My cousin Jessie and her youngest daughter, Jenna, came to visit today. It was great to catch up over a few hours of chat, laughs and memories.
It's Jessie's birthday tomorrow and I cannot believe it's been 'that many years' since I held her in my arms as a young lad myself... She was only a couple of days old and just been sent home from the maternity unit in Gibraltar.
All these decades later, we remain tight and closer than ever in our exile in the East of England... Self exile BTW.
She is the mother to two wonderful young ladies, Anya and Jenna.
It's hard to accept the 'little ones' are in their teens now. They were my 'testing crowd' for my material. Little jokes, stories and magic tricks I'd put them through (sorry girls).
Julie and I honed our grandparenting skills on them. Although not officially our grandkids, we treated them like they were. Taking them to places, testing our pram skills and enjoying every minute with them.
They are too old to stay at our house now, like they used to.. It's not hip. We used to lie in bed and make up stories, adding bits to the story line as we went along until the story was no longer what it set out as... Like a story line chinese whispers.
However, should they need to, they are always welcome.
They are great kids and have wonderful parents in Jessie and Tony and we are always there for each other...
We may not have lots of money, fast cars, flash jewellery etc but we have pride, love and family... Xxx
I remember growing up in Gibraltar and listening to the many stories my grandad Louis would tell us grandkids about.
We were very close as a family and very protective of each other.
Grandad was the patriarch, he was a leader and very charismatic, far from fearsome but we would all listen to his advice and words of wisdom.
His stories were intertwined with some singing and voice changes. He was a heavy smoker so his gruff voice would make us listen even more intently. He was a great story teller, maybe why I like to write?
They were mainstream themes, issues that we needed to have insight of and learn. This was for our safety but it was delivered through a filtered and Innocent delivery by my abuelo (Spanish for grandad).
I fondly remember the story of 'El mantequero'... I suppose it was the Gibraltarian version of the boogie-man. We used to live near the botanical gardens, it was our playground but we needed to respect that although beautiful, the gardens were dangerous after dark.
El mantequero, the butter man : was apparently a big, evil and immoral man that would leap out if the shadows if he caught you lurking after sundown and take a large, sharp knife out of his hooded coat and cut into your palms, removing the fat from them (butter) that he collected and you would not be seen again.
It was a very effective deterrent for us children for many years.
So much so, I was never comfortable walking through the Alameda Gardens in Gibraltar until my late teens.
When I examine the message and the effect, I realise abuelo was teaching us about being aware of the risk we all had. The metaphor was about paedophile awareness.
On reflection, it worked and it was such a lovely way of keeping us safe. Abuelo loved us and was determined to reduce the risk of harm to my brother, cousins and I.
Have you got any memories that you can share that are similar in nature? Any wise words that are entwined in stories?
This is a rare interview with Gibraltarian author Clara P Ridgeworth. She consented because we both originate from the rock, however I don't know her true identity... We will hopefully find out a little more about why.
Q: Thanks Clara, tell us a little bit about you.
CP : well, I am from Gibraltar, I have written 6 books and Clara P Ridgeworth is obviously not my name, this is a pen name solely due to the contentious nature of Battle of the three miles.
Q: Why have you taken these steps?
CP: I am am based in the North East of England but all my family remain back home in Gibraltar.
I do not want any reprisals against them from our neighbours, Spain, because the book may cause a little tension in an otherwise volatile environment, exacerbated by BREXIT.
Q: can you give us a synopsis of the book, Battle for the three miles?
CP: It is simply every Gibraltarians nightmare, spanish splinter groups, an invasion by Spanish forces and the ensuing battle for that peninsula we call home. It is a work of fiction but a little too close to the truth, especially now...
It takes place on Gibraltar National Day, to make it more poignant and centred on heroism, unity, brotherhood and conviction.
Q:is it anti - Spanish?
CP: No, not at all, quite the converse..
It is a political action thriller that may be a little off type for a woman to write but it's there and I needed to write it.
In reality, the he people of the Campo de Gibraltar all live quite well and freely, they are not to blame or involved in the violence, they unite against the oppressors, show solidarity, brotherhood and friendship.
The cause stems from Madrid and fascist feelings erupting into this. Like I said before, it is not far from the truth as to what is happening at the moment back home.
I would hate to add cause to this but again if I can inspire brotherhood and friendship that can extinguish any thoughts of this, then my job is done.
Q:I've read it and it's a great story but it must be difficult to promote it if you don't want to be recognised?
CP: this is a nightmare, I rely on others to push the book out to others.
I am on twitter with the pseudonym but other social media marketing is more difficult.
Q: Are you writing anything else now?
CP: I am, however under my normal author name. It is a comedy so different to Battle for the three miles.
Thank you and food luck with the book.
For those interested in getting a copy of Battle for the three miles... Click here
READ AND ENJOY.
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I always remember my first stint of night duty as a fresh green 1st year nursing student.
It was in the old colonial hospital in Gibraltar, also known as St Bernard's hospital.
It was an ancient building, full of history and stories of ghostly apparitions aplenty.
I was working on the male medical ward., John ward.
It was an acute medical ward taking admissions of all sorts, Cardiac, Respiratory, Gastro etc.
Shirts were from 8pm to 8am and there were only 2 of us on duty on a night shift with the night sister popping around at 10pm and 2am on her rounds.
The shift had been particularly eventful and we'd had two deaths on the ward that night.
8am was approaching and the day shift were trickling in. Pale and bleary eyed from a nights sleep, we looked pale and bleary eyed from the lack of sleep.
The charge nurse asked how the night had panned out?
I gave him a quick summary, including the two deaths and what he said after changed me.
'Did you see the Nun? '
' what Nun? ' was my reply... Intrigued.
He continued to tell me the story of the Nun of Death that appeared every time someone passed away on the ward.
I never did get to see her but she inspired me to write Phantasms in the Infirmary decades later.
The story also made me very uneasy on night shifts from then on... Unsurprisingly!
First book is available in Spanish too..
Here is a link to my author page on Amazon
A really brave novel written by a fellow author, Battle For The Three Miles.
A Gibraltar based story at a discount from fellow author... Who remains an enigma.
The book written by unknown author CP Ridgeworth.
I am not sure who she is but have read the book and it is a cataclysmic story of what could happen.
I read it on kindle and enjoyed the experience.
The author builds up the characters and the story behind them. Then in chapter 6... It really becomes interesting, a crescendo of action.
"All was going well when suddenly there was what seemed to be a large explosion that echoed across the city. The crowd were stunned into silence…as if in a state of mass suspended animation, as if a greater being had just simultaneously pressed the pause and mute buttons on an equally powerful remote control bank. The silence was broken by a hum and chatter as people questioned each other in an attempt to establish the cause. ‘It’s not another explosion in the refinery in neighbouring Algeciras is it?’‘Is it an oil tanker exploding in the straits?’…Questions and more enquiries but no answers were forthcoming. There were theories and conjecture but no real facts to go by. No one seemed to make out what the reason for this bang was. The bustle in the crowd was now different as the now confused horde stood about in the hope of information and direction. Within less than a minute, there followed another explosion that resonated in the now silent crowd. It certainly was not scripted in the celebratory agenda, the booms sounded very unlike fireworks and the bewilderment intensified…The confusion and wonder were not solely exclusive to the crowd, police officers from the Royal Gibraltar Police (RGP), soldiers from the regiment and various officials also looked puzzled and urgently sought advice, direction and support which at this point in time were not forthcoming. A flurry of mobile phones seemed to be simultaneously sprang into action as people’s faces were illuminated by their synchronized manoeuvre in their endeavour to establish what the facts and the source of these detonations were. The chatter was intense now, however only broken by the lesser cracks of what seemed to be rifle fire emanating from the east of the tiny peninsula. Women and children were now screaming and crying as their ashen faced husbands and fathers tried to remain protective. At this moment the radio announcer called the massed crowds attention. ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, we at the GBC have just been informed there has been a coup d’état in Spain and one of the army Generals, a General Sanchez Zamorano had overthrown the government and taken power, backed by the majority of the Spanish armed forces’. The announcer continued by exclaiming that international sources had feared that this may precipitate the Gibraltar situation and that a possible hostile invasion may ensue…What better way to make a statement of this sort than to make these moves on Gibraltar as it celebrated patriotically? The announcer continued, ‘it has not been confirmed but due to the possible and imminent danger, please make your way home safely, quickly but in an orderly fashion’. It is with this that message that mass hysteria and panic set in as the crowd tried to disperse in a far from orderly fashion. This is a scenario that all Gibraltarians had always feared and never thought would ever become a possibility however; this was the more likely explanation and cause for the disturbing clamour that had arisen to the east of the rock. The Casemate square area was full of people and the exits from it were limited. The square itself was enclosed by the old fortification walls that dated back hundreds of years and the most expansive exit was to head down through the Main Street. There were less wide exits that went to the harbour area and also east, towards the airport and the border with Spain and the citizens scattered all ways. Screaming children were gathered up and people were running.... "
I'm posting this as I just had a tweet saying that it's got a discount code for the paperback edition.
I may be tempted to get a copy
Battle For The Three Miles
CreateSpace
At checkout- enter W9MHE9F2
#Save $2.00 #ingenious #Simple
Battle For The Three Miles was written by a fellow author and it is fiction based on friction.
BREXIT from the EU may just have paved the way for it to come true?
I hope not but many of my fellow Gibraltarians are 'bricking it' at the moment.
On top of all of this, as if it wasn't enough, the Spanish elections are tomorrow.
Please pray Battle For The Three Miles does not come true.
We are planning a trip to the Azores later this week and I am excited at the prospect of visiting.
Why? Apart from being a holiday I originate from Gibraltar and the link is the Azores-Gibraltar Transform Fault.
The tectonic plate that connects me to both points of reference.
The other is that I have written and published Phobic Wars, a work of fiction that connects with the ancient city of Atlantis.
Now, I can be inspired to write a follow up?
It's certainly a great focus for the visit.
Here's a link to some interesting info on this subject and debate on the existence of Atlantis plus of course, visit my author page on Amazon to get a copy of Phobic Wars.
There are 30 thousand people in my home town, Gibraltar.
My aim is to be able to sell 30k copies of my books in the next 30 days.
Yes it's s big ask but why not aim for a specific target?
Choices available are getting bigger...
Legally Lucky
Phobic Wars
Mental Dental (MBP)
The Phantasms series-3 in total
Fantasmas en el Hospital
Hilarity in the Hills
All available to read on kindle and paperback
Hook in on your local Amazon website and get cracking...
Fantasmas en el Hospital
Published 2 days ago and doing well, opening new markets with new readers... In Spain, Guatemala, Mexico, USA, Argentina and other Spanish-speaking countries.
A great collection of short stories involving spooky stuff in hospitals which is the culmination of a collaborative work between Julie (my wife) & Goretti who helped translate it into its polished version.
It's available on kindle and paperback so this will hopefully increase the number of readers.
Exciting times
Apart from writing, I do enjoy a spot of painting.. Again, it's a form of relaxation after a hard days work.
Today, I painted a watercolour of my home, Gibraltar inspired by a photo posted on Facebook.
It's an hours painting.. Not a protracted piece but it relaxed and pleased me... Needs a couple of finishing touches. Once done, I'm getting it framed.
Asked an artist friend of mine and will try mounting it with a 20mm wide white card border in a 15mm wide white frame, should look good, oh and glass in front too...
Any thoughts?
Having read Battle for the three mile, I salute the bravery of authors and their conviction to tell la story that matters.
C. P. Ridgeworth does precisely this in her fictional story but it is directly based on truth and experience that occur to Gibraltarians on a near daily basis.
Obviously, I am familiar with the roots of this as I too orignate from the rock.
Are there any authors you can think of that could be added to the list of authors with a fictional true message to tell?
Please let me know as I'd be interested in your thoughts and recommendations to further read the genre.
In the mean time.. Well done Clara
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I have had several requests for my books to be available in bookshop shelves in Gibraltar.
Why Gibraltar?
Well it's my original home town.
However as a self published author, I have no distribution network.
Anyone know how to realise this and appease the fan Base back home??
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