#petitprance

'Polonius: "What do you read, my lord?"

Hamlet: "words, words, words."

- Willy Shakes, Hamlet, 2.2.

It's the final 10 days of the Kickstarter to raise money to make my new book. Thank you to each of you who has pre-ordered the Stories for Strangers vol. 2.. Only cos of the support of 128 kind people is it now possible to print this book.

Below is a summary of my LIFE PLAN [drumroll] for the next year.

Plans Plans Plans

I've been planning the next 18 months, using what I've learnt over the past three years, about where to work in the street when, when to take care of myself and go into retreat. I want to keep on making stories on the street, keep on travelling to new and exciting environments, and keep spreading positive stories. But, like, more.

The answer is: BOOKS.

I hope to print four books this autumn in a major run of production that will create enough stock for me to sell as I travel. I need to generate more revenue to keep me better buoyant in 2018.

Alongside Stories for Strangers vol. 2., I hope to re-run Stories While They Waited, now that the first edition is sold out. I hope also to make 400 copies of Life Is Weird Enough, and Octopus's Garden. Both are longer tales that I've written. One is fictional. The other, incredible. I want to produce more patches, and to have a marketing budget that allows me to print demo pamphlets that can be left in public spaces for people to read.

All of that involves fabulous illustrators, designers, proof readers and printers. All of that production requires funding. So I've made a plan. It costs £11k. This Kickstarter has helped me raise £3k so far, which will really help towards that. And obviously the money raised for Stories for Strangers vol. 2. is ring-fenced for its production (yes I can converse diplomatic ;) ). I'm exploring arts funding and other possibilities for raising the cash without banks. I don't like banks.

Spreading the word about Stories While They Waited 2 in these last 10 days would be appreciated. Only 10 days left EVER to get a hardback copy, to get the A2 poster, etc ;)

Onward Travel

From September until January I'll be in Glasgow to work on the book production. I hope to get a weekly residency in a bar or cafe to write stories for strangers, and not sit in the Scottish rain. I want to do more public readings, I'm having fun with those for the first time. I hope to be able to drive the van to Portugal again for next Spring, and travel back to make a European tour of cities and festivals - this time packing copies of books so people can buy them (all this summer I've been out of stock, and it's been ridiculous, the amount of people who want to buy books, and having to tell each I don't have any copies for sale. And they look at me like I'm an idiot.)

Oot Ma Head

There are two major stories cooped up in my head and waiting to get written. There are a flotilla of installments about Kurt Bikers, my Tin-Tin-esque international gambler character, yet to be written. I need to do a bunch of archival work on the past 2 years of street stories. Including collating the third stories while they waited, which I've been working on for a year already, and will be working on for at least 18 months more. But this is all undone. But I hope in the next year, to work through a lot of it, especially the major stories.

So, there you have my hopes. I hope, I hope, I hope. So now you know too.

Can You Get There From Here?

Thank you for your interest. I'm making this life that has no standard career progression or repeatable formulas. I have not had money for years now, I have no expectation of owning a house, or anything really. I thoroughly enjoy this, i still have so much to learn about stories. I am running my own business. Who wud'va thunk that three years ago when, at tether's end, I bought a typewriter.

Thanks for the love and constant good things, hope that you're shining,

luke

I'm looking forward to present my new book, Stories for Strangers vol. 2., on July 23rd.

It will be launched on kickstarter, with hope to gain enough orders to make it real.

This project has been in the pipeline for a year now. I'm so excited to release it and give it the opportunity to become real.

My 1st try at recording an audiobook: 20 minutes of gentle nonsense about the world's most prolific gambler, Kurt Bickers, watching a race in a desert. U can download the mp3 from soundcloud and take my voice on walkabout with you too :)

Life Is Weird Enough

!*!*!*!*Nuuu Zine*!*!*!*!

This zine is stories inside stories about stories within a story.  This is a story that happened to me, or around me, or a story in which i was in some parts of the orbit.  The zine contains five different stories, which weave around each other.  Revolving around fate, consumerism, misery, miracles and names. 

This zine's lovingly made from four different types of paper, hand cut and machine stitched.  I've jazzied the jackets with the top players of my pencil case. 

Diary, '16 APR.