Writing - Further speculation

 Speculation is all very well but even the most laid-back writer has a kernel of curiosity about the quality of their writing. There are hoards of websites that allow you to enter your works for a myriad of outcomes. Some offer to help you improve; some to enter you for a competition; and, some for the publication in an anthology of similar works. The majority require money! For the most part, I don't join but... 

Every so often I am tempted to stand with the back to a literary yardstick and see if I measure up. It doesn't deter me from trying because my ultimate quest is for improvement. I have had the odd poem included in a couple of anthologies but nothing more exciting than that, even so I persevere. 

One immediate benefit is the opportunity to read works that are successful and to take note of the 'fashions' that are current. A lesson that I have learned over the years is that reading is an essential facet of writing. 

Blurb

Patrick A Steele has discovered an injustice that involves organised crime and kidnapping for the sex trade and he applies his unique skillset to disrupt the evil group behind these heinous atrocities. This fourth Steele novel continues the association of our hero with the Japanese Gurentai one of whom he is becoming increasingly romantically attached to - but is it reciprocated? When weekend rioting seems to be driven by some hidden force Patrick and his confederates travel in the UK and Eastern Europe in an effort to overcome the activities of an evil crime lord and his hired assassin.

The above is one of my earlier Steele novels - the third. It includes changes in the procedures adopted by Steele and to the makeup of his team. So an important step. 

Some possibly useful sites:- 

Penguin prizes and opportunities

The Poetry Society 

Neon Books 

Writers HQ 

Reedsy 

If you're curious Google the above and you will find a wealth of opportunities. 

God Bless 

Thursday Poetry 11 - All Hallows Eve

 It's the time of year for plastic masks, imitation cobwebs, pumpkins and the like, opportunities for children to overstretch already active imaginations. Exercising the imagination also lends itself to poetry. 

All Hallows

 

31^s October On all Hallows eve,

 if you are so inclined you may believe,

goblins, ghosts and all nature of creatures,

 with twisted forms and tormented features,

will walk among the living,

their purpose other than forgiving.

 

A disturbed night

of strange noises and broken sleep,

an unexplained sense of flesh creep,

sensible to rest or so it would seem,

how to avoid the risk of that dream.

 

But still the idea persists,

the mind stubbornly resists,

that on this disturbed of all nights,

otherworldly creatures might,

pay a visit most disturbing,

with nameless outcomes resulting.

 

In fact there is no reason at all,

why spirits that walk wouldn’t call,

on any other given day,

the aim to have their evil way,

in correcting errors in the past,

so they may achieve peace at last.

© David L Atkinson October 2023 

God Bless 

Writing - Speculation

 By taking pen to paper you have an incredible amount of freedom only tempered by the political regime under which you live. One aspect of scribing is the freedom to predict the future which is a purely self-indulgent piece of work. Here is an example I threw together a couple of years ago.

Human Longevity and ‘Generation Y’ 

 

For centuries the generations of man have segued nicely into each other with changes taking place at a normal evolutionary rate. Until now! The internet was invented twenty-five years ago and in that miniscule drop of time, 90% of the western world is linked by the World Wide Web. Generation Y has come to maturity not ever knowing life before the net. Four-year-old children can access games that entertain and teach. We can buy things and they arrive on our doorstep in days without any physical currency changing hands. Humans can talk to each other face-to-face across the whole world with barely a blip of difficulty. 

Is it all too fast? We, humans, need time to develop to full maturity and make sound judgments. It is well known that teenagers are rumbustious, impulsive, and likely to make rash decisions. That is what being a teenager is all about! Even relatively young nations are quick to anger and happy to indulge in military fisticuffs before thinking a problem through. So what will Generation Y do to the world? 

Of course, generation Y is quicker intellectually, it must be all those interactive computer games, or the fact that they are raised to respond more rapidly than earlier generations ever were. They can also react more quickly while having their auditory senses totally swamped with what could easily be described as ‘white noise’. The fuel they consume is lacking in nourishment but rich in colourings, preservatives, and other such chemicals. Perhaps food scientists are preparing future generations for the time when more conventional nutrients have died out and all we require is a nourishment pill, or injection, once a day. Of course, in time, this will lead to the vestigilisation of the digestive system in humans and so no more effluent, less wasted paper, and reduced water pollution. Obviously, this will be long after Generation Y’s time but they are encouraging the start of the process. 

There will come a point in the very near future when Generation Y is in charge. The rest of us are living longer and so the actions of this superfast, easily bored, and impulsive crowd will be there for us all to observe and from which to suffer if Generation Y doesn’t bring in euthanasia at 80 years of age. Sadly, I can only see doom for humanity - a true dystopian situation developing over the next twenty years. 

It will begin when the lights go out. It is commonly accepted that over the next few months, the UK will begin to experience power cuts and so the rest of the world. How will Generation Y cope without their hand-held game consoles, smartphones, or large-screen game players? The computers will go down, the internet won’t be available, and Generation Y will be forced out into the fresh air. The intoxicating effect of the extra oxygen will bring about a surge in the brain activity of the hyper-generation Y which is a dangerous occurrence. They will very soon channel this over-excited brain cell activity into how they can regain their connection to the outside world without interacting with others. 

The first action they will take is to seek out the whereabouts of small generators so that they can furnish themselves with the necessary electronic stimulus to prevent them from going into meltdown. This will involve the contracting of group sizes, so be kind to the members of Generation Y in your family! They will acquire weaponry, most of them are ace marksmen as a result of years of practice in the seclusion of their dimly lit bedrooms as teenagers and will be able to isolate themselves and others that matter. 

Politically they have little interest in running countries as they are world players on the internet and so the national governments will gradually fall into disrepair - some would say that this is happening already. The concept of countries would disappear as would world sports competitions, international conflict, and weapons of mass destruction (Did they ever exist?). 

Life would be difficult for those outside of Generation Y. The youngsters would struggle to provide care for their elderly relatives, hence eventual euthanasia. If they don’t understand it – kill it! My advice to older generations, in the interest of self-preservation, is to arrange for Generation Y’s electronic equipment to accidentally disappear, to end up in the washing-up bowl, to get stood on or even fake power surges. Watch out for an immediate violent reaction but then work hard to reintegrate Generation Y into the human race. 

 

David L Atkinson 

God Bless

Thursday Poetry 10 - Autumn Again

 A colourful and changeable time of year often used to inspire poetry. Its been happening to me since I was 9! 

Autumn Again

Fading greens, then browns and reds,

sad plants in soggy flower beds,

crops collected boiled and stored,

creating winters’ vegetable horde.

Time for preparing temporary limbo,

slowing the beat of the ‘growing’ allegro

that happens in the warmer days,

when spring and summer have their ways.

Crackling fires and chilly nights,

brisk walks in low sun lights,

dazzling above horizon’s dark border,

curtailing days in no short order.

 

Cool autumn is here once again,

that inclement season of wind and rain.

© David L Atkinson October 2023

 

Jack Shine the Muggy

 

Time for Halloween once again,

after tea fun short-lived with earlier nights,

kids just want to play one more game

before being called in from excited heights.

 

Too dark to indulge regular sports,

traditional local games from older kids,

history driven quaint old imports,

games woke attitudes forbids.

 

Catchy Kiss definitely forbidden,

Knocky Nine Doors unacceptable socially,

too risky to Seek the too long hidden,

but Halloween’s okay with Jack Shine the Muggy.

© David L Atkinson October 2023 

God Bless 

Writing - Power of Dreams

 Sweet dreams; dream big; follow your dreams; and so on, are just a small sample of things we might hear at bedtime. In fact, dreams are an enormous part of our lives including the girl/man of our dreams. It has been said that if we didn't dream we would be driven insane. Then there was the Martin Luther King 'I had a dream......' speech. 

Well, I had a dream, last night, the night before and so on. I dream in colour and can often remember parts of my dreams, and sometimes not so much. 

What has this to do with writing? Well, that is up to you the writer. 

I sometimes consider dreaming as the subconscious, tinged with memory and experience, but then presented by our imaginations. 

If you consider what you remember of dreams quite often there are discrepancies, mistakes if you like. 'The mind playing tricks!' Really! What does that mean, if anything? That is not the way our brains work. However, dreams seem to defy the logical, sequential way in which that marvelous organ operates.

What we may consider as mistakes may be no more than random chemical aberrations but then why do some dreams reoccur with the same differences to reality? Could that be evidence of imagination? I don't know but why not put it to good use? 

 

The cover I created for Earth plc is a little like dreams. There are three concepts in play in the story, our fragile planet, green issues and industrial exploitation. Now you can put whatever spin you like on the above cover, that's why it was created, by the pictures the brain suggests, or dreams up. 

So consider the pictures from your dreams and take them as part of your writing notebook to use as you wish - after all they are yours. 

God Bless 

Thursday Poetry 9 - Conference season #ToriesBroke Britain

 In the middle of conference season the usual promises of jam tomorrow are being leaked to the press. The Tories led with HS2 and the appalling mess that the project is developing into daily. 

HS2

Not as long as planned again,

the expensive toy put away,

but who working a northern campaign,

wants to go to London anyway.

 

Even twenty minutes quicker,

for us just an historical holiday,

no work or business bother,

to force us in a southerly way.

 

So what of the unspent money,

how will we benefit now?

or is it for the Tory party,

to feed their greedy cash cow.

© David L Atkinson October 2023 

Mawkish Mordant

 

Stand up and fight frequently,

said again and again,

stand up and fight repeatedly,

supposedly a rallying cry,

stand up and fight will cause others

to stand up and fight.

 

Penny forgot what we’re stand up and fighting for,

but repeated it until her throat was sore.

© David L Atkinson October 2023 

God Bless