Someone said it was National Black Cat Day, but as I'm Australian, I'm going to call it I'national Black Cat Day (as in International). So here are my pics of my favourite black cat. His name was Boof (aka Barbari Thom Thumper). Unwriting week it's been. Shoulder surgery last week (I think), next shoulder next … Continue reading Black Cat Day
Month: October 2020
Blue Moon
Not the song, the moon itself is appearing twice in the month. And more exciting, for those who wish to do dastardly scary stories on Halloween, the second full moon is 31 October (we are in Australia, so check your zone -- do you get a blue moon this month?). Halloween will have a full … Continue reading Blue Moon
All the books…!!!
Antipodean darkness creeps here … read on, if you dare
I published a lot this year and not sure I really updated the news blog about them, so here’s the latest books. In fact, hell, here are all the books available through Amazon…!!!
If you see any advertised on Amazon at ridiculously high prices, or any books you don’t see here ( I counted 26 of 28 :P), feel free to email me (dillonstephen@hotmail.com) for a quote with your address as Amazon (AU especially) keep bumping up the prices….
The Call to Magic:
Amazon Description: Awaken, spirit of Maiden, vessel of a pure soul and bearer of an empath’s heart. Aventi sends out the call for a new Maiden. If she doesn’t get a replacement, magic will leave her. If that happens, she can’t heal, and her soul remains blemished forever.Please, she begs, feel your truth.But when the … Continue reading The Call to Magic:
Make it Easy on the Reader
The new story is up on pre-order, and I tried to take all the advice for making it easy on the reader. I'm not talking only the words that make up the story -- there's a ton of other stuff. For example, I put the blurb/description as part of the eBook these days. This is … Continue reading Make it Easy on the Reader
A New Story in The Month that was, Even While in the Middle of it!
Did you see the new addition off to the right? Yes, I finished another project. I'll say the genre is Dark Urban Fantasy with touches of metaphysical and horror, but the latter two are there as an indication, not a notice of classic witchcraft or slasher horror. The story is scary, it goes places Dante … Continue reading A New Story in The Month that was, Even While in the Middle of it!
Coming Soon to a Nightmare Near You …
A new story, a novella. Want to know about it? Okay, you asked for it: Dark Urban Fantasy with a touch of Horror ... Description: Awaken, spirit of Maiden, vessel of a pure soul and bearer of an empath’s heart. Aventi sends out the call for a new Maiden. If she doesn’t get a replacement, … Continue reading Coming Soon to a Nightmare Near You …
Critiquing a friend’s book… how do you tell them it doesn’t work?
Ever had the feedback dilemma? Here’s the goss on how to do it:
I’ve had this interesting question from Jan.
A friend has finished drafting her first novel. She asked me to proofread before she sends it to agents. I explained she would up her chances if she got it edited too, so she asked if I could do that.
I’m reading the manuscript and have found what I feel are fundamental issues. For instance, I’m 57 pages in and nothing dramatic has happened, I still don’t know the theme of the book, or what any of the characters are driving towards. There is a lot of description, but I haven’t been able to discern its purpose.
I really want her to have the best chance, so how do I essentially ask her to rewrite from scratch? She’s proud of the manuscript; (she should be, she wrote 92,000 words and had the dedication to stick to it). I’m trying to work out the…
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QotD Oct 9 Kindness
Let’s call it this day, every day — what’s your story?
I decided to add a bit of description to the title because, whenever someone pings these it gets confusing after a while. I used to be pretty good at titles, maybe I’ll get my title mojo back again. We’ll see. Coming up with a good, descriptive title is hard, y’all. Especially if you have to do it every day. Other bloggers will back me up on this. Anyway, here is today’s prompt — it’s not really a question, but what can you do? The thing says Simple Prompt Generator not Question Generator. So maybe I misnamed this challenge. Ha! Either way, the prompt says: Write about the kindness of strangers.
There’s a lot of bad in this world, y’all, especially right now. But there is also a lot of good. It makes me sad, sometimes when I hear my friends bemoan the…
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It’s in the Eyes
It’s been a year, and it’s Dad’s birthday again, so I think of him and that day when I saw myself through his eyes …
#FPQ: What do you believe, when it comes to people’s traits and personalities? Are they primarily formed and shaped by nature or by nurture, as defined above? What about your personality? Nature or nurture?
The bathroom window takes up all of one wall. It’s huge. Faces west. The afternoon sun makes the space as bright as an operating room. I like that. No mould.
The other day, I went in to dust and wipe and tidy. The doors to the mirror shone to a smear-free finish. The best time to do it is in the afternoon when the sun highlights all the marks and smudges.
I looked up, and …
My father’s eyes looked back at me.
It’s the first time I’ve ever seen the direct relationship between the two of us. We don’t look alike in any other way. Different hair, body shape, facial structure, ears, hands, feet.
But…
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