Time, the scarcest commodity in life and one that evades me.

Tags

beyond the grave, Drifting Sands, Love story, sequel, The Greatest Gift, time, time travel

Well, it’s been awhile. I haven’t had time to write a blog in ages; months. Fact is, I haven’t had time to write my sequel either, until I went on holiday recently that is. Three weeks away from the humdrum of my day job and my mind is sparked into life. I wrote about 15,000 words in that time, whilst cruising round the Norwegian fjords and then the Mediterranean; I’m now two thirds of the way through writing, Drifting Sands, the sequel to my first book, The Greatest Gift, a tale that until last week, I didn’t know where it was going. But, despite a gap of nearly five months in my writing, it still came to me. As soon as I sat down and allowed my mind to wander, it flowed; it’s as though my fingers have little tongues, licking the keyboard into submission, telling a story that sometimes even I haven’t heard. Well now I do, the story is formed. Take a look, see what you think,

“When, from beyond the grave, Sir Stuart Harper introduced the SHINE programme, he never expected such cataclysmic consequences as a result of his procedures, but the immense augmentation to human lifespan and intelligence caused a demoralising and self-destructive effect on mankind. Richard Harper, Sir Stuart’s grandson, the receiver of the plan and implementer of the enhancements, had had misgivings when he rolled out the programme in 2012 and ever since, on occasion, he sensed all was not well. Now, 200 years on, the utopian world Sir Stuart had foreseen was no longer there, its path had deviated and man’s very existence was seriously under threat.

Young Stuart Harper, Richard’s son, was a troubled soul, desperately unhappy with his life. Sure, he had been given the option of having his intelligence and lifespan vastly enhanced and to that he had willingly agreed at the time, but he was only a child then. Now, with his superior IQ, which still remained substantially higher than his peers, after 200 years, he was finding his longevity tiresome, an ordeal. He believed there must be more to his being. His scientist father, Richard, was the main target of his dissatisfaction, blamed by his son for meddling with nature.

Stuart wasn’t alone in these thoughts, there were others. Many were so disaffected with their lives, they couldn’t cope and committed suicide to escape their terminal tedium. Others, less overwhelmed by the futility but nonetheless disconsolate, vented their feelings by rebelling against Stuart’s father and the authorities. But Stuart’s own escape was achieved in a very different manner, no contumacy from him. He decided to use his vast intelligence, in a positive way. He chose to explore times gone-by to see if history could teach him something he could use to advantage in his own time, something to rejuvenate his interest in life and as he delved into the past, he found it. He discovered a young woman who quickly became the focus of his intense scrutiny, someone who would change his life, forever.

But the journey of love is a difficult enough path to tread under normal circumstances, a challenging affair at the best of times. Add class and cultural differences to the mix and the probabilities of its success diminish. Add to that, different time zones and surely a relationship is doomed to failure?”

It’s ironic really, I haven’t enough time, to write about time. However, watch this space, it shouldn’t be long now and let me know if you like the concept.

Cheers for now.

Ken Balneaves also wrote, The Greatest Gift, available at http://amzn.to/QF7RLd (US), http://amzn.to/O12kgX (UK)

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Sometimes, as I write, it all becomes clear.

Tags

blog, blogging, book sales, eureka, hypnosis, resolution, time, time travel, Triberr

So, November nearly over and I’ve had the worst month in this past year for blog views. Okay, I’ve surpassed last year’s November figures but that was before Triberr. Something’s not right. Even my book sales are struggling. The woes of a self publisher who also has a day job. Not good. In fact I’ve not even had time to blog recently.

Ah, Eureka moment, maybe that’s why my blog views are lower than I would have expected. Right, early New Year’s Resolution, ‘Must blog more often’. Let’s see how long it takes to break that one!

Ken Balneaves wrote, The Greatest Gift, available at http://amzn.to/QF7RLd (US), http://amzn.to/O12kgX (UK)

Flash Fiction is popular at present, I think I’ll join in, again.

Tags

café culture, Flash fiction, rejection, time

The Café

So, I’m here, all the time, in this café. Sometimes it’s busy, sometimes not, but even when it’s bustling, no-one takes notice of my old face for more than a fleeting moment, not really take notice. I’m always here, ready to tell my story but everyone seems far too immersed in their lives to interact with me.

Oh, oh, that lady’s looking now, will she like what she sees? Will she stay? No, she’s getting up, leaving, a young man taking her seat almost immediately. Will he look at me I wonder? I hope so, it gets a bit lonely here, even with all the conversations going on, the clattering of cutlery, the clinking of cups, the chattering of conversations, the collection of coins.

Many come and go and I watch them all. The solicitors meeting their clients for a quick breakfast meeting; the street cleaner grabbing a well deserved mid-morning break; the writer with a cup of cold coffee, obliviously tapping away at a laptop; the artist maniacally scribbling into his Moleskine; the builders, with their muddy boots; the excited yummy mummys who’ve just dropped off their children at nursery, others with babies, as yet too young for that.

Here there’s an eclectic mix of patrons, a microcosm, all with a story to tell. It’s the same the world over, I suppose. But I wouldn’t know. I stay here in this café, I don’t move, well not much. Me? I’ve a story to tell too. It lasts for 12 hours, then I tell it all over again. I have to go now, a man’s looking at me, checking his watch against my hands. ‘It’s ten to two Sir.’ Look, he’s smiling at me, we must agree.

Ken Balneaves also wrote, The Greatest Gift, available at http://amzn.to/QF7RLd (US), http://amzn.to/O12kgX (UK)

The day I nearly died. 10 tips for before and when piloting a helicopter.

Tags

danger, flight, flying, Helicopter, life experience, near death, time

It was just an ordinary day but it had been a late one the night before, so perhaps it wasn’t my best decision to go flying that morning.

The purpose of the flight was to visit my business partner. However, concerned about possible flying debris or stone chippings from his driveway, it was arranged that my helicopter landing could be in an adjacent field. Although the visit was business, there was no particular deadline to meet, thankfully.

After my meeting, I had proposed to fly into the local airfield to refuel in readiness for the next flight. However, upon arrival at the helicopter, I found that it had only 20 US gallons in the tanks and I needed more than that, thus I changed the plan to first go to the airfield to refuel, reversing my intended, pre-planned route.

At the hangar there were horses directly outside and a temporary fence parallel to the adjacent horses’ field, about 25 feet from it. I telephoned the owner for advice and was advised that I find the hand and ask her to move the horses, which I did. The temporary fence remained.

Having changed the plan, but only in my head and now going to the airfield first, I checked the rotors in the hangar, pulled the helicopter out and continued the rest of the preflight check on the pad.

After that, I filled in the log and then proceeded with start up. The helicopter did not fire first, or even second, time. This concerned me as I thought I might have to cancel my flight. In retrospect, that would have been a good result. However on the third attempt it started so I continued my checks and lifted off, high enough to clear the temporary fence.

With little wind and what there was coming from about 330 degrees, I took off in the direction of about 30 degrees and then swung round towards the nearby model plane area. As I reached that I radiod the local airfield advising that I had lifted off from a private site and was inbound for fuel. The controller gave me the QNH, the runway they were using and the wind speed and told me to report again as I came in which, as I was by then there, I did immediately. He told me of one fixed wing in the circuit and to call finals. I called finals and advised north side grass so I could fill up at helicopter club pumps. I thought that was only used by helicopters and that the pilots would be sympathetic to me taking my time on this, the first, occasion of fueling a helicopter on my own. How wrong I was.

Following an uneventful landing, hoverring over the spot I wanted to achieve, I advised the controller that I was taxiing to the fuel pumps. I taxied slowly towards them to be greeted by my recent examimer who was sheilding his eyes with a hand, looking at me to ascertain who I was. When he realised, he held the palm of his hand up and pointed to the ground. I landed there and then. I had anticipated landing between two R44 Helicopters on the concrete but my examiner came to the helicopter (with rotors running but now at reduced throttle). He opened the passenger door, put on a headset and told me that he considered the gap to be inappropriate as the tail rotor of the right hand helicopter was pitched and may catch my downdraught causing it to spin. He then went to it to change the pitch so I could land but it was locked so he moved the other helicopter instead which was by now running. As he hovered away, I lifted and landed where he had been, shut down and refuelled.

After refuelling I was form filling when a fixed wing appeared next to me waiting for the pumps. It was a tail dragger (one wheel at the back) a particularly aggressive looking old craft with an equally aggressive and impatient looking pilot. Aware that I was holding him up I quickly made some preflight checks, restarted, called for airfield information and radio check and made my response before lifting and turning. My pick up was anything but smooth which I put down to me not taking account of the weight if the now full fuel and me rushing. The controls were heavy but I did not register this too much at the time as my examiner was in an adjacent helicopter with a student, waiting for me to move. I hover taxied short of the runway edge and called ‘ready for departure’, was cleared and I took off in the direction of runway 24.

The take off was difficult in that I was not climbing much despite me calling for almost full power from the collective. I pulled back on the cyclic but there was still not a great change in climb. By now I was over a golf course and I realised I had a problem. I checked the hydraulic trim switch which was on but it seemed to make little difference when off. I switched it back on. I also fiddled with the trim rocker switch but no improvement. I checked my fuses, no faults. I was still heading west and due to my rising concerns, completely forgot to follow the approved circuit course, which, by now, should have been north. I was still low and aware that there were houses below. I kept my flight over the motorway verge, away from the houses in case I went down, by now a distinct possibility, I thought.

I was at the edge of the local airfield’s zone when I realised I had gone wrong in my navigation and travelling into a major airfield’s airspace. Still strugling to gain height, I made a turn as tight as the limited movement would permit. I headed north along the shortest path out of the airspace I shouldn’t have been in. My departure airfield then called me asking where I was as they had me at only 500 feet or so and in major airspace. I said I was aware of that and was now climbing but very slowly.

I was going to return to my local airfield at that point but I suddenly realised that the cyclic friction was my problem which I turned off and the helicopter then, immediately, performed normally. I had so rushed my checks I had not fully released the friction screw that, for safety reasons, stops the cyclic moving erratically or accidentally when on the ground. Such a simple solution but one that completely eluded me under stress.

However, with no sign of further issues, I decided to continue my flight. The flight from then on was uneventful but, as always, consumed my mind, taking away the, ‘I nearly died’, thought. When I arrived at my partner’s house, I circled the landing site twice before coming into land at about 360 degrees into a slight slope with the tail away from the slope. I shut down and had my meeting.

After the meeting, I returned to the aircraft, checked oil and fuel, lights etc. and restarted, lifted off and turned to take off at about 180 degrees as there was no wind. I quickly climbed and swung over to the west keeping away from another major airspace. I returned to the private landing site after about 20 minutes, calling the local airfield on the way to let them know I was back on their frequency and to inform them of my whereabouts. I slowly entered the private site’s area and before landing, called in to let the local field know I was putting down at a private site within their zone.

I landed heavilly on the pad, about three feet short of where I should have been. However, I was so pleased to be on the ground again, I thought to myself that I would move the helicopter to the correct position with the wheels on. I shut down, filled in the logs and put the wheels on the skids. I then found that whilst I can move the helicopter backwards on my own, I could not move it forward. So I manually spun the helicopter round to face away from the barn doors, brought the motorised trolley out and lifted the front of the helicopter and started backing it into the hangar. As it was too far to the right of the doorway, I was concentrating on the right side and completely misjudged the angle at which it was travelling. The last two inches of the horizontal empennage (tail) hit the left door post. I was at the time driving the trolley very slowly but nevertheless the impact caused the tail to crease. So, having avoided an accident in the air, I had one on the ground, by far the safest place to have a helicopter accident but still expensive.

This accident was of course totally avoidable for the following reasons.

• This flight day was after a night’s work and although I believed I was fit to fly, I was not on the top of my game and a number of mental errors caused my lack of concentration.
• Poor consideration of the tight refuelling area
• Allowing myself to be rushed at the fuel station
• The poor lift off not raising my concerns
• Not advising the local airfield of my problems once airborne
• Forgetting to follow the circuit for the local airfield
• Due to the remaining fuel being less than I had expected, I needed to refuel before my flight and this was a change to my anticipated plan which, with my limited experience, I should have given more thought to, before launching into it.
• The horses in the area and particularly the extra fence gave me more to think about just before and upon takeoff.
• I allowed myself to be rushed by the fixed wing pilot thus I took off with the friction control on the cyclic, half on, reducing its movement, thus my control. Had I given myself more time, I would have been more thorough with my check list or perhaps noted the problem before takeoff.
• I forgot local procedures whilst under pressure heading off into a major airport’s airspace.
• I did not give sufficient attention to hangaring the helicopter.

Lessons Learnt – 10 tips for before and when flying.

1. Only fly if 100% rested and fit
2. Consider a late change to a plan very carefully
3. Consider adjacent craft when landing. Be more aware of their weaknesses ( rotor direction, pitch)
4. Do not rush under any circumstances unless life threatening
5. Consider unusual feel/ movement etc with suspicion. Do not simply accept that it’s probably due to, full fuel, wind, etc.
6. Talk to the ground if having airborne problems
7. Be very familiar with the airfield’s circuit
8. Do not accept temporary obstacles if they can be removed
9. Think about where you are heading from runway positions before take off
10. Concentrate! Think ‘Helicopter’ from the time you get to the hangar until after you have left it.

The Greatest Gift, a preview

Tags

life after death, new books, novel, preview, science fiction, thriller, time

Here’s another chance for a sneak preview of my science fiction adventure novel. This is Chapter 1, your feedback would be appreciated.

The Greatest Gift

He had never met his grandfather. In fact no one in the family ever talked about him until his paternal grandmother, on her deathbed, told Richard the sad details of the events that had occurred in his grandfather’s life some twenty-three years before.

With enormous pride, his grandmother quietly told that her husband Stuart had been quite an athlete when he was young, a middle distance runner. Her eyes glistened with tears as she spoke affectionately about her husband. Richard listened intently to this, all the while wondering why no one in his family had ever before discussed this with him. Very soon however, he was to learn of his family’s dark secret.

“Your grandfather was an extremely handsome man,” his grandmother whispered, smiling as she talked, “full of enthusiasm for life, which is why what happened to him, was so terribly tragic’ but he made us all promise never to talk about him from the day he left us. It was his choice, not mine,” she continued.
“I don’t understand,” Richard said, thinking that, ‘the day he left us’ was his grandmother’s way of saying, the day he had died.
“Of course, I did see him again you know” said the old woman, completely ignoring Richard’s question. “Yes, I did, several times in fact.”

Richard was confused by this but permitted her to carry on without his interruption. She spoke more of her husband saying that he had graduated from Cambridge with a first in Mathematics. Later, he had worked at Oxford University where he lectured in Cosmology achieving much acclaim at the time as an assistant to a well-known and accomplished Cosmologist. However, unbeknown to nearly everyone except his wife, many of the papers published by his mentor were in fact Stuart’s own work. This career however was relatively short lived as Stuart decided after a few years that lecturing was not for him after all. He decided this because funding for research in his chosen field was so scarce that he felt he could not do the subject justice and so he made the decision to leave. The old lady continued, telling Richard how Stuart’s ill health went undiagnosed by a number of specialists and doctors. Richard also learnt that following the brief spell of ill health, Stuart had started a business in pharmaceuticals, in 1970.

On hearing this, Richard realised that this was now his dad’s and uncle John’s business. Until then, he had never known or thought to ask how or when the business began. Richard leant across, touched his grandmother’s hand and quietly asked her, “What was wrong with grandfather?”
“No one could tell.”
“What were the symptoms then?” he persisted.
The old woman took a deep breath and explained, a tear rolling down one of the creases in her old wrinkled face just like the first rains in a dry riverbed of the Kalahari. “He sometimes had difficulty breathing and occasionally had to sit down to recover,” she said slowly. “They told him he was overdoing the fitness training.”
“What was it that actually killed him?” Richard asked rather untactfully.
“My dear, dear boy,” she said smiling, looking at him for the first time, “he’s not dead, he’s merely sleeping.” Her voice raising a note at the end of the sentence. At this Richard pulled back slightly and raised an eyebrow. He couldn’t make up his mind whether she was telling the truth or she was delusional. As if for confirmation, he glanced across the bed at his mother, who had been silent until then. She had a look of disbelief on her face, however it was not disbelief of what the old lady had said, but that she had said it at all.
“Is this true Mother?” he asked.
“Yes dear, yes it is,” she replied hesitantly, adding rather sheepishly, “but I think you should let your Grandmother rest now dear.”
Turning to the old lady, Richard’s mother said, “You rest now Irene. James and John will be here to see you by the time you wake up.”
“Why can’t I stay?” asked the young man, now eager to hear more and find out what had happened to his grandfather, the man he had never met and who was never discussed other than in guarded responses to his juvenile questions when he was younger. He now realised these questions had been parried by his parents and other family members ‘in the know’. He was not about to give up now, but before he could ask any more, his grandmother slipped into sleep. “Let’s go Richard,” whispered his mother placing her hand lightly on his back and guiding him out of the room.

They left the private side ward to take a break from their vigil. James and his brother John were away on business in Switzerland when Pen took the call from the consultant at the private clinic advising that it was likely to be a matter of hours, not days, as they had previously been told, before their mother passed away. Following the call, Richard and Pen had rushed straight to the clinic calling James en-route. James and John had booked flights immediately and were now expected to arrive at the hospital in about half an hour.

Richard and his mother had a coffee in the Visitors’ lounge before returning to the side ward where they sat with his sleeping grandmother until his father and uncle arrived. Richard’s mother desperately wanted to let her husband know what his mother had told Richard, but the opportunity did not arise as when the two men arrived they immediately walked into the side ward.

They all sat round the bed with the old lady’s sons holding a hand each, waiting for her to wake which she did, almost on cue and looked at James who instantly said, “Hello Mum, I’m here, so is John.”
“I know,” she replied weakly “you all are; your father is too”. Richard’s father looked at his wife who gave a troubled smile that told him everything. He looked at Richard who nodded and raised his mouth into a smile that didn’t reach his eyes and said, “She told me about my Grandfather. Dad, why didn’t you?”
“Not now son, not now,” he replied as he looked back towards his mother. The old lady was rambling, talking about old friends and past events as though they were happening for her at the present moment. Suddenly she strained to raise her head and looked at the back wall of the room saying, “Oh Stuart, it’s so good to see you. My, how handsome you look. It’s as though you never left.” They all looked round to see who was there, but no-one was and as they looked back the old lady drew her final breath and passed away. One of the attending doctors walked over to her bedside and checked her pulse. Finding that there wasn’t one, he bowed his head and pronounced her dead at 4:30 p.m.

After a few moments observing the old lady, Richard’s father leant over and closed her eyelids. They all sat there in silence looking at her again at peace at last after her long, and sometimes painful, battle with cancer.

Richard, whilst extremely upset at her passing, was also thinking that it was now his mother and father’s responsibility to fill in the rest of the details relating to what his grandmother had said about his grandfather, the man he never knew. One thing was for certain, he was determined to seek his grandfather out, whether or not his family approved.

The Greatest Gift, available from my website http://www.balneaves.co.uk

The trials and tribulations of a self-publisher

Tags

book marketing, self-publishing, time

I now have all the ducks in a row, paperback in stock, the correct eBook file on Amazon (somehow a file that wasn’t the final proof managed to get on there, well spotted Janet) and the ePub version for all things ‘i’ and Mac.

However, I’m beginning to realise that what I’ve done is the easy bit, write the book. Now it’s marketing, a whole new ball-game and I don’t like games much.

The ePub version will be distributed for me by the Firsty Group http://www.firstyfish.com/ebooks/14408/The-Greatest-Gift, the company that converted my manuscript and Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Greatest-Gift-ebook/dp/B007PRF3QC/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1334910988&sr=1-1 have the Kindle version. With the printed book though, it’s going to be a long haul as I will be spending time in bookshops and golf clubs that will allow me, as a local author, some space to promote my book. I will also market on a wider scale through Twitter and here, Triberr greatly assists that.

However, I’m finding that there are so many ways to market and so many market-places, it sometimes becomes difficult to keep track and equally as important, keep up. I’m not a full time author so my main concern is, how’s that going to fit with my day job in architecture? It was hard enough finding time to write a book in the first instance, let alone time out to market aggressively; ironic really as my book is about time. Oh, and I’m now writing a sequel too.

The trials of a self-publisher eh. Or would it be so different if I were represented by a publisher? Answers on a on a £50 note please.

THE GREATEST GIFT, available at http://www.balneaves.co.uk

EPub version of The Greatest Gift, now available.

Tags

adventure novel, afterlife, ePub, hypnosis, new books, the brain, time

Ok, we’re electronic now, ePub now for Mac, iPad, iPhone etc. (No, I can’t imagine anyone wanting to read a book on an iPhone either).

The Greatest Gift is a science fiction adventure thriller about Time. It considers human intelligence and also tackles what happens in the after-life, with some surprise events.

To download a copy go to, http://www.firstyfish.com/ebooks/14408/The-Greatest-Gift

If you like it , please leave a review.

Kindle version available soon.

It’s a strange time

Tags

limbo, marketing, reflection, time, waiting

I’ve given the go-ahead to my printer, the presses are rolling with the final, final version of my first book. There’s no more to do on my science fiction/fantasy adventure novel, ‘The Greatest Gift’. Well, no more writing or checking or re-checking or editing.

That feels quite odd. I can of course progress the sequel, already well under way, but somehow my first is now out there, all on its own and it feels like it needs me.

So, what now? Marketing of course. But I’m a writer, where do I start with marketing? Actually, my first stop is Waterstones (they’ve dropped the apostrophe). They apparently allow local self-published writers/authors to launch their book in one of their outlets.
A book signing then, maybe the newspapers will come! Now where’s that telephone number?

The Greatest Gift, available next week. Order in advance to avoid disappointment, haha.

http://www.balneaves.co.uk

The challenge of writing

Tags

New book, sequel, time, writing

It’s an irony that my book, The Greatest Gift, is about time, the very commodity that evades me. I’m so busy with my full time work that I have limited time to write so do so mainly only on holiday.

In two weeks, I managed to set up the sequel, Drifting Sands, and write 6,000 words. At that rate I’ll need about 10 holidays or 3-4 years. In that time, not only will my readers have lost track of my story, I will too and constantly have to re-read what I’ve written to keep the continuity of a difficult time travelling plot. I guess this is the constant bain of a writer’s life unless they are full time.

Time, I can feel it slipping away. That’s why I’m writing about it I guess.

Publication day

Tags

new books, publication, science fiction, success, the after life, time

It’s done, printing with me, web site completed, book for sale. THE GREATEST GIFT available at http://www.balneaves.co.uk