Book Excerpts

Comment by Patfen on December 23, 2011 at 7:04am

Thanks Anna:-)

I've written from personal experience.

The yacht is a Sunseeker and like all big motor yachts it has both an inside (protected) and outside (open) console. I had my own motor sailor until five years ago, and also I often skippered for one of the local hotel  yachts, so I know the layout and actually went through the motions of the drama that I've written, (mostly in book one) apart from exploding the thing, of course, LOL! On the sundeck, where the outside console is, the bench-seats have hinged tops and inside these lockers the owner usually stores the fishing rods, diving paraphernalia, warps, and life jackets, including the parragathi, a woven basket with up to fifty meters of hooked line coiled inside. It is a luxury recreational boat, common here in Greece.

(Chapter one) interesting comment. If I have a nightmare it's  the physical jerk of my body that wakes me, and I did ask several friends of their experience.

This, Poseidon't Trident, is book two of a trilogy, so although each story stands alone, Greeks Bearing Gifts, book one, leads the players to this point.

Thanks very much for taking the time to comment. I'm thrilled that you sound a little intrigued. The novels are published by AUK and available on Amazon.

Patricia. 

Comment by Anna L. Walls on December 23, 2011 at 8:13am

There's one rule I follow - basically it's the first rule of writing I learned.

"If there's ever anything you need to explain ->put it in the book<-

In other words, you might know a lot about this boat and therefore the name will tell you all you need to know, but though I work at a fishing lodge and drive a boat to work (during the summer) the boats I'm familiar with are all 14', 16' and 18' open boats run by a tiller handle motor of various sizes and brands. Of course, if your previous book goes through all this description only a small reminder would be necessary here. Just keep in mind, it's possible that a reader will find book 2 before bood 1.

Comment by Patfen on December 23, 2011 at 8:52am

"If there's ever anything you need to explain ->put it in the book<-

This, of course, is true, but I do feel some authors go over the top showing off their knowledge and sometimes it takes away from the pace of the novel. And pace is very important in an entertaining read.

Kathy Reichs, for example. After reading a couple of her books I find myself skipping the lengthy medical descriptions. I'm a great fan of hers, but sometimes her display of knowledge halts the story, and I don't feel she has to explain every minute detail. I trust that she knows what she is talking about.

Thanks again for taking the time.

Patricia.

Comment by Anna L. Walls on December 23, 2011 at 7:25pm

Oh sure, you're right there. I go with visual; if your reader needs to see something in order to understand the scene, then they need to see it. I too would (and have) skipped lengthy description. Such things are risky to include in your story for that very reason. Once a reader gets bogged down in a description, they could simply put the book down and never pick it up again, as a new more interesting read comes along. The Wheel of Time Compendium is a prime example. Chocked full of beautifully detailed descriptions of everything, it's very well written but way too detailed. I'm usually like 'get on with the story already'.

Comment by Patfen on December 23, 2011 at 8:19pm

Ta, Anna.

I guess, to cut it short, I strove to write more of a holiday read than a masterpiece :-) 

My original concept was to produce an entertaining novel that brought the thrill of Greek archaeology to the hordes of sun-worshipers that arrive here, in Crete, every summer. Most of them are hardly aware of the exciting historical treasures of this country. Now, with the flourish of all-inclusive holidays, so many never even leave their hotel to discover the rich and exciting ancient history of Greece. 

To many people look on archaeology as a boring pile of old stones, so I spliced it with love, lust, and murder.

Comment by Anna L. Walls on December 24, 2011 at 9:51am

Ooh awesome, Maybe someday I can come visit. But in reality, I'll likely never make it. I guess I'll just have to buy your books and live there vicariously. haha

Going to write them down on my wish list now.

Merry Christmas by the way.

Comment by Patfen on December 24, 2011 at 10:59am

Bless you, thanks!

Have a wonderful holiday, Anna.

Comment by Randal Agostini on January 12, 2012 at 10:13pm

Comment by Randal Agostini

To be a Pilot by Randal Agostini

THE DEVILS TRIANGLE

Th e name applies to an area of ocean that roughly falls within a

triangle made from joining the points of Cape Canaveral, Bermuda

and Puerto Rico. For several years I fl ew through the area about four

times per week and it was during that time that it once again made

news headlines. I found most of the stories diffi cult to believe but over

a period of ten years, there were two occasions, when caused me to

believe that the name might have been well earned through a natural

explanation.

If you view a national weather report on television you will notice

that during wintertime all the fronts disappear off the screen to the

right into an area that is known as Th e Devils Triangle. In summertime,

most of the hurricanes that approach the east coast turn north and east

away from land and pass into the same area. Over the years the winter

storms and summer hurricanes have caused much consternation to

those who have sailed the seas of the Devils Triangle.

Th ere are other contributing ingredients such as the Gulf Stream,

which begins life off the West coast of South Africa as a cold current. As

it fl ows North towards the Equator it starts to warm and when it meets

that huge bulge of the African continent made up of the countries

of Ghana, the Ivory Coast, and Liberia, it is forced to turn west. It’s

journey across the Atlantic at the Equator takes over two years during

which time the water temperature rises to over eighty degrees. It is in

this region that Hurricanes are spawned.

Eventually the Gulf Stream winds its way through the Caribbean

and heats up even more, which is why the surf temperature in Miami

during December is still nearly 80 degrees. As it moves up the East

To Be a Pilot  109

coast of Florida the current is turned North East and once more heads

out over the Atlantic bound for Ireland and England. From the air the

Gulf Stream is very evident as its boundaries resemble the banks of

an enormous river and are easily seen from altitude. I have observed

violent and sudden changes in weather, which are the result of an

unstable cool continental air mass meeting and moving across the

warm waters of the Gulf Stream.

One morning we were fl ying North through the Devils Triangle, in

a cloudless sky, on our way to New York. About eighty miles distant we

observed a small line of clouds stretching across our path. Th is posed

no problem, as none of the clouds were more than 10,000 ft high

and we were cruising at 35,000 ft . Eighty miles is about ten minutes

fl ying time in a jet aircraft . Five minutes later at about 40 miles the

clouds had grown suffi ciently so as to appear on our Radar screen.

Within another two minutes we were actually able to see the vertical

movement of the developing storms. Within two more minutes we

were forced to alter course in order to avoid entering any of the vicious

storms that were by then punching through our cruising altitude. It

was a remarkable and vivid demonstration of nature in action.

In less than ten minutes a peaceful sky had turned into a dark and

violent maelstrom. I could only imagine what this must have looked

like at sea level. Th is event took place exactly at the Northern edge of

the Gulf Stream as it passed through the Devils Triangle.

On another occasion three of us were positioning an empty

707 from Toronto to Trinidad late at night. Without the weight of

passengers and their baggage we were able to climb up to a cruising

altitude of 41,000 ft . On such a trip there was little to do except give

position reports about every twenty minutes. As the fi rst offi cer I had

the least work to do, and so the dinner duty fell to me. I was to warm

up the prepared meals in the forward galley oven and serve them to

the rest of the crew. When we had all fi nished eating our dinner, we

exchanged small talk to keep ourselves awake and alert.

Suddenly there was a loud bang and the aircraft lurched violently.

We were dumbfounded and worried, as something must have hit the

 110 Randal Agostini

aircraft . Th e wing lights were switched on and the Flight Engineer was

sent to make a visual check. In the meantime Sonny Steel and I made

a thorough check of the cockpit instruments and waited for the next

foot to fall, but there was nothing.

Some minutes later the Flight Engineer returned and reported

nothing unusual. I was then asked to take a look. With no moon and

the cabin lights switched off , the only light in the cabin was from the

refl ection of the lights off the wings. I went to the aft of the cabin to

have a look at the stabilizer. Th ere was little one could see except the

tips so I studied them with the aid of my fl ashlight but found nothing.

I then moved up the cabin to get a view of the wings. We had lights

in the fuselage that point out along the tops of the wings to the wing

tips, mainly for icing purposes. Th ey are quite bright and it is possible

to see most of the top of the wing surface and the leading edges of

the engine nacelles. I spent a long time looking. We could not have

shaken so much without some visual confi rmation of an impact. But

there was nothing. Sonny was not convinced so when I returned he

left the cockpit with a fl ashlight. Aft er about ten minutes he returned

with a bewildered expression and nothing further to report. As all the

instruments gave normal readings we continued on our journey.

Upon arrival at Piarco we all once more inspected the exterior of

the aircraft , but found no damage. Just in case, a report was entered in

the Aircraft Log.

A couple of years later I had a similar experience at night when

en route from Trinidad to London. We had burned off suffi cient fuel

so we were able to carry out a step climb up to 37,000 ft . Aft er we

had leveled off and set the cruise power, there was a loud bang, which

shook the airplane violently. I had simultaneously noticed a red fl ash

out of the corner of my right eye. Soon it happened again, but I was

looking out the window and saw the red tongues of fl ame fl ash out of

the front of the engine. Th is indicated that the engine was suff ering

from compressor stall. We had two choices, either to throttle back on

that engine or descend again to our previous altitude. Esmond chose

the latter, and we continued to London in this manner.

To Be a Pilot  111

Th ough the experience and fi ndings were similar. I still don’t believe

that my experience over the Devils Triangle was the same problem

because of the following reasons. Maintenance did not confi rm that

the rigging (control cables) to the engines was improperly set. Nor did

we receive any other cockpit indication that there was a problem with

any engine. It remains just another unsolved Devils Triangle mystery.

Comment by Anna L. Walls on January 13, 2012 at 1:22am

Interesting. I've always found tales of the Devil's Triangle fascinating.

Comment by kjforce on January 14, 2012 at 6:21pm

My books are what I call " bathroom breaks"..they are written for the person who wants the priviledge of stating I read a book this week. You will find my books to be contagious without harsh side effects, like psychological trauma or skin rashes. No animal or children were ever harmed in the process.Look forward to hearing some feed-back on my words of thought.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/70351168/Whatever-I-m-Still-Here

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