tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22056448137252730452024-02-07T09:43:45.458+00:00The Raven in the Writing DeskThe inane ramblings of a fiction writer.Matt Sloanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243128627804928961noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205644813725273045.post-70503542613068553782014-01-15T19:39:00.000+00:002014-01-15T20:05:26.604+00:00New OpeningsHey readers,<br />
<br />
So, since last you heard from me regarding the novel, I've done what is suggested and let it sit, undisturbed, while I try and focus on other things. The goal was to distance myself from it so I can return fresh, and for the most part it's worked. Granted, nobody told me how difficult it is to stop thinking about a story you've been obsessed with and engrossed by for so long, nor how difficult it is to write something new.<br />
<br />
I failed in writing something new, I'm afraid. The closest I've come is a few short paragraphs in what could be a new short story, but further details remain largely elusive. It's a story about childhood, though, and childhood fears coming back fresh and less imaginary as one would hope. It's about what remains hidden beyond the mundane monotony of adult life. Who knows, maybe it'll turn into something!<br />
<br />
Onto bigger news, though. I recently had a chat with my friend Helen, the fantastic friend who so graciously is editing Lucian. She should be done within the next few weeks, at which point it'll be time to begin the long-awaited edit at last. I go once more onto the breach, dear friends, with some degree of excitement. It's finally time to return to that world of cobblestones and clockwork, and I feel a bit like Harry returning to Hogwarts after the summer holidays. It's time to go <i>home</i>.<br />
<br />
What surprised me about this conversation with Helen was her suggestion to write a new opening to Lucian. I've always had problems with the opening, it's true, though could never pinpoint exactly what my issue was. This is why Helen is so great at editing - she can see what is missing from the story, see the wood for the trees as it were. Within half an hour, we had hashed out a brand new opening, several chapters worth of story I had previously overlooked.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Planning the new additions</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I can't tell you just how excited I am about this. I've long said, half-jokingly, that stories are found objects (other writers agree - in the foreword to <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Color-Purple-Alice-Walker/dp/0753818922">The Color Purple</a>, Alice Walker describes herself as a medium for the pre-existing characters, while in <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Writing-Memoir-Craft-Stephen-King/dp/1444723251/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389808574&sr=1-1&keywords=On+Writing">On Writing</a> Stephen King describes stories as fossils, waiting to be excavated). This new opening feels like it has always existed, unknown to me, but fitting perfectly in with the story as it exists now. It better represents my main character, David, as sympathetic, and grounds his reality prior to his run-in with Lucian and the surreal in such a manner that, I think, it will lead to a greater understanding of just who David is and why he makes the choices he does.<br />
<br />
I've been researching this new opening for the past few days, as there's some factual details to iron out, but I think it's going well. With any luck I'll be ready to begin writing it in a few days, at which point I'll be able to move on with the editing as planned.<br />
<br />
So here's to exciting times ahead. I'll do my best to keep this blog up to date with my progress with both this new opening and the edits as well. Hopefully you'll find the process interesting. Meanwhile, if there's anything you'd like to know about the process, or about my writing in general, just let me know in the comments below or through the usual channels. I'm happy to take any suggestions, as always!<br />
<br />
Until next time, readers.<br />
<br />
MattMatt Sloanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243128627804928961noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205644813725273045.post-63397438477594997122014-01-05T17:29:00.003+00:002014-01-05T17:41:26.746+00:00The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey - Book of the Year 2013Hey readers,<br />
<br />
So, as something a little different, I thought I'd write a short, spoiler-free review of my favourite book of 2013. There were a few which came close to taking the crown (<i>The Ocean at the End of the Lane</i>, Neil Gaiman's first adult book in years, was a strong contender), there was one in particular that left me hungry for more, and unable to read anything else.<br />
<br />
My favourite book of 2013 has to be <i>The Fifth Wave</i>, by Rick Yancey.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbuNqg0RDf86TxDC5EDZJh_Hw0rdO08EXxobV-p5utj3N04Uv2G3siAQ-nws0skiacUDNOFX8r9YZbk-yoy7xXk0ey0aC3kxfnU2bcVGoB4OeMeAvZ5wrTVavD9c-SS2KIWgApWNggd8s/s1600/9780399162411.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbuNqg0RDf86TxDC5EDZJh_Hw0rdO08EXxobV-p5utj3N04Uv2G3siAQ-nws0skiacUDNOFX8r9YZbk-yoy7xXk0ey0aC3kxfnU2bcVGoB4OeMeAvZ5wrTVavD9c-SS2KIWgApWNggd8s/s640/9780399162411.jpeg" width="424" /></a></div>
<br />
It begins with an EMP - an electromagnetic pulse that wipes out the world's electrical grid and communications, isolating and dividing humanity. This is only the first wave, however, in a coordinated attack by alien invaders that, while remaining terrifying and completely plausible, is done entirely from a distance. This is a Cold Invasion, the freshest story of its type I have seen in years, in a market saturated with unimaginative or tired tropes. Soon they launch tsunamis along every coastline, killing three billion and driving humanity inland. Next is a deadly virus, killing four billion, the virus spreading quickly due to mankind's desire to stay close, stay together. In the fourth wave, it's kill or be killed - rumours spread that the aliens are among us, have been all along, and you don't know who to trust.<br />
<br />
Such is the way the world ends. We follow 16-year-old Cassie Sullivan, an ordinary teenage girl who lost everything in the initial waves. Now, her little brother is missing, and she has to find him. She's headstrong and courageous, full of quips. The novel is told through a first person perspective, and Rick Yancey expertly commands character voice to rival even George R. R. Martin. I grew to love Cassie almost instantly, as she comments on what's left of humanity with a world-weary sarcasm well beyond her years. Soon into the novel, the perspective switches to the enigmatic 'Zombie', a boy around Cassie's age whose true identity I'd rather leave for the readers to discover. He's different to Cassie - he's confident, charismatic, has never wanted for anything in life. The apocalypse changes all that, of course, but his story takes a different route to Cassie's as the narrative twists and turns, perspective switching until the final act.<br />
<br />
I must admit, however, I didn't care so much for Zombie's story until farther in. Perhaps it was the character voice, which didn't work quite as instantly as Cassie's, which kept Zombie at a distance. Maybe it was the fact that I didn't know quite who this character was, his identity mask acting as a detriment to his character. Whatever it was, it took me a long time to warm to Zombie, always wishing I was back with Cassie, finding out what was happening to her.<br />
<br />
I don't want to spoil much more of the plot than what I've said already, but make no mistake, this is a Young Adult novel at heart, sometimes to its detriment. The love story elements don't always work, somewhat detracting from Cassie's character. Whilst I understand that Cassie is a teenage girl, with the maelstrom of hormones that brings, I felt that Yancey needed to develop that part of Cassie's personality more to explain some of her decisions, especially when its obvious to us as readers that she may not be making entirely the right choice. It didn't work quite as well for me.<br />
<br />
Still, the plot develops at breakneck pace, and as we learn more about the alien invaders, we fear them more and more. The novel's conclusion had me breathless, hungry for more, eager for the next in the series. <i>The Fifth Wave </i>is the first in a planned trilogy, with the second book, <i>The Endless Sea</i>, due later this year. Not only that, but <i>The Fifth Wave</i> has already been optioned for a movie under Columbia Pictures. With comparisons being drawn to <i>The Hunger Games</i>, <i>Ender's Game</i>, and <i>The Passage</i>, look out for this to be the next big thing folks.<br />
<br />
All in all I loved The Fifth Wave, and can forgive its shortcomings. I'd highly recommend this novel to anyone, and have done so with good feedback. Even if you don't like YA fiction, this might be a good place to start.<br />
<br />
4.5/5 Stars
<br />
<div style="display: none;">
<div class="hreview">
<span class="item"> <span class="fn">The Fifth Wave, by Rick Yancey</span><br /> </span> Reviewed by <span class="reviewer">Matt Sloan </span>on <span class="dtreviewed">January 5 2014<span class="value-title"></span><br /> </span> Rating: <span class="rating">4.5</span></div>
</div>
Matt Sloanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243128627804928961noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205644813725273045.post-28264651983897939862013-08-28T15:50:00.003+01:002013-08-28T15:52:56.710+01:00Apologies and CelebrationsDear Readers,<br />
<br />
On 13th August, sitting in a Starbucks in Belfast with the half-finished dregs of a coffee by my side, I finished the first draft of my novel. For those who know me, you'll know this has been a long time coming.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmNNoerWvAJ0bwFzbXHDm9pw2B7wRe9mVV3xiu_BmYA2MhktfidtFVEr1go1XwL7Tov_VN52fHwloCElYuYa2-cKI7ddGySIUTo7YBWuPGPNbNGVgMjlB6yOoNzK0qKPWtKZ0Ns351vUw/s1600/Lucian+Finished.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmNNoerWvAJ0bwFzbXHDm9pw2B7wRe9mVV3xiu_BmYA2MhktfidtFVEr1go1XwL7Tov_VN52fHwloCElYuYa2-cKI7ddGySIUTo7YBWuPGPNbNGVgMjlB6yOoNzK0qKPWtKZ0Ns351vUw/s400/Lucian+Finished.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Finished Product - First Draft<br />
(Please ignore the cat - she insisted on being present)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
First of, I apologise for being away for so long. Back in February I got a job which ate up far too much of my time and, worse still, killed my creativity. I won't go into that here; a writing blog isn't the place for such things, and I wouldn't like to bore you with the details. Thankfully that job is now behind me, and its absence allowed me to finally finish my first draft.<br />
<br />
Finishing was odd, to say the least. I've finished stories before, of course, but not ones that occupied so much of my life. The conception of the story occurred around six years ago, as I have said before, and although it changed somewhat in that time before it came to be what it is today, the core story always remained the same. I have known for a long time how the story would end.<br />
<br />
As such, writing that ending was a surreal experience. As I wrote the final thousand words, knowing my time with those characters was coming to an end, I actually began to feel quite dizzy. This was it; this was the moment I had been waiting for, the scene my characters had been plummeting towards for a hundred thousand words. This was their destinies. I wrote the final chapter, wrote the epilogue ... then wrote 'THE END'. And that was it.<br />
<br />
It ended up being far longer than I had originally anticipated, too. My original estimate was 90,000 words, an average for Young Adult fiction, particularly debut novels. As I approached 90,000, I realised how much I still had to go. Each 10,000 words I climbed, so did the final estimate, until the final word count reached just over 130,000 words and I was left with the monstrosity you see above.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizmZ-dRfC_X8YqGPioRWbrOih79sLZuo9eAN4g_su90IBfQcxs9uPO8FD-ACzcgPzyXyAbLJpy3UvkjMekr0coYbjQ3GoDP0IXrgPaPrYI1p77-D8w2Ml25TfreDuXQlblADzsiOgv8S8/s1600/Lucian+finished+comparison.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizmZ-dRfC_X8YqGPioRWbrOih79sLZuo9eAN4g_su90IBfQcxs9uPO8FD-ACzcgPzyXyAbLJpy3UvkjMekr0coYbjQ3GoDP0IXrgPaPrYI1p77-D8w2Ml25TfreDuXQlblADzsiOgv8S8/s400/Lucian+finished+comparison.jpeg" width="300" /></a>I've included a photo comparison of the thickness of the manuscript, and a British 50 Pence coin. Sadly, it's not to scale, but it should give you an idea of the size. For my American readers, I believe you can use <a href="http://pective.com/pic/50-pence-coin">this link</a> to compare.<br />
<br />
So, what's next for me? A writer and editor friend, the wonderful Helen Falls, will be reading the manuscript over the next few weeks and months and, hopefully, tearing it to pieces. She's a great editor, able to view the narrative arc as a whole and thus assist in weaving the various story threads together. In the meantime, as suggested by many, I will try to distance myself from the story so that I can come back to it with fresh eyes, ready to begin the second draft. Helen is the only person who may read it in this time; in fact, she is one of the only people who knows the story in full. Only when I finish the second draft will I begin looking for beta readers.<br />
<br />
I'm not sure how I'm going to distance myself from it, to be honest. I feel so close to it, and only by working on something else do I think I can sufficiently forget about my characters, and that world, and try to focus on something new. There are a few short stories I need to go back to but I'm having trouble picking which one to go for. There's a novella, <i>'The Shadow of Death'</i>, which I may have mentioned before and which will require a substantial amount of research before I can continue writing it. There's a short story, <i>'The Coins Upon The Rocks'</i>, which I wrote for my Master's Degree and would like to rework, since my style and skills have evolved since then. There's an untold number of stories I have only considered but not worked on. Spoilt for choice, a 'first world problem' to say the least, and yet unable to pick any of them. Hopefully that'll change soon.<br />
<br />
If you've made it this far, then I have a bit of a treat. A while ago I posted a blurb for the novel, which I've now reworked with the help of a friend. It's a lot better, I think, at conveying exactly what the novel is about. It's not professional in any way, though may one day be again reworked as a hook for a query letter. I hope you enjoy.<br />
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<span lang="EN-US">There are horrors that lurk beyond the veil
between worlds, and seventeen-year-old David Gardener can see every one of
them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">They haunt his every waking moment; now,
those things are tearing his life apart. He has no family, has nowhere to turn,
until a chance meeting with the enigmatic Lucian Ducant turns his world upside
down. Lucian knows why David can see beyond the veil. Lucian, he learns, is
from a parallel reality; he’s come to take David home.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Desperate to discover where he comes from,
clinging to the promise of answers, he joins Lucian in a world of cobblestone
streets and clockwork, where history took an entirely different turn and magic
is fact. But something evil is stirring beyond the veil, and Lucian is not
being entirely truthful with David. What of the strange dreams he is having, of
the war-torn trenches and the dying, and the wall of fog so dense that it
blocks out the sun? What of the strange disappearances in Lucian’s world, and
the troubling sightings outside of town?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">A terrible destiny awaits David, centuries
in the making; a destiny he will have to meet head on if he is to survive.
Should he fail, he threatens not only the fate of the world he comes to think
of as home, but also the fate of every person in every world.</span></div>
</blockquote>
I'll leave it there for now, but I hope to come back to you again soon with updates on how the redraft is going, what I'm working on next, plus a few fun interviews in store. In the meantime, you can catch me on twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/falcon_feathers">@falcon_feathers</a>, or leave a comment with any thoughts, suggestions, or concerns. Here's to brighter pastures, new stories, and the readying old ones for print!<br />
<br />
As always, thanks for reading!<br />
<br />
MattMatt Sloanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243128627804928961noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205644813725273045.post-52019441449724462382013-01-11T17:51:00.000+00:002013-01-11T18:20:48.059+00:00Sex in Young Adult Fiction<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0X6rV0kn1pO7K2Q5Eb7WklGMapTFPoIYZzZ4MP3ljVRZ49C2_rYDgBgdlCmTu93v8kD1d-E_QxREH9o4BOR59VUmkgvX2vAirQB0j2n2qUm2rIXf1PV038MgRhDae4sUHS4qakb03LAY/s1600/romeo_juliet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0X6rV0kn1pO7K2Q5Eb7WklGMapTFPoIYZzZ4MP3ljVRZ49C2_rYDgBgdlCmTu93v8kD1d-E_QxREH9o4BOR59VUmkgvX2vAirQB0j2n2qUm2rIXf1PV038MgRhDae4sUHS4qakb03LAY/s320/romeo_juliet.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">'Romeo + Juliet' (1996)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">
In the next few days, I will be writing a scene for <i>Lucian</i> which has been on my mind for quite a while. It's one of those pivotal, milestone scenes, the ones that feel like a long time coming and, when they do, you're left feeling like a little part of you has washed away with them. If the title didn't already give it away, let me spell it out for you. I'll be writing a sex scene.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
I write chiefly for the Young Adult market, and <i>Lucian</i> is aimed at the mid to upper bracket - those late teens who have already experienced sex, or are about to. I recently found a 2009 article in the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/27/health/27well.html">New York Times</a> which said that 47.8 percent of High School students have had sex, and while this number is down from previous years, it's still higher than I would have expected. Teenagers know sex. Sex is a huge part of the life of any teenager, and if writing is truly about honesty, then sex isn't something that can be avoided.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
I'm not saying that every Young Adult novel should have a sex scene, far from it. However as with fiction of any genre, if a sex scene is important to the plot, whether the natural progression of a relationship or the one night fling of a distraught character, then sex can find a place. I've read plenty of terrible sex scenes in my time - ones which have absolutely no place in the story other than to sell a few more copies. Horror writer James Herbert immediately springs to mind, it seems his characters are constantly having sex. I remember one novel in which a succubus fellates the main character in his sleep. After much thought, I think the sex scene in <i>Lucian</i> is crucial.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
Why is so crucial? Because it comes from a moment of fear and desperation, at the cusp of the day everything in the novel has been leading up to. David, my main character, is afraid. He's afraid he won't be able to do what is required of him, what he is destined to do, to save the day from an enemy which knows no reason. In fact, he doesn't even know what <i>is</i> required of him, having to rely on faith and fate and the ambiguous riddles of more powerful beings than he.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
David's always had self-esteem issues, so having this destiny thrust upon him, and having to appear to be strong and confident, takes its toll. There comes a moment, on the eve of his destiny, that he cannot pretend anymore. He cannot act like a saviour anymore. He finds comfort in his girlfriend, Aurora, who he has fallen for over the course of the novel. There's a touch of fate in their relationship too -- she has a part of play in the coming events, as do they all.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
Afraid that he won't be able to protect the ones he loves, David breaks down, and Aurora is there to pick up the pieces. In her effort to comfort him they kiss, and it goes from there. It's a break in the tension, not only for David's worries but for his relationship with Aurora. They both need this catharsis, need the consummation of their relationship. It's entirely unexpected, as sex often is, and it's their first time. It's awkward, and he feels like he cannot stop shaking, but that doesn't matter. What matters is the emotions that pass between them, the taste of tears, the need for each other.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
The scene won't be graphic, of course -- no Fifty Shades of Grey here. That isn't what the scene is about. The scene is about the emotions, the catharsis, and most of all the honesty. Aurora and David love each other, they trust each other, and that is what counts. If I didn't feel the scene was necessary I wouldn't write it, and if I don't feel it works when I'm redrafting, I'll cut it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
Literary Agent Sara Crowe wrote an interesting <a href="http://acrowesnest.blogspot.co.uk/2008/12/marianna-lets-get-it-on-sex-scenes-in.html">article</a> on sex in Young Adult literature, and lists a few great examples. This is one of my favourites. Although I've never read it, the following is an extract from Jenny Downham's novel <i>Before I Die, </i>in which the terminally ill main character Tessa puts sex on her 'bucket list'. This is her first time, a one night stand with a boy she met at a club.</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 20.796875px;">He lies down, moves my legs apart with his, presses closer, his weight on top of me. Soon I’ll feel him inside me and I’ll know what all the fuss is about. This was my idea.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 20.796875px;">I notice lots of things while the red neon numbers on his radio alarm move from 3:15 to 3:19. I notice that his shoes are on their side by the door…</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: italic; line-height: 20.796875px;">He supports himself with his arms, moving slowly above me, his face turned to one side, his eyes tight shut. This is it. It’s really happening. I’m living it now. Sex. </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.796875px;">(25)</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Notice how, in this scene, the most important thing about Tessa's experience is her disassociation with what is happening. This isn't romance, this isn't erotica; this is sex for the sake of it, another thing on the bucket list. What I love here is the focus on everything but the sex -- the numbers on the alarm clock, the seconds ticking away; the boy's face turned away from her's. It's <i>really happening</i>, she's <i>living it</i>, but Tessa's mind couldn't be further away from it if she tried.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
Later, now close to dying, Tessa has sex a final time, and this time she's in love.</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 20.796875px;">His hand slides to my waist to my belly to the top of my thigh. His kisses follow his hand, work their way down until his head is between my legs and then he looks at me, asking permission with his eyes.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 20.796875px;">It spills me, the thought of him kissing me there.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 20.796875px;">His head is in shadow, his arms scooped under my legs. His breath is warm on my thighs. He very slowly begins.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 20.796875px;">If I could buck, I would. If I could howl at the moon, then I would. To feel this, when I’d thought it was over, when my body’s closing down and I thought I’d have no pleasure from it again.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 20.796875px;">I am blessed.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This time the emotions are what is important, and Tessa is really living it. Every moment counts. This is the kind of scene I plan to write, focused on the moment.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
I've written one line of my scene, quite a while ago -- perhaps the end of it, before we fade to black. This is what I've written, and it could change.</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 17px;">They rose and fell with each other, letting themselves become lost to the pain, and the fear, and the sadness of it all, until nothing existed but them, in that moment, alone.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Here's hoping I do the scene justice.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
If you are a fellow writer, have you written a sex scene before? If so, was it graphic, or more tame? Why was it necessary? I'm interested to hear about your experiences with writing, so sound off in the comments below. As usual, thank you for reading! Until next time.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
Matt</span>Matt Sloanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243128627804928961noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205644813725273045.post-79230523225161229922012-12-06T22:33:00.002+00:002012-12-06T22:33:35.652+00:00Words of EncouragementWell, what do you know, another delayed update.<br />
<br />
I didn't make my self-imposed deadline, unfortunately. It's a shame, but for a very good reason - after months of unemployment (and thus being able to sit and write full-time), I got a full time Christmas job working at Head - a local record, CD and DVD store. I simply haven't had the time to dedicate myself to the novel. I have, I'm pleased to say, been writing on most of my lunchbreaks lately and I'm currently sitting on 95,525 words.<br />
<br />
It's tough to say how close I am to the end. The duration of the final 'battle' is a little uncertain, and it's supposed to take place over the course of a night, so how long the scene itself will be is unclear. I won't know until I start writing it, in other words. I'm so close though, so it could be 110,000 as planned, or 120,000. When it's done, it's done.<br />
<br />
It's going pretty well though. There's one or two scenes I'm looking forward to writing in particular. I'm nervous about the love scene I have to write (not erotic, focused on the emotions), but I ran part of it past a very good friend of mine, and she seemed to like it. So, that's something!<br />
<br />
My main reason for this entry was to reblog a video from Neil Gaiman (who, many of you will know, is my writer hero). In it, a fan tells Neil how she has been told there are 'too many artists in the world', and she shouldn't pursue her dream of becoming a director. I'll type Neil's response here directly.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
'Saying that we have enough artists is like saying we have enough scientists, we have enough designers, we have enough politicians ... but, you know, nobody gets to be you except you, nobody has your point of view except you; nobody gets to bring to the world the things that you get to bring to the world uniquely ... except <i>you</i>. So saying there are enough writers out there, enough directors out there, enough people with points of view, well yeah there are, but, none of them are you. And none of ... those people is [sic] going to make the art that you will make, none of them will change people, and change the world, in the way that you could change it. So ... if you believe some who says 'No, no, we've got enough of those, then all it means is you're giving up your chance to change the world in the way that only you could change it.'</blockquote>
This might just be my love of Neil Gaiman and his work talking, but, this is one of the most inspiring things I've heard in a while. Yes, Mr Gaiman. You're right.<br />
<br />
I have a few ideas for upcoming entries, but for now, thanks for reading everyone.<br />
<br />
Matt<br />
<br />
<br />
Matt Sloanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243128627804928961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205644813725273045.post-69946523633578132392012-10-16T12:17:00.000+01:002012-10-16T12:17:41.998+01:00Contest Results, and One Month To Go<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Hey readers,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">So, let's start with the bad news, shall we? Unfortunately I didn't make the shortlist for the Fantasy Faction Anthology competition, which I spoke about <a href="http://www.raveninthewritingdesk.co.uk/2012/06/fantasy-faction-contest.html">here</a>. It's okay, really. I was up against around 1700 entries, only 30 of which were picked for the shortlist (which will now be whittled down to a final six). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The good thing is I chose the 'entry plus' option, which nets me a full critique of my story and writing style in general. So, onwards and upwards! When the critique arrives towards the end of this year, I can use it to redraft <i>'The Keeper of Tales'</i> once again and start hunting for a market to submit it to. All part of being a writer.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Meanwhile, it's now around a month until my self-imposed deadline, by which I should have the first draft of '<i>Lucian' </i>finished. I have around 25,000 words to go bringing me up to a total of around 110,000. This is a little on the long side for a Young Adult bracket debut novel, but that's what the redraft is for. I actually have a lot to talk about with regards to what's left to do, and how I'll go about doing it. For now, <a href="http://anonymouslegacy.blogspot.co.uk/">Angela Goff</a> requested a little more information with regards to the plot, so let's start to that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">As I said in a <a href="http://www.raveninthewritingdesk.co.uk/2012/06/be-inspired-blog-hop.html">previous entry</a>, <i>Lucian</i> is about a seventeen year old boy called David Gardener living in the west of Ireland, who has since birth been able to see 'beyond the veil'. Any recently dead, any denizens of the other worlds, seem to flock to him like a beacon in the darkness. They haunt David no matter where he goes, and when he sees them they cause him pain so excruciating that he often collapses just from their presence. They are, in his belief, responsible for his life falling apart, the loss of any friends or jobs. As an orphan he has nobody to turn to, so David turns to suicide.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">But he's pulled from the brink of suicide by the enigmatic Lucian Ducant, who seems to know all about what Lucian calls his <i>gift</i>. Not only that, but Lucian says that he knows where David comes from - a parallel Earth. Initially mistrustful of Lucian, David eventually gives the man the benefit of the doubt. If he follows Lucian he'll have answers - he'll know where he comes from, know why he was born with the ability to see the dead, perhaps even find his family. He might finally be accepted for what, for who, he is.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">But what are Lucian's motives? Is he really helping David selflessly? Lucian is hiding something from him, this much he is certain of. The truth soon becomes apparent that Lucian was always meant to bring David back to that world; that David has a purpose, a destiny that is revealed to him over the course of the novel. Something dark just lurks beyond the veil, 'its hour come round at last'. David must learn to trust Lucian if he is to survive a destiny as cruel as it is hidden from him, against an enemy that cannot be easily defeated.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm unwilling to give much more of the plot away, so chew into that. There's more to it, of course; just what the enemy is, and its link to the history of that world and the changes that brought it so far from what is familiar to us; David's love interest, whose destiny is intrinsically linked with his. The novel was initially supposed to take place over the course of October, leading up to Samhain (the Pagan holiday, the origins of Halloween, when the veil between worlds is at its thinnest and the dead, and other things, can more easily pass through), but over the course of writing it I've come to believe that a span of two weeks would be better. So, the final two weeks of October. Tis' the time of the year, after all...funny how things work out, isn't it?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This entry has probably gone on long enough. I have a lot more to talk about; next couple of entries will be about my trip to England (and how inspiring a certain city turned out to be) and, closer to November, 'NaNoWriMo' - National Novel Writing Month. Until then, thanks for reading folks. Let me know what you think of Lucian in the comments below, share on Facebook and Twitter if you have enjoyed, and keep reading. I honestly can't wait to finish - I've known the ending for a long time, so getting it down on paper will be an incredible feeling to say the least.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Matt</span>Matt Sloanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243128627804928961noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205644813725273045.post-3294274545144371982012-10-02T22:34:00.002+01:002012-10-03T00:30:31.709+01:00Five Years AgoDear readers,<br />
<br />
So, it's been a while since I updated. I've been focused on writing, among other things, and as such not really had a lot to blog. There's only so many times you can update how things are going, after all, before this blog starts to become a little stale and repetitive ;)<br />
<br />
However, I couldn't let today pass without noting something. As you may well know from my last entry, it was five years ago today that I wrote the first words of my novel, <i>'Lucian'</i>, when two ideas coalesced. These were;<br />
<br />
1) A world where the so-called Occult Renaissance actually discovered some hidden knowledge<br />
2) A vision of my main antagonists and the Yeats poem 'The Second Coming'.<br />
<br />
Little did I know it would become be my first novel, or be this huge in scope.<br />
<br />
In my last entry I hoped I would be finished by now. Sadly, I'm not. However, as of today I have 81,949 words; I originally estimated that the novel would be 90,000 at the end of its first draft, though now I'm thinking it'll be closer to 110,000. I'm finally getting closer to the denouement and the ending I have had in mind since the beginning. I'm over the writers block for the most part, and am just eager to get it finished!<br />
<br />
Likewise, I spoke about Aurora (my FMC) and her insistence to have another scene, when she wasn't supposed to be in it for a little while. This actually turned out well - it's led to a whole storyline I didn't anticipate but has enriched the story to no end, and solved a few of the issues I was having with portraying certain changes to the world as everything approaches endgame.<br />
<br />
My new deadline is mid-November. I plan to finish the first draft as part of National Novel Writing Month (I'll write an entry about this soon), then perhaps use the remaining time to begin my next novel (which I already have partly planned).<br />
<br />
I promise I'll try to update again soon. I have a few ideas in mind, at least!<br />
<br />
Thanks for reading, and happy writing.<br />
<br />
MattMatt Sloanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243128627804928961noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205644813725273045.post-81788021681526256992012-07-10T11:35:00.000+01:002012-07-10T11:54:22.820+01:00The Seed of the StoryLast week, at long last, I made some progress with <span style="background-color: white;">my novel </span><i style="background-color: white;">Lucian</i><span style="background-color: white;"> (or </span><i style="background-color: white;">The Shadows at Sunrise</i><span style="background-color: white;">, whichever I decide to call it). It had been on standstill for almost two years, a combination of plot trouble and a writer's block caused largely by my father's death.</span><br />
When I sat down to write, I realised that sinking back into that world, of cobblestones and clockwork, to be easier than I had anticipated. Sure, the writing is a little haphazard through lack of practice, and I feel like I'm floundering to find my footing once again, but the world was still there, like nothing had happened. My characters were still waiting for me, still willing to say 'okay, here is what happens next', and all I had to do was put my fingers to the keys and let myself write.<br />
Part of this is silencing my inner critic, that constant nagging voice that everything I write is terrible and that nobody will ever want to read it. This is, however, a first draft, and as Hemingway once said 'the first draft of everything is shit'. So, I have to let myself be shit, don't I? I have to allow for bad writing, for less than fully three dimensional characters, and just focus on the story.<br />
Some of it came easier than other bits. One of my characters, having left the story only a chapter previously and who I had not planned on returning for a while, decided she wanted a viewpoint scene. This was fine by me, to a degree - I realised half way through my current draft that I needed more scenes from her point of view and that I would need to work on that in the second draft. So, I gave her a scene. She contemplated the events of the chapter previous and, as is in her nature to be strong-willed and stubborn, she told me that she wouldn't be kept out of the loop. She wanted back, she said, she had a part to play in the coming events and she wouldn't sit and let the other characters have all the fun.<br />
For those fellow novelists reading this, you'll know how this feels. Those of you who don't write, this will sound strange to you. 'Has Matt gone crazy?' you may ask. 'Does he think his characters are real?'<br />
Well, yes and no. I went crazy a long time ago. It's strange when a character does something unexpected, something unplanned, but they really do take on a life of their own sometimes. Aurora's decision to come back has thrown the next few chapters into a dark place which I have not considered. It adds a certain degree of conflict to the plot which is, of course, always good - she left following a fight with my MMC, David, when he told her that she was slowing him down in an effort to protect her. But what part will she play in the events that follow? What effect will her presence have?<br />
This is entirely unplanned, but while it is worrying it's also exciting. I want to see what she does. I want to see what she's made of. So, I'll let her have her moment. I'll let her confront David and see what she says to him.<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">While I didn't write at the weekend (due to being away on a small holiday and not wanting to pack my laptop), I hope to launch back into things now. I set myself a 1st of October deadline, during which I need to get from 66,000 words to roughly 100,000. This is an immensely doable task. Even if I only write 400 words a day, I will reach my deadline with time to spare. On average, on a good day, I can write upwards of 1500-2000 words, so I might even reach my deadline long before then.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">I hadn't planned for this entry to be so long, so if you're still reading, thank you. I have a bit of a treat for you, so please, go a little further. Late last night, a friend of mine said she was clearing out an old hard drive and found something I might be interested in. This was, it transpired, the very first thing I wrote of my novel.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">A few entries ago I talked about how the story came to me - how a character appeared in my mind's eye and, as all good characters do, began to tell me their story. I had to listen. From that I began to write, just a few hundred words, which over the next few years morphed into something entirely different to how it began. My writing style here is, at the very least, nowhere near as strong as my writing is now. But this is what I wrote.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #327d13; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt;">The flame flickered over the end of the cigarette, illuminating
the man’s face for just a second, before he was plunged into near-darkness once
more. The smoke rose and swirled about his darkened features, causing him to
appear like a mirage across the dank and grimy table. He stared down the stick
into the embers, twirling the cigarette around his fingers in an absent minded
way. Then he began to speak.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #327d13; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt;">‘What I am about to tell you is the truth. You can choose to
believe me, or walk back out of that door.’ he said, pointing through the
crowds of the pub to the heavy door at its entrance. ‘I don’t care either way.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #327d13; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt;">The man waited for an answer, but the solitary figure before him
did not speak. He merely watched inquisitively, wondering if this stranger
could be trusted. It seemed he chose to believe him, for he did not speak a
word, nor did he leave. He simply took a swig of the pint in his hand, and let
him continue. Almost instinctively, the smoking man continued.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #327d13; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt;">‘It is said that many worlds exist outside this one; that we
cannot see the boundaries and doorways that lead between and cross into ours.
From time to time, however, we catch a momentary glimpse - a spectre of
something that resides where we may not wander.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #327d13; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt;">His voice was calm, as though talking about the ordinary and the
mundane. As he folded his arms and savoured another drag, he closed his heavy
eyes for a moment longer than a blink.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #327d13; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt;">‘Most live their lives without ever glimpsing this world, while
some…’ he said, pausing to choose the words, ‘…some have to live with it all
their lives. I am one of those people - the ones lucky enough to have to
fight.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #327d13; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt;">As the light changed in the bar, the listening man caught a
glimpse of his storyteller’s features. He was in his mid thirties, with ragged
short hair and an unshaven mask of stubble. He seemed like he had been through
battle, he thought, as darkness closed in once more.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #327d13; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt;">‘The world outside ours isn’t like the fairytales’ he continued,
‘isn’t so peaceful and idyllic. Things reside in the Otherworld more terrible
than your most terrible nightmares.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #327d13; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt;">For the first time, the second man spoke. He was younger than
the first - clean shaven and with ashy blonde hair. When he spoke, he sounded
inquisitive - almost childlike in his simplicity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #327d13; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt;">‘So they exist then? Faeries?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #327d13; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt;">The smoking man laughed. ‘Not in the way you think.’ he answered
plainly, ‘Not in your storybook world. The beings that reside in that world -
some are peaceful. Most are not. Most would not hesitate in devouring you
alive, taking everything you own and then taking your very soul.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #327d13; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt;">The younger man was taken aback. He did not expect such a
straight and bitter answer. Admittedly, the thought of faeries and goblins
still made him think of the Brothers Grimm, of Hansel and Gretel and those
cautionary children’s tales of the nineteenth century. But the idea that they
could all be real? He had always passed it off as childhood fancies. These
things could not exist - not in the real world, not in the rational world. But
as this man insisted, they lay outside the rational world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #327d13; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt;">And yet, it was something he had always been fascinated with -
something that he had researched in his spare time. He devoured book after book
on the subject - accounts of meetings with the fair folk, of baby snatches and
banshees. But until now - until tonight - it had only been an interest. Now,
when this man had come to him, he was being forced to admit it was all true.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #327d13; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt;">His attention turned back to the speaker. He was taking another
drag from his cigarette, and taking the chance to speak, asked him a question
that was troubling him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #327d13; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt;">‘Why are you telling me this’, knowing full well why. He pulled
his bag closer to his waist, as though protecting it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #327d13; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt;">‘Because I have come to this pub every night for the past two
weeks, and I have seen you in the same seat; reading the same books. “History
of Folklore”, “The Court of Unseelie”, “The Revolt of the Faeries and the
Elves”. All books which I, too, own.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #327d13; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt;">The younger man was taken back again. Had this man been
following him? Had he been stalking him every night for the past fortnight? He
was right, though - they were books which he had in his bag even now. Every
night, he would come into this bar, choose a private cubicle, and read for
hours. Normally, he would be left alone, but not tonight. Tonight, he had been
approached.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #327d13; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt;">Trying not to show his surprise, he took another sip from his
pint and asked another question. ‘So what can I call you?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #327d13; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt;">The smoking man smiled, knowing he had really captured his
audience’s interest now. ‘You may call me Lucian’ he said, holding out his hand
to invite the same question.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #327d13; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt;">‘David. David Singer’ he replied, extending a handshake but
being met only with air; Lucian had already retracted his hand and laid it back
on the table. David took his hand away feeling rejected, and took another swig
of his pint.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #327d13; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt;">‘Well, Mister Singer’ Lucian said, ‘I have more to tell you, if
you wish to listen. I realise this may all come new to you, but you strike me
as…interesting. The question is, are you capable to stomaching the things I
will tell you?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #327d13; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt;">David blinked, uncomfortable of being put on the spot. He had
only met this man, who had sat down across from him so suddenly and started
telling him that faeries were real. For all he knew, he could be a raving lunatic
who would take him into a dark alleyway and kill him. But yet, in that
momentary glimpse he caught of the man’s features, he saw a sincerity that
would only come from heartache. Heartache, and trouble. If this man was indeed
mad, he certainly believed his own delusions with enthusiasm. Choosing to throw
caution to the wind, he nodded.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #327d13; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt;">‘Good’ Lucian said, without a hint of emotion. David wondered if
he was smiling through the darkness, and hoped that if he was, it was not
delight that he had found a new victim. ‘But here is not safe. We can meet
somewhere more private, where I may properly tell you what I know.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #327d13; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt;">David’s heart skipped a worried beat, but as though Lucian had
read his mind, he continued to speak. ‘It will not be devoid of people - you are
at no personal risk, Mister Singer. Meet me in Botanic Gardens tomorrow morning
at eleven. At the entrance.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #327d13; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt;">Without so much as another glance, Lucian got to his feet and
edged out of the private box. His long coat billowed behind him, caught in the
wind from the open door. The pub was emptying now, but the patrons left were
eyeing him suspiciously. As he began to walk towards the door, though, David
called after him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #327d13; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt;">‘Why me, Lucian?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #327d13; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt;">Lucian stopped in his tracks, turned around just a little, and
replied. David could not properly see him, still. Just the wild ragged dark
hair, the heavy eyes, and billowing coat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #327d13; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt;">‘Like I said’, he answered, ‘you interest me. Do not be late,
Mister Singer, as I will not wait for you.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #327d13; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 10pt;">With that, Lucian left the pub, leaving David alone with his
books and the remainder of his pint.</span></div>
</blockquote>
Here, David is more wholly me than he would eventually become, partly because it was I that Lucian was talking to in my mind's eye, not David. Lucian also changed - he no longer smokes, and his personality here is more akin to how he will be at the end of the story. At this point in my current draft he has not suffered, not experienced the heartache I saw when I met him. He came to me from a point after the story's conclusion, a point where all had been said and done.<br />
When I wrote this, I had no idea that I was writing the seed that would, inevitably, lead to my first novel. I had not yet studied my Yeats module at university, not yet made the link between the story's seed and the Occult Renaissance of the Late 19th Century. The filename itself shows this - 'Two Guys in a Bar - A New Thing'. I had no idea what I was getting myself into.<br />
Last but not least is the time stamp on the file. I wrote this on 2nd of October 2007. My current deadline of 1st October is, unknowingly, almost 5 years from the day I first met Lucian and David, the day I first peeked into the world of cobbles and clockwork. Perhaps I should celebrate that day by, finally, reaching the end of this road I set out on so long ago.<br />
This might just be my longest blog entry to date, so if you've come this far then, as always, thank you for reading. I hope this has been interesting for you.<br />
Tell me, how did your novel come to you? What was the first thing you wrote? Sound off in the comments below, and I look forward to reading whatever you have to say =)<br />
<br />
Until next time, dear readers. Keep writing.<br />
<br />
MattMatt Sloanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243128627804928961noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205644813725273045.post-37499525172342584402012-06-26T19:34:00.004+01:002012-06-26T19:34:59.468+01:00Fantasy Faction ContestHey everyone,<br />
<br />
Just a short update for now. I've just submitted my short story <b>'The Keeper of Tales'</b> to the <a href="http://fantasywritingcontest.com/">Fantasy Faction Anthology Competition</a>. I'm immensely proud of the story (though I wouldn't be a writer if I didn't hate it a little as well), so I really hope I win.<br />
<br />
The great part is, they have an 'entry plus' option. While the entry itself is free, for £7 you receive a full critique of your story by one of the judges, including what they liked, what they didn't, and what to work on as a writer. For the cost of a few cups of coffee this will be invaluable!<br />
<br />
For those who don't know, 'The Keeper of Tales' is a fantasy/horror story taking place at the turn of the 1800s. Two brothers, both writers of children's folk tales, seek to bury the body of a woman in the haunted, snowy woods of Germany. But this is no ordinary body, and as we learn the identity of the brothers we come face to face with not only what caused them to commit this terrible crime, but what it means to be a storyteller.<br />
<br />
Should I win, the story will be published in the upcoming Fantasy Faction Anthology, along with 5 other unknown writers and several known writers. As such there will be six winners all in all - all six winners will not only be published in the anthology but will receive a glass award to commemorate the achievement. The top three winners will also receive a cash prize.<br />
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<b>First Place </b>- $500</div>
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<b>Second Place</b> - £250</div>
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<b>Third Place</b> - $100</div>
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So, here's hoping. Do check out the website, feel free to enter, and as usual thanks for reading!</div>
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Matt</div>Matt Sloanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243128627804928961noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205644813725273045.post-32521337786308201142012-06-20T11:30:00.000+01:002012-06-20T11:30:07.116+01:00Guest Blogger: Miranda Boers, 'Be Inspired' Blog HopHey all,<br />
<br />
When I wrote my answers for the 'Be Inspired' Blog Hop a few days ago, I tagged the lovely Miranda Boers (@PurpleQueenNL on twitter). Unfortunately she doesn't have a blog at the moment, so I agreed to post her answers here. Do read them, her novel sounds great! So, without further ado...<br />
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.2672155643813312" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">'Be Inspired' Blog Hop </span></b></h3>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.2672155643813312" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First, the rules</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">:</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. Answer the ten questions</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. Tag five other writers, link to them in your post so we can hop over and see their answers too.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Questions</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">:</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. What is the name of your book:</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jade (working title, not come up with anything better yet – it the name of the MC’s nightclub in the book)</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. Where did the idea for your book come from?</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That’s a long winded one. As an early teenage I used to dream that I was a man, and it led me to thinking what my friends would think if they met me later in life and I was a man, so I would ask them! I also always wanted to own a nightclub – I was inspired by going to the Hippodrome in Leicester Square in London when I was 16 (and old theatre transformed into a nightclub), and with both those two idea, the fantasy grew of me being in my own nightclub, as a male, and some friends who knew me as a female came in one night, and I chatted with them, and they had no clue. Thus the book was born. </span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3. In what genre would you classify your book?</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have been trying to categorise it, and found one called Realist Fiction, which is is in that it is set in the here and now, with what is possible today, although I tend to refer to it as a Suspense and Reveal story, which is very character based. </span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4. If you had to pick actors to play your characters in a movie rendition, who would you choose? </span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lead MC would be a Brad Pitt (in his early days) look alike maybe…but otherwise I don’t really know, and although the faces of my characters are very clear to me, and the whole thing plays like a movie in my mind, I have never actually thought of what actors today would suit them. I am not a big fan of movies from books I have read! Many Stephen King films have ruined the characters I had in my mind, so I tend not to watch them. </span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5. Give us a one sentence synopsis of your book:</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Michael Nelson owns an exclusive nightclub in the centre of London, and is in love with his girlfriend Kate Turner, but has to tell her something that just might break them up, and ruin his business too.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6. Is your book already published/represented?</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No, it’s not quite finished, and still deciding on what route.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7. How long did it take to write your book?</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I started the book September 2010 – and I am hoping it will be only another month or so – so not quite 2 years.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">8. What other books within your genre would you compare it to? Or, readers of which books would enjoy yours? </span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am not sure; a friend that read it said it reminded him of Sidney Sheldon novels in terms of the setting. But really I have yet to really be able to place it. I haven’t read anything like it – well the suspense might come from my years of reading Stephen King, but that is about it. </span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">9. Which authors inspired you to write this book?</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This book specifically – none. But inspired me to write? It has to be Stephen King, I also love James Herbert and Clive Barker, and Terry Pratchett and Raymond Fiest. </span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">10. Tell us anything that might pique our interest in your book.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Michael Nelson loves his life as a nightclub owner, but loves his girlfriend more, and wants to marry her, but before he can do that he also has to tell her something about himself that might cause her to leave him, and if word gets out; destroy his reputation too. </span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He plans to tell her when they go to Australia together for work – he is setting up a new nightclub, while she is looking after clients. But when he meets a work colleague of hers, who recognises him – although not completely, things get a little big difficult, and he is pushed to tell her sooner than planned. What will happen if he tells her work colleague who he really is, and that they were once lovers? And what will she do once she finds out? </span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And now – to tag five other bloggers (apologies if you've already been tagged):</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Laura Huntly @LauraHuntley</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Edward Fraser @EWFF88</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jessica Maybury @JessicaMaybury</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jonathan D Allen @crimnos</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Michael Haynes @mohio73</span></b>Matt Sloanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243128627804928961noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205644813725273045.post-23821281967097418902012-06-17T13:04:00.002+01:002012-06-17T13:10:13.118+01:00Napping Blogger Award (and a little fan love)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://angierichmond.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/nappingblogger-black.png?w=584" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #373737; line-height: 24px;">So, Angie Richmond of </span><a href="http://angierichmond.wordpress.com/" style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;">Write Me Happy</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #373737; line-height: 24px;"> nominated me for this little meme/award. The rules?</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://angierichmond.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/nappingblogger-black.png?w=584" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" src="http://angierichmond.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/nappingblogger-black.png?w=584" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">1) Link back to the person/blog that nominated you<br />2) Tell us what you do to make time you YOU. That might be a hobby, a musical break, a favourite show or movie, sitting outside etc.<br />3) Nominated 5 bloggers - especially those you think could use a break.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So, what do I do to make time for me? Away from writing? Honestly I've spent so long procrastinating from various projects that the list is as long as my arm - gaming, seeing friends, watching an unhealthy amount of TV. But through it all, one thing stands out as something that helps me to just relax, switch off, and simply <i>be</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Those of you who know me best will know I've had a tough year. My main escape from this has been a greater focus on guitar. I might be a writer of fiction but a songwriter I am not, so don't think I sit and compose glorious melodies and lyrics that would make the angels weep. No, I'm more about covers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Those of you who know me best will also know I have a mild obsession with one singer-songwriter in particular, by the name of <a href="http://www.joshritter.com/">Josh Ritter</a>, going so far as to have a line of his lyrics on one of my tattoos. His lyrics are, simply put, incredible. He's been compared to greats like Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen, and while other people may escape into a great book, I escape into Josh Ritter's songs of love and loss, of Americana and endless searching. He even released a novel last year, titled 'Bright's Passage', which is probably one of the best novels I've read in recent years. Over the past year I've learnt as many Josh Ritter songs as I can, specifically teaching myself to fingerpick.</span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/zZZslCIAeEY?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span style="color: #373737; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">I've embeded one of my favourite songs of his, the one I'm the most proud of being able to learn. When I'm playing and singing this, everything else just disappears. All I've been through this past year melts away, and for a few minutes I'm lost in the world he creates. This is one of many Josh Ritter songs I would recommend to people. I could spend hours interpreting and discussing his lyrics, as I have done with friends who are fans.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #373737; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">I realise I've rambled on for long enough - I guess that says it all. In short, when I want to relax and just make time for me, I pick up the guitar and I lose myself in whatever song comes to mind - oftentimes the first thing I play will be Josh Ritter. I hope, one day, to be able to write even a single line with the brilliance and genius of his. So many songwriters these days are unable to write lyrics the way they used to be written - lyrics that can be discussed and interpreted; songs which leave you breathless.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #373737; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">So, now to tag people - and apologies if you've already been tagged! As usual thanks for reading - sorry this was a long one.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://dreaming-of-stories.blogspot.co.uk/">Dreaming of Stories</a> / @Afsaneh_Dreams</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://2catchahummingbird.blogspot.co.uk/">Catching Hummingbirds</a> / @2CAHummingbird</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.wix.com/eilisphillips/captainblog/apps/blog/noyemes-beast">Eilis Phillips</a> / @EilisPhillips</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://the-book-thief.blogspot.co.uk/">Andrew Moore</a> / @AGRMoore</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://anonymouslegacy.blogspot.co.uk/">Angela Goff</a> / @Angela_Goff</span></span></div>
<br />Matt Sloanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243128627804928961noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205644813725273045.post-15783859167299342992012-06-12T15:27:00.000+01:002012-06-13T20:05:05.519+01:00'Be Inspired' Blog Hop<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Hey folks,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Another meme, though this give me an opportunity to write a little about the current novel in progress. I was tagged by the lovely <a href="http://anonymouslegacy.blogspot.co.uk/">Angela Goff</a> (@Angela_Goff on twitter). As usual thanks for reading, and even if I don't tag you please take part anyway!</span><br />
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Georgia;">First, the rules</span></u></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">1. Answer the ten questions<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">2. Tag five other writers, link to them in your post so we can hop over and see their answers too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Georgia;">The Questions</span></u></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">1. What is the name of your book:</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Lucian (working title, possibly being changed to 'The Shadows at Sunrise').<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">2. Where did the idea for your book come from?</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">First, in my undergraduate degree I took a module entirely on Yeats. One of my favourite aspects of this module was studying Yeats' fascination with the Occult, and the so-called Occult Renaissance that took place at the end of the 19th Century. Societies like the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and Madame Blavatsky's Theosophical Society were so sure that they were about to discover something special, some hidden knowledge that would explain our place in the universe. I began to wonder, what if they did? What if we were contacted by some otherworldly force? The world of Lucian was born. Of course, since then the moment of contact in Lucian's world has been driven back by a few hundred years, but the seed was still in the Occult Renaissance of our world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Secondly, and rather more simply, A man sat down in front of me in my mind's eye. He was a man who had seen things, a man who life had not been kind to. As with most writers this came completely out of the blue, but suddenly I was there, we were sitting in a dark bar, and he spoke to me. He said 'What I am about to tell you is true; you can choose to believe me, or you can walk out that door.' He motioned to the heavy door of the pub, cigarette still in hand, and took a draw. 'I don't care either way,' he finished, and I was hooked.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">3. In what genre would you classify your book?</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Young Adult Urban Fantasy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">4. If you had to pick actors to play your characters in a movie rendition, who would you choose? </span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">I honestly have no idea. Unknowns would be good, simply because I don't want people looking at David, or Lucian, or any of my other characters and thinking 'oh hey, it's James Bond, and look there's the guy from Jumper'. Fresh faces are always good, so long as they can act. But why start thinking about this now? I have to finish the damn thing first.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">5. Give us a one sentence synopsis of your book:</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">A teenage boy with the ability to see the dead is told that he is from a parallel Earth; taken there by the enigmatic Lucian, promised the truth about where he comes from, there are darker forces afoot that threaten not only Lucian's world, but all worlds.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">6. Is your book already published/represented?</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Not yet. I ran into some trouble with it, and it sat undisturbed for a while, but I believe I'm finally getting to a state where I can finish it. It's currently sitting at 66,000 words.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">7. How long did it take to write your book?</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Too long.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">8. What other books within your genre would you compare it to? Or, readers of which books would enjoy yours? </span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">I'm honestly not sure. Readers of Garth Nix, Neil Gaiman, even J.K. Rowling. It's tough to say...it's dark at times, so I can only hope that readers of any upper band YA would likely enjoy it.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">9. Which authors inspired you to write this book?</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Obviously W.B. Yeats is responsible for the seed of the story itself. Otherwise, as above, writers like Neil Gaiman who are able to weave fantastically real fantasy worlds that skirt the edges of our society, or J.K. Rowling for her ability to carve a grandiose epic from a beginning so small.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">10. Tell us anything that might pique our interest in your book.</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">I find it so hard to boil down the story to a single sentence, something which I know I will have to work on for query letters and suchlike. As such, here is a longer synopsis.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">'Can anyone really change their destiny?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Seventeen year old David Gardener has always been able to see the spirits of the dead, and those nameless things that lurk just beyond the veil. He never knew his family, so when the enigmatic Lucian Ducant tells him he is from a parallel world, he doesn't know what to believe.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Desperate to discover where he comes from, clinging to the promise of answers, he joins Lucian in a world of cobbled streets and clockwork, where history took an entirely different turn and magic is fact. But something is stirring beyond the veil, and Lucian is not being entirely truthful with David. What of the strange dreams he is having, of the trenches and the dying, and the wall of mist so thick that it blocks out the sun? A terrible destiny awaits David, one which threatens not only the fate of the world he comes to think of as home, but the fate of every person in every world.'</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">And now – to tag five other bloggers (apologies if you've already been tagged):</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://dreaming-of-stories.blogspot.co.uk/">Dreaming of Stories</a> / @Afsaneh_Dreams</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://2catchahummingbird.blogspot.co.uk/">Catching Hummingbirds</a> / @2CAHummingbird</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.wix.com/eilisphillips/captainblog/apps/blog/noyemes-beast">Eilis Phillips</a> / @EilisPhillips</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/PurpleQueenNL">Miranda Boers</a> / </span><span style="background-color: transparent; line-height: 18px;">@PurpleQueenNL</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"><b><a href="http://angierichmond.wordpress.com/">Angie Richmond</a> / @write_me_happy</b></span></span></div>Matt Sloanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243128627804928961noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205644813725273045.post-73738489531277419422012-06-08T11:42:00.000+01:002012-06-08T11:42:51.247+01:00Five Sentence Fiction: Lost<br />
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<span lang="EN-US">It's Five Sentence Fiction time again! As usual, every week <a href="http://lilliemcferrin.com/">Lillie McFerrin</a> posts a prompt on her blog (now moved to a new site). The goal? A flash fiction story, five sentences long, based on the prompt.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">This one is a little formulaic, but I think it might work regardless. As usual, thanks for reading, and leave a comment to let me know what you think.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">This Week's Prompt: <b>Lost</b></span></div>
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(Photo taken by me - please do not use without permission)</div>
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<span lang="EN-US">It was starting to get dark; mist was
rolling in from the reservoir, blurring the lines of trees and fallen logs and
the slopes where, Sophie knew, she could easily fall and break her leg. As she
stumbled on a mossy log she called out for them again, but she knew it would be
fruitless; it had been hours since she had strayed from the path, and her
parents were likely searching in completely the wrong direction. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Her eyes stung after the deluge of tears;
another log, another stumble and she caught her balance on a huge tree, resting
her back against it to try and let her despair subside. And there, almost
hidden by a huge oak, was the smallest cabin; threadbare curtains hung on the
windows, illuminated by the flickering candlelight within.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Her heart screamed that this was not right,
that something seemed off, but she approached the cabin anyway; it was only
when she got closer that she saw a hand let the threadbare curtain fall, and
her voyeur’s shadow dart past the candlelight.</span></div>Matt Sloanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243128627804928961noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205644813725273045.post-17914661502066941862012-05-21T01:36:00.000+01:002012-05-21T11:11:56.202+01:00Five Sentence Fiction: FoggyTime for another Five Sentence Fiction post. As usual, every week <a href="http://lilliemcferrin.blogspot.co.uk/">Lillie McFerrin</a> posts a prompt. The objective? Write a five sentence long Flash Fiction story based off that prompt. It doesn't need to include the word, but just be the seed of the story.<br />
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My original idea for this prompt was different, but I couldn't get the idea to work. Perhaps I'll go back to it sometime, and write another story based off the idea. Perhaps it simply can't be told in five short sentences, and needs to be something a little longer. As usual, thanks for reading and hope you enjoy!<br />
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This Week's Prompt: <b>Foggy</b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Despite the density of the fog I knew that
something was wrong. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I should have been able to see movement in
the cabin’s windows, a shadow pass as my wife laid the table and my son did his
best to distract her, but not the porch swing nor the trees dared to move
and not a single light shone from within.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I got out of the car, my heart beating so
hard I thought it would burst out of my chest, my mind whirring through all the
possibilities. As my foot touched the porch step I had almost convinced myself
that, just maybe, Sheryl had simply fallen asleep; a short lived lie, and in
retrospect my last moment of solace before my world was ripped apart.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">My foot slipped on something wet and I had
to grab onto the railing to keep from falling; I looked, my heart beating even
harder; the porch, the doorframe, and the door itself were soaked in what could
only be my family’s blood.</span></div>Matt Sloanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243128627804928961noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205644813725273045.post-31142829205570355712012-05-17T19:14:00.000+01:002012-05-21T11:13:14.131+01:00Kreativ Blogger Award<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 26px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Hey all,</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 26px;">So, I've just been tagged in the 'Kreativ Blogger Award' by</span><span style="line-height: 26px;"> <a href="http://thelastkrystallos.blogspot.co.uk/">Lisa Shambrook</a> (</span><span style="line-height: 26px;">check out her blog...) so here goes...</span><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><span style="line-height: 26px;">The Rules:</span><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><span style="line-height: 26px;">1. Thank & link back to the person who nominated you.</span><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><span style="line-height: 26px;">2. Answer the ten questions.</span><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><span style="line-height: 26px;">3. Share ten random facts/thoughts about yourself.</span><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><span style="line-height: 26px;">4. Nominate seven worthy blogs for the Kreative Blogger Award.</span><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><span style="line-height: 26px;">The Questions:</span><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><i style="line-height: 26px;">1. What's your favorite song?</i><br style="line-height: 26px;" />This tends to change a lot, but Josh Ritter's "Wings" gives me chills every time.<br style="line-height: 26px;" /><i style="line-height: 26px;"></i><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><i style="line-height: 26px;">2. What's your favorite dessert?</i><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><span style="line-height: 26px;">Cheesecake, every time. Honeycomb Cheesecake is incredible.</span><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><i style="line-height: 26px;"></i><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><i style="line-height: 26px;">3. What ticks you off?</i><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><span style="line-height: 26px;">Disrespecting another's beliefs, opinion, or way of life. We are, each of us, entitled to our say, unless that way of life directly harms another person or yourself. That and racism.</span><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><i style="line-height: 26px;"></i><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><i style="line-height: 26px;">4. What do you do when you're upset?</i><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><span style="line-height: 26px;">You'd expect a writer to say "write", correct? Surprisingly I can't write at all when I'm upset - instead, I play guitar. </span><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><i style="line-height: 26px;"></i><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><i style="line-height: 26px;">5. Which is your favorite pet?</i><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><span style="line-height: 26px;">I have two cats, Selene and Solstice, who I could not be without. I'd probably go crazy with loneliness without them. I'll never forget my last dog though, Shadow. He's dead a year and a half, and was my best friend for a decade. Rest in Peace, buddy.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><i style="line-height: 26px;">6. Which do you prefer: black or white?</i><br style="line-height: 26px;" />Would you like a literal or philosophical answer? Can black exist without white? Good without evil? If so, then I'll say black ;)<br style="line-height: 26px;" /><i style="line-height: 26px;"></i><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><i style="line-height: 26px;">7. What is your biggest fear?</i><br style="line-height: 26px;" />Losing those I care most about.<br style="line-height: 26px;" /><i style="line-height: 26px;"></i><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><i style="line-height: 26px;">8. What is your attitude mostly?</i><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><span style="line-height: 26px;">I'm a worrier, unfortunately. I'm quiet, shy, can become quite introverted, and self-conscious, though online I'm almost a different person.</span><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><i style="line-height: 26px;"></i><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><i style="line-height: 26px;">9. What is perfection?</i><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><span style="line-height: 26px;">A house by the sea, with two cats and someone who loves me. A few novels published, a comfortable amount of money in the bank, and for one person in the world to finish my novel and think 'wow...my life is never going to be the same again'. But does perfection exist? All we can hope for is to get as close to perfection as is possible, with minimal heartbreak along the way.</span><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><i style="line-height: 26px;"></i><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><i style="line-height: 26px;">10. What is your guilty pleasure?</i><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><span style="line-height: 26px;">God, there's far too many to even list...</span><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><span style="line-height: 26px;">The Random Facts:</span><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><span style="line-height: 26px;">1. Beginning from when I was a kid, I've wanted to be everything from an archaeologist, an astronaut, a palaeontologist, a videogame journalist, a psychologist, a teacher, and a writer. I still have no idea what I want to do with my life.</span><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><span style="line-height: 26px;">2. I gave up the dream of archaeology because I was scared of ancient Egyptian curses (I was 6, to be fair...)</span><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><span style="line-height: 26px;">3. I live in Northern Ireland, which can be nice...sometimes. We have an 800 year old Norman Castle in our town, perfectly preserved.</span><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><span style="line-height: 26px;">4. I want, more than anything, to go north and see the Aurora Borealis with my own eyes.</span><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><span style="line-height: 26px;">5. I am quick to fear someone will let me down, but equally quick to give people second chances. I place a lot of faith in people sometimes.</span><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><span style="line-height: 26px;">6. I've been working on my novel, in some shape or form, for 4 years (from when the initial idea struck me). I have two other novel ideas waiting in the wings.</span><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><span style="line-height: 26px;">7. I was vegetarian for ten years until last summer. Since then, I've been trying any kind of meat I can get my hands on. My favourite so far is either Kangaroo or Venison...</span><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><span style="line-height: 26px;">8. I struggle to write, a lot, and have little faith in my own writing ability. When someone gives me positive feedback I often disregard it, thinking they are just being nice, and I find it far easier to accept criticism.</span><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><span style="line-height: 26px;">9. My favourite movie is still The Shawshank Redemption. Can't get much better than Shawshank.</span><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><span style="line-height: 26px;">10. If I was going to change my name to anything, it would be Alexander. I don't know why. </span><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><br style="line-height: 26px;" /><span style="line-height: 26px;">The Nominations:</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 26px;">No idea if these bloggers have already participated, but here you go!</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 26px;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 26px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">http://anonymouslegacy.blogspot.co.uk/ - @angela_goff</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 26px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">http://dasiahasablog.blogspot.co.uk/ - @awkwardoptimist</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 26px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">http://jemcogdell.blogspot.co.uk/ - @jean_elaine</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 26px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">http://lilliemcferrin.blogspot.co.uk/ - @lilliemcferrin</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 26px;">http://2catchahummingbird.blogspot.co.uk/ -</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;"> @2CAHummingbird</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">http://the-book-thief.blogspot.co.uk/</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 19px;"> - @AGRMoore</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 19px;">http://arichmondwritemehappy.blogspot.co.uk/ - @write_me_happy</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>Matt Sloanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243128627804928961noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205644813725273045.post-58146889129841005802012-05-12T10:45:00.000+01:002012-05-12T10:45:49.312+01:00One Year Ago<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">(Photo taken in 2008, at my Bachelor's Degree graduation)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">One year ago today, at 6:52am, my dad left this world after a short battle with cancer. My mum was by his side as he took his last breath, while I never had the chance to say goodbye.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">For many reasons this has been the hardest year of my life, so I want to say, while I have the chance, how much I value each and every one of you who have stood by me during this time. Life is short, and it can end so suddenly. So if you love someone, tell them. If you need someone, tell them. Don't waste time. Don't have regrets. We have once chance at this.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">I love you Dad, and I miss you more than anything.</span>Matt Sloanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243128627804928961noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205644813725273045.post-80572395973492645432012-05-11T17:19:00.002+01:002012-05-11T17:19:59.622+01:00A Delayed UpdateSo, unfortunately it's been a month since I updated - the result of a lot going on in the world of Matt, but not a lot going on in the world of writing. If you're reading this and wondering where I've been, I'm sorry.<br />
Chiefly, tomorrow will be the one year anniversary of my father's death, a date which has overshadowed most of the last few months. Suffice to say, I'm dreading it.<br />
As a result of this, though I would be naive to think this was the only cause, I've barely written this past month. A few flash pieces here and there, though nothing substantial enough to think it could spark a longer story (and not anything that is worth posting here).<br />
I've been preparing <i>The Keeper of Tales</i> on and off for the past month, having a few people read the (almost) final version, with my sights firmly placed on a competition hosted by <a href="http://fantasywritingcontest.com/">Fantasy Faction</a> for their upcoming anthology. First Prize is $500, but I'd be happy with simply having my work published in the anthology. The competition seems to be a bit of a career maker, with the winning entries being published alongside several renowned authors. I'd be a fool not to submit, and <i>The Keeper of Tales</i> seems a perfect fit.<br />
Apart from this? A little planning for <i>The Shadow of Death</i>, and a lot of sitting around considering what to do with my novel-in-progress, <i>Lucian (Working Title)</i>. This is the big one, and it needs finished. Fast. Before I go insane and set fire to the manuscript.<br />
Before we wrap up, I'd just like to take a moment to plug <a href="http://eschatologyjournal.org/">Eschatology Journal</a>, which I was previously published in. They really are a great journal, specialising in apocalyptic fiction, and are great for aspiring writers to get their work out there. They're currently looking for donations, and I'm happy to say I donated what I could. If even half their readers donated $1, they could raise their payscale from Token Payment to Semi-Professional, so every penny donated goes back to the writers they publish. Just click 'become a patron' if you are interested. I want to see this, and all literary journals, succeed.<br />
I have a few ideas for upcoming entries, so hopefully I'll get them written hard and fast. Aside from this, any writing games, competitions, or updates on my many works in progress will be posted here!<br />
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Thanks for reading folks. As usual, any suggestions for blog entries are very appreciated.<br />
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Happy writing!<br />
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MattMatt Sloanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243128627804928961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205644813725273045.post-91557522980498748232012-04-12T23:07:00.000+01:002012-05-21T11:12:42.700+01:00Five Sentence Fiction: Armour<div style="text-align: center;">
First time doing this - Every week, <a href="http://lilliemcferrin.blogspot.co.uk/">Lillie McFerrin</a> posts a theme on her blog for a FSF challenge. Decided, at last, to give it a go!</div>
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This week's theme - <b>Armour</b>.</div>
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(Yes, I'm British, so I spell it with a U)</div>
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<span lang="EN-US">She donned the armour in silence, as best
as she could considering she would have to manage on her own. First the leather
hide, that part was easy; then plate metal, rubbed in goose fat for lubrication
and insulation, for in the North Lands the cold could freeze your bones with
just a whip of the wind. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">She found that she could move easier than
expected, and the magic of the armour changed its shape to accommodate her
smaller physique, but as it twisted to the contours of her breasts the hole
over her heart remained. The armour could not knit this back together, for the
sword that had pierced it had been spelled with dark magic, with runes to
degrade and destroy.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Cloaked now in the armour her father had
died in, she took up his sword; tonight, her father would be avenged.</span></div>Matt Sloanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243128627804928961noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205644813725273045.post-89100834448665668462012-04-06T16:32:00.000+01:002012-04-06T16:32:43.526+01:00The Keeper of Tales, and 7 Sentence ChallengeThe past few days have been focused on finishing my latest short story, which I've mentioned in previous posts. Following the feedback received from my writers group (a shout out here to Joanne, Eilis, Niamh and Cathy) and from my good friend Liz (visit her fantastic ezine <a href="http://www.wordlegs.com/">Wordlegs</a>), the story is very nearly complete. Titled <i>'The Keeper of Tales</i>', it's about two brothers and their clandestine burial of a body deep in the snowy woods of Germany. As in all good stories there is more to this than meets the eye, and things go from bad to worse when we discover just who - or what - the body is.<br />
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I'll give no more away. It's now at a third or fourth draft stage, and I have a few others reading at the moment it for final opinions before I start looking for a suitable market. This, I think, I'll write about next time. There is a fantastic website I have used in the past, sort of like a searchable Writer and Artist Yearbook, which I couldn't recommend more if you are a fellow writer.<br />
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As a teaser, I thought I'd take part in a little meme proposed by my good friend Angela Goff over at <a href="http://anonymouslegacy.blogspot.co.uk/">Anonymous Legacy</a> (you can follow her on twitter at @angela_goff). It's called 'The Lucky Seven Game'.<br />
<ol>
<li>Go to page 7 or 77 in your current manuscripe.</li>
<li>Go to line 7.</li>
<li>Copy down the next seven lines/sentences as they are - no cheating.</li>
<li>Tag seven other authors.</li>
</ol>
While I don't have seven other authors to tag who have not already taken part (if you'd like to take part and don't have a blogspot, feel free to post in my comments), I thought, what better time to post something from The Keeper of Tales? So, here you have it - seven lines from the seventh page.<br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><i>Wilhelm
curses and pulls me on. The preternatural wind whips up again, the manifestation of
her rage; all around us I hear sounds and movement coming out of the snow and
the dark; inhuman cries, muddled voices and half conversations. A glance and
Wilhelm dodges something I did not see, but I hear him swear even over the
cacophony of sound.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><i> ‘What were those things,’ he calls.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><i> ‘I don’t know, just keep moving!’<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><i> ‘They’re her, she’s doing this!’</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Teasing, right? Hopefully you can read The Keeper of Tales soon as possible, if I am lucky enough for it to be picked up by anyone. Until next time, and thanks for reading.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Matt</span></div>Matt Sloanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243128627804928961noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205644813725273045.post-19980255051164561122012-03-29T02:14:00.001+01:002012-03-29T12:47:14.818+01:00Why Do We Fear The Doppelganger?When I was a kid, I had the same recurring nightmare that, it seems, I shared with most children. I would be in my house, where everything would seem fine. My mother and father would be there in the living room. I would leave for the kitchen...and there, standing at the sink, would be my mother. I'd know instantly that this was not her, my real mother was in the living room, this was some sort of monster or impostor, and when she turned around I could see the evil on her face. She would chase me back to my parents, or catch me and I would wake just as those hands that were not hers took hold of me.<br />
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But I wasn't alone in this. Talking to a few friends, I found that they had exactly the same type of nightmare. Even thinking about it now that dream still creeps me out, and it seems it's left its mark on my writing.<br />
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Tonight I read a post on Facebook which, summarising, said this - You hear a voice from the kitchen, your mother, asking you to come downstairs. On your way down you hear your mother calling from the bedroom, saying not to go down, she heard it too. Which do you believe?<br />
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Chills, right? Something so simple it borders on the cliché, but for some reason this really gets to me. Something which is not your mother, using her voice, screams malevolence. I'm not the only one who thinks so. Neil Gaiman's novel <i>'Coraline'</i> features a young girl, the titular character, who, finding her way into a parallel world, discovers her 'Other Mother'. The main difference is that this Other Mother has buttons for eyes and means, in the end, to eat Coraline. A simplification of the plot, you understand, but there you have that old fear that one's mother is not who she says she is.<br />
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Let's widen the scope a little. In TV's <i>'Supernatural'</i>, there is an episode featuring the folkloric 'wendigo' - a creature into which humans could transform if they commit acts of cannibalism. The show's incarnation possesses one particular ability - the ability to mimic the voice of any human. Lying in wait in the woods, it calls out for help using the voice of one of the missing group. The group goes looking, and the creature devours them. In real-world Ethiopia, there is talk of a wolf-like creature called a 'corocotta' which has the ability to mimic the human voice, and lures its victims by calling them by name.<br />
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Sound familiar? In <i>'The Blair Witch Project'</i>, the antagonistic force in the woods calls out to the two remaining characters using the voice of their missing friend. It screams for help in the night, luring them into a trap. Therein, I believe, lies what is so unsettling about these dreams of the 'Other Mother'. It can also, I think, be seen in the folkloric changeling faery. A creature mimicking the voice, the appearance, or otherwise characteristic of what we know, what is familiar, what is safe. As human beings we, in our arrogance, consider ourselves to the apex of our ecosystem, so when something inhuman is able to mimic our voice, our intelligence, the thing that makes us human, it shakes us to our core.<br />
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I leave you with a personal note. In my story <i>'A Letter Found Amongst the Dead'</i>, a town is laid siege to by Knockers from the nearby mine. As usual it can be read on the left hand side of your screen, but I will quote a passage here:<br />
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<i>The Knockers are on the roof again, clawing at the clay tiles, trying to get in. They call out with human voices, trying to lure us out, then cackle at their own cunning. They have learned our names, somehow, and call out to us using them, including the children.</i><br />
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The mimicking of the human soul - every writer has their major themes they revisit time and time again, and I think this is something that I will continue to write about. We write about both what we understand and what we hope to understand, so it is no surprise that our deepest fears creep their way into our stories too, whether they be the work of modern fiction or the whispered fears of our folkloric ancestry.<br />
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Until next time,<br />
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MattMatt Sloanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243128627804928961noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205644813725273045.post-41695086271615233432012-03-19T12:27:00.000+00:002012-03-24T02:27:27.989+00:00Why I Write (at least at the moment)<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">'I'll be a story in your head, but that's OK. </span><em style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16px;">We</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">'</span><em style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16px;">re all stories in the end</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">.'</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">- The Eleventh Doctor, <i>Doctor Who</i> S31E13</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><b>Here be minor spoilers for Doctor Who. Read at your peril.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">A few days ago, in the midst of ignoring my manuscript and the short stories I'm meant to be working on, I got around to watching Season 5 of the Doctor Who Reboot. In the midst of the season finale the above line stuck out like a splinter. I had chills. Sure, in many ways the line is a glaringly obvious one bordering on pop philosophy, but sometimes something is worded so simply that it shines with charm.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">I'm not the only one who honed in on this line - many clearly have judging by the amount of fan videos that popped up when I googled it. But it struck a chord with me, and made me realise something about my writing for this past year.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">Since the sudden death of my father in May of last year, my writing has taken on a preoccupation with death, and dying, and any facet of the last days of our lives. Everywhere I look there is a body, or bodies, from the clandestine burial in the snowy woods of <i>'The Keeper of Tales'</i>, to the world of the dead in my current novelette <i>'The Shadow of Death'</i>. Even <i>'A Letter Found Amongst the Dead'</i>, which you can read in Eschatology Journal on the left hand side of this page, needs no explanation. There are many more unfinished pieces besides, little flash fiction stories and snippets of dialogue which I have collected but never completed.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">The shadow of Death looms over us every day, and for a long time I wasn't dealing with my Dad's death. So it subconsciously came out in my writing; all those mixed up feelings, those nightmares I was having, became words on the page. And if that is the case then what do we become, in the end, to the ones we leave behind?</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">Faced with not only death but being erased from existence, the Eleventh Doctor tells Amy Pond that he will be a story in her head, the imaginary friend she had as a child. Now that my dad is gone, all I'm left with is stories; the things he did in his amazing life, the things he saw around the world when he was a merchant sailor. But even that isn't what I've focused on; I've focused on his body, on how he looked after death. I've focused on the burial, standing by his graveside as the funeral director hands me a flower to drop on top of the coffin. My dad has become a story in my head, and I've focused on this age old question, perhaps the greatest of them all - What happens after we die?</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">There's so much more I could write here - many of my stories come from dreams, and if that is so then some amount of analysis of the subconscious mind is in order, but I'll save that for another time. For now, what I'll say is this: I have, for months, been working out my dad's death through my writing, entirely subconsciously, and I will continue to do so. I'm going to get back to working on <i>'The Shadow of Death'</i>, which I think focuses mainly on my discontent with the conventional afterlife with some funereal imagery thrown in for good measure. Now that I'm more conscious of my preoccupation with death, perhaps I can improve on what I was writing before.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">Until next time, readers.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">Matt</span></span></div>Matt Sloanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243128627804928961noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205644813725273045.post-23700532494366686222012-03-10T22:13:00.001+00:002012-03-10T23:38:20.478+00:00New BeginningSo, when I heard that it's a good idea for a writer to have a blog these days, I freaked a little. 'What do I know about blogging?', I said, having not had a blog in years.<br />
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But why not? Maybe, I thought, it would help me get out of this writing slump I'm in, forcing me to update and at least consider what it is I'm supposed to be doing here - this great old behemoth that is the bohemian life. Yes, readers, I am in a bit of a writing slump and I have been for a year. What a surprise - a struggling writer. In this time I've written a few flash pieces and one short story, but what I'm really supposed to be doing is writing a novel.<br />
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I have a novel in progress - it's called Lucian (working title), it's a YA Fantasy novel, and currently stands at 66,620 words. Many of these were written during one year's successful NaNoWriMo (that's National Novel Writing Month for those not in the know), but after that I completely slowed down. Now it's at a standstill, and that's really starting to get me down.<br />
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So, perhaps having a blog will help. I can get my thoughts out, ramble a little, bore you all half to death. But maybe, just maybe, I'll find a spark, and that spark will grow and grow until at last I will be thundering through the final 40,000 words of the novel and have a finished manuscript.<br />
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Those of you who know me, please, pester me to update this if I start to neglect it? And even if this doesn't help with Lucian, it will be a place to keep my ideas, even just to post the little things that I probably will never publish but which I like enough not to delete.<br />
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Signing off, then. I'll update this when I have something to say, whether it's about the novel or just something that's inspired me.<br />
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MattMatt Sloanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13243128627804928961noreply@blogger.com6