Walks in Surrey

Today Friday 13^th January I walked the Wey Navigation Canal from Guildford to Ripley with two fiends and a dog.  Unfortunately I have no pictures of the dog.

The Rowbarge - Guildford

My walking companions and the invisible dog

Waterway Worker

Higland Cow drinking in Surrey

I think these are comorants or maybe scary vultures

Lock near Ripley

Book Review – Un-stable Lane by Julie Round.

This is the second instalment of a family saga that started with Lanes End by the same author, which I reviewed in August 2010.  It picks up the family, Grandmother Rose, daughter Katie her husband Bernard and infant Heather, where the last novel left off with them living on a fictional small holding near a seaside town.  There is no real need to have read the previous book to understand the problems the family encounter when facing up to the challenges of everyday life.

Bernard has had learning difficulties since he was a child and it’s the rest of the family coping with this and the economic pressures of running a small family business that dominates their world.  Katie is tempted to seek the company of another man outside her marriage and Bernard is worried by his daughter being better at learning than he is.  A figure from his past arrives at the Lane which unsettles the family that, as in the first book, is held together by the dominant Rose.

The problems they face are easy for the reader to identify with and how the characters cope with them are sympathetically drawn.  I would have liked to know a little more about what cause the fire in the Bingo Hall kitchen but the explosion and its aftermath was well described.  The description of the storm that engulfs Lanes End is one of the best I have read.  I could hear the wind, feel the rain, and sense the cold.

Although much is settled at the end of the book there is a sense that there some aspects left unresolved which makes it very true to life.  This is a well crafted story which is a delight to read and is highly recommended.

Keith Jahans
Editor, Peatmore Press (http://peatmore.com)

Un-stable Lane is published by Oldstick Books
(http://www.oldstickbooks.co.uk/)

Christmas Books

Christmas is a time when most books are given and received.  It is natural then for any book publisher to begin a promotional campaign.  With this in mind, Peatmore Press has published a short seasonal audio book featuring a story about a Christmas Turkey.

Story telling at Christmas is a tradition that has been passed down for generations.  This February is the two hundredth anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens, the most famous Christmas story teller of the nineteenth century.  Dickens was renowned for giving public readings from his novels and would have probably relished the chance of presenting them in audio format should the technology have been available then.  His readings provided an ideal opportunity for book promotion as crowds flocked to hear him read.

The tradition lives on as the audio book, “The Christmas Turkey,” from Peatmore Press is written and read by the author and is available over the Christmas period as a free download from http://peatmore.com.

Travels in China – Day 5

Tuesday 6^th September – Beijing.

Today was the day we were to see one of the wonders of the world, The Great Wall of China.  But first we visited a silk factory where we bought some silk garments.

Silk Making machine with silkworm cocoons

Silk Garments

Foolishly we took the steepest way along the Great Wall but the view was magnificent.

The wall is truly a wonder but contrary to popular belief it can not be seen from space.  However, I gave a cheery wave in case this information was untrue and any aliens were watching.  Our promenade was followed by lunch in a nearby coffee house, then we returned to Beijing and went for a leisurely rickshaw ride through part of the old city.

Finally I learnt to haggle in the nearby clothing market and bought two polo shirts and a tee-shirt to commemorate my conquering of the Great Wall.  Tomorrow we fly home to England our holiday wishes fulfilled.

Travels in China – Day 4

Monday 5^th September – Beijing.

This day started with a visit to Tian an Men Square, the largest public square in the world and one of the most famous.  It is bordered by the Qiamen Gate, the Great Hall of the People and the Gate of Heavenly Peace which forms the entrance to the Forbidden City, the domain of the last emperors of China.

Tian an Men Square

The Gate of Heavenly Peace

Inside the Forbidden City

We returned to an our hotel after lunch.  Then rested the rest of the day until dinner after which we whiled away the evening at one of the hotel bars.

Chinese Motorcyclist multitasking, a practice forbidden in the UK.

Travels in China – Day 3

Sunday 4^th September – Xian

Looked forward to this being one of the highlights of our trip, a visit to see the renowned Terracotta Warriors and it did not disappoint.  First we were guided round a clay modelling factory and were shown how it was thought the warriors were moulded.  Then we went to Li Shan Mountain to see the famed army itself.

We spent the morning in the museum learning about the magnificent relics on display.  The solders were not found until 1974 and the farmer, who found them and was now over 80 years old, was in the lobby signing copies of the guide book one of which is now in my possession.  Clay horses, chariots, bonze horses with chariots and actual weapons were found with the warriors and also exhibited for us to see.  That afternoon we went to the city wall, saw the bell and drum towers and were treated to a traditional welcome ceremony where each of us were presented with a golden key.

Bell Tower

Drum Tower

Heavy rain drove us from the wall and when we left for the airport late that afternoon our flight was delayed by two hours so that we did not arrive at Beijing, the final destination of our journey until one am.  It is now 3 am and I have been frantically trying to get this blog together so I can post it online later this morning.  I hope there are not too many typos as I am extremely tired.  And so to bed.

Travels in China – Day 2

Saturday 3^rd September – .Xian

Got up early at 4.30 local time but were still jet lagged so it did not really matter then caught a two hour flight to Xian, the City of Eternal Peace, once the flourishing capital of China and the start of the old ‘Silk Road’.  After lunch we visited the Shanxi Museum which to see artefacts dating from prehistoric times and China’s ancient dynasties.

China pot found buried in ancient china village.

Later we visited a jade factory where ornaments and jewellery are carved out of this precious stone much sought after by the Chinese as a symbol of luck before continuing on to our hotel.

Crossing the road in Xian is an interesting experience and I am told is the same all over China.  Zebra crossings serve only to signify pretty patterns in the road.

Travels in China – Day 1

Days 1 and 2 were basically spent travelling, so Day 1 did not properly start until this Friday with a morning visit through the thronging shopping thoroughfare of Nanjing Road in the Old Town with its ancient Wu Xing Teahouse and classic Yu Yuan Gardens.

Shopping district of Nanjing Road

The Yu YuanTea Gardens

In the afternoon we promenaded along the bank of the Huangpu River adjacent to the Bund, which is the colonial heart of the city containing the hotels, banks and offices that were once the symbols of its commercial power.  Across the river we beheld the skyline of modern Shanghai announcing itself as a new power on the world financial scene.  Its very presence screamed out a warning of China’s imminent arrival as a major economic power.

The Bund

Modern Shanghai Skyline

In the evening we saw The Spectacular Shanghai Acrobats who performed astounding feats of juggling and contortion which was rounded off by a stunning display given by eight motorcyclists who combined to hurtle round the inside of a mesh dome at death defying speeds.  Photography was prohibited which was just as well as I would have hated the thought of my camera flash being responsible for any mishap.

Crime and Passion Promotion Video

 

Rebirth of the Short Story

Once the short story was all but dead; mainstream publishers were reluctant to publish them with the excuse that they did not sell.  However, the arrival of the ebook has changed all that.  Authors may now self publish in a variety of digital formats which can be made readily available through online stores or the writers’ own websites.

A number of portable electronic platforms such as the laptop, notebook, tablet, smart phone and kindle are now available so readers can download text while on the move.  Short stories are ideal for this purpose as they can be dipped into while on a train, at a station, airport or during breaks in the working day.  Text to sound features make it possible to become engaged behind the wheel of a car and also enable written stories to be more accessible to the visually impaired.

The short story allows the reader and writer to explore single themes in a condensed style which can focus the interest of the busy traveller in a way that novels with their intertwining plots and subplots can not do.  In this way the reader and writer are able to enjoy the craft of story telling in much the same way as it was when first formed in the oral tradition when tales were passed from parent to child or to one and other by the evening firelight.

Peatmore Press has published its first anthology of short stories.  It is available on the Amazon Kindle Store or at http://peatmore.com/crimeandpassion.htm.  The short story has returned and is back in a big way.