Category: Peter’s Books

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An Argument with Mrs. S.

You might think this is a post about one of my books. Yes and no. It’s also about an argument with Mrs. S. concerning tombstone inscriptions; who Canada’s best authors are; and whether that should include Canadian poets and songwriters.

Let’s start with my book, Naarlen. It’s my fifth novel and the black sheep of them all. Most readers hate the book. It’s only redeeming feature is that a small number of determined readers love it. Fanatically. I would say “cult” but I think you need more than nine for a cult.

This was supposed to be a photo of a black sheep, but the image archivist has been bolshie because of a small misunderstanding. So: swans in place of sheep, photo credit to Anthony at pexels.com

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The Great Quotation Challenge

While writing “A Glimmer of Light” (now available) I had fun with famous – and not so famous – quotations for my chapter subheadings.

For the English literati, gurus, fans, readers, poets and writers out there, here are 25 of those quotations.

Give yourself one point for every quotation whose author you can identify without running to Google.

Beware, this is HARD.

Four points is good. Anything above is  hugely impressive.  Let me know how you did. The challenge winner gets bragging rights.

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Of Otters, Alcohol, Time and Tyranny

A recent reviewer said “Dropping Into Darkness” reminded them of author Terry Pratchett.

The bad news is Terry’s books aren’t for everyone. He has a readership of a mere 85 million people.  I’m a fan though, so in defence of Terry (and anyone kind enough to compare me to Terry), I’ve put together some of my favourite quotes from his books.

Otter
Do Unto Otters As You Would Have Them Do Unto You …
image courtesy of pixabay.com under CC0 license. https://pixabay.com/en/otter-animal-fur-2647702/

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How To Build A Fictional Bridge

I’ve had many questions and comments about the cover illustration for my book, “Dropping Into Darkness”.

Book Cover, "Dropping Into Darkness"

The fictional bridge on the cover (can’t say more about its importance without spoiling the plot) was inspired by a real-life bridge, the Trift Bridge in the Swiss Alps. That is a giddily narrow, high, thin, spidery foot bridge. A thing of insubstantial ropes and cables and planks. 570 meters (1700 feet) long and swaying in the wind 100 meters (300 feet or 10 storeys) up in the sky over a glacial gorge.

I started with an open source digital line drawing tool called “Inkscape”.

This was my early line drawing:

I didn’t like the visual effect of the planks running left-to-right. So, my next update in Inkscape was to lay the planking lengthwise, aiming them at the Continue reading “How To Build A Fictional Bridge”

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No Time Travel Needed

In February 2018 I broke (again) with the themes of the previous books and published a sci-fi novel, “Dropping Into Darkness”.

A reader said that the style reminded him of Terry Pratchett meets John Flanagan. Book Cover, "Dropping Into Darkness"I’ll take that as a huge compliment. Terry Pratchett  was the creator of the intricate and wonderful “Discworld”. John Flanagan, master of the cliffhanger, sets his two best-known YA series in a world that approximates our Viking era.

For “Dropping Into Darkness” I did not create any new worlds. It’s our own planet earth, sometime into the future, after three eco-catastrophes. It’s the story of a small band of people on a journey they’d rather not be on, and the journey isn’t going well … Continue reading “No Time Travel Needed”