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shaw

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first registered 18.03.09

last online 1 day ago

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about me

Worked as a singer, first as a boy soprano for Britten, then as a tenor at The English National Opera. My book about my time there, 'Chorus Lines', published by Authorhouse, has been well reviewed, 'this fascinating, roller-coaster ride through his time at the Coliseum is genuinely funny, eye-opening and a real page-turner', (Opera Now magazine) I have written several novels and many short stories.

favourite books

'The war of the worlds' H.G Wells.
'Hotel du Lac' Anita Brookner.

my websites

    

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Self-publish with CreateSpace

my books

The Exiles

Raymund Dring

The Genesis star ships are headed into the void to colonise a distant planet but disaster strikes before they reach their destination.


The three Genesis star ships are crewed by very young couples at the start of their immense, sixty year journey through space. Only their children will populate their targeted planet. However, disaster strikes, killing almost all on board. The sole survivor is Simon, a premature baby, safe in his incubator during the catastrophic depressurisation. He grows up, totally isolated on the only remaining, severly damaged star ship, utterly ignorant of why he is there and where exactly he is headed. His solitary life in his prison of a pod seems increasingly meaningless. What is it all about? He begins to crave human company...or something very like it. When the troubled teenager eventually sets foot on a new world, the beautiful alien he chances upon seems his only hope of any meaningful close encounter. However, might this deliriously exciting liaison prove somehow dangerous and ill-advised?

 

Splinters 2

Raymund Dring

Splinters 2 is my second volume of short stories on widely differing subjects, some of a very unusual nature.


Splinters 2 comprises of fifteen more of my short stories. In 'The New Party List', an elderly couple decide to abandon their usual circle of friends and aim to put on a party for completely different people. Next is a gay tale: 'Avoiding the Dorian Mode', then a brief visit to London from an old provincial lady introduces us to bustling 'Aunt Emily'. 'Prawn Night' takes us to Australia and its club and cabaret scene, then over to The French Riviera for 'La Rue Obscure. Back to the UK and Brixton for a joyful reunion with 'Jodie and Jonlyn'. 'Tarnished Gold' is about ageing, but 'Homespun Holmes' is an amateur detective in his prime. 'The Perfect Christmas' is everyone's dream, yet rarely achieved. 'The Truth about Tony' takes us to Philadelphia, city of brotherly love...though not too apparent here. 'The Love that Conquered All' considers one of England's greatest composers. 'Wolf Whistles' is a cautionary and scary tale. So is 'Moment of Decision'. 'No more Knickerbocker Glories' is rather sad tale of bereavement. Finally, 'The Dark Arena' takes us into an opera house at dead of night where the caretaker is struggling with his crossword which sets him really thinking.

 

Off-key and Out of Time

Raymund Dring

Famous composer, Nathan Keene, opts for cryogenic suspension after his death. Revived 200 years later. Is he now still valued or simply a quaint anachronism?


When Nathan Keene is revived 200 years after his death in the late 20th century, he awakes to a completely changed world. Although formerly revered as a composer for his symphonic works, is his output still valued? Should he continue to write more music in the same style as before? Or is there now no point in such dated compositions? Sadly, things have changed even more than Nathan can possibly imagine. He is introduced to a Professor Kalman who not only teaches the history of music, but can still converse in what was once known as 'modern English'. He explains in a very erudite manner how music has fundamentally changed over millennia from Plainsong chant and natural harmonics to Bach's 'Well-tempered clavier' , then atonal trends and beyond to the 22nd century... Language has evolved to become very abbreviated as in text messages. Many well-established Art forms have vanished from the scene. Much iconic architecture has been destoryed by wars and floods. Ultimately, all artistic endeavour, however great, tarnishes irrevocably over the centuries. Masterpieces are often overpainted to become pastiches of their original brilliance. Murals can only last as long as their walls. Art is not pontless, but not lasting...

 

Splinters 3

Raymund Dring

Three ghost stories and six very strange tales including some science fiction, a parable and one unique, totally experimental piece of writing.


Splinters 3 contains the most way-out short stories of my three volumes. 'The Piano Player' concerns a long-dead, famous Russian composer. 'Badlands' is a Western of sorts. 'Smart Aleck' is scifi and about an interplanetary circus of the future. 'Late Payment' seeks out the ghost in the machine. 'Short Circuit' is scifi and an experimental piece, never before attempted, I imagine. 'Literary Agent' is scifi and about an alien visitor to earth, trying to sell his book about the locals, but without much success. 'The Telescope' is a life story on fast forward. 'Christmas Spirit' tells of Father Christmas arriving with presents for all the kids, but do we really believe in him? 'The Garden' is a sad parable in the guise of a fairy story.

 

Humpty Dumpty

Raymund Dring

Six-year-old orphan, Hamish, now incarcerated at Lochlee Hall with his great uncle Jock, wants to find out what is kept locked up in the attic.


Humpty Dumpty is an update on the old theme of the mysterious locked secret room within a huge mansion. Six-year-old Hamish has been seriously injured in a car crash which robbed him of both his parents. He ends up at gloomy Lochlee Hall in the wilds of Kincardineshire in the bleak Highlands of Scotland, owned by his mean and crusty great uncle Jock. Naturally curious, Hamish wonders why the top floor of the mansion is such strictly forbidden territory. Jock's kindly housekeeper, Ellen is accommodated up there, but there are still two other rooms which are always kept securely locked. One turns out to be full of Jock's old heirlooms and dated toys, understandily hidden from the little boy as some of the latter have been earmarked for him as relatively painless birthday and Christmas presents costing nothing. However, the other locked box room seems to contain something much more sinister. Hamish and his schoolpal, Robbie make various investigations but the more clues they uncover, the more all the adults around close ranks to try and keep the matter firmly under wraps. There is a definite conspiracy afoot to keep the appalling truth from Hamish.

 

The Charlatan

Raymund Dring

Whilst on holiday in the South of France, Walter falls in love with Monique, a ballet dancer, but what will the future bring?


After a torrid holiday romance in the South of France with Monique a beautiful young ballet dancer, Walter tries to keep in touch with her but it is very difficult whilst continuing to live in different countries. He still has to complete his long degree course in geology at Bristol University and Monique is tied to her much-loved job in the corps de ballet at Monte Carlo. Her Roman Catholic mother insists on nothing less than marriage if Monique wants to give up her career and move to England to be with Walter so the young couple never have a chance to really get to know each other. Nevertheless, they eventually tie the knot. But are they ideally compatible? Only time will tell. We follow their ups and downs over the next twenty years... Since nobody can see into the future, what lies ahead remains quite obscure...or perhaps not totally?

 

Accelerando

Raymund Dring

When tenor, Jacob Stein, sings at The Bolshoi in 1991, he soon finds himself playing another much more scary role during the attempted Yanayev coup.


Jacob Stein is a famous English tenor although all his forebears were Jewish, having left Russia during the Tsarist pogroms. Since he is fluent in Russian, Jacob is often booked to sing in Russian operas, and this has led to friendship with the Soviet Union's greatest living composer, Dmitri Popovitch. In 1991, Jacob stars in Dmitri's latest opera at the Bolshoi, but Moscow soon becomes a very dangerous place to be that summer after Yanayev and his hard-line communists suddenly stage a military coup against the growing 'glasnost' of Gorbachev. Apart from this dramatic backcloth of political chaos, there also seems to be a conspiracy being enacted against Dmitri and all his family which Jacob decides to investigate. Dmitri's dissident views may be threatening his exalted position in the crumbling Soviet Union, and Jacob is determined to do something about it...

 

Chip

Raymund Dring

Chip is sixteen and has been brought up at a boys' home. He wants to trace his parentage and the book describes his quest.


Chip is sixteen and has been brought up at Brockhurst, a boys' home in South London. He is very impatient to trace his parentage before he reaches eighteen when he has a legal right to do so. Aided by his younger room-mate, Lovebyte, with whom he is intimate, Chip embarks on a long search which takes him all over the country. Labelled as gay by all the rest of the unruly boys, life is never easy for the pair, but they somehow manage to brave it out. Although studious Lovebyte is still at school, Chip works at 'Wallington World', a rather pathetic, local freebie rag. However, innate investigative journalism within him fuels his convoluted detective work. His long quest is also a voyage of self-discovery during his difficult adolescent years.

 

A Touch of The King Midas

Raymund Dring

It's 1967, and a group of entertainers join an old Greek liner for some Mediterranean cruises but everything soon goes wrong, often with hilarious results.


Paul, a young tenor gets a job as an entertainer aboard an old and dilapidated transatlantic liner now owned and run by Greeks but chartered by Hiram B. Hirschfield for a series of cut-price Mediterranean cruises. It's 1967, and Hirschfield's Holiday Camps are now facing stiff competition from cheap package holidays abroad to places like Spain. Hirschfield, a rather eccentric American, decides to hit back with £50 cruises for very ordinary folk. However, everything goes wrong from the moment the SS King Midas sets off from Southampton, and the motley group of cabaret artistes are caught in the middle of the general mayhem. Non-stop diversions are planned to distract disgruntled passengers from the many discrepancies on board, including frequent, themed floor shows.Nevertheless, there is still just enough time spare for the fourteen 'Greenjacket' cruise staff entertainers to get up to plenty of bizarre shenanigans. Some of the young passengers, newly-liberated by the swinging Sixties, are certainly out to have a good time, and there's something for everyone available somewhere on the ship..Despite all the ups and downs at sea, young Paul usually manages to see the funny side of things.

 

Splinters

Raymund Dring

Splinters (volume one) is a collection of eighteen thought-provoking short stories on widely ranging subjects often of an unusual nature.


Splinters (volume one) begins with a tale of a young boy's awakening interest in the wider world around him, despite being set in occupied Russia in 1942. Then we turn to the more enclosed world of opera at Covent Garden. Another boy confronts an old man in Clinker, and a curious tale about a subpostmistress follows, set in Devon. We fly off to Sydney for Pick 'n' Mix, a gay tale. Old age is considered in Moving On. The Bogeyman is a sinister story set in California. The Log Book tells of a venerable old aristocratic French Comte now living near Exeter and renting out rooms in his mansion. Swallowtails and Amazons is a snapshot of a teenage friendship. Mr Liebermann's Mistake takes us round the world on an old P&O liner. Phoenix is set in a Marriage Bureau, and The Sunny Side of the Street in Pimlico, followed by The Shady Side of the Street. The Curious, Cross-legged Garden Gnome is a mystery, as is The Strange Little Man. Special Offer is found in a supermarket. We're off to St. James's Park to meet The Two Paragons, and then finally, Holland Park for The Back End of the Act.

 

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latest

fatema wrote 29 days ago

Hi, please back ache in my heart on your shelf thanks. Please read an....

Pollyanna Pilsbury wrote 36 days ago

Hi Raymund, That short circuit one was a clever idea and very clever....

Adeel wrote 37 days ago

Dear Raymund thanks and you are always welcome. Regards Adeel

The Knowledge wrote 38 days ago

Raymund....please meet 'Madeline' David

Andrew Hughes wrote 39 days ago

Hi Raymund, “Informers and blackmailers, phrenologists and dissect....

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my comments

latest

I wrote 546 days ago

My first message doesn't seem to have registered. I have read your first story and found it well written. You might be interested in some of mine, particularly as some also deal with old age and beyond... There are nine of my books logged on here! Best wishes, Raymund Dring. view book

I wrote 547 days ago

First story is certainly thoughtful and well written. There are similarities to some of my work touching on old age and death. Try 'La Rue Obscure' in one of my three volumes of 'Splinters'. Best wishes, Raymund Dring. view book

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