May 2013
1 post
How to Talk to Any Number of People Without Being...
(slight change of direction c.f. recent posts. found this on my ancient, expiring Hubpages account and thought it might help someone. it got me a score of 71, which sounds like it was reasonably useful…)
Why Can Public Speaking Scare Us?
Why should we be afraid of talking to group of people?
Can you talk to one person without being nervous? What about three people? Say the four of you...
April 2013
3 posts
Open Letter
Soon, I really will try to post something that ISN’T to do with the Aberystwyth Arts Centre!
However, this is an open letter, written by Stephen West to Prof. April McMahon that makes some powerful points. (Stephen West organised the petition that was handed to Prof. April McMahon last weekend.)
—-begins—-
Dear April McMahon
Thank you for agreeing to our meeting to hand in the...
FakeAprilMcMahon and Real Human Pain
Over the past year, I’ve had to watch people I know (and know of) being damaged and demoted and sacked (put on ‘gardening leave’), all because of the apparently thoughtless, heartless implementation of a plan that is cleverly presented as something to which we tacitly agreed.
I’m talking about the restructuring work that’s been happening in my local university here...
December 2012
1 post
Me at the 2012 Aber Book Festival
I’m talking at the 2012 Aberystwyth Book Festival on Monday. Details are here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/307846082664014/?context=create
It’ll be brilliant. And you can support local authors and publishers.
Tell the world.
November 2012
4 posts
Teddy Book as a Prize!
A copy of my book “Hordesmen’s Master” has been requested by the annual Aberystwyth Book Festival as a prize for a competition they are running! I don’t know whether to laugh or cheer :) Either way, I’m happy. I’ll be doing a talk at the Festival, and will be selling books. Hope to see you there, December 10th, venue to be confirmed, but somewhere in...
"Hordesmen's Master" Off to the Printers This Week...
I’ve been getting a *lot* of good comments about “Hordesmen’s Master” from test readers, copyeditors and other writers :) I was really concerned about this book, so I have been making some careful changes over the last few weeks — it seems they’ve been effective. The print manuscript is almost finalised and should go off to the printers this week! I’ll let you...
Real Life and Writing
Every now and then (more often than I would like) real life takes over and makes it impossible for me to write — at least I can’t write anything that’s good enough to end up in a book.
I’m just coming out of one of those times.
I’ve been doing two full-time jobs for the last couple of months, and as time went by the amount of work has become more and more intense until...
On my way back ...
Ugh. The last few weeks have been all work work work. Looking forward to some writing time soon.
September 2012
5 posts
Tossing Car Keys to Writers
For the past week, I’ve been trying to think of something to write about the Writer’s Workshop Festival I was at in York last weekend, and I’ve failed.
I wanted to capture something of the collective commitment to writing; the open, caring attitude of the organisers and speakers; the gorgeous venue that sets you apart from every day life, and the friendships that have been...
"We didn't have that green thing back then..."...
Awake & Aging
Like This Page · Yesterday
Being Green Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the older woman, that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren’t good for the environment. The woman apologized and explained, “We didn’t have this green thing back in my earlier days.” The young clerk responded,...
Always Pointing Up
Neil Gaiman once said that every job he considered — in fact every choice he made of any sort — he would ask, “Will this help to make me a good writer?”
That’s some pretty single-minded thinking, but what *is* the alternative? What I’m doing at the moment is spending a huge portion of my waking time doing a job that in NO WAY helps me to become a good writer. It’s...
Missing
A gothic silliness perhaps, but a genuine attempt nonetheless to capture the hollow feeling of a reluctant ending:
-
Lungs fill with cool dawn air In the hope that it will wake me fully from my dreams so I can set loose and master the day. Legs move feet, to crunch where they will, up and through the snargle grass and grasping bramble finger-thorns till I notice the tall stones, dark in the low...
Festival of Writing, York, 2012
I’m off to the Festival of Writing in York next week — in fact, this time next week it will just about be over, and I’ll getting ready for the four-hour drive back to West Wales.
I’ve been starting to get to know people (in the internet sense of that concept) on the Festival’s forum, and obviously I haven’t been totally successful yet — after all,...
August 2012
3 posts
Tourettes and Bipolar Disorder and Scary Monsters
What’s your reaction to the following: “My son has Tourettes”? Or, “I have Type II Bipolar Disorder”? Do you get an image of my son and me in your head? Do we seem odd and maybe a little scary? Perhaps you think my son swears a lot and twists his head oddly? Something like that? Perhaps you think I’m emotionally all over the place, a caveman with no...
Sadomasochistic Teen Vampires
I’ve been book writing! It’s like coming home to a comfy chair and a big cup of tea.
The pressures of the last month or two have kind of pushed all prose writing out of the window, though I have managed to keep writing poetry (well, it’s good therapy.) In fact, some of it could go in my to-be-published collection with a little more work. But I started writing prose again a...
Rolling the Boulder Back Up the Hill
What an unpleasant last ten days. On top of two relationship losses (one particularly sad), and a big health scare with my eldest son, digging into this job that I’ve just begun is one of the toughest things I’ve ever had to do — but I’m getting there: I’ve learned to have a new peace with ‘stuff that happens’, and I can fix non-trivial problems with a large web...
July 2012
5 posts
Stages
I was recently followed by someone, so I scanned through her Tumblr.
She’s got that youthful spark about her and is trying stuff out and is crashing into stuff and getting up and still having fun. I was totally envious. I remember being like that; I remember realising I could do new things; I remember planning to do those things; I remember actually doing them, and the thrill it gave me to...
POEM - “Home” - 30/7/12
This comes from two conversations I’ve had recently: one with my poetry mentor about a train journey she took, and one with a dear friend about where we each reside in our body. As a result, it’s written in a female voice.
-begin-
I live in the beat of my heart; each pump and rush proves the lush existence that I have from day to day. And when it stops then so do I.
But you live in...
Middle-aged angst
If I say I went for two job interviews and I got one, you’d probably think something like, “Hey! Not bad!” But that’s not how I’m feeling at all.
The job I didn’t get was part-time and a perfect match for my little web business. The job I got is full-time and will be quite demanding. As a result, I will have to give up my business and my day-time contact with...
Feedback on Hordesman's Master
Since my last post, I’ve been the recipient of some very useful comments about the book. The conclusion is that it’s going well apart from the last two chapters - that’s the one-line summary.
In more detail, there are (obviously at this stage) typos and oddities that need fixing, and queries about the pacing in a couple of places, and a few places where I need to explain things...
June 2012
4 posts
Is a Second Book Like a Second Album?
You know what it’s like: you discovered an amazing new band and listened to their album until you knew every subtle sound. You bathed in the musical wonder of it all. Then they released their second album and your excitement soon turned to disappointment — this wasn’t what it was supposed to sound like! This is different!
Is that what it’s like for second books? I may not...
Negative Comments
How should we respond to comments about our writing that we don’t like?
I had a negative comment about my first book. Someone thought it was not an adult book (perhaps meaning not a sex and violence book?) and they gave it to their grandchildren, and gave a one-star rating on goodreads.
The wonderful thing I’ve found is that I don’t mind very much, and yet I spent six years...
Six Thoughts About Poetry
I was talking to a friend of mine on Twitter about the another friend who was criticising the ‘floweriness’ of the language used in poetry (see my previous Tumblr post Fuck it. My gay mate is dead). Here’s a summary of what we decided:
‘Flowery’ implies a pile of doily words that distract from the underlying idea. I don’t want to do that (and don’t think...
Fuck it. My gay mate is dead.
Just when I think I’m getting somewhere in learning to communicate real feelings and concepts, in ways that can be understood and appreciated by a wide range of people, I get this response to one of my poems [update: these comments were apparently not meant to be a critique of my particular poem, but rather of poetry in general]:
“… ooh-er missus. I did an English Lit degree...
May 2012
14 posts
Writing and Promoting II
Dagnamit! I knew this would happen. I’m so busy promoting my book, that I’m having trouble doing the writing that I love.
Including this tumblr.
Must do better.
Quick Note #1
In my last article I talked about why self-publishing might be the best route to readers — here’s a similar take on the idea: http://io9.com/5911634/the-most-successful-self+published-sci+fi-and-fantasy-authors
Might Self-Publishing Actually Be the Best Route...
The established model of “Author => Publisher => Reader” is under threat by self-publishing, which is bizarre since, let’s face it, most of the books that are self-published are awful. However, as far as I can see, it’s true; today I saw this: http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/how-a-book-is-born-infographic_b51636 and I had a moment of clarity: publishing is...
The Preface for "Teddy and the Hordesmen's Master"
Yesterday, on Twitter, there was talk about prologues and prefaces. I thought I’d post the preface for the still-being-revised ”Teddy and the Hordesmen’s Master” (due out end of July, 2012) for your comments:
—Preface—
It was like buses. The long years from 2005 to 2008 were quiet; not a hint of action. Then, one outstanding day, a million things seemed to...
What a Publisher Should Never Do
Mandy deGeit had written her first story when this happened to her:
http://mandydegeit.wordpress.com/2012/05/14/when-publishing-goes-wrong-starring-undead-press/
There needs to be payback for what they did. Not just for this one case, but for all the publishers who see authors as cattle to be used as they see fit.
Here’s my email:
Dear Sir/Madam,
Re: “She Makes Me Smile”...
Old Question? "Is the Internet Killing the Book"
The Literary Gift Company posted a question on Facebook today:
“Is the internet killing the book”
It’s a bit of an old question (where old = >1 year), but I was surprised that everyone who replied said ‘yes’ in one way or another. This was my reply:
I kind of take the opposite view, but perhaps that’s due to how I define ‘book’. People said...
Nightmare - 8/5/12 - 02:52 (make of it what you...
Went to bed mulling over a play/serious argument between Arthur D and Karen G on Twitter. Suddenly I was in a hotel room. Karen comes in, looking grumpy, I try to say something but she’s just annoyed that I know. Leaves.
I go to the foyer to get some air. A man wants to buy my watch, or one just like it. I say ‘no’ (though I know they’ve stopped making the model) he hangs...
SF&F, Meet Philosophy
It’s a marriage made in … well some sort of metaphysical space, the exact nature of which may require some debate.
Science Fiction and Fantasy are MADE to explore philosophical concepts, and good SF&F has always taken it upon itself to do exactly that. The problem is that some SF&F writers haven’t got the memo. They write grand, sprawling space operas, set on the planet...
Posh
Right, I’m writing this post partly so that my last post (entitled “Breast Pumps”) isn’t the post casual visitors will land on, since it would then also likely be the LAST of my posts they ever see.
So I’m going to talk about the word ‘posh’.
During the recent elections for London Mayor (that’s London, England for some US readers out there) there...
On Breast Pumps
A friend of mine is pregnant and going through the whole “I can’t quite believe it” thing, as well as the, “Oh my goodness! I never knew that!” thing.
One thing she’s just discovered is that, sometimes, pregnancy magazines give away breast pumps as prizes. This is completely not something she ever expected to read. It got me thinking.
Joanne (my wife) had...
Local and Mayoral Elections in Great Britain
I don’t normally comment on politics, but these local elections have been rather more fascinating than usual. And of the main reason for that is because most of the British Public don’t agree with me: 68% of them, to be exact.
That’s right 68% of people didn’t vote at all. That’s over two in three people who thought there was no point, or they couldn’t be...
Sexual Harassment
Twice in three weeks, the issue of sexual harassment has reared up in my life. I’m not being personally affected by it, although I have been in the past, but I’ve been close to two very different views on what harassment is and how to react to it.
So, three weeks ago, I was sitting in the pub (the first time I’ve been to a pub on my own for seven years by the way, since Bertie...
Introversion
It’s strange isn’t it? I’ve done keynote conference presentations to huge audiences, with a thrill and a bounce in my step; Facebook is a ‘place’ I love because I can talk and joke and make friends; even Twitter, with it’s mass of curtailed snippets has a charm because of the way it levels all its authors - there is no hierarchy.
What’s strange then?...
Interviews: Creativity and Everyday Life
Starting next week, I’ll be doing a series of eight interviews with people who can’t help but express themselves creatively, while all the time getting on with their everyday lives.
None of these people are rich: they don’t make much (if any) money from their craft, with perhaps one exception.
None of these people are powerful: they cannot sway opinion nor move governments, nor...
April 2012
13 posts
Note to Self: (please ignore if you're not me)
Places to publish content:
Tumblr (for stuff about writing, writing itself, musing about life etc)
Facebook (for keeping and making relationship that matter to me)
Twitter (for networking, news and a twisted stream of randomness)
Google+ (for meeting computer scientists, and possibly SEO goodness)
grŵpgwyn (for my profession, writer’s profile and official updates to my books)
HubPages...
HubPages: Dirty and Wrong or Useful Training?
I’ve just started an account on HubPages. In other words, I plan to write for money. As opposed to my books, which I sell for peanuts. (Not literally, you understand, the currency here is UK Pounds Sterling, actually).
On the one hand, you could say I’m ‘selling out’. I’m whoring myself. I’m using my craft to make a quick quid - if I’m lucky. If not...
Petrol Bombs for Six-year-olds
We just finished a 4 litre plastic milk bottle and Bertie was jumping up and down, asking for it. “How lovely,” I thought. “He wants to make a rocket,” I thought. So I asked him. His reply? “Noooo! I want to make a petrol bomb!” What? I mean WHAT? Where do they GET these things? Do they have “Hardcore activism” classes at school or something?
DRM-Free is a Not Free-for-all
My book(s) are DRM-free. Which is to say the two books coming out this year will be as DRM-free, as is the book that’s already been published. They’re available on my Simon M Garrett page at grŵpgwyn — just click “Hordemen’s Master” and you can by the book with no copy control at all. Today.
Am I mad? Do I want my sales to bleed into the gutter and die a slow,...
I Should Probably Get More Sleep
I have just written a lovely little poem called, “All This Fucking Shit”. Yes. Sweet.
I think this one might go down as a “therapy” poem - then again, some might say that all poetry is therapy.
Still, for a vitriolic rant, it’s surprisingly good. It has spirit (you might have guessed that); it has multiple uses of the words ‘fuck’ and ‘shit’,...
Shutting Up Shop
Well, we just closed down my wife’s business tonight. I removed the buy-now buttons, plastered a “we’re closed” banner across the top, and took out the shopping cart. A bit like ripping its guts out. I’m choked up and feel like I just killed something. I kind of have.
The Gaiman Ode
When he loped into the room, (all black curls and dark, another space, out there, beyond gravity) I swear I could see tiny stars in him, from certain angles.
Then he sat; arranged and unfolded the crisp notes, (silence — a finger stroked over paper, a shh’prush gracenote) and open, ready to read.
From his mouth came the sound of the sun, orange and crackling, a brown drone, to pull-out...
“Long” - 14/3/12 (revised 12/4/12)
Colliding atoms, ruled by chemistry in the bitter brown and fermented foam that makes us merry. So, we talk to each other with noisy flushed faces and laughing grins; pulling at time to be together, energising our vital, loose devotions, hearts flooded with woozy, shared moments, and another drink.
We go home, take on our lives, and make the best of each year, from time to time. I hear we all...
Science Fiction and Colonialism
This is a “getting my head in gear” post, in which I set out what I know, or at least what I think I know, about this subject before really getting into it. It should prove interesting to look back and see how much my position changes … But first:
Why bother?
Well, first, I love Sci Fi. It’s done a lot for me over the years, in one way or another, and it’s helped...
First Full Draft (that actually has a consistent...
First draft of “Hordesmen’s Master” totally complete and ready for Joanne to censor/read. 64,000 words exactly, which is odd.
When I was checking, I found the book had a huge chronological cock-up, which required a significant number of re-arrangements and edits - but I think I’m done, at last.
Assuming Joanne finds no major plot or sanity issues (and that’s by no...
