Been busy writing two very different genres: the fourth in my mid-grade series, and an adult non-fiction historical book set in my home city. Both require me to write about what I know, but my brain needs to constantly code-switch between the two styles. So, to relax, I turn to more excellent TV drama and watching my football team. This week I’ve been binge-watching BBC corrupt-cop crime drama, Better. And what a nice surprise to see Anton Lesser. His performance in this is superb. What an actor! He’s not only well-respected and Shakespearian-trained, but from my home city, Birmingham. I remember him well from when we both appeared on stage in local am-dram. As a writer, I use as much material as possible, especially for the Birmingham-based non-fiction book, so Anton could well feature as well as Aston Villa history. Meantime, I’m just 8 weeks away from the launch of The Mandarin Seeds, ed 2. And I’m delighted to have secured a cover byline from my friend Paul A Mendelson, the BAFTA-nominated screenwriter and author. Have also been asked to be interviewed soon by Lee Benson on his local radio show “Listen with Lee”, on Black Country Xtra. Meantime, I’m waiting to see what lovely Nikki from SpellBound Books comes up with for the imminent new cover design. Watch this space…
19th February 2023
Authors always say ‘write about what you know.’ It’s called witting testimony - recounting from actual, real-life events and memories, rather than research materials. But, when I watch today’s TV programmes set in times that I grew up in, I instantly spot the errors. It’s all too obvious when scriptwriters are too young to know the language and mindsets of ordinary people in the period they’re trying to reconstruct. I was watching the TV comedy Funny Lady, starring Gemma Atherton. As soon as I saw it was set in the 1960s, I knew they’d get things wrong. Great attention was paid to things like typewriters, cars, and furniture, but the language used was wrong. When I worked in a foundry in the 60s, amongst working class men, I never heard the F word, nor open talk about intimate things, yet Funny Lady was riddled with it as standard. And, although the background music was correct, they failed to show that there was a big divide in the 60s between what the teenagers and older people listened to. And in Call The Midwife, set in a similar time period, why does one of the lead nurses wear so much make-up? In the 60s, a woman looking like that would have been labelled a tart! Similarly on today’s book covers set in that era. Research sources, unfortunately, rarely include witting testimony - vital for true life realism. They should’ve asked me!
12th February 2023
In 1990, I was doing some filing in my top-floor office, when the drawer started to shake alarmingly. A minor earthquake, probably caused by old underground mines. But this week’s devastation in Turkey and Syria is another story. Mr Erdogan says “it’s part of destiny’s plan”, but is it? For 80 years Turkish law has required all buildings to have high quality concrete, reinforced with steel bars, but no-one checks. Experts say that if all regulations had been followed, many lives would have been saved. For 24 years Turkish citizens have had to pay an earthquake tax, bringing in £4billion, but no-one knows where this money has gone. Government changes have meant that the country’s armed forces were prevented from responding this week. Devastated roads hindered international rescue efforts whilst thousands lay dying. We can’t stop earthquakes but we can improve our preparation and reaction. In such zones, all buildings must be made quake-proof, built on stilts if necessary. But there’s nothing like natural disasters to show the utter futility of most man-made wars. It’s at times like this that politics must be forgotten so that all men can help one another in times of need. Our hearts go out to everyone caught up in this terrible tragedy.
