9/10/2013 I Am a Muse at ShorelinesI am delighted to confirm that copies of my first novel, I Am a Muse, will be on sale at Shorelines: Literature Festival of the Sea which takes place in Leigh-on-Sea on November 8th-10th 2013.
19/9/2013 Holiday reading...So on Saturday, I am off to my favourite place, Dorset! Two weeks away from the overcrowded South East... Bliss. I am going there to rest and recharge my batteries, but also to research my third novel, The Right Place. I am trying to get a proper feel of the place, and I would like to find somewhere to stay and write next autumn, when I hope to start working in earnest on the book. The small cottage we always book might be a solution, but it is near Dorchester and I still haven't started driving again after all these years; I am therefore looking for something in Abbotsbury (or as near as possible!). I am half way into The Game and I am enjoying it immensely, as I've enjoyed all the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes' mystery novels I've read so far. This series is absolutely fantastic, and I don't really understand why/how this hasn't been made into a TV series. It would be an absolute hit (if well made, of course)! This book is about walking the sunken paths in south Dorset, so I cannot give it a miss... Dorset's "literary celebrity". I've fallen in love with his county, I've been to his birthplace, now I have to read a bit more of his work! The title says it all! A 1922 first edition just purchased last weekend! New Model Army, one of my favourite bands. Not only for their music, but also for their poetic lyrics and their strong values, which I share.
A fabulous special edition put together by rock mag Vive Le Rock. Some great stuff in there, loads to read. Matt ArtPix and Arcane Publishing had a very busy weekend at the Alexandra Palace Antiques, Collectors, Art Deco and 20th century fair! It was absolutely amazing to trade at this truly iconic London building. A real privilege! We set up on Saturday... And Sunday, we were there before 8am on time for the trade opening hours! The weather was glorious early in the morning. Unfortunately, it didn't last and we packed up under the rain... Our stall was absolutely packed (and very colourful!) Unfortunately, these days, I am on a very tight budget and therefore couldn't buy a lot... But I couldn't resist these wonderful pictures of 20s actresses - well, one is more a 30s actress and there's also an actor! Four are of one of my favourites, the fabulous Miss Lillian Gish! Here we have: Lillian Gish Colleen Moore Kay Francis Marion Davies Marion Nixon Raquel Meller Betty Amann Clive Brook And I found a splendid book entitled "Thomas Hardy's Dorset", a first edition of 1922... This from the excellent Peter Moore Bookseller (and I also got a lovely PBFA book thrown in for good mesure!). I will take the book with me on holiday as I am going back to Dorset! It was very hard (but enjoyable) work...
The next Alexandra Palace fair is on 1st December, and this time we will visit as customers! And we might be back as traders at the Alexandra Palace fair next year... By the way... Not good news... "The UK’s antiques, collectors, vintage, craft and other types of fairs are under jeopardy by HMRC’s proposed enforcement of a draft EU regulation and a revised interpretation of the way current regulations have been applied, in a desperate attempt to scrape together a relatively small amount of VAT from organisers. The bottom line is that organisers who are VAT registered should have been charging the full rate of VAT (currently 20%), from November 2012, which would directly increase stallholder costs to attend most of the fairs held in the UK." Go HERE to learn more... The first details about the fab literary festival that will take place in Leigh-on-Sea in November have been released! It is organised by arts organisation Metal and curated by artist and author Rachel Lichtenstein. It is "a small, intelligent and thought-provoking festival. It takes place in various outdoor and indoor venues at the heart of the fishing community of Leigh-on-sea on the banks of Thames Estuary, at the point where it officially becomes ‘open sea’. This unique festival aims to provoke discussion, re-awaken senses, excite the adventurous spirit and explore new literature about the sea." I will be involved in this event but cannot say anything until everything has been confirmed! In the meantime, I will keep posting updates here, on the Arcane Publishing website and on Facebook. For more details, go to THE SHORELINES PAGE ON METAL'S WEBSITE. "Highlights in 2013 include: multi-award winning nature writer, Robert MacFarlane (current chair of the Booker Prize) on Britain’s most dangerous path, the Broomway; Mercury Award winning folk singer, Sam Lee bringing his own take on sea shanties; pop historian Travis Elborough (Wish You Were Here) on the British Seaside; Man Booker shortlisted author Deborah Levy with Swimming Home; a mixed-media installation by The SeaWomen of Korea by Greek artist Mikhail Karikis; award winning author and broadcaster Philip Hoare discussing the recently published The Sea Inside (BBC4 Book of the Week); noir crime fiction author Cathi Unsworth reading from her novel Weirdo set in a fictional seaside town, a multi-media film/performance of Swandown with cult writer Iain Sinclair, artist Andrew Kotting & musician Jem Finer; a special performance of Britten’s children’s opera Noye’s Fludde in the 100th anniversary year of his birth; French-Norwegian performance poet Caroline Bergvall (currently exhibited at Tate) with DRIFT her interpretation of Saxon sea poems; an afternoon of readings and talks by contemporary non-fiction writers exploring the unique landscape of the Thames Estuary, including Ken Worpole; Dr Jules Pretty (winner of Angel Prize) and Greek writer Julian Hoffman on the unique landscape of the Hoo Peninsula; The Fishwives Choir; local author Syd Moore (The Drowning Pool) set in the Essex coastline; an alternative audio walk exploring historical tales from the Estuary by US artist and writer Justin Hopper; films; writing workshops for both children and adults and much more."
So this weekend is the big Alexandra Palace Antiques, Collectors, Art Deco and 20th Century fair (now with a vintage market as well!). The fair is on Sunday so come along to this truly unique venue! We are setting up on Saturday and will make sure our double stall stands out. Fingers crossed we have enough space for the shelves! Here are some of the books we'll be selling (for more info about some of the books, go to THE ARCANE PUBLISHING BLOG): Matt ArtPix will have some pretty special vintage-inspired art there too, and a few antiques!
Oh, and I will have copies of I Am a Muse and will be giving out flyers/bookmarks! 10/8/2013 631?I am only able to check the amount of "unique visitors" per day on this site, as I would need to upgrade yet again (i.e pay more money) to see precise stats and what people have been typing into search engines to end up on the Miss Gish website. It's been going quite well over the past few months, the numbers increasing steadily. But yesterday, it broke the record: 631 people seem to have visited the Miss Gish website. 631?? Really? Wow.
If every single one of those people bought one of my books, I'd be over the moon. Unfortunately, it's definitely not the case! Anyway, I try and post regularly so for those people who read this: thank you for passing by and do come again! Something else that's interesting... I have just typed in "I Am a Muse" in the Amazon search engine. The only person who sells the book on there should be Bluetones, as the shop is owned by an acquaintance and he has agreed to sell the book in his online shop, but he sends the orders to me and I am the one who posts them to the customer. Today, two more sellers seem to have the book in stock, and sell it at quite a high price; only they don't: I am the only one who has got copies - The British Library and five other deposit libraries have a copy each, but that's it. A few people have bought the book but they don't have online bookshops. So what I'd like to know is this: how is it possible that those people sell my book when all the copies that exist are here, patiently waiting in their boxes in my office to be sold? Mystery! Maybe I should try and buy one of my own books to see what happens? 8/8/2013 Another day in WhitstableLast weekend, we spent a wonderful day in trendy and thriving Whitstable. It was not our first time in the town (see my previous blog about it) nor was it our last! We are usually there in January for some reason, and it was great to see the town in the full swing of summer. It was transformed - although I do have a thing for seaside resorts in the winter; My favourite seasons for everything are autumn and winter! They really seem to be doing the right things there, and I think Southend Council, who seems to have a total lack of imagination and creativity, should send a few spies to analyse what the small Kent town is doing right. Southend deserves so much better. There are a few clues as to how in the following paragraphs. Their high street is full of a great variety of independent shops (i.e opportunities for local businesses). It is positively thriving. The week-long Oyster festival had just come to an end, but it didn't feel like it: there was music, stalls, and the excellent Whitstable Harbour Village was open. I really think Southend should consider doing its own seafront village: spaces available for small local businesses (most of them creative people: artisans, artists, small entrepreneurs... a flexible approach mixing fishermen's huts and cheaper stalls - we could have little colourful beach huts and stalls. The village is open every weekend and Bank Holidays from March to Christmas. With the amount of creatives in the area, this type of setting would be ideal on the seafront, which is full of cafes and places to eat but where there is nothing to see, really. I am sure visitors would love to have things to look at, browse and purchase, and us local creatives and small businesses who cannot afford to rent a shop would have a place to showcase and sell our work. Who will take on the challenge? The Tudor Tea Rooms are located in an absolutely gorgeous 17th Century building... It is lovely in there! Unfortunately, I am still struggling to find some time to write... So the first draft of The Book of Thoth has stalled again, but Matt ArtPix has been working on the cover! And I think he is now VERY close to nailing it... This is my favourite design so far, so expect the final artwork to look quite a lot like this one!
We will also be working on some postcards for the autumn to promote I Am a Muse and The Book of Thoth. 27/7/2013 Event tomorrowTomorrow, I will be sharing Matt ArtPix's stall at Bobby's Girl Vintage fair in Chelmsford.
I will be selling I Am a Muse at the special fair price of £6, as well as a great range of pretty special second-hand books. Go to the Arcane Publishing BLOG for a small selection of the books that will be on sale. 25/7/2013 Selling the booksI have decided not to approach any more independent bookshops for I Am a Muse. It is far too time consuming, and I am not sure there's a lot in it for Arcane Publishing.
So instead, I will carry on selling the books myself - alongside my second-hand books. The trick is to find events/markets in London that would take on book stalls! I wanted to try the Goldsmith Row book market this spring, but it looks like it's not happening this year. I'll be looking into Spitalfields and Brick Lane in the first instance. *Update 26/07/2013: it looks like I Am a Muse might make an appearance at the Old Spitalfields Market in December. No date yet, but I will post it when I've booked in November. This will be a good trial for me, and if it proves to be a positive experience, then Arcane Publishing might trade regularly in the East End! :-) |
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