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 …
Continue reading After the Research
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 …
Continue reading When Research Rules the Roost
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 …
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. …
Continue reading After the Barricades, by Jessica Stilling: #BookReview.
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 …
Continue reading Gliding Into the 70s
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 …
Continue reading Artificial Intelligence, or #AI: Just Sayin’
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, …
Continue reading The Five Feathers (The Filey Chronicles, Book 2) by Janet Blackwell: #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 …
On 28th February I announced the start of a new novel and revealed I’d completed the first chapter at 1,725 words. It was on 26th March I updated progress with words reaching a total of 48,079. And on 4th April I let you know I’d completed 70,169 words but had run into a constructional problem …
Continue reading WIP First Draft Complete!
The WIP continues apace. Or, at least, it was, reaching 70,169 words yesterday, and completing what I like to call the ‘first phase’. Of course, this isn’t just any old book. It’s a work of fiction, but written in a novel way (pun intended) that requires some specific presentation elements. (sounds rather more grand than …
Continue reading More Words and A Problem
On 28th February I posted a piece about the start of a new novel. I’ve now reached, and even passed, a sort of landmark on the road to completion of the story. I’m up to page 125, 48,079 words in total, which is probably a halfway mark for the book. Of course, there’ll be changes …
Continue reading The Words Continue to Flow
I’ve had this book on my shelves for so long I’d forgotten it resided there. Curiosity made me pick up this ‘classic’ to discover what I could. There is much to learn here, if you have an interest in European history. However, it becomes clear that Plutarch was not a particularly reliable historian. His interest …
I decided last year to spend time away from creating fiction. Why? Like all human faculties, although the creative function benefits from use, it also sometimes needs rest to be refreshed.So, what did I do? I wrote a few posts for a platform called Medium. You can find those here, if you’re curious. I also …
Continue reading The Words Have Escaped!
A thriller written by a master of the language. Not for the faint-hearted or those lacking in education, this story relates the series of events that lead up to the stalking of the main character by a seriously disturbed and potentially violent would-be lover. The stalker is obsessive and deluded and follows the pattern of …
Continue reading Enduring Love by Ian McEwan: #BookReview
Subtitled ‘1001 Things Everyone Should Know About RELIGION’, this is a piece of work, as the subtitle says, everyone should read.That it is a scholarly work is indicated by the comprehensive bibliography, index and accompanying notes, which take up around 28% of the publication. The author lightens a heavy subject by being occasionally a little …
Continue reading Mostly Harmful, by Michael Paulkovich: #BookReview.
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Antidote to the Novel
Stuart Aken 