Stuart Aken's Blog, page 209

Running for ME/CFS no. 52

The map of the run, provided by the sponsors. It’s a bit big to copy the whole thing!

Today, I’ve made the last training run before the actual race. For the remainder of the days between now and 13th September, I’m supposed to ‘rest’ the muscles and build energy for the race itself. This means some shortish walks only, to keep the joints moving and feed some work into the muscles without causing any strain or drain on energy.

So, on Wednesday, I was down to do 7 sessions of 4-minute runs and...

Cut The Fat; Make Your Writing Lean: #Tip 02.

Many writers welcome the sharing of ideas that might improve our craft. So, let’s chop the fat from our writing. Make it lean and trim. Readers will thank us.

In this series, I’ll look at some common redundancies. (I had hoped someone perspicacious might point out that the first post title in this series used a redundant adjective, ‘out’, but no matter. I’ve removed it for the remainder.)

But, reading this and nodding wisely in agreement won’t do. We need to stay alert to those extraneous wo...

The Methuselah Strain in Hardback.

Here it is: the hardback print version of my science fiction novella, The Methuselah Strain. All copies will be signed.

Dan Grubb, owner of Fantastic Books Publishing, suggested we launch this at the great fantasy/scifi event, Fantasticon 2015, in the region where I was born. It takes place over the weekend of 24/25 October in the Country Park Hotel close to the Humber Bridge, in Hessle (where I spent my teenage years). The nearest city is Hull (where I was born) about 5 miles to the east. I...

Running for ME/CFS no. 51

Part of my track through the forest.

It’s getting close to the event. In fact, 2 weeks today I’ll be pounding the tarmac for 13.1 miles.

Progress this week?

Wednesday I was due to run for 4 minutes followed by 1 minute of walking, repeated 7 times. That’s 35 minutes of exercise. I chose to do this along my 3.3 mile loop in the forest. It rained almost the entire time, but that’s okay: I need to experience different running conditions and I completed the run in the required time.

Friday I was...

Cut Out Fat; Make Your Writing Lean: #Tip 01.

For inspiration.

Life’s finally a little more settled, so I can return to posting about the mechanics of writing, as I used to on my old blog. I’ve found many writers welcome the sharing of ideas that might improve our craft.

So, let’s chop the fat from our writing. Make it lean and trim. Readers will thank us.

In this series, I’ll look at some common redundancies.

But, reading this and nodding wisely in agreement won’t do. We need to stay alert to those extraneous words that sneak into text,...

#Tips for Sharing Posts Online

Time and again, I read a post on a writer’s site (or some other interesting blog) and want to share the information with my own readers and/or friends. And, time and again, I discover the blogger hasn’t provided any sharing facilities. That makes it awkward to share, so I often don’t bother. And, yet, it is so simple to provide share buttons on your site. Have a look at the foot of this post to see what I mean. Those buttons are dead simple to use and allow readers to share your post across...

Running for ME/CFS no. 50 and #Free Books

Raising money for Action for M.E.

Charity Registration No. 1036419

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (M.E.) is a disabling and chronic illness, devastating the lives of 250,000 people in the UK. Action for M.E. provides support and information for those touched by M.E., and campaigns for better services and invests in research to ultimately find a cure.

I’m taking part in the Great North Run, a half marathon that takes place on 13 September. Like most of the 57,000 participants, I’ve been training f...

People Who Don’t Read

stuartaken:

A sensible and thought-provoking piece.

Originally posted on Quoth The Wordsmith:

As much as I love to read, I also know that there are people who do not. There is a bit of nasty snobbery that attaches itself to some avid readers that makes them believe that people who do not enjoy books are sub-par. That anyone who doesn’t read the classics is perhaps uneducated or at a lower intellectual level than them.

You see content about why this person would never date someone who doesn’t r...

Science Fiction in Print

A short announcement.

The dystopian science fiction novella, The Methuselah Strain, will soon be available in print form. Copies will all be signed. This is a limited print run, so you’ll need to get your order in quickly. The book isn’t launched yet, but you can pre-order by clicking on this link.

More on this later.

Filed under: Author, Book, Fiction Tagged: Author, Book, Sci-Fi

Running for ME/CFS no. 49

One of the wider parts of my forest run.

Three weeks tomorrow I’ll be running the Great North Run. A half marathon that’s been going for a long time now. I’ll be one of 57,000 participants and, like most of them, I’ve been training now for a few months.

This week’s programme involved a reduction in distance and time spent running. I suspect this is due to the extra effort required for the eight and half miles I ran last week. Muscles and joints need time to recover, after all. So, Wednesday I...