Chris Ward's Blog, page 6

What I did today Monday 18th of November

Pretty quiet day at work today. Had to do speaking tests for one of my classes and then some speech contest practice after school. In the evening I went to the local insurance place to get a discount voucher for my second cat's neutering operation. Of course, in true Japan style, even though I went to the place the vet told me to go to, they told me I had to go to another place halfway across the city. It being 6 p.m., I didn't really have time, so it'll have to wait. Sometimes you think it would be easier to just pay for these things.

In writing related news, I got the cover back for Tube Riders: Revenge. It looks awesome, but I won't be revealing it until after Exile comes out. So stay tuned for that. I also got a few more chapters of the third draft of Revenge done, and its looking great. One chapter felt like the best thing I'd ever written. It was just perfect. Pretty sure no one will notice, but well ... :-) Two more hours of painting ceilings took up most of my writing time unfortunately. Tomorrow I'm working until 9pm, and Wed/Thurs I'm going to an English teacher's conference, so there won't be much writing for a few days, unfortunately. More updates soon ...

Chris Ward
18th November 2013

What I did today Sun 17th November

I've not had a lot to say on the blog recently so I thought I'd change tack a little bit for a while and use it more like a diary. I'm not sure how much my boring life will interest people but here are a few of my thoughts for today.

So, what did I do today?

First up, I went over to my new (old) house and continued the renovation work on the man cave / office room. This is a tiny room about 2.5m square at the back of the house, facing on to the neighbour's tiny back garden. It's wood framed so the other day I went out and bought what I thought looked like a nice colour but what actually turned out to be a poo-brown. Still, once I had the paint I thought I might as well use it, so now the wooden frames and the crossbeams of the ceiling are a fetching warm brown. Figuring white would go well with it, yesterday I painted the inner window frame (also wood) and this morning I was putting on a base layer of white paint across the ceiling with the hope of it brightening the room up a bit. Next week I'm hoping to be reading to wallpaper and then put some kind of carpeting down.

After a very brief lunch I had to go to a high school speech contest at a local college. For those who don't know, my day job is as any assistant language teacher in a Japanese high school, in Nagano, a smallish city in the Japan Alps. In this contest I had one student from one school doing the speech, and two from my other school (my "visit" school - I go there on Tuesdays and Thursdays) doing the recital. My speech student came second, which was nice. My other students didn't place unfortunately, but their pronunciation was beautiful, and I think if the judges weren't so taken in by all the wild gestures and dramatics of some of the other students they would have placed higher. Still, they're only first years so its good experience if they do it next year.

One thing I learned, actually, from the speech contest and my reactions to some of the OTT speeches, is that you can't lie to your audience. As a speech coach I insist on students acting natural, being believable. If a student is doing a speech about a trip to Germany, I want to believe that they have actually been there. Same with fiction. I want to believe it isn't fiction. I want to believe it's something that actually happened.

Afterwards, I came home, put out the trash and went for a jog. Up to 2010 I used to run half-marathons quite regularly, and actually completed Nagano full marathon (which half killed me). In the last 18 months I've been writing like a demon with over half a million words chalked up, about the same I produced in the eight or nine years previously, but one thing all that sitting around does it get you fat. I've gained a good five kilos in that time, so I figured it was time to start taking it off. I did about 5km in 31 minutes which is nothing special but a decent start. Got a feeling I'm going to hurt tomorrow ...

And so if you've trawled this far through my not particularly interesting day I'll give you the best writing updates that I can right now. Exile is finished and with the editor. I'm hoping to get it back within the next week or so. Revenge is also finished. I'm currently going through it for the third time, mostly fine-tuning and making sure the character motivation is right. For example, for a character to decide to do something major they have to be seen to be coming to that decision, they can't just do it without prior warning. I've added in a couple of extra chapters. The cover is almost finished too. I'm expecting it back in a couple of days. I've seen a draft and its proper badass. I'll be keeping it under wraps until after Exile is out, though.

I've also be thinking about plans for next year. I want to keep stepping up the writing and produce more books, so I've set a tentative plan to write four novels, each taking two months with the interim months for editing and stuff. I'd also like to get out a trunk novel, so best case scenario would be five new novels. What they'll be, I can't say. While the Tube Riders main story is done, there is plenty of scope for further stories within the same world, so I'll be thinking about some of those. I also have half a horror novel I want to finish. I'd like to do another novella in my Beat Down series under a pen name. No one buys them (the first is free on Amazon) but they're fun to write. We'll see.

Anyway, there's still an hour or so left in the day so I need to go and see what Marta Banks and friends are up to ...

Chris Ward
Sunday 17th November

The bloopers reel

Yes, I'm a borderline genius and yes, The Tube Riders is a book that far too few people have been lucky enough to read, but my first drafts can still be pretty ropey. I just finished the second draft of Revenge (Exile is on the editor's desk, if you're wondering) and here's a few shockers that I picked out. See if you can figure out what the hell these sentences were supposed to be ...

... basically, his character was floored.
The room was furnished with old but adequate tables and conches.
The road was bumpy from tree routes.
... rolling over out of site.
In one bottom corner of the slap ...
Her voice had blasted out of that speaker, so full of home.
... the family of his surroundings ...
... doing a sweep across the sitting.
Behind him came a rustle of moment.
... for one many to find three people.
His face was read and flustered.
… as he shook off his own cuffs, not even looked …


Yeah, I'm pretty embarrassed, haha. But the book absolutely ROCKS, and it will be following closely on the heels of Exile once that one is out. No more 18 month waits, I promise. I learned from all the issues I had while writing Exile and so the first draft of Revenge was significantly tighter from the start. I have to add a couple of bits in there, but nothing much.
Dates coming soon.
Chris Ward7th November 2013

Revenge teaser snippet

Okay, so this is jumping the gun a bit and I know I said I'd shut up until Exile was done, but there is a bit of news. Exile is now in my editor's queue, as in, I've finished what I needed to do with it and its gone for its polishing. I've also commissioned the cover for Tube Riders: Revenge, which I'm now working through in second draft.

And as always when I go over a book I've had on the shelf for a while, I come across little sections that I just love, so I thought I'd share one with you today, from fairly early in the book.

I'm not saying who this character is. You can guess, but I'm keeping my lips sealed for now ...


Slight vibrations buzzed in his hands, and he knew that in a lab somewhere they were testing the electrical connections in case he was having second thoughts. They always did this; the government was like a little monkey on his back whispering into his ear, reminding him what it would feel like if he disobeyed.He didn’t want to pull off his clothes, but he was tired, it was warm, and he never slept well in his boots. He unlaced them and slid them down over his feet, pulling off the black, holey socks to reveal one normal human foot and one plastic molded lump with rounded outcrops for toes. It fused seamlessly with his skin just below the ankle, the synthetic skin that covered the flexible plastic barely discernible from human skin except for its greater elasticity, its hairlessness, and that he felt nothing when he touched it except a tug on the skin of his lower leg.He hated the foot. He didn’t care about the scars that cross-crossed his body because they scared people away and no woman that he wanted would turn down the money he could offer, but the foot … it was his leash. It reminded him every moment of every day that he was a government dog and even the casual freedom that anarchists and dissenters claimed within the walls of London was not his to share.
He rolled over and pulled a blanket over him, hiding it.

Chris Ward
29th October 2013

The Gravedigger

Something a little random for you today.

I'll have news on the next Tube Riders release very soon - yes, really! - but in the meantime I was going through the files and found something I'd almost forgotten about which you might find interesting.

Fans of the Tube Riders will know what happened at the end of the first book, and so of course the second book takes place mostly in France. I wasn't quite sure what the Tube Riders would find there, so I did a number of sketches - outtakes, mostly - of the beginning of the novel, envisaging France in a number of different ways. In the end I played it pretty safe, but for a while I wanted it to be this nuclear holocaust post-apocalyptic wasteland.

I'd just bought the brilliant new Mark Lanegan CD, and the first track is called "The Gravedigger's Song". What an awesome name for a character, I thought. So, I decided to have a "gravedigger" of some kind in Exile.

What follows below is an aborted beginning to Exile, featuring the character of the Gravedigger. The character actually survived into the book proper, however, for better or worse, the landscape did not.

Chris Ward
October 21st 2013



The Gravedigger
   It had been another long, tiring day of burying the dead.
   To the west, a crimson pool was seeping like blood across what was left of the afternoon sky. The gravedigger cocked one eye heavenward, curled a lip back to reveal dirty metallic teeth held crookedly by failing, inflamed gums that mirrored the fiery colour of the sky, and drew in a deep ragged breath.
   ‘Ahhh!’ he roared, his stomach contracting as if he meant to vomit, the single chilling word ejected from his throat like a foreign body, as one arm rose the rusty, muddied spade high up into the air like a challenge to the fading sun.
   From a copse of trees to the east came a cacophony of bird cries. With a flurry of wings a flock of crows took to flight, little more than black shadows as they raced from east to west across in front of him.
   The gravedigger slammed the spade down into the ground like a defiant Roman legionary planting a standard in the face of an enemy onslaught. His other arm shot up, ramrod straight, two remaining fingers either side of cauterized stubs marking the fleeing birds like a gun sight.
   There was a bright flash followed by twin squawks, part of pain, part of surprise.  Two birds fell dead out of the sky, the sound of their landing hidden by the terrified cries of the others.
   The gravedigger chuckled deep in his throat. He looked down to see that he’d planted the spade into the breastbone of a decomposed corpse, breaking open the rotted chest cavity with the force of the blow. The man – he assumed it had been a man from the broader shoulders – lay three feet below the surface of the ground on the top of a stack of other bodies the gravedigger had been charged with burying today. There were eight in the grave, the gravedigger’s lucky number, because, back in the day, that was the number of times he’d got laid, but it made a good, even number in a six foot pit in any case.
   And the animals climbed in two by two . . .
He’d dug, filled and covered four other graves today. A quiet day as it went. Twice this week he’d dug ten, and as the disease showed no signs of abating, he might top that yet. Monday tended to be a quiet day because most people died on weekends, it seemed.
He stomped off towards where he’d seen the birds fall. If he was lucky they’d still be warm, as he liked them. If not, he’d eat them anyway.
He heard a roaring sound to the south and habit made him glance back. It was just one of the trains, rocketing across the countryside, cutting through the hills like a spade through mud, along the main Paris to Nice trunk line. Damn, those things flew.　 Steam locomotives, too, billowing clouds of stinky shit out behind them like a dirty cloud of fart. Back and forth from the fucking cities like yoyos, ignoring all the shit and the filth in the countryside as if it didn’t exist.
And people said Britain had it bad.
The gravedigger reached the spot where the birds had fallen. One of them was still twitching, so he ate that one first, stuffing it into the metallic mess of his mouth and ripping through it, feathers, beak, bones, everything. He would puke up later what his body didn’t want.
He did the same with the second bird, although that one wasn’t as tasty, being dead as it was. Still, it was food, better than most of the country folk ever got.
Not for the first time in his life the gravedigger thanked those scientist bastards for messing around with his insides. He felt like an outcast and society had labelled him so, but in these war-torn times a body more resilient than the rest was proving a godsend.
The gravedigger turned back towards the graves. In a hollow somewhere beyond he could see wisps of smoke rising from what was left of the nearest village. A plane had come over yesterday and nailed it, which the gravedigger didn’t really care too much about because it gave him plenty more stiffs to bury, and plenty more commission from the government as a result.

He decided to quit for the day. The human part of his mind still felt tiredness, and shoveling could be draining work, particularly in hard ground. Back at the graveside he hefted a bag containing various tools, some spare clothes and a few trinkets he had collected over the past weeks over his shoulder, tucked the spade under one arm and headed off in the direction of the village. There, if he could find a house with a roof he would find shelter, as most families had fled and those that hadn’t wouldn’t refuse a gravedigger hospitality. Some of the old values still stood, after all.

Some nice new reviews for Tube Riders

Just like all writers, I love getting (nice) reviews.

Tube Riders had been a bit of a review black hole since June, but since the sampler of part one went perma-free at the beginning of September I've had a small clutch of them.

Tami H said -

This book had me reading until the sun came up and even then I did not want to put this book down. Amazing plot with new twists every five pages I would recommend this book to anyone

(five stars)

Margaret Falcon said -

I highly recommend this book. The characters are engaging and dynamic. The story line as lots of twists and turns. Very good read!

(five stars)

Everyones acritic said -

I gave this book 4 stars because it was original, entertaining to read, and gave me a new way to ride the subway! Crazy kids...they'll try anything just because the world is ending!

(four stars)

and Greg Strandberg posted one on the sampler itself -

 This book grabbed me right away with the fast and action-packed train sequence in the beginning. The dialogue and character interactions kept things moving after that. It's clear that Ward likes to put some off-putting dialogue to work, which adds a gritty realism to the world he's created. Looks like a good start to a fun series!

(four stars)


You guys are all awesome. Thanks so much.

I don't usually post anything about reviews because they're not for me but for other readers, and I believe that all readers are entitled to their opinion, good or bad. Provided the review is fair (and actually about my book) then I welcome all and any. Sometimes, though, on bad days when the books aren't selling, a few nice reviews can really cheer you up.

If anyone's wondering, I'm editing Exile. About halfway at the moment. Still hoping to have both Exile and Revenge out by Xmas. This weekend I spent Saturday cutting rice and Sunday concreting, so unfortunately I have a busy "real" life, but I'm doing my best. Bear with me!

Don't forget to sign up to the mailing list above to make sure you know as soon as the next book is out.

Chris Ward
September 29th 2013

End of the Road - free anthology

If you're interested in discovering new authors, I was recently published in a rather fine anthology featuring a whole host of really good writers across a variety of genres. From huge sellers to unknowns, there's a massive scope of talent in there and the best thing is that it's completely free.

You can pick up a free copy from Amazon US here or Amazon UK here.

Enjoy!

End of the Road

Roads end. They begin somewhere, too. In between, all manner of things happen: friendship, betrayal, horror and maybe even joy. For some, the End of the Road brings love and happiness, for others agony and suffering, and for a precious few, sorrow may lead to something revelatory. The potholes and pitfalls found in this anthology are many, but for every character, there is an end of the road.

This road ends in a collection of short stories by 31 of the most gifted writers of our time, with stories from action and mystery superstars Russell Blake, Traci Tyne Hilton and Mike Meyer; romance stars Jeannette Raleigh, C A Newsome, Suzie O'Connell, Kathleen Steed and Anna J.McIntyre; and from cutting edge science fiction and fantasy authors Saxon Andrew, Stephen Arseneault, John Daulton, and JRC Salter; post-apocalyptic and dystopian authors Brandon Hale, Scott Langrel, Dale Roberts and Jess Mountifield. Intended for lovers of short fiction everywhere, the End of the Road is a must read for anyone intent on keeping current with the literary scene.

Contributing authors:
Brandon Hale
Robert Thomas
Saxon Andrew
Russell Blake
James Rozoff
Anna J. McIntyre
Donna B. McNicol
Dale Roberts
Randall Morris
James Rozoff
Alison Blake
Stephen Arseneault
Jeanette Raleigh
L. S. Burton
Jess Mountifield
Shirley Bourget
C. A. Newsome
J R C Salter
Michael Meyer
E. B. Boggs
David A. Cuban
Scott Langrel
Traci Tyne Hilton
John Daulton
Kathleen Steed
Chris Ward
Jacques Antoine
Suzie O'Connell
Sherrie Giddens
Thomas Jenner
Angeline Perkins


Chris Ward
September 23rd 2013

Back to work ...

Just got back from a little vacation in the UK to spend time with my mother on her 60th birthday and see my sister's new baby. Back now at the computer desk and ready to get going on getting the next books ready.

This is a view of the valley I grew up in, Crackington Haven, during a rare break in the rain.

Stay tuned for news of release dates. I'm pretty much going to shut up now and get the next Tube Riders books done.
Don't forget to sign up for the mailing list here.

Chris Ward21st September 2013

The Tube Riders: Part One - London is now free

For anyone wanting to test drive Tube Riders, part one of the first novel, approx. 215 pages, is now free on Amazon.

 
Using the original artwork from the first edition of the novel, I hope that this will allow readers to decide whether they want to continue reading the remainder of the series.
Download for free from Amazon US here or Smashwords here.
Happy reading!
Chris Ward7th September 2013

And we're done ...

Yesterday I hammered out the last five thousand words of Tube Riders: Revenge, finishing the book up at ten minutes to midnight.

Then I had a little cry, and after that I went to buy a beer. Then I went to bed and at three thirty a.m. I got back up to feed the cat. Such is life.

That's it, done. You have no idea how I feel right now. Partly empty, with a huge gap in my free time that I'm going to fill for a couple of days doing absolutely nothing (okay, so I'm going to read a book, or maybe edit a couple of short stories, or write one or two more ... okay, you get it, I have no trouble filling my free time, "free" is a concept that doesn't really exist), and partly relieved. It's over. It's finished.

I wrote the short story Tube Riders in 2002. It was published in a special edition of a little magazine called Not One of Us in 2007 and I later published it myself in my collection Ms Ito's Bird and Other Stories.

In 2009, looking for a novel idea, I turned my mind back over my short stories and thought that the one with the kids hanging off the sides of a train might work. I got a piece of A3 paper, covered it with lines and scribbles, and what would become a 600 page novel was born.

It was originally never intended to be a trilogy. I don't like series - I don't like reading them and I don't much like writing them either. I actually prefer books which have a single enclosed story, but I found at the end of The Tube Riders that it was just part one of what would need to be a wider story if I was to really show what happened to the likes of Marta, Switch, Paul, Owen, Dreggo and even the horrible old Governor.

Until I come to self-publish it in March 2012 I had no real motivation to write any more. I had failed to sell it to publishers despite it being everything a commercially successful book needs, and I felt pretty much down about the whole writing thing. At pretty much my lowest ebb as a writer, I decided to give it a shot out in the world and it did okay. Not spectacular, but the reviews were decent, and finally I really felt like I needed to complete the story.

I wrote Tube Riders: Exile (TR#2) between September 2012 and February 2013. I hadn't really written anything in three years up to that point, and while its got a good story I was a bit ring rusty. I worked for a while on editing it, but then released that the third part in the trilogy, Revenge, was calling out to be written. So I shelved Exile for a while and got to work.

Thanks to the encouragement from several writer friends, I busted my ass to get this book done. And in less than three months - the quickest I have ever written a novel - I got to the end.

At 132,010 words, the first draft is a lot short than both book one and book two, but I tend to add a lot of detail in when I rewrite, so it'll probably end up a similar length. I think it's a good book. It's tighter, leaner and is absolutely relentless. There's no fat on this book at all, and I think it's a worthy end to the trilogy. I as certainly cut up writing the final scene yesterday.

So what happens now?

First, I'm going on holiday, next week in fact. I'm going to stay away from writing and stay away from the internet as much as possible - unlikely, but I'll try ... - and just relax for once. At the same time, though, I'm going to reread book one and make any minor changes that I feel necessary. I won't be changing the plot, but its my book and with the series now finished there might be one or two places I feel that clarification is necessary so I'll do what has to be done. Plus, a polish never hurts. Apologies to anyone who's read it who feels the need to read it again - you can get a free update from Amazon.

Then I'm going to begin the biggest task - revising Exile. I'm feeling sharp now and in control so it shouldn't take too long. Then, now the cover is done and the formatting has been commissioned I'll be putting it out for your appraisal. And then it'll be on to Revenge.

I want both books out by Christmas. That's the plan. I want all those little Tube Rider computer pixels to be filling virtual stockings on Xmas Day, and then you can all find out what happens in the end to Marta Banks and her friends. It'll shock you, it'll horrify you, and it'll make you gasp with excitement. It'll be worth it, I promise.

In the meantime, thanks for sticking with me. The story is told. That's the hard part. Now I just have to get it cleaned and dressed and ready to step out into the world.

It was quite some ride ...


Chris Ward
3rd September 2013