Category: Books

New Books

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My latest book shown above was a joy to write. Growing old is something we all have to do. That is the main subject of the book.

The main protagonists go through the whole range of emotions from fear, a feeling of uselessness, to a renewal of excitement as new relationships are made. There is joy, sadness too but together with warm memories and new beginnings, life is new, love is abroad, and time is precious.

Our relationships both past or present yeild new opportunities to enjoy our own talents, whether re-invigorated, or re-examined in the sunshine of our lives.

Opportunities to be at peace with our children and their futures.

In light of modern history this book will give comfort and laughter to many. Enjoy!

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I’m going to die, are you?

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Are you going to die? I know I am. When is an issue we all think about.

Hello again, I’ve been off determined to finish my latest book, “Where the swallows fly” and I’m glad to say it’s done plus first edit. Now it’s up to the small number of agents to see if I can once more climb on to the traditional publishing ladder. Outside my little world things have become insane.

The Corvid 19 virus is sweeping the world and people are dying in their thousands. This is a tough deal for everyone, of course those whose lives end prematurely ended and their loved ones are the ones we think of first.  The rest of us, where ever we are, are certainly aware of the crisis and we’re all involved to a greater or lesser extent.

Whether a household or a Government, large or small, the challenges are enormous.  So large in fact that individuals and households and Governments find it hard to believe. Many people believe that they will escape the virus because they cannot imagine the consequences of catching it.  Others do not believe that they can be transmitters of the virus without having symptoms, even state governments believe, even to this day,(April Fool’s day) that freedom of movement or economics matter more that the risk of Corvid 19 deaths.

The Corvid 19 virus thrives because of human inadequacies in responding to it. You and me, we’re part of that inadequacy, as is our national government.  We’ve all made mistakes, and will continue to and as a consequence more people will die.  Sad but true.

Even the best experts in the world, argue about the best way to go to defeat this pandemic. Many governments have reacted in different ways to counter the spread of the virus.  All, I’m sure, have made decisions they regret in hindsight.  Nevertheless, mistakes have been made and will continue to be made by powers great and small.

You are one such power.  Think, imagine, and believe, this virus can kill. Kill you, and all who you love

Keeping the faith.

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Having started writing a novel, the enormity of the commitment creeps up on you.  What have you done?  An idea is one thing but translating it into a novel is quite another.  The first chapter is hard enough, but in some ways is the easiest.  Your enthusiasm is high your belief in the dominant idea is strong – what can go wrong?

Lots actually. If you let it go wrong.  This is where the creative writer really earns his spurs.  Finding your way from the succinctness of a simple idea to the complexities of a story that fascinates, is a long and arduous journey.  It needs concentration, discipline and most of all courage (guts).

Sometimes the idea is easy to center in a plot that is coherent – if this happens early then ride it, write and write till your hands hurt.  However, more likely, it will be more difficult and you may have many changes of heart along the way. Even to the extent of rejecting the dominant idea.  Kick it out and start again.  Kick it out and give up.  Kick it out and, sod it, I’ll never even try again!  All these are degrees of response when the going gets tough.  Well in most cases it is going to get tough, some call it writers’ block, but I don’t think that’s an accurate description of the crisis that besets every writer no matter what the degree of his/her accomplishment.

It is a crisis of creativity or lack of it.  We all have to be courageous enough to untie the restrictions that tie us down.  This is remarkably hard to do, like walking on the edge of a cliff with a blindfold. Really scary!

Go there.  Go where you’ve never been before and always remember there are no limits to your imagination. There are no frontiers, so step off the edge and see where you land.

Rolling the stone up the hill.

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So, I’ve started the new book.  A thousand words have hit the page.  An idea is taking shape.  This first word, first paragraph, first page will condition the whole of the next year as the plot develops and redevelops.

Then, a finish line in perhaps a year but that’s the cruel bit because I know that finish line is an illusion.  Re-read, change, review.  Lose sleep, think what a waste of time it’s been. Re-group, start again the re-write won’t take long, will it?  Maybe another year, maybe another month.

Why did I start this?  Was it worth the effort? Will anybody love it like I do?  Maybe a few, maybe many, hey I might get discovered.  Then again I might not.

Shit, who wants to be a writer?  Just got to give that rock another shove up that impossible hill.

The Accidental Spy – review

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The Accidental Spy
Latest novel by Anthony James 

Well paced absorbing read. The more incredible the story becomes, the more credible are the characters. The author undoubtedly draws at least on real characters from his life; whether the situations are real who knows but it all comes together to create an excellent read.     5 stars

Getting down to writing.

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How easy is that? Well not so easy if you are setting out to write another novel.  I wrote last week about the challenges and choices that face every author at the beginning of a new work.

I was once encouraged to just put down my bottom, sit up and type/write – no matter what the substance and sooner or later there will be something of value remaining that can contribute to the finished work.   Though I have reservations about where the empty page can take you.  An empty page and perhaps an empty mind!

Today, after mulling over the last week the development of the idea of “The beginning of my end” I’ve put a bit more flesh on the bone.  I still agonize about the autobiographical bit and how hard it is to avoid.  We are after all, what we have become through the data bank of our experience.  It is impossible to avoid even in this age of endless research tools.  The key is our imagination and our ability to imagine.

This should I suppose be limitless, but it seldom is, tied down as we are to the experience of our own being.  I find it impossible to get excited about certain options that are fantastic, sci-fi, horror and even brutal everyday crime.   There lie my limitations as an author.  A narrowly defined horizon that imprisons my imagination.

I will try to work to broaden my options and open my mind.  But even at 76, it’s hard to do despite having traveled more than most and enjoyed a relatively wild and certainly interesting life.

At least in this little blog, I’ve set myself up, to flex my imaginative muscles and step into a brand new horizon.  Who knows what I shall find there?

‘It’s the beginning of the end’

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Well, it comes to us all.  What are the first signs of a natural end?  Now approaching my ninth decade it seems a promising idea to write a novel which takes the grumpy old man’s view and trace his eccentricities from his viewing platform on the edge of the end of his life.  This will be fiction so the canvass is without limit.

The first tenet I should hold on to is to avoid the autobiographical.  This is more difficult than it sounds.  Do I make the story of a wimp or a hero, a genius or a disenfranchised, poor or rich?  Above all will the story be happy or sad and what point am I trying to make to the reader?

Do stories have to have a point?  Literary fiction is sometimes more of a linear tale, mysteries are usually solved, though in ‘The Accidental Spy’ they were not. Horror novels frighten and some make us laugh.  Then, of course, there’s the vexed question of gender, can I write a book that is not too blokeish and that will appeal to both sexes and nowadays anything in between.

Bearing in mind the age of the author I had better be quick about it, so head down and off I go.  A new beginning towards just another end.

The Accidental Spy – Press Release

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The Accidental Spy: Cynical, Scary (even Silly!) New Thriller Unravels Inner Workings of ‘The Company’. AKA – the CIA.

Written from the boundless imagination of prolific writer, Anthony James, ‘The Accidental Spy’ embroils readers in the life of a wandering post-graduate, as he gets caught up on a Government paycheque and finds himself trapped deep in the web of international secrets. Exploring everything from Government-sponsored murders to how the everyman should be treated with fierce suspicion, James’ creation is unlike anything else on the market.

Contact:

Anthony M James

Email: manseljames@gmail.com

Telephone: 01633422361 mob 07762546305

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

United Kingdom – Very, very little is known about the CIA. And that’s the whole point.

However, in a compelling new novel from British writer, Anthony James, the CIA (or, as it’s known in the book, ‘The Company’) is picked to pieces and explored like never before. Fact straddles fiction as ‘The Accidental Spy’ cons everyone except its readers.

Synopsis:

Secretive, cynical, scary, even silly. A fresh look at the secret society of the CIA aka ‘The Company’.


Loyalists, lunatics and losers interact in a series of mismanaged and doubtful pursuits in the apparent defence of ‘Uncle Sam’. The loner, Accidental Spy wanders into this lurid and administrative nightmare and walks away with invaluable secrets.


Sometimes funny, sometimes frightening and sometimes shambolic our accidental spy staggers through a variety of trials, some of his own making.


Who’s conning who, what’s the secret? Does any of it really matter? With ‘The Accidental Spy,’ you decide.

“I want to show how ordinary citizens make up the international spy community,” explains James, who has written a string of other hugely-popular thrillers. “From the lazy guy next door to the murderer and the fanatically-intelligent – anyone and everyone is potentially a mule on the part of the Government.”

Continuing, “We also explore to what extent state-sponsored agencies have both the capacity and wiliness to commit murder – and how this fictional twist to the story could indeed cross over to the real world. Corruption is everywhere and can’t be avoided; this book aims to try and make some sense of it all.”

With the volume’s demand expected to increase, interested readers are urged to secure their copies without delay.

‘The Accidental Spy’ is available now: http://amzn.to/2pYzTi3.

For more information and resources, visit the author’s official website: http://www.anthonyjamesauthor.com.

About the Author:

Anthony James has had a fabulous career, having travelled the world as few have been privileged to do.  He was born in Wales where he has latterly returned to enjoy the land of his fathers, the hiraeth of the damp valleys and the choruses of Rugby days.

He describes himself as a distinguished drunk which is probably a bit unfair, some would say an enthusiastic ‘bon viveur’ would be more accurate.  He is married to the lovely Dawn who incidentally is one of the world’s best text editors.  The years stubbornly move on but at a spritely 76 Anthony still plays a smooth round of golf and if called upon deliver an engaging after dinner speech.

Apart from writing which he does in several media, blogs, travel and novels etc., he dabbles in acrylic painting and is still a keen wine buff and cook.

He belongs to the Christian tradition but is not a believer in the orthodox sense, he is a wavering middle ground liberal conservative with socialist overtones.  Namely crackers!

Anthony’s core ability is to enjoy himself.