The good morning, good night thread

[elay2433]

Bummer on the Chimp book, Ed. I have less patience with non-fiction, and I'd have probably bailed on that one. I've been stuck on mostly short stories lately. Got into The Dark Descent, a ridiculously huge book chock full of some of the better short horror/dark fiction published in the last century or so. Cool thing is, I'm stumbling across some really great stories from authors I'd never heard of, many of which have their own collected short fiction published, so I'm getting sidetracked on those. I'd definitely recommend The Dark Descent. It's $24 on Amazon, but for the amount and quality of the fiction, it's well worth the cover price.

[Ed]

See, I'm the other way around -- I'm more likely to bale on a fictional book. Probably because without the bubble of a fictive dream I'm starting to think 'why do I care about this?', so the answer with fiction is that it's not real and I don't care, whereas with non-fiction, be it an autobiography or instructional, I suppose as long as I can see there may be a point to it, or something real and interesting may happen, I tend to stick with it

Thanks for the tip about Dark Secret -- I'll look it up

[delboy]

I always enjoy Steinbeck - especially those little books. In fact, I generally enjoy old classics, especially little ones, more than modern books. I have a ton of books on the go at the mo', but I'm struggling to finish any of them. I keep chopping and changing. Weirdly, none of them are fiction, which I'm kind of missing - but I'm determined not to start another book until I've completed at least a few of the 8 or 9 I'm working through. Top of these 8 or 9 at the mo' is "Which  Lie Did I Tell" - a book about writing movies by William Goldman. Really it's about stories. Goldman has a great way of writing and is obviously very knowledgeable about the art. But most of all, what I like is how he will discuss story ideas and say why they will or won't work and be worth his spending time on. It's revealing and helps one clarify one's own thinking in the area. For example, he tells of a wonderful (true) story of a 10 year old autistic boy who drifted off into impenetrable marsh land whilst swimming. The area was deemed inaccessible by the National Guard and other military types and was full of alligators and deadly snakes. Massive air and sea searches followed, planes with heat-sensitive search gear, etc. etc. but they couldn't find the kid. Nevertheless the boy survived -  he made his way through this deadly jungle in nothing but his swimming shorts, and turned up swimming the other side, albeit exhausted. Way more to the tale than that, including the kid's other adventures and how everyone loved him and all in all it was a fine story with a sympathetic hero and a hell of a lot of suspense. But Goldman says, despite loving the material, he'd never spend time dramatising it for the simple fact that the hero does nothing. He explains his thinking in more detail than this, of course, but it reminds me of many a conversation we've had here - passive story-telling and all that. Good book.

[Russell]

My daughter was told to read the chimp book by her NLP coach. She was making so little progress that I downloaded the audio version as my free trial book with Audible, and we then listened to it in the car on a trip to the Wirral. Repetitive is how I'd describe it. A few good points early on and then, just like a Discovery channel documentary, the same ideas are repeated. What it did do is provide her with a language to describe her anxiety problems, which, in the language of the book, are typified by her Chimp taking over her thinking. One other point rang true - she can't fight her chimp, it needs to be managed so that it doesn't feel the need to take control.

[Geoff_N]

Most of my reading these last few years are books from small press for me to review. Really enjoyed some such as the bizarro genre authors such as Ira Nayman and his "What the hell were you thinking? Good Advice for People Who Make Bad Decisions" and I found a marvellous literary unknown writer, Jean Gill, whose Sixth of a Gill is a neat collection of shorts, poetry and more. Because of the time I've spent on research and holidays on Malta she sent me a fictionalised biography of a young Scottish soldier stationed on Malta during WW2. I reviewed it in my blog http://geoffnelder.com/too-dangerous-to-release-review/
Off from tomorrow on another of my cycling tours - down Del's way but more through Cheltenham and into the Cotswolds. Some of it is research for a cycling mag but mostly it's to blow cobwebs away, remind my legs to keep rotating and my Coronary Heart Disease to stop messing about. I'll see family and former school pals and hopefully think of more original concepts and characters for a story or two.

Congrats to Delph on her shortlisting at the Bridport. Wowee. Has she mentioned it yet?

[Ed]

I always enjoy Steinbeck - especially those little books. In fact, I generally enjoy old classics, especially little ones, more than modern books. I have a ton of books on the go at the mo', but I'm struggling to finish any of them. I keep chopping and changing. Weirdly, none of them are fiction, which I'm kind of missing - but I'm determined not to start another book until I've completed at least a few of the 8 or 9 I'm working through. Top of these 8 or 9 at the mo' is "Which  Lie Did I Tell" - a book about writing movies by William Goldman. Really it's about stories. Goldman has a great way of writing and is obviously very knowledgeable about the art. But most of all, what I like is how he will discuss story ideas and say why they will or won't work and be worth his spending time on. It's revealing and helps one clarify one's own thinking in the area. For example, he tells of a wonderful (true) story of a 10 year old autistic boy who drifted off into impenetrable marsh land whilst swimming. The area was deemed inaccessible by the National Guard and other military types and was full of alligators and deadly snakes. Massive air and sea searches followed, planes with heat-sensitive search gear, etc. etc. but they couldn't find the kid. Nevertheless the boy survived -  he made his way through this deadly jungle in nothing but his swimming shorts, and turned up swimming the other side, albeit exhausted. Way more to the tale than that, including the kid's other adventures and how everyone loved him and all in all it was a fine story with a sympathetic hero and a hell of a lot of suspense. But Goldman says, despite loving the material, he'd never spend time dramatising it for the simple fact that the hero does nothing. He explains his thinking in more detail than this, of course, but it reminds me of many a conversation we've had here - passive story-telling and all that. Good book.

Yeah, it's one of those stories they'll make a 'made for tv movie' about with low budget actors. Sad really, but like you say, the story isn't strong enough on its own -- you'd need something else going on, like a parent story and some traumatic changes taking place for it to be worth reading.

My daughter was told to read the chimp book by her NLP coach. She was making so little progress that I downloaded the audio version as my free trial book with Audible, and we then listened to it in the car on a trip to the Wirral. Repetitive is how I'd describe it. A few good points early on and then, just like a Discovery channel documentary, the same ideas are repeated. What it did do is provide her with a language to describe her anxiety problems, which, in the language of the book, are typified by her Chimp taking over her thinking. One other point rang true - she can't fight her chimp, it needs to be managed so that it doesn't feel the need to take control.

The bit that I was disappointed about was where he tells us not to do things that'll make the chimp screech -- accept our limitations in other words. I'm always pushing past my comfort zone in order to get on and do better, which means taking risks in a personal sense, along the lines of often being in at the deep end, which obviously is going to cause stress. I was hoping he'd have some way to manage it, but the only management strategy was basically not to do it

Most of my reading these last few years are books from small press for me to review. Really enjoyed some such as the bizarro genre authors such as Ira Nayman and his "What the hell were you thinking? Good Advice for People Who Make Bad Decisions" and I found a marvellous literary unknown writer, Jean Gill, whose Sixth of a Gill is a neat collection of shorts, poetry and more. Because of the time I've spent on research and holidays on Malta she sent me a fictionalised biography of a young Scottish soldier stationed on Malta during WW2. I reviewed it in my blog http://geoffnelder.com/too-dangerous-to-release-review/
Off from tomorrow on another of my cycling tours - down Del's way but more through Cheltenham and into the Cotswolds. Some of it is research for a cycling mag but mostly it's to blow cobwebs away, remind my legs to keep rotating and my Coronary Heart Disease to stop messing about. I'll see family and former school pals and hopefully think of more original concepts and characters for a story or two.

Congrats to Delph on her shortlisting at the Bridport. Wowee. Has she mentioned it yet?

Have fun Geoff

[delboy]

Someone put their hand on my shoulder yesterday whilst I was taking photographs in the old Victorian cemetery at London Road, Cemetery. I figured they were going to tell me I shouldn't be taking photos, or that maybe they were interested in the little Fuji I was using. When I turned, there was no-one there...

[Ed]

I wonder if anybody has had the same experience, but instead of a hand on their shoulder they got a kick up the backside?

Was it a warm or cold hand, Del? I'd always imagine it to be cold, accompanied by a fausty or bosky scent.

[elay2433]

When I turned, there was no-one there...

Oh, man! That's pretty cool... and scary. Are you serious? I'm hoping to bike out to the cemetery this weekend and take some photos. Inspiration for tombstone carving.

Anyone feeling the Halloween spirit yet? I'm having a tough time getting into the swing of things this year. Not having enough time to do the things I'd like (and usually do this time of year) is bringing me down.

[Ed]

No, can't say I'm feeling that halloween spirit yet. Flat out working again. Got the work/life balance seriously wrong at the moment, although I'm off to Prague for the weekend with friends tomorrow, so at least getting some fun times in.

Shame you're not getting into the spirit, Jerry -- you usually have a really good show on for halloween

[Geoff_N]

Something similar happens to me. Every time I walk up the promenade in Aberystwyth I hear my mother calling my name from over my right shoulder. She used to take my sister and I to that resort from Cheltenham 2 or 3 times a year on coach day trips. Also to other resorts but it's only in Aber that I hear her voice. She died in 1982 and it's since then I hear her. Of course it will be a memory triggered by my senses and the location. Could also be because since the first time, I'm expecting it. However, it happens even when I forget or too busy with the students I am supposed to be in charge of on Geography field trips there. Interesting that when I told my sister she wanted me to change my account to her voice coming from my left shoulder because apparently that is more like what the spirits are supposed to do - eh?

[delboy]

It wasn't a cold hand and there were no musty smells, but it was a good solid hand on the shoulder. Unless a squirrel leapt from a tree and landed on my shoulder I can't explain it. Will be going back next week when I'm next up there :-))

[Geoff_N]

I have some ancestry buried in Gloucester, but mostly Cheltenham, cemeteries. I can't think of one off London Road. Has St Catherines got one? Maybe that hand belongs to my mum cos she knows you and I have met in person. We don't know where she was buried cos her body was donated to science.

[delboy]

London Road, Coventry, Geoff. I still live in Gloucester but I commute to Coventry for work.

[Ed]

It wasn't a cold hand and there were no musty smells, but it was a good solid hand on the shoulder. Unless a squirrel leapt from a tree and landed on my shoulder I can't explain it. Will be going back next week when I'm next up there :-))

Can't help thinking that if you wrote that experience into a story people would say it wasn't authentic enough without all the senses engaged

Had a weekend break in Prague with some friends and came back Sunday night. Beautiful city. Wasn't expecting that.