Mark Henwick's Blog, page 3
April 13, 2016
Bite Back Book 5!
Angel Stakes will be released this week on Friday 15th April 2016.
Here's the opening few paragraphs:
Floating…
Floating down the river of night toward the city of dreams…
Our Lady, Queen of Angels. Where the long dragon spine of San Gabriel sprawls over the trembling San Andreas Fault and four million people cluster in its shadow. Bad Feng Shui, the Chinese mutter, and spit to clear their luck.
Los Angeles. Where glittering streets of plenty cut like knives through the desperate barrios. Where gangs and cults, earthquakes and hill fires, riots and despair and madness, all simmer just beneath the surface, waiting, like the abiding desert, to erupt out through the drains and engulf the city.
LA. The laconic arrogance in the initials of the city that lives, full of myth, pulsing with tales. The city that feeds on dreams, leaving nothing but dust and nightmares.
And we are such stuff as dreams are made. Or nightmares.
Here's the opening few paragraphs:
Floating…
Floating down the river of night toward the city of dreams…
Our Lady, Queen of Angels. Where the long dragon spine of San Gabriel sprawls over the trembling San Andreas Fault and four million people cluster in its shadow. Bad Feng Shui, the Chinese mutter, and spit to clear their luck.
Los Angeles. Where glittering streets of plenty cut like knives through the desperate barrios. Where gangs and cults, earthquakes and hill fires, riots and despair and madness, all simmer just beneath the surface, waiting, like the abiding desert, to erupt out through the drains and engulf the city.
LA. The laconic arrogance in the initials of the city that lives, full of myth, pulsing with tales. The city that feeds on dreams, leaving nothing but dust and nightmares.
And we are such stuff as dreams are made. Or nightmares.
August 9, 2015
The Biting Cold
How would the therapy session go, if your patient was a handsome vampire?
Chapter 1
“And how does being a vampire make you feel, Mr. Scott?”
Not the most surreal patient interview I’d ever conducted. Not by a long shot. In fact, a surprisingly common enough delusion that there were established pathways for me to follow, even if the cliché opening made me cringe inside.
He settled his shoulders comfortably in the depths of the armchair and looked up at the ceiling. I don’t use a couch. I don’t wear tweed jackets, bow ties or turtlenecks and I don’t have a beard either. It just wouldn’t work with the blonde hair pulled back in the bun, the gray eyes behind the serious glasses, the subdued makeup, the effort to look subliminally professional.
As I watched, Mr. Scott’s dark eyes tracked lazily upward and to the right as he considered the question.
Visualizing, possibly accessing memories and emotions. Less likely to be lying.
Or he’s read the same NLP books I have, and he’s faking it. Some do, just to get the attention.
Without falling prey to stereotyping my patients from their appearances and overt behavior, I thought he didn’t look like the type who just wanted someone to pay attention.
I believed he wasn’t lying. And my instincts on whether someone was lying were unusually good. Which left me two alternatives: either he was a vampire, or he believed he was. The first option wasn’t possible. So… Great. The guy really thought he was a vampire.
Chapter 1
“And how does being a vampire make you feel, Mr. Scott?”
Not the most surreal patient interview I’d ever conducted. Not by a long shot. In fact, a surprisingly common enough delusion that there were established pathways for me to follow, even if the cliché opening made me cringe inside.
He settled his shoulders comfortably in the depths of the armchair and looked up at the ceiling. I don’t use a couch. I don’t wear tweed jackets, bow ties or turtlenecks and I don’t have a beard either. It just wouldn’t work with the blonde hair pulled back in the bun, the gray eyes behind the serious glasses, the subdued makeup, the effort to look subliminally professional.
As I watched, Mr. Scott’s dark eyes tracked lazily upward and to the right as he considered the question.
Visualizing, possibly accessing memories and emotions. Less likely to be lying.
Or he’s read the same NLP books I have, and he’s faking it. Some do, just to get the attention.
Without falling prey to stereotyping my patients from their appearances and overt behavior, I thought he didn’t look like the type who just wanted someone to pay attention.
I believed he wasn’t lying. And my instincts on whether someone was lying were unusually good. Which left me two alternatives: either he was a vampire, or he believed he was. The first option wasn’t possible. So… Great. The guy really thought he was a vampire.
March 10, 2015
Cool Hand
It's on Amazon and Kobo now!
Book 4 in the Bite Back series...
Book 4 in the Bite Back series...
March 3, 2015
Bite Back book 4 - Cool Hand
Cool Hand will be out on Amazon on Friday 6th March.
"Sometimes, nothing can be a real cool hand."
Paul Newman as Luke Jackson in Cool Hand Luke.
Chapter 1
WEDNESDAY NIGHT
“If you don’t believe your whole life has been a path leading to this one point, you’re not focused enough.”
That had been Top, while I was training in Ops 4-10.
But he’d also said: “You’re every second of training we’ve hardwired into you. Focus on the big picture and your instincts will handle the rest.”
What happened if my instincts led me down the wrong path?
"Sometimes, nothing can be a real cool hand."
Paul Newman as Luke Jackson in Cool Hand Luke.
Chapter 1
WEDNESDAY NIGHT
“If you don’t believe your whole life has been a path leading to this one point, you’re not focused enough.”
That had been Top, while I was training in Ops 4-10.
But he’d also said: “You’re every second of training we’ve hardwired into you. Focus on the big picture and your instincts will handle the rest.”
What happened if my instincts led me down the wrong path?
December 17, 2014
Athanate short story in anthology
I have a new release coming up - a short story in an anthology called "A Very Paranormal Holiday". This anthology will be released this Saturday, December 20th.
The anthology comprises short stories from six Urban Fantasy authors –
Connie Suttle, J.C. Mells, Susan Illene
Mark Henwick, Debra Dunbar, J.T. Bock
The anthology is FREE but you have to request it by email (mark AT athanate DOT com) and it will be delivered by email.
All six authors will then email you their future book release alerts. Your email will not be used in any other way and you will always be able to unsubscribe from future mailings.
The anthology will be sent in Kindle format unless you specify that you require a different format. (If you want instructions on sending documents to your Kindle, just ask, it’s very simple)
My short story is 'The Biting Cold' , set in the same Athanate world as Amber's Bite Back series, but with a different cast of characters-
Detroit in winter; a city in the grip of decay.
A legal system struggling to deliver justice, and a dying woman whose long-term memory has failed.
Psychiatrist Dr. Amanda Lloyd is focused on living long enough to give her expert testimony in court and put a vicious criminal away. The defense are fighting for a postponement she can’t allow, and questioning her memory problems in an effort to discredit her.
She can’t spare the time for the patient who claims to be a vampire.
Unless what he offers her is exactly what she needs…
Bite Back update: Book 4 'Cool Hand' was due out this Christmas, but has been slightly delayed until January. My apologies.
The anthology comprises short stories from six Urban Fantasy authors –
Connie Suttle, J.C. Mells, Susan Illene
Mark Henwick, Debra Dunbar, J.T. Bock
The anthology is FREE but you have to request it by email (mark AT athanate DOT com) and it will be delivered by email.
All six authors will then email you their future book release alerts. Your email will not be used in any other way and you will always be able to unsubscribe from future mailings.
The anthology will be sent in Kindle format unless you specify that you require a different format. (If you want instructions on sending documents to your Kindle, just ask, it’s very simple)
My short story is 'The Biting Cold' , set in the same Athanate world as Amber's Bite Back series, but with a different cast of characters-
Detroit in winter; a city in the grip of decay.
A legal system struggling to deliver justice, and a dying woman whose long-term memory has failed.
Psychiatrist Dr. Amanda Lloyd is focused on living long enough to give her expert testimony in court and put a vicious criminal away. The defense are fighting for a postponement she can’t allow, and questioning her memory problems in an effort to discredit her.
She can’t spare the time for the patient who claims to be a vampire.
Unless what he offers her is exactly what she needs…
Bite Back update: Book 4 'Cool Hand' was due out this Christmas, but has been slightly delayed until January. My apologies.
February 28, 2014
Teaser for Bian's Tale
I promised a teaser on Bian’s Tale. This is approximately the first quarter of the book.
Bian's Tale starts in Saigon in the 1890s, so this is a very different setting to Bite Back!
Link: http://henwick.files.wordpress.com/20...
It’s in PDF format and you'll need Adobe to read it.
As an alternative, email me at Mark@athanate.com and I can send you Kindle (mobi) or iPad (ePub) format.
As I say, it’s very different from the Amber novels and I’d love feedback, here or on athanate.com or to my email address as above. Thanks!
Bian's Tale starts in Saigon in the 1890s, so this is a very different setting to Bite Back!
Link: http://henwick.files.wordpress.com/20...
It’s in PDF format and you'll need Adobe to read it.
As an alternative, email me at Mark@athanate.com and I can send you Kindle (mobi) or iPad (ePub) format.
As I say, it’s very different from the Amber novels and I’d love feedback, here or on athanate.com or to my email address as above. Thanks!
December 22, 2013
December 10, 2013
Wild Card ... closer
The final draft of the 4th section, the end of the book, has gone to the editor.
I'm now working on the list of edits for the 3rd section of the book.
Wild Card will come out this month and I'll post here again when I'm sure of the publication date.
I'm now working on the list of edits for the 3rd section of the book.
Wild Card will come out this month and I'll post here again when I'm sure of the publication date.
December 3, 2013
Wild Card chapter 1 teaser
Blog with excerpt of Wild Card:
http://henwick.wordpress.com/2013/12/...
http://henwick.wordpress.com/2013/12/...
October 3, 2013
Wild Card schedule
Wild Card (Bite Back book 3) was originally scheduled for August, then October and now it's slipped again. It is (as with all the Bite Back books), long and complex. I'm happy with what I've written (about 75%), but not so happy that it's going so slowly. My apologies. I'm currently estimating December.
I regularly update readers on progress on the blog and FB page:
http://henwick.wordpress.com/
https://www.facebook.com/TheBiteBackS...
I regularly update readers on progress on the blog and FB page:
http://henwick.wordpress.com/
https://www.facebook.com/TheBiteBackS...
