It would be fair to say I’ve been mulling over the idea of an Arseblog book for some time. I had thought of releasing a 10 year anniversary tome, with a mix of old and new material, but I’ve always had big reservations about the ‘old’ material. It might be nicely packaged but why would, and why should, anyone pay for something they can log onto a website and read for free?
Then there was that Robert Pires tribute book featuring my hand drawn portraits of Bob but a book containing the words ‘dreamy’ and ‘swoon’, and only those words, wouldn’t necessarily have much lasting appeal. Plus my art is not what you would call inspiring. And I think I’d be the only one interested in that book anyway.
However, this summer I had a good idea. What if I found people who wrote about Arsenal, or about football, and asked them to contribute to a collection of pieces about the football club? A collection which would be, for the most part, a celebration of the Arsenal; an collection of the things we know and love and remember and enjoy about it. A book which looks at where we are now also where we came from.
So I found those people. Some of them write professionally, some of them you will know from their blogs, some of them don’t write specifically about Arsenal at all, but all have areas of expertise which would make them perfect for what I was trying to do. And what if I then packaged those writings into a limited edition, collectors item hardback book (and maybe a paperback version to follow in the new year)?
Well, what if will become a reality in early December when ‘So Paddy got up – an Arsenal anthology‘ is published. The plan is to launch the book in London, with an event about which I’ll provide more details later. Along with the contributor list which, for now, will remain under wraps. Hey, you don’t expect me to give everything away at once, do you? Suffice to say if you’re a regular Arseblog reader you’ll recognise most of them.
At some point in the future I’ll be trying to gauge how people might be interested in attending the launch etc but at this moment I’ll leave you with the announcement and a look at what will be the front cover.
