Freedom From The Mundane - A Writer's Blog

Friday, September 01, 2006

September's GDR and Podcasting

I slept right through Another Brick in the Wall Pt.1 by Pink Floyd this morning; my morning wake-up CD for this week. Not for the first time either. It's a brilliant album, but just doesn't cut it when it comes to forcing me out of my slumber. For me, Madness, the Blockheads or something by Alice Cooper does the trick. Something that makes me wake up instantly and actually want to get out of bed.

I've been in a Pink Floyd mood all week. It comes and goes in waves - as do all my tastes - and this week has seen me work my way through a lot of my favourite albums, from The Wall, to Atom Heart Mother, to Delicate Sound of Thunder and of course, Dark Side of the Moon - surely a contender as one of the greatest works of musical art ever to have been created.

With Gail off today to get packed for her week in the sun, it was left to me to get Laura ready for school. I don't see what all the fuss is about. If I can do it without loads of shouting and panicking, why can't everyone else? We'll see what the rest of the week brings.

And so it was off to work. There's a lot of shit happening in here just now, a lot of needless backstabbing and people making problems that needn't exist. And who's left picking up the pieces? Me and my colleague, that's who. We told them months ago there would be big problems if they didn't take precautions, and like randy little 15-year old boys who'll stick their wick into the first willing girl at a party, they've got themselves into trouble, and are now wishing they'd listened to our advice at the start.

PODCASTS: Downloadable/streamable content for playback on PC's, mobile devices and iPods. Can be in any form of multimedia i.e. mp3, mpeg etc.

What do podcasts have to do with me?

Very soon, I'll be making podcasts of my poetry and short stories available from my website. I have the software and hardware available (t all came with the PC), and so why not use this new form of media to promote my work? I've been browsing a few performance poet's websites and a fair few of them have this facility available and it makes for interesting listening. Stay tuned for more on this n the coming weeks.

After work I met Tom for a quick Guinness. Dave joined us later on, and before long it had turned into several. When I got home I was feeling rather, shall we say, merry, and there waiting for me was my prize from The Scotsman; the anthology for the 2006 Scotsman & Orange Short Story Award entitled, Work.

I flicked through it quickly before heading to bed. It looks like a great book with stories from some well-know writers and the shortlisted entries from this year's competition. It looks like it will be as educational as it will be entertaining.

September's GDR List

Fiction
* Type up and finish edits for Wide Awake
* Follow up on Stella submissions
* New round of Stella submissions to publishers, e-book sites etc.
* Finish editing Regrets and send out to targeted publishers
* Finish writing and editing Amanda and Joe and 'maybe' send out to targeted publishers
* Complete editing A Friend To Die For to point where left off [read/edited to end of ch.17 (30740/40000 words)]
* Work on synopsis for NaNoWriMo novel, Slick
* Keep on top of submissions list

Poetry
* Work on new chapbook, Poolside Poetry
* Write more poetry
* Check listings for performance poetry nights

Non-Fiction
* Work on Scotland's Treasure for November column - Blockheads gig? Van Gogh exhibition?
* Set out a plan for actively seeking work in specific markets

Marketing and Promotion
* Create new standard Fringe Fantastic leaflet and poster
* Reanalyse promotion of FF based on new information gained at Book Festival
* Complete cross-promotion with Fife B&B for Fringe Fantastic - books waiting to be sent out
* Keep website up to date
* Follow up on PR received - pending. Will combine with new PR from the Fringe

Reading and Research
* Read more poetry
* Read more short fiction (web/mags)

Other Projects
* Stay on top of editorial work for TSDR
* Work on ARS Anthology - May need to postpone work on this due to other committments
Colin 2:50 pm

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