Reading and writing again

2 October

In 1996 when I began An Arts Foundation Course with the Open University, one of the set books we had to read was Charles Dickens’ Hard Times. Later our tutor told us that when the was being revamped there was a debate as to which novel should have been set for the course, Dickens or Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South. I remember feeling relieved it was Dickens. A few years later though I found a copy of the Gaskell on sale for 99p, so I took the chance and bought it. I’m pleased to say that I was happy I did so, it’s not as bad as I thought, in fact, it’s pretty good, certainly on a par with the Dickens novel.

Not so long after I finished reading I was sat talking to brother Dave about set books and why we had them. He suggested that he wouldn’t mind trying both the Dickens and Gaskell, so next time I went down there I took both of them for him. That was the last I saw of them for nearly a year. Eventually when we visited again he passed them back and more or less said for me to keep them! Dickens was a ‘non-book and as for the other, life’s far too short for such crap!’ Oh dear … … …

Another little bookish story I have is that years ago nearly every book I read seemed to find a parallel within the news somewhere. Take John Wyndom’s Day of the Triffids for example. I read that and a couple of days later we were driving into Worcester and everywhere we looked there were blind people walking around, tapping or waving their white sticks in front of them. Quite unnerving really when you remember that Triffids begins with a light show that makes everyone who watches it blind. However, part of Worcester is home to school for the blind, and we were driving past it at the time – see, perfectly rational.

Do you remember the quote from Tom Clancy I gave yesterday, well, this memory about the Triffids came to me just as I was settling last night. Why they seem to come me then I don’t know; anyway, the light went back on and I made a note of it, and now I’ve used it. If I hadn’t made a note the thought would have been gone, just as Kathy Ryan says, ‘It wouldn’t have happened.’ So my fellow scribblers, remember to keep a note book to hand at all times.

I did actually get some more writing done yesterday, around another 2,000 words. Bristol Fashion is growing slowly. Maybe I’m getting a bit too ambitious with this one though; I’ve had thoughts that there might be a third story to come out from its original idea in Shipshape, but there again, I’ve asked questions that we needed answering at some time, I’m just not sure the current one is the right vehicle to give the answers, or at least, not yet. So then, to pinch a phrase, ‘To write a third, or not to write a third; that is the question.’

Don’t forget my friends, I still have my new Fred Copper book on the go and of course, Arathusia, is still only at around 40,000 words. I need to think hard about the Copper though, even I can see it’s fairly lame compared with the two previous books in the series. I have a feeling it needs a complete re-write I think. It starts off well with the finding of badly beaten man in Cambridge and the resulting investigation that leads to a theft of valuable items belonging to the beating victim. From there it starts to limp a wee bit, a limp that gets worse as the story roles on. And that’s the point really; if I can see the weakness in it, how much worse will it be for anyone who reads it later!

Today’s photo then …

A thistle.

Today’s funny …

What do a hurricane, a tornado, a fire and a divorce have in common?
They are four ways you can lose your home.