E. Mark Windle 30 August 2023. Almost twenty years ago, a book revolution was on the horizon. The advent of Sony e-reading devices in 2006 and the more commercially impactful Amazon Kindle the following year provided a new option for accessing literature. For the consumer, the convenience of having your new or favourite reads deliveredContinue reading “Physical to Digital to Dust. The Future of Books in Our Hands”
Category Archives: Commentary
The Signs.
E. Mark Windle 23 March 2025. While undertaking some book research a few years ago on Nashville’s soul music scene, I was drawn to a very competent cover of Barbara Lewis’ iconic 1963 recording “Hello Stranger”. The version in question was by Alpha Zoe (Hall), an African American teenager who had just been plucked fromContinue reading “The Signs.”
Redressing the History Books: The Soul of Music City.
By E. Mark Windle, 20 August 2023. Regarding what’s been pretty much an obsession with writing about southern soul music since I started out over ten years ago, House of Broken Hearts: The Soul of 1960s Nashville was undertaken in an attempt to resolve one nagging omission. A fair chunk of my travels has beenContinue reading “Redressing the History Books: The Soul of Music City.”
Physical to Digital to Dust. The Future of Books in Our Hands
E. Mark Windle 8 August 2023 Almost twenty years ago, a book revolution was on the horizon. The advent of Sony e-reading devices in 2006 and the more commercially impactful Amazon Kindle the following year provided a new option for accessing literature. For the consumer, the convenience of having your new or favourite reads deliveredContinue reading “Physical to Digital to Dust. The Future of Books in Our Hands”
Smoke and Mirrors? Ghostwriters, Misunderstood.
E. Mark Windle 18 July 2023 They’ve been around for thousands of years, quite literally. Scribes were used without accreditation to capture oral histories and folklore from their communities and reproduce them in the written form, to copy and embellish existing religious texts, or to take on tasks of ancient senate office. Over subsequent centuries,Continue reading “Smoke and Mirrors? Ghostwriters, Misunderstood.”
Good Fit or Conflict? Client-Ghostwriter Matching in Biography Writing—and When the Relationship Goes Wrong
E. Mark Windle 4 May 2023. It goes without saying that compatibility between ghostwriter and client is a key factor in facilitating the production of a high quality biography. The writer’s remit is to relate a life story that is authentic, believable, and engaging, and reflective of a world according to their client’s perspective. InContinue reading “Good Fit or Conflict? Client-Ghostwriter Matching in Biography Writing—and When the Relationship Goes Wrong”
Moral Code, or F**k it? Hancock, the Lockdown Files and the Art of Breaching Non-Disclosure Agreements
E. Mark Windle 4 March 2023 Right, let’s get this straight. The creation and implementation of a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) is to guard privileged trade or personal information. As such, it is one way of interpreting the UK’s Data Protection Act, which gives individuals and organisations the right to privacy, and control over how divulgedContinue reading “Moral Code, or F**k it? Hancock, the Lockdown Files and the Art of Breaching Non-Disclosure Agreements”
North Broad Street Records: Lovemasters “If You See Kate” / “Let’s Stay Together”
E. Mark Windle 2nd September 2022. As North Broad Street Records goes from strength to strength, September sees the arrival of the seventh vinyl release in their series of quality previously unissued soul recordings. NBS 007 takes us to the Windy City for two fine tracks by the group who previously gave us a northernContinue reading “North Broad Street Records: Lovemasters “If You See Kate” / “Let’s Stay Together”“
Keeping It Under Wraps. Data Protection for Biographers
E. Mark Windle 17 August 2022 As biographers, we are in a privileged position. Rarely do individuals expose their life story, or at least a significant chunk of it, in such detail to another party outside of their immediate family and social circle, perhaps other than in counselling (or to their confessor). Clients welcome usContinue reading “Keeping It Under Wraps. Data Protection for Biographers”
Radio Stations, DJs and the 1960s Nashville R&B Scene
E. Mark Windle 1 August 2022. Music historians will argue over the exact origins of the music industry in Nashville, although any stance depends on the genre under debate, and how far back one is willing to go. The predominance of country music is undeniable, with its roots planted in Celtic and European folk songsContinue reading “Radio Stations, DJs and the 1960s Nashville R&B Scene”