Headline slot at Write Out Loud Sale, 17 March 2020

Podcast update to follow next few days, but it has just been confirmed that myself and Amanda Steel (the always lovely Amanda Steel) have been approached to do a joint headline slot for Write Out Loud Sale's next evening on Tuesday 17 March. (See below).

I believe it's £3 on the door and there is limited open mic too.

Guest Post from Belle Kenyon - James F Miller - Ghost in the Reflection - Letters to Erin

Latest blog is a guest blog from Belle Kenyon featuring on a very interesting book by a James F Miller.

James F Miller:

Ghost in the Reflection: Letters to Erin

Released: February 15^th, 2020

Available from Amazon, Book Patch and signed from Author direct

Celebrating publication day, James F. Miller talks about his work:

I am a product of a broken home, an on-and-off again runaway delinquent child, a recovered addict, a hopeless romantic, a road-exhausted gypsy, a loved father, a hated free soul and a beloved friend… depending upon who is asked!

I loved the experience of publishing my first poetry collection, A Footnote for Tomorrow and I hope that people would describe my voice as a writer as unique to me – hopefully delightfully wild and unpredictable! I'm outspoken in opinions and beliefs, yet shy. I like to provoke discussions

My first book, A Footnote for Tomorrow, was written about my struggles with getting clean and off hard drugs and alcohol. It was written over a twenty-year span about the highlights, the low spots and everything that falls in between from my twenties into my mid-thirties, from college to the road, to the music scene, to sober then relapse and repeat.

This second book, Ghost in the Reflection: Letters to Erin began originally as two smaller collections that eventually merged into just the one. The first half, Ghost in the Reflection is a collection of poetry, mostly in the 3rd person narrative, which describes the decline of society, morality and values.

Meanwhile, the second half, Letters to Erin, is a mostly first-person narrative that displays this decline of morality within a traditional relationship. It examines the hurt, the struggle, the deceit, betrayal and the disappointments.

On unusual writing habits…

I write anywhere and everywhere, whenever the urge hits me. If I can't get to my notepad, I will text myself the words as I hear them reciting in my head. I prefer to write in a quiet secluded country setting, after meditation and mental elevation, but the craft doesn't care what you want, it wants to be written when it wants to be written however, wherever and whenever it decides!

Influences:

Jack Kerouac's On the Road, which in turn turned me onto all the beatnik writers. Howl by Ginsberg is a poetic masterpiece, so ahead of its time that one not knowing this, could still find endless relevance in its passages. Bukowski, Ferlinghetti and e. e. cummings fill in the list of my top influences.

Link to buy for £7.74 in the UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ghost-Reflection-Letters-Erin-James-Miller/dp/1733831037

US link $9.99: https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Reflection-Letters-Erin-James-Miller/dp/1733831037

New Interviews

Hi Guys;

Sorry for the quietness. I have been very busy with Podcast related material over the past few weeks.

Next week I'll do a full blog listing what I have been up to, but in the meantime I have done two interviews regarding my work (one with the always lovely Amanda Steel)

That Podcast can be heard here

Also I have done a interview with Wombwell Rainbow and that can be read here 

2020 Plans and updates..

As I hinted at in my previous blog, there is quite a bit of stuff mapped out in my head for this year now already.

Some of it is too sketchy to reveal yet, but some things which are certainly well into development or ready for announcing now are the following…

    1)   Ocean in a Bottle – Carrying on with the space theme, this year’s releases from Ocean in a Bottle will all be space related again, this first one been Examining Phobos and Deimos for life. Phobos and Demios which are the two moons which circle Mars. In February, following straight on already recorded a second EP (with an epic remix from Hicc’s Distance called) 2 Orbits of Pluto will follow. Beyond that, I don’t want to give two much away but other releases I am considering / am in the mixing stage include ‘Falling back to Earth’, ‘On Saturn’s wings II’, ‘On Saturn’s wings III’, ‘Witnessing Saturn from Uranus’, ‘Witnessing Uranus from Saturn’ among others.

I can’t give tons away yet, but a record label I can’t name yet is also interested in a re-release of ‘First Landing on Venus’ which contain several additional tracks / remixes and there is a chance of another album maybe two also with this, one of which will include me doing spoken word vocals over Ocean in a Bottle backing which is something I haven’t tried before.

     2) Spoken Word –  A) as before I am in the planning stages of doing some spoken word work over some Ocean in a Bottle drones. I don’t want to give tons away on this as I am in the early stages of writing. People who have known me for a long time may remember my doing work with D.I.H / DIH (Distorted in Hindsight) which did an almost Fall cut and paste approach to their work, I can reveal this should be more straight forward approach but I suspect will completely different if that makes sense.

B) Currently sadly, I am a bit bogged down with family stuff which I don’t want to reveal too much currently here, but when things calm down, Speak Easy will carry on with me and Amanda and Steve S. Owning to family pressures, it is simply too early to tell whether we will be able to do the 5^th February night but it will be carrying on either way even if me and Amanda can’t make it, so come on down to Stretford’s Sip.

C) Writing wise, just about complete minus a final edit, the second book in my epic poetry fantasy series ‘Barbarians of the Wall’ is complete and will be called ‘Buried alive on the Wall’ and will be out in all been well at the end of February / March 2020.

D) Before that, my fourth full length poetry book ‘The Streets were all we could see’ will be out just before that which will contain somewhere close to 50 mini poems wrote over the past few years. Bit of an accidental book this one but I am really pleased with this as it is heading in a somewhat different direction to the End of Summer and Birth of Autumn. A third seasonal book called The Midst of Winter is currently under development and likely will be ready in a years’ time or so.

E) In 2020, somewhere around the Spring / Summer  period (Not sure exact when yet) me and my good buddy Nick Armbrister will be back in action with Europa 4, our ongoing series of split anti-war poetry books. After the drawn out nature (for me) with Europa 3 which took me ages and ages and ages to go through, Europa 4 with my section called (working title) the Long Night came a lot more quicker after trying to write the pieces in a similar (but very different in content) style to the content that was domineering my work in ‘The streets were all we could see’ which allowed me to tell stories in more, shorter, briefer brush strokes. (The sessions involved in writing both of these books also resulted in a third book too called ‘Dock Leaves’ which for reasons too long winded to go into here I’ll have to release in a few years’ time).

E) Some of you also will have read the Instagram sequence I did with Amanda Steel called ‘Run away with seven words’ which towards the end of last year then became a book. It’s early days yet, but all been well, maybe later on this year or maybe 2021, we are very likely going to be attempting a second sequence perhaps with eight words per piece just to mix it up and maybe (working title again) called it ‘Run away with me again in eight words’.

F) Also since I started dating Amanda, she has encouraged me also to have a go at writing fiction, and when things go busy with other things I had to take a break from things, I am seriously considering returning to a few of these and finishing them off.

The first two were originally ideas I started when I was a lot younger featuring a warlock called The Author who has two princesses from other dimensions, one from Mars and Venus and a 9 foot demon as a Bodyguard.

I first started writing these books when I was very young, and the stories which survive from those days are terrible apart from one called The Return of the Author which was a 10,000 short story. Currently after some work, it is now 46,000 words and close to 208 pages.

A quite different sequel called The Author and the terrible from the hellhole which was originally an incomplete short story from the same period is also two thirds done and is around 162 pages and 36,742 pages as of typing and while family things sort themselves out likely will be getting worked on over the next month or two.

G) What is complete however is my first volume of my adventures within writing and performance, covering the period from when I was about 10 right up to when I got Diabetes at 39. Entitled, Losing the thread (A study of life, writing and adventures through poetry and other half botched and sometimes completely mixed up mediums). Its somewhere around 355 pages and around 82,014 words and will contain as well as loads of old stories, also tons of old poems and unpublished material and after a final edit, I will certainly aim to bring these out towards the end of the year / maybe 2021.

   3) Podcasting…

A) Yeah, Spoken label since it started at the start of 2016 has somehow managed to do over 150, the latest being Sue Proffitt and I have already got 6 more recorded which will ensure release coming out frequently right into February. As some of you will know, I am currently undergoing family issues, so it is unclear how the Podcasts will go beyond these at the moment but I am hopeful we will be able to maintain a steady schedule beyond that be it one that won’t I suspect as busy as I have been. 

B)  Reading in bed, my book review Podcast series with Amanda recently celebrated its second anniversary and certainly will be carrying on into the new year (Little bit later for the first few months of this year owning to family issues) and while I can’t speak for Amanda, I am now onto my second book for this month and looking forward to sharing our latest reviews.   

C) and D) At the end of last year, Amanda also joined me and Michael for Comics Unity, our Comics news Podcast. Unfortunately owning to said family issues, Comics Unity will be operating with specials only until said family issues calm down and sadly the complete cancellation of the Koll, Andy and Amanda show as we are unable to commit to a weekly show as this for the moment.

2019 Year Review and a few hints of what is to come

Don’t have time to do today to do a massive adds and detailed look back at what I have done in 2019 as we are at the end of the year, but it’s certainly safe to go without over egging things that this year has been a interesting year to put it nicely.

This includes for example been involved with my good lady Amanda in a quarterly run magazine Printed Words which she has just released it’s 4^th issue. I have been involved on selection panels for magazines and publications before but not before on a ongoing journal like this let alone the routine and the patience you have to display with work like this. Respect to Amanda for starting this off and seeing the gap in the publishing market in the Manchester / North West of England writing circle and 

I am pleased to confirm that the magazine will be carrying on with it’s 5^th issue starting at the beginning of next year.

Spoken Label, my ongoing Podcast series which chats to writers and authors will also be back in 2020 and I have already recorded my first few episodes for the series in 2020 and when things calm down a bit with my family (long story) I’ll be recording more episodes and sessions for this series and if anybody is interested as always – get in touch. Spoken Label can be seen at spokenlabel.bandcamp.com

Reading in Bed my book review Podcast with Amanda will be out at the end of January as I am running behind with my books for our 25^th episode sadly (readinginbed.bandcamp.com) and owning to family problems, I am sticking to specials for the foreseeable future for Comics Unity (my comics news podcast with Michael) likely until February or March 2020 by which point, the Koll, Andy and Amanda show will return too.

Ocean in a Bottle, my ambient / noise / classical project somehow managed 9 singles / Eps on my our own bandcamp page this page, as well as three releases on silber media records and a full length album on Persiste Vegatative State Records and a track on a comp album by Ambientonline and another on Hicc and did a youtube exclusive remix. In 2020, there is a release forthcoming on Silbermedia, another track on a another Ambientonline, several releases in discussion with another label or two and I have planned out the first half a dozen releases for Ocean in a Bottle too.

I have maintained with Amanda mostly, all kinds of readings over the past year – all of which can be seen here http://onewriterandhispc.blogspot.com/p/gigs.html but is somewhere around 56 readings or so which has shocked me a little there. Owning to family stuff, we are taking a break from most things in January but the pair of us are hoping to be back again in Feb 2020 onwards proper.

Not going to list the publications I’ve had work appear in this year but there’s quite a few again which is really pleasing and can be seen here http://onewriterandhispc.blogspot.com/p/publications.html

Lastly, Speak Easy, the spoken word night I co run with Amanda and Steve will also be back on 05 Feb at Stretford’s Sip. Be lovely to see you all there.

Have a great New Year.

Speak to you soon

Andy N

3 x new Poems published / annoucement of DIH & friends @ Christmas album

Seasons greetings...

After been away for a few days over Christmas, have come back to discover
three new poems of mine have appeared in three different journals.

Enjoy!

Andy N

"Exit Wounds" has appeared on Panoply
https://panoplyzine.com/Exit-Wounds-Andy-N/

"Christmas from Winter to Spring" has appeared on Cajun Mutt Press https://cajunmuttpress.wordpress.com/2019/12/25/cajun-mutt-press-featured-writer-12-25-19/?fbclid=IwAR007qYB45963bIIuy2r9OEezcxc-34Drpu1CThZBuplujEUNNjPJFlGlLQ

"Approaching Christmas" has appeared on Edify Fiction
http://www.edifyfiction.com/uploads/4/4/2/9/44290661/ef_christmas2019pdf.pdf

P.S. - DIH & friends have their annual Christms album out..

https://hicc.bandcamp.com/album/d-i-h-friends-christmas-2019

Amanda Steel - live at the Nothing Book Launch at the Anthony Burgess Centre on 29 November 2019 / New Ocean in a Bottle

Another video, this time from Amanda reading at the Nothing Book launch published by Hic Dragones at the Anthony Burgess Centre on 29 November 2019.

Amanda is reading a extract from her short story 'The Empty People'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSPQCZf34qc&t=2s

P.S. - A few new releases by Ocean in a Bottle are here..

https://oceaninabottle.bandcamp.com/album/burial-starlore-ocean-in-a-bottle-remix

(Ocean in a Bottle doing a unofficial Burial remix - youtube only)

https://oceaninabottle.bandcamp.com/album/winter-on-the-moon

(Ocean in a Bottle doing soft ambient drones on the Moon in a imaginary Winter)  

https://oceaninabottle.bandcamp.com/album/is-planet-9-a-black-hole

(Ocean in a Bottle looking at latest Science news is the proposed Planet 9 in our solar system
actually a Black Hole)