Yesterday, I finished Kate Summerscale's fantastic "The Suspicions of Mr Whicher". It is a truly fascinating read, especially for people like me who are very interested in the Victorian era. The wealth of details about life as it was at the time is positively staggering.
It also goes deep under the skin of so-called Victorian respectability, and its unravelling and unveiling of what is going on within a supposedly respectable, close-knit middle-class family rings incredibly true and is genuinely sinister and twisted. I have never been one for family, and this book describes the simmering frustration, jealousy, sexual obsession, silent war, liaisons, alliances, unspoken emotions so very well.

The crime at the centre of the book, the Road Hill murder, and the real-life detective Whicher, one of the first detectives in England, have inspired a lot of authors including Dickens and Wilkie Collins. Collins' '"The Moonstone" in particular reprises quite a few of the settings and elements that were present in the Road Hill murder.
So I have decided to follow up "The Suspicions..." with "The Moonstone".

This will not be the first time I have read the book, and it won't be the second time either...
I studied "The Moonstone" as part of my Postgraduate English Teacher Training course back in 1995-1996 (I cannot believe it is that long ago!)  
I still have the book I used at the time, and it is full of underlined sentences and paragraphs, annotations and scribbles. 
At the time, I read the book 4 times in its entirety (it's even written on the first page, "4 READINGS" I was that obsessive about my studies!) and probably more in bits over time while studying the various aspects of the novel...
So I will be reading this book again after all these years and I will try and ignore the graffiti dating from almost 20 years ago (urgh I feel old now!).

One of my favourite artists/writers has a new website, with pictures of her art, photography and tattoo work, reviews and extracts of her novels and poetry and an extensive biography. Go and have a browse... and discover a very talented lady!

http://www.joolzdenby.co.uk/

I have just read an interesting article about how the Spring and Summer seasons can turn into Hell for depression sufferers. Indeed, even though everything seems to be all about sunshine, barbecues, holidays, flowers, social gatherings and festivals, it is not the case for everyone. Of course, psychologists and such like have to put a silly label on it - "Reverse sad" - but it is good to read about it on a mainstream website because yes, it does exist, and yes, it is horrendous and debilitating.

The article is here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13546925

In the Summer of 2001, I was just starting to come out of the worst bout of depression I'd ever had, but was still seriously licking my wounds. The Summer terrified me. I stayed locked up in my room for two months. Ultimately, by September, the Black Wave came back with a vengeance and was to last another 4 months.
I have now won the battle and no longer feel the way I did about the Summer season - although you'd never catch me on a beach wearing a bikini, and I do wear black whenever I want to!
The advantage in Britain is that the temperature rarely goes over 25 degrees, which is my limit... Over this I cannot function properly.  

During the Summer of 2001, I wrote a lot, and completed quite a few of the texts that make up the - yet unpublished - "Dysfunctions" collection.
Reading this BBC article made me think of the text "Today's the Day" from the aforementioned collection, and I am adding it below. It is not fun, but life isn't always a b, is it?

TODAY’S THE DAY

Today’s a good day to die,

Coz the sun is shining

And now blue is the sky

Pretty girls are smiling

Today’s a good day to die

Because now it is summer

Everything’s covered in silver dye

Eyes the colour of amber

Today’s a good day to die

Seduction is on its way

And warm is the alibi

Everyone comes out and play

Today’s a good day to die

Please let me stay in here

If I’d got out,

I’d melt and cry

Leave me alone with all my fears

Today’s a good day to die

I can hear the screams of children

They are all so innocent and high

Pain always comes all of a sudden

Today’s a good day to die

‘coz I’m tired of my face

Now there’s nothing to deny

There’s nothing left but bareness


Today’s the first day of Summer

Definitely the best day to die 

 

 

 

 

The Book of Thoth is stuck in 2011... I am going through the motions but am growing impatient. I need to get my character out of the present as soon as possible and send him back to 1924. I am reading the background story I wrote in January and wonder how on earth I have managed to make things that complicated. I need to keep track of the story and characters' actions and behaviour... 

I had given myself December 2011 as a deadline for the manuscript of this second novel, but now, I genuinely do not think this is going to be possible. I have a lot of research to do still and it looks like only Draft 1 might be finished by December, with a lot of re-writing to do early 2012.

I am thinking about getting a kitten to keep me company on the tortuous path to the end of my novel... He or She could give me some feline pieces of advice or wisdom. After all, cats were sacred animals in ancient Egypt, weren't they?

Here is a little link to a profile of Bastet, the cat goddess and "Devouring Lady": http://inanna.virtualave.net/bastet.html

A very attractive, interesting character...

What is it with British TV that each time anything is vaguely related to France, there is some dreary accordion music playing in the background?
Mind you, I am not sure I would like any other kind of French "popular" music on there, it is usually so abysmal. And I don't think I could cope with yet another screeching Edith Piaf rendition.
Anyhow, the picture above is captioned: "Accordion gets you chicks".

This illustrates a blog about the month of June being "Accordion Awareness month" (now you're aware!) found on the incredibly promising named blog "Adventures of Accordion Guy in the 21st Century", which you can find here: http://www.joeydevilla.com/2009/06/01/its-the-20th-anniversary-of-accordion-awareness-month/

Granted, the guy is Italian, but the French don't have a monopoly on accordion, now, do they?

I have always loved illustrations in newspapers. Especially the funny ones that illustrate the news stories of the day. I am glad that in those days of digital revolution and contemporary art, newspapers and magazines still commission sketches and caricatures.
When I was commuting, I loved the little black and white illustration on the front page of the Metro free newspaper, the Nemi comic strip (not funny all the time, though) and the "This Life" strip (by Rick Brookes) on the same page .

The cartoon museum in Little Russell Street in Central London is a lovely place for people who are interested in the history of cartoon and illustration: http://www.cartoonmuseum.org.whisky.webhoster.co.uk/site/index.html

This weekend in the Sunday Times, there were two excellent illustrations and I have scanned them!

Obama is still in London, and it is an awful circus, isn't it? Even though I think his policies (or lack of) have been a massive disappointment (Libya, anyone?) I haven't changed my mind about the fact that this guy (and his wife) look like the most intelligent power couple in the world right now. Cameron, Sarkozy and Co just look plain silly compared to him. He certainly makes a credible, serious president, and I do hope he will be reelected.
Anyhow, I just adore the illustration below, it is incredibly cute in so many ways.

Today, I have managed to do some writing, the first time in ages... 1,250 words, yay!
It is not easy to get back into it, and it will probably take another few days to be fully immersed in the story again. I just hope I won't get disrupted for the next 10 days, at the end of which I will be going away to Dorset to recharge my batteries which are in desperate need of some air. The winter has been a long one, and I have had to be extremely careful with my money as I haven't been earning very much as a freelancer.
Over the past year and a half, it has been much better to be rich with time rather than money though... We need to learn what we really want in life, and any choice we make will require some form of compromise.,

Most days, I look like this cross little fella in the middle... Especially when on the Tube...
Only I'm not that bright yellow...

My dear collaborator Sabine T (http://www.wix.com/sabine_t/art-and-illustration) will be exhibiting as part of a group exhibition organised by the Candid Arts organisation (www.candidarts.com). She will be showing some of her Art Nouveau-inspired series...

Candid Arts, 3 Torrens Street, London EC1

It's amazing what you can find within the pages of vintage magazines... This fantastic ad was found in a French knitting magazine called "Mon Ouvrage, Madame" (from, I guess, the woman's magazine "Madame Figaro", I recognize the font of the title...), 1962.
If you flick through this type of magazines, you are bound to be taken aback by the frankness, the oddness and the non-PC feel of the ads... Refreshing, entertaining and... slightly worrying!