The Rocks of Aserol

Another writing post, I'm so excited to share the cover design with you. Check out a sample chapter here

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The calm before the storm

Metaphorically speaking of course. What I mean is that next week will be a very busy one, with decorating to do, a carpet to be fitted and a laminate floor to be laid. So this week is relatively quiet, or at least as quiet as it ever gets around here.

So to round up what I have been up to,

I made bread, a white sourdough loaf with 20% oatmeal (200g of oatmeal to 1000g flour) for our sandwiches and toast. I have a lot of oatmeal to use up as I ordered 10kg for use in Well Bread and never used it all. The price was reasonable and Yvonne can always use the rest in the bath!!
    
The loaf came out nicely, I made two and one has gone already.

Wednesday was foggy, as I discovered on my walk around Sharkham, it came in quickly as you can see,

Fog was the one thing I didn't like in my 40-year seagoing career. You could deal with just about anything else because you could see what was happening. But you never knew what was in fog, even if you were in the middle of the ocean with nothing about. And when I moved into pilotage, close work in the River Thames and its locks and creeks it could make a docking manoeuvre interesting. Once I went into Tilbury lock in a small vessel and the first sight I had of the lock was when I landed the ship on the lock wall. I did it all on the radar and lost about a gallon of sweat in the process!!

I don't miss that at all.

As you might remember I decorated the spare room, well I've now put the new quilt on the bed. 

I like that one.

The next decorating job is the hallway, landing and stairs. I have the paint and the laminate floor for the hallway.

and the carpet is coming on Thursday next week. So I have till then to remove all the pictures and decoration and paint the ceiling, walls and skirting. (after trimming the old carpet)

Then next Friday I can lay the floor.

Meanwhile, the writing is coming on, my cover artist has done me a superb proof which I will share with you as soon as I get a high-res version, it looks superb though and will stand out anywhere. I'm getting on with my next project as well, the sequel to Ribbonworld is 33% complete. All the plot is in place, it just needs fleshing out.

Finally, my fruit trees are waking up from their slumbers and blossom is starting to appear, I hope we have as good a year for fruit as we did last year.

I have also cleared a large pile of rubbish from under the tree house. The whole thing needs repair as the tree has grown since my predecessor built it (he nailed it to the tree) but underneath is now a gravel patio where we can sit and drink coffee when it isn't raining.

Finished

Just a quick post to let you know that, after a marathon session at the keyboard, my new novel "The Rocks of Aserol" is FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Phew, I'm elated and sad at the same time. Elated that the project that grew from a dream I had in 2012 is now a story, with ideas for a sequel and sad that I will have to say goodbye to the characters for a while. They have become close to me and have felt more real as time passed. Their adventures have been my adventures and if I closed my eyes I could see them exploring the world I created. I've laughed and cried with them and for them. Now I must entrust them to my team of editor and formatter (is that a word?) to put them into the form that will enable you to know them too. My cover artwork is in progress and we are on track for the publication date I set myself. More news will follow as soon as I know it.

As the back of the paperback will soon say,

At first glance it was a simple enough job, go to Aserol and find out what’s happening at the Waster mine. For Horis Strongman, it’s the start of an adventure, there are things that don’t add up and he stumbles upon a secret. It’s enough to kill for, but can he stay alive to expose it? 

In a world where Coal is King, where machines of Metal are powered by Steam and Clockwork, those in power want him silenced by any means.

Accused of a terrible crime, Horis is forced to run, aided by those who can prove his innocence, and unsure of whom he can trust.

As he gets closer to the truth, Horis finds that he’s just a pawn in a bigger game. When his enemies strike, it becomes a race to protect his friends from the people who cherish their power too much to give it up. 

From the mines to the skies, on the oceans and rivers, The Rocks of Aserol could change the world.

  Part of the first chapter is available to read here, any comments would be most welcomed.

Home-made Tomato Sauce

We fancied pasta and sauce tonight, there was some ground beef in the freezer and a whole load of vegetables but no tomato sauce. But there were tomatoes in the fridge, lots of them so I roasted a pound or so in the oven for an hour at 140°C.

Then I blended them with tomato puree, Oregano, Garlic Paste and a little Agave Syrup

And there it was, Tomato Sauce.
Like I said, we had vegetables, these were just some,

they were chopped and fried in Olive Oil until soft,

Ground beef was added and mixed,

Then the tomato sauce was stirred in.

Perfect.

We had to have some Garlic Focaccia with this, here is one of the Carrot Focaccia I made a while ago. I split it and buttered with Garlic butter. 20 minutes in a 160°C oven later it was ready to go.

No record exists of the plated meal as it vanished before I could take any pictures. But it was very nice. And there's enough left for tomorrow.

Allsorts Part 2

Hi again, as I said I'm splitting this post into two parts, so if you've arrived here, go here first to catch up.

Potatoes.

Ages ago I started my seed potatoes off in the conservatory. I wanted to plant them after Easter but I had hurt my back playing with Elsa (I forget I'm a granddad and not as supple as I used to be) so had to leave it for a week. It was fine this afternoon so I got started.
I plant them in containers and had them filled with compost ready to go, they had been well watered over the last few weeks.
My method is simple, no messing around with earthing up, I get about 4 inches of compost in bottom of the bag, mix in a little fertiliser and plant 2 tubers,

I then add 3 inches of compost and plant another two, 90° around from the first.

I then fill the bag to about 3 inches under the rim (for watering) and that's it.

I did 7 bags and watered them well. 

They'll be alright now until the end of July. I'll just need to water them regularly and cover the leaves once they appear if there's a frost forecast.

Yvonne is crafting.

The project is a secret but involves patchwork. Here's how she's getting on.

Good stuff!

A Meal.

For our meal today, I made Sweet and Sour Chicken. In the past, I've made the sauce from scratch but now I've decided that life's too short so I buy one and "modify" it.

Here's the ingredients, chicken picked from the carcass of our roast about a month ago and frozen,

tinned pineapple,

peppers, chili and onion,

brown rice with veg stock powder in the cooking water,

and most importantly, Mustard Oil.

Fry the peppers, onion and chili until it starts to soften,

add the sauce and the chicken and heat together.

when everything is bubbling, add pineapple cubes and some cashew nuts (if you like them) and stir.

serve on the rice.

That's all for a while.

Allsorts Part 1

It's been another hectic week here as ever, and there are lots of things to catch up on. So I've divided the post into two parts. I have to tell you about,

A loaf,
A walk,
Book news
Potatoes,
A Meal 
and Yvonne's Crafting.

So this post will be the first three and the next one will be the rest.

The Loaf.

This is a recipe from this month's Country Life magazine (in U.K.)

It's a twist on the onion bread I did last week, this one is yeasted though and has more ingredients.

I started off by caramelising 1 kilogramme of red onions in the oven, half of them were for the bread and the rest were for another project.

I chop and oil the onions and then bake them for 1 hour at 180°C, then I add Balsamic and Brown Sugar and give them a stir and another hour. 400g were for the bread, the rest went into the freezer.

To make the bread dough you need flour, yeast and salt (500g, 10g, 10g) and a 330ml bottle of dark beer. Make as usual and leave to prove.

The additions are, the onions with 2tbsp of Mustard stirred in, 100g grated strong cheddar cheese, 75g crumbled Blue Cheese,

After the dough has doubled in size, knock back and flatten. Add the cheese and the onions and knead it all in. It takes a while so be patient.

shape into loaves and put into tins (I made two small loaves but you could do 1 big one), leave to rise while the oven heats to 220°C.

Bake for 45-50 minutes with steam, the crust will go very dark but that is because of the sugar. The loaves are done with an internal temp of 95°C.

This one's a keeper!

A Walk.

Instead of Yardes lane, I walked around Sharkham point today, it's my favourite and the source of a lot of my inspiration. When the dog is in a hurry to get back on the settee I can be round in half an hour, today, however, I took my time and soaked up the beauty of the South Devon Coast. There were Primroses and Vinca peeping out from the shelter of trees and a nice warmth in the air. Summer is coming. Hooray!

I'm going through my manuscript for my next novel, we are at the third revision stage and I'm ironing out the last little bits. I've applied for the I.S.B.N. (my unique indentifier for the work) and set up a publishing imprint. 

I've called it 4Star Scifi, in recognition of the four women in my life (I suppose with grandchildren it should be six star but when do you stop?)

and that's my logo.

The book has been beta read and critiqued. Here are some of the comments,

"I love the world building that you've put into this, and how clearly you've communicated the depth of that world in the opening chapter. It is clear that there is SO MUCH to discover in this world - mechanically and politically, in particular."

"The story was intriguing and never once did I want to stop (and I have a relatively short attention span). I liked your descriptions, as well as the pacing. You provided details slowly, but I never felt like I didn't know something I needed to know.
Overall, great work!"

"Overall a nice and easy read. Good pacing, really good world building and I especially like the names of things. While otherworldly they are familiar enough to paint an image just by the name itself."

And my cover designer has started work on the proper cover. I'm looking forward to seeing her interpretation of my words.

I will be back with part two shortly.