|
WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF WHITBOURN
|
|
What's New OR: 'Yo, ladies ... What's happenin ? Whatever Next ? [ Downs Lord Triptych / The Two Confessions / Amy-Faith & the Stronghold] |
Dispatch dated 10th June 2003
The
sequel to 'Amy-Faith & The Stronghold' is now more than half complete
- some 35,000 words. 'Amy-Faith
& The Enemy of Calm' follows on from soon after the first book's
Universe-changing conclusion, during the deceptively peaceful 'phoney-war' days
which ensue. The
Null are concentrating on mere survival in the island-like 'desiccated
worlds' that remain to them,
although thoughts of revenge against their young human nemesis are never far
away. In
the meanwhile, a new threat emerges. A
former creature and pet of the Null rouses from ancient sleep to discover that
Amy-Faith's actions have cleared the way for it to rise and conquer. Blissfully ignorant of that for the moment, Amy-Faith plans a Stronghold rescue mission for her lost friend, Merlin, who surrendered himself to an awful and eternal fate in order to save her. Yet, in so doing, she will be advancing into the jaws of terrifying danger. Worst still, she is eagerly awaited ... ****** I've
also been busy with writing short stories and three tales have emerged from the
keyboard in 2003. They comprise:
A
medieval tale of crusading and the supernatural set in the most numinous Surrey
wood I have the privilege of knowing. The
title is stolen ( or 'liberated' ) from an inscribed bracelet found on the body
of a Turk after the 'great siege' of Malta in 1565.
Actually, I recall he ( or his jewellery ) said he was there not for
booty but salvation - but the admirable sentiments are the same ...
A
ghost story wherein an elderly Methodist minister celebrating his Golden wedding
anniversary gets more than he bargained for during a hotel 'leisure break'.
&
A
companion to 'In the Name of Allah, the Omnipotent ?' ( published in
'Interzone' no 135 September 1998 ) and second in a projected trio
of Islamic tales. Set
in modern Bosnia, the story concerns a former cheerful-chappie deejay who saw
and did things in the Yugoslavian Civil War that he'd now rather forget.
In rediscovering religious faith and striving to do good as a Sarajevan
policeman he encounters the apparent reality of the world that Allah ( and
His creation, Man ) has made. My
long-standing and trusted first-reader ( who thus selflessly serves as
food-taster to the public ) said he ended this tale clutching his face in
horror. Therefore, I may have
stumbled on something here. Not one for under 18s or to be read when alone
or feeling down ... ****** It
is estimated that there have been over a thousand biographies of Horatio
Nelson written. There's even a book
devoted to his five, frustrated, 'years ashore' in Norfolk when peace and
official disapproval meant he couldn't get a ship. Therefore,
even if I read, say, one a month, twelve a year ( as I sometimes do ), I
still couldn't exhaust that reading list even in the course of a long and
leisured life. A decent enough way
of getting through life though ... Likewise,
the devotion of a decade-minimum necessary research and required maritime
background knowledge, not to mention other commitments, preclude me adding to
that list celebrating 'The Immortal Memory'.
Better qualified authors than I are about that task this very minute I'm
sure, and I can anticipate their
fresh takes on an inexhaustible subject with pleasure. And
yet even so the mad idea of a new book occurred to me:
'NELSON & THE MEANING OF LIFE', subtitled 'THE
REIGN OF REASON BREEDS MONSTERS' ( nicked and twisted from Goya's famous
painting. ) Without
giving the game away too much ( my argument needs proper exposition and
explanation ) the gist is the potential ... fineness of a life lived free of
Reason's straitjacket. Naturally, I
exclude that quality of 'Reason' discussed by the ancient stoics but refer
instead to the dreary dogma bequeathed us ( cheers ! ) by the
ideologues of the 18th century so-called 'Age of Reason, such as Voltaire, and
descending in grey line to Polly Toynbee and Salman Rushdie today. Plus
! Perceived continuities between
Nelson's personality and his Old English ancestors, the concept of 'Southern
English Stoicism' ( most of the Royal Navy's captains were south country men
) and the intertwining of three 'nesses': fearlessness, kindness and
ruthlessness, that can on rare occasions combine to make a loveable human
predator ... In
fact, I really ought to prioritise this project because the 'anti-book' to
'NELSON & THE MEANING OF LIFE' has already been written - 'Nelson' by Terry
Coleman ( a Guardian journalist, surprise, surprise ), Bloomsbury (suspiciously
apt ), 2001. A 427 page long
ungenerous and low-minded whinge, siphoning the Immortal Memory of style or
interest. I understand it's
favoured reading material amongst the Null. ****** Prompted
by my crippling sense of responsibility, I wrote
'A Hymn to Merrily' which was published in 'All Hallows', Journal
of the Ghost Story Society. No. 32.
Feb 2003. It seeks to alert
everyone to the writings of Phil Rickman and in particular his now five book
series concerning Merrily Watkins, Anglican priestess and 'deliverance
consultant' for the Diocese of Hereford in England. Since, in such a worthy cause, I tried to phrase it as best I can, I can ... do not better than supply the text below: A
HYMN TO MERRILY ‘Oft
when on my couch I lie, in vacant or pensive mood,’ ( being a good
GSS member ) my thoughts turn not, like Wordsworth’s, to daffodils, but to
ghost stories ( or Israel women soldiers – but that’s another story … ).
Specifically, I ponder just what would comprise my personally tailored
template for the perfect ghost story ? Years
of contemplation have honed it to the following:
Imagine
then my joy when I recently discovered that there is such a writer
ticking off my wish-list. Imagine
also my horror at realising I almost missed him.
For not only is he woefully under-promoted but his books are stacked on
the ‘horror’ shelf, you see - when you can locate them at all.
But for a chance recommendation and the promiscuous reading ( amongst
other ) habits of a friend, I could so easily have missed out on meeting the
Reverend Merrily Watkins ( and her creator, Mr Phil Rickman ) Therefore
the purpose of this ‘hymn’ is to share and spread that ‘joy’ - as all
joy should be. I also write
inspired by that chilling thought of joy almost aborted. To
business: Merrily
is an Anglican priestess,. A widow
blessed and burdened with a stroppy teenage daughter, she humbly tries her best
in the bumbling, milk-and-water-kindness context of the contemporary C of E.
That soon entails taking on the mantle of diocesan exorcist - or
‘deliverance minister’ in modern mealy-mouthed parlance.
Cue manifestations around Herefordshire’s Anglo-Welsh border, where
Saxonry meets Cymry and history festers just below the bright secular surface. And
that’s about it really. Except
that it isn’t, not by a monstrous chalk.
It so happens Rickman is a wizard of characterisation, a better than
Baron Frankenstein creator of flesh and blood.
Merrily is made a living breathing person and conviction develops, via
mere marks upon paper, that she, and daughter Jane, and Lol the damaged
ex-rocker and Gomer the wiseacre et al. are only a drive to Hereford and lucky
encounter away. Also,
Merrily is on a spiritual journey, whilst simultaneously wading through the
mundane. In the course of her days,
she encounters good and evil, often from unlikely sources.
The good is believably human and the evil ditto – except when it’s
from a superbly hinted beyond. There’s
real theological depth here and passages to ponder long after the book has been
set down. Not to mention
untelegraphed lines that crackle like electricity and raise the neck hairs:
genuine ‘I’ll just check I’ve locked the back door ‘ quality writing.
Rickman can convey malignity like no other writer I’ve encountered.
Ditto unease. Ditto
supernatural events forming round you, sudden and clammy as a sea-mist.
And he’s chosen to do so in our own beloved ‘ghost story’
genre. We should be honoured. I
fondly believed myself familiar with every technique for depicting the uncanny,
right from Victorian pioneers to contemporary, lazy, splatter-fests. Yet, time
and again, in book after book, Rickman astounds with pages that quicken the
pulse and chill the room. This is
modern supernatural fiction come of age; proper adult writing – and the
closest thing you’ll get to experiencing the supernatural on demand in the
safety of your own home. There
are currently four books out – four phenomenal books comprising a series which
is more than the sum of its parts. Collectively,
they call out for a big-budget Saturday Inspector Morse style TV series. In
order they are:
To
whiz through them without spoiling, ‘Wine’ deals with apple-lore and
ancient injustices. ‘Midwinter’
introduces a chilling hierarchy of evil. In
'Lights', a 'new-age' 'Wiccan' ( tree-hugging, not cat-strangling,
variety ) couple buy a deconsecrated church, but the idea of 'reverting' it to
pagan use proves less than wise. Meanwhile,
about her hospital-visiting duties, Merrily encounters a man who refuses
to accept the fact that his wife has died. Finally
( only it’s not – see below ), in ‘Cure’ Merrily collides with
possession, unhealthy communication across the ‘Great Divide’ and Rickmanian
trademark resurrection of rural memories better left buried.
In this case, the hop industry and Romany lore feature, leavened with
spirituality and rock n’ roll references. From
such disparate elements spring stories as engaging and credible as life itself.
High praise or what ? And
there's even humour. ‘Crown’s
Mr Wiccan, an artist, covets the cover-art commission for a best-selling Fantasy
series starring 'Lord Madoc the intergalactic Celt'.
Rickman reviews it as '700 pages of total bollocks'.
This particular fantasy book reviewer punched the air and said ‘Yowsa
!’ when he read that. A
fifth Merrily novel is apparently in the pipeline.
If there's any justice ( which Merrily sometimes doubts ) Rickman
and Merrily deserve to be huge. Which
is where you and I come into it. The
Merrily series represents a major talent unfolding before us. To miss out on it
would be to deny yourself a rare and exquisite pleasure in this short life.
It would also be a crying shame to let this author and character pass by
without their due reward. Thus
kindly consider this ‘hymn’ as my humble exhortation to buy. ****** Since writing, that mooted fifth Merrily has been published - 'The Lamp of the Wicked' ( Macmillan, 2003 - a mere £10 for a bumper hardback ! ) and I had the honour to review it ( maximum 5 stars ) for SFX Magazine. Mr
Rickman has a website ( http://www.philrickman.co.uk
), he has books for sale - what are you waiting for ? ****** And
finally, Fate deals a possible disaster. In
an earlier 'dispatch' I referred to my desire to write The Definitive - and
only - History of St. Francis' Church, Littleton, Surrey.
Because ... it is a lovely bargate building, formerly the village
school, and tucked away in rural obscurity such that even many car-bound
so-called locals, Surreyites don't know of its existence.
If you time your pass just right, the morning sun daily illuminates the
stained glass of the eastern window like revelation and you can imagine its old
wall clock inside ticking away the moments to no one - an image to store and
savour for when in down-casting surrounds like Babylon or Heathrow.
There's a war-memorial to the Littleton men who the British state somehow
found the resources to whisk away from their tiny hamlet to die in foreign
climes, there's a carved 15th century pietas that Pevsner admired,
there's .... numinousness you could
slice. Two
days ago whilst walking past the chapel on the way to Guildford I saw a typed
notice on the board outside. 'After
July the monthly services are to be discontinued'. Change and decay about in all I see ...
Back to
|