Freedom From The Mundane » Poetry

A Media Frenzy And The Nation Watched

colingalbraith — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 08:07:21 +0000

Image: Metro

A day of two fascinating halves. On the one one hand I had the day job, which was busy and thick with challenge, and on the other was the live coverage of the stand-off between the police and the killer gunman running loose around Northumbria.

I won’t go into the day job much; lots to get through, plenty of meetings, a few decisions—all good clean fun. The manager of yesterday’s implementation brought down some chocolates, which brightened up the afternoon despite the drizzle outside.

On my way home I bought a fish supper—my prize after a tough week—and was contemplating what to do with my evening when I noticed a remark on Twitter that the armed fugitive, Raoul Moat, had been caught. I switched onto BBC News 24 and saw that the police had indeed surrounded him with snipers, the media was going into a frenzy and the locals of Rothbury were flooding to the scene.

It was fascinating to watch. Disturbing, too, some of the journalistic tactics of the on-the-scene BBC reporter, and almost like a soap opera when Paul Gascoigne showed up to try and help, claiming to be a friend of the crazed gunman.

As the tale unfolded over the next six hours I found myself writing the events and my thoughts on it into one of my longest ever poems. I didn’t watch it all as I got too tired and I’ve a lot to get through this weekend, but I scribbled over 3 pages into my notebook, a final two stanzas this morning when I woke up to the news that Moat had finally ended the stand-off by shooting himself dead.

Not since the 70s has Britain seen such an intense stand-off following a 7-day man hunt. It all started on Facebook when Moat revealed he felt his life was over and he’d lost everything after being released from prison. We were all to “watch what happens next.” Well, we did, and through just about every single news agency and 24-hour broadcaster the country has. At least the people of Rothbury are safe now.

To the weekend and it’s my last before I go away so I’ve a lot to do. I need to get some clothes (anyone who knows me will know I HATE clothes shopping) and so am heading up town shortly before the place gets busy to raid a couple of shops. There’s also a lot to get done on my GDR before next week. Gotta keep moving.

Peace and out!

Rooney Dropped By HarperCollins

colingalbraith — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 09:00:04 +0000

Image: BBC Online

This week seems to be dragging in no matter how busy I am. One would think if I am extra busy then the week will fly past extra quick. But no, it just plods along lifting its head every now and then to see how far it’s got.

I’m taking part both as a competitor and as a sponsor in the upcoming Poetry Superhighway Poetry Competition. I’m offering up 1 signed copy of FRINGE FANTASTIC but also in my role as an editor, I’m pleased to say the Ranfurly Review will once again be offering a showcase interview with one of the competing poets. Click here for the full list of sponsors.

Back to work on GREENER IS THE GRASS after the day job – a few good solid hours into the evening.

Booktrade.info mentioned Wayne Rooney’s staggering £5m deal with HarperCollins in 2006, to produce five volumes of autobiography over the course of his career (his agent said it would be “like the Star Wars series”). One of the tomes was to be a diary of the England lads’ glorious 2010 World Cup campaign in South Africa. However, with Rooney currently sunbathing in Barbados without a single goal to his name, the book has been quietly shelved. Full story at The Independent.

The Huffington Post had a fascinating article on the top 11 most surprising books ever banned. I read it over lunch yesterday and was surprised both by the number of children’s books and the appearance of the poor old dictionary among them.

Peace and out!

To Kill A Mocking Bird Is Still Relevant Today

colingalbraith — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 10:27:21 +0000

Image: Mike Baird

My tickets for the Edinburgh Book Festival arrived yesterday, all 35 of them. Holding the bundle in my hand brought it home just how busy August is going to be. And of course, there’s still one very special event I’m hoping to be attending, news of which I should hear soon after July 16th.

The day job was slow, which I hate. I can feel the pressure building when I’m not moving fast enough and with the boss off on his holidays it can lead to hassle up front. Thinks seem to be slow all over, though, as vast numbers start to head off towards sunnier climes, leaving the office barren and rumbling along. It will soon be my turn and it can’t come quick enough now.

I had an excellent writing session last night. I put GREENER to the side for the evening to work on some ideas I’d had over the weekend and it ended up consuming me. I’ll have to get a new notebook for going away now, though, because all my work went into the brand new one I’d bought. I couldn’t resist the sheen, smell and feel of the paper.

I spent some time catching up on all the blogs I read regularly since I’ve not had a chance over the past couple of days. Wish I hadn’t. One of them left me feeling shocked and angry at the unbelievable selfishness and self-absorbed nature of the writing. Not often does my jaw physically hang and I feel sick from reading peoples’ comments, but this was just disgusting drivel and I’ve now lost a large chunk of respect for someone I considered a friend.

I watched a fascinating documentary celebrating the 50th anniversary of Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird. Writer, Andrew Smith (I think that was his name), headed back to the writer’s hometown and tracked her life. He came across an amazing array of people, from the most poisonous bigots to the most wonderful, open-minded people.

It amazes me how the KKK can even survive these days judging by the ridiculousness look of their gowns alone, never mind their hate-filled views. We think we have it bad over here with bigotry but that lot in the American south really do take some beating. Wish someone would as well.

What it did highlight for me is how relevant Lee’s book still is today and always will be. It’s a shame she’s never spoken about it since but her final words on the matter seem very apt somehow: “I said all I wanted to say; why write more?”

The programme was then followed up by the classic movie adaption of the book with Gregory Peck. I shouldn’t have watched it because I’m knackered today as a result but it was worth it.

Peace and out!

June Review Of Work

colingalbraith — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 07:00:11 +0000

Image: Weekly Reader

Looking back, June was a great month. May had been good and I had been wanting to build on it, so when carrying out my GDR review of the past 30 days I was delighted with the results of both the amount of work I’ve got through, the quality of my submissions, the changes made to my routine and of those unexpected things that popped up along the way, of which there were a few.

So here’s my review. As you can see by the length of it’s been a stonking month. It started off small—I’d deliberately laid out a thin set of plans—but as the month wore on I seemed to become more motivated. Long may that continue!

Fiction
* Complete first rewrite of GATECRASH – done; carry into next year for completion.
* Polish final draft of GREENER IS THE GRASS – IP; final target end of July.
* Write at least one new short/flash story – done.
* Catch up on short/flash story backlog – IP; final target end of July to complete.
* Re-submit any rejected/recalled short stories – done; new submission tracking system now in place.
* Submit to selected fiction/poetry competitions – several poetry and short stories entered.
* Rewrote PAINT for a submission.
* Highly polished A POINT OF VIEW for application.

Poetry
* Write at least one poem per week – 5/5 done.
* Catch up on backlog – IP; final target end of July to complete.

Editing
* Publish June ‘10 issue – done.
* Announce hiatus – abandoned.
* Update site to reflect – abandoned.
* Stay on top of submissions to get ahead – IP; issue 12 – full; issue 13 – 50%; issue 14 – 10%

Freelance
* Get some local gigs to review for NotW – Supergrass gig covered but not for newspaper.
* Keep all websites updated and relevant – minor updates; new news page; new splash designed; new anthology added.
* Wrote Six Nations preview article including paid advertisement.
* Edited photographer’s advertising copy for new campaign.

Reading & Learning
* The Grave Tattoo by Val McDermid (48%) – IP
* Work anthology – complete.
* The Kenneth William Diaries by Russell Davies (38%) – IP
* Suggs and the City by Suggs (2%) – left just now.

Things That Turned Up
* Attended author event with Yann Martel at the Traverse Theatre.
* Made some technically interesting improvements for photography client’s website.
* Edinburgh Book Festival/UNESCO reading opportunity application sent in.
* All events wanted for EBF in August I managed to get.
* STELLA released on Kindle.

Submissions Made
6 poems sent out – 1 sold
18 shorts sent out – 2 rejections

Outstanding
Short stories – 16
Poetry – 5

Successes
* THE FINAL NAIL poem bought by Every Day Poets. Publication pending.
* MIDDLE AGE poem was included in Poetry Rivals Anthology 2009.

Failures
None. This has been a great couple of months. I am on a ROLL, DUDE!

Till tomorrow. Peace and out!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * SPECIAL OFFERS * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Available until 30th June only: buy any of my poetry books from my website or the Books page on this blog, and qualify for free ground shipping up to the value of £25 if you enter FREEGROUND305 when checking out. Available through Lulu.com only.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Gail Galbraith Photography is offering portrait shoots for £25 (knocked down from £40) if you book before 31st August 2010 and you use the word “Leith” in your query. For that you get a 1 hour session in her new studio in Leith, 1 free 8×6 print, an online gallery to show off to friends and family and where images can be purchase direct from, and all images from the shoot on a free low-resolution CD. (Subject to max of 4 people per session; each additional person is £5 each). You can contact Gail at gail@gailgalbraith.co.uk and view her website at: www.gailgalbraith.co.uk

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It Pays To Google Oneself

colingalbraith — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 08:42:00 +0000

Image: Forward Press

A bath of ice. That’s what I need to cool my skin and return to a more normal temperature. I’m not really enjoying this week’s “great weather” because I can’t find a balance with clothes.

It’s not sunny but icky and sticky and sweaty (I’ve used that phrase before but I like it). The women in the office are lucky—they can adapt their clothing—but us men are restricted to long trousers and shirts. It can get a bit drab sometimes, but hey, it’s not a bloody fashion parade, right?

An email came round at work yesterday: Fabio Capello’s face morphed onto a photograph of Tommy Cooper. I could hardly tell the difference.

My iTunes library is now about 6x larger than the space available on my iPod and I’ve only imported about two thirds of my CD collection and zero percent of my vinyl collection. Selecting what I want to listen to while on the move is now proving to be quite difficult. Why did I tell you this? Because I spent a portion of last night selecting a bit of everything to try and appease myself. The trouble is, though, I like to listen to albums in their entirety. They just don’t make iPods big enough.

I sent off my application to read at the Edinburgh Book Festival as part of the UNESCO Story Shop programme. A POINT OF VIEW is now in the hands of the decision makers and I should hear sometime after July 21st. Fingers crossed. At first I wasn’t sure if I wanted it but the more I thought about it and the more I have practiced, the more I really want it. I would love to get the opportunity to do it and I think it would be a great step forward. If I don’t get it, does that mean I shouldn’t be seeking out to perform my work elsewhere regardless? Certainly a question to mull over with a large whisky.

Some of you may have noticed it’s the last day of June. This means a couple of important things:

My June GDR review will by my final monthly wrap-up of my writing year.
Tomorrow I kick off my July GDR plan.
Tomorrow I begin reviewing the 18 months just passed.
In 1 month I begin the process of formulating my GDRs for the next 12 months.

It’s an important few weeks coming. I’ll post my June GDR review tomorrow and my July plan after that.

Before I logged off last night I decided to give my name a quick Google. It sounds vain but it’s actually a good way of seeing who’s talking about my books, adding links to my site, and checking if any websites out there might need to be updated with more accurate information.

And last night it was really worth it. Last year I submitted a poem to the Poetry Rivals competition. Those short-listed were invited to London to perform at a nationwide Poetry Slam tournament.

An anthology of all of these poems was published in a POETRY RIVALS’ COLLECTION 2009 book. One thing I wasn’t aware of was that the poems that were long-listed were also included. My entry, MIDDLE AGE, a poem about growing older, or refusing to let it change you, was part of that long list. In other words, I was published last year and never even knew it. The book cover is today’s image and the details are as follows:

Title: Poetry Rivals’ Collection 2009 – Lines Of Light And Shade
Published: 08-12-2009
ISBN: 9781844185030
Editor: Angela Fairbrace
Price: £19.99
Purchase from Forward Press, Waterstones, Blackwells, WH Smith and Amazon.

Blurb: A vibrant and lively collection, it is sure to delight and entertain its readers time and time again. Inspired by a diverse array of themes and tackling various poetic forms, no matter what you’re looking for there is something inside for everyone to enjoy.

Till tomorrow. Paz e para fora!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * SPECIAL OFFERS * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Available until 30th June only: buy any of my poetry books from my website or the Books page on this blog, and qualify for free ground shipping up to the value of £25 if you enter FREEGROUND305 when checking out. Available through Lulu.com only.

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Reasons To Be Cheerful Part 2

colingalbraith — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 08:37:32 +0000

Image: David Goehring

I’ve decided what I’ll submit to the Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature Trust’s programme for reading slots at this year’s Edinburgh Book Festival. I wanted it to be something punchy, engaging and would prove a good advert.

I had two stories immediately in mind. I was cut between LETTING GO, a sad story about two old men gone fishing, one of whom is struggling to get over his wife’s death. It’s good and fits the length requirements but it’s possibly that little bit too sad and slow moving. My other idea was A POINT OF VIEW, the sharply emotional story of a guy being sacked from a job he never really liked anyway. It’s fast paced, intense and engaging from the start. Above all it reads well aloud and is solidly in my own voice.

I went with the latter and spent the last two nights polishing it up. I’m going to give it some vocal try outs this weekend just to be sure.

I’ve also been working on GREENER IS THE GRASS, moving through the manuscript while remembering some of the tips I picked up from Stephen King’s On Writing. Nothing complicated, just things I never used to look out for specifically, like adverbs, themes and concentrating more on what the readers sees. It’s getting there.

I’ve had no more submissions back but I do have some ideas for new markets. New Writing Scotland has opened for subs to their next anthology. They should expect something from me very soon.

The sun has finally given in to cloud over the past couple of days but it’s still as warm as a brothel’s boiler room. Scotland in June and several days of sunshine means we are already talking about droughts and possibly hosepipe bans. Meanwhile, in the highlands, there is still snow lying on the ground. What a contradictory place we live.

Speaking of the sun, I think I forgot to mention we booked our family holiday last week. We’re flying off to the Algarve in a few weeks for some relaxation of intense proportions. The whole family needs this; it needs to be a good one.

I’ve got a busy weekend coming up: Edinburgh Book Festival tickets go on sale at 9am tomorrow, so tonight I’ll be finalising the events, workshops and debates I want to attend. I also have to start getting some new clothes in for going away—I’ll need a bunch of new thongs and vest tops, maybe some new hats and definitely lots of sun cream.

Wife and daughter are heading to Glasgow for the day tomorrow and won’t be back until late. Cue much unbroken writing during the day for me, with some spells out playing with Pippin in the garden. Tomorrow night I’m planning an Indian take out; something hot like Madras, along with a good film and some really cold beer.

Shalom!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * SPECIAL OFFER * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Available until 30th June only: buy any of my poetry books from my website or the Books page on this blog, and qualify for free ground shipping up to the value of £25 if you enter FREEGROUND305 when checking out. Available through Lulu.com only.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * SPECIAL OFFER * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Reasons To Be Cheerful

colingalbraith — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 08:04:06 +0000

Image: Elegant Chic

Yesterday was the 14th anniversary of my first ever Madness gig at a London venue. I’d seen them before by then, but travelling to London to see the Magnificent 7 on their home turf is like going to see Scotland playing at Hampden Park—it has an extra special something.

The occasion was the third installment of Madness’ successful Madstock festival; loads of bands and beer throughout the day topped off with a massive dollop of Madness in the evening. 40,000 Madness fans descended on Finsbury Park in North London that day, 22nd June 1996, and it lived up to everything I’d been told.

That day was also significant in that England were playing Spain in the quarter finals of Euro ’96. The match ended in a draw and went to penalties, at which point I remember the gig being halted so they could play the radio broadcast over the massive speakers at the side of the stage. England won and it was party time (thought they went out a few days later in the semi final to Germany), which was very surreal being one of only a handful of Scots among a very large and drunk crowd. Only one week earlier, a certain Paul Gascoigne had scored the goal of the tournament to help beat Scotland 2-0 at Wembley.

Although yesterday turned into a pretty long day (10 hrs working time and then travelling) I had some good news waiting for me when I got in to boost my sapping energy. Every Day Poets has accepted my poem THE FINAL NAIL to be published at some point in the future. EDP is a popular site that sends out a poem each day to its subscribers, which usually provides me with some good lunchtime reading most days. Therefore, I’m delighted they took the poem, which is a new one by my standards and one that came as a direct result of my new approach to writing poems last year.

Remarkably, THE FINAL NAIL will be the first poem I’ve had published that isn’t part of a chapbook since December 2007! I’ll post the date when it’s due to go out as soon as I have it.

At the same time EDP turned down SCOTLAND NEGLECTED. I’d totally missed the fact the poem was already published in Circadian Poems, which I think was caused by my transference to a new submission system. I simply missed it.

Interestingly, though, they provide rare and valuable feedback of the editors’ comments as the poem gets passed around for reading with the acceptance/rejection. One said: “I came away wanting to hear something more about Scotland, instead of just comments on all the Irish stuff that gets the attention – the poem does the very thing it complains about. That’s a problem because if that were all I knew of Scotland it would leave me thinking “So?” instead of wanting to pin on a sprig of heather and celebrate St. Andrew’s Day.”

This criticism is precisely what the poems is about. The reader is supposed to come away wanting to know more about Scotland because the poem is a complaint that Scotland is forgotten among the Scottish fascination with Ireland. The poem is meant to reflect the fact that people in Scotland are happier celebrating St. Patrick’s Day than bothering to do anything at all for St. Andrew’s Day.

In a survey (at the time of writing) a large percentage of Scots thought St. Andrew’s Day was on January 25th, which is actually Rabbie Burns Day and measurably more popular. Why do we not do the same on November 30th?

Therefore, paradoxically, the reason the poem was rejected by this particular editor is the precise reason the poem was written and what it was meant to achieve. C’est la vie.

Applications are being invited by the Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature Trust for new writers to have the chance to read at this year’s Edinburgh Book Festival. There are slots open daily at 4pm for 10-minute readings for writers who fit the bill. I’m going to apply. I’m still at the “do I write a new piece or send in a good one I already have” stage but I have a few weeks to get my application ready.

England play in their vital World Cup match today. I won’t get to see it unless I spend the afternoon in the canteen so that isn’t going to happen. I’ll have to settle with the sporadic updates from the Internet and then the highlights later tonight.

Later, I’ll be working on the same thing I did last night: GREENER IS THE GRASS. Originally that was only a working title but while working through the story on paper I have seen the theme does actually exist so I’m going to keep it. It works quite well.

There’s a special offer running on my books at the moment. If you head over to my website (or the BOOKS page on this blog) and purchase any of them, when you are directed to Lulu simply enter the code FREEGROUND305 to get free ground shipping up to the value of £25. Offer ends 30th June.

STELLA is also available now to purchase from Kindle. Click here to buy a copy priced $5.29.

That’s all for me just now. Peace out!

On The Slide

colingalbraith — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 11:20:14 +0000

Image: Donald MacLeod

Long day yesterday, which by the end of it I’d to deteriorated into fatigue induced sickness. Nothing serious, mind you, just that I felt sicker the more the day the wore on until I had to admit defeat and collapse into my bed by 9.30pm. Not like me, but hey-ho.

The day job dragged but only because it was a Friday and the sun was shining. Then to my absolute delight the boss, in a rare display of anarchy, decided to take the team to the pub for lunch. We headed to Clark’s and sank a couple of gloriously cool and fresh lagers before returning to the office in the knowledge the afternoon really was going to drag now—it was unavoidable after that.

After work, there was nothing for it but to head back to Clark’s and continue where I left off, which is when I started to lag, talk less, and long for some food and then sleep. Sleep, sleep, sleep. I watched the first half of the England versus Algeria World Cup match—enough to knock anyone out through boredom—then jumped into a cab and headed home for some cheese on toast.

I felt like shit after I munched that lot down and crashed out. I never woke until 10am this morning. Something tells me I needed it like a Sloth needs a wide branch.

Today won’t see much writing, I’m afraid. My parents arrive tomorrow and so there is much to do around the house to get it respectable again.

My hard copy of the Edinburgh Book Festival programme arrived so I’ll be able to start filtering through it and decided what events I want to attend this year. I don’t think there will be as many author events so I might take a closer look at the workshops again and see if they’ve revamped then enough to be worth going.

STELLA is also available now to purchase from Kindle. Click here to buy a copy priced $5.29.

That’s all for me just now. Peace out!

Edinburgh Book Festival Programme Announced

colingalbraith — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 08:21:39 +0000

Image: British Council

I logged on to the Edinburgh Book Festival website first thing yesterday morning, but my hopes of an early scan of the 2010 events programme was dashed when I found out it was a 12 noon launch. I had to wait. It was tortuous.

Eventually the EBF launch press release was announced and by 1pm I’d had my first tentative scan through the PDF version of what August has in store. My first thought: deflating.

My first look at the programme is usually quiet an exciting moment, as I find out which local and Scottish authors are on their way to Charlotte Square, which of my personal favourite authors are coming, and which big names will be treading the boards. But there was none of that. In fact, it’s a pretty dire programme from a personal angle.

There’s a couple of notable exceptions such as Philip Pullman, Fay Weldon, Seamus Heaney and Lionel Shriver, but that’s pretty much where it ends. There’s nobody to get really excited about, no authors I’ve never seen that have always to meet, and many of the regulars I would always make the effort to see are notable in their absence.

The theme for this year’s event is “the new world order” and it seems there is a new order in the Book Festival management with new director Nick Barley making an immediate mark. U.S. writers will play a prominent role among the 750 authors from 50 different countries that will be available.

Barley aims to hold “an ambitious survey of American contemporary writing,” with more than 45 authors coming under the American theme, including Garry Trudeau, Bill Clegg, David Vann, Willy Vlautin, Leanne Shapton, Simon Rich and Adam Ross. They aren’t names I recognise so I’ll be looking to my Stateside writing buddies for recommendations. And how can anyone talk about contemporary American writing without Paul Auster being involved?

The next step is to get a hard copy of the programme and plan out my August in fine detail. There’s obviously going to be a lot more research to do before I order my tickets but in the lack of there being any magical “must-see” events, I still intend to get a lot out of it. It IS the Edinburgh Book Festival after all, and it IS my end of writing year, so there’s bound to be something good to come out of it—there always is.

My royalty statement came in from Smashing Press yesterday and it would appear there has been a rather hefty boost in my sales. It makes for odd reading.

Sales of my latest poetry book, SILLY POEMS FOR WEE PEOPLE VOL.2 matched sales of FRINGE FANTASTIC, so even though FF was released five years ago it still matches my newest work in terms of sales. What is really odd is that sales of POOLSIDE POETRY outstripped both by double the amount. It was traditionally my weakest selling book but for some reason has become popular. Long may it continue!

If you want to join in the mass celebration of my books head over to my website (or the BOOKS page on this blog) and order some copies. Here’s something to make it more tantalising for you: type in this offer code when you get to Lulu and you can get free ground shipping on purchases up to the value of £25. Offer ends 30th June. The code is: FREEGROUND305.

It promises to be a busy weekend when I get done with the day job later today. I’m hoping to grab a couple of pints in Clark’s and catch the England World Cup match against Algeria, and tomorrow I have a to-do list as long as my leg before my parents arrive on Sunday for a visit and a nice roast dinner.

If you’re an e-book fan, then you might be interested to know that my book, STELLA, is now available to purchase from Kindle. Click here to buy a copy of STELLA, the Kindle Edition, priced $5.29.

Gail Galbraith Photography is offering portrait shoots for £25 (knocked down from £40) if you book before 31st August 2024 and you use the word “Leith” in your query. For that you get a 1 hour session in her new studio in Leith, 1 free 8×6 print, an online gallery to show off to friends and family and where images can be purchase direct from, and all images from the shoot on a free low-resolution CD. (Subject to max of 4 people per session; each additional person is £5 each). You can contact Gail at gail@gailgalbraith.co.uk and view her website at: www.gailgalbraith.co.uk

That’s all for me just now. Peace out!

National Crime Fiction Week

colingalbraith — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 09:51:06 +0000

Image: Alan Cleaver

I was rather disappointed to see not a single Scot among the shortlist of best young crime writers from the CWA’s inaugural National Crime Fiction Week awards. All the finalists were English or Welsh, which I hope isn’t an indication that “tartan noir” is on the droop. Mind you, if it is, that leaves the way wide open for me (he says with an evil smirk) although probably not in the “young” category.

Some of my readers might like to know that although STELLA was a paranormal suspense novella, as will be its successor, BACCARA BURNING, my full length novels and the one other novella I have on the go are all crime related. GATECRASH, SLICK, GREENER IS THE GRASS and even BLOOD TIES (an unfinished Lennox novel) are all crime, the latter a true piece of crime fiction in that it is a detective story. The rest revolve around the criminals as opposed to the coppers chasing them, which is an angle that comes quite naturally to me I find. Except for Lennox; he’s an enigma.

With all my short fiction now out I was amazed to receive a rejection from a top end magazine so quickly after they received it. Three days for a magazine that claims to receive thousands of submissions each month, and can so only use half of 1% in any given year? I think not. I suspect this one is closed off and the piece wasn’t even read. The good thing about it was the speed I turned the submission around and got it back out to another suitable market (by suitable I mean the kind of fiction it publishes) within minutes.

While I was in the software that I use for managing my submissions, I accidentally submitted a few more poems to some magazines. I’ve got a fair few out to competitions and poetry rags just now, such is the ease of the whole process I can simply fire them out when they are ready or when I see a magazine that speaks to me; I simply add it into the software and fire off the sub.

I began work on the final draft of GREENER IS THE GRASS. It’s very exciting. I reckon it won’t take too long to work through the printed manuscript, collecting errors, typos and making notes as I go. In the first chapter alone I’ve taken out several large chunks; a bunch of unnecessary sentences that were harder to spot on the screen but somehow jump out more easily from the page. And I’ve got a couple of markets in mind for this one already so the quicker the better.

This Thursday will see the publication of this year’s Edinburgh Book Festival programme. With Catherine Lockerbie gone and the new guy in, I hope the festival doesn’t lose any of its appeal. It wouldn’t be the same without that special something, that wee bit of magic that makes August in Charlotte Square such a special time. And I certainly hope they don’t change the format too much, not too quickly anyway.

If you’re an e-book fan, then you might be interested to know that my book, STELLA, is now available to purchase from Kindle. Click here to buy a copy of STELLA, the Kindle Edition, priced $5.29.

Gail Galbraith Photography is offering portrait shoots for £25 (knocked down from £40) if you book before 31st August 2014 and you use the word “Leith” in your query. For that you get a 1 hour session in her new studio in Leith, 1 free 8×6 print, an online gallery to show off to friends and family and where images can be purchase direct from, and all images from the shoot on a free low-resolution CD. (Subject to max of 4 people per session; each additional person is £5 each). You can contact Gail at gail@gailgalbraith.co.uk and view her website at: www.gailgalbraith.co.uk

That’s all for me just now. Peace out!

Rewriting And Turning Over

colingalbraith — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 07:54:49 +0000

Image: 123rf.com

I spent most of yesterday lathering after-sun cream on my pink forehead and the back of my neck. I was positively glowing as I walked around Edinburgh in the morning and stopped for a coffee and pastry to read the paper. No wonder people were looking at me and tourists were confused.

My neck is worst because it constantly rubs against my shirt and it wasn’t the sort of weather for walking around topless. It rained most of the day.

So after checking in on the work going on at Gail’s photographic studio (I wasn’t needed) I got on with my own work back in my office. First up was to turn out the remaining fiction on my list that needed to go to market. Everything is now out including work to some new magazines and a bunch of carefully selected (and at times reworked) poems.

I rewrote some of my short fiction (quite a lot of it, actually) before turning it back out. One of my favourite but as yet unpublished stories (although it got to the short list of a very prestigious magazine once), was refurbished and sent out proudly into the world again. I think it’s perhaps the best work of short fiction I’ve written and I simply WILL get DAFFODILS published eventually.

I had to laugh when heard BBC commentators talking prior to the Germany versus Australia World Cup match last night. Despite only managing to scrape a 1-1 draw against the USA, and despite a passionless performance that included a fumbled and embarrassing goalkeeping manoeuvre, they were actually Discussing Germany as England’s Round 2 opponents!

Come on guys! Being positive and supportive is one thing but being disrespectful to the nations the viewers had tuned in to watch by talking about England is another. Further to that, what kind of arrogant assumption gives the BBC the right to assume England will even BE in the Second Round? Even further than that, you’re broadcasting to more then London!!

If you’re an e-book fan then you might be interested to know that my book, STELLA, is now available to purchase from Kindle. Click here to buy a copy of STELLA, the Kindle Edition, priced $5.29.

That’s all for me just now. Peace out!

Always The Innocents

colingalbraith — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 07:47:43 +0000

Image: Brainstorm

A bad day in Cumbria. 12 people dead and 25 injured by a coward who went on the rampage with a gun. As soon as I heard something was happening, and at the point only 3 were dead, my mind shot back to 1996 and the Dunblane massacre.

Who’ll ever forget that day? It was a day when everyone hoped the pain that was dealt out would never be repeated. If ever there was a reason to ban all handguns this is it.

Nobody has the right to own a gun for any reason because when one innocent suffers it’s already gone too far. When it’s dozens of families it’s time to take stock. Those affected started yesterday like any other normal day until Derrick Bird decided to change their lives forever. Who gave him the right? Who gave him the right to take the cowardly way out? I’m disgusted he won’t face justice. Death was too good for him.

Can you believe this? An investigation is underway after Stevie Starr appeared on the Britain’s Got Talent (sic) TV programme after viewers complained about his act. He famously swallowed, amongst other things, a light bulb, key and padlock and a billiard ball. Apparently they were concerned that it would encourage children to try dangerous behaviour.

Of course people should be warned and children advised, but come on! What people have forgotten (and this is my point) is that the guy in question has been doing it for about 30 years. I remembered his act from when I was a child but back then he was on national TV and a bit of a hero. Everyone was talking about this amazing guy who could swallow things then regurgitate them at will. Only back then I witnessed him live goldfish and razor blades but it didn’t make me run out and start drinking the contents of the fish tank or swallowing the contents of my Dad’s shaving bag. It’s funny how in today’s nonsensical P.C. society how these things are suddenly a hazard.

A couple of thanks: Thanks Diane for the link to The Grave Tattoo review. I’ve saved it and will hold onto it until I’ve read the book. And thanks, also, to Devon for your ideas concerning submission-to-market management. I’m going to work through the (extensive) list of markets I’ve built up and start splitting them into priorities. Once you’d mentioned it, I realised there are several markets I keep returning to time and again so I’ll stick those at the top of my pile.

The winner of the signed copy of my new book, SILLY POEMS FOR WEE PEOPLE VOL.2 was Stevie Ward. The competition was only open to subscribers of my monthly newsletter, The Patter, so if you missed it you can subscribe here as well as read the latest issue. Well done Stevie, the book is on its way.

I know I said I was thinking about putting RR into hiatus but I’m having second thoughts already. Yes, it takes up a lot of time but last night while sorting out issue 10, I realised that maybe if I streamlined the process and worked in advance by two or three issues I would take the pressure off myself and be able to continue doing something I enjoy. I shall sleep on it another couple of nights.

Meanwhile issues 10 (and 11) are coming on nicely. I had to work some Day Job overtime so that was all I managed to get through last night on the writing scene.

To today then and the sun is out with an exciting weekend approaching in earnest. I’m feeling good about everything just now, which is odd because I’ve manage to hold this feeling for a good couple of months now. Viva la life.

Peace out!

The Scruffy Dog Review – SPRING ISSUE OUT NOW!!

Focussing On The Commitment

colingalbraith — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 08:13:50 +0000

Image: Creaky Toe

I worked through seven chapters of GATECRASH last night. The further I creep into the story the better it seems to get. Some of the writing, though, leaves a lot to be desired. One can tell it was written with speed in mind—quantity over quality—a side effect of NaNoWriMo if ever there was one.

I never took part in NaNo last year (I was fed up with it), which I think is what has fuelled as little desire to uptake the challenge again later this year. I would need to commit myself to not being overtaken by sloppiness the likes of which I am working my way through just now. It makes it a nightmare to rewrite but at least the story stands up—it’s a belter.

While making a few minor updates to my website I happened upon the short fiction page and realised that it’s been a while since I last had a short story published. ON A MONDAY MORNING was published in May 2008 by Static Movement and remains my last piece of published short fiction.

The upshot is I need to make two changes. First, I need to write more short stories among all the long fiction and poetry I write, and second, I need to target my work better. I do aim work at specific markets but if they get rejected I tend to look far and wide for best fits, which isn’t always the easiest thing to do. Couple that with the amount of submissions I never even hear back from and you can see why this business can get so frustrating at times.

You might notice a lot of these changes being applied through June’s GDR plan published at the bottom of this post.

The June issue of my newsletter, THE PATTER, went out yesterday. Click here to read it and don’t forget to subscribe if you want to receive it regularly. It’s only once a month and you get the heads up on all new releases plus exclusive competitions.

This is my penultimate GDR plan of my Writing Year. As you may remember, I run my GDRs now from August to July and use the Edinburgh Book Festival as my Writing New Year, my time to get fully recharged, inspired, involved and absorbed in writing again. And this is why it also seems the perfect time to generate my GDR plans for the coming 12 months.

With this in mind you might well notice a dramatic change in the amount and type of work I’m targeting: fiction and poetry are top of the list followed by some serious submissions but everything else is falling by the wayside.

It’s strange to think it has been 17 months since my last annual GDR review and that next month I’ll be thinking about my first one since the end of 2008. It should be interesting, meantime here it is, my plan for June 2010.

Fiction
* Complete first rewrite of GATECRASH
* Polish final draft of GREENER IS THE GRASS
* Write at least one new short/flash story
* Catch up on short/flash story backlog
* Re-submit any rejected/recalled short stories
* Submit to selected fiction/poetry competitions

Poetry
* Write at least one poem per week
* Catch up on backlog

Editing
* Publish June ‘10 issue
* Announce hiatus
* Update site to reflect

Freelance
* Get some local gigs to review for NotW
* Keep all websites updated and relevant

Reading & Learning
* The Grave Tattoo by Val McDermid
* Work anthology
* The Kenneth William Diaries by Russell Davies
* Suggs and the City by Suggs

The Scruffy Dog Review – SPRING ISSUE OUT NOW!!

Another Month Down

colingalbraith — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 08:00:23 +0000

Image: Queen’s Uni

The office was like a morgue yesterday. So many people took the bank holiday off as a holiday, it left the rest of us feeling rather depressed and hacked off that we were still in the office. Not to worry, next week I am off for a couple of days to go through to Glasgow to see my sister. The event: Supergrass’ farewell gig at the Barrowlands.

There’s going to be somewhere new to eat in Edinburgh this August. The Festival in the Sky will give diners with a head for heights the ability to dine at this year’s Edinburgh Festival from a table suspended 100ft above the city. It’s a 22-seat dinner table hoisted into the air by a crane in West Princes Street Gardens. Each guest is fastened in for food as the table rotates slowly, providing views over the castle, Princes Street and beyond towards Fife. There’s more on it here: Dinner in the Sky

It’s a nice idea but in windy and rainy Scotland, unavoidable at any time of the year, it could be an interesting experience for some. Mind you, my wedding anniversary is in August…

The June issue of my newsletter, THE PATTER, is out: click here to read it and don’t forget to subscribe if you want to receive it regularly. It’s only once a month and you get the heads up on all new releases plus exclusive competitions.

My GDR wrap-up for May is also complete (see below), and I’ve made a decision about the Ranfurly Review. After this month’s issue, which is going to be late I regret to say, I’m going to take the magazine into hiatus.

I really need to get further involved in my own fiction and it’s holding me back having to read through the hundreds of submissions I get then prepare the thing four times a year. I honestly never thought it would get like this, but it has, and I now I understand why so many magazines go into this state.

As I move into the summer period, with my end of writing year at the Book Festival pending and with so much fiction I want to complete, I simply must do something to slim things down to the bits that really matter to me. Unfortunately, RR doesn’t quite fall into my top priority list for now.

The rain is back for the 1st of June, one would never think the summer is on our doorstep looking out the window right now. Never mind, on with May’s GDR wrap-up.

Peace and out!

Fiction
* Complete GREENER IS THE GRASS – done; fully redrafted & printed off for final polish
* Begin re-writing of GATECRASH – done; expect draft complete end of June
* Write at least one new short/flash story – not done
* Re-submit any rejected/recalled short stories – not done
* Submit more fiction/poetry competitions – not done; few summer ones lined up

Poetry
* Write at least one poem per week – not done; no new work for a wee while now

Editing
* Stay on top of RR submissions – done
* Start preparing for June ‘10 issue – sorting and planning; RR to go into hiatus for summer period minimum

Freelance
* Get some gigs to review for NotW – 4 new gigs lined up
* Keep all websites updated and relevant – done; minor updates
* SDR May issue – done

Reading & Learning
* The Kenneth William Diaries by Russell Davies – IP
* On Writing by Stephen King – done
* The Butt by Will Self – done
* Suggs and the City by Suggs – IP
* The Grave Tattoo by Val McDermid – IP
* Work anthology – IP

Successes
* LOVE IS… poem to be published in Forward Press anthology in July.
* Gave interview for book on authors.
* Took a huge amount from King’s book, On Writing.

Failures
* None.

The Scruffy Dog Review – SPRING ISSUE OUT NOW!!