The Willgate saga climaxes

It started when Keef went on about the small size of Mick's penis in his entertaining autobiography, Life. Throughout the book Keef referred to Mick as Lady Mick and Princess Jagger and this caused a rift in their already strained relationship. Mick, he of the tiny todger, refused to speak to  Keef and the hopes that they would perform together for the 50th anniversary of the bank didn't look likely.

The relationship between Keef and Mick was always volatile but Jagger went nuts when Keef's book made fun of his penis and revealing that where the ladies are concerned, Mick couldn't give no satisfaction. It all led to a hilarious series of press reports in which ex girlfriends either denied or admitted the Jagger plonker was a tiny todger.

In his book Keef claims he discovered the truth about his old friend’s bits and pieces during a tryst he had in 1960 with Marianne Faithfull, then Jagger’s girlfriend. To make matters worse, he added how it had been his good fortune to bury his head in Faithfull’s “beautiful jugs” 

And so it didn't look like the Stones would ever appear together again.



However out of the blue it was announced that the Stones would play this year's Glastonbury festival and now we've learned that the Stones will play a concert in London's Hyde Park - though anyone expecting another free open air concert in the park, as the Stones did in 1968, can think again. Now, 44 years on, the Stones are to play Hyde Park again, it was announced yesterday. But this time, fans will have to buy their tickets – with the cheapest costing £95 and VIP seats expected to be three times as much.Today’s corporate world sees the event in central London sponsored by Barclaycard – and health and safety rules mean the crowd will be limited to 65,000.

Amazon new Cover generator for indie authors

Amazon have released a Bete version of a new feature to its KDP publishing system - the new feature is a cover designer that will allow users to create passable cover art based on an image they provide. You will be able to choose from a gallery list of templates and customize it to your specific tastes. After you’ve selected your image, you can choose from one of ten base designs, which can then be further customized with various layouts as well as font and color schemes. In case you can’t find an image you’re satisfied with,  Amazon has included some basic designs that don’t incorporate an image from your computer or the stock image gallery.

At the moment the Beta is only available to US users.

Maybe one day Amazon will even write the book for you using a complex series of plot generators and then all the author will have to do is put their name to it.

Kitty Glitter dead

Apparently cult author Kitty Glitter, who was recently interviewed by the Archive,  is dead.

Full details HERE

PLR STATEMENT 2013

The body that looks over the UK PLR scheme in which authors receive a payment each time one of their books is hired out from UK libraries today issued the following statement:

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) announced today that the Public Lending Right body will cease to exist as a separate organisation and responsibility for managing the PLR Scheme is to be transferred to the British Library. The post of Registrar will be abolished and the Registrar’s responsibilities will be taken over by the British Library board. The changes are expected to take effect from 1 October.

PLR staff, currently employed by the Registrar, will transfer over to the British Library and PLR will continue to be administered by the existing team from their offices in Stockton-on-Tees. Although the position of Registrar will disappear, the current Registrar will be retained by the British Library for an agreed period to help ensure a smooth handover.  

These changes in governance will have no impact on PLR as the right of authors to receive payment for the lending out of their books by public libraries. The PLR Scheme will continue to operate in the usual way after the transfer of responsibilities to the British Library. Authors should continue to register their books for UK and Irish PLR with the PLR office in Stockton.  

The government decision to abolish the PLR body follows a public consultation last year and completion of an Impact Assessment (see DCMS website) which identifies further savings in PLR’s administration costs that will be achievable as part of a larger body like the British Library. The British Library has also released astatement.

Iain Banks has terminal cancer

Author Iain Banks has revealed to the world that he is suffering from terminal cancer and that he is unlikely to        live more than a year.

Here is the full statement which has has been posted on his website.

"I am officially Very Poorly.

After a couple of surgical procedures, I am gradually recovering from jaundice caused by a blocked bile duct, but that - it turns out - is the least of my problems.

"I first thought something might be wrong when I developed a sore back in late January, but put this down to the fact I'd started writing at the beginning of the month and so was crouched over a keyboard all day. When it hadn't gone away by mid-February, I went to my GP, who spotted that I had jaundice. Blood tests, an ultrasound scan and then a CT scan revealed the full extent of the grisly truth by the start of March.

"I have cancer. It started in my gall bladder, has infected both lobes of my liver and probably also my pancreas and some lymph nodes, plus one tumour is massed around a group of major blood vessels in the same volume, effectively ruling out any chance of surgery to remove the tumours either in the short or long term.

"The bottom line, now, I'm afraid, is that as a late stage gall bladder cancer patient, I'm expected to live for 'several months' and it's extremely unlikely I'll live beyond a year. So it looks like my latest novel, The Quarry, will be my last.

"As a result, I've withdrawn from all planned public engagements and I've asked my partner Adele if she will do me the honour of becoming my widow (sorry - but we find ghoulish humour helps). By the time this goes out we'll be married and on a short honeymoon. We intend to spend however much quality time I have left seeing friends and relations and visiting places that have meant a lot to us. Meanwhile my heroic publishers are doing all they can to bring the publication date of my new novel forward by as much as four months, to give me a better chance of being around when it hits the shelves.

"There is a possibility that it might be worth undergoing a course of chemotherapy to extend the amount of time available. However that is still something we're balancing the pros and cons of, and anyway it is out of the question until my jaundice has further and significantly, reduced.

"Lastly, I'd like to add that from my GP onwards, the professionalism of the medics involved - and the speed with which the resources of the NHS in Scotland have been deployed - has been exemplary, and the standard of care deeply impressive. We're all just sorry the outcome hasn't been more cheerful.

"A website is being set up where friends, family and fans can leave messages for me and check on my progress. It should be up and running during this week and a link to it will be here on my official website as soon as it's ready."

Iain Banks

Television Fast Forward: Sequels & Remakes of Cancelled series

I picked up this book, written by Lee Goldberg,  for my Kindle - the book claims to cover every TV series remake and sequel produced between 1955-1992, and being a Brit I found that I'd never heard of many of the shows featured.

There's a working index so you can go straight to whatever show you're interested in, but I found the book entertaining enough to read through the entire thing. I especially enjoyed  the information on the Kojak TV movies, but there's enough here to keep any TV buff happy for hours.

East of the Pecos

Chris Scott Wilson takes us to Almeria