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Category Archives: The Arts in General

Off the Cuff : Part 6 with Dietrich Kalteis and Martin J Frankson

08 Monday Sep 2014

Posted by Martin J Frankson in All Things Writing, Discussions, The Arts in General

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Belfast, Canada, Crime, crime fiction, Dietrich Kalteis, Ireland, literature, Martin J Frankson, off the cuff, Peter Rozovsky, vancouver


20140811-103457-38097646.jpg

We’re back with week six of our freestyle chat – no rules, no editing, and no net under us. Vancouver-based crime writer and author of Ride the Lightning, Dietrich Kalteis and I discuss what we’re working on, writing in general and just whatever comes to mind – real off the cuff.

A special thanks to Peter Rozovsky for use of his noir shot: At Maryland’s Eastern Shore. You can find out more about Peter’s work on Facebook, his Twitter account @DBeyondBorders and his sublime blog http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.co.uk
 
So here we go.

 

OTC IMAGE 6

 

MF: I’d like to touch on how important settings are this week since it seems so closely connected to character, which we talked about over the past two weeks. I’ll start off by saying LA, NYC and London have been very well served in the canon. Writers these days need to look at different locales/settings which have specific cultural aspects that perhaps are not widely known in broader culture. This is why, to me, crime novels set in British Columbia by writers such as yourself, Robin Spano, Linda E Richards and ER Brown fascinated and entertained me. Owen Laukkenan’s books that feature the character Carla Windermere (a black female FBI agent) are set in Minnesota. Now, there’s a double whammy of originality, a black female protagonist and Minnesota.
 
DK: I like reading stories set in my hometown. It’s interesting to hear other writers describe settings which are familiar, and Robin, Linda and ER all do it very well. And I recently finished Owen’s Kill Fee and double whammy is right, a great job with both character and setting. 
 
For me, Vancouver creates an interesting backdrop, partially because it hasn’t been overused. It’s also a busy seaport and tucked up against the US border, just begging for some crime fiction. Using where you live as a story’s setting makes it both easier for the writer and more convincing to the reader. When I wrote Ride the Lightning I also chose Vancouver because of the unusually high number of grow-ops here which served the story. 
 
And I see your point about settings that we’ve read over and over, but to me when a story is well written the setting could be anywhere. Take James Ellroy and his LA Quartet (The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, LA Confidential, White Jazz) must-read crime fiction. Or Ed McBain and his 87th Precinct stories set in New York. Carl Hiaasen and Florida, James Lee Burke’s Louisiana, George Pelecanos’ Washington.  
 
Having said that, there is a certain intrigue to stories that take place in a foreign locale that I’ve never been to. Take a classic like Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile. Or even an imaginary setting like the town of Wallace in ER Brown’s Almost Criminal. In the end, I think it all boils down to the strength of the writing – whether the setting’s exotic, familiar or imaginary.
 
Striving for the original is always important, but sometimes your characters want to show up at overused locales like bars or cafes if they’re the kind that frequent such places, regardless of whether the setting is a bit cliché or not; that’s where they hang out. But I do agree with you, as a writer, it’s important to strive for originality in settings.
 
MF: Very true. We’ve all read bar scenes, but like a game of chess, there are an infinite number of possibilities of character, plot, dialogue and story that can take place in that setting, and this is where originality comes in; but if a writer feels he/she can make the setting work in a completely new land or one that’s unfamiliar within the genre, then go for it. Alexander McCall Smith, the Scottish crime writer has won much deserved success for his books set in Botswana. Brian McGilloway, the wonderful Irish crime writer from Derry, sets his work in the northern Irish borderlands between Derry and Donegal, again, a setting that is such a rich vein to mine, and one that has seldom been used in the past. The English crime writer, David Mark sets his work in the northern English city of Hull. No one has set crime literature there before, and why not? He does it very well, and people love his work. Hull may not be the most fashionable of places, but it certainly has its secrets and textural intrigues, and David evokes the atmosphere and nature of Hull supremely well.
 
DK: Elmore Leonard based many of his crime novels in and around Detroit, and he had every aspect of it down: the people, the settings, the dialects. One of his last was Djibouti, a city in the horn of Africa, and he pulled it off beautifully. A great example of dropping characters in settings that are unfamiliar to them, making them vulnerable by being out of their element. Ken Kesey’s Sailor Song, set in a fishing village in Kuinak, Alaska, is another fine example. Also, Hunter S Thompson’s The Rum Diary, taking place in Peurto Rico.
 
MF: You’ve just expanded my to-read list Dieter. Another example from my recent reading is Snow Candy by Terry Carroll, set in rural southern Ontario. People sometimes make the mistake of assuming that a small town or rural setting is more tranquil and peaceful than a city. That may be at first glance, but an awful lot of unsavoury things go on and are hidden in the countryside. People live there too, and where there are people, there’s intrigue just like anywhere else on the planet. It’s just not as obvious as it would be in a city. Books set in such locales are the more interesting for it. Confuse the bucolic with the moral at your peril.
 
Anya Lipska from London is another great example. Yes, her work is set in the familiar city of London, but its set amongst the Polish immigrant community. No one’s done that before, and even though the landscape of the setting may be familiar to many, the cultural landscape of her characters is not, and therein lies the originality that is such a wonderful hook and makes for a great read. Her novel Death Can’t Take a Joke (great title) involves investigations that take the story to Poland itself. Again, not just original but probably unique in English-language crime literature.
 
Ken Bruen, one of my favourite crime writers, lives in the west of Ireland where he sets his work. Granted, his main character, Jack Taylor is a middle-aged alcoholic male, but his humour and kitchen-sink everydayness is entwined so realistically within the crimes he investigates, and it works so well. Bruen shows how he lives and interacts with the modern world around him as opposed to holing him up in a dingy office where the real world of single mothers, curmudgeon neighbours and convenience store eccentricities don’t exist. Again, there’s an example of the familiar genre character being depicted in a fresh way and updated for our times.
 
This is why Scandinavian, Italian and German crime literature has been so successful in recent years; readers are crying out for fresh perspective and an insight into places and characters whose outlook, mannerisms and ethos are unfamiliar and fresh. However, it’s important for the writer to ignore the current fads and fashions of here today, gone tomorrow popularity and set their work wherever they feel it’s best.
 
more next week …

Rapid Reads – A Progressive Innovation in the World of Publishing and Literature

28 Saturday Jun 2014

Posted by Martin J Frankson in Language, Society at Large, The Arts in General

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literacy, literature, orca, plain english, rapid reads, reading


Imagine you are learning English as a foreign language or you have reading difficulties or you’re a teenager who just wants to expand beyond teenage literature or even if you simply haven’t the time to read but you still want to dive into the wonderful pool of literature with all the joys that entails.

It’s pretty difficult when you think about it.

Most novels are aimed at a readership that have fully developed literary skills and such works involve a high degree of complexity in terms of language, plotting and narrative structure that require the reader to have advanced reading skills and the time to read. These can act as a barrier to those who wish to enrich their lives that literature is wonderful at providing.

Well there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Rapid Reads is a recent newcomer to the publishing world whose mission and remit is to publish short works of both fiction and non-fiction between 12000-20000 words. Its works of fiction are set in the contemporary world, written in plain English with simple sentence structure. The stories are driven forward in time via linear narrative with minimal or zero use of sub-plotting and with a small number of characters without sacrificing quality, reader-engagement or entertainment. For non-fiction, plain written and concise English are also the order of the day. The aim is that all such books can be easily read, understood and completed in one sitting yet just as entertaining and informative as conventional literature.

There is a growing demand for such books and the Rapid Reads stable is home to many writers, some of whom have written conventionally structured novels for the mass market but have turned more than an able hand to writing within the guidelines that Rapid Reads stipulate. Moreover, its books are widely read and highly regarded by those who do read the more conventional, complex traditionally structured book. The books are simple but not simplistic, basic but not facile, uncomplicated without any less sophistication, informative yet not condescending.
According to Rapid Reads website, 50% of North Americans struggle with literacy to some degree, not to mention the numbers who lead very busy and demanding lives, in other words, time-poor. I suspect this degree of literacy and time challenges are not unique across the Western world.

This is a truly progressive innovation in the world of literature that surely will go a long way to increase literacy and the advocacy of the joy and empowerment of reading. There is no stigma in reading books from this stable either. I have just ordered two myself and I recommend you do too. For writers like myself, I particularly look forward to see how these books employ elegance and simplicity without loss of literary efficacy. This will surely serve as a good exemplar of cutting unnecessary complexity and long windedness from what we write, something I am quite guilty off myself.

Also all genres are welcome too.

Rapid Reads is an imprint of Orca Press who are based in Victoria, BC, Canada and you can find more details on their website

Noir at the Bar – Evening of Crime Fiction in Vancouver, BC

11 Wednesday Jun 2014

Posted by Martin J Frankson in Mystery and Thriller, The Arts in General, Uncategorized

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crime fiction, Dietrich Kalteis, ER Brown, Frankson, linda l richards, Mystery, Noir, noir at the bar, owen laukkanen, robin spano, Sam Weibe, vancouver


noiratbarcover

I arrived at the Shebeen Whiskey House right in the heart of Gastown in great anticipation for the crime fiction literary event of the year so far in Vancouver, Noir in the Bar, an opportunity for fellow writers and fans of crime fiction to meet and listen to selected readings off eight accomplished BC/Vancouver crime writers.

The venue was just the right size and the atmosphere was informal and relaxed but no less professionally and seamlessly conducted. There was no stage or a barrier between the featured writers and the audience which added to the democratic and collegiate manner of proceedings. The writers introduced themselves  from the floor from where they read excerpts from their work. The audience were within stabbing distance (figuratively speaking of course) of the writers and this added to the intimacy of the event.

I perched myself on a tall chair and sat my favourite cocktail, an Old Fashioned (having delusions of being Don Draper from Mad Men fame) on the brown leatherette table top and settled down into the literary joy of noir that awaited and what a magnificent evening it was.

The featured writers, in order of appearence were:

E.R. Brown (http://www.erbrown.com/) read from his Edgar-nominated Almost Criminal.

Deitrich Kalteis (http://dietrichkalteis.blogspot.ca/) who read from his wonderful debut novel Ride the Lightning

Dietrich Kalteis

Owen Laukkanen (http://owenlaukkanen.com/) who read from his third and critically acclaimed novel Killing Fee.
I had a good conversation with Owen before the reading about Vancouver and writing in general and is a very warm and approachable chap.

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Linda L Richards (http://www.lindalrichards.com/) gave a wonderful preamble to her reading about how her father, an immigrant from Germany, learnt to perfect his English from watching old gangstermovies which led to his speaking in the manner of the colourful characters who graced the silver screen in their suits, cocked trilbies and a gun tucked in their belt. The audience reeled with her anecdote of her father telling her when a child to go to sleep:

“Shut your peepers and go to sleep or you’ll be in trouble like nobody’s business’ (apoligies Linda if I didn’t get that 100% correct! but I think that was it! Feel free to correct me though…)

Linda’s novels are all set in 1931 during the height of the Great Depression. She read from one of her many novels and the language was pure lean noir with a good dose of sparkling clever dialogue and wry humour.

Linda and Mike Linda with her son, Mike who compèred the evening’s proceedings.

Robin Spano (http://www.robinspano.com/)is the author of several novels that feature the enigmatic female detective Clare Vengel. I confess to only discovering Robin’s work last week when I picked up her novel Death Plays Poker at the John Forte library in Denman St but what a discovery. I was reeled in by the neo-pulp cover art and I just had to take it from the shelf and read it within a day. Her writing reminds me of the work of Krista Faust which features strong plot, edgy characters, shady dealings and a strong female protagonist with cajones and a heavy dollop of clever humour and turns of phrase.

Robin Spano

This evening, Robin read not from her novels but a stand alone short story based upon the colourful and notorious Mayor of Toronto Rob Ford. In fact, Mr Ford has inspired a flurry of fan fiction and even a musical based on his esoteric and eccentric style of governence. The story was rip roaringly funny and showed Robin’s versatility in turning her craft to any subject matter.

Sam Wiebe (http://www.samwiebe.com/)is the recipient of the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Unpublished Canadian crime novel for his debut work Last of the Indepedents.

One of the last remaining indepedant booksellers in Vancouver, White Dwarf Books who specialize in crime and mystery literature, were in the room, giving those present an opportunity to buy some of the books written by the authors featured in the evening’s billing.

I’ve been to many book events, big and small but this was one of the best I’ve ever been to. The authors freely mingled with the audience and were generous with their time and were willing to engage. As a writer who is still trying to clinch that prize of a conventional bookdeal, I find this generousity of spirit to be uplifting and encouraging as all writers, even those who with many books on the shelves off our bookstores, have a story to tell about their struggles at the start of their own careers.

Very very few published writers have had it easy at the start. Their tales of rejection letters and self doubt serve to show us that perserverence and the encouragement of our nearest and dearest are the winds that can steer our wind-blown ships to the harbour of success only if we work hard enough at writing and improving our craft.

Many thanks to the organizers and most of all to the authors who took part.

 

 

 

 

 

The Artist’s Way – Advice on Creativity : Part of 1 of Many. Based on Book by Julia Cameron

05 Saturday Apr 2014

Posted by Martin J Frankson in All Things Writing, The Arts in General

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artist's way, arts, block, creativity, Frankson, Julia Cameron, overcoming block, success, writer's block, writing


I am sure many of us have read many articles, books and social media postings that give advice on how to write. All of them differ in the detail but the common thread of all is ‘Just Write!’ which makes sense. Many writers, including myself, can get hung up on the fear that our next paragraph or page may not set the literary world alight. When such fear strikes, we end up staring at a blank screen or holding a pen like a human statue.

Then we may leave our desks and fix a sandwich or a bicycle and not return to our desks. We excuse ourselves by claiming writer’s block. I used to believe in writer’s block but only speaking for myself, it was not writer’s block that ever stopped me from writing but my own fears and lack of ability to marry my personal/working life to my creative life. Having spend the past week thinking about my own creative processes, I’ve come to the conclusion that there maybe no such thing as writer’s block.

What I believe to have been writer’s block was really my perceived inability to write blistering prose from the get-go. I sat down many times and typed a sentence or two only to end them not with a period/full-stop but my forefinger pinning down the backspace key until I had a nice pristine but blank screen looking back at me.

A blank screen is like a mirror to the writer’s soul. It reflects back at us what we fill it with. However, better for any image to appear that no image at all. Often, I preferred no image than poor writing. This is what held me back and now I recognise it.

I was hamstrung by perfectionism. I thought no sentence was better than no sentence at all.

So I justified by torpor by the respectability of the term ‘writer’s block’. If you think about it, in what other profession could one get away with days or weeks of non-productivity? The long the muscle rests, the weaker it gets and the longer a writer doesn’t write, the harder it becomes even to the point when the writer him/herself has to ask the question ‘Am I a writer at all?’

So I picked myself up and sat down and wrote. I had no structure in mind, not even a story or a plot, just a general essay on my forthcoming visit to Seattle and why I chose America over Britain. I let my fingers be the medium for my many thoughts and the words flowed from my fingers. Much of what I wrote in the first draft was badly spelt and unstructured but I was back on the saddle, holding onto the reins and not letting myself be thrown off by that bucking bronco of self-doubt and negative self-thought.

‘No, don’t write that!’

‘That’s a rubbish sentence’

‘You’re using the passive tense you verbal weakling’

‘Man, you are cliché city’

These were the demons that sat inside my eardrums during my essay and I told them where to go.

And you know something? Demons are very obedient. All you have to do is tell them to go away and they will vanish like a midday ice cube in the Kalahari. The corollary of this is that such demons are very willing to take up residence if you let the door’s of doubt lie open.

I finished my draft and the feeling of achievement and release was heady. I didn’t care how raw or unpolished the draft was. It was not carved on a marble tablet, impervious to edit. Within half an hour, I revised and rewrote my first draft, cutting unnecessary words out, replacing clichés with more original material without resorting to the ridiculous. I swapped sentences around and removed the passive voice and replaced unnecessarily complex words with simpler ones that conveyed the same meaning. When a writer uses unusual words, his/her readers may reach for the dictionary but this immediately puts an extra step between the reader and writer. In fact, the reader may find the dictionary more entertaining and rewarding than the book as the dictionary has the forethought to explain what everything means.

The key objective of any form of writing be it literary, factual, technical or genre is to be understood by the reader.

How many pans of dirt did the prospectors of the Klondike need to dig before they found a nugget of gold? They kept panning and panning until they hit pay-dirt, literally! Same goes for writing. So you wrote pages of turgid unreadable material that everyone would laugh at? Who cares. The fact that you wrote something is an achievement in itself. Just repeat the process. Revise what you wrote, study what didn’t work and fix it. Do this as often as you like until you are happier. This is the craft of editing. What sculptor knocked off a bronze statue of perfection in one go. The first chips of the chisel give overall shape to the final form. The angel only appears after many many deft and careful hammerings of the chisel.

Same goes for writing.

When I was pleased with my revisions, I posted it and here I am again, writing another blog post and this leads to me the book I mentioned at the start of this article.

Creativity be it writing, sculpture, painting or even baking a cake cannot take place without the right environment or the right attitude. We are all individuals and most creatives need routines. Some are lucky to jump out of bed in the morning and start work right away and this is great. However most of us need a routine before we start writing. I see this as pulling the boat to the river. You can’t sail when your boat is tethered to the top of your car or in your shed.

My routine is breakfast, a cup of tea, listening to a podcast, a shower and writing my morning pages

Morning pages?

Yes, these are like a diary but it can contain any thing you wish to write about and is purely private. The important thing about them is that they must be hand-written on actual paper. Yes, I know, I too thought I had forgotten how to write by hand but you will be surprised how those spidery scrawls can give way to legible words.

The reason why you must hand-write is to give you a physical and visceral connection between you and your art. The subject matter is immaterial but its important that it contains your thoughts, feelings, hopes and fears amongst it all. I consider this the act of taking the boat from my shed to the lake. It gives me the discipline of writing, writing something at the start of every day no matter what it contains. It also gives me insight and can even kick-start new thought processes and ideas that can feed into your creative writing later in the day.

After a couple of days,, the act of writing morning pages becomes part of your daily morning routine. In doing so, not a day goes past without you, the writer, being a writer. Only 2-3 pages is sufficient. The only other stipulations is that you right them in the same journal and don’t read or revise previous entries. Perhaps every several months one can read past entries and see how one has grown, changed even.

Then when you are done, later on that day when you sit down at your laptop, your blank screen no longer resembles a mountain to be climbed but a rose garden to be watered.

I can only speak for myself but my initial scepticism was blown away completely only after 4 days of putting this into practice. I’ve never had a better week than this for a long time and I feel very empowered.

I can only suggest that you try it for yourself and see how it works.

 

 

 

 

I am reading a book at the moment The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

I have a Kindle So Why Did I Buy a New Paperback?

19 Wednesday Sep 2012

Posted by Martin J Frankson in The Arts in General

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ebook, Frankson, kindle, paperback


I have a kindle.
A lot of people do.
Big deal you may say.
That’s fair enough but today I deliberately bought two paperbacks in Waterstones. I could have bought them over my wifi link and download to my kindle but I chose not to.

Why?
Am I turning into a Luddite?
Absolutely not!
The thing is, no matter what wizardry there is in this brave new world, at the end of the day, I’m an aesthete and a physical entity and I do prefer to hold a book, feeling that cold crispness of a fresh virgin page, get heady on the scent of its perfume, admire the cover art and ultimately take it home

While there is a future for eBooks, a happy equilibrium will be established within the decade.

Paper can lie down with the eReader.

Hardbacks, folios, collectors editions and the like will still be available as perhaps gifts etc with a code to allow one to download the electronic equivalent.

The difference between a paper book and an ebook is really the difference between sex and phone sex. One is preferable but sometimes expediency wins out. Not that that’s a personal endorsement of the latter but merely a personal opinion of an observed reality of the modern world.

I buy eBooks and I buy paper books.

Sometimes I’m an aesthete, sometimes I’m not.

The RJ Ellory Scandal

02 Sunday Sep 2012

Posted by Martin J Frankson in The Arts in General

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Amazon, crime fiction, Frankson, review, RJ Ellory


I am sure all that will be said about RJ Ellory’s shocking admission recently has been said.

For those who may not know, Mr Ellory admitted to giving his own book 5 star reviews and rubbishing the works of rival writers with 1 star on Amazon

My post today is not a rehash of the anger and shock that many in the world of literature have aired on both conventional and social media in recent days but rather, to give advice on how Amazon and other online stores with review functionality, can salvage and ensure authenticity of reviews in the future

And it’s not that difficult. Here are some opening gambits of mine:

Reviewer Authenticity
In my opinion, posting a review is a privilege, not a right. It is a public act of potential influence and can have ramifications for the career of the author and the business of the publisher, agent etc. There’s an argument for online anonymity which on balance I believe lets us express opinions which may cause hardship to ourselves in the real world but in the case of online reviews of literary fiction, Amazon and it’s ilk should ensure the same personal authentication as it does when purchasing goods online

Fake IDs
I write under a pen name, Martin J Frankson but I make no secret of my real name, Marjorie Fudge, sorry Patrick Martin. There should be a means of allowing people to use fake names only if they are hyperlinked to an online directory which gives their real name. If I dislike a novel and feel strongly enough to post a negative review, I like to think there wouldn’t be a knock on my door at 3am the following morning by burley gentlemen in masks. If I am posting a diatribe on a political forum against terrorists who live in my area (which my family has been victim) then yes, I will use a moniker for my own safety. For a works of fiction which is within the realm of gentle folk, I see no reason to hide my identity.

Ethics
Most, if not all professions have codes of ethics. I believe there should be a code of best practice drawn up for writers which defines what should and should not be allowed in relation to online behaviour.

Perhaps published authors should not be allowed to review anyone’s work as it can be argued that’s it’s a conflict of commercial interest.

Post a good review for a writer in the same publisher stable, one stands open to gilding the lily. Posting a bad review of a rival, well its obvious.

Reviews are really for the readership, by the readership and only the readership.

Personally, this does not diminish RJ Ellory’s standing as a writer in my eyes but unfortunately it diminishes him as person.

If he is genuinely sorry about it however, then in my opinion, let’s move on from it.

At the very least, this has brought the issue of authenticity of online reviews into the fray of public debate.

As for me, I only review books I like and feel evangelical about but as for Amazon, I don’t think I’ll bother until they start tightening their ship’s loose timbers.

Derelict Buildings : My Fascination

08 Sunday Jul 2012

Posted by Martin J Frankson in Society at Large, The Arts in General

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derelict buildings, Martin J Frankson


There is a little something you should know about me. Don’t worry, it’s not that I once bought a Dolly Parton CD or that I am  the only European person who loves that old wacky corny American TV show HeeHaw, it is that I have a compelling draw towards derelict buildings.

Derelict buildings fascinate me. They are like the dead, they know so much of the time of their hey-day yet are the least able to impart their secrets – to a point.

I think it stemmed from when I was kid in my hometown of Omagh, Tyrone when I once came across an old house while out cycling a good few miles further than I was allowed. Most of the windows had lost their glass while some had broken glass clinging to the wooden sidings more out of habit than strength. I remember an old forlorn curtain blowing slowly in the breeze, hanging outside the upstairs bedroom. It reminded me of a flag of a long vanquished nation fluttering over the violent quietness of a battlefield in mourning. I didn’t understand how a house ended up like this as the house itself wasn’t an old gothic mansion but just an ordinary two level house, built in the 1950’s or thereabouts.

I looke in through the living room window and saw an old sofa lying on its side. The floor was covered with a dark carpet, long rotted and discoloured by months or even years of spilt beer and wantonly scattered cigarette ash and stubs.  I remember the yellow wallpaper too.

This was a room where once a family lived in. I tried to imagine how the room was once, when the carpet was clean and bright, a TV in the corner and the room itself filled with furniture and the sounds of voices. I then began to wonder what had happened on that final day of the house being inhabited. Who had lived there and why did they leave?

Why did they just leave so suddenly?

Why didn’t they get someone to move in?

Looking into the living room was like looking into a robbed grave. The beercans and stubbs were a million papercuts of sacrilage. The body once moved, once laughed, once felt the warmth of love. Now it was just reduced to barewalls and the wind and the rain doing their best to reclaim this haven back to the bosoms of the green man of nature. The wallpaper was like the dusty black suit jacket that now covered the grey bones of the corpse.

I felt strangely excited by this however. It was taboo, well it is taboo to break and enter and stare into someone’s house but this was not a house; it was a time capsule, a edificial tomb. I wondered what secrets were left behind. Old letters, drawers, news papers? I went around the back of the house to where the kitchen was. Through its windows I saw the food cupboards, divorced from their doors which were long torn down and scattered on the floor. The floor was reduced to its concrete base for its lino had long been stripped, eaten and torn.

I would have gone inside if I hadn’t heard someone shouting ‘Who’s there’ from nearby. I ran to my bike and scarpered like the clappers.

I went back to that house the following week but I think someone got wise to it and it was properly boarded up. I was disappointed of course but I was glad. It gave the old house some of its dignity back. The wooden slats on the windows were like the coins they used to put over the eyes of the newly dead.

Macabre but fitting.

Ever since then, dereliction has held an extreme fascination for me, be it houses or old office blocks. I always stop and peer in whenever I can just to see what it was like on that unmarked day in the not to distant past when, for someone, the clocks had stopped and all remained frozen in that dark split second when a home became a mere house. I began to imagine stories behind the houses and the people who lived there and what had happened to make them flee so suddenly.

I still catch glimpses into those past lives, those past worlds.

Who was the last to eat at that table?

What was the last meal?

What was the last radio or TV show to echo through the rooms?

Did they know that the last day in the house was the last day at all?

 

 

Interesting Bookmarks Part 2

15 Tuesday May 2012

Posted by Martin J Frankson in The Arts in General

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Bookmarks, Martin J Frankson


Following on from my recent post, I found this bookmark inside my copy of Henry James’s book, The Air Conditioned Nightmare:

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Unfortunately there was no return-to-sender on the back of the envelope. There is no date stamps either but my research tells me that first class American postage stamps cost 29 cents between the years 1991-1995.

This bookmark fascinates me. The lack of postmark suggests either the aspiring actor/actress decided not to apply for membership of the Screen Actors Guild or either (the one I hope is true!) that the postal service delivered the letter without franking it.

Just who was that actor/actress? What is he/she doing now?

Do we know them?

I guess we will never know.

Sometimes a bookmark can tell just as much of a story as the used-book you find it in.

Interesting Bookmarks

12 Saturday May 2012

Posted by Martin J Frankson in The Arts in General

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antiquarian, Bookmarks, books, soho


Today, I came across a wonderful second-hand/used book stall in Soho, London and found a few rare and reasonably priced gems. One of them, a 1959 Soho-based memoir Stand On Meby Frank Norman not only is a treasure but it contained one of the most delightful bookmarks I have ever come across.

It was an tiny folded-up entertainment newsletter for Eastbay, San Francisco for the week of April 10-16th 1952!!

It was in remarkably good condition despite its 60 years of age

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Above is the front cover and below are a few more of the details of shows, movies, singers, cabarets and plays, some long faded from the public mind but some that have mounted the plinth of immortality.

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So the 1950’s were a time of innocence and wholesomeness, right?

Well take a look at the last illustration of the adult-only French burlesque. To quote:
“Spicey! Daring! Ginger Britton The Sultry Heart Throb.. Red Hot Midnite Show Saturday (Adults Only)”

Well hats off to the eternal verities of life and how fitting I came across this in the once notorious Dean Street. They say Soho isn’t what it used to be but isn’t that said of anywhere at any time?

As for Ginger Britton – I wonder what became of her.

Her name has long faded into obscurity like some of the other artistes in this bijou little programe but today, in this little corner of Blogland, she once again takes to the stage in the minds of those who read this article.

And in our own little way, Ginger is once again a star.

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