Bristol 1 to Bristol 8
In late January of 2016, in a notebook titled ‘Bristol 1’, I began writing something. In late June of 2019, in a notebook titled ‘Bristol 8’, I finished writing something else entirely. I couldn’t care less whether it qualifies as novel or novella, but it is a story, in prose and poetry; in poetry and prose. I’ll call it a novel. I’ll call it a serialised novel.
I am going to release it chapter by chapter, with the first chapter accompanied by the prologue, and the eleventh and final chapter accompanied by the epilogue. This will be every Sunday morning (UK time), starting with Sunday the 4th of August, 2019.
UPDATE: Find it here.
But first I will rally your interest. Having already released a ‘trailer’ (here), I am going to release a number of blog posts over the coming weeks, in an order that may or may not match the order they are listed:
- The prologue, in its brief entirety, that opens the novel and puts you off.
- The chapter list, to get you speculating on the story and its unfolding based purely on the title of each.
- Some horrendously exaggerated, absolutely fabricated praise it has already garnered from some major figures, whose opinion ought, really, to be noted.
- The copyright disclaimer (not many rights shall be reserved…).
Unbingeable
After this time of tease and preview, it comes to the actual serialised release. Once this is all over, there will be available a PDF that contains the entire thing as one, altogether. But until that point in time, it will be released chapter by chapter, once a week. This will be via posts like this one, containing an extract and then a link to a downloadable PDF.
On top of the posts, I will create a page for the novel that will have all downloadable PDFs together. As well as releasing the chapters this way, I plan to do live readings here in Bristol. These will be of parts of chapters and extracts, read at various cafes and bars, and perhaps standing in the street like a preacher. Or next to a preacher, competing to see who can talk the loudest.
Without further much ado about nothing, I shall introduce…
The Floating Harbour
By William Altoft
“Egypt is the gift of the Nile.”
(Herodotus, Histories)
“My tale becomes even more difficult
because we not only wandered through Space,
but also through Time.”
(Herman Hesse, The Journey to the East)
“The city, however, does not tell its past,
but contains it like the lines of a hand.”
(Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities)
Showin’ up promptly…
william altoft 