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Friday, January 28, 2011

My life in songs

Hello Blogites,

The other day I started thinking about how music and writing are so intrinsically interlinked. The thing about music is that it conjures up memories. It reminds us of moments in our lives. Important moments, sad moments and happy moments. When I look back on my life, I can pretty much link every memory to a song.

So, in the spirit of blogging, I decided to give you a glimpse into my mind through the medium of song. These aren't my favourite songs of all-time, but songs that make-up who I am.

PS: Don't judge me.




Green Sleeves - Apparently as a young boy this was my favourite song and it used to make me cry. I must admit that hearing it again now did almost bring a tear to my eye. It's a beautiful song.





The La's, There she goes. I used to listen to this on the school bus. It was probably the first song I really loved and shaped my musical tastes thereafter. Ah, my old Walkman.





Status Quo - Rocking All Over the World - My mum's favourite band. I'm sitting at home, while my parents drink and dance in the lounge. I feel about seven or eight years old.



Oasis - Live Forever - My first band affair. I'm at art college. It's the beginning of Britpop, New Labour is just around the corner and anything seems possible.



Supergrass - Alright - Newquay, Cornwall. I'm about eighteen and on a lads holiday with my best mates.



Simply Red - Holding back the Years - this just takes me back to the Eighties.It was also in that episode of Only Fools and Horses where Rodney gets married and Del is alone at the end. I'm not even a big fan of Simply Red, but this is a classic and played at every wedding in England since it came out.




R.E.M - Losing my Religion. I think everyone has their R.E.M phase. I had mine from the age of sixteen through until I was about twenty. This is still one of my favourite songs of all time. It reminds me of my first first girlfriend and sitting in my bedroom being a sulky teenager.



Like the R.E.M phase, I also went through the Grunge phase. It was the early nineties, just before Britpop surfaced and everything was about Grunge. Nirvana were the biggest band at the time, but I always preferred Pearl Jam. It was a simple time of checked shirts, crowd surfing and long hair.



Robbie Williams - Angels. I'm at university, probably at the student union bar, I'm drunk, it's the end of the night and I'm in a group hug with a bunch of complete strangers.



The Seahorses - Blinded by the sun - This takes me back to my first summer in London. I listened to this album all summer long. It reminds me of summer, red wine and being at that age when life seems like it will go on forever.



The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army - riding on the Greyhound bus in America just outside Charleston, North Carolina - a very particular memory that one.



The Proclaimers - I'm gonna be (500 miles) The east coast of Australia - for some reason this is the unofficial backpackers anthem and is played at every backpacker bar in Australia at least five times an hour. I must have heard this drunk at least five hundred times in the space of  few months.



James - Sit Down - I'm sat down at a dingy club at a sixth-form college party just like everyone else. A classic then and still now. Plus, you have to love this video.



Jason Mraz - Curbside prophet - I'm with Kristin, we're in Byron Bay, Australia enjoying our little beach side accommodation, chilling and falling madly in love. A simply wonderful time and this album that Kristin brought from America seemed to always be on.





That's all I can think of at the moment. I know there's more, but that will have to be in a different blog. I hope this gave you an insight into my mind and maybe even made you think about the songs that helped shape your life.


Blog soon x

Thursday, January 27, 2011

A reminder about my novel




Being a Thirtysomething man isn’t easy (especially when you still yearn to be a Twentysomething man). Meet Harry Spencer. History teacher, lover of snack food and terrified of growing up. However, when his wife Emily drops the P-Bomb, Harry is suddenly thrust into the role of expectant father. Cue baby doctor visits, breast-pump demonstrations, morning sickness, food cravings, self-help books, family therapy sessions, cold sweats and the birthing class from hell.

However, when he’s tempted by the greener grass of an ex-girlfriend past, he must make the most important decision of his life. Will Harry have what it takes to become a man or will he succumb to the lure of adolescent fantasy? And when Emily finds out, will he be able to save his marriage or will his efforts to finally grow-up all be in vain?

Set in London, This Thirtysomething Life: A Diary is a love story about what happens after we've fallen in love, when we’ve swapped frolicking in the bed for cigarettes in the shed and Match of the Day for Mothercare. Brutally honest, riotously funny and often heartwarming, this is a diary about one man’s bumbling journey on the road to adulthood.

About what I've been doing of late

Hello Blogites,

My most humble apologies for the distinct lack of entries of late. I've been incredible busy with one thing and another, but instead of giving you some wishy-washy excuses, I'm just going to tell you what I've been doing.

I just returned from a fleeting trip back home to England. The jet lag has finally worn off, so as I promised myself, I am writing this entry. England was great. I caught up with friends, family and digested large quantities of carbohydrates, alcohol and froze my pampered Californian bum off. It was a wonderful trip because even though I didn't actually do any writing, it gave me some quality thinking time and it helped me work through some issues with the book. I also had a cracking idea for my next book, so it was 7 days well spent I think.

Now I'm back home, I'm working hard on the final edit for This Thirtysomething Life: A Diary. It's getting close which is both scary and exciting. Now it's almost ready to be let loose upon the world, I'm suddenly terrified that everyone is going to think, what a load of old shit. What if I've been deluding myself all these years that I have some talent, when in fact I'm like the literary equivalent of Westlife or worse, Brother Beyond (I'm showing my age there). I suppose it's inevitable. I just hope you all like it.

After this last edit, I will turn my book over to my long-term editor Kristin (the advantages of having a teacher as a wife). She will put her red pen to work, before it comes back to me for the final read through and them I'm done. I'm hoping it will be ready in March, so get ready for some serious giggles!

With regard the blog, I'm hoping to write the last two episodes of David Burrows Office Man soon, as well as some further bits and pieces about my novel.

I hope this entry finds you all happy and healthy. I hope it won't be so long again.

Here's some music to keep you going.






Blog soon x

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

This Thirtysomething Life: A Diary - News!

Hello my Darlings,

So, finally some exciting news for all of my loyal followers. This Thirtysomething Life: A Diary, is going to be published on the Kindle! This means that any of you with a Kindle (like myself), will be able to pop along to the Kindle Store and just buy it! That's right. You can search for it and there it will be. Brilliant!

For those of you Kindle-less people, you can easily download the Kindle App to your phone, Mac or PC and buy my book on Amazon! I will have complete instructions for you nearer the time. This is terribly exciting for me. My book is going to be on Amazon!

I don't have a release date yet, but I'm hoping towards the end of February, so keep your beady eyes peeled!

Also, second piece of exciting news, is that I have a brand new cover. My darling wife Kristin designed it for me and I think she's done an amazing job. I hope you like it. Here it is for the first time. The cover for my first book.




That's it for now. Sorry I've been so quiet on the blog-front recently, but I've been working super hard on editing Thirtysomething. I'm also off to England for a week on Saturday, so busy times indeed. I hope to have some new blogs up soon to keep the saliva dribbling down your chins.


Blog soon x

Monday, January 3, 2011

A bright, sparkly (actually quite wet) New Year!

Hello my Blogites,

Sorry I have been a bit quiet of late, but with Christmas and New Year (plus working hard on my novel), it's been quite a busy festive period. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a drunken, debauched New Year. Mine was actually very quiet in terms of alcohol. Kristin and I didn't even make it to midnight on New Year (how sad us parents are). Anyway, in lieu of an actual blog, as I don't have the time at the moment, here is another sneak peek at my novel, This Thirtysomething Life: A Diary. It's going well and I'm hoping to have some exciting news soon!





Sunday February 5th, 10:00am

In kitchen. Peeling spuds. Emily lying down. Bright, blue skies (no chance of rain). Squirrel outside with another squirrel. Still no response from Jamie.

Seriously, why are weather people never right? It’s probably the only profession in the world where you can be wrong most of time and still keep your job.
Squirrel outside with another squirrel and they seem to be quite amorous. Good for them. Steve, Fiona and their brigade of ankle biters will be here at noon. I’m not looking forward to it. I’ve spent most of the morning child proofing the house. I had to move all of the alcohol into the shed.


6:00pm
In shed. Having a cigarette. Drinking a cocktail (Sex on the Beach!). I might as well enjoy the fact that the alcohol’s now in the shed. Plus, I finally get to use the cocktail recipe book I got two Christmases’ ago. Steve, Fiona and ankle biters just left. My nerves are frayed.

I plied myself with red wine and then we told Steve and Fiona our good news. They went berserk. At one point Steve screamed, while Fiona just kept yelling. “OMG! OMG! OMG!”
They already have us down at a birthing class, family therapy session, pre-birth playgroup and something (if I heard them correctly), which sounded like a week away together to Cornwall, but that couldn’t be right. Emily did most of the talking, while I just smiled a lot and said things like. “It’s unbelievable. Really exciting. Doesn’t seem quite real yet.”
Emily was in her element and spent ages talking to Fiona about baby names, types of nappy and a whole hour about the importance of breast feeding. Steve even went out to their car to get their spare breast pump and then gave us a demonstration (on himself!). Emily got out the calendar, so we could see how many days our new babies are going to be apart. Apparently, they were going to be very close, which was fantastic news.
Luckily, I spent most of the time preparing lunch and so I managed to avoid the majority of the baby talk. I did, unfortunately, get stuck with Steve, while I was trying to sneak in a cigarette outside.
“It’s great news, old boy.”
“Yes, we’re very excited.”
“You know there’s this book...”
“The Bloke’s Survival Kit for Being a Dad?”
“Yes, how did you know?”
“I have a copy.”
“Oh, it’s a must read, really quite, you know, true. I think that us blokes need that little bit of extra help, don’t you?”
“I suppose.”
“And if you have any questions, anything, just let me know. Even the delicate stuff.”
“Thanks.” I didn’t want to ask what kind of ‘delicate stuff’ he was talking about.
“And we have that week in Cornwall, which will be great.”
“Right, yes, wait, what?”
“You know, we’re going to Newquay for the week in May? We’re thrilled you’re coming. The kids can’t stop talking about it.”
“Yes, of course, can’t wait.”
Emily had pulled a fast one and agreed to go on holiday for an entire week with Steve, Fiona and their clan. I must stop this disgrace. How could she do this to me?
The next few hours passed extraordinarily slowly. I played with the kids for a while, mostly to get away from Emily, who still didn’t know that I knew about Cornwall. Eventually, they all left and I came outside for a cigarette and a cocktail (Irish car bomb!) to compose myself, before I confronted Emily about our sham of a holiday to the West Country.


 8:00pm
Apparently, we had a conversation about Cornwall last week and I agreed to it! I find this very hard to believe. I have no memory of the conversation in question. Was Emily using my ‘man-tention span’ against me?
“I don’t remember any conversation about Cornwall. I think I’d remember.”
“Last Wednesday, we were having dinner.”
“What did we have?”
“I don’t know. Pork chops I think.”
“Nothing’s coming back to me, Em.”
“Surprise, surprise.”
“OK, yes, I grant you, my memory’s a bit...”
“Shit?”
“Yes, but I think I’d remember a whole conversation where I agreed to go to Cornwall for the week with Steve, Fiona and their gaggle of J’s.”
“You’d think so.”
After our conversation, I started to wonder if maybe she’s right. Had we had a conversation about Cornwall? Was it possible that my ‘man-tention span’ was getting worse and I was losing whole chunks of my life? What else had I agreed too? Time to pop out to the shed for another cocktail.


Blog soon x