One-Liner Wednesday

He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery.

Harold Wilson

This is part of LindaGHill’s One-Liner Wednesday.

#1lineWeds

One-Liner Wednesday/ JusJoJan the 29th, 2020 – Pilates.

Image from Pixabay

” Make sure your feet, hips, back ribs and shoulders are flat on the mat. Cup the back of your head, raise your head then lift with your spine.. Not you just your ribs. Relax, breath , smile …don’t pull that face. “

Pilates Teacher this morning!

Me…Really?

Jusjojan

#1lineWeds

This is part of LindaGHill’s One-Liner Wednesday and Just Jot it January.

One-Liner Wednesday

“You can usually tell that a man is good if he has a dog who loves him.” – W. Bruce Cameron (author, A Dog’s Journey)

This is part of LindaGHill’s One-Liner Wednesday 1linerWeds

Geoff Le Pard is visiting my Blog.

Today it is

To welcome author extraordinare Geoff Le Pard. I am really excited to have Geoff here on my blog so we can discuss book two in the life of Harry Spittle.

We first met Harry in Dead Flies and Sherry Trifle.

Now Geoff I have read and loved this book but why don’t you give everyone the blurb.

It’s summer 1976 and hotter than Hades. Harry Spittle, nineteen, is home from university, aiming to earn some money to go on holiday and maybe get laid. He expects he will be bored rigid, but the appearance of an old family friend, Charlie Jepson, his psychopathic son, Claude, and predatory wife Monica changes that. As his parents’ marriage implodes, Harry’s problems mount; before he knows it he’s in debt up to his ears and dealing in drugs. Things go from bad to worse when he is stabbed. He needs money fast, but now his job is at risk, his sister is in trouble and he has discovered a family secret that could destroy all he holds dear. Will Harry have to join forces with the local criminal mastermind to survive the summer and save his family? Can he regain some credibility and self-respect? Most importantly will he finally get laid?

Dead Flies will be free from 30th October 2019 to 3rd November 2019

Pre order here

For our American friends here

You know Geoff I really enjoyed that book, it had me laughing out loud one minute and wandering just how anyone was going to survive , the next.

Now tell us Geoff what is the blurb on this second book

When Harry Spittle, nearly qualified as a solicitor, is approached to write a Will for old acquaintance Sven Andersen, he is somewhat surprised but rather pleased. That pleasure sours after he finds that the Will Sven actually signs is very different to the one he has drawn up, with Harry as the executor. Disappointment turns to horror when he discovers that Sven has been winding up his late father’s criminal empire and a number of not very nice people are interested in the Will’s contents.

If he is to remain in one piece, able to continue his career in the law and save his on-off relationship with his girlfriend Penny, who is unfortunately under suspicion of murder, he needs to find out what’s happened to the money and distribute it according to Sven’s wishes. The trouble is Sven has not only hidden the assets but also the identities of those who benefit. Harry will have to solve a fiendish puzzle Sven has left behind with the help of his sister Dina before his world comes crashing down. With so many people depending on him, Harry knows it’s time for him to grow up – it’s just that he really, really doesn’t want to.

Set in 1981 to the backdrop of punk, Thatcherite politics and an upcoming Royal wedding, this is a book for those who like their nostalgia served with a side of humour and a dash of optimism all wrapped up in a compelling mystery.

pre order here.

For our American friends here.

Right now we have wetted everyone’s appitetite for these first two books can I offer you some coffee and a

Okay Question Time.

1 Tell us Geoff what gave you the idea for the two books so far.

The first book Dead Flies had its genesis on a writing course where I needed to provide some 10,000 words for the start of a book. I decided I wanted to write a comic story and took as my inspiration my first summer holiday home from university. It was 1976 and I’d had a year at Bristol studying law. But actually I’d had a bloody good time. My formative years had been spent in a New Forest cottage in the middle of nowhere. When we moved there in 1969 it seemed quite idyllic. By the time I discovered girls and hormones it was bloody intolerable. My parents were lovely, kind and absurd but my lack of transport was a major inhibition to a happy life. So living in a vibrant city, albeit a terminally wet one was a joy. Image coming home for three and a half months ‘holiday’. Broke, trapped and undersexed… I still shudder. I found a job in a local hotel and… boy, was that like entering a parallel universe? And that was it. I had the setting – the New Forest. The year – 1976. And a hapless broke undersexed student desperate to spend time away from a stifling home life.

For book two I took my hero – Harry Spittle – and moved him forward like me. In 1981 I had finished my degree and was living in a flat in London just about to qualify as a solicitor. Once again I was broke, and working in a surreal hierarchical structure of the law firm in the West End of London. I had the year and the setting and the employment situation. All I needed was to take forward the characters and mess with their lives. Such fun!

Really how lucky were you to have your settings so firmly fixed in your mind

2 How much were the stories based on personal experience.

Partly as I said above. None of the characters are exact copies of the people I remember though, in this latest book, it is true there were three partners in the firm I worked in – a white male senior partner who never seemed entirely with it; an amazing woman partner who juggled her family with being one of the best general practice lawyers I’ve known and a young man who was quickly promoted and growing into the role rather painfully. But there the accuracies of their characters leaves us for the fantasy of the author’s imagination.

3 How much was garnered from your years as a solicitor.

In a lot of ways the way things were done in the law (maybe still) goes unquestioned – rather like some of the nonsense we see in Parliament right now: it’s all custom and practice which no one wants to change. But step away and ask yourself if this is how you’d design it if starting again and, well, if you suggested men in wigs and tights hitting gavels you’d be certified to spend time in the dribble tank, spit spot! In one scene we see Harry having to appear before a Master in the High Courts of Justice. If the courts you see on TV are the epitome of English (and let’s not forget Welsh) justice then the Masters’ rooms are the splenetic dustbins of the court system. I accept you need somewhere to deal with the minutiae of the litigation process but why give so much power to disillusioned sociopaths? The Masters were the puffer fish of the judiciary, poisonous and one of the redundant parts of the evolution of the Common Law system, like the appendix and just as unpleasant if they ever burst. Harry is terrified of the treatment to be handed out to him; I was as well. It is no exaggeration that it was like one of those Japanese games shows we used to see in the 1980s. Designed for no purpose that to humiliate and to engender a sort of institutionalised schadenfreude in all parties. But for my experiences there, I might have become a litigator. Fortunately sense prevailed. It is nearly 40 years since I was last in front of a Master and I still break out with a sort of emotional psoriasis at the memory. Maybe they’re better now; they bloody well should be.

Maybe Geoff as Honore De Balzac says

“Laws are spider webs through which the big flies pass and the little ones get caught.”

4 So Geoff where do you do most your writing.

A mix. A fair bit on the kitchen table or on my memory desk – one I inherited from my dad on which he wrote his poetry. This is when I’m writing in the early morning and late evening (I tend to write into the wee hours). If I write during the day (the afternoon, like now as I write this) I’m in one of three cafes in the South London area where I live. Earbuds in, the world going on around me I can bash out many words, edit in detail or just pick up ideas. Oh and eat cake…

5. So to my final question Geoff are there anymore Harry Spittle books in the pipeline

Indeed there are. The next adventure for Harry, Penny and others is called Booms and Busts and is set in 1987. Harry has moved to a city of London firm and is up for a partnership (still following my career and life path). He lives in South London (as I did). He cycles to work. I think this will be the best book so far. It’s jam packed with madcap characters (Dina, his sister now works for MI5 for instance! And his mother is a successful operator in the hospitality sector.) We have the Thatcherite boom, the AIDs crisis, the crash and storms of October that year. Oh and is Natalie dying? That will be on the shelves early next year.

After that we move on to 1997, a book set in the period from March 16th when John Major prorogued Parliament for a general election (sound familiar?) up to the Blair victory that May (so much for proroguing being a short period, huh!). Harry is working in a smart new building in the City of London for a major law firm, he is now up for management, he’s married with a family, trying to get to grip with his mobile phone and desktop computer and the difficulties of being a grown up, something he never thought would happen to him. Provisionally called ‘Things Never Change’ I will write the first words of this one on 1st November as part of Nano. If all goes according to plan this one will be published in the second half of next year.

After that…. Well there’s the millennium, the crash of 2008 or maybe he should go and work for the Olympics, or just retire… we’ll see.

Plenty of scope there then Geoff.

Now it’s time to fill in your author info Geoff.
Geoff Le Pard started writing to entertain in 2006. He hasn’t left his keyboard since. When he’s not churning out novels he writes some maudlin self-indulgent poetry, short fiction and blogs at geofflepard.com. He walks the dog for mutual inspiration and most of his best ideas come out of these strolls. He also cooks with passion if not precision.

Geoff Le Pard’s Amazon Author Page

My Father and Other Liars is a thriller set in the near future and takes its heroes, Maurice and Lori-Ann on a helter-skelter chase across continents.
Smashwords
Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.com

Dead Flies and Sherry Trifle is a coming of age story. Set in 1976 the hero Harry Spittle is home from university for the holidays. He has three goals: to keep away from his family, earn money and hopefully have sex. Inevitably his summer turns out to be very different to that anticipated.
Smashwords
Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.com

Life in a Grain of Sand is a 30 story anthology covering many genres: fantasy, romance, humour, thriller, espionage, conspiracy theories, MG and indeed something for everyone. All the stories were written during Nano 2015
Smashwords
Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.com

Salisbury Square is a dark thriller set in present day London where a homeless woman and a Polish man, escaping the police at home, form an unlikely alliance to save themselves.
This is available here
Smashwords
Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.com

Buster & Moo is about about two couples and the dog whose ownership passes from one to the other. When the couples meet, via the dog, the previously hidden cracks in their relationships surface and events begin to spiral out of control. If the relationships are to survive there is room for only one hero but who will that be?
Smashwords
Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.com

Life in a Flash is a set of super short fiction, flash and micro fiction that should keep you engaged and amused for ages
Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.com
Smashwords

Apprenticed To My Mother describes the period after my father died when I thought I was to play the role of dutiful son, while Mum wanted a new, improved version of her husband – a sort of Desmond 2.0. We both had a lot to learn in those five years, with a lot of laughs and a few tears as we went.
Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.com

Life in a Conversation is an anthology of short and super short fiction that explores connections through humour, speech and everything besides. If you enjoy the funny, the weird and the heart-rending then you’ll be sure to find something here.
Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.com

In this the second part of the Harry Spittle sagas, Harry in now working in London, as a nearly qualified solicitor when an old acquaintance, Sven Andersen asks him to make his Will. If that wasn’t surprising enough finding out that Sven had not only died but also left Harry to sort out the mess of Sven’s affairs (including unwidning the residue of Sven’s father’s criminal empire) are problems Harry could well do without. Set in 1981 amongst the tensions of Thatcherite politics, the peak of punk and an upcoming Royal Wedding the Last Will of Sven Andersen will intrigue and delight as well as make you wince and wonder.
Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.com

Another cup of tea Geoff, more cake? So all that is left for me to say is

I am so happy you visited today. Well everyone else what are you waiting for get ordering you will not be sorry.

One-Liner Wednesday 21 August 2019.

It was Pilates this morning only the second lesson I have managed since the sepsis. Discussing how I was feeling, I mentioned my arm, back and foot as problem areas.

Teacher: which is worse?

Me : well me foot is a pain in the neck!

Teacher: your right! what have I been telling you for months it all connected.

Image from Pixabay

This is part of Lindaghill’s One-Liner Wednesday.

The Annual Blogger’s Bash. June 15 2019.

Where did yesterday go? I was up at the crack of 5am and on the train by 7.46am. I met Eloise, Marje, Marian and Lance at Victoria Station and then it was off to the venue.

Now I did try and take lots of photos but chatting and meeting with people takes precedense But here are some💜.

Above are from the left Marian, Eloise, Shelly, Mary Smith, Sherrie and the lovely Marjorie 💜

Claire Saul, her lovely hubby and April💜

Look at this colourful trio. Martin, Zoé and Rachel💜

Rachel and her husband Adam 💜

Ritu and Hubby, on crutches, Claire and her hubby 💜

One of the Judges Gareth Stevens and his lovely wife Jayne, and Esther💜

The panel Esther, Shelley and Laura one of our two fabulous guest speakers 💜

Photo by Eloise Da Sousa

Laura giving her speech, absolutely brilliant and so funny she had me in stitches.💜

Jemma Todd

Photos by Eloise Da Sousa

Jemma Todd was also incredibly interesting and I for one was totally enthralled.💜

Our Wonderful M.C. Graeme . 💜

Ritu receiving her prize from Geoff.💜

The lovely Sacha💜

Some of the committee.Sacha, Adam and Geoff.

Photo by Ritu

Ritu, Sacha, Geoff, the huggable Hugh and Suzie.💜

I totally failed to get a good picture of Isa , she is sitting at the table in blue top. I was delighted to see her again. It was great to catch up, I wanted a selfie with her but I failed😣 her partner from their blog Jo could not make it. Jo I missed you 💜💜

I really tried to meet everyone but I did not get to speak to these two. I am sorry. If you let me know who you are I will link you in. I am sorry I didn’t get to chat .💜 Just been informed by Lance the young lady is Claire. Just looking for the chap now.

Oh! I have remembered the lovely Simon sorry for the late entry Simon .

I also didn’t get to speak to Ananda Leeks If I missed anyone I am so sorry. Let me know and I will add you 💜

Ritu, me and Marje my Blogging sisters 💜💜💜

I didn’t get any photos of Samantha Smith Here is her winning blog post : If You Only Had Five Minutes, What Would TV You Save?

Excellent story I really enjoyed it 💜💜.

I also didn’t get a photo of of Susanne Tench and her brother. Nor did I get a photo of Jemima Pett

There were others there but I didn’t get photos so if I have left anyone one out please, please forgive me!

I can’t tell you how much it means to me to meet up with my bloggy family. I really love to meet up with old friends and make lots of new friends too. Everyone is happy to chat and so genuine.

If you have never been to a Bash I can really recommend that if you can you do because there is always so much to learn and so many opportunities to network.

We started off with a welcome speech, from Suzie then two awards , followed by the competition presented by Gareth Stevens, and the winner Samantha Smith was at the Bash.

Next Laura had us in stitches. Followed by a few more awards.

Then Jemma told us her story from book devouring teen to published author… absolutely fabulous.

Then lunch, time to relax and chat and mingle, always one of the best parts of the day.

Then it was back in and time for the panel, great questions and great questions.

After the Question and Answers it was Suzie’s Flat Lay presentation

Followed by Geoff doing the final awards, then Sacha closed up .

Time to chat more 💜💜.

So again it was over, months of excitedly looking forward to the ABBA’s planning travel and then poof it’s over and Marian, Eloise and I are quick marching after Lance back to Victoria. We had to step it out because Eloise’s train was due! We said goodbye, Lance made sure Eloise got her train. I saw Marian through to her train, after we had tried to get through a barrier that wasn’t working!

That left me so I found the underground down the escalator Victoria line to Oxford Circus

Image from Pixabay

Oxford Circus, down the escalator again . Then on to the Bakerloo line then up into the daylight at Paddington.

I had to run for my train, not a very ladylike thing to do, not a good idea either with a bad foot!

Image from Pixabay

So where did the day go. But it was great 💜💜 Thank you Committee you produced another winner. To everyone at the bash it was it was wonderful to meet up.

I CAN’T WAIT FOR THE NEXT ONE.

One-Liner Wednesday.12/6/19

When you feel at your lowest, smile your biggest sing your loudest dance your silliest it will raise your spirits.

willowdot21

Badge by Laura @ riddlefromthemiddle.com

This is part of LindaGHill’s #1linerWeds.

3-2-1 Quote Me Challenge : Expression.

To banish imperfection is to destroy expression, to check exertion, to paralyze vitality.

John Ruskin, The Stones of Venice

Every word, facial expression, gesture, or action on the part of a parent gives the child some message about self-worth. It is sad that so many parents don’t realize what messages they are sending.

Virginia Satir.

This post is in an answer to 3-2-1 Quote Me Challenge which was started by A Guy Named Bloke And K9 Doodlepip

I was tagged by Dale and Miriam to take part in this challenge. So thank you Dale and Miriam .😁

So here’s how it works:

Thank the selector: “Thank you Dale 💜💜 and Miriam 💜💜

Post 2 quotes for the challenge of the day, which is Expression.

Select three bloggers to take part in this challenge.

I have chosen the three lucky blogger’s below. There is no obligation; only those who would like to play, should.

Ritu

Ben Naga

Hugh’s Views and News.