So, yeah, I set up Clarion Publishing. I wanted to create a place where good writing could be found, both from new voices and from old voices. It has been six months, and we have a bevvy of great writers already published, and more on the way. I’m really excited by it all, and I can’t wait to share what we have coming out in the next few months.
And now, back to your regular waffle.
Back in London after a nice nine-day break in Northern Ireland. Had a great time back there, and while I know I have a mountain of stuff to deal with now I’m back in the city – I find that I really just want to flop around for a bit. Taking the weekend off methinks, so I can do more important things such as ‘sleep’ and ‘holiday recovery’.
I have a few things to write about, and will do so in a couple of days.
Well, there you are then. A whole month. A whole month with nary a post.
Bugger.
What has kept me offline? Two things, mostly.
95% of the time has been with the Secret Project. It is live now, and in an unusual move – I’m not going to mention it openly just yet, as I want to get through two or three more hurdles before I can talk more openly. (I’m a big fan of the soft launch. Nothing explodes, but everything bubbles).
And the remaining 5%?
Mass Effect 3.
Played it. Finished it. Loved it. After I was done, I stayed up for several hours, unable to sleep. I spent my time thinking about the choices I had made, the friends I had made (and lost), and appreciating the work as a whole. It took several days for me to come to terms with the ending – and I think that’s the point. There is no happy ending in a game where all life is about to be wiped out by forces that cannot be stopped. What we got was the best resolution (albeit at times a little chunkily executed. I think trimming it down from explanation-city to finale-freeway was the best choice – but it left us with an out of context closing cinematic that raised questions about your crew. This is possibly very very important, but to discuss that further opens up incredible spoiler territory that I’d rather not deal with), given the fact that death was everywhere.
So. Yes. Played it. Loved it. Will be playing it again very shortly.
Now, back to the Secret Project…
A very thought-provoking article by Anthony Horowitz from the Guardian.
“And if I may say so, it may be that traditional publishers have less to fear from the digital revolution than they think. Perhaps they should embrace it. I’d love, for example, to write a murder mystery where you could actually tap on a bit of dialogue you mistrusted and discover that the character was telling a lie. Where the reader actually had to become a detective and where the last chapter, the reveal, had to be earned. Or how about a book with different points of view, where you could choose which of the characters became the narrator? I believe someone is experimenting with added music and sound effects as part of the book. For me, the digital revolution offers fantastic opportunities – if you grab hold of them.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2012/feb/27/anthony-horowitz-do-we-still-need-publishers
Yup, that’s my hand, and I’m playing it. It has not been a good writing week. Am going to try a “don’t break the chain” approach (where you mark each day you write, and the goal is for you to not leave gaps – so a visual cue as it were). Fingers crossed.
“Oh hai back. What are you up to? Oh, you’ve decided to show me a trick?”
NWasasfasgh.
About five days ago I found out that my lower back had rather pronounced hate for the rest of me. Friday morning, twenty minutes before I needed to head on out to a meeting in the city I went to sit down at my office desk to do a couple of quick emails.. As I started to sit, there was a slow-moving eruption, a redness of explosive oh fuckery across my lower back. I never managed to sit down, and tried to stand up again, which was just as painful. I managed to hobble like a deformed MJ zombie back to bed where I stayed in the scrunched up shape for about an hour until the pain receded enough for me to cancel my day and make a swift doctors appointment.
Diagnosis: my back went owie.
Thankfully nothing long-term was discovered – it looks to be some sort of muscular dislocation – but I was told that it would take 2-10 days of recovery. I spent the first four days all but unconscious or only able to read (I’ve read about 1,000 pages these last few days), and yesterday and today I’ve spent trying to move around and do some catching up. Unfortunately, this isn’t without consequence.
That reminds me. *takes pills*
Writing has been non-existent during this time, which is a crying shame. On the other hand, my secret project has been barreling along, thanks to a few things I sent out before I fell ill. Hopefully I’ll be able to make an announcement in the next 4-5 weeks.
And with that, I’m off to try to get a few more things done before the back tells me to stop, and I end up recuperating in bed for the rest of the day.
I’ve been fiddling with the look and feel of the site – and I’ve buggered it up and no mistake. I suspect a strong cup of coffee and a few well placed tweaks will get things back on track though. Until then – ugly as sin.
I have a bit of a big old project on the go that I’m really excited about. I don’t want to say anything public until I’ve crossed a few more checkpoints, but I’m quietly excited at how things are looking. Will post more when I can.
It has been an interesting few days. On the writing front a complete failure. Day job stuff came up – and when I placated that side of my life and was able to move forwards, I instead found myself shutting down and recharging. It was much needed, but highly unproductive.
Today is booked up fully in meetings for side-projects, so nothing will get written. The weekend is similarly booked up – but I’m hopeful I can get at least a few thousand words out tomorrow morning.
When historians come to write about the digital transformation currently engulfing the book-publishing world, they will almost certainly refer to Amanda Hocking, writer of paranormal fiction who in the past 18 months has emerged from obscurity to bestselling status entirely under her own self-published steam. What the historians may omit to mention is the crucial role played in her rise by those furry wide-mouthed friends, the Muppets.
Read more… (written by Ed Pilkington)
