Martin Marriott's Blog, page 6

It May Be Late But Here's A Bit Of Prose About Autumn

In my writing group that's held once a month we sometimes set ourselves little projects to work on for the next session. We did a project on autumn and we were set either it had to be done in prose or poem form. I decided to go with prose and here it is.


The four sisters take their turn.
The first sister, steps forward, curtsies, but doesn't smile. She's the coldest of the sisters. They call her Winter. Her bright white hair, pale skin and crystal blue eyes, shiver the spine.
‘We can't wait to be rid of her!" shouts one.
‘Bring on Spring!’ another demands.
Ah! Here comes Spring. Baby woodland creatures dance and weave around her as she carries a wicker basket full of freshly cut flowers. Her hair is short, mousy brown, her skin magnolia, her eyes deep hazel. She smiles. A warm glowing smile that takes away the harshness of Winter.
‘Oh I like this one better,’ whispers one.
‘Enough of her already! I want the hot sister!’ pleads another.
Some roll their eyes, others hiss back. It seems some prefer Spring to her younger sister.
So here comes Summer. A barrage of bright colours follows her. The sun her constant lover, the blue, cloudless sky, a keen admirer.
Summer doesn't bow or curtsey to the crowd. Oh no that wouldn't be summer at all! She dances, she sings, she recites poems and long forgotten verses that many admirers have dedicated to her. Summer finally stands still, breathless. Her blonde locks cascade down her shimmering, golden shoulders. Her deep blue eyes, glimmer, entice, enthrall and leave the crowd wanting more of the glamorous sister.
So Winter, Spring and Summer have all come, shown their virtues and bowed out for another year. Who's left? Why some say the beautiful and charismatic of the four sisters.
‘Where is she?’ asks one.
‘Is she late again?’ another grumbles.
‘I don't care is she's early or late. Just as long as I get to see my dear sweet Autumn,' croons another.
Not long after Summer takes to her seat. Winter and Spring begin to fight. Winter started it. Most agree. Winter always starts it. For she's the coldest of the sisters.
'Here is she!' one exclaims.
‘Pipe down,’ scolds another.‘You'll give yourself a heart attack.’
Autumn calmly makes her way centre stage.Everything that has gone before has ebbed away.Autumn has arrived. A mixture of oranges, browns and crisp yellows radiate from her, bringing a sensation of warmth and contentment.
Autumn leisurely begins to dance in circles and the crowd can't take their gaze from her. Autumn's bronze skin and golden eyes mesmerise, her copper striped crimped hair flutters around her like dancing leaves.Autumn begins to hum a soothing melody and the crowd hum along in unison. For their mood has changed. That's why Autumn is the most precious of the four sisters. She brings reflection of what has passed. The crowd is soon happy, joyful and at ease. Autumn finishes her merry dance with our hearts and minds. It's soon time for the troublesome sister to take centre stage once more.
"Not her again," moans one.
"She's not that bad once you get to know her," says another.
"Give me Autumn any day," cheer the rest.

Selling Sand To Inuits( or Eskimos if that's not racist)

Promote, promote,promote!!!
Sell myself! Flog my heart out! Spread the word of Martin Marriott!
Is there a secret to success?
Do you have spend hours of grit and sweat to reep the rewards?
I've done twitter (553 followers).
I know, I know, I know (deep sigh) that's not very many. But I'm trying to work the cyber circuit to spread the word of my ebooks.
I've created a fan page connected to my Facebook (Author Martin Marriott if your interested). So far I've got 27 likes....... wooooo-hooo!!! But there all from friends and family.
I've joined Wattpad,Goodreads( that's obvious if your reading this) and Smashwords to raise my profile. I've been on Amazon from day-dot and my sales are generally....poor.
My next step is a web-site. I've seen a few free ones but is that defeating the object. Should I pay for a moderately cheap one or go full-out-guns blazing!!!
I may not be a great writer or even a good one. But I believe I'm half decent.
It's like I'm selling sand to Inuits when I should be selling snow. But they don't really need snow do they! Sand is the future.
Now, let me get my googles on and let's wade through my personal sandstorm.

To Many Stories Not Enough Indians

Each author has their own way of creating their work. I believe some lay out their entire story before they even put pen to paper or finger to keyboard.
I wish I was wired that way but sad as it is I'm not. I write like my idol Stephen King does. I start with a blank page and then let my imagination run wild. The down side to this is that I have no idea how the story will pan out until it nears its natural conclusion.
But the other severe downward spiral that I have is my mind gets easily bored. I may be writing one story with around 12,000 when an new idea pops into my head.
I'll leave my current story and start a new one. And this keeps in going and going. That's why I have only finished six stories in my entire life. On my PC I have 15 stories ranging from 8,000 words to 38,000.
Each day I promise myself that I will wade through my PC until I finish them all. But each day I break it as a new story comes alive in my head.
One day I will beat these demons of mine and complete what I have started.

Novella Blues

Now, who would win in a fight of words between a novella and a novel. I can already hear you harking,
"The novel would you fool! It contains more words."
Why that is true, I think the novella should win on a KO basis rather than a TKO.
As a writer(some may argue that point) I feel the novella is an underdog of the literary world. It's always second best. Always a bridesmaid and never a bride.
But why? Is it value for money?
Should I spent £2.99 on a 25,000 word novella or the same price for a 90,000 novel?
The consumer in us will tend to go for,
'I want my shillings worth and by god I will get it!'
But are you? Really?
Nah, I'm of the sound opinion that the Novella is the new black. It's the way forward and the future of delivering a good satisfying book to the reader. Is it not a proverb 'less is more.'
The novella is nothing new and had has been around for yonks. One of my favourite books 'Of Mice and Men' and it tells its story in around 150 pages.
I do get hung up as a budding writer that I don't think I've got a novel in me. I've produced two short stories and four novellas (two of those are just below the 50,000 mark).
But then I tell myself that as long as the story is told well and true it doesn't matter if its 5,000 words or 100,000 words. I do sometimes smirk to myself that a novella is just a long, drawn out novel with wasted information in it. But that's because I'm bitter and twisted and haven't yet danced with the beast that is Novel.
Onwards and upwards and as I plough through my murky world of Novellas I may just stumbled upon the golden shores of a Novel.

Easy Reads That's What You Need!

Why not have a butchers as these two easy reads to wet ones appetite.
The Man Who Found God
The Good Girl

Pull Yourself Together Man!

I really need to finish writing The Haunting of Cringlemire Hall. I just keep staring at the screen willing my imagination to take hold and get the job done.
Don't get me wrong I love my story and the characters that I have bore. But I'm struggling to find my mojo!
Now where did I put it?