A reading question from @floofpaldi …

#ScribesAndMakers 7.13

Out of pure curiosity, and only referring to the present, is there a genre you've been addicted to reading for a while? What have you been reading lately?

#WritingCommunity

I’m not really very good with genres, in that I don’t know how to describe what I like reading. Stories with music as a theme are often winners, and definitely what used to be called kitchen-sink dramas. Stories of ordinary people doing ordinary things appeal to me, so an author like Roddy Doyle will get me reading more and more. Sometimes I’ll go off on a non-fiction tangent, and books about music (again), birds and the natural world will hook me. Stephen Moss writes brilliantly about British nature.

The most recent novels I have read have been two by the playwright RCSherriff. The two I read were about the same family, between the wars (I think), with life just bumbling on. ‘A fortnight in September’ is about their family holiday, and it’s about five chapters before they even set off Next on my pile is the third novel, about a fictional manuscript. That’ll keep by entertained during the summer holidays!

#ScribesAndMakers 7.13 — Talk to me day. Today's featured creator is: John Hartley (@johnyNocash)

Out of pure curiosity, and only referring to the present, is there a genre you've been addicted to reading for a while? What have you been reading lately?

#ScribesAndMakers 7.12 — If you could visit a fictional world, would you? Which one?

I would. There are so many settings to choose from, though. Without context, it would have to be the world within Kaylie Smith's Wicked Games series. I love that time period and the characters are wickedly delicious (no pun intended).

#ScribesAndMakers 7.11 — Is art necessary, and why?

Credit: @vanellopemint

Is writing necessary? Of course.

Creativity, on any level, is a must for those who are artists, writers, comic creators, etc.

Referring to my stories, though, I do love having art. It isn't necessary, but I do love it. Art is a wonderful thing for stories. I'm always blown away when friends make art for me, for my stories, or even for my fanfiction work. It makes me so happy.

The mere idea that an author, like me, could inspire someone to create a bit of art themselves for a written piece (either standalone story, chapter story, or book series) is a beautiful thing.

#ScribesAndMakers 7.10 — How difficult would it be to continue your creative activities if you couldn't have your favourite beverage?

I can't have any water? That's okay, I'll just die of thirst, I suppose...

I neeeeed my drinks. I have AuDHD and I'm always reaching for something to sip at. It's a habit, but a good one. I stay hydrated that way. LOL.

Hi @Nisaa I’m glad you enjoyed what you heard!

( #ScribesAndMakers

I listened to one track from your "This is Not The End" album and really liked it! Sometimes authors give us playlists of music they listened to while writing, but not albums of songs they wrote themselves. I love that you have music to go with your book.

Did you write the book and songs at the same time? Will I be spoiled for the books if I listen to the whole album?)

There’s no spoilers in the rest of the album. All but the first and last tracks are instrumentals; I thought it might be handy to have a bit of leverage in my back pocket for when the big guns from Hollywood inevitably come knocking on my door (after all, Leavesden Studios where they filmed Harry Potter is ten minutes walk from my home)by having a soundtrack ready for the film adaptation

The book came first, in this instance, unlike ‘Searching For The Sound of Riduna’ mentioned elsewhere in these answers. I’ve written some short stories based on one or two of my songs in the past, too.

In reply to @sifaseven who asks these lovely questions:

#ScribesAndMakers #TTMD @johnyNocash

From a fellow writer/musician:

Is there an instrument that you'd like to learn how to play that you don't currently play? If so, what is it?

and

How do you balance practice time with your instruments with your writing time?

1. It would be nice to be able to play the piano properly. I can do wonky two fingered piano. And if I could drum I’d never be short of a band to join. That said, elder Nocash Jr would probably say I can’t even play the instruments I can play properly…

2. Practice? lol.
I played two half hour slots as the backing for one of the assistant heads at school who is a singer. We hadn’t played together since doing a festival over a month beforehand

Balancing time bough, it depends on which muse takes me. I’ll strum along to some songs sometimes in the evenings after work, other times I’ll work on whatever writing I’m doing. There’s no plan. Which may be quite telling…

Right, settle down in your seats for this answer to a query from

@saposcat

#ScribesAndMakers #TTMD

You more or less answered this in a post earlier this week, but I'll ask anyway. If nothing else, it may be a chance for those who missed the earlier post to hear about it.

Have you found the sound of Riduna yet?

So… this is probably the most complex combination of music and writing I have embarked upon so far.

My family-in-law have, for decades and generations, holidayed on a tiny island in the English Channel (pop 1800), although we’ve not been there now for ten years but that’s a different story.

One year, whilst camping - and bearing in mind there is NOTHING to do on the island - I started to imagine a fictional music scene on the island; band names, song titles, back stories. When we returned I dug out my studio and recorded a compilation album called ‘The Riduna Sound’, roping in the kids and Mrs Nocash in varying degrees of reluctance to add to the album. I then burned the album onto CDs which were sent it in the post to the rest of the family, with a fictional press release, and waited for the penny to drop. It took longer for some than others…

I then set about writing the story of someone chancing upon this CD, and embarking on a search for ‘The Riduna Sound’, and had half a dozen copies printed up, which we dropped through letter boxes on Christmas Eve. The book had too many in-jokes to be more widespread, so I re-edited it a couple of years ago.

The plan is to self-publish it in the next year or so, although whether I accompany it with the original CD or re-do that, or indeed something else, remains to be seen…

I also had a Twitter page for the record label, run by its fictional manager, and started a follow-up book based on his diaries. Maybe I’ll finish that one day.

But I’ll answer Walter’s question with another question: who says it was me who looking for the sound of Riduna…?

https://ridunarecords.bandcamp.com/

Answering @VampiresAndRobots

#ScribesAndMakers #TTMD
You're a teacher, which can be both the most rewarding and most emotionally taxing job. How does this influence your creativity? Is it an escape? Is it related at all?

The job is especially rewarding and emotionally taxing given that I work with learners with severe and profound learning difficulties. I always have done, and I have always been taken by the number of creative types who fall into this particular type of work. Some of our best teaching assistants have come from drama backgrounds, and I suppose the ability to separate the role from the person performing it must certainly have something to do with it. The creativity is certainly an escape from it, and maybe my work does fuel the creativity as well.

Are there any skills and techniques you’ve learnt in music that you discovered are transferable to your writing and helped improve it, and vice versa?

Bonus Q: what are you singing at a karaoke?

#ScribesAndMakers

Asks @Emmacox

1. I learned to be succinct with my choice of words in songwriting, I think, and also how words can flow together. I hope that has transferred to my writing. I like wordplay, but it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. I’m still very much learning the storytelling craft, so it’s interesting to see how I can interlink the two. I’m trying to write some songs for a story I’ve written based on my north-eastern ancestry and am finding that much harder to do than when I wrote a story based around some characters in songs.

2. Probably ‘Where’s Me Jumper’ by Sultans of Ping FC. It won’t matter if it goes horribly wrong…

Here’s a good one from @crcollins

Writer. Musician. Parent. Teacher. Photographer. Mower of lawns. How do you fit it all in? Do you have any time management tips? Are you an obsessive scheduler or do you let things flow?

#scribesandmakers #ttmd

I have no idea. I’m definitely not a scheduler, and letting things flow seems to be the only way. I generally (and unspokenly) rely on those around me to keep me on track. This is almost always unbeknownst to them, as I make a mental note of things they say (appointment on… going to visit…) or casually ask ‘oh when’s … or ‘did you say something about…’

And the above bits are only half of it.

As for time management tips, I can only go on what works for me at school: keep Mondays and Fridays as clear as possible, and also the first and last weeks of term. They can be used for emergencies

New in from @CA_Hawthorne …

#ScribesAndMakers 13
@johnyNocash

I did some digging and discovered that one of the bands on the list of those you like was The Beatles. I’ve been a big fan since I was a kid.

So, what’s your favorite Beatles album? Favorite Beatles song? Have any influenced your own music? Your storytelling?

Ohhh… that’s tough. Who’s your favourite child vibes here… the album I always fall back on is ‘Abbey Road’ which, considering every5ing going around the band at the time of recording, is really quite phenomenal. ‘Rubber Soul’ comes a close second.

Favourite song? Well, it depends on the mood, but as I’ll probably get disqualified for saying ‘The Long One’ ie the Abbey Road medley, I’ll throw in three contenders: ‘Baby’s In Black’ (the harmonies!), ‘She Said She Said’ (the guitars!) and ‘I Should Have Known Better’ (the memories of childhood it evokes!)

Any influence has just been the writing about the ordinary, and good, proper guitar pop music. I learned the guitar playing Beatles songs, so some of the chord progressions might have rubbed off. And I also learned to steer away from songs in Flat keys

Hello @willelm who I sometimes wave to over on BlueSky as well… he asks:

#ScribesAndMakers July13. Talk to me day. #TTMD

Today's featured creator is: @johnyNocash

You get to perform one song in front of tens of thousands of people, what do you choose and why?

Bloody hell, that’s a tough one. I had this exact same dilemma last weekend (although the crowd was a smattering of parents and staff at the school summer fayre, when home-John and school-John crossed over for the very first time)

I went for ‘Broken Down Lorry’, because its title is also the title of the album it appeared on, by the ‘band’ of the same name. It’s fun to play, has a sort of catchy chorus, I enjoy the wordplay of the lyrics and it has a nice little coda at the end.

https://youtube.com/shorts/i04JnHbHAMY?si=0bF7BSexEJhiONmt

On the other hand, mischievous me would be quite tempted to do a cover version of John Cage’s 4’ 33

#ScribesAndMakers #TTMD @johnyNocash
How would your life be different if your band "made it big" asks @saposcat

I’d be single, bitter and insufferable. I’d still be harping on about that bad review I got in 1998, and be contemplating a side project with Sting.

I’d also not have a problem getting a book deal…