The title of "LEGEND" gets banded around like a badge of honour to every Johnny Come Lately and his brother in this day and age...
So quick are we to idolise and hoist up mediocrity to a level above all others...
But we forget we live in an era where there is an entire generation of rockstars and movie-stars who are in the autumn years and we are watching icon after icon pass away from causes both natural and man-made.
All of which are truly fitting of the title and the description given to wannabes and losers whose only skill is too oil up muscles and sleep with a tonne of idiots, or make utter fools of themselves in public... Never once committing any act that deserves our respect or our worship.
Despite it all, the people who do deserve the attention, the idolatry and our unwavering love often are seen as bulletproof and immortal. There is always a feeling that some of these people we hold in such ridiculously high esteem will transcend biology and human condition, and live forever and ever in infamy and - despite the pompousness of the idea - real, genuine legend.

Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister was one such person.

An institute, an icon, a genuine figurehead for millions of people in a subculture that bled into every facet of modern fame, life and iconography.
If you showed a picture of him to one hundred people in the street - my bet is that 90% of them - OR MORE - would know either his name, his band or could name a song of his.

He WAS heavy Metal, Hard Rock and Rock'N'Roll - he embodied it for 40 plus years - an unwavering, unmovable, unshakeable mountain of joy, passion and love for the art-form.
Seeping into every corner of the zeitgeist.

Lemmy was the king of rock for as long as i knew guitar based heavy rock.
He was the king.
One of the first songs I remember my dad ever playing for me, trying to excite me into a love of music, was "SILVER MACHINE" by Hawkwind.
Alongside songs like "Parisienne Walkways" and "Bohemian Rhapsody" it was a mainstay on all my dads’ mixtapes, he would make onto tapes recorded off of vinyl records.
We would sing it in the car on journeys, near or far.
Screaming the lyrics loud and proud.
As we would years later to "ACE OF SPADES" a song that is as culturally significant as any Beatles song, any Rolling Stones track... An inarguable fact.

Lemmy was in my life from a very, very early age.
And he has, and will remain in it for years... If not forever.
From my ears ringing for two days after seeing Motorhead on the second stage at Download Festival, to the man himself showing up in rock films like Airheads through to Sci-fi classics like HARDWARE.
He was a monolith, universally respected, universally loved and forever speaking his mind devoid of any waffle or censorship.
An absolute, unconditional, inarguable, genuine, immortal LEGEND.

Hearing he has died, so suddenly after learning of his aggressive cancer. And, hearing how he died, in his own inimitable, brilliantly and wonderfully "Lemmy" way... In front of his favourite computer game console, from his favourite pub - It is exactly how you can imagine him leaving us.
Probably with a whiskey by his side, and a bevvy of beautiful woman who idolised him all around.
A singular man living life in his own singular and impenetrable and unique way.

Yes, he has died.
But he will never DIE.
His body has faded and left us, but his spirit is intwined indivisible from the genre and the music that he helped create and that will never be able to exist without the massive spark he lent and imbibed in it.

Lemmy was rock, is rock and will always be rock.
And the genre will forever exist with his spirit and his spark deeply rooted into the heart and soul of it.

I have never been able to drink Bourbon, but regardless, i will raise a JD and Coke to the sky on New Years eve proudly.
I will say a silent word or two to his name and his memory and i will slug it back with ease, knowing his spirit and his brilliant energy will guide me...
It is the very least i can do to this great, great man.
This REAL legend.
This Golden God.
We should all raise a glass for Lemmy.
Worthy of being mentioned in the same hushed and reverent tones as Lennon, Hendrix, Coltrane, Bach and Mozart.
A man of such importance and such spirit, his absence will be felt for many, many years.

Lemmy.
The King of Rock'N'Roll.
Rest In Peace man.

Go on your way, continuing your journey in your Silver machine...

I started work in earnest in the last two weeks on my second novel.
Titled "HYBRID MACKENZIE (AND THE PEOPLE ON THE HILL)" - It's an ambitious project for me to say the least.
Three books, all telling the same story - for three different and unique age groups. A round of fables told as if by Chinese Whispers - so one account will be full and comprehensive - telling the entire legend of a story, aimed at adults 18+, then the same story but filtered as though a fairy tale for a teen audience and young adult, then a third retelling where we filter down to a children's story - a picture-book, telling the very heart and essence of the story.

The idea is one which will take a lot of time, not least of which because it is also being illustrated in all three versions by myself as well!

I intend to take my time to get it right, but i am incredibly happy and proud of the work i have done so far. A solid foundation for the rest of the novel. One which loses ONE MAN AND HIS DOGMA'S non-linear narrative, and instead, tells a straight line story with a beginning, middle and end all told in sequence, with very few (if any at all) tangents along the way.

I intend to share snippets with you as we get into the story - and my intention will be to share the first chapter when the book is completed... But expect updates as we move forward!

Thank you again to all who purchased ONE MAN... still a few copies remain with me, so they will be signed and numbered (limited 250 in total) and illustrated with a doodle in every copy, should you wish to get a copy for a loved one or yourself at Christmas!

For now, i leave you all again, but big love to all, and take of yourself and each other... Its a mean old world at the minute, and a bit of love would never go amiss.

Easy Now.

​Andi.x

Hello Friends.

We are continuing apace on the final edit, so very nearly at the end!
In the long months since we started we have made some important changes, tidied narrative and strengthened characters continuity to make the first draft a real bona fide pageturner.
I could not be happier with the work my brilliant editor paul martin has put in, nor his astounding support during the whole of this post-writing process...

Editing is a hard, long job - let me tell you.
And Paul has done a great job of keeping a handle on the tiniest of story consistencies and narrative threads and pointed out some things that really have helped make this the best story I could tell.

We will be going to final stage and print in a matter of a few weeks, and we should be shipping the pre-order kickstarter copies out in the next month - all being well.

Which brings me to the good news!
We have released a full edited sample chapter from the book - which acts as a gateway, Amuse bouche and introduction to the novel.

Written as a self contained story deep within the book, it was designed specifically to bolster two important characters but spoil nothing - and is ready to be read on the link below...

https://tablo.io/sarianlives/one-man-and-his-dogma-chapter-six

We welcome you to take a dip inside the finished novel and read a decent chunk of story before its release.
This introduces you to Death and his Riders Four and the great Lord Lucifer Morningstar, two of our more important and central characters from our cast.
And sets up the story to follow, whilst informing and supporting the story before... But, whilst giving nothing away.

We hope you enjoy.
I really enjoyed writing this chapter... And it perfectly explains the story when I say it deals with the tenets of religion, whilst not being RELIGIOUS, and highlighting the more fantastical areas of the story.

Get your teeth in, and I hope it whets your appetites.

Speak soon.
Andi.
x

Before I started writing ONE MAN AND HIS DOGMA as a novel, I had a string of similar half ideas from different genres laid out in incomplete forms on my hard-drive.

Some of them were comic book storylines I was working on with a friend for an ongoing series we were plotting and developing, others were short stories which had no spine or heart - and were floundering messes I had jettisoned into the "Junk" file in my WRITING folder. One was a three quarters complete stage-play which kind of ran out of juice. Unsure if it was a BOTTOM style manic comedy, or a Jack Lemon/Water Matthau whimsical comedy... And was not really very good at being either.

Then there were threads of the same story that just needed a dust and a polish until I could see the bones to put the flesh on.

One such short story was ONE IN SIXTY MILLION.
Written when I had a bout of severe insomnia at college in 2001, it is a simple concept that - when filtered down - had a solid idea which was waylaid badly in my adolescence as a writer...
Trying in vain to find my voice.
Banging and smashing and tripping over blindly in the outhouse trying to build my style...

Bits and pieces of the idea were stolen for tiny fragments of the novel ONE MAN AND HIS DOGMA, when I realised that a "SILLY" idea could be rejigged and rebuilt into a dramatic long-form project...
It's the idea of a very green, very naive writer who was struggling with delusions of grandeur, but I will be damned if it doesn't hold a big place in my heart.

I have posted the story over at my PATREON page for you to read, I did not want to post here as I want to try and keep some things offsite like a hidden treasure (there is that delusion of grandeur again...) hiding things around my social media on the web, where you can find bits and pieces should you go exploring.

PATREON is a strange concept, I am not entirely sure I even really get it yet. Watching people I admire like Amanda Palmer use it as well as she has though, with the support she has received and the feedback she puts out, has made it slightly less frightening.
But I am well aware how lucky I was with my Kickstarter to have the book completed and allow me to self publish - so I am also aware how I could be pushing my luck by having a page at Patreon.
Still - have one I do - and if you want to check it out and the things I am offering, please follow the link and have a gander:

ANDI JAMES CHAMBERLAIN - PATREON

I will occasionally post random and unique things there, including stories I would not post anywhere else.
So keep checking back and, should you wish, feel free to Patreonise me!

In the next week or two I hope to share a full chapter from the novel with you all and some short-stories written for my pledgers on Kickstarter, released for public consumption with their express and gratefully received permissions...
For now.
Take care and enjoy the story you crazy kids.

Peace.
Andi James Chamberlain
17.06.2015