My writing style has always been chaotic. I don't write linearly, I don't plan, I don't even have a central theme in mind. I just write. Usually it's a handful of random scenes that may not even be the start and/or finish. These give me the bare bones of the story, which I then flesh out, which may involve swapping scenes around.
Bearing this in mind, a mystery running on a countdown to a fixed event may not be the best thing to attempt. However, my muse is as chaotic and capricious as my writing style. Back when I was trying to write some holiday themed stories while battling my own resistance to the concept of Christmas in Spaaaaaaace!, I switched to the idea of using astronomical events since so many were the basis for our pagan holidays that were later adopted by religion. Solstice on Vintro was meant to be a scifi romance...but it didn't work out that way. While it does have a love story at its heart, it's not what I would classify as a true romance. Instead, it became a mystery. Which was fine, except my writing method doesn't work particularly well when trying to build clues and deaths to a set finale. I'm not sure I could have made it much harder on myself!
So perhaps it's not surprising that completing the story has taken a mind-boggling seven years for a 30K novella. Yes, you read that right. SEVEN. YEARS. I have an email discussion with the cover artist dated 7th December 2013. That's what happens if you don't plan and don't write linearly and decide to write a damn mystery!
But if the pandemic had a bright side, finally completing this marathon of a story was part of it. After copious rereads with lists of what happens where and to who or what, it finally runs in a smooth chronological order.
But I'm never doing this again!
Vintro. The planet that had stolen all her dreams.
Melandria Solei has always dreamed of commanding a starship and exploring the universe. When her own dark-eyed older lover steals the position she's worked for, she never expects to go chasing after him in a stolen ship to a world colder than revenge...
Writing Update
The next side story in the Redemption series is due to release on the 20th of March this year, and the main book three is scheduled for edits in June. Eep! I still have a lot of unfinished pieces lying around that I'd like to get done, but although I'm currently off work again due to the pandemic, I am supposed to be working from home. So that's going to take priority...
Chook Update
While us humans are in lockdown, so are my girls due to avian influenza. So even though I'm home, the girls are confined to barracks. However, I am due to be having three new girls delivered in March/April - more bantams but this time a special breed that will lay eggs through the winter (unlike my current madams other than Pixie with her beautiful pale blue eggs), so I'm looking forward to that. Frankly, there's not much else to get excited about right now. Sigh.
A Happy New Year to you! Not that it, apparently, has gotten off to that good a start. I must admit that on the 1st of January, I didn't foresee much to celebrate. After all, we'd just gone into yet another lockdown here in the UK and amidst a mass of uncertainty over a return to school (and so to work for me), which turned into last minute closure. Welcome to 2021 on Plague Island!
And it's not just lockdown for us humans. We're also in the midst of an avian flu epidemic which has seen my poor girls lockdown and me scurrying to bring in bio-security for them too, with a wild bird proof run, no free-ranging, and a disinfectant footbath at their door. All in all, not the most fortuitous start to the new year. But 2020 did have some compensations...
Writing Update
2020 was many bad things for lots of people. But if it had a silver lining for me, it was managing to finish off and edit two novellas, one that released on the 21st December (Solstice on Vintro), the other due for release on the 20th March this year (Lost Serenity), thanks to the discovery that my muse is very much powered by a high level of boredom - the result of six months off work due to the pandemic. I also sent a short story to my editor, but that turned out rather problematic and is still sitting in my to be done pile, so no release date on that. I also committed to edits on book three of my main series in June...
Chook Update
Sadly, 2020 was not kind to my feathered friends. I rehomed two of my squawkier girls due to husband's anxiety. He felt much better but for quite some time it took the heart out of me and my interest in chooks. Then we lost our old matriarch Scoop - the last of our original three and forever the boss - to what I can only assume was old age. She was a majestic eight and a half years old.
Then just before Christmas, I lost one of my three little madams - Nova. This was my first time losing a girl I had hatched myself, and at just a year and a half old and in good health (as far as I could tell). I was heartbroken. Especially as avian flu had just been called as a major incident and I'd just taken all my bio-security measures (for the first time in my nine years as a chicken keeper). Of course, I was worried she would be the first of them all, though I checked her over very carefully for any signs of the disease, and she'd shown no signs at all of being poorly. But three weeks on and the rest of my girls seem happy and healthy - after a struggle to get weight back on them after their moult, they are now quite rounded (but not fat!) and mystery girl Pixie is even laying her lovely pale blue eggs again. All seems well with my feathered fiends...
Despite government restrictions, Christmas didn't change for us - just the immediate family at home. And of course, there were geeky presents.
While my fellow crew members are taking much deserved seasonal shore leave, I have one last Christmas treat for you. Today sees the release of my scifi mystery Solstice on Vintro - the story that took me a stonking seven years to finish. And it's not even that long a story! But it's finally done and releases today in time for the winter solstice around which it's set.
A Science Fiction Mystery novella.
Vintro. The planet that had stolen all her dreams.
Melandria Solei has always dreamed of commanding a starship and exploring the universe. When her own dark-eyed older lover steals the position she's worked for, she never expects to go chasing after him in a stolen ship to a world colder than revenge...
Just click the cover to be taken to the buy links (y'know, if you feel like it). And while on the subject of new releases long overdue, there's also the next Keir and Quin book up for pre-order too! Due for release on the 20th March (spring equinox in the UK), when it might not be quite so chilly. I'm hoping that this little novella in the series will keep you busy while I work on the full length book three in the hope of releasing that before the end of next year. No promises, though. I don't exactly have a good track record, now do I?
A Science Fiction Adventure novella
and a side story in the Redemption series.
How can one moment of anger destroy so much happiness?
It is a question that will haunt him. When an old enemy comes to Kasha-Asor to kidnap their daughter, armed with a weapon that could end everything, Keir is forced to leave an injured Quin on Lyagnius. But his quest for a cure and their missing daughter will come at a terrible cost.
Book #2.5 of the Redemption series. Trigger warning: the loss of a child.
***
I will leave you with a seasonal picture of my Star Wars Christmas tree. Happy holidays!
Once upon a time...I wrote a story. It came from a dream and I scribbled it down the next day, then it sat in a folder for years, forgotten. Scroll on a decade and my third child had reached the stage where he was old enough to play outside with his siblings. I sat at my computer, bored, possibly depressed, and wondered what to do with myself. That forgotten short story called to me. I put on some music, and a few weeks later that short had become...somewhat longer. In 2012, it became my debut published novel.
original cover
current cover
Book two had some serious issues. I learned a helluva lot going through edits with book one and knew the sequel wouldn't pass. At the time its working title was Lost Serenity, but after a major rework 'Serenity' was no longer lost and I couldn't just call it Serenity. Instead, I completely binned the title and book two became Keir's Fall.
Book three had similar issues, with a completely unrealistic plot line that needed ripping out and reworking. In 2017 I sent it to my editor for assessment. She liked it, but not the fact that it was set a decade after book two. After repeated comments on where this missing book was between two and three prompted me to dig out an old collection of notes basically covering that missing decade - never intended as more than a guide book for me about that missing time. Not for the first time, the random collection of information for my eyes only was going to go public, and with a curiously familiar title...
How could a moment's anger destroy so much happiness?
It is a question that will haunt him. When an old enemy comes to Kasha-Asor to kidnap their daughter, armed with a weapon that could end everything, Keir is forced to leave an injured Quin on Lyagnius. But his quest for a cure and their missing daughter will come at a terrible cost.
You can find the details up at Goodreads. I don't yet have a release date as I have two more pieces set for edits next month, one of which is a winter solstice story that I'd like to release in time to coincide with the time it's set. so I'll have to let you know. In the meantime, I'm happy to have been able to give a discarded title a second shot at its own bit of limelight.
Writing Update
Lost Serenity is currently with me for one last round of edits (hopefully). An angel short and a scifi mystery novella will be off to my amazing editor and cover designer Dani next month (Hades knows how she's put up with me all these years now). These three pieces will be all my releases for 2020/21, so don't go holding your breath for Redemption book three until 2022...
Kitty Update
My girls are both indoor cats - for their own safety, and that of the already under pressure wildlife - but during the pandemic I managed to put together a cattio for them to give them some outdoor space, to which they have free access via a cat flap. They are loving it!
Chook Update
Sadly I had to take two of my girls to live with a friend yesterday. Unfortunately their squawkiness was aggravating my SO's anxiety (in overdrive now thanks to the pandemic), and one had decided she liked to crow of a morning, something I'm not willing to subject my near neighbours to. I know they'll love the extra freedom my friend's chooks enjoy even though I will miss them deeply. In the meantime, my remaining seven girls are a lot quieter with my two top hens out the way, and hopefully it will give the more timid ones a bit more freedom to find the best tidbits without getting ambushed and robbed. Got to find the silver lining somewhere...
On a more personal note, my eldest has just turned eighteen and is off to university in less than a month. I'm so proud, and so terrified! But I know she'll work hard to achieve her dreams, and I'm not going to get in her way.
Her 'The Babe with the Power' unicorn birthday cake
I've always talked a lot about how much music inspires me, and in fact how I couldn't live without it. I miss a day with no music. In the past three years I've been privileged to go to several concerts featuring my two most favourite bands - The Rasmus, who inspired so much of the tone and feel in my Keir series and got me writing again, and Starset who have now become my favourite band to write to, and who I never expected to ever see in concert in the UK. I've now seen them FOUR times, twice as support and twice in their own right on tour. I saw them in February as headline, and each time I think I've already seen them at their best, they just set the bar higher again, with a super appropriate change of image and a set of songs that fit with our current pandemic.
While The Rasmus still take full credit for inspiring Keir, Starset have definitely taken the top spot as my SFR muse. Why? Not just because I love their music and lyrics, but because to me they encapsulate what SFR is, or at least the kind I like to write. Star-crossed lovers, separated by space and time, galaxies colliding, telepathy, enslavement, end of the world stuff. And it's not just music. No, these guys have a novel and a graphic novel out too. They are all about the science, and the fate of humanity, travel to other worlds, and messages from the future. It's not just what they do, it's what they are. Wrap all that up in a song and a video, and I'm a happy space bunny. Just as an example, the video below has always reminded me of The Martian (or rather The Martian reminds me of this, since I saw the music video first).
Or if that doesn't light your fire, you could try Breaking Benjamin's Ashes of Eden (undertones of Passengers), Linkin Park's In The End (for a touch of apocalyptic), or The Rasmus with Justify (a very Keir song, lol).
Writing Update
So, since editing and publishing my Christmas story last year, I've been working on Redemption 2.5, the story my editor felt was missing before book three of the series. I'd always had a vague idea for it in my head, but it wasn't until the release of Starset's Vessels album helped me fix some frankly terrible elements in book three and turn it into something that might actually work that I felt I could do something with it. Despite slowly recovering from burn out and wanting to write again, working full time didn't leave me much...well...time! However, by the start of this year I felt I might be approaching a point with it where I was thinking about booking actual edits for it. Well, more the point of 'omg, this story sucks!!' But as things happen, my beloved editor posted a discount for edits booked and I took it as a sign. Redemption 2.5 was booked for a slot in June. I've now completed the first round, and while I was waiting for those I've finally finished a solstice scifi novella, tidied up an angel short story, and re-opened book 3. Seems I'm an all or nothing kind of person...
In the past few years, I have really struggled to read. Up until my 30s, I was a voracious reader - as a kid, I would read pretty much anything and everything, even my mum's Mills and Boon or my dad's Ian Fleming and Alexander Kent books, when everything of my own had run out. It was in my teens that my preferences fell into the scifi and fantasy genres predominantly, and later a definite leaning to SFR (though at the time I didn't even know it was called that).
In my 30s parenthood made it difficult to find time to read. I'm not a person who likes to be pulled out of a book once I'm in - I'm more a 'devour in one sitting' than a 'chapter a day' kind of reader - so having children meant I'd rarely get through a story. I'm not sure if it was the constant disturbances that broke my ability to stick with a book, or just that real life was a lot more demanding. Whatever, as the years went by, even when I got time to devote to a book I found it increasingly hard to settle to one. Publishing didn't help because it meant I started to analyse even old favourites with a much more critical eye, unable to switch off editing mode even when not in the middle of edits of my own. I became increasingly picky, only liking a very specific area of SFR. Finding new ones became harder as authors either ignorantly or wilfully mis-classified their books' genre on Amazon, and Amazon's own insistence on stuffing sponsored posts into searches, making it too hard a slog. When I did have a hankering to read, I went back to old favourites rather than risk anything new despite the dozens of free reads sitting untouched on my Kindle.
So reading a brand new book is a rare occurrence. But this book I've chosen to review today is different. In the normal scheme of things, I probably wouldn't have picked it up myself. I'm not really into Earth setting conspiracy theories, and the cover wouldn't have caught my eye. It was bought for me as a Christmas present.
SETI radio astronomer Dr. Stephen Browning wakes disoriented and confused in a dingy gas station bathroom. He stumbles home trying to put the pieces of his night back together, only to learn that new tenants have been living in his apartment for over a month. They can offer no explanation, only a letter, written in his own handwriting with three simple words: Shave your head. Desperate to understand what is happening, Browning follows the instructions and is shocked to discover a string of numbers concealed beneath his hair--a series of coordinates tattooed upon the side of his head--coordinates which lead him to the Allen Telescope Array, where he becomes the unwitting recipient of a mysterious signal originating six light years away. His world slowly unraveling, Browning sets out on an epic journey to decipher the meaning of the cryptic transmission, quickly finding that he is merely a helpless pawn in a much bigger game. He soon learns that the secret transmission holds not only a message from the far reaches of the galaxy but a dire warning from the future. Little does Browning know that unless he can protect the transmission from falling into the wrong hands, not only will the warning come to pass but a far greater threat awaits mankind.
Review:
I'm going to straight up admit to some instant bias here, because this isn't just a book. This is the origin story for my favourite band, and as such that made it really difficult to review as a normal book. If I was reviewing it as an actual stand-alone story, I'd say this was in need of an edit to tighten it up, or at least a proof-reader to fix the most obvious errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation, and formatting. The story can feel somewhat disjointed as it's presented as a collection of an individual's account mostly but interspersed with journals, security reports, observed data, and intelligence files. It also has a rather jarring switch of perspectives right at the end as it changes from the main character we've followed throughout to a secondary character. As conspiracy theory stories go, this still manages to spring a few surprises and twists, while running along believable lines of a huge cover-up. It follows the creation of the Starset Society (the 'authors' of the book), who have now turned to music to spread the message at the heart of the story - a transmission from the future warning of a disaster ahead for humanity. If you're familiar with the band's songs, it ties in quite seamlessly with their concerts, or demonstrations as they prefer to call them. Warning - if you're off to a demonstration and haven't read the book, please be aware there are spoilers during their performances, something I sadly wasn't expecting before seeing them live in February. That's what I get for not reading it when I got it, lol. It's another nice touch though, which adds to the book and the music.
Although the style of writing is a little dry and a touch emotionless (one reason I switched from straight SF to SFR which tends to have more emotional impact for me), there's a lyrical edge to it. One minute the author has written a somewhat sexist description of the female lead, the next he's describing a kiss like he's writing the lyrics to one of their songs. And despite this not being my typical type of book. I got really attached to the main character and his computer hacker female partner. The twist at the end was shocker and I think was a bit like getting to the end of a book and being told it was all a dream (but not exactly that because I'm trying to keep this spoiler free).
In conclusions:
Normally I wouldn't have even picked this type of book up, but despite the need for at least proof-reading and not being my typical thing, it definitely had something because I'm still thinking about this book and the characters weeks after finishing it. I'd love a sequel but I guess really that's their music. Overall, I enjoyed this book and happy I stuck with it because really I needed something different and this was certainly that. Would I recommend it? Yes, I think I would, but if you aren't a fan of their music it may lose some of its meaning taken just as a book alone. And that at least gives it a unique feature.
These trials make us who we are, who we are, we are We're motivated by the scars that we're made of These trials make us who we are, who we are, we are We take our places in the dark And turn our hearts to the stars...
Book Update
I am currently procrastinating over the first round of edits returned to me but will have them sent back soon. *looks shifty* Meanwhile I'm debating if I want to spend money on editing for two further stand-alone pieces, a scifi novella and an angel themed short. Do or do not...
This weekend I had the very great pleasure and satisfaction of doing something I haven't done in a long time. I. Finished. Something. Only a 25K novella that I'd been sitting on for far too long, but I metaphorically wrote The End. *Sigh*
Why metaphorically? Well, I have never actually written (or typed) 'The End' on anything. Not once. Nope, never. I don't know if that makes me odd. But for me, the end is never THE END. In terms of the book itself, there are still weeks or months of editing ahead. Cover art to be discussed and chosen. In some cases blurbs and/or taglines agonised over, and always the credits. Then uploading to all the platforms. I no longer spend time or money on marketing because it never paid me back (and frankly now I'm working full-time I'd rather spend my spare minutes writing) so after release the whole production line has sort of ended. But there's always the next book to work on...
But in terms of the story itself - well, endings are definitely a big weakness of mine. After completing my 21st work, you'd think I'd have learned something about them. It'll definitely be...interesting...to see what my editor has to say about my latest. In my mind, every story is really a never-ending story (where sometimes even death isn't the end). Reunion at Kasha-Asor, a side story in my main series, is an example of that. It follows on directly from the end of book one. It started out as just a tough sketch of how my two main characters lived for the year between books one and two, but once it reached a certain point it seemed too much a waste to leave as just notes.
My current title was born in a similar way. There's an even bigger time gap between books two and three so again this novella started out as a 'but what happened next?' background. But when my editor did a story analysis on book three, she wasn't happy. She wanted that missing book.
So now it finally is one.
Book Update
Redemption 2.5 is now officially with my editor!
Chook Update
Sadly I lost my newest girl - Wanda - just over two weeks ago. I have no idea why. She'd been a bit quiet the day before but I'd checked her over and not found anything obvious. She ate, she drank, even laid an egg, but went to bed early. The next morning I found she'd passed away in the night. It's always heartbreaking to lose one of my girls, added to the shock of it being so sudden, but unfortunately they do hide symptoms and if I hadn't have been in lockdown I might not even have noticed her being quiet. I look at sudden deaths as at least they didn't suffer long, and it was unlikely that anything could have been done for her in this instance.
However, on a brighter note one of my more elderly girls, having been poorly for a few days without any specific signs, perked up after some tlc and time in the Henfirmary. Kairu is a grand old girl of seven and a fox attack survivor, who was still laying up until her mystery illness.
Kairu on the left. Centre - Pixie, with Sprite behind her. Right back is Saffie, front centre is Nova, and nearest is poor Wanda.
And the rest of the girls are doing fine, but thoroughly spoilt having been allowed to free-range almost nonstop for over two months with us home. There's going to be a lot of squawking when that ends...
Kitten Update
Not quite true. As of yesterday our kittens are now officially adults (though I think they missed the memo).
Ember
Astrid
The Here and Now
Today I'm attending an online meeting to discuss going back to work. Support staff have been asked to do one day a week. Frankly I'm scared. I've never been a conspiracy theorist, but right now I really do feel like my government wants to kill me and mine, or at the very least doesn't care if we die. I will go back if told to, taking every precaution, but I will not be sending my own kids to school. I'm lucky. I have choices. So many don't.
Last night my daughter was very distressed by the happenings in the US - I am too, but I'm already so angry and upset by events here that it seems too much to take it all in without feeling completely helpless and overwhelmed. She doesn't understand how anyone can be racist, see any other human as lesser than another (a feeling we currently share as our government treats the public here with contempt), but more how even someone racist could deliberately kill, or at the very least have no respect or regard for the life of another person. To not care that your actions are harming another person. There's a protest being held next weekend in our home town for BLM and we're torn on attending. But with COVID-19 still a high risk no matter how our government tries to gaslight us, I just can't justify going. My husband has health issues and my youngest has asthma. My government won't protect them so I have to do my best to do so. My heart hurts for the world. How do we come back from this? Do we even deserve to? I don't know. All I can do is the little things and hope that eventually all the little things we all do will add up to fix the bigger things.
May the odds be ever in your favour...
Hello! Long time, no see - sorry. It's been a mad, mad world in reality and I've had neither time nor, if I'm honest, inclination to blog as I didn't feel I had anything exciting or new to talk about. But this weekend I had a thorough geek out at NorCon and wanted to share the photos and videos I took over this two day TV and Film convention in the heart of beautiful Norfolk. Despite everything (including a truly series of unfortunate events on Thursday that left my eldest's Scarlet Witch cosplay sadly unfinished), this year I managed to wear my first new outfit since we started taking this whole cosplaying at cons as a regular pastime. Since I don't really look like anyone in fiction, at least no one I'm interested in or find possible to cosplay, I tend to go for outfits I personally like the look of in my top fandoms. After two years in my black Anakin, this year I went for my own twist on Han Solo's Bespin costume from The Empire Strikes Back. I did play with the idea of doing a Han/Leia crossover but wussed out on attempting the hair. I'd treated myself to Star Wars Costumes - The Original Trilogy so I could get some really detailed information and images of the costume before doing my own take on it. Did you know that Han's jacket is actually grey and only appears navy blue in the film?
Ironically, the jacket I have here was a cheap charity shop buy that was originally grey and that I dyed to navy blue. The top is a long sleeved white t-shirt - I did intend to make my shirt, then bought a cheap white collared shirt, but settled for the tee in the end because it was more comfortable. Cosplaying can be a truly uncomfortable experience so easy options are good! The leggings are also cheap bought ones - I did try making some leggings for my youngest's cosplay, but honestly the fabric costs more than just buying basic ones. At first I went for painting on the yellow bars down the side, but this ended up going disastrously wrong. Iron on vinyl turned out to be a time consuming but infinitely more satisfactory option (they took five hours including cutting out the bars and ironing the little buggers on. Thank goodness I only had to do as far as the knees!).
The belt is from Jedi Robe - I absolutely cannot fault this company for their Star Wars accessories and attention to detail, especially since I have yet to learn any leatherwork skills myself. My Anakin belt came from them as well, and they are beautiful, quality items that won't let you down. The boots were a birthday present from hubs. Sadly my wide calves make buying riding or full length boots a challenge and these weren't cheap, but will hopefully last me for years. My gun is the Han Solo The Force Awakens NERF blaster painted up - this just about fits in the belt holster but you can't do the safety strap up over it (you have to go through the trigger bit) which means a bit of a wobble when walking around, but since I found it more comfy to rest my hand on the gun anyway, it wasn't a big issue for me. Finally I had a Millenium Falcon keyring as a necklace, and a pair of golden dice hanging from the belt, as well as a couple of Sabacc cards that the Odeon cinema were giving away when the film released. Overall I'm pleased with the general look.
Having tested the cosplays out at Invasion Colchester, our local geek event on the streets of our home town, adjustments were made ready for NorCon just four weeks later!
Left to right: Hana Solo, Plague Knight (ShovelKnight), Quicksilver (X-Men), and the Tenth Doctor.
Last year I focused on Star Wars cosplays, but this year I tried to pick out the more unusual ones. There were an awful lot of computer game orientated cosplays, which I don't know and can't claim to be interested in, but I did find a few interesting and original oddities.
Gambit, X-Men - one of my favourite characters
Karl Ruprecht Kroenen, Hellboy
The Rocketeer
And we couldn't resist a few selfies with some of the guests and other cosplayers.
Ryan Gage - Alfred from The Hobbit, a rehabilitated Hitler in Red Dwarf, and star of The Three Musketeers. Also thoroughly adorable.
The very lovely Hugo Myatt who played Treguard, the dungeon master in 80's adventure series Knightmare (a big fave of mine as a kid)
The completely charming Guy Henry, who provided the voice behind the computer generated face of Grand Moff Tarkin in Rogue One, as well as Voldemort's Minister of Magic in Harry Potter: The Deathly Hallows, and star of Holby City.
No Solo is complete without his co-pilot!
And two Hans are always better than one...
This was NorCon's second year as a two day event, and our first as weekenders. This allowed our two boys to cosplay on the first day and opt for normal attire on the second. Despite missing out on her Scarlet Witch cosplay, eldest was able to double tag with her Tennant Who on Saturday, and a re-run of her Rey on the Sunday (though sadly she no longer has the long hair for it). Sunday also featured a bonus event at the con in the form of the Norwich POP Orchestra performing two sets of film themes including ET, Thunderbirds, Superman, Dark Knight, Back to the Future, and concluding on a medley of Star Wars themes...including a heart rending performance of Leia's Theme, a piece that has always made me cry but now even more so with the passing of Carrie Fisher. Add to that a montage of on and off screen video clips featuring the princess, and I think a lot of tears were shed. I'm going to finish with some videos taken at the convention, including a short clip of Jurassic Park with a baby Blue visiting the audience, and Captain Picard taking a bow for Star Trek.
