For those who very kindly drop by from time to time, you may have felt I had dropped off the planet, I am still ticking over down here in what is now, sunny, Mid Wales. Time has flown and things have moved on. It has been definitely interesting times, but some people have it worse, […]
Forest Brothers is finished and out in the public domain. Finnish Boys (working title) is work in progress, but definitely a project that is at a standstill from my output. I have completed the first draft, it is now with my lovely alpha readers and I await their input. If all goes well, I hope […]
How does a book like Forest Brothers come together? What are the stages that turn a group of ideas or concepts into a feature length story? I recently read a great article by a fellow LWC writer – Glyn Iliffe. In it, he sets out how he puts together his historical novels. Glyn’s work to […]
The novel set in second world war Estonia and prequel to Forest Brothers, by the way. All you hopeful teenagers will have to look on other sites for your kicks. 🙂 To give you an idea of the process; The novel is about 90% complete or at least to first draft. Once I have written […]
Deep sympathy for those affected by the Latvian disaster. you are in my thoughts and many of my compatriots.
As today is Armistice Day, I thought I would drop in a small essay i wrote in memory of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers and their battle of Mametz Wood in the First World War. My uncle was RWF and he fell in Pascendaele, the ripples of his loss were felt in my family even when […]
Welcome to readers who have come from the link provided from the British Estonian Association (BEST), for whom I am giving a talk on November 21st in the Estonian embassy in London. I am really looking forward to the event. I will be giving a talk on the Estonian-based novel ‘Forest Brothers’ and the writing process. […]
My thanks to my lifelong friend, Dr Paul Brooksby, who felt inspired to donate a copy of Forest Brothers to the Shetland Bus museum in Scalloway. I don’t know what they made of it! The Norwegian navy were based in Shetland during the war and launched resiatnace operations to Nazi-occupied Norway. Their exploits are legendary […]
Q. So what’s it about? A. It’s a prequel to the novel ‘Forest Brothers’. It is set in 1941 during the first Soviet invasion and starts on the eve of the Red Terror, when 10,000 people were deported to Siberia. the story ends where Forest Brothers begins – on the shores of the North coast, […]
Kautla is a forest. Kautla is a lake. Kautla is also a land of great serenity and great pain. I had asked to visit this place, lying south of Tallinn and just off the road to Tartu. It is part of Kõrvemaa and one of many places that combines large farming fields with dense forests. It was […]