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Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Top 30 Week 1 March 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
The Next Generation of Freelance Writers
I was invited in to Kingston University the other day by Todd Swift - the Canadian poet - to talk to fifty or so students on the creative writing course. Kingston has a good buzz about it, (I had been there just a few weeks before talking to Alison Baverstock's Publishing MA students).
Todd very kindly cajoles all his students to buy my "Freelance Writer's Handbook" and also encouraged them to line up to have their books signed at the end of the session. Talking to some of them individually got me thinking.
It's been forty years since I was setting out like them, arriving in London straight from school, hoping for pavements of gold and all the rest. Then the freelance writer's world was one of manual typewriters and self-addressed envelopes where now it is all emails and attachments, but in essence it is still a gigantic leap of faith into a life where every morning you wake up not knowing if this is going to be the day your big break finally arrives. No doubt they were hoping that I was going to give them some clue as to what the next forty years of their lives are going to be like, but how different will it be by the time these guys are the ones blathering on to another generation of hopefuls?
The only thing I can promise to those who stick it out is that they are in for some grand adventures.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Rolling Stone boy cover Justin Bieber Doesn't Believe in Abortion
In the new issue of Rolling Stone - on stands and online in the digital archives on February 18th (subscription required) - Justin Bieber takes Rolling Stone contributing editor Vanessa Grigoriadis for a spin around Atlanta in his Range Rover. Along the way they discuss girls, politics, music, Will Ferrell movies – and sex.
"I don't think you should have sex with anyone unless you love them," Bieber says. When asked if he believes in abstinence until marriage, Bieber – who is reportedly dating fellow teen star Selena Gomez – seems wary: "I think you should just wait for the person you're...in love with."
Near the end of their time together Grigoriadis caught a glimpse of Bieber's desktop image on his laptop: It was him and Gomez against an orange sunset. Bieber quickly closed the computer when he noticed that Grigoriadis had seen the picture.
Other highlights from the story:
- The Canadian-born Bieber never plans on becoming an American citizen. "You guys are evil," he says with a laugh. "Canada's the best country in the world. We go to the doctor and we don't need to worry about paying him, but here, your whole life, you're broke because of medical bills. My bodyguard's baby was premature, and now he has to pay for it. In Canada, if your baby's premature, he stays in the hospital as long as he needs to, and then you go home."
- He isn't sure what political party he'd support if he was old enough to vote. "I'm not sure about the parties," Bieber says. "But whatever they have in Korea, that's bad." He does have a solid opinion on abortion. "I really don't believe in abortion," Bieber says. "It's like killing a baby?" How about in cases of rape? "Um. Well, I think that's really sad, but everything happens for a reason. I guess I haven't been in that position, so I wouldn't be able to judge that."
- Bieber's voice began to change on his last tour. He's now working with a vocal couch, which involves doing 20 push-ups before before a session to warm up his chest. "He's got a nice tone tone to his voice now," says his vocal coach Jan Smith. "It's a good texture, but it doesn't sound like what his fans think he sounds like. He'll get four octaves eventually. He's still young."
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