martin sumner

The Hague

MSadmin — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 11:55:25 +0000

Eighteen months ago, two colleagues and I managed a trip to Belgium and Holland for something we called a SEEK – where we, and eight young artists in the early stages of their careers, went on a creative adventure for inspiration. I wrote afterwards that it was easy enough to seek, but dealing with what you found was the real challenge.

The Seek Blog

One thing that came directly out of the trek to Utrecht was my book, A Festival of Martyrs. On the pier at Scheveningen, I met Harmannus, and he was inspiration for a story as well as a kicking-off point for the book. Next weekend, I’m returning to Holland to give him a copy of the book, and to try to draw out the conclusions of my thinking for the last year and a half since the last trip. I’m looking forward to some creative thinking time, and to initiating a new adventure beginning again in The Hague.

Flipside

MSadmin — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 11:11:24 +0000

January brings me right back into the world of work with a big project in Dudley, West Midlands for the Black Country Partnership and Flipside, who deliver Multidimensional Therapeutic Foster Care or MTFC. I’m producing a documentary film about it for a conference in March. In addition, the QR code Strata Project and a little WordPress wizardry for Thrift Theatre in West Berkshire means I’m actually working days in a row. It takes a stamina I didn’t realise I had lost. I’m quite worn out already. Which is not a complaint – far from it. It’s a good feeling.

Sabotage Times

MSadmin — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 11:13:41 +0000

It’s nice to see the work finally getting out there – over the weekend Sabotage Times, the net magazine, published Avatar Omega, the story of my rather lame adventures in Second Life. I always felt Avatar Omega had the potential to go far, and it’s great to get him in a national publication.

Read Avatar Omega here.

Unretirement

MSadmin — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 12:19:40 +0000

Well, my first retirement was an unpalatable six months and I’m glad to say I am back in the world of the itinerant artist thanks to Shrewsbury Museum, the good people of Wolverhampton and the agency that mismanages Post Office recruitment. And so to rebuild my frail confidence in my own work and my battered bank account…

First up is the Digital Content Development project for the Museum, including a treasure hunt of QR codes for scanning around Shrewsbury, which I’m in the process of designing. Young & New Curator groups at the Museum will be testing the hunt in the new year, which will include finding work by myself and artist Sue Challis, responding to that work, undertaking challenges and exploring some of the museum collections in a virtual environment. The engine driving this project is being built by James Grimster of Orangeleaf Systems as we speak, for the new Discover Shropshire website. The project, Strata, will have a live site too, more news as it happens.

On another note – 40 copies of my book sold so far – and that just among friends. Relentless marketing on Facebook accounts for all of that, I really should do a bit more for a wider readership…

The Writer’s Fear of Publication

MSadmin — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 18:20:45 +0000

When the shop went live with my little book of nonsense, there was a distinct moment of regret. I wished – for a moment, maybe more – that I’d kept my mouth shut, my journal shut, my mac shut. The Writer’s Fear of Publication. Stupid to think it would do anything but embarrass me…

A big thank you to my lovely friends who immediately bought copies, and by so doing reassured me that it wasn’t all that silly an idea. And to those who have given me the thumbs up. A special thanks to Mark for his very generous support, and to Rob for a great review, a bit of which I reproduce here, in a slightly boastful way, to encourage the doubters to try out Festival of Martyrs…

Take a trip past the yellow sodium glare, through the darkness into the hills. It’s an experience you won’t regret and you can enter the village safely in the knowledge that, unlike the author, you get to leave when you’re ready. As a reader I wanted to return.

Thought provoking, amusing, strange, evocative, entertaining, disturbing.

22 short stories and an angry poem.

A fine debut.

Words For Sale

MSadmin — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 10:04:04 +0000

Over the weekend the sale of my little book went live at lulu.com and although I’m not expecting any sales it’s still an exciting – and scary – moment. How much of a muppet have I actually been by assuming anyone would be interested in this nonsense? Only time will tell. But I’m very proud of it, myself, even though it’s a bit of a jumble. It’s good to finally get it finished and allow me to devote more headspace to other works that need finishing. I also have to face up to a little bit of canny marketing if I’m going to sell any. Cue blog entry about Festival of Martyrs.

Another Small Press – with more details about the book.

Lulu – a link to the book shop. Only £5 sterling!

Another Poet

MSadmin — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 15:33:38 +0000

Continuing the theme of reliving past glories, I thought I’d repost the Ufton Court poetry recordings from 2010, when thoughts of chickens and football were made real and set free in the barn on cabaret night. I’ve got some more football poetry to publish too, so stay tuned, if you like these sorts of shenanigans…

Technological Setback

MSadmin — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 11:30:13 +0000

Okay, don’t panic everyone, there will be a way around it. A long short story on the road to ruination. Ten thousand words mangled in a crashed program. Not so much of a problem, I have them copied elsewhere and partly published on Portsmouth. The big worry is that those ten thousand represent about two thirds. The other third is in planning, with notes, and the one copy is inside Journaler, a program that no longer works on my Mac. The chapter outlines, the chapter titles (which are central to this particular project), all my thoughts on getting this damn thing done: I’ve been working on it since May 2010. A slight technological setback.

Another Type

MSadmin — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 13:26:09 +0000

I have returned the free fonts to my site under the new typo moniker of Another Type. I’d like to say back by popular demand, but even if you count one single third-party request as popular, this would still be a gross exaggeration of the issue. So, back because I like them and I would quite like others to like them too. Here they are…

AN.other Small Press

MSadmin — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 12:57:16 +0000

The website has gone up today:

Another Small Press

Exciting!