Covered It

Now I'm also creating a few collections from my novels. I've always done this, but it;s never as simple as just binding three books together. The main issue is that the 'gutter' in the middle of the book needs to be larger when there are more pages. 

The thing I usually forget? To ensure that the page size I'm using is the same in Word, Photoshop and In Design. Otherwise it's almost impossible to get things to align.

Mysteriously this doesn't seem to happen on smaller novels of say 250-300 pages.

The other factor is the choice of cover art. If I open it to mr ARC-readers, they will inevitably pick two different covers. It happened with Artificial, one of the Christina Nott books and now with Secrets. I've rationalised it by having an International cover and a U.S. specific one. 

As if.

I've decided to re-vamp some of my novels. New cover art and so-on. It will be good to see whether it has any effect on sales. I've decided to do this process piecemeal and so the first few that I've completed are the latest of my novels. Occasionally I stumble into an older one, like the above political thriller, which seems to feature an incompetent government. As if.

Gamester

 Caravaggio's gambler still has cards to play, unaware that Holbein has another scenario in which a gamester is comprehensively seized.

Yet, sadly, playing blind against an unprincipled mobster can lead to any outcome.

pew-pew-pew

An advert (below) today, inserted into my information stream. I guess it's been generated by Artificial Intelligence. I usually use a VPN and other ad filtering measures, but this time I was in a hotel. I can remember that the same 'intelligent; advert systems also placed me in impossible locations.

Oh Well.

Dark : Approaching completion

Volume Three of my latest novel in the series is now almost complete. The sequence goes Cosy, Church, Dark. Early feedback on this part is well, that it is dark.

I've still to get it ISBN'd and published, but at least I have the cover art. It will be about 270 pages when it's ready.

blue submarine splash down

I've been off t'internet for the last few days but return to find a distinct waterline as the latest punditry from the UK seeps in. Newsfeeds to plumbing firms are sending advertorials awash with their splash coverage. It's difficult to avoid that sinking feeling, but also to slightly marvel at the depths of a man in shrunken Henry Herbert trousers wallowing in tradition as he disappears down a party plug-hole.

Emperor's clothing

 

Oh dear. 

{Fade to red}.

It's all too much

I knew it. A hat tip to the Prisoner in that 1960's episode of Doctor Who. Jukebox {Check} Austin Powers moment {Check} Beatles royalties {nope} 

As Dangerous Bacon says:  A silent admiration for the boys in the Beatle boots Had turned me on to C,F & G 

Strawberries and Abbeys

Some might ask, "Are we nearly there yet?' Here's The Strawberry, outside of St James Park. Convention says no apostrophes. Now Saudi-owned, they plan to make the lop-sided, road-blocking stadium even bigger by rotating the pitch through 90 degrees. 

They are not allowed to spend their piles of Saudi cash on the players, so instead make the high-capacity ground even bigger. All good clean fun? It's a long road to 2034.

 After a few beers, it's time to hit the trail. back to sleep among the flight cases. I'll be considering how to transition back to blog-posts, which have been the rashbre central tradition since 2005 

https://rashbre2.blogspot.com/2005

It's a scary thought, that I originally produced these posts as a social experiment, before most of the networked systems were even available. My original rules were: ten minutes per post. A photo and some text. Stay positive. Any topics except 'work'. 

It's kinda worked.

And so, if Newcastle was my road-trip destination, then these emails should also finally stop. Maybe on the way back. Here at tonight's summer-time stop. 

Enjoy. Fun going forward.

Backpack and Talent

 

The fellow traveller was the colours of the road.  All their clothes and accessories had a hint of Northumbria which told the story of a route well travelled. I found myself the other side of a potential conversation but hesitatent to avoid that possibility of discomfort.

I could sense myself being evaluated in a similar way. 

Say something about the weather. Then an affirmative reply that wasn’t too off kilter. This was a lone walker of the Pennines who had reached Kirk Yetholm early and decided to explore some of Hadrian’s Wall.  I knew I sounded surprised but the explanation of their return to Lancaster clarified the logic of their route.

I could compare my ancient journey on a similar route and notice that the equipment hasn’t changed much. Lightweight tent. Roll of compressed foam. Mini sleeping bag. Nothing loose to carry. We smiled as we parted company. A shared experience 40 years apart. Human to human.

Then I’m in Gateshead. On stage is a small sound booth; inside it sits a woman The Talent., Gemma - Alone. She is a voice-over artist. 

Off stage, in a space never seen but only heard, two disembodied voices ask her to conjure different voices for commercials, self-help audiobooks, meditation tapes, destination announcements, computer games, robotic tele scripts. She is top of her game.

But is she the powerful protagonist in her own narrative, building her's and our own reality - or is her voice being used to construct something more complicated? An audio debris, a vocal soup that, in a post-apocalyptic world, will continue to be heard for as long as there is electricity.

Like my chance encounter on the road, this Talent is s voice and human presence in the 21st Century. Where does the voice live? How will her voice live on, outside her body, if it can take on a life of its own? 

The Talent makes us consider the place of human voice in an increasingly cybernetic future.  

Text: Gemma Paintin, Deborah Pearson and James Stenhouse

Direction: Deborah Pearson and James Stenhouse

Scottish detour

 

So I overshot Carlisle. Ended up in Gretna Green. Bagpipes. Weddings.Tassels.

It was all too much. I needed to chill with some sheep, which were in casual superabundance.

Then along to Kielder Forest, where I saw magnificent osprey, through a powerful telescope. Their nest is about 2 metres square suspended on a wooden post.

Further to Hadrian's Wall where the local bus route rolls as AD112. Then to a familiar 14th Century medieval castle - note the Northumbrian flag



This will do fine until our next stop in Newcastle. We can even charge the Tesla on-site.

Turmeric

Imran was the catalyst for this road trip. We were swapping New Year greetings and I thought it was about time I visited Liverpool again. Then the various other partial commitments pile together and I soon had the makings of an odyssey. 

One of the least publicised parts of my journey is my hand delivery of a candy floss machine to Newcastle-upon-Tyne, but we’ll let that pass. 

So there I was performing three point turns in Imran’s road and eventually parking outside his home. 

Imran is a formidable enthusiast, which I think is terrific.

No surprise then, when he showed me his exceptional sound system (hi-fi would be an older word to describe it, but this is like something from Mission Control). Not only that but we listened to tracks and I swear Laura Mvula was in the room with us.  

  

Imran knows his fibre optical digital converters and his bitrates much as he knows his carpentry bandsaws and scroll saws. We listened some great music choices. Imran confided that he was thinking about further changes to his already tip-top system. I couldn’t believe it and offered a few side notes. 

I recollect that much classical music is recorded with a conservative bandwidth because of the anticipated dynamic range. It can make certain orchestral treatments sound ’thin’ especially when riding on a -40 decibel reference level. It’s part of the audiophile quest to make it all sound wonderful without clipping.

So I’m intrigued that Apple Classics make much of their classical music sound good, and I suspect there is some remastering involved - possibly even compression? I guess I prefer airiness with orchestral pieces rather than studio reference flatness. Think about any concert hall. They are all different and bring something to the music. I can remember listening to veena masters like Chitti Babu setting up their instruments to the acoustics of the rooms in which they played.

So I’m open minded about reference level flat recordings. Anyway, we tuned the room like Carnatic masters by the simple expedient of opening the door to the kitchen to let the air pressure ‘breathe’.

And I mentioned the kitchen. I was in for the treat of a family recipe traditional meal, for which I was guided through the preparations. This was a two pot meal too, we had bountiful quantities, heady aromas and balanced spiciness. Wonderful. I’m going to attempt to recreate it when I get back to Topsham, although I may have to seek out some of the spice mixes.

We ranged through many topics and it was great to regale one another with stories from the past and as importantly of our plans going forward (‘fun going forward’) in my language. 

Finding the echoes and looking to the sky.

And now, I’ve reached Carlisle. That’s over, and out.