David Conway's Blog, page 3
July 25, 2013
Is That a Pun in Your Pocket? by Iain Pattison has gone live on www.FirstChapters.net
It’s not the length that matters, it’s what you do with it that counts. And Iain Pattison certainly knows what to do with a short story.
The internationally-acclaimed humourist has been entertaining readers on both sides of the Atlantic for more than 15 years with a succession of short stories that have won prize after prize, appeared in magazines and anthologies, and been broadcast on the UK’s most prestigious speech radio station, BBC Radio 4.
If you haven’t read them, or heard them, you’ve been missing out. So here’s your chance to catch up!
In this debut collection, Iain gives his imagination free rein in 21 of his best short stories – offbeat and satirical tales that range from the droll and wickedly witty to the slapstick and surreal.
Peek between the covers, and you’ll find a woman who believes she’s a pavement, a crazed murderess trying to kill her victim on stage during a Christmas pantomime, and a dystopian pastiche of Willy Wonka in which the showman chocolatier comes up with a deadly solution to drag his factory out of recession.
Then there’s the Preston bus driver who emerges from a coma to find he can speak every language on the planet – quite a journey, from omnibus to omniglot – plus a hideous man who thinks facing a firing squad will make him a babe-magnet, and a nightmare for Geppetto when Pinocchio reaches puberty.
And you’ll discover why the author is known (usually affectionately) as The Man With The Golden Pun.
Birmingham-based Iain Pattison is one of the UK’s experts in the craft of writing and seIling short stories. He is the author of the best-seller Cracking the Short Story Market.
A prolific short story writer and competition winner, his work has been widely published on both sides of the Atlantic, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and appeared in a raft of popular magazines includingWoman, Woman’s Own, Take A Break, Chat, Woman’s Weekly, My Weekly, Writers Forum, Acclaim Magazine, and The New Writer.
His varied output covers everything from horror to humour, romance to traditional twist-ender coffee break tales. And when he’s not busy penning quirky tales, he’s a busy competition judge and creative writing tutor.
To read three of Ian’s stories for free, go to: http://www.First.Chapters.net.
Sunburst and Flames is now live on www.FirstChapters.net
Profile for
Teresa Joseph Franklin
About my life as a poet which I might add started just over a year ago in February 2012. I write on different subjects/topics ranging from thoughtful, thought provoking, creepy scary to funny and stunningly beautiful. What gives me inspiration to write poetry can be on life situations to people watching in the street whilst sitting having lunch or coffee, or it could be an image that I have seen on a website or in a magazine.
Life for me as a poet is very quiet at present. I am divorced and enjoying the independence to write poetry. My three sons have flown the nest, but are proud of their mum’s achievements to date,
I live in a quiet sleepy village that is called Wool, which is steeped in Lawrence of Arabia and Thomas Hardy history, Tess of the D’Urbervilles was filmed here at Wool Bridge Manor and Lawrence of Arabia lived just a few miles away.
Currently I am studying with the Open University as a part-time student working towards a BA (Honours) in Business Studies, who says we seniors cannot keep up with the young?
I am also writing two novels at present one is a short story called ‘The Wishing Well’ this story is set around the 1800’s where strange things have happened with the ancient wishing well. And also ‘Break a Leg’ which is about putting a concert on stage.
Other titles which are available as an Ebook and Paperback Editions are as follows:
Heartfelt Baring All which are in 3 volumes
Mystically Beautiful poems for children of all ages
Sunburst And Flames 20 poems to light your fire within
Living Under The Same Sky (wolves poetry)
Simply Magical poems/short story a great gift for a new mum, and little girls from age 5- 11
Flawed Gods by Angela B Mortimer is now live on www.FirstChapters.net
It is a story that might start on our Earth or it might not, for many Earths have been created by the Varan. The Varan assemble us from whatever genetic material they can find on suitable worlds. They try to make their creatures perfect, but as they themselves are far from perfect, this is rarely achieved. It is even rarer for us to achieve our desires when the Varan withdraw their guidance from us.
One Varan anthropologist cares more than most, and this is her story. Doella is flawed and she knows it. She is a rebel who disagrees with her race’s treatment of humans and their Earths. She feels estranged from her people even when she is surrounded by loving friends and family. Doella is unsure exactly what kind of future she wants for herself, but she has no desire to settle on Varan and forget about the struggling Earth projects in the comfort of her complacent world.
Doella’s destiny is not of her own choosing – nor is it controlled by the creators of her people, despite their attempts to influence her future. They know that she is destined to be the mother of many races, but even they cannot identify the nature of the force that urges their plans for Doella’s future.
The first book introduces us to Doella’s many friends and lovers. We also meet the most unlikely dragon named Wylar (for Doella will become a dragon mother too). Doella realises that Creation is more than just a process begun by the Varan and their originators. The origin of Creation is forgotten, but it will be found … or remembered.
The dragons have a secret too, but they say they have forgotten it Cael, the oldest dragon, still remembers it; and one day Doella will remember it too. In later books, she will find a home for her family far away from the restrictions of Varan life. She will encounter evil and goodness in her brood; she will discover other individuals who are genetically enhanced like herself. And eventually she will come to understand that she is the Mother of All…
Angela B Mortimer was born in the UK, married a gorgeous Aussie and has been living happily here ever since. Attended West of England College of art. Love reading sci-fi, fantasy and my fav subjects like genetics, planet sciences, philosophy, history – especially ancient, and of course space. I dreamt of being an astronaut. I’ve been writing since I could and painting for as long. I love the outdoors and gazing at the stars and wondering what might be out there.
http://www.amazon.com/Flawed-Gods-ebook/dp/B008FW92N6
Lily White Lies by Kathy Reinhart is now live on www.FirstChapters.net
To read the first four chapters of Lily White Lies go to: www.firstchapters.net.
Meg Embry has a closet full of dreams. Her problem is that all of the hangers are empty. A doting granddaughter, a submissive fiancé and a struggling business owner, she doesn’t know if who she is, is who she wants to be. Will she end up like her kind-hearted but felonious grandfather, her eccentric, vodka-drinking grandmother or her moonstruck aunt? If she’s honest, the best answer is ‘none of the above.’
Armed with nothing more than the support of her two closest friends, Cory who can make her laugh and Charlotte who will let her cry and the forbidden but growing interest in a handsome stranger, Meg learns that what she wants isn’t necessarily what she needs, and that sometimes love, family and betrayal are bound together forever by lily white lies.
Kathy Reinhart is the author of the award-winning LILY WHITE LIES, and her debut novel, MISSOURI IN A SUITCASE, which was written under the pen name, Nova Scott.
Before venturing into the world of mainstream fiction, Kathy wrote articles of interest for online enthusiast magazines, most notably on the subjects of horses and eventing.
A firm believer in paying it forward, she created and maintains the popular, INK DROP INTERVIEWS, where she features one-on-one question and answer sessions with Indie authors, spotlighting their work and thoughts on the subjects of writing and the publishing industry.
Kathy is currently working on the novels, FIGHT LIKE A GIRL, and THE RED STROKES, due out late 2013 and mid 2014, respectively. She is also in the early stages of a forthcoming novel, THE SALESMAN, a collaborative project based on a true story.
A few of Kathy’s other interests include horses, cooking, traveling, antiquing, also kayaking and paddle boarding the Pennsylvania lakes and rivers with her husband, Nick.
“Write to the ends of your imagination” ~Kathy Reinhart
http://www.amazon.com/Lily-White-Lies-ebook/dp/B005C478SG
July 24, 2013
Helping authors to promote their books
I’ve started a free website to help authors (both self-published and conventionally published) to promote their books. The site went live this afternoon. At the moment there’s just one book on it, mine! I’d like to get more onto it as soon as possible.
www.firstchapters.net encourages readers to sample the first three or four chapters of recently published books free of charge. Readers who like the book are directed to online stores where they can buy the full version, either as a physical or eBook.
First Chapters promotes recently published work in all categories and genres, including poetry and short stories. It includes works of both fiction and non-fiction.
There will be biographies of contributing authors and recommendations for similar books.
First Chapters uses ‘crowd power’ techniques to publicise the site. Authors are encouraged to promote First Chapters on their own blogs, and on social networking sites.
The reasoning is simple: one of the great features of Amazon is the ‘Click to look inside’ facility. But sadly, it’s often a very short extract, and sometimes the pages you get are non-consecutive. Everyone likes to read the first few pages of a book before they buy, there’s no better way of selling good books!
Please help me with this by sending me the first three or four chapters of one of your recent published books, or even a work in progress. There is no cost at all, either to authors or readers (we may add advertising later). Once we have the first hundred books on the site we will begin the process of promoting our work as widely as possible. This is very much a collective effort; if we all pull together we can all sell a lot more books.
July 8, 2013
John Inverdale needs to go to Specsavers
Marion Bartoli at Wimbledon Celebration Dinner
Marion Bartoli looks stunning at the Wimbledon celebration dinner, despite negative comments on the BBC.
John Inverdale needs to go to Specsavers!
July 6, 2013
Katie Hopkins is driving views on my blog
Katie Hopkins
Views on my blog have suddenly increased.
I eagerly look at the site’s statistics to find a cause. Is it my book reviews, my observations of life, my comments on Boris?
Sadly it’s none of those things. Since her outburst on Daybreak TV, people have been googling Katie Hopkins!
Such are the vagaries of the Internet.
July 5, 2013
Boris: clever populist who understands gesture politics
In Cheapside this afternoon I came across a row of Boris Bikes which seemed to stretch to the horizon. And how many were being used? You guessed correctly, none!
Boris is a clever populist who understands the importance of gesture politics, irrespective of what it costs the taxpayer.
June 29, 2013
Diesel is 100 times more polluting than petrol!
At a party last night I met a professor of environmental health who told me that diesel engines are anything up to one hundred times more polluting than petrol engines.
An interesting fact that you rarely hear. Most of us think they’re safer because they consume less fuel.
June 26, 2013
Fathomless stupidity in today’s Times
Only very rarely do I read something of such fathomless stupidity that it is worth re quoting, but Matthew Parris’s comment on Robert Mugabe in today’s Times is such an occasion. I’ll quote just one sentence: “… for his tremendous ambition, his long fight against overwhelming odds, and his deliverance of his people from submission to another race, he (Mugabe) deserves both the name of warrior and leader, and I would call his a great life.”
I won’t bore you with Mugabe’s life story; but here are a couple of simple facts:
In 1982 sent his North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade into the ZAPU stronghold of Matabeleland to smash dissent. Over five years, 20,000 Ndebele civilians were murdered as part of a campaign of deliberate political genocide.
Life expectancy at birth for males in Zimbabwe has declined since 1990 from 60 to 42 years, among the lowest in the world. The amount of time a Zimbabwean citizen was expected to live in good health from birth was 39 years in 2010. Concurrently, the infant mortality rate has climbed from 53 to 81 deaths per 1,000 live births in the same period. As of 2009, 1.2 million Zimbabweans live with HIV.
Wake up Matthew!
