Richard Dee's Blog, page 92

Cover reveal…, and a teaser.

The time has come to reveal the cover of my next novel.

It’s the second of my Andorra Pett Series, following on from Andorra Pett and The Oort Cloud Café, although you don’t need to have read that one first, this is a self-contained adventure. You can get a taster here if you’re interested.

The title is Andorra Pett on Mars, which kind of gives the plot away, here is the back cover blurb,

Andorra Pett has left the Oort Cloud Café; she’s back on Mars, a place she vowed she’d never visit again.  

She’s gone back for her friend Maisie’s funeral. Everyone thinks it was suicide but the more she learns, the less sure she is. Things don’t add up and she realises that the whole story doesn’t make sense. Something else is going on and the questions soon multiply.  

Why would Maisie kill herself if she’d just had good news? Why is Andi being followed? What was the mystery bequest? 

When she begins to find the clues that Maisie has left for her, it becomes a race against time. Andi must work out what’s going on and hope that she can get out alive.

What could possibly go wrong?

 

And here, in full glowing colour, is the front cover, designed by the amazing Cathy Helms at Avalon Graphics.

as a teaser, here’s an extract. Whilst on the way to  Mars, Andi and Cy learn more about Maisie’s demise.

~~~~

“What have you got there?” Trevor looked aghast at the plate that Cy was rapidly emptying. I had seen the prices of extras like these on the room service menu so I could sympathise. Little did he know that I would be having the same later, even though I was full of dinner, as a before sleep snack. “Do you know how much they cost?”

“Yes,” said Cy. “You said you were paying, is that a problem?”

Trevor shook his head, even though you could feel his pain.

Cy stopped chewing for a second. “OK, fill us in with a bit more detail than yesterday.”

“We had an apartment in Tharsis,” Trevor began. “A nice one, Maisie was working in one of the old folks’ homes, she had got herself qualified as a nursing assistant to make a few extra credits and for something to do.”

That sounded like her, always caring for others. I swiped a prawn from Cy’s plate and he swatted at my hand. Too late, I crunched the crispy batter it was cooked in; it was delicious.

“How long had you been on Mars?” I asked. It had been a year since I had last seen either of them. A year ago, there had been the falling out and me and Cy had left London on the journey that would take us to the Oort Cloud Café.

“Eight months,” he said.

“Why go to Mars?” Cy joined in, talking around a mouthful of samosa. Flaky pastry fluttered and Trevor pulled a disgusted face.

“We both wanted a change,” he said. “London was… not the same as it had been.” He sounded surprised. As if all that could have happened and things had somehow remained the same.

“Carry on then,” I encouraged him, before either of us got all maudlin.

“There was one old bloke she really got on with,” he continued. “He used to be some sort of celebrity on Earth, I never found out what. Anyway, that was when he was working, now he was old and knackered. He seemed to have money though, the home wasn’t cheap and he had a private suite and a personal chef. Maisie did lots for him, washed him, helped him get around, she gave him his drugs, all the usual stuff. The day before she…” he stopped as the memory made him well up. “The day before, he told her something important. She said that it was going to make her very rich.”

“What was it?”

“She never said. I was asleep when she came in that night, she was on late shifts and I only found out in the morning, I was running late and she said that she would tell me all about it when she got back that night. She was really excited; it was her last shift before a few days off. I said I’d wait up, cook her a meal.”

How romantic, he had never cooked me a meal.

“I thought that maybe he would be leaving her something in his will, I don’t know; she said that he had no-one. And then the next thing I know, I’m at work, it’s mid-afternoon and the care home is on the phone asking if she was sick because she hadn’t turned up.”

“How did they find her?” Cy asked.

“The locator on her phone,” he said. “It showed that she was outside. I called the police and after they found it they sent a vehicle. On the way to her signal, they found her Rover, it was empty. They carried on and saw her sitting up against a rock, fully suited. It was only when she didn’t answer that they got her into their Rover and found that her oxygen was empty.”

There were so many questions I wanted to ask. I’d be better off making a proper list but I’d let him finish first.

“She looked so peaceful, like she would wake at any moment. The doctor examined her and said that she was full of sleeping pills. She would have been asleep well before the oxygen ran out.”

Cy popped another canape into his mouth and made appreciative noises, Trevor winced. “Do you have to keep doing that?”

Cy looked at him. “No disrespect,” he said, “but I’m hungry. Did she go outside a lot?”

“A few times, she wanted to see the rock formations at a place called Hensens Ridge, apparently they’re beautiful, one of the other nurses was telling her about them. You can go and camp in a plastic dome or something but she said it would be more fun if we didn’t go on the organised tour, just did it ourselves.”

“Did you go with her?”

He shook his head. “No, I’ve been really busy with work and I never got the chance, with her on shifts she often worked weekends and had days off in the week. But I promised her that I would go when she was fully certified. Lately, we had hardly been seeing each other. I think she was going out for something to do.” He looked sad. “I’ve made a mess of things haven’t I?” he said in a whisper. “I didn’t pay her enough attention.”

Probably, I thought, but that didn’t mean that Maisie would just go off and kill herself, there had to be more to it than that. I could see that Cy was about to remind Trevor of some of the things he had done to me in his pursuit of money, Trevor felt the energy as well.

“So to start with, we need to know what the man told her,” I suggested, trying to defuse the tension. Although it seemed unlikely, maybe he had set off a train of thought that had made her slip up, do something dozy like I would have. Or maybe… no, that was too silly.

“He’s on his last legs,” said Trevor harshly. “That’s why I had to rush you back so we can speak to him before he croaks. They wouldn’t let me see him; maybe you’ll have more luck.” He sounded arrogant, less in grief than entitled, as if the man had insulted him by refusing to share. He made it seem like the poor old man was acting selfishly by being close to death.

“Perhaps if you’d been polite and asked nicely?” suggested Cy. I thought that was a bit provocative. Trevor gave him a look but didn’t react.

“Is there anything you’re not telling me, Trevor?” I didn’t like the sound of this, I could smell fish and it wasn’t the prawns on their dainty skewers, it was a great big rancid old cod dumped in the middle of the cabin. I liked it less and less as I found out more. The way he had been all over me until he had got what he wanted, his attitude in general, it was starting to grate.

He looked at me. “No, Andi. I swear I just want to know the truth, so I can put her to rest in my mind. The police organised the funeral and all the paperwork, I couldn’t cope with dealing with the solicitor. If I thought for one moment that it was my fault, do you think I would come to you, the one person who would blame me, who already blames me?”

That was a fair point; the blame bit was about the only thing he had said so far that I could rely on.

“Alright then, but if I find out that you haven’t told me the whole story, I’ll make you sorry.”

“I’m already sorry,” added Cy, crunching another prawn.

~~~~

The novel is in the last stages of production, with an expected publication date, for both paperback and eBook, at the end of April.

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You never know…

You never really know when inspiration will strike, a connection between two random things can often spark a train of thought. An idea can grow from nothing or can fall into a previously blank space; where it fits as if it was made to be there. And sometimes, circumstances that seem annoying can be a breeding ground for new ideas.

 

 

I’ve spent a week without my home internet, with only email and basic stuff on my phone. I thought that I’d be able to use the time to catch up on all sorts of things. The trouble is, when something like this happens, you realise that the internet has silently taken over such a large part of our lives, whether you wanted it to or not.

Want to research something? Want to know something, tell someone something? It’s all tied up with the internet. And it’s only when you haven’t got it, or must make an effort to find a way to use it, that you realise that it’s got you under its control.

There’s a real depth of possible ideas there for a story.  Let’s be honest, a lot of them have been used before. The Net, The Matrix or the Terminator films are good examples, before them stories like The Machine Stops or The City and the Stars all used controlling technology in the narrative.

That’s all very well, the really worrying part comes when you have a problem with the technology. It often seems that the human element, which after all is supposed to be in charge of the machinery, is often sadly lacking. In my own case, it took a week to solve my problems, many calls were made, a lot of time was spent on hold and I had to keep repeating my name, address and date of birth (as if I wanted to remember that one!). In the end, even though the problem was resolved, nobody was sure how it was fixed, or even why it had gone wrong in the first place. An unwanted engineer turned up on Saturday morning, largely because the automated booking system had forgotten to cancel him.

One of the many people I spoke with admitted that the same solution had been tried several times, on the advice of the system diagnostic software. Although unsuccessful, the machine kept applying it as a fix, as if repetition would somehow get different results. There’s a word that we mere humans use to describe that sort of behaviour. Somehow, the fact that it was being attempted by a machine doesn’t make it any more likely to succeed. Or inspire confidence in the system.

Now I suppose that you could argue, if the machines were more intelligent, they would realise their behaviour was irrational, they would learn not to do that. My response is that humans know, yet millions of years of evolution haven’t stopped us repeating the wrong thing, expecting the right results.

I seem to have strayed away from my intended topic, inspiration. However as everything is connected, it only appears that way. Whilst all this was going on, I was listening to a story on the news about organ donation. That reminded me of a documentary I saw years ago, about a man who had a heart transplant and suddenly developed a taste for the donor’s favourite food. I think the term for it was cell memory syndrome. I wondered, if we had artificial intelligence, implanted in cloned or laboratory created bodies, could the original emotions of the donors override the implanted behaviour in the same way. Might we see the irrational artificial human, how might their behaviour be changed by the conflict in their processing? Might a robot (for want of a better term), still keep pushing the button, knowing the action was futile?

That gave me an idea for a story, set in my second favourite place. Not the future, the Steampunk present. I think you might be able to see where I’m going with this. As it happens, I have a story that was struggling to find its purpose, now I think we can proceed with it.

The inescapable point is, inspiration can strike at any time and a series of apparently unconnected events can set you off in a direction that you might not have expected.

Long may it continue.

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Andorra Pett takes off

I’m sorry that I missed posting on Monday. I’ve been having internet problems here in sunny Brixham, resulting in a lack of access except on my phone for the last week and a half. And a phone, even if it is smarter than me, was not the place to post from. All the stuff I had prepared was on my desktop machine and although I could get it on my phone, it was tricky to write a post when I had to keep swapping sites and copying things down. So I used the time to do other things, all Andorra related.

But now normal service seems to have been resumed.

The blog tour is over, marred as it was by my inability to use Twitter for four days, nevertheless, the bloggers involved all did a sterling job in my absence. You might say that they were unencumbered by my presence, I couldn’t possibly comment.

When I actually managed to get back into my account, I found over 500 comments, likes, retweets and messages, it’s great that people took the time and showed an interest in Andorra Pett and the Oort Cloud Café.

A big thank you is due to all of them, especially when they said things like this about the story.

~~~~

“When reading this book, I was reminded of Star Trek: The Original Series.  There’s a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor and just enough slapstick comedy to even out the tension of the plot.

If you’re tired of the humdrum of cozy mysteries being set on earth, blast off to Saturn and give this a go!”

~~~~

“Described as ‘Agatha Raisin in space’ story, after reading I am in agreement with this statement.  This is a great cosy mystery read with surprising twists, a fun read that I thoroughly enjoyed.  I had a smile on my face when I had finished, a ‘feel good’ read.  This is a book I would highly recommend to other readers.”

~~~~

“The story was well written and creative from start to finish. This is definitely one to add to your To Read list.”

~~~~

“This is a wonderful, lighthearted read to make you smile. Characters that are well portrayed and you take to easily. Descriptions are vivid and you can easily picture “the planet” in your minds eye. An excellent plot line with a little humour and even romance along the way. A highly enjoyable read.”

~~~

“enough mystery elements to keep it intriguing and enough space, Sci-Fi and comedy stuff to keep me entertained throughout”

~~~~

“exactly what you want from a cosy crime novel. There’s mystery and drama, without it getting too intense and bordering on thriller.”

~~~~

“I would recommend this book to any reader who enjoys science fiction, guilty pleasure or crime fiction.

Richard Dee sets the space station scene in intricate detail, the characters are quirky and fun and the mystery element keeps you guessing throughout.

This is a light and cosy book, clearly sci-fi from the location but with elements of crime and romance in it too”

~~~~

There weren’t just reviews on the tour, there were also a lot of great interviews with several of the bloggers. I will be posting extracts over the coming few weeks, in the meantime, you can catch up with all the reviews and interviews in full by following these links

12th February

 Overdue Book Reviews – Review

 Criminally Good – Q&A

 Me and My Books – Review

 Jorie Loves A Story – Q&A

 Roxy Starr – Review

 6 Feet Under Books -Q&A

Lindea’s Thoughts on Books and Writing – Q&A

 3 degrees of fiction book blog – Spotlight

 Lis Carey’s Library – Review

 Katie’s Book Cave – Review

Books and Ladders – Q&A

13th February

 Based on a True Story – Review

 Nicki’s Book Blog – Review

 Bibliotica – Review

 Carol’s Notebook – Review

 Chat About Books – Q&A

 The Cosy Pages – Review

 Donna’s Book Blog – Q&A

 Millsy Loves Books – Q&A

 Chasing Dreams Publishing – Review

 Rae Reads – Review

14th February

Black Books Blog – Review

Dash Fan’s Book Reviews – Spotlight

This Is My Bookshelf – Review

Wise Words Book Blogger -Q&A

BookLoverWorm – Review

I Heart Reading – Q&A

Lindea’s Thoughts on Books and Writing – Review

JBronder Book Reviews – Review

WaggyTalesDogBlog – Review

The Librarian Talks – Q&A

 

So there it is, a few days late but never mind. At least I’m back in business. Now all I have to do is catch up on Twitter and then I can get back to normal (whatever that might be, personally I think it’s overrated).

Next week, there will be two posts, a report on what I got up to on World Book Day, PLUS a review of a major new Fantasy epic from P.J.Reed.

 

 

Mesham sits dejectedly in a tiny garret above an inn, as the lands of Torcia fall to the magically-enhanced army of the infamous Mivirian Horde. One of the last surviving ancient warlocks of Torcia, Mesham knows he is marked for death.

The Torcian king knocks on Mesham’s door later that evening and offers him the chance of rejuvenation in return for a seemingly impossible mission into the heart of Mivir. Mesham reluctantly agrees, only to realise the evil of Mivir has spread to the very top of the Torcian government.

As Mesham undertakes his quest to complete the mission, he finds himself hunted by his king, by the mighty Torcian warbands, and by the Horde.

But he cannot fail, for the fate of Mesham’s beloved Torcia rests in his hands.

 

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Limbo

This year has been strange on the writing front. It’s so different to last year, where I hit the ground running and never seemed to falter. Perhaps I made the mistake of thinking that I would just carry on the same way.

After last years marathon and the total number of words written (514,000), at the moment it feels as if there are no more new words left in my head. It’s as if I need to stop and let the well fill up again. Talking to other writers, I don’t appear to be alone in this, there seems to have been a whole lot of nothing going on over the last few weeks.

This week also sees the blog tour for Andorra Pett, I was going to write about that today, I’ve since decided to leave it for a week or two. That way, I can see what effect it’s had on my sales and profile. However, that had left me with a hole to fill in my posts, hence this last minute piece, which is mainly about where I am.

Despite having flu or something very like it, and feeling unable to think straight for most of January, I’ve managed to get the second edit of Andorra Pett on Mars finished. In the end, it was just a tidy up with a few small re-writes. That will be off to my editor for a second look at the end of the month, we are still very much on course for an April launch.

I have two completed manuscripts that need to be looked at again before we get to the editing stage. I finished both of them last year and have let them stew. Now, on reading them again, several months later, I can see the imperfections in them and I’m working to rectify the plot, pace and characterisation before I send them out for editing. Both have had beta reads, which has also helped me identify problems and suggest solutions.

If things go well one of them, I haven’t decided which, will be published later in the year, probably around September time.

Which brings me on to new projects. I’m still working on my online course in fantasy world-building. At the moment I’m struggling with the video production, just about everything else is done. I have a chance to present it again in Exeter Library on March 31st, in a 90-minute workshop, consisting of the best bits. That will give me a chance to get feedback as well. March is actually looking busy, as well as the event in Exeter, I have a meet the author Q&A session in Brixham for World Book Day, a talk on Sci-fi at Exmouth library and Bath Sci-fi and Comic Convention to go to.

Novel wise, I have a few projects on the go. If I’ve told you this before, please bear with me.

Firstly, the sequel to Myra and Freefall is well advanced, probably over half done. Called Promise me, it ties all the loose threads from the other two books together and might even be an end of the Dave Travise story. At least for now. I hope it will keep everyone off my back as well.

My steampunk series has a third potential chapter, at the moment it’s just an idea but it may well develop into more.

A third Andorra Pett novel is definitely happening, and fourth is a distinct possibility. I have an idea for a spin-off as well. More on that when it’s a bit more organised.

There are two completed short stories that I’m looking to expand into full novels, one is currently entered into a competition so I can’t tell you much about it, suffice to say its a steampunk-esque adventure with a slightly younger feel to it than a lot of my work. The other is one that I’ve featured on here before, called The Orbital Livestock Company. I had a comment that suggested it could be longer, the person was intrigued enough to want to know more. I had to think about where it could lead and came up with some possible plots, all of which I can explore and find the most exciting. Who knows, there may be another series there.

You can read or download The Orbital Livestock Company by clicking here 

So, even though I don’t feel very inspired at the moment, I have enough to occupy me for a while, if I can just shake off the feeling that I can’t be bothered, I can get started again.

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The Exeter Authors Association on Tour, a report from Devcon Exeter.

As the more observant of you will have spotted, I’ve become much more active on the selling front, not just online sales but also actual, face-to-face, whites-of-their-eyes style selling. This is largely due to the encouragement of the EAA and the support that comes from going to events as a group.

Together with colleagues from the Exeter Authors Association, I went to the Corn Exchange in Exeter to take part in Devcon Exeter, a sci-fi extravaganza. It was a bit of an early start but living in Brixham, I’m used to being miles away from just about anything that I want to go to.

Along with fantasy authors P.J. Reed and  K.Y. Eden, we set up our stalls and waited for the customers.

 

This was the first comic convention that I’d been too as an author and I didn’t really know what to expect. There were a lot of people in costume and the quality of them was pretty amazing. While some were obviously commercial, a lot of effort had clearly gone into making the others look as authentic as possible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sales wise, it was interesting to see that, while there was interest, a lot more of it was directed to the availability of ebook versions. Although I sold some paper copies of both novels and short stories, if I had been able to directly sell downloads I think that I would have sold a lot more. We’ll see if the promises translate into sales but that’s certainly a subject for investigation. There ought to be a way to make it happen.

It was also a good chance to see how other traders set up their stalls and get some tips for next time.

Here’s a picture of one satisfied customer, with his copy of “The Rocks of Aserol.”

I did meet a childhood hero of mine. One of the original puppets from the Gerry Anderson series “Stingray,” which people of a certain generation might remember. When I was a child hiding behind the sofa during the scary bits, I never thought that one day I would do that.

I also managed to do a bit of networking and secured myself a place in an upcoming Steampunk event, later this year, thanks to these guys.

The EAA  will be at Bath for another convention on March 17th, it will be interesting to compare events, see if we’ve learned anything and meet up with all the characters again.

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Down on the Farm.

There’s a common thread running through my work, I can see it now, I’m not sure if it’s a good thing or not. I write a lot about farms in space, maybe there’s a subliminal thing about food or perhaps it’s to do with my Devon heritage and ancestors background in farming. I have farms all over the place, on airless planets under domes, on space stations and in tunnels.

It all started in Ribbonworld, with a farm supplying the needs of the population of the planet Reevis. I could see the need for the place to have its own food growing facilities; it would be a logistical nightmare to keep everyone fed otherwise. The planet having no atmosphere wasn’t really an obstacle, I just put up another dome and there it was.

I then realised that the farm could have another use. I could use it to introduce tension, by making it independent of the company that mined and owned the planet. The two factions needed each other but resented the arrangement as well. Then there was the stigma attached to imports against “Dome-made,” a rather catchy term I invented. It made a few good plot twists possible, a safe place for people to disappear to, all that sort of thing.

And then I had another idea, if I could put a farm under a dome, why not put one on a space station? It would save room on overcrowded Earth, reduce methane emissions and again, provide tension. For example, what if the supply of produce back to Earth failed, would people go hungry? Could the farmers hold the planet to ransom? The result was a short story, “The Orbital Livestock Company,” which is now being extended into a novel, where that sort of thing happens.

The next logical step was to have farms popping up all over the Galaxy! Anywhere that wasn’t Earth in fact. Space travellers have to eat and what’s better than fresh food? It’s a link to home, you don’t have to worry about alien pathogens. And they all have more than one function. Taking what I learned from Ribbonworld and applying it, the space station located off Saturn in Andorra Pett and the Oort Cloud Café has a farm, the owner provides romantic interest and it all adds to the setting. The company also owns a farm on Mars, in an airtight cave, which features in Andorra Pett on Mars. It’s likely that they will open branches everywhere, as long as they can provide an extra dimension to the plot of whatever they appear in.

I’m developing the idea of farming on alien worlds as well. Once you start creating, it becomes hard to stop, as each thing you describe brings more questions and needs research to justify it. The farmers on Ecias (in my soon-to-be-released novel Life and other Dreams), for instance, are careful not to let the Earth species contaminate the planet, at least until it becomes unavoidable. So they keep the livestock in cages until they have figured out the way the alien food-chain and animal DNA will react to this invasion. And no doubt, they would have to isolate the soil to stop the spread of contaminants through fungal networks, or whatever the alien equivalent is.

That’s all well and good where you have soil that supports the cultivation of plants from Earth. That’s the basis for my construction of the off-world farms. I just adapt the technology and structure of it to fit in with my new environment. Obviously, on a space station the soil is imported, on a planet like Mars or even Reevis, the native soil will be dead and need activation, perhaps by human or animal waste. It may contain anaerobic bacteria I guess, that’s a matter for the world builder in me to determine.

Talking of world building, perhaps you can see the fascination that I get from trying to make everything believable, once you have an idea you need to understand it and be able to stretch the truth a little, to make it all fit together. In a way, I find that just as enjoyable as writing the plot, the setting becomes another character, with its own emotions and a part to play. And basing everything in fact gives you the opportunity to invent the setting in every logical detail.

Before it all goes down on paper, there are a lot of things to organise, facts to verify and continuity to establish. The more you write, especially in the same series of books, the more there is to check, to make sure that you haven’t contradicted yourself.

In separate universes, it’s OK to do things differently, but if there is the danger of your worlds overlapping at some stage then it all has to work together. I once had to do an enormous rewrite to one of my books, because when I had finished it and read it back, I found that the plot was inconsistent with the others in the series. Someone was reminiscing about an event that hadn’t taken place in the way they were now describing it. As it was crucial to the plot, it caused me a lot of trouble.

Which leads us to my upcoming course in World Building. I’ve been presenting my ideas and methods as a workshop at various literary events, the general opinion has been that it deserves a wider audience. So I’m currently turning it into an online course, with video lectures, downloadable information and suggested exercises. I wanted to get it finished last year but life got in the way. Now I will just be happy when it’s done.

Next week, I will be reporting on my attendance at Devcon Exeter, where I am hoping to sell lots of books and short stories. If you’re in Exeter on Feb 4th come to the Corn Exchange and say hello.

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I’m ready for my Close-up.

 

I’m very excited to reveal that one of my novels will be the subject of a short blog tour in February.

Andorra Pett and the Oort Cloud Café will be featured on around thirty blogs and websites in the week commencing Feb 12th; the tour is hosted by Rachel’s Random Resources and features a mixture of reviews and interviews.

 

And talking of interviews, I must have done at least ten or more over the last few weeks, I’ve been asked all sorts of questions about my writing, not just Andorra Pett but all the other stuff that I do as well.

I don’t know how many of you remember, it’s a fault of growing old but I remember Michael Parkinson interviewing people on the BBC, Saturday nights after Match of the Day in the early 1970’s. He was so good at drawing out answers and getting people to reveal things, unlike a lot of more modern interviewers, it was never about him, he just asked a question and listened.

I’ve found it really interesting to have to justify myself and what I do in these interviews, it’s led me to a better understanding of the process of creation. And by being asked about my books and my writing life, it’s forced me to think and has given me ideas for new projects. It’s actually been as interesting to answer the questions as it is to listen to someone else talk. To get an idea of the things that people ask about you, what they want to know, is a fascinating way of seeing how their minds work,

Of course, there is a double-edged sword here. By offering my work for review in this way, I’m opening myself up to a lot of honest opinions in a short time, many of which will have a huge audience. It’s not the same as people buying the book and reviewing it, it’s a lot more concentrated. And while I accept that not everyone will rave about the story, I hope that nobody actually dislikes it.

And whatever happens, the sequel, Andorra Pett on Mars will be published at the end of April, the cover design is still top secret, here is a working draft.

 

It may look totally different by the time it gets to the final version but you have to have the first idea. I’m currently working on a structural edit, sorting out all the plot inconsistencies and tidying the action up. It goes back to my editor at the end of February.

Before all that, I’m going to my first Comic-con as a trader. Along with two other authors from the Exeter Authors Association, I’m descending on the Exeter Corn Exchange on Feb 4th for Devcon Exeter, a sci-fi and fantasy extravaganza.

We’re all selling books and hoping to participate in Q&A sessions and author talks. I might even dress up a bit Steampunk for the occasion, you’ll have to wait and see.

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My secret life (when I’m not writing).

I thought that you might like to see what else I get up to, when I’m not slaving over a hot keyboard to bring you my latest masterpiece!

I used to have a blog, it’s how I got started on the internet, posting bits and pieces about my life in Devon and my job in Gravesend. It featured food that I’d cooked and days out, things that had happened at work, that sort of thing.

You can still find it HERE

When I retired and did more writing, it sort of fell into disuse, it was just too much to keep it all going, I would still post the occasional thing about baking, or where we had been but it got left behind as my writing took off. This website became my main focus.

So today, I’m sharing the kind of post that I used to put up there. It’s nothing to do with writing, this is all about cooking, my other passion.

I like a nice sourdough bread, I still make it regularly, I love the flavour and the texture, and the fact that it only really has four ingredients, flour, water, salt and time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And one of my favourite things is Sourdough toast with Marmalade, especially home-made Seville Orange Marmalade.

I spotted Seville Oranges in Tiverton Market last Friday, I just couldn’t resist. This was a job for Saturday morning, not only do you get the Marmalade; you also fill the house with the smell of Oranges. And while it’s sitting there, waiting to be spread out over hot, buttered toast, it gives you an incentive to make the bread.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I also love a good onion ring. Not the cheap ones, made with chopped onion and held together with all sorts of dubious substances but a full-on, beer battered onion ring, made with a whole slice of onion. I like to keep a stock in the freezer, ready to be re-heated when the urge grips me. They go with Steak, Sausages or just about anything, as far as I’m concerned. So once a month or so, I get the deep-fryer out and make a batch.

I like to use big onions, they’re sweeter and produce a better ring (in my opinion).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now my version of the onion ring have a Sourdough connection, you see, to keep the sourdough starter (the live yeast mixture that provides the flavour and lift to the bread) happy, you need to ‘refresh’ it every week. You add fresh flour and water to a small amount of your starter to give the yeast more food.

That means you have what’s called ‘discard,’ the spare mixture that is removed to make room for the fresh flour and water. Although it might no longer be needed, discard is still useful stuff. You can add it to ordinary bread dough to give extra flavour, or you can use it as a base for pancakes, crumpets and even muffins. And you’ve guessed it; you can use it to make a batter, with more flour and beer, for your onion rings.

The choice of beer is up to you, they all work. Personally, I like a strong, dark beer. I also add some balsamic vinegar to the mixture for an extra kick of taste.

 

The rings reheat straight from the freezer in about 15 minutes while you’re finishing off whatever they accompany. That’s assuming that they make it, while they’re cooling the urge to sample a couple is strong.

 

I hope you enjoyed the departure from writing, if anyone wants recipes, please let me know via the comments and I’ll be happy to pass them on. Next week we’ll be back to writing.

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Blog Tour, Beginnings by Helen J Christmas

What a way to start the New Year. A fantastic read from a new author to me. I’m getting involved in Blog tours as a way of increasing my presence and providing a bit more than just a weekly tale of what I’ve been up to.

But before we start, I have to mention an interview with me on a fellow authors website that’s just gone live. You can check it out here.

So, without further ado, in conjunction with Rachel’s Random Resources, I’ve read and reviewed Beginnings, the first in the Same Face Different Place series by Helen J Christmas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Review

They do say that if you can remember the 1960’s you weren’t there. As far as I know, there is no similar saying about the 1970’s. I was there, and I can remember them.

In fact, I was 13 in 1970, and I was growing up on the Seven Sisters Road, in Tottenham, North London. My parents ran an off-license. I went to the local comprehensive School, where being an Arsenal supporter made my life somewhat complicated. A bit later in the decade, I was working in the Docks of the East End, as a Merchant Navy apprentice in 1976.

I digress, I’m telling you this because I was around at the time that this book depicts. I was roughly the same age as the main character, Eleanor (OK, I was a couple of years younger than her and a boy). Importantly though, the world of the novel was my world at the time. Our stories were different, I can’t claim the same family or the same adventures, but I can relate to the atmosphere that the author creates, because it’s just about spot on, authentic and well researched.

Eleanor has a complicated time in this, the first of a series. Without spoiling the plot, there’s a gang war, she is on the wrong side and falls foul of the victor, being caught up in a plot to lure her father out of hiding. If that wasn’t complicated enough, she rescues a boy, Jake, who is a witness to a crime and whose ultimate silence is required, for reasons which become apparent as the story progresses.

So both of them have enough troubles of their own, without the need to share. Yet share they do, in a touching and well-written part of the story, once they are thrown together, they fall for each other. Then things start to get really interesting. No spoilers here, you really need to read this for yourselves to see how the story develops.

The atmosphere that the author creates is electric in places, and so matched to the times that I remember, right down to the little details of clothes, hair and even the restaurants. The action sequences are swift, brutal and gripping.

The advantage of having a series is that there is time to develop the plot. The groundwork has been done in this story, now there’s enough background set up for some excellent adventures in the subsequent volumes. There are plenty of places for the tale to develop.

Which doesn’t mean that nothing much happens apart from scene-setting. Far from it, there is enough going on to keep you turning the pages as one thing leads to another in a plausible sequence. It’s hard to remember sometimes that in the early 1970’s, we didn’t have mobile phones and there was no internet. This lack of knowledge is utilised fully to create the tension that came from not knowing everything. Especially what your enemy was up too! And there are plenty of twists and turns, dubious characters and intentions, all the hallmarks of a well-constructed plot. The ending will leave you wanting to know where more about Eleanor’s story.

So overall it’s a great book and a great start to a series that I will be reading more of, not just because I need to know what happens next. I can’t wait to see if the meticulous research extends into the world of the 1980’s in part 2.

Here’s all the other information that you need,

Purchase on Amazon – http://apn.to/prod/B0078L8858

Author Bio –

Helen J. Christmas lives on the south coast of Sussex with her husband. With a love of writing since childhood, she started her decade spanning thriller series ‘Same Face Different Place’ in 2011. Her first book ‘Beginnings,’ set in 1970s London, combines romantic suspense with a hard-hitting conspiracy thriller. Writing is something she juggles around family and social life. Helen is self employed and enjoys running the web design company, she and her husband set up from home. They have no children but enjoy the company of a faithful border collie and a fluffy white cat. Helen confesses to have got most of her ideas for writing, whilst walking Barney along the beach.

Social Media Links –

Website: http://www.samefacedifferentplace.com

Blog: https://samefacedifferentplace.wordpress.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/author.helenchristmas/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SFDPBeginnings

Good Reads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5838032.Helen_J_Christmas

Pinterest Book 1: https://uk.pinterest.com/helenxmas/same-face-different-place-beginnings-book-1-by-hel/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/helenchristmas7/

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A New Year and A New Plan

Happy New Year Everyone. I hope that 2018 will be everything that you want it to be.

So what’s next for me, over here in Sci-fi land? A new year means plans, resolutions. All those schemes that everyone gets so enthusiastic about. At least for a couple of weeks. What are my plans for 2018? Today seems like a good time to let you in on my thoughts for the New Year.

Firstly, I want to do a lot more promotional work, I have this great aversion to advertising, especially my own books, like a lot of authors I don’t think that they’re very good. I need to change that and shout a bit louder about them, if others like them, then they must be alright.

And I have several events planned, Sci-fi conventions and library talks, more about them nearer the time, but the first is in Exeter on Feb 4th, where I’ll be selling books and short stories with other Exeter Authors.

Now that the excitement of NaNo is over, and the holidays are a memory, it’s time to take stock and decide what to do with all the projects that I have on the go. I now have four series that I have to write more books in, to satisfy the readers who keep asking for them.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this, when I had the original ideas, they were for a story, it was only later that I came to see that there could be more. And although I want to write about new things, I have to keep on with the ever-evolving sagas that I have created. It almost sounds pretentious to say that my audience demands it but the truth is that they do!

So here’s the state of play

The Freefall Universe.

 

 

The third novel, Promise me, is underway, currently at a little over 42,000 words. Will it be the final part of the story? Don’t ask me!

 

The Balcom Universe.

 

 

The third novel, The Lost Princess is underway, as is a prequel that I feel compelled to write. At the moment it’s no more than a way of explaining some back story. It’s tentatively called Miles Goram, Journalist. Just like the above, I have no idea if they will be the last in the Balcom series.

The Norlandian Steampunk Universe.

 

 

Part three, as yet untitled, is more than just an idea, I have a rough concept which I hope to enlarge upon. It will carry on from the end of A New Life in Ventis. It might well be the end of the series, although my back stories have left me scope for spin-off novels featuring the supporting characters.

 

Andorra Pett.

 

The second novel, Andorra Pett on Mars is completed and being edited in January. The third, Andorra Pett and her Sister is at 21,000 words. A possible fourth story, Andorra Pett takes a Break, is forming in my mind. A fan suggested a fifth story to me as well, it’s a good idea too; well suited to Andorra’s universe, we’ll have to see if I can find the time to do something with it.

 

Then we move on to my other projects.

 

Survive is completed, there will be a sequel, it’s been started.

 

Life…and other Dreams is complete. At first I thought that here wouldn’t be a sequel,  mind you, I said that about most of the others. And wouldn’t you know, almost as soon as I typed that I went for a walk and had an idea. I can see how I can tell the next part of the story from the opposite point of view.

 

Both of those titles are out of action as far as publication is concerned, they are both entered for competitions. I have to wait until I find out what the reaction to them is before I continue. But even if they don’t set the world on fire or win me fame and fortune, I will still be publishing them in the end. Because I like them, and so do the few people who have seen them. And there are more competitions as well, for short stories and full novels.

 

I have two short stories to expand, at my editor’s suggestion. The Orbital Livestock Company and Jack. Both are very different, Jack is set in a sort of Victorian London, at least so far, while The Orbital Livestock Company is set, as the name suggests on a place that is just that. It’s actually one of the short stories that gave me the ideas for a lot of the first Andorra Pett story, only this will be set before all that happened.

 

And no doubt I’ll think up a lot more things that I’ll want to do, if this year is anything to go by.

 

I have to finish my online course as well, perhaps that should be the first thing on my list.

 

 

There is a lot of video to record and I have all the written notes to tidy up. There are extracts from my novels to select, bits that emphasise the points that I want to get over. Then I will have to get some people to test it out for me, see if it all makes sense. It’s a big job, much bigger than I thought it would be.

Next week, I’ll be taking part in a blog tour for the first time, reviewing a book that I recently read. See what I thought next time.

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