Chimneys, Dreams And Goals.

A couple of dreams this week that stand out. One that I had, and another that a friend of mine had about me.

And yet they they held a number of similarities that suggest a few things to me. One of which is that I need to start aiming my sights slightly higher. I suppose that applies to my writing and publishing, but there are a couple of other areas where this holds true also.

I'm in the fortunate position of knowing a few people who have set goals and taken risks that I would never have dreamed of doing myself. And these people are achieving.

As an old friend of mine used to say, "Aim for the stars - even if you only hit the chimney."

I think sometimes I aim for the chimney, and then seem surprised if I don't always hit it.

Back Again.

I've been overseas for the past few weeks.  Four days in Paris, and the rest in the UK.  I went over for a wedding in Sheffield, but spent most of my time in Lincolnshire. And one day in London.

I was fortunate enough to get tickets for Frankenstein at the National Theatre, written by Nick Dear,  directed by Danny Boyle, scored by Underworld, and starring Johnny Lee Miller and Benedict Cumberbatch. Amazing!

In Lincoln I saw Feast of Fiddles, with the incredible Dave Mattacks on drums (I should have brought my Nonsuch CD for him to sign), Peter Knight from Steeleye Span, Chris Leslie from Fairport Convention, and a bunch of others that were incredibly talented, if unknown to me.

Paris? Well, that simply fulfilled a dream of mine - and I was able to eat my way through the entire four days.  Oh yeah, I can also recommend a great indie bookstore called I Love My Blender.

But the highlight of the trip? The wedding party up in Sheffield.  What fun that was, and everyone just had a wonderful time.

But now it's back to work.  Sigh.

Japan.

I spent six years living in Japan - four of those with a Japanese family. I met my wife there. My god-daughter lives there with her family. Her parents are close friends that we haven't seen in far too long.

A lot of the media is focussing on the unfolding nuclear crises.

I have been touched by the people around me who have asked whether I have any friends missing in the disaster. I don't.

My thoughts are with the Japanese people.

What A Great Weekend!

Coeur De Lion has selected one of my stories to appear in the forthcoming anthology Anywhere But Earth. I am thrilled and honoured by this, as I will be sharing pages with a number of well-known and respected writers. This will be a great anthology to keep an eye out for.

Last night I went to see Hawkwind with my friend, George. He's the one who introduced Hawkwind and Hard Rock/Metal to me all those years ago. And, to a great extent, the one who introduced me to Spec Fic. We had a great time, the show was fantastic, and Hawkwind was everything I hoped for.  Lights, videos and dancers wearing Dr. Who-type costumes. The support band, The Night Terrors, were a lot of fun too.

Imagine that - two bands with Theremins. I've always thought modern music needed more of that. Along with banjos, ukeleles and trombones.

And then I was pleased to bump into Paul and Trudi Canavan as I waited to get in.  I had met them before, but we were able to spend a bit of time chatting throughout the night. Trudi sketched the support band, while Paul and I didn't.

And then I came home to a rejection for another story - but the note from the editor was personal, encouraging and right on the money. Wish I'd had those comments before I sent it off. But it's been re-written already and currently sits with another market.

That's what it's all about - perseverance, and being prepared to learn. And having fun doing it all.

Why?

I've been thinking a lot about motivation recently, both extrinsic and intrinsic. I've been talking to my senior students about it over the past few weeks. But the reason I first started on this path of thought was because I was questioning my own.

About two weeks ago, it suddenly occurred to me that I hadn't done any real writing for about 5 weeks. Sure, I had lots of excuses - guests from overseas, the school year starting up with all the reading and lesson preparation that comes with it, and so on.  As I said, lots of excuses, but no real reasons.

And so two weeks ago I drew up a chart, a schedule that sets out a certain number of hours a week I plan to write. If I fail to complete an hour on the evening I choose, I can make it up later, but it has to be the same week. And so far (well, I'm into my third week) I've met my goals, and even exceeded them.

I plan to keep this up. And I tell my students how I've gone, and ask how they're going with their study.

On the up side, I've got all my stuff out on submission at the moment, and even had a couple of positive nibbles.  More on that later if I hook anything.

While I'm here, I'm looking for a couple of mags and books.


New Adventures in Sci-Fi by Sean Williams,
Aurealis, #37
Andromeda Spaceway Inflight Magazine #1, #2, #20

Please let me know if you can help out.

I Really Wanted To, Felicia!

Someone told me about The Guild. You know, the internet gaming sit-com created by Felicia Day and much loved by lots of people including Joss Whedon. They told me I'd love it, that it was right up my alley. So I went online, hunted it down and watched it.

The good news, with episodes that are around 4 minutes long, is that you can watch all four seasons in about a 20 minutes. (OK, so I exaggerate - I can't be bothered doing the maths) The bad news is it's extremely average. Sorry Felicia, I really, really wanted to love this.  Not that I hated it - I just wouldn't be worried if I missed future episodes.

On the other hand, no one told me about Generation Kill, or Spaced. Both wonderful, clever and well-written.  I loved both of these. Spaced I borrowed from the library, simply because I liked the cover, and Generation Kill I bought on a whim, based on its connection to The Wire.

I need to do that more often - act on a whim. As Mia said, it's more fun to be a pirate than to be in the navy.

Summer's Almost Gone.

When I was much younger, my favourite show on TV was The D-Generation. And then a few year's later it was The Late Show. And then over the years I've pretty much loved everything The D-Generation and Working Dog has produced, whether on TV or on the radio. In fact, for a while in the 80s, I dreamt of being part of their shows.

So when I bumped into Santo Cilauro in a supermarket down along the Great Ocean Road, and simply said "Santo" as if I was meeting up with an old friend, Santo smiled with a look of puzzlement as though he had no recollection of who I was and yet should have. (Sorry about that, Santo!) We chatted for a few minutes, I apologised for interrupting his shopping, and then he wished me a good holiday. It was only later that I realised I forgot to ask him what Working Dog were planning next.

I also booked tickets to go and see Hawkwind.  Yes, not only am I an SF tragic, but I'm also a an old metalhead. And so much the better if you can combine the two. Should be a good evening though.

In between all this I've started reviewing books for Dark Matter. That's been kind of cool too. Check out Issue One online. Issue two is well into production and should be with us soon.

And then I've been watching lots of film and reading lots of books too.  I even liked Bran Nue Dae, which I didn't think I would enjoy at all. But Mary Poppins was indeed a highlight of the summer.

Practically perfect in every way.