Michael Stewart's Blog, page 2

Interview on Radio Dacorum

I was interviewed about my new novel – The Angel of Time on the Radio Dacorum – Sarah Lowther show on Sunday 9th November at 7.00pm. What a great show and what a superb presenter. It was especially poignant for me given that it was Armistice Sunday. Click below for a listen in.

Mike Stewart on his debut novel 'The Angel of Time' with Radio Dacorum's Sarah Lowther (9/11/2014) by Sarah Lowther on Mixcloud

Appearance on Radio Dacorum

I am delighted to have been invited to appear on the Sarah Lowther show on Radio Dacorum on Sunday 9th November at 7.00 – 8.00pm. I will be discussing my new book – The Angel of Time. Given that it will be Armistice Sunday and 100 years since the start of the First World War it will certainly be a very topical discussion. I will be discussing the exploits of my great grandfather, William James Puttnam, who served throughout that war and who was the inspiration for my novel.

Sarah will also be asking me to disclose my favourite literature, tunes and whatever else that inspires me.  It should prove to be a very interesting discussion. Please tune in.

http://www.radiodacorum.org.uk/

The Inspiration for my debut novel

Today I felt that I had to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard to be exact) and write to Jeremy Vine on Radio 2 just to say a big thank you for the inspiration he sent my way during one of his shows. Back in March this year Jeremy Vine had Michael Morpurgo read out a letter from another of his listeners. It concerned an elderly lady who was in a hospice, dying. The gentleman who wrote the account was I believe working in the hospice and met the lady. The lady opened up to the listener and was telling him the stories from her youth, during the First World War. I recall it being an extremely moving tale of the loss of her love and it was very well read by Michael Morpurgo. I recall at the time that I was really quite moved and just couldn’t get the story out of my mind.

I just knew there was a real story there. Jeremy Vine’s show inspired me to write my debut novel which is based loosely around the life of an elderly woman who is dying in a hospice and recounts the tale of the loss of her one and only love during the First World War to a hospice helper. I then managed to weave that story into a wider story of one soldier’s evacuation from the western front in 1918, which was based around the real events of my own Great Grandfather’s exploits at that time.

I have thoroughly enjoyed writing my first novel, which is now on sale in Kindle format on Amazon and will be available in paperback from next week. To achieve this I have had to learn absolutely everything from proofreading to publishing. It has been an amazing journey for me and has changed my whole life and career; taking me out of the business world I have been in for the past 35 years and thrown me into a whole new world of books and publishing. I am also now a third of my way into my second book.

So, I just felt that today I just had  to say a big thank you to Jeremy Vine for the inspiration I received from him and Michael Morpurgo on that day

The Angel of Time

The Angel of Time, my debut novel is now available on Amazon. The story is dedicated to my Great Grandfather, William Puttnam who served in the Royal Field Artillery through all of the great battles on the Western Front from August 1915 to March 1918 when he was eventually wounded on the Somme. And also to his hard working and loving wife, my great grandmother, Amy Louise, who single-handedly managed to bring up their six children during the war, including my Grandmother Violet.

The story of our own hero George, from his wounding at the Somme, his long and arduous evacuation across France, England and then onto Scotland before his eventual return home is based upon the true events as experienced by my Great Grandfather in 1918. Without the efforts of these good, honest, hard working people, and many others like them, I would not be here and this story would not have been told, so I owe them a great deal!

 

Writers & Artists Yearbook 2014

 

For all you budding (and experienced) writers out there this is a ‘Must Have’!!

The annual edition of the best-selling guide to all aspects of the media and how to write and get published, the Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook is now in its 107th edition. Acknowledged by the publishing industry, authors and would-be writers as the indispensable companion to navigating the world of publishing, it appears for the first time as an e-book and in print.

For anyone interested in writing and having their work published, this book is an absolute ‘must-have’!  There were so many pieces of valuable info in the book I couldn’t even begin to list them all!  This was my first time reading this particular publication and as a ‘newbie’ writer I wanted to read the whole book through from cover to cover – and I certainly feel like I now have a much better understanding of the whole book writing/publication industry.  I feel sure I will be ‘dipping’ into this book for advice and hints for some time to come!  I did purchase the book electronically, which is really handy, but this is perhaps one of those times when I wish I had the actual paper version to keep with me and refer to!