Blank Page Syndrome

I remember hearing an interview with a famous writer; he said the worst feeling in the world was facing a blank sheet of paper on Monday morning, knowing he had to fill it.
That's about how I feel now, the only difference being its Saturday.

There is so much to write about, as you may have seen on my other blog I have had to call time on the Bakery. I feel upset but it had just become too much for me to fit in with everything else. I was working from 5 till 9 every morning and all day Tuesday and Thursday, plus deliveries. 
This left me little time to do anything else, which was the whole idea of retiring from pilotage and moving to Devon. Also the end of December is the time to renew all my insurances and things plus stock up on expensive ingredients in bulk, so I can avoid that outlay as well.

Next year will be busy with family events and I was not going to compromise them for the sake of making a few loaves.
So in an effort to get my life back I've wrapped it all up. I will be getting used to the idea of not getting up at 5 am after I have finished my last bake on December 18th.

Of course I will still be baking bread and biscuits for myself and my family and I hope now that I have the time, I can try all the new recipes that I haven't been able to do yet because I have had to do the same old loaves week in and week out.

It also means that I can spend a little more time in my office, where I get so much inspiration, this is what it looked like yesterday afternoon.

I now have about 50kg of flour and assorted ingredients to use up before they go out of date, so we definitely won't go hungry for the next few months. (As long as we eat Bread)

Of course the most exciting news is that Georgina is on her way home for Christmas, the crazy thing is that, due to the cost of flights from Australia, when she set out to find a cheaper way (I trained her well!) she found that flying via the Maldives with a week there was not much different in cost? So that's what she's doing. Quite how that works I'm not sure but she did say that its cooler there than in at the Barkly so its getting her ready for the temperatures in England.

So what am I going to do with all that time I hear you ask. Well sleep till six in the morning might be on the list and actually putting some effort into marketing my novels as well, sales could be better and I'm sure that I've been neglecting that aspect of things. I might even have time for regular writing, to get the next one(s) finished. 

If I could just manage 2000 words a day I would write a book every six weeks (whether they would be any good of course is another matter) but I will take the chance. I do have quite a few ideas for new stuff at the moment and it would be nice to see how it develops. 
There are a couple of things I started that seemed good until I got a few thousand words in; you suddenly realise that the idea is going nowhere. These are left to mature; a bit like sourdough bread, I can always come back to them later. I might get renewed inspiration on them

At the moment the 'Galactographic' idea is occupying my mind though but I do need to get around the lack of illustration somehow (words from the future are one thing, pictures another one altogether!)

It will be nice to have the time to work it all out.

And I've just noticed, I no longer have a blank page.

A flash of Inspiration

I had an idea for a project yesterday, the magazine of the future. Not a magazine telling us what the future would be like but a magazine from the future, telling us what their past and their present were and are like.

Obviously there is a lot to get your head around, but the scope for invention and the unlimited possibilities for creative writing are there. After all the amount we can write about the history, geography, customs etc on just one planet fills a number of magazines, just imagine what you would have to write about if you had the whole Galaxy and several thousand years of history to choose from.

The editorial from my first issue has been written and its available on my website.

Incidentally, the magazine is called "Galactographic," pretty catchy eh?

Coming to newsagents and all good cloud based servers on a planet near you in about 5,000 years.

The Good; The Bad and the

First of all, here are some readers reviews of Ribbonworld;-

"This fast-paced book has all the necessary ingredients for a first-rate whodunit -- with the added element of being set on a lonely, isolated planet where a local saying sums up the world's inhospitable nature: "You may use it, or live on it, and even make money from it, but never forget it can snuff you out without a second thought, or even be aware of your passing."

"Apart from the absorbing story, the believability of the setting, the interesting, intriguing characters and the thrill of the plot, the icing on the cake is the superb cover image! Love it!"

"...Richard Dee is proving to be very promising."

"Couldn't put it down."

and now here are some bookshop comments when I tried to place the book on their shiny shelves.

 "If over 50 literary agents have rejected it, doesn’t that tell you something?"

"I’ve got a shelf full of Self Published work by local authors, I don’t want any more."

"We don’t ‘do’ Science Fiction."

"Not interested."

Clearly there is some sort of metaphysical dichotomy there, perhaps it goes part way to explaining why there are a lot less bookshops around these days.

Anyway I digress; this blog is more about my life in Devon, my forays into the literary world are (mostly) kept on my sister site richarddeescifi.co.uk, here they just get a brief mention but I thought that you might be interested. 

And I hope that you go and have a look at the site, there is a new short story I have just posted there called "The Derelict House"  which has attracted some favourable comments. And also the suggestion that I turn it into a book.

The last word on the subject, there was a picture of a bookcase on facebook and I was slightly amazed to see my book on the middle shelf. (eighth from left)

There are some big changes coming up here, more on that in the new year when I have got my head around them all and can tell you properly.

If your not a meat eater then look away now but I just have to rave about these,

the flavour was incredible, we have got into the habit of popping into the farm shop for a browse and a coffee on our way to somewhere else and always manage to pick up something tasty. We had these with Lentils and a selection of roasted veg (onion,  pepper, mushrooms and sundried tomato) and they were gorgeous. Definitely a freezer filler.

Now is that a mince pie you can see there?

Well it is and it was my first this year! I came from Aldi and features Almonds in the pastry and a good dollop of Clotted Cream on top.

Now that I've broken my duck on Mince pies I want as many as possible to get me feeling festive, Clotted Cream is of course just one of the toppings that is appropriate, they can be a vehicle for Brandy Butter, or served warm with Custard. Ice Cream would also be an acceptable accompaniment but the best idea would be a combination of several (or all) of the above.

Tuesday sees the first Totnes Xmas market in the evening, all by candlelight and with stalls filing the High Street and Fore Street. I have more than a passing interest this year as my Sourdough Crackers feature on the Honest Foods stall, where they are used as a medium for sampling their excellent Pesto and Chutneys. If I can get some pictures of the event I will put them up next time. 
We didn't go last year but the year before it was fantastic. The park and ride drops you at the top of the hill and picks you up at the bottom after several glasses of warm cider and the odd pastry.

Christmas is Coming............RUN!!!!!!

We're in the build up to the big day and I know what I said last time about not starting too early but its just about December now and everyone else is getting in the spirit so I may as well join in. And I'm getting excited about the family reunion.

 We are visiting all the craft and food fairs that seem to pop up at this time of year and having a look around at all the stuff without which no Christmas is complete.(Apparently)

In amongst all the overpriced and over-packaged is the odd gem, such as these liqueurs,

and these Chutneys, made by my good friends at Honest Foods. (I make the crackers they use for tasting) 

Of course we have to do a bit of quality control on all the foodie things we get, I can honestly say that the above passed. Or passhhed, hic, in the case of the liqueurs.

Other than that, I have decided to shut the Bakery from Dec 17th till Jan 5th, which has created a panic in some parts, with the possibility of freezing and larger orders in the last week. As if I didn't have enough to do.

Book wise I have my first sale in the USA and a few others in this country as well. My guest blog post attracted a bit of attention, the book has been published a month now, it'll soon be time to think about the next one. 

I have 4 stories on the go at the moment, at varying stages of completion, one at 70K words, one at 40K and one each at 20K and 10K. I need to decide which one to finish and put in motion for publication. You might think its strange having so much work in progress but I find that bits pop in to my head for one or the other all the time, its just a case of putting it in the right file when it does. Doing it this way, it's surprising how quickly a story takes shape. Plus if I get bored with one, there always another to work on. 

Two of the story's are sequels and one a spin-off. The other is a new departure and introduces new characters and setting.

I also got a royalty payment for my first novel "Freefall," today which has made me feel pretty good. Its not a huge seller but every now and then a payment pops up, one of the works in progress is a sequel, or more properly a prequel to it. Written at the request of a couple of early readers (its been out over two years) who spotted a couple of things and felt that they needed a bit of expansion.

So here are the two books side by side, the covers, although done by different people go well together.

Over on  my author website, I've put the last piece of my "How I Write" series up, this one is about plot development. Its here.
And we have Roast Beef today, my favourite; with Roasted Sweet Potato and Steamed Broccoli amongst other things. I'll slow cook the meat, about four hours in my Cast Iron casserole at 140°C should do it. The smell as it cooks fills the house and sets you up nicely for the meal.

Guesting

My friend Helen Hollick, who has done a lot to encourage and support my writing (and has bought BOTH of my books - Thanks Helen!) has given me a guest spot on her blog today. I used it to talk about how random things have changed my life and how I (or my alter ego Richard Dee) write.

You can find the post here, please have a look around while you are on her site, there's some fascinating stuff on it.

Not only that, her writing is top class, I've enjoyed her pirate series immensely.

Ahead of the Game

I have this foolproof method of working out if it's Christmas or not. I ask myself 'Is it December?' If the answer is NO, then it's not!!

Other people however, seem to have a  different method, it involves the end of July, or at least that's how it appears to work.

Not that I'm against the principle in any way, but I do think that it's nice to get Halloween out of the way first.

Having said that, I do enjoy the day itself. Fortunately we have just about all the gifts sorted before the rush, although nothing much has taken my fancy so far. I'm not really that bothered about things, I've got less materialistic as I've got older which makes me a nightmare at Christmas and Birthdays. Sorry everyone.

I was in a local bookshop yesterday and spotted my book on sale, a really proud moment, if your local shop doesn't have a copy, ask! 

They can get it from all major suppliers, or you can buy it from Silverwood Books direct here. If e-books are more to your liking it's on Amazon here. It's getting good reviews as well.

My website has part three of my "How I write" series, in this part I give my characters personalities. You can find it here.

The reason for our trip was a Groupon for Fish and Chips, £9 for two people. Now I don't know if you've ever tried Groupon deals but they are pretty good. Here's one of the portions,

Yes that's TWO fish fillets each, with excellent chips and peas. Also included was a pot of tea for two and some bread and butter. A proper seaside lunch. 

I spotted my new bread delivery van on facebook, where can I get one of these?

Bread wise, this week was the monthly Spelt Crumpet order, a little diversion from making loaves, they are just Sourdough Starter and salt, sugar and Bi-Carb.

I was also asked for Spelt Sourdough battered Onion Rings, Why not I thought, I used some local beer in the batter as well and made a few for me (quality control) they freeze well and will go with just about anything. As well as the beer; the batter is made from Sourdough starter and a bit of flour and salt.

Lovely with steak or sausages or just with a dip. As you can see, there are more hiding underneath these.

And more

I now have four reviews for Ribbonworld on Amazon, three are 5* and one is 4*, I'm really pleased that people are enjoying the book, I have three more blog reviews pending, fingers crossed. 
My author website has part two of my thoughts on creating fiction, in which I talk about the technology of my future worlds. You can reach it here. Next time I will be discussing either the personalities of my characters or developing a plot, depending which one I finish writing first.

We're getting busy now with Yule approaching at a frightening pace. Georgina will be coming home from Australia in the next fortnight, it will be the first Xmas we have had all the family together since 2008 and its sure to be a great celebration.

Since we lost our dog Fliss, we have been taking our other dog Tizer out as much as possible, he's coping well we think, he has such a sad face anyway so its hard to tell. Last Sunday he had a swim off Breakwater Beach in Brixham and really enjoyed it.

Food wise, I have tried a few new breads, including Sweet Potato Focaccia, which was delicious.

And now I have increased orders for Well Bread products, this week I'm making Sourdough Digestive Biscuits, Spelt Sourdough Crumpets and Spelt Sourdough Beer Battered Onion Rings, as well as the usual breads.

For myself and Yvonne, we have had various comestible concoctions, including prawns on Rye bread,

Lamb mince Moroccan Style (tagine spices and cous-cous)

and Yvonne's Chocolate and Orange Cheesecake, with mini Jaffa Cakes  and mandarins on top.

That was served with Clotted Cream! (Obviously)