Released

 Finally got around to finishing The Last Gang in Town and put it on Amazon 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B09H3L2J48

The cover is the same as the last post. 

The Last Gang in Town

 Had a bit of a break, but The Last Gang in Town is about ready to be released.

I changed the cover slightly. The Bailout was red so decided on a yellowy type colour this time. Should be a few more days to finalise then it's ready.

I mentioned before I am writing a bit on and off, well I still am. Not sure if anything will come of the current book (it's about three quarters done). There's another 2 books in my head that will have to get written at some point, but when is anyone's guess..

Book Cover

 Seemed to lose two months there. 

Anyway,

First stab at crooked spire with a bit of blood type sky for book cover. Needs redoing to get the bleed lines more accurately and cross at top. Haven't done anything like this before, but watched a few youtube videos and did it in Gimp and wasn't as hard as I thought.

Bookwise, just about to read it again a few more times to pick out any annoying typos. Also doing a bit of other writing every now and then.

The Last Gang in Town

 Nearly finished the rewrite for The Last Gang in Town. It was originally written six to seven years ago and things like Brexit and whatever have meant it needed a good rewrite. It's a police procedural but does have a bit of humour. It stems originally from a novella I wrote called DI Cliche, but that was many yeas and at least two rewrites ago.

Thinking about the cover and blurb now. As it's set it Chesterfield the cover should include the crooked spire. Turns out I've got thousands of photos I've taken over the years but none of the spire. This one from pixabay is good.  https://pixabay.com/images/id-2397026/

Of course it needs to be darker like is the tradition for police procedurals. As for the book blurb, I'm kind of thinking about it. DI Britwell is a miserable old sod, more asthmatic than charismatic, who communicates mainly via grunts, sighs and head shakes. Yeah, something like that should do it.

Been a long time

 So it's been a while since I last posted. I decided to take a year off writing in 2016 and before I'd noticed 4 years had flown by.

With all the lockdowns and staying in and that the past year,  I have started writing again. At first I wasn't enjoying it,  then the enthusiasm, for want of a better word, came back. Anyway nearly finished a book now, but don't know if anything will come of it. I've also been rewriting the grumpy old sod DI Britwell's novel, The Last gang in town, to make it slightly less offensive to anyone and everyone. 

Anyway,  that's it. What's everyone else up to? 

The Bailout

Another freebie few days for The Bailout ebook on the Amazon. It's coming up to five years since I published it, where has that time gone ? I'm doing a paperback version in the next month or two, formatting is a bit trickier than ebook, but nearly there.

Free today and tomorrow

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bailout-Charlie-Wade-ebook/dp/B005VCFNFY/

Or if you're in the US

https://www.amazon.com/Bailout-Charlie-Wade-ebook/dp/B005VCFNFY/

Been a while

Been a while since I posted something, especially something un-allotment related. Truth is, not much has been going on. Apart from breaking the big toe, learning 3d CAD, trying to walk the dog with a crutch, coping with an overgrown allotment, making strawberry jam and failing to learn how to use Oxford commas correctly, there's little I could have blogged about.

Bookwise, I'm fiddling with a police procedural which will be called The Last Gang in Town [yet another The Clash song title used] and toying with the Flustopia series, probably about halfway through the first part of it. I've got plenty of ideas for future books, but I guess until these two are out of the way, nothing else would or should get written.

And it's summer too, and hot (at least at the moment), so there's another reason for not blogging much. Normal service, as they say, will be resumed at some point soon.

Here's a picture of the dog looking nervous at the thought of  going in shed number 3.

Ten Questions - Julie Morrigan

After a short break, Ten Questions returns with North East Brit Gritter, Julie Morrigan. Echo and the Bunnymen were wrong about a few things in their time, and 'Spare us the cutter' was way off the mark when the cutter in question is Julie's Cutter Trilogy. So bring on the dancing horses, sail the seven seas, and see what makes Julie click.

What are you currently working on?

I’ve just published Cutter’sFall – the final novella in my north-east gangster trilogy – as well as the combined Cutter Trilogy. The ebooks are selling really well at the moment, and I’m currently pulling together a paperback edition which will be out soon.

Next up should be a brutal serial-killer thriller novel – provisionally called The Last Weekend – that lies somewhere between Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None and a slasher horror flick. It’s been a work in progress for quite some time now, but the latest draft should be off to my editor very soon.

Why did you start writing?

It’s something I’ve always done since I was little – I started writing my first novel when I was around seven. I remember feeling a sense of surprise when I discovered there were people who didn’t write – for me it’s as natural as breathing. I suppose it’s about looking at the world from different viewpoints and trying to make sense of things. That and trying to provoke a reaction, to make the reader feel something as a result of reading a story, whether that means they love or hate a particular character. That emotional connection is vital.

Where do you write?

I don’t really have a special writing space; I probably write most often on my laptop just sitting on the settee in the front room. I’m lucky in that I live on the coast and have a great view from that seat – even though at the moment the sea and the sky are a uniform grey and it’s raining, I can still see the lighthouse, and the waves crashing over the pier. When it’s dark, I get to see the lights on the boats sailing into the harbour and on good days, when the view is mostly blue and white, the yacht club often comes out to play.

Is your writing inspired by real events?

Yes, sometimes. On occasion the real world can be so much more fucked up than anything the most twisted crime writer can dream up. For example, one story I wrote was inspired by a supposedly true anecdote I was told about someone being strangled with barbed wire. Gordon Cutter – the vicious crime boss in my novella series – was at least partly influenced by real-life counterparts who should probably remain nameless. Like most writers, I think, I’ll read or hear something in the news, and then the ‘what if?’ factor creeps in and kicks off the imagination.

Do you have enough time to write?

It never seems like it. It’s at least partly because in my ‘everyday’ profession I’m a ghostwriter, editor and proofreader; so having spent the day working on other people’s words it’s sometimes an effort to make progress on my own! But it’s worth the effort, whether that’s adding a thousand words to a work in progress, or just scribbling down a perfect five-word character description that’s just popped into your head.

Have you got a favourite author/genre?

For leisure and pleasure I tend to read crime, sci-fi/fantasy and horror. Favourite writers include Philip K Dick, Kurt Vonnegut, Roger Zelazny, Ian Rankin and Stephen King.

Physical book or e-book?

Either – it’s the story that matters, not the format. Ebooks arguably allow more flexibility in book length, which can be positive for both writers and readers. A traditional publisher of physical books wouldn’t generally touch a short novella, for example, but some of my most successful ebooks have been shorter than novel length.

Who should we look out for?

If you enjoy police procedurals, I can recommend Chris Simms’ DI John Spicer series. They’re meticulously researched, very well plotted, and Spicer is a great character. I was late to the party with these, but that meant there were a bunch of books to go at once I’d found them. I’m currently reading Sleeping Dogs, which is the seventh in the series.

What question would you ask yourself?

What were you thinking?

Where can we find you?

Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Julie-Morrigan/e/B005O1XOY4

Website: http://www.juliemorrigan.co.uk/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Julie-Morrigan-268149469877246/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JulieMorrigan

Greenhouse mkII

Just like a Ford Cortina, sometimes mk II surpasses the original. Not true of all sequels of course, Jaws, Star Wars etc, nowhere near the original.

Last year, I polythened the old greenhouse thing on the allotment and it survived the summer but not the winter.

Early this year, work began on rebuilding. Firstly I gave it a coat of bargain shop wood preserve then fixed the door and one front side panel.

Then, someone kindly gave me a load of polycarbonate sheets.  I was originally going to use thicker plastic sheet, but the polycarbonate panels are much stronger and easier to fit.

 A few weeks later and a bit of bracing and it's getting there.

Finally, about ten days ago, the job was finished. It maybe needs a bit more bracing and sealing, but it's workable for the summer.

From the other side. Note the glass has somehow stayed intact for over five years. The end panels were all I had to replace on this side.

Finally, four days after fixing it, I fell over a gate while chasing the dog after she escaped, and I broke my big toe.

A week after doggate, I'm still not able to walk unsupported and so far have been nowhere near the allotment. Part of the bone that's fractured (turn away if you're queasy) has rotated 90 degrees so the Doc said it will be at least six to eight weeks before it's healed, maybe longer if it doesn't set right. I'm hoping in a few weeks I'll be able to go up the allotment and do light duties. Until then, the new greenhouse remains empty.

Back again in the allotment

Spring is finally here, bringing with it the promise of produce and a bad back from the allotment. Having got slightly ahead this year (or at least more ahead than in previous years) it's not the big rush it has sometimes been. So what's up the plot at the moment ?

Garlic, sown in October, is not looking that bad

I've been moving strawberries around as they were getting overgrown and I needed the space for something else

Most of the plot viewed down the length. There's some winter onions and shallots in there somewhere, and of course the last of the sprouts. I grew red sprouts this year but they never really came to anything. They didn't taste different to ordinary sprouts either.

So that's it for now. Nothing earth shattering, just getting things ready really. I did plant some broad bean seeds but they haven't come up yet so there was no point taking a picture. And sorry, but there's no shed or greenhouse picture this time. The greenhouse will be rebuilt, possibly over the may bank holiday, but maybe before if I get my act together.

Short Book Review - Dead Money by Ray Banks

Double glazing salesman, Alan, and his buddy, Beale, limp from one disaster to the next as alcoholism, a dead dog, and gambling debts drag Beale down and Alan with him.

This is a fantastic gritty urban novel. Set in Manchester, it's the side of life rarely seen. Alan is a great character, and you have to feel for him at the end despite all of his bad choices. All is believable and told in Ray Banks' unique and enjoyable style.

4.5 out of 5

 www.amazon.co.uk/Dead-Money-Ray-Banks-ebook/dp/B00GWGYDZO/

Writing again

So I've written about another 20,000 words since the last writing update [insert: 'some of them in the right order' joke here] I was going to list (out of the five books on the go) what is now at what length, but I'm probably better off by giving a time scale when each will be finished...

Last Gang in Town - few more months as rewrites not as quick as just writing.
Sausage Roll Spy book (pie vs spy 2) - about October to November. The unstarted third spy book (working title Quiches Are Forever) should be mid next year.
Flu - part one about Christmas, the entire 1,000,000 words probably by 2020
The Bailout 2: Tracer - Yeah I started a sequel to The Bailout a few weeks ago. It's set in roughly 2018, which gives the newish dystopian Britain from The Bailout a chance to calm down and get in a routine (as Dystopia's like to). Probably ready next year sometime.
The Debt Collector book - this is the next police procedural featuring the same DI as in Last Gang in Town. Ready back end of next yearish.

That's that then.

Here's a picture of the inside of my shed featuring not only a recently put up shelf, but also a part made 'Trug' made from old pallets (it's in the lower half of the photo).

Trugs are actually quite easy to make. I saw plans for one in a gardening magazine and slightly adapted it (ie sawed the wood incorrectly) and have started collecting wood for a few others - thought I might sell them at a car boot sale or give them away for gardening relatives for xmas.

Spacey's People

I've got a short story up at Spelk today, Spacey's People.

http://spelkfiction.com/2016/02/08/spaceys-people/

The Allotment Again

So it's that time of year when the last thing any sane person is doing is digging in the allotment during a gale. Despite the fact you get cold, wet and possibly catch a cold, it can also damage the soil structure if you dig when it's too wet. Seriously, that is true.

Luckily, the allotment is on the side of a hill and so drains well, meaning I've caught up a bit on the winter digging (which is digging you're supposed to do before winter starts, not halfway through.)

Anyway, the only produce growing is sprouts, leeks and parsnips, and the 'snips are tiny this year (I'm blaming the poor summer weather), however garlic and shallots are already in and sort of growing.

Photo from last week a day or so after the snow. Have to admit the allotment looks a bit of a state in this, but it always looks worse than it really is.

The greenhouse hasn't suffered any more damage recently. Which is nice. I have been offered some glass which will fit the lower panels, so it should be back in action later in the year.

Finally, the shed. I am sort of tidying it up, but it's slow work as every time I try I have a coffee. The roof needs re-felting, part of it blew off recently and is now covered with an old compost bag weighed down with bricks.

So that's it. I've got more time this year so I'm hoping to get more grown. The seed order's just come through and I've got water melons. If they grow it'll be a miracle.

The Spy with Eczema

As I know I've said before, the problem with writing and being easily distracted is you end with loads of book starts, quite a few almost finished books and a couple of ideas that you think would make crackers.

Last count is one finished comedy spy romp book, The Spy with Eczema, one very nearly finished police procedural, Last Gang in Town, three part finished books (20,000 words of a Dystopian Epidemic series that will eventually be a million words, 10,000 into a 90s Rave culture road trip, 10,000 into a young adult time travel yarn (yep, I've no idea how I started writing that one) 10,000 into the sequel to The Spy ... , and five more around the 5,000 mark including a Debt Collector (possibly will become another police procedural) and a half arsed start on a sequel to seven daze, and also about 10 short stories I don't know what to do with.

That's a lot of books (and commas and brackets)

Luckily, there's an easy solution to clear the backlog: release them on Amazon.

Starting first..... The Spy with Eczema is now out. The others will hopefully follow by some means or other.

Amazon UK

Amazon US

The greenhouse again

It seemed like a good idea at the time. Cheap plastic sheeting from Ebay, an old wooden and half fallen down greenhouse, and a bank holiday weekend. The result was functional if not pretty.

It lasted well. All through the summer, and into autumn, we had tomato plants, cucumbers and chilies. In October, after a touch of high wind, a few cracks were revealed in the plastic (it had stretched in situ and at the cracks appeared where it met the cross beams)

I thought it might just last the winter. Sure it could need a touch of patching up in spring, but I thought it was integrally strong enough to last.


Then last week, hurricane Bob or whatever the name was struck...

Realistically, none of the top half is salvageable due to the way it's split. The lower half  is intact but probably won't be this time next week.

The door is the worst part for me. I must have spent an hour making it from a pasting table. While it should be easy to recover, it'll never be the same.

Of course, like the six million dollar man, we will rebuild it. I'll probably spend more than 11 quid on the plastic this time too.

That old spy book

Those of you that used to follow either the old blog or know me from Authonomy days will know of a certain comedy spy book that I used to punt around.

It's actually 20 years ago that I started writing parts of it, which is nice. Problem was, it got out of hand and at an unwieldy 140,000 words it was consigned to the hard drive after being finished.

However, like all good phoenixes (or phoeni as I think the plural should be), it has risen from the ashes in a rather more acceptable 87,000ish word length.

More news on what is now either called The Spy with Eczema or A Spy called Barry very soon...

Spelk

The good people at Spelk put up my flash fiction short story, Kenny, last week.

http://spelkfiction.com/2015/09/18/kenny/

Strawberries

As previously mentioned, about 77 strawberry plants seemed a good idea a few years ago. Everyone likes strawberries don't they, and they're not cheap in the shops etc.

Well so far I've had at least 12 pounds of the buggers (and nearly half as much again have gone unpicked and rotted/spoiled). Problem is, picking them involves a lot of time and bending over and my back's not particularly good at bending.

I've made jam, ice cream, given loads away and have a shopping bag full of frozen ones that I don't really know what to do with. Needless to say, I'll be halving the amount of plants for next year.

Anyway, some picture highlights of this year's strawberry bonanza.

A small fraction of the strawberries so far picked

Strawberry that looks a bit like someone facing right

Strawberry that looks a bit like a boot (or Italy if you like)

Allotment bath tub lilies are in bloom, but the tadpoles/frogs appeared to have either hopped off, or not made it.

Short Book Review - The Corpse Role by Keith Nixon

Having enjoyed The Fix and Konstantin's various escapades, I was looking forward to reading Keith's latest. A bit of a change as it's a police procedural, but it's still got the same, tight writing that distinguishes Nixon from other writers.

The story begins when DI Charlotte Granger is called out to the decomposing body of an ex-security van driver and finds a business card in his wallet for an ex DS, now private investigator. The subsequent investigations give a big cast list, an equally big body count, and the interesting use of first-person past tense at various points keeps the speed up to almost breathless levels and keeps you interested throughout.

Due to the way the action builds up, it would be hard to give a full review without throwing in some spoilers. So I'll just say that two particular events: an unusual source of compost, and the surprise at the end, made Corpse Role very memorable.

Highly recommended read.