I'm Afraid of . . . Snakes.

I spent some time reading your journal Kevin
You like writing and anecdotes?
You might enjoy reading some of mine ... then again you may not ... let me know mate
htpp://**************.********.com
Cheers mate
******

Don't know about you, but I'm always a little dubious when someone calls me 'mate' twice in one email. Especially someone I don't even know.

Needless to say I didn't click the link. I'm like that.

Later . . .

I'm Afraid of . . . Hypnosis but I don't Know Why.

Finished Hybrid by Shaun Hutson. This is a story of writer's block, and how it affects one particular writer. On its own, this isn't enough to fill an entire novel, so interspersed with the action we are treated to the book that Christopher is writing (a book that gets finished despite the writers block). The book within a book takes up the vast quantity of Hybrid, and the links between what Chirstopher writes and what happens to him in the outside world are tenuous at best (and only then become apparent at the book's conclusion. I found the ending of this book disappointing. The explanation for what has been happening seems rushed and is ultimately unsatisfying. The reader is left with a more than reasonable amount of questions.

I found the book Christopher writes -- Fresh Skins -- more interesting than what was happening to Christopher. Admittedly, it seems a little too short, and there's another slew of plot questions, but at least it was interesting. Odd point -- the protag of this book is the protag of some of Shaun Hutson's other books, I noticed, which makes me wonder how these books tie in with each other.

I've never understood why writers would want to write about writers. Whilst the mechanics of writing, the intricacies of getting published, etc, are interesting to me, I can't imagine it would be interesting to people who don't write. Certainly when I talk about it with other people, it always sounds boring to my ears, and I stop if I think I'm losing their interest. I always wonder why people read this blog, although to be honest it's not been a hundred percent about writing for a while now.

Next up: Soulsaver by James Stevens-Arce.

Later . . .

I'm Afraid of . . . Mr. Paperclip.

I watched Shallow Hal last night, and found it funny. Given that the main point of this movie is Fat People Are Funny, does that make me shallow?

Nothing I didn't already know.

Later . . .

I'm Afraid of . . . Americans.

'I get bored of talking.'

Well, I returned from the Sticks this morning to find that the computers back at work are up and running . . . sort of. We still can't use half of the printers, and things appeared to have vanished during the virus removal process, but I can actually get some work done now. As long as I don't have to spend anymore time colouring in I'll be happy.

The weekend away was good. We had five of us out for a curry in Plymfff on the Friday night. The pubs afterwards were a little quiet for our liking; my mates spent the rest of the evening lamenting the 'lack of decent women' down on the Brabican.

Elydian managed to convince us to go down to Hope Cove on the Saturday for the infamous Hope Cove Weekend. Should have known better -- past experience has taught us HCW is typically boring -- but we went anyway. Walked around a couple of times, bought a treasure hunt sheet (which we didn't fill in cos we couldn't get any of the clues), and then went home. What I can remember of Saturday night was better, despite (or because of?) us not getting into Fusion Squared and one of my mates getting into some agro with one of my neighbours. I don't know which one of us it was, but I have my suspicions.

Later . . .

I'm Afraid of . . . Britney Spears.

So what else is there to report? Just finished From a Buick 8 by Stephen King. Despite my fears it wasn't as bad as I had been led to believe. I was a little worried to begin with, but it got quite good towards the end. SPOILERS > > > When, towards the end, Sandy starts telling Ned that he won't get any answers from this story, that the story doesn't have any end, I got really worried, thinking that SK might be warning us that Buick 8 doesn't have an end. As it turns out the ending was quite good. I liked the way tied Ned's frustration at the story to the ending of our story. < < < END SPOILERS. Not his best, no, but far better than Dreamcatcher.

I also started -- and almost finished -- Hybrid by Shaun Hutson. More horror. I'll tell you what I think later in the week.

The Well got rejected again yesterday. Damn. Still, I did get an I 'invite you to submit again at any time' from the editor, which is kind of encouraging. Might have to try and find somewhere to send it when I get a moment.

No word back on He Missed the Sea. Finally

New Chapters -- 1;
New Stories -- 0;
Words -- 12000;
Stories in Circulation -- 1 (He Missed the Sea);
Rejections -- 5;
Acceptances -- 0.

Later . . .

Kevin Doesn't . . . believe the kid is his, so Sonny agrees to watch over him until a foster family can be found.

I can't write too much today, 'cos work's been hit by those viruses. Everything's clean (or so they tell us) but the network took a pounding yesterday, and now nothing works. Email and internet access is sporadic at best, and we can't get to anything saved on the network. I've spent the morning colouring in drawings with a highlighter, and I look to be spending the afternoon in much the same way.

Had to walk to work this morning because my all of my rides are away. Didn't mind too much, but it started raining about five minutes into the journey. Being stubborn as I am, I chose to carry on towards work (still twenty minutes away) rather than go back to the Distant Past and get a coat. I looked like a drowned rat when I finally got to the office.

I'm going back to the Sticks tonight for a long weekend. Thought I'd take advantage of the bank holiday and go back and see my friends and family. We're going for the obligatory curry tomorrow night, and Saturday night will probably be spent on the usual pursuit of beer in Kings. Still, I'm quite looking forward to it, as I've not been back home this summer as much as I would have liked.

I've done some work on Eclipse past couple of nights. (Yeah!) No new words down, but I did manage to develop some ideas in terms of the plot and the characters. I'll take a pen and pad with me this weekend, hopefully I'll have a few moments to work on it further. One other thing . . . a new challenge approaches, so I've tried to think up an idea for that. Want to participate in this one, seeing as I haven't posted anything at the workshop in months.

Later . . .

Kevin Doesn't . . . find the wine aisle of the new Coop expensive.

Watched The Others for the first time last night. Good film. Nicely done for a 'haunted house' story.

Later . . .

Kevin Doesn't . . . even seem to be concentrating then all of a sudden he announces "I know where Eve is!"

Finished A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire 2) by George R.R. Martin, last night. Good book, but something that has me slightly worried is that this book is a series. I had resolved not to read anymore series unless they were finished and fully published, after Robert Jordan so effectively destroyed my faith in the epic-fantasy genre. I was unwilling to get involved in a writer's world in case the books started declining in quality or look as though they were never going to end (crimes of which Jordan is becoming increasingly guilty).

Anyway, I thought that Song of Ice and Fire was completed. It was only when I was browsing around at Amazon that I realised that only half of the series had yet been released. Nevermind. The books so far have been brilliant, and I have been amazed at not only the complexity of the world Martin is sharing with us, but also the fact that I haven't gotten bored with it. So many characters, motives, plot-lines, all deftly woven together, and I still want to read more and more. I was in town this weekend and it was hard not to just buy the two halves of A Storm of Swords so I could read them straight away (harder still considering WHSmith's 2 for £10 offer). It seems I still have a little faith in the genre.

Next on the list: From a Buick 8 by Stephen King. I read this book with trepidation; I've heard some really bad things about it.

Later . . .

Kevin Doesn't . . . Think There's Anything He Can't Do.

I've just sent off He Missed the Sea. Cross fingers :)

And also:
New Chapters -- 1;
New Stories -- 0;
Words -- 12000;
Stories in Circulation -- 2 (The Well, He Missed the Sea);
Rejections -- 4;
Acceptances -- 0.

Later . . .

Kevin Doesn't . . . Dance.

After fiddling around with it last night, I think I may have finally finished He Missed the Sea (the flash piece that I've had in development for about a year now). The only person who's read it so far is me, so I'm tempted to leave it a couple of days whilst I find somewhere to send it, and then read it over again before I hit send on the email. I don't know, I might do.

This story wasn't workshopped because I don't think it actually qualifies as spec-fic. I don't really know what it is. I thought I'd avoid the inevitable cries of 'This isn't **insert whatever genre was ticked**!' by not posting it at the 'shop.

In other news: I haven't heard anything back from The Well recently. It's approaching the end of the two months quoted as the market's RT, so I may have to send out a polite query next week.

Later . . .

Kevin Doesn't . . . think you are the next Miss Universe!

Just got back from our long weekend away in Cornwall. I'm sunburnt and tired and severly poorer, but it was definitely worth it.

The highlight of the weekend was definitely the Eden Sessions gig on the Friday night. Aiden Smith was okay, some of his humorous songs were quite funny. Grand Drive started slow, and I found my mind wandering before they finally picked up the pace a little. The Thrills were good -- Lou thought they were amazing and is already talking about booking tickets to their next tour. I actually thought that Badly Drawn Boy was better. Like I said, I've not been listening to his music for long, but I recognised most of the old tracks and thought I could get into the new stuff he's writing.

Saturday we went to the beach, where I burnt in random splotches across my back and legs. Sunday we went out walking along the cliffs around Fowey. Thanks to my sunburn I had to do the walk in jeans and a T-shirt. Not a pleasant experience considering the weather (hot, hot, hot), but it was a nice day all the same.

And I finished reading Prince of Ayodhya by Ashok K. Banker.
{ 7/10 }

Sunday I started on A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire 2) by George R.R. Martin.

Later . . .