Rob Rowntree's Blog, page 2

Free fiction

From 9th July through 13th, my short story, John and Lee, Down by the G'star, will be free for Amazon Kindle.

Don't miss your chance topick a copy up.

Three things I don't write about (and three things I do)

Three things I don’t write about (and three things I do)
 
I’m goofing off, surfing and looking at my book sales. But that’s not unusual when I have to do some writing, and this is proving harder than I thought.
 The wonderful Sharon Kae Reamertagged me in the ongoing and surprisingly interesting meme about three things I don’t write about, and three things which I do. Easy right? Well...

 I’d like to say that being a genre writer frees me to tackle any subject I’d care to mention. That far-future settings, or the fantasy worlds I play in, create backdrops that allow me to tackle difficult subjects, try some experimentation with tropes, styles and subject matter.  The truth is that it does provide those things, but in practise, there are things I don’t write about. Possibly even can’t write about.

 Romance – I don’t really think I’ve ever put that into my work. There have been odd moments of flirtation and a little heavy petting, but full on romance, no, not somewhere I’d want to go. Perhaps I’m intimidated by it, being a man and all.

 There are themes I’m not interested in; social demographics, equality(There’s a reason for this one. In principle, I like the idea, but it’s never ever going to be a reality while people are about and it’s a minefield to write about), erotica. They just don’t interest me enough.

 So my next choice is Sport. I don’t write any sport into my work, and have no plans to start doing so. The world of sport is a mystery to me and I wouldn’t know how to tackle the subject matter. That’s not to say I might not have a character that used to be a sports person, but as a subject it again doesn’t interest me enough. Hell, most sport is all overpaid ego and posturing, much like a genre conventions... J

 Young Adult  - Yeah, I know it’s a abroad area, but the sub-genre leaves me cold and even when it’s in a genre I like, I find it shallow and unsatisfying. It almost seems like lack of depth and loose plotting are a prerequisite for these books.

 Writing the above was far more difficult than I expected, and to be fair, although that’s the position now, I can’t guarantee I won’t sell out and tackle any or all of them.

 So, what three things do I like to write about – Romance, Sport and Young Adult, no, just kidding.

 The big questions interest me. Where are the aliens? What’s the point of the universe? Will mankind survive to green the galaxy? Why can’t you get rid of that lingering hotdog smell from your kitchen? But I like to look at these through human perspectives; loss, fear, need.

 Loss figures heavily in my novel, and my short work; not just of physical things, but of how lives might have been, the what ifs, and the fallout when characters realise how their lives could have turned out. We all have feelings like that, right?

 Another passion of mine is science. I’m a big believer in science, and the benefits science brings to the world. I’ll always put science in my work, even in my fantasy pieces. I find it surprising that we, the human race, are here at all. The universe is a dangerous place, and over time it will try to destroy us. Perhaps it has a policy on preventing entropy. That’s something I like the idea of, our struggle, both as a race and as individuals against the hostile universe.  That’s something for my next novel.

 Aliens – Okay, we all love a good alien, but I often find novel and movie representations frustrating. Their obvious anthropomorphism annoys me. So, I like to play with the that, to try and make them less like us and more, well, alien.  And it’s not easy because all I know is human. All my ideas and thoughts are generated from the sum of me, and by extension, the creations I come up with are human, no matter how much I twist it out of kilter.

If you were to ask me to do this again next week, you’d probably get a different set of answers. But that’s the way of things, change is all around us and if you let it, the universe will bite you when you least expect it. 
Another thing I like to try and push through my work is a sense of fun. Not laugh-out-loud comedy, but the fun to be found in entertainment, of being entertained. It's almost more important than the other things I've mention. Who wants to read a  boring book?

The form for this meme, three hoppy-blog stuff, is that I tag some new person to take over the task. Guess what? It seems that I'm at the end of a very long list of people that have gone before me. Those writers that I've asked have already sown their words of wisdom.  That doesn't mean the line ends here. There'll be a pause before I find someone, and then, of course, I'll let you know.

FREE FICTION

My fantasy short story Silver is free on Amazon until July 6th.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IZLK93O

Don't miss this opportunity to grab a copy.  Ideal for an evening read or the commute to work.

CICRA - Charity

I'm writing about a subject close to my heart. For many year's I've suffered from Ulcerative Colitis, an illness that's debilitating, painful, worrying and socialy miss-understood. It's an IBD, an inflammatory bowel disease. Not an IBS, inflammatory bowel syndrome, which although nasty is not in the same league.

Over time I've managed to control it with drugs and steriods. It was well under control and I thought there'd be no comeback, and, of course, fate rolled its dice (die?).

Turned out my eldest son has Crohn's disease, UC's bigger brother. He's still in the stages of trying to get it under control, missing school, feeling ill...

So, our family up and joined, CICRA, Crohn's in Childhood Research Association. here's a piece from their website:  "The Crohn’s in Childhood Research Association (CICRA) is dedicated to creating a wider understanding of Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis, particularly as it affects children and young adults. It raises funds to support approved medical and scientific research aimed at finding more effective treatments and an eventual cure."

The support and research they provide is invaluable in helping over 50000 children thought to have either Crohns or UC in th eUK and more worldwide.  I would urge anyone interested to go to their website at http://www.cicra.org/ take a look around and if if so inclined make a small donation.  Every little bit helps, no matter how small.

Finally on Kindle Countdown

It took a while, but Unbound Brothers is on Kindle Coutdown for the rest of this week.

Don't miss your chance to pick up a copy at a reduced rate, before it goes back up to full price.

Great reviews, great reading at a great price.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IA4V8YA

Vote for Unbound Brothers

My novel, Unbound Brothers is entered in a list - 3rd Annual Underground Book Reviews Summer Reading List - which can be voted for.

Those of you that read it and liked it, can vote for it here, if you'd like.
...

http://www.undergroundbookreviews.com/magazine/voting-is-open-for-the-2014-summer-reading-list

Free Scifi

My Novel Unbound Brothers is free for Kindle, April 5th through April 7th.

It's getting great reviews.

Grab a copy while you can. 

FREE short story

For those of you that fancy a free read my short story, 'Silver', is available free 27th march through 29th.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IZLK93O


Jo Hall, author of 'The Art of Forgetting' said, 'Highlights...[are] stories that are more clearly fantasy, notably “Silver” by Robert Rowntree. In “Silver”, a young woman unwittingly unleashes an ancient plague, and the twist at the end is startling, brilliant, and a real “should have seen it coming” moment.'

Grab a copy while you can.

And here's the second...

This is the second piece of short fiction I'm releasing today.


A far future story involving som eunusual characters from the past.

At 99 cents or 77 pence it can be found here...

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IZJLQWE

Enjoy

Rob

New stories for sale

At last I have managed to get two of my short stories posted on Amazon.  They are reprints from well received anthologies and since the rights are back with me I thought I'd try my hand at Amazon.

The first, Silver, is a fantasy set on another world. There are some scifi trappings in the background, but most readers have decided it's fantasy. Who am I to argue with them.


http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IZLK93O

Priced at just 99 cents/77p it's a snip.

Hope you like it.