December already?
Avid readers of this blog may wonder where November went and frankly, I share your sense of bafflement. The six weeks which have passed since I last posted here have been a blur of activity which has left me scarce time to assimilate, never mind articulate, what has been happening to me.
A book tour is quite unlike a rock n roll tour. The later is typified by long periods of relative inactivity – in the back of a van/bus/airplane – interspersed with short bursts of heightened activity in the form of gigs. Touring a book is the polar opposite: long periods of actively promoting the book interspersed with short periods of inactivity in the form of sleep.
On a rock tour, the gig is king and all the day’s efforts are focussed on getting to and preparing for the performance. On a book tour, you still have the event in the evening – often a talk and signing that takes about as long as a gig – but you also spend the days visiting booksellers to sign their stock. Over a three day period when I was based in Manchester, I spent a day visiting bookshops in and around the city, a second day driving as far south as Stafford and a third day took in Liverpool and points north, almost to the outskirts of Blackpool.
Getting back to Manchester around teatime, I had just enough time to gather my thoughts before heading out for the evening’s event. By the time I got back to my room, watched the news and checked my e-mails, I’d utterly lost the will to blog. There was just too much to put in.
I should just pause here to thank the team from my publishers for keeping me so busy. Everywhere we went, the booksellers were pleased to see us, especially the little ‘indies’. This is due to the forthright planning and scheduling of Sam Jones from Bantam, who was as efficient as a seasoned rock TM and got to know exactly when I needed my cup of Throat-Coat. Credit must also go to Bradley Rose who drove the author-carrier up and down the M-ways, and who has an in-built radar-like ability to locate bookshops time after time.
This madness came to a head last Thursday in London, in a perfect storm of promo. The BB website gig guide doesn’t really do the day justice - you’d think all I had to do was troll along to the National Portrait Gallery, sit on stage for an hour and talk a bit about poetry. That, dear reader, was but the tip if the iceberg. The day actually went like this:
6am – alarm rings in hotel room.
7am-10am live on 6 Music radio with Phill Jupitas. 10am-10.30am BBC radio interviews.
11am House of Lords for discussion with Lib Dem peers about reforming themselves.
12.30pm - grab lunch.
2pm-5pm in Brixton Prison in south London to do anti-racist concert for inmates. Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly also performs. Lovely bloke.
5.30pm-6pm interview with German English language magazine.
6pm-10pm Poetry in the City event at the National Portrait Gallery.
11.30pm fall into bed.
Now, as I travel to York to begin my rock tour, I’m looking forwards to getting back into the regular rhythms of life on the road.
One Response to “December already?”
By The Man With 7 OL on Dec 5, 2006
Hi
Remember “The Man With 7 O Levels”? In the late 1980s that was the name I used as I toured the pubs and clubs of the South East reading my “angry young man/comic poetry”.
I was fortunate to be the support act for Billy’s gig in Deal (Kent). My role was extended from a brief slot to the full 30 minutes when the official support, Porky The Poet, failed to attend due to sickness.
Well my poetic career didn’t last much longer and my political career took a few interesting turns along the way.
Now I find myself on the way to Brighton in few weeks. As Billy’s venues got larger I have to be content with reciting the odd poem to my kids in the kitchen.
I hope our paths might cross again in Brighton……..