Monthly Archives: November 2015

Night lights

I lost a friend today. He died few days ago but I’ve only found out today, blurring the then and now line. I’m left empty, sad, angry, but mainly I still cannot believe he’s gone. The surreality of the fact is too overwhelming.

He was one of the kindest people I’ve met since my migration to this country. I’ve only crossed paths with David couple of years ago, during one of the sci-fi pub meets and liked him from the start. We shared a few long conversations finding out our interests and tastes overlapped greatly, still leaving enough space for each one to be able to surprise the other.

I had not known David as long, or as well as I would have liked it, and here lies the main source of my anger. I egoistically feel robbed of his bright intellect, of the twisted corners of his sense of humour and the company of a person with whom I shared more things than not.

He was a person I looked up to, admired and respected for his cheerful relentlessness in pursuing his dreams, which were so close to my own. He was a great writer and a lovely human being and I will miss him. He inspired me and gave me confidence and faith in my abilities. I hope will rest in peace and that the rest of us will not forget him.

There is a beautiful piece of dialogue that I will quote, risking sounding like a pompous ass:
“I believe that when we leave a place, part of it goes with us and part of us remains. Go anywhere in the station when it is quiet, and just listen. After a while, you will hear the echoes of all our conversations, every thought and word we’ve exchanged. Long after we are gone, our voices will linger in these walls for as long as this place remains. But I will admit that the part of me that is going will very much miss the part of you that is staying.”

I know he did like the first piece of music below and I think he would have enjoyed the second one as well.

Farewell David J Rodger, the part of me that is staying will very much miss the part of you that has left.

Frome, Bristol and other ungodly places

A lot has happened since my last entry here, so I will try to recap the most interesting points.

Firstly, I’ve managed to sell a flash piece to the ‘365 tomorrows’ e-zine. It’s a wee little piece inspired by Popol Vuh, Zelazny and lack of sleep. If you wish to spend a brief moment of your life reading it, it’s available here.

Now, with that out of the way, let me tell you about a great literary evening I’ve attended in July during Frome Festival. It was organised by the Frome SF Group (yes, I am a member) and featured readings from a lot of local and slightly less local authors, including David J Rodger. He did a nice entry about it here. There are some pictures (in no particular order) available, so feast yer eyes.

Eric Nash

Eric Nash

Justin Newland

Justin Newland

John Walton

John Walton

Andy Bigwood

Andy Bigwood

B Anne Adriaens

B Anne Adriaens

David J Rodger

David J Rodger

Piotr Świetlik

Piotr Świetlik

After that, the holidays happened (they do have a tendency to creep up on one) and I was lucky enough to be off and away for three weeks. Return to the real world was somewhat painful but it was quickly sweetened by the fabulous BristolCon. It has been my fourth appearance and as always I enjoyed it immensely. The event is steadily growing each year, which is both good and bad. Good, because the quality and interest from the fandom are increasing; bad because the more people come, the harder it is to catch all of them within a space of a day as well as attend panels, view artists room and check what the dealers are offering. That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed it and managed to catch up with some friends from as fas as London whilst managing to meet some new ones. The only disappointment was that the gaming evening to which I was looking to, didn’t happen. But well, will make it up next year!

Since I’ve covered most of the events between March and November (the interesting ones anyway), let me tell you about something that is about to happen. It is with great pleasure that I can say I will be reading my work as part of the North Bristol Writers group during the Sanctum. Don’t know what the Sanctum is? Despair not, my friend. Check the link instead. Unfortunately, we are not allowed to publicise our timed slots, but if you know me (in ‘real’ life, through Facebook or other), there’s a good chance you’ve already received a pestering message from me inviting you to the exact time and date to listen to me ramble to the microphone. If not, let’s get acquainted. As you can imagine, I am thrilled to be reading there and really looking forward to it.

And that is, as they say, it. For now anyway. There is more to come pretty soon, so hope you’ll stay with me and I promise to update things a little more frequently. To keep a tradition going, have a listen to the superb Kayla Scintilla’s ‘Light of the North’, as mentioned in David’s post.

Expect me, when you see me 😉