The alternative career of Dilkerton Thallawell.

Stand by your beds, Dilkerton is near!!!

Tallis Steelyard

Dilkerton was a member of the great Thallawell legal family. To be fair his life was comparatively conventional, if only because he was somebody who instinctively tried to conform. So he went into the family legal practice, married a nice young lady and they had two delightful daughters. So whilst he worked hard, he made sure that he was home from work early enough to spend time with the family.

Now he wasn’t a great courtroom performer. On the other hand he had a real genius for cutting through to the crux of the case and working out what were the real issues. Indeed the partnership decided that his analytical mind was wasted on courtroom histrionics. Instead he would examine the case when it arrived with the partnership and then, when it was assigned to a partner, he would go through it with them and explain it. Even old Tildus…

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A short story from ninety-eight years ago…

Another story from years ago…

Have We Had Help?

The war had dragged on for four years, neither side seemingly gaining any advantage. To the rear of the frontlines, generals sat in comfort looking at a map, moving markers around hoping to gain an advantage over the enemy. None of them for one moment considered those markers represented living breathing human beings.

~~~

Paul sat on the firing step with his back to the trench wall. His rifle lay propped up beside him as he reached inside his tunic for pencil and paper.

Dear Franz,

                    You and I are the only ones left from the class of 1912. Remember Opellman? He died this morning at dawn when we went over the top, shot through the head. At least it was quick. I doubt he felt anything.

Gruber was eventually found a week ago by the military police. Poor Gruber, he’d had enough. All he wanted to do was…

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Rural Homelessness

And now for a subject I know a little about…

Jim Webster

It said the number of people sleeping rough in barns, outhouses and parked cars in rural areas had risen by up to 32% between 2010 and 2016. It is a problem but it’s a relatively well hidden problem.

To a certain extent there has always been an issue. I have family and friends of my own age who started their married lives in a caravan tucked round the back of the family farm. The newlyweds had a bedroom and kitchen of their own and if they wanted to do anything so exotic as to wash or go to the toilet, then they’d have to go into the house.

It was just one of those things. Working in agriculture you were stuck in a low wage economy and because your home and workplace was in the countryside, you were stuck in a high house-price area. Eventually if the family owned the…

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A Scifi Short Story

Pay attention, its story time…

Have We Had Help?

If reading this tale of mine written years ago sounds vaguely familiar to readers of my books, it should do. Out of it came my scifi novella The Guardian with different characters and some of this story’s ideas as its basis.

~~~

Beta 1

While the world may from time to time experience a few relatively peaceful decades, sooner or later greed, corruption and hatred coalesce into a weapon of frightening proportions when one power hungry madman emerges, conveniently forgetting the lessons of the past.

Here on Mars it is now year thirty, or two thousand, two hundred and twenty for those still living on Earth, if you can call their existence living. Since the universal age law was passed by Earth Corp in 2190, forced transportation of all over the age of sixty began.

Anyone, regardless of their standing in the community or their occupation, was automatically rounded up…

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valentina

A lovely poem…

The Lonely Author

valentina

walking a quiet path
valentina found a wilted flower
admiring its faded beauty she wondered
if this flower has ever been loved
or did she bloom in gardens of neglect
have her petals ever kissed
the one who got away
valentina took her home
to spend her lonely nights
watering dead flowers
with tears of yesterday

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When writing becomes a vocation and not merely a hobby

More food for thought folks…

Have We Had Help?

While I admire anyone who loves to express themselves through their writing, there comes a time when you have to choose between continuing with what to you is an enjoyable hobby, and taking it up as a full time vocation. Please note that I did say vocation and not occupation. There is a marked difference…

It takes an awful amount of guts and determination on your part to take that giant leap into the uncertain world of literature, often for little monetary gain let alone plaudits for your work from the reading public and your peers. Apart from anything else you can expect to endure a lot of heartache, angst and sleepless nights as I can personally vouch for from my own experience gleaned over the past two and a half decades as a relatively successful published Indie author.

Right now, if you have actually been reading my posts…

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Rutger Hauer

Another great actor passes…

beetleypete

I have only just heard that Rutger Hauer has died, aged 75. That is a tragic loss to acting, and cinema.

I could write about all the film roles I have enjoyed seeing him in, but I have to pick my favourite, from my current top ten film of all time.

He embodied the essence of ‘Blade Runner’ (1987), as the replicant, Roy Batty. And he gave us one of the most iconic death scenes in the history of acting.

Rest in peace, Mr Hauer. You will be missed.

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Converging Paths

Read this and you will understand why it took me half a century to write…

Have We Had Help?

A few years before the US blundered in uninvited into South East Asia,  harsh lessons had already been learned by the ‘US military advisors’ when the fighting between the Vietnamese and the French finally ended and they left France’s former colony of Vietnam forever, giving the US and her allies the excuse they needed to take on the role of crusaders for democracy, to stem the spread of communism throughout South East Asia.

Despite all, there was one lesson that the ‘brass’ seemed totally incapable of comprehending; the toughest enemy is the one defending his own home.

Now the western nations allied to the US in the Pacific were back once more not only fighting the VC and regulars of the North Vietnamese Army, but also the jungle, trench foot, diarrhoea, leeches, homemade booby traps and the strength sapping humidity.

Any reconnoitre patrol the VC encountered contained two primary…

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Joy Lennick interviews author Richard Dee

Joy talks to a mate of mine…

Sue Vincent's Daily Echo

Reblogged from Joy Lennick:

Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing a writer who you may, or may not, be familiar with; but one, I’m sure you will return to, once you have enjoyed a taste of his excellent, entertaining books and writing style.

Hi Richard, it’s a pleasure to have you here today as my guest. Get comfy and take a deep breath as you’re now under the microscope so to speak! We’re all keen to learn more about you, so fire away.

What’s your earliest memory and your favourite one?

I remember living in Brixham when I was very young. Our house was at the base of what seemed to be a huge cliff, trains ran over the back. The station has long gone, the house was for sale when we were on holiday one year, we almost looked around; in the end, I couldn’t face it. My…

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I’ll try anything once, or in this case – twice

The misuse of the humble Hashtag…

Have We Had Help?

Like most people, I’ll try anything once. Talking with Chris, the storyreading ape a few days back, he enthused as only he can, (bless his heart) when I asked him about why he uses hashtags on so many of his blog posts. So, following his advice I decided to try it for myself. According to him they are totally necessary when your blog posts appear on sites like Twitter, Google+ and Linkedin, to induce people to read them – and here was me thinking it was the post’s title and content.

Well, I have used them twice now. Not just in conjunction with the three aforementioned sites, but also on Facebook, Pinterest and Stumbleupon. In each case I saw no appreciable increase in views. In fact they remained exactly the same as always.

So why do people bother with the hashtag symbol for number (#), using it in a way…

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