Well my website is finally up and running. What should have taken a couple of months has taken the best part of a year and involved much losing of temper and patience on my part but since it's finally here I'm not going to dwell on that. Much.
So anyway, the story so far . . .
This is the first entry in the blog of Martyn Waites. I shouldn't really be doing this as A) I can't think that anyone would want to read this rubbish and B) I'm supposed to be working on a new novel. Because that's what I do. I'm a writer (novelist mainly but also short stories, journalism, film scripts - anything in fact, as long as I get paid), primarily working in the field of crime. I've written eight novels, the latest being White Riot which is due out January 2008. I've done a bit of blogging before on Sarah Weinman's excellent site and thought I would give it a go on my own. Obviously I want to talk about the stuff I'm writing but I should imagine I'll also be mouthing off about anything that takes my fancy. Other books, films, TV, what's happening in the world, Newcastle United Football Club . . . whatever. I'll try to keep this weekly but we'll see how it goes. This could be the first and last one. A collector's item! Get it while it's hot!
Big news for me at the moment is that the trailer for White Riot is finished and it looks quite spectacular. Trailer? I'll tell you. I was watching TV over the summer and kept seeing (almost on a continuous loop) the trailer for The Bourne Ultimatum. This got me thinking: wouldn't it be a great idea to do something like that to promote an upcoming book? Particularly mine? So, undeterred by the fact that I didn't have a film to accompany it that scenes could be pulled from, a mulit-million dollar Hollywood budget or Matt Damon (actually that may have been a blessing) I set about doing it. I contacted an old mate of mine, Bob Horwell, award-winning actor and director, and told him the idea. Armed with a budget from Simon and Schuster and several well known TV actors (including Mark Wingett who played Jim Carver in The Bill for twenty odd years as Joe Donovan) we set off filming. And the result with chase scenes, exploding cars and gratuitous damage to my mobile phone, is really rather good indeed, even if I say so myself.
The response so far has been overwhelmingly positive which we've been very pleased about. Not to mention relieved. I think it's the first time anything like this has been attempted in this country on this scale and with this brashness. I know there have been tentative attempts before but I think most of them have failed because they haven't managed to transpose one medium to another. Now I'm not saying what we've done is perfect but we've gone for it, so much so that people are now asking when the film is coming out. So are we . . .
So when and where will it be shown? Some time in the next month or two. Probably here, on my website too, FaceBook, CrimeSpace, YouTube and some other places we're still in negotiation with. Plenty of places, in fact. You'll probably be sick of it. But I doubt I will be. Bob and I think we're on to something with this. So much so that we've set up a company, Red Harvest Films, to make (amongst other things) promos for other writers and publishers. Anyone want one?
Still, it's all done now and I should be concentrating on the new Joe Donovan novel, Murdered Sons. (Anyone know where that title comes from? Yes, like the others it's a song, or rather a performance piece/prose poem. Clue: she's playing live in London in October.) I should be, but film making is fun and more addictive than eBaying when you're drunk. So I think we'll be out there with the camera again very soon . . .
And, because apparently this is the kind of thing people want to see, or expect to see, on blogs though god knows why:
This week Martyn read: Songs of Innocence by Richard Aleas. Solid noir and totally involving - One of the best books I've read all year.
And listened to: Scott Walker 1 - 4 (again). Can't get enough, the man's a genius. Especially Scott 4, Boy Child in particular. Music really doesn't get any better than this.
So anyway, the story so far . . .
This is the first entry in the blog of Martyn Waites. I shouldn't really be doing this as A) I can't think that anyone would want to read this rubbish and B) I'm supposed to be working on a new novel. Because that's what I do. I'm a writer (novelist mainly but also short stories, journalism, film scripts - anything in fact, as long as I get paid), primarily working in the field of crime. I've written eight novels, the latest being White Riot which is due out January 2008. I've done a bit of blogging before on Sarah Weinman's excellent site and thought I would give it a go on my own. Obviously I want to talk about the stuff I'm writing but I should imagine I'll also be mouthing off about anything that takes my fancy. Other books, films, TV, what's happening in the world, Newcastle United Football Club . . . whatever. I'll try to keep this weekly but we'll see how it goes. This could be the first and last one. A collector's item! Get it while it's hot!
Big news for me at the moment is that the trailer for White Riot is finished and it looks quite spectacular. Trailer? I'll tell you. I was watching TV over the summer and kept seeing (almost on a continuous loop) the trailer for The Bourne Ultimatum. This got me thinking: wouldn't it be a great idea to do something like that to promote an upcoming book? Particularly mine? So, undeterred by the fact that I didn't have a film to accompany it that scenes could be pulled from, a mulit-million dollar Hollywood budget or Matt Damon (actually that may have been a blessing) I set about doing it. I contacted an old mate of mine, Bob Horwell, award-winning actor and director, and told him the idea. Armed with a budget from Simon and Schuster and several well known TV actors (including Mark Wingett who played Jim Carver in The Bill for twenty odd years as Joe Donovan) we set off filming. And the result with chase scenes, exploding cars and gratuitous damage to my mobile phone, is really rather good indeed, even if I say so myself.
The response so far has been overwhelmingly positive which we've been very pleased about. Not to mention relieved. I think it's the first time anything like this has been attempted in this country on this scale and with this brashness. I know there have been tentative attempts before but I think most of them have failed because they haven't managed to transpose one medium to another. Now I'm not saying what we've done is perfect but we've gone for it, so much so that people are now asking when the film is coming out. So are we . . .
So when and where will it be shown? Some time in the next month or two. Probably here, on my website too, FaceBook, CrimeSpace, YouTube and some other places we're still in negotiation with. Plenty of places, in fact. You'll probably be sick of it. But I doubt I will be. Bob and I think we're on to something with this. So much so that we've set up a company, Red Harvest Films, to make (amongst other things) promos for other writers and publishers. Anyone want one?
Still, it's all done now and I should be concentrating on the new Joe Donovan novel, Murdered Sons. (Anyone know where that title comes from? Yes, like the others it's a song, or rather a performance piece/prose poem. Clue: she's playing live in London in October.) I should be, but film making is fun and more addictive than eBaying when you're drunk. So I think we'll be out there with the camera again very soon . . .
And, because apparently this is the kind of thing people want to see, or expect to see, on blogs though god knows why:
This week Martyn read: Songs of Innocence by Richard Aleas. Solid noir and totally involving - One of the best books I've read all year.
And listened to: Scott Walker 1 - 4 (again). Can't get enough, the man's a genius. Especially Scott 4, Boy Child in particular. Music really doesn't get any better than this.
Labels: Bone Machine, Jim Carver, Mark Wingett, Martyn Waites, Robert Horwell, Sarah Weinman, Simon and Schuster, The Bill, White Riot
posted by Martyn Waites at
2:05 AM
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