My favourite questions from Yahoo Answers' Books & Authors section

How can i find rewriter for my two complete novels?

I am a novel writer and i have written 2 novels so far. i want somebody to re-write it. Maybe i need a editor.

Who is willing to publish someone young and starting out?

I'm young, but what I lack in age I make up for in talent. I've been rejected before and I don't want to be again by some old, stuck-up editor who can't handle raw talent and intense emotion. I was born to be the "next great American writer", but I need help.

Im 14 and writing a novel i need a few ideas could u plz help? and tell me what u think of the storyline?

its about a guy and a girl that fall in love then 2 months before there wedding and 7 months before before there baby is born he gets in an accident and gets amnesia and has to use the remaining months before his baby is born to remember his true love. i need to know what kind of job the guy and the girl should have and if the baby should be a boy or a girl and name ideas plus maybe some suggestions on how old they are when he gets in the accident they have to be older then 21 tho thanks a lot

What makes a book a novel?

 is it the fact that some one dies

the heart breaking ending ,What?


Can someone publish something you wrote with out your permishin?

i wrote a novel and some girls in my high school some how got some copies of it and i was wondering could they take credit for it and get it published. they only have the first half and i have the second half typed and on my computer, so techniclly i might be able to prove its mine, but im worried cuz i have it set up to get published soon.

 
I was thinking about starting my own book publishing company?

 What would i need to do to start it of? Roughly what kind of money would i need to have? And What exactly do book publishers do? Thanks

Short names lowering readability level on my book?

Okay, so I'm writing a book and I'm on like page 80. My dad showed me this readability thing on Microsoft word. It told me that my book was of 3-4 grade level. I about died. My parents haven't read my book and my dad gave me this look that said 'I knew you couldn't write a high-level book'. I'm trying so hard to make this book of young-adult level, and I couldn't believe that my readability was so low! I then looked into the details and realized that my words averaged 5.7 characters. Well, the majority of my names are 3, 4, and 5 letters long. I'll put a list on here showing what I mean if you want to skim through it, but its not really necissary to answer my question... but is there any way I could get around that? I'd rather not re-name all my characters because a lot of the names have meaning to me.

Descriptions of places for my book?

In my book, I'm using Michigan, Colorado, and Indiana. Problem... I live in Utah, so I have 0% ideas of what these places look like. If you could give a description of what these places look like so I could get a better feel of what I'm working with, and google pics, aren't workin' too much for me. If you have pics of scenery, you can send them to this email, if you don't then just put a description. Are there allot of trees, mountains, hills, and stuff like that. If you would like pics of utah, put your email down and I'd gladly send you some. Please don't put any city's down because I know people will say that it is a safety issue and yeah. AND make sure it's just scenery, no pics of people!

What are some personalities?

Just some character traits and their meanings or definitions.

 
How or wut do you do to publish a book?

i got a good imagination and i got a story already in my head so i write it down im finished with it so i want to publish it

Any publishers or agnets? i am not finished my book but if you are instrered i will tell you when i'm finshed?

if you are instred answer and give me details about yourself and what you look for in an author.

 
I am not finished my book, but are there any publishers, editors, or agents that are inserted in my book?

if so give details about yourself

Is Boris a woman or man's name?
In Russia (whether the Soviet Era or not) is Boris a name for a man or woman?

What do u think of my story so far?? btw ignor abreviation im in a hurry just judge the content please!?

 right three times, right to 32. lefft to 19 passing 32, right to 09 keep turning. Klunk my locker opened for the last time in sixth grade. i stuffed 4 txtbooks, 5 notebooks, and my home work folder into my backpack from my locker. Yes! school was out until the end of August! SUmmer time!

i had so many plans over the summer camp in june, new york in july, and a cruise in August! and between those times i can swim hang with friends, and have my late curfew of 10 30! ( i live in a really small town with a population of 12,000 people) so grate!

My mind was crazywith summer plans and day dreams when i heard my name. "haily," an annoyingly familiar voice. "i decided to get you a present. i thought this would keep ur hair from looking poofy." the person handed me a brush. the person was alexis linzee ayle! i hate her! she always calls my hair poofy. see i have curly hair and its so ugly and on occasion i dont have time to straighten it. unfortunately today was one of those days. Think fast! insults insults insults! i got it!

"oh no thanks Ayle. oh what kind of last name is ayle anyway what kind of last name is that?!" i loved this

"look hailey bay! (bays my last name) my daddy OWNS a chip company!" alexis yelled to me sounding really pathetic!

"oh i get it. your daddy owns a fatening company! oh and heres a joke. ummm Mr. Ayle, ur chips are stale like ur daughter!" i cracked up. i loved the last day of school! even alexis can not ruin it for me!

i waited out front of my school for my best friend taitum Leez to walk out of school. With both of our parents permission we were going out to lunch at a family restraunt that wasnt pricy at all. Taitum and i are not popular at all but we have a lot of friends. theres lissy, lillian, karlie, kenedy, and Britnee. we were all going to lunch together to celebrate the last day of school. Then everyone was going to Karlie's house for a slumber party after lunch! summer was already rockin!

p.s its not finished and just judge the content i dnt really have to 2 spell correctly! thx

What are some good fiction books about mid-evil times?

Question about Publishing companies?

I know they have hard due dates but if I needed to take off for like a year if it was really important would they let me? (trying to figure out when I want to become an author)

What is a good outfit idea for my character?

I'm writing a story about two teenagers (a brother and sister) that come from a "magical land" called Urbanox (which means "City of Night") and visit a small town. The girl (Mist Shadowgriffon) has long blonde curly hair, large charcoal eyes, and a pixie-like figure. She wears a short dress made of indigo silk and black sheepskin boots. The boy (Maxim Shadowgriffon) has shaggy dark hair, big dark blue eyes, and a muscular build. What should his outfit be? It needs to be somewhat trendy, but kind of dreamy and have dark blue or indigo somewhere in it.

What do you think of a 15 year old girl called Bonni?

It's for a story, i'm struggling to make a character but all ive come up with is that my character should be a 15 year old called Bonni (full name: Rhiannon Bonni Blair)

What do you think she looks like?

What do you think some of her personality traits might be?

she is from Scottland

What is the best way of making chapters much longer?

What would I do to make my chapters longer? Adding more details isn't efficient or can lose the value of a chapter.

Could you judge this piece of writing that is part of a story I'm writing?

What can you say about this paragraph?

What can you predict this is about and will happen?

Can you rate my writing skills?

I finally ventured to take this opportunity to look at her with better focus. The first thing that met my eyes was hers. They were extremely dark, with perfectly fitting eyebrows and eyelashes for her face and eye’s shapes. I scanned through the rest of her face, yet before reaching its finish point I noticed something that puzzled me; that pale tenor, it had disappeared. She looked her usual self once again... or at least what I thought was her usual self. I was sort of surprised by her sudden change, I never thought my eyes would ever deceive me in such a way… in fact, I was trained so my eyes would hardly deceive me, so I fell into doubt. But still, there it was, her normal pinkish tint on her white complexion. At this point, she focused her stare on a distant object, making a trivial grunted expression. What the hell had I done already, I had no idea, yet something caught my mind; perhaps that pinkish tint was not originally hers, but rather the result of uneasiness and discomfort. This thought gave me my own feelings of awkwardness, so I turned away too.

What is a good name for a male fairy ?

Is Warren okay?

(answers included ‘Beauzo’, ‘Glenn’, ‘Kip’ and an urge to consider the spelling, because "it’s not the name, it’s the spelling that makes it magical – such as ‘Arrick’ and ‘Derin’.")

Can someone type the whole book of night world volume 2 all three stories?

since volume 2 of the night world has come out, i have been dying to read it literally! and i would be extremely gratefulto anyone who is willing to type up the whole book so i can finally read it without having to buy it

i heard that u can download it online and read it for free so i tried to do that but my mom wouldn't let meh so i can't that is why i'm asking someone to maybe try to copy and paste it

i would really appreciate it

please please please someone help meh out

thnx

How do I know whether or not I should become an author?

I'm at that awkward time in my life where I have absolutely no idea what I want to do, but the time to choose is getting near. I'd call myself a decent writer for my age, especially considering that I hardly ever read or write.

is it OK to write a novel where the chapters have only 3 to 5 pages?

 I'm writing a novel that has an estimated 12 or 13 chapters. And some people have told me that for that amount of chapters 3 to 5 pages for each chapter is not enough.

Personally I can't write so much about the same theme in a chapter for so many pages, I mean I am imaginative but not monotonous.

What should I do?

When writing under a pen name, how do you do press conferences about your written work? Can you employ someone else to "act" as you (the "penname" author) so you do not reveal your true identity and what you look like?

When typing a novel should i put my characters dialog in italics? its alot easier to read but do others?

 
Literary agent question for YA manuscript?

I understand that it is universally acknowledged in the literary world that most literary agents *hate* it when the first chapter of a novel opens up with the character in a dream.

That's what I'm having trouble with. Opening up the first chapter with the character in a dream. Thing is, I think I really need this, because it "shows" instead of "tells" the reader how much the character is missing her mother. (In the story, the mom is dead.) The description of the dream shouldn't be long. Maybe, at the most one and a half double-spaced pages.

Should I cut the scene? I want to keep it. If I have to change it, what can I replace it with? I still like the idea opening up with a dream. When I send a partial in to an agent, should I put a sticky note on the front and say something along the lines of, "I understand that most agents do not like the opening of a book with a dream, but I need this in my manuscript because it "shows" instead of "tells" the reader how much the character is missing her mother." ?

What does everyone think of my creative novel??

Title: 'The Reckoning' or 'The Kindling'

An 18 year old, Vanity Gabrielle Carpenter, is raised in an ill home life. His cold-hearted step father is abusive to him, his 14 year old step-brother Mathew Scott Francis(Mat for short), and his sweet, homely foster mother Sarah Carpenter. When Vanity was turning 16, Sarah lost her only biological child, Courtney. Courtney was with her older friend Felecia on a country road in outskirt of Vanity's hometown, Claremore, Ok. The car accident, was, for lack of a better word, a nightmare. The horror of the smell of burning flesh and seeing the blood stained glass all over the accident scene. Barely withstanding the stress Sarah had under Russel, she fell into a deep, dark void not being able to compete with her 15 year old daughters death. Soon she resorted to cigarettes and alcohal to help calm her broken heart. So as Vanity was well into his 17th year, Sarah was diagnosed with lliver cancer. She was quoted with 1-2 years maximum to live but was already gone by the time Vanity turned 18. Russel retained his custody over Mat when Vanity moved out shottly after Sarah's death. Fed up with Mat holding him back from moving on in life, Russel signed Mat over to Vanity's custody. Vanity wanted Mat and he to get out of the po dunt town they grew up in and move somewhere far, far away to try and get a fresh start and leave their dark childhood behind them. Without word to Russel and taking the few belongings they owned, Vanity and Mat set out to what they can afford, a cheap studio apartment in the dangerous gheto area of San Francisco, California.

On a stormy day out sea sailing the coast, Vanity and Mat find themselves about to struggle to stay afloat during an eerie, violent hurrricane. Their small sail is shattered by a lighting bolt; hurling Mat and Vanity out into the rocky monster waves of the deep blue pacific. Sinking weakly to the ocean floor, badly burned and nearly maimed, Vanity blacks out only to awaken on the sunset shorline of an undiscovered island. The first thing he sees are the hundreds of crucifixes of men, women, and the worst of all, children; all restrained and staked to the cross with broken legs covered in dirt and old, ragged clothes. Actually hidden to satelites, technology and the rest of the world, the island beholds during the day a typical, ordinary civilization of people who all live in a massive city that came to be called Daimler. At night it is a fortress of werewolves who over run the city just like in, I Am Legend. When the sun goes down and the "bombing" sirens go off, you have 15 minutes to get inside a home or building before they go on lock down; otherwise your screwed. If you arent the one being eaten, ypu're the one who hears grizzly, beastly noises the hounds make and the not so lucky people outside being torn to peices, while you are helpless and powerless to help them. This is all I have so far. What does everybody think of it?

Can novels be written in the script form?

I can write screenplays, but I can't paragraph format. I'm thinking only the dialog will be script-like

What do you hate in a person?

Personality wise. Look wise. What they do wise. xD(Trying to create a story book character — so I was planning on using the answers to make sure I don't make my characters that way.) xD

Im currently writing a book, if i got it turned into a film do you think i could get Rik Mayall to play the villain?

I have written two short stories and im now starting a novel. Do you think i would be able to get Rik Mayall to be the villain? And do you think he would be good at it?

Is there any word limit in a diary entry?

Looking for a good software writing program, I love to write poems, short and long stories, but I need editing?

I would love to find a decent priced software program for writing to help me put my sentences/paragraphs in order, check for spelling, grammar, flow, give suggestions, etc to help me with improving my writing skills. I just need serious editing. If you know of anything please let me know.

Why will no one publish my book?

I just finished a non-fiction comedy book, and everyone I showed it to thought it was hilarious. My friends, coworkers, teachers, even a famous radio host- thought this idea was gold and would sell. However, after sending out over 20 query letters, I have gotten nothing but rejection emails or ignored period. How? I'm not being pompous, I just don't understand. I made sure to email agents specifically in the non-fiction comedy genre, made sure they were legit, made sure to polish my query letter so it was industry standard. Made sure to have others read it and give advice. I mean, the people I show this book to think its marketable. Many even say "I would buy it." So why can't an agent see this? Isn't it, after all, about making money and profits?

So please- tell me what I'm doing wrong, or why my friends and coworkers think its funny, but no agent does. Serious responses only.

My idea that I thought was unique, is it similar to George Orwell's idea?

Right so since I havent made any concrete things about it, I will bulletpoint or dash the main points.

- This parallel universe is technically no different from ours. A small global catastrophe made the government take drastic action.

- world governments and people in power decided to form together and make one ruling body to control the people.

- first, it was good and then things changed for the worse.

- This leading body took a role soo great in peoples lives. Controlled what work you would have, how many children you had etc. No right to free speech. If the things you said didnt correspond with what was the now norm, you would be killed or something would happen to you.

- Children were being brainwashed from early ages to think this.

- Nobody had a choice. They accepted this.

 There are other points and stuff that I have but I gotta go bed soon lol. Have an exam tomorrow LOL

Can i still get people to consider publishing my novel even if isnt 40,000 words?

I wrote a novel (not a romance novel and not a sports novel) that topped out at 32,569 words with prolouge and epilougue. I have been told by many people that it is great and should be published, but i also heard that novels need to be at least 40,000 words to be published. What are my chances??

BTW im 16

Need some help making my novel longer!?

Okay, so I have this YA fantasy novel I'm working on. I finished my first draft, but the book came up a bit short at 180 pages. I'm trying to go through it, adding adjectives, descriptions, etc., but if you could give me an idea of how to add 10+ pages to my book that would be great. I'm aiming for 250 pages, at least. Thanks.

Do you have to go to college to get a book publish?

Im a very good Writer an i love writing stories i was thinking about writ a novel an getting it publish I don't know if i have to go to college to accomplish this. I've heard somewhere that authors dont get enough money to live out of Could i just be a writer part time and have another job im just a freshman in high school if that helps.

I know how you would write this, but is it wrong if I...?

Okay, I've grown up writing quotes/speech things "Bob the builder," She said, but at school, they say you write it "Bob the builder," she said. So after a quote, is it capitalized or not?

(after everyone explained that she was wrong and school was write, she gave all the answers a thumbs down and said, "thanks. I'm gonna write it the way i always do and let my publisher fix it for me or something.")

Is this good for you? Please read this!?

This is my second novel so far. This is the prologue.

Prey was her name now. She was still, not moving a muscle; she almost looked like a statue. The fierce creatures were running towards her now, with their sharp fangs out ready to devour her flesh.

She was still trying to think of another thing before her last moments. She was trying to think about her glorious years as a young woman. But as much as she wanted, she couldn't. The growls were terrifying, so terrifying, you could not even breathe because terror would suffocate you easily

She opened her eyes and saw the most haunting image she could have ever dreamed of.

The monsters were nearly aside her. In a rush of panic she started to run as fast as she could. Luckily, she was able to detangle her feet.

The woods were misty, almost, wintery. The frozen air was running through her body, through her mouth, through her throat; making it hard to swallow.

“Somebody help me!” She shouted into the heart of the forest, but there was no one that could hear her.

She kept repeating the same line for almost a minute as she tried to escape from the view of the mighty monsters.

No result. Her throat was soar, dry. It felt like if you would take a mouthful of sand into your mouth and gently swallowed it through your throat.

She could not speak or scream anymore; the saliva in her mouth was now a sticky substance that gave her the taste of iron. Then horror was awakened.

She stopped, looking down the dark and misty abysm, which divided the forest in two parts.

She turned knowing she didn’t have the guts to jump. Her eyes opened and she felt how her hair pulled up from her body like a cat’s fur against the smooth surface of a balloon.

The roaring and hissing went berserk through the hollow walls of the forest. In the long distance she could see one of the nightmarish creatures arise from the shadows. The dark eyes of the hunter multiplied into three, no, four, and five… She lost count.

There was a horrific silence. She was in shock, without breathing. She took a step toward the bushes were the shadows had disappeared.

Suddenly, something dark and ominous jumped right at her. The breath of the creature was warm, wild. It was on top of her.

She screamed terrified as the gigantic wolf opened its mouth revealing its fangs. The wolf lowered his head: its teeth, one inch away from her throat.

Then she heard different cries in the long distance. And then, more howls coming from the bushes around her. The pack of wolves got out of their hiding places, one by one, they emerged. Their numbers were mind-blowing.

Then the wolves made their final leap. They all sauntered at the girl at high speed.

The girl screamed an ear-piercing scream to the forest again and all of a sudden; the wolves backed away.

They looked at her with fear, like if they were afraid to attack her.

They all started to whimper. Prey was shocked. She looked at the legion of wolves around her run back into the forest, shaking, vibrating as they ran.

In the distance she thought she saw a young man running. The man was naked, instantly fading away.

Her eyes were glued wide open. Her breathing was skyrocketing. She managed to get to her feet, dazed like hell.

And in a fraction of a second she could open her lips and say the three words she would never forget: “I… am…ALIVE.”

Would U EVER read this if not why ??? PLZ read and comment?

sorry that this is Long IM IN A HURRY SO SORRY THAT THERES NO PUNCTUACION AND GRAMMER AND STUFF I JUST DIDNT HAVE TIME

ok this girlnamed leana has known this half indian guy named cherokee since she was 9 the book starts out when she is 14 and cherokee moves to oklahoma to live on a indian resevation then the story moves to when shes is 17 and cherokee contacts her on myspace and then they make a plan to where she gets to visist him in oklahoma during the summer so she goes to oklahoma and when she gets there she meets Lander cherokees cousin who is part indian and scotish and she ends up hanging out with laNDER ALOT BECOUS cherokee has to work from 9 am to 5 pm

there is a wood s in between the resevation and a town the woods is about 2 miles long well oh and she starts to fall for lander even though shes dating cherokee she loves cherokee to o

well one day shes out in the woods with them and a couple of coyotes try to atack them so lander turns in to a huge wolf ande cherokee turns in to a giant bear. so she finds out that they are were shape shifeters and she finds out that lander is speacial becouse he cant change into any thing besides a wolf and the rest of the tribe including cherokee can turn in to any animal thay want . well it turns out that a hunter saw what happend in the woods and reports it to this guy who owns and insane asyllum so he arranges for them to get kidnnaped and brout there cherokee knows that lander loves leana whgen they get kidnapped they find out that there is other poeple there with special abillities so they manage to break out but they cant go home becous they no where they live so they go to leanas home in indiana thats all i got so far

Black Dogs

Just read Black Dogs by Ian McEwan. Now, I've got a love-hate relationship with Ian McEwan. I've found some of his books dazzlingly brilliant, full of the sort of writing that makes me want to just give the fuck up because I will never be that good (On Chesil Beach, Atonement, The Child In Time, The Cement Garden) and others that I thought were deeply flawed and disappointing (Amsterdam, Enduring Love).

Black Dogs? Well, it was somewhere between the two. It's a slender little volume, barely more than a novella, and introduces some of the themes that also occur in his later novella On Chesil Beach. Both books, for instance, are about newly-weds, both set in a time where personal relationships were perhaps more fraught with awkwardness and embarrassment than they are today, and both revolve around single honeymoon incident which has a profound and irrevocable effect on a couple's life together. In Black Dogs, the incident involves the black dogs of the title, whose origins are unclear and which take on an almost mythical status as their story is passed from one character to another.

Winston Churchill, of course, famously referred to depression as 'the black dog' that plagued him, refusing to leave, and I don't think the reference is accidental on McEwan's part. This, in fact, was what initially made me pick up the book. June, the young post-war honeymooner whose encounter with the black dogs is pivotal to her life, turns to spirituality to overcome their lingering effects, which eventually causes her to part from Bernard, her uber-rational, intellectual husband, for good. The book is partly about this incident, which haunts not just June and Bernard but subsequent generations of their family, including their son-in-law as he comes to write June's memoir for her after her death. It's the son-in-law who narrates the novel and who also experiences a turning-point incident of his own while retracing June and Bermard's steps through France.

I actually found it hard to put this book down, and I was completely engaged with all the characters right from the first page. The writing is beautiful - stark, sharply accurate, sparse, never flowery and occasionally darkly humorous, reminding me slightly of my all-time literary hero, George Orwell - and not a word is wasted. And yet I still found something lacking. Hard to pinpoint exactly what, though. Possibly, I think, that I lacked all sympathy with June's reaction to her experience (being the least spiritual person in the world myself) and was firmly on Bernard's side. Or possibly that these people were so bloody middle-class and smug (really, in most cases, if a couple separates, neither of them has the option to flit off to a second home in the form of a cottage in the south of France) that I found it hard to identify with them or, to be quite honest, care.

I'm now reading Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. When I mentioned this to RS Bohn, she remarked that she'd been put off reading him because he's beloved of sci-fi geeks and this had given her the impression that he was very hardcore sci-fi, but oddly enough, my local Waterstone's shelves his books not with sci-fi at all but with general fiction. I actually rather dislike sci-fi* - or at least, the kind of sci-fi that features spaceships, robots, aliens and other planets - but I do like science. A lot. I know there's a lot of science in Cryptonomicon, so I'm hoping there's more science than science-fiction.

It's 900 pages long, so don't expect a review any time soon.

I haven't been writing much lately. I say 'much' - I actually mean 'at all'. There are good reasons for this, including a very busy time at work and poor health, among other things. I'm due to go in for surgery at some point this year, and will need about two weeks to recover. I'd like to think that I'll be able to write during that time - since I won't be able to do anything especially active - but realistically, I'm not sure stitches are conducive to creativity, even for a keyhole procedure. Hopefully, my forthcoming trip to Iceland will recharge my batteries. We fly to Reykjavik on Thursday, and I just cannot wait... although I'm actually so excited at having almost two weeks off work that I haven't actually had time to get excited about the fact that I'm going to Iceland, even though I've wanted to go there ever since I was a little girl.

*Even more than I dislike sword-and-sorcery fantasy, and that's saying something

Six word story

"Excuse me... this parachute is bloodstained?"

If anyone is stuck for subject matter when it comes to fiction, I always have the following pieces of advice:

1. Read the newspaper every day.
2. Visit an art gallery.

Yesterday, my other half and I went to the Tate Liverpool. We both love modern art, and I particularly like modern sculpture. Currently, the Tate is completely devoted to modern sculpture and a Picasso exhibition, so it was a good time for us to visit.

I could find myself writing stories inspired by any of the following pieces.

These, of course, are all human figures. There were other, equally inspiring sculptures that were more abstract, including one by my favourite sculptor, Anthony Gormley, which consisted of a mattress made entirely from slices of bread partially preserved in paraffin wax with the cut-out shapes of human figures in it.

I often hear or read people whining about modern art, saying there's no point or skill to it, or worse, looking at something like Carl Andre's bricks or Damien Hirst's pickled calves and saying, "That's not art. I mean, I could have done that myself."

To which I always want to say, "Yeah. You probably could. Only you didn't, did you? You didn't, because you clearly lack the vision and creativity and capacity for original thought to see beauty or wit or symbolism in a straight line or a pile of bricks or a Jackson Pollock style canvas of paint splatters."

I know that art is a matter of personal taste, and I'm not saying that people have to like modern art. I'm just saying they should stop bloody sneering at it purely because it's something they can't be bothered to understand. If I don't understand a piece of modern art, I look at it and think about it until I come to an understanding of my own. And that, I think, is one of the reasons that modern art is good for breaking writer's block. It forces you to exercise your brain and think laterally and see beyond the completely sodding obvious.

***

After the Tate, we went to see a production of The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists at the Liverpool Everyman. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists is my boyfriend's favourite book, and I wasn't sure how it would translate to the stage. After all, the book is a big, rambling narrative with lots of characters. But they really made it work on stage, with brilliant performances from everyone and some very clever production tricks including the use of grotesque masks to transform the workers into the capitalist businessmen and councillors who pay their wages and then snatch them straight back in order to sell to them the very goods they've produced (a concept brilliantly played out in the famous 'Money Trick' scene). 

I was rather surprised that an American friend of mine hadn't heard of The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, because here it's an acknowledged classic and there are currently four separate paperback editions available from major publishers. But when I checked on the US Amazon site, the only editions look like out-of-print versions from private sellers and originally published by tiny, niche publishing houses.

I'm wondering - after reading a number of blog entries on the US healthcare debate recently - whether this is because The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists is overtly and explicitly socialist and anti-capitalist. It was only recently that I started to realise that the word 'socialist' seems almost taboo to a lot of people in the US, whereas here, nobody bats an eyelid at it.

***

Just finished reading Apartment 16 by Adam Nevill. I don't read a great deal of genre fiction, but this was a horror novel that had a lot of promise. Unfortunately, some of that promise was ultimately unfulfilled, but I certainly didn't feel I'd wasted my time reading it. 

Apartment 16 is principally about Seth, an impoverished painter living in a repulsive bedsit and working as a night-time security guard in Barrington House, a Knightsbridge apartment building and an exceptionally exclusive address, and Apryl, a young American woman who deals in vintage clothes and who is left an apartment (not, in fact, the Apartment 16 of the title) in Barrington House by her deceased great-aunt. They are both affected by the mysteries of the perpetually empty Apartment 16, and both become - separately - drawn into the horrors it once housed. And possibly still does.

There is much to like about Apartment 16. The writing is mostly sharp and vivid, most of the characters are well-drawn, and most of the horror is handled very well. Nevill is clearly heavily influenced by writers like MR James, Algernon Blackwood and HP Lovecraft, and his best work is certainly to be found in the first half of the book, when things - or perhaps Things - are peripheral, uncertain, nightmarish. But as the novel goes on, and the plot thickens, I found it less and less horrific. Seth's gradual descent into his own private hell is chilling at first - a scene in which he attempts to shop in his local supermarket only to find that everything in it is rotten and foul and the other shoppers are sinister and grotesque is particularly effective - but the more extreme his visions became, the less I found myself affected by them. And the end? Well, the end was somewhat weak. Predictable, I thought, rushed, and a distinct anticlimax. Not in terms of it being action-packed, as there was no shortage of action at the end, but simply in the sense that it didn't chill me in the least after the neck-prickling horror of the earlier chapters, and it all seemed to happen far too quickly.

All that said, I can absolutely see this novel being filmed. In fact, there were times when I suspected the author was seeing a film unfold in his head as he was writing.

I'd read, I think, something else by Nevill, if I was looking for a good holiday read to get stuck into on a plane or something. Apartment 16 was not a stunning work of literary genius, but it was creepy and fun despite the way it ran out of steam. I may still watch out for more of his work. I'm interested that he seems to owe much more to say, Dennis Wheatley and Ramsey Campbell than Stephen King and James Herbert, for a start. His first novel, Banquet For The Damned, is also around at present, so I might pick up a copy soon.

Protect And Survive

I am a child of the nuclear age. I grew up in the 80s at the tail end of the Cold War, and was plagued by nightmares about a nuclear holocaust. Plus, I was fascinated and terrified by nuclear power, which was both controversial and heavily promoted at that time. Later in life, I went on to work in an organisation which required me to be relatively au fait with nuclear regulation, and was taken on a private guided tour of Sellafield. It's the size of a small town, has its own police force armed with machine guns, its own railway, and they made me surrender my passport at the gates. The thing that interested me most was the sight of the chimneys partially destroyed by the Windscale fire of 1957, Britain's worst nuclear accident. They're still there, crumbling, still charred, and still contaminated. Pigeons nest in them, and have to be culled or fed contraceptives to stop them breeding.

Part of me is amazed and inspired by nuclear power, and my obsessive rationality tells me that it is statistically safer and cleaner and more sustainable than almost any other viable power source. Part of me is attracted to the stark, industrial-techno landscape of a nuclear power station and the hyper-efficiency and thoroughness with which the staff there go about their work. I like the protection suits, the masks, the iconic yellow and black radiation warning signs, the gently clicking Geiger counters.

The other part of me is haunted by images of children with radiation sickness and the eerie vision of an entirely empty Britain populated solely by skeletal remains. Because that's another fascination of mine, of course: desertion. I am obsessed to the point of unhealthiness by deserted places, the evidence of human life still present, but gradually being eroded by the ever-encroaching natural world.

Imagine, then, how transfixed I am by these images of Chernobyl.

Many, many of my best story ideas feature abandoned locations, and I know that one day I will write something inspired by these incredible photographs.

On the subject of nuclear disasters, the British Government in the 70s and early 80s, when I was a little girl, produced an information film and a pamphlet, entitled 'Protect & Survive' which advised people what to do in the event of a nuclear attack. They include advice like how to attempt to make a room in your home into a fall-out shelter, and how to stockpile food and water until the 'all-clear' was given.

Before I link to it, though, watch this, which is an American public information film called 'Duck And Cover', about what to do in a nuclear attack.

Now watch a short clip from the British film, 'Protect & Survive', here.

You'll notice it's rather different in tone.

Goodnight, then. Don't have nightmares, will you?