Pallabres Rares

• Coming up for air

  2009 Jan 27

  Words are food for the soul, they sustain us, lift us up towards greater things...Here I am in a brief respite between the piles of academic books and journal articles, trying to keep at least some semblance of writing going. This is a relatively old one.

  The forgotten battlefield is a lovely place,

  The chocolate box cottages,

  Fields of wheat and poppies,

  Trembling in the light breeze,

  Tall, thick hedgerows

  Barely disturbed by the infrequent cars that murmur past,

  And the children,

  Laughing in those fields,

  Smiles, games,

  Cavorting joyfully over the rotten corpses and shattered bones of a thousand slumbering men.

   

• By the skin of my teeth

  2008 Oct 22

  Still clinging on here...I haven't disappeared for good. Writing has unfortunately taken a backseat recently as I have got back into the groove of university. There is so much reading and writing to do, the last thing I want to do is scribble away as a means of relaxing. Having said that, the hands are getting twitchy and the same ideas keep popping into my head insistently, begging to be written down. It's only a matter of time until I bash out a few more stories.
  
  Entonces, 'Collateral' is being put on hold at the moment, whilst I have another good look at the stuff I have already written, and also have a go at writing some new, better stories. All with a view to releasing a better collection. I also might dabble in the whole short story competition gravy train as well...
  

• Ahead and Behind

  2008 Sep 06

  It's been a while since I've written on here -holidays and lots of work have got in the way- but that's not to say I haven't been beavering away in the wilderness. 'Collateral' is due to be released shortly: it's awaiting revision and the last story to be added, as I was not happy with the original one. In addition, I've been getting ahead of myself by starting on material for the third collection, which once again remarks quite a departure from the other work...and poetry! I'm going to try and get a couple of poems to stick on here, once they're ready as well. Stay tuned!
  

• The Confidence Paradox

  2008 Aug 13

  That's a pretentious sounding title for something that has undoubtedly been talked about before, but nevertheless I am going to reiterate.
  
  The problem with self-publishing in the internet age is that it is so easy and cheap that there is a hell of a lot of rubbish out there. Anyone can 'publish' whatever they like. Among the self-publishing world there is a mutual backpatting about the very achievement of writing a book. The problem is, of course, is that there are a lot of writers who in the end believe they are a great deal better than they actually are. And now we come to the paradox...
  
  Self-publishing takes a lot of time, effort and self-confidence. You have to believe you're good, sell and market yourself for all you're worth, otherwise you'll never get anywhere. At the same time, you need decent, honest and critical reviews. However, these reviews, although necessary, often destroy the self-confidence.
  
  I suppose at the end of the day it comes down to determination. POD writers need to accept the criticism and take it on board, without letting it destroy the self-confidence. It's a difficult situation. Nevertheless rubbish and unconsrtuctive reviews are of no use to anyone, which is why I am disregarding the one by Mrs Giggles...I welcome constructive criticism though, from whoever can give me it!
  

• Another review: Food for thought, and comments...

  2008 Aug 04

  Here’s my comment on a review on mrsgiggles.com which I stumbled across today without actually knowing it existed. It’s difficult for authors to comment on negative reviews as they are often criticised for nursing their babies too much and refusing to take criticism. Nevertheless, I think there is a place for authors at least to have a say on what has been said about them. Read the book, read the review, read this comment, and make up your own mind!

  This is the first bad review I’ve received, and the book is rated as ‘Below Average’ with a rating of 50. Usually I find it very difficult to take criticism and I strive not to snap back angrily, as is the instinctive reaction. I appreciate the time that ‘Mrs Giggles’ (there’s no indication as to who this person may be, neither is there any inkling as to their reviewing credentials) has taken to read my book and review it –thank you very much.

  Nevertheless, there are a few things with which I would like to argue against in the light of her review. Now every review is subjective; it is clear that ‘Mrs Giggles’ is not a fan of my prose. It is too flowery and pretentious for her liking. I do not apologise for that; I love words, manipulating and moving them around.

  She takes issue immediately with the ‘shimmering computer screens.’ I would ask you to take a moment to raise your eyes from the television or computer screen and observe it out of the corner of your eye –does it not flicker? Videos of screens are always full flickering images, and in Britain the cinema is known as the ‘Flicks.’

  I would say that only one of the seven stories has a moral, Solomon, not each and every one as ‘Mrs Giggles’ has declared. Footsteps in the Darkness and The Bigger Picture are both moral in the sense that they introduce a moral issue, but they do not moralise in any way. It’s more of an attempt to provoke reflection on the matter. Solomon is a story which does moralise and I do appreciate that it might be a little heavy-handed for some, although I have received positive feedback about the story.

  I disregard the comment: ‘You're probably wondering why I am not giving a synopsis of each story. Well, it's because the stories here are so short that even a single-sentence description of each of them will be tantamount to me describing the entire story, heh.’ I will not talk about the use of ‘heh’ in what is attempting to be a literary review. I ask ‘Mrs Giggles’, with respect, please don’t review short stories if you do not like the short story form. I’m afraid criticising a short story for being too short is a flimsy argument at best, preposterous at worst.

  Once again, I’d like to reiterate my thanks to ‘Mrs Giggles’ for taking the time and effort to read my book and write a review. She is welcome to her opinion, but I find someone who describes herself on her website only by the line ‘a cantankerous coot filled with caustic, sarcastic, and blunt opinions’ but who criticises someone else for being ‘pretentiously grandiose’, somewhat like the kettle calling the pot black.