Two fingers typing

HAHAT amongst other things

Sat, 18 May 2013 06:53:27 GMT

Click on the picture to reach the rest of the participants, only please read a bit first. There's another link for your convenience, at the bottom of the post.

I think we'd all agree that one of the basic human requirements for existence is to have a safe, secure and comfortable home. Unfortunately, for many LGBT teens, coming out, being true to themselves, being honest with their families, puts an end to secure comfort and sees them at best couch hopping and, at worst, homeless. So many children suffer the cruellest rejection by the very people upon whom they should be able to rely. My post today is in support of the Albert Kennedy Trust - a British organisation that provides accommodation for LGBT teens who have nowhere else to go. The figures I am going to quote below are about the same as in the UK but come from a US website.

That's pretty disturbing right there. How about this one:

Either way you look at it, to be homeless is a horrible risk for a young person or for a child:

14.4: The average age that lesbian and gay youth in New York become homeless.

13.5: The average age that transgender youth in New York become homeless.

THIRTEEN! And that's just an average

The Albert Kennedy Trust has set up the Give 15 organisation to provide the support a child needs when it is needed. This can be anything from counselling and advice to a room for the night or a room in a safe house as a long term home.

Click the pic to get to the Give 15 page and see all the ways you can help. If you don't want to do that, comment below with your email address. At the end of the blog hop on the 27th I'll pick a name and make a donation on to AKT his or her behalf that will be enough to get a young person off the street for the night.

If you don't live in the UK there will be similar organisations local to you. Check out the excellent Youth Project, if you live in Canada, or how about The Trevor Project? The author Brandon Shire has made a comprehensive list of organisations to support lesbian, gay, transgender and transexual youth which may be found here. Thanks to Brandon for allowing me to post the link. I understand that soon the list will be even more comprehensive. and he is dead keen to hear from people with links to new organisations. One day, I hope, they may be unnecessary, but until then ...

I know that books are the usual prizes so if in addition to the donation on your behalf you would like a copy of Alike As Two Bees [mild M/M romance set in Ancient Greece] or On A Lee Shore [Action adventure with pirates and a little bit of gay romance] please say "Greeks" or "Pirates" and I'll send whichever to the winner as well. Don't forget to add your email address to your comment.

Enjoy your hopping and I hope you are lucky.

Have some music. I'm completely in love with this bloke's hands and forearms and don't understand why he's not more popular.

Gobsmacked!

Wed, 08 May 2013 06:08:38 GMT

Woke up this morning to find a link to a 5 star review for Alike As Two Bees in my inbox!

Look!

They are giving a copy away to a commenter so if you haven't read it, fancy a little gentle romance and have the time, follow the link and pop your name in the box, 'kay?

Black Bean Pooch and other randomness

Tue, 07 May 2013 17:49:29 GMT

Last night, while stirring the wok with more enthusiasm than finesse, I managed to splash the dog with black bean sauce. He quite liked it and spent the evening grooming himself but couldn't do the top of his head. He has quite a faux-hawk today. It really suits him.

Here's Audi cashing in on this summer's block busters - Star Trek and Iron Man.

And here's a picture of the machine gun I was fiddling with at lunchtime to see how easy it would be too shoot out of a car window. It's a Great War Bermann MP18 and how it got in Mr XXXX's garden shed nobody knows, but it was in full working order when it was handed in. It's SO heavy. I can't pick it up with one hand which leads me to believe that I may be distressingly girly.

Busy :)

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 08:23:47 GMT

Shock tactics seem to have worked! Either that or the intermittent sunshine of the past few days is bringing me out of hibernation.

I've been blogging! Oh yes. I joined the A to Z challenge and have been blogging my socks off this week. I've been wittering about primary sources of various sorts, but I'm only up to H so far and I've already wandered off to rant about how the people who insist on only the very finest ingredients too combine in the delicious dishes they casually throw together in their designer kitchens think the farmers who produce those ingredients are a bunch of know nothing hicks who need to get their act together and be efficient. Only since it's me it's less of a rant than a mumble and I'm very aware that a lot of people who love to cook support the producers. Any how, if you're interested in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, Bayeux Tapestry, Colours, Dragons or Edward II the posts are on my other blog, where I try to be all professional, like, and not me.

I'm also doing the Camp Nanowrimo thing where you can nominate your own word count for the month. I chose 25k and am not keeping up but have already written more in 7 days than I have in the whole of Jan Feb and March put together! I'm writing Eleventh Hour again - British secret service ramshackling their way around London in pursuit of an anarchist cell in 1928 - and cracking on with a scene each day. Snippet below the cut.

Briers parked the Austin in a residential street in St John’s Wood and returned to Broadway House by a circuitous route involving the tube and two buses. A word to the reception staff and he was invited to proceed to an office on the third floor where he found Naylor and a jolly rotund Scot who introduced himself as MacGregor.

“It was quite a task,” MacGregor said, “but we think we may have a result.” He fanned a sheaf of photographs across the table. “Your descriptions were good and knowing past aliases was a boon. One of them hasn’t bothered to make himself a new identity, so we have a firm identification in his case, and we’ve narrowed the choices down to a couple of dozen for the others.”

Brien flicked through the blow ups, grey, grainy and still slightly tacky, discarding some and scrutinising the remainder. Eventually he selected two. “This is Nemanja,” he said, “I’d recognise that nose anywhere. Broke it myself. And this is Javor Bela. Both truly nasty pieces of work. I’d guess it’s Bela who’s using an old identity.”

“Travelling as an academic called Bronski.” Naylor tilted his head to study the image. “We had the name on file so picked him up when he got on the boat. Nemanja is travelling as Leontin, a representative for a company making quack medicines. You said there would be three.”

“I’m still looking,” Briers pointed out, scowling as he pored over the photos. “I can’t see Andrija and that’s a bad thing. Give me the other photos. Andrija is a small man but I suppose he could be wearing lifts.” He shuffled them again, tilting them towards the light and peering at the faces. “Too fat, too thin, no, that chin is real, beard – possible.” Briers paused, looking at another photo with a shock of recognition. Not Andrija but just as worrying in a different, more personal kind of way. Max Lorenz looked quite different from how Briers had last seen him but, once noticed, the silver cigarette case open in the long pale hands was a giveaway.

Fanart

Sat, 30 Mar 2013 10:29:13 GMT

We're used to fan fic and visual fan art, then there's filking - something abut which I know very little other than it sounds fun - but I think this bit of Hobbit fan made music is super.

Another excursion by Colonel Proger

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 13:09:18 GMT

Our museum ghost is back, damn his incorporeal eyes. I had a bit of a 'thing' when I locked up last night - I'm not psychic, I'm NOT, I just have an overactive imagination. sudden chills and odd noises and the intense feeling of someone following me up the cellar steps are par for the course when locking up a building with nine hundred and some odd years of mayhem bleeding out of the stones.

Except ... I had an alarm triggered early this morning when a door - that I swear was shut last night - opened. So maybe Colonel Proger, a 17th century gentleman who made his prescence felt in the 1990s, is back or we have a new kid on the block.

*sigh* I don't like having to get up at silly o'clock and yomp around the museum in the dark.

I'm going to cheer myself up with silliness. Click the picture for a feast for the eyes - totally inappropriate bookcovers that have actually been used:

Poorly Wilf

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 18:02:07 GMT

Nobody throws up with the enthusiasm of a dog. :( Yesterday I was worried sick about him - he was so sick and so subdued. "Quiet Wilf" is an oxymoron and yesterday he just lay down looking sad. This morning he seemed much happier and we had a good play in he garden before I went to work but apparently he started being sick again around lunchtime. When I got home from work he didn't even get out of his bed - just gave a tiny wag of the tail then put his head on his paws and went back to sleep.

I know he's probably just eaten something that disagreed with him - dogs are such dreadful dustbins - but it's a bit too like how Sirius was before he died for me to be brave about it. :(

Somehow it's funnier in French

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 22:43:54 GMT

A real WTF moment

Sat, 02 Mar 2013 19:42:48 GMT

Towards the end of last month I decided to give myself a bit of a kick in the pants about continuing with A Fierce Reaping - I've left it so long for one reason and another that the voices in my head are sulking - and chose to do it by getting myself some inspirational works. With one exception they are one penny plus postage books from Amazon market place. Jarman's translation of Y Gododdin [the OMG exception], books on the Dark Ages in the Uk and in Europe, both illustrated by the late great Angus MacBride plus two scholarly works on King Arthur's life and times [as close as I'm going to get to AD 590 for a penny].

At least I assumed they were scholarly and I'm still prepared to give The Age of Arthur by John Morris the benefit of the doubt, but the other one ...

The Holy Kingdom by Adrian Gilbert is published by Bantam books - a subsidiary of Transworld publishers so not a hole in the corner outfit. I was leafing through the photos in the middle and found a painted illustration asserted to be of the burial of King Arthur. You know that feeling you get when someone tries to tell you you're looking at a unicorn but you can see jolly well it's a donkey with a cardboard horn gaffer taped to its head? Well it's worse when you're looking at a painting you know very well, by an artist you admire and the photo is not only wrongly labelled but is completely uncredited.

This is the picture, though in the book it is cropped to the left and has no attribution. It was painted by Ron Embleton - beloved to people of my generation for his illustrations in Look and Learn, the end titles for Captain Scarlet, and his raunchy cartoon strip Wicked Wanda. The painting was published in 1991 in a publication from the National Museum of Wales and shows an upper Paleolithic interment on the Gower coastline, wrongly described as the Red Lady of Paviland [it's a bloke]. At approximately 33,000 years old it is the oldest ritual burial to be found in Western Europe. The body was covered with a thick coating of red ochre, possibly as a deterrent to scavengers.

In the illustration list at the front of the book it claims that all unattributed illustrations belong to the author. Piracy isn't a new thing! Also there are a whole bunch of would be Arthurian scholars now who probably think that Arthur fought the Saxons dressed in a parka and mukluks.

Okay ranty hat off now.

I've been interviewed by Cathy Brockman here and am giving away a copy of Alike As Two Bees to a commenter, because it is Bees birthday today. It is one! *blows tiny party squeaker* Also am very pleased, and relieved, to have had a super review from Josie on Mrs Condit's blog. That really made my Saturday.

Anyone interested in this?

Sun, 24 Feb 2013 22:27:07 GMT

Post on the LGBTTQ Fiction Goodreads group:

Watch out for the deadline for the Polari Prize for first book by an LGBT author resident in the UK. The judges particularly want more books by lesbian authors as it has been harder to get books by women than men, and this drew press and media coverage last year. The prize is £1,000 and one of the judges this year is V.G. Lee. The books can be in various forms, including poetry and fiction, and the winners do get well promoted. Although details aren't online yet, the details from last year will be much the same. There's also an email on this link for Paul Burston, the main organiser and LGBT editor on Time Out, so he can be contacted for more info. Books can be self published or traditionally published.

More information here - http://www.paulburston.com/Site/Blog/Entries/2012/2/12_THE_POLARI_FIRST_BOOK_PRIZE_2012.html

Deep breath poke

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 18:13:40 GMT

I just hit 'send' for new submission.

It's gone. I can't fiddle with it any more. It's too late. The worst that can happen is that I get a "LOL - no" email in a couple of months.

Actually it feels quite good. Now for another project. I think I ought to finish A Fierce Reaping.

LGBTTQ Fiction: Passionate about Plot

Sat, 16 Feb 2013 17:28:08 GMT

Bit of mouthful isn't it, but after a couple of people had said 'look just choose a name, it's the content that will sell the group' I polished up my pin and it landed on that. I just hope that some people will join it.

There are two alternatives Facebook and Goodreads. I'm not sure I have the energy to start a community on LJ as well :(

It's all in the name

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 17:23:58 GMT

So initial reactions to the idea of having a group on Goodreads to promote books according to their actual content rather than the suppositions aroused by the M/M, or F/F, tag seems to be fairly promising.

So I'll start a group, set up some admins, if there are any volunteers, and begin to invite people to it. I just need an idea of what to call it?

charliecochrane suggested "Keep Cool and Carry On Reading", and kirby_crow used the phrase "The Right Reader for the Right Book", which is exactly what the group is designed to do. But do we need something to make it clear that we're specifically addressing the problems of writers of LBGTTQ fiction, across all those fabulous genres?

It's worth reiterating that nobody is slagging off, dissing, disapproving of, sneering at etc authors of erotica or their works. I've tried writing erotica [it was hard :( and it wasn't particularly successful so I probably won't do it again] and I enjoy reading it, though I normally choose less bonkage and more action. I'm hoping that the group will be useful for everyone as a means of getting the right books to the right readers. Authors who normally write 'sweet', for want of a better word, and who try something a bit more robust run the risk of losing fans who have auto-bought. Likewise if an established erotica writer publishes something with little or no sex scenes, they too run the risk of disappointing readers. And we really don't want to do that, do we?

PLEASE let me have some feedback and please tell anyone you think might like to participate. The more the merrier.

Sweet or Spicey

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 11:48:16 GMT

As mentioned briefly yesterday and, very kindly, by alex_beecroft I've been giving a lot of thought to the problems facing authors of books with gay protagonists that don't quite fit the standard M/M = erotica definition.

First of all THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG WITH EROTICA. It has a long and noble tradition, can be very joyful, liberating and great fun to read, and I imagine it's good fun to write if you have the knack for it. Erotic romances can be good fun too and there is certainly a HUGE market for them.

But what about the other genres? I have read plenty of mainstream novels where heterosexual relationships develop and are consummated alongside a complex and satisfying plot, and these books are shelved according to their genre NOT as erotica. Why should a science fiction story, or murder mystery, or spy caper, that might have one or two sex scenes [no more than a similar mainstream novel] be tagged as erotica just because the lovers are the same sex, trans-sexual, or transgender? How can an author flag their work to show that while their books might contain LGBTTQ relationships, relationships that impact on the plot in interesting ways, the sexual content is quite light, scarce, discreet, off page, or not present at all? Do readers need to know that kind of thing before they start reading a book? Would they like to? As readers are you horribly disappointed if a book doesn't have the sexy times you expected from the M/M label? As an author of erotica, do you ever worry about letting your fans down if, just for a change, you decide to write something less explicit than usual? Do you think there should be as much choice, as much range, in books with LGBTTQ characters as you might see on the shelves in Waterstones?

In short - if I - or someone with a rather higher profile - start a group on Goodreads, with another on Facebook where authors can promote books that paddle in the shallow end of the nooky pool, would you be interested in joining, posting etc etc.

Please note - again because it's worth saying more than once - erotica is a fine and lovely category but a 400 page book with one FTB sex scene doesn't really belong in it. I'm just thinking of trying to provide an alternative venue.

Bleah - fed up with winter.

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 00:02:25 GMT

Okay, it can stop now. Bored with damp and cold and dark. I want some sun! Like this:

That's Carriacou in the Leeward Islands, scene of some of the action in On a Lee Shore. I'm jealous of the people I write about.

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day - a day that is uncelebrated in my house apart from in one important respect. Himself grumbles if I don't get him a card and a present so I do. But to celebrate the SPIRIT of the day I joined in with the Love Bites Blog Hop. The brief was to write an alternative post about Valentine's Day in 250 words, so I went right back to basics.

Rome, about 50 AD

Valens winced as the slimy hide wrapped around his loins. It has lost the heat of its recently deceased previous owner but now smelled even worse.

Sextus, a pace or two to his right, gave a disgusted grunt, and Valens bit his lips together to stifle a snigger. Lupercalia was a serious religious ceremony. It was an honour to be chosen to have ones manly parts swathed with newly harvested goat skin, hairy side out, and to run through the streets of Rome whacking women with more strips of skin to increase their fertility.

There was little difference in hairiness between the goatskin and Sextus’s belly. It was a nice belly – rounded with good feeding, but with solid muscle beneath – and Valens wouldn’t have minded getting to know it, and the rest better. Sadly, they were so close in rank that it was better not to ask.

Warm wet touched his face – the traditional anointing with blood on brow and cheeks and breast. After which he and Sextus were supposed to laugh uproariously. A drip tickled its way down his chest, skirting a nipple, then on down. Sextus was watching it as the high priest made the invocation.

“Don’t forget,” Sextus muttered as they prepared to run. ”Lucilla and Proserpina will be at the corner by the temple of Isis. I promised them both a good thwack.”

Valens sighed. Lupercalia – murdered goats, blood, laughter, whipping women . Surely there was an easier way to celebrate spring?

See that was a little bit of M/M without any sex in it! Anyone else interested in making some kind of group on Goodreads or Facebook, or both, to promote books that have adult males in relationships, but that shouldn't really be classed as erotica? I've read plenty of mainstream novels - sci-fi, spies, historicals - that had one or two quite explicit sex scenes between the hero and some token female yet they weren't placed on the naughty shelf. Whaddaya think?

Fan fiction?

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 09:25:52 GMT

From now on, if anyone gives you a hard time for writing fan fiction just point them in the direction of this BBC2 trailer.

I think it's rather gorgeous, especially for the inclusion of 2 same sex couples, but found some of the lines in the poem familiar while not recognising the whole, if you know what I mean. Today I remembered to Google a bit of it and it jolly well should have been familiar. There are bits of Keats, Longfellow, Walter Savage Landor, Shelley Tennyson and Arthur O'Shaughnessy with a couple of filler phrases from the compiler poet Alison Chisolm. Apparently the style of poem, which Chisolm invented, as called a 'cento'.

You live and learn :)

Is it spring yet?

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 15:40:48 GMT

This year has been worse than usual for getting the hibernation blues. Going to and from work in the dark, anti-UV film on the museum windows and low lux levels, huddling by the fire and dozing doesn't give much opportunity for doses of vitamin D and the bottled stuff doesn't really cut the mustard. But January is almost gone and the sun actually came out today so I feel I should stick my head over the parapet and wave a bit, even if it is with a white flag.

What have I been doing? Mostly see above. But I edited a story that I finished in November, pseudo-medieval hokum inspired by the Black Knight sketch in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. To avoid copyright infringement I didn't allow my hero to say either "that's just a flesh wound" or "I've had worse" but it was an effort.

I've been reading - a lot - catching up on books that everyone says are wonderful. I'm about to start Abigail Roux's Cut and Run series which sounds just up my alley and I'm trying couple of other things that might not be from the blurbs but you never know until you try. Reading recommendations - the only thing that would improve Joe Abercrombie's First Law series would be a sympathetic gltb character who doesn't die [though there may be one yet, I'm only part way into Before They Were Hanged]. Another rec - Skybound by Aleks Voinov. I can't think of anything that would improve that.

Anyhow, want a snippet? Anyone? Have a bit of A Taste of Copper anyway:

Olivier woke the fire and set water to heat before going to walk the stallion. Ira was still on edge. He snapped at Olivier when he unsaddled him, and strained away to the end of his rein. Olivier brought the gelding close by and after a few circuits of the camp the big horse calmed enough for Olivier to treat the worst of the bites on his shoulders. When he was done Olivier threw a blanket over him and left both horses nuzzling a pile of beans. It was not his job to groom horses, to fetch and carry foodstuffs, to build fires, but the last of the servants had run off days ago and Olivier was managing as best he could. Hot water he could achieve, and wine, but he had to admit that his cooking left much to be desired.

Laden with a steaming bucket and a jug, he entered the pavilion and looked for his master. Sir Maheris Schade, the best knight Olivier had ever seen, was still armoured but had removed his helmet and pushed back his coif. His short cap of black hair had spiked up with sweat and deep lines bracketed his full lips. He turned a fierce gaze on Olivier and snapped. "You took your time. Come and undo these buckles."

"Sir?" Olivier put his burdens down and hurried to his side. "Did I fasten them too tightly? I'm sorry, sir, I ..."

Maheris grunted and used his right hand to raise his left, ungauntleted now, to show it bright with blood. "A lucky stroke," he said. "Reihershof's point caught a chink in my brassard."

Olivier unarmed him, the stench of iron mingling with old sweat from the arming doublet. He set the pieces of armour aside to clean later and eased the arming doublet off over Maheris head. The left arm of it weighed heavy with blood and the shirt beneath was sodden.

"That will do," Maheris said once he was bare to the waist. He sank into the chair Olivier brought for him and set his left elbow on the table. His heavy shoulders and chest gleamed with sweat, goosefleshing in the chill air, but he waved Olivier away when he brought him a towel. "Time for that when the wound is sealed," he said. "You know what to do."

The wound in his bicep gaped like a hot wet mouth.

"Is it clean?" Maheris demanded. "Get on with it, boy."

Olivier knelt at his master's side, and used a little of the hot water and a clean rag to clean around the gash. More blood ran as he pinched the flesh to search the wound, but it had to be done. There—almost invisible against the flesh—a shred of thread from the torn shirt. Olivier took a silver needle and silk thread, seared one in flame and soaked the other in spirit. He used the needle to tease out the shred of fabric then closed the wound with three even stitches.

Maheris breathed deeply through his nose, his right hand clenching on the arm of his chair until Olivier was sure the wood would crack, but he made no sound, not even at the bite of the needle. Olivier pushed his hair back from his cheek with his wrist, grimacing at the scent of blood. He could even taste it in the air, sharp as sucking a copper penny, mingling with the far more pleasant smell of Sir Maheris's sweat.

Well, here it is ...

Sat, 22 Dec 2012 09:18:14 GMT

Merry Christmas, I mean. Way past time for an update.

Xmas started officially last night with our annual trip across the road to a friend's house for "Cocktails and Carols". The cocktails are a devilish concoction of brandy, cointreau, and angostura bitters poured over a sugar cube then topped up with champagne until it runs out then anything fizzy that comes to hand. I avoided them so by 8.30 was the only sober one in the house. Honestly, guys, you haven't lived until you've been crammed into a tiny room with 20 other people, a piano, a dog, a professional Elvis impersonator and someone playing a euphonium all happily belting out Bohemian Rhapsody. Oh and the Welsh can BELT, and they have an elastic interpretation of what is meant by 'carol'. The hostess can't sing AT ALL but can hit notes a bat would envy at a volume way past eleven - her party piece is to sing the full version of the Phantom of the Opera including all the squeaky bits. My party piece is to sing whatever was written before 1700 that the pianist is still sober enough to play and, immediately after, a duet of Are You lonesome Tonight with Elvis [a phrase I never thought I'd have occasion to type].
We headed home at 1.30, my husband heading off into the rainy dark and leaving me to accompany my daughter whose "high heels were giving her trouble", yeah right. But he might as well have waited because we found him leaning on the gate swearing miserably at it, having been completely baffled by th latch. I'm not sure when I'll see him today but I doubt that it will be early and I very much doubt that he'll be happy.
I have the house to myself so am cwtching Wilfred - he smells like doritos - and feeling apologetic that I haven't posted in LJ for so long.

So what's happened?

Yesterday Charlie Cochrane took over my other blog to talk about uniforms and celebrate the release of The Angel In the Window, from MLR Press. I have my copy - have you got yours?

I've been following and commenting to the posts on Speak Its Name where there is fun, frivolity, fiction and fabulous freebies plus a quiz to send in on Christmas Eve.

At work we are running out of buckets as yet again the castle reminds us how horrendous they must have been to live in during the medieval period. OMG it's wet! And when you have collections of artefacts that need to be kept in strictly controlled conditions that is a cause for worry. If it keeps raining I'm going to have to go in and empty the buckets and check for new drips.

On A Lee Shore come out on schedule and a couple of people have said they liked it. One person emailed me with a complaint about being kept up until gone 2 because he wanted to know what would happen next and I didn't know whether to feel guilty or be terribly proud. A little of both I think. Because there have been some issues with the blurb, which I have partially addressed on amazon but can't do anything about elsewhere, I haven't gone overboard with the plugging but I have some blog posts with Sue Roebuck, Kiran Hunter, Tristram Laroche, and Cat Cavendish where I whitter on a bit about pirates and offer a copy of the book to a commenter. I'll choose the winners tomorrow so there's still time to comment. Or, if you're pushed for time, comment here instead. :) Hell it's Christmas. I shouldn't even be posting on LJ - floors to scrub, clutter to - um - declutter.

But FIRST I must walk the dog. He has brought me his lead and is looking hopeful.

Merry Christmas, my darlings, may your spirits be light, your puddings tasty and you 2013 everything you could wish it to be.

Free fiction

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 15:05:39 GMT

And a giveaway!

Today is my day for the Speak Its Name Advent Calendar event. If you haven't been following this, why not? there are prizes! also interesting articles and anecdotes and bits of free fiction.

My offering is called "Frost on the Thorn" and if you comment to it I'll put your name on a bit of paper in a hat and you might win a copy of "On A Lee Shore" which comes out tomorrow!! Yay, pirates!

Also there are quiz questions to save up and send to erastes for a chance to win another prize.

So sleepy!

Tue, 04 Dec 2012 20:25:14 GMT

Finished my copy edits for On a Lee Shore around one o'clock this morning - bleah - BUT that means that it's probably going to be published on 14th December.

You know what this means, don't you?

*sigh* Promotion.

I promise not to bang on about it too much.

Next Big Thing meme - again

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 07:45:50 GMT

This time I have been tagged by Theo Fenraven - thanks pal - and this time I'm going to write about the story I have been using for Six Sentence Sunday.

The Next Big Thing

What is the title of the book you’re currently working on?
"A Fierce Reaping"

Where did the idea come from for the book?

The idea came to me - oh lor' -- more than 25 years ago when I first read Y Gododdin - an account of a Welsh warband from the Old North [southern Scotland was a Welsh kingdom then] who went south to confront an aggressive Anglo-Saxon warlord. It didn't go at all well. The 300 cavalrymen, a substantial army in those days, were met and stopped by a much larger force and besieged. Legend has it that only 3 men escaped but - I dunno, in the confusion... Also - 300? Haven't we seen that before somewhere?

What genre does your book fall under?

Action Adventure with a little bit of same sex romance to up the odds.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

My characters look like themselves! Yeah I know - that's no fun. So I've done some googling and Dennis Storhoi will do very nicely for Cynfal, my POV character.

I couldn't find anyone who looked like Gwion - maybe Robert Sheehan in Season of the Witch, though he looks uncomfortably young, or maybe this one except he'd need to be a bit more gaunt and have a full beard and moustache. Not much idea who he is so don't go assuming things if you've seen him in something that I haven't.

What is a one-sentence synopsis of the book?

300 rode south, 3 came back - or so the story goes. Um - maybe that's more of a tag line? How about - griefstricken and down on his luck, Cynfal joins the warband of the Gododdin - 300 of the bravest and best warriors from all the kingdoms of the Cymru - not much caring what happens to him but when the year ends and they face incredible odds far from home Cynfal discovers that life is most worth living just when it looks like you might lose it. Angst all the way baby! when I'm not writing slapstick, anyway.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I'll need to finish it first. But I won't be self pubbing. I don't have the capital to do it properly and certainly don't have the smarts to market it. I don't have an agent - they are scarce as hen's teeth - and if I can't find a publisher .... well, we'll see. I might post it as a serial.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

I wrote the first 52K last November during Nanowrimo and hoped to finish it this year. Sadly a combination of work and changes at home have meant Nanowrimo couldn't happen. Fingers crossed I get time to work on it this winter.

What other books would you compare this story to in your genre?

Frank Miller's 300 - only with no drawings, warmer clothes, more banter and no rhinocerosses. Rhinoceri? Screw it, no Gerard Butler.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

The poet Aneurin, whom I have cast as an antagonist just because I can :)

What else about your book might pique the readers’s interest?

British heritage and stuff. Horses, armour and swords. Hare stew and mead. Archery. A creative approach to the geography of Yorkshire. An even more creative interpretation of ancient secondary sources. Also the homoeroticism is slightly more overt than 300.

Since I was supposed to tag someone I asked around a bit and Rhonda Laurel volunteered! Anyone else who'd like a go, feel free.

Hey guys!

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 23:17:09 GMT

I've got a piratey book cover!!

Don't know when the book will be available but I think the cover is rather nice. :)

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 18:10:26 GMT

Rhonda Laurel tagged me for a WIP blog hop so here goes:

The game is to find the word “look” in your current work in progress, and post an excerpt from that section of the manuscript. I had a bit of a look and I think the most fun is a bit from On A Lee Shore:

"If the shoes hurt why are you wearing them?" Kit asked, moderating his pace. "They make you walk like an old Duchess with corns."

Tristan snorted. "Fashion, dear boy. If one wants to do well at work it's best to look as though one has no financial worries. As long as they all think I'm being very good at what I do on a whim they'll keep promoting me to try to pique my interest."

"Bloody silly reason for promotion," Kit growled and Tristan gave his arm an affectionate squeeze.

"Maybe you should try it?" he suggested. "You look like a Quaker. That's not going to give them any faith in your fighting spirit, now, is it?"

Kit glanced at Tristan's tightly curled wig, his exquisitely fitted coat, the riot of embroidery on his waistcoat, those ridiculous shoes whose heels brought Tristan up to equal Kit's height. Kit own attire, mostly shades of sensible hard wearing brown including his own naturally curly hair, did seem penny-pinched in comparison.

~

I'm supposed to tag people sooooooo - hmmm - look if you fancy a go, do it and comment here then I can link to you from this post. :)

PS I've had a look at the draft cover for OALS - it's pretty. There are boats and nobody has got their kit off! :)

Inspiration

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 13:41:14 GMT

Last week I saw a picture that I enjoyed so much I had to draw my own. I don't often get the urge to draw these days. It's so much easier to describe with words than fiddle around with pencils. But yesterday I bashed out a sketch at lunch time.

Here is the inspiration - "Pan with Bats" by Allen Todd Yeager - an image of such joy and innocence that it made me choke up a bit. [It's safe to click - the link takes you to the artist's own website. Just be prepared for some NSFW images if you have a browse there].

And here's mine - <lj-cut>

"Faun, unaware of how cold the water is."

Oh that was such fun to draw. I'll tart it up a bit next week.

Just to celebrate it being Friday!

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 09:01:35 GMT