My Writing Year 2012

I thought I'd do a quick blog post as to my literary achievements during 2012.

I completed one novel begun at the tail end of 2011, a crime pulp noir titled "Church of Wire", and have begun and am halfway through a new novel, "Body And Soul." This one is a far future SF/F book.

I wrote thirteen short stories this year: "Drowning In Air", "The Evening Of The Mule", "The Stench Of Winter", "The Universe At Gun Point", "Dumb Broad", "My Naked Man", "The Abduction Of Europe", "The Perfection Of Symmetry", "Tetsudo Fan", "The Aniseed Gumball Kid", "The Last Mohican", "Beyond The Island Of The Dolls" and "Rain From A Clear Blue Sky". I do like my titles!

I sold five short stories: "The Quickening" to Shadows & Tall Trees, "The Universe At Gun Point" to The First Book Of Classical Horror, "The Perfection Of Symmetry" to Chiral Mad, "Tetsudo Fan" to the Rustblind & Silverbright anthology from Eibonvale Press, and "Drowning In Air" to an anthology I cannot name til next year.

The following six short stories appeared in print this year: "Dizzy Land" in Black Static #26, "Monster Girl" in The Monster Book For Girls, "The Human Map" in Where Are We Going? (Eibonvale Press), "Things That Are Here Now, Things That Were There Then" in Dark Currents (NewCon Press), "The Universe At Gun Point" in The First Book Of Classical Horror, and "The Perfection Of Symmetry" in Chiral Mad.

I have a handful of stories awaiting publication that were accepted in 2011, a novella, short story collection, and two novels under consideration, and a collaborative story collection awaiting publication.

Not bad considering this little one was born midway through the year, and also that I work full-time Monday to Friday, work part-time alternate Sundays, freelance typeset and proofread often in the evenings, and have been co-editor with Fur-Lined Ghettos. Not often I blow my own trumpet, but it is the start of a New Year and should be heralded as such!

The Best and Worst of 2012

Well, it's that time of the year when everyone is doing their 'best and worst of' lists. As if the start to a New Year really is a magical time of ending and beginning rather than a human tradition defined by numbers which has no bearing on the real world. Yet, if there is a time to do it, I guess it should be now. I know I'm a little early, but it's the end of the world on Friday! I'm going to list the books and movies I read/watched in 2012 and pick my favourites. This isn't restricted to what was new in 2012, but what I actually watched and read - some of these items might be very old indeed.

Books:

I read the following in 2012:

Charles Bukowski - The Pleasures of the Damned
Christopher Priest - Indoctrinaire
Graham Joyce - The Storm Watcher
Joe Gores - Hammett
Art From Art - short story anthology
Jim Thompson - The Getaway
John Hartley Williams - Mystery In Spiderville
Italo Calvino - The Path to the Spiders Nest
Iain Banks - The Business
Thom Gunn - The Pugilist at Rest
Joel Lane - Black Country
Raymond Chandler - Pearls Are A Nuisance
Anthony Burgess - A Clockwork Orange
Douglas Thompson - Apoidea
Paul Auster - New York Trilogy
Neil Hannan - Shenanigans
Angela Carter - The Magic Toyshop
David Guterson - Snow Falling On Cedars
Graham Joyce - The Facts of Life
The New And Perfect Man - PS Publishing anthology
Chris Bacheldor - Bear v Shark
James M Cain - Serenade
Joel Lane - The Lost District
Ray Bradbury - The Martian Chronicles
Derek Raymond - A State of Denmark
Kenzaburo Oe - The Silent Cry
Jean Genet - The Thief's Journal
Steve Savile - Houdini's Last Illusion
The Breast of Russ Meyer - film biography

Some interesting stuff there I hope you agree. By far the worst was "The Magic Toyshop" which I found a real struggle and totally uninteresting. Other books dragged a bit: both "The Silent Cry" and "The Thief's Journal" took ages to plough through despite the quality of the work. Some books I have no idea why I hadn't read them before: "A Clockwork Orange" springs to mind. I've had that on my shelf for over twenty years!

These are my top three in reverse order:

"The Pleasures of the Damned" by Charles Bukowski

My partner introduced me to his work a few years ago and I find his prose incredibly succinct, pertinent, sometimes breathtaking, and totally honest. He edges out "The Facts of Life" to be included in my final three.

"The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury

I have very strong memories of the TV series inspired by this book in the 1980s. Whilst some of the stories were therefore familiar, there was a 'futuristic nostalgia' that deeply connected me to this book.

And the winner is...

"The New York Trilogy" by Paul Auster

I get the impression Auster is an acquired taste - a writer's writer - judging from some adverse response by my partner and an old friend; but I absolutely adored this book. It contains just the kind of enigma and wordplay that I love and works everything together so well that it can't be beaten. I can't wait to read some his other work that's already bought and paid for and waiting on my shelves. There's a real 'literary excitement' to be had reading his work.

Finally, in this category, I also freelance proofread and haven't listed any of the books I've worked on as part of my reading list which would add another ten or so titles. However, special mention must be given to both "Pantomime" by Laura Lam and especially "The Mad Scientist's Daughter" by Cassandra Rose Clarke. I loved them both, and I'm sure you'll enjoy them when they're published in 2013.

Movies:
I watched the following in 2012:

Source Code

Antichrist

Norwegian Wood

Black Swan

Monkey Business

Alice (Jan Svankmajer)

Submarine

Casablanca

The Time Machine

Attack the Block

Bunny and the Bull

Howl

Brighton Rock

Biutiful

The Skin I Live In

The Secret in their Eyes

Exit Through the Gift Shop

Tyrannosaur

The Science of Sleep

A Prophet

La Haine

Melancholia

Super

Potiche

The Orphanage

King Kong (1933)

Beautiful Lies

American Beauty

You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger

The White Ribbon

Death Proof

Little Miss Sunshine

The Hangover Part II

Restless

The Rum Diary

Snowtown

Into the Wild

The Awakening

Control

The Getaway

Julia's Eyes

American Psycho

The Darjeeling Limited 

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

Les Enfants du Paradis

Dead Ringers

Brief Encounter

On Stranger Tides

Incendies

Juno

Trainspotting  

La Belle et Le Bete

Vivre Sa Vie

Midnight in Paris

Kill List

Animal Kingdom

Shame 

Made in USA

And Soon the Darkness

Oldboy

Thirst

Bonnie and Clyde

Lola Montes

Young Adult 

Fantastic Mr Fox

Jules et Jim

The Woman on the Fifth

The Descendants

Happiness

Pulp Fiction

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

Kid on a Bike

Silent House

L.A Confidential

Delicacy

Series of Unfortunate Events

Margaret
The Artist

My Neighbour Totoro

Tomboy

Scream

REC

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Kick Ass

The Hunter

Amelie

Rebel without a Cause

Cosmopolis

Leon

Devil
Electrik Children
Scott Pilgrim vs The World
Groundhog Day

God there are some good titles on that list. Narrowing it down to three is going to be almost impossible! I think I'll list the handful which need to be avoided at all costs: "Super": even Ellen Page can't save this sub-'Kick Ass' superzero movie; "The Hangover Part II": remember why part one was so good? So did the moviemakers so they served it up identical. As funny as leftovers; "Black Swan": ok, so technically a good film, but I swore for about twenty minutes afterwards at the ridiculously contrived and yet obvious ending. It really wasn't worth the ride; "You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger": Woody Allen on an off day.

Favourites would include "Norwegian Wood": a great adaptation of the Murakami novel; "Midnight In Paris": Woody Allen on a very good day; "Biutiful": stellar performances and a heartbreaking ending; "American Beauty": why haven't I seen this before? Another ace Kevin Spacey movie; "Snowtown": devastating.

Some of the above I've seen before, such as "Pulp Fiction", "Vivre Sa Vie", "Juno", "Jules et Jim" etc. So whilst I love them I'm not going to include them in my final three. In reverse order, here are my top movies watched in 2012:

"Death Proof" - Quentin Tarantino

This narrowly edges out Pedro Almodovar's "The Skin I Live In", but ultimately I have to go with the absolute blazing fun of this movie. The audacity to end the first half as it does after painstakingly creating those characters is a cinematic joy, and overall it's "Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" vibe greatly endears me.

"Midnight In Paris" - Woody Allen

I wasn't going to include this as I'd already mentioned it above, but looking through the titles again it's obvious it needs to be here. Perhaps because it seems so effortless I wasn't sure about it making this position, then I realised it was precisely because it seemed so effortless that indicated its brilliance. An essential movie for writers who understand that wish-fulfilment is attainable and not pure fantasy.

And the winner is...

"Melancholia" and "Antichrist" - Lars Von Trier

Well, that should read "and the winners are..." Truth is, I just can't choose between these two wonderful movies. On the one hand, the utterly believable darkness of "Antichrist" is a perfect study in desolation, but then the meandering endearing "Melancholia" is just as beautiful an examination of the psyche. The talking fox in "Antichrist" almost swung it for me, but "Melancholia" is such a gorgeous complex piece of art that it deserves the joint position. Either way, Lars Von Trier is making some incredible movies that entertain, entrance, and puzzle. I'm looking forward to seeing more of his work.

And as for 2013? I'm crap at predictions, although I'm hoping "Django Unchained" will be worth 2 hours 45 minutes of my life.

Love Songs

Over the last year I read two books by the French writer Jean Genet. In some ways they are fascinating works about criminals and homosexuality, but having no direct experience of either I've also found them a bit of a struggle. "Our Lady of the Flowers" was an almost stream of consciousness narrative of masturbational fantasies, and "The Thief's Journal" - which seems more autobiographical - also slid from one story into another without much of a linear plot. Just as something seemed to be actually happening, it felt like Genet got distracted and we followed his mind elsewhere. Nevertheless, they are an important part of French literature, and subsequently googling Genet I came across this short movie he made in 1950 which is very Cocteau-like in it's b&w imagery. For me, this is a far more accessible introduction to Genet, and I suggest you watch it (beware, there is some sexual imagery that is not for non-adult viewers). I found it a fascinating allegory (and whilst I'm not sure if the musical score was added subsequently I felt it perfectly suited the images). It's titled "Un Chant d'Amour" (Love Song).

On an otherwise unrelated note, but with serendipity bringing the two elements of this blog together, I saw The Damned in concert last week. I've always had a bit of a love/frustrate relationship with their music, although "The Black Album" is probably one of my favourite records. The gig was excellent in many ways, yet despite their musicianship they always sound like a band falling downstairs (not a bad thing). Like Genet, there's some self-indulgence to their work; yet for me the energy can be incapsulated in one of my favourites songs. The one I have to leap around to like a 15yr old idiot (the more observant might glimpse my bobbing bald head). And, coincidentally, it is "Love Song".

American Paddlefish

I remember reading in surrealist Spanish film director Luis Bunuel's autobiography, "My Last Breath", that whenever a film needed something extra Bunuel would chuck in a dream sequence. I follow a similar line with this blog, although when I get stuck I throw in a long-snouted animal. Some of these animals are the stuff of dreams and nightmares in any event.

Today's special is the American Paddlefish. The paddlefish takes its common and scientific names (Polyodon spathula) from its distinctive snout which is greatly elongated and flattened into a paddle shape. It has a pretty cool mouth as well:

Apparently it's in decline but I suggest we start a campaign to ensure it's longevity. I mean, just look at the length of that snout!

The Perfection of Symmetry

I've decided to write a blog post each time I have something published in order to say a few words about the genesis of the story. In this instance, the story is "The Perfection of Symmetry", recently published in the charity anthology, Chiral Mad.

I'd seen the guidelines for the anthology online and so in this instance my story was written specifically for the book, with the hope that the editor would find it met their requirements. Sometimes a theme can straightjacket a story, sometimes it makes it fly with inspiration. In this instance, it was actually quite tricky getting my head around the anthology's concept. Each story had to be connected with the subject of chiralty. What is chiralty? Here's wikipedia's take on it:

An object or a system is chiral if it is not identical to its mirror image, that is, it cannot be superposed onto it. A chiral object and its mirror image are called enantiomorphs (Greek opposite forms) or, when referring to molecules, enantiomers. A non-chiral object is called achiral (sometimes also amphichiral) and can be superposed on its mirror image. The term was first used by Lord Kelvin in an address in 1904. In a lecture given in Johns Hopkins University on "Molecular Dynamics and the Wave Theory of Light" he stated:

I call any geometrical figure, or group of points, 'chiral', and say that it has chirality if its image in a plane mirror, ideally realized, cannot be brought to coincide with itself

So, that's clear. Right? Well, it took me a while too. Anyway, I decided to think around the concept of symmetry, and coincidentally this story was running at the time.

Florence Colgate apparently has the world's most symmetrical face, but "not only is the 18-year-old's visage perfectly symmetrical, but she has the 'optimum ratio' between her mouth, eyes, chin, and forehead." It crossed my mind that what if someone not only had the most perfectly symmetrical face, but if they also had a perfectly symmetrical body? What if that person became a model? What would happen to that person - because this is a horror anthology, remember - if some aspect of their body then became asymmetrical?

From that moment, the story 'wrote itself'. My character, Vermillion Chandler, is 100% symmetrical and her entire career depends on that remaining so. Naturally, she gets a little paranoid, and eventually - without giving away too many spoilers - she tips over the edge when it appears that perfection has become flawed. As well as a horror story, it also works in some themes about our culture's obsessions with 'perfection', the nature of celebrity, and what it is to be an individual.

Chiral Mad contains some great authors (including Jack Ketchum, Gary A Braunbeck, Gary McMahon, Ian Shoebridge, John Palisano and many others), and all profits from this book go to Downs syndrome charities. I'd suggest buying a copy, now.

The Next Big Thing

I was going to make a post about a recent short story I've written, but I've run out of time this week. Here's a ten question filler which is doing the blog rounds at the moment. I was tagged by Gary Fry:

1) What is the working title of your next book?

Body and Soul - a novel. Although this is what I'm currently writing. I also have submissions out at the moment for a novella (The Greens), a collection of short stories (The Human Map), and two crime novels (The Immortalists and Church of Wire).  Plus I have a joint collection of short stories written with Allen Ashley for publication by Screaming Dreams sometime in 2013 (Slow Motion Wars). So 'next' book could be any one of these.

2) Where did the idea come from for the book?

There's a central premise in the novel which came to me during my partner's recent pregnancy. I can't say more without it being a spoiler, but that's where the idea came from.

3) What genre does your book fall under?

It will be an SF/F kind of book - far future but grounded in a recognisable reality.

4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

It's not something I've given any thought to. I'm not that far enough into the book for firm characters to have developed.

5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

In the far future humanity has evolved in a more humane fashion - but the past is about to catch up with them.

6) Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I have no idea, as it's not completed yet and I haven't started the process of submitting it.

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

Currently I've written 16,000 words in three weeks.

8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Soft science fiction - maybe some Bradbury and Dick in there, but essentially me.

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?

See question 2 above. I had the idea and the idea was the inspiration. Most of my work is in short stories, but I knew this was a novel idea (ha ha) and decided to make time to write it.

10) What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?

It's a multi-genre book - some SF, some fantasy, and essentially some horror although not as outre as it might appear on the surface. Hopefully it'll be a quintissentially slipstream mass market novel (if such a thing exists!)

Autumnal Happenings

I love this time of the year, when the leaves go all colourful and we get pristine blue skies and cool mornings. Recently we spent a long weekend in the Peak District - one of my favourite places in the UK - and whilst the blue skies stayed away we still had a good time. There's always something new to see there, and this giant 'plughole' in the Lady Bower reservoir took my breath away. I really wanted to descend into its depths!

Images such as this can often provide ideas for stories. I've written a new short this month which was inspired by Las Isla de las Munecas in Mexico. I won't go into the details of either the story or the island (there's plenty of articles on the internet to google if you're interested), but here's one of the more interesting photos which influenced my story:

Speaking of stories, I've recently had a short published in "Chiral Mad", titled "The Perfection of Symmetry". The concept of chiralty is something else you should google, because I would make a hamfisted attempt at getting my head around it (although I might make a more detailed blog post about how my story came about sometime later this week). In any event, the book is a beautiful product, and contains stories by Jack Ketchum, Gary Braunbeck, Gary McMahon, Ian Shoebridge and many many others. And apart from it being a good looking anthology it also deserves your support because all proceeds go to Downs Syndrome charities. You can buy it here.
 

Hopefully the book will garner some good reviews. And speaking of reviews, my 2011 short story collection, "Nitrospective", has been recently reviewed over at the Dundee University Review of the Arts. All reviews are subjective, of course, and this one is a bit mixed. However I can't complain at "The slant towards existentialist themes, suggest a more contemporary re-telling of the ideals of Camus or Sartre." Not bad for a genre anthology!

 And finally, I was pleased to be one of the guests at the inaugral Horror In The East event in Lowestoft last Saturday. It was a small, one day convention, and for a while it seemed that the number of guest authors might be greater than the number of attendees; but ultimately it was quality not quantity which prevailed, and those who did attend were the interested book-buying crowd that all authors dream of. It was also the chance to chat to Conrad Williams and Joseph D'Lacey who I haven't seen for a while, as well as the others who I hadn't met before. David Moody proved fascinating about his experiences in self-publishing and publishing, and the panel I sat on titled "What Is Horror?" gave some eclectic answers to that question. The motley crew of attending authors is below (photo courtesy of Adam Millard).