Novel – Page 127

Amsterdam - Canal (acrylic) — One of many ...

My graphic is once again an acrylic on canvas. I painted it in July 2010, basing it on a photograph I took of one of Amsterdam’s many canals.

‘Only Time Will Tell’ is the latest release by one of my writing heroes, Jeffrey Archer. This book is the first in a series that come under the general heading of The Clifton Chronicles. Jeffrey has used a technique I’ve never seen before which involves using a clever mix of first and third person viewpoint. It brings the characters to life incredibly well and allows the story to unfold in a way that the reader will not forget anybody.

I thoroughly enjoyed the read and my only disappointment was that it had to come to an end. I am now looking forward eagerly to the next one which is due for publication early next year.

On a personal note, I am still adding some of my artwork, poetry and short stories to the Apollo Blessed site. Apart from reading Mr. Archer’s superb tale in four days I’ve been working on my own story this week. My novel has seen so many alterations over recent months, but it is a good thing. I first of all changed the name, then from autobiography to fact-based fiction. In my latest sessions I’ve altered it from first person viewpoint to third person because I felt I needed more freedom.

In recent months I’ve taken to working over and over on my short stories to get them as polished as possible before entering them into any competition. I have two underway so working on my novel is a good distraction.

I am once again trying to put poetry on the back burner so that I can concentrate on other things, but having said that I wrote and posted ‘Number 700’ a few days ago. In one way it felt like a landmark and in another it felt like a good time to stop the regular verse writing for a while.

The graphic for this post is of an acrylic on canvas I completed last year. It depicts myself and my wife sitting on a hill overlooking Derwent Water in the Lake District. I used a photo taken by our son as the basis for the painting. Apart from being a fellow artist I think he’s pretty handy with a camera and has an appreciation of good photo composition … but then I’m biased.

Since my last entry here I’ve allowed ‘life’ to infiltrate my writing world. A home improvement project which had to be done in logical sessions took up a lot of time, but the finished result is like looking at a good piece of writing. It would be selfish of me to concentrate only on my writing so I don’t mind the occasional sacrifice of some time.

Making matters worse for my time at the keyboard, work took it’s toll because it’s the busiest time of the year for stationery retailers, so I was left feeling too tired to write anything worthwhile. It was a couple of days before I realised I wasn’t writing on my train journeys – preferring to concentrate on staying awake. It’s over a year now since I last dozed off on the journey home, thus adding another ninety minutes to my trip.

So here I am, back at the helm, controls, bridge or whatever is the best analogy. On the odd occasion when I have been relaxing I’ve managed to upload some poetry, a short story and a variety of my artwork to the ‘Apollo Blessed’ site. Like all good sites they appear to be a nice bunch of creatives. I do like the idea of stories, poetry, art, photography and music all being treated as ‘art’, rather than a single strand of work being concentrated there. Like myself there are several folk who like to express themselves with more than just words.

I feel better now that I’ve managed to put another entry together, so now with the redecorated kitchen and dining room organised I feel free to get back into the saddle, relax and write. Two short stories for competitions, my novel and untold ideas for poems await my attention … and I can feel a drawing coming into focus …