Campbeltown - Oh the Drama!

It couldn't just be a 'normal' camping trip could it? You know the ones that everyone else talks about: lots of alcohol, roasted marshmallows, sing songs round the camp fire, you know, all that stuff. No. We have to go and take it a whole step further.

Now. Don't get me wrong, we did do all those things (especially the alcohol bit :D ) but we did a lot of things that dont make the tourist pamphlets - exploding tents, blazing inferno's, that awkward moment when you mis-park the car:

Now I am a writer, but I feel words just cannot do justice to what I am talking about so, with that being said here is a blog first. Pictures!

The Tent

Two and half hours worth of effort, sweat and profanities and finally the tent was up. The picture does not do it justice, it is huge! (See superman? That's me!)


So everything was going well, the tent was up the scenery was gorgeous!

The View

Sunset Dura

Sunset Dura 2

Too often we take it for granted just how beautiful this country is. I remembered that this weekend.

Right, now remember the tent that took two and a half hours to erect? Well...

Dude, where's my tent?

This is not what it looks like. Well not strictly true, technically it is a picture of a car on top of our tent, but the car didn't drive into the tent, it was put there deliberately.

You see the rods that ran along the top of the tent were made of fibre glass - flexible and durable (my arse) and prone to shatter at the first strong gust of wind - so on night two, at 2.45 AM (when we are all a tad drunk and had just rolled into the sleeping bags) the tent collapsed and we had to evacuate.

Now most families (I'd imagine) would be quite distraught by this turn of events, ours? Nah, we had a good laugh as we struggled to pull my uncle from the depths of the tent turned survival maze. Keep in mind that the wind was still blowing a gale at this point and my arms were bearing the strain of the whole tent as the wind urged it closer to the sea. While the rest of the family stood around discussing the various ways to weight down a tent to stop it becoming a plane, my uncle (who had indulged in one or two beverages) dissapeared to return a moment later at 30mph and park where he had been sleeping only moments before.

Now I'll be honest, there was a kind of stunned silence as the audi rolled over the sleeping bags. This was then followed by shrieks of laughter (adrenaline? fatigue? madness? ...all of the above?)

I was then tasked with a very important salvage operation and had to delve back into the depths of the tent and recover sleeping bags and air beds, my brother and uncle promptly invaded the tent next door (my aunt and uncle - who hadn't heard a thing - were oblivious to their entry until morning) My mother and I decided it would be a good idea to get a cup of tea at this point (it is the jubilee weekend and tea is a very British thing to do)

I slept like a convict on death row just before the big day. So not much. I awoke to fits of hysterics as the rest of the family rose to view the new Campbeltown parking lot.

2.5 hours to put up, 2.5 secs to come down...

Now - that is pretty bad, but we should have seen it coming. The night before in the events tent (where we cooked and sang (and drank)) there was a fire, and not the scheduled kind. One of my other uncles had bought an all singing all dancing portable GAS fires. Which promptly blew up.

Dont play with fire

My uncle (the one with the car park idea) saved the day and with one hand braved the blaze, grabbing the propane bottle turned inferno (the other hand was way back holding his vodka safe out of reach) and wrestled it outside into the open air.

All in all, an interestng weekend...would I do it again?

In a bloody heartbeat!

Dare to dream!

SBP

Books, boobs and other bollocks.

Ahhhh PhoenixRisen, too long have I strayed! I think an update is in order.

It has been an eventful couple of weeks (isn't it strange how we always think nothing interesting happens but when it comes to it the 'Things to write about' checklist is extensive?) As of this morning 'Empire' is officially as ready as it will ever be for submission. The I's have been crossed and the T's dotted and I've asked myself all the questions that needed asking. 'Should that apostrophe be there? Are there too many verbs in that sentence? Is that even a word? Does this even make sense!!!' Yes, they have all been asked and asked again! The submission letter and synopsis honestly took up weeks of my life!

Its peculair that I find it so easy to write imaginatively but when it comes to producing a couple of hundred words that state fact! My brain shrivels up and my fingers refuse to comprehend my meaning. It is only through the unwavering kindness of a couple of literary folks I know that the finished articles came to resemble a submission letter and synopsis...as opposed to the almost incoherent ramblings of an enthusiastic storyteller as they were in their initial format.

Thank you! To those who know who they are.

For those who don't know what a synopsis is, imagine writing a book, 97,000 words in length. And having to summarise it in less than 500 words with no twists, turns or surprises. For someone who is used to writing in detail and dramatically this is the hurdle at which they fall. I certainly did for my first novel, but with the help of the afore mentioned Saint's, book two stands a much better shot than book one did!

Now I know I promised a long and lengthy update about my boobs. Well boob. And its not even really a boob, it's more a pec...or the lack of one, but thats neither here nor there the fact is I was getting a breast implant. Note the operative word 'was'.

I was due to go in for surgery last Thursday to get a muscle from my back implanted into my chest to even out the fact I was born without the pectorial muscle on that side. It was all planned, the wheels were set in motion in November of last year.

The bag was overloaded with Lucozade and clean boxers (for the sake of the nurses I left the ones with the clever wordplay out.) I went in on the Wednesday at 2pm as advised...I sat in admittions for three hours...and then was told the surgeon was off sick - operation postponed - go home.

Now. This will be my 13th/14th surgery (i've lost count). And I will never criticise the NHS, the care and compassion I have received before during and after surgery is astounding...but a heads up would have been nice.

I dont mind the operation being postponed. Its more the mental state that you put yourself into when your doing something like this. Weeks of anticipation, in truth the operation is the easy part (I effectively go to sleep and flirt with nurses, pretty much sums up my time in hospital), it's the recovery that's tough. So all that stressing for nothing, well until it's re-scheduled.

As much as I am loathed to admit  it, I have been neglecting the piano. Don't get me wrong, the intention is there, I've printed off hundreds of sheet music...but not actually got round to learning it. The thought is there though, it is on the to do list.

I have been playing alot of MTG, the new format is pretty addictive and its alot of fun - really need to make a point of getting up to Spellbound again to do some real life drafting.

Does anyone else love Game of Thrones?

George R.R Martins books are phenomenal - on a par with R.E.Feist (and from me thats saying something!) I recently discovered the TV series (by recent I mean this morning) and have watched quite a few episodes (by a few I mean season one!) It's great!

For those who know me, I really dont watch television - at all. I watch question time on occasion, and when Jonathan Ross is on I will watch that. Most people find it strange that I don't know what's going on in Eastenders, or what the hell 'on it like a car bonnet' is referring to. But then most people think that Scots eat battered Mars bars and chase haggis about the hills with nets. And they think i'm strange. Hah!

I have started a new position in work, I am now the guy that makes the tea, for the guy that makes the coffee. Its looking up! But in all seriousness, the new job is not too bad - less stress, no weekends, sensible hours, less pay....but it does mean I can attend more writers groups and maybe an evening class in medicine if I ever get around to it.

Anyways, consider yourself up to scratch!

(Camping trip in Campbell town next week - should be intresting *cough* unbloody likely *cough*)

Stay tuned folks!

Dare to dream!

SBP

Spellbound

It's funny the things we take our inspiration from. Some people seem to have this boundless energy and this limitless supply of creative passion that fuels them towards their goals, other people sit back on their laurels and watch the world go by. Today I was definitely the latter of the two...

...then tonight, BAM! This sudden urge to write, to draw, to play music. Having enough experience to know that rushes of enthusiasm like this are not to be knocked I grabbed a pen and started drafting storyline and sub plots for Empire book 3 (Yes I know ive only just sent books 1 and 2 away but like I said, dont knock the rush!)

It was only after I had spent a very productive two hours that I began to wonder where it had came from, this sudden desire to do something other than nothing. That strange impulse when I know im going to be in the zone, when the writing and the music has me Spellbound - then it hit me. Spellbound.

For those who don't know, I am hands down, the biggest fantasy geek I know (quite possibly the biggest one you know too!). From LOTR to FF7, D&D to WoW, Feist to Pratchett I love it ALL. Anything where someone can let their minds run riot, where impossibility is just impossible, where reality and dreams merge and swell encouraging people to think outside the box and challenge the conventional way of thinking that is 'The Norm' is 'A' ok in my book. And fantasy allows for just that, a release from reality and escape into a world of possibility.

A long time ago, in a shop far far away (well...it was actually in Anniesland, and I think its still there...but it does sun tans now. Well I use the words 'sun tan' very loosely because I think people tend to look more like Oompah Lumpah's but that is going off on a tangent...) Now where was I? Oh yeah, Arena Games.

My uncle was, and I would imagine still is a fan of lord of the rings, and when the movies came out so did a card game which I was instantly hooked on (though not very good at.) It involved compiling resources, casting spells, killing Balrog's etc etc. And eventually the card game led me to Arena Games where I discovererd several things:

1) I am not the only fantasy geek I know (there are actually lots of us, so be warned...we're coming up!)
2) There were adults with imaginations too (I was young at the time and TBH, thought grown ups were boring old farts, in some cases I wasnt wrong :P)
3) Most importantly, or rather, most enjoyably I discovered MTG. Or Magic The Gathering for those not cool enough to know the TCG lingo.

For years I played this game, up and down the country we travelled. Team Poch'l FTW. It was similar to Lord of the Rings but it took fantasy to a whole new level. I genuinely believe that MTG has influenced me in alot of ways with regards to my fantasy writing, and that Arena games played a role in me meeting other people interested in the genre. And then the shop shut, and I stopped playing.

A little over a fortnight ago I was on one of my many YouTube binges and was in the process of hitting the 'Skip this ad now' button when I noticed it was for MTG Online. Given that I was off, and bored and i had already watched the video where the dog attacks the printer I decided to download the online version and see how it went.

To cut a long story short, I pretty much lost a week of my life between catching up with all the new rules and MENTAL combinations that people are running. It did however spark my desire to play again and I ran a search and found a pre-release in Pollokshields East. Loaded the FB page to find it was run by Joao Madeira, a former Team Poch'l Deck Tech legend and regular at Arena games, and I pre-registered.

I had a great weekend. It turns out that Joao has been running this for almost a decade, catering to all sorts of niches within the fantasy market. More than just the fact that the tournament was well run, there was a genuine sense of 'belonging' within the building. Joao knew everyone by name and laughed and joked with them constantly. I later discovered that after almost ten years of running this facility that Joao is opening up a shop. Hes taking a risk, following a dream...grabbing life (pardon my french) by the balls! And so Spellbound Games is born.

So after all my pondering about what sparked my own enthusiasm, it came down to this. Seeing someone take a shot at one of their dreams, encouraged me to keep at one of mine.

It goes to show that sometimes the best thing for our own ambitions, is to see someone else achieving theirs.

All the best to Joao and his new business venture. I for one will be at the store drafting MTG as often as I can.

If you want to visit the man (minus the dreadlocks) the new shop is at:

82 Bowman Street, Glasgow, G42 8LF (2 mins away from Queens Park Station)

Ill definitely be hitting the shop on the 20th (after my *cough* boob job *cough* which there will be another update about at the weekend)


But for now,
Peace out,


Keep on dreaming folks!


SBP

Stomp Stomp Clap! Stomp Stomp Clap!!

We will we will ROCK YOU!

...how many of you guessed that was coming? Kudos to you!

Recently watched the musical and for the first hour was a bit gutted because it is very similar to the musical I have penned (which is very unfortunate because until I watched We Will Rock You I thought it was a totally original concept) and albeit the story was a bit non-existent... (ok more than a bit. A more gripping tale could be told about your average pebble) but the music was mind blowing!

Particularly loved Kelly Ellis singing "No one but you - Only the good die young" it was written a few years ago (for those bad at maths that means it was done after Freddie died) and I had never heard it before, it was incredible. So emotional, written by Brian May who obviously had Freddie in mind when he was writing it!

So. Dear blog...it has been eight days since my last confession, and twenty one days since my last decent sized confession so I figure you are due at least ten hail mary's worth of time dedicated to you. So here goes!

"Hail Mary...."

Proud Mary that is! Still rocking away (or trying to on the piano) and have purchased three books of sheet music:

1 - Adele 21 (because who doesn't love Adele?)
2 - We Will Rock You (because initially I thought it was Queen's Greatest hits)
3 - Glee Vol 2 (because it has Proud Mary in it....ok, ok. Im a Gleek at heart! <3 )

That being said, most of the sheet music is above my level of comprehension at the moment. I can play the notes but getting the rhythm down is so hard! I find myself repeating the songs so much by the time ive got the chorus time I hate the song :S ! But I shall persevere, if a six year old kid can play "Flight of the Bumblebee" then im damned sure I can play Killer Queen.

Only recently discovered that McCormacks, one of Glasgow's oldest music stores is not there anymore! Which had me quite upset at first as I had no idea where else to look for sheet music in glasgow. Thankfully the android phone came to the rescue by pin pointing my location and verbally directing me to the nearest store (Biggars on Sauciehall street)

Biggars is a cafe/music shop/hottie hangout...im thinking about moving in lol!

All joking aside it really is a nice place. The music choice (over the speakers) is great, soft and balladish makes you feel like relaxing and stay a while.

I liked it so much I have returned every night this week after work for a latte and to proof read my novel. Which is done by the way. Did I tell you that already? Its D.O.N.E!

Proofing is a funny process, the more you think about it the harder it gets (no sexual innuendos please :P) I find that If I look for mistakes I rarely find them but If I read it normally things just stand out. Some of the word choice, sentence structure and general rhythm of the writing is just bad. It makes me wonder if I was drunk when I wrote it. There was actually a line which read: "The wind blew like...INSERT SIMILIE HERE!" which I had forgotten about and the similie proceeded to stump me for another thirty minutes!

In other news (non writing, non musical, non drink related weekend drama) I have a date for the next Operation; 9th of May.

Felt a little bit sick when I saw the letter, kind of "What the hell was I thinking?" but hey ho, nothing like diving in feet first!

For those who dont know this operation is for a boob job...no joke.

Part of the condition I was born with means I have no right pectorial muscle so the clever clogs in the medical profession worked out that they could take a muscle from my back, fat from my stomach (*cough* un-bloody likely!) and inplant it into my chest to create a 'simulated' pec! Its another "big one" apparently, but all I do is go to sleep...and flirt with nurses, nothing to it!

Thats about it I think! Time keeps ticking on, but that doesnt bother me, im spending it well, im going somewhere!

One more time folks! Stomp Stomp Clap! Stomp Stomp Clap!

Oh, almost forgot.

 "Amen!"

Keep on dreaming folks!

SBPhoenix

The best laid plans...

Sometimes no matter what you do, you just get side-tracked.

After the weekend shift in work (which involves working 24 hours in 36 followed by a nice 10 hour shift to top it all off) I was looking forward to two well earned days off. But they were to be constructive days. I was going to use the time off well. Polish off the novel, read it til I was close to tears and print off a final draft ready to be sent away on Monday. I was also going to finish learning 'Your Song' on the piano (I know its not quite rock 'n' roll but I was getting sick of people walking in and saying "Whats that your playing?" I figure Elton John is instantly recognisable and they will leave me alone for a bit.).

Ended up not doing any of that...or very little. As it stands, the word document which contains my novel has not been opened or edited since last Friday and apart from the two bar intro ive not spent much time on Elton's John's tunes.

Id love to say the time has been spent productively, but its not really. I shovelled some stones from round the back, listened to lots of music, made a couple of trips to Asda and played computer games for longer than the recommended time.

Altthough im sitting here now thinking 'I wish I had done what I said id do' im kind of glad for the break. I think its important to take a break, even from things we are passionate about. Get some good old R&R on the go.

That been said I am going to bed!

(I now owe Word a very productive weekend...)

Its done!!!

You know, I love me. I think I am awesome...

...that being said, even I am getting sick of the sight of that picture on the right hand side! I will need to remedy this, anyone with suggestions on a suitable background let me know :P

You know those weird thoughts you have in the morning when your body is still half asleep and your brain cant remember if you boil the kettle first or fill it? The sort of thoughts that flitter through your brain for no apparent reason and then in the same instant dissapear to be forgotten (disregarded) for another ten years until it comes back into your head. Usually this happens with music, ill hear a word or a bar of music and it will remind me of a song which I tell myself I must listen to, only to forget about it ten minutes later (this usually leads to about two hours spent trawling the internet trying to remember!)

But this morning, the fleeting thought was a person.

Now I dont know why, because I never really knew this person particularly well, but I got thinking about Marsielle and that got me thinking about a girl I went to school with who the last I heard had moved there. Twenty minutes later im standing at the station and she walks onto the platform...how mind bogglingly random is that?!

Of all the days for that fleeting thought to pop into my head, of all the fleeting thoughts that could have popped in there instead and I think about someone (who I havent met in almost ten years) then meet them on the platform...

Almost gives weight to the idea that theres something bigger out there. That we possess a sixth sense. An innate ability, through the interpretation of our thoughts, to predict and effect what lies ahead...

...almost, but not really. After all I wake up most mornings thinking about winning the lottery but thats not happened yet! Probably just coincidence.

For those of you wondering, NO. I didnt speak to her. What do you say?

"Hey! Not seen you in years though I was thinking about you this morning!"

...lol the comedy value would be great but I really dont want to add to the *cringe* moments

But no, like I said I barely knew her then and definitely dont know her now, after the third train change of the morning I felt it was just getting ridiculous so gave the standard "Hey *name* hows things?" to which she replied "gdnu" (which I think was meant to be 'good and you?' but cant be entirely sure as she always was very softly spoken) followed by "this is pandemonium" (presumably regarding the state of the train service that morning). I then spent the next ten minutes thinking about how good a word 'pandemonium' was and wondering why I have not used it in my book.

Anyways lol! Strange thing coincidence isnt it?

...just in case I am going to make a conscious effort to think about a duffel bag filled with unmarked bills before I click the kettle on tomorrow morning, better to be wealthy than right :P

As all of you astute people noticed, ITS DONE!!!!

I actually got to write those fantastic words, "The End...............of Part Two" today! And although there is still Part Three to come, the first book is officially finished...in its first form. Now begins the reading and re-reading the editing and tantrum throwing and re-reading and crying and quitting and starting again and rejection letter after rejection letter then the re-reading and editing followed by the backyard burning of the whole thing...then the printing off of the same thing then the....you get the point. :P

For those of you who have been paying attention (if not why not?) I gave myself the target of the 16th of April so I am going strong, it is just going to mean a couple of quiet weekends spent proofing rather than partying (how Will I survive!)

Anyways with that being said I shall get back to it!

Good Night All,

Dare to Dream,

SBPhoenix

"Like a rolling stone!"

A few people have asked me where and how I come up with the ideas (as mental as some of them are) for my books, songs and more recently, the weekly(ish) blog updates. The latter is easy. It happens. No joke, there are NO kid on stories on my blog, this stuff actually happens to me. Yay me! *cough*

But for the books and songs I tell people I dream them, I dont think them, I dream them. To which people usually A) Laugh or B) give that nod that kind of suggests they dont believe you but they are just too polite to call you a liar to your face.

I swear to god it's true! Both books have been dreamt about and notes hastily scribbled in a tattered notebook by me in a half woken daze. Yet when I re-read them, it all makes sense!

Most men my age (I'm assuming here of course...*cough*) dream about celebrities they'll never date (doing things with said celebrities that they'll never do), about cars they will never drive and money that they will never have to spend. Not me...not even the first one! Instead I dreamt this, last night:

---Rock and Roll Revival the Musical!---
Is a musical of the future where the world has become brainwashed by electro-pop-atonal music produced by the totalitarien media and production companies and has only one pop-star, Eviva (Editors Note: She looks like Lady Gaga for some reason?). She is loved by the masses and idolised by all, except one. 'Clunk'


'Clunk' is a bit of a loner and a rebel, he secretely loves Eviva but hates the music and has big dreams of changing it to something different, something that means something. He finds an old jukebox and discovers 'Rock 'n' Roll' and sets out on a path to change the world of music forever...again.

Now. That on it's own was pretty impressive to find neatly scribbled in my notepad but that wasnt all. There are actually lyrics! Real 'musical' lyrics! Theres also songs picked out for different scenes and cast and crew! I mean come on! Forgot about Kylie Minogue in a corset on the back of my Kawasaki Ninja with two duffel bags full of money as we drive into the sunset...give me my dreams ANY day of the week!

So to those of you who think my ideas are well planned out and subtley clever...they're not...well not initially anyway. My sub-conscious imagination is just a bit mental :P ! And I LOVE IT!

Ive put a bit more thought into the concept of writing a musical and it is something I am going to seriously dedicate a bit of time to BUT! Not until after April the 16th, its all about 'Empire' until then! So enough about music...

Actually finished my second notebook of handwritten, double sided, notes/chapter plans/random doodles quite pleased :P. Chapter 12 is completely hand written and its going to be a biggie! There is a lot of dialogue and expanation involved so I'll need to be careful not to over do it, I know that if I come across huge sections of description in other peoples books I tend to skip until someone says something (Dont judge me lol but some of it bores the arse off me!)

The challenge will be writing it in a way thats engaging and captivating without being overly complicated. The first six chapters of part 2 were printed off last night and given to a literary colleague of my mother's to have a look at so I am looking forward to hearing what she has to say!

So thats just about you all upto date, OH! I tell a lie your not!

*Clears throat loudly*

"Introducing to the blogging community for the first time, a young man with exceptional writing promise and enough sarcastic wit to leave Jonathan Ross speechless (or stutterless). The one and only CHRIS DUFFY!"

Really enjoyed his first two blog posts, If youve got a spare minute check him out!

http://duffyversusbbc.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/chris-1-vodafone-0.html

Anyways, thanks for reading folks!

Its all happening so stay tuned!

SBPhoenix