I love it when things like this happen...

In my new book I describe - amongst other things - a trip to Liverpool to play poker.

When I was making the trip I wasn't thinking it would one day be something I wrote about... it was just something I was doing for fun. One of the things I like about the process of writing is the way odd memories drip back into focus. I had a very clear memory of the walk from the train station to the hotel and I recall being struck by a pyramid shaped tomb in a graveyard. I describe it in the book as a 'show off's resting place for sure.'

Today, someone - @robdoylecouk - sent me a tweet with a link to this photo of the tomb by a flickr user TommyPatto:


Which has the following text accompanying it: "In which Mr.William McKenzie is entombed~seated at a table,with a winning hand of cards in his bony fingers....an inveterate gambler,it was said he bet,and lost,his soul in a game of poker with the devil...but,he reasoned,if he was never buried,Satan could not claim his prize....This is reputed to be one of the most haunted areas of the city.

I love discovering that the thing that had stayed in my memory since I made that poker trip is - allegedly - a poker tomb. My initial reaction was that I wished I'd known about the poker connection when I was writing the book... but actually, I quite like the fact that the connection has only just been made for me. Otherwise I don't think it would feel like a memory - more like a pre-researched "convenient" fact. I prefer the memory. And love the connection.

It's Father's Day

It's Father's Day today. Don't forget to send your old man a card.



Oh... and your Grandad. Don't forget to send your old-old man a card either. You know... everyone gets a card for Grandad on Father's Day don't they? Yeah. Of course they do. Nothing weird about that.


And don't forget Great-Grandad either. You must get your old-old-old man a card too.


When did this start happening? How have I missed it til now? What?

La-titude

Latitude, originally uploaded by Dave Gorman.

Unfortunately - due to unforeseen circumstances - I've had to pull out of Latitude.

It's genuinely my favourite festival in the land and I really wanted to be there, not just for my event but for all the great music.

And the odd things you find in the woods.

And the pink sheep.

Unfortunately, any excuse is going to sound a bit mealy mouthed because I'm going to be in LA.

It's for a TV show I'm working on but wasn't expecting to be doing on these dates.

'Yeah, yeah,' I hear you say... 'you're dumping a tent for the glamour of an LA hotel.'

I can only apologise. And promise that I will pretend to queue for 40 minutes each morning in my flip flops before taking a cold shower.

Besides, the festival line up is amazing! I really do wish I could be there. Go! Enjoy!

Non-Fiction

I'm really chuffed with the reaction to the book so far. Thanks to all who've written/emailed/tweeted etc.

I'm especially pleased to say that everyone I've heard from who's in the book has - so far - been happy with it. With non-fiction I think there's a real responsibility to discuss the people you meet fairly and they seem to think that's what I've done so far.

I always do as much Q&A at the readings as I can - because I want people to feel like they found out what they want to know rather than what I want to tell them - and also because it makes them feel less like a sales pitch (even though, I obviously do want folks to buy the book) - and on Monday in Nottingham I was asked a couple of questions that related to this side of non-fiction writing.

Unusually there were eight people amongst the crowd who are also within the book's pages. One of them is a friend of mine who appears in the acknowledgements because he offered me a lot of advice while I was writing but seven of them are a part of the story one way or another. There were three sock-golfers, two Cluedo-ers, one Guess-Who-er and a swearing vicar. (And a partridge in a pear tree (© @ash_sportygeek)

It added something to the reading having so much evidence of the tale's veracity in the room and added something to the Q&A too. Very satisfying.

Meanwhile in Stafford on Tuesday I just discovered a distant cousin I didn't know I had.

What I hope a graph of the book sales looks like

Yesterday...

... was publication day.


I'm enjoying the readings.


I'll be doing one in Bath tonight (June 3) and then:
Nottingham on June 6,
Stafford on June 7
Manchester on June 9
Newcastle on June 10
Leeds on June 15

and then at Latitude some time between July 14 and 17.








See Live Dates for more details.
And of course, you can buy a copy here.

Tales From The Crypt

Absolute Radio have got a bit of a thing for putting live music in unusual venues but I think they excelled themselves on Thursday night when they organised for Elbow to play in the crypt of St Paul's cathedral.










It was the first gig of its kind in the venue and the band did an amazing job of tailoring what they do to suit.

It was pretty darned special.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Pete and Guy before the gig. (Have I mentioned that I love my job?)














There's a video of our interview here and excerpts from it will be appearing on my show on Sunday, June 5th (I'm on between 10am and 12 noon) and the gig will be broadcast on the station that night from 7pm.

A book and tour RAQ.

I think I've probably taken a similar picture to this for every book I've written. You have to really. Because a stack of a thousand copies just looks too weird not to.

The first time you see a bound copy of a book you've written it's exciting. It's hard to believe it's real until then. But then it's exciting all over again when you see a thousand of them all in one place. It's definitely real then.

This is how they look, stacked up, ready to be signed. They bring at least four people in to help with the process forming a small production line.

As you work through the pile someone will be pushing fresh copies up to your end of the table. Someone else moves a fresh book under your nose, someone else moves the signed copies out of the way and someone else boxes them up. It would take three or four times as long if they just left you in a room with a thousand books. Open a book on the wrong page. Flick to the right page. Sign it. Move it. Pick up another. Do that ten times. Then stop to move the ten you've signed out of the way to make room for the next lot and to move the next lot within reach and so on and so on. Not only do they make it into a quicker process, it also makes the room a kind of chatty place and that makes it feel quicker too.

My signature has morphed over the years. It isn't especially legible at the best of times - in my head it's my initials, but on the page it's not always that clear - but if you end up buying any of number 850, 851 or 852 from this day; my apologies. I was cramping up around then. We had a quick break before doing the others.

I mentioned on twitter that I was doing a stock-signing and several people asked me whether the signed copies were to go with the free-bowling offer I mentioned in my last post. They're not.

Answering that question then led to several people asking me where they were destined for and as I've had a lot of questions lately about the autumn tour and the imminent book release I figured it might be worth posting a sort of FAQ that deals with the recurring questions I've been asked of late. More a Recently Asked Questions than a Frequently Asked Questions... but you get the idea.

I know these sort of things can appear indulgent or self-important to people who weren't asking these questions... so apologies for that. But enough people are asking to make it seem useful for some. Here goes.

What's going to happen to the 1000 books you signed?
I don't know. I expect they'll be heading to various shops. But if I find out about any offers I'll blog them and tweet them.

Can I order a signed copy?
Yes you can. I'm doing a load of readings to promote the book during the first couple of weeks. The details of where and when are on the live dates page of my site. If you come along to any of those readings you'll be able to buy a copy and obviously I'll be happy to sign it. But even if you can't attend, if you contact any of those shops in advance they're normally more than happy to arrange one for you. They are shops after all!

Are the book and the autumn tour about the same thing? Will one be a spoiler for the other?
No they're not. One isn't a version of the other. They're completely separate entities. The stand-up show I'll tour in October/November is just that: a stand-up show. There isn't an overriding theme to it and it isn't one of the more theatrical story telling shows I've done in the past.

What is going to be in the stand-up show?
I can't tell you for sure. I haven't finished writing it yet. Nobody I know writes a show at their desk then takes it all out live for the first time for night one of a tour. They evolve. With the last tour I was for the most part able to try material out in small clubs round and about. But in the second half of the show there was a chunk of material that was too techy for that and I've found myself wanting to experiment more with that sort of thing. Which is why I set up my monthly night at Hoxton Hall. I've really enjoyed those gigs new material has been shaping up nicely. But there are a few to go between now and the start of the tour and each one is a chance for me to play with new things that might or might not make the cut.

What's the book about then?
It's about 340 pages. Badum tish. More accurately, it's about this.

Why do some shops charge for the book reading and others don't?
The book readings are organised by my publisher. I don't get paid for doing them. I do them because they're fun and I want the book to do well. Some shops can't accommodate a reading so they have to hire a venue. Some shops give a glass of wine. Some charge a small amount but make it redeemable against the price of the book. It's about covering their costs.

Why aren't you doing a gig near me?
I don't book venues, they book me. It might be that they didn't want the show. It might be that they did but didn't have any dates available which worked for me. I don't know more than that. But I don't sit with a map crossing out towns that I don't like any more than I'm playing towns because I do like them. It's a bit more pragmatic than that I'm afraid.