Guy Adams's Blog

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…asks someone via Formspring (immediately creating a sense of polite dinner conversation that goes some way towards eradicating the atmosphere created by the previous question ‘how big is your cock?’).

Until this week I really haven’t been able to discuss it due to the usual boring wait for contracts to be agreed and signed. If anyone ever writes a dictionary of writing terms the word ‘contract’ shall be defined as ‘paper argument often completed long after the book it relates to has been finished’.

Finally two projects for 2011 have been scribbled on, however, so I shall reveal them. The first reunites me with Lee Thompson, King of Design and sees me playing with that whole ‘Facsimile Antique Guide Book Based on a TV Show’ thing which is the smallest sub-genre in publishing and one that will soon become known as Those Adams Books. It’s called The Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard Manual and is, as you might expect from that title, based on the old sitcom Dad’s Army.  I’m sure you can imagine what it will be like all too well, a lovely retro design filled with my silly words (overseen by show creators Perry and Croft as is right).

The other project is one of those “can’t believe this is actually my job” gigs. Titan Books have been reprinting Sherlock Holmes pastiches for a while under “The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” banner. Well, this autumn they will dabble with an entirely original Holmes novel, mine. With yet another following in 2012.

I can’t begin to tell you how excited about it I am but I’ll blog about both books as I go.

The rest will have to wait for more paper and more signatures.

Gx

…asks someone via Formspring (immediately creating a sense of polite dinner conversation that goes some way towards eradicating the atmosphere created by the previous question 'how big is your cock?').

Until this week I really haven't been able to discuss it due to the usual boring wait for contracts to be agreed and signed. If anyone ever writes a dictionary of writing terms the word 'contract' shall be defined as 'paper argument often completed long after the book it relates to has been finished'.

Finally two projects for 2011 have been scribbled on, however, so I shall reveal them. The first reunites me with Lee Thompson, King of Design and sees me playing with that whole 'Facsimile Antique Guide Book Based on a TV Show' thing which is the smallest sub-genre in publishing and one that will soon become known as Those Adams Books. It's called The Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard Manual and is, as you might expect from that title, based on the old sitcom Dad's Army.  I'm sure you can imagine what it will be like all too well, a lovely retro design filled with my silly words (overseen by show creators Perry and Croft as is right).

The other project is one of those "can't believe this is actually my job" gigs. Titan Books have been reprinting Sherlock Holmes pastiches for a while under "The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" banner. Well, this autumn they will dabble with an entirely original Holmes novel, mine. With yet another following in 2012.

I can't begin to tell you how excited about it I am but I'll blog about both books as I go.

The rest will have to wait for more paper and more signatures.

Gx

Hi Lisa. I like Sophie too, she was the most interesting to write.

I rarely base characters on people I know (though I steal people’s names!) but always play the characters in my head. This is where my background as an actor helps, I always write in character.

On the tricky subject of research though: Sophie came almost fully-formed as soon as I started and I just ran with it. I never specify Sophie’s condition for the simple reason that having ended up with such a strong sense of who she was I didn’t want to limit myself. Nor did it seem right to write a character stated as being autistic without committing a serious amount of research first to ensure I wasn’t misrepresenting the condition.

The character most like me is Miles I’m afraid!

Ask me anything

Hi Lisa. I like Sophie too, she was the most interesting to write.

I rarely base characters on people I know (though I steal people's names!) but always play the characters in my head. This is where my background as an actor helps, I always write in character.

On the tricky subject of research though: Sophie came almost fully-formed as soon as I started and I just ran with it. I never specify Sophie's condition for the simple reason that having ended up with such a strong sense of who she was I didn't want to limit myself. Nor did it seem right to write a character stated as being autistic without committing a serious amount of research first to ensure I wasn't misrepresenting the condition.

The character most like me is Miles I'm afraid!

Ask me anything

It's a habit of mine to list every book I read. In fact one of my Christmas presents this year was a lovely little notebook specifically for the purpose (the previous having fallen fallen apart due to cheap binding). It's a habit that can seem terribly anal of course but I read very much prone to mood and a list of my reading habits recalls to me not only the specific books but also my state of mind at the time.

A good friend of mine was never able to read two books by the same author in quick succession, the second would always pall when compared to the first due to an over-familiarity and boredom of that particular writer's style. I am quite the opposite. I read (and watch) in very fixed and obsessive waves. If I decide I'm in a Stephen King frame of mind I have no desire to experience any other "flavour" for a while, reading King novels and even watching King movies (assuming I can find any that are good… ahem…) until that taste is satiated and I move onto pastures new.

Given what I do for a living that mood also reflects in what I write and similar patterns emerge. Both the Torchwood novel The House that Jack Built and The World House show that I was a bit obsessed with Haunted House stories at the time of writing.

I'm far too undisciplined to keep a diary — "No shit!" shouts a passing blog reader — so this is as close as I come to charting the state of my head over the years.

2011 began with Elmore Leonard's Glitz and finished with The Clocks by Agatha Christie. Inbetween I went Under the Dome with Stephen King, sampled Peter Straub's A Dark Matter and enjoyed Seven Days of Cain with Ramsey Campbell.

I also listen to a lot of audiobooks and a real joy was The Complete Ghost Stories of M. R. James – Volume 1 I trust there's no need for me to sing the praises of James but these readings (his complete Ghost Stories in two volumes) by David Collings are absolutely stunning. Collings manages to balance the wonderful eeriness of the tales with James' often overlooked humour. I can honestly say that I enjoyed listening to these much more than I did reading them years ago.

There was also a great deal of Sherlock Holmes (an explanation of which shall be forthcoming soon enough as contracts have been signed…)

I managed twenty-one novels, eighty two short stories (I dip in and out of collections, rarely reading a whole one in one go) and one non-fiction book, the wonderful How I Escaped My Certain Fate by Stewart Lee which is a fascinating look at the art of stand-up comedy from its finest practitioner working today.

My overall average would be considerably higher were it not for the fact that I seem to read very little over the summer. For the last couple of years there's been a black hole during July and August which I think is more due to the fact that deadlines seem to converge there rather than any aversion to reading when hot. There was certainly little time for pleasant reading this year with a string of seven-day weeks and late nights to deal with both werewolves and Leonard Rossiter (only me…).

At the risk of being far too repetitive my Formspring account is now linked directly to the Blog, Facebook and Twitter so my answers are posted to all three… So there.

Good luck on those last few books Tim Lynch. I’ll take your spare copy of The Divine Shitty Code though, simply throw it towards Spain with my name crayoned on the front, it’s sure to reach me.

Ask me anything

Good luck on those last few books Tim Lynch. I'll take your spare copy of The Divine Shitty Code though, simply throw it towards Spain with my name crayoned on the front, it's sure to reach me.

Ask me anything