Scouting for Grown Ups
I've been helping with my local scout group since 2010 and find it both enjoyable and rewarding. You get to do English: HMS Belfast (C35), London, England. HMS Belfast at her London berth, with Tower Bridge behind, 16 December 2005. Brightened, cropped and straightened version. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) interesting things while providing opportunities for children to try activities that they wouldn't otherwise be able to. Here are just a few of the things I've helped to support over the last four years sleepovers in the scout hut for beavers and cubs camping in tents for cubs walks outdoors (including nature rambles, night walks in the park, woodland walks and general exploration) outdoor cooking, including using campfires and collecting eggs from chickens visits to places of interest, including a fire station, HMS Belfast, Reigate Caves, a local synagogue, Fire of London…
World Building – Towns and Villages
One of the things that I often do when I am writing a story is to sketch a map of the area where the story takes place. This helps me to visualise what the characters will be able to see. The thing is though, you can't just bang down stuff randomly (well you can, but it isn't realistic - you want your world to be realistic don't you?) How settlements form Typically people build houses where there is shelter from the elements, adequate supplies of food, water and fuel. They also like to build them in easily accessible places for the most part. All villages and towns grow from farmstead, places a farmer, and his family, decided to settle. However not all of these farmsteads ends up as a village. There are loads of outlying farms in populated countryside, some…
Happy Christmas – Free Story
English: A neatly decorated Christmas cake. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) A little early, but I thought I would say Happy Christmas to everyone I know and also offer you all a free story for your kindle (if you don't have one you can still read it on your computer or your smartphone using the free e-reader software from amazon). From tomorrow until midnight on Boxing Day (US Pacific time, so about 07:00 on the 27th for us in the UK) my latest story will be free for your kindle from Amazon. Here are some links so that you can grab a free copy: Crisis Point on Amazon UK Crisis Point on Crisis Point on Amazon Canada Crisis Point on Amazon Australia Crisis Point on Goodreads It should be free on all the other Amazon sites too. If you have goodreads then…
Notice: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /var/www/html/themself/wp-content/themes/mesocolumn/lib/functions/theme-functions.php on line 502
Book Review – Lion Rampant by Robert Woollcombe
A motorcycle and infantry of the 2nd Glasgow Highlanders, 46th Brigade, 15th (Scottish) Division, advance along a lane near Caumont, (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Lion Rampant by Woollcombe Robert My rating: 5 of 5 stars The author was a platoon commander in Normandy (going ashore on D+8) and then a Company 2ic from the breakout until the end of the war (although with six Company Commanders in six months he spent almost as much time in command as any of the 'permanent' OCs). He served with a battalion of the KOSB in 15th Scottish Division in 1944 & 1945. Like all first hand accounts it has a certain pathos to it. Detailed descriptions of people and his interaction with them, like the young sniper he shared a slit trench with under fire in Holland for six hours until the other older more experienced…
Book Review – Heroes Wanted by Allen Donnelly
Heroes Wanted by Allen Donnelly My rating: 4 of 5 stars I have enjoyed reading this, and laughed out loud in places too. A fantasy tale with a different, not a serious quest for honour and glory, but a wry and humourous take on the genre from the point of view of a young woman who has inherited the Dragon's Flight pub in a village called Heroes Rest, the last stop before the adventuring in the mountains begins. The humour is laced through the story, and reminds me very much of some of Terry Pratchett's earlier works. The world Allen Donnelly has created is believable and seems real. It has fantastical bits, there are elves and dwarves as customers, but these are background mostly. There's also a dragon which is sort of foreground too. However these are a natural part…