John Higgs's Octannual Manual #61

It is happening again

This is quite a day for me - I sent the manuscript of my next book to the publishers this morning, and I now get to announce what that is here.

It’s called LYNCHIAN: THE SPELL OF DAVID LYNCH and it will be out on November 13th. This is what it will look like:

This is a short book about why the work of David Lynch affects us in such a profound way. Writing it has been a joy, and it has been an absolute privilege to spend so much time immersed in his mind and his films. If you’ve ever watched Twin Peaks or one of his films and found them incredibly seductive in ways that you don’t quite understand, then I think you will get a lot out of this book.

It will be out as a handsome hardback in time for Christmas, and as an audiobook and ebook as well. If you are minded to pre-order that would be wonderful - it’s available here and in all the usual places.

To have lost both David Lynch and Ozzy Osbourne in the same year is a terrible thing - who will guide us through the darkness now?

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DOCTOR WHO STUFF

Before we get to Lynchian - I’ve a few more Dr Who events this year, including Abergavenny on August 23rd and the Liverpool Literary Festival on October 18. Details of these can be found here. Look out also for an early October event in Ilkley, the date of which should be firmed up soon.

If you can’t make any of these, my talk for the York Festival of Ideas was filmed and has been put online - you can watch that here.

THE KLF

The new edition of The KLF is now out in paperback, complete with the 10th anniversary footnotes. I’ve been down to Resident Records to sign a pile, so if anyone is looking for a signed copy, you’ll find one here.

AND ALSO

I’m part of a ‘Meet the Authors’ event in Shoreham on 4 October. Not having done anything like this before I’m not sure exactly what it will be like, but if you come down there will be me and ten other writers happy to talk! Details of this event are here.

In this new post-Ozzy era, anyone with an interest in heavy music should have a listen to Andrew O’Neill’s new podcast Infected Voice. Each week they discuss one classic and one recent heavy album - because some things never die. Plus jokes!

And lastly - you might know Jason Arnopp from his horror novel The Last Days of Jack Sparks or his Doctor Who stuff. Jason has head and neck cancer and - two surgeries and an admittedly very cool neck scar later - he is attempting to raise money for specialist radiotherapy. If you are in a position to chip in a few quid, that would be a very, very lovely thing. His GoFundMe is here.

And don’t forget - the owls are not what they seem

Until next time,
jhx