Nine Days

Wednesday 3rd September 2014

Bed at two again this morning. Up at half eight. Walked up to Consett Park and rode my longboard for an hour. Taking it easy today. Watched a YouTube video called Horror Café in which six authors/film makers discuss what scares them then put together a plot for a horror film.  Afterwards I checked out some Clive Barker stuff. Hellraiser blew me away when I saw it at Consett Empire when I was eighteen. Haven’t read many of his books though. Damnation Game, Hellbound Heart, some of the Books of Blood. I don’t find horror novels or films scary.

Got a little workshop planned for tomorrow, some folders of ideas for a course in Peterlee. Need a few poems for Poetry Jam tomorrow evening. Listened to Fay Roberts poems and Attila the Stockbroker a little while ago. Best get off to bed soon. 10.59 pm.

Thursday 4th September 2014

Fun session at Mind this morning. We started with a look at beginnings and endings of contemporary novels but switched to poetry in the last half hour. Cold steak pie for lunch and a hot bus to Durham. Good to sit in on the Waddy lunchtime quiz for twenty minutes. Quick email check then off to Peterlee for a pre-course Arts on Prescription meeting. That went well. I start in a fortnight.

Dead leaves on the bone dry pavement and the sun scorching the man in black as he scribbles at the bus stop. I’ll read William Styron’s Darkness Visible on the 50 minute ride back into Durham. A chicken korma from a can then some admin before the doors open for Poetry Jam.

Jenni has come up with a great two-part structure for our ‘musical’ appearance at HOT WORDS @ the Chilli. We don’t play instruments and neither of us are real singers. What could possibly go wrong? You have to have a laugh sometimes, mix it up, not take yourself too seriously.

One of the writers was asking about longboards today. Quite dangerous if you really push it. 40 mph on a plank of wood in traffic? No, I’ll stick to my geriatric carving in the local park with nice green grass either side of the tarmac, thank you very much. Ok. 3.45 pm.

Friday 5th September 2014

A lot happening last night so BIGLY THANKS to everyone who came down to Poetry Jam. Cracking sets from our three special guests Emma Whitehall, Aidan Halpin and Jenni Pascoe, plus lots of great open floor jamming and lovely warm audience, intimate venue, Thanks to Waddington Street Centre for providing such a great intimate venue; to Fergus Grant who sets up the space and works the cafe. Also thanks to Mark Speeding for the ride home afterwards. Next month is our National Poetry Day edition of Poetry Jam with more fabulous guests and open floor. Until then, here’s some pix. Cheers!

Day off. Yesterday was a long one. Actually, that’s a lie. I didn’t take the day off. I uploaded all the Poetry Jam stuff. Did some correspondence. Found out Carolyn Jess-Cooke  is going to use one of my piece EYES from Hypomaniac in her ‘On Depression’ blog next week. Found out how to use drop box – sent Jenni her slam vid. This evening I booked up to go see Toyah’s acoustic songs and stories gig in Howden, Yorkshire. A nice half-term treat for me in October. Bed now, up at six for a workshop. 11.00 pm.

Saturday 6th September 2014

Sod’s law. Damp at half six. No buses this time of the morning so I walk through the pissing drizzle. Even with umbrella my clothes are damp. Shirt sticking to me, clammy sweat. An hour later I’m cooling down a bit. Just as well I got the X70 coz it’s highly likely the next one wouldn’t get me to Newcastle for quarter to nine. I’ve never been to Haltwhistle before. A series of crime-writing workshops hosted by Valerie Laws. I should really sleep the second leg of the journey but I’m all keyed up now. Did the list of ten books Valerie asked for last week but couldn’t think of on the spot: Body Bag by Rollins. Post Office by Charles Bukowski. Holiday on Death Row by Roger McGough. Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z Brite. Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg. Groundwork by Paul Auster. Cemetery Nights by Stephen Dobyns. The Sign of Saturn by Sharon Olds. The Consumer by Michael R Gira. Killing for Company by Brian Masters. What do they say about my tastes? Mostly dark. No surprise there. Crime, death, existentialism. I want to check out The Venus Complex by Barbie Wilde. She is mainly known for playing the female cenobite in Hellraiser II. Her novel is written as a journal. The character is a killer. I might buy it. 7.40 am.

I like the bus rides. The destinations are a means to an end. The workshop could’ve been anywhere. Consett, New Zealand, Japan. Getting there is good. Doing the workshop is a challenge. Afterwards I don’t want to explore. I’m pacing about, wishing I’d gone to the toilet again. I’m sniffing at the salt and vinegar packages of the locals. The chippy is only a few doors down from the bus stop. Next week, I’ll buy lunch there, but today I make do with a steak pie from Tesco.

Thanks to Valerie for the workshop this morning. Checked out loads of crime books and poetry collections in Waterstones this afternoon. I might try dark thriller or good old horror. But I don’t think detectives are for me, a scribbler who reinforces self-indulgence by reading the output of shut-ins, misanthropes and solipsistic oddballs. Bought food for me and Jenni. Surfed the net, watched Peter Kay. Chicken and mushroom slice with beans for supper, fell asleep. 10.30 pm.

Sunday 7th September 2014

Went for a walk into Gateshead with Jenni this afternoon. Bought food supplies. Had a lovely curry for lunch; cherry pie and custard for tea. Did a few run-throughs of some songs for an upcoming show. Won the ebay bid on new cutting mat. Caught up with emails this evening. Might read in bed. 11.30 pm.

Monday 8th September 2014

The eve of a new block of workshops with new participants. Fingers crossed it goes okay. Got critical feedback off to previous. Found out today that I may have another New College Durham evening course this autumn. Pushes my number of sessions up to seven – plus an extra catch-up at Waddy. This evening I checked out some of Josephine Hart’s novels. I read Damage in 1992 or 3 and it totally floored me. The film is one of my favourites as well. This morning I read four short stories by Vanessa Gebbie, a writer I wasn’t aware of until last week. Looking forward to more from her. Think I’ll be reading quite a bit of prose this autumn. Long time since I’ve focussed on fiction. 10.26 pm.

Tuesday 9th September 2014

Okay, it’s happening! Just hosted a highly enjoyable first session of Arts on Prescription creative writing at Newton Aycliffe. Good little group, a couple of obstacles, but impressive responses to the exercises. Pleased to be back out doing it. Off to North Shields now for Poetry and Spoken Word at Low Lights Tavern. Hoping to read a couple of pieces from ‘Shades’ and ‘Sunshine’. Just ate a bigly slice of pizza. Gonna have to be careful or I’ll be piling on the pounds again. 5.27 pm.

Wednesday 10th September 2014

Great time at the Low Lights last night. Excellent sets from the guests, well hosted in an intimate setting. Liked the format of three sections with the middle one for open mic. Good range of voices. Wish I could go every month. Got a lot of work done today. Schemes of Learning almost ready to type up for next week but the computer mouse is dead. Changed the batteries, USB light is on, red mouse light is on, but doesn’t make the cursor work. Oh well, old school stuff tomorrow at Mind. 10.15 pm.

Thursday 11th September 2011

Woke up really early, around five. Without computer access I had to change my plan for Mind workshop but we had a good one. Short fiction focus. Character sketches. Bought a new mouse but took advice from Donna at Mind and tried to reset the original first by pressing tiny buttons and it worked. Out on the 27-speed bike for an hour this afternoon then back for a bath. Have been going over lyrics of the songs for next week’s HOT WORDS @ the Chilli. Did a bit of back and forth on the net with Jenni for this. Re-set single page links on the 'about.me' mini-site so non-facebookers can still view content. Anyway, time is ticking. Full day of admin tomorrow. 11.27 pm.