orbific weblog

On Tuesday I read at Short Fuse Leicester. It was a fantastic night. I had an easy three hour train journey, allowing me lots of time to relax beforehand. I went for a curry with my friend Jen, who recommeded Kayal, saying its food was very different to what I'd find in Brighton. I ate an incredible mango-based dish which I'm still craving more of a couple of days later.

Leicester's Y Theatre is a lovely, plush venue with by far the biggest stage I've read on. The theme for the night was Sweetbread, Bitter Bread and Polly had chosen six interesting (if somewhat grim!) stories. I particularly enjoyed Bead Robert's story about clocks, which sparked some interesting discussions about pigs on our table, and Jo Cannon's story about grief. Headlining was Tara Gould with her story Little Birds, and Tara gave one of the best performances I've seen from her.

One of the things I love about reading my work out loud is that it can draw out aspects of the story that aren't obvious on the page. Particularly when reading a first-person piece, the line between writer and characters can become clouded. The night was particularly interesting for me because I was reading in front of my Mum for the first time. I'm not sure what she made of her son reading a story about bondage, but she said it was well-read.

Another great thing about nights like Short Fuse is getting to meet other people who are interested in writing. I knew a few of the people there from online such as Jo Cannon, who I workshop with,  Damien Walter who organises the Literature Network site I blog for and Lydia Towsey, one of the other bloggers.

It was a fantastic night and I hope to be there again before long. The next Short Fuse Leicester event is in May and features a short-story from poet Jean-Binta Breeze. Thank you to Polly and everyone else who made it such a lovely night.

• Dan Rhodes responds brilliantly to his critics (via Richard Blandford)
• Roger Ebert on telling jokes: "Like knife-throwing, joke-telling should never be practiced except by experts."  The essay includes a fascinating observation about stage height and ten rules for telling jokes.
• We need a break – a lovely article where Scott Pack suggests publishers take a break from releasing new content. 
• Plans.  Needs.  Blues. is a great story by Sara Crowley. It's less than 500 words, so don't tarry and click the link.
• Max Dunbar on some drawbacks to self-publishing.  Max's blog is well worth following.

I will be appearing at Short Fuse Leicester on April 21st at Leicester's Y Theatre.  It's a very exciting night for me as it will be the first time my parents have heard me read in public.

The theme for the night is "Sweetbread, Bitter Bread".  Headlining is Tara Gould, reading her story 'Little Birds'.  I'll be reading a story called 'meat'.  Also appearing are Kate Niland,  Jo Cannon, Bead Roberts and my friend Rosy Carrick.  Tickets cost £7, or £5 concessions, and can be ordered online or by calling 0116 255 7066.

Full details on the forthcoming event, as well as last month's, are available here.  Do come along if you can as this will be awesome!

I was recently invited to write some blog posts for literaturenetwork.org.  Over the next 12 months I'm going to be writing about the limitations and opportunities of creative writing.  The first post, How Many Readers Do You Need? is now up:

"Every creative writing course hints: it could be you. They
promise access to agents and the chance to break into the world of
publishing. After years of perseverance, of writing in coffee shops and
cold flats, your novel might be published and become huge. You too
could be as big as JK Rowling."

Please do visit the original post and leave a comment if you like it.  Ian Hocking posted an interesting response, raising the questions "What would motivate a person to contribute financially? How would the writer get in touch with these people to start with?"

Since writing the original post I've discussed the issues involved with a few people and the main question I'm left with is how many people am I a true fan of?  Is there anyone I've given 1/2000th of a living wage to in the last year?  How many people are ever likely to be supported by true fans?

Some of those questions might be answered in some later posts.  Meanwhile I'm drafting a post for May on why the novel is almost dead, and why that doesn't matter.

Last Sunday I read at Short Fuse's erotica night.  I was more nervous than normal since the material was very different – I don't often stand in front of large groups saying words like  'clitoris'.  It was less stressful than I expected and I was happier with the reading than usual.  In fact the only problem was the intro I wrote, which was evidently less amusing than I'd thought.

I really enjoyed the other readers too, but best of all was Catherine Smith.  Her reading of a filthy story called Telepathy was a revelation, one of the best readings I've seen.  All in all a lovely and inspiring evening.  I want to write some more erotica in the future.

The problem with this weblog is that I don't always have exciting things to talk about but when too many things are happening I don't have time to post.  Consequently the weblog documents the moderately exciting times in my life. 

Life has been pretty good lately, apart from a disastrous trip to the park this afternoon. First a bird used me for a toilet and then I feel over in the playground.  Somehow I avoided swearing and was very brave and didn't cry, but – MY KNEE HURTS!

I'm going to spend the rest of the evening sulking.