I love this quote from historical crime novelist Diana Norman - wife of Barry Norman, the film critic - who sadly died recently: 'I stagger towards the last line of a book like a drunk navigating furniture.'I was staggering from the first line of The State of Me. Have sent a copy off to Ian Swales, the magnificently ME-aware Lib Dem MP for Redcar. He will be the second Lib Dem MP to read my book, John Barrett, formerly representing Edinburgh West, read it in 2009 - bought his own! - and I still love that he said it was 'like the West Wing, took a while to get into but once I did I was hooked'. I would like to see the novel as prescribed reading for the House of Commons. Am still waiting for my own MP to get back to me about signing EDM 778.
Slightly bemused to see that James Franco has an anthology of short stories out, Palo Alto - with Faber, no less. He is a talented and handsome actor, I saw him cut his arm off in 127 Hours, but I'm not sure his writing is quite as dazzling, not from this review anyway. I know Palo Alto - the place - from many years ago, but don't think I'll be rushing to read this. Can't help feeling that he is spreading himself too thin (though I haven't read it so cannot truly judge). And I am sure equally - if not more - talented writers are having their collections rejected because they are not famous movie stars.
An ME-aware psychologist, Professor Rhona Johnston, has written this staggeringly good post Mitochondria not Hypochondria. There is poetry in that title, to be sure. Thank you, Prof Rhona for displaying such intelligence, maybe you could have a word with Prof Simple Simon. And his buddy, Myra McClure, has it seems resigned from her appointment to the USA's NIH committee SEP, which oversees research grants for ME, after a coordinated wave of email protests. This is brilliant news! (So much for not blogging about ME but these are happening times.)
This post is getting too long, it has been in the process of being edited since Saturday, my neck is like a brick, but The State of Me is STILL waiting to be linked up to its new ebook file on Amazon and Book Depository sites. Apparently, because the original glitchy version was withdrawn, it has caused procedural nightmares getting it reinstated. So if anyone sees the e-version of my book anywhere, please let me know! I believe it is on iPad and iPhone, but no way of checking unless you are Appled up (I am not). I saw a woman on bus with a Kindle the other day, my second sighting of one, it still all feels like Star Trek to me.
*Meant to add this from Michael Cunningham interview in Guardian last weekend, it made me laugh out loud. On long novels he has this to say: As a reader, I prefer a shorter novel. When someone hands me a 750-page tome, my first reaction is, oh fuck you, I don't want to read your giant book...
** And it appears TSoM is now up again on Amazon USA Kindle, which feeds Amazon UK so that is something.
Slightly bemused to see that James Franco has an anthology of short stories out, Palo Alto - with Faber, no less. He is a talented and handsome actor, I saw him cut his arm off in 127 Hours, but I'm not sure his writing is quite as dazzling, not from this review anyway. I know Palo Alto - the place - from many years ago, but don't think I'll be rushing to read this. Can't help feeling that he is spreading himself too thin (though I haven't read it so cannot truly judge). And I am sure equally - if not more - talented writers are having their collections rejected because they are not famous movie stars.
An ME-aware psychologist, Professor Rhona Johnston, has written this staggeringly good post Mitochondria not Hypochondria. There is poetry in that title, to be sure. Thank you, Prof Rhona for displaying such intelligence, maybe you could have a word with Prof Simple Simon. And his buddy, Myra McClure, has it seems resigned from her appointment to the USA's NIH committee SEP, which oversees research grants for ME, after a coordinated wave of email protests. This is brilliant news! (So much for not blogging about ME but these are happening times.)
This post is getting too long, it has been in the process of being edited since Saturday, my neck is like a brick, but The State of Me is STILL waiting to be linked up to its new ebook file on Amazon and Book Depository sites. Apparently, because the original glitchy version was withdrawn, it has caused procedural nightmares getting it reinstated. So if anyone sees the e-version of my book anywhere, please let me know! I believe it is on iPad and iPhone, but no way of checking unless you are Appled up (I am not). I saw a woman on bus with a Kindle the other day, my second sighting of one, it still all feels like Star Trek to me.
*Meant to add this from Michael Cunningham interview in Guardian last weekend, it made me laugh out loud. On long novels he has this to say: As a reader, I prefer a shorter novel. When someone hands me a 750-page tome, my first reaction is, oh fuck you, I don't want to read your giant book...
** And it appears TSoM is now up again on Amazon USA Kindle, which feeds Amazon UK so that is something.
6 comments:
Hi. I saw The State of Me on the Kindle Store :-)
Thanks, Morg, I actually realised yesterday the new file was up on Amazon USA. Fingers crossed it will be up here too soon. I tried to register and download the sample but it clocked I was already registered in UK and would not let me!
No problem
Good luck with the eBook version. I hope it's a success in it's new format.
Last year I asked my GP to refer me to the notorious Simple Simon clinic because it was just about the only thing that was on offer that I had yet to try. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised to find a sympathetic and ME-aware therapist who has been fantastically supportive. I haven't been doing graded stuff or any silly Janet & John platitudes although that may be down to luck in having such a good therapist, or perhaps she can genuinely see that I am striving to move forward in my life and that I don't need the 'controversial' CBT approach. If anything, I've been encouraged to rest and pace more, and the CBT side has been more like OT. Or perhaps they have genuinely moved on and are much more enlightened now. I recommended your book to my CBT therapist and she said she'd buy a copy.
This is good to hear, Dig, progres indeed! There are no specific ME clinics here, lamentable, I think Edin has very dodgy psychs if you are referred at all, I would not go near them of course!
NMj you may find interesting information at www.talkingcures.co.uk/ me cfs
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