Okay, for better or worse, this is the funniest thing I've ever written. My apologies for posting a link to one of my own books in Jasper's forum, but I don't think he'd begrudge me just the one thread. If you'd care to show a bit of support for your pal Chris (the implied guilt in the early part of this sentence notwithstanding), this link is also your pal:

[www.amazon.com]

Thanks. You'll like it. :)

(Yes, I used a smiley. I am not ashamed.)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/30/2007 06:21PM by Chris.

Woo hoo, looks grear! Well done!
:D

Thanks!

It looks good - another one for me to get hold of and read on the exercise bike. didn't know we were allowed to do this. Well done Chris. Does that mean if we 'amateurs' have written something we think is pretty good, we can pin up a link so we can see what others think? I started a humourous jazz novel yonks ago (hence the chosen name) and recently reread a passage. I remember thinking, where the heck did all this come from? Even though I wrote it, it made me laugh out loud which means it's on a level with the Hy-phenat-ing bookworms in TN1 (for me, anyway) and has inspired me to start a blog and - maybe - even get the book finished.
Any other real professional writers out there? (i.e like Chris?)

Whaaaa.

Oh dear. Someone get DAFW his medicine, please.

That would be great if you'd share, Sue! Why don't we just make this the plug-your-own-stuff thread. If you write according to your own tastes and express yourself with enthusiasm, there's no such thing as an amateur.
(Also, I selfishly want to see what's involved in a "humorous jazz novel." The wacky adventures of Miles and Trane? Be-bop rhetoric in the text, perhaps? The mind boggles.)

I imagine that the book would be jazz brilliant.

__________________________________
'We're all mad here. I'm mad, you're mad." [said the Cat.]
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "Or you wouldn't have come here."
- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures In Wonderland

Of Chris, well done lad! How come we haven't met the frog yet?

Thanks, pal! What frog would this be, then?

The Giant Australian Whooping Frog.

__________________________________
'We're all mad here. I'm mad, you're mad." [said the Cat.]
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "Or you wouldn't have come here."
- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures In Wonderland

Hmm. The closest I can get is the New Guinea Whittling Frog. But I do a pretty good Kermit impression, if you like.

Thanks for the positive comments, Chris and Martin. They inspired me to take up the quill again and as a result I've completely remastered the script. Every jazz novel I've ever read has been a) decidedly short on humour or is b) (loosely) based around events that happened in one or more of the lives of the American greats or c) is basically an advanced treatise on the theory of jazz notation with a back plot involving ancient modal scales and their seamless interaction with a modern Western chromatic improvisation piece or d) all four. Okay, so I haven't actually read a book that involved the modal improvisation plot, but I'm pretty sure it's out there somewhere. Thinking about it, it's a required subplot in any book with the word jazz in it.

As you may have guessed, my book is nothing like the average jazz novel - which is why I'm hoping it will one day find itself on mainstream bookshelves somewhere, rather than in a specialist self-publishers' bargain bin which is where I bought two of the above. Jazz musicians tend not to read jazz books, so that is where I started - finding out what they WOULD like to read, if they had to buy a fiction book based around their music. The feedback to my verbal, potted synopsis was: Promising, but let's see the goods.'
It's got a completely British cast, and is set in England, for a start. In the present. And whilst I naturally have to bring the music into it, you don't have to be a musician to understand it (although it helps to have a bit of background, to get some of the 'in' jokes - I put in those with my muso friends in mind. Does Jasper do this, I wonder?) But you won't see a single line of written music manuscript ANYWHERE. My research, such as it is, was not gleaned from reading Trane and Miles biogs, but by BEING THERE. Attending numerous local jazz gigs and festivals and, (by showing a genuine interest and asking sensible questions) making a lot of good friends, thus seeing things from the inside of the brit amateur/semipro band scene. Oh yes, and I learned to sing a bit, so I could sit-in on band nights even though I am musically illiterate. All of which showed me what a crazy, poverty fuelled mix of comedy and tragedy the average jazz life is in Britain. And how easy it would be for an archetypal 'baddie' to use this to his advantage, especially if he could befriend the widow of a much-loved black American imigree bandleader. And especially if said jazzman died (of cancer - they always do) just after the New Orleans tragedy, and she is guarding the trust fund he established to help the victims ...

I'd like to say more, but I've gone on too much already and since I don't think this thread is the right place, (and it's Chris's thread anyway) I'll post up a link that will take you to my home page just as soon as I've actually got one.
In the MT, I'm definitely going to order Chris's book as an early birthday pressie to myself!

Sounds like fun.

Um.... if you would like me to, I can host the story/whatever it is you would put on the website on my own space for a bit.

I am actually really interested now in how a muso book would work. Never read any. :)

__________________________________
'We're all mad here. I'm mad, you're mad." [said the Cat.]
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "Or you wouldn't have come here."
- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures In Wonderland

Wow, Sue! That sounds extremely cool (and unique). I love Jazz as well (especially Trane, Dizzy, Cannonball and Miles...have you read the latter's bio? Good stuff). I'm looking forward to reading what you've got.

Sue, I agree, I am very much most interested in how ou made your book. It sounds like a lot of hard work, but also must much fascinating.

This is without doubtings an odd question, but how did you START? Did you just write and write? Or did you plan? Did you build characters first? Or did you just start making them say things? I am trying to write at the moment and it is not easy, is it? There are so many different words to use and how can I be certain that I've found the right one?

Have you written any other books?

YG

Niebla

Chris tmas -- Has anyone ever stopped you on the street?

Ped: You're, you're Chris, aren't you? Oh my god. Chriiiiiis! Hey everyone, this is Chris! Can I have your autograph? Give me a DNA sample!

Chris: Gaaaaaaaah!

Ped: Where do you live?

Chris: Gaaaaaaaah!

Remind me to compile a few of the more entertaining e-mails I've gotten from people. I think it would be quite good for a laugh, but of course it would give you lot plenty of ammo with which to tease me until the end of time (sample: "Do you think you're cool just because you write books? Hell, I write restaurant cheques all day long").

Niebla, I'm not sure if you were asking me or Sue, but my answer is that I write according to my own tastes, which are of course made up of every book I've ever loved. Remember not to have an invisible audience reading over your shoulder; please yourself first. You have a unique manner of expression, so there's no sense in conforming to somebody else's stuff just because it's been "successful."

Sit down in front of that blank screen, realize that it's the sky and you have huge wings, and just write what seems amusing to you in a stream-of-consciousness sort of way. Have fun in the very process; don't worry about the end result. It's all a big game. You're doing this for your own enjoyment. Life is short. Go nuts. Break rules.

THEN you can go back, once you have reams of the stuff, and edit it for grammar, rhetoric, etc. Finally, you'll decide on a structure and fill in the missing links. Writing a book is, for me, a couple collective months' worth of actual writing, and about nine months of revising. You know -- "That could be worded funnier." Easy stuff. Nobody ever said it had to be super-difficult and stressful. There's really no point unless you're having a good time writing the stuff.

I'm not sure if that answered your question, but it's good to remember to be selfish anyway! Besides, if you enjoy it while you're writing it, then any reader you'd truly care to reach will enjoy it while reading it.

*scribbles down that advice*

May I quote you on that?

__________________________________
'We're all mad here. I'm mad, you're mad." [said the Cat.]
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "Or you wouldn't have come here."
- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures In Wonderland

Chris: You realise if I ever go to the US, I will be tracking you down with a pen for you to sign my copy of this...

It's a flattering thought that you'd even care to get a signature. I've never understood the signing thing. Having said that, if I ever make it "big" (whatever that entails), I'll send everyone a signed book so you can eBay them and make some cash! Thank you for ordering a copy!
Martin, that would be a terribly long quote! It always seems to take me three paragraphs to say what others can get out in one sentence.
(It works wonders when the listener has insomnia, I'd imagine.)