Book about MK's music & life

[PeterRedwhite]

Dear all,

I'm a Spanish writer that often collaborates with legendary American singer/songwriter Elliott Murphy; we cowrote a novel called Dorothy And The Discovery Of America (https://almuzaralibros.com/fichalibro.php?libro=6377&edi=2) that was published in Spanish; the original version in English hasn't been published yet.

Anyway, Dorothy's publisher made me aware that it would be great to have a definitive book about Mark Knopfler and he thought I was the right person to try it. First obstacle I found was to define the right voice to tell the story as I wouldn't have felt comfortable speaking as a fictional MK and I think (considering I don't have access to MK or his private circle and there are facts with a multiplicity of versions) it is impossible to know his entire universe, so an all-knowing narrator didn't fit either. Finally I though of a narrator-fan so I could write from a consistent point of view and at the same time honor the people whose lives have been marked by Mark's music. In fact, there is a parallel story that helps the main topic (MK's life and work) to develop in which the narrator is reunited with a girl he knew in a concert of BiA tour thanks to a post she wrote in AMIT forum in 2018.

The idea is to publish the book (in Spanish, I hope someday it would be translated into English) in November, but there are still a couple of pending tasks. The publisher and I are looking for good pictures to illustrate it and I have decided to write an appendix to talk about forums/groups/etc. such as this to recognize the dedication of the people that helps to keep the legend alive.

Therefore, I would be thankful if you could let me know if you have any good resolution picture that could be included in the book and explain me in more detail some initiatives you have carried out in AMIT so I can write this appendix with the right focus.

Thanks so much in advance and congratulations for your great posts.

KR,

Peter

[dustyvalentino]

Hi Peter

First of all, good luck with the book.

What kind of picture did you have in mind?

[wayaman]

For pictures, check this thread:

https://www.amarkintime.org/forum/index.php?topic=5434.0

I guess the text is written but I also would recommend you the answer thread by Ed Bicknell to get facts that haven't been mentioned before in any book!

https://www.amarkintime.org/forum/index.php?topic=8945.0

[PeterRedwhite]

Thanks to you both for your answers.

I will check provided links carefully

Regarding the nature of the pictures, any good resolution photos of MK/MKband/DS/NHB are welcomed, but also MK's guitars, significant places of MK's life, MK's family, concert venues, etc.

Thanks a lot.

[JF]

I don't know if it can help, but I wrote a lot of articles about the man :

https://textes-blog-rock-n-roll.fr/dire-straits-mark-knopfler/

it's in french, but several people here said they used Deepl, and it seems to work well


I wish you all the best for your book

[PeterRedwhite]

I don't know if it can help, but I wrote a lot of articles about the man :

https://textes-blog-rock-n-roll.fr/dire-straits-mark-knopfler/

it's in french, but several people here said they used Deepl, and it seems to work well


I wish you all the best for your book

Thanks a lot!! I cannot speak French but I studied it in High School, so I will have a look before sending the definitive manuscript to the publisher and use DeepL when I see something I need an accurate translation

Thanks again for your kindness.

[eugenewright]

Sounds great, I will definitely read it

[PeterRedwhite]

Sounds great, I will definitely read it

Thanks I will share the link once it is published in Spanish (mid-November) and will notify it if it is translated into any other language.

On the other hand, I have to deliver the final manuscript to the publisher today by 20h CET. I would be extremely thankful if anyone could share a bit more of the philosophy and initiatives of this forum to include a paragraph in the book. Please contact me through this thread, PM or email --> peteredwhite@outlook.es

PS: I still have a few days to look for good DS/MK's pictures

Thanks a million!

[dustyvalentino]

Sounds great, I will definitely read it

Thanks I will share the link once it is published in Spanish (mid-November) and will notify it if it is translated into any other language.

On the other hand, I have to deliver the final manuscript to the publisher today by 20h CET. I would be extremely thankful if anyone could share a bit more of the philosophy and initiatives of this forum to include a paragraph in the book. Please contact me through this thread, PM or email --> peteredwhite@outlook.es

PS: I still have a few days to look for good DS/MK's pictures

Thanks a million!

So, there is a dedicated photo thread on here, but you/your publisher would need to clear all the copyrights.

As for AMIT, not sure we have a philosophy per se but I can give you a little bit of history.

AMIT was established by a small group of MK/DS fans from around the world who were frustrated with the official Mark Knopfler News forum, which had become stifling in terms of what was acceptable in terms of discussion. For example, little to no criticism of MK or his work was permitted. AMIT's key concern then is freedom of speech when discussing MK and DS.

[PeterRedwhite]

Sounds great, I will definitely read it

Thanks I will share the link once it is published in Spanish (mid-November) and will notify it if it is translated into any other language.

On the other hand, I have to deliver the final manuscript to the publisher today by 20h CET. I would be extremely thankful if anyone could share a bit more of the philosophy and initiatives of this forum to include a paragraph in the book. Please contact me through this thread, PM or email --> peteredwhite@outlook.es

PS: I still have a few days to look for good DS/MK's pictures

Thanks a million!

So, there is a dedicated photo thread on here, but you/your publisher would need to clear all the copyrights.

As for AMIT, not sure we have a philosophy per se but I can give you a little bit of history.

AMIT was established by a small group of MK/DS fans from around the world who were frustrated with the official Mark Knopfler News forum, which had become stifling in terms of what was acceptable in terms of discussion. For example, little to no criticism of MK or his work was permitted. AMIT's key concern then is freedom of speech when discussing MK and DS.

Thanks for your answer I think this is enough. Regarding pictures, my publisher and I were already checking provided link but I was saying it again just in case someone would like to share his/her own photos. We already have some professional ones by a Spanish photographer but maybe there are some special ones anyone could be interested in sharing.

Thanks also for highlighting Ed Bicknell's Q&A. I studied it deeply and included some of his views in the text, I even altered some fragments as his answers sometimes gave me a better understanding of the whole thing.

[PeterRedwhite]

Dear all,

I'm glad to announce now it is possible to pre-order my illustrated book (in Spanish) about MK's work and life --> https://almuzaralibros.com/fichalibro.php?libro=4465&edi=2 The book is still being printed, so it will take a few days to be shipped (anyway, currently is the fastest way to obtain it.) Soon it will be available in Amazon, fnac, bookshops, etc.

AMIT and its philosophy have a vital importance in the plot:

* The narrator (a Spanish fan of DS) meets again with a British fan (they met each other in a 1985 concert in Madrid and fell in love) via AMIT after a bunch of years. Then she goes back to Madrid in 2019 to watch with him the concert of the DTRW Tour.
* There is an Epilogue in which I detail the philosophy of the forum and its importance as a place to discuss freely and to be informed about everything concerning MK
* I updated the text in the last moment with a lot of content of the recent Q&A session with Ed Bicknell.
* There is another section in which I say thank you to some members such as dustyvalentino, darkshiver (who also provided some images to the book), JF (and his wonderful posts in French) and Jules.

The book has a very special structure with 3 types of chapters (the story of the 2 fans, more academic ones about MK and very short ones fictioning an important moment like buying the first guitar, for example) and covers the whole life and career (until One Deep River-The Boy) and it also has some great color photos about some concerts in Spain (plus all relevant album covers in B&W)

As I said, currently is only available in Spanish but I (and the publishing house) would be interested in publishing it in other languages, so maybe some of you would know about potential publishers in your country of this kind of content.

Thanks to all for your kindness and warm welcome to AMIT

[wayaman]

Great news, looking forward to having it

[dustyvalentino]

Good luck with it!

[Barrow boy]

Sounds great! As a fellow Spaniard I'll definitely get my hands on it. The love story between the 2 fans reunited thanks to AMIT its mind-blowing, such a cool idea.
Saludos desde Cantabria.

[wayaman]

So great how Amit is included in the book and used in the plot.

It could had been a real story!