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.

THE FORTUNES OF WAR - a writer's inspirations

THE FORTUNES OF WAR

a writer's inspirations.

Last week I finished writing BLOOD ON THE STRAND, book three in the DI Sonny Russell series of crime novels. Hurrah! and Oh dear! I felt a sense of satisfaction for sticking to something for over a year coupled with a strange sense of loss. I've felt this before and the best thing, I find, is to get on with the next project - straight away. But what to write?

I've long had an interest in the esoteric, particularly Tarot cards and the germ of an idea featuring them had been lurking at the back of my mind for some time. But how to use them in a story? I remembered I'd come across an actual unsolved case known as The Wirral Pillbox Murder where the body of a prostitute was found in a WW2 pillbox in 1955. Despite a huge manhunt, which saw 40,000 people being quizzed across the country, her murder still remains unsolved. 

Now, if that didn't start my imagination rolling, nothing would. Obviously, I wouldn't use the story - I write fiction, after all, but a fortune teller and a body in a pillbox? A rotten cold has meant an enforced rest from anything physical but pounding a keyboard isn't physical - is it? So, I'm happy to say that BLOOD ON THE CARDS has seen the light of day and is now well underway.

CITROEN DS - the 1955 Motor show sensation

CITROEN DS

the 1955 Motor show sensation

At the London Motor Show in 1955 there was the new 2.4 litre compact saloon from Jaguar, the latest MGA sports car and Rolls Royce Silver Cloud, plus a Sunbeam Rapier coupé with whitewall tyres. But the star of the show had to be the vehicle innocuously billed as the ‘2-Litre Six-Seater saloon’ on the Citroën stand. For the previous 21 years their staple offering had been the Traction Avant range.

Citroën had been working on their Voiture à Grande Diffusion (VGD) project since the 1930s. By 1950 the prototype was renamed ‘Projet D’ and in 1955, the DS was launched at the Paris Salon; by the end of that day Citroën had taken over 12,000 orders. 

It was the DS styling that caused the initial sensation, for even in repose it looked like a basking shark.

Variations included The Safari

A beautiful coupe 

And the most bizarre variant, The Reactor

The Reactor was a custom aluminum show car designed by Gene Winfield and completed in 1965. It was based on a 1956 Citroën DS chassis and powered by a Chevrolet Corvair engine. It gained fame when it was renamed The Jupiter 8 and appeared in Star-trek as well as being driven by Eartha Kitt in a Batman film.

I have featured the Citroen DS in my DI Sonny Russell crime novel, Blood on the Tide, when his French opposite number, Inspecteur Guillaume Bruissement has one on trial. I have also written one into Blood on the Strand, soon to be released.

Finally, a Tissier van was developed in the 1960s. 

I've researched this wonderfully futuristic looking vehicle but can find very little information about it. If anyone can supply more details I'd be delighted, so please contact me.

Welcome to my new blog. I will be writing about my writing - surprisingly enough! My first detective novel, BLOOD ON THE TIDE has been selling well and is available both in paperback and as a Kindle on Amazon. Click here: Amazon.com: Chris O'Donoghue: Books, Biography, Blog, Audiobooks, Kindle

The sequel, again featuring DI Sonny Russell and his faithful Jack Russell, Aggie, will be published later this year. Titled BLOOD ON THE SHRINE, it starts with a mysterious death at a Buddhist retreat in the snow and features a mail train robbery. I'll keep you posted as to the launch date.

The third book in the 'BLOOD' series is underway. DI Sonny Russell discovers a mysterious crate, washed up on the beach and the story continues from there.

I will be updating this blog from time to time so keep returning to find out what Sonny Russell, and Aggie, have been up to.