The Perils of Balcony Sleeping

Last week I made an appearance in Brighton. Not in person, but my short story-video was shown at the event Flash Lit Fiction where several stories were screened to the public. James Burt has written about the event here.

The story is inspired by a real life event. Christer Petterson, the guy who was accused of killing Olof Palme, the Swedish prime minister, lived on a balcony for a while. The drummer, and I lived on a balcony in Uddebo for two nights.

The title is inspired by Pretty Tied Up (subtitled "The Perils of Rock n Roll Decadence") by Guns N' Roses. And my brother thought the video was similar to Garden of Eden by the same band.

PÅ SVENSKA

Great Book About Being an Obsessive Fan

This year I’ve mainly read non-fiction to get inspiration for the Swenglish book I’m writing. The latest book I read is I was a teenage Toyah fan by Chris Limb.

Growing up being a massive Guns N’ Roses fan I could relate to Chris’s story of being an obsessive follower of a music artist. He writes extremely well, doesn’t waste his words and take us on an epic journey from being a nerdy 14-year-old to becoming part of Toyah’s unofficial fan club Angels & Demons and finally being asked to run Toyah’s official fan club, Tellurian.

I haven’t been that lucky with Guns N’ Roses. The closest I’ve come to meeting Axl Rose is seeing him on stage at Sweden Rock two years ago. However Chris’s story is very inspiring and life-affirming. Even if you’re not a Toyah fan you’ll hopefully get a lot out of reading the book as Chris reveals a lot of exciting episodes from his teenage years. He might be have been an obsessive fan, but was never a creepy stalker. I’m also struck by his accurate observations about how you obtained information about your idols before the time of Internet.

Coming-of-age combined with music what more could you wish for!

The book is available here and Chris has written an interesting account on Kindle sales here.

To see what I'm up to on my Swenglish journey please click here.

Guns N' Roses Sweden Rock Festival 2010

I first heard Guns N' Roses when I was 11, back in 1993. A guy in my class at school played Paradise City at a music lesson and it changed my life. The simple refrain "Take me down to the paradise city
where the grass is green and the girls are pretty"
stirred something inside me. I started dreaming of a better life, of getting away from my small town and find my own Paradise City. And I did find it years later. In Brighton.

When W. Axl Rose got on stage last night at Sweden Rock Festival I was exstatic, and when he sat down at the piano playing November Rain I was almost in tears. It didn't matter that he was 50 min late, arriving in a helicopter. I could forgive Axl for anything at that moment ... Waiting in the cold June rain was worth it!

For the past few years I haven't listened that much to GN'R, but being at the concert brought back so many memories. I have memories to every single song. (Even the new ones, as Chinese Democracy was my soundtrack when I travelled in New Zealand.)

There's so much energy, so much attitude, so many feelings ... I still love Axl Rose!

PS. I also got the title for my Swedish novel from Guns N'Roses as somebody once described their music as "punk industrial hard rock with attitude"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N08jCj4ikkU