Neil White

21st December - Robert's law
I've spent the weekend enjoying Martin Scorcese films in high definition. I'm glad I'm in charge of buying the electrical items in my house, as my wife would have us all crowded round a fourteen inch Matsui. Thankfully, bad taste prevails, and we have something larger, and there is no better way to appreciate it than sitting down with a crate of ale and a few hours of Martin Scorcese. Taxi Driver came first, the world according to Travis Bickle, and in high definition it brings the seventies to life; it's like it was filmed yesterday, but with bad clothes.
I have a passion for seventies films; there is more realism to them. No special effects or computers; just fine acting.
Casino came next, which has the added advantage of Sharon Stone, an actress made for high definition. What a great film, and Joe Pesci is on his usual manic form. I think it's better than Goodfellas, which maybe tails off in the last third, whereas Casino is great all the way through.

18th December - In Practice
I was featured in a Law Society Gazette article today, which looked at the amount of lawyers who become novelists. What was interesting was how many of those chose crime as their genre, even though that is not their legal speciality. Martin Edwards, for example, who writes crime novels set in Liverpool, is an employment lawyer, and he comments that employment law and crime are not that different, in that they both involve interpreting relationships, except that employment law rarely resolves itself with a hammer to the head.
So why do so many lawyers write? The possible reasons, as far as I can tell, are:
1. Lawyers are fascinating people with insightful things to say on most topics.
2. Lawyers are self-obsessed egomaniacs who assume that everyone is interested in what they have to say.
3. Building a case is all about telling a story so that the someone is persuaded to agree with your version.
4. Despite all the hard-work to get there and dreams of obtaining justice against the odds, it all turns out to be just filling out forms, so we look for alternative careers.
Maybe the truth is a mixture of the last three, and I suspect not very much of the first one.
Having said that, I still enjoy being a lawyer, and still think of myself as a lawyer who writes, rather than a writer with a day-job.

15th December - Cazut idolii
For all of you Romanians out there who feel that your life will not be complete without a copy of Fallen Idols, calm your aching heart. Fallen Idols will be released in Romanian in 2009.
Next year will see two of my novels appear in foreign languages next year, as the German version of Lost Souls will be released in May. All I can hope for now is a booksigning tour, hopefully to coincide with a beer festival.

14th December - one more journey
So it begins, the last major editing of Last Rites is about to begin, but I worry about how I am going to get through it.
Lost Souls was written on chocolate and coffee. The pacy style wasn't intentional, it was just sugar and caffeine, but it adds on the pounds. I'm trying to cut down on the Galaxy, but the coffee still takes a hit, nothing exotic, just too many Gold Blends, and it helps me get through the early hours.
But when I'm at work, I can see the red tinge to my eyelids, the slight flush to my cheeks. That cannot be a good thing.
I'll try to do Last Rites healthily, but if I feel it needs more punch, I'll go back on the brown stuff. It's only for a few weeks, after all, and there is always the new year to start afresh.

5th December - I hear you!
Yesterday, I received copies of the audiobook of Fallen Idols, just released by Magna Books, and read by Jack Paulin, and it is the strangest thing to hear your own words spoken by someone else, particularly by someone with a rich and pleasant voice.
I have done a few library events, and as well as speaking, these involve reading from my books. That always worries me, because I know that when the reader begins to read the book in their own time, the voice they will hear will be my dull Yorkshire thud.
If you want to hear one of my books read properly, then get the audiobook, because Jack Paulin does a great job.