It’s been a little while since I blogged, partly because of hard work and partly because of a much-needed break in sunny Devon (and it was gloriously sunny, too, with the sea right at our door. Well, 30 yards away).
Cold Cruel Winter appears later this month. The first two chapters are up on ScribD, there’s an audio excerpt, my website (www.chrisnickson.co.uk) has been revamped – you can find the links there – and I’m all set.
I’m not doing many events to coincide with the book’s release, but I will be talking to a group in Nottingham that’s read The Broken Token, which should be real fun. The other event, next Wednesday, is in Leeds, and it’s given me pause to reflect on how special these events can be.
It’s at Chapel Allerton library. Until I left home at 18 I never lived further than a mile from that library. I first went there when I was three, it was my treasure house of books. At primary school my class would go there every week. I discovered so many authors there, Henry Treece, Jack Kerouac, probably an endless list. It was my mother’s local library until she died. We might have had very different taste in literature, but she used the library regularly. So, for me, it’s a real return to my roots, and that strikes as me a lovely, beautiful thing.
Under the cuts being proposed by the coalition in government, many future writers might not have the chance to write the words I just wrote. That’s robbing them of a future, and of an education they can’t get anywhere else. That’s not just a sin, it’s a crime, and we all need to do everything we can to prevent it happening. Not just for ourselves – I’m still an avid user of the library – but for the future.
The other part to this comes from an email I received from someone researching family history who came across The Broken Token. She evidently doesn’t have the real Richard Nottingham as an ancestor, but she does have a tipstaff – cudgel, truncheon – from the period that’s been handed down in her family. I has two brass badges, one the emblem of George 1, the other the hanging sheep of Leeds with the date 1719. How it relates to her family she’s not sure, but she’s hoping to attend next week’s event and bring it with her. The thought that I might be handling something that could have been touched by the original Richard Nottingham is aweful, in the very best sense. That’s what you call a connection with your character. If it happens, there will be pictures. There have to be.
Friday, 6 May 2011
Sunday, 27 March 2011
Busy Times
Back in 2004 I wrote a biography of John Martyn for Helter Skelter, a small London. The book was accepted, but for several reasons, never published. Since then John died, early in 2009. A couple of books had come out about him, and I thought mine would never see the light of day – how many John Martyn books does the world need, anyway?
Then, a few weeks ago I received a call about the book from the heading up the release of John’s posthumous album and a tribute disc. All of which now I’m now doing more interviews and adding to the book to finish it. Solid Air – The Life of John Martyn should appear as an ebook and print on demand in June, through Amazon and also marketed via the website that will be handling the music releases.
On top of that I’ve finished going through the final page proofs for my second Richard Nottingham book, Cold Cruel Winter, to be published as a hardback in the UK in May (September in the US). The publisher has just accepted the third book in the series, The Constant Lovers, and I’ll shortly be working with the editor on that.
As if all that wasn’t enough, the fourth book in the series (tenatively called Come the Fear) tapped me on the shoulder and said I had to start writing it, and an entirely different novel seems to be happening as well, although I refuse to say more about it than that.
There’s also the business of earning my daily bread, so I’m working, writing articles and reviews, doing other interviews for features. If people say writers have it easy, don’t believe a word. Many of us work damn hard.
Then, a few weeks ago I received a call about the book from the heading up the release of John’s posthumous album and a tribute disc. All of which now I’m now doing more interviews and adding to the book to finish it. Solid Air – The Life of John Martyn should appear as an ebook and print on demand in June, through Amazon and also marketed via the website that will be handling the music releases.
On top of that I’ve finished going through the final page proofs for my second Richard Nottingham book, Cold Cruel Winter, to be published as a hardback in the UK in May (September in the US). The publisher has just accepted the third book in the series, The Constant Lovers, and I’ll shortly be working with the editor on that.
As if all that wasn’t enough, the fourth book in the series (tenatively called Come the Fear) tapped me on the shoulder and said I had to start writing it, and an entirely different novel seems to be happening as well, although I refuse to say more about it than that.
There’s also the business of earning my daily bread, so I’m working, writing articles and reviews, doing other interviews for features. If people say writers have it easy, don’t believe a word. Many of us work damn hard.
Sunday, 6 March 2011
A Book Finished
This morning I finished the final read-through of my new book, attached it to an e-mail and sent it off to my agent so she can forward it to the publisher. That’s it, job done. Several revisions, two excellent critiques with changes made, and The Constant Lovers is off my desk.
As always, when a book that’s been so much a part of you goes it’s a case of mix feelings. There’s the pleasure of finally being done, of having given it everything, having lived, sweated and died with these people, loved them and hated them. Then there’s the sadness of letting go, off seeing this child venture out alone into the world, beyond my care.
And there’s also the oh shit, I have to do it all again soon feeling.
The good part with The Constant Lovers is that, from start to finish, the book took a little under six months while working other jobs, some writing, some not. The bad part is that it took a little under six months. A good book should take longer, right? I came into it right after finishing the previous book in the series (Cold Cruel Winter, which will be published in May), so the characters were strong in my mind, and I had a good idea what I wanted to do. But it’s not a course I’d take again. It’s just too much, too fast. More breathing space between is needed. So now I know that, and the fourth book has been taking shape for a few months. It’ll wait longer before I really begin, though.
Meanwhile, I can address that what next feeling. Seven years ago I wrote a biography on John Martyn that, for complex reasons, was never published. Since then the man himself died. This June a posthumous album will be released, along with a tribute album, and my book, revised and completed, will appear as part of the celebration of John. So it’s a welcome change-up to non-fiction for a few months (along with paid work) and music writing. And after that? Well, we’ll wait and see what happens…
As always, when a book that’s been so much a part of you goes it’s a case of mix feelings. There’s the pleasure of finally being done, of having given it everything, having lived, sweated and died with these people, loved them and hated them. Then there’s the sadness of letting go, off seeing this child venture out alone into the world, beyond my care.
And there’s also the oh shit, I have to do it all again soon feeling.
The good part with The Constant Lovers is that, from start to finish, the book took a little under six months while working other jobs, some writing, some not. The bad part is that it took a little under six months. A good book should take longer, right? I came into it right after finishing the previous book in the series (Cold Cruel Winter, which will be published in May), so the characters were strong in my mind, and I had a good idea what I wanted to do. But it’s not a course I’d take again. It’s just too much, too fast. More breathing space between is needed. So now I know that, and the fourth book has been taking shape for a few months. It’ll wait longer before I really begin, though.
Meanwhile, I can address that what next feeling. Seven years ago I wrote a biography on John Martyn that, for complex reasons, was never published. Since then the man himself died. This June a posthumous album will be released, along with a tribute album, and my book, revised and completed, will appear as part of the celebration of John. So it’s a welcome change-up to non-fiction for a few months (along with paid work) and music writing. And after that? Well, we’ll wait and see what happens…
Thursday, 10 February 2011
Cold Cruel Winter (Part 1)
People think that once a writer has finished writing the book, the work is done. That’s far from the truth, of course. In many ways it’s just beginning. There’s still the wrangling with the editor, sometimes fight for something as trivial as a word (swear word or otherwise) until the text has been agreed upon.
Is it finished? Hardly. Wait a few months and there’s the cover copy to be settled, which can mean more to-ing and fro-ing. Once that’s out of the way there’s the cover itself. The publisher might have two or more to choose from delivered by the artist, including style of letting, where it’s placed and so on. This is where I am right now. The cover is set for Cold Cruel Winter, and very good it looks took, quite bleak and chilling. The placing and style of the lettering keeps the “brand,” which is a good thing. Now there’s the sub (for want of a better phrase). Currently in there is ‘A Richard Nottingham historical murder mystery.’ I’m probably wrong, but the words historical murder mystery always manage to sound fluffy to me, and this book is anything but that (I hope). So the publisher and I have been going back and forth, and it seems as if we’ve compromised on ‘A Richard Nottingham mystery.’ It might not seem like a great difference, but it feels like one.
And what next? There will be the final cover, going through the proofs, and then publication. For those writers better-known, or whose publishers have deeper pockets, that’s when the book tours and interviews begin. For me…well, that’s over three months away. A great deal can happen in that time.
Is it finished? Hardly. Wait a few months and there’s the cover copy to be settled, which can mean more to-ing and fro-ing. Once that’s out of the way there’s the cover itself. The publisher might have two or more to choose from delivered by the artist, including style of letting, where it’s placed and so on. This is where I am right now. The cover is set for Cold Cruel Winter, and very good it looks took, quite bleak and chilling. The placing and style of the lettering keeps the “brand,” which is a good thing. Now there’s the sub (for want of a better phrase). Currently in there is ‘A Richard Nottingham historical murder mystery.’ I’m probably wrong, but the words historical murder mystery always manage to sound fluffy to me, and this book is anything but that (I hope). So the publisher and I have been going back and forth, and it seems as if we’ve compromised on ‘A Richard Nottingham mystery.’ It might not seem like a great difference, but it feels like one.
And what next? There will be the final cover, going through the proofs, and then publication. For those writers better-known, or whose publishers have deeper pockets, that’s when the book tours and interviews begin. For me…well, that’s over three months away. A great deal can happen in that time.
Saturday, 5 February 2011
Look Back in Charanga
Sue Miller & Charanga del Norte
Look Back in Charanga
Charanga del Norte CDN OOCD10
Accomplished flautist and Cuban music expert Sue Miller deserves an apology from me. This CD arrived last summer, and was played then, but somehow slipped down into a pile…This is someone who knows her stuff and loves nothing more than a god descarga (jam session). She feels Cuban music in her blood, and the band behind her does some sterling work. That she’s the star is beyond doubt, and her freewheeling, spiralling improvisations are joyful to hear. Bonus points for coming from Leeds and the delightful wordplay in the title, but the meat is in the performance, which is as tasty as they come – within Cuba or outside.
On a sonic level the recording could have been better – the flute is sometimes too shrill – but that’s essentially a minor quibble. The music is what matters, and there’s plenty of it.
Look Back in Charanga
Charanga del Norte CDN OOCD10
Accomplished flautist and Cuban music expert Sue Miller deserves an apology from me. This CD arrived last summer, and was played then, but somehow slipped down into a pile…This is someone who knows her stuff and loves nothing more than a god descarga (jam session). She feels Cuban music in her blood, and the band behind her does some sterling work. That she’s the star is beyond doubt, and her freewheeling, spiralling improvisations are joyful to hear. Bonus points for coming from Leeds and the delightful wordplay in the title, but the meat is in the performance, which is as tasty as they come – within Cuba or outside.
On a sonic level the recording could have been better – the flute is sometimes too shrill – but that’s essentially a minor quibble. The music is what matters, and there’s plenty of it.
Wednesday, 26 January 2011
It’s been an odd but very heartening week for writing. As I focus on editing the third book in the Leeds series (currently called The Constant Lovers), things have been building a little with the first book, The Broken Token. First there was a lovely review at http://pamreader.blogspot.com/2011/01/broken-token-by-chris-nickson.html, which made me feel good, and that was followed by this from Mystery Scene, which I’m reliably informed is quite influential in the US (http://www.mysteryscenemag.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1743:the-broken-token&catid=26:books).
That should have been quite enough to spur me on, and it has been. The cherry on this lovely topping, however, was a message I received from a friend on Facebook. She’s a dramatist with several plays on radio and TV to her credit, and lives in Leeds, where The Broken Token is set. She’d read the book and is interested in adapting it for television. Costume drama but not for girlies, as she put it. Now, we both know that the likelihood of this reach fruition is minimal, but that someone wants to do that, and agents are talking to each other, is one of the biggest boosts I could have received.
As if all that wasn’t quite enough, during November I began work on a side project, another novel set in Leeds, this time in 1645, during the Civil War. I penned 12,000 words, and this week, carefully revised and vetted, they’ve gone off to my agent to see what she thinks. There’s even been time to put down some notes about the projected fourth book in the Richard Nottingham series. It never stops. At least, I hope it doesn’t.
That should have been quite enough to spur me on, and it has been. The cherry on this lovely topping, however, was a message I received from a friend on Facebook. She’s a dramatist with several plays on radio and TV to her credit, and lives in Leeds, where The Broken Token is set. She’d read the book and is interested in adapting it for television. Costume drama but not for girlies, as she put it. Now, we both know that the likelihood of this reach fruition is minimal, but that someone wants to do that, and agents are talking to each other, is one of the biggest boosts I could have received.
As if all that wasn’t quite enough, during November I began work on a side project, another novel set in Leeds, this time in 1645, during the Civil War. I penned 12,000 words, and this week, carefully revised and vetted, they’ve gone off to my agent to see what she thinks. There’s even been time to put down some notes about the projected fourth book in the Richard Nottingham series. It never stops. At least, I hope it doesn’t.
Monday, 10 January 2011
Thoughts on Arizona
In Arizona a Congresswoman comes close to death from a gunman while six other die and over a dozen are wounded. The politicians – being sane for once, as they realise it could have been any of them – condemn the culture of violence that helped foster this assassination attempt.
And yet, many of them have been indirectly responsible for it. Those on the right have benefited from the escalating hatred, the vitriol that’s been put into the air by politicians and for many years longer by political commentators such as Glen Beck and Rush Limbaugh. Hypocritical, yes, but it has to be hoped that it’s not too late to pull back from this brink. The commentators, notably, don’t feel any sense of responsibility for what’s happened. That, however, is no surprise.
But America is a country that seems incapable of doing anything by halves. Rather than quietly accepting the embarrassment of Wikileaks (and virtually all of these cable leaks have been nothing more than that), they empanel a secret Grand Jury and subpoena all manner of documents, as if revenge on a few individuals will satisfy an appetite, an hunger to strike back. Of course, if the country had been ethical in the first place, none of this would even be necessary. They’ve made Bradley Manning, the young, gay soldier suspected of leaking information (note that he’s just suspected, and that on the word of a reportedly unreliable source) into a scapegoat, violating his rights in the same way those at Guantanamo have been treated. For those of us who hoped for a new chapter with Obama taking office, it’s a case of plus ça change…
The ripples of what happen in America spill out into the rest of the world. Any country that has the hubris to consider itself the world’s policeman, and that feels bringing democracy, even if it’s not wanted or appropriate, is akin to a holy duty, is on very tricky moral ground. The divisions between left (such as any left remains anywhere) and right will deepen all over the globe. American can regain a little of the high ground by bringing back civility. Will it happen? Sadly not, as too many of its citizens are too stupid to want that (and that herd mentality isn’t just American, it’s duplicated in every nation). They prefer the swagger and strut of argument, and now that concealed weapons can be carried in so many states, the toll of blood, public and private, is just likely to grow.
And yet, many of them have been indirectly responsible for it. Those on the right have benefited from the escalating hatred, the vitriol that’s been put into the air by politicians and for many years longer by political commentators such as Glen Beck and Rush Limbaugh. Hypocritical, yes, but it has to be hoped that it’s not too late to pull back from this brink. The commentators, notably, don’t feel any sense of responsibility for what’s happened. That, however, is no surprise.
But America is a country that seems incapable of doing anything by halves. Rather than quietly accepting the embarrassment of Wikileaks (and virtually all of these cable leaks have been nothing more than that), they empanel a secret Grand Jury and subpoena all manner of documents, as if revenge on a few individuals will satisfy an appetite, an hunger to strike back. Of course, if the country had been ethical in the first place, none of this would even be necessary. They’ve made Bradley Manning, the young, gay soldier suspected of leaking information (note that he’s just suspected, and that on the word of a reportedly unreliable source) into a scapegoat, violating his rights in the same way those at Guantanamo have been treated. For those of us who hoped for a new chapter with Obama taking office, it’s a case of plus ça change…
The ripples of what happen in America spill out into the rest of the world. Any country that has the hubris to consider itself the world’s policeman, and that feels bringing democracy, even if it’s not wanted or appropriate, is akin to a holy duty, is on very tricky moral ground. The divisions between left (such as any left remains anywhere) and right will deepen all over the globe. American can regain a little of the high ground by bringing back civility. Will it happen? Sadly not, as too many of its citizens are too stupid to want that (and that herd mentality isn’t just American, it’s duplicated in every nation). They prefer the swagger and strut of argument, and now that concealed weapons can be carried in so many states, the toll of blood, public and private, is just likely to grow.
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