Richard Dee's Blog, page 82

The Saturday Rewind, Venford reservoir.

Today’s rewind is a pictorial snapshot of Venford reservoir, situated on Dartmoor, between Holne and Hexworthy. It’s one of my Wordless Wednesday posts, from 2016

You can park and walk around it, with some stunning scenery across the moor.

Click on the picture for the original post.

I’ll be back on Monday with a recipe, see you then.

The post The Saturday Rewind, Venford reservoir. appeared first on Welcome to my Worlds..

The Indie Showcase presents, Jane Risdon

Most people who know me are aware of my background in the international music industry where I managed – with my lead guitarist husband – musicians, singers, song-writers, record producers as well as placing music – soundtracks – on to Movies and TV series.

My husband was in a band when I met him in the late 1960s and it is our experiences and some events – with a certain amount of poetic licence – which I used when co-writing ‘Only One Woman’ with award-winning, best-selling author, Christina Jones, who was his band’s fan-club secretary back then.

She and I always wanted to write
together but she wrote romance and I – eventually, when time permitted –
concentrated on crime/thriller writing. 
So you can see that the chances of us writing together were remote.

However, I was looking through some old touring schedules from the 1960s and fan-mail, photos and diaries, following a house move when I got the idea for ‘Only One Woman’ – named for the hit single of the same name written by the Bee Gees for The Marbles in 1968. Iconic lead singer, Graham Bonnet, went on to sing with such legends of rock such as Rainbow, Alcatraz, Michael Schenker and Richie Blackmore to name a few bands including his own band, The Graham Bonnet Band.

Graham Bonnet agreed to write the foreword to ‘Only One Woman’ – worth reading as well,
as it charts how the Bee Gees came to
write for The Marbles. Our novel was
published by Accent Press Ltd May 2018 in paperback (Waterstones etc) and eBook
(Amazon etc).

A short extract from his foreword:
 For me, Jane and
Christina’s book – “Only One Woman”
– reflects very honestly those times and the feel of those times. I can picture
myself back in London when reading some of the pages. The 1960s, for me, was
probably the most wonderful time in the music business with such bands as The
Beatles, The Stones, The Kinks, The Who, and The Bee Gees and more: the list is
endless.

This book will take you back to that time; read on readers. Graham Bonnet’

I sent the book to Christina, which
follows the lives of rock band, Narnia’s Children, and their recording and
touring experiences when they relocate from Jersey in the Channel Islands to
England, and the love triangle which develops between guitarist Scott, the
young Renza and street-wise Stella. She was excited to add her own character
Stella and her related characters, into the story.

Guys and gals love the book which is
filled with 1960s musical references, fashion, and the venues and vibe of the
last years of the grooviest decade of the 20th century. We wanted
our readers to feel the vibe. I’m writing a sequel to ‘Only One Woman’ taking the characters from 1969 through to 1972.

I’ve written music-themed crimes
stories for various projects and online magazines and I’ve contributed towards
15 mixed-genre anthologies to date, plus I have three novels in a series
called, ‘Ms Birdsong Investigates,’ which I’m re-writing
at the moment. Ms Birdsong is not
musically-themed. However, it is a series about a former MI5 Officer who is
‘voluntarily’ retired and finds herself looking into the murder of a young
mother which leads her into a huge MI5/MI6 operation underway near the village
she’s chosen to move to following her retirement. Soon she finds herself
embroiled in the activities of Russian people traffickers, Ukrainian gun/drug
smugglers – in addition to murder – and sees this as her way back in to the
Security Services which she misses and craves to re-join.  I hope to have book one ‘Ms Birdsong Investigates: Murder
in Ampney Parva, with my
publisher later this year.

Working in the music business one gets
to meet – and gets to find out about – so many famous musicians, record
producers, and the movers and shakers of the Hollywood Music, TV, and the Movie
industries, and for me it is a fabulous source of material as you can imagine;
the characters running the entertainment business are legendary and all that
fame, power, and money – well you just know there are stories to be told. Some
of these stories have already been written – the true stories – and are well
known within the business. My stories are pure fiction but I use the
personality and character types I’ve come across over many years to tell my
tales and to give them an authentic air.

I also worked, in my youth, for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in Whitehall at the height of the Cold War and when the IRA was at its most deadly. Again, I love to use my experiences (fictionalised) in my writing. Espionage and also organised crime find their way into my crime/thriller writing, and this year I am publishing my first collection of short crime stories in paperback and eBook. It’s called Undercover: Crime Shorts and it has been endorsed by several respected crime writers including former Detective and now crime/thriller writer, Roger A Price.

Undercover – crime shorts; is a
collection of six short works by Jane Risdon who has a talent for grabbing the
reader and drawing them in from the very first paragraph. The book provides a
must-read for all crime fiction fans with its eclectic mix of tales which will
satisfy all lovers of the genre. A highly recommended read. Roger A Price.

I have over 50 short stories which I am considering for part two of ‘Undercover: Crime Shorts,’ which I plan to publish later this year and in addition to the novels mentioned here I am working on two others; keeping out of mischief!

Short extract from Only One Woman
(Accent Press Ltd) Christina Jones and Jane Risdon:

Renza’s Diary 16th June
1968:

(16 year old Renza goes to London for the
first time)

We
took another taxi after dinner, and stopped off at Carnaby Street. I couldn’t
believe it. I was standing in the trendiest, fab and groovy place on the
planet, and it was all so mind-blowingly exciting.

Everywhere
I looked I could see Mods and Hippies and really cool looking people with the
most far out clothes you could imagine. Girls were in minis with John Lennon
caps and long over the knee boots; maxi and midi skirts were everywhere and in
every colour and pattern you could think of. It was crowded with people
shopping and tourists and people just like me.

‘I
want to go into Lady Jane, and have a look round!’ I was almost squealing with
excitement and anticipation. Not that I could afford anything, but just to go
inside… …

Gideon went into Lord John whilst waiting for me. I
couldn’t imagine it was his type of place, but he kindly stayed in there for
the twenty minutes I spent in heaven with the grooviest gear ever.

Eventually
I felt sorry for Gideon and fetched him out. Then we wandered into Pop.

When
we came out I spotted a really famous band, The Mojos, who I recognised from
the television, coming out of the really trendy hairdressers called John
Stephen.

I
could hardly believe that I was standing feet from The Mojos, in the most
famous street in the world. There was a huge photo of Long John Baldry in the
window and it seemed he had his hair done there too.

Suddenly
a crowd of screaming crying girls came charging towards us as they also spotted
The Mojos. Gideon grabbed my arm and we ducked into a music shop. The group
were surrounded and ended up signing autographs and having their photos taken
by the fans.

It
was just like being at the Empire Pool Wembley after the pop concert I was
allowed to go to. Amazing.

The
record shop was full of kids looking through the records, standing in the
booths, listening to songs with headphones on, and there was just this loud
muddle of music – all sorts of songs bleeding through the booths and into the
shop. Some girls were dancing to the music, swaying from side to side, eyes
closed.

There
were posters all around the shop for different bands and events. There was a
fab poster of The Who, advertising their ‘Magic Bus Tour’,
and another one for the West End musical called Hair,
with Oliver Tobias on it, which, so I heard at school, had lots of naked people
running around on stage. I tried not to imagine the gorgeous actor, Oliver
Tobias naked.

I
was knocked out by the atmosphere and the variety of people, the music and
fashion – it was all so unreal, so far removed from my life at home. I’d seen a
famous band and lots of trendy people. Unreal.

We
popped into a coffee bar across from the record shop and ordered two espressos;
people watching Gideon called it. Imagine if Twiggy or David Bailey went past –
I’d just die.

Only One Woman is available in Paperback (Waterstones) and Amazon and most digital platforms around the world. Published by Accent Press Ltd. 53 5* reviews to date from guys and gals alike.

Bio:

Jane Risdon has spent most of her life working in the
International Music Business rubbing shoulders with the powerful and famous,
especially in Hollywood.

Married to a musician, and later working alongside him
managing singers, musicians, songwriters, and record producers, she’s also
facilitated the placement of music on successful television series and movie
soundtracks.

Her experiences have provided her with a unique insight into
the business and her writing often has a music related theme.

With long-term friend, award-winning, best-selling author,
Christina Jones – one time fan-club secretary for Jane’s husband’s band – Jane
has co-authored Only One Woman which is set in the UK music scene of 1968/69.
It is published by Accent Press Ltd.

Jane is working on the sequel to Only One Woman as well as a
series of crime novels – Ms Birdsong Investigates – featuring former MI5
Officer Lavinia Birdsong – which she plans to complete in 2019. Her experience
of working at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in her pre-music days has
given her plenty of material for her crime/thrillers.

Her collection of short stories ‘Undercover: Crime Shorts
will be published in eBook and paperback early 2019. She has written for more
than 15 anthologies, various online magazines and newsletters.

Links:

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B00I3GJ2Y8

Universal ‘to buy’ Links:

Only One Woman: https://books2read.com/u/mlegkP

Undercover: Crime Shorts https://books2read.com/u/4jD0wo

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/JaneRisdon2/

Blog: https://www.facebook.com/jane.risdon

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Jane_Risdon

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

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5831801.Jane_Risdon

Thanks, Jane, 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.

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 Rewind on Saturday, next Thursdays Showcase post, and my musings every Monday.

Have a great week,

Richard.

The post The Indie Showcase presents, Jane Risdon appeared first on Welcome to my Worlds..

Book Review. The Curse of Time – Book 1 – Bloodstone

This week, I’m in book reviewing mode.

Fifteen-year-old
Amelina longs for someone to confide in.  Her once carefree mother has
become angry and despondent. One day a strange black cat and a young girl,
named Esme appear. Immediately, Esme becomes the sister Amelina never had. The
only catch is that Esme must remain a prisoner, living within the mirrors of
Amelina’s house.

 Dreams
and a puzzling invitation convince Amelina the answer to her family’s troubles
lies within the walls of the illusive Crystal Cottage. Undaunted by her
mother’s warnings, Amelina searches for the cottage on an isolated
Cambridgeshire pathway where she encounters a charismatic young man, named
Ryder. At the right moment, he steps out of the shadows, rescuing her from the
unwanted attention of two male troublemakers. 

In time, she earns the right to use three wizard stones. The first awakens her spirit to discover a time of legends, and later, leads her to the Bloodstone, the supreme cleansing crystal which has the power to restore the balance of time. Will Amelina find the power to set her family free?

 A YA fantasy set in Cambridge, England exploring various themes/aspects: Light, darkness, time, shadows, a magical curse, crystals, art, and poetry. 

Before we begin,

I have to admit two things, not only am I a big fan of Y.A. fiction, but I also hosted the author on this website last August, a post which you can find here. So, when I saw her book on offer it was too good a chance to miss. And after reading it, I’m glad that I did.

My review

Forget your vampires and the dystopian future worlds, where you have to do some strange stuff for an undisclosed reason, I prefer a story that starts from a known place. You can get as weird as you like but please, make it a logical progression, not just the lazy ‘we’re in the future; civilisation as we know it is dead, this (insert some random game or test) is what happens these days, for no apparent reason’, sort of premise.

So, we meet Amelina, she’s just your standard teenage girl, I had three daughters; I get the comparison. And she’s a very well written character, as they all are. A little family weirdness, parents who have changed, from her perspective at the start it’s hard to see why. There’s a black cat who appears and a girl trapped in the mirrors in the house. And the obligatory interesting relative.

Then we come to her peers, a wannabee rock band and the strange guy called Ryder, who saves her from a couple of potentially dangerous boys. As the story develops, we see him in different shades, is he a good guy or not?

It turns out that Amelina may have the solution to all the problems that seem to beset her family. It’s all to do with crystals and gaining the knowledge to use them.

The story never falters, set around Cambridge and its landmarks, we follow Amelina’s journey as she seeks to uncover the reason for her father’s disappearance, why is he so different now that he’s back? Surely, this must also hold the key to her mother’s behaviour, explain why she’s so uptight and unwilling to talk about anything.

She must learn to use the power that she discovers she has; while dealing with all the other things that your average teenager has going on. The narrative is well thought out and we can see the development of Amelina as we are pulled by the strength of the writing towards the final pages.

All
the characters are all well drawn and fit together perfectly. The things that
Amelina finds and uses, from her paints to her drums are well thought out and
well described. There’s a bit of fantasy, as well as some beautifully written
dream sequences. The overall world-building creates a wonderful, spiritual
atmosphere.

There’s
a bit of poetry at the start of every chapter, a nice touch which leads us in
to the action.

The
story bravely tackles issues of mental health and self-harm, but in such a sensitive
way that it can only help improve understanding.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, it resonated on so many levels, I understand a sequel is in progress, that will be on my list.

A solid five Stars from me

I‘ll be back on Thursday with another Showcase post, featuring an author who…, well you’ll have to wait and see.

The post Book Review. The Curse of Time – Book 1 – Bloodstone appeared first on Welcome to my Worlds..

The Saturday Rewind, Biscuits!

On today’s rewind, my recipe for Sourdough Digestive biscuits, first published in 2015. I love biscuits and sourdough, these are the perfect combination. Just click on the picture to go to my baking blog.

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I’ll be back on Monday, with a book review, see you then.

The post The Saturday Rewind, Biscuits! appeared first on Welcome to my Worlds..

The Indie Showcase presents, Katlynn Brook

Growing up in the African bushveld for much of my childhood, I related strongly to Kipling’s Mowgli character. We roamed free, barefoot, feral. My mother, a free-spirited writer, and artist, often told us to get out of her hair while she created. We’d disappear into the African bush, not coming home until it got dark.

We lived in rough
shelters, following my father in his government job constructing bridges and
edifices in the middle of nowhere. We had no television; we didn’t even have electricity. Observing the wild-life of the
bushveld was our entertainment, swimming in rivers infested with crocodiles our
daily activity, and sometimes we’d bask in water-filled elephant tracks in
sandy river beds. In one location our house overlooked a river where animals
came to drink. We’d sit on our porch in the evening and watch the herds
congregate below. Elephants and lions wandered like shades through our yard at
night.

Since there were
no schools where we lived,  my mother
home-schooled me from age five through seven, and after that, sent me to a
Christian boarding school.

At age 10, I attended
a government school as a day scholar. I
was considered a prodigy in reading, and I attribute this to my early obsession
with words. I read any book I could get my hands on, even my mother’s “penny
horribles.”

Our school emphasized the classics, and I read American
authors such as Harriet Beecher Stowe, Louisa May Alcott, and Mark Twain; British authors Somerset
Maugham, Jack London, Blackmoor, Lewis Carroll, and Jules Verne.  All these writers have influenced me in some
way.

The biggest
influence on my current writing for young people is the children’s author, Enid
Blyton. I found her books crammed with adventure
and excitement. She always had a group of protagonists, and that, no doubt, has
influenced my “Six” characters in the Ialana Series. Later in life, I began to
read Stephen King whose style I greatly admire.

We returned to the
bush in my early teens, and it was back to
boarding school: a religious school that only allowed certain books in their
library, so my reading during the dark
ages of my life was limited to
church-approved literature. How I missed
my mother’s vast library of books: Isaac Asimov, Arthur Clarke, Ray Bradbury, Somerset
Maugham, Agatha Christie, to name only a few. Like me, Mom devoured books,
writing short stories and plays in her spare time.

When we returned
home for the holidays, we’d produce plays on an 8-track reel-to-reel battery
operated recorder, complete with sound effects.

Everything I read influenced not only my writing but my life too. While I never appreciated it at the time, religion was good for me, inspiring me to question every creed put forth in the religious books: I could not accept, as so dogmatically stated by our church, that ours was the only true religion. I scoured libraries and bookstores—when I could find them—for books about other spiritual paths. I studied Buddhism, Hinduism, various outlying paths of Christianity, and then later in life, graduated to the New Age movement. It was there that I finally began to find answers, and those answers have resulted in The Ialana Series, and some of the theories postulated on this path became the backbone of my writing.

Having spent most of my life traveling, reading, and searching for answers
to life and the nature of reality, I finally felt ready to impart a small
portion of what I’ve discovered to young people who, like myself, may be
searching for a different perspective.  

One of the main
characters in The Six and the Crystals of
Ialana muses:

As Jarah worked, the questions he still had, the questions his father had not answered tumbled around inside his head. If Idris or any of the other so-called gods actually existed, why did they allow war? Why weren’t prayers for peace, healing, and happiness granted when his parents and the people of Meadowfield made offerings every moon to the gods at the roadside shrines?

My characters are
confused, not only about the larger picture in general
but about themselves, too. All they know is that there is more to life than the
mundane and the day-to-day struggle for survival. When they encounter a mentor,
the shape-shifter Irusan, that is when he explains the nature of true power:

Enough of this ‘magicked’ stuff. I’m tired of hearing about it. What do you think magic is, anyway? You will come to understand that what is sorcery and magic to you is only the forgotten laws of the universe. What is a universe, you may ask? It is everything around you and in you. Nothing exists that is not a part of it. It’s a field of consciousness, energy, that surrounds—no, that is the wrong word—does not surround, but rather is the makeup of everything that exists

With power comes
great responsibility. The Six characters in the Ialana Series are trained to
understand that there are choices, and choices have consequences. It is not focused on the external—that they can learn
how to fly, to move between geographical points instantly, to be invisible, to
read thoughts, to heal—they are also taught to understand how one conducts personal power. True power is harmless,
and I wanted to convey these ideas in a way that will resonate with young
readers, to entertain, as well as to teach.

The series has an underlying
theme of subversion of technology for nefarious purposes. In the first book, crystal technology is so advanced that
the technology would be considered magical by the people of Ialana who have
forgotten it was once created by their ancestors
who almost suffered extinction of a once-great civilization due to its
misuse.

While I only have one book available in audio, I expect to have the complete series available in audio soon, and also available on other sites, not just Amazon, although the best prices may be found here in both print and kindle.

Links,

Amazon author page, including book links

Facebook Page

Twitter

Thanks, Katlynn 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.

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 next Thursdays Showcase post, the Saturday rewind and my musings every Monday.

Have a great week,

Richard.

The post The Indie Showcase presents, Katlynn Brook appeared first on Welcome to my Worlds..

Anatomy of a novel, part two

Way back in January, I told you about an idea that I had, and how I was going to develop it. If you don’t remember, or you’re new here, this is the link

Anyhow, I’ve been rather busy with the launch of my latest novel and finishing off a half-written one, but I have managed to get a little more done on the project. It will be a Sci-fi thriller, a tale of love, loss and redemption. I don’t really know where it will go, or even if it will make it past the novella stage but the work I’ve done so far is promising.

To recap, we have Dan, a contract killer and Lydia, a petty thief. They’re thrown together by circumstances. Dan is jaded by his life and suspects that he has outlasted his usefulness. Lydia wants no part of his world. They are offered a chance. One job; working together, they have to complete it to stay alive.

The first challenge here is to create a world and the backstory that makes the actions of the characters plausible. Dan, as an ex-soldier is originally attracted to the life of a hit-man because he’s bored without the adrenalin rush of combat. I’ve tried to give him a mysterious past as well, some reason why he behaves as he does. It helps explain why he is willing to engage in criminality, it might just be the thing that comes to his rescue (or proves to be his fatal flaw) later on. Very often, you can justify actions which are not necessarily pleasant or even legal by making your character someone who the reader can emphasise with. If you can get the reader to see their point of view, you can persuade them to understand their motivation.

Secondly, I want the pairing of Dan and Lydia to become a kind of symbiotic thing. A good sidekick is invaluable to the narrative, for reasons which I’ve discussed many times before. Here’s a post about sidekicks.

In praise of the trusty Sidekick

Chalk and cheese is always a good starting point for a relationship, hence my two characters opposing points of view, which I can exploit as the story progresses. I can set up the action, solve problems and create tension if one of them never knows what the others reaction to a situation will be. Or even if they do. Ultimately, the whole partnership can become a single character. They may even become emotionally entangled, which in itself can lead to tension in the plot.

All that’s before I start on the setting, the nuts and bolts of the environment. By that, I mean the planets, the transport and the way of life of the general population. I enjoy that part almost as much as developing the plot, creating a galactic civilisation is FUN!!! You can base it on what we have now and expand it in so many different ways. A thing that is insignificant in our world can take on importance, or vice versa. As long as it all sounds real and is based on a recognisable fact, there is no limit to what you can create.

As you can see, there’s a lot going on with the development of the project, once I have the basic concept in place, it will get a lot easier to move the narrative along.

A new extract,

To show you what I’m writing, this is the part where our two main characters meet. Dan is about to assassinate a criminal called Kalindra, he’s waiting for her in a hotel room. He has retrieved a gun, hidden for him in the bathroom. Little does he know what will happen next……….

~~~~

“Wait in there,” he showed me a door. “I’ll call you when
she’s ready to see you.”

The room was in darkness, I turned the light on, pulled the package from my waistband. I unwrapped a short-barrelled revolver, it looked like something from a museum. Where was my Restreller? My weapon of choice was a marksman’s pistol, twenty shots in the double magazine and one in the chamber, a hair trigger and super accurate to about fifty yards. In my hands, I could choose which eye to put my shot through. This was a piece of junk, with a range measured in feet. I’d have to get up close, I guess I knew that already but with only six shots, it wouldn’t help me discourage pursuit. There was no silencer, no spare ammunition, not that I could reload it easily anyway. I was cursing my luck, wondering whether Hesta was right and I was being set up to fail, when I heard a noise from behind the couch.

I swung the gun in an automatic gesture and turned the lights off. I had seen enough to find my way around. Keeping to the dark side, away from the thin curtains at the moonlit window I crept along the wall till I was level with the couch. I picked a book from the shelf and threw it across the room. I pounced on the shadow as I saw the shadowy head turn away to see what had made the noise. I grabbed at the black shape. The woollen cap came off and thick wavy hair spilled out. My hand was over the mouth, the lips felt full and soft, no trace of stubble on the top lip. I placed the pistol at the side of her head and whispered, “no noise, nod if you understand.” The head gave a small jerk. I released my grip.

“Who the hells are you?” I asked. Silence. “Answer me, are
you one of Kalindra’s mob?”

“Who’s Kalindra?” It sounded genuine to me, there was no
pleading, no hesitation. If she had been part of Kalindra’s crew, surely she would
be shouting for reinforcements at this point?

“Are you hotel security?” she asked, “I’ve paid off Thorsen,
check with him.”

“I’m not security, let me guess, you’re a thief?”

“Yes,” she said, “aren’t you?”

Oh, this was great, I’d found a burglar, just when I was
about to assassinate someone, she would have to go as well. It was a shame but
this was no time for sentiment. “Sorry,” I said, “but you’re in the wrong
place, at the wrong time.”

I was just taking up the slack on the trigger when the door
opened. “Stay down, stay quiet,” I said as I hid the gun and headed for the
window.

“Maxwell,” called a voice, “hang tight, Kalindra will be a
few moments. Why have you got the lights off?”

There was a click, the room was flooded with light. I had managed to get to the window. “I’m looking out at the sky,” I said, “you can see it better with the lights off.”

“You’re crazy, you should fit right in,” he said, shaking
his head as he shut the door.

“You can come out now,” I said walking back towards where
she had been.

She rose cautiously, she had a hotel uniform on, white
blouse, black trousers and monogrammed apron. “You’re not going to shoot me,
are you?”

“No,” I lied, I should have done it already, the longer I
waited the harder it would be. But that only left me five shots. “Who are you
and why are you here?”

“I’m Lydia,” she whispered. “You said it yourself, I’m a
burglar, I work this hotel once every couple of months, I pretend to be one of
the staff, go into the rooms and see what I can lift. I’m not greedy, just a
skim, a couple of notes from a wallet, maybe an earring, nothing worth
reporting. It’s worthwhile when you look at the total.”

She looked at the gun in my hand, realisation dawned.
“You’re here to kill someone, what was her name? Oh yeah, Kalindra, whoever she
is. You’re here to kill her, aren’t you?”

“Yes, and I can’t let you live with that knowledge. Like I
said, I’m sorry.”

“Hang on a moment,” there was no fear in her voice, she was
cool. “One question, before you shoot me. Just how do you think you’re getting
away?”

~~~~

If I wasn’t so tied up with other things, I’d be blasting out the words. I’ve got so many ideas for this one. I’m keeping notes as they flood in. There is a lot more world-building to do, a chase and a getaway to devise from this scene. That’s all before I get to the single paragraph that started this story off. And who knows where it will go from there? not me!

Stay tuned, if I get chance to work on it, I’ll let you know how I get on, with a few more notes on the process of creation.

Meanwhile, please join me again for another Showcase post on Thursday.

The post Anatomy of a novel, part two appeared first on Welcome to my Worlds..

The Saturday Rewind, pictures from Dartmoor.

This week, I’m resurrecting a feature that I first saw on the blog of an American friend, now unfortunately departed. She called it Wordless Wednesday, for reasons which will be obvious. Click the picture to follow my walk through the Devon countryside, along the River Dart at New Bridge.

I’ll be back on Monday, with the second post describing the anatomy of a new project. See you then.

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The Indie Showcase Presents, Stephen Oram

First of all I’d like to say thank you to Richard for
the freedom to write about whatever takes my fancy, which in this case is about
living forever (and mailing lists).

Some months ago, I was commissioned by Linux User
& Developer Magazine for short pieces of science fiction to feature on
their inside back page. At the same time I met Aubrey De Grey, who describes
himself as “spearheading the global crusade to defeat aging.”

Now, living forever is a familiar theme sci-fi and one
that I’ve explored in other short pieces, such as The Golden Veneer of Silence. But, what struck me during my
encounter with Aubrey and subsequent conversations was that nobody ever really
talked about what age you should stop ageing. So I developed an idea where the science
that stops you getting any older has the side-effect of halting you gaining any
further wisdom.

This is where my mailing list comes in. I asked them
some simple questions via survey monkey – age, sex, their preferred age to stop
ageing and why. The results were fascinating. With a rough 50:50 split between
male and female and a broad range of ages, the vast majority wanted to stop
ageing a few years younger than their current age. Except for the under 18s who
wanted to be over 21. Some of the reasons for their choices were also
illuminating, especially around reproduction and its associated physical
aspects. Using these responses, I wrote the short piece of fiction below – Happy Forever Day.

One of the great things about being an indie author is
the freedom you have with your work. In this case, the magazine didn’t purchase
the rights so I’ve been able to include it in my forthcoming collection, Biohacked & Begging and Other Stories.

Back to the mailing list: I’ve changed it recently so
it’s no longer publicly available (against the advice of many indie marketing
gurus) and transformed it into something called PITH. It’s open to anyone, but
not advertised (feel free to ask me about it). However, I still like hearing
from people, especially on the topic of living forever, so please feel free to
comment below with any thoughts you might have.

If you’re interested in hearing about pre-order and release dates for Biohacked & Begging, I’ve set up a specific mailing list [LINK]

You can also find me at www.stephenoram.net

The future is ours and it’s up for grabs… Immerse yourself in the future of biohacking and implants, genetic modification, blockchain micro-transactions and futuristic dating-apps with the author of Eating Robots, Stephen Oram. Prodding and poking the possible in Vol. 2 of this Nudge the Future series, Oram starts with another foray into the world of Unified Sentience and ends with virtual reality for babies and biohacked fish.  With sharpness and wit, these sci-fi shorts will grab your imagination and refuse to let go

Happy Forever Day

Uncle Bill is the
first to arrive.

With the endless energy of a sixteen-year-old, he bursts into the room.
‘Party!’ he screams.

I wish he wouldn’t. It’s hard enough to celebrate your fifty-third
birthday, every single year, without having the added weight of trying to
ignore the enthusiasm of your younger older uncle – I still haven’t worked out
what to call my ancestors who chose to stop ageing at a younger age than I did.
He’s never going to grow up, and any experience he gains won’t turn into wisdom
because of the strange effects of renewing brain cells. But knowing he’s never
going to change doesn’t make him any easier to be around.

Next is Joanna, my ninety-five-year-old granddaughter. ‘Grandpa,’ she
says, giving me a beautifully wrapped present. ‘Happy Forever Day.’

‘It’s about time you chose yours,’ I reply. ‘You can’t put it off for
ever.’

She lowers herself carefully on to the nearest chair. ‘I know, I know.
Well, I can put it off for as long as I live. Pass me a gin.’

I pour her a strong gin and tonic, just the way she likes it, and wait
for the alcohol to work its way into her blood before returning to the
perennial topic: Her Forever Day.

‘It’s not really fair on the rest of us, is it, my darling?’

‘Oh, for goodness’ sake, stop it. Think of all the knowledge I retain
and the wisdom I’m accumulating. Why would I ever choose to lose that?’

‘Err… because you’re a health burden.’

‘I’m not that decrepit, you know. Quit fussing.’

‘Joanna, why won’t you choose?’

‘I would have stopped when menstruation ended and contraception became a
thing of the past, but I like getting older. It makes me feel alive.’

Every year we have this conversation – since she turned fifty-three and
overtook me. As time goes by, it’s become easier and easier to think of her as
my grandmother rather than the granddaughter she really is. And every year she
respects me less.

Uncle Bill bounds across the room and slaps me on the back. ‘Forever is
a long time,’ he says. ‘It’s a really long time, so let’s enjoy.’ He glances
down at Joanna and opens his mouth to speak, but stops himself. There’s never
been a good conversation between them. They are definitely not the sort of
opposites that attract. He hovers, balancing on one foot and then the other,
his eyes pretending to scan the room.

Joanna stands up. It’s painful to watch her body coping with old age.
It’s why most people avoid her. That, and the fact that she plays the
cantankerous old woman a little too well. Thankfully, she’s fairly straight
with me. ‘I’ll leave you young ’uns to it,’ she says and raises her glass.
‘Happy Forever Day.’

Uncle Bill leans in close. ‘It’s not right, is it?’ he whispers.

‘What?’ I ask.

He’s got a point, but it’s a clumsy way of expressing it. Immature. I
like to think I hold my head up high and support everyone’s choice, no matter
what they choose. But he’s right. I don’t. None of us do.

‘Her. That great-great-niece of mine. She shouldn’t keep ageing. We’ll
have to pay for her medical bills. It’s so embarrassing, having an Ancient. Not
to mention the shame of a funeral, if she lets it get that far.’

He takes a small round container from his jacket pocket. It can’t be.
Can it? He wouldn’t. Would he? He sees me looking and winks. ‘The clinic,’ he
says. ‘If she won’t choose her date, I’ll choose it for her.’

‘No…’ But he’s gone, weaving between the guests, heading towards Joanna.

I can’t quite make it out, but I’m sure he slips something from his
container into her gin as he passes by.

She lifts her glass from the table, swallows the last mouthful and
begins to sway.

As she faints, Uncle Bill steps forward, grabs her under the armpits and helps her outside.

~~~~

Thanks, Stephen, 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.

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 next Thursdays Showcase post, and my musings every Monday. Not only that, there’s now the Saturday Rewind, where I delve into my blogging archives for an old post.

Have a great week,

Richard.

The post The Indie Showcase Presents, Stephen Oram appeared first on Welcome to my Worlds..

On Tour, One Last Prayer for the Rays.

This week, in association with Rachels Random Resources, I have voluntarily read and reviewed this book.

DCI Michael Yorke faces his most harrowing case yet.

When 12-year-old Paul disappears from school, Yorke’s only clue is a
pool of animal blood. Fearing the worst, he turns toward the most obvious
suspect, recently released local murderer, Thomas Ray.

But as the snow in Salisbury worsens, Ray’s mutilated body is discovered, and Yorke is left with no choice but to journey into the sinister heart of a demented family that has plagued the community for generations. Can he save the boy? Or will the evil he discovers changes him forever?

My thoughts

SPOILER FREE

I like a crime procedural, even more so if I can recognise
the setting. This one is set around Salisbury, a town I know reasonably well;
the thought of the events occurring in familiar surroundings heightens the
story for me. I really enjoyed this one.

There’s a long tradition of the ‘bad’ family, most areas
have them and in the world of this novel, it’s the Ray’s. They’re pig farmers,
amongst other things and as we learn at the start, they have a long history
with the police, particularly relevant to what happens next. Our hero DCI Yorke
has to balance what happened to a colleague with the events that unfold on a winters
morning.

When one of the Ray family, a schoolboy, disappears in
shocking and mysterious circumstances, the past resurfaces, with consequences
for everyone who was involved then and becomes involved now.

There’s everything here, the family members trying to forget
the past, the ones stuck in it, the ones we never knew existed and the ones
with a plan to get away from it all.

As we get deeper into the investigation, it becomes clear that there are several stories going on at once. Apart from the abduction itself, there’s revenge and blackmail, a femme fatale, the events of the past which are influencing the actions of the present, in both the good and the bad guys. That all theses threads are expertly woven together, with multile points of view and without geting vconfusing, is the mark of a great story-teller.

As Yorke delves deeper, he begins to question his fellow officer’s motives and actions. Particularly when he finds out that more has been happening in the background than he thought. It all adds to the suspense, wondering where or when the next shock, revelation or discovery will appear. 

The story hurtles along, with enough twists to keep you busy. The lives of policemen are shown in glaring realism, the hours, the lies, the suspicions they produce in partners and the fact that there’s no such thing as ‘off duty.’ And it graphically shows that the results of their actions can reverberate across time and come back to bite them.

There’s a bit of fairly graphic description, of violence and sex, but it’s not gratuitous, it’s a necessary part of the story.

Not only that, the author introduces another character, that serves to highlight the action, increase the tension and affect every part of the atmosphere. The weather. It has a wonderful amplifying effect on the suspense.

Overall, this is a very good introduction to a new character. If this is the first part of a series, I for one will be waiting for the next instalment to see where the characters go next. The story has a satisfactory ending but the author has left enough to carry the tale onwards.

Four Stars from me

The all important purchase links,

UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/One-Last-Prayer-Rays-exhilarating-ebook/dp/B07M5H7JYS   US – https://www.amazon.com/One-Last-Prayer-Rays-exhilarating-ebook/dp/B07M5H7JYS

Author Bio

Wes Markin is a
hyperactive English teacher, who loves writing crime fiction with a twist of
the macabre. 

​Having released One
Last Prayer for the Rays he is now working on the second
instalment of DCI Michael Yorke’s wild ride, The Repenting Serpent. He
is also the author of Defined, a prequel to his DCI
Yorke novels, which takes the reader back to his blood-soaked university
days.​​

​

Born in 1978, Wes grew up in Manchester, UK. After graduating from Leeds
University, he spent fifteen years as a teacher of English, and has taught in
Thailand, Malaysia and China. Now as a teacher, writer, husband and father, he
is currently living in Harrogate, UK.​

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkinWes

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WesMarkinAuthor/

I’ll be back with another Indie Showcase on Thursday, have a good week.

The post On Tour, One Last Prayer for the Rays. appeared first on Welcome to my Worlds..

The Saturday Rewind, two recipes from 2016.

I found this old post, originally posted on my blog from 2016. As you might know, I do a lot of cooking and I used to post regularly about what I had created. Here are a couple of the things I made that week.

Tiger bread, 

I love the effect on the crust, which is made with a rice flour paste, here’s how,

first, make the bread dough as normal,

1000g Flour,

20g Yeast,

20g salt,

50g Oil, (I used Walnut Oil instead of Olive but Sesame would be just as nice)

650g water.

while it’s proving, make the paste,

150g warm water,
160g rice flour,
5g yeast,
30g oil,
20g sugar,
3g salt.

After shaping, leave the dough for 20 minutes then GENTLY paint the paste on top of the part-risen dough. The paste cracks as the loaf expands in the oven, just bake it as usual.

Next, a main meal.

I found a recipe in a magazine for a sausage and cider tray-bake which I tried on Saturday, here we go,

Ingredients.

Potato Wedges,

Sausages,

Peppers,

Onions,

Apples.

Quantities are not set in stone, it depends on how many you’re cooking for. I used 3 large potatoes, 6 chipolata sausages, 2 onions and 2 each of peppers and apples.

for the sauce,

200ml Cider,

15g Wholegrain Mustard,

15g Blackberry Jam,

Pinch mixed herbs.

Method.

Cut the potato into wedges, the apple into cored slices and the onion and pepper into thick pieces.

Heat the oven to 200°C

Oil the potato and bake for 15 minutes,

add everything else, mix and bake for another 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat all the sauce ingredients and simmer till thickened,

then pour it over the potato mixture and return to the oven for 5-10 minutes.

Stir and serve.

If you want to see the original post or explore the blog, you can get to it here.

I’ll be back on Monday, on tour with Rachels Random Resources, with a book review.

Have a great weekend.

The post The Saturday Rewind, two recipes from 2016. appeared first on Welcome to my Worlds..