K. Velk's Blog, page 7

Fresh From the Literary Aficianado

All I can say is, if you don't want to read the book after reading this review (by Amazon Vine Top 50 reviewer Grady Harp) you also probably don't like ice cream or Audrey Hepburn.  Thanks for stopping by.  More book news coming soon (I hope).

More Than a Postage Stamp, Less Than a Snickers Bar

Hello Dear Hive Mind -

Just stopping by to alert you to an excellent deal, especially on a words-per-penny basis, of that book I wrote last year.  For those who have already acquired it, you may feel free only to tell your friends.  No need to download it again. If you have actually read it (and you should have done so by now!) you know the opening scene takes place on the longest day of the year, St. John's Day.  At least that's how it was generally known at the place and time that our hero finds himself after his journey through time (that is England in 1928).  It's had many names over the millennia, of course, and it's still a time of magic as far as my northern self is concerned.

For those few (billion) of you who haven't yet procured the book, you can get it during this most-daylit week of the year for .99 cents (or its equivalent in your local currency) from midnight (Pacific) time tonight (June 20) until June 26.

Here's the link to the Amazon US site and here's the link to Amazon UK.

Happy Midsummer's Eve - Happy St. John's Day. Happy reading.

(Yes, this same post is up on my other blog. Sorry if you've encountered it twice).

Civilisation by Kenneth Clark

I may have seen this series as a toddler when it aired in the US in 1970.  As I binge-watched on YouTube this weekend, far from those toddling days, it rang a distant bell.

Here's a link to the YouTube playlist of the entire 13 episodes.  I am sharing it here because I can't think of anything that I have enjoyed so much in years.  Since I care for you all I feel a positive obligation to share.

Kenneth Clark, the heir to Scottish fortune, was, predictably, a controversial presenter, given his white male privilege and all that (tedious, usual) complaint.  But his good will, good sense, supremely good taste, and overall formidable intelligence come through every frame (along with his classically British bad teeth).

Thanks to David Attenborough, they filmed this astonishing series in color and on 35 mm film, way back in 1969.  It is beautifully photographed - each picture a poem.  If you don't like this, you don't like ice cream.  So when you have ten hours, believe me you will invest them well here.

Here's the beginning of the Wikipedia article about the series:

Civilisation —in full,  Civilisation: A Personal View by Kenneth Clark —is a television documentary series outlining the history of Western art, architecture and philosophy since the Dark Ages. The series was produced by the BBC and aired in 1969 on BBC2. Both the television scripts and the accompanying book version were written by art historianLord Kenneth Clark (1903–1983), who also presented the series. The series is considered to be a landmark in British Television's broadcasting of the visual arts.

One Hundred Years Since...

The outbreak of World War One, or nearly so.  The official start was in August 1915.  The anniversary is being recognized in England by, among other things, a plan to fill the moat of the Tower of London with more than 800,000 ceramic poppies, to mark the 800,000 lives lost.

The Great War looms over Up, Back, and Away and my research for the book gave me a feeling for the disaster that might have been one of the real uses of having written it at all.

A bit of news...

I have started work on a sequel to Up, Back, and Away.  Don't tell anyone.  A work in progress is a delicate thing.  As I was working on it tonight, (forget I said that) my thoughts went back to Thomas Hardy's famous poem, In Time of Breaking of Nations, which he wrote in 1915.

Here it is, for your reading pleasure:

ONLY a man harrowing clods  In a slow silent walk,With an old horse that stumbles and nods  Half asleep as they stalk.  Only thin smoke without flameI read this poem when I was in high school or college.  (I can't quite remember when.  I went through quite a Hardy phase once upon a time).  What I remembered about the poem, and what brought it back to mind tonight was not really the War, per se, but its main point.  As the annotation on the  poem at Poetry Genius put it:

The underlying current of this poem is that the breaking of nations is not a sustainable undertaking, and when bombs, ammunition, and (more likely) soliders run out, what will be left is what has always been left, what endures through all periods of destruction and turmoil: genuine relationships, between humans and the earth and between pairs of humans.

I thought that was very nicely put.  It also, it occurred to me, might be said that the same essentials will survive underneath the surface of a prosperous, at-peace but distracted nation - like the one most of us in the US and UK know today.

My attention in the new book will be on Ada in the contemporary USA.  Her challenge will not be to make her way during war, or in the war-weakened society into which she was born and raised (England just before and after the Great War) but in ours.  Not too many "men harrowing clods" in Austin, Texas or Manhattan, (just a few hints...), but in finding and holding onto their equivalents in the chaos, speed, and glitter of our times.  Great successes await Ada and all the trouble that comes along with it.  Stay tuned.

Happy Easter!

Oh to Be In England Now... And Thanks to New Friends

I subscribe to the National Trust Facebook feed and they regularly post pictures taken by visitors National Trust properties.  Here's a picture recently posted by Val Corbett, showing the cherry tree at Sizergh Castle, Cumbbria.



Sigh.  Here's a picture I took from my back porch here in Vermont, just now.  "Deep and crisp and even."  Argh.


One more, for good measure (note the snow on the roof).

It is also below zero - well below zero, which is why we have that pretty blue sky.  
I know the English climate is not generally regarded as its finest point but it looks very good to me just about now.
In Other News...Thanks to all who may be stopping in here after picking up the e-version of Up, Back, and Away last week.  The Giveaway was fabulous with nearly 4,500 copies winging their way to e-readers worldwide.  Here's a screenshot my good Dad sent to me on the last night  of the promotion - note the position of Up, Back, and Away vis-a-vis that Hunger Games book, ahem.


I hope that every person who downloaded it will love it, though I know that's really too much to ask.  At least I hope you won't hate it.  I've been looking at new reviews on Amazon with half-closed eyes. Fortunately the few that have blipped in since the weekend have been very kind.
The Goodreads giveaway for a real paperback continues for another week.  There's a button up there you can press if you want to get in with a chance.  I hope that you are enjoying spring weather wherever you may be.  

First Anniversary Party: Free e-book download, Goodreads Giveaway

The England of inspiration - John Constable - Wivenhoe Park, Essex, National Gallery of Art
It's been just about a year since I approved the proofs for the book, or, as it loomed in my life, THE BOOK.  While it wasn't actually available for sale until April 15 last year, I figured I would give tax  deadline day a pass and start a little early.   Also, I'm thinking of this as a celebration season rather than a single day.  I plan to have a collection of essays and stories available later this month as part of the festivities. I'll tell you more about that soon.  In the meantime, the e-book version of Up, Back, and Away will be free to download on your Kindle or Kindle app for five whole days starting tonight, midnight west coast time. (That is, March 14 to midnight March 18).
Somehow, despite the nearly solid year of the book being available to you, gentle reader, I remain obscure, not rich, not famous.  Still. I have so enjoyed this year of having a book to share with the world.  It has added a new and fascinating dimension to my existence and I have been gratified that so many people have been kind enough to tell me that they liked it.  (Or to forebear from telling me that they didn't like it).  I was able to travel to England last fall in what I thought of as my Up, Back, and Away pilgrimage that gave me the chance to see in person so many of the places I had researched for the book.  I will look back with fondness on this period to the end of my days.

I hope you'll join in my little celebration by going to the Amazon.com site in your own country (the download should be available worldwide) to  get your copy. If you've downloaded one previously, or bought the paperback, get busy reading and tell me what you think - at least if you liked it.
I'm also going to be giving away some paperbacks over on Goodreads.  Look to your right and click away if you want to come in for a chance on those.

Thanks again to those who have reached out to me or commented kindly online.  What I had hoped for most was readers and when I am finding those, I'm happy.

Looking For An Old English Bike?

My internet friend Colin, who runs a fabulous, rich vintage bike blog sent me an email today to tell me that he and some of his bike friends are going to be running a vintage bike auction over in Blighty next month. Wish I could go. Here's a link to the auction website.

Work in Progress over on Wattpad

Hey friends -

I've been dropping the odd, tantalizing hint about a writing project that I've been dancing around with for awhile.  Remember the one, where I said this might be on the cover?




I just posted the first few chapters on Wattpad, which is a Canadian website for writing of all kinds, but especially for YA and teen stuff.  I'm hoping to pick up a few comments and maybe a little momentum.  If you have time and any interest I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.  Here's the link:

I Love You Sturmey Archer...

February in my part of the world means that subtle hints of the season to come are arriving.  I made it home from work in the daylight, or pretty close to it, yesterday.

Every day, when I pull into our garage at home I have to be careful not to bump into the bicycles that mark the end of my parking spot.  I have three vintage English bikes here, a 1968 women's Raleigh, a 1973 women's BSA and an unnamed brand with a barely intact decal featuring Welsh feathers.  When my headlights shone on them last night I thought, well, soon...

I saw this fun product video on the Facebook feed of the Slow Bicycle Group that I follow there.  It hit me right in my antique-y sweet spot, so I'm sharing.



I wanted to order one for myself though I'll admit I was put off by the fact that it comes in a flat pack and has to be assembled.  "Assembly required" is not in my skill set.

While I was looking at the Trotify website, I came across another great little UK cycling video so here's that for you too.



I always give cyclists as much room as I can manage and I appreciate it when cars do the same for me when I am out on my slow bike rides.

Stay warm. Enjoy those February sunsets.  Get your bikes into the shop for that Spring tune up...