Category: The Book
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Janapar’s Release Date (And How To Jump The Queue)
Yesterday morning I sat down in front of my laptop and went on an adventure. I went first to Turkey via the whole of Europe, across which I hitch-hiked in a couple of seconds. Just as well, really, that I could barely recall the terrifying ride with an Azeri in a BMW into Istanbul. But I did remember the friendly sight of barbed-wire and sentry-towers that welcomed me into Syria. By coffee-time, I had dredged up the weeks I spent cycling feverishly through a wet Levantine winter, compressed them into a couple of paragraphs, and transcribed myself moaning into a video… Continue reading →
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UPDATE: Kickstarter Target Reached! [Safe-For-Work Video Version]
[vimeo 52935602 w=770&h=433] Continue reading →
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Diary Of A Writer At 7:29am On A Thursday Morning
Sitting in my flat by the heater with the dregs of a cuppa, I started to wonder about writing a past-tense narrative of the absolute present, extracting not just a storyline but flashes of vocabulary and what I suppose might be deemed ‘creative bursts’ from my own head and spelling them out (no pun intended) on the screen in front of me. Pale blue dots pierced my vision from below; the stalwart glow of a pair of tiny travel loudspeakers, unedited and vague beneath the bevelled edge of the monitor. I wondered, suddenly, if people from the future would recognise… Continue reading →
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Be The First To Read ‘Janapar’ By Supporting The Kickstarter Campaign
One of the reasons that my blog has been quiet in recent weeks is because of a mammoth push forward with my big writing project. The book of Janapar is now in its penultimate draft form, and I’m putting together a team to take the publishing process to completion. I’m really excited to announce that I’m opening this up to your involvement through a brand new Kickstarter UK campaign, which launches today! But rather than pen yet more words (trust me, I’ve written enough recently), I’ve recorded you a video appeal: (Click here if you’re having trouble seeing this video.) Continue reading →
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Writer’s Blog: If You Were A Fly On The Wall
If you were a fly on the wall, you’d be forgiven for thinking me insane. There are three empty bedrooms in the house, but every night I lay down to sleep in the back garden. There are two good showers here, too, but I hang a bag of water up outside and wash beneath it. I could prepare elaborate meals in the fully-featured kitchen, but instead I eat only bread and cheese, or what I can cook in one pot. And I could listen to any piece of music, from any genre, or any point in time, but I listen only… Continue reading →
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Writer’s Blog: Exhaustion, Frustration, And Other Unexpected Joys
I had no idea that writing a book would be this difficult. Continue reading →
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Are Book-Writing And Film-Making The Same Thing?
Subjects are nouns, their actions are verbs, their appearances adjectives. A sentence is a single shot, while a paragraph is a sequence of them. Paragraphs are built into chapters, and sequences are built into stories. Then chapters are assembled into books; stories into films. The viewfinder is my vocabulary. The focus ring and exposure dial are my spelling and grammar. These are basic things that I’d better get right. And I need a good mixture of context and detail, otherwise my tale will become muddled and hard to understand. Continue reading →
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Is This What They Mean By Writer’s Block?
I’m ashamed to say that I’m supposed to be writing my book right now. Or rather, editing it and rewriting as necessary. Having found the perfect location to work on the project, and having spent the last two days reading through the 87,000 words I put to rest back in the summer, I am intimidated by the prospect of digging back into the words. So this blog post is emerging as a vocalisation of that concern. Continue reading →
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Janapar: A Long-Awaited Title (Thanks To You)
Writing and filming the bloody thing was the easy bit. After months of fruitless pondering and a last-minute flurry of readers’ ideas from Turn to Tom’s Bike Trip: What Not To Do If You Want To Cycle Round The World, it was only last night I finally decided on a title: Janapar. Most people’s reaction so far has been along the lines of “Hmmm… interesting…” (whilst stroking their chin thoughtfully) “…so what does it mean?” Continue reading →
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Writer’s Blog: On Adventure Travel Literature
Why write a book anyway? There seems to be a welter of expedition and adventure literature hitting the shelves at the moment, along with a growing surge in high-profile expeditioning. Continue reading →