Let's get cozy!!!

"A nice easy read for lazy Sunday afternoons curled up on the sofa in front of a roaring fire with a nice glass or two of wine and chocolates, brilliant."  Amazon


"Granny is a wonderful character, refreshingly different and politically incorrect. I loved that she still smokes in a time when it is frowned upon; that she is an unrepentant hippie and even that she is blind to her son's faults. She is astute and not scared to speak her mind. She is also very human and that is a large part of her charm. I think most of us can identify with her."  Amazon






"Granny Smith -- a pipe-smoking senior citizen who listens to heavy metal and can't keep her nose out of other peoples' affairs. I fell in love with this character within the first couple of pages. The story never drags and the secondary characters, such as Granny's quirky son and submissive husband, are just as lovable as Granny herself. "

Amazon






The first of the Granny Smith adventures!!

“It’s Miss Marple on steroids.”

A brutal murder in a small Welsh village leaves the police without a clue. With no motive and no real suspect the investigation soon grinds to a halt. Enter Mary Anne Smith, otherwise known as Granny Smith, the seventy-one years young, pipe smoking, heavy metal loving, chaos causing amateur sleuth with a difference.

Granny has a talent for mayhem and soon those talents are put to good use as our intrepid pensioner starts the unravel the case, which finds her provoking Chief Inspector Miskin as she comes up against a full scale police investigation, proving that you’re never too old to make a nuisance of yourself and that seventy-one is actually the new twenty-one.

Murder’s never been so much fun.

" I liked the story, entertaining, easy to read."


"laugh out loud funny and Granny Smith is a wonderful invention"

"Granny Smith complete with pipe , what a vision... proves where there is a way she will take try it...enjoyed this book easy reading ." 

Available worlwide from Amazon now

And look out for Granny Smith and the Deadly Frogs - out March 31st

Willygate

The Willygate saga continues with it now looking extremely unlikely that The Strolling Bones will tour to celebrate their fiftieth anniversary which falls next month, and insiders are saying that the band are finished, that Mick Jagger hates Keith Richards and it's all because Keith made fun of the contents of Jagger's hot pants.

This week saw a media blitz from the Stones and the official line is that a world tour is on hold because of Keith's health but it is common knowledge that relations between the two main members Mick and Keith are at the worse they have ever been. The pair have had their ups and downs but this week an article in the Daily Mail newspaper claimed that Jagger and Richards have not really spoken since Jagger took umbrage at some of the claims in Keith Richards' autobiography, Life which came out in 2010.


In the book Keith talks candidly about his old pal, Mick Jagger, referring to him as Lady Mick and claiming he had an incredibly small penis. By revealing that he's got a tiny todger Mick feels that Keith violated their friendship completely, damaged his reputation and that of the Rolling Stones.

However Mick Jagger shouldn't feel too bad that the truth is out about  his  wee willy winkie. So what if his jumping jack flash is unlikely to provide satisfaction and that his image as a sex symbol is all over now? Lady Mick is not alone and other celebrities reported to be lacking in the penis stakes include Brad Pitt, Daniel Craig and Jude Law. So maybe it's time for Jagger to stop trying to compensate for his puny penis by acting like a big dick.

The funny side of Hitler

The latest eBook sensation is a comedy about Adolf Hitler and it's already been a massive success in Germany with the soon to be published translated  version predicted to become a worldwide smash.

The novel is called “Er Ist Wieder Da,” and if you’re rusty on your German, that translates to “He’s Back” — and “he" is. Timur Vermes’ debut picks up on Hitler’s story after he falls into a coma in 1945 to awaken in 2011 and become a celebrity figure.

Vermes’ novel  comments on the obsession modern society has over the Nazi party leader as well as the fervor of the German people who followed the evil creed, eighty years ago.

"I want to show that Hitler would have a chance to succeed nowadays just as he did back then, just in another way. “Er Ist Wieder Da,” Hitler becomes a media celebrity, gets a role on a TV show, and enters politics to campaign “against dog muck and speeding.” Vermes told The Guardian newspaper.

The 400-page novel has already sold its film rights along with seventeen foreign licenses. Its publication date is set in Britain and the US for late 2013

Barnes and Noble may be bordering on collapse

Barnes and Noble recently reported poor sales over the holiday period and not only in the print book sector but with digital too - they sold fewer Nook devices than last year and sales of eBooks have seen a sharp drop. And although there was a rise in the sale of digital magazines, largely thanks to the booming tablet market, overall the picture was not good.


Sales of digital content like e-books and magazines rose 13.1 percent during the holidays, a much slower pace than the 38 percent gain last quarter and 113 percent in the 2011 holiday season, suggesting Barnes & Noble is having trouble holding on to its 25-30 percent share of the U.S. e-books market.


"We are way beyond the point where you should see content sales accelerate.That hasn't materialized and that's concerning."  Peter Wahlstrom, Morningstar analyst.

To compound the gloom , fewer shoppers came into its bookstores during the Christmas period.
Barnes & Noble, which had enjoyed a sales bump after onetime rival Borders Group liquidated in 2011, reported a 10.9 percent decrease in sales at its bookstores and on its website over the holiday period.
Sales at stores open at least 15 months fell 3.1 percent, excluding Nook products, despite the benefit of some store closings -- Barnes & Noble operates 689 bookstores, 14 fewer than a year ago.


This is devastating news for traditional publishing who are still reeling from the loss of the Borders chain and with Amazon no longer bulk ordering books, but rather ordering titles as required, they will have themselves having to lower already slim print runs.

“Barnes & Noble, once viewed as the brutal capitalist of the book trade, now seems so crucial to that industry’s future. Sure, you can buy bestsellers at Walmart and potboilers at the supermarket. But in many locales, Barnes & Noble is the only retailer offering a wide selection of books. If something were to happen to Barnes & Noble, if it were merely to scale back its ambitions, Amazon could become even more powerful and — well, the very thought makes publishers queasy." Julie Bosman, The New York Times.

And if this wasn't enough woe Barnes and Noble are also terrified that the US DOJ now looks ready to take its case against Agency Pricing to court which according to industry experts will further weaken Barnes and Nobles standing in the digital market and make Amazon the only player in town.

The Wall Street Journal recently stated in an article on Barnes and Noble's problems that a return to “wholesale pricing” will, at the very least, driver an ever-greater number of readers away from physical Barnes & Nobles stores to e-books. And the majority of those books are still being read on the Kindle.

 In the follow-up to its initial report, the Journal published an ominously-titled article on Friday –  "B & N could face rough justice” – in which it pointed out that DOJ action could drive down Barnes & Noble’s 30% share of the digital market. And with its earnings already sluggish, B&N is considering splitting its digital and print operations, a decision that might be hastened by the threat of legal action.


As a book lover this all depresses me - of course, I don't want to see a world where Amazon are the only bookseller and I would hate to see print book vanish, but at the same time I'm enjoying the ease of eBook s and the vast amount of titles that are only available as eBooks means that if you are a serious reader then we've now reached the point where digital is now more important than print.

Thunderbirds are go - again

Iconic 1960's TV series, Thunderbird is to be remade for TV with the visual effects handled by The Weta Workshop who most recently worked on Peter Jackson's Hobbit movie. The New Zealand based company are jointly producing the new TV series together with Pukekp Pictures.

The Thunderbirds brand is well known around the world and it is hoped that the new series will be as succesful a reboot as the BBC's new Doctor Who.

As of the moment details are scarce but the show will be shown in the UK on ITV - Experienced animation producer Rob Hoegee will serve as head writer on the new series, which will air on ITV and the CITV channel in 30-minute episodes in 2015. Popular characters from the classic 1960s TV series including Lady Penelope, Parker and the Tracy brothers will all be back.

Chained to the desk

The Archive's been quieter than usual this past fortnight but I've found that since taking the plunge and going full time with the writing, I've been snowed under with work. The biggest demand at the moment is the revisions to the second Granny Smith novel, Granny Smith and the Deadly Frogs which will be
on sale from March 31st 2013.

 Once that's all done and dusted
 I've got to get the third part of the Dead Walked trilogy into shape - so far the book only exists in outline form, but it is a detailed outline and I'm hoping to get it out before the end of the summer.

No more procrastination - it's time to rock and roll.

Then it'll be time to go over my next Black Horse Western no doubt. The Afterlife of Slim McCord is currently set for a December publication from Robert Hale Ltd.

So as you can see it's quite a workload lined up, but as well as those projects I'd like to also develop another idea for a novel - I've only the vaguest idea for this one but I'd like to get it into shape before 2014 rolls around.


The Archive will, no doubt, be running at full speed again before too long - among all the news, gossip and reviews you can expect a Granny Smith blitz as we approach publication day.

Are you ready for the senior sleuth?

King Richard III turns up

There's a cool news item today - it seems the body of King Richard III has been unearthed after 500 years - From the BBC

A skeleton found beneath a Leicester car park has been confirmed as that of English king Richard III.

Experts from the University of Leicester said DNA from the bones matched that of descendants of the monarch's family.

Lead archaeologist Richard Buckley, from the University of Leicester, told a press conference to applause: "Beyond reasonable doubt it's Richard."
Richard, killed in battle in 1485, will be reinterred in Leicester Cathedral.

• Interactive: Twisted bones reveal a king

Mr Buckley said the bones had been subjected to "rigorous academic study" and had been carbon dated to a period from 1455-1540.

Dr Jo Appleby, an osteo-archaeologist from the university's School of Archaeology and Ancient History, revealed the bones were of a man in his late 20s or early 30s. Richard was 32 when he died.
His skeleton had suffered 10 injuries, including eight to the skull. Two of the skull wounds were potentially fatal.
The spine was badly curved, a condition known as scoliosis, but there was no trace of a withered arm, as some Tudor historians had claimed Richard had.

Dr Appleby said: "The analysis of the skeleton proved that it was an adult male but was an unusually slender, almost feminine, build for a man.

Who was Richard III?

• Richard was born at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire, where Mary Queen of Scots was later executed
• As Duke of Gloucester, Richard took a rampant white boar as his sign
• His coronation took place in Westminster Abbey, in a ceremony very similar to HM the Queen's
• Richard had one of the shortest reigns in English history - 26 months
• He was the last English king to die in battle, killed by the forces of the future Henry VII

Source: BBC History

• The real Richard III - mad murderer or a man of his times?
• Testing Richard's bones - how does DNA analysis work?

"Taken as a whole the skeletal evidence provides a highly convincing case for identification as Richard III."

Dr Turi King, project geneticist, said there had been concern DNA in the bones would be too degraded: "The question was could we get a sample of DNA to work with, and I am extremely pleased to tell you that we could."
She added: "There is a DNA match between the maternal DNA of the descendants of the family of Richard III and the skeletal remains we found at the Greyfriars dig.
"In short, the DNA evidence points to these being the remains of Richard III."
Richard was a royal prince until the death of his brother Edward IV in 1483. Appointed as protector of his nephew, Edward V, Richard instead assumed the reins of power.
Challenged by Henry Tudor, Richard was killed at Bosworth in 1485 after only two years on the throne.
He was given a low-key burial beneath in the church of Greyfriars in the centre of Leicester.
But when this building was demolished in the 16th Century the exact location became uncertain and was eventually forgotten.
Despite this, a team of enthusiasts and historians traced the likely area - and, crucially, also found a 17th-generation descendant of Richard's sister with whose DNA they could compare any remains recovered.
In August 2012, an excavation began in a city council car park - the only open space remaining in the likely area - which quickly identified buildings connected to the church.
The bones were found in the first days of the dig.
Details of the reburial ceremony have yet to be released.