I have returned again from my work related travels. Alas, time management did not allow for much reading at all and neither did it facilitate a visit to that specialist crime fiction bookshop I mentioned last weekend… I was in Belfast and the bookshop is called "No Alibis" - they can be found at 83 Botanic Avenue (plus another store in Jordanstown). I did call the shop and was told they open 09:30 to 17:30. I can only hope to visit at some later date.
I enjoyed Belfast, it’s a vibrant city with many good places to eat. I reckon it’s worth a visit based on leisure and pleasure, in order to fully appreciate it (and in the months that come with more daylight...)
I’m lagging behind on my email replies, but I had two of immediate interest when I opened my inbox, with some items worth passing on. I also had some mail in the post that contained some items worth passing on. So here it is – the passing on. Ouch! Bad choice of words there, I sound like an undertaker. No one and nothing is dead, what I’m passing on is very much alive and kicking, so please keep reading.
Reviews…
Chris High has added even more reviews to his site, since I looked last.
This is the only site, surely, where you’d find reviews of Ken Bruen’s “The Priest” and Mark Billingham’s debut novel, “Sleepyhead” sitting alongside a review of “Cinderella starring Julian Clary”? Yes, Chris is into crime fiction in a big way, but the site has an eclectic mix of articles drawn from Chris’s enjoyment of the broader entertainment industry. He has reviews of books, movies, albums, theatre and gigs, including the all important annual festive season pantomime. Where would we be without the early childhood experience of interactive theatre, sprinkled liberally with a severe case of overacting? And if you’re lucky and you have a child or more to take, you get to repeat the experience as an adult. It’s just so much fun. (And Chris clearly enjoyed Cinderella, with Julian Clary the icing on the cake in that production…) Personally, I do love Julian Clary, whatever he does is always fun; he’s an intelligent performer with a cutting bite, when it comes to wit.
Another new author to me…
A friend of mine has drawn my attention, more than once, to an author whose work he enjoys. I have not yet read a book of hers, but as we share similar tastes and the author is not too well known, I thought I’d mention her. The author is Jane Adams and I’ve ordered one of her books, hoping to make a start soon.
Thinking about writing?
In my normal hard copy stamped snail mail, I received the brochures for the two centres of teaching and promotion of writing in the UK: Ty Newydd in Wales and The Arvon Foundation in England.
Ty Newydd was closed in 2004/5 for some major building works, for which the main aim was providing disabled access. Having stayed there for a week in 2003, I can assure you that this was not an easy task, but a challenging one - there are certainly more nooks and crannies and sharp corners than the house in Cluedo. The house itself appears to be an amalgam of rooms with common walls and foundations beneath, but no common horizontal axis for the floors. Some think it’s haunted too. But then, those reading crime fiction and wanting to have a go at writing it themselves may have active imaginations. Ty Newydd is special for more than one reason – it’s the last home of David Lloyd George, he died there and the grounds are beautiful, as is the house. There’s no crime fiction course there in 2006, but you can take a look at the rest they have to offer… I'm not sure if they have lead piping and Miss Scarlet certainly does not feature in the range of teachers planned for 2006!
With three sites in England and one in Scotland, the Arvon Foundation is well established as a centre for writing and other creative activities. There are two crime writing courses this year. One has Val McDermid and Louise Welsh at Moniack Mhor in Scotland (with guest reader, Natasha Cooper), in July, the other has Peter Guttridge and Laura Wilson at The Hurst in Shropshire (with guest Alex Bonham, an editor at Hodder & Stoughton) in September.
My own reading...
I finished "The Falls" by Ian Rankin and when I get my hands on the video of the TV series this weekend, I'll make a comparison of both. "Chalk and cheese" is the expression that comes to mind, but we are talking different media here. The expression itself is good analogy for the difference between the two: viewing another's interpretation vs creating your own, in your own mind at your own pace and with more senses coming into it. But more on that later.
Right now, I'm actually looking forward to sitting hunched up, either freezing or feeling faint at the effects of a hot air blower on my commuter train. Margaret Murphy's "Now You See Me" is providing a very welcome distraction from commuter cattle transit.
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