Saturday 28 August 2010

The End of Summer

For some people the end of summer comes when school begins. For me, at least for the last few years, the end of summer arrives when my son goes back to the US, and 10 months later, on his return, summer begins again. As he travels back to Seattle tomorrow, the end of summer is high, waved out on a high note by a bbq of ribs and corn on the cob. But it’s been a good summer, seeing a fair bit of England, revisiting favourite places, discovering some news ones, the ongoing Connect 4 championship.
He turned 15 this summer, now almost as tall as me, growing in every way, someone to make me proud and happy. At this time of year the blues always descend for a brief period, but then I look through the pictures of the summer, over 100 of them this time, and recall what a good time we’ve had.
Tomorrow it will be Heathrow and all the sweet sorrow of parting. It does become a little easier each year, but never simple. However, his life is over there, and that’s fine. As he grows older, he needs to build his own life and instead of nine weeks here, it will decrease. In just a few short years it might be no time at all, or a brief visit every couple of years. That’s growing up and growing away, a natural process.
For now I’ll enjoy him while I can. I’ll relish his presence, his quiet enthusiasm (especially for anime, manga and Xbox), and the way he changes and grows into himself. To be there when he needs me, to love him…maybe that’s all parents can really do.

Tuesday 24 August 2010

How Much History Is Too Much?

This was written for the upcoming web site The Write Crime:

When you’re writing your history you have to know your period, and your place. Developing that depth of knowledge is obviously important if you’re going to make your book believable. But you also need to find a balance.

The reader needs to believe he’s there, but not be overwhelmed by it. Achieving that fine balance can be a difficult trick.

As someone who writes historical crime (my novel, The Broken Token, is set in Leeds in 1731) I’m very conscious of setting the scene well. That’s not just the streets and buildings but the other parts of life, especially the sounds and, above all, the smells. Cities in the 1800s stank. Now, putting that on paper might not be pretty, but it certainly is vital. People didn’t wash much, most of them were very poor, and didn’t both too much about barbers or being shaved. They possessed maybe two sets of clothes which were rarely laundered. Personal hygiene wasn’t a top priority – simply surviving until the next day trumped everything else.

Carts were pulled by horses, so you can guess what was all over the streets. In a city like Leeds, where dyeing and fulling were an important part of the wool process, urine was used extensively. It was also used in tanning, along with faeces. It didn’t smell pretty at all. And with no refrigeration, the butchers’ shops in the Shambles (which was along Briggate, by the Moot Hall – pretty much where Harvey Nicks is today) wouldn’t have smelled so sweet, either.

The rich dressed well, their servants looked after the house. But they weren’t isolated in a perfumed world. The things we take for granted, like daily showers and good cleaning of the teeth, weren’t part of their universe.

These are the minutiae of life that can tell far more than big political details. It’s history, but on a level every can feel and understand. I’m lucky, since the street layout of Leeds now is much the same as it was then, even if virtually no period buildings survive. So I can use names that anyone familiar with the city can picture.

Research is important when you’re writing a historical mystery. You have to read as much as you can, from libraries, online, every possible source. Leeds history was a passion of mine long before I began this book. However, I happened to be living in Seattle at the time (I was born and raised in Leeds). I’d pick up books when home, and go to the library and the Thoresby Society, but I was also helped by eBay. There I was able to bid on and win a few 19th century histories of Leeds that had never been reprinted; all grist to the mill.

So I knew the city, I knew the time. Leeds was just emerging as England’s leading woollen town, its merchants were growing rich. They controlled the Corporation, they made the local laws. The gulf between rich and poor was huge. Portraying how they both lived was important.

I also knew the bigger picture, the politics, the economics of England, with the South Sea Bubble a few years before and so on. To have that kind of knowledge of your chosen period is vital if you’re going to make the history convincing in your book.

The danger from all that can be trying to cram in far too much. A mystery is meant to entertain. It’s not social history or a textbook. It’s a mystery. That means picking and choosing, conveying the sense of the time to the point where the reader’s imagination can take over.

The writer adds the brushstrokes and just enough detail to suggest more. Readers don’t want screeds of background. They want characters, above all, and a story. As the writer you have to give it to them. That means pruning and shading the history until it flows as part of the narrative. Put in the details that set the scene and give it atmosphere, but there’s no need to do more than that. As to the bigger picture: unless it’s strictly relevant, forget it.

What about dialogue? A convention seems to have arisen among a number of writers that before the 20th century people didn’t use contractions in speech. On a purely personal level, I doubt this. People are naturally lazy in speech and probably always have been. They’ll find the shortest way to say something. This is why I’ll use contractions in dialogue just as if the people were contemporary (although some of the vocabulary will inevitably be different). It seems more natural and to the modern eye and ear it flows better. Whether strictly accurate or not it makes the experience of reading better.

Dialect can be important, too. It doesn’t need to be overdone, but use of some dialect words can help fix the story geographically. The words don’t need to be obscure, just associated with the area. For Leeds, choosing owt, nowt, summat, babbie, mebbe all work and give a feeling of location while still being very easy to comprehend. Think before you write.

Historical mysteries can be wonderful things, to write as well as to read, and the best of them are the equal of anything else published. But with more to be explained, the actual process of writing and creating has to be far more exact and careful to make readers feel they’re truly there.

Saturday 21 August 2010

On the Dangers of People Thinking

The newly-breaking item that Lord Ashcroft hasn’t resigned his position with the Tories and might, in fact, end up with greater power just shows how eager political parties everywhere are to grab at the money, no matter whether it might be seen as tainted or not.
We like to think of our politicians as idealistic souls, in public service to serve the public, as they all claim. While some are doubtless pure, so many seem to end up gorging themselves at the trough of power (remember the Republicans taking over Congress in ’94 under New Gingrich and promising to only be around for 4 years? How many are still there? Gingrich himself is reportedly planning a 2012 Presidential bid).
The truth is that the parties want power, no matter what the cost. Was New Labour something heartfelt, or was positioning itself more in the centre a reaction after seeing the success Bill Clinton and the Democrats achieved by that strategy?
For all that politicians give us the refrain of transparency it’s not going to happen. Anywhere. Why? It’s not in their interests because it means they actually have less power. And it’s that drive for power that keeps so many of them going, at least at the higher levels.
A highly informed and educated electorate would demand more transparency. But that kind of education works not only against the ultimate interests of politicians, but also against the interests of most of the media. Educated people, taught to think for themselves, would see through all the awkward deceptions put out by politicians and the media empires that love to slant the news (and for all the talk of a liberal media, how come the biggest-selling papers are very much to the right of the spectrum?).
It might well be true that most people don’t want to think, that they’re as happy to be led as a flock of sheep. How else do we account for the popularity of awful TV shows, for instance? But then again, no real attempt has been made to truly educate them. To have a mass that will follow serves political aims well – witness the tea baggers, for instance, or those 20 per cent of Americans who think Obama is a Muslim.
It takes effort to think and maybe people don’t care enough. But maybe if we instilled the idea of thinking in them from an early age that might change. Then again, a mass of thinking people, all realising how broken the system truly is, could be a very dangerous thing…fortunes might be lost and the entire political structure altered.

Friday 20 August 2010

Krista Detor

Evidently this is her fourth album, but she’s a new name on me. Krista Detor. The album is Chocolate Paper Suites, a total of 5 “suites,” each comprised of three songs around the topic, generally speaking, about Lorca, Darwin, Dylan Thomas and who knows what else. As a music journalist I listen to a lot of music, and it’s so rare to come across something that moves me so much it makes me cry. The first few tracks I thought it might be Lisa Germano under another name, but Detor asserts her own personality. She’s a stunning writer – there are shades of Jane Siberry in there, along with Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen. More than that, there beauty in the music, her own beauty, and Clock Of The World (watch it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzLgf66oOeE) is one of those songs that’s absolutely perfect, like The Weight by the Band (although there’s nothing to compare them musically). All the elements come together in absolute perfection. The way the images build might seem random, but each is shaped just so and makes complete sense within its own context. But So Goes The Night and Small Things are equally gorgeous. This is someone who deserves more praise for her art and her talent. There’s not a single track here that falls below excellent. I don’t know what she’s done before, but this qualifies as one of my albums of 2010.

Wednesday 18 August 2010

On Finishing Writing A Novel

There no feeling that mixes pleasure and sadness like finishing the writing of a book – or at least a novel. There’s the sense of relief of ending after so many months, so many words and endless thought. And then there’s the sadness that comes with saying goodbye to it. The revisions are complete and it’s ready to move on to the publisher. Well, in this case, on to my closest friend, a wonderful author whose critique is invaluable, then the publisher. But even though I’ll return to it a couple of times in the coming months I feel as if it’s sailing away from me.
But it’s the sadness that’s the most powerful feeling. I’ve lived with these people (I can’t call them characters, they’re too real for that) for so long. Our lives have intertwined, I’ve felt their grief and joys (more of the former this time) and they’ve affected me. But the movie in my head has ended and the credits are rolling.
So it’ll be time to start thinking about the next book very soon…

Saturday 14 August 2010

14 Books In An Hour

To many authors it might seem like nothing, but I was incredibly heartened to sell 14 copies of The Broken Token in an hour at a book signing at Waterstone’s in Leeds yesterday. For a first time, unknown crime writer that feels like an achievement (and certainly better than I’d managed at book signings for my non fiction).
The store had ordered in 12 copies, and then had two take the two they had on the shelves. While I was there the manager ordered another 20 copies and suggested that I come back and do a second signing. Needless to say, I agreed. To be fair, the book takes place in Leeds, so it’s local, but even so…there will be copies on the display of local interest books at the front of the store, which will help sales, and a staff recommended tag by it on the crime shelf.
When you’re with an independent publisher maybe this kind of gradual word of mouth groundswell is the only way to succeed, short of an incredible lucky break. Keep lugging away, doing the book signings, converting people one by one. Writing a book is only the start of things. Getting it published isn’t even where it ends. Once those hurdles have been jumped, there’s still the marketing, and that can be the trickiest, most time-consuming bit of all.

Wednesday 11 August 2010

Independent Publishers

Being with an independent publisher (in my case the wonderful Crème de la Crime) is being with a publisher where you can call up anytime and speak directly to the person in charge. That person has real interest in your book. They’ve taken it on because they believe in it, and they’ll do what they can to promote it. Of course, the author has to do his bit, too. Got to make calls, summon up press and appearances, put together a website, Facebook page, Twitter and whatever (including this blog, obviously). That’s fine. I’m proud of the book, I want it to sell, and I’m happy to put in the effort.
The downside is that there’s no publicity budget. It’s definitely flying by the seat of the pants time. However, that’s very similar to the DIY ethos that powered much of the punk scene, and several of the various movements of bands. Even today there’s an underground. There might not be money but there is satisfaction. It’s good to come in as an unknown quantity and convince people that The Broken Token is a book worth their time and money. That can be in a signing in a bookshop or when talking to an audience. It’s getting out there and hustling, which can be quite antithetical for most writers. Once you get in the groove and figure out how to do it, it can be fun, too. So the downside certainly isn’t all down. It does, however, make it harder to get reviews in the dailies. My plan? Build a reputation slowly until they can’t ignore the series any more…

Monday 9 August 2010

The Discoveries In Revising A Book

How much of what we write in novels is dictated by the unconscious? I’m not one to write an outline of a book. When I begin I know how it opens and how it will end. Beyond that I’m simply writing down the movie in my head as it unfolds. Sometimes I know what will happen 30 pages ahead, but usually no more than a page or two, sometimes not even that.
It’s akin to walking in the country. At times you can see far into the distance, but all too often your view is limited. With writing, however, the paths are of your own devising and sometimes the ones you create take unexpected turns.
I’m currently revising my new book. Today I was working on the scene with the villain and his girlfriend, who never appeared before, although he name has been mentioned. In an insidious way she’s proving to be more evil than the villain. That opens up interesting possibilities, and as yet I’m not sure how it will all develop. But that, really, is part of the fun of this vocation (can’t call it anything else, really). Time will tell. And you’ll have the chance to find out more next year.

Saturday 7 August 2010

Something for the Weekend

So Leeds lose the first game of the new season. Some fair football played and it’s a pretty new team. We need better striking options, but other than that I’m going to be quite sanguine about things.
The weekend is a time for enjoyment. You could argue the case that every day should be that way, of course, but work being what it is…For us, it was a trip to Twycross Zoo in the afternoon. Highly entertained by an ape that has discovered that an endless series of forward rolls is a great way to charm people, and the grace of the leopards, snow and otherwise.
In the evening a visit to Nottingham Riverside Festival. For my partner, who’s lived here most of her life, this is old hat. For me (and my son) it’s new, and ostensibly to hear a couple of bands. But it’s more feast – in the Leeds sense – that festival. Endless rides by the path along the river, an orgy of noise and lights that becomes an assault on the senses. I went to Woodhouse feat a couple of times as a teenager but it was never my taste, and most of this wasn’t either.
The chance to see Shooglenifty again was good, and overall they didn’t disappoint. They can play beautifully, but the mix let electric guitar overpower everything, not a good idea. The Ghanaian music of Atongo Zimba was as lulling as when I saw and interviewed him five years ago, but Penny wasn’t convinced. Should be stay for the fireworks? In the end the answer was no. Both of us felt overwhelmed by all the noise and the people. Still, I’ve never done crowds that well. So it was home to bed…

Friday 6 August 2010

Leeds Un ited and the Upcoming Season

So the season begins. Derby tomorrow, Forest next weekend. That one’s going to raise problems as my partner’s a Forest supporter. It’s good to see Leeds in the Championship, heading back towards the place they belong, according to many pundits.
However, wonderful as the victory over ManU was, it’s putting ridiculous expectations on any team to say they belong in the Premier, as if it stood as a God-given right. All things being equal, Leeds should finish mid-table this coming season – as long as they gel properly as a squad and tighten up the defence. Expecting more than that would be ridiculous, and very dangerous.
Say the completely unexpected happens and Leeds end up winning promotion again. Much jubilation and drinking of alcohol to celebrate. But once the hangovers have passed comes the knowledge that Leeds don’t have the men, or the money, to compete. While money might be a source of much grumbling and grunting among Leeds fans, possibly with reason, it’s simply a fact. Go up to the Premier in the next two years and we’ll be straight back down again – and it’ll be a bumpy, humiliating ride.
This next season should be one of regrouping of starting out a small fishes in a bigger pool and growing. Mid-table this season? Great? Close to the playoffs the season after? Very good. Then, and only then might Leeds be ready for something bigger and better. But it’s not our due. Like all the others, we have to earn it. It the financial bubble bursts around those teams that are global brands, which is quite possible, things will improve, and the playing field will become more level. Hope for that to happen, because it will become a real sport. Until then, I’ll have satisfied with Leeds in the Championship, which looks like the most competitive and equal league, anyway.

Thursday 5 August 2010

Old Acquaintances

Meetings with old acquaintances aren’t always a good thing. Too much time might have gone, paths diverged too far. Luckily, last night wasn’t that way.
It began disappointingly as the pub where we were meeting wasn’t serving food due to a gig – the gig being the reason he was there, even if he wasn’t playing himself. But settling down over a drink, and knowing that we’d both changed in the 12 years since we’d last met, it all worked very easily.
He’s a writer, I’m a writer. Music had been our common ground (he was my editor at a music magazine in Seattle, and started me writing music reviews for Amazon when they began selling CDs). It’s not so much that way any more, as both of us have broader interests, but it made a good starting point. And then there was Seattle.
He still lives there, and he and my soon could briefly discuss that and I could dredge up memories, although only five years have passed since it was my home. But now I’m in Nottingham, happy with my partner, happy here and part of it all felt, rightly, like another life.
We talked for an hour, pleasant, easy chat about many things including books. I gave him a copy of The Broken Token. He’s working on a book. I’ll catch up with him again next month when his partner has a Nottingham gig. But for all I wondered how it would go, with some trepidation, it was fine. As easy as breathing, as easy as living…

Tuesday 3 August 2010

Revising A Book

Revising a book has to be one of the most joyous and most frustrating things in existence. It’s a chance to understand how bad (or good) your first draft was – and it’s certainly never perfect.
It’s back to square one, tearing down what you’d lovingly constructed and rebuilding in, hopefully to make it a better, much more solid and beautiful structure. The joy comes when you look at something you’ve reworked and realise that it’s much closer to your original intentions.
But it’s not solely about structure. It’s about character mood, the rhythm of sentences, the pace of the book, having dialogue that seems real. It’s like a Soviet exercise in self-criticism, except you’re the only person who has to make the criticisms as well as take them and you have to have the courage to be completely honest with yourself. That’s the only way to produce a book that’s halfway decent.
As anyone can tell I’m halfway through the revisions on my second novel, Drive the Cruel Winter Away. I believe it works, or that it well when I’ve finished with this. I’ll revise, then revise again, then send it off to the friend who tells me the truth about what I’ve written and listen closely to his remarks. Then I’ll make more changes.
With a little luck it should be finished by the end of November, about a year after it was begun.
And then it’ll be time to begin the next novel. Of course.

Monday 2 August 2010

From Drive the Cruel Winter Away

There was one final area to walk, taking the path along the river by the tenting fields, where cloth was pegged out to stretch, then cutting along by New Mill to Mill Garth and through to Boar Lane, past Holy Trinity Chruch and back to the jail. And finally home.
He loved this short stretch of his rounds, no more than a few hundred yards from the city but as peaceful as the country. Even the occasional floating corpse in the river couldn’t spoil it for him.
He’d almost reached the track at New Mill when he noticed something from the corner of his eye, a low, pale shape that didn’t look quite right among the trees. Stopping, he cocked his head and squinted for a better look. It was probably nothing, but he’d better check; it was what he was paid to do.
The hard, frozen grass sawed against his threadbare stockings as he moved through the undergrowth. But it wasn’t until he was three yards away that he was able to make everything out fully.
“Fuck,” he said softly. “Fuck.”
It was a man, lying on his back, eyes blank and wide, staring endlessly into the face of death. One arm was thrown carelessly across his breast, the other outstretched as if reaching for something. The strangest thing was that he was bare-chested. The deep red cut across his neck showed how he’d died.
“Fuck,” Sedgwick said again. He sighed. He wasn’t going to be home anytime soon.

Politics Lite and Music

In Britain we moan about the decline in seriousness of our political figures, and perhaps rightly. We seem to have slipped into politics lite, everything slipping very swiftly towards the centre, so that it can be hard to tell one part from another without a scorecard. Whither Old Labour?
However, we have it good when compared to the US, where the hottest candidate for 2012 seems unable to even discuss policy. A Huffington Post article pointed out the people accept Sarah Palin because of her celebrity and because she inadvertently drags up deeply symbolic icons, like the Mama Grizzly (a reference that wouldn’t work as well in the UK). Palin via Jung, a scary thought.
The dumbing down on politics is universal – witness Regan. It’s interesting to note, however, that Reagan’s star was high when Madonna came on the scene, another victory of style over substance. As was pointed out in a recent New York Times article, Madonna did at least sometimes sneak in references to religion and politics in her music, however lightweight they might be.
Now we have Palin. Her followers are mad as hell and aren’t going to take it any more. They want to burn it down (“For God’s sake burn it down probably never rang truer, Dexys) even if they don’t have a clue what they’ll replace it with. There’s even more style and even less substance. Being against something is fine, but you have to be for something.
So is it any surprise that Lady Gaga is in the ascendancy? Her lyrics Make Madonna seem like Auden. Being vacuous, both musically and lyrically, has become a real style. Maybe there’s an analogue between music and politics in the US (and possibly globally here). You don’t even need to give the people what they want, because they don’t really know what they want. Lady Gaga’s music has been aptly described as a “distraction.” It’s simply there, presented in flashy colour with lots of daring costumes. The emperor’s New Clothes. And politics in the US is headed that way. The problem is that, where America leads…