Author: admin (Page 41 of 51)

Here’s chapter 2 in the book. For previous chapters and other information check out the Sherdan’s Prophecy book page.

 

Anya stepped off the train onto the Bristol Temple Meads platform. She followed the few other people who had been on the train with her, down the steps and along the tunnel underneath all the other platforms. She tried to stay near the back of the group and not look too out of place.

For mid December she wasn’t wearing very much. Black trainers, trousers and a black long-sleeved top that clung to her small frame. She had a scarf on but the train had been warm and until now she had needed nothing else. The first shiver ran through her as she put her ticket into the barrier and made her way through to the exit of the train station.

Anya hesitated in the last warmth of the building before stepping out into the evening air. She had a twenty minute walk from here to her destination. determined, she set out at a brisk pace.

She had memorised her route by studying the map for several days and even though she had never been to Bristol before now she didn’t make a single wrong turn.

The whole time she prayed in tongues under her breath. She had read a book many years earlier about a Christian woman who had lived in the slums of Hong Kong and had done the same everyday as she had worked and lived there. The gangs had never done anything to harm her.

When Anya reached the last bin on her path she stopped, checked there was no one watching, removed her scarf, and placed it in the bin. She then continued as if nothing had happened. She shivered so much she could not tell if it was the cold, nervousness at her task, or most likely, a combination of the two.

She arrived at her destination five minutes early so stood and got her breath back on the corner of St Michael’s hill and Royal Fort Road. She knew she was already within his territory and briefly wondered if he knew of her existence already.

As soon as her watch said half eleven she took a deep breath and walked down Royal Fort Road. She didn’t have a plan for the next part. She wasn’t even sure where she was going, only of why.

Continuing to pray she walked towards the largest building she could see. For a moment her nerves got the better of her and she hesitated.

She looked for the nearest door while, controlling her breathing in a vain attempt to calm her heart beat back down again. Walking against the wall to the only entrance she could see, she tried to push it open.

It didn’t move. It appeared to be a safety door that could only be opened from the inside by pushing a bar or handle of some kind.

Anya went to find another door, knowing she shouldn’t waste time, but something made her stop. Instead she put her fingers against the crack in the door and tried to pull outwards.

The door clicked and swung open. It was a fire door but it couldn’t have been latched properly as it had swung out with no resistance.

She sneaked inside and pulled the door shut behind herself. She then crouched listening and never ceasing to pray. Every moment her lips moved in almost silent words she couldn’t understand.

Taking another deep breath, she moved from her spot. Picking her directions purely on what felt right at the time, she made her way through Sherdan’s compound.

While she explored she wondered what the man was like. She was almost certain she wouldn’t like him. How could she like anyone who ran a cult for their own benefit. He wasn’t the reason she was here, however, at least not directly.

Several minutes of slow creeping passed before Anya found herself taking her first wrong turn. She had wandered into a storage room despite having been led there by her feelings.

She frowned and was about to return through the door when she heard the sound of approaching people. Being as quiet as she could she shut the door and listened for any signs that she had been seen.

Whoever walked along the corridor did so cautiously. They took many minutes to pass out of earshot again and at several points when they had been right by the door she had thought she would be discovered. She had felt so sure of it that it took her a few more minutes to calm her nervous shaking.

Anya continued sneaking, pressing her whole body up against the wall and walking sideways. Each slow step took her several seconds and already twenty minutes had passed by when she moved through the third door.

The décor changed dramatically. What had been normally furnished rooms and corridors became concrete hallways and black walls, save for the lights at regular intervals. It was the fist sure sign that she had travelled in the right direction. She sighed and continued praying.

Anya heard sounds from behind and moved across the corridor to a door the other side. She didn’t wait to listen for people as she had at every other door but pulled it open and quickly ran inside. The light in the room came on automatically, showing her someone’s bedroom. Thankfully unoccupied.

She could hear the sounds of moving people getting louder as she ran towards the bed and crawled underneath. Her heart pounded in her chest and she strained to listen for the noise from outside the room.

It suddenly occurred to her that the light would give her away if anyone looked into the room. There was no other door and it was triggered by movement. As if responding to her thoughts the light went out, plunging her into the relief of blackness.

Less than five seconds later the door was yanked open and the light blinked on again. She heard two people shuffle through the doorway. She had scrambled under the bed the wrong way to be able to see anything but the wall in front of her.

“Nothing so far,” she heard a man say.

Anya closed her eyes in relief as they both walked out and closed the door behind them. For the moment she felt too shaken to continue.

She rested and waited until the light went out again. Before she could move the door opened for a second time. More feet could be heard walking in. They stayed a lot longer than the previous set but neither looked under the bed.

Almost as soon as they had left she slithered out from her hiding place. There had now been three sets of guards in a short space of time and she needed to get a move on as they were obviously aware she was here and searching for her.

She checked her watch. She had been in the building forty-five minutes already. It would be a long night.

Biting her lip She continued her escapade and made it to the end of the hallway. She found herself faced with a t-junction and hesitated for some minutes, unsure which way to go. The corridor continued in both directions before both ended in doorways.

Logically the right would take her in a similar direction to the way she had come so she opted for the left, however, after several minutes sneaking along the edge of the wall she felt increasingly unsettled. For now she ignored her feelings and continued but her unease grew.

Unable to disobey her doubts any longer Anya turned around and headed back, more swiftly than before. She had barely reached the t-junction again when the sound of approaching footsteps came from behind her.

These sounded different to the previous type. They were moving quicker and not trying to hide the sound at all. She had no where to hide but the junction itself and she pressed herself up against the wall, hoping they would walk right past and not notice her.

She didn’t dare breath and hardly dared to look. The next few seconds felt like minutes until the two people walked straight past her.

They were both engrossed in conversation and neither noticed her. They wore lab-coats and one carried a clipboard in his left hand.

Anya watched them go through the door at the end of the passageway and followed as silently as she could. She had now been in the compound for over an hour and the toll of being buzzed with adrenaline for that long was beginning to show.

The doorway opened to another corridor and Anya slowed again, having no idea where the two scientists or doctors had gone. She did not want to draw their attention.

She felt tired and had to try even harder to stay quiet as she moved. She was concentrating so hard it took her a moment to realise she could hear noises again. They were up ahead but she couldn’t tell if they were getting closer.

Anya considered going back but the door behind her started opening. She had no choice but to rush through the only other door off the room she was in.

She hastily turned and shut the door only to notice that she wasn’t alone in the room. The two men she had followed were staring at her.

“Hi,” she said, not knowing what else to do. She then waved, Neither of the guys said anything.

“I don’t suppose either of you know where the bathroom is do you? I get so lost here.” One guy pointed back the way she had come.

“Go left and it’s the third door on the left in the next hallway.”

Anya hesitated. The last thing she wanted to do was go back out of the room. She had already noticed that there wasn’t another exit, however.

“Where’s your identity badge? Sherdan requires everyone have one who works here,” the guy said.

“Ahh, crap.” She noticed that both of them had ID tags pinned to their lab coats. “I’ve gone and forgotten mine, I’m really ditsy like that, I mean I am blonde.” She pointed to her hair.

The guys just grinned. There was an awkward silence as Anya listened to the guards outside coming closer.

“So… I don’t think we’ve met, I’m…” Anya didn’t get to finish before the door behind her burst open.

“Don’t move or we’ll shoot,” the guard said. Four men stood in the doorway with four very large guns aimed straight at her.

“Hi.” She waved again. Her game was up and she knew it. All of them came closer to her as she waited, unmoving. When the front one reached her he pulled her hands behind her back and tied them.

He pulled the plastic ties so tight they dug into her wrists and made her wince. She was then patted down for weapons but the only thing she had on her was her watch and that was soon removed. She had deliberately left everything else at home.

No one said anything to her but one of the guards leaned into the radio pinned to his chest.

“We’ve got her safe and secure.”

“Bag her and bring her here,” a voice came back moments later. Anya gulped. Before she had time to react a black bag was pulled over her head. Her world descended into darkness. She blinked a few times, hoping her eyes would adjust to the dark but it was so black they couldn’t.

Both of her arms were grabbed making her flinch from the pain of her bonds digging in even further. She was steered towards the door.

As soon as she had been brought out into the corridor she was spun on the spot until dizziness spilled her into the arms of one of her captors.

“Walk,” someone yelled. Both of her arms were taken hold of again as she was marched off, now so disorientated she could have been going back into the same dead end room.

The only thing she knew for sure was that her bindings were too tight. They rubbed as she walked and dug so deep that she could feel the first few trickles of blood running down her hands.

 

Chapter 3 should be posted sometime between Christmas and new year.

The Return is the second book by Victoria Hislop and is a fiction book, mostly about spain and dancing. I have to admit I have no idea what genre it’s actually classified as. I was rather mystified while reading it.

I only read this book because it was lent to me and I thought it might be worth a shot. It was the only thing that kept me reading until the end.

Admitedly the book had a very well written account of tragedy in the civil war in Spain and it moved me. The writer did a reasonably good job of tugging on the heart strings. Unfortunately the plot seemed rather disjointed. The first 20% of the book was in present time in the life of a woman who while I felt for her I was only vaguely interested in her life. She didn’t particularly do anything special and didn’t seem that alive as a character for me.

The next 70% of the book was about the civil war and it was obvious where the link between the two was far too soon. Even knowing that the two seemed alarmingly irrelevant to each other. I guess I just didn’t care enough about the character in the present to care about why the story she was told of the civil war was important but it just seemed sad for no point. The last 10% back in the present seemed entirely pointless too.

On top of the plot and character issue I got increasingly frustrated with the way it was written. The editor of the book should be ashamed of themselves (and possibly the writer to) for the state of the book. There were changes in character point of view with no indicator to the reader leaving me very confused on many occasions who was doing what. This was especially bad during the civil war part when they switched briefly back to the present. There was no indication until you saw the name of a character not in the past but the present.

I also wasn’t impressed with a lot of the dialogue. The characters were very samey which is probably why I struggled to relate to any of them.

Over all if a struggle type war book is your thing you might like this book but it will leave most people just feeling sad without really knowing for sure why.

 

I have had several discussions lately with people talking about Christian artwork and books. Most people who don’t particularly follow the Christian faith avoid anything labeled Christian at all costs. We discussed why.

Our first reason was that most of Christian artwork tends to depict one of a very few things. On the art side of things it tends to be pictures of Jesus on a cross or fish. In writing it’s poorly disguided preaches on what is considered morally acceptable to God.

Even when this is not the case the art work tends to only speak of lightness and happy things. Most seem to avoid all of the darker subject matters. They focus on the light of God and the good things that result in being a follower of Jesus.

The problem with both of these is that they mean very little to a person who hasn’t experienced them. Telling someone that life for someone else is amazing doesn’t make them feel any better.

To show someone faith and the light of God it requires something more. People relate to pain and suffering much quicker and more easily than happy things.

If Christians truly want people to understand how God can make a difference in their life they have to show that they understand the persons life before God, that their pain is understood, and their grief. It’s no good showing them the bandage but not what it can do.

For the help God can give and the light of God’s world to show it needs to be contrasted with darkness. Pain is there before healing. Loss before regain. Real life isn’t just answers. There are questions too. If we are intent on showing people the things God can do surely it helps to show them the situation before God does his thing.

On top of that being a Chrisitian isn’t always light and fluffy. Crap things happen in life regardless of who has a God to help them or not. Too many Christians seem to think they need to show an outside look of perfection and a happy life because otherwise it will make their God look bad. It doesn’t. It just makes it difficult for anyone to relate to what their saying.

In short people need to be real with the things they create. To create it out of real emotions, passions and situations. Not out of some preach they have in their head. To not be afraid of taking their work to darker places simply because that’s how they felt the day they created that part.

When viewers and readers can relate they begin to care. Caring is only the first step in the process but it might just gain back some of the reputation Christian artists have lost.

Pam Logan has kindly allowed herself to be interviewed for today’s post.

Tell us about your latest project.

“How Do You Say Goodbye?” is a 130,000 word General Fiction Drama.

With a death sentence of an inoperable brain tumor, Samantha Collins tries to come to terms with the meaning of life, her belief in God, her battle with sobriety and her hope of it all ending on the beach.

As Sam’s life dwindles away, memories of abuse, mistakes and bad choices haunt her by way of terrifying nightmares. She relives her tumultuous childhood, remembering the beatings her brother received and the sexual abuse her sister endured so that she wouldn’t have to. Sam’s escape at an early age led her to a life of alcohol dependency as she partied her way into her adulthood.

Now, almost forty years later, she rides her Honda Goldwing across the country with her passenger and trusty companion, MyLo, a wolf-like dog, on the back as she says goodbye to the people she loves. Laugh with her as her best friend and confidant, Johnny Styles, jumps into characters of his favorite movies. Cry with her as she meets up with her old friends, Cody, Leeny, and Mac and reminisces about the past.

While she can’t decide if she should make new friends, her good-natured banter with the fearsome, domineering, Judge Styles, Johnny’s father, opens up a whole new world for her. In an incredibly short time, she becomes part of a family she could never have imagined.

Learn how one life can touch so many and have such a drastic impact on those around her.

Sam’s life sounds like it’s been a very full life, did you make everything that happened to her up entirely or is some of her life inspired by either other things you’ve read or watched or perhaps even the lives of other people?

Sam’s life is not based on anyone in particular, but I suppose her actions and reactions are inspired by things I have seen or heard. She just took on a life of her own as I wrote, but after the book was done and a friend of my sister’s read it, she thought Sam had a lot of the same qualities as my sister. I didn’t realize it at the time, but looking back now, I can see the resemblance, even though her life was nothing like Sam’s.

What book do you wish you had written?

I don’t know if you mean a particular book that was already written by someone else that I could take credit for, or possibly a subject that I could have written about. There is nothing already written that I wish was mine, but I do hope to someday be one of those authors that a new writer looks up to. If you mean a topic that I could have written about, not yet. I have a lot of ideas in mind and hope to accomplish all of them before it is my time to say “goodbye.”

You say you have a lot of ideas in your mind, do you write your ideas down somewhere or rely on your mind to pull them to the surface when you want to start the next book?

I don’t write them down. I keep telling myself I should, but for some reason or other, it doesn’t happen. I hope I can remember them when the time comes.

What’s your favourite genre to write and what’s your favourite genre to read?

This was my first book and I guess it would be considered Drama as it is very emotional. I enjoyed writing it; I laughed and cried right along with the characters. I do like books like that, but my favorite is mystery, thriller type. Dean Koontz books dominate my book shelf.

What started you writing if you remember, and why do you write now?

When I was young, I kept a notebook with poems, some copied and some I wrote. It also contained just random thoughts and short stories. Life got in the way and the notebook got lost. Recently I tried to write a song and failed at that. I began thinking of my Mom and a few family members that passed away and wondered how they must have felt, knowing the end was coming soon. With those thoughts in mind, my character, Sam, came to life and completely took over; I enjoyed spending time with her and her friends. When the book was done, I missed her and her friends so much, I had to start another book.

You imply that Sam and all the people in her life are real enough to spend time with, do you see them as characters you’ve created or in another way?

I don’t think I created them; I think it’s more like I discovered them. As I delved into Sam’s life, they were just there, waiting patiently for me to get to know them.

What are you planning on doing next/What else are you up to?

My next book, “Life Goes On” is a continuation of the first, but is more of a mystery, thriller. Johnny finds himself in more trouble than he can handle.

You can find out more about Pam and her first book as well as read samples and reviews at her website.

To buy the book there is either the ebook or the paperback.

As promised here is the first chapter of my third book Sherdan’s Prophecy. Enjoy!

 

Sherdan sat down and picked up the report from the desk in front of him. He lounged, half reading and half focused on the surveillance cameras. There wasn’t really a need to be watching them. His security guards would be doing the same thing just down the hallway from him.

The report soon drew his attention entirely away from the little stack of monitor screens. His good friend, Dr John Hitchin, had given him the document he now scanned through. Most of it was a medical report on the latest batch of joiners to the program.

The last few pages were more interesting to Sherdan. They listed the biological and chemical effects noted and the different changes that could be made to the drug to reduce the complications and side effects it caused.

When Sherdan had finished reading all this he got up and went to the nearby bookcase. From the neatly organised shelves he pulled a leather bound journal. He flicked through the pages, glancing at the neat hand writing which filled the first ten or so pages.

The rest of the book had a long list of names. He scanned through them, moving his finger down the list as he did. When he found the person he was looking for he reached into the pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out a pen. With a sigh he crossed the name out.

He did this for two more names on the thousand strong list before going to the end and writing in seven more. By the last person he wrote the date and the number 5173 followed by +7-3

With his task done Sherdan placed the book back. It blended in with the rest of the shelves and appeared no more important than the hundreds and possibly thousands of other books, lining the entire wall of the room.

Sherdan did not return to his seat at the desk but sat down on the other side of the office in an armchair by the blaze he had created less than an hour before.  The brandy glass he had poured and left beside his favourite chair provided a welcome distraction to his over worked brain. He downed the rest of the alcohol and gazed into the flames.

The crackle and fizzle of the fire soon soothed him and half an hour ticked by on the grandfather clock in the corner. He ran his hands through his thick black hair a few times as he thought over some more stressful things. He had a lot to plan.

The people in his program depended on him to make sure they had the new start in life they deserved. He intended to make the best life for all of them that he could; free from prejudice and judgement, free from unhelpful fear and stereotyping.

Sherdan was mulling over the next stage of his plan when a knock on the door disturbed him.

“Come in,” he called out in his deep English upper-class accent. He looked towards the door on the left wall. It opened and one of his security team walked in. He appeared the typical hired security guard. Black t-shirt and trousers, ear piece and upper body built like a tank. Sherdan knew there was a lot more to this man than first impressions gave.

“Sir, something set the compound alarm off less than twenty minutes ago but we are having difficulty finding out what.”

“Twenty minutes?”

“Yes, Sir. We don’t think it’s an animal,” the guard replied, anticipating Sherdan’s next question.

“I had best go over there. I will take the lower route. Have the patrols doubled and keep me informed.”

“We already doubled the patrols Sir.” The guards lips did not move with this last message even though Sherdan heard him as if he had talked normally.

Sherdan got to his feet as he was left alone. He fetched his revolver from the desk drawer. While he did this he watched the monitors intently. The extra men on the compound cameras could already be seen but there was no sign of anyone trespassing. He frowned. The alarm system was high-tech enough that they shouldn’t get false alarms, but any intruder should have shown up on the cameras by now.

With his gun holstered under his jacket he left the room. He took a left turn down the hallway and continued walking down the corridor, past all the doors off it to what seemed to be a dead end.

When he couldn’t walk any further he stopped. The mirror which adorned the wall in front of him reflected only himself and the empty corridor.

He reached out and ran his finger over the left hand edge of the mirror frame. When he had found the right place a faint buzzing noise started. He stood still as a beam came out from the top of the mirror and scanned his face, focussing on his eyes. When it had finished the wall clicked and the humming stopped. A crack had appeared on the right hand side.

Sherdan pushed the wall and waited as it swung backwards. He stepped through the opening and shut the wall behind him. The mirror was clear from this side allowing him to check that no one had seen him.

Once he was satisfied he went down the flight of steps and into a plain concrete tunnel, lit overhead by many little lights. He walked for approximately half a mile in a straight line before turning a corner right and ascending an equally long flight of stairs. When he reached the top there was an identical pane of glass and handle to the door he had just entered by.

Checking for no observers on the other side, Sherdan pushed the centre of the circular handle and, after hearing the same dull clink, pulled the door towards him. He found himself in a very different room.

It was a much more military style room. There was a fairly standard metal framed bed in one corner as well as another container of brandy on a small glass table. There were no cosy furnishings and nothing as comfortable as the room he had been reclining in less than fifteen minutes earlier.

Sherdan didn’t linger but stepped through the nearest of the three doors in the room. He was greeted by the gaze of the seven other males allowed in his command room. The monitors that filled one wall were all focused on the compound he was now in. Every camera on the west side had been fed through to the screens before them.

No one talked but waited for Sherdan to command them. He looked at the nearest person, Jordan.

“Report!”

“Yes, Sir. We’ve still not found the cause of the alarm Sir,” the young man offered.

“Which one was set off first?”

“The furthest on the west, on Royal Fort Road… Three more alarms have gone off since, coming in this direction.”

“Where are the patrols?”

“They’ve all concentrated on that area of the compound but no luck yet Sir,” his commander offered before Jordan could.

“Thank you. Give me the microphone, let me talk to the men on the ground.” Sherdan moved towards the main desk in the room where all the important controls were. From this console he could communicate with every building that was part of the program as well as control every door and window in the compound.

He soon contacted the chief patrol guard and had all the extra patrol teams move to intercept all routes from the last alarmed zone to the room Sherdan himself was in. The intruder had made an almost direct path from the edge of the compound to the central hub as if they knew where they were going, this worried Sherdan.

“Do any of the non-essential member of the program know that the alarms have been set off?” Sherdan asked the room. Two people shrugged the rest looked at someone else.

“See to it that as few as possible find out,” Sherdan snapped.

Several of the men went scurrying to separate work stations and pressed buttons. Thankfully it was late evening in December and most of the residents would be in the warmth of their homes. Very few would be out to notice the extra patrols near the compound and many would be asleep already.

Sherdan’s impatience grew as the minutes ticked by and no one was found. By the time some unknown person had been eluding his staff for over an hour he was pacing the floor. Everyone stayed out of his way and did their best to coordinate the patrols to follow the zones having their alarm set off. As the time ticked by the intruder came closer and closer.

Jordan cried out as he spotted movement on one of the cameras. A young female, dressed from head to foot in black snuck along the passageway on display, making her way, painstakingly slowly.

“Where is that?” Sherdan demanded.

“Sector C, corridor 3,” the young man grabbed the nearby microphone, “Patrols, target has been sighted, all please converge on sector C, corridor 3. Target is a white female, approximately five and a half feet, small build, appears unarmed, potentially dangerous…”

“Do not harm if possible,” Sherdan interrupted. He didn’t see the looks of shock at this statement which passed over every face in the room. He’d never said that before.

“Understood,” came the voice over the radio.

Everyone stood and watched, tracking their quarry on the cameras and feeding the info to the patrols as necessary. It would not be long before she was hemmed in on all sides. Sherdan smiled.

 

Chapter two will be published in 12 days time on December 18th 2011

Pixar films are normally some of my favourite films. They’re original, funny and out of the box. Lately, however, they’ve been doing a lot more sequels than they used to. Almost playing safe a little.

Obviously Cars 2 is the sequel to Cars. Cars was amazing. One of the better pixar in my opinion. Cars 2, not so much. It really is a sequel just for the sake of it. It will amuse the children regardless but I really didn’t think it was worth the bother.

Mater is the bigger focus in this film. His cute dumbness was still cute but too much with him as the main character. Lightning McQueen was more of a bit part than an actual character and it was even worse for the other residents of Radiator Springs. Michael Cain was the only relief. His normal british voice soothed the annoyance of the rest.

The plot was ok, but nothing special. A lot more predictable than pixar usually is. It just couldn’t hold my attention for very long.

I can’t stress how much I’d really like pixar to go back to more original out of the box ideas. Stop with the playing safe! I want more gambles like Wall-e and Up. More revolutionary technology and ideas like Toy Story was when it first came out and less of the same old characters doing the same old things like Toy story 3 being just like Toy story 2.

Last month I completed NaNoWriMo. Pretty much as planned. I finished a few days early so I did a few minor other things as well towards the end of the month, although I mostly took it easy.

This month I intend to get my two short stories out in an ebook. I’ve decided to get those out together in only ebook form as they are just sitting around collecting dust now they are finished and that’s never good for writing.

I’ve also got my book launch for With Proud Humility, December 17th. I know I’ve plugged this quite a few times but I’m plugging it again. It should be a blast and lots of people have already said they’re coming.

When I’ve finished everything above I’ll get back to editing book 2 and writing book 3 till both of those are done.

I don’t normally write about heavy topics on my blog. I try to keep it light and cheery and fun but occasionally something moves me quite deeply and I feel I have to share it regardless of whether it breaks the norm of my posting cycle.

Today I’d like to express my viewpoint on witchcraft and magic in general. My reasons for this are two-fold. One, to raise awareness of what witchcraft actually is and it’s involvement in trafficking and two, to explain my viewpoint on the subject based on my own personal experiences with magic and the people involved in that world.

I’ll start with it’s involvement in trafficking as that is the least biased of the viewpoint. Trafficking is one of the biggest crimes in the world currently with an estimated 27 million women, children and men in some form of slavery. This slavery can vary from sexual exploitation, to slave labour, to uses in witchcraft.

I’d recommend people watch this video to get an idea of what trafficking is like. – Sold, trafficking part 1

Wondering what this has to do with witchcraft? Well there was a brilliant article written recently by the bbc about trafficking and what often happens to the children taken from Africa. Children are put through rituals by local witch-doctors to frighten and intimidate them into believing that they can’t tell the authorities about what’s going to happen to them or they and their families will die. While it’s debatable whether this is really witchcraft, it’s still being used to control and manipulate.

This still doesn’t explain how it’s a problem in this country so for that I need to refer to another bbc news report which explains how children are brought to the UK to provide the human blood needed for certain witchcraft practices. The reporter visited 10 different witch doctors and spiritual healers in the UK and 2 of them offered him human blood that they already had collected. And Not just a small amount either, it was in a container that looked like it held over a pint of human blood.

The report also states that belief in the UK in spiritual healing and all manner of magical ways to heal people is on the increase. In my experience I’d actually beg to refute this, I think it’s something that’s always been largely in the UK culture, I just think it’s more acceptable to talk about it now.

This brings me to my personal experiences. I can’t actually say everything but I actually know at least two practising druids (as they call themselves), one of which is second in charge of one of the biggest witchcraft cults in the UK. We’re talking thousands and thousands of people across the country. Both of these two people, have on several occasions tried to get me involved, from a very early age I might add.

The things these people do is not something to be taken lightly. There may well be people who dip into it and experiment with the healing parts and the meditation but underneath all that there is a culture, based on fear, manipulation and control that regularly involves rituals and spells that are actually illegal and often very dangerous. You only have to read the few published books by Freemasons that have walked away from the upper circles to get an idea of some of the things they do.

Finally, I’ve actually dabbled in it myself. I took to it naturally, with good skills at predicting the future especially, mostly tarot reading. It’s a much bigger background thing in the UK than most people expect it to be and know about and I’ve never seen any good come from it. I was so badly affected by my few months trial that it took me many years to fully walk away from it.

This is why I don’t like witchcraft, magic or anything to do with it. Trafficking is sick and using magic and the fear of it to control people is wrong on so many levels. Controlling people and sapping money from them because they are being mislead by magic and spirituality is also wrong. Therefore I will not encourage any use of it or anything else that makes it look good when it’s not.

My featured Author for this slot is Allison Bruning,

Tell us about your latest project.

Currently I am working on book one of the Heritage series called Elsa. Elsa takes place in 1904 Marion, Ohio. The series is loosely based on the life of my great-great grandmother. Franklin Thaddaus Raymond plans to marry Elsa Beatrice Russell but must do so before his fiancee arrives back in Ohio. Elsa doesn’t know Franklin has a fiancee. The young couple must overcome several obstacles including family secrets, medical issues and Franklin’s secret life. Will Elsa ever learn the truth? A truth that could tear her young marriage apart or make it stronger.

I have recently published book one from the Children of the Shawnee series called Calico. Calico tales place in pre-revlotuionary war Kentucky and Ohio. Below is a brief description:

“A man whose heart appears pure shall deceive you. The power he holds over you leads you to evil. You shall denounce the ways of Our Grandmother. Another man comes, whose pure heart beats for you alone, and who has a pure spirit devoted to Our Grandmother. He shall defeats the evil and sets you free.”

A prophecy has been cast against her. In a harsh world deep within the western frontier of Ohio and Kentucky, Calico Marie Turner must learn to survive among the Shawnee and the trust the one man who hates her the most, Chief Little Owl Quick as the Wind.

The Children of the Shawnee series traces the lives of twin sisters, Rose and Calico. Books 1, 3, and 5 tell Calico’s story. Books 2,4,and 6 tell Rose’s side of the story. Calico’s portion takes place with the Shawnee Native Americans and traces the struggles they faced. Rose is raised in France as a Madame Royale, the first princess of the dauphin, Louis Ferdinad de France. She is rasied next to Louis Auguste who eventualy marries Marie Antoinette.

You’ve set a lot of your books in Ohio so far but in the past, is that because of family links or do you have other reasons to favour Ohio as your setting?

I have found much of my fodder for books through my family connections in Ohio. I am a direct descendant from one of the first families that settled in Ohio before it was a state. When I was a child, I was fascinated by the family stories my mother and grandparents use to tell me. I began to conduct genealogical research on my mother’s side of the family when I was nine years old. My research has never ended. I continue to discover new and interesting stories about my family. One of the family stories had provided the inspiration for my new series, Heritage.

What’s your favourite genre to write and what’s your favourite genre to read?

I love to write historical fiction, paranormal and women’s fiction. I tend to read adventure, historical fiction, paranoramal. My speciality is in Native American history and culture.

You like reading Woman’s fiction but don’t like writing it, is there a particular reason?

My novels have always had strong female leads. I do place romance scenes in them but try not to stress them. I do this because I want the focus to be on my heroine’s journey. My female leads often struggle with family or personal issues.  I want my readers to see a situation, whether historical or not, through the eyes of a female. Often history is written from a male’s perspective. I strive to challenge my readers to see history through the female’s point of view. “Calico” is a good example of this. Society has always heard about the Shawnee female captives, how they were mistreated and tried to run away. In Calico, I strive to show my readers not all white women were captives. There are historical records of women who, after they were rescued from captivity, ran back to the Shawnee. Why? Because women who had lived with Shawnee had more freedoms than they did living in 18th or 19th century white society. In “Calico”, Calico is refuses to be rescued by Daniel Boone and his colleague. She tells them she is not a captive. Society also forgets not all white women were captives. The daughters of the French fur traders intermarried with the Shawnee all the time.

Would you still write if there was no financial need to, and if not what would you do instead?

Absolutely. Writing is my passion.

Which do you prefer, paper books or ebooks and why?

Paper books. I love to feel a book in my hand.

What are you planning on doing next/What else are you up to?

I plan to keep on writing. My husband and I are buying a Victorian home that was built in 1882. We plan to renovate it and turn it into a Bed and Breakfast. We also want to open up a bookstore/gift shop.

I am also the executive director of the Kentucky Young Writers Connection. I love teaching children and adults how to express themselves within the written word. The publishing world is changing all around us and I think new authors need to know how to navigate in that world.

Is there some advice you’d like to give other new authors about your journey so far?

Never pay to have your work published and never pay for an agent. If you are writing historical ficiton, get out there and dig deep in your research. Try to see life through the eyes of your character. Not all characters are going to see the same event the same way nor are they gong to react the same.

With the first novel of mine finally finished and in print I thought I’d share the timeline of how things went in writing it. This is also my 100th blog and I figured a nice way to mark me actually being relatively successful at blogging.

6th April 2007

A discussion with one of my friends online resulted in me having an idea for a book (while in the shower)

I then wrote the first 600 words or so in a frenzy of writing delight. I hadn’t written in well over a year and it felt very good. I vowed then and there that I would finish the book.

9th April 2007

I uploaded a polished version of the first 600 words or so to the Wiki page for the society of the MMO I’m playing (puzzle pirates, yes I still play). I got 5 people in the society reading it, including the friend that sparked it.

Over the next month I wrote and uploaded 4 more chunks of approx 600 words each.

November 2007

I realised I had totally forgotten about the book again and needed to continue. I wrote another 2k words that month. I also attended a writers meeting and took what I had along. It’s the first time my husband took me wanting to write seriously. It’s was also the first time I really begin to take it seriously.

24th December 2007

I was bored and didn’t know what to do while waiting for Christmas to come so I wrote some more, bringing the total up to approx 7k words. I also told the first few other people that I was considering writing as a career. I’d finally realised I loved writing even if I didn’t understand what that meant.

January 2008

I started to take the book more seriously as a whole and renamed a bunch of characters as well as rewrote some really bad chunks. I also finally plotted out the rest of the book chapter by chapter.

February 2008

I handed my notice in at my job, wanting a less stressful one with less hours so I could spend more time writing.

April 2008-September 2008

I started temping in various locations, writing in between short term temp jobs. By the end of September I had got approx 20k words done and was introducing myself as a writer to people I met. I still attended any of the writers meet ups I can in Bath. I also made my first estimate on the final book count, around 70k words.

October 2008

I finally got a part time job and settled into a writing routine. Writing approximately 2k words per week on a good week and about 500 on a bad. I really wasn’t very disciplined but I was making progress.

January 2009

I had about 35k words and felt like half way there.

At this point I started researching publishing options from the traditional way, to Print on demand, to completely self funding a print run. I decided I didn’t really like any of them that much  which was typical me really. I always want to change a revolutionise things.

I did have a natural leaning towards print on demand though. I didn’t like the gatekeeper mentality of  the traditional route and I couldn’t afford to fund a print run large enough to make it worth doing. Unfortunately I also couldn’t find a Print on demand service that didn’t charge a huge amount for not a lot of actual gain.

29th January 2009

I had my first meeting with a guy called Chris Turner because I’d seen a film trailer idea of his on facebook and offered to help him write the script. I’d only met him once before at a wedding we had both helped at and I’m not entirely sure why I offered to help him, I just couldn’t stop myself.

We then meet up  at least once a week for the next 4 months which seriously cuts into my writing time because I typed up what we hand wrote together.

15th July 2009

I managed to scrape together enough money to stop working completely and live off my very lovely husband for a few months. He was by now very aware I was 100% sure not only do I want to be a writer but I wanted to be a entrepreneur of sorts. I still didn’t get any more writing done on my book, however, as I was too busy trying to raise  money for the new company I’d set up with Chris and get my head around my new role.

September 2009

Somehow my money was still lasting and I still didn’t have to go back to work so I turned my full time attention back to the book I promised myself I would finish 2.5 years earlier. At this point I still didn’t really know what I was doing. I just knew I wanted to be creative and write.

16th October 2009

I filled up my first A4 pad of hand written book (I don’t work well typing straight away) and moved on to my second, feeling very very satisfied with myself. I had about 55k words at this point and realised it was going to be a good bit longer than 70k words, more like 85k in total. I promised myself it would be finished before the end of the year.

31st December 2009 7:45pm

I finished the first draft of the book. It had a temporary title – All’s fair in love and war. I kinda liked it but not enough to keep it. It’s 88k words long. I also only had 15 minutes until the new year’s eve party I was hosting started. Needless to say I hit party mode full swing (I worked on Christmas day to get it finished).

8th January 2010

I emailed it out to three beta readers after having a preliminary edit myself. Over the next 6 months it got edited a total of 4 times and had a lot added and taken out.

July 2010

I finally felt I’d finished enough for my liking. I got back to researching ways to publish. Because I didn’t have the money for any of the other options I knew about I eventually decide on traditional publishing and went through the agonies of writing a synopsis of several different lengths as well as a query letter and email.

August 2010

I’d finally picked some publishers I wanted to apply to and finished fretting about my query letters etc. I applied to one by email only putting in a two sentence synopsis as they asked, nothing else. I got rejected. I found I didn’t actually care that much. I mean I know it’s not nice being rejected and I was angry they didn’t even bother to read a longer synopsis or even look at the book at all but I’m not actually that bothered.

I used the rejection as an excuse to get people to stop nagging me to apply to more publishers until I could figure out what I did really want. I think a lot of friends and family were a little fed up with me at this point. It had been ages since I’d started and I often had people asking leading questions about the book. To be fair I was equally as fed up. I couldn’t find the option I wanted and didn’t think it existed.

30th October 2010

Someone online overheard me telling someone else I was trying to get published and asked why I didn’t try self publishing on kindle as an ebook. I vaguely remembered hearing of the Kindle but I dismissed the idea as not being good enough.

31st October 2010

I couldn’t sleep. What I was told about ebooks kept coming back to me. I googled them and found several blogs and articles by people saying ebooks are revolutionising the way the world reads and even some traditionally published authors are now self publishing to kindle. Mostly Joe Konrath. I hashed this over with several people. Some I knew would say ‘no, go traditional’ others I thought would go for the ebook thing and some I thought wouldn’t give an opinion. Surprisingly all but one said go for it.

1st November-2nd November 2010

I spend two days thinking about and researching nothing else, trying to decide what I wanted to do. I didn’t like what the traditional publishing industry is, never had and really didn’t feel settled or happy applying to them. I also didn’t want to just self publish something that was rubbish and add to the stereotype that self published authors are crap and not worth considering.

Eventually my heart over ruled my head and I went with what I felt most peaceful about. Ebook publishing for the win.

I did know I needed to really make sure my book was up to scratch so I made a short list of people I wanted to help me get the book edited. I couldn’t afford a professional copy edit as at this point I’d been out of work for over 15 months. Fortunately I had a list of 2 other writers, someone that used to edit for a magazine, and a few good friends with a good eye for detail. In some cases I had a volunteer or two ask to help out proof reading and I thought more couldn’t hurt.

I also made a request to an artist I knew for a front cover.

The provisional launch date I had in my head was December 1st although the few people I said this to all laughed at me. They thought it was going to take me until the following year at the earliest.

27th November 2010

All the editing was finished and done and I sat and waited for all the cover art I needed as well as got my book formatted correctly for the kindle.

1st December 2010

I found out my front cover art wasn’t going well. I quickly emailed or facebooked every person I knew who was a graphic artist of any kind and asked them if they had the time and expertise I needed.

3rd December 2010

Keith Mountifield stepped in and we worked until almost midnight together making my ebook cover design.

4th December 2010

I got up early to upload everything and finally hit the publish button. The formatting was awful and needed to be completely re-hauled. I started totally over, stripping the book of all its formatting and reapplying all of it again. By 4pm I’d managed it.

The book was launched as an ebook.

December 2010-February 2011

I marketed the book like crazy. Trying to get reviews from review blogs as well as customer reviews. Lots of people wouldn’t review it because it was either an ebook only or self published. I had to admit I got very annoyed about this but persevered anyway. Cost so far £7.75 (sending printed manuscript to a reviewer, who then never reviewed it).

25th February 2011

I started working with Keith Mountifield on a website to help promote the book and the other stuff I was doing by then. Tony Mountifield kindly agreed to host it for me. (I love my in-laws, they are a very talented bunch of people) Cost so far £19.75 (registering domain name).

28th February 2011

Website was up and running, despite me having no internet for over 24 hours in between starting and finishing.

23rd March 2011

I researched ebook tips on marketing and getting reviews and it brought me back to Joe Konrath’s blog. The days blog was about his print books and how he prints them through a subsidiary company of Amazon.com – CreateSpace. I registered that he printed his books himself but thought nothing more of it, instead I looked for advice on how to maximise ebook sales.

24th March 2011

I couldn’t sleep again. I kept thinking about print books and Createspace. I had to check it out. I suddenly realised, not only are they the perfect Print on Demand company to go alongside my ebook choice but they didn’t charge (you can pay $39 for a higher chunk of royalties if you wish, but don’t have to). They were just what I had been looking for over 2 years ago.

I cried.

I then told a bunch of people. Including Keith Mountifield, who would be my person of choice for making the front cover, spine, and back cover (seriously this guy rocks). We talked about the things I’d need to do a much higher quality cover for a printed book and he gave me a list of things I’d have to get.

25th march 2011

I blogged a giveaway and began trying to get everything I needed. Lots of people helped. I also reformatted the book for print, deciding on a 5.5′ by 8.5′ book with 274 pages.

1st May 2011

I had my first completely independent 5 star review of the book from the Founder of the ePublishing Consortium. I was over the moon with this as it was the first person that didn’t know me in some way who had given me a 5 star. It also got me included on the reviewers Amazon list that was just for the top Indie books in his opinion. I then had many more reviews roll in over the next few weeks.

15th May 2011

The ebook was on promotion for the rest of the month at only 99 cents to help raise awareness. I had more sales during this period than the rest of the year to that date and was only 1 off doubling my total lifetime sales for the book.

June 2011

I decided to keep the price at 99 cents as an ebook as it kept sales at a slightly higher level than at $2.99, also had a few more 5 star reviews roll in.

1st July 2011

Made the print versions cover with my designer, Keith Mountifield. We also set up the publisher Red Feather Writing, it’s website and it’s logo. Cost so far £40.70 (the cover needed me to buy the gloves, rose and old cards)

5th July 2011

I uploaded everything needed to Createspace. Had the files rejected.

7th July 2011

Tried again. Got rejected because of the bleed not being obviously there. I then swapped a few messages with the Createspace support team and with Keith trying to figure out why it wasn’t working.

August 2011

Took a break from trying to figure out the files issues to focus on other stuff and have a holiday.

22nd September 2011

Continued trying Createspace’s review process, encountering many different problems after reformatting and reediting. A lot of it didn’t really make sense. Keith eventually redid the whole cover again in a different program.

14th October 2011

Finally gained approval for my file and ordered my proof. Cost so far £63.28

17th October 2011

My proof arrived. Checked it through and found everything to be in order, I believe I may have cried at this point too. I then approved the book for printing and publishing and ordered the first 50 books, due for delivery mid December. Started planning the book launch party. I also began taking pre-orders. Cost so far £278.64

11th November 2011

The first box of my books arrived and I began signing.

17th December 2011

I know this dates in the future but it’s when I’ve actually scheduled my book launch for. It’s going to be in the Starbucks on Bond Street in bath and anyone is welcome to join from 1pm onwards.

And that’s the whole journey. Well done to anyone who actually read the whole thing and made it all the way to the bottom here.