In The Works: Part 1

The main task for the start of this year is to complete the final edit of Palindrome. My aim remains to publish this prequel to Six Dead Men in the Summer. Once this is done there are several projects I could be working on for next year and beyond. But which one should be my main focus for 2019?

Help me out dear readers! Please vote for the book you’d most like me to work on for publication in 2019. The hopeful contenders are:

The Witch Adoption Project

When Rainbows Dare

This week’s post will state the case for The Witch Adoption Project. It is the sequel to The Lonely Dragon [TLD] and continues the tale of Clarissa, Bruberon & Kastaspella. While TLD was set mainly in Bruberon’s homeland, this story centres on Clarissa’s life now that Jocasta Spellatrix (aka Kastaspella) has become a member of Clarissa's family. It is a coming of age story which also focuses on the trials and tribulations of a young girl forced into the care system by tragic circumstances. But first you will need to know how The Lonely Dragon ended.

Extract from The Lonely Dragon

Clarissa had tidied the bathroom after using it. Jocasta made sure she left everything as messy as possible and giggled to herself before going to the kitchen.

Horatio Henry turned round from the cooker as he heard Jocasta's usual rumble through the house and down the stairs. “Jocasta Spellatrix, you go back up to that bathroom this minute and clean it up!”

Jocasta stood in the doorway pouting and balling her hands into fists. Her face began to look like a tomato.

“Kas.” Mr Henry's voice dropped a level as he walked towards her, spatula in one hand. With a gentle hand on her shoulder he swivelled her round to face the stairs. “It's a simple equation. One messy bathroom equals no pancakes for you.” Then he kissed the top of her head and gave her a gentle shove.

Kas walked back up the stairs as though she was under a spell. She touched the top of her head. Then looked at her hand. She could swear that she saw a golden glow sitting there from the kiss. Jinx swished passed her.

Back in the kitchen Clarissa jumped out of her chair. She hugged her apron wearing dad hard. “I love you dad!”

He hugged her back. “Love you too kiddo.” Then went back to making pancakes. “We're going to keep her no matter how hard she tries to makes us hate her right?”

“Right!” said Clarissa as she spooned more blueberry sauce over a pancake.

Jinx did some cat yoga in a patch of sunlight on the kitchen floor then flopped down contentedly. Clarissa winked at him and he winked back. Snookie, her mixed breed terrier, came in through the dog flap and flopped down back to back with Jinx in the patch of sunlight.

Clarissa stabbed a bit of pancake, swivelled it round her plate to mop up blueberry juice and popped it into her mouth. She closed her eyes as she chewed and smiled contentedly.

Next week I’ll present the case for When Rainbows Dare then the voting can begin.

Faetaera: A Triumvirate

A Triumvirate Brairton’s minions slipped through a barely noticeable fissure. The tear would close shortly. Despite the increase in their regularity the breaches rarely stayed open very long. To the three insidious spies, the stink of the new world was almost unbearable. But in time the triumvirate would each become so used to it they would scarcely notice it at all. That it poisoned them they did not know. Brairton was not in the habit of informing his operatives of fatal consequences. Their programming precluded any thought beyond the mission they must complete. In this Brairton had been exact and had performed the necessary rituals himself. Each had their mission branded into their being. They would travel together for some time but then slip off to their secret destinations one by one, never to see each other again. The threesome latched on to their individual targets and began their particular brand of individual mis...

#Indie Intro

#Review: RED DESERT by Rita Carla Francesca Monticelli 4 Star reading I must confess a certain attraction to the inhospitable red planet ever since I saw Total Recall . The Arnie version of course. There simply is no other. As many of you know, I’ve even squeezed a mention of Mars into my very own little eco SciFi number. So I was delighted to come across this translation of Deserto Rosso. It is written in diary format from the perspective of Anna Persson, an astronaut landed on Mars together with several colleagues. Together they are hoping to set up a primary colony. The opening is dramatic as use of the present tense and the narrator’s situation draws the reader in. The story line switches between events on Mars and flashbacks, in the past tense, in which we learn a great deal of backstory. I found these details and the relationships Anna has with other characters very engaging. I wanted to read on and in fact finished the book in only 4 sittings. Anna's compl...

Guest Post: Creative Recharge

Lindsay Bamfield started writing fiction about 10 years ago. She has written a number of short stories and flash fiction pieces and has been published in Greenacre Writers Anthology , Voices from the Web 2012, The Best of Café Lit 2012, Mslexia, Writers’ News and Writing Magazine. She has won prizes in Writers’ News , Writing Magazine and Words with Jam competitions and has been shortlisted in others. She is currently re-working her first novel with advice from an editor and has a second novel on the back-burner. How do I recharge my writing batteries? I’m not sure I’m the right person to answer this as my batteries are still somewhat depleted after illness and debilitating treatment, but my writing activity, although still less than ideal has bounced back to some extent. It was only after being ill that I understood just how much energy writing requires. Exhaustion does not engender creativity. After a frustrating dry-spell when I wanted to writ...

Rae of Light

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