Thoughts | Guy Portman's Blog

Storms, Sustenance & Soul-Searching

Feb 21 2020

The UK has experienced some wretched weather of late. It hasn’t been that cold, at least not here in the south, but the rain has been something else. First there was Storm Ciara, then Storm Dennis. This rainbow made a fleeting appearance between deluges.

Both my dog and I have been relishing our new piece of furniture. It is proving to be an extremely soporific sofa.

British people generally only eat kebabs when they’re drunk. But the kebab van near me is so good, they are palatable even when sober. I was tipsy when I devoured this x-large one.

Wood pigeon breast is a particularly favourite of mine and readily available here in the countryside.

Currently, I am working on my latest darkly humorous offering. It will probably be of novella length and contain two stories. I will release more information in due course. I have also been trying to garner some interest in my other books. Sales picked up a bit in January, but this month has been disappointing.

Well, hope springs eternal, or at least that’s what they say. Have a good weekend.

Fiction, Food & Flooding

Oct 18 2019

The weather here in South East England has been absolutely wretched of late. Relentless rain, day in, day out. Well, we need it; so I’m told. Some of the roads around my way have flooded. Fortunately, last week I finally sold my little car and upgraded to one with 4-wheel drive capabilities, so I should be okay. She’s a Honda. We’re in that honeymoon stage in our relationship, when everything’s perfect.

With all this rain and the impending darkness as winter looms, one seeks solace in sugar. Or at least I do.

And feeding frenzies too. These pork ribs doused in a rich sauce were sumptuous.

In other news, I am finally back in the writing groove, for want of a better expression. Perhaps the writers amongst you are the same as me. When you don’t write for a while, it is difficult to get back into it, until it becomes part of one’s routine once again.

I am also in the process of seeking for reviews for Golgotha (release date: Dec.3) – the third instalment in the Necropolis Trilogy. Like its predecessors, the book can be read as a standalone novel. It promises to be the best part yet.

Will a sociopath get his way?

And I’ve been making time for some reading. Never read Oscar Wilde before. His humour appeals.

You have to make your own entertainment out here in the sticks. Fortunately, I’m an imaginative person. This is me trying to hypnotise my dog with a piece of spaghetti.

One more thing. My satirical book of vignettes is free at all retailers. This is probably where I’m supposed to insert a ‘for a limited time’ clause to persuade you guys to download it right away. Well, the chances are it will be free for a while so there’s no rush. If you were able to download a copy it would be great; if you actually read it even better; and leave a review; well in that case I would be in heaven. Have a good weekend.

Tomorrow’s World links (some of them at any rate) – Amazon US, Amazon UK, Kobo Ca, Kobo UK.

The Week – the good, the bad & the ugly

Jul 26 2019

Another week bites the dust. I have just come back from a break in The Fens, and am now back at the grindstone trying to make up for lost time. For what it is worth I have categorised the week gone by into three categories.

The Good: There are few things as cathartic as being in the countryside. Here is a photo of a freshly cut Fens field taken shortly before the heatwave began in earnest.

More good … The local pub has Moretti on tap, and the butcher is of exceptional quality.

I wasn’t the only one enjoying The Fen food.

The Bad: I never thought I would live to see the day when it was 30C at 19:30 in Norfolk. I only remember a few days ever reaching that temperature when I was kid. Many will no doubt disagree, but it’s too hot for the UK in my humble opinion. And with the heat came the flies. There were so many on Monday, I could have been in Somalia.

More Bad … Sales of Necropolis and Sepultura (first two instalments in my black comedy trilogy) have been non-existent this past week. They had been performing okay of late. Hopefully this will be rectified soon. That’s called positive thinking.

The Ugly: My friends beat me in our air rifle target competition. Although I’ve had no practice of late it annoyed me immensely, especially considering we were using my gun.