As part of this year's September Shorts I've asked writer friends to contribute posts inspired by the title One Cool Thing. They'll be telling you about one cool thing they're looking forward to as Autumn approaches. It might be a book or movie, a tabletop or computer game, an event or visit to a special place, a chance to achieve something... or perhaps even an exciting new project.
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Today is the turn of the multi-talented Curtis Jobling, writer of the Wereworld novels as the Max Helsing series, as well as his extensive work on TV and film. What a guy! You can check out his website here.

​Curtis Jobling: Root

It's no secret I'm a bit of a tabletop boardgame obsessive, and lockdown provided my family with plenty of opportunities to play old favourites and new alike.

I've had ROOT on order since the beginning of the year, but believe it's been stuck in production limbo. Thankfully, it finally arrived this week, and we get to crack open the box as the dark nights set in.
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It seems the perfect game for us to play this Autumn, set as it is in a woodland with its shifting seasons and factions competing with one another. It's for two to four players, and although the manufacturers suggest it's ages 10 and up, players have said 14 is a more reasonable age to get one's head around the rules. You take on the role of one of four groups, battling for dominion over the forest - the Maquise, the Eyrie, the Alliance and the Vagabonds - with game characters including cats, hawks, foxes, rabbits, lizards, raccoons and the like.
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So put that boring old Monopoly set away, and check out something new. It really is something of a golden age for tabletop boardgames...

This is scattering of some of the 50 cards that come in Chuck Klosterman's Hypertheticals: 50 Questions for Insane Conversations. Can't say I've ever used these cards in the way the creator intended - not being one for that toxic combination of (a) dinner party and (b) parlour game - but I enjoy having this on my writing shelf nevertheless. It sits alongside Yorke's Into the Woods, Wendig's Damn Fine Story, King's On Writing and the wonderful Apple Cider Vinegar for Health by Britt Brandon.

One of those is a joke. (*pause - looks to camera*) Wouldn't waste my time with John Yorke's book in a million years.

So yeah Klosterman's Hypertheticals are tremendous fun. And rather then convince you through the power of badly-written prose, I thought I'd let the product speak for itself.

​Have a go at this one. It has a delightfully chilly feel to it, like its the beginning of a Roald Dahl short story:   

As part of this year's September Shorts I've asked writer friends to contribute posts inspired by the title One Cool Thing. They'll be telling you about one cool thing they're looking forward to as Autumn approaches. It might be a book or movie, a tabletop or computer game, an event or visit to a special place, a chance to achieve something... or perhaps even an exciting new project.
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Today is the turn of Marie Basting, Associate Lecturer in Creative Writing at Manchester Met and author of the charmingly bonkers Princess BMX! You can check out Marie's website here.

​Marie Basting: Colour

One cool thing I am looking forward to this autumn is the colour. Amber leaves scrunching underfoot, the chestnut tree's orange canopy burning proud above and bracken turning rust, before returning to the earth, ready to restart nature’s cycle.

Autumn takes me back to my childhood. The smell of damp leaves and bonfires, sweet toffee apples that hurt your teeth and of course the slippery pavements as rain turned the trees' rich offering to mush.  I’d shuffle along behind my brother’s pram, staying close to the garden walls where the leaves sheltered, churning the sludge with my wellies while Mum called impatiently from the pelican crossing, warning me of the perils of hidden dog poo. There was always dog poo.

But that’s autumn, I guess. A mixed blessing that comes with a definite sting.  Rich hues dulling replaced by darkness; the early morning chill soon a bitter frost.

It won’t stop me looking forward to it though because I know this brief glimpse of colour is what gives me strength. What carries me through another winter until Spring brings new colours.

​New things to look forward to.

I'm an on-and-off listener to The Rewatchables, a podcast offering an irreverent and amusing dissection of an old movie each week.

Recently I was enjoying an episode exploring Tony Scott's final movie, Unstoppable. I love the film. It did OK business at the box office and garnered its fair share of critical praise but it was a runaway train disaster movie and as such, didn't much trouble the end-of-year lists back in 2010. So if you've never heard of it don't feel bad.

The episode's special guest was Quentin Tarantino, a huge fan of Unstoppable and of Tony Scott. Tarantino speaks at 100 miles an hour about most things film-related but he's operating at top-speed for much of the show, scattergunning stories, observations and analyses.

Here's what struck me. Tarantino described himself and Scott as polar opposites when it came to directing movies. I'm paraphrasing, but the gist was this: Tarantino described himself as a director. I shoot using a single camera, he explained. Every scene you see was composed by me. I framed and arranged it, I organised it and I shot it. Tony Scott, he goes on the say, is a selector. He shoots with five, six... nine cameras at once. Other people are shooting the footage. Scott is the genius who selects the results and cuts them together.

Director versus selector. An interesting distinction.

It made me think about fiction writing. Much as I'd like to be a director - much as I'd love to have everything staged and rehearsed scene-by-scene before the first keystroke - I just don't seem to be able to do it. I write tens of thousands of words that I don't use; scene after scene that might end up in a book but might not. My current project is 120,000 words' worth of prose so far. I still don't think I've got it anywhere near right yet.

It's exhausting, infuriating and discouraging. But I think it's about all I can do. I'm a selector, not a director. And I've gotta say, most days I wish it was different.

As part of this year's September Shorts I've asked writer friends to contribute posts inspired by the title One Cool Thing. They'll be telling you about one cool thing they're looking forward to as Autumn approaches. It might be a book or movie, a tabletop or computer game, an event or visit to a special place, a chance to achieve something... or perhaps even an exciting new project.
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Today is the turn of Kerry Drewery, writer of the remarkable trilogy Cell 7, Day 7 and Final 7. Her new novel is being raved about; The Last Paper Crane. You can find out more about Kerry here.
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Kerry Drewery: Cold Water Wild Swimming