Author: admin (Page 35 of 51)

Trade by Tareq Hassan is a book that I picked up as part of an indie reviewers circle. It’s cover and blurb had me totaly suckered into checking the book out. I generally love myself a good spy book, especially if there’s some action in there as well as investigation sort of stuff.

Unfortunately that was pretty much where my love ended. Now don’t get me wrong for a foreign writer the English was pretty darn good. There was the odd word or two that seemed odd but for the most part the book was written in as good an English as I manage.

The problem was in all the jargon and dialogue the characters used. I just couldn’t understand the conversations and what half the characters were saying and therefore who worked for who and what they thought of everyone else. I also couldn’t at all work out what some of the characters had to do with the plot, or even what the plot seemed to be, except something to do with 9/11, a legal firm, drugs and muslims that might become terrorists.

I got so frustrated that I put the book down for a few days about 25% of the way in and tried to come back to it later. I then managed to get about 40% of the way in before getting more confused and putting it down again. When I gave it it’s third try I only got to 42% before I just really couldn’t go any further.

The final straw for me was a scene where one of the characters who was introduced earlier called Danny (I think it said he was from MI but I can’t remember and I think it should have been MI5 or MI6 rather than MI) showed up at 10 Downing Street and just walked in to talk to the Prime Minister. I thought just walking in was a bit odd but didn’t think too much of it until the conversation between PM and Danny started. The PM spoke like an American and a very crude one at that. I’m sorry but I just couldn’t imagine Gordon Brown or David Cameron talking like that.

I know the PM is much more polite when he’s in front of the cameras but they still speak very differently to the standard yank. They most definitely don’t say ass for one. I’m fairly sure it’s arse.

As a result I have my first ever did not finish. I’m sorry I just really can’t believe this book anymore.

For those joining the read part way through you can catch up on old chapters here

 

Their hands touched as Sherdan handed Anya her hot chocolate. She was curled up in his favourite chair with him, sat on the floor beside her, near the roaring fire in the study. Her cheeks glowed and her hands were pink as she warmed them up on her drink. Her smile, like a child on Christmas morning, spread more warmth through him than the fire ever could.

She soon finished her hot chocolate and yawned. Normally he would have let her rest at this point but he didn’t want to this evening. He liked having such amicable company in his study, even if she had sat in his chair. He watched as her eyes closed and imagined her sitting there some months from now with a very large bump. The thought made him smile.

He allowed his mind to wander as Anya fell into a deeper sleep. He had been happier since Hitchin had told him why Anya was here. It comforted him that she had a purpose; that his reaction to her torture had been more than him going soft.

Sherdan knew they would not be able to wait long to have children, however, if theirs really was to be the first with multiple abilities. There were already couples within the program and who knew when a woman would fall pregnant.

It had also occurred to him that Anya would need to take the drug before she got pregnant. Giving it to her wasn’t something he had thought much about, considering that she might die. Knowing she would live changed things.

He decided to suggest it to her in the near future. He would give her the choice for now. If he needed to force her he could do so at a later date. She seemed to like feeling as though she had a choice, even if he knew that she didn’t. Offering her more time had made her significantly more amiable. He just hoped she would not want too much more.

It didn’t bother him that she had been let out of her room and then encouraged back by some miraculous force. As far as he was concerned the very force that had given Hitchin the vision had also brought her back. It was comforting that she wouldn’t really ever be able to refuse.

Everything else aside, however, he didn’t want to hurt her and really hoped that when the time came she would be ready and willing. He gazed at her lovingly; she was fast asleep in the chair and had been for a while.

Sherdan felt reluctant to disturb her but he would need to sleep soon himself and despite the progress he wasn’t leaving her outside of a locked room. He didn’t trust her that much yet.

As carefully as he could, Sherdan slid his arms underneath Anya. She soon stirred and looked at him through sleep hazed eyes.

“Bed time,” he whispered. She struggled against him as he lifted her.

“It’s okay, I can walk.” Sherdan didn’t let her go but moved with her towards the stairs. He noticed that she was lighter than she had been the first time he carried her, making it easier for him to carry her smoothly.

He placed her in bed and pulled the covers over her. She dozed again before he’d even finished that much but he wasn’t so fortunate and lay wide awake in his own bed for several hours. His thoughts were full of their evening together. He had never enjoyed snow so much.

It had been a long time since Sherdan had taken time off let alone be silly with someone for an entire evening. The snowman they’d built had been huge. He couldn’t remember ever making one so large as a child but the best creation by far had been the snow angels. He had taken several photos.

When Sherdan woke up the following morning he sighed and didn’t want to get up except to see Anya. They had breakfast together, as had become normal, before he had to continue with his work.

The morning post brought a letter from the mayor concerning the roads. He had found a legal loophole that meant he could claim the roads back for public use. Sherdan had been expecting it.

He wrote a letter back, politely declining and offering to negotiate an alternative. He knew that the Mayor would say no but he wanted to appear reasonable wherever possible. There was also the fact that it would buy a few more days before they would need to progress to the next stage.

Sherdan soon went over to the command bunker, although he lingered briefly to straighten the carrot-nose on their snowman. After a morning of arranging and coordinating he spent the afternoon with Hitchin.

The first batch of the applicants had taken the drug, boosting their numbers by twenty. There wouldn’t be any new talents yet, but a few days or so in Hitchin’s care and some interesting things would start to happen.

Sherdan looked over their test results and reports so far and then went to introduce himself to everyone in the medical rooms.

All the test subjects greeted him enthusiastically. A few were a little nervous but he soon boosted their confidence. When he went back to Hitchin he had a query to make:

“The young girl in the batch, Ellie, how old is she?”

“She’s nineteen according to her application,” Hitchin replied once he had pulled out her file.

“Can we get that checked? I’m not sure she’s that old.”

“They will have checked when she applied.”

“I know, I would just like it double checked.”

“Of course, I’ll have that done. Can you tell what any of their powers are yet?”

“No, not yet, but I’m sure it won’t be long.”

“Do you want to add Miss Price to the next batch?” Hitchin asked in as relaxed a manner as he could manage. Sherdan looked thoughtful for a moment.

“Not yet, I’ve only just told her about your vision.”

“Did she respond well?”

“Not at first. She’s requested time to get to know me.”

“Be careful how much time you give her. She needs to take the drug and have an ability before the child’s DNA is mapped.” Hitchin had frowned at Sherdan briefly. He knew his friend thought he was being too soft on Anya.

“I’m aware. I won’t leave it long.”

“Let me know when you want her added to a batch then.”

Sherdan nodded and left the scientist to continue his work. He was a little concerned that he hadn’t been able to see any of the new abilities yet in the latest group of residents, but for the moment it was only a passing thought. He wanted to focus on Anya again for the coming evening. He would need to suggest she take the drug. Hitchin was right, he couldn’t wait much longer.

He found Anya pacing and praying again when he joined her later. She seemed a little preoccupied while they ate and only gave him one or two word answers to his questions.

“Is everything all right?” he asked when he could ignore it no longer. She nodded. “Have you thought any more about our situation?”

“A little, I enjoyed yesterday evening.”

“Good, I did too. I have been hoping to present something else for you to think about.” Anya frowned but didn’t say anything. “I’d like you to take the drug.”

“I’m really not sure I want to.”

“I need you to.”

“Biblically it goes against everything I believe in. The body I have already is the way God created me to be, with all my limitations. I’m sorry Sherdan. The rest I can consider but I will never willingly take that drug.”

“You won’t go away and think about it? It would be difficult living in a community of people who had taken it if you were the only one that hadn’t.”

“I really won’t change my mind on this one. I won’t take it.” Sherdan looked off into the distance while he tried not to snap at her. She would have to take it at some point but he didn’t want to spoil their evening together by arguing.

Anya didn’t need to know that he wouldn’t take no for an answer until he injected her with it. There was even the possibility of doing it while she slept so she would not know until afterwards, but he would only do that as a last resort.

They spent the rest of the evening playing cards and talking about their childhoods. She had owned many pets and Sherdan hadn’t ever been allowed a single one. He’d also had no brothers or sisters and Anya had one of each.

She’d not had a poor family but it hadn’t been anyway near as rich as Sherdan’s. He had inherited a large amount of property which was the basis for his current situation. He himself had proved clever enough to have a natural science degree from Cambridge.

Sherdan saw Anya look down at this. He reached out his hand and tilted her chin back up. She looked sad but held his gaze this time.

“I don’t think less of you because you are an artist with a more… simple life.”

“But if I marry you that shall no longer be the case.”

“Do you not want the money and power I offer?”

“It is not the money or the power that bothers me; it’s the temptation and corruption that comes with it.”

“You think me corrupt?”

“I think you’re too used to getting your own way.” Sherdan frowned. He felt his anger rising up inside him and did everything he could to suppress it.

“You may be right,” he said, shocked himself. Anya’s eyes went wide. “I usually get what I want.”

They parted each other happily as they had done the night before. Sherdan decided to talk to Hitchin about giving Anya the drug without warning. She would have to forgive him for going against her will. He knew it would upset her but she was right, he wanted his own way and was not very good at taking no for an answer.

The following day, as Sherdan expected, the police had turned up at several of the road blocks and requested they be removed. He personally went to each one and explained that it was private land and he didn’t have to. The police left all but one after speaking to him, giving him time to have the last few emitters put in place.

He wanted to go talk to Hitchin but knew he needed to keep abreast of the situation with the police. It wouldn’t be too long before they had all the paperwork sorted and would insist on moving the barriers. He doubted they would try and take the barriers away themselves but even if they did try they would soon realise it was impossible.

Sherdan estimated that it would only be a day or so before they would have their third and final line of defence set up. Thankfully the technology was easily attached to each emitter and over half the area was already attached.

The work he had to do kept him from focusing on Anya. As a consequence she had gained time before he would force her to take the drug.

Just after lunch Sherdan received a phone call from the Mayor. It wasn’t something he had expected.

“Dr Harper. My Police chief has informed me that you are still refusing to open the roads.”

“Yes, I did warn you that I wouldn’t.”

“I’m giving you one last chance to cooperate.”

“I really don’t think you understand. Nothing you have the power to do will open the roads.”

“I beg to differ.”

“Do you have anything else to tell me?” At this the Mayor slammed to the phone down. It wouldn’t be much longer before his arrest was ordered.

As Sherdan expected, the police were soon trying to gain access to arrest him. He told the security guards to stand back and let the police try.

He sat down and watched on the camera as both the policeman walked towards the barrier and suddenly stopped. They quickly stepped back and looked at each other. Confusion reigned on their faces. Sherdan laughed as they tried again. They would be doing that for a little while.

“Keep me updated with events please,” Sherdan radioed the two security guards. He then focused on getting their next line of defence in place. There was no knowing when they would need it at this point in time but it was best to be prepared. Late in the afternoon he finally got to go see Hitchin. As usual he greeted him happily.

“I spoke to Anya about taking the treatment.”

“And?” Hitchin put down the lab goggles he had been wearing.

“She was adamant that she didn’t want to take it.”

“She needs to take it.”

“I know. Can you prepare a treatment for her for two days time?”

“Of course. We’ll want to monitor her health, just in case.”

“Yes, why don’t you bring the drug over in two evenings time and we’ll bring her back here once you’ve injected her and calmed her down.”

The police spent the rest of the day trying to get into the area to arrest Sherdan. None of them succeeded and reports came in of the police getting very frustrated. Most of them gave up. The few that remained sat in their cars and waited, not really knowing what to do.

This put Sherdan in high spirits for another evening with Anya. The last two evenings had gone very well. They had managed to avoided arguing and he found her letting him into her mind a little. He still hoped she would completely open up to him before long. He wasn’t going to allow anything less.

Yes I know the film was actually called the marvel avengers assemble in the UK, but that has the be the lamest film name ever so in my opinion it’s really just called the avengers.

In short the film was awesome. So awesome that I can hardly find the words.

All the leading up to it with all the not quite so awesome but still good marvel films like Thor and Captain America paid off, big time. The film was quirky, funny and action-packed.

The actors were all on top form and Robert Downey Jr and Samuel L Jackson’s roles were so perfect it just added to the awesomeness even more. Even Loki was very well cast and I believe has garnered a little fan club of his own.

The relationship between certain characters was good too and it enabled some brilliant one liners to be delivered. I think I laughed a heck of a lot during the film, so hard from one joke we almost didn’t hear another funny joke that came right after. I won’t spoil the story or plot but I believe the line was ‘Puny God’. Two words have seldom made me laugh so much.

Action wise the first half of the film was a little lacking but the second half more than made up for it with some amazing action sequences and fights. I think pretty much everyone got their beautiful fight scenes and there was a lot of smash.

Music was good too and as expected there was the odd acdc track curtesy of Tony Stark.

I loved this film and I really can’t wait for Iron Man 3 next year.

One of the important aspects of writing anything is the plot. It has to engage the readers and make them want to keep turning the pages to ideally not put the book down but at worst make them want to come back to the book later.

For me personally I find my plot comes out of knowing my characters. I work out who they are and their strengths, weakness, flaws and redeeming features. I also work out what they are passionate about achieving within their background, their past and occupation. This leads me on to how they will meet and I usually try to start my book in some kind of ‘action’ moment before this.

The rest of the plot comes from conflict. Life is made up of trials, situations and problems that humans have to endure and get through. Plot is pretty similar. People like to read about characters overcoming things and getting to the end with some kind of resolution even if not a perfectly happy one.

From the start of the book I figure out what’s likely to go wrong based on their character flaws and weaknesses. Sometimes I’ll bring in a side character or two to help provide conflict and trials for the characters to overcome. In With Proud Humility, the pirates provided the biggest trial but I also had the two main characters clashing to provide trials for each other, as well as Marie’s father providing difficulties.

Often the plot of my stories is a mix of external people doing things to my characters and their own flaws creating situations where they have to grow and learn. By the end of the book I try to make sure they’ve all learnt a little something and are better people. They won’t ever be perfect but they do get closer.

I tend to find with this way of looking at the plot that it evolves out of the characterisation and makes the people easier to relate to. I never really have to sit down and hugely plot out the book. I’ll do rough notes on major events but the characters themselves drive the plot forwards with their personalities and decisions. The ending is usually a fixed point, the resolution point and the things the characters have learnt but the rest in between is simply my narrative of the journey the characters go on.

I saw the film of this story a couple of years ago when it came out at the cinema but I’d not read the book. As part of my journey through more classical literature I picked up an ebook copy and read through it rather quickly.

It’s not too long and considering it’s age a nice easy read. The point of view switches a little unobviously between the characters here and there but nothing too disorientating. My biggest problem with the ebook, however, was the plot. I found that the film had embelished the plot a little more and made more of the events than the book itself did.

I found myself skim reading quite a few large chunks of dialogue from Henry, which appeared to just be the author’s opinions of what the world was like in a very monologue type format and as I often completely disagreed with what was being said I found it really rather boring.

The ending also left me feeling rather dissapointed. It was a tad predictable even though it didn’t match the film at all and very very short.

It’s rare I prefer the film over a book, especially when the book came first but here I’d definitely say the book wasn’t worth my time. The film was much more dramatic and plot driven. The book was all about whether sin was really good or bad in the most dry way possible.

Last Month

I had a very busy but fairly relaxed month last month and pretty much did everything I wanted to so here’s the bullet list.

• Wrote approx 12k words by hand
• Typed approx 25k words (including emails and blogs)
• Spent approx 40 hours marketing and promoting
• Worked about 40 hours for red feather
• Read for about 40 hours
• Sent 44 emails

As you can see it was fairly low key, mostly promoting and I worked alone a lot this month. Not much communication with others except for marketing and promoting purposes and I finished quite a few books.

I finished the short story/novella I was working on as well as finished the 2nd draft of Sherdan’s as you can probably see from my new progress bars on the right. I also helped the author Andrew Bellingham with the book launch for his first ebook, Elsa’s Reality.

In the promoting side of things I had an interview featured on another author’s blog, probably the most fun interview I’ve ever done here. I also had Innocent hearts featured on a blog in a list of young adult fantasy stories here.

Sales are up again and have for the fourth month in a row over doubled the year before with twice the number of ebooks so progress is still being made.

This Month I want to do all the research for novel 4. I have a feeling it’s going to require more than the other books I’ve written so far but I don’t want to say any more then that at this point.

My editor has also informed me that he’s almost finished with Chains of Freedom so I’m hoping to have that back shortly so I can do the edits and get it out to my proof readers. I probably won’t start the next novel until I’ve done that. But basically if you’re eager for more work, hurry my editor up!

I’ve also got a few days off this month around the first bank holiday so I’m going to go explore some countryside and refuel my creative batteries a bit.

Anya sank into the dining chair. She shook with her shock and emotion. Her mind could barely grasp what she had been told. God had asked her to stay but not told her why. She couldn’t quite get her head around being asked to marry a man she didn’t love and give him children. Was there any point resisting, however, if he was going to insist?

For this thought, Anya almost hit herself. Of course there would be wisdom in resisting if God told her not to. He would make sure she was vindicated in trying to do only what God wanted. She did the only thing she could at this point: she got down on her knees and prayed.

Did God bring her back for this reason? What were His plans for her and how would she explain to Sherdan if they didn’t match up with his idea of their future?

She got very little answer from God. He didn’t tell her that it was why she was here but equally she didn’t get told not to marry Sherdan. She knew she wanted to start with the marriage part of his Hitchin’s second vision, if she agreed to any of it.

Anya got up and punched her pillows a few times. She hated the idea of being forced to do anything. The only reason she was in this predicament was because she had walked back at God’s command. She paced as she ranted at God.

It was His fault she was in this position. She had never expected to be locked in Sherdan Harper’s guest bedroom and be told she was going to be the next Mrs Harper, when she had left home in December.

It occurred to Anya that she’d also never expected to like Sherdan either but she actually found him attractive. However, it wasn’t her idea of wedded bliss to marry a guy so evidently controlling.

She sat down on the edge of the bed and cried. She didn’t love him but she didn’t hate him either and she felt totally lost in terms of guidance. This wasn’t the kind of decision making she’d ever expected to have to do.

Anya went around in circles, alternately getting angry and upset. She only talked to God to rant at him. Sherdan found her like this when he came back for lunch.

She immediately tried to appear calm. She didn’t want to make him angry at her. His temper was volatile and scared her. If he thought she would say no she had a pretty good idea of how he would respond.

Sherdan smiled at her and she tried to smile back but it came out as more of a pained grin.

“You don’t look so good,” he told her.

“I’m fine. I Just have a small headache. All this thinking.”

“You are thinking about our future then? Good. I was a little concerned you were buying time before refusing me.”

“No, I’m genuinely thinking about it, but that doesn’t mean I’ll necessarily agree to what you ask.”

“I’ve already said, we’re having a child. It has been foretold.”

Anya looked away and sighed.

“This is hard for me, please, can you not try and be nicer about it?”

“I am being as nice as you deserve. It is you being stubborn. I’m offering you everything and asking very little in return.”

“Forgive me if I don’t see it that way.”

“So you’ve decided to try and resist this?” Sherdan hissed.

“No, I’ve not decided anything.”

“You will be my wife, Anya. It is our future and why you came here.” She didn’t reply. She could see the look in his eyes. He believed what he was saying. Arguing further would only cause him to grow more angry and possibly violent.

It worried her that even if she agreed to marry him, giving a child to a man she didn’t love had the potential to be a very painful experience. The mere thought of it made her stomach churn. It put her off her lunch in an instant. She stopped eating and Sherdan looked at her with concern on his face.

“I don’t feel like I can eat any more,” she said in answer to his questioning gaze.

“Get some rest.” Sherdan got up and left her but she knew resting was impossible. She had a thousand questions and fears running through her head. What if she said no? What would Sherdan do in response? She didn’t think he could force the marriage. He couldn’t make her say yes at an altar.

There were plenty of other things he could force on her but she had seen his anger at the guard that had tried to rape her. She didn’t think it was a coincidence that he had rescued her at that moment but there was no knowing what he might do when angry now.

Anya turned to God again. She really needed his guidance. She didn’t even trust herself to make a sound decision. This time when she prayed she felt God’s Holy Spirit fall down on her.

It calmed her and helped her to remember God would be with her no matter what happened. Just as he had been with her in the prison cell, He’d be with her in her situation with Sherdan. He would also help her stay of sound mind. She didn’t want to develop Stockholm syndrome, though she wasn’t even sure what it was exactly.

She had made her decision finally. She didn’t think that God had asked her to stay for this reason. It made no sense that He would ask her to stay and then not confirm why.

It didn’t mean that marrying Sherdan wasn’t something that was part of her future but God appeared to be leaving the decision for that part of the plan to her. She was sure she wouldn’t give in to fear.

Anya continued praying on and off for the rest of the afternoon. Pacing often and enjoying feeling God’s closeness.

As she passed by the mirror, on one of the many paths back and fourth, she stopped. She stared at the mirror. Only her clothes reflected back at her.

She had to put her hands over her mouth to stop herself from screaming out loud but she couldn’t see her own hands as they passed over where her face was meant to be. As they moved against her skin she felt the chill of her fingers but still only her clothes could be seen.

Anya stared at the reflection of the room until she faded into view again. As soon as she could see her whole body properly she went up closer and prodded her skin as if she wasn’t sure it was real any more. She calmed her breathing down and paced again. Every few minutes she checked the reflection in the mirror but nothing happened.

She was still trying to get this to work again when Sherdan came back. She stopped moving the second he entered the room and stood like a deer in headlights before glancing at the mirror. She was still completely visible.

“I thought I suggested you should rest.” He wasn’t very happy.

“I wanted to pray.”

“You pray a lot.”

“There isn’t much else to do,” she explained, while trying to sound like she wasn’t complaining.

“You could think about us.”

“That’s what I was praying about.” Sherdan looked at her, hope in his eyes. “I’d like some time to get to know you better.”

“How much time?”

“I don’t know.” Anya shrugged.

“I’m not giving you any more time to get to know me. We’re getting married.”

“You can’t make me say yes to you if I don’t want to. We won’t be legally married.”

“You’ll say yes if you’re carrying my child.”

“I won’t have sex with you either.”

“I never said you would need to consent to that part,” he growled. Anya frowned but stood her ground.

“I know you won’t force me. You’ve already rescued me from that once,” she replied. Her stomach was moving around like a boat in a storm but her face remained stern.

“You and I are destined to be together.”

“If that’s really true, what is the harm in waiting and letting me get to know you better?” Sherdan didn’t respond. “Wouldn’t you rather I willingly walked down the aisle and willingly carried your child?”

“Of course.”

“Then give me some time to get to know you, especially if you think it’s inevitable. That means you don’t have to force it. It will happen when it will happen.”

“What if it doesn’t?”

“Then the vision was wrong and both of us have been spared from making a huge mistake.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Thank you,” she replied. She wasn’t sure she meant it, but the hardest part was over. She had told him what she thought and he’d not grown too angry. He wasn’t happy but he wasn’t about to force her into anything either.

They ate dinner together having finally reached a sort of truce. Anya relaxed in his company and Sherdan soon cheered up again.

When he left, taking their empty plates with him, she went to watch the snow fall again. The snow from new year’s day hadn’t melted yet and now a fresh veil was forming over the footprints, snowmen and various other sculptures that had been made.

This was where Sherdan found her when he came back. She jumped when he entered. He had never come back after eating with her before. He joined her by the window to watch the snow.

“Are you not busy this evening?” she asked.

“No. I have some spare time.”

“Can we do something? I’m bored of being by myself.”

“Yes… If you’d like we can go out in the snow?” She looked at him eyes wide. He laughed.

“Can we make a snowman?”

“If you’d like. You’ll need to wrap up warm.” Anya didn’t waste any time grabbing a jumper, coat and scarf from the old oak wardrobe where she had hung them. He helped her put everything on and then took her hand and led her downstairs.

She went where he pulled her, doing her best not to appear to be awkward at all. This was a huge step in trust and showed he was softening to her.

When they reached the security desk he made her sit down, surrounded by the guards, while he put his own coat and scarf on. Again, she made a deliberate act of cooperating and putting his mind at ease. She twirled on the swivel chair, making everyone else smile.

Excitement was evident on Anya’s face as Sherdan took her hand again. His grip tightened as he opened the front door. She lingered just outside, letting the first few flakes fall on her face before following him out onto the lawn. His own front garden had a perfect covering of snow.

She didn’t hesitate in falling over backwards into the crisp white sheet, yanking her hand out of Sherdan’s in the process. He was about to complain when he saw her laying on her back moving her legs and arms up and down, shifting the snow out of the way as she did. She then held out both hands for him to help her up.

“Snow Angel,” she explained as she pointed to the pattern she had made in the snow. He laughed.

“It’s beautiful.”

“You make one.” Anya’s eyes gleamed in delight. Sherdan looked at her as if she’d suggested he do something really stupid before looking back at the snow and laying down beside the first snow angel. He mimicked her actions and then let her help him back up as she laughed.

Before Sherdan could take her hand again she had slotted her chilly fingers into the deep pocket of his coat.

“I should have got some gloves,” she said as if it explained her actions.

“You really do keep your word, don’t you?”

“Of course. Don’t you?”

“Sometimes, it depends.”

“How do you get people to trust you if you don’t?”

“There aren’t many people I want to trust me.”

“I want everyone to trust me… Come on, let’s make a snow man as tall as you.” Anya took her hands out of his pocket and ran off before he could grab hold of her. She heard him suck in his breath as he prepared to yell at her.

She scooped the mountain of snow off the low wall at the front of the garden and patted it together to form a giant snowball. She added to it until it grew too large for her to hold then Sherdan helped her roll it around the garden, careful to avoid the snow angels.

My publisher Red Feather Writing has just published the first ebook by the amazing author Andrew Bellingham so I wanted to share a little about it. Here’s the cover and nice short blurb.

Elsa grew up listening to her father’s tales of a witch who nearly destroyed her home town. As strange occurrences start happening again, Elsa, Mama and Father are moved to a new home. The Man in Red says Elsa is sick and as she tries to get better she can’t help thinking that Mama’s temper, Father’s fear and their moving are somehow all her fault.

The ebook is so far up on amazon.com and amazon.co.uk. Hopefully it will also appear on Barnes and Noble, Kobo (WHSmiths ebook provider) and Apple’s ibookstore within the next month or so.

Tomorrow, however, is the official book launch day and the author is asking everyone who would consider buying the book to do so tomorrow, via either of the two links above. The aim is to shoot the book up the hourly calculated rankings on amazon and get the amazon robots to kick in and help market the book.

I’ve had a fair amount of success with this method as well so I’d like to ask anyone interested in the book to also join in the launch plan and buy the book tomorrow.

This film was lent to me by a friend. I’m not sure I’d even seen a trailor for it just heard about it from other people talking. As a result I didn’t have a clue what to expect, other than something possibly matrix like going by the name.

I will say this now, the name of the film is lame, whoever came up with it needs to get other people to title things for them in future. Nothing even remotely like ‘code’ was involved and it was definitely nothing like the matrix (though I can see why someone might have thought it was, it wasn’t)

I liked the actors, both main characters did a good job. Jake Gyllenhaal was different enough from his Prince of Persia role I didn’t find him too unbelievable or get any sand filled flashbacks to anything unrelated to this film, except for right at the very start but I think that was just because I’d forgotten he was in it.

Vera Farmiga’s role was similar enough to her part in Up in the air that I knew she’d be just fine pulling it off and thankfully she was less heartless than she was in the other film so I could also like her more.

The plot was reasonable, nothing fantastic but gripping enough I wasn’t bored. Without spoiling things the ending was so scientifically unsound I couldn’t believe it at all but it was a happy ending so I may just forgive it. Maybe anyway. It’s too early to tell yet.

I don’t think I’ll be buying it but I won’t complain if I’m bought it or if I end up sitting through it at the request of others. It was an action kinda cute film, the kind of film guys get their girls to watch with them and the girls don’t mind too much.

I have noticed recently (there’s been an unfortunate amount of deaths of people related to friends lately) that a lot of western people think thus: If a person tries to be good for their whole lives when they die they will go to heaven.

This particular thought isn’t something I know is often challenged. In fact it seems to be a widely held norm for a lot of people just going about their daily lives in the UK and US (probably most of western society too) I want to challenge this thought because it’s actually not all logical.

Yes it is the one thought all major religions hold in common. Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus all think that being good and kind as a part of their way of life, however, none of them say that this alone will get you to heaven.

From a Christian point of view you need to be following Jesus, getting to know him and doing as he asks, which can often mean being good but there’s more to the relationship side of things than just loving people.

Jews believe that we are all sinners as well and to be given God’s blessing and the chance to go to heaven we need to repent of our sins and offer sacrifices. We also need to seek God in prayer etc. So loving people and being nice alone isn’t enough here either. Muslims are similar I believe.

Both Buddhists and Hindus believe something slightly different to the other three in that their version of ‘good’ isn’t quite the same but they try to achieve a greater purpose in life than themselves. To devote their lives to something else or they don’t get to go to their versions of heaven either.

So where has it come from that people think being a generally ‘good’ person is enough to merit heaven for eternity? I think personally it’s out of a sense of being rather selfish. Most people don’t want to follow a particular belief system. They think they are too restrictive, boring, meaningless in todays world etc. (Excluding athiests who obviously don’t think heaven even exists) but they want to think there is some purpose to their lives. Like they want the prize of living right but don’t actually want the restrictions that might come with it.

Another possibility is hope. It’s sad at a funeral and naturally people are missed when they die. There is the desire to see people again and the idea that they’ll be waiting for us in heaven and we’ll get to see them again someday when we too get our brownie points for being good, is a comforting thought in the grips of grief.

Is it right though? Can people really expect the Christian/Jewish version of heaven when they’ve not actually done everything the Christian/Jewish faith asks them to do in order to go to heaven? There are some people I know who would say yes, it’s down to personal belief etc. I guess I wonder at the reasoning behind only believing in the easy/good parts of something and not the whole thing. It kinda says I reject your version of reality and have decided to substitute it with a lighter fluffier version of my own. And since when is life always light and fluffy?

According to every major religion on the planet though everyone who is just ‘good’ and doesn’t add to that is actually going to hell.