Progress Inspired by a Walk?

I don’t know what inspires ideas in other writers, but I gather a lot of my writing thoughts and inspiration from walking. I live in the Forest of Dean, so I’m surrounded by beautiful places in which to walk, usually with my wife. Yesterday, we decided to visit a local spot of significance, Symonds Yat, …

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#ScenicSaturday 15th 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 the River Wye as it flows through the Forest of Dean. The far bank, left on the picture, is actually Wales, as the river forms part of the border between the …

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After the Research

The research (see the post from 9th July), apart from those unexpected oddities that make you check the occasional detail, is done. I began the re-write at the beginning of the week. It quickly became clear that merely editing the first draft would not create the book I first envisaged. So, I have started again …

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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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