Well, last night’s reading went better than I could have hoped. About fifteen people made it to the Lock-Keeper’s Inn. Tammy (T.A. Moore) kindly warmed the audience up with the opening from her first novel, The Even. Then I read a story from Brendan Garner’s chapbook, Possession, Obsession and a Diesel Compression Engine. It went down better than I expected it to considering the rather colourful language and blasphemous content.
After the reading, Tammy invited the audience to ask us about writing. Tammy related her experience of being an actual real-life novelist and I talked about how lucky I am to have a literary agent. I think we could have sat there all night, but we were ushered out of our seats eventually. Tammy sold a good few books as far as I could see, and deservedly so. The chapbooks I’d ordered arrived in Dundrum around about the time I was leaving work to go to the Inn, so with nothing to flog, I ducked out early. But hopefully I made a bit of an impression on the good folk who showed up.
I had just enough time to take a spin out to Lisburn City Library where Garbhan Downey was promoting War of the Blue Roses. It’s always great to meet writers you admire and listen to what they have to say about their own work. After reading from his most recent release and giving us an insight into the workings of his comic-genius mind, he read a brief extract from the novel he’s just finished. Looking forward to that one hitting the shelves.
So, I’d a great night last night and was buzzing off the good vibes all morning. Up until my agent emailed me with some bad publishing news. Basically, The Wee Rockets won’t be hitting the shelves any time soon. A bit of a pisser, that. I’ll feel sorry for myself for a few days, get drunk once or three times, and then get back to work. I’ve two novels and a short story on the go at the moment and I doubt much more will happen for me publishing-wise until I get my finger out and finish something.
As of now, CSNI’s going on a bit of a hiatus for a few weeks. If anybody want’s to send me some material, I’ll post it, but I need to focus on fiction for a bit.
Chat to you later
gb
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12 comments:
Great to meet you at last, Mr B. Apologies for taking so long to recognise you - but the shirt and tie really threw me.
Bit of a mixed bag there, mate. Congrats and commiserations.
"Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better."
As Samuel Beckett once said. But then he also won a Nobel Prize.
Sorry that's enough literary bullshit for now. Glad reading went well and hope things start looking up soon.
Thanks for the post, Gerard. You just keep on going, as I see you are.
As for the chapbooks, I'm pretty sure that dastardly Brendan Garner just wanted to do a reading all by himself, the devil.
I'll look forward to the new season of CSNI whenever it's done with hiatus.
Chin up, squire. Keep punching and lead with your left. Don't let the bastards grind you down.
Cheers, Dec
Sorry to hear of your disappointment, Ger. Keep plugging. Talent will out.
Hey, B! This ain't like the Olympics where if you miss your first shot, your aching bones won't be in the running in four years' time. Take the writing, bloggign and living at your own pace. Those Wee Rockets will make a bang whether it takes them one, four, or lucky thirteen years to fly.
Ger
Good luck with the work mate. I'd join you if I wasnt such a lazy bastard.
Garbhan
What were you wearing? If anything?
Fair bet I'd on Doc Marten shoes or mini-boots, Adrian. Had to give up the 12-holers when I went working for the BBC. Brennan looked like a company director.
Sorry to hear the news. Keep up the good work.
Okay, but someone needs to go get Gerard out of the boozer now.
Or, as my v word says, "suffici".
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