ZOMBIES ANOMALIES

Monday 6th August 2018

Great to get the green light on ‘Laughter to Split Glass’ from Sheila at Red Squirrel Press today. The manuscript has been sent for typesetting and is out of my hands now. Pity my other book is being such a pain in the neck. I’ve tried emboldening some of the fonts, and a number of them are now fine, but the adjacent jpeg pages look faint. I want to produce a hardback book that is attractive and good value. Not some ephemeral piece of shit that I can’t bring myself to look at, much less promote next year… Too much paper play today. Had to get out on the bike for a while this evening: Grove Wood, Allensford, River Derwent trail, Shotley Bridge, Ebchester, Derwent Walk to Blackhill. Then zipping back and forth through local streets including Queen’s Road, Benfieldside Road, The Moorlands, Durham Road, Doctor’s Wood, Maple Gardens, Barley Mill Crescent, Backstone Road, West Road, Alston Terrace, ‘New’ Estate, St Mary’s Street, Derwent Street, Cycle Path, old slagheaps, Grove, home. Bad Pollyanna tracks on Android tablet. Cheese sandwich. Bed. 

11.33 pm.

Tuesday 7th August 2018

Another day working on Anomalies. Two weeks ago, I thought all I had to do was select the paper stock for various sections and print the book off. Why the fuck does the pdf print about three shades lighter than the original word document prototype I ran off six months ago? No problem, just to alter the contrast settings and darken the text that way – only that puts fucking shadows on all the picture jpegs! Felt like throwing the whole fucking thing in the bin this morning. But I’ve cooled down since then and have managed to change the typefaces for about two thirds of the text. Only a little bit more to do tomorrow. I tried darkening down the j-pegs from the hard drive, but that puts shadows behind the text. I don’t want to re-scan everything from original sources. Hope the book prints better with bolder text… Jenni was in touch today, saying she enjoyed Other Voices in Edinburgh. I told her Amanda Palmer is playing free ninja shows this week. I got the grass cut again today. Had a nice salad. Listened to Bad Pollyanna while I worked. Wrote a quick Tritina. 11.05 pm.

Wednesday 8th August 2018

Tired today. Managed to get another printout of Anomalies done before the toner cartridge started flashing red for replacement. The bolder typefaces make it a lot more striking. My only gripe is there’s still way more stuff from 2010 onwards than anything else. But that’s because a lot of the earlier stuff has been used in other books. The printout actually looks pretty good. But I’ve got a few pieces out of chronological order and it’s annoying me. Luckily, I’ve just had an email stating that the two new toner cartridges due on Saturday will now be delivered on Thursday, so I can crack on. I checked out some zombie movie clips. They don’t say much. I’ve no idea if I’m going to be any good at the Terror in the Trees audition on Friday but I’ll give it my best shot. Pleased to get the computer backed up to external hard drive. Loads of stuff. Good to hear from Stephen Clark today. Messages back and forth about books and musical group Swans. 11.24 pm.

Thursday 9th August 2018

Stephen was in touch again saying I’ll enjoy the ‘Swans: Sacrifice and Transcendence’ biography. I’ve resisted buying a copy coz I’ve got so much to do and I’m short on cash, and I know if I start reading the book I’ll not want to put it down. I’ve been a bit hard on Swans in recent years, but in days of old when Stephen and I travelled to see them in Sheffield, Manchester and London they were incredible. Burning World 1989 and Swans/World of Skin 1995 were my favourite tours… Today I proofread the second half of standard Anomalies again and did more research for the zombie audition. I’m full-on for the opportunity to work theatrically outside my comfort zone again, but don’t know what to expect tomorrow other than flailing arms, trance-like stumbling and limited speech. Pleased to hear from Lorraine regarding the participants for Tesco writing course in September. OK. 11.12 pm.

Friday 10th August 2018

Long day. Mainly just getting myself prepared for the audition at Beamish Hall this evening in hopes of becoming a ‘Scare Actor’ zombie for Terror in the Trees outdoor event taking place this Halloween. I wanted to get there early. Took a while with layovers after every bus ride. Even though I was an hour ahead of schedule, I wasn’t the first to arrive; a young man I only know as Thom from Pink Lane Poetry and Performance nights got there at half-four. We talked for an hour about poetry and acting gigs. Some people in full zombie rotting flesh garb arrived just before six. We were part of the first block of five in. We were told a little about the set-up in the woods, then given directions and asked to move across the room like a zombie towards the three people on the panel. Three different prompts. Some crawled, some hobbled, I just kind of stumbled and staggered the first time; second one I was half apelike, and for the third walk we had to pretend a limb was missing but be oblivious to the loss. I’ve no idea if I'll get a place, but it was totally worth doing. Pleased Jenni prompted me to have a go. Got home just after eight. Had a burger and some Kettle chips. Wish I had a cake. Watched some music programmes on BBC4. Particularly enjoyed the Elvis Presley comeback documentary. I’m tired. Going to order Swans book tomorrow 11.11 pm.

Saturday 11th August 2018

Was up till three after watching a Tom Waits documentary on telly. Voice a bit hoarse this morning. Will have to be careful if I’m going to be doing shouty stuff outdoors this autumn. Watched some voice projection exercises by heavy metal ‘screamers’ online this morning. Proofread the final bit of standard Anomalies this afternoon and tweaked the file tonight. It’s very nearly there. Booked train tickets for Edinburgh to see Jenni on her birthday. Listened to Tom Waits, Elvis, Johnny Cash, The Cure and The Smiths as I worked. Will be in bed three hours earlier than last time. 11.40 pm.

Sunday 12th August 2018

Printed and sewed up another test copy of Anomalies today. Only needed a few additional tweaks but they took a while to sort. I’m happy with the book now. Margins are good, text prints a lot blacker, nice collection of rarities. Just need to select the assorted paper stocks for printing and fix positioning of the jacket blurbs – which I’ll tackle on Monday. The book won’t be available to buy until the end of the year because ‘Laughter to Split Glass’ is coming out soon, and maybe a little monograph around Halloween, but I’d like it sorted before autumn work begins. I’m just going to chip away at the deluxe version between now and December. Listening to the fantastic Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds this evening. Only seen them live once: Manchester Academy on Wednesday 2nd May 2001. Cave’s ‘The Sick Bag Song’ is a superb book of tour prose and verse. One of my favourite reads last year. 9.30 pm.