Michael Harling's Blog, page 7

A Tale of Two Cities

We went to London yesterday.

Big whoop, I know. But it was a part of London that I do not frequent, so it was almost like visiting a different city.

For those of you in the US (and those in the UK who didn’t pay attention in geography class), London is located in the southeast of the country, nestled on the Thames (pronounced, for no apparent reason, The TEMS). And I don’t say this condescendingly; before I moved here, I thought it was much further north.

And London is also a big cit...

Vanity of Vanities, All is Vanity

That’s a quote from the Bible—Ecclesiastes, if I am not mistaken—reminding us that life is empty, futile, and short-lived. But that’s not what I’m going to talk about; I’m here to talk about Publishing.

Don’t just take the Bible’s word for it; listen to Tom Hobbs.

It has been over a decade since I published my novel, with a reputable publisher, who paid me for it. Since then (and as you well know), I have been writing a fantasy/adventure series for my grandsons and, since finishing the fina...

Trail Update

If you’re keeping up, you’ll know that my wife and I are hiking the Appalachian Trial. Virtually, that is.

Making progress, but still a long way to go.

Using our Garmin Vivofits (other activity trackers are available) we are accumulating movements that are automatically converted to steps and put against our step-target of 4.9 million. The steps are automatically converted—in my wife’s case—to kilometres, which I then manually convert to miles so I know how far she has travelled compared to...

The USA Tour 2023

Ah, America, the country where sugar is considered a major food group, a nation of wide roads, large portions, and expansive views, Land my Forefathers. Or, more exactly, Land of my Father; Granddad was born in Lancashire so, familywise, I’m more at home in Lickfold, West Sussex*, than in Kinderhook, New York, but we’re not going there because…we’re going to America!

Well, actually we’re back. I could post while I’m on holiday, but I have an aversion to advertising an empty flat to the local ...

Eighty Years Later

It came to pass that we decided to visit Cambridgeshire, and so we booked a holiday let in Suffolk. It wasn’t our fault; it looks more like a case of gerrymandering to me, but at least we were close.

A rather suspicious bump there, don’t cha think.

The idea was to visit Cambridge and some outlying settlements, one of those being Bury St. Edmunds. The reason for this was that my uncle was stationed there during The War.

Growing up, all I knew was that he had been in the Air Force in WWII ...

House Hushing

I ran across this term a while ago. Turns out it’s a fancy name for de-cluttering, something I don’t need much help with, which is surprising as—in my early years—I demonstrated great potential for becoming a hoarder.

In a hushed house, no one can hear you scream……except the dog, of course.

As a child and teenager, I saved everything—schoolwork, report cards, letters, magazines, college notes, my baby teeth, scraps of paper that one day might prove useful, and an impressive collection of...

Paradigm Shift

A strange thing happened last week; I read one of my own books. This was because I had brazenly put The Magic Cloak (Book I of The Talisman Series) forward to my Queen’s Head Book Club as their September read. To my surprise, they agreed. To my further surprise, I realized I would need to re-read it because I had written it so long ago that I was a little hazy on what happened in it. And as a final, totally shocking surprise, I actually liked it.

Writers do not generally enjoy reading their o...

Mourning Routine

Let me start by assuring you that I am not addicted to my smartphone.

Although, hang on while I check my phone for symptoms…

“Smartphone addiction, also known as ‘nomophobia’ (fear of being without a mobile phone), is often fuelled by an Internet overuse problem or Internet addiction disorder.”

Well, there you go. I certainly don’t have that, because I don’t fit any of the criteria:

Information overload: That’s absurd; it simply can’t happen. And we know this because, in an article ...

Take a Hike

My wife and I have decided to through-hike* the Appalachian Trail.

*Through-hike means to do all 2,174 miles in one go.

Don’t worry, we’re not about to rush off to the east coast of the US to carry £12,769 worth of hiking gear over two-thousand miles, from Georgia to Maine, over the next six to seven months. We really can’t afford to do that and, besides, it sounds dreadfully uncomfortable. No, we’re going to do this in the comfort of our own locality.

For over a decade now, we have ...

Hearing

I feel bad for people who were born deaf or, through no fault of their own, became deaf during their lives.

I, however, am one of the many, many people whose (comparatively mild) deafness is down to my own stupidity. My father was deaf as a post, but his wasn’t down to stupidity. It was down to there being no OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) during his working life. Mill-induced deafness, they called it back then, and it was fairly common. These days they have ear defender...