Gary Davison

Cream to the Top

This years' best, and as the saying goes, in no particular order,

And let's face it, I haven't got a clue when it comes to inserting these book covers, have I? It's like they've got a mind of their own and might as well have with me at the helm.

This years'.....how can I put it? This years' 'ones that I didn't get along with', in no particular order or size!

Jon Mcgregor, Charles Bukowski (probably my favorite author of all time, if I have one), Kurt Vonnegut, Jack Kerouac, Irvine Welsh (author of the legendary Train spotting!), hey, I've got some nerve, haven't I? I don't just diss anyone you know. Truth is if I'm not enjoying a book I can't see the point in prolonging the agony, no matter who it is. I'll always give a book a decent chance but after 50 pages or so, you kinda know.

My debut novel is out in February and I can't wait. I'll let you know everything as it happens, even if it's very little! One thing is for sure it will have every chance of doing well as paperbooks get their titles in all the right places. I was in Borders the other day and three of their titles were prominently placed and available for selection. You can't get much better than that, can you? Who knows how it will be received. I'll be reporting the full process, good and bad, ups and downs, honestly as I can, on my blog throughout next year.

All the best and a big thank you to all that have visited here. Hope 2008 is a cracker for you.

Good reads these

It's been a long time since I laughed out loud when I've been reading. Can't remember the last time, to be honest. Whilst reading Friday at the Nobody Inn by fellow paperbooks author Mark Hayhurst I did so at least five times. Real 'spit your coffee all over the room' laughs as well. This book is so close to the knuckle with many issues that it's hard to see anyone loving it cover-to-cover, but I enjoyed a lot of it and the pages flew by to a great ending. Well worth a read.

Yip. Hit the mark, for me. If you like cult classics, violence, five-somes you'll love Almost Transparent Blue. On the cover it says 'A Japanese mix of A Clockwork Orange and L'Etranger.' There isn't any real plot with the author capturing a time and place through sparse violent prose, showing 1970s Japan through a group of teenagers on self destruct through sex, drugs and violence. What I loved most about this was the style of writing, the shocks that kept coming and how short the novel was - 126 pages. Fast paced in-your-face, then finished. Loved it.

MONEY

This took me back a bit when I heard it the other day. What was even more strange and surreal was WHERE I was: In the swimming baths at 7 in the morning. There I was finning along in my new goggles and on it comes, full blast. Not just a single, the whole album. Hardly inspirational at that time in the morning. What with my face burning up after a mixture of breast-stroke and front crawl, panting heavily and the ching-ching of Money bellowing out it's a wonder I didn't just drift to the bottom of the pool.

The reason for the swimming this week is that my routine has been messed up due to injury. Usually it's a bottle of red with chocolates (not every night; well maybe every other, with the odd back-to-back), up in the morning for a run, in, write for a couple of hours, into work, then the rest of the day... Except last week I tackled a really steep hill, on the advice of my brother in law, and I've done my knee in. It's internal so I've self-diagnosed it as being ligaments or something like that and put myself on anti-inflammatories and a month's rest.

Talking of money, I didn't fare too well in the I'm a Celeb betting. With four celebrities left in, I still had four live bets out of five on the go. The best being that if 'J' Jason Brown managed to win I'd net £1000 for my £100 stake. Unfortunately he didn't, but worse still I lost a side bet with The Banker who was on Janice, a bet with my barber who was on Biggins, but I did win one with Ed in the gym, who was on Cerys. All in all I got trounced. Never mind, can't win them all, can you?

I'm knackered

The final edits of my novel Fat Tuesday need to be in this week, so I've been hard at it. I've been calling upon many for advice, including Paul Burman (many thanks for your patience), the New South Wales Police, the Metropolitan Remand Centre, my wife, my editor, strangers in the street, the good lord himself...and now I've emailed it off I could collapse and go to kip.

I don't know about other debut novelists, but I've been feeling the pressure the closer it gets to the release date. One minute I'm up-a-height can't wait to see it on the shelves, the next, the self doubts creep in and it's batten down the hatches and only talk through the letter box.

One good thing, good for my health anyway, is that I haven't been drinking any vino or going out with my mates or Karen (missed a couple of decent sessions this week). I'm sure I'll make up for it with the festive season fast approaching. Talking of which, we're well up for the immanent arrival of Santa in our house. Two Christmas trees, lights outside, snowman in the hall and the kitchen is full of chocolates. Which is handy because my 2-year-old daughter, who has been talking to Santa direct, keeps nicking them off the tree.