Here I am at the edge

They Shall not be Forgotten. November 1st is the day nobody remembers; as Christians, I feel we should celebrate All Souls Day  more. The day is to recall the people who died and never got buried, whether their death was caused by war or some other demise.  I had an uncle in the RNLI who was part of the crew and was awarded a gold medal for bravery in rescuing a Polish tanker that was stranded on the sand bar near Redcar-on-Tees . RNLI is short for Royal Lifeboat National Institution which is a charity in the UK. I wrote the book above several years ago to commemorate my grandfather and all the people whose lives were changed after World War One . My ebook Lifeboat Heroes is a semi-fictional account of the rescue my late uncle took part in; to my family, I am a hero for being awarded the General Service Medal for serving in Ireland during the troubles, but I was never near the front, so I don't think I deserve a medal. I was stationed at RAF Aldergrove over 20 miles from the...

  Editor's Choice My first attempt to get a short story published was on the Indies United site. My story From Elgar is about the difference WWi made to lives during the 1920's.  The story is written as a commemoration to all the people whose lives changed during those four years of hell, not only the soldiers but those at home. I started writing my story, but after several enforced changes I realised I wasn't writing my story, but a sanitized edition to please the editor . I think that is why I decided to self-publish my work. In retrospect, my first choice of a publisher for my series of short stories was rather ambitious. In my defense, the house was set up to publish the works of H.P.Lovecraft , who I was told my award winning stories resemble in style. At the time, the house was run by the niece of August De'Ath . I keep forgetting these, and my other books can be bought from the Goodreads site.

  They gave their lives Some people remember the end of World War 1 at the 11th hour, of the 11th day of the 11th month with a minutes silence; others remember those who gave their lives each day - I am one. I wrote this short story as a remembrance of the grandfather I never knew; we moved south before I had the opportunity to get to know him. My life is a testament to the strength of British steel over a German bayonet; my grandfather was bayonetted in the trenches, but lived because the bayonet broke, to his dying day he bore the hole in his head were the blade hit but never penetrated. I took the title from the two composers who typified the outlook of the period. In  Elgar 's time the view was the British Empire would push the hun back to Germany in no time, and then our men would come home safe. In four dreadful years, the view was that we'd been lucky to come back, a time depicted beautifully, if sadly by the tune The Lark Ascending by   Vaughan William...

We shall remember them. From Elgar to Vaughn Williams      https://www.draft2digital.com/book/32122   is a short story I wrote to commemorate the fallen of the many wars.  My late grandfather was saved by his helmet after being bayoneted in the trenches.  The lark ascending by Vaughan Willams is a tune that always brings tears to my eyes, it exemplifies the massive changes that #WW1 brought to the UK. So many large families lost heirs that the workforce returned to the farms and left the big houses in ruins.

Thank a vet for your freedom If you have your freedom, thank your #ArmedForces http://alsdomain.weebly.com/at-the-blogstop/lest-we-forget#.Wf8IwyK0Prc / https://hereiamattheedgeblogspotcouk.wordpress.com/2017/11/03/1658 / https://hereiamattheedge.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/at-11th-hour.html#.Wf8JDiK0Prd

Ghost story praises This message was sent earlier today by a reader in  Hawaii  -  Thanks for liking ghost stories n thanks for the awesome reads  https://www.draft2digital.com/book/32122

World War 1 Years ago when we lived in  Yorkshire , we would visit my late grandfather, and I would be enthralled by his wartime stories of  WW1 , although outside of our visits he never mentioned the war; like many of generation, he preferred to forget the horrors he'd seen. This generation was known as "The Lost Generation "  https://hereiamattheedge.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/the-lost-generation.html#.WaXUr8h97IU   because so many brave men and women died fighting what they thought would be the war to end all wars. The funny part of this story is when I think about now, and joining the local community center; I have become one of the people with stories to tell - truth be told - I never thought I'd see 30, never mind 61

Trenches of Verdun Until you've stood in the trenches, as I did at Verdun , you have no idea how much damage is done psychologically to the men who see their victim fall. Their only solace was "It's either him or me."

A writing retreat Writing last night's post, The Vagrant Journalist abroad   brought to mind the era of the great writers, and how they would sit on the Paris sidewalks and talk as they wrote. It was a hard time for many of the generation known as The Lost Generation ; they'd come through a war and lost close friends, you can't blame them for living in the moment.

Armistice Day At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, the guns fell silent, and four years of terrors came to an end.  The Lost Generation A generation of young people went to war believing they'd come back heroes in a few months. Four years later, those who did return came back with minds and bodies torn to pieces and were never the same. Is it any surprise that after such horror that generation lived for the moment.

In memory November is here and to the many the next thing is Bonfire night . As an animal lover, I plead with you to make sure our furry friends are safe, they can't understand the noises and flashes and don't forget to check your wood for hedgehogs - to them, a pile of timber is a place to stay warm. Not that I need reminding, to me November means one thing - remembering the fallen and damaged lives, who gave their lives for our freedom. Being ex-services, I carry with me a constant reminder of my days in the Royal Air Force . My left tendon ripped, and I am waiting for the right muscle to become torn. Two years ago, I wrote my story   From Elgar to Vaughan Williams   as a commemoration of what became known as The Lost Generation .  Young men and women who went to war, and returned broken in spirit - some scars are not physical - I knew a man who had nightmares about the Burma railway death marches. I dedicated my book to my late grandfather w...

Back from the brink When you're down - which I am at the moment - you tend to get stranger than usual ideas and in my case, that says a lot.  Last night I was chatting with some good friends about my decision to declassify myself as a writer as I haven't done anything more than this blog all year, and I am not worried - which would usually worry me. During our chat, the subject came to mind that I almost died in my sleep two years a short story called Death of a newshound   https://www.draft2digital.com/book/62636   has been   written about the night. FREE READING  That's correct this harrowing story is free on Draft2Digital . I must warn you, my friend Julia who read the story, asked me to change a few things so my friends wouldn't get scared. Such is my talent at writing, even now, I write so well I can scare people who know me well. The night in question came at the end of a week when I almost choked to death twice, and I was worn out from...

Armistice Day Last year, I planned to write a family-friendly story to commemorate the centenary of the outset of The Great War .  Johnny and his grandfather The story - Johnny and his grandfather - would have told the story of a veteran of the First World War taking his grandson to visit a war memorial for the what might be the final time. With one thing and another going on, I never got more than the opening page written, mainly because until a few months ago, I couldn't find a photo I took at Staithes , North Yorkshire  that I was going to use for the cover.  From Elgar to Vaughan Williams This short story  http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00BNDHL0U   is the story I wrote to commemorate the fallen of the wars.  I won't deny writing the story made me cry. It was a very emotional story for me to write. Ghosts don't dance On a similar theme is my short Ghosts don't dance   http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00GXSY8F6 . The story, in this case...

How lives got changed forever Gertrude Stein   It was American authoress Gertrude Stein   http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/gertrude-stein   who coined the term "The Lost Generation http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/features/amliteuro/lostgen.html ," about the age of writers like herself who went to war in 1914, and whose lives were never the same. Artists all The Lost Generation included famous names such as    F. Scott Fitzgerald , [1]   T. S. Eliot ,  James Joyce ,  Sherwood Anderson ,  John Dos Passos ,  John Steinbeck ,  William Faulkner ,  Waldo Peirce ,  Isadora Duncan ,  Abraham Walkowitz ,  Alan Seeger ,  Franz Kafka ,  Henry Miller ,  Aldous Huxley ,  Louis-Ferdinand Céline ,  Erich Maria Remarque   and the composers   Sergei Prokofiev ,  Paul Hindemith ,  George Gershwin , and Aaron Copland .    Life takes a new meaning whe...

Ghosts of WW1 In this age when you can kill a person without seeing them through the use of technology ; one of the most moving events in my life was standing in the trenches at Verdun . There are few men who fought in World War 1 alive, soon this will apply to World War 2 . At the beginning of WW1, the British went to war thinking the Empire would see the war over by Christmas, the war was the biggest social upheaval of its time. Many of the wealthy familes sent sons, brothers, and husbands to war as officers, while the workers went as enlisted men. However, a bullet knows no social boundary, and will kill the rich as easily as the poor.  The war brought the end of what was known as "The lads regiments," these were regiments fromed from men from the same town, or city. So many died, the whole social stratus collapsed. The title of my short sory refers to how the UK viewed life before and after The Great War , then men went to war with the sound of Edward Elgar 's ...