York 24/9/09

Went to York yesterday with Canadian song-maestro James Keelaghan and his trio (David Woodhead, Zav RT plus Nancy - David's wife). Spent the afternoon mooching about my favourite city - including the required walk up The Shambles and down Stonegate and via Barley Hall. Then tea in Batty's cafe with Nancy, a trip round the outdoor food festival where I bought cheeses - a Norwegian Gjetost and Old Amsterdam, though I was really looking for White Nancy which they didn't have.

Then - an hour in Borders checking out their SF/F section.

Yes, of course I succumbed. Though I could have spent a fortune I was quite strict with myself so I bought only: The first of Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden books, Storm Front, and - a complete impulse buy - Joe Abercrombie's Last Argument of Kings. This is the third in a trilogy and they didn't have the first two, but it looked sufficiently interesting to give it a try. So now I'm torn: do I read them out of order and risk spoilers, but make sure I really do like it before buying the first two parts, or trust that I will enjoy all three and splash out on The Blade Itself and Before they are Hanged? Anyone out there read them?

Then - on to the gig at the Black Swan, a longstanding folk club in one of York's oldest pubs (the building was there in the early 1400s but it's only been a pub from the mid 1700s). This was my only chance on this tour to see the James Keelaghan Trio in action. Brilliant night, fantastic music. I wore a big silly grin from start to finish (in addition to my clothes before you lot get all smart-arse).
:-)

I can highly recommend his new album, House of Cards. He's a powerful songwriter and a consummate performer with a rich baritone voice and an assured presence. There are tracks to listen to on his website and a run down of the rerst of the dates on his current UK tour.

York 24/9/09

Went to York yesterday with Canadian song-maestro James Keelaghan and his trio (David Woodhead, Zav RT plus Nancy - David's wife). Spent the afternoon mooching about my favourite city - including the required walk up The Shambles and down Stonegate and via Barley Hall. Then tea in Batty's cafe with Nancy, a trip round the outdoor food festival where I bought cheeses - a Norwegian Gjetost and Old Amsterdam, though I was really looking for White Nancy which they didn't have.

Then - an hour in Borders checking out their SF/F section.

Yes, of course I succumbed. Though I could have spent a fortune I was quite strict with myself so I bought only: The first of Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden books, Storm Front, and - a complete impulse buy - Joe Abercrombie's Last Argument of Kings. This is the third in a trilogy and they didn't have the first two, but it looked sufficiently interesting to give it a try. So now I'm torn: do I read them out of order and risk spoilers, but make sure I really do like it before buying the first two parts, or trust that I will enjoy all three and splash out on The Blade Itself and Before they are Hanged? Anyone out there read them?

Then - on to the gig at the Black Swan, a longstanding folk club in one of York's oldest pubs (the building was there in the early 1400s but it's only been a pub from the mid 1700s). This was my only chance on this tour to see the James Keelaghan Trio in action. Brilliant night, fantastic music. I wore a big silly grin from start to finish (in addition to my clothes before you lot get all smart-arse).
:-)

I can highly recommend his new album, House of Cards. He's a powerful songwriter and a consummate performer with a rich baritone voice and an assured presence. There are tracks to listen to on his website and a run down of the rerst of the dates on his current UK tour.

Writing meme

Stolen from fairmer

1. Are you a “pantser” or a “plotter?”
I've done both. Sometimes I start with the former and after half a dozen chapters of flying it by the seat of my pants I take a break from scribbling and plot it. The last two have been plotted right from the get-go and I must admit I liked working that way - though I made changes to the big finish of the most recently completed one. The current work in progress is at 20k words and I need to plot the rest. I've done the pants thing up to now with it.

2. Detailed character sketches or “their character will be revealed to me as a I write”?

I usually have a pretty detailed character sketch in my head with a little room for additions. Sometimes I even commit it to paper (err... electrons), but if something comes out in the writing that seems logical I don't ignore it. i sometimes discover troubling character traits I didn't know were there.

3. Do you know your characters’ goals, motivations, and conflicts before you start writing or is that something else you discover only after you start writing?

I mostly think I know it when I start. Sometimes i discover that I was wrong and I have to retcon something and veer in a slightly different direction.

4. Books on plotting – useful or harmful?

Neither or both. I don't use them. Others may do and that's up to them. I'm rarely stuck or lost when it comes to plotting.

5. Are you a procrastinator or does the itch to write keep at you until you sit down and work?

I'm a burst writer. I've written 63,000 words in a month. (I paced myself with NaNoWriMo last year though I wasn't working strictly to NaNo rules because I had my beginning written before November.) However then I have to allocate some time to real life and may go another month without writing anything. I'm a compulsive writer. When I give myself permission to ignore the world I can be fingers-to-keyboard for fourteen hours a day. Unfortunately the day job intervenes. Then, of course, I get equally compulsive about the day job.

6. Do you write in short bursts of creative energy, or can you sit down and write for hours at a time?

As above. Hours and hours and hours. I have long bursts.

7. Are you a morning or afternoon writer?

Yes.
And No.
I'm a late night writer mostly. Ten until four a.m.

8. Do you write with music/the noise of children/in a cafe or other public setting, or do you need complete silence to concentrate?

I prefer silence. I hate writing to a soundtrack unless it's musical pap without words, like one of those wishy-washy sounds-of-the-rain-forest CDs that's designed to me wallpaper music.

9. Computer or longhand? (or typewriter?)

Computer. Always. Unless I'm away from it for some reason, in which case I'm raraely without a notebook.

10. Do you know the ending before you type Chapter One?

Yes. Though I may be a bit hazy about the journey to get there.

11. Does what’s selling in the market influence how and what you write?

No. I've never been that sussed and always assume the best market trick is knowing what will be selling in the market two years hence. Nice if you can do it.

12. Editing – love it or hate it?

Love it. I love all the processes involved with writing except selling the buggers when you've written them.

Writing meme

Stolen from fairmer

1. Are you a “pantser” or a “plotter?”
I've done both. Sometimes I start with the former and after half a dozen chapters of flying it by the seat of my pants I take a break from scribbling and plot it. The last two have been plotted right from the get-go and I must admit I liked working that way - though I made changes to the big finish of the most recently completed one. The current work in progress is at 20k words and I need to plot the rest. I've done the pants thing up to now with it.

2. Detailed character sketches or “their character will be revealed to me as a I write”?

I usually have a pretty detailed character sketch in my head with a little room for additions. Sometimes I even commit it to paper (err... electrons), but if something comes out in the writing that seems logical I don't ignore it. i sometimes discover troubling character traits I didn't know were there.

3. Do you know your characters’ goals, motivations, and conflicts before you start writing or is that something else you discover only after you start writing?

I mostly think I know it when I start. Sometimes i discover that I was wrong and I have to retcon something and veer in a slightly different direction.

4. Books on plotting – useful or harmful?

Neither or both. I don't use them. Others may do and that's up to them. I'm rarely stuck or lost when it comes to plotting.

5. Are you a procrastinator or does the itch to write keep at you until you sit down and work?

I'm a burst writer. I've written 63,000 words in a month. (I paced myself with NaNoWriMo last year though I wasn't working strictly to NaNo rules because I had my beginning written before November.) However then I have to allocate some time to real life and may go another month without writing anything. I'm a compulsive writer. When I give myself permission to ignore the world I can be fingers-to-keyboard for fourteen hours a day. Unfortunately the day job intervenes. Then, of course, I get equally compulsive about the day job.

6. Do you write in short bursts of creative energy, or can you sit down and write for hours at a time?

As above. Hours and hours and hours. I have long bursts.

7. Are you a morning or afternoon writer?

Yes.
And No.
I'm a late night writer mostly. Ten until four a.m.

8. Do you write with music/the noise of children/in a cafe or other public setting, or do you need complete silence to concentrate?

I prefer silence. I hate writing to a soundtrack unless it's musical pap without words, like one of those wishy-washy sounds-of-the-rain-forest CDs that's designed to me wallpaper music.

9. Computer or longhand? (or typewriter?)

Computer. Always. Unless I'm away from it for some reason, in which case I'm raraely without a notebook.

10. Do you know the ending before you type Chapter One?

Yes. Though I may be a bit hazy about the journey to get there.

11. Does what’s selling in the market influence how and what you write?

No. I've never been that sussed and always assume the best market trick is knowing what will be selling in the market two years hence. Nice if you can do it.

12. Editing – love it or hate it?

Love it. I love all the processes involved with writing except selling the buggers when you've written them.