No book writing for a bit, I need to EARN.

So I am translating. It is not fun because it doesn't make much sense in either language... Corporate educational speak, ouch!

I've never seen any movie with Beatrice Dalle because none of them has ever interested me. I don't like French cinema. I have seen only a handful of enjoyable French movies. 
I am not even sure she is a good actress, although she's probably quite interesting to watch because she has so much personality.
But.
What a woman.
She's a real one: a strong, beautiful (and proud of it, not a dowdy so-called feminist, she is much more of a feminist than any of those horrible vociferous and ultimately rather sad creatures) strong-minded individual who speaks her mind and lives her life as she likes - even though it is not exactly the life I would have chosen for myself.
Incredibly intelligent, too! She probably should be a writer, she would be fantastic.

She doesn't care about being "nice" and ticking the boxes of what a woman is perceived to be like, the type of thing that infuriates me, you know, the "nurturing, protective, compassionate one" YUK YUK YUK. I absolutely LOATHE this dreadful stereotype that unfortunately permeates our society. 

Ms Dalle just does what the hell she wants and she's probably happier than most women who try and be what others tell them they have to be to be a woman. She follows her instincts. That's real creativity for you. Being creative in your own, personal life. Being yourself, 100%, and not bowing to conventions and expectations.


And her take on babies and "motherhood" (this overrated killer of gender equality) is hilarious and is completely and utterly similar to mine:

"You do know that by now you should really have three kids and a mortgage..." [what a stupid, stupid, stupid question!!!!!! This journalist should be put in prison for complete idiocy, unless he asked this with massive irony]

"Children? That's the last thing I want. When I drink Coca-Cola too fast, and I feel it fizz as it hits hit my stomach, that feeling scares me, so imagine me having a kid..."

"You mean the pain of childbirth?"

"Not just that, but the whole physical experience of a baby... nappies... ugh."

"You've talked about being disgusted by the experience of holding your elder sister's child."

"Yes, and then there's all the responsibility. I'm a woman who lives alone. I want to be able to sit at home for hours on end, smoking, listening to Mozart on headphones, at maximum volume. That's what I love. I hate it when the music stops."

It's beautifully said, isn't it?

The whole very entertaining interview: Beatrice Dalle in The Independent

I was quite chuffed this weekend to hear two of the speakers at the Shorelines Festival mention both Paracelsus and John Dee, two personalities who have inspired some of the themes and characters in my second novel, "The Book of Thoth"...

I have reached the point in my manuscript when I need to stop and do more research.
I did do quite a lot of research while writing the background story to the book, whilst deciding on what to write, where, when, etc. But now that I have arrived at a crucial first cornerstone in the book, the only way forward is to immerse myself into research again: the 1920s, alchemy, Ancient Egypt...

Fun!

Just started Sarah Waters' The Night Watch and of course, it was on TV on Tuesday, and I couldn't see it, after having waited ages for it!
Thanks to the BBC iPlayer, I finally could watch it yesterday evening and loved it. Anna Maxwell Martin is the best actress around, I need to try and catch some of her early stuff. I saw her for the first time in the wonderful adaptation of Bleak House in which she was this luminous, poignant presence. What an amazing talent and fascinating person.

I do hope I will like The Night Watch, the book - ok... my reason for still not having read it: my boyfriend had read it and told me the descriptions of the Blitz were quite harrowing, and I am a squeamish wuss. There. I said it.
He loved the book, by the way.
The last Sarah Waters I read was Fingersmith... and I couldn't finish it, which is very, very rare for me. I just couldn't carry on reading it, couldn't get interested in the story. For me, the book is too dense, too slow, too intent on detailing every single tiny little detail... It is also incredibly entangled and you often wonder whether you got the identity of the characters right... Sometimes, simple is best. I took this book as an example of what not to do while writing (sorry, Ms Waters), which is a shame, as of course, the prose is perfect and extremely well written; but somehow, once again, it feels like it's been too sweated over for its own good.                         
I found The Little Stranger, Sarah Waters' latest book, much easier to read and flowing, and I loved it - the slight supernatural element is wonderfully subtle, enough to be disturbing without falling into full-on, grotesque haunting). I cannot wait for an adaptation of it: in the right hands, it would make for a thrilling piece of drama.

A good article about The Night Watch TV adaptation here: The Night Watch, The Telegraph

Sarah Water's website

I will be sitting in the audience at the Shorelines festival of the sea at the pop-up venue Solomon Monk's Pump House Southend today and tomorrow, listening to various authors... I will try and write a little blog about it...

So I was reading a French culture magazine earlier and came across an article about Woody Allen's new movie, "Midnight In Paris".

Imagine my surprise: in 2011, a young man with a horrible girlfriend, quite lost and not at all in control of his life, turns a streetcorner and all of a sudden, a car seemingly straight from another era comes and picks him up to lead him to the Paris of the 1920s... Where he meets an intriguing, fascinating young woman.

Argh!
I have been working on my second book, "The Book of Thoth", since January and wasn't aware of Mr Allen's movie...
One of my characters is a young man who lives in 2011 with a horrible ex-girlfriend; he is quite lost and not in control of his life... He meets an intriguing girl on the Tube... She looks like she comes from another era... He then gets a job in a countryhouse, and then finds himself in 1924 as soon as the car (a 1924 Morris Oxford) that has come to pick him up at the train station drives through the gates of the estate...

Ha.

Does that mean that publishers will be interested in my manuscript, then?

Once again, here's a movie that presents Paris as the city it really isn't (yes, it is a horrible place). And the BLOODY ACCORDION SOUNDTRACK.
But apart from that, it might be quite good.

If you're interested: http://www.sonyclassics.com/midnightinparis/home.html

And here's the trailer:

The ever so fabulous I Am X ...

This would be the perfect music to accompany my books ...

I was there last Friday evening, helping my boy...
http://mattartpix.blogspot.com/2011/07/swinging-night.html

I cannot be chained to my desk all the time! Although in my case these days, it hasn't been as bad as it sounds, as I have mainly been working on my book. It's not unpleasant... Just sometimes, it's good to get out!

Aaaah... Writing... It has its ups and downs, hasn't it?

Yesterday, I scribbled (well, typed) feverishly ... let's see what today will be like...

Yes, I have been mainly posting silly pictures on this blog these days... I need to keep my energy for the book!

I am progressing very slowly on "The Book of Thoth". Ideas seem to come to me at around 4pm these days, which is not that good. Concentration and writing environment are the keys to inspired, efficient writing, and conditions are not ideal at the moment... 
Aah to move to a little cottage in Dorset...  

In the meantime, I am sending yet another submission to a literary agent...