Pippa Roberts: About Fabien Oefner - Projects that Bring Together Art and Science

Hi everyone,

I'm sorry that I have been gone for a while. I've been writing - but travelling a lot. I'm now paying Gill to type my scripts and stories, as I've suddenly realised that the brake on my work is actually the amount of time it takes me to type something. (I'm only a self taught typist, and could be much faster.) I also have Pauline, managing my admin, and work is coming in quite steadily. I think I'm the sort of person who works well as part of a team, so these arrangements suit me.

As I'm writing plays and stories with real science in them I am naturally very interested in any other projects that bring together art and science. A new TED talk has been posted today, that brings them together in the most stunning way. Photographer, Fabien Oefner, takes photos of crystals interacting with sound waves; paint mixing with magnetic liquid, and whisky catching fire - though he stops after one demo as he says a lot of people would argue he should be drinking the whisky. He's fun. :D The video is well worth watching. Have a look at:

http://on.ted.com/oefner

Now, I'd better get back to work, or maybe some serious relaxation. I had an incredibly long day yesterday - and the day before (6.30am to 8.30pm) travelling around on public transport, chasing poetry events in little villages and towns. :D) They've been a great couple of days, but I have to admit to being slightly tired!

See you all again soon,

Pippa x

PIPPA ROBERTS - INVESTIGATION:HAUNTED HOUSE, AND A LOT OF ADMIN WORK


Hi everyone,

Time for some more news from me. I am actually doing slightly dull stuff at present and I was ill for most of last week... perhaps a result of too much admin work and not enough writing! It's funny, the only thing I seem to thrive on is writing.

You probably don't want to hear a lot about Fractal here, or you'd be in the Fractal blog, but I'll just say that I have been working with Emma to organise a lot of our past correspondence, and put out advertisements about our books, and adverts about my talks, readings, etc. I'm finally getting the nack of making better blogs (watch this space, it can only get better. :D) Here are the results of that work:

Stacey at The Works did the actual design, and very well too!

I have also been working on my final final final revision of Investigation: Haunted House (novel). I have spent so long on it it's unbelievable, but the problem is that the structure is really not applicable to the content... or do I mean that the content is not really applicable to the form... yes, the second, I think. :D I am still not satisfied, and I should just let it go, as I know I never will be.

The moral of this for me is that I must never think something's a bad idea but I can just run it off quickly to make some money. I'm like a dog with a bone. If there is a way of making it work I will 'sure as hell find it', but if there isn't I'm capable of spending a lifetime trying to achieve the impossible. This does NOT apply to the play of Investigation: Haunted House, by the way. I'm 'pretty damn pleased' with that. (How interesting, my creative daemon seems to be speaking with a cowboy accent, or something, tonight. Perhaps we should be writing about the Wild West? :D)

Oh dear, we writers are so darn wacky. I now have to go and prepare Miz Margenon's Jungle, so that a short extract can be put on on Thursday week in Cheltenham Studio theatre (and by short I mean very short! Three minutes or so.) Being me I'd like to finish the whole thing before then. :D

See you all soon,

Pippa

Pippa Roberts, Cheltenham EFFICIENCY, TIDINESS AND WRITING: Working Fast

Hi everyone,

Another quick update... I've had a wonderful holiday on the Gower. I stayed in Port Eynon and did some of the coastal walk, and tried to swim in the sea. The waves were huge and I was pretty exhausted, so I didn't stay in for too long, but it was really lovely. My mother came to the rescue, lending me money for food. It's rather horrible at my age to have to borrow from my mum, but maybe someone will pay me sometime soon. :/ (Incidentally I noticed that Fractal Publishing's website linked to this, and I should make it quite clear that I own Fractal and none of the problems I've described relate to them! It is confusing for people but there are two strands to my work. I write for other people, publish other people, and never publish my own work.)

I've come back to the end of my spring clean. Every admin paper in my house is being filed on my computer, or the Internet (Google, goodreads etc). It's a lot of hassle, but it will make me more efficient, and that'll make me even faster. I don't believe the myth about creative genius being chaotic. I am extremely organised, although I have to admit that things usually get out of control when I'm working on a big project! :D

People often ask me how I can work so fast, and the answer is very simple. Firstly I spend a huge amount of time reading and thinking before I begin anything. Secondly I (more or less) know where to lay my hands on any research I need.

This system is far from infallible as I have a shocking memory, but, I try...

I'm actually falling asleep on my feet, so I'd better say goodnight to you all. I'm hoping to go to sleep and dream about beautiful sunlit bays, and lovely people who, if they were not friends before, are likely to become friends now! (Thanks to all of you for sharing a brilliant holiday, if you are reading this.)

I think I'll sleep well.

Pippa :)xx