Category: HISTORY

27 April Updates – Draft of WWII Drama

I am getting very close to a final draft of the WWII drama Attack Hitler’s Bunker! so hopefully there will be an excerpt from that here next week. For now, however, another excerpt from Worlds Like Dust, this time an amusing one.

Worlds Like Dust
Copyright © 2012 by Lazlo Ferran
All Rights Reserved

(Unedited excerpt)

The four Ischians made a comical sight, squeezing their huge bodies into the small Maintenance POD. With two minutes to go, Luxmi Davidos had just finished rigging the main Nitrogen and Oxygen tanks to explode when she heard a tapping sound beside her. She had just sent the last grunt back with some tools, and grabbed her laser to defend herself.
There was a small grubber tank – filled half way with liquid around a rocky island, next to her. “Oh God, I had forgotten about you. Why the hell did you have to emerge right now! Now I will have to take you too!”
She grabbed an old oily towel, hanging next to a disfunctional diesel engine, and lifted the lid of the tank. Scooping the cat sized, grub-like, wriggling creature, she wrapped it in the towel and stuffed it under her arm.
“Who knows? You may be the only life-form from Earth alive, besides us, when this is all over! Time to go!” Continue reading “27 April Updates – Draft of WWII Drama” →

Just a short update – Aviation Novel WIP

Just a short update as I haven’t posted for a while.

My WWII drama/adventure is going well. Inspired by 633 Squadron it aims to make stars out of Short Stirlings and Hurricanes – quite a tall order. I am approaching the climax and so will have a draft manuscript in the early new year.

I have an erotic psycho-drama which I work on at odd moments and that is really only about a quarter completed as a first draft.

The sci-fi sequel to Iron II: Unknown Place, Unknown Universe is on hold at the moment so that I can complete the WWII story. I only wrote about one chapter early this year. Not sure when I will return to it.

Lastly there is a book on Busking which I am attempting. It’s autobiographical but not meant to be about me really. Its more of a documentary about busking in London in the late 80s and early 90s. I have finished a draft of Chapter One and have rewritten it a number of times. I think I am getting close to the sort of feel I want.

Ordo Lupus 2 update-Engrossed in Writing

It’s been a long time, I know, since the last update. To be honest, I have been heavily engrossed in writing the above manuscript. It’s taken up just about every minute of my spare time. It’s going to be worth it though. I think it’s much more taught than Ordo Lupus I and has a really meaty climax. It still has The Serpent in it but explores the werewolf thing a lot further. The title is a secret: it’s one of those titles that you think, ‘Hey, somebody must have used that before’, and then you realise that they haven’t. So I am not going to tell you in case somebody nicks it.

I also went to the Tower of London last weekend. If you haven’t ever been or haven’t been for a long time (like me) then I thoroughly recommend it. Of course I am fascinated by the 11th, 12th and 13th century anyway but it has a tremendous atmosphere. The White Tower is especially good – with rows of lovely Norman oak beams and huge fireplaces – all original. Big windows too for the day. It’s also surprisingly snug. I think William must have had a great time living there.

They have a few actors dotted about doing their stuff in period costume and I chatted to a lady doing her crocheting. I haven’t a clue what she was talking about! She said something about her husband having been murdered (well, this is the Tower of London!) but the more I tried to talk, the more convoluted her story became. Anyway it was a laugh and the tourists around me seemed quite intrigued.

Contrary to rumour, it’s not to difficult to get in: I went at about 2pm on a Saturday and I queued for about 10 mins for ticket. I didn’t queue at all to get into the Tower. I took hundreds of photos too.

Mysteries and the Lockheed A-12 ‘Oxcart’

Just noticed this – if you look at the Wikipedia entry for the A-12 Oxcart – predecessor to the SR-17 Blackbird – you will see that it says the original test pilot was Bissell and the test pilot of the first SR-71 was a Gilliland in 1964. Now if you are as familiar with the 1964 film 633 Squadron as I am (see my Questionnaire for Cliff Robertson – Cliff’s Response blog for 24 November 2010) you will know very well that Roy Grant’s navigator for one mission is a Bissell and that another pilot is called Gillibrand. Could this be coincidence? It seems even less likely when you realise that the director Walter Grauman was a combat crewman in a B-25 during WWII and mad-keen on aircraft. I wonder if he knew all about the Oxcart programme even then?

I am continuing with the final edit and spell-check of Too Bright the Sun so that I can publish in July.

Wikipedia entry for A-12 Oxcart includes this: Continue reading “Mysteries and the Lockheed A-12 ‘Oxcart’” →

Questions I asked Cliff Robertson about 633 Squadron in 2010

If you’ve watched the popular war movie, you’ve probably asked one of two questions:

Did Cliff Robertson die in 633 Squadron?
Did Roy Grant die in 633 Squadron?

Cliff Robertson answer for 633 Squadron
Cliff Robertson in 633 Squadron

Well, I asked Cliff Robertson while he was alive, and the answer is in this post!

This post has been copied from the original post on my old blog (now deleted – see Reference Note at end of page). It would be a shame to lose it. Cliff, who played Roy Grant in 633 Squadron, was nice enough to reply by letter to a questionnaire I sent him about 633 Squadron. Below is my original letter. (Please note, Cliff did not answer all questions and here I have left the response blank.)

Note: Cliff Robertson died in 2011, but I have left the post in its original form.

Click ‘Continue reading’ below if you want to skip this section to his answers.

Dear Mr Robertson,

633 Squadron is the film in which I first saw you and made me a fan of yours. Ever since then I have sought out any film with you in it and recently, at last, I managed to see Charly (which I have never seen scheduled in England on TV).

633 Squadron has always been a very popular movie in England: filmed at Bovingdon airfield, it was regularly shown on TV during my childhood and is my favourite film. Today I think the film has entered the national psyche and is even the subject of contemporary adverts. The theme music is one of the best-loved pieces of music here and for myself, I never tire of watching your performance as the laconic Roy Grant. I think, more than any other film (certainly on flying or war), it has come to represent the best, something fundamental, about the British character. Many fans would love to know more about the film and about your part: you only have to look at the posts on youtube alongside excerpts (illegal I am sure) of the movie to see how popular it is, and yet you have been almost silent on it. Please Cliff, would you be so kind as to try and find time to answer the following questions for your fans in England (I cannot speak for Wales, Ireland and Scotland but I am sure they feel the same).
A movie and aviation buff. Continue reading “Questions I asked Cliff Robertson about 633 Squadron in 2010” →

Big Boots and Land of the Pharaohs

While on holiday in Spain I had one of those really pleasant serendipitous TV experiences that mark out my TV-watching career. My second or third post on this blog was about the films 633 Squadron and the original Wicker Man, both shown back to back just before New Year’s Day. While I didn’t anticipate these, I often do find myself wishing for films and then, sure enough, within days, they appear on TV.

I had just returned from the beach, had a sleep, had a pizza and loads of chocolate (as you do on holiday), put my feet up on the sofa and started scanning the channels for something to watch. It was about 9.55pm, Telecinco news ends, and most films start around about then. I flicked the channels and saw what looked like a parade in ancient Egypt. I thought, ‘Hmm, dodgy Spanish history programme’ because the colour was like Cinerama or something but no! It actually was the 1955 film Land of the Pharaohs. Only days before, just after I had arrived in Spain, I had laid on the bed and remembered this film. I thought, ‘What I really fancy right now is watching that old Pharaoh film. Been a long time since I saw it’. And now here it was. Continue reading “Big Boots and Land of the Pharaohs” →

Trying to Write High Medieval Poetry

Read two books on holiday in Spain (well actually I am still struggling through the second):
1. Strong of Body, Brave and Noble: Chivalry and Society in Medieval France
by Constance Brittain Bouchard (Paperback)

2. Out of Love for My Kin: Aristocratic Family Life in the Lands of the Loire, 1000-1200 – Hardcover (Apr. 15, 2010) by Amy Livingstone

Both are about the High Medieval (11th-12th century) period in France. The first is great: it reads like a ripping yarn and is full of quotes from the romantic poets of the time and the author’s witty and wry take on male/female relationships at the time. She takes the view (which I agree with) that although women were probably highly repressed at the time they still managed to find ways to express themselves and cope with the world leaving their sanity in tact. Of course I am not an expert about the period but her examples seem to validate her ideas. Continue reading “Trying to Write High Medieval Poetry” →