Yes, Yes...why haven't I written, why haven't I called....
I'll use the tried and try "researching" as my excuse and point out that all good things come to those who wait...whatever that may mean.
But it's true, I hane been researching, both for my writing and for my own resaons. For the writing, I've been doing the hard spade work on Who killed Reggie Plowski? The original idea was simple enough - a man celebrating his birthday remembers the death of a school friend twenty five years before and begins to dwell on it. It was only meant to be a snippett, a momentary indulgence but 500 words became 1000, became 200 and suddenly I realised that I did not know what the story was about or why I was writing it. Of course, looking at it from a distance I understood it was a strangely twisted 'mid-life-crisis' story.
They do say you should write what you know....
So now it's becoming a full length story, and fortuately for me, out of the blue, the whole story came to me and made sense in a pleasenly surprising/disturbing manner. Apart from one 'ugly' scene it has very little blood, gore or splatter, but it's one of those chills-in-the-bones, hug-someone-you-love type of story.
Fear puts alot into perspective.
In other news, The Cat called Follow Me - my all time favorite short story - has proven itself once more. It's been picked up by the wonderful guys at Sex and Murder in the USA and appears in the current edition, Volume 1, Isuue 20, October 2011. If you've missed it before, give it a read this time because it's now been published 4 times, on both sides of the Pacific, and it might just be it's last outing (for a while).
On the personal reseach, I've been doing my family's history for a while now, you know that 'Where do I come from?' routine that's popular and have just found the elusive missing link. ( I'm 90% sure anyway). Now, I know it's not that exciting to hear about other people's families, but stay with me. I'll keep it short and there really is a point.
I found a newspaper article from the 1950's which states my ancestors had, at that stage, been farming the same farm for 445 YEARS!!
Short of trying to trace myself back to Rome, I think I have fairly well found where I came from.
And yet I don't feel 'complete'...I don't feel the journey is over. I don't feel satisfied.
And that's my point. Who we are may have been influenced by alot of things from the past, but really, who we are is also about who we are now and who we will be.
The journey continues.
By the way, my cousin, Craig Greenhill, the photographer, has been again nominated for both the WALKLEY and NEWS Awards. Check out his site, Saltwaterimages, to see some of his brillant work, or just catch him in The Daily Telegraph.
Well, as all good thing come in small packages ( whatever that means) I'll get going...
And I haven't forgotten those hanging on the edge of their seats for another life lesson through the magic art of debt collecting. I'll do another post soon on perhaps some of the most important lessons I learnt.
Cheers
Anyway,
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
The Horror of it all....
Back again in 2011....the wait's probably been killing you all...
I can only give two excuses for my tardiness - the Australian Christmas holiday break (which on one occasion in the sixties went right through to June) and getting caught up with other things (like visiting New Zealand).
So, without further delay, let's get down to business. Although I've (still) been working on The Cabin - with a great new twist that raises the interesting question DNA plays when we think about mass murders - I haven't written many new short stories, but then again it's quality that counts not quantity, isn't it? However, I have been polishing some of my 'works-in-progress' and sending them out into the big bad world to fend for themselves.
Behind Every Successful Man and Honus Wagner are two of my 'literary offspring' that fall into this category. Behind Every Successful Man arrived as one of those fully fledged stories, a whimsical moment that began with someone repeating that old phrase 'Behind every successful man is a woman' and my imagination hijacking my mind for a few moments. The feel of the image in my head was a sort of mini tribute to B-grade, last night, schlock horror and the little man that keeps the records in my computer tells me that it happened sometime in early June last year. It's definitely horror, but I can't help laughing myself silly every time I read it.
Maybe that says more about my mind than it should...
Anyway, you can see for yourself and be the judge...Behind Every Successful Man has now been published in the Sex and Murder (USA) Issue 16, my first published story for 2011!!!
Honus Wagner is horror too, but on a different level. This one came about by chance with me opening a page on Honus Wagner, the famous American baseball player. An incredible man in his own right, and the facts about him and his legacy about his stand against cigarettes in my story are all true. This idea didn't arrive in my head as a finished product, strangely only the character of Josh remains as I first saw him. It took months and months of gentle tweaking and a final wholesale slash and burn approach (it's approximately 2800 words, it was 4300). Hard work, but I'm glad I took my time. Maybe not my 'favourite' story, but certainly a labour of love.
It will be my second published piece for the year and about my sixth horror piece in a row (the horror of it all!). Maybe that should tell me something.
On another note, I'd put Jack Be Nimble on the back burner for a bit but I had another look at it and decided to return to where my writing began to get a fresh perspective. In this case, that's Irina Dunn - author of The Writer's Marketplace (Allen & Unwin, Aust), former Executive Director of the NSW Writers' Centre and currently the director of ID Editing and Publishing Consultany. When I first started writing, I had a 'supersession' with Irina. These are really a form of manuscript assessment with a one hour face-to-face feed back session addressing character, story, plotline, tone pacing etc. Irina not only did this but was also able to assist me by advising the courses that would best assist me. I've now sent off a sample of Jack be Nimble to her and in a few weeks we'll be sitting down again. I'm feeling very positive that she will be able to help me in the right direction once again.
So, it's back to Jack Be Nimble, The Cabin and the longer version of Long Live the King! for me, probably with the more than occassional horror piece thrown in for good measure. When will the next post be? Who knows...
I can only give two excuses for my tardiness - the Australian Christmas holiday break (which on one occasion in the sixties went right through to June) and getting caught up with other things (like visiting New Zealand).
So, without further delay, let's get down to business. Although I've (still) been working on The Cabin - with a great new twist that raises the interesting question DNA plays when we think about mass murders - I haven't written many new short stories, but then again it's quality that counts not quantity, isn't it? However, I have been polishing some of my 'works-in-progress' and sending them out into the big bad world to fend for themselves.
Behind Every Successful Man and Honus Wagner are two of my 'literary offspring' that fall into this category. Behind Every Successful Man arrived as one of those fully fledged stories, a whimsical moment that began with someone repeating that old phrase 'Behind every successful man is a woman' and my imagination hijacking my mind for a few moments. The feel of the image in my head was a sort of mini tribute to B-grade, last night, schlock horror and the little man that keeps the records in my computer tells me that it happened sometime in early June last year. It's definitely horror, but I can't help laughing myself silly every time I read it.
Maybe that says more about my mind than it should...
Anyway, you can see for yourself and be the judge...Behind Every Successful Man has now been published in the Sex and Murder (USA) Issue 16, my first published story for 2011!!!
Honus Wagner is horror too, but on a different level. This one came about by chance with me opening a page on Honus Wagner, the famous American baseball player. An incredible man in his own right, and the facts about him and his legacy about his stand against cigarettes in my story are all true. This idea didn't arrive in my head as a finished product, strangely only the character of Josh remains as I first saw him. It took months and months of gentle tweaking and a final wholesale slash and burn approach (it's approximately 2800 words, it was 4300). Hard work, but I'm glad I took my time. Maybe not my 'favourite' story, but certainly a labour of love.
Honus Wagner T206 Baseball Card
When I wrote Honus Wagner I wrote it for myself, because I wanted to see it on paper and read it and I had no real 'market' in mind. Despite that, it has now found a home where it belongs - in the USA. Sex and Murder have just accepted it to be published in either their March or April issue!! (to be confirmed). It will be my second published piece for the year and about my sixth horror piece in a row (the horror of it all!). Maybe that should tell me something.
On another note, I'd put Jack Be Nimble on the back burner for a bit but I had another look at it and decided to return to where my writing began to get a fresh perspective. In this case, that's Irina Dunn - author of The Writer's Marketplace (Allen & Unwin, Aust), former Executive Director of the NSW Writers' Centre and currently the director of ID Editing and Publishing Consultany. When I first started writing, I had a 'supersession' with Irina. These are really a form of manuscript assessment with a one hour face-to-face feed back session addressing character, story, plotline, tone pacing etc. Irina not only did this but was also able to assist me by advising the courses that would best assist me. I've now sent off a sample of Jack be Nimble to her and in a few weeks we'll be sitting down again. I'm feeling very positive that she will be able to help me in the right direction once again.
So, it's back to Jack Be Nimble, The Cabin and the longer version of Long Live the King! for me, probably with the more than occassional horror piece thrown in for good measure. When will the next post be? Who knows...
Cheers
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