Richard Dee's Blog, page 73

Beetroot Rolls

I love beetroot. Whether it’s pickled in vinegar or simply boiled, it has a wonderful taste. I will sometimes roast it instead of potatoes on a Sunday, strangely it goes well with gravy!

Today, I want to focus on using the packaged cooked beetroot you find in shops and supermarkets.

I put 500g of chopped beetroot in 1000g of flour, 635g water, 40g Olive Oil and 20g each of yeast and salt. The amount of water has been reduced to allow for the liquid in the package. It’s beetroot juice, don’t waste it.

There’s nothing fancy about the method, just make the rolls like you normally do. That amount of dough produces 18 rolls of about 120g each. They need to bake for around 18 minutes at 240°C.

Next week, a different way of using beetroot in bread.

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.

I’ll be back on Monday, with another Blog Hop, from #OpenBook. Have a great weekend.

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The Indie Showcase presents, Alison Morton

I first “met” Alison when I was asked to contribute to the 1066 Turned Upside Down project of alternative Fiction. I’ve since read and enjoyed the first of her Roma Nova novels and have the rest on my never reducing T.B.R. pile.

It’s a pleasure and a privilege to host her on the Showcase today.

Timeline of an indie author

Thank you so much for
inviting me to the showcase, Richard. It’s ten years since I started thrusting
books on the world and I’d like to I share some expurgated diary extracts and
experiences with you.

August 2009: A really bad film sends me to my desk,
and within 90 days, I have typed a story of 90,000 words. No clue what to do
with the finished manuscript, but it’s bound to be snapped up and sold in every
shop and airport.

2010-12: A humbling apprenticeship. I discover I know nothing about the book world or novel writing craft despite being a life-long avid reader. Although ‘high concept and well-written’ according to professional assessors, my story is covered in layers of wishy-washyness and undirected – certainly not ready for agents, publishers or unprotected readers.  I start a blog, though (https://alison-morton.com), as I knew from my business days that you need a wholly-owned presence in cyberspace.

I join a writers’ circle, acquire a critique writing partner, go to conferences, read craft books, study on courses and in classes, and hone. And I mean hone. You have never seen such scalpel action on a writer’s work. I put it through professional assessments – tough and even tougher. At last, a reasonably publishing manuscript emerges.

My desk isn’t visible through the layers of multiple
rejection letters saying, ‘intelligent and well-crafted, but we don’t know how
to market it’. I despair. I know my work is of publishable standard; feedback
from many quarters said the story was good to go.

During this ‘apprenticeship’, I make connections and come across self-publishing experts in person and virtually. My business brain clicks into action and I research the sector. My brain hurts but I draw up a shortlist of experts to help bring my novels to market in the best possible presentation and grill them for two hours each.

2013: Structurally and copy-edited, proofed and put
together beautifully by SilverWood Books, INCEPTIO hits the
world. PERFIDITAS
follows six months later (It’s fully drafted by the time INCEPTIO came
out, so I’m not being super-productive!).

Am taken aback by the amount of PR/marketing needed: blog
tours, reviews, guest posts, competitions, talks, local radio, let alone
feeding my own blog.

2014: SUCCESSIO comes out
in June and I’m interviewed by no less a person than broadcaster Sue Cook (https://youtu.be/56IL5BPB1p8)!

I start to get onto the speaking ladder at conferences –
small spots but exciting. But I realise my writing life has to change. It’s the
fine choice indies have to make – writing or marketing. The answer is
both.  Planning is key whether it’s
speaking, attending, selling your books, requesting reviews, running your
social media, writing guest posts, packing your exhibition box or considering
next year’s events.

And you learn to write on planes and trains.

2015: AURELIA comes
out – the first of a new trilogy – set the late 1960s. Originally, it was going
to be a single sequel, but I have too much story, so another trilogy. That will
be it. Or so I think. I go to the US and chair the indie panel at the
Historical Novel Society conference. This is also the year for a marketing
makeover for the blog. I split it as I was aiming at two audiences – my Roma
Nova series readers and other writers. Now I have a writing blog as well as the
Roma Nova book one (https://alisonmortonauthor.com).

2016: The year the Ryanair crew recognise me when I
came back home to France from my tenth gig in the UK. I realise I’m doing too
much, including a major conference in France as well as several in the UK.
Still, I’d chair the indie panel at the 2016 HNS Conference, launch my fifth
book, INSURRECTIO
(endorsed by Conn Iggulden!) at the London Book Fair and speak at an event with
Kate Mosse!

2017: RETALIO comes out
in April followed by CARINA, a novella, in November. I only achieve this by
gluing myself into my chair and doing fewer events, although I had the pleasure
of speaking in Dublin for the first time.

2018: Persuaded by the dynamic force known as Helen Hollick,
I move several light years from my comfort zone and write a short story for 1066
Turned Upside Down alternative history collection which is where
Richard and I ‘meet’. No problem with the alternative history side; this was
the genre I write in – I give talks in it – but a short story? Um…  I write 90-100,000 word books. But somehow it
works. This impels me to publish a short story collection of my own – ROMA NOVA EXTRA.
Oh, and I represent the indie world on a panel at CrimeFest.

2019: The great change in Roma Nova: reorganisation
and brand new covers! Each heroine will now have four books – three novels and
a novella to their name – and the series will split into the Carina and Aurelia
strands. If there’s one thing that’s constant in indie publishing, it’s change.
I publish NEXUS this month, the novella that completes the Aurelia strand.

A bonus! You can download a free
guide to the Roma Nova books or if you sign
up to my mailing list, you also get two free short stories.

Where next? Who knows, but that’s the unnerving, but always
exciting roll of indie author life.

About the Roma Nova thrillers

Roma Nova is an imaginary country somewhere
in South Central Europe. Developing along an alternative timeline from
ours, it’s a survivor from the mess at the end of the Roman Empire, its
people value strength, service and loyalty.

Women have always been prominent from the first day they buckled
on armour and stood side by side with their men to defend their tiny country.
They run the government, businesses and families. But men are in no
way disadvantaged.

Two ‘strands’ centre round two tough but fallible heroines – Carina and Aurelia – both from the leading Mitela family. They are so similar in character, but their temperaments are different. Coffee is a must for both, but Aurelia likes a French brandy and Carina a chilled Castra Lucillan white wine. But both will scale Olympus and fight to their own death to defend Roma Nova from its enemies.

Who is Alison?

Alison Morton
writes the award-winning Roma Nova thriller series – ‘intelligent adventure thrillers with heart.’ She blends her deep love of Roman history
with six years’ military service and a life of reading crime, adventure and
thriller fiction. On
the way, she collected an MA History.

All six
full-length Roma Nova novels have been awarded the BRAG Medallion. SUCCESSIO,
AURELIA and INSURRECTIO were selected as Historical Novel Society’s Indie
Editor’s Choices.  AURELIA was a finalist
in the 2016 HNS Indie Award. SUCCESSIO was selected as an Editor’s Choice in The
Bookseller.

A ‘Roman
nut’ since age 11, Alison misspent decades clambering over Roman sites
throughout Europe. Fascinated
by the mosaics at Ampurias (Spain), at their creation by the complex, power and
value-driven Roman civilisation, she started wondering what a modern Roman
society would be like if run by strong women…

Now she continues to write thrillers, cultivates a Roman herb garden and drinks wine in France with her husband.

Social media links

Connect with
Alison on her Roma Nova site: http://alison-morton.com

Facebook author
page: https://www.facebook.com/AlisonMortonAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/alison_morton @alison_morton

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alisonmortonauthor/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5783095.Alison_Morton
Alison’s Amazon page: http://Author.to/AlisonMortonAmazon

My thanks to this weeks guest for a great post. I hope you all enjoyed it.

While you’re here, why not have a look around the site? There are FREE things and a whole lot more, just follow the links at the top of the page.

You might also like to join my team. I’ll send you a bi-monthly newsletter, filled with news, updates and extra content, as well as more about me and my worlds. You’ll also get a free short story and offers on my novels. Subscribe by clicking HERE

If you want to be
featured in a future Showcase, where you can write about whatever
(within reason) you want, then please let me know. Use the comment box below
and I’ll get back to you.

You can catch up on
previous Showcase posts by clicking HERE

Don’t miss the Saturday Rewind, next Thursdays Showcase post, and my musings every Monday.

Have a good week,

Richard.

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Blog Hopping. If only they knew!

Welcome to another BlogHop. with #OpenBook. Here’s this week’s prompt

What do you owe the real
people upon whom you base your characters?

Three things; thanks, an explanation and an apology. Maybe not in that order.

Although I set my novels mostly in the future or an
alternative now, as far as I’m concerned, the people in them are real people. I
see their adventures in my head and try to write them down in a way which
brings them to life on the page.

Their personalities contain a combination of the characteristics
of family members, neighbours or people I’ve seen or overheard in coffee shops.
Not forgetting the people that I would have liked to have been, in another life
and time.

It’s really quite surprising, the things people will say when they think nobody is listening. Even before I was a writer, I always listened to conversations and observed behaviour, there is so much material that would otherwise go to waste.

For obvious reasons, I can’t name them all in the dedication,
even if I knew their names. And I’m sure that if they had only known that I was
listening, they might not have been so indiscreet.

So I have to thank them all, especially the unknowing. And apologise if I have cast them in an unforgiving light. Remember, all I had to go on was what you said and did.

As for my own part in all of this, my history has a lot to do
with it.

I spent years in the merchant navy, carrying cargo around the world. So I guess it’s no surprise that my first character, Dave Travise, was a trader. Only in his case; he was going from planet to planet. Like many of the officers and crews I shared long voyages with, he was a lover of solitude, with an interesting past. I tried to make his life like my shipmates would have been; if we had been carrying cargo in his time. A lot of his adventures were just interstellar versions of things that happened to me or people that I knew.

Miles Goram, the disgraced journalist in The Balcom series, was a victim of circumstance, caught up in other peoples power games. He was based on someone I knew, a man who seemed to get all the bad luck, yet always came out smiling.

Then there was my Steampunk hero, Horis Strongman. He was the quintessential Victorian gentlemen; modest, capable and resourceful.  Aided by his newfound friends Grace and Maloney, he set out to right wrong, and protect those who he cared for. In a world like ours of the late-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, he and his friends were modelled on the explorers and adventurers of the time, men like Burton, Speke, Livingstone, Lawrence and their ilk. People who Jules Verne and H.G. Wells wrote so beautifully about. Like Dave Travise, he also yearned for a quiet life.

Andorra Pett was different, a female amateur detective, she was based on the ladies in my life, my wife and three daughters. Combining all their good points with a flair for accident and foot-in-mouth, I used incidents from their childhood as a basis for her personality and witty banter. And for her mishaps too. Although I have been careful never to have ascribed any of it to one of them in particular. After all, they will choose my nursing home and I want one with good biscuits.

Dan and Rick, the main character in Life and Other Dreams came from my own life, from dreams I had where I lived in a town that was similar to my real home. There were just enough differences in the two places and lives to suggest that one mans dreams could be another man’s reality. After a lot of research on the brain and our perception of consciousness, the novel was born.

I have plenty of material for new characters, more amalgamations of people I pass in the street, hear talking too loudly in pubs and coffee shops or find browsing in shops. If you ever think one of my characters or situations is vaguely familiar, it’s possible that I was standing behind you at some time.

What I’m trying to say is that,

although I write about a fictional world, I don’t populate it with outlandish fictional characters. When we travel from this world, we may be in the future but we will still be us. We will take all our good points with us, along with our vices. We will just play with our emotions on a bigger stage.

I want believable characters in my novels. If I mix and match real people and events to create them, they will be recognisable. They will feel familiar and readers will be comfortable in their presence. If I can convince you, the reader, that my worlds are filled with relatable characters, no matter what they are getting up to, then I’ve achieved my purpose.

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.

I’ll be back on Thursday with another Showcase post, featuring an Indie Author with something to say. Please click the links to see the other great blogs on this hop.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!
Click here to enter

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The Saturday Rewind, 3 seed and Chickpea Bread

Here’s a recipe from my past, a great close-textured bread.

This one goes nicely with soup or toasted. Don’t be surprised if it doesn’t rise as much as other loaves. It’s just due to the weight of the chickpeas in the dough. I think you’ll agree that the flavour is worth it. The recipe is from somewhere on the internet and has been slightly modified; if it was yours originally – thanks.

Ingredients.

100g Sunflower seeds.
100g Pumpkin seeds.
100g Linseed
14g salt.
400g boiling water.
1x 400g can of chickpeas
20g olive oil.
12g instant yeast.
620g White bread flour.
80g lukewarm water.

Method

12 hours before you’re going to bake, place all of your seeds in a medium-sized container, cover with 400g of boiling water and the 14 g of salt.  

Then in a smaller bowl, place 120g of white bread flour, 80g of lukewarm water and 2g of yeast. Mix well and cover.

After 12 hours, it should be bubbly, like this.

Drain your chickpeas and mash with a fork, roughly.

Place 500g of bread flour into the bowl of your mixer, or into a large mixing bowl if kneading by hand. Make a well, add 10g of yeast and the crushed chickpeas, seeds and dough mix, along with 20g of olive oil.

It should start to come together pretty quickly, but if you think it’s too dry, add 25g of water, mix again for a minute or two then reassess.

Knead for 10 minutes and cover in a lightly oiled bowl. 

Leave it to rest for 90 – 100 minutes until it doubles in size.

Knock the dough back, then divide into two and shape into tins. Put the oven on to 250°C

Allow the dough to rise again, for about 45 – 60 mins,

 Bake for 20 mins then reduce the temperature to 200°c for 20 mins more. When you start to bake, pour a little boiling water into a tray in the bottom of the oven to create steam.

As you can see, the texture is more like a cake than bread, but, trust me, it’s delicious.

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.

I’ll be back on Monday, with another BlogHop, have a great weekend.

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The Indie Showcase presents, H.A. Dawson

Unfortunately, this weeks guest has been unable to provide me with any copy. But, as I know a bit about her, I’m posting on her behalf.

I guess I’d describe her style as

Psychological suspense that twists like a corkscrew 

You can find her Amazon author page at https://www.amazon.co.uk/H-A-Dawson/e/B00BF9VR16

Honor is a British writer living in the Fenlands of Eastern England, she spent 20 years in IT as a software developer and systems analyst for one of the U.K’s largest banking groups.
Her catalogue of books is approaching 25 titles.

You can join her Readers Group to get FREE Book Samples and a novella.
http://eepurl.com/7PY4T

Her imagination is spurred by global travel, experiencing/enduring adventures in the “Big Outdoors”
Characters in her books are formulated from the places, people and situations she encountered while trekking into the unknown.

I read and reviewed one of her books earlier this year. I thought it was a great story, click below to read my thoughts.

A book review, Never to be Ignored by H.A. Dawson.

You can also find her here

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HonADawson
WordPress: http://honoradawson.wordpress.com Something about my rural lifestyle
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/honadawson‎
My Website http://www.honadawson.com

While you’re here, why not have a look around the site? There are FREE things and a whole lot more, just follow the links at the top of the page.

You might also like to join my team. I’ll send you a bi-monthly newsletter, filled with news, updates and extra content, as well as more about me and my worlds. You’ll also get a free short story and offers on my novels. Subscribe by clicking HERE

If you want to be
featured in a future Showcase, where you can write about whatever
(within reason) you want, then please let me know. Use the comment box below
and I’ll get back to you.

You can catch up on
previous Showcase posts by clicking HERE

Don’t miss the Saturday Rewind, next Thursdays Showcase post, and my musings every Monday.

Have a good week,

Richard.

531 total views, 531 views today

The post The Indie Showcase presents, H.A. Dawson appeared first on Welcome to my Worlds..

Blog Hopping. On the Cutting Room Floor.

Welcome to another BlogHop, with #OpenBook. Here’s this week’s prompt.

What did you edit out of your most recent book? (or another book…let’s see those outtakes!)

That’s a difficult question to answer. The way I write kind
of makes it redundant, or irrelevant.

I don’t edit like that.

Let me explain.

Once I get an idea for a story, I see what I can only
describe as a film of the action as it unfolds. It used to be confined to my
dreams, now it seems to happen at any time. I can rewind it and slow it down,
pause if I need to. I just write what I see, as I see it. The one thing I can
never do is fast forward, it all plays out in real-time.

In the same way that none of us can see tomorrow with certainty,
I never know what will happen next. I don’t even know that I’m reaching the end
of a story until I get there.

I know, it sounds weird, you should have been me when it
first started. Now, I’m used to it.

The other thing that this means is that I can’t really write
stuff and then find that it’s not required. As I only write what I see, it
would be like editing a DVD before you watched it, or skipping bits while you
were sat on the sofa with the popcorn (other snacks are available).

So why am I writing this post, when clearly the subject is
not for me. 

Maybe it’s because whatever process is showing me the action is doing the editing for me. I’m editing it before I write. Which means that the out-takes are all in my head somewhere. Whatever your thoughts on where an authors inspiration and creativity comes from, it’s plain that I don’t see the whole story. Taking the film analogy again, there is always more detail in the book than in the film of the book. In the same way, there’s more to what I see than what I write.

When I read back, which I do quite a bit, I will often see things that need more clarification, which is where I rewind the film and have another look. Rarely do I take anything away, all I usually do is explain it better.

During this process, I often find places where I realise
that another story could be developed from a comment or scenario. Not
necessarily connected to the story I’m involved in, while it might be a sequel
or prequel, it could be a whole new project. 

The strange thing is, once I see one of these, I very often
get another film starting in my head, of how that story plays out.

Perhaps they’re the out-takes, being recycled in another form. Here’s an example of what I mean.

In my novel Ribbonworld, I invented a farm in space, an idea which led me to write a short story called The Orbital Livestock Company. This, in turn, formed part of the setting for Andorra Pett and the Oort Cloud Café.

All in all, I accept that it appears to be a weird way of
working. I have no idea why some part of my creative mind is arranging things like
this, I’ve tried fighting it with little success, so now I just go with the
flow. I really don’t know what else to do.

Psychologists would probably tell you that there’s enough
material in the last few paragraphs for a whole conference.

Let me know what you think by commenting below, then check
out what everyone else on the BlogHop has to say.

I’ll be back on Thursday with another Indie Showcase.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!
Click here to enter

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The Saturday Rewind, Balsamic Vinegar Bread.

We’re back to bread this week, with a recipe that uses one of my favourite ingredients, Balsamic Vinegar.

This recipe originally appeared on my bread blog back in 2016.

I spotted a recipe for bread with Balsamic vinegar in it, and modified it to suit my ingredients. I used up some discard sourdough starter in it as well to give it even more flavour and made rolls and a couple of baguette-shaped loaves with the dough.

The ingredients.

750g flour, I used my favourite blend from Wessex Mill. It has dried onions, peppers and Oregano in it. If you fancied a different blend; you could make your own mix of your favourite dried herbs and add it to Strong White Flour, no more than 15% by weight though.

450 g warm water,

75 g Extra Virgin Olive Oil,

30 g Balsamic Vinegar,

15 g each of salt and yeast,

100 g White Sourdough Starter (optional).

Then it’s just the usual bread-making method, whatever works for you.

After 1 hour in my proofer (sounds very grand but it’s actually my oven, with a tin of warm water in the bottom and a one minute blast of full heat), it had risen well.

I turned it out and shaped it into 2 x 400 g baguettes and 6 x 105 g rolls.

These I left to rise as the oven heated up to 240°C.

And the whole lot was baked with steam for 20 minutes at 240°C

When the internal temperature is 95°C they’re done, and the crusts were crisp as well.

The great thing about this recipe is its versatility, you can use this dough as a base for the Cheese and Onion rolls I told you about a couple of weeks ago. Instead of cheese (or as well as), you could add just about anything, chorizo cubes, bacon, chilli. Why not have a go and see what combinations you can think of.

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.

I’ll be back on Monday with another BlogHop. Have a great weekend.

The post The Saturday Rewind, Balsamic Vinegar Bread. appeared first on Welcome to my Worlds..

The Indie Showcase presents, Claire Buss.

Please welcome this week’s guest to the Showcase.

Hello. My name is Claire and I am addicted to cake. I also write humorous fantasy stories, among other things, would you care for a cuppa and a chat?

That’s how I’d greet you in real life if I could. I believe everyone would benefit from a nice sit down with a non-alcoholic beverage of their choice and a yummy slice of cake. Imagine what the world would be like. But enough about unattainable goals, let’s talk about books, specifically my books.

Thanks to the lovely Richard, I have the opportunity to tell
you all about my Roshaven books. So far there are three books in this humorous
fantasy world with plenty more to come. I have been heavily inspired by my
adoration for Sir Terry Pratchett’s Discworld so if you enjoy that sort of
irreverent observational humour in a magical fantasy setting then this is the
place for you. I’ve also been likened to Douglas Adams and Piers Anthony – high
praise that I can’t quite believe!

My Roshaven stories follow the adventures of Chief Thief-Catcher, Ned Spinks and his right-hand sprite, Jenni as they fight crime and attempt to keep the peace in the small empire of Roshaven.

Chronologically, the first book is The Interspecies Poker Tournament as those events happen before The Rose Thief but if you want to read them in the order they were written then go for The Rose Thief first.

Here’s the blurb for The Rose Thief:

Ned Spinks, Chief Thief-Catcher has a problem. Someone is stealing the Emperor’s roses. But that’s not the worst of it. In his infinite wisdom and grace, the Emperor magically imbued his red rose with love so if it was ever removed from the Imperial Rose Gardens then love will be lost, to everyone, forever. It’s up to Ned and his band of motley catchers to apprehend the thief and save the day. But the thief isn’t exactly who they seem to be, neither is the Emperor. Ned and his team will have to go on a quest defeating vampire mermaids, illusionists, estranged family members and an evil sorcerer in order to win the day. What could possibly go wrong?

The Rose Thief has just been re-published as a second
edition and has gone wide which is indie author speak for it now being
available not only on Amazon but also on Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books,
WH Smiths, Waterstones and a plethora of alternative online sites as well as
requestable in print at your local bookshop – it has an ISBN! Here is the
universal link for The Rose Thief – https://books2read.com/u/bQaxw6
– and because I am a giver, you can read the first chapter for free on my
website: https://cbvisions.weebly.com/the-rose-thief.html

The second book in this world is called The Interspecies Poker Tournament and while The Rose Thief is a full- length novel, this is a novella. The whole idea came about from a throwaway comment made by Ned during The Rose Thief and was so much fun to write, I can’t even! Let’s just say there was a research poker game with several stuffed teddy bears and things may have gotten a little out of hand. I have to stop and give a shout-out to the very talented cover artist who created both The Rose Thief and The Interspecies Poker Tournament and that is Ian Bristow. He is an incredibly talented artist who completely gets the characters in my fictional world plus he is a great indie author himself and he writes and plays music as well.

Here’s the blurb for The Interspecies Poker Tournament:

Ned Spinks, Chief Thief-Catcher, has a new case. A murderous
moustache-wearing cult is killing off members of Roshaven’s fae community. At
least that’s what he’s been led to believe by his not-so-trusty sidekick, Jenni
the sprite. She has information she’s not sharing but plans to get her boss
into the Interspecies Poker Tournament so he can catch the bad guy and save the
day. If only Ned knew how to play!

The Interspecies Poker Tournament, Case 27 of The Roshaven Files, is a humorous fantasy novella following the adventures of Ned Spinks and Jenni, a prequel to The Rose Thief. If you loved Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, you’ll love Roshaven.

At the moment The Interspecies Poker Tournament is only available on Amazon, but I am hoping to go wide in the near future. The link to buy a copy is mybook.to/ISPT.

The other exciting piece of news about these two books is
that there will be an audiobook joining the ranks, probably next year (2020)
and I’m super excited about this project because I will be doing the narration
in my soon to be built audio booth. Provided the advice and tips I’ve been
given about audio blankets and bulldog clips work!

Now, I did mention there were three books in this humorous fantasy world at the moment and the third is a short story called Ye Olde Magick Shoppe.

This is a free short story that you can download at Prolific Works and you don’t have to do anything – there’s no catch, no sign up to an author newsletter, just a free story for you to read and hopefully enjoy. Here’s the link: https://claims.prolificworks.com/free/E5IFHgWh

I really hope you will take a moment to explore the world of
Roshaven and maybe dip a toe in the vampire-mermaid infested waters – don’t
worry, Jenni will look after you. Probably. As always, if you do read one of my
books, please do consider leaving a review on either Goodreads or Amazon or
both. I really, really appreciate it and I’d love to know what you think.

If you’d like to find out more about my books and what I get up to, you can of course join my newsletter at http://eepurl.com/c93M2L where you will be rewarded with a free book of flash fiction, The Blue Serpent & other tales. I’m active on Twitter @Grasshopper2407 and I have an author group on Facebook called Buss’s Book Stop that you are more than welcome to hop on board.

My thanks to this weeks guest for a great post. I hope you all enjoyed it.

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If you want to be
featured in a future Showcase, where you can write about whatever
(within reason) you want, then please let me know. Use the comment box below
and I’ll get back to you.

You can catch up on
previous Showcase posts by clicking HERE

Don’t miss the Saturday Rewind, next Thursdays Showcase post, and my musings every Monday.

Have a good week,

Richard.

The post The Indie Showcase presents, Claire Buss. appeared first on Welcome to my Worlds..

It’s all in the edit. Andorra Pett Returns!

I’m not on the #OpenBook blog hop this week, for various reasons. Instead, I’m talking about what comes after the writing is finished. Just when you might think the hard bit is done, along comes the edit.

Every writer needs an editor, they
are the unsung heroes who turn your manuscript into a gleaming story. They punctuate,
check grammar and spellings, check for plot holes, style and so many other things.
Mine is worth their weight in gold.

The wait for the return of a
manuscript they have been poring over is always a tense time. Will they like
it? Have they managed to make sense of it?  Was there a huge plot hole?

This time, I was waiting for the return of Andorra Pett and her Sister, the third cosy mystery starring Andorra Pett, the reluctant amateur detective, café owner, pilot and all the rest.

With each part of a series comes
another source of tension. Has the idea run its course? Should I have stopped writing
adventures for Andorra?

This time I didn’t have to worry. “Brilliant
story,” she said. Then she put the words that every author dreads. “I’ve added
lots of comments. Some relate to the plot.”

Oh well, I had to expect that!

Now I have to do my bit.

I have to make sense of the comments, attend to all the issues that have been spotted. These range from sightings of repeated words (the same one twice or more in close proximity – to put it in context, in another story, I used the same word eight times in one paragraph!) to plot discrepancies and questions like didn’t you say, on Page ***, that *** happened? Then why are you saying here that ***? Which is a polite way of telling you that what you’ve written doesn’t make any sense.

Once I have sorted all of them out, I will read the story through again and see if any enhancement springs to mind, anything that will make the story better. Then the process of preparing it for publication begins, all the exciting technical stuff. More about that later.

Back to the story

This is a rough idea of what it’s about.

Following her
adventures on Mars, Andorra has had to return to Earth. While she’s there, out
of the blue, she gets a call from her sister, who is having a really bad day.
If you’ve read Andorra Pett on Mars, you will know that much; as Chapter one of
this story was at the end of that one.

My beta readers had been positive about the story. Here’s what one had to say.

I’ve loved this series from the very first sentence of the first book. The entire series has a light, funny outlook even with very serious situations that sucks you in for quite the adventure! Now in this third book Andi is in London getting things settled, and as seems to happen for her, someone gets into trouble, and she is unable to resist digging into the middle of everything and as usual, mayhem ensues! This sucked me in for a wild ride that alternately had me swearing, laughing, and cursing certain stuck up individuals. It reads so fast but it stays clear and sharp throughout without leaving you feeling book hungover. I loved it just as it is, and can’t wait for more from this series! Thank you for the opportunity to review this gem!

Here’s the Blurb
for Andorra Pett and her Sister

“When a sister hates you, that really is the end of the world.”

Andorra Pett is back for another
adventure, and this time it’s personal!

Trouble seems to follow Andorra
Pett, wherever she is in the Solar System.

Andorra Pett hasn’t seen her sister
for a while, they never really got on; there was a falling out and they drifted
apart.

Out of the blue, Andorra gets a
call while on a business trip to London. As if she hasn’t got enough to deal
with, it turns out that her sister’s in trouble, big trouble.

There are allegations of
drug-smuggling and money laundering, it’s so unlike the staid, respectable life
that she remembers her sister leading.

How can she be involved in things
like that? And why isn’t her husband, Simon, sorting it all out for her? Could
he be part of the problem?

The police have decided that she’s
guilty, Andorra is her only hope of avoiding prison. Against her better
judgement and without her friend Cy to help her; Andorra starts to investigate.

All she has to do is work out
what’s really going on.

At the end of the day; family comes first.  

The novel will be published on October 15th

You can pre-order Andorra Pett and her Sister at http://mybook.to/Andorra_and_her_Sister and find the other two adventures here.

http://mybook.to/Andorra
http://mybook.to/AndorraPettonMars

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.

I’ll be back on Thursday, with a new Indie Showcase, featuring another guest with something to say. See you then.

The post It’s all in the edit. Andorra Pett Returns! appeared first on Welcome to my Worlds..

Saturday Book Review, Autumn 1066

Not a lot of people know this, but I wrote a sci-fi story
about the Battle of Hastings.

It can be found in the book 1066 Turned upside down. I was asked to contribute by Helen Hollick and was pleased to do so, although I must admit to feeling out of my depth in such an august company of Historical Fiction authors.

In my contribution, I played safe, stuck to what I knew.  I didn’t try to create the atmosphere of the times, I cheated and wrote a time travel story involving the events of October 1066.

People seemed to like it, one reviewer said, Richard Dee was another new author for me, but his submission stood out for a couple of reasons. Unlike his fellows, Dee put a bit of a sci-fi twist on 1066 and wrote a story that is set largely in the modern world. It was a dramatic shift and it threw me at first, but looking back I think the submission one of the strongest pieces in the anthology. I thought it was fun, I thought it was creative, and I liked how it allowed the reader a unique vantage point and perspective.

I wisely left the historical details to the experts.

Experts like Jack Eason, who has written a very clever story about what happened leading up to that fateful day, about the events that had as much effect on the result as anything else.

In Autumn 1066, I learn that Harold was beset by enemies and shifting alliances, yet the story I remember from my childhood was shy on the details, involving only what happened at Hastings and not mentioning much about Stamford or the effect it had on the battle-weary men who crisscrossed the country to face William on the South coast.

Jack has done us a service by bringing their story to life. We live with the rank and file of the Fyrd, as well as the scheming nobility. We learn of the mistakes that cost dear, through the eyes of those who watched it all unfold.

The descriptions are engaging, mixing fact and fiction in such a way as to hide the join. Care has been taken in using the language of the times, researching the words that might sound unfamiliar to us. Using them in the right places. It all helps to reinforce the sense that every effort has been taken in getting it right.

My only complaint is that it finished long before I wish that it had.

My verdict,

A well researched and very entertaining glimpse on a pivotal moment in history.

Jack Eason has woven a short but compelling tale around the events leading up to the Battle of Hastings, the end of the Saxon times in England. It’s a story of ordinary folk, as well as the rulers of the land, and how the decisions they made shaped the times. Full of well-researched detail, the vivid picture he paints puts you in the centre of the action. Recommended reading for anyone interested in the events of 1066

I won’t be on the blog hop on Monday, I’ve been too busy with editing my next Cosy Mystery. More about that instead.

Have a great weekend.

The post Saturday Book Review, Autumn 1066 appeared first on Welcome to my Worlds..