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.