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Without Fear or Favour
Words & Emotions flow through each other and land on the page. Raw and Ragged.
This is a collection of poems examining the tricks of the mind, imagination and what is in front of you. Calm and conflict collide, while nature runs its course. Then there are my observations, my truth and questions, always questions. The words within, that tumbled out of my mind over many years have been grouped together as a work called ‘Without Fear or Favour.’ This all about the impact of life on words; which is why this work, which is ragged round the edges, has left me.
When I was 22 [1976] in Ireland, my first visit to Baltovin in County Kerry in the West of Ireland, I sat on an old stone wall outside the family farm. I remember looking across the fields to the distant Atlantic, and as the wheat rustled in the wind beneath a blazing Sun, I thought I can travel everywhere from here and never need to move. Sitting here where l do, writing, it strikes me as l look across a busy road that my mind is the window to everything, and if I search long enough I will see what I need to, if I have long enough. So, I was right all those years ago and have wasted a lot of time travelling in the wrong direction, not all of it, but most of-it! Journeys are uniquely our own and unfinished as this work is, if I ever dedicate anything, it will be to Micky upon whose beach my shipwreck landed. It was Micky who released me and my words. How does poetry emerge. From within of course, it comes from mood and experience or memory, coupled with observation of everything around you. Hope and Fear are there too, lurking, silent influencers, potent and fearsome in equal measures. It might be that these poems have always been there like eggs waiting to be hatched. So ‘within’ is the word I return to. This work is not contrived or revised. The words emerged as I thought of something or someone, or about an experience I had or one I was about to.
UncategorizedDec 31st, 20170 comments
Red Chameleons. Nearly a year later.
Red Chameleons, nearly a year after the election in the USA remains relevant in its prediction. I would be interested to hear from other authors whose work has frightened them because it has become more and more relevant years after they first chiselled their story.
Blog Ideas News Poetry UncategorizedDec 31st, 20170 comments
Red Chameleons.
After the slaughter of the Czar following the Russian revolution in 1917, The Agenda to bring back a successor is drawn up by The White Russians and Cossacks from the Ukraine. They promise that no one will get in their way and that The Agenda’s goals will be achieved over their dead bodies if necessary. Time is of no consequence; sons inherit their father’s oath and Devchenko, The Whites leader enforces it ruthlessly.
Another purpose of The Agenda is to neutralise the threat of the USA to Russia and its republics. To achieve this, The Whites plan to remove the ability of the USA to defend itself, destroy its economy and to control its President
The plot is hatched in the Ukraine immediately after the Russian Revolution and unfolds over many years; there is carnage and deception throughout.
This all started 1993 when I first wrote this book. The cover design came about because last year I found the following article on The Daily Express website, a British newspaper:
http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/586470/Russia-royal-family-Vladimir-Putin-reinstate-Tsar-Nicholas-Second-Romanov <https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/wN46BsY32eYuk>
The relevancy of my book has been re-inforced by a Reuters article on Tuesday 26th July. This was Just before Hilary Clinton attended the Democratic Conference to confirm her candidacy.
http://www.reuters.tv/v/Csg/2016/07/28/russia-denies-blame-for-dnc-email-fiasco
The first article was somewhat of a coincidence because the Russian’s had already attempted to invade the Ukraine, which is where The White Russian’s and Cossacks came from, who are pivotal in my book, which I thought I had lost after several moves.
God only knows why, but after searching high and low, I found an envelope marked Danger Everywhere on my bookshelf. Inside were three floppy discs,’ but I had no hardware that could read them.
After buying a floppy disc reader, I discovered that my book was in a format no longer used. Overcoming this obstacle, I discovered that I couldn’t remember exactly what I had written. 165,000 words later I realised that I had and have something worth pursuing because of the subject matter.
The book contains elements of violence and mild erotica. There is also espionage, money laundering and the involvement MI5 and the FBI.
Please contact me and let me have your comments and suggestios
Blog BooksOct 6th, 20160 comments
Found dead in bed
The Doctor said.
How did he die?
And please don’t lie,
I asked knowing the answer.
It was the strife of life,
No nagging wife,
Just the accumulation,
Of the strife of nations.
It wasn’t caused by the bottle of vodka before lunch,
His brunch,
Or the Ketemin or amphetamine;
Nor the extra jab of Insulin,
Who knows?
He tried that once before,
That time someone broke down the door!
Blog PoetrySep 7th, 20140 comments
A prayer to the Patriarchs
We demand that you our patriarchs,
You the prince and sons of creation,
You the givers of life,
of magic and wisdom protect us in this our hour of need in this place devoid of your presence,
Where your names are but a distant and denied memory,
Save us so that as fathers and sons we may rise again against the enemies of purity and truth.
We with our heads in the jaws of death,
We who are the shadows of men.
We who darkness has spawned from depths of the stars,
Followers of the night,
Seekers of the rainbow light,
Will fall on our swords so bright,
And never giving up the fight,
Until the last of us has fallen when time shall cease,
Rather than give up the three worlds to the beast.
Blog PoetrySep 7th, 20140 comments
After Four Years
After four years & may be more.
I see surviving words that have gone before,
I welcome them as a friend,
Hoping that I am close to the end,
Which is no more than a beginning.
But my god,
I have been a stubborn sod,
And have only myself to blame,
When seeking fame,
And using time,
Which cannot really be measured,
But is mine.
Then I end up crying when I see words and time spent on them crumble,
When first time round I should have listened and been more humble.
But listen to who,
Myself or you,
For whom I now edit and read,
And for whom I bleed,
Hoping that I will know why,
Before I die.
Blog PoetrySep 7th, 20140 comments
Blog Tour.
This Blog Tour:
The Author, John T O’Halloran comments on the tour and answers some questions:
It has already been said that it is a wonderful idea to have a blog tour, ‘focussing on the people that really matter: not the authors, but our characters.’ Jane Cable put me on to this http://janecable.com/media/4577820463 and [email protected]. What an adventure she has had, but so have my characters The Magii, the four original magicians of this world who revealed themselves to protect us.
What are the names of your character’s, are they fictional or a historic?
I have Satan, Hermes and The Smith as brothers, the original characters who have represented: Evil, Peace and the middle way, or balance and judgement between two opposing forces. Evil and Peace have their own armies, and the Judge has his own enforcers, what has changed! However it is The Magii who emerge in this, our world to protect us from the results of The Second Conflict. See: http://amzn.to/1htJR0Y
When and where is the story set?
First of all the story is set in Near Earth, where jealousies fester amongst the angels of the creator. Ultimately there is a war and Satan and his followers are cast out of that world into The World of Men, where they plan their revenge, which leads to The Second Conflict.
What should we know about the heroes and villains?
All we need to know is that there is love and betrayal, and that truth like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder
What is the main conflict?
Jealousy and a desire for control, where the stakes increase to the point where The Final Conflict http://amzn.to/HEXs5h approaches, which could result in total annihilation, or worst still, our acceptance of rules and sentiments we have constantly denied.
What is the goal of series?
It is an attempt to understand exactly how low we will stoop to survive and, who we will sacrifice in the process.
Is there a working title for this novel if it is a WIP, and can we read more about it?
Both The Second Conflict and The Final Rite have been self-published. The last book will show us love and denial and how we deal with these emotions. No title yet, because the pen is in charge and leading him hither and whither
When can we expect the book to be published?
When it is finished, hopefully to coincide with the season of Goodwill.
Bio
John lives in West Dean, near Chichester. His love of writing left him looking into a dark abyss with these two books, but like Leonard Cohen, he knows that there is a chink in everything, which is how the light gets in, which leaves John eternally optimistic about the outcome of the last book in the Children of Adam Trilogy. He is also editing a book about the new Cold War.
John still likes rugby, good wine and currently lives in West Sussex with his partner Micky, where with her support, he is currently writing the final book in this series. He has also been delighted to join with other local authors; see www.chindi-authors.co.uk
Blog IdeasAug 21st, 20140 comments
