Monkey see, monkey do

It's good to see Leo teaching his baby sister something really useful...

Do you need More Space?

Since I started casually Tweeting on the progress of my very far from extraordinary loft conversion, I've been surprised at the volume of inquiries and interest from loft-focused strangers. This is not a property blog. It's supposed to be about books and writing: but the mention of having builders in the house seems to tap into a vein of angst that runs deep through the (mostly London) population. Perhaps the costs involved in moving house are now so high that almost everyone who owns one is wondering how to make the best of their property footprint, rather than forking over loads of money in stamp duty and assorted fees.
Anyway, what people seem to want to know is this: which outfit have I used for my conversion, and are they any good? Do they deliver what they promise? Have I felt myself to be in good hands? Or has the whole process been bewildering, stressful and disappointing? There is certainly a legion of eager providers/contractors, armed with glossy brochures; the difficulty is knowing which ones to trust.
I've pretty much dodged these polite inquiries so far, on the grounds that my job is not finished (actually it's quite long way from being finished, although the work on site has pretty much dwindled to one bloke and a box of nails); but I promise I will report soon.The company I've used advertises a lot in the London area. If you live in SW anything, you've probably seen their goldfish-sporting Fiats darting from job to job. They're called MoreSpace (or occasionally I Need More Space; or, confusingly, Loft Rooms). I've kept a detailed record of the whole encounter, which I can say right now, on working day 47 of the build, has been an education.
None of this is quite the stuff of novels. But that's not to say there haven't been moments of drama. Whether that drama is closest to comedy, tragedy or the courtroom variety will soon be made plain.

Christmas under construction

Building works, complicated by the strange lay-out of our house, have been going on around us since late November. With noise and dirt and endless consultations with my Albanian builders, plumbers and electricians, this has not been a very productive time work-wise. Still, at least the roof is now finished, finally freeing us from the nightly dread of indoor rain, in spite of the fact that there are now holes of various sizes all over the building (several of which I found myself forlornly plugging with old champagne corks...)

With luck things should have returned to normal by the end of January, and then I'll be able to get back to writing and research. In the meantime it is nice to receive updates on the progress of other work-related projects, even if I'm not actually involved in the creating. In that vein, I just received this short video taken at technical rehearsals in Rotterdam for the one-woman drama based on The Einstein Girl. Apparently the music, which I rather like, is used in the show.

Two views of The Valley

Hot from the design department at Vintage Books, comes some new concept artwork for The Valley of Unknowing. It makes for quite a contrast from the previous attempt (see below), and I've given it the thumbs up.Something like this will go on the bound proofs, and doubtless there will be more tweaks before the final version appears on the first edition.

I don't think the designers had an easy time with this one. 1980s East Germany was a place of many arresting images, but the fashions were atrocious and the backdrops either soulless or decaying. I like to think The Valley of Unknowing is quite a vibrant story (love, sex, death and plumbing - all play a part), and that's hard to convey in such an apparently gloomy setting. I sent over a disk crammed with 'inspirational' images, but I was never confident they would help. All-in-all, I think this is a good solution: the general feel of the image strikes me as Middle European (or at least European), and there is plenty of blood pumping through the deep red of the title.

As for the shout line, that too is up-for-grabs. In the end, we may not use one, relying instead on a past review or an endorsement. That would be my preference, because it would effectively kill two birds with one stone.

An (almost) exclusive preview...

This is the first cut of the video trailer for The Valley of Unknowing. The cover shown at the end is not the one Harvill Secker are actually planning to use. So we'll put the final artwork in as soon as it's ready. That aside, this is pretty much the finished product, bar the odd bit of enhancing and tweaking on some of the stills.

This video took very little time to make, unlike the last one. I am getting quite adept at splicing music, and this time there was no live footage to shoot.The edit was done on an Apple Mac using iMovie software - which, I have to say, is far from ideal, being a "time-based" system, rather than a "linear" one (like Final Cut or Adobe's Premier). This really makes a difference when you're trying to cut precisely to music. On the other hand iMovie has some very nice bells and whistles, exports with ease, and usually comes free with the computer, as opposed to costing hundreds of pounds. So you can't really complain.

By the way, if you happen to be in Germany, you may have to download this video from the TrailerSpy web site. The download takes slightly longer, but at least there are no annoying pop-up ads to contend with.

http://www.trailerspy.com/trailer/15837/THE-VALLEY-OF-UNKNOWING

PS - I owe a big thank you to Derya, our multi-talented German au pair, who supplied the computer and the skills to work it.

The Einstein Girl incarnate

Starting on November 25^th, a one-woman play based on The Einstein Girl (or to be more precise Het Einstein Meisje, its Dutch incarnation) begins touring around the Netherlands, starting in Maastricht. The show is written and performed by an up-and-coming Dutch actress called Annemarie Hagenaar (see above and below), and directed by Sylvia Weening.

I haven’t seen the show, but there is talk of having it translated into English for performance in the UK and beyond. I hope that happens, because the video trailer on her web site looks intriguing (http://www.annemariehagenaars.nl/). Apparently Ms Hagenaars travelled to Berlin to research the role, and sought out many of the locations in the story. It’s wonderful to see such enthusiasm, and I hope her show is a great success.

In any event, I can say that Annemarie represents the first living embodiment of The Einstein Girl’s eponymous heroine, even if she does not turn out to be the last.