That to which we aspire...

As this year has started busily with regards to my other job (that's right, folks, I have decided that from here on in I will be referring to myself as 'a full-time writer who does a little bit of business consultancy and auditing on the side' rather than referring to my writing career as some kind of sideline or hobby - besides, referring to myself as a writer first-and-foremost gives me a recusant, bohemian air...methinks), I haven't had the opportunity to really throw myself into any of the far-too-many writing projects that I want to tackle this year (such as The Curious Case of God vs Pratt, Deus Magnus, the follow-up to Red Plus Zone, the Minstrel Yan poem, etc) - instead, what little spare time I've had so far this year has been devoted to my other target - reading as many of the SF Masterworks as possible.
And I'm not sure I could have started off with two better books :)

The first is The Lathe of Heaven by the fabulously named Ursula Le Guin (helpful picture of the cover below).

I wanted to read one of her books after I heard her name mentioned in Dominic Sandbrook's fascinating 4-part TV series:
The Unearthly History of Science Fiction

If you haven't watch it, check it out - it's really good!

I couldn't get hold of The Left Hand of Darkness (it's on my list though) so I went for The Lathe of Heaven instead...and I certainly wasn't disappointed.

I'm not going to go into great detail about it (I'm not very good at dissecting and analysing books) - instead, I'm simply going to say that it has a fabulous concept at its core (the ability of a man to change reality through his dreams, and another man's desire to control that ability) and, just as fascinating from my perspective (because I'm a writer, remember), it is written with a wonderful, flamboyant prose. Here's a writer who is determined to use the full pantheon of words, someone who won't shy away from using precisely the right noun or adjective just out of fear that the reader may not understand it - that's an approach I really, really like (after all, looking up a word is what a dictionary is for!)

I'd summarise The Lathe of Heaven as exactly the sort of science fiction novel that I, as a writer (refer to my earlier point) aspires to write.

The other book I have read since the start of the year?

Actually, it's the second element of this two-part offering (another helpful image below), both by Czech writer Karel Capek (the man credited with bringing us the word ROBOT...which is predominantly the reason why the play 'RUR' is the first of the two parts of this book - it's okay, and would be interesting to see on stage, but it's not what I'm going to wax lyrical about!)

The War with the Newts (which is what I'm going to wax lyrical about) I found to be incredibly engaging and very, very clever, because it really is more of a critique of all that is wrong with mankind - yes, it has some baggage from the time it was written (1936) but that doesn't detract from the underlying premise, which is that that which we take advantage of and treat badly may just come back and bite us in the ass!!

It's just groovy!

So there you have it, folks - two really, really good books for your perusal and delectation.

Hopefully, one day in the not-too-distant future, someone will be kind enough to say something similar in their blog about something which a writer called Andrew Ritchie has written.

He's a full-time writer who does a little bit of business consultancy and auditing on the side, don't you know...

Onward and upward

As many of you will know, one of my aims in life is to have a book published in hard copy by the time I'm 50 so I can walk around Waterstones in Bolton, waving it under people's noses, giggling maniacally.
Well, as things stand, it sadly doesn't look like 'The Book That THEY...' is going to be the vehicle that will carry me to that nirvana of dream-fulfilment, more's the pity.
Sales appear, in the last couple of months, to have stalled. Despite my efforts, it has failed to capture the interest of the many influential book reviewers on the interweb. And, in spite of the fact that I've had nothing but positive comments and reviews from all those who have read it, it hasn't grabbed the attention of any publisher or literary agent that just happened to be panning in the river-bed of e-books, searching for a golden nugget or two.
As such, it seems like I am going to have to accept that 'The Book That THEY...', as good as it may be, is destined only to ever exist in electronic form, and that I'm going to have to satisfy myself with knowing that, for a week, I was rated number 13 in the Sci-Fi list on Amazon (in Spain, admittedly).
Oh well, c'est la vie, as they say.

But am I downhearted?
Of course not, for I'm already halfway through my awesome new novel (that's 50,000 words of deliciousness, my friends) and getting a real buzz from creating the backstory, developing the setting, bringing life to the characters and twisting and twirling the plot.
And that, I guess, is the thing I need to remember.
It's okay to set myself a goal, but I mustn't let that goal become the be all and end all. Striving for something has got to be at least as enjoyable and fulfilling, if not more so, as the eventual achievement of it. If it's not, and the aim is never actually fulfilled (which realism suggests is a possibility for anyone looking to get a book published), then the journey will not have been a pleasure. It will have been a chore. And why would I ever want to spend my free time doing something that's a chore?

Back to the Drawing Board

Dies Caniculares
End of Dog
The Final Days of Man's Best Friend

These are just some of the names I was throwing around inside my head last night for a short story that I wrote a few months ago about a 'canine apocalypse'.
Indeed, once I'd decided upon a title, I was seriously thinking about publishing it via Smashwords so that I could offer it is a 'free taster' of my work and hopefully entice people to download 'The Book That THEY…'
I've even got the cover ready (it's based on the new profile picture of my Facebook page, I've Read It, Have You?)

But, by the time I was calling it a day last night, I'd changed my mind.
Why?
Well, when I was reading through the story for the first time in a few weeks, building into it some really good ideas provided by, amongst others, my fellow SF Masterworks aficionado, Dan-the-Man, I suddenly began to realise that I wasn't…it took me a few minutes to come up with the right word…engaged in the story, didn't feel immersed in what was going on; it was something which the lovely Jeanne had mentioned when she had read through it a couple of months ago, but which I had only come to realise now that I had come to re-read the text with the benefit of not having seen it for a while.

Of course, there was nothing wrong with the premise - it was fantastic, naturally.
It was just the style that was wrong. I had originally intended it to be read as if reading a newspaper article, and in many ways, I'd achieved that - it was just that such a style seemed to result in too much detachment from the story.

When I'd finished reading it, I found myself thinking 'So what?' because the absence of any characters in the tale left me without anything or anyone to either have empathy for, or even dislike; that, in turn, meant there was nothing to 'pull me in'.

So, it seems that a trip back the drawing board for this particular tale is required, which may be no bad thing in the long run, if what comes off the drawing board at some point in the future is better.
I'll keep you posted on progress.

As for the free taster idea - it's something I still want to do, but instead I may have a look at my other 'long' short story, The Seven Questions of Daniel Keys.

Hello, did you miss me...?

I know what you're thinking - there have been so few posts in recent weeks, you're wondering if things have gone a little quiet in Andy's Universe.
Oh contraire.
It's the fact that so much has been going on in my universe that I've had so little opportunity to share it all with you fabulous people (and alien life-forms, if any happen to have taken to following my blog).
So, three short snippets today - sport, writing, and international politics.

Sport - at the risk of upsetting any blog-followers down-under, it was very satisfying to watch Michael Clarke desperately trying to convince the umpires at the Oval to go off for bad light in the full knowledge that he was just about to suffer the humiliation of becoming the first Aussie captain to lose an Ashes series 4-0...and this after the day had started with the odds of an England victory at 100-1. A definite momentum switch back to England ahead of the series in Oz, methinks.

Writing - so little time to blog because so much time spent writing and creating. Finished the first draft of 'It's A Dog's Life' and awaiting feedback from the kind souls who have offered to proof-read and critique. Personally, I think it is pretty damn good, but I would, wouldn't I. Also wrote a piece of flash fiction this week that I now need to type up and, perhaps most importantly, I think I've hit upon a really cool concept for a potential series of books - watch this space.

International politics - yes, I know that what has been going on in Syria is truly awful and, yes, I know that the use of chemical weapons is abhorrent, but I do worry when I hear William Hague suggest that the UK may take unilateral military action in Syria. Since when did we become the world's conscience? Why do we have to be the ones to take action?
No, Billy Boy, this is a job for the UN Security Council - unless there is a resolution from them (which is unlikely given the not-unreasonable Russian stance of finding out exactly who it was who used the chemical weapons in the first place, because, let's face it, either side is capable) we shouldn't be doing anything.

Hope to be able to do a bit more blogging in the days and weeks ahead - I'm sure this crazy world of ours will not be without a thing or two to comment on!

What to write...What to write...?

I was, the other night, informed that, according to someone who has recently finished reading Part 3 of 'The Book That THEY...' an 'evil bastard!'...but in a nice way.
Why?
Well, it has something to do with Part 3's ending...and I won't say any more on that particular subject for obvious reasons.
The comment has, though, left me wondering how the same person will react to the ending I've just drafted for the sequel 'The Book That IT Does Not Want You To Read' - more expletives from them, doubting my parentage perhaps? Oh, I really do hope so.

Interestingly, the wider positivity within which the 'evil bastard' comment was cocooned has confirmed that my decision to press on with the sequel was the correct one, and would not (as I had feared) be a waste of time - that would only have been the case if initial feedback from wonderful readers had been that 'They Book That THEY...' was utter crap! Fortunately, no-one has (to date) expressed such views.
However, what this decision means is that initial work on 'The Curious Case of God vs Pratt' (which my Mum in particular likes the first initial chapter of (and which I'm happy to send to anyone who wants a first glance at it)) will now be put on hold until the sequel is finished, and my other intended novel (Twelve Tears of Regret) will only start after 'The Curious Case...' is completed.
But, before any of that, I'm going to write a few short stories that I'm going to try to get published in ezines and magazines (starting with 'The Seven Questions of Daniel Keys') - I'm also going to write a few poems so I can enter the Manchester Poetry Competition this year - yes, I write poetry too!

Not sure why I felt the need to keep you all abreast of what I have planned on the writing front...but then again, this is my blog and I can just about say what the bloody hell I like...so there!

In all, I'm hoping to be busy, busy, busy!

And a quick note of congrats to Pash on his new job - well done, mate!

A writing dilemma

Hmmmm.
A fairly introspective blog this morning as I wrestle with a writing dilemma.
With the impending publication of Part 3 of 'The Book That THEY Do Not Want You to Read', and following my recent visit to Knoydart where I intend to set a portion of the sequel ('The Book That IT...'), my creative juices for scribing the further adventures/misadventures of Jethro Postlethwaite are now well-and-truly flowing again.
And yet, I have been seriously enjoying the early stages of writing 'The Peculiar Case of God vs Pratt' and am equally excited by the prospect of this piece of work.
But I don;t have the time nor the mental capacity to write both at the same time!
So which do I choose?

Oh God!!!
Decisions!!!!

Several minutes of deep thinking later...
I think what I'm going to do is write up the diary entries for JP's time in Knoydart whilst those memories are still fresh in my head and then see how things progress from there...

Yes...

That's what I'll do...