• Blog
  • About
  • Contact
Francene--Blog. Year 2014

Train line to Cornwall swings above sea like a fair-ground track.

2/6/2014

18 Comments

 
PictureNewlyn - www.bbc.co.uk
Storm damage in Devon and Cornwall has destroyed the rail link at Dalwish, cutting the whole area off from the mainland. Because of the raging seas, work can't begin at the moment. It's estimated to be another 6 weeks before the rail link will be repaired.

I love this area. I've only visited a couple of times, but the myths and legends have captured my imagination. All of my books are based in Cornwall. I could weep about the damage happening at the moment.
But four of my novels forecast flooding in a futuristic Britland. I'll get to that later.


PictureClock tower - www.bbc.co.uk
The devastating weather in south-west England has caused chaos. People were evacuated from their homes when stones from the crashing waves smashed windows. Others have been trapped in cars, and six boats were sunk when a sea wall collapsed.

Across the region the Environment Agency has issued several severe flood warnings, indicating a possible danger to life. The report included that several coastal defenses had been damaged and some river catchments remain extremely sensitive to any further rainfall.


PictureDalwish - www.bbc.co.uk
Elsewhere in Cornwall, the county's council said it was concerned about St Mawes' harbour wall, Mullion's sea wall, and ongoing issues at Penzance pier and promenade.

Penzance ... that beautiful harbor. I've mentioned it in present day novels and those set in the future after the Great Flood.


Here's an excerpt from Still Rock Water, Book One of the Moonstone series:


Picture
On the way to Penzance toward the southern tip of the land, neat fields slid by outside the train windows. The train jerked Liliha's body sideways and she glanced over at Kaelyn and Alissa nudging each other.

Thank goodness, Liliha had arranged for William to meet them at the other end of the journey. Sight-seeing in London had tired them all. She longed to arrive at their destination.

When they reached Penzance, right beside a wonderful harbor, they stretched and climbed onto the platform. Liliha clutched her coat around her body in the nipping cold. Under the grey sky, she searched each approaching face.

What if he didn't come? How would she cope?

Kaelyn rubbed her hands in the afternoon chill.

“I can't believe how long we've been traveling. Surely we could have come a different way.” She seemed intent on testing the durability of her trainers by kicking the bottom of the wall.

“Can we get a drink while we're waiting, Mum?” Alissa asked.

Same daughters. Only worried about immediate things.


The next section is from the post-apocalyptic Knights in Dark Leather, Book Two of the Higher Ground series, co-written by Edith Parzefall.


Picture
"How did you get so strong?" Hugo asked.

Painful memories attacked Boris. "I've always been larger than any child my age. I worked harder and grew up to be stronger and bigger than most."

"I wish I could be just as strong," Hugo said.

Boris shook his head. "You don't want to grow up being called a freak."

Hugo tucked his chin under and nodded.

"Fortunately, by the time the villagers had scared my father enough that he wanted to drown me in the sea, I'd grown much stronger than him. At the age of twelve, I ran away." Fond memories of the old woman who cared for him eased his pain. "Since then, I've provided for myself. I built a stone house and settled in Pens Dance for a while." What began as a foraging trip turned out to be the biggest adventure of his life. It had all worked out.

I have no doubt Cornwall will return to normal without too much delay. Take no notice of fanciful predictions in a futuristic novel. Reality is devastating enough for all the people caught up in England's flooding.


18 Comments
Gabor Kovacs link
2/5/2014 07:43:15 pm

Oh my god, what a disaster done by the storm! I hope things soon can return to normal!

Reply
Francene Stanley
2/5/2014 10:21:08 pm

No end in sight. But, summer's coming. All things pass.

Reply
leslie link
2/5/2014 09:22:25 pm

So sorry to hear about the storm damage. Perhaps a book on the amazing recovery would help shift it all.

Reply
Francene Stanley
2/5/2014 10:22:15 pm

Great idea about a prophetic book. Maybe that would work to calm down the weather.

Reply
Nick link
2/5/2014 09:23:19 pm

Coastal towns really have taken a battering this year!

Reply
Francene Stanley
2/5/2014 10:22:59 pm

It's such a shame about the damage done by the sea.

Reply
Sophie Bowns link
2/5/2014 09:29:48 pm

Oh God! Those waves look terrifying!
I enjoyed reading your small book exerts :-)

Reply
Francene Stanley
2/5/2014 10:23:54 pm

The waves are huge. Glad you got a chance to read some of my work.

Reply
Edith Parzefall link
2/5/2014 10:39:30 pm

Oh my, what have we done, Francene? Hm, maybe I'm overestimating our joint force, but it sure feels scary to have drowned Corn World in fiction and it's being flooded.

Reply
Francene Stanley
2/6/2014 09:30:51 pm

Surely, fiction can't become reality. Anyway, the whole of Britland went through the Great Flood in our books.

Reply
Nate
2/5/2014 11:25:46 pm

It's never a good thing when a disaster hits. Everything that can go wrong, will go wrong! Hope they overcome the adversity!

Reply
Francene Stanley
2/6/2014 09:31:52 pm

Worse news the following day, Nate. Somerset is underwater. Sigh! Let's hope drier weather comes soon.

Reply
Kathleen Ann Anderson link
2/6/2014 02:25:23 am

Has to be very scary for those people. Fascinating to see what's going on overseas.

Reply
Francene Stanley
2/6/2014 09:32:50 pm

Thanks for commenting, Kathleen. It must be so different where you live in America.

Reply
Alana link
2/6/2014 10:22:12 am

We've been hearing about some of these storms in our news coverage. It wasn't until now that I made the connection between Cornwall and Corn World. Duh.

Reply
Francene Stanley
2/6/2014 09:33:57 pm

Haha. Edith and I tried to work out how common usage would have changed place names over the years.

Reply
Wendy link
2/7/2014 03:24:57 am

Bad weather and nasty storms seems to be popping up all over the world! Scary photos

Reply
Francene Stanley
2/7/2014 07:02:52 pm

Yes, Wendy. The world is indeed experiencing many climate changes.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Francene Stanley:
    Author
    I use news items in my fantasy novels.

    Born in Australia, I moved to Britain half way through my long life. If you like my writing, why not consider purchasing one of my books on the sidebar below?
    I blogged 260 days last year. Link.

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Archives

    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013

    Categories

    All
    Animals
    Birds
    Earth
    Environment
    Experience
    News
    Novel
    People
    Society
    Writing

    RSS Feed

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.