Author: admin (Page 25 of 51)

My usual distractions from writing usually include games, deep philosophical thoughts and conversations with other people on the internet (usually facebook).

This one is a little out of the ordinary. Saturday the 9th of february I’m abseiling about 200 feet down Avon gorge in Bristol for the Trauma Recovery Centre in Bath.

I’ve mentioned these guys before as half of the rights to Innocent Hearts was given to them as well as 10% of all my fantasy works going forward. If you want to know more about them, and all the wonderful things they do, their website is here.

I’d really love it for those of you who have some spare cash to sponsor me here and help me aid them in continuing their work. I’m really rather nervous about doing this and if every one of my regular blog readers each gave only £2 I’d hit my target with ease. It really is an amazing cause!

I finally got the chance to go see this film at the cinema and went with two of my girl friends on a girl date.

The film started with a very intense scene where Hugh Jackman’s character was a slave under the watchful scrutiny of Russel Crowe’s character. The animosity between these two could be felt right away and these two really knew how to stare each other down.

Right before the film started there was a lot of noise and talking going on in the cinema screen I found myself in and I have to admit I was a little concerned that we had a few of those sorts of people who like to talk their way through movies and generally fidget and be annoying, but less than two minutes in the entire cinema was silent and totally enraptured by the performance.

I’ve never seen the show in theatre and I know quite a few people have said it’s not as good but I’d like to say that although it may not be as good that doesn’t mean this film is bad. It just means that the excellence this film delivered is even more excellent in theatre.

The casting was pure perfection. Hugh Jackman’s singing was emotional and so believable and closely followed by Hathaway’s rendition of I dreamed a dream. And I really don’t understand the people who said Russell Crowe mucked it up. He did a fine job in a role that I think suited him really well.

It’s hard to say which bit I liked more, but Jackman did steal the show, by a whisker’s breadth. I can see why they gave him a golden globe for this. I’ve never sat and watched a film before where I wanted the constant tugging at my emotions to continue. I cried, laughed, cried some more, felt like my heart might break on behalf of the characters, smiled, and then sobbed and I didn’t want it to stop!

On top of all that was the amazing amount of challenging stuff in terms of being a follower of Jesus. There were some heartbreakingly difficult choices for the characters to make and many of them included some element of their belief in God. I’ve honestly never been so challenged on a personal level about the choices I make when life deals a crap hand. But I also never felt at any point like the faith side of this was being rammed down my throat. It was melded in with everything else and added to the dimensions of each character.

I’ll definitely be getting this on blu-ray when it comes out and I’m highly tempted to go see it at the cinema again while I can. The books also on my to-read list. A beautiful story, wonderfully told.

So it seems my plans for this year were derailed slightly already.

Last month I didn’t get sat down to plan a marketing strategy or anything quite so sensible. Instead I found my self having three new ideas, one of which I started writing immediately and have already finished. Yup that’s right, I dropped everything for a brand new idea. So my releases this year have probably gone up by one, although they’ve all been shifted back a little.

I managed to write over 22k words last month which makes it my best month other than a November yet, so there was some merit in just writing the story I was most excited about.

This also meant I hit that 200k in 12 months benchmark I was hoping for (not including blogs or anything not intended for publication). I am really pleased with that so far but I still think I can up it even further, so over the rest of this year I want to try and beat each month’s word count last year by about 1k words and keep clawing up the numbers bit by bit.

So the plan for Feb is pretty much two things, marketing as I really haven’t done much in ages and write the end of Sherdan’s Legacy. I’ve got a 19k word count for Feb last year to beat so this month’s target is another 20k count. I’ll start with trying to chip away at that and see how it goes then allocate the rest of the month to some serious marketing, especially as there will now be an ebook release some time this month.

Anya could hardly breathe as she walked up the flights of stairs to her room. She had finally gone to bed after the amazing evening with Sherdan.

He had been the perfect gentleman and not pushed her for anything further, but she had retreated anyway. Had she stayed any longer, she may have offered him something she would have regretted at a later date. The passion she felt for him had almost overwhelmed her as it was.

As she passed his room, she felt a tug from somewhere inside her suggesting getting into his bed rather than her own. After pausing a moment, she resisted it and walked into her own room instead.

She put Antonio down and stood, leaning against her closed door, still struggling to breath in all the excitement and passion he had stirred in her.

Anya had decided she loved him and really believed he loved her too. Her thoughts that evening had not yet gone beyond that. What she would do if God told her to leave and not come back only then came to her mind. As Sherdan said, she was here now but how much longer would she be?

She gnawed on her lip as she thought about how reckless she had actually been. Not only could she not guarantee she could stay, Sherdan wasn’t a Christian. He may have taken an interest in her beliefs but that was a long way from a conversion.

On top of all these fears, she felt the first wave of doubt that she really loved him. Love was entirely new to her and so far the relationship between them had been so mixed it could just be relief. She groaned.

Considering the circumstances, she did the best thing she could think of and fell to her knees to pray. She had possibly been very stupid and needed God to sort it out, but Anya could hardly concentrate on anything other than how she felt when Sherdan had been kissing her.

She still knelt, trying to pray for God’s will, when the radio Sherdan had given her started squawking. She heard Graham call for Sherdan and the following reply. Feeling curious, she got up and took the radio to listen.

The messages confused her at first until she realised there were intruders. The dream she’d had flashed through her mind. She went invisible and the radio along with all her clothes dropped to the ground as she rushed straight for the stairs. She didn’t even go through the doorway, but through the wall, in her haste.

Anya could hardly get down the two flights of stairs fast enough. As she reached the ground floor she slowed herself so she could move silently.

She walked into the study where she found Sherdan. He was pacing and walked through her a couple of times. It felt odd so she moved back towards the door to watch him and continue listening.

More information soon came in, although they were obviously confused by what was happening. She felt calm despite the air of panic around her.

When Sherdan was told the kitchen alarm had gone off, Anya almost gasped out loud. Thankfully he didn’t hear the small stifled noise she made instead. She hadn’t expected that her dream would come true. She froze to the spot in panic. After everything she had faced, and somehow managed to overcome, this made her feel frightened more than any of it ever had before.

Sherdan sat down, snapping her back to reality. She closed her eyes and prayed, instantly feeling calmer. God wanted her to do it and she knew that. She had to be brave. The man she loved needed her help and she would do everything she could.

They both watched as the door handle turned. She moved swiftly to cover the opening and protect Sherdan. He seemed unable to move or respond.

As the door handle hit the bottom, the door was flung open. Anya was faced with two black clad soldiers, pointing guns straight at her. Without hesitating, she grabbed the front of the first gun and yanked it downwards.

The soldier pulled the trigger and peppered the floor with bullets. She gasped, giving her location away. She had to retreat to her furthest incorporeal state as the second soldier shot in her direction.

Thankfully, Sherdan had moved out of the way and none of the bullets which passed through her found him. She stepped to her left and grabbed the gun again as she brought her knee up into the soldier’s groin. He still held onto his weapon as she yanked on it for a third time.

She punched the soldier in the stomach and he let his grip go enough that a fourth tug dropped the weapon to the floor. The soldier moved forward and straight into her, sending her flying backwards. He was as stunned as she was.

Using the surprise of the assailants to her advantage, she scrambled to her feet and continued her attack in an invisible fury. Using the moves Nathan had taught her, she grabbed the soldiers arm, spun under it, and floored the man next to his own gun.

Improvising, she used the butt of the gun to hit his head. As more shots came her way she dropped the weapon again. All the shots passed through her, sending a chill up her spine. She really did not like things moving through her.

“What the?” the second soldier said as he followed into the room, only seeing his unconscious comrade and Sherdan. Anya turned and delivered an upper cut to the man’s face. It wasn’t strong enough to do any real damage, except make his nose bleed.

She took a step back and delivered a roundhouse to the soldier’s side before grabbing the gun, yanking it up and bending his fingers back. A few more shots rang out and embedded themselves in the ceiling.

Her right hand met the nose of the soldier again as her other kept the gun pointed up. The poor soldier didn’t know what had hit him as she battered him with blow after blow.

Anya was so exhilarated by landing so many moves, she didn’t notice when the soldier took his second hand off the gun and punched forwards. He caught her right in the face, sending her onto her back again. Blood dripped from her mouth as the commando readied his gun to shoot at Sherdan.

“No!” she yelled as she scrambled to her feet. The soldier looked in her direction and swung the gun towards her, still unable to see where she was. As he did, one of the security guards snuck up behind and hit him on the head with the butt of his own P60.

“All clear, sir.” the guard said, as another five of the security team filed in behind, followed very quickly by Nathan from the opposite side of the house.

“Anya, are you okay?” Sherdan asked, looking around as if he hoped to see her.

“Yes, I think so. I have not been shot at least.” She went up to him and took his hand, “Are you okay?”

“Yes, thank you. That was… I’m not sure exactly, but thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Sir, what just happened?” Nathan asked.

“I used the karate you taught me to keep those soldiers at bay until you guys could arrive,” Anya explained, from her invisible state beside Sherdan. Her words came out much faster, jumbling over each other so much she could only just make out what she had said.

The jaws of the other six guards hung open. None of them knew that it was the same girl who had been tortured by their team and they definitely didn’t know about her ability.

“Thank you men, you may all return to your posts. Nathan, you too.” Sherdan waved them all off and waited for them to leave. He kept a firm grip on her hand and she didn’t try to pull away. He evidently wanted to know where she was and she had no intention of becoming visible and letting him see her naked.

On top of that, she knew her mouth had bled profusely and wasn’t sure if it still was. She could taste the metallic salt of her own blood and knew she didn’t want to see it yet.

As soon as everyone left, Sherdan tugged on Anya’s hand.

“Come here darling. Are you sure you are okay?” He reached out his arms to where he thought she was. She stepped into his embrace and hugged him tightly. She had begun to shake as the shock of the fight reared its ugly head.

While she sobbed, Sherdan held her and kissed every inch of her head and face that he could reach. The whole time he kept his hands firmly fixed to the same position on her back, preventing her from pulling away, even if she had wanted to. He didn’t stop kissing her until she stopped crying and rested her head on his shoulders.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, completely ashamed of herself.

“Don’t be. You just saved my life.”

She tried to pull away but he still wouldn’t let her go.

“I love you,” he said in a more husky tone than normal. Her heart swelled as she kissed him, taking him by surprise.

His lips met hers again and again, while he wrapped his arms tighter around her until he had her crushed up against him.

“I should… I should go. I need to put some clothes on,” she told him, with a great deal of effort. A part of her didn’t really want to.

“Don’t.” He kissed her again, but she pulled away.

“I must.” She ran from the room, and him, before she could change her mind. She could hardly believe what she had managed to do. It was a blur in her head already, replaced by the warmth of Sherdan’s embrace.

As she pulled on her clothes she concentrated on her thoughts and feelings towards Sherdan so she wouldn’t drift back into panic from what had happened.

It amused her that she had reacted so much more to something that was trivial in comparison to her ordeal six weeks earlier, especially when it had been over and done with in minutes. She smiled and she let herself go visible again. The image in the mirror made her stop. Blood covered her whole lower face and one of her hands.

Sherdan knocked on the door and came in before she could clean herself up.

“Oh, good God.” He rushed over to her.

“It’s okay. I’m not bleeding any more.” He didn’t listen to her and quickly got a damp flannel. She waited, not really sure what to say.

Sherdan cleaned off all the blood from her skin, taking his time, while he sat beside her on her bed. She smiled at him, although it didn’t reach her eyes.

“There, back to my beautiful Anya,” Sherdan said when he had finished cleaning her up. She tried to get up and take the flannel away but she went dizzy as soon as she stood. He pushed her back and persuaded her to lie down.

“Let me. You need to rest.” She allowed Sherdan to fuss over her as she lay there. She didn’t think she wanted to be alone and he evidently didn’t want to go. He tucked her into her covers and sat beside her.

“Please… don’t leave me,” she whispered as a few more tears welled up in her eyes.

“Of course. Why would I leave the side of my guardian?” He smiled at her. She wanted to smile back but another tear fell from her eyes. “I will stay here all night if you need me to.”

“Thank you,” she replied, taking his hand. He lifted it to his mouth and kissed. He then gently kissed it again and again, working his way up to her wrist and then the rest of her arm. She had to pull herself away as he lay down beside her.

“Sherdan. Please.”

“I’m not going to do anything. I’m just going to be here with you.”

“I can’t… I mean I shouldn’t do any more than…”

“Sssshh. I do not intend to take advantage of your vulnerable state.”

“Promise?”

“I promise, despite any temptations. I will just be here with you.”

“It’s been a very eventful day.” She put her head back down and smiled again.

“It has but it’s over now. Sleep and know that I won’t leave your side. You’re completely safe now.” She took his hand again and rolled over to snuggle up to him. When she was comfortable she closed her eyes. She breathed in the reassuring smell of him and allowed her exhausted body to drift to sleep.

–

If you can’t wait until my next blog post to read what happens next you can now buy the ebook from Amazon, in the US, UK and many other places.

I was asked to review both these collections of short stories by the same author, Alex South so I thought I’d put both there reviews into one blog post.

Seven Stories High:

There were seven shorts in this collection (hence the name) and I munched through the first collection of short stories without stopping and thoroughly enjoyed all of them. Most had a slightly chilling factor to them although they can’t all be classed in exactly the same genre.

There was a good variety of different characters and several had me guessing as to how they would turn out. So all in all very entertaining.

I think copy and paste was my favourite, although it’s not easy to choose between them. I’d love to see some longer works by this author to allow him to go into some more in depth character development and plots.

Dolphins and Bananas:

(since beginning my read of this book  I’ve been informed there is another version that this has been updated to so my review may be slightly out of date)

There are only four shorts in this collection compared to the seven above but I found the same relaxed easy to read style of writing, with the authors slightly quirky, amusing way of story telling as the first collection. The stories were a similar type too with maybe a little extra emphasis on the main character and the feeling of each in these four.

My favourite by far was Dolphining. I loved the way the dolphins thought and acted and the main characters reasons for seeing them.

This collection did leave me feeling wanting a little, however. I don’t know if the new update would have helped with that but I just wasn’t quite as captivated with these as I was the first seven. They were still enjoyable though and would be great to fill those odds minutes waiting around in queues etc.

Both collections were well worth my time and I really hope Alex South does something longer or even more of these. He’s definitely got a new fan.

This is normally my how-to slot in my blogging calendar and seeing as it’s a new year I thought I’d ask what how-to’s you lovely readers might like.

So far they’ve varied from t-shirt designing to all sorts of different writing topics and even a few on deeper topics like changing the world. Is there anything I’ve not covered about writing that people are particularly interested in? Perhaps on how I go about deciding some things?

Alternatively I could talk about marketing, formating, or something not even book related. I’m not too fussed what I talk about really, as long as it relates somehow to something I’m getting up to.

Or if you’re bored of this How-to slot (that may be the case) are there other types of blogs you’d like to see. Should I bring back the author interviews, or maybe do some kind of indie spotlight?

The choice is all yours!

More Liam Neeson!

And yes that does pretty much sum up this film. Liam Neeson, looking fantastically bad-ass and lots of people trying to get to him because they want revenge.

To be fair the plot really lacks but Liam does a good job with what he’s been given. His action is top notch and there’s some really funny moments in his over-protectiveness of his daughter. Normally that kind of thing is ott in films but this being the sequel to taken where his daughter was taken by traffickers (In case you hadn’t worked that part out yet) you can see why he’s doing it and I thought it made things even funnier.

It also had the one thing almost all action films need, a car chase! with a bit of a cute twist. Liam wasn’t driving! Which actually ended up being even better.

My favourite bit has to be how they ended up entering the American Embassy. I really won’t say more than that because I don’t want to spoil anything for those who’ve not seen it. I also really really loved how Neeson and his daughter worked out where he was so she could get to him. Fantastic piece of science! I actually learnt something from watching a film.

The biggest downside to this film was the lack of focus on trafficking. I saw the first one because of that focus because even though it was exaggerated in places I thought it was amazing that a film was putting such a horrible crime in the lime light for people to be faced with it.

Mostly the film was about Neeson getting to beat up even more of the bad criminals in lots of interesting ways. I even think the ending message of the film was meant to be Neeson doesn’t need a gun to kill you, he can just kill you! I mean, how many actors do you know who can pull of this —> and look cool doing it? There really aren’t many! ( I can’t actually think of any but feel free to prove me wrong)

So I’m glad I watched this film. I do like action so no dissapointments there, I just wish they had written a more trafficking related plot. There are rumours of a third one so maybe Neeson can actually go save something other than himself and his family and finish taking out the trafficking cartel he’s already mauled a few times and rescue some innocents along they way?

The evening passed at a rapid pace before Sherdan’s eyes. He didn’t want to stop being with Anya. He was neglecting all the work he needed to do in favour of talking to her and he didn’t care.

“When did you become a Christian?” he asked. She paused looking thoughtful.

“I had been brought up as a Christian but I didn’t really begin believing in it for myself until I started going to my current church. They were so different, informal, but serious about Jesus.”

Sherdan did his best to listen respectfully as she explained. His curiosity was peaked by her words, and he desperately wanted to understand.

“The church believes worship, the music and the band and everything about it, is important. It is modern and the words have real depth. It helps people connect to God and the Holy Spirit,” she paused to think.

“Go on,” he whispered.

“I hadn’t realised the Holy Spirit was something I could tangibly feel. The first time I did, I felt so peaceful. I just knew I was home and had to keep coming back for more of that feeling; those moments when all that matters is God and being with him.”

He nodded. He didn’t entirely understand, but he could see how important it was to her. It gave him a lot to think about. She didn’t speak of prayers being answered, or logical reasons for God existing, but of feelings and experiences.

Her whole answer took him by surprise. It was the first time someone hadn’t tried to argue him into believing but had simply explained their own feelings. Her face had also lit up in the most beautiful of ways. It evidently meant a lot to her.

“Thank you for being so honest. I think I understand more of it.” She smiled and they kissed again. He had never spent time in such a sweet and innocent fashion.

Before long, Antonio meowed at Anya to make a fuss of him so they both played piggy in the middle with the cat for the next half an hour, rolling a small ball between them. Once the kitten was worn out she stood and picked the fluffy creature up.

“I should probably get some sleep.” She stepped towards Sherdan and onto the tips of her toes to give him a kiss goodnight. He hugged her to him until Antonio began to wiggle between them.

It felt odd to be letting her go to sleep without joining her but he didn’t protest. Her beliefs were important to her and every time he had acted against them, it had put a gulf between them.

He let her go and went through to his study. There was still a mountain of work to do and it was already almost midnight. He sat for a few minutes in his favourite chair, thinking of Anya, with no regard to his work schedule. He had not felt so happy in years.

Just before one, his radio squawked at him.

“Sherdan, are you awake, sir?” came Graham’s voice. Sherdan grabbed his radio and pressed the button to reply.

“Yes. Why are you still up?”

“I was called into the command room. A small plane flew over about ten minutes ago.”

“What did it do?”

“As far as we can tell, nothing, it just circled over and went back where it came from.”

“Keep monitoring for now. Let me know if it happens again.”

“Yes, sir.” Sherdan put the radio down again, thoughtfully. They really needed to get some kind of air defence. He went back to his work, thinking no more of it.

“Sir, I think they may have dropped men.”

“You ‘think’, commander?”

“Yes, sir. There have been civilian reports of two or possibly more men trying to sneak around.”

“Have all the guard teams alerted. Let me know if anyone is spotted by officials.”

“Are you going to come to the command room, sir?”

“No, not until we have confirmed sightings. I will stay here. I have things to do.”

Sherdan went back to his work for a few minutes but Graham was soon calling for his attention again.

“No intruders found sir and the security teams have done a country wide sweep.”

“Do a second, just in case.”

“Already doing so, sir.”

Sherdan got up and went through to his own guards. Nathan had already turned to the door, expecting him after hearing the radio chatter.

“I assume you have been listening to the radio?” Sherdan asked.

“Of course, sir.”

“Keep an eye out, just in case.”

“Yes, sir.”

Sherdan went back to his study. Normally he would have gone over to the command room but Anya was asleep and he didn’t want to leave without her. He also had a lot of work to do.

Whatever it was that had caused the civilians to report something, it now had Sherdan so distracted that he found continuing the next items on his agenda impossible. He contemplated going to bed but decided on a small nightcap first.

Picking up the decanter, he poured the last of its liquid into a glass. He would need some more brandy in the morning.

“Sir, there’s still no sign of anyone, but the soldiers think they may have seen movement, from a possible non-civilian source, near your house. I’m getting them to search the general area,” the radio came to life.

“All right Graham, keep me informed.”

“He contemplated going to wake Anya to take her to the compound with him but the thought just annoyed him. He left her where she was and paced his study, glass in one hand and radio in the other.

“Sir, we are getting some funky behaviour from a couple of our camera feeds,” Nathan reported.

“What do you mean by ‘funky’ Nathan?”

“They have flashed on and off a couple of times. Just two of them at the back of the house.”

“Ok… Graham can you send a squad of the guards over to the house?”

“Yes, sir.”

Sherdan waited for a moment, now more concerned.

“They are on their way,” Graham informed him.

“Thank you.”

“Sir, I’m now getting the alarm on the kitchen door, someone’s opened it.”

“Come through and…”

“Wait, now it’s fine,” Nathan interrupted. “I think it was a false alarm. There is nothing on the camera feed in the kitchen.”

“Is there or isn’t there an intruder in the house?” Sherdan hissed.

“There isn’t, sir.”

“The extra guards are almost there, sir,” Graham added. Sherdan sat down, noticing that the glass in his hand was very unsteady. His security team had unsettled him. He calmed himself as he decided whether it was best to get Anya and head to the compound.

Just as he was about to get up it occurred to him that to get to her, he had to go past the kitchen and he had left the door open. If it wasn’t a false alarm he would be going towards danger.

He stood up when he decided he did not care. He couldn’t let anything happen to her.

“Anya are you awake?” he called into the radio. Before there was any chance of a reply the door handle began turning.

–

If you can’t wait until my next blog post to read what happens next you can now buy the ebook from Amazon, in the US, UK and many other places.

I was gifted a copy of this eBook in return for a review. This is a historical American Indian novel based on some scrolls that were found and translated from the native language.

I studied this area of American history in school and while it was quite a number of years ago now it still made me eager to read this book. I was not let down in the slightest. This was the perfect book to finish off last year with and one of the best books I had the pleasure of reviewing in 2012.

The storytelling structure of the book appealed to my own nature and each different timeline being talked about felt real and fresh. I could imagine every little detail described yet nothing felt over described or dragged out. The balance of narrative and pacing was spot on and over the few days that I read this book I kept finding myself thinking about the characters and being eager to sit back down and delve into their journeys.

I really can’t recommend the book highly enough.

Just over a year has gone by since Land Deeds were introduced to Entropia. I’ve had one since the beginning and kept track of the returns. I did a post a while back on the early returns so I thought I’d post about the first year’s worth of investment.

In the first 52 weekly payments I received 241.81 Ped back or $24.18 which was an average of $.465 per week. It’s not quite as high as the initial amount I estimated in my two month post. It seems the first two months of the year were the best as I’m finding it’s picked up a little since then as well.

I initially predicted that the deeds would all be sold out within about six months and they are now all pretty much gone. The Planet owner kept a few to give out as prizes here and there but the vast majority of the 60,000 are now in the hands of others and interestingly I think about a quarter of them are all owned by one person, although one unnamed person. The resell price has also increased around 15-20% which I expected would happen, so my deed is now worth at least $115 so my total increase on the worth of the deed as well as the pay is at least $39.18 and is of course a 39.18% return.

At the end of two months I predicted that I would have my $100 back from payments by 20th April 2015, that’s now changed to 18th January 2016, which is unfortunately quite a bit later but I’ll actually have more than doubled my money by then if the deed value holds at $115. So a new estimate based on the new deed value of having a total of $200 value (deed resell value + revenue received) is 1st June 2015.

Although that is still after the initial estimated date, Mindark, the people behind the platform, have been putting extra effort into increasing marketing and new players to entropia, specifically planet calypso and have recently informed the community that the number pf players is growing. As they continue this into 2013 it may well see the amount per week grow again and these numbers may well improve. It definitely doesn’t look like they will decrease any further.