TP's World

TP's World is officially moving...

2011-05-01T21:05:00.000+01:00

Yup, that's right, I'm on the move again...

It doesn't seem all that long since I shifted over here from Weebly, but I've packed up most of my pages and I'll be closing and deleting this blog down at the end of May.

So those of you who have followed me on here, you'll need to transfer yourself to - http://tpsworld.wordpress.com/

I don't have anything against Blogger - far from it, it's a nice simple system. I just prefer the Wordpress set up.

Please accept my apologies for the inconvenience!

Review: Blood Tears by Raven Dane

2011-04-11T13:36:00.000+01:00

When a foreign child is abandoned by her family in Isolann's wolf-ridden forests, she is taken to live under Azrar's protection as his ward. The strange ability that the girl possesses, a power that so terrified her own people, could be the only hope for Prince Azrar's survival.

The Dark Kind is an ancient species, the top of the Primate food chain, slowly dying out as ever-present Humanity expands.

A powerful Dark Kind Warlord brings up a Human Girl, Khari, for she holds special powers. When the Human world inevitably intrudes upon her peaceful world, her Guardian sends her out to learn about her own kind, while he fights the menace that threatens the health and well-being of every living thing.

This is a Vampire story. That much is certain, but despite the obligatory vampiric introduction of Jendar Azrar in the first chapter, full of the joys of the hunt and his feeding, “Blood Tears” is certainly not your usual type of Vampire story. “Blood Tears” is a Dark Fantasy and Raven Dane knows how to construct a realistic tale, drawing the reader into the world without them noticing. She has woven the fantastic elements of the story through the backdrop of the Second World War in such a way that it is a seriously plausible accounting of the war.

This is not a story for those who want the emotional “I’ve lived for a hundred years and I’m sooo lonely” type of Vampire; there is no teenage angst here. The horror doesn’t come from the Dark Kind, but the various human monsters both in military uniform and civilian guise… and I don’t just mean the Nazis. All the usual Vampire clichés are here; however, Raven’s writing style makes the whole book original and new, with reasonable explanations for all the cliches from being Nocturnal to needing Human Blood to survive.

I’ve read many different ways of presenting Vampires (except Twilight – don’t ask) and this is very much my favourite one. I feel that “Blood Tears” is on par with “Interview with a Vampire” and in many ways surpasses it. The characters are created in such a way that it is a real wrench to leave them at the end of the book and you are left wondering what happens next. I fell in love with Jazriel from the moment he was introduced and hated Prof. Parrish with a similar passion and this is why I love the book!

If you like the Vampire / Gothic Romance Genre then this is one book you are going to love!

Praise for Blood Tears

Vampirism at a deliciously literary level, dark fantasy at its best!’ - Gary Power, Author

Taut, pacey and beautifully written, a refreshingly different vampire novel. I cannot praise Blood Tears enough. - Karen Stevens for The British Fantasy Society

“The story is compelling and intriguing - a must to read.” - Helen Hollick, author of Pendragon's Banner Trilogy, Harold the King and A Hollow Crown

“Sexy, subversive and beautifully written” - Rachel Cropper, TFC

“Raven continually manages to use clichés of this romantic gothic genre and
twist them into something new. Incredibly refreshing” - Alix Ali, Bucks Free Press

To pick up a copy of this wonderful book in both Print and Digital format, click through the link below:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Blood-Tears/dp/B004EYT9EG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1302518412&sr=8-1

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

M♥

The Tower and The Eye - A Novella Series

2011-04-10T23:14:00.001+01:00

Yes, that's right, I'm going to burble on about my baby now... I feel entitled to considering that it was my hard work (and writing is hard work, no matter how much you enjoy it) that put the story out there for you to read.

Just to remind you of what I am rabbiting on about, here's the Blurb again, and I'll make it the short one!

Cover by Noelle Pierce

The stories of the Black Tower War keep the children of the four kingdoms in check. Adults consider them to be only stories, but stories are sometimes true and they always go around in cycles…
A mad King rules in Galivor. His sons vie for the right to become his official heir. While the youngest, Korin, chases the bandits plaguing the land, Loric sets out to plunder an abandoned dungeon.

If you like “The Dragonlance Chronicles” or “Conan the Barbarian” then you’ll love “The Tower and The Eye” Novella Series.

* * *

I've been keeping an eye on this little one - promoting it here and there, hoping and praying that people like it. I certainly enjoyed writing it, so hopefully, people will enjoy reading it. I thought you might like to see the reviews it's getting as well -

“A very enjoyable work of sword and sorcery with well defined characters and a great sense of fun.

If you like Dungeons and Dragons style stories this will be ideal for you. For the rest of us it's rollicking fun.
Well worth the price of entry”

John Booth, Author via Smashwords – 5 Stars

"If you're a 'Dungeons and Dragons' fan, and if you like fantasy of the 'traditional' sword and sorcery type, then this is for you. Fast paced, with vivid imagery and a nicely developed plot opening the way for more stories in the series.

It is very clearly derived from Dungeons and Dragons (and other games of the same type). This is entirely intentional, as the Author makes clear in her postscript, and all the elements of these sorts of games are woven into the story, to good effect."

Paul Trembling, Writer and Poet via Amazon UK – 4 stars

"This is a fun read employing all the stereotypes we have come to know and love from Dungeons and Dragons and the sword and sorcery fantasy world. Axe-wielding dwarves, ethereal, pointy eared elves, a bumbling hero, a buxom barmaid and an evil lord bent on re-conquering the world. But it certainly isn't all predictable.

Some of the characters are a tad unexpected, like the talking jar who acts as the Evil Overlord's aide de camp. Although the author says it isn't a spoof, I suspect she's telling at least a little bit of a porky. The Tower and the Eye? No reverberations from Mordor? I suspended judgement and went along for the ride and got a little bit more than I bargained for. Some of the outcomes I expected didn't come to pass. Some parts are downright funny, like the skeletal hand that holds the hero's torch while he tries to break down the dungeon door.

Recommended as a piece of light entertainment."

Greta Van Der Rol, Author via Amazon US - 4 stars

I'm really pleased with the way things are going - I've sold a total of 10 eBooks now. This is fine, I'll build up my following slowly and surely.

* * *

So, onto the second book in the series. Again the cover has been produced by the gifted Ms. Pierce - Not just a pretty face or a supremely talented Romance Writer!

Cover by Noelle Pierce

The world of Quargard is at peace. The Heart Kingdoms of Galivor, Jinran, Franier, Valdir, Reldheim and Alethdariel co-exist harmoniously, but it was not always so.
The stories of the Black Tower War keep the children of the four kingdoms in check. Parents ensure that they eat their greens and go to bed on time by passing on the tales of the Dungeons of Doom, ruled over by The Eye of The Overlord. Adults consider them to be only stories, but stories are sometimes true and they always go around in cycles...

From each land comes a tale of derring-do, a Hero or Heroine stepping up to take on the job of Dungeon Destroyer, whether they know it or not.

Can the peace of the Heart Kingdoms survive the re-awakening of the Overlord and his horde of Creatures? Will those who venture into the dungeons return alive? Who knows?

Venture into the World of Quargard and find out for yourself.

Book Two: A Party at Castle Grof

Castle Grof has claimed the lives of many already, but Lord Harnaz of Valdez is determined to clear the menace of the dungeon underneath completely.
Drawn into the quest with a barbarian warrior, a monk of Tyr and an old friend, Aranok and his half sister, Ariana, begin to wonder if they will actually return to their home in the elven realm of Alethdariel alive…

This is the book that is under production. I'm about a third of the way through the third or fourth edit and I'm hoping that this one will be out by the end of the month, so keep your eyes open!

While you're waiting, you can pick up the first book "A Beginning" for free from Smashwords by using this code at the checkout - JS78V - all I ask is that once you've read it, leave a review either on Smashwords or Amazon.

Here are the links:

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/49979

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beginning-Tower-Eye/dp/B004UCDGDM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=A3TVV12T0I6NSM&s=digital-text&qid=1301564707&sr=1-1

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004UCDGDM

The World of The Tiger Princess Presents... Jake Barton!

2011-04-07T19:48:00.001+01:00

Sexy Deep Voiced Announcer: Put your hands together for our lovely literary Lady, she of the smooth white fur, glistening fangs and diamond tipped claws… The Tiger Princess!

LOUD APPLAUSE FROM AUDIENCE AS THE TIGER PRINCESS STRUTS OUT TO “EYE OF THE TIGER” WITH A PAIR OF HANDSOME YOUNG MEN

Tiger Princess: Why sir, you say such wonderful things!

LOUD WHISTLES OF AGREEMENT FROM THE AUDIENCE. TP MOVES OVER TO THE DAIS AND SITS DOWN

Tiger Princess: Today’s guest is a successful e-Book author. His first novel, “Burn, Baby, Burn” is currently at number 16 on the Amazon Bestsellers chart and has been in the top 100 for 53 days! Google “Jake Barton Author” and “Burn Baby Burn” is the number 1 result. He has released another two books recently; “Blood” which is the sequel to his first book and “Heat” in which some familiar characters find themselves on holiday.

AUDIENCE GASP AND UP TOWARDS THE BACK, SEVERAL PEOPLE PULL OUT THEIR SMARTPHONES…

Tiger Princess: Please welcome, Jake Barton!

Just look at that 'Tache! Wonderful!

AUDIENCE APPLAUD AND ON THE SIDE STAGE, A LEONARD COHEN SOUNDALIKE STARTS SINGING:

Like a bird on the wire
Like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free

Like a worm on a hook
Like a knight from some old fashioned book
I have saved all my ribbons for thee

If I, if I have been unkind
I hope that you can just let it go by
If I, if I have been untrue
I hope you know it was never to you

JAKE ENTERS WITH A REDHEAD AND A BLONDE ON EACH ARM, LOOKING A LOT LIKE JAMES BOND IN A BLACK SUIT AND BLACK BOW TIE.

THE GIRLS ESCORT HIM ACROSS AND KISS HIM ON THE CHEEK, BEFORE SETTLING HIM INTO THE CHAIR OPPOSITE THE TIGERPRINCESS.

Tiger Princess: Welcome to the Show, Jake!

Jake: I’m pleased to be here.

Tiger Princess: What age did you start writing? Why?

Jake: I started early, writing mostly poetry, short stories and plays. Mercifully, very little survives from this period. I wrote several stage plays, a couple of which were performed in public by professional theatre companies. I suspect the decline of regional theatre dates from this period – reparatory companies failing as a result of unwisely backing unknown young playwrights! I was at school, sixth form, when my last play received a public airing. Fabulous reviews and public apathy – the opposite combination would have been preferable.

I took a short break for about thirty years, started writing again while in exile abroad. An ‘Englishman Abroad’ account, a few articles for magazines and, about nine tears ago, decided writing a novel was simply a matter of sitting down and writing away for a month or two when a masterpiece would appear. A misguided concept, as I soon discovered.

“Why” is easy. I wrote, then and now, to give expression to a head over-full with images. I don’t crave attention, despite appearances, as the vast majority of everything I’ve ever written is discarded, torn up or abandoned. My long-suffering wife may read a tiny sample occasionally. If she says ‘yes’ I write more.

Tiger Princess: You come across as a bit of a Mystery man, is this deliberate or are you just shy?

Jake: I’m the least shy person I know. ‘Mystery’ – that’s from choice. I had a strange job for twenty-odd years requiring a ludicrously convoluted lifestyle. It was a fascinating, worthy and complicated job; it was also very dangerous. It ended in acrimonious fashion and life has been very different ever since. I’m not allowed to give details and would not even if I could. I feel safe for the first time in a long time and have no wish to change that.

Tiger Princess: How did you choose to use your Pen Name? Have you had more than one?

Jake: Jake Barton – what a strong, manly name. I chose it on a whim. Had I taken the trouble to ‘Google’ it first, I would have found I was sharing a name with Sir Winston Churchill’s grandson, a prominent drug dealer.

I have had a number of identities, too many to count, but as regards writing my early efforts were penned under the name Malachi Hagthorpe. I treasure a newspaper drama critic’s headline, ‘Hagthorpe hits the Spot.’ True. Embarrassing, but true!

Tiger Princess: How much writing do you do on a daily basis?

Jake: I’m not an organised person. I write every day, but often to no purpose. I try and write a daily piece for my blog, but when I’m in ‘novel’ mode I usually write at inconvenient times, when ideas pop into my head. I scribble notes, snippets of dialogue, at 03.00 am, discard them at daylight.

Tiger Princess: If you could meet any writer (living or dead), who would it be and why?

Jake: I've met a few writers. Boring lot, aren’t they? I’d have liked the opportunity to meet John Kennedy Toole, the author of A Confederacy of Dunces. After suffering from paranoia and depression due in part to repeated rejections of his masterpiece, he committed suicide at the age of 31. I love the book and having discovered it several years before it became a cult classic and championed it relentlessly, I’d like to have had the opportunity to engage a remarkable mind in conversation.

Tiger Princess: How do you prefer to read – Kindle or Print? Why?

Jake: Without question, print. I have a Kindle, read from it every day, still prefer the feel of a traditional book. I prefer the A5 size paperback to the smaller variety.

Tiger Princess: Where do you see the publishing industry going in the next five years?

Jake: My local bookshop closes at the end of the month. Sign of the times. The immediacy of an e-book, from an author’s perspective, is obvious. I have had contacts with agents and publishers and the nature of the traditional industry is of slow, creeping lethargy. A friend signed by a member of the big six well over a year ago is still deep in the editing stage. Choosing a cover, still unresolved, has taken three months. He tells me the launch date will be ‘not before mid-2012.’ I find that unacceptable.

Downloads changed the music business for ever. Very rapidly. E-books will have a more leisurely effect, but the involvement of the biggest book-seller, Amazon, is crucial. The Kindle is an excellent product, as is the iPad, both ideally placed to drive future sales of e-books. Five years from now, I suspect the two methods, print and e-book, to be running side-by-side. Accepted alternatives for each new book. Traditional publishing has to pull its socks up or risk being left behind. Paper books will continue, of course, but the pace of change is relentless.

Tiger Princess: Why do you think you’ve been so successful on Kindle recently?

Jake: No idea. A complete shock, to me as well as everyone else who knows me. A good cover, carefully worded pitches the right choice of genre, that helped, of course. I changed the name of my novel, together with my author name, which removed at a stroke any legacy support from people who’d known the book in the past. Not the wisest decision.

I deliberately chose to write crime fiction. It sells books. I’d have preferred to write a Historical novel, indulged my inclination to write rambling descriptions at a leisurely pace, enjoyed the research process immensely, but I’d also wanted to write a ‘commercial’ book. All that work – may as well write a book people would want to read.

Otherwise, I looked at who was selling the most e-books. Specifically, their price point. I settled on offering my books at minimum price level, 99 cents ‘71 pence. If established authors were happy to do this, why shouldn’t I? There’s no mystique to kindle books, but there are indicators for success. Getting a ‘chart listing’ is a great help. When a book gets into a chart it is seen by those vast numbers of readers who want to see what’s popular; they check the charts. Once there, to an extent, it’s a self-perpetuating process.

I know nothing about marketing, have no publicity strategy. Being both lazy and incompetent, I have no secrets to impart. Success was not instant. For six weeks I sold a few books a day. Then, the figures jumped to one hundred a day and stayed there. I’m not making a fortune, not even a living, but that was never my intention. I’ve been contacted by two agents and two publishers since I ‘Kindled’ - plus an agent who ‘liked but not loved’ my book a few months back and now wants to reconsider. Meanwhile, thousands of total strangers have read my books. Priceless!

Tiger Princess: And finally – if you won the Booker Prize, how would you celebrate?

Jake: Celebration takes many forms. I don’t write out of necessity. I’ve done many things in my life, lived in different countries, experienced more than the vast majority of people. That gives a different outlook to life. I like travelling, experiencing different cultures. I don’t crave luxury, am ridiculously lacking in materialism, enjoy life to the full.

Not the usual response to this question, I suspect, but in the unlikely event of winning a literary prize (ha!) I’d evade all aspects of fame and disappear off on my travels again. With the sole exception of company of the love of my life, I require nothing. I don’t make plans, have not done so for many years, but insofar as a plan exists, it is to go off wandering the world again. Hopefully, very soon.

Tiger Princess: I can understand that one! Thank you again for answering my questions.

Jake: You’re welcome.

Self Publishing thoughts...

2011-04-05T14:03:00.001+01:00

I've come to the conclusion that Self Publishing is difficult.

Yes, in today's digital print market it's very easy to publish yourself - You just sign up for Smashwords or Kindle Direct Publishing and they convert your word file into a digital one and off you go.

The difficult bit is actually getting someone to buy your book from you.

Now, don't get me wrong. I didn't go into this with my eyes shut. I knew it was going to be tricky! For a start, people buying your book have to know it's out there. That means promoting it in the right places...

But you have to know where those places are!

Social Networking is an obvious one.

Facebook, Myspace, Twitter are the ones that stick in everyone's head and I'm on there. Come and find me...

Anyway, I just thought I would wave my tiny author's credentials over my head and went back to Myspace. I started a brand new profile blogged on there about my book, the webzine and this blog. I tweet about all sorts of stuff, yet I feel uncomfortable with the idea of promoting myself by constantly twittering about the single book I have published.

I don't want to annoy people, I don't want to upset anyone so they have a go at me and my work... yes that's right, I have all the backbone of a jellyfish when it comes to promoting my work - it's one of the reasons that never jumped into Self Pub before...

But here I am floundering around and wondering what on earth I do next...

Do me a favour please? Throw me a lifeline and blog about my book a little please? I'll give a free PDF copy to anyone who wants to review it and give me a hand...

And if you're a reader wondering about where you can buy a copy (possibly using that handy little code I provided a couple of blog posts ago), look no further. I have a page where all my published works will end up being displayed in all their sparkliness...

http://kiramorganaofanglia.blogspot.com/p/my-published-work.html

Enjoy! Now where's that towel...

2011-04-01T21:17:00.001+01:00

Strangers on a Bus is the story of what happened when Robb’s romantic relationship broke up and he found himself on a bus from New York to

Canada

Originally written into several spiral bound notebooks during the journey, the story is heart-warming as well as soul-searching and combines Robb’s wacky sense of humour with the true life story of the journey. This is very definitely an adult book with some very adult references… do not allow impressionable teenagers or younger to read it! If you do, be ready to answer some strange questions, things like –

“Mum, why does coffee keep you awake at night?”

or be bombarded with strangely believable semi-facts –

“Did you know a baby kangaroo can TKO a full grown alligator nine times out of ten, and eats twenty-five times its own body weight per day, and baby kangari have both sex organs until they are fully grown, then they decide which sex they’d like to be and the extra bits just fall off?”

You find yourself reading and re-reading. All the best human emotions are contained in Robb’s second book and he puts them across perfectly. I found myself laughing, tearing up and smiling through the tears as he and Gertrude make their way toward

Canada

I think that this one will be bigger than the first one was, so watch this space!

In the meantime, you can pick up his first book “Don’t Go There! A Robblogger look at Travel” at Amazon. It’s funny and well worth the money spent over and over again as you find yourself deciding not to go somewhere because Robb told you not to…

Don’t Go There!- http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dont-There-Robblogger-Look-Travel/dp/B004OC07SA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=A3TVV12T0I6NSM&qid=1301609625&sr=1-1

Strangers on a Bus - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004UIDETC/

Happily Ever After?

2011-04-01T21:04:00.000+01:00

The Fun has arrived... with a free book token.

2011-03-28T14:48:00.000+01:00

...Yes, that's right, I get to bite my nails and check my stats nervously with all the other Indie Authors/Publishers, because as of this afternoon, I held my nose, closed my eyes and jumped into the Publisher's Pool!

The first book of "The Tower and The Eye" Novella series is available to buy through Smashwords! Ain't that just grand? I'm bouncing up and down with excitement and I feel all fluttery at the thought of people finally being able to download and read the words that I had so much fun putting together.

So you know what on earth I am wittering on about, here's the details -

Cover by Noelle Pierce

The world of Quargard is at peace. The Heart Kingdoms of Galivor, Jinran, Franier, Valdir, Reldheim and Alethdariel co-exist harmoniously, but it was not always so.

The stories of the Black Tower War keep the children of the four kingdoms in check. Parents ensure that they eat their greens and go to bed on time by passing on the tales of the Dungeons of Doom, ruled over by The Eye of The Overlord. Adults consider them to be only stories, but stories are sometimes true and they always go around in cycles...

From each land comes a tale of daring do, a Hero or Heroine stepping up to take on the job of Dungeon Destroyer, whether they know it or not.

Can the peace of the Heart Kingdoms survive the re-awakening of the Overlord and his horde of Creatures? Will those who venture into the dungeons return alive? Who knows?

Venture into the World of Quargard and find out for yourself.

Book One: A Beginning.

A mad King rules in Galivor. His sons vie for the right to become his official heir. While the youngest, Korin, chases the bandits plaguing the land, Loric sets out to plunder an abandoned dungeon.

With his dwarven bodyguard Grimhelm Drakesplitter; the elven mage Lord Silvertree; Cleric of Espilieth, Lady Kalytia and the thief, Thiert of Galindren; Loric enters the ruins of a Dungeon of Doom on the outskirts of Pleasemore Village.

Little do they know they are being watched…

********************************

So, what do you think? Is it intriguing you? Would you like to read it? Yes?

Well all you have to do is click on the link below. There are a couple of different ways you can get it.

You can buy a copy for the tiny sum of $0.99
Or you can get a free copy of the novella with this code - JS78V - just enter it into the appropriate place when you get to the checkout!

Be warned though - this coupon code is for a limited time only - so use it fast!

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/49979

Broken Dreams and Shattered Promises... the biography of a writer.

2011-03-26T12:37:00.000+00:00

Just one warning - if you're looking for something happy, then don't read this. This is not Fiction.

When I was little, we lived in a cottage surrounded by cooking apple trees. We had a huge garden and a swing. I had a next door neighbour and my sister to play with. The fact that it was on an American airbase didn't encroach at all.

We'd go on outings to see Mum's family in Aldeburgh and I would have ice cream and fish and chips with my Nanny. I would play with my friends there and go to the beach, paddle in the cold north sea and make stone castles (the beach at Aldeburgh is shingle) with seaweed banners.

Sweets were fun - I could have a bag full of bananas, shrimps, flying saucers, cola bottles and jelly beans for 10p that would last me all day. The comics were simple. Dennis the Menace and the Bash St Kids in the Beano and Dangerous Dan with his cow pies in the Dandy.

That all changed when I was eight.

The neighbours moved away. My parents started arguing. I would lie awake listening to the roar and rumble through the floorboards. I could never hear words, but I could feel the tone; the anger and bitterness came through clearly. My Nanny had died while I was still little and although we still went to Aldeburgh, my dad never came with us any more. My sister and I were left alone with Granddad a lot of the time while mum went to her friends and cousins.

Granddad went crazy after Nanny died. In a way it was a little like the Granddad I'd known died. I started calling him Sid like mum and he scared me. He'd come into the bathroom when I was taking a bath and touch me where I didn't want him to. A bit later, when mum went out with her friends he'd take me and my sister to the park and while my sister was playing, he'd do things to me.

I refused to go to Aldeburgh, I didn't want those things to happen. My parents got angry with me. I didn't realise that it meant Dad would have to stay home with me and they couldn't afford for him not to work the weekend. All I wanted was to stay where it was safe and with my dad. They forced me to go and it got worse.

It's alright, I won't go into details - your imagination is probably good enough to tell you what approximately happened.

When I was nine, Sid was caught exposing himself to my friends. It all came out and I had to go to a police station to tell them what was happening to me. I told the police almost everything; some things were just too scary for me to try and put into words. He was put on trial, They put him into a Mental Hospital as the verdict was that he was mentally unstable.

I thought things would get better and we'd be happy again as a family. For a while it seemed to happen. I went to middle school when I was ten. I found it difficult to mix with the other children and was bullied, by children I had gone to primary school with. I sought refuge in the library. Books were safe. The bullies didn't go in there and I could read as much as I wanted to. I took to shadowing teachers to avoid being picked on in the corridors.

It didn't work. They got me on the school bus instead and I was glad to get home. Just walking in through the gate of the airbase, seeing the guards with their guns made me feel safe again.
Not long after that we had to move - the airbase was demolishing the cottage and my apple trees, to make way for an office building.

We moved to a brand new council estate in Melton.

The house was huge compared with the cottage, but the garden was tiny and there was nowhere to play, except the front gardens and roads around the estate. I had to go back to Primary School, where I stuck out like a sore thumb. I was tall and thin, I had a basic knowledge of French, History and Geography; I read books that were more difficult than the ones that the kids in my new class read.

I eventually got some friends and by the time I had to go back up to middle school, I had relaxed. At Middle school I made best friends with a girl who was considered as weird as myself! Not that she was - she just had the same imagination and we were both considered different.
I'm not going to lay everything out in full detail, but the time I spent in Middle School and High School was some of the happiest in my life. And it was shattered when my Dad started sleeping on the couch.

Oh, he was up before I was and his bedding tidied away, but I wasn't stupid, I could tell when someone had slept in a room and the front room always had that musty, sweaty smell that bedrooms have from being occupied overnight. To confirm my suspicions, one night, when everyone else was asleep, I went downstairs to get some water. I poked my head into the front room and there he was, snoring away on the couch. I went back upstairs and cried myself to sleep.

By this time, I was reading adult books - James Michener and Robert Heinlein from the school library; Steven King and James Herbert from the Town Library; Mills & Boon, Jilly Cooper and a number of bodice rippers at home... if it was left alone for longer than half an hour, I read it.

The contrast between my parent's relationship and that of the characters I read about couldn't be further apart. I had a couple of boyfriends while I was at school. My first I loved with all my heart, came on too strong and scared away. The second I liked more as a friend, but he was my first "real" boyfriend in all senses of the word.

When my parents divorced and my dad left the country, the memories of what had happened to me as an eight year old started to come back and I lost track of what I was doing. I still don't remember a lot of those years and I'm not sure I want to...

Sex, Drink and Drugs - the things that shaped my teenage years... were balanced out by the influence of the teachers at school (notably my Form Tutor, my English Teacher, my DT Teachers and the Librarian) and I started at ATC, flirting with the idea of going into the RAF. That brought me completely out of being a teenager (despite the other Cadets still being teenagers) and I grew up. University beckoned.

University was wonderful. I made so many friends, drank minimally and found my soul-mate. He's still here thankfully. The degree wasn't what I thought it was, but I soldiered on. I passed the degree and for a little while life was fun again. The arrival of my son both added to the fun and made life more difficult. I was content, all I needed was to get married and live happily ever after.

I loved my soul-mate's mother. She taught me much more about being a mother and a grown up than I ever had learned at home. Just as I felt grounded again, the floor dropped out from under me again.

My MIL (I referred to her as my mother in law, even though I was only engaged to her son.) had had Bowel Cancer for a while, but had been fighting it strongly and had even gone into remission a couple of times. After the birth of my son, she started to go downhill, still fighting it. Not long after his third birthday, she died.

That was when I began writing properly. I wrote out my pain, hiding it in words on paper, so I could be strong for my soul-mate and my son. When we got a decent computer, I found my calling, my Bliss (as Dharma calls it), the one thing that made me truly happy - writing. My daughter arrived and despite suffering post natal depression, I started a Post Graduate Course to train as a teacher.

Finishing the course set me adrift again. I had come to realise that life was a series of island events and where some people had bridges to cross, I only had a tiny life raft to get me from one island to another. I eventually found a school to take me on for my NQT year. The drawback? We would have to move to Cheltenham.

This wasn't a massive thing. Moving is easier than commuting and my soul-mate would still be able to work while he was looking for a job closer to where we would be living. The heavens opened and the rain came down, flooding Gloucestershire and in one swipe, wiping out the rent affordable family houses we had been looking for, either through being flooded or through people having to leave their homes.
I was reduced to looking for a one bedroom flat or a shared house to live in while my family stayed in Wales.

The first six months were hard on me, but harder on my soul-mate. He almost had a nervous breakdown and told me that he didn't want to move to Cheltenham, he wanted me to give up the job there and find something in Wales. We argued about it, but in the end I agreed to it and rejected the permanent job I was offered by the school - family was, is and always will be more important to me than work; I wanted my kids to have a happy home.

Life was difficult and the only job I could find closer to home was in Bristol. We made plans to move again, this time a little easier because his family lived there. Then he was made redundant....hah!

Sorry - allow me to qualify this...

He was offered redundancy over being fired for non-productivity. Why? Well, my soul-mate is Dyslexic. Words are difficult for him to handle and he took, on average, a half day longer than anyone else to write a report. This made him more expensive to the engineering consultancy he worked for and they wanted to get rid of him instead of helping him find ways to get around his Dyslexia.

Even though he was excellent at his job, understood what he was doing, could explain the complexities to clients, was a brilliant client manager and could do the practical aspect without any trouble; he would make silly mistakes in the reports and on the calculations. His Team Manager couldn't understand why he was having the problems and gradually reduced his workload, stopped sending him for training and refused to give him any responsibility.

So between me being away and the hostility at work, he became depressed and ill. I do not hold myself responsible for this - it was his work environment that made his home life so difficult. This was why I gave up on the prospect of a full time permanent job.

He'd work three times as hard to do things that others found easy, he'd stay late to finish reports on time. He worked himself to the bone, often picking up the children from our childminders (a wonderful mother / daughter team who gave my children the stability they needed in a difficult time - I cannot rate them highly enough, I consider them part of our family and always will do.) so late that all he needed to do was tuck them into bed with a bedtime story.

When I came home for the summer holidays before starting my new job, he had been made redundant and we had to find him somewhere new to work. I started in Bristol, catching a lift with a colleague every morning. My soul-mate eventually found a job with the Environment Agency in Bridgwater, Somerset. So we shared the commute while trying to find somewhere to move to. The small amount of money from his redundancy had been taken up on bills while he searched for a job.

For an entire year, I looked for another job (this one was only temporary) and commuted to Bristol. At the same time I wrote my soul out. I got a few short stories published and began to think about a novel. The Easter after I started the job I got pregnant, argued with my soul-mate about a termination and eventually miscarried. Depression set in again.

This time it was easier to deal with. I had friends on-line who helped me come to terms with the loss. I couldn't keep focussed so I didn't manage to find a job and by the time my depression was under control (Christmas the next year) and I was ready to work again, I had such a poor sickness record that I couldn't get one. I managed three interviews before the recession set in. Each rejection dropped me back down the depression well and I had to struggle to get out of it.

My writing was the one constant. I'm not saying that I haven't had good times with my family. Every moment I spend with my family as a whole is cherished. I'm just saying that they have been few and far between so far!
The recession dropped my soul-mate into the unemployment market with me. We decided that he ought to try and find a career in something he would be happy doing. He chose Art and Multimedia courses, with the intention of becoming an Illustrator / Graphic Designer / Game Designer. I kept looking for teaching jobs.

The August he started his course, he was busy and happy. I finally felt happy that we were together as a family. Sure, the money was tight, but we were together and happy.

Life decided to make me hit that life raft again.

My soul-mate's Grandfather, my children's Great Grandfather (they didn't call him that, they called him Granddad because they didn't get to see their real granddad's) got Alzheimers. It was the nastier, faster version of the disease and he went downhill rapidly. His wife nursed him, his Granddaughter dealt with the paperwork for them. And no one told us exactly how bad it was.

Until he died in the October after my Soul-Mate started at college.

Then it was dumped onto my soul-mate by his Grandmother. So my soul-mate took time off college to live with his grandmother and look after her. Then at Christmastime, just as we thought things were sorting themselves out again, we dropped in on his sister and were acquainted with the full reality of the situation. My SIL had dropped over the edge of standard depression into manic depression / madness and was topping up her thyroid and depression tablets with alcohol.

And so here we are in the present.

The only way I can cope with the situation we currently find ourselves in is to write. I strive to keep my own depression at bay by looking after my children, volunteering as a Brownie Guider, being a strong shoulder for my soul-mate as he deals with his Grandmother and Sister and looking for work.

Writing is my me time. I can put my emotions on the page as stories and it helps me to find a balance, an even keel on the journey between the islands. It turns my Life Raft into an elegant Sailing Yacht, clipping through the rough waters with the brilliant purple, pink, yellow and green striped spinnaker of my family before me, the comforting varnished oak of my on-line friends around me and soft, gentle cushions of my books for company.

When I am troubled, the stories appear on the page and are Horror stories, peopled with Vampires, Werewolves, Cannibals and Zombies.

When I am happy, my stories become lighter and rhyming, aimed at my children and at other people's children. To entertain and enthral.

In the middle, I blend the two into Fantasy. Sometimes they are squarely adult and full of action and adventure; Sometimes they are Young Adult and are full of the troubles of being a teenager, complicated by the adventures I send the characters on.

No matter where I am, I have a pen and pad with me, just in case I need to balance myself.

I had an interview with a Teaching Agency in Cardiff on Monday and although it went well, I felt unsettled. So on the way home I started a short story about Torchwood (one of my favourite TV Programs) on the lined pad in my Interview Folio. Maybe I'll continue the story the next time I have cause to use the folio again or maybe I'll write something different and new. I don't know.

I started writing this post as a way of getting rid of the emotions I was feeling this morning. My Soul-Mate is in Bristol with his Nan again and I am alone with the children. I slept, but dreamed and needed to release the tension I was feeling when I woke up. I felt it was time to start getting rid of some of the pent up emotions from my childhood as well, so while I wrote the first part of this piece, I cried.

Now I feel calm and more peaceful that when I woke up. It may turn out to be a good day for writing...

Young Adult Science Fiction literature... is it Creating Pessimism in the next Generation?

2011-03-14T14:38:00.000+00:00

My Friend Diane Nelson posted this link - http://planetpailly.wordpress.com/2011/03/09/pessimism-the-next-generation/ - Don't worry I'll wait while you read it... you'll need to read it to understand what I am about to talk about.
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All done? Okay then, I'll carry on with what I was going to say.

I think the current SF Trend reflects the world this generation live in.

Far too many parents now don't police what their children watch, play or do. I know 11 year olds that play Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty and Resident Evil style games (all rated or should be rated 16+) while their parents watch soaps and drink in the other room. Some of these kids have younger brothers and sisters that sit in the room with them and watch them play the games!

Older Kids watch movies that deal with aspects of human nature that they shouldn't be aware of yet - Rape, Murder, Gore, Terror. They think movies like Final Destination and Saw are funny. Many are sexually aware far too early (consenting 11 year old mum anyone?) and they are bombarded by air brushed / ideal beauty images through the TV shows aired when they are likely to be watching and magazines aimed at them.

I'm not saying that children should be cotton wool wrapped until they are sixteen, but the more disturbing areas of Humanity should be introduced gradually at a rate that is right for the child , not the parent.

YA Literature is one way that these areas can be introduced; Books like Uglies, Hunger Games and Matched do this. The problem lies with how early this kind of literature is introduced. If you go with when they are capable of reading these books, that brings the faster, brighter children in at 10 (sometimes younger) when they are at their most thirsty for knowledge and at their most absorbent. Some of these kids will not be emotionally mature enough to understand the concepts - no matter how fast they learn or read. But they will absorb the messages contained in the stories and it will change the way they look at the world.

So as a Parent (which I am) can you tell?

....I don't know...

...I'm hitting that age with my son now.

He's been allowed to play games which are rated slightly older than he would normally, and I have noticed a change in his behaviour. His reading age has improved by a whole year over the last six months and he's now reading Rick Riordan. I've read the books, I know there isn't anything in them that is going to upset him and he always asks me if he comes across things that puzzle him.

I'll let you know how the rest of the teenage stuff goes as and when. My daughter is a different matter - she's one of the faster kids and I'm getting worried I won't be able to keep up with her!

What do you think? Carefully controlled introduction or let them do what they want?

Hmmm... maybe I need to extend myself here.

2011-03-11T21:16:00.000+00:00

I've just checked my stats for the whole time this blog has been open - roughly two years - and I've had 1639 views in that whole time! I'm shocked... I thought I was loved!

*giggles*

I got the most page views in January this year. What was I doing? I was reviewing books... so, is that all I'm good for? Does no one want to visit my blog for my witty banter...

The answer to that is no.

Nobody visits my blog... unless I am reviewing a book. Which is a bit of a compliment - after all, I might have helped someone buy a new book that way!

Can I just draw your attention to one fact - one tinsy winsy little fact, that you might have overlooked...

I AM AN AUTHOR!!!!!!!

I have several pages here - there is examples of my creative writing ( Noetry and Short Stories) as well as a look into who I am away from the PC and what I do to relax (I make things, okay!) I have a page for links, I have a page for my novels (just in case anyone is interested) and I am also trying to get an anthology off the ground - it has its own page!

So what's wrong with my blog? Am I not interesting enough? Do I not post enough? TELL ME!

*takes a very deep breath*

Anyway - I've updated my Novels page, so have a look - I've put up an excerpt of the novella I am planning to publish on Smashwords soon, as well as the cover art for both that and the first book of my YA Series "The Secret of Arking Down"
There's even a page telling you about my friend, fellow writer, graphic artist (she did the cover for "Angel's Crown") and colleague in the Jewellery Making circles... Maria Kuroshchepova!

So why do I have so few followers? And so few people reading my blog?

*shrugs*

I post when I can - I do have to try and write other things you know - and when I post I try and make it interesting.

Ah well, enough whining. I'm off to write an MC into an impossible situation where she has to solve a probable problem and do it with verve, finesse and style...

Toodles!

A Toe in the Water…

2011-03-06T15:16:00.002+00:00

“So, you’re now describing yourself as an Author? What sort of books do you write?”

“Fantasy, Horror, Young Adult and Children's books mainly.”

“How much have you had published?"

“Fifteen or so short stories published in print anthologies and on websites.”

“I meant books. Everyone knows that short stories don’t count.”

“I have a Novella up on Smashwords and I’m publishing the second one in the series soon.”

“What’s Smashwords?”

“It’s an eBook publishing site. It publishes eBooks in all different formats, so you can reach both Kindle and Nook readers and so on.”

“So it’s like, self publishing? That doesn’t count either. You have to have an agent and a publisher to be a proper Author."

“Really? How much do you know about publishing?”

“People who self publish are just clogging up the market. Agents and proper Publishers like Harper Collins are what distinguish an Author from a Writer. They filter out the rubbish…”

“Really. You don’t know much then. What do you think of Katie Price’s book?”

“You know what I think about it. I blogged about it yesterday.”

“Would you call her an Author? She has an agent and a publisher."

“Don’t go there. I get hot under the collar just thinking hearing her name.”

“How long have you had your blog?”

“I’ve had it for three years. I just write about things that have happened to me and what I think about the world. I get a lot of comments."

“Congratulations! You’re a Self Publisher and you have readers. I’ve been publishing myself for the last year or so, on my blog and I just thought it was time to actually publish something longer than eight thousand words.”

“Makes you think doesn’t it. Anyone who puts writing of any sort up on the net is a Self Publisher; they just don’t get paid for it.”

“Hmm, I’ve never thought of it that way before.”

“Fun isn’t it…”

(This is a fictional conversation by the way…)

* * *

The thing is, while it’s easy now to publish an eBook by yourself, it’s not easy to become successful at it. As one of my friends said:

“Editing, proofreading cover design. All vital steps in the journey even when going to an eBook. Correctly formatting an e-book takes a lot of time and skill, as much, almost, as a print book.” – Andrew Brenton.

Those are the bits that tend to be ignored by the people who just want to be able to say “I’ve published a book”.

It doesn’t matter how good your content is, if you don’t have a cover that will catch the eye, or readable text on the pages (readability is governed by grammar, you know, the stuff that you hated at school?) then you won’t sell very many books, no matter how cheap you make them.

That’s when you farm out the stuff you can’t do to people who can do it. If you’re lucky, you’ll have a friend who can do your book cover and another who is happy to help you line edit. The formatting can be tricky, so you might have to learn how to do it yourself properly, or you might shell out for someone to do it for you.

The ones who don’t do any of that are immediately visible on an eBook sales page. The Book Cover is essential as an attractant here and theirs will be, at worst, badly put together. You might read the blurb and be curious so you read the sample. This is when the grammar and formatting issues rear their ugly heads. It doesn’t take much to put a potential reader off.

It was with much trepidation that I ventured onto the Smashwords site to register. I had a good look around, read the recommended books for starting up and decided that it was good a time as any to have a go.

I knew exactly which stories I wanted to publish. The Tower and The Eye stories are from one of my favourite created worlds and I wasn’t about to just jump in the deep end and ruin them.

So I started with the formatting. Having read the Smashwords Style Guide already, I worked my way through it again, altering the page formatting and creating a template. I contacted a graphic design friend who was going through a dry patch word-wise and asked her to create my covers. After a brief series of emails, the first one came through and it was magnificent!

Cover Design by Noelle Pierce

See what I mean? So I knuckled down and got going on the editing, before sending the file off to someone else for a second edit. It’s incredibly difficult to line edit your own work and I only know of one person who can do it.
Where does that leave me now?

Well I’ve been checking out the competition on the ePublishing scene (thanks to Kindle for PC) and I’ve found some really good books that I’d like to share with everyone.Of course, me being me, I’ve already put a couple of these reviews up already to help the author’s spread the word, but that doesn’t mean I can’t post them again! There are also a couple of books that I haven’t reviewed yet, so bear with me…

* * *

Passion turns to envy. Love to murder. One way or another, everyone is spoilt.

A sadistic killer is stalking the streets, carving his hatred into the bodies of beautiful, young women.

The murders are stirring up bad memories for Detective Lucas Huson, as he struggles to remain focused - juggling the horrors of today with horrors from the past.

When Chelsea Summerville's best friend goes missing, she's unwillingly dragged into the race to stop the killer. As Lucas and Chelsea find happiness together, Chelsea becomes the hunted rather than the hunter.

Can Lucas shake off his demons and save the woman he loves, or will everything he holds dear be spoilt?

Australian Author, Joanne Ellis has made a difficult slipstream look easy with "Spoilt".

This book is going to have an attraction for both Crime novel readers and Romance Novel readers. The two genres are effortlessly intertwined, making the characters feel real and well rounded in a way that doesn't tend to happen in most crime novels. The story is fast paced and gripping, the humour and romance leavening the fear of a killer who gets ever closer to his target without being found.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this on Kindle and will be picking up a paperback copy shortly. I am also looking forward to this author's next book "Firestarter".

Get your copy of Spoilt on Amazon, available in Paperback and Kindle:

Spoilt by Joanne Ellis

Young healthy men are dying, drowning in the Seine with alarming regularity. The only thing they have in common is that they look like each other. Can so many have given up on life and have chosen to kill themselves? There is the faint whiff of otherness about their deaths and when that happens the authorities of Paris turn to the one man who might solve the crime.

Inspector Monde walks the dark side of Paris where the supernatural can be found. Every police force has an Inspector Monde though they try to deny it. When the blood chills and the hairs on the back of the neck rise they send for him and don't look too closely at what he does. For the Inspector does not particularly believe in the Law but will fight for Justice to his last breath.

This is the first book in the Inspector Monde Series. "Marie" is a macabre tale in the tradition of pulp horror fiction, the chills leavened with John Booth's dry humour.

I love the way the author effortlessly draws you into the story with a few well aimed words and leave you wondering what else the Inspector has dealt with if he shrugs something like this off as normal!

Available now on Smashwords: Marie by John Booth

In a world where superpowers are illegal, the line between the good guys and the bad guys is razor thin.

In the first issue of this high-octane series, Detective Erik Mir finds himself face to face with a very old, and very dangerous enemy by the name of, Mr. Teeth.

Steven Novak is a gargantuanly talented illustrator and graphic designer who is also a comic geek. With the successful children's book “Forts” under his belt and the sequel underway, he turned his attention to comics. The result is the definitely adult and very entertaining “The Bad Guys”

Steven’s artwork is clean and very clearly drawn, with his own personal style that reminds me a lot of Jim Davis, yet has a harder edge than Garfield ever did. The story is simple, but enthralling. Having read Issue 1, I cannot wait for Issue 2…

You can find “The Bad Guys” sales links here: The Bad Guys by Steven Novak

It was disquieting. They were just children after all. Brother and sister. Mama’d gone missing and obviously Inspector Monde would understand … ‘at last’. Understand what exactly? Monde thinks he knows but the knowing brings back memories he’s long kept buried. If he walks down that road, what will he find at the end?

Inspector Monde lurks on the dark side of Paris where the supernatural can be found. Every police force has an Inspector Monde though they try to deny it. When the blood chills and the hairs on the back of the neck rise they send for him and don't look too closely at what he does. For the Inspector does not particularly believe in the Law but will fight for Justice to his last breath.

The indomitable Inspector Monde cannot be fazed.

In the first story it was a ghost getting her own back, in this one it's the tale of two children who have lost their mother. But as always, with Inspector Monde, nothing is as simple as it seems...

John Booth is fast becoming a writer to watch out for. Having published two YA books, he turns his attention to the adults. The Inspector Monde Series is shaping up nicely and I for one cannot wait to pick up the next episode!

Catch this chilling tale on Smashwords: Missing by John Booth

A dark and disturbing glimpse into the mind of a sociopath and the apparently impossible attempt by a young woman to expose his crimes.

Marcus was special. He'd always known it. Even at the age of six when he'd decided to kill his father. His privileged background should have produced a doctor, an academic, perhaps a diplomat. Instead, he killed people for fun.

Donna O'Prey is the most junior member of a small private security firm. A routine search for a missing teenage girl escalates into something much more serious when a ransom demand is received. Donna becomes convinced that Marcus is responsible for the abduction. Eleven years previously, while still a child, Marcus had been convicted of the brutal murder of two young children, but a Home Office review board has now sanctioned his release.

Donna needs all her battling qualities as she attempts to rescue the missing girl, but how will she cope when her own safety is threatened?

This is an edgy, hard hitting crime thriller with all the hallmarks of a damn good read. The characters are well formed and the story has so many twists and turns that you’d need a sat nav to try and document them.

As with many of this genre, there are the usual stereotypes, but written with a fresh point of view that makes them more interesting than usual. The dialogue is clear and appropriate for each character voice; the description engaging and cinematic in quality. All in all, I would say that this book is well worth buying!

Find it at Amazon - Burn, Baby, Burn by Jake Barton

* * *

When you’re up against stories of such calibre it does one of two things – You either get so depressed that you can’t carry on, or you become determined to be as good as, possibly better than, the competition.

I drop into the second group. I haven’t come this far just to give up on my dream of being a published Author and despite the Nay Sayers who think that being self published isn’t nearly as good as having an agent and being published traditionally, I am going to carry on along the path I have chosen.

That’s the beauty of eBooks and POD you see; it allows far more choice, both for the writer and the reader. And for me, the Reader is the most important group for me to impress, if they decide that they like me, then it’s all steam ahead!

Keep an eye out for “The Tower and The Eye: A Beginning”. I’ll post the appropriate details when I finally, actually have it live for download. But until then, keep reading!

A pair of Reviews for a pair of Excellent Books...

2011-03-03T21:37:00.000+00:00

Spoilt by Jo Ellis

4 Gold Stars

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Spoilt/dp/B003XYET20/ref=cm_cr-mr-title

* * * * * *

Alternative Poetry Books- Yellow edition

by Michelle Brenton

5 Gold Stars

Banana the Poet is one of those rare souls who can capture both serious and fun moods.
I enjoyed all her poetry, but my absolute favourite was "Teapot of Trouble" - especially as I tend to end up making the cups of Tea at home!

This would be a great present for anyone!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Alternative-Poetry-Books-Yellow-edition/dp/B0034KYR48/ref=cm_cr-mr-title

My Third Favourite Author...

2011-02-26T17:41:00.000+00:00

Normally I don't bother trying to put the author's that I enjoy into lists - it feels bad somehow, as if I am judging them rigidly. So I usually just list them in no particular order. However, there are a few that I do list and this is merely because I will pick them up at any cost to my wallet!

Sir Terry Pratchett is the top of my list. If you know his writing this will need no explanation, if you don't know his work, then I have to ask, where on earth have you been for the last fifteen to twenty years? Google him, pick his books up in the library and get yourself hooked - my personal favourite character is Granny Weatherwax.

Neil Gaimen is second on my list. He hasn't brought out as many books as Sir TP, but he is just as good and his book "Stardust" was made into a hit movie. I love his dark humour.

The third person on this particular list is a relative newbie to the publishing world. He has the dry humour and sharp observational skills of Sir TP and the dark yet thoughtful world view of Neil Gaimen. I have the unvarnished honour of being one of his many friends and (before you think this is just Fangirl talk) I would be his friend even if I didn't like his writing.

His debut novel "Wizards" was published by independent publisher Pfoxmoor in December last year and his second novel "Hellogon" followed shortly from Night Publishing.

He is now bringing out a series of Novellas through Pfoxmoor and Smashwords. Who is this publishing marvel?

*smiles*

Why John Booth of course!

Young healthy men are dying, drowning in the Seine with alarming regularity. The only thing they have in common is that they look like each other. Can so many have given up on life and have chosen to kill themselves? There is the faint whiff of otherness about their deaths and when that happens the authorities of Paris turn to the one man who might solve the crime.

Inspector Monde walks the dark side of Paris where the supernatural can be found. Every police force has an Inspector Monde though they try to deny it. When the blood chills and the hairs on the back of the neck rise they send for him and don't look too closely at what he does. For the Inspector does not particularly believe in the Law but will fight for Justice to his last breath.

Marie: An Inspector Monde Tale of Strange and Terrible Adventures is a macabre tale in the tradition of pulp horror fiction, the chills leavened with John Booth's dry humour.

I love the way the author effortlessly draws you into the story with a few well aimed words and leave you wondering what else the Inspector has dealt with if he shrugs something like this off as normal!

And the icing on the cake for this eBook publication? It is available for FREE from Smashwords! Now that is definitely cool...

To pick up your FREE copy of Marie: An Inspector Monde Tale of Strange and Terrible Adventures by John Booth click on this link:

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/44173

As it's been a while since I published the reviews on the blog, I'll re-run them for you...

Peter Craig has been trained from childhood as a fifth columnist for the British Empire. He thinks he has been expelled from the Establishment for murder.
The truth will take him to other worlds and lies will be his only hope of salvation.
Can he save two worlds or will he destroy one or both of them?
Is he a hero or a villain?

When I read a Book, it has to grab my attention quickly and hold it. If I have to work too hard to understand what is going on or get lost in too much information, then I will often put it down as quickly as I picked it up. I suppose in that sense, I am very much like the Young Adults this book is targeted at.

Hellogon is a complex story of love, betrayal and power. John Booth has a writing style that immediately brings you into the world you are reading about. With a few well written paragraphs, he hooks you and before you know it, you’ve read more than you intended to.

The story challenges stereotypes and brings up difficult subjects like genocide and sexuality in a way that makes them easy to understand either side of the issue, but as well as making you think, it is also entertaining, perfect for its target market.

Peter’s relationships with the young women around him are handled deftly, with a touch of romance and a wry sense of humour reassuring the reader that the characters are taking the predicaments they find themselves in seriously. What sex scenes there are superbly crafted, in a way that is natural.

Hellogon discusses the uses of power and the basics of politics without making them boring. From a Teaching point of view, this books would make a brilliant book for a discussion group in secondary school, either for English or Personal and Social Education.

John Booth also knows how to craft a cliff hanger. The last chapter of the book had me alternately aghast at what had happened and agog to find out what happens next!

While the book is aimed at the Young Adult Market, the readers need to be mature enough to handle the subjects covered. It is a book that I can see myself giving to my son and daughter when they are older, safe in the knowledge that there is nothing in the story that would harm them at all.

Hellogon is an enthralling read and one that I can thoroughly recommend, not just as a Writer or Editor, but as a Teacher and a Parent.

To read a free sample: http://www.freado.com/book/8943/hellogon

To buy a copy of this marvellous book:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hellogon/dp/B004FV54SS

http://www.smashwords.com/extreader/read/32945/1/hellogon

Jake is 18, unemployed, living with his parents. Jake has a secret in his bedroom – a hopscotch court.

He uses it to visit strange worlds. It helped him find his dragon and missing people, including Jenny, his girlfriend. She doesn’t think Jake is weird. Princess Esmeralda thinks Jake should repay past mistakes.

Jake is a wizard and his life is about to get interesting.

John’s style of writing is highly entertaining and “Wizards” would make the perfect present for the older teenager in your life. In fact I will go so far as to say that you will probably be fighting over who gets to read it first!

Jake is a kid when he discovers that he can use Hopscotch to jump to different worlds. And that he can use the same power to find people. So, when at eighteen, he is asked to find Jenny, he agrees reluctantly. Within a few months all hell has broken loose and not just because of his unusual pet!

“Wizards” is an entertaining, funny, light-hearted and serious look at growing up into your own powers, be it mind, magic or muscle, something that many teenagers will be able to empathise with.

Available in Kindle and Print from Amazon.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wizards/dp/B004C44GN2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=A3TVV12T0I6NSM&qid=1291292708&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Wizards-John-Booth/dp/0982979150/

So that's everyone brought up to date on the published works of John Booth - if you would like to know more about him or read more of his wonderful work, visit his website - Scrawls in the Dust.

Something to look forward to and a little something for you to read...

2011-02-25T22:22:00.000+00:00

I've written a lot of things. Short stories, long stories, Novellas, Novels, Poetry, even an article or two... some of these (mostly the short stories and poetry) have seen the light of day as print in anthologies or screen words on a website/blog.

And this is wonderful. Of course it is.

That isn't to say that I don't want to go further. Or that I'm not working towards the holy grail of a writer's life - a seven book deal and a huge movie company wanting to make all seven books into a movie... - no, I'm kidding on that, just getting a novel published is about as far as most writers go.

Anyway.

I have a cunning plan... *said in best Baldrick impression* ...I am taking baby steps. The first few were to actually get said short stories etc out into the world. The next couple were to establish a writing identity (hence the Tiger Princess thing) and a blog. Then I deviated a little and started a webzine... only a small diversion and not one that I expect to get much bigger than it is at the moment.

The next step is to get a published presence that is all my own - not through an anthology, but through self publishing.

So here is the sneak peek - I'm going to publish a series of novellas through Smashwords. I'll post more info as and when they are available, but the project is going well so far and with a little help from my friends and family (especially those with E-Readers) I may get somewhere with it.

I have also put the first chapter of the first book of my YA Series "The Secret of Arking Down" up on Night Reading and this is another step - attempting, seriously to get into print through Indie Publishers.

But to do this, I need help - and this is where you get to read.

Go to Night Reading join, take a look around and then read and comment on my chapter - "The Secret of Arking Down, Book One: The Angel's Crown" - it'll help get me noticed and might even get me into next month's poll to be picked to be published!

So, go on. Give me a hand here... you know you want to! *Flutters Eyelashes and smiles coyly*

Looking back, Looking forward and Being Interviewed...

2011-02-24T16:39:00.000+00:00

The past four years have been such a steep learning curve. Not only have I entered a new career - Teaching - I have also learned how to write properly.

Getting short stories published helped me with that; I had to learn how to put the stories together properly, how to edit them and how to handle rejection. Slowly and surely my writing got better and better, to the point where I actually started to consider myself a writer.
Now after four years and my publications in anthologies hitting double figures, I figure that I'm about ready to take another step.

When I started writing seriously, I was thinking in terms of publishing a novel through the traditional route of getting an agent, then the agent getting me published. The thing is, the publishing scene changed so fast recently, what with E-Readers and so forth that I got very confused and backed off a bit.

So after a bit of procrastinating and other useful activity, I find myself ready to try e-publishing. I'm not going to say much right now, I want to do a big reveal when I actually get to the publication date... *grins*

WATCH THIS SPACE FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS!!!

Ahem... enough of that.

Anyway. I've been lucky enough to become a good enough writer that people want to interview me (I have no idea how that happened *rolls eyes*) and was lucky enough to be interviewed by Suzannah Burke last year. Just recently, another of my short stories was published as a part of the "Words to Music" Anthology (you may recall my post about it) and Noelle Pierce decided to interview each of the writers in the Anthology on her website.

Well today it was my turn... and this is the result...Please Welcome...Kira Morgana!

Have fun!

Book Review - Poison of a Smile

2011-02-17T18:59:00.000+00:00

As it is “Women in Horror” Month, I was trying to get a book for the Tuesday review from one of the many female horror writers I know and love. However, the book I ended up selecting is written by a man.

Confused?

Allow me to clear things up a bit…

I was browsing through the pages of wonderful books at Night Publishing and one cover just jumped out at me… take a look for yourself:

There's something about the girl on the front that draws you in. She looks so innocent, yet there is a hint of mischievousness about that one sided smile.

So I read the blurb…

She will take her pleasure in your destruction ....

When Gabriel Holland and David Leigh are lured to the haunted town of Carliton in search of their beloved Helena, they find only mystery and malice. And Christian Salazar, connoisseur of torments, master of Alatiel, the creature that Helena has become, awaits their company ....

That sounded interesting. I’m always up to read a bit of horror and this fitted the “Women in Horror” month bill perfectly…

From the first sentence, Steven Jensen paints a world with words. “The Poison of a Smile” is a mysterious chilling tale that sucks the reader in and draws them through the pages.

Set in the 1800’s, amongst the artistic circles of Camden, “The Poison of a Smile” relates the story of Alatiel and her introduction into one such circle of artists as a painters model. One by one, the artists fall under her spell and die. Helena Graham, the sister of one artist also succumbs to Alatiel, but instead of dying, finds herself a part of the creature…

Steven’s writing style reminds me a great deal of Oscar Wilde. His use of language, while formal conveys the terrifying events with a great deal of panache. His descriptions have a cinematic quality which help the reader to understand the story and the cliff hanger certainly ensures your attention!

I did enjoy reading this book, but I can see that some readers would have trouble getting past the style of writing. It is not a book for everybody and certainly not one for under eighteens. Still, it has a well crafted edge and is worth buying for the bookshelf

“The Poison of a Smile” is available in both Print and Digital formats:

Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Poison-Smile-Salazar-Book-One/dp/1453856870/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1295119278&sr=1-1

Kindle US: http://www.amazon.com/Poison-Smile-Salazar-Book-One/dp/1453856870/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1295119278&sr=1-1

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/25902

* * * * * *

About the Author:

'The Poison of a Smile' is the stunning first book of local history journalist Steven Jensen's 'Salazar' series.

The second in the series - 'Blood Is Sweeter Than Honey' - will be released shortly through Night Publishing

http://www.nightpublishing.com/steve-jensen.html

Please welcome…Suzannah Burke

2011-02-17T17:16:00.000+00:00

Please welcome…Suzannah Burke

Suzannah Burke is one of my heroes (I may have said something about it before) and this interview from Noelle Pierce is particularly good.

Focusing on the effect of music on writing and inspired by the "Words to Music" Anthology, Noelle reaches into those crannies and pulls out the soul of Suzannah's story "Cajun Queen" for inspection.

Enjoy!

M♥

Moving home base...

2011-02-05T22:09:00.000+00:00

No, I am not talking about the Gardening and DIY shop...

...That should confuse the US and Aussie readers....

...I'm actually talking about my webzine, Welcome to Wherever.

As much as I like the interface on Weebly.com, the technical difficulties (problems uploading, being booted out at odd times, unable to upload large files, images, sound files etc) were getting me down. Most of my stress each month was to do with the technical aspects!

So Welcome to Wherever... has moved. I've shifted it to Wordpress.com and I've found their interface rather straightforward. The February Edition isn't as pretty as the January edition...

...not because of you, Brian...

...but only because I have just finished uploading the content and setting up the pages. I've done very little tweaking and fidgeting with the widgetting or theme - I spent until 4.30 am this morning attempting to get the content up as fast as possible, so please, forgive me the rough edges.

While I was sorting that out, I checked the stats for last month and was knocked for six with shock - in a good way, I hasten to add!

In the four months that the webzine was on weebly, it had 3290 unique visitors! That's an average of 822.5 per month! In the last month alone (since I registered the webzine with Duotrope.com) I had 1604 unique visitors!!!
I never thought I would get fifty visitors, let alone that many...

So, if you want to check out the wonderful stories and poems, the stunning artwork of Brian Talgo and the magnificent Mama Masha's Kitchen, not to mention a whole heap of stories that have been entered in the competition, you need to go here -

http://welcometowherever.wordpress.com/

- and rummage through the site. Feel free to leave comments on the content - there's a comment's box on each content page and I'm sure that the writers of each item would be glad to hear from the readers we are trying to entertain!

Also, don't forget to read and vote in the competition - http://welcometowherever.wordpress.com/the-writing-competition-you-be-the-judge/ - it's easy enough to do. Each story is linked to the title in the list on the main page. Once you've read all of them, decide which one you liked best and fill out the form on the main competition page. (hint: it's the one the link above takes you to.)

So that's it from me for the moment. I need to go and collapse now - I'll be back on monday with the Monday Muse Mystifier, as usual!

Tootles!

Mandy

Monday Mystifier… In honour of Charity.

2011-01-31T13:41:00.000+00:00

No, I am not talking about a person. In a way, today’s post isn’t just a way of waking your muse up after the weekend, it’s also about teamwork and charity.

You see, about a year ago, I was approached by Michael Wells on Authonomy.com. I’d bantered about a bit in the forums with him, but the idea he had come up with was truly a flash of inspiration and I jumped at the chance to be a part of it!

He asked for contributions to an anthology based on the songs on his i-pod. Mike set up a website to collate the stories and organised everything. He set his I-pod to shuffle and gave each of us a song title. We had to write a story inspired by the song, but not using the lyrics or title.

The song I got was “The Authority Song” by John Mellencamp. Initially, I was inspired to write a rambling story about an immortal wanderer who saved some native people on a planet far, far away… sadly, while the concept was good, the film “Avatar” had arrived on the scene and dealt with the concept in a far better way, so I pulled the story and shelved it.

The second story I submitted was a shorter piece of SF that explored the concept of where sentience comes from. I slipstreamed it with a touch of fantasy and “I, Dragon” was born.

You might recognise the title a little as I bowed deeply to the Master of SF, Isaac Asimov by twisting his short story collection title, “I, Robot” and referring to concepts he created within the story.

Anyway, it was accepted for the anthology and after some intensive feedback and editing from my fellow writers included in the project, became a passably good story.

It is now available to buy and as well as “I, Dragon” you can read stories from some truly wonderful writers, including J.D. Revene, Peter Morin, T.L. Tyson, Greta Van Der Rol, Heikki Hietala amongst others.

40 authors over 12 countries and the money raised through the sale of the book goes to 9 different charities; only publishing expenses go to the publisher and everything else goes to the charities that we picked as a group.

So, do those charities a favour – go and buy a copy.

I promise that you won’t regret it – the stories are eclectic, but interesting, covering so many different genres of fiction as well as some non-fiction offerings.

Words To Music.
Cover Artwork by Bradley Wind

To buy a copy of “Words to Music” visit amazon – http://www.amazon.com/dp/1456532081

* * * *

Now, about that muse mystifier. It’s based on Mike’s anthology inspiration concept…

Follow these instructions carefully:

1) I want you to put on a random CD from your collection / plug yourself into your MP3 Player / Computer… however you prefer to listen to music.

2) Press play then skip it nine times.

3) Write down the third word of the title of the song you get.

4) Press play again. Skip again, this time 12 times.

5) Write down the first word of the title of the song you get.

6) Press play again. This time, skip it four times only.

7) Write down the fourth word of the title of the song you get.

8) Write a flash story (250 – 1000 words) including those three words in some way.

NB: If the song titles you get on steps 3 & 7 only have one or two words, then skip the music once more to get the words.

Have fun!

The World of The Tiger Princess Presents... Robblogger!

2011-01-27T22:32:00.000+00:00

Sexy Deep Voiced Announcer: Welcome to another edition of “The World of the Tiger Princess”!

AUDIENCE CHEERS AND CLAPS

Sexy Deep Voiced Announcer: And here is your host… the Princess herself, the Lady of Literature…the Tiger Princess!

AUDIENCE CHEERS AND CLAPS AS THE TIGER PRINCESS ENTERS AND MOVES TO THE DAIS, WAVING AND SMILING.

Tiger Princess: Thank you, Mr. A! Well, what can I say about today’s guest? He’s a mystery man who has a wicked sense of humour and a strangely compelling way of writing, as well as a long suffering girlfriend! Put your hands together and join me in greeting Robblogger!

AUDIENCE CHEERS AND CLAPS

Robblogger - Man of Mystery...

“AHEAD BY A CENTURY” BY TRAGICALLY HIP PLAYS:

“First we'd climb a tree and maybe then we'd talk.

Or sit silently and listen to our thoughts.

With illusions of someday casting a golden light.

No dress rehearsal, this is our life.

That's when the hornet stung me and I had a feverish dream

With revenge and doubt tonight we smoke them out”

ROBBLOGGER, WEARING A BLACK AND WHITE STRIPED MASK, BLACK SUIT AND RED LINED CAPE APPEARS AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS.

COLLECTING A PAIR OF BRUNETTES IN SPANGLY SHOWGIRL OUTFITS, ROBBLOGGER MAKES HIS ENTRANCE.

HE PAUSES ON THE STAGE TO SWEEP A DRAMATIC FLOURISH OF HIS CAPE TO THE AUDIENCE, BEFORE KISSING THE GIRLS ON THE CHEEK AND STEPPING UP TO JOIN THE TIGER PRINCESS ON THE DAIS.

Tiger Princess: Welcome to The World of The Tiger Princess, Robblogger. I see you come in disguise.

Robblogger: Thank you for having me. I’ll tell you why I’m wearing the mask later…

Tiger Princess: Fair enough. So, on with the show…

ROBBLOGGER BOWS AND THEY BOTH SIT DOWN.

Tiger Princess: What age did you start writing? Why?

Robblogger: My friends and I would play Dungeons and Dragons, and they would put their fantasy lives in my hands. I acted as Dungeon Master. A wonder I didn’t get involved in S & M play at a later age with a lofty title like that.

The Dungeon Master, for the uninitiated, creates the world for his friends, who would remain virgins many years after they should have, due to evidence I will soon present, and party due to their predilection for wanting to be dwarves and elves.

Well I would write these rich histories for even the smallest of characters. I’d spend the week between sessions trying to figure out the Halfling by the fire’s motivation for ordering mead rather than ale, and agonizing over whether or not he smoked a pipe. Where the tobacco came from? The economic and social relationship of tobacco producers in the Kingdom, and a thousand other details, all occupied my time.

I lived in Northern Ontario, there wasn’t a lot to do in my hometown, population 1 000.

The barmaid would often be an orphan, an antique broach around her neck bearing the seal of an ancient noble family, would be the clue my intrepid adventurers would need to set them off on a grand adventure.

Instead we spent a lot of time in discussions like this:

My best friend who would be a virgin until at least 20: “I want to sleep with the barmaid. My Priest’s charisma is 16. What do I have to roll to seduce her?”

My other friend who I think is still a virgin: “I’ll try to pick her pockets, I’m a 9th level thief, and I’ve got a 75 % chance of success. Then with the money I get from her I’ll offer it back to her to sleep with me.”

Me: You notice a worn talisman around her neck...

Virgin 20: I rolled a 14 is that modified by my comeliness? Did I sleep with her? What was it like?

Still a Virgin: I’ll steal the talisman. Then tell her if she doesn’t sleep with me she’s not getting it back. Or I’ll wait until she’s sleeping with the Priest, then I’ll take the talisman and offer it to another barmaid to sleep with me.

Then I turned 16 and realized that playing with girls was more fun than conjuring wenches for my friends to exploit. And I packed in the 20 sided dice, but kept writing.

Yikes just yikes that was a looooong answer I’ll try to keep them shorter!

AUDIENCE LAUGHS.

Tiger Princess: Why did you choose to use your Internet Name for a Pen Name?

Robblogger: My girlfriend is only now finding out how strange I am. I’ve kept it pretty well concealed for years. I believe she secretly lives in terror of anyone finding out she has decided to spend her life with someone who thinks filling a condom with pennies is pretty funny. I remain anonymous to protect her anonymity.

That was much better, shorter, and relatively on topic.

Tiger Princess: Would you ever use your real name for your writing?

Robblogger: If I did I would likely find myself single, so no plans at the moment to reveal my secret identity. And my girlfriend can do this thing with her tongue... let’s move on...

Tiger Princess: That explains the mask!

AUDIENCE LAUGHS.

Robblogger: Exactly. Robblogger allows me to vent, to say the most outrageous things. By nature I am actually fairly introverted.

Tiger Princess: How much writing do you do on a daily basis?

Robblogger: I’m not a disciplined writer. One day I might write 5 000 words, then nothing for a week, and then I’ll write a novel in a month.

Doing the blog has been good for me. It forces me to write every day, except when I do six or seven posts in an afternoon.

I’m incredibly lazy, punctuated by periods of extreme ambitiousness, or ambitiousocity.

Tiger Princess: If you could meet any writer (living or dead), who would it be and why?

Robblogger: I’ve met quite a few celebrities, and people I admire, and almost without exception they’ve disappointed me.

I had an encounter not entirely suitable for a family audience, with Cliff Claven, the lovable mailman from Cheers. I found out he enjoys having a high heel pressed against a body part you wouldn’t think a man would enjoy having a high heel pressed against.

So I’m not sure I’d want to meet any of my favorite writers.

But I love Leonard Cohen. “Beautiful Losers” is one of my favorite novels. I think he would be fun to hang out with. I bet he knows girls in Montreal that would do things I can’t even talk my girlfriend into on my birthday

Tiger Princess: Which tools do you prefer to write with – Paper / Ink or Computer / Keyboard and Why?

Robblogger: It depends on what I’m writing. If I’m writing Robblogger nonsense I like the computer. If I’m writing personal stuff, or serious stuff, I like a note pad and a felt tip pen. I love drawing a line through a sentence that isn’t working, or putting a bold X through an entire paragraph I don’t like.

Tiger Princess: Why write about travelling if you aren’t going to Travel?

Robblogger: I don’t want to give away too much! Anyone out there that wants the answer to that question will have to find ninety nine cents.

Tiger Princess: Did you enjoy the experience of watching Coronation Street?

Robblogger: I actually love foreign television. I’d watch Coronation Street again, I did enjoy it. Most of the time I spent giggling a bit and trying to figure out why it was so incredibly popular in the UK.

My conclusion is, it’s a soap opera about average people, well average to ugly people. And they have lives less interesting than mine?

Maybe that’s the point it’s relatable, and as a smoker my teeth aren’t as white as they could be. Watching these nightmares made me feel pretty good about myself.

Tiger Princess: Why didn’t you watch the TV shows of any of the other countries as well?

Robblogger: You are a demanding Mistress. I bet you would have made a great Dungeon Master.

Tiger Princess: I wasn’t too bad at it… Answer the question!

Robblogger: GRINS It was purely coincidental that I caught Coronation Street. My girlfriend and I have an ongoing battle over TV channels.

I’ll add all these Spanish channels to our favorites list. The next time I’m flipping around I find that she’s removed it all. Spanish variety shows look like so much fun. One minute children are balancing eggs on spoons, and the next there are nineteen year olds in bikinis wrestling. And everyone looks like they’re having so much fun!

Tiger Princess: Do you think that E-books / E-Readers will kill off Paper books?

Robblogger: SINGS

In my mind, and in my car,

We can’t rewind we've gone too far.

Video killed the radio star

Tiger Princess: I like that song too, just don’t give up your day job for singing, okay?

ROBBLOGGER LOOKS SHEEPISH

Tiger Princess: Is there going to be a sequel to “Don’t Go There”?

Robblogger: I can definitely say that maybe, possibly, one day, I am not adverse to the idea of thinking about a sequel.

Actually it’s entirely likely. I loved writing it!

Tiger Princess: And Finally – if you won the Booker Prize, how would you celebrate?

Robblogger: I have to be perfectly honest. I don’t even know what the Booker Prize is. If there’s cash involved, I’d likely order a pizza and buy myself something nice, because it’s likely I deserved it

Tiger Princess: Thank you for being on the show.

Robblogger: And thank you for interviewing me. If you ever hit it big and are in the market for a sidekick, I’m slightly effeminate enough to appeal to most women.

Tiger Princess: LOOKS THOUGHTFUL I’ll keep you in mind!

AUDIENCE LAUGHS THEN BREAKS INTO A STANDING OVATION.

Tiger Princess: And that's all we have time for right now. See y'all soon, in The World of the Tiger Princess!
____________________________________________________________

“Don’t Go there!” has a refreshingly simple way of looking at the countries of the world. Instead of enumerating the many wonderful things of each country, Robblogger looks at why we shouldn’t go to each country.

I particularly liked the foreword, explaining his motivation for writing this e-book:

“What’s this dubious literary offering all about? Besides a pretty clever way to part you from ninety nine cents, my girlfriend has always wanted to travel. I care for the idea of travelling about as much as I care for the idea of soaking my head in a sink full of electric eels. Travel appeals to me not very much at all, slightly less than not very much at all, to be brutally honest.

So the birth of this e-book was my girlfriend suggesting countries we should visit. And me finding creative ways to convince her that visiting each proposed country wouldn't be fun.”

He is remarkably persuasive and honest about his opinion of each place. I have no idea if he managed to achieve his stated goal of convincing his girlfriend not to travel, but I definitely enjoyed the journey the book took me on!

Despite the tongue-in-cheekiness’ of his humour, Robblogger’s assessment of each country is informative and interesting. Of course, being an English native, I immediately turned to England to see what he thought of us:

“Windsor Castle and LEGOLAND in one day. Is that even safe or socially responsible? Dragging the kids around a thousand year old castle while they whine: Can we go to Legoland now? Is it time to go to LEGOLAND now? When are we going to LEGOLAND?”

This made me laugh out loud (I’m glad no one was in the room when I was reading this) because it’s almost exactly what I thought when my partner suggested we go to Windsor Castle during the summer for a family daytrip…

And his evaluation of our TV Shows was right on the money! He actually watched a whole episode of Coronation Street in the course of his research into England…

Warning: Coronation Street Fans look away now

“One of their most popular television shows is Coronation Street. I was unfortunate enough to catch an episode of this questionable program. It’s a soap opera featuring the unattractive, and none of the stars have seen the inside of a dentist’s office, I am sure.

The residents of Coronation Street spend a lot of time in a bar, getting drunk enough to sleep with each other, and in the episode I saw the big crisis was a broken washing machine.

The acting in American soaps is pretty poor, but I don’t think the stars of Coronation Street could even get a part in an American fifth grade Thanksgiving Day Pageant. Even with the accent, and the historically accurate teeth, I don’t think they could pull off Pilgrims convincingly.”

…Now if that isn’t perseverance, I don’t know what is!

Of all the ten countries Robblogger summarised, I think I would like to visit Australia the most, but even that has it’s down sides… and no, I’m not going to tell you what he’s written about the country, because for the minimal price of 99 cents you can pick yourself up a copy to read it.

Do I recommend you read this?

Yes, I do.

Why?

In the first place it’s a great way of travelling without shifting from your chair, and in the second place, it’s actually pretty useful, if you are going to be travelling to any of the places Robblogger talks about. Most Guidebooks gush about the scenery and attractions; this one tells you the hard facts, but without scaring you.

“Don’t Go There” only has one flaw… it’s too short! I would have loved to hear what Robblogger thought of Italy or Kenya or Japan, so all I can hope is that there will be a sequel.

*looks pointedly in Robblogger's direction*

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

To Buy a Copy

Just slip into his blog… Inspired by Caffeine & Nicotine and hit the buy now button!

Sunday Lecture: Crafting.... and Writing.

2011-01-23T23:20:00.000+00:00

Those of you who know me, know that I have a lot of hobbies. Most of them are linked to my design training and provide a creative, calming outlet for those times when Puff (my meandering muse) disappears.

Warrior Pattern Choker

People who've seen or received my creations seem to like then and I've often toyed with the idea of making it into a business... but I always come to the conclusion that it would make it less fun and take me away from my writing.

Still, I craft in whatever I do. The Design Principles have just as much bearing in Writing as they do in Crafting.

"What are the Design Principles?" comes a shout from the back.

All right, I'll tell you...

The Initial Idea: Doesn't matter where it comes from, you just have to have it.Could have come from a Brief or just been inspired by something you saw.
The Research: This is essential to make sure that your product will hit the target market just right, and become a necessary adjunct.
The Development: Get the rough idea and smooth it out. Add some excitement and pizazz, slip in some features that will secure your product's place in the Target Market.
The Final Idea: Refine your development until you have the product that you would like to send out into the world.
The Finished Product: Make your product from the finest materials you can manage. Polish it until it shines like a shiny thing...

Of course, in the Design World there are a few more stages, but those are the basic ones that I teach kids in Design Technology.

Can you see how they would fit into writing? Read them through again. Start thinking of your novel, story or poetry as a product that you are trying to sell to the world and you might get a little further than before...

Book Review – Exploring Human Nature.

2011-01-20T11:47:00.000+00:00

Life is one of these strange things. We tend to take it for granted until it is threatened or lost in front of us. That’s the nature of humans, you see; as a race we ignore what we don’t want to see.

Illness is one of the things that everyone tend to ignore. Whether it’s mental or physical, people just don’t want to let illness affect them or their little world. Disease is one of the things that scare Humans, because we can’t control it.

Where am I going with this?

Well, today’s book review is about Illness and what it does to people. I’ll let you read on and come to your own conclusions…

****************

"But Daddy, who will live with me in heaven?"

Doctor Simon Bailey has everything a man could ever want. Then his beautiful daughter is diagnosed with Leukaemia. He can almost accept her impending death. He can almost accept the fact that he will have to live without her. But he cannot stand the thought of his little girl having to face death alone.

He answers her innocent question in a moment of desperation, testing his marriage, his professional judgment and his sanity to the limit.

As cracks form in Simon's previously perfect family, we wonder, as do his loved ones ... will he really make the ultimate sacrifice?

As a student of Human Nature (most writers are; how else do we get ideas for characters?) I was intrigued by the situation that “Simon’s Choice” posed. It is a familiar circumstance for too many people and the story is not an easy one to read. However, Charlotte Castle’s writing style and the touches of humour that appear make it an easy book to get hooked into.

Starting just as Sarah is going through a period of remission, we meet the characters in the process of trying to resume their lives after Sarah’s initial illness. When the leukaemia returns with a vengeance, Simon and Melissa are forced to consider the fact that their daughter is unlikely to survive.

From the first, Charlotte’s writing evokes emotions of the deepest kind; the fear, panic and despair warring with the strongest love possible. Charlotte’s deft touch gives the story a realism that draws you in and you find yourself in tears or laughing without warning.

The difficult decisions facing Sarah’s parents and the consequences of not communicating properly, produce heart rending circumstances, interwoven smoothly with moments of humour which stop the story from being too sad.

Dealing with the fear of death and the stresses that serious illness can cause in relationships, “Simon’s Choice” also looks at what lies beyond, the afterlife and faith. This is a story that makes you look at your own life differently, making you wonder how you would deal with a similar position.

I won’t say much about the ending, other than it was so beautiful, it made me feel that despite the sadness of the story, it really was a happy one. Although I cried a fair bit, I smiled just as much and I can thoroughly recommend “Simon’s Choice” should be added to your bookshelf.

Available in Digital and Paperback from:

Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Simons-Choice-How-father-ever/dp/1453681795/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1294949600&sr=1-2

Kindle US: http://www.amazon.com/Simons-Choice-ebook/dp/B003VS0DWI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AC2OY4L5JUE2O&s=books&qid=1294949600&sr=1-1

Amazon

: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Simons-Choice-Charlotte-Castle/dp/1453681795/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1294949959&sr=1-2

Kindle

: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Simons-Choice-Charlotte-Castle/dp/1453681795/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1294949959&sr=1-2

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/18985

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Today, I’m not going to add links to other blogs or writing sites. It feels wrong after reading “Simon’s Choice”; not entirely sure why, but I’m in a thoughtful mood.

Instead, I’m going to share the Author’s note with you:

“Thankfully, Simon and Melissa’s story is not mine and is entirely fictional. However, there are many parents who are living this nightmare.

Whilst Madron House is also a product of my imagination, the similar children’s hospices around the country do amazing work looking after children in their last days and caring for the needs of their distraught parents.

It costs between 2.5 and 6 million pounds per annum to run a hospice.

Most of this money has to be found from charity.

If you have been at all moved by this tale, perhaps you would take a moment to call a hospice and make a small donation. It doesn't have to be much. Just £2 would buy a can of squirty cream for a Kayleigh. It would buy a goldfish for a Sarah. It would buy a cup of tea for a Melissa and it would buy a moment of kindness and counselling for a Simon. “

Wondering where your nearest Hospice is? Here’s some information for you:

Child Hospices

: (44) 0117 989 7820

Ty Hafan, Wales: http://www.tyhafan.org/

Forget Me Not Hospice, West Yorkshire: (44) 01474 487570

St Martin’s House, West Yorkshire: (44) 01937 844569

In the USA: http://www.hospicefoundation.org/

In Canada: http://www.hospicedirectory.org/

I hope that you can find it in your heart to help these places that help children live as normally as possible, even with serious illness.

Monday Muse Mystifier...

2011-01-17T14:21:00.000+00:00

Look at that picture... doesn't it just make you feel warm inside? Or does it? What does it make you feel? Why does it make you feel that way? Explore the feelings and get ready for today's Monday Muse Mystifier...

Write a flash story about the picture. Include as much emotion and description as you can within the 1000 word limit.

Post your effort in the comments if you want to - keep it to yourself if you don't. Just get your Muse's creative juice flowing and WRITE!

Don't care about the spelling or the grammar or even the word length until you finish - let the story flow out of you and WRITE!!

Ready,

Steady,

Write!

Tuesday Review: Hellogon by John Booth

2011-01-11T20:02:00.001+00:00

Tuesday Reviews are all about new connections for me. I try hard to pick books that I haven’t read before, by writers that I don’t normally read, in genres that I wouldn’t usually pick up, even in the library or brand new authors.

I also try to include a couple of links to Blogs or Websites that I find interesting at the end of the post.

So what’s today’s Review?

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Hellogon by John Booth

Peter Craig has been trained from childhood as a fifth columnist for the British Empire. He thinks he has been expelled from the Establishment for murder.

The truth will take him to other worlds and lies will be his only hope of salvation.

Can he save two worlds or will he destroy one or both of them?

Is he a hero or a villain?

Hellogon is a complex story of love, betrayal and power. John Booth has a writing style that immediately brings you into the world you are reading about. With a few well written paragraphs, he hooks you and before you know it, you’ve read more than you intended to.

The story challenges stereotypes and brings up difficult subjects like genocide and sexuality in a way that makes them easy to understand either side of the issue, but as well as making you think, it is also entertaining, perfect for its target market.

Peter’s relationships with the young women around him are handled deftly, with a touch of romance and a wry sense of humour reassuring the reader that the characters are taking the predicaments they find themselves in seriously. What sex scenes there are superbly crafted, in a way that is natural.

Hellogon discusses the uses of power and the basics of politics without making them boring. From a Teaching point of view, this books would make a brilliant book for a discussion group in secondary school, either for English or Personal and Social Education.

John Booth also knows how to craft a cliff hanger. The last chapter of the book had me alternately aghast at what had happened and agog to find out what happens next!

While the book is aimed at the Young Adult Market, the readers need to be mature enough to handle the subjects covered. It is a book that I can see myself giving to my son and daughter when they are older, safe in the knowledge that there is nothing in the story that would harm them at all.

Hellogon is an enthralling read and one that I can thoroughly recommend, not just as a Writer or Editor, but as a Teacher and a Parent.

To read a free sample

http://www.freado.com/book/8943/hellogon

To buy a copy:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hellogon/dp/B004FV54SS

http://www.smashwords.com/extreader/read/32945/1/hellogon

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About the Author of Hellogon:

John Booth has been published in some strange places - Poetry with famous poets in 1974, a technical paper in Prague in the 1980's and in a collection of Summer Short stories and an anthology of Erotica Stories a few months ago.

One day he hopes a publisher will fall in love with one of his novels, novels he didn't start writing until 2006. Hope is always fun.

Strangely enough the hope became a reality. You can buy his debut novel "Wizards" in both print and digital format at:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wizards/dp/B004C44GN2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=A3TVV12T0I6NSM&qid=1291292708&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Wizards-John-Booth/dp/0982979150/

And you can buy his second novel, Hellogon at:

http://www.amazon.com/Hellogon-John-Booth/dp/1456432419/

You can find his other work at - http://johnbooth.weebly.com

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I’ve got a couple of new places for you to visit now…

http://jakebarton.wordpress.com

Jake Barton is a talented writer witha dark sense of humour and his blog is a place worth visiting!

http://www.angelsghosts.com

This website is great for information about Angels, Ghosts and Demons. Everything from names to pictures – it’s the perfect place for horror writers and fantasy writers…