As well as being a bit of a foodie, I get pleasure from writing. The first book I wrote was a few years ago and was called ‘Paperchase’. Recently, I made some considerable edits and cut out a few (unnecessary) parts of the story, so the book is leaner and fitter. I also renamed it ‘Chasing Paper’ to avoid any confusion.
Chasing Paper came about because, way back in the early 1980’s I was running a building company in Norfolk, England. I won’t bore you with the details but, not to put too fine a point on it, my partner screwed me over for more than £25,000 ($40,000) – about £75,000 ($120,000) in today’s money. Looking back, I have nobody to blame but myself: I trusted him and he grabbed the opportunity to save his own business at my expense. It left a nasty, bitter taste in the mouth, but my lesson was learned and I never again placed that amount of trust in any business partner!
What I did do, though, was to write Chasing Paper twenty years later because it was both catharcic and also it had the makings of a good plot. Naturally, I had to embellish the story and then take the main character much further than anything I had ever experienced myself, but I guess that’s what lots of writers do…
NOTE: Chasing Paper is FREE in e-book format.
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CHASING PAPER
“I started at five, but Tweedle didn’t even move – got to four, and he just pulled on his fag – three, and he blew smoke at me – two, and his eyes lit up, like the cavalry had come over the hill – one and the bloody lights went out.”
“What? You mean someone turned them out?”
“Not quite, this bastard woman chucked a rug over my head and just took the gun away, calm as you like.”
“What bastard woman?” Dave asked, wide eyed.
Ian laughed, but it was a moping laugh of resignation. “No idea who she was, old son. Tall bird. Legs right up to her bum. When I got the rug off my head, she just stood there, behind me, bollock naked and pointing your gun in my face.”
“Bollock naked?”
“Bollock naked. She was a good-looker, I can tell you. Mid twenties, long dark hair, good tits, slim.”
“And pointing a Browning in your face.”
“Exactly.”
“And then what? Why didn’t she call the police or whatever?”
“I’ve no idea, old mate. She even knew who I was – called me Ian, straight away.”
“What did she say to you? What did Tweedle do?”
“Tweedle sat calmly watching everything. It was like he was in a dream. Didn’t say a single word – just had a silly grin on his face. The girl took the syringe off him and put it on the table.”
“Are you sure he wasn’t drunk?”
Ian drained his glass, savouring the taste and smell of the hops. “Fairly certain. It was something else, Dave. I thought about it afterwards and wondered if it was drugs.”
“What? Tweedle?”
“Well, when Snaefell Homes collapsed, and Sean put pressure on him, it was because he’d found out that Tweedle was buying drugs from George Riley. Sean threatened Tweedle that he’d shop him to the police.”
“What? George Riley as in… er… George Riley?”
“The same. Anyway, Sean didn’t think that Tweedle was buying them for himself, but maybe he was wrong – maybe he was. I’d always assumed they were for Ron Scott, but I’m beginning to wonder now.”
“Jesus, boss, what an evening. Do you want another pint?”
Ian straightened his shoulders, which had become hunched during the conversation. He tried to straighten his thoughts, but couldn’t. “Yeah, go on, why not?”
A great can’t put it down read. I wished that I was on holiday so that I could read it without interruption!By Amazon Customer on 23 July 2016
I loved this book and couldn’t wait to read the next in the series. The characters are hugely likeable (Ian) and delightfully despicable (Tweedle) making them feel both real and lasting presences long after the book is read. Its great when you find an author, who’s voice you really like, and when you look for another book by them you find that there it is already waiting for you. And not just one more…..
It will keep you guessing till the endBy mousyb on 22 August 2016
This thrilling story hooked me. This novel is almost a film synopsis: places and situations are accurately and humourously described; and the characters come to life under your eyes. The end totally caught me by surprise.
Image used and published according to the licence granted by the artist
Sometimes you know you have a busy afternoon planned so you want dinner to cook itself. And so it can with 
I’m not huge fan of apple pies but 
Things are quiet in France at this time of the year. Initially, the weather was unsettled but, by the beginning of April, the sun came out and we were able to get some walks in the forest. The Forest of Saint-Germain-en-Laye is a relic of a more ancient Forest which became a royal domain and hunting grounds of the Kings of France who resided at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Henry IV and Louis XIII of France often used the forest for fox hunting. It’s a forest of 35 km2 which lies in a meander of the River Seine and is composed of mainly oak and beech. It is now bordered by built up areas and divided by communication links but has the advantage of being just 300m from where we live! Within a couple of weeks, there will be little blue sky to see as the canopy fills in for the summer.
A couple of weeks ago, Marie-Danielle’s cousin, Nadia, came to see us from Bordeaux for a couple of days. During that time, we served her and her husband, Michel, 
After a long “appero” where everybody did a bit of catching up, we served 
We often treat ourselves to 
Preparation really is 90% of the job! One of the recipies I love is 
Our friends Jill and Bruno are, like us, a French-British couple only the other way round – Jill is British and Bruno is French. They live close to us on the Isle of Man and Bruno is a 
Bruno has the same “challenges” and one of the things he misses is that famously French sausage called andouillette. Andouillette is a coarse-grained sausage made with pork intestines (or chitterlings, as we know them in Britain) pepper, wine, onions, and seasonings. True andouillette is shaped like an oblong tube. If made with the small intestine, it is a plump sausage generally about 1″ (2.5cm) in diameter but often it is much larger and stronger in scent when the colon is used. The andouillette has a strong, distinctive odour related to its intestinal origins and component parts. In fact, it is this odour (and subsequent taste) that turns me off this “delicacy”. I have tried eating bits of them several times, but simply do not appreciate them as many in France do. We all have foods like that, which simply don’t “suit” us.
We didn’t do a starter course as such, we simply ‘extended the choices’ of the aperitif. In addition to the usual olives and nibbly biscuits, we provided some slightly more ‘substantial’ fare like quails eggs and toasts with 
And so to the pièce de résistance, the main course! I believe I’ve mentioned before on this blog that Jill is not vegetarian, but she won’t eat anything that had four legs when it was alive. She’s fine with poultry and fish so I did 
What we didn’t know when we planned to hijack Terry’s birthday was that it was Julie’s birthday on 31st December. And what they didn’t know (until M-D told them) was that it’s mine on 6th January. So you can imagine that the aperitif was more alcoholic than normal (and normal is pretty good!). We repeated a little fun presentation that we had done at Christmas by making a 
Our starter for the meal was a combination of 
For the main course, we repeated a dish that had served us well at Christmas – 
I have a niece called Rebecca who, a year or so ago, went to live in New Zealand with her new partner, Robin. Since then, we’ve all got to “know” Robin via Facebook, but none of us had actually met him. Rebecca decided to rectify this gap in our knowledge and she and Robin came to the Isle of Man to spend Christmas and New Year with her parents (my brother and his wife, Steve and Jeanette). And so, on Christmas day, we at last met Robin and discovered for ourselves what a really nice guy he is.
As a starter, we tried a little recipe of tuna-stuffed eggs which, I have to say, was rather uninspiring and it’s one we won’t be repeating.So, rushing past the bad news and onto the main course, we’d done one of our favourites, 
For Christmas, Marie-Danielle had bought me a case of Chateauneuf-du-Pape (both red and white) so, never being one to waste a good Christmas present, we enjoyed both the red and the white with this meal and it truly was a great Christmas gift (I even have a few bottles left!). Robin is a programmer and runs his own company, 
After a “Trou Normand” (calvados, served over sorbet) we moved on to the cheeseboard before actually celebrating the changing of the years and watching the London firworks on TV. After the last firwork had died out, we sat down to Orange Carpaccio with Gâteau Creusois which proved to be an excellent way to end a family New Year meal and welcome in another year of culinary delights!
The postscript to this pleasant evening was that, the following day, Robin and Rebecca braved the harsh Manx winter and took part in the New Year’s Day swim on Peel beach. Dressed as viking invaders, they did New Zealand proud! A couple of days later, they left the island and (going via England and Paris) they eventually found their way back to New Zealand with temperatures of 31ºC (91ºF)!