Glyn Pope - Writing and Reading

Two Magi and A Swan

2012-01-06T10:02:00.001+01:00

Two Magi and A Swan

They travelled so far
guided by light
to see this sight
baby held
by Mother tight

old King reverence bent knee
another I couldn’t see
hidden
for the artist
there

amongst them stood a Prince
pr’aps Son of the King
gazing not in adoration
but at
Me

telling the world
I am here

and from below
His robes
a Swan’s neck
curved

Glyn Pope
(after Antwerp Cathedral December 2011)

I shall be amongst the poets published by Vagabondage Press on January 31st in their anthology of love poems for Valentine's Day.

My novel 'The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister' is now available as Nook from Barnes and Noble, store and on line, as well as an iPad, Amazon Kindle, and sony. Also at the Cactus Rain site http://www.cactusrainpublishing.com/the_doctor.html and at http://www.stephenbutt.co.uk/shopcatalogue.htm priced £9.99 including world wide postage.
or from me, Glyn Pope, at £9.99 or 11.50euros inc. worldwide postage.
Send a message to gjpopeuk(at)gmail.com

NB if you want a copy of 'The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister' (paperback signed) then it is cheaper to buy it from me than the American publishers, unless you live in France. From me it will cost you either, £9.99, 11.50euros, or 17US dollars. All prices include postage. For other currencies please ask.

New Year

2011-12-31T19:59:00.000+01:00

New Year

‘It’s nearly midnight!’
a drunken man shouts

people feign excitement
5 4 3 2 1

another year

Shall we countdown to our deaths?

A man I can’t abide
approaches
extending a hand
woman
with florid face
broken veins
like vines
pouts for a kiss

Glyn Pope December 2011

I shall be amongst the poets published by Vagabondage Press on January 31st in their anthology of love poems.

My novel 'The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister' is now available as Nook from Barnes and Noble, store and on line, as well as an iPad, Amazon Kindle, and sony. Also at the Cactus Rain site http://www.cactusrainpublishing.com/the_doctor.html and at http://www.stephenbutt.co.uk/shopcatalogue.htm priced £9.99 including world wide postage.
or from me, Glyn Pope, at £9.99 or 11.50euros inc. worldwide postage.
Send a message to gjpopeuk(at)gmail.com

NB if you want a copy of 'The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister' (paperback signed) then it is cheaper to buy it from me than the American publishers, unless you live in France. From me it will cost you either, £9.99, 11.50euros, or 17US dollars. All prices include postage. For other currencies please ask.

Breakfast in Belgium

2011-12-23T21:13:00.000+01:00

Breakfast in Belgium

Break Fast in Belgium
shortestday
through pane
wheels spin rain

735am
Piped carols ♫
Hark The Herald Angels

poised ‘tween
plate & mouth
mirabile dictu
the mystery

of how
Jesus liked his bacon

Belgium Vilvoorde
December 2011

I shall be amongst the poets published by Vagabondage Press on January 31st in their anthology of love poems.

My novel 'The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister' is now available as Nook from Barnes and Noble, store and on line, as well as an iPad, Amazon Kindle, and sony. Also at the Cactus Rain site http://www.cactusrainpublishing.com/the_doctor.html and at http://www.stephenbutt.co.uk/shopcatalogue.htm priced £9.99 including world wide postage.
or from me, Glyn Pope, at £9.99 or 11.50euros inc. worldwide postage.
Send a message to gjpopeuk(at)gmail.com

NB if you want a copy of 'The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister' (paperback signed) then it is cheaper to buy it from me than the American publishers, unless you live in France. From me it will cost you either, £9.99, 11.50euros, or 17US dollars. All prices include postage. For other currencies please ask.

Review of ‘New Holland (A White Nights Mystery)’ By Saul Isaq Pope

2011-09-15T20:43:00.002+02:00

Saul is my nephew. His father and I are very close as brothers. I give you these two pieces of information so that you are aware from the beginning that I’m going to lie and tell you all about how wonderful I think my nephew’s story is and how you should all rush out and download the novel.
Well, I’m not a liar.
I shall be telling the truth.

Set in St Petersburg, Russia, in present times, we meet again the private detective Jonathan David living in a seedy flat with his Ladybird books, sorting out the marital problems of rich Russian ladies, getting paid to see whether their husbands are committing adultery.

One morning he is dragged out of bed by his friend Paul from the consulate who has a job for him that is going to pay real money; one hundred thousand dollars. The local governor has been kidnapped and his wife has asked that Jonathan find him.

As the story unfolds Jonathan begins to realise that there’s considerably more to the case than he first thought. As kidnapping follows kidnapping, and police corruption becomes obvious, Jonathan ends up being drawn far further into events than he ever intended – along with his best friend, his ex-girlfriend, and a potential new flame.

I would guess that as a child, Saul loved Famous Five and here we have an adult version, though not so adult that it couldn’t also be teenage fiction. I was never bored by this story. I never felt that I’ve got to finish this because it was written by a family member. I simply enjoyed it. The novel is well written, the twists and turns are unexpected, the conclusion inventive.

Saul lived in St Petersburg for a time so we have an honest reflection of the city. He knows Russian culture. We do not have a westerner believing they know Russia from clichés.

A few minor criticisms, I wish Saul had made more of the psychological effects of the white nights and less of the alcohol. The characters really did seem to drink so much that I’m surprised they could function. There were typos and proofreading errors which I think if espresso are going to put themselves on the stage as quality publishers they should sort out.

For you Saul this is a very different novel from your first outing, ‘Russia, The Man and Jonathan David.’ I found that novel difficult. Some first time authors believe that they have to write a terribly clever novel and they get lost in their own meanderings. I think you should rewrite/re-edit your first novel to make it far more accessible and then give it to espresso and see if they will publish it. Many background details to Jonathan David will then be filled in. You have a great character in Jonathan David and strength in those that surround him including the city of St Petersburg.

‘New Holland’ deserves a wide readership. As well as in the form of download Saul deserves a contract with a publisher who will edit, proofread and distribute his books, in paper form, to major retailers.

Jonathan David could become cult.

I wish Saul ‘Good Luck’!
Buy it. Here’s one you won’t be wasting your money on!

My novel 'The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister' is now available as Nook from Barnes and Noble, store and on line, as well as an iPad, Amazon Kindle, and sony. Also at the Cactus Rain site http://www.cactusrainpublishing.com/the_doctor.html and at http://www.stephenbutt.co.uk/shopcatalogue.htm priced £9.99 including world wide postage.
or from me, Glyn Pope, at £9.99 or 11.50euros inc. worldwide postage.
Send a message to gjpopeuk(at)gmail.com

NB if you want a copy of 'The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister' (paperback signed) then it is cheaper to buy it from me than the American publishers, unless you live in France. From me it will cost you either, £9.99, 11.50euros, or 17US dollars. All prices include postage. For other currencies please ask.

Review of Saul's novel by Glyn Pope.
Editing from Diane Keziah Robertson author of 'The Lacemaker's Daughter' to be published by CRP.

Signing - if I sold that many books in a week...

2011-06-22T09:00:00.004+02:00

If I sold that many books in a week I'd be a happy man. The signing yesterday at La Grande Galerie - see http://www.grandegaleriefrance.com/ - was a great success. Thank you to all who attended and of course those bought my novel.

Many thanks to Eileen who organised the event and provided the bubbly. On a hot day in sunny France it was much appreciated.

I met a lot of lovely people and had some very interesting chats, about growing up on a council estate in the 1940s for example, as well as making good contacts. I now have a provisional booking for a signing June 2012, and September 2012. These may seem distant and few, but there is little opportunity for English Language writers in France. Rather obviously, as most of the population speaks French!

But in the near future there is another signing event on the 25th of July 2011, and then in Spring 2012 I have been invited to a Writers Event in Leicester UK. There isn't a date yet for the Leicester Writers Event, so more details will follow. But it is by all accounts set to be pretty big.

The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister is now available as Nook from Barnes and Noble, store and on line, as well as an iPad, Amazon Kindle, and sony. Also at the Cactus Rain site http://www.cactusrainpublishing.com/the_doctor.html and at http://www.stephenbutt.co.uk/shopcatalogue.htm priced £9.99 including world wide postage.
or from me, Glyn Pope, at £9.99 or 11.50euros inc. worldwide postage.
Send a message to gjpopeuk(at)gmail.com

NB if you want a copy of 'The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister' (paperback signed) then it is cheaper to buy it from me than the American publishers, unless you live in France. From me it will cost you either, £9.99, 11.50euros, or 17US dollars. All prices include postage. For other currencies please ask.

Meet The Author

2011-06-17T08:55:00.000+02:00

I shall be signing copies of 'The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister,' Tuesday 21st June between 10am and 2pm.
The event will be at La Grande Gallerie, 7 rue du Temple, 86400 Civray France.
So, if you are holidaying, or live there abouts, it would be a pleasure to meet you.

The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister is now available as Nook from Barnes and Noble, store and on line, as well as an iPad, Amazon Kindle, and sony. Also at the Cactus Rain site http://www.cactusrainpublishing.com/the_doctor.html and at http://www.stephenbutt.co.uk/shopcatalogue.htm priced £9.99 including world wide postage.
or from me, Glyn Pope, at £9.99 or 11.50euros inc. worldwide postage.
Send a message to gjpopeuk(at)gmail.com

NB if you want a copy of 'The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister' (paperback signed) then it is cheaper to buy it from me than the American publishers, unless you live in France. From me it will cost you either, £9.99, 11.50euros, or 17US dollars. All prices include postage. For other currencies please ask.

Peter Chave

2011-06-14T07:34:00.000+02:00

He was a friend of mine. Before I moved to France in 2007 we were very close. Since then we exchanged birthday and Christmas greetings and the occasional email. I emailed him a few weeks ago to tell him to look out for The King's Speech, I knew he would love the film. I heard nothing back. I rang. The telephone operator told me the number was unavailable.
I googled, I searched Peter Chave and his name popped up first. An obituary in the dog press informed me that Peter had died.
Peter was very well known in the world of dogs. Very well qualified in the world of dogs. Probably what he didn't know about dogs perhaps wasn't worth knowing. He loved dogs more than children. That was a weakness and could upset at times. I took my grand son to see him and Peter refused to come near the pushchair, 'If he was a puppy,' he said. I didn't like him for that. But, when my dog, Scoot the cocker spaniel, was a puppy I took him to see Peter. Peter was a very very keen gardener. He was very clever with his flowers and vegetables. Scoot of course ran amok through the lot. I panicked trying to control this naughty puppy. 'Leave him, leave him,' said Peter, 'he's only a puppy.'
Peter met and judged thousands of dogs. He said once that my dog, Scoot, was the loveliest, kindest natured of all the dogs he's ever come across. I loved him for that.
We walked our dogs, King and Scoot, each morning on Teignmouth beach. Sometimes we went to Haldon moor. We talked and talked. I learnt a lot from him. Probably all that I know about gardening and a great deal about dogs. I went to dog shows with him. We watched Crufts together and I listened to his expert views. I know he enjoyed my chatter as well. I'd make up stories about the people and dogs we met on our walks. He was a lovely man. He will be missed, dying, when your 57, like me, at quite a young age in his mid seventies.
There's a tale that when a dog dies it goes to heaven. We'll call him King, because that was the rough collie that Peter owned when I knew him.
King went to heaven and enjoyed his new life playing with the dogs there. But sometimes King would look towards the bridge crossing from the earth world to his. One day he looked, and his ears alert, his nose twitched with the scent of someone he knew, his tail shot in the air and wagged furiously as he ran towards his master, Peter.
Peter, my friend I will never forget you either. Rest in peace and be united in the afterlife with all of your dogs.

Around and around and still no rain

2011-05-07T08:37:00.001+02:00

Where I live in France is under a hosepipe ban. Don't worry this blog is not going to turn into one of those boring blogs that no one wants to read. But it is just hot and dry. Like August not early May.

I've been to Belgium, and am away to Wales and England soon.

Tomorrow I have a book signing. A car will pick me up at 730am whisk me off, I'll sign books and return. But I don't know where I'm going to. Must be a long way if I'm going that early in the morning.

Next Friday I lead a session on a course for budding writers on how to get published. Let's hope they aren't expecting the answers. They can be pointed in the correct direction, but beyond that it's damned hard work. No non-writers have any idea. That's a problem, people have a laptop, can write a shopping list so it follows on that they can write a novel. Obvious innit! So many retired people round here think they can. They got nothing else to do so I'm going to be a famous writer. As Bob Dylan said, 'For every dollar I earn there's a pool of sweat on the floor.'
May 21st I shall be in Cardiff for the Rugby European Cup Final, yes I have tickets!
June 21st, if you fancy making the trip I shall be signing books again in Chivray. Somewhere very south of us. I shall get some photos and post them.

I know a young couple, their marriage isn't very happy. They got a one year old kid. The husband is in hospital. She buggers of on holiday somewhere hot and exotic. Comes back, doesn't contact her husband. Doesn't contact her husband to say the kid has started walking. How nasty is that?

The follow up to 'The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister' is complete and with the publishers. We think publishing date in time for Mother's Day 2012.

The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister is now available as Nook from Barnes and Noble, store and on line, as well as an iPad and Amazon Kindle and at the Cactus Rain site http://www.cactusrainpublishing.com/the_doctor.html and at http://www.stephenbutt.co.uk/shopcatalogue.htm priced £9.99 including world wide postage.
or from me, Glyn Pope, at £9.99 or 11.50euros inc. worldwide postage.
Send a message to gjpopeuk(at)gmail.com

And newly place on the following Sony site.

http://ebookstore.sony.com/search?keyword=The+Doctor%2C+The+Plutocrat%2C+and+The+Mendacious+Minister

Phil hare the renowned British guitarist has emailed me about The Doc. He said, 'A splendid and compelling read - it ought to be a full-length film.'

NB if any one wants a copy of 'The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister' (ppaerback signed) then it is cheaper to buy it from me than the American publishers, unless you live in France. From me it will cost you either, £9.99, 11.50euros, or 17US dollars. All prices include postage. For other currencies please ask.

Have fun, and I hope it rains wherever you are. And wasn't the dress lovely.
Love Glyn

Thinking of a title to grab you!

2011-04-03T09:14:00.000+02:00

I've been interviewed this week by Aneeta Sundararaj, read it at http://www.howtotellagreatstory.com/byot/byot157.html

I appeared in the Deux Sevres Magazine. you can see it online at http://www.thedeuxsevresmonthly.fr/

and on the radio, hear www.euradionantes.eu and will be available as a podcast a few hours later (click the 'Webradio' button, then scroll down to 'New Perspectives')

The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister is now available as Nook from Barnes and Noble, store and on line, as well as an iPad and Amazon Kindle and at the Cactus Rain site http://www.cactusrainpublishing.com/the_doctor.html
or from me, Glyn Pope, at £9.99 or 11.50euros inc. worldwide postage.
Send a message to gjpopeuk(at)gmail.com

Also newly placed at the following site:
http://www.stephenbutt.co.uk/shopcatalogue.htm priced £9.99 including world wide postage.

The follow up, no title yet, is complete and being edited ready for publication. Watch out for that date.

When is anything really funny or sad?

2011-03-06T11:33:00.000+01:00

Why is that on the covers of books or dvd's that we are told that the enclosed is the funniest item that we will read or watch in a decade. Is there a group of people out there who are very different from me because they have to made to laugh, all of the time? Last night I watched the new Mike Leigh film, 'Another Year.' (His film 'Nuts In May' is classic and made me laugh - although it was also very sad.) 'Another Year,' is a poor reflection of his other work, don't buy borrow. David Bradley, remember him from 'Kes' was superb. But funny or sad, we didn't get to know the characters very well.
But it could be I'm missing something.
Yesterday afternoon my daughter rang. The family had been swimming and the little one did a weewee on the changing room floor.
I asked her if she knew what happened to me in a changing room once. She said no, and I told her the following.
I was getting changed back into my outdooe clothes. The changing rooms were quite crowded. I forgot to put my trousers on. So I was sat there wearing shirt, jumper, underpants, socks and shoes. Now what does any sensible person do in this situation? Rather than look a fool I pretended this was the way I always got dressed and attempted to put my trousers on over my shoes. Of course I got completely stuck and I could neither get my trousers on or off...
All the time I'm telling this story I'm in tears of hysterics and I can hear my daughter laughing in the same way.
When I'd ended the call my wife said, 'I don't find that story at all funny.'
Got to know your audience I guess.
I'd be interested to know what anyone else thought to 'Another Year.'

The novel is now available as Nook from Barnes and Noble, store and on line, as well as an iPad and Kindle (Amazon and Smashwords) and at the Cactus Rain site http://www.cactusrainpublishing.com/the_doctor.html
or from me at £9.99 or 11.50euros inc. worldwide postage.
Send a message to gjpopeuk(at)gmail.com

Also newly placed at the following site:
http://www.stephenbutt.co.uk/shopcatalogue.htm priced £9.99 including world wide postage.

The follow up to The Doc is at 65,000words and counting!

Listen to me read!

2011-02-22T11:47:00.002+01:00

You can now for the next month or so listen to me read an extract from The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister at http://www.homegrownpodcast.co.uk/
Hear a few great new tunes as well. A podcast worth following.

There's a new review of the novel at http://bookersatz.blogspot.com/

An interview with me at http://louisewise.blogspot.com/2011/01/doctor-plutocrat-and-mendacious-tells.html

Also I popped up out of the blue on a very intersting French site for English speakers at http://www.laurelzuckerman.com/paris-writer-news/

That's as well as a feature about me in the British newspaper the 'Leicester Mercury' this week
and a feature in the English language monthly paper 'Connexion'

And on May 14th I'm headlining a writers convention here in France. (If you want more details about that let me know)

The novel is now available as Nook from Barnes and Noble, store and on line, as well as an iPad and Kindle (Amazon and Smashwords) and at the Cactus Rain site http://www.cactusrainpublishing.com/the_doctor.html
or from me at £9.99 or 11.50euros inc. worldwide postage.
Send a message to gjpopeuk(at)gmail.com

Also newly placed at the following site:
http://www.stephenbutt.co.uk/shopcatalogue.htm priced £9.99 including world wide postage.

Review for my novel from the BBC

2011-02-13T07:22:00.000+01:00

Stephen Butt of BBC Radio UK said of 'The Doctor The Plutocrat and The Mendacious Minister,'

' Rich in atmosphere and the colour of the time, all the characters in Glyn Pope's novel are alive. This is a true reflection of life in a certain suburb of Leicester in the English East Midlands, but the themes are universal. This could well be your neighbourhood facing the challenges of a changing world at the end of the 2nd World War. Enjoyable and challenging.'
Stephen Butt BBC UK Radio.

The novel is available from Cactus Rain and various sites such as Amazon, Apple, Nook and Smashwords as a download.

Glyn Pope

Coffee cake, tea, and conversation

2011-01-21T18:45:00.001+01:00

Sitting in a rocking chair, next to a real fire, a cup of tea and a piece of coffee cake at hand. What could be more perfect than sitting in this house in the middle of French countryside. I sat and thought, I don't kow I've been born.
And what of the conversation? That was all about 'The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister. I sat talking with Jocelyn Syms, who had written in a criticism for me 'Rising unemployment, food rationing and drug shortages impact on the lives of the inhabitants of a small town on the outskirts of Leicester in 1947. These deprivations contrast with the lifestyle of powerful people who have found ways to maintain a life of luxury even in such harsh times.'
We spent a couple of hours expounding further on her comments. So tremendously useful, thank you Jocelyn.

Thanks have to go as well to Louise Wise who interviewed me on her blog at http://louisewise.blogspot.com/2011/01/doctor-plutocrat-and-mendacious-tells.html
So if you want to know more about what I think of the publishing world, go and have a read.

The novel is now available as Nook from Barnes and Noble, store and on line, as ell as an iPad as well as Kindle (Amazon and Smashwords) and at the Cactus Rain site http://www.cactusrainpublishing.com/the_doctor.html
or from me if you live in Europe at £9.99 or 11.50euros inc. postage.

Also newly placed at the following site:
http://www.stephenbutt.co.uk/shopcatalogue.htm

Reviews

2010-12-29T10:43:00.003+01:00

A review and a couple of comments for The Doctor The Plutocrat and The Mendacious Minister:
From Glynis Smy, 'Disclaimer: I was not asked to write a review for this book, I have done so willingly because I want to share my Christmas reading material.' She then went to write, 'My review:
Being an English woman who grew up post war during the late 1950's, and reached my teens in the 1970's, I could relate to much of what was written in this delightful book, although it is set in the 1940's post war period.
I lived on the edge of a new housing estate that linked with a UK government council estate. There was an adult class divide during this time period, and Pope captures it so well in his storyline.
The doctor has a humble side that comes across so well, I fell for his character straight away. I enjoyed following how he came across class barriers, and was overwhelmed by those he met in higher circles. The more his character developed, and the events that changed his life, made his convictions for right and wrong stronger. I was hooked, and had to find out more about his new career and those he met along the way. The characters all fall into place and each one comes alive in one's mind. I could see the women with their cardigans and pinafores draped over a large bosom, gossiping on the doorstep. Men with cigarettes hanging from the corner of their mouths, children with socks rumpled around their ankles, yet the author describes non of these things. He shares the characteristics and surroundings so well that everything falls into place and allows your imagination to do the rest. This is not a book that will only interest the British reader, it is a great fiction story with an historic background. If you enjoy a light hearted book with meaning and tenderness, corruption and victory, this is one I recommend for your shelf.'

Comments also from a couple of readers:
'"This is the best book that I have read in a long time. It will have you in tears of laughter and sadness. It tells a story of 1940's England, the capitalist Government, and the everyday folk struggling to survive with the help of a miracle worker Doctor. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a step back in time to a 1940's council estate, with all the post war restrictions and rules affecting how people behaved at that time. 5 stars."
—Naomi Adams

"I read this novel in two sittings. A real page turner. Glyn described what the characters said and did so well that I could see them and the age they lived in. The story is so good, I just had to know how everything turned out. I am so hoping there is a follow up. Glyn's novel is for anyone who loves a good read."
—Mark Krnjulac'

The novel is now available as an iPad as well as Kindle (Amazon and Smashwords) and at the Cactus Rain site or from me if you live in Europe at £9.99 or 11.50euros inc. postage.

Also newly placed at the following site:
http://www.stephenbutt.co.uk/shopcatalogue.htm

Have a good year
Best wishes
Glyn

Snow

2010-12-23T12:40:00.002+01:00

Snow.
I thought I'd be topical.
Though everyone must be bored with snow by now.
No snow here though. I wish there was. The weather we have here is constant rain. You don't want to go anywhere but light the fire, read or listen to The Rolling Stones 'Let It Bleed' album, that my dear brother sent me. I haven't heard the full version of 'You Can't Always Get What You Want,' since I was about sixteen. The way Jimmy Miller, drummer on the track not Charlie, changes the rhythm at the end has to be heard to be believed. So if its not too late and your looking for something for old Dad, that's the cd.
And for your Mum? Well my novel 'The Doctor The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister.'
Probably a bit late to order for Christmas but you can tell her its on the way. Got held up by snow and all that. Should have ordered it earlier. It's getting great reviews, which I'll post in the New Year.
Well have a good one. Hope you manage to get out of the front door.
The follow up is now just under 50 thousand words.
Merry Christmas and a Happy Next Year.
Love and best wishes
Glyn

BBC meets The Doc!

2010-12-06T15:30:00.001+01:00

Doc meets the BBC
The saying goes, write a great book and the world beats a path to your door. I'd say

The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister is flying off the shelf.

Seems now, that the BBC has discovered "Doc" and an interview is forthcoming.

Still time to order and have it for Christmas in the States. http://www.cactusrainpublishing.com/the_doctor.html
or leave a message here to order in Europe.

‘The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister’
This novel by Glyn Pope is now available in the UK at the price of £9.99.
For the rest of the Euro zone the cost is 11euros 50cents.
This price includes postage and packing.
The novel is a signed first edition.

About the book,
‘DOCTOR LATYMER ARRIVES on a council estate in Leicester, England, full of hope and the innocence of youth. He quickly becomes the local miracle worker. But without a grasp of the realities of life, he sets out to right injustices that he doesn't fully understand. He unravels the delicate balance between rich and poor, and the struggling post-WWII economy still reliant on rationing and the black market.’

Contact me by commenting here, or at
gjpopeuk(at)googlemail.com

You can also purchase'The Doctor The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister' as an ebook. Should cost you less than £4.00, around $5.00 or less than 5euros. The beauty is there is no postage. Just whizzes down the wires to your machine and you read away.

See Amazon,
or
Smashwords
Amongst other outlets.

I know more than your average person

2010-11-08T14:20:00.004+01:00

I feel I know more than your average person about the Tudors. I read a book by Philippa Gregory about Catherine of Aragon - I asked Ms Gregory, through her website, what she based her facts on as I felt they were incorrect. Didn't receive a reply. Perhaps it didn't matter, but there will be readers going away thinking that what Ms Gregory wrote is correct. They forget the novel is fiction, not a non-fiction properly researched history book.

My new novel is historical. I was asked at a dinner party by a very clever guy how long the research had taken. I haven't actually sat and completed a ton of research, I told him. the story is a piece of fiction set in 1948. I've checked facts such as getting the correct Prime minister, which films were popular. I say after the acknowledgements, 'this is not historical fact.'

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning by Alan Sillitoe is one of my most loved novels from 1960. I first read it when I was early teens, so 1965. It was contemporary to me then. I was living the 'whatever people say I am I'm not,' (I'm still like that.) But now it is historical fiction. That Nottingham depicted in the book and film does not exist. I tell my children watch this film, not only is it one of the best but it's like when your Dad was a boy.
So you see, all novels become historical but perhaps it's the great ones that ask the ultimate questions about life that are not historical. I mean here such books as The Stranger (Camus) or Ivan Denisovich (Solzhenitsyn.)

‘The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister’
This novel by Glyn Pope is now available in the UK at the price of £9.99.
For the rest of the Euro zone the cost is 11euros 50cents.
This price includes postage and packing.
The novel is a signed first edition.

About the book,
DOCTOR LATYMER arrives on a council estate in Leicester, England, full of hope after dreadful experiences of the war. He happily settles into life on the estate trying to forget the nightmare images in his memory. The young doctor quickly becomes the local miracle worker when he cures the attention seeking hypochondriac Reginald, and takes the time to befriend a sad little boy who has lost his Mother. However, when food poisoning strikes the estate residents, Doctor Latymer sets out to right injustices that he doesn't fully understand. He tangles with Sir Brian Britley, the Plutocrat, and Sir Henry Norrington, the Mendacious Minister for the British Government. In the process, he unravels the delicate balance between rich and poor, and the struggling economy still reliant on rationing and the black market. Doctor Latymer's story is written in authentic British English, adding to the richness that brings the local characters to life as the reader is whisked back to 1948 post-war Britain.

Contact me by commenting here, or at
gjpopeuk(at)googlemail.com

You can also purchase'The Doctor The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister' as an ebook. Should cost you less than £4.00, around $5.00 or less than 5euros. The beauty is there is no postage. Just whizzes down the wires to your machine and you read away.

See Amazon,
or
Smashwords
amongst other outlets.

The follow up has now reached 46,851 words!

Love and best wishes
Glyn

A Little More

2010-11-07T09:32:00.003+01:00

The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister

Here is a little more continuing from the last post. Whet your whistle and then go out and quench your thirst by buying the whole novel.

‘The stupid sod.’ The voice sounded shrill.
‘Now sir, watch your language, there are ladies and children present.’ His uniform gave the porter the prerogative to sanction.
‘Yes, Reg.’ The lady with the injured man spoke, attempting an air of authority.
Reg replied, ‘Are you standing here with a broken arm?’
‘No, it’s just that–’
‘Shut your gob then,’ Reg told her.
‘Reg,’ the lady pleaded, ‘stop the palaver. Don’t speak to me like that.’
The porter moved to intervene.
‘Fight a man with one arm, would you?’
‘Reginald. Calm down.’ The woman was firm with her husband.
‘What was the idiot doing,’ Reg whined, ‘slamming the door on a train full of people?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘I bet he’s in the station bar,’ said Reg, ‘cosy with a whisky. That’s what I need, a whisky for the pain.’
‘I’ll get you one.’ The lady looked around and shouted, ‘Porter!’
‘Don’t give him anything.’ Latymer purposefully strode to the small gathering. Full of self-importance he said, ‘I’m a doctor.’ Every young doctor has the desire to utter the statement, ‘I’m a doctor,’ and answer the emergency.
‘Thank God for that.’ Reg spoke, with a miserable groan, as if his life needed saving. ‘A doctor.’
‘He may be in shock. No alcohol.’ Latymer repeated the instruction while he looked into the man’s eyes.
‘What the doc means is he may need an operation.’ The porter made a sawing motion across his own arm. ‘His arm amputated.’
‘Oh no! Oh no! Milly, I’m going to have my arm cut off. You’d better get me that drink.’
The porter walked away and left them to it.
‘You’re all right. Pull yourself together. Let’s take you to a seat and have a proper look.’ Latymer pointed to a bench.
His wife led Reginald to the nearby seat. At the end of the bench was a narrow space, perhaps large enough for Reg to sit. The rest of the bench was taken by a lady of large proportions with a scarf tied tightly to her head. Next to her was seated a schoolboy.
‘Move along and let the gentleman sit down. He looks a bit pale.’ The woman gave the boy a nudge.
‘Where am I going to sit?’ asked the boy.
‘You’ll have to stand. The train will be here soon,’ the lady said kindly, seeking to appease him.
‘I’ll have to stand on that, as well,’ the boy shot back.
‘Stop being cheeky. Here you are, sit down, duck.’ She gestured for Reg to take the empty place that the boy, flouncing and sighing, had gone to great pains to make.
Reginald made a show of sitting down as if he were a hero.
‘Well it can’t be because of the war,’ the boy gave a sideways nod towards Reg, ‘it’s been over two years now. Why can’t we get proper food? I was reading in The Times that they’re better fed in Germany and they lost!’ He stood petulant in his schoolboy’s uniform, speaking as if he were talking about a game of football.
‘We don’t want that kind of talk,’ said the lady minding the boy.
Latymer looked at the boy and said, ‘You’ve got a politician there. How old is he?’
‘Ten. He sees, hears, and reads everything.’
‘Is that so? Very bright,’ answered Latymer.
‘So his parents say. I’m seeing him back to school.’
What a precocious child, Latymer thought, but doctors are taught to never give away their true feelings. ‘Anyway, thank you for letting this gentleman sit down. He’s been in an accident.’
Reg nodded his head, affirming the situation.
‘Yes, I see that,’ the boy went on. ‘His arm isn’t broken though. At the worst it’s a slight sprain. If he moves it carefully, it’ll free itself. He’ll be as right as rain in no time.’
Years of hard work training to be a doctor, Latymer despaired looking heavenwards towards the vaults of the railway station, and a ten-year-old diagnoses my first patient.
‘His mother and father say he wants to be a doctor.’
The boy confirmed the statement, pronouncing his words as if he had a plum in his mouth. ‘I do want to be a doctor.’
‘Well, there’s a lot more to it than guesswork.’ And to show that he was very serious, Latymer spoke in a voice that was a few decibels below his normal one.
‘How long have you been a doctor then?’ the boy asked.
Latymer ignored the question, but carried on with his explanation. ‘There’s seven years hard training, difficult examinations.’
‘There’s nothing wrong with most patients you see as a GP that wouldn’t cure itself,’ said the boy pompously.
Latymer knew the boy to be correct. ‘How do you know that?’
‘I read it in The Lancet – last June’s issue. I can send it to you if you give me your address.’
‘You read The Lancet ?’ Latymer gave the boy another look.
‘Like other boys read the Beano,’ the lady told them rather proudly, as if she were his mother.
‘Yes, so do I,’ said Latymer, foolishly with pride in his voice.
‘You read the Beano, Doc?’ asked Reg. ‘I can let you have my back issues.’
‘No, The Lancet.’
‘That’s why he knows more than you,’ said Reg.
‘He doesn’t know more than me. This arm could be broken.’

I love Reg. Though I say so myself, modestly of course, he is a character. I've read the novel many many times and I still love the sections where he appears. I can't tire of him. I hope that you'll want to know more about him and his fate.

A few weeks and the follow up will be finished. That'll please Madam at Cactus Rain!

Best wishes to you all Glyn

Extract - The Doctor, ~The Plutocrat, and the Mendacious Minister

2010-11-01T08:53:00.003+01:00

The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister is my third novel, the first to be published by a US publisher, Cactus Rain. Published on Monday, First of November 2010, I want to share some with you for a couple of weeks...

Chapter One
Peter Latymer stepped from the Great Northern carriage at Belgrave Road station. The concourse was unusually busy for late afternoon on a chilly October day. The secure glow of warmth from the fires of the train engines and the heavy smell of oil and coal, bound up with the crowd moving as if all were on a new journey. Peter stood, reflecting for a moment on his new start.
The daylight failing, there were lights shining as hadn’t been enjoyed in three years. There had been a brief glimmer of hope earlier that year when the Olympic Games were held in London. But that had been London. In the rest of the country the celebrations hadn’t made any difference. The aftermath of the war existed. It was still dark. A new age had yet to dawn.
Latymer heard a piercing scream rise from amongst the general sound of the station. He took it to be the whistle of an engine. As he looked around his eyes set upon a man clutching his arm. Could this be his first patient, so soon after his arrival?

More in a day or two, though if you like it feel free to buy the novel!
The follow up is well under way and has 42,426 words written.

You Tube Film

2010-09-25T07:33:00.003+02:00

I now have my own You Tube film.
It advertises my new novel 'The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister.'

Put together by the talented Michael James Treacy see it at

http://www.youtube.com/user/zroppian?feature=mhum

Thanks to Mick and the talented guitarist Phil Hare for allowing me to use his arrangement of Glenn Miller's 'In The Mood'

'The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and the Mendacious Minister, will be published by Cactus Rain on the First of November.

Word count for the new novel now stands at 34,436/90,000 words.

Enjoy the vid. Goodness the marvels of modern science back in 1948 it was the wireless for our entertainment...

Cover for my new novel.

2010-09-20T13:34:00.004+02:00

Well at last, here it is the cover for my novel, due out on November 1st 2010.
I don't have a lot to say. This blog is about the cover.
I would love to know what you think.

My good friend Kate Beswick has just seen the blog and emailed me with the following comment 'I really liket the minimalist look- at first it might be from a govt archive but obvious it's fiction- clever and witty launch coming soon!' Love the comment, thank you Kate.

'The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister' will be published by Cactus Rain on November 1st 2010. See http://www.cactusrainpublishing.com/index.html

The new novel, no title yet has 32.960 out of 90,000 words written.

The Writer's Medical & Forensic Lab

2010-09-12T20:26:00.003+02:00

The Writer's Medical & Forensic Lab
see link http://www.dplylemd.com/index.html

For my new novel, no title yet but the follow up to 'The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister' to be published by Cactus Rain on November 1st 2010, I needed to know how to write an autopsy or coroner's report. Now I'm writing a medical book, set in 1948, and there's a suspicious death in it. I will put the clause near the acknowledgements that I haven't written a medical, history, or crime manual, but I do like facts to be as correct as I can make them.

I searched google. I hate google. You ask it a question and it tells you how to buy it from ebay. I don't want to buy a Coroner's report.

I hated Face book until yesterday. I'm only a member because an agent I had, said get your name everywhere. So yesterday I said something like 'Anyone want to be unpaid researcher?' I've yet to make any money myself so I'm not going to pay anyone else just yet. By the by I got no response from anyone for the job so if anyone out there wants it..? Let me know.
Anyway to the point. I also put in the question I wanted know. When was Clement Attlee knighted and thank you Gary Hewitt, 1956 was the answer. Then I needed to
know...you don't need all of this. But thank you to Ben Davolls and Del Angharad.

To the coroner's report. Don't worry my novel's aren't this long winded. They're zippy and fun. I asked on face book about the coroner's report. My good friend Lorraine Nevin pointed me to this site http://www.dplylemd.com/index.html
I asked Dr Lyle my question. The answer, and it was a superb answer, came back to me within hours. Thank you Doug Lyle for the time you took. It really is appreciated.
If you have a medical problem that needs dealing with within your story then I suggest you have a look at this site. The blog there is also very enlightening and entertaining.

'The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister' will be published on November by Cactus Rain http://www.cactusrainpublishing.com/

The follow up novel has now achieved 32,275 words out of 90,000. And I'm enjoying writing every word of it.

Autumn

2010-09-08T18:36:00.003+02:00

Poem One

It’s a Greek afternoon
Here in dead France
So far away from
What can I say?
those who
destroy the peace
the silence of
watching the vine grow

St Clementin France August 2005

Poem six

The moon is full
And red again tonight
Do you remember?

Probably not
You don’t recollect a book or a film

But I think of you silly
Standing barking at the door
Saying ‘I’m always this way
Full moon
Full moon
And tonight’s it’s red’

And the dog’s going mad

It must be a refection of the sunset
A bit like you and I caught one another

22nd September 2005 St. Clementin France

Poem Seven

I came into your room this morning
I wonder if you knew I was there
You were laid sprawled
On the bed sleeping
Hair askew
Not yet woken by the morning sunshine

When I came back here
All these hundreds of miles
And looked at the walls
And looked at the ceiling
I knew that one day
We would share our time again

28th September 2005 St. Clementin France

Gone for Ten Days

2010-08-22T10:18:00.005+02:00

I shall be away from a computer for ten days or so. Not completely away as in living somewhere without electricity but virtually as bad as. My son's computer is French. It doesn't have a querty keyboard. So type 'h' and you get 'a'. I don't have the patience to go searching around the keyboard so a couple of times in the week I shall ask my boy to log into my emails.

But I shall write longhand the follow up to 'The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister.' due out soon. Look out for the cover and further details at http://www.cactusrainpublishing.com/

I always write longhand and then edit/rewrite as I type up so hopefully I shall have a few thousand to add to the 28,180 words already written. I'm truly enjoying writing the follow up. Its going to be a great story. Must give it a title soon...

And if you're interested Nadine Laman may have news at http://nadinelaman.blogspot.com/

See you all in a few days.
Glyn

Chris Blackwell, Island Records and Cactus Rain

2010-08-12T09:47:00.004+02:00

I watched a documentary about Chris Blackwell last night. Chris founded Island records in the UK. He obviously was interested in making money, but not in the big corporate way. It wasn't a priority.
By 1972 he had every significant band in the UK on Island records; Fairport, Traffic, Free, King Crimson, Roxy Music, Cat Stevens, Bob Marley and the very talented Nick Drake. Nick is a case in point. He made 4 or 5 albums. They sold badly. And then sadly he died. But Blackwell kept him on the rosta because of his talent. Since then Drake has become legend and sold millions.
Later it was U2, Sparks and Grace Jones and a host of others.
Blackwell was interested in creativity and knew first hand who his artists were. Took a hand in producing their work. It was said in the documentary that groups/artists wanted to be signed by Island, not for the cash, but because of what Island represented as a label. The publishing industry could do with this attitude. Nadine Laman wrote the other day something like, 'I will be looking for the gems that publishers reject.' It would be wonderful if Cactus Rain became the island, the refuge, for quality work and recognised as such.

The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister will be published in Autumn.
The follow up, not even a working title, has now reached 23,884words and each of them a good one!

http://www.cactusrainpublishing.com/

2010-08-07T13:10:00.008+02:00

Cactus Rain Publishing are up and running.

See http://www.cactusrainpublishing.com/ - in case you missed it in the title of my blog.

The novel 'The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and the Mendacious Minister' won't be published until November 1st of this year. Hope you can wait.
Really there's nothing to add that you won't find on the Cactus Rain web page.
Have a look, you'll get plenty of reminders from me as publication date draws nearer!

'The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister' to be published on the 1st of November this year.
The follow up, due next year, no title as yet, has 22,787 of its words written.

Life is but a dream

2010-08-02T11:43:00.003+02:00

I've had my grandson staying for a week. (See above writing his first novel.) He's four months old. I would sit him on my knee and sing to him.

'Row row row the boat gently down the stream
Merrily merrily merrily life is but a dream'

Life is but a dream

Deep philosophical stuff when you're four months old. Deep philosophical stuff when you're fifty six years old.

All those memories of what really happened are only as dreams.

I could list everything, but that would be dreadfully boring.
And some of those dreams are too painful to share.
Some of those dreams I want to happen again.
Some of those dreams I want to relive to take a different direction.
Some of those dreams were nightmares.

My new novel 'The Doctor The Plutocrat and The Mendacious Minister' (ISBN 978-0-9829181-0-4 - yes t has an ISBN now!) will be published by Cactus Rain very soon.
The word count of the follow up is 22,349/70,000 words

Like to review my new novel?

2010-07-28T12:23:00.003+02:00

The Doctor The Plutocrat and The Mendacious Minister

What follows is an extract from Nadine Laman's blog for yesterday (http://nadinelaman.blogspot.com/ -
'Galley is a rough out of the coming book. It is gross (as in rough) formatted. There is no cover art. Only a handful of galleys are printed. One for the author, of course. A couple for advance reviews. It likely has not been fully edited and certainly not line edited (proof read).

Most people in the industry who do book reviews understand that this is about the storyline, not about the polishing yet to come. Amateur reviewers will comment on grammar or typos. Professionals don't. They know galleys aren't the finished book.'

Publisher's Cactus Rain have now a few copies of my galley 'The Doctor, The Plutocrat and The Mendacious Minister' for review. If you would like a copy then leave a comment here or email me at gjpopeuk(at)googlemail.com

Goes without saying that I'd be looking for blogs who have many followers or the literary editor of the London Times.

The Swallowtail & The Butterfly

2010-07-22T12:05:00.004+02:00

A couple of photos that I took this week. I'm not the greatest photographer. The swallowtail butterfly is pretty awful as a photograph, beautiful as an insect. The sunflower in height is at least seven feet. My wife has grown a whole lot from seed. It was the first time we'd seen a swallowtail butterfly. In fact there were two. I took to thinking about much time we waste sprucing ourselves up, some woman layering on the makeup, the time spent on buying clothes by us all. And then I thought, and the poet searching for the correct word, the writer rewriting and rewriting, (tell me about it) the musician for the flow of notes, the artist colour...and here we have the flower and the butterfly full of natural beauty, full of poetry, full of music, full of art.

My novel 'The Doctor The Plutocrat and The Mendacious Minister will be published soon by Cactus Rain
My new novel, follow up to above is now, 21,032/70,000 words

Julie Brown

2010-07-16T06:52:00.003+02:00

Julie Brown
Where are you this early dawn?
Lying in bed
Fifty three and fat
On a council estate in Leicester

In my dream
You were a girl
Young alive beauty firm
A promise of the night

I walked through streets
Barefoot to you
Searching for the words
My shoes

A page was blank
Ten minutes ago
Julie Brown forgotten
But for a dream

Words exist in finite order
Musical notes
Arranging themselves on the white
And a thousand suns
Rise round the world
I watch them as they glow
And you, Julie Brown,
Are no longer the sunrise

2010-07-14T01:33:00.001+02:00

Tom Simpson, British cyclist and Albert Camus, French writer.
As far as I know Tom Simpson and Albert Camus had little in common. Certainly Simpson isn’t known for his love of Camus’ work just as Camus didn’t as far as I know keenly follow Le Tour de France, although he may have been like Antoine Blondin who was his and Sartre’s contemporary and writer (winning Le Prix Deux-Magots for his first novel. Deux-Magots was the literary café where Sartre, Camus and the rest ‘hung out’.) Blondin never went anywhere other than the St Germain quartier of Paris except when he came out to follow Le Tour reporting it for the paper L’Equipe.
The only common event in their lives was their deaths. Simpson and Camus both died on French roads. Camus in 1960 and Simpson on the 13th July 1967. I was twelve when Simpson died. Earlier that year I’d been given Camus’ novel ‘The Outsider’ to read by my sister. She was six years my senior, intelligent and gobbled up books as if they would disappear the next day. She had watched me reading ‘Jennings’ books by Anthony Buckeridge and felt my reading should be a little more highbrow. She was correct and wrong. Anthony Buckeridge wasn’t going to win any Nobel prizes for literature but his books about the schoolboys Jennings and Darbishire are very funny and the original hardbacks with their sleeve jackets have a pride of place on my bookshelves.
But to Camus. I can’t think of any twelve year olds I’d give ‘The Outsider’ to read. But that implies that I was something special and I wasn’t. I came to Camus with, somewhat lacking in originality, the innocence of a child. I had no idea who Camus was. The book hadn’t got many pages. There was a bit of sex for a twelve year old, a murder, a trial and… I remember my sister questioned me about the ending and I hadn’t understood. I told her that I believed he would get away with the murder. When I read the end now though, dare I say, it almost seems to be tagged on, the flow is lost.
But it was a book that was to be a major influence on my life. It began my love affair with France. The oppressive heat, just never experienced in England; I write this now at five thirty in the morning. It hasn’t rained for three or four weeks. The temperatures can go up to the mid forties centigrade and the heat stays all night.
The novel also influenced my thinking, but I didn’t realize that until much later in life. For some Camus’ writings are about the absurdity of existence, the pointlessness of it all. Certainly I came to understand that was what ‘The Outsider’ was about. For me as well though it was about the lack of control that we have over our lives. That we can make a decision say to take a particular job, marry a person, make a friend without realizing the consequences; this contrasts to the philosophy behind ‘The History Man’ by Malcolm Bradbury where the central character Howard Kirk tries to control a set of events.
On the 14th July 1967 the day was hot. The summer holidays from school. My father took the Daily Express. I remember coming downstairs, maybe I ate breakfast first I would have certainly had a cup of tea, picking up the newspaper and seeing the headlines ‘Heat Kills Cycle Ace’ that British rider Tommy Simpson had died in Le Tour de France. I don’t remember the details I read then. Those details have been painted in over the years. But my memory tells me that the Express portrayed him as a hero collapsing on his way up the Mont Ventoux. ‘Put me back on my bike,’ were Simpson’s last words before he died. This is now in dispute as Simpson was so full of amphetamines and brandy that he was probably insensible. But that Simpson had taken amphetamines and alcohol tells us that he recognized the need to climb the mountain to get to the top before you can come back down again. This is as Camus saw life in the Myth of Sisyphus. Sisyphus was condemned to push a stone up a hill and when it rolled down to push it up again. Fulfillment in life was realizing this was his life’s task. Just as Simpson was expected to cycle up the mountain over and over again.
Camus began my love affair with France. Simpson who gave me my character of determination. Both in the same year, both in France. I still watch Le Tour, amazed at how these sportsmen can for twenty-one days overcome far greater physical hardships than any other sport on the earth. The physical becomes the spiritual.
On my bookshelf sits five copies of ‘The Outsider’. Three in English, two in French. I’ve read the novel countless times.
Simpson may have said about the day of his death, ‘For all to be accomplished, for me to feel less lonely, all that remained was to hope that on the day of my execution there should be a huge crowd of spectators…’ Albert Camus ‘The Outsider’

see http://nadinelamanbooks.com/pdf/brag7-10.pdf

Where are they? Where are we?

2010-07-08T07:27:00.004+02:00

My Grandparents lived in a high rise flat; on the twenty fifth floor. Twice they moved higher. It wasn't like moving house. The flats were all the same, kitchen, living room, bathroom, and bedroom. The area was the same. Just forty eight feet higher. It was only occupying space in a different bit of atmosphere. The flats, the councils dream answer to housing problems in the seventies,have been demolished now. It is impossible to return and say, 'My Grandparents lived there.' You'd be pointing at empty space.
Just as my Uncle John, who died when I was two, cannot be found. He had a grave. We would visit twice a year and leave chrysanthemum. I cannot smell the metal of chrysanthemum without hearing death. But there Uncle John lay forever. And then Leicester council decided that the crematorium needed extending, over the spot where Uncle John lay, to deal with the demands of the dying. So I can't find Uncle John either.

see http://nadinelaman.blogspot.com/2010/07/test-mic-check.html
Nadine's blog Thursday 8th July 2010

My novel 'The Doctor, The Plutocrat, and The Mendacious Minister' will be published soon by Cactus Rain

My new novel (no title yet but a follow up to the above) is now 20,290/70,000 words

Writing's my Coal Face

2010-06-14T07:36:00.008+02:00

What a bloody pompous thing to say. Sometimes it needs saying though. The world couldn't exist without writers. From textbooks, magazines, newspapers, novels, children's books, even the way a sentence or phrase is put as a caption on the rolling news channels.
My Mother wrote a novel. Sent it away to somewhere. Got a polite rejection letter back with the suggestion that she take a writer's course. She said to me, 'What do I need that for? I can write.' Well I agreed. I was writing at the time.
Through Turner/Maxwell I published my two novels 'To The End Of Love' http://www.turnermaxwellbooks.com/theol.htm
and 'Learning To Wave' http://www.turnermaxwellbooks.com/Learning%20to%20Wave.htm
Now I'm happy with both novels. There are a few pages of very fine writing in them but I'm not ecstatic. They really need polishing. There was a great deal I didn't know; just the whole basics of writing.
Eighteen months ago I bumped into Nadine Laman on a blog about ISBNs. Real geeky stuff. She asked me if I wrote. I replied in the affirmative and sent her the copy of my new novel. All ready for publishing! She told me she'd like to publish but it needed some work. Boy did it need some work.
She had me working. She taught me. I had an awakening that just because I had a computer with a spell check did not mean that I was a writer. To be a writer meant working at it. I came to realise that I was working at my writing seven days a week. My wife, when asked what our jobs were, said I was a writer. I am not the person retired early from work sitting in idyllic France doing nothing but poking at the garden and drinking wine.
Any day now I shall receive from the States the final draft of my novel for corrections.
I have until the end of July to make the corrections. I am also working on the follow up.
As well as the other nitty gritty stuff that makes up being a writer.
Nadine asked me if I was excited because the end is in sight. I replied
'Excited? I would be if I believed it would sell. But the whole process has been very exciting. I've learnt a lot. Writing if you're going to do it properly is a full time job; not a hobby. Of course it can be a hobby and exciting when a short story is published in some obscure publication that no-one but your Aunt buys because you're in it. I've been listening to Bach's solo cello suites recently. Bach had genius obviously but he also practised his craft. Viviane Spanoghe performs the suites so well because she practised her arse off from being a child. Nothing comes naturally in any job. It's the amount of effort made. And writing now is my work. My coal face.'
My new novel will be published on the First of November this year. More details to follow.
Nadine's blog can be found at http://nadinelaman.blogspot.com
Word count on new novel 19,225/70,000

Round up of a few things

2010-04-20T19:46:00.005+02:00

This week I've been given a blog award by Sue Guiney and Nadine Laman.

Sue's blog can be found at http://sueguineyblog.blogspot.com

Nadine's at http://nadinelaman.blogspot.com/

Both are super blogs and well worth a read.

Also I love Ivana's blog at http://willingtoseeless.blogspot.com

Sue writes about whatever seems to come into her head. I like that. She is an author, poet and musician. Have a look at her blog and buy her book.
Nadine's main topic is often writing and I have learnt a lot there about how to write. Nadine is also an author. A great writer. I shall be reviewing High Tide in a week or two.
I usually leave Ivana to that task. Her book reviews are excellent.

If I had to choose one, then it would be Sue's simply because hers reads like a column in a newspaper or magazine. There's usually something different and topical going on. An editor is missing something in Sue.

But, I stress, I follow a lot of blogs and these three are the best.

This week I was interviewed for the radio. I was unable to listen to the broadcast as it went out so I used BBC's listen again facility. Armed with a cup of tea at about 9am the other morning, I pressed play. After five minutes, the man introducing the programme said, 'Glyn Pope is a writer living in France. I talked to him on the phone. And then the question. I spoke, 'I was born in 1953...' I switched it off. Was that really my voice? I was so embarrassed. I couldn't listen. I was so pleased no-one else had heard it with me. I took a long walk round the garden to steel myself. I knew that I'd got to listen. Listen I did. I was pleased with what I said. But gee do I really sound like that? I shall never speak again. Good says my wife.

The weather here has been gorgeous this week. I've sat out in the garden and written. I'm up to about 17,000 words now for the new novel. I feel as if I've got the opposite of writers block. Writers flow I guess it is. I know just where I'm going.

Well I'll leave you with all that. Happy reading and writing. I hope at least you read. I suppose you wouldn't be here if you didn't.

Don’t borrow, don’t lend books

2010-04-18T09:52:00.002+02:00

Don’t borrow, don’t lend books
I don’t borrow books even when offered. I never lend books.
I don’t borrow books because I have a pile by the side of my bed I don’t need anymore books to read. If there’s a book I want to read I’ll buy it. The author, and I only read quality fiction or non fiction, will have worked hard to produce me a worthwhile book to read. Why then should I steal some of their income by borrowing it? I was on the receiving end of this a while ago. A woman said to me, ‘Your novel Glyn. Chardonnay is going to lend it to me so I can read it!’ She said it in a way that she was doing me a favour. Much better for me, I wished I’d said, putting your hand in your pocket getting out ten Euros and buying one.
I don’t lend books. Obviously it would be against my principles for the above reasons. Also my books are very precious to me. A bookmark has to be used. The spine shouldn’t be broken. I have books on my shelves that I won’t even open, too wide anyway. They are my signed copies. My most precious signed from Alan Sillitoe, Henning Mankell (from one writer to another he wrote), Bill Wyman, Donovan amongst others.
Selling books in second hand shops? I came across one of my novels in a second hand shop the other week. What profit do I get from that? I suppose the original buyer can do what they like with it. But a lot of authors earn precious little from their writing. Why should the shop earn 100percent from the effort I made? The second hand bookshop wouldn’t exist without authors.

Listen Tonight 22:00–22:30
Stephen Butt
18/04/2010
Dave Andrews sits in. Stories about Leicestershire and Rutland from bygone times.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/leicester/programmes/schedules
and 'play again' all week

My new novel will be published shortly by Cactus Rain

Words written for my latest novel 15,800/60,000

It's all about the quality not the sex.

2010-04-10T14:18:00.008+02:00

I thought the title would grab you. So read on.
As a gift I was given a book by one of my children. Nothing terribly unusual in that. They know I love books. I turned it over and read the blurb that informed me of its content. I seem to remember it said something like, ‘A political thriller where a terrorist group take over the government of Britain.’ Just my kind of read. I could see why I’d been given it. I love a political thriller. I can’t remember the title or the author. I read it and then threw it away. It was the only book I’ve ever thrown away. I rarely give books to charity shops. But this political thriller was trash. Its violence was gratuitous, its sex pornography. I guess it's audience was a certain type of man. I suppose there are a lot of these type of books out there but none in this house.
A while ago my wife was given half dozen books by a friend. They were all chicklit or as I would call them ‘girly books.’ Nothing wrong in them I suppose. Better to read something than nothing. I hate it when people say they don’t read, particularly when they make it sound as if not reading is an achievement.
But for me the book is about the quality. Not whether the author is female or male, or written for gender. It really is irrelevant. Neither writes better than the other. I began Anne Tyler’s ‘Patchwork planet’ a while ago. I put it down after a few pages and thought I might as well just give up writing, This woman is so good. The same went for ‘On Chesil Beach’ by Ian McEwan.
That really is what makes The Orange Prize defunct. Intelligent thinking people do not differentiate. And who reads the most in the UK population? Women. Men interestingly pretend they read books. Its true, I’ve come across them. But here’s one who doesn't.

Words written for my new novel 13,700/60,000

See http://nadinelaman.blogspot.com/2010/03/here-comes-even-more-judges.html for details of my latest novel soon to be published by Cactus Rain

A Brief History of Women Writers

2010-04-07T15:17:00.006+02:00

In the novel by John Cowper Powys ‘Wolf Solent’ a character Christie Malakite begs the question who were the first women authors? Christie is the daughter of a bookshop owner. She asks, ‘I want to know who they were, I don’t mean Austen or Bronte, but who were the women writing at the time of Shakespeare, Chaucer or even earlier?’ As Christie says women writers didn’t just suddenly spring out in the 19th Century. There must have been women writers in earlier centuries.
The Gospel of Mary dates from the 2nd or 3rd centuries CE. However we don’t know whether it was written by a woman. It refers to the disciple that Jesus loved best, Mary. There were a group of women disciples at the foot of Jesus’ cross whilst he was crucified. Mary and St Paul came into conflict. Both believed as to the correct direction that Christianity should be taking. Paul’s side won, which is why Christianity, the sexist church and the one that Jesus wouldn’t recognise, was born. A woman played a profound part in the growth of the early Christian church.
Between then and modern women writers there are examples of others. See http://www.pinn.net/~sunshine/biblio/antholgy.html#wilson1
A couple of interesting examples.
From the year 841CE there is the writer Dhuoda. She wrote a manual of life for her son when he left home.
Hrotsvitha, (c. 935 to c. 1002) was a 10th century German canoness of the Benedictine Order, as well as a dramatist and poet who lived and worked in Gandersheim, in modern-day Lower Saxony. She was particularly well known for the plays she wrote.
Best selling Dutch author of the 16th century was Anna Bijns. She was a nun who wrote poetry against the teachings of Martin Luther. (This makes me chuckle as I have an image of people queuing outside book shops at midnight on the day of publication.)
In the 16th century as well there were significant women in Tudor life; Catherine Countess of Suffolk who along with Katherine Parr was responsible for the education and upbringing of Mary Tudor and Elizabeth I.
So Christie they did exist, as one would expect.

Words written for new novel 11,500/60,000

Latest novel The Plutocrat The Mendacious Minister and The Doctor to be published by Cactus Rain soon http://nadinelaman.blogspot.com/2010/03/here-comes-even-more-judges.html

New Novel, soon to be published

2010-04-01T16:28:00.002+02:00

Nadine wrote on her blog,'I met Glyn last summer just prior to the Blog Party. When the time came for the party I hadn't realized that it was essentially set up to run 24 hrs a day - yes, for a month! Glyn jumped in like a life-time friend and helped moderate the party when I slept. From there we chatted about writing and I gave him a few writing tips geared to publication particulars. From there, we have reached a point where Glyn will be the debut author for Cactus Rain later this year with his historical fiction about post WW II England. Watch for when it is available for purchase!

see http://nadinelaman.blogspot.com/

Word count for new novel 8,700/60,000

Youth Panel To Select 'Best Of The Best' To Celebrate 15th Anniversary Of The Orange Prize For Fiction

2010-03-29T09:14:00.001+02:00

The latest news from the Orange Prize is that a ‘youth panel’ is to choose the best of the best from the award since its inception in 1996. The youths, four girls and two boys are aged between 17 and 18 years of age. Why they are doing this beggars belief. It is an insult to any intelligent being on the planet. Oh, so I’m going to respect the opinion of some youth who has no experience of the world, a lack of breadth in literature. It is of course the whole novelty factor. I’m sure the orange prize will tell you differently. We want to get young people involved. Why not involve those who really know what they are talking about. The UK has a country full of teachers of literature who would seize the opportunity to be part of this panel. I for one will treat this with the ridiculous contempt it deserves. Next time the Orange organisers go to the doctors let’s hope they are seen by a 17 year old that the medical council thought would be fun to place there for a few days.

see monday's post at http://nadinelaman.blogspot.com/

The Orange Prize for Fiction written by a woman - sexist or wot?

2010-03-22T07:53:00.000+01:00

The Orange Prize for Fiction written by a woman has announced its long list in the past week.
In its first year, 1996, I was browsing Waterstones Bookshop and a shop assistant came up to me and asked me if I’d answer a few questions. I replied yes, as long as it didn’t take too long, end up with me buying double glazing or changing my gas and electricity supplier. I can only recall one of the questions.
‘Should there be a special prize for women writers of fiction?’
My reply?
‘No. There shouldn’t be a prize solely for women in literature.’
The shop assistant looked surprised. It wasn’t the answer he was expecting from a man who looked like a bearded liberal.
I felt the need to explain myself, though I doubted he had the space to put my answer. It would only go against a tick box and I would appear to be the sexist one.
I told him something like this. ‘It is sexist for women to have a special prize in literature. Women are not inferior to men and this special prize makes them as if they are. Oh dear, women writers are being told, you are not able to compete in a man’s world so we must have a special award for you.’
To be clear, when I wrote at the beginning of this blog, ‘Orange Prize sexist or wot’, I of course meant sexist against women.
Let’s hope this year’s winner reflects my views in this year’s acceptance speech and the Orange Prize, as an award solely for women ceases to exist.

Words written for my new novel

words 5,000/60,000 total