Clare Fisher's The City in my Head

Philistine author Clare Fisher is in the midst of publishing a series of sharp, funny and haunting stories called The City in my Head, each tale focussing on a different area of London. In the words of the author, this is a "fictional map".  

The stories can be read here, courtesy of Notes From the Underground.  

Follow Clare on Twitter: @Clawclam 

Cosmic Dust

Take a look at this very interesting article from the website of Imperial College London. 

"Cosmic dust is everywhere, it is on the streets, in our homes, even on our clothes. Each one of us is never more than a few feet from a dust particle from space, tiny pieces of rocks that could be from the moon, asteroids, comets, even Jupiter. Cosmic dust is important since these tiny pieces of rock allow us to study distant objects in our solar system without the multi-billion dollar price tag of a space mission. Despite the ubiquitous abundance of cosmic dust, however, it is difficult to know exactly where in space these little particles are from..."

Particle sizes

Not the sort of thing you'd expect to see on a literature / arts-based blog, but if you've ever wondered what size an oxygen particle is in relation to the eye of a needle, this is for you...

Particle	Particle Size (microns)
one inch	25400
dot (.)	615
Eye of a Needle	1230
Glass Wool	1000
Spanish Moss Pollen	150 - 750
Beach Sand	100 - 10000
Mist	70 - 350
Fertilizer	10 - 1000
Pollens	10 - 1000
Cayenne Pepper	15 - 1000
Textile Fibers	10 - 1000
Fiberglass Insulation	1 - 1000
Grain Dusts	5 - 1000
Human Hair	40 - 300
Human Hair	60 - 600
Dust Mites	100 - 300
Saw Dust	30 - 600
Ground Limestone	10 - 1000
Tea Dust	8 - 300
Coffee	5 - 400
Bone Dust	3 - 300
Hair	5 - 200
Cement Dust	3 - 100
Ginger	25 - 40
Mold Spores	10 - 30
Starches	3 - 100
Red Blood Cells	5 - 10
Mold	3 - 12
Mustard	6 - 10
Antiperspirant	6 - 10
Textile Dust	6 - 20
Gelatin	5 - 90
Spider web	2 - 3
Spores	3 - 40
Combustion-related - motor vehicles, wood burning, open burning, industrial processes	up to 2.5
Fly Ash	1 - 1000
Milled Flour, Milled Corn	1 - 100
Coal Dust	1 - 100
Iron Dust	4 - 20
Smoke from Synthetic Materials	1 - 50
Lead Dust	2
Face Powder	0.1 - 30
Talcum Dust	0.5 - 50
Asbestos	0.7 - 90
Calcium Zinc Dust	0.7 - 20
Paint Pigments	0.1 - 5
Auto and Car Emission	1 - 150
Metallurgical Dust	0.1 - 1000
Metallurgical Fumes	0.1 - 1000
Clay	0.1 - 50
Humidifier	0.9 - 3
Copier Toner	0.5 - 15
Liquid Droplets	0.5 - 5
Insecticide Dusts	0.5 - 10
Anthrax	1 - 5
Yeast Cells	1 - 50
Carbon Black Dust	0.2 - 10
Atmospheric Dust	0.001 - 40
Smoldering or Flaming Cooking Oil	0.03 - 0.9
Corn Starch	0.1 - 0.8
Sea Salt	0.035 - 0.5
Bacteria	0.3 - 60
Bromine	0.1 - 0.7
Lead	0.1 - 0.7
Radioactive Fallout	0.1 - 10
Rosin Smoke	0.01 - 1
Combustion	0.01 - 0.1
Smoke from Natural Materials	0.01 - 0.1
Burning Wood	0.2 - 3
Coal Flue Gas	0.08 - 0.2
Oil Smoke	0.03 - 1
Tobacco Smoke	0.01 - 4
Viruses	0.005 - 0.3
Typical Atmospheric Dust	0.001 to 30
Sugars	0.0008 - 0.005
Pesticides & Herbicides	0.001
Carbon Dioxide	0.00065
Oxygen	0.0005

Source: http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/particle-sizes-d_934.html 

James Hand - interview

James Hand interviewed by Frank Burton 

James's novella, Mitosis, is available to download for free here. 

What would you say is the appeal of the second person narrative?  

I wanted to get inside the reader's head, like really coerce them into thinking thoughts they often push away, emotions that might frighten them, perceptions that might threaten their existing worldview/reality. I don't know how successful I was in fulfilling these intentions.

How did you decide on the title "Mitosis," and what would you say is its significance? 

I wanted to highlight an awareness of mortality, and, possibly more importantly, the beauty of our temporal lives, like that we're actually fucking alive.

How would you describe your writing process? 

I wrote "Mitosis" in a 24 hour period and spent more time editing and working on it. I wrote it maniacally, like I'd write 1000 words in a short period, suddenly stop then start again later. I don't think I have a concrete, repeated writing process. I usually write when I feel overwhelmed, or am "coming down."

Who are your influences?

I have a hard time thinking of influences; I mainly view them as subconscious. Authors I read before and after writing "Mitosis" include Richard Yates, Lorrie Moore, Sam Pink, Noah Cicero, Tao Lin, Brandon Scott Gorrell, Bret Easton Ellis, and others. I had a reading journal for a while but stopped. I think the one-sentence paragraph style was most influences by Noah Cicero and Sam Pink, and from when I read James Frey's books in elementary school (that seems kind of fucked)

How do you feel about non-profit publishing? 

I like non-profit publishing. I don't know much about publishing, though. I think non-profit publishers like Philistine Press offer a great platform for established and emerging authors to reach an audience. I feel interested in pursuing "work" in publishing, I'd like to learn more, definitely.

Are you working on anything new at the moment? 

Yeah, I'm always writing. I write mostly poetry. I put together a collection which, reading again, I feel is shit and needs lots of work. I have tons of poems I think I could possibly sift through to form a collection or chapbook or something. I just wrote a short story with a polar style to "Mitosis," and might work on more stylistically-similar stories. I don't know. I think I want a book in print eventually, that'd feel great for a while, I think.

Two new ebooks - Dead Letter Office by Anonymous and Pervert by Mr If

Two new ebooks, launched as part of the Edinburgh eBook Festival 2013.

Both books are available to download for free from http://philistinepress.com. 

In the third part of Mr If’s Entertainment Trilogy, the legendary author’s tales of sexual excess are drawn to an extraordinary conclusion. 

Skint, rejected and desperate, our pseudonymous protagonist embarks on a trek across small-town England, on what turns out to be a tough mission to cure his “adultery addiction”.

Download here. 

Dead Letter Office is a bleak tale of lost love told through a series of unsent letters. 

Download / read online here. 

The Edinburgh eBook Festival has begun

Here it is: The Edinburgh eBook Festival 2013 launched today with lots of great stuff online already, including this very interesting (and rather depressing) article by Catherine Czerkawska and the start of festival curator Cally Phillips' Drama Residency. 

Very happy to have had the opportunity to contribute to this event.  More on that shortly...

Byron Vincent - Alchemy in Nowhere Town

Hot water as defined by a coffee machine

"A portion controlled hot water selection." 

AKA "hot water". 

Konundrum Engine

A quick shout out to the excellent online journal, Konundrum Engine.  In their own words: 

Konundrum Engine Literary Review is an online journal based in New York, NY. All we really want to do is make you happy. We like stories and words, and hope that's why you're here, because if you want a soda and a fried grouper sandwich, we don't do that, although some of us are really proficient chefs, and would love to cook you a nice meal, if we like you. We publish a lot of things. We exist to rock the joint.

Roanna Rahman

Some great words and artwork here: http://roannarahman.com  

The Dream People

In their own words:

The Dream People offers an alternative to the maelstrom of blasé writing that overpopulates the aqueducts. Ours is a mirage incited by the thirst for a fresh approach, a slip inside the cracks between what we are told is acceptable, a new (ir)reality that defies definition. We hope to provide authors & readers alike with an oasis in the cultural desert that surrounds us. Join us for a dance through the palatial ruins of conformity & discover for yourself that its pillars support nothing at all ...

http://www.dreampeople.org

Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast

The second series of Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre podcast finished the other day. Genius. It's here: 

http://www.comedy.co.uk/podcasts/richard_herring_lst_podcast/