Leon Franklin: Author
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Present Project
'Stranger on the Shore'
My first novel is a story of love, intimacy, deceit and intrigue, set in the sixties.
Seeing a stranger on the shore is normal
Actually stopping to speak to a stranger on the shore is a little unusual
When that stranger leads Neil into emotional turmoil and threatens his very being;
that is very, very strange indeed
Stranger on the Shore
'Stranger on the Shore' is my first attempt at writing a book. Here is my introduction to the story. In my book I call this The Prologue. It appears here exactly as I intend to put it in the finished book. So just pretend you have the book in your hand and you have made a start by reading this....
Stranger on the Shore
PROLOGUE: An Introduction to Stranger on the Shore, by the author.
To use a similar phrase to the one Ernie Wise often used:
‘This is a book what I wrote.’
Thank you for starting to read it and as Hughie Green used to say “...and I mean that most sincerely folks.” Only I really do mean it sincerely. I hope you find it intriguing enough to read right to the end. I have read it many times but then I wrote it so I had to make sure it was correct. As I am getting on in years I also had to read it several times in order to remember what it was I had written?!?
Joking apart...
If you like surprises you should enjoy this story. It has some unexpected twists and turns along with drama, death, humour, loving sex, love lost and love found. It has deceit, hidden secrets, as well as spiritual, mysterious and romantic episodes. If that isn’t quite enough for you, to add to all that, it has an interesting, entertaining and I think gripping story line. If you agree or disagree, after reading it, then let me know via my website.
Any similarity to people, either living or dead, their stories, occupations, companies or businesses, is completely intentional. ONLY KIDDING!
No - whilst ‘Stranger on the Shore’ is fiction, the settings, places and times are factually accurate as far as it is humanly possible to make them. Fictional stories become much more believable, realistic and I think interesting when set in genuine places at known dates in history. However, it has not been my intention to use my life, or the lives of others (dead or alive), to base this story on. On the other hand, my life has been my only training in the art of writing. The ‘University of Life’ you may say. My life and my experiences including people I have met, books I have read and films I have seen are the only palettes of colour that I have to choose from when painting a picture.
If you want to read a little bit more about me, (and who wouldn’t?) you can turn to the back now or leave it until you arrive at that point. Yes, your right! Leave it until you arrive at that point.
This story is set in the North East of England and reading this book will immerse you mainly in the 1960's with some mention of the fifties as well. If you lived through the 60’s it will bring back many fond memories. If you are too young to remember the 60’s, that’s fine, I am sure you will still find it very interesting and entertaining. You will also feel quite at home because those times were so important they will never be forgotten. Parents, teachers and television will have given you a great deal of knowledge about those days. The music, art, fashion and all things cultural made and still make a huge impression on the direction of the people, and of the country, that is Great Britain.
Why 'Stranger' on the Shore? Well, I really do not fully know the answer to that. I have often wanted to write a story. I feel so privileged to have lived through the 60's my story was almost certain to be set in that time period. Then about two years ago one day out of the blue, no pun intended, I got the inspiration for a story based on this chap meeting a stranger at the seaside. Then into my head came that haunting and most beautiful melody by Acker Bilk entitled ‘Stranger on the Shore’. When I started the book I had no idea it was going to take me this long to write. I have only just recently knuckled down to it. I have taken it from one and a half chapters written in I think 2011 to its completion within about the first six months of 2013.
I know that authors are often asked ‘how did you come up with the names of the characters?’ So here is my answer. On most occasions, I simply used the first name that came into my head but the other thing I did was to use normal, everyday, names that you would have certainly heard in the '60s and to this day for that matter. I avoided names like Tarquin, Gerard and Alicia. Don’t get me wrong I am not having a go at anyone with those names they were just not right for my book.
This book, I now believe, will be just the first in a series of books all with different stories set in the 1960's and inspired by a ‘Top of the Pops’ type record. I want to make it plain that I did not first choose Acker Bilks record and then start writing the story. It was the other way around but for the next and successive books that is exactly what I intend to do. For each book in the rest of this series, I will first choose a well-known hit of the 60's and then, if it inspires me, formulate and build a story around it. As yet, as I continue to write this prologue in April 2013, I have no clue as to what that will be. I need to concentrate on completely finishing this one first. Suggestions welcome via my website email address.
We, therefore, have a tune whose title is associated with the story so I hope that with permission if permission is needed, it will be used as a theme tune if ever a film or play is made of it. Meanwhile, you may, while you are reading, wish to have Acker’s masterpiece playing in the background on an i-pod, i-phone or i-player. Perhaps even on an i-ron. I am sure in this age of technology that will be possible. After all, you can now have music coming out of your sofa. If you have no means of listening to the tune ‘Stranger on the Shore’ you may like to whistle or hum it, at least, when you start each new chapter. If, and I doubt it, you have no idea what the tune sounds like, go to ‘extras’ towards the back of the book or to my website for a link which will enable you to listen online.
To some readers horror (when I carried out a pre-publication survey) there are times when I will, as the author, speak directly to you to add something to the story. It may be just a joke or a comment about the situation or events in the 1960's. So that you are not confused between the story line and my utterances I will use this kind of typeface and put square brackets [like this] around it. This is just the way I write and is a similar style to the actor or actress that looks straight into the camera and talks to the viewing audience as in Miranda and Mrs Brown’s Boys and some stage plays.
A few comments below relate to television. If you wish to read more of my ramblings I have a blog on my website called ‘Too Close for Comfort’ which you may like to read.
I am a realist so I know that there is a good possibility that my book may only find its way to a publisher’s waste bin. However, I am also a positive person and you need to have good positive thoughts and think big for good things to happen. Therefore if it is a success and someone decides to make a film or television play out of it, I must insist that when the story takes us back or forward in time the viewer is kept properly informed. I am quite annoyed when I am watching a play on television and I haven’t a clue where we are or what time zone we are in. Are we before or after the event or in the present? We sometimes do not know for sure if the character had been thinking, dreaming or was in the present. During this story, I will keep you informed of when and where I have taken you by using this font and placing the dates and places inside square brackets. For example as I write this part, today’s information about me would read [Leon Franklin’s Studio, Thursday 3rd October 2013] I do want anyone watching the television play to be just as clear about the time zones as I have made them, for you the reader, among the pages and paragraphs of my very own first book....
‘Stranger on the Shore.’
Enjoy...
Synopsis of Stranger on the Shore
Genre: Romantic fiction.
Brief summary...
Seeing a stranger on the shore is normal. Actually meeting a stranger on the shore is, in itself, unusual. When that meeting and the outcome leads our main character into emotional turmoil and threatens his very being then, that is certainly not normal, not even usual, but very strange indeed.
‘Stranger on the Shore’ is one of a series of stories set in the 1960’s in the North of England and each is based loosely on pop tunes of the period.
More in depth...
The story takes us through many periods of our main character. It tracks His life and loves and introduces us to the four females, we can reveal, are most important to the story. There is Aunty Annie his guardian and his sister Jenny. Then there is his first love and childhood sweetheart Fiona. Finally, there is Helen, the stranger on the shore.
Main Character: Neil Collins
Neil is a genuinely nice guy. Romantic, chivalrous and tender hearted certainly undeserving of the heartaches he had endured as a child and would continue to endure as an adult. He was usually quite studious, thinking very carefully about each situation, before making a final decision. However he does have a contradictory side to his makeup. From time to time, this gives rise to impulsive episodes often leading to chaotic and/or comic situations. So the reader is in for a shock at the chaos, and laughter at the humour created, when this contradictory yet lovable characteristic is on display.
Aunty Annie
Aunty Annie took over as Guardian of Neil and his sister Jenny when their parents were killed during the war and brought them to live in Northallerton, Co. Durham. She looked after them well, took them to church with her each Sunday and bought them up to become good citizens.
Jenny Jackson (nee Collins)
Jenny is Neil’s sister and they were very close. She helped to nurse him back to health after his serious and life threatening accident. Jenny had also grown close to Fiona, they were like sisters, and she too was devastated by her death.
Fiona Collins
Fiona was Neil’s childhood sweetheart, lover and wife. She was beautiful both inside and out and they shared a perfect relationship. She died in the same accident mentioned above when the car Neil was driving was
involved in a head on crash on the A167 between Darlington and Northallerton.
Helen Crosby
Helen, with big, beautiful brown eyes and long eyelashes is the stranger on the shore Neil met after moving to Scarborough on the North East Coast.
She is the woman who, for a while, filled the chasm of loneliness Neil felt when he lost Fiona only to have all his hopes dashed, faith tested and his emotional endurance taken to the limit. Helen loved Neil very much indeed so it is surprising then that she should cause him so much heartache.
Minor Characters
There is Mary Robinson who escapes with her life, and her son Barry who died, in the road accident already mentioned. You will meet Dave, Neil’s friend and best man at his wedding. Luigi is the owner of the cafe where Neil and Helen go, on the first occasion, to discuss his concern about her suspicious behaviour. They subsequently spent a lot of hours in ‘Spinetti’s’, drinking frothy coffee. Not all of them were happy hours.
You will also read about disturbed and irate customers from the cafe, and pedestrians who were simply going about their business, when suddenly they were faced with what appeared to be a strip tease.
Appeal
I would like to think this story will have wide appeal. Not only of interest to those who enjoy reading novels but also for those who particularly like romance and romantic scenes of love making. Another added attraction is the intrigue woven into the plot. This story is set in the 1960’s which has its own attractions to young and old alike. The story title is the same as Acker Bilk’s beautiful clarinet melody ‘Stranger on the Shore.’ However the inspiration for the story came first and the use of the tune, for example, for any future film came after that. This story is in no way similar to any lyrics or stories that have been written before.
What other people think
A survey was carried out between the 5th and the 31st. July 2013. Volunteers made up of people I have never met along with a small number of friends and relatives were provided with a copy of the story. They were also given a survey in the form of a questionnaire to complete once they had read the story.
Illustrations
The story is mainly illustrated by photographs of the period. There is also the opportunity for readers to find out more about most of the subjects covered as the acknowledgements page includes extra information along with web addresses that the reader can log on to via their computer.
Other inclusions
Brief summary...
Seeing a stranger on the shore is normal. Actually meeting a stranger on the shore is, in itself, unusual. When that meeting and the outcome leads our main character into emotional turmoil and threatens his very being then, that is certainly not normal, not even usual, but very strange indeed.
‘Stranger on the Shore’ is one of a series of stories set in the 1960’s in the North of England and each is based loosely on pop tunes of the period.
More in depth...
The story takes us through many periods of our main character. It tracks His life and loves and introduces us to the four females, we can reveal, are most important to the story. There is Aunty Annie his guardian and his sister Jenny. Then there is his first love and childhood sweetheart Fiona. Finally, there is Helen, the stranger on the shore.
Main Character: Neil Collins
Neil is a genuinely nice guy. Romantic, chivalrous and tender hearted certainly undeserving of the heartaches he had endured as a child and would continue to endure as an adult. He was usually quite studious, thinking very carefully about each situation, before making a final decision. However he does have a contradictory side to his makeup. From time to time, this gives rise to impulsive episodes often leading to chaotic and/or comic situations. So the reader is in for a shock at the chaos, and laughter at the humour created, when this contradictory yet lovable characteristic is on display.
Aunty Annie
Aunty Annie took over as Guardian of Neil and his sister Jenny when their parents were killed during the war and brought them to live in Northallerton, Co. Durham. She looked after them well, took them to church with her each Sunday and bought them up to become good citizens.
Jenny Jackson (nee Collins)
Jenny is Neil’s sister and they were very close. She helped to nurse him back to health after his serious and life threatening accident. Jenny had also grown close to Fiona, they were like sisters, and she too was devastated by her death.
Fiona Collins
Fiona was Neil’s childhood sweetheart, lover and wife. She was beautiful both inside and out and they shared a perfect relationship. She died in the same accident mentioned above when the car Neil was driving was
involved in a head on crash on the A167 between Darlington and Northallerton.
Helen Crosby
Helen, with big, beautiful brown eyes and long eyelashes is the stranger on the shore Neil met after moving to Scarborough on the North East Coast.
She is the woman who, for a while, filled the chasm of loneliness Neil felt when he lost Fiona only to have all his hopes dashed, faith tested and his emotional endurance taken to the limit. Helen loved Neil very much indeed so it is surprising then that she should cause him so much heartache.
Minor Characters
There is Mary Robinson who escapes with her life, and her son Barry who died, in the road accident already mentioned. You will meet Dave, Neil’s friend and best man at his wedding. Luigi is the owner of the cafe where Neil and Helen go, on the first occasion, to discuss his concern about her suspicious behaviour. They subsequently spent a lot of hours in ‘Spinetti’s’, drinking frothy coffee. Not all of them were happy hours.
You will also read about disturbed and irate customers from the cafe, and pedestrians who were simply going about their business, when suddenly they were faced with what appeared to be a strip tease.
Appeal
I would like to think this story will have wide appeal. Not only of interest to those who enjoy reading novels but also for those who particularly like romance and romantic scenes of love making. Another added attraction is the intrigue woven into the plot. This story is set in the 1960’s which has its own attractions to young and old alike. The story title is the same as Acker Bilk’s beautiful clarinet melody ‘Stranger on the Shore.’ However the inspiration for the story came first and the use of the tune, for example, for any future film came after that. This story is in no way similar to any lyrics or stories that have been written before.
What other people think
A survey was carried out between the 5th and the 31st. July 2013. Volunteers made up of people I have never met along with a small number of friends and relatives were provided with a copy of the story. They were also given a survey in the form of a questionnaire to complete once they had read the story.
Illustrations
The story is mainly illustrated by photographs of the period. There is also the opportunity for readers to find out more about most of the subjects covered as the acknowledgements page includes extra information along with web addresses that the reader can log on to via their computer.
Other inclusions
- Dedications page: Includes a thank you list
- Prologue: An introduction to ‘Stranger on the Shore’
- Acknowledgements and Extras
- About the Author
We do not dwell too long in one place or at one time which gives variety to the story. It also keeps the reader’s interest and glues them to the chapter they are reading yet gives them an underlying need to drive on, and get to the next chapter, to see what happens next. Whilst to achieve this we move regularly from one period of Neil’s life to another, in no particular order, the reader is kept completely informed as to the time period, i.e. where and when they are.
The story keeps the reader guessing so it would be wrong of me to spoil your enjoyment of reading it, by telling you the outcome in advance, so I won’t. You will find the story line gripping and at the same time be entertained by tales of love and hate, life and death, marriage and divorce, lies and deceit, tears and laughter. There are also beautiful scenes of loving sexual intercourse.
Does my story have a happy ending?
You will have to read it to find out.
PHOTOGRAPHS FROM 'STRANGER ON THE SHORE'
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HOW TO ORDER...
Type into your browser 'Amazon UK'
Click on 'Amazon UK Official Site'
Click the 'All' drop-down box (to the left of search bar)
Click 'Books' from the list.
Type into the search box ‘ISBN: 9798514470303’
Click on ‘Stranger on the Shore’ as pictured.
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