Saturday 31 October 2015

Birthdays come but once a year.

Postings most weeks

Links to purchase my books
Email markkingtheauthor@gmail.com
Twitter@author_king



The last week of October holds a special day for. My birthday. It's also half term week for the local schools, and then of course we have that ultimate international fusion of history, Halloween. Some people in the U.K see Halloween as an American import, but in fact it was a tradition imported into the U.S.A from the first immigrants into the country. Then the melting pot that is America commercialised it, just like Christmas, and then exported it back to the world.

 This year my birthday fell on a Monday. Two years a go it obviously fell on a Saturday when my local football team Norwich City F.C where playing at Carrow Road. On that day Kim the landlord of the  Steam Packet put on some bar food for free to celebrate my big day, and after the game plenty of friends joined me for one hell of a party night. And what a ruddy good night it was.

 This year I decided to have a quite family affair. The wife made a three tier cake to go alongside the home made pizza, and garlic bread. My parents came around and I waited until the evening when everyone was present to open all my cards and gifts.




The cake was just lovely and soon got eaten.

 As the week progressed I decided to let the wife have a sleep in one day, and to treat the children. We like our food in the King family. We're not fussy eaters and I don't worry too much about the latest food fad, or scare. Eat well, sleep well then you will live well. It's as simple as that.

 So on Wednesday morning while the wife was tucked up in bed I took the children to The Denmark Cafe in Norwich. It's my favourite, and the children love it too. Quite often I will phone my dad, and ask if he would like to come, and I treat him as well. So there we are, three generations of the King family getting stuck into a traditional Full English breakfast.






Some food snobs might look down on the British cuisine, but I ask you this one question. What is the one dish wherever you travel around the world that will be on the breakfast menu of every hotel no matter what its star rating?

 The answer is!

 The Full English Breakfast.

 There will also be a Continental option as well, but everyone tucks into a Full English. So tuck in we did with mugs of English tea as well. You just can't beat it. 

 So the week started with the clocks going back an hour in the U.K, officially declaring winter is here. Then we have the children at home for the school holidays followed by my birthday. Add in the the breakfast treat as the week progressed, and then ending with Halloween, I can truthfully say it has been a busy week, and one I have fully enjoyed.

 Regards

 Mark 

Posted by at No comments:

Saturday 17 October 2015

Rosie Amber

Postings most weeks

Links to purchase my books
Email markkingtheauthor@gmail.com
Twitter@author_king
The unsung hero's for all authors are the people who take their own time to read your book, and review it for the general public. They spend their free time reading your book then writing down their thoughts, and even more importantly they then spend time publishing this through various forms of on-line multi-media.

 There are a few full time professional reviewers who are in the pockets of the big publishing houses that are paid very large sums of money to print favourable reviews through the main media outlets they are employed by. Now this is a good living for the few. Paid twice for the same job. Paid a big fat fee to give a favourable review of a publishers new book, and then paid a second fee by the newspaper or magazine to provide an article for publication. 

 But it's the true independents that most authors have to rely on, and one of these is Rosie Amber. She has a fantastic site that covers her reviews, and is well worth following. She has reviewed both my books in the Daniel Jones series, Frenzy a Daniel Jones story and Daniel Jones Doom. And below is her review for Daniel Jones Doom. I paid her no money. All I did was send her a free copy of Doom, She read it. liked it and told the on-line world her thoughts. 

 I would recommended following her through all the usual on-line forms like Goggle + etc because what you get from her reviews in honesty. So do please read the below and do follow Rosie Amber, and the other independent reviews out there.

 Regards

 Mark 

ROSIE AMBER


Daniel Jones Doom is the second book in the Daniels Jones series which fits the YA/ dystopia genre. Daniel lived with his family in a very primitive society, ruled by a set of procedures and the Over-Seers who are saviours of humanity. Village elders look forward to their Day of Achievement on the turn of their 40th birthdays as a reward for all their hard work in life.
All this changed for Daniel when he found out what really happens to people once they enter the Achievement Centres and forced him to flee. Doom continues the story from book 1. Daniel now travels with Mary and Gwendolyn, two other outcasts who know the truth about the Over-seers, but they are constantly afraid of capture by the ruthless Hunters.
They find Jack, a boy left alone after his parents were taken. He has access to technology never seen by Daniel and together they form a plan to return to Daniel’s village and tell his father the truth before he reaches his Achievement Day and it is too late.
Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
View all my reviews on Goodreads
Posted by at 3 comments:

Wednesday 7 October 2015

Closing down for winter

Postings most weeks

Links to purchase my books
Email markkingtheauthor@gmail.com
Twitter@author_king





It's that time of year where autumn comes a calling. The summer was a typical British affair, full of promise which soon washed away with the rain. But the last week or two has seen the sun out just as we prepare to close down the garden for the winter. 

 My mother is a mad keen gardener and since my Step-father past away just under a year ago it has been a lifeline for her. It's not so easy to just pop around to visit my mum as it's at least a 90 minute round trip. So we have her over to stay for the odd weekend. I supply plenty of food and wine, and the family provide company, and love. In return my mother provides her knowledge, and muscle as the whole family gets stuck into the clearing the garden from its wilting summer foliage. 

 There's plenty to do. I cut back all the bushes before they get too out of hand while my son helps to pick up all the branches, and places them in the green recycle bin. The wife concentrates on one half of the weeding while mother does the other. As for my daughter, well she got stuck in as cutting back the Ivy. 





After the grass has been cut the whole place looks tidy, and then hopefully that's it for the winter. By 5 pm all was finished. I kept the wine flowing all afternoon, and when we all sat down in the kitchen the family were ready for something to eat. So I got on the phone to our favourite local Canton Chinese take-away. 

 Forty minutes later a very smiley Chinese man appeared at my door holding a white plastic bag full of lovely smelling goodies in one hand; then in the other he held up a piece of paper with the cost scribbled across it. With the tip for the driver it came to £40. I placed all the separate silver trays that contained the food in the centre of the table, each with a serving spoon. Everyone had a plate, and then we all took turns to dish up whatever food took our fancy.

 By seven thirty we were all in our jim-jams (including my mother) curled up on the sofas' watching the usual Saturday night fair on television. The type of T.V shows that generally us boys finding boring, but which the women find highly addictive. By nine thirty everyone was tucked up in bed exhausted from the days work in the garden, and with a belly full of South East Asian food. 

 On Sunday morning we gently arose at our own pace, and once everyone was up I cooked a traditional English breakfast with lashings of hot steaming tea. Mother stated she hadn't slept so well since Tadger my step-father passed away. In both my books, Frenzy a Daniel Jones Story and in Daniel Jones Doom there is a character named Badger who I based on Tadger, and he also appears in the third book in the series titled Revenge. His real name was William Cassidy and was given the nick-name Tadger many years ago. There is a story of how he got this name, but that's best left for another time and place.

 By lunch time we were walking around Highways Garden Centre. It's more of a department store with a large garden section added on these days, but it's my mum's favourite one, and we like it too. By six in the evening we had all returned home after dropping off mother in Lowestoft, and we sat down tea and cake for supper.

 It was a lovely family weekend and one I think most people would also enjoy, but probably don't get around to doing. It's so easy to always think you will spend more time with your parents. You always expect them to be there, and that they will never die. But they do!

 I'm just glad I took the chance while I still could.

 Regards

 Mark.
Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)