Hey,

Have you forgot about me?

I know, I forgot about last week’s. Bad Ed! But I was knackered from travel (stuck in Newcastle station for hours), so I’ll let myself off. Please do the same!

#Music

This week, it’s a cracking tune off the “debut” solo album by Beth Gibbons, her out of Portishead:

I say “debut” because she did a cracking album with Rustin Man about 20 years ago, called Out Of Season, which I thought was her debut solo. Anyway, both are amazing. And it’s staggering that it’s been sixteen years since the third (and underwhelming) Portishead album. What do these people do with that time?

Anyway, this is a lush track, hope you enjoy it. It’s quite sixties folk, but with a darkness like Nick Cave would add.

#Last Fortnight

Capital Crime was last weekend and I had a blast. I think it’s safe to say it’s the best crime festival in Britain now. An incredibly strong lineup and book sales, with a really good vibe about it. Saw a load of inspiring panels and caught up with some good pals I hadn’t seen in ages. Got a book signed by Irvine Welsh and went all fanboy, which was pretty embarrassing...

Okay, on the writing front, I’ve been getting stuck into Marshall 6. According to Scrivener, I’m at 31,674, but it feels like I’ve barely done any work to it. Travel has been disruptive, but it’s all good. I’m getting stuck in and that’s what counts.

On Saturday, I met up with George Blair, who is the secretary of the Beltane Festival in Peebles. When I broke the synopsis down to a chapter outline, I added a lot of local colour, in the form of Beltane stuff. It’s the town’s common riding, basically, so plays a huge role in local people’s lives. And I wanted to get it right. A few little mistakes here and there, but it was good to get my questions answered from the best expert there could be.

After that, I got lost in the woods trying to find the eastern entrance to Neidpath tunnel (AKA the half-mile tunnel). It’s not where Google Maps says it is. I had to give up and walk back to the town. Then I found it. And had a wee wander around it. Glad I did, because it confirmed a lot of details and tweaked a few things. But it’s pretty spooky in there. And my phone battery is knackered so went from 60% to 10 very quickly... And I walked back in the dark. Get me!

Also, my Facebook login got stuck in a loop where I can’t fix the two-factor identification so I’ve killed the account and will be starting a new one. Very, very frustrating.

#This Week

Trying a different approach and stockpiling some writing before I edit in bulk. Will see how that works. The tick-tock stuff has its strengths, but it’s hitting hay fever season so I’m feeling pretty sluggish, even if I might not actually be. Antihistamine is exhausting, even the non-drowsy stuff – just means it doesn’t induce a coma.

Have a good week!

Cheers,
Ed