30 Years of Not Being Published

A few will be aware I have been known to speak on various subjects over the years. Fundamentally these all revolve around my favourite subject of etymology. Have always enjoyed bringing this fascinating subject to others. It’s not for me to say whether the audiences have, although many have asked me to return.

Thought it might be worthwhile sharing a snippet or two from these etymological presentations, continuing with 30 Years of Not Being Published. In over three decades more than ninety published works have appeared on the shelves. This talk is not as negative as it may first seem. During this period I have amassed a vast number of rejection letters, but still managed to average three books a year and more than one article each and every week. Listen to the experiences, the mistakes, the ideas, the tips and advice on how all writers have something to learn and also to contribute to the literary world. There is a PowerPoint presentation to accompany this talk if required.

When it comes to finding a publisher, possibly the best piece of advice I have is simply to find a published book that is as close to yours as possible, then pitch it to that publisher. The reason? Because an editorial department have the job of producing something new, but sales teams want what is selling .

Interesting verbs are seldom very interesting. — Says Jonathan Franzen, who fails to remember ‘very’ is a word which Oscar Wilde advised writers to edit out and replaced with ‘damned’ as the publisher will then cross out every example and thus make the ideal manuscript.

“Write what you know about” – Brilliant advice. Except for the advice on how to check every fact, research every snippet, and all the rest of the baloney. And there’s also the fact that people (yes even writers) are sometimes mistaken and what they “KNOW” is incorrect. If not, nobody would ever get divorced, have unwanted pregnancies, jobs they can’t do, or ever make a mistake. As a little pointer to how stupid this advice is, do some research into all these HOW TO books for writers and look at how many books they’ve had published previously – you’ll be amazed at how often it is their FIRST and perhaps even ONLY book .

If you think you know someone who would like to hear me speak on this subject, drop me a line.

Paper

I have nothing against metrication. Although if you're going to do it then stop using all imperials measurements - the mile and the pint in particular srill seem to be the norm. And why not do the same for the clock, that will stop people speaking of distances in hours when everyone knows the only way to express distance in a time sense is using the speed of light in a vacuum as a base.

As an author the one former range of sizes I miss most is those once used for paper. Today we simply use 'A' and a number but examine the list below and discover the wonderful expressions once used and where they originated. Note in most cases this requires examining the origin of the word as used in other senses for these are simply late loan words

Antiquarian - a reference to one who studies or well-versed in antiques, this is ultimately from 'antique' - this can be traced to an original meaning of 'before appearance'.

Atlas - undoubtedly coming to refer to paper sizes as this was used for maps, it comes from the god of Greek mythology and used for the book of maps because an image of the god said to hold the world on his shoulders appeared on the Atlas, sive cosmographicae meditationes de fabrica mundi a book of maps published by Flemish geographer Gerhardus Mercator in 1585. The Greek name is said to mean, appropriately enough, 'the bearer (of the heavens) and from Proto-Indo-European tele 'to lift, support' and the prefix a 'not, without'.

Emperor - a loan word from the Latin imperiator.and also 'empire'. The prefix is the same as Latin in 'not' with par-a, a Proto-Indo-European word meaning 'bring forward, bring forth' and mainly used in a 'birthing' sense. What is being said here is the empire is 'not born' but has always been, perhaps not practically but in essence.

Crown - used in many senses, all derived from the original Latin sense of 'wreath'.

Demy - only seen in this spelling for paper, it is easier to understand as 'demi', itself the French for 'half but derived from the suffix dis 'the opposite' and a root me 'between'.

Elephant - clearly a reference to size, the name of the animal has an unknown etymology, one not of Indo-European origins and thus, with few written examples, will likely prove impossible to explain.

Folio - is as it very much appears, a Latin word which means 'leaf' and is derived from Proto-Indo-European bhol-yo with the same meaning.

Foolscap - only ever having heard this and never in writing, as a child I always thought tis was 'fullscap'. Delightful if fairly recent etymology, the 'foo's cap' was that worn by a jester and used from around 1700 for the paper as it was originally watermarked with this very image.

Grand eagle - two words to define here, both with Proto-Indo-European origins. 'Grand' comes a word specifically meaning 'adult male relative other than the father' while 'eagle' is simply 'a great bird'.

Imperial - shares its etymology with 'emperor' above.

Octavo - is the Latin word for 'in the eighth' as was a printer's word for sheets folded so as to make eight leaves. Clearly the origin is the same as the Greek word for 'eight' which is ostensibly the same as the Proto-Indo-European okto and simply means 'eight'.

Princess - the female version of 'prince', itself sharing a root with 'prime' in Proto-Indo-European capere 'to take' and ultimately kap 'to grasp'.

Royal Sixto - again two words to define. 'Royal' began as a Proto-Indo-European adjective reg meaning 'move in a straight line'; while is similar to 'octavo' above except this is based on six.

Sheet - shares an origin with the cloth variety, originall meaning 'shroud' in Germanic languages but came from the Proto-Indo-European root skeud 'to chase, throw'.

Sixmo - again similar to 'octavo' above but based on six.

Still in use, at least to some degree, are the names given to the range of paper types. Again these often have to be looked at as words used in other sense as they ostensibly loan words.

Bank - began as the rise of land where Proto-Indo-European meant 'shelf' in the topographical sense.

Bond - etymologically speaking this is a variant of 'band', itself a variant of 'bind' which is exactly what the Proto-Indo-European bhendh meant and is also clearly the origin of 'bend'.

Brief - as a noun predates the verb (17th and 19th centuries respectively). However the adjective is much earlier, seen in English since the 13th century and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European mregh-u 'short'.

Cartridge - is a corruption of 'cartouche', a scroll-like ornament or a paper cartridge, then borrowed for 'a full charge for a pistol'. It is the 'paper' sense which is important, for this shaes a root with 'card'and 'chart' in the Greek khartes referring to 'a layer of papyrus' and itself derived from the Proto-Indo-European kars 'to scrape' in showing how paper from papyrus was produced.

Carbon - ultimately from the same root as 'coal, charcoal' and the rest in Proto-Indo-European ker or 'fire'.

Copy - can be traced to Proto-Indo-European op meaning 'to work, produce in abundance'.

Duplicating - is from 'duplicate' seen as a noun and an adjective but began as a verb. The first part is related to 'duo' meaning 'two' while the suffix comes from the same root as 'ply' or 'fold'.

Typing - is clearly derived from 'type' and this can be traced back to Proto-Indo-European tup meaning 'to strike, beat, knock'.

Wall - as in 'wallpaper' and comes from Proto-Indo-European walso meaning 'post' and what one needs to build a wall.

News - one of my least favourite things, but it does come from 'new' which, ironically, is not a new word at all, indeed Proto-Indo-European newo meant the same thing and it has probably changed little for thousands of years.

Wrapping - clearly derived from 'wrap', this first used as a verb and traced to Proto-Indo-European wer meaning 'to turn, bend'.

Greaseproof - clearly a combination of two words where 'grease' began in the Latin group of languages meaning 'thick, solid, fat', and 'proof' from 'prove' and Proto-Indo-European pro-bhwo 'being in front'.

Silver - as mentioned in earlier posts looking at colours, metals and elements and simply means 'white, shining'.

Motivational Tricks of the Writing Greats

Often asked how I manage to keep myself motivated and stuck at the desk to write, I was reminded of the episode of There's No Such Thing As A Fish, the podcast by the QI Elves (and much funnier than QI itself), where they discussed the weird ways authors of yesteryear kept themselves at the desk. I recall one Victor Hugo who only ever wrote in the mornings, often spending the afternoons riding around on buses to ensure he wasn't tempted to return to his desk and write. And if that wasn't enough when set a deadline to write The Hunchback of Notre Dame inside five months, he bought a large bottle of ink then put himself under house arrest by having all his clothes removed save for a large grey shawl knitted specially for the purpose of keeping him warm. History records these tactics worked as he finished weeks ahead of schedule.

Another shaved off just one side of his hair.

James Joyce wrote lying on his stomach in bed using a large blue pencil, wearing a white coat. Much of Finnegans Wake was written in said blue on pieces of cardboard. In truth he was nearly blind, having had severe eye problems as a child and rheumatic fever at the age of 25. He underwent more than two dozen operations on his eyes, none of which helped in the slightest.

Virginia Woolf is held to have always written standing up, purchasing a desk with a sloping top and standing 3.1/2 feet high for this very purpose. Not that it was any help to her writing, this was simply so she could write standing up, just as a sister Vanessa Bell painted standing up (hardly the same thing).

Friedrich Schiller could never write unless his olfactory senses were assailed by the smell from a drawer full of rotten apples.

Eudora Welty edited by an early form of cut and paste - cut with scissors and pin the new write in its place.

Vladimir Nabokov, for reasons best known to him, had to keep his feet wet when writing.

John Steinbeck always wrote in pencil, insisting upon twelve perfectly sharpened pencils on his desk before starting work. Working with traditional hexagonal pencils created calluses on his hands, hence his editor kept him supplied with round pencils to alleviate the problem and maintain his productivity.

Truman Capote never started or finished anything on a Friday, never stayed in a hotel room where the telephone number involved '13', and by tucking any surplus into his pocket ensured no more than three cigarette ends in the ashtray.

Edgar Allen Poe balanced a cat on his shoulder while writing.

Further details can be found in the very funny Odd Type Writers: From Joyce and Dickens to Wharton and Welty, the Obsessive Habits and Quirky Techniques of Great Authors by Celia Blue Johnson.

Yes it's me on your Television

Follow the link to this CrowdFunding site, as I do my bit to raise money for a venue for our local Literary Festival. Speaks for itself although worthwhile just pointing out this chap is on Countdown being broadcast November 4th 2015.

Any authors, publishers, poets, editors, et al out there who would like to come to Tamworth and take part in any of our future events just drop us a line, we are always glad to hear from you.

Thank you for your time and your help!

Imagery in Writing

When it comes to fiction images are provided by the author in the text. However I don’t write fiction and thus need to find images to illustrate the subject in question.

Sometimes the subject hardly lends itself well to imagery, such as my books on place names. Whilst views of the villages and hamlets seems obvious, as the photographs are reproduced in black and white the subject has to be a simple one and a general view of the place simply does not work. In some counties I have been lucky enough to find an attractive village sign, usually showing something of what can be found locally. At other times I have to resort to snapping the local signposts – at least these reproduce well in black and white.

When it comes to my books on the paranormal the same problem arises. I can photograph the location or even the venue of the story but images of the event are impossible – at least I’ve never told a story where an accompanying image exists. Other subjects proved equally problematical, albeit for different reasons. Those on ancient tracks would have benefited from an aerial view, but this will obviously increase the expense dramatically.

When I started writing twenty years ago my camera contained a film, indeed I must have been one of the last to switch to digital photography. The advantages of digital photography are twofold. Firstly it is very much cheaper, there being no film to buy or development costs which means we can take as many images as we desire to ensure the best result. I now habitually take as many as half a dozen well-nigh identical shots to ensure I have a choice. Digital cameras also have the screen to enable us to see the finished result there and then, thus any awful images can be discarded immediately.

Generally speaking my books feature historical subjects. Clearly I can’t take an image of the Saxons in the place whose name I’m defining and images don’t exist prior to the invention of the camera. When it came to more recent history, such as when looking for old images for my five Through Time books and in particular the railways as they were before the closures in the 1960s in my look at the heritage railways in the post-Beeching era. Not having any material myself I had to resort to looking elsewhere for images. Of course these are subject to copyright and I am extremely grateful to those who freely offered the use of photographs from their personal collections.

I do feel my photographic skills have improved over the years. I particularly enjoyed the challenge of taking a modern view of an image first pictured 50, 75 and even over a century ago in the Through Time books. The question is, is all this worth the effort. Just how useful a tool is a photograph? Do images really do anything but break up the text? I sincerely hope so as I have recently spent many hours and endless miles driving around Cornwall, Northumberland, and the Home Counties just to capture enough images for five or six forthcoming books.

As always I would welcome any suggestions for themes or subjects, or even specific words to examine the origins, meanings and etymologies. I’d be delighted to hear from you.

Recommended Blogs for Writers.

The following links take you to blogs well worth a regular read. Plenty of information and good advice which I have found invaluable.

Dave Robinson is always willing to share his considerable experience
Heed the words of freelance writer and editor Maureen Vincent-Northam
Very few know more about the world of publishing than Nicola Morgan
Well worth following Nick Daws thoughts and signing up for his monthly newsletter too
Join the thousand who enjoy the words of Talli Roland
John Baker's offerings are always worth a read.
Helen Hunt has a wealth of experience to share
Julie Phillips shares the highs and lows of writing
Sue Moorcroft tells 'how to'

Pen Names

Over the years many authors have opted to use a nom de plume. Historically female writers have chosen to write under a male name - perhaps the most famous being the Bronte sisters, Anne became Acton Bell, Charlotte assumed the name Currer Bell, and Emily was Ellis Bell - and for good reason in a world dominated by men.

Whilst it is easy to see why some opt for pseudonyms, I was intrigued by why particular names were chosen.

Charles Dickens wrote his Sketches by Boz, he chose Boz as it was already well-known in the family. His youngest brother, Augustus Dickens, picked up the nickname 'Moses' from one of the brothers in the highly popular nineteenth century novel The Vicar of Wakefield. It became the norm to pronounce it nasally, hence 'Boses' which was eventually shortened to 'Boz'.

Daniel DeFoe was born Daniel Foe, he considered the addition made him sound more aristocratic. Later claimed to be descended from the family of De Beau Faux, thus saying he was simply replacing the lost 'De'.

Washington Irving wrote under a series of pseudonyms. In 1809 he completed his first major book and, in a clever publicity stunt, set about creating interest in his satirical examination of self-important local history and politics A History of New York, from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty, written under the pen name of Diedrich Knickerbocker. He then placed a series of missing persons notices in all the New York newspapers. First he asked for the leads on the whereabouts of the 'crusty Dutch historian' and later, under the guise of the hotel proprietor, demanded that Knickerbocker return to settle his hotel bill or he would find the manuscript he had left behind quickly published in payment. Readers followed the story as closely as they would any serialised drama, especially when city officials were reportedly offering reward money! The fictional name of Diedrich Knickerbocker is still in use when referring to inhabitants of Manhattan.

Mary Ann Evnas never recorded why she chose George Eliot and yet her long-term relationship with critic George Henry Lewes must surely have been the only real factor. Lewes was a married man when they met in 1851, within three years they were living together and remained so for 20 years, with Eliot calling herself Mrs Lewes. Unlike the Brontes she never needed a masculine image, female authors were quite accepted in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Yet when she wrote her last piece for the Westminster Review entitled Silly Novels by Lady Novelists, she showed her desire not to be thought another female writing of trivial and ridiculous plots.

Eric Arthur Blair wrote what is now known as Down and Out in Paris and London and insisted it was published under an assumed name in order to protect his family from the embarrassment of his time as a tramp. He suggested four possible nom de plumes: P. S. Burton (the identity he had assumed on the streets), Kenneth Miles, George Orwell, and H Lewis Allways, leaving the choice up to the publisher. He later adopted George Orwell, inspired by the River Orwell, as it was "A good round English name".

John Wyndham, the nom de plume of a science fiction writer best remembered for The Day of the Triffids and The Midwich Cuckoos also wrote under other pen names - John Benyon and Lucas Parkes. It is easy to see where all three assumed names came from, he was named John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Benyon Harris by his parents.

That Lewis Carroll was born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson will come as a surprise to few (if any). He chose the name as Lewis was the English form of Ludovicus, itself Latin for Lutwidge, while Carroll is an Irish surname not dissimilar to the Latin Carolus, which is the anncestor of the English Charles.

Why Samuel Longhorne Clemens adopted Mark Twain for his writings has been told many times, not least by Clemens himself who also credited his riverboat captain Isaiah Sellers as signing his reports on the ever-changing river conditions 'Mark Twain'. For those unaware, Clemens worked on Mississippi riverboats for some years, the river known for its moving banks of silt making navigation tricky and hence the depth was checked regularly on a sounding line. The line had a mark at two fathoms and as long as that mark reached the water level the river would allow safe passage. When found to be safe the cry went up of "Mark Twain", 'twain' being the archaic term for two and thus was two fathoms (12 feet) deep.

William Sydney Porter wrote under the name O. Henry, which he informed everyone was chosen when a friend suggested choosing a name from the society columns of a New Orleans newspaper. Hence they found the surname. He wanted something short for a first name and, when the same friend suggested an initial, opted for 'O' as it was "about the easiest letter written".
Despite this explanation it did not stop two others offering quite different explanations. William Trevor stating the inspiration was Ohio State Penitentiary prison guard Orrin Henry, while Guy Davenport wrote it was to be found in the name of OHio state pENitentiaRY.

Idries Shah wrote The Teachers of Gurdjieff under the pen name of Rafael Lefort, held to have been chosen as an anagram of "a real effort".

Stephen King's early career saw him penning more than the one book per year which publishers were willing to put out, considering it would flood the market and be effectively competing with other Stephen King works. The author approached the publisher and suggested releasing others under a pseudonym and, in an attempt to discover if his success was down to talent or luck, did as little as possible to market the writings of Richard Bachman. Originally opting for the name of his maternal grandfather, he chose Richard as a tribute to fellow author Donald Westlake's pen name Richard Stark, while Bachman honoured Bachman-Turner-Overdrive, a rock band Stephen King just happened to be listening to at that time.

Hector Hugh Monroe wrote under the name of Saki. While no explanation was offered as to where he derived this pen name, there are two quite plausible explanations as to the source. Saki is a character, the cup bearer, in the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam and is stated as 'fact' in the 1978 anthology by Emlyn Williams. The central character in Munro's work The Remoulding of Groby Lington is a monkey, described as 'a small, long-tailed monkey from the Western Hemisphere'. There is a monkey which fits this description, a native of South America known as a saki.

An Advent Calendar of the Written Word (18th to 24th)

The final week featuring a note for each day of advent. No chocolates or pictures in this calendar but perhaps something of interest to the wordsmith.

18th - it seems many studies have been conducted into spelling errors. While it impossible to believe any examination can have taken a large enough sample in order to make the study particularly accurate, it seems the 18th most common wrongly spelled word is ASSOCIATION. Amazingly it was not the 's' or the 'c' which proved the stumbling blocks, the most common wrong spelling was "assocation".

19th - it probably won't come as a surprise to discover there are no 19-letter English words beginning with J, K, V, X, Y, or Z. However the most exhaustive of searches also drew a blank for 19-letter words beginning with W.

20th - to list the most common languages we can only use those spoken as a first language. Mandarin comes first, followed by Spanish and English. Twentieth on this list is either Korean or Tamil, both had 66 million speakers at the last respective census but those were taken some years apart.

21st - the 21st novel written by Terry Pratchett was Jingo, one of his Discworld series.

22nd - based on the list of best-selling magazines in the UK during the first half of 2011, 22nd on the list (with 413,311 copies) is Hello! magazine.

23rd - as it's Christmas a look at the all-time best-selling books for children reveals the paperback at number 23 is Judy Blume's Superfudge; while the classic The Tale of Benjamin Bunny by Beatrix Potter is ranked 23rd.

24th - in the Old Testament the 24th word is 'the'; the New Testament 'and'; in the Quran 'is', the Torah 'upon', and in the Book of Mormon 'many'.

An Advent Calendar of the Written Word (11th to 17th)

The second of three weeks featuring a note for each day of advent. No chocolates or pictures in this calendar but perhaps something of interest to the wordsmith.

11th - the 11th December is the anniversary of the birth (1918) of the Russian writer, Nobel winner and Soviet dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn who died in 2008.

12th - has to be Twelfth Night for this was my one and only appearance as a thespian (although to be accurate there were two performances) when I had the role of Malvolio forced upon me by a teacher. Should 'Happy' Richmond still be around to recall those (for me) endless weeks of torture, my loathing for you is undiminished.

13th - the 13th this month fell on a Tuesday, yet had it fallen on a Friday all manner of woes and ill fortune may have been blamed on something which can only happen a maximum of three times each year in the Gregorian calendar. However spare a thought for Spanish-speaking countries where Friday the 13th passes unnoticed as it is Tuesday the 13th, or Martres trece, which is feared. Incidentally, statistics show these unlucky 13ths (be they Fridays or Tuesdays) are likely to see a significant drop in accidents.

14th - the 14th letter in the alphabet is 'n', the sixth most common letter used in the English language but as a consonant second only to 't'. The development of the letter 'n' seems to have been from the adaptation of the Egyptian snake heiroglyph by Semitic people, their word for a snake beginning with the 'n' sound.

15th - the 15th best-selling daily newspaper in the world, with an average daily circulation of some 2,204,000 is Japan's Sankei Shimbun. However it ranks only 7th among Japan's dailies, indeed the five best-sellers in the world are all Japanese. Incidentally 15th on the United Kingdom list is the Manchester Evening News.

16th - Barbara Cartland has the longest entry in Who's Who, mostly a list of her books, the 16th of which appeared in 1937, a contemporary romance novel entitled But Never Free (aka The Adventurer). Incidentally at the time of her death there were some 160 unpublished works

17th - the 17th book of the Bible is Esther. As an English name Esther became popular in the 17th century, when it was the 17th most common name given to a baby girl.

An Advent Calendar of the Written Word (1st to 10th)

Over the next three weeks a note for each day of advent. No chocolates or pictures in this calendar but perhaps a snippet of interest to the wordsmith, writer or reader.

1st - the most valuable first edition is the Gutenberg Bible, currently valued at over £30 million but you probably haven't got one of the 21 copies thought to exist. My oldest first edition is a book by Thornton W. Burgess entitled Little Joe Otter. The copy I was given as a child disappeared and I was delighted to receive a 1925 edition for Christmas a few years ago.

2nd - few will be unaware the Bible is the best selling book of all time and outsells the second best seller six or seven times over. Yet few will know that next on the list is Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong, most often referred to as his 'little red book'.

3rd - the third most commonly used letter in English writings is 'a', accounting for 8.167% of the total.

4th - the fourth longest English novel ever published is Poor Fellow My Country, a tale set in Australia and written by Xavier Herbert. It is said to contain 850,000 words.

5th - the fifth best-selling fiction author ever has amassed some 600 million copies of an impressive 800 books, and including 3,400 translations. Most of those books appeared under her own name and, although she did sometimes use the pseudonym Mary Pollock, very few can have missed Enid Blyton's work as a child or later as a parent.

6th - the complete works of Shakespeare did not see the light of day until seven years after his death and the publication of his plays certainly does not reflect the order in which they were first performed. As the latter is a better indication of the chronology his 6th play can be said to be Titus Andronicus, first performed in 1593 and appearing in print the following year.

7th - the Guardian newspaper poll to find the Seven Wonders of the Literary World placed Homer's The Odyssey at number seven - Don Quixote topped the list.

8th - in June 2011 John Locke became the 8th person to sell a million copies of an ebook and the first to self-publish and reach this milestone

9th - once it was considered a worthwhile achievement to read the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica - Richard Byrd taking a copy to the South Pole to help the time pass during his five-months stay - none other than literary giant George Bernard Shaw himself said he had read the 9th edition, although he admitted to skipping the scientific articles (a rather significant chunk to leave out).

10th - I suppose one of the golden rules when editing is to remove 'that' as superfluous. Thus it is interesting to note it is the tenth most commonly used English word and therefore should certainly appear in 'that' dialogue.

20th November

Not a date which would ever be considered of earth-shattering importance. Yet in its own way marks the anniversaries of three events which could be considered landmarks of the written word.

Just 191 years have passed since that day in 1820 when the Essex, a whaling ship out of Nantucket, Massachusetts, was in the Pacific Ocean about 2,000 miles off the west coast of South America. Nothing unusual about such in the early nineteenth century, that was until the Essex was attacked by a sperm whale with an estimated mass of some eighty tons. The vessel sank with just eight survivors, one of whom was first mate Owen Chase. Following the publication of his record of the events in 1821, under the snappy title Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex, Herman Melville had he germ of an idea which would become one of the first great American novels - Moby Dick. The success of this novel from its publication in 1851 when the literate were in a very small minority (and no radio, television, or cinema to bring the narrative to a wider audience) makes it a landmark piece of literature.

Winding forward 127 years and a young Princess Elizabeth (she was just 21) married Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten at Westminster Abbey in London. Within six years she was crowned Queen Elizabeth as the nation sat glued to their new television sets, purchased specially for the purpose of watching the pomp and ceremony live and in glorious black and white. Since that time the media has grown to the state-of-the-art broadcasting we take for granted today. Almost sixty years on the throne and surely no other living individual can have been written about, filmed, taped, broadcast, snapped (or waved at) over this time.

Finally another 38 years on and on this day in 1985 Microsoft Windows 1.0 is released. This brought the computer to the masses which, with the internet readily available within a few years, enabled billions to add their words to the mix, irrespective of ability, education, interest, or common sense. It could be argued this tremendous input serves only to dilute that worthy of reading, which would have stood alone in the days of Herman Melville. However from the opposite point of view, does it naturally bring the quality to the surface, highlighting the well-written word in a vast ocean of dross?

Right Place at the Right Time

This week has seen the final touches applied to both North Devon Place Names and South Devon Place Names, while Dorset Place Names will also be printed and packed up before the end of this week. As the end of the calendar year approaches so does the deadlines to finish the final two books for which I have contracts.

Next week I shall be delivering the three finished manuscripts and illustrations, while continuing on to Somerset to spend a couple of days seeking out 40 or 50 decent illustrations and those snippets and anecdotal gems which make a book out of what would otherwise be a dictionary of place names.

I have also been invited to speak at another three venues, a local history group in Staffordshire in March, a group of metal detectorists at the beginning of February, and I am to be on the list for the 14th Annual Literary Festival in Wellington, Shropshire in October of next year.

This week I also learned, albeit probably later than most authors, that Amazon have introduced Kindle Stores, a way for authors to list their work digitally. The eBook can then be uploaded on payment of an agreed amount - not all have to be books, of course, articles, poems, songs, music, jokes, even money-saving tips. Rest assured I shall be investigating the potential here and reporting back for like all authors I have a number of items which I consider worthy of publication but have yet to find the right niche.

Often that is the case, not that the piece is substandard but is being offered to the wrong place and/or at the wrong time. Some years ago I had had a book proposal accepted, contracts signed, written and page proofs had even been printed and edited. It was when we were clearing up the final queries that something interesting came to light. Among the paperwork for the book proposal I found a letter of mine offering the idea for that book to the same publisher. Pinned to the back was a polite rejection of the idea, dated nine months before the idea was accepted. Even more surprising the letter came from the same person working at the same company. Which proves if you are satisfied you cannot improve upon the piece and still keep receiving rejections no matter how well you tailor your writing to suit the publication or publisher, it still has to be looked at by the right person at the right time.

A New Publication

My next book, South Staffordshire Street Names, hit the shelves recently. A work which I enjoyed producing as much as any for it gives an insight into parts of history which may otherwise be overlooked. For example, were it not for this book perhaps the only man in the long history of Tamworth who was legally able to carry explosives during peacetime will have been forgotten - now there's a man who merits a road named after him! Or the midwife who cycled into a village as holiday cover for just two short weeks, staying for over forty years and retired having earned the MBE for her services, that's as good a reason as any I know for a street name.

If you find see a copy feel free to comment (or if you want one shout!). To whet your appetite I have posted the cover image and there follows the so-called 'blurb' from the back cover:

Around the towns of Cannock Chase, Tamworth and Lichfield and the villages around South Staffordshire are over a thousand roads, streets, lanes, avenues, drives, crofts, boulevards, ways, courts and walks. But where do these names come from? How 'new' is New Street? What is the origin of Quonian's Lane? Who was Sister Dora? Which lane remembers the trainer of a Grand National winner? Where in landlocked Staffordshire is there a theme of North Sea oil and gas fields?

Within this book every street from the ancient trunk road of Watling Street to the most recent cul-de-sac are examined. Names with histories dating from before the Roman occupation, those marking the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons, the conquest by the Normans and every royal house since, right up to the modern era and the countless themes for new estates - all the explanations are to be found here.

National figures, local personalities, trades, landowners, pastimes, the landscape, public houses, religion and folklore have all contributed to the names of the routes we travel every day. A must for every historian, an invaluable guide to every tourist and a lasting reminder of the county for any who live and work here, or who have their roots within South Staffordshire. Not just a dictionary but a guide with histories, anecdotal material, pointers to people and events of the past, and an interesting read sure to get us all taking more notice of the name on the sign at the end of every street.

Second Review

As with last week a review but a different book and a very different style. Again I have left out the name of the reviewer and the name of the publication in which it appeared:

Spooky tales of paranormal goings on in the Cotswolds have been brought to life in a new book. Paranormal Cotswolds - True Ghost Stories by Anthony Poulton-Smith documents some of the best known as previously untold tales of pesky poltergeists and ghostly apparitions from across the district. Author Anthony Poulton-Smith said there was a history about the Cotswolds which made it different from other regions of the country. "I'm fascinated by paranormal activity," he said. "I'm yet to experience anything to convince me because I can't think of a rational explanation that fits all scenarios."

Mr Poulton-Smith added his favourite story was the tale of a man who sought shelter from the snow at a pub on the outskirts of Dursley. He was fed, given clean clothes and a warm bed but when he went to leave in the morning he could find no staff, so he left two golden guineas on a table as payment. When he was united with his friends, he brought them to the spot where the pub had been but there was nothing in the snow except for the two golden guineas.

Other spooky sightings in the north of the district including the tragic story of the White Lady of Dover's Hill who was torn from her lover, the hugging spirit at The Bell Inn in Moreton-in-Marsh, monks heard chanting in the dead of night at Hailes Abbey near Winchcombe.

Paranormal Cotswolds - True Ghost Stories by Anthony Poulton-Smith is published by Amberley Publishing and is available for £12.99 in all good book shops.