Heroes

 

Joe Abercrombie is the best Fantasy author in the history of the world. He's my hero, or rather one of them.

My opinion is personal, of course, and others might disagree but it's based on a pretty comprehensive and long standing fascination with Fantasy. I've ploughed my way through the likes of Donaldson, Jordan, Bakker, Le Guin and Martin. I've read Lord of the Rings out loud to my children. I love Fantasy and there are a lot of wonderful books to choose from. Joe Abercrombie stands head and shoulders above the rest, though.

There's a choice we writers have. A difficult one. Do we avoid writing in the genre we love because of the giants that have already claimed their castles on the mountain top? Or do we use the things we've learned and absorbed to create something of our own?

I met Joe at an event in Brighton where he explained the backgound to his book the Red Country. He said it was based on the Clint Eastwood film The Outlaw Josey Wales. This set me thinking that everything comes from somewhere. All writers share a vast common pool of precedent and what matters is not where the ideas originate but what we do with them.

I love telling stories. That's the basis for what I write. My technique, if I can can call it that, is to drop into a scene and observe what my characters are up to. Then I spend my time following them around until the story has been told. It sounds easy but there are times I wish I had more influence.

So my Fantasy books are very different from Joe's. Just as my thillers aren't at all like Chandler's or my SF like Iain M Banks. 

Writing isn't a competitve sport. I am happy to urge you to read Abercrombie if you haven't already because I'm convinced you'll be very happy you did.

The prompt for this reflection comes from a rather perceptive review from someone in the US who says stuff like:

'DJ Harrison does a wonderful Job of creating a story, that in my opinion, is a very different fantasy!
Filled with Demons, magic, steel and swords....YES!

But the first novels twist is that there is no clear, main character. All of them are so real, that the closest you get are Anti-heros. The human flaws that flesh them out and make them real, mean that they don't stand out in the traditional sense.'

I hadn't thought about the Secret of the Scroll in those terms. As I've indicated, my characters are a law to themselves and wouldn't recognise themselves as any kind of hero protagonist. Just like the rest of us, they're doing their best with the situations that confront them. Interesting.

Oh, the reviewer finishes off by saying:

Fans of Abercrombie will love it!

Which is where we came in.

Nowt on Telly

If you're like me, you've spent a fair amount of time watching things on TV that, in hindsight, seem a complete waste of time. Then you watch the next instalment if only to see if this one's any better than the last. Perhaps, as I have, you've become inexplicably hooked by a couple with more money than sense being filmed looking for a property in the country.
If I see one more undercooked rack of lamb on Masterchef I may throw up.
There's an antidote to the hollow feeling that comes from wasting an evening in front of the box. It might be hard to swallow for the first few attempts but it's well worth persevering. If you do, a whole new richness will enter your life. Every day will hold the promise of discovery and excitement. Life will feel that much more worthwhile.
There's a magical effect produced when a TV is switched off. Your attention becomes your property again. You can do with it whatever you wish without it being constantly dragged to the screen.
Then there's the silence. Opportunity for stillness. Your mind relaxes, free from a constant bombardment of images and sounds.
So what do you do instead? What's this magical alternative to relaxing in front of the telly?
Read a book.
It's the best antidote to boredom and that empty feeling of having wasted time.
Ok, I'm an author so I would say that, you might think. There he goes, trying to peddle his books, you might say.
In response, I admit that I'm as affected by TV in all its forms as anyone. I waste vast amounts of precious time slumped on a sofa in a semi-comatose state.
As soon as I pick up a book and start reading, I feel so much better. Reading is a much richer experience than TV can ever be.
I'll prove it to you, if you have any doubts. Read any book that has been adapted for TV, then watch the program or film. It's become a cliche that the book is always better than the film but this just isn't fair. A book is a book and a film is a film. They're different media. You can do things in books that films, even using the most sophisticated computer generated imagery, can't possibly display. The greatest actor on the planet can't hope to communicate feelings with the same intensity that living inside the character's head can.
Try Lord of the Rings, even if you've seen all the films.
Read The Handmaid's Tale, even if you saw the TV programme.
Read The Shining, then watch the film.
Read anything by Iain Banks, David Mitchell, Haruki Murakami, Neal Stephenson.
Why not try the greatest crime writer in the history of the world, Raymond Chandler? His books have been made into films again and again. The Big Sleep is a particular favourite of mine.
You don't even have to buy a book. We have a brilliant library service in Lancashire.
If you do want to make a purchase, support an independent book shop.
By the way, there's a TV adaptation of China Mieville's The City and the City coming on the BBC. Get the book. Immerse yourself. Then enjoy the program in a very different way.

Iain Banks

I'm sad to learn of the imminent demise of one of my favourite authors, Iain Banks. He went to his doctors a couple of months ago complaining of a pain in his back. He assumed it was because of long stints at the computer but it turned out to be incurable cancer.

If you haven't read The Wasp Factory, now's the time.

If you're a Science Fiction fan, you'll already have read Consider Phlebas and all the other Culture novels. If you don't particularly like SF, these will convert you.

Iain is a very special writer, his imagination is matched only by his technical prowess and the lyrical quality of his prose. I'm going to miss him.

It brings home to me the importance of living as fully as I can today and not constantly putting things off for a better time, when I get chance, when I've more money, you know the feeling.

So, although the news is very sad, it's put a new spring in my step.

I'm just back from an amazing week at Freefall with Barbara Turner-Vesselago http://freefallwriting.com/ and have developed a new writing partnership with Jez Pike (not his real name) for a brilliantly funny novel about advertising agencies, big business, rock bands and organised crime. Jez and I are sharing the work to get the book done more quickly. He's doing the funny bits and I'll be writing the bits in between.

We've not agreed a title yet but it's probably going to be called Funky Junk.

Also I'm hellbent on finishing Limited Liability, the third Jenny Parker book. The first two have been amazingly well received, thanks for all your great feedback and reviews. More, please.

The paperback version of Due Diligence will be available from April 11th.