Friday 10 September 2010

The Story So Far...

Hello and welcome to you all, I'm in a very good mood as I'm about to go on holiday - more about that later.

I'm sorry it's been a couple of weeks since my last post but I've been up to no good, well that's not really true but I have been writing a fair bit of short flash fiction (less than 1000 words). Now that they've been submitted to various magazines/ezines for possible publication norrmal service can resume (well... as soon as I'm back from my trip... Did I mention I'm going away?)

Other news... and I say news, but it's more of an update. I've started my novel again (it's a steep learning curve, what can I say). It started life as a 1st person non-fiction travelogue: it gained an additional back story, then further evolved into a black comedy, after an excessive rework became a 3rd person fictional black comedy with all new characters (but it sucked). Now I think I have it... no really! So watch out my beta-readers as all new chapters will be landing in your inbox soon (a big smoochy kiss of thanks to you all for your time and patience).

Did I mention that I won't be posting anything for a couple of weeks as I'm off on holiday - Yes I know I only had one last year, that's not the point. This year I'm Turkey bound, somewhere near Marmaris. So I'm packing lots of books to read while I'm drinking cocktails by the pool. It's not as glam as it sounds as it was a last minute deal - it may have been cheap but I'm just really glad to be getting away for awhile.
 
 As I'm going for two weeks I've assembled a collection of books to keep me busy and as usual I'm taking more than I need, but you never know what mood you might be in and I hate running out of reading material while I'm away as it's always a hassle trying to find a good book when you're abroad (using up all that perfectly good Sun and cocktail time).

If you're interested, this is the reading list I've assembled - it's not in any discernible order.

Kevan Manwaring - The Long Woman
     Published by the Small Press, Awen, this is the prequel to the 'Windsmith' series.http://www.windsmithelegy.com

Neil Gaiman - Fragile Things
     This is the only one of Gaiman's novels I have still to read and is another collection of his short stories. It's safe to say that I love the Gaiman.   

Stephen Fry - The Liar
     His debut novel and since I haven't read any of his written work, I thought it would be a good place to start.

Hugh Laurie - The Gun Seller
     Well it's rude to have a little Fry without Laurie, this his first and as far as I'm aware only novel.

Bill Bryson - A Short History of Nearly Everything
     Once again I've never read any or Bill Bryson's work, so decided to start with this one (it was a birthday gift).

Haruki Marakami - Norwegian Wood
    I received this book for Christmas and other books just seem to keep beating it to the top of my reading pile.

Stieg Larsson - The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
    It's sold millions, and the author died mysteriously in 2004 just before the trilogy was published... Spooky!

John Irving - The World According To Garp
    Another pressie, first published in 1978 it may be an oldie but its a goody.

I will no doubt review a bunch of these books on my return, and if nothing else it will keep me off the streets of Marmaris.


In the words of Ron Burgundy "Stay classy!"

Until next time...