Richard Dee's Blog, page 62

A very special day

Welcome back to another blog hop, with #OpenBook. Here’s this week’s prompt.

May 4th is the unofficial Star Wars Day. (May the Fourth be with you.) What other days should be recognized as holidays but aren’t?

Well, this topic’s a bit left field. Not at all what I was expecting to be writing about this week. At least it isn’t more of my thoughts on lockdown. I’m fed up with regurgitating them. Perhaps we should have a holiday from lockdown. We could all go somewhere nice.

I guess that I may as well throw some random thoughts out, see what connects.

This post may well be even more confusing than my normal ramblings.

In some ways I’m very young, in others very old. I can still get excited because it’s Friday, or my birthday (now there’s a day worth celebrating) and also feel joy when I wake up to a new day, any day.

Because it means that I’m still here.

Ok, what’s a holiday? Wikipedia says,

A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or tradition of cultural or religious significance.

But I don’t really think that’s what the question means, May 4th is a play on words, a cause for celebration among the faithful. It wasn’t even the day the first film came out (May 25th 1977, since you asked). George missed a trick there.

So, should the question really be what events should we celebrate with a special day?

I found a few interesting days when I was researching, mainly at this website

January 2020 | Days Of The Year

Discover more special celebrations from all around the world!

Days like Old Rock Day (the geology not the music), on Jan 7th. Did you know that 11th February was Don’t Cry Over Spilled Milk Day?  Apparently, 10th June will be Ball Point Pen Day.

Neither did I. But on a personal level, we could have We had an Amazon delivery day, or my neighbours spent six hours arguing day. I guess everyone has them or ones like them.

In world history, there are a few special days, the ones when something so incredible, so shocking or marvellous or terrible happened that everyone knows where they were. That’s what makes them special, worth remembering every year. They may be anniversaries, but they are not generally holidays.

I see anniversaries in two ways. On a personal level, they mark the achievements and sadness of our lives, hatch, match and dispatch if you like. Whereas on a larger level, say in a town tor a country, even the world, they create a sense of shared belonging, of the passage towards a better (or worse) civilisation.

If every day was a holiday, would we ever get anything done? Wouldn’t it reduce the impact of a day that you had to wait for, feel that you had earned and deserved?

If every day was a holiday, wouldn’t it defeat the object. If we added too many, wouldn’t we just get to the point where every day was a cause to celebrate?

Then we are surely back to where we started, every day you wake up is a reason to be happy. And if its 7th August (which is my wedding anniversary), then we should also celebrate Particularly Preposterous Packaging Day with gusto!!

Well done if you managed to make it this far through my disjointed thoughts. Now let me know what you think.

I’d love to get your comments, please leave them below. While you’re here, why not take a look around? There are some freebies and lots more content, about me, my writing and everything else that I do. You can join my newsletter for a free novella and more news by clicking this link.

https://fresh.inlinkz.com/p/0b6f7390c948418cb1286f29b6c192ec

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Two Great Book Promotions

Organised by Bookfunnel, here are some great opportunities to add to your lockdown library.

First in Mystery Series.

Andorra Pett and the Oort Cloud Café is just one of the books on offer in this First in Mystery Series promotion, follow the link to see what’s on offer.

https://books.bookfunnel.com/firstinmysteryseries/ag2y32xedn

Voyages of Space Opera Shenanigans.

And there is also a Voyages of Space Opera Shenanigans promotion running, including my prequel to the Balcom series. As far as I know, these are all FREE downloads. Check it out and all the other books on offer at the following link.

https://books.bookfunnel.com/voyagesofspaceoperashenanigans/2ownidkopl

I’d love to get your comments, please leave them below. While you’re here, why not take a look around? There are some freebies and lots more content, about me, my writing and everything else that I do. You can join my newsletter for a free novella and more news by clicking this link.

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A different tack, Part two

Another week has passed in self-isolation here in Devon.

We have survived another week, even with the loss of the good weather, which has meant that we have seen less of our neighbours as we all stay indoors. Still, it’s another week nearer to an easing of the lockdown, I’ve been taking this chance to think about what sort of world will emerge with us. Hopefully, it will be a better place, a kinder, more community-minded and less money-orientated place.

We will see. I may well be expanding on that idea in future posts.

Revamp and Rebrand, part two.

I’m pleased to say that the operation has just about completed.

I have all my new covers now, they are uploaded and I’ve amended all the information on Amazon and Goodreads. In the process of amalgamating the editions on Goodreads, I found a few reviews that I didn’t know I had, thank you to everyone for them.

I’m quite amazed to find that overall, I have a Goodreads review/rating average of 4.40 over my 18 books, with 125 individual scores.

Here are the covers that I haven’t shown you yet, more fantastic work from Gill Trewick.

Horis Strongman,











The Orphan Detectives,











Survive,











And my Upcoming adventure,



The Hitman and the Thief.











There is also a boxset of my Balcom novels,

You might be interested to know that Andorra Pett is involved in a Bookfunnel promotion, along with some other great novels, follow this link to see what’s on offer.

https://books.bookfunnel.com/firstinmysteryseries/ag2y32xedn

And there is also a promotion running for my prequel to the Balcom series, which is now a FREE download. Check it out and all the other books on offer at the following link.

https://books.bookfunnel.com/voyagesofspaceoperashenanigans/2ownidkopl

All my publications can be found on my Amazon page, at

Author Updates

Follow Richard Dee and explore their bibliography from Amazon.com’s Richard Dee Author Page.

I hope everyone who reads this is coping and that your families are OK, stay inside and stay safe.

I’d love to get your comments, please leave them below. While you’re here, why not take a look around? There are some freebies and lots more content, about me, my writing and everything else that I do. You can join my newsletter for a free novella and more news by clicking this link.

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A different sort of biscuit

There’s no Indie Showcase this week, instead, I thought I’d share another great recipe with you.

We are both very partial to a biscuit (or two) and I make several varieties, Sourdough Digestives, Chocolate and Orange Sourdough Cookies, Jammie Dodgers etc but they all have one thing in common, a lot of sugar.

So when I saw the recipe for these little beauties I thought it might be slightly less calorific but just as tasty. I have modified it slightly to fit in with what I had available, the beauty is that it could be very flexible.

You will need,

A 400g Tin of Chickpeas, drained and rinsed,

160g Nut Butter (I used home-made Walnut),

20g Agave Syrup, you could use Golden Syrup or honey,

Pinch Salt,

10g Vanilla Bean Paste,

1 Tsp Bicarb.

And basically you just blend the whole lot together into a fine batter.

Add 75g Chocolate Chips and mix again, then separate into small balls and  put onto a lined baking sheet. There are 13 there but you could easily make 15 or 16.

 Flatten them out and bake at 160°C in a fan oven for 10-15 minutes until golden.

Leave them to cool, they don’t go very crunchy but maintain a chewy centre.

Now for the good part; you can substitute the Walnut Butter for any nut butter you like, so Peanut, Almond or Cashew are all a possibility. And the chocolate chips could be swapped for raisins, dried cranberries or sour cherries. Or why not try adding a little instant coffee powder to the Walnut variation. As they say ‘the possibilities are endless.’ 

I will investigate a savoury version in the near future.

Now all you have to do in enjoy it. I’ll be back on Saturday with some more thoughts from self-isolation. Stay safe everyone.

I’d love to get your comments, please leave them below. While you’re here, why not take a look around? There are some freebies and lots more content, about me, my writing and everything else that I do. You can join my newsletter for a free novella and more news by clicking this link.

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Minding your P’s and Q’s

Welcome back to another blog hop, with #OpenBook. Here’s this week’s prompt.

What are your pet peeves when it comes to grammar and spelling?

Really? you’re talking to the wrong person here.

You have to remember, I failed English at school, managed to scrape a bare pass at the third attempt and picked up written English as I went along. My handwriting is appalling as well, it’s so bad that I could have been a doctor.

Having to sweat over writing reports and official letters when I was a senior ships officer was purgatory. I often survived by making sure that there was a number in every box. Nobody ever complained, perhaps that showed just how important a lot of the paperwork was.

The greatest invention ever, and what enabled me to write novels, was the F7 key (The mighty spellcheck).

I’m also a firm believer that I shouldn’t criticise the mistakes of others in public. Perhaps I might have a quiet word, if I know the person really well but otherwise, I’m not perfect myself, see above.

I’ve been involved in and seen enough arguments over trivialities to know that it’s not worth it.

A lot of the time, the rules and structures of written English pass me by completely. I’ll find a discussion about oxford comma’s or the merits of single/double quote marks and my eyes glaze over.

Which is not to say that I don’t agree that published work should be pristine, it should be and it should follow all the rules.

It’s just that I don’t know what they are.

That’s why I have an editor. I have to admit to being in awe of her, she’s wonderful and spots all my mistakes.

Anyway, getting back to the subject.

What does annoy me is a typo on page one of a new novel. It grates and sets the tone for the rest; no matter how good it might be. It doesn’t matter what it is, a misplaced capital, the wrong word in a sentence, or just a spelling mistake.

I actually had a review for one of my books which said, “Unusually for a self-published book, it is almost entirely free from grammatical or typographical errors.” There are several ways you can take a comment like that, I chose to see it as a compliment.

And the presumption that I saw when my daughters were at school; one of their teachers told me that spelling and grammar didn’t matter too much, as long as you could understand what was being said.

I could never see how that would work on a job application, an insurance policy, the last will and testament.

Or the deeds to my house.

How about you, what are your pet hates, when it comes to spelling and grammar?

I’d love to get your comments, please leave them below. While you’re here, why not take a look around? There are some freebies and lots more content, about me, my writing and everything else that I do. You can join my newsletter for a free novella and more news by clicking this link.

https://fresh.inlinkz.com/p/e86a50e24aa54c5baa7d012ba0b64745

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Reblogging. Between Realities, a short story from Jack Eason

Here’s an inspirational blog post that caught my eye. Please check it out. Make sure that you leave a comment, (leave one here as well).

Let’s spread the word.

Reblogged from Have we had Help











A short story to make you think. From Jack Eason,














Between Realities

Reblogged on WordPress.com













Home

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A different tack

Another week has passed in self-isolation here in Devon.

Rather than talk about the effect that the lockdown is having on me and my family, a subject which has just about been done to the max by everyone, I thought I would bring you up to date with the rebranding that’s been underway on all my novels.

Revamp and Rebrand.

Otherwise known as, where else did I post that?

I’ve been greatly helped in this exercise by Gill Trewick, who has designed some wonderful new covers for me, and given me valuable help with all the other aspects of the task.

You’ve already been introduced to the new-look Andorra Pett, now it’s time to reveal some more great cover artwork.

But first, some thoughts on the process.

It’s a good feeling to change things around, but in a way, it’s as much a test of memory as anything else.

I’m in the process of relaunching all my novels, the process has already thrown up some interesting results. There’s a lot more to it than just putting the new improved files on Amazon, plastering them over social media and sitting back as the money rolls in.

Sure, the new covers look fantastic, the blurbs rock and you’ve fixed that annoying typo you never got around to; but can you remember everywhere you posted the old version?

Who is selling it, where have you posted a picture of the cover? Is it on your website, twitter header, Instagram, Pinterest etc. etc?

And what about that guest post you did?

Didn’t you once list the book on Smashwords, or was it D2D?

Before you know it, the old version of your book will start turning up everywhere, ready to spoil your whole launch day.

Someone will complain that you’re not supposed to be selling it in a place you didn’t know you were.

 Someone will always spot the old one, tell you about it, a version you didn’t remember will crawl out of the woodwork (with the typo, OBVS).

A relaunch is a great chance to corral all the errant material that’s out there. Because once it’s on the web, it’s always on the web.

Unless it’s a recipe you liked and want to try again, you can never find those.

Re-reading all the novels again can also give you ideas for sequels, prequels and spin-off stories, more adventures for your characters.

Here are my new covers so far, arranged in series.

Balcom











Dave Travise











Flash Fiction











Life and Other Dreams

There are still a few to do, the steampunk and a couple of the stand-alone novels, watch out for more updates.

All my publications can be found on my Amazon page, at

Author Updates

Follow Richard Dee and explore their bibliography from Amazon.com’s Richard Dee Author Page.

I hope everyone who reads this is coping and that your families are OK, stay inside and stay safe.

I’d love to get your comments, please leave them below. While you’re here, why not take a look around? There are some freebies and lots more content, about me, my writing and everything else that I do. You can join my newsletter for a free novella and more news by clicking this link.

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Pork and Marmalade Burger

There’s no Indie Showcase this week, instead, I thought I’d share another great recipe with you.

Pork and Marmalade Burger

A while ago, I spotted some Pork Mince reduced as it was nearly out of date. I split it in two (there was 500g) and froze it, now I’m making burgers with half of it.

I’ve used Marmalade as a glaze on Gammon before, so I thought it might be an idea to try it in a burger, as long as I get the proportion right, I figure about 15% (37g in 250g of meat) should do it.

In the end, I had 264g of Mince,

and added 39g of marmalade,

which I then mixed and shaped into burgers, and floured them up.

I decided to oven cook them as I didn’t want them falling to pieces in a frying pan, they had 30 minutes at 180°C in the fan oven, turning and pressing them a couple of times.

Meanwhile, I got some of my part cooked potato skins from the freezer and heated them for the same time. If you want to know more about my potato skins idea, CLICK HERE

The burgers were cooked after 30 minutes, so it was just a case of plating up,

And in case you’re wondering, the taste was amazing.

Now all you have to do in enjoy it. I’ll be back on Saturday with some more thoughts from self-isolation. Stay safe everyone.

I’d love to get your comments, please leave them below. While you’re here, why not take a look around? There are some freebies and lots more content, about me, my writing and everything else that I do. You can join my newsletter for a free short story and more news by clicking this link.

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Prime Location

Welcome back to another blog hop, with #OpenBook. Here’s this week’s prompt.

Talk about the setting of your book. Is it entirely imaginary or is it based on a real-life place?

My adventures mainly play out in a place that doesn’t exist. My characters live, love and occasionally die in a world entirely of my own construction.

It might be a planet at the far end of the Galaxy. Or a space mine orbiting Saturn. It could even be a quasi-Victorian society not unlike the England of the late 1800s.

Or something completely different to any of them.

Where and whenever it is, I have created it, dragged it into being from some part of my subconscious. I’ve given it form on the page and set my heroes loose in it. Largely, they act as if they know the place, to them it is as familiar as your own hometown.

Which is not to say that the worlds I create are unconnected to where I have been in my life. I was lucky enough to travel the world, back in the days before the internet, before instant communication and well before the homogenisation of culture that was the result of our (pre-Corona) global economy.

This experience showed me many things, all of which were filed away for future reference.

When I wrote my first novel, I managed to fall into the trap that a lot of people do.

I assumed that, because I was writing about the future, I had no need to research anything. All I had to do was make it futuristic. Of course, that’s wrong, you need to have a basis in fact before you can expand it.

That was where my past came in. I had seen many worlds, witnessed the way of life in places which at the time were as remote as another planet. There was enough there to use as a starting point. I could see how the things I saw and experienced fitted together to make a society. How, with a little tweaking, I could make them into a new world.

But the biggest revelation came when I realised how everything fitted together, how one place and another were connected, even though they were separated from each other. I saw how a world, or even a universe, could be constructed and expanded, ad-infinitum. Just by following a few basic principles.

I used these methods to create the worlds for my novels. Reviews the books got said how readers liked the way I had created the setting for my stories. Things like,

“This is a fabulous example of world building “

“There’s some fantastic world building too, Richard Dee takes the normal and the not so normal, to create the planet Ecais, it was so vivid I could almost picture it in my head.”

“The author establishes a sense of period so convincingly in the opening chapters that I felt transported to his world, mind, body, and soul. “

“The world building is original and complex, opening the reader’s imagination to the vast possibilities of life beyond our own world.”

I mentioned the comments, and my theories, at my writer’s group. Before long, with their encouragement, I was holding workshops on Sci-fi world-building at literary events. Which all seemed a little surreal.

Last year, I published my world-building workshops in an expanded form, with examples and exercises. In what I hope is a simple guide to world-building.

Do you want to write Sci-fi or Steampunk adventures?

Are you struggling with World Building?

Do you want to create a world: or even a universe, but you’re put off by all the science you think you need to know before you can start?

If the answer to any of those questions is yes, I’ve tried to simplify the process by showing you another way.

This guide is based on the World-building workshops that I hold as a member of the Exeter Authors Association. The aim is to show you an easier way of doing things, with chapters on such subjects as Location, Characters, Sidekicks and Steampunk. I’ll tell you the method that I’ve used to create several universes in the future and in an alternative present, maintaining realism without getting bogged down in the technicalities.
Creating a Sci-fi World contains exercises and suggestions, as well as examples from my novels, there are even some short stories to illustrate how my methods can be applied.

Which all goes to prove that nothing is ever wasted.

How about you, where do your literary adventures take place? Let me know in the comments, then go and check out the other great blogs in this hop.

Just follow this link.

https://fresh.inlinkz.com/p/907ab91ee4324ead900e17d2b50c50ce

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Welcome to the new Normal

Another week has passed in self-isolation here in Devon.

People on our street, who we see while having coffee in the garden and shout out the news to (from a safe distance) all say the same thing.

When this is over and we get back to normal, we’ll…. (insert – have a party, see family, whatever).

I’m sorry to have to break it to you guys, but this is the start of the NEW normal.

It’s easy to think that when this is over, nothing will have changed, that life will resume as it was. Now anyone who has ever lost someone will know, things NEVER go back to the way they were. Suggesting that things should have been done differently with the benefit of hindsight will do us no good at all.

It’s perhaps difficult for everyone to comprehend but we all have lost something, not just those who have sadly lost a friend or relative but collectively, we have lost a way of life.

In the same way that in 1918, England was changed forever, this pandemic will see us emerge on the other side as a very different country (and world) to how we were going in.

It’s quite possible that a lot of what we remember will never reappear, familiar shops or companies might not survive. No doubt others will take their place, it will take time as we reset.

Is that necessarily a bad thing? Not if we don’t want it to be. If we chose which bits of this experience to keep. Like the sense of community, of helping each other, offering to get shopping for neighbours, the realisation that we’re all in it together.

We could lose the selfish, planet destroying attitude and live a bit more gently, having seen what just a few weeks of reduced consumption can do for pollution and the environment, wouldn’t it be nice to carry on making things better?

Do we really need to return to the worst excesses of modern living, to the incessant travelling to meetings for instance, now that we know we can do it just as well via Skype or Zoom?  Do we need to shave 20 minutes off the journey time from London to Birmingham when we can talk together without leaving home? 

Couldn’t that money be better spent preparing for the next time something like this happens? Or even, and this is really radical, valuing those that do the actual work? Helping local businesses and small food suppliers to recover by showing that we value them.

I must admit that I have a vested interest in the NHS, it saved my life after I was knocked off a motorbike. My wife is a retired nurse, my daughters all work in the health service. My eldest is a nurse on I.T.U. and is married to a consultant physician. My middle daughter is a midwife (she delivered a baby girl as the clapping finished on Thursday) while my youngest is a second-year student nurse. I’m so proud of them all for what they do without thinking of the cost.

They, along with a long list of everyone we don’t normally notice are the backbone of this country, not the bankers or politicians. They have kept everything running, they deserve recognition, praise and thanks, it would be nice to think that will still be forthcoming when the worst is over.

It will probably be the first real test of whether we have learned anything from this.

I hope everyone who reads this is coping and that your families are OK, stay inside and stay safe.

I’d love to get your comments, please leave them below. While you’re here, why not take a look around? There are some freebies and lots more content, about me, my writing and everything else that I do. You can join my newsletter for a free short story and more news by clicking this link.

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