When Research Rules the Roost

Presumably all writers of fiction start with research for their chosen themes, subjects, periods, and locations. I know I always do. For my latest WIP I decided to set the story within the period around the first part of my own life. This was, after all, a time I knew well. Or so I thought.On …

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#ScenicSaturday 8th July 2023

The Greek island of Thassos My photos here show how beautiful is our world. I hope to encourage viewers to help save it from our carelessness. This one shows the eroding effect of wave power on the strong rocky cliffs of the Greek island of Thassos over eons. Imagine how much more of this island …

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#ScenicSaturday 1st July 2023

My photos here show how beautiful is our world. I hope to encourage viewers to help save it from our carelessness.This one shows a newly created space on the right following the felling of some diseased trees in the Forest of Dean. Climate change has increased the incidence of tree infections, resulting in the cutting …

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the little book of humanist funerals, by Andrew Copson and Alice Roberts #BookReview.

This lovely little book is all about celebrating a life that has passed, celebrating the person rather than burying them under dogma and superstition. For the many people for whom religion has been revealed as illogical and unhelpful, the words of practical advice, care, empathy, and comfort form a wonderful substitute to the usual services …

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#ScenicSaturday 24th June 2023

My photos here show the often-fragile beauty of our world. My hope is they will encourage viewers to act in ways that will help save it from the destruction we humans constantly cause to nature.This one shows the natural beauty of an ancient tree surrounded by newer relatives in an English forest. Trees provide a …

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#ScenicSaturday 17th June 2023

My photos here show the often-fragile beauty of our world. My hope is they will encourage viewers to act in ways that will help save it from the destruction we humans constantly cause to nature.This one is of a calm sea under a rising moon shortly after sunset on the south coast of England. I …

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After the Barricades, by Jessica Stilling: #BookReview.

468 pagesHistorical Literary Fiction The world, it seems, changes little in spite of protests about injustice and inequality. This novel, set essentially in the Paris student riots (I prefer rebellion, protests, political activism) of 1968, relates the times as seen through the eyes of some students and an artist who understands and befriends the workers. …

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#ScenicSaturday 10th June 2023

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA My photos here show the often-fragile beauty of our world. My hope is they will encourage viewers to act in ways that will help save it from the destruction we humans constantly cause to nature.This one depicts the uneasy relationship between nature and farming to grow food. These hills, part of the …

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Gliding Into the 70s

A Towing Plane Lifts a Glider Into the Sky Last year, we celebrated Valerie’s birthday with a hot air balloon flight launched from Bath. This year, she wanted to try gliding. I’d flown with the RAF (only 55 years ago, so the memory’s still quite strong), so made the event entirely for her. I searched …

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#ScenicSaturday 3rd June 2023

My photos here show the beauty of our world. My hope is they will encourage viewers to act in ways that will help save it from the destruction we humans are causing to nature.This one depicts part of the Jurassic Coast in southern England. # If you comment, like, and share the post, it’ll help …

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Artificial Intelligence, or #AI: Just Sayin’

Recently, there’s been a sudden increase in interest surrounding Artificial Intelligence; in particular the fear of potential dangers of this development have come to the fore. The subject has long been popular with science fiction writers, and I’ve had a go at it in a couple of my novels. In ‘The Methuselah Strain’, my story …

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#ScenicSaturday 27th May 2023

I share my pictures here to show the beauty of our world, encouraging viewers to take action to save it from the destruction we humans are causing to nature.This one, for the end of the month, displays a tiny uninhabited island in Troulos Bay of the island of Skiathos. The sun was just setting as …

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The Five Feathers (The Filey Chronicles, Book 2) by Janet Blackwell: #BookReview.

The second book in the proposed trilogy of The Filey Chronicles continues the story begun in The Bridge and the Butterflies, which I read and reviewed after being introduced to the series by a writing friend.The story carries on the fast-moving, emotionally challenging trip of adventure combined with multiple life questions. Meg, the main player, …

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#ScenicSaturday 20th May 2023

I share my pictures here to show the beauty of our world, encouraging viewers to take action to save it from the destruction we humans are causing to nature.This was taken locally in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England, a place I walk almost daily with my wife. It’s a commercial forest run by Forestry …

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The Bridge and the Butterflies Vol 1 (The Filey Chronicles) by Janet Buckwell: #BookReview.

A YA Contemporary Fantasy novel packed with adventure, relationships, humour, tension and family matters. There’s some magic and alien science along the way, too. Meg, Mirabel and Will are characters easy to empathize with. We come across courage, angst, youthful certainty and doubt, and that wonderful teenage willingness to take risks. This bunch of kids …

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