Mr Joe Blog’s Blog has an interview with yours truly. A little tongue-in-cheek maybe. Maybe not.
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John Baker’s Blog
Reflections of a working writer and reader
Reflections of a working writer and reader
Mr Joe Blog’s Blog has an interview with yours truly. A little tongue-in-cheek maybe. Maybe not.
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Apr 28th, 2007 at 11:29 am
Lovely interview - lots of humour - great photo.
What you said about the commitment that the writing process demands made me wonder yet again, why I do it. I have to confess that if it was truly a “burning urge” that could not be denied I would have started much earlier. Yet it seems to have become that now, in whatever form.
My Dad who was much brighter than he gave himself credit for, said it was ego with me. Being a bit naive in some respects, it took me by surprise when he said it. But I have to admit it’s true, not in the respect that I want to be famous, and I certainly don’t want to be a “celebrity”. I just want to be able to say I’ve done it - written something that people want to read - communicated on a different level with people I will never meet - set myself a challenge and met it - left some faint sign that I was once here.
My Dad’s gone now and will never see me published, but he read some of my short stories and enjoyed them. He even tried to read my novel, but never finished it. In a sense that was enough. He knew me far better than I usually gave him credit for.
jb says: There’s the possibility, Paul, that if you don’t respond adequately to the itches, they accumulate and finish up as the famous “burning urge”.
And yes, ego is there, always with the novel. The novel is unthinkable without it.
“Left some faint sign that I was once here.” Almost back to the discussion on identity again. That tendency to have to equate identity with a kind of permanence when we know, deep down, that it’s a shifting thing.
Apr 28th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
That was a great interview! I really enjoyed it — and I second Paul’s opinion about your photo.
“Tell us about a good deed you have done recently.”
“I chased a big pigeon away so a crippled blackbird could get at some crumbs.”
You are a good person, too.
/smiles
jb says: You should have heard what the pigeon said.
Apr 28th, 2007 at 10:21 pm
Yes, the photo is dead cool. I’m not saying it isn’t down to your natural good looks, but the effect of the clothes and all present a very different image to the one on your blog. If it’s not impertinent to ask, where did you get the jacket and hat?
jb says: The hat’s a Borsalino, I think, and it’s been in the family a long time. The jacket came from a charity shop, Help-the-Aged if I remember correctly.
Apr 29th, 2007 at 10:37 am
I agree with Reading the Signs, John. First thing I wanted to say, was that the photo is tops.
btw, so is your vocation!
Also, yes, it was tongue-in-cheek. You offered a humorous slant.
jb says: In retrospect it was a little flippant. Must have been a flippant day.
Apr 29th, 2007 at 12:33 pm
A paradox, John. Playful round the edges to the portrayal of a serious writer. It worked.
Apr 29th, 2007 at 7:20 pm
I agree on the funniest entry! I have very strong memories of that post. Thanks for the reminder and another laugh…
jb says: Writing funny. That’s difficult.
Apr 30th, 2007 at 3:25 pm
I had left a comment at Joe Blog’s Blog about your wonderful cranium covering device and now he has sent me an interview…see what you’ve started!
jb says: I’m looking forward to reading that one, Steve.
Apr 30th, 2007 at 7:19 pm
I like the bit about the woman loving you when you’d done nothing to deserve it. I think some of the best things that happen to us feel that way.
jb says: Hi Bloglily. And some of the worst things feel exactly the opposite.