Alonso Alvarez Barreda won the Cannes 2008 Fourth annual Short Film Online Competition, with "Story of a Sign."
It's a short film every writer should watch.
A stranger transforms a blind man's afternoon by changing his sign so that instead of telling people to have compassion, it makes people feel compassion. In a way it illustrates the old writer axiom "show don't tell". Great wee film.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
God of Clocks
A few people have rightly pointed out that this blog was becoming woefully out of date. Sorry about that. I don't suppose I'm what you would call a "keen blogger." There always seems to be something else to think about, and recently there's been a lot to think about.
Right now, I'm working through the US page proofs of "God of Clocks", the third and (probably) final instalment of the Deepgate Codex. It's almost finished now, and should be out March/April 2009. This book has a different feel to the last two, concentrating mostly on Rachel and Carnival, but I suppose I'd better not say too much about the plot. It's been a bit of a head-twister, but was good fun to write. The US cover will look like this:
Some stunning artwork there, as always, by Stephen Youll. I believe Dominic Harman will be designing the UK cover. When I receive the emails with these covers, it's like opening Christmas presents. You never know what's inside.
I've also written a two-part comic strip for "Doctor Who: Battles in Time" magazine, which, as an avid fan of all things Doctor Who, was a big deal for me, and an absolute joy. I was almost as excited about that commission as I was when "Scar Night" sold.
The original UK and US manuscripts for "Iron Angel" arrived recently, so my manuscript pile now reaches the top of the monitor on my desk. There are fifteen or so manuscripts there now, the various proof copies and edited/unedited versions of the books that I've worked through. A couple of million words, I suppose. I'm actually worried that it's becoming too heavy for the floorboards underneath. Does home insurance cover you for damage caused by manuscript?
But mostly, I've been thinking about book Four, and, to a lesser extent, books Five and Six. This will be a brand new fantasy trilogy. For the past few weeks, I've been wandering around with a protagonist, an antagonist, and an environment in my head. Or, more accurately, driving around with all this at the back of my mind. For some reason, I think mostly about plot and character when I'm driving.
I know what sort of book the next one will be, but I haven't fleshed out all of the details yet. The story is there... it'll just take a while to unearth it fully. Someone once said (I can't remember who) that a book is born when two distinct ideas come together. Currently, I think I'm at "ten and a half ideas", but they haven't all gelled yet.
So I've been a bit distant and preoccupied lately - slow to answer emails, blog, and so on. I don't do multitasking very well. Watch out on those roads.
Right now, I'm working through the US page proofs of "God of Clocks", the third and (probably) final instalment of the Deepgate Codex. It's almost finished now, and should be out March/April 2009. This book has a different feel to the last two, concentrating mostly on Rachel and Carnival, but I suppose I'd better not say too much about the plot. It's been a bit of a head-twister, but was good fun to write. The US cover will look like this:
Some stunning artwork there, as always, by Stephen Youll. I believe Dominic Harman will be designing the UK cover. When I receive the emails with these covers, it's like opening Christmas presents. You never know what's inside.
I've also written a two-part comic strip for "Doctor Who: Battles in Time" magazine, which, as an avid fan of all things Doctor Who, was a big deal for me, and an absolute joy. I was almost as excited about that commission as I was when "Scar Night" sold.
The original UK and US manuscripts for "Iron Angel" arrived recently, so my manuscript pile now reaches the top of the monitor on my desk. There are fifteen or so manuscripts there now, the various proof copies and edited/unedited versions of the books that I've worked through. A couple of million words, I suppose. I'm actually worried that it's becoming too heavy for the floorboards underneath. Does home insurance cover you for damage caused by manuscript?
But mostly, I've been thinking about book Four, and, to a lesser extent, books Five and Six. This will be a brand new fantasy trilogy. For the past few weeks, I've been wandering around with a protagonist, an antagonist, and an environment in my head. Or, more accurately, driving around with all this at the back of my mind. For some reason, I think mostly about plot and character when I'm driving.
I know what sort of book the next one will be, but I haven't fleshed out all of the details yet. The story is there... it'll just take a while to unearth it fully. Someone once said (I can't remember who) that a book is born when two distinct ideas come together. Currently, I think I'm at "ten and a half ideas", but they haven't all gelled yet.
So I've been a bit distant and preoccupied lately - slow to answer emails, blog, and so on. I don't do multitasking very well. Watch out on those roads.
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