Brock's Book Blog

As some of my followers are aware I maintain a small vineyard. This vineyard is a eclectic mixture of ninety plants of mixed lineage. It was one of the first planted in the area by my father who himself is an eclectic mix of various talents and interests. He is prone to experimentation and exploration, always seeking new and better ways of doing things. Some of his experiments thrived and produced early crops but were prone to disease and the fruit often failed to reach maturity. Others proved to be late setting fruit and their production could be likened to hardened dried peas by season’s end. He did however, through grafting and selective pollination, produce a vine ideal for the local soil and growing season.

I assumed ownership of this vineyard when my Dad was too old to properly care for it. Like most of the acreage surrounding the vines the area was overgrown and terribly neglected. Deer had eaten large tracks of vine, almost to oblivion, and it took the best part of three years to rejuvenate the plants. This spring I have set out to replace all of the experimental non productive vines with the hybrids Dad created. This can be achieved in two ways. The primary method is rooting shoots from the productive vines. The second, grafting onto existing root stock. The primary method requires new plants establish a substantial root system before they bear fruit. The advantage of grafting is that you have an existing root system. Newly planted grapes will take three to five years to establish a substantial root system before they offer any substantial crops. Grafts produce fruit after one year.

You are probably wondering what this ramble in the vineyard is leading to. Well, writing is somewhat similar to grape propagation. You have to set your roots before anything substantial is produced. My friend Meagan Beaumont (see her blog Thrillers and Killers) is a fine example. She labored long and hard, setting her roots which have finally produced fruit in the form of her first book Carved in Darkness. http://www.amazon.com/Carved-Darkness-Maegan-Beaumont/dp/0738736899/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1360078173&sr=1-1&keywords=carved+in+darkness. Warning this book is not for the faint of heart.

Another friend of mine is presently setting her roots. Shelly Arnfield  a former colleague in policing, and a darn good writer, has just wracked up another contest recognition as she builds her platform. Check out WORDSWITHJAM. co.uk for the online publication. Download it free of charge and mosey over to page 35 to view her short story. I think you’ll like it… Watch for her name in the future.

I’ll let you know how my grafting went in a couple of months….