Ned Hayes's Blog, page 70
November 26, 2014
autumn leaves… time to start reading my winter books!
autumn leaves… time to start reading my winter books!
medieval pen and ink.
medieval pen and ink.
BOOK QUOTE
“Fog lifts in the valley, rising as mist through the...
BOOK QUOTE
“Fog lifts in the valley, rising as mist through the bare limbed trees. Far below, the deeping combe with our village in the heart of it. My whole world for nearly a decade has been contained in that place – and now the village of Duns is so small. I hold up my hand, form a circle with my fingers. Now the distant village seems a child’s plaything that I can hold in my own hand, wreathed in gossamer mist.”
November 25, 2014
"If you think you have come to an unhappy ending, it is not the true end. Keep going awhile."
- Liz Rosenberg, The Moonlight Palace (via booksquoteslove)
BOOK QUOTE:
"Sound carries far here in the trees. Snow slides...
BOOK QUOTE:
"Sound carries far here in the trees. Snow slides off a heavy oak as some creature shuffles through the woods, and ancient branches snap. Out of the corner of one eye, I see the flash of colored feathers. It is a yellowhammer, black eyes flickering in a hedgerow, tiny breast plumped out in golden livery, streaked with colors rich and brown. It was calling in its winter song. Moments later, the bracken flutters and the slight shadow of the bird darts into the woods.”
from the novel SINFUL FOLK
PHOTO: ivvvoo - slow march of the winter trees
"How beautifully leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days."
-
― John Burroughs
(via frostnymph)
"That’s really what banning (books) does - it turns off lights that someone could have used to..."
- (via s133p)
November 24, 2014
Writing my heart out tonight…
Writing my heart out tonight…
Free Read -- The Monument -- Preview of Wilderness of Mirrors
After the labor of Sinful Folk, I wanted a break from medieval tales, and so I went in a totally new direction, writing in a new world — the world of George Bush’s War on Terror and Iraq invasion.
Almost two years ago, I started working on a new novel set in a weirdly fantastic version of 9-11 and the aftermath of those horrific events. The story has particular resonance for me, since I was sitting on a plane on Sept 11, 2001, waiting to fly to New York.
This story has been described by early readers as an “intricate, bizarre” and “fascinating, suspenseful” — since this is not a “straight” story, but is more of a new supernatural horror story, I wrote it under my pseudonymn Nicholas Hallum (this is just so people can keep straight my different kinds of writing).
I was gratified to recently receive a note from master fantasy writer Tim Powers, who said he’d be fine with me putting “easter eggs” to his work into this book, which kind of made my day. So if you’re an avid Tim Powers reader, see if you can find some references to his novel Declare in this new work of fiction.
The complete novel should be out in about a year. But for now, I’m releasing little bits and pieces of the novel as short stories or excerpts (by permission of my publisher) that may pique your interest.
The first such public excerpt is THE MONUMENT which includes the prologue (set in 2002), as well as an important formative episode (from my main character’s 1963 childhood). Here it is — a new story from Nick Hallum today — “The Monument” — a strange little interlude excerpted from the forthcoming novel “Wilderness of Mirrors.”
For one week only, I’m making THE MONUMENT FREE for everyone to read. So here it is — enjoy!
GET THE MONUMENT for FREE here »
SUMMARY
After 9-11, the NSA sends Peter Fisher to the Iraqi desert with a Stryker brigade to investigate a strange phenomenon that may turn the tide of the battle to free Iraq. In the horrific aftermath of his secret mission, Peter recalls his youthful collaboration with powers he barely understands and that influence his life for decades to come.
Free Read — The Monument — Preview of Wilderness of Mirrors was originally published on NedNote
BOOK QUOTE:
"April comes to us with her showers sweet. I wake to...
BOOK QUOTE:
"April comes to us with her showers sweet. I wake to the cries of little birds before the light comes across the heath. I turn back the rich brocaded cloth of gold on my bed and walk to my glazed casement window. I imagine my mother calling to me in the plaintive voice of the wood fowl, her words echoing across the years. I wrap myself in a Moorish robe of intricate design and gaze beyond my solitary window. Raindrops speckle the costly glass."
