The Intangible Man Audiobook Second Edition, Substack Ends

A full day working on a second version of the audiobook for The Intangible Man and Other Strange Tales. Seven stories were read in draft yesterday, and the remaining today. This is a lot of tedious work, most of it the editing process. The next big step is processing the audio, limiting and volume checking, and adding any audio effects. I expect this will take another day, perhaps longer.

In other news, my Substack 'appeal' has been rejected, which is something of a blow. It was a huge amount of work to join Substack, to transfer this 20-year old blog to that more up-to-date platform. I'm still in the dark as to what the problem was. I didn't tend to email out posts. Perhaps the platform wanted me to do this more often, and so gain more readership - or, perhaps the opposite, that Substack objected to me using my external mailing list. Or it could be another reason. To say that I feel unsupported by a platform, which currently holds over 3000 posts of my life's work, is an understatement.

Perhaps I should be fortunate that this suspension occurred only a few days after a backup from that site. I can't now create a backup, and I don't appear to have any control over the site at all.

Well, onwards I march alone. My heavy boulder calls. Time to push it a little more, around this stony corner, down a new little pathway.

21st Century Surrealism Audiobook Complete

Two days of solid work on the 21st Century Surrealism audiobook. After each chapter recording, each need editing and checking. Then, boosting the volume, adjusting the dynamics, clipping, and conversion into the final format. This was completed today, and the 3-hour book submitted for publication within the next week or two.

I immediately began work on a second edition of The Intangible Man. Using Prometheus for the filtering, limiting, and other audio effects, is a much better (non linear) way to edit than using SoundForge, and I feel I can read better too. If I can complete this, and The Many Beautiful Worlds of Death this month then it would be a good month, I think. Perhaps, one day, I could work on The Burning Circus, or Deep Dark Light, or the computer book, or even the Blake poems.

Still, even after one book I feel the call to create something new. I can't dwell for too long on this current, tedious task.

Here's the audiobook cover:

21 Century Surrealism Narration, Refund Frustrations, Substack Suspension

Day 3 of recording the spoken text of 21st Century Surrealism. By the end of the process my speech rhythm and audio quality had changed so hugely that I found myself re-recording the entire book! Several sections were already recorded a few times, thus the entire book was read twice and some sections four or five times.

Other aspects of the moment are frustrating. The obsolete (and expensive) mobile phone, which was unable to be updated and unable access 4G voice calls, bought from an Amazon seller for myself (and a second phone for my mother) in November has been returned, with no response at all from the seller. My phone was tracked and delivered to them on Christmas Eve and I'm still awaiting any response. Amazon are ususally brilliant at this, the problems stem from the third party seller.

Similarly, I've ordered a part for my router in November, and each inquiry pushes the due date back, always about two weeks in future. The cost of this part is low and I can perhaps find it elsewhere, so this is a minor annoyance, but annoyance it remains.

A third annoyance is that my Substack blog, which took weeks of intense work to set up is now suspended in entirety due to their doubts about my 37-strong mailing list! I care less about the mailing list than the blog, but it was (and remains) convenient to combine the two. It's easy for me to run the mailing list via Sendy, as before. I don't mind at all deleting ALL Substack subscribers, and using it purely as a blog, but it seems I have no option, and that the whole 20-years worth of posts are now set to 'dead'. I can but appeal.

At least this blog remains.

Good Vibes 2026, and 21st Century Surrealism Narration

The snow miraculously cleared, so we visited Good Vibrations as planned. I've spent a lot in the last few weeks on some art materials, some silicone trays and mixing bowls for plaster, some Laropal A81 resin (which I'm excited to test in painting, as a varnish/stain, or glue), and some paper rolls for cleaning; a regular essential.

Today, started to narrate 21st Century Surrealism as an audiobook. I've narrated about two thirds add have spotted a few errors on the text to be corrected later. In between this, Deb and I went to Frodsham to collect my open paintings. A storm is due to hit the country tonight, so I thought it prudent to go today rather than tomorrow as officially scheduled.

Onwards we charge.

Lyric Videos, I Seek My Solace Plaster

Have spent the last couple of days recompiling the 50 or so YouTube 'lyric reading videos' for my albums, and moving these back to the music channel, all helping separate music, visual art and computer games.

Then, a little work on the 'I Seek My Solace' artwork. I've now cast three plaster sheets with different methods. There are many ways to make this backing for the painting. A plaster and slightly wave-like finished was in my mind when conceiving the idea. The ideal way would be to model it in a clay like Plasticine, then make a silicone mould and cast this. This is ideal for mass production but perhaps overkill for one work, and silicone is expensive, and I have none. The reliquary doors used epoxy clay, which is ideal too, but it's very cold for such a material (it's always hard work to mix, but especially so in winter); and it's hard to carve the lettering into epoxy.

In the third sheet I carved the poem while the plaster was semi-dry. This looks good, but the sheet is very delicate. I may be able to do better.

My next task for the month is to record audiobooks, so I may do this. I'm unsure if it's worth it, whether I'll sell a single audiobook, but 21st Century Surrealism has sold over 400 copies now, so it is perhaps worth a try. I'm not particularly looking forward to the job, it feels more like a chore than creative or artistic.

Everything feels a little uncertain, the normal mood for a self-employed self-motivated artist. What is best? I must do my best, every day. Grow, learn. Do better than what has been done before, and keep producing good works to an uncaring world.

It's too snowy to travel, so I can't see Deborah, and we may not get to visit Congleton on Wednesday, though I suspect those ever-busy main roads will be clear.

Video Filing, Castors, Owl Restoration, Billy Squier

Started the day by making updating the new videos on the Cornutopia Software YouTube channel, then filing the newly converted videos.

Then, fitted castors to my father's chair. It needed a height extension, and we had some spare castors with an M8 thread, so I ordered some M8 rivnuts, and these arrived today. I needed an 11mm drill bit for these; 11mm! This is such an unusual size, most drill bits over 6 go up in twos. I used a 10mm drill an shifted the bit around to enlarge the hole, this worked well. Then glued the rivnuts into place with viscous super-glue (cyanoacrylate). Then screwed in the castors.

After this, worked on the repair and restoration of the owl oil painting started in November. This required thick paint, more like a paste. Oil paint will not gap-fill easily, so I added chalk, an ancient solution. The results were good, this restoration is complete. While working I listened to a new album acquisition, Billy Squier's Don't Say No. I thought I might like it because it's a 1981 album (my favourite year), was produced by Reinhold Mack, and was a hit in America at the time. Billy Squier is pretty much unknown in the UK, but sure enough, I like the album, it's so like the rockier Queen of the era that if Freddie Mercury sang these, people would assume it's an unknown Queen (or at least Brian May) album. There are however some Americanisms in the riffs, bluesy/country sounds, such as the riff in 'Too Daze Gone' which wouldn't be in a British album. It's a very good album, will definitely be an inspiration and remain part of my collection.

In the afternoon, a dash to shops to buy some essentials and important luxuries.

It's time to consider new creations. I must work on the Strawberry painting and on audiobooks. Things feel somewhat cluttered and untidy, but I've made progress here. With each new thing, something old must be cast out too. Sometimes growth is cutting back.

Onwards we charge!

I Seek My Solace

Today, compiled images to send to a gallery, and once done did some work on 'I Seek My Solace Where Love Lies Lost'. I found a branch of dried wood, very mossy and pretty. I sawed this to make a flat base, then cut and glued it to make a gallows for the panel to hang from. Once dry, I'll preserve it all with Paraloid resin.

Then, cut and drilled a piece of lime wood for the painting panel's rear, and drew out the poem. My plan is to gild this. I may need to enhance the lettering with a dark colour.

My gums are aching aching, despite weeks of meticulous cleaning. The problem which became evident in December seems to be no better.

New Year, New Cornutopia Software YouTube Channel

Yesterday, a full day of my annual computer backups and system tidying, which I perform every Dec 31st. This took until 17:00, and was thwarted by the Windows Recovery Drive creator not recognising my new 128Gb USB stick. It worked fine last year for the 64Gb stick (but not with 32Gb, which isn't big enough). This forced me to order another, feeling ripped off. I also received a USB plug, ordered as a twin pack, but this was time limited and it appears that I missed out by a few minutes - also inspiring feelings of being taken advantage of! The Amazon page hums and tums with eyes skywards, showing just one plug, no sign of the twin-pack offer.

Later, a nice evening of board games with Deborah and my parents, and today the day of new starts. I watched 'Letter From An Unknown Woman' by Stefan Zweig, whom I'd read a year or two ago in 'Beware Of Pity'; a true romantic in the mould of Goethe.

Then a look a new goals, and I decided to create a new YouTube channel for Cornutopia Software, to separate out the 20 or 30 gaming videos from my artworks channel. My visual art really needs a separate channel. This work involves recompiling all of these videos and updating all of the YouTube text, as well as creation of the channel livery. I should manage it by the end of today.