Novel – Page 107

As we arrive into March of another year, like many people I feel I have to look back on how things have gone so far – and where I intend to go from here. To brighten up this post with a graphic it felt right that it should be one that reflected my working environment so I’m featuring an updated vision of my workstation.

Where most of the effort is put in .... — Where most of the effort is put in ….

What have I been reading? ‘Pride and Prejudice’ by Jane Austen celebrated it’s 200th anniversary, so having had it on my Kindle for some time, I actually got around to reading it. A full review is available on Good Reads, but for here, suffice to say I enjoyed it and now at least some of the comments made about ‘Elizabeth’ and ‘Mr. Darcy’ make sense.

I am presently taking my time as I read ‘Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee’ by Dee Brown. Anyone who has read my poetry will know that there are several long poems and a four–part series featuring the noble Native Americans.

In one of my rare channel hopping moments, yesterday I came across a 1952 movie entitled, ‘The Battle at Apache Pass’. I had to watch it because my memories of western movies go back a long way and I had to be reminded how the two sides were portrayed. It was as close to truth as I suppose they dared go back in the ’50’s and I dare say if there was a remake they would tread even more carefully.

In other news, I am enjoying being a member (and pleased to have been asked to be a Staff Reviewer) on ReadWave. It’s a great site and if you haven’t had a look, please do. If you enjoy reading short stories there are lots on there to entertain. If you write, there is a Staff Picks page which is used as the homepage where work is showcased.

I feel I should be spending more time reading other blogs but I’ve decided to cut down to what I did previously and only read a chosen few. One person can only read so much online when the hours of the day are already being rapidly filled.

What am I writing these days? I gave ‘Pawnee Express’ a revamp recently and entered it into a competition and then ‘Deadly Nightshade’ got a good overhaul too. Another short story that went into a competition was ‘Through A Lens’, which started life as a 1000 word intro’ into a ‘racy read’ for an ITV competition. I’ve just completed the first draft of ‘An Aspiring Writer’ which will find itself on ReadWave in a week or two when I’ve revisited it and tweaked it a bit more.

My ambitions in the world of eBooks have not ended. I now have my novel, ‘Ten Days’ still on Smashwords, accompanied by the first five volumes of my poetry, classified by genre in my ‘Rhyme Scene’ series. I’ve raised some cash for Comic Relief 2013, but not as much as I’d hoped. In some ways you are damned if you drop the price to increase interest, or raise the price to try to increase sales.

My website http://www.tom-benson.co.uk has had a few more pieces of artwork and photos added and of course my updated short stories.

What’s in the pipeline? Well, apart from revisiting all my short stories to see where they can be improved, I have my short story, ‘Smoke and Mirrors’ being published in a new anthology titled, ‘Out of the Shadows’ by the Inkerman Writers, which will be launched in the next few weeks. I’ll mention it again when I have a hard copy.

I feel like I’m in an enviable position in many ways.

Disturbed at work ... or just disturbed? — Disturbed at work … or just disturbed?

I did write a whole paragraph about the various situations that folk find themselves in, but with the best will in the world, it still made depressing reading, so I’ve deleted it. If anybody out there really wants to appreciate their own life more – drop me a line and I’ll cheer you up with some figures.

Where do I stand in all this? In a military career spanning 20+ years I saw enough of life to appreciate my own survival, so anything else was a bonus from then on. I followed that with 20 years of retail management, during which I saw a whole new spectrum of life and attitudes. Here I am today, with a few days to myself, but even at work now I’m only there three days a week – and it’s not management.

This is not a pose ... this is reality. — This is not a pose … this is reality.

I can deal with other people’s situations through some simple reasoning. The employment situation and the homeless are beyond anything I can do, apart from the fact that a lot of them have created their own situations. I regularly donate to chosen charities so that removes any feeling of guilt about doing nothing. My efforts to raise funds for Comic Relief 2013 may not be much, but again, every £1 helps in that cause. Please see my previous posts or visit my website to see how you could help:

http://www.tom-benson.co.uk/comic-relief-2013/

Fortunately for me, 60 is the new 40, or so I’m prepared to believe because it makes me feel good. Writing is the meaning of life for me now. I’ve always been a storyteller but only put them in print in recent years. It’s gratifying to get feedback to the effect that some of it is actually good, so I’m going to stick at it. I’ll be following this post with one on Reading and Writing, so at least it will serve two purposes:

First, it will let you all know what I’ve been reading recently, what I’ve been writing and that I do both … oh yes I do! Secondly, it will refresh my own memory of what I’m up to these days – because there really is so much of it. I’m serious, there really is! There are competition entries, site updates, the next novel, a little poetry, e-publishing and would you believe mentoring, but that’s all for next time.

Okay, having said all that, I’ll just check my links are working, add a photo to create more interest, LOL … and then I’ll be back on to prepare the next post. Today I must really make an effort to read other blogs. Oh, and by the way, thank you for reading.