Weekly Blog - 9th June

[Steven Hague]

I spent most of last week working on the sequel to my debut novel, Justice For All. The sequel now has a title – Blood Law – and I received my second (and hopefully final!) set of editorial notes from my publisher on Monday. The editorial process is always challenging. After working on a novel for a number of months, all you really want to hear from everyone that reads it is how perfect it is – to receive any comment other than ‘don’t change a thing’ is in truth a bit of a disappointment.

But in the real world, first drafts of a novel are rarely perfect (mine certainly aren’t), and the constructive criticism provided by the talented editorial team at my publisher, MIRA, is absolutely vital. The team came back with a number of suggestions for Blood Law, covering such topics as back-story, motivation, and exposition. I then evaluated these suggestions to decide which ones should be worked into the novel (most of them in this case), then made the necessary amendments. The final part of the process is a read through by yours truly, done the old fashioned way – printed out on paper, with pen in hand to mark changes. At this stage, I check to ensure that everything hangs together, and I make a number of small cuts to the prose as I go, generally to improve the pacing. I’m currently half way through reading Blood Law, and I expect to spend most of this week working through the rest.

On the music front, I’ve had a busy few days. First, Kids in Glass Houses at the Norwich Waterfront (a great gig venue), who were okay, but a little too pop-rock for my liking. Next was The Zutons at Thetford Forest – great setting, great set, great band. But these two gigs were just appetisers for the main event – the mighty Foo Fighters at Wembley Stadium. I’ve been a massive fan of the Foos ever since I saw them play in the tent at the Reading Festival in 1995. Of all the gigs I’ve been to, it’s the one that I wouldn’t trade for the world – packed to the rafters, sweat dripping off the ceiling, numerous appeals for calm – exciting, a little dangerous, and absolutely vital. But anyway, back to modern day. I travelled down to London on the Saturday with my better half, Lisa, and friends Jay and Chris, before finding a pub within spitting distance of the stadium where we were joined by fellow rockers Daz and the impressively hirsute Moff. Having downed a number of beers, we then staggered out, scoffed some emergency chips, then headed for Wembley.

The new stadium is very impressive. When I walked out onto the pitch (we had standing tickets, of course) I was struck by how compact and high sided it was – kind of like a modern day Coliseum. The place was sold out and the atmosphere was electric, and when Dave Grohl and the boys walked on at 8.15 the roars were near deafening. They played for a little over two hours, blasting out hit after hit. Personal highlights were the massive singalong for My Hero, the mosh for All My Life, and the emotional set closer Best Of You. And did I mention the surprise guests (actually not that much of a surprise, as the internet was rife with rumours beforehand) – Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin! They joined the Foos on stage for two songs – the incendiary Rock and Roll, on which Taylor Hawkins sang and Dave returned to his former job of skin-thumper, and the folk-tinged Ramble On. A treat? You betcha.

I’ve seen the Foos play live more than any other band, and I could never grow tired of the experience. I’ve watched them emerge from the ashes of Nirvana to become the biggest rock band on the planet, seen them play in venues that hold both a thousand and the best part of a 100,000 people, and practically worn out their CD’s through over listening. Their music has been the soundtrack to my adult life. Mr. Grohl – I salute you.

Cheers,
Steve