While looking through word files the past few weeks, it seems I've got over 250,000 words of various guise (some of which are in the right place, etc.) from various finished, half finished or tenth finished works (there's a lot of these tenth finished for some reason, i.e the 5-10,000 range) plus a load of short stories that, to be honest, only I have ever read.
Obviously this is a sad state of affairs. There's little point spending the time writing all this (possibly 500 hours, more like a thousand with editing) if it doesn't see the light of day.
So, in order to clear the decks a bit, I'll be doing various things with the non-crime books and short stories, whether it's sending the shorts off to anthologies, maybe self pub one or two of the completed books, and try to finish some of the uncompleted ones (so I'll have even more unseen words lying around.)
I suppose The Spy with Ezcema is the obvious one to unleash on the public at first, or maybe a collection of short stories. Or maybe something else.
Maybe I'll just keep writing instead. Who knows...
Friday, 6 March 2015
Tuesday, 24 February 2015
Short Review - Mr Mercedes
Mr Mercedes by Stephen King
Take a retired detective haunted by not solving his last case, a serial killer with an inappropriate relationship with his mother, Stephen King's writing and characterisation, and you have a winner.
A straight up crime thriller, I was expecting a touch of the supernatural to appear and was pleasantly surprised by the outcome.
Detective Hodges and his sidekick duo are such well drawn characters that I found myself wishing the book was longer. This isn't unusual with some Stephen King books, and I guess it's how he's built his reputation.
4.5 / 5
Tuesday, 17 February 2015
Back in the allotment again
Seems I've not posted much this last year, so I guess a quick allotment update is in order.
Again, there was more fruit and veg than we could possibly eat or give away, which seems the norm for an allotment. The infamous shed and greenhouse are still somehow standing (more on the greenhouse later) and a late growing winter cabbage became a summer monster.
Firstly, the mega cabbage. A so-called winter cabbage never really grew during the winter of 2013, so I left it to see what would happen. By June or July it had grown into this.
Of course I could have picked it then and fed the whole street, but being curious as to how big it would get, I left it. By September it was bigger though had suffered from caterpillar damage. I picked it and was possibly the worse tasting cabbage ever, tough and bitter. I thought there was an Aesop's fable about leaving a cabbage so long it becomes inedible, but the google proves otherwise.
The allotment bath tub I inherited continued to look real purdy when the water lillies flowered.
An amusing shaped courgette caused much hilarity.
Onto the greenhouse. It looked like it was falling down when I took the allotment over two years ago
As it hasn't actually fallen down, and also survived two years of storms, I figure it's stronger than it looks. So, operation fix greenhouse is now underway. I've done some general tidying (though it doesn't really show) and started to shape some wood to replace the worst of the rotten bits. Next step is to paint what's left to stop further rotting and then rebuild. The final job will be to fill in the broken panes with cheap eBay polycarbonate sheets.
Again, there was more fruit and veg than we could possibly eat or give away, which seems the norm for an allotment. The infamous shed and greenhouse are still somehow standing (more on the greenhouse later) and a late growing winter cabbage became a summer monster.
Firstly, the mega cabbage. A so-called winter cabbage never really grew during the winter of 2013, so I left it to see what would happen. By June or July it had grown into this.
Of course I could have picked it then and fed the whole street, but being curious as to how big it would get, I left it. By September it was bigger though had suffered from caterpillar damage. I picked it and was possibly the worse tasting cabbage ever, tough and bitter. I thought there was an Aesop's fable about leaving a cabbage so long it becomes inedible, but the google proves otherwise.
The allotment bath tub I inherited continued to look real purdy when the water lillies flowered.
An amusing shaped courgette caused much hilarity.
Onto the greenhouse. It looked like it was falling down when I took the allotment over two years ago
As it hasn't actually fallen down, and also survived two years of storms, I figure it's stronger than it looks. So, operation fix greenhouse is now underway. I've done some general tidying (though it doesn't really show) and started to shape some wood to replace the worst of the rotten bits. Next step is to paint what's left to stop further rotting and then rebuild. The final job will be to fill in the broken panes with cheap eBay polycarbonate sheets.
Monday, 9 February 2015
Short book review: Of Blondes and Bullets
I might be a month or two late to this party, but I've just read the first release from new Noir publisher Number 13 Press
Of Blondes and Bullets by Michael Young, is gritty, very British, and brings back memories of classic pulp and noir titles.
Although the first chapter starts with a fight in a workshop, it takes some time before we know who these people really are. In the second chapter we meet Frank and it's through his eyes we see the rest of the novella. After saving a drowning woman, Frank then attempts to help and gets involved in her current problems - that's putting it mildly, and I'll stop there to avoid blowing the plot.
Have to say, it was a pleasure to read. It was always going somewhere and there were no wasted words. It's a novella so it doesn't take to read, but it's the right length for the story.
Look forward to more titles.
4.5 / 5
Of Blondes and Bullets by Michael Young, is gritty, very British, and brings back memories of classic pulp and noir titles.
Although the first chapter starts with a fight in a workshop, it takes some time before we know who these people really are. In the second chapter we meet Frank and it's through his eyes we see the rest of the novella. After saving a drowning woman, Frank then attempts to help and gets involved in her current problems - that's putting it mildly, and I'll stop there to avoid blowing the plot.
Have to say, it was a pleasure to read. It was always going somewhere and there were no wasted words. It's a novella so it doesn't take to read, but it's the right length for the story.
Look forward to more titles.
4.5 / 5
Wednesday, 30 April 2014
Allotment a year on
So it's been a year since i took the plunge, paid twenty quid and joined the bad back brigade of allotmentising oldies.
Before and after pics
Not quite from the same spot but you get the general idea.
Spring cabbages, broad beans and new potatoes are now in. The sixty odd strawberry plants are now just starting to flower.
Looking the other way
Almost the same position. The bath is still in situ (has water lillies and frogspawn in it), the last of the winter cabbages and broccoli is about all uou can see growing this way, but there are 200 onions and shallots and garlic towards the end of the plot. There's also a big pile of manure too.
I haven't got round to rebuilding the greenhouse or shed yet, but it's been an experience. What I've saved in vegetables I've probably spent buying smaller clothes due to weight loss, but overall I've enjoyed it and have paid the twenty quid for another year.
Before and after pics
Not quite from the same spot but you get the general idea.
Spring cabbages, broad beans and new potatoes are now in. The sixty odd strawberry plants are now just starting to flower.
Looking the other way
Almost the same position. The bath is still in situ (has water lillies and frogspawn in it), the last of the winter cabbages and broccoli is about all uou can see growing this way, but there are 200 onions and shallots and garlic towards the end of the plot. There's also a big pile of manure too.
I haven't got round to rebuilding the greenhouse or shed yet, but it's been an experience. What I've saved in vegetables I've probably spent buying smaller clothes due to weight loss, but overall I've enjoyed it and have paid the twenty quid for another year.
Monday, 24 March 2014
Ten Questions - Andy Peters
Quick witted, left-handed, pink hat wearing guitarist and author Andy Peters joins us today for Ten Questions. The near-pension drawing author of The Barry Island Murders and The Saundersfoot Suicides has been causing a whirlwind in the world of Welsh crime fiction recently (or Cyrmgrit as no one calls it) with his mixture of wit, seventies Welsh holiday resorts and more wit. He's also written books about Otis King, a welsh Blues Detective who solves cases in Memphis, one of which is featured in a short Youtube film.
Well, what with the big lad being fully occupied daisy-pushing, these days the only option is the diminutive Scotch myopist golfer and his unfeasibly large chair.
I was never much of a fan of any of their individual sitcoms, no, not even “Porridge”, but in my youth I enjoyed their work together...some top sketches. Also gave work to a bunch of dreadful forgotten women singers like Lynsey DePaul, Clodagh Rogers, Dana, Elton Bastard John and Barbara Dickson who would otherwise have been unemployable
What's your latest book about?
Ronnie Barker or Ronnie Corbett?
Well, what with the big lad being fully occupied daisy-pushing, these days the only option is the diminutive Scotch myopist golfer and his unfeasibly large chair.
I was never much of a fan of any of their individual sitcoms, no, not even “Porridge”, but in my youth I enjoyed their work together...some top sketches. Also gave work to a bunch of dreadful forgotten women singers like Lynsey DePaul, Clodagh Rogers, Dana, Elton Bastard John and Barbara Dickson who would otherwise have been unemployable
What's your latest book about?
An ex-Maths professor in 60s Las Vegas poking his nose into other peoples’
business for money, and trying to avoid getting it shot off. It’s called
“Subtraction”, it’s dead good and has a fine cover by ace crayonist Joe Lumley.
I believe Amazon may have a copy or two still available.
 |
Newport Gwent or Newport Pembrokeshire?
I’ll go for the Pembrokeshire version, since my mum lives in Pembrokeshire and
my masterpiece of Welsh crime fiction, “The Saundersfoot Suicides” is set
there.
Apologies to my old mate Lloyd Llewellyn who comes from the Gwent (or Monmouthshire as I prefer) version....but he won’t be reading this as he’s a drunken old fart, who can rarely focus his eyes
Apologies to my old mate Lloyd Llewellyn who comes from the Gwent (or Monmouthshire as I prefer) version....but he won’t be reading this as he’s a drunken old fart, who can rarely focus his eyes
Where do you write?
On my rather decadent white leather chaise longue, at home, generally
with at least one cat trying to stop me. I have no internet at home, so no
distractions to churning out many thousands of top words a day. When I could be
arsed.
Gypsies, tramps or thieves?
Tramps, every time, unless it’s those two Gypsy women out of “From Russia With
Love”. Chances are it won’t be.
Is your writing inspired by real events?
No, I make it all up, apart from all the messy sex with endless
well-upholstered blondes, which is all literally true. And murdering
ex-girlfriends.
e2e4 or Nf3?
I mean, really, is this the best you gritty crime boys can do? As ever you go
straight for the flashy and trendy stuff, despite its having no lasting value.
And you can’t even spell the stuff properly, all done in bloody text-speak.
King’s Pawn or Queen’s Indian my firmly chiseled arse! I’m a Ruy Lopez man and
always will be. That’s P-K4 for the illiterates out there. Stick with the
classics.
Some people!
Some people!
Physical book or e-book?
Well, if you’re buying, I have both varieties available. Take your choice.
If I’m reading, which I rarely do, it has to be an e-book. You don’t need reading glasses, bookshelves, the pages don’t fall out and they weigh nothing. I am not one to bleat on about missing the smell of them or all that claptrap.
If I’m reading, which I rarely do, it has to be an e-book. You don’t need reading glasses, bookshelves, the pages don’t fall out and they weigh nothing. I am not one to bleat on about missing the smell of them or all that claptrap.
Which of the following swimming pool rules have you not kindly refrained from?
No Bombing
No Running
No Heavy Petting
No Acrobatics
I suspect the word “heavy” there is entirely your own invention. That “bombing” thing is no joke in some places either, I imagine.
I will confess to having had a whistle blown at me by some fat tosser of a lifeguard in Sale baths in 1973 and again in Durham Baths in 1979, but in view of the various high-profile court cases currently pending about such things, my ignorance of the exact birth date of the other party involved and on the off chance I ever become rich and famous enough to warrant suing, I decline to go into further details.
I suspect the word “heavy” there is entirely your own invention. That “bombing” thing is no joke in some places either, I imagine.
I will confess to having had a whistle blown at me by some fat tosser of a lifeguard in Sale baths in 1973 and again in Durham Baths in 1979, but in view of the various high-profile court cases currently pending about such things, my ignorance of the exact birth date of the other party involved and on the off chance I ever become rich and famous enough to warrant suing, I decline to go into further details.
Incidentally, why are all people who work in Sports Centres
always massively overweight?
Where can we find you on the internet?
Here’s my Amazon page http://www.amazon.co.uk/Andrew-Peters/e/B008PDVKBM
Or my Facebook author page https://www.facebook.com/Andrewpetersstories?fref=ts
Or be my friend on Facebook so I can pester you to buy all my books https://www.facebook.com/andynpeters
Or my Facebook author page https://www.facebook.com/Andrewpetersstories?fref=ts
Or be my friend on Facebook so I can pester you to buy all my books https://www.facebook.com/andynpeters
Wednesday, 5 February 2014
Re-boot
If there's one thing that really bugs me, it's the use of new words to describe things have adequately been described otherwise for years. I'm not talking about Fracking here, as the use of that appears to be just because someone has decided that fracturing has too many syllables for us plebs. No, re-boot is today's moan.
If a film was remade, we'd call it a remake. What was wrong with that? Was the term remake not an accurate enough description of a remade film? Was there plenty of confusion abounding that remade might not actually refer to the remaking of a film but something else?
No. Re-boot is all about making the art of remaking something old (possibly because they can't be arsed to either come up with or take a financial gamble on new ideas) appear more sexy or 'modern'. It gives the impression of something more than a remake. It's a remake 2.0 as no doubt some twat or other would refer to it.
The phrase reboot, as we all know, comes from computing. When the sodding thing crashes, which lets face it they all do, you turn the bleeder off and back on again. It then restarts. So to me, a rebooted film would be one where you start from the beginning, same actors, same set, same script and remake the film so it's the same as the original. After all, when you reboot your computer you don't open it up and change all the workings inside, do you?
So as well as annoying, it's, in my opinion, wrong.
What makes this a thousand times worse, for me, is the latest subject of the 'reboot' is Robocop. To me, this was one of the best films of the eighties. A bit of dystopia, a shed load of sarcasm (especially the adverts) and maybe the fear that at some point in our lifetime mechanised cops may actually exist in some form. What was so wrong with it that it needed rebooting?
If a film was remade, we'd call it a remake. What was wrong with that? Was the term remake not an accurate enough description of a remade film? Was there plenty of confusion abounding that remade might not actually refer to the remaking of a film but something else?
No. Re-boot is all about making the art of remaking something old (possibly because they can't be arsed to either come up with or take a financial gamble on new ideas) appear more sexy or 'modern'. It gives the impression of something more than a remake. It's a remake 2.0 as no doubt some twat or other would refer to it.
The phrase reboot, as we all know, comes from computing. When the sodding thing crashes, which lets face it they all do, you turn the bleeder off and back on again. It then restarts. So to me, a rebooted film would be one where you start from the beginning, same actors, same set, same script and remake the film so it's the same as the original. After all, when you reboot your computer you don't open it up and change all the workings inside, do you?
So as well as annoying, it's, in my opinion, wrong.
What makes this a thousand times worse, for me, is the latest subject of the 'reboot' is Robocop. To me, this was one of the best films of the eighties. A bit of dystopia, a shed load of sarcasm (especially the adverts) and maybe the fear that at some point in our lifetime mechanised cops may actually exist in some form. What was so wrong with it that it needed rebooting?
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