Books by Richard Dodd and Mary Lou Clarke.( pen name: Chelsy Swann) and Richard Dodd

 Published soon ..In final edit  'Leverage', by RJ DODD  A contemporary thriller  Pitching two brothers  against each other..with deadly consequences.  One Brother is a Bomber and the other is an MI6 agent. 

Already Published and available on Amazon.

MAGINTY'S  QUEST..By Chelsy Swann... An adventure book for young reades..Pirates and mischief galore in modern day London and the Island of Bermuda.  ISBN Number..10: 1494387239....13:978-149387235

The SANDRUNNERS..By Chelsy Swann..A great story set in Eygpt, London and Athens in the late 1800s It follows the adventures of a young man,Yusuf,  who works in the Tomb excavations in Egypt, along with his great companion Suzy, who is a small Camel.They live a long distance from the tombs and to get to them every morning they set off early and run.They are spotted running by the senior Excavator who is also on the committee for the New Olympics.  Their adventures take them into some dangeous places as peasants were not welcome into the rarified fields of sport. But they eventually overcome the obstacles in a spectacular ending.   For both YA and Adult readers. 

ISBN Number 978-1475021387 

The FIDDLER..By RJ DODD..Set in Italy in the late 1700s. A young farm boy meets up accidentally with members of Mozarts orchestra on their way to play for the Pope. He is besotted by them and leaves home to join them. He is an accomplished violinist, having been taaught by his Uncle who was the priest in his .

As good as he is it is not good enough to join the orchestra and he is forced to earn a living in a quartet that plays in local Palazzos for the gentry in Venice and Rome. He eventually falls in love with a beautiful girl violinist and they move in together.The girls father abducts her and she is sent to Morrocco to be a wife for a potentate after large amounts of money ha been exchanged. Dante, the violinist is distraught and he rapidly descends into the underworld of those two cities. 

Dante eventully becomes a fugitive and he returns to his village where he takes over as the Parish priest when his uncle dies ..On his journey to this point he has many instances of great danger including a murder, drug scenes and being locked in a mountain nunnery. as well as massive treachery from a friend. 

One day as he visits the village grave yard to lay some flower he spots a woman and a little child watching him fom a small hillock nerby..It is his long lost love....What does Dante do now.?

Musicians the world over and down history all seem to live similar lives  and an alternative Title is..'A tale of Sex, Drugs and a String Quartet'

The ISBN Number is: 978-09935414-0-7 

The STACK..BY RJ DODD..An Australian Family saga..Set in England, Gallipoli, France, Australia  and the USA

Robbing a bank on the war ravaged peninsula of Gallipoli of its hoard of gold was not the uppermost thought in the minds of two young men from Cumberland in the North of England when they joined the British army in 1915...After the war they decide to return to Turkey, dig up the gold from a grave yard where they hid it and go to Australia. They eventually buy two massive plots of forest land, each more than a million acres..Settle down, start a family and hopefiully prosper.

Then the dark secret they left in the Turkish bank vault comes back to haunt them and threatens their families,

 This family saga  and adventure  is full of danger , travel, romance, misplaced  love, greed. infidelity, Tribal honour and is actually based on two true life stories.  A great romp.

The ISBN Number is: 978-1478181569 

Life transition

 How does a young boy, ill educated and who left school at 14 who  became a Deep seam coal miner at 15 get to be one of the top DoP's in the UK TV industry..  Tavelled the world in First Class..5 star accom in some of the most desirable locations in the world..How did he do that?

I did..

Perhaps it was the terrifying daily drop into the bowels of the earth in a tiny compartment called a cage..it had four layers.  Four men crammed into each layer squatting, knees interlocked..in that confined space and when the 'cage'  was fully laden  the wireman took off the brakes and it plummeted 400 metres down a ten foot wide hole in the ground..The Shaft.. at freefall speed..It automatically slowed down when the brakes came on as it reached its unloading point.  I was claustrophobic ..the drop was horrendous..and when we alighted we then had to walk a mile or so down dark damp tunnels to reach the coal seam  which was just over 3 feet tall. Once in there it was impossible to stand up for the entire shift.

Some years of this convinced me I had made the wrong career choice and so I decided to change tack. I wanted to travel t around this beautifiul Planet..make a lot of money and hopefully meet some pretty girls..  It was a major leap...almost impossible..But I did it ..More on this in the next post..stay with it.

Contact the author: Richard Dodd.. Director of Photography.

 Contact...The contact details for Richard Dodd,,  the Author and owner of Chelsy Swann blogsite

Tel: 07860  555  794

E mail: r.jdodd@outlook.com

Please feel free to make contact if you need more info..thank you.

HATRACK

 HATRACK Is an new streaming drama pitched at the younger viewer..and the main protagonist is a 17 year old who is almost a dropout from school and society.  A total waster. whose familt despair for his future. Until the family move to an old property with many rooms..Then the fun begins..  Pacy.. slick..clever.. educational and it involves the viewer...and there will be a game spinoff.  Watch this space.

 

 

The Stack by RJ Dodd Synopsis

Robbing a Turkish bank of its gold on the war-torn peninsula of Gallipoli was not the uppermost thought in the minds of two young men from Cumberland when they joined the British Army in 1915.

After their return from the war, via a spell in the trenches of France they cannot settle back into the lifestyle they once had and they decide to return to Turkey to recover the gold they had hidden and then proceed to a new life in Australia,

They buy two large adjoining tracts of timberland, The Stack and Wongon, both are one million acre estates, they settle down, have families and prosper

Then the dark secret that they left in the Turkish bank vault comes back to haunt them and their families.

This saga covers three generations with numerous strands as the families expand grow and involves the start of the second world war, it is full of danger, travel, romance, misplaced love, treachery, greed, infidelity, tribal humour and is based on two real life stories.

 Read about me filming on the USS Nimitz..Now being called into station near the Gulf states...It can actually stay at sea for 20 years..Just scroll down the list.

Directors..

 Over the years and dealing with hundreds of directors.,a great number of them have argued about various procedures..The favourite on is 'When you shoot on film rain is not seen..so why have you stopped shooting when its raining.?

I have no idea where they got that message from but they firmly believed it..until I pointed out a number of rainy scenes ..mainly in major movies. All filmed on 'Film'...it gave them food for thought.

Another favourite is for them to shoot 20 takes or more on the same shot..without giving directions to the actors..or anyone else..Apparently they think the actors will' up' their game..The truth is the Editor usually picks the 3rd take..mainly because the actor goes into robot mode....and it shows...If you go past seven takes you have lost the plot..and the performer...believe me.

More soon.