Freedom From The Mundane » News of the World

The Longest Week

colingalbraith — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 14:05:27 +0000

Image: David Blaine

Long week it has been and I’ve not been feeling too great at all. I’m not sure if I came down with something or if I was just generally run down, but for the latter half I felt like crap. Headaches, dodgy stomach and a desire to sleep constantly, I was in bed straight from work two days on the trot. I’m feeling better today, although I can still feel “it” hanging around.

I’ve taken next week of work. I need to forget about the office for a few days, let things go and just cut it loose for a while. I think I need it and I think I’ve earned it. No plans made just yet but I’ll spend a lot of time writing and reading. That’s the plan anyway. I’m just glad the week is over—it seems to have dragged on an eternity.

Last weekend never worked out the way it was planned. I was at the League Cup Final on Sunday, and all looked great for St. Mirren as they outplayed and outfought a Rangers side that couldn’t compete. Then Rangers got two players sent off for a couple of ridiculous tackles and the game changed. Rangers gathered ranks and St. Mirren seemed unsure of how to handle the change. With only a few minutes remaining Rangers scored with their only solid attack of the match and took the cup. It was heartbreaking—it was our first cup final in almost a quarter of a century and we will never have a better chance of winning a trophy. If you like horror stories you can watch the event unfold here.

One thing that did strike me during the match was proof indeed that the Old Firm are bigoted to the core. After Rangers received their first justified sending off, their fans responded with a wholehearted chorus of bigoted chants that echoed around the stadium and through the television sets of the thousands watching around the world. Don’t tell me it’s just a minority when to a man, woman and child, “who’s the Fenian in the black” was pelted out by over 40,000 bigoted fans. It was disgusting.

I was invited to a gig on Tuesday night by a local record producer who had seen a review of another band I did a few months back. The act was Andy Knox and it was in The Ark in the east end, my first time in the club for a review. It’s come on since I was last there many years ago. The review will be online at News of the World and also in The Man in the East come Monday morning.

That’s about it for today. I’ve got a few errands to take care of and I want a tidy house and home before my days off officially kick in. It makes my writing go that little bit smoother when I’m not sitting in a clutter. To close off, here are a few pics of my day out at the Cup Final last Sunday.

Back On A Creaky Wagon

colingalbraith — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 07:13:17 +0000

Image: Byrion Smith

I wrote some poetry last night, my first writing of any form for almost two weeks. It wasn’t great stuff but at least it was writing, as in, the pen transferring my thoughts onto the page.

It was a start. It felt familiar. It felt like sitting on a steam train that had scraped enough coal together to coax it into forward motion.

I look at my in-progress manuscript of BACCARA BURNING and often wonder if I only want to write it because I love the characters more than the story. Could it be that although the story is in front of me, it’s struggling to flow simply because deep down all I wanted to do was something with Stella and Randolph again?

Then I sit back and think, “no it’s not!” The story flows from book one, the characters have been developed, and if it were a standalone, the central plot would hold up any book. It’s tough. Maybe Devon is right when she said the other day that the second book (or sequel) in any series is a really hard thing to do. I have to admit to having gone in blindly to this and not realising just how hard it might be.

A record label contacted me the other day about a possible review of an album being launched this weekend. A SORT OF HOMECOMING contains a lot of new and fresh music from Scotland and contains a track from the band Vertis, who I reviewed in August for NotW. The album arrived today and I’m going to review it for the SDR. The press release also uses my review and there’s an offer for press tickets for the launch in Glasgow in Sunday night. It’s a possible…

Diane – Yes, I can’t see me doing NaNo this year. I think I’ll be in a better position next year to do it once I get all my WIPs complete and polished. Last year I realised I wasn’t getting anything out of it and it was pulling me from other things, but I’ve since re-organised things and just want to tick the boxes of unfinished work.

Devon, about the list of Madness gigs I published yesterday: 10 years ago I used to follow Madness around the country when they were on tour. Halcyon days but tough on the liver!

Finally, here’s a video of what Glasgow used to be, and still is, best at!

A Good Day’s Work

colingalbraith — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 09:55:36 +0000

Image: foundphotoslj

Check out my interview with Blazing Trailers, which was posted on their website yesterday. There were some good questions

Also, if you missed it, check out my gig review in Sunday’s News of the World, this week Theoretical Girl.

Good day’s work yesterday all round. The management have recognised my writing skils and have asked me to start writing a Department blog with a view to publicising ourselves in a “humorous but helpful” manner. It’s right up my street and should roll off the presses very easily, but my problem will be, as usual, knowing where to draw the line. Banter is permitted but to a degree so I’m working with one of the other guys in the department to pull all the background together. Then it’s off I go. It should be a lot of fun, actually.

My evening was devoted entirely to the website of one of my photography clients. I’ve taken a PHP script that configures the gallery and tweaked it beyond recognition. It looks great and allows for some great customer interaction, and it’s also very easy for me to upload new images when they come along, which is a huge time saver when working with a busy photographer.

The next step is to integrate it all with a shopping cart/e-commerce solution so customers can order and pay on the spot. One step at a time, though. This website has been a huge learning curve for me since the day it began.

That’s about my lot for yesterday. Today will be more of much the same but with the website out the way I can get back to some writing. I missed the deadline for the cover image competition, but the story has grown so I’m going to use it for my submission to New Writing Scotland.

I’ve still got a lot of work—achievable work—to get done before the end of the month. It’s been a good one so far but I want to end my “first writing month of the new year” on a high.

Finally, Madness’ latest album, the re-packaged release of Total Madness, hit the shelves today. It comes in 2 discs, one with all 23 of their chart hits, the other a spiffing DVD and comes in at a very reasonable £9.98 from Amazon. Gail, if you’re reading, my borthday is in a few days…

Glasgow Bound

colingalbraith — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 07:23:10 +0000

Image: Destination360

Today must have been one of the longest endured for time spent in the office. The morning raced by—I was so busy I didn’t have time to think—but the afternoon? The afternoon seemed to just crawl by, I’m sure I saw the second hand on my watch go backwards when I looked at it at one point.

My Ed at NotW sent me the screen shot of the review for this Sunday’s paper. I’m delighted to have made the print edition again and two weeks in a row is a big plus. The article looks great—small typo where the sub had cut a line but that was soon sorted—and so Sunday will be another good day for cutting collecting. I wonder if I can make it three weekends in a row?

We got to talking about the big Madness gig coming up in December. He’s bagged the paper an interview with the band and will be doing the review himself, but he’s also working on the breakouts for the spread for which we banged heads and I helped him with some of the Madness/ska related stuff. It also means come December I’ll have a review to sell elsewhere, just as I will with The Specials the month before (they aren’t going to do two gig reviews for the same band in one year), but I’m sure I can find a home.

Most of the other chat revolved around the pre-gig part of the day in Glasgow; where to have our traditional McMadmeet, what pub would best, etc. It’s another exciting year to be a Madness fan and it means double for me given I missed out on Madstock 5.

I spent my other time working on PAINT, my short story for a competition entry. It’s not coming out the way I intended so I stopped half way through and tried to visualise it differently, couldn’t, so stopped for the night. It might not make the deadline now but it’s a good standalone.

As I was writing that last paragraph I nearly shat a brick. My home office is on the top floor with a small window, outside of which is a very narrow ledge nowhere near much else solid. Somehow, a cat managed to get to it and when it suddenly appeared just above my eye line and gave me the fright of my life when it landed. God! My heart!

I’ll be heading off through to Glasgow shortly. I’m travelling by coach for a change, which means I can sit back and listen to some podcasts from this year’s Edinburgh Book Festival and watch as the Dear Green Place comes back into view.

The plan is to have lunch with my folks, do some catching up, listen to my old man moaning about some of the stuff on his every expanding “Grump List”, then head over to my sisters for some chat, a DVD, and maybe a little bit of food. Should be a nice day!

Theoretical Reviews

colingalbraith — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 08:48:45 +0000

Image: Lorne Thomson

I don’t know about you but yesterday seemed to drag. It was ages before the morning was out of the way, and then when the sun came out for the afternoon it only made things worse.

With the overall temperature dropping across Scotland, the heaters in work have been changed to come on in the afternoon. So there we all were with a blazing hot sun outside and all the radiators on inside.

While on my lunch I ran through the gig listings for Edinburgh and found one ideal as a possible for NotW. I ran it by my editor; “we’ll always make room for ‘em,” he said. Cushty, thought I, and my evening on press duty was arranged.

I gave THE GREEN BRIDGE a final polish over with the remainder of my lunch break. It didn’t need much at all as I’d already caught most things. Then off it went, submitted into the competition it was intended for. It’s a much better story now and I’m quite chuffed with it, so fingers crossed.

I headed home after work and after eating the remaining Marzetti in the fridge from the previous night, I got ready to head out to see Theoretical Girl. I called Sneaky Pete’s in advance so didn’t have to be there until 9pm.

I’ve got the whole getting to gigs at Sneaky Pete’s then back home down to a ‘T’ now. I leave the house get the 8pm bus to the bottom of Easter Road. There, I jump on a 35 that takes me up over London Road and onto the High Street. I get off half way up and walk down to the Cowgate, and a short walk later I’m in the club.

Because it’s small or unsigned bands that generally play there I can usually get back up to the High Street for the 9:51pm bus back to Leith. If I’m lucky I can jump a connector, otherwise I’ll be back in my home for just after ten, make a quick cup of tea, get the article written and post it all before 11pm. Lovely!

When I phoned in advance the bloke told me that the support act for Theoretical Girl had cancelled, so when I arrived the club was desolate but for the club staff and the band. I bought a whisky and floated about inside and outside—it was a nice night—and at 9pm she came on stage.

Obviously for the proper review you’ll have to buy this Sunday’s News of the World (hopefully—it’s a funny business) and the Man in the East, but I have to say that I was very impressed. Hers is a talent more should see and hear, and I fully expect to hear more from her in the future.

The audience wasn’t up to much, though. I counted 16 people including myself, of which 3 were the bar and door staff, and 3 were the band. In other words, 10 people showed up; a small group of students who popped in for a drink, one old man who bounced about embarrassingly in his rock t-shirt and leather waistcoat, a group of middle aged women who looked oddly in place, and me.

Good gig, though, and when I got home just after 10pm I kicked into the article, most of which was tipping out of my head having been metally written an hour before. Some bands are impossibly hard to write about, but last night’s was so easy I had it down and polished within 45 minutes.

Before I go here’s some free publicity for the buys. This won’t be on the television for another couple of weeks, but you’ll like it—trust me.

Home-Based Writing Retreat

colingalbraith — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 09:04:27 +0000

Image: Will Cheyney

I worked late into the night last night. One minute it was a warm and sunny day, my coffee was tasty, the words were flowing, and the bunnies were hopping around in the back garden. The next minute the sky was black, the house lay in darkness, the bunnies were sitting fearful, and my throat was parched. Oh, how time flies when the words penetrate.

You can probably tell it was one of those days; I got through much more than I thought I might and hoped I would. It was a good day. Actually, it was a great day and Devon’s comment about this weekend being a home-based writing retreat are correct, that’s exactly what it feels like!

I’ve had the whole house almost entirely to myself. It’s been organised and I’ve been able to surround myself in my books, research, writing, and some great music to filter through from the background. I’ve felt inspired and able to tap in to the energy that came through from this year’s Edinburgh Book Festival. Yet I’ve also been able to relax, unwind, and if I want to stop writing I could.

Total bliss!

I didn’t exactly get up early either. Having worked till 2am on Sunday morning, I slept a little longer before brunch, then skipped merrily round to the newsagent to pick up a copy of the News of the World—the UK’s best selling English-based national newspaper—to make sure I had a copy of my latest article on the Ray LaMontagne gig for my clippings. If you missed it, you can still read it online here.

I think I learnt something about the publishing process with this particular article. Normally my submissions are around 200-250 words, which is fine and what my editor wants. This one, because they knew it would be going into the actual paper in advance and not just online, they asked me to double my word count. But the published article was back down to 150 words! Why? So that their copywriter can edit it to fit as opposed to me doing the cutting. All the words are mine, they’ve just been slashed to fit.

Want to read the full article? Then you should visit the Man in the East.

The spine-tingler story took up a load of my time. The deadline for it is Tuesday and I want to get my submission in without any problems. Still not entirely happy with the title but I can think about that later.

Less progress made on BACCARA BURNING but overall moving towards the goal. The flow was quite erratic but progress is progress.

I skipped dinner, preferring toast and tea to anything properly substantial I think I was still affected by the huge pizza I ate on Saturday night while I was logged into the Company network to work. I woke up feeling full and it never really went away. Decided to watch a late film instead; probably a bad idea.

Articles and Interviews

colingalbraith — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 12:02:17 +0000

Image: Alex Barth

Check out my review of this week’s Ray LaMontagne gig in today’s News of the World A-Listed music supplement, or online here.

Also, one of the interviews I did last week has been published. Check it out over at A Biblio Paradise, where my great pal Devon Ellington asks me some very interesting questions!

It took slightly longer than I intended to clean the house yesterday. I got a bit carried away wanting to have the place looking ship shape for Gail returning on Monday, that I got right into it and did more than I probably needed. House looks great, though, even if I say so myself. By the time I finished it was after 4pm, but with the rest of the afternoon and evening all to myself I still had plenty of time to get lost in the prose.

With the rest of my time I got some great work done on BACCARA BURNING. Bringing the characters to Edinburgh has opened up so many possibilities there are maybe too many options open to me. A bad thing? Probably not, but I can’t possibly have them all happen—can I?

Just before nine o’clock I had to logon to the company network but couldn’t get access through the network. The implementation I was to work on had quite a high business priority, and with me having to do the work from home, and therefore unable to go to the office, I started to panic. When I eventually got logged in I checked the project sheet and realised I was an hour early. Relief doesn’t begin to cover it!

After a LOT of problems—as there always is with this type of implementation—the work was finally done by 2am. Half way through it I realised I hadn’t eaten so took advantage of Domino’s any size pizza for £9.99 offer. As I said yesterday, it’s a bachelor’s writing life!

Right now I’m about to shower and dress then head round to get my copy of today’s NotW for my clippings. Then it’s back to the keyboard.

A Bachelor’s Writing Life

colingalbraith — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 11:26:53 +0000

Image: U-Handbag

It’s a belter of a day outside. The sun is out, there’s no wind, and it puts me in mind to take a book out the back and read for the day. But there is work to be done—a lot of it.

I’m just back from my usual Saturday morning jaunt up town. I didn’t do a lot since my time was pushed by other factors, but I enjoyed a hot cappuccino and chocolate pastry in Rose Street while reading the Guardian book review.

Rankin got a good write up on his new book The Complaints and there’s a fascinating interview with William Boyd, who I unfortunately missed at this year’s Edinburgh Book Festival.

I’m about to make lunch for the “wee one” then set about giving the house a shine. I know if I do it today I can keep it looking this way for Gail getting back from London. I think I might even buy some ingredients and make Marzetti on Monday, then leave her a big portion for her coming in late off the flight.

I want to get some decent work done on BACCARA BURNING today—oh, there’s a thing. I only noticed this morning that the coffee shop I go to on a Saturday has a pub next door called The Black Rose!! They should rename it The Baccara.

I also want to finish off the spine-tingler story, work through some Ranfurly Review submissions (I’ve not had to put out a call for months now) and maybe write up some poetry.

Later tonight I will have to logon to the Company network and complete a mainframe installation I was working on during the week. There will be people in the office that I need to coordinate with but I have the luxury of being able to do it from home. Might even get a pizza while i’m at it; it’s a bachelor’s writing life.

My editor at NotW emailed me yesterday afternoon to let me know my piece on the Ray LaMontagne gig was being upped from online publication into the actual paper. Good news, but it also meant a re-write to double the word count. It wasn’t hard to do given that cutting these reviews back to 200 odd words is usually quite a difficult task. The article ended up being much more like I intended, and will now appear on page 5 of the A-Listed supplement in tomorrow’s paper.

I also finished up the two interviews I’d been doing during the week, one for Blazing Trailers and one for Biblio Paradise. I’ll let you know when they’ve been published.

I ended up watching a programme last night about phone calls made from the Twin Towers when they were attacked eight years ago. Of all the documentaries made about this atrocity, I found this one more heart breaking than most. To hear those terrified people and the effect still felt by the ones they spoke to, or in some cases, never reached, it just doesn’t compute.

I’m off to get some work done. Have a great Saturday!

Burning a Hole

colingalbraith — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 11:07:23 +0000

Image: Liz West

I nearly never went to the ‘Ten at Ten’ event at the Edinburgh Book Festival yesterday morning, but I’m glad I did. When I got up around 7am I was tired and just wanted to sleep. But I also didn’t want to waste the day. So I forced myself into gear and off I went, back up to Charlotte Square.

Sean O’Brien was our reader this morning, a poet of some considerable acclaim. A large, grey-bearded Geordie, he read us five poems ranging from the humorous to the deep and sorrowful, ending with a poem one line long. He really was excellent, and on the back of it, I went straight out and bought his book, Down River.

With my Sunday off to a flyer I vowed to attend more of these 10-minute readings next year—they really are a great way to start the day.

I bought also a copy of Publishing Scotland, the bible of publishing in this country wit a single aim—I have to start getting published in my own country. Reading the anthology my friend appeared in made me realise that I should be looking more to this type of publication as well as online journals. A lot of it comes down to targeting the right piece to the right forum, but getting published in my homeland will help me greatly.

I took my new purchases to my Rose Street coffee shop and supped a cappuccino while reading, before heading back home. I had forgotten that one half of the Bigotry Brigade was in town to play Hibs, so the bus was packed. Not much fun, I can tell you.

Back home I spent most of the day writing, working on getting BACCARA BURNING finished. “Burning” is a good word to use in the title because the story is burning a hole in my stomach.

I also got round to launching a new blog. I’ve decided to hold all my gig reviews in the one place, so I uploaded all the ones I’ve been doing lately for News of the World, as well as some older ones that appeared in other journals or magazines. Based on the off-the-cuff comment made about me by the NotW editor, I’ve called the new blog The Man in the East, and you can read it here.

After all that I headed back up to the book festival to see South African author, Gillian Slovo talk about her new book, Black Orchids.

I found her to be a remarkable and fascinating woman, who seems to care deeply about her writing, but also of the huge topics she writes about. Race, feminism, and immigration are all tackled in her books, but it’s not surprising when you hear her talk about her parents, Joe Slovo and Ruth First, both major figures in the anti-apartheid struggle, who lived lives of exile until her mother was murdered by a letter bomb in 1982.

I didn’t know much about her until the book festival, but that’s the beauty of this place; one gets exposed to all kinds of people and very often it leads to eye opening moments like that was.

Finally, some interesting news that came through that should make Oasis fans feel ashamed on top of the pain of Noel leaving that band. After Oasis pulled out of their Friday evening headline slot at the Rock En Seine Festival near Paris, (due to Liam being his usual allegedly ‘friendly’ self) one band stepped up to fill the slot. French festival goers went ecstatic when Madness returned to the stage to play their second set of the day.

Having already played an hour long set around 7pm, Madness stepped into the breach and saved the day by playing a further set at 10.15pm on Friday 28th August. When Suggs introduced the band for the second time he said: “We’re not Snow Patrol—we’re not…[Oasis – crowd].” The Sound of Music was played before Mr Smash launched into Madness’ trademark intro, One Step Beyond.

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Super Saturday

colingalbraith — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 12:42:20 +0000

Image: Alasdair Middleton

Yesterday was about as good a Saturday as I’ve ever had for a long time, teeing up what looks like finishing up to be a cracker of a weekend. It had—and is going to have—everything I would want out of living in Edinburgh: coffee, reading, the Book Festival, family time, St Mirren in town, and fine dining.

It all started off at 7am yesterday when, after brewing some fresh coffee, I logged on to the company systems to take care of some scheduled work. It all went smoothly enough, and by 9am I was off down to the bus stop to hop a bus into town.

My first task was to avoid the torrential rain that was falling from dark clouds blanketing the sky. Typical, I thought to myself, since last year the opening day of the Edinburgh Book Festival suffered the same blight. I never managed it, of course, so after buying a newspaper I headed for a cappuccino and warm chocolate pastry in my usual Saturday morning coffee shop.

Afterwards, I headed towards Charlotte Square and the white tents of the book fest. I always get such a tremendous buzz from just approaching the place, that when I walked in I couldn’t prevent my broad smile.

I took a tour around inside, just lapping up the atmosphere, and then spent some time browsing inside the book shop. It was very busy, as it always is on day one, and I purchased a book to give to Gail on our anniversary, a little something by the Edinburgh photographer, Colin Baxter.

It was soon approaching half past eleven so I joined the queue for Kate Atkinson. Sitting in the same seat I have sat in the Main RBS Tent over the past few years is one of the small things that makes coming here most enjoyable. Some would say it is sad, but I find it quite comfortable and personal now, that I look forward to parking my bum on it each time.

Kate was a delight. I found her very charming and interesting, sometimes hilariously funny but with it a sense of confidence that only a writer who writes for herself as opposed to a readership can have. She read from her new book, When Will There Be Good News, and after some persuading, the audience asked some good questions. It was a lovely start to the festival for me, and a great start to what promises o be a very rewarding and promising week in Charlotte Square.

I headed off to Slaters in George Street after the event, now basking in warm sunshine and clear skies—what a difference an hour makes to the weather in Scotland—and set about buying a new shirt, ties, and shoes to go with the suit I was also collecting. A pretty penny was handed over, let me tell you, but it will all be worth it come tonight.

Back home, and with the girls out buying school stuff for next week, I found myself at a loose end. While reading the sports section over a cup of tea I realised that in all my Book Fest thoughts I’d forgotten the Scottish football season kicks off today, with my beloved St Mirren playing right here in Edinburgh against Hibernian.

I checked their website and the game was pay-at-the-gate, so off I went, making the 10-minute walk toEaster Road stadium. I joined my fellow Paisley Buddies behind the goals at the away end for what proved to be an interesting start to the season. Saints got beat 2-1 in what turned out to be a typically frustrating match for us (see picture above for usual expression ofa Buddie while watch the Saints). We had a player sent off after 15 minutes, inconsistent refereeing, and made some basic schoolboy errors.

However, I had the loudest guy in the stadium right in front of me, so I spent half the match laughing at his banter with the Hibs fans sitting nearby in the next stand. It was great to be back at a game again, and it was even better to be sitting amongst people whose accents actually make sense to me.

After the match, and with Gail out for the evening, I settled down on the couch with a pizza and Irn-Bru to watch King Kong with Laura, as nice a way to spend a Saturday evening as I’ve had recently, and a really good way to top off what had been a fabulous day—footie result aside.

And so to today, the 6th year anniversary of my marriage with Gail. The taxi is already booked for this evening, which will take us to location number 1 for a couple of quiet drinks, and then we shall proceed to The Witchery restaurant for our celebratory meal. It can’t fail!

To top my day off entirely, althogh my Bluetones review wasn’t published (the music editor is a huge ‘Tones fan), my review of the Vertis gig on Tuesday was published in today’s News of the World: read it here.

Bolt The Doors

colingalbraith — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 09:02:59 +0000

Image: edinburghguide.com

I had to skip yesterday’s blog post purely because of work pressures—day job and external. None of it you would have found interesting and I was too busy/tired to write the damn thing up anyway.

It’s good to be busy, though, and it’s the kind of work I am really enjoying—day job and external. No complaints other than I wish there were more hours in the day, and I wish I could make the switch from day to external easier so I could last longer through it. But hey, I’m in a privileged position at the moment and loving it!

I went to The Bluetones gig at the Picture House last night, albeit I was late getting there. I had been called out earlier in the evening by work (it’s my week—sod’s law) and if it weren’t for Gail running me up I would have missed half the gig. As it was I only missed a couple of songs and got to see most of their set.

The gig—part of The Edge Festival as well as the band’s Expecting To Fly Tour—saw them play their 1996 album of the same name from start to finish, as well as other singles and B-sides from that era and some new stuff. It was an interesting concept, and seemed to go down with their fans, though I had expected the venue to be busier than it actually was.

What was noticeable was that after they had played their inaugural and most successful album, people started filtering away. Mark Morriss, lead singer, even said: “I’m gonna lock the doors while we do this stuff.” Hmmmm.

Anyway, a review was written up for my pals down at NotW, which hopefully will take its place in Sunday’s paper.

Today is the day I’m “scheduled” to make a break through with BACCARA BURNING, with a plot twist idea that came to me as I was standing at the gig last night. Ideas really do come at the strangest times.

Much like The Bluetones, I’m hoping to find the time I need to lock the doors and get stuck into some major writing time. August is always difficult, which is why I had wanted BACCARA BURNING to be finished by now, but what can one do other than roll with the punches?

Today is also Friday, which means there is but ONE day to go until the Edinburgh International Book Festival begins, and with it, the annual recharge of my motivational batteries. I cannot wait. In fact, come to think of it, it’s going to be one heck of a weekend!!

4 Days To Go

colingalbraith — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 08:49:24 +0000

Image: Cougars

I’m still reeling over Twitter. The whole thing has left me feeling sick to my stomach, so I’m letting Twitter go for a while. I’ll maybe go back to it some point in the future if I can be assured it won’t happen again. Despite it being an online attack it’s still dented my confidence a bit; maybe I rely too heavily on the Internet on promotion—roll on next week’s old fashioned approach to marketing!

I had a very productive session at the day job yesterday, and also managed to do some work on BACCARA BURNING. Most of my evening was spent with the family, which included a lovely plate of cannelloni for dinner. Yum!

Today I can feel things beginning to hot up as I move towards the launch of the Book Festival this Saturday, in only four days time. August is always my busiest time of the year, and 2009 is proving to be no different, for as well as Book Festival business, I am covering gigs for News of the World.

Tonight, although I’ve not finally decided, I may go along to me ex-writing group. On checking my email this morning, I saw that the guy who runs the group is playing in his band as part of The Edge Festival. I may go along to that with a view to writing a review.

I’ve also got a gig to cover on Thursday—The Bluetones at the Picture House, and then on the 25th, Ian Broudie at Cabaret Voltaire. Should all be good gigs and if they get through will be some good bylines for me in the newspaper.

Dontcha just love August?

Before I leave you for today, I want to tell you about Madness fan, Tim Andrews, who is to take part in the Antony Gormley project, One & Other, this Saturday (15th August), when he will take his place on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square, London, from 6pm till 7pm.

Tim (58) was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2005, but despite being afraid of heights, he intends to stand on the Fourth Plinth for the full hour while playing tracks from the new album, The Liberty of Norton Folgate by one of his favourite bands, MADNESS. Tim has chosen the album because the lyrics recount various stories about the city of his birth, London, which he adores.

Tim, who hopes that many will come along, show their support and perhaps dance with him, says: “Being diagnosed with Parkinson’s has enabled me to view life and death from a completely different perspective and I feel liberated as a consequence. Standing on the Fourth Plinth represents this feeling. If I can raise awareness of Parkinson’s at the same time, that’s even better.”

If you are not in London on Saturday, you can still show your support by helping Tim raise vital funds for the PDS. Please visit www.justgiving.com/Tim-Andrews-oneandother.

The Beat At The Edinburgh Picture House

Colin — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 12:35:39 +0000

Image: whatsonsouthwest.co.uk

There’s still time to win a free copy of STELLA over at Cate Masters’ blog. You have until tomorrow to head over to http://catemasters.blogspot.com and leave a comment.

Things were somewhat more relaxed in the office yesterday. I’m still spinning plates but made good progress with some work. I took a slightly extended lunch (for me – 20 mins) in the canteen with a copy of The Guardian and a plate of pork chow mein with peas. Very nice.

After work I headed to Hamilton’s Bar in Stockbridge for drinks with my friends Linda and fiancé Paul. Gail arrived around half past six and after some introductions we had a few more bevies. After several pints Paul abandoned his DIY plans for the evening and I talked them into joining us at the gig we were going to.

It was my first time at the HMV Picture House in Edinburgh. It’s a converted theatre, similar in design to the Academy’s a la Glasgow, Brixton et al. It’s got a great stage and atmosphere and I predict it’s going to become the premier venue for bands over and above the likes of the Corn Exchange, which is a dire live music venue.

There’s not much I can say about the support band whoever they were, but The Beat were pretty good. After a poor choice to open with Stand Down Margaret, they played all their usual and most popular tracks with a couple of newer ones thrown in.

My favourite Beat track, Too Nice To Talk To was cut short after the most awful feedback invaded the auditorium, which really pissed off Ranking Roger who had to do an impromptu sound check in front of a live audience. That aside, their act was as good as ever and it was great o see such a good turn out for them in this, the 30th anniversary of 2-Tone.

There’s been some big bands playing in Scotland this week – Oasis, Take That to name two – so space in News of the World is somewhat limited, but after penning my review earlier I spoke to the editor who told me it will likely be used in the paper’s online edition.

I’ve got a 30th birthday party tonight and some things to do around the house, and there’s a slight hangover impacting me after the Guinness I consumed last night, but I’m still hoping to find time to do some work, which they way I’m feeling, will be better than nothing.

What’s The Problem, Dude?

Colin — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 06:00:01 +0000

Image: Mel Blanc

STELLA received a wonderful review from romance author, Ginger Simspon, over the weekend. This is the first official review of my new book and I’m delighted it was so good! Click here to read.

If you missed it, please pop over and have a read of my guest blog at Love, Romances & More, where I discuss the pleasures to be gained from writing to music. It’s already prompted some interesting comments.

Despite being on the bus into Edinburgh at 6:45am yesterday morning, I still managed to get gnarled up in tram works and traffic chaos. A Glasgow bus had broken down westbound on York Place, but with half the road already dug up it meant traffic was down to an involuntary single lane. When we finally got passed, the driver was so flustered he missed my stop, but alas, was kind enough to drop me off further along the road.

I wasn’t feeling my best by the time I got to work. Truth be told, I was feeling rather pissed off with life even before I’d left the house. These feelings usually cement themselves after a long weekend of being on standby and having to work. I get pissed off watching other people having a good time and me not being able to do anything. Not even the curry I made on Sunday night helped, because the family rushed into the kitchen, wolfed it all down then buggered off back to the telly again.

But when I look at my week ahead I have to ask myself, “what’s your problem, dude?” STELLA is getting good reviews, The Book Festival tickets are about to go on sale, I’m having beers on Thursday night with a good friend, I’m on News of the World business when I go to see The Beat on Friday, and on Saturday I’m going to a 30th birthday party.

Looking further ahead next week will see my 18th annual trip to Blackpool with my best mate, and shortly after I’ll be away on a Mediterranean cruise. Things are never quite as bad as they seem, I suppose.

I finished polishing another short story today: SAMSON THE GREAT is now totally done. I also continued work on BRIEFS and dedicated some thinking time to BACCARA BURNING; I can’t seem to get past this little hurdle so I’m trying to hear the characters. They’ve gone a bit quiet – think I might stir them up.

I finally got my website client sorted out with her transfer and finished moving her to her new hosting company. I told her I wasn’t billing her and that I would foot the costs seeing as it took so long to get sorted.