Tag archives for writing

Fierce Advance Reading Copies (ARC) Available

My fantasy novel Fierce is now available for pre-order and that means that I can make Advance Reading Copies (ARCs) available for those that are willing to read and review it ahead of formal publication in May. Ideally I'd like people who can read and review it before the end of April 2024 so that there are some reviews available during the pre-order period. About Fierce Placeholder book cover for Fierce (image: James Kemp) You can read the first chapter of Fierce elsewhere on this blog, I've updated it to reflect the current edit. Fierce was written very deliberately to the template of the Hero's Journey. So the first chapter is the pre-adventure normal. The enticing incident is in the second chapter and crossing the threshold follows that. Although I wrote twelve chapters, one for each of the stages of…
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exodus

Opening Chapter “Ambush!” – Excerpt from Perfects

'Ambush' is probably the (very short) opening chapter of my novel, which will be edited professionally over the winter. I'm also thinking about re-titling the novel to avoid confusion with the original novella that it was expanded from. Ideas accepted in the comments. Ambush Pandora’s driving scared the hell out of all of us, but the simulator couldn’t lie. She was way safer and faster than any of us, even me. We didn’t buy that though, given how scary she was driving on manual, so I got Han to compare her real driving performance with the simulations. She was slightly slower and safer when we were actually in the car with her, but still faster and safer than any of us could do in the sim. So we reluctantly agreed that she should be the driver. Two Police Cars in Liverpool…
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Onward to 2022!

Me in Glasgow Central for a work trip in November 2021. (Photo: James Kemp) I'm carrying on a theme for my blog, of at least one post reflecting and looking forward every new year, and for once I'm keen that we move onward to 2022 and what it will bring! At the tail end of 2020 I made a few suggestions for 2021 (I didn't go as far as labelling them resolutions, for reasons I explained in last year's post). Always make sure that there is something to look forward to. Keep the scale of ambition realistic (given what I know I can control) Keep up the exercise/activity. Make the most of the situation, whatever it is. Reflections on 2021 Despite everything 2021 has been a good year for my family and me. Looking back through my pictures we've had…
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garden

On Resolutions, 2020 and 2021

For a number of years I've posted new year's resolutions on the Themself, along with reflections on how I've got on with them. I didn't do that last year, even though I was sure that I had.  Making Resolutions There's been a theme to previous resolutions, they've covered reading, writing and being healthier. The theme is about being a better person, although there's a level of subjectivity about what constitutes 'better'. On the whole being happier with who I am is probably the thing I should have 'm not going to make retrospective resolutions for 2020, the whole point of making new year resolutions is setting yourself some aspirations for the future. As I write 2020 is a few days from being history. Thankfully. Reflections on 2020 Global pandemic and massive recession aside, things haven't been all bad about 2020.…
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WW2

Sticky End [Flash Fiction] [WW2 SOE]

Sticky End is my flash fiction for the first round of the NYC Midnight Flash Fiction Challenge this year. The first round was last weekend and the group I'm in were assigned a spy genre story to be set in a prison cell and featuring glue. The story had to be under one thousand words and written within 48 hours. (Last year I wrote Down the Harbour and Burning to Leave for the 2017 flash fiction challenge). I spent a bit of Saturday thinking about it, the hard bit for me was trying to work in the glue naturally and believably. Some help from Google showed me that the WW2 Special Operations Executive (SOE) used to include tubes of bostik adhesive in the containers that they dropped to the Jedburgh teams. The bostik was used to camouflage improved explosive devices…
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