Writing Goals and Resolutions - April Update

Here we go with April's update on my writing goals for 2009, and my general New Year resolutions.

Writing Goals

• Write every day, aiming for a minimum of two pages each day.
  Getting a little better. I fell off the wagon with the morning pages for a long time, but I'm starting to get back up there. And starting in May, if I have any hope of getting two books finished this year, then I pretty much need to be writing 1500 words a day.
  
• Compile an electronic anthology of my best short stories from 2008.
  Yeaaaaah... about that... that may turn into a private project, but I'm keen to do it still.
  
• Launch the Chinese Whispers anthology.
  And we're off!!! The ball is rolling on this as we speak.
  
• Enter six writing contests.
  One entered. Writer's Digest short story contest is next (closes mid-May) then there is also the Bridport Prize and the BBC Short Story contest to come, as well as the Writing Magazine new subscriber's contest. If I also enter one of their monthly contests, that will be my six for the year.
  
• Complete two manuscripts to a publishable standard.
  Ongoing. As hinted above, I have an aggressive writing schedule planned.
  
• Participate in, and complete, NaNoWriMo 2009.
  6 months to go.

New Year Resolutions

• Read at least one book per month.
  Books read this month - Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman, The Prestige by Christopher Priest, What Canst Thou Say? Towards a Quaker Theology by Jane Scott, The Kraken Wakes by John Wyndham, Twelve Quakers and Evil by Quaker Quest.
  
• Get my 5k time down to 18 minutes.
  It's about 26 minutes at the moment. Enough to get me to my race time last year, but not great.
  
• Run the BUPA London 10,000 in 45 minutes.
  One month to go. I will probably get roughly the same time as I got last year.
  
• Take part in a half-marathon in late summer.
  All being well, I might be doing two in autumn, but this will all depend on staying injury free. The physiotherapist isn't too concerned about the recently discovered slipped vertebrae my x-rays revealed in terms of my ability to run, and she's given me exercises to strengthen the problem areas.
  
• Take part in a full-marathon at the end of the year.
  I can't qualify for Boston or New York, I'm not fit enough for Edinburgh, Dublin, Sydney or Auckland. Hastings, maybe? December marathon, not my idea of fun...

Friendly with Bears From Write Anything - 11 January 09

This is adapted from an article that appeared on the Write Anything website on January 11, 2009. The original text can be found here. Sometimes I am a Bear of Very Little Brain. But it did Pooh no harm, so I think I can get away with it...

Friendly with Bears

Last August I wrote that "Characters... are near immortal, continuing long after their creators have shuffled off this mortal coil."

And now, 80 years after he first appeared on the bookshelves, and over 50 years after his creator died, Winnie-the-Pooh is returning in a brand new adventure, Return to the Hundred Acre Wood.

Hmmm... I am in two minds about this. I love Winnie-the-Pooh. The stories of Pooh, Piglet, Eyeore, Rabbit and all the others are part of my childhood. I moved on from the children's stories,and explored Eastern philosophy through The Tao of Pooh, Western philosophy through Pooh and the Philosophers. I was guided through the Ancient Mysteries in Pooh and the Magicians, and versed in psychology in Pooh and the Psychologists, before returning to the simplicity of Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner.

A fresh story, a chance to return to a beloved childhood location is enticing. It should be something I'm happy about.

But there have been previous attempts to extend the Pooh canon. After adapting the original stories, Disney began to invent new stories. New situations. New characters. I'm no great fan of the Disney adaptations of the original stories – I can't stand the new material they came up with. The situations and characters are so incongruous, it as if they neither understand, nor care about, the characters.

So I await the release of this book with some trepidation. The fact that the book has the blessing of both the A A Milne and E H Shepard estates is encouraging. Although they sold their rights to Disney, the Milne family were not always happy with the cartoons that Disney came up with, so the fact that the families of the author and the illustrator are both pleased with the story does give me hope that this will feel like an undiscovered chapter of a familiar childhood friend, rather than an unwanted intrusion into an Enchanted Place.

Tags: Write Anything Sunday Writer Paul Anderson

Fiction Friday - 24 April 2009 Lady's Luck

This Week's Theme: During her first trip to Las Vegas, a woman experiences the luckiest night of her life. (It’s not from gambling).

---

Sin City is being baptised. The Good Lord's seen fit to send a second deluge to remove the stain of iniquity from the streets. Parts of the Strip resemble the Jordan, with cars sliding through the choppy waters like boats.

Rain's coming down so hard, even the hookers and crack dealers outside the Chapel of Love have moved on; no business tonight ladies, every John has stayed indoors. Poker tables might cost them as much as a trick, but at least it's dry.

Not even the Bellagio can compete with Mother Nature's water and light show tonight. Sky's incandescent, flickering with each roar of thunder. House will be happy - captive audiences with nowhere to go and money to burn.

I watch it all, as I always do, from on high. Tonight will be quiet. For a change.

There's a girl on the street, and at first I think she's a working girl, and pretty desperate to be out in all this, but no, she's just unlucky. Trying to flag down a cab on a night like this? Not happening. Looks like she came wandering down the Strip, got caught in the maelstrom, and now needs to get back to her hotel. Doesn't look the gambling sort, not part of a wedding party - I'm guessing conference attendee, and I continue to watch her.

I'm not alone. There by the bus shelter, baggy clothes and baseball cap pulled down. He's watching too. Funny, I didn't spot him before, but now I recognise him; don't know his name, only his reputation.

You're bad luck might just turn worse sweetheart. Looking up and down the strip, still no taxis. One draws close, but the lights are off, and it passes by, churning up surf.

Big mistake, she's lost patience and starts walking. Two seconds after passing the bus stop, , the baseball cap slips round the back and starts tailing her. She'll be OK for another block - bright lights, lots of people - but next block is a workzone, nobody around. That's where it'll happen. Big picture, it's not my concern. Just another little story in a big town.

No, that's a lie, it is my concern. If I didn't know, if I couldn't see it unfold, different story, but I do know, and I can see it; so no choice.

I drop down to street level, and shadow baseball cap, keeping as close to him as he does to the girl. First instinct, keep walking and proximity will deter him. So we come to the workzone, and he quickens his pace. I see the approach, can't make out what he says with the damn rat-a-tat-tat of rain, but the girl's being reeled in. Maybe he says he's got a ride, which hotel are you at, it's just in this parking lot, it won't be any trouble, it doesn't matter, she's following him off the sidewalk and I'm out of options.

I run after them and grab the guy by the scruff of his neck, screaming at him. "Where's the money Jack? I'm not kidding around here!" He's yelling I've got the wrong guy, and I don't know Jack from Adam, but it puts enough of a scare on the girl, especially when I pull a blade out, that she runs. You run lady. You run and you don't stop until you find a cop, or get to a hotel, whatever. You run.

I drop the guy into the mud. "I don't know who you are, but I'm not-" I cut him with a boot to the face, crouch down, and run the blade down his face a couple of times, just so he has something to remember me by.

"This, this is a warning. I know what you do, and I know what you look like. I know what you were going to do to that girl. It's cold, it's wet, and I'm pissed off, so here's the deal. She got lucky tonight, now so do you."

I let him feel my fist a couple of times, just so he gets the message. "You get tonight to pack and leave, disappear. You never come back. If you ever do, I'll know. Now go!" I haul him to his feet, and push him away. He doesn't even look back, just runs. "Clocks ticking!" He quickens his pace, and I lose him in the gloom.

Slowly I walk back towards the Strip, rain dripping off the blade, taking the last drops of blood from it. The Good Lord's sent a second deluge. City feels a little cleaner.

Sounds about right

I'm reading The Kraken Wakes by John Wyndham at the moment, and came across this passage that I quite liked.

He's a civilized, liberal-minded man - with the usual trouble of liberal-minded men; that they think others are, too. He has an interested, inquiring mind. He has never grasped that the average mind when it encounters something new is scared, and says: "Better smash it, or suppress it, quick."

Think I concur with that description...

300th post coming soon, you lucky people...

I resolve... From Write Anything - 4 January 09

This is adapted from an article that appeared on the Write Anything website on January 04, 2009. The original text can be found here. I made several commitments to myself for this year, and one (unspoken) commitment was accountability. At the end of each month I honestly appraise my progress against each goal, to see how I am doing. This article looks at the difference between wishful thinking and achievable goals.

I resolve...

Every new year we make resolutions, promises to change behaviours, to stop doing things, to cease our bad habits. This isn't always a productive course to take. Telling yourself that you will stop an established pattern is difficult, and it is very negative. Resolutions are always more effective when positively phrased, and have an achievement, rather than a cessation.

The other important thing to do is make sure that you have selected an achievable goal. An achievable goal has two elements. Firstly, it has to be possible. With the best will in the world, I would not be able to set a world record in the 100m sprint this year. It is conceivable that I could run that fast (a very slim chance) but the level of training required could not be carried out in one year. Therefore the goal is not possible, and is not achievable.

The second element is one that I had failed to realise, and it was not until I read this blog post by JA Konrath that I realised why many of my resolutions from last year were failures. Only set goals you can control.

In order to achieve a resolution, you have to be in control of the elements of it. For example, one of my resolutions last year was to have an agent by the end of the year. But in order to get an agent, I would require to find an agent willing to take on my work. That aspect is outwith my control. I can't make an agent take me on, therefore this resolution is not an achievable goal. A better resolution would have been to search for an agent, but to declare that you will have one is setting your self up for a fall.

So, like JA Konrath, I invite you to look at your goals. Which ones are achievable by your own hard work and determination, and which will require luck or some other event outwith your control to achieve. Concentrate your energy on those resolutions that are entirely within your own power. You may be lucky, and your other resolutions may bear fruit. But disappointment can follow if your resolutions all rely too much on luck for their achievement.

Tags: Write Anything Sunday Writer Paul Anderson

Amazon - FAIL

Today I lost my respect for Amazon as a company. Under the guise of "removing adult content" they have removed the sales rank of books dealing with homosexuality. Not, I might add, simply gay porn. If your book concerns homosexuality in any way, Amazon will shove it out of sight and back in the closet.

Anne Proulx's Brokeback Mountain, the seminal Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson have suffered, as have advice books about coming out, and academic texts on gay rights and the treatment of homosexuals in society and by religion.

Yet, in this moralistic crusade, Amazon allows explicit, heterosexual material. Search for "Playboy". It even allows illegal material. Search for "dog fighting".

You can read the details, and the response received from Amazon by Young Adult writer Mark R. Probst on his blog. If you wish to protest, there is a petition here to sign.

This policy is discrimination, pure and simple. So long as Amazon persists with it, then I view them as no better than any other book burner and censor. I will not purchase books from Amazon, nor have any dealings with their subsidiaries. I have already removed the links to my Amazon wishlist.

I would ask you to do likewise. I will be writing to complain to Amazon's customer service department using the template suggested by the Dear Author blog.

And finally, since boycotts alone will not change Amazon's mind, I am following the suggestion on the Smart Bitches, Trashy Books blog. Time for bad publicity.

Amazon Rank.

Memorable gifts From Write Anything - 28 December 08

This is adapted from an article that appeared on the Write Anything website on December 28, 2008. The original text can be found here. The last of the Christmas ones - note to self, try not to be so seasonal in future! Especially as it is Easter Sunday today... Rereading this article, I've realised that I haven't followed up on my promise to mention the "mystery present" for making writing on the move easier. Must address that soon...

Memorable gifts

I hope everyone had a peaceful and enjoyable Christmas, and that however you traditionally spend the day, you spent it well. In a consumer driven age, the emphasis has been on "winning" Christmas. how many presents did you get, how expensive were they?

None of my presents this year were of the ludicrously expensive, consumerism for the sake of it type (at least as far I know). But many of them have a connection to the literary, including the long sought after boxed DVD set of the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes TV series (in my opinion the best adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's stories) and a fun little bit of technology that might make writing on the move a little easier for me (and so I'll leave you in suspense for a few weeks until I've tried it out...)

But there was one gift that meant a lot to me. A few weeks ago I wrote about the books that you remember from before you could read, and in passing mentioned a series of six fairy tales with shadow puppet style illustrations. Sadly, I could not remember who they were by.

My parents however could, as they still have them at home in Scotland – and after reading the article, my mum found them and was going to send them to me, but then thought again, in case they went missing in the mail (these books are, as I've since found out, over 30 years old...). So she and my dad looked online to see if they were available for sale. They aren't, but a new edition of four of the fairy tales, in a large glossy hardback has come out.

The talented artist who made such an impression on me is Jan Pieńkowski, best known for his Haunted House pop-up book, and the Meg and Mog series of books. Of course, they didn't tell me any of this, and so on Christmas morning I opened up a present and saw this:



I don't think I've smiled quite so broadly in a long time! All the illustrations I remember from growing up were in my hands once again. Out of all the presents that morning, I think it is the one that meant the most, as it brought out the child in me once more.

Tags: Write Anything Sunday Writer Paul Anderson

Fiction Friday - 10 April 2009 Extraction

This Week's Theme: A dentist is stabbed while he waits in line at the movies.

---

"Well, this looks familiar."

"I thought you'd recognise it. How long's it been? Three years?"

"Five." Sal grabbed a pair of gloves from his kit bag, pulling them on swiftly. He crouched down beside the body, and began to examine it. "Single stab wound to the heart from behind, weapon unknown." He pulled at the lower lip of the corpse and grimaced. "Pretty. Did he take all of them?"

The ME shook his head. "He took them all out, but he left most of them." He shook a small evidence bag, filled with bloodied white objects, then handed them over.

Detective Sal Hernandez looked at the bag thoughtfully, then stood up. "Lemme guess, he's a dentist, right?"

"Mr Simon Kahn, he has a private clinic on Bayside." Sal rubbed his jaw. "Tooth Fairy's back then. Five years quiet, now this."

"I thought the Tooth Fairy didn't exist?" The ME smiled at Sal. "Har har doc." He peered at the crowds thronging behind the police line. "No witnesses I take it?"

"Lots of witnesses saw the vic before and after death. But nobody saw the attack."

"Suppose it was too much to hope." Sal glanced at the marquee above, emblazoned with the name of the blockbuster hit showing that night. "They all queuing to see that?" he said, pointing at the sign.

The ME nodded. "Five hundred people, not a single one saw our Mr Kahn get stabbed." He pulled up the zip on the black body bag and signalled that he was ready to take the body away. "Honestly, who dislikes dentists this much?"

"Ever see Marathon Man?" Sal glanced over, the corner of his mouth curling slightly.

"Har har detective," the ME echoed. "I'll let you know if the autopsy finds anything unusual. Doubt it will, but you never know."

"You never know. Thanks doc."

As he watched the coronor's van driving off, his phone rang.

"Hernandez."

"Sal, it's Bruce. You better get down to the Old Mama Goose's bar. Kringle just smashed a beer bottle into the Easter Bunny's face, and things aren't looking pretty."

"I'm on my way." He hung up and sighed. It never stops, does it? A slight jangling sound made him pause. He looked down at the evidence bag in his hands. Instead of bloodied teeth, it was full of bloodied quarters.

Some day Tooth Fairy thought Sal. Some day I'll get you.

There's gotta be something more...

I have been quiet. Well, quieter shall we say. Lots of thinking, lots of soul-searching. My up and down emotional state went to another dip recently, so I'm clawing my way back out of that.

I have effectively been demoted at work. At least I still have a job, but the last little shreds of satisfaction have gone, along with the last little shreds of the job I was hired to do. So time to actually look for a career, not just a job. I'll keep you posted on that one...

Since I have "come out", for want of a better phrase, at home I can now with clear conscience speak about one of the more profound changes I'm currently undergoing. My already badly lapsed Catholicism has been given a final death blow, as I begin a fresh spiritual path. For some months now I've been attending meetings at my local Quaker Meeting House, with a view to becoming a full member in the near future. Don't expect there to be any radical changes mind you, I'm just saying...

That's one aspect where there had been dissatisfaction now resolved. If I could get the other areas nailed down, then things might just be peachy.

Possibly related to the need to find something more uplifting in my life, something nourishing and enriching - I've begun to dabble with the idea of having my own apothecary garden, growing and using herbs medicinally. An odd hobby to have, I suppose, but not without it's attractions.

Oh, some exciting news came from today, but I won't say anything until closer the time (I know, I'm a tease).

I'll be slightly more talkative again soon, I promise. Probably once I've finished The Artist's Way) (week 10 of 12 at the moment, so not long).

Later skaters.

Venite, venite From Write Anything - 21 December 08

This is adapted from an article that appeared on the Write Anything website on December 21, 2008. The original text can be found here. Another Christmas one I'm afraid - but I like this one, about my favourite Christmas carol, and the ease with which we can retroactively place interpretations on source materials.

The Meaning of Words

In the run up to Christmas, news breaks in the silent night that a perennial favourite Christmas Carol (and my all time favourite) may not be all that it appears to be.

The carol is Adeste Fideles/O Come All Ye Faithful, and according to Professor Bennett Zon of Durham University it is actually a subversive political message in support of Bonnie Prince Charlie, the Young Pretender, and leader of the Second Jacobite Rebellion of 1745.

News to me, and no doubt to many people who sing it each year. From a Catholic upbringing, I was more familiar with the Latin version of the carol, and so listening to tortured explanations of how O Come All Ye Faithful was a Jacobean cipher, it all seemed quite implausible. Professor Zon described how Bonnie Prince Charlie was born near to Christmas, and was compared to a saviour, but it all seemed pretty weak.

The alleged connections are stronger when considered in Latin. Zon explains that the "Fideles" were faithful Catholic Jacobites. Venite, venite in Bethlehem is an exhortation to come to Bethlehem, and he explains that Bethlehem was a common Jacobean code word for England. The most convincing lines are

Natum videte
Regem Angelorum

The pun is in Angelorum, Latin for Angels, and close to Anglorum, Latin for English. So rather than "Come and behold him, Born the King of Angels", we have "Come and behold him, Born the King of the English" (the Jacobean Rebellion all being in support of the Scottish Stuart line's claim to the English throne that had been lost to the Hanoverians).

This prompted some discussion as to whether the carol should be sung now, with the "true" meaning revealed. I'm not convinced that is the true meaning however. I would suggest that instead the parallels were spotted and the song adopted by the Jacobeans. If the Jacobeans created the song as a political anthem of support for a Catholic king, then there is a devil of a job to explain away much of the traditional second verse.

Deum de Deo/God of Gods
Lumen de lumine/Light of Lights
Gestant puellae viscera/Lo he abhors not the Virgin's womb
Deum verum, genitum non factum/Very God, begotten not created

Taken literally, a reference to the Christian beliefs about Jesus. Taken metaphorically, difficult to apply to Bonnie Prince Charlie without committing sacrilege and elevating him to the level of God. With a large Catholic support, it is unlikely the Jacobites would have engaged in blasphemy.

What is the true meaning of the carol? What is truth anyway? As with all words, meaning is in the ear of the beholder, and words can bear many interpretations. The carol can mean a hymn of praise to a saviour born in Bethlehem, it can be an uplifting song that reminds you of Christmas, or it can be a song in support of a historical figure, remembered only in rueful memory by the Scots. When I sing it at Christmas as I have done every year for as long as I can remember, I know what meaning I will give it.

Tags: Write Anything Sunday Writer Paul Anderson