I DO NOT! (Or did I already do it?)

 

Warning - Rant Ahead. 

This was written in 2010 before I had any books published. Did I stick to my guns?

I  D O  N O T

 

I do not aspire to be the next Bruce Courtney. I do not aspire to be the next Di Morrissey. I do not aspire to be like Matthew Reilly. I don't aspire to be the next Dan Brown. Or Stephen King (even though I like his early books). Or Stephanie Myer, (God Forbid) or any other mainstream populist novelist.

They are the entertainers of their day and that is their right. They are the circus come to town. They are clowns in paint and frivolity. The court jesters in rhyme and folly.

 

But they will not be worth a word beyond their time. Their work will be forgotten as quickly as it was consumed. The McDonalds of Publishing.

 

I aspire to create something that is worthwhile, that I can be proud of. That perhaps can be admired by a few, and that's all I'm after, as long as it has some merit. Who wants to leave this world knowing what they did and left behind was disposable, as disposable as the day they created it?

Gone. Forgotten. Yesterday's story.

It's like an architect who wants their work to be respected in decades hence, rather than a kit home than will only suffice. For Now.

 

Sure we might need them. The masses have to be entertained somehow. But just don't justify it to me. Don't tell me your worth more than the literary sect, because you sell the most. Or that they really want to be like you, but can't do it. You're totally misguided. You're only kidding yourselves. Bubble gum. Burger. Coke. Takeaway coffee. Daily newspaper.

 

Circa 2009

They claim that their mass appeal gives them worthiness. That numbers speak higher than critics. And it may provide them the means with which to exist comfortably. But we all meet in the same place in the end, and I'd rather have left something worth savouring, perhaps kept in a dusty bookcase or drawer somewhere, or even relegated to some digital archive as something perhaps worth reviewing to some future individual, than end up as recycled pulp for next year's toilet paper.

 

History has taught us that these mainstream diatribes do not survive. I'll take my chances. For I must be able to hold my head high, that I wrote to satisfy art, and to satisfy myself, than to satisfy the masses. I cannot think of a crime more heinous, than a person with artistic qualities, however minute, who shelved them in pursuit of something far more shallow. That is a crime that one cannot return from.

 

I'd rather die in obscurity that aim for the so called Bestseller List. I will never be there. I'll make sure of it. If by some absurd situation, I do, then I have failed.

 

12/5/2010

Pen is mightier ... Around 2010

Bit harsh on Stephen King. I love his books. He'll be remembered for a long time.

I certainly had a lot of confidence then, even arrogance perhaps. Maybe that's what was required in order to get to the point where books could be written and published. It took a lot of drive and work.

Since then I have had nine books published, from 2012 - 2022. If you've read any of them, maybe you will know if I stuck to the ideals of that idealistic, determined writer. Did I?

Bottomless River - Novella

Caged Without Walls - Poetry Collection

For your pleasure - Poems and art coffee table book (collaboration with Paolo Rassu)

Pseudo Stars - Story Collection

Allowing a love to die is not murder - Poetry Collection (on relationships)

A Refugee's Rage - Novella

Lone Wolf World - Novel

Perve - Novel

Us & Them and the things in-between - Story/Poetry Collection

(This post, July 2024).

Questions for now;

Have I lost my drive? Yes. Much of it is due to anti-depressant withdrawal. My story here.  It's robbed me of my confidence. 

Will I ever write another book? I don't know. Not in the near future.

Do I have books ready to be published? Yes

Will I publish them? I don't know. Maybe one or two but not all. 

Does anyone care? Probably not haha.

If you have read any though, I would be interested in your opinion.

My Books HERE

or try these Amazon Author links.

Amazon Profile 1

Amazon Profile 2

Until next time,

Peace

Anthony

Music Version - New Trailer. Just in time for Xmas but be quick!

 

Hey, how you doing?

(Best Songs of 2023 below)

Here is a Music Only Trailer. Only 30 secs. Do you think it works better than the other two?

AJL ALL Books Trailer 

Watch on YouTube HERE.

Cheeky As F Version.

Original Version.

Best Songs of 2023 YouTube Playlist - culled from over 4000 songs!

I spent a year on this but you get it all in one perfect Playlist!

Books make for a unique gift and can be signed/inscribed any way wish.

All books are on sale.

Plus videos, free downloads, short films and more!

At A.J. Langford Books

There's something for anyone over 16, Us & Them and the things in-between or one of the most controversial novels you'll ever read in Perve (18+), or a cutting edge quasi satire/thriller in Lone Wolf World. (Dubbed the Australian Catcher in the Rye).

A.J. Langford Books

Have a good week if not a brilliant one!

If not, well keep faking it until you start to believe it. 

Peace

Only here for a short time.

Life is short but a 'little' book stocked in stores is even shorter!

Us & Them and the things In-Between

Available at several Sydney locations for a short time only.

Get in quick before time is up! 

(On 90 day consignment so they will remove it)

Support an Indie Author and Non-Chain bookstores!

Better Read Than Dead, Newtown

At Urchin Books, Marrickville

 

DaddyRich, Dulwich Hill, Sydney

It's also available at Gleebooks Dulwich Hill and of course, at my website.

If you've already got it, please share this as word of mouth is what works best. Sales have been very slow which is obviously disappointing and I've lost plenty of money so if not for yourself, then consider as a gift. Possibility of future books depends upon it. Signed/Inscribed any way you wish! Only $21.95 AU. A bargain!

Hope you have a good week.

Peace

Anthony

Reason why I was cancelled by the literary elite - Part 16 (Pts 1-15 banned)

The Truth of the Literati

Part 16 

(An ongoing eternal series)

Parts 1- 15 
No longer available

(ie deleted by the ruling literary classes)

Despite creating works of artistic and commercial merit, including many stories and poems published in various countries as well as being nominated for the U.S. Pushcart Prize, my novels have been continuously passed over. Were they even looked at? No reason is ever given. Most of the time you hear nothing.

There are other reasons, the most common is not being connected to anyone in the industry. Connections count folks but nepotism still rules.

Here is the other reason.

B e w a r e  -  Wankers about

'I am a genius'   Wanker

Read Highbrow in Public, Wanker

         

        Opinionated Wanker

Robert Gold: Now Mr Southgate, you have the reputation of being something of a lone wolf. Is this a protest against the establishment?

Matthew Southgate: It is true, I have always preferred to be a mouse that walked by itself rather than a member of a group of literary lions; always licking each other, washing each other behind the ears. And biting each other. And as you know, they’re behind bars, in a cultural zoo. 

Quotes from a real film.

Self labelled important Wankers

                Salinger - One Hit Wonder Wanker

      

Joyce - Crushing bore (and possible sexual pervert)

Carey - Overrated Tosser

Don't Fuck with a Bra Burning Wanker

The Dime-a-Dozen Wanker

Politically correct Wanker(s)

Wanker in Waiting
(unless he's gay, he'll by waiting a loooong time)

Don't Stay Tuned.

This story never changes
Hand-in-Hand
Wanking throughout the Centuries.

More Satire

My new story and poetry collection
on something genuine, like connection, not masturbation 
out early November.

Please help me getting the word out. I've paid for advertising on YouTube and Facebook and will do again but it just never works. Recommendations and word of mouth does. Even if I had 100 readers I'd be happy. It's well below that. Honestly it costs me a lot of money to put these books out so if this one doesn't get some traction, I may walk away. Aside from money, it's very disheartening to say the least and life's hard enough at times without adding to it.

AJL Books

The Lone Wolf is Coming...

Langford's debut novel. Coming soon.

There is no place lonelier than the inner city. No place more fitting to make observations on the fallibility of human beings and the easiest to design their downfall. Ideology isn’t his motivation. He hates everyone, equally. 

His voice is unique. And he will be heard.

‘Some soldiers say that War is the only reality that made them feel alive. Feasibly they didn’t want it, but they got it. They can never go back. Neither can I.’

Previous Books

Interview Series - The Indomitable Ian Irvine

Ian's latest novel
Book 2 of The Gates of Good and Evil.

Ian – Thank you for agreeing to have a chat.

Tell us briefly what your new book, The Fatal Gate is about?

It’s Book 2 in my new epic fantasy trilogy called The Gates of Good and Evil. Book 1, The Summon Stone, was published last year, and began the sequel to my epic fantasy quartet The View from the Mirror which was published almost 20 years ago.

The story begins with Sulien, a nine-year-old girl, having a nightmare in which she sees the greatest warrior race of all, the Merdrun, gathering in the void between the worlds to invade her world of Santhenar. But Sulien has also seen the Merdrun’s one weakness – and they know it. This innocent child must be killed before she can reveal the secret.

Sulien’s parents, Karan and Llian, have to find a way to save her – and get that secret before the invasion begins.

In The Fatal Gate, the invasion has begun but the Merdrun’s gate has gone astray. They’re desperately trying to regain contact with the deadly summon stone that brought them to Santhenar, so they can reopen the portal and begin the slaughter of humanity. And Sulien, who still hasn’t been able to recover the secret, is lost at the far end of the world, and hunted by enemies and allies alike.

How does one prepare to write a series? This series for example.

With a lot of worldbuilding, character creation and story planning – and this series was particularly difficult because it’s the sequel to my most greatly loved fantasy story. I was very conscious that few sequels are as good as the original and I didn’t want to let my readers down. It was also difficult because the original series was written in an elevated, high fantasy style and these days I have a simpler and more direct style.

I worked on the idea of The Gates of Good and Evil for about a year, on and off, before I began detailed planning, then did many drafts of the 60-page outline before I was ready to start writing.

Once the outline is done I like to write the first draft very quickly, typically in 4-8 weeks, then do 3-5 more drafts over the next few months before I send it to my editor for her first look.

Do you have a set method of working? Do you have a usual time, place or word count to reach?

No, though the way I work is dependent on the deadline for delivery of the manuscript. If it’s only a few months away I push myself harder. However I find that when I write the first draft really fast it takes a lot less revision, I guess because I’m in the heads of the characters all the time, and the whole plot is in my mind. Typically I would average around 4,000 words a day doing the first draft, though there will usually be a few days in each book where I’ll write 10,000 words a day or more. Long, hard days, but exhilarating too, seeing the story being created out of nothing.

Why fantasy? Was it something that you followed as a child?

Not really, though in primary school I read whole encyclopaedias full of myths and legends, which I suppose one could see as fantasy for the readers and listeners of ancient times. I barely read any fantasy as a kid, though I read a lot of SF in my teens. I discovered fantasy at uni (The Lord of the Rings, the Earthsea series, Jack Vance particularly the Dying Earth series, Fritz Lieber’s Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser series, Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast and others – this was before the great fantasy boom which began in the mid-70s with Stephen Donaldson, Terry Brooks etc) and fantasy became the literary love of my life.

You’ve had huge success for an Australian writer. In many ways, you were at the beginning of the sci-fi/fantasy boom. There didn’t seem to be any genre writers in the eighties and prior. Yet it still took 14 years to get A Shadow on the Glass published (if I’ve read correctly). How on earth did you remain so driven? Especially as you seem to have written many other books during this period.

There were a few genre writers in the eighties though there was no way for them to be published in Australia by the big publishers unless they wrote for children, as Isobelle Carmody did with her Obernewtyn series. It wasn’t until the early-to-mid 90s that the big publishers in Australia were prepared to invest in Australian speculative fiction writers, and after a few false starts quite a few writers did very well: Sara Douglass, Traci Harding, Kim Wilkins, Kate Forsyth and myself, for example – and all did well internationally as well. From 1995 to 2010 was a true Golden Age for Aussie writers.

It took me 12 years to get published, but I knew it was going to be difficult when I started. I guess I’m a determined person; but also, by the time I’d written the first book of The View from the Mirror I knew storytelling was what I wanted to do with my life. Each rejection was painful for about a day, but I’m an optimist and after that I just started another draft. I only wrote the 4 books of The View from the Mirror in that period, but I did draft after draft, more than 20 of Book 1, A Shadow on the Glass, just learning the craft of storytelling.

Eco-thriller

After so many books, (31?) how do you remain enthused? Is getting older influencing your mindset in any way?

I’ve written 32 novels, plus an anthology of fantasy short stories, and I’m working on the final book of the current series plus a completely new trilogy – – an alternative history fantasy. Age and experience, and writing different books for different audiences (13 books for children/YA and 3 eco-thrillers about catastrophic climate change) has changed and simplified my style and what I write about, but ultimately I’m still writing big adventure fantasies. That’s what I like to write and what my readers like to read.

Are people really reading less?

I think people are reading less fiction, certainly. Partly because there’s so much other stuff they’re reading, social media, for instance. And partly because there’s so much more of other media available to be consumed, so cheaply – such as Netflix and its ilk offering all you can watch for a tiny monthly fee.

But that’s not the real issue for novelists. Publishing used to be expensive, and distribution required a big organisation to do successfully, and was costly, expensive and inefficient (often, a third of the books printed would be returned unsold). The huge changes since 2007 are (1) anyone can now be a publisher, for little or no cost, and (2) distribution is also easy and cheap.

Additionally, until a decade ago most books went out of print in a couple of years, leaving around 300,000 English language titles available for readers to buy new. But ebooks and print-on-demand books never go out of print; there’s now 10 million+ titles available to buy and the number is increasing at a million or more a year.

So every year it’s going to be harder for new authors to be discovered, and for existing authors to make a living, because each title is selling less and the price is being pushed ever downwards.

Have you ever been approached to write a screenplay or someone tried to option your work?

No. I’ve had a few enquiries about options for my books, but they haven’t come to the contract stage. A few years back I wrote a screenplay from one of my fantasy novels (Vengeance), just to understand what makes a screenplay work, but I haven’t sent it anywhere. It takes years to learn how to write a worthy screenplay.

Is there something, perhaps not even associated with writing, that you feel you would like to achieve?

I have a number of personal goals, however, my creative goals really relate to becoming a better storyteller. I’ve been studying the art of storytelling for 30 years and I’m still staggered at how much I have to learn.

And writing as many more books as I have in me. Quite a few, hopefully.

Thanks for the chat. I hope the series goes well.

Thanks very much, Anthony.

Ian's Website

Booktopia

On Amazon

Angus and Robertson

Other Interviews

Interview with Sofie Laguna - Part One

Sofie Laguna 

Sofie Laguna is an Australian writer who won the 2015 Miles Franklin Award for her novel, The Eye of the Sheep. She has written three adult novels, eleven children's novels as well a number of picture books. She also writes plays and was once an actor, appearing in Blue Heelers and A Country Practice.

Sofie has a casual chat about her latest book, The Choke, with Anthony Langford. It evolves into a discussion on parenthood, nits, a serial killer, Tom Hardy, being a writer in Australia and many things besides.

Part One

Aileen Wuornos, tragic childhoods and creating The Choke.

Sofie:           Hi Anthony.

Anthony:      Good morning. How are you?

Sofie:           Not too bad. 

Anthony:      That's good. Thanks for agreeing to talk to me today.

Sofie:           How many minutes do you think we will be talking today Anthony?

Anthony:      It's up to you. We can do it in ten. Is that alright?

Sofie:           That sounds great.

Anthony:      Excellent. I know what it's like if you’ve got young kids at home.

Sofie:           Exactly.

Anthony:      I've got a daughter. She's seven now so she's in school but when she was younger I was the primary carer so ...

Sofie:          You know what it's like.

Anthony:      I know what it's like.  It's a handful.

Sofie:           It is.

Anthony:      How old are yours? You've got two, haven't you?

Sofie:           One is three on Sunday and one is also seven.

Anthony:      Oh good. Well I'll jump into it so that I'm not taking up too much of your time.

Sofie:           Why not?

Anthony:      So how is the tour going?

Sofie:          I'm going to Sydney this week and things will windup. There's a quiet period I'm anticipating for the next few months. Just with the odd appearance here and there. As you come to Christmas, things die down on the publicity front, which is good. Most of my publicity for this book is done now  For this book.

Anthony:      You've done a lot haven't you. You've been very busy.

Sofie:          Yeah, I feel like I have.

Anthony:      You've done all you can. It's out there in the world now.

Sofie:           I've done all I can. I mean, I can't think of any more publicity that I could have done. I don't know why but that's the way it worked out for this book.

Anthony:      With people who aren't actually familiar with the story, how would you describe it?

Sofie:           So the story is about a girl called Justine, who is ten years old, living with her grandfather on three acres of property that borders the Murray River in a fictionalised town called Yolamundi. About 25-30 kilometres out of Echuca on the Murray. Justine lives with her grandfather because her mother disappeared when she was three. Her father is an unreliable kind of a guy, who comes and goes. He's got an intimidating presence, even to his own dad. It's a complicated relationship between Father and Son. He comes and goes from the family property. Justine has the sense that he is up to something dangerous out there in the world. He's quite a secretive guy. Justine has to live in this world where she has very little protection, because her grandfather is an inconsistent sort of a Guardian. She has to survive.

Anthony:      In creating Justine's voice, when you begin writing, did it come out that way or did she start speaking to you beforehand?

Sofie:           She came to me quite clearly, when I committed to the book in a more serious way and decided to set it in Australia and not in America, as was my original idea.

Anthony:      Oh really?

Sofie: Yeah because I was inspired to write it because I watched Nick Broomfield’s documentary on Aileen Wuornos.

Anthony:      Oh yes, I've seen it.

Sofie:           So my character is nothing like Aileen Wuornos.  But I was so outraged by Alieen’s childhood.

Anthony:      Oh yes, it was shocking.

Sofie:           How bad was that? It made Justine’s childhood look easy. It was shocking.  Eileen did not get a break for one second.

Anthony:      No wonder she was so angry.

Sofie:           I know what could have happened? What else could have happened?

Anthony:      Poor thing.

Sofie:           Her dad was in prison for messing with a kid. Her grandfather was a … I can't even go there. It was so bad. You could never fictionalise that childhood.

Anthony:      She was almost created wasn't she?

Sofie:           Yeah. What else, I mean she was either gonna die within herself or at her own hand… or anytime there was something, she was betrayed by it. Maybe I'm cutting her too much slack. I don't know. The kid that she once was, she had a kid herself at age thirteen. Yet another tragedy. I was upset by that. I was really upset by the documentary, for reasons that I have not yet heard someone articulate, through a lot of the media around her as a serial killer. It was all mythologised. The childhood of that person was just not fair.

Anthony:      Not your typical Serial Killer story.

Sofie:           No. Exactly Anthony. I know there's a lot of a lot of unfair childhood experiences out there but really could it have been any worse?

Anthony:      So did you begin then with her childhood?

Sofie:           Yes, but I was pretty naïve. I just sort of jumped in. I'll write from the point of view of the thirteen-year-old that Eileen once was. I set it in America but realised very quickly that it wasn't going to work that way. Not really. I don't know anything about that culture really, so I decided it was much more sensible to set it in Australia. Which would mean… and I also learnt then that it wouldn't be about death row, because again, what could I really bring to that story? There was an Australian girl in a rural area because Eileen’s childhood was also rural. So I must have wanted her to be isolated enough, and that's why I chose it. I also like working with nature in my fiction. Especially if the childhood's going to be tough. It's as if I really want natural beauty to be a soothing influence or an escape in a book.

Anthony:      Which it is. I actually grew up in a rural environment, on the river, so I can identify with it in a lot of ways.  Are you familiar with that part of the world? Had you done much research?

Sofie:           Only through going up there since I decided to write the book, to be honest. I've been on the Murray a bit because I'm from New South Wales. I've been there for little holidays and stuff and I've been affected by it as a place. But once you start writing a book, the experience’s are such a powerful… what's going on in your imagination becomes increasingly powerful. So then when you go to the location, one feeds into another. You look at those gum trees and relate them to the story. And the country feeds the story and the story feeds your experience. The two things sort of all swirl around as one, if you like.

 "The country feeds the story and the story feeds your experience."

Anthony:      Okay so, perhaps let’s talk about your writing process. Do you have a particular set way of writing? For example, do you have a word count?

Sofie:           Yeah I'm pretty strict on word count. That's probably what really works for me. What works for me is the old word count. Consistency is important but since I've had kids there's not much…

Anthony:      Oh you've got to be flexible.

Sofie:           Oh I'm really flexible now.

Anthony:      Hahaha

Sofie:           But I'm not flexible on word count.

Anthony:      Sure. Discipline.

Sofie:           It's such a cool way to work because it just means it doesn't matter what time of day. Doesn't matter where. It doesn't matter if you're in your pyjamas. You’ve got to get the words out. Takes off all the pressure of it having to be perfect. Either the environment perfect or the time and place perfect. It's all chaos, but the word count is my Saving Grace.

Anthony:      Do you work from a laptop?

Sofie:           Yep laptop. I can't do the old hard copy. I can't do it anymore because I don't have the time, because of the kids.

Anthony:      Now I read somewhere that you used to write a diary. Do you still do that?

Sofie:           I always keep a diary. But when I'm writing fiction, I don't feel the need really. To write as much. I still carry it everywhere with me, but I just don't feel the need, because I'm getting a lot out anyway.

Stayed tuned for Part Two soon when Tom Hardy, Bluetooth and nits enter the discussion.

Interview Series 

Click to purchase

My Books