Eric Idle at Mr B's, and Brian Blessed

I like Mr B's, and I like Monty Python, so when I saw that Eric Idle would be appearing in Bath, as one of the events organised by Mr B's, and to promote his new book, I decided to go. Plus, it was on my birthday, so it seemed like a good idea!

The event was at the  Assembly Rooms in Bath, which is a nice venue. Lots of chandeliers. 

Eric Idle was introduced and interviewed by Sir James Dyson, who, as well as making fancy vacuum cleaners, is apparently a long term friend of his, and a neighbour in La Haut Var, Provence . (Cue a hint of the Four Yorkshiremen, as they compared experiences of living in properties without adequate windows, or electricity, when they each first moved there)

Eric spoke about writing a memoir (his top tip for writing a memoir - do it when you are still young enough to remember what happened)

He then talked briefly about his childhood, and the advantages of a boarding school education "after all, nothing can be worse, plus they put us in the army so I could strip a Bren gun in minutes by the time I was 14"  

He then talked about going from Wolverhampton  to Cambridge University, and how he met John Cleese, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Bill Oddie, among  others.

Eric Idle and James Dyson

He  then went on to talk about being part of Monty Python, his friendship with George Harrison (who mortgaged his house to fund 'Life of Brian',)

The evening then concluded with a few songs, from Eric and John Du Prez, They started with one (suitable for a eulogy, with lots of swearing) from the un-produced musical 'Death, the musical' then we got the Galaxy Song (Eric explained that he had had arguments with Professor Brian Cox over it, as Brian objects to the fact that the science isn't correct, and Eric points out that it was when he wrote the song!). This resulted in the scene which was shown before the O2 live reunion shows, in which Brian Cox was pushed into the Cam by Professor Stephen Hawking...

And then, of course, there was 'Always Look on the Bright Side of Life' (Snippet video below - I didn't record it all as I was too busy enjoying it!

The Eric Idle event was on Monday, and then on Thursday, there was another event  - this time, Brian Blessed, who is touring, simply talking about his life and interests.

He came on stage to the sound of the Flash Gordon theme tune, bellowing 'Gordon's Alive!' 



Before going on  to describe how this catchphrase is something *everyone* asks him for, from the captain of a Russian sub, in Arctic waters near the North Pole, to Masai tribesmen on Kilimanjaro, David Cameron in the Cabinet rooms and  even her Majesty the Queen.

He then talked about his childhood (much admiration for his coal-hewer father, who was also a cricketer for Yorkshire, and fond of Shakespeare) and about his time at Bristol Old Vic theatre school, and as an actor, and about his mountaineering and exploring, and his training with NASA and the Russian  Space program, and his passion for science and space. 

It was very entertaining, and I had a good time, and got the impression that he was thoroughly enjoying himself!

Stephanie Burgis and Claire Fayers at the Bath Kids Lit Festival

I didn't book as many events as I often do, at this year's Bath Festival of Children's Literature, but one I was determined not to miss was the one with Stephanie Burgis and Claire Fayers, discussing Dragons.

I've been familiar with Stephanie's work for a while, since meeting her a BristolCon a few years back, and have enjoyed her work, which includes the 'Kat' trilogy (Regency romance with magic), Historical novels with Opera and Politics, and most recently, The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart , which is set in a place and time which (other than the dragons) has a certain similarity to an 18th C Germanic principality, so I wanted to go and say hello, and hear her talking about the newest book.

I haven't previously heard of Claire or her books, but having heard her read an extract and talk about her newest book, The Accidental Pirates -Journey to Dragon Island, which is the second in a series, I want to read them, and bought the first in the series after the event. 

Claire and Stephanie both talked about the earliest dragons which inspired them - Tolkien's Smaug, for Stephanie, and the Dragons in Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea for Claire (which I can identify with. Orm Embar was, and is, a favourite of mine, too.

Claire Fayers and Stephanie Burgis

There was some discussion about research. Stephanie selflessly researched chocolate-making and the finer points of chilli infused hot chocolate. Claire did not (she claims) go so far as to become a pirate, but did re-read 'Treasure Island', and watch lots of 1930's pirate / adventure movies in order to recognise and subvert their tropes (leading to sand vines - the kind of vines which, when you grab them to haul yourself out of quicksand, attack you)

There was also discussion about the next books each author is writing; coincidentally both involve fairies. Stephanie's next is set in the same world as The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart, but will be told from the perspective of Silke, Aventurine's friend. Claire's next is not part of the 'Accidental Pirates' series, but is instead set in a Victorian England, where one small town on the Welsh border is the last place in England where magic still works, and which is twinned with a similar town in Faerie. 

I like the sound of both, and look forward to reading them.

After the event, I was able to say hello to Steph and CLaire, and get both books signed, before heading home.

And, as it was Bookshop Day today, I also called in at one of my favourite bookshops, Mr B's Emporium of Reading Delights,  before the event, where I was able to pick up a copy of Fraces Hardinge's A Skinful of Shadows, together with this year's 'Books are my Bag' bag, and where I bumped into a friend of mine, which was lovely. 

So, all in all it was a very pleasant afternoon!

Also, you should all buy these books :) 

'Ink' at Mr B's

A little while back I saw this beautiful looking book in Mr B's  bookshop in Bath. I read the blurb, and like the sound of it, and the book became part of my holiday reading.

It's Alice Broadway's debut novel,  and it's an excellent read. (its also the first of a trilogy, which is nice, as it means that there's more to come) 

The protagonist, Leora, lives in Saintstone, a city, within a wider world, in which everyone's life story is, quite literally, written on their skin. When someone dies, their skin is preserved as a book and is judged, and weighed as worthy or not. Leora is waiting, confidently, to hear that her father has been judged worthy..........

I won't spoil the book by saying more, but urge you to read it for yourself.

Hearing Alice talk about the book was very interesting, addressing issues around faith, and questioning it, about tattoos, and the preservation of human skin, was very interesting.  She explained that she doesn't (yet) have any tattoos, due in part to the difficulty of choosing what to have permanently on one's skin.                        She also revealed that  she knew from the beginning the 'A' and the 'Z' of the whole story, but not all of the other points on the way, and that she had started writing the book as part of NaNoWrMo, but never really dared to plan for parts 2 and 3 as it seemed so unlikely that the book would be published! 

I am glad she turned out to be wrong about that one!   

Alice read a couple of extracts from the book, and also answered questions, before signing copies of the book. I hope that when the 2nd an 3rd parts of the trilogy are published, Mr B's can persuade her to return.

Nick Harkaway at Mr B's

I have blogged before about Mr B's Emporium of Reading Delights, one of Bath's 2 lovely independent bookshops. They have lovely events, with writers and conversation and food, and on Wednesday, the writer in question was Nick Harkaway, author of 'The Gone-Away World', 'Angelmaker' and, now 'Tigerman'.

The evening didn't start too well for me, as I had forgotten that They were closing the road in Dunkerton, so I had to go the long way round, and then I got held up because there had been an accident (not, I think, too serious - the police were there, and a 1st response car, but all the people seemed to be standing around and talking to each other).  

All of which meant that I got to Bath late, and had to scratch plaintively at the door of the shop like a delayed cat, to be let in. And then try to sneak in to a gathering where the only available seat was in the 2nd row which you absolutely can't do without people looking at you.

Anyway, once the embarrassment factor of causing a disturbance had settled I was able to start listening to Nick, who was reading an extract (about the English, and T.S.Eliot, among other things) from 'Tigerman'.  Which was very, very funny. 

And then there was conversation. The evening was nominally themed around Father's Day, but as often happens at Mr B's, due to the conversational nature of the evening,discussions around the theme were only a minor part of the evening!

Nick talked about various things which led into the book, including his own experience of a close encounter with the Esso tiger, and of learning to shoot while in Thailand.

There was also some discussion about his experience of fatherhood, and in particular the protectiveness which comes with that, and about other notable fathers in literature.

As always with a Mr Bs event, there was a break in the proceedings for food and mingling - on this occasion, the food part of that included a lemon drizzle cake with blueberries in, which was such stuff as gastronomic dreams are made on...

And there were some interesting (mostly travel related) conversations over food, too.

Finally, Nick signed copies of his books for us. It was a thoroughly enjoyable night, and I am looking forward to reading Tigerman, now I have my very own shiny copy!

The Crane Wife

I've written before about Mr B's Emporium of Reading Delights, one of Bath's two splendid independent bookshops. They host wonderful author events (the last one I went to was with China Mieville, which I blogged here )

On Tuesday night, they were hosting the Patrick Ness, to celebrate the publication of his new novel, The Crane Wife. I missed Patrick when he visited for the publication of 'A Monster Calls', so I was particularly pleased to be able to get tickets this time!

And to meet some old friends and acquaintances - I knew that Cheryl was going to be there, what with our having bought the tickets together, and it was nice also to see Tamzin, (although my terrible face recognition skills meant I was confused for a moment, there)

As usual, the evening began with music from The Bookshop Band - with two new (and only just completed) songs inspired by the book. They were wonderful.

Patrick Ness

We then had the interview with Patrick, who apparently wrote the book at the same time as writing a new teen novel, (and has vowed never to do that again). The novel is inspired by a Japanese folk tale of the same name, which Patrick learned while a child in Hawaii. It's not one I am familiar with, but he made the point that, unlike most fairy tales / folk tales, it begins with an act of kindness, not an act of cruelty, so he was interested to explore the ideas of how a kind man would react to / deal with his  desires.

The interview also covered other points - the fact that people are complicated ("People are Legion") and don't conform to simple stereotypes; one of the reasons why Patrick rarely writes out-and-out villains, the need to write from the heart - drawing on real emotions.

He read us a bit of the new book (with a few interpolated comments - "I said 'penis' to a room full of people') then there were some questions, followed by delicious food from Made by Ben, and mingling, then further questions, and book recommendations, from Patrick, and the bookshop staff, and guests. Recommendations included Cat Valente's books,(the 'Fairyland ones, pluis Six-Gun Snow White,  Wildwood, The Armed Garden, Shadows on the Moon ,and the Cannongate Myths series.

Then the evening ended with Patrick signing copies of the Crane Wife and others of his books, with, inevitably, more conversation. A thoroughly fun evening.

China Miéville in Bath

Yesterday evening was the China Miéville event at Mr. B's Emporium of Reading Delights - I do love Mr. B's; and it seems I'm not alone - they won the Independent Bookseller of the Year Award  on Monday (the BBC has a story featuring them) .

It's a lovely shop, the staff are all  both friendly, knowledgable and passionate about books. And upstaiurs there are comfy chairs and free coffee, if you need a break. And they have theirn own loyalty card to get money off books. And the walls of the toilets are papered with reviews and poems. Did I mention that I like this place?
And I've been looking forward a lot to this event. I booked as soon as the event details went up. In fact, I bought the tickets first, and asked Cheryl if she wanted to come afterwards (she did, obviously. I mean, who wouldn't?)
It turns out that when Mr. B's do an event, you don't just get a writer and the chance to buy books. You also get live music with originals songs by The Bookshop Band, and delicious nibbly finger food, and wine, and mingling with interesting people, AND a writer and the chance to buy books.

I approve of this. A lot.

I especially approved of it yesterday, as I had, up until I got to Mr. B's, not been having a very good day. I had a new case, so I had to go to court at short notice. I was expecting it to be a relatively short hearing, but we  ended up in being in court from 1.30 til 6, with things such as lunch, and indeed any kind of break, or access to coffee, being but a distant hope. So getting to Mr. B's and being offered wine and nibbly things and interesting people to make conversation with was even more welcome than normal!
Having arrived at the shop, and met with Cheryl and her friend Pat and (briefly, China himself) we went upstairs and the evening started with music from The Bookshop Band (Ben and Poppy) who performed two original songs inspired by EmbassyTown.

Then China spoke a little about Embassytown, (carefully avoiding spoilers, for those of us who haven't yet read it) and about the thedme of the evening, which was 'Corruption'

One of the very nice things about this event was that it was small. I'm not sure how many people attendted, but I would guess around 30 - few enough that it was genuinely possible for there to be a conversation, rather than a 'talk' - the conversation ranged from method of writing/planning so as not to get lost in one's own plot (China  uses flowcharts), the invention of language, with particular reference to the word 'Immer', and what headaches this may present for whoever tranaslates Embassytown into german, and  mention of the fact that when King Rat, which contains lots of 19th Century ryhming slang, was translated into Japanese, the translator didn't ask for any clarification, leaving chian wondering whether the either (a) The translator happened to be an expert in 19th Century slang or (b) Japanese readers have some very odd literal translations in their version of the book..

after the first part of the evening, we stopped for food and wine and chat. (Someone (NOT me) asked China about letting us see the whole of his tattoo - he declined to take his short off, but you can see the whole thing here, Nathalie!)  then back upstirs again for part two of the evening, in which members of staff, members of the audience, and China all suggested books on the theme of corruption - one of which was Documents Concerning Rubashov the Gambler , another (recommended by China, for those who like their vampires Mod and dangerous, was 'The Shiny Narrow Grin' by Jane Gaskell (which is out of print, and hard to find...) Patrick Ness's ''Chaos Walking' also got a shout out..

We then had just enough time to buy books (did I mention the 10% discount on everything, for the evening?) and get them signed, and to speak briefly to China, and then to pick up the free copy of The City and The City (signed) which was available for each of us, before hesding back home.

As you may have gathered, I really enjoyed the evening. This is the first time I've been to one of the Mr. B's events, but I think I shall be going to more. Sadly I shall miss the evening with Patrick Ness on 16th June, as I shall be in a cottage in Wales with no electricity, but I am sure there will be other events when I'm NOT in Wales..

Oh, and for those of you who haven't seen it, there is a short story by China here in the Guardian. Enjoy!