30/1/2013 A quick visit to DevonI love working from home, but as I cannot afford a Victorian detached house surrounded by fields just yet - it might come one day *one can always dream* - I just need to escape the lack of space, the neighbours, the constant noise and filth and go some place where nature is Queen, where one can sleep without being disturbed and one is able to get some proper thinking space. I do this by escaping to Dorset and Devon a few times a year. This weekend, we fled to Ilfracombe, North Devon, where we have family. It immediately proved rather productive, as I woke up the first morning at 6.30 with ideas for The Book of Thoth and The Right Place pouring into my head - I just HAD to write them down. Result. Poor Ilfracombe! First a theatre dubbed "Madonna's Bra", then a logo that looks like a cheeky little sperm has got itself stuck to the letter "i", and now Damien Hirst's hideous Verity statue. Some people really must have something against this slightly downtrodden yet charming Victorian seaside town... Instead of celebrating and making the most of its fabulous 19th century architecture - it has some of the most impressive houses I've seen - the local authorities seem adamant about imposing their somewhat weird, misplaced vision to bring Ilfracombe up to date with the modern era. So, Verity. Well. What can I say without being rude? I have quite a lot of things to say about Verity, but I will not voice them on here because 1) this is a blog on which I'd rather waffle on about things I like and 2) what I have learnt by reading other people's blogs and websites is that it is far better not to post anything controversial anywhere on the web. If it makes me a coward, then so be it. I really can't be bothered to start having stupid online fights because I have got a life, like, a real one. Anyway. Let's say that I find Verity disgusting, but I find anything by Damien Hirst or most other YBA (hello, Tracey!) completely abhorrent anyway. (My own, ignorant-of- the-subtlety-of-the-Art-World opinion, mind). I wouldn't have minded a sword-wielding Amazonian mermaid or a Poseidon-like warlord figure, you know, something related to the sea - hey, the statue is on the HARBOUR . Not a pregnant woman with half her body sliced open. I am used to "alternative", even darkly beautiful, anatomically challenging works of art, but there is a time and a place for it, and I genuinely do not think Ilfracombe harbour is one of them. It will bring some more celebrity-worshipping tourists, though, which can only be good for the local economy, at least let's hope so. To forget about Verity, nothing beats two hours at Woolacombe Beach - I would also suggest Saunton Sands a few miles away. Local and visiting dogs will approve. Sadly, we don't have a dog (yet). The wind was crazy and made the rain sting our faces as if thousands of tiny pebbles were being hurled in our direction. We had to abandon ship and walk the other way with the wind behind us. We reached Combesgate Beach as the rain stopped. Along The Esplanade, we found this abandoned house, The White House. This is a lovely, lovely building in a prime spot. The gate was open, and we climbed up the steps to have a nose... Looking in the ground floor though a window, we could see that the inside was in a sorry state but still salvageable - just. Pictures and furniture were still in place if a little worse for wear - an antiques dealer's dream. The whole house is probably full of great stuff. At the back of the house, a kind of summer kitchen/scullery was full of books, objects, letters, clothes, all apparently left to rot. How I yearned to unlock the door, get in and explore! If I had the money, I would buy it, refurbish it and turn it into a writer's retreat. I'd love to know more about this house, and how on earth such a big, beautiful building in need of a lot of love can stand abandoned like this in one of the most popular places in the country! Give it to me! All pictures © Carya Gish
22/1/2013 Ignite Books at Queen Mary UniversityWhen I was at university, there were no social events - or at least I didn't know about them. I had been waiting to go away to university to maybe, just maybe, open my horizon a little bit: so far, I had been stuck in a small provincial town in the middle of France dreaming of another kind of life. Then I got stuck in a bigger provincial town STILL in the middle of France. Well done me. If I genuinely adored my studies and worked like crazy for five years, the content of the lectures and the structure of the courses were very French: very dry, academic, deprived of any kind of joy, creativity or imagination-stimulating opportunities. I studied English and American literature and civilisations and NOT ONCE were we shown a movie, a documentary, or were we taken to the theatre (Shakespeare only existed on the page...). As to having writers and other speakers come and talk to us... I'm not even going there... I had to look for them myself, as I had always done... But in the 90s in France, it was not exactly that easy. Boohoo. At the time, I had wanted to be a writer for years and years; I would have cried of joy if I had been offered the chance to attend a talk about self-publishing - which admittedly was probably still pretty rare at the time. Anyhow, the students who attended Ignite Books' publishing talk should be incredibly grateful to have been given such an opportunity. They were also lucky to have Steve Pottinger and Joolz Denby on hand to explain self-publishing to them: two genuinely passionate and driven people just telling you how it is, why and how and when they set up their own small publishing company, Ignite Books. It was also important, I think, that Steve and Joolz were not your average "publishing" individuals (and believe me, I work in publishing, thankfully freelance now, and there IS a "publishing type", and, well, hum, what can I say... It is good for young people to know that you don't need to fit a certain profile (i.e Oxbridge, a publishing degree/internship, nicely ticking boxes and obeying the rules, being and looking awfully nice, etc.) and generally please others all the time to be published. That if you believe in what you are doing and work hard at it, then you too can become who you want to be: a writer, a publisher with as little compromising as possible. But you won't be doing it for fame and fortune, that's for sure. It's all a matter of CHOICE. I am no longer a student, but I was there and walked away with my belief boosted and punching the air: yes, that's the way I've always wanted to do it, and that's the way I'll be doing it. Ignite Books has been an inspiration to me, and will continue to be so. Let's hope the young people in the room will treasure those ideas and build on them. This was QMU's very first Spoken word and live poetry night and they were very brave indeed to invite Steve Pottinger and Joolz Denby as their first guests of honour. They could have gone for a blander and safer option from London, but no, they chose two talented and abrasive poets from the North - maybe Joolz could have done one of her new poems, Barbarians, just to make a point "We are the barbarians from the North", it goes... Certainly, they brought a very northerly weather with them on the day! The audience was small - entrance was free for students, and there were a lot around outside in the bar... Let's hope that the word will go around and that more students will come and enjoy those evenings in the future. Five brave young people opened the proceedings, and I was in quiet awe, to be perfectly honest. As a student, I would rather have DIED than stand in front of a small (or medium, or large) audience and read my writings. It is only in October 2012, years and years after having left university, that I did my first two readings in front of an audience, a strange sensation at the pit of my stomach the whole time. Oh yes, you would have thought that having spent several years as a teacher, standing in front of classes of 30-odd semi-feral teenagers would have cured the shyness, but when you are reading your own words, your very own creation... It's quite something else. Therefore, well done to the five students below who did their bit in front of an attentive audience that included two veteran poets and artists and a rock star. Beat that! There was some quite brilliant stuff there, actually. Steve Pottinger and Joolz Denby were fascinating, as usual. The - apparent -ease with which they come up with those emotionally charged poems of theirs is quite beyond me, a non-poet.
Steve Pottinger has a new collection of poems, Island Songs, out now. Watch Steve read his rather fabulous poem: No-one likes an angry poet HERE Joolz Denby has a new CD out - a collaboration with Mik Davis from the dreamy outfit Utopian Love Revival - The Black Dahlia (which will be reviewed before the end of this month on this very website.) 29/12/2012 Mediaeval Baebes picturesBelow are a few pictures taken at the Mediaeval Baebes' concert at St Sepulchre-Without-Newgate, the musicians' church in Holborn, London. I had already taken some pictures of the place when I went to the Baebes' gig last year (HERE). The camera struggled a little bit with the lights (I didn't want to use flash), but I thought I would share the enchanting setting. It was, of course, enchanting, and my favourite song of the night was Jennet's Song - about the Pendle witches - which features on the group's sumptuous brand new (double) album, The Huntress. It took us a while to come back to reality... 17/12/2012 What do you buy a writer for her birthday?Why, BOOKS of course! Even though my "TO READ" shelves are crumbling under the weight of the volumes I have put on them, here comes another exciting pile of lovely reading material! Can't wait to get started! Also, a lovely little booklet entitled Writing London by the rather fab HERB LESTER ASSOCIATES containing an illustrated map and short paragraphs detailing the link between authors and places. 8/12/2012 French birdsHere are some pictures of my little companions here in France. Breakfasting in a conservatory has its advantages!
27/11/2012 Enchanted CastleMy little sister works at Crathes Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Last week was their yearly Enchanted Castle extravaganza: Themed 'Fantasia' this years Enchanted Castle brings you spectacular and dramatic new light and sound effects plus an extended trail into Crathes beautiful Woodland Garden. This nocturnal adventure is a rare opportunity for only five nights a year to see Crathes Castle bathed in light and stunning projections combined with an enchanted walkway of illuminated trees and musical surprises that will entertain set in this wonderful landscape with an abundant variety of plants ancient trees and lawns. Go to the GALLERY to see the wonderful pictures of the event. It is really incredible!
Maybe we can go next year... 1/11/2012 More Dorset mysteries!Dorset is a county of mystery, or should I say, mysteries! We have discovered wonderful, atmospheric, inspiring places... Here are a few of them (there are so many!). This really is a very small selection and there are many many more fascinating places around the county. It seems that ancient beliefs and superstitions are still alive and well in Dorset. All pictures here are © Carya Gish and © Matt ArtPix. Langdon Hill "was known for having possessed an ancient coven of hereditary witches and it is possible the descendants of this coven are still working here on the hill. [...] Altars have been found in hidden-away locations." Louise Hodgson, Secret Places of West Dorset, Roving Press 2011. Another great atmospheric place is Knowlton church and rings. The Neolithic rings were probably a religious site and you can still see the circular bank and ditches. The church was built in the middle of the rings in order to destroy their religious power at a time when Christianity was asserting its powers over Paganism. It doesn't look like it worked though, as apparently the parishioners were all killed by the plague in 1348. After that, the church fell into disuse, and by 18th century, it was a mere ruin. Ghosts and mystical energies have been associated to the site. When we were there, we stumbled upon the remains of what we think had been a very recent Pagan ceremony. I would love to know more about the various elements in the pictures below. The main circle was made of branches, leaves, stones, twigs, feathers and sticks. There had been a small fire in the centre, and someone had hung some small wicker amulets(? not sure how to describe these) to a big branch. Each time we have been to St Catherine's chapel in Abbotsbury, we have found some messages in the niches, even some small candles. I will wrap up this blog by adding a entirely gratuitous picture of the view from the top of the Golden Cap, looking West. A quick update on what is happening with the books.
I am listening to PJ Harvey's Stories from the city, stories from the sea, which matches the work I am doing at the moment: updating the various pages of this very website, thinking about my forthcoming books - which all contain stories from the city and stories from the sea... Today, I am reading through I Am a Muse to make sure it is ready for publication. Everything is now ready to be uploaded on Lulu, which I will be trying out on Sunday. I am so worried, I have butterflies in my stomach. This weekend was my deadline for uploading as I still would like to hit my November publishing date. If everything goes well and all the files upload properly, I should be able to order a proof copy of my book immediately. So Lulu will need to send the copy to me, then I will need to read through it and check that the printing has gone well. This should take another two weeks, if I am not interrupted by some freelance work - yes, it's money, but... Or it could all go wrong on Sunday and I will be in a spot of bother. *UPDATE 28/10/2012: I began reading through I Am a Muse on Friday. I couldn't help changing words, tweaking things... So this has now turned into a last minute revision of the manuscript, which is not cool as it will delay the publication further. I hope this will not take too long and I will be able to try out Lulu in the forthcoming days... In other news, I have now purchased two domain names for my websites so the addresses look more professional. So you will find me at www.missgish.com - well, here - and also at www.arcanepublishing.net. Business cards should get done in the forthcoming weeks. I have been updating details about my next books as I have been to a lot of inspiring places and events and my brain has been overheating this week (see previous blogs!). I have added the first writing piece for The Right Place HERE as well as some of the pictures taken during my holidays in Dorset earlier this month. I have used them as inspiration for that very piece. I have added some details on the Anti page. Walking around London has given me quite a few more ideas for my Urban Noir tale... I hope I will be able to go back to The Book of Thoth next week, but it looks like work is coming my way in the next few weeks. I will try and apply the "write everyday" rule nevertheless, let's see if I can do it. Usually, if I am working, my brain refuses to switch to "writing mode" and I can only write if I have a whole free day. 22/10/2012 Metal's creative LAB: On Writing FictionSo there. I have done it! I have survived my first creative writing course. And to be perfectly honest, it will probably be the last. No course could be better than this one. This was pretty special. Last week, I had to get into the habit of going off to work somewhere outside of my flat again – something that hasn't been happening for the past three years exactly – I left my last full-time position on 23rd October 2009! I also had to get used to being around a group of people day in and day out again. I have grown incredibly fond of my hermit life, alone in front of my laptop… I am a loner by nature, and being around people – especially people I don’t know well – emotionally exhausts me… Interacting with other people makes me be on my guard all the time. The reasons for this are numerous and would take too long to explain. Let’s just say I am extremely weary of people in general. Going to exhibitions, the theatre and gigs doesn't really count, I guess, as one can still remain in one’s own little bubble, even though it gets reduced a great deal. There was also the fact that I have never shown my work to anyone else. My work in music journalism was of an entirely different nature, and a lot of people read my articles and reviews, but that didn't bother me. I knew I was good at it and I was talking about other artists’ work, not mine. Fiction writing is completely different: you disclose your inner world to others, whatever comes out of your imagination is part of you and it can feel intimidating. Metal’s Lab: On writing fiction wasn't full of pedantic self-aggrandising wannabe authors who, having paid good money to get a place on a course, feel entitled to behave like the customer they are; after all, “the customer is King”. They expect to be told how to become a famous author in 10 steps, just because they’re worth it – or at least they are worth something because they have paid. All the people on last week’s course had been invited to attend after a rigorous selection process, and all 9 of us felt very thankful and privileged to have been picked. One thing was immediately obvious: there was passion in there. We all had very different personalities, backgrounds and life experiences. But we also all had a passion for books, for the written word, for our writing. Chalkwell Hall was filled with energy the whole week; you could feel the subtle power of creative brains at work. There was also a lot of talent. I was absolutely amazed at the quality of the work produced by the other participants and their knowledge of literature – and of a lot of other subjects too! Nobody was dabbling; we were into serious writers’ territory, there. It was a humbling, inspiring, energising experience. The staff at Metal were absolutely wonderful: friendly and genuinely interested, they listened and observed without dictating. A special thank has to go to Syd Moore, our “tutor” and “team leader” for the week, for her guidance, expertise and encouragement. I love listening to other people and absorb information like a sponge, and therefore that’s what I have mainly done: I listened, and I learned a lot. On Monday and Tuesday, we had special guest speakers, all seasoned authors in their own right. I was particularly thrilled to be able to listen to Christopher Fowler, whose books I have been reading on and off since 1998, and whose fab blog I have been following for the past three years. He was absolutely fascinating, as was the mesmerising Cathi Unsworth – what a charismatic personality! Julie Myerson was the most famous speaker of the three – her and her husband form one of London’s cultural power couples. I was very impressed by her self-confidence and her strong opinions on writing, even though as a person and a writer, I feel closer to Christopher Fowler’s and Cathi Unsworth’s world(s). I actually spent one day and a half working on the top floor of Chalkwell Hall on my own work – what will become my third novel, The Right Place. When I started off, I vaguely knew in which direction I was going: my third novel would be set in Dorset, would be inspired by the landscape, the history and the very special, quasi surpernatural atmosphere of the county; I also wanted to use PJ Harvey’s song “The Wind” as inspiration, and I kept the printed lyrics in front of me while I viewed my holiday pictures of St Catherine’s chapel and Chesil Beach, two of the most important locations in my novel. And suddenly, it all started to pour out, all those ideas… A few hours after having set up on the table, my notebook was covered in Post-its and scribbles. By the end of the day, I had written half a tempestuous scene which I then finished off the following morning. I genuinely surprised myself! I had so little when I had first arrived! It usually takes me a good six months to plan a novel, and I had done the equivalent of a month work in a day!
I am quite happy with that scene and will post it in The Right Place section of this website when I have done the small amendments that need doing. On the Friday, when I finally stood up in front of the small, intimate audience to read an extract of the piece I had produced earlier in the week, I thought I was going to faint; I was so very nervous! I could swear small silvery stars momentarily danced in front of my eyes – for a whole second, and I forgot to breathe. It was a very different feeling to the one you have when standing in front of a class of 30 attention deficit disorder-riddled teenagers - I am an ex-teacher. This was just so much bigger. But I did it, and I think this first time was very very important. I believe I was the only participant who had never read to an audience before… So now it’s a year to Metal’s Shorelines Festival – the literature festival of the sea – and we have all been invited to participate… I already have an idea about what I would like to do, but it is a whole year away and therefore I will not dwell on it… I have gained a lot from this intense week, and I know that from now on, I will be approaching my writing in a slightly different manner. The instinct needs to be supported by more craft, and this is the recipe I will be using. I have been thinking about revising my (hopefully) about to be self-published novel I Am a Muse before publication, but I am now running out of time. I will be doing a quick read through this week but will leave it as it is: rather raw and incredibly imperfect, a naïve and probably not fully formed first novel. 18/9/2012 The Palace CinemaI got the "cinema bug" very early indeed, at the same time as I got the "books bug". I grew up on a diet of American and British classic movies. The only TV I watched - apart from a few cartoons - was a programme called "La Dernière Séance" (Read about the programme HERE Sorry, the Wiki page linked here is in French!) which was on Tuesday evenings - I was allowed to stay up because children didn't go to school on Wednesdays in those days. Somewhere in Paris, in a recreated classic old cinema and surrounded by a dressed up audience, a presenter would introduce the evening with a few anecdotes about the making of the evening's features and the actors starring in them. There was always one feature film dubbed in French, then some news and cartoons in original English version, and then the second feature film in its original English version with French subtitles - the latter one I was not allowed to watch because it was shown after my bedtime, but those films fascinated me and I sometimes managed to catch the first 5 minutes... People speaking in English! It was so very intriguing and exciting... By the age of 10, the walls around my bunk bed were plastered with pictures of Marilyn Monroe and I was reading obsessively about the Golden Age of Hollywood, Alfred Hitchcock's movies, Gone With the Wind and all that. My teenage years were spent reading books - including some cinema related ones - and watching old movies. I have never stopped since! I was strangely reminded of this last week: we had three wonderful evenings of cinematic experience thanks to the excellent Southend-based The White Bus Ltd and The Palace Theatre in Southend, who had recreated the Palace Cinema as it had been during its 1932-1933 season, as part of the 2012 Palace Theatre's centenary celebrations. So every evening between 13th and 15th September, we made our way to the theatre - conveniently located about 15 minutes walk from our house! - to enjoy three hours of classic entertainment: a full hour of supporting programme, including Laurel and Hardy shorts, some Pathé newsreels, Betty Boop and Popeye cartoons and the last three episodes of the serial The Whispering Shadow with Bela Lugosi - I want to watch the whole thing now, I wonder whether I can find the DVD somewhere? There was piano playing in the lobby, quite a few people had made an effort to dress up, the theatre itself had been decorated in 30s style and there was even a cocktail bar! Of course, the programme was an absolute delight. We have been told that there might be some more themed evenings like these, ie recreating cinemas from the 40s, 50s, etc. We wholeheartedly support these projects and simply cannot wait for more! Who knows, it might even lead to a full-blown Vintage Festival in Southend! Before I go, I wish to make one or two comments about the audience. Without wanting to appear snobbish - and if I do, well, what the hell - I have to say that I would have thought that an audience who make the effort to turn up at a theatre to watch 1930s movies would be slightly more clued up on a few things than your average cinema-going crowd - Oh, I know, silly me... So I was not expecting so much rubbish littering the theatre carpet after the entertainment had ended - is it really too much of an effort to wait and throw it into the bins provided to this effect at the end of the evening? Also, the atmosphere got somewhat slightly spoilt by people giggling and laughing out loud at dramatic moments, especially during the episodes of The Whispering Shadow and during the first feature film The Mysterious Doctor Fu Manchu. Yes, those movies have a very different pace to our often overdone 21st Century films. If one knows about the history of Hollywood and cinema and has half a brain, one can perfectly appreciate the masterful artistry of these early film makers: the talkies had just started, and everyone, from the director to the sound technicians to the cameramen to the scriptwriters to the actors had to adapt to this brand new, exhilarating way of making movies. I think these people deserve a little bit more respect from modern audiences. We shouldn't really patronise them. We owe them so much! But then again, it might just be me... Photos: Matt ArtPix. |
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March 2024
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