Writing Update - 1st January 2012

Dear all;

Happy New Year folks. Hope you all have had a good Christmas and New Year.

Despite the fact, I am still out of work (things are in the process of changing)
I have been keeping busy - perhaps less so over the past few days of course, but
here are some tit bits of what is going on at the moment:

1) I have started work on a play with Rob Goodier (Title T.B.A.) developed
from a idea that has been brewing for a good few years. The play is moving
along slowly but surely and we have a draft of about 18 pages completed so far.
2012 looks promising for this.

2) A few weeks back, I entered into a poetry writing project with a young
Irish poet called Kealan Coady and have started blogging them under a alias
(this way judging the reaction to the pieces) and so far, they have been going
down fairly well. We have blogged three of them, and there is two more to
follow and soon, we will meet up again to start work on some more and then
make a decision on what to do next.

3) As noted elsewhere, after a one year break, my experimental noise band DIH
(who were responsible for 9 releases between 1999 to 2009) returned with their
annual experimental Christmas albums designed for people who really don't like
Christmas or look at it with a sense of humour (The link for those who haven't
come across this can sample it here as it features a number of wonderful tracks).
Since then, after featuring returns by sleeping bands such as DIH and Distance
which has proved very popular it is likely that both acts may well up having new
releases now in 2012 and 2013.

4) My two major projects at the moment, A Means to an End and my project with
American poet Amanda Silbernagel as well as featuring on the DIH album if all
goes to plan should have EPs and albums shortly. For more details on my project
with Amanda please go here OR here. A Means to an End can be experienced here

Amanda has recently recorded a live set online and I hope to get some tracks done
using these as a basis while A Means to an End should have their demo done
in either January / February 2012 and start recording an album in Springtime.

5) for A Means to an End, lots of gigs are planned.. Next few planned are
18th January 2012 @ The Bayhorse in the Northern Quarter, Manchester,
while we are then a headline act at Light in the Dark Entaintment with
other ideas under discussion for March 2011.

Jeff (my main partner in this) is headlining Write Out Loud in Middleton on
Sunday 22th January 2012 and I shall be going down with him as support
with a plan to read a few poems myself. The week before on 15th January 2012
weather permitting, I shall be co-hosting Write Out Loud with Jeff at Bolton 's
The Wellington Pub.

6) I have almost finished off my love songs for Cathy III, my personal love ebooks
for my partner, Cathy (top secret of course). This is nearly ready and will be ready for
Cathy I hope at Valentines day in February 2012. The first two books can be seen
here and here.

7) My next full collection 'The End of Summer' is moving along nicely, I think with
around 18 or 19 poems completed for it (around 28 or 30 pages or so). If this pace
keeps up, am hopeful it'll be done in a year or so's time.

More news to follow shortly folks of course.