I live 3 Miles from Love

Yesterday I went to the Catalyst Club at the Latest Bar in Brighton. One of the speakers was James Burt who did a brilliant talk on psychogeography and his experience of strange occurrences in Brighton.

Not far from where I live in Hove, about 3 miles from Brighton, I spotted this painted sign.

And the Birds Fell from the Sky

I'm exhausted (on the brink of seeing clowns!) after weeks of going to Brighton Fringe & Brighton Festival events. I hope to blog about them all at some point. At least I should have the time this week as I'm broke until payday ... Usually when the festival programmes first come out I feel a bit overwhelmed. There's too much on, and it's hard to pick what shows are worth seeing, and it still feels like I've missed stuff ...

One of the very first events I went to was "And the Birds Fell from the Sky" and that's definitely a show to check out. (There are tickets left for next weekend.)

"An immersive video goggle performance for two people, combining cinema and instruction based theatre to cast the audience as main character in a wild journey to the world of the Faruk Clown. Anarchic, dreamy and dangerous, ‘And The Birds Fell From the Sky’ takes you on a joyride inside your head all the way to the edge of civilisation."

I pretty much agree with the above statement. I went to the show with my friend Kristen and afterwards she asked what I thought was the point of the performance/event/show. And I couldn't really give her an answer ...I told her I felt sick in a good way, which is true. It felt like being inside one of James Burt's clown stories. Basically you get physically kidnapped by clowns ... and somewhere along the journey I got reminded of life: there's no real point, at least not one that we know of ... The only thing negative thing I have to say is that the show felt a bit short - just like life itself.

Clowntown

The Short Story evening at New Venture Theatre Friday went really quickly. You'd think that you'd feel exhausted after hearing nine stories, but I wanted more! Although it was nice to have time to catch up with people in the bar after.

It adds to the entertainment factor that actors are reading out the stories submitted by writers. Gayle Dudley who read my story Clowntown was brilliant and made the story more justice than I could've done myself, putting on a very creepy low clown voice.
I got the inspiration for Clowntown when I was in Ireland and came across a tattoo shop in Ennis called Clowntown. Also James Burt had challenged me to write a story about a clown ... His device is to add a clown to your writing whenever you get stuck ...

This is the beginning of Clowntown:
"Penny didn’t look happy when I turned up at her doorstep after dark. It wasn’t just that I was late and the food had gone cold – I’d brought a clown with me."

Other highlights of the night was the host Sarah Charsley's story Ghost Sex (the title says it all!), and Louise Hume's story about a woman who preferred a house to a man. Needles to say the theme for the evening was Into the Dark.

Write Club - not for the faint-hearted

Whether you're a beginner, suffering from writer's block or just want a break from that god-damned serious novel you're working on to have some fun - Write Club is for you.

James Burt and Ellen De Vries run a monthly event at the Skiff in Brighton. People get together, not to fight but to write flash fiction or poetry. The evening is divided into different rounds where the participants are invited to write for either 2,3,4,5 or 10 minutes inspired by a picture projected on the wall.

The first rule is: Don't apologise

That's why Write Club is not for the faint-hearted. After each round you have to read out loud what you have written. But the great thing is that nobody is allowed to apologise. This adds to the atmosphere and takes away some of that seriousness and pressure. Nobody expects you to come up with a masterpiece in five minutes. Although some of the writing is so good it makes me jealous ...

I've mentioned it before, but I think all writers whether professional or not, need time to PLAY. I often make the mistake of just sitting down thinking "now I'm going to work on this particular story" and then I feel frightened and blocked. To get going I need to write a lot of rubbish before I begin. Write Club helps you to keep the writing muscles going. Just like a runner is stupid to do a marathon without exercising beforehand a writer is stupid to write a novel without doing some exercises now and again. I don't think I'll use any of the stuff I wrote at Write Club to work on. I joined in for sheer pleasure, pen against paper, letting the stream of conciousness flow ...

As a bonus a piece of cake was thrown in as inspiration among the photographs at the last session. For ten minutes you were supposed to write about your cake-eating experience, but as I'm having a sugar free (and alcohol-free) month I got an apple instead ...

This is part of what I wrote:

"You can't eat an apple in silence.
Not the kind of snack you reach for in a tent
with somebone sleeping next to you.
You'd want something soft
like a banana, or a cake ..."

Next Write Club session is in October, but James and Ellen are also hosting other workshops. Check it out here.

Greetings from Nässjö, Sweden

I can't believe that I've been in my hometown, Nässjö, for a week now. I thought I would have loads of time to write and read and walk. But I've ended up being very sociable catching up with family and friends.

Something that is a bit annoying though is that you can't even go out for a drink. There are no pubs in Nässjö. English people might think it's a joke, but it's true. The only pub there was has been closed for renovation for more than six months! So me and my friend had to go to the hotel bar that closed at 10.30pm and was empty apart from a few businessmen staying at the hotel ...

On the bright side though there's a yearly poetry festival in Nässjö. I've always missed it as I live in Brighton, and when I still lived here I was too young to appreciate poetry. Yesterday I saw some readings from some of Sweden's finest poets and there was also a brilliant poetry slam to finish the evening off.

Another bright thing is that my short story, Relax Johnny Boy, have some fun!, was accepted for the Are you sitting comfortably? Pyjama Party in the Brighton Basement next Saturday, 19 June. I was also happy to find out that one of James Burt's stories was accepted as well.



Today me and my brother are off to a festival outside Sölvesborg called Sweden Rock. Mainly to see my old hero W. Axl Rose ... Catch you later!

Death & The End

Today I woke up feeling a bit like I look in the picture. (The picture is from the morning after a party back in September.) I don't know what brought on this feeling. I've been on a real writing high lately and I really enjoyed last night - went to a Halloween event at the Marlborough Theatre called Fear of the dark hosted by James Burt and Glue Gun91 with special guests Kay Sexton and Bernadette Cremin. I saw a swan and a woman dying on stage. Among other acts there was also a a sinister dog walker, a story about a gang of brutal clowns and a harp player.

Maybe my miserable morning is due too much alcohol. That's not true though - only three pints over the course of four hours.

Maybe my miserable morning is due to spending too much time in my own little bubble writing. That's not true either. I had a great time Saturday with Sue Pearson, walking about in town at the White Night. Sunday I met up with Sue again for our regular "creative meeting" where we encourage each other and exchange ideas. Monday I went to a new event as part of Write Club at the Skiff, hosted by Ellen de Vries and James Burt. Really refreshing! As I'm so serious about my novel work it was nice to do some exercises to get back into play mood. First we wrote for 15 min, then 10, 5 and finally 2 minutes. As inspiration we looked at four different pictures. I found it quite a challenge to write about the abstract ones ...

Maybe my miserable morning is due to that I found out that someone I thought was travelling died before she even left the country ... and that was a year ago. This might be true. I didn't know this person very well, but it still shocked me.

So ... I have to get myself together. The final feedback on Replacing Angel has arrived from my editor (who was one of the people in the show yesterday!). I've worked on the first two thirds, so that leaves me with the third third - the end. I'm happy with the end, but again there are some gaps to be filled in. I need to write about a bittersweet goodbye. And one of the characters who's in the background most of the story now needs to get a lot of space - as she plays an important role in the end ... Apparently I also need to work on my sex scenes ... Tough as my interest in sex is as big as my interest in the life of frogs at the moment.