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Paper - Still Fine By Me!

27/11/2013

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PictureMmm ... which inspires the least interest?
Before I start, let me just say how personally grateful I am for e-books. This method of publishing has enabled me to reach a far wider audience than would otherwise have been possible. However, I'd be very sad if they meant the end of print. I think it should be very much hoped for that traditional publishing and e-books form a happy alliance.

I don't personally own a Kindle or any other kind of e-book reader. My wife does, and although she only occasionally reads a book on it, finds the experience pleasant. I sometimes read a book on my PC - this isn't entirely convenient, because it maroons me at my workstation, but it's useful occasionally. The obvious drawback of e-readers from my writer's perspective is the missed opportunity for promotion. The print version of a book is like a walking advertisement. Imagine getting into your morning commuter train: you've just finished your book on Kindle and can't think which if any of the 3791 free downloads on the machine you'd like to start next? You look around and notice half a dozen (deeply engrossed naturally!) individuals reading the print version of a book called Niedermayer & Hart. You note the name of the author, one you don't know, and then you notice another half a dozen people in your carriage are reading another M J Johnson title called Roadrage. You do a search, take advantage of the cheaper price on Kindle and download it immediately ... oops ... floated away for a moment there along the river of fame and fortune on the sweet raft of unbounded literary success ... tapocketa ... tapocketa ... tapocketa ...

Seriously though, if print ceased to exist, this long established, simple but effective form of marketing would disappear. It also strikes me that to lose printed books and the interest they generate will only help to make us more insular - which to my mind can't be a good thing - we already spend far too much time locked away in our own little worlds, glued to one screen or another. What I particularly like about print books is a willingness to declare to the world what's being read. You'd undoubtedly be viewed with some suspicion if you got on the morning bus or tube train and took out a book in a brown, plain paper cover. I suppose for some people e-readers make 'naughty stuff' possible, I understand that erotic literature is a rapidly expanding market (no intentional double entendre!).

On holiday last summer I struck up a conversation with an Englishwoman I saw sitting in our hotel's delightful garden. I observed she was reading a thriller by a well known author I'd personally never read. Christine had picked it up for 50p in a charity shop the day they left home and passed it on to me once she'd finished it - another thing you can't do with an e-reader! She and her husband Brian, a lovely couple and both dedicated walkers, were from Yorkshire. We talked books with them on several occasions. If you're a reader, just consider the number of ice-breaking conversations you've had in your lifetime that were initiated by books. I told Brian that I'd been given some of the William Brown books by Richmal Crompton for my birthday this year, and remarked on how much I'd loved them as a youngster.

"I can't really say I was all that fussed about the William books when I were a lad," said Brian.

"Really?" I asked, possibly displaying some incredulity without meaning to appear rude. "What did you used to read as a boy, then?" I asked.

Brian, a twinkle in his eye, stuck out his chest with manful pride and proclaimed,"Captain W E Johns!"

"Biggles!" I said, "Now you're talking!"

We went on to talk 'Biggles'. I think our wives may have fallen asleep at this point.

Niedermayer & Hart and Roadrage by M J Johnson are available in print and e-book versions:- Click here to buy a print version directly from this site
For e-books etc. see list to right of page



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Having a Laugh!

20/11/2013

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Picture
I laughed like a drain at the brainless antics of Ron Burgundy and chums in Anchorman, felt Gaylord Focker's pain through Meet the Parents and its (first) sequel, thought I'd actually split my sides when I first watched the zipper accident in Something About Mary. All these films and many others I've laughed at and enjoyed immensely. Like a great number of other folk it seems, I'll watch just about any comedy that has Ben Stiller, Will Ferrrell, Danny McBride and several other forty-something actors who make their living acting out the gamut of male adolescent neuroses and fantasies. However, I've recently experienced some pangs of dissatisfaction with the 'single flavour' that Hollywood dishes up as mainstream comedy, complete with obligatory feel-good ending.

I felt this discontent most particularly when I watched Old School recently - a film I'd always heard was excellent and had wanted to watch for ages but had never quite got round to seeing. I was given it for my birthday this summer. The film clearly owes a debt of gratitude to late Seventies classic Animal House, but in my view it wasn't a patch on this. It had all the usual ingredients: a likeable cast, lots of mayhem, bad behaviour and general silliness, but you know what? I really couldn't believe in it - neither in its plot, nor its characters. And that's the point I'm trying to make: comedy isn't solely about getting the right mix of ingredients - i.e. a certain number of gross-out moments and silly visuals - effective comedy relies on situation, character and plot. However preposterous the antics become, I actually can believe in male nurse Gaylord Focker's need to impress his future in-laws; I am equally convinced that thirteen years on, Ted hasn't been able to eradicate prom date Mary from his mind; I can even suspend my disbelief and plug myself into the surrealist Seventies universe inhabited by the cast of Anchorman. It's an odd observation but I generally only really notice the bad language in a film when it's there simply as an ingredient. There are almost certainly just as many gross moments and 'F' words in There's Something About Mary as there are in Old School, yet it was only the latter film that struck me as being coarse.

Okay, so I'm not within the age demographic these films are targeted at, and I appreciate their producers won't be losing a jot of sleep over any thoughts of mine, and while this type of movie continues to make money at the box office, I know they'll keep right on making 'em! But don't you occasionally ache for a piece of finely-crafted feature film comedy: some of the Lemmon/Mathau collaborations for instance, about people in realistic situations with everyday dilemmas to resolve?

I found myself thinking along these lines when along popped Up In The Air (2009) with George Clooney (or rather plopped - being a rough approximation of the sound it made as it found its way into our supermarket trolley) leading a very solid cast. The film, based on a novel by Walter Kirn, was co-written and directed by Jason Reitman. Reitman also directed Juno, a comedy about teenage pregnancy that I've also seen and very much enjoyed. Up In The Air is the kind of sophisticated comedy that doesn't have many laugh out loud moments (if any!) and causes more smiling than laughter. George Clooney is superb and plays a not wholly attractive character with great skill. The film didn't fail for me on any level. The ending is better than 'feel-good', because we have witnessed the main protagonist go through a series of encounters and experiences that have altered his perception of the world. It's a film that stays with you, and one I'd definitely recommend.


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Art and Gravity

13/11/2013

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Picture
Over the past week my wife and I have had the pleasure of visiting our local cinema twice. The two pieces of work we saw had relatively few things in common: they were projected onto a screen; they were well crafted; they were both excellent. However, that's about it as far as the similarities went!

The first was The Habit of Art by Alan Bennett in the NT Live season. This was an encore performance - so not exactly 'live', as it had been recorded a few years back. And I am so glad we managed to see it. Anything written by Alan Bennett is always worth seeing in my book, and it was lovely to see the late Richard Griffiths in what must have been one of his last stage performances. He played the poet WH Auden in the latter years of his life and the play culminates in an imagined meeting between Auden and his estranged friend and former work collaborator Benjamen Britten (Alex Jennings). The play is very funny, yet touching at the same time. The structure Bennett has chosen for his play is fascinating, because he has set the piece in a rehearsal room. The real actors are portraying fictional actors in a rehearsal space, preparing to put on a play about an imaginary meeting between Auden and Britten. The stage manager, whose task it is to take charge of the 'run through' on the instruction of its absent director, is played with great warmth by Frances de la Tour. The play was directed by Nicholas Hytner and the supporting cast, many of whom are familiar faces in the NT repertory, were all very accomplished. All round a superbly crafted piece of theatre.

Our second visit to the Tunbridge Wells Odeon a few days later was to see Gravity. This has only just been released in the UK, stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, and has quite deservedly received nigh-on a hundred percent perfect notices from all its reviewers. I tweeted shortly after watching it that it is the first 3D movie I've seen that I actually really liked. I normally find the rigmarole of wearing the glasses and waiting for the next bit of 3D action to make me go 'Oooh' or 'Ahh' simply annoying (my wife has implied on occasion that I'm a 'grumpy old man'! To this I say - Hurumph!). However, I'd never seen a 3D movie before that totally engaged me from its opening to closing credits. Although I'm sure this movie would have done so in 2D too! Its stars are both excellent, particularly Bullock, who is on screen for about ninety percent of the picture. The dialogue is sparse and lean, the CGI effects are truly astounding, yet it's the human story (another thing in common with The Habit of Art!) unfolding before our very eyes that really commands the audience's attention. I can't imagine Sandra Bullock not receiving an Academy Award nomination as Best Actress for this, and it may well prove a fruitless year for any other film actress about to put in a career best performance. It was directed by Alfonso Cuarón, who I suspect will be up for an Oscar as well. And I daresay the film will be nominated in several other categories too. This is definitely a movie worth seeing on a cinema screen as it is truly spectacular.

So all in all a week when any personal requirements for mental and visual stimulation were met most satisfactorily.


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Back to Writing

10/11/2013

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Since returning from our holiday at the beginning of September, apart from this blog, I've been taking a break from daily writing. As mentioned before, I've used my time building a terrace out of a large quantity of reclaimed bricks that I'd saved and stored. What I originally envisioned as being a small single wall about two or three bricks tall, just grew and grew. Things I do have a tendency to develop like this - I originally conceived Niedermayer & Hart to be a simple story of around 80,000 words -  it wound up as two intertwined tales and weighed in at 164,000 words. Anyway, my garden walls took on a few curves and bends, encompassed a small pond area and a deck for reading and relaxing. I've nearly completed everything now. I just need the flippin' British weather to comply with my aims for a few days! At the moment we seem to be in the monsoon season. So, as I prepare to take my building hat off and settle myself down to writing again, I've been in reflective mood and thinking about what it'll entail getting back into harness again.
PictureMy books arriving in Australia (courtesy of Maxine)
It's almost two years since my wife and I first made the decision to bring out my novels Niedermayer & Hart and Roadrage under the auspices of our Odd Dog Press label.

Do I have any regrets?

Not one, really. At 56, without the right credentials and with no 'label' or fanbase I could bring along from my previous career as an ankle sock model, traditional publishing was and is, I fervently believed (and still do!), a completely closed door. My earlier brush with the world of publishing was a pretty negative and deeply frustrating experience. I'm not enamoured of the way they sometimes operate and treat people.

Do I still believe that a book published traditionally guarantees a certain quality to its potential reader-base?

Yes, of course. When buying a mainstream book I wouldn't expect to find too many typos, grammatical errors or spelling mistakes. However, I personally wouldn't tolerate any indie/self-published book that was littered with this kind of shoddiness either. As for content, the traditional publishers' catalogues are definitely not cr*p free zones, they comprehensively cover the whole gamut - ranging from jewels to blatant stinkers! But it's an undeniable fact of life  that the good stuff is largely easier to discover via the mainstream. Nevertheless, we've all read a glowing review by a top newspaper reviewer for a book, which we subsequently read and discovered to be quite dreadful.

So, do I think my own stuff compares favourably with trad. published books?

The print quality of all Odd Dog Press books is fairly high. Not one reader has so far criticised either of my own novels for basic writing skills (spelling, grammar etc). I certainly don't take all the credit for that - I have a great team of people willing to help me to edit, proof-read etc. As for writing style/content that's entirely down to personal taste. If you belong to my books' target audience, then you'll likely enjoy them; if not, the reverse is always possible. I've found myself actively dissuading people in the past (particularly friends and acquaintances with a lofty literary bent) from buying copies. If story-led stuff isn't what you like to read, then I'd personally prefer you didn't bother, because chances are you won't enjoy it and consequently won't be recommending it to your chums - and I suppose that is the ultimate aim! Unexpectedly, some people, who I anticipated would dislike one or both of my books, absolutely loved them. Some readers loved one book but were less attracted to the other. I guess this is inevitable because Niedermayer & Hart and Roadrage don't belong to the same genres.

It's not very pleasant when people say negative things about your work, but I'd uphold anyone's right to do so. However, I admit to feeling a bit fed-up reading a (quite badly written) negative review about Niedermayer & Hart (the only really stinky one it's had so far!). I felt particularly aggrieved when the reviewer admitted to only having read about a third before going on to skim the remainder as fast as possible. But he admits this, and fortunately people seem able to ' read between the lines' of internet reviews. We have to - I've sometimes come across the most dire warnings for hotels with some incredulity, as we enjoyed a faultless holiday at the very same venue. Let's face it, nothing works for everyone. Just take a look at the 1 star reviews posted on Amazon for what is in my view (and a good many other people's!) one of the finest novels of the Twentieth Century  - Catch 22. I mean to say, even if they didn't love it, it's still hard to credit how anyone could give it just one measly star! Surely anyone reading it must see the merits of this fine piece of writing? Don't you agree? Don't you? Huh?


PictureTyrol, Austria 2013
So, it's back to writing. I enjoyed the summer walking in the Tyrol with best pal, Judith; I'll no longer have to survey a massive stack of reclaimed bricks from the window of my writing area; and most of the exterior jobs have been taken care of too. Another bonus is the fact that my labours have left me a little bit fitter with even an odd muscle or two reappearing - a desktop mouse I discover, doesn't require the same lifting effort as bags of cement! And confident in the knowledge that I've improved our home, I'll be able to return to my keyboard with my halo all a-glowing!


(Horror/thriller Niedermayer & Hart and psychological thriller Roadrage are available in printed versions and as ebooks - click here for details )

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    Available in paperback and ebook:
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    Available in paperback and ebook:
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    Available in paperback and ebook:
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