A week (day?) is a long time in politics

Only yesterday I was musing about what would happen to the UKIP leadership now that Nigel Farage has resigned.

Now, a mere 24 hours later, we can welcome a new leader – appropriately named Nigel Farage.

Thanks Nigel, the plot line for my book stays intact.

http://www.kevinramseyauthor.me

 

Election Review

Now that the general election is over I need to review how I did with the courageous (foolish!) predictions I made a few weeks ago.

Actually not too bad considering, and certainly a lot better than either the media or the pollsters.

I forecast an outcome of the conservatives returned but still in coalition with the lib-dems. I certainly didn’t see the complete wipe out of the lib-dems that occurred, but I got totally right the result in that the conservatives are still the dominant party.

As an aside I feel truly sorry for the lib-dems who I believe acted with common sense and decency during the last 5 years. I hope they make a comeback.

What about my other prediction – UKIP? Again I was right. I predicted they would win a large share of the vote but gain very few seats. That’s exactly what happened.

So how has all this affected my book “Too Many Assassins”? The conservative win without the lib-dems has made virtually no difference to the plot and the rise of UKIP was as predicted. My dilemma is what Nigel Farage is going to do. I had not anticipated he would step down as leader and he features in my story as the charismatic leader who is eventually ousted by Francis Ventrice. As Nigel is wavering about whether to continue or not I need to leave this as an open question for the moment.

The book is all about the rise and rise of UKIP and its effects on some of the more lunatic elements in the conservative party. Nothing has changed. Enjoy a great read!

What Influence Will UKIP Have After The General Election

What influence will UKIP have after the General Election?

For me it’s an interesting question as my new novel, “Too Many Assassins”, covers the rise of UKIP and its enemies from
after the 2015 general election.

I wrote the first draft of the novel in mid 2014 so I had to indulge in a bit of long term speculation – a courageous,
many would say foolish, thing to do at any time. With the coming general election looking too close to call it looks even
tougher.

For what it’s worth I predicted that the distribution of seats would be not greatly different from the 2010 election and
that the most likely outcome was another Conservative / Liberal Democrat coalition.
In saying that, I assumed that UKIP would get a decent percentage of the vote, but not necessarily many seats, due to the
problem of the system of First Past The Post voting.To date I haven’t really seen anything to make me change that opinion
so UKIP could have very few seats despite a lot of votes.
I also assumed that The Lib-Dems would hang on to many of their seats, but most of the media at the moment are writing
them off as a spent force. I’m not so sure about that so I guess we wait and see.

Anyway, the point of my speculation was not to make a totally accurate prediction of the result but rather to paint UKIP
as growing force to be reckoned with and thus certain to occupy the thoughts of the traditional political parties. This
sets the tone of the novel which centres around a plot by UKIP’s enemies to destroy the party.

The novel is actually the 2nd book of my trilogy “The Andersen Plan”. For those who would like to read the first book,
“Too Many Victims”, or those of you who are reluctant to buy the work of a new author, I am offering for a limited period
a free download of book 1 on my website http://www.kevinramseyauthor.com

Both books are available now on Amazon as an e-book and in a few weeks time as a paper back.

Sunny Seville

To celebrate the launch of my new book “Too Many Assassins”, and a rather special birthday, my wife and I had  a week’s holiday in Andalusia, Spain.

We stayed at both Seville and Jerez and had a ball. Both are beautiful cities. Seville, being much bigger, is probably the more impressive of the two, but it’s  busier and the more touristy so I preferred the smaller size and laid back feel of Jerez.

Considering the time of year (mid March) the weather was great. Every day was sunny and in the mid twenties so I was able to get a bit of colour into this pale English skin, courtesy of great roof terraces at both hotels. The evenings were cooler but you could still eat outside as long as you had a warm cardigan or coat.

In Seville we went to The Alcazar where we saw one of the oddest contraptions I’ve ever seen – a Hydraulic Organ dating back to the 17th century. It plays music using water power! Apparently there are only 3 or 4 left in the world so if you are there make sure you have a look. But beware, it only plays for 3 or 4 minutes every hour, on the hour, so get your timing right.

A Sequel at last

Those of you who read my first novel, “The Andersen Plan”, were very kind in your comments and many of you asked me when the next one would appear.
Well it’s taken me a long time butAssassins - High Resolution here it is! The Andersen Plan is now a trilogy and I have just published book 2 on Amazon entitled “Too Many Assassins”. It’s a totally new story but carries through many of the characters you met in book 1.
To add a bit of topicality, and without giving too much away, it features a UKIP politician who is upsetting the establishment. he travels to Australia where very strange things happen!
For anyone who hasn’t read Book 1 (now re-titled “Too Many Victims”) or if you want a recap, there is a free download on my web site http://www.kevinramseyauthor.com.
Enjoy!

First Post

Here it is – my first post.

I have just completed and published my first novel “The Andersen Plan”.

It’s in the crime / thriller / political thriller genre.

I’ve had great fun and learned a lot writing it. Now let’s see if it sells!