tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post8896660208247481915..comments2024-03-26T23:41:10.319+00:00Comments on Authors Electric: I am the Ghost - Dennis HamleyKatherine Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17196712319655603442noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-78546350356582434662017-04-14T17:48:00.808+01:002017-04-14T17:48:00.808+01:00Thank you Dennis! NOW I understand not only what ...Thank you Dennis! NOW I understand not only what T S Eliot meant by the Objective Correlative, but why I too find O Whistle and I'll Come to You My Lad ultimately disappointing, much though I admire M R James.<br />This sounds a terrific story with the Great Unknown still to be revealed... why does someone who has such creative ideas not want to write them down himself?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-12243622534478271582017-04-14T13:18:34.968+01:002017-04-14T13:18:34.968+01:00Welcome to my world, Dennis. Very brave of you to ...Welcome to my world, Dennis. Very brave of you to start with a fictional project - much the hardest to get right, I always find. It's hard enough doing justice to the ideas in your own head, never mind those in someone else's. Everything comes down to the rapport between ghost and author in the end, which is often as much a matter of luck as judgement.Andrew Croftshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16101696875255886422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-245831424489018072017-04-14T12:00:43.347+01:002017-04-14T12:00:43.347+01:00Great to hear from you again, Dennis. And I'm ...Great to hear from you again, Dennis. And I'm well acquainted with what you describe - the detail added to a plot without thought which later turns out to be a carefully placed plot point. And the vital information you need to know which suddenly seems to come at you from every side, in every programme you turn on, every book you pick up.<br /><br />About Ragnar...Something you might be able to use. After Aelle's killed him, he thinks, 'Lumme, what have I done?' So he sends an extremely diplomatic mission to Denmark, to inform Ragnar's three sons of their father's unfortunate accident in the snake pit. The two youngest sons are furious, swearing revenge, blood and fury.<br /><br />The eldest sits on his father's throne, holding a spear and hears the messenger very calmly, speaking him fair and making some very cool arrangement about blood-payment for their father. (I think it's about a number of hides of English land, which seems a very small payment for a dead father and king.)<br /><br />After the messenger's gone, the younger sons turn on their elder brother. How could he be so calm, how could he fix such a paltry price?<br /><br />The eldest son then puts down his spear, revealing that his clenched fingers have bitten deep into the ash-wood shaft. He orders a fort built on his hides of English ground, where he lands his fleet when he brings the Great Danish Army to England. He takes Northumberland (which then included Cumbria) as his blood-price. H intends to take the whole of England, but Alfred happened.<br /><br />Susan Pricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07738737493756183909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-76796880333162472012017-04-14T11:47:39.524+01:002017-04-14T11:47:39.524+01:00Lazarus? Wasn't he the dude that Obama killed ...Lazarus? Wasn't he the dude that Obama killed with his health care bill but good old Trumpie brought back to life again?Jan Needlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15823078224282953782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-43076936683997415882017-04-14T10:32:38.974+01:002017-04-14T10:32:38.974+01:00What a pleasure it was to read this, Dennis. It op...What a pleasure it was to read this, Dennis. It opens up so many interesting points about the whole creative process. We've probably all experienced the sort of Eureka instants you describe, but you’ve identified so clearly the different forces and structures at work as a narrative tries to accommodate them. Two story-tellers, a free flow of ideas, new directions and discoveries, all feeding and stimulating one another – they make the job so exciting, don’t they? Thanks for a stimulating start to the day.<br />Bill Kirtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16345949773423764808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-43281527700671025682017-04-14T10:07:05.225+01:002017-04-14T10:07:05.225+01:00No, Jan, I have made a miraculous recovery, akin t...No, Jan, I have made a miraculous recovery, akin to that of Lazarus (you'll find out all about him in Wikipedia of course). Yes, actually being a ghost writer is hard work. I admire Andrew Crofts more than ever. And it still might not work! By the way, when I referred to a 'rickety structure', I meant my contribution, not Joe'sDennis Hamleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15781139870037634374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-70355660582155911722017-04-14T09:20:13.203+01:002017-04-14T09:20:13.203+01:00Bloody hell, Dennis - you're meant to be ill! ...Bloody hell, Dennis - you're meant to be ill! Fascinating story, and another new direction; you'll never stop surprising me. Being a ghost writer seems possibly harder than being a bog-standard writer, though. Good to mention Wikipedia. Surely the greatest reference library ever invented. I send them a cash contribution every time they ask.Jan Needlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15823078224282953782noreply@blogger.com