Isle of Skye

The following entry was posted some time ago and for some reason did not appear on the blog. I repost it for completeness after this intro. I am now in one of the remotest locations on mainland UK, researching the area as a possible setting for a future book in the Dreamwords Series. It really is beautiful.

Posted earlier from Skye:

I have been on the hill for a week now, making my mistakes with the camera, writing my journal and re-reading Dreamwords as I put the final touches to the manuscript.
The location is the Isle of Skye on the west coast of Scotland. Dreamwords begins in present-day Edinburgh before jumping a thousand years into the future. There, the story is split between two locations: Edinburgh Castle and the Isle of Skye. This is why I am here. After so long working from memory of the place and supplemented by maps, it is amazing to be 'on location'. I picked the setting, in part, because I love it so. Thus, it's a real treat to be here.
To the South West of the Island, the Black Cuilin mountains rise dramatically from the sea, their towering cliffs demanding respect, the rugged beauty embellished by blue lochs, wild weather and wild creatures of the sea and sky.
What would this be like a thousand years from now? Probably much the same.
Central to the tale, is the coastline running from the village of Elgol, along to the secluded bay at Camasunary and then over The Bad Step into Loch Coruisk. I write this from the mountain bothy at Camasunary, with gratitude to those people who maintain such a place without pay, to the owners who donate its use and to the system that fosters such generosity of spirit in order to encourage lovers of wild country to get out there and just do it. There are dozens of such places spread throughout Scotland, all open for anyone to use without cost or even having to ask for permission; all set in fabulous, remote, areas. Here you might be alone with your thoughts one minute and the next sharing a fire with a party of like-minded strangers.
Last night, in one such encounter, a young German couple and a trio of Australians (one originally from Glasgow) sat late, chatting in front of a roaring fire, sharing a small dram of whisky as the deer strolled past the darkening view beyond the large, double-glazed window. The Australians were theatre, video and music professionals and so we enjoyed a song and a tune.
This morning I got expert tuition and advice from a director of photography about camera and documentary techniques. A chance encounter in the middle of nowhere. Now, how cool is that?

A Twist in the Road

A deal with National Express took me to London and back for £2, allowing me the privilege of sharing time with some of my favourite people. The contrast with life on the hill and the city is enormous and dipping between these worlds puts each in sharp focus. Through such contrasts, the joy of being relatively poor is sharpened. No, I'm not saying that having no money is my preferred state but that, like anything in life, it really has a positive side. It forces you to be resourceful, pushes you to act beyond your comfort zone and helps put things into perspective. Hunger is the best spice and the little luxuries, through the prism of this perspective, become precious experiences that the wealthy cannot afford.

Thinking of this, I want to share my world with others. Writing is one avenue and someday, with luck and perseverance, I will succeed. I can never be accused of being in a hurry to make it big - this project, this game I am playing with my life, is a long-term commitment and I will continue to look for new ways to express myself and share my journey with others.

At the limit of my finances, I can still draw on a lifetime of good credit. And, as long as I continue to choose adventure over insurance, I will stay in control long enough to bring the dream home. This is why I have just spent the equivalent of $6,000 on High Definition video equipment - a small price for some but a year of increased penury for me. The way I see it, I cannot afford to live like others and remain free to do what I do. The reality is that I am already homeless. I would never waste my credit-card to buy a year in a bed - it would be a short-term comfort. This way, I might eventually have something to show for the financial risk and the discomfort that is sure to follow.

I can understand why people might think me mad but I intend to document the next year of my life. The logistics of such a task are intimidating. Carrying my world on my back, I now have to contend with a heavy camera, a tripod, more power problems and the worry of damaging equipment I cannot afford to replace. To add to this, I must be ruthless with myself to make room for the new paraphernalia. Gone is the big tent, replaced – for now at least – with something weighing in close to that of a bag of sugar. Gone are unnecessary items such as tea bags, coffee, milk and even a cup. Gone are spare, spare clothes and a heavy, warm sleeping bag. Perhaps, as I get fitter and gain a better understanding of how to make this work, I can add some of these things back but, for now, I'm sure I can survive with what I have.

With no experience in film-making I hope, nevertheless, to capture the beauty of Scotland and share with you and others a little of the adventure I am on. In a year's time, I want to look back with you and see and hear, as well as read, about what happens next. I have no idea what that 'happening' will be but have no doubt that, condensed to documentary form, it should be pretty damned interesting. I will continue to write, to explore the setting for my novels, to edit and complete Dreamwords and to deal with the harsh realities of publishing from a tent.

For the next week, as I await delivery of equipment, I will stay with family. I then need to take some time to learn the basics of making a documentary on a zero budget and with limited resources. This should not take long – I will make my mistakes and learn as I go. I am excited in having a new challenge, particularly one that fits so well with what I am already doing and compliments my writing.

Life is good.

The Office

I write this blog entry from my tent in the Scottish Highlands on a lovely sunny day. For the past three months I have been writing from Croatia and before that spent a wonderful three months getting to know a little of India's Mumbai. You might wonder how someone can manage such a life while living on a tiny budget. The easy answer is that I am lucky to have good friends and family but the more interesting one is that, once you shake the mundane expectations of society, once you free yourself from the burden of insurance, it is incredible how little you need to be happy. With 40% of Britons proclaiming dissatisfaction with their lives and work, there are millions of people who would benefit from really understanding that message. Many will have young children and other responsibilities that restrict their choices but even they could gain by refocusing on what is important.
To some, I have opted out of society but that is not true. A couple of years ago I was asked by Sky TV to take part in a documentary about people who had done just that. I declined, explaining that that is not what I had done. I simply took my ambitions and shaped them to my skills and means. Technically, I am unemployed and homeless but this simple definition belies the truth. I probably work harder than many people in so-called gainful employment. I write almost every day. I continue with the Dreamwords series. The current novel is at 700 pages as I try to edit it down to size. True, I write this entry from a tent because I cannot afford a home, but I could get state help and chose not to do so. I have a modest income that just supports what I do and allows me the freedom to work for tomorrow and live for today.
Such a life is not for most and I would not encourage dissatisfied workers to run away from home and live on the streets. My story makes my solution work for me but, for each person, the exercise of taking inventory, of sloughing physical and unnecessary baggage in order to get a life, of examining what you (and your loved ones if appropriate) really need, is one we should all undertake every now and then. When you include tax, the expensive home near work, the extra clothes you have to buy, the extra car, fuel or public transport to and from work, the cost of treats to de-stress yourself, the desperate annual holiday, the expense of after-work drinks or gym membership - when every item is included in the inventory, you will be amazed at how much you are spending simply to fuel the work you are so dissatisfied with. I live well and happily on a pittance and yet used to struggle on a healthy salary. This is not a spiritual thing, a life of self-denial. Someday I hope to earn enough by writing to afford a house again. I would love to send my son a ticket to join me in a nice hotel somewhere. The truth is that, in my other life, I was too busy, too stressed, too focused on other people's priorities to do what I knew I should. Either by personal mismanagement or poor focus, I was easily one of those 40%. Now I am not.

As a novelist, I have never felt the need to update this blog regularly. Practicalities made it difficult and, in any case, it would have been boring. I doubt if many people would be interested to hear that I sat alone and created two pages on a Tuesday and then rewrote one of them on the Wednesday - on and on for years. Writers, by the nature of their self-imposed isolation, are not always the most interesting of people - in a day-to-day journal sense at least. However, I now have the perfect technological set-up. Most of my power problems are resolved to the point that I am geared to keep writing for the five month period ahead, directly from my tent. I may have to climb a mountain on occasion to get a signal, but I should be able to increase my blog posts during this time to explain what I am doing, where and why.
I hope, in this way, to open a door on a world that is normally closed to the rest of you living in Normal-Land. With luck, I will inspire some to wonder what they could do to change their lives for the better.
In the process, I will explain what equipment I use, how I write without mains electricity in a country not known for its solar gift to the nation, how I maintain a net connection, two mobile phones, music and even watch the occasional movie, how I defeat loneliness, overcome inertia, stay positive and healthy, keep up with the news, remain engaged with the rest of the world - in short, how I survive and thrive in the most incredible office in the world. I am sometimes asked the question: How can you spoil your enjoyment of such a place by polluting it with electronics? This is the wrong question. Technology allows me to work anywhere, so why would I choose a bland, expensive box in an uninspiring setting when I can be here?

Of course, all of this assumes I do not fall and break a leg, drown while crossing a river or perish in one of the violent storms sure to come my way. But, hey, there is a price for everything.

The photo is taken of and from my mobile office.

Welcome to my world.

Dreamwords II

Writing novels is a slow and solitary process. Last May, I finished what I’d planned for Dreamwords and then set off for London to join the real world for the summer. The idea was to eventually return to the book with a fresh eye and polish it to the point where I would be happy to approach agents. Everything is now as it should be except for one tiny detail. The story does not want to end. Publishers are wary of new authors and pitching a hefty tome at them is not usually a good idea. The dilemma is this: an artificial ending (with promise of the next book to come) or continue until the story is complete?

Tom Corven was a scratch on the surface of a large world that roamed my imagination. With Dreamwords, that world is being realized. I enjoy creating it but worry about its length. I really have no choice but to continue writing what would have been Book Two in the hope that I discover a natural break before it’s complete. To that end, I now return to Croatia to isolate myself for three months of intense work. In an ideal world I will emerge with the ending that Dreamwords requires and the first draft of Book Two. I do hope so. I do not wish to break some poor postman’s back with a manuscript that bounces on and off an agent’s desk with the force of a dam-busting bomb.

Every now and then, I am tempted to podcast what I have done with Dreamwords. I love the immediacy of the medium and the connection it fosters with its listeners. The publishing world is changing and podcasting will pay a small role in shaping that change. A more significant vector, however, will be the Amazon Kindle and perhaps derivatives born from the new screen designed by the One Laptop per Child Foundation. I am convinced that booklovers will discover that the book they love is in its content and not the form it takes. Once a large proportion of readers become digital, all the problems of the music business will fall on the shoulders of the publishing world.

There are some signs that publishers are engaging with this issue and I hope they have some success. Many unknown writers pray for the day that their genius will be discovered despite those big, bad suits who are blind to all but the bottom line. I agree that changes are needed but I can also tell you that the overheads of self-publicity and the business of publishing carry a high price. Not only do they take the author away from his or her real work but also the qualities that allow someone to bury themselves away in their dreams for months and years at a time are often at odds with the business of selling books.

As I watch and try to steer the wave of change sweeping all of us involved with selling dreams, my hopes for the future are maturing. With any luck we will see publishers adapting to a new role. What we need is an automated social site where readers push their favorite new writers into the view of publishers. Publishers then skim off the top layer and take the promotion and business burden from the artists’ shoulders. In this scenario, publisher and agent merge and the business slims down. This may take ten years or more but change will come. There is a great opportunity waiting for those holding the reigns right now. The savvy players will make this happen before it happens to them.

Being Ugly, Lazy and Unsociable

Hi everyone! I am just reconnecting to the web for a couple of days to let people know that I have not disappeared from the face of the Earth.

First I’d like to welcome Liz as another Friend of TC.

I’m sure you’re all wondering what I’ve been up to. I would need to write a book about it to do the story justice and perhaps one day I will. However, until then, here is a brief summary that omits much of the juicy details, but at least gives you an idea of where I am going and what I’ve been doing.

After finishing Tom Corven, and in particular throughout last year, I found the publicity drive and my natural tendency to obsessive research, led me to a period of low output (as far as my writing was concerned.) I’m not sorry about this because life has many dimensions and writing is simply one of them. However, Dreamwords was burning away inside me and I knew I had to do something drastic to feed the creative genie that got things done.

Over the last few months, I lived in Spain for a while and then returned to Croatia. I did this thinking that going to a country where I knew no one would remove any social excuse I might invent for my lack of progress. Nothing is wasted in a writer’s life and the adventure I had there is definitely one for a future book. As an example of this, I was in the mountains and was bitten in the face about 50 times by mosquitoes. I had a huge reaction and spent a couple of weeks looking like I had been in a violent fight. Since my Spanish is virtually non-existent, it was pretty tough to get by socially and for a while I felt completely isolated. (Walking along the road I would see people recoil as they saw me). This sensation is a rare insight into an area I hope most of us do not experience. It was so profound that I changed the main character in Dreamwords to take advantage of the feelings that accompanied that period. Once the swelling went down, my time in Spain was great, but it was expensive and no more productive than Croatia.

After Spain, a friend offered me his apartment in Croatia while he was in the UK for a month. I returned to Split and knew immediately it was where I should be. It was like coming home.

When I resigned my commission to write, it was with the clear intention of turning a safe life into one of risk and adventure. I expected so many problems and hoped for some success, but in reality, while it has been tough at times, I am continually surprised by the quality of life such a move has provided. It is rich and full of friends I would never have met if I’d taken the red pill.

This was once again demonstrated by the friend mentioned above (Giles) and another group I met out here (Angus and Tina, Mark and Katie) who offered me their beautiful house for a few months. Surrounded by forest, as I write this, I am looking out over the trees to the Adriatic and the Island of Hvar. Isolated in a remote part of the Island of Brac, I have found the magic formula for productivity. No TV, no web, no email, no newspapers, no neighbours, no restaurants, no bars. I have no excuses left and do not feel that I need them. Prevarication is gone and Dreamwords is sparking from my fingers and onto the keyboard in a storm of creativity. In the end, I started from page one again and now, after only two months, the novel already exceeds the length of Tom Corven. I have no doubt whatsoever that it will be complete by the end of April. From there I will spend the next couple of months making it the best I can by rewrites, reviews and edits.

The web is such a fantastic tool, but it can sap you dry if you let it. For this reason, I will continue to keep my distance until I’ve finished the first draft and have something to offer my readers for their patience. From then on I’ll parcel off a few months each year to break the back of each subsequent book and engage more fully with my friends out there for the rest of the time.

As I’ve said before, I appreciate your interest in reading this and suggest that the best way to receive updates is by signing up to the newsletter. I always welcome emails and will do my best to answer them each time I hit the web café in Split. If you don’t hear from me, please be patient, I’m probably in a dream in some remote place having the time of my life.

Everything I’ve learned in the past fifteen years of writing is going into the creation of Dreamwords. While TC was written and recorded live without editing, years of thought coupled with multiple writes and rewrites will have gone into its successor. I’m really excited by the project and have set myself the challenge of getting the novel to a mass-market – and, with that in mind, I must back off from the web again and get back to work.

Sunny Spain

Over the last few weeks, I have been bowled over by making another couple of sales; welcome to Tina and Angus and also to Ventsislav.

Spain is pretty fine although, since I´ve somehow ended up in Torremolinos, it's a little too touristy for my taste. My fault I know but at least I'm finding lots of time to write.

There are very few things that would entice me away from Dreamwords at the moment. It feels right and when the flow is on, you just want to be left in peace to work it. However there are other things in life and as a writer it's important not to become too isolated. I have been quite fascinated by what's going on with a small company called Steorn, in Ireland. By all accounts they make claims that the scientist in me wants to slap away and say 'don't be stupid' but the optimist in me is hooked into watching them a little closer than I would otherwise think sensible.

Despite my reservations I wonder that there may be something important going on here - either that or I´m going to have more egg on my face than the last time I was duped into believing in little green men. (This was around 30 years ago when I was hooked by Erich von Däniken who made all sorts of wild claims that turned out to be nonsense. Since then I´ve always been a sceptic. I have a disinclination to 'believe' unless I can see, touch and measure something for myself).

Anyway, have a look for yourself. They are at www.steorn.com

Whether true or not, I now have their device in Dreamwords. In SF when a new energy force is discovered, it tends to revolve around some exotic material which is used as fuel. Without giving too much away there are elements in Dreamwords that involve a mix of the old and the new. Having what sounds like a simple device that can give us limitless energy is something that is a gift to fiction even if it turns out not to be in fact.

For my part, I intend to look at this thing a little closer. I'm off to a party in Dublin organised by the company. I'll keep you posted.

Paul

An Update

As an element in the process of capturing the public imagination, the Special Edition has been a great experience and success. I say this despite the fact that, so far, I have only sold 14 copies. Ask any unpublished author whether they think they could sell 14 of their unknown novels for $500 each and I think we can guess the answer. Still, the reality of the situation is that I have a choice between continuing with this or moving on with my new idea. For my backers, I would say that the best thing to do is take the route most likely to work. Although I am still open to working with publishers and agents, my fundamental trust lies with the public and I continue to look for ways to engage directly with people. I have no illusions about how difficult this will be. But....

I love challenges.

For those who have and continue to support me, I thank you and will try my best to deserve it. For all my backers, no matter what happens, you will always have the right to complete the purchase even if I make it by another route and the transaction becomes a one-way deal in your favour. I will not grudge a penny.

I am in the full swing of writing Dreamwords and will probably have my head down for a while, but will still post here when I think I have something to say that you might want to hear.

The best way to learn what is going on is by registering for the newsletter. That way, you don't have to check the blog for irregular updates.

Thanks, as always,

Paul