Michael Jecks's Blog, page 7

Review: The Stranger.

(Hint: buy it now!)

THE STRANGER, by Simon Conway, published by Hodder & Stoughton

ISBN: 9781529 332100

This is a good time for reviewers, obviously. Not only do we get time to sit back and read, but publishers are keen to send books out with a view to having some form – any form – of marketing, now that book launches have stopped, festivals have been cancelled, and the chance of getting authors out in front of the public is non-existent.

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Still, when I was contacted by Simon Conway and asked whether I’d like to have a review copy of his latest, I was very happy to agree. Not only because it would be a good book to read, but because it was Simon’s. No, there’s no need for a disclaimer. I have never (to my knowledge) met Simon. However, I have spoken to him on Twitter, and I have liked other books by him which I have read. No, not liked – loved!

Simon is a fascinating character. He was an officer in the British army, and had, I am sure, a good career. Many men from the army have tried to capitalise on their experiences. They leave and go into politics; they take up writing as a new career, moulding ingenious stories; they go on TV to show how to live in the wild – or something similar. Most of them you will never have heard of, because their writing wasn’t adequate to tempt an editor, or because their imaginations weren’t up to the job. But out of every 10,000 manuscripts, as the old saying went, one might be good enough to make a story. Simon’s one of those fellows.

But there is a lot more to him than an ex-officer in the army trying to make a fast buck from writing.

He has cleared landmines across the world. He was Co-Chair of the Cluster Munitions Coalition, and managed to achieve the international ban on cluster bombs. Those two alone merit my respect. However he is now the Director of Capability for the HALO Trust as well. He is a man who has lived dangerously, and knows what he is talking about. When he speaks about mixing different solutions being hazardous, you get the feeling that here is a fellow who has pulled apart similar devices.

Enough about him.

Simon has written five books now, and this is as much of a thriller as any of them – which is itself very high praise.

This book takes the reader from a torturer’s prison camp, to the corridors of Westminster ( and even a short excursion to the White House), before going on a journey to the wild badlands of Syria, refugee camps in Jordan, migrant camps in Greece, and back.

In the world of espionage and clandestine operations, situations can change quickly. That is something that Jude Lyon of MI6 has already learned. In this story, he hears that a terrorist, known only as The Stranger, is out on the loose. He had thought the man had died years before, after his capture for blowing up a British Special Forces team. He had been taken by the British, and Jude was the officer responsible for delivering him to Syrian forces, back in the days when Syria had been a friendly state.

No one had expected him to survive harsh interrogation at the hands of the Syrians. The British and Americans were happy to think that he was being taken out of their hands, and that he would never be seen again.

But now he appears to have been released. And that is embarrassing – to the government, to the MP who agreed to the man being sent to Syria, and to Jude’s boss. But with an investigative reporter on the case, this is a problem that needs to go away. So Jude is ordered to go and find out what is happening. He must make the story go away.

The trouble is, Jude has enough problems already: from the wife of a Russian spy whom he has enticed into a honey trap, to his ex, who is now his line manager.

It is a policy of mine to only very rarely mention weaknesses in stories. To review this, I had to go to paper, listing the positives and the negatives.The problem is, I could find no negatives.

[image error]I was so taken I even had to change the ink in my pen!

Seriously, from the moment I picked this book up, I was entirely hooked. The characters are not only well-drawn, they are entirely believable. The situations are brilliantly portrayed, and each plot twist is rational and convincing. The culmination is a fabulous set-piece … and then – but no, I can’t say more about that. The main thing is, it’s just a superb read by a writer who is on the very top of his form. Stunning, exhilarating, thrilling – phew!

As you can see in the picture above, I did manage to list two issues that I had with this. First, it was too short – I wanted it to go on; and second, it wasn’t available yet.

Well, it is now! Don’t just take my word for it: go out and buy this book. It is superb. Very likely this is going to be my best book of the year. If you like adventure, thriller and crime rolled into one, with a heady lacing of spy novel thrown in, you are in for a treat!

Need I mention that I loved it?

Review: SIEGE, by Richard Foreman, Sharpe Books, ISBN: 9798607084271

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This is a great little book. Richard Foreman is a writer who is as happy in Roman Britain as he is in Medieval Antioch, as this story shows. The only thing that matters to Richard is that there are deeds of derring do aplenty!

The story begins during the siege of Antioch, the “Siege” of the title. This was the First Crusade, when tens, possibly hundreds, of thousands joined the pilgrimage espoused by Pope Urban and his cohort of preachers like Peter the Hermit. They told their audiences to go join the armies intending to release Jerusalem and the Holy Land from the rule of the Muslims.

Not that the Muslims had only just taken Jerusalem: they had been there for many years. But Urban had a desire to demonstrate the power of the Roman Catholic faith, in comparison with the debauched, depraved Church of the eastern Roman empire based in Constantinople. So, when the Emperor of Byzantium wrote asking for help to eject invaders in a part of his empire, expecting a small force of knights, the Christians massed under the banner of a Holy War against the Muslims who dared take Christian lands. And their focus soon took in Jerusalem as their target. 

But on the way, arguments amongst the leaders led to serious disputes. At Antioch, Bohemond of Taranto and Raymond of Toulouse were camped together with the pilgrim army, but they distrusted and detested each other. Their rivalry was based on jealousy and greed.

So much for the background.

The book begins with a fight between Edward Kemp, Bohemond’s champion, and Raymond’s nephew, Girard of Mortain. Edward wins, and earns Girard’s undying hatred as a result.

It is not a good augury for the Crusade. Urban II had expected that his armies would sweep aside all unbelievers on the way to Jerusalem, but they had been bogged down in the siege of Antioch for months now. The army was fragmenting, with desertions growing among the peasant classes involved, and now, as news reached the Christians of the approach of a muslim army to lift the siege and put to the sword all the Christian upstarts who sought to take their conquests, the atmosphere in the camp grew frantic. Desertion was pointless, with escape blocked by the new army. But if they remain with the siege, they will be crushed between the Antiochian forces and the new muslim forces.

So there is a need to break into the city, and that swiftly. 

The story, in essence, is the rivalry between Bohemond’s and Raymond’s camps, the subterfuge employed to break the siege, and the bloody battles involved.

Richard Foreman has a real skill at depicting men at arms and their fighting. He has a terse style that is utterly in keeping with the subject matter and the players he writes about. This is a fast-paced action story that is a natural successor to the 39 Steps and Sharpe series itself!

A great, fun read. Highly recommended!

2020 – A New year!

A new year is always a time to take stock, to think about things, and plan and scheme!

This year is going to be one of change for me. I’ve finally taken back the rights to half my books from Simon and Schuster and will be working with a number of other publishers to market and sell the series more effectively. It will prove to be very exciting!

The Templar Series is split in two now, with the first thirteen and last four now going to Canelo Books, a new ebook publishing house which promises to be much more effective at marketing and publicising my books. I’m also very glad that they have taken on PILGRIM’S WAR, which will be republished by them in February. They are already talking about a follow-up to this book, which is great to hear. I had planned this as the first in a series of four or five originally, and it’s wonderful to find a publisher with a similar vision for the stories.

 

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Then there is the Vintener Trilogy, a strong storyline – rather like “Band of Brothers” but set in the 1300s – that took a vintaine of archers in the Hundred Years War all the way from the initial skirmishes of the long march to Paris, then the sudden reversal and hurried retreat to the Somme and the battle of Crécy in the first book, FIELDS OF GLORY. That was followed up by BLOOD ON THE SAND, the story of their continued campaign, the siege of Calais and battle of Neville’s Cross in the following year. Finally the trilogy culminated ten years later in the Poitiers campaign, with the men suffering after the trials of the previous decade of plague, war, and death.

This little series was wonderfully well received when it was first published, and now it’s found a home with Sharpe Books, where ACT OF VENGEANCE is already selling well. If you are interested in the trilogy, keep an eye out because it’ll soon be launched as a trio of ebooks at a ridiculously low price, called THE FEW.

 

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Meanwhile, Jack Blackjack is doing well. He has been with Severn House for all of his first five stories, and the publisher likes him so much that, when Canongate bought out Severn House a little while ago, one of the first books they chose to go to mass-market paperback was my first Jack Blackjack story, REBELLION’S MESSAGE. It came out just before Christmas, and I’m looking forward to seeing how well it did in December. Sadly, probably not as well as it might, because books delivered in December tend to stay stuck in their boxes at bookshops, because the staff are too busy to keep replenishing their shelves, but with luck the book will find a new audience, and Jack’s miserable and incompetent career will go from strength to strength!

I’ve now completed the fifth in this series, and we are discussing plans for two more.

 

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Meanwhile, there is a lot to keep my busy this year.

I am giving a talk to the Red Coats – not a military group, but the team of tour guides who operate in Exeter showing off the Cathedral and medieval buildings to best effect. Then I am organising the Crime Writers’ Association Conference in April, attending Skulduggery in Stowmarket, speaking with Karen Maitland at Winchcombe Festival, and teaching writing skills for a week to aspiring and professional writers at Swanwick. At the same time I have to keep up with the various projects I’m working on.

 

 

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What projects? Well, I will have another Blackjack to write this year, but I also have a Templar Series story to write, I’m intrigued by a cosy crime story based on a couple of elderly investigators, a police procedural, and a follow up to ACT OF VENGEANCE, as well as the stories I’ve already spoken about. I really don’t know how many of those I can get to grips with, especially since I have the thrill of YouTube videos to produce weekly as well (my channel is called WriterlyWitterings – you should check it out!). They are fun, and working on them is almost like a holiday.

 

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Then there is social media. Hmm.

In the last few months, I have taken the advice of a friend and started to run a Patreon site. The reasons are twofold.

First, social media nowadays is really confusing. As an author, I have to be present on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and a number of other sites. I produce a YouTube video every week (like I said, take a look at WriterlyWitterings!), I have to have a presence on LinkedIn, WordPress and elsewhere.

Each of these social media require different skillsets. And while they are all fun, they are also a major distraction from my real work, which is writing. With Patreon, I can put up videos, photos, or simple blogs, and it’s all deliciously coherent.

However, there’s also the other aspect, which I cannot ignore. At a time when the income from book sales is reducing, Patreon gives me a way of providing extra material for people who want to support me. There are different levels, starting from no charge – yes, the basic level of information I put on Patreon for free – and then from $2 upwards, patrons will receive more and more information about me, my writing, my books and everything else. You will see more at https://www.patreon.com/MJ150520

Although $2 might be considered a small sum, for an author, it’s the equivalent of the sale of about ten books, so pretty good. 

And that is about it for now. I have about ten days to complete the book I’m currently writing, so today I will be stopping writing and rereading the whole of the first half, making extensive notes, so that I can tie up all the loose ends, red herrings, and make the ending as satisfying as possible. Wish me luck!

That’s all for now, but let me take the opportunity to wish you all a very happy and prosperous New Year!

Michael Jecks

North Dartmoor

 

 

PS – for those interested: the photos were all taken today, 10th January, while walking up over the moors. The weather was so perfect, I couldn’t resist. Sadly we couldn’t walk too far – I don’t trust the pup with sheep yet – so it was a case of wandering in various directions and taking photos. However, it’s given me a bunch of pictures that I can convert into water colours, with luck. Last year I managed a grand total of one painting. This year I WILL do more!

 

 

2nd in #BloodyMary series: A MURDER TOO

2nd in #BloodyMary series: A MURDER TOO SOON – and Jack is sent to Woodstock to murder a lady-in-waiting. When she dies, he is suspected – but he’s innocent. How can he prove it? @SevernHouse

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Murder-Too-Soon-mystery-Bloody-ebook/dp/B074CLRMPF/ref=pd_cp_351_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B074CLRMPF&pd_rd_r=7d4e3d94-cc8b-11e8-819b-196af8858ff7&pd_rd_w=htgUP&pd_rd_wg=7vUQn&pf_rd_i=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_p=0ca7ef78-a9c4-4935-a8ff-59221f1ded3e&pf_rd_r=7W01XCHPG3DX003B4PJJ&pf_rd_s=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=7W01XCHPG3DX003B4PJJ

The first chance I’ve had to paint in a

The first chance I’ve had to paint in a year. So I thought I’d do a nice, local scene: the Finch Foundry, a National Trust site that’s full of waterwheels and hammers!

Rationalising!

This is a curious time – one of great potential with a couple of new projects, but also one in which I have to try to rationalise what I do. 

[image error]Yes, it is a lovely Apple iMac. When it works.

That sounds rather pretentious put like that – but it really isn’t. You see one of the projects, which I have mentioned before, is that I have been asked to organise the Crime Writers’ Association Annual General Meeting next year. It’s so far been fun, rather than purely terrifying, but that will change over the next ten months, I am sure. And it is going to eat into my time.

Added to that, I have too many books to redraft: the new book I’m working on, the next book in the Templar Series, a follow up to Act of Vengeance, a police procedural based in Devon, a couple of ideas for a new crime series, and two thrillers. Oh, and I have to write a new Jack Blackjack/Bloody Mary before the end of the year. 

Now, writing is no problem. So long as the author can focus. And that is where I have a problem. Focus, the time to sit and concentrate without interruption, is really difficult when I’m spread over so many social media sites. Before you shout that the answer is easy, and I should just get off them all, it’s not that easy. When I first went to Simon and Schuster, I was told I needed to get on to Facebook, and they were very glad that I was active on Twitter. I heard some years ago of an agent, talking about a young client, saying that her novel had been rejected because she didn’t have 2,000 followers on Twitter. Nothing to do with the writing, only her social media following. So nowadays, publishers push for ever stronger involvement with such sites, even if it’s to the detriment of good writing. 

I have many accounts. For example, I have to maintain a presence on Facebook, as the publishers tell me. I can understand why: it’s a huge site that dwarfs, say, Twitter. But the size of it makes it next to impossible to get any interest. How does one person stand out compared with all the other billions of people? I question how valuable it is to me personally. But I do like to be able to keep in touch with readers and interested people, so I want to maintain something there. Then I have this blog here at Writerly Witterings, and a YouTube channel which has a growing audience of over 3,000 people. There are also Flickr where I put photos, and Instagram, and I have to keep in touch on Goodreads, too. And I am on LinkedIn and …

You see the problem? With all these channels and sites, trying to maintain regular contact with people is a mess. “Organised” people are great at allocating time and giving brief amounts to each medium. But I’m an author. My mind is constantly filled with (currently) Roy Chapple, Bert Shaw and Alfie Peters. I am trying to work out who they are, how they will react to events, who will make them stumble, whether they’re about to die … that is what occupies me. If I spend all my time thinking up different material for WordPress, YouTube, Facebook etc, that is time that is not being spent making my books better, or writing new ones. 

So I am going to rationalise things. 

There is a different site, which I have been trying for a couple of weeks, but which I have been watching for quite some time. It is called Patreon. This place offers me the opportunity of keeping in touch with far less hassle. I can put up videos, blogs, photos and anything else with minimal fuss. It also allows me to provide more exclusive material for those who are interested, so that I can save for new equipment – mainly so that I can update my video recording and editing systems. I have the problem that my computer is now falling into the “Legacy” category – which means Apple won’t be supporting the hardware much longer. With the way it keeps falling over (for example, I was working on the thing for three hours last night with Apple Support, until past one in the morning because it went dead on me), I will need a new computer before long. 

I will still be on all the various social media for some time, but gradually I will be migrating more and more to Patreon. I expect to end up with a Facebook page for the books, Patreon for almost all comments about my work and my reviews, so taking over the blog and video channel, while keeping Twitter for day-to-day comments. By leaving the majority on the one platform I will have to do less work thinking making sure each platform has links to that day’s comments and so on. It will leave me more time to concentrate on the main thing: writing my books. 

So why has this suddenly grown to be a pain? 

Well, in the past, I had a series of special pieces of software that would help me. There was one which would allow me to tweet what music I was listening to. All I had to do was hit one button, and a tweet was sent. Another would allow me to tweet from any page on my web browser, another would send a picture to social media, or link a site to Facebook. But Apple’s latest operating system has taken away all these time saving hacks. None of them seem to work any more. 

At the same time, I have been having inordinate problems with the computer. It was not only the matter of last night’s fiasco (although that was frustrating enough to force me to rethink how I interact with people), things have been coming to a head for a while now. For instance, I cannot open the video editor on my iMac without first deleting all of the old videos I have made from the iMovie library. I cannot load iMovie without first closing iTunes and Photos – if I don’t, my computer will hang. Not sometimes: every time without fail. This was never a problem before my last OS update but now they seem to have some form of contention when any two are open.

Don’t get me wrong: I love this computer. It is stunning in looks, it is fabulous in terms of speed generally, and it runs my favourite word processor: Scrivener. I adore the 27 inch monitor, too. I can move documents around the screen from left to right, or up and down, and ease the strain on my back and neck – sounds daft, I know, but I used to love the old anglepoise iMac, which I could move up and down and even sideways just to have a different sitting position. It worked marvellously. I wish they still had a similar model.

However, a computer which doesn’t keep working reliably is not an effective tool. This one has been written down for tax purposes, I think, so perhaps it’s time to think about replacing it. That will take some time, and saving a lot of money, though. Apples aren’t cheap.

Talking about comfort and ergonomics, I should briefly talk about chairs. Last night while staring at a black screen and swearing, Bradley Hodge from Texas put a comment on my YouTube channel asking about the best types of chairs. 

It’s a good point. Chairs are essential tools nowadays. More and more people sit at desks idly tapping at keyboards. The potential for wear and tear on the body is high, ridiculously enough.

When I started writing, it was in the worst possible environment: on a kitchen chair at the kitchen table, using a laptop. I was younger then, and I survived. Later I started using a Captain’s swivel and tilt chair, which was just glorious. It was comfortable, had a height adjuster, and a – shall we say – generous seat. I was more generously proportioned in those days!

However times have changed, and as I have grown older, I have needed a different chair. Some years ago I found that I was suffering from back problems, and I quickly realised it was my current chair, because it was too low for my desk. And the height adjustment mechanism had broken. 

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After a lot of research, I found the Freedom Chair by Humanscale. You can see the type here: https://www.humanscale.com/products/product.cfm?group=FreedomTaskChairWithHeadrest

Now, this is not a cheap chair. However, if you are going to sit in a chair and type, write, edit or code, you will need something that will protect your back. This, I can state, is a brilliant design. I regularly change the back, the squab, the arms and the headrest. All are flexible. Oh, and the height. In the mornings I tend to sit higher, and as the day goes on, I bring the chair down a little. I have no idea why, but it suits me! 

Now, these chairs are, as I say, very expensive. I don’t have that sort of money. However, there are a couple of points to note. One is, that if you are spending some two thousand pounds on a computer, surely you owe it to yourself to buy a chair that will protect you from strains and pains? Ergonomics are important with something that you will be sitting on for hours every day. That was my rationale, anyway. And there was the other deciding factor for me – I found a company that was closing down, and they had a couple of these chairs for only about one tenth of their new price! So keep looking, and maybe you will find one too! 

And now, I had better sit on it and get on with the day job!

Many thanks, and have a great week!

Libraries – Protecting From Fake News

In recent years libraries have been squeezed tightly.

Since the banking crisis of 2008, all levels of government have seen budgets cut. One of the first areas of constraint to be seen was that of libraries. It appeared that no politicians, no civil servants, whether nationally or locally, were prepared to argue for the defence of libraries.

Local libraries up and down the country have been closed. The mobile library service, which used to deliver books to small villages where residents were too old or frail to travel to their nearest town, was slashed. Purchasing budgets were cut to the bone, and staff made redundant. Some libraries were kept open, but with their hours of service reduced so far that it was next to impossible for people to visit, which soon justified closure; others were kept open, but with volunteer staff only.

Of course many see now reason to keep libraries open. What service do they really provide?

Forget, for a moment, the invaluable access to information held in books. Libraries also allow the elderly and disabled an opportunity to meet in a safe area. In recent years they have become essential sources of information for those who cannot afford computers. Essential? Yes. Ever more government departments and companies demand internet access for those who need their services. whether it is learning about the nearest foodbank or trying to apply for a new driving licence or social security, those trying to get help often have to go on line. And the most vulnerable cannot afford their own devices.

Yes, perhaps people do not need to have libraries stocking vast numbers of books and DVDs that are providing only a means of relaxation and entertainment. But libraries are much more than that.

I have often spoken with people who believe that for an author like me, research must be a great deal easier with the digital age. My response is consistent: it’s harder.

The problem is, everyone has information at their fingertips. Computers, tablets and phones mean people can check information in the blink of an eye.

But who loaded that information? Was it a professor at a university, or a spotty teenager? I once found a fascinating comment about the Crusades that suggested that there were elite troops in the Muslim armies attacking Acre in 1291, a form of shock troops who swept all before them. I checked, and found that there were references to other supporting documents. I checked these, and soon discovered a worrying fact: all the references were inter-related. One mentioned another document, which itself referred to a second, which itself referred back to the first in the sequence in a circular, self-justifying manner. In other words, I could not trust the information at all. It was probably invented.

What relevance has this to libraries?

Simply this: when I have a book, I know that it has been written by an author who has some knowledge. I can check his/her credentials, but I know that any publisher worth its salt will have done so already. The facts in a non-fiction book will have been fact-checked and often peer-reviewed. The editor will usually have a good working knowledge of the subject, as will the copy editor and proof reaDER. Thus the book will have been through five separate people to confirm the facts as presented.

Compare that with, say, Wikipedia, which deliberately prevents primary sources. Hearsay and guesswork are given the weight of “facts”. It is entirely unreliable. For instance, when my friend Ian Mortimer found “facts” about himself that were entirely false, and he corrected them, he was informed that his changes were not relevant because primary sources, in this case himself, were not relevant.

The internet is not a reliable source of information. Books are.

In the latest report from the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee on “fake news and disinformation”, the authors took care to note the vital role of librarians and and information professionals.

It really is essential that libraries and the people who work in them are protected. Their budgets should be increased, and the technology and books they provide should be preserved and expanded.

Friends For One TOM

[image error]T.O.M.

Another week begins.

This has been a lovely weekend, spent with my daughter in Derbyshire, where we joined the Mortons for a get-together.

The Jecks family and Mortons have been friends for many years. It all began in the 1920s, when Don Morton and Peter Jecks went to primary school. It was to be the beginning of a lifelong friendship that survived the Second World War, both of them leaving Eltham in – then – Kent and moving apart, marriage and children.

Both of them had large families: Peter had four sons, while Don had a son and two daughters. But over their lives, each had several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Although Peter and Don saw each other regularly and went on joint holidays with their wives, their children have gradually grown apart. The Mortons all went into healthcare, initially as doctors and nurses in the NHS, while my brothers moved into sales and banking. But we have all kept in touch, and now, with all our parents having died, we are keeping their friendship alive by meeting once a year to share stories, food and rather too much wine to be good for us!

It was a wonderful break, and so much fun to be with such kind and generous folks.

There was one interesting thought while we were there. My brother Clive postulated a new measurement of time. He noted that our father died at the age of 96 three years ago. Since he was nearly 100 years old, Clive mused that it would only be some 20 lifetimes since Christ was alive. Our affectionate term for our father was The Old Man, or TOM. Thus we could consider the passage of time in TOMs. It would be only some four TOMs since the Civil War, for example, or about six TOMs since the Black Death.

I think this could be a useful measure for historians. Or perhaps not!

In any case, it was wonderful to meet with all the Mortons (no matter what their married names) and I hope the Jecks/Morton friendship can last several TOMs.

Have a great week.

April 26th – Not A Good Day

I have some friends – yes, all too few, I know – who used to own the once-wonderful and eccentric Evesham Hotel. When they sold the place, they had a book which they knew I adored: it was a book of events, listed by date. Very kindly, they gave it to me.

There are some days which seem to have had little of interest happening. April 26th, however: that was a different one. 

The first thing to catch my eye was, that it was the anniversary of that hideous day in 1937 when the Basque town of Guernica was attacked by the Luftwaffe. The town was crowded, because it was a market day, and the people from all around had come to buy food and goods. Aircraft loaded with not only explosives but incendiaries as well, bombed and strafed the people as they tried to run to safety. A hideous act, and one that was only a precursor of bombings of towns in France, Poland, and throughout Russia. Father Onaindia, a priest from Valladolid cathedral, was there and wrote movingly about the horror. The town was razed to the ground.

But that is not the only thing that happened on 26th. I was intrigued to see that there was a paper report of a shooting some years before. 

In 1865, in the early morning, a man was shot in Virginia. The farm where he died was owned by Richard Garrett. Troops had been given the tip that John Wilkes Booth was hiding in his barns, and hurried to find him. He was, after all, the chief suspect in the murder of Lincoln. They encircled the barn and began to get involved in a gun fight. At about 3 a.m. the barn caught fire, and later a man’s body was recovered. Whether he had shot himself, or been injured by the troops, no one could say, but he lingered on for some hours before dying. 

The point noted by the paper was that the man could not be identified. His injuries, especially his burns, were so bad that he wasn’t recognised by anyone, and conspiracy theorists made good use of that. Soon there were allegations that Booth did not in fact mastermind or perpetrate the assassination.

I suppose it’s good that conspiracy theories didn’t first appear due to the internet, but were available long before in print.

But the main thought it leaves with me is, that in this lovely season of Springtime, with flowers blooming, birds singing, and all nature at peace, it jars to think of the horrors that men have inflicted at this time in past years.

Old Friends, Old Jobs!

Here’s hoping that you had a great Easter break.

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I was delighted on Good Friday to have an old friend, Sharon Thomas, turn up with her husband for a short walk and lunch. Sharon and Clive were friends from my days at Wordplex, which was a horribly long time ago now. We first met in 1981, I think, when the company was expanding in Kingston.

It was a fascinating time. I had been employed in computing for a while, and had been working for a company selling advertising space on Prestel – a truly dreadful information system: slow, cumbersome and horrible to look at. I left that company on the day I saw the sales director and managing director rolling about on the sales floor, each attempting to thump each other in the face or throttle the other with their ties. 

I didn’t feel that company was right for me.

[image error]We did escape to the seaside too!

I had also worked for a company in Ludgate Hill, right in front of St Paul’s Cathedral. It was while I was there, working with a self-confessed drug smuggler, that I bought my first decent umbrella. I was a city gent, after all. That company collapsed when the finance director disappeared with all the company’s money and, I believe, the managing director’s wife. I think the two were later found in the Bahamas, probably with very nice suntans.

It was after that interesting interval that I applied to a job advert in the Evening Standard. I read that there was to be a series of opportunities to apply for jobs in a new office automation company: Wordplex.

I went along, and met some pleasant women, and then a tall, aloof man who eyed me austerely, before sending me over to meet Dick Houghton, the Region Manager. He seemed happy enough, and sent me to meet his boss, the UK managing Director.

I was hired, I later learned. I was to have a new car (my first company car: a Ford Cortina Mark 4 1.6 GL – lovely), a massive salary of £16,600 as a trainee salesman, and the potential of a considerable income based on commissions and bonuses.

They were happy times. Under Dick Houghton, I worked for Richard Frost with a team of other salesmen: Martyn Bryant, Peter Sutherland, David Ashworth, Graham Corbould,  Alan Mushett – and the Customer Support Representatives: Sharon, Lyn Downs, Cathy Ellen, Anne Shepherd, Lindsey Whithair … I’m surprised I can remember the names even now – I generally can’t remember people’s names when I’m still talking to them!

Those days don’t seem nearly forty years ago. It’s a shock to realise how much has happened, how much time has passed – and how many friends have died. I think I will have to write a book based on those days. Something to help me remember – and chuckle. Because most of the stories were hilarious. I recall those days with enormous fondness. I felt that I was in control of my life and career, and the world was an exciting place to be working.

But I can’t write that book. Not yet. My agent wants this manuscript completed first, and she’ll break my legs if I don’t crack on with it!

[image error]No idea what that Dalmatian was thinking!