Dane Cobain's Blog, page 34

COMPETITION: Win a £10 Amazon Voucher and Signed Book Bundle!

Hi, folks! Today, I have some exciting news – I’m launching a brand new competition where you could win a £10 Amazon voucher and a bundle of signed books!

That’s right, one lucky winner will win the voucher and a signed copy of three of my books – No Rest for the Wicked (supernatural thriller), Eyes Like Lighthouses When the Boats Come Home (poetry) and Former.ly (literary fiction).

You can enter using the Rafflecopter widget below, and you can earn extra entries by heading over to Twitter and retweeting my competition tweets. Good luck!

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Read on to see the competition’s terms and conditions:

1. The promoter is Dane Cobain

2. There is no entry fee and no purchase necessary to enter this competition.

3. Closing date for entry will be Thursday June 30th 2016. After this date, no further entries to the competition will be permitted.

4. No responsibility can be accepted for entries not received for whatever reason.

5. The promoter reserves the right to cancel or amend the competition and these terms and conditions without notice in the case of any event outside of the promoter’s control. Any changes to the competition will be notified to entrants as soon as possible by the promoter.

6. The promoter is not responsible for inaccurate prize details supplied to any entrant by any third party connected with this competition.

7. No cash alternative to the prizes will be offered. The prizes are not transferable. Prizes are subject to availability and we reserve the right to substitute any prize with another of equivalent value without giving notice.

8. Winners will be chosen at random using Random.org’s random number generator.

9. The winner will be notified by email and/or letter within 28 days of the closing date. If the winner cannot be contacted or do not claim the prize within 14 days of notification, we reserve the right to withdraw the prize from the winner and pick a replacement winner.

19. The promoter’s decision in respect of all matters to do with the competition will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.

11. By entering this competition, an entrant is indicating his/her agreement to be bound by these terms and conditions.

12. The competition and these terms and conditions will be governed by English law and any disputes will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England.

13. The winner agrees to the use of his/her name and image in any publicity material. Any personal data relating to the winner or any other entrants will be used solely in accordance with current UK data protection legislation and will not be disclosed to a third party without the entrant’s prior consent.

14. The winner’s name will be available 28 days after closing date by sending a stamped addressed envelope to the following address: Dane Cobain, 19a West End Street, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, HP11 2QE

15. By entering this competition, you agree to join our mailing list to hear about future competitions as and when they’re announced.

16. Entry in to the competition will be deemed as acceptance of these terms and conditions.

17. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook, Twitter or any other social network. You are providing your information to SocialBookshelves.com and not to any other party.

Big News: No Rest for the Wicked to be Re-Released By Dragon Moon Press!

Hi, folks! I have some exciting news for you today – I’ve signed a deal for No Rest for the Wicked to be re-released by Dragon Moon Press! Read on to find out more…

So, as some of you already know, my publisher, Booktrope, ceased business at the end of May and, as such, the rights to my work reverted back to me. This caused a couple of problems, because it meant that the books that they released would no longer be available.

Fortunately, Gwen Gades – a member of the extended Booktrope community – came to the rescue, and I signed a deal for No Rest for the Wicked to be republished by Dragon Moon Press!

Now, because of this, I also needed to work with Gwen on a new cover design, as the rights to use my old cover perished along with Booktrope. We (mainly Gwen) put a lot of work into it, and you can see the final cover design below.

 

Dane Cobain – No Rest for the Wicked

 

There may be some minor disruption over the next couple of weeks as the re-released version is updated across each of the retailers that stock it, but rest assured that the Dragon Moon version of No Rest for the Wicked will be out in paperback and e-book formats soon!

Don’t worry about Eyes Like Lighthouses, either – I’ve secured all of the necessary rights to re-release that as is, although I’ll be self-publishing, and so whilst there might be a short lag whilst the retailers update themselves, that will still be available too.

Of course, you can also contact me if you want a signed paperback and I’m sure we can figure something out. And then there’s Former.ly, my new literary fiction novel, which is due out on June 11th.

So thanks, as always, for reading, and keep your eyes peeled for the new-look No Rest for the Wicked, coming soon! And in the meantime, you can click here to find out more about Dragon Moon Press, or you can follow me on Facebook and Twitter for further updates. See you soon!

Calling All Writers: Join the Anthology Project!

Hi, folks! Today, I wanted to let you know about something new I’ve got going on – something exciting, and something which you might want to get involved in!

Basically, I’m thinking about creating an anthology, and so I need 21 writers who want to get involved – the plan is to shortlist the 21 writers, and then to ask each of the writers to provide a writing prompt. I’ll put the writing prompts into a hat and draw them out to assign each writer with a prompt from one of the other contributors.

I’m looking for a good mixture of styles and publishing histories, and so if you’ve never submitted your work for inclusion in a book before, that’s okay – there’s a first for everything. And if you want to get involved, it’s simple – just drop me an e-mail to let me know that you’re interested, and I’ll let you know if you successfully make the shortlist.

It’s still in the early days at the moment, but I have a bunch of ideas that I can’t wait to put into practice – trust me, it’s going to be a lot of fun and you don’t want to miss out on it. Keep your eyes peeled for more news about that, or follow me on Facebook and Twitter for further updates. I’ll see you soon!

Welcome to the new-look, old-look, new-look DaneCobain.com!

Hi, folks! Well, I decided it was about time for me to have a fiddle around with my website again, and so today, I’m pleased to reveal the new-look, old-look, new-look DaneCobain.com!

There are so many looks for a reason – the skin that I’m using now is basically a clone of the one that I use on SocialBookshelves.com, with a few little changes. I’ve also changed a few of the pages around so that it’s much easier for you to find the information that you’re looking for.

 

DaneCobain.com

 

A few of you might have noticed a malware warning on my site a month or so ago. This persisted for a couple of weeks, but I finally got that fixed – it was a false positive, but it took forever to get Google to recrawl the site and to confirm that the perceived threat had disappeared. As it goes, I’ve been working behind the scenes across all of my sites to beef up security, thanks to a few tips I learned from a developer I used to work with.

So yeah, there you have it – welcome to the new-look, old-look, new-look DaneCobain.com, and I hope you’ll stick around! Be sure to follow me on Facebook and Twitter for further updates as and when they happen, and I’ll see you soon.

Flash Fiction

Note: Ahead of National Flash Fiction Day on 25th June, I decided to try my hand at some flash fiction. Here’s what I came up with.

 

– When they dug it back up, John’s coffin had scratch marks on the lid, but his body was nowhere to be found.

– Hashtags ruined her life, and a like and share won’t bring him back. Sussex Police are now involved.

– When he spotted his mistake, it was already too late, so he put his head in his hands and waited.

– The sun rose. The sun set. Everything changed in the space of a day.

Music Video: Should I Make it Happen?

Hi, folks! I have something a little bit different today – just a quick question, really. I’ve been putting some thought into my music of late, and I’ve been memorising the chords and lyrics for a bunch of songs, and whilst I’m not necessarily looking to do it ‘professionally’, I do want to spend some more doing it.

And so, as part of that, I’ve been thinking about making a music video. In fact, I even had a go at making a start – then I realised how much work it was going to take.

So basically, I want to know if you think it’s worth it or not – should I do it, or should I forget about it? Let me know what you think by voting in the poll below.

 

 

It’s not necessarily a case of either/or – I can work it into my to-do list without it impacting my writing, and I could maybe even convince one of my friends to give me a hand with it. After all, I have no idea what I’m doing, but I feel like I ought to do something!

Thanks, as always, for visiting, and be sure to cast your vote in the poll above to let me know what you think. Alternatively, you can follow me on Facebook and Twitter for further updates. I’ll see you soon!

Citalopram

You can medicate the pain

but it won’t go away,

a bit like blunting the knife

you plan to behead yourself with,

while lining the pockets of senior executives

at expensive pharmaceutical companies,

you know,

the folks with an invested interest

in research and development,

new variations of Prozac

that refuse to list suicide

as a side-effect.

 

I yoyo on and

off my medication,

then back on it again;

the truth is

I don’t trust doctors,

‘cause even the good ones

need to treat you like a number,

and they don’t talk much about nutrition

at medical school.

 

Maybe medicine’s irrelevant,

empty and sentient

like alien head implants

from an advanced society

or ancient skulls

trepanned and vanquished

now on sale to museums

across the world.

 

We live and we die,

and somewhere along the line

we rise,

we shine

and we unify,

and I will share my food with hungry sailors

if they bring me news

from far-off countries.

Dogs

It’s all a bit different

Agatha Christie,

you went missing

and the world lost its shit

but these days,

no-one would’ve noticed.

 

I’ve read stories

about old men dying

left alone and not found for weeks

and their pets eat their meat

and spread disease,

as ash and dust

spirals out into the atmosphere

through a crematirum chimney.

 

Loneliness is an acquired taste,

and it’s best served late

when your plate’s half full

of rotting vegetables,

and your false teeth bleed easily

and somewhere

a child is asking

for its mother.

 

Hey it doesn’t matter anyway,

this is all fiction

or is it

and anyway

I never consented

to be sensitive,

my skin just always hated

body wash.

 

Now I’m a wolf

like Ned Stark was,

and I claw at the moon

from my place beneath

the windowsill.

 

Call on your dogs

Agatha Christie;

 

call your crows

and they might just make

a murder.

How to Write a Disaster Movie

Hi, folks! Today, I just wanted to jot down a few observations on how to write a disaster movie. I’ve been watching a bunch of them on Netflix of late, just because it seems like I’ve watched everything else on there, and I noticed that they have a lot in common with each other. So read on – here’s how to write a (cliche) script for a disaster movie…

Okay, so first off, you need to decide on a type of disaster – natural disasters work well, but you can also consider technological disasters or even terrorist attacks, if you’re feeling brave enough. For the purposes of this tutorial, we’ll be using [INSERT DISASTER HERE] so that you can easily adapt this template to suit your needs.

Let’s start with a fractured family – there’s a father and a mother who are going through a divorce, as well as a teenage daughter. She can have a sibling or two if you like, but they have to be younger. The dad is a scientist, or perhaps he works for Homeland Security if your disaster is a terrorist attack. He’s overprotective of his daughter, but she wants to go with her friends to [INSERT PLACE NAME].

Of course, the mother convinces him to let her go. And then the [INSERT DISASTER HERE] kicks off, and the father has to simultaneously try to save the world and to save his teenage daughter.

Along the way, a lot of people die, and the mother and father are thrown closer together in the attempt to rescue their daughter. They start to realise when they were drawn together in the first place, particularly after the epic chase scene when they’re in the car and they’re trying to outrun the [INSERT DISASTER HERE].

Meanwhile, the daughter and her friends are trying their best to survive the disaster, although a couple of them die in unusual circumstances. One sacrifices himself so that the others can live, and another gets stuck – not a problem normally, but not so good when the [INSERT DISASTER HERE] is approaching. They beg their friends to leave them behind; the daughter refuses to leave them, but eventually she gets dragged away.

But at last, overcoming all of the adversity, the mother and father are reunited with their daughter, who immediately heads off to try to fix the damage he’s caused with his work as a scientist (or that he’s obliged to fix as Homeland Security). There’s an epic confrontation between him and a former colleague, who gains the upper hand but eventually realises the error of his ways and sacrifices himself to carry out a scientifically implausible attempt to save the world.

There’s a lot of bad CGI, but ultimately, the world is safe, and the family stands together amidst the ruin, thinking about the future that they’ll have to rebuild.

And that, folks, is how you write your very own cliche disaster movie. Enjoy.

Told

I told the Manic Street Preachers

to stay the hell away from me,

’cause if it rains on them

and they’re following me around,

it’s going to start raining on me.

 

I told Bob Dylan

that it feels just fine

thank you for asking;

a man must walk down

as many roads as he needs to,

and not down a single road

more.

 

I told the Baha Men

that I let the dogs out;

I told Queen

I want to live forever.

 

I told myself

I’d lead the sailors

to the shore.

 

I told The Who

what my name was;

I told Oasis

I was getting high

while they were getting high.

 

I told The Beatles

I didn’t want to do it

in the road,

because that sort of thing

can get an honest man

arrested.

 

I told The Black Eyed Peas

I took the love

and destroyed it;

I told John Lennon

that I sleep

the same way

he does.