovered that I
have true gifts, real talents, a fantastic imagination, a unique way of seeing
and being. Sometimes the journey has been frightening, sometimes it’s been
tedious, but often it’s been exhilarating, exciting, vital, and full of fun.
I
never considered myself a ‘blocked’ artist. I seemed to be moving along with my
creative life quite nicely, thank you. But the honesty this course forces upon
its students woke me to the real reality (yes, I know, a tautology, but a
deliberate one). We spend so much of our lives under the cloud of
self-deception that escape is not only considered difficult, for many it is
never considered at all, since these individuals have no consciousness of their
self-imposed imprisonment.
I
think it is clear that I would recommend this book to everybody.
There
is a ‘but’; there is always a ‘but’.
One
aspect of the narrative and underlying philosophy of the book threatened, from
the start, to undermine the effectiveness of the course for me. I am a
committed and self-defined, one might almost say passionate, agnostic. I’ll
explain what I mean by that, since it’s important to your understanding of my
position and argument. I believe that if there is a God, such a force, being,
presence - call it what you will - is so far above our understanding as to be
incomprehensible. I believe any attempt to define a God must, by definition, be
an insult to such a concept and result in a counterfeit rather than the real
thing. Since I understand the concept to be ineffable, I am left with the only
logical alternative; i.e. I remain open to the possibility of a God but can
make no description of such a power and, by logical extension, cannot accept
any of the orthodox deities currently worshipped by the many religions that
exist. These are, patently, constructs of man in a quest to answer the
unanswerable questions and, no doubt, serve a useful, if often divisive, purpose
in providing a sort of comfort for those who prefer not to think about such
issues for themselves.
So,
when Julia Cameron talks about accepting that there is an external creative
being, that she calls God (using the ‘Good Orderly Direction’ tag to reduce the
objections of the sceptics) I find myself resistant. Initially, this very
insertion of the idea of faith into the course formed a barrier for me. But I persevered,
putting that aspect on the back burner until I could examine it and find a
replacement philosophy. And I’m glad I did that. Persevered, that is. Had I
allowed my objection to stop me completing the course, I would have missed out
on a very positive experience and failed to arrive at the new place I now find
myself, creatively speaking.
As
to what alternative philosophy I discovered along the way to replace the God
aspect: this isn’t the place to detail it. Suffice to say that I found such a
concept and am happy to employ that in place of the God facet.
So,
again, would I recommend this book? Only to everybody on the planet. Go out and
buy, borrow, or beg the volume. Make a commitment to do the tasks and
exercises. Make a commitment to complete the course, however long it takes. If
you follow it with the required open mind and the necessary effort you will
come out on the other side a more creative, balanced and happier person.
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