CHARCOAL & PLAGIARISM.

 CHARCOAL & PLAGIARISM

Burning charcoal

Why the strange dual title you may ask? Let me explain. In my current work in progress, BLOOD ON THE DUNES, the main character, a runaway from a children's home, is hiding in the woods. He has a copy of Baden Powell's Scouting for Boys which he's read from cover to cover and is skilled in woodmanship and all manner of outdoor skills. So he plans to build a shelter, a bivouac, so he can stay concealed. He pushes deeper into the woods and is delighted to discover a readymade shelter. He doesn't realise that's it's an abandoned Charcoal burner's hut.

Construction of a charcoal burner's hut

Charcoal burning is an ancient tradition going back over 3,000 years. It was discovered that charcoal provided sufficient heat for iron-smelting, glass-making and working with precious metals. It was the discovery that charcoal could be used to smelt tin and copper together, hence the Bronze Age, which lasted from c3,500-800 BC. It continued to be used into the Iron Age although as this required much higher temperatures, coal and coke rapidly replaced it from about 1700 onwards. The production of charcoal then went into decline and almost died out until a revival during WW1 when it was used extensively as a filter in gas masks. Again, the craft faded away until a brief revival for the same purpose in WW2. Nowadays production is limited to the use on barbecues and in some incenses.

A charcoal burner's hut

So much for the history lesson, now to plagiarism. I wrote about a couple of  felons who took shelter in a charcoal burner's hut after a train robbery in BLOOD ON THE SHRINE, but didn't go into much detail. But, I went back to that book and 'borrowed' some of what I'd written for inclusion in the new book. I must stress that I haven't copied it verbatim, just used some of the ideas I'd written down. It also sent me down a research rabbit hole looking into the ancient craft. Here's a link if you'd like to know more. 

New Forest Charcoal Burners - Real New Forest Guide

JUGGLING

JUGGLING

    I've just returned from a Maker's Market in the nearby village. It was mainly crafts and brocante so my books stood out as being quite different. It was an early - 8.45am - start and very little happened for the first couple of hours. In fact there were far more stallholders that visitors and I started to think it was going to be a bit of a damp squib. Fortunately, more people arrived, it picked up and by the finish, at 2pm, I was pleased with the number of books I'd sold.

But... and there had to be a but, didn't there? While enjoying myself, chatting to my potential readers, I couldn't help thinking about what I should have been doing. 

I'm really keen to get on with Blood on the Dunes, book six in the series, as it's taken a lot longer than the others. This is only partly due to the pandemic, more to do with the book itself. Like the writer Ann Cleeves - Vera and Shetland - I write as a reader, i.e. I start off with the germ of an idea but I've no real clue as to where the story is going and keep writing to find out how it's going to end. This time, I knew the ending before I'd even reached halfway. So It was either going to be a very short book or I'd have to start again. However, after several long walks on the beach with Aggie I started formulating an idea on how to extend it. 

I'd introduced a15 year old boy who'd disappeared from a children's home. Initially, he was written as a minor character, then as I became more interested in him, his character started to develop. Now much of the story revolves around what happens to him. I really didn't see that coming!

As I mentioned earlier, I realised I should be getting on with something else. Sadly, that's not writing but garden design. I'm up against deadlines on two large projects, so I'd better conclude this blog and get on with them!

WHO'S ZOOMING WHO?

 

WHO’S ZOOMING WHO?

Shinglesea 2007

I generally give between 15 and 20 talks every year to a variety of groups: WI, U3A and gardening clubs. The most popular talk is called ‘BEHIND THE SCENES AT CHELSEA’. No, not the football club, or the London borough, but the annual, prestigious Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower Show where I designed and built three small show gardens. I talk my audience through the process of applying to exhibit, sourcing plants and materials and approaching sponsors. Then how, in ten long days, starting with a patch of bare turf, we create a little bit of landscape that looks like it has been lifted bodily from somewhere else in the country and plonked down on the Chelsea show site. The talk, that lasts about 45 minutes, is illustrated with more than 80 high quality photographs.

Spana's Courtyard Retreat 2008

This used to mean that I had to jump in the car and drive to the venue. As my ‘fame’ spread further, the distances I had to travel had increased so the journey there could sometimes take more than an hour and just as long to return home - often quite late in the evening. On top of that, I had to make sure I could find the hall and that I’d remembered all the equipment I’d need: laptop, projector, relevant connecting cables and extension lead. And most importantly that I’d got the right day. But, like so much else, all that changed a year ago.

The Pilgrim's Rest 2009

Now I’ve become used to giving my talks via Zoom. The upside is that I can do this from the comfort of my own home. No worrying about closed roads or inclement weather that I’ll have to drive through; no last minute panic that I’ve left something critical behind or that I haven’t left enough time to get there (yes, I am guilty of cutting it fine). The downside is slightly different.

The Pilgrim's Rest 2009

People have become accustomed to, and comfortable with, using Zoom so it’s surprisingly easy to access nowadays. The groups are well versed in setting it up so all I have to do is fire up the laptop and click on the link to their group. Once the preliminaries are over I can start my talk and share the photos I normally project onto a screen and this is where it becomes strange. Almost without exception my audience is muted. This means that apart from just four people visible down the side of the screen, I’m basically talking to myself – which is a little weird. But, I’m very grateful that groups still want to hear my talks and long may it continue.

STRANGE TIMES but Life must go on

STRANGE TIMES

but Life must go on.

I'm sitting in my writing studio, listening to the wind howling outside. The branches of the oak tree are rattling on the roof - must cut them back - and the sea looks angry, with white horses piling up. Plus life is extra stressful in my day job as a garden designer, with materials becoming difficult to source. Not surprising in the current circumstances, but still frustrating. However, I'm safe and warm so I shouldn't really complain.

Despite the difficulties in making progress on my current book, BLOOD ON THE GARDEN and, of course, Aggie is in it, assisting her 'master' DI Sonny Russell with his cases.

In this book I've decided to incorporate the plant knowledge I've accumulated in my working life. As an aside, I only started gardening seriously less than 20 years ago, when my work as a freelance modelmaker began drying up. I used to carry a library of 'how to garden' books and plant encyclopedias around in my car when I started. Learning the necessary skills was a steep learning curve, culminating in three medal winning gardens at the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show and a career in garden design. So I think I'm reasonably qualified now.

I've used my skills in designing and building a courtyard garden in my little holiday let cottage in Northiam....

 ...And I am gradually transforming the garden at home.

I do like a wild, jungle feel, as you can see, and have all too easily achieved this on the 39 Steps up to my studio. The plants are: Tetrapanax papyrifer - Rice paper plant, Lysimachia clethroides - Gooseneck loosestrife, Alchemilla mollis - Lady's mantle and Leycesteria formosa - Himalayan honeysuckle.

As mentioned above, I'm going to incorporate my plant knowledge in the new book - which will go well with the title. So be prepared for some colourful passages!

CHANNELING ROWLAND EMETT - a change of direction

CHANNELING ROWLAND EMETT 

a change of direction

Lockdown makes you do strange things. The inspiration for my DI Sonny Russell series of crime novels initially came from a narrow gauge railway layout I built called Compass Point. This was  loosely based on Rye Harbour, the major setting for the first book and subsequently playing a part in the others. I was astonished to find that the layout was started in 2014 and I began writing Blood on the Tide in 2016. How time flies when you're having fun. 

Three books later, I'm struggling with book five, provisionally titled Blood in the Garden. so, by way of a diversion, I've been modelling a new railway, inspired by the drawings and works of Rowland Emett. He produced the Far Tottering and Oyster Creek Railway that was featured in the 1951 Festival of Britain where it carried over 2 million passengers. My interpretation is not a slavish copy as you can see if you look at http://www.rowlandemett.com/. It's more an homage or tribute to the man.

I know it looks a bit mad but it's been great fun, working to my normal modelling standards, but producing something whimsical. You never know, it might inspire me to start writing - but what?!

LOCKDOWN! - a force for good?

LOCKDOWN! – a force for good?

How is everyone in these strange times? For my 100th post I thought I write something a little different and reflect what is happening currently. 

When I was younger – it seems so long ago now – my reading of choice was mainly science fiction. I devoured books by Arthur C Clarke: The City and the Stars, A Fall of Moondust, Rendezvous with Rama and of course, the magnificent, 2001 A Space Odyssey. But I particularly enjoyed J.G. Ballard’s The Drowned World, The Drought and the Wind from Nowhere. At the time I just thought they were thoroughly good reads but now realise they were way ahead of their time. What I find extraordinary is how, in this age of uncertainly, how prescient many of them were.

Who would have predicted, even a few months ago, the state the whole world is in? We are faced with a faceless ‘enemy’. Not some alien from outer space but a fast-moving malevolent force that strikes indiscriminately. No one knows how, or even when, this pandemic is going to end. Up until recently the news has concentrated on numbers – of those infected and deaths – but is now starting to focus more on individuals and the human tragedy. For me, this is really bringing the gravity of the situation home. So far, none of my relatives or close friends have succumbed to the disease but I wonder if it is just a matter of time.

On the positive side, many aspects of life have changed for the better. The skies are clearer, there is less pollution and, thankfully, nature seems to be carrying on in its usual rhythm. Many of us are forced to spend time at home, with our families, which may well cause stress and strife but, hopefully, will bring us closer together with a greater understanding of each other. More people seem to be taking the trouble to exercise, which can only be for the good. I just hope that, when all this is over and we return to some semblance of normality, we have learned from it and make the world a better, more considerate, place to live in.

AUTHOR AUTHOR!

AUTHOR AUTHOR!

Fishermen's rail track and hut - Dungeness

You'd think that in these straightened times I'd be cracking on with writing the next instalment of the adventures of DI Sonny Russell and his loyal terrier, Aggie. Well I should be. But... some sort of ennui has set in and, in the evening, when I'd normally lounge on the sofa with the laptop, I seem to be gorging on crime dramas on Netflix or BBC iPlayer. I doesn't mean that I'm not thinking about writing - I am - it's just that I'm not actually doing it although I have started.

Old bridge over the Royal Military Canal at Appledore

But that's part of the problem. I've started not one, but two books. One, provisionally titled BLOOD IN THE GARDEN, is planned to be the fifth in the DI Russell series set in the 1950s. The other, THE WRONG CAR, is my attempt at writing a contemporary story, more in keeping with the current trend for grittier, up to the minute writing. My dilemma, as well as a general laziness, is choosing which one to continue with. 

Netherwood House, Hastings

Last home of Aleister Crowley

I seem to be developing a following for my 1950s series and have sold 1/4 of the first print run of my new novel, BLOOD ON THE CARDS, plus the kindle sales have been encouraging. So perhaps I should stick to this and trust that the momentum continues. However, like most writers, I would like to sell more books and wonder if I should be writing in a style that's currently in vogue.

Suggestions would be gratefully received. The photos I've used above are from scenes in BLOOD ON THE CARDS which is available from me or on Amazon.

  

RUST

RUST

Continuing the theme of interesting photographs I've been looking back through my files and thought a sequence of rusty pictures might be fun. It might seem strange but I love old rusty objects, whether abandoned machinery, or just objects accidentally left to decay. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

 

STACKS OF STACKS

STACKS OF STACKS

I love seeing the huge stone stacks that appear at regular intervals on 'my' beach. I've met the chap who skilfully builds them, knowing that quite soon someone will come along and knock them over. He just loves building them and can't stop doing it. Others make smaller stacks and every so often - when it's not windy - I make my own rock balances. I only ever use three rocks but get great satisfaction in getting them to balance. Aggie is always with me but, as you can see, she finds them a bit of a yawn.