David L. Atkinson's Blog, page 22

Writing - Author interview

I publish the article in its entirety and with gratitude to Venture Galleries.Inside the Literary Mind of David L AtkinsonFebruary 12, 2017Caleb Pirtle III
I don’t do much planning and prefers to let the characters develop the storyline. Born in Sunderland many years ago, David Atkinson went to college in Bradford and trained to be a teacher, a profession he followed for thirty-four years. Then he worked in a bank for six years before retiring completely. He remained in Yorkshire and that is where he writes.
Atkinson has always had the ambition to write and eventually began in 2009. The novel 7 Days After is his tenth Patrick Steele thriller.
Since beginning with novels, he has felt the need to have some other outlet and has produced a quantity of poetry in different styles. The first and quite limited collection is published in createspace.com entitled The Musings of a Confused Mind.
Today I am interviewing David Atkinson, and reviewers have said of his work: “The story flows beautifully and is very well written. The story line is exciting and each page leaves you wanting so much more. This author is a very talented writer and has a great style.”

David L AtkinsonQuestion: Tell me about your newest book and what was the inspiration behind your writing it?
David: My latest novel, which at the time of writing this is in editing, is the 10th Patrick Steele novel. The title is 7 Hours After which refers to TWC Building 7, the building that collapsed at 17:20 after the demise of the Twin Towers on 9/11.
I was inspired to write in part because of the snippets of information that I kept seeing in the news about ‘facts’ surrounding the happenings of that fateful day and their associated anomalies. It also matches the mentality of the lead character Patrick Steele who has a strong sense of injustice.

Question: Why and when did you decide to become a writer?
David: I believe that there has been that ‘itch’ in my mind for many years but I felt that it was unscratchable because of the need to ‘earn a living’. I eased the need to write by producing poetry but could never get by the fact that anyone who read my work was doing so from politeness and that pertains in some degree to this day. As I was reaching retirement age and was working part time to help care for my mother, opportunities began to arise for me to begin writing more seriously and so at the age of fifty-nine I started my first full length novel.

Question: What book has been the greatest influence on you and your writing and why?
David: There wasn’t one book or even one author that influenced me really. It was more to do with passages of books that I’d read. HMS Ulysses by Alistair MacLean was one example. At the beginning of the story there is what I felt to be an awesome description of the sea as a Russian convoy was being escorted by Royal Naval vessels during World War II. Similarly the atmosphere created by Charles Dickens at the beginning of Great Expectations when Pip runs into Magwitch in the swamp. Since reading those books many years ago I have been even more impressed by other writers. Philip Pullmans’ Dark Materials is truly massive in the range of original concepts he created and the unspoken commentary on religion that runs as a thread throughout all three books. Yet these were intended for children.

Question: Where do you find ideas for your books?
David: When I first began writing the ideas sprang from the real world. In part my books are an expression of the things that are wrong about our supposedly civilized society and the solutions I try to provide come from within me via the skills of Steele. The last two Steele novels have leant more towards conspiracy theory and that springs from one of my father’s favourite tenets which was ‘never believe a word of what you hear on the news or read in the newspapers.’
As I have aged I know what he meant by that. This provides me with questions such as ‘If they are telling us these facts, what really lies behind what is being fed to us?’
Currently I have no new book in mind, which is the first time in seven years!

Question: Where do you find ideas for your characters?
David: As I have produced most of my books round the same set of characters it is a while since that part of the creative process began. Steele is an amalgam of parts of me, James Bond and a variety of villains but hopefully with a touch of realism. The people that surround Steele are in part wishful thinking on my part and there to satisfy his needs.

Question: How would you describe your writing style?
David: My style is slightly old-fashioned entertainment. I read for personal enjoyment and relaxation and my writing is for people who tend to feel the same way. I hope my books are the sort you can fall asleep over, then pick up where you left off when you wake.

Question: What do you consider the most difficult part of writing a book?
David: Without doubt the editing. I am a rather impulsive writer who doesn’t do much planning and prefers to let the characters develop the storyline. Therefore when my stories are written that’s it to a degree. I do re-read and make changes, I have two proofreaders who check the work, but the story is the story and may or may not be commercially viable but I find it a turn off to go over my stories and make them more acceptable in anyway. When they are written they are written.

Question: What are your current projects?
David: Due to the rules of my online publisher I need to make space for my latest novel to be published by them and so I have withdrawn my first book from their clutches and will produce a second edition through a different publisher. I continue to write poetry, and so another collection is about due, and after that who knows?

God Bless

Writing - Ten things

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1.  Dogs mirror their owners' personalities.

So where else would they learn their behaviours from?


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2.  Qatar is spending $500m (£400m) a week on building projects for the 2022 World Cup.

They're rich enough - but how efficient is the air conditioning?
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3.  One British man survived eight different concentration camps during the Holocaust.

He should buy a lottery ticket.


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4.  Minecraft is being used to pitch business ideas to big companies.

I just don't get this game.


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5.  There are hundreds of ancient earthworks in the Amazon rainforest resembling Stonehenge.

Indubitably!


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6.  Fish-scale geckos rip off their scales and skin to escape from predators.

Slimy !!!!


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7.  Filipinos make up about a third of all cruise ship workers.

And very helpful they are too.


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8.  Humanity is yet to run out of a single fossil fuel.

As hazardous as it is.


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9.  Lungfish usually live for more than 100 years.

Wow!!


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10. The Super Bowl broadcast is 23% ads.

You should try watching Film 4!


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God Bless

Writing - Why do I choose this style?

The question that forms the title of this blog is something I have never been asked. I have been asked what my style is but not why I chose this genre. There is a fairly simple answer and that is to entertain.


As a reader I have spent my whole life reading to enjoy the experience. There have been times when I have needed to read to become better educated but that is something everyone is required to do in some measure. Books produced for education tend not to be entertaining and so less enjoyable, some would say they have a higher function. However, fiction can be something of both, along with social commentary, but they also need to entertain. Many writers, Charles Dickens and George Orwell to name but two, had strong social consciences and that was reflected in their wonderful stories.
So the Steele stories are entertainment with some social reflection whereas Cessation, the dystopian novel, was a response to a political situation that is still ongoing.
Next week I will bring Cessation into focus.






Synopsis
(For Steele readers)While holidaying in France with fiancé Naomi Kobayashi, Steele receives the news that his home has been burgled and one of the team is seriously ill. He returns to the UK to find a close member of his group has died and antiques have been stolen, he sets out on a course of revenge that takes him to Italy and as far afield as Cairo, Egypt.
While in the Egyptian capital he is confronted by a former adversary, the CIA, and decides to disappear. On his return to the UK he discovers that not all policemen can be trusted and once again his position as a free agent is under threat. 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Castled-David-L-Atkinson/dp/1849144737/ref=sr_1_30?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1486467254&sr=1-30&keywords=david+l+atkinson 
God Bless

Writing - Horses for courses

Below there are two pieces of information for the same Steele novel, Castled, both written by me but for different audiences. One of the pieces of advice I have taken is to have an author's file that contains biographical material and synopses. It is not my favourite exercise but as an author you are often asked to reproduce both.
The Author
Inevitably, as an author, one joins a number of groups and this is one area where biography and synopses need to be shared and therefore kept up-to-date. However, that is not the only task that you need to tinker with every time you produce something new. Also the synopses you write for your stories may well differ depending upon your audience and so you have the examples below.

For AmazonPatrick Steele is placed in a position unfamiliar to him when his own personal space is burgled. The consequences are extensive at a personal level and to his property. The ghost of a previous operation drives Steele to take measures to retrieve the artefacts stolen from him and to avenge the death of a member of his team. He is handed a possible solution but then there arises a threat to his identity which he must keep hidden at all costs. The question is how high is the price that is paid to remain elusive?







Synopsis
(For Steele readers)While holidaying in France with fiancé Naomi Kobayashi, Steele receives the news that his home has been burgled and one of the team is seriously ill. He returns to the UK to find a close member of his group has died and antiques have been stolen, he sets out on a course of revenge that takes him to Italy and as far afield as Cairo, Egypt.
While in the Egyptian capital he is confronted by a former adversary, the CIA, and decides to disappear. On his return to the UK he discovers that not all policemen can be trusted and once again his position as a free agent is under threat. 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Castled-David-L-Atkinson/dp/1849144737/ref=sr_1_30?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1486467254&sr=1-30&keywords=david+l+atkinson 
God Bless

Poetry Thursday 250 - Can't fight fate

I was watching the breakfast TV programme the other day and there was yet another food scare item. You know the style - if you eat such and such you will get cancer or heart disease or dementia. I reckon that over my life I have heard something about all edibles the world has ever produced.[image error]Can’t Fight Fate
What will be will be,a vague view of the future,that all of us may see,some are not too worried.
Age focuses the concentration,or how life is run,time is not infinite for the population,and so mantras are sort.
Old wives’ tales with quirky advice,were the mantras of the past,today people latch on to anything nice,or even unpleasant, for a longer life.
The bottom line we’ll experience the ‘d’ word,all the tricks, behaviours and vitamins won’t stop it.Some media obsessions are absurd,make peace with God and accept it.©David L Atkinson February 2017

There is a fad for cooking everything with coconut oil. Today it was featured on a programme entitled Food Scares. Turns out that it is higher in saturated fats than either butter or lard.


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Coconut
Hairy, brown and tough,
the outer covering coarse and rough.
Grown on trees in sunnier climes,
a symbol of sun, sea and luxurious times.
Found in many different guises,
dessicated, milk, oil and flesh are prizes.
 A wealth of nourishment from this kernel,
satisfying human cravings internal.
But be warned the prizes are hard won,
as this nut will fight till you are done. ©David L Atkinson February 2017


God Bless

Writing - Attacking identities

When writing  a series there are a number of advantages in that, rather like a TV series, there are a set of identities associated with the series. In the case of the Steele series the obvious identities are those of the Patrick himself, and those of his team. Where you have those identities you have Achilles heels.
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Castled was an exercise in testing how vulnerable Patrick A Steele could be without destroying him. It was a situation where as the author I could play God and decide the level of stress and risk under which I could subject the team. The title, Castled, comes from the manoeuvre in the game of chess that allows the king to be swapped with the rook (castle) and so escape threat. Steele executed a similar exercise to escape his persecutors.
This style of threat was tackled to challenge the qualities of my central character. How would the big man react? In what way did he cope with the loss of a valued member of the team?These are aspects of ordinary lives that occur to nearly everyone in some degree and it is what makes us human. I want Steele and his group to be humanly accessible to my readers and if they can empathise with a character they are more likely to enjoy the reading experience.
Rather than just me blowing my own trumpet read this extract about the Steele books from Bert Carson of Huntsville, Alabama
 I know David and I know Patrick, and I love the way David tells his readers the Steele stories. I can't compare David's style to any author you've ever read because David Atkinson has his own unique style. It's one I love and think of as his "kitchen table style." By that, I mean, when I read a Steele story I feel like I'm sitting at David's kitchen table and he is sitting across from me. As we sip our coffee, or tea, he tells me about Steele's latest adventure.
Bert is very kind and has correctly discerned the style that I wanted to convey in my writing. I believe that writing books is to entertain, not confuse and bore.



Synopsis
Patrick Steele is placed in a position unfamiliar to him when his own personal space is burgled. The consequences are extensive at a personal level and to his property. The ghost of a previous operation drives Steele to take measures to retrieve the artefacts stolen from him and to avenge the death of a member of his team. He is handed a possible solution but then there arises a threat to his identity which he must keep hidden at all costs. The question is how high is the price that is paid to remain elusive?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Castled-David-L-Atkinson/dp/1849144737/ref=sr_1_30?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1486467254&sr=1-30&keywords=david+l+atkinson 
God Bless

Tuesday Food Blog - Chicken, bacon and leek pie

I weakened last weekend and bought chicken for the main meals, but without regrets.

Chicken, bacon and leek  pie
 Ingredients
450g diced chicken breast3 rashers of bacon, chopped13fl oz milk1tbsp plain flour1oz butter1 leek, choppedthyme, choppedparsley, choppedsliced potato to cover piegrated cheddar cheese
Method
Using the milk, butter and flour make a white sauce and add the thyme, parsley and a squeeze of lemon.Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees CFry the chopped bacon until brown then add the chicken. Fry for 5 -10 minutes then add the leek. Continue to fry for five more minutes then transfer to an oven proof dish and pour over the white sauce. Slice potato to the thickness of a £1 coin and cover the pie. Place in the oven for 35 minutes. Add the cheese and cook for a further 15 minutes till browned and bubbling.Serve with green vegetables.
I used trimmed green beans, steamed for 5 minutes and then sauteed in butter for a further 2 to 3 minutes. 
This is a very tasty dish and I think that the key is the sauce and there are many different variations that go well with chicken eg orange and tarragon. That is high praise from me because I find chicken to be bland and tasteless.This recipe is very simple and quick to do and would make an ideal quick evening meal.
God Bless

Writing - Inceptus - a starting point

When I was thinking about a title for the fifth Steele novel my mind was forever turning back to the starting point for Patrick Steele and so it was no surprise that I eventually landed on Inceptus.



The title is hardly surprising as inception means starting point. In Latin Inceptus is the past participle of the Latin verb incipio which means begin. In a sense although this is the fifth Steele book it is the beginning of his life re-described in more detail because I wanted him to be real. There was some credibility in my aim given by the following customer review.
5.0 out of 5 stars A real, human spy, in action on three continents 29 July 2013By Gisela Hausmann - Published on Amazon.comFormat: Kindle Edition Verified PurchaseOf course I was a big fan of Ian Fleming and Mickey Spillane but it has been some time since I picked up a spy novel. Starting anew with David Atkinson's "Inceptus" was a phenomenal idea. Out and over are the `glorious' days, when spies sat around and sipped martinis in casinos; nobody really believes that anymore, the Great Recession has rolled over us. The more pleasant it is to find a spy novel, which references to the real word and takes it into account.

"Since the world economic crash and the mismanagement of the Tory/ Libdem coalition government in recent years, most westernised countries had suffered considerable down turns in the standards of behaviour and mutual respect that had already been quite flimsy."

Though I somehow miss men standing in phone booths, with raised collars, most often in rainy weather, I so very much appreciated that Atkinson's spies are real people; equipped with guns, and schooled in Ki-Aikido defense technique, but nonetheless real.
InceptusWhen I wrote the fifth Steele novel, Inceptus, it was my intention to delve deeper into the history behind Patrick Steele and share that with the readership as well as continuing his adventures.This book was a step forward for me as I felt that my storytelling skills were developing and I enjoyed the process immensely.
SynopsisIn this the 5th Steele novel Patrick tackles the person who has been surreptitiously dogging his footsteps over a number of his adventures. This is not without risk and the focus of his love, Naomi Kobayashi, disappears which seriously affects his ability to function as well as he can. We also find out more about the man himself.The adventure takes him to Eire, France, the USA before he returns to resolve the issue in the UK.Will Patrick finally rid himself of a deadly enemy?Can our hero rescue his love or is it already too late?Another Patrick Steele adventure filled with tension and action as well as the support provided by the team he has developed over the years.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Books/Inceptus-David-L-Atkinson/1849143714/ref=sr_1_74?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1486036099&sr=1-74&keywords=david+l+atkinson 
So if you want to read the Steele novels without starting them from the beginning Inceptus is the one to sample.
From the aspect of avoiding writing to a formula I have tended to adapt the Steele team to match the story that triggered my imagination. So you have a story about child abduction, one about the loss of Malaysian flight MH370, the demise of building 7 on 9/11 and the new one which involves the role of surveillance in modern day society.
God Bless

Writing - Stand alone and continuity

When I began writing novels it was my initial intention to write 10. Well those of you who write know that putting a figure on your writing in such a way is naive. It's not impossible but introduces such concepts as writing to a target rather than writing as a creative exercise. It also establishes a pattern that could lead you to be described as writing to a formula which from a creative aspect is not good.

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I feel that I could produce a Steele novel  in a similar pattern to the ones that have gone before but I'd get bored writing like that and so I fight against being formulaic but there are elements when using the same characters that need to be included. An author cannot assume that every reader has read all of your books and so details of your characters need to be repeated in some measure.
InceptusWhen I wrote the fifth Steele novel, Inceptus, it was my intention to delve deeper into the history behind Patrick Steele and share that with the readership as well as continuing his adventures.This book was a step forward for me as I felt that my storytelling skills were developing and I enjoyed the process immensely.
SynopsisIn this the 5th Steele novel Patrick tackles the person who has been surreptitiously dogging his footsteps over a number of his adventures. This is not without risk and the focus of his love, Naomi Kobayashi, disappears which seriously affects his ability to function as well as he can. We also find out more about the man himself.The adventure takes him to Eire, France, the USA before he returns to resolve the issue in the UK.Will Patrick finally rid himself of a deadly enemy?Can our hero rescue his love or is it already too late?Another Patrick Steele adventure filled with tension and action as well as the support provided by the team he has developed over the years.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Books/Inceptus-David-L-Atkinson/1849143714/ref=sr_1_74?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1486036099&sr=1-74&keywords=david+l+atkinson 
So if you want to read the Steele novels without starting them from the beginning Inceptus is the one to sample.
From the aspect of avoiding writing to a formula I have tended to adapt the Steele team to match the story that triggered my imagination. So you have a story about child abduction, one about the loss of Malaysian flight MH370, the demise of building 7 on 9/11 and the new one which involves the role of surveillance in modern day society.
God Bless

Poetry Thursday 249 - Loneliness and Running

The sources of inspiration are different by a few degrees. Family and TV! There are links if you read hard enough!!!

The first poem stems from a line, the first of each verse, which was used in advertising a fun run to raise money for the British Heart Foundation. As an ex-northern runner myself I have sharp memories of running the roads around Bradford in sleet, rain and icy conditions. It was rarely too hot!


Northern jogging
It’s tough running in the north,amid the dark satanic mills,arms pumping for all you’re worth,up and down the rejoicing hills.
It’s tough running in the north,through driving rain and drifting snow,you may question ‘why on earth?’is there nowhere else to go?
It’s tough running in the north,pounding potholed roads on aching feet,unlike the rolling hills in the south,and the flat plains of the east.
It’s tough running in the north,balancing kit between freezing and sweating,what’s the ideal gear for muscle warmth,against the handicap of too much weighting?
It’s tough running in the north,but compelling once you start,moorland views beckon you forth,and reward with gladness of heart.©David L Atkinson February 2017

This second poem comes from a series the BBC are doing on loneliness in all ages. Obviously as an older man that is my perspective.

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Loneliness is …
Listening to deafening silenceswhen night has fallen fasteven with loving family,all alone with your past.
Walking through a crowded mallon a busy shopping day,jostled and hustled by peopleas you continue on your way.
Attending a celebration,listening to joyful chatter,but contribution not required,old thoughts no longer matter.
Being in a social groupof chatting, laughing friends,but with little to look forward towhen the evening ends.
A balancing of time,for thinking as a solitary one,not a period of sadness,but the need to be alone. ©David L Atkinson February 2017


God Bless