In 1989, an unpublished manuscript by classic 19th century French author Jules Verne was discovered and subsequently published in the 1990's. 'Paris In The 20th Century,' was written by Verne in 1863 and is set in the great French city 97 years in his future - in 1960.
Just one of the futuristic devices featured in the novel was a machine that could transmit the image on a piece of paper to another machine in another location. Forty four years later in Germany, Arthur Korn sent a photograph from Munich to Berlin on the first-ever inter-city fax machine.
It was another sixty years on before the streamlined, electric fax machine became a common feature in businesses around the world. And another fifty years on from that it's all but extinct in the age of the internet and the email.
The future Paris described by Verne was a city full of towering buildings - written twenty one years before the the first modern skyscraper - the 10-storey Home Insurance Building - was opened in Chicago in 1884.
Verne's novel had been rejected by his publisher who regarded it as too wildly imaginative.
Verne was good at this sort of thing.
He wrote about high-powered metallic submarines, ('20,000 Leagues Under The Sea,') long before the first one was built. He wrote about a rocket trip to the Moon, ('From The Earth To The Moon,') 104 years before Apollo 11.
Let's imagine, then, an imaginary novel written by an imaginary author named John Ferne - sixty years ago - in 1951.
It's set in 2011 and it's about a wealthy entrepreneur who launches a new invention - a hand-held device on which you can read the text of a book on a flat, non-glare screen.
The books can be transmitted to the device anywhere in the world via wireless networks from supercomputers that hold hundreds of thousands of titles.
At the same time a global book store has collapsed and major print publishers are considering the way forward in an uncertain business. As print sales decline, there is a sharp increase in the ereader devices. Pure fantasy.
The novel is called 'The Rise Of The Ebook,' and Ferne's tale is rejected by 1950's book editors as being too improbable, even for s/f fans.
Of course, this is a novel that was never written. (Or was it?)
However, it's 2011 now and the scenario couldn't be more real.
It's less than four years since Jeff Bezos' Amazon launched the Kindle ereader. Aptly named, for just as kindling in the forest can ignite a fire, so the Kindle has fanned the flames of an ebook revolution, with several major ereader devices and online bookstores launching. In addition there's ebook distributors such as Mark Coker's Smashwords. These 21st century outlets are offering hundreds of thousands of books, by both established publishers and by the new wave of "indie" authors/publishers.
Global bookstore chain Borders has closed most of its brick and mortar stores, while building its own online presence and its own ereader.
Welcome to the future.
And these are the most recent developments in the rise of the ebook:
The April 16, 2011 press release from the American Association of Publishers (AAP)reported that in February, digital books in the U.S showed a 202.3 % increase against the same month of February in 2010.
The Ebook was the Number One format among all categories of Trade books, including Adult and Childrens/YA hardcovers and paperbacks. That's $90.3 million in sales for the month of February. (Boy, what I could do with $90.3 million.)
The ebook now accounts for just on 30% of all U.S. book sales.
Ebook sales outside the U.S are slower, but the trend is upwards.
My research indicates that in the UK and Germany, where ereaders have been on sale for a much shorter period of time, ebooks are estimated at around 5% and growing.
The rise of the ebook has also seen the rise of the independent author.
The 'indie' artist was once the exclusive domain of the musician, particularly rock musos. Technology meant it was possible for singers/songwriters/bands to record their own material, release it on CD or download, selling it on the internet and at 'live' shows. "Indies" gained a strong foothold in the 90's.
Now technology has done the same for authors, and it's a real game-changer.
There are many thousands of "indie" authors flooding the market with their self-published works and, sadly, many will not stand out and find readers. Nevertheless, an opportunity to sell your wares and connect with an audience is there.
And from those thousands, there are many who are achieving strong sales and excellent reviews, too many to mention here, but as an example - Mel Comley, Imogen Rose, Edward Patterson, Siebel Hodge and Nick Spalding.
There's a small but growing number who have hit the Kindle Top 100 bestseller lists, including John Locke, Amanda Hocking, J R Rain, Michael R Sullivan and Debbi Mack.
Hocking and Sullivan have been approached and have also signed with established publishing houses.
John Locke, who has many titles on the bestseller list, prefers to remain "indie" but has acquired a literary agent to field movie offers and foreign rights publishing opportunities.
These authors are an example that self-published works that are well written and edited, can match the traditionally published well-known authors in finding a readership. As such, they are an inspiration, a guide and a beacon to every other writer out there who is heading along the same path.
Locke's agent, Jane Dystel, was quoted in The Wall Street Journal as saying this brave new digital publishing world was a "wild west."
Well, the U.S ought to know, having had the original Wild West back in the 1800's. Around the same time Jules Verne was imagining the fantastic inventions of the 20th century, which are themselves already ancient history to us. If Verne was writing today, we can only wonder what speculative fiction he might have written about the future of the digital age.
And what of our imaginary John Ferne novel, 'The Rise of the Ebook'?
In our fictional story, Ferne's grandchildren have discovered his manuscript and released it as an ebook. It's a Kindle Top 10 bestseller. Imaginary film studio, Dreamjobs, have bought the rights and legendary director Stephen Steelkirk will direct.
And for the role of an indie author who hits the big time, talks are underway with Josh Heart-throb and Christian Sale.
The real Hollywood recently released 'The Social Network,' a film about the rise of Facebook.
A real movie about the rise of the ebook? Who knows...
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Disappear...no, not you. It's the new book title
Over the next 8-10 weeks, I'll have some promotional and publishing activity going on. I'm launching a new novel, 'Disappear', in July, and re-issuing 'The Delta Chain' with a slightly revamped cover, an extension of my author name, and setting a special promotional e-book price of .99c. (The paperback will follow shortly.)
Later on, to complete this initial triumvirate of activity, I'm launching my short fiction collection (title tba).
In the spirit of experimentation, and after much research on indie author blogs and websites, we'll see how the pricing and cross-promotion of the titles is working, and I'll post some status updates.
So no idle moments then, no twiddling of the thumbs around here. (I've always wondered what 'twiddling' of the thumbs actually means. According to one dictionary entry, it's a series of twist and turns. Not sure why you'd want to spend time doing that with your thumbs, sounds very 'Deliverence' and duelling banjos to me.)
Here's the lowdown:
In 'Disappear,' a young husband takes what should be a 10 minute walk to a local shop. Never to return. Eighteen years later his body is found on the very same street, the victim of a hit/run driver. Where has he been and why was he returning now, only to die in an accident? His wife, Jennifer Parkes, is called to identify the body...and is confronted by a seemingly impossible fact...
In 'The Delta Chain,' authorities are unable to trace the identities of six drowning victims washed ashore along the coasts of two countries over a two year period. Who were they? Are there others?
In my short fiction collection, a "breaking news" item on TV presents a man with an opportunity to commit an undetectable, perfect murder - one that will deliver personal and financial gains; a daring international cat burglar, who has never been caught, has a stunning plan to steal a fabulous diamond; the little-known forensic science of 'bite-mark analysis' delivers an unexpected curve to a small-town murder investigation; these are three of several stories with a sting that explore the themes of deception, greed, power, crime and the sometimes unexpected paths that can lead to justice.
I've always been drawn to suspense fiction that has an unusual or intriguing element of mystery to its plot and characters, something instilled in me from a very young age. I remember sitting up late on a Tuesday night with my Mum and Dad, watching 60's tv series 'The Fugitive,' with David Janssen as Dr. Richard Kimble, on-the-run from the law,
roaming from town to town, adopting different identities and jobs, while searching for a one-armed man who could prove Kimble's innocence of a murder charge.
On successive Saturday nights, I watched a festival of old Hitchcock films, many of them based on novels and short tales by master storytellers in the thriller genre. As a result, I sought out books by those authors : 'Jamaica Inn,' 'Rebecca' and 'The Birds' by Daphne Du Maurier; 'The 39 Steps' by John Buchan; 'Marnie' by Winston Graham; 'Psycho' by Robert Bloch; 'Strangers On A Train' by Patricia Highsmith; 'The Secret Agent' by Joseph Conrad.
Years later, revisiting some of those books has proved a valuable reminder of just what it was that influenced me, inspired me, entertained me, and set me off on this particular journey - and hoping that a few tricks and techniques in pacing, mood and characterisation, rubbed off.
Rediscovering roots isn't just for blues musos, it helps writers and every craftsman in every field to re-focus and sharpen the skills and the tools of our trades.
Enough blabbing. Time to get back to work. Or - maybe -before that, I'll just dip into an old Hitchcock movie or Winston Graham novel. After all, those guys really knew how to cast a line and reel you in...
Later on, to complete this initial triumvirate of activity, I'm launching my short fiction collection (title tba).
In the spirit of experimentation, and after much research on indie author blogs and websites, we'll see how the pricing and cross-promotion of the titles is working, and I'll post some status updates.
So no idle moments then, no twiddling of the thumbs around here. (I've always wondered what 'twiddling' of the thumbs actually means. According to one dictionary entry, it's a series of twist and turns. Not sure why you'd want to spend time doing that with your thumbs, sounds very 'Deliverence' and duelling banjos to me.)
Here's the lowdown:
In 'Disappear,' a young husband takes what should be a 10 minute walk to a local shop. Never to return. Eighteen years later his body is found on the very same street, the victim of a hit/run driver. Where has he been and why was he returning now, only to die in an accident? His wife, Jennifer Parkes, is called to identify the body...and is confronted by a seemingly impossible fact...
In 'The Delta Chain,' authorities are unable to trace the identities of six drowning victims washed ashore along the coasts of two countries over a two year period. Who were they? Are there others?
In my short fiction collection, a "breaking news" item on TV presents a man with an opportunity to commit an undetectable, perfect murder - one that will deliver personal and financial gains; a daring international cat burglar, who has never been caught, has a stunning plan to steal a fabulous diamond; the little-known forensic science of 'bite-mark analysis' delivers an unexpected curve to a small-town murder investigation; these are three of several stories with a sting that explore the themes of deception, greed, power, crime and the sometimes unexpected paths that can lead to justice.
I've always been drawn to suspense fiction that has an unusual or intriguing element of mystery to its plot and characters, something instilled in me from a very young age. I remember sitting up late on a Tuesday night with my Mum and Dad, watching 60's tv series 'The Fugitive,' with David Janssen as Dr. Richard Kimble, on-the-run from the law,
roaming from town to town, adopting different identities and jobs, while searching for a one-armed man who could prove Kimble's innocence of a murder charge.
On successive Saturday nights, I watched a festival of old Hitchcock films, many of them based on novels and short tales by master storytellers in the thriller genre. As a result, I sought out books by those authors : 'Jamaica Inn,' 'Rebecca' and 'The Birds' by Daphne Du Maurier; 'The 39 Steps' by John Buchan; 'Marnie' by Winston Graham; 'Psycho' by Robert Bloch; 'Strangers On A Train' by Patricia Highsmith; 'The Secret Agent' by Joseph Conrad.
Years later, revisiting some of those books has proved a valuable reminder of just what it was that influenced me, inspired me, entertained me, and set me off on this particular journey - and hoping that a few tricks and techniques in pacing, mood and characterisation, rubbed off.
Rediscovering roots isn't just for blues musos, it helps writers and every craftsman in every field to re-focus and sharpen the skills and the tools of our trades.
Enough blabbing. Time to get back to work. Or - maybe -before that, I'll just dip into an old Hitchcock movie or Winston Graham novel. After all, those guys really knew how to cast a line and reel you in...
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Wishing You Were There
You're behind the wheel of a an open-air sports coupe, hitting the highway, wind in your hair (provided you have enough, which I don't), the refreshing rush of morning breeze lifting your spirits, the song on the radio pumping its rythmn through your blood, the landscape flashing by, the ocean on one side...
Actually you're not, you're reading a novel but you feel you're right there alongside the protagonist, seeing what he/she is seeing, feeling the same exhiliarating sense of freedom and excitement...You wish you really were there.
That's what the best fiction does, transplants us into the middle of the action, where we feel we are an honorary character in the cast, walking the walk, talking the talk.
It's one of the secrets of success of the world's most popular writers.
Wilbur Smith's epic adventures take place on land, sea and in the air. I'm sure many readers, like myself, have tasted the salt of the sea on their tongues, or the dryness of the desert parching their lips, or the adrenaline kicking in as a safari hits the open African plains.
Reading Cormac McCarthy's 'The Road,' I felt I was tramping alongside the hero on that apocolyptic near-future journey or feeling the tropical heat and rain in Somerset Maugham's novels and short stories.
Setting of scene and atmosphere is one of the writer's most effective tools of trade, and is effectively what puts the reader into the action.
We've all visited a place that seemed to be imbued with its own personality. Every place has its unique characteristics. Zeroing in on those and subtly using them to build the ambience of a location is an essential part of the craft for every writer to master.
The writer's goal is not to get bogged down with long passages of by-the-numbers description, but instead to briefly and deftly weave those sensory aspects of a place into the plot, just as a painter must brush them onto canvas with light and shade (that's today's lesson, I do try to pass these things on, lol)
Right now though I'd like to be behind the wheel of a sports car in an exotic location, and where better to be suave, sophisticated and worldly than on the pages of one of Ian Fleming's James Bond books, where he invariably drives Alfa Romeos, the Ford T-Bird, Mercedes convertibles, the Rolls Royce Silver Ghost...
That sports coupe on an ocean road?
I'm still waiting for that scene to be written.
But I can dream, can't I?
Better still maybe I can persuade a boutique car dealer to let me take the latest sports models for a spin, testing their wares on coastal highways, and into the country...research, after all, is essential to getting the facts straight. Wonder if Mr. Fleming ever tried that?
Actually you're not, you're reading a novel but you feel you're right there alongside the protagonist, seeing what he/she is seeing, feeling the same exhiliarating sense of freedom and excitement...You wish you really were there.
That's what the best fiction does, transplants us into the middle of the action, where we feel we are an honorary character in the cast, walking the walk, talking the talk.
It's one of the secrets of success of the world's most popular writers.
Wilbur Smith's epic adventures take place on land, sea and in the air. I'm sure many readers, like myself, have tasted the salt of the sea on their tongues, or the dryness of the desert parching their lips, or the adrenaline kicking in as a safari hits the open African plains.
Reading Cormac McCarthy's 'The Road,' I felt I was tramping alongside the hero on that apocolyptic near-future journey or feeling the tropical heat and rain in Somerset Maugham's novels and short stories.
Setting of scene and atmosphere is one of the writer's most effective tools of trade, and is effectively what puts the reader into the action.
We've all visited a place that seemed to be imbued with its own personality. Every place has its unique characteristics. Zeroing in on those and subtly using them to build the ambience of a location is an essential part of the craft for every writer to master.
The writer's goal is not to get bogged down with long passages of by-the-numbers description, but instead to briefly and deftly weave those sensory aspects of a place into the plot, just as a painter must brush them onto canvas with light and shade (that's today's lesson, I do try to pass these things on, lol)
Right now though I'd like to be behind the wheel of a sports car in an exotic location, and where better to be suave, sophisticated and worldly than on the pages of one of Ian Fleming's James Bond books, where he invariably drives Alfa Romeos, the Ford T-Bird, Mercedes convertibles, the Rolls Royce Silver Ghost...
That sports coupe on an ocean road?
I'm still waiting for that scene to be written.
But I can dream, can't I?
Better still maybe I can persuade a boutique car dealer to let me take the latest sports models for a spin, testing their wares on coastal highways, and into the country...research, after all, is essential to getting the facts straight. Wonder if Mr. Fleming ever tried that?
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
It's Read An Ebook Week
In addition to the paperback and Kindle editions, on Amazon, my novel 'The Delta Chain' is now also available in several other ebook formats, from Smashwords, and from Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Sony, Apple's ibooks, and Diesel.
And just in time for the 2011 Read An Ebook Week.
As part of the Ebook Week promotion, 'The Delta Chain,' is available at a 50% discount (using coupon code no. RAE50) from Smashwords, until March 12.
According to my neighbor, Buggeroff, there's no reason now for anyone not to get a copy. But then up until last week he thought an ebook was a geeky term for an xbox. When I showed Buggeroff a Kindle, he wanted to know which button to press for the latest Red Faction: Armageddon game.
The Read An Ebook Week initiative runs this week, from March 6 to March 12. It's an annual promotion that's been going strong for several years now, but is more topical than ever given the steep rise in ereader devices over the past year, as they've become lighter, slimmer, and lower in price.
On her write2publish blog, Robin Sullivan investigates many ebook stats. Industry reports show that the ebook was recently approx 10% of the U.S book sales market. That's a healthy and growing niche.
Ebook Week has news, info and features, across a wide variety of media, about the pleasures and advantages of reading electronically. Authors, publishers, readers, booksellers, the media and the general public participate. In 2010 it attracted readers from 136 countries, speaking 74 languages.
You can find out a great deal more about it here
For 500 years, since Gutenberg's first printing press, we've had printed books. This past decade the Project Gutenberg enterprise has made thousands of classic books available as ebooks, and for free, and helps introduce them to a whole new generation.
In the 1960's movie version of 'The Time Machine,' the time traveler arrives in the far future and is taken to a hall that contains Mankind's books. When the traveler takes some of them from the shelves, they crumble in his hands, due to neglect.
In Ray Bradbury's classic novel, 'Fahrenheit 451," futuristic nasties burn all the books.
I expect the printed paper book is more resilient, that it will survive the doomsayers, and that it will always have a place in our hearts, albeit in smaller numbers. And that it can live happily alongside the ebook.
The ebook definitely has a vital and increasing place in our world, and in our hearts, and Ebook Week celebrates that without resorting to burning or neglecting its print counterpart. Live and let live.
There's thousands - or more - books available, from the classics to the latest bestsellers. And if there's a negative to the whole ebook revolution, then it's that there's so many titles of all kinds available, and just not enough time to read 'em all. Damn.
And just in time for the 2011 Read An Ebook Week.
As part of the Ebook Week promotion, 'The Delta Chain,' is available at a 50% discount (using coupon code no. RAE50) from Smashwords, until March 12.
According to my neighbor, Buggeroff, there's no reason now for anyone not to get a copy. But then up until last week he thought an ebook was a geeky term for an xbox. When I showed Buggeroff a Kindle, he wanted to know which button to press for the latest Red Faction: Armageddon game.
The Read An Ebook Week initiative runs this week, from March 6 to March 12. It's an annual promotion that's been going strong for several years now, but is more topical than ever given the steep rise in ereader devices over the past year, as they've become lighter, slimmer, and lower in price.
On her write2publish blog, Robin Sullivan investigates many ebook stats. Industry reports show that the ebook was recently approx 10% of the U.S book sales market. That's a healthy and growing niche.
Ebook Week has news, info and features, across a wide variety of media, about the pleasures and advantages of reading electronically. Authors, publishers, readers, booksellers, the media and the general public participate. In 2010 it attracted readers from 136 countries, speaking 74 languages.
You can find out a great deal more about it here
For 500 years, since Gutenberg's first printing press, we've had printed books. This past decade the Project Gutenberg enterprise has made thousands of classic books available as ebooks, and for free, and helps introduce them to a whole new generation.
In the 1960's movie version of 'The Time Machine,' the time traveler arrives in the far future and is taken to a hall that contains Mankind's books. When the traveler takes some of them from the shelves, they crumble in his hands, due to neglect.
In Ray Bradbury's classic novel, 'Fahrenheit 451," futuristic nasties burn all the books.
I expect the printed paper book is more resilient, that it will survive the doomsayers, and that it will always have a place in our hearts, albeit in smaller numbers. And that it can live happily alongside the ebook.
The ebook definitely has a vital and increasing place in our world, and in our hearts, and Ebook Week celebrates that without resorting to burning or neglecting its print counterpart. Live and let live.
There's thousands - or more - books available, from the classics to the latest bestsellers. And if there's a negative to the whole ebook revolution, then it's that there's so many titles of all kinds available, and just not enough time to read 'em all. Damn.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Reasons for storytelling 1, 2, 3...
I've been 'writing' stories since before I could actually write. As a kid I'd invent stories and then act them out, playing all the characters myself. If I do that now I get strange looks, so I try not to do it.
Eventually I began writing my stories down in long-hand (I still do first drafts that way, though that could change.) As a teen I bought my first portable typewriter for just $40. Haven't seen a typewriter for a long time now. I kinda miss them but I don't miss the white liquid paper (for corrections), used to get that all over me (my Mum thought it was toothpaste)and I don't miss changing the ribbons and getting the ink all over me.
In the 3rd series of s/f tv series, 'Fringe,' contact is made by people with those in an alternate universe by means of typing messages on an old typewriter. Glad to see they still have their uses.
I've heard Tom Hanks collects old typewriters and has hundreds of them. That sounds like a fine hobby to me, better than stamps, but it would take a lot of space to store those things and I don't have one of those multi-room Hollywood mansions, so no, not for me. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with my piles and piles of vinyl records.
Of course eventually along came the PC, the laptop, iphone, ipad, ereader, whatever.
But the process is the same and I'm still "acting" out those characters in my head. I've had some very strange conversations with those characters over the years.
When Kylie Minogue sang, 'Can't Get You Out Of My Head," she didn't know the half of it.
There's a self-editing process that goes on, as well, at that imaginary conversation point. Is this a story I really want to tell? Is this a story I would want to read if someone else had written it?
It's all subjective, of course.
Recently I read reports on a schlocky horror-type movie with a theme so revolting that the idea doesn't deserve any mention here (trust me on this.) Suffice to say, I'm not the only one who feels that way. Everyone I know finds it too disgusting to give any further comment. Fortunately, it's a film with limited distribution and limited promotion, so most don't know about it.
Nevertheless, someone wrote a script for this movie, someone raised financial backing, someone cast actors, someone directed, someone produced and distributed this knowing it could only offend and disturb.
This got me to thinking: what is the role of the storyteller in our society. In any society.
My view: stories are to entertain and amuse (both good balm for the soul) but also to cast an illuminating light on the good and bad choices we can make in this world. They are about our strengths and our weaknesses; our history; the importance of our relationships; the triumphs of our spirit against adversity; the endless possibilities for our future; for enriching each other with love and care; and for ringing the warning bell on the darker side of our nature and presenting the consequences.
Or stuff like that, anyway. Otherwise what's the point?
Never should it be gratuitous, or dwell on the base and vile as though they are normal, or ignore the balance that is a natural part of the universe.
There's all sorts of reasons for all kinds of stories, but wallowing in filth and darkness and depravity just for the hell of it, can't (as Jerry Seinfeld might have said) be any good for anybody.
Reasons for storytelling? I've been a collector, for a while, not of typewriters or stamps but of quotes, comments and observations on the craft of the storyteller. From time to time, I'd like to share a few of them. Some you'll know. Some you won't. Regardless, collections are fun, we all love quotes, and it's good to re-engage with these when you haven't heard them for a while.
"Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world today." - Robert Mcafee Brown
"There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no great societies that did not tell stories." - Ursula K. LeGuin
"Surely the job of fiction is to actually tell the truth. It's a paradox that's at the heart of my kind of storytelling." - Jeremy Northam
"I grew up in a place where everybody was a storyteller, but nobody wrote. It was that kind of Celtic, storytelling tradition: everybody would have a story at the pub or at parties, even at the clubs and raves." - Irvine Welsh
"I think that instinct, that storytelling instinct, rescued me most of my life." - Armistead Maupin
"Storytelling is an ancient and honourable act. An essential role role to play in the community or tribe. It's one that I embrace wholeheartedly and have been fortunate enough to be rewarded for." - Russell Banks
"You can't stop stories from being told." - Dr. Parnassus (ok, not a real person, but a great quote from a fictional character) - in 'The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus.'
"Story is the vehicle we use to make sense of our lives in a world that often defies logic." - Jim Trelease
"Stories tell us what we already knew and forgot, and remind us of what we haven't yet imagined." - Anne Watson
"Our stories matter...your stories matter. For you never know how much of a difference they make and to whom." - Caroline Joy Adams
"I'm writing a book. I've got the page numbers down..." - Steven Wright (I know how he feels...)
"I think every beautiful tale in the world hides the truth and reveals it little by little." - Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
"Australian Aborigines say the big stories - the stories worth telling and retelling, the ones in which you may find the meaning of your life - are forever stalking the right teller, sniffing and tracking like predators hunting their prey in the bush." - Robert Moss, 'Dreamgates.'
And that's one very powerful, inspirational image on which to reflect, and on which to leave it, for now.
Eventually I began writing my stories down in long-hand (I still do first drafts that way, though that could change.) As a teen I bought my first portable typewriter for just $40. Haven't seen a typewriter for a long time now. I kinda miss them but I don't miss the white liquid paper (for corrections), used to get that all over me (my Mum thought it was toothpaste)and I don't miss changing the ribbons and getting the ink all over me.
In the 3rd series of s/f tv series, 'Fringe,' contact is made by people with those in an alternate universe by means of typing messages on an old typewriter. Glad to see they still have their uses.
I've heard Tom Hanks collects old typewriters and has hundreds of them. That sounds like a fine hobby to me, better than stamps, but it would take a lot of space to store those things and I don't have one of those multi-room Hollywood mansions, so no, not for me. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with my piles and piles of vinyl records.
Of course eventually along came the PC, the laptop, iphone, ipad, ereader, whatever.
But the process is the same and I'm still "acting" out those characters in my head. I've had some very strange conversations with those characters over the years.
When Kylie Minogue sang, 'Can't Get You Out Of My Head," she didn't know the half of it.
There's a self-editing process that goes on, as well, at that imaginary conversation point. Is this a story I really want to tell? Is this a story I would want to read if someone else had written it?
It's all subjective, of course.
Recently I read reports on a schlocky horror-type movie with a theme so revolting that the idea doesn't deserve any mention here (trust me on this.) Suffice to say, I'm not the only one who feels that way. Everyone I know finds it too disgusting to give any further comment. Fortunately, it's a film with limited distribution and limited promotion, so most don't know about it.
Nevertheless, someone wrote a script for this movie, someone raised financial backing, someone cast actors, someone directed, someone produced and distributed this knowing it could only offend and disturb.
This got me to thinking: what is the role of the storyteller in our society. In any society.
My view: stories are to entertain and amuse (both good balm for the soul) but also to cast an illuminating light on the good and bad choices we can make in this world. They are about our strengths and our weaknesses; our history; the importance of our relationships; the triumphs of our spirit against adversity; the endless possibilities for our future; for enriching each other with love and care; and for ringing the warning bell on the darker side of our nature and presenting the consequences.
Or stuff like that, anyway. Otherwise what's the point?
Never should it be gratuitous, or dwell on the base and vile as though they are normal, or ignore the balance that is a natural part of the universe.
There's all sorts of reasons for all kinds of stories, but wallowing in filth and darkness and depravity just for the hell of it, can't (as Jerry Seinfeld might have said) be any good for anybody.
Reasons for storytelling? I've been a collector, for a while, not of typewriters or stamps but of quotes, comments and observations on the craft of the storyteller. From time to time, I'd like to share a few of them. Some you'll know. Some you won't. Regardless, collections are fun, we all love quotes, and it's good to re-engage with these when you haven't heard them for a while.
"Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world today." - Robert Mcafee Brown
"There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no great societies that did not tell stories." - Ursula K. LeGuin
"Surely the job of fiction is to actually tell the truth. It's a paradox that's at the heart of my kind of storytelling." - Jeremy Northam
"I grew up in a place where everybody was a storyteller, but nobody wrote. It was that kind of Celtic, storytelling tradition: everybody would have a story at the pub or at parties, even at the clubs and raves." - Irvine Welsh
"I think that instinct, that storytelling instinct, rescued me most of my life." - Armistead Maupin
"Storytelling is an ancient and honourable act. An essential role role to play in the community or tribe. It's one that I embrace wholeheartedly and have been fortunate enough to be rewarded for." - Russell Banks
"You can't stop stories from being told." - Dr. Parnassus (ok, not a real person, but a great quote from a fictional character) - in 'The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus.'
"Story is the vehicle we use to make sense of our lives in a world that often defies logic." - Jim Trelease
"Stories tell us what we already knew and forgot, and remind us of what we haven't yet imagined." - Anne Watson
"Our stories matter...your stories matter. For you never know how much of a difference they make and to whom." - Caroline Joy Adams
"I'm writing a book. I've got the page numbers down..." - Steven Wright (I know how he feels...)
"I think every beautiful tale in the world hides the truth and reveals it little by little." - Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
"Australian Aborigines say the big stories - the stories worth telling and retelling, the ones in which you may find the meaning of your life - are forever stalking the right teller, sniffing and tracking like predators hunting their prey in the bush." - Robert Moss, 'Dreamgates.'
And that's one very powerful, inspirational image on which to reflect, and on which to leave it, for now.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Where are the great rock'n'roll novels?
Kevin Johnson is an Aussie pop balladeer who had an international hit, many years ago, with his song, "Rock and Roll (I Gave You All The Best Years Of My Life.)" Yes, lengthy, but it works, boy does it work. It's been recorded by over 50 artists around the world including Tom Jones and Mac Davis and you can watch an early performance of it here
It's the plaintive tune of a rock muso who is always just one step behind the music trends, who never makes "the big time", whose dreams fade while others soar, but who plods on, ever faithful to the music and the industry he loves.
There's thousands of creative artists who could relate to this, who've toiled away at their craft over the years, never "making it" in the way they might have envisaged. In point of fact, there's many people from all walks of life who can relate on some level or other, at some point in their lives.
And what's more, it's a great story idea with hidden depths to explore. Which brings me to a great puzzle:
Rock music was the single, greatest, dominant, explosive, much-loved, much-hated, electrifying art form of the late 20th Century - damn, probably in all history.
It gave us extraordinary true life tales of rags-to-riches and back again, of dreams realized, of hopes dashed, of cursed romances, of lavish living, of impossible triumphs, of deep despairs and tragic ends. (And all for real, remember, all for real.) And it's not over yet.
And characters. Talk about characters - mad, lovable, eccentric, romantic, dangerous, self-destructive, both doomed and redemptive men and women and (yes, even) children - and they were just the support bands.
There's no end to the fascinating fictions that could be inspired by the whole incredible era.
So where are they?
It seems the fictional world has largely skipped by this rich tapestry of material, and that's a mystery worthy of Mr. Holmes himself.
There are, of course, some rock'n'rollish novels out there, just two of them being Don DeLillo's 1973 novel "Great Jones Street," which was well received and more recently "You Don't Love Me Yet," by Jonathan Lethem, but for the most part they are not widely known and have not had the mainstream impact of the big books by the bestselling authors.
Where are the literary world's answers to the "Almost Famous" and "A Star Is Born" movies?
Rock musos do turn up as characters in all sorts of novels, but even then they're few and far between, and these books are not rock'n'roll novels as such.
Joe Hill's supernatural thriller, "Heart-Shaped Box," is about an ageing heavy metal star who "buys" a ghost over the Internet and finds himself stalked and haunted by the deadly entity. It has parts with great humour, and parts that are genuinely chilling. Great read, great character.
And in Clare Francis' suspense novel, "The Killing Winds," (a.k.a "Requiem) a semi-retired rock star and an environmental activist investigate an eco conspiracy after the rocker's wife dies in mysterious circumstances. (A favourite of mine.)
But fiction about the world of rock, its origins, its influences, its creativity, its rises and falls - these novels, either mainstream or genre, are hard to find.
Any thoughts on this?
I've always believed that truth is far stranger than anything authors can create...Maybe, just maybe the real world of rock'n'roll is so eccentric, so bizarre, so over-the-top and infinitely outrageous, that 'fiction' can't compete and has, like the rest of us, taken a seat in the audience and is watching the spectacle from the front row...
It's the plaintive tune of a rock muso who is always just one step behind the music trends, who never makes "the big time", whose dreams fade while others soar, but who plods on, ever faithful to the music and the industry he loves.
There's thousands of creative artists who could relate to this, who've toiled away at their craft over the years, never "making it" in the way they might have envisaged. In point of fact, there's many people from all walks of life who can relate on some level or other, at some point in their lives.
And what's more, it's a great story idea with hidden depths to explore. Which brings me to a great puzzle:
Rock music was the single, greatest, dominant, explosive, much-loved, much-hated, electrifying art form of the late 20th Century - damn, probably in all history.
It gave us extraordinary true life tales of rags-to-riches and back again, of dreams realized, of hopes dashed, of cursed romances, of lavish living, of impossible triumphs, of deep despairs and tragic ends. (And all for real, remember, all for real.) And it's not over yet.
And characters. Talk about characters - mad, lovable, eccentric, romantic, dangerous, self-destructive, both doomed and redemptive men and women and (yes, even) children - and they were just the support bands.
There's no end to the fascinating fictions that could be inspired by the whole incredible era.
So where are they?
It seems the fictional world has largely skipped by this rich tapestry of material, and that's a mystery worthy of Mr. Holmes himself.
There are, of course, some rock'n'rollish novels out there, just two of them being Don DeLillo's 1973 novel "Great Jones Street," which was well received and more recently "You Don't Love Me Yet," by Jonathan Lethem, but for the most part they are not widely known and have not had the mainstream impact of the big books by the bestselling authors.
Where are the literary world's answers to the "Almost Famous" and "A Star Is Born" movies?
Rock musos do turn up as characters in all sorts of novels, but even then they're few and far between, and these books are not rock'n'roll novels as such.
Joe Hill's supernatural thriller, "Heart-Shaped Box," is about an ageing heavy metal star who "buys" a ghost over the Internet and finds himself stalked and haunted by the deadly entity. It has parts with great humour, and parts that are genuinely chilling. Great read, great character.
And in Clare Francis' suspense novel, "The Killing Winds," (a.k.a "Requiem) a semi-retired rock star and an environmental activist investigate an eco conspiracy after the rocker's wife dies in mysterious circumstances. (A favourite of mine.)
But fiction about the world of rock, its origins, its influences, its creativity, its rises and falls - these novels, either mainstream or genre, are hard to find.
Any thoughts on this?
I've always believed that truth is far stranger than anything authors can create...Maybe, just maybe the real world of rock'n'roll is so eccentric, so bizarre, so over-the-top and infinitely outrageous, that 'fiction' can't compete and has, like the rest of us, taken a seat in the audience and is watching the spectacle from the front row...
Thursday, January 20, 2011
About 'The Delta Chain'
There's a story behind every story, and it's usually kicked off by one of the most famous, age-old questions asked by fiction writers: What if?
From the international news media to observations you make in your local street, there is always someone or something about which you could let your mind wander and ask "What if...?" It's what writers do while other people are being sensible and getting on about their business.
Some years ago, while researching something completely different, I stumbled upon an intriguing fact: in the United States each year, over 1,000 unidentified, deceased bodies are found. And there are comparative figures in many countries around the world. Manner of death varies, as do the locations in which the bodies are found. Most are found on land. Some have drowned and are found in rivers, in the ocean, or on beaches.
In some cases it is weeks, months, even years before the bodies are identified.
In 1998, the body of a young girl was finally identified, thiry years after her body had been found in mountains.
In 2000, a man discovered on an English beach remained unidentified for six years.
Here's the kicker- a small percentage of these bodies are never identified. They are never reported missing. No-one ever comes forward with any information. Exhaustive forensic searches turn up no solutions.
In the 1930's, a devastating fire claimed the lives of hundreds of people at a busy circus. The remains of a young girl were found on the site. No one has ever known who she was or where she was from.
As anyone would, I wondered who on earth these people could have been. What was their story? How could it be that no-one missed them?
I asked myself the following: 'What if there were several unidentied drowning cases, in different countries, that were similar in nature? Who could they be? What led to their deaths? Why were they never reported missing?"
How would the police go about pursuing the answers? What would be the personal impact on the investigators? What would be the effect on their lives and their relationships?
'The Delta Chain' imagines just such a scenario and follows the trail through the efforts of a young detective, Adam Bennett, and several others who are drawn into the evolving mystery.
It's been a long and winding road but this month I've published 'The Delta Chain' in paperback and ebook editions.
Moral of this blog is that when you ask yourself that 'What if...?" question you can never be too certain where it will ultimately lead. For both writers and readers, that's what makes the craft of storytelling so addictive.
From the international news media to observations you make in your local street, there is always someone or something about which you could let your mind wander and ask "What if...?" It's what writers do while other people are being sensible and getting on about their business.
Some years ago, while researching something completely different, I stumbled upon an intriguing fact: in the United States each year, over 1,000 unidentified, deceased bodies are found. And there are comparative figures in many countries around the world. Manner of death varies, as do the locations in which the bodies are found. Most are found on land. Some have drowned and are found in rivers, in the ocean, or on beaches.
In some cases it is weeks, months, even years before the bodies are identified.
In 1998, the body of a young girl was finally identified, thiry years after her body had been found in mountains.
In 2000, a man discovered on an English beach remained unidentified for six years.
Here's the kicker- a small percentage of these bodies are never identified. They are never reported missing. No-one ever comes forward with any information. Exhaustive forensic searches turn up no solutions.
In the 1930's, a devastating fire claimed the lives of hundreds of people at a busy circus. The remains of a young girl were found on the site. No one has ever known who she was or where she was from.
As anyone would, I wondered who on earth these people could have been. What was their story? How could it be that no-one missed them?
I asked myself the following: 'What if there were several unidentied drowning cases, in different countries, that were similar in nature? Who could they be? What led to their deaths? Why were they never reported missing?"
How would the police go about pursuing the answers? What would be the personal impact on the investigators? What would be the effect on their lives and their relationships?
'The Delta Chain' imagines just such a scenario and follows the trail through the efforts of a young detective, Adam Bennett, and several others who are drawn into the evolving mystery.
It's been a long and winding road but this month I've published 'The Delta Chain' in paperback and ebook editions.
Moral of this blog is that when you ask yourself that 'What if...?" question you can never be too certain where it will ultimately lead. For both writers and readers, that's what makes the craft of storytelling so addictive.
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