Update

Oh hello internet, how are you today? Really? Oh well, that’s a shame. It’s okay though. I suggest a bit of tea and maybe a bit of a light snack, like cookies. Everything’s better with cookies. Except maybe drowning. Or burning to death. If you’re doing either of those things, stop looking for cookies. You’re only going to make things worse.

I know a little while ago I said I was going to start a series of posts on titles, and my original plan was to just release one every couple of days until I was done – probably only five or six posts total, really. Unfortunately for you but fortunately for me, thanks to a bit of simple* advice from a friend, I got back into the swing of things with writing and marathoned up several thousand words in the days leading up to Christmas. And then, of course, it was Christmas. Would you like me to tell you why the title posts still aren’t happening? You would? That’s fantastic.

Okay, so, on Tuesday night I got on a flight to Glasgow. In fact I’m sitting on the plane writing this right now. And now I’m not. The plane had access but I was busy doing other things to keep myself not bored. I can never sleep on planes. So right now I’m sitting in the guest bedroom of a friend’s place in Dunoon drinking Irn-Bru. It dawns on me most of you don’t know what Irn-Bru is. Irn-Bru is amazing, internet, and you’re really missing out. Also I really love the adverts.

Sorry internet. I know you were looking forward to those posts** and I’m going to see if I can’t crank out one or two while I’m here overseas. They will definitely be coming at some point, just not in the way I originally intended.

On that note, I’m off to go catch some Zs. And maybe eat some Pringles. What is it about Pringles that makes them so addictive? I have yet to meet someone who can stop themselves from eating the whole thing. Can you internet? Pfft, what am I saying? Of course you can’t. Pringles and Irn-Bru. Yep.

See you around, internet.

*And yet incredibly effective and true
**Okay, you probably weren’t, but I haven’t slept in nearly twenty-four hours and it’s rainy, so humour me here internet.

Happy Christmas everyone

That there is something I stumbled upon while looking for the Jeremy Brett version of the Blue Carbuncle (although Vasili Livanov remains my favorite Holmes and the 1968 Peter Cushing version is my favorite adaptation). The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle is, without a doubt, my favorite Sherlock Holmes story and I make a habit of both watching/listening to an adaptation and reading it every Christmas day.

If you have any interest in reading it for yourself, it can be read here, complete with original Sidney Paget illustrations. If you want to see my favorite adaptation, part one is here.

What's in a name?

On Thursday, Naughty Dog/Sony unveiled the first teaser for Uncharted 3. On Saturday, they rolled the first full trailer for Uncharted 3 at the VGA Awards. Sony had a big event on Sunday, which as far as just about the whole damn internet can gather is it’s more stuff on the new Uncharted (being that I’m writing this on Friday, I don’t know how that’s shaped out yet).

Now, the presence of a new Uncharted by itself is enough to really get people talking. They’re great games, and Uncharted 2 received massive acclaim, none of it undue. But there’s one thing about the game that set people speculating from the first teaser – the full title of the game.

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception.

And this, somehow or other, got my mind thinking about titles.

I suck at coming up with titles. In fact, I’d wager most people do. Or at least, they suck on their first couple go-rounds.

So, I’ve decided to run a series of posts about, yep, titles. From the overly long to the spoilerific to the old-fashioned to the sexy and the mysterious. What makes a title a good title vs. a bad one (and I realise this tends be very subjective)?

Titles, after all, are the second most important aspect of a book. Join me as we make like fools and rush in where angels fear to tread.