David L. Atkinson's Blog, page 52

Writing - How permanent is permanent?

When we write we convey images and ideas that may shift, change and even conflict with reality. But what do we mean by reality? Do we mean those things that are in our world and are permanent? That raises another question. What is permanent?

[image error]Pyramids at Giza
Are the pyramids permanent - well obviously not as they are weathering. In fact there is very little left of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
So what about the natural world? Is that permanent? Surely in mountains and land masses there is a permanence. 
[image error]Ben Nevis
Well apparently not because this mountain has just grown a metre!It actually hasn't really what in fact has occurred is an improvement in GPS measuring techniques. It hasn't been measured accurately since 1949 and now stands at 1345m tall which is about 1 metre taller than previously recorded.
[image error]Niagara's movement over 350 years
The picture above shows the position of Niagara Falls from 1678 to 2005. 
Permanent - bah humbug!
Even the blessed Earth on which we live won't be here forever so writers have the opportunity to stretch their imaginations even further. Some have already dipped their literary toe into the waters of Earth's demise but to us who write - nothing is sacred.
Read on!

December 2015




Steele   My hero was created post recession and so has no concept of how 'good' things were pre-2008. In 'I Have To Get It Right' when he began to flex his muscles he was working in an accountant's office. Then after the Gurentai took him under their wing and removed all of his financial worries, it was justice that was his major concern. He did become involved in international relations in 'The 51st State' but it was for the maintenance of a respectful distance between countries, rather than economic reasons. His trips into the USA had repercussions which can be read about in 'The Biter Bit' but then by the time things began to change in 2011 and the recession was really biting, Steele was trying to make sense of the state of the nation in 'A Changed Reality' and coming up against some really nasty people taking advantage of the shortage of money. By the time the USA are out of their recession Steele's steps are still being dogged by an unknown enemy from the same country. In 'Inceptus' we also find out more about what makes the man tick. The most recent Steele book 'Castled' where Steele is once again at risk from unseen enemies. It would seem that he has become quite recession proof!The most recent addition to the Steele family is Earth plc in which our hero is concerned with political and emotional issues in this crime fighting adventure.
All books are available in paperback or ebook through Amazon, Smashwords and all good book shop websites.


Cessation 


This is a dystopian story that hinges directly on the state of the nation as a result of fiscal mismanagement. Having said that it is more a story of human relations, privations, love and loss.


Poetry - there are also two thoughtful collections of poetry available solely through Amazon.


The Musings of a Confused Mind 


and


Words from the Raindrops 

God Bless

Writing - Diaries and emotional writing.

I am interested in my families history and spend some money and considerable time in researching the subject. I have managed to trace ancestors back as far as 1686 and yet those relatives born in the twentieth century are sometimes more difficult of which to find details.

Uncle Sid
My uncle Sid, in the rather grainy photo above, was chairman of the local cricket club and was born in 1915 and yet it was like he and his wife and child never existed! Similarly, my Mam's brother, who I knew well as a child, is undiscoverable. Now that is where I believed I had some information in my diaries.
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As a diarist over the last 25 years I felt sure that I would be able to find the date of his death. In an effort to find the date I began perusing the diaries and I found it very difficult. Well impossible to find what I was looking for, but emotionally difficult to read which brings into question what we write in our diaries.I have always been an advocate of diary writing for would be writers for a couple of reasons. I believe that all muscles, including the writing muscle, need exercise and diaries form a social history record for future generations. In my opinion, my writing can lack emotion and one of the uses I put my diaries to is practice in expressing some emotion. What is the test of how successful you have been in trying such a strategy? Re-read what you have written.So whilst trying to find the death of Uncle Jim I discovered that I had conveyed emotion but sadly it was mostly depressive!
What I also found was information about the weather, the prices of goods I'd bought and details of the holidays on which I had gone. Writing a diary then may have many purposes but unless you re-read what you have produced how on earth do you learn?
[image error]Htin Kyaw President of Myanmar
When producing memoirs and diaries the new President of Myanmar pictured above may have already produced a significant story. He has published a book about his father's life as a poet. However, his route to power is just as interesting. Htin Kyaw is a friend of Myanmar's heroine Ms Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest and banishment by the military rulers of Myanmar for years. Her battles have led to the election of the first non-military ruler for many years. This was at the cost of Ms Suu Kyi not being allowed to stand for the post herself. It would be reasonable to expect that Mr Htin Kyaw may have a very powerful advisor at his back.
[image error]Aung San Suu Kyi
Mr Htin Kyaw's father was Min Thu Wun who wrote poetry and was a well- respected literary force within the former country of Burma.
It is important that books about significant people are written so that we may learn of our past which then shapes the future. In doing so it is correct that feelings and attitudes are expressed because those expressions humanise the works and therefore make them more accessible to a wider audience. Where is the best place to 'rehearse' the skills necessary to produce such historical tomes? Diaries!
God Bless

Poetry Thursday 204 - A Poetic World

Another week has rolled by and it has been one of more turmoil and expectation in government circles. Another budget, more arguments about the EU, and foreigners feeling they have a right to have their say about this issue. I felt that it was time for something a little more relaxing.



Poetry World
If I could I’d build a worldof random things, of rhyming and timing.A world of soft colours and pleasing shapesthat will wrap you and hold you in your need.A world of toys and games for the old and the young,the fearful and the bold,that will help you fight your battles and keep you from harm,protecting you from the daily swarm.A world of animals and plants with plenty for all both big and small,where loving them teaches of love and moreof peace and respect for what went before.A world of art and musicand magic and fantasywhere to imagine and where to dreambringing feelings - peace and happy.A world of hope and expression,of light, colour and gentle sounds,of exciting days and reflective times.© David L Atkinson March 2016




The slightly 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds' feel to the blog today has nothing to do with lysergic acid or any other hallucinogenic. It is more to do with the need to escape from the daily grind of greyness interspersed with dark clouds and only the occasional glimpses of the sun.


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Melting Clocks
Time seems like a constant thing,a measure consistent with metronomic beat,but everyone can examples bring,of occasions where regular time knows defeat.
Anticipation is a fickle influenceon time’s manic persuasion.When happy making the seconds intense,but when sad slows the measures progression.
Age stimulates a Dalian flowto the measure of life’s passage.When young the years are stately and slow,but accelerate manically in one’s dotage.
© David L Atkinson March 2016


Allow your imagination to flow like Dali's melting clocks.

God Bless

Writing - Here is the Book news

There seemed to be a few 'bits' of information that came into the news today which I feel is valuable to share with other writers. First of all the sad death of Anita Brookner (87).

[image error]Anita Brookner (1928 - 2016)
Anita was a Booker Prizewinning author and art historian. Her prizewinning novel Hotel du Lac was published in 1984 and has always been her most popular book. She was a prolific writer producing a novel a year till the end of the 20th century when she began to slow down. She said that she didn't like writing fiction as it was rather like being on the end of a bad telephone line - 'but it's addictive.'The flow of fiction came to an end with Leaving Home (2005), Strangers (2009) and an ebook novella, At the Hairdresser’s (2011). Her later, sparer novels were summed up by one reviewer as Beckett crossed with Mills and Boon.
I wish! RIP Anita Brookner
[image error]
Writers and Artists (writersandartists.co.uk)
This website produces interesting articles and competitions and has announced its short story competition short-listed authors this morning. Yours truly didn't get through to the final 10 but if you go to their competition page there are others in which you can enter.
[image error]Wellcome Book Prize
This prize competition I find unusual in that it is very specific in the genre that it is promoting. Please read on.
The Wellcome Book Prize is an annual award, open to new works of fiction or nonfiction. To be eligible for entry, a book should have a central theme that engages with some aspect of medicine, health or illness. This can cover many genres of writing – including crime, romance, popular science, sci fi and history.At some point, medicine touches all our lives. Books that find stories in those brushes with medicine are ones that add new meaning to what it means to be human. The subjects these books grapple with might include birth and beginnings, illness and loss, pain, memory, and identity. In keeping with its vision and goals, the Wellcome Book Prize aims to excite public interest and encourage debate around these topics.[image error]
I am still ambivalent about writing competitions and I am not saying that because up to present I have failed dismally to achieve any level of success. In fact I don't enter them very often and only do so if I am in that frame of mind. When I do enter it is also because, with a limited level of success, one can include a sticker on book covers which can attract readers. Just me being mercenary!
So as I said at the start a mixed bag of writing news today.
God Bless

Tuesday Food Blog - Simple chorizo and bean stew

This week a quick, spicy and easy stew using one of my less favourite ingredients - chorizo.

Chorizo and bean stew
I am a cynical old b****** when it comes to TV chefs and food fashions and as a result I am unreservedly suspicious of 'new' foods, in this case chorizo. When it comes down to it this is a hard, dry foodstuff laden with paprika and other spices, it has a load of salt and is sold cooked or uncooked. I have tried both and couldn't tell the difference!However, as it seems to be rather like lemon grass and coconut milk (can't stand either) it is cropping up in more and more dishes so when logging on to the BBC Food website I was unsurprised that there was a whole section on using chorizo in different guises. I bit the bullet and decided to try, once again, to produce a meal that was more successful than in the past using the substance.In this recipe the chorizo should be cooked and the skin removed.
Chorizo
Chorizo is a Spanish pork sausage in which case it must be cooked before eating. In Europe, it is more frequently a fermented,cured, smoked sausage, in which case it is often sliced and eaten without cooking, and can be added as an ingredient to add flavour to other dishes. Spanish chorizo and Portuguese chouriço get their distinctive smokiness and deep red color from dried smoked red peppers (pimentón/pimentão).Due to culinary tradition and the high cost of imported Spanish smoked paprika, Mexican chorizo is usually made with native chili peppers of the same Capsicum annuum species, used abundantly in Mexican cuisine. In Latin America, vinegar also tends to be used instead of the white wine usually used in Spain.
The above just for your edification.
The beauty of this recipe, like many stews, you can add whatever you like but also it is very quick to make. I used red kidney beans because I prefer them to the cannellini beans recommended, and I threw in a couple of chillies. 
Ingredients splash of rapeseed oil 110g/4oz cooked chorizo, cut into pieces, skin peeled off 1 onion, finely chopped 1 garlic clove, crushed 400g tin chopped tomatoes 600g/1lb 5oz tinned cannellini beans in water, drained handful fresh flatleaf parsley, roughly chopped crusty bread, to serve salt and freshly ground black pepperMethodHeat the oil in a large lidded saucepan over a medium-low heat. Add the chorizo and cook until the oil starts to run from the chorizo. Add the onion and garlic and cover with the lid. Cook, stirring from time to time, until soft.Add the tomatoes and beans, stir well and cover, simmer for 10 minutes. Add a little water if the stew is too thick.Add the parsley, season to taste with salt and pepper and stir well. Serve in soup bowls, with crusty bread.I also served it with rice and it would go okay with mashed potato. 
BUT the verdict on chorizo.
In all fairness the flavour is pretty good but I think you could cook it forever and it would never soften.

God Bless

Writing - People make history

Margaret MacMillan, who writes for the BBC History magazine, quoted the title for today's blog and thinking about it, it is what people are doing all of the time. Some of those people may be considered 'the great and the good' while most are just ordinary people like me and you from down the road.

[image error]Elizabeth Simcoe
Elizabeth Simcoe was a little known Canadian diarist who wrote in the 1790s, about the time my great great great grandfather was 4 years old, with the intention of leaving them for those she'd left behind in England. She wrote of walking through a forest in Upper Canada where a fire had swept through recently and described the sights and smells she encountered. There was still smoke about and occasionally tongues of flame leaped from the charged finger that was left of a smouldering tree. A little like an enchanted wood.
[image error]Babur
Three hundred years earlier Babur was a prince in Central Asia and decided to set down his thoughts and experiences in a journal. He wrote of falling in love and being tongue-tied every time he met the girl he loved. He was eventually famous as the creator of the Mughal Dynasty that ruled India from 1526 until 1858.
The point of this is to remind everyone who writes the gift with which you are providing future societies. This is not a matter of quantity, quality or subject. What we are providing is edification, enlightenment and entertainment as it pertains to our society today. There are hopes and fears, loves and hates, biases and beliefs all of which are being recorded in our writings that in their turn may provide knowledge about our society, how it works and the economics of our world currently.
[image error]Charles de Gaulle and Harold MacMillan
One such example would be the European Union referendum coming up in June. There is a policy of fear being exercised by the stay in side as if there was no life before the country entered the Common Market. They strive to unnerve the electorate by stressing the unknown but people of my generation and older can remember life before the EU and it was fine. In fact it seemed that we manufactured more, apprentices led to real skills and fewer people were unemployed. I was too young to fully understand why the government were hurt by President de Gaulle's repeated 'Non' to Prime Minister MacMillan's repeated overtures.In fact we refused to sign the Treaty of Rome with the original six countries in 1957. Monsieur de Gaulle described us as 'insular and maritime' and rebutted our application on two occasions. It was in fact Edward Heath in 1973 who guided us into the Union after de Gaulle had left office.
[image error]Edward Heath
I believed that it was a bad decision 43 years ago and still believe the same. There is even more evidence against such a 'club' in 2016 when there are 28 other countries now. It is too large a unit to remain together successfully. I am of the 'small is beautiful' persuasion who firmly believes that smaller units work more efficiently. Having spent hours in studying group dynamics there is a school of thought that says for any committee to operate effectively there should be no more than 7 delegates. It works on two levels. Firstly, every voice will be heard, and secondly, there is no opportunity to keep in the background. I am not a great political thinker but I would predict that in the future the EU will break up into smaller groups. The signs are there already.
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The internet has provided a forum for all who wish to write and express opinions and feelings on a variety of subjects. We can all be heard and in the fullness of time make a difference so keep writing.
God Bless

Writing - 1760 and all that

As I age I become more interested in my family history and this week I have found a relative, I think, who was born in 1760 and got me thinking of what life was like 350 years ago.

[image error]George II until October 1760
The monarch when my great, great, great, great grandfather was born was George II but by the end of October 1760 he had died and been succeeded by his grandson George III.
[image error]George III
God-willing I have seen two monarchs, George VI and Elizabeth II, and should probably see a third who should be Charles III.
The first ten years of George III's reign saw 10 Prime Ministers and consequently was known as the Decade of Ministerial Instability. He reigned for 60 years and shared government with the Whigs and Tories.
[image error]Industrialisation
This was a period of greater industrialisation and women were required to take part in more menial tasks. Education was tightly aligned with religion and tended to be for the upper classes.The forty years up to the end of the century saw great leaps forward in manufacturing processes and also in the organisation of the work force. The emergence of the trade unions was also significant and in fact was banned for the first time in 1799. Some things never change!There has always been a battle between the ruling classes and the working class and ever should it be so.
December 2015




Steele   My hero was created post recession and so has no concept of how 'good' things were pre-2008. In 'I Have To Get It Right' when he began to flex his muscles he was working in an accountant's office. Then after the Gurentai took him under their wing and removed all of his financial worries, it was justice that was his major concern. He did become involved in international relations in 'The 51st State' but it was for the maintenance of a respectful distance between countries, rather than economic reasons. His trips into the USA had repercussions which can be read about in 'The Biter Bit' but then by the time things began to change in 2011 and the recession was really biting, Steele was trying to make sense of the state of the nation in 'A Changed Reality' and coming up against some really nasty people taking advantage of the shortage of money. By the time the USA are out of their recession Steele's steps are still being dogged by an unknown enemy from the same country. In 'Inceptus' we also find out more about what makes the man tick. The most recent Steele book 'Castled' where Steele is once again at risk from unseen enemies. It would seem that he has become quite recession proof!The most recent addition to the Steele family is Earth plc in which our hero is concerned with political and emotional issues in this crime fighting adventure.
All books are available in paperback or ebook through Amazon, Smashwords and all good book shop websites.


Cessation 


This is a dystopian story that hinges directly on the state of the nation as a result of fiscal mismanagement. Having said that it is more a story of human relations, privations, love and loss.


Poetry - there are also two thoughtful collections of poetry available solely through Amazon.


The Musings of a Confused Mind 


and


Words from the Raindrops 

God Bless

Writing - Progression in reading.

I was discussing books and reading with a friend the other day and speculation arose that because of the fact we are living in smaller spaces may have an influence on the number of actual books we buy. The advent of ebooks helps to offset the space issue but then I got to thinking about how children begin reading.

[image error]The Gruffalo
Children begin their reading experiences by being read to and usually from a large brightly coloured and illustrated book. It wouldn't be the same reading the Gruffalo, nursery rhymes or bedtime story books from your Kindle or smartphone.
[image error]
Then it is off to school and once again I can't imagine children beginning their reading experiences with an anonymous tablet, notebook or computer screen to stare at. I actually am slightly nervous about that statement as I haven't been in an early years classroom for many years.We were given the Janet and John primers when I began reading at school.
I suppose from then onwards anything is possible as computers are available to the youngest of children. However, the book shops are still in operation, there are still libraries and there are still authors producing works for traditional and emarkets.

To that end, please keep reading.


December 2015



Steele   My hero was created post recession and so has no concept of how 'good' things were pre-2008. In 'I Have To Get It Right' when he began to flex his muscles he was working in an accountant's office. Then after the Gurentai took him under their wing and removed all of his financial worries, it was justice that was his major concern. He did become involved in international relations in 'The 51st State' but it was for the maintenance of a respectful distance between countries, rather than economic reasons. His trips into the USA had repercussions which can be read about in 'The Biter Bit' but then by the time things began to change in 2011 and the recession was really biting, Steele was trying to make sense of the state of the nation in 'A Changed Reality' and coming up against some really nasty people taking advantage of the shortage of money. By the time the USA are out of their recession Steele's steps are still being dogged by an unknown enemy from the same country. In 'Inceptus' we also find out more about what makes the man tick. The most recent Steele book 'Castled' where Steele is once again at risk from unseen enemies. It would seem that he has become quite recession proof!The most recent addition to the Steele family is Earth plc in which our hero is concerned with political and emotional issues in this crime fighting adventure.
All books are available in paperback or ebook through Amazon, Smashwords and all good book shop websites.


Cessation 


This is a dystopian story that hinges directly on the state of the nation as a result of fiscal mismanagement. Having said that it is more a story of human relations, privations, love and loss.


Poetry - there are also two thoughtful collections of poetry available solely through Amazon.


The Musings of a Confused Mind 


and


Words from the Raindrops 

God Bless

Writing - Serendipity

Mam said that I should take more notice of my surroundings, even going so far as occasionally accusing me of walking around with my eyes shut. She wasn't being unkind but trying to stimulate my curiosity which she greatly succeeded with - eventually!The result, apart from writing copiously, is an interest in a wide range of subjects. However, the rapid development in technology has encouraged curiosity in that with smartphones you can take photographs anywhere any time.
A Wooden Man
I was out driving through the countryside this morning when two sights triggered the almost Pavlovian response of whipping out my camera. The first was the above wooden man sitting on a fence. My apologies for the quality but today has been particularly dull.Some may be asking why bother? A fair question. Well let me me pose some situations.
Where has the man been?
Is he jumping from the fence?
Are those arms outstretched to welcome someone?
Is he taking a break and from what?
Who created him? Why?
When I first saw the sculpture (?) I immediately thought - poem - but since have erred on the side of a short children's story. Now the second photograph.
Emley Moor mast
This TV mast is reckoned to be the tallest free-standing structure in the UK and that on a clear day there is no higher structure between it and the Ural Mountains in Russia. I can usually see it from my lounge window and at night it is a vertical ribbon of red light adorning a giant finger pointing towards the sky.Today it was eerily half hidden by a combination of mist and low cloud. Once again it stimulated a reaction in the Atkinson creative gene.
Was it a pathway leading off into the distance?
Is it the trunk of a giant tree leading to a phantasmagorical kingdom? (In a sense as a TV transmitting mast - yes)
Could it be the supporting strut of a huge space craft?
The possibilities are endless if you allow your mind to work in that way.
God Bless

Poetry Thursday 203 - A view of Mother's Day and more #GeorgeMartin

The period of Lent is broken in two on Mothering Sunday and I've heard of different explanations for why it originated. My own thoughts are about the fact that as with Christmas, Easter and Halloween fiscal concerns have overtaken any spiritual or goodwill reasons.
Some may feel offended by the poem, I have no control over that, but there should be consideration for those old and young who are without their mam.

Mam
A sort of Mother’s Day
On occasion one just needs the time,to legitimise one’s thoughts in rhyme,and avoid the pitfalls of the day,by taking oneself far away,from cloying and sometimes false eruptions,of Lent’s half time maternal disruptions.
It isn’t necessary that day to signify,a situation that may no longer apply,for some who, through death’s intervention,have no physical representation,for the emotional outpouring of childish love,for her not at home, but forever above.© David L Atkinson March 2016
In a change of mood another animal poem for your perusal.
[image error]
Panthera Tigris
A pussy cat in striped pyjamas,that will feed upon cows, sheep and llamas.The ruler of his continent barring none,who only wishes to be left alone.
A bright-eyed stealthily padding killer,whose progress is a silent chiller,moving at speed his stripes blur.the progress of the endangered tiger.© David L Atkinson March 2016


Writing poetry is a little like the weather. I have been of the opinion of myself that I could write on any subject, but over the years have learned that the rhythm of a poem, if you like, the quality, is enhanced from the input of emotion.

[image error]George Martin RIP
A Beatle of an Epitaph
With George We Can Work It Outthrough the day’s efforts Twist and ShoutHelp and I Want to Hold Your Handto create the successful Beatles band.
Working Eight Days A Week, Here There and Everywhere, Across the Universe.

They could bring about a Revolutionwith their musical contribution fromBack in the USSR to Ob-la-Di, Ob-la-Da.
So A Day in the Life was so much betterwhen we did Hello, Goodbye andPlease, Please Me brought about the Helter Skelter.
When I’m Sixty Four and I Feel Fine butall-in-all Tomorrow Never Knows what is to come,and now you’re gone we ponderWhile My Guitar Gently Weeps.© David L Atkinson March 2016

God Bless