| today 2008-06-10 08:57:20 ET |
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it's kind of weird -- i would have thought that bond would seem more fluid and fast moving than some of the books i have been reading of late but there is a certain stodginess to the prose that makes it a bit hard to swim through. could be the subject matter i suppose, but then gambling seemed really interesting when i read paul auster's 'the music of chance'. hmm, it is only a short read so it should hopefully pick up and even it doesn't it is not much of a commitment to read something that short and at least it isn't jane austen. just set the kids their second competition of the week -- design a skateboard: a popular choice it seems.
we are running the house on a privilege system that converts points into time and this competition idea allows some regaining of lost ground through misbehaviour. yesterday was a great day and today is going well too.
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| yesterday 2008-06-10 06:20:29 ET |
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i spent yesterday reading oscar wilde's 'the picture of dorian gray' and 'transmetropolitan'. spider jerusalem is definitely one of those seminal characters that once you get into his world truly becomes real for you. i think warren ellis has created a journalist that a lot of people would like to be -- because how many media outlets in the world today are truly equipped with the teeth they need to have to chew on the news? surprisingly few it seems -- most of them de-fanged by their own political interests and associations.
reading wilde i was struck immediately by how modern and alive the text seems -- there are certain so-called classics that have this vitality and there are others such as anything by jane austen that seem dusty and quaint. it seems obvious reading this text what sexuality the writer was and it makes you think that all of that should have been irrelevant, should still be irrelevant, but isn't if it is something that occurs to you as a question. it is a beautiful piece of work and an absolute joy to read. i found it as a pdf and am going to have to see if i can hunt out more of his work. once i finished that last night i started to read 'the hound of the baskervilles' featuring sherlock holmes and it is possessed of a similar quality in how easy it is to read -- it has an almost conversational air that lets you float through the work, absorbing the narrative almost without effort. it is something that i aim to perfect in my own work.
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| Writing 2008-06-07 16:50:15 ET |
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So, I have been writing a lot of serial flash fiction at the moment. I am well into a story featuring this hitman called Grit who basically attaches little value to any life but his own. Seems to be going down well on the website.
I have a horror detective fiction cross called Else City which is coming on nicely and I have just started writing a Cthulu themed piece called Squid Pro Quo.
I am wondering about how well a collection of flash fiction might sell. It seems to have somewhat revitalised the short story so I am hoping there might be some interest.
I have to get a move on and get the poetry collected together. I think I have some really strong pieces that cover a variety of subjects and are relevant to modern life in a way that most people's idea of poetry doesn't encompass.
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