Interview at ArtsParks

Thirza Ember has interviewed me for her arts blog, SL ArtsParks. Be cautioned, it's an addictive blog. And there's a link further down to the new Prisoner trailer...

Read the interview here.

Taking a break...

'Beside an Open Window' stands at 50k. I'm taking a short break from writing it, just a few weeks off to prepare for the second half.

'At the beach' comes joint first in VE Day poetry competition.

My poem, 'At the beach,' which was written about the Normandy landings in World War Two, has been awarded joint first prize in a VE Day poetry contest sponsored by TLE Educational Network. The contest received 26 submissions; 'At the beach' came joint first with "Blut Und Ehre" by Manx Wharton. Full details here.

Not only is it the first poetry competition I've ever won, it is also, in fact, the first poetry comeptition I've ever entered. All 26 entries have been published in a book available inworld (follow the link above for details).

At the beach

My body warmed by others packed tight, we sway together as we bounce
across waves, grey stones flicked from a distant shore.
Soaked by salt mist, dried by the wind;
sometimes we stumble; sometimes we touch the elbows of our friends, gently.
I think of seaside smells and try to find at least one in the air around me.
I try to find the sound of seagulls, but the birds are absent this morning.

These last few minutes of my life, I shall be certain to know them completely.
When my cheek ends up resting upon wet sand,
I will try to think of the waves washing up against my flesh
as water lapping over rocks, as it must.

The lifeguard's whistle blows, and we are jumping, splashing, wading.
Arms raised out of the water, we hold our spades above our heads.
We charge: golden sands and a pebble bank our objective.

Then, as I know it has to, the burning enters into me.
Once, twice, three times I am punctured, like a swift rap on the door;
punched, pierced by someone distant, who moves on.
My legs stop moving and my body begins to empty itself.
Just like that, it has happened. I stumble forward, my face smacks against the sea.

These last few seconds of my life, I shall be certain to know them completely.
Water is moving backwards and forwards through my hair, and I marvel
that waves still know how to work today. I breathe blood.
I find another to look at, we lock gazes for a few final seconds.
Our blood mixes in the waters between us.
I try to find the sound of seagulls, but the birds are absent this morning.

© Huckleberry Hax 2009

Update on 'Beside an Open Window'

'Beside an Open Window,' my fifth novel, is now a few words short of 35,000 words long. Bearing in mind that I usually hate everything I've ever written by the time I cross the 30k mark, the fact that I'm enjoying writing this book as much as I am feels to me like a good omen. I'm going to take my time on this, and it's probably going to end up being quite a long novel too. As a bit of an experiment, however, I've started reading from it already inworld. On Thursdays, I'm reading for a whole hour at Milk Wood (see links on the right-hand-side panel) and I also usually read a ten minute extract each week at the Writers' Circle meeting in Cookie. Do feel free to come along and listen if you would like to. The feedback I've had so far has been wonderful, but I'm up for some 'critical bite' also, if anyone wants to offer it.

'The Day is Full of Birds' now on iPhone

How much do I believe the iPhone is going to be the ebook platform of the future? About this much (holding my thumb and finger very close together). I have nonetheless created an iPhone optimised version of The Day is Full of Birds, and it's available for download here for the introductory sum of 50p (that's less than a dollar). Who needs novelty apps when you have quality metaverse fiction?

'The Day is Full of Birds' now in paperback

The Day is Full of Birds is my favourite of all the things I've written so far. For this reason, I've spent a great deal of time going over and over the manuscript, getting rid of as many mistakes as I can find (three voice readings of the complete novel have helped, but I am also indebted to my friend Lukos Tairov for his meticulous feedback). The final final final version, reformatted with an easier layout (thanks to Lewis Khondji for his typesetting advice, which helped me great deal with this) has now been uploaded to http://www.lulu.com/ and turned into a shiny paperback. My copy arrived today and it looks just delicious!

This time round I've decided not to do the whole ISBN thing offered by Lulu. Yes, it makes the book available on Amazon, but the mark-up isn't worth it. I did that for AFK and it put the cost up to £12.99 (and that was when the system worked... sometimes it got listed at prices closer to £30!). By keeping the book at Lulu, I get more control over the price. So the cost of the paperback version of The Day is Full of Birds is £7.99. Click here to go check it out at Lulu. And, whilst you're looking - whether you buy it or not - please consider giving it a rating. All you have to do is click on the stars :)

Incidentally, Lulu now print in the UK as well as the US; this has radically reduced shipping times over here. When I first started using the service in 2007 it could take two weeks or more for a copy to come through from the States. My book today, however, arrived just two days after I ordered it.

Off the Shelf

I get a mention in the latest edition of Off the shelf, an audio podcast by Bookstacks managers Kghia Gherardi and Simeon Beresford. The episode features an excellent interview with Persephone Pheonix, with whom I am currently working on the Blue Angel Landing poetry anthology (together with Shara Levenque). We're hoping the anthology will be ready by mid-April to coincide with National Poetry Writing Month; it will feature poems which have been read aloud at the weekly Blue Angel open mic event.

The podcast is free to download, just click on the link above.