Stuart Aken's Blog, page 301

Writing: 2200 on the Half Day

Today was my half day at the office, so I was home for lunch, saw Valerie off to her bowls match (praying it didn't rain for her) and Kate off for her final A level exam (good luck). Settled down to the epic fantasy and produced 2,200 words of tension. Close the denouement now, with only 8,661 words to reach my target of 200,000. But I will exceed that, as I need more than 2 chapters to reach the conclusion. But I'm still on target to complete this first draft before I take the break from the computer.
Tonight is my writing group night, so I'll be off to the coast shortly (36 mile round trip, but it's worth it for the members of this group). On Saturday, Penny Grubb, one of our members, is having the launch of her third crime novel featuring her female private eye. The Jawbone Gang will be available to be signed by her at the local WH Smiths in Beverley if anyone wants to visit between 11.00 and 12.30. I'll be there myself to buy the book. The first two in the series were both really good reads, so I'll be taking this one with me to read under the sun.
Last cup of tea before I leave. So I'll wish you all a very good night.

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Parasurama

Image via Wikipedia
Parasurama: one of my occasional 'god' spots.Parasurama is one of the many incarnations of the Hindu god, Visnu. He is supposed to have saved the world from an army of tyrannical warriors. Another legend involves him ridding the world of despotic rulers (would that that were true!). He is generally depicted as a man holding an axe.

Writing: 1330 Words of Epic Fantasy

A brief note, after a long day at the office. I love it when the subconscious works its magic as you're involved in the everyday and the mundane, as I have been all day today. But I arrived home, ate and then settled to write 1300 words of inspired prose. Would that I had the energy to continue, but I don't. But I'm delighted with the section of the story that has tripped off my fingers tonight. 

Hostage of the Heart by Linda Acaster – from Ebook to Audio download

Some time ago Iinterviewed Linda Acaster about her Mediaeval romantic suspense Hostageof the Heart , when I reviewed the ebook. Today it is being launched asan mp3 audio download and I've invited her back to talk about the process.
How did this comeabout?I followed a couple of links. Writers need to allot time tokeep abreast of news and possible opportunities, just as they spend timepublicising their work and activities. This new era of digital publishing isexpanding at a rate of knots and, as I discovered, it's not confined to theprinted word.
Audiolark is an audio book publisher based in Canada which concentrateson all sub-genres of Romance, from short fiction to full novels. At the time Ifollowed the link it was looking for a sweet romance to augment its list - noteveryone wants erotica bellowing out of the car stereo system during the schoolrun – and Hostage of the Heart wassnapped up within days.
Remind us of thestorylineThe novel is set in 1066 on the eve of two devastatingbattles that change the course of British history. On the Welsh borderlandsRhodri ap Hywel sweeps down from the mountains to reclaim stolen lands, takingthe Lady Dena as a battle hostage. Tutored to believe the Welsh are barbaric,she finds herself abandoned by her Saxon kin and used as a pawn by the Welsh.Amid the intrigue and power-plays, dare she place her life in the hands of awarrior-knight shielding secrets of his own?
A Mediaeval novel withNorth American accents?It's what I braced myself for, but when the first proofarrived I was delighted to hear an English voice. Audiolark takes great care tomatch its narrator to the text, and I was asked to consider both thepronunciation and stresses placed on the sentence structure, and report back.
This was an interesting exercise. I'm used to proofinggalleys of print books, and checking the html formatting for ebooks, but it wasmy first experience of proofing an audio download. I had to be very accurate innoting the timings – what at first sounds odd might take up less than a second;I kept having to ask myself whether it was just me being pedantic or whetherthere was a possible problem – and then I had to be specific in describing whatI thought was the problem.
Just as proofreading text is not simply a matter of reading itthrough, proofing audio is not simply a matter of listening for enjoyment. Ifound it far more taxing than proofreading text. The list of queries,thankfully short, went back to Audiolark where each query was checked against themaster. I thought that would be it, but no, I was sent a second proof. I lovethis level of professionalism. Audiolark wants the best for its customers andits authors, which is wonderful for us all.

Hostage of the Heart launches as an 8-hour DRM-free mp3download on 21 June at the discounted price of $3.49 for one week, $9.99 normalprice.http://www.audiolark.com/books/hostage-of-the-heart/
Hostage of the Heart ebook:Kindle USAhttp://www.amazon.com/dp/B003MNH4BAKindle UKhttp://amazon.co.uk/dp/B003MNH4BAI-Pad, Nook, Sony, Kobo https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/14120
To catch up with Linda Acaster's other fiction:http://lindaacaster.blogspot.comhttp://www.lindaacaster.comhttp://twitter.com/#!/lindaacaster

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Credible or credulous

Image via Wikipedia
Credible or credulous: If you're credible, you are authoritative, believable. If, on the other hand, you are credulous, then you could be described as gullible or naive.
'Bill Gates would make a credible judge in any contest between developers of computer software for mass use.'  
'Most religious people are seen as credulous by atheists, as they understand them to be prone to believe in events lacking evidence to back them up.'

Writing: 1100 Words Only Today

A day at the office, so not a lot of time to write. It would have been dance class, but the teacher is on holiday in Morocco for a couple of weeks, so an extra night to write. Had a new Author Interview to deal with; this one will be especially great to read, so watch out for 21 July.
Once at the keyboard, managed to turn out 1,100 words before the energy started to drop. But the epic fantasy continues to grow and go well. Sorting out a new danger for one of my protagonists tonight; will he or won't he overcome this particular barrier?
That's it for tonight, though.

The picture shows a lane in the area, known by the locals as 'Mucky Duck' but I've no idea why.

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Oasis

Image via Wikipedia
Oasis: noun - fertile place in a desert where water is found; place or period of calm in the middle of trouble or fuss; the proprietary name for a rigid foam used in flower arranging.
'It's pure coincidence that this word should come up for definition today, since I've just employed 2,500 words or so describing the adventures of one of my protagonists trapped in an oasis in a desert in the imagined land of my epic fantasy.'
'Mrs Woebegone, a stalwart of the Mothers' Union, refused point blank to use Oasis for her flower arrangements, referring to the device as a cheat and an unnatural aid. Of course, all her companions thought the foam blocks were brilliant for making their arrangements stay fresh and in place.'
'Pandora had trudged miles with a raging thirst through the desert and was overjoyed, indeed, delirious, when she saw the palm trees that surrounded the oasis ahead.' 

Writing: 3000 Words, and on Fathers' Day!

Up slightly later than usual, but managed 1,800 words before breakfast, so the epic fantasy moves along apace.
A good walk, in the rain, after breakfast. Then some lunch and work on various other things, including some blog posts. Another session to bring the total to 3,000, which leaves my 200,000 word target now short of 13,323 to do before I take a break. Mind you, I suspect I'll exceed that target before the first draft is complete.
Enough for today. Time to relax and devour some of the special goodies my daughter, Kate, has made for the special day.

Picture is of a Japanese decorative bush, an Acer, I think, in the back garden.

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Didactic

Didactic: adjective - with the character or manner of a teacher, intended to instruct, with instruction as its ulterior purpose.Noun - didactic author or treatise; the art of teaching. We all come across and know about didactic literature, even if we don't necessarily know the term for it. With its academic tone, intended to educate, it carries connotations of heavy-handedness.
'The novel was so obviously didactic that most readers were immediately put off reading it.'
'Are you actually trying to bore them, George, or is your didactic prose somehow supposed to attract people to your words? You might have more success if you concentrated less on teaching your readers and more on telling the story.'
Nothing suitable on Zemanta, so here's a picture of an Iris I took in the back garden a week or so ago.

Breaking Faith, Reviewed by Kim Tomsett-Fowler

Breaking Faith by Reviewed by Kim Tomsett-Fowler

You often hear about stories that stay with you long after they have been read. Well, for me this was 'that' story. I was bombarded by several different emotions whilst reading this book and I loved every minute of it!

This book was a rites of passage tale. We are taken on a journey by the female lead of this story and how her life changes therein. I was amazed at how much time and emotion I invested in each of the characters – really feeling their every emotion, they were so real to me. I also like the way the author changed the narrator almost each chapter between the two main leads. It meant we could see both sides of the story as it were and was a nice touch.

It was beautifully written, in such a way as I could not put it down. Almost to the detriment of my sleep! Thank you Mr Aken for writing a story that has taken me over so completely that now I have finished it, I feel a little lost! May there be lots more from you.




As the author, I'd like to thank Kim, publicly, for this great review. I came across Kim on a Facebook group I belong to, and she was offering reviews of books by Indie authors; a service both generous and valuable. I commend her for her dedication and her love of books and reading. Many thanks for this, Kim.