There's a news story from a reputable rag: Billions of passwords just leaked online! Check here to see if you are affected with a link to check emails at the Personal Data Leak Checker. I checked. And I've spent all my time this morning changing the passwords. And then going through and security checking every, … Continue reading The Frantic Friday Kerfuffle
Stories
The Ferryman and the Sea Witch: Release Day!
A great story …
It’s a big day, the completion of months of writing and all the tasks that go along with bringing a story to life. The muses are satisfied, the sun is shining with the promise of spring, and the mermaids are singing their enchantments.
To all my blogging and reading friends, thank you from the tips of my toes to the ends of my fingers. Your enthusiasm and spirit of friendship make all the months of toil worthwhile. Thank you for accompanying me on this journey.
(On sale for the month of June)
Blurb
The merrow rule the sea. Slender creatures, fair of face, with silver scales and the graceful tails of angelfish. Caught in a Brid Clarion net, the daughter of the sea witch perishes in the sunlit air. Her fingers dangle above the swells.
The queen of the sea bares her sharp teeth and, in a fury of…
View original post 2,050 more words
Meet the man of the new story
The week slipped by so fast that I wasn't sure today was Friday. It is, of course, because I have a post to write. Or, better yet, a hint of what I've been up to during the March break. Do you want a snippet? Okay, here goes: *** Title: Blackened Rose Description: Desperate people with … Continue reading Meet the man of the new story
Boundaries
A short story 500-ish words. The old lady ahead of Alec in the bus queue smelled of chocolate and old drawers. She squinted at him. “What?” Alec asked. “Do you want me to tell you where the bus goes?” she said. “No. I know where I’m going.” He was leaving home. Forever. He’d never be … Continue reading Boundaries
Your first pages – 5 more book openings critiqued by a literary agent, YA author @AJ_Dickenson (and me!) at @Litopia
Want to be critiqued by professionals? See how it’s done with Roz and Agent Pete
I’ve just guested again at Litopia, the online writers’ colony and community. Each week they have a YouTube show, Pop-Up Submissions, where five manuscripts are read and critiqued live on air by literary agent Peter Cox @agentpete and a guest, or sometimes two (this time we had longtime Litopia member and YA author Andy Dickenson @AJ_Dickenson).
The format is simple. Five manuscripts, each with a short blurb. We hear the opening pages, then discuss how they’re working – exactly as agents and publishers would consider a manuscript that arrived in their inbox.
As always, the submissions had many strengths. Issues we discussed included the importance of voice in contemporary fiction, the age of the protagonist in a YA novel, whether we’ll want to read novels that feature the Covid-19 pandemic, a lyrically written fantasy that seemed too nebulous, how to begin an action thriller with a sci-fi element…
View original post 190 more words
An Element of Change
A short story, 500 words. Dark. Brown grass. Who needs to mow brown grass? Not Ted. He had a beer, a bit of tree stump to sit on, and distance from the house. All he’d done was mention the new neighbour, and the list of jobs fell from her mouth like a shovel-load of shit. … Continue reading An Element of Change
Missed the Starter’s Gun
When I mentioned I'd be doing a post a week (should've said once a month), I thought it wouldn't take much extra effort around all the other stuff and the new course and the two new series (or serials - not sure yet). What I didn't count on was the extra workload that comes from … Continue reading Missed the Starter’s Gun
MICE with PIES in the Toolbox
Sounds intimidating, or worse, doesn't it? It isn't. Promise. There are no beasties in the following words. And sorry, but no lunch either. MICE refers to storytelling. M is for Milieu and although every story has a setting, a Milieu story is more than a story based mostly on setting. It's also a tool to … Continue reading MICE with PIES in the Toolbox
And Then There was the … Synopsis
What -- you do it first? I don't, and there's a reason for that. It's not that I do things back to front, at least not from my perspective. The start is the beat sheets, one for each character in the story, but the main two characters (usually the main character/protagonist and the antagonist) get … Continue reading And Then There was the … Synopsis
The Call to Magic:
It’s live, in a dark urban fantasy way …
Description:
Awaken, spirit of Maiden, vessel of a pure soul and bearer of an empath’s heart.
Aventi sends out the call for a new Maiden. If she doesn’t get a replacement, magic will leave her. If that happens, she can’t heal, and her soul remains blemished forever.
Please, she begs, feel your truth.
But when the novitiates arrive without a guide, Aventi must choose — risk death to escort them through the same ordeal that still haunts her worst nightmares, or hide from the responsibility and close the circle?
Can she survive another journey through that hell to seek the path to redemption?
Magic calls — are you the vessel it seeks?
Goes live on 23 October 2020, a gift to one who loved to read on his birthday.
You must be logged in to post a comment.