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Doctor Who: 26th June
Well, I very much enjoyed that.
[spoilers ahead]
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Ta-da
In case you're interested, I rolled a dice to decide who gets the screenwriting DVD that I blogged about last week. The winner was AliB, who I e-mailed a couple of days ago. Haven't heard back yet (hullo? Ali?) but then again I did make the subject line of the e-mail 'Fabulous-ish Screenwriting Prize' which is sure to have consigned it to her Junk Mail folder.
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Doctor Who: 19th June
Well, not so much an episode as 45 minutes of setup for next week. But I wasn't bored. [spoilers ahead]
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Leveling the playing field
someone else's iPad Kindle library
There's a little nugget of publishing-related irony to be mined this week. And I'm always a fan of that sort of thing. So let me drop it into the assaying scales for you all to take a look at.
In theory, eBooks are a free-for-all - one big melting pot of downloadable reading - lovingly self-published novels rubbing shoulders with corporate 'product' - everything on an equal footing and just a click away.
But we've talked before about the unfortunate appearance of many self-published books. The annotated postcard of a cover image. The copier-paper interior. The 'typesetting'. The 'proofreading'. And in their electronic incarnations DIY novels are not much better. Only the incongruous paper choice has been done away with.
This week, however, I've been tinkering with an iPad. It only takes a few moments to load it up with Amazon's Kindle software to complement Apple's iBooks app. And I added in Kobo's reader as well, because the Internet said to, though I haven't worked out why yet.
Having assembled too much IKEA furniture this week, I was resting my slightly painful back and I thought of a new book that I'd like to read. And - wonder of the age! - less than a minute later it had been found, purchased and delivered to my iPad. It's not a fabulous reading experience, but it's not hard work either. Paper is clear to read in all lights, but the iPad works fine in the dark. It's a little more unwieldy than a paperback and a little less so than a hardback. For reading, a shiny screen isn't ideal, but then again it has a trick a book can't do. I like being able to lie in bed, with the iPad laying edgewise on the pillow, supporting its own weight, and being able to flip to the next page without moving more than a thumb. When in bed with a paperback, reading whichever page is lowermost is easy. But reading the uppermost page means holding the book propped fully open or turning myself over alternately with each page or some such mucking around. Otherwise I'm using more arm muscles than I want to just before turning out the light.
But the thing I noticed - the ironic thing - is that eBooks have turned out to be egalitiarian in an unexpected way. Even the high-profile titles from the big publishing houses look horrible.
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Finally
I know, I know. It's June: pretty much half way through the year. But if you can possibly ignore that fact for the moment, and let me tell you that our 2010 catalogue is now up on the catalogue page, then I'd be grateful. (I did actually print this in time for the London Book Fair - shout if you want a printed copy). Also all our new titles are up for you to see - such as the fantastic Funeral Pallor, the emotive Hunter Huntress and a swathe of martial arts books that we've taken over from Summersdale. (Which I have to fix the stupid format in as I've just seen there are weird characters all over the place. Don't write in... )
Sorry about the delay. Things have been... busy. But for one reason and another, welcome to a new era of top efficiency and whatnot - aided not least by the glorious Publishing Manager which you should obviously have if you're in the trade...
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Bag o'delights
Why is the car park empty today? Why is the town centre chock full of people milling around? Has the country really collectively taken Friday off to watch some stupid football game? What is the cost to the UK economy? etc etc. All I know is that I have a couple of corking bits of entertainment for you lucky people to fill the time between now and what I believe is known as 'kick off'.
Here's a wonderful video interview of Wayne Simmons from the recent 2D Comics Festival courtesy of Culture NI. And here's a corking review of Funeral Pallor.
Snowbooks: improving your day since 2002. You're welcome.
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Signing
Busy lifestyle? Need to multi-task to fit everything in? For your convenience, Wayne Simmons will be signing copies of FLU this weekend at the Liverpool Tattoo Convention.
Get a new tat whilst reading the finest horror in town. Efficient, no?
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Free screenwriting DVD!
And you know I don't chuck exclamation marks around lightly! So, any aspiring TV screenwriters out there? Because I have a prize to give away.
I'm pretty interested in how the whole American TV industry functions, where screenwriting and showrunning are well-defined jobs with their own career path - which I don't think happens in the same way here in the UK. Writing takes place in 'the room', where episodes are 'broken' and there's a whole science to 'cold opens', 'act breaks' and 'teasers'. In my pontificating on the state of UK TV drama (especially in regard to shows like 'Doctor Who') I've often thought that importing a really seasoned US showrunner might help raise our game. We wouldn't need to slavishly follow their rules, but I think an ignorance of them is even worse. For a glimpse into what I'm talking about I happen to have a spare copy of a DVD called 'Breaking the Story' in which Tim Minear takes an audience of trainee screenwriters through putting together the story for a hypothetical episode of Angel - the Buffy spin-off - for which Minear used to be the showrunner. The DVD is one of the shoddily shot, edited and packaged - but still rather fascinating - 'Expo Seminar' DVDs from Creative Screenwriting Magazine in the States. (Their Joss Whedon one is wonderful, but I don't have a spare copy of that I'm afraid.)
I'm not sure how many of you out there are interested, but seeing as how I only have one spare copy, write a comment here if you're so inclined (making sure you fill in your e-mail address on the comment form - it won't appear next to your comment, though - it stays secret) and a week from now (if anyone has commented) I'll flip a coin and mail someone the disk. Enjoy.
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Doctor Who: 12th June
One word for you: 'fun'. Or three words: 'slightly mindless fun'. It's funny (at least to me) how much less plot holes bother me if I'm having fun. They'd better not be so big that I fall down them, but I think they matter less if you're being carried along with the story. Any time you're forced to think analytically then the plot had better make sense. So that's 1) if it's a mystery (so they're making you think to entertain you) or 2) when you're trying to figure out what the hell's going on (so they're making you think because they've screwed up). But if you're along for the ride emotionally, you're clear on what's happening and you're interested in how it turns out, taking a few liberties with logic (or ret-con*) doesn't seem so bad. It's like the difference between being unexpectedly asked to wash up after being cooked a nice meal or being unexpectedly asked to wash up instead of being cooked a nice meal. [spoilers ahead]
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How to write
There's a simply cracking article here by Thomas Emson on how he writes. Do read it - if only to see the photo of the ultra-scary Plot Board. And his cat.
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Nutters
Hey, chaps! Look at this press release! Congrats to Paula, the genius author.
Brecon Beacons author shortlisted for Mind Book of the Year Award
Brecon Beacons author and P.J.Davy has been shortlisted for Mind’s Book of the Year Award 2010 for her latest book Nutters. The national charity award, now in its 29th year, celebrates writing that contributes to a greater understanding of mental health issues in all their forms.
Bent on reinvention and tired of being labelled a “loon”, Nutters central character Rufus Waters decides to reject his mental health problems and instead “choose sanity”. P.J Davy’s unique comic novel takes take the reader through the fruitless, often hilarious efforts of Rufus to deny his true self. Throughout the book Davy tackles a serious subject in an entertaining manner, which achieves a book that is truly thought-provoking.
Nutters is Davy’s first comic novel, and she is currently working on her second as well as a screenplay. She lives halfway up a Brecon Beacon with her partner and their two children.
P.J. Davy’s Nutters is among seven books that have been shortlisted by the Mind judges Blake Morrison, Fay Weldon and Michèle Roberts, for the coveted prize. The winner will be announced on Thursday 8 July at the Mind Awards ceremony in central London.
· More information on the Mind Awards can be found at: http://www.mind.org.uk/mindawards
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Doctor Who: 5th June [updated]
So, the great Richard Curtis tries his hand at a Doctor Who script. When they first came up with that, it must have seemed like a really interesting idea. Less so now.
[spoilery thoughts for those who continue reading. And an attempt at some 'script doctoring' if you scroll down.]
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Fact/Fiction Stranger?
If this was a scene from a sci-fi movie then mentally I'd be tutting at how ridiculous it was. Giant holes opening up suddenly in the ground and swallowing people? It sounds like something out of Doctor Who. Well, we should all be glad we don't live on the storm-sodden ground of Guatemala City. That hole (click on the thumbnail to see a bigger picture) really does look like it goes all the way down. [source. Red Cross link]