If Heaven Can Wait. A new novel of 1940.

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Chuck E
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If Heaven Can Wait. A new novel of 1940.

Post by Chuck E »

After messing about with printers and ISBNs and getting nowhere, I have gone ahead and published my book on Amazon Kindle.

It starts of quite quietly in the so called 'Phoney War' period, but soon gets into action with The Fall of France, Dunkirk, The Battle of Britain, the Blitz and then the search. I enjoy writing the action pieces and have a long life of watching the old war films and reading those monthly War Comics, so there's quite a mix in there.

Should you wish to read it, you will find the details here.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B017 ... 1_1&sr=8-1;

If you don't have any of the Kindle devices, then you can download the App free from the Kindle Store and read it on your phone, Tablet, P.C. etc.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/digital/fio ... =sv_kinc_5;

I hope you enjoy it. I don't write much, so the next one is a long way off.
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PaulBradley
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Re: If Heaven Can Wait. A new novel of 1940.

Post by PaulBradley »

Well, congratulations, Chuck! I shall check it out when I get home (on the road today). It's a fascinating period and I'll be interested to see what you've done with it.
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Chuck E
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Re: If Heaven Can Wait. A new novel of 1940.

Post by Chuck E »

Thanks Paul. I have had some nice feedback from people who have bought it.
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Re: If Heaven Can Wait. A new novel of 1940.

Post by JamesPerrin »

Congratulations on getting something like that finished. I find it a difficult enough to write a few hundred words for a modelling article.
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JohnRatzenberger
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Re: If Heaven Can Wait. A new novel of 1940.

Post by JohnRatzenberger »

Congratulations, it's now in my reading queue.
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Re: If Heaven Can Wait. A new novel of 1940.

Post by iggie »

Seriously impressed with anyone who has the patience and creativity to write a novel; as with John, this is now on my phone ready for reading :grin:
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Re: If Heaven Can Wait. A new novel of 1940.

Post by AndrewR »

I am downloading it to my phone right now.
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Chuck E
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Re: If Heaven Can Wait. A new novel of 1940.

Post by Chuck E »

Wow! Thank you, Gentlemen. I hope you like it.

As I mentioned, it gets away quite slowly, as I want to build it up in the same way that the war progressed.

Plenty of action as the story gets into its stride, and I added some cameos into the story, so that I could cover a wider range what was going on, outside of our group of friends. I think that it tots up to just under 700 pages on Kindle, but apparently you can change the font size.

Thank you again, for downloading.

Ian C ( Chuck E )
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Eric Mc
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Re: If Heaven Can Wait. A new novel of 1940.

Post by Eric Mc »

Well done for completing a project like this. It's something I daydream of but never do anything about. I'll certainly be downloading it.
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Re: If Heaven Can Wait. A new novel of 1940.

Post by Arcwelder »

On its way to my Kindle via the magic of the interwebz. Look forward to reading it.
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Chuck E
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Re: If Heaven Can Wait. A new novel of 1940.

Post by Chuck E »

Seriously impressed by the response, chaps. Thank You.

I used to read all those War Picture Library books and the like when I was a kid. I still have a huge collection of them. I also have a large collection of those old B&W films. I loved stuff like "Dunkirk," "Angels One Five" etc, so some of that comes out in this book. All these images are in my head as I write. I suppose that I've always wanted to write this. The love story aspect may be interesting to wives, girlfriends and 'Significant others,' as Del Boy would say.

The book was getting very long and I had hoped to cover all the war years, but that would have been War and Peace sized and it seemed to come to a more fitting end this way. Maybe some of the adventures could be added as small sequels? Should anyone like a map or two that I drew for the book, let me know and I'll attach one here.

Actually, you can see them here . . . https://www.flickr.com/photos/23594891@ ... 1358674404;

The second book is a totally different kettle of fish, but that's a long way off. Only about 8 chapters complete, so far.

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Re: If Heaven Can Wait. A new novel of 1940.

Post by JohnRatzenberger »

About 2/3 through so far - thanks for the maps.
"Burton Wood" has been throwing me as I made a number of trips to Warrington and RAF Burtonwood, so I have to blot all that out.
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Chuck E
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Re: If Heaven Can Wait. A new novel of 1940.

Post by Chuck E »

You know, John, that puzzles me. I had written the book and the names just kept popping in there, so I typed them in and made a little mental note of what the places looked like. At this point I thought that I'd better check to see that the names didn't actually refer to real villages. I got quite a shock with Burtonwood, Sutton Bridge and Sutton Down. Sutton Bridge is in Norfolk near the Wash and Sutton Down is an area of the South Downs, so I accidentally got that bit right for location. There are a number of villages in the country with the same name, so I just left them as they were.

I even wrote a potted history of the village and I attach it below. Not exactly Bradshaws, but something like.

Burton Wood. 1938 Guide.

The Village and Surrounding Area.

Burton Wood is a bustling village to the south west of London and bordering the northern edge of the South Downs. It has grown from the original group of loosely scattered cottages that were spread through this densely wooded area. As the cottages formed into hamlets and thence to a village, the name originally belonging to the wood transferred to it. So the village of Burton Wood came into existence. Over the years the village has grown and now covers a large area. It has had its own market since 1793 and its own village council since 1874. Until 1805 the largest building in the area was the manor house. The original house burned down in 1796 and was replaced by the existing building, on the same site. The walls of the old house being tidied up and made into a folly, which now forms two of the walls bordering the beautifully landscaped gardens. The old stone tower was rebuilt and still stands at the corner of the old courtyard. It is the oldest part of the building and dates back to 1290 AD. The woods around the house have been cut back over the years to provide space for the arboretum, planted c1775. It is bordered to the south by Manor Road that leads to the RAF Hospital and to the West and North by Manor Lane. To the East the old Bridge Lane, gives way northward to the busy High Street.

The village itself is centred around its delightful High Street, which is the busy heart of the community. The shops are well stocked and pleasant to see, each one having been designed and built for it’s purpose and therefore giving wonderful diversity and variety along it’s entire length. Every turn brings a new and appealing prospect. Since the turn of the century the village has expanded and many new homes have been built to the south and west. Many for commuters from London, as a forty five minute train journey will take you direct to Victoria. The local economy is based on agriculture, though the quarry at Southgate is still in use and new factories for light industry are opening on the site of the old barracks on the Maidendale Road. There are already a furniture factory and two light machine shops in production. Sited as they are, they do not detract from the peaceful aspect of the village. The Station is to the North of the Village and the single line runs south alongside the river, passing allotments and the water works to the south before swinging eastwards past the quarries.

The High Street is wide along most of it’s considerable length with wide cobbled areas at both sides. Towards the northern end there is a most delightful park with a small lake and well kept paths and flower beds. The park belongs to ‘The Swan’ Public House as an extension to it’s beer garden, but is open to all and is hidden just off the High Street, behind a high, ivy covered red brick wall. At the top of the High Street, on the corner with Birch Lane, is the new cinema, The Hippodrome, which has just been converted from the old 1907 theatre. It has been extended to provide a larger foyer area and is fitted with all the latest equipment. Another popular venue for entertainment is The Imperial in William Square at the end of Archer Street, tucked behind the Georgian Houses on the High Street. The Hotel has 36 rooms, a popular restaurant and bar and a large ballroom. The resident band play 3 nights every week, Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and there is a Tea Dance every Wednesday. The other hotel is adjacent to the station and is appropriately called The Station Hotel. It has 12 rooms and a comfortable bar. Sports enthusiasts are well catered for with a Cricket Field behind The Swan and accessible from the small park, or via the entrance on School House Lane. The local amateur football club, Burton Rovers, have their own pitch at the road ends, where the High Street narrows and joins the Maidendale Road. At the southern end of the High Street, set back behind the houses, is the recreation field, complete with Bandstand. Nearby is the Police Station and the Cottage Hospital. On the corner of Schoolhouse Lane is the local garage and in the lane is the new fire station. This is opposite the village school. The school is too small for the needs of the growing village and land has been earmarked for a new school with it’s own playing fields to the east of Manor Lane. The new school will be able to take 120 pupils between the ages of 11 and 15. When complete, the old school will become the junior school and have a new wing to take primary school pupils. The small holdings to the south west of the village, between West Lane and Manor Road now provide a large number of allocated building plots and many modern houses have already been completed. A further 12 plots have been made available on Burton Avenue, formerly an unpaved extension to Mill Lane. The road has been widened and trees have been planted down both sides. It also provides a second route to the RAF Hospital that stands at the corner of West Road and Mill Lane. So far only 3 houses have been built. Also on Burton Avenue is High House Farm and the stables. Burton Avenue now forms part of Westgate Village.

To the south of the village, little remains of the woodland except along the line of the River Burr which runs North to South along the Eastern borders of the village. Most of the land has been taken over for farming, though the hedgerows with their well established trees still exist on the land nearest the village and river. The once large wood has now been much reduced and runs mainly to the West of the Village. Less than a mile to the west, taking the Maidendale Road or West Road, the visitor will find the traces of a much earlier civilisation. There is a Tor on an elevated, apparently man made mound and quite nearby on a small hill there is the well preserved stone circle which predates everything else in the area and is thought to be over 3000 years old. Nearer the village the ground rises above the surrounding trees to form Tower Hill upon which stands the tower that gives it its name. The tower is derelict now, and though the floors have long gone, the stonework is still in sound condition. The elevated position of the tower gives wonderful views over the surrounding countryside, including the Common to the immediate west with Burton Brook running through it. A popular picnic spot for most of the inhabitants of Burton Wood and the surrounding area. The Tor, Tower and Stone Circle are pretty much unchanged since their mention in the Doomsday Book. Burton Beck, like the River Burr, runs from north to south though the wood and common, crossing the Maidendale and West Roads in two picturesque fords, before running south east to join the Burr at the hamlet of Low Ford. To the east of the village, over the river, the land again rises to Church Hill, a long ridge that follows the course of the river. On the crest of the hill stands the church of St George, parts of which are Saxon. The graveyard has been in use for hundreds of years, the oldest dated grave being 1595, though there are older, undated tombs. On the site of the old burial ground, at the eastern edge of the site, a garden is now situated. None of the graves having had markers, or stones, it was felt that a garden of remembrance would be preferable to the once overgrown, uncared for plot. Also on the ridge, fifty yards north of the church, there are the partially excavated remains of a Roman Villa. More evidence of the history of the area.

The railway came in 1865 and is still the main link to the capital. The railway serves mainly passengers and light goods, though was initially built to serve the quarries at Burton and Southgate. One of the railway owners, who had links to shipping and wool trade, bought the hunting lodge out near Westgate and built a large mansion there also called Westgate. He also bought the adjoining land and built new farmhouses. The area was then given over to sheep. The old house was donated in 1916 to the RAF, or the RFC as it was then, and became a rest home throughout the Great War and up to 1925 when it was put under care and maintenance until it could be taken in hand in 1935 for conversion to a modern hospital to serve the new aerodrome close to the south east. It was completed in September 1938 and can take up to 180 patients. The RAF aerodrome can be seen from the upper floors and 2nd floor balcony. The original lodge is now the Nurse’s Home and the Stable Block is now the mortuary and store rooms. A brand new rest home has been built in the tree lined lane to the east. The ornamental gardens and lawns are still well cared for and there is a large kitchen garden with extensive greenhouses beyond the enclosing wall to the west.
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JohnRatzenberger
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Re: If Heaven Can Wait. A new novel of 1940.

Post by JohnRatzenberger »

Sorry, finished it a few days ago and forgot to provide a "review".

Quite enjoyed it. Reads very well, smoothly. Your knowledge of the early war, the equipment, etc, comes through and better yet, it is accurate - only "error" I found is one spot is where explosive bullets were coming out of a Browning - some phrase about "armour-piercing, incendiary, and explosive" toward the end.

It reads much like a romantic, patriotic movie of the times - and that worked portraying the times without getting overly mushy :grin:

Your editor, or maybe it's just the Kindle aspect, could use some hints on organizing text. A number of times the story shifted time without a blank line or something in the text to "prepare" me.

Very well done. And as a reward ....

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Re: If Heaven Can Wait. A new novel of 1940.

Post by splash »

I will check it out once I remember my Kindle password :oops:
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