July's Good News and David Needs Help
Good News
I've finished* my book about cycling around Britain.
*That is to say: I haven't. It still needs a proper title (see below) and I'm going to do one more full edit before pressing PRINT on my dot-matrix Epson VP-500.
However! Would you like a sneaky peaky into the first fifteen and a half pages? I think you would - I promise you thunderstorms, bum rash, a Heath-Robinson-Gorilla-tape bike fix, a death and a sex scene. All in fifteen and a half pages. You wouldn't read that in Sir Ranulph Fiennes!
Just click on this link (or that other one up there - up to you) to be taken to a free PDF download and prepare to clamber on board.
In exchange for the privilege of reading my work before anyone else (does that sound arrogant?), I just ask one tiny little favour, because...
David Needs Help!
And not just medically.
The darned book needs a much better title! Can you help by filling in this super quick and easy poll?
Hopefully, you'll have read a bit of the teasy taster (see above) so you'll have a vague idea of where I'm going with this one. But, really, your instinctive feedback is hugely valuable.
I'm still searching for a title that will reach out and grab people by the (eye) balls / wallet.
I know you can do better than 58 Days - so please leave any ideas in the comments. THANK YOU. You're the best.
More interesting things that aren't about me!
A Couple of Adventurous Writing Things
My good friend Anna Hughes is also writing a book about cycling around Britain - all the cool kids are doing it, yeah? You can read more about her trip here and follow her on Twitter (in lieu of following me on Twitter because I quit) here.
Also, my friend Simon has embarked on a ridiculous sailing adventure: 3,500 miles from London to Lebanon, raising awareness of the hideous plight of Syrians at the moment. You can follow their crazy journey - they found not one but FOUR holes in their hull, shortly after reaching Gravesend... here.
You can also read my philosophical take on this journey and the absurdity of the Dunwich Dynamo here, from my blog. Good luck, Simon and Maria!
A Comedy Thing
Richard Tyrone Jones! You've probably never heard of him, but he's funny. And a poet. Or spoken word artiste, as we must now call them if we want any respect from the street / The Guardian.
He's even had his own poetry spoken word sitcom on Radio 4 (video trailer here). About heart failure. Despite that, I still think he's very funny.
But you can see for yourself, if you happen to be at the Edinburgh Festival this August. He'll be doing his new show Crap Time Lord, so called because, just like Doctor Who, Richard has two hearts, a cancelled BBC series and a long succession of glamorous, intelligent companions (who have all left him).
And, if you haven't heard it yet, I did a "comedic" poem about the Moon at the intergalactic Utter! Space, hosted by Richard, only last week.
A Political Thing
I'm currently preparing for a trip across La Manche to go to Calais, where I hope to help teach English and share solidarity with the migrants who live there.
On the 2nd of July, hundreds of migrants living in Calais were rounded up and taken to French detention centres, where they will, in all likelihood, be deported back to whatever conflict zone they have risked their lives to escape.
We once revered travellers as divine messengers from God, to be treated with the highest respect for the knowledge and wisdom that they could impart from their far-off lands. Now we pepper spray them.
Calais Migrant Solidarity Report from 2nd July 2014
BBC News Report from 2nd July 2014
End politically disgusted rant.
And there you have it - the very first edition of the world's very first adventurous comedy political mailing list thing. I hope you found it both edifying and exhausting.
Speak soon,
David