Lunar splashed. Fragile liquid wings. Spine cracking mornings. Keyboard played and fingers flitting...the upload begins..icon initialization
You all know by now my love of all things Twitter. It's through social networking that I have the opportunity to write words for your consumption, it's through Twitter that I have learned and loved, lost and found again, and met some of the most cvreative people that the world has to offer. One such person is Kneel Downe.
Kneel took me under his wing and helped my own projects to grow beyond my wildest dreams, at the same time as working tirelessly on his own work. Kneel has touched the lives of so many people and as the date of his first book release grows ever nearer, we are going to unashamelesly plug the man and his work.
Myself as editor of the opinionated geeks, Brad and the team over at the cultden, Jeff and the guys from the knights blog, are putting aside our selfish want of world domination, and teaming up as a powerful unit of publishing to push the VIRULENT BLURB: FRACTURES, and we make no apology for the articles, comments, and reviews that start here and will go on until The Diary Of A Lobo Wannabee, my account of three days with the great man himself in Manchester where all things book will be disscussed and the world will be righted.
The VIRULENT BLURB started back in the depths of time as one Tweet, 140 characters of fiction in one small message, and has grown beyond belief. VIRULENT BLURB: FRACTURES is just the first book of an infinate amount that could be written, and is follow up titles are being worked on as we speak. What Kneel accomplished with that first Tweet was nothing short of a miracle, fictions own Big Bang if you will, as from that original Tweet now stands a universe with story string upon story string all linking in to the main universe, artwork has been created, music has been inspired by the universe, and media companies are currently battling it out in smoke filled rooms for the rights to all things BLURBIVERSE as projects on television and film excite people, non more so than the dark and twisted fans of Kneel Downe, of which I am one, and there are many people who would like to have input to these tributes, so in this first article lets hear from science fiction author and a huge influence on Kneel himself, JEFF NOON...
"I think there’s a growing awareness of how sites like twitter are capable not only of (dis)communication, but also of creative writing. Kneel Downe is the best kind of modern writer; he embodies the new media in a totally natural way. He understands that future content needs a future form, and he’s fearless in his exploration of both elements. Most of all he’s aware that intensely individual work need not be at odds with a shared, online expression."
I met Kneel sometime last year on twitter, brought together through our common love of Doctor Who. You don't need to spend a huge amount of time tweeting him before you get drawn into his world of Virulent Blurb. He often tweets that it leaks, the truth is Kneel himself leaks. Virulent Blurb exudes from every pore in his skin. Its a thinking, living, breathing work. He is passionate about it and so he should be.
I soon realised that this was a guy who had created a visionary masterpiece that would not be long confined to Twitter. His is the stuff of dreams and of nightmares. Splicing and fractured but vibrant and so so addictive. Look at his characters! Kurt Lobo- a guy you wouldn't want to meet on a dark night but amazing to imagine and once again brilliantly brought to life.
The excitement I have with the publishing of Kneel's first book, Virulent Blurb-Fractures is immense. Finally others will get to experience what so many have already via his website and Twitter. For me, the mark of a good writer is in the detail. Kneel describes his world in a way I rarely experience. You are truly drawn into the world he has created,indeed, you become part of it.
Its not that he is just a great writer. He is also a fantastic friend. Always there with an encouraging word of support or a retweet to show he cares. So terribly humble, constantly amazed that people want to support him. Isn't that what friends do? I am proud to be devoting this weekend to supporting him and Virulent Blurb both on twitter and through my blog.
To those who are new to Kneel's work. Try it. Take a risk. How many opportunities do you get to be part of something that will be the start of a new writers development, a new project. Join us and get engrossed in one of the most exciting and invigorating journey I have ever witnessed. Virulent Blurb has gone viral but it is now infecting a new medium. As for the future? who knows but one thing is for sure it will involve surprises and it sure will be one heck of a ride.
Virulent Blurb: Fractures is released on the 1st October. You can follow Kneel Down on twitter at @kneeldown and @virulentblurb. Also, check out the website www.virulentblurb.com
Kneel Downe is an enigma in a hat....
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Kneel Downe is a new force to be reckoned with in the heady world of twitter-based fic....
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Kneel Downe is already so famous he has his own trolls, and like the best trolls they don’t check their grammar. Kneel, we are reliably told by one of them, ate a loud shit....
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Himself part Kurt Lobo, part Paul Nyman, part Dark Deliverance, Kneel Downe sits atop his mountain of ideas and rants to the world of hybrids that would make a Prius guzzle unleaded and pass out. I don’t actually have a clear recollection of how I “met” Kneel, save that it was sometime late last year when I tracked down Jeff Noon on Twitter and discovered an extraordinary world of quick-witted storytellers of which Kneel was one. I think he must have crept up on me and stolen my hat or something - one minute there was no Kneel, next minute I had a mate named Kneel.
In the minutes after that, I found myself drawn into the universe that is VirulentBlurb, both figuratively and literally. Check the original tweet stories where it all began, my name’s in there along with many of those who were there in the early days. It’s as if Kneel sees everyone around him as part of a raucous multi-planed existence that he knits together like a cross between the pied piper and a court reporter.
But I won’t metaphor you to death. When Kneel asked me to edit VirulentBlurb: Fractures I was incredibly touched. I vaguely recall being promised curry and booze if I told people being his editor is a great experience. Which I would have said anyway but, yanno, curry and booze. It’s not often you have an author/client to whom you don’t actually have to say “this will work” because nine times out of ten he’s saying it to you. Like all creative types he struggles to believe in himself, but he believes in his world and that’s everything. Through the piecing together of the approximately four billion pieces of text that make up the book, all lined up in a tastefully modern and unobtrusive font, I’ve read through it multiple times now and I see the belief on every page. When you walk down the street with Kurt you swagger, dusty overcoat flapping in a fitful alley breeze.
Kneel Downe is my mate, VirulentBlurb is his vision, and getting this book out has been a labour of love for everyone involved.
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