Icy Sedgwick's Blog, page 93

#FridayFlash - To Boldly Go

The Captain sat at the desk in his quarters. He held his head in his hands, fingers raked into dark blond hair. Other men his age envied such thick, luxurious hair, but they didn’t have the technological advances of Starfleet at their disposal.



The doors slid open with a hiss and a familiar figure strode into the room. The lights adjusted their hue to better display the blue of his uniform. He stood to an awkward attention near the desk, troubled by the stiffness in his hip.



“I was told you were in your quarters, Captain.”



“And here you find me.” The Captain looked up, brushing his hair back into place.



“You have been in your quarters for some time. If you are unwell, I can call the medical bay –”



“I’m not unwell. I’m just a little preoccupied.”



The newcomer raised a pointed eyebrow.



“What troubles you, Captain?”



The Captain sat up and pushed his chair away from his desk. He gestured to the screen, and the science officer peered at the documentation on display.



“Requests for child support, Captain?”



“Yes. You see, Spock, it looks like boldly going where no man has gone before is an expensive enterprise,” replied the Captain. He snorted.



“And what are you going to do about it?”



“Pay them. What else can I do? I just don’t know how the Federation will react when they find out. We were on an exploratory mission…not a colonisation expedition.”



The Captain leaned forward and swiped his finger across the screen. His signature appeared at the bottom of the authorisation order for payment of the requested child maintenance. He gazed at his name. James Tiberius Kirk…father of at least nine declared offspring.



“Hell, maybe I can start a new Starfleet of my own,” said the Captain.



He pressed ‘Send’.



Image is Starfield by AlphaSpace.

Harry Potter Hits Fifteen

I came across this post on The Guardian and I have to admit, it's hard to believe that the Harry Potter series is fifteen years old. The Philosopher's Stone was published way back in 1997, although I didn't get around to reading it until 2001, by which point JK Rowling was already onto The Goblet of Fire. I remember buying TPS in one of HMV's two for £10 offers, along with, of all things, The Exorcist. I took it on holiday to Spain with me - that holiday saw me read The Graduate in a week, and The Exorcist in two days (I always did like to vary my reading material). As it happened, I didn't like TPS at first. I found it difficult to get into. But I tried again when I returned home and found I enjoyed it - so much so that I whizzed through The Chamber of Secrets in a day and a half, and the following two books in quick succession.



I was extremely disappointed by The Order of the Phoenix, and I trudged through The Half Blood Prince. By this point, I think I'd forgotten a lot of the details that comprised the story arcs, and I was so bored by the tedious teen romance subplots that I didn't even finish The Deathly Hallows. Still, credit where credit is due - Rowling should be recognised as a master world builder, and she's truly created an awe-inspiring universe. She's gotten kids interested in reading, pissed off Church leaders (always a plus - come on, there's plenty of magic in the Bible, so why not in fiction?), she's a successful female author and she's introduced the world to the boy wonder that is Daniel Radcliffe.



I tip my extravagant Cavalier hat to you, Ms Rowling. You've been a real inspiration.



What about you? What was your favourite Potter adventure?

Roald Dahl was a Dude

If you ever needed proof that Roald Dahl was a total dude, here it is. In 1989, a seven-year-old named Amy wrote to the author to send him a present - in this case, a bottle containing a mixture of oil, coloured water and glitter; in other words, one of her dreams. Dahl could have totally ignored the reference to The BFG, but he didn't, he chose to send back this charming letter.







You can now find Amy on Twitter here. Dahl, you were a true dude, sir.



Letter courtesy of Letters of Note.

The end of 15 Habits

And so we come to the end of the 15 Habits of Great Writers series that I've been following. This is my final update, and general review of the series.



Day Twelve (Wednesday) was all about provocation, and Jeff's challenge was to "Write something provocative and stand by it. ... Write something bold, something that moves us. Then share it." I decided against that for two reasons. Having spent my academic career studying both art and film, art which is made intentionally provocative often falls flat because it a) devotes more attention to its theme or purpose than it does to its actually construction, and b) it can be so blinkered in its mission to provoke a reaction that it fails to consider viewpoints other than its own. Jeff seemed to think that it would be somehow liberating, both for ourselves and others, to "tell the truth", but I can't help thinking that given truth is entirely subjective, it would be better for me to be true to myself as an artist in order to tell my own truth. One of his ideas was for us to "Pick a fight with something that’s wrong with the world" and this is mine - you cannot go around banging a drum about your own personal annoyances and expect to shake people up to the extent that they come around to your way of thinking. You can shout as loud as you want, but people will become deaf to what you say. Instead, reasoned argument, based on empirical evidence and logic, is more likely to get a result. If I shout at you, you can stop listening, but if I provide a logical, structured set of reasons as to why you might want to change your mind, you're more likely to be persuaded. So no, I will not be writing something to be provocative unless it is important to the piece that it provoke.



Day Thirteen (Thursday) was around the idea of publishing. As always, Jeff recommends we get off our bums and "publish something. Anything, really. Whatever you do, don’t play it safe. Go for broke. Stop hiding and start writing for real". Pretty sure this was his advice earlier in the series and I said the same thing then that I'm going to say now - I am NOT going to put something out there until I'm sure it's ready. At one point he says "That eBook you’ve been stalling to finish? It’s good enough. Put it out there". Er, no. It's advice like this that leads to writers bashing out a novella, getting their partner/mother/dog to proofread it, and then sticking it on Amazon the next day, and wondering why self-publishing gets a bad rap. Work is released when it's excellent, not just "good enough". Jesus, why am I listening to this man?



Day Fourteen (Friday) was all about branding. Choose a name, choose an image, etc. etc. Again, I'm not entirely sure I agree with Jeff when he says that those people who say "Do I have to do marketing?" are actually saying their story is strong enough to stand up without promotion. Most people who shy away from marketing do so not through arrogance, but through a lack of confidence, or through simply not knowing HOW to market. I've seen writers claim they don't like shouting about their books from the rooftops when in actual fact, that's ALL they do on Twitter. Writers are writers, not marketing consultants, but these days, we do need an awareness of how marketing works - no one else is going to sell our work. However, I can't help thinking that branding is something you should start thinking about once you have work to make available...not when you're just starting out. You don't want to get distracted about how to sell your work if there is no work to sell.



Day Fifteen (Monday) was about serving the writing community, with an emphasis being on giving to others, and responding to their needs by giving them something they want or need. Jeff recommended that we do give aways, conduct a survey to find out what people actually want, write about something important and then give it away, or to continue to answer all correspondence. I'm a big fan of availability, and I've been making a concerted effort of late to reply to tweets, to have conversations on Facebook, and to get discussions going on my blog. This isn't all about me - this is about dialogue, and I genuinely enjoy chatting to people. As to responding to the needs of readers, I'm hoping that people read my stuff because they enjoy it, in which case I'm serving their need for entertainment. Is that the case?



Overall, I'm not entirely sure that the series has been overly helpful to me. All it's really done is say "Yes, you're on the right track, keep doing what you're doing." Perhaps it would help newcomers, or those writers just beginning to test their wings, although I'd still urge caution when it comes to sharing work, especially on Amazon etc. Put out a quality product...and you can't really go wrong.

Photo Prompt 91

New prompt available!



If you want to use the prompt, all I ask is that you include a link to this entry and a credit to me for the photograph, and that you post a link to your story in the comments box below so I can see what you've come up with! If you don't comment on this entry, then I can't comment on your story.



The 91st prompt is Piper.







All photo prompts are my own photography - you can find more of it on Flickr. You can also buy my prints from Deviantart. 20% of all proceeds go to charity - the other 80% go towards my PhD fees!

#FridayFlash - If I Only Had A Heart

A small black dog bounded along the grass verge towards a small wooden shack. Bushes crowded its four sides, and knee-high weeds clustered around the door. Dorothy hurried after the dog.



“Toto, what have you found there?”



The dog barked and sniffed at something just beyond the foliage. Dorothy looked at the thick bushes - sunlight glinted on metal behind the leaves. She parted the branches, and gasped. A man made entirely of metal stood before her, frozen in position. Dorothy thought the metal might be tin.



“Oh my gosh, hello? Can you hear me?” She resisted the urge to rap her knuckles on his chest.



The man’s eyes swivelled towards Dorothy. He winked once, and rolled his eyes downwards. Dorothy spotted an oil can a few feet away near the path, not far from a discarded axe. She seized the can and pumped oil between the plates that made up the man's head.



“Oh praise the stars, I sure did need that.” The man worked his jaw, gurning as he eased life back into his face.



“What happened to you?” asked Dorothy.



Dorothy poked the nozzle of the oil can into his shoulders. She worked the plunger several times, and the man wrenched his arms downwards, the joints squealing in protest. Dorothy squirted more oil. The man swung his arms back and forth, the screeching of metal on metal growing quiet as the oil worked its magic.



“I got caught in the rain. Seems water and tin don’t mix. No, no, not at all. But that's magnificent. I don't suppose you'd be able to do my legs as well? My hips are awfully stiff.” The man flexed his fingers and stared down at his legs.



Dorothy squirted more oil into his hip joints. The man tried to raise his left leg, but too much rust clogged the mechanism. Dorothy shook the can, but it sounded hollow.



“It’s so sad. You must have been stuck like that for a long time.” Dorothy peered into the oil can. Only a few drops remained – certainly not enough to get his legs working properly.



“I don’t know if it’s sad or not. I don’t have a heart, so I can’t feel.”



“You don’t have a heart? Oh that’s terrible!” Dorothy’s hand flew to her chest. She had a vague notion that the heart didn’t really control emotions, but it was a nice idea. Not to have a heart seemed awfully barbaric.



"It’s alright. I’m sure I shall find another. In fact...I think yours will do!"



The Tin Man swung a metal fist towards her chest, his fingers grasping at empty air. Dorothy squealed and leapt backwards, almost tripping over Toto. The Tin Man’s eyes glowed and his mouth curved in a demonic grin. He leered at her, taking another swing.



"But I helped you!" Dorothy backed away from the wild metal man.



"More fool you, girlie."



The Tin Man lunged towards her. Dorothy scooped her little black dog into her arms, and broke into a run. She crossed the grass in several strides and her red sequinned shoes beat out a panicked rhythm on the yellow brick road.



"You'll get tired, girlie. Don't make this hard on yourself," called the Tin Man. He clanked and rattled along the road behind her.



Dorothy ran as fast as she could, careening headlong down the road. Clutching the shivering Toto to her chest, she fought back tears. First the Scarecrow and his terrorising ways, until the ravens tore him apart, and now a metallic man was out for her heart. What kind of place was this?



A piercing screech accompanied the slowing thuds behind her. Dorothy risked a glance over her shoulder. The Tin Man fought against the rust in his knees, forcing himself forwards in uneven strides. Dorothy paused to watch him haul his right leg in front of his left just as his hips seized solid. He roared, a howl full of anger and frustration, and toppled over. The Tin Man crashed into the Yellow Brick Road face-first.



“Help me!”



“After you tried to rip out my heart?” Dorothy scowled at the Tin Man.



Hugging Toto tight, she set off at a brisk pace. The Tin Man’s apologies and pleas fell on deaf ears, and she was too far away by the time the pleas turned into savage threats. She made her way along the Road, throwing nervous glances in every direction.



In the distance, a lion roared.

[Book Review] Miles to Little Ridge

Anyone familiar with my blog will know I have a fondness for Westerns - hardly surprising, given my first published book, The Guns of Retribution , falls into the bracket of pulp Westerns. I came across the two Adventures of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles collections on Amazon (reviewed here and here), and being a big fan of Edward A. Grainger, gave them top marks. However, as much as I enjoyed reading about US Marshal Cash Laramie, I always enjoyed the stories featuring his partner, Gideon Miles, so I was rather pleased to see that in Miles to Little Ridge, he gets his own story.



Told by the exceptionally talented Heath Lowrance, Miles to Little Ridge follows the Marshal as he heads to Little Ridge to pick up a man wanted for armed robbery. While in town, he runs into a pair of fairly inept outlaws - unfortunately for Miles, one of them quite literally has an axe to grind after Miles shot one of his party in a bank raid gone wrong. The story follows Miles' attempts to do his job, while hampered by a ill-thought-out plan for revenge.



I can honestly say I loved this story. Lowrance's writing is sharp and vivid, and I actually read the novella in one sitting. The action flows smoothly and 'plays out' like a mental movie, while the dialogue is very crisp and feels authentic. It's wonderful to see more of Gideon Miles, and with any luck, we'll read more stories about him in the future. It's certainly a bold movie to explore the racial tensions surrounding a black man in a position of authority, and it lends the series a slightly more serious air.



For anyone who's enjoyed the two Cash Laramie volumes, Miles to Little Ridge is the perfect accompaniment to 'flesh out' Gideon's character, but for those who want a quick pick-me-up, you would do well to try it out. Plus, at $1.18 / 77p, what do you really have to lose? Available from Amazon US and Amazon UK.



Five blunt pencils out of five!

Guest Post - Nerine Dorman

I like to promote authors whose work I enjoy, and it's even better when I can get them to talk about it, so it's with great pleasure that I throw open the doors of the Blunt Pencil to my very dear friend, and exceptionally talented author, Nerine Dorman. She's currently promoting her latest release, Inkarna, which I reviewed here, and here she is to tell you more about it...




Inkarna - in Nerine Dorman's words...


Your House is your Home



It’s a bit of a dog-eat-dog world for my Inkarna—a race of reincarnating body-thieving magicians who are often in conflict with different cabals among their kind. That’s why there’s safety in numbers, and it’s rare that one will find lone Inkarna in the material world, as well as in their conception of the afterlife, or Tuat, as it is known.



They have existed since Pre-Dynastic times in ancient Egypt and, over the eons, strive for mastery in their society where it’s quite possible to make oneself eternal, implacable enemies.



It’s often said: keep your friends close and your enemies closer, which is true for my Inkarna. Rivalries that span centuries are bitter, and those who would seize immortality do so at a price which is often higher than anticipated. So, while my Inkarna will cluster in Houses that have a particular focus in their work, the internecine squabbling can have more devastating effects on individuals than the conflict arising between the Houses.



Inkarna the novel is the story of a woman—and a man—or rather a person who learns to make do with the limited resources at hand. Despite every setback, the Inkarna that is Lizzie/Ash fights hard to stay true to House Adamastor, a small grouping of Inkarna who have remained in hiding at the very tip of Africa for centuries.



What Lizzie/Ash doesn’t know is that her House has been protecting a dangerous secret—hence the reason why House Adamastor has remained under the magical radar for so long. All that changes when circumstances surrounding Lizzie’s return go horribly wrong.



How does it work? The Inkarna have means to keep watch over the world of the living, and when they detect a person who is about to go through a near-death experience, they summon the energy to punch through one of their own to displace the target’s soul. The Inkarna take over the body and the departed sinks into the primordial chaos that is the Sea of Nun. I agree that what they do is not very nice, and it’s often that the Inkarna will justify their actions by stating that the individual whose body they have stolen would have died anyway.



While House Adamastor’s Inkarna are considered “immortal librarians” by the others; their specialities lie in information-gathering and sneaking about. The other Houses have far more sinister powers.



What’s eternity without an overambitious enemy? House Montu (named for the falcon-headed Egyptian god of war) seems set to take over the world, with fingers in many pies but mostly involved with the production of arms and the support of warfare. To put it mildly, they kick ass in combat, as Lizzie/Ash soon discovers.



Other houses that are mentioned, but not featured, include House Alba, Malkuth and Thanatos. This is where it gets fun for future instalments. Alba are British imperialists who trace their origins to the time of King Arthur. Malkuth are concerned with worldly matters and business, and messing around with politicians. Thanatos are possibly the ones I’ll play with next. They’re necromancers and I’ll leave it up to your imagination for now when it comes to some of the activities they engage in.



So, if vampires, angels and ghosts have outstayed their welcome on your bookshelves, and you’re looking for a fresh supernatural departure, I offer you my Inkarna. Even better, I don’t think I’ll be running out of stories anytime soon. And yes, I do plan to follow up with more instalments.





Bio: An editor and multi-published author, Nerine Dorman currently resides in Cape Town, South Africa, with her visual artist husband. Some of the publishers with whom she works include Lyrical Press, Dark Continents Publishing and eKhaya (an imprint of Random House Struik). She has been involved in the media industry for more than a decade, with a background in magazine and newspaper publishing, commercial fiction, and print production management within a below-the-line marketing environment. Her book reviews, as well as travel, entertainment and lifestyle editorial regularly appear in national newspapers. A few of her interests include music travel, history (with emphasis on Egypt), psychology, philosophy, magic and the natural world.



Follow Nerine on Twitter @nerinedorman, like her Facebook author page, visit her blog, or see her website.

Buy Inkarna in print here.

#15Habits - Latest Update

Latest update on my progress following Jeff Goins' 15 Habits for Great Writers series. You can find my previous update here.



Day Seven (Wednesday) was all about "starting ugly". This is no great mystery for anyone who's written for a while - in other words, your first draft will always suck. It almost has to - there's no way that the words can get from your head to the page and be perfect first time. Now, I disagree with the sentiment to MAKE it ugly first - why would you purposefully make it bad just to improve it later? No, I think it's far more useful to simply do it, and be aware of the fact that it's going to need work, and then work on it when you're done. The challenge was to "make something ugly" but as I'm already writing a first draft, I figured I'd just keep working on that. If you read my last update post, you'll see a pattern emerging.





Day Eight (Thursday) was all about building, with the idea being that it's all very well starting something, but you have to finish it in order for it to mean anything. Therefore the exercise of the day was to finish something - an essay, a book, pretty much anything outstanding. Unfortunately my day was way too hectic to even get to my emails so I didn't read it until the day after, so I decided to make sure I finished a clutch of blog posts that I've started.



Day Nine (Friday) was about connecting. Jeff wanted people to go looking for potential fans, friends and patrons, but networking is already a fairly large part of my writing life, so I figured I'd just focus on those connections I already have - it's just as important to maintain the connections you have. I like talking to people on my Twitter list and finding out how their day went, even if they never buy one of my books. If I like them, I want to talk to them - and that's the thing. These are people I connect with, NOT fans. I cannot stand writers who refer to their followers or friends as 'fans'. Don't be so presumptuous.



Day Ten (Monday) was Share. Jeff counselled everyone to share their platforms - as it happens, I regularly retweet blog posts, or share them using my platforms, and I like using my blog to post book reviews and guest posts. As it happens, last Wednesday saw my review of Nerine Dorman's Inkarna, and tomorrow will be her guest post about the book! Sharing is an integral part to creativity anyway and it makes sense that it would also help promotion. After all, I can tell you about my book but wouldn't you rather hear from someone else who enjoyed it?



Day Eleven (Today) was Declutter, and Jeff advised that people both tidy their spaces where they work, and ditch the unnecessary crap from their writing. Um, problem. I don't have one place where I work - I don't have the luxury of a writing desk, or somewhere permanent to pitch camp. I either write at my desk at work over lunch, or I find a flat surface at home on which to plonk my laptop. So it's a bit difficult to tidy something I don't have. As for decluttering my writing, I work pretty hard at eliminating the fluff at the best of times - I know you're not supposed to, but I very much edit as I go, and I'm always disappointed in myself when I use an adverb or a clunky line of prose. So...yeah. Beginning to wonder how useful this series really is for me!

Photo Prompt 90

New prompt available!



If you want to use the prompt, all I ask is that you include a link to this entry and a credit to me for the photograph, and that you post a link to your story in the comments box below so I can see what you've come up with! If you don't comment on this entry, then I can't comment on your story.



The 90th prompt is Dinner Party.







All photo prompts are my own photography - you can find more of it on Flickr. You can also buy my prints from Deviantart. 20% of all proceeds go to charity - the other 80% go towards my PhD fees!