White Crow

White Crow will be out in a couple of weeks time in the UK (next Spring in the US).

It's my attempt to write a modern gothic story, and in that vein, it features a couple of tragic heroines. One of them, Ferelith, likes her music :-)

This is what's on her iPod (all Spotify links if you're a user...)

These song titles also happen to be the titles of chapters narrated by her.

Blue Roses – Rebecca
P!nk – I'm Not Dead
Evanescence – Bring Me To Life
London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) – Four Sea Interludes Op. 33a (from Peter Grimes) (1976 Digital Remaster): I. Dawn (Lento e tranquillo)
London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) – Four Sea Interludes Op. 33a (from Peter Grimes) (1976 Digital Remaster): II. Sunday Morning (Allegro spiritoso)
Andre Previn – Four Sea Interludes Op. 33a (from Peter Grimes) (1976 Digital Remaster): III. Moonlight (Andante comodo e rubato)
Andre Previn – Four Sea Interludes Op. 33a (from Peter Grimes) (1976 Digital Remaster): IV. Storm (Presto con fuoco)
Adam & The Ants – Catholic Day
Kylesa – The Warning
Gustav Mahler – Kindertotenlieder: Nun Will Die Sonn' So Hell Aufgeh'n
Gustav Mahler – Kindertotenlieder: Nun Seh' Ich Wohl, Warum So Dunkle Flammen
Gustav Mahler – Kindertotenlieder: Wenn Dein Mutterlein
Gustav Mahler – Kindertotenlieder: Oft Denk' Ich, Sie Sind Nur Ausgegangen
Gustav Mahler – Kindertotenlieder: In Diesem Wetter
Julie London – Cry Me A River
My Chemical Romance – This Is How I Disappear
Gillan – Dead Of Night
Nick Cave & Warren Ellis – What Must Be Done
Bauhaus – The Passion Of Lovers
Sonic Youth – Pattern Recognition
Skinny Puppy – Candle
Porcupine Tree – Kneel and Disconnect
Sonic Youth – 'Cross The Breeze

Obelisk

Nope, not a fat Gaul but the new arrival in my garden; thanks to the help of three hefty neighbours and some swearing, I now have a small menhir standing outside my writing shed.

This is good because it makes me ludicrously happy for some silly reason, but bad because it's one more thing to distract me when I should be writing :-(

However, the good news is that despite the arrival of the obelisk, I've (at last) started writing my new book. Four thousand words in, and so far we have three deaths and a funeral.

Business as usual then for Sedgwick? Maybe, but this one feels a bit different from recent books, I think more in the style of The Book of Dead Days, but as Ron Manager would say, it's early doors yet, game of two halves, anything could happen.

Which reminds me, it's only ten days till that greatest distraction from writing of all. The World Cup! Thank God it only comes every four years....

One book, four covers

Well from the left we have the UK hardback, UK paperback, US hardback and German editions of REVOLVER.

I love seeing the way one book gets a different look in each country it's published in. The big debate we had in the UK was whether to put a gun on the cover of the original HB. All sorts of issues to be considered, of course.

The final decision was no, but for the PB the answer has been yes, and the new look is pretty lovely. Interesting that both the US and German editions include a human element, even though you have to look fairly hard to see it.

Bologna book fair

I've just about had enough sleep since getting back from the Bologna children's book fair...

In one morning I happened to meet eight of my publishers from overseas, which is great in itself, but also slightly blows your mind.

Why? Well, there you are, in your shed, writing a book, and struggling with that, and for not one tiny moment does it cross your tiny brain that you might make sure your book will have 'international sales appeal'.

Maybe it does try to cross your mind, and maybe you just blot it out, because if you started to think like that, you'd go doo-lally pretty sharpish.

Anyway, the pasta's great in Bologna, that's the main thing :-)

Is this the 1960s...?

So I'm on campus at Bath Spa University, the sun is shining, there's some guy with an acoustic guitar singing songs about how Jesus is going to invade or something, and I feel like I'm living the 1960s education dream...

So far today, that education has taken the form of tutorials with MA students, and it's been interesting how the same issues can crop up. This evening, I'm taking part in a debate on how far, as a creative type, you should think about the realities of the commercial world. How much should it guide what you do and so on. Is it selling your soul to write something because you think it might have a greater chance of selling more copies...?

Personally I think you have to practice the art of holding a paradox in your head - on the one hand to ignore the real world totally, write just what you love, and do it just how you want it, and on the other hand, and at the same time, to have a part of your mind focusing on what is realistic, commercial and viable. And if Alice can believe in six impossible things before breakfast, then a paradox a day should be well within our reach.

Revolver PB cover

New covers a-go-go, at the moment! This is how Revolver is going to look in paperback when it comes out in May. Although most people seemed to like the smoking match thing on the hardback, we're going for a more commercial look now.

I always like those words; "more commercial". Let's hope it does the job. I'm very happy with it, though, on the basis that it does exactly what it says on the tin.

Preview of the Vampires and Volts cover publishing October 2010