MaryAnn Bernal's Blog, page 370
September 25, 2013
Fantasy and Thriller Writer, Sarah PJ White spotlights author Mark Barry, author of Violent Disorder
Mark Barry – Author Spotlight #33Posted on September 25, 2013 by SarahPJWhite
It’s Wednesday, so that means it’s Author Spotlight time again and I’d like to introduce you to – Mark Barry!
What inspired you to write your first book?
Violent Disorder – Mark BarryI was challenged to write a substantive work of fiction by two friends, in different places, but at the same time. That became Hollywood Shakedown. I’m about to release my seventh novel, so that was an inspiring challenge!
Do you have a specific writing style, Mark?
No. I write all sorts. Third person, first person. I have also written a football hooligan novel called Ultra Violence in second person omniscient. That is my best seller so far, so maybe I ought to do that again. It was tough to write like that– and not universally popular. It was a real experimental method. Chuck Palahniuk wrote Diary in this style.
Describe a typical writing session or your typical writing areaI live in a flat and I write on an old wooden writing desk. I write volume on an old PC tower and keyboard that I cannot bear to throw out, and I edit on my Toshiba laptop with all the modcons, all the good stuff. I wear an Inuit writing cap for inspiration (the 230 words for snow!), and I often write after a run, a pastime, which inspires me. I listen to music all the time, non-stop, except for when the Horses and Greyhounds are on the TV. I never watch general TV. My writing sessions are usually Goliath-sized and I can sometimes, be sitting here for eighteen hours.
So Mark, what are your current projects?I have just completed the sequel to Ultra Violence. It is called Violent Disorder and it is about over-aged football hooligans at Notts County Football Club. I am about to write a novel about the recession and the changing face of Nottingham – it’s called Keith the Philosopher. I am also compiling another anthology and have plans for a 300,000 word Indie epic called The Castle, which I shall write next year.
What books have most influenced your life most?Martin Amis’ Money and London Fields. The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart and Paul Auster Music of Chance.
Simply put, Sarah, these books push the boundaries of writing and what is possible. Some of the construction of sentences in these books makes me want to cry. Every book I write – and Violent Disorder is my most experimental book – is influenced by the four books above. The former is possibly one of the top ten books of all time, in my humble opinion. Amis WAS a genius as a young man. Not so much now, though. Age and the condition known as expatriatism. Ruined him. He needs to come back to London Fields, but he won’t.
If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?Amis as a thirty-five-year-old. No question.
Who is your favourite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work, Mark?Martin Amis. Simply because he took fiction to another level. He made everyone around him – Rushdie, Barnes, Byatt – at the time, look pedestrian and hackneyed, as if they were an irrelevance. Some of the paragraphs in Money are different class.
What book are you reading now?I’m currently reading comics and graphic novels– Shade The Changing Man, Watchmen, Sandman, Swamp Thing – all the classics from the mid eighties, particularly Peter Milligan’s underrated Shade.
Mark, are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?Obscura Burning by Suzanne Van Rooyen is a sumptuously written book. Sanguinary by Emma Edwards is great fun and The Briton and the Dane: Concordia, by Mary Ann Bernal, my editor, takes historical fiction to some new places. Maria Savva’s Haunted was good, too, though I thought she rushed the ending, a common problem in Indie. All four deserve to rock and roll. I have to say indie writers don’t generally work for me – the sector is so dominated by writers I cannot relate to. I am increasingly looking at published work to satisfy my lust for reading. Sad really, though I’m sure it will change. Things are cyclical.
If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?No, not my latest book. I would change the middle section of The Ritual and de-eroticise my banned book, The Illustrated Woman, so more people can read it without blushing.
Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?All of it. Writing is hard. The people who say writing is easy aren’t writers and are doing it wrong. I don’t like editing either, and I hate going over stuff.
What was the hardest part of writing your book, Mark?Editing out stuff I like and should be included.
Do you have any general advice for other writers?Ignore the gurus with their novel writing 101 advice. Ignore the Creative Writing lecturers, too. If you need to go on courses like this, pack it in before you start. You are not a writer. You do not have a strong enough voice. There is no such thing as an introductory level novel. Is your work good enough to publish? If it isn’t, then don’t – you effect every single one of us if your novel is a load of badly written cobblers. Go away and wait for your voice to speak and practice into the cold, dark night.
Do you write an outline before every book you write?No, I’m the ultimate pantser. Never written notes in my life, even for my degree.
Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?I think I’ve said enough, don’t you! ”:)”
Mark and His Latest Novel – ‘Violent Disorder’My thanks to Mark Barry for agreeing to be interviewed. If you’d like to find out more information on Mark, you can check out his website at:
http://www.greenwizardcarla.blogspot.co.uk/
Mark’s latest novel, entitled ‘Violent Disorder’ is available now on Amazon – just click on the links below! You can also read more information on ‘Violent Disorder’ and his thoughts behind it, by checking out my Share Saturday post here.
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
It’s Wednesday, so that means it’s Author Spotlight time again and I’d like to introduce you to – Mark Barry!
What inspired you to write your first book?
Violent Disorder – Mark BarryI was challenged to write a substantive work of fiction by two friends, in different places, but at the same time. That became Hollywood Shakedown. I’m about to release my seventh novel, so that was an inspiring challenge!
Do you have a specific writing style, Mark?
No. I write all sorts. Third person, first person. I have also written a football hooligan novel called Ultra Violence in second person omniscient. That is my best seller so far, so maybe I ought to do that again. It was tough to write like that– and not universally popular. It was a real experimental method. Chuck Palahniuk wrote Diary in this style.
Describe a typical writing session or your typical writing areaI live in a flat and I write on an old wooden writing desk. I write volume on an old PC tower and keyboard that I cannot bear to throw out, and I edit on my Toshiba laptop with all the modcons, all the good stuff. I wear an Inuit writing cap for inspiration (the 230 words for snow!), and I often write after a run, a pastime, which inspires me. I listen to music all the time, non-stop, except for when the Horses and Greyhounds are on the TV. I never watch general TV. My writing sessions are usually Goliath-sized and I can sometimes, be sitting here for eighteen hours.
So Mark, what are your current projects?I have just completed the sequel to Ultra Violence. It is called Violent Disorder and it is about over-aged football hooligans at Notts County Football Club. I am about to write a novel about the recession and the changing face of Nottingham – it’s called Keith the Philosopher. I am also compiling another anthology and have plans for a 300,000 word Indie epic called The Castle, which I shall write next year.
What books have most influenced your life most?Martin Amis’ Money and London Fields. The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart and Paul Auster Music of Chance.
Simply put, Sarah, these books push the boundaries of writing and what is possible. Some of the construction of sentences in these books makes me want to cry. Every book I write – and Violent Disorder is my most experimental book – is influenced by the four books above. The former is possibly one of the top ten books of all time, in my humble opinion. Amis WAS a genius as a young man. Not so much now, though. Age and the condition known as expatriatism. Ruined him. He needs to come back to London Fields, but he won’t.
If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?Amis as a thirty-five-year-old. No question.
Who is your favourite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work, Mark?Martin Amis. Simply because he took fiction to another level. He made everyone around him – Rushdie, Barnes, Byatt – at the time, look pedestrian and hackneyed, as if they were an irrelevance. Some of the paragraphs in Money are different class.
What book are you reading now?I’m currently reading comics and graphic novels– Shade The Changing Man, Watchmen, Sandman, Swamp Thing – all the classics from the mid eighties, particularly Peter Milligan’s underrated Shade.
Mark, are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?Obscura Burning by Suzanne Van Rooyen is a sumptuously written book. Sanguinary by Emma Edwards is great fun and The Briton and the Dane: Concordia, by Mary Ann Bernal, my editor, takes historical fiction to some new places. Maria Savva’s Haunted was good, too, though I thought she rushed the ending, a common problem in Indie. All four deserve to rock and roll. I have to say indie writers don’t generally work for me – the sector is so dominated by writers I cannot relate to. I am increasingly looking at published work to satisfy my lust for reading. Sad really, though I’m sure it will change. Things are cyclical.
If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?No, not my latest book. I would change the middle section of The Ritual and de-eroticise my banned book, The Illustrated Woman, so more people can read it without blushing.
Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?All of it. Writing is hard. The people who say writing is easy aren’t writers and are doing it wrong. I don’t like editing either, and I hate going over stuff.
What was the hardest part of writing your book, Mark?Editing out stuff I like and should be included.
Do you have any general advice for other writers?Ignore the gurus with their novel writing 101 advice. Ignore the Creative Writing lecturers, too. If you need to go on courses like this, pack it in before you start. You are not a writer. You do not have a strong enough voice. There is no such thing as an introductory level novel. Is your work good enough to publish? If it isn’t, then don’t – you effect every single one of us if your novel is a load of badly written cobblers. Go away and wait for your voice to speak and practice into the cold, dark night.
Do you write an outline before every book you write?No, I’m the ultimate pantser. Never written notes in my life, even for my degree.
Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?I think I’ve said enough, don’t you! ”:)”
Mark and His Latest Novel – ‘Violent Disorder’My thanks to Mark Barry for agreeing to be interviewed. If you’d like to find out more information on Mark, you can check out his website at:
http://www.greenwizardcarla.blogspot.co.uk/
Mark’s latest novel, entitled ‘Violent Disorder’ is available now on Amazon – just click on the links below! You can also read more information on ‘Violent Disorder’ and his thoughts behind it, by checking out my Share Saturday post here.
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
History Trivia - Harald Hardrada defeated at Stamford Bridge, marking an end to the Viking invasions of England
Sept 25
275 The Roman Senate proclaimed Marcus Claudius Tacitus Emperor after the assassination of Aurelian. During his short reign he campaigned against the Goths and the Heruli, for which he received the title Gothicus Maximus.
396 Ottoman Emperor Bayezid I defeated a Christian army at the Battle of Nicopolis, often referred to as the Crusade of Nicopolis and was the last large-scale crusade of the Middle Ages.
1066 Harold II (Harold Godwinson) of England defeated an invasion by Harald Hardrada of Norway, at Stamford Bridge near York, and marked the end of the Viking invasions of England. It also delayed Harold's arrival at Hastings, becoming a significant factor in the outcome of the Norman Conquest.
275 The Roman Senate proclaimed Marcus Claudius Tacitus Emperor after the assassination of Aurelian. During his short reign he campaigned against the Goths and the Heruli, for which he received the title Gothicus Maximus.
396 Ottoman Emperor Bayezid I defeated a Christian army at the Battle of Nicopolis, often referred to as the Crusade of Nicopolis and was the last large-scale crusade of the Middle Ages.
1066 Harold II (Harold Godwinson) of England defeated an invasion by Harald Hardrada of Norway, at Stamford Bridge near York, and marked the end of the Viking invasions of England. It also delayed Harold's arrival at Hastings, becoming a significant factor in the outcome of the Norman Conquest.
The Phil Naessens Show 9-25-2013 Should the New York Mets Trade for Troy Tulowitszki?
http://phillipnaessens.wordpress.com/2013/09/25/the-phil-naessens-show-9-25-2013-should-the-new-york-mets-trade-for-troy-tulowitszki/
The Mets sweep of the Phillies
Phil answers a listener’s demand that he name 5 American League third basemen better than David Wright
Should the Mets trade for Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzski?
Ike Davis or Lucas Duda at first base in 2014
The American League and National League Pennant Races and Wildcard standings
The Mets sweep of the Phillies
Phil answers a listener’s demand that he name 5 American League third basemen better than David Wright
Should the Mets trade for Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzski?
Ike Davis or Lucas Duda at first base in 2014
The American League and National League Pennant Races and Wildcard standings
September 24, 2013
Veetu Industries and Rae Gee: Things That Go Bump In The Night - Part 1
Veetu Industries and Rae Gee: Things That Go Bump In The Night - Part 1: As the nights draw in and the air cools, our minds turn away from summer and towards other things. It's time, I think, for me to tell so...
Gladiator's Pen: How does your story grow? Guest Post by J.Drew Bru...
Gladiator's Pen: How does your story grow? Guest Post by J.Drew Bru...: Gladiator's Pen welcomes guest author J. Drew Brumbaugh to the Ludis. He is the author of the thrillers War Party and Shepherds and he...
The second edition of Carla by Mark Barry is now available in the Star Trek Universe - pick up your copy today.
Sometimes, things happen that are beyond our control.
“When I walked into The Saddler’s Arms that night, I felt calm and relaxed, and the prognosis was rosy. And there she was.
Yes.
There she was.
By the time I set eyes on her, I had lost interest in drinking, smoking, eating, or thinking.
She hit me hard, dear reader. I cannot remember being hit so hard by a woman.
And I had something of a history of being hit hard.
I knew instantly that I was doomed to love, and there was nothing I could do about it.”**********************************************************************************************************************************Borderline Personality Disorder sufferer and released mental patient, John Dexter, falls in love with Carla, a fresh- faced environmental student and part-time barmaid, the first time he sees her. He should walk away, he knows he should, but he doesn’t. He can’t.
And by falling in love, he sets off a chain of events, which are at first, heart-warming and inspirational, and then bleak and horrifying.
A Cult Independent novel, Carla is an introspective, moody and chilling romance novel with its roots firmly in the work of the great pulp writers of the fifties. It is a book for adults and for those who have lived through the occasionally bloody battlefields that are the relationships between men and women.
Amazon UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/Carla-Mark-Barry/dp/1492159441/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1379978483&sr=8-1&keywords=carla+by+mark+barry Amazon US http://www.amazon.com/Carla-Mark-Barry/dp/1492159441/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1379978574&sr=8-3&keywords=carla+by+mark+barry
The Phil Naessens Show 9-24-2013 What Happened to the Seattle SuperSonics?
http://phillipnaessens.wordpress.com/2013/09/24/the-phil-naessens-show-9-24-2013-what-happened-to-the-seattle-supersonics/
On today’s Phil Naessens Show
Segment 1: SLC Dunk Managing Editor Amar joins Phil to talk about his new podcast, appropriately named The SLC Dunk Podcast and how the Utah Jazz will match up with the Dallas Mavericks and the Sacramento Kings this upcoming season plus much more.
Segment 2: Sonics Rising Managing Editor Kevin Nesgoda joins Phil to discuss what really happened to the Seattle SuperSonics, who he feels is to blame for the team to be taken for Seattle, getting past the loss of his boyhood team and moving forward as an individual fan and a fan base plus much more.
Segment 3: SLC Dunk Managing Editor Amar returns to discuss how the Utah Jazz will match up with the Phoenix Suns and the New Orleans Pelicans plus much more.
On today’s Phil Naessens Show
Segment 1: SLC Dunk Managing Editor Amar joins Phil to talk about his new podcast, appropriately named The SLC Dunk Podcast and how the Utah Jazz will match up with the Dallas Mavericks and the Sacramento Kings this upcoming season plus much more.
Segment 2: Sonics Rising Managing Editor Kevin Nesgoda joins Phil to discuss what really happened to the Seattle SuperSonics, who he feels is to blame for the team to be taken for Seattle, getting past the loss of his boyhood team and moving forward as an individual fan and a fan base plus much more.
Segment 3: SLC Dunk Managing Editor Amar returns to discuss how the Utah Jazz will match up with the Phoenix Suns and the New Orleans Pelicans plus much more.
History Trivia - Pepin the Short dies
Sept 24
15 Aulus Vitellius was born. Vitellius was acclaimed emperor following the quick succession of the previous emperors Galba and Otho, in a year of civil war known as the Year of the Four Emperors. Vitellius was the first to add the honorific cognomen Germanicus to his name instead of Caesar upon his accession; the latter name had fallen into disrepute in many quarters because of the actions of Nero.
768 Pepin the Short, King of the Franks and father of Charlemagne, died at age 54.
1180 Manuel I Komnenos, last Emperor of the Komnenian restoration died, and the Byzantine Empire slipped into terminal decline.
1645 Battle of Rowton Heath, Parliamentarian victory over a Royalist army commanded by King Charles I; casualties estimated at 600dead and 900 injured.
15 Aulus Vitellius was born. Vitellius was acclaimed emperor following the quick succession of the previous emperors Galba and Otho, in a year of civil war known as the Year of the Four Emperors. Vitellius was the first to add the honorific cognomen Germanicus to his name instead of Caesar upon his accession; the latter name had fallen into disrepute in many quarters because of the actions of Nero.
768 Pepin the Short, King of the Franks and father of Charlemagne, died at age 54.
1180 Manuel I Komnenos, last Emperor of the Komnenian restoration died, and the Byzantine Empire slipped into terminal decline.
1645 Battle of Rowton Heath, Parliamentarian victory over a Royalist army commanded by King Charles I; casualties estimated at 600dead and 900 injured.
September 23, 2013
The Phil Naessens Show 9-23-2013 France is EuroBasket 2013 Champion!
http://phillipnaessens.wordpress.com/2013/09/23/the-phil-naessens-show-9-23-2013-france-is-eurobasket-2013-champion/
Welcome to Loud City Lead NBA/International Basketball Writer Zeb Benbrook joins host Phil Naessens to discuss France’s stunning victory over Lithuania to win EuroBasket 2013. The guys also discuss FIBA not allowing Benbrook a media pass (he has NBA credentials), bonfires and road flares being lit during games and field questions from the listening audience plus much more.
Welcome to Loud City Lead NBA/International Basketball Writer Zeb Benbrook joins host Phil Naessens to discuss France’s stunning victory over Lithuania to win EuroBasket 2013. The guys also discuss FIBA not allowing Benbrook a media pass (he has NBA credentials), bonfires and road flares being lit during games and field questions from the listening audience plus much more.
History Trivia - Persians defeated by the Greeks at sea - 1000 ships sunk
Sept 23
480 BC The Greeks defeated the Persians in the greatest of ancient naval battles, at Salamis, avenging the destruction of Athens. Over 1,000 Persian ships were sunk by fewer than 400 Greek vessels.
63 BC Augustus (Octavian) was born. He was the Roman emperor at the time of Christ, and the founder in 27 BC of the Roman Empire as it was known after the end of the Roman Republic of Julius Caesar's time.
1122 Concordat of Worms brought to an end the first phase of the power struggle between the Papacy and the Holy Roman Emperors.
1459 Battle of Blore Heath, the first major battle of the English Wars of the Roses, was fought at Blore Heath in Staffordshire. The Yorkists, though inferior in numbers, were completely victorious.
480 BC The Greeks defeated the Persians in the greatest of ancient naval battles, at Salamis, avenging the destruction of Athens. Over 1,000 Persian ships were sunk by fewer than 400 Greek vessels.
63 BC Augustus (Octavian) was born. He was the Roman emperor at the time of Christ, and the founder in 27 BC of the Roman Empire as it was known after the end of the Roman Republic of Julius Caesar's time.
1122 Concordat of Worms brought to an end the first phase of the power struggle between the Papacy and the Holy Roman Emperors.
1459 Battle of Blore Heath, the first major battle of the English Wars of the Roses, was fought at Blore Heath in Staffordshire. The Yorkists, though inferior in numbers, were completely victorious.
