David L. Atkinson's Blog, page 7
September 29, 2017
Writing - I got the power
There is a constant murmuring beneath the surface of the national consciousness against the continuous greed displayed by large corporations and their executives who are happily skimming copious amounts of fiscal cream from the national pot. I have been reminded of the 6th novel I wrote which is linked directly to the power companies, significant 'skimmers', that could lead to devastating laying waste of our green and pleasant land.
The story is a speculative journey into a possible future that may lie ahead of us all. There is evidence that such a future may not be impossible. We have been warned that unless we increase the ability to produce electricity there could be power cuts in the next ten years. Our modern day lives are permeated through with the need for electricity and its production.
Although Cessation could be categorised as a dystopian story I find that rather a negative word and the purpose of writing the tale is to allow elements of hope in a seemingly desperate situation.The story begins in 2023 a couple of years after the lights go out for the last time. Our group of survivors are thrown together on a farm in the low Pennines north of the M62 motorway and within striking distance of a number of northern towns which could prove useful for supplies. Initially the group is small and live on a farm called Serendipity but as time passes the size of the group waxes and wanes for a variety of reasons.
God Bless
The story is a speculative journey into a possible future that may lie ahead of us all. There is evidence that such a future may not be impossible. We have been warned that unless we increase the ability to produce electricity there could be power cuts in the next ten years. Our modern day lives are permeated through with the need for electricity and its production.
Although Cessation could be categorised as a dystopian story I find that rather a negative word and the purpose of writing the tale is to allow elements of hope in a seemingly desperate situation.The story begins in 2023 a couple of years after the lights go out for the last time. Our group of survivors are thrown together on a farm in the low Pennines north of the M62 motorway and within striking distance of a number of northern towns which could prove useful for supplies. Initially the group is small and live on a farm called Serendipity but as time passes the size of the group waxes and wanes for a variety of reasons.
God Bless
September 27, 2017
Poetry Thursday 278 - Not mine
Sometimes you just don't have time to be original, but I do have some previously published relevant stuff.
[image error]
A Seaburn Sonnet
I was born and raised within easy reach,been a while since I set foot on the beach,but what I noticed first was the strident soundhow loudly the waves crashed on pebbled ground.
From atop the crumbling cliff all seemed calm,up close and personal it could do great harm,I resolve not to stay away so long,the sea has a need to give me its song.
The air is better closer to the sea,ozone is plentiful and all for free,good for the voice a teacher did assert,legal performance enhancer - no dirt.
Sweet music and song from water and rocks,but be warned the sea is as sly as a fox.
And some pics from Great Yarmouth.
Groynes for miles and miles,swallowing tide after tideeven in winter
When it's out it's thereHiding behind the sand dunesstill yet powerful.
So a little haiku creative.
God Bless
[image error]
A Seaburn Sonnet
I was born and raised within easy reach,been a while since I set foot on the beach,but what I noticed first was the strident soundhow loudly the waves crashed on pebbled ground.
From atop the crumbling cliff all seemed calm,up close and personal it could do great harm,I resolve not to stay away so long,the sea has a need to give me its song.
The air is better closer to the sea,ozone is plentiful and all for free,good for the voice a teacher did assert,legal performance enhancer - no dirt.
Sweet music and song from water and rocks,but be warned the sea is as sly as a fox.
And some pics from Great Yarmouth.
Groynes for miles and miles,swallowing tide after tideeven in winter
When it's out it's thereHiding behind the sand dunesstill yet powerful.
So a little haiku creative.
God Bless
September 26, 2017
Writing - Have a break
Holidaying is great but when you return there is usually an issue of some description. Bulbs have blown, you feel behind in your work, or somebody is using your address to set up a Turkish Barber's shop!
These things are sent to try us.
Great Yarmouth
One of the beauties of being out of the normal routine is the opportunity to make different choices and one of mine was to read more. For many weeks I have been reading the first in a trilogy of stories by Pete Adams and took the opportunity to get it finished and review on Amazon.
[image error]
Pete Adams is an architect and designs and builds projects around the UK when he’s not writing up a storm. Pete describes himself as an inveterate daydreamer, escaping into those dreams by writing funny stories that contain a thoughtful dash of social commentary. With a writing style inspired and shaped by his formative years on an estate that re-housed London families shortly after WWII, Pete’s Kind Hearts and Martinets series of books have been likened to the writing of Tom Sharpe.
I can identify with the Tom Sharpe thingy, and thoroughly enjoyed Cause and Effect the first in the Kindhearts and Martinets series.
[image error]
Book one, ‘CAUSE and EFFECT’, opens in a benign and humorous way though the prologue suggests a malevolent force is at work in the city of Portsmouth; DI Austin calls that force Norafarty – he means Moriarty. Austin, who sees himself as an enema, meaning and enigma, is a 59 year old grotesquely disfigured and intensely motivated socialist; a half blind grieving widower trudging his melancholic life’s furrow with a superficial laugh and a smile, because misery, his constant companion, is optional. To some, he’s a brilliantly instinctive copper, often solving crimes out of the blue with no evident deductive trail; an amusing Mr Malacopperism, a warm individual albeit with a 5 amp fuse. To Detective Superintendent Amanda Bruce he’s an emotionally disturbed, ugly, jumped up cockney barrow boy and she’s not sure he has ever solved anything, running the Portsmouth Community Police unit from his deck chair like it was his East End of London barrow.
Steadily the illusive force intrudes on multifaceted fronts, seemingly disparate, but the suggestion of orchestration is gradually revealed. Facing stringent cut-backs police have to deal with a new source of drugs on the streets, disappearing bicycles, an executed police officer and the heart-rending rescue of a tiny girl from a nest of paedophiles. Austin unsubtly probes a fissure in social services; the vulnerable, especially children are being used as pawns in what is clearly a bigger game but is it Norafarty’s game and who is thine enemy?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/CAUSE-EFFECT-Kind-Hearts-Martinets-ebook/dp/B00BG12YO2/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1506433930&sr=1-4&keywords=pete+adams
Well worth the read.
God Bless
These things are sent to try us.
Great Yarmouth
One of the beauties of being out of the normal routine is the opportunity to make different choices and one of mine was to read more. For many weeks I have been reading the first in a trilogy of stories by Pete Adams and took the opportunity to get it finished and review on Amazon.
[image error]
Pete Adams is an architect and designs and builds projects around the UK when he’s not writing up a storm. Pete describes himself as an inveterate daydreamer, escaping into those dreams by writing funny stories that contain a thoughtful dash of social commentary. With a writing style inspired and shaped by his formative years on an estate that re-housed London families shortly after WWII, Pete’s Kind Hearts and Martinets series of books have been likened to the writing of Tom Sharpe.
I can identify with the Tom Sharpe thingy, and thoroughly enjoyed Cause and Effect the first in the Kindhearts and Martinets series.
[image error]
Book one, ‘CAUSE and EFFECT’, opens in a benign and humorous way though the prologue suggests a malevolent force is at work in the city of Portsmouth; DI Austin calls that force Norafarty – he means Moriarty. Austin, who sees himself as an enema, meaning and enigma, is a 59 year old grotesquely disfigured and intensely motivated socialist; a half blind grieving widower trudging his melancholic life’s furrow with a superficial laugh and a smile, because misery, his constant companion, is optional. To some, he’s a brilliantly instinctive copper, often solving crimes out of the blue with no evident deductive trail; an amusing Mr Malacopperism, a warm individual albeit with a 5 amp fuse. To Detective Superintendent Amanda Bruce he’s an emotionally disturbed, ugly, jumped up cockney barrow boy and she’s not sure he has ever solved anything, running the Portsmouth Community Police unit from his deck chair like it was his East End of London barrow.
Steadily the illusive force intrudes on multifaceted fronts, seemingly disparate, but the suggestion of orchestration is gradually revealed. Facing stringent cut-backs police have to deal with a new source of drugs on the streets, disappearing bicycles, an executed police officer and the heart-rending rescue of a tiny girl from a nest of paedophiles. Austin unsubtly probes a fissure in social services; the vulnerable, especially children are being used as pawns in what is clearly a bigger game but is it Norafarty’s game and who is thine enemy?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/CAUSE-EFFECT-Kind-Hearts-Martinets-ebook/dp/B00BG12YO2/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1506433930&sr=1-4&keywords=pete+adams
Well worth the read.
God Bless
September 15, 2017
Writing - Old news
When we produce our stories the sources of inspiration are often wide and varied. The first example is definitely one that could be the inspiration for a short story.
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In September 1907 a family from Pollockshields in Glasgow shut up their house to go and reside on the coast. The police were keeping an eye on the property to ensure all was well. On one visit a constable discovered a broken window and called his sergeant for back-up. They entered the property to discover two burglars in the billiard room surrounded by several empty champagne bottles and hopelessly drunk. One man was singing Annie Laurie, the other began singing Down the Valley where the Lilies Grow, to greet the officers arrival. A police van had to be called to move the burglars and it was dinner time before they had sobered up.
The second example is much more futuristic and yet stemmed from writings as far back as 1920.
[image error]Robbie the Robot
The first occurrence of the word robot was in Karel Capek's Czech play RUR (Rossum's Universal Robots). It is derived from the Czech 'robota' which means forced labour.Then there were Azimov's three laws of robotics - to recap,
1. A robot may not injure a human or allow a human to come to harm2. A robot must obey human orders unless this conflicts with law 1.3. A robot must protect its own existence unless this conflicts with laws 1 and 2.
Those laws have appeared in a number of films since their creation including I,Robot.
Real robots took a little longer to appear - the 1950's. George Devol from Louisville, Kentucky created a programmable robotic arm.
Robots imitating humans weren't around for another 10 years. In 1961 Shakey was built, could manoeuvre in unfamiliar surroundings and respond to his environment in a limited way. In 1970 Life magazine dubbed him the first electronic person.
God Bless
[image error]
In September 1907 a family from Pollockshields in Glasgow shut up their house to go and reside on the coast. The police were keeping an eye on the property to ensure all was well. On one visit a constable discovered a broken window and called his sergeant for back-up. They entered the property to discover two burglars in the billiard room surrounded by several empty champagne bottles and hopelessly drunk. One man was singing Annie Laurie, the other began singing Down the Valley where the Lilies Grow, to greet the officers arrival. A police van had to be called to move the burglars and it was dinner time before they had sobered up.
The second example is much more futuristic and yet stemmed from writings as far back as 1920.
[image error]Robbie the Robot
The first occurrence of the word robot was in Karel Capek's Czech play RUR (Rossum's Universal Robots). It is derived from the Czech 'robota' which means forced labour.Then there were Azimov's three laws of robotics - to recap,
1. A robot may not injure a human or allow a human to come to harm2. A robot must obey human orders unless this conflicts with law 1.3. A robot must protect its own existence unless this conflicts with laws 1 and 2.
Those laws have appeared in a number of films since their creation including I,Robot.
Real robots took a little longer to appear - the 1950's. George Devol from Louisville, Kentucky created a programmable robotic arm.
Robots imitating humans weren't around for another 10 years. In 1961 Shakey was built, could manoeuvre in unfamiliar surroundings and respond to his environment in a limited way. In 1970 Life magazine dubbed him the first electronic person.
God Bless
September 14, 2017
Writing - Secret orders
Have you noticed how many stories, whether it be on screen or on the page, are bedecked with secret orders. I am not talking about instructions but groups, clandestine bodies that make up some kind of threat to the status quo in any given situation or time zone.
I remember one of my uncles, I had three and two aunts, was a member of the Freemasons, and that was all hush hush and still is as far as I'm aware. The series Timeless has the Ritenhaus group. James Bond has Spectre; and so on. In fact even my Steele novels has the Gurentai.
[image error]
In short, a gurentai is a gang in a much more traditional sense, a group of young unruly thugs who peddle their violence for profit. They often engaged in the suppression of unions and other workers' organizations and such activities brought them much closer to the conservative elements of the Japanese power structure.
Being a writer the description didn't fit what I wanted so I changed it! I still like the name though!
Then there is the Knights Templar over which much has been written.
[image error]
The order, which was among the wealthiest and most powerful, became a favoured charity throughout Christendom and grew rapidly in membership and power. They were prominent in Christian finance. Templar knights, in their distinctive white mantles with a red cross, were among the most skilled fighting units of the Crusades. Non-combatant members of the order managed a large economic infrastructure throughout Christendom, developing innovative financial techniques that were an early form of banking, and building fortifications across Europe and the Holy Land.The Templars were closely tied to the Crusades; when the Holy Land was lost, support for the order faded. Rumours about the Templars' secret initiation ceremony created distrust, and King Philip IV of France – deeply in debt to the order – took advantage of the situation to gain control over them. In 1307, he had many of the order's members in France arrested, tortured into giving false confessions, and burned at the stake. Pope Clement V disbanded the order in 1312 under pressure from King Philip.
The point is that such undercover groups may add a frisson of the unknown to your writing. The idea that there is a shadow lurking in the background but exercising a modicum of dubious control, is adding tension and excitement.
God Bless
I remember one of my uncles, I had three and two aunts, was a member of the Freemasons, and that was all hush hush and still is as far as I'm aware. The series Timeless has the Ritenhaus group. James Bond has Spectre; and so on. In fact even my Steele novels has the Gurentai.
[image error]
In short, a gurentai is a gang in a much more traditional sense, a group of young unruly thugs who peddle their violence for profit. They often engaged in the suppression of unions and other workers' organizations and such activities brought them much closer to the conservative elements of the Japanese power structure.
Being a writer the description didn't fit what I wanted so I changed it! I still like the name though!
Then there is the Knights Templar over which much has been written.
[image error]
The order, which was among the wealthiest and most powerful, became a favoured charity throughout Christendom and grew rapidly in membership and power. They were prominent in Christian finance. Templar knights, in their distinctive white mantles with a red cross, were among the most skilled fighting units of the Crusades. Non-combatant members of the order managed a large economic infrastructure throughout Christendom, developing innovative financial techniques that were an early form of banking, and building fortifications across Europe and the Holy Land.The Templars were closely tied to the Crusades; when the Holy Land was lost, support for the order faded. Rumours about the Templars' secret initiation ceremony created distrust, and King Philip IV of France – deeply in debt to the order – took advantage of the situation to gain control over them. In 1307, he had many of the order's members in France arrested, tortured into giving false confessions, and burned at the stake. Pope Clement V disbanded the order in 1312 under pressure from King Philip.
The point is that such undercover groups may add a frisson of the unknown to your writing. The idea that there is a shadow lurking in the background but exercising a modicum of dubious control, is adding tension and excitement.
God Bless
September 13, 2017
Poetry Thursday 277 - No more boys or girls
Having seen a programme advertised with the title, 'No more Boys or Girls' and then hearing that a primary school was giving consideration to six year olds with gender issues, I felt that the following was the required response.
No more boys or girls
When I was young you were either blue or pink,so easy for onlookers to think,what a lovely ‘boy’ or ‘girl’,despite the betrayal by a curl.
Then in the sixties when flower power reigned,the sex of children had to be explained,as many were dressed in a riot of colour,it wasn’t simple determining make of bawler.
Later yet and there’s more confusion,as being gay was part of population,colour had nothing to do with sex,telling the difference even more complex.
Moving on there came transgender.Re-assignment was another mind-bender.Then, in order to be politically correct,no sex at all is what we expect!
So what is the future of the human race?Is sexual type judged by face?What means can we then employ,to determine whether facing girl or boy?
Next time you dare to date,avoid gender talk with possible mate,take your chances being sexually neutral,going to bed with chastity belt - crucial.©David L Atkinson September 2017
God Bless
No more boys or girls
When I was young you were either blue or pink,so easy for onlookers to think,what a lovely ‘boy’ or ‘girl’,despite the betrayal by a curl.
Then in the sixties when flower power reigned,the sex of children had to be explained,as many were dressed in a riot of colour,it wasn’t simple determining make of bawler.
Later yet and there’s more confusion,as being gay was part of population,colour had nothing to do with sex,telling the difference even more complex.
Moving on there came transgender.Re-assignment was another mind-bender.Then, in order to be politically correct,no sex at all is what we expect!
So what is the future of the human race?Is sexual type judged by face?What means can we then employ,to determine whether facing girl or boy?
Next time you dare to date,avoid gender talk with possible mate,take your chances being sexually neutral,going to bed with chastity belt - crucial.©David L Atkinson September 2017
God Bless
September 11, 2017
Tuesday Food Blog - Clouds in my coffee
Nothing like the words from an old song to use as a title, which as usual has little relevance to the subject under discussion today. Having said that I was drinking the coffee when the subject arose.
Clouds
Call me old-fashioned but as I remember humans can be broadly divided into two groups, male and female. I'm not that narrow minded that I can't see that at times imbalances occur and the sex is not well-defined. This can lead to homosexuality, gender re-assignment and the several steps between, however, I have a serious problem with people trying to label children as young as 6 years old as transgender.
Even writing it down feels wrong. Let me explain why.
Children learn from adult role models. They learn to speak by copying their adult significant others and they carry on learning behaviours from significant others for many years. When they reach puberty, which is appropriate to their sex as a human being, they then have a new beginning when they need to apply their sexuality to their burgeoning lives. If they have appropriate role models they should be well-balanced human animals ready for procreation and to make well-adjusted parents. To me that is the norm of human behaviour.The children at 6 have no interest in their sexuality except on an observational level, they do not associate their genitals as sexual objects unless there has been repeated imprinting. I would argue that the imprinting of sexuality on a child as young as that is abuse. Their curiosity is simply that and is little different from the curiosity they show in how to build things, write their name, or wonder how a bird flies.
Over the years there has been much written and argued about gender imbalance in places of work, sport and other areas of human life. This is true and unacceptable. Much has been written about girls being pushed towards 'pink' and boys 'blue', neither of which is right but, to the individual, is actually not damaging. The issues around gender are more to do with the external categorisation of people according to sex and the following disadvantaging as a result. Children need the space and time to decide where they fit but they need appropriate role models. If they are male they need male role models, and if female the suitable role model.
In a gentle way children should be given the opportunities to make their own choices. It seems to me that a child who goes to school dressed as a boy on one day but the following day turns up in a dress with a feminine name smacks of inappropriate guidance by the parents for a child of that age. I am not going into the difficulties that the parents are stacking up for that lad in the future but I think we are suffering dreadfully from political correctness and this is an extreme example.
In the same vein there was a programme, a documentary, entitled 'no more boys or girls'! Then there was the school that opened last week with a uniform designed to neutralise the sex of the children. So boys and girls were required to wear shirts, ties, jumpers and trousers with 'sensible' school shoes.
Come on people you cannot deny that human beings are animals like other animals and divided into male and female. That is a simple incontrovertible fact - please stop trying to deny natural sexuality.
Hence the clouds in my coffee. They are representative of the confusion that is being created by the efforts to level the sexual playing field. By all means make it possible for men and women to be equal in the world of work and choices but allow children to grow up in their own sexuality.
God Bless
Clouds
Call me old-fashioned but as I remember humans can be broadly divided into two groups, male and female. I'm not that narrow minded that I can't see that at times imbalances occur and the sex is not well-defined. This can lead to homosexuality, gender re-assignment and the several steps between, however, I have a serious problem with people trying to label children as young as 6 years old as transgender.
Even writing it down feels wrong. Let me explain why.
Children learn from adult role models. They learn to speak by copying their adult significant others and they carry on learning behaviours from significant others for many years. When they reach puberty, which is appropriate to their sex as a human being, they then have a new beginning when they need to apply their sexuality to their burgeoning lives. If they have appropriate role models they should be well-balanced human animals ready for procreation and to make well-adjusted parents. To me that is the norm of human behaviour.The children at 6 have no interest in their sexuality except on an observational level, they do not associate their genitals as sexual objects unless there has been repeated imprinting. I would argue that the imprinting of sexuality on a child as young as that is abuse. Their curiosity is simply that and is little different from the curiosity they show in how to build things, write their name, or wonder how a bird flies.
Over the years there has been much written and argued about gender imbalance in places of work, sport and other areas of human life. This is true and unacceptable. Much has been written about girls being pushed towards 'pink' and boys 'blue', neither of which is right but, to the individual, is actually not damaging. The issues around gender are more to do with the external categorisation of people according to sex and the following disadvantaging as a result. Children need the space and time to decide where they fit but they need appropriate role models. If they are male they need male role models, and if female the suitable role model.
In a gentle way children should be given the opportunities to make their own choices. It seems to me that a child who goes to school dressed as a boy on one day but the following day turns up in a dress with a feminine name smacks of inappropriate guidance by the parents for a child of that age. I am not going into the difficulties that the parents are stacking up for that lad in the future but I think we are suffering dreadfully from political correctness and this is an extreme example.
In the same vein there was a programme, a documentary, entitled 'no more boys or girls'! Then there was the school that opened last week with a uniform designed to neutralise the sex of the children. So boys and girls were required to wear shirts, ties, jumpers and trousers with 'sensible' school shoes.
Come on people you cannot deny that human beings are animals like other animals and divided into male and female. That is a simple incontrovertible fact - please stop trying to deny natural sexuality.
Hence the clouds in my coffee. They are representative of the confusion that is being created by the efforts to level the sexual playing field. By all means make it possible for men and women to be equal in the world of work and choices but allow children to grow up in their own sexuality.
God Bless
September 9, 2017
Writing - 10 snippets of news
It's good to consider slightly lighter news items on occasions. It keeps one sane don't you know dear old thing!
[image error]
1. The fossil of a marine reptile "re-discovered" in a museum is the largest of its kind on record
What else would we discover if we re-researched the myriad of items our museums hold.
--------------------------------------
[image error]
2. South Africa's original language has only three remaining speakers
Let's hope they are speaking to each other.
--------------------------------------
[image error]
3. Surgery waiting times in Wales are up 400%
Well there's a thing isn't it!
--------------------------------------
[image error]
4. Information from the Cassini spacecraft hints that Saturn's spectacular rings may be relatively young
Well well!
--------------------------------------
[image error]
5. Smell may play a key role when birds are navigating long distances over the oceans
Wow!
--------------------------------------
[image error]
6. A new "hotel" experience is being planned for overnight trains to Scotland
They will still rattle and roll.
--------------------------------------
[image error]
7. A fictional country used as part of military exercises in Belarus now has a foreign ministry, flag, history and Wikipedia page
There will be a revolution next!
--------------------------------------
[image error]
8. Elephant grass could significantly reduce the construction industry's impact on the environment
Mud huts with grass roofs next
--------------------------------------
[image error]
9. The US has approved the first treatment to redesign a patient's own immune system so that it attacks cancer
But will we then all die from influenza?
--------------------------------------
[image error]
10. Researchers have discovered 381 new species of plants and animals during a two-year study in the Amazon
Not long before the day of the triffids
--------------------------------------
God Bless
[image error]
1. The fossil of a marine reptile "re-discovered" in a museum is the largest of its kind on record
What else would we discover if we re-researched the myriad of items our museums hold.
--------------------------------------
[image error]
2. South Africa's original language has only three remaining speakers
Let's hope they are speaking to each other.
--------------------------------------
[image error]
3. Surgery waiting times in Wales are up 400%
Well there's a thing isn't it!
--------------------------------------
[image error]
4. Information from the Cassini spacecraft hints that Saturn's spectacular rings may be relatively young
Well well!
--------------------------------------
[image error]
5. Smell may play a key role when birds are navigating long distances over the oceans
Wow!
--------------------------------------
[image error]
6. A new "hotel" experience is being planned for overnight trains to Scotland
They will still rattle and roll.
--------------------------------------
[image error]
7. A fictional country used as part of military exercises in Belarus now has a foreign ministry, flag, history and Wikipedia page
There will be a revolution next!
--------------------------------------
[image error]
8. Elephant grass could significantly reduce the construction industry's impact on the environment
Mud huts with grass roofs next
--------------------------------------
[image error]
9. The US has approved the first treatment to redesign a patient's own immune system so that it attacks cancer
But will we then all die from influenza?
--------------------------------------
[image error]
10. Researchers have discovered 381 new species of plants and animals during a two-year study in the Amazon
Not long before the day of the triffids
--------------------------------------
God Bless
September 8, 2017
Writing - Re-marketing
There have been myriads written about marketing books and I freely admit that it is not my best subject. My end of term report would probably say 'satisfactory could do better'. I find the selling part incredibly tedious, repetitive and boring. However, on occasions I do get myself organised and make the effort. It sometimes involves changing what I thought that I was happy with and that is a source of stress.
If you have similar problems perhaps the following information will help.
[image error]
Roald Dahl's final children's book has been illustrated by his longtime collaborator Sir Quentin Blake, 26 years after it was first published.Billy and the Minpins was originally published as The Minpins in 1991, shortly after Dahl's death, with illustrations by Patrick Benson.
An updated version has now come out with new pictures by Sir Quentin.
It was the only children's book by Roald Dahl that Sir Quentin had not provided illustrations for.
So the publishers have changed the title and the illustrations in an effort to renew interest in this book. I don't have the option of altering illustrations but I can change the book covers or the titles, and I can update the manuscript.
When I began writing Steele I did so in the first person looking to emulate the detective played by Humphrey Bogart in The Big Sleep. I carried on in that style for five books, I think it was a mistake in some ways. So I am re-writing the manuscript of my first book in the third person which is a long and slow process. Here it is in the original, messy, experimental version.
Patrick Steele is an accountant with training for various physical skills. He has made himself a self-styled Robin Hood available to right the wrongs of society using his skills as an accountant and a man of violence. The Gurentai, a sub-group of the Japanese Yakuza, employs him to prevent the incursion of the Mafia into England - specifically the northeast. The Mafia have blackmailed, or so it seems, a member of the local government planning committee to give contracts to a building firm under their control. That is James Thompson, but his wife Janice is hiding a secret! The Gurentai set Steele up with a Swiss bank account with sufficient remuneration to purchase an empty factory unit and set it up as a training facility and garage for himself. He also is to follow Aikido training to hone his skills in hand-to-hand combat and to adopt the spiritual attitudes of the Gurentai. The action begins near the Thompson household and at a building site operated by the Italian sponsored building firm. He indulges in some property sabotage and minor wounding of one of the hierarchy of the building firm. This does not have the desired effect however, and in an effort to discover the prime movers heads after the source of the funds, to The Marche, a region on Italy's east coast. Here Steele discovers the 'family' responsible for the fraud that is taking place in England and assassinates the member who controls all family business. He is caught twice in getting away but manages to escape himself, the second time with the help of two members of the Gurentai, Sumisu and Misaki. They fly him out to their HQ in Osaka, Japan and he learns more of the group he has been employed by. They, Steele, Mr Sumisu and Misaki, return to England to finish the job they had started. There is a modicum of love interest between Steele and Misaki that ends in tragedy later on in the story when Misaki is killed. Steele tries again to put the 'frighteners' on James Thompson but to no avail. Thompson is then assassinated in his front hall and shortly afterwards the Thompson females escape heading for the Newcastle quayside. Steele takes Janice off a cargo vessel and while being watched by Misaki escapes but then Misaki is killed. In the ensuing chase Steele catches up with Janice and her party and ends the matter. Throughout the story Steele is struggling with his newfound wealth and the morality of what he is required to do. The twist at the end concerning Janice Thompson is intended to heighten the suspense.
God Bless
If you have similar problems perhaps the following information will help.
[image error]
Roald Dahl's final children's book has been illustrated by his longtime collaborator Sir Quentin Blake, 26 years after it was first published.Billy and the Minpins was originally published as The Minpins in 1991, shortly after Dahl's death, with illustrations by Patrick Benson.
An updated version has now come out with new pictures by Sir Quentin.
It was the only children's book by Roald Dahl that Sir Quentin had not provided illustrations for.
So the publishers have changed the title and the illustrations in an effort to renew interest in this book. I don't have the option of altering illustrations but I can change the book covers or the titles, and I can update the manuscript.
When I began writing Steele I did so in the first person looking to emulate the detective played by Humphrey Bogart in The Big Sleep. I carried on in that style for five books, I think it was a mistake in some ways. So I am re-writing the manuscript of my first book in the third person which is a long and slow process. Here it is in the original, messy, experimental version.
Patrick Steele is an accountant with training for various physical skills. He has made himself a self-styled Robin Hood available to right the wrongs of society using his skills as an accountant and a man of violence. The Gurentai, a sub-group of the Japanese Yakuza, employs him to prevent the incursion of the Mafia into England - specifically the northeast. The Mafia have blackmailed, or so it seems, a member of the local government planning committee to give contracts to a building firm under their control. That is James Thompson, but his wife Janice is hiding a secret! The Gurentai set Steele up with a Swiss bank account with sufficient remuneration to purchase an empty factory unit and set it up as a training facility and garage for himself. He also is to follow Aikido training to hone his skills in hand-to-hand combat and to adopt the spiritual attitudes of the Gurentai. The action begins near the Thompson household and at a building site operated by the Italian sponsored building firm. He indulges in some property sabotage and minor wounding of one of the hierarchy of the building firm. This does not have the desired effect however, and in an effort to discover the prime movers heads after the source of the funds, to The Marche, a region on Italy's east coast. Here Steele discovers the 'family' responsible for the fraud that is taking place in England and assassinates the member who controls all family business. He is caught twice in getting away but manages to escape himself, the second time with the help of two members of the Gurentai, Sumisu and Misaki. They fly him out to their HQ in Osaka, Japan and he learns more of the group he has been employed by. They, Steele, Mr Sumisu and Misaki, return to England to finish the job they had started. There is a modicum of love interest between Steele and Misaki that ends in tragedy later on in the story when Misaki is killed. Steele tries again to put the 'frighteners' on James Thompson but to no avail. Thompson is then assassinated in his front hall and shortly afterwards the Thompson females escape heading for the Newcastle quayside. Steele takes Janice off a cargo vessel and while being watched by Misaki escapes but then Misaki is killed. In the ensuing chase Steele catches up with Janice and her party and ends the matter. Throughout the story Steele is struggling with his newfound wealth and the morality of what he is required to do. The twist at the end concerning Janice Thompson is intended to heighten the suspense.
God Bless
September 7, 2017
Writing - All good things come to an end
As English idioms go the one referred to in the title is really depressing. You can hear it being delivered with a sharp intake of breath and even a shake of the head.
In today's case it is more of a sigh of regret that would be generated.
[image error]Ian Rankin
Ian Rankin, the creator of the Rebus detective stories is hinting at the detectives demise. This is something I have considered for Patrick Steele but he soldiers on - for now.
With the series written almost in real time and the character now in his 60s, Rankin admitted he could not picture himself writing about Rebus "whizzing around" a care home.
However, the Edinburgh novelist has promised another instalment next year.
This year marks Rebus' 30th anniversary.
Mr Rankin said: "I have already slowed the clock a little, so he's not quite as old as he should be.
"Maybe an author can make it work, but I don't think I'm the author to make it work, so he has got a limited life-span.
"I don't know what the end point is for him and me."
While the 57-year-old author said he did not yet have a plot for the next book, he is looking forward to tackling the literary challenges of Rebus' increasing age, health problems, and how to get him on a crime case even though he has officially retired.
His most successful character to date, Rankin explained he had a special bond with the investigator and described him as a personal "punching bag".
"There is an element of self-therapy in everything I write because it's a way of trying to bring order to the chaos," he said.
"My youngest son was born disabled, so for a while I put Rebus' daughter in a wheelchair, as a way of dealing with what I was having to deal with in my real life.
"I just gave my problems to Rebus, he's like a punching bag for me, I can dump all my rubbish on him."
I love the way Rankin writes and handles his characters. Many authors and writers create characters that are an alter ego for themselves or as he says a punching bag. A Jiminy Cricket conscience sitting on your shoulder even when you're not writing which is why sometimes it is difficult to let them go.
If authors were more honest with themselves there is quite a lot of themselves in the people they write on to the page. That isn't to say that they behave like their heroes or heroines but that the personality traits may well be there for all to see. I know with Steele that he embodies many of the things I have wished for in life.
God Bless
In today's case it is more of a sigh of regret that would be generated.
[image error]Ian Rankin
Ian Rankin, the creator of the Rebus detective stories is hinting at the detectives demise. This is something I have considered for Patrick Steele but he soldiers on - for now.
With the series written almost in real time and the character now in his 60s, Rankin admitted he could not picture himself writing about Rebus "whizzing around" a care home.
However, the Edinburgh novelist has promised another instalment next year.
This year marks Rebus' 30th anniversary.
Mr Rankin said: "I have already slowed the clock a little, so he's not quite as old as he should be.
"Maybe an author can make it work, but I don't think I'm the author to make it work, so he has got a limited life-span.
"I don't know what the end point is for him and me."
While the 57-year-old author said he did not yet have a plot for the next book, he is looking forward to tackling the literary challenges of Rebus' increasing age, health problems, and how to get him on a crime case even though he has officially retired.
His most successful character to date, Rankin explained he had a special bond with the investigator and described him as a personal "punching bag".
"There is an element of self-therapy in everything I write because it's a way of trying to bring order to the chaos," he said.
"My youngest son was born disabled, so for a while I put Rebus' daughter in a wheelchair, as a way of dealing with what I was having to deal with in my real life.
"I just gave my problems to Rebus, he's like a punching bag for me, I can dump all my rubbish on him."
I love the way Rankin writes and handles his characters. Many authors and writers create characters that are an alter ego for themselves or as he says a punching bag. A Jiminy Cricket conscience sitting on your shoulder even when you're not writing which is why sometimes it is difficult to let them go.
If authors were more honest with themselves there is quite a lot of themselves in the people they write on to the page. That isn't to say that they behave like their heroes or heroines but that the personality traits may well be there for all to see. I know with Steele that he embodies many of the things I have wished for in life.
God Bless
