David L. Atkinson's Blog, page 84

Writing - Conspiracy theories

My father worked down the pit, mum was a domestic goddess having been a civil servant in her early life. So nothing controversial and yet they both brought me up to the idea that you shouldn't believe everything you see and hear in the media. So where did the thirst for conspiracy theory?
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It could be partly psychological and understandable. If you are working in a fairly mundane job, spend time following the news, then there may well be a sense of dissatisfaction and the human mind, being the wonderful thing that it is, allows the imagination to run wild.On the other hand,
Area 51 USA - aliens landed
Flight MH370 - lost at sea or taken by terrorists + several other ideas. Since then I've had it suggested that the plane was flown to somewhere in Europe, the passengers set free then the plane re-designate MH17 flown over Ukraine and shot down by Russians to generate more momentum in the strife in that country.
USA never landed men on the moon!
And, a developing furore over the happenings of 9/11.
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This theory could supply a superb theme for a story. There are three elements to what happened on that fateful day. Firstly, the two towers collapsing in the way that they did. They came down in a classic demolition style. When a building is blown up engineers use as little explosive as possible to get the maximum affect. So the idea is to have the weight of the building destroy itself by 'breaking' it so that gravity takes over and the building drops vertically downwards. The idea that the heat travelled downwards and destroyed the metal frame of the building surely would have taken many more hours than actually occurred.
Building 7
Building 7, marked on the aerial shot above, was part of the World Trade Centre complex, was less damaged than buildings closer to the WTC, and collapsed after 5pm a good seven hours after the twin towers fell. The building was empty and had been used by security services in the past. Also if it collapsed as a result of the fire then it will be the first ever steel framed building to totally collapse due to fire. Other facts,(a) Building 7 wasn't covered in the Twin Towers report(b) 43% of Americans knew nothing about building 7
There are more discrepancies connected to Building 7.
Pentagon 9/11
Finally, the damage done to the Pentagon is hardly consistent with an aeroplane flying into it, for one thing there is no damage from the wings. Strangely for such a sensitive building the only footage of the 'plane' crashing came from the camera on an access barrier and later a shot from a nearby hotel. It is more consistent with missile damage and none of the released footage shows a Boeing 757.
So the whole issue of 9/11 is in question and apparently the concerns are growing that this was a terrorist attack using rockets.
Well I hope this blog has stirred up the memory banks and generated some questions in minds about seemingly normal occurrences. Can you really trust the government services that owe their existence to your taxes?
God Bless

Writing - Here is the news

In the midst of electioneering and remembrance services some lighter stuff.
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1. Shipwrecked 170-year-old champagne tastes "grilled, spicy, smoky, and leathery".

And salty?
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2. The first sports bra was made from two jock straps.

Hope they were washed first.


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3. Your body odour genes may make you tastier to mosquitoes.

Mine must be particularly alluring.


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4. You can make perfume from rain.

As some perfumes are water-based this is not that surprising.


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5. Nearly half of Americans - 150 million people - live in earthquake risk zones.


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6. The ocean economy is valued at $24tn, the seventh largest in the world.


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7. Chewing something can partially excise "earworms".

Yes - it opens the Eustachian Tube which then allows the worm to slide down to the back of the throat, where it does a couple of laps of the tonsils, and climbs right back up into the ear canal!


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8. Alex Salmond changed his signature after being told off by the Queen for having messy writing.

Wimp!
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9. Vultures surf on the heat of power plants.

Sensible.


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10. "Roadman" is northern slang for someone who thoroughly knows his area.

Whose north?
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God Bless

Writing - Nearing the end of a story

I am nearing the completion of my 8th Steele novel and that is quite exciting and a little nerve wracking.
[image error]Grace and Favour
The title from the beginning has been Grace and Favour and this close to the end I have no intention of changing it. Titles are important simply because they distinguish one book from another, anything else is as imaginative as the author requires, or as relevant to the contents as needs be. Let me explain.
Grace and Favour homes in the UK are usually owned by the Royal family or the State and given rent free to officials of the government or ministries, for example 10 Downing Street. Of course the properties owned by the monarch may also be given to members of the Royal family. Now that is fine but the name may have come from the writings of Machiavelli who referred to advisors who were ministers per grazia e concessione, which has been translated as through grace and favour, rather than any skills or abilities they may have held. For me this smacks of capitalistic favouritism that has no longer any place in the modern world. To a minor degree this story links to times gone by when such favouritism was de riguer. So as the author the title is relevant to the story.

Then there is choosing a book cover one example which can be seen above. In the case of my last two covers Castled  and Earth plc I created the covers from photographs I took. This is a strategy that I've adopted because it is easier to create a cover that fits the criteria insisted upon by online publishers who seem particularly insistent in not standardising their requirements. It also makes for a cleaner image when the reprinting for paperbacks is carried out. I shall be going out and about snapping away with my camera over the next few days.


Then there is editing and the least said about that the better. Suffice it to say that I have established a process which works quite well for me.
Finally, there is getting the book out there which is an aspect that I have struggled with but keep trying. To that end see below.

My 10 books as of December 2014
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 - Life is a political cycle

It seems apt that on this day, St George's, that I should be writing about the current political situation and the forthcoming election. So much so that I've looked back at elections since 1918 and even political situations further back in the past.
[image error]Civil War 1642
Periodically, the ordinary people of countries around the world desire change. They desire change from their ruling classes because of a perceived attitude of disdain for the rulers over the subjects. The groundswell of feeling can develop into a plethora of actions which comes from the nature of the people feeling dissatisfied.
There are many misconceptions about the Civil War, particularly that it was a war fought by gentlemen. In fact there seems to be some truth in the statement at the beginning but as the war ground on things changed. The nobles who were against the king and his establishment were made up of many nouveau riche, families that had not been to the royal court who battled against the nobles of the Royal establishment. Of course the ordinary soldiers came from the populace and were only fighting because of significant financial incentives. As the war progressed it became necessary to find talent from wherever it popped up and by the end of the war only 8% of the commanding ranks on both sides were from the nobility.
[image error]Whigs and Tories
I suppose that a long term spin off of the conflicts of the 17th century led to the eventual formation of two political sides - the Whigs (Liberals) and Tories (Conservatives). At the beginning of the 20th century there was a mini, non-violent ideological revolution which spawned the Labour Party. In the 1923 election a minority Labour government were catapulted to office supported by the Liberals. That government only lasted 10 months and in 1924 the Conservatives were elected with a landslide majority.
[image error]Flapper Election 1929
In 1929 Stanley Baldwin was expected to return to power untroubled as the taste for socialism was waning, however, he hadn't counted on the 'Flapper Election' which was the first in which all women over the age of 21 could vote. Another hung parliament with Labour forming a minority government.
[image error]1964
I was 14 years old when Harold Wilson swept to power in 1964. The Tories had been in power for the previous thirteen years and the campaign was littered with references to '13 years of Tory misrule'. Wilson won the election by 5 seats and probably because the Tory party seemed painfully old-fashioned whereas the Labour party promised a blend of social reform and economic modernisation. A majority of five was a difficult situation to manage and the government lasted until 1966 when this time Wilson won by a landslide majority.The late 60s and seventies were times of political turmoil brought about in part by the trade unions systematically holding the country to ransom. Out of the ashes of the Labour government arose this,
Margaret Thatcher 4th May 1979
Most people alive today will remember Margaret Thatcher for all kinds of reasons. She had that uncanny knack of opinionated people of polarising opinion over almost every matter that arose but she couldn't last forever, was replaced by John Major and eventually Labour took power in 1997 under Tony Blair.
[image error]Revolution
So we're two weeks away from another election and one in which another hung parliament is forecast and, if that turns out to be the case I believe it is an indication of a change in this in out sort of political nonsense we've put up with for a hundred years or more, to something more representative of how people feel about their world.
I believe that the two party, first passed the post politics is not representing the feelings of ordinary people who are standing up for more specific aspects of life which is leading to the development of smaller parties into more significant groups. 
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It is interesting that the trigger for this mini revolution was the Scottish referendum on separation from the UK. In fact it could lead to the Scottish National Party holding the balance of power over the whole of the UK.
God Bless

Poetry Thursday 157 - Things ethereal

I was struck by a couple of rather amorphous ideas the other day. One was on the nature of friendship now that we have such sites as Facebook, and the second the discovery of a huge section of space with nothing in it and a radio DJ was trying to establish a competition to give it a name.These two occurrences led to two poems.
[image error]What is a Friend?
In the olden days making friends took time,now all you need to do is go online.
Being friends was a relationship that grew,but now it is an instant, momentary view.
There’s fun to be had getting to know a friendover a period longer than a click/send.
Harmony develops over time nurtured talks,during shared experiences and gentle walks.
Trust comes from knowing each other,from spending time like sister and brother.
The relationship developed surviving spats,and is reaffirmed with gentle pats.
BUT now when things don’t seem to mend,all that you do is click UNFRIEND.© David L Atkinson April 2015

A section of space over a billion light years in diameter has been 'stumbled' upon by scientists studying a 'cold spot' in space. The language of the scientists amused me, the concept of stumbling over something that big would be rather like never having noticed the elephant in the room before! I like the picture of it too!!!!
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Doesn’t Matter
They've found an enormous part of spacewhere nothing of any form exists at all.No planet, stars, and not a traceof super nova, red dwarf, black hole or blazing ball.
It’s as empty as a footie fans head,no sign of intelligent or single cell life.Everything that could be, seems missing or dead,not a suggestion of movement, noise or strife.
What name to give such emptiness?As if a title would endow something more!No factor or trait, there couldn’t be lessto attach a handle, to hang folk lore.
Particles make up nova, dark matter, ante matterbut black hole or whatever it really doesn’t matter.© David L Atkinson April 2015

God Bless

Writing - A monster in the pan

Quite an interesting beginning to the day that was serendipitous. 
A monster in the pan
Was something emerging through the milk in this pan this morning? I thought I was preparing scrambled eggs!
In all honesty, if you keep your eyes open inspiration may well come from a wide variety of sources. The imagination is an amazing facet of human life and setting it free is what writers do but we should all dive into the unknown occasionally.
The second fortuitous occurrence this morning, this was all before 09:00, was seeing an interview with author Mark Billingham.
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Mark Billingham is the author of detective books featuring Tom Thorne and I believe his 13th novel is appearing this week. He has also had some indication that the BBC intend to make a series based upon his character.One interesting aspect of the interview touched on the fact that Mark tends to go where his character leads, although he did say that he was in charge as he did the typing. It is interesting that something I first heard from American writer Caleb Pirtle talk about, has been given credibility by the establishment in the form of the BBC.It was also interesting that when asked if he was considering the demise of his hero, Mark replied by saying that he would stay with Thorne as long as he still had something to say. I found the guy very interesting, refreshingly honest, and an inspiration to me to continue with Steele and his adventures. The operative term being as long as Steele has something to say.

Some of the things Mark Billingham said about the more technical aspect of writing I could imagine will have the Man/Booker worshippers tearing their flesh in horror. He said that he doesn't keep files about his lead characters life before the books, that he may get the colour of Thorne's eyes wrong in one chapter, but felt that the personality and actions were of more interest to the reader than insignificant detail.Billingham also answered a question about research. He believes in a certain amount of research but not to go to the nth degree, because if overdone a feeling can develop that you have to lever in all of the research whether the book needs it or not.
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I would agree with Mark's attitude on research to a degree, where I would add to what he said is that if you are including something different from your usual experience in your work then research is important to understand the atmosphere of what is being brought to the work. In a sense it is still within the realm of writing from where you're at.
God Bless
  

Tuesday Food blog - Strange concoctions

I haven't cooked anything different this week but I did create a very enjoyable version of a standard and came across a drink that supposedly has health maintaining properties.
Chilli a la Hairy Bikers
This is a bowl of comfort food for me but I was browsing recipes last week and came across this version which was slightly different and quite luxurious. There were three variations to the standard chilli.1. The meat wasn't just minced beef but it was a mixture of braising steak cut into chunks and minced beef.2. There was a third of a bar of 70% cocoa solid chocolate in there.3. The dish was cooked in a casserole in the oven for a couple of hours to ensure the braising steak was tenderised.
The overall impression of the dish was of something very much richer than the bog standard chilli and if I'd been following the recipe to the letter it would have been served with shredded coriander and natural yoghurt, cream or creme fraiche.
Health
I am a firm believer in the benefits of eating natural products as it is my feeling that when you start processing a food using chemicals and man-made substances you are introducing to the human body unnatural substances that may generate responses in the body that are far from normal. As a result of this interest I often read about health foods and came across the following.
[image error]Tumeric Milk
Of course this involved some research and I came across something else that is new to me - Ayurvedic (ayurveda) medicine which is one of the oldest forms of holistic healing from India. The benefits are legion,
It is usually taken at night to promote sleep and heal an array of ailments including common colds, sore throat, indigestion, diarrhoea, irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s disease, menstrual cramps, headaches and arthritis.It also fights cancers like that of the breast, liver, colon and prostate, relieves depression, promotes digestive health, detoxifies the liver, purifies blood, boosts circulation, accelerates wound-healing, relieves pain, protects against cardiovascular disease and helps with neurological disorders.Recipe220ml milkan inch piece of turmeric root or 1tsp turmeric powdersugar/honey and freshly ground black pepper to taste.Boil the milk and turmeric for a couple of minutes, allow to rest for a further couple of minutes then strain into a glass and add the other ingredients to taste. If you use turmeric powder it doesn't require straining.It is usually taken at bedtime as it also promotes sleep.Sounds great but I haven't tried it as yet.Enjoy!God Bless

Writing - Don't be discouraged

This lunchtime I was asked when I wrote 'Inceptus' and eventually worked out the it would have been the early part of 2013.

This is book 5 of the Steele series and the title comes from the fact that I wanted to share more of Patrick Steele's raisin d'etre, which is also reflected in the cover design. Everyone advises writers to write from where they're at and this story is based in Ireland and places I've visited in that beautiful land. My friend reflected on those places as he was with me on the holiday that fed into the memories.He also effused over how much he'd got into the story.
As a writer, that is the type of feedback that makes it worth getting up in the morning. It is also an indication of where a writer is in his/her development. Some authors are really fortunate and hit gold with their first efforts but for most of us the art develops with practice, and we often have no idea of how good or otherwise that we've become.
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In fact writer's, as with other artists, have to have faith that they're doing a good job. I am sure that J K Rowling had moments of self-doubt but kept going because of that inner belief that she was doing a good job. I know that I've used Colin Dexter (Inspector Morse) and Ian Rankin (Rebus) as examples as to the fact that writing is an art that develops with practice. The same is true for all of us who dip our pens and begin to scribe. So don't be discouraged as sometimes it takes a while for the feedback to come to you.
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If you've entertained the idea of writing it is a door that is ajar and if you put the metaphorical pen to paper then that's when the fun starts. Know that it is an activity without externally set boundaries. Writing is making songs, poems, stories both long and short, articles and many other forms that allow the writer to express themselves and in doing so to draw their readers into their world. The activity must come with warnings about time consumption and exclusion of others as it is addictive and pleasurable. 
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There are loads of different types of writing and in these modern times that have added the internet it comes with a variety of audiences and styles. In a way it is interesting when people say that reading has gone out of fashion that there are so many ways of writing and if you write then surely it is so that someone will be reading what has been produced. So don't give up on the idea whether it is 140 characters or 60k words, someone will read your work.
God Bless

10 things etc

News from the mundane and obvious, to the bizarre.
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1. Emails sent in the morning receive longer replies.

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2. In September 1944 the New York Times explained pizza to its readers and included a rare use of its plural "pizze" - there was an earlier article but it only mentioned pizza in passing.

Interestingly I had my first pizza in Brighton in the early ninety seventies when I was in my early twenties. The only fast food franchise at that time was Wimpy!
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3. Handgun bullets sometimes bounce off armadillos.

And your point is?


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4. The Queen likes to have her pre-lunch gin and Dubonnet in front of BBC Two's the Daily Politics.

Keeping her hand on the tiller


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5. Alan Rickman got his friends Ruby Wax and playwright Peter Barnes to rewrite the dialogue involving his character the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, resulting in the line: "You. My room. 10.30 tonight. You 10.45. And bring a friend."

A favourite of mine. The dialogue is brilliant with such lines as,
'Cancel Christmas'
'Something vexes thee?'
and so on.


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6. State senators in Minnesota are not allowed to make eye contact with each other while on the senate floor.


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7. South Derbyshire has the lowest social mobility of any parliamentary constituency in England.


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8. University Challenge question setters are particularly inclined to ask about Pre-Raphaelite paintings.


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9. Men compete to give bigger online charity donations if the page is for an attractive woman.


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10. Einstein's pipe is the most popular exhibit in the Smithsonian Institution's modern physics collection.

The forerunner to the Hadron Collider


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God Bless

Writing - Time to think.

Have you ever been in a situation when you haven't known how to answer a question, or someone has been rude and you couldn't think of an appropriate response? Quite often on reflection you know what you should have said. I call that being verbally challenged.
Sooty 
Sooty was verbally challenged in that he couldn't speak at all, but he gave non-verbal clues. When we write the usefulness of non-verbal clues is limited as they have to be described in words! In a sense this reduction of options could be partly responsible for writer's block but in another it could provide an answer to the problem. If we are at a loss for words we use sounds, physical movement and deflecting talk to give ourselves thinking time, that option is available when we write. 
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If you are stuck with your story, recap, reassess the situation, have your characters stop and 'think through a scenario' even give your lead 'time out'. It is important to remember that you can have your plots do anything you want them to do, change direction, take a step backwards or allow the lead characters to lead you where they need to go.

As you get older I believe you stay less stressed and have a greater range of resources upon which to draw in all aspects of life and so it is with writing. I was discussing where I go with my next book last evening. I've written 8 Steele novels and one SF/dystopian story and I'm considering whether to write another Steele story or to consider a very different genre. It was in  my mind to try my hand at an historical novel based in the 13th century but my friend suggested a novel based on my own home area. There are options which feels good because I have no wish to stop writing.
I leave you with something to amuse which is age related.

Subject: Pensioner's reply re Coles
Didn't like shopping there anyway. Yesterday I  was at my local Coles store buying a large bag  of Chum dog food  for my loyal pet. I was in the checkout queue  when a woman behind me  asked if I had a dog..
What did she  think I had, an  elephant?  So, since I'm retired and have 
little to do, on  impulse I told her that no, I didn't have a dog, I  was
starting the  Chum Diet again.  I added that I probably  shouldn’t,
because I  ended up in hospital last time, but I'd lost 2  stone before I woke up  in intensive care with tubes coming out of  most of my orifices and IVs  in both arms.
 I told her  that it was essentially a perfect  diet and that the way that it works is to load your pockets with  Chum nuggets and simply eat one or two every time you feel  hungry.  The food is  nutritionally complete so it works well and  I was going to try it  again.  (I have to mention here that  practically everyone in  queue was now enthralled with my  story.) Horrified, she asked me if I  ended up in intensive  care because the dog food poisoned me.  I  told her no, I stepped  off the kerb to sniff an Irish Setter's arse  and a car hit  me.
 I thought the guy behind her was going to  have a heart  attack he was laughing so hard.  I'm now banned  from  Coles.  Better watch what you ask retired people.   They  have all the time in the world to think of daft things to   say.

God Bless