Author: admin (Page 34 of 51)

Sherdan had been preoccupied all morning by Anya’s remark the night before. She had said her future husband was a hardened criminal. It had been the first time she had referred to a relationship with him in a positive way, if you could call being a criminal a positive thing. Either way, it had made it very difficult to focus on his work.

The chief of police had phoned when he had finally heard of the arrest claim out on Sherdan. He’d also been informed of the interesting barrier they had. Sherdan had laughed and refused to explain. He’d warned the mayor. Admittedly he had wanted a little more time before needing the lines of defence he was already using but he’d made his point.

The news had featured him and his compound all the morning. It showed clips from his interview as well as a few home videos of the police trying to walk past the barriers. None of the reporters could explain what had happened and, although they also interviewed the police officers, none of them could comment on what was wrong. There had been fresh requests for interviews as well as a huge boost in applications.

Sherdan had spent most of the morning talking to the security guards as the police kept trying to come in and arrest him. It was important that the guards didn’t do anything threatening that would give the police a reason to use violence in gaining an entrance, especially shooting at anything or anyone.

Around mid-afternoon, Hitchin sent Sherdan an email informing him that the injection for Anya was ready. Sherdan finished up what he was doing and left the security commander in charge of the command bunker. Now that he could give her an ability he wasn’t going to waste any time.

Hitchin was eager to inject Anya himself and Sherdan couldn’t see any reason to object. He would then be on hand if any immediate health problems arose.

Sherdan hoped that, even if it made her angry at first, she would finally decide to be his bride and embrace her new life with him. Their conversation the night before had shown him that their relationship was progressing nicely.

Despite the recent encouragement, Sherdan was still nervous in the car on the way to see her. Hitchin seemed entirely unaffected but Sherdan couldn’t talk to him. He didn’t want to let Hitchin know how much he wanted Anya to be willing. Allowing someone to say no to him wasn’t normal and not something he wanted people to be aware of.

He led Hitchin upstairs to her room. The last thing he expected was for her to not even be there. He noticed the pile of her clothes in the middle of the floor and assumed she was having a bath or shower. How wrong he was. He ran from the room as he reached for his radio.

“Anya’s got free again. Please mobilise all security teams. Don’t let her reach any of the perimeters. Be advised the police are still lingering at several of the major barriers.”

“Yes, Sir,” Graham replied. Sherdan then sat himself down at his desk to pull up the camera feed for her room. Hitchin came in several seconds after.

They watched for half an hour before the saw Anya stood in front of her mirror in the clothes that he’d seen on the pile, staring at it intensly.

A noise from behind the two men made them both jump and turn around.

“Hello,” she said as she walked into the room, pulling down her t-shirt as if she’d only just put it on. Sherdan’s mouth fell open before he stood up. He walked towards her and raised his arm to backhand her. She shrank back, her eyes wide.

“Sherdan!” Hitchin yelled. He was pointing at the screen.

“What?” Sherdan was furious and didn’t appreciate the interruption. Anya grabbed his arm bringing his attention back to her.

“This,” she said as she disappeared. Both men gasped. Her clothes came towards Sherdan before they fell to the floor in a heap.

“I seem to have an ability,” she explained from somewhere in front of him. He reached out his arm and waved it in front of him. He couldn’t feel anything. “That was right through me.”

“Oh my God.”

“I’m still working out exactly how to do everything so excuse me a moment.”

Sherdan watched Anya’s pile of clothes lift up and leave the room. He then turned to Hitchin. The surveillance footage played behind him, completely forgotten by everyone. Sherdan suddenly regained cognitive thought.

“Stand down security. Anya has been found.”

“As you wish sir,” the radio answered.

“Hitchin, I don’t think we’ll be needing that injection.”

“No you won’t be,” Anya answered as she rejoined them.

“I would like to run some tests,” Hitchin said as he got up out of his seat. Sherdan nodded as he smiled at her.

She stood there, before him, with an ability; an ability that would enable her to leave and yet she was still here, looking relaxed and calm. Not only that, she had a light in her eyes and a grin on her face which said even more to him.

“I’d like to start with a blood test.” Hitchin interrupted the unspoken conversation.

“Of course Hitchin, I’ll bring Anya into the lab tomorrow. For now, I think the two of us need some time alone.”

“I’ll see you both tomorrow then.”

Hitchin didn’t get a reply. Sherdan held Anya’s gaze and everything else was forgotten. Neither of them noticed the scientist leave. Sherdan went towards her and took both of her hands in his.

“I’m sorry for getting angry just now.”

“You’re forgiven.”

“Will you show me your ability again?” She nodded and within seconds all he could see was her clothes. He could still feel her hands in his. His eyes went wide as he gave her fingers a squeeze.

“There seems to be two stages. This is where I’m invisible but still solid, and this one…” she said as her clothes became a pile on the floor for the seventh time that day. Sherdan grinned.

“I think I like this part.”

“I can pass through anything in this state.”

“Go back to being solid but invisible,” he requested. He soon felt her hand touch his. He reached out and took it firmly, pulling her closer and closer to him.

“Sherdan,” she warned. He reached out and grabbed her left arm. Despite not being able to see her, his lips met hers several seconds later.

Just as he’d suspected, she didn’t protest or stop him. He wrapped his arms around her invisible body. She finally thought he had gone too far and melted out of solid form and out of his arms. He sighed.

“I was enjoying that.”

“A little too much. I’ve still not made my mind up about your friend’s vision.”

“Yet you are still here.”

“God wants me to be.”

“You want to be with me, you mean?”

“I will go wherever God called me without reference to anyone else.”

“So why do you think you’re here?” he asked as he sat down.

“I don’t know yet, for now I’m here.”

“I want us to marry.”

“I know. You’re going to have to be patient.”

“Don’t keep me waiting for too long.” Sherdan watched as her clothes got up and walked from the room again. A perfectly visible and attired Anya came back. She sat in the seat opposite him.

“For now I will stay here and, for the most part, do as I’m told.”

Sherdan felt like swearing. All control he had was gone and she knew it. Anya could do as she wished and nothing could stop her. His only hope was her belief in her God. He knew she had no respect for Hitchin’s prophecy or vision.

He sat for some time so deep in thought he didn’t remember that he wasn’t alone. He stayed that way until she got up, came over and knelt in front of him.

“I know that you’re not happy that I won’t do what you want and you can’t make me, but I’m here now and not going anywhere. I believe in living in the present.” She kissed him on the cheek. “I don’t know about you but I’m famished.”

She smiled at him and he couldn’t help but respond in the same manner.

For the first time since she had been in his house they ate together in the dining room. He’d never had a woman eat with him in that room and he enjoyed the change. She looked completely at home in the dining chair; sat back, her meal finished and an half full glass of wine in her hand. He’d had the dining room lit by candlelight and she looked beautiful in the flickering glow.

They spent a very pleasant evening together. The third out of the last four. They talked of nothings all evening. She loved to watch sci-fi films and they discussed their favourites for a long time. Oddly, they agreed on most of the good ones. Not long after, they were both sat side by side, watching a film with a bottle of wine and two glasses.

He had to carry her up to her bed again after their evening’s entertainment. She smiled at him from her bed once he’d tucked her in.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“What for?”

“For making my life exciting.”

“Was it dull before?”

“Not exactly dull but no where near as interesting as it has been the last two weeks.”

“Well then, you’re welcome.” Anya smiled before rolling over and closing her eyes.

Sherdan lay in bed thinking of the last few days for many hours. He felt happy despite his lack of control concerning Anya. She had stayed.

For the next few days he would be able to focus on the development of the program. There were many hurdles still to overcome and things were moving faster than even his original predictions. It was good that he had planned ahead.

Anya came with him willingly to the laboratory in the morning. She didn’t want a huge number of tests but she wished to eliminate the possibility of her having been accidentally given the enzyme. He agreed at the logic.

Hitchin had already prepared to take blood samples and test them. Sherdan left her with his friend while he went to continue his work in the command bunker. He didn’t really want to be with them while they investigated the source of her gift. He hadn’t been able to tell she had one let alone what it was. This unsettled him. His own ability should have alerted him to hers.

He hoped that there was a slight difference in her blood work somewhere but he didn’t want to be there when they found out. For now he had other matters to sort out.

The check had come back on the young woman from the latest group of residents. She had lied about her age. She was only seventeen not nineteen and the worst part was that she hadn’t got her father’s permission to be there. They had essentially given a minor the drug and helped her run away from home.

Sherdan sighed. They couldn’t let her leave, but legally they would have to let her father take her home. He’d have to think long and hard about what to do with Ellie. Now he had two girls to worry about not just one.

He had the information passed on to Hitchin so he could confront the child. Sherdan would leave it up to him to decide what to do after that.

He turned his focus back to running the compound. Other than the hiccups with Anya, everything had been going according to plan. Their final line of defence was now fully in place.

Sherdan was also going on the TV the following day. It was time he did another news interview to announce some more of his plan. He wouldn’t be anywhere near as prepared as he had for the first interview and it would be live. He would have to think on his feet, but that did not bother him.

Hitchin soon emailed him to let him know that he had finished with Anya. She’d refused to allow any tests other than the blood test. Every time Hitchin tried anything else she used her power to move. Sherdan went to the laboratory as soon as he noticed the message.

Anya sat on a swivel chair at one of the desks, spinning cutely and making him think of their evening in the snow. Hitchin ignored her and was processing the blood samples he’d taken. She smiled when she saw Sherdan, but didn’t stop her circles.

“How’s everything going in here?”

“Well,” Anya replied. Hitchin’s face said otherwise.

“I can’t get Miss Price to allow any further testing.”

“No more is necessary for the moment,” she said.

“Anya, please?”

“No. You can determine whether it’s your drug in my system or not and leave it at that.”

“Don’t make me angry.” Sherdan stopped her from spinning in the chair. She stood up.

“No Sherdan. I don’t belong to you and it’s time you realised it. I won’t just do what you tell me to do.”

Without thinking, Sherdan slapped her. She stood in shock for a moment before she vanished and her clothes fell to the ground in front of him. A few seconds later the laboratory door opened. Sherdan rushed after her.

“Anya, get back here now!” He looked both ways in the hallway but couldn’t tell which way she’d gone let alone if she’d heard him.

“Stupid girl,” Hitchin said when Sherdan came back, “The power of her new found ability has gone straight to her head.”

“She thinks it’s from her God.” Sherdan picked up the pile of clothes.

“She needs to learn to submit to you and your wishes; that she’s been brought her to be your wife and supporter, in all you do.”

“How can I show her that, when she can disappear when she wants?”

“That slap was probably an effective start. Show her you mean business and she’ll come around. I’ve seen it. You’ll have her in her place soon.”

“I had best go find her. She’ll want her clothes. Let me know the test results as soon as you do.”

Sherdan walked out into the hall and headed towards the nearest building exit.

“Anya?” he called when he heard a noise nearby. The fire door in front of him opened by itself.

“Anya, come on, I know you’re there. Stop hiding.”

“I will not submit to you just because Hitchin thinks I should.” He watched as her footprints ran off into the snow and towards his house. He hoped she didn’t feel temperature in her invisible state.

He went back to his work, leaving her to do as she wished. He could not lose focus on the bigger task because of a single woman. Hitchin could help him persuade her to submit to him even if that meant trying out the inhibitor for the abilities they were testing, assuming she had exactly the same drug in her system.

For the rest of the day, Sherdan worked in the command bunker. The police had backed off with their attempted arrest after the mayor had been forced to admit Sherdan had filed all relevant paperwork. On TV the news reporter had made a point of saying the only reason Sherdan had done anything wrong in the eyes of the law was because the mayor didn’t like what had happened to the roads.

The same news reporter would be interviewing him the next day and this made Sherdan even more confident it would go well.

He took Anya’s clothes up to her room as soon as he got back to the house. A small part of him expected her to be gone and back in the safety of her own home. Instead, he found her sat on the bed reading one of the books from his study.

She’d put on fresh clothes. He instantly noticed the bruise on the side of her face where he had hit her and his stomach churned. He regretted it but he could not let her know.

Anya thanked him for returning her clothing and went straight back to the book.

“Do you want to eat here or in my dining room?”

“Neither, I’ve already eaten.” She didn’t even look up from her book.

“Fine.” Sherdan left her before he got cross with her. The image of the bruise played in his head and he knew he would not forget it in a hurry. He’d never hit a woman before and wasn’t sure he liked the fact Hitchin had not only approved but encouraged it. He guessed that in her mind he’d already done a lot worse by letting her be interrogated.

He sat down on the bottom step and sighed. He had got used to eating his meals with someone and did not want to eat alone.

With his head in his hands he sat and thought. He had no idea how he was going to get Anya to marry him. If it hadn’t been for Hitchin’s vision he wouldn’t have been sure he even wanted her to be his wife. His ideal partner probably wouldn’t have had a religious faith or been so opinionated.

Anya refused to eat breakfast with Sherdan as well and she seemed more happy than not when he told her he wouldn’t be around for dinner because he had a news interview and had to be in the studio when they would normally eat. He swore as he left her room. She was being completely unreasonable.

Hitchin emailed the test results to Sherdan when he arrived at the compound. The enzyme in her system did not match the enzyme they had been giving people. That was all the information included in the email, except for Hitchin asking him to come to the lab when he had a chance. Sherdan knew that more had been found out. He excused himself from his duties as soon as he could.

“Hitchin, what other information do you have for me?”

“Ah, Sherdan, you want to look at this.” Hitchin pulled up a computer image of the blood sample on a microscopic scale. He used the mouse pointer to circle the enzyme particles in her blood. He then showed one enhanced image of the enzyme and the different shape it was in comparison to their own.

“So it’s different? Can you map the enzyme in her and see if it’s better than our drug?”

“Unfortunately not from the computer images I have of it.”

“Well, you’ve still got the enzyme in the blood haven’t you?”

“Come and see.” Hitchin led Sherdan over to the microscope and fed a slide in marked Anya B1. Sherdan looked at it for some time before pulling back and looking at Hitchin.

“I can’t find any enzyme in her sample.”

“No. There isn’t any of it left in any of the blood samples I took. It has completely disappeared from her blood.”

“Surely that should take longer?”

“Yes. It should leave traces too but there are none. It’s like it wasn’t ever there in the first place.”

“That’s not possible,” Sherdan said, frowning.

“I’m going to need to do more testing.”

You may remember I interviewed the author of the dark Lake, Anthea Carson, a while back, well her book caught my attention so I added it to my tbr for review.

The blurb from amazon talks of a middle aged woman who lives with her parents still because of something that happened twenty years earlier and is still haunting her. I thought the premise was something I could really sink my teeth into.

I wasn’t dissapointed. The book is well written, fast paced and weaved flashbacks and all sorts of emotional problems for the main character into a whirl of activity. I really felt the characters anguish as she tried to sort out her tangled past.

I thoroughly recommend the book to anyone who likes stories that reflect real life and it’s hardships but I do have one small problem with the book I felt I should pass along, where it ends. It didn’t feel like the end of the book at all, hardly anything was resolved and if I didn’t already know there would be another book to follow up I think I’d have hurled my kindle in dismay. I know it’s good to have people wanting the next book but it was a bit too much of a stop right in the middle of the story kind of ending for me. I’d have liked a little something to have been resolved at the least.

What do these three have in common? It would seem, absolutely nothing!

In late 2010 it came to light that Sweden wanted to question Julian Assange over a possible case against him for what might be considered rape in swedish laws (as far as I can gather it’s consensual sex but not consensual un-protected sex that’s causing the issues), and I want to stress that they only wish to question him, not to actually charge him.

Assange obviously appealed. He has no wish to be jailed in Sweden just because the prosecutor wishes to question him, surely she can do that via the British police or a video conference. It’s not like he’s going anywhere. He’s been under house arrest for 550 days as of the date of this post.

On top of that there has also been a leek from Stratfor’s internal email system confirming that the US have a sealed indictment to extradite Assange to the US which was granted by a secret grand jury. At any point this could be opened and then they would call for his extradition. Sweden has a slightly different agreement with the US on extradition than many other european countries do. The most notable being the clause for ‘temporary’ surrender of any of their prisoners to the US to face any possible US charges. ie it’s easier from Sweden than any other European country. There’s more info on that here about a third of the way down the page. I’d also like to being attention to the fact that this clause hasn’t been challenged by Sweden since 2000 so there chances of protecting Assange and not letting him be extradited on are very slim.

I seriously doubt Assange wants to be extradited to the US to face possible charges of treason/espionage act, both of which have the death penalty if found guilty, especially considering how a secret grand jury works. The grand jury is a randomly selected bunch of people who sit in a room where no one is present for the defendant unless witnesses are called forward, no lawyers for any witnesses or the defendant are present and the prosecutor has to convince the jury to press charges. Yup you heard that right, no one defends at all and a jury has to decide based on that, so of course there’s an indictment against Assange.

Here’s where I think things have gone wrong.

1. He’s not actually being charged. He’s only wanted for questioning and the case has already been closed and re-opened since it was first brought to light in I think April 2010.
2. It’s normal for questioning to happen without the defendant having to leave their home country. They just get the country’s police to act as go betweens or set up video conferencing to do the questioning. For some reason they’re not doing this here.
3. Sweden’s papers have been slandering Assange, printing things which aren’t true, and even the PM has spoken out about Assange being a rapist, so the vast majority of Swedish people, including the PM, have decided he’s guilty, before he’s even been charged, let alone tried. There’s now no way he can be assured a fair trial in Sweden.
4. The person who asked for arrest in the UK has to be seperate from the prosecutor and part of the court system (a judge) instead to ensure no conflict of interest and impartiality. This isn’t the case with Assange’s arrest warrant. It’s a prosecutor who has asked for his arrest, someone with a conflict of interests. This is what was argued in the Supreme Court.
5. I’m not 100% sure but do believe that the charges being investigated are that he had consensual sex without the use of protection, and the issue was the lack of protection. I don’t think this is actually a prosecutable offence in the UK. Now leaving out whether it should be or not (I actually think it should) that’s a problem.
6. The Supreme Court have a motion of 5-2 to extradite Assange, where two of the 5 based their answer on something not even brought up or agued about during the court hearings and for the first time ever in the history of the supreme court are allowing the defendant to appeal for the court itself to reopen the case and talk about that point. If you watch the video they even seemed to expect this. They seem to be having trouble making up their minds. I’ve also mentioned some more of what they have to say in the bottom paragraph.
7. The Uk courts are not allowed to look at the evidence for the possible charge before deciding whether to extradite Assange or not and Assange hasn’t even been given everything.

Leaving aside whether Assange is guilty or not and how the possible victims must feel, there’s a lot wrong with this case.

But even going into the guilt or not guilt there’s issues. For starters even if you assume Assange is guilty (which isn’t how we’re meant to think, innocent until proven guilty remember), the case has been handled badly and technically there is the possibility they’ve not even got enough actual evidence to charge him. It’s a far cry from wanting to question to wanting to charge and if they closed the case once for lack of evidence, what makes you think they have more evidence now when they’ve still not actually charged him.

On top of that, even if he’s guilty there’s a significanct chance he’ll be found guilty in Sweden regardless. The Swedish PM himself called him a rapist in front of the public. Last I checked he’d not been charged. Again that, innocent until proven guilty, thing. There’s a significant chance he’s going to be decided as guilty in Sweden regardlessly and theoretically it’s his human right to be protected from that kind of prejudice. Admittedly this creates other problems. With his trial so public is there now any way to ensure him a fair trial? and what about the victims? if he is guilty they need justice, but is it even possible for them to get justice anymore? I don’t know the answers to these questions but a fair trial is important.

Going back to the assumption he’s innocent then there are even more problems. He’s facing prison in Sweden from a biased trial and possibly even extradition to the US all because of something he may well have not done. In the mean time he’s had to spend 550 days under house arrest and yes that may well be in a mansion but, seriously, is that any reason to fight less for his rights to freedom because he essentially has a nicer prison than most people do (I did actually have someone say this to me. ‘It’s ok, his house arrest is in a mansion.’ A cage is a cage no matter how nice the curtains)?

This whole fiasco could be prevented by the prosecutor aggreeing to either, question him via a video conference, and/or sign an official agreement with the UK courts that Assange, under no circumstances will be handed over to the US at any point during the proceedings. Assange is much more likely to go to Sweden to be questioned if he knows he’s not going to be extraded to the US as soon as he gets there. Alternatively rather than having the costs of him going over to Sweden to be questioned, he could just be questioned here and held under house arrest for the next 48 hours so they can decide to charge, because if I remember right in UK law, someone not charged but suspected of a crime, like Assange is, can only be held for questioning for 48 hours before they have to be released, unless enough evidence is gathered to press charges (which has already been deemed not possible once). So Assange has been in prison 548 days longer than that all because he wants to be questioned here rather than there. Am I the only person who can see how messed in the head that is! Just question him here already people!

Whether he did it or not surely justice would be better served by just asking the guy the questions now, rather than dragging it out for whichever side is the actual victim here.

On top of the sillyness. Why can’t the UK courts look at the evidence already gathered and see for themselves if the whole case is rediculous or not! That way all the time being wasted on whether the arrest warrant is even valid would be moot. If there’s not enough evidence to charge him then they don’t get to extradite him, simple as that.

Finally for another set of plain stupidity, this time by our own judges in the Supreme court there’s a great blog here which goes over a few snippets from the SC’s document and current view on things. There’s one lord who’s basically said he views International cooperation of a higher importance than ensuring that the judicial authority is impartial. Ie as long as our allies our happy who gives a stuff if a citizen gets a fair trial or not. Another of the judges then goes on to say that the french word used in the initial agreement allows for the prosecutor to be a valid judicial authority, so is going with what the french think, despite it not matching with the English definition of the word. Last I checked the Judge was in the UK courts and a Uk citizen but he seems to have confused our country with France!

Last Month

Been a busy month, as is more common for me so here’s the bullet list:

• Hand wrote approx 5k of Shattered
• Typed approx 20k (Including emails and blogs)
• Spent 10 hours working for red feather
• Spent 5 hours working for Flight
• Spent approx 20 hours doing marketing and promotion
• Read for about 50 hours
• Sent 49 emails

I’ve not communicated much with other people this month via emails but have done a heck of a lot via social networks so the email count is deceptively low. I guess that may be the way things are heading as I get more and more of my promotion from the social networks as well.

Sales are still reasonably strong and beat last month but unfortunately didn’t double May’s sales last year. I did have an extroardinarily good May last year though and did a lot less promoting this month than I’d normally try and do.

My time ended up being focused on the edits for Chains of Freedom. As you can see from my progress bars to the right, the edit is now finished and my lovely proofers are just taking a quick look at that for me. I am expecting to go for a release date around June 20th so really not long now for that book but I’ll post more about that in a few days.

I also got stuck into my research for novel 4 which I’m calling Shattered for now and even managed to get started on the writing side of things.

This Month I’m hoping to, obviously get Chains published, and also focus a little more on promotion again. I slacked off last month a bit and my sales began to feel the affect so I’d like to reverse that a little. A new book should help with that, however. New books always build a little hype and remind people I’m still here.

Other then that I just really want to get writing the next book. I originally set myself the target of 100k words by the end of June this year but I’ve only written approximately 60k this year so 40k is what I’ve got left to try and chip away at. I don’t think I’ll manage quite that much but I’d like to write about 25k and then write a fair bit in July too to catch up and with the 50k minimum I write in November I should hopefully get close to the 200k I’d like by the end of the year.

This month I’ve also got a fair bit of time off planned. I’ve got the jubilee weekend camping in dartmoor, which is my kind of fun. I think I should totally get up to something Sherlock related while there. I also have the last week of June and the first week of July off in the two week holiday I am meant to take each summer. This is usually the only time of year I actually take time off from everything so I’m camping in Cornwall to watch the j class boat regatta in falmouth for the first week and then exploring some of the south coast in the second week.

While I say I’m going to be taking time off if it’s anything like last years holiday I’m sure I’ll find some old tall ship or something else that I can snoop around for research purposes and I’ll be doing a lot of reading I’m sure. I’ve already begun stocking my kindle with lovely things to read.

As many people are aware this is the latest Burton, Depp, Bonham-Carter and Lee conglomeration. It’s based on some old tv series I have to admit I’d not heard of and having only seen the first major trailor fir this film I didn’t really know what to expect, other than I thought it would be rather funny and would have a few darker undertones.

Annoyingly it wasn’t as funny as I expected. Still reasonably amusing but not the full blown funny I had hoped for. Maybe it was because the cinema wasn’t that full or because I went with a different set of people to my normal cinema buddies, but the atmosphere just didn’t quite get there for me and there were a few points when I’m sure I’m the only one who laughed out loud.

The acting wasn’t entirely up to scratch I don’t think either. It felt a little like everyone was tired and maybe a teensy bit bored. even the usually perfect Depp didn’t quite bring his quirky character completely to life, though he got the closest of the lot. Christopher Lee just felt wasted as the ship Captain and while Helena Bonham-Carter had some good moments it wasn’t a particularly good character to be playing for her.

I also felt that they tried to pack too much into the film. It was very story heavy and because so much had to happen in the plot I don’t think it allowed each part to properly develop. There was no room for relational development so people felt too trusting too soon etc. It could have actually benefited by being 20 minutes longer and having more funny one liners in as a result.

The final point I didn’t like was all the magic, but I suppose that’s to be expected from a vampire film, although the trailor didn’t imply that much and was a little more light-hearted than the film actually turned out to be. I think this also would have been improved by adding a bit more to the film in terms of humour and relationship development.

While saying all these bad points, this is a film made by one of the greatest directors of our time and with some of the best actors so even though it felt like an off day for them it was by no means bad. I don’t regret seeing it or spending the money. I just wasn’t wowed like I’ve come to expect from this group of people.

This is actually something I’ve really struggled with lately. Four years ago after naff days at work and when I wanted to chill and have fun I’d pick up a pen and write, then I quit my job so I could write full time. Now when work gets stressful I turn around and wonder what to do.

Well to start off with, the best thing to do is try to remember why it was fun and a lot of the reason it was fun the first time around was because there was no pressure. It didn’t really matter what people thought because it was just a hobby.

There are a couple of ways around this now –  take the pressure off again, although this only works if the pressure can be taken off. By the time the hobby is earning money there can be pressure to keep it financially viable. Another way to keep the pressure off is to write two types of things. Some for money and then something else , just for fun, in a new genre or a completely different style or anything else that no one really needs to know about or see unless it’s finished and it’s good enough.

Of course, there is always finding a new hobby. This can sometime work if it’s in a similar field. For example if you were an actor, being behind the camera might be fun or a painter might like to try sculpting or something that draws on a few of the skills already learned and allows for experimentation and fun. Whatever is a bit different but similar enough that it’s a little easier than starting something brand new.

Making sure to take time out also helps, When a hobby becomes a job then there is only one boss and that boss is you. It can be very easy to put in more hours than a full time job normally requires. At the end of the day take a little time to look after yourself, relax and have fun with other people. The best cure I’ve found for stress is a good giggle with some friends.

 

The Escape Company by Steve Fardon is another indie book I picked up on my kindle. The blurb suggests a fun story about two male friends who spring their wives from jail because they view them as being locked up for silly reasons. While slightly immoral and highly illegal I actually really liked the premise for the book.

As long as you don’t take it too seriously it’s a pretty fun ride as the two firm friends plot their way through several prison escapes and move the families to Spain afterwards. They decide that they enjoy the fun so much that they offer themselves out to certain types of criminals to get their loved ones out of jail too.

This was a really nice easy summer style read, with nothing too serious and plenty of amusing moments. A bit like a reverse Sherlock with a little less believability but nothing too outrageous and I found I wolfed it down.

I think I’ll probably pick up a sequel if it comes out sometime but it will be one of those books I read for a bit of light entertainment.

My only drawbacks with the book were the few moments I felt a bit like I was just being told what happened rather than shown but I think with this style of book that’s hard to do. It’s probably why it felt very lighthearted even when they were in the middle of prison breaks. I also noticed a few typos that could have been easily found with a spellchecker, like words run together without spaces but there weren’t  a huge number of these so they didn’t put me off too much.

Unfortunately I can’t actually recommend anyone read this book even though I would like to. I read this book as part of a review swap with the author who wrote it and despite being prompted several times and also requesting more reviews of his book in other threads on the same forum the author has not returned the review of other peoples books, including mine. So as much as I love this book I don’t think much of the author’s integrity.

Every afternoon for the last four days Anya had managed to go invisible. The first time it had shocked her and she had practised every moment she knew for sure she’d be undisturbed. She did not want to be interrupted by him again.

Thinking of the night before, she stopped pacing and went to the window. She could see their snowman sitting on the edge of the front lawn. The rest of the snow was melting but the snowman still stood tall and proud.

For most of the day Anya had been preoccupied with going invisible, but she knew she needed to be careful when she tried it. She didn’t want Sherdan to know that something was different about her.

At first she had wondered if it had been her mind playing tricks on her because of trauma. It wasn’t until she managed to disappear again that she realised it was really happening. Her first thought was that Sherdan must have given her the drug against her will but it had only worked while she had been praying.

Once she had achieved the same thing for a third time she stopped pacing and praying, and just stood in front of the mirror. She focused on the way she had felt right before her reflection had disappeared the first time.

For several minutes nothing happened. She sighed and closed her eyes. When she opened them again she couldn’t see her reflection.

Unlike all the previous times, she stayed invisible. Anya had expected it to fade as it had done every time before but after fifteen minutes, nothing. She gnawed on her bottom lip, worried she would be stuck like that. Thankfully, after concentrating hard on wanting to be visible again, she saw herself slowly appear in the reflection before her.

She didn’t dare try again after that and waited for Sherdan as normally as possible.

When he did finally come to see her, he was later than usual and looked a little flustered.

“Is everything all right?” she asked.

“Yes, everything is going well. I am busy preparing things for the next stage. This area of land shall be a fortress within the next week.”

“With me locked at its centre.”

“It’s the safest place for you”

“Perhaps.”

“Are you still completely against taking the drug and gaining an ability?” Sherdan asked. Anya did her best not to let her confusion show. She’d assumed he’d already put it into her system.

“I don’t want it, but I suspect it’s the kind of thing you’d do to me while I slept if you really wanted it to happen.”

“No, I have more respect for you then that. I might still force it upon you, but not in secret.”

“You’d still make sure you had your way then?”

“Of course.”

Anya smiled at Sherdan when he said this. She didn’t seem able to be annoyed at him for anything. She’d also noticed that, since their evening in the snow, he had been much more open and honest with her.

If he hadn’t already given her the drug, however, it meant her invisibility must have come from somewhere else. In that moment she almost told him about it.

“Sir? I think you had better come take a phone call that’s just come through for you,” the radio squawked, disturbing their evening together.

“Who is it Nathan?” Sherdan replied.

“The chief of police.”

“I’ll be right there.” He rolled his eyes at Anya. She laughed.

“Seems you’re in trouble with the law.”

“Well, they have been trying to arrest me for most of the day.”

“So my future husband, and the possible father of my first child, is a hardened criminal.” They both chuckled.

“As I said before, you’re safest here.”

With that, Sherdan left her for the rest of the day. She sat and pondered everything he had told her. Not everyone got personal phone calls from the chief of police when they were being pursued for arrest, especially when the very act of phoning showed that the police knew where he was and could theoretically apprehend them.

She was also sure he’d been truthful about not giving her the drug. The only other way she could conceive being given the gift of invisibility was God, but it was a new trick, even for Him.

Anya was still thinking this over when she fell asleep. It even continued to puzzle her the following day. She had no intention of looking a gift horse in the mouth, however, and stood herself in front of the mirror as soon as she knew she would have privacy for more than half an hour.

She focused on the same feeling as the day before and her reflection disappeared in front of her eyes. Anya grinned. It was an awesome feeling, even if her clothes were still visible.

For the next few hours she practised moving between her normal state and invisiblity. Each time the transition got quicker and took less concentration.

Anya gasped several hours later when, in transitioning from visible to invisible, all her clothes fell to the floor. She tried to pick them up and her hands went straight through them.

She hesitated, not knowing what to do next. As she stood thinking she faded back into view until she could see herself naked in the mirror, her clothes still in a pile under her feet.

Suddenly it dawned on her that, if her hand had moved through the clothes, in the same state she might be able to move through other things. She picked up her T-shirt and held it in her hands.

Anya took a deep breath and focused on the needed feeling. As usual, she turned invisible. She paused and concentrated again. A few seconds later the top fell to the floor and, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t pick it up again.

As soon as she was sure she couldn’t lift her clothes, she reached out to the bed. Her hand passed right through and she felt an odd sensation as it did. Feeling very brave, she stepped right into the bed. Her lower half all tingled until she stepped back out again.

She grinned as she allowed herself to fade into view again. There was no way Sherdan could force her to do anything she didn’t want to any more.

She danced around the room and thanked God. She was as free as she wished to be. The weight and stress of the last few days fell from her and she laughed with happiness at her new found liberty.

Picking up her clothes, she pulled her underwear back on but she was disturbed by the sound of footsteps outside the door. She froze with only her lower half clothed.

The key turned in the lock. Anya did the first thing that came into her head and her jeans and thong fell to the ground again. In her invisible state she glanced at the clock. It was only half four. Sherdan was early.

She watched Sherdan come into the room, followed by someone else in a lab coat. He was one of the two guys in the laboratory she had walked in on. In his right hand was a syringe. She knew what was in it. Sherdan had at least warned her.

Anya smiled to herself as he scanned the room. He looked straight over to where she stood, but he was completely oblivious to her. He put his finger to his mouth and looked at Hitchin and then walked silently towards her bathroom to knock on the shut door.

“Anya are you in there?” he called. She didn’t respond and had to resist the temptation to laugh. He knocked again before trying the handle. The door opened without resistance. Sherdan marched in and checked behind the shower curtain.

“She’s gone!”

“The door was locked.” Hitchin motioned towards the now open door behind him. Sherdan shrugged and ran from the room. Hitchin fixed a cap onto the syringe and followed.

With a very large grin on her face, Anya allowed herself to go visible and put her clothes on. As soon as she was decently attired, she left her unlocked room and followed the two men to Sherdan’s study.

Super 8 was one of those films I saw the trailor for and thought, yeah that might be worth a watch. I didn’t go to see it at the cinema but borrowed the dvd from a friend as soon as I could.

The trailer implied the film was a cutesy kids action film with a little bit of a serious alien undertone and for the first 30 minutes that’s exactly what it was. The kids making their own film were so stereotypical it was brilliant and, although a little like watching an old kids film, it was retro in all the right ways.

For kids, the acting was superb and the whole cast of miniature adults had me won over pretty quickly and they never let me down the whole way through the film.

The let down came when the film got a lot more serious than the trailer implied it would. The alien’s introduction scene was actually really rather violent and gory for what appeared to be a more childlike film. The alien was the kind of alien you would expect in an alien horror film and not a Stephen Spielberg kids film and the way the film was put together was a lot more jumpy than I’d have liked. I don’t mind a film that makes me jump one or twice but I think I jumped at four separate points in more of a horror film way.

I loved the cast and routed for them the whole way but when the film had finished I felt a little like I’d been miss-sold it. It was far darker than I was expecting and I really don’t think I’ll be buying it, which is a shame because I was hoping for another ET moment.

Lately I’ve been doing research for my fourth novel and also with my first historical book out and my second very very close to being out I’ve been thinking a lot about historical accuracy.

There’s a lot of history and studying any one section of it well can take an entire lifetime. This can present a problem when writing historical novels. I’ve only got soo much time I can devote to researching an area. Admitedly I usually stick to my favourite era and the one I know the most about, 1790-1850. It’s the regency era, the French revolution, the abolition of slavery and the early parts of Queen Victoria’s reign. There’s obviously more to it than that but I feel fairly comfortable in that era.

The other problem is sometimes the plot and story is deemed more important than a historical fact, after all I write fiction, and to me, writing relatable characters who go through something people can understand is often more important than whether they really would have spent time with that person, or would have prefered a bow and arrow over a spear. If they don’t spend time alone with that person romance won’t blossom and people in battle with only spears get one or two hits in then get massacred, but bows and arrows means the fights a little more even. I’m sure you get my drift. Sometimes I deliberately write something historically inaccurate.

The biggest killer though is that 90% of the historical information we’re taught and we read in other books is actually wrong (yes I have just made that stat up). Though in all fairness, most of my sources these days are the internet and we all know how consistent that can be. Sometimes I will find something out, think I am right, and be wrong. Likewise some people will read my books and think I am wrong because they’ve read something different somewhere else, but I’ll actually be right. On top of that we all make assumptions. Someone may read that people in the 1800’s in the US could rarely read, even nobility, so assume people in London in the 1800’s also can’t read. Most people in the Uk are fairly aware they could, however. Jane Austen’s and Beatrix potter’s sales figures anyone?

It’s history, and by definition of a lot of it no one from then is still alive to tell us what it was really like, and it wasn’t the same everywhere even if we know what it was like in one place. You can’t compare a 1810 regency historical romance with a 1810 American-front historical romance. You can be pretty sure the two sets of societies had very different sets of rules, issues, and quirks.

I don’t write regency historical romances. I actually don’t like them (the whole chaperoned everywhere all the time missconception gets me angry. It was only really London and Paris and there were certain ‘public’ places you were allowed to talk unaccompanied) so I’d really appreciate it if people stopped comparing my historical adventure novels set in the 1800’s, in other places, to regency.

In fact I’d really like it if people just generally started off from the assumption that the author did do research and generally only think they didn’t if some big glaring mistake was made, like having steam power in the early 1800’s. Although, if that does happen and you’re worried, check you’re not in the steampunk genre. If you find you are, and are about to throw said book across the room in disgust at the historical inaccuracy of having steam almost 100 years before it was invented, please put it down gently and make a note to not read that genre again, you won’t like it.

Oh and also people, read the blurb, it helps give you an idea of where the book’s set and if you’re getting that regency romance you want. Also don’t tell me you didn’t know my first book was set in the Caribbean. It does say so in the blurb and last I checked Montserrat hadn’t moved.