David L. Atkinson's Blog, page 128
February 12, 2014
Poetry Thursday 97 - Love and St. Valentine
There is a myriad of material about St Valentine's Day and I have written about the origin of the day myself so I will avoid that but I do have to comment and the theme is LOVE.
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Valentine’s Day
It shouldn't be about how much you payfor the cellophane wrapped, flower bouquet.It shouldn't be about the cards you sendfor the postman to deliver to your friend.It shouldn't be the size or quality of giftthat you've bought perchance to heal a rift.
Valentine’s Day is a chance to expressthe love you feel within your chest.An opportunity to please the oneyour whole being is dependent upon.Take the chance to show your emotionto the significant subject of your devotion.©David L Atkinson February 2013
This is for the Valentine junkies. The whole slushy, pink, sickly hype does my head in! Surely one can express love for a person without transforming from a thinking human being to a quivering, simpering confection!In the realms of love I am an abject failure and there are probably a wide range of reasons for that. My failures are my problem but have left me feeling that the trite statement that 'there is someone out there for you' is also rubbish. Not only that but I can't think that I have the energy to maintain a relationship any more.So here is what I think the perfect woman would need to be for a younger me.
She’d Be
She’d have to be warm, kind and caring,generous in her loving.She’d have to be pretty, full of patienceand blessed with a gentle intelligence.She’d have to be perceptive and able to understandthe faults and tastes she holds in her hands.She’d have to be confident in allowing a placein times when her man requires his space.She’d need to be secure and strongeven when he’s in the wrong.She’d hold his fragile heart, gently cradledwhile he struts as he is fabled.
For all of this generosity a girl receivesunconditional love the way he believes.©David L Atkinson February 2014
Really I subscribe to the Yoda view below.
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Like a ghost, true love is... Talk about it, everybody does. But to actually see it, few people have.
God Bless
[image error]
Valentine’s Day
It shouldn't be about how much you payfor the cellophane wrapped, flower bouquet.It shouldn't be about the cards you sendfor the postman to deliver to your friend.It shouldn't be the size or quality of giftthat you've bought perchance to heal a rift.
Valentine’s Day is a chance to expressthe love you feel within your chest.An opportunity to please the oneyour whole being is dependent upon.Take the chance to show your emotionto the significant subject of your devotion.©David L Atkinson February 2013
This is for the Valentine junkies. The whole slushy, pink, sickly hype does my head in! Surely one can express love for a person without transforming from a thinking human being to a quivering, simpering confection!In the realms of love I am an abject failure and there are probably a wide range of reasons for that. My failures are my problem but have left me feeling that the trite statement that 'there is someone out there for you' is also rubbish. Not only that but I can't think that I have the energy to maintain a relationship any more.So here is what I think the perfect woman would need to be for a younger me.
She’d Be
She’d have to be warm, kind and caring,generous in her loving.She’d have to be pretty, full of patienceand blessed with a gentle intelligence.She’d have to be perceptive and able to understandthe faults and tastes she holds in her hands.She’d have to be confident in allowing a placein times when her man requires his space.She’d need to be secure and strongeven when he’s in the wrong.She’d hold his fragile heart, gently cradledwhile he struts as he is fabled.
For all of this generosity a girl receivesunconditional love the way he believes.©David L Atkinson February 2014
Really I subscribe to the Yoda view below.
[image error]
Like a ghost, true love is... Talk about it, everybody does. But to actually see it, few people have.
God Bless
February 11, 2014
Writing - How events influence direction.
I have almost completed another chapter of Most Wanted Artefact this morning. There is a significant event towards the end of the chapter - a car chase and crash - which I hadn't planned. That event came from earlier action in the chapter and when I started I didn't know it was going to happen.
This is an alternate way of relating the fact that once the characters are off and running it isn't unusual for them to take you, the writer, and run with you! Those of us who need to plan to the nth degree may well worry when this occurs, but if you let go of the plan and just write it is amazing the sense of enjoyment it generates. In this case it is almost like watching a film you haven't seen previously and has you on the edge of your seat in anticipation of what is going to happen next.
Now I must say that I do plan. It would be difficult to complete a novel on impulse alone but I tend to plan in blocks. I do have an idea of where the story I'm writing is going, I know where the story is going to take place, but the details happen as the events take place.
The Event
This is an extract of the event and an outcome.
...he took the first bend a little too quickly and the car started to fishtail around. He had no chance of making the second turn! His car, a Volvo, carried straight on into the trees at the bottom of the road and came to rest against an old oak with a crunch. Travelling as slow as thirty miles an hour and going to zero in no yards is a violent event - he was going faster. The Volvo is a sturdy vehicle but even so the bonnet was crumpled, steam was being emitted and the air bags had deployed. Patrick pulled up behind the damaged vehicle and he and Naomi exited and ran to the battered Volvo. There was no movement from inside but Patrick held his Glock ready while Naomi opened the driver’s door. The man inside was moaning, bleeding but alive. He was in no fit state to resist as Naomi checked him for weapons.......
Now if you are writing such an event, like all actions, there are various alternative reactions that can take place as a result. As Patrick A Steele believes in dispensing justice then he could kill this man and finish the job that had begun with the crash. You could arrange for an ambulance, or torture the truth from him, or he could die before the vital information you were chasing is revealed. There are all sorts of possibilities but there is an excitement in making the next choice. It is at this point that you need to have your overall direction in mind. The beauty of it is there are no wrong answers. There maybe some alternatives that are more marketable but the power of the story comes from within you and marketing is changeable and subject to fashion. I've come to the conclusion that my fame will end up being posthumous!
The point is I believe you will enjoy the process of writing, and therefore become better at it, if you write from what is within you and it will lead to success in your own eyes.
God Bless
February 10, 2014
Tuesday Recipe - Tadpoles in the hole
This is my take on a well known recipe.
Tadpoles (mini toads) in the hole
This is an incredibly cheap meal to make and borders on the healthy!! I am not posting a recipe on the Tab because it doesn't warrant that level of attention but rather it is a cheeky alternative to a huge Toad in the Hole. If you live on your own or if you fancy tempting the children without over facing them then this is a possibility. It came about because I fancied Yorkshire puddings last Sunday for Yorkshire pudding day and rather than spending time and effort making them I bought ready prepared puddings. I was looking for a plate sized pudding but they only had the 12 minis left! The most expensive part are the sausages which were £2 for 8 but they are 'healthy' sausages and I find quite tasty. The remainder of the meal was very reasonable, the puddings worked out at about 20p each and the veg is negligible. This is also a very quick meal to make half an hour to an hour and that is mostly because of the roasted roots.I roasted carrots and parsnips in olive oil, salt black pepper and paprika, boiled the potato and green beans; then fried the sausages in vegetable oil with an onion and some seasoning. The Yorkshire puds take 4 minutes and I assembled the lot and popped them under the grill for a few minutes. The gravy was from granules with onions added from around the sausages. All-in-all a very simple but satisfying meal.
God Bless
Tadpoles (mini toads) in the hole
This is an incredibly cheap meal to make and borders on the healthy!! I am not posting a recipe on the Tab because it doesn't warrant that level of attention but rather it is a cheeky alternative to a huge Toad in the Hole. If you live on your own or if you fancy tempting the children without over facing them then this is a possibility. It came about because I fancied Yorkshire puddings last Sunday for Yorkshire pudding day and rather than spending time and effort making them I bought ready prepared puddings. I was looking for a plate sized pudding but they only had the 12 minis left! The most expensive part are the sausages which were £2 for 8 but they are 'healthy' sausages and I find quite tasty. The remainder of the meal was very reasonable, the puddings worked out at about 20p each and the veg is negligible. This is also a very quick meal to make half an hour to an hour and that is mostly because of the roasted roots.I roasted carrots and parsnips in olive oil, salt black pepper and paprika, boiled the potato and green beans; then fried the sausages in vegetable oil with an onion and some seasoning. The Yorkshire puds take 4 minutes and I assembled the lot and popped them under the grill for a few minutes. The gravy was from granules with onions added from around the sausages. All-in-all a very simple but satisfying meal.
God Bless
February 9, 2014
Writing - life events since 1982
I began writing facts about my life the other day - one for every year I've been alive. I took you all from 1950 - 1982
[image error]Falklands War
1982
32. Prince William was born.
33. I started a part time degree in Computer Literacy and Management in Education
34. Nissan agree to open a factory near my old home town. Its still going strong.
35. Married life less than perfect!
[image error]Sinclair C5 launched
36. Separated from first wife. Achieved a 2:1 hons degree. Alex Ferguson appointed manager of Manchester Utd and the first case of BSE found in cattle in the UK
37. Met the future 2nd Mrs Atkinson! The sinking of the ferry MS Herald of Free Enterprise, the Hungerford massacre, the "Great Storm". The storm was not predicted and weatherman Michael Fish was in some ways blamed for that failure.
38. Married again and daughter born. Piper Alpha disaster in the North Sea 167 killed.
39. Sky TV starts broadcastings as the first satellite TV station
40. My 40th year. Changed jobs and started working in Dewsbury. Margaret Thatcher replaced by John Major and Channel Tunnel workers from France and the UK meet beneath the Channel.
41. First website created at CERN.
42. Annus Horibilis for the Royal Family
43. My father died in March. Appointed deputy head at Bradley Junior school.
44. I'm working in the school from hell! Son in trouble with the police! Mum moved to Yorkshire to be closer to me.
45. War in the former Yugoslavia. Cliff Richards receives a knighthood.
46. Passed an audition to become part of Huddersfield Choral Society. The Dunblane Massacre - a gunman kills 16 children children, their teacher and himself.
47. A landslide General Election victory for the Labour Party under Tony Blair, the transfer of Hong Kong, the largest remaining British colony, to China and the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.
48. Good Friday Agreement between British and Irish Governments is signed. My son is in the army and posted to Northern Ireland.
49. Millennium bug
[image error]
Labour government wastes £6 million on a bug that was due to cause computer crashes at midnight on New Year's Eve. Nothing happened! Celebrated at a hotel in York with wife and daughter and a gang load of friends.
50. Fifty years old. Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother was 100 years old.
[image error]
51. 9/11 - terrorist attacks in New York. I went sick diagnosed with clinical depression.
52. Returned to work in September. Discharged myself from the doctor, wife couldn't cope with my illness.
53. War against Iraq.
54. A party of 23 Chinese cockle pickers were drowned in Morecambe Bay. Sunderland's FA Cup Winning Manager died. Statue erected outside the ground.
55. Retired from teaching with and enhanced pension. 7/7 bombings in London.
56. Started work for Halifax bank in Leeds. Separated from 2nd wife and moved to Mirfield.
57. Smoking ban in public places came into force.
58. The world was devastated by another financial depression with the major banks seemingly at fault.
59. Harry Patch (111) oldest WWI veteran dies. Started writing novels and poetry.
60. Cadbury's taken over by US Kraft Foods!
[image error]
61. Phone hacking scandal hits the news.
62. Retired from work to spend more time with mother. Mother died in October.
63. Holiday to Canada and USA.
That is very much a sample and there is almost nothing about my children, my music and little about my writing. However, in another year or so I may produce a different list. The point is that such an exercise gives points of reference that could be useful when developing a character. Questions like 'where were you when...' can give opportunities to put flesh on the bones of your hero or heroine.
God Bless
[image error]Falklands War
1982
32. Prince William was born.
33. I started a part time degree in Computer Literacy and Management in Education
34. Nissan agree to open a factory near my old home town. Its still going strong.
35. Married life less than perfect!
[image error]Sinclair C5 launched
36. Separated from first wife. Achieved a 2:1 hons degree. Alex Ferguson appointed manager of Manchester Utd and the first case of BSE found in cattle in the UK
37. Met the future 2nd Mrs Atkinson! The sinking of the ferry MS Herald of Free Enterprise, the Hungerford massacre, the "Great Storm". The storm was not predicted and weatherman Michael Fish was in some ways blamed for that failure.
38. Married again and daughter born. Piper Alpha disaster in the North Sea 167 killed.
39. Sky TV starts broadcastings as the first satellite TV station
40. My 40th year. Changed jobs and started working in Dewsbury. Margaret Thatcher replaced by John Major and Channel Tunnel workers from France and the UK meet beneath the Channel.
41. First website created at CERN.
42. Annus Horibilis for the Royal Family
43. My father died in March. Appointed deputy head at Bradley Junior school.
44. I'm working in the school from hell! Son in trouble with the police! Mum moved to Yorkshire to be closer to me.
45. War in the former Yugoslavia. Cliff Richards receives a knighthood.
46. Passed an audition to become part of Huddersfield Choral Society. The Dunblane Massacre - a gunman kills 16 children children, their teacher and himself.
47. A landslide General Election victory for the Labour Party under Tony Blair, the transfer of Hong Kong, the largest remaining British colony, to China and the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.
48. Good Friday Agreement between British and Irish Governments is signed. My son is in the army and posted to Northern Ireland.
49. Millennium bug
[image error]
Labour government wastes £6 million on a bug that was due to cause computer crashes at midnight on New Year's Eve. Nothing happened! Celebrated at a hotel in York with wife and daughter and a gang load of friends.
50. Fifty years old. Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother was 100 years old.
[image error]
51. 9/11 - terrorist attacks in New York. I went sick diagnosed with clinical depression.
52. Returned to work in September. Discharged myself from the doctor, wife couldn't cope with my illness.
53. War against Iraq.
54. A party of 23 Chinese cockle pickers were drowned in Morecambe Bay. Sunderland's FA Cup Winning Manager died. Statue erected outside the ground.
55. Retired from teaching with and enhanced pension. 7/7 bombings in London.
56. Started work for Halifax bank in Leeds. Separated from 2nd wife and moved to Mirfield.
57. Smoking ban in public places came into force.
58. The world was devastated by another financial depression with the major banks seemingly at fault.
59. Harry Patch (111) oldest WWI veteran dies. Started writing novels and poetry.
60. Cadbury's taken over by US Kraft Foods!
[image error]
61. Phone hacking scandal hits the news.
62. Retired from work to spend more time with mother. Mother died in October.
63. Holiday to Canada and USA.
That is very much a sample and there is almost nothing about my children, my music and little about my writing. However, in another year or so I may produce a different list. The point is that such an exercise gives points of reference that could be useful when developing a character. Questions like 'where were you when...' can give opportunities to put flesh on the bones of your hero or heroine.
God Bless
February 8, 2014
10 things we didn't know last week
1. Couples who watch and discuss romantic comedies are less likely to divorce than those who use other methods of relationship therapy.
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2. Prince is very good at ping pong.
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3. US military dogs are given ranks that make them more senior than their handlers to encourage the human to treat the animals with respect.
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4. Jackdaws' conspicuous bright eyes frighten off their competitors.
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5. Farmed salmon with no experience of the world outside line up with the Earth's magnetic field in the direction of their ancestral feeding grounds.
If you are unsure watch 'Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
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6. The faces of the fastest riders in the Tour de France are 25% more attractive to women than the slowest 10% of riders, although women on the pill had a reduced preference for quicker riders.
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7. At Italian football club Cagliari, the stadium has no seats numbered 17 as the number is considered unlucky in Italy - they are labelled 16b instead.
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8. Hydrangea plants contain hallucinogenic and euphoria-inducing properties.
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9. Humans walked on the Norfolk coast of England more than 800,000 years ago.
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10. Jose Mourinho is an unreliable witness when it comes to Scottish accents.
God Bless
February 7, 2014
Writing - What's in a word.
Having been born after WWII and therefore firmly entrenched in the baby boomer era I was pleased to read a couple of articles on the 1960s found on Readwave. One was concerning a hippie commune and the other a list of life events dating back to 1944. It was this second item that got me to thinking as there was a similar list from a fifteen year old. The contrast was spectacular.
Peace man
I will create my own list but from a writer's point of view in building a character and writing from where you're at it could help. If you write your own list, or even create a list going back sixty years or so then you can decide on an age for a character in your writing and using the past events list, develop a personality. It could be a new method for you or just a bit of fun.As I am in my 64th year I will produce my list in two halves the first half stretching from 1950 - 1982.
List
1. Visions of very young children are inherently unreliable however, flickering flames from a coal fire in a black range.
2. An outside toilet across the back yard.
3. Steam from a boiler when Mum washed the white cottons and linens on Mondays.
4. Moving to a brand new council house with an inside toilet!
[image error]
5. Having our first TV and my first day at Infant school. John cried all day!
6. A sitting room (lounge) full of men watching the cup final.
7. Junior school. My cousin told me that if you sat at the back of the class Mrs Stoddart was so fat she couldn't get at you if you did something wrong - she had other methods!
8. Grandma died. I now had no grandparents left but then I'd only known the one.
[image error]
9. Our first car - Austin A30 registration plate - FBR 286
10. The sixties begin and I saw a copy of Lady Chatterley's Lover. I remember not really understanding what I was reading about!!!
11. Passed my 11+ exam which meant I'd be attending a grammar school 5 miles away. Received a reel-to-reel tape recorder and taped Cliff Richard singing 'Travelling Light'
12. Started attending real live football matches with my father.
13. A teenager at last! Beatles, Rolling Stones and more great music. JFK assassinated.
14. My first trip abroad with school to Italy.
15. My second trip overseas to Amsterdam and a first girlfriend.
16. The 1966 World Cup which England won beating Germany in the final. 'O' Level exams 5 passes!
17. Entered Lower 6th and felt grown up.
18. A bad year! Made a mess of my 'A' Levels, lost my girlfriend to Sheffield University. Finally, accepted at a teacher training college in Bradford.
19. A great year at college. Second girlfriend. Good results. Passed my driving test.
20. Goodbye to teenage years. Work was much harder but still did okay. Dad gave me his car.
21. Moved into a house with two others. My first time of not living in the security of college residential halls. Applied and obtained my first job in Halifax.
22. Telephones becoming more widespread but my parents won't have one. We are still communicating by letter.
23. Sunderland beat Leeds Utd in the FA Cup Final.
24. 3 day working weeks, coal miners strikes, power cuts. A General Election. Lord Lucan disappeared!
25. Monty Python and the Holy Grail was released.
26. Met my first wife. Comedy actor Sid James died on stage at the Sunderland Empire. Heatwave breaking weather records.
27. Got married. Queen' Silver Jubilee. Mum and Dad came to stay at our first house.
28. The Yorkshire Ripper was murdering prostitutes. My dad retires from work.
29. My first son was born and disaster of disasters Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister. I started a new job in Cleckheaton.
30. John Lennon shot dead in New York.
31. Mum and dad got a telephone and the first computers arrived in school. As head of science it was put in my room.
32. Second son born. Argentina invades the Falklands triggering war. We won!
God Bless
Peace man
I will create my own list but from a writer's point of view in building a character and writing from where you're at it could help. If you write your own list, or even create a list going back sixty years or so then you can decide on an age for a character in your writing and using the past events list, develop a personality. It could be a new method for you or just a bit of fun.As I am in my 64th year I will produce my list in two halves the first half stretching from 1950 - 1982.
List
1. Visions of very young children are inherently unreliable however, flickering flames from a coal fire in a black range.
2. An outside toilet across the back yard.
3. Steam from a boiler when Mum washed the white cottons and linens on Mondays.
4. Moving to a brand new council house with an inside toilet!
[image error]
5. Having our first TV and my first day at Infant school. John cried all day!
6. A sitting room (lounge) full of men watching the cup final.
7. Junior school. My cousin told me that if you sat at the back of the class Mrs Stoddart was so fat she couldn't get at you if you did something wrong - she had other methods!
8. Grandma died. I now had no grandparents left but then I'd only known the one.
[image error]
9. Our first car - Austin A30 registration plate - FBR 286
10. The sixties begin and I saw a copy of Lady Chatterley's Lover. I remember not really understanding what I was reading about!!!
11. Passed my 11+ exam which meant I'd be attending a grammar school 5 miles away. Received a reel-to-reel tape recorder and taped Cliff Richard singing 'Travelling Light'
12. Started attending real live football matches with my father.
13. A teenager at last! Beatles, Rolling Stones and more great music. JFK assassinated.
14. My first trip abroad with school to Italy.
15. My second trip overseas to Amsterdam and a first girlfriend.
16. The 1966 World Cup which England won beating Germany in the final. 'O' Level exams 5 passes!
17. Entered Lower 6th and felt grown up.
18. A bad year! Made a mess of my 'A' Levels, lost my girlfriend to Sheffield University. Finally, accepted at a teacher training college in Bradford.
19. A great year at college. Second girlfriend. Good results. Passed my driving test.
20. Goodbye to teenage years. Work was much harder but still did okay. Dad gave me his car.
21. Moved into a house with two others. My first time of not living in the security of college residential halls. Applied and obtained my first job in Halifax.
22. Telephones becoming more widespread but my parents won't have one. We are still communicating by letter.
23. Sunderland beat Leeds Utd in the FA Cup Final.
24. 3 day working weeks, coal miners strikes, power cuts. A General Election. Lord Lucan disappeared!
25. Monty Python and the Holy Grail was released.
26. Met my first wife. Comedy actor Sid James died on stage at the Sunderland Empire. Heatwave breaking weather records.
27. Got married. Queen' Silver Jubilee. Mum and Dad came to stay at our first house.
28. The Yorkshire Ripper was murdering prostitutes. My dad retires from work.
29. My first son was born and disaster of disasters Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister. I started a new job in Cleckheaton.
30. John Lennon shot dead in New York.
31. Mum and dad got a telephone and the first computers arrived in school. As head of science it was put in my room.
32. Second son born. Argentina invades the Falklands triggering war. We won!
God Bless
February 6, 2014
Writing - The tools of our trade
I was having my usual battle with spell checker the other day which insists in querying words such as 'myself' realisation (it wants 'z'); and colour, and I realised that I was enjoying myself really. I love words and for writers they are the bread upon which we smear our thoughts and ideas. Then I was further intrigued by a quiz show that, at one point, focussed on foreign words in common use. Here is an expansion on that fact.
[image error]
Words that we have adopted are also subject to regional variations and so this blog fits in with the current theme. One such word would probably be 'sushi' which has been known in the country since the 1890's but it is only in the last 2 or 3 decades that it has become more common. In fact if there isn't a Yo Sushi or similar Japanese restaurant in an area the chances are that sushi won't be commonly used. Though sushi may be today, it hasn't made its way into the inner core of English in the same way as words like peace, war, just, or very (from French) or leg, sky, take, or they (from Scandinavian languages). This isn't just because they were borrowed longer ago. It owes a great deal to the different influences that foreign languages have had on the word-stock of English over the centuries.Some of the words have lasted for centuries and are the result of invasion or colonisation on our part but proximity doesn't always result in a cross fertilisation of language. There are some examples, like trousers, gull, clan, or (maybe) baby, but they are tiny in number compared with the vast numbers borrowed from French and Latin, and they have had less impact on the everyday language than words from Scandinavian sources.Ultimately, patterns of borrowed words reflect complex patterns of cultural contacts across the centuries. Names of foods, plants, animals, and other features of the natural world are borrowed as part of the basic traffic between peoples in different parts of the world. Borrowings affecting other areas of the vocabulary typically follow the pathways of power and prestige between languages. English today may, for once, be more of a lender than a borrower. If we try to look decades or centuries into the future, who knows?
-----------------------------------------
Venture Galleries
Tomorrow my 3rd Steele novel 'The Biter Bit' will begin its serialisation on Venture Galleries website.
Patrick A Steele, accountant turned vengeful Robin Hood, is off on his crusades once again. He has given himself a role that sees him trying to right the wrongs and inadequacies of the legal system in the UK. His experiences as a child and through higher education have equipped Patrick with abilities that realistically only has value in the field of rough justice.
Steele has developed a working relationship with the Gurentai, a more benevolent sub-group of the Japanese Yakuza and, as a result of a number of successful associations, have furnished him with a Swiss bank account and a very healthy retainer. As a result Patrick is building his own little empire.
Everything seems fine in his life until he is drawn into trying to solve the problem of lawless youths that are targeting tourists in the City of York. He enlists the help of his two colleagues from Japan, Takuo Sumisu and Naomi Kobayashi, and with one of his own staff they head off to identify and eradicate the source of the problem. All is proceeding as planned until there is a knifing and one of the team is shot!The action then migrates across France and eventually to Le Marche in eastern Italy where it seems to have been brought to a conclusion until the team return home!
http://venturegalleries.com/serial/sleeping-with-the-girl-who-wants-to-arrest-him/
God Bless
February 5, 2014
Poetry Thursday 96 - Personification
Personification is a figure of speech in which a thing, an idea or an animal is given human attributes. It's a great way of enjoying poetry in that it allows you to stretch your imagination.
Winter’s Blast
Week after week, day by daythe rams head storms repeatedlybutt the shores of this green andsoggy land.Homes, farms and towns gaspfor breath under millions ofgallons of fetid water oozing into every orifice.The government poses and posturesas a catwalk model paying lip servicebut always with dividend and profittheir selfish focus.When will the ram stop its weakeningassaults; the ooze leech away?The answer my child is when bold spring’s glare pierces winter’s dark shroud.©David L Atkinson January 2014
Venture Galleries
Tomorrow my 3rd Steele novel 'The Biter Bit' will begin its serialisation on Venture Galleries website.
Patrick A Steele, accountant turned vengeful Robin Hood, is off on his crusades once again. He has given himself a role that sees him trying to right the wrongs and inadequacies of the legal system in the UK. His experiences as a child and through higher education have equipped Patrick with abilities that realistically only has value in the field of rough justice.
Steele has developed a working relationship with the Gurentai, a more benevolent sub-group of the Japanese Yakuza and, as a result of a number of successful associations, have furnished him with a Swiss bank account and a very healthy retainer. As a result Patrick is building his own little empire.
Everything seems fine in his life until he is drawn into trying to solve the problem of lawless youths that are targeting tourists in the City of York. He enlists the help of his two colleagues from Japan, Takuo Sumisu and Naomi Kobayashi, and with one of his own staff they head off to identify and eradicate the source of the problem. All is proceeding as planned until there is a knifing and one of the team is shot!
The action then migrates across France and eventually to Le Marche in eastern Italy where it seems to have been brought to a conclusion until the team return home!
http://venturegalleries.com/serial/sleeping-with-the-girl-who-wants-to-arrest-him/
God Bless
Winter’s Blast
Week after week, day by daythe rams head storms repeatedlybutt the shores of this green andsoggy land.Homes, farms and towns gaspfor breath under millions ofgallons of fetid water oozing into every orifice.The government poses and posturesas a catwalk model paying lip servicebut always with dividend and profittheir selfish focus.When will the ram stop its weakeningassaults; the ooze leech away?The answer my child is when bold spring’s glare pierces winter’s dark shroud.©David L Atkinson January 2014
Venture Galleries
Tomorrow my 3rd Steele novel 'The Biter Bit' will begin its serialisation on Venture Galleries website.
Patrick A Steele, accountant turned vengeful Robin Hood, is off on his crusades once again. He has given himself a role that sees him trying to right the wrongs and inadequacies of the legal system in the UK. His experiences as a child and through higher education have equipped Patrick with abilities that realistically only has value in the field of rough justice.
Steele has developed a working relationship with the Gurentai, a more benevolent sub-group of the Japanese Yakuza and, as a result of a number of successful associations, have furnished him with a Swiss bank account and a very healthy retainer. As a result Patrick is building his own little empire.
Everything seems fine in his life until he is drawn into trying to solve the problem of lawless youths that are targeting tourists in the City of York. He enlists the help of his two colleagues from Japan, Takuo Sumisu and Naomi Kobayashi, and with one of his own staff they head off to identify and eradicate the source of the problem. All is proceeding as planned until there is a knifing and one of the team is shot!
The action then migrates across France and eventually to Le Marche in eastern Italy where it seems to have been brought to a conclusion until the team return home!
http://venturegalleries.com/serial/sleeping-with-the-girl-who-wants-to-arrest-him/
God Bless
February 4, 2014
Writing Process - Identity and characterisation
This weekend has reminded me very much of my own identity. My football team were playing at the home of our biggest local rivals. We won!!!! Many friends have asked me about the rivalry and my stock answer is - it's tribal. In point of fact that is only half a joke. The rivalry goes back centuries. I'm sure there are other areas of other countries that are exactly the same but local identity can be a useful tool when writing stories.
[image error]
Black and white peppered moths
Identity is often dictated by environment as well as location. The photo of the moths is an example of how simpler creatures than humans adapt to their environments. The white variety is the natural form of the moth. On the left is an example of the same species that was active in Bradford, West Yorkshire before smokeless law came into effect in the late sixties early seventies. At that time pollution was such that the tree bark upon which the moths lived was blackened and so, to avoid being picked off by predators, the moths evolved to the dark colour.
Similarly we humans adapt to different types of situations. Ever heard anyone talking on the telephone? They often adopt a 'telephone voice' and the logical reason is to be understood. I often embarrass myself and my family by adopting the accent of a person that I'm talking to - I can't help it I seem to be a verbal chameleon.
[image error]
The characters that we create can be enriched, made more alive if you like, by ascribing such regional variations. It doesn't have to be extensive or repeated but rather referred to on occasions where it is relevant to do so. Steele is a reasonable example. He is a man born in the north east of England. Sunderland in fact so he has a north eastern accent but not of the Geordie variety. The accent is not as strong as that of those brought up on the banks of the River Tyne on top of which he was educated in a different part of the UK (want to know where - buy a book) and then lived in a third part of the country. I use his regional wanderings to develop his sound, his manner, in short - aspects of his character.
FYI
Tomorrow my 3rd Steele novel 'The Biter Bit' will begin its serialisation on Venture Galleries website.
Patrick A Steele, accountant turned vengeful Robin Hood, is off on his crusades once again. He has given himself a role that sees him trying to right the wrongs and inadequacies of the legal system in the UK. His experiences as a child and through higher education have equipped Patrick with abilities that realistically only has value in the field of rough justice.
Steele has developed a working relationship with the Gurentai, a more benevolent sub-group of the Japanese Yakuza and, as a result of a number of successful associations, have furnished him with a Swiss bank account and a very healthy retainer. As a result Patrick is building his own little empire.
Everything seems fine in his life until he is drawn into trying to solve the problem of lawless youths that are targeting tourists in the City of York. He enlists the help of his two colleagues from Japan, Takuo Sumisu and Naomi Kobayashi, and with one of his own staff they head off to identify and eradicate the source of the problem. All is proceeding as planned until there is a knifing and one of the team is shot!
The action then migrates across France and eventually to Le Marche in eastern Italy where it seems to have been brought to a conclusion until the team return home!
God Bless
[image error]
Black and white peppered moths
Identity is often dictated by environment as well as location. The photo of the moths is an example of how simpler creatures than humans adapt to their environments. The white variety is the natural form of the moth. On the left is an example of the same species that was active in Bradford, West Yorkshire before smokeless law came into effect in the late sixties early seventies. At that time pollution was such that the tree bark upon which the moths lived was blackened and so, to avoid being picked off by predators, the moths evolved to the dark colour.
Similarly we humans adapt to different types of situations. Ever heard anyone talking on the telephone? They often adopt a 'telephone voice' and the logical reason is to be understood. I often embarrass myself and my family by adopting the accent of a person that I'm talking to - I can't help it I seem to be a verbal chameleon.
[image error]
The characters that we create can be enriched, made more alive if you like, by ascribing such regional variations. It doesn't have to be extensive or repeated but rather referred to on occasions where it is relevant to do so. Steele is a reasonable example. He is a man born in the north east of England. Sunderland in fact so he has a north eastern accent but not of the Geordie variety. The accent is not as strong as that of those brought up on the banks of the River Tyne on top of which he was educated in a different part of the UK (want to know where - buy a book) and then lived in a third part of the country. I use his regional wanderings to develop his sound, his manner, in short - aspects of his character.
FYI
Tomorrow my 3rd Steele novel 'The Biter Bit' will begin its serialisation on Venture Galleries website.
Patrick A Steele, accountant turned vengeful Robin Hood, is off on his crusades once again. He has given himself a role that sees him trying to right the wrongs and inadequacies of the legal system in the UK. His experiences as a child and through higher education have equipped Patrick with abilities that realistically only has value in the field of rough justice.
Steele has developed a working relationship with the Gurentai, a more benevolent sub-group of the Japanese Yakuza and, as a result of a number of successful associations, have furnished him with a Swiss bank account and a very healthy retainer. As a result Patrick is building his own little empire.
Everything seems fine in his life until he is drawn into trying to solve the problem of lawless youths that are targeting tourists in the City of York. He enlists the help of his two colleagues from Japan, Takuo Sumisu and Naomi Kobayashi, and with one of his own staff they head off to identify and eradicate the source of the problem. All is proceeding as planned until there is a knifing and one of the team is shot!
The action then migrates across France and eventually to Le Marche in eastern Italy where it seems to have been brought to a conclusion until the team return home!
God Bless
February 3, 2014
Tuesday Recipe - Beef and pea pilaf
This dish is quite similar to kedgeree particularly if you make a fish pilaf, but there are differences in that it is more spicy than an authentic kedgeree and it is an eastern European dish as opposed to a meal of Indian origin.
The recipe is on the TAB at the top of the page but originates from TV chef Tony Singh. He describes it as a budget recipe and I can certainly agree with that summation. It is however very tasty and quick to make. Pilaf (also known as pilav, pilau, plov, pulao, polu and palaw) is a dish in which rice is cooked in a seasoned broth. In some cases, the rice may also attain its brown colour by being stirred with bits of cooked onion, as well as a large mix of spices. Depending on the local cuisine, it may also contain meat, fish, vegetables, and (dried) fruits.Pilaf and similar dishes are common to Balkan, Middle Eastern, Caucasian, Central and South Asian, East African, Latin American, and Caribbean cuisines. It is a staple food and a national dish in Afghan, Uzbek, Swahili cuisine Kenya, Tajik, and Bukharan Jewish cuisines.
Just to demonstrate the versatility and to marry up with Yorkshire Pudding Day the pilaf has been used here as a filling for the beloved Yorkshires.
God Bless
The recipe is on the TAB at the top of the page but originates from TV chef Tony Singh. He describes it as a budget recipe and I can certainly agree with that summation. It is however very tasty and quick to make. Pilaf (also known as pilav, pilau, plov, pulao, polu and palaw) is a dish in which rice is cooked in a seasoned broth. In some cases, the rice may also attain its brown colour by being stirred with bits of cooked onion, as well as a large mix of spices. Depending on the local cuisine, it may also contain meat, fish, vegetables, and (dried) fruits.Pilaf and similar dishes are common to Balkan, Middle Eastern, Caucasian, Central and South Asian, East African, Latin American, and Caribbean cuisines. It is a staple food and a national dish in Afghan, Uzbek, Swahili cuisine Kenya, Tajik, and Bukharan Jewish cuisines.
Just to demonstrate the versatility and to marry up with Yorkshire Pudding Day the pilaf has been used here as a filling for the beloved Yorkshires.
God Bless
