Hello, I’m Michael Graeme. I’m from Lancashire, in the North West of England. I write fiction, and I keep the Rivendale Review blog, here at WordPress. This is a free zone. I am not selling books. You’ll find links to my work here, all of it is free.
Why free? Don’t I care about that author in a tweed jacket vibe? Don’t I want to sign hard copies, in a book-scented nook at Waterstones? When I was much younger, yes – when I was the young guy in the picture – all of that sounded very nice, but then I realised, I just like to write, because it helps me work out what it is I think. The only thing I used to hate about writing was trying to get things published, so, in spite of a few minor successes here and there, I simply don’t do it any more.
As hard as it might be to swallow, for most amateur creative types, these days, this crazy online world is the only option, having exhausted all others, and decided to cling to a modicum of sanity and self-respect, by refusing to contemplate writing one more damned submission letter. And it’s been wonderful. I’ve written lots of material, and I’ve exchanged correspondence with great writers, and readers, from all over the world. Blogging and self-publishing are both brilliant. I highly recommend them.
As regards this blog, you’ll get the occasional nudge towards my novels, and some notes on writing. But mostly it’s an eclectic mix of things that interest me, and which I hope you’ll find interesting too. Just because I give my stuff away, doesn’t mean I don’t take it seriously. You can click on the covers of my various novels featured in the margin, on the right. This will take you to Smashwords, where you’ll find the blurb and a download link. This works best if you’re reading on an Apple or Android phone or pad, then the story will open up in your chosen e-reader.
By the way, I never publish on Amazon, though you will occasionally find pirated copies of my work on there for sale. Please don’t fall for this. My work is always free.
Thanks for dropping by.
Michael Graeme
Hi Michael,
The header pic just takes the breath away ! .. Liked your writing too …
au revoir !
Thank you Lakshmi.
It was one of those rare pictures, somehow capturing the feel of the moment. I like your writing too. You keep a passionate, sincere and innovative blog. My respects.
Michael
How are you? ‘Walking on the Sunny Side of Strange?’ where can i download a copy, can you help?
Hi there! Ah, the Sunny Side. Sorry you’ve had trouble downloading that. I suspended my links at Lulu due to problems with a persistent pirate. I’ll be recompiling it shortly as an epub, but until then all the short stories contained in Sunny Side are available as individual downloads from my Feedbooks page:
http://www.feedbooks.com/userbooks/recent?penname=Michael+Graeme&user=21538
Thanks very much for your interest in my work – it means a lot.
Regards
Michael
Where do your ideas come from?
I’m reading ‘Push Hands’ again, what a wonderful story
Glad you like Push Hands. It’s one of my favourites too – a real pleasure to write. I’ve just updated it for Smashwords – taken a few more typos out of it that eluded me on previous edits.
Not sure where the ideas come from. I usually start out with an opening scene and a couple of characters, maybe inspired by something I’ve seen, a snatch of dialogue I overheard, or even something from a dream. Then I just follow the story and see where it leads – sort of let the characters tell it themselves, while I take notes.
Thanks again,
Regards
Michael
Hi there! Ah, the Sunny Side. Sorry you’ve had trouble downloading that. I suspended my links at Lulu due to problems with a persistent pirate. I’ll be recompiling it shortly as an epub, but until then all the short stories contained in Sunny Side are available as individual downloads from my Feedbooks page:
http://www.feedbooks.com/userbooks/recent?penname=Michael+Graeme&user=21538
Thanks very much for your interest in my work – it means a lot.
Regards
Michael
thanks for replaying back Mike,
I’ve read all your books. I remember reading Sunny side way back in 2010 and recently it’s been popping in my head, I don’t know why.
Have a great New year.
take care
You’ve prompted me into action. I’ve just put Sunny Side back on line – been playing with an ebook maker called Sigil, so it was good practice. You can link to it from the right hand margin on the blog, towards the bottom, or from here:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/69026900/the%20sunny%20side%20of%20strange.epub
Happy New Year!
Regards
Michael
Hi Mike,
Happy New Year!!
Thank you so much!
Which of the stories that you have written are quite personal to you, I mean autobiographical?
Thanks again for being so helpful
I think all my stories have elements of me in them, but without being autobiographical – if that makes sense. Langholm Avenue draws heavily on personal reminiscence for the back-story, and some of the plot elements, also Push Hands to a degree – but again only for certain scenes or observations. Durleston Wood is a real place, though I’ve changed the name. I grew up there and there’s a lot of my childhood in the back-story, but again the actual plot events are entirely fictional. My characters get themselves into such a tangle, I’m glad my own life is much more straight forward.
Regards
Michael
Hello Mike,
Have you ever watched the American series ‘Lost’, your stories remind me of that show?
I think you would like it
What books do you read?
I write myself but when I’m writing a story I never know how to end it! I know how the start but then I get angry at myself because I’m never happy with the ending and I stop writing the story!!
Hello Michael,
I clicked onto the link and it only downloaded the front cover 😦
Oops. That’s strange. I’ve tried it out on my PC, my iPad and my Android and it all seems to work okay. Computers are wierd – they’ll never catch on. If you’d like to mail me, I can attach a copy for you by return.
Regards
Michael
Hello Michael,
Yes that would be great! My email is
Entervoice@hotmail.co.uk
You’re so kind
Wanted to add this info. Have you checked out the GoodReads website. It’s a great place for Indie writers. You can actually enter one of your lulu books in a free giveaway. Also pick up some other indie-writes.
regards, Mary
Thanks Mary. I’ve been dithering about Goodreads for a while. I think a couple of my books are listed by readers on there, but I’ve not taken the plunge yet.**
**Okay. I’ve stopped dithering now and signed up – thanks for the advice.
Regards
Michael
Hi Mr Graeme, i hope that you’ll be able to read this comment, coz i don’t really know any other way to try to contact you.
I started reading your books early this year, where i was holed up in my hostel, running out of material to read and engage myself in. And i have NEVER regretted that decision. 🙂
I’m desperately praying that you’ll start a sequel or…perhaps, just a short ending of sorts for “The Road from Langholm Avenue”. I would be lying if i said that your book did not haunt me for the past few weeks, even when i slept, i dreamt about Tom and Eleanor. I liked the way that you ended it, ambiguous, with just the hint of mystery behind it. But i would really, really wish for a ending of sorts, like…the final fullstop to Eleanor’s journey.
The revelation that she loved him came…slightly abruptly i felt, but nonetheless, it felt…right. Perfect. I don’t know much about literature, but i would really, really appreciate it if you could write a happy ending for my favourite couple. A short story…or just…a conclusion. It practically tears me up when i spend time imagining about what could have been for them. 😦
I hope you would not find my request absurd, or unwarranted, considering the fact that i believed that you have already ended the book in your best,possible ending. I would just hope that you would be able to provide a small form of an ending for me….really.
Lastly, thank you for writing the book. It was my favourite, and i gained a sense of understanding after reading it, understanding which i would have never attained in my life if i had not finished “The Road from Langholm Avenue”.
Thank you, Mr Graeme.
Yours,
Amanda Yang (16)
Hi Amanda, first of all, thank you for such a touching comment. When you’re writing like I do, for nothing, hearing from a reader who has got something out of my work really is everything. I appreciate it.
You’re not a alone in asking about a more concrete conclusion to The Road From Langholm Avenue. Others have written to me asking for a sequel and I have thought about it. Tom and Eleanor mean a lot to me too. I’m glad I was able to convey the depth of their connection to someone else.
I was trying to be positive with that ending but without being too soppy – leaving clues for the reader to guess at a happy ending but to join the dots themselves and maybe to think about Tom and Eleanor’s relationship in a way that was personal to them.
Perhaps I tried too hard to be mysterious.
But Eleanor still has his key, and as I wrote that closing chapter I knew that one day she would use it. It might take a while, while she thought things over, but if her love for Tom was true, which it was, then she couldn’t hurt him. She had no other choice but to be waiting for him one day. I think Tom knew that too, which is why, even after the loss of everything else – his job, his marriage, and the love of his life – he didn’t feel downhearted. He still had a future.
He’d walk in, see her sitting at the kitchen table tapping that key impatiently, and just when he was thinking she’d come to simply return it, she’d give him a warming smile, take off her coat, and ask him if he wanted a cup of tea.
Then out of the corner of his eye, Tom would spy the bin bags in the hall, containing what few possessions she had, and which she’d cleared out of that old place on Arkwright Street, months earlier – and his heart would skip a beat, because he knew she meant to stay – that Phil had dropped her off with everything she owned and there was no going back for her.
And in that moment Tom would feel the enormity of the chance she was taking on him, and then at once he’d make the transition from loving Eleanor, which he always had, and dearly, to being in love with her.
Eleanor had had a rough journey and she deserved a safe landing with a decent guy like Tom, just as Tom deserved the warmth and wisdom of a devoted woman like Eleanor. They each completed the other, and maybe speaking as a writer I was still too much in love with Rachel to do them justice. I just figured they’d be all right, and they’d work things out on their own.
I’ll give that sequel some thought.
But thanks again Amanda.
Best wishes
Michael
I just discovered you are following my blog – “A Way With Words”. I am grateful you were drawn to my corner of the blogosphere and you found my writing worthy enough of your attention. I will be following your work as well. Perhaps we can encourage each other on the way.
Thanks again,
Tony “indytony” Roberts
Thank you for the follow-back Michael! I am looking forward to reading more of your work.
In appreciation for your way with words, I have nominated you for a “Blog of the Year” award.
If you feel led to accept, you can find details here —
http://awaywithwordsblog.com/2013/11/30/a-gift-that-keeps-on-giving-seven-more-bountiful-blogs/
Otherwise, simply enjoy the blessing and keep up the great work.
Tony, I’m very flattered and deeply grateful you consider my blog worthy of this award. I do appreciate the blessing, and the fact that you read it. These things alone I consider to be sufficient reward. I have seen you in action by the way in your webcast, and note we bear a striking similarity – especially since I grew a beard for November (a uniquely British thing and subject of a blog entry).
Thank you again.
Regards
Michael
Hello Michael,
Thanks for visiting Life As a Wave. It is nice to be connected to people living their passions as it seems you are. Stay warm and be well.
Blessings,
~~~S Wave~~~
Helo Micheal, I like your writing but i have looked for a special poem “the Boys Down by the Green” and i haven,t seen it. Can you send me a copy on my email- mabelramona@ymail.com
Hello Mabel, thank you for your kind words. You’ll find a copy of that poem in my free ebook “Liminal Traces”. Just click the link on the book in the margin of the blog on the right hand side.
Regards
Michael
Morning Michael. We appear to have very similar profiles! Feel free to join us at Rivington for all or part of the December weekend if you would like. It’s usually a small group of six or so people; and our events are open to all. I have a feeling that, given your interests, you would enjoy meeting our friendly bunch. Steve.
Re: your comments on Feedbooks, have you noticed lately the Free Original New Releases are 99 percent ad “books”.
The website is not worth looking at as you have to wade through ads for men’s enhancement supplements.
They responded to my e-mails as if I were annoying them.
Michael,
I just finished “Road from Langholm”; lovely novel! I thought it had a familiar tone and when I searched to see if you had written other novels, I discovered “Push Hands” which I had read eagarly a few years ago. Again, a lovely memorable novel! I simply didn’t recall the author, sorry! The images and emotions you conjure in your writing are excellent. I’m right there in that place with your characters.
Thank you for sharing what you love to do!
Cheers,
-s
Many thanks Shawn, so glad you enjoyed both those stories – both mean a lot to me. I appreciate your taking the time to let me know and your kind words are very encouraging – helping to keep me at it! Plenty more stories on the drawing board.
Regards
Michael G
Hello Michael, I’m very glad that I came across your writings via feedbook. I’ve read most of your books. Your writings invoke in me a sense of recognition of truths that are familar and personal, one’s I could never have been able to articulate myself. Your books and blog resonate in me a deep sense of familarity that seems so personally my own that it feels unsettling to know that they’ve come from a mind of an other.
Maybe there is no such thing as personal thought, but all persons are just different expressions of those thought.
Thank you for giving expression to what feels so uniquely mine own.
Hello Ishaq,
Thank you very much for your warm comment. It means a lot to hear from you. When I decided, many years ago, to abandon the traditional publishing route and to write online for nothing, it was reader’s comments that became my reward. They really do keep me going.
You find me struggling through my latest work in progress at the moment, filled with self doubt, lacking confidence and motivation – the usual writer’s lot, I’m afraid. But it’s through comments like yours I regain the confidence that I’m still able to connect with readers in a meaningful way and thereby find the energy to persevere.
I think you’re right. The things I write about come from a deep, collective place, one that is not purely my own. I assume that because I feel them, others must surely feel them too. So they’re not really my words, not my thoughts. We are all, as you say different expressions of those same underlying thoughts. I just fish those thoughts out and piece them together into a story, one I hope draws readers in for long enough to share in those thoughts. I’m so glad they resonate with you.
Once again, thank you, Ishaq.
Regards
Michael
Thought I would drop a line, say how impressed I am with your writing. The story lines are so close to reality that it amazes me. Have only read Between the Tides and the Price of Being with Sunita. Of course it makes me wonder about you, the master hiding, this is what I think. Thanks very much for the books to read. I do plan on reading the others. Excellent story telling!!
I just took a look at your version of the I Ching. Very well done. No easy task. I’ve looked at lots of English versions of the I Ching and this one is one of the most useful. Thanks.
Thanks Jack, and thanks for the follow. I found writing my own interpretation a good way of getting to know the book.
Hi Michael,
I remember when i got my first android phone and realized that the world of books was at my fingertips. I was so excited that i could read any book I wanted to because I have always loved reading. I am particularly partial to fiction because when I read a book, I become the character and see the world through their eyes. I still remember, after going through a few books on Aldiko book reader, I came across Push Hands, the preview intrigued me and so I opened it. I must tell you that at that time, I was at the lowest point in my life and had just stopped. I had no idea of what to do next or even knew who I was anymore. By the time I was done reading it, I was a changed man and it really inspired me to look forward to so many things in life that I had ignored, forgotten or not known. I made me realize that I could always take a chance at life and from then on I read almost every book you have written. I really loved “The Road from Langholm Avenue” and it is my favorite book till date. Every book that I have read of yours since then has taken me on a journey of self-discovery, growth and a drive down the memory lane. The emotions of the characters feel so real and it is all thanks to your writing. Currently, I’m reading – “The Price of being with Sunita”. I just want to say thank you and look forward to reading more of your works.
You are my favorite author.
Hello Vinyak,
Thank you for your comment. This means such a lot to me, that the stories I write are appreciated so much. I found your account very moving. I’m glad you were able to find your way out of a dark place and that my stories might have helped in that process. The Android phone has been an important platform for me too, and writers like me. Getting our work published the usual way isn’t an easy path, and many of us give up on it, but Android and Aldiko, and others like it, allow us to follow our passion and write as we please, knowing that someone somewhere in the world will find our stories.
I do try to be hopeful in my stories. My characters find themselves in all sorts of muddles and dark places, like we all do from time to time, and I try to think of a way out of it for them, choosing paths that are reflective, sincere, loving, and always hopeful of a brighter future.
Push Hands is a great favourite of mine. I still turn to it from time to time, checking for those ever elusive typos but mostly enjoying the company of those characters again. Also Langholm Avenue – that story has great personal meaning and is due another look. Sunita’s a little different, the characters being endowed with extraordinary powers, so the question is how best to use them, and what are the limits they should place on helping others? It’s an unusual kind of muddle for people to find themselves in but they do their best with it and I hope you like it.
My very best wishes Vinyak, and once again, thank you for writing to me.
It really does mean a lot.
Regards
Michael
Michael,
I love your books and stories and have been following you for some time. I was re-reading Saving Grace a few days ago and was surprised to see you mention Joshua trees in Chapter 38. It didn’t strike me as unusual when I first read the book because they are very common where I live. This time, I realized that it is very unlikely that you have ever seen one in England. I suspect that you are aware that it really isn’t a a tree at all, but a desert yucca plant that only occurs naturally in the Mojave Desert here in the US. I am curious as to why you used this in the story. Please don’t perceive this as a criticism, I’m just curious.
Elton
Hi Elton, thanks for reading me! It’s great to hear from you. You’re right about the Joshua Tree, it’s not the sort of thing you’d ever see in England. In that chapter Mike finally meets up with Grace, not in reality but as a pair of avatars in the game I’ve called BFree which is actually based on Second Life. You see Joshua Trees a lot in there, I presume because most Second Lifers are Californians and it’s something familiar to them. They strike me as exotic and not a little weird. (The trees I mean😉), lending an odd, other worldly feel to that scene.
Regards
Michael
Hi Michael,
I hope you are well. I read your post about alcohol and anosmia and you are the only person I have encountered that has the same effects after drinking alcohol. It would be great to hear whether you have found any remedy or how things are for you now. I’m trying to figure it out myself! I look.forward to hearing from you.
Kind regards,
Steve
Hi Steve,
I’ve had good results with Lipoic Acid, though it took a while. See my other blog “scent and scentablity”. Overindulgence with alcohol will still kill the sense of smell, though it generally comes back after a day or two, so the key message is to have faith it will come back.
Hi Michael. Many thanks for your reply, I’ll give it a try and let you know how I get on!
Thanks again, Steve
Michael, Steve,
I have same, in my case I have traced my issues to a disease called AERD. Are you by chance allergic to asprin or brufen? Or do you have asthma? Otherwise there are reactions to both alcohol and polyphenols or Suphites mainly in wines? I’m learning more every day.
Hi Michael:
I’m just posting this here because I cannot find your email address on your website.
I’m David from Spain, and I write Spanish translations of free indie and interesting works I found around. I publish them from free download on my website with no commercial purposes.
I really like your work and I wonder if it will be ok with you that I write the translation of “The Road From Langholm Avenue” and “In Durleston Wood” and publish them in digital format (ePub, PDF and Mobi formats) under Creative Commons license CC- BY-NC-SA.
You may contact me here:
e-mail: artifacslibros@gmail.com
https://artifacs.webcindario.com
Thanks for reading this, sincerely,
David
Hi Michael:
I’m not sure if you are recieving this. I’ll try a third time anyway.
I’m David from Spain, and I write Spanish translations of free indie and interesting works I found around. I publish them from free download on my website with no commercial purposes.
I really like your work and I wonder if it will be ok with you that I write the translation of “The Road From Langholm Avenue” and “In Durleston Wood” and publish them in digital format (ePub, PDF and Mobi formats) under Creative Commons license CC- BY-NC-SA.
You may contact me here:
e-mail: artifacslibros@gmail.com
https://artifacs.webcindario.com
Thanks for reading this, sincerely,
David
Haha.. i apologise, i never left my words here even though i read this. But this is so refreshing to read somehow Michael, now what to say if you are not Mr. Graeme. But thank you. It is inspiring in a way.
Nara x
Thank you, Nara. I’m definitely Michael, but Mr Graeme is made up.
🙂 Michael it is then.