philwhiteland's blog

This time last year

I was reminded today that, this time last year saw the podcast debut of Josiah and Archibald! It was really interesting, from my point of view, because this was the first time that they had been brought to life and interpreted by anyone other than me. I thought it worked out pretty well, but have a listen and see what you think Yorick Radio - A Dubious Undertaking

I think it's the approach of Christmas that's doing it!

I've been going back over some of the stories I've written from the point of view of the dogs at my daughter's care farm. I think the approach of Christmas has made me a bit sentimental! This is a bit of a sad one.This story is from the Christmas after one of the dogs (Packham) had sadly passed away, leaving India on her own and before the arrival of Rohan, the puppy. I always hoped this would get more attention than it actually did: https://www...

And then, there's this week...

Every Friday, I try to publish another episode in my 'Dead Reckoning' series about my two Undertakers, Josiah and Archibald. There are always weeks when I'm not in the right frame of mind or events overtake me and make it difficult. And then, there's this week... I hope there will be a new episode, tomorrow, but right now, I'm not so sure.

Hallowe'en!

Given the date, I thought it would be appropriate to revive this short story: https://www.abctales.com/story/philwhiteland/trick-or-treat

Free Young Ladies!

Some of you may remember this story being serialised on ABCTales during the dark days of the pandemic? Sometimes, I thought it was the only thing keeping me sane! Well, for one day only (Sunday, 8th September), this rather overlooked little book is absolutely FREE as a Kindle version. What people have kindly said aboout it: " Really enjoyed this right riotous rollicking story, Ethel, a young lady of good family has somehow found herself homeless...

If you've been wondering...

...why the next episode in the 'Dead Reckoning' series hasn't appeared in the normal manner, I'm afraid it's because I've been busy being 70 (I know, I know, where does the time go to?!) Normal service (for a septuagenarian anyway) will be resumed as soon as possible I've also got an additional one-off silly story to post, coming soon (hopefully).

Reviewing My Undertakers

Ok, here's the thing. I've got two paperback copies of my first full-length Josiah and Archibald novel, 'Bring Out Your Dead' to give away. All I ask in return is a fair review (doesn't have to be good, just fair) on Amazon and/or Goodreads and anywhere else that takes your fancy. If I get more than 2 enquiries, I'll draw names out of a hat. Offer closes midnight BST on Saturday, 17th August. If you're interested, pop a message in the comments...

Disgusted of Doveridge!

Just fyi, I'm more than a bit disgusted with X (Twitter as was). I know that, when you post a new story on ABCTales, you are automatically prompted to post about it on FB and 'Twitter' but I'm seriously thinking about coming off X as a platform (I only ever use it to promote my ABCTales stories), so I'm experimenting by not promoting this week's Undertakers story on there but on Blue Sky instead. We'll see if that makes any difference (although...

An Introduction to the Undertakers

For the next three days (Wednesday, 31st July to Friday, 2nd August) the Kindle version of the very first collection of short stories, featuring the odd pairing of Josiah Oakshott and Archibald Thurble, will be completely FREE . If you've been following the 'Dead Reckoning' series and have been wondering where these characters came from (and what their back story is) then you could do a lot worse than diip into 'A Dubious Undertaking and other...

Must be joking!

Occasionally, when I've finished my weekly instalment of Josiah and Archibald's adventures, I agonize over the jokes and whether they are funny, or not. Mostly, I tend to leave well alone and not be tempted to go back and change things, except for this week! There was one joke that I just felt didn't work properly and it was bothering me. Fortunately I woke up this morning with a better version in mind. So, this week's 'Dead Reckoning' episode...

Pages