I was told, early on, that the 'quality papers' had an aversion to SF/fantasy and the chances of pulling a review in them difficult. So I'm really pleased that both 'The Times' and 'The Guardian' have mentioned me in despatches.
Yesterday (29th) Kate Saunders (who, I understand, has appeared on an episode of 'Have I Got News For You' so as far as the Rees family is concerned, she MUST be worth listening too) reviewed The Demi-Monde in the 'In Short' section of the Times' Saturday Review. This is what she said;
'In the first of a projected four enormous volumes, the Demi-Monde is a virtual world; the most advanced simulation yet devised. Thirty million people are ruled by the worst tyrants in history and locked in eternal conflict. But something has gone wrong - the 'sim' of Nazi Reinhard Heydrich has kidnapped the president's daughter from the real world and hidden her within the Demi-Monde. Ella Thomas a young jazz singer, sets about rescuing the missing girl by infiltrating Heydrich's virtual domain. Complete nonsense, of course, but incredibly entertaining.'
Nice one, Kate! I had always hoped the DM would entertain and amuse (and hopefully provoke a few thoughts, en route) so being described as 'complete nonsense...but incredibly entertaining' is right on the money. Just like sex, I suppose, and that's pretty popular. I was also pleased that the book had been reviewed outside the usual SF confines...maybe there's real hope that it will appeal to a broader audience.
Eric Brown (ultra-prolific SF writer and possessor of a very neat turn of phrase) writing in 'The Guardian' of 8th January (SF Round-Up) wrote:
'The Demi-Monde is a virtual reality simulation create by the American military to test their soldiers in urban warfare: it's hell, in other words, peopled by such evil historical characters as the Nazi, Reinhard Heydrich, Aleister Crowley and Stalin's henchman, Lavrentiy Beria. As if that set-up weren't dark enough, the boffins up the ante by adding religious bigotry, racism and sexism. When the president's daughter gets lost in the simulation, jazz singer Ella Thomas is sent in to retrieve her. Despite the contrived concept, Rees makes the book work: the world he's created is a psychopathic nightmare, while Ella, by contrast, is a touchingly vulnerable heroine whose quest is fraught with both physical and psychological dangers.'
Thanks for that, Eric, much appreciated.
So all-in-all my first encounters with the quality press have been pretty painless. Sigh of relief time.
Sunday, 30 January 2011
Wednesday, 26 January 2011
RENEGADE WRITERS: 26TH JANUARY
Okay, this week I’m going to concentrate on just one of the pieces read at Renegades. No disrespect to the other readers – it was a very good evening, quality wise – it’s just that I think Peter C is onto something.
He bought back ‘Tumbling Dice’, the story that had made its debut last week. But this was V:2, a revised and rebuffed revision of the original. I think this is an excellent strategy: keep worrying at one thing until it is right. In this case Peter had switched his protagonist to 1st Person mode and I think it works much, much better. But there is still slack, and taking this up will make a good story…great. Some of the ideas knocked around at the meeting were:
• Make Graham and not the hitch-hiker the psychopath. Maybe the hitch-hiker is simply obsessional (forever counting, forever throwing his make-believe dice) but otherwise harmless. Maybe the hitch-hiker’s size and demeanour make him more threatening than he actually is (a big guy must be trouble etc.). This will set up a great twist at the end.
• The ‘as though he read my mind’ tip has to be developed! Ditto, ‘it’s all the same’ regarding the CD tracks.
• In retrospect I think Peter’s right not to make either of the protagonists too uni-dimensional (that’s always my inclination). Make the reader care about them. Bring us into the realisation of their madness gradually. Seduction rather than rape.
• The idea of story being circular has legs. The idea of beginning and ending with the same sentence - ‘I’m going to Brum…that any good for you?’ or something - is pretty creepy!
• The rejection motif is a good one: cars driving past the hitch-hiker; CD being ejected from the player; hitch-hiker too big for the seat…
• Keep the hitch-hiker counting, counting, counting.
I think this could be a f****** great story, but it needs time to mature and that will take another three or four revisions.
And this, folks, is what makes reading groups a blast: someone comes up with something really choice and you get to watch it evolve. A really good evening!
He bought back ‘Tumbling Dice’, the story that had made its debut last week. But this was V:2, a revised and rebuffed revision of the original. I think this is an excellent strategy: keep worrying at one thing until it is right. In this case Peter had switched his protagonist to 1st Person mode and I think it works much, much better. But there is still slack, and taking this up will make a good story…great. Some of the ideas knocked around at the meeting were:
• Make Graham and not the hitch-hiker the psychopath. Maybe the hitch-hiker is simply obsessional (forever counting, forever throwing his make-believe dice) but otherwise harmless. Maybe the hitch-hiker’s size and demeanour make him more threatening than he actually is (a big guy must be trouble etc.). This will set up a great twist at the end.
• The ‘as though he read my mind’ tip has to be developed! Ditto, ‘it’s all the same’ regarding the CD tracks.
• In retrospect I think Peter’s right not to make either of the protagonists too uni-dimensional (that’s always my inclination). Make the reader care about them. Bring us into the realisation of their madness gradually. Seduction rather than rape.
• The idea of story being circular has legs. The idea of beginning and ending with the same sentence - ‘I’m going to Brum…that any good for you?’ or something - is pretty creepy!
• The rejection motif is a good one: cars driving past the hitch-hiker; CD being ejected from the player; hitch-hiker too big for the seat…
• Keep the hitch-hiker counting, counting, counting.
I think this could be a f****** great story, but it needs time to mature and that will take another three or four revisions.
And this, folks, is what makes reading groups a blast: someone comes up with something really choice and you get to watch it evolve. A really good evening!
Tuesday, 25 January 2011
THE FORTHRIGHT BRIEFING
I did a few blogs for Quercus recently the aim being to try to explain in a painless way the various parts of the Demi-Monde. I came up with an army briefing motif, using one of the characters who will feature in later books, neoFight, Eugene 'Big Bad' Badowski. I thought it would be a good idea to post them on my own blog too.
ATTENSHUN!!!
Along with the other rookies gathered in the hall Private Eugene Badowski rose – reluctantly - to his feet. He hated the briefings given by Captain Simmons: the guy couldn’t lead a dog on a leash.
‘Greetings to all you neoFights of the 5th US Combat Regiment. Please...stand easy.’
The fifty or so grunts shuffled back down into their seats Badowski’s groaning in protest as he did so, but then when it had to support two hundred pounds of gym-hardened muscle that wasn’t surprising: he wasn’t called the Big Bad for nothing.
‘You guys and gals had thought you were gonna be shipping out to the Asia Minor theatre to mix it with bad asses like the nuTaliban and the ultra-Mujis who have been kicking our butts for the last ten years but there’s been a change of plan. Uncle Sam in his infinite wisdom has decided that you are the very people to send on a real important mission...a holding mission. And the things you’ve gotta hold are the US Army’s redoubts in a place called the Demi-Monde.’
There was no reaction, just a few furrowed brows.
The Demi-Monde?
‘To explain: the bigwigs here at TRADOC have been using a computer simulation to prepare neoFights like you for the stresses and strains of Asymmetric Warfare. Unfortunately this simulation has gone FUBAR and it’s our job to enter this virtual world - the Demi-Monde - and fix it.’
Badowski’s asshole began to twitch: he’d heard rumours about the Demi-Monde and none of them were good.
‘This is the Demi-Monde,’ and the Flexi-Plexi screen behind the Captain flared into life to show a map of a circular world. ‘Classified Top Secret, the Demi-Monde is the most sophisticated computer simulation ever devised. To play the Demi-Monde you have to be hard-wired into it which creates a full sensory by-pass. Once you’re plugged into the Demi-Monde it’s the only perceivable reality: you’ll have no memory of the Real World. So, guys and gals, make sure you pack plenty of spare underwear because you’re in for the ride of your life.’
Yeah right. Badowski yawned: as far as he saw this was so much horse feathers; no computer game was gonna put the frights on the Big Bad.
The Captain must have read his mind. ‘I’ve a feeling those sad-ass computer-gamers amongst you don’t believe me, so prepare to be a-mazed. The Demi-Monde is the first program to be run by ParaDigm CyberResearch’s ABBA-class of quantum computers, computers possessing almost unlimited processing power…enough to simulate sentience in each of the thirty million digital duplicates – the Dupes - that populate the Demi-Monde.’
Badowski’s asshole gave another warning tweak. Thirty million Dupes was a powerful lot of characters for any computer to simulate.
‘Yeah, there’s thirty million of these cyber-suckers waiting to meet, greet and turn you into meat. But ABBA went further. Research has shown that the warlords who lead enemy forces in Asymmetric Warfare Environments tend to be psychotics…the type of charismatic lunatics we in the military call Singularities. So we had ABBA select appropriate individuals from history - people like Mao ZeDong, Beria and Selim the Grim - model them and then seed them into the Demi-Monde. These PreLived Singularities look, think, and act just like their Real-World equivalents did and as their Real-World equivalents were horrible, horrible people, so are their Dupes.’
Nuts. No computer could resurrect dead Singularities. It wasn’t possible.
‘Horrible but real smart. So smart that they’ve come to understand that neoFights like you enter and leave the Demi-Monde through cyber-portals scattered throughout their world. So smart that they’ve begun to close these portals. Your job is to keep them open so the neoFights already in the Demi-Monde can find their way out.’
Bad news alert. There was something, just something, in the way the Captain said this that made Badowski pay attention.
‘Platoon Alpha is being assigned to keep the London portal open, this portal being located in the ForthRight Sector of the Demi-Monde, a Sector run by an über-evil Singularity called Reinhard Heydrich. Yeah, that’s right, he’s the same Nazi b****** who organised the Holocaust, so you better believe it when I tell you the ForthRight ain’t no holiday destination. There are five Sectors in the Demi-Monde each with own power-crazed leader but as power-crazed leaders go, this mother is in a class of his own. So keep your eyes peeled for the Valknut symbol...that’s the emblem of the SS- Ordo Templi Aryanis, Heydrich’s bully boys.’
Badowski felt his Sergeant, Sol Edelstein, start to fidget next to him. For a Jew like Edelstein, going up against an evil mother like Heydrich wasn’t something that jingled his jangles.
‘What’s the ForthRight like? It’s a crowded hell-hole, with twelve million Dupes living so tight packed that they can’t bust a fart without the whole street knowing about it. Most of them are either of Anglo-Saxon or Slavic origin though there’s a sizeable minority of Jewish Dupes, known in the Demi-Monde as nuJus. As might be expected with a fascist like Heydrich in charge the nuJus are getting a pretty lean deal of it...not that the rest of the population are faring much better. The ForthRight follows a joyless religion called UnFunDaMentalism which espouses clean living, vegetarianism and an abstention from all the good things in life like alcohol, tobacco and recreational sex. Believe me, UnFunDaMentalism is about as much fun as a kick in the nuts.’
The Captain smiled. ‘Now for the benefit of Platoon Bravo let’s turn to the second Sector, the Quartier Chaud...’
Check out the Demi-Monde of www.thedemi-monde.com
All images © Rod Rees/Nigel Robinson
US Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC)
Fort Jackson, neoFight Briefing Area, 8th June, 2018
ATTENSHUN!!!
Along with the other rookies gathered in the hall Private Eugene Badowski rose – reluctantly - to his feet. He hated the briefings given by Captain Simmons: the guy couldn’t lead a dog on a leash.
‘Greetings to all you neoFights of the 5th US Combat Regiment. Please...stand easy.’
The fifty or so grunts shuffled back down into their seats Badowski’s groaning in protest as he did so, but then when it had to support two hundred pounds of gym-hardened muscle that wasn’t surprising: he wasn’t called the Big Bad for nothing.
‘You guys and gals had thought you were gonna be shipping out to the Asia Minor theatre to mix it with bad asses like the nuTaliban and the ultra-Mujis who have been kicking our butts for the last ten years but there’s been a change of plan. Uncle Sam in his infinite wisdom has decided that you are the very people to send on a real important mission...a holding mission. And the things you’ve gotta hold are the US Army’s redoubts in a place called the Demi-Monde.’
There was no reaction, just a few furrowed brows.
The Demi-Monde?
‘To explain: the bigwigs here at TRADOC have been using a computer simulation to prepare neoFights like you for the stresses and strains of Asymmetric Warfare. Unfortunately this simulation has gone FUBAR and it’s our job to enter this virtual world - the Demi-Monde - and fix it.’
Badowski’s asshole began to twitch: he’d heard rumours about the Demi-Monde and none of them were good.
‘This is the Demi-Monde,’ and the Flexi-Plexi screen behind the Captain flared into life to show a map of a circular world. ‘Classified Top Secret, the Demi-Monde is the most sophisticated computer simulation ever devised. To play the Demi-Monde you have to be hard-wired into it which creates a full sensory by-pass. Once you’re plugged into the Demi-Monde it’s the only perceivable reality: you’ll have no memory of the Real World. So, guys and gals, make sure you pack plenty of spare underwear because you’re in for the ride of your life.’
Yeah right. Badowski yawned: as far as he saw this was so much horse feathers; no computer game was gonna put the frights on the Big Bad.
The Captain must have read his mind. ‘I’ve a feeling those sad-ass computer-gamers amongst you don’t believe me, so prepare to be a-mazed. The Demi-Monde is the first program to be run by ParaDigm CyberResearch’s ABBA-class of quantum computers, computers possessing almost unlimited processing power…enough to simulate sentience in each of the thirty million digital duplicates – the Dupes - that populate the Demi-Monde.’
Badowski’s asshole gave another warning tweak. Thirty million Dupes was a powerful lot of characters for any computer to simulate.
‘Yeah, there’s thirty million of these cyber-suckers waiting to meet, greet and turn you into meat. But ABBA went further. Research has shown that the warlords who lead enemy forces in Asymmetric Warfare Environments tend to be psychotics…the type of charismatic lunatics we in the military call Singularities. So we had ABBA select appropriate individuals from history - people like Mao ZeDong, Beria and Selim the Grim - model them and then seed them into the Demi-Monde. These PreLived Singularities look, think, and act just like their Real-World equivalents did and as their Real-World equivalents were horrible, horrible people, so are their Dupes.’
Nuts. No computer could resurrect dead Singularities. It wasn’t possible.
‘Horrible but real smart. So smart that they’ve come to understand that neoFights like you enter and leave the Demi-Monde through cyber-portals scattered throughout their world. So smart that they’ve begun to close these portals. Your job is to keep them open so the neoFights already in the Demi-Monde can find their way out.’
Bad news alert. There was something, just something, in the way the Captain said this that made Badowski pay attention.
‘Platoon Alpha is being assigned to keep the London portal open, this portal being located in the ForthRight Sector of the Demi-Monde, a Sector run by an über-evil Singularity called Reinhard Heydrich. Yeah, that’s right, he’s the same Nazi b****** who organised the Holocaust, so you better believe it when I tell you the ForthRight ain’t no holiday destination. There are five Sectors in the Demi-Monde each with own power-crazed leader but as power-crazed leaders go, this mother is in a class of his own. So keep your eyes peeled for the Valknut symbol...that’s the emblem of the SS- Ordo Templi Aryanis, Heydrich’s bully boys.’
Badowski felt his Sergeant, Sol Edelstein, start to fidget next to him. For a Jew like Edelstein, going up against an evil mother like Heydrich wasn’t something that jingled his jangles.
‘What’s the ForthRight like? It’s a crowded hell-hole, with twelve million Dupes living so tight packed that they can’t bust a fart without the whole street knowing about it. Most of them are either of Anglo-Saxon or Slavic origin though there’s a sizeable minority of Jewish Dupes, known in the Demi-Monde as nuJus. As might be expected with a fascist like Heydrich in charge the nuJus are getting a pretty lean deal of it...not that the rest of the population are faring much better. The ForthRight follows a joyless religion called UnFunDaMentalism which espouses clean living, vegetarianism and an abstention from all the good things in life like alcohol, tobacco and recreational sex. Believe me, UnFunDaMentalism is about as much fun as a kick in the nuts.’
The Captain smiled. ‘Now for the benefit of Platoon Bravo let’s turn to the second Sector, the Quartier Chaud...’
Check out the Demi-Monde of www.thedemi-monde.com
All images © Rod Rees/Nigel Robinson
Sunday, 23 January 2011
ALBERTO PAULINO: OFFICIAL RECOGNITION
 |
| The Demi-Monde: #1 in Richmond WH Smith's! |
Alberto Paulino is a book fan and collector and was the first guy in the queue at the Forbidden Planet signing. He has asked that I officially confirm this, which I am delighted to do.
Therefore, let it be known that Alberto Paulino was the very first person to have a copies of The Demi-Monde: Winter (ten of them actually) signed at a public event by yours truly!
Saturday, 22 January 2011
NOWADAYS IT'S NO FUN TO BE YOUNG
Nelli and I attended a meeting at the girls' school intended to explain to us the mysteries - miseries, more like - of higher education. I came out worried, perplexed and very sympathetic towards the young people of today.
In my day (the one of gas lamps and biplanes) university education was free. Okay, only half as many people entered university then but those that did sure as hell weren't faced by the pressures and worries of today's generation.
First of all there's money. To be blithely told that even with a student loan there will be a £4,000 pa shortfall is quite a straightener. At £6.00 per hour that's equivalent to 16 weeks of fulltime employment, which seems a little excessive for somebody who is meant to be studying for a degree. Despite what the government claims this must have an impact on kids' willingness to go for a degree...who wants a £50,000 debts around their necks? This is UNBELIEVABLY short-sighted by the government.
Then there was the news that most of the leading UK companies won't even interview graduates unless the applicant has attended one of their internships or work experience programmes. This means that kids have to decide what they will be doing with their working lives at the end of their first year in uni and to have selected which company they want to be doing it with. Ridiculous.
Finally, there was the news that to get on a leading MBA programme post-uni, the candidate had to have displayed 'entrepreneurial ability'.
So today's undergraduates have to find a way of supplementing the government's parsimony, shoulder a ludicrous amount of debt, work all through their holidays and still find time to set up a business.
No...being young in the Britain of 2011 ain't no fun. Poor sods.
In my day (the one of gas lamps and biplanes) university education was free. Okay, only half as many people entered university then but those that did sure as hell weren't faced by the pressures and worries of today's generation.
First of all there's money. To be blithely told that even with a student loan there will be a £4,000 pa shortfall is quite a straightener. At £6.00 per hour that's equivalent to 16 weeks of fulltime employment, which seems a little excessive for somebody who is meant to be studying for a degree. Despite what the government claims this must have an impact on kids' willingness to go for a degree...who wants a £50,000 debts around their necks? This is UNBELIEVABLY short-sighted by the government.
Then there was the news that most of the leading UK companies won't even interview graduates unless the applicant has attended one of their internships or work experience programmes. This means that kids have to decide what they will be doing with their working lives at the end of their first year in uni and to have selected which company they want to be doing it with. Ridiculous.
Finally, there was the news that to get on a leading MBA programme post-uni, the candidate had to have displayed 'entrepreneurial ability'.
So today's undergraduates have to find a way of supplementing the government's parsimony, shoulder a ludicrous amount of debt, work all through their holidays and still find time to set up a business.
No...being young in the Britain of 2011 ain't no fun. Poor sods.
THE BLACK SWAN FAILS TO FLY
There had been real anticipation in the Rees household about seeing 'The Black Swan'. The two girls were would-be ballerinas in their younger days, Nelli is a great fan of Tchaikovsky and I was enticed by the 5* reviews. Unfortunately the film was a disappointment.
Basically it's the story of an obsessive, self-harming ballet dancer, Nina, who is given a shot at being a leading lady but who cracks and crumbles under the pressures (largely articulated by the company's ballet master) imposed on her by playing the good/evil duality of the Odette/Odile role.
Okay, let's start with the good things...sorry, good thing. The single-minded nature of the Nina character is wonderfully communicated by the cinematography: it's all tight angles, full-face closeups and claustrophobic sets. The apartment the character shares with her mother is small and narrow, a great metaphor for the girl's limited horizons, and even the theatre where she performs is a windowless, sealed world. That Nina lives only to dance and allows little else to intrude is a subtle and understated undertone to the entire movie.
But cinematography aside, I didn't find much else to applaud. A lot has been made of Natalie Portman's portrayal of Nina, but whilst I found her a convincing ballerina (but then what do I know?) she was too weak and weepy to be convincing. Surely a girl as dedicated as Nina is meant to be would have had more steel about her? She might be obsessive but I would have expected her to be determined and assertive. I found it difficult to believe any ballet master would have cast her, she was just too much of a nonentity. Where was the putative prima donna?
The story too, which centered upon her embracing the dark side of her personality, was similarly unconvincing. Oh, there was gore aplenty - 'gross' according to Ellie - and a good few jumps to be had but somehow it didn't hang together. I had the feeling that the film didn't quite know what it wanted to be: it wasn't a horror movie (no film featuring a major star wants the dreaded '18' certificate); it wasn't terribly erotic (one coy lesbian scene does not an erotic movie make); and the 'psychological drama' tag doesn't work either (there always needs to be a sympathetic foil of a character to make these successful).
One missed opportunity: in the final ballet sequences - when Odile - was dancing - it might have been an idea to have shown how Nina's mind expanded and to have made this a surrealistic, fantasy scene.
Portman's portrayal of Nina was pretty one-dimensional too (it's all been downhill since 'Leon') but the biggest downer was Vincent Cassel's performance as the ballet master. This is one GREAT actor and in the past has done some notable work. This, unfortunately, was a by-the-numbers performance.
All in all a HUGE disappointment!
One good thing: Kit says it's put her off biting her nails!
Nelli's score: 2/10 (she HATED Portman's dancing and what the choreographer did to the dance of the cignettes!)
Kit's score: 4/10
Ellie's score: Gross!
Rod's score: 4/10
Basically it's the story of an obsessive, self-harming ballet dancer, Nina, who is given a shot at being a leading lady but who cracks and crumbles under the pressures (largely articulated by the company's ballet master) imposed on her by playing the good/evil duality of the Odette/Odile role.
Okay, let's start with the good things...sorry, good thing. The single-minded nature of the Nina character is wonderfully communicated by the cinematography: it's all tight angles, full-face closeups and claustrophobic sets. The apartment the character shares with her mother is small and narrow, a great metaphor for the girl's limited horizons, and even the theatre where she performs is a windowless, sealed world. That Nina lives only to dance and allows little else to intrude is a subtle and understated undertone to the entire movie.
But cinematography aside, I didn't find much else to applaud. A lot has been made of Natalie Portman's portrayal of Nina, but whilst I found her a convincing ballerina (but then what do I know?) she was too weak and weepy to be convincing. Surely a girl as dedicated as Nina is meant to be would have had more steel about her? She might be obsessive but I would have expected her to be determined and assertive. I found it difficult to believe any ballet master would have cast her, she was just too much of a nonentity. Where was the putative prima donna?
The story too, which centered upon her embracing the dark side of her personality, was similarly unconvincing. Oh, there was gore aplenty - 'gross' according to Ellie - and a good few jumps to be had but somehow it didn't hang together. I had the feeling that the film didn't quite know what it wanted to be: it wasn't a horror movie (no film featuring a major star wants the dreaded '18' certificate); it wasn't terribly erotic (one coy lesbian scene does not an erotic movie make); and the 'psychological drama' tag doesn't work either (there always needs to be a sympathetic foil of a character to make these successful).
One missed opportunity: in the final ballet sequences - when Odile - was dancing - it might have been an idea to have shown how Nina's mind expanded and to have made this a surrealistic, fantasy scene.
Portman's portrayal of Nina was pretty one-dimensional too (it's all been downhill since 'Leon') but the biggest downer was Vincent Cassel's performance as the ballet master. This is one GREAT actor and in the past has done some notable work. This, unfortunately, was a by-the-numbers performance.
All in all a HUGE disappointment!
One good thing: Kit says it's put her off biting her nails!
Nelli's score: 2/10 (she HATED Portman's dancing and what the choreographer did to the dance of the cignettes!)
Kit's score: 4/10
Ellie's score: Gross!
Rod's score: 4/10
Thursday, 20 January 2011
RENEGADE WRITERS:19TH JANUARY 2011
Bit of a change of scene. Since they are renovating the Potters - the Renegade's usual venue - we've become itinerant and yesterday Chez Rees was the hosting venue.
It was very nice (horrible word!) to entertain and to be able to have a glass of wine or two without the prospect of incarceration looming. The story telling was good too. Peter C (thanks for the CD!) kicked off with a piece called 'Tumbling Dice' about a hitch hiking psychopath which was interesting but taken, in my humble, at too fast a pace...we need to appreciate more of the psycho's thought processes, especially regarding the influence of the dice rolling around in his head! I think though there's real potential here.
Peter A (thanks for the book!) read 'The Lake' about a Shoshonee holy place which is violated by a bunch of rednecks with dire consequence. I think Peter fell between two stools here: it was too detailed to be a short story and two short to be a novel. The idea is good though and deserves more work.
Finally Jan read 'Lucy Lightfoot' a fictionalisation of a legend of the eponymous Isle of Wight witch. I thought this got off to a cracking start and Jan found an excellent way of doing her exposition without it seeming too much like and infodump. Problem was for a 6/7k story she tried to get in too much detailed pagan stuff: interesting, but it didn't move the story along. The other thing the story is begging out for is a real twist at the end. I hope she brings it back to the group remixed and remodelled.
A good evening.
It was very nice (horrible word!) to entertain and to be able to have a glass of wine or two without the prospect of incarceration looming. The story telling was good too. Peter C (thanks for the CD!) kicked off with a piece called 'Tumbling Dice' about a hitch hiking psychopath which was interesting but taken, in my humble, at too fast a pace...we need to appreciate more of the psycho's thought processes, especially regarding the influence of the dice rolling around in his head! I think though there's real potential here.
Peter A (thanks for the book!) read 'The Lake' about a Shoshonee holy place which is violated by a bunch of rednecks with dire consequence. I think Peter fell between two stools here: it was too detailed to be a short story and two short to be a novel. The idea is good though and deserves more work.
Finally Jan read 'Lucy Lightfoot' a fictionalisation of a legend of the eponymous Isle of Wight witch. I thought this got off to a cracking start and Jan found an excellent way of doing her exposition without it seeming too much like and infodump. Problem was for a 6/7k story she tried to get in too much detailed pagan stuff: interesting, but it didn't move the story along. The other thing the story is begging out for is a real twist at the end. I hope she brings it back to the group remixed and remodelled.
A good evening.
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