Although the language is archaic in places (‘lo’ and ‘quail’ feature), often prosaic and there are songs a-plenty, this final book in the trilogy closes the saga beautifully. From huge-scale battles to intimate meetings and the conclusion of Saruman and Golem’s stories, this book has it all. I found myself moved with Merry and Théoden’s parting and also at the...
Writing Non Fiction Book Reviews: The Etymologicon, Man’s Search for Meaning, The Code of the Extraordinary Mind,The Buddha & The Badass, The Daily Stoic, The Three Questions,High-Performance Habits Restaurant Articles: Guide to re-opening restaurants from 4th July,Flexible Furlough Scheme – Guidance for Employers July to October. Personal Development Articles How to Become...
Writing My Main WIP – The Gift No progress this fortnight. Again. In Other Stories It would be fiction if I wrote something here 🙂 Non Fiction Book reviews: The Miracle Morning, WTF (Willing to Fail) and The Five Attachments. Course Reviews: The 10 Human Drives, Meditation with Mei-lan Maurits, and Transformation Week. A post on the flexible furlough scheme for restaurants. Reading Three...
Writing My Main WIP – The Gift No progress this fortnight. In Other Stories Nothing to see here. It’s been one of those dry periods, though I am exploring an idea that was suggested in one of the “What Readers Want to Read” YouTube videos. Writing is not always about words on the page, though this idea has morphed into a possible trilogy! Non Fiction I wrote the comparison...
Continuing the saga began in The Fellowship of the Ring, this book sets into the serious business of the story. There are very few songs in this book which made it much easier to listen to the audio. The songs do set the tone and laid out the histories (as tales were remembered of old) but I did find them annoying in the first book. None of that here. Instead, we get an incredible journey which...
Writing My Main WIP – The Gift It’s alive! As I continue to learn more about story structure, good plotting, character depth, show-not-tell and more (as every writer should – never stop learning), the story has evolved. The short-story that began it all has become the lead-in to what is developing into a ‘Dude with a Problem’ story (based on the Save the Cat genres)...
“Friedrichstrasse tomorrow, Rex. Hope there aren’t any complications. What do you think?” John slowly cut a strip from the steak he was preparing, sensing each sinew sever through his skilled fingers. He glanced at the u-bahn map on the wall. “Two stops.” He looked down at his faithful pit-bull, tongue lolling out of his salivating mouth, and sniffed. “You need a bath.” He flicked a cut of steak...
“Do you think they will ever come back?” Her voice trilled, resonating like dancing metal shards jangling in the breeze. “I think so.” The other’s cadence was more measured and cleaner, yet neither female nor male. “How long has it been now?” She asked. “For who?” It was almost a statement with barely an inflection. The water lapped quietly over the silver sand on the shore while the whiteness of...
When I stepped out of the teleporter, the first thing I saw was my mother, her back towards me. Her hair permed and snow-white. Well, it always had been, and she was wearing the vermillion cashmere sweater I had bought her for Christmas over her knee-length crimson skirt. She was always one for the classic look. “Your late, son,” she said hearing me step down from the pad. “I made your...
The first of my bi-weekly check-ins where I share my work-in-progress. I will try to keep this on-topic but I have a feeling I will digress with all the other stuff that’s going on in life. My Main WIP – The Gift Started off as a short story (3800 words) earlier this year but felt like it needed more explanation. I have written about 1000 new words on this and structured out the...
About 40 years ago, I discovered role-playing and Dungeons and Dragons in one of the after school clubs. It revealed a universe that allowed me to flex my storytelling muscles and enjoy a mixture of fantasy and sci-fi and feed the escapist dreamer inside.
Over time, I played (and story-led - marked with *) many systems including Call of Cthulhu*, Shadowrun, Dungeons & Dragons*, Middle Earth, In Nomine*, Bushido, Chivalry & Sorcery, Chill, Warhammer, Warhammer 40k, Gammaworld, Hawkmoon, Stormbringer, Immortals*, Marvel Super Heroes, Paranoia, RuneQuest, Vampire: The Masquerade*, and a couple of systems my own devising (Medieval* and Parody*).
I explored live-action role-playing – eventually running my own club and creating my own LARP systems (Fools Gold and Dream Conquest) – and usually found myself in script-writing or game-master duty, writing over 500 individual live adventures over the period (usually weekly), many linked into the world events of the fantasy land we created. I also volunteered for Curious Pastimes and Lorien Trust at their main LARP events (special effects at the Ritual Circle), and did a little script work, cameos and improv for Curious Pastimes. I was also the South East's Editor (UK) for the LARP magazine The Adventurer. The biggest event I ran was a 10-month modern-day "murder mystery" LARP set around parts of Kent where characters were "always-on" and could get updates and interactions at any time outside of scheduled events. That was in the 1990s.
I was also the artistic director for English Heritage for their live Halloween Horrors events at Fort Amherst in Kent from 1998-1999.
Now, I write as the mood takes me with occasional competitions and challenges, and this year (2020) I will be taking on #NaNoWriMo.
Here's to the future!