Justine Allen's Blog, page 78
May 11, 2013
Talisman of Ictis
On the 25th of May my book reverts to me! Shortly thereafter I'll publish on Kindle.
This story is set in the Southlands, once known as Cornwall, after global warming has happened and our industrial civilization is wrecked. Human passion is alive and well and a hundred years on pagan worship of the love Goddess Freya has come again.
Four young companions, two men and two women, combine their many talents in a dangerous quest to find the truth behind the Slaver raids on their peaceful homeland.
If you like sci-fi and sci-fantasy, then keep an eye out for my Dad's books!
May 10, 2013
24h Flash Fiction Challenge #scifilondon – still waiting results!
Help! I’m in blogging hell, not wanting to blog about anything else until I know the winner of the 24h Flash Fiction challenge! The SciFi London event had something like ten times the expected number of entries.
Did they just skim so they could announce on time last Monday? No, as far as we (some tweeters and myself) can tell, the judges are diligently working through all the short stories before announcing the winner. I’m now watching Urban Fantasist for news several times per day.
I’d like to thanks the judges for their commitment to duty. Seriously though, I’d wish you’d hurry up!
Filed under: Writing Tagged: competition, fiction, Flash fiction, sci-fi, science fiction, writing








May 9, 2013
Feeling Down and Irritable
Reblogged from Legends of Windemere:
Sundays have become infamous for low (or no) sales days for my book. Not sure why, but today is looking like it will knock off all those Amazon lists completely. I've been preparing myself for this and trying to find a way to soften the blow. I was doing okay until a thought crossed my mind:
I've seen a lot of self-published authors talk about how important 'word of mouth' is and I've preached it too.
May 2, 2013
24h Flash Fiction Challenge #scifilondon – signed, sealed and delivered!
I’ve just finished my short story for the 24h Flash Fiction Challenge!
Signed, sealed and delivered with two hours to the deadline. Can you tell I’m a project manager?
Filed under: Writing Tagged: competition, Flash fiction, sci-fi, science fiction, writing








May 1, 2013
24h Flash Fiction Challenge #scifilondon – my brief
I’ve just received my ‘Lucky Dip’ story title and dialogue for the 24h Flash Fiction Challenge!
Title: BIO.AUDIO.LOC
Dialogue: Why don’t we try covering it in tin foil and see?
Wish me luck!
Filed under: Writing Tagged: competition, fiction, Flash fiction, sci-fi, science fiction, writing








April 29, 2013
24h Flash Fiction Challenge #scifilondon – there may be a family feud!
With less than twenty four hours before I receive my ‘Lucky Dip’ story title and dialogue for the 24h Flash Fiction Challenge, I’m worried there may be a problem; I challenged my Dad to enter as well, and he has an unfair advantage. He’s retired!
So, whilst he has the luxury of the entire period to cogitate (minus sleeping and eating time, obviously), I have to go to work. Allowing for sleeping, eating, working, cooking, dog walking, showering, gardening, hoovering, washing up and chatting to my neighbours, I’ve calculated that I have exactly 12 minutes to write up to a thousand words. Now that’s a challenge!
Filed under: Bucket List Tagged: competition, fiction, Flash fiction, sci-fi, science fiction, writing








April 28, 2013
Quote of the Week
Reblogged from More Than Young Ink:

"When asked, 'How do you write?'
I invariably answer, 'one word at a time.'”
- Stephen King
More like "a few hundred thousand words at a time" I think!
Chronovisor: Happy Birthday!
Okay. To be more precise, Chronovisor is one month old. Actually, I lied; Chronovisor is four weeks old. To be totally accurate, Chronovisor was four weeks old at 6pm last night.
I sound like a first-time parent who watches every milestone of their baby, starting with the minutes and hours, then later graduating to weeks and months. At some point, years will do fine.
In many ways I am a first-time parent. On the first evening, I watched my Kindle Direct Publishing account with a hawk’s eye waiting for the first sales on Amazon.co.uk. When they came, I danced around the living room. When I sold the first to Amazon.com (that happened to be my brother), I danced some more.
I knew reviews would take a while. I did get a couple straight away from my ever patient proof-readers (they had read the book several times, after all). Then I got a lovely review from my brother. Boy, is he a fast reader!
The next most exciting moment was when a friend put the book on Good Reads. There were now two followers with status ‘reading’ and ‘waiting to read’.
Now I’ve exhausted sales via my Facebook audience. The next best way is blogging and making blog contacts with other readers and writers. I’ve even bought two e-books from self-publishers like myself this way. I’ve also sold one! Hmmm, there’s something wrong with the balance here.
I don’t expect to give up the day job yet, but I’d love to get more reviews in to push up the ratings (and sales, obviously). At the moment, using search keywords ‘time travel’, selecting by kindle science fiction, then ordering by popularity, I’m on page four of Amazon.co.uk. Not bad!
I therefore have one more cheeky request from my lovely buyers; if you enjoyed the book, please do review it. If you didn’t enjoy it, then my next book may be more up your street, but you’ll have to wait a while. Either way, you’re awesome just for picking it up in the first place!
Filed under: Writing Tagged: Bucket List, Chronovisor, Kindle, publishing, sci-fi, science fiction, writing

April 25, 2013
Anybody else up for the 24hr Flash Fiction Challenge?
Does anyone fancy the 24h Flash Fiction Challenge next week? It’s only a thousand words. What could be easier? Wrong! Short stories are HARD to write. Anyway, I’m about to register, and wondered if anyone fancied joining me? I’ll Blog about how I get on, even if I suck!
Filed under: Writing Tagged: competition, fiction, Flash fiction, sci-fi, science fiction, writing








April 23, 2013
And I call myself a sci-fi buff!
I love anything to do with science fiction; books, films, TV series. Don’t get me wrong, you won’t find me at Star Trek conventions, but I did have the hots for Mulder.
I was surrounded by pulp science-fiction as a youngster. I’m not talking about a few dozen books, but hundreds of second hand paperbacks. I’m also a sucker for a gripping conspiracy theory (think Area 51), but would lump all that under the heading ‘science fiction’ too.
So, I grew up with sci-fi, read and watch sci-fi, and I even write sci-fi. So, if I’m the proverbial pig in clover, what’s my problem? Let me explain.
I’ve got the worst memory of anybody I know; If you asked me about the current book I’m reading, I’ll be happy to divulge I’m enjoying it, but I can’t remember the book title. If pushed (and my life depended upon it) I’d hazard a guess at the author. I’d probably still get it wrong.
Then there are films. A case in point is ‘Fifth Element’ which I watched over the weekend. It’s classic sci-fi, with great cast (Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, Milla Jovovich etc) , and I’ve watched it half a dozen times. I still don’t know how it ends! (a result of me being too tired to stay up, and confusion about the record button).
So, my deep seated concern is this; I really can’t call my self a sci-fi lover with such a poor grip on the basics. Is there a bright side to my strife? Well, I can enjoy a film again and again. I can list my top ten by the precious few I can remember the ending of. Books are a bit more frustrating (I’m a slow reader as well). Mind you, who else could read their own writing and be truly surprised at what happens next? Mr A. thinks it’s a little odd, to say the least. Your mind playing tricks on you when writing, is the subject of a future blog.
Now, how was this blog supposed to end? If I take a few minutes, I may remember…just maybe…
Filed under: Rambling Tagged: Bruce Willis, Fifth Element, Gary Oldman, Memory, Milla Jovovich, Mulder, sci-fi, science fiction, writing







