Homecoming… But to Nothing Pleasant!

Well that's a little bit of an untruth, if I am be honest - I have actually been back from Eastbourne / Brighton and other stops along the south coast for a couple of days now but the writing has been going so well and I have been so overflowing with ideas of late, thanks at least in part to my collaboration with 'Snooze' my digital artist chum in the States, that I just wanted to keep my head down and keep going. Consequently I've been writing practically non-stop since my return and still have barely scratched the surface of the fresh ideas and inspirations that have manifested, partly through swapping ideas and playing with images etc. Words lead to images and images lead to words - that's how it has been working. Which brings me to the little illustration top left, knocked out recently by my digital chum not for the upcoming book - I can't really see where it would fit at the moment - but just for the fun of it and to see where it might lead in terms of plot ideas, not necessarily for the present work but perhaps for some future collaboration. Indeed, one hopeful possibility is that it might stimulate one or two of you out there that I know are raring to get on with a little creative writing themselves to put pen to paper.

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The basic premise behind the illustration is that one girl is fitting handcuffs on the wrists of the other - the question you have to think about it is; what is going on... I mean, what really is going on? Does the girl who is being placed in restraints actually want to be in handcuffs or is it some sort of non-consensual bondage? if non-consensual, then the question is; has the girl fitting handcuffs in some way managed to manufacture the situation - ie is she the instigator? If so, bearing in mind that the girl being restrained does not appear to be struggling, how has she developed such control over her. On the other hand, if some third-party has instigated the scenario, then is either girl a willing participant? If this latter case the question becomes how has this come about, is the girl locking the cuffs doing so in fear of some punishment herself or has she been manipulated psychologically in some manner? A similar consideration can be given to the question of the apparent passivity of the victim (or are they both victim's?). If this latter series of scenarios are true and neither is a willing participant, then what is the rationale behind it, what is the instigator trying to achieve, what is his or her final agenda or motive? So many questions to base the framework of a story around - and we haven't even considered the location yet, a factor having a massive bearing on the storyline. The background is, I believe, left deliberately blank, partly to focus the eye on the action but also to give the imagination free rein - sometimes an incomplete framework can say much more than a fully fleshed-out picture!

By the way, while I was away I did a hell of a lot of work on the little netbook computer I carry with me. It was blazing sunshine all the way through from beginning to end (wonderful!) and the only thing better than working outside the bar at the far end of the pier (right) was setting up a little portable office for a spot of breakfast time writing on the veranda at the back of the Eastbourne branch of my favourite pub chain, Wetherspoon's (left - spot the work desk! LOL). Yes indeed! Your eyes do not deceive: It's built in an old recycled garage (bottom, right - click for a closer view)!!!

Now for a little bit of shittier news - someone, somewhere has become a little disillusioned with my Picasa Web albums it seems. Imagine my horror at returning home to be greeted by this jolly little missive:

"Please be advised that we have recently received reports that inappropriate content has been posted to your Picasa Web Albums account. One or more photos displayed in your gallery violates our Program Policies and has been removed.

Our Policies state that images displayed on picasaweb.google.com cannot contain obscenity, pornography, promotions of hate, incitement of violence, or spam, malicious code, or viruses. Please note that if you continue to violate these Program Policies, we may suspend your Picasa Web Albums account."

It would have helped no end if they had been kind enough to specify which particular pictures had been objected to and had been removed, because at this point in time I have no idea - I certainly can't see anything obvious missing and without knowing precisely the problem it is difficult to be sure to avoid it entirely in the future. I guess one thing I may have to do is to flag up this blog as adults only as many others have done - does anyone out there know how to achieve this, only I am worried about fiddling with it myself in case I inadvertently end up deleting the entire blog or something and it has a hell of a archive built up that I have yet to work out how to back up properly, by which I mean as they complete working blog or website.

By for now, but I have to get on with some writing, of which I will tell you more next time. Safe to say, though, that barring certain working obligations, now that I am back I will be updating the blog more frequently; perhaps every couple of days or so.