Encouragement, Inspiration, Writing
I’m sitting here alone. A writer in the wild. On a Wednesday morning I share a big wooden table with a group of writers. It is located in a yoga centre in a small side street in the old part of Amsterdam. Usually there are several of us scribbling on block pads or...
Encouragement, History, Inspiration, Writing
I’m not unemployed. It’s not true. In fact I’m constantly employed. I write. I make music. I run two bands. I do historical research and take courses in marketing. I maintain a website. I blog. I soak up every snippet of information on writing that I can find. I am a...
Encouragement, Inspiration, Music
In a couple of days the band will be returning to the recording studio for probably the last session this year. It’s mixing time! I have just been listening back to the first rough mixes of the recordings. We did them over six months ago during our first session in...
Encouragement, Inspiration, Writing
Mount Vesuvius cuts an omnipotent black profile in the darkening sky. Forked lightning flashes on either side of it. I am watching it all and hoping a bolt will strike the edge of the volcano’s crater, near the pinnacle of the mountain. It doesn’t. That would be...
Encouragement, Inspiration, Music
There was a time when I was afraid of the recording studio. I thought that it would show me up for my inadequacies. I thought I wasn’t good enough. I was wrong. Studios are friendly places. They are full of like-minded people trying to create something and you, as a...