K.S. Dearsley's Blog, page 6
October 18, 2015
Playing Away
Antarctica will be heading north to Yorkshire in December, or at least my play titled Antarctica will be. I'm honoured to have been highly commended in The Walter Swan Trust Award (http://www.walterswantrust.org.uk), which means my one-act play will receive a rehearsed reading at Ilkley Playhouse on Friday 4th December and a performance at West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds on Monday 7th December. I'll be going to see it, providing the weather doesn't turn Antarctic, but in December you never know!
Okay, I know this is a site for books and I'm talking about a play, but it might well join with another two of my one-act plays and go into print. There are a few Exiles who are waiting to get there first though!
Okay, I know this is a site for books and I'm talking about a play, but it might well join with another two of my one-act plays and go into print. There are a few Exiles who are waiting to get there first though!
September 11, 2015
A New Series Begins
Should I, or shouldn't I? In the end, I decided to go for it, so here it is–the first in the Iyessi song series inspired by Discord's Apprentice. As with the songs for Discord's Child, the new series has a song to accompany each chapter. Here's the first of them:
Prologue
Where are you going, my little one?
How do you know the way?
Wait here a little longer
There's no harm in delay.
To linger is no bad thing
You've earned a chance to play
Who knows what fate awaits you?
So rest awhile and stay.
Prologue
Where are you going, my little one?
How do you know the way?
Wait here a little longer
There's no harm in delay.
To linger is no bad thing
You've earned a chance to play
Who knows what fate awaits you?
So rest awhile and stay.
July 27, 2015
Must Read
What attracts you to a book? Is it the cover? The title? The blurb? The author? By the author, I don't mean that you've heard of something they've written, or read something by them before, but the author her/himself. If the author has purple-striped hair and wears thigh length boots, you might remember them, but would it put you off reading their romantic novel? Would you be disappointed to discover the book they'd written was about tractor maintenance?
On a recent radio programme, I heard an editor for a major publisher extolling the virtues of those in her position coming from a marketing or PR background rather than an editorial one. She found her favourite crime novel after meeting the author at a literary event. The author had bright red hair, a Bronx accent and a background that included spells in rehab and a bikers' gang. The editor said she looked for authors who were marketable.
In this instance the author's appearance and experience were a good match for her main character and subject matter, but would the editor have been as enthusiastic if she wrote children's books? Would the readers? I really need to know before I go ahead with the tattoos and lessons in how to walk in six inch stilettos. Maybe I could put a photo on here of a kitten and recommend reading some of my work instead. Until 31st July you can still get Discord's Child free at Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/...
On a recent radio programme, I heard an editor for a major publisher extolling the virtues of those in her position coming from a marketing or PR background rather than an editorial one. She found her favourite crime novel after meeting the author at a literary event. The author had bright red hair, a Bronx accent and a background that included spells in rehab and a bikers' gang. The editor said she looked for authors who were marketable.
In this instance the author's appearance and experience were a good match for her main character and subject matter, but would the editor have been as enthusiastic if she wrote children's books? Would the readers? I really need to know before I go ahead with the tattoos and lessons in how to walk in six inch stilettos. Maybe I could put a photo on here of a kitten and recommend reading some of my work instead. Until 31st July you can still get Discord's Child free at Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/...
July 21, 2015
It's Work, Honest!
One of the great things about writing a series of novels that involves music (Discord's Child is still free at http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/... until 31st July) is the excuse it gives me to find new instruments and performers and revisit old favourites. Sometimes I think I've found something new, but really I've stumbled onto something quite late. It happened again this week.
I was scrolling through Facebook when I was brought up short by a You Tube video someone had shared of 2 Cellos performing Thunderstruck, which is exactly what I was when I watched it. Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3SBzm...
Then I clicked on their website at http://www.2cellos.com and discovered that they already have a huge following.
Their music is exciting stuff, so it's perhaps just as well that I also discovered Naxos has released another two volumes of Domenico Scarlatti's keyboard sonatas, which are equally inspiring but don't get your pulse racing in quite the same way. Time to go listen and imagine, I think.
I was scrolling through Facebook when I was brought up short by a You Tube video someone had shared of 2 Cellos performing Thunderstruck, which is exactly what I was when I watched it. Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3SBzm...
Then I clicked on their website at http://www.2cellos.com and discovered that they already have a huge following.
Their music is exciting stuff, so it's perhaps just as well that I also discovered Naxos has released another two volumes of Domenico Scarlatti's keyboard sonatas, which are equally inspiring but don't get your pulse racing in quite the same way. Time to go listen and imagine, I think.
July 4, 2015
Free Read
Now is your chance to read Discord's Child for free. I've enrolled the novel in Smashwords' summer promotion, which runs throughout July. All you have to do to get your free copy, is go to http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/... and order using the coupon number you'll find on the page.
Of course, there's an ulterior motive to my generosity. I hope that once you read Discord's Child, you'll want to read the next novel in The Exiles of Ondd series, Discord's Apprentice, but there's no obligation, so what have you got to lose? If fantasy isn't to your taste, the promotion covers hundreds of titles at discounts ranging from 25 to 100 per cent, so there's bound to be something to suit you.
Of course, there's an ulterior motive to my generosity. I hope that once you read Discord's Child, you'll want to read the next novel in The Exiles of Ondd series, Discord's Apprentice, but there's no obligation, so what have you got to lose? If fantasy isn't to your taste, the promotion covers hundreds of titles at discounts ranging from 25 to 100 per cent, so there's bound to be something to suit you.
June 28, 2015
Artificial Intelligence
I have a good excuse for my absence from the blog for the past few weeks. I've been grappling with technology and doing lots of switching off and switching on again. It seems that if I use the scanner, the printer goes into a huff and won't talk to the computer. Who says machines don't have feelings?
No wonder there are so many science fiction stories about machines becoming independent of people and taking over the planet. I don't think they'll make war on us, but that doesn't mean we don't have to worry because all the evidence points to them making war on each other. Honestly, if the printer can be jealous of the scanner, giving machines intelligence could bring life as we know it to a halt! It won't help my next attempt to give my website a makeover either. As it is, I've finally persuaded the printer and scanner that I need them both equally, and I have a nice fresh-looking, easy to use site online.
The address is the same as before - http://www.ksdearsley.com - so pay it a visit. If you don't, it might get an inferiority complex and refuse to come out and play.
No wonder there are so many science fiction stories about machines becoming independent of people and taking over the planet. I don't think they'll make war on us, but that doesn't mean we don't have to worry because all the evidence points to them making war on each other. Honestly, if the printer can be jealous of the scanner, giving machines intelligence could bring life as we know it to a halt! It won't help my next attempt to give my website a makeover either. As it is, I've finally persuaded the printer and scanner that I need them both equally, and I have a nice fresh-looking, easy to use site online.
The address is the same as before - http://www.ksdearsley.com - so pay it a visit. If you don't, it might get an inferiority complex and refuse to come out and play.
June 1, 2015
Launch Day
I feel like a mother who's just deposited their child at school for the first time. How will they get on alone in the big wide world? I hope Discord's Apprentice will find lots of friends on it's first day as a published novel.You can find it at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XL9L0VU
May 25, 2015
Dedicated to the Dedicated
Writing a dedication for a novel is rather like drafting an acceptance speech for the Oscars–or at least I imagine it is, as I haven't been invited to tread the red carpet. You want to thank everyone, but if you do the chances are the audience at home will get up and put the kettle on. It's all too easy for readers to simply flip the page and get to the part they bought the book for–chapter one. Consequently, I've kept the dedication in Discord's Apprentice brief. I haven't thanked my mother and father, the teachers who encouraged me or the colleagues who mocked... and everyone else who knows me. I've simply dedicated the novel to everyone who didn't give up hope that the sequel to Discord's Child would eventually appear. You know who you are.
May 18, 2015
The Exiles Are Back
Discord's Apprentice, the second book of The Exiles of Ondd, is now available for pre-order online at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XL9L0VU and http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/.... There's a special low pre-order price, and to celebrate the novel's arrival, the price of the first novel in the series, Discord's Child has been reduced to match. Plus, it now includes the first chapter of Discord's Apprentice. Click on the links above for all the details and to read a sample. Alternatively, go to http://www.ksdearsley.com for news about The Exiles of Ondd and more. In the run-up to the launch date on 1st June, you can read a tweet length extract from Discord's Apprentice every day on Twitter at @KSDearsley.
My thanks to everyone who's stuck with me throughout the long wait.
My thanks to everyone who's stuck with me throughout the long wait.
April 20, 2015
At Last!
At the risk of jinxing myself, I can announce that Discord's Apprentice, the second novel in The Exiles of Ondd series is due to be published in June. I'm hoping to have extracts, offers, contests, quizzes etc. in the run-up to the big day, so watch this space, or visit my website at http://www.ksdearsley.com to make sure you don't miss anything.
If you feel the urge to find out more about my work or maybe read a short story, visit http://www.alfiedog.com as I'm Alfie Dog Fiction's featured author from 20th April.
Here's a final Iyessi song to be going on with:
Our song it is a circle
It flows as smooth as time
And who you are and where you be
Is no concern of mine.
Our road it is a circle
'Though it runs here and there
And who you are and where you be
I really do not care.
Our lives they are a circle
A tale that's old and new
And who you are and where you be
Is all a point of view.
If you feel the urge to find out more about my work or maybe read a short story, visit http://www.alfiedog.com as I'm Alfie Dog Fiction's featured author from 20th April.
Here's a final Iyessi song to be going on with:
Our song it is a circle
It flows as smooth as time
And who you are and where you be
Is no concern of mine.
Our road it is a circle
'Though it runs here and there
And who you are and where you be
I really do not care.
Our lives they are a circle
A tale that's old and new
And who you are and where you be
Is all a point of view.
