Mike Bennett Author

U&F After Hours E2

April 30, 2022April 30, 2022 Mike

Episode 2 of the U&F Q&A show is now available in my podcast feed. In it, my wife Pauline asks me some questions about U&F Season 3, Episode 2 (which, if you’re on Patreon is U&F Underground Episode 1). Pauline had to come up with the questions herself because we didn’t receive any submitted from listeners, but if you’d like to submit a question about U&F Season 3 Episode 3 (or any episode of U&F previous to it), you can do so using the email address I mention on the show. You could even record it using your phone and send me an audio recording if you like, that way you can be on the show “in person”. Très cool, no?

Also, for Patreon listeners, there’s an extended episode of the show which includes the segment, “What’s on Our TV?” in which we talk about the shows we’ve been watching lately, which this time includes The Wilds and The Dropout.

Music on the podcast:
Rollin at 5 Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Mike

Irish Passport

April 13, 2022April 22, 2022 Mike

I was delighted today to finally receive my Irish passport. It marks the end of a two-year process (and not a cheap one, either), but it’s all been worth it. I shall raise a Guinness or two tonight to celebrate. Sláinte!

Mike

Personal Facebook Deactivated

March 29, 2022April 22, 2022 Mike

Just in case you’re a friend, family member, or listener who’s a friend of mine on Facebook and may be wondering if I’ve unfriended you because my personal profile has disappeared from your news feed, I haven’t. I’ve just deactivated my profile. Facebook can be a big distraction from work (as we all know), as well as an all-too-easy (lazy) alternative to doing something constructive when you get some downtime. So I just turned it off.

However, I will continue to moderate and maintain my Facebook group, Mike Bennett Author page, and Underwood and Flinch pages, from my Mike Bennett Author profile. So I’m still there, just not via my personal profile, at least for now. I’m sure I’ll be back at a later date 🙂

Podcasts, U&F After Hours

U&F After Hours E1

March 18, 2022March 18, 2022 Mike

Hey there! I’ve just posted episode one of a new short podcast show featuring me and my wife Pauline talking about U&F Season 3.

Basically, the format is Pauline asking me about each episode of the podcast, my ideas and inspirations etc. It’s like those podcasts where you have fans talking about a TV show … but without the fans. But saying that, it would be nice to get some fans on the show too. More on that further down.

This first episode deals with the short story Disturbing the Devil, which was the opening episode of Season 3. One of the things I talk about in the episode is this train ❤️ ….

The next episode will focus on S3 Episode One (David returns to England to rescue Lisa), so if you have any questions about that which you’d like to ask, you can send them to me via Twitter or Facebook, and Pauline will ask me them on the next show. Alternatively, you can record your question and send it in to me as a recording, and then we’ll play it on air, this way you can be on the show too. Huzzah!!

P.S. if you’re interested in sending in an audio question, message me at Twitter or Facebook and we’ll agree a suitable delivery method for your recording 😁

Music on the podcast:
Rollin at 5 Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Mike

Gone for a Dip

March 2, 2022April 22, 2022 Mike

Pauline and I went for a swim yesterday. I was massively reluctant to go. There was a freezing wind coming out of the east; the sea temperature is 8.5°C; there were waves that made swimming hopeless; the tide was out so we had to walk for ages till we got anywhere deep, BUT, as always, once you’re in, it’s lovely.

There’s a short YouTube video here: https://youtu.be/gakoOWvyX7w

U&F

Almacena: Capital of Spanish Rural Tourism 2021

February 7, 2022 Mike

A small nugget of info. In U&F, the fictional town of Almacena is based on a real-life town called Olvera, in Cadiz, Andalucia. I was living there when I first got the idea for U&F, and the town became the main location for the story. I follow a couple of Facebook pages about the place, and today I saw that town has just appeared on a Spanish stamp celebrating rural tourism. In fact, it’s become the “Capital del Turismo Rural 2021”.

If you have a great memory for detail, maybe you can recall Underwood stashing a bag of clothes in the rocky seat of the castle? Well, you can see both rocky seat, and castle, in the pic (the building at the highest point). While fictional places like La Reina de Corazones and the restaurant Gerald referred to as “The Blazing Sausage” were loosely based on a bar and restaurant in the foreground area of the pic at at the bottom. In reality, there were no British pubs in the town, at least when I was there, I made that bit up based on the kind of places you find on the coast.

If you’d like a closer look at the place, here’s a recent YouTube video (07:41 length). It’s in Spanish, but you can always choose subtitles, or just look at the imagery: https://youtu.be/7h_PaDS1Zg4

U&F Season 3

U&F Season 3 – Finale Now Live

February 5, 2022 Mike

Episode 14. The finale of Season 3. Claire Redmond’s investigation takes a turn for the decidedly strange.

Mike

Sea Swimming

February 1, 2022February 3, 2022 Mike

Since last October I’ve been going sea swimming. I wasn’t keen at first, but my wife started going last summer and was forever singing its praises, so I figured I’d give it a go. At first, it was (predictably) hard to take. I could only stay in for about three minutes before I came scurrying out, desperate to get towelled off and into some warm clothes. However, I persevered, and now I’m a fully-fledged convert. We go in around four times a week, and on the days we don’t, it’s cold showers or cold baths, just so we don’t get lax when it comes to going into the cold.

Here’s a video of me going in for a dip this January: https://youtu.be/3mCoqc7CNHw

And speaking of going into the cold, my newfound interest in sea swimming led me down a YouTube rabbit hole that led me to one Wim Hof. Maybe you’ve heard of him. I won’t spend ages writing all about him here, but in a nutshell, he’s a guy who strongly advocates regular exposure to cold as a health benefit. He’s a fascinating character, and can count me as one of his many fans. I’m currently reading his book, The Wim Hof Method. I recommend it. You don’t need to have a sea on hand to do his thing, a cold shower a day will do the trick just as well. Give it a go. You’ll like it … eventually 😁

Merch

Help Spread the Word – by Wearing It

January 26, 2022 Mike

“I say! What a splendid t-shirt!” … is what Underwood might say if he saw any of these items of U&F merch available at my Redbubble store. This design is “UF Classic Book Cover“, based on MJ Hahn’s cover for the 2012 edition of the Underwood and Flinch novel. It’s one of several designs you can find at Redbubble, and these garments are just a few of the tons of items you can find. Hats, bags, shirts, hoodies, bedspreads, shower curtains, button badges (mustn’t forget the badges), there’s something for everyone. So check it out, and get yourself a U&F themed present today – you’re worth it 🙂

U&F Season 3

U&F Season 3, Episode 12. Now Live.

January 18, 2022 Mike

The 12th episode of Season 3 of U&F Underground is now live in your podcast feed (subscription links below). This time, DI Redmond and DS Larry Beck visit the crime scene of a murder we witnessed earlier in the story. We also meet some new characters, including Claire’s boss, DCS Coleridge.