A multi-racial booze-up! Well, we tried.

Yesterday afternoon I sat in my study and just listened. Five interns were in our kitchen, drinking wine, eating casserole, rice and vegetarian flans whilst laughing, ribbing, poking fun and generally enjoying themselves. But here’s the thing – there was one post-grad from Nigeria in the mix, two final year Bangalorian students, one Muslim second year and one Welsh-speaking team-leading boyo from Risca. A Pentecostal, a Sikh, a Hindu, a Muslim and a Welsh Baptist – and I’m not kidding.

As I listened I couldn’t help but think, well now, if we can manage such racial and religious harmony then why the hell can’t the rest of the world?!

JR

PS That’s the Kidwell-eFestival for you, giving Wales some serious multiculturalism for once – amongst other things!

Creative Writing Tuition by Julian Ruck

Don’t take it so seriously.Life is too bloody short.Laugh at the pages and yourself – far healthier!

JR

Screaming Munch

If I had seen ‘The Scream’ unframed and stuck on a fridge door by some Popeye magnet, I would have assumed that some primary school five-year old was proudly exhibiting their school-work.

And arty farty types still keep lionising the sophisticated cultural and nay, superior genius of Western Civilisation?!

JR

Libraries

I’ve just been reading an article on the fight to keep libraries open by Alison Flood of the Guardian – and yes I do enjoy a dose of the liberal elitisms from time to time, warms me up with a certain lovely goodness. Anyway, in the article, the triumphant Flood waxes lyrical about some sparkling new libraries in Stuttgart and Bogota, veritable giants of bookish learning apparently.

The thing is, it’s a bloody long way to go for a good read and my bus pass sure as hell won’t stretch that far!

JR

Tim Waterstone and the end of days…….

‘New authors…’ according to Tim of Bookshop fame ‘….building their customer base, need physical bookshops. Physical bookshops are lovely, tactile, friendly, expert, welcoming places……’

As a new author, just you try getting into Waterstone’s to do a signing, you either have to be local, a top five bestseller or forget it. Believe me I know, I’ve done a 150 plus of them. Our Tim should be thanking his lucky stars that he got out when he did if you ask me, but apart from anything else there will always be bookshops, they just have to change their business model and adapt. One cannot stop the ‘white lightening’ of technological advancement after all.

As for Mr Tim’s whining, well now, isn’t Amazon only doing to small booksellers what he himself started doing years ago?

JR

PS Have I got some stories about book shops and signings (including Waterstone’s). I’ll leave these for another day but here’s a taster as told in a previous blog – quite recently an independent London book seller was asked if they would have me in for a signing (‘The Bent Brief’ out this September). The reply came back asking if my website could add an independent booksellers link to improve their sales, this was duly done……. and the said signing request? Well, that was ignored. ‘Lovely, friendly, welcoming places……..?’ When I was starting out I had to beg, steal and borrow to even get a sniff of one!

Creative Writing Tuition by Julian Ruck

Forget reams of descriptive baloney, might sound good but your average reader couldn’t care less if weeping leaves reflect their agony to eyes that see nothing or trees that whisper wispy sweet somethings to a greyness that has forgotten time and place while little fairies of forgotten imagination strut their sparkling limbs across moonbeams replete with drastic love and memories of so much that could have been………. You get my drift.

We can all yell words, they are pretty cheap after all, but it’s the story-line that matters and the written atmosphere that the reader can feel and touch, without being suffocated.

JR

Our Damien

I am surprised that our Damien hasn’t died from laughing on the way to the bank, I really am. I take my hat off to him for making such complete tits out of a group of ever-so-clever arty aficionados with big pockets and tongues that simply cannot wait to lick his ever-so-clever arse every time he drops his artistic trousers.

Good on you Damien, I mean it.

JR

War and Peace and Lord of the Rings (and no, I’m not referring to anal orifices—)

Come on, stick your hands up all those who have read every word of the above…….As I thought, not many. I gave up when both started to bore the arse off me after the first fifty pages but at least I’m honest about it!

JR

PS Most people only have them on their bookshelves to make themselves look clever anyway.

Huw Edwards’ Story of Wales

Our Huw can be forgiven for the occasional lapses in historical accuracy and romantic bending of a lively Welsh past, that’s television after all. Quick hits and colourful interpretation to the eye are all part of modern historiography, so if it brings the past alive for our young then I’m all for it.

The only real issue I had with the ‘Story’ was our Huw’s comments at the end ie that Wales is dynamic, looks outward and is full of steam. I would argue the opposite. Until Wales stops obsessing about its identity, its language and its past, glorious or not, it will continue to be a country dependent on the tax-payer (75% of Welsh GDP comes from Westminster) and the public sector. Let’s not kid ourselves with televised fun and games,we are behind everyone else in education, health, economic endeavour etc etc

Wales needs to sit up and get into the 21st Century – sharpish. The Arts need to stop wallowing in a tax-payer comfort zone and get out there internationally to make some bucks. Welsh business needs to cast its eyes across Europe and a Bric or two, instead of believing that everything stops at the Severn Bridge and more importantly than anything else, we need to see much more imagination, panache, elan and buckets full of entrepreneurial get up and go!

Wake up Wales! Learn from the past but don’t be ruled by it. The future is all we have, our young are all we have. There is much more to Wales than rugby, choirs, laverbread and dreams of ancient grandeur; it’s about time we exploited the fact.

JR

The Lady Ga Ga Literary Festival!

You’ve got admit this ebook Festival of mine is a first, talk about a Festival that is about the majority of readers, having fun and treating writing with an amused frivolity for once. I’ve just booked a tribute Lady Ga Ga to perform as well as comedians Jools Constant (he will also be doing a reading from his new ebook), Marcel Le Cont and Peter Otway as MC.

And what was that I was saying about ‘literary’ nose tilting? Come on down all you readers and have some laughs and fun. Reading is about escapism and entertainment after all.

JR – kidwellyefestival.com