tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39784850716770582862024-03-14T08:56:15.232+00:00NitrospectiveAndrew Hookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14610690208258599992noreply@blogger.comBlogger217125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3978485071677058286.post-75963261782890806152024-02-27T18:48:00.000+00:002024-02-27T18:48:26.528+00:00Commercial Book<p>My eleventh collection of short stories, "Commercial Book", has just been announced for pre-sale over at <a href="https://www.psychofonrecords.com/"><span style="color: yellow;">Psychofon Records</span></a>. This is my second book to be written in association with the legendary San Francisco anonymous avant-garde art collective known as <a href="https://www.residents.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">The Residents</span></a>, following my book on the Mysterious N Senada, <a href="https://www.andrew-hook.com/pages/obscurity.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">O For Obscurity, Or, The Story Of N</span></a>. Those familiar with the band will be fully aware that in 1980 The Residents released “Commercial Album”, a collection of 40 songs each of exactly one minute in duration. I always thought these were similar to story prompts, and I wondered whether the band might be interested in furthering that idea. Contacting the Cryptic Corporation - and after consultation with their representative, Homer Flynn - I was given the go-ahead to write this book. The idea was to apply a similar restriction to the fiction as it had been to the songs. I felt that forty short stories each of exactly one thousand words in length would be an appropriate method, with those stories named after the corresponding song title and using the lyrics – where there were some – as inspiration. Homer confirmed that The Residents had considered telling me their own interpretations of the songs, however they had then decided it was better to give me free reign. The resulting stories are therefore a product of my imagination, distilled through <i>Commercial Album</i>, but do not directly represent the band members’ views of the source material. I imagine many of these stories differ quite considerably from the inspiration behind the songs, although I have invoked several motifs that those who are familiar with the band will be able to identify.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_chy-9XRJHjw5wHyhfIvGALDEGVWUeU6ZxXXuoSFl2W7wG2LA7e82AUxhUN22aNYaa8lTEKUj4juBlNBYahrtPn7UAGd1m5Yhs4sr56_-rUBCAeahjwe97MwrFdVXYT63K3UwQeRCIX9ZMIrMnjrOMptDyNTSx5weMmr0Zc8pDiuvBNqN6MyBydMREw0/s2048/328992484_708107594143133_527722140079917892_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1366" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_chy-9XRJHjw5wHyhfIvGALDEGVWUeU6ZxXXuoSFl2W7wG2LA7e82AUxhUN22aNYaa8lTEKUj4juBlNBYahrtPn7UAGd1m5Yhs4sr56_-rUBCAeahjwe97MwrFdVXYT63K3UwQeRCIX9ZMIrMnjrOMptDyNTSx5weMmr0Zc8pDiuvBNqN6MyBydMREw0/s320/328992484_708107594143133_527722140079917892_n.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Myself with Homer Flynn, Leeds, 2023</span></div><p><br /></p><p>After catching a couple of shows with the band early last year I began to write the stories. I did this in order of appearance on the album, without thinking too much about them beforehand. Whilst writing each song I played it on a loop - meaning that I heard the tracks on average about one hundred and fifty times before I'd finish the story. I always finished each story in one writing session. Whilst it's fun to see how the stories sprang from the songs, I want to stress that you don't have to be a Residents fan to appreciate the stories. These are genre tales which wholly stand alone in their own right.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz1W6sw5WtzLjNO1xYX8k9La1HNOWYySrH2XH21oCDgRRtDGfbY5MIz5jgBbx6546sMGXxlggsqM3yYL1F_gOLcjDRLi74eWlzhvirGv5E9OqD2B8hE62RfweC3eFbooD-dT5k5IgVLkgPGjjYYygiAxlGmKy7ZJfKsNZwIcoaB_LLGn_N6KTp8DeVPgM/s315/Thecommercialalbum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="315" data-original-width="315" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz1W6sw5WtzLjNO1xYX8k9La1HNOWYySrH2XH21oCDgRRtDGfbY5MIz5jgBbx6546sMGXxlggsqM3yYL1F_gOLcjDRLi74eWlzhvirGv5E9OqD2B8hE62RfweC3eFbooD-dT5k5IgVLkgPGjjYYygiAxlGmKy7ZJfKsNZwIcoaB_LLGn_N6KTp8DeVPgM/s1600/Thecommercialalbum.jpg" width="315" /></a></div><br /><p>Once written, I sent the manuscript over to The Residents who approved. They were able to provide me with the original artwork for the album together with permission to include the song lyrics. As O For Obscurity had done well being published by Psychofon Records it was agreed we would continue that relationship. The pre-sale included a limited edition of the book where the first hundred are hand-numbered and come in special Psychofon packaging with the complete Commercial Album Radio Ads CD that was intended for Ralph Records promotion in 1980 as a bonus. At the time of writing, those limited edition copies have already sold out, however the standard paperback remains available.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>The pre-order information regarding the standard version can be found on the <a href="https://www.psychofonrecords.com/shop/PR-064-Andrew-Hook-Commercial-Book-p629797571"><span style="color: yellow;">Psychofon Records</span></a> website.</div><div><br /></div><div>Meanwhile, here's some pre-press reviews:</div><div><br /></div><div><i>With little to no exception, The Residents found the stories to be absolutely delightful.</i></div><div>- Homer Flynn, President, The Cryptic Corporation</div><br /><div><i>They may be miniatures, but Andrew Hook’s globe-spanning, genre-hopping tales conjure entire worlds within 1000 words. His lonely, haunted characters are immersed in dreams and steeped in film and music. ‘Commercial Book’ is another essential collection from one of our most gifted storytellers.</i></div><div>- Tim Major, author of Jekyll & Hyde: Consulting Detectives</div><br /><i>A dissonance of the near sinister thrums inside each beautiful tale- Eugen Bacon, twice World Fantasy Award finalist and British Fantasy Award winner</i><div><i><br /></i></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi5oSVPnXQhmwnSnaOagkc85WbVT2gSbiyNx2MC_lCzVn3oARvRs5B_fa0IqcapyekZMpdEvldPk2rzzra6paZtMnYh87UTLqONwpNwFMstpk3lNpW42SeMUUlVobKo66H5-TLWj9dm1a2C_3cmdLPETkB2x-eLnz0TxpRPrD3x8_pSVxH8XzvHZvezfo/s2313/Commercial%20Book%20cover_hi%20res.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2313" data-original-width="1557" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi5oSVPnXQhmwnSnaOagkc85WbVT2gSbiyNx2MC_lCzVn3oARvRs5B_fa0IqcapyekZMpdEvldPk2rzzra6paZtMnYh87UTLqONwpNwFMstpk3lNpW42SeMUUlVobKo66H5-TLWj9dm1a2C_3cmdLPETkB2x-eLnz0TxpRPrD3x8_pSVxH8XzvHZvezfo/s320/Commercial%20Book%20cover_hi%20res.jpg" width="215" /></a></div><br /><i><br /></i></div>Andrew Hookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14610690208258599992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3978485071677058286.post-19086865404226933112023-12-29T12:08:00.000+00:002023-12-29T12:08:32.725+00:00Cumulative Quote Story (2023)<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">During 2023 I read 80
books. Following each reading, on both Twitter and Instagram, I would post a
picture of each book together with what I felt to be a pertinent quote from the
contents. As I was devising my end of year list, it struck me that putting all
these quotes together might form a short story, so - entirely without
embellishment and wholly in the order in which the books were read - here it
is. I think there's some really fluid segues! For those interested - which I
imagine to be only a few - the titles of those 80 books (together with a list
of favourites) is included in my 2023 summary of reading/watching/listening
which I previously posted </span><a href="https://andrew-hook.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-best-and-worst-of-2023.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">here</span></a><span style="color: white;">.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="color: white;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;"><b>Untitled</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: white;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span>And it was she who took
his gun out of his pocket. She put it in his hand. I heard, "Shoot...Shoot
while you're kissing me."</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">And if everyone believed
that the boy was their son, of course there was no reason not to take him into
their house.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">The corridor was dark and smelt of too much disinfectant for concrete.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: white;">A photograph could never
hold the shape of a sound.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">It takes you strange
digging up a littl dead kid like that. From so far back and dead for so long
and all the time they ever had ben jus that littl.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">The story of my life was
a novel whose missing chapters included empathy and kindness and tolerance.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">Maigret could not move.
He lay inert, in a puddle, at the edge of infinite space.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">The flower stared at
Emily, then swayed from side to side until it seemed to haemorrhage into a
cockerel with deep red plumage and a scarlet crest.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">To these young men
opportunity beckoned constantly, drawing them ever southward towards Los
Angeles and, of course, Hollywood, where, eventually, all the adolescents in
the world will be congregated.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">I sobbed, and heard a
loud ringing in my ears. My entire body throbbed; I felt huge, elephantine, as
if I had become bulbous with inflamed limbs and grotesque deformities.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">For good or evil you are
yourselves, poised for a brief and dazzling time between two annihilations.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">We live in the void of
our metamorphoses.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">You remember the urogi,
the night runner you saw. The naked woman dancing alone in the blackness, then
gone in a sprint. She could be a bad spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">It was such a feeble
moan, at such a strange pitch, that, although it filled the house, it was hard
to pinpoint its source, as if it were uttered by a ventriloquist.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">I crouch by the wall
until the night smudges into another grey day, half hoping the wolphins won't
come. I've never touched even a sliver of wolphin meat, but how will they know
that?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">“Is that it?" asked
Nicholas. “Is that your big plan? We're about to burn for all eternity and
you're going for cocktails?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">Ducrau took a step
forwards, perhaps to kiss the dead boy, but he did not do so. He seemed
frightened. He looked away, at the ceiling, then at a spot by the door.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">I seemed to float not
into clearness, but into a darker obscure, and within a minute there had come
to me out of my very pity the appalling alarm of his being perhaps innocent.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">Overhead, as the
darkness became complete, the aurora appeared: a long arc of reddish light
stretching from east to west, quivering, as if eager to expand.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">We're not sorcerers. We
can't have started anything.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">She reached into the
dress and pulled out a leaflet. It was crudely reproduced, like most of the
human population.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">I might be indiscreet,
but I'll try not to offend. I may occasionally go into slightly bewildering
detail, but I'll try not to be boring.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: white;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Just then a shot rang
out, the room was filled with the smell of burnt gunpowder and a bluish cloud
hung in the sunlight.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: white;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">We walk into any room,
and as expected, we catch Patty trying to bring the doll back to life.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">Home was suddenly bright
in his mind. Annika, Eva, he wanted to get back to them more than anything
else.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">Home was suddenly bright
in his mind. Annika, Eva, he wanted to get back to them more than anything
else.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: white;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">What makes something art
is the intention behind it.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">I had no idea that I'd
come to miss the decay and the danger.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">He heard the whisper of
a kiss close to him. He had a taste like someone else's saliva in his mouth.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">I saw her in front of me
and it was like I was speeding along a motorway with a car crash happening way
up ahead, but instead of slowing down I was accelerating into it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">Manchester already had
enough history for me, enough secret stuff buried away. Hidden rooms at the
backs of houses. Moments sinking in the quicksand of time.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">Trees are like recording
devices, you just need to learn how to read them properly.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">When watching foreign
films, I was convinced that the words the actors were saying didn't match the
subtitles, and that the characters had a direct message to me I couldn't
understand.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">I'd wager that the only
reason he married you and spent so many years with a horror like you, with all
due respect, is because you had a hold on him.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">So here I am, a ghost in
a world of zombies.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">I do not know how
dangerous the dust is now or in what quantities it is drifting over the hotel.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">It's night work that
lets something creep in.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">Unless you have been
inside a sanatorium you do not know that madmen are made there, just as
criminals are made in our reformatories.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">What do you think the
crime rate is in your neighbourhood?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">She wants me to think
she gets pleasure from degrading herself.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">It was an extraordinary
moment, and Maigret would never forget the taste of it<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">I may be wrong, but I
think in truth, we never really directly see, rather we imagine a fraction of a
second later, what extends before our eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">The snouts were as long
as human arms and seemed to have shapes at their ends serving as mouths.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">Always dead-eyed and
looking right through the observer, they resembled a team of assassins, each of
whom specialised in a different means of killing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">Her hand, heavy with
fake diamond rings, kept landing on the knee of the inspector, who looked
glaucous-eyed at this frothing creature.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">No operation could ever
improve a woman's intellectual skills.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">The world stilled, and
then changed around her.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: white;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Dreams that apparently
only last a few seconds can leave their mark on us for a long time, sometimes
our whole lives.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">No one had broken in.
Someone had written in my diary.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: white;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Rock 'n' roll is bigger
than just records, it's a way of life - you don't even need music to have rock
'n' roll.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: white;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">I have become the swing
of the fire iron.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: white;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">I got a theory a person
ought to do everything it's possible to do before he dies, and maybe die trying
to do something that's really impossible.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">Burn. Burn. Burn.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">…he did seem to have the
knack of framing what was essential...<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: white;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">It's hard to understand
other people, to know what's hidden in their hearts, and without the assistance
of alcohol it might never be done at all.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: white;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Surely a man could be
forgiven almost anything if he could do this and get it right.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">But it has begun and
there is no stopping the process, which scans, unloads, associates and empties
out in a welter of fact, heresay, and invented memory.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">In paradise there are no
desires, no pity, no love.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">I'm milking the Zanzibar
cows.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">It was strange and
barely understandable, but right here in the midst of love and hate, right at
the fracture, the balancing point, this was his place in the world.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">She has rediscovered her
sharp voice and that disdainful look.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: white;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">We are so often wrong
about those we love, slowly debasing ourselves,, so gradually we barely notice
we're doing it</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: white;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Just then he looked at
her and wondered, without knowing why, whether she really wanted him to have
found out something.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">Yes, the centre of
everything is empty. That's how it must be.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">He now wished he had
started destroying people much earlier in his life.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">Always the same song and
dance to begin with, the same nervousness, the clenched fists, the darting
sidelong glances...<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">Ginger Rogers said that
she did everything Fred Astaire did, except backwards and in heels, but I
wouldn't go that far.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">Often he thought of
death, of himself gone and the great dark shoulder of the world for ever
turning away from the nothingness of him forever in the blackness.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">There was the sound of a
door being slammed and the screeching of tires.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: white;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">In this box-shaped
windowless room, all the girls are named Natasha.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">What a lonely place.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">Her first night had not
been a good one. Too many bad dreams, some of them true.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">From the harbourside
follow the promontory that stretches out to sea.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">I would rather not go
into details, but I noticed that there was something violently sexual about her
feelings for me.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">She had a much delayed
wee: a nice yellow flow, then green, then flecks of orange. Lovely.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">It was an obvious step
to go from the man commuting to his office to the man remaining in his own
environment and conducting his business through the use of advanced
electronics.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: white;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Temperatures soared in
the city and melted pear blossoms coated with frost.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">Oh my God, Dahmer...what
have you done?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: white;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Hell is a man's shadow
printed on the side of a building.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: white;">Civilised men fear wild
creatures, especially wild creatures of their own kind who remind them of life
in the primeval forests of past ages.</span><span style="color: #0f1419; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>Andrew Hookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14610690208258599992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3978485071677058286.post-19807430943505641002023-12-27T17:02:00.001+00:002023-12-27T18:39:07.232+00:00The Best and Worst of 2023<p>Well, it's that time of the year when everyone is doing their 'best and worst of' lists, so here is mine. I'm going to list the books and movies and records I read/watched/listened to in 2023 and then pick my favourites. This isn't restricted to what was new in 2023, but what I actually watched and read and heard - some of these items might be very old indeed.</p><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Books:</span><br /><br />I read the following in 2023:<br /><br /><div>Georges Simenon – The Madman of Bergerac</div><div>Tim Major – Shade of Stillthorpe</div><div>Ian Whates (editor) – La Femme</div><div>Claire Dean – Middleton Sands</div><div>Russell Hoban – Riddley Walker</div><div>Rhys Hughes – The Long Chin Of The Law</div><div>Georges Simenon – The Misty Harbour</div><div>Anna Taborska - Shadowcats</div><div>John Steinbeck – The Wayward Bus</div><div>Andrew David Barker – Dead Leaves</div><div>Rex Warner – The Aerodrome</div><div>Jean-Luc Godard – Alphaville</div><div>Eugen Bacon – Serengotti</div><div>Georges Simenon – Liberty Bar</div><div>Giselle Leeb – Mammals, I Think We Are Called</div><div>Christopher Fowler – Hell Train</div><div>Georges Simenon – Lock No.1</div><div>Henry James – The Turn of the Screw</div><div>Carmelo Rafala (editor) – The Immersion Book of SF</div><div>Silvia Moreno-Garcia – Silver Nitrate</div><div>Chris Kelso (editor) - Slave Stories: Scenes From The Slave State</div><div>Nicholas Royle – White Spines</div><div>Georges Simenon – Maigret</div><div>Kristine Ong Muslim – Butterfly Dream</div><div>Terry Grimwood – Interference</div><div>Jonathan Carroll – The Ghost In Love</div><div>Sophie White – Where I End</div><div>Chris Stein – Point of View</div><div>Georges Simenon – Cécile is Dead </div><div>Graham Joyce – The Year of the Ladybird</div><div>Nicholas Royle – Manchester Uncanny</div><div>Nina Allen – Conquest </div><div>Camilla Grudova – Children of Paradise</div><div>Georges Simenon – The Cellars of the Majestic</div><div>Noir – Olivier Pauvert</div><div>Sven Holm – Termush</div><div>DH Thomas – Imber</div><div>Andre Breton - Nadja</div><div>Fearsome Creatures – Aliya Whiteley</div><div>Thierry Jonquet – Tarantula</div><div>Georges Simenon – The Judge’s House</div><div>Gareth Jelley (editor) – Interzone #294</div><div>The Doom That Came To Whitby Town – Gary Fry</div><div>Phil Knight – Strangled</div><div>Georges Simenon – Signed, Picpus</div><div>Haruki Murakmi – Men Without Women</div><div>Andy Cox (editor) – Black Static #82/83</div><div>Georges Simenon – Inspector Cadaver</div><div>Livi Michael – The Lake</div><div>Dick Porter – Journey To The Centre Of The Cramps</div><div>David Frankel – Return</div><div>Patricia Highsmith – Strangers On A Train</div><div>Jim Gibson – A Symbol of a Memory</div><div>D.F. Lewis – The Birthday Presence</div><div>Michel Houellebecq – Submission</div><div>Jean Sprackland – Death Cookies</div><div>Will Eaves – Styx </div><div>Yevgheniy Zamyatin – We </div><div>Michael Morpurgo – The Wreck of the Zanzibar</div><div>Jeff Noon – Slow Motion Ghosts</div><div>Georges Simenon – Félicie </div><div>Sophie Mackintosh – Cursed Bread</div><div>Georges Simenon – Maigret Gets Angry</div><div>Allen Ashley – Journey to the Centre of the Onion</div><div>Adam Nevill – Lost Girl</div><div>Georges Simenon – Maigret In New York</div><div>Gary Couzens/Ralph Robert Moore – Roads Less Travelled Vol 1</div><div>Russell Hoban – The Lion of Boaz-Jachin and Jachin-Boaz</div><div>Jacob Louis Beaney – The White Car</div><div>Yelena Moskovich – The Natashas</div><div>Seichō Matsumoto – Tokyo Express</div><div>Ray Cluley – All That’s Lost</div><div>Sophie Essex (editor) - At The Lighthouse</div><div>Jeff Noon & Steve Beard - Gogmagog: The First Chronicle of Ludwich</div><div><div>Georges Simenon – Maigret’s Holiday</div><div>Fred & Geoffrey Hoyle – Seven Steps To The Sun</div><div>Black Moon (& pamphlets) – Eugen Bacon</div><div>My Friend Dahmer – Derf Backderf</div></div><div><div>Ellery Queen – The Glass Village</div><div>Georges Simenon – Maigret’s Dead Man</div></div><br />That's worke<span>d out at exactly 80 books this year</span>, up ten from last year's 70, so I'm happy with that. I should mention that I also proofread and copyedit and adding <i>those </i>novels into the mix would increase the number by about 20 books this year (those which were exceptional also making the above list).<br /><br /><span>Thankfully there weren't many books that I read this year that I absolutely hated, with most of the books attaining either three or four stars in my Goodreads round-up which is equivalent to 'I liked it' and above. I just couldn't engage with Nightjar Press chapbooks' "Styx" by Will Eaves or "A Symbol of a Memory" by Jim Gibson, but no doubt other readers will disagree. I admit I thoroughly disliked "Tarantula" by Thierry Jonquet from which the excellent movie "The Skin I Live In" was adapted by Pedro Almodóvar. Unfortunately I considered the source material to be flat and unengaging and persistently unbelievably ludicrous. Sven Holm's much-praised "Termush" elicited a curt "This soft apocalyptic novel is ok but nothing special." review from me, so clearly I wasn't keen on that either. I also wasn't enamoured by Anna Taborska's short collection, "Shadow Cats", but perhaps I need to like cats more in order to appreciate it.</span><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>I continued ploughing through George Simenon's Maigret novels, reading <span>fifteen </span>of those this year and enjoying all of them (with one more than the others...). As stated, there were also a plethora of books I gave three Goodreads stars too, with the most notable being the SF/horror novel, "Lost Girl", by Adam Nevill, which I'm still thinking about, likewise Jeff Noon's straight detective novel, "Slow Motion Ghosts", "Where I End" by Sophie White - another one still stuck in my head, "The Turn of the Screw" by Henry James where the final passages bumped the whole book up by one star, Andrew David Barker's "Dead Leaves", which I didn't love as much as "The Electric" but was still entertaining, and the rollicking, if deliberately genre-obvious, "Hell Train" by the late Christopher Fowler.</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>Whilst the above 3 star books were edging 4, at the other end of the scale there were a few books I was hoping would be 4 stars (or above) but ended up at the lower end of 3. I include amongst these "Men Without Women" by Haruki Murakami, a collection of underwhelming short stories, "Children of Paradise" by Camilla Grudova which wasn't as stimulating or engaging as previous favourite, "The Doll's Alphabet", "Conquest" by Nina Allen (one of my favourite authors whose books have twice topped my reads of the year, but I just could not get a handle on this novel), Jonathan Carroll's "The Ghost In Love" which I found very formulaic for this author and not dissimilar enough from other books of his rendered better, and "Silver Nitrate" by Silvia Moreno-Garcia which - whilst having some excellent characterisation - was a romp without circumstance and not quite what I was expecting.<br /><br /><span>Thankfully, I also read many great books this year. Seichō Matsumoto's "Tokyo Express" a short detective novel, with succinct, sparse prose, was a solid read, as was "Cursed Bread" by Sophie Macintosh which I loved almost as much as "The Water Cure" and was certainly better than "Blue Ticket". I must make mention of the final issue of Black Static magazine, edited by Andy Cox, which as well as containing a story from myself included great fiction from favourites Ray Cluley and Simon Avery amongst many others. Short fiction chapbooks from Nightjar Press which I thoroughly enjoyed were "The Return" (David Frankel), "Death Cookies" (Jean Sprackland), "Imber" (D H Thomas) and "The Birthday Presence" (D F Lewis), as was Nightjar's proprietor, Nicholas Royle's own collection, "Manchester Uncanny", in addition to his non-fiction memoir "White Spines: Confessions of a Book Collector". Continuing the theme of non-fiction, the music books "Journey to the Centre of the Cramps" (Dick Porter) and "Strangled: Identity, Status, Structure and The Stranglers" (Phil Knight) were each pushing towards five stars for being both thought-provoking and entertaining. Graham Joyce's "The Year Of The Ladybird" was a brilliantly rendered story from this much missed writer; "Interference" by Terry Grimwood was a great SF novella packed with ideas; John Steinbeck's "The Wayward Bus" had me re-reading bits back to myself and out loud to my partner, as the writing was spot on; Tim Major's novella, "Shade of Stillthorpe" maintained a delicious sense of ambiguity which went beyond the last page; and Russell Hoban's "Riddley Walker" was a compelling, engaging work, despite - or perhaps because of - the language used in the telling.</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div>Also fixated on language as a character rather than simply a propulsion is Eugen Bacon, and her novel "Serengotti", was just shaved out of my top three this year. It’s an examination of culture and displacement, of what happens when things turn sour and how to right yourself; a story of truth and consequences, a puzzle enough to puzzle, yet not to confuse. And another book with startling imagery and an intelligent approach was "The Natashas" by Yelena Moskovich, which came exceedingly close to being my best book of the year, but faltered at the final hurdle when some resolution might have been useful. I will definitely be reading more by her, though. Patricia Highsmith's "Strangers On A Train" was in my top three up to a couple of weeks so, but it's been pushed out of third place (as will soon be evident).</div><div><br /></div><div>Ultimately, however, as usual I default to Goodreads for those few books which I rated 5/5 during the year, and on this occasion there were only three which makes my final selection much easier. So, without further ado, here's my third place and then my top two favourite reads of 2023:<div><div><br /><br />In reverse order:<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">"All That's Lost" by Ray Cluley</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyfbunJ8wgPscUIeDIAJlrrsobMONWeDty2Zx9miZzI0gRc4zUR2L0JFB9TKpY1Qcd8hdg7zPdrQAR0WWtvcIp23Lwqmn8sN0dOfGJDoxBheRbOIMQO31fi345kEEWs1zBxA3Vv-JVHj8ZTKwrDdP3yT9aIL01Kqmb3IA249y-FUIw9ACIyOEsuYKtwMM/s500/Hardback-cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="358" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyfbunJ8wgPscUIeDIAJlrrsobMONWeDty2Zx9miZzI0gRc4zUR2L0JFB9TKpY1Qcd8hdg7zPdrQAR0WWtvcIp23Lwqmn8sN0dOfGJDoxBheRbOIMQO31fi345kEEWs1zBxA3Vv-JVHj8ZTKwrDdP3yT9aIL01Kqmb3IA249y-FUIw9ACIyOEsuYKtwMM/s320/Hardback-cover.jpg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>This is a truly tremendous collection of short stories. Each is a world in itself, with engaging characterisation, complex motivations, and where any horror is much more an internal observation rather than some malevolent exterior force. There's a restraint here not to fall into genre trappings, led by the quality of the prose, which elevates these stories into 'literature' rather than pulp fiction (each style has its place, but there is a quality here which is raw in the characters rather than the prose). Set in a variety of locations, Cluley inhabits them: there is never anything other than a sense of authenticity. I won't go into each story because this would turn into an essay, but "The Wrong Shark", for example, where a man recollects his childhood living in the town where the film "Jaws" was shot, is superlative. These stories run through with the skill of the telling and there are new angles on horror to be found within each one. This collection is highly - and unreservedly - recommended.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;">"Lock No.1" by Georges Simenon</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf1-MFBvkRHMSezmQ7hAQ5NqUM-BIRtMpXxrVDhQpPjieExh_VsAsxV5k0_V4tQfYwHzNnNI5K-w8le0azMEPEpTFrAbYsv_v6ulykdnznOhA5uUqk-ek5_mlWdgJrguoeJBbJ57T4YJmkccn6nkxQawBNwrlRSXyboCwxlS_rZtYlQwooidh4vO4BWmk/s475/24611851.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="309" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf1-MFBvkRHMSezmQ7hAQ5NqUM-BIRtMpXxrVDhQpPjieExh_VsAsxV5k0_V4tQfYwHzNnNI5K-w8le0azMEPEpTFrAbYsv_v6ulykdnznOhA5uUqk-ek5_mlWdgJrguoeJBbJ57T4YJmkccn6nkxQawBNwrlRSXyboCwxlS_rZtYlQwooidh4vO4BWmk/s320/24611851.jpg" width="208" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div>I've read quite a few Maigret's now with many of them almost hitting the top spot but I think this is my favourite so far. As a detective, Maigret is the opposite of Columbo. There's never "just one more thing". In fact, there's rarely any questioning at all. By his very presence Maigret seems to invite confessions, for the 'villains' (for want of a better descriptor) to bottle everything up in fear of interrogation only for themselves to let everything out. It's a tour de force of sustained suspense, to keep a novel at that bubbling point, and the plot here is intricate and tragic; essentially a man who has worked his way up to have everything, but through egoism and happenstance can't find the right people to share it with. And even more tragic, finds himself harking back to those simpler times, undoing his status. There's much to relate to here and the prose is knife-edge sharp. Whilst I've enjoyed almost all the Maigret's, this is one I'd happily read again. Loved it. <br /><br />And the winner is:<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">"Submission" by Michel Houellebecq</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBCNWCdEoscejCu1RxhZtw9yAHe-cG7PZGc00_DFJ-0p6AVwVruqlTMY0zC03gouEIKe4w_nUmR3Pdf9_Za5IRFenxi0M4VOM492opFSMyfnZK-ypcRkWCumNEtAazYTLGfMOGOoxGnrQ63YwzR1VN30SsXl4rENjReZAWcYhrTLaMc8_1pbWEzVvDh9g/s2329/26210514.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2329" data-original-width="1521" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBCNWCdEoscejCu1RxhZtw9yAHe-cG7PZGc00_DFJ-0p6AVwVruqlTMY0zC03gouEIKe4w_nUmR3Pdf9_Za5IRFenxi0M4VOM492opFSMyfnZK-ypcRkWCumNEtAazYTLGfMOGOoxGnrQ63YwzR1VN30SsXl4rENjReZAWcYhrTLaMc8_1pbWEzVvDh9g/s320/26210514.jpg" width="209" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div>I thoroughly enjoyed this speculative fiction novel, set in a near future (well, past now - 2022) France where Islamic Law comes into force following a surprising, but logical, electoral vote. Houellebecq presents a compelling argument for the inevitability of change, for an assumptive willingness for inertia to be ridden roughshod through inaction. He skilfully remains non-judgmental over this outcome - which I think is important. Not quite plus ça change for everyone, of course, but the personal angle of the protagonist is an intriguing one and I'm glad Hoeuellebecq held back on violent outcomes. What remains is an introspectively personal character subjected to a changing political situation which will affect him whether he wants it or not, whilst simultaneously he balances his own decisions and judgments and reflects on a meaning in life. The prose here is succinct and clearly put: whilst my general knowledge of French politics is minimal and I wouldn't know if any figures here are real, my knowledge of our protagonist's object of study - Husymans - is also vague (I cannot recall if I have read "Là-Bas" or not and that's the only one I have), so Houellebecq's transparent summaries of both were welcome and not too heavy. This ensured the novel was engaging. Some might say it is too light, but not me. Some novels get under your skin, often for unknown reasons, but I tore through this in wonderment.</div><div><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Movies:</span><br /><br />I watched the following in 2023:<br /><br /><div>Daguerréotypes (1976, Agnès Varda)</div><div>When Darkness Falls (1960, Arne Mattsson)</div><div>Decision To Leave (2022, Park Chan-wook)</div><div>Let The Sunshine In (2017, Claire Denis)</div><div>Men (2022, Alex Garland)</div><div>Paris, Texas (1984, Wim Wenders)</div><div>Tremors 2: Aftershocks (1996, S. S. Wilson)</div><div>Knives Out (2019, Rian Johnson)</div><div>Bhaji On The Beach (1993, Gurinder Chadha)</div><div>Planet Of The Apes (1968, Franklin J. Schaffner)</div><div>The Producers (1967, Mel Brooks)</div><div>Matinee (1993, Joe Dante)</div><div>The Menu (2002, Mark Mylod)</div><div>Love Is Colder Than Death (1969. Rainer Werner Fassbinder)</div><div>Shopping (1994, Paul W. S. Anderson)</div><div>Mad Max (1979, George Miller)</div><div>Identification Marks: None (1964, Jerzy Skolimowski)</div><div>The Element of Crime (1984, Lars Von Trier)</div><div>Vesper (2022, Kristina Buožytė and Bruno Samper)</div><div>Aftersun (2002, Charlotte Wells)</div><div>Beware of a Holy Whore (1971. Rainer Werner Fassbinder)</div><div>Horror Express (1972, Eugenio Martín)</div><div>The Castle of Purity (1972, Arturo Ripstein)</div><div>La Ricotta (1962. Pier Paolo Pasolini)</div><div>Fall (2022, Scott Mann)</div><div>Aphotic Zone (2022, Emilija Škarnulytė)</div><div>The Sisters Brothers (2018, Jacques Audiard)</div><div>Story of Women (1988, Claude Chabrol)</div><div>The Client (1994, Joel Schumacher)</div><div>Holy Spider (2022, Ali Abbasi)</div><div>Stowaway (2021, Joe Penna)</div><div>The Capsule (2012, Athina Rachel Tsangari)</div><div>Mustang (2015, Deniz Gamze Ergüven)</div><div>Saw (2004, James Wan)</div><div>An Elephant Sitting Still (2018, Hu Bo)</div><div>Ava (2017, Léa Mysius)</div><div>The Deep House (2021, Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo)</div><div>The Turin Horse (2011, Béla Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky)</div><div>The Unholy (2021, Evan Spiliotopoulos)</div><div>The Traitor (2019, Marco Bellocchio)</div><div>Only The Animals (2019, Dominik Moll)</div><div>How to Get Ahead in Advertising (1989, Bruce Robinson)</div><div>Agent Elvis (2023, series)</div><div>Please Baby Please (2022, Amanda Kramer)</div><div>The Handmaid's Tale (1990, Volker Schlöndorff)</div><div>The Limey (1999, Steven Soderbergh)</div><div>Of Human Bondage (1934, John Cromwell)</div><div>Blazing Saddles (1974, Mel Brooks)</div><div>Nope (2022, Jordan Peele)</div><div>Elvis (2022, Baz Luhrmann)</div><div>The Dark Knight Rises (2012, Christopher Nolan)</div><div>Summit Fever (2022, Julian Gilbey)</div><div>Last Night In Soho (2021, Edgar Wright)</div><div>She Will (2021, Charlotte Colbert)</div><div>In the Earth (2021, Ben Wheatley)</div><div>White Noise (2022, Noah Baumbach)</div><div>The Black Phone (2021, Scott Derrickson)</div><div>Batman Begins (2005, Christopher Nolan)</div><div>Prince of Darkness (1987, John Carpenter)</div><div>Ad Astra (2019, James Gray)</div><div>Blade Runner (1982, Ridley Scott)</div><div>Drugstore Cowboy (1989, Gus Van Sant)</div><div>The Cement Garden (1993, by Andrew Birkin)</div><div>Planet Terror (2007, Robert Rodriguez)</div><div>Jaws 2 (1978, Jeannot Szwarc)</div><div>The Earrings of Madame de… (1953, Max Ophüls)</div><div>The Boss of It All (2006, Lars von Trier)</div><div>Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981, Steven Spielberg)</div><div>Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984, Steven Spielberg)</div><div>Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989, Steven Spielberg)</div><div>Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008, Steven Spielberg)</div><div>The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976, John Cassavetes)</div><div>Hannibal (Season 1)</div><div>Oppenheimer (2023, Christopher Nolan)</div><div>Hannibal (Season 2)</div><div>The Skeleton of Mrs. Morales (1960, Rogelio A. González)</div><div>The Batwoman (1968, René Cardona)</div><div>Hannibal (Season 3)</div><div>Frogs (1972, George McCowan)</div><div>The Quatermass Xperiment (1955, Val Guest)</div><div>Paparazzi (1964, Jacques Rozier) (short)</div><div>Way Out West (1937, James W. Horne)</div><div>King Kong (1933, Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack)</div><div>The Witch’s Mirror (1962, Chano Urueta)</div><div>Arctic Void (2022, Darren Mann)</div><div>The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (short film) (2023, Wes Anderson)</div><div>The Reckoning (2022, TV series)</div><div>Stark Fear (1962, Ned Hochman)</div><div>The Jungle Book (1967, Wolfgang Reitherman)</div><div>Race to the Summit (2023, Nicholas de Taranto & Götz Werner)</div><div>Nothing Sacred (1937, William A Wellman)</div><div>Talk to Me (2022, Danny and Michael Philippou)</div><div>Assault on Precinct 13 (1976, John Carpenter)</div><div>Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007, Sidney Lumet)</div><div>The Killer (2023, David Fincher)</div><div>Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998, Guy Ritchie)</div><div>My Friend Dahmer (2017, Marc Meyers)</div></div><div>The Innocent (2022, Louis Garrel)</div><div><div>Guilty Bystander (1950, Joseph Lerner)</div><div>Murder in Mississippi (1965, Joseph P. Mawra)</div><div>Snowpiercer (2013, Bong Joon-ho)</div></div><div><div>Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023, James Mangold)</div><div>The Deepest Breath (2023, Laura McGann)</div><div>Un Beau Matin (2022, Mia Hansen-Løve)</div><div>The Dive (2023, Max Erlenwein)</div><div>Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010, Jalmari Helander)</div><div>Butcher's Crossing (2022, Gabe Polsky)</div><div>Christine (1983, John Carpenter)</div><div>Hercules (1997, John Musker & Ron Clements)</div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>In 2022 I watched 132 movies and this year the list comes to<span> <span>109</span></span>. There's a good reason for this: the streaming service Mubi changed it's one movie a day on / one movie a day off policy, so that there isn't the same impetus to watch films in fear of them disappearing. Couple this with us listening to more vinyl records this year in the evening, and the drop is understandable. It's still quite a long list to narrow down to my top three, and unlike books I don't have a site equivalent to Goodreads with which to guide my memory. And just to add a note that unlike previous years I've chosen to add the year of release and director's name which might make this list more interesting and avoid any confusion over similarly named films.</div><div><br /></div><div><span>As usual, however, I'm discounting movies I've previously seen. So this knocks out the brilliant "Paris, Texas", Wim Wenders finest film which I've seen a couple of times since release but which I couldn't wholly remember; the 1968 original "Planet of the Apes" for which I feel my affection has only increased and the make-up effects are equally as good today as they ever were; Mel Brooks' "The Producers", an exercise in excess; John Carpenter's fantastic "Prince of Darkness", a film which defines the very essence of creeping dread the ending of which has defined the terrifying quality of a recurring nightmare of mine; Laurel and Hardy's superb "Way Out West" which I love every single time I watch it and which also contains a defining scene for me - eroticism, this time rather than terror - when Laurel is tickled mercilessly by Sharon Lynn; the original "King Kong" (which bizarrely I saw as a 'support act' for Siouxsie Sioux this summer); and the original "Jungle Book" which remained as entertaining as ever.</span></div><div><span><br />Those movies which I found annoying or awful are easy to chronicle, and thankfully these were few and far between this year, however they included "Matinee" directed by Joe Dante, which I thought a real misfire. Riffing off William Castle movies, the film is all over the shop and doesn't know what it wants to be. The black and white "Mant! - the film within the film - goes some way to redeeming it and there are some great lines and laugh out loud bits. But it's "Mant!" we want to see, and despite Goodman playing his role well, the rest of "Matinee" falls by the wayside. Also misfiring repeatedly whilst trying to shoot itself in the head was "Men", in which director Alex Garland mansplains toxic masculinity in the belief of appealing to a female audience. Own goal! What might have been interesting becomes risible. Not a fan. I also hugely disliked "The Menu" (directed by Mark Mylod). I thought the first act was well-played, but as soon as we reach the first 'shock' then suspension of disbelief falters and it's downhill from thereon in. It makes a meal of its targets of celebrity and privilege and is rather overcooked. And it's about as subtle as the gags I just used. I was wholly disappointed by was Edgar Wright's "Last Night In Soho" which I also thought misfired on every conceivable level. It was also one hour and fifty-two minutes too long. Bong Joon-ho's "Snowpiercer" felt like Wes Anderson crossed with Terry Gilliam but taking the worst elements from both directors, and Gabe Polsky's "Butcher's Crossing" was a snorefest of epic proportions, where what should have been lengthy moments were condensed into minutes and vice versa - the pacing was atrocious and undermined what could have been a good - if overly polemic - film.</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>Whilst there weren't many films that I vehemently loathed this year, unfortunately there were also very few which came even close to making my top three, with the vast majority of them eliciting no more than a box-ticking exercise in adding them to the watched list. Whether this is a residue of Covid, with a paucity of films being shot a few years ago, or simply the fact that I've seen much of what I already want to watch from my favourite directors I have no idea, but reviewing the list the lack of great films is quite saddening. Those which did stand out though include "Decision To Leave" directed by Park Chan-Wook which took a few surprising turns and where the ending was sublime; "Let The Sunshine In" directed by Claire Denis (Juliette Binoche is brilliant in this film about relationships due to fail from the outset and how we are drawn to wrong choices, and poor decisions. The acting is wonderful throughout, the long conversations authentic.); "Love Is Colder Than Death" directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, which I thought to be an excellent, nihilistic, deconstructed crime film; "Horror Express", an absolute blast of a movie; the similarly so-cheesy-its-good Mexican film "The Witch's Mirror" which went through a surprising number of plot changes;</span> "Holy Spider" by Ali Abbasi, a somewhat brutal depiction of male violence and a powerful film, well-acted; and "Stowaway" directed by Joe Penna, a what-if scenario on board a spaceship where there were no histrionics, just a problem to be solved, which made it highly believable. I also enjoyed "Of Human Bondage" (great starring role for Bette Davis); "Drugstore Cowboy" (which I remember liking but now can barely remember); "In The Earth" (I find director Ben Wheatley to be hit and miss, but this certainly hit); "Blade Runner" (which somehow I had never seen before but was worth 41yrs of hype); "The Killer" (David Fincher's slow-burning, under-your-skin thriller), John Carpenter's "Christine" which was much better than I expected, and "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" (Guy Ritchie's fast-turning, in-your-face thriller).</div><div><br /></div><div>Other than the above which are all recommended, there were only a few more films that really got under my skin, and here are those recommendations: "Mustang" (a Turkish film directed by Deniz Gamze Ergüven about five orphaned Turkish sisters who are gradually found husbands through arranged marriages and the psychological effects that this has. Very well-acted.); "She Will" (a masterful, measured, atmospheric, horror(?) film which said just enough and not too much. Startling); "Oppenheimer " which was worth seeing at the cinema and which I think handled the subject matter very ably; "Talk To Me" (an interesting spin on a horror film which slipped away into the more obvious towards the end), and especially "Arctic Void", a low budget, really neat slipstream film which played to a satisfying conclusion without needing to explain itself and which is still hanging around in my head.</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, whilst as usual I get the feeling that another day might produce marginally different results (certainly over the number three spot), today here are my top three movies that I saw for the first time in 2023.</div><div><br /></div><div>Again, in reverse order:<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">"An Elephant Sitting Still" (2018) - Hu Bo</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3SogKIShfe82ufjeO6mfshcTW5atetxjeOYOiJtNjehEEtCP34YODouZcSf1gaD24g9A-igmvNctR2krHnTb6zeUPQikXpy-iA4b3I0Wv8KQ39V_9geQaBw3L-q1Ri8V2cklCjeG_a75tdlT_2AB47YkEVObb3_WWGhUcqTlAPdBwC2xHQ5mxRopeq-k/s359/An_Elephant_Sitting_Still_poster.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="359" data-original-width="256" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3SogKIShfe82ufjeO6mfshcTW5atetxjeOYOiJtNjehEEtCP34YODouZcSf1gaD24g9A-igmvNctR2krHnTb6zeUPQikXpy-iA4b3I0Wv8KQ39V_9geQaBw3L-q1Ri8V2cklCjeG_a75tdlT_2AB47YkEVObb3_WWGhUcqTlAPdBwC2xHQ5mxRopeq-k/s320/An_Elephant_Sitting_Still_poster.jpg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">This four hour feature is set over the course of a single day, where poor decisions, assumptions, and a kind of nihilistic ennui dog the protagonists from seemingly inescapable fates. The slow pace greatly enhances the subject matter, allowing tensions to build and characterisation to breathe. I thought it excellent. Unfortunately this was Hu Bo's first and only feature. He took his life shortly after the film was completed, aged only 29.</span></div></div><div><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">"The Turin Horse" (2011)</span><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-large;">- </span><span style="font-size: large;">Béla Tarr & </span><span style="font-size: large;">Ágnes Hranitzky</span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6EVtuW_kupCSgZIgJIwdaFdHq9DN_L7xp9iXN4Rpr6MWHSfQfhpp6hUyQxSb-q7r8T3lqFx4EJisN_jbrMXOXVWowupmB37dNhxxbjvmxssyajOtLQkOAUVd13vQbsvIZuACRKf_j4nBejrzN0ZkZiOlG7VYXly6zIUIPvIYW1g_SPmkhttD75SMheCg/s2048/MV5BMTMyNzg1MzM2Ml5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMzQ5NjcxNw@@._V1_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1382" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6EVtuW_kupCSgZIgJIwdaFdHq9DN_L7xp9iXN4Rpr6MWHSfQfhpp6hUyQxSb-q7r8T3lqFx4EJisN_jbrMXOXVWowupmB37dNhxxbjvmxssyajOtLQkOAUVd13vQbsvIZuACRKf_j4nBejrzN0ZkZiOlG7VYXly6zIUIPvIYW1g_SPmkhttD75SMheCg/s320/MV5BMTMyNzg1MzM2Ml5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMzQ5NjcxNw@@._V1_.jpg" width="216" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">Tarr grabbed my top spot last year with "</span><span style="text-align: left;">Sátántangó" and l</span><span style="text-align: left;">ike much of Tarr's work that I've seen "The Turin Horse" is also a slow repetitive existential piece of cinema, where gradually something happens. In this case, the encroach of nothingness in the mundane lives of a potato farmer and his daughter. It's beautifully shot and raw and wonderful.</span></div><br />And the winner is...<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">"Aftersun" (2022) - Charlotte Wells</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5jvG6BWPGvcl_wkdacgX1bqcWw394CBTBjm6qLkLbp0sWw19QGGnYrkT3QgchkdTnzVSS1crrQ4McsURqPkA8lFewOs_9Memv5YdjUBziV17rGmPK7pWLSl7EYYPBI529luJIhcy9DctRIkHmtu09aeSDhqNxJ2Z38nnGMIFPaDGVXQZ5oSgV-_IDgCA/s1149/374807.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1149" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5jvG6BWPGvcl_wkdacgX1bqcWw394CBTBjm6qLkLbp0sWw19QGGnYrkT3QgchkdTnzVSS1crrQ4McsURqPkA8lFewOs_9Memv5YdjUBziV17rGmPK7pWLSl7EYYPBI529luJIhcy9DctRIkHmtu09aeSDhqNxJ2Z38nnGMIFPaDGVXQZ5oSgV-_IDgCA/s320/374807.jpg" width="223" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div>A masterclass in saying just enough and knowing what not to say. This film about a daughter's relationship with her estranged father over a holiday in Spain has haunted me since I watched it close to the beginning of the year, and that soft power still hasn't let me go. It's an absolute no brainer for this to be my top film watched in 2023. So good it could easily have also taken the second and third slots as the same time as being my number one. An engaging, thoughtful and blessfully unsaccharine movie with the naturalistic acting and direction key to making those connections. Emotionally devastating. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Records:</span><br /><br />I listened to the following albums in 2023:<br /><br /><div><div>Bow Wow Wow – See Jungle!</div><div>Taylor Swift – Midnights</div><div>Modern Woman – Dogs Fighting In My Dream</div><div>Polly Scattergood – In The Absence of Light</div><div>Taylor Swift – Lover</div><div>Paul Smith & The Imitations – Contradictions </div><div>Viagra Boys – Street Worms</div><div>Viagra Boys – Welfare Jazz</div><div>Maximo Park – Nature Always Wins</div><div>Jean-Michel Jarre – Oxygene</div><div>Viagra Boys – Cave World</div><div>Portishead – Dummy</div><div>Charlie Megira – The Abtomatic Miesterzinger Mambo Chic</div><div>The Residents – Duck Stab</div><div>Danielle Dax – Jesus Egg That Wept</div><div>The Residents – Not Available</div><div>The Residents – Triple Trouble</div><div>The Residents – Eskimo</div><div>The Residents – Diskomo</div><div>Taylor Swift – Folklore</div><div>Miles Davis – Lift To The Scaffold</div><div>Cocteau Twins – Victorialand</div><div>The Residents – Mush-Room</div><div>Lande Hekt – House Without a View</div><div>Goldfrapp – Felt Mountain</div><div>Blonde Redhead – La Mia Vita Violenta</div><div>KAZU – Angel Baby</div><div>A Void – Dissociation</div><div>Paramore – This Is Why</div><div>Lande Hekt – Going To Hell</div><div>Nancy & Lee – Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood</div><div>Siouxsie & The Banshees – Peepshow </div><div>Jah Wobble – Metal Box (Rebuilt In Dub)</div><div>Flaming Lips – Oczy Mlody</div><div>Mattiel – Georgia Gothic</div><div>Maximo Park – Quicken The Heart</div><div>Aldous Harding – Aldous Harding</div><div>Bjork – Vulnicura Live </div><div>New Found Glory – Make The Most Of It</div><div>Aldous Harding – Party</div><div>Blondie – Parallel Lines</div><div>The Cure – Three Imaginary Boys</div><div>Mark E Smith – The Post Nearly Man</div><div>Aldous Harding – Designer</div><div>They Might Be Giants – Flood</div><div>The Damned – Machine Gun Etiquette</div><div>The Cure – Staring At The Sea</div><div>The Cure – Japanese Whispers</div><div>The Damned – The Black Album</div><div>Sparks – Annette (Cannes Edition – Selections from the Motion Picture Soundtrack)</div><div>The Damned – Damned Damned Damned</div><div>Aldous Harding – Warm Chris</div><div>B52s – Mesopotamia</div><div>BIS – New Transistor Heroes</div><div>The Damned – Evil Spirits</div><div>The Stranglers – Dark Matter</div><div>Flaming Lips – American Head</div><div>Au Pairs – Playing With A Different Sex</div><div>Snapped Ankles - Blurtations</div><div>The Damned - Darkadelic</div><div>The Cure – Faith </div><div>Dry Cleaning – Stumpwork</div><div>Iggy Pop – Every Loser</div><div>Bedouin Soundclash – We Will Meet in a Hurricane</div><div>Death and Vanilla – Flicker</div><div>The Undertones – The Positive Touch</div><div>Blondie – Pollinator</div><div>Hotel Lux – Hands Across The Creek</div><div>Supergrass – I Should Coco</div><div>Chastity Belt – Time To Go Home</div><div>Sparks – The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte</div><div>Blondie – Eat To The Beat</div><div>Blondie – Plastic Letters</div><div>Deborah Harry – Def, Dumb & Blonde</div><div>Blondie – Against The Odds: 1974-1982</div><div>Sparks – A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip</div><div>Lambrini Girls – You’re Welcome</div><div>Renaldo & The Loaf – The Elbow Is Taboo</div><div>Hermanos Gutiérrez – El Bueno y el Malo</div><div>Broadcast – Work and Non Work</div><div>The xx – xx</div><div>Stiff Little Fingers – Inflammable Material</div><div>Paramore – After Laughter</div><div>Habibi – Anywhere But Here</div><div>Swans – The Beggar </div><div>New Found Glory – Radio Surgery</div><div>Taylor Swift – Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)</div><div>Blonde Redhead – 23</div><div>Blonde Redhead – Misery Is A Butterfly</div><div>Le Tigre – Le Tigre</div><div>Various Artists – BIPPP French Synth-Wave (1979-1985)</div><div>Sabina Sciubba – Toujours</div><div>New Found Glory – Nothing Gold Can Stay</div><div>New Found Glory – New Found Glory</div><div>New Found Glory – Sticks and Stones</div><div>New Found Glory – Catalyst</div><div>New Found Glory – Coming Home</div><div>Taylor Swift – Evermore</div><div>New Found Glory – Not Without A Fight</div><div>Maximo Park – Too Much Information</div><div>Felix Laband – Deaf Safari</div><div>New Found Glory – Resurrection</div><div>New Found Glory – Make Me Sick</div><div>Devo – Freedom of Choice</div><div>B52s – Bouncing Off The Satellites</div><div>Devo – Duty Now For The Future</div><div>The Cramps – A Date With Elvis</div><div>B52s – Cosmic Thing</div><div>William Onyeabor – Who is William Onyeabor?</div><div>Siouxsie – Mantaray</div><div>Magazine – Secondhand Daylight</div><div>Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures</div><div>Blonde Redhead – Penny Sparkle</div><div>Echo & The Bunnymen – Ocean Rain</div><div>Siouxsie & The Banshees – The Scream</div><div>Blonde Redhead – Barragán </div><div>Kraftwerk – Autobahn</div><div>The Cure – Pornography</div><div>XTC – Skylarking</div><div>Polly Scattergood – Polly Scattergood</div><div>Romy – Mid Air</div><div>Let’s Eat Grandma – Two Ribbons</div><div>The Monochrome Set – Allhallowtide</div><div>The Monochrome Set – Volume, Contrast, Brilliance</div><div>Sparks – Terminal Jive</div><div>Sparks – A Woofer In Tweeters Clothing</div><div>Blonde Redhead – Sit Down For Dinner</div><div>Paavoharju - Yön Mustia Kukkia</div><div>Poly Styrene – Translucence</div><div>Bjork – Homogenic</div><div>The Cramps – Psychedelic Jungle</div><div>Sabina Sciubba – Sleeping Dragon</div><div>Taylor Swift – 1989 (Taylor’s Version)</div><div>Knower – Knower Forever</div><div>Hallan – The Noise of a Firing Gun</div></div><div><div>The Stranglers – The Raven</div><div>Sultans of Ping F.C. – Casual Sex In The Cineplex</div><div>Nadine Shah – Holiday Destination</div><div>Kumisolo & Joe Davolaz – Kabuki Femme Fatale</div><div>Sonic Youth – Washing Machine</div><div>Dinosaur Jnr – Where You Been</div></div><div><div>Danielle Dax – Inky Bloaters</div><div>Cocteau Twins – Head Over Heels</div></div><div><br /></div><div><span>That's exactly 142 albums which is 31 more than I listened to last year</span> which I'm pleased with. A large number of these were played on vinyl, us having purchased a record player last year really kicking in (including the compulsion to buy vinyl at ridiculous prices!), either playing new records or going through my back catalogue. As I've done with my book and movie list I will discount anything previously listened to. And unlike movies and books (which - even with favourites - I rarely read/see more than a handful of occasions in a lifetime), music is an entirely different kettle of fish and predominantly most of these will be re-listens. I haven't done a count in previous years, but I note approximately 25% of these records were new to me which isn't too bad a percentage I feel. </div></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>Revisits this year included old favourites such as Sparks, The Cramps, Blondie, and Bjork. And as I attended 19 gigs this year quite a few of the re-listens revolved around preparing for those: so large numbers of Viagra Boys, Aldous Harding, Blonde Redhead, Devo and The Residents to name but a few (actually, f</span>or eight months of the year I was working on a short story project for which I played the individual songs on The Residents' "Commercial Album" over one hundred and twenty times on repeat, each, but as I didn't hear it from start-to-finish it's not included on this list). My 11yr old daughter also 'discovered' The Cure at the start of the year, and as such I've also listened to their records more frequently as a result, mostly individual songs rather than full albums. I also bought Polly Scattergood's eponymous first album on vinyl: a pivotal and emotional record for me. Hearing it again on such a pure format had me in floods.</div><div><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><span>Special mentions</span><span> to the following: Kazu's "Adult Baby" (a solo album from one third of Blonde Redhead which has some gloriously breathy moments); Jah Wobble's version of "Metal Box (Rebuilt In Dub") which could have been much more dubby but was very smart (and great to hear live); Bjork's "Vulnicura Live" which I found on Spotify and made me wish I was at <i>that </i>gig; Aldous Harding's "Party" with some intelligent, whimsical songwriting; new favourite band Hallan whose post-punk EP "The Noise of a Firing Gun" is listed here as their longest work to date; likewise Lambrini Girls' "You're Welcome". I 'discovered' Broadcast after their mention on several "What's In My Bag" YouTube videos, and whilst I need to delve deeper, the compilation (the only place I could find the sublime "The Book Lovers") "Work And Non-Work" seemed a good place to start. My 11yr old also turned me onto Le Tigre, with their eponymous album now a firm favourite, and I also enjoyed the softly-poppy, trippy "Deaf Safari" by Felix Laband, Siouxsie's solo album, "Mantaray", from 2007, and William Onyeabor's funky "Who is William Onyeabor?" (an album which should be far out of my box, but instead is just <i>far out</i>). Finally, I also loved </span>"BIPPP French Synth-Wave (1979-1985)", a compilation that sounds exactly as it reads.</div><div><br /></div><div><span>Taylor Swift continued her reimagining of her older albums by re-releasing "Speak Now" and "1989". This includes new tracks of the period, and whilst I found the former album's new material to be quite slight, those additional tracks on "1989" were all well worth hearing. I am looking forward to her concluding this project, though, as I see little value to the consumer in re-recording the originals (whilst it's just money in the bank for Ms Swift).</span></div><div><br /></div><div>This year saw the release of some great albums, most especially "This Is Why" by Paramore which is a perfect pop-album, my favourite song being "Liar" which contains the best lyric of the year: "And, oh my love, I lied to you / But I never needed to / Oh my love, I lied to you / But you always knew the truth". That song is passably covered by Romy (one third of The XX), whose solo album, "Mid Air", was also worth a listen (even if it leans heavy on a 00s club vibe). Other new records include the limited edition Record Store Day mini-album, "Blurtations", by Snapped Ankles, reworking songs by Blurt, which I need to listen to more; also The Damned's "Darkadelic" which - though musically proficient, felt rather overlong and self-indulgent to me (instead, check out the previous album, "Evil Spirits", which was a glorious return to form); Iggy Pop's "Every Loser" was an interesting addition to his oeuvre, and I came to like it a lot. Another Sparks' record is becoming an annual event, and "The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte" didn't disappoint. I think it's my favourite of the last three albums (just to group a few together), and for sheer inventive exuberance it almost made my top three this year, but perhaps I'm so overfamiliar with them that another Sparks' album has become another Sparks' album, and so it didn't quite hit the spot this time around; equally inventive were Knower with "Knower Forever", a band I haven't encountered before, but through a recommendation the song "I'm The President" has been totally addictive. Sabina Sciubba's "Sleeping Dragon" was also interesting, but more on her later.</div><div><br /></div><div>Other records that were from bands which were new to me but not necessarily new that I enjoyed included Lande Hekt's "House Without A View" (great poppy stuff), A Void's "Dissociation" (great live, too), Death and Vanilla's quite dreamy "Flicker", Hotel Lux's quirky (but perhaps not wholly satisfying) "Hands Across The Creek", Hermanos Gutiérrez's "El Bueno y el Malo" (melodic instrumentals), Nadine Shah's "Holiday Destination" and Habibi's "Anywhere But Here".</div><div><span><br /></span></div><div>Ultimately, though, my top three new (to me) records played this year are as follows (in reverse order):</div><div><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">"The Beggar" (2023) - Swans</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTAcKtUOrprFgR_uv1Vpolhm9-P-NF1rEpe4CvUtmcox7hg5ew5HD5VqMJyVncPNx385vHZA8H5RipqrOyT41cF4xFWtoyVxnbDoH-uLiWu7xVKdpBl_RoV3qgK8lym3zhjjz0y-C5mjzpyv8uITWK0Sc1uXrP8rgaoTOYKP9IfIuCJPdTtoj8OfUyVCI/s600/BeggarCoverDigital2_grande.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTAcKtUOrprFgR_uv1Vpolhm9-P-NF1rEpe4CvUtmcox7hg5ew5HD5VqMJyVncPNx385vHZA8H5RipqrOyT41cF4xFWtoyVxnbDoH-uLiWu7xVKdpBl_RoV3qgK8lym3zhjjz0y-C5mjzpyv8uITWK0Sc1uXrP8rgaoTOYKP9IfIuCJPdTtoj8OfUyVCI/s320/BeggarCoverDigital2_grande.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div>Swans have been on my radar for a while but it was when I noticed they were touring this year that I decided to give them a proper listen, and considering the length of their records that was no mean feat. I decided to concentrate on this, this new release, which is two hours in length and includes one song of 43 minutes duration! There's a mesmeric, uncertain quality to this quiet alternative rock music, quite orchestral in tone (borne out in the performance), underlined by the soft, simmering violence that is the threat of death. It's a solid, epic, record that I greatly enjoyed.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;">"Sit Down For Dinner" (2023) - Blonde Redhead</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEP1J37gKk0fjkU-2mZ85hN_txQMX_wWEMJAjyYcnHhbrKu7F7a_YwEDelwcladk1rcQLs30NOfXs4SUqclCvkl_jDAfYeOlrr4q9LUZb4DEGu3mzI86dgrv9YxHZLGoGVjj9GZfKi5tlcKT4LNH4_sSuuChNj6tKMas9m-X0i6eYg9fpE8Ybom6XpTVQ/s316/Blonde_Redhead_-_Sit_Down_for_Dinner.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="316" data-original-width="316" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEP1J37gKk0fjkU-2mZ85hN_txQMX_wWEMJAjyYcnHhbrKu7F7a_YwEDelwcladk1rcQLs30NOfXs4SUqclCvkl_jDAfYeOlrr4q9LUZb4DEGu3mzI86dgrv9YxHZLGoGVjj9GZfKi5tlcKT4LNH4_sSuuChNj6tKMas9m-X0i6eYg9fpE8Ybom6XpTVQ/s1600/Blonde_Redhead_-_Sit_Down_for_Dinner.jpg" width="316" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div>Blonde Redhead are one of my favourite bands (who I regularly listen to whilst writing stories), but I was less convinced by their last record and a little nervous regarding this one. Having never seen them live, however, I was lucky enough to do so twice this year in small venues (and they were fantastic), and the experience has certainly imbued this record with a quality that has elevated it close to the top of this year's list. Like Swans, the musicianship here is faultless (the drum break in "Melody Experiment" is deliciously anticipatory), and the songs feel effortless. "Sit Down For Dinner" is a great record and a real return to form, fragility to be found in strength.<br /><br />And the winner is...<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">"Tojours" (2014) - Sabina Sciubba</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfyhx_lceF1-76d7bnHoBhnqvUeAKN3WG8IBy602Qe992jzLAH6VyHRX0yCW1w_vO6nmea_hmBITAvF00SKS_2ae_xyAL4nonOiwfF8HSYrWTr5jQwB4gxS6pfpYe4dPPzl_qMkSzyVUOv56tgQRyenFU1Ah3M1uS9jgklQNkkfTa8-dpX7N9MKb86MhE/s500/R-5773015-1402250214-2943.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfyhx_lceF1-76d7bnHoBhnqvUeAKN3WG8IBy602Qe992jzLAH6VyHRX0yCW1w_vO6nmea_hmBITAvF00SKS_2ae_xyAL4nonOiwfF8HSYrWTr5jQwB4gxS6pfpYe4dPPzl_qMkSzyVUOv56tgQRyenFU1Ah3M1uS9jgklQNkkfTa8-dpX7N9MKb86MhE/s320/R-5773015-1402250214-2943.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>I hadn't even heard of Sabina Sciubba at the start of the year, but a chance listen on YouTube's "What's In My Bag?" was intriguing, and this record - with a mix of poppy, world music, sometimes Gainsbourg-esque vocal delivery, and catchy, clever lyrics was a surefire hit. I can't stop smiling each time I play it, slipping under the covers of sound like being snuggled up with a perfect love. There's no doubt this is my favourite record listened to this year. And I think you should hear it too.</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div>So that's it, my summary of what I read, watched and listened to in 2023! Drop back in next year, but as has become usual I'll end with a song that's captivated me during the year and is sufficiently quirky to deserve the final note to send off this long post. In some ways totally out of my wheelhouse, in others perfectly within it, here's the previously mentioned "I'm The President" by Knower<span style="font-size: 11pt;">. Enjoy!</span></div></div><div><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tuhe1CpHRxY" width="320" youtube-src-id="tuhe1CpHRxY"></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div><br /></div></div>Andrew Hookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14610690208258599992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3978485071677058286.post-66829997125360048282023-12-17T08:57:00.001+00:002023-12-17T08:57:59.060+00:00My Writing Year 2023<p>As has become annual I thought I'd write a quick blog post as to my literary achievements during 2023.</p><p>Starting with short fiction, I wrote forty-eight short stories: "Elevator Pitch", "Some Pastel Morning", "Sundowning", "Betaville", "Inversion Layer", "The Good Men", "Water In The Wrong Light", "The Aspect", "An Absence of Ghosts", "Easter Woman", "Perfect Love", "Picnic Boy", "End of Home", "Amber", "Japanese Watercolor", "Secrets", "Die in Terror", "Red Rider", "My Second Wife", "Floyd", "Suburban Bathers", "Dimples and Toes", "The Nameless Souls", "Love Leaks Out", "Act of Being Polite", "Medicine Man", "Tragic Bells", "Loss of Innocence", "The Simple Song", "Ups and Downs", "Possessions", "Give it to Someone Else", "Phantom", "Less Not More", "My Work is So Behind", "Birds in the Trees", "Handful of Desire", "Moisture", "Love is...", "Troubled Man", "La La", "Loneliness", "Nice Old Man", "The Talk of Creatures", "Fingertips", "In Between Dreams", "Margaret Freeman", "The Coming of the Crow" and "When We Were Young". This is a huge leap over the number of stories I normally write over the course of a year, but I should mention that forty of these stories were of exactly 1000 words each in length (intended for a collection I'll mention later), so the word count isn't as much as you might think. I haven't written any longer works this year, so in total I've written around 70-75,000 words.</p><p>I sold one short story this year. "Some Pastel Morning" to IZ Digital. This is mostly because I haven't submitted much for publication as most of the stories I've written this year are earmarked for collections.</p><div>The following six stories were published this year: "An Absence of Ghosts" in <a href="https://theakersquarterly.blogspot.com/2023/04/blog-post.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Theaker's Quarterly Fiction #73</span></a>, "<a href="https://interzone.digital/some-pastel-morning/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Some Pastel Morning</span></a>" in IZ Digital (click story title to read), "So Close To Home" in the anthology <a href="https://www.mvmediaatl.com/product-page/languages-of-water" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Languages of Water</span></a>, "The Enfilade" in <a href="https://shop.ttapress.com/products/black-static-82-83-double-issue" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Black Static</span></a>, "The Natural Environment" in the anthology <a href="https://titanbooks.com/71278-reports-from-the-deep-end/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Reports From The Deep End</span></a>, and "Keepers" in the anthology <a href="https://www.eibonvalepress.co.uk/books/books_Lighthouse.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">At The Lighthouse</span></a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>This year also saw me shortlisted for a British Fantasy Society Award for my collection, "<a href="https://www.saltpublishing.com/products/candescent-blooms-9781784632564" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Candescent Blooms</span></a>" published by <a href="https://www.saltpublishing.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Salt Publishing</span></a>. My collaborative novel, co-written with Eugen Bacon, "<a href="https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/cosmicegg-books/our-books/secondhand-daylight-novel" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Secondhand Daylight</span></a>", was published in October 2023 by Cosmic Egg and has been getting some good reviews. And the forty 1000 word short stories mentioned above will appear in a collection I'll be announcing next year. I've also been co-editing a free Arts magazine for Norwich with Thomas Jarvis called Tangerine, in my spare time.</div><div><br /></div><div>With my publishing hat on, Head Shot Press published one book in 2023 which was the anthology, "<a href="https://www.andrew-hook.com/pages/bang!.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Bang!</span></a>", edited by myself, featuring noir stories from twenty-two writers. The dedicated website for the press can be found <a href="https://headshotpress.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">here</span></a>.</div><div><br /></div><div><span>Unlike previous years, I currently have no short stories awaiting publication and am completely up to date. As usual, there are a few longer projects that are under consideration by various agents/publishers.</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>So that's it for 2023. I have a few things in mind already for next year and am looking to see where they take me. Onwards!</div>Andrew Hookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14610690208258599992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3978485071677058286.post-53216452158130644742023-11-17T07:34:00.000+00:002023-11-17T07:34:45.420+00:00Keepers<p>My short story titled "Keepers" has just been published in the anthology <a href="https://www.eibonvalepress.co.uk/books/books_Lighthouse.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">At The Lighthouse</span></a> edited by Sophie Essex for Eibonvale Press, and as usual I'm blogging a few words discussing how the story came to be written. There may be spoilers within.</p><p>Before I go ahead, I should say that the editor, Sophie, is my partner, but for the submission process she read all the stories without bylines so there is no favouritism when it comes to selecting my story for this book.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSmHwQKRTcIlnVF47gdY1KMK4yRSjwxe4LAr2FYeTD4WbA9ArX_l7VzksdjZfN2OycOFUyoufH9YR_rNIyiu9s5bF3yf8xVIdkw4Q9N4y9QYIm9TQYiS4ZFDZE9YSMBDOSaoXRvRu-3SEmkYp-89hrkPSkNkhBf1WXJlhDYDxbYflPN-asHu9XhYRrZjM/s2040/370095969_329438403144935_5642907091285796004_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2040" data-original-width="1530" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSmHwQKRTcIlnVF47gdY1KMK4yRSjwxe4LAr2FYeTD4WbA9ArX_l7VzksdjZfN2OycOFUyoufH9YR_rNIyiu9s5bF3yf8xVIdkw4Q9N4y9QYIm9TQYiS4ZFDZE9YSMBDOSaoXRvRu-3SEmkYp-89hrkPSkNkhBf1WXJlhDYDxbYflPN-asHu9XhYRrZjM/s320/370095969_329438403144935_5642907091285796004_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><p>As the title of the anthology suggests, each story here features a lighthouse as it's central theme. I had been amassing a list of interesting female names to use within a story (Juska, Candelaria, Ottile, and Cosmina), and it felt natural that I could tell a story from each of their individual viewpoints as to how they might work together for a lighthouse to be restored. Their names - and the meanings of their names - felt a good fit for this piece and they are - therefore - the <i>keepers </i>of the title. The actual nature of the lighthouse itself is revealed - perhaps ambiguously, perhaps shamelessly, depending on your reading - at the end of the story, so much so that I don't feel I can add much more to this blog without it becoming too much of a spoiler.</p><p>Here's an extract: </p><p><i>The island is - inevitably - windswept. When Juska - the refuge giver - steps one foot from the boat her sense of home is evident. Two steps anchor. The Captain has a gruff sensibility, the bonhomie during the two hour journey rough and frank. Now he hauls her suitcases from the deck to the shingle. It's a long way up to the shack which abuts the lighthouse. She accepts his offer to share the weight. Gorse prickles against the thin cotton material of her leggings as she moves from stones to dunes, until eventually this shades into moorland and she sees that the coarse vegetation which surrounds the base of the lighthouse will require cutting back to allow an easier access to the entrance.</i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYzMKDqrYj2ZyWZ7-kAfPXoiYzy7oGooLjxgLRNmuHuTMKU_X3Di7jSNkpXqEgWLV24xD46Rn08F5ghA4mn4-NRZWO2EG4MJu5TACcEYjZk8EPO9cnZ2oiGistUjEBMDlAOJpA0O1dL6THBEpF2L6DvaeauyUNPej4sk7YVKZa5Zq76Qxi4bOfO7nUzFI/s2040/399785154_859803442190499_6552573443691045012_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2040" data-original-width="1530" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYzMKDqrYj2ZyWZ7-kAfPXoiYzy7oGooLjxgLRNmuHuTMKU_X3Di7jSNkpXqEgWLV24xD46Rn08F5ghA4mn4-NRZWO2EG4MJu5TACcEYjZk8EPO9cnZ2oiGistUjEBMDlAOJpA0O1dL6THBEpF2L6DvaeauyUNPej4sk7YVKZa5Zq76Qxi4bOfO7nUzFI/s320/399785154_859803442190499_6552573443691045012_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div></div></div></div><p>Regular readers of this blog will know I usually listen to music through headphones whilst writing, and this entire story was written to three different albums by Blonde Redhead: <i>23</i>, <i>Penny Sparkle</i>, and <i>Barragan </i>on continual repeat.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">To reiterate, "At The Lighthouse" is</span><span style="text-align: left;"> published by Eibvonvale Press, and in addition to myself features stories from the following: Jason Gould, Terry Grimwood, Rory Moores, Pete Sillett, Ariel Dodson, Julie Ann Rees, Matt Leyshon, Damian Murphy, Tim Lees, Rhys Hughes, Brittni Brinn, Charles Wilkinson, Tom Johnstone, Douglas Thompson, Ashley Stokes, and C.A. Yates. Buy it <a href="https://www.eibonvalepress.co.uk/books/books_Lighthouse.htm"><span style="color: #fcff01;">here</span></a>. The book comes in paperback, hardback, and a limited photo paper edition to best display the interior images of lighthouses taken by Sophie.</span></div>Andrew Hookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14610690208258599992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3978485071677058286.post-47451080626200972612023-10-29T08:56:00.000+00:002023-10-29T08:56:48.966+00:00The Natural Environment<p>My short story titled "The Natural Environment" has just been published in the anthology <a href="https://titanbooks.com/71278-reports-from-the-deep-end/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Reports From The Deep End</span></a><span style="color: #fcff01;"> </span>edited by Maxim Jakubowski and Rick McGrath for Titan Books, and as usual I'm blogging a few words discussing how the story came to be written. There may be spoilers within.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm6dGb9ES-y2WZftVgWfxJp1AM86G35d7jBXyuvl4eapMdxEOVEjoO8iqXgM-qiwJMcoYxhQh_aN6pRDDG6zWs7pVN9rmNjAO0M_atR8PbsNweu3y00kCf0zscOZF49eCUPqEEZOP2tKpQoY3sJ79KFkYcaRiR3mPjgqjprOnm9XgmjtwjP9j1XKvOnNE/s450/9781803363172.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="296" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm6dGb9ES-y2WZftVgWfxJp1AM86G35d7jBXyuvl4eapMdxEOVEjoO8iqXgM-qiwJMcoYxhQh_aN6pRDDG6zWs7pVN9rmNjAO0M_atR8PbsNweu3y00kCf0zscOZF49eCUPqEEZOP2tKpQoY3sJ79KFkYcaRiR3mPjgqjprOnm9XgmjtwjP9j1XKvOnNE/s320/9781803363172.jpg" width="210" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div><p>The byline for this anthology is 'stories inspired by J G Ballard'. I enjoy Ballard's books, particularly when he explores the correlation between technology and human interaction (in that regard, "Crash" is my favourite of his novels), and for quite a while I had a title, "The Natural Environment", which I then realised would probably suit the remit. As usual when I think of titles, my first consideration is to reverse them. What might be an <i>unnatural </i>environment? Perhaps uploaded consciousnesses existing in a technological state long after physical humans have ceased to exist. And what if those consciousnesses hankered after the 'old days', held nostalgia for the past which was never theirs. How might they return to <i>the natural environment</i>, and how might the passing of time have both coloured and confused what they think that actually might be. Additionally, how might love then exist. Here, I had my story.</p><p>I believe most of the stories for the anthology were commissioned, but there were a few slots for open submission and I took a chance and thankfully both editors liked it. I therefore find myself in quite a stellar line-up of talent. And in hardback, too!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNAgxxkREH3omQcj4ceTPFCVOYQAPbYViDujJuW0hFev1HKNKaYnaI1NrMU8P6pvfQzx6iu4qv897_Bnv7k72Qgsj7tV3gvMKwDX2oczPewQSpuU4WBcAic_tNihL978EN14KvfzlidnEgU456ruojp7KvWc3_Ar1Q-GddVDdVTE_ZdQz_Vphu11mRJHE/s2048/394581483_10228844529475276_1003717130220776738_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNAgxxkREH3omQcj4ceTPFCVOYQAPbYViDujJuW0hFev1HKNKaYnaI1NrMU8P6pvfQzx6iu4qv897_Bnv7k72Qgsj7tV3gvMKwDX2oczPewQSpuU4WBcAic_tNihL978EN14KvfzlidnEgU456ruojp7KvWc3_Ar1Q-GddVDdVTE_ZdQz_Vphu11mRJHE/s320/394581483_10228844529475276_1003717130220776738_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p>Here's an extract:</p><p><i>Janet had initiated her transformation prior to informing Ned. He had been annoyed that she had done so without consultation. They were supposed to be one organism, after all, yet her unilateral decision had forced his own hand - two hands, even - in the matter. It irked him that whilst she had maintained a degree of communication that she hadn't allowed him to view her modifications. What if Ned didn't like what he saw?</i></p><p>Regular readers of this blog will know I usually listen to music through headphones whilst writing, and this entire story was written to the soundtrack of the film <i>Naked Lunch </i>on continual repeat. No direct connection with Ballard, of course, but the sensibility of the film / music also seemed to complement the story.</p><p>For those local to London, quite a few of the contributors, including myself, will be at a signing session at the Forbidden Planet megastore next month. Details are here:</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUOaHLjqjuxv0ZA2HiHwoFfLRqHPFmTiMPe8x3_TNEoglActnNZtXe43I0MywX3IsJJo7HEeh5GEv5VJ6JvnmuVhFw74TaRHZQHEgsexGxY6hGS3oZGPIgIMxsCUO-hHz7XvbnQAY-FWhnnf9RNIjKNXZMnZJxfGAlOZM5PpMd1LUHnbfxPOp8HH_kQLc/s991/deepend.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="558" data-original-width="991" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUOaHLjqjuxv0ZA2HiHwoFfLRqHPFmTiMPe8x3_TNEoglActnNZtXe43I0MywX3IsJJo7HEeh5GEv5VJ6JvnmuVhFw74TaRHZQHEgsexGxY6hGS3oZGPIgIMxsCUO-hHz7XvbnQAY-FWhnnf9RNIjKNXZMnZJxfGAlOZM5PpMd1LUHnbfxPOp8HH_kQLc/s320/deepend.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">To reiterate, "Reports From The Deep End" is</span><span style="text-align: left;"> published by Titan Books as a reasonably priced hardback and can be purchased <a href="https://titanbooks.com/71278-reports-from-the-deep-end/"><span style="color: #fcff01;">here</span></a>. A list of contributors is very handily printed on the reverse.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUCE5yJ5wk3b0S-iai7Ba5r8vPVq7FD2ph9NPuiMzhbT48iGO9VD3NMQZ0KHYARy6U8VbqOxNciPXBWz28TFH_tM5qERV0MPATagUO8AVaqkKM7Zt02P7KWN5InkJElNN0p9INHRHqCxz7YoGqlef_NNGa8-toAO_sVTIxQ3sLt_6YhbIu7Qxaz196RTI/s2048/395137082_10228844530395299_3409756098346578244_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUCE5yJ5wk3b0S-iai7Ba5r8vPVq7FD2ph9NPuiMzhbT48iGO9VD3NMQZ0KHYARy6U8VbqOxNciPXBWz28TFH_tM5qERV0MPATagUO8AVaqkKM7Zt02P7KWN5InkJElNN0p9INHRHqCxz7YoGqlef_NNGa8-toAO_sVTIxQ3sLt_6YhbIu7Qxaz196RTI/s320/395137082_10228844530395299_3409756098346578244_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div>Andrew Hookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14610690208258599992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3978485071677058286.post-56362077083110462312023-07-21T16:43:00.000+01:002023-07-21T16:43:35.392+01:00The Enfilade<p>My short story titled "The Enfilade" has just been published in <a href="https://shop.ttapress.com/collections/black-static/products/black-static-82-83-double-issue" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Black Static</span></a> and as usual, I'm blogging a few words discussing how the story came to be written. There may be spoilers within.</p><p>Before I go ahead, however, I want to say a few words about this issue of Black Static, as it's the final one of a very long run. Andy Cox began publishing as The Third Alternative back in the early nineties. Once I'd discovered the magazine I not only found great new fiction, but also kindred spirits in that many of the writers published in those first issues were touching on the 'slipstream' genre that I hadn't even realised I was writing. My first acceptance in The Third Alternative was a story titled "Slender Lois, Slow Doris" and appeared in issue #6 in May 1995. Several other appearances followed. When Andy Cox took over Interzone magazine, The Third Alternative became Black Static and focussed mostly on dark horror. This final issue is a 'double issue' and is numbered 82/83. It's an incredible achievement and I'm proud to have had three stories in TTA and now eight in Black Static. Production values and accompanying artwork have always been superb, and the artwork for "The Enfilade" was created by Dave Senecal. A huge thank you, therefore, to Andy Cox for everything, for basically single-handedly defining the genre in the UK and championing weird short fiction for the past thirty years.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcbY3SKKn2LBvAk86Na5RtoBiNw3VlBoI-yJaPLx9Due2vv4E3oyThFG6o_gGYff5iibbg7aI16mJtSM0DWYpOH-yBY23BAAN4f604PF3A8iMSgu19RGcY-RmJ-4vkf5CxyoGi6RGdO6iHzd3dfPRqe-lExt-NJdbCXAoWBSmcqWZVRbmjEVijbf6CUIw/s660/product-BS82-the-enfilade_720x.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="660" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcbY3SKKn2LBvAk86Na5RtoBiNw3VlBoI-yJaPLx9Due2vv4E3oyThFG6o_gGYff5iibbg7aI16mJtSM0DWYpOH-yBY23BAAN4f604PF3A8iMSgu19RGcY-RmJ-4vkf5CxyoGi6RGdO6iHzd3dfPRqe-lExt-NJdbCXAoWBSmcqWZVRbmjEVijbf6CUIw/s320/product-BS82-the-enfilade_720x.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>As for the story, I'm not entirely sure how I came about the word <i>enfilade</i> but I liked the sound of it and when I saw that one of it's meanings meant a suite of rooms with doorways in line with each other I became intrigued. The word <i>doorway </i>in itself then<i> </i>lead to thoughts of Aldous Huxley's <i>Doors of Perception</i>, and his experiences with mind expanding drugs, and subsequently googling architectural examples of enfilades brought me to Mysore Palace, a magnificent structure in the Indian state of Karnataka. Often it's simple connections like these which grow a story. I envisaged a set of doorways as in an enfilade but as spiritual representations within the human mind. What if someone became so obsessed with finding meaning through such doorways that they attempted the impossible? And what if they succeeded?</p><p>This was one of those pieces which subsequently wrote itself. I sat down one morning at 9am and by 5pm I had an 8500 word story. I don't have to edit much nowadays, only a word or phrase here or there, rather than anything structural, so it more or less fell out fully formed. As if through an open doorway. Here's the opening: </p><p><i>I first met Pryce on the grassy banks of the River Cam, although it was to be quite a different body of water that would signify his destiny. Pryce was a scraggy youth who stood with a dangled cigarette dropping ash into the water, as he gazed out towards Clare College Bridge with its three uniform arches. The structure was the oldest bridge remaining in Cambridge, and bore the oddity of a missing section of the globe second from the left on the south side. One story was that the builder of the bridge received what he considered to be insufficient payment, and in his anger removed a segment of the globe; another is that it was a method of tax avoidance, as bridges were subject to tax only once they were complete. Whatever the meaning, I was unaware of either back then. I was also unaware how the concept of </i>completeness <i>would be a major influence on Pryce’s life, to the point of obsession.</i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi3lonjD2Ebm6SoEU64qAPuufsAYf2G_fqSHcAEEIwqlkJ-ioc8hueLcwBOR7TENw-bNqDedV378DSLzasf4NBAHO4LmUH-AQZww_5ROG6bYpm03dwt7dJPZ27IiGxCaFvXWaHKM7j4_b6LIanoAXo7Q5KDt5eq0ehr8lXBNAO1ZTLnVNATSUN60vwgPc/s2048/360428688_656322426416977_2079774989768517502_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi3lonjD2Ebm6SoEU64qAPuufsAYf2G_fqSHcAEEIwqlkJ-ioc8hueLcwBOR7TENw-bNqDedV378DSLzasf4NBAHO4LmUH-AQZww_5ROG6bYpm03dwt7dJPZ27IiGxCaFvXWaHKM7j4_b6LIanoAXo7Q5KDt5eq0ehr8lXBNAO1ZTLnVNATSUN60vwgPc/s320/360428688_656322426416977_2079774989768517502_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /></div></div></div></div><p>Regular readers of this blog will know I usually listen to music on repeat through headphones whilst writing, and this entire story was written to Coeur de Pirate's album of piano music, <i>Perséides</i>, on continual repeat.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">To reiterate, "The Enfilade" is</span><span style="text-align: left;"> published in Black Static #82/83, and in addition to myself features stories, comment, reviews and art from the following: Richard Wagner, Lynda E. Rucker, Simon Avery, Ben Baldwin, Steve Rasnic Tem, Sarah Lamparelli, Warwick Fraser-Coombe, Ralph Robert Moore, Rhonda Pressley Veit, Jim Burns, Julie C. Day, Vincent Sammy, Neil Williamson, Richard Wagner, Peter Tennant, Gary Couzens, Josh Bell, Joachim Luetke, Françoise Harvey, Aliya Whiteley, Stephen Volk, Dave Senecal, Tim Lees and Ray Cluley. Buy it <a href="https://shop.ttapress.com/products/black-static-82-83-double-issue"><span style="color: #fcff01;">here</span></a>.</span></div>Andrew Hookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14610690208258599992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3978485071677058286.post-57821316717424567102023-06-02T16:55:00.000+01:002023-06-02T16:55:31.162+01:00Some Pastel Morning<p>My short story titled "Some Pastel Morning" has just been published online in <a href="https://ko-fi.com/post/NEW-FICTION-Some-Pastel-Morning-Y8Y1LSF9U" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">IZ Digital</span></a>, the online sister magazine to <a href="https://interzone.press/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Interzone</span></a>. Initially it is presented as an IZ Digital supporter exclusive (print IZ subscribers also get access), however from 12 July 2023 it'll be free-to-read. It's very cheap to become an <a href="https://interzone.digital/category/free-fiction/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">IZ Digital supporter</span></a>. As usual, I'm blogging a few words discussing how the story came to be written. There may be spoilers within.</p><p>Unlike many of my short stories, "Some Pastel Morning" approached me in a variety of guises. I first had the idea when walking to pick my youngest daughter up from school. On a telegraph pole was a notice for a missing cat, complete with a picture. This led me to remember those instances where the faces of missing children were put on milk cartons in the United States in the early 80s, which further led me to think of what might cause children to go missing as frequently as lost dogs or cats. Like in much of my fiction, I then decided to reverse the idea. What if a childless woman who had seen such posters decided to invent one, a composite child that she might declare as her own. And then - of course - what if such a child were subsequently found and returned to her? How might that play out?</p><p>I had a title that had been kicking around for a while: "The Hello Station". I thought it might fit this story. Because I have to have a title in my mind before I write a story (and very rarely change it, maybe only four times over 170 published stories), I tend to let the story brew in my mind for a while. I'd booked a day off work to write this piece, and therefore had a self-imposed deadline. The pressure was on, but the idea wouldn't gel. A few days before I intended to write, I saw the word <i>pastel</i>. Obviously I knew this word, but my partner suggested it might be an evocative title. We'd also been listening to the Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood album <i>Nancy & Lee</i>, which contains one of my favourite songs, "Some Velvet Morning". A few days later I sat down to write "The Hello Station" which immediately became "Some Pastel Morning". It was this change which instanntly led to the story beginning as it does, and which is an integral part of the whole plot. This opening wouldn't have existed without the title change, literally a few minutes beforehand.</p><p><i>After the first disaster the air was thick with dust. Finely ground pigments stained the streets as though expelled from pastel-coloured puffballs or an explosion in a spice factory. Some of the surviving children made patterns on car windscreens, some even wrote their names, but mostly those names were appended to the posters which had begun to appear around the city, stapled to telegraph poles or pasted up in storefronts, usually accompanied by photographs which depicted poses they were unlikely to grow out of.</i></p><p>Heads up there's a spoiler in this paragraph. Once my protagonist's child is 'found' and returned to her I couldn't think where to go next. I tend to avoid explanations in my fictions, and I couldn't see how to progress without one. It was at this point that I realised another swap was necessary. I ended her story with the found child and began a new section from that child's point of view. Again, there is another soft apocalypse and this time it is his 'mother' who goes missing. I decided to explore the dynamic there. It is this second pastel morning which occurs at the child's school that Sumit Roy has captured so evocatively in his artwork that accompanies the piece.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkY3-bzbGU395Xe-y0hTKikYsOJKOWy3Q6Qed23AfQW--Ztsvt3ZrRTW7Jls4_IE3-rv1yXgIrtc5KBswvKephayWz4jRtIMWzJwfl2auQpi3J59dPQSRvSM_bJqfFaNSlKEVz7iuG9RpKtUE-etSbhXmxLFVcwI75G6ZnsMKxSYkVL99w0OA5EKVN/s1536/preview-Some-Pastel-Morning-1536%20(002).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1536" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkY3-bzbGU395Xe-y0hTKikYsOJKOWy3Q6Qed23AfQW--Ztsvt3ZrRTW7Jls4_IE3-rv1yXgIrtc5KBswvKephayWz4jRtIMWzJwfl2auQpi3J59dPQSRvSM_bJqfFaNSlKEVz7iuG9RpKtUE-etSbhXmxLFVcwI75G6ZnsMKxSYkVL99w0OA5EKVN/w400-h200/preview-Some-Pastel-Morning-1536%20(002).jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /></div></div></div><p><i>After the second disaster Hemmingway remembered the air was thick with dust. Within the school the building darkened, as though Edgar Degas were decorating windows, transforming pastels from simple sketching tools into a core artistic medium that might dominate the art scene for many years to come. Some of the children ducked underneath desks. Hemmingway did too. He could see his teacher’s shoes – the brown brogues that they were – gradually attain a patina of filth. Yet when the sky lightened, his teacher remained present. This wasn’t the case with the parents of some of his classmates. When his teacher moved, the floor was clean where he had been standing: inverse footprints of inertia.</i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">You have to allow stories to tell themselves in the best way, in the way that they demand, rather than force them elsewhere, and - for me - this piece is a good example of that. Regular readers will know I usually listen to music on repeat through headphones whilst writing, and this entire story was written whilst playing The Residents' instrumental album, <i>Mush-Room</i>.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">To reiterate, "Some Pastel Morning" is</span><span style="text-align: left;"> published online in </span><a href="https://ko-fi.com/post/NEW-FICTION-Some-Pastel-Morning-Y8Y1LSF9U" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">IZ Digital</span></a><span style="text-align: left;">, the online sister magazine to</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><a href="https://interzone.press/" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Interzone</span></a><span style="text-align: left;">. Initially it is presented as an IZ Digital supporter exclusive (print IZ subscribers also get access), however from 12 July 2023 it'll be free-to-read.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div>Andrew Hookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14610690208258599992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3978485071677058286.post-80142855110240937322023-05-26T07:46:00.001+01:002023-05-26T07:46:35.909+01:00So Close To Home<p>My short story titled "So Close To Home" has just been published in <a href="https://www.mvmediaatl.com/product-page/languages-of-water" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Languages of Water</span></a>, an anthology edited by <a href="https://eugenbacon.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Eugen Bacon</span></a>. As usual, I'm blogging a few words discussing how the story came to be written. There may be spoilers within.</p><p>This anthology came into being via Eugen's short story, "When The Water Stops", which was first published in the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. "Languages of Water" - Eugen <a href="https://eugenbacon.com/blog/languages-of-water-a-cross-lingual-hybrid-by-eugen-bacon/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">blogs</span></a> - is a cross-lingual hybrid birthed from the Writers Immersion and Cultural Exchange (WrICE). At the heart of WrICE is a simple idea: to give writers of different backgrounds a chance to step outside familiar writing practices and contexts and connect deeply with writers from different cultures and across generations in an immersive residency. The respectful and generative space for reflection, conversation, creative sharing and surprise that WrICE offers affords writers a muse - a precious opportunity to explore possibilities outside comfort zones and borrow something new into own creative practice. It sparks connections and grows a cohesive community of writers that spans boundaries.</p><p>"When The Water Stops" becomes a source story in "Languages of Water" where it appears in multiple translations and interpretations. Eugen asked me to contribute to the project, and "So Close To Home" is therefore inspired by that story.</p><p>Envisaging a world where water is in short supply led me to consider how the impact of aridity might affect countries that would normally have no fear of drought, namely the UK and those in the Northern Hemisphere. How they might repurpose water from elsewhere, or add other <i>liquids </i>to it in order to bulk it out. How they would ration it. The story is split into two sections, centered around a child - Joel - who accompanies his father on the morning trek to a repurposed filling station in the first section, and in the second section is older and in a gang that seeks to intercept one of the water trucks. The title - of course (perhaps) - is appropriated from the Raymond Carver short story, "So Much Water So Close To Home."</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjluywf1qU1fkfekbbsAnMQhcAmQopKqUHJchxPr5sgYP7W1oe5jwhQaNjeE1YQczDWLwU2b_1f05WRLGP5XMiJPU7JdX6uD8OteOeRO_iRTlGLM2Pj75MDo6V_Y5wnFFo_3_AJGu_pDgAt336Lu8UnuJAakYnpkUo9_qkANwXB7TzUXgPWu9D96Geh/s2048/348847889_9125438527526388_9097591567791650225_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjluywf1qU1fkfekbbsAnMQhcAmQopKqUHJchxPr5sgYP7W1oe5jwhQaNjeE1YQczDWLwU2b_1f05WRLGP5XMiJPU7JdX6uD8OteOeRO_iRTlGLM2Pj75MDo6V_Y5wnFFo_3_AJGu_pDgAt336Lu8UnuJAakYnpkUo9_qkANwXB7TzUXgPWu9D96Geh/s320/348847889_9125438527526388_9097591567791650225_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><br /></div></div><p>Here's a bit of it:</p><p><i>Joel didn’t understand the ins and the outs, the hand-me-down jokes, but when he suggested the plan, they listened. The trucks made pre-determined journeys, not dissimilar to the passage of water down a mountainside in the golden days. From the source they spread, fanned along tributaries, turned where the land grooved. In Joel’s city they arrived in the early hours, twin orbs lighting darkness. In amongst the metalwork at the rear of the garage Joel found the tyre iron he had hidden three days ago. Gripping it in his right hand he left to join the others.</i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">Languages Of Water is edited by Eugen Bacon is published through <a href="https://www.mvmediaatl.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">MV Media</span></a>. It can be bought <a href="https://www.mvmediaatl.com/product-page/languages-of-water" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">here</span></a>.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div>Andrew Hookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14610690208258599992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3978485071677058286.post-3867578425501598882023-05-03T16:05:00.000+01:002023-05-03T16:05:53.085+01:00Thoughts After Reading: White Spines<p>I've decided to write a series of posts, when the fancy takes me, regarding books recently read. Not reviews as such, if you want those then check out my <span style="color: #fcff01;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/88772.Andrew_Hook" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Goodreads</span> </a></span>page, but considerations. The first of these concerns "<span style="color: #fcff01;">White Spines: Confessions of a Book Collector</span>", by Nicholas Royle.</p><p>I shortly began reading this book after the long Easter weekend. As we do every few years, my partner, Sophie, & I had decided to put all our books into author alphabetical order. When I say <i>all our books</i>, I'm not including Sophie's new books which are kept separately upstairs in order of her preference, but my books and our secondhand books which are downstairs split over four shelves (some doubled up). Despite having numerous unread books, we keep buying, so rather than account for space to slot them in as we go, new books have a temporary space until we do the alphabetical thing every couple of years. It's something that we enjoy.</p><p>Of course, despite us logging all our books on <span>LibraryThing</span>, this process always seems to throw up a duplicate that we bought and didn't realise. This time around it was "Serenade" by James M Cain. Oh well. I'll have to give that a good home. Rather pleasingly, this reshuffle also meant I could add two letters to the ten books whose spines now spell "M A R T I N B E C K" rather than "M A R I N B C K", being the full set of novels featuring that detective by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö. It also means I will no longer keep buying one of those novels thinking I don't have it, when I do (at least three duplications in that series in previous years). However, annoyingly, I see the first book doesn't have 01 on the spine unlike the others which are numbered.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Si6XjMowClQLj-9XVRoyUiQxQAgx-Cm0BQwZXtugCbHJHmBBoMjtX-Pt3NOIrR0r_r6-q3-ZxoQ1fkxa0X4VnoOCd_LIU_9qqjRee8jFXLJsr0G6pt-8GJt66IUf0UsobDnK8mcD4Ew0WlQVFnRb0sTAuoqN6S5a9TWxJIhHGvfiQf0QKluanmqE/s2048/341486072_261501382977505_7190978428375828185_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Si6XjMowClQLj-9XVRoyUiQxQAgx-Cm0BQwZXtugCbHJHmBBoMjtX-Pt3NOIrR0r_r6-q3-ZxoQ1fkxa0X4VnoOCd_LIU_9qqjRee8jFXLJsr0G6pt-8GJt66IUf0UsobDnK8mcD4Ew0WlQVFnRb0sTAuoqN6S5a9TWxJIhHGvfiQf0QKluanmqE/s320/341486072_261501382977505_7190978428375828185_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>For some time now I have kept a list of my unread books as a Word document. I have two lists, one of regular books and one for books by friends. For a while we've said I should also include the books Sophie owns as another list, so during this reshuffle we added the books of hers that she recommends I should read. This means I now have three lists, whose numbers are: main list (310 books), friend's list (57 books), and Sophie's list (183 books), meaning I have 550 unread books in the house (or at least, those unread which I intend to read).</p><p>I keep these lists because I decide which will be my next book to read by having Sophie pick a number at random once I've finished my current read. Apart from a few exceptions (books to review, Maigret novels I slot in once or twice a month from the library which I'm reading in order of publication - all 75 of them(!), and other books where there is some pressing need), I stick to this on the basis that it uncovers gems in the house I might otherwise not have bothered to read. The intention now will be to have a number chosen from my list, then the next from the friend's list, and then from Sophie's list, in rotation. It should only take me ten years to read all the books unread that we have...on the basis that we don't buy any more books.</p><p>I was speaking to a writer recently at the Dragon Hall Social event organised by the <a href="https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">National Centre for Writing</span></a> who believes that "collecting books and reading books are two separate things entirely". I'm inclined to agree.</p><p>Shortly after putting all our books in author alphabetical order I finished reading "Slave Stories: Scenes From The Slave State" edited by Chris Kelso (in which a story of mine is included), and the next random number generated led me to pick up the non-fiction title, "White Spines: Confessions of a Book Collector", as you might well have guessed.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgscso0CDoc-LrtQQOFMTSCW4wVna12Jwe4zrZB5f6aItBA78fz6dKUZIc9tkf0qwsxfFcjWJ1ALImuyBc3Zwf27PTzfJ8FBaYE_fHqrfSo7toXAR6Hd_KCWgoR1r4HEx6RDV2UM0_j04AjYwfh2ZlS5WXBRB0tmLF1__d_qx6CXSkXSDspClgCJuYt/s2048/spine.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgscso0CDoc-LrtQQOFMTSCW4wVna12Jwe4zrZB5f6aItBA78fz6dKUZIc9tkf0qwsxfFcjWJ1ALImuyBc3Zwf27PTzfJ8FBaYE_fHqrfSo7toXAR6Hd_KCWgoR1r4HEx6RDV2UM0_j04AjYwfh2ZlS5WXBRB0tmLF1__d_qx6CXSkXSDspClgCJuYt/s320/spine.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>Whilst at the optician's today (Sophie's eye test, not mine), a couple came into the waiting area and I overheard the male say, "Another optician's I have sat in. You could write a book on that." To which his partner replied, "Sssh."</p><p>I mention this because overheard conversations about books are included in Royle's "White Spines." And I mention the author alphabetical and random number generation as examples to prove that it isn't only Royle who is obsessed by getting things right coupled with the excitement of luck and coincidence. Initially, reading "White Spines", where Royle regales the reader regarding his collecting Picador 'white spine' books (I've taken the liberty of using his photograph below), one gets the impression that he's completely bonkers. It's only as you read on and identify with almost every aspect of collecting that you realise you're bonkers too.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc8kmjz-w_1VOOnj4zTUhC2S78ZmcffUHZDHJISS8pS39gGtZMzY3HPgxxddMm3868ct2A7RRS1w2B9XcpXQfrxbPMg_iSSrYF490CfudV9NVcsmmJPq3zQWZV1A6kvA76UjAMALw-wRCJlxLnGa_0ifk6Ise6Mmonv85N6LxCdC9bYSOXlbgqZsmp/s1504/screenshot-2021-07-18-at-14.32.54.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1504" data-original-width="1138" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc8kmjz-w_1VOOnj4zTUhC2S78ZmcffUHZDHJISS8pS39gGtZMzY3HPgxxddMm3868ct2A7RRS1w2B9XcpXQfrxbPMg_iSSrYF490CfudV9NVcsmmJPq3zQWZV1A6kvA76UjAMALw-wRCJlxLnGa_0ifk6Ise6Mmonv85N6LxCdC9bYSOXlbgqZsmp/s320/screenshot-2021-07-18-at-14.32.54.png" width="242" /></a></div><br /><p>Whilst I don't collect certain publishers, reading "White Spines" has made me realise how few Picadors I own. Glancing around now I see I have a couple of Ian McEwan ("The Comfort of Strangers", "Black Dogs"), "The Marvellous Adventure of Cabeza de Vac by Haniel Long, sat alphabetically alongside Anita Loos' "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes", and Susanna Jones' "The Earthquake Bird" (which is out of the date that Royle collects and I see the title on the spine is in blue rather than the usual black on white). There may be others hidden behind (in fact, I later find "The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat" by Oliver Sacks and "Rat" by Andrzej Zaniewski), but this paucity of Picadors makes me feel like a fraud.</p><p>In my teens, I was more specific with my collections. I loved the numbered spines of Willard Price's <i>Adventure</i> series of (what would now be called) YA novels, and was deeply uncomfortable when number 13, "Tiger Adventure", followed a different format to those which preceded it. I also loved Ian Fleming's James Bond series, specifically the Triad Panther editions with female models draped over exceedingly large replica firearms. Additionally at that age I bought many Agatha Christie novels, particularly those with covers designed by Tom Adams in the Fontana series (I preferred those with the Fontana logo at the top on a white background, with "Agatha Christie" and then the book title underneath, with the artwork underneath that). Sadly, both the Fleming and Christie titles I car booted in bulk fifteen years ago, and have spent the past five years steadily buying them back.</p><p>According to Wikipedia, Nicholas Royle has had fourteen books published in total (including novels, novellas, short story collections, and "White Spines"), of which I own thirteen and have now read twelve. I need to get this one, at some point, to complete my collection:</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJYC6OmPaqhoqdtHTW3Q-iZq4rJ8KobW52VkN5jd6DH6awefGRCvOgbq-UjTqofUodhNxsFwS0bBSX-3xFZcebX6Ka76HkUf0c_JxIfyV1fW3dU1kXhWljc8ntSPt8eOe6cxraTqhxaN-BSxGZgVkg-jbhaEuNqJpcd2M4Z_mhDPF2gaJXa9HkyMWM/s2409/The-Dummy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2409" data-original-width="1657" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJYC6OmPaqhoqdtHTW3Q-iZq4rJ8KobW52VkN5jd6DH6awefGRCvOgbq-UjTqofUodhNxsFwS0bBSX-3xFZcebX6Ka76HkUf0c_JxIfyV1fW3dU1kXhWljc8ntSPt8eOe6cxraTqhxaN-BSxGZgVkg-jbhaEuNqJpcd2M4Z_mhDPF2gaJXa9HkyMWM/s320/The-Dummy.jpg" width="220" /></a></div><br /><p>Living in Norwich there are several bookstores to choose from. I prefer Oxfam on Magdalen Street which unlike the Oxfam Books & Music Store on Bedford Street isn't a dedicated bookstore and this is reflected accordingly in more favourable prices. It's been a while since I was in the <a href="https://www.tomblandbookshop.co.uk/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Tombland Bookshop</span></a> (lovely building, but somehow I find it off-putting for no particular reason), and whilst I used to buy regularly from the J R & R K Ellis bookshop on St Giles (where I am <i>sure </i>I would find some Picadors) I haven't done so for quite some time (I wonder if the floorboard between the shop's two rooms still squeaks?). The bookstore I wish still existed was The Scientific Anglian on St Benedict Street, which was packed to the rafters with books in precarious states of arrangement. The owner, Norman Peake, was described as a Cretaceous geologist and bookseller whose work on the stratigraphy of the English chalk was truly ground breaking. Those who staff the Oxfam stores may have equally focussed lives, but these are less worn on their sleeves. And at least they never write the price in biro in the top right hand corner of the cover and then draw a box around it.</p><p>"White Spines" mentions Nicholas Royle's namesake, another <a href="https://www.sussex.ac.uk/profiles/36446" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Nicholas Royle</span></a> who is equally an author, as well as several other examples of author duality. I am reminded of my own namesake, the Andrew Hook who - unlike me, is a professor - and writes non-fiction (most recently, "From Mount Hooly to Princeton: A Scottish-American Medley"), who also gives his name to the <a href="https://www.gla.ac.uk/research/az/americanstudies/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Andrew Hook Centre for American Studies in Glasgow</span></a>), and who - also unlike me - has a dedicated <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Hook" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Wikipedia</span></a> page. Goodreads also provides a third Andrew Hook - unless the Scottish Hook has a predilection for writing erotica as well as non-fiction, whose titles include "Hot Vacation: Naughty Friends #1" and - presumably - the equally hot #2. Finally, I see there is a non-author <a href="https://profiles.sussex.ac.uk/p335845-andrew-hook" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Andrew Hook</span></a> who is a Geography lecturer at the University of Sussex where - rather bizarrely, perhaps - Nicholas Royle's namesake also holds residence. To my knowledge, none of us have ever been mixed up.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFaQmUiWKQITB5p7nDPOT0keOFMsvWZsr7adnyQBZ007lKVmC6XwYV6CpmRIqyhNLDk_bcoy1TBZtMl2ydtjGDa6U2FTEYbtJbODGWb8ahj8d0lE9juV58HjvV_FtwgguzWSmlKsGRk_6hPcsPEOVutPPo4tNLjeuQGoKszkDVH-buz4d1H5KLlTko/s2048/341590325_161192996890499_2469143515493198558_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFaQmUiWKQITB5p7nDPOT0keOFMsvWZsr7adnyQBZ007lKVmC6XwYV6CpmRIqyhNLDk_bcoy1TBZtMl2ydtjGDa6U2FTEYbtJbODGWb8ahj8d0lE9juV58HjvV_FtwgguzWSmlKsGRk_6hPcsPEOVutPPo4tNLjeuQGoKszkDVH-buz4d1H5KLlTko/s320/341590325_161192996890499_2469143515493198558_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>When Nicholas Royle's publishing venture, <a href="https://nightjarpress.weebly.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Nightjar Press</span></a>, published my short story, "<a href="https://nightjarpress.weebly.com/throttle-body.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Throttle Body</span></a>" as one of their chapbooks last year, Royle came to my house whilst I signed the 200 copies and I noted his eyes roving the few Picadors on my shelves. Having already been aware of his collection prior to reading "White Spines", I mentioned that whenever I saw a Picador in a secondhand book I would think of him and wonder if he had it, but that I wouldn't dream of buying it and passing it on because presumably it would suck all the joy out of collecting. As expected, Royle agreed.</p><p>Finally, Royle also mentions in "White Spines" the delight in finding what he has come to call "inclusions" - whether bookmarks, receipts, concert tickets, or otherwise that people tend to leave inside books and which - for some odd reason - booksellers also tend not to remove. I've never had much luck with inclusions - I'm obviously not buying enough books - or perhaps not enough Picadors - however my best example probably couldn't be bettered. In New York around 2004 I visited the vast <span style="color: #fcff01;"><a href="https://www.strandbooks.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Strand</span></a> </span>bookstore and picked up a copy of Jonathan Carroll's "Sleeping In Flame" (Vintage) that sometime afterwards I realise included a short religious pamphlet and a photograph of a girl in some kind of traditional dress. If anyone knows this kid and wants the photo back, drop me a line.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaQfjYqEXMgUwfQs6AnzeGkobWVBPz3tKSF216a0RE9luyozD4sALey0F4VsB9-7cIImDSxAWY9jhjYjqbAf-TcGaSZ-rbqh01F4S0RkJg15Rstw-TSpZPF3Dv5BNE4kq5cnLXItaEE48l0POnuSiHeRioioFgoK3WPnl9Jc0x759_93BI-j-WNIdW/s2048/341479058_768007411340144_8756551595223496269_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1907" data-original-width="2048" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaQfjYqEXMgUwfQs6AnzeGkobWVBPz3tKSF216a0RE9luyozD4sALey0F4VsB9-7cIImDSxAWY9jhjYjqbAf-TcGaSZ-rbqh01F4S0RkJg15Rstw-TSpZPF3Dv5BNE4kq5cnLXItaEE48l0POnuSiHeRioioFgoK3WPnl9Jc0x759_93BI-j-WNIdW/s320/341479058_768007411340144_8756551595223496269_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>"White Spines: Confessions of a Book Collector" is published by Salt Publishing, is highly recommended, and can be purchased - new - direct from the publisher, <a href="https://www.saltpublishing.com/products/white-spines-9781784632137" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">here</span></a>.</p><p><br /></p>Andrew Hookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14610690208258599992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3978485071677058286.post-8895242960714410162023-04-25T17:24:00.000+01:002023-04-25T17:24:42.236+01:00An Absence of Ghosts<p>My short story titled "An Absence of Ghosts" has just been published in <a href="https://theakersquarterly.blogspot.com/2023/04/blog-post.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Theaker's Quarterly Fiction #73</span></a>. As usual, I'm blogging a few words discussing how the story came to be written. There may be spoilers within.</p><p>This story developed from a couple of sources. Firstly, I tend to like trashy horror films but get bored of the tropes. I remember watching "Wrong Turn" and thinking why not make a movie called "Right Turn", where a bunch of teenagers take the better turning and get safely to their destination within a few minutes, with the remaining 90 minutes of the film just credits. Around that time, horror author/editor Johnny Mains was putting together an anthology called "An Obscurity of Ghosts" (featuring forgotten tales of the genre). That make me think how I might write a ghost story, and contrary me came up with "An Absence of Ghosts". The idea, therefore, was to write a story that subverted the usual tropes by having nothing happen. Or, as Stephen Theaker has better phrased it in promo for this edition of the magazine, "From Andrew Hook we have <i>An Absence of Ghosts</i>, about a trip into the mountains where the eeriest things keep not happening."</p><p>In my story, therefore, a group of American late-teenage kids keep getting into scrapes where it might appear a horror trope is being set up, only for it to come to naught. Personally, I think this is quite funny (although I do have quite an oblique sense of humor). That doesn't mean that the story isn't also unnerving. Fellow writer, Andrew Humphrey, who I always exchange new stories with, agreed: "I love the constant undercutting of horror movie tropes, but, despite this, you still manage to build a tangible sense of dread. I still kept thinking that something awful would happen and that indeed would also have been a trope!"</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy8ORmSbB0lrhGWeYoR95Fz-npGZlfJ31E8ACnDCVIHdxIC4IzS_8tCmj4Aw47hVx5g0I_9nj8u2HPPZr_Dv5X_x5AWrEi5URgJHtjRgTJIurD_A_7rvYiQ6zTpaS3kegTLz3NwSMetedsKIgk6rS0ZAU8fgsseScaEVf7r9JDdRk7oU4tC8H1DSny/s2048/342529668_699516258614843_7820588587085288500_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy8ORmSbB0lrhGWeYoR95Fz-npGZlfJ31E8ACnDCVIHdxIC4IzS_8tCmj4Aw47hVx5g0I_9nj8u2HPPZr_Dv5X_x5AWrEi5URgJHtjRgTJIurD_A_7rvYiQ6zTpaS3kegTLz3NwSMetedsKIgk6rS0ZAU8fgsseScaEVf7r9JDdRk7oU4tC8H1DSny/s320/342529668_699516258614843_7820588587085288500_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><p>Here's a bit of it:</p><p><i>Scott shouts ahead. “Wait! Some ground rules. Check our cells work, don’t split up, turn on any lights if they’re working, if we have to run don’t fall over, and if we do end up getting chased when we reach the highway, don’t run down the centre of the road when being pursued by a car.”</i></p><p><i>They laugh.</i></p><p><i>“We’re safe,” Francine says, “because Jessie isn’t here. She’s the shy one. She’s the final girl. If she’s not with us, then this can’t turn out bad.”</i></p><div><br /></div><div>As well as the aforementioned "Wrong Turn", I also riff off "A Nightmare on Elm Street", "Carnival of Souls", "Psycho", "The Blair Witch Project", "Candyman", "From Beyond The Grave", "The Babadook", "Ringu", and "Wolf Creek, amongst others. See if you can spot them all.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">Theaker's Quarterly Fiction #73 is edited by Stephen Theaker and John Greenwood and is published through Theaker's Paperback Library. The magazine is free to download in epub and pdf, and as cheap as they can possibly make it to buy on Kindle and in print. The best link to check out all purchase options is <a href="https://theakersquarterly.blogspot.com/2023/04/blog-post.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">here</span></a>. This issue also features stories by Patrick Whittaker, Charles Wilkinson, Harris Coverley and Ross Gresham plus reviews.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">As regular readers are aware, I write my short stories listening to music on repeat. In this case, throughout the entire writing session, I played "Jezebel Spirit" by David Byrne & Brian Enoon a loop. Not sure how many times I heard it, but it was quite a few.</span></div>Andrew Hookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14610690208258599992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3978485071677058286.post-25590310190036187862023-03-28T18:11:00.001+01:002023-03-28T18:11:33.047+01:00Creating Time To Write Short Stories<p>Creating time to write when holding down a full time job and also working several part-time jobs around the full time job can be a tricky business. Since I've been writing short stories for some time now (with over 175 published) I've got to the stage where most of them can be completed in one sitting. But how best to create the time to do so?</p><p><br /></p><p>For the past few years, I've answered that question by retaining around ten days of my day job annual leave which I then take each February and March, effectively working four day weeks for two months. I book off each Wednesday which works best for me (a Monday or Friday would just feel like part of the weekend and I wouldn't be so focussed). On that Wednesday I sit down at 9am and treat it as though it were a job. A job blessed with creativity.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH-5N2yv234X1ezNY7guaLPB30RV90u53um8wVgIRCczWzqmKt5jmXpzeQEEBNkr0lAFHuakiQQQOvIH7jhOs_yBVBpW_ZjW0zqZJix16-cYHugcCUQCYatM5pDP8xv_6awrfNKy1NvZ6FqY8jpxmjL91itjGlmKj2BNy8_iQqqpiabIhQ0mCSqDwp/s3840/289715-Jorge-Luis-Borges-Quote-Unlike-the-novel-a-short-story-may-be-for.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH-5N2yv234X1ezNY7guaLPB30RV90u53um8wVgIRCczWzqmKt5jmXpzeQEEBNkr0lAFHuakiQQQOvIH7jhOs_yBVBpW_ZjW0zqZJix16-cYHugcCUQCYatM5pDP8xv_6awrfNKy1NvZ6FqY8jpxmjL91itjGlmKj2BNy8_iQqqpiabIhQ0mCSqDwp/s320/289715-Jorge-Luis-Borges-Quote-Unlike-the-novel-a-short-story-may-be-for.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>On previous years, that's yielded five or six new stories (some of the Wednesdays are spent with associated writing matters, like submissions, hunting for an agent, or working on either <a href="https://www.salopress.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Salò Press</span></a> or <a href="https://headshotpress.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Head Shot Press</span></a> books). However, this year, having cleared other matters solely to write, I've managed to create SIXTEEN short stories in those two months!</p><p><br /></p><p>It has been a little easier than some years because one of the collections I'm working on is intended to be forty stories of exactly 1000 words in length, so whilst that doesn't mean they are easier to write, there are certainly less words to get written. Out of the sixteen stories, eleven have been of 1000 words. And for some of those I've also created time from 7am to 10am on a weekend morning, before anyone else in the household has properly stirred.</p><p><br /></p><p>In addition to those pieces, I've written three stories which will complete one collection I'm now in the process of seeking a publisher for, and two stories for another new collection of themed stories that I'm working on. This has led to the following word counts: Some Pastel Morning (2108), Sundowning (3877), Inversion Layer (3382), Elevator Pitch (3642), and Betaville (3523). Adding the 11,000 words I've written on the 1000 word pieces means that in total in those two months I've written 27,532 words. Considering these words aren't for one single story, such as a novel, I think that's quite good going for sixteen separate ideas.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPMyYtXehwAUY88ivO0PpOf8ah6ZXSLyAwrqyPuKqcR26gYWQI2VSO0bmekIPTzQ-59qEVkRlNtXJbZPT7fbEfVP4AIVwzWWBm9HfSIvKhxjAXQELr9JWuBXdUP1SteH0bsFvTpmQdhMejzzZBT1a1Vw-tVPjRBDOwku3NhWcAPapzvC9X7en7VjaN/s3840/2630920-Lorrie-Moore-Quote-A-short-story-is-a-love-affair-a-novel-is-a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPMyYtXehwAUY88ivO0PpOf8ah6ZXSLyAwrqyPuKqcR26gYWQI2VSO0bmekIPTzQ-59qEVkRlNtXJbZPT7fbEfVP4AIVwzWWBm9HfSIvKhxjAXQELr9JWuBXdUP1SteH0bsFvTpmQdhMejzzZBT1a1Vw-tVPjRBDOwku3NhWcAPapzvC9X7en7VjaN/s320/2630920-Lorrie-Moore-Quote-A-short-story-is-a-love-affair-a-novel-is-a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>You might be wondering, where do all those ideas come from. The fact is, the last short story I wrote was in March 2022, so new ideas have been percolating for quite some time. I keep a folder of short story titles which will gradually coalesce into plots and I draw from those at this time of the year at which point they're ready to just fall out. So the gestation period for them has been quite long. For the 1000 word stories, I've been working off a short prompt for each one (more on this when the project is over), so whilst I only check the prompt a few days before writing the story, it's all ready to go once I'm sat down. Having that definite word count target serves to focus the mind, also enabling the creative process to flow.</p><p><br /></p><p>I must admit I'm not looking forward to returning to a five day week in the day job. For longer short stories I might build in a handful of writing days for the rest of the year. For the 1000 word stories, I'll continue writing those weekend mornings.</p><p><br /></p><p>Being creative at this time of the year is perfect for mental health. I start the year in hand, already having written much of my output in the first three months, which - for me - feels like a real spur. And what else would I do with the time when the weather is cold and dull?</p><p><br /></p><p>I've already booked ten days off for February / March 2024. Let's see what that delivers!</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDhTsTk69GUjcT4Vxi9GRNZgRIfFyc6n86kajAZeVcfeEQAIQVVQW7_laA0FmkyxWYbxNbFowCF4z9v1zE2D8qqq6DXeTqc70Xt5gv3FepUSacR7biCuGicAHhBYO37Z7JEUWp3zMZao-IVkwHBR3ecMspT4FTqhsMabKrJV0mK2Vv9xWSn0CQvGqf/s850/quote-a-short-story-must-have-a-single-mood-and-every-sentence-must-build-towards-it-edgar-allan-poe-43-48-81.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="850" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDhTsTk69GUjcT4Vxi9GRNZgRIfFyc6n86kajAZeVcfeEQAIQVVQW7_laA0FmkyxWYbxNbFowCF4z9v1zE2D8qqq6DXeTqc70Xt5gv3FepUSacR7biCuGicAHhBYO37Z7JEUWp3zMZao-IVkwHBR3ecMspT4FTqhsMabKrJV0mK2Vv9xWSn0CQvGqf/s320/quote-a-short-story-must-have-a-single-mood-and-every-sentence-must-build-towards-it-edgar-allan-poe-43-48-81.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Andrew Hookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14610690208258599992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3978485071677058286.post-64276539109790351142023-01-11T19:40:00.001+00:002023-01-11T19:48:28.032+00:00The Malaise Trap<p>My short story titled "<a href="http://raphuspress.weebly.com/the-malaise-trap.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">The Malaise Trap</span></a>" has recently been published as a standalone chapbook from the Brazillian-based <a href="http://raphuspress.weebly.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><span>R</span>aphus Press</span></a>, and as has become usual I'm writing a few words discussing how the story came to be written. There may be spoilers within.</p><p>Like most of my fiction, the idea sprang from the title. I'm fairly certain I became aware of a Malaise trap whilst my partner was writing a themed series of insect poems. I often read facts about insects to her whilst she writes, which lubricates the creative process, and so it's highly likely I heard of a Malaise trap that way. Why? Because it's a large, tent-like structure used for trapping, killing, and preserving flying insects, particularly Hymenoptera and Diptera. It's called a Malaise Trap because it was invented by René Malaise, but - of course - with malaise also meaning <i>a general feeling of discomfort, illness, or unease whose exact cause is difficult to identify</i>, it just begged for a story to be written.</p><p>My story centres around an artist using insect photography as part of her work, and her increasingly difficult relationship with her partner, a fledgling novelist, eventually leading to a photograph that might just make her career; but it's more about an outward manifestation of the malaise that dogs that relationship, and how we project thoughts and fears onto others.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiptFGgonhriKIk-jyyXsfdUaPEr15iJiBMtIoZuox6_BLqEyC7cMhuZm3XgS4LDEy7BYug1sVW0A1VHB63qnxTKTcNQ8Wtik12JJNEDEEn1RvcYvGhONWut1X4LRjAVsHJk29yia21Mx0OWGyHusG7aARZyAL4abz98GbyjFlRwTgjk2iUjD3U32jO/s398/Malaise.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="398" data-original-width="272" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiptFGgonhriKIk-jyyXsfdUaPEr15iJiBMtIoZuox6_BLqEyC7cMhuZm3XgS4LDEy7BYug1sVW0A1VHB63qnxTKTcNQ8Wtik12JJNEDEEn1RvcYvGhONWut1X4LRjAVsHJk29yia21Mx0OWGyHusG7aARZyAL4abz98GbyjFlRwTgjk2iUjD3U32jO/s320/Malaise.jpg" width="219" /></a></div><br /><br /></div></div><p>Here's a bit of it: </p><p><i>If Veronika were to collate sufficient exhibits for her show then she needed to eradicate the darkness which occurred in the photographs. The episode with the posterior vitreous detachment had projected her into photography, something she had only been dallying with up to that point. Whilst part of her wondered if she might centre her show with pieces that indicated a veil was being drawn across a field of vision, she decided that anomalies were not true representations of her skills. In fact, it would be the absence of skill that dictated such a show. And that was anathema to her.</i></p><div>The Malaise Trap is published as a limited edition signed dual language (English/Portuguese) hardback chapbook through Raphus Press. It retails at USD$42 including postage worldwide. It can be bought <a href="http://raphuspress.weebly.com/the-malaise-trap.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">here</span></a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">As regular readers are aware, I write my short stories listening to music on repeat. In this case, however, my note is that whilst I wore my noise-canceling headphones throughout the writing of the story, I didn't play any music through them.</span></div>Andrew Hookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14610690208258599992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3978485071677058286.post-70514555446371460732022-12-29T15:24:00.000+00:002022-12-29T15:24:04.617+00:00Cumulative quote story<p><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">During 2022 I read 70 books. Following each reading, on both Twitter and Instagram, I would post a picture of each book together with what I felt to be a pertinent quote from the contents. As I was devising my end of year list, it struck me that putting all these quotes together might form a short story, so - entirely without embellishment and wholly in the order in which the books were read - here it is. I think there's some really fluid segues! For those interested - which I imagine to be only a few - the titles of those 70 books (together with a list of favourites) is included in my 2022 summary of reading/watching/listening which I previously posted</span><span style="color: #0f1419; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="color: #fcff01; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">here</span><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">.</span></p><p><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;"><b>Untitled</b></span></span></p><p><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Hadn't a man killed himself because someone had stolen this suitcase? And there was nothing in it but an old suit and some dirty laundry.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">Afterwards he was so filled with self-disgust that he drank a bottle of pastis straight. He vomited most of it back up, and was furious to find himself still alive in the morning. And the grey, used corpse at his side.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">After the terrible flash he had time for one thought: A bomb has fallen directly on us. Then, for a few seconds or minutes, he went out of his mind.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">When he was a kid, he imagined the night creatures might think him dead if he lay still enough, and so they wouldn't bother him. The logic of this now escaped him. A dead body was easy prey.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">Because I have shown my hands to be empty you must now expect not only that an illusion will follow, but that you will acquiesce in it.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">It was a sight as arresting, as unforgiving as watching the death of an animal with which there is no means of communicating.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">It was dull to need a map.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">The curse of work so stupid you could weep and so interminably monotonous that it made the days too long and, at the same time, life too short.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">She watches her mother spill her secrets onto the grass, her father ransacking her insides.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">It's easy enough for strong people to despise cowards. But they ought to take the trouble to learn where the cowardice comes from.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">I suppose anything is magical that makes you feel like it's possible to have here and there at the same time.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">If you was to ask me to point out the most uncivilised area on the face of this globe I would point here.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">We don't want to be killed! We don't want to die! We want to live!</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">It was as if all that had made her who she was had fled at the moment of dying.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">No one is more wary than a deranged man who's still lucid enough to realise that he is disturbed.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">I was dreaming of the sea. Except everything was mixed up, as if one ocean had run into another. Sea creatures that should never meet ran alongside each other.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">Outside a crowd had gathered, because the rumour had circulated in late afternoon that something was about to happen. But nobody had imagined it would be so lacking in excitement.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">Forget souls or emotional vibrations, truth is ghosts are closer to ambered flies trapped in their own past.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">There were now only families left on the beach, which exuded all the warmth of a summer evening. A black ship moved imperceptibly across the line of the horizon, entered the sun and emerged on the other side, as if it had jumped through a paper hoop.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">How easily she can fell him: and he will always fall.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">They may have pitied me for what I was going through, but they had no idea how it felt to suffer something and not know what it was.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">The creatures were still motionless in their alcoves, swaddled in their capes of ragged skin, but their heads were raised and flung back now, those blunt muzzles flared open, the teeth splayed, as they howled their grief.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">My knees were rubber and my head was full of gravel and my tongue was just an old bar rag. I got up from the window and swayed a moment, holding the wall. Then I turned slowly.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">The four people were trapped on the island as though the subject of an experiment conducted by an unknown hand.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">Outside, it seemed that the curious silhouette of the convicted criminal was being literally blown around the terrace of the bar.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">She wondered if this was such a place, a non-world hidden in the gaps and folds of her own.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">'It's not real, any of it. You're crazy. You need help: none of this is real. It's just - It's stories, nothing but fairy tales.'</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">'Stories don't change a thing in the end, no matter how many times you tell them.'</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">The gun made a small flat sound - almost an unimportant sound.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">And then his grandmother died and Underhill realised what it was that the flea expected from him.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">The dancer had gone back to sleep, her hair tangled, her face gleaming with perspiration. A deep sleep, into which she seemed to have plunged deliberately.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">A rainbow is not the light.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">He also insisted that her lips remain tight closed during their bedroom scenes, for which he kept on his shoes - 'in case of fire,' he explained.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">Rima Cagnac woke, only to learn that she had come close to dying almost eight decades earlier.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">After a few minutes of enthusiastic kissing, he pulled away and said, "Are we going to spend all our time necking, or are we going to shoot something?”</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">To think that this child, this half-being, this imperfectly formed, helpless creature had the audacity - I can't call it anything else - to love and desire with the conscious, sensuous love of a real woman!</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">The reflection was not enantiomorphic. My buttonhole was on the right. But so was his.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">The floor felt warm, worn, hydroptic, apical, pinnate, like the flesh of a vulpine and voluptuous courtesan erotogenically dying.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">As I knelt down to slide the laptop between the wardrobe and the wall, I looked at Jane in her red wig and blue dress and put a finger to my lips - Shhh.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">The only way we can explore the future is to reinvent the world.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">I had become my own quarry at last, the eternally receding object of my own investigations.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">He never removed his hand from the glass, except to refill it. His voice was slurred, faltering, lacking in conviction. He looked at no one in particular. He seemed to be melting into the background.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">He was amazed by the sheer beauty of that scene, this tall, slender figure, at times almost obscured amid a confusion of sunlit vapour.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">I sat back in my seat, letting out a long breath that I didn't realise I'd been holding.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">He remained a tall man with short arms and a hundred accoutrements that nobody else could use.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">A society that accepts haphazard interrogation and punishment is a society that has become quiescent, and malleable, and safer.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">Normally, his hair was a rook's nest of dark copper whorls; wet and slicked back by the water, it looked like eels dipped in rust.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">Well it's probably all right. Good old-fashioned pub grub. But, to be honest, £8.50 a meal? I was hoping to pay more.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">The woman entered the fire as if it were a swimming pool; she dove in, ready to sink. There was no doubt she did it of her own will. A superstitious or provoked will, but her own.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">Saburo never acted by the proposition that if a person did not love someone he would have to be in love with someone else, or that if he loved someone he could not be in love with someone else.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">If there's one thing I became sure of in the course of those weeks, it was this: there is no meaning. That is to say, it didn't exist before we did.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">Looking back, gathering together this way - somewhere between a half-normal life and the absence of life - was preparing us for what was to come.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">Other people are a mystery and unknowable - and the only way you can survive life is through some kind of selective blindness to that fact.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">It was sad. So sad that it almost made you want to give up on being a man, on living on this earth, even though the sun shines on it for several hours a day and there are real birds flying freely.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">I know now, of course, that this was a stupid thing to think, in so far as most things we believe will turn out to be ridiculous in the end.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">Devo's affinity with outsiders and geeks was a major strength of their appeal that drove the success of Freedom.of Choice at a critical moment.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">Since I was a boy, I've dreamed about being a cop and living on the moon. But now I'm here, it seems like the party's over and everybody's going home.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">I see he's a cardigan which dreamt it was once a man, or a strawberry flan.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">Eyes are the only hands some of us have left.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">It's totally normal to feel hopeless or worried every now and then, but if it's ruling your life then it's not so normal.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">He paced back and forth, leaving the light for the shadow and then the shadow for the light. He gave the impression of a man containing himself, who can remain calm only at the cost of a terrible effort.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">He stood back and gave the door a good kick.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">Upstairs, I probed you and you felt like the softest tangerine in the fruit bowl.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">Brody felt light-headed. His fingertips tingled. He sat down in the chair and drew several deep breaths, to stifle the fear that was mounting inside him.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">He had the charm of certain consumptives: fine features, transparent skin, lips that were sensual and mocking at the same time.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">Maybe you're better off not asking questions you don't really want the answer to. Just keep pretending this is a fairy tale and leave the hard decisions to the adults.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">It was bold and it was brazen, though neither word did her performance justice; masterful: that just about covered it.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">He felt a wave of disquiet. It had been a bad break coming across this girl. In combat, like it or not, a girl is your extra heart. The enemy has two targets against your one.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">You think I was chasing you. Perhaps it was you who was chasing me from in front. Perhaps we were simply running in the same direction. We each see things in a way that suits our own preference.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: white;">Dr Nathan gazed at the display photographs of terminal syphilitics in the cinema foyer. Already members of the public were leaving.</span></span></p><p></p>Andrew Hookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14610690208258599992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3978485071677058286.post-59543598215643247862022-12-27T09:42:00.000+00:002022-12-27T09:42:08.387+00:00The Best and Worst of 2022<p>Well, it's that time of the year when everyone is doing their 'best and worst of' lists, so here is mine. I'm going to list the books and movies and records I read/watched/listened to in 2022 and then pick my favourites. This isn't restricted to what was new in 2022, but what I actually watched and read and heard - some of these items might be very old indeed.</p><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Books:</span><br /><br />I read the following in 2022:<br /><br />Georges Simenon – The Hanged Man of Saint-Pholien<div>Mo Hayder – Birdman</div><div>John Hersey – Hiroshima</div><div>Andy Cox (Editor) – Black Static #80/81</div><div>Christopher Priest – The Prestige</div><div>Georges Simenon – The Carter of La Providence</div><div>M John Harrison – English Heritage</div><div>Albert Camus – The First Man</div><div>Georgina Bruce – This House Of Wounds</div><div>Georges Simenon – The Yellow Dog</div><div>Chris Beckett – Tomorrow</div><div>Carson McCullers – The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter</div><div>Josh Reynolds – The Flower Path</div><div>Tomiko Inui – The Secret of the Blue Glass</div><div>Georges Simenon – Night At The Crossroads</div><div>Priya Sharma – All The Fabulous Beasts</div><div>Georges Simenon – A Crime In Holland</div><div>Julie C Day – Uncommon Miracles</div><div>Georges Simenon – The Grand Banks Café</div><div>Sarah Hall – Mrs Fox</div><div>Deborah Curtis – Touching From A Distance</div><div>Daniel Church – The Hollows</div><div>Maxim Jakubowski – The Mammoth Book of Pulp Fiction</div><div>Nicholas Royle – Best British Short Stories 2020</div><div>Georges Simenon – A Man’s Head</div><div>Terry Grimwood – Skin For Skin</div><div>Alison Littlewood – Path Of Needles</div><div>Steven J Dines – The Incarnations of Mariela Pena</div><div>Raymond Chandler – Smart-Aleck Kill</div><div>Simon Avery – Sorrowmouth</div><div>Georges Simenon – The Dancer at the Gai-Moulin</div><div>Alan Garner – Treacle Walker</div><div>John Baxter – Woody Allen – A Biography</div><div>Keith Brooke & Eric Brown – Wormhole</div><div>R.M.Cartmel – North Sea Rising</div><div>Stefan Zweig – Beware of Pity</div><div>Ben Tufnal – On Mirrors</div><div>Brian Aldiss – The Eighty-Minute Hour</div><div>Nicholas Royle – London Gothic</div><div>Nina Allan – The Art of Space Travel</div><div>Douglas Thompson – The Dissolving Man</div><div>John Foxx – The Lake</div><div>Georges Simenon – The Two-Penny Bar</div><div>Steven Hall – Maxwell’s Demon</div><div>Jordan Harrison-Twist – A Few Alterations</div><div>Christopher Burns – A Visit To The Bonesetter</div><div>David Bevan – The Golden Frog</div><div>David Gaffney – The Country Pub</div><div>Mariana Enriquez – Things We Lost In The Fire</div><div>Yukio Mishima – Thirst For Love</div><div>Eric Faye - Nagasaki</div><div>Cliff McNish – The Periphery</div><div>Terry Grimwood (Editor) – The Monster Book For Girls</div><div>Georges Simenon – The Shadow Puppet</div><div>Julia Armfield – Our Wives Under The Sea</div><div>Evie Nagy – Freedom of Choice</div><div>Tom Gould – Mooncop</div><div>The Rhymer: an Heredyssey – Douglas Thompson</div><div>Julio Cortazar – 62: A Model Kit</div><div>Lize Meddings – The Sad Ghost Club</div><div>Georges Simenon – The Saint-Fiacre Affair</div><div>Hilary Mantel – Fludd</div><div>Joanne Dunn - Medlar</div><div>Peter Benchley – Jaws</div><div>Georges Simenon – The Flemish House</div><div>Daniel Polansky – March’s End</div><div>Ian Whates – The Double-Edged Sword</div><div>Ian Fleming – Dr No</div><div>Eric Brown & Keith Brooke – Enigma Season</div><div>JG Ballard – The Atrocity Exhibition</div><br />That's worked out at 70 books this year, up ten from last year's 60 so I'm happy with that (although no doubt helped by a lot of short books, including several single story chapbooks from Nightjar Press). I should mention that I also proofread and copyedit and adding <i>those </i>novels into the mix would increase the number by about 32 books this year (those which were exceptional also making the above list).<br /><br /><span>There were a few books this year that I was looking forward to, but which really didn't do it for me. Following Hilary Mantel's death I decided to pick up one of her shorter novels as I hadn't read her before, but "Fludd" didn't engage, and by the time it got into its stride it had already ended, likewise Cortazar's "62: A Model Kit", where I read the first 40 pages very quickly and the final 40 pages very quickly, but between times it was interminable. Every time I went to pick it up I would begin to fall asleep. The book itself has no logical plot or structure, and I felt there were three books here: the one I was reading, the one the author had written, and the one that I was dreaming. I found Eric Faye's "Nagasaki" to be insubstantial, and "Our Wives Under The Sea" by Julia Armfield to be just 'ok' (it's a great premise, but doesn't really do more than you think it might, whilst character arcs are forced). My most anticipated but least liked book of 2022, however, was Steven Hall's "Maxwell's Demon". Having loved his previous "The Raw Shark Texts" I absolutely loathed this. Whereas "Raw Sharks Texts" was a dream, "Maxwell's Demon" is laboured. You can see the stretch marks of incredulity. The central conceit is complex and so explained as though it were cobbled off the internet, the characters are - ironically (or not) - one-dimensional. All of this could have been very clever if it wasn't written quite so boringly. "Maxwell's Demon" is one of those books that only exists to be read as a dissection of itself. There is nothing outside of that circle. There is nothing to engage. There is no connection with the characters and when the reveal comes - and you have to skip through it quickly because it is ponderous - it reinforces what you knew all along. Here is an author writing about his paucity of ideas.<br /><br /><span>Thankfully, I also read many great books this year. Having decided to read George Simenon's Maigret books in publication order, I read twelve of those in this period. None less than 3/5 stars, and most 4/5 stars, favourites being "The Flemish House", "The Shadow Puppet", and "The Two-Penny Bar". Sticking with crime, "The Mammoth Book of Pulp" fiction, edited by Maxim Jakubowski, contained a high proportion of truly excellent short stories. And sticking with short stories, I read ten short story chapbooks from Nightjar Press, my favourite being "A Visit To The Bonesetter" by Christopher Burns</span></span>. Nightjar publisher, Nicholas Royle's own collection of short fiction, "London Gothic", was a treat. I'd intended to savour these stories, but raced through them late at night. Sticking with genre work, Priya Sharma's collection "All The Fabulous Beasts", is another delight. It can sometimes be easy to write a weird tale, but it takes effort to make one believable. Sharma's stories, often of beasts and mankind, but not limited to such, resonate with myth and emotion, her characters living these fictions instead of only existing in them. Finally a mention to another great short story collection, "Things We Lost In The Fire" by Mariana Enríquez, which was compelling and absorbing.<div><span><br /></span></div><div>Shifting the genre gaze to novels rather than short fiction, I especially enjoyed the horror novel, "The Hollows", by Daniel Church, which was a rollicking read full of great characterisation; "March's End" by Daniel Polansky which I thought was an extraordinary piece of work, not simply in the story told - which is engaging, difficult, triumphant and assured - but in the language used in the telling; John Reynold's "The Flower Path", a great locked-room mystery set within a theatre. Reynolds captures both the theatre and the machinations of a large number of characters exceptionally well, especially since much of the novel is propelled by dialogue. The clipped, formal, discourse between Daidoji Shin and his contemporaries is laced with wry observation, wit, and intelligent asides, and is a joy to read. Equally enjoyable was another detective story of sorts, "Wormhole", by Keith Brooke and Eric Brown, which is an eighty year old cold case murder investigation that stretches across light years and is ceaselessly inventive.</div><div><br /></div><div>I usually base my top three reads from my Goodreads review record, selecting those which I rated 5/5, however this year only two books reached that rating. Whilst there were several 4/5 reads (including many mentioned above), third place this year would jostle amongst the following books: "The Prestige" by Christopher Priest, "The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers, and the excellent novella, "Sorrowmouth" by Simon Avery. Looking back through the list, however, it's clear there's a book which I could have given five stars, so without further ado, here's my third place and then my top two favourite reads of 2022:</div><div><div><br /><br />In reverse order:<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">"Tomorrow" by Chris Beckett</span><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMKo4CMv4KgaACTt6l9Hu-2ZpzgvmBj_ywUxbLavG1XHQVKEnW-lBDsJVQWL0BtgikDTnbyqqNHrazY1LBS40LI_vF5FrVNU_N2rKQ8CbaVhQako1Zo81tzJI7sujlSvXSrPakKzvXS7-P7n5zPkau7ZHbGAlG4g1UEeu2Hh0TGU8TnezowRJEY8Q_/s1000/tomorrow.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="661" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMKo4CMv4KgaACTt6l9Hu-2ZpzgvmBj_ywUxbLavG1XHQVKEnW-lBDsJVQWL0BtgikDTnbyqqNHrazY1LBS40LI_vF5FrVNU_N2rKQ8CbaVhQako1Zo81tzJI7sujlSvXSrPakKzvXS7-P7n5zPkau7ZHbGAlG4g1UEeu2Hh0TGU8TnezowRJEY8Q_/s320/tomorrow.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Told in jumbled vignettes where a timeline seeks to impress itself upon the reader almost against its better judgment, "Tomorrow" teases and hints at interpretation but is gloriously undefined. We assume we are on Earth (but what of the pterosaurs and sky-monkeys), we assume we are getting to know the protagonist (but do they really know themselves). A reader will attempt to correlate information to impose their own interpretation on any given text (sometimes aligning with the author, sometimes not), and here Beckett strives to undermine that relationship, seeks to wilfully frustrate the reader to good effect. "Tomorrow" is a book about perceptions: how we see people and how people see us, how one person's terrorist is another person's freedom fighter, how tourists view indigenous races and cultures, how we plant reality over fantasy and vice versa. The reader's perception during the course of this book will also be subtly challenged. And it has a satisfyingly brilliant ending. A book I've recommended throughout the year to others. Read "Tomorrow" today!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div></div><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">"Beware of Pity" by Stefan Zweig</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh25dETPRI-xvWrIF3np_ZWS8DmncdlJhx8CBU0PJhp061Nk6FNpn9DPJ-WD4NpavQbWqu8jR4CyLQwd5CNMRyiD6CLTSQk3TjzSZoAMmUla5GlJsgjMY1e1BGWHyJgkRfye6zAqkYbeLry7eG-gXueTZXoWRHka22LVuxAXD6iD58VWCjd6f9svP_T/s475/pity.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="307" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh25dETPRI-xvWrIF3np_ZWS8DmncdlJhx8CBU0PJhp061Nk6FNpn9DPJ-WD4NpavQbWqu8jR4CyLQwd5CNMRyiD6CLTSQk3TjzSZoAMmUla5GlJsgjMY1e1BGWHyJgkRfye6zAqkYbeLry7eG-gXueTZXoWRHka22LVuxAXD6iD58VWCjd6f9svP_T/s320/pity.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><br /><br /></div>When I picked this up I wasn't expecting a riveting page turner, but I just couldn't put it down! For today's audience, central character Hofmiller's behaviour towards poor sick Edith might be considered callous, but there's an entirely logical train of thought that runs throughout the novel, bolstered by etiquette and in 'trying to do the right thing' even when it's against your better judgment. In that - and in the arguments presented - Hofmiller's actions are wholly relatable. Just as the situation appears to be resolved, along comes another twist. The echo of life which is just one thing after another is all too apparent here. I won't go into detail about the plot, suffice to say that you can't ride two horses successfully simultaneously and when you try to be the best for everyone, you'll fail yourself. This was an unexpected delight and a thoroughly absorbing novel. <br /><br />And the winner is:<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">"The Art of Space Travel and other stories" by Nina Allan</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibZp_6e-zYq1T23aF31TtO9ZoiIxqhKjzWTEDCOzideF7xwrr0B6VBfK2iYSwgoBA6jrAB5KHR_iTKelFjUH9feDquo-DtUxK8mZd8WTLxTJAAz0iraQ8NyUnLMPs2sRHSDOc5o4PsLeFxdaNpF6Ngu6lKLCa3O15J4ytgqFHKLIShR3-cridErrIm/s1536/space.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="1007" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibZp_6e-zYq1T23aF31TtO9ZoiIxqhKjzWTEDCOzideF7xwrr0B6VBfK2iYSwgoBA6jrAB5KHR_iTKelFjUH9feDquo-DtUxK8mZd8WTLxTJAAz0iraQ8NyUnLMPs2sRHSDOc5o4PsLeFxdaNpF6Ngu6lKLCa3O15J4ytgqFHKLIShR3-cridErrIm/s320/space.jpg" width="210" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>There's a line in one of these stories that neatly summarises this collection: "The result was a kind of abject timelessness, a portrait of a future robbed of its futurity." The fact that this line is from a story called "A Princess of Mars", where the title character neither goes to Mars nor stars in the abandoned film about Mars, indicates the kind of 'space travel' prevalent in these stories. Another story references Ray Bradbury's "The Martian Chronicles." Like Bradbury, Allan seeks to examine the human aspect of the experience. Unlike Bradbury, Allan's focus is on those left behind on Earth. Where Mars might be the goal, a suggestion of hope for mankind, none of her protagonists make it there. Another quote: "The only way we can explore the future is to reinvent the world." Allan's prose is precise, cuts like a scapel, acknowledges when clichés represent the best writing, is mundane, virulently intelligent, opinionated, and often wholly wondrous. This is the kind of writing which uses science fiction as a springboard for internal examination (as the best writing does - we desire to know not only what we know, but who we are). Spinning on a ball of evolutionary luck amidst the infinite chaos of non-existence makes us all time and space travellers. We live science fiction, and these stories mirror that. A brilliant collection and easily my best book read in 2022.</div><div><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Movies:</span><br /><br />I watched the following in 2022:<br /><br /><br />Sicario</div><div>Sator</div><div>Don’t Look Up</div><div>Les Fiancés du Pont Mac Donald (short film)</div><div>Dream Work (short film)</div><div>Fièvre (1921) (short film)</div><div>The Beach</div><div>Blanche</div><div>The Power of the Dog</div><div>North By Northwest</div><div>To Catch A Thief</div><div>The Great Beauty</div><div>Dogtooth</div><div>Loro</div><div>The Naked Kiss</div><div>Luca</div><div>Pocahontas</div><div>Bad Education</div><div>Red Road</div><div>La Bouche de Jean-Pierre</div><div>Sabotage</div><div>Katalin Varga</div><div>The Good Dragon</div><div>Westworld</div><div>Love Affair</div><div>Milk (short film)</div><div>What Did Jack Do? (short film)</div><div>The Girl</div><div>Dog (short film)</div><div>Carmilla</div><div>Wasp (short film)</div><div>Wreck It Ralph</div><div>Black Medusa</div><div>Petite Maman</div><div>Ralph Wrecks The Internet</div><div>L’Amant Double</div><div>The Night Doctor</div><div>Turning Red</div><div>Drag Me To Hell</div><div>I’m So Excited!</div><div>Funny Games (1997)</div><div>Boarding Gate</div><div>Alvin & The Chipmunks</div><div>Lamb</div><div>Titane</div><div>The Third Man</div><div>For Ellen</div><div>Funny Games U.S.</div><div>Dumbo</div><div>Ratatouille</div><div>A Monster Calls</div><div>Accattone</div><div>The Hand of God</div><div>Lingui</div><div>Feast</div><div>I Am Not A Witch</div><div>L'Atalante</div><div>Goodnight Mommy</div><div>Inside Out</div><div>Autumn Almanac</div><div>Arrietty</div><div>Sátántangó</div><div>Lift To The Scaffold</div><div>Open Season</div><div>Joy Division</div><div>Tusalava (short film)</div><div>Lizzie</div><div>The Worst Person In The World</div><div>Julieta</div><div>The Walker</div><div>Body</div><div>Mug</div><div>The Forbidden Room</div><div>Ahed’s Knee</div><div>House of Gucci</div><div>Deception</div><div>Entre le Murs</div><div>Charles, Dead or Alive</div><div>Breaking The Waves</div><div>Remorques</div><div>Hold The Dark</div><div>Hana-Bi</div><div>Dogman</div><div>Last Breath</div><div>Benedetta</div><div>Manhattan Murder Mystery</div><div>Pleasure</div><div>Blood and Black Lace</div><div>True Things</div><div>Wildnerness (short film)</div><div>Mother Joan of the Angels</div><div>Alone</div><div>Candyman (2021)</div><div>Jumanji – Welcome To The Jungle</div><div>Event Horizon</div><div>Charade</div><div>Brute Force</div><div>Bergman Island</div><div>Au Pan Coupé</div><div>Greener Grass</div><div>Gentlemen Prefer Blondes</div><div>The Conversation</div><div>The Naked City</div><div>Taming The Garden</div><div>Masques</div><div>Liquorice Pizza</div><div>Rabid</div><div>The Gold Machine</div><div>Blonde</div><div>The Mighty Flash</div><div>Midsommar</div><div>The Exorcist</div><div>The General</div><div>The White Reindeer</div><div>Hellhole</div><div>Beverly Hills Cop</div><div>The Wolf House</div><div>The Gold-Laden Sheep and the Sacred Mountain</div><div>Deck The Halls</div><div>Hit The Road</div><div>Il Buco</div><div>After The Curfew</div><div>Time To Love</div><div>Blank Narcissus (Passion of the Swamp</div><div>Marie Antionette</div><div>Judgement</div><div>Labyrinth</div><div>Babes In Toyland</div><div>The Wonder</div><div>Read My Lips</div><div>Both Sides Of The Blade</div><div>Uncle Buck</div><div>The Beat That My Heart Skipped</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>In 2021 I watched an astonishing <span>250</span> movies. I certainly wasn't expecting to repeat that this year, and as it turns out I've only seen 132 films, almost half that amount. However, that's certainly comparable with the 120 films I watched in 2020, so I'm guessing 2021 was just a blip, and that I need to get over a fixation with numbers and focus on the quality instead. It's still quite a long list to narrow down to my top three, and unlike books I don't have a site equivalent to Goodreads with which to guide my memory.</div><div><br /><span>As usual, however, I'm discounting movies I've previously seen. So this knocks out the great Hitchcock films, "To Catch A Thief" and "North by Northwest", and also rewatches of films that have previously made my top three such as "Dogtooth" directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and "The Great Beauty" directed by Paolo Sorrentino which were both excellent (again) the second time around. I was glad also, to catch up with Samuel Fuller's "The Naked Kiss", which I've been wanting to rewatch for years and which didn't disappoint. Likewise "Westworld" with its relentless protagonist, and the equally relentless "Funny Games" (we rewatched both the original and the remake, both directed by Michael Haneke), remained rewarding. I hadn't seen Jean Vigo's "</span>L'Atalante" in years nor Louis Malle's "Lift To The Scaffold", but enjoyed them both once again and will always recommend them.</div><div><span><br />Those movies which I found annoying or awful are easy to chronicle, and this includes the execrable "Don't Look Up", a satire so blooming obvious it just feels like being repeatedly punched in the face without any capacity for enjoyment; "Boarding Gate" directed by Olivier Assayas whose films I often enjoy but in this case was a complete mess; another French film, "Titane", which I'd really been looking forward to, but where I felt there was no logic nor purpose and was nowhere near as shocking as it liked to believe it was; "House of Gucci" which was beautifully vacuous, but which until the end I had no idea what it was actually about and when that end came was no wiser for why we had watched it; "Hold The Dark" directed by Jeremy Saulnier (one of the most boring, nonsensical, turgid pieces of crap that I've seen in a long time; overlong, disinteresting, muffled, idiotic, and pointless); and "Labyrinth" which I don't really get the love for. It's clearly of its time, but even so is nonsensical pap. And I <i>was</i> around in the 1980s!</span>.</div><div><span><br />Despite the above, there were so many films I highlighted as excellent this year that it's really going to be difficult to narrow down my top three, an almost impossible task. Here are those that absolutely deserve a mention, starting with a trio of excellent horror films. "Sator" is a low-key, interesting folk horror film which deliberately under-explains itself to great effect; "Lamb" (directed by Valdimar Jóhannsson) is also low-key, and deftly </span>explores the duality of parenthood being both selfless and selfish, with an absolute killer central conceit; and "Hellhole" directed by Bartosz M. Kowalski). What I thought was going to be a quite mundane flick shapeshifted deliciously oddly through several genres. Towards the end there's a scene of absolute brilliance that totally pulls the rug out from under white male religious power schematics, and then the final scenes are a tour de force of brilliance which will stay in my mind in much the same unsettling manner as the conclusion to Carpenter's "Prince of Darkness" or British film "The Borderlands". Unequivocably loved it. Worth mentioning in the same breath are a couple of other not-quite-horror films: "Black Medusa", a gorgeously-shot Tunisian slipstream-type piece which might be pure style over substance, but what style!; and "Goodnight Mommy", an Austrian psychological film which I found enjoyably disturbing.</div><div><span><br /></span></div><div>This year I seemed to watch a lot of great character-driven films. The best of these would include "Bergman Island", directed by Mia Hansen-Løve). It's an intelligent, contemplative movie of two filmmakers who spend some time on the island of Fårö where Ingmar Bergman lived and made several of his films; "Ahed's Knee" which, despite the offputting title, is a great Israeli film, an inventive, engaging portrait of a left-wing filmmaker threatened to self-censor his art by an oppressive government; likewise, "Hit The Road", is an Iranian comedy-drama which literally had to be filmed covertly, an irrepressible film capturing the claustrophobia of family life set against a background of departure; "Katalin Varga", Peter Strickland's first feature which was a brilliant, low-key, tense character study of truth and consequences, with a realistic, compelling ending. and Andrea Arnold's "Red Road", a quiet psychological thriller, but also a convincing character study about the aftermath of a personal tragedy.</div><div><br /></div><div>Other films were more expansive in their goals, but those I favoured didn't lose touch with great characterisation. So we have the delightful - how have I not seen this before - "Charade" directed by Stanley Donen. Described as the best Hitchcock film that Hitchcock never made, and starring Audrey Hepburn, Cary Grant and Walter Matthau with an equally strong supporting cast, this comedy mystery caper features some cracking dialogue, brilliant one-liners, and some excellent twists. Perfect from start to finish. Seek it out! I also thoroughly enjoyed the wonderful "Hand of God" directed by Paolo Sorrentino (one of my favourite directors and featuring Toni Servillo, one of my favourite actors); "Liquorice Pizza" directed by another favourite, Paul Thomas Anderson, a great character study which hit all the right spots; Woody Allen's "Manhatten Murder Mystery" which was an absolute riot; Joachim Trier's "The Worst Person In The World", another favourite director with a great character study, although perhaps not quite as perfect as his other films; "Marie Antoinette" directed by Sofia Coppola which was satisfyingly sumptuous; "Blonde", directed by Andrew Dominik, which I felt was a perfect adaptation of the book by the same name by Joyce Carol Oates (which is <i>not </i>to say it is a perfect Marilyn biopic); and for those who seek satire a gazillion times better than "Don't Look Up" mentioned above, try "Greener Grass" written and directed by Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe. This is a bizarrely satirical piece on modern life which is comic and troublesome in turns, reminding me a bit of John Water's films: bold colours, almost cartoonish and great fun.</div><div><br /></div><div>And so we go on. Here are a few more recommendations: "What Did Jack Do?", a short film directed by David Lynch, where whilst watching it I became almost giddy with excitement; "Carmilla", an excellent adaptation of the Le Fanu novel, quietly played to good effect; "Autumn Almanac", a Béla Tarr directed film where a claustrophobic household teeters between monologues and sporadic bursts of violence, in an existential, beautifully shot, expressionistic piece of cinema; "Deception", the 2021 French film directed by Arnaud Desplechin, elevated by the excellent script and central performances of Denis Podalydès and Léa Seydoux. Natural, unassuming, engaging, literary. Also "Hana-Bi", a modern film noir directed by Takeshi Kitano who also stars; "Brute Force" directed by Jules Dassin, a very dark prison noir film; and also "The Naked City" from the same director. A bona fide classic! And finally in this section, the Turkish film "Time To Love" directed by Metin Erksan. A great black and white film with some stunning imagery about a poor painter who falls in love with the photograph of a woman, but who rejects her when she (the actual woman) realises his feelings. A gem.</div><div><br /></div><div>Are you still with me? So many good films this year. I've narrowed my final selection down to seven, and any of the following four might easily have been in my top three. Here goes: "Petite Maman" (2021, directed by Céline Sciamma) is a subtle, slipstreamy piece of magic about loss and childhood and the bleeding inbetween; "The Forbidden Room" directed by Guy Maddin, quite unlike anything I've ever seen before, enchantingly crazy, an aching delight; "Breaking The Waves" directed by Lars Von Trier; utterly superb and heartbreaking and oddly life-affirming; and the most recent film here, "Both Sides of the Blade" directed by Claire Denis, a brutally affecting dialogue revolving around a disintegrating relationship, wonderfully acted by Vincent Lindon and Juliette Binoche. The final scene between them is superbly written, with the offer of undeserved conciliation from Lindon's character to Binoche's literally jawdropping, and yet as matter-of-fact as a simple statement. I was in floods.</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, whilst as usual I get the feeling that another day might produce marginally different results, today here are my top three movies that I saw for the first time in 2022.</div><div><br /></div><div>Again, in reverse order:<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">"Loro" (2018) - Paolo Sorrentino</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSovLgZ-11274TMuALM_YFD1y_WnHZXXNSjRao4ScmJy--z2rg8GNJSdZpMBYiEoQAuFb3jy1iRzyPnMB43Tg4htyiG2UR8W7x-gOCZTuW4hhiSR0KZlCNmgFcdLJhY2V1HERoM48CJ2ej7P-eh1LHcJeyYM1R_TpgawR5sXG1UBviJ8sdSnIX3DX4/s383/Loro_(film).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="383" data-original-width="259" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSovLgZ-11274TMuALM_YFD1y_WnHZXXNSjRao4ScmJy--z2rg8GNJSdZpMBYiEoQAuFb3jy1iRzyPnMB43Tg4htyiG2UR8W7x-gOCZTuW4hhiSR0KZlCNmgFcdLJhY2V1HERoM48CJ2ej7P-eh1LHcJeyYM1R_TpgawR5sXG1UBviJ8sdSnIX3DX4/s320/Loro_(film).jpg" width="216" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">I'm a massive fan of Sorrentino. His films are expansive, ebullient, larger-than-life affairs, and starring in the best of them is Toni Servillo, an actor at the absolute height of his powers, who can enchant, terrify, and cause wonderment in equal measure, who I absolutely adore. Ostensibly, the film is about the group of businessmen and politicians – the Loro (<i>Them</i>) from the title – who live and act near to media tycoon and politician Silvio Berlusconi, but you don't need to have any pre-knowledge of that character to enjoy this film. It's simply a beautifully shot and quite brilliantly acted script. Sorrentino is superb as usual with his storytelling, and Servillo is enigmatic and multi-faceted. It's effusive and excessive and spot on. I loved it.</span></div></div><div><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">"Julieta" (2016) - Pedro Almodovar</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivvi-5Psg6Eu__pkigmp5cfmkyOR41-MVhcYpm-68QydIt5bWjbKJeNyRfO3TTPG-Z59NOfp1YJ-HmaC7FVeixQ7q3hAmKkoE2VpeSAhfb3UIZdK36jGGeeTx3RPiVYqFoJoDcOg4k0_LKmxjTP6emlOCk6HGfgC2CvM3y-08aQSNvtW6jfvkuy4pt/s357/Julieta_poster.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="357" data-original-width="250" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivvi-5Psg6Eu__pkigmp5cfmkyOR41-MVhcYpm-68QydIt5bWjbKJeNyRfO3TTPG-Z59NOfp1YJ-HmaC7FVeixQ7q3hAmKkoE2VpeSAhfb3UIZdK36jGGeeTx3RPiVYqFoJoDcOg4k0_LKmxjTP6emlOCk6HGfgC2CvM3y-08aQSNvtW6jfvkuy4pt/s320/Julieta_poster.png" width="224" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">Almodovar can be thought of as a director of excess, with extravagant characters populating his films, acting as foils for Almodovar himself, and full of colour and light; however I've found it's when he tones down that his brilliance truly shines, and "Julieta" is one of those pictures. It's a restrained and ultimately moving piece of cinema, beautifully pitched and well-told, exploring guilt, loss and abandonment. It wasn't the film I expected, and so hit home all the more because of it. There may have been tears. An assured, affecting piece of work.</span></div><br />And the winner is...<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">"Sátántangó" (1994) - Béla Tarr</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYdkxsOy7n7ndQ6ysYUJnSoVdUWDpwWAYrSZqdwOv8QZTlCcwnHWP6UgSRbPj4__IOT50Y_jqL2I5ncV_VzfWvWDA_ocOnYCwFywirovMaN4yktKmLWiDHIWPOr5JWl7IGTTG-f9kPL2iMQnvVcb55ueW8KVkarl7flYuwxcJz0GwqpVbGCyRDskf6/s400/satantango.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYdkxsOy7n7ndQ6ysYUJnSoVdUWDpwWAYrSZqdwOv8QZTlCcwnHWP6UgSRbPj4__IOT50Y_jqL2I5ncV_VzfWvWDA_ocOnYCwFywirovMaN4yktKmLWiDHIWPOr5JWl7IGTTG-f9kPL2iMQnvVcb55ueW8KVkarl7flYuwxcJz0GwqpVbGCyRDskf6/s320/satantango.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><br /></div>If you only watch one seven and a half hour black and white Hungarian film this year, then make it this one. I confess we didn't watch it in one sitting, but over four days. It's a masterpiece of filmmaking. The cinematography, the framing, and the storytelling are brilliant. It isn't simply a long film, there are lengthy tracking shots too, and some with several minutes of complete inaction. There's a hypnotic, soporific effect to most of the scenes, but it is absolutely never boring. I was spellbound throughout. There are numerous favourite scenes, but I suppose the most obvious is the dance scene which rivals that in Godard's "Bande a Part" for delirious happiness, but also moments where the characters appear to freeze - creating tableaux that invite contemplation. Sure, for some the film could be seen to be "plodding, plodding, plodding along", but invest in it and it's wholly worthwhile. Consider that the average Hollywood movie changes shots every ten seconds, and "Sátántangó" contains numerous ten minute shots or thereabouts, often slow, tracking sequences and has only around 150 shots in total over that timeframe. This is pure unadulterated art. I loved it and there's no way it couldn't have been my favourite film watched during 2022.</div><div><br /></div><div>Before we move onto my favourite records, let's just pause for a moment, because 2022 contained the death of one of the most important people in history.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFLoso3EP1xWVej2WalL72IXfepHhGCoaU3-4XMlvUk5MOnlur-7kZLgWzYO2KX8GqFvUXeYRdKZ2d4clCM9xHahBQ3FPQr_OOGjPoTJiychlob4keWddu0yw0ty8Js-YQNKz-h6ovsOwBKH5LbNiotnjjsRor8wgNrpN4r26X93L7W-yFkMHRdKXz/s842/screensaver.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="842" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFLoso3EP1xWVej2WalL72IXfepHhGCoaU3-4XMlvUk5MOnlur-7kZLgWzYO2KX8GqFvUXeYRdKZ2d4clCM9xHahBQ3FPQr_OOGjPoTJiychlob4keWddu0yw0ty8Js-YQNKz-h6ovsOwBKH5LbNiotnjjsRor8wgNrpN4r26X93L7W-yFkMHRdKXz/s320/screensaver.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Records:</span><br /><br />I listened to the following full-length albums in 2022:<br /><br />Taylor Swift – Red (Taylor’s Version)<div>Kacey Musgraves – Golden Hour</div><div>Maximo Park – Our Earthly Pleasures</div><div>The Murder Capital – When I Have Fears</div><div>The Libertines – Up The Bracket</div><div>Coeur de Pirate – Perséides</div><div>Low – Things We Lost In The Fire</div><div>Viagra Boys – Street Worms</div><div>The Stranglers – Rattus Norvegicus</div><div>Coeur de Pirate – Impossible à aimer</div><div>The Stranglers – Black and White</div><div>Brigitte Bardot – Bubblegum</div><div>Brigitte Bardot – Réveillon avec Brigitte Bardot</div><div>Brigitte Bardot – Brigitte Bardot</div><div>Low – Ones and Sixes</div><div>Echo & The Bunnymen – Porcupine</div><div>Echo & The Bunnymen – Crocodiles</div><div>Echo & The Bunnymen – Heaven Up Here</div><div>Maximo Park – Nature Always Wins</div><div>Big Joanie – Sistahs</div><div>The Mountain Goats – Goths</div><div>Blonde Redhead – 23</div><div>Blonde Redhead – Penny Sparkle</div><div>Blonde Redhead – Barragán</div><div>Hugh Cornwell – Monster</div><div>The Stranglers – La Folie</div><div>Hitsujibungaku – POWERS</div><div>Low – HEY WHAT</div><div>Taylor Swift – Lover</div><div>Maximo Park – The National Health</div><div>Taylor Swift – folklore</div><div>The Lovely Eggs – I Am Moron</div><div>The Lovely Eggs – This Is Eggland</div><div>The Stranglers – Feline</div><div>Dry Cleaning – New Long Leg</div><div>Hugh Cornwell – Guilty</div><div>Hugh Cornwell – Hooverdam</div><div>Hugh Cornwell – Hi Fi</div><div>The Lovely Eggs – If You Were Fruit</div><div>Aldous Harding – Warm Chris</div><div>New Order – Movement</div><div>Wet Leg – Wet Leg</div><div>Amyl & The Sniffers – Guided By Angels</div><div>Mattiel – Georgia Gothic</div><div>Red Guitars – Slow To Fade</div><div>Mattiel – Satis Factory</div><div>Maximo Park – Quicken The Heart</div><div>Hitsujibungaku – Our Hope</div><div>The Residents – Metal Meat & Bone</div><div>Mattiel – Mattiel</div><div>The xx – xx</div><div>The Fall – New Facts Emerge</div><div>Peaness – World Full Of Worry</div><div>The Fall – Bend Sinister</div><div>Coeur de Pirate – En cas de tempête, ce jardin sera fermé</div><div>Coeur de Pirate – Blonde</div><div>Public Image Ltd – Metal Box</div><div>Public Image Ltd – Album</div><div>Public Image Ltd – Public Image (First Issue)</div><div>Viagra Boys – Street Worms</div><div>Snapped Ankles – Stunning Luxury</div><div>Public Image Ltd – The Is PiL</div><div>New Found Glory – Sticks and Stones</div><div>New Found Glory – Makes Me Sick</div><div>Public Image Ltd – This Is What You Want... This Is What You Get</div><div>Public Image Ltd – What the World Needs Now...</div><div>PINS – Hot Slick</div><div>Buzzcocks – Singles Going Steady</div><div>Public Image Ltd – That What Is Not</div><div>Sonic Youth – Goo</div><div>Jean-Michel Jarre – Equinoxe</div><div>Brix Smith & Marty Wilson-Piper – Lost Angeles</div><div>The Residents – Commercial Album</div><div>Serious Drinking – The Revolution Starts At Closing Time</div><div>Half Man Half Biscuit – The Voltarol Years</div><div>Jeffrey Lewis – 12 Crass Songs</div><div>Belle and Sebastian – A Bit Of Previous</div><div>TV Priest – Uppers </div><div>TV Priest – My Other People</div><div>Blionde Redhead - In an Expression of the Inexpressible </div><div>X-Ray Spex – Germfree Adolescents</div><div>The Undertones – The Positive Touch</div><div>Polly Scattergood – In This Moment</div><div>Devo – Something For Everybody</div><div>Viagra Boys – Cave World</div><div>The B-52-s – The B-52’s</div><div>Taylor Swift – evermore</div><div>Hitsujibungaku – OOPARTS</div><div>Parry Gripp – Mini-Party</div><div>Flaming Lips – Embryonic </div><div>Los Bitchos – Let The Festivities Begin!</div><div>Viagra Boys – Street Worms</div><div>Sex Pistols – Never Mind The Bollocks</div><div>Coeur de Pirate – Roses</div><div>Charlie Megira – Da Abtomatic Meisterzinger Mambo Chic</div><div>Maximo Park – Apply Some Pressure</div><div>Maximo Park – Too Much Information</div><div>Taylor Swift – 1989</div><div>Taylor Swift – Midnights</div><div>Hugh Cornwell – Moments of Madness</div><div>Dry Cleaning – Stumpwork</div><div>Cocteau Twins – Head Over Heels</div><div>Modern Woman – Dogs Fighting In My Dream</div><div>Flaming Lips – Oczy Mlody</div><div>The Residents – Freak Show</div><div>B-52’s – Whammy! </div><div>The Residents – Triple Trouble</div><div>Kate Bush – The Hounds of Love</div><div>Coeur de Pirate – Coeur de Pirate</div><div>Clouds – Loot</div><div>Kate Bush – The Sensual World</div><div>Lande Hekt – House Without A View</div><div>Bedouin Soundclash – We Will Meet In A Hurricane</div><div>Julee Cruise – The Voice of Love</div><div><br /></div><div>That's exactly 111 albums which is 11 more than I listened to last year and which surprised me as I thought I'd heard a lot less. My listening habits can be broken down into five patterns: music listened through headphones whilst cooking, music listened through headphones whilst recreational cycling during the summer, music listened through headphones whilst writing fiction, music listened to whilst driving, and - now - music listened to in the living room with our new record player. Yes, 2022 saw us buy a record player which is the first time I've had one since the year 2000. All my vinyl is now out of storage and back in the front room.</div><div><br /></div><div>As I've done with my book and movie list I will discount anything previously listened to. And unlike movies and books (which - even with favourites - I rarely read/see more than a handful of occasions in a lifetime), music is an entirely different kettle of fish and predominantly most of these will be re-listens.</div></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>Revisits this year included old favourites such as Maximo Park, Taylor Swift, The Stranglers, and X-Ray Spex. And as this year also saw me attend 18 gigs (the most I've ever attended in one year due to Covid-reshiftings and a general desire to get out more), quite a few of the relistens revolved around preparing for those: so large numbers of Echo & The Bunnymen, Hugh Cornwell, Public Image Ltd, and Coeur de Pirate. Of especial note was replaying The Red Guitars classic, "Slow To Fade", and seeing them play it live which marked a 38 year gap between gigs for the band (and, by default, for me seeing them). And listening again to Blonde Redhead's "In an Expression of the Inexpressible", as I tend to play their later, less ascerbic records.</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>The latter half of the year saw me writing a 50,000 word novel, "Observations In Tendernesss". I wrote the entire book in (mostly) forty minute bursts whilst listening to the album "Equinoxe" by Jean-Michel Jarre.</span></div><div><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div><span>Special mentions</span><span> to the following: Coeur de Pirate for two albums, the instrumental piano record, "Perséides" and the poppier, dancier, "Impossible à aimer"; The Lovely Eggs' "I Am Moron" (a new find for me this year, a blast!); Aldous Harding's soft "Warm Chris"; </span>Half Man Half Biscuit's lyrical romp, "The Voltarol Years"; Belle and Sebastian returning to form with "A Bit of Previous", and Jeffrey Lewis' brilliant take on twelve Crass Songs with the album titled, "12 Crass Songs." I greatly enjoyed Charlie Megira's "Da Abtomatic Meisterzinger Mambo Chic", TV Priest's "Uppers", the Hitsujibungaku albums "OOPARTS" and "Our Hope", and Juliee Cruise's "The Voice of Love".</div><div><br /></div><div>This year saw the release of some great albums, only one of which making my top three however. Mattiel's "Georgia Gothic" is a strong album, but for me doesn't match the rawness of her first two records; "World Full of Worry" by the irrepressible Peaness; Taylor Swift's "Midnights" is a grower, but is her most patchy record since the execrable "Reputation" from which some of the beats seem to linger (even if "You're On Your Own Kid" would easily make my top five of her songs of all time); Hugh Cornwell's "Moments of Madness" contains some great tunes, but doesn't have the themic quatlity of his last great record, "Monster"; TV Priest's "My Other People" is a powerful outing, as is Dry Cleaning's' "Stumpwork", which came close to making my top three this year. Supporting TV Priest this year were Modern Woman, who absolutely blew me away (I have never bought a t-shirt from the support band before). Their mini-abum, "Dogs Fighting In My Dreams", is a great taster of things to come. And The Residents delivered with the soundtrack album to "Triple Trouble", a strong selection of music to accompany a film I've yet to see, with resonances from their previous albums (specifically "Vileness Fats" which I need to listen to again). The only disappointment in 2022 was Wet Leg's album, "Wet Leg", which - after a string of exciting singles - felt to be more of a damp squib.</div><div><br /></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div>Ultimately, though, my top three new (to me) records played this year are as follows (in reverse order):</div><div><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">"Things We Lost In The Fire" (2001) - Low</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Ywo0gtQ6Laxjnaxu44gQhzvSyGOgC-SXII6XTll0gkZnDpqGOlYutuW8jLfGiuHYUMH7DvtMntuqwnVZ0sjiqpfePBjwff9EQkpSIeVT0wYkaENgyv_wztwGBMVlJllm-a8H43hM-nuMN9hXeZv7PrDE9bvLlWxQDT-p23p7JAhAGBhTPmp6z5B2/s300/Low_-_Things_We_Lost_in_the_Fire.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Ywo0gtQ6Laxjnaxu44gQhzvSyGOgC-SXII6XTll0gkZnDpqGOlYutuW8jLfGiuHYUMH7DvtMntuqwnVZ0sjiqpfePBjwff9EQkpSIeVT0wYkaENgyv_wztwGBMVlJllm-a8H43hM-nuMN9hXeZv7PrDE9bvLlWxQDT-p23p7JAhAGBhTPmp6z5B2/s1600/Low_-_Things_We_Lost_in_the_Fire.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><br /></div>Low have been recommended to me for a long while, but this was the first time I'd given them a listen. As it turned out, I then chose to write to this record, finding it perfect to gain inspiration for my half of "Secondhand Daylight", a time-travel novel I've co-written with Eugen Bacon this year and which is being published in 2023. The lo-fi tones of this record were a perfect accompaniment, and it bears repeated listenings. Songs such as "Sunflower", "Laser Beam" and "Whore" were amongst my favourites, but it's the closer, "In Metal", which affected me the most. A brilliant piece of songwriting. So sad to discover that half of Low - Mimi Parker - died in November. I look forward to ploughing through their back catalogue.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;">"Cave World" (2022) - Viagra Boys</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkulEA4TZ-iqr8x9bvG40nIqPB7yBdddgfwgrhyqQ-vzEcfvxFup7Z-gBKdAALsTd3BHLFwUXsmwXT-MnjXLaBMXUk1B_ensfd7yS1CEKRGmmFmTYFPGVGU7WtOsSyHi2abThfn696o5-wmxmquzicqx9ekz4IEVGCK7B3YVyxRzwBDxalnhStF0E0/s1181/viagra-boys-cave-world.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1181" data-original-width="1181" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkulEA4TZ-iqr8x9bvG40nIqPB7yBdddgfwgrhyqQ-vzEcfvxFup7Z-gBKdAALsTd3BHLFwUXsmwXT-MnjXLaBMXUk1B_ensfd7yS1CEKRGmmFmTYFPGVGU7WtOsSyHi2abThfn696o5-wmxmquzicqx9ekz4IEVGCK7B3YVyxRzwBDxalnhStF0E0/s320/viagra-boys-cave-world.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /></div>I discovered this band at the tail end of last year, and thoroughly enjoyed their previous two albums, which ramped up the anticipation for this one. In some respects a little more polished, and with themes that carry over from their previous reocrds, "Cave World" is, however, a solid little beast. From the relentless opening of "Baby Criminal" with its tongue-in-cheek lyrics ("Used to be a baby / now he's just a criminal"). to the Jocko Homo-esque ending in "Return To Monke" ("leave society / be a monkey"), Viagra Boys send up the band that they are. A great concept album, imminently quotable and danceable. Roll on to seeing them live next year.<br /><br />And the winner is...<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">"POWERS" (2020) - Hitsujibungaku</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHNHa_fkpJKDi8oRg0t9dmI16Vo1YmQs5o7nDx6kxWqUJM-2oqd25fjPIIjlaTCfQIAFguO1k4hVWCdwGh4yuqJvCubPfNHWl2oyReHcnTJbPvAHfrrbNl88UgIAo1_FDUnjeN1VeJQVMgLGwO0CC5QOpXuS_gss1HAGsirj13_oCxz5I5ld1Zt6sx/s2064/%E7%BE%8A%E6%96%87%E5%AD%A6%E3%80%8Cpowers%E3%80%8Djkhigh-scaled.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2064" data-original-width="2064" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHNHa_fkpJKDi8oRg0t9dmI16Vo1YmQs5o7nDx6kxWqUJM-2oqd25fjPIIjlaTCfQIAFguO1k4hVWCdwGh4yuqJvCubPfNHWl2oyReHcnTJbPvAHfrrbNl88UgIAo1_FDUnjeN1VeJQVMgLGwO0CC5QOpXuS_gss1HAGsirj13_oCxz5I5ld1Zt6sx/s320/%E7%BE%8A%E6%96%87%E5%AD%A6%E3%80%8Cpowers%E3%80%8Djkhigh-scaled.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>This band was one of my favourite discoveries during 2022 and I've now listened to all of their records, with this one rising to the top every time. A basic lead guitar, bass guitar, drums combo, singing in Japanese so I'm going to have to trust that the lyrics are as great as the music, Hitsujibungaku are just a musical joy. Great indie guitar riffs, good melodies, a certain relentless type of pop song. I find myself smiling a lot whilst listening to this record and it's easily my favourite spin of 2022. It's fresh, assured, and dynamic. Cateh a YouTube performance. You won't regret it.</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div>So that's it, my summary of what I read, watched and listened to in 2022! Drop back in next year, but as has become usual I'll end with a song that's captivated me during this year and which comes courtesy of my 10yr old daughter. Chanelling DEVO but managing not to be annoying, here's "Pancake Robot" by <span style="font-size: 11pt;">Parry
Gripp.</span></div></div><div><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/o1iOkNDGkFA" width="320" youtube-src-id="o1iOkNDGkFA"></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div><br /></div>Andrew Hookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14610690208258599992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3978485071677058286.post-73209342789870556332022-12-20T21:42:00.000+00:002022-12-20T21:42:26.500+00:00My Writing Year 2022<p>As has become annual I thought I'd write a quick blog post as to my literary achievements during 2022.</p><p>Starting with short fiction, I wrote the following stories: "The Enfilade", "Content", "Keepers" and "An Absence of Ghosts". This is a further reduction of output in writing short fiction that has continued over the past few years, but it's not like I haven't been busy and I'm not complaining, because in addition to those stories I co-wrote the time travel novel, "Secondhand Daylight" with <a href="https://eugenbacon.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Eugen Bacon</span></a>, and also have just finished the first draft of another short novel, "Observations In Tenderness". I would therefore estimate I've written 100,000 words of new fiction this year.</p><p>I sold five short stories this year. "The Malaise Trap" as a standalone chapbook published in a dual language edition by Brazillian publisher, <a href="http://raphuspress.weebly.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Raphus Press</span></a>, "The Natural Environment" to the Ballardian anthology, "Reports From The Deep End", edited by Maxim Jakubowski and Rick McGrath to be published by <a href="https://titanbooks.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Titan Books</span></a>, "The Enfilade" to the final issue of <a href="http://ttapress.com/blackstatic/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Black Static</span></a> magazine, "Keepers" to "At The Lighthouse" anthology, edited by Sophie Essex for <a href="http://www.eibonvalepress.co.uk/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Eibonvale Press</span></a>, and "An Absence of Ghosts" will appear in an edition of <a href="http://theakersquarterly.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Theaker's Quarterly Fiction</span></a>.</p><div>The following three stories were published this year: "Something To Believe In" within the anthology, "<a href="https://www.crossingthetees.org/short-story-competition/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Crossing The Tees #5</span></a>", "<a href="https://nightjarpress.weebly.com/throttle-body.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Throttle Body</span></a>" as a standalone chapbook through <a href="https://nightjarpress.weebly.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">nightjar press</span></a>, and "<a href="http://raphuspress.weebly.com/the-malaise-trap.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">The Malaise Trap</span></a>" as described above in a beautiful edition from Raphus Press.</div><div><br /></div><div>The big news is that in March this year I sold my Hollywood-death-themed short story collection, "<a href="https://www.saltpublishing.com/products/candescent-blooms-9781784632564" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Candescent Blooms</span></a>" to <a href="https://www.saltpublishing.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Salt Publishing</span></a>, and it appeared in October, garnering wide plaudits including an extensive <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/headless-jayne-mansfield-decomposing-rudolf-valentino-hollywoods/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">five star review</span></a> from The Telegraph. But in addition to that, the aforementioned collaborative novel, "Secondhand Daylight", has subsequently been sold to <a href="https://www.johnhuntpublishing.com/cosmicegg-books/our-books/secondhand-daylight-novel" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Cosmic Egg Books</span></a> and will be published in October 2023. So good news on the book front.</div><div><br /></div><div>With my publishing hat on, Head Shot Press published four books in 2022. These were the novels "Debris" by Andrew Humphrey and "The Clutches of Mimi Bouchard" by John Travis, and the short story collections "A Punch To The Heart" by Andrew Humphrey and "Death Has A Thousand Faces" by Maxim Jakubowksi. I have also edited the crime noir anthology, "Bang!", which will be published by Head Shot in 2023. The dedicated website for the press can be found <a href="https://headshotpress.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">here</span></a>.</div><div><br /></div><div><span>I also have a handful of stories awaiting publication that were originally accepted in previous years, and a few other projects are also under consideration by various agents/publishers, as they were last year. </span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>So that's it for 2022. I have a few things in mind already for next year and am looking to see where they take me. Onwards!</div>Andrew Hookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14610690208258599992noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3978485071677058286.post-82124278383280465522022-12-18T14:38:00.000+00:002022-12-18T14:38:01.238+00:00Throttle Body<p>My short story titled "<a href="https://nightjarpress.weebly.com/throttle-body.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Throttle Body</span></a>" has recently been published as a standalone chapbook from <a href="https://nightjarpress.weebly.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Nightjar Press</span></a>, and as has become usual I'm writing a few words discussing how the story came to be written. There may be spoilers within.</p><p>Like most of my fiction, the idea sprang from the title. Having some issues with the car one summer my partner was looking through the manual and mentioned something called a <i>throttle body</i>. This is a tube-shaped housing that contains a flat valve (butterfly) that rotates to vary the amount of air entering an engine. Clearly the name is incredibly evocative and the idea of <i>throttling</i> as a means to reduce an intake of air obviously has connotations beyond the mechanical. I filed the title away.</p><p>Sometime later I was watching a film where a couple were having a conversation whilst driving. I'm always fascinated by how long someone can take their eyes off the road to talk directly at their passenger in films, but not only this, the use of hand movements to suggest they are actually driving (as opposed to sitting in a studio) is always exaggerated. If those movements were to be mimicked, a vehicle would be veering left and right on an otherwise straight road. The <i>artifice</i> of driving within film seemed to connect to the Throttle Body title. And then - of course - I remembered those occasions where a deer is hit by teenagers that foreshadows the plot of many a horror film. The fact that my own teenage daughter was learning to drive also added fuel to this nightmare scenario, and the basic structure of the plot - where a film-lecturing father hits some<i>thing</i> whilst dropping his daughter back home - came almost fully-formed from the above. Adding a sprinkling of my usual what-is-real-what-isn't-real element to the story, and Throttle Body was born.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHCp93uPqPtIP50LioPCvQwd9hlyzndkWG_7NTzAqRxUG-d_jER1Eo5WLl6alti2_8UC7CXOlpae8DL0n23oAbrVmuKeLvy0AZ5PFkaWw4Irzlo1w5j1OE-6g8zu6mcqyYhVvlVPjkfVdBhQwNY1bkrlPAprwoee7-_x9f4e_xdJZUYl0Y69c9TIOS/s2545/Throttle%20Body%20cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2545" data-original-width="1777" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHCp93uPqPtIP50LioPCvQwd9hlyzndkWG_7NTzAqRxUG-d_jER1Eo5WLl6alti2_8UC7CXOlpae8DL0n23oAbrVmuKeLvy0AZ5PFkaWw4Irzlo1w5j1OE-6g8zu6mcqyYhVvlVPjkfVdBhQwNY1bkrlPAprwoee7-_x9f4e_xdJZUYl0Y69c9TIOS/s320/Throttle%20Body%20cover.jpg" width="223" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><p>Here's a bit of it: </p><p><i>Ward sighed. “You recognise it for what it is, yeah. It’s a foreshadowing device. The scenario for hitting the animal unfolds in a way that will allude to or demonstrate primal aspects of how the driver is going to have to deal with the later horrific conflict.”</i></p><p><i>“Textbook horror, textbook Dad.”</i></p><p><i>“You know what I’m saying.”</i></p><p><i>“Just shut up and watch the movie. If I wanted a lecture I’d have enrolled in your uni class.”</i></p><p><i>Ward sighed. These moments between them were glazed with expectations and remonstrations. Whilst their relationship had improved since Indy had found her own space, it was almost a conscious effort not to replay old roles. However fraught they had been, an undeniable familiarity made them almost comfortable. Ward was tired of arguing – especially tired of arguing needlessly – and it wouldn’t take much to kickstart trouble again. He folded himself back into the film. It wasn’t a piece of art, it was a roadmap to getting them back together.</i></p><div>Throttle Body is published as a limited edition signed chapbook through Nightjar Press. It retails at £3 in paperback plus postage. It can be bought <a href="https://nightjarpress.weebly.com/throttle-body.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">here</span></a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">As regular readers are aware, I write my short stories listening to music on repeat. In this case, throughout the entire writing session, I listened to the </span><span style="text-align: left;">Raveonettes' </span><span style="text-align: left;">album <i>Observator </i>on repeat. I always find their music evocative when writing, and this was no exception.</span></div>Andrew Hookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14610690208258599992noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3978485071677058286.post-57753850916891895302022-12-03T08:04:00.000+00:002022-12-03T08:04:47.354+00:00Sarcoline (Grace Kelly)<p>My short story collection, <a href="https://www.saltpublishing.com/products/candescent-blooms-9781784632564" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Candescent Blooms</span></a>, was published by Salt Publishing recently. I've previously posted <a href="http://andrew-hook.blogspot.com/2022/08/candescent-blooms.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">here </span></a>with regards to the background to the collection, and the fact that twelve Hollywood actors whose lives ended prematurely are the main characters in each of the twelve stories. As stated in that post, the intention in the run-up to publication is to focus on each actor with some snippets of information (both about them and the writing of their stories). These posts will follow the same format for each. Our twelfth (and final) character is Grace Kelly.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnfFtg0L3YfP92yl_T9l9NqxkGKFTOXpOVlfZiY4cXYwEQoK7vswzo51cekhCOPLuakytwzQzGK52QCw8OLWxXn8WmJqoWAxFSKVqxgjiFfW7nu4TPhiRNMbxrud21WlMQc5OeVbrgpCDEYUNWnTL64ZGfWT8sOJZcOVRC-27tiVKYHCauS0xuU4IV/s1152/Grace.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="768" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnfFtg0L3YfP92yl_T9l9NqxkGKFTOXpOVlfZiY4cXYwEQoK7vswzo51cekhCOPLuakytwzQzGK52QCw8OLWxXn8WmJqoWAxFSKVqxgjiFfW7nu4TPhiRNMbxrud21WlMQc5OeVbrgpCDEYUNWnTL64ZGfWT8sOJZcOVRC-27tiVKYHCauS0xuU4IV/s320/Grace.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>1: the reason for the title of the story</p><p>I can't remember where I first heard the word s<i>arcoline</i>, although as my partner, the poet Sophie Essex, was working on a book of colour poems (published as <a href="https://www.eibonvalepress.co.uk/chapbooks/Chap10_Star.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Some Pink Star</span></a>), it might have come out of that. Sarcoline being <i>flesh-coloured</i>. There's a certain transparency in clothing which is flesh-coloured, and a certain honesty to Grace Kelly. Whilst there is no direct link to her, it felt an ideal fit.</p><p><br /></p><p>2: why I chose that actor</p><p>Grace Kelly's <i>fairytale</i> wedding to Prince Rainer of Monaco tragically ended following a car crash. I adore Grace in her films - especially Hitchcock's <i>Rear Window</i> (that slo-mo kiss!) - so whilst her death occurred comparatively recently (1982 being recent to this old codger) it was a no-brainer to include her.</p><p><br /></p><p>3: one 'gift' that enhanced the story</p><p>The metallic green Rover P6 3500 that Grace was driving when she had her accident was subsequently crushed, cubed, and dropped into the Mediterranean sea on the orders of her husband. As a result of which, the colour green or a green cube foreshadows Grace's life on several occasions during my story.</p><p><br /></p><p>4: one thing I never knew about them</p><p>The ballerina Margot Fonteyn taught Grace to dance The Twist.</p><p><br /></p><p>5: an extract from the story</p><p><i>In her room at the Barbizon Hotel for Women she lays diagonally across the bed. The tape recorder squeaks on rewind. She simultaneously presses record and play. Speaks: </i>fairytales tell imaginary stories. Me, I’m a living person. I exist.<i> On the bed beside her lies the script for Strindberg’s </i>The Father<i>. She reaches for a pencil and taps it against her teeth. Her legs extend upwards, crossed at the ankle. Within a coffee cup, dregs congeal. This scene is lit by the non-Technicolor glow of her bedside lamp, its shade muted yellow as the beam.</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p>6: what music I listened to whilst I wrote it.</p><p>Perhaps incongruously, I wrote the entirety of this story whilst listening to a cover of the Ricky Nelson song, <i>Sweeter Than You</i>, by Dr John Cooper Clarke and Hugh Cornwell. But just listen, it's perfect, isn't it?</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3jsrTw3eXMU" width="320" youtube-src-id="3jsrTw3eXMU"></iframe></div><br /><p>This concludes a series of blog posts regarding the characters in my new short story collection, Candescent Blooms. If you've stayed the journey and are interested, please buy Candescent Blooms <a href="https://www.saltpublishing.com/products/candescent-blooms-9781784632564" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">here</span></a>.</p>Andrew Hookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14610690208258599992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3978485071677058286.post-48007099482021020052022-11-26T08:54:00.001+00:002022-11-26T08:54:23.713+00:00The Jayne Mansfield Nuclear Project (Jayne Mansfield)<p>My short story collection, <a href="https://www.saltpublishing.com/products/candescent-blooms-9781784632564" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Candescent Blooms</span></a>, was published by Salt Publishing recently. I've previously posted <a href="http://andrew-hook.blogspot.com/2022/08/candescent-blooms.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">here </span></a>with regards to the background to the collection, and the fact that twelve Hollywood actors whose lives ended prematurely are the main characters in each of the twelve stories. As stated in that post, the intention in the run-up to publication is to focus on each actor with some snippets of information (both about them and the writing of their stories). These posts will follow the same format for each. Our eleventh character is Jayne Mansfield.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiwUVFxreR6fiGMgAAxKEvMI999FQ2vCeVd0MP6tFM8ihGMYoHB1O5YvY1o3fxH3KVoEVp6SDOOfgyobw_YZnlaKD6WYtZW2HBVAqI-tlWaWWAmDrppRgcX330Q06pXzKzpah22__9kDBuf8rJZmx8BsgMVJa0xnWJmUZaE3uRTOvBsmvN1EGOAiU0/s1005/Jayne.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1005" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiwUVFxreR6fiGMgAAxKEvMI999FQ2vCeVd0MP6tFM8ihGMYoHB1O5YvY1o3fxH3KVoEVp6SDOOfgyobw_YZnlaKD6WYtZW2HBVAqI-tlWaWWAmDrppRgcX330Q06pXzKzpah22__9kDBuf8rJZmx8BsgMVJa0xnWJmUZaE3uRTOvBsmvN1EGOAiU0/s320/Jayne.jpg" width="255" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>1: the reason for the title of the story</p><p>This was the second story I wrote after my Marilyn Monroe story. Before this, I hadn't realised I was working on a collection. One day I was listening to the song, "Confessions of a Psycho Cat", by The Cramps which contains the lines:</p><p><i>I'm the feathered serpent of the Aztecs</i></p><p><i>I've weathered the invasion of the insects</i></p><p><i>I invented the Jayne Mansfield Nuclear project</i></p><p><i>The Pope genuflects to gain my respect</i></p><p><i>Oh these are the confessions of a psycho cat...</i></p><p>Naturally, the Jayne Mansfield lyric stood out. I decided to write a Jayne Mansfield story. There could therefore only be one title.</p><p><br /></p><p>2: why I chose that actor</p><p>As per the above. It was only after I wrote this story that I decided to write more of the same ilk, so until this was written I didn't know I had a potential collection on my hands.</p><p><br /></p><p>3: one 'gift' that enhanced the story</p><p>Generally Mansfield's over-the-top persona fuelled this story: her <i>wardrobe malfunctions</i>, her pink palace, her zest for life. I'm glad it was only her wig that was in the footwell (she was not decapitated in that car crash as some reports suggested).</p><p><br /></p><p>4: one thing I never knew about them</p><p>Anton LaVey, founder of the Church of Satan, named Jayne the High Priestess of San Francisco’s Church of Satan</p><p><br /></p><p>5: an extract from the story</p><p><i>She shielded her eyes to the glare. An orange glow bled through her closed eyelids. Sometimes she wanted to be invisible but she had read that being invisible included your eyelids and you’d have no protection from the light. Yet, somedays she knew she was the most famous invisible woman and there weren’t nothing to shield her from flashbulbs and publicity and piercing public stares. Sometimes even clothed was to be naked.</i></p><p><br /></p><p>6: what music I listened to whilst I wrote it.</p><p>You might think I wrote this story to that Cramps song on repeat, but actually I choose the moody b-movie music of The Raveonettes, in this instance their mini-album <i>Whip It On</i>. Still, I can't help but post Confessions of A Psycho Cat below:</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/voGdst6hhCk" width="320" youtube-src-id="voGdst6hhCk"></iframe></div><br /><p>Buy Candescent Blooms <a href="https://www.saltpublishing.com/products/candescent-blooms-9781784632564" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">here</span></a>.</p><p><br /></p>Andrew Hookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14610690208258599992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3978485071677058286.post-9280564420471005362022-11-19T08:52:00.000+00:002022-11-19T08:52:08.096+00:00The Girl With The Horizontal Walk (Marilyn Monroe)<p>My short story collection, <a href="https://www.saltpublishing.com/products/candescent-blooms-9781784632564" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Candescent Blooms</span></a>, was published by Salt Publishing recently. I've previously posted <a href="http://andrew-hook.blogspot.com/2022/08/candescent-blooms.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">here </span></a>with regards to the background to the collection, and the fact that twelve Hollywood actors whose lives ended prematurely are the main characters in each of the twelve stories. As stated in that post, the intention around publication is to focus on each actor with some snippets of information (both about them and the writing of their stories). These posts will follow the same format for each. Our tenth character is Marilyn Monroe.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOIeoeAzYGxQaknppjnO02y_oLhhNyiNTQKQpRmmlnCOdyWBVkSo5NmNGLlNanRej7c1q9rjQm4gs-rvcX44uYfSbcc5Q89CtSo3wbMUL-bh7uQJR7N7na-d0wdOAzMVG0UORhlvwEmNgZ_TEqXjDMBd88baiAk2cqNVv6XPFup7rvphcedyu4B4J5/s320/marilyn-monroe.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="256" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOIeoeAzYGxQaknppjnO02y_oLhhNyiNTQKQpRmmlnCOdyWBVkSo5NmNGLlNanRej7c1q9rjQm4gs-rvcX44uYfSbcc5Q89CtSo3wbMUL-bh7uQJR7N7na-d0wdOAzMVG0UORhlvwEmNgZ_TEqXjDMBd88baiAk2cqNVv6XPFup7rvphcedyu4B4J5/s1600/marilyn-monroe.jpg" width="256" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>1: the reason for the title of the story</p><p>One of the nicknames attributed to Marilyn Monroe was <i>The Girl With The Horizontal Walk</i> presumably due to a certain swinging movement of her hips. I thought it worked ideally as a title.</p><p><br /></p><p>2: why I chose that actor</p><p>I couldn't <i>not </i>choose Marilyn Monroe. I wrote this story before I had any plans to write any of the others. This story was originally published as a standalone chapbook by Salò Press. There may be a handful of copies left in their <a href="https://www.salopress.com/store/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">store</span></a>. When that was published, I posted extensively about why I wrote that story <a href="http://andrew-hook.blogspot.com/2019/05/the-girl-with-horizontal-walk.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">here</span></a>.</p><p><br /></p><p>3: one 'gift' that enhanced the story</p><p>I used the plot from the abandoned Monroe vehicle <i>Something's Gotta Give</i> as the basis of the plot for this story, with multiple identities interlinking. As Priya Sharma said in the introduction to that original chapbook, <i>The more times I read it, the more I see. The more I think about it, the more Marilyn Monroe converges.</i></p><p><br /></p><p>4: one thing I never knew about them</p><p>Marilyn was a great reader. She had four hundred and thirty books in her library.</p><p><br /></p><p>5: an extract from the story</p><p><i>I play a photographer, Marilyn Monroe. I get to go platinum. Preferably a wig. Marilyn doesn't take great pictures, but she's always in the right place at the right time. Plus she's pretty - we know how many doors that opens, front and back. She carves out a career for herself, Life, Movieland, Modern Screen, all those covers. She gets invited to all the right parties, then some of the wrong ones. So there's then a photo of the president; in flagrante. Before you know it, she's killed.</i></p><p><br /></p><p>6: what music I listened to whilst I wrote it.</p><p>Perhaps unsurprisingly, I wrote this story listening to a Marilyn Monroe song compilation on repeat.<i> Every baby needs a Da-da-daddy</i>...</p><p><br /></p><p>Buy Candescent Blooms <a href="https://www.saltpublishing.com/products/candescent-blooms-9781784632564" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">here</span></a>.</p>Andrew Hookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14610690208258599992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3978485071677058286.post-61158293662976513342022-11-12T09:21:00.000+00:002022-11-12T09:21:17.373+00:00Oh, Superman (George Reeves)<p>My short story collection, <a href="https://www.saltpublishing.com/products/candescent-blooms-9781784632564" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Candescent Blooms</span></a>, was published by Salt Publishing recently. I've previously posted <a href="http://andrew-hook.blogspot.com/2022/08/candescent-blooms.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">here </span></a>with regards to the background to the collection, and the fact that twelve Hollywood actors whose lives ended prematurely are the main characters in each of the twelve stories. As stated in that post, the intention in the run-up to publication was to focus on each actor with some snippets of information (both about them and the writing of their stories), and this is also continuing after publication. These posts will follow the same format for each. Our ninth character is George Reeves.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJA8m9xsFsH8x_5-0RUr9K2y_tBmnKEZaCvzXnsgf0j7UngXP9Wzza_QcH2e2a4ilfd-bItNNGAtgrZ5IvKm3g2t86-gaIQtxQkDxNmr644wEk4LDWXb7dKniamnP4S0RlK_4ya7XOedKJ8Bo1aX1Setl6MMFwdnBmROZZGZ8pf13HBLu81Bo18AMw/s1440/George.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJA8m9xsFsH8x_5-0RUr9K2y_tBmnKEZaCvzXnsgf0j7UngXP9Wzza_QcH2e2a4ilfd-bItNNGAtgrZ5IvKm3g2t86-gaIQtxQkDxNmr644wEk4LDWXb7dKniamnP4S0RlK_4ya7XOedKJ8Bo1aX1Setl6MMFwdnBmROZZGZ8pf13HBLu81Bo18AMw/s320/George.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>1: the reason for the title of the story</p><p>Considering George Reeves was typecast as Superman and that I listen to music when writing fiction, then my musical choice had to be <i>O Superman</i> by Laurie Anderson, and therefore the story had to be titled <i>Oh, Superman</i>. Sometimes these things write themselves.</p><p><br /></p><p>2: why I chose that actor</p><p>This man of steel died from a gunshot wound at the age of 45. Presumed suicide.</p><p><br /></p><p>3: one 'gift' that enhanced the story</p><p>The double life of Superman/Clark Kent placed interesting parallels on this story which - similar to Carl Switzer's tale - also revolved around trying to shake off a character in their past.</p><p><br /></p><p>4: one thing I never knew about them</p><p>I didn't know much about George before I read up on him, but as a consequence one thing I discovered was that telephone booths were once called silence cabinets.</p><p><br /></p><p>5: an extract from the story</p><p><i>Young George runs through the streets of Galesburg, Illinois, over the Underground Railroad. He passes the Gaity Theatre where – in his birth year - the Marx Brothers received their nicknames. He has his own </i>O<i>, a hoop with a stick. It bounces over uneven ground and is eventually discarded, describing a parabola as it loops towards the hump yard.</i></p><p><br /></p><p>6: what music I listened to whilst I wrote it.</p><p>As above, it had to be <i>O Superman</i> by Laurie Anderson on repeat. It took me twenty-four hours to write this story. That's a lot of listens. This year - driving to Ross on Wye on holiday - <i>O Superman</i> came up on the shuffle. I sang the "hah hah hah" bit word perfect non-stop for the next eight minutes twenty-two seconds. I am Superman.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Vkfpi2H8tOE" width="320" youtube-src-id="Vkfpi2H8tOE"></iframe></div><br /><p>Buy Candescent Blooms <a href="https://www.saltpublishing.com/products/candescent-blooms-9781784632564" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">here</span></a>.</p><p><br /></p>Andrew Hookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14610690208258599992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3978485071677058286.post-56374412179169792972022-11-05T09:01:00.000+00:002022-11-05T09:01:13.964+00:00Alfalfa (Carl Switzer)<p>My short story collection, <a href="https://www.saltpublishing.com/products/candescent-blooms-9781784632564" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Candescent Blooms</span></a>, was published by Salt Publishing recently. I've previously posted <a href="http://andrew-hook.blogspot.com/2022/08/candescent-blooms.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">here </span></a>with regards to the background to the collection, and the fact that twelve Hollywood actors whose lives ended prematurely are the main characters in each of the twelve stories. As stated in that post, the intention in the run-up to publication is to focus on each actor with some snippets of information (both about them and the writing of their stories). These posts will follow the same format for each. Our eighth character is Carl Switzer.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKDKJDdmBDf9DHyFUlB3js5vRBQvQJJzaTy10PlQCtHPJ-YdqKzg-3mzuRnI9rl35XcGpVgHUtMX_dvd07gssAer6VTW4qGf3Xt8CL1CiD6cOSeQVp2x1fD92SfXrxgnlCP7TEKcxzhvVEtbSCKtnMjYmGPO9DISReGpTSXgqMcHrdWmq5yyJmUvQe/s280/Carl_old.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="280" data-original-width="218" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKDKJDdmBDf9DHyFUlB3js5vRBQvQJJzaTy10PlQCtHPJ-YdqKzg-3mzuRnI9rl35XcGpVgHUtMX_dvd07gssAer6VTW4qGf3Xt8CL1CiD6cOSeQVp2x1fD92SfXrxgnlCP7TEKcxzhvVEtbSCKtnMjYmGPO9DISReGpTSXgqMcHrdWmq5yyJmUvQe/s1600/Carl_old.jpg" width="218" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>1: the reason for the title of the story</p><p>Quite simply, <i>Alfalfa </i>was the name of Carl's character in the Our Gang series of short films in which he made his name as a child actor (from the ages of 6 to 12). The nickname stuck, but shaking it off became crucial for future roles. Of course, even if he was always identified as <i>Alfalfa</i>, you can't be typecast as a child, so once you've grown there's nowhere else to go...</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-peJXcW1KmkbDPjLqRzRd48LRThsJyLKR47aEZVeBwuoahPdit1OBqMTLlCtqdX3ZSB9zTT3a1mnE1VUVBnb7s2bRK6lCjT-cc_S8RWPy2mhC_50UZBfgsdgJuGGvkWszbavEQJoSNhSwP1X-z4OjVco-zHM23FuCHRvdOC8lK6vGSxRVTrVBjFqv/s383/Carl_young.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="383" data-original-width="255" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-peJXcW1KmkbDPjLqRzRd48LRThsJyLKR47aEZVeBwuoahPdit1OBqMTLlCtqdX3ZSB9zTT3a1mnE1VUVBnb7s2bRK6lCjT-cc_S8RWPy2mhC_50UZBfgsdgJuGGvkWszbavEQJoSNhSwP1X-z4OjVco-zHM23FuCHRvdOC8lK6vGSxRVTrVBjFqv/s320/Carl_young.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br /><p>2: why I chose that actor</p><p>I was aware of - but had only occasionally seen - the Our Gang series. However when I put out a call for suggestions of male actors who had died untimely deaths, one of my Facebook friends (the writer, <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Peggy-A.-Wheeler/e/B00PRDA1I6%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Peggy Wheeler</span></a>), drew him to my attention. Carl was shot in an altercation over money when he was 31 years old. Another candescent bloom.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>3: one 'gift' that enhanced the story</p><p>The fact that he had been a child actor. Layering that over his adult persona mirrored a role that he couldn't shake off. I was able to use that to my advantage.</p><p><br /></p><p>4: one thing I never knew about them</p><p>As I was previously unaware of him, there was much I'd never known about him. However, I would add that I discovered alfalfa sprouts can induce systemic lupus erythematosus in monkeys but that alfalfa is good for high cholesterol, asthma, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, upset stomach, and a bleeding disorder called thrombocytopenic purpura.</p><p><br /></p><p>5: an extract from the story</p><p><i>A sequence of events is more complicated than a string of anecdotes, yet - just as when I urinated on the arc lights - it's only when everything hots up that the stench becomes noticeable.</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p>6: what music I listened to whilst I wrote it.</p><p>I wrote the entirety of this story whilst listening to the album, "Buzzkunst", on repeat by ShelleyDevoto (being a Pete Shelley, Howard Devoto collaboration). It's a mix of experimentation and raw pop, suitable as a mood creator for this story.</p><p><br /></p><p>Buy Candescent Blooms <a href="https://www.saltpublishing.com/products/candescent-blooms-9781784632564" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">here</span></a>.</p>Andrew Hookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14610690208258599992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3978485071677058286.post-4216854786927154262022-10-29T09:10:00.000+01:002022-10-29T09:10:37.361+01:00The Easy Flirtations (James Dean)<p>My short story collection, <a href="https://www.saltpublishing.com/products/candescent-blooms-9781784632564" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Candescent Blooms</span></a>, was published by Salt Publishing recently.. I've previously posted <a href="http://andrew-hook.blogspot.com/2022/08/candescent-blooms.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">here </span></a>with regards to the background to the collection, and the fact that twelve Hollywood actors whose lives ended prematurely are the main characters in each of the twelve stories. As stated in that post, the intention in the run-up to publication is to focus on each actor with some snippets of information (both about them and the writing of their stories). These posts will follow the same format for each. Our seventh character is James Dean.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTbltVbf-UqRRDVgpuwOmWY057mO8OUF25fwQoRMsXzRfO2Agi3p2XS4bkSKEr8M2IdK_ieU81upJ4s98CW-QU6KAEwQQ7IxvpnFgk1otznTOxcEgxi9x62Z1R4Taq7P9jLziQ0QYTtNpS63efG2vHaP4f4R-5xkwrKOdbp8qu39R3WmA0ga0Q-9JT/s1440/James.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTbltVbf-UqRRDVgpuwOmWY057mO8OUF25fwQoRMsXzRfO2Agi3p2XS4bkSKEr8M2IdK_ieU81upJ4s98CW-QU6KAEwQQ7IxvpnFgk1otznTOxcEgxi9x62Z1R4Taq7P9jLziQ0QYTtNpS63efG2vHaP4f4R-5xkwrKOdbp8qu39R3WmA0ga0Q-9JT/s320/James.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>1: the reason for the title of the story</p><p>I think this title just popped into my head. With rumours (only rumours, at the time) over James Dean, Tab Hunter, and Rock Hudson being homosexual, I had the idea of them playing in a band called <i>The Easy Flirtations</i>. It just seemed to set the right tone for the story.</p><p><br /></p><p>2: why I chose that actor</p><p>Like Marilyn Monroe, it would have been impossible not to choose James Dean for this book. Although because it's an obvious choice doesn't make it an obvious story. Meanwhile, I'm sure everyone knows James died in a car crash at the age of 24.</p><p><br /></p><p>3: one 'gift' that enhanced the story</p><p>James played Cal Stark in <i>East of Eden</i> and Jim Trask in <i>Rebel Without A Cause</i>. Stark is an anagram of Trask. It plays into a fear of being typecast.</p><p><br /></p><p>4: one thing I never knew about them</p><p>After James showed the actor, Alec Guinness, his new car, a Porsche 550 Spyder, Guinness warned him never to drive it, stating, <i>If you do get into that car then by this time next week you’ll be dead</i>.</p><p><br /></p><p>5: an extract from the story</p><p><i>The audience would be non-judgmental. James would sit on a high-chair, the drums gripped by the inside of his knees, the taut skin hit by the knuckly part of his palms before letting his fingers bounce off the head. Between songs he would stand, put both an unlit cigarette and a flaming match into his mouth before then removing a burning cigarette. He’d draw on it, sucking the potentiality of so many ghosts into his lungs, before expelling into the audience, misting the crowd. Then Tab would start on the guitar and Rock would glance around and the three of them would merge once again in an intensity of sound belying the spin of the media that rotated the dulcet tones of his former and future lovers.</i></p><p><br /></p><p>6: what music I listened to whilst I wrote it.</p><p>Similar to Olive Thomas, I wrote this story listening to the album, <i>Gravity Pulls</i>, by Echobelly on repeat.</p><p><br /></p><p>Buy Candescent Blooms <a href="https://www.saltpublishing.com/products/candescent-blooms-9781784632564" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">here</span></a>.</p>Andrew Hookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14610690208258599992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3978485071677058286.post-38605707209581674972022-10-22T08:18:00.000+01:002022-10-22T08:18:05.049+01:00The Good Girl (Carole Lombard)<p>My short story collection, <a href="https://www.saltpublishing.com/products/candescent-blooms-9781784632564" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Candescent Blooms</span></a>, was published by Salt Publishing recently. I've previously posted <a href="http://andrew-hook.blogspot.com/2022/08/candescent-blooms.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">here </span></a>with regards to the background to the collection, and the fact that twelve Hollywood actors whose lives ended prematurely are the main characters in each of the twelve stories. As stated in that post, the intention is to focus on each actor with some snippets of information (both about them and the writing of their stories). These posts will follow the same format for each. Our sixth character is Carole Lombard.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS0B6pbbWlYBaE-X3TTClmcngP_ftlxnDb4pR8v9XLDcOd61srcZMZLAXpDDfvNNbLYma_RngJGB9NLQv4TOOZrWcEEzVH8NLiBmYulptAiFuhnnzodfWvPe2rnSmB98KP96afuzWt4ees2_DErBZY7_TdwTMW2xWQmliaYQFZXfX6fHv35dV0QlIg/s595/Carole_Lombard.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="565" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS0B6pbbWlYBaE-X3TTClmcngP_ftlxnDb4pR8v9XLDcOd61srcZMZLAXpDDfvNNbLYma_RngJGB9NLQv4TOOZrWcEEzVH8NLiBmYulptAiFuhnnzodfWvPe2rnSmB98KP96afuzWt4ees2_DErBZY7_TdwTMW2xWQmliaYQFZXfX6fHv35dV0QlIg/s320/Carole_Lombard.jpg" width="304" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>1: the reason for the title of the story</p><p>Unlike some of her contemporaries, Lombard's image was rarely tarnished by salacious gossip. I can't find the reference now, but I'm sure she was referred to somewhere as <i>The Good Girl</i>. I approach her life in this story from two angles, what was, and what might have been if she was a bad girl.</p><p> </p><p>2: why I chose that actor</p><p>Unfortunately Carole Lombard died in a plane crash at the age of 33.</p><p><br /></p><p>3: one 'gift' that enhanced the story</p><p>In the film <i>No Man Of Her Own</i>, in which Carole starred with Clark Gable, Gable's character flips a coin to decide if he will marry her. He does. Seven years later, in real life, Carole and Clark <i>do </i>get married. On the evening of her death, she tosses a coin to determine whether she should travel by train or plane. She is hasty to return to Gable's side. The coin determines the plane.</p><p><br /></p><p>4: one thing I never knew about them</p><p>Quite simply that she was married to Clark Gable.</p><p><br /></p><p>5: an extract from the story</p><p><i>I paid for this flight with a single coin.</i></p><p><br /></p><p>6: what music I listened to whilst I wrote it.</p><p>I wrote the entirety of this story whilst listening to the album "Sex O'Clock" by Anita Lane. It's a great piece of work. Unfortunately Anita died last year at the age of 61. Another candescent bloom.</p><p><br /></p><p>Buy Candescent Blooms <a href="https://www.saltpublishing.com/products/candescent-blooms-9781784632564" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">here</span></a>.</p>Andrew Hookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14610690208258599992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3978485071677058286.post-91221365847320855802022-10-15T09:18:00.002+01:002022-10-15T09:18:53.631+01:00Candescent Blooms - available today!<p>For the past few weeks I've made posts about each individual character in my short story collection, Candescent Blooms, but I'm pausing this for the simple announcement that the book's official publication date is today!</p><p>Let's cut to the chase:</p><p>The book can be purchased from the Salt website <a href="https://www.saltpublishing.com/products/candescent-blooms-9781784632564" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">here</span></a>.</p><p>Or through Amazon <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Candescent-Blooms-Salt-Modern-Stories/dp/1784632562" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">here</span></a>.</p><p>As well as the usual outlets where books tend to congregate.</p><p>Last weekend Candescent Blooms received an extensive 5 star review in the Telegraph which could be summarised as: <i>Andrew Hook's book is a gothic treat. Marvelous</i>. Click <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/headless-jayne-mansfield-decomposing-rudolf-valentino-hollywoods/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">here</span></a> for the full review (behind a paywall).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjtb4GvPQY-ZGgXvr1XVuZuc1ZE2DNhavzQ8SBBwjHP7aFfXCb7rgQzO_LMIis8jcUrlyX6LPPt_C2GIi8d7fXPDNOvCHWlTK_wjl3bjWAq1W2KuAp_62kjErth887TLsd2eQjmTDqsiv9iemHymJ01do7ObTBri6tN-ikw2LNbJGCNZQrMVDpz6Kd/s1942/blooms.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1942" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjtb4GvPQY-ZGgXvr1XVuZuc1ZE2DNhavzQ8SBBwjHP7aFfXCb7rgQzO_LMIis8jcUrlyX6LPPt_C2GIi8d7fXPDNOvCHWlTK_wjl3bjWAq1W2KuAp_62kjErth887TLsd2eQjmTDqsiv9iemHymJ01do7ObTBri6tN-ikw2LNbJGCNZQrMVDpz6Kd/s320/blooms.jpg" width="198" /></a></div><br /><p>You can read my previous post about how Candescent Blooms came to be written <a href="http://andrew-hook.blogspot.com/2022/08/candescent-blooms.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">here</span></a>.</p><p>For those who don't know, my collection is one of six books being launched today by Salt through their new <a href="https://www.saltpublishing.com/collections/salt-modern-stories" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">Modern Stories</span></a> series. If my book doesn't grab you, why not try one of the others? Information on all six can be found <a href="https://www.saltpublishing.com/collections/salt-modern-stories" target="_blank"><span style="color: #fcff01;">here</span></a>. The other writers are Brian Howell, Alison Moore, Giselle Leeb, Neil Campbell and Jane Fraser.</p><p>I hope everyone who buys this book enjoys it. If you do, please feel free to leave a review either on Amazon, or Goodreads, or your blog or any other place. If you don't enjoy it, I'm also interested in your opinion. Don't be shy!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Andrew Hookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14610690208258599992noreply@blogger.com0