Transition Bookshop Tour

[daveh]

These are the bookshop tour dates. The book festival appearances will get a thread each.

Waterstone's Edinburgh, Monday, 7th September 2009, 1830
Voodoo Rooms, 19a West Register Street, Edinburgh, EH2 2AA
Tickets: £2
See http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/displayEventHome.do
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Waterstone's Glasgow, Tuesday, 8th September 2009, 1830
153-157 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, G2 3EW
Tickets: £3
See http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/displayEventHome.do
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Perth Concert Hall, Thursday, 10th September 2009, 1930
Horsecross, Perth Concert Hall, Mill Street, PH1 5HZ
Tickets: £5
See http://www.horsecross.co.uk/whats-on/2009/sep/10/iain-banks-42831/
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The Roundhouse, London, Monday, 14th September 2009, 1930
Chalk Farm Road, London NW1 8EH
Tickets: £6
See: http://www.roundhouse.org.uk/whats-on/productions/iain-banks-3786
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Ely, Tuesday, 15th September 2009, 1930
St. Etheldreda's Church, 19 Egremont Street, Ely, CB6 1AE
Tickets: £7 (with £7 off the book)
See: http://www.toppingbooks.co.uk/elyevents.aspx
I am going to this one. When I got my ticket the guy said they were selling fast and there was a possibility the venue would be changed to a bigger one.
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Bath, Wednesday, 16th September 2009, 1930
Topping & Company, The Paragon, Bath, BA1 5LS
Tickets: £7 (with £7 off the book).
See: http://www.toppingbooks.co.uk/bathevents.aspx
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London, Saturday, 3rd October, 2009, 1300
Forbidden Planet, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8JR
See: http://forbiddenplanet.com/events/2009/10/03/iain-m-banks-signing-transition/

There was talk of a Dundee event but haven't found any details of that yet.

[Deep Black]

What, nothing in the Middle :( ?

[Hilarity Unit]

Hope to make the Perth one

[Conscious Bob]

Thanks again DaveH as ever.

I'll go to the Glasgow One, I'll promise Beloved I'll not peek at the book.

[Conscious Bob]

I see that Weegie readers have to pay a full quid more than Edinburgh readers, is that because they're all skint after the bank crash?

[Conscious Bob]

Transition Book Tour - Glasgow

The ticket for the event was two pounds not three, the same price as in Edinburgh so there is no West Coast/East Coast discrepancy to spark a diplomatic row.

Most enjoyable.

He read the prologue, good... very good. I'll just need to wait.

I found myself amongst an audience of knowledgeable fans with plenty of questions, I'll give Iain his due, he had an in-depth answer for them all.

He did have to apologise at one stage though when he realised that a small person sitting in front of him and treated to the full Banks vernacular, was in actual fact - a child. That's a wean with a liberal reading list...

Best of luck to the Thirteenth Note Performance Reader Guy that invited Iain along to a performance reading, you don't ask, you don't get.

Book signed, just a peek, NO!

[daveh]

I saw Iain in Ely last night. He was on good form. It was in a Roman Catholic church, and when he picked up his water after the reading he said "if this has changed into wine I might be converted" but it hadn't.

He read the prologue, but not all of it. He left out a bit that he said he felt unbalanced it. We will have to see if he changes the paperback.

Asked about the reaction to the Wasp Factory he talked about the reviews but said something I hadn't heard before. Soon after that first book came out he was asked by some publishers if he wanted to write a children's novel.

He has about 3 and a half minutes of his first symphony written, and hopes to finish it by the end of the year to start the next book in January. He described this year as a tough one and he has had to do some growing up. He father died in June, his mother is just out of hospital and his ex-wife died on Sunday. He said he would be happy to see the back of 2009.

[Deep Black]

How is he actually going about this Symphony?

Is he composing for full orchestra?
Is he using a computer or doing it by hand?
Can he read/write music?
Is he using other people to help interpret his ideas?

Sorry for all the questions, just music is another favorite for me along with books...

[daveh]

He has a computer just for his music with Logic7 running on it (I think that is what he said).

He talked about cheating and using the full orchestra setting sometimes but tries to use individual instruments if he can.

He has started piano lessons and has had three so far, and includes music theory.

[Deep Black]

Fair enough, sounds like he's got a lot of work to do to "write a symphony" then :) Hope he enjoys the challenge & it doesn't take to much time out from his writing ;)

[jag]

Well I hope he manages to improve upon the stuff from Espedair Street, how cringe were those lyrics and ideas?