My first ever literary review.... Downloading Nirvana reviewed

Alongside slogging my arse off pre-turning thirty in order to complete my debut album, dedicated readers may also remember i had also promised an original novel of my own creation that should have been published by now

and it sort of has, except you can't order it, yet

some crazy U.S tax laws and stuff require me to file for a tax code and fax it to the moon and back and do a bunch of stuff i haven't done yet, hence, i am the only person able to order a copy...

But in the limited run that i have ordered and am in possesion of, there is one copy doing the rounds for lending purposes, since a book seems rather redundant if it can't be read

and even better than it being merely read, one recipient of this book, Mr Christopher Pennel, has not only become the first person besides myself to read it from start to finish, he has only bloody gone and written a review

so hold tight people.... here is the first ever review of a book that you can't actually order

now that's pretty exclusive!!!

I was given this book by Glen’s mystery girlfriend to whom the book was dedicated.

I admit that I only read it out of curiosity, to see what a book by someone I (vaguely) knew would be like.

I was pleasantly surprised! The book was only short, but you could not fly through it as you need to pay attention because the narrative jumps through time and keeps you on your toes. I was a little confused at times but got used to the way it was written.

It was an interesting story, at first appearing the mundane story of an everyday artist, but turning out in the end to be much more.

The ending in particular, with it’s peculiar resolution, made me smile and laugh out loud. Luckily I was in First Class on the train and nobody saw.

I also feel I have had an insight into Glen’s (Liam’s?) thoughts and feelings, especially his fear of marriage!

I would recommend this book to anyone, it was well written, imaginative and an excellent first novel.

Please write something else Mr Byford.



Chris Pennell
6 August 2013

all about the timing

Some things are all about the timing

and in this constantly connected, constantly evolving and ever changing world that we are living in this is thoroughly important in the game of 'self-promotion'

so, of course my timing is completely off...


urgh, self-promotion, what an ugly little term, essentially jumping up and down and going 'oooooh, look at me!', this is pretty much the opposite of how I choose to live my life, nothing wrong with a little bit of shameless plugging here and there... but I'd rather kinda just get on with it and hope that the universe shares a little bit of good will with me, hardly a go get'em attitude, I know, but this is simply how I am

thankfully, the modern world makes it far easier to be less show-offish and still get noticed, social media, blogs and unparalleled connectivity make short work of being in touch with people and getting your voice heard.

so of course my timing is completely off...


currently, in a whirlwind of stolen moments and furious activity, I am arranging self-publishing my debut novel, (hey, wasn't that coming out in April?), releasing my debut single (on course to be derailed, but with you very soon-ish), followed by the release of my debut album (in June, definitely in June), so I guess my online banter should make reference to the fact that all these things are happening!

of course my timing is completely off...

it has been nearly a year since I started a new job, a new job that pays ridiculously badly and leaves me with next to no free time throughout the day, compared to my job of 11 years prior to that, which paid poorly but gave me enough free time to try and be who I wanted to be, I felt that was a fair compromise to be honest.

email checking, social networking, actual networking, blogging, researching, all of these were possible if work was quiet, not the case anymore, my time is limited and little indulgences like these are long gone, my social networking presence has certainly taken a hit and prior to this, my last blog post was over a month ago!

of course, my timing is completely off!!!

and of course, the book I grabbed from the library, a book about one man choosing to flee his life of paying exorbitant London rents and instead living out of hotel rooms around the world in a social experiment in keeping costs down isn't just a book about the former mentioned, it is all this plus preparing for the release of his debut book...

as a 'published author' he is often on the blag and making ends meet via freelance work as he builds on his reputation, as the publishing date nears he relays the importance of his online standing and traffic to his frequently updated blog.

(grumble) ok, so my timing is completely off....

I can see the similarities and I can see the differences, both of us gearing up for the release of our first novel, him flying around the world (hey, to Vegas and Rekjavic and erm, the Soho Revue Bar, places I have also been!) and updating his blog and forging his reputation and living off the advance he has been paid, and me, who is selfpublishing, expecting to make no money, and haven't blogged in a while.


and I can see what I have to do, but so much of it comes down to having the time, I no longer have this disposable commodity to do so freely with as I wish, the time that I should perhaps be spending trying to maintain my online presence and keeping the world updated of my progress is instead spent trying to make progress, or trying to make dinner and make the house look tidy and all the other household chores, and then squeeze in a little bit of progress if I can find the time


I guess it's all about timing

reciting faithful chorus

this is certainly a rather momentous occasion for me.

ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls...

in the ever so changeable month of September, in the year of somebody's Lord, two thousand and twelve, a book of poetry was published.

a book that features the work of 100 poets, chosen by Saul Williams.

and in this book, on page 127, is a piece of poetry written by my good self.

.............


it is still strange and slightly dizzying to consider this, that my words are actually appearing in an actual, proper published book

a book that is available on Amazon, and at the time of writing only has one copy in stock (so it appears that people are definitely buying it)

a book that is published by MTV books, via Simon & Schuster (pretty big time if you ask me)

a book that was headed up by Saul Williams, a man that is an absolute inspiration to me in terms of his words and his music, and perhaps this is what makes me feel proudest of all.


Saul had made his intentions clear, via the big bad world wide web, that he was going to create a literary mixtape, that anybody's voice could be a part of, he would take submitted poetry to craft one long collaborative poem, so I picked through the handful of poems of my own that have stuck in my mind as being something like my favourites and then had to give careful consideration to what would be the one sole poem I would submit, I chose The Whiskey Trail

it is a poem that dates a while back, it is a poem that I once performed at an open mic night in Chingford if my memory serves me correctly, and it is a poem that I can still pretty much remember word for word if really pushed to do so, and if it stuck in my own mind, why should it not stick, or at least lodge itself temporarily in the minds of others....

I could not possibly comment on the creative process of selecting a fraction of poems from those that had come pouring in for the consideration of Saul Williams, I know that he was certainly not alone in this Herculean task, but I do know that at some point, for some reason, my words were chosen by a man that I have a lot of respect and love for.

and I am certainly in good company, 99 others, Saul himself included have contributed to a New Testament of New Voices, and it will be read the world over.

I know that the Internet can reach far and wide, that my blog has been to countries that I have never even set foot in, but to be published in a book that will be read the world over is just such a massive milestone for myself, because it is a book... a solid physical piece of created art that can be held and cherished and will sit in people's homes... I love the fact that I have been published in a book, cos I'm old skool like that.

from my bedroom at mum's house in Enfield, to a small bar on a Thursday night in Chingford, to the world....

my Whiskey Trail has taken me places I never believed it would, thank you Saul.



.

dave against the machine

christmas is creeping ever closer and last night i actualy started my wrapping and piling afew presents underneath the christmas tree, although there is one present that hasn't made it under the tree after i decided to keep it for myself

my brother is always the easiest person to buy for each year since his tastes are so similar to mine, if i like it then there is a pretty good chance that he will like it too, and being the artistic type (translation: broke) it is extremely unlikely that he will have already bought said presents for himself.

and since i can always make my present budget go quite far by economically choosing recycled and ethical presents from charity shops, i thought i might have been onto a winner upon spotting an orange sleeved tome upon the shelves of british heart foundation

intriguingly entitled The Book of Dave, a fleeting glance at the blurb revealed it to be a distopian vision of Britain's future if a slightly mad cabbie's jotted down ramblings were the foundation for a new religion, exactly the type of thing i knew that the Bishop would dig.

except i spent the next few days wondering if i might dig it more

i'd just finished my book from the library and needing stimulation for my brain i decided that i would get stuck in

bloody good job i did too, since it seems that he already has his next book lined up for reading, plus i'm not exactly sure how well his dyslexia would have coped with the futuristic Mockney accent that sections of the book are written in

much like Trainspotting and Pygmy, the story is told with an emphasis on dialogue that it isn't always instant to get a grips with

rest assured he will still be getting decent presents and i'll even go as far as letting him borrow the book if he fancies it after working his way through the Complete works of Lewis Carrol if he so wishes

a lack of blogging in general

inspiration either approachs me at the most inapropriate times or it evades me when i am looking for it.

i'm sure i have had afew ideas for oddities to blog about, and yet, i haven't blogged.

they didn't feel right.

and i didn't want to leave the blog empty and gathering dust either.


i have a photo that i want to upload that i keep forgetting to, and when i do get round to it i may very well decide that it would be the wrong time to post it.

i have a handfull of poems that fell out of my head before i went to glastonbury, and again they felt very of the moment, in my mind at least, and i have not posted those either.

i should make sure i post the lot of them, maybe dig around a little bit for other things that i was intending to include at one time or another.

it is probably important to keep this blog slanted to my own creativity instead of just my ramblings and bleatings.

i feel a blog should invite people into your lives, but not let them look too close, as if it is just the hint of a person, so that a sense of voyeurism can be felt without falling headlong into strange web-based confessional weirdness, let's try and retain some mystery people...


'and how is my life?' i hear you voyeurs call.

right now my main concerns are load-bearing walls and gallows brackets, ploughing through The Beach like a man possesed, thoroughly enjoying the first book i have read since last october after being far too distracted by a multitude of comics, and trying to ensure that my blog doesn't become just another boring boring blog about normal normal life, like one of the many many banal sites i am rewarded with whenever i hit that 'next blog' button hoping for a voyeuristic experience of my own but only finding another american family with their two or three young children beaming at me from a site that tells of first teeth and tantrums in supermarkets.

storyteller

obviously not content with just being an artist, my little brother has been using his blog ( www.ianbyfordart.blogspot.com )to present his latest creative outputs.

since january he has been working on a project combining artwork with his own short stories, tentatively titled 'distopeian scrapbook' and since i consider these short works of science fiction to be something rather special, i thought it only right that i give over a little space to shed light upon them within my own blog.

it seems that my immediate family all show signs of creativity in one guise or another, my little brother went away to uni to study fine art and sculpture and since returning has embraced his artistic side as much as possible, he is also keen on photography and has helped me out whenever i have needed it with CD artwork and photoshoots, although until the first of these scrapbook stories appeared in late january i had no idea that he had any interest in writing.

and considering that my brother is dyslexic, and considering i know how hard he has occasionally found reading, i was completely blown away by the short story's premise, imagination, and above all, it's complexities.

his condition has meant that not every story conforms to routine storytelling practise and his style may lack certain finesse, but i am proud that he has not let this hold him back, and the five stories so far are shaping an intriguing new world that i would urge anyone to delve into.

the stories so far are:

confusing times
rock hopping
decerday night is all right for fighting
a fist full of euros
and
nickabocka glory

vampire dogs

looking over the book shelves in WH Smiths and there seemed to be a pattern emerging, in the charts we have Marley and Me (Now A Major Motion Picture), the interest in the film obviously means that if they stick Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson on the cover they will flog a few more copies, but afew places below it was another book about another dog and then again further down the shelf was yet another book about yet another dog, hmmmmmmm.....

and then along to the youth/children's chart, way up there is Stephenie Meyer's Twilight (also now a major motion picture!)and the other books in the Twilight series, and much like The Da Vinci Code was followed by a bunch of doppelganger books with similar themes and identikit covers a fair chunk of the same chart was filled with books that look like they are about young sexy vampires by P.C and Kristin Cast with strikingly similar covers.

So now i propose my idea for a book to compete in this current market, Vampire Dogs.

it has no story yet, it is in an embryonic state, but as long as it doesn't get too gory i feel there may even be a movie deal too (Hotel for Dogs, Bolt, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, what is it with dogs this year?) and just for good luck i may also make one of the dogs a descendant of Christ.