An Adriatic Retreat

A few weeks ago, as I was trying to repair my tent for another three months in the wilds on Arran, I got mail from a friend in Croatia. I was invited to house-sit at a beautiful location on the Island of Brac. I've done this before and, much as I'd steeled myself for the adventure ahead, writing has to come first.

The fact that it is gorgeous here, comfortable and is within hailing distance of good friends, has nothing to do with my decision to jump tent.

So, I sit here looking over a secluded forest and down to the sea. The work is flowing well. Yesterday, I cut 60K words from Dreamwords. That is the size of a small novel. For some time now, I've been worried that the book is too long. It's a fine balance. Until now, I could not see how to make the story flow and still be tight. I'd finished it and yet was unhappy about that one aspect. Surely it could be tighter without losing the texture and depth that shape the characters that drive it all. At last, I realised that I could cut a whole element of the storyline, complete with the characters populating it. By giving some of the tasks and plot-points to existing players, they are enriched and the overall sense of their world is unaffected.

Thus, I find myself revisiting the whole shape of the book, wielding the delete key with utter ruthlessness no matter how it offends my sensibilities. I will need to write a little more and pay close attention to filling in the gaps that are sure to appear, but, I am certain that, in performing such a drastic surgery, I am making less become much, much more.

To work...

2009

I have been living this adventure for so long now that it sometimes seems I am destined to do so until I die. With so many people in this world struggling against poverty and ill-health, I consider myself lucky. In many ways, my fate - homeless penury - is the nightmare that haunts millions of hard-working people around the planet. Perhaps the reason that I do not feel disadvantaged is because I chose this life as a strategy and not as a last resort. Sure, it's tough, but I do have a focus and a reason to continue working. The freedom to follow our dreams is worth any uncertainty and the occasional bout of discomfort. Indeed, in denying myself the luxury of a home and easy communion with family and friends, the simplest of pleasures become rich with an intensity that is often masked by our comfortable existence.
However, for all my freedom to work, the constant motion of my life makes writing a never-ending challenge. The hundreds of beds, floors, sofas and wild camping spots do not lend themselves to routine. When you are trying to keep warm, when your tent is shredded in the maw of a storm, it is hard to maintain the flow that all writers need.
With that in mind, I have set myself the challenge of making 2009 the year I set this adventure on a new course. Ideally, I would like a publishing deal so that I can concentrate on writing. However, living and working from a tent, it is difficult to follow submission guidelines and so my emails are often ignored. No one has read Dreamwords yet. Frustrating as this is, I do not blame anyone. No one asked me to write. No one asked me to risk my life as I have. No one owes me a living.
But, for all the disadvantages, every challenge is matched by an advantage. Over the last six months, I have captured my struggle on film. I am told that the result is very watchable and that the imagery is - at times - beautiful.
In the coming months, I will lay the ground for a unique experiment in publishing (an idea that I will hold tight, for now). As I do, I will film my efforts in the hope that people will enjoy sharing the journey as I have lived it. An initial approach to TV people is encouraging. Perhaps I will attract a producer. Perhaps not. Either way, I will get it out there.
Here's to 2009 and the birth of Dreamwords.

To Our Shared Future

To everyone I know and to those I don't, I wish you all that you wish for yourself in the coming year and beyond. Above all, I pray that you enjoy what you already have and share it gladly with those you love.

I will post an entry soon, explaining what I'm up to and what I plan for 2009.

Work vs Survival

After a couple of disasters over the summer, I am now testing a new strategy for living and working in the hills. I am in a mountain bothy on the shores of Loch Lomond where, fortunately, I can tap into a sporadic GPRS and 3G signal to get me on-line. The reason for coming here was to see if I could do without my solar panel for the winter and still remain productive. With two tents gone, I am forced to rely on a tiny shelter that is billed as the 'world's lightest tent' (Terra Nova, Laser Competition). Living and working throughout the winter in such a tent is not realistic and I cannot afford to buy another. Consequently, I intend to stay in mountain bothies, supplemented by the Laser when appropriate. The weight of the tent has been partially replaced by the weight of a real-life paper manuscript. Boy, but paper is heavy and so single-use!
However - so far, so good.
It's too early to tell, but first impressions are that I might be able to make this work. The weather has been stunning during the day, but extremely cold when sitting still, trying to write and edit the mss. During the night, freezing conditions mean that it's difficult to get a full restful and rejuvenating sleep. Thus, I imagine that, as full winter conditions set in, I will find the process particularly challenging. The truth is, that while I am on the adventure of my life, it is difficult to maintain any sort of efficiency as I struggle to keep warm and recover from the constant interruptions that force me to attend to other things (such as surviving). On the upside, being out here constantly puts me in situations where I am uniquely set to experience (and hence film) some of the most incredible scenery in all its guises. Perhaps, after a year of doing this, I will will be able to blow some warmth into my bones and find enough gems in my stash of tapes to produce an interesting film that might help me in some way as an author.
All next week, I will be in civilisation, dog-sitting as my sister and family holiday in Florida. When I get there, I will post some pictures from my stay in Loch Lomond and plan my next extended stay in the wilds. So far, since May this year, I have lived over four months in the mountains and six weeks house-sitting for friends and family throughout the country. One part of me really wants to experience the full force of winter living like this, but I must always look to getting myself into a situation where I can write as efficiently as I can. Somehow, I doubt that being in survival mode for over four months will produce the productivity I seek. Will I have a choice? One thing I've learned since starting this venture is that I never know what's coming round the corner.

And that is really cool.



Edit to Add. the photos from Loch Lomond were corrupted. Since then, I have spent a number of freezing weeks in the beautiful area south of Ullapool in a winter wonderland. The filming is continuing apace and the effort and expense worth all that it has cost me. As is everything I do, this is a long-term project. With luck and enterprise, I hope it will all come together in 2009. My target is to launch at The Edinburgh Festival in August of that year. I will explain more closer to the time.

Caveman

Some day this experience will pay off in my writing. I pen this from a small cave less than half a mile from the setting for Tom Corven. No, I have not lost the plot completely, but rather, my tent. A few hours ago a violent storm ripped the guylines from their fabric attachments and then threw the whole thing along the coast with me chasing it, Keystone Cop-like, wondering what I would do if it went out to sea. Inside was everything I own except for my camera. Videoing the storm seemed a good idea at the time. I am cold and wet and peeved at losing the second tent to a storm in the past few weeks. This one was brand new and designed to withstand the toughest of expeditions. At least that's what the blurb said. Thankfully I am in one piece and, apart from the tent and sleeping mat, I have recovered most of my equipment. I am so lucky that this cave was handy. Tomorrow, I figure out what to do next and now, as the sea churns a few feet away, I get as comfortable as I can and hope the morning brings calm and tranquility and a hot cup of soup!

Isle of Skye

The following entry was posted some time ago and for some reason did not appear on the blog. I repost it for completeness after this intro. I am now in one of the remotest locations on mainland UK, researching the area as a possible setting for a future book in the Dreamwords Series. It really is beautiful.

Posted earlier from Skye:

I have been on the hill for a week now, making my mistakes with the camera, writing my journal and re-reading Dreamwords as I put the final touches to the manuscript.
The location is the Isle of Skye on the west coast of Scotland. Dreamwords begins in present-day Edinburgh before jumping a thousand years into the future. There, the story is split between two locations: Edinburgh Castle and the Isle of Skye. This is why I am here. After so long working from memory of the place and supplemented by maps, it is amazing to be 'on location'. I picked the setting, in part, because I love it so. Thus, it's a real treat to be here.
To the South West of the Island, the Black Cuilin mountains rise dramatically from the sea, their towering cliffs demanding respect, the rugged beauty embellished by blue lochs, wild weather and wild creatures of the sea and sky.
What would this be like a thousand years from now? Probably much the same.
Central to the tale, is the coastline running from the village of Elgol, along to the secluded bay at Camasunary and then over The Bad Step into Loch Coruisk. I write this from the mountain bothy at Camasunary, with gratitude to those people who maintain such a place without pay, to the owners who donate its use and to the system that fosters such generosity of spirit in order to encourage lovers of wild country to get out there and just do it. There are dozens of such places spread throughout Scotland, all open for anyone to use without cost or even having to ask for permission; all set in fabulous, remote, areas. Here you might be alone with your thoughts one minute and the next sharing a fire with a party of like-minded strangers.
Last night, in one such encounter, a young German couple and a trio of Australians (one originally from Glasgow) sat late, chatting in front of a roaring fire, sharing a small dram of whisky as the deer strolled past the darkening view beyond the large, double-glazed window. The Australians were theatre, video and music professionals and so we enjoyed a song and a tune.
This morning I got expert tuition and advice from a director of photography about camera and documentary techniques. A chance encounter in the middle of nowhere. Now, how cool is that?

A Twist in the Road

A deal with National Express took me to London and back for £2, allowing me the privilege of sharing time with some of my favourite people. The contrast with life on the hill and the city is enormous and dipping between these worlds puts each in sharp focus. Through such contrasts, the joy of being relatively poor is sharpened. No, I'm not saying that having no money is my preferred state but that, like anything in life, it really has a positive side. It forces you to be resourceful, pushes you to act beyond your comfort zone and helps put things into perspective. Hunger is the best spice and the little luxuries, through the prism of this perspective, become precious experiences that the wealthy cannot afford.

Thinking of this, I want to share my world with others. Writing is one avenue and someday, with luck and perseverance, I will succeed. I can never be accused of being in a hurry to make it big - this project, this game I am playing with my life, is a long-term commitment and I will continue to look for new ways to express myself and share my journey with others.

At the limit of my finances, I can still draw on a lifetime of good credit. And, as long as I continue to choose adventure over insurance, I will stay in control long enough to bring the dream home. This is why I have just spent the equivalent of $6,000 on High Definition video equipment - a small price for some but a year of increased penury for me. The way I see it, I cannot afford to live like others and remain free to do what I do. The reality is that I am already homeless. I would never waste my credit-card to buy a year in a bed - it would be a short-term comfort. This way, I might eventually have something to show for the financial risk and the discomfort that is sure to follow.

I can understand why people might think me mad but I intend to document the next year of my life. The logistics of such a task are intimidating. Carrying my world on my back, I now have to contend with a heavy camera, a tripod, more power problems and the worry of damaging equipment I cannot afford to replace. To add to this, I must be ruthless with myself to make room for the new paraphernalia. Gone is the big tent, replaced – for now at least – with something weighing in close to that of a bag of sugar. Gone are unnecessary items such as tea bags, coffee, milk and even a cup. Gone are spare, spare clothes and a heavy, warm sleeping bag. Perhaps, as I get fitter and gain a better understanding of how to make this work, I can add some of these things back but, for now, I'm sure I can survive with what I have.

With no experience in film-making I hope, nevertheless, to capture the beauty of Scotland and share with you and others a little of the adventure I am on. In a year's time, I want to look back with you and see and hear, as well as read, about what happens next. I have no idea what that 'happening' will be but have no doubt that, condensed to documentary form, it should be pretty damned interesting. I will continue to write, to explore the setting for my novels, to edit and complete Dreamwords and to deal with the harsh realities of publishing from a tent.

For the next week, as I await delivery of equipment, I will stay with family. I then need to take some time to learn the basics of making a documentary on a zero budget and with limited resources. This should not take long – I will make my mistakes and learn as I go. I am excited in having a new challenge, particularly one that fits so well with what I am already doing and compliments my writing.

Life is good.