Butterfly Boy Strikes Back

Well, I just wasn't in the mood tonight. So I watched some football and then did this.



I know this is the cart about 14 miles in front of the horse, but it was a fun diversion for 10 minutes. Many thanks to Elisa Stopponi for letting me use her great image. She is a great talent. I hope that I can get the book finished so this makes it out into the world!

Sadly, I'm pretty much out of "interesting people I have met" stories...

Very Odd Sensation

Hey! Two nights in a row. Not predigous output but definite signs that the butterfly has landed for a while. Just called me Forrest Gumption.
A weird thing happened tonight. The stuff I was trying to right was so bleak (at least that was the intention) that I actually depressed myself writing it. It was very odd. I'm not entirely sure that I can keep this up for a whole book. Which makes me think why the hell anyone would want to read it. I think that until I remember that that is exactly the kind of book I like to read. So, I'll buy a copy.

Ok, so, the Mr. Sulu story (such as it is, I can hear Stu groaning already). I was working in a bookshop on Princes St. It was summer and the festival was in full swing. Who should walk in but George Takei. He was doing a play in the festival about a Japanese guy that thought the war was still on. We held our breath (am I over-egging the tension here?). He did a few laps of the postcard stand and approached the till with 3 postcards. 15p each, "45p please". And he replied with these immortal words:

"Is that a fifty, I'm not familiar with your currency?"*

The rest is all a blur. Suffice to say I didn't utter any embarassments and didn't get an autograph. All I got was my cheapies.

* Yes, I do the voice normally.

Saddle Up and Ride Your Pony

Oooh that was tough. Seems jumping back on the writing pony after so long isn't going to be easy. Still, I soldiered my way to something that resembled output. I'll settle for that. I'm sure it'll get easier.

Wasn't helped by the marvellous David Attenborough staring his new series last night. I was recording it but I was drawn to watch it nonetheless. It's just great to see the joy that all these creatures still give him.

Seems apropos to fess up to the time I met David Attenborough. He was doing a book signed in Glasgow for the Private Life of Plants and I nipped away from work to meet the great man and get a book. All the way along St. Vincent St I was desperately trying to think of what I would say. I don't have many hero-types, so meeting one was a big deal.

I made it to the head of the queue and got my book. And, having thought of nothing else told him what a great pleasure it was to meet him and "it isn't often you got to meet a man who has seen a live coelacanth". He wasn't phased by this idiocy, he looked up and simply said "Yes, yes it's true."

I found out many years later when reading an excellent book on the coelacanth that perhaps he had arrived a while after the coelacanth was caught. But it wasn't clear so I'll give the great man the benefit of the doubt.

Tune in next week folks for "When Scotty met Mr. Sulu."

The Clock is Running

It is too easy to mask lack of progress behind an "I haven't really started yet" excuse. So, with The Beatle Man winging its way to the dark corner of a server somewhere*, it is time to finally declare that work on Terra Exitus has begun. I'll be able to look back at this post and work out how long it took.

I do this with some trepidation as it feels like standing at the bottom of a big hill (again). Although I am far better prepared this time and have a much better idea of how to get to the other side. Obviously, some people, have expressed reservations about the plot, which I will try to overcome. I'm now at the stage where I need to commit to it and see how it starts to pan out. In many ways, it will be much harder to write than The Beatle Man which is why I've decided to be much more freeform in how I approach it.

Expect the "I've done nothing" posts to start some time soon!

(50 geek points to anyone who can tell me what the title of this post refers to.)

* an alternative "Well of Lost Plots" (ffanks Jasper)

"It's gonna be a glorious day!"

Fridays are normally good days. I particularly liked this one for four main reasons:

1. I received the final proof copy of The Beatle Man today and have just approved it for distribution. In about 6 weeks it will be available to buy from all the regular online book retailers.

"We are standing on the edge."

2. I'm going to submit the proof copy to the British Library tomorrow.

3. I discovered, by lucky hap, that That Petrol Emotion has trying to reform for a tour. I'd never considered this was possible not least because the guys had gone on to do their own things and Steve was on the other side of the Altlantic. I very much hope they can get it together and I will do whatever I can to make sure I make to one or more of the gigs nearest to me. True believers unite.

4. I got my Bimbogami T-Shirt today. And very fine it looks too. Watch out for the new live chat feature on the site, I'm almost certainly sure it will be the first puzzle site to provide such a feature.

In other news, I finally got my hands on scottliddell.com. The fools in China must have realised it wasn't going to make them any money. I'm still thinking what precisely to do with it!