Roland Clarke's Blog, page 62
October 27, 2014
Here is my interview with Roland Clarke
Another insight into my life, writing and my mind. Thanks Fiona.
Originally posted on authorsinterviews:
Name: Roland Clarke
Age: 61
Where are you from?
I live in Harlech, North Wales, with a view from my office window of Snowdon.
A little about your self `ie your education Family life etc:
I was brought up in South East England by an English father and Anglo-Chilean mother. Although I’ve had a privileged upbringing – money, private schools, and anything I needed, with such privilege comes a lack of real love, a lack of direction, and a lack of motivation. So after attempting to get qualifications at various schools, I tried to apply myself to something. But I job-hopped from photography, to marketing organic produce, to TV & film production, to equestrian journalist.
Fiona: Tell us your latest news?
I’m now retired and coping with multiple sclerosis. Having got my first novel – Spiral of Hooves – published, I try to make time to finish various draft novels…
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October 20, 2014
Why Ignore the Symptoms?
Ignorance is bliss, supposedly, but that is not the answer. Nor is this a post about Writing. Health is today’s imperative – your health.
This is my contribution to the Survive and Thrive Bloghop! This blogfest, hosted by Stephen Tremp, Michael Di Gesu, L Diane Wolfe, and Alex J Cavanaugh, is “meant to bring awareness of disease prevention and early detection regarding medical conditions that may be averted or treated if caught in the early stages. Our desire is to motivate people to go in for early screening, and if a condition is caught early and treated, then our world just became a little better place to live.”
So why ignore your symptoms, because you are coping? They might go away – or they might get worse. I suspect that the doctor would prefer an early diagnosis than the complications of extended treatment.
Minor-seeming ailments could be the symptom of something worse. My earliest Multiple Sclerosis symptoms were subtle and could have been ignored. I went to my doctor and he diagnosed Repetitive Strain Injury, but, when the symptoms flared up again, I was sent for more extensive tests. These tests led, within three months, to the diagnosis that I had MS. I could have ignored the problems, continued driving – with extreme difficulty – and the consequences could have been far worse than early retirement, a wheelchair and a rebellious body.
I’m not suggesting that doctors will always get their diagnosis right. There have been some tragic cases of medical incompetence. I might have gained a daughter when I got re-married, but within four months of her birthday in December 2010, she had died of stage four stomach cancer. A tragedy as she was a wonderful person, but the doctor told her that the stomach cramps were just acid reflux.
That suggests that if the problem persists, you should seek a second, third, fourth opinion. Don’t ignore the symptoms because the first doctor says you have a mild cold.
Maybe there is great value in the Chinese philosophy that prevention is the best cure. Traditionally, Chinese doctors had failed when a patient fell ill. But that’s another post. Just eat healthy until then.
Chicken Soup ~ Image courtesy of tiramisustudio at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
PLEASE VISIT OTHER BLOGFEST PARTICIPANTS
1.
Stephen Tremp
2.
Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh
3.
Michael Di Gesu @ In Time
4.
L. Diane Wolfe
5.
Literary Rambles
6.
SA Larsen/Writer’s Alley
7.
Confessions of a Watery Tart
8.
Entertaining Interests
9.
Writing Wings
10.
Left and Write
11.
Susan Says
12.
DG Hudson – Rainforest Writing
13.
Pensuasion
14.
Clarissa Draper
15.
The Story of a Writer
16.
LuAnn Braley/Back Porchervations
17.
Hilary of Positive Letters
18.
Richard P Hughes
19.
The Write Game
20.
The Beveled Edge
21.
Jay Noel – Writer on Fire
22.
dolorah at Book Lover
23.
Rohn Federbush
24.
melanie schulz
25.
Writer’s Block
26.
Tamara Narayan
27.
Julie@ Empty Nest Insider
28.
My Miracle Life
29.
Read is the New Black
30.
Life by Chocolate
31.
Diane Burton – Adventure and Romance
32.
Pat Hatt
33.
J. L. Campbell
34.
TrueWanderings
35.
Birgit
36.
Arlee Bird Tossing It Out
37.
The Warrior Muse
38.
Michelle @ Writer~In~Transit
October 17, 2014
Is there life or death in the Apocalypse?
Different World ~ Image courtesy of manostphoto at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Are you prepared for the apocalypse? Or have you been scared off?
On the one hand some people, especially agents, have had enough – or so they say. Yet, there are still books and movies in the apocalypse genre being released – e.g: The Colony. Is the genre going through an operatic death as the back-log dries up? Lead times in production are long, so in a year or two the apocalypse could have gone the way of vampires. What can we believe?
Unless it becomes reality – no longer the stuff of speculation.
I say this because I realise that I’ve been committing the mortal sin of writing in a supposedly dying genre. So what do I do? Admit that I’ve erred big time? Put the manuscript on a back burner for a few years? Turn it into a romantic comedy?
I keep wondering whether I can simply redefine it by changing the frame of reference. It’s not really post-apocalypse. Yes, there is a global disaster and society is breaking down. But there is hope. There are relationships. It goes beyond survival. But I’m not a hardened science fiction writer, who has ready every book in the genre. I’m an eclectic reader, hopping from mysteries, to fantasies, to historicals.
Apocalypse ~ Image courtesy of Danilo Rizzuti at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Of course, apocalypse has got a bad press – blame Hollywood. It’s often seen as the end of the world, a cosmic cataclysm as described in the Book of Revelation – or rather that’s the simplistic interpretation. According to the online Oxford English Dictionary the word originates from “…Greek apokalupsis, from apokaluptein ‘uncover, reveal’, from apo- ‘un-‘ + kaluptein ‘to cover’.”
So it’s all about a revelation – as the Book says. In a useful examination of the genre Fantasy Faction said, “The term apocalypse originally did not mean mass extinction, destruction and death, but rather related to enlightenment in a biblical sense. And before that, the term translated as “a great change.”
Might be worth looking forward to – once we’ve got beyond War, Pestilence, Famine, and Death – plus zombies, aliens, Justin Bieber, and Kim Jong II.
Maybe my take is different enough from all those that have trod the path of apocalypse before me – not that I have read all the books in the genre… too many given my reading speed. For a pretty comprehensive list, see Michael White’s Chronological list.
I can claim to have read some of the definitive novels, such as John Wyndham’s The Day of the Triffids, Arthur C Clarke’s Childhood’s End, John Christopher’s No Blade of Grass, and Roger Zelazny’s Damnation Alley.
Apocalypse ~ Image courtesy of dan at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
My attempt is called ‘Storm’s Compass’ and the collection of short stories will be Book 1 of The Gossamer Flames Saga. Provisional blurb is:
“What lies ahead when the world is devastated by a solar storm? Who will choose to build the future?
Eight tales of unfolding disaster have repercussions that will affect posterity. From the arid deserts of India and the United States, to the wild beauty of Norway, the future could be sown.
Storm’s Compass is post-apocalyptic fiction, with folklore in the shadows and greenpunk in the workings.”
What do you feel is the future of the apocalypse/post-apocalypse genre? Does ‘Storm’s Compass’ sound enthralling? Do you want to be among the beta readers?
Please tell me what you think in the comments.
September 30, 2014
Launch Day Mnemonics
Having struggled through a frantic first book launch, I need to avoid a repeat performance. So this handy name mnemonic – memory device – helps recall some of the key elements. Using the first letter of each element spells TROUP, as in Bobby Troup, composer of ‘Get Your Kicks on Route 66’ – play any recording to remember.
Time: make sure that time is on your side. Schedule enough time for the key elements. Good timing ensures that you’re not going crazy on launch day because something hasn’t been done.
Reviews: finding reviewers and giving them Time to read your book is essential. Avoid having all your reviews appear after the launch.
Originality: Look for a unique angle for your book launch – be original. Go beyond interviewing your characters, invite their alter-egos to the launch in costume. Organisation is also needed to ensure success, but that comes with Time. As for the Orchestra, you only book that for a stadium launch.
Unforeseen: Prepare for the unforeseen, things that creep up at the last minute. Goodies held up in the post. Guest speaker from Idaho arrested for giving his wife too small a box of chocolates.
Profile: By Profile I don’t mean Platform – that should be paved well-before the journey. Check that all your profiles on social media, your website, Goodreads, Amazon Author Central, etcetera are all up-to-date with the same text and photographs. As for the Launch Day Party, who is going to forget that?
That’s enough from me folks.
This is my monthly contribution to the Insecure Writer’s Support Group. The October 1st post celebrates the forthcoming IWSG anthology, Guide to Publishing and Beyond. The awesome co-hosts for this special anniversary posting of the IWSG are Kristin Smith, Elsie, Suzanne Furness, and Fundy Blue!
September 25, 2014
Squeaker
A post from the heart… with tears of sadness and joy.
Originally posted on THE DUSKWEALD:
I don’t feel like writing anything, it seems like so much work for me to get it onto paper. Life gets in the way sometimes and I lose the motivation to do the things I enjoy doing. I am not going to bore you with the why not and how come, it runs to deep but maybe one day it will surface and rear it’s ugly head then I will deal with it. Until then I will try to write about the things I feel strongly about and maybe a few more of my memories……….
When I was growing up I loved animals. It didn’t matter what kind of animal it was, I always found beauty in all things. I would find a “stray” animal, dog or cat, and bring it home and beg my mom and dad to let me keep it. A few times I succeeded by hiding…
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September 15, 2014
Staying on Track
Dewy Cobweb ~ by Norman Hyett
Two weeks into September and I am on track with the Multiple Sclerosis September Challenge. Thus far, I have met my target to write a short story a week.
The aim was to focus this month on writing (and editing) four tales in my “Gossamer Flames” saga, so I have been working through them chronologically. The first two were written before the month started, along with Nos. 4 and 8. Another four will complete the first Book of the Saga – Dust & Death.
Two down and two to go. Halfway and the challenge looks feasible. Donations are very much welcome – all in a very good cause.
I am trying to vary my style a little, especially in terms of POV. I have been attempting to write ‘deep/tight POV’ and it has been a real test. I am also having to edit as I go, or at least by working through each day’s writing before continuing, then doing some final edits before each week is out. Fighting the trials of the MS has added to the challenge, but I am winning.
However, I am aware that these edits may not be enough. I need volunteers as beta readers – to see if the tales work and make sense, whether the POV rings true, if my grammar sucks, etcetera. Volunteers please contact me. The beta readers for my opening tale found enough to warrant a revision, or two.
If you sign up for my newsletter, you will receive the final version before anyone else sees the ‘Book’. Beyond that day, I will release “Dust & Death – Book I of Gossamer Flames” as a collection.
Looking ahead to October, I know that I have to put some time aside to do my tax return – not that I make a fortune. Then I need to devote some time to the re-location of “Fates Maelstrom” from Dartmoor to Snowdonia.
For now it’s back to killing some vermin in Scotland – just don’t ask me what they are voting… it won’t matter when the Solar Apocalypse comes.
http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/
September 2, 2014
Is the Challenge over?
When I woke this morning – Tuesday September 2nd – my body refused to co-operate. I was ready to give up all my writing challenges and escape. Does that make any sense?
Maybe it doesn’t if you read my last post on here… my last Insecure Writer’s Support Group post, when I wrote about the inspiration that keeps me going. However, it’s the first Wednesday of the month again and I have the doubts and the fears that we are meant to have conquered. Seems I am back to the struggle stage.
Writing over the last month had been more about escaping into research… and into other worlds = MMORPGs – gaming. I had great plans for September: write at least one complete story in the Gossamer Flames series every week of the month. Not a lot in comparison with the 100k in 100 days Challenge that I’m failing at miserably and as usual. But this should be so much easier as it’s over a shorter period – just a month. It’s also less intensive than the A to Z Challenge, although that inspired many of the shorts in Gossamer Flames.
Creating a story a week is one bit of pressure that I have set for myself as part of the MS Challenge that runs in September – my Support Page is at https://www.justgiving.com/ChallengeMS2761/ . And two days in I was thinking of giving up, even if it is a central part of my Life Challenge… fighting the MonSter that wants my Life but mustn’t win.
If I have written four complete tales, and edited them, by the end of the month then I will have reached one goal – although some sponsorship would be a bonus.
And thanks to a comment, I’m re-inspired. The words made me visit a fascinating blogsite, where I read a wonderful article on Spirals http://jazzfeathersjewellery.wordpress.com/2014/03/08/spirals/. Following the trail to its creative conclusion, I bought my long-suffering wife a well-deserved present.
Steampunk Heart from JazzFeathers
In case you hadn’t realised, this is my monthly post in IWSG and the awesome co-hosts for the September 3 posting of the IWSG will be Laura at My Baffling Brain, mark Koopmans, Shah Wharton, and Sheena-Kay Graham. And it’s IWSG’s three year anniversary of posting!
Oh you were expecting something else. Were you thinking I meant the Ice Bucket Challenge when I said Challenge in the title?
Yes that has dominated the media and is a worthy cause for ALS alias motor neurone disease, another neurological nightmare. Ice Water is also meant to be good for MS, except something cold like water sends me into spasms. If challenged I would sign the cheque and be inspired by Patrick Stewart’s Ice Bucket Challenge, jst as the Huffington Post were http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/22/patrick-stewart-ice-bucket-challenge-video_n_5701036.html.
There is also a link on the Huffington Post report to Benedict Cumberbatch who showed another way to NOT evade the Ice Bucket Challenge. How to douse a dragon?
August 5, 2014
Would You Trade Your Writer’s Block?
I promise that it was there… until I woke up. Didn’t you see it when you arrived? Maybe it departed on wings of… well take your pick, on Gossamer, feather, metal, wood or leather.
Time to be honest. I don’t suffer from writer’s block. Maybe I have an antigen in my makeup, or my muse works overtime. Whichever it is, I have too many ideas, therefore too many first drafts that need editing. I just need to find the one idea that fits the moment.
However, I admit with Multiple Sclerosis that I am always losing thoughts as I write. This post is a typical example as I lost my train of thought many times. Whether the thought ever came back, I don’t remember. Yes, it’s that bad.
As for my block it’s over editing, but more of that later.
Let’s continue with my primary antigens to Writer’s Block. Not all of them work all of the time, but at least one might yield something that I can use. Maybe even something that helps you.
DREAMS: We all dream, although we often forget most of them. I don’t always have inspiring dreams, but there are a few that offer something of worth. When I wake up, I either write the dream down or work through the idea that it inspires, for later use as either a scene, a short story, or a novel.
Photo of a cloud illuminated by sunlight. ~ by Ibrahim Iujaz from Rep. Of Maldives
PHOTOS: Although I used to take photographs as an equestrian journalist, it tends to be other people’s photos that yield the best inspiration. On Pinterest I have gradually collated images to inspire new ideas. See my Pinterest file here.
OUTDOORS: When I was more mobile, I found that getting out into natural surroundings would inspire me. That included observing people in the street or park. I once got the idea for a Haiku about a kite from a summer wander – or was it a Senyru? Nowadays I have to rely more on my immediate surroundings for inspiration – like “Black with Secrets, Adorned with Silver”, my Blog Post on Monday, which was inspired by dawn sounds that woke me up. One advantage is gazing at Snowdon every day.
GAMING: Okay playing online games – MMORPGs – is one of my ways to chill… a reward like chocolate, but gaming is a source of inspiration. I have two draft novels set against a gaming world, in fact a fictional gaming world based on my short story saga “Gossamer Flames”. I’m not sure what the inspiration for the first novella that became “Gossamer Flames” was, but gaming has built more of the world. Ironically, the novella –Weave of the Sister Skein – appeared while I was recovering from my first MS attack in 1999.
I’m sure that you can suggest other sources of inspiration, and you are welcome to add them in your comments.
So to My Block and Insecurity – Editing. I am churning out first drafts faster than I can edit them. My mind can no longer deal with focusing on finding the faults. Yes I can trudge through the manuscript – not MS, please, as I live with a MonSter already. Trawling word by word, I aim for perfection. I search for plot holes and character flaws. But I need months, even years. Time is not on my side.
Perhaps I need an editor partner. Maybe someone that can take my words then polish the idea into something worth reading. All offers considered.
Maybe that’s another Writing Unblock antigen. Anyone want to trade?
***
The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day, when we talk about our doubts and the fears we have conquered. We discuss our struggles and triumphs, perhaps offering a word of encouragement for others who are struggling.
This is my monthly IWSG post and there are many more words of wisdom out in cyber-space. I’m only a single blip among 290 other amazing bloggers rocking the neurotic writing world. If you click here there are links to all of them and you can visit as many as you want.
All thanks to Ninja Captain Alex J Cavanaugh and his awesome co-hosts Sarah Foster, Joylene Nowell Butler, Lily Eva, and Rhonda Albom!
August 4, 2014
Black with Secrets, Adorned with Silver
Smoke On The Water ~ Image courtesy of Evgeni Dinev / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
They are gathering. I can hear them in the darkness and wonder why they are here so early. At first their cries slipped into my dreams, weaving their way into the gradual awakening. Eyes open, my conscience knows that it’s time. Time to face the day and my obligations.
The heavy drapes pulled wide as my eyes, I see the dawn, soft and orange, streaked with indigo and tendrils of mist from the lake. Shadow trees are reflected in the shimmering water.
My visitors are waiting.
Raiment as black as coal, they glisten in the light like black diamonds. As they stalk around on the grass, their eyes watch me, knowing what I will do. But I am waiting for their cousins. They arrive acrobatically displaying their talent. Hopping across the ground as they land, the sun shines on heads adorned with silver, then they gracefully fold their wings. Their echoing chacks add another contrast to the raucous caws of their larger brethren. All the feathers shine, preened to brilliance by beaks created for a varied diet.
Some would say that I was sick in the head for feeding this elegant corvid family, and some would shoot them as vermin, hanging their carcasses up as scarecrows. But the intelligence of my feathered friends captivates me, the supreme ones for me being the Jackdaws. So every morning they feast on my fruit and berry granola, and I try to understand them.
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“Jackdaw – up close and personal by John Haslam from Dornoch, Scotland. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 via Wikimedia Common.
Is that mischief or secrets in their glances and nods?
They are considered the most intelligent of birds, having demonstrated self-awareness and tool making ability. Their total brain-to-body mass ratio is equal to that of the great apes, and of cetaceans like dolphins. Therefore, there could be more.
Are the black feathers symbolic of death and evil? A Black Knight with wings dreaming of taking centre stage in a world uprising? Ridiculous. Their other cousins are multi-adorned, in black and white, or pinkish-brown with blue flashes. They are precious gems of nature, even when screaming in the woods as the elusive Jays do. A simple cry to a mate or rival? A warning? Or those secrets? Will we learn what lies in their minds?
Perhaps the answer lies in the soil that nourishes us all, from birds to humans. Soil that can be as black as the jackal that is Anubis, the funerary deity of the Ancient Egyptians, but richer than the rarest gems. Black diamonds set in silver.
“Armadillidium vulgare 001″ by Franco Folini – San Francisco, California. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons.
Is the secret in the silver, gleaming on the head or sparkling in the eyes? What are the Corvids seeking in the ground? Insects? Worms? Or the strange silver denizens of our humble gardens? Those silver armoured creatures like woodlice or sow bugs, the crustaceans that crawl in the darkness but do no harm.
But maybe in a world turned upside down, where dreams are nightmares or a chance to rebuild, the talent lies elsewhere. What happens if the silver adorned creatures in black armour and the feathered acrobats demonstrate their prowess? Food for thought and survival, maybe.
Instead I awake from my fantasies, knowing that reality rules. I am back in my wheelchair without the granola, and gazing out the office window at jackdaws hopping on the neighbours’ roof and wheeling in the sky towards Snowdon.
August 1, 2014
The Ghostly Father
I have just added a review of Sue Barnard’s The Ghostly Father, on Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/859252977.
Sue’s brilliant book has been nominated in the Guardian Not The Booker Prize award and deservedly is through to the longlist. There’s still time to cast your vote for the finalists and this has to be my favourite. Voting closes at midnight (UK time) on Sunday 3 August:
