Brilliant Books - 28th January 2015

I don't like snow. I also don't like gale force winds. I especially don't like snow AND gale force winds mixed together. It's why I'm looking at moving to Los Angeles.

So it was no surprise that it was the coldest, windiest day of the year when I dragged myself from my warm bed while it was still dark. I didn't want to. I wanted to stay wrapped up in my duvet burrito. For a brief moment, I debated emailing the Wiz and spinning some tale about snow and leaves on the line and trains that had disappeared into a time sucking portal (fairly normal for the British railways).

But I couldn't. My people needed me!

And by people, I mean a bunch of really cool kids who were going to teach me a thing or two about being a writer.

The bookmarks I took with me.

Back in 2014, I was asked to take part in a project called Brilliant Books. Aimed at children who don't really read, the idea is to bring in people who love reading and encourage another generation to do the same. Along the way, the children work on ideas and short stories. These are compiled into a book that anyone, including you and I, can buy.

So probably against their better judgement, the team asked me to go. I went through a list of things I could do do with the kids to get them interested in reading. All of them, including the indoor rockets, were vetoed. Something about a thing called “Elf N Safety”. After a couple of days of being grumpy, I hit on an idea. I'd read from my favourite book (“War of the Worlds” by HG Wells), talk about Victorian inventions, and then get into another of my favourite things. Music. Victorians perfected recording music and I just happened to have an original wax cylinder (with a recording by Billy Williams on it) lying around. Handy, that!

So, with the wind and snow whistling around my ankles and my trusty pink suitcase by my side, I boarded a train for Nottingham...

To say I was nervous was an understatement. I've talked in front of most age ranges. But I've never talked to school age kids before. I managed to work my way through the portion of the book I was reading (Chapter 2 for anyone who's interested) before gathering up the pile of goodies and doing what I do best: Sitting on the floor and spreading them around me. I took with me a variety of items, including the wax cylinder, an LP of Fleetwood Mac's “Rumours”, CDs of Jeff Wayne's “War of the Worlds”, and my slightly battered MP3 player.

That was it! Suddenly any barriers had crumbled and the kids and myself had a blast talking about inventions, spooky farms, and music. Nottingham has a worldwide claim to fame in that it was the first city to have a road paved with tarmac back in 1845. We talked about the possibility of life on other planets, of what aliens would look like and how they'd act. We especially enjoyed talking about Skinwalker Ranch in Utah, a place that supposedly has portals to other worlds and some shady links to the US government. The kids seemed to love that and I learned something valuable; kids love spooky stories! We didn't want to stop talking and I feel like we'd have still been there now, eating fruit and chattering away.

Needless to say, it was an inspiring and humbling day. From a reader's point of view, it was amazing to see the next generation picking up books and reading. It was wonderful to sit with them and talk about the books we had read and the ones we planned to get next. From a writer's point of view, it was heart warming to sit with them and help them work on stories and ideas. I loved listening to them read their pieces and I'm not ashamed to say that I cheered and clapped. I may have cried a little on the way home, the happiness and exhilaration of the day overwhelming.

I can't wait to go again! It would be an honour to be asked to return. And I can't wait to read the book these guys produce at the end of it! Loved them and everything they were doing and I can't wait to see what they do with their ideas! Thank you for allowing me to come and talk to you. Most of all, thank you for all the love, hugs, and high fives. I'll see you again soon!

Brilliant Books blog post - Jan 28th 2015.

The Scribes of Seely: Brilliant Books Anthology #1.

It Started As A Sketch In My Notebook

Another funky radical bombtrack
Started as a sketch in my notebook -

“Bombtrack” - Rage Against The Machine

“I can't write long stories!”

That's something I've heard a lot. People get the core image they want to use but can't expand on it. They want to write something long but find themselves stuck after a couple of chapters. Or write a single scene story rotating around that kernel of an idea.

Do you want to know what I started with?

The body was laid out on the hard wooden floor, naked, limbs and torso delicately curling as they tried to reach each other in some far off dreamland. Fingers, splayed and broken, spread over the varnished floor, bloody trails left in their wake as the body's occupant tried to pull itself into a different, less awkward position. Across one hand swirled the unmistakable image of a mouse crouched in a claw.

But that would not happen. Never would the lithe creature on the floor walk tall and proud again. Never would its face twist into the smile that had dazzled a million people. Never would its eyes gleam with the innocent charm of the forever young. And never would its childlike laughter fill a room. Instead, it would remain the discarded toy, only picked up when its owner needed something to shake and break.

The fingers slowly inched through the pooled blood, making grotesque curls and swirls as they spidered closer to the leather bound book. What was written upon its crisp, white pages had once been a secret between it and the person on the floor.

But no longer. Once the snarling menace that ruled the secluded house had found it, the special bond between writer and written had been snapped like a twig. Pages, as pale and as bloodstained as the whimpering human's skin, were scattered about the empty room. Some lay in piles while others, jagged tears separating words from their partners, had been thrown to the wind, escaping through the room's one broken window. The window that now hid its healing light behind heavy, bolted shutters.

A tiny, kitten-like whimper left the child-man's mouth as his fingers swept over the supple leather, imprinting and marking it with his fingerprints. It was the only thing which linked him to a life long forgotten.

That's the prologue from “Mars on the Rise” and that's what I started with. That was written on a train and was intended as an inspiration piece for a friend to illustrate. That's the tiny seed which has so far spawned three books.

What happened next is what I call the “Particle Collider Method”. One tiny idea breeds another. Which breeds another, and so on. After I'd written that short piece, I was sitting at Crewe train station. The station has a number of bricked up arches. I wanted to know what happened behind the arches so I began making notes as I sat on the next train.

And then?

My destination that day was Brighton (a city I love dearly). I was already writing short pieces of gay fiction and it had been an age since I'd attempted anything over a couple of thousand words. But as I was walking around this beautiful seaside city, I found myself wondering what would happen if the arches of that city were bricked up. And what was going on behind them. So that night I started sketching more ideas, which slowly built in to the first novel (very slowly! It took nearly two years before I had anything resembling a finished story. I also didn't know what I was working on was called “Steampunk”. I called it “Science fiction from another era”.).

Building a story doesn't happen overnight which, in this world of cheap entertainment and instant gratification, can be frustrating. I know it's frustrating for any kind of artist whose fans want the new thing RIGHT NOW!

There's one idea I've been working on since 2007. It started as a scene in my mind, set at Heathrow airport, and I couldn't do anything with it. So I made a bunch of notes and put it to one side.

Then, in 2010, I had another idea which was completely different. It was set in a snowy, sleepy little town in America. Again, it was a scene I couldn't do anything with so I made a bunch of notes and put it to one side.

In 2012, after listening to a radio show, those two ideas came together and have become the basis of another novel. But that's still not without it's problems. There's still a lot of other little ideas which need to be put into place to make it work. There's still a lot of “colliding” to be done yet.

If you want to write something longer, make notes. Obsess on an idea (although my kind of obsessing right now is playing with flight simulators and staring at the London Underground map). Do things which are related to your idea.

One thing I do is keep “style books”. These are blank notebooks filled with ideas, photos, quotes, postcards, snippets of scenes. Whatever comes to your mind. Flicking through them is fascinating and, slowly but surely, those tiny little seeds of ideas begin to grow into great trees.

Never give up!

Houston, We Have A Problem

I have a bit of a problem.

Actually, it's not a bit of a problem. It's a massive, lingering cloud which hangs over my head.

Let me try and explain...

I have absolutely no problem helping other people promote their music/books/events/causes/art. In fact, I love doing it! I love sitting down, putting my brain in gear, and helping other people.

If I love it so much what happens when it comes to my own projects?

I completely and utterly flat line.

I see all my friends doing all this cool stuff. They're off giving interviews and being on TV and the radio and doing more and more cool stuff. And I don't hate them for it. Not by a long shot. I'm so freaking proud of them! It's like watching baby birds learn to fly. Suddenly they're out there and doing some absolutely brilliant stuff!

But I can't do the same for myself. Part of it is because I don't know how to. The other is because I don't like asking for help. I don't like calling up the newspaper or the radio station or the events organiser or the website owner and asking them if I can do something. For some reason, it makes me feel like I'm intruding on their time and that I'm also not that interesting. Why would they want to speak to yet another author?

As I found out recently, places get inundated with requests from authors. So many that they have to turn them down. And that was a bit discouraging.

So how do you do it? Leave your ideas in the comments or feel free to drop me an email. I'd love to hear from you and thank you for reading!!

waking_the_dead @ yahoo.co.uk (Just remove the spaces!)

It's Time To Stamp Out Hate Crime

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the hideous Julie Burchill article. Unfortunately, or fortunately, whichever way you look at it, it's found its way back online thanks to the Telegraph. You can read it here *** Possible Trigger Warning***.

Now, I'm not one to let things go easily. And I don't like it when people like Burchill go waltzing around, mocking others, and enjoying the attention. So I've written a long winded complaint to the editor. And I'll keep harassing him until I get a straight answer other than "sorry". If you want to get involved, feel free! The more the merrier! I'm going to publish the editor's name but, before anyone kicks me for that one, it's in the public domain.

Observer Newspaper Address:

John Mulholland,

The Observer, 

Kings Place, 90 York Way
London N1 9GU

Phone number: 020 3353 2000

And here's my complaint. Trust me, I'm really not going to let it lie. I don't care who you are. I don't care if you're someone on the street, a journalist, a musician, or an MP. If you say something like this, especially in public, then you should be subjected to the full extent of the law.

28^th January 2013

Dear Sir,

It has been two weeks since Julie Burchill's hate speech masquerading as journalism appeared in your newspaper. No doubt you're still reading through the digital mountain of complaints which has been sent your way.

I'm writing to ask what you're doing about Burchill. In case you've forgotten what all the fuss is about I'm including a copy of the article.

Like every large company out there, I'm assuming you have a policy relating to people, their sexuality/gender/colour/religion etc and how they have a right to be treated as an equal and allowed to go about their job, and life, in peace and without the fear of harassment, discrimination, or reprisal. Anyone known to break this policy is subjected to suspension and/or termination. Has this policy been enacted against Burchill? If not, why not? Your average person on the street wouldn't get away with a fraction of what she said without reprisal. Why should she just because she's a “journalist”, “columnist”, or whatever you choose to call her?

Secondly, what she wrote is hate speech, discrimination, and a call to violence, all of which are crimes under British law. Has she been questioned by the police? Again, if not, why not?

Finally, what is your justification for allowing her to remain with your newspaper? After that little tirade she can hardly be good for your image? Or do we need to assume that her viewpoint is held by the majority of your staff?

While this country prides itself on freedom of speech, we also have morals and ethics which need to be upheld and honoured. Morals and ethics which are written in to the Editor's Code of Practice. I appreciate that Burchill's brand of writing is possibly what draws in your readers, but where do you draw the line? Will you let her publish something along the same lines about Muslims? Or people with disabilities? Or Asians? Where's your line in the sand? Take the article and replace it with any of the three examples I've given you and then ask yourself if you'd publish it.

Can you imagine if yourself, or one of your family, were one of the people lambasted in Burchill's article? Perhaps you are, I don't know. Perhaps you thought it would be good for “a laugh”. I realise that you pulled the piece and left a response along the lines of “The piece was an attempt to explore contentious issues”. However, your response could not be further from the truth, and I believe you know this. How would you feel if someone called you derogatory names and basically called for you to be injured and killed? You've probably had the statistics for the murder, assault and suicide rates among transgender people thrown at you a million times in the past two weeks so I won't repeat them. But, if you've read them, I'm sure you can see just how dangerous Burchill's article is. And just because Burchill is a “journalist” or “columnist” does not mean that she is above the morals, standards, and laws of this country. In fact, as a possible role model for others, she should be held even more accountable. How would you feel if a transgender person was murdered and the accused cited Burchill's article, the one you chose to publish, as a reason for why they committed the murder? It's a hypothetical scenario but has happened, where the accused has cited music, books, or films as the reason for why they committed their crime.

This is not about one particular group becoming more offended than another. This is about protecting some of the most vulnerable people in our society. We no longer live in the Dark Ages. We live in a time where everyone, no matter what their creed, gender or sexuality is can live in peace and without fear. You have an opportunity here to prove that you will not be among those who allow such speech to pollute our society.

Yours,

Rae Gee

 *****

POST SCRIPT:

I'm laying down a challenge to the Observer. It'll be going with this letter. 

"By now you've probably noticed that your withdrawal of the offending article, and your subsequent apology, have not been accepted by the vast majority. You've also probably gathered that people don't want to read misinformed, unresearched and factless pieces. As a media outlet, you are responsible on what you put out there. You now have the chance to show the world that you actually mean what you said in your apology. Which is why I'm laying down a challenge for you and your newspaper. Find a positive story, one of hope, love, and dignity, and report on it. Don't put a negative spin on it. Don't be derogatory. Don't put down the person, or persons, the story is about. And heaven's above, don't give the piece to someone like Burchill. In fact, go through the list of people who no doubt write to you every week looking for work experience and give one of them a shot. Write a nice, positive piece, one which will make people happy to read your paper and run it as the front page story. Don't think about the circulation or the money. Don't think of anything like that because you're the editor and, as you've proved, can do whatever you want. So do this and start making a positive change in the world."

 

No Phobias Here, Please

Those who regularly read my personal facebook page will know that, when in the wrong mood, I can be a chronic complainer. Wobetide if your company has failed somewhere along the line; you'll be hearing from me! It's actually become worse over the past year, a sign, I believe, that I'm getting old.

For those of you who are inflicted with my often long winded complaints (You are allowed to "unfriend" me, you know!!) will know that yesterday I really lost the plot.

If you didn't catch it, I was complaining about an article published on the Observer newspaper website (the offending article has now been removed, thankfully). It was written by a writer (and I use that in the loosest sense of the term) who decided to take it upon herself to write what, in essence, was a hate speech against transgender people.

I HIT the roof! I don't, and will never, tolerate any kind of "phobias" (I'm arachnophobia but that's a different story). We're not in the 1500's any more and people should be allowed to live their lives however they want. I don't care if you're pink, blue, black, yellow, green or rainbow coloured. If you're happy, you're happy. You will always have an ally in me and safe place on this blog.

As much as I'd hate to see anyone loose their job during times like this, the author of that piece (Julie Burchill, for the curious) really does need firing. No one, and I mean no one, should be allowed to get away with what she wrote. I don't care if they're a columnist for a supposedly upmarket newspaper. She should be promptly sacked and then handed over to the police for prosecution regarding hate speech and inciting violence. If any one of us had said what

And, if the Google News search is anything to go by, I'm not the only one.

It's time we stood up to these bigots. Time to stand up to the ones who think they're immune to any kind of retribution because they have the protection of an editor and newspaper. Time to wipe out this so called "news" and create something new and beautiful. Are you will me?

Well, are you?!?!?!

For those who didn't catch it, here's my complaint to the Observer in full:

To Whom It May Concern:

As a regular reader of your newspaper I find it utterly atrocious that you allow Julie Burchill to spout unwarranted, and quite frankly offensive, views. I would like to point out that we live in the 21st Century and, while freedom of speech must be maintained, so should the dignity of those who for so long have been pushed in to the minorities.

While I'm sure your editor allowed this piece through to no doubt "improve circulation and readership", all you are doing is lowering yourselves to the standards of the red top rags and the lowest of the low of news services. How about actually standing up for the people who find themselves regularly beaten and harassed because they are different? How about speaking to the people Burchill chooses to vilify and writing an honest, open article on their lives? (and not sensationalising it at all. Have you people learned nothing from the phone hacking and Saville scandals?) In fact, how about finally getting rid of Burchill and her outdated and vile views and replacing her with one of those people she so enjoys attacking?

How about you don't follow the "norm" and actually do something different? You would win yourselves a lot more friends that way than making even more enemies just by trying to improve your circulation with the mindless, outdated, and unresearched views. We in society have to think before we speak, and will suffer the consequences if we don't. Burchill should not be exempt from these rules and should be made aware that her words can lead her to be prosecuted.

While we need to protect our freedom of speech (which I'm sure you'll cite that article as), we also need to be aware of what we are doing and saying and how it can make others feel.

I do hope you take the complaints you're receiving about this article seriously and actually think about what you're putting out in to the world. This world is a bad enough place as it is without you allowing people like Burchill to whip up even more hate and prejudice.

This complaint will also be sent to the Press Complaints Commission.

Yours,
Rae Gee