Chris James's Blog, page 10

When the end is only the beginning

Yesterday, I wrote “THE END” on, er, the end of my ninth full-length novel. This, however, is only the beginning. The first draft of a novel is no more ready for its readership than a house that has had its roof newly fixed and in which the plaster has only just set is ready for habitation.

The future holds many rounds of structural editing, line editing and proofreading. But as all writers know, you can’t edit a blank page, and at this stage, that’s the most important thing. I’m going to go and sort out a cover and set in motion all of the other aspects of getting this novel ready for publication, not least working out the actual date it will be ready to release. But for those of you who would like to know, I’m happy to confirm that The Repulse Chronicles, Book Four: The Endgame exists somewhere other than just inside my head. Stay safe, peeps.

Happy sunshine (winter in Warsaw)

The sun came out today for the first really sunny day in heaven knows how many weeks. And we’re having the first proper winter in eight years this year: the temperature is cold enough so that on a sunny day, the snow doesn’t just melt into a runny mess but hangs on with that winter crispness. Here are my best shots from today, starting with a jay on the bird table in the front garden, a couple from the back garden, then a few from our local managed forest (keep an eye out for a breeze blowing snow from the top of a tall pine tree), and a couple from a walk along the Vistula, where I got a nice shot of Warsaw’s ever-changing skyline.

Stay safe and healthy where you are, dear readers!

Winter!

Ordinarily, snow falling on Warsaw in the middle of January would not be worthy of note. But over the 22 years I’ve been living here, I’ve noticed the winters become much milder. The last significant snowfall was in 2012/13, when it kept snowing right up to Easter in April. The last really cold winter was 2005/06, when the mercury dropped to a slightly fresh -27. Tonight it is -16 but what makes this cold snap strange is that it only began last Wednesday with the first snowfall, and is projected to end by Tuesday morning, when the temperature will return to above zero for a few days at least. So, while it’s here, here is the snow in my back garden, staying light and fluffy as snow only really does when the temperature is below -10.

Stay safe and warm!

Guest post: The First Year of the Third Decade of the Age of Stupid, by the Venerable Bede

“And lo, at the beginning of the First Year of the Third Decade of the Age of Stupid, a Great Pestilence did make its way from the East along the Silk Road, and did cause much harm and bring vast Misery and Death to the countries of the West and the New World.

“But this was the Age of Stupid, when people turned their backs on the Men and Women of Knowledge.  Yay, verily, in the New World, the disciples and acolytes of the Orange Shit-Gibbon did follow their Master’s teachings, unto the arms of Death itself, for they did not believe the Great Pestilence was real because they could not see it with their own eyes.  Indeed, His disciples and acolytes did curse and spit on the Men and Women of Knowledge, and did reject the evidence that Knowledge brought forth even as the Great Pestilence did fill their lungs with foul liquid and they breathed their last.  Such was the Age of Stupid.

“And lo, His Majesty the Mighty Musk, the Poster Boy for the Age of Stupid, did explode many rockets in the sky in celebration of the False Genius of the Orange Shit-Gibbon, and did try to convince the whole world that He did something remarkable, although in truth it was no different to the rockets others had exploded before the Age of Stupid.  Yay, and even His rockets did not explode as planned, which happened often.  Such was the Age of Stupid.

“In Perfidious Albion, the Greased Albino Piglet strove to pretend to care for all the common people; but, lo, He gave out all of the Gold to His associates of knaves and charlatans, who did cluster about Him in the same manner as insects do weave and dive and fret about excrement.  In Perfidious Albion, too, did thousands perish needlessly from the Great Pestilence, but this did not matter because the Hoarders of the Gold could protect themselves, and did reason that because they hoarded all of the Gold, they were better and their lives worth more than the common people.  Such was the Age of Stupid.

“And lo, when the Men and Women of Knowledge found an antidote to the Great Pestilence, those who had cried the loudest, those who claimed there was nothing to fear from it, those who bleated that the poor and old and infirm should be glad to embrace Death to protect the imaginary creation of yet more Gold, were the first to scuttle like rats to be inoculated against the Great Pestilence, for their Gold did allow them all manner of advantage to which the furthest extremes of Hypocrisy and Cowardice were no barrier.  Such was the Age of Stupid.

“Near the end of the First Year of the Third Decade of the Age of Stupid, in the New World the common people did throw off the yoke of the Orange Shit-Gibbon, but, alas, they did make the same error that many knaves and fools had made for centuries before them.  For the Age of Stupid had created such a dissonance and cacophony of lies that the Seeds of Permanent Chaos had been sown, and had found fertile soil in ignorance and wasted passions.  Yay, verily, the common people were immersed in a dense fog of Darkness and Chaos made by the Hoarders of the Gold, so that Blindness did descend upon all common people, until they knew not what was right and what was wrong.  Such was the Age of Stupid.

“Perfidious Albion did choose, with willingness and such foresight as centuries of misplaced Anger and Hatred could afford, to cut itself off from those to whom it sold the vast mass of its wool and tallow and other trifles.  Innumerable lies and half-truths promulgated by the Hoarders of the Gold did lead the common and ill-educated people to shun their neighbours, and Spite made them remove themselves from their fellow European peoples in such a manner as a man with a boil on his toe would willingly have his surgeon amputate his whole leg to ‘cure’ himself.  Such was the Age of Stupid.

“And thus did the Hoarders of the Gold ensure complete safety for their fortunes.  Through chicanery and subterfuge did they swindle and trick the poor and ill-educated multitudes.  The Seeds of Permanent Chaos were sown in this First Year of the Third Decade of the Age of Stupid.  Some of the common people saw through this Great Deception, some cried out that all people should return to follow Knowledge once again, and escape the Darkness and Chaos.  But, alas, it would transpire to be too late, for only Greed and Lust and Gold would hold sway over most of the common people for many decades to come.

“Yay, verily, there would come a time many centuries hence when chroniclers of the past would argue long and late into the night over whether the Hoarders of Gold or the Great Pestilence had wrought the vaster misery.  Such is the Age of Stupid.”

This Most Especial Guest Missive from the Venerable Bede has been sent from AD 730 to AD 2020 by TTZ, your time travel experts ready to meet all of your time travel needs!

Happy Christmas and thanks for reading

It is tricky—to say the least—to know whether this year we should wish each other a “Happy Christmas” or just mutter something like: “Yeah, just do your best, take care and stay healthy till this shit is over.”

However, one thing that hasn’t changed for me is the sense of gratitude when someone buys one of my books or an Amazon Prime member reads some pages.  As an avid reader, I am only too aware how many great books there are, so anyone who comes across my work, takes a look at the cover and blurb, and decides to give it a go, has my thanks in abundance.  The attention this year’s release received really took me by surprise.  The Battle for Europe did much better than I expected, and then I considered perhaps that was because readers saw a trilogy and thought the three novels were a complete story.  If that was you, my apologies.  The Repulse Chronicles will run to at least six and possibly seven novels.  I’m not sure yet.  Sorry, that happens.  I could write tens of novels set in that story universe, but, hey, I want to keep them entertaining so hopefully only the best parts will get through to publication.

Anyhow, happy Christmas.  Thanks for reading.  Be safe.  Wear a mask.  Keep distance.  Stay heathy.  I’m going to publish the fourth part of The Repulse Chronicles next year, and I really want you to be around to read and hopefully enjoy it. I’ll be back at the end of the year with a very special guest on this blog.  In the meantime, here are a few pictures from our traditional Wigilia this evening.

Documenting the new motorway, #12: Making hay while the sun shines

Regular visitors will know that on 1 November each year, I always post pictures from a local cemetery, the graves bedecked in chrysanthemums and candles, the mood sombre and moving. This year, however, the cemeteries in Poland are closed due to the pandemic. As in other countries in Europe, the Polish government knew the second wave was on its way, but waited until last Friday to make the announcement.

As you might imagine, this has left many small businesses and sole traders out of pocket: people who rely on the All Saints Day crowds to sell those flowers and candles, and who are now left with stock they must be hoping they’ll be able to flog to people dribbling back into the cemeteries during next week.

So today I got on my bike in blazing autumnal sunshine and went to see the new motorway. This section is all but complete, and it was a little unnerving to be peddling along a carriageway that should open at the end of the year. The first five shots below are heading west towards Poznan and Berlin, then there is a shot of the new bridge over the Vistula, yet to be surfaced, and then a few more shots coming back eastbound to little Radosc. At the risk of repeating myself, in the shots where you can forest on both sides of the carriageway, just three shorts years ago that was all there was where this marvel of civil engineering now stands.

Stay safe and keep heathly, peeps!

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More autumnal colours

Finally the sun came out today and I managed to get a handful of half-decent shots. Here is what my local forest in southeast Warsaw looks like right now – stay safe peeps!:

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How it started; how it’s going

Normally at this time of year I’d be posting lots of autumnal photos as my favourite season continued. However, the last couple of weeks have seen unremittingly bleak weather with overcast skies, light drizzle and heavy rain, and no photo of autumn looks good unless there’s a blue sky in the background.

So, this week I’m joining in with a meme-type-thing that’s been doing the rounds recently: one photo that shows how it was when something started, and a second image to show how it is now. There’s also a short, 14-second video of fun with Splidge the kitten.

Hope you’re all keeping well out there. Stay safe, peeps.

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First autumnal colours

September passed in a flash for me, mainly due to my full-time job. The firm I work for set up a competition to raise money for a children’s cancer charity. The objective was to cycle as many kilometres as possible and a certain amount would be donated per kilometre. Distances were recorded by an app on our phones. Great idea, except I hadn’t counted on Michal.

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At the office, Michal is the consummate legal personal assistant: professional, responsive, and very able. He also wanted to record the most kilometres. As did I. So, for nearly three weeks we pedalled away in ever-escalating distances: if I did 30km one day, he did 50km the next. If I did 70km the day after that, he did over 100km the following day. Last Tuesday alone, I cycled 110km (17 into work, 60 after work IN THE RAIN!, and then another 33 when the rain stopped), only to find, when I checked the app the next morning, that he’d done 20km more than me.

By the end of the fundraiser, Michal had 30 or so kilometres more than me, but really everyone was a winner. He and I sparking off each other like that raised more money for the charity than we would have otherwise, and of course both of us are slightly fitter than we were a month ago.

In the meantime, October has arrived and brought autumn with it. I do so enjoy watching the colours change. Here are a few shots from my garden today. Regular visitors to this blog may recall this post at the beginning of May, when I along with the rest of the James family replaced the front fence. Below, you can see how much is covered after the first five months.

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Cute kitten update

It’s been over four months since Bonnie gave birth, but the remaining kitten still likes to suckle, as well as go for more traditional food when it’s offered or even when she finds an open can of tuna on the dinner table. All five of the cats are finally getting along, which is a good thing given that the days are pulling in and soon they’ll be spending more time in the house than out. But still, they’re so cute…