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An inspiration lost

27/5/2015

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As some of you will be aware, author  Tanith Lee died last weekend.  I didn't know her personally, and never met her, although those I know that did have only good things to say about her, even before she died.  But Tanith Lee was an early inspiration of mine, and was one of the reasons I wanted to become a writer.  Her skill with words, using them to evoke shadow and light, mood and form; her wonderfully drawn characters, were second to none.

I think it was the Birthgrave saga that I read first, certainly that I owned first, finding them in the bargain bin of the local, now defunct Martin's store in the small town of Rugeley where I went to school.  I read them voraciously; they (along with other works like Guy Gavriel Kay's Fionavar Tapestry) were certainly responsible for a large hole in my exam revision.  I was at University when I discovered The Silver Metal Lover, a copy of which I found in the local reading library in Beeston (not in the University library, oh dear no!).  I'm not a 'chick flick' type, but the book was strangely moving, so much so that an oil painting I did of the cover now hangs on my mother's living room wall (along with a painting of the cover of Bradley Denton's Wrack and Roll, the lovely Leeza).

Later came The Flat Earth series, and let's face it, they were marvellous.  Who couldn't admire the magnificence of Azhrarn, Night's Master, Prince of Demons.  Her writing transcends this life, makes it seem dull in comparison to the rich worlds she created.

I read all of her I could find, even the children's works.  I never tired of her magic and her mythos.

Now she will write no more.  The world has lost a great voice, a wordsmith of the highest order.  We will not see her like again.
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Writing, eh?

20/5/2015

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Cor blimey, this writing business is a bit intense, isn't it?  That's intense, not in tent, as there's no plug for my laptop in the tent, mores the pity.

Basically, I've been so busy writing The Automata Wars volume 3, that I've barely had time to write this blog, so here's a quicky (ahem), on (what else), writing, no less.

A few people have asked me how the writing has been going.  Some have commented that they wished they had the time, or the dedication to write.  Some have been quite impressed by my word churning rate (around 4000 words per day when I don't have to do the day job, around 1000 on a normal working day).  Actually, though, this isn't necessarily all that impressive.  It all depends on a number of things, such as:
  • typing speed
  • Subject familiarity
  • Writing stage
Typing speed is fairly obvious.  You can only write as fast as you can get your words onto paper, whether it's via a computer, hand written, or even via a dictation machine (or if your accent is one that can be recognised by speech recognition software!).  So if you're setting yourself a writing target, bear that in mind and be realistic about what you can actually achieve.  If you do that, you can over come the 'time' issues that a lot of people face.

It also helps if you're familiar with the subject - so ideally, you'll have thought about what you need to know, and done some research before you start to write.  Of course, that's not always possible; sometimes things that you haven't yet researched will occur to you as you write.  In which case, you may need to decide whether you can continue without going back to the research stage, or whether you need to stop and do a bit more looking up before you carry on.

Which brings me nicely to the writing stage.  At the moment, I'm in the first writing stage.  This basically means I am lobbing words at the page as soon as I think of them.  Not all the words will be the right ones.  Not all the scenes will be needed.  But while I'm in the flow, it's worth just going with it and getting everything down (note:  this means that if I find something that needs more research, I'm either skimming something very quickly, or leaving a comment for myself in the text as to what needs to be covered).

Some of what I've written so far, I'm very proud of.  Some of it - let's just say I'm less proud of.  But I know that when it's all finally written out, I can then go back and redo the bits I don't like - even redo the bits I do like, if they need it.  Some of my best scenes may end up cut, if they don't make the story flow like it should.  It's the editing stages - all those subsequent drafts of the tale - that will polish what I've written, and make it into something readable.

So my suggestion to you, dear reader, if you had wished you had the time, or the dedication, or could type fast enough to write - you can!  Just don't give up halfway through the first draft.  If it doesn't read quite as eruditely as you had imagined it would, it doesn't matter.  Don't stop.  Get to the end.  Then go back and redraft, and redraft...

The Automata Wars Vol 3 will be at that redraft stage soon... and that's where the real work comes in.  Watch this time and space...
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The Great(ish) show on earth...

6/5/2015

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Blimey, I've been a bit remiss.  Quite a few weeks since my last blog post, tsk tsk.  Well, they say the best form of defence is attack, so be careful readers....

What have I been up to?  Well, more writing (and you will hopefully be pleased to know that The Automata Wars book 3 is progressing well, although it's grown a bit bigger than I expected (Madame!).  I've also just completed a 7 1/2 year stint at a day job, working with a luverly bunch of people (not coconuts) who I will miss greatly when I start a new day job in a couple of weeks.  I've volunteered at a festival, been to see Age of Ultron (naturally), made a thing for a birthday present...

But this weekend I will mostly be at the Great(ish) Exhibition in Redhill, Surrey.  This event promises (threatens?)
  • Tea Dueling - Certificate for the Winner
  • Story Reading
  • Steampunk Artifacts
  • Familiars
  • Tea (naturally!)
  It's being held at the Epoch Art Gallery, 9 Hatchlands Road, Redhill, Surrey RH1 6AA from 2pm on Sat 8th May

Running order is as follows:
14:00hrs - Opening Announcements/Greetings
14:05hrs - Sign-up for Tea Duelling
14:10hrs - Reading - LM Cooke
14:30hrs - Tea Duelling 1st Round Heats
15:00hrs - Reading - Steven C. Davis
15:20hrs - Tea Duelling Semi Final
16:00hrs - Reading - C. Harper-Leigh
16:20hrs - Tea Duelling Final
16:50hrs - Closing Announcements
17:00hrs - Event Ends

Hope to see you there!
In the meantime - don't forget to vote - but hurry back in time to listen to GASP radio tomorrow night for all your random musicalities.  Tata for now...
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    Author

    I'm a writer of steampunk/ fantasy fiction, singer/musician and writer at LM Cooke Music, singer in the parody band Mediaeval Biaetches, occasional historian,  and co-presenter of the Gothic Alternative Steampunk and Progressive web radio show.  Here I will ramble vaguely about stuff.  Friends, countrymen, and people who aren't countrymen, lend me your ears...

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