3 Days Without a Book! Countdown to Publication #13: 15 Days Without a Head Original Soundtrack

15 Days Without a Head will be in bookshops in 3 days time. By way of celebration, I will be publishing a new post here every day, leading up to publication on Thursday. The idea is to provide a few bonus items, such as you'd expect to find on the extras disc of a DVD – except these will be available before the main feature of course.

The start of my musical adventure – check out the carpet!

Music has always played a big part in my life. I was lucky enough to spend nearly ten years touring and recording with a band, and was nearly famous! My leather trousers have long since been retired, though I still pick up a guitar most days and keep a stack of vinyl records in the attic for those moments when I need a blast. I envy writers who can actually write with music on. I’ve read that Stephen King listens to rock while he works, but there are others who need absolute silence – William Hussey, for instance, often writes with earplugs in.


I think I’m somewhere in between. I certainly can’t write while listening to music with words, and usually work in silence, but during the final stages of 15 Days Without a Head, I created an eight hour playlist of instrumental music which helped me through the long, and often late, hours I spent revising the manuscript. (Big thanks to RF who introduced me to much of the music on the list.)


I’ll often compile a soundtrack for the book I’m working on, it provides a reference for the mood I’m trying to create. Playlists for characters can be useful too, as it helps to get inside their heads. (A couple of the stops on my Blog Tour will be dealing with this in more detail, including Mina’s playlist for Laurence)


The one below is a small selection of the music I was actually listening to while working on the book. The Original Soundtrack album, if you like … 


1. Biosphere – People Are Friends

2. Arctic Monkeys – The View from the Afternoon 

(I think the video for this is brilliant. It captures the cold concrete essence of The Heights and Laurence's belligerent determination to survive. Great track too!)

3. Gonzales – Overnight 


4. Max Richter – Autumn Music 1 
(I dubbed this one Laurence’s theme)

5. Max Richter – Sunlight 
(And this one for Mina) 

6. Elliott Smith – Taking a Fall 

(There had to be one from Elliott and some of the words from this seemed apt.)

7. Stars of the Lid – Down 3

8. Doves – Black and White Town 

("There's a saying round here that goes: How do you know when you reached rock bottom? Answer: You wake up in The Heights")

9. The Cinematic Orchestra – Prelude


10. Tord Gustavsen Trio – At Home


Tomorrow: is the first stop on my 15 Days Without a Head Blog Tour when I’ll be visiting Writing From The Tub to talk about Getting inside Laurence’s Head.

4 Days Without a Book! Countdown to Publication #12: You make your own luck! Customs to welcome in the New Year.

15 Days Without a Head will be in bookshops in 4 days time. By way of celebration, I will be publishing a new post here every day, leading up to publication on Thursday. The idea is to provide a few bonus items, such as you'd expect to find on the extras disc of a DVD – except these will be available before the main feature of course.

The theme of luck runs throughout 15 Days Without a Head. DJ Baz, is constantly asking Laurence, “Do you feel lucky?” This was deliberately ironic, given that for most of the book Laurence is having a hard time and could be forgiven for thinking he is the unluckiest person in the world. It is only when Laurence feels that fate is so stacked against him, that he might as well give up, that he remembers his Nanna's belief that luck can be influenced:

“You make your own luck – that’s what Nanna used to say. She believed that if you expected the worst, that’s what you’d get. But if you counted on good things happening, then they usually would. The Power of Positive Thought, she called it.”

(from 15 Days Without a Head)

It is strange when you consider that luck, by definition, is random, and yet every day people modify their behaviour in attempts to influence it: not walking under ladders; wearing lucky underpants to watch football (or is that just me?); not opening an umbrella inside the house. There is no scientific reason why these things should change what happens to us, and yet if we break a mirror, many of us might admit to a momentary feeling of uneasiness about the seven years bad luck the superstition warns of.


Given these tendencies, it’s not surprising that there are many New Year customs around the world, designed to bring good luck in the following twelve months. The first twenty four hours are believed to be crucial and will have a huge impact on the fortunes that follow. 


Many customs in this country concern themselves with the idea of luck flowing into or out of the house. First-footing is probably the most well known. The details vary from region to region and have evolved over time, but all varieties seem to involve the person doing the first-footing (ie. the first person to enter a dwelling in the New Year) having a lucky characteristic – dark hair, for example – and carrying certain objects – coal, is a common one.

First-footing from Punch, 1897

There were also widely held beliefs in the nineteenth century, that it was inviting bad luck to let anything leave the house on New Year’s Day, especially fire.

“At any other time they would be quite happy to let a neighbour or stranger take a live coal or taper to light their lantern or house fire, but not at New Year.”  – The English Year

Another superstition that may provide a legitimate excuse to steer clear of the laundry basket today, is that it was thought to be extremely dangerous to wash clothes on New Year’s Day, as you would be “washing out” one of the occupants of the house (ie. they would die in the following year!) On the other hand, for those fond of washing (themselves) it may be worth noting the Herefordshire custom regarding the “Cream of the Well”. Servants would sit up to see the New Year in and then rush to draw the first water from the well, as it was “thought to be beautifying and lucky. The maid who succeeded in getting it would take it to the bedroom of her mistress, who would give a present for it.” * Unfortunately, I'm not sure the first water from the tap has quite the same properties.


As well as doing everything they could to ‘make their own luck’ for the following year, many people would go so far as to try and obtain a peek into their future. 

“before retiring to rest the old women opened their Bibles at haphazard to find out their luck for the coming year. The text on which the forefinger of the right hand rested was supposed to foretell the future.” – Folk-Lore Journal, 1886

Of course, this method left much room for interpretation and was the subject of some discussion during the following day. The bible was the book of choice, but other texts, especially poetry, were seen to be just as effective, especially if you were worried about using the Bible for such a purpose. I did consider trying this using 15 Days Without a Head, but I’ll admit to being a little bit superstitious at the best of times and chickened out. You’re welcome to have a go though, I’d be interested to hear what the pages predict!


Happy New Year!


* Much of the information above was taken from The English Year by Steve Roud, a fascinating book for anyone interested in folklore.


Tomorrow: My 15 Days Without a Head playlist.

5 Days Without a Book! Countdown to Publication #11: And the winner is …

15 Days Without a Head will be in bookshops in 5 days time. By way of celebration, I will be publishing a new post here every day, leading up to publication on January 5th. The idea is to provide a few bonus items, such as you'd expect to find on the extras disc of a DVD – except these will be available before the main feature of course.


I started the countdown to publication by running a competition to win a signed copy of 15 Days Without a Head – it's now time to announce the result. Just to prove that everything was fair and above board, here's a video of Dylan making the draw for the winner earlier today. 

video no longer available

So, congratulations, Malaika! As Dylan said, we'll be in touch to find out if you would like your copy signed and the delivery details. Thanks to everyone who entered and to my publisher, Oxford University Press for donating a copy of the book.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has visited this blog and my website over the past twelve months. Your comments and support are much appreciated; it would be a very lonely process without you! I hope to see you again next year.

Wishing everyone the very best for a great 2012.

Dave

Tomorrow: You make your own luck!

6 Days Without a Book! Countdown to Publication #10: What every writer needs – an anarchic ginger cat for company.

15 Days Without a Head will be in bookshops in 6 days time. By way of celebration, I will be publishing a new post here every day, leading up to publication on January 5th. The idea is to provide a few bonus items, such as you'd expect to find on the extras disc of a DVD – except these will be available before the main feature of course. 

One of the biggest adjustments I had to make when becoming a full-time writer, was dealing with the solitude. Going from a busy design studio to being alone all day in an attic, took a little bit of getting used to. Once the words start to flow, my surroundings tend to fade, but it’s the start of the day when I feel it most, when I climb the ladder and find myself saying good morning to an empty room. There is also the fact that these days, every tea round seems to be my turn.


For some reason I’ve always associated cats with writers, though I’m sure there are just as many, if not more, who own dogs. Maybe it was the scene at the end of Betty Blue, when Zorg sits down to write and the cat appears to keep him company, that made me think our feline friends would make such good writing companions. I read somewhere that Jan Mark’s house was full of cats, whom she conversed with daily, further adding to her legend as a wonderful eccentric, as well as a superb and prolific writer. My all time literary hero, Robert Westall, had many cats and wrote about them frequently, with the kind of depth and understanding that only comes from years of sharing your life with the creatures.


Then there is Albert – the anarchic ginger cat I mention at the back of 15 Days Without a Head.

He is Kato to my Inspector Clouseau – you can never be sure when, and from where, he will leap out next.

Can that rat really do kung-fu?

A Maine Coon, Ragdoll cross-breed, Albert looks like a small lion, with an eighties soft-rock haircut. He’s the most intelligent cat I’ve ever known. Access to the attic where I work each day is achieved by means of a loft ladder. While all our previous cats have sat at the bottom mewing up at me, Albert learnt to climb the ladder. More impressively, he has also worked out how to get into the attic when the ladder is up. There’s a bookcase nearby which would get him part of the way, but after that … I can’t quite explain how he does it. A bit of feline sorcery I suspect.

Off to patrol the roof.

When I first started hanging around the house all day, it took him a while to adjust to my new routine, but these days he is often at the top of the ladder waiting when I ascend to start the day. At least now I’m talking to a cat rather than an empty room. While I check my email and schedule for the day, Albert does his rounds on the roof. The downside of this, is that I have to leave the skylight open until he returns, which on a December morning can be a little draughty. He comes in cold, damp and dirty, and retires to his spot – inside a box of old video tapes. I talk to him more often than is probably healthy, and I haven’t got a clue what he’s saying in reply, but as writing companions go, he’s OK – rubbish at making tea though.

So, it's my turn again is it then?

Entries for the draw to win a signed copy of 15 Days Without a Head must be received by midnight tonight (30 Dec 2011). Click here for details.

Tomorrow: I'll announce the winner!

7 Days Without a Book! Countdown to Publication #9: 15 Days in Pictures

15 Days Without a Head will be in bookshops in 7 days time. By way of celebration, I will be publishing a new post here every day, leading up to publication on January 5th. The idea is to provide a few bonus items, such as you'd expect to find on the extras disc of a DVD – except these will be available before the main feature of course. 

It's over three years since I started writing 15 Days Without a Head. Here's a diary of sorts – in pictures …

This is a 'cover' treatment I produced as a promo postcard to hand out at a SCBWI Agents Party I attended at the end of 2009. Dylan and Ptol agreed to pose as Jay and Laurence, but I had to mess about with the scaling to make Ptol look taller. The high-key treatment gave the photo a desolate feel that I thought suited the story. It was well received by the agents who saw it, but in hindsight focused far too much on the darker elements of the book. Even the strap line is menacing … not to mention the dead cockroach! 

Dylan drew this one for me. I like it a lot, especially Nosy Nelly with the hooked nose peeking out from her flat.

Then he did another version and made it into a mug. Naturally this became my lucky writing mug and had to be used during each evening's writing session. Which reminds me, I must ask him to do one for the book I'm working on now!

My wife sketched this on a napkin in a café. In the book, Mina draws a picture of Laurence and Jay, and I always imagined it would have looked something like this.

The first published extract of 15 Days Without a Head appeared in the SCBWI Undiscovered Voices Anthology in 2010. I'm very fond of this book; it changed my life as an author!

The Sherbet Lemon Special Edition Bound Proofs for 15 Days. The first time I saw the story as a book; a special moment. Nick Cross said you could see them from space.

The final cover for 15 Days Without a Head. The team at Oxford University Press went to a lot of effort to get this right, and I think they did a great job.

My favourite bit of the cover though is the quote from Keith Gray, one of my all time writing heroes.

Only two days left to enter the draw to win a signed copy of 15 Days Without a Head. Click here for details.

Tomorrow: What every writer needs …

8 Days Without a Book! Countdown to Publication #8: 15 Days Fortune Teller – yours to cut out and keep!

15 Days Without a Head will be in bookshops in 8 days time. By way of celebration, I will be publishing a new post here every day, leading up to publication on January 5th. The idea is to provide a few bonus items, such as you'd expect to find on the extras disc of a DVD – except these will be available before the main feature of course! 

Have you ever imagined yourself as the character in a book? Today, you can download the 15 Days Without a Head Fortune Teller, and find out who from the story is most like you. Do you like pizza? Dogs? Phone boxes?!! Or is an evening beside the radio more your style? Completely scientific, the 15 Days Fortune Teller never lies!

To download the artwork as a PDF, click here.

To download a Jpeg, click here.

Once successfully downloaded, simply print the image on a sheet of A4 paper. Cut out the fortune teller where indicated and then follow the folding instructions below.

Turn the sheet over so that the printed side is face down.
Then fold each of the corners into the centre.

It should now look like picture above, though your
table will probably be less ink stained than mine.

Turn over, and again fold the corners into the centre.

Your fortune teller should now look a lot like the one above.

Fold in half as shown and then turn over
so it looks like the picture below.

This is the tricky bit –
well, I found it difficult, but that could be me.
Stick your fingers under the flaps
to open out the fortune teller as shown above.

Now you are ready to play!


You can consult the fortune teller for yourself or on behalf of a friend. 
Step 1. Choose a day of the week and then spell out the word by opening the fortune teller first north to south and then east to west, one move for each letter.
Step 2. Choose one of the pictures and spell out the word beneath in the same way as before.
Step 3. Choose another picture and then carefully lift the flap under the picture to find out who you are!


And that's it. Hours of endless fun – guaranteed!


The 15 Days Fortune Teller was conceived and designed by Dylan. So if you don't like what it says, blame him, not me! 

Don't forget I'm giving away a signed (or unsigned, if you prefer) copy of 15 Days Without a Head. Click here for details.

Tomorrow: 15 Days in pictures.

9 Days Without a Book! Countdown to Publication #7: National Association for Children of Alcoholics (NACOA)

15 Days Without a Head will be in bookshops in 9 days time. By way of celebration, I will be publishing a new post here every day, leading up to publication on January 5th. The idea is to provide a few bonus items, such as you'd expect to find on the extras disc of a DVD – except these will be available before the main feature of course! 

15 Days Without a Head is a work of fiction, but many young people live with problems similar to those faced by Laurence and Jay in the story. In fact, there are an estimated one million children affected by parental alcohol problems in the UK today.

The National Association for Children of Alcoholics provides confidential support and understanding to anyone affected. This includes children of all ages, many whose problems only become apparent in adulthood.

The following video is a brief introduction to the important service NACOA provides:

The single, A Change is Gonna Come was specially recorded by Maria McAteer, Bjorn Dahlberg and the Stanford Quartet for Children of Alcoholics Week in February 2011. The video below was produced by Sean Caveille. You can download the single here from iTunes, and help support NACOA.

In 2012, Children of Alcoholics week is 12-18 February. I'll be posting more information here nearer the time, but please visit the website if you would like to get involved.

NACOA Free Confidential Helpline: 0800 358 3456

Email: helpline@nacoa.org.uk

Website: www.nacoa.org.uk

Don't forget I'm giving away a signed (or unsigned, if you prefer) copy of 15 Days Without a Head. Click here for details.

Tomorrow: 15 Days Without a Head Fortune Teller – yours to cut out and keep!