Wroxall Abbey

One of the few benefits of having an overnight stay while on business is the occasional chance to spend the night in more luxurious surroundings than one would expect. This is one of those times.

Thanks to block bookings around Birmingham, we have found ourselves at Wroxall Abbey estate near Kenilworth. A sprawling 17th century mansion house, which was once the country home of Sir Christopher Wren. Nowadays transformed into a spa resort with highland cattle loitering in the pastures surrounding the manse. I wonder what Sir Christopher would have to say about that. Or would have revamped the place as if he was on Changing rooms?

It’s intriguing to think who might have lived in and worked in the room I was staying in. Did Christopher Wren discuss his great plans with the King in that very room? Or was there a terrible scandal or saucy liason hushed up forever? There is no doubt that the inkling of history that resides in the room is quite energising. It all adds a little more spice to the centre piece of the room which is the Viking boat of bed that would be great to have fun in, if there had been a partner to share in that fun! Working away is not the jolly most people think it is.

One of the interesting aspects of Wroxall Abbey is the stained glass window that tells the story of Sir Hew de Hutton and how the church and chapel came to be founded on the land. It's set out as series of panels, kinda like a medieval comic strip!

Robert Jordan

This from the BBC
"Fantasy author Jordan dies at 58
Author Robert Jordan, whose was best known for the Wheel of Time series of fantasy novels has died of a rare blood disease aged 58.
Jordan - whose real name was James Oliver Rigney Junior - died at the Medical University of South Carolina.
His personal assistant, Maria Simons, said the disease caused the walls of his heart to thicken.
Jordan's first fantasy book, The Eye of the World, was published in 1990 and went on to sell millions of copies.
He also wrote a trilogy of historical novels set in Charleston under the pen name Reagan O'Neal in the early 1980s.
After turning his hand to the Wheel of Time series, he went on to publish 11 books and had been working on the 12th at the time of his death.
Jordan's books tell of Rand al'Thor, also known as The Dragon Reborn, who is destined to battle evil in a mythical land.
The author is survived by his wife, Harriet McDougal Rigney. "

I have not read any of Jordan's Wheel of Time books, the scope just seemed to big IMO. Personally I do not believe in multi book series, but his desire and will to create a huge world and encourage a huge readership should not be relegated to a footnote in history. The work was immense and appreciated by millions. That is a significant legacy. My sincere condolences to all of Robert Jordan's family and friends.

Steve Ditko

There was a documentary/fan worship programme on BBC 4 the other night; Jonathon Ross in search of Steve Ditko the co-creator of Spider-man.

I have not watched the whole show, as I taped it but I did see contributions from Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore, so I expect the comments to be meaningful.

But what I want to consider is how much of an impact on writers of a certain age did Marvel have on us to nurture a need to tell stories and expand our imagiantion. Say you what you will about Stan Lee, he has been an important influence in many of our lives. I'm not going to deny the credit that is due to both Steve Ditko and (more importantly) Jack Kirby in shaping the comics world, but Stan Lee is the constant. In all fairness, Stan probably got more decisions right over plot and narrative than we suspect. I also think he was able to rein in some of Jack kirby's goofier ideas that may have been too much of leap forward in the 1960s.

The impact of US comics is profound and I think our first true inkling of story structure and plot come from the silver age (1960s) and bronze age (1970s) comics. Possibly the biggest influence on many writers of Sf, Fantasy or even adventure fiction comes from the decision by Marvel to launch a weekly title in the UK, circa 1972.

A gHOST of a chance

A dreadful pun to annouce my appointment as the site host for Fiction II on the Writewords site.

I was bit unsure if I should take the plunge and apply for the spot, but a few emails here and there convinced me that I ought to.

The group has been a wee bit dormant of late and needs to shake itself off and start being active again. I hope I can act as decent warden for the members, hopefully not turning into a 1970's parkie with woodbine stained fingers and peaked cap chasing off all and sundry !! If I can prove to be as thoughful and supportive as Nell was, then I will have done the group a good service. Also by being more involved I can kickstart my creative juices once more.

Competing Charities

Years ago, fun runs and marathons were few and far between. So it would seem reasonable to suspect that the average money raised per participant would be quite high. I really am not sure that is the case these days.

Just looking at the notice board at work and there are posters for a tri-athalon and bike ride wihin a few weeks each other. If only one person from work entered each event they would be competing for sponsorship and therefore losing out on potential raised funds.

Just recently there have been lots of runs in the Yorkshire area, in particular aimed at Cancer Research (and now given more impetus after the passing of Jane Tomlinson), including the race for life series and the Rotary club run for it series. However worthy the cause, does the increase in events actually deter active sponsorship? Would fewer events raise more money? I do not subscribe to the theory of "Compassion Fatique" but I do believe that folk may be less willing to sponsor a steady supply of events.

Potentially smaller, equally worthy charities lose out, due to the profileration of large scale events. So is it better to go down the Children in Need or Comic relief route of a single day of fundraising events to maximise potential?

Having taken part in fund raising events over the years, I know the sense of achievement and sense of mission is high and the end result worthwile. I'll continue to get involved and do what I can.

Thoughts on northern exposure

Overall this was an enjoyable day with good opportunities to talk to the authors. My early thoughts were that the whole day would be nothing more than a marketing event for Faber and Faber, thankfully this was not the case. The workshop with Mick Jackson was educational in discovering how important it is to be able to switch from porject to project. Mick was a very approachable fellow and an author I will take more interest in from now on.
Sarah Hall's workshop got sidetracked from being a discussion on the influence and creation of her latest novel, "The Carhulan Army", to becoming more like the "Good Life" and grow your own vegetables. I would have liked for Sarah to discuss the process of her novel and why she prefers to use the voice of the character more than dialogue to drive the story.
Also whoever the chap was that picked up and thumbed through her book before the workshop while she was out of the room, well don't be so f***ing rude next time. You had no right to do that.
It is a pity that I had to forego Andrew Martin's workshop, as that I am sure would have been fascinating on how to research a period novel.
David

http://www.kirklees.gov.uk/events/eventdetails.asp?evDtID=41860&evID=5841