Month: March 2016

Strangers We’ve Become

This is the sequel to ‘What Sets Us Apart’ and a continuation of the story of David and Susan, and their relationship which, as always, seems to be teetering on the edge of a precipice.

Following is a preliminary description for the book, and it will most likely change by the time it is published.

 

How well do you know your partner?

David had just moved heaven and earth to rescue his wife, Susan, from her evil father.

After a short re-acquaintance in Greve, Italy, they return to London where Susan becomes immediately immersed in her new role as Lady Featherington.  It was a life she was destined to inherit, but for David he is still not quite sure if he is ready for it.

A trip to Russia to confirm a suspicion, David meets with an old acquaintance, and becomes the target of an assassin. In the fallout from this, he discovers a secret Susan is hiding from him, one that could cause an end to their marriage.

How could she change so much in such a short time?

Reunited with Alisha, they join forces to find out why, discovering once again that Prendergast is running his own agenda, and Susan’s new bodyguards are not what they seem.

 

At the moment the cover is still under construction!

 

Writing Update – March

Just a short note to tell everyone where I am.

Other than slowly going crazy, because I think I have over-committed myself to too many projects.

Number one:  Strangers We’ve Become

This is the sequel to ‘What Sets Us Apart’, the continuing story of David and Susan, two people who should be together, but there just seems to be too many obstacles, and people in their way.

Of course, I had the first draft done about six months ago, and several re-writes since then, but one night, while the whole of the story was running around in my head (actually I was at page 317 on the most recent edit, when I realized I was not happy with how the story was progressing.

That’s right, five re-writes and four edits, and a very cranky editor who views complete re-writes as, well, let’s not go there.

I’ve now written all bu the last few pages of the part I felt was missing, and I’m feeling better about it.

It’s supposed to be published this month.  Oops!

Number two:  The things we do for love

This is essentially done and just requires me to re-read and make small amendments so that it can go to the editor.

Number three:  PI Walthenson

PI Walthenson Website

This was another of my many unfinished stories, and the first thirty odd episodes were written in the the early eighties when I worked at an IT company called Ferntree.  I let one of the receptionists at the time read the pages after I told her I was a wannabe writer, and she started posting them as an email every morning.

The staff loved in but the bosses hated the traffic it caused on the network, distributing it to over a large number of employees every morning.  These were the days before Outlook and we were using a stodgy mainframe based email program.

Since then I have continued to write episodes, each getting bigger, or around a page an a half, and the story is about to become deeper and darker.

But it takes a lot of effort to write each episode.

Number four:  Writing a book about writing a book.

Writing a book about writing a book website

This is my fun exercise, and based on a work that I wrote, also in the early eighties.  The original manuscript ran to 400 odd typewritten pages, and now that I’ve taken an interest in it again, I’m taking the opportunity to re-write it whilst transcribing it onto the computer from the typewritten pages.

I have also create a web site for the novel and will be updating it with information about each of the characters, the plot, and a blow by blow synopsis as it develops.

At the moment I’m working on the main characters back story and once this is done I will be publishing it as a novella, along with new material that will not make the final book.

I am hoping the project will be finished by the end of this year, and the backstory novella about June this year.

Number five:  First Dig Two Graves

This is the sequel to the Zoe the assassin novel and is about three quarters finished.  I have written several sections, as I do, separately in Notepad, but I cannot find the files, and this is impeding progress.  It is sitting on the back burner, and will be the next book after the previous two mentioned above are published.

 

Travel is part of the story – Paris

We have been to Paris a number of times over the years.

The first was at the end of a whirlwind bus tour, seven countries in seven days or something like that.  It was a relief to get to Paris and stay two nights if only to catch our breath.

I remember three events from that tour, the visit to the Eiffel Tower, the tour of the night lights, not that we were able to take much in from the inside of the bus, and the farewell dinner in one of the tour guides specially selected restaurants.  The food and atmosphere was incredible.  It was also notable for introducing us to a crepe restaurant in Montmartre, another of the tour guide’s favorite places.

On that trip to Paris we also spent an afternoon exploring the Palace of Versailles.

The next time we visited Paris we flew in from London.  OK, it was a short flight, but it took all day.  From the hotel to the airport, the wait at the airport, departure, flying through time zones, arrival at Charles De Gaulle airport, now there’s an experience, and waiting for a transfer that never arrived, but that’s another story.

I can’t remember where we stayed the first time, it was somewhere out in the suburbs, but the second time we stayed at the Hilton near both the Eiffel Tower and the Australian Embassy, notable only because the concierge was dating an Australian girl working in the Embassy.  That was our ticket for special treatment, which at times you need to get around in Paris.

It was the year before 2000 and the Eiffel Tower was covered in lights, and every hour or so it looked like a bubbling bottle of champagne.  It was the first time we went to Level 3 of the Tower, and it was well worth it.  The previous tour only included Level 2.  This time we were acquainted with the frites available on the second level, and down below under the tower.

This time we acquainted ourselves with the Metro, the underground railway system, to navigate our way around to the various tourist spots, such as Notre Dame de Paris, The Louvre, Sacre-Coeur basilica, and Les Invalides, and, of course, the trip to the crepe restaurant.

We also went to the Louvre for the express purpose of seeing the Mona Lisa, and I came away slightly disappointed.  I had thought it to be a much larger painting.  We then went to see the statue of Venus de Milo, and spent some time trying to get a photo of it without stray visitors walking in front of us.  Aside from that, we spent the rest of the day looking at the vast number of paintings, and Egyptian artifacts in the Museum.

We also visited the Opera House which was architecturally magnificent.

The third time we visited Paris we took our daughter, who was on her first international holiday.  This time we stayed in a quaint Parisian hotel called Hotel Claude Bernard Saint Germain, (43 Rue Des Ecoles, Paris, 75005, France),  recommended to us by a relation who’d stayed there the year before.  It was small, and the elevator could only fit two people or one person and a suitcase.  Our rooms were on the 4th floor, so climbing the stairs with luggage was out of the question.

It included breakfast and wifi, and it was quite reasonable for the four days we stayed there.

It was close to everything you could want, down the hill to the railway station, and a square were on some days there was a market, and for those days when we were hungry after a day’s exploring, a baguette shop where rolls and salad were very inexpensive and very delicious.

To our daughter we appeared to be experienced travelers, going on the Metro, visiting the Louvre, going, yes once again, to the crepe restaurant and the Basilica at Montmartre, Notre Dame, and this time by boat to the Eiffel Tower.  We were going to do a boat rode on the Seine the last time but ran out of time.

We have some magnificent photos of the Tower from the boat.

Lunch on one of the days was at a restaurant not far from the Arc de Triomphe, where our daughter had a bucket of mussels.  I was not as daring and had a hamburger and frites.  Then we went to the centre of the Arch and watched the traffic.

Our first time in Paris the bus driver got into the roundabout just to show us the dangers of driving in an unpredictable situation where drivers seem to take huge risks to get out at their exit.  Needless to say we survived that experience, though we did make a number of circuits.

The next time we visited Paris we brought the two eldest grandchildren.   We took the EuroStar train from St Pancras station direct to Disneyland, then took the free bus from the station to the hotel.  The train station was directly outside Disneyland.

We stayed at the Dream Castle Hotel, rather than Disneyland itself as it was a cheaper option and we had a family room that was quite large and breakfast was included every morning.  Then it was a matter of getting the free bus to Disneyland.

We spent three days, time which seem to pass far too quickly, and we didn’t get to see everything.  They did however find the time to buy two princess dresses, and then spent the rest of the time playing dress-ups whenever they could.

In Paris we stayed at the Crown Plaza at Republique Square, and took the children to the Eiffel Tower where the frites, and the carousel at the bottom of the tower, seemed to be more memorable than the tower itself.  The day we visited the third level was closed.  The day was cold and windy so that probably accounted for the less than memorable visit.

We travelled on the Metro where it was pointed out to me that the trains actually ran on rubber tyres, something I had not noticed before.  It was a first for both children to travel on a double decked train.

When we went to the Louvre where, when we took the girls to the Mona Lisa, one said, “and we walked all this way to see this small painting”.  It quickly became obvious their idea of paintings were the much larger ones hanging in other galleries.  We took them to the Arc de Triomphe, the Disney shop, which I’m still wondering why after spending a small fortune at Disneyland itself, the Opera House, where one of the children thought she saw the ghost and refused to travel in one of the elevators, and lastly Notre Dame.

Sadly, I don’t think they were all that interested in architecture, but at the Opera House they did actually get to see some ballet stars from the Russian Bolshoi ballet company practicing.  As we were leaving the next day we could not go and see a performance.

All in all, travelling with children and experiencing Paris through their eyes made it a more memorable experience.

One Last Look

A single event can have enormous consequences.

A single event driven by fate, after Ben told his wife Charlotte he would be late home one night, he left early, and by chance discovers his wife having dinner in their favourite restaurant with another man.

A single event where it could be said Ben was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Who was this man?  Why was she having dinner with him?

A simple truth to explain the single event was all Ben required.  Instead Charlotte told him a lie.

A single event that forces Ben to question everything he thought he knew about his wife, and the people who are around her.

After a near death experience and forced retirement into a world he is unfamiliar with, Ben finds himself once again drawn back into that life of lies, violence, and intrigue.

From London, to a small village in Tuscany, little by little Ben discovers who the woman he married is, and the real reason why fate had brought them together.

Purchase:

http://tinyurl.com/Amazon-OneLastLook

onelastlookcoverfinal2

What Sets Us Apart

David is a man troubled by a past he is trying to forget.

Susan is rebelling against a life of privilege and an exasperated mother who holds a secret that will determine her daughter’s destiny.

They are two people brought together by chance.  Or was it?

When Susan discovers her mother’s secret, she goes in search of the truth that has been hidden from her since the day she was born.

When David realises her absence is more than the usual cooling off after another heated argument, he finds himself being slowly drawn back into his former world of deceit and lies.

Then, back with his former employers, David quickly discovers nothing is what it seems as he embarks on a dangerous mission to find Susan before he loses her forever.

Purchase:

http://tinyurl.com/Amazon-WhatSetsUsApart

whatsetscover

The Devil You Don’t

John Pennington’s life is in the doldrums.  Looking for new opportunities, prevaricating about getting married, the only joy on the horizon was an upcoming visit to his grandmother in Sorrento, Italy.

Suddenly he is left at the check in counter with a message on his phone telling him the marriage is off, and the relationship is over.

If only he hadn’t promised a friend he would do a favour for him in Rome.

At the first stop, Geneva, he has a chance encounter with Zoe, an intriguing woman who captures his imagination from the moment she boards the Savoire, and his life ventures into uncharted territory in more ways than one.

That ‘favour’ for his friend suddenly becomes a life changing event, and when Zoe, the woman who he knows is too good to be true, reappears, danger and death follows.

Shot at, lied to, seduced, and drawn into a world where nothing is what it seems, John is dragged into an adrenaline charged undertaking, where he may have been wiser to stay with the ‘devil you know’ rather than opt for the ‘devil you don’t’.

Purchase:

http://tinyurl.com/Amazon-TheDevilYouDont

newdevilcvr3

Echoes from the Past

What happens when your past finally catches up with you?

Christmas is just around the corner, a time to be with family.  For Will Mason, an orphan since he was fourteen, it is a time for reflection on what his life could have been, and what it could be.

Until a chance encounter brings back to life the reasons for his twenty years of self imposed exile from a life only normal people could have.  From that moment Will’s life slowly starts to unravel and it’s obvious to him it’s time to move on.

This time, however, there is more at stake.

Will has broken his number one rule, don’t get involved.

With his nemesis, Eddie Jamieson, suddenly within reach, and a blossoming relationship with an office colleague, Maria, about to change everything, Will has to make a choice.  Quietly leave, or finally make a stand.

But as Will soon discovers, when other people are involved there is going to be terrible consequences no matter what choice he makes.

Purchase:

http://tinyurl.com/Amazon-EchoesFromThePast

newechocover5rs

Sunday in New York

“Sunday in New York” is ultimately a story about trust, and what happens when a marriage is stretched to its limits.

When Harry Steele attends a lunch with his manager, Barclay, to discuss a promotion that any junior executive would accept in a heartbeat, it is the fact his wife, Alison, who previously professed her reservations about Barclay, also agreed to attend, that casts a small element of doubt in his mind.

From that moment his life, in the company, in deciding what to do, his marriage, his very life, spirals out of control.

There is no one big factor that can prove Harry’s worst fears, that his marriage is over, just a number of small, interconnecting events, when piled on top of each other, points to a cataclysmic end to everything he had believed in.

Trust is lost firstly in his best friend and mentor, Andy, who only hints of impending disaster, Sasha, a woman whom he saved, and who appears to have motives of her own, and then in his wife, Alison, as he discovered piece by piece damning evidence she is about to leave him for another man.

Can we trust what we see with our eyes or trust what we hear?

Haven’t we all jumped to conclusions at least once in our lives?

Can Alison, a woman whose self-belief and confidence is about to be put to the ultimate test, find a way of proving their relationship is as strong as it has ever been?

As they say in the classics, read on!

Purchase:

http://tinyurl.com/Amazon-SundayInNewYork

Sunday In New York

Travel is part of the story – Melbourne

Brisbane to Melbourne

I doubt there’s an airport anywhere in the world that will be an experience to remember except for all the wrong reasons.   Singapore, Hong Kong and Heathrow are notable only for size and the time it can take to get from the main area to the departure gate.

Brisbane, the airport we are departing from today, is very small by comparison.

But in one aspect all airports are the same.  The price of ordinary items compared to anywhere other than an airport.

Brisbane airport is no exception.  Whilst some items are what may be called reasonable prices I don’t regard $10 plus for a sandwich toasted or otherwise as reasonable.  Coffee however seems to have a benchmark of between $4 and $6 depending on size the world over.

And believe it or not sometimes it tastes like coffee.  Perhaps at home I’m spoilt but quite often the coffee, especially overseas, is awful and you can’t wait to get back.

Despite my own reservations, I do it myself this time, having a flat white coffee and a pie which I have to say was a reasonable price.  On this visit to the airport half the food outlets were closed due to reconstruction, so outlets and choices were extremely limited.

But the airport experience is only one aspect of the day’s  travel.

The airline – Virgin, the plane – 737-800

There is the airline you use.  We have four in Australia, Qantas, Virgin Australia, Tiger and Jetstar.  We usually travel on Qantas mainly because we have frequent flyer points to offset the cost but this time we didn’t.

This time we travelled Virgin Australia because the fares were very reasonable.  For a long time Virgin had the reputation of being an LCA but this is changing as they attempt to take on Qantas as a full service airline.

One aspect of travelling by air is the online check in and bag drop experience.  I don’t think I’ve travelled Qantas once when the automated bag drop system worked for us without having to ask for assistance.

With Virgin it was painless.  Check in online, select your seats and drop the bags at a counter.  Perhaps we were lucky for the time of day there was not a long queue but just the same it was less problematic than Qantas.

Something else that Virgin does better than Qantas is getting the passengers onboard.  They board passengers on the plane from both ends which then enables the departure to be on time.  It is also a positive when disembarking passengers, once again speeding up the process and enabling an on time turn-around.

We are in row 18 and should board the plane by the rear stairs and requiring us to negotiate two sets of steps.  At the moment we both have sore knees, so we were allowed to go through the front door.

My first impression of the plane is one of spaciousness, perhaps skewed by seeing the first few rows given over to business seats.  But one cannot deny the colorful seats and the fact the pitch is one inch better that most of its rivals.

I’m sitting in the dreaded middle seat where there is hardly enough room to move and even though it looks more spacious it isn’t and it would be impossible to eat. I guess in that aspect there is little difference between the airlines.

In flight service has improved, and although they are still charging for food and drinks, they now provide a complimentary snack, usually biscuits and a glass of water.  It’s as much as I can handle in the middle seat because using a knife and fork would be impossible.

Then there’s problem of not only having to sit on the middle seat, but when the person in the window seat needs to get out.  For once there is no complaint from me because l need to periodically get up and stretch my legs as I cannot sit for longer than half to one hour without having problems on arrival.  Last time I traveled I could not get up for over two hours and after landing I had a very bad cramp.

Although the plane left five minutes late, it arrived on time, but because of cross winds we land faster than usual and hit the tarmac quite hard.

After we disembarked taking the rear stairs for expediency, there’s just enough time to get to the baggage belt to collect our bags, the delivery far the quickest than any time I have travelled Qantas.  The worst baggage wait was at Heathrow which took longer than hour.

The hotel – Hilton Doubletree

We are staying at the Hilton Doubletree in Flinders Street opposite the iconic station, one that I used nearly every day for years.  The hotel is relatively new and we are staying on the 10th floor reserved for HHonors guests.  The hotel is just up from the corner of Elizabeth street and Flinders Street and therefore in a very good location.  It is only a short distance to a variety of eating establishments.

We will be staying there again, not only for location, breakfast, and the external food choices, but the fact they supply you with cookies, which are, in my opinion, very addictive.

For us a continental breakfast at the hotel is included with our stay.  If we want to upgrade to the hot breakfast it is an additional $6 per person.  We do for the first day.  Like most Hilton brand hotels the breakfast choices are basically the same, and you get to choose the type of eggs you want which are then cooked for you.  We chose the boiled eggs, and were cooked perfectly.

Self driving in Melbourne and suburbs

We are in Melbourne for a funeral and to visit relatives, so a hire car is essential.

If you are not used to driving in a city that has toll roads Melbourne can be an expensive proposition.  Our last stay the tolls cost us about $90.  There are four tolls just to get from the airport to the city.

That can be alleviated if you have a gps that can find you a route into the city not using toll roads, but if you do be prepared to run into a lot of traffic lights and, of course, traffic.  We have a slight advantage of having once lived in Melbourne but even so we still finished up seeing places we’d never been before, so trying to avoid toll roads without a gps could be a problem.

Also if you are driving in the peak hours be prepared for horrendous traffic where at times the motorways can be like car parks especially if there’s been an accident.  One morning we were there, there were four accidents at the same time basically closing down the motorway.

Like most modern hotels this one does not have its own car park.  Neither did the Hilton at Docklands.  There the car park was opposite the hotel and you could park for a discounted rate.  The Doubletree is basically the same, only the car park is about half a block away and you park for the discounted rate of $30 per day versus the normal rate of $54.  Parking in the city, any city in Australia, is not cheap.  Nor for that matter is valet parking at hotels which can exceed $50 per day.

Brisbane to Melbourne

Return of hire car is simple but getting to the lane marked rental car returns was not so easy and beware it is relatively poorly signed.  The traffic heading towards the terminal is horrendous and it takes us 15 minutes to travel half a kilometer.

We are returning to Brisbane by Virgin, this time on one of their smaller planes, an Embraer E190 which has a two abreast either side seating arrangement.  Once again, it gives the impression there is more room which when seated appears to be the case.  I suspect that feeling would disappear very quickly when the passenger in front has his or her seat back in recline.

This service has the wifi entertainment system active where you can use you own device to stream entertainment content via their special app.  I had not downloaded it so Ix couldn’t test it.

The snack this time was cheese and biscuits which were quite nice along with a cup of water.  We brought extra water on board ourselves now we know we can.

After disembarking and collecting our baggage this time already circulating on the baggage belt before we got there, we stopped to have a relaxing cup of coffee at the Coffee Club outlet outside the main terminal, a fitting end to the trip, and a quiet moment back on home soil before picking up the car from long term car park and going home.