So we are now the owners of a motorhome, kind of – she was called Bunty von Burstner. Unfortunately our first planned two week trip was cut short and ‘she’ is back with the dealer as ‘she’ kept going ‘fawlty’ – if she comes back next week, we are renaming her Basil as a result!
This blog was to go live while we were on our first jaunt – two or so weeks around the Cotswolds and Welsh Borders. It’s a reminder that, in life, there is no route, no plan, no need to get anywhere at anytime. Our ‘road’ has taken us back at base, awaiting news Basil has been repaired. Words have been had with the dealer and we are paying attention some other issues at home that required some TLC.
On a more positive note, seven of twelve short stories of the Soulwaves Prequel/Sequel have now been written that have gone many places already in space and time. This leaves the door open to make the next five go to even wilder places still.
Musically too, the synths will be playing very much a background role and the guitar coming to the fore – watch and listen to this space to see what emerges in the next blog.
Last Moonth’s Output
So this last moonth is one where I was aiming to slow down, what with the new motorhome, a few day trips out and all that !
But not only did I write those seven short stories for the Soulwaves prequel/sequel but I also created two more ambient tracks, one guided meditation, an off-the-wall podcast and published two audiobooks from the archive. My audiobooks now have their own playlist.
Incidentally, the ambient tracks now number 13 and the whole playlist is over 3 hours long and where I aimed to be at the end of 2020. Some good has come from the lock down!
Slowing down is obviously the new speeding up.
Voiding Karma
by Tom Evans | The Soul-full Path
The Great Attractor
by Tom Evans | Soulwaves
Extraction
by Tom Evans | Soulwaves
Talking Loud and Clear
I’ve also been blessed with some amazing conversations this past moonth …
So assuming we get back on the road with Basil, I plan to use my trusty iPad for writing the next 2 or 3 stories and my guitar for recording melodies to go on top of new ambient layers – hopefully all inspired by the change of location leading to a change of perspective.
One of these new perspectives is to use classical tracks slowed down as the ambient layer provided by a great site called Chordify which allows the MIDI file to be downloaded – a new creative boost …
… also wondering how weird and way out I can make the remaining short stories !
I am so honoured that author and poet Christine Miller invited me, together with a hand picked group of British authors, to take part in this great initiative.
It’s ‘A Very British Blog Tour’ which visits and supports the websites of some authors who are dedicated to turning out some of the finest books available in Britain today.
Each author named at the bottom of the page has asked been asked the same questions, but the answers will obviously all be different. You simply click on the author’s name below to see how they have answered the same question.
By the way, we British have certain conventions, traditions and procedures that are expected. There is a dress code in the reading of this British blog and you are expected to comply with it. For example…
Now then, let us proceed in an orderly fashion. As you know, we are all very boring and staid in Britain, aren’t we?
Well, there’s a myth about the British and your starter for ten is – stuffy, class conscious, boring, staid! But is this still relevant in today’s world? Let’s find out from our wonderful writers what they feel about it.
So, without further ado, here are the questions and answers from:
THE VERY BRITISH WRITER: Tom Evans
Q. Where were you born and where do you live at the moment?
A. I was born in Moss Side in Manchester when it resembled the opening titles of Coronation Street. I now live in the Surrey Hills with my life partner and two dogs who take me for a walk whenever they detect I am need of inspiration.
Q. Have you always lived and worked in Britain or are you based elsewhere at the moment?
A. Apart from loads of business travel during my early career in broadcasting, I’ve always been here.
Q. Which is your favourite part of Britain?
A. The south escarpments of the North Downs of Surrey looking towards the South Downs. This is handy as they are a mile or so from my house.
Q. Have you ‘highlighted’ or ‘showcased’ any particular part of Britain in your books? For example, a town or city; a county, a monument or some well-known place or event?
A. As most of my books are non-fiction, geography of anything but the mind doesn’t feature. My first ever book of poetry, 100 Years of Ermintrude, however did include these two stanzas:
“Brian I’ve decided has got to go I’ll miss his flat & friends in Pimlico”
“I never thought I’d ever live in Tring A mother of two, now there’s a thing”
p.s. I’ve never lived in either place myself, been a mother of two or had a boyfriend called Brian!
Q. There is an illusion – or myth if you wish – about British people that I would like you to discuss. Many see the ‘Brits’ as ‘stiff upper lip’. Is that correct?
A. I see British people mostly as courageous innovators who are brilliant in both the arts and sciences but who also possess a keen sense of humour and healthy level of self-depreciation. In my opinion, any lack of flexibility in the upper lip is a stereotype which is best confined to history books and films about the various wars.
Q. Do any of the characters in your books carry the ‘stiff upper lip’? Or are they all ‘British Bulldog’ and unique in their own way?
A. Ermintrude was (or is) indomitable.
Q. Tell us about one of your recent books?
A. I wrote and published my latest book, This We Know, in less than three weeks. I didn’t plan to write it, it just happened. It is a meme exploring what we know, what we don’t know and what world we could know. I’m in discussions about making it into a documentary and would love to interview people about the world they would like to know.
Q. What are you currently working on?
A. I have started writing the third in a trilogy which takes esoteric and arcane knowledge and makes it exoteric and contempory. The first two books explored the meanings behind the Major and Minor Arcana of the Tarot. This book with the working title of Leaving Cubeland will explore and explain two glyphs, The Tree of Life and the Cube of Space.
Q. How do you spend your leisure time?
A. As I love the ’work’ I do, I don’t switch between one mode and another. Neither do I ’spend my time’ as such – if anything I bend, shape and morph it into intriguing shapes. I just love riding at 66,000 miles an hour on Spaceship Earth.
Q. Do you write for a local audience or a global audience?
A. Definitely global and any passing aliens who tune in when they are flying past.
I coined the word flought as a contraction of Flavours of Thought.
Retrospectively, I’ve made it a new noun and given it some definitions …
Flought : noun
1. the flavour of a thought
2. the flow of a thought
3. a flood of thoughts
a flurry of thought
the fluency of our thoughts
the flourish of a thought
a fluorescence of thought – aka a light bulb moment
Hear about the background and philosophies in my new book with me in conversation with Christine Miller …
So we are now the owners of a motorhome, kind of – she was called Bunty von Burstner. Unfortunately our first planned two week trip was cut short and ‘she’ is back with the dealer as ‘she’ kept going ‘fawlty’ – if she comes back next week, we are renaming her Basil as a result!
Last Moonth’s Output
What’s Happening Next Moonth?
I am really thrilled that my new book, This We Know is seeding new thoughts and forming a new movement.
I coined the word flought as a contraction of Flavours of Thought.