Stuart Aken's Blog, page 266

Read My Novel, Free: Chapter 10.

If you've come this far, youdon't need me blathering on with stuff you already know. Enjoy the read.
But, if you missed thestart, here's the link to it: http://stuartaken.blogspot.com/2012/01/read-free-my-novel-here.html
Chapter 1 appeared on 13January and following chapters appear each Friday. You can find them via thearchive.
Read, enjoy, invite yourfriends.
Chapter 10
When she first came intomy life, Faith was just a rather idiosyncratic young woman with only thecheapness of her labour and her excellent office skills to commend her. She waspretty in a waifish way but not the sort of woman I sought. But, then, there werethose eyes and her baffling innocence.Over the few weeks she'd worked for me, she'dlearned rapidly and well. She quickly took all the finishing tasks out of myown and Merv's hands. She organized the office and me so efficiently that Inever missed an appointment or ran out of stock and, if I couldn't find an itemof equipment, she always knew where it was.But there was more than work to Faith. Hercuriosity, once beyond her father's boundaries, was endless. She was so eagerto learn about everything, it was like having a bright, attractive andwell-behaved child about the house. She read voraciously; respondingenthusiastically to my invitation to use the library, which Uncle Fred and Ihad spent much time, energy and money in stocking with a broad-based selectionof books.She'd grown in confidence and this was reflectedin the way she now held herself. No longer the round shoulders and stoopingwalk, no longer the shuffle of shame. She was upright and open. Her face hadtaken on a semi-permanent half smile, as if she was pleased with everything shesaw. And this smile lightened her face and brought a sparkle to those gloriouseyes that were so deep I feared I might drown in them. She'd started to put onweight now she was no longer walking miles every day. And the new flesh wasdistributing itself with real promise. She was on the way to becoming a veryattractive woman.Her dowdy clothes I now knew she wore not fromchoice but the meanness of Heacham. The trip to York gave me an excuse to dosomething about that by introducing her to the pleasures of buying and wearingfashionable clothes.As we left the car park and set off down the broadpath beside the river, she was alive with interest, keen to notice everythingabout her. I wanted to take her hand, to be in contact with this strange,captivating young woman. It just seemed right. She would reject such intimacy,regardless of how innocent it might be. The irony amused me: I'd shared muchgreater intimacy with so many women without fear of rejection.'Why the smile?''I'd like to hold your hand and I was wonderingwhy I find it so difficult to ask you, when I've touched every naked inch of somany women.''Why?'No reference to my inexplicable difficulty, noargument or condemnation regarding the other women. Just a simple demand toknow my reason for wanting to hold her hand; the very aspect of the situation Ifound most difficult to understand myself.'I don't know. It seems the natural thing to dowith you.''You're being remarkably honest, Leigh.''Perhaps you're rubbing off on me.''Careful. Honesty can be dangerous.''Now you're teasing me.''I'm not sure about the hands. It sounds harmlessenough and I expect I'd enjoy it. Let me see if I can tell what that sort ofcontact means in society.''Are you always so analytical before you makecontact? It'd be hard bloody work making love with you if you are.' I'd said itwithout thinking, without knowing I thought it. That I spoke in terms of makinglove rather than having sex was disturbing.'If analysis will save me from your rapaciousintent, Leighton Longshaw, I'll use it for the foreseeable future.'There was no malice, no blame in her response, butshe meant it and I knew I'd blown my chance for now.We reached Lendall Bridge and climbed the flaggedslope to reach the road. I took her to a café I'd visited previously and chosea window seat so she could watch the people go by. The waitress was new, fromthe uni, but one of my previous conquests tipped her off and she smiled awelcome as she brought the menu. I gave her the benefit of an encouraging smilebefore turning my attention to Faith and the list of items on the printed card.We ordered my cappuccino and Faith's Yorkshire teaand, after my reminder that she had agreed to be treated, a cream cake each.The waitress was positively coquettish as she took the order, her gentian eyesfinding mine and remaining locked there. I watched her glide across the flooron shapely pins encased in sheer black nylon and automatically assessed herpotential as a model.Faith was absorbed in the doings of the variouspeople both inside and outside the café and was unaware of the exchange betweenthe waitress and me. She was happy observing the activity and I felt slightlyput out by her lack of attention to me.We drank and ate in companionable silence, Faith'sonly comment that the tea was good and the cream cake delicious. Another firstfor her; one of many that day.When the waitress brought the bill, she was sointent on me, she failed to notice the slip of paper drifting from her saucer.It floated to the floor where Faith picked it up. Before I could stop her,she'd unfolded it.'This can't be right! That's far too much for twodrinks and two cakes!'The waitress was startled out of her reverie anddetached herself from my eyes to glare at Faith. My hand hid the smile as Igently took the bill. I topped the cash on the saucer with one of my specialbusiness cards bearing a brief message inviting contact, if desired, as I feltthe recipient had potential for modelling. She glanced at the card and nodded.As I steered Faith from the café, the other diners followed our exit with facesfull of surprise or scorn.'My fault, Faith. I forget just how little youknow about society and shopping. The price was fine. We could've gone somewherecheaper but the tea and coffee would've been poor and the cakes wouldn't havebeen half as nice.''I bet the waitresses wouldn't be so pretty orliberated either. You could see their breasts through their blouses.''Could you? I never noticed…''Of course you didn't, Leigh.'I gave her my wounded look but she saw throughthat so I grinned and shrugged. 'A word of advice, though. It's not English tocomplain loudly in public. We don't do it. We call this cowardice "reserve" andthe rest of the world expects it of us, which is why we are so surprisingoverseas, where we complain loudly about everything and nothing. So, for today,I'd prefer you not to voice your opinions on cost, and any other contentiousmatters, until we've left the shop. Okay?''I'm your willing and obedient servant, LeightonLongshaw.''That'll be the day. Come on, little MissOutspoken, let's find that typewriter. Then I'm going to do some seriousspoiling.' 'Aren't things that are spoilt, ruined?''You need spoiling. Time you had a bit ofunbridled pleasure and fun.' I made the comment in jest, of course, but Faithconsidered it with real seriousness.'Perhaps you're right, Leigh. Perhaps I ought toindulge a little, if only so I've a better idea of what I'm talking about whenI criticize it in others.'I cupped her elbow and steered her into the officesupplies shop without a word. For all that I understood how she could say sucha thing, I couldn't trust myself to reply generously to a comment like that.

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You've come this far, so it'sunlikely you'll stop now. But, just in case you're impatient for the nextchapter, you know where you can buy the book.
Web site: http://stuartaken.co.uk
Tweet with me: http://twitter.com/@stuartaken
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/StuartAken

7 Ways to Improve Your Grammar and Impress Readers.

Cover via Amazon
Some aspects of Englishgrammar create more confusion and resultant errors than others. I get far toohet up about them. But, there you are; I guess I care a little too much aboutthe way writer's constantly break rules they often don't appear to know exist. However,in common with George Orwell, I'd rather all the rules were broken than have toendure an ugly sentence. But, in order to break rules effectively, you have toknow what they are.So, here's a list of sevenof the most common errors and some suggested solutions.
1.      Contractions.
We all speak using contractions. But when we write them down, they seem tocause problems. Here are some of the common pitfalls.
They're, you're, we're; all contractions of the pronoun used with 'are'. So, they are becomes they're, etc. The most common error occurs when your, the possessive pronoun, issubstituted for you're, thecontraction. The only sensible way to avoid the error is to write out themeaning in full and then apply the contraction if it's appropriate.Example:  This is a chance to improve your writing. Here, your refers to the writing and thecontext makes it plain that it is the writing that belongs to you. Thepossessive pronoun is therefore the correct usage. However; If you're going to improve the way youwrite, you need to be aware of how grammar works. Here, you're can be replaced by you are, so the contraction is thecorrect form. If your were used, itwould make no sense, since there's nothing belonging to anyone in the sentence.

2.      Homonyms.
This leads quite naturally onto the homonyms, those words that sound alike buthave different spellings and/or different meanings. We've looked at your and you're but there are many examples in English and they confuse eventhose raised with the language, so it's hardly a surprise if foreign languagespeakers have problems.
They're, their, there; we're, wear, where, were; bow(bend from the waist),bough; buy, by, bye; row (a boat), roe; tyre, tire; tear (cry), tier; peer,pier; pear, pair; stare, stair. A non-comprehensive list of some commonhomonyms. These won't be picked up by your spell-checker, because the spellingis correct. Only you, as the writer, can determine whether you've used theright word, though. And, if in doubt, please resort to that invaluable tool ofthe author; a reference book called a 'dictionary'. And, as a means of gettingthose of you who rarely open this writers' bible to do just that, I'm not goingto provide further help here on this one.

3.      Apostrophe's'.
Lynn Truss wrote a wonderful short book on this, and other, grammaticalpitfalls. If you haven't read 'Eats Shoots and Leaves', shame on you.
The apostrophe 's' identifies the word as a possessive and is often confusedwith the plural form. So we have the field-side signs inviting the driver to 'Stop and Pick Your Own Potatoe's'.Generally, it's not clear which of the potatoe'sbelongings we're being invited to choose. That's because it's a simpleplural and the apostrophe is redundant, incorrect, wrong, unnecessary andgenerally no more than the product of a confused and ill-educated mind.
It's not helpful that such worthy stores as Waterstone's, a chain of shopsselling books for heaven's sake, decided to ditch the apostrophe in their name.Why? It hardly causes confusion or extra work for the sign-writer.
Please remember to ask yourself the question, when unsure about the insertionof an apostrophe: 'Does this word indicate the ownership of something(apostrophe) or is it simply stating the plural case (no apostrophe). Reallyquite simple, you see?

4.      Tenses.
I can get quite tense about tenses. Even journalists, particularly TVreporters, can mix these up and it really sets my teeth on edge. Reports tellus that '…the injured player was took offthe pitch.' We all know, don't we, that it's '...the injured player was taken off…'? It's not difficult; or,perhaps it is, is it? And then there's the wonderful, '…all thought the boy done good.' What? Surely, even the most basicEnglish education explains that we should say, '…all thought the boy had done well.' or, '…all thought the boy did well,' or, perhaps, '…the boy did a good job.' doesn't it? And then there's theconfusion that persists about the use of such forms as 'spun/span, swum/swam, and hung/hang'. 'The spider had spun a web across the corner.' 'The car span out ofcontrol.' 'Beryl swam across the current to reach the other side.' 'Georginahas swum the Channel on three occasions.' 'I hung up my coat.' 'Will you hangup my coat, please?' But, 'The killerwas hanged for murder.'
English is noted for its irregular forms. I could go on for a very long timehere, but I don't wish to bore you. If in doubt about these things, buy, borrowor steal a copy of one of the many 'English Usage' guides. I use Fowler's, the OxfordGuide and Partridge's Usage and Abusage. All worth the few quid/dollars youneed to spend to get it right, don't you think?

5.      Pluralor Singular?
There is often some uncertainty about whether a plural or singular verb iscorrect usage in sentences where there appears to be more than one subject.e.g. Bread and water is too good for thatprisoner. I suspect most people would agree with the singular 'is' rather than the plural 'are' here, even though we have twosubjects; 'bread' and 'water'. The 'and' here engages both subjects and combines them into a singleentity that is understood by readers to be a combined subject. Therefore, thesingular form is correct. In any case, it sounds better. If you don't believeme, try reading both versions aloud and you'll see how the plural effort makesyou squirm with discomfort.
The above is one example of a long list of similar combined subjects, where twoor more terms that form the subject are, or may be, understood to be expressedas a single entity. 'Cheese and wine','short back and sides', 'rape and murder', 'love and kisses' and 'apple pie and custard' are all examplesof such combinations. When in doubt about usage, it is the meaning that shouldtake precedence over the form. Read it aloud and hear it; the correct versionshould be clear that way.
English, however, being the complex language it is, has another trick up itssleeve regarding plural and singular forms. When we write about collective orgroup nouns, the decision about whether to use them as plural or singular formsagain arises. And the solution depends on meaning. So, you might write, The gang were all at the crime scene. Whendescribing the actions of the individuals making up the group. But you'd write,The gang was first to arrive. When examiningthe action of the group as a whole.
Meaning is the paramount determiner here. I hope I've cleared rather thanmuddied the waters. But, if you're still unsure, let me recommend an excellentpiece on this in Thomas Parrish's TheGrouchy Grammarian.

6.      DanglingModifiers.What? A 'danglingmodifier' is a phrase that's intended to explain about one subject butactually relates to another entirely, or even to none at all. We've all comeacross, though hopefully not written, such sentences as; Walking into the library, Karen's list of books befuddled the girl atthe counter. Hardly surprising! The poor girl could rarely have witnessed alist of books walking at any other time. It was, of course, Karen who waswalking, not her list of books. The sentence needs to be re-writtendifferently; Walking into the library,Karen approached the girl at the counter and befuddled her with her list ofbooks. Not brilliant, but it says what it means. The opening phrase nowrelates to the rest of the sentence.
Another? Having less knowledge thanneeded, the teacher sent Jones on a course designed to increase his awarenessof the subject. One wonders why the teacher should have less knowledge thannecessary and then send the pupil away for improvement. But, of course, thewriter meant that the pupil had less knowledge and that the teacher was intenton increasing it by sending him on a course. So, the sentence would have beenbetter written as; Having less knowledgethan needed, Jones was sent on a course designed to increase his awareness ofthe subject. Of course, this sentence doesn't tell us that it was theteacher who sent Jones. But I'll leave it to you to modify the sentence or addanother, to include that aspect.
Please don't leave your modifiers dangling; someone might come along and cutthem off!

7.      Which,That or Who?
There has been, is, and will be much debate on this issue. When to use which, that or who, because, it seems, it isn't as straightforward as it mayappear. The common belief is that who isused for people and that for thingsand never vice-versa. The which questionis not commonly held to be so clear cut.
Please note; I said 'the common belief'. That doesn't make it the right one, ofcourse.
The fact is that that can be used forpeople, under certain circumstances. For instance, it's perfectly correct tosay, Of those members that were inattendance, all were in favour of the amendment. Similarly, it is fine tosay, Are you the one that said it was myfault?
However, who should be reserved onlyfor people. It's true that certain journals have, of late, allowed the use of who when referring to an animal, whose gender is known. But this isn'tgenerally accepted usage and is probably best avoided.Most commentators will agree with the above, but some willnot. Because of this, it's probably best for you to decide for yourself whichyou will use; be consistent, though. Personally, I'd avoid using who for an animal, except in the casewhere I was deliberately anthropomorphising the creature referred to. I wouldalso not use that for people, asillustrated in the sentences above. Although such usage isn't incorrect, I findit awkward and impersonal and would use whoor whom in preference.
So, to the which issue. I'll make abald statement, with which you can agree or not. Which is never, under any circumstances, used for people. The only which that refers to people is witch, which is an entirely differentaffair. Depending on the witch in question, I'd avoid the affair, unless ofcourse, the witch has placed you undera spell. Which is used exclusivelyfor inanimate objects and qualities. So, you might say, The tree, which blew down in the storm, is now dead. But you would,hopefully, never say, The robber, whichtook all your clothes, is a foul asset stripper. regardless of how youmight feel about him. You would, of course, always use who when referring to said brigand.
I could go on at length about restrictive and non-restrictive clauses, relativepronouns and other grammatical niceties, but it isn't my purpose here to gointo great depth. I'll leave that to Fowler and his ilk, to whom I refer you for such depth oftreatment. My purpose is merely to raise awareness of the issues, to point outthat there are issues and that it is incumbent on the writer who wishes to impressand learn the trade that such issues should be examined and taken seriously.

So, hopefully, I've provided you with food for thoughtand whetted your appetite for further research. If you don't own any of thegrammar guides I've mentioned, I urge you to add them to your referencelibrary.

The Amulet of Samarkand, by Jonathan Stroud, Reviewed.

Balancing humour with the elements of a thriller is a difficult task tocarry off, but Jonathan Stroud does it with style in The Amulet of Samarkand . What's more, he does it without expletivesor sexual content, so you can happily encourage your youngsters to read thisstory. Set in England sometime in a near future, it depicts a society in whichthe rich and powerful are all magicians. Politicians, in particular, are shownto be ruthless, manipulative, selfish and totally lacking in conscience; much,in fact, the way they appear to most of us in reality. The author uses hisconsiderable writing gifts to mock the powerful and portray them as people whouse their positions to get what they want without reference to the generalpublic, who are treated with contempt by this society.The main protagonists ought to be unsympathetic characters, but thereader warms to both the young, inexperienced, clever and vengeful apprenticemagician, Nathaniel, and the wicked, conniving, powerful and devious demon,Bartimaeus, he conjours from 'the Other Place' to help him achieve hisambitions. Told from the first person, by Bartimaeus and the third personviewpoint of Nathaniel, the story develops plenty of impetus as the writertakes us into a world of ambition, greed, danger and treachery. The humour is mostly of the type that brings a smile or a nod ofadmiration, but there's also the occasional belly laugh. And, I suspect,younger readers, particularly teenage boys will find plenty that will make themlaugh out loud here.It's a well-written story, with plenty of twists and turns and buildingdrama leading to the inevitable denouement, which provides a satisfying andaction-packed climax. The characters, even the minor roles, are written with anattention that allows the reader to form empathy and develop many otheremotional responses appropriate to the different personalities.I thoroughly enjoyed this work of great imagination and I applaud theauthor's method of bringing reader's attention to the depth of corruption inpolitics without preaching or ramming messages down throats. Humour isundoubtedly the most effective tool in the satirist's armoury and Jonathan Strouduses it to great effect.I have no hesitation in recommending this damn good read to all andsundry.

Writing This Week

Not been the smoothest of weeks, for all sorts of reasons.
But, I've finally found the 'voice' for the NaNoWriMo novel, after a number of false starts. It means some modification, but will result in a better book, so worth the effort. I've done the first 3 chapters so far and I'm finally feeling pleased with the results.
No short stories this week. But I've completed a new blog post and continued with the debate on ethics and morals, as shown a couple of posts below this one. Why not get involved? I'm working towards a discussion on piracy of books, so it should interest most of you.
Been a bit off colour this week again, following last week's virus, but now on the way to recovery.
Also been making a start on some technical help for a female friend, who writes well but hasn't a clue about technical issues. She needs to get her work published as ebooks and I've offered my help. Initially, I'm intending to run a bit of promotion for her work (all erotica of the more gentle and romantic sort, I gather) here until I can get a blog set up for her. She's new to the idea of publishing and is still choosing her pen name, so I can't even flag that up yet. But her writing is good, so worth the effort and the wait.
It's been a week of bits and pieces: I'll be glad to get back to a bit of normality. Whatever that might be!
Still, did manage a reasonable walk with Valerie during the week. And I'm picking up some of the technical improvements on Photoshop Elements 10, which I installed a couple of weeks back. So, some progress, even if I feel I could have been more productive.
Keep reading and, if you write, writing.

Smashwords Read An E-Book Week. Last Day

My ebooks are available free or, in the case of Breaking Faith, at 50% off until midnight tonight (PCT), as part of a Smashwords promotion. 


Smashwords is the publisher I use for my ebooks. 


If you'd like to download a copy of one of the ebooks as above,  visit  https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/stuartaken where you'll be able to get four of them free and Breaking Faith for $1.50.
  
All I ask is that, if you take advantage of this offer, you do a short review and place it on Smashwords, Amazon and /or Goodreads. Indie authors depend on reviews for readers, as they don't have the powerful marketing machinery used by major publishers.


So, what have you got to lose? This is an ideal opportunity to enjoy some fiction at either no cost or less than the price of a cup of coffee.
Enjoy.

Is Copying the Same as Theft?

Image via Wikipedia
Honest Questions From a Simple Man.


We continue the debateregarding the heading 'When is Theft Not Really Stealing' from last week. Ifyou missed it, you might want to start there. Here's the link: http://stuartaken.blogspot.com/2012/03/when-is-theft-not-really-stealing.html
Theo: Last time, we established that there's ageneral public attitude about petty theft from the place of work that considers suchthings as the taking of small items of stationery, chatting around the watercooler in work time and printing stuff for charities as not really stealing,you agree?
Dave: Yeah. And we said the bosses do it as well, whenthey have meetings on the golf course or travel Business Class to conferences,when they could just as easy meet on video conference.
Theo: So, there's a generally accepted feeling thatpetty theft is simply a part of everyday life in which most people participate?
Dave: Everyone does it.
Theo: Does this extend to such things, I wonder, as borrowinga book from a friend and never returning it?
Dave: That's not fair, but I don't think most peoplewould think of it as theft. I mean, it's usually just because they've forgotten,isn't it?
Theo: How do we feel about copying a music trackfrom a friend's CD so we can play it in our car?Dave: Happens all the time.
Theo: No doubt. But is it theft?
Dave: How would it be theft? I mean, the guy whoowns the CD can copy it legally so he can have a copy in the car and one at home,can't he?
Theo: That's actually not quite as straightforward,legally, as you might think. But forget that for the moment. The point aboutthe guy with the CD is that he's already paid the artist by buying the CD. Hisfriend, however, has made no contribution to the artist, has he?
Dave: I suppose not. But he might decide to buy thewhole CD once he's listened to the track, so the artist gets a new fan.  
Theo: On the other hand, he might not. And if hecopies the whole CD from his friend's?
Dave: Same goes. He might decide he'll buy the nextCD the artist brings out. So, the artist gains.
Theo: Or not, of course. It's a bit tenuous, thoughisn't it? Justifying this activity on the grounds that it might result infuture payment to the artist? There'll be those who decide never to buyanything from that particular artist but still retain the original copied CD.
Dave: Yeah, well, that's the way things are, isn'tit? Any case; look at the sort of money pop stars make. They're not going to missone or two sales, are they?
Theo: So, what makes it okay to steal income frompop stars is the fact that they're already wealthy from performing? Supposethis particular artist is just emerging, has produced the CD at his or her owncost, whilst working nights as a supermarket shelf-filler?
Dave: Well, no, you wouldn't want to do that fromsomeone just starting out, would you?
Theo: Selective theft, then. Interesting idea. Letme ask you, would you go into a shop and steal a CD off the shelf?
Dave: Jeez! 'Course not. That's shop-lifting.
Theo: But it's okay to do exactly the same thing bycopying material without paying for it?
Dave: Not the same. If you shop-lift, you're takingfrom the shop keeper as well. He's already paid for it and you've robbed him ofhis costs, haven't you?
Theo: Since the legal purchase of the item wouldalso involve the retailer, the only actual difference I see is that the shopkeeper hasn't, in that case, lost his expenditure but merely the opportunity ofthe profit, which is the part of the transaction that keeps him and his familyalive.
Dave: Record companies should make their CDscheaper, then people wouldn't be tempted to copy them, would they?
Theo: So, it's the fault of the supplier? You thinkit's the cost of the item that makes theft justified? Champagne's ridiculously expensivefor what it is; is it okay to steal that as well? At what point would the theftbecome wrong?
Dave: What do you mean?
Theo: Well, say for example, that the item was soldfor £10.00 ($15.68) for, say, 12 tracks? Is that too much to pay?
Dave: It's a lot.
Theo: So, how much would be not too much?
Dave: Hard to say. But I guess I'd pay, say, £6.00($9.41).
Theo: And £0.50 ($0.78) per track would stop youcopying in the future, would it?
Dave: Probably.
Theo: Theft, then, isn't an absolute but a qualitydependent on certain personal judgements about the worth of the object and the deservingnature, or otherwise, of the creating bodies?
Dave: Jeez, you do like to complicate things, don'tyou?
Theo: Sorry, Dave, I thought I was clarifying them. You feel it's okay to steal providing the person ororganisation you steal from can afford it? That seems to be what you're sayingand I simply want to make sure I understand you correctly.
Dave: Well, yeah, except I wouldn't call it theft.
Theo: What would you call it?
Dave: Dunno.
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Please let me have your comments and observations.By the way, apologies for the delay this week: I've been a bit under theweather.
Next time, we'll move on to the next part of thedebate, especially as it pertains to written material, which is, after all,what most readers of this blog are involved with.

Read My Novel, Free: Chapter 9.

You've come this far, soyou don't need me blathering on with stuff you already know. Enjoy the read.
If you missed the start,here's the link to it: http://stuartaken.blogspot.com/2012/01/read-free-my-novel-here.htmlChapter 1 appeared on 13January and following chapters appear each Friday. You can find them via thearchive.
Read, enjoy, invite yourfriends.
Chapter 9
Wednesday 31st March
We had travelled for halfan hour in uncomfortable silence. 'Have I upset you,Leigh?''I don't say much about the way you look at work,Faith, because I know you've no fashion sense and clothes are just covers toyou. But I thought I'd made it clear today was a bit special. I mean, thatdowdy old tweed skirt, a blouse that'd look better on your grandmother andthose shoes that seem to be all you ever wear. And that's hardly an eveningbag, is it?''I'm sorry I'm a disappointment. Perhaps you'dbetter take me back home.''Don't get all injured with me. I hoped you'd makean effort, that's all.''I did what I could. I took up the hem of my skirtas far as I dare, persuaded Father to let me have a bath and washed my hairlast night.''And that's it?''What else could I do?''Oh, come on! A bit of make up? Your best dress orskirt? A pair of new shoes? I'm sure you could…''Oh, you're sure are you? It's easy for you,Leigh. You have a wardrobe full of clothes. Several pairs of shoes. What I'mwearing is what I have, Leigh. I can't do better than that. Unless you'd haveme travel in the stuff I wear for housework? Or naked?'His silence unnerved me but I had said enough. Theday had started badly and now I had made it worse. I wished he had neversuggested the trip out.'I'm sorry, Faith. I just assumed that… Well,you're a young woman, earning a decent wage. I automatically assumed you'd havenew clothes and make up. What else would you spend your money on?''Father doesn't work because of his back andbecause he has to stay home to care for Hope. My money goes into thehousekeeping.''All of it?''All.'Again, he was silent. The hostility had gone buthis continued silence unsettled me. From Ma and Old Hodge I had learned some ofthe basic social skills my father had neglected. A change of subject mighthelp.'I never said before, but the lift you gave mewhen you asked me to come back to work was the first time I'd been in a car.'His silence persisted for a few seconds thatseemed an eternity. 'I'm an idiot. I've taken on a bright, gifted, generous andhardworking assistant and I know nothing about you. It's so easy to take thingsfor granted. So easy to assume. Faith, I need to know something of yourpersonal history. I need to know more about you.'It was my turn for silence. Where to begin?'Begin from your earliest memory and take me asfar as you like.''I was very young; perhaps not even four. Fatherwas shouting at my mother. At the time, I'd no idea what caused the argument,but now I know it must've been when Mother finally accepted Hope would never beany different, would always be a baby. Father won't see it. He still believes;he has faith that she'll somehow miraculously emerge from her silentimprisonment and start to talk and walk and laugh and cry. Of course, she neverwill. But that was the beginning of a change that made my mother leave andabandon me when I was six.'I'd had my first year at school and was doingquite well, I think. In any case, I remember Mother praised me, cuddled andkissed me for my efforts. Then, one day, I was waiting for her by the schoolgates and she didn't arrive. Father came at last, with Hope in her pushchairthat was too small, and took me home. I haven't seen my mother since.'I gazed at the curling strip of tarmac flowingquietly beneath the car, unwinding as we drove over hills and vales as foreignas a distant land. Pictures of my childhood filled my mind and I was suddenlyaware that Mother took all joy and laughter with her. All the days since thenwere grey.'Don't dream it, Faith, tell me. I can't hear yourunspoken memories.''Sorry. I just discovered something very sad.''Tell me.''When my mother left, she took all the colour withher. Father only works in black and white, mostly black.'Don't grow all lyrical and metaphysical on me.Now isn't the time for poetry. Just tell me what happened.''I went to school for one more day, but Fathereither wouldn't or couldn't take me after that. He was supposed to teach me athome. At any rate, when I was about thirteen, someone came to check and hepersuaded her, with my help, that he was teaching me well enough. I'd startedto learn to read before school and I was quick enough to learn the rules oflanguage so I could read well very early.'There was an atlas, a history of the world, anold encyclopaedia and a dictionary in the house. Father had been through themwith a thick black pen, crossing out words and paragraphs. There were entirepages missing from the encyclopaedia. There was the Bible, of course, and somebooks of sermons by eighteenth century clerics.''You had no television, I know. Radio?''Father says they're instruments of the Devil,won't have them in the house. Same with newspapers and magazines. I've seenthose at Mrs Greenhough's, of course, and I can understand why Father rejects alot of them. All that flesh and talk of sex. It's as if nothing else matters inthe world.''I know you've only travelled within a few milesof home, so all this is new to you?' He waved a hand at the passing countrysidewith its flat fields and huge sky.'If I had to get out of the car now, I wouldn'teven know which way to go to get back home.''Any idea how far you are from home, Faith?''About ten miles?'Leigh chuckled. 'Sixty. Another ten and we'll bein York. One thing you can teach me regarding local geography; you oncementioned a small tarn above your cottage. I don't know of it. Is it far?'I smiled secretly. 'It's my refuge. Small butquite deep in places. It's where I go to be alone. I discovered it one day whenFather wanted me to get some fresh air and sent me off for a few hours in thesummer. Later on that same summer, it's where I learnt to swim, almost by accident.'I was too ashamed to tell him I had been trying to drown myself because my lifewas so miserable.'I'd like to see your tarn, Faith, like to see youswimming.''I bet you would! But you're not going to.''Hey, no need to get all haughty. I'm not suggestinganything improper. Your swim suit would cover your...''People don't wear suits to swim. You're pullingmy leg again, Leigh. I'm not that daft. They'd get all wet and drag you underthe water.''No, really, it's a special sort of…' He realizedthe import of my words even if I did not. 'You swim nude?''Of course! Doesn't everyone?''But I thought you believed it was immoral to benaked?''Only in public. I don't wear anything in the bathor in bed, so why should I wear anything to swim? There's never anyone about.No footpaths for walkers. And I'd hear a farmer with his dogs or tractor inplenty of time.''But not a peeping tom.''What's a peeping tom?''Doesn't matter. Are there trees at the tarn, ornearby?''There's a small copse of mountain ash at thesouthern end, a few rocks along the western shore. Why?''The farm where Merv lives with his father andbrothers hugs the slopes on the other side of the hill above your cottage.'This had nothing to do with what we were talkingabout. 'I know; horrible family.'Leigh grunted. 'That explains that.' He was silentfor a while. 'Apart from teaching yourself your many skills, keeping house foryour father, nursing Hope and cleaning that barn your father calls a chapel,what else do you do?''Read and sleep mostly; of course, I only have thebooks Father thinks are suitable.''Does your father actually do anything at all?''He has a back problem. He can't lift anything oreven walk far without pain. He hides it very well, though. Some people believethere's nothing wrong with him, but that's because he's so brave anduncomplaining.''Or such a good actor.''What do you mean?''No matter. We'll be in York in a few minutes.After we've found somewhere to park, and that'll take half a day, we'll go forcoffee and then find our new typewriter. Once that's out the way, the rest ofthe day is ours to have a bit of fun, do some sightseeing, okay?''Sounds exciting. Is it a very big place?''You know we passed through Hawes earlier on?''That big market town?''That big market town is a very small market town.Think of fifty of them packed together, add a few buildings four or fivestoreys high and you're getting near to the size of York. And York's not aparticularly big place.'I shook my head and let him have his joke on me. Iwould discover the truth when we arrived.'There is one thing, Faith.''I'm listening.''I want no argument about what I'm going to say.No refusals, no fuss. Today is a treat for you, for me as well, but mostly foryou. I'm going to spend some money on you, buy you a few presents, treat you.Okay?''Why?'He opened his mouth to speak and then shut itagain and drove in silence for a few moments. 'Faith, you're extraordinary. Anyother woman would've started suggesting things I might buy her. You just wantto know why. I'm having to learn a whole new set of rules in dealing with you.''You're having to learn?''Okay, fair point. Anyway, as to the "why?", it'squite simple. You earned me a great deal of money with your handling of thosebad debtors and....''I was just doing my job.''Faith! I want to reward you. I want to buy yousomething. I want to do it, I can afford to do it, and I'm going to do it. Isthat clear?''Yes, Mr Longshaw, sir.''Good. And don't be so cheeky.''No, master.''Mmm. In a couple of minutes, we'll be on theoutskirts of the city. You'll begin to see what I mean about the size of theplace. Do I have your word that you won't argue about the presents I want tobuy you?''What will you expect in exchange?''What?''I'm sorry, Leigh. It's just that Father said I…''Your bloody father's got a lot to answer for. Andhe's wrong. Not all of us expect to be paid with sex for presents. Not all menexpect a girl to whip her knickers off for the price of a dress or a piece ofjewellery. Some men like to give women presents because they like to give womenpresents. I like to give women presents. I expect and require nothing inreturn. Not even your gratitude. Do I make myself clear?''I keep making you angry and disappointed. I'm sorry.There's so much I don't know and almost everything I do know has come fromFather. His views differ so much from those of most other people. Thank you foryour offer, Leigh. I accept gladly and I'll try my best not to embarrass you.'Leigh took his hand from the steering wheel, foundmine and squeezed it gently. 'Thank you. I'll try to remember you're aninnocent with a fanatical puritan hypocrite for a father. Here comes York.'We were travelling in a long queue of traffic.Leigh had called Father a hypocrite and I worried about that for a moment,especially when I remembered Mrs Greenhough had said the same thing. But thenthe volume of traffic and the buildings took my attention instead. In fact,there were more cars visible from my seat than I had ever seen in the space ofa single day before. And houses lined both sides of the street; a street thatseemed to go on forever. Where did all those people go when they wanted to bealone?There were so many people on bicycles; so manypeople on foot. Men with beards and flared colourful trousers, men wearingshorts and coloured vests, women with skirts as short as Abby's, some evenshorter, some a lot longer, women with bare shoulders and necklines that madetheir breasts obvious. People in all sorts of clothes, people with differentcoloured skins, people of all shapes and sizes. And a huge stone wall with anarched gateway and towers. And so many shops I could not count them. It wasamazing, exciting, frightening, fascinating, wonderful, alarming, incredible.We drove into an open space that seemed big enoughto hold my entire village and Leigh parked the car amongst hundreds of othercars in an area that seemed to exist only for that purpose. He switched off theengine and laughed at me. 'Close your mouth, Faith, you'll catch flies.''It's… everything's so… I've never seen so many… Ifeel so small and … there's so much to look at and…''I thought it might be a little overwhelming foryou. But you're bright and brave and I'm sure you'll cope. Don't stare and gape,especially at people; they're not so tolerant of innocence in cities. Countryfolk are a lot more accommodating of strangeness, rather oddly. I'll answer anyquestion you want to ask. And, please, do ask. Don't be afraid or embarrassed.I'd much rather you asked than made an idiot of yourself.''Or of you.''True. But it's you I'm most concerned about.Right. Stay in the car whilst I get the ticket.''I want to come with you, Leigh. I want to see. Iwant to see everything.'
###
You've come this far, so it'sunlikely you'll stop now. But, just in case you get impatient waiting, you knowwhere to buy the book.
Web site: http://stuartaken.co.uk
Tweet with me: http://twitter.com/@stuartaken
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/StuartAken

The Dangers of Distraction.

Image via Wikipedia
Do you do it? You know what I mean; participate insocial networking. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Digg, StumbleUpon and Google+are all sites where you'll find me commenting, posting, bringing items ofinterest to other people. Then there are the peer review sites; those placeswhere you post a piece of writing and hope for some reviews, but in exchangeyou have to post reviews of the work of others, which, of course, means readingthem. There are even altruistic sites, like Critters, where the emphasis is onthe support and nurturing of young talent for no reward other than that ofhelping out.
All these activities detract from your writing byinvolving the use of your time. There's so much advice out there on how best tolearn to write and how to learn to write well. But one piece of advice standsout from the rest, in my mind at any rate: if you want to write, and writewell, ignore everything else, and write. That, of course, is a little sparseand not as comprehensive as it ought to be. If you write without reading, forexample, you're doomed to repeat the mistakes of others, doomed to repeat whathas already been written, doomed to remain enclosed in your world of delusionwhere you're a brilliant, if untried and unpublished, writer.
So, to that injunction to write, I must add; read.Read often, read well-written work only, which doesn't necessarily meanbest-sellers. I mean, Jeffrey Archer's novels are sometimes described as'best-sellers', but would you call it good writing? I've read a few of theauthors who sell lots of books and discovered that they often write in clichés,clichés of both phrase and idea. Formulaic, superficial writing seems to sellwell for reasons I don't understand. But if you're more interested in dollarsand pounds than the quality of the work you produce, you know where to findyour role models. But be prepared to be forgotten as soon as your book is read.Prepare to be lost to history and the future. It's rare indeed for abest-seller to outlive the era in which the work was published. Oh, there areexceptions; there are always exceptions. They prove the rule, after all.
So, to improve your writing, read extensively fromthe best you can find. And then, write. Write something new every day, as apriority. Even if you can manage only a few words, even if it's no more than adiary entry, write something, something new, every day. Make it the best youcan if it's only a few words. If, on the other hand, you're engaged in theconstruction of a more beefy piece, a short story, essay, novel or non-fictiontome, then I'd advise you to get the words down first. I know some people are,or feel they are, incapable of moving on until what they've written is the verybest they can make it. For most would-be writers that way leads to an eternityof unfinished work. If you get the words down first, you can then revisit anduse the editing process to refine and improve.
To return to the beginning: social networking andthe like. If you must network, connect, interact - and which of us doesn't dothis?- I'd suggest you do it only after you've done your day's writing.If you treat your writing as a profession, treat it as work, you'll be far moreable to set and keep to your real priorities. The job of a writer is to write.That's the first priority. Everything else is secondary and should be treatedas such.
I speak from experience here.
I've spent most of the past few months engaged insocial networking; building that essential writer's platform beloved of agentsand publishers. So, I've Tweeted, posted stuff to Facebook, engaged indiscussions on LinkedIn,joined groups on Goodreads.It's been productive in terms of contacts and connections. And I've had a greatdeal of fun in the process; made a great many new friends at various levels ofthe writing craft from real beginner to accomplished author and every stagebetween. Met and connected with readers of all sorts. I wouldn't have missedthe experience for the world. But, in that time, I've written and submitted toofew stories, put down too few words (apart from November last year, when Iparticipated in NaNoWriMo as a way to drive myself back into actually writing,and produced the first draft of a comedy thriller, writing 112,242 words beforethe time was up). But I have, sitting on my computer, two volumes of an epicfantasy trilogy, and I should have written volume three by now, should have hadthe books out there in the market place for readers. But no; the networking hastaken precedence. So, I know what I'm talking about here.
So, following my own advice, I'm now aiming toproduce at least one new story each week, complete the editing and route to publicationfor my NaNoWriMo novel titled An Avenger Unseen, and begin work on volume threeof the epic fantasy. All social networking will take a back seat and be doneonly when I've completed my writing for that day.
If you want to write, I urge you to write. Leave thedistractions, digressions, procrastination for others and you might find thereare people out there actually reading the words you've put down. Isn't thatsomething worth aiming for?
A silly question to ponder: If corn oil comes fromcorn, olive oil from olives, and vegetable oil from vegetables, where does babyoil come from?

Read an E-Book Month 2012

Choosing an E-Book Reader (Photo credit: Andrew Mason)
Adapted from Mark Coker onthe Smashwords site.Wonderful News: March is now Read an E-book Month in Canada!By virtue of an Order by the 41st Parliament of Canada, FirstSession, Motion M-293 was passed declaring the month ofMarch Read an E-Book Month.The Order reads:That, in the opinion of the House, the government should: (a)recognize that the ePublishing industry has created economic opportunities forentrepreneurs, authors, publishers and e-reader manufacturers; (b) recognizethat e-books present significant benefits for seniors and children; (c)recognize that e-books are an environmentally-friendly alternative to books;(d) declare the month of March as "Read anE-book Month"; (e) support the goals and ideals of "Read anE-book Month; and (f) encourage Canadians to observe "Read anE-book Month".Canada has taken steps to recognize the innovation of e-bookentrepreneurs and the value this new technology brings to society.Wouldn't it be great if we could have the whole world join inand have a worldwide E-book Month? Some event sponsors are also doing something special for Readan E-Book Month.E Ink: Look for contests and exciting factoids on the E Ink Readan E-Book Month Facebook page!Content will be unlocked as each day of the month arrives. They have also setup a website page forthe event.Indigo Book & Music willoffer $10.00 off a Kobo WiFi e-reader during Read an E-Book Month.####
E-book Reading Devices
E-books have gone mainstream! The latestannouncements on airlines include: "Please turn off all electronicdevices, including electronic book readers...." That translates into ahome run for e-books. They have arrived!Of course, e-books can just as easily read on a computer orlaptop. That's what the first e-books were created for. But now e-books aremore commonly read on e-book reading devices like the iPad, Sony Reader, Kobo,Kindle  and a host of other dedicateddevices.The list of e-book readers, and formats they read in, is growingyearly. The good news is that new technologies make these devices more durableand easier to see in all lighting situations.E-books can also be read on handheld computers (aka Pocket PCs,or PDAs). These pocket-sized devices are popular with people on the go, and cancarry an astounding amount of memory!Smartphones are combined PDAs and cellphones, and like PDAs,they are great e-book readers for people with long commutes on publictransport. Try an e-book on your Nexus One.Last year during Read an E-Book Week we had a list, and link, tothe most popular e-book readers. This year there are simply too many to keeptrack of. Instead, here's a few great links to learn about e-book readers --past, present and future!

E-Book Matrix 
The eBook Reader Blog
The eBook Reader
E-Book Reader ComparisonSo, if you don't already own one of thesedevices,  now you can discover which isbest for you and go ahead, take the plunge, and find your way to reading morebooks, often at greatly reduced prices. In fact, many of the classics areavailable free as ebooks. And taking books on holiday no longer need take upspace or weight in your luggage if you have an e-reader; they can often carry up to 1,200books!

Smashwords Read An E-Book Week

My ebooks will all be available either free or, in the case of Breaking Faith, at 50% off, for the week 4 March to 11 March as part of a Smashwords promotion. 


Smashwords is the publisher I use for my ebooks. 


If you'd like to obtain a copy of one of the books as above,  visit  https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/stuartaken where you'll be able to get four of them free and the major romantic thriller, Breaking Faith, for $1.50.
  
All I ask is that, if you take advantyage of this offer, you do a short review and place it on Smashwords, Amazon and /or Goodreads. Indie authors depend on reviews for readers, as they don't have the powerful marketing machinery used by major publishers.


So, what have you got to lose? This is an ideal opportunity to enjoy some fiction at either no cost or less than the price of a cup of coffee.
Enjoy.