James' Weblog » Short story related

New story publication

James — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 23:33:37 +0000

I went to a magazine launch of Transmission (www.transmissionhq.org) on Wednesday 1st Feb 2007 at Sandbar in Manchester, an old haunt of mine from my days living in the city. Transmission’s remit is to publish work of up and coming authors and recently won the Inc writers award. They now have a readership of 600 which is a phenomenal growth given that this is only their seventh edition, their first starting with a print run of 50.

Transmission has themed issues and comes out three times a year. My story published was for a ‘time’ edition entitled ‘How the Loneliness of the Dartford Toll Operator made me miss a Digital Miracle’, a long title, partly in homage to Morrissey, a master of the convoluted and abstract. Once more I forgot to mention my website in the author biog and so yet again have missed out on the opportunity for self promotion. I really must try harder in the future, honestly…

“Ideas Above Our Station” – Book Launch

James — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 23:31:05 +0000

I missed the book launch for ‘Ideas Above Our Station’ on January 24th at Waterstones. This was a pity as it’s always good to meet up with fellow authors and place faces to names. On the positive side, I missed it because I was up in the jungles of north Thailand. A more than suitable alternative. I am still awaiting feedback on the second draft of ‘This is all I Know’ which is frustrating as it feels as if it has been dragging on for years now. But as I have stated on numerous occasions in these blogs, patience is part and parcel of publishing. Route are an ever expanding publisher with an increasingly impressive portfolio. With smaller presses most of the work is done by a small editorial team, which inevitably means delays. But I promise it will be worth the wait, an editorial and drinking session has been pencilled in for the end of Feb.

‘Trying to Find Van Breukelen’ in Ideas Above Our Station (Route)

James — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 14:20:16 +0000

I am pleased to announce that my short story ‘Trying to Find Van Breukelen’ has been published in the latest Route anthology ‘Ideas Above Our Station.’Â (ISBN 1-901927-28-8 Â£8.99) This should be availableÂ for purchase towards the end of October/November and willÂ involve the usual promo (book signings, readings) at a Leeds bookshop.Â I will provide details of this as and when I find out. As always I will give the readings a miss and turn up for my free glass of wine. The story basically involves a father and son going to visit the grave of their partner/mother. To help the child come to terms with the grief they play a game, trying to spot the names of former Forest players’ on the gravestones. As always it is my intention to get in Nottingham references as and when I can to put the city back on the map and in a positive manner. Hans Van Breukelen is a former Forest goalkeeper from the eighties. I chose him for the title for two reasons; firstly, he has a great name and secondly, ‘Trying to Find Stevie ‘One Eye’ Sutton’ hasn’t quite got the same ring…

short stories

James — Mon, 04 Jul 2005 22:02:46 +0000

I recetly wrote a review of Danny Taylors’ ‘Deep into the Forest’ for Left Lion Left Lion is a superb new magazine which is trying to tackle the negative publicity Nottingham has been receiving of late by promoting local culture. This is a sentiment I feel strongly about and is a motivating force behind the Clough book. Although wit is sometimes sacrificed for intellect, Left Lion is a refreshing take on the citylife format and will certainly do more for Nottinghams image than the slanting ‘N’.

I have a story entitled â€˜The Cocca-Bella Manâ€™ being published in September for a book entitled â€˜Wonderwall.â€™ The Wonderwall â€˜is a spy hole into the world of other peopleâ€™ and given it is also the name of an Oasis track, is guaranteed hits on Google. Here’s a link for the book:-
http://www.route-online.com/routev7/page.asp?idno=227

â€˜Naked Cityâ€™ (which includes one of my short stories) will feature in the BBC film Naked City â€“ Spencer Tunick in Newcastle Gateshead. The film will be broadcast on BBC 3 at 9pm Sunday 17 July and is a record of Spencer Tunickâ€™s major installation at Baltic, the centre for contemporary arts in Gateshead which takes place that very day. As I do not have Sky or Digital I will have to pretend I have seen it.

An article I wrote for a student magazine (Platform) has been nominated for the Guardian student media awards, which I will make available on the website when I get around to (or get Phil to) make an aticle section.

An academic article I wrote on the phenomenon of celebrity culture will be appearing in the July 22nd issue of Flow. Although unpaid (surprise) I am very proud of this as it features work by some of the top cultural critics e.g. Jim McGuigan (cultural populism thesis)