John Barber's Blog
May 8, 2012
The real Men in Black
I see that Men in Black 3 is due for release shortly. I quite enjoyed both previous films - quite amusing. However in a typical Hollywood way, the truth has been turned on its head - like all vampires being handsome 'twenty somethings'.
The man in black is not a nice person at all Far from protecting earth bound aliens and the earth itself from marauding visitors from other galaxies men in black are real people who have a well documented history of frightening the life out of normal people.
My son was discussing this with his flat mate and asked if he could borrow my copy of Flying Saucer Review which had a long article on one very real 'man in black' incident. I re-read the article again and looked up a few other cases. They all had a similar theme.
A lot of people who have had contact with UFO's from a sighting in the sky to a genuine belief that they have been abducted by aliens usually end up being the subject of an investigation by one of the many UFO research organisations around the world; and in some cases referred to a hypnotherapist for a series of regressive sessions. They can usually recall minute details of their abduction and 'medical'examination.
It is the researcher, the journalist, the hypnotist or the author of a paper who is visited by a man in black. They do not show any ID, they are dressed in black from hat to shoes, they have no hair on their head or facial hair and a slit for a mouth from which comes a sort of mechanical, laboured speech with little trace of accent. They seem to know a lot about the case under review and about the private life of the person they visit. They often issue veiled threats and perform a sort of 'magical' trick. They sometimes make an appointment and leave with no trace of transport.
No one knows whether they work for a secret government agency, or are an alien presence themselves. On the bright side no one appears to have been killed as a result of their visit.
I thought this was quite fantastic and wrote a novel called 'The Man in Black'. This is based on actual reports of visits by men in black during the late 1970's and early 1980's (my subscription to FSR lapsed) and accounts of abductions.
I do believe in UFO's and Men in Black - never seen one and don't really want to. But if you would like to read how my novel turned out then the link follows.
I can't help myself so there is a lot of dark humour, council corruption and eccentric police work. But that's small town England for you.
The Man in Black
The man in black is not a nice person at all Far from protecting earth bound aliens and the earth itself from marauding visitors from other galaxies men in black are real people who have a well documented history of frightening the life out of normal people.
My son was discussing this with his flat mate and asked if he could borrow my copy of Flying Saucer Review which had a long article on one very real 'man in black' incident. I re-read the article again and looked up a few other cases. They all had a similar theme.
A lot of people who have had contact with UFO's from a sighting in the sky to a genuine belief that they have been abducted by aliens usually end up being the subject of an investigation by one of the many UFO research organisations around the world; and in some cases referred to a hypnotherapist for a series of regressive sessions. They can usually recall minute details of their abduction and 'medical'examination.
It is the researcher, the journalist, the hypnotist or the author of a paper who is visited by a man in black. They do not show any ID, they are dressed in black from hat to shoes, they have no hair on their head or facial hair and a slit for a mouth from which comes a sort of mechanical, laboured speech with little trace of accent. They seem to know a lot about the case under review and about the private life of the person they visit. They often issue veiled threats and perform a sort of 'magical' trick. They sometimes make an appointment and leave with no trace of transport.
No one knows whether they work for a secret government agency, or are an alien presence themselves. On the bright side no one appears to have been killed as a result of their visit.
I thought this was quite fantastic and wrote a novel called 'The Man in Black'. This is based on actual reports of visits by men in black during the late 1970's and early 1980's (my subscription to FSR lapsed) and accounts of abductions.
I do believe in UFO's and Men in Black - never seen one and don't really want to. But if you would like to read how my novel turned out then the link follows.
I can't help myself so there is a lot of dark humour, council corruption and eccentric police work. But that's small town England for you.
The Man in Black
May 4, 2012
The Camden Town Murder - eBook release
My first blog on this site was to draw attention to a non-fiction title that I wrote concerning a real life unsolved murder mystery from 1907. The Camden Town Murder came back into the spotlight when Patricia Cornwell claimed in her 'Jack the Ripper - Case Closed' that Walter Sickert was not only 'Jack' but murdered Emily Dimmock some 19 years later.
You can read the background to this on my website - The Camden Town Murder.
The hardback is now out of print but the paperback is available and my publishers have now released an eBook version. At the moment I believe it is only available through Amazon but no doubt other on-line book sellers in due course.
If any other aspiring authors out there need it, then take some inspiration from the genesis of this book.
In 2000 my mother was in the early stages of dementia and to help jog her memory I wrote an article for a local paper on the history of the Old Bedford Music Hall in Camden High Street. My parents often went there but it was hit by bombs during the Second World War and after a brief period of renovation was finally demolished in 1969. It no longer exists.
A chap called Alan Stanley saw this article on my web site and various others about Camden and wrote asking if I knew anything about the Camden Town Murder as he was researching his family history and his great uncle was the common law husband of the victim. We corresponded for some time and our joint efforts led to a 750 page article in a county magazine where Emily was born.
After some encouragement from our Town Mayor who had similar experience I turned this into a 16 page home printed booklet. I sold it in local stores, library and Museum and from my website. It was picked up by several Ripperologists who contributed more and more knowledge and research.
The booklet soon became a non-fiction title and the first publishers to who I wrote - Mandrake of Oxford - accepted it and published a hardback version. It led to a revised paperback as more information came to light and now as an eBook. I have given presentations to the Whitechapel Society (a group that studies Jack the Ripper and his times) and the Metropolitan Police History Society at New Scotland Yard. I have done radio and TV interviews and a kind of flattering appraisal appeared in the Sunday Times Magazine.
The book has been good to me through perseverance and support of many people from different disciplines. I have written this in the hope that writers can take heart that a window of opportunity does happen. You just have to know when and how to open it a bit wider.The Camden Town Murder
You can read the background to this on my website - The Camden Town Murder.
The hardback is now out of print but the paperback is available and my publishers have now released an eBook version. At the moment I believe it is only available through Amazon but no doubt other on-line book sellers in due course.
If any other aspiring authors out there need it, then take some inspiration from the genesis of this book.
In 2000 my mother was in the early stages of dementia and to help jog her memory I wrote an article for a local paper on the history of the Old Bedford Music Hall in Camden High Street. My parents often went there but it was hit by bombs during the Second World War and after a brief period of renovation was finally demolished in 1969. It no longer exists.
A chap called Alan Stanley saw this article on my web site and various others about Camden and wrote asking if I knew anything about the Camden Town Murder as he was researching his family history and his great uncle was the common law husband of the victim. We corresponded for some time and our joint efforts led to a 750 page article in a county magazine where Emily was born.
After some encouragement from our Town Mayor who had similar experience I turned this into a 16 page home printed booklet. I sold it in local stores, library and Museum and from my website. It was picked up by several Ripperologists who contributed more and more knowledge and research.
The booklet soon became a non-fiction title and the first publishers to who I wrote - Mandrake of Oxford - accepted it and published a hardback version. It led to a revised paperback as more information came to light and now as an eBook. I have given presentations to the Whitechapel Society (a group that studies Jack the Ripper and his times) and the Metropolitan Police History Society at New Scotland Yard. I have done radio and TV interviews and a kind of flattering appraisal appeared in the Sunday Times Magazine.
The book has been good to me through perseverance and support of many people from different disciplines. I have written this in the hope that writers can take heart that a window of opportunity does happen. You just have to know when and how to open it a bit wider.The Camden Town Murder
April 22, 2012
St George's Day
April 23rd is St Georges Day. It is a strange day in the English calendar because barely anyone celebrates it, or even knows about it. In most people’s minds St George is best known for slaying a dragon.
April 23rd is the birthday of our greatest playwright and poet William Shakespeare. He might possibly have been born the day before but as it was customary at that time to baptize babies on or a day after their birth it is likely that the date is correct. Shakespeare also died on 23rd April but obviously not in the same year! Little is known about his early life as distinct from our other great playwright of that time Christopher Marlowe. He was definitely born in the same year as Shakespeare but possibly not killed in Deptford on May 30th 1593.
The conspiracy still holds water that an unknown sailor was killed in his place and Marlowe was secretly got out of the country and lived in exile in Padua, Italy and wrote the Shakespeare canon from there. Marlowe’s patron was Sir Thomas Walsingham whose brother Sir Francis Walsingham, was head of Queen Elizabeth’s secret service. As Othello said: ‘I have done the state some service and they know it’; considered a reference to Marlowe’s earlier work as a secret agent in Rheims. However this is a longer story and I may come back to this at a later time on this blog if enough readers would be interested.
The strange thing about the English is that we eat haggis and drink a toast to Robbie Burns on Burns Night and drink copious pints of Guinness on St Patrick’s night but do nothing on St George’s Day.
Some people considered mildly eccentric like myself will wear a rose and drink a pint of English bitter in a traditional English pub but I will be one of the few. If you are lucky to live in a village you may find the local Morris Men dance on the village green, or outside the village pub – if it remains.
These are just a few of the things that make us English. I read that Canada is doing away with the one penny coin. It costs more to produce than it is worth. The English penny costs less to produce than it is worth but most people find it a major inconvenience. All you have to do is put the spare coins in a charity box.
If the penny were to disappear then so would a lot of our English phrases – ‘spend a penny’ for instance has long been a term for going to the toilet as most public toilets used to take a penny in the slot to gain entrance. You can read all about English currency and its influence on our language on my web page.
The loss of traditional English culture is a recurring theme in my novels and is explored once again in The Last Resort. It may be a little irreverent, offbeat and very English but if you have watched the fabric of England disappear as I have done then it may strike a very sympathetic chord.
The Last Resort
April 23rd is the birthday of our greatest playwright and poet William Shakespeare. He might possibly have been born the day before but as it was customary at that time to baptize babies on or a day after their birth it is likely that the date is correct. Shakespeare also died on 23rd April but obviously not in the same year! Little is known about his early life as distinct from our other great playwright of that time Christopher Marlowe. He was definitely born in the same year as Shakespeare but possibly not killed in Deptford on May 30th 1593.
The conspiracy still holds water that an unknown sailor was killed in his place and Marlowe was secretly got out of the country and lived in exile in Padua, Italy and wrote the Shakespeare canon from there. Marlowe’s patron was Sir Thomas Walsingham whose brother Sir Francis Walsingham, was head of Queen Elizabeth’s secret service. As Othello said: ‘I have done the state some service and they know it’; considered a reference to Marlowe’s earlier work as a secret agent in Rheims. However this is a longer story and I may come back to this at a later time on this blog if enough readers would be interested.
The strange thing about the English is that we eat haggis and drink a toast to Robbie Burns on Burns Night and drink copious pints of Guinness on St Patrick’s night but do nothing on St George’s Day.
Some people considered mildly eccentric like myself will wear a rose and drink a pint of English bitter in a traditional English pub but I will be one of the few. If you are lucky to live in a village you may find the local Morris Men dance on the village green, or outside the village pub – if it remains.
These are just a few of the things that make us English. I read that Canada is doing away with the one penny coin. It costs more to produce than it is worth. The English penny costs less to produce than it is worth but most people find it a major inconvenience. All you have to do is put the spare coins in a charity box.
If the penny were to disappear then so would a lot of our English phrases – ‘spend a penny’ for instance has long been a term for going to the toilet as most public toilets used to take a penny in the slot to gain entrance. You can read all about English currency and its influence on our language on my web page.
The loss of traditional English culture is a recurring theme in my novels and is explored once again in The Last Resort. It may be a little irreverent, offbeat and very English but if you have watched the fabric of England disappear as I have done then it may strike a very sympathetic chord.
The Last Resort
April 17, 2012
J K Rowling's adult novel
The news of J K Rowling’s new adult novel was announced like this in the UK's Independent newspaper.
‘The Casual Vacancy focuses on the little town of Pagford, with its cobbled square and ancient abbey, which is left in shock when parish councillor Barry Fairweather dies unexpectedly in his early forties.
The publishers said: "What lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war. Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils." The story follows the battle for the empty seat on the parish council "in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations".’
Having lived in small English towns for the last thirty years I can agree that there are more funny goings on in these places than you find in most fantasy novels. The smaller the town the deeper the politics go (and that is deliberately spelled with a small ‘p’). That is what interests me and that is why my novels are set in small English towns.
I have watched the traditional High Street decline and nothing that retail guru Mary Portas says is going to have any effect on this. Unfortunately the butcher, baker and candlestick maker have gone for good and where I live in Hertford, UK they have been replaced by hairdressers, nail bars, coffee shops and gleaming new drinking bars. Even our traditional antique trade has virtually disappeared.
Back in 2001 I had a novel published by a company called Bookbooters.com when eBooks were in their infancy. It sold quite well considering there were no kindles to read it on. Owing to death and ill health Bookbooters had to fold but I have rewritten and revised that novel quite a few times. A Little Local Affair is now available at most eBook stores and in most formats.
It is about what happens in a small town when a local businessman dies unexpectedly, possibly murdered. It sets in motion all kinds of political in-fighting at the Town Council election, secret love affairs, a Bank fraud and a spate of petty crimes culminating in a mysterious death at the burned out shell of the businessman’s factory.
I enjoy being part of this strange small town life and the two books that follow to form the Fordhamton trilogy have the same pattern. Return to Fordhamton and The Last Resort are available through this site along with my latest foray into alien abduction and council corruption, The Man in Black.
A Little Local Affair
Return to fordhamton
The Last Resort
The Man in Black
‘The Casual Vacancy focuses on the little town of Pagford, with its cobbled square and ancient abbey, which is left in shock when parish councillor Barry Fairweather dies unexpectedly in his early forties.
The publishers said: "What lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war. Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils." The story follows the battle for the empty seat on the parish council "in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations".’
Having lived in small English towns for the last thirty years I can agree that there are more funny goings on in these places than you find in most fantasy novels. The smaller the town the deeper the politics go (and that is deliberately spelled with a small ‘p’). That is what interests me and that is why my novels are set in small English towns.
I have watched the traditional High Street decline and nothing that retail guru Mary Portas says is going to have any effect on this. Unfortunately the butcher, baker and candlestick maker have gone for good and where I live in Hertford, UK they have been replaced by hairdressers, nail bars, coffee shops and gleaming new drinking bars. Even our traditional antique trade has virtually disappeared.
Back in 2001 I had a novel published by a company called Bookbooters.com when eBooks were in their infancy. It sold quite well considering there were no kindles to read it on. Owing to death and ill health Bookbooters had to fold but I have rewritten and revised that novel quite a few times. A Little Local Affair is now available at most eBook stores and in most formats.
It is about what happens in a small town when a local businessman dies unexpectedly, possibly murdered. It sets in motion all kinds of political in-fighting at the Town Council election, secret love affairs, a Bank fraud and a spate of petty crimes culminating in a mysterious death at the burned out shell of the businessman’s factory.
I enjoy being part of this strange small town life and the two books that follow to form the Fordhamton trilogy have the same pattern. Return to Fordhamton and The Last Resort are available through this site along with my latest foray into alien abduction and council corruption, The Man in Black.
A Little Local Affair
Return to fordhamton
The Last Resort
The Man in Black
April 13, 2012
The Camden Town Murder
All my titles are now featured on Goodreads. They are all available as eBooks with the exception of The Camden Town Murder. The hardback version is now out of print but the revised and updated paperback with extra material can still be purchased. My publishers Mandrake hope to have a eBook version out shortly and I will post a note here.
The Camden Town Murder was ranked as the third most famous unsolved murder mystery after Jack the Ripper and the Peasenhall Mystery by Discovery Channel. It would have remained relatively unknown but for being mentioned by Patricia Cornwell in her book 'Jack the Ripper - Portrait of a Killer'. She named Walter Sickert as the Ripper and asserted that he also committed the murder in Camden Town almost 19 years later despite there being little to connect him to the latter.
The Camden Town Murder is famous for two reasons. It was the first time that the accused gave evidence in their defence and was acquitted. The man was Robert Wood and in 1907 if found guilty he would have faced the gallows.
The case was also the turning point in the career of Edward Marshall Hall. His career was at its lowest ebb but after what was considered a brilliant defence of Wood his rise was meteoric and became the UK's foremost defence barrister.
My parents moved into a house in 1940 when just married which was opposite 29 St Pauls Road (now Agar Grove) where the murder of Emily Dimmock occurred. It was one of so many co-incidences that arose as I wrote the book.
I have been able to draw on the trial transcripts, police files, previously unpublished family letters and the crucial knowledge of a modern day forensic pathologist. I cannot say for certain but after over 100 years I am quite happy that the real murderer can now be named. You can read the background to this on my Camden Town Murder pages.The Camden Town Murder
The Camden Town Murder was ranked as the third most famous unsolved murder mystery after Jack the Ripper and the Peasenhall Mystery by Discovery Channel. It would have remained relatively unknown but for being mentioned by Patricia Cornwell in her book 'Jack the Ripper - Portrait of a Killer'. She named Walter Sickert as the Ripper and asserted that he also committed the murder in Camden Town almost 19 years later despite there being little to connect him to the latter.
The Camden Town Murder is famous for two reasons. It was the first time that the accused gave evidence in their defence and was acquitted. The man was Robert Wood and in 1907 if found guilty he would have faced the gallows.
The case was also the turning point in the career of Edward Marshall Hall. His career was at its lowest ebb but after what was considered a brilliant defence of Wood his rise was meteoric and became the UK's foremost defence barrister.
My parents moved into a house in 1940 when just married which was opposite 29 St Pauls Road (now Agar Grove) where the murder of Emily Dimmock occurred. It was one of so many co-incidences that arose as I wrote the book.
I have been able to draw on the trial transcripts, police files, previously unpublished family letters and the crucial knowledge of a modern day forensic pathologist. I cannot say for certain but after over 100 years I am quite happy that the real murderer can now be named. You can read the background to this on my Camden Town Murder pages.The Camden Town Murder
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