I Told You Trusting Worked!

Just one day after I posted a Friday Forum that talked about trust and Paul Allen has been in touch via facebook regarding Volume Four! Here's what he had to say:

I have read One Short Story to be told Volume 4(Sleepyhead). I was delighted to be the first to read, it and it was a great read. It brought back memories of my childhood, getting called for school in particular, and one of the dreams I used to have myself; except I was playing for Liverpool and not Leeds. Keep up the good work Leyton/Stan.

I'm assuming that as he has read Volume Four Paul will shortly be looking for a new owner. So maybe now would be a good time to take an action. Paul is on FB so you can message him there. Alternatively let me know what you have/want to say to Paul and I will pass it on.

88*googleplex leyton/Stan

PS. Can I remind you that this blog will be shut down shortly and transfer it's updates to http://oneshortstorytobetold.com/. We'd love to see you there!

Friday Forum (3)

It’s been a quiet week on the One Short Story To Be Told front. And I have to say I welcomed the quietness in one sense. After all last week was manic. But then preparing to put something new into the world should be hectic.

On the other hand the quietness of this week could be disconcerting. No contact from any of the current owners of One Short Story To Be Told Volumes, coupled with utter silence from the Volumes themselves leaves one in a void that could be easily filled with panic.

Thoughts of lost or neglected stories rise like terrible fish in one’s mind and the temptation is to succumb to grief. But…

Well here’s the but! One has to trust! And when does trust then an inner belief that all will be OK swiftly comes to the fore. So I’m not worried that I’ve had NO CONTACT WHATSOEVER from John Martin, Ivan Bevan or Paul Allen since they became custodians of Volume’s One, Two and Four respectively. I’m not concerned that feedback has not arrived from Nuala McGrath or Kerrie Collins since they passed Volume Three and Two on. And I’m not even the slightest bit perturbed by the fact that when I last spoke to Marius Griffin (via FB) she had a new owner in mind for ‘Grey Skies’ but has yet to confirm whether Volume Three has been moved on.

Oh I know some of you will be thinking that sounds like a lot of unknowns. And maybe more of you are thinking I should be acting! But, you know, this project has been largely based on trust anyway; especially in The Universe. So I’m not going to act. I’m not going to go chasing people. And I’m certainly not going to panic.

At least not until after the weekend – which for those of you on foreign shores is a long one here in Ireland.

Having said all that if anyone is talking to Ivan Bevan, John MArtin. Marius Griffin or Paul Allen I would appreciate you mentioning me and One Short Story To Be Told. And I would be even more grateful if, by chance or otherwise, you bumped into Kerrie Collins or Nuala McGrath that you remarked on the space here on the blog that is waiting for their feedback. and I would be absolutely and utterly thrilled if any of the above (that’s Ivan, John, Paul, Marius – AKA the current owners – Nuala or Kerrie) were to contact me directly!

Finally I hope to collect the leyton attens t-shirts that were ordered at last Saturday night’s launch tomorrow. and I will have them in the hands of proud new owners by the middle of next week.

Yours in trust

leyton attens/Stanley Notte.

A Good Day's Work, and a new blog!

A very excited Sleepyhead (AKA Volume Four) was safely delivered to Paul Allen this evening. T-Shirts ordered this afternoon. A good day all round I would say.

In other news this blog will become defunct shortly. I have rebuilt with the correct domain name. You can follow us there from now on. The address is http://oneshortstorytobetold.com/

88*googleplex leyton/Stan

Volume Four animation on you tube.

Decided to act tonight, as to procrastinate could lead to a long delay. So the animation for last night's launch of Volume 4 is now available alongside the other three on youtube. Here's the link; http://www.youtube.com/user/stanleynotte#p/u/0/yS7b_Dtk6EI
Make sure you read the footnotes before watching.
88*goggleplex leyton attens/Stanley Notte

Volume Four Launch a(nother) great success.

It's Sunday afternoon and I'm feeling the affects of a late night (and a few beers). But the tiredness is worth it as One Short Story To Be Told Volume Four (which contains the story Sleephead) was given a great send off last night. Thank you to all who made the effort to be in Tom Barry's Bar for the occasion. Thank you for the kind words you adorned me with. And thank you for purchasing t-shirts and/posters to help us spread the word about our adventure.

I have to say that one year on - IT'S ONE SHORT STORY TO BE TOLD'S FIRST BIRTHDAY TODAY! - I am delighted with our progress. We are, as they say, getting there! But we have to keep pushig so I'd ask anyone reading this message to tell a friend or colleague or pet about One Short Story To Be Told! Thank you again.

Now back to last night. Once our animated film was shown we did, as always, draw the name of the fist recipient of the One Short Story To Be Told Volume from a hat (for those of you with short memory spans it was Volume Four last night). The name drawn last night was that of a certain Mr Paul Allen, another Corkonian. I (in my human form of Stanley Notte) have spoken to Paul today and he will take custody of Volume Four and the story Sleepyhead tomorrow.

Sleepyhead was a tad upset the taking custody thing couldn't happen today so I have had to promise to bathe him in a Willy Wonka type love for the rest of the day. So far so good and as I write Sleepyhead is curled up on my lap humming the tune of 'Pure Imagination' Sweet, hey!

Anyway that's all for now. Thanks again to all who turned up last night.

88*googleplex

leyton attens AKA the human Stanley Notte

PS BIG THANKS TO MARC FOR THE ANIMATION. I'll be loading it to You Tube in the next few days.

Volume One is 'Flying along!'

Volume One ('Waiting for Life To Return) is on the move again. Kerrie Collins has nominated John Martin as the next recipient. 'Flying along, I am' is all 'Waiting For Life To Return' had to say when given the news. He did, however, have a massive grin on his face at the time!

Friday Forum

This is the first in what I plan to be a regular Friday update on the One Short Story To Be Told Volumes. In other words I will be updating every Friday on movements, emotions and status of each of our Volumes. Of course I'm praying that as the number of Volumes criss-crossing the globe increases I won't buckle under pressure.

But for the moment that's not an issue as there are just (JUST; God I never give myself enough credit!) three Volumes in circulation.

So let's start with Volume One. 'Waiting For Life To Return' is currently in the hands of Kerrie Collins. I have had no contact with Kerrie as yet, but have (worriedly) emailed her today for an update. Truthfully I'm not that worried as 'Waiting For Life To Return' has been in touch and says he is very happy.

Volume Two ('Wink') has had a good week as John Linehan has passed him on to Ivan Bevan (any week that includes a new owner being announced or reached is a good one for our stories!). Ivan is delighted he was chosen. And 'Wink' is over the moon to have reached his ninth home. I await feedback and a photograph from John, but he has orally informed he was 'impressed'.

So a pat on the back for me today, me thinkd!

Volume Three ('Grey Skies') meanwhile is still with his second owner, Marius Griffin. Marius has told me she is taking her time with 'Grey Skies', and while a new home is always a priority for our stories 'Grey Skies' has been in touch to say he loves Marius so much he's not even thinking about a new home just now.

So all good on the 'stories in circulation' front.

Of course I'm preparing for the launch of Volume Four of One Short Story To Be Told at the moment as well. And I'm thrilled to tell you that all is on track for the 22nd October (that's Saturday week!). The chosen story - 'Sleepyhead' - is printed (thanks Mary for the layout and John for the printing), and is with Albert 'The Wonderful Binder' Browne. Tom Barry's, Barrack Street is booked, and the free beverages are organised. And Marc has his superbly creative brain firmly focused on the animation for the night. I can't wait to see what Marc comes up with.

So that's it for the first ever Friday Forum. I'll be in touch again next week, so stay tuned for regular reminders of Saturday 22nd October the day 'Sleepyhead' is released into the world.

88*googleplex

leyton

Extract from Volume Four as promised

Extract from 'Sleepyhead' (the story that is going to grace the pages of Volume Four of One Short Story To Be Told) as promised earlier in the week.

'In this dream John was playing centreforward for leeds united in their fifth straight

Champions league final. This was a special dream for John as being a footballer was the only thing, apart from sleeping of course, that he considered a worthwhile job. Just as John arrived Pele played a one two with maradona and slipped John a pass that put him through on goal. John then rounded the three goalkeepers manchester united were playing and nonchalantly back heeled the ball in to the net.'

88*googleplex

leyton

Volume two on the move

John Linehan has confirmed Ivan Bevan will be the next recipient of Volume Two. 'Wink' is delighted to be finding his ninth home, I'm as happy as a re-elected politician and Stan? Well Stan is smiling broadly.

88*googleplex

leyton

Update on Volume Four Launch

Less than two weeks - 12 days to be exact - before Volume Four of One Short Story To Be Told is released. And I'm delighted to say that all is on track. The PDF file is ready (thanks Mary), and is with the printer, Marc is working on the animation, and Albert the binder has been put on stand by. All we need now is for The Universe to saty on our side, and for you to ensure 6 to 8pm on 22nd October is in your diary. Extract from 'Sleepyhead' - a very excited story - will appear on Wednesday next!

88*googleplex leyton/Stan

Time to move on

Well time to move on from the excitement of a front cover being graced by my name and face and get on with the work of keeping One ShortStory To Be Told going. So we are delighted to announce the title ofthe story to be included in Volume Four (coming on 22nd October) is...... 'Sleepyhead'.
Extract will follow next week. Don't forget the22nd Oct. We'll be in Tom Barry's Bar Barrack St, Cork and would loveto see you there.
88*googleplex leyton/Stan

One doesn't like to brag. And one certainly has to avoid allowing thoughts of fame and fortune being on (a very close) horizon to dominate. But some days...well it's hard. The announcement a week or so ago that One Short Story To Be Told was to be featured IN the Writers' News magazine proved a tad incorrect. It's not 'in' the magazine - it's on the FRONT COVER. Photographic proof is provided (of course) and Writers' News is available in all good newsagents. You will need to look for Writers' Magazine as Writers' News is a supplement within that mag, but hey I'm not complaining!

End of the week.

So the end of another busy weeks dawns. We reach that ending with the knowledge that Volume's One and Two are happy, and assuming - because no news is good news - that Volume Three is too. On the downside we are still awaiting feedback (and, please God, photo's) from Collette O Donoghue and Nuala McGrath. But trust is a huge thing, and we have huge amounts of it. We know the ladies won't let us down.
Finally Maureen Collins has informed us that she will be passing Volume One to her daughter Kerri. The process is in process, if yo get what we mean. Kerri will be the TENTH recipient of Volume One, which means Waiting For Life To Return has an average ownership of almost one a month. Not bad, we thinks.
If you're interested in numbers Volume Two is currently with it's eighth owner, while Marius Griffin is the second person to provide Volume Three (the current baby of our family) with a home.
88*googleplex, leyton and Stan