Rae of Light

SciFi Picked Me It came as quite a revelation that SciFi was my chosen genre for my second novel. At the time I didn’t analyse my choice but now I think I understand the why. The genre gives me the freedom to explore ideas to an end point which could be. I can people my world with whomever I please. The very possibility thrills me. Fantasy does this too, but there is something linked to the here and now in SciFi which cannot be escaped I feel. It centres around the fact technology is moving at such a pace now that in my lifespan telephones have evolved into flat slabs of plastic, keyboards can be rolled up and you can tell your TV what you want to watch. Hell, our house didn't get a Blaupunkt TV till I was 13. When I’m reading SciFi these days, it feels as though I’m reading predictions of a future lurking on the very near horizon. Book the 1st Where Rainbows Hide was born out of my love for chimpanzees. As a child I always wanted to have one as a pet and was distr...

Why SciFi? For years Sci Fi has been the purview of male writers. Specifically white male writers. This is the reason Octavia Butler was repeatedly asked in interviews: Why Science Fiction? And her response was always “Why not!” My introduction to screen Sci Fi was through my mother. Growing up in the 60s and 70s, television meant that series such as Dr Who and Star Trek were making their way onto the small screen. I didn’t learn about Dr Who till I came to the UK and went to university. Because of my mother however, Beam me up Scottie, Lieutenant Uhura kissing Captain Kirk and Vulcan salutes regularly featured in conversations. This at a time in my particular part of the world, when cross-racial kissing was frowned upon and not every household owned a TV. The wealthiest families polished their set with Mr Sheen every Friday before friends came round to watch The World at War or Dallas after dinner. Interestingly, I initially only consumed Sci Fi on the smal...

Originally a guest post on Rita Carla Monticelli's blog. Before settling down to writing and self-publishing I used to be a full time teacher in an inner city London school. Regardless of the country you teach in, anyone will tell you this is a challenging environment. Very quickly into my teaching practice I realised I had a knack for communicating with children with Special Needs (SEN as it’s called here in the UK). Most times when people think of Special Needs they latch onto the idea of a child with learning difficulties. Several times during my 13 year teaching stint I was reminded that while the majority of my students did indeed have these difficulties there were others whose behaviour marked them as SEN when in fact they were highly intelligent. Their lack of engagement with the average classroom content and insular or confrontational attitude masked their talent. At the very start of my teaching career, a...

It’s today!  So if you’re anywhere near New Cross then please pop on by, we’d love to see you. I’ll be reading from the new book. Then there’ll be music, poetry, stand-up and much more. Food & drink available as well as copies of the book for you to buy and me to sign.   Book 1 in the series will also be on sale. Also on sale: Stories for Homes Vol 2 in aid of Shelter , which is also available as an e-book. & Featuring Special Guest Author: Ross Montgomery Huge thanks to Mihaly & the team at The Rosemary for helping me put this event together. Added thanks to my wonderful MC Amanda Hamilton for her support and advice throughout the preparations.

So this is my first ever blog tour to promote the release of a new book.  I’m being hosted by a fabulous set of bloggers. A massive thank you to them all for having me. Dates for your diary 2 nd November To begin with I’m staying more or less local. Post 1 is hosted by Lindsay Bamfield who I met through a North West London writing group. It was run by Stewart Permutt and was the most welcoming group ever to grace the face of the planet. I was introduced to it by my good friend Barbara Hartridge. Even though getting there and back was a major trek on the North Circular, I stayed in this writing group for almost 4 years while it was run out of various venues, including a room at Alexandra Palace . 9 th November Next I’m off to Sheffield where Post 2 is hosted by the lovely Anna Caig’s reading blog . Anna and I met in a bakery while I was visiting my Sheffield BF. Anna blogs about books she’s read in her ever growing home library and her ...

Now it's back to writing about my writing process and it's time to focus on the antagonists I write. It seems I don’t mind having male and female antagonists even though I’ve plumped so heavily for females in the protagonist camp. Robert Deed ( Six Dead Men ) Terence Ire ( Six Dead Men ) Zaq ( Where Rainbows Hide ) Irina Bushka ( Where Rainbows Hide ) The Authorities ( When Rainbows Cry ) Kastaspella aka Jocasta Incantata ( Of Dragons & Witches series ) Grief/Brairton ( Sharp Dark Things ) Robert Deed’s name in this list may well surprise you.  Let me explain.  To begin with, his main aim is to prove Madison Bricot guilty of her boyfriend’s murder.  The twists and turns of the plot however mean he ends up sharing protagonist status with Madison.  He ultimately has too sound a nature to be the villain and his role shifts to that of the main romantic interest.  But then, that was my aim all along, to trick the reader into t...

So who are my protagonists and why do I want to write about them? To answer this question I have to look at who they are. Madison Bricot ( Six Dead Men ) Neera Luxquaera ( Where Rainbows Hide ) Petra Sucher ( When Rainbows Cry ) Clarissa Henry ( The Lonely Dragon ) Alanna Webber ( Sharp Dark Things ) Rowena Deed ( Palindrome ) Detective Inspector Robert Deed ( Palindrome ) The first and most obvious thing to note is that all but one of my protagonists is female.  I’m not against a male protagonist.  I just understand what it is to be female and so write what I know. Now time to take a closer look at my characters and why I create them. Madison Bricot is an insecure young woman who has the ability to kill with a kiss.  If you rearrange the letters in her name they spell out the Italian phrase for ‘kiss of death’.  She was most certainly born out of my own insecurities and fears I’m sure.  When I look back at the things I wrote...