Life in a Sweat Box

I think I’m having a strange summer. The weather was beautiful until July (yes, I know us Brits are obsessed with the weather) and then it clouded over, trapping all the heat beneath and turning my little corner of the world into a clammy sweat box. I’m terrible when the climate is like this: I’m constantly uncomfortable and my brain turns to mush. I’m sure that knitting like a mad woman for the last two weeks to prepare for the upcoming street market I’ve signed on to do hasn’t made matters any better. Perhaps sitting for hours with a rapidly growing length of knitted fabric pooling on my lap isn’t the best way to cool down. I’m really looking forward to this market though. It’s in a village outside Exeter called Silverton on Saturday August 7 – Gates open at 10am (more details can be found on their website). I’ve actually attended this market before with a poorly thought out jewelry venture (basically, it was boxes of cheaply made costume jewelry gleaned from Ebay), but that was another lifetime ago. There’s always a theme at the Silverton Streetmarket and the locals dress up and compete in a fancy dress competition. This year the theme is musicals, so I’m hoping to see some Phantoms! (though I suppose the black cape would be a tad heavy for August…)

At least all the knitting has made me eager to start writing something new. I finished the first draft of Jinn Nation about two months ago; and I felt so drained when it was done I’ve barely started to edit it. Now though, a delicious kernel of a new idea is slowly turning and brewing in my overheated mind… I’m also planning to do something exciting with my zombie novella, The Undead Alliance – More details soon! I think knitting and crafting is a good excuse to let my mind wander and refresh itself, returning with new story ideas. I’ve been talking to some really interesting people through my radio show, Write Around Devon (every Thursday from 2-3pm UK! – www.riviera.fm) and last week I interviewed Susan Young, author of The Ultimate Defiance and creator of the Two Stories photographic exhibition. She’s also a keen wildlife photographer and she was telling me how waiting for hours, camera poised, for the perfect animal shot gave her plenty of time to plan her writing. I think this ‘planning’ time is important. Other people take a walk every morning and think about what they’re going to write that day. It all seems like quality procrastination to me and that’s where I am right now, entrenched in some high quality procrastination

I already have more local writers lined up to interview on the radio show and even more in the pipeline. Here’s a rundown:

22 July – Patricia Oxley – Creator and editor of the Acumen Literary Journal and organiser of the annual Torbay Poetry Festival.
29 July – Zion Lights – Author of More Things Should Be Thought Out Thus.
12 August – Graham Sclater – Author of Hatred is the Key.

I’m still looking for guests to interview and books to review, so if you’re a writer of anything in the South Devon area – fiction, non-fiction, poetry, even blogs – or if you have a new book out that you’d like to promote, send me an email and I’ll get you on the air

And finally… An old irritant has reared its ugly, botoxed head. Back in October, I pondered the question of why people buy glamour model Katie Price’s fiction when she openly admits to hiring a ghost-writer for every turd of a novel that has ever had the misfortune of having her name splashed across the cover. I never did get an answer. Well, she’s about to unleash more literary nonsense upon the world, prompting these search terms to pop up in my incoming links doo-dah on WordPress – “when is katie price next novel out” and “katie price new novel”. People!! If you’re so enamoured by novels to which the only contribution the so-called author has made is her name (and her signature on the hefty contracts), at least put me out of my misery and tell me why you read them. Please? Anyway… If you have come here from Google after following my ‘Katie Price’ tags, at least click this turgid link and send some Amazon Associates pennies my way (does this make me a two-faced, bandwagon-humping fool? Quite possibly).

Paradise (Hardcover) by ‘Katie Price’ – released July 22, 2010 (available for pre-order).

Blurb
When vacuous model Angel was forced to make a life-changing decision and choose between Ethan, the rich and famous Californian baseball player, and giving her marriage to poor-as-dirt, failing football player Cal another go, many were stunned when she picked Ethan. But life in LA is good: Ethan uses her and Honey to get his mug in all the celebrity magazines, making huge sums of cash; and their life could not be more glamorous. But nothing is perfect, and after a year together problems are beginning to surface: a stalker seems to have singled out Angel, her silicone implants have begun to sag; and when Ethan faces financial ruin the couple are ‘forced’ to star in a reality TV show about their life together, sickening the country and causing thousands to turn off their TVs in disgust. Despite everything, though, Angel is convinced that Ethan is the man for her. So why does she always feel breathless when Cal is around? (especially once he signs a new football contract and is able to buy a pink-painted mansion with a paddock out the back?) And why can’t she stop thinking about him and his new younger, even larger breasted girlfriend? But as the tabloid headlines have always been quick to point out, the path of true love for our moronic celebrity has not always been smooth (nor have the huge offers from OK Magazine for the exclusive rights to print pictures of her emergency bowel investigation always been forthcoming).

Sounds like a page turner!

Cazz Crafts

I’ve just found out I’ll be live on The Jon Atkins Show on Riviera FM, Mon 17 May at 7.00 PM to talk about my writing and new crafty venture, CazzCraft Riviera FM is a new community radio station broadcasting in Torquay, but anyone can listen in all over the world from their website: http://www.riviera.fm. I’m quite excited! (which is far better than being pants-wettingly terrified like I was before appearing on the radio for the first time last year…)

I think I’ll primarily be talking about CazzCraft, my new crafty business. I started this late last year to try and generate some extra money, and I’ve been really enjoying it I started by selling my hand-knitted items; and I’ll soon be branching out to sell my own knitting pattern collections (wooo, exciting!) It’s going fairly well so far. I exhibited my woolly wares at Exeter’s first KNIT expo in April and I’ll be attending a craft fair called Ladies Indulgence Day at the Passage House Hotel, Newton Abbot Devon on Saturday 9th October 2010 (email Melanie Tinne for more details). I also sell online at Etsy (US) and Folksy (UK). I make all sorts of gifts, accessories and clothes, but I think these original design faeries are my favourite creations…

Want to check out CazzCraft and maybe buy yourself some handmade goodness? (you know you want to!) I have a website and a blog.