News Archives: November 2005

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Cat Bites Dog

Cisco is definitely getting used to Tara. Our monster puppy was earlier lying on the floor, gnawing on a rawhide bone I was holding for her. (This is a current favourite of hers - she gets attention while dealing with the pain caused by dozens of teeth erupting.) Cisco walked over and sniffed at her. They ended up nose to nose, with Cisco not showing anything other than curiosity. Tara was even the one to turn away. Claire declared this "very cute", and Tara was very pleased, judging from the furiously wagging tail.

A few minutes later Cisco went over and patted at Tara's tail. She swished it, which in Cat means "play with me". I'm not sure she meant it that way. Certainly she didn't mean for this to be an invitation for him to grab hold with his teeth and tug. She jumped, he ran from the room, but returned two minutes later. Very nice to see he's relaxed around her now.

In other news, today I finished the first draft of The Man Who Killed Gods, chapter one. I still need to type it up, so no exact word count. I'm estimating about 4000. If I don't find more time to write, expect the first draft of the whole novel around Christmas 07...

Posted by graham @ 10:03 pm

Monday, November 14, 2005

Weekend

Another weekend passes all too quickly. Friday was Kai's birthday party. Claire talked geek toys, Keith drooled over Tara, and I mainly chatted with the birthday girl. All very pleasant.

Saturday we visited Claire's parents, then left the dog with them while we went shopping. Claire then returned to her parents while I joined my Mum at the Everly Brothers concert in the Glasgow armadillo. I suspect these days they're either forgotten or vastly under-rated, but I thoroughly enjoyed spending an evening listening to seven of the world's finest musicians playing some of the finest rock'n'roll and ballads ever written. The bagpiper was odd, though.

Sunday was necessarily quieter. Mainly walking the dog, housework, and telly. This evening Claire's been making patterns (with the odd spare hand from me) while I've filleted the salmon she bought earlier. Anyone who's worried about how Cisco is coping with the monster puppy should be reassured by the pair of them sitting side-by-side, under foot, begging for fish.

My last post has attracted a number of encouraging comments about my potential novel. The kinds of people I'd hope would want to read it appear to want to read it. Didn't find time for writing over the weekend, but I've written about 700 words since I wrote the last post, and should do more this week.

I do wonder what fraction of the people reading this blog have so far expressed interest in the book, and whether I can convince any publishers that this is statistically valid. "According to my market research, fifteen million people in Britain alone want to read this novel..."

Posted by graham @ 10:12 pm

Thursday, November 10, 2005

Tara, Parties, Gaiman, and a Novel

Wow, its been a while since I posted anything. Getting up at six every morning to look after a puppy does that - when I have time to write, I'm just too tired. Anyway, life at the moment revolves around Tara, our Celtic hound (well, what else do you call a Scottish deer hound, Irish wolf hound cross?) She's currently about two foot at the shoulder, four feet in length (plus tail) and utterly adorable. Except when she's grumping 'cos she's teething... Tuesday is now puppy training night, which is good if only to see other dogs far worse behaved than Tara. Wednesday Claire does her course, so I have Tara to myself, and Thursday is Claire's game. I'm not running anything at the minute, and not really missing it - but see above "tired" comment.

Our social life is still pretty good - various parties and visits to friends and family have happened. Halloween at the BCNS flat stands out, if only for costumes (Claire in new fairy queen with wings and corset, Ben in a dress, Caz as a far-too-cute pirate, hordes of zombies, etc.). Bonfire night at ours was pretty good too, with neighbours inadvertantly supplying most of the firework display. We had way too many people turned up early to "help out", for which we were grateful, but didn't have enough jobs to go round. Next time they can paint the shed or something... Tara is coping with the party animal life well, and seems pretty unbothered by everything, even fireworks, people in sleeping bags jumping around, and so on.

Work yesterday took me to Glasgow, with a gap in the schedule around the time that Neil Gaiman was signing books. I wandered in to see if I could get "American Gods" signed ("Anansi Boys" will turn up in my Christmas stocking). Queue was way too long, so had to leave, but did see the man himself chatting animatedly. Wouldn't have recognised him out of context, which is kind of a relief given he's one of the three authors I've any chance to know by sight. (Terry Pratchett and J K Rowlings being the others.) I've always thought that "writer famous" is the best kind of famous - thousands know your name, and tell you you're great (if only by buying your books) but there's little risk of being mobbed down the pub as the face isn't much part of the product. If I ever manage to finish a novel and get it published, that might be very valuable.

My novel attempt, "The Man Who Killed Gods", is currently progressing very slowly in the odd fifteen minutes I spend on trains, etc. Managing maybe a hundred to two hundred words a day. Kai has declared it is "close enough to a NANO", and issued me with the official stickers. I'm not so sure - at this rate it'll take me two years to hit the word count minimum... In case anyone cares, I've pasted the current version of the abstract below. (Is that the correct term? The bit that goes on the back of the book...) Anyway, if this sounds like a novel you'd like to read, feel free to encourage me or think of ways to get me to write faster.

The Man Who Killed Gods

Mark is a brilliant history student, with a potentially bright future in front of him. That is until one morning he wakes up and realises he knows nothing about his thesis topic. No one does. The archaic religion he's spent the last three years studying doesn't exist. Only the notes on Mark's computer indicates that it ever existed.

Is it possible to kill a mythology? To destroy a belief system so thoroughly that no-one even remembers its existence? And if so, who would do such a thing? Why? And when will he strike next?

A historian, a quantum mechanic, a psychologist, and a shaman are drawn together in a dangerous quest to uncover the Man Who Killed Gods.

Posted by graham @ 08:45 pm

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