tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10006932390553087102024-03-18T21:23:26.344-07:00Graham Higson - a writer's musingsBlog by author Graham HigsonGraham Higson - some more writer's musingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10559341134334486233noreply@blogger.comBlogger71125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1000693239055308710.post-17070056035353655622018-06-22T05:51:00.000-07:002018-06-22T05:51:26.833-07:00Being a multi-genre author, by guest-blogger Lucinda E. Clarke<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">As promised in my last post, here guest-blogger
Lucinda E. Clarke talks about some of the challenges of being a multi-genre author,
and will be of interest to both readers and fellow writers. <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: large;">Once
upon a time, in the age of the dinosaurs when people actually paid me to write,
I was commissioned by the South African Broadcasting Service (SABC), firstly
for radio and later television programmes. The subjects were as diverse as
splitting the atom, how to be an entrepreneur, how to fashion a toothbrush from
twigs and how to feed a family of 10 on a piece of ground the size of a door. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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became a fountain of knowledge and a master of nothing. Almost any subject that
comes up in everyday conversation I can think, "I once wrote a programme about
that."<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: large;">These
were my first thoughts when Graham very kindly asked me to scribble a few words
about working on more than one genre and I guess he is referring to books. But
let me add that to write for radio you have to think in sounds, actors use
character names frequently so you know who is talking and you can fly to Mars
and plunge down the Marianas Trench for nothing using equipment found in most
kitchens.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: large;">Moving
to television was a huge learning curve. Now, I had a budget to consider (even
stock shots can cost a small fortune), a director to please and a cameraman to
instruct. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: large;">When
I started writing my own books as my own boss, I revelled in the freedom. No
longer did I have to time out scripts, locations and car crashes were once
again free; I was in charge. What I hadn’t expected was to start again right at
the bottom of the ladder. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUwPQzWoEpBoTwh7qMsHINZXgiPQ9qzlx6-1agXo8P-8aqoUdEot4VpHv79kxh4bm97BzU5T4Bg-GWNdELr120OaNCzyjc0GxFcGWOFP2eDr50k0CvdAvZ8P1X0iyax0SAEM1gwI6MYJs/s1600/woe-cover-ereade2r.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUwPQzWoEpBoTwh7qMsHINZXgiPQ9qzlx6-1agXo8P-8aqoUdEot4VpHv79kxh4bm97BzU5T4Bg-GWNdELr120OaNCzyjc0GxFcGWOFP2eDr50k0CvdAvZ8P1X0iyax0SAEM1gwI6MYJs/s320/woe-cover-ereade2r.jpg" width="213" /></a><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: large;">My
first effort was my "sensitive" memoir, in that it was true and
revolved around my family. For this I used a pen name and waited until members
of the older generation had passed on. It was easy to write physically, if not
as easy mentally, as my life has been somewhat bizarre and traumatic.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My
next effort was a full-length novel – could I do it? A big step into the
unknown. I based it very loosely on my own experiences of arriving to live in
Africa, only I took it a step further and put my heroine through hell – what
fun!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnyh7KXVQqGf-jkB9PQ_lIH0-Us5kRzfJXerRhoYFTgGMi8PohyIvhZwUAZdcm72__TcHMiPhtoLPwwUQ4lRe9CS5ZDLELMmPlg5UvWWbUhZi67rETSaa_4pecy3Jl9RTSCj-_MQYRUqE/s1600/child-of-africa-kindle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="453" data-original-width="283" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnyh7KXVQqGf-jkB9PQ_lIH0-Us5kRzfJXerRhoYFTgGMi8PohyIvhZwUAZdcm72__TcHMiPhtoLPwwUQ4lRe9CS5ZDLELMmPlg5UvWWbUhZi67rETSaa_4pecy3Jl9RTSCj-_MQYRUqE/s320/child-of-africa-kindle.jpg" width="199" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The
wrinkles in the mirror told me time was running out, so with memory fading, I
rushed to record my days of media work in two volumes – it got too long for the
one I planned – and suddenly I had 4 books out there.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: large;">I
could have published the last 3 in my real name but it seemed too much effort
to open another Facebook page, Twitter account and all the rest, so Lucinda it remained.
Some very kind and possibly deluded readers liked Amie so much they urged me to
write more and I’m scribbling book 5, but in the meantime, while spring
cleaning under the bed, I found an old manuscript – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Unhappily Ever After</i>, a comedy set in Fairyland. I scraped the dust
off and revamped it. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw5-Uarb9iEqkdeP6W52D1uchthMK-hFDSIcc_s76uwna75MDwLl_IOoodxtHZgXmKTi_zBBQPriNcvvHSWkoo18NkNq8BX3-QxDj972EoEkDCSJjY2QtCSDrepfVJw93IJD0T0vgaiRo/s1600/UnhyappilyEverAfter_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="663" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw5-Uarb9iEqkdeP6W52D1uchthMK-hFDSIcc_s76uwna75MDwLl_IOoodxtHZgXmKTi_zBBQPriNcvvHSWkoo18NkNq8BX3-QxDj972EoEkDCSJjY2QtCSDrepfVJw93IJD0T0vgaiRo/s320/UnhyappilyEverAfter_2.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: large;">The
weird thing is most of my media writing was comedy – many programmes were
educational and I firmly believe you can impart information more easily if you
make it fun. So, I enjoyed completing my comedy book – it’s very much along the
lines of Tom Sharpe and I’d be tempted to write more but for one large problem:
comedy has changed and to be honest I don’t understand what makes younger
people laugh these days. There’s little humour in clever word play,
embarrassing situations and innuendo. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m
tempted to follow Cinderella as a newly divorcee, but I’m not sure the sales
would warrant it. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: large;">Promotion
across boundaries? A nightmare. I couldn’t see myself writing memoir after
memoir about my hectic life; the first three said most of what there was to say
and that was an end to it. OK, so I have a free reader magnet book about my
riding school in Botswana, but it’s only a short book. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: large;">Overall,
I’m out of sync with that’s "in". I’ve written memoirs, an old-style
comedy and an adventure series – not detective books, crime novels, erotic or
supernatural – but then I couldn’t stop writing if I tried, I’m hooked – a lost
cause. I will write for me.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.lucindaeclarkeauthor.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">www.lucindaeclarkeauthor.com</span></a></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: large;">Thank you for
these insightful comments, Lucinda. I shall be continuing this theme in the
next post.</span><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />Graham Higson - some more writer's musingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10559341134334486233noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1000693239055308710.post-51114015024883437432018-06-18T04:44:00.003-07:002018-06-18T04:44:27.736-07:00My 3rd interview for eBook Showtime<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">I don't
have favourites where my interviewees are concerned; it wouldn't be ethical and
would show me in something of a poor light. However, this isn't to say that I
don't have particular aspects of my guest authors that I greatly admire, and
perhaps a good example is from my meeting with international best-selling
author Lucinda E. Clarke, as is suggested in the opening of my introduction:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">"To say that today's guest
author is a bit of an all-rounder may be something of an understatement..."<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">Lucinda's
done journalism, screenwriting, novels and memoirs, with eclectic mixes of
humour, tragedy and pathos. I mean, how brilliant is that? She sounded just my
sort of writer, which is why I jumped at the chance of meeting her.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5sUk77d-73NG8c0-TYMtKLKIYLLgLpKYHtXUgO7z8FMI-dy8xw6qb8JzSdY5iO_5RArSrhegFF_USdEh5n1qhggiyVug3zaoQ6y10oOz9waQX2PjxVM2pcGmxZOiWwwfpiLGxqbllR10/s1600/mtlp-front-cover-v4-small-pic1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="299" data-original-width="197" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5sUk77d-73NG8c0-TYMtKLKIYLLgLpKYHtXUgO7z8FMI-dy8xw6qb8JzSdY5iO_5RArSrhegFF_USdEh5n1qhggiyVug3zaoQ6y10oOz9waQX2PjxVM2pcGmxZOiWwwfpiLGxqbllR10/s200/mtlp-front-cover-v4-small-pic1.jpg" width="132" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHzV3vHc5fGFmxQr4DIMXNksDuO4TGTVohvpXgrRuMN8jNO45GjSxZPugmTL78I110KtRDf_jvCWPeHuvw-fvAWjvQDvC74w0-DbOXdaui6NYybZ-ucgPb3aQ2WteZvUKKoAYd1NQjdNs/s1600/UnhyappilyEverAfter_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="663" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHzV3vHc5fGFmxQr4DIMXNksDuO4TGTVohvpXgrRuMN8jNO45GjSxZPugmTL78I110KtRDf_jvCWPeHuvw-fvAWjvQDvC74w0-DbOXdaui6NYybZ-ucgPb3aQ2WteZvUKKoAYd1NQjdNs/s200/UnhyappilyEverAfter_2.jpg" width="132" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit4bU4vGxc7_PZsKh4Z9skDTeUMl3tvFmuKBfFlqf7Yh-lyUEPkM88Ratg2FM2hxXtflMuBrcpRhzIny0Q99i1vnPMINY8OycP5r6UV2ZZMSD0giJ4o-c4i9HAi9gTpGSFsriUgbvr5v8/s1600/child-of-africa-kindle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="453" data-original-width="283" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit4bU4vGxc7_PZsKh4Z9skDTeUMl3tvFmuKBfFlqf7Yh-lyUEPkM88Ratg2FM2hxXtflMuBrcpRhzIny0Q99i1vnPMINY8OycP5r6UV2ZZMSD0giJ4o-c4i9HAi9gTpGSFsriUgbvr5v8/s200/child-of-africa-kindle.jpg" width="123" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">But, as I'd
already learned where online interviews are concerned, technology is all very
well just so long as it's firing on all four cylinders, which is often not the
case. I was in the north of England and Lucinda, on Spain's east coast, was only
(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">only?</i>) around 1,500 miles away, so
not exactly Earth to Venus, was it? But I lost count of the times the audio got
zapped or went off on a journey of its own, leaving us with little picture jerks
and long freezes (less painful than it sounds). And every time that happened we
had to stop and reconnect, do the pre-recording setups once again, and continue
where we left off. I had almost 20GB of useless video footage. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCsJZ41hZGl0altQmwsYoM6TSMpEKUMxQaxNd7xhTs_Paa9DaYteYLyrqPZKjMbQsV4cUhnCwskFkJ_dTNqmobfYHfO4Sw5vlzXAyMecdUezWh-GFu_GpTSK0A7NzScHNWMoyrjSwcd5U/s1600/91l7ti29K8L._UX250_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="299" data-original-width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCsJZ41hZGl0altQmwsYoM6TSMpEKUMxQaxNd7xhTs_Paa9DaYteYLyrqPZKjMbQsV4cUhnCwskFkJ_dTNqmobfYHfO4Sw5vlzXAyMecdUezWh-GFu_GpTSK0A7NzScHNWMoyrjSwcd5U/s1600/91l7ti29K8L._UX250_.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">Would you
believe that it took three months to get finished? Now, you can't tell from the
final cut that we are a quarter of a year older from beginning to end, can you?
I'm joking! Actually, what we did was re-record it all again from scratch and this
final session was done in just one take. Its success makes the headaches and
frustrations pale into insignificance.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">At the end
of the day, it all made for getting to know each other whilst rattling on about
the book business and putting the world to rights. I particularly enjoyed when
Lucinda took me on a tour of her home and from out on the balcony could be seen
palm trees, orange groves and, sizzling in the distance, the Mediterranean Sea.
The heat was bringing me out in a sweat, even though here it was barely 20
degrees Celsius. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">In future
posts I shall deal with my take on writing in more than one genre, and the next
post will feature Lucinda, as guest blogger, telling how she came to be such a
versatile writer. I'm looking forward to it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://youtu.be/hBuAi7qcY2o" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Here's the interview</span></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.lucindaeclarkeauthor.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">and here is Lucinda's website.</span></a></div>
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<br />Graham Higson - some more writer's musingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10559341134334486233noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1000693239055308710.post-90497580169153605592017-11-14T14:03:00.001-08:002017-11-14T14:03:19.667-08:00eBook Showtime: my second victim<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The second
author to feature in my online interviews was Ann Patras, a funny lady who, in
the early-80s, moved from a technologically-advanced Britain to Zambia with her
husband and three young children. And thirteen crates. Of course there are
challenges, both culturally and materially, such as the shortages like… no, I'll
let Ann explain it to you in her books. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4kbrlf_lSPlw6CDaefWS4443FfDipMH1_oKMbM6y0owFNJmueB2TXlnqmHIK1v8Tzggsfd93VzU9Sk4duWzm5RQ0gEgzjqmwu8g2p2jsj3uIP7_xP_-p4PQXYJXUtbovahN4EvLQ_CqM/s1600/AP_books.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="711" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4kbrlf_lSPlw6CDaefWS4443FfDipMH1_oKMbM6y0owFNJmueB2TXlnqmHIK1v8Tzggsfd93VzU9Sk4duWzm5RQ0gEgzjqmwu8g2p2jsj3uIP7_xP_-p4PQXYJXUtbovahN4EvLQ_CqM/s320/AP_books.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">She has
moved around over the years and now lives in Spain, and I suspect eventually she may write
about all the places she has called home.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now, to get
some idea of what might come to light during our online meeting, I asked Ann to
supply me with some amusing and memorable facts about herself – something I might use in my introduction. "Well,
I was given a sex change between wards at a Malaga
hospital in 2012," was one of the things she mentioned.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">A-ha!
I thought, this could be interesting. I was rather taken with the idea of her
living in sunny Spain, which instantly got me playing <i>Y Viva Espana</i> round and round in my head (memories of the mid-70s
and that rather attractive Sylvia Vrethammar who sang it). So, if I wore my
Madrid cap (to set the scene) and did the intro out in the snow, surely there
would be some comedic value based on the climatic contrast…?</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz5wTmxllzHi2R371kBXWnBwz5HbTBWnzrorTHEAuTFH-lb7JdnQfj4B_RNnDKFHgenIPVJApECqo86d7MVC-46iJBjHW9VZRREBBxj14LTxQglL01CR87EcTFpqFLN1SH5H8Ao5bWM0k/s1600/AP7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="559" data-original-width="985" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz5wTmxllzHi2R371kBXWnBwz5HbTBWnzrorTHEAuTFH-lb7JdnQfj4B_RNnDKFHgenIPVJApECqo86d7MVC-46iJBjHW9VZRREBBxj14LTxQglL01CR87EcTFpqFLN1SH5H8Ao5bWM0k/s320/AP7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Er, no.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">For one thing, right where Ann was in Spain the
temperature was miserably low (though not exactly freezing like it was here in
Costa del Pennine), and I couldn't help
myself saying that today's guest author had undergone a "sex change <i>operation</i>", which wasn't exactly
the case. And although I knew this, I just couldn't say it any differently.
Well, I did say it was cold out. It was only after nine takes (that's when I
lost count) that we decided to go inside for a hot drink and a shot of rum…</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi11Zc5XwQ1v2c31qEPM_w0BThuKimd4qagS1Z7Lo6oTHnreQnh2JVW_ZHRo3KMnWY8G4mEWxnc0iflnCH5GEzSNilDLaGC0kiboW9WgYzQh65SPTuPip8IUGUGqnzEiJvR6710MjrNH4I/s1600/DSC00050.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1062" data-original-width="1600" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi11Zc5XwQ1v2c31qEPM_w0BThuKimd4qagS1Z7Lo6oTHnreQnh2JVW_ZHRo3KMnWY8G4mEWxnc0iflnCH5GEzSNilDLaGC0kiboW9WgYzQh65SPTuPip8IUGUGqnzEiJvR6710MjrNH4I/s320/DSC00050.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">…but could only find some port. Anyhow, a rethink of the intro
was in order, and we hadn't yet done the interview </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">–</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">
but hey, what else could possibly go wrong?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We did a practice Skype call, in which we seemed to be
constantly interrupted by the audio disappearing, then the video, then freezing
(no, not the weather this time), but whilst we were chatting away (as if we'd
known each other for years, which was uncanny), both of Ann's dogs were
outside, and one of them, JD, let herself in the house. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeQBzedNuixKHLRu7surPeEGAHm42Kr7UWkTqiG1kU5FMBxVfYkKBWuIzA6TJa__VFfD6LLOXYDjklzrCuxo1XwbC16V3x8CnS-XUMdUeyEEbGw9aHo1kIKaPLWiMcVY1htq6-1deUIhE/s1600/Image5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="363" data-original-width="613" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeQBzedNuixKHLRu7surPeEGAHm42Kr7UWkTqiG1kU5FMBxVfYkKBWuIzA6TJa__VFfD6LLOXYDjklzrCuxo1XwbC16V3x8CnS-XUMdUeyEEbGw9aHo1kIKaPLWiMcVY1htq6-1deUIhE/s320/Image5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">That's when Ann told me that she can open the door (and
also the outside gate) from either side, but refuses to close them after herself.
But that's okay, you see, because the other one, Marti, will then close the
door. And if she doesn't quite manage it, Ann only has to say, "Now do it
properly," and the dog will apply a little more weight until the latch can
be heard to catch. You can see my reflection from the screen on the glass door.</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZdsULQTgt78pkSkKEwCwjZ_ptnHQQeZz1RHgpvbhCvEnv0GjPc0UQl0j4cb-CoZYbAtDRxt69VXE03y31Zy9qKvsvmB-4mzpTUVbT754KLR9Kiy9GgKr25ZNzUZxk_FQ4XKgFwdLHKgE/s1600/AP4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="255" data-original-width="417" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZdsULQTgt78pkSkKEwCwjZ_ptnHQQeZz1RHgpvbhCvEnv0GjPc0UQl0j4cb-CoZYbAtDRxt69VXE03y31Zy9qKvsvmB-4mzpTUVbT754KLR9Kiy9GgKr25ZNzUZxk_FQ4XKgFwdLHKgE/s320/AP4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">This seemed like too good a treat to not use on the night
of the interview, only I feared that any attempt to engineer this would appear contrived
… but then on the big night it did indeed happen </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">–</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> and without any attempt to shoehorn
it in. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here's a recent video of JD and Marti following prompts
from Ann's daughter Vicki:</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwl9KFWmA57FbPCaSewI1k37rbo_zCZYNkvK_pOok6gStwQEL0GrnIuEDxpmd29VObECcqG2j_uXNb0DuXAvw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">During their time in Zambia, Ann took many photos, but
admits the film quality was lacking and the prints haven't fared well over the
past 30-odd years. However, she did send me some scans to use in the interview,
and I managed to squeeze some extra resolution and colour from them. A small
selection was included in a short 35-second animated sequence. This little
video, would you believe, made using Adobe After Effects software, took many
hours to render. Apparently, long processing times are par for the course. I
used it again later to show some of Ann's excellent book illustrations
presented in a revolving drum.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6DgWkSf3YlZbKWWsIjWtDzXakej6PgWLgwqsQW1E_Y6upZhKp1SsRfnHaQp56r29GJMr9ls8rbrKdS4teD1KpxlZOGzQ24T2UiunPQBIVmF5lBnAyrO6-EJt44Eta2qmjHQPTb5QsM7c/s1600/AP5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="489" data-original-width="587" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6DgWkSf3YlZbKWWsIjWtDzXakej6PgWLgwqsQW1E_Y6upZhKp1SsRfnHaQp56r29GJMr9ls8rbrKdS4teD1KpxlZOGzQ24T2UiunPQBIVmF5lBnAyrO6-EJt44Eta2qmjHQPTb5QsM7c/s320/AP5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The interview lasts around 18 minutes, so shorter than
other online author videos and, we hope, more comfortable and convenient to
watch. And together with the graphics and image presentations, the <i>eBook Showtime</i> programme lets readers
see Ann as she really is: friendly, funny, and doesn't suffer fools gladly. We
had one hell of a good chat and I think we both enjoyed discussing her books
and generally talking shop. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here's the interview:</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mKUr9aD6TA">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mKUr9aD6TA</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and here is Ann's website:</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.annpatrasauthor.com/"><span style="font-size: large;">www.annpatrasauthor.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Graham Higson - some more writer's musingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10559341134334486233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1000693239055308710.post-4242882626284759672017-10-18T04:09:00.001-07:002017-10-18T04:09:57.358-07:00eBook Showtime: my first victim<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">My first
subject for the <i>eBook Showtime</i> interviews wasn't that hard to find. During an
online feature for the famous Facebook group <b>We Love Memoirs</b>, where it was me
in the hot seat talking about my book <i>How
Much for a Little Screw?</i> , I had mentioned that in my early days writing
professionally I interviewed well-known celebrities in the television and music
industries. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">One of the
people watching was interested in some of my early exploits of rubbing
shoulders with such people, so I promised to send him scans of the magazine
articles in which I wrote about the behind-the-scenes stories of interviewing <i>All Creatures Great and Famous</i>. This in
turn led me to writing a small book about some of those I did in the 1970s (not
all of them, but that's another story), and the person I have to thank for
inspiring me to write this book is fellow author <b>Frank Kusy</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">I'd already
read what I would describe as Frank's signature book, <i>Kevin and I in India</i>, which is an entertaining diary read of the
time he descended on the sub-continent as a lone traveller and teamed-up with a
complete stranger, who just happened to be called Kevin. Hence the title. This
was back in 1986 and since then he's become a recognised travel writer as well
as penning memoirs and children's books.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5PFCteW_jN8sZTNsg06Cqinarty9vTehzNeI_PL6CM03I2zMkDO4n_TELJV1k48pwxVt5iArS-ADxQDPanvqs2zm0t-dJPuu5TRXXQGi0C0tzLSM7XXwgnqZmWcl1ph9VpI-AvRASdnY/s1600/IMG_5969.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5PFCteW_jN8sZTNsg06Cqinarty9vTehzNeI_PL6CM03I2zMkDO4n_TELJV1k48pwxVt5iArS-ADxQDPanvqs2zm0t-dJPuu5TRXXQGi0C0tzLSM7XXwgnqZmWcl1ph9VpI-AvRASdnY/s320/IMG_5969.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">I'd have no
hesitation in saying that we "clicked" as soon as Skype (eventually)
got around to connecting us. It has to be said that Facetime is a
better-quality and more reliable experience, but is a bit of a closed shop because
it can be used only on Apple devices, so it was down to Skype for the frequent
interruptions, the varying delay in delivering the video signal, and general
off-quality – which all added to the element of live, immediate and unrehearsed
content, so not all bad. And better than nothing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">I'd used
three physical cameras to record our meeting, and this created lots of extra
work and headaches. It was indeed a learning experience and later interviews
were much simpler, the rule being that if it's not on the screen then don't bother
to record it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">We had fun
getting our cats to say hello to each other. I don't think I was recording at
the time, so Sparky and Gerald's historical meeting has disappeared in the
vastness of cyberspace. Maybe we can get it again because such was the wealth
of material concerning Frank, and especially his countless anecdotes – such as
the time he was given the death penalty in Malaysia – that we could easily make
another 15-minute spot.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7D8M4x8dIkd0MoCKRcrAbIt2ZShEnY93A5Kmx6vzMEmdjuV2jONw78oWNcV7ZPjBmOYwxnjbQlZcsqixHK_JIge5Auocl_CjkGWVk07WgIw61_D4sAfEk8uXC6ZHmbUFrlKXm1_cLC0o/s1600/Frank_screenCap_URL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="507" data-original-width="911" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7D8M4x8dIkd0MoCKRcrAbIt2ZShEnY93A5Kmx6vzMEmdjuV2jONw78oWNcV7ZPjBmOYwxnjbQlZcsqixHK_JIge5Auocl_CjkGWVk07WgIw61_D4sAfEk8uXC6ZHmbUFrlKXm1_cLC0o/s320/Frank_screenCap_URL.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">Anyhow, I
believe that Frank, despite initially not being happy seeing himself on screen
for the first time, was pleased with the end result and agreed to it going live
on YouTube. And now readers can see a glimpse of the man who writes the words, has
returned to India on many occasions, is steadily releasing his entertaining and
humorous memoirs, and is the creator of a gangster cat named Ginger – oh, and
he still has a pal named Kevin. And, I like to think, a new one named Graham.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Tekton Pro Ext","sans-serif";"> <a href="http://www.frankkusybooks.weebly.com/">www.frankkusybooks.weebly.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Graham Higson - some more writer's musingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10559341134334486233noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1000693239055308710.post-34996737812131208192017-09-08T03:24:00.002-07:002017-09-08T03:36:04.169-07:00Still interviewing after 44 years (I started very young)<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: large;">It
doesn't sound so bad if you mumble, but even so the thought of it sends a bit
of a chill down my spine – the Hammer Films sort, that is, and not a member of
the pleasure-tingle variety.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: large;">These
are authors of eBooks I'm now interviewing. Okay, so they also produce print
copies, but the interviews are primarily aimed at those serving the digital
market. The idea came about with the loss of <i>The Book Show</i> on the Sky Arts channel. Presented by Mariella Frostrup,
it ran from 2008-2013 and featured interviews with the creative movers and
shakers of the printed book world until it was simply dropped by Sky to be
replaced with … nothing. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS5ET0-5txjkAV8hvA9fUGeVeaeBD8JkH_jpBF691jappZJJagE5L41MoaOVGln4_uMJYv1S8cQNfoaQZ2AN6ne3NUw6D1oiN4YMGMhMshIVoJNaZVdng18vODrJvjux77efbW_d-0PYI/s1600/Mariella2a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="564" data-original-width="974" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS5ET0-5txjkAV8hvA9fUGeVeaeBD8JkH_jpBF691jappZJJagE5L41MoaOVGln4_uMJYv1S8cQNfoaQZ2AN6ne3NUw6D1oiN4YMGMhMshIVoJNaZVdng18vODrJvjux77efbW_d-0PYI/s320/Mariella2a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
early set was distinctive, looking like a pastel-coloured front room, with book-shaped
coffee tables and a backdrop of giant book spines. Seated comfortably on a
settee, the authors would chat with Mariella </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">–</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> one could be forgiven for thinking she even flirted with <span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">some of them </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">– </span>and of course we were party to these conversations with such names as Rosamund
Lupton, Sir Roger Moore, Terry Jones, Kate Mosse, William Boyd, to name just a
few. These meetings were punctuated with short pieces filmed in the homes of,
say, Nicci Gerard and Sean French, Alison Weir, Joseph O'Connor. Other pieces
looked around bookshops with authors such as Ian Sinclair. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span> <span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIsInvr3BemdI1iMa_Wa4rFdJNg0B48ALYJaUwFN0up9n1Vwv4grFJL8NLbA3vdlLNffNw6bx9bkUJeCcC_ArzMxsfjrnK9pxi9etIsHvpVg1BS0do8VNQY_ZOlm4QtMarVaeiTcORxwY/s1600/BookShow_studioGuests2011a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="569" data-original-width="990" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIsInvr3BemdI1iMa_Wa4rFdJNg0B48ALYJaUwFN0up9n1Vwv4grFJL8NLbA3vdlLNffNw6bx9bkUJeCcC_ArzMxsfjrnK9pxi9etIsHvpVg1BS0do8VNQY_ZOlm4QtMarVaeiTcORxwY/s320/BookShow_studioGuests2011a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Also,
each year a studio marquee was set up at the world-famous Hay Festival and
extra </span><i style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Book Show</span></i><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> programmes were made
where guest interviewers such as Sarah Crompton tackled authors before a live
audience (I never noticed her working from a script, so awarded her 10/10 for
that and her excellent way with people). Other book events, such as the Dublin
Writers' Festival, were also included.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglqI8GziYCdDCdjIYP_w4nZI3_iwDtC2wfWrD_kCV43inINNoKygdY1-S6SkofkccdpVtVqNZNqnqSAq_0w-RG0oOg167pjE0SRS2b0zoLqpXNZ5FMCKEEEuNr7OyryvxKMLTy83BJ6aU/s1600/RogerMoore_a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="570" data-original-width="986" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglqI8GziYCdDCdjIYP_w4nZI3_iwDtC2wfWrD_kCV43inINNoKygdY1-S6SkofkccdpVtVqNZNqnqSAq_0w-RG0oOg167pjE0SRS2b0zoLqpXNZ5FMCKEEEuNr7OyryvxKMLTy83BJ6aU/s320/RogerMoore_a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: large;">It
was amazing to be invited, along with thousands of other viewers, into the
homes and private spaces of these authors as they told us how they created,
their likes and dislikes, their treasured preferences. And I was fascinated to
see where they worked, the scenery amongst which their stories developed and gelled
– hey, I even found myself looking at the details of how their bookcases were
constructed and what their floors were like. Yes, a bit of the woodworker in me
was spilling out, which isn't a bad thing because it shows how I was accepting
these people into my life; they were, after all, speaking to me at the other
end of the camera.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: large;">The
show was, quite simply, superb, bringing the authors to the readers in a way that
hadn't been done before. And when, in June 2013, the broadcaster axed it, my
wife and I were devastated. Strangely, about the same time, BBC2 dumped its weekly
<i>Review Show</i> into a monthly slot on a
back burner on BBC4, and <i>The TV Book Club</i>
on Channel 4 – yet another proactive look into books and authors – had disappeared
in 2012.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu2yr1dl_cF9Lv9-2P_IzKs4Utc4nVhsVzymu6OB_8dvTx90DrReY1FS6K2hgOCfHdFkO5W95VdIor7-bSb6ymPvhQ4wG1yw6tJdkfyzSx8nIwSmHzVs2u1h_2mjiKdTknWXDVW8ofa4o/s1600/BookShow_ident_a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="565" data-original-width="991" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu2yr1dl_cF9Lv9-2P_IzKs4Utc4nVhsVzymu6OB_8dvTx90DrReY1FS6K2hgOCfHdFkO5W95VdIor7-bSb6ymPvhQ4wG1yw6tJdkfyzSx8nIwSmHzVs2u1h_2mjiKdTknWXDVW8ofa4o/s320/BookShow_ident_a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: large;">Now,
there was no way that I could take over and finance the making of a dedicated TV
book programme, but working from a computer, and with software and equipment on
hand from Pin Productions, I thought it would be worth conducting online interviews
with eBook authors, to bring them some exposure, to introduce them to their
readers, to bring their names alive and put voices to them.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://ebookshowtime.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="245" data-original-width="1000" height="95" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqyR__1hU3fAbdUwEEacq0-59LzjPhO680-T4RrY4Pc400wNH0TBgemIV7Z_yiBgFaG_6DwF46zYLxmfdgsdmd85hasC6pPDb-8nnURkIHbYDgRpeM-gtpjSZIwa1jY_1nmIZg-MYS3dc/s400/Salsa+Mangos+BT+copy_larger_transformed_6.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: large;">eBook
Showtime was born and I grabbed the domain name right away (I've since been
offered large amounts for it). Unfortunately, personal circumstances prevented
me from getting it going until a couple of years later, but it's here now and in
my next post I'll be talking about what it was like doing my first ever Skype interview.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">*</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">All
images are screen grabs from the Sky Arts television programme and are used
here for educational purposes.<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Graham Higson - some more writer's musingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10559341134334486233noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1000693239055308710.post-69918433733826354672017-07-06T04:23:00.000-07:002017-07-10T03:37:19.565-07:00Promotion in the Modern World<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal;"> </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjofXVC56tPE2QtY2_5l6ARjK950gwTt6uCqGx0I9SEMi44zukuS2PtnCum4b293kHoHZZOBRPBa4rJF5q1y9tc6zRiPAdg21cnW8ULYpEb08E9AX0NI1RD3fSb8BEgvMBjXi1c7QtjDX0/s1600/800px-Snape_Maltings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjofXVC56tPE2QtY2_5l6ARjK950gwTt6uCqGx0I9SEMi44zukuS2PtnCum4b293kHoHZZOBRPBa4rJF5q1y9tc6zRiPAdg21cnW8ULYpEb08E9AX0NI1RD3fSb8BEgvMBjXi1c7QtjDX0/s320/800px-Snape_Maltings.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal;">Snape Maltings Concert Hall</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal;">(Hikitsurisan, public domain image)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal; font-size: 14pt;">In
May 2017, ten minutes or so before a choral concert at the world-famous Snape
Maltings Concert Hall in Suffolk, I witnessed a man in the audience being torn
off a strip by a member of the theatre staff.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
concert was far from beginning, and not even was there anyone on stage. He had
been talking to his friends about the attractive wooden ceiling, shaped to fit
the original use of the building in bygone times as a malt factory, and he took
a photo of it. It was only an iPhone he used, so the quality wouldn't be up to
much. Then a suited member of staff came halfway along the row of seats,
disturbing other audience members, and chastised him. "We don't allow
photos."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
unfortunate man explained, in a pleasant and friendly manner, I thought, that
he wouldn't be taking photos during the concert and that he only wanted to
appreciate the concert hall's ceiling. "The ceiling is copyright," he
was told. "And I will ask you to delete the photo." It wasn't a
request.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal; font-size: 14.0pt;">There
were a few uneasy seconds as they stared at each other. The man's wife, tight-lipped,
said, "Right," and, after the "security operative" walked
away, she whispered to him <i>not</i> to
delete it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal; font-size: 14.0pt;">I
sincerely hope that this clumsy and ill-judged approach didn't spoil the man's
enjoyment of the recital, nor that of his friends.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal; font-size: 14.0pt;">It
would certainly have spoilt mine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal; font-size: 14.0pt;">Later
that evening, photos and videos taken by other audience members began to appear
on Facebook, and of the concert itself. Good on them! The man I saw was just the
unlucky one. Here you have family members and friends who want memories to
cherish, and this is understandable. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal; font-size: 14.0pt;">Exercising subtlety<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal; font-size: 14.0pt;">Okay,
so it can be annoying when you're at a gig and there's someone holding up a
camera or phone, with its bright LED screen causing distraction. But these days
most people – notice that I said <i>most</i>,
not all – are aware of this, and they exercise subtlety. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal; font-size: 14.0pt;">But
what if that man and his family and friends at Snape have decided to never
again bless that concert hall with their presence? I wouldn't blame them. Why?
Because it was so unnecessary. The ceiling is copyright? What a load of
nonsense – it's in a place where the public have been invited, and that's a paying
public, by the way, and the seating prices aren't exactly cheap; there aren't
even concessions for senior citizens, nor are they exactly comfortable and many
of the regulars had taken cushions with them. Whoops, I'm off the point here…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal; font-size: 14.0pt;">Slow suicide<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal; font-size: 14.0pt;">I've
already mentioned that photos and clips appear on social media, which leads me
on to an unfortunate aspect of this senseless and archaic attitude that is
bordering on the financially inept: reducing visibility on social media amounts
to a slow suicide. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal; font-size: 14.0pt;">Younger
audiences are the ones to think about; they are the future, and they have been
bred with technology coming out of their ear holes. They take photos and share
them. And sharing these images and videos is free marketing for both the
performers and the venue – it is promotion that industry professionals couldn't
even afford to finance by usual means.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal; font-size: 14.0pt;">As
an example, I can name one international singer/songwriter who isn't paranoid
and allows the taking of photos and videos at his concerts so they can be posted
on Facebook and also his own website – and he thanks them for doing this! He
doesn't wail about it being copyrighted material because, quite simply, these
fans aren't making bootleg copies of his recordings; they are simply sharing
their enjoyment of his live concerts and encouraging others to attend. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal; font-size: 14.0pt;">See
what I mean? This kind of exposure is priceless, but if theatre staff start
jumping on audience members and tearing strips off them (as I've witnessed), in
the end the losers will be the artistes and the venues.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal; font-size: 14.0pt;">Old-fashioned<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal; font-size: 14.0pt;">Of
course, the final choice as to whether photos are allowed is down to the artiste
concerned. Ken Dodd, so I'm told, doesn't allow any of it, but then, in his very
late-80s, he may not be aware – nor care too much about – the long-term
benefits.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF-jKz5F1HDA_OH_Yn75Xo-VISCnZg2XCI9bFOuBx29os6lgN75IT9vatZ2u3-NH9HCmeeMbJtwYf4AKjgGl3oj0mfQKGs0-tuYtjFB8qKPEYaC5Q4-HcsDjdvMHvO2uC0XB-e-ZwpQrc/s1600/Halifax+Victoria_b_orginal_pencilsketch_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="515" data-original-width="649" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF-jKz5F1HDA_OH_Yn75Xo-VISCnZg2XCI9bFOuBx29os6lgN75IT9vatZ2u3-NH9HCmeeMbJtwYf4AKjgGl3oj0mfQKGs0-tuYtjFB8qKPEYaC5Q4-HcsDjdvMHvO2uC0XB-e-ZwpQrc/s320/Halifax+Victoria_b_orginal_pencilsketch_2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal; font-size: 14.0pt;">However,
the oldest choral society in the world, Halifax Choral Society, <i>does</i> allow photos, and they indicate
this when booking with the theatre concerned. But on numerous occasions, like
at Snape, I have been embarrassed when seeing audience members being
tackled, in some cases rather heavily-handedly, by torch-wielding usherettes at the Halifax Victoria Theatre. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal; font-size: 14.0pt;">Apparently,
the staff assumed that photos were disallowed for
everyone, by default. Not checking the booking details demonstrates a lazy
attitude. Needless to say, it is unlikely I shall ever attend the Victoria
Theatre again because I find the whiff of fascism quite sickening.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal; font-size: 14.0pt;">So
the Halifax Victoria is another venue guilty of not recognising the growing
trend for photos and their value in perpetuating a business. The council-run theatre
has been in financial difficulty for some years; I'll say no more.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
solution is quite simple: theatre managements should actually read what the
performers have specified regarding photos, and maybe announce that, should
they be allowed, to please not use flash, no camera clicking sounds, and not
inconvenience other audience members. Simple. Reasonable.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica-Normal; font-size: 14.0pt;">Then
everyone can enjoy the show. The performers will have lasting images of their
performances, the photographers will have lasting mementoes, and an
understanding and modern-thinking venue will have repeat custom.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Graham Higson - some more writer's musingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10559341134334486233noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1000693239055308710.post-11692586004665842322017-02-28T03:51:00.000-08:002017-09-09T03:38:02.223-07:00A Double Anniversary <div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "waukegan ldo" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">First
of all, as I write it is 40 years to the day since I did the last of my 1970s'
celebrity interviews (though there were further meetings with creatures, all
great and famous, further down the line), so I thought this a good time to
write a post to mark the anniversary.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "waukegan ldo" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">The
idea for choosing this particular one was as a result of visiting my editor in
his London office on the very day I interviewed Esther Rantzen. He'd shown me
some past editions of the magazine, in which was a single-shot news item about
this particular person, and I just thought that doing him would be a good idea.
After all, he was an iconic radio and TV presenter, extremely popular and
appealed to the masses.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "waukegan ldo" , "sans-serif";">When
trying to make contact with people in entertainment, back in those days it
was even harder than it is today. There was no internet, no Googling, and in trying to find
someone's phone number </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">–</span><span style="font-family: "waukegan ldo" , "sans-serif";"> even an agent's </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">–</span><span style="font-family: "waukegan ldo" , "sans-serif";"> there was, of course, the free Directory
Enquiries, yet first of all you needed a name to ask for. Information was not
available with a click or two of a mouse. Anyhow, I just happened to know
somewhere that could help me make contact with the celebrity involved.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "waukegan ldo" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">It transpired
that my contact knew of a charity jog that the celebrity was doing with a
friend, and so I was put in touch with him. Being a successful businessman, he was extremely well-organised and had the ability to focus on the task that was immediately to
hand, so everything went smoothly. It was agreed that I could do the interview
in a certain organisation's board room, where a press conference would be held
at the end of the sponsored run.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "waukegan ldo" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">The
press was indeed there, so was the television news: this was a big name, with
lots of public onlookers and adoring fans.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "waukegan ldo" , "sans-serif";">Sod's
law says that if you're having a bad day, there will be watchers aplenty. It
wasn't my best interview, though looking back </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">–</span><span style="font-family: "waukegan ldo" , "sans-serif";">
having listened to the recording </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">–</span><span style="font-family: "waukegan ldo" , "sans-serif";"> I don't think it was all that
bad. It didn't help that, with my youthful over-confidence, I thought I could conduct
a celebrity interview with no list of questions, though I'd done about as much
research as it was then possible to do, bearing in mind my geographical
location and the lack of digital technology. Even if my delivery in front of a
few dozen seasoned journalists looked anything like <i>passable</i>, I felt somewhat frustrated and embarrassed by my own performance.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "waukegan ldo" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">One of
the onlookers was a freelance journalist on a mission for a famous women's
magazine of the time, who wrote joyously about how the celebrity dealt with
"the youth". Of course, I was unaware of her observations until weeks
later, when the magazine was published. Had I known on the day that I was being
written about in not-so-complimentary terms, I might have emigrated.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "waukegan ldo" , "sans-serif";">Anyhow,
driving home from Leeds I was satisfied that at least I had some reasonable
material with which to work </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">–</span><span style="font-family: "waukegan ldo" , "sans-serif";"> just so long as the recording
was okay; I don't remember taking a standby recorder with me on this occasion </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">–</span><span style="font-family: "waukegan ldo" , "sans-serif";"> but hey, as with most of my 1970s' interview
trips, I made certain there was someone with whom I could share a park bench should the car
break down or the weather turn foul. A</span><span style="font-family: "waukegan ldo" , "sans-serif";">lthough an open air bench in severe
weather conditions might not be a good idea, at least it would allow more leg room than trying to sleep in a tiny MG Midget that didn't have
reclining seats. It did have a hole in the floor, though, that sprayed the passenger
with road puddles, Hmm, happy times.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "waukegan ldo" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">I
drove my bench-mate home, late at night and, parked outside her parents' door,
with the wet soaking up her trouser legs, I proposed to her. Yes, forty years
ago, 28 February 1977, I asked if she'd marry me.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "waukegan ldo" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">I
wonder if she'll ever get around to replying. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "waukegan ldo" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">It's
okay, I'm just joking. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "waukegan ldo" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "waukegan ldo" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Never
let it be said that I'm not a romantic!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "waukegan ldo" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.grahamhigson.com/books/creatures-great-famous/" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWPWEUJDv2Q7wn3l7Pubn-QVHM9uf5huliNDviERrwOiOIg6YzYvBXUVdsnX7nQ2yJf6RRlSa8lNyM7J_zoQSSApDUwxpEuR8ghGR0hN9GtKfePmO461Nlq-mOgaYiOP74o9gs0I4wDIc/s320/AllCreatures_kindle-voyage_400.png" width="279" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "waukegan ldo" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
Graham Higson - some more writer's musingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10559341134334486233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1000693239055308710.post-75637948000965862522016-03-04T06:06:00.002-08:002016-03-15T13:07:24.648-07:00Gilbert O'Sullivan and Me<div class="MsoNormal">
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<br />
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intro, but it's relevant, as you'll see. It was late summer 1971 and we were
parked overlooking the new, partially-filled Scammonden Dam. In those days the
British had a fascination with going out on a Sunday just to stare at water and
eat an ice cream, only that particular spot didn't do ice creams, I'm sorry to
say.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I was with my parents and my eighty-three-year-old grandmother. She was sitting
in the front, unable to stand properly and stoically accepting the pain and
discomfort of being taken for what would be her last ever outing. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif";">We had the radio
on and I remember the BBC pop chart programme playing the song
in the number 16 slot: it was <i>We Will</i> by Gilbert O'Sullivan, and I was
struck by the haunting melody and lyrics. I'd not heard anything like that
before; it was so different to any of the other music that was in the charts
and it fascinated me. Little did I know that within three years I would
interview the singer/songwriter, and forty-five years later we would meet
again. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif";">Those lyrics still
get to me because of the pictures they put in my mind: spending time with your
family after you've moved out, being treated as someone special and missed when
you've gone back home. Oh, and maybe not really spending enough time with them,
but they love you all the same. This is what that song is all about—to me, that
is, because, as Gilbert once said, once you buy a song it's yours and your own
interpretation is all that matters. It will mean different things to different
people, but for me there's just so much in that particular track; it's a time
bubble, describing a way of life that was bygone even when the song was
written. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif";">I was 13 and the
feelings that song evokes in me have never left. It was March 1973 when I
bought his first LP, <i>Himself</i>, for £2.49. I liked it so much that the
following week I splashed out and bought the second, <i>Back to Front</i>. His
single from the previous October, <i>Clair</i>, had been a giant hit worldwide
and was responsible for innumerable instances of newborn girls being called the
same name. It's rather special to be so influential, don't you think? </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: large;">One of my
favourite tracks from the first album is <i>Matrimony</i>, where Gilbert
suggests running away with his girlfriend to get married, and a few years later
my girlfriend and I considered doing just that. And, just like the words in the
song, we were mindful of the money we'd save by not having a church wedding,
and our mums and dads were not pleased. Did I say influence? Well, it wasn't so
much that we were in any way swayed by the song so much as in tune with the
writer. It occurs to me that his music has been there, accompanying much of my
life, and while I've had other tastes over the past 40 years, such as Queen,
and Travis, Gilbert's music has remained a solid base to which I've always
returned.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Whenever I hear <i>Get Down</i>, I remember him performing this live at Batley
Variety Club in 1974. My father drove me there to interview Gilbert and for
over an hour we stood in the smoky night club atmosphere, watching the
spectacular performance. Later that night I met the man himself (no pun
intended): 27 years old, outselling Rod Stewart and Elton John. I was 16, both
of us were shy, yet the interview was such a memorable experience. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif";">Fast-forward to 28
February 2016 and the shyness has gone from both of us, but there's still a
reserved aspect to his character that I recognise from all those years ago. His
appearance at Huddersfield Town Hall was the 8th of his <span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif";">9</span>-date tour to promote
his latest album, <i>Latin ala G!</i>, and the place was packed. Okay, so the
seating in the stalls was dreadful, but with music like this it didn't matter:
a mix of familiar and new songs, accompanied by a five-piece band and two
backing singers, all providing a superb musical experience.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif";">Gilbert played the
keyboard, in stark contrast to the grand piano at Batley, but the voice was the
same, and he moved around and sang like someone forty years younger.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif";">After the show,
his sister Marie and her husband Richard were running the merchandise stall
with T-shirts and CDs—including those of the early LPs. Yes, most of his back
catalogue is still available. In fact, when looking at <span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif";">his</span> discography online there are 24 <span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif";">albums listed. H<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif";">ere is his</span></span> <a href="http://www.gilbertosullivan.net/index.htm" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif";">official website</span></a>. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif";">The queue to meet him stretched back up
the stairs, round the corner and up another flight. These people would ask him
questions, chat about the show, get a tour book or CD signed, and have their
photograph taken with him. </span></span></div>
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<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="mso-cellspacing: 0cm; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;"><tbody>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif";">My wife and I took
our places, fairly well near the end, though there must have been another 20 or
so people behind us. We steadily edged along and, once back in the foyer, we
could see that the queue went into another room and down some more steps. From
there Gilbert could be seen meeting his admiring public, each of them passing
their cameras or mobile phones to a blonde lady—and no, she wasn't confiscating
them: she was actually taking the photos. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg54iPiLR_TDrxzoxDV5W4yAZufEs5n1laSFWU7jlWRIfBvAeaVFSjHJUg4asRNr-Xg24yKStu-AQm-54KFip8gDbzz3QHMR05z4Ceme1h2_59NM_WQZAtAkX9jqS3Dzy1L40gDi9hLy3M/s1600/DSC03002a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg54iPiLR_TDrxzoxDV5W4yAZufEs5n1laSFWU7jlWRIfBvAeaVFSjHJUg4asRNr-Xg24yKStu-AQm-54KFip8gDbzz3QHMR05z4Ceme1h2_59NM_WQZAtAkX9jqS3Dzy1L40gDi9hLy3M/s320/DSC03002a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="mso-cellspacing: 0cm; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;"><tbody>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: large;">When it was our
turn, I passed her our SLR digital. It was larger than the other devices she'd
been using that evening, but she began expertly clicking away as I asked
Gilbert about a BBC documentary that I saw back in 1972. It showed him keeping
his record album covers (I remember that the Beatles figured strongly) laid out
on the floor of the living room at his house in Weybridge. That way he could
see them all and choose what to listen to next. Makes sense; just not so good
for vaccing the carpet.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">"Yeah, my room still has albums all over the floor," he said,
laughing. My wife joked with him that he still had LPs? Yes, so do we.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: large;">Then I told
Gilbert about my book that describes some of my exploits interviewing
celebrities in the 1970s, of which he was one, and I asked who I could leave
the details with.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">"Just leave it with my daughter," he said, pointing to the photographer.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">"Oh, are you the one who went to Leeds University?"</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">"No, that's the other one," she laughed. "I was Edinburgh."</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I gave her my card, said goodbye to them both and stepped out into the frigid
cold night air of a Yorkshire market town. It was 11.35 and it didn't look as
if her father would be finished for at least another quarter of an hour or so.
But I got the impression that he didn't mind. Quite simply, he believes in
looking after his fans and appreciates their loyalty. Each one gets something
from his music, whether it's memories, or a liking for the whimsical, sometimes
heart-breaking, lyrics that gets them thinking. Gilbert O'Sullivan is a
constant, someone you can rely on, still producing great melodies with amazing
harmonies, and not forgetting the music that accompanies people's lives.</span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif";">My eBook,<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif";"> <a href="http://smarturl.it/allcreatures" target="_blank"><i>All Creatures Great and Famous</i></a></span>, which tells
the story of my first meeting with Gilbert O'Sullivan, is available from Amazon
for just 99p (they refuse to make it free), but is free elsewhere.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Nz8DBdr60Nk15Zu4HGDIPWfD4qNKdU_ZQyxpAojItsTzqggl7SQfDQdQQ9sPtP6zNf7es0CpHUvTC6Z7ZwZuz7lQLaHpuRJqzXRMrpwWS4MGBHp08rqkDWHq28RXiuI4dRoVbaV5qVc/s1600/Cover_All+Creatures_bookImage2.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Nz8DBdr60Nk15Zu4HGDIPWfD4qNKdU_ZQyxpAojItsTzqggl7SQfDQdQQ9sPtP6zNf7es0CpHUvTC6Z7ZwZuz7lQLaHpuRJqzXRMrpwWS4MGBHp08rqkDWHq28RXiuI4dRoVbaV5qVc/s320/Cover_All+Creatures_bookImage2.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="http://www.grahamhigson.com/creatures-great-famous/" target="_blank"></a></div>
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<![endif]-->Graham Higson - some more writer's musingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10559341134334486233noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1000693239055308710.post-32584134471652041582016-01-05T14:16:00.000-08:002016-01-05T14:26:22.061-08:00Things that go Bruce in the night<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "Candara","sans-serif";">Clearing
out my mother's house, we found this page, torn by me from a copy of
<i>TV Times</i> 50 years ago. I never thought that I would ever
see this again and finding it is something of a bonus, bringing back memories.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h4 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Candara","sans-serif";"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2ZGZxDacPvTXXq1LnjhYN5vWb85iccXrP2hCiSfURn5F7cVNAqli_yRdRAQgZ_eZ5eQg6FQfWzzFiF1V8HbwkjULhkHjybJpwXzpQjgNqfoCbY9Rl9IVJXBeA5Nsm0A3XRcgt80S19Pc/s1600/Canterville+Ghost_c1966.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2ZGZxDacPvTXXq1LnjhYN5vWb85iccXrP2hCiSfURn5F7cVNAqli_yRdRAQgZ_eZ5eQg6FQfWzzFiF1V8HbwkjULhkHjybJpwXzpQjgNqfoCbY9Rl9IVJXBeA5Nsm0A3XRcgt80S19Pc/s320/Canterville+Ghost_c1966.jpg" width="236" /></a></h4>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Candara","sans-serif";">It's a
piece about the ITV series <i>Mystery and Imagination</i> that
was broadcast in 1966 on Saturday evenings, and this particular episode was the
last in that season, and one that I, as a child, remember with such fondness
– which was why I kept this page in the loft: a place I wasn't
allowed to play and one that, because of its dark corners and moving shadows,
had previously scared me witless.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Candara","sans-serif";">The series
was based on dramatisations of horror classics, with more than a smattering of
M R James. I don't remember these being shown particularly late –
perhaps 9pm, placing them past the horror watershed, but maybe I was allowed to
stay up to watch them because it was a weekend. Or maybe they believed me when I said I liked horror stories.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Candara","sans-serif";">The first
one I can remember was of a ghoul that was haunting a library, reading a
particular book, wearing a large cloak and hat. And when the protagonist tapped
it on the shoulder, it turned to reveal a particularly horrible,
partly-decomposed face. So much for 1960s' TV make-up. It would be 47 years
before I finally tracked down the name of the story: <i>The Tractate
Middoth</i> by M R James. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Candara","sans-serif";">The episode
that followed involved a young, orphaned lad going to live with some distant
relative, and the ghastly vision of the ghosts of a boy and girl, wearing
billowing shrouds and brandishing extra-long fingernails, walking through the
swirling mist between the house and the chapel, about to rip out the heart of
the evil man. (Strangely, the manservant in this was played by Freddie Jones,
an actor who, many years later, my son worked with on
<i>Emmerdale</i>.)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Candara","sans-serif";">This story,
as I later found, was another by James, <i>Lost Hearts</i>. The
sight of those children wandering through the mist spooked me to the point where
I dare not sleep. What made it worse in my bedroom was the reflection of the
moonlight on a dressing table mirror that distorted against the ceiling to look
coffin-shaped. Yet I had to keep watching the series. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Candara","sans-serif";">And then it came to the very last
episode of the season – <i>The Canterville Ghost</i>. Based on a
play by Oscar Wilde, it's about a ghost who is unable to frighten away visiting
Americans, and which causes him unhappiness and frustration.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Candara","sans-serif";">Now, as far
as I was concerned this appealed to my junior schoolboy humour and put horror
stories firmly where they belong: in the box of pretend and make-believe. Having
seen this play I was no longer afraid of horror tales. Okay, I can be surprised
– like we all can – but not frightened. Quite simply, I was
cured.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Candara","sans-serif";">Here's
another thing: if you look closely at the image of the Canterville Ghost
wearing his green velvet costume, you might just recognize the person playing
him. Yes, it's Bruce Forsyth, starring in one of his rare acting roles. I seem
to remember that he was rather good, and the fact that I have remembered him as
Sir Simon de Canterville surely is testament to the man's little-used acting
ability, that was instrumental in laying to rest a child's fear of horror
stories. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Candara","sans-serif";">Sweet
dreams, everyone. </span></div>
Graham Higson - some more writer's musingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10559341134334486233noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1000693239055308710.post-17135920999103661922015-11-06T09:44:00.000-08:002016-01-25T15:04:12.257-08:00Bonding with the SaintThe other day someone asked what were my plans for the weekend. "I'm going to see Roger Moore," I said. <br />
<br />
"Oh, has he made a new film, then?"<br />
<br />
"No, I'm going to see <i>him</i>. You know, <i>himself</i>."<br />
<br />
Well, that can be a bit of a conversation stopper. I mean, Sir Roger (to give him his proper title) is something of a British institution, and especially for people of around my age who were brought up – nay, educated, almost – by programmes such as <i>The Saint </i>and, later, <i>The Persuaders</i>.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />
In fact, in the 1960s UK television had loads of law-enforcement dramas. Or maybe I should call them programmes where "good versus evil" was the basic premise. I may have gone to two Christian junior schools, where Biblical stories were used to shape our perception of what's good and, more to the point, what's not, but I must say that these TV shows had every bit as much an effect on my future development as the odd parable or two. And it must have worked. After all, so far I've not turned into a criminal, and for this fact I have to thank Roger Moore for playing Simon Templar, aka <i>The Saint</i>, also Brett Sinclair in <i>The Persuaders</i>, and then James Bond in what was to become the longest continually-running film series of all time.<br />
<br />
Moore was there at some key stages in my early development – not all of them, of course. I mean, my parents had some input, whatever my school teachers claimed. Let me see ... yes, one Sunday afternoon they put a film on television, <i>The Sins of Rachel Cade</i>. The heroine had a bit of a shock when Roger unexpectedly turned up, but she wasn't half as shocked as I was because up until that point I'd had no idea that Simon Templar wasn't actually real, that he was played by an actor who could appear in other stuff. I was very young at the time, but it was a moment of realisation.<br />
<br />
And in late 2015, Roger Moore was doing one of his <i>An Evening with Sir Roger Moore</i> appearances, sitting on stage in a theatre, chatting away with the lucky sod who got to write his biography. <br />
<br />
The setup was rather like the last time I saw him on television, on <i>Mariella's Book Show</i> (formerly <i>The Book Show</i> on the Sky Arts channel) where the poor bloke was sitting in an armchair, talking about his latest book (probably Bond on Bond (2012)) and recounting one or two of his much-loved anecdotes about being an actor. I say "poor bloke" because, for some reason, when The Book Show was rehashed as Mariella Frostrup's own outing, it wasn't only the balance of content that went peculiar: the clean book-ish set was traded in for something like a small living room, with an armchair and cramped sofa, the type that you would want to inspect before sitting down. Just in case.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl8a-9uv27NQXQgvy6u7GxUGc0LO-gzn6G9Kw6fKJbz0YXJcvHYF-_OMBdNFQOY9ROfHBNwD77g6shLA55gAq9CtWeLP9SCdzbMt8g04GhLkzHpziozGQkyKmuhp7XjB764pseCYSiKtc/s1600/IMG_3747.JPG"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl8a-9uv27NQXQgvy6u7GxUGc0LO-gzn6G9Kw6fKJbz0YXJcvHYF-_OMBdNFQOY9ROfHBNwD77g6shLA55gAq9CtWeLP9SCdzbMt8g04GhLkzHpziozGQkyKmuhp7XjB764pseCYSiKtc/s320/IMG_3747.JPG" /></a></div>
<br />
Anyhow, there was a similar setup (minus the claustrophobic set and doubtful furniture) on stage at the Harrogate Theatre – where, incidentally, Roger had appeared with Arthur Lowe in 1949. "Back by popular demand," his biographer, Gareth Owen, joked.<br />
<br />
Some of the material I'd previously read in his book <i>My Word is My Bond</i>, but there's nothing to beat actually hearing the stories from the man himself. He knows how to tell them (by this time I think he's had plenty of practice), and when he's name-dropping (well, when you've led a life like his, it would be damned near impossible not to do so) he does all the voices; his impressions are just about faultless and his Tony Curtis is absolutely superb. Yet he tends to play down his own acting abilities. So yes, his self-deprecating style is well-polished and a pleasure to listen to.<br />
<br />
Of course, Moore is best known for being James Bond from 1973-1985, and a record seven films (where the official Eon Productions' films are concerned), and he explained why he wanted to make the character his own as opposed to a copy of that played by the first Bond actor Sean Connery.<br />
<br />
There were two or three highlights: silly things, really, I suppose, but these were the tingles along the spine moments: when he said the immortal phrase "Bond, James Bond"; when he explained about the magnetic watch that was used to unzip a woman's dress – presented complete with film clip; when he said "Simon Templar" and a halo appeared above his head – yes, it really did! I mean, that meant so much to me as a young child, and I wonder if he realises just how influential he was in helping to raise a generation of telly-watching kids who didn't grow up to be "wrong-uns".<br />
<br />
When I was a kid, and I fancied being an actor when I grew up, one of my mother's friends told me that Roger Moore had begun his career by modelling knitting patterns. I mean, as if! Now, it runs in my mind that at the time I didn't think this was much of an acting break, but my wife has recently acquired this little number, probably one of the patterns that Sir Roger showed us in Harrogate:<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
I remember, back in 1974, when I applied to his agent to interview him for our school magazine. Yes, I know what you're thinking, a school magazine. The agency was called London Management and was run by Lew Grade, Mr Big of television (no pun intended; Bond fans will know what I mean). I didn't even get a reply, when all they needed to tell me was that currently Mr Moore was out of the country on location swallowing a golden bullet charm from the navel of an exotic dancer in Beirut. Or maybe it was Pinewood. Oh well.<br />
<br />
So it was forty-one years later that finally I got to see the man himself and put a question to him, which just goes to show that some things come to those who wait. <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
+ + +</div>
<br />
My next book, <i>All Creatures Great and Famous</i>, will be published before Christmas 2015. It tells the stories of some of my behind-the-scenes exploits while interviewing celebrities, mostly during my early days in the 1970s. It's a short book and will be cheap from Amazon and free elsewhere. <br />
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<br />Graham Higson - some more writer's musingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10559341134334486233noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1000693239055308710.post-64218541507889357482015-11-06T09:23:00.001-08:002015-11-06T09:23:44.831-08:00For Your Ears Only<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">So there we were, having
afternoon tea in the world-famous Pump Room in Bath, taking delight in the
refined Georgian elegance, its unhurried atmosphere and the excellent service.
I mean, it's just one of those places from where everything in the world can
feel <em>almost</em> ... okay. Know what I mean? So nothing's perfect,
but having left behind Yorkshire's constant drizzle and simply chilling out in
such acceptable surroundings was very agreeable – and I don't use
adverbs lightly. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">To my right was a highly-polished
grand piano, at which the pianist was doing an excellent job performing what in
the US is termed "elevator music". Yes, someone spends years and
countless hours practising every day – and not just playing the notes
and getting them in the right order, but also refining the tone, the touch, the
way the fingers contact with the keys to make that unmistakable sound, a marvel
of creative interpretation that is every bit as unique as a fingerprint. A
grand piano is, after all, a mechanical instrument and isn't as forgiving as a
plastic electronic keyboard. </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">So all of that effort goes into
the performance. And it matters not whether it's for a concert or being used to
accompany people scoffing buns.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Yet it's taken for granted by many
people. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">But not by me. I've been there;
I've done that. I've eaten semiquavers for breakfast (cheese and onion flavour)
and had my fingers smacked by a fascist ruler-wielding piano teacher, so I
appreciate live performances – yes, even in a tea room, and certainly in the
best tea room in the world.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">The classical piece ended and the
pianist began the next number. As soon as he began, I could have named that
tune in three. The left hand harmony confirmed my surprise: it was the title
music of <em>For Your Eyes Only</em>, which just happens to be my
favourite Roger Moore James Bond film. Wow! </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">He played all of it, with feeling
and expression, and I was sensing a little hesitation as he wondered if he could
get away with his choice here, in this most prestigious of tea joints. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">It went rather quiet at our table
because all four of us are Bond fans, and to hear this theme played live on
piano was a new experience. When he finished, we applauded. The tea- and
coffee-drinking fraternity around us fell silent, obviously wondering if they
had missed something, which of course they had. I gave the pianist a thumbs up,
which he returned, then he went into a medley of other Bond themes; he didn't
need any further encouragement. <em>Nobody Does it Better</em>
(from <em>The Spy Who Loved Me</em>), <em>Live and Let Die</em>,
and <em>You Only Live Twice</em> flowed faultlessly from the stage.
It was brilliant – maybe you'd guessed? And all to accompany people
having afternoon tea, which seems such a waste and yet, had that not been the
case, we never would have witnessed that performance.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">We met him afterwards; his name
is Jools Scott, accomplished musician and composer. You can listen to some of
his music on his <a href="http://www.joolsscott.co.uk/" target="_blank">website here</a>. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Yeah, the best afternoon tea
ever. And speaking of James Bond, please see my next post, <em>Bonding
with the Saint</em>.</span></span></div>
Graham Higson - some more writer's musingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10559341134334486233noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1000693239055308710.post-25272142007087348392014-08-27T13:21:00.001-07:002014-08-30T15:48:00.113-07:00RECALLING RADARDoesn't time pass quickly? I mean, it was 10 years ago when we were staying in Suffolk and watching the BBC's <i>Restoration</i> programme. This was an unusual format show in which British heritage buildings, some of which had been granted listed status, but all of which were in danger of being lost and needing help, were presented to the public for them to vote for. The series' winner would receive a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund to enable remedial and restorative work to be carried out to stop it falling into further disrepair.
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One of the entrants was the World War 2 Radar transmitter station at Bawdsey, close to the Suffolk coast. This was the site of the world's first operational radar station, essentially enabling the detection of enemy aircraft approaching from far away, as well as their height, which was very important. It also meant they were able to identify friendly aircraft. So we went round there to see what there was in the way of visitor attractions.
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Well, this was the beginning of the campaign so it wasn't surprising that there was nothing for us to see. Instead we travelled on to Bawdsey Quay, passing A4 notices in windows urging people to cast their vote on the TV show, and we settled down amongst families playing on the shallow beach, and watched the boats bobbing in the water in the afternoon sun, with the ghostly silhouette of Old Felixstowe seemingly hovering in the haze on the far side of the estuary. I distinctly remember there was a strange, yet welcoming, timelessness; maybe an echo of times past. Beautiful.
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Unlike many of the other entrants—buildings with classical facades, towers, houses, theatres and so on—Bawdsey Radar wasn't pretty to look at; basically, it was a concrete building with crumbling corners, sections slipping away exposing its rusting steel reinforcements. It was a utilitarian box. And, despite the importance of its function in those days of the war, the integral role it played in winning the Battle of Britain, and becoming a model for a chain of radar stations around the British coast and so helping to achieve victory ... it didn't win. Instead it came 4th, thus denying it any of the funding so desperately needed for its survival.
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Exactly 10 years later, we were back in Suffolk, with the very same people in our group, and learnt that Bawdsey had organised just 11 open days during 2014. Having recently received help from the Heritage Lottery Fund (about 9 years after first being on TV), the Bawdsey Radar Transmitter Room was on display, furnished with information boards supplied by the British Museum, exhibits of some of the equipment, a mock-up scene of operators, a fantastic model of a transmitter tower made by a schoolboy, and more.<br />
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In one room was a 17-minute video of Gwen Arnold, one of Bawdsey's radar girls, with her precise and vivid recollections from those days. She began working at Bawdsey in 1943 and was featured in the 2010 series of BBC's <i>Coast</i>. Her book <i>Radar Days</i> was published in 2000. <br />
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The building was a mass of visitors, each with an appreciation for what this little place did when the nation was under attack, sharing a sense of indignation that such an artefact could be discarded, unappreciated, unloved. Outside the rain was pouring down, yet the centre's volunteers were out directing
the parking cars, or showing where the old transmitter towers once stood,
telling the stories to those who would listen—and there were plenty of
us.<br />
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These people were superb, friendly, knowledgeable, and quite happily (who wouldn't be?) wearing branded clothing with the very appropriate "First in the Field" embroidered logo. The low-key shop wasn't filled with a few relevant items and bulked-out with (what the retail trade terms as) market-stall swag; oh no, the merchandise here was specific and relevant. The lady running the "shop" (it was really a single table, but with the stock expertly arranged) was proud to tell us that the Bawdsey tea towel was made locally. We're going to frame ours, by the way. When we left, the sopping wet volunteer in the car park thanked us personally and we moved on to take advantage of the special offer tea and coffee that had been organised with a local cafe at Bawdsey Quay. One example of caring not only about the exhibits but also about the visitors. (I'm a bit of an expert on scones, by the way, and the jam that was being served in the cafe was home-made, which made the day that extra bit special.)<br />
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And here's my point: the concrete building that was once the working transmitter block ... granted it's hardly the subject for a picture postcard and is certainly a non-contender for a chocolate box lid, but is so much more than it appears; it is where people worked during those uncertain times, where they did a highly-specialised job, where their training and expertise meant the difference between life and death, where the briefest loss of concentration could mean devastation. Like any good literature, it's all about people, and that's what Bawdsey has in abundance—those from the past who helped Britain and its allies achieve victory, and those in the present who, thanks to their hard work that has resulted in much-needed funding, can now ensure that the fascinating story of radar cannot be forgotten.
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Here's a link to the site:
<a href="http://www.bawdseyradar.org.uk/" target="_blank">www.bawdseyradar.org.uk</a><br />
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Graham Higson - some more writer's musingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10559341134334486233noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1000693239055308710.post-71937970665062248332014-04-30T16:01:00.000-07:002014-05-01T02:51:52.795-07:00Whitby—a source of inspirationIt was 1989 when I first went to Whitby. When at school loads of the other kids used to boast about going there on holiday, but for some reason my parents drove straight past on the way to Scotland. So when, as an adult, with a young family of my own, we found ourselves house-sitting for my in-laws who lived further down the coast, we decided to pay it a visit.
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Recovering (as were we all) from the 80s' recession, there were surprisingly few empty shops, I remember, compared with similar towns in West Yorkshire, whose high streets were punctuated with To Let signs and Closing Down Sale notices.
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Yes, Whitby, with its harbour crowded with trawlers and other fishing boats, and its trademark smell of fish mingled with the sea air, was a town where I felt I could be at home, and many times during the winter Saturdays we would set off on the one hundred mile trip and spend the day wandering along the streets, walking along the cliff top to look down on the harbour and the famous piers in the shape of pincers. (Petrol was much cheaper back then.)
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A few weeks ago I found a 23-year-old video that my wife took of me running two-at-a-time up the 199 steps. I had no idea she had done that, so imagine my surprise at finding it after all that time.
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We also spent many hours in the Whitby Bookshop on Church Street, in the old part of the town. That's where, 20 years ago, we took our children to meet the author Robin Jarvis, who was amazing to talk to, and we'll never forget it.
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And late afternoon we would drive down to Robin Hood's Bay, where the shops would still be open, and especially the second-hand bookshops, of which, in those days, there were many. Yes, the narrow streets and passageways, with light spilling out from the cottages and shop windows. Atmospheric or what? It's no wonder these appear as the streets of my fictional village Wyke Bay.
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And, of course, we have ties with the books written by Leo Walmsley, who lived there. The republished Walmsley books actually begin their new leases of life in this very room.
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So thinking about the connections we have with Whitby and surrounding district, I suppose it's not surprising that I set one of my books in the area.
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As mentioned in a previous post, we were there in late February to get some more footage for the <em>Flither Lass</em> video trailer. By that time, all of the research was completed, but it was still useful for gathering sources of extra information regarding things in the story, to include on the website, such as the ganseys—the woollen pullovers, each with its distinctive pattern that would identify the village that a fisherman came from. We found the source of further practical information in a wool and crafts' emporium called Bobbins, on Chapel Street, just along from Whitby Bookshop.
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The day before returning home, having walked the 8 miles to Whitby along the old cinder track, we thought we had earned these freshly-baked scones at Marie Antoinette's—and guess where that is? Correct, Church Street!
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Graham Higson - some more writer's musingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10559341134334486233noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1000693239055308710.post-2704739200578515512014-04-30T06:00:00.001-07:002014-04-30T06:00:12.511-07:00A Drunken Druid's View: Review of Graham Higson's "Flither Lass"<a href="http://the-drunken-druid.blogspot.com/2014/04/review-of-graham-higsons-flither-lass.html?spref=bl">A Drunken Druid's View: Review of Graham Higson's "Flither Lass"</a>: "Flither Lass" by Graham Higson is a fast paced story set during World War 1. This is the tale of Amy Trott who after losing her ...Graham Higson - some more writer's musingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10559341134334486233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1000693239055308710.post-24794488728952031782014-02-25T13:47:00.001-08:002014-05-01T09:27:09.375-07:00One Pair of FeetNo, it's not the book by Monica Dickens, but my way of describing what happened when we returned to Robin Hood's Bay in February. Okay, this is not so much what happened as what we needed.
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We'd been there in early December to film a book trailer for <em>Flither Lass</em>. We got savage waves, seaweed, cliff edges, caves and narrow, winding streets. But, as is often the case (especially when the storyboarding has gaps), we didn't get everything; in particular a pair of young woman's bare feet and lower legs. Such feet, running across the beach and rocks and splashing in the pools, would add that extra something to the film, which, incidentally, would last no longer than 90 seconds.
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We didn't know anyone with such ... er, attributes, and the thought of simply asking some sundry person who might be enjoying themselves in Robin Hood's Bay sort of filled me with dread. I mean, you can't simply go up to someone and ask them if you can film their feet, can you? And especially if they are bare...? Of course you can't, especially in this country where offences are so easily perpetrated these days, even in all innocence.
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So what would we do? Could we persuade some young woman – and one with hard-looking feet (and without painted nails because that didn't happen in 1915), attached to sturdy legs with strong calf muscles – to get them out for the promise of immortality in a YouTube video? I remember the days when that sort of thing had currency value, but times have changed.
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So there we were. We wanted cold, dark clouds, frigid conditions. We got blue sky and sun-glistened bladderwrack on the rocks. At least that could be edited out in post-production. But where could we get the feet and legs? There were plenty of people about, some walking dogs, others walking children, pushing prams, walking with each other. The tide was coming in, and odd little groups were finding themselves trapped by streams cutting into the sand, swirling and getting deeper by the second.
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I was one of the marooned, along with two young women. The rest of the team was on the other side. I was trapped only because I'd wandered off, thinking about the next book. The two women looked into the deepening water. This was similar, but nowhere near as treacherous, as the situation that the book's heroine, Amy, finds herself in. There was no way they would get across to the other side without taking off their shoes – which is exactly what they did.
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I told them why I was there – to film legs and feet. One of them rolled up her trousers and did a sailor's hornpipe dance. "You can use me, if you like," she laughed.
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I couldn't believe it. There was just one condition, though: she wanted us to use a clapperboard; it was a childhood dream of hers. Luckily, we had one with us, even if it was on the other side of what was fast becoming a widening lagoon.
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But we did it! We got the feet and the legs. And, after all that trouble (my feet got wet too), the shot won't last ten seconds...
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<em>Flither Lass</em> is due in March 2014.
Graham Higson - some more writer's musingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10559341134334486233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1000693239055308710.post-58022792689970046102013-12-03T01:34:00.000-08:002014-05-01T09:30:43.619-07:00LAST TANGO in HALIFAXBy heck, but British screen drama just gets better, don’t you think? I watch a lot for its entertainment value, and also because I appreciate the way the writers make it work. Writers can learn a lot by watching how the masters do it. This last couple of months or so we’ve been treated to such gems as <em>Peaky Blinders</em>, <em>The Paradise</em>, <em>The Tunnel</em>, the individual plays in the series Drama Matters on Sky Living, and <em>Last Tango in Halifax</em> – which is what I want to talk about.
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– In fact, quite a lot of people are talking about this right now. The viewing figures for episode 2 of the current (second) series were 7.42 million (BARB w/e 24 November 2013). I can remember a time when programme viewing figures went as high as 18 million and beyond, but you have to bear in mind that in those days there were only three channels, so Last Tango’s figures are fantastic.
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The writer Sally Wainwright was born in Huddersfield and has lived in Halifax, like me, but that is where the similarities end. She’s great at creating characters, and says that she writes about the type of people she knows, which makes her a great observer, giving her creations eccentricities, making them different, adding a touch of daring, nudging the boundaries of what is considered normal, whilst retaining credibility. Whether we like to admit or not, we are fascinated by other people, no doubt as we try to find some meaning in life. And this is how Sally does it: she takes ordinary people, gives them a quirk or two (or three), and then gradually lets the audience in on it by teasing and allowing the story to develop around these foibles or strengths.
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In addition Sally is also writing major parts for older actors; these are not cameos or minor role prop-ups (as I call them), but big, juicy parts. This has given Derek Jacobi (Alan), who usually plays popes and kings, the rare opportunity to play a working-class Yorkshireman, and actress Anne Reid (Celia) the opportunity to play a character with such inner conflicts and bigoted attitudes, who finds herself being educated by her fiancé.
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Into the mix add the alchemy between the characters as typified by the chemistry between Alan and Celia, and the real-life chemistry that exists between Anne Reid and Sara Lancashire. Then there’s the attention and involvement from the producer Karen Lewis, who is on set at all times, and which makes such a difference to the production. The quality of the cast adds yet another ingredient and reminds us that Red Production Company has invested heavily in this project – and I’m not talking mere money here – due, I feel, to the quality of the writing. Sally Wainwright has an original voice, and for me she is up there with the likes of Kay Mellor, Jimmy McGovern, Anthony Horowitz, Lynda La Plante.
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Sally doesn’t have problems writing dialogue, but instead agonises over story. I don’t think she needs to worry, although I can appreciate that the odd fright or two are part and parcel of the writing process and helps with honing the final draft into the finished article. She is an expert. Think: <em>Unforgiven</em> (2009), <em>At Home with the Braithwaites</em> (2000), and one of my favourites <em>The Amazing Mrs Pritchard</em> (2006). Oh, and not forgetting <em>Scott & Bailey</em> (2011). Romantic comedy isn’t her only speciality, as we can see from this list. There is also <em>The Last Witch</em> that was one of Sky Living’s Drama Matters plays mentioned above. In 2014 there will be <em>Happy Valley</em>, also filmed in the Halifax area, and this – and I’m quoting the producer, here – is a cross between <em>Juliet Bravo</em> and <em>Fargo</em>.
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I would say there’s a damn good chance it will be brilliant.
Graham Higson - some more writer's musingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10559341134334486233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1000693239055308710.post-49070354739801678472013-11-25T04:36:00.002-08:002013-11-26T14:37:43.201-08:00My one thousand a day– and that's not vegetables.
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When I read that author <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/feb/20/ten-rules-for-writing-fiction-part-one/" target="_blank">Sarah Waters</a> aims to write 1,000 words a day I thought, <em>I'll have a go at that!</em> and indeed managed – but it lasted only a day and then over a week went by during which the total word count was well below the desired daily rate. She also explained, in graphic terms, how difficult it can be. Now I know how she feels.
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I can tell you that the next book is coming along nicely. Now, I only say that about a project when I can see that the end will come, which isn't the same as being able to see the light at the end of the tunnel; that's still a way off. But the story is over half way there. That's the first draft I'm talking about. There's still loads to do after that (and some of it can be trickier than writing the story).
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So I'm training myself to get the 1,000 words a day. Sarah says it helps her to inch the book forwards. It might not sound like many, but maybe it's because there's a great temptation to make every single word the <em>right word</em> – as if this is the last draft and no further revisions will be allowed.
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<a href="http://writetodone.com/learn-from-the-greats-7-writing-habits-of-amazing-writers/" target="_blank">James Joyce</a>, so they say, took his time writing each sentence. I don't know if what I'm going to say now had any bearing on why he wanted to get it right first time, but we should remember that in the early days (and not so long ago), whatever you typed was immediately there on the paper. There was no backspace or delete key. If you reached the end of your manuscript, then found that you'd missed a bit, or lost a bit, or something was wrong that affected everything that came afterwards, then you had to go back and type it again. While publishers accepted inserted pages, such as 15, then 15a, 15b, then 16, and so on, it was unlikely that first-time authors would be allowed such concessions. Manuscripts had to be submitted looking rather pristine. Maybe that was why Joyce wanted to get the write right the first time. Perhaps he didn't like re-typing. Or maybe not.
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However, the secret of good writing is rewriting. So I will continue to strive for the thousand (and squirm when I think about Stephen King's 10 pages a day) and see how it all shapes up at the revision stage.
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And I'll try not to get too hung up on the numbers. Wish me luck.
Graham Higson - some more writer's musingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10559341134334486233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1000693239055308710.post-63160991616798593692013-10-29T15:19:00.002-07:002013-10-29T15:24:46.428-07:00IT'S TRUE – Oak Seer is free! But only for 2 days: October 31st and November 1st 2013 are the promotion days chosen to enable readers to get a copy of <em>Oak Seer</em> completely free of charge.
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Of course, it doesn't matter if you don't have a dedicated Kindle reader because Amazon has prepared Kindle apps for Androids, iPhones, iPads and computers, so there's no excuse.
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<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00DXNW8RE/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=B00DXNW8RE&linkCode=as2&tag=grahhigs-21"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDfKsK4ZYp1L6Z9xbQ4WEwpUZh6fO5wPQjjiVZ-l4H3SRHrUIvCeh7DB6pEVlfr0JJjWVtVTQNP0ZOSYJ8Ky-VeDTp2F02kW1jtRNAxtIiTur9kCwjrO4kbEVpbNBWJqOivf6dqe9DaVQ/s1600/images11_OS+copy.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDfKsK4ZYp1L6Z9xbQ4WEwpUZh6fO5wPQjjiVZ-l4H3SRHrUIvCeh7DB6pEVlfr0JJjWVtVTQNP0ZOSYJ8Ky-VeDTp2F02kW1jtRNAxtIiTur9kCwjrO4kbEVpbNBWJqOivf6dqe9DaVQ/s320/images11_OS+copy.png" /></a></div></a>
One thing working in this book's favour is that the title has not been used before, so simply typing "oak seer" in the Amazon search box will find it for you. Or you could simply <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00DXNW8RE/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=B00DXNW8RE&linkCode=as2&tag=grahhigs-21http://">click here</a>.
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Because Amazon's time settings are American-based, if it doesn't show up as free, please keep trying. The offer will end on 1st November at midnight Pacific Standard Time, so it should end in the UK at around 8 a.m. Saturday the 2nd.
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Graham Higson - some more writer's musingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10559341134334486233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1000693239055308710.post-21286579458800722862013-09-03T07:56:00.000-07:002013-10-29T15:25:19.796-07:00MAKING THE IMPERSONAL PERSONALThere are still plenty of hard copies of books being sold (or maybe that should be "soft" where paperbacks are concerned). Thankfully. Don't get me wrong—I appreciate that digitization is expanding the availability of good reading. And I remember not so many years ago when there were fears that reading books was falling in popularity. Well, that is no longer a problem, and the recent interest in Kindles, Nooks, and apps on smartphones and tablets just shows that reading literature will be here for some time to come.
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But it occurred to me a few weeks ago that a digital version of a book cannot be signed like a physical copy can. I remember back to 1994 when my wife and two young children went to an author's book signing in Whitby. There, Robin Jarvis, author of the Deptford Mice books, and the Whitby Witches trilogy, was sitting, happily talking to his fans, some of who had travelled many miles just to meet him and get their books signed. (He also signed books that they already owned, that they may have bought elsewhere; it wasn't essential that you had bought it at that very shop. Top marks to the Whitby Bookshop!)
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But how would you get a personalized copy of, say, a Kindle edition?
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I have just signed up with Authorgraph—a way of digitally signing an eBook. Well, not quite. What happens is that, providing that your chosen book is listed on <a href="http://www.authorgraph.com/">authorgraph.com</a>, you can request the author to send you an authorgraph. What you receive is a downloadable PDF file of the book cover, with the author's message and signature beneath. Brilliant stuff!
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipG-FEgldlHii1BJ32jK4oKBByNaugaA27MRmL6UFr6XDlZca5_IG-WYDGu_NIyxl-mnZhkbT_r7C4LRgctQmzhgKgQZdbzYE3Cl585bn2mI5o7x9O2d-FG25jPi7LxsmLAt2ucMKQsXM/s1600/authorgraphSample.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipG-FEgldlHii1BJ32jK4oKBByNaugaA27MRmL6UFr6XDlZca5_IG-WYDGu_NIyxl-mnZhkbT_r7C4LRgctQmzhgKgQZdbzYE3Cl585bn2mI5o7x9O2d-FG25jPi7LxsmLAt2ucMKQsXM/s320/authorgraphSample.jpg" /></a></div>Graham Higson - some more writer's musingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10559341134334486233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1000693239055308710.post-17536313968810056372013-08-24T15:00:00.002-07:002014-03-16T15:01:18.184-07:00Oak Seer trailer<p>Here's the promotional video on YouTube:</p>
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<iframe width="450" height="252" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/zogP-un1emg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<p>It lasts just over a minute, so nothing to get bogged down in, and I hope it gives a bit of a taste of the story. There are also some illustrations that were not used in the final book.</p>Graham Higson - some more writer's musingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10559341134334486233noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1000693239055308710.post-90858693934335984252013-08-08T13:49:00.000-07:002013-10-29T15:26:32.607-07:00"Promotion, promotion, promotion" didn't someone say?Just as the promoting of one novel begins, the writing of the next must somehow be fitted in.
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I have just included a countdown timer on the home page. This is to indicate the, as yet, not-so-impending release of my next book. As it's not written yet, does this make me rash, reckless even?
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That might be the case if the story hadn't already been going through the mill, so to speak, on and off now since 2002. Or 2003 (don't remember). The overall story is there, albeit in screenplay format (2 x 60-minute television scripts), but it needs something else – something that only a novel can reveal about the characters.
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This is because unless the screenwriter is present at rehearsals and/or during filming, and dares to offer his comments to what is usually a tight group of industry professionals, some of who don't take kindly to suggestions, then the writer's vision of the characters is pretty much left to the abilities and perceptions of the actors and director. So the script, being merely a blueprint, could be interpreted any way. Even the final editing can shift emphasis to an aspect that was not originally intended. Writing this story as a novel will enable me to accurately portray these people as I see them.
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It is set during the First World War, and uses a backdrop that hasn't been used much before, if indeed at all.
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But that countdown timer worries me... tick! tick! tick! relentlessly counting down like the doomsday clock in ITV's drama series <em>Eternal Law</em>. I will see it in my sleep. Better get writing.
Graham Higson - some more writer's musingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10559341134334486233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1000693239055308710.post-26405560344113853312013-08-01T15:42:00.001-07:002013-10-30T15:14:06.616-07:00Oak Seer – unleashed<p>That's it – my novel is finally out there. <em>Oak Seer</em> (originally titled <em>Quercus Necromancer</em>, but that's a bit of a mouthful) first came to me in 1988. I remember it well. </p>
<p>The first typescript (pre-computer) was sent around the literary agents before finally being accepted by one. And he actually found a publisher, whose books were regularly reviewed in the <em>Spectator</em>. And then it all seemed to turn a bit sour. That was 1994, and the last contact I had was when I said I'd get back to them about some point or other. But I never did. And now the publisher has sort of disappeared.</p>
<p>This doesn't mean that the present story (although it is set in 1994) is in any way out of date by today's standards. At the first writing it was contemporary, and I've chosen to retain the period because there are so many modern pieces of technology around these days that just didn't exist 20 years ago. Our lives have changed so much, whether we like it or not, and, despite the protagonist not having the benefit of a mobile phone (yes, I know there were mobiles back then, but they were cumbersome and expensive and frightening (well, the pricing plans would certainly cause nightmares)), ironically I felt a certain comfort in going back to those times. It's only 20 years or so, yet life was simpler.</p>
<p>I feel that the intervening years have benefitted the re-writing of this story, and I hope readers like it and the characters living in it. It's been good visiting these old friends.</p>
Graham Higson - some more writer's musingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10559341134334486233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1000693239055308710.post-20207275277630944172010-07-22T17:57:00.000-07:002010-07-22T18:05:04.114-07:00The place to be"Where you will be in 5 years' time will depend on the books you read and the people you meet."<br /><br />Someone in business said that to me 18 years ago. They weren't talking about writing or being a writer, although since then I've often reflected on the ability of the maxim to embrace almost any discipline – but it is particularly pertinent to doing what we as writers want to do, which is to tell stories. <br /><br />So how, if you're wanting to break into writing, do you immerse yourself in the atmosphere and mindset of those who are "in" the industry or the business or however you want to term it? <br /><br />Okay, so your first question is, "what are the books to read?" Well, reading widely is the first thing I'd suggest, together with some of the more serious academic books (keep away from titles such as "Become a top-selling novelist in just 30 days"), for which a university's reading list for a creative – or professional – writing course should be obtained. <br /><br />Right, then, back to the question: how to rub shoulders (not necessarily in a literal sense) with those who are <em>in there</em> as well as those who want to be because they, too, often have something valuable to offer (morale springs to mind). Short of actually attending one of the annual literary festivals such as the Guardian Hay or Port Eliot, you can experience a sense of belonging and feel for the industry by simply watching <em>The Book Show</em> on the SkyArts channel. There's also Channel 4's <em>TV Book Club</em>. <br /><br /><em>The Book Show</em>'s 9-day coverage of the 2010 Guardian Hay Festival meant that the presenter, Mariella Frostrup, was in our living room every day with an impressive selection of writers as diverse as Kate Mosse and Bill Bryson and Robert Winston. But whoever or whichever you prefer reading, each one has his own perception of writing for a living which means that each one of us, at whichever stage we are, can learn something of value.<br /><br />All good things come to an end as did the Hay Festival; it also meant the end of the series. I felt like I'd actually met the writers that were interviewed and, yes, I can say that something has rubbed off. We may not have actually walked in each other's footsteps or breathed the same air, but it feels like I have rubbed shoulders with these great names in contemporary literature. They don't know me, but I have gleaned some of the essence of their personalities, which can be priceless.<br /><br />So where will I be in 5 years' time? That will depend on the books I've written and the people I have met, if only in a virtual sense.Graham Higson - some more writer's musingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10559341134334486233noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1000693239055308710.post-16818523611653751952010-05-04T05:59:00.000-07:002010-05-05T15:42:47.757-07:00Time travelIn the previous <a href="http://grahblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/sinkable-errors.html">blog</a> I mentioned anachronisms and since then these stray items from the future have been availing themselves, seemingly, all over the place. And strangely, all of them were for programmes made for ITV. I have nothing against ITV, but I'd be failing in my objectivity if I didn't mention this.<br /><br />Here are a couple:<br /><br />One major drama series set in 1952 showed a postcard that, in the story, had been posted almost 20 years before – but the card bore a Queen Elizabeth II postage stamp. The Queen was crowned in 1953. Okay, so if you blinked you missed it, but I would have thought there'd have been enough George V stamps kicking around in philately collections to satisfy the prop requirements. Or, and this is possible, the production assistant concerned didn't know any basic history and probably thinks our Queen Elizabeth has been around since the 1500s. That's probably more likely.<br /><br />The second instance concerned a drama set in 1945 that had larch-lap fencing panels in the background. Now, so far as I have been able to discover by talking to industry professionals (joinery), this style of fencing was not invented until the 1970s, although a similar style – a form of inter-woven fencing also originally made from long-lasting cedar – was introduced sometime in the 1960s. <br /><br />Another anachronism from the same episode showed a moulded clear plastic box for storing fishing flies. In 1945 such storage would have been in a box made of wood and with a sliding glass cover – proper glass, that is, not plastic.<br /><br />You can't blame the writers for this; if every script needed detailed action directions such as:<br /><br />SHE TAKES OUT A CRUMPLED POSTCARD BEARING A GEORGE V STAMP. . .<br /><br />then screenplays might easily be thick as a Dan Brown novel. <br /><br />No, preventing such mess-ups is down to someone on the team doing their job properly and thinking more about accuracy and less about alcohol – okay, I'm joking! But someone's attention has been misplaced, maybe even time-warped. <br /><br />The point is, though, that such mistakes will be there forever.Graham Higson - some more writer's musingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10559341134334486233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1000693239055308710.post-60645750036309776692010-04-21T13:26:00.000-07:002010-04-21T13:32:58.969-07:00Sinkable errorsReaders of this blog will remember that I'm not a huge fan of Amazon's Imdb – the definitive database of screen entertainment, and one of the things about it that annoys me is the "Goofs" section that accompanies most titles. <br /><br />This is where those sad individuals get to write their reports after they've peered at their screens watching and noting down anything they claim is wrong. "Sod the story – let's find fault and make ourselves feel in control!" <br /><br />They find continuity errors, revealed crew and/or equipment in the form of shadows and reflections (and sometimes right <em>there</em> in shot!), factual errors and anachronisms. I've spotted a few over the years, but I try not to let them spoil my enjoyment of the drama.<br /><br />Errors during filming are not the responsibility of the writer, but the facts of the stories are (fantasy and science fiction aside).<br /><br />Which leads me to explain why this blog entry is late: it's because at UCF we have been sweating over a module specifically about research – about the market, the audience we're aiming for, and the accuracy of the subject matter we are writing about. <br /><br />Cameron came unstuck with one such example in <em>Titanic</em> where he has Rose talking about Freud's theory on male preoccupation with size, when in reality Freud didn't write about this until 8 years later.<br /><br />Now, that sort of "goof" is typically spotted by someone who really needs to get out more, but at least here, in Cornwall, we are learning how to avoid writing such errors into our novels and screenplays and keeping such individuals out of the sunlight.Graham Higson - some more writer's musingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10559341134334486233noreply@blogger.com1