David L. Atkinson's Blog, page 90

Poetry Thursday 149 - Notebook

I don't often look back over my work but for once I did just this morning. A little reflection isn't necessarily a bad thing provided that your mindset isn't self-criticism.

Notebook
When does the psyche know that it’s rightto reveal the inner notepad,to the few acquaintances who mightdestroy pages and make us so sad?
Are there those who you’ll never showthe simplest, first scribings,who may as well just get up and goto alleviate the stress of sightings?
Then on the other hand there are someto whom you’d willingly explain every page,in an effort to persuade them to comeand read you until of great age.
And if through fear your chance is misseda blank page you make in pain,are there other opportunities that existto start you writing again?
At what stage is life’s ink droughtyforbidding further attractive notes?You attain a hidden shelf in the librarysurrounded by arid tomes and dusty motes?© David L Atkinson February 2015


God Bless
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Writing - People are so fickle at times.

People are driven by so many things it is hardly surprising that today's title is irrefutable.
Empty Tesco's
I live in a town that has complained long and hard about the opening of a Tesco's and all around the country similar scenarios occur with plans to open supermarkets. It was surprising therefore when people were protesting against the closure of a Tesco's store in Kirkaldy in Scotland. It even got as far as some people being in tears!
Is it any wonder that selling books is as much of a lottery? Writing can be prescribed by publishers and according to their reading of the market books may sell. Perhaps that's why they tend to stick to publishing works by known celebrities! Even then there are no guarantees.
Then there are the anomalies. 
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This has to be the largest current anomaly in the world of writing currently. I have spoken to friends who have read this book, I've listened to comments from experts on TV and other celebrities and not one of them has had a good thing to say about this book and now similar comments have been made about the film. It is making E L James millions - Congratulations!!!!
The bottom line is that like the lottery selling books is as much to do with luck as anything. However, like the lottery you've got to be in it to win it!
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 thin collections of poetry available solely through Amazon.
The Musings of a Confused Mind 
and
Words from the Raindrops 
God Bless

Tuesday cooking - Cottage Pie with dauphinoise topping

There must be limits to the number of different ways food can be prepared and after publishing a couple of hundred recipes on here I feel that I have reached my personal limit for now. However, there are tips, techniques, variations due to personal taste that may be of interest.
Mary Berry's Cottage Pie


As a result of not wanting to produce new recipes for now I fancied eating cottage pie and searched for 'different' versions of this standard meal. The recipe shown is from Mary Berry and contains some different methods in a standard meal.
So the main differences from a standard pie are the topping of dauphinoise potatoes and the sauce which was pre-thickened (if that's a correct term). The dauphinoise was fairly simply cream and thinly sliced potatoes, par-boiled first then layered on top of the meat sauce. The new step for me was the way in which Mary thickens the sauce. She suggests that the flour is mixed with the red wine until a smooth paste then beef stock stirred in, the whole lot brought to the boil and then simmered for a couple of minutes until thickened which it did very well. Thickening can be a nervy and lumpy experience and so I appreciate different ways of doing so.

The overall result was rather like the curate's egg - 'good in parts'. I suppose I could entitle this 'learn from my errors' and as such you expert cook's and chefs out there may think my culinary efforts as limited to say the least. However, for you who find this blog useful be warned, cut your potato in quite thin slices. Mary suggest 4mm, I was a little on the thick side and some of the potato wasn't cooked. The meat sauce was very tasty and included chestnut mushrooms as well as carrots, minced beef and red wine.
There are numerous ways in which you can vary this recipe, I personally enjoyed the topping and will try it again, in fact it could be done for fish pie or shepherd's pie, anything with a potato topping. I enjoyed the meat sauce but prefer my own version which is much more in the manner of an Italian meat sauce with garlic, tomatoes and oregano. Whatever you prefer these are a few extra variations supplied that wonderful chef Mary Berry.
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God Bless

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Writing - People identify with literary characters.

When I began the task of creating Patrick A Steele I had the sort of character I wanted directing the action in my books in mind. 
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The guy had to have the physical prowess of a James Bond tinged with Jet Li in a fight. He would have a liking for fast cars and the finer things in life but unlike bond he would be a gentleman with the ladies, mostly. However, the one thing that you can never know until a few books have sold and you've had some feedback is whether your audience will engage with the one you've created.
Author Will Self suggests that readers shouldn't trust these fictional characters and I understand why he suggests that this is the case. If you consider the one you've created there is always an attempt to imbue a degree of realism so that readers can identify with them. So if the reader does follow your direction then they shouldn't be surprised when that character begins to stalk the darker parts of the mind.
The engagement we try and create is an effort to encourage the growth of an audience but if you take any creative process there is a limit as to the breadth of the audience. Creativity is intensely subjective so finding like minded people who see where your going with what you produce is a lottery. If we were all the same tastes would be similar and creativity would die. As an example consider L S Lowry and David Hockney.
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I know people who love Lowry and others that think his daubs are laughable and others who love Hockney's work.
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You will make your own mind up whether or not you like the work and that is the case with the characters we create and set on their developmental road. The question is why is this the case? I have a theory!If you consider the human mind and how complex it is, trying to predict how something is going to be acceptable or not is a bit of a waste of time. If you take the development of a baby much of their earliest experiences oscillate between the two extremes of pain and pleasure or probably better described as need and satisfaction. As we grow older those basic needs are tempered by patience or an understanding that we will receive what we need in the fullness of time. Then when we are fully self-sustaining many other influences come to bear on the things we require and how we go about obtaining the same. If writers create a character that provides the reader with echoes of their own development but perhaps with slightly more favourable outcomes then they are likely to be more attractive and the reader will be hooked.
As I said before the chances of that happening we cannot begin to even estimate and thank goodness for that because we are encouraged to keep trying. On the positive side is the fact that a complex character has more to offer the reader than something that is rather simplistic. 
Will Self reports on characters that as a young writer he,'made them caricatures, stereotypes or hieratic figures - I denied them the oxygen of believable dialogue, and the nourishment of a credible inner life.'but with middle-age he expressed a different view,'People also need people who manifest all their own torturous confusions'
Life is not simple and it can be tortuous even for the most fortunate of us that is why Steele is the complex human being he is. In the seven novels thus far his background, experiences as a youth and attitudes he has developed as a result are with him always. The first novel 'I Have To Get It Right' tells us something of his background but there is more in 'Inceptus' for the reader who is drawn to the character. I believe that it is important to maintain the reader's contact with the person who is your lead so that their perception of the man is constant.Have a dip into Steele and see what you think. Extracts can be found on completelynovel.com and smashwords.com where if you are hooked you can buy for ereaders or paperback copies.
God Bless

10 things we didn't know last week

Lots of variety this week and if you're desperate to get away from it all move to Pitcairn Island!
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1. Before 1939, the home secretary was the only UK minister to get an official motor.
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2. Only one stained glass window in the UK is thought to depict Jesus with ginger hair.

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3. Penguins can't taste fish, only bitter and umami (meaty) flavours.

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4. Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams trampolines naked with his dog.

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5. Limpets' teeth are made of the strongest biological material ever tested.

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6. Roughly 56% of average monthly earnings in Malawi are spent on mobile phone charges, compared to about 0.11% in Macau, China.

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7. Tea should be brewed for six minutes, according to the organisation responsible for safety kitemarks in the UK.

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8. Spotify's shuffle is not truly random but sprinkles different genres evenly across a playlist and alternates songs by the same artist.

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9. John Frenchman is likely to have been the most common name given to medieval migrants coming to England.

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10. Only one person has applied to move to the Pacific island of Pitcairn despite a government offer that new settlers will be provided with a plot to build their own house.

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God Bless

Writing - Stop me and buy one.

I had an interesting encounter last evening, of the literary kind. Well that may be stretching it a bit but read on please.
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I remember dashing out of the house at the sound of his whistle, clutching a handful of change to buy ice cream from an arrangement almost identical to the above. It was usually on a Sunday and it was my first experience of seeing dry ice. 
Last night I was stopped by a potential customer! Just to say that it was the result of her picking up one of my business cards, that's one success from around 300 tries! She had tried to find my books on Amazon but had only come up with one of the poetry books partly because she'd omitted the 'L' from my name. There are lots of Atkinsons in their database but only one David L Atkinson. Even so it is, I think, worth mentioning that when searching Amazon you don't necessarily pull up all the books for one author in one list. All of my books are there but you need to look through a couple of pages to find them all.
In an effort to clarify the availability of the books the links are 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 thin collections of poetry available solely through Amazon.
The Musings of a Confused Mind 
and
Words from the Raindrops 
God Bless

Writing - White man speaks with forked tongue

As there were difficult circumstances in my mother's upbringing, orphaned at the age of 11, she had a slightly negative view of people in general. Sadly, she believed that you couldn't trust anyone and in some ways, as was inevitable, I am very cautious with people. This can colour writing but it also triggers ideas of hidden plots and twists in the stories I' write.
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The title of the blog comes from one of the many films I watched with my Dad in the 1950s and 60s and refers to the fact that the Indian nations in the USA were often misled by the white population.
So I'm back on the theme of 'writing from where you're at'. At the same time a little self-reflection can be of great benefit in life as well in telling stories. Stories can benefit from having an unusual twist within their progression and I've always enjoyed a good story, usually crime thrillers, with twists and turns in the plot. I believe that part of the skill is disguising the unexpected in your story until the last possible minute.

This is a skill that I'm not about to lecture you on as I've not fully accessed it myself it just seems to be a clever thing to do. What it seems to have is a greater need for planning which I'm not hot on, I prefer to write. However, I'm having a go in my current project, which is another Steele story tentatively entitled 'Grace and Favour'.
But what is it the writer is actually doing? Well they are lying to their audience, being dishonest, messing with the reader's head but quite often generating praise in the form of a story well-told. So for your consideration I have some examples that you may be familiar with or if not you may wish to look into for yourselves.
Usual Suspects
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The Twist - Verbal is Keyser SozeFor a minute, it seems like Keyser and Dean are one and the same, which would have been a decent enough twist. Throwing Verbal into the mix made it that much better.
Psycho
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The Twist - Norman Bates is the killer, and his mother is living inside him as an alternate personality. 
Norman seems so sure of his mother's existence that audiences can't help but be convinced as well—until the film dissolves into a Freudian field day.
The above are a couple of good examples, now for the others!
The Notebook
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The Twist - The old lady at the beginning of the movie is the young lady in the rest of the movie.
It didn't work that well because of Nicholas Sparks failing to pull the wool over our eyes.
Signs
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The Twist - The aliens can be destroyed by water and Graham Hess' wife's seemingly incoherent death-bed ramblings actually predicted the way to slay the aliens.
These super-smart aliens decide to come to a planet that has the one substance that can kill them on 70 percent of its surface—really? A massive loophole in the plot.
So even hugely talented people can get this aspect of storytelling wrong. Signs was directed by M Night Shyamalan and The Notebook by Nick Cassavetes. The point is that you can also get it right and as an unknown, when it works, it will have people saying 'wow!'
So my mother's advice on not trusting people may have stood me in good stead. I often find that I analyse the motives of people sometimes to the nth degree which is also an aspect of my psychological need to get things right - OCD. Okay so I'm a crazy mixed up kid. The whole analysis thing is partly what is needed to produce twists in plots.
God Bless

Poetry Thursday 148 - There's nowt to getting old.

The two slightly tongue in cheek poems offered today are also a little sad. I have had relationships, I have children and friends but now in my mid-sixties I live alone. I receive respectful kisses, lots of love of the appropriate kind BUT!!!
I was inspired to write these because I couldn't remember the last time I had a passionate kiss, it was probably six or seven years ago and as time passes realisation comes that they were the final kisses of that type.



There’s nowt to getting old
As you grow older bits become redundant,not all at once more piecemeal.Stuff that was at one time abundantleaks away in a manner surreal.
You don’t tell stuff to stop working,there’s no control on what first shuts down.Years pass before you notice you’re breakinguntil a significant failure raises a frown.
It may be your knees that are giving hell,too much jogging in your youth.Or perhaps you can’t hear so welland you’re accused of being uncouth.
Your false teeth shift and rattle,like the planks in a sailing ship.An apple raised for them to give battle,you take them out to remove a pip.
Then there are the things still working,ignored and untended by others.In ignorance the message they’re sendinganother kick in the teeth by sisters and brothers.
The sad lips are such an appendagethat can go unnoticed over time.They had such vitality, provided a bridge,it’s over - the osculatory pantomime.
So spare a thought for the old oneswith their failing body parts,and show tenderness, kiss old bones,and consider when your turn starts!© David L Atkinson February 2015


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The Lips
They stop the face from fraying,latch on to nipples for mother’s milk,test the temperature of what you’re eating,and prevent mess and things of that ilk.
When young you kiss with closed lips,for parents and relatives, young and old,but at the onset of the teen years,experimentation parts - becoming less cold.
Then later in full sexual flower,they take on their most active role.Almost an extra sense with powerto explore another’s every mole.

As age waxes usage wanesand the need to explore is less.Functionality returns to childish lanes,not as efficient at preventing a mess!
There comes a time when the ageing lipswould give anything for just one more kiss.Instead of the control of wet food sips,and only memories of better function’s bliss.© David L Atkinson February 2015


God Bless

Writing - The depth of language

So that sounds like it should be a meaningful title for a blog and in some ways it is intended to be but the actual contents are quite basic.
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To give you an example of what I'm referring to I'm writing this on Shrove Tuesday. A signification that Lent is about to start on the Christian calendar but the word 'shrove' is strange and probably only used once every year.Shrove comes from the word shrive, which means to obtain absolution from ones sins. Shrove Tuesday is the end of the season of shrovetide and is similar to the South American Carnival time. Chilli con Carne is part of Carnival and refers to meat. 
The idea for Pancake day and Carnival was to eat up the rich foods and meat before Lent began which was a period of austerity. Hence the term Mardi Gras or 'Fat Tuesday'.
But that isn't the whole story.
[image error]A condemned man
Condemned prisoners were given opportunities to be shriven, or absolved, of their sins before the headsman completed his work. This was carried out by a priest some of whom weren't that keen on doing the job and so the prisoner may have been said to have been given short shrift which is where the saying comes from.
Meaning: If someone says they are going to give another person short shrift they are to treat another without sympathy and give little attention, much the same as the reluctant vicar.

All the above from one word. Obviously, looking into this sort of subject involves research but brings up opportunities for inspiration for a scene or just padding for a narrative. 
It is also demonstrates the value of history and historical research to twenty first century writers.

God Bless

Tuesday Cookery - roast + sides

It must be said that I don't consider myself a good cook rather I think I'm adequate with some good qualities. However, I am largely self-taught, drawing on a range of people I've known personally and celebrity chefs I've observed, to get where I'm at today. The other aspect of preparing food is cost and I tend to the frugal rather than extravagant which has led to today's offering.

Roasted vegetables
Quite often you hear people wanting to do something different with the vegetables and I even believe that boiling veg in water has become rather unfashionable. Some prefer sautéed veg whereas I like mine roasted. In the roasting tin above there are a few batons of carrots and parsnip along with a small onion. There are no limits to what you can do with the vegetables in this situation, although for roasting you need firmer varieties. To give some idea these vegetables were in the oven for half an hour on 175 degree C and were perfect.If you are not feeling very adventurous then you cook in olive oil, or any other vegetable oil, with seasoning. I like to try different things and to the basics I added garlic and smoked paprika. Very tasty with a little kick.
Roast pork + trimmings
I had planned a very different meal for the weekend but my frugal gene was fully active while in the supermarket last week. I spotted quite a decent sized, boned leg of pork for £3.60 and to give some idea of how large it has already served three roast dinners and will go towards a curry and sandwiches as the week progresses. So very reasonable.When I roasted the pork I did so on a bed of sliced onion rings and a similarly treated dessert apple with a drop of water. I have done this before and it produces the most delicious gravy, the savoury saltiness offset by the sweetness of the apple. To make the gravy, remove the roasted meat from the roasting tin and pour in whatever liquid you wish to deglaze the pan, dry white wine or cider would be perfect. Add a little gravy browning and flour and heat on the stove stirring frequently. The apple all but disappears but the flavour is unmistakeable. If you don't want to use alcohol just add hot water. You still produce a very flavoursome apple onion gravy.
What I have learned from my experimenting is that cook whatever you like, the worst that can happen is you have to throw the results away and pop out to the takeaway. 
Cook what you like and what comes out well and you will always enjoy the exercise.
God Bless